Snapchat introduces Friendship Profiles and Bitmoji Stories comic strip

Snapchat has introduced friend's Bitmoji; a new way to celebrate friendships on Snapchat. In each profile, you’ll find the images, videos, messages, links, and more than you and your friends have saved in Chat. The company says that this feature will make it easy to find your favorite memories and the important information you've saved over time. Each Friendship will only be visible to you and the person that you are friends with on Snapchat. Every friendship profile will be unique, highlighting the most special moments you've shared. The more you share and save together, the richer your profiles will be. Snapchat Friendship Profile hs already started rolling out and will reach everyone over the coming weeks. Bitmoji Stories is a new comic strip starring Snapchat user's own Bitmojis, with guest appearances from friends. This feature, starting from November 14th and continuing over the next several weeks, will have a new episode each week right in the Discover feed. At launch, Bitmoji Stories will be available in English only.

Samsung Exynos 9 Series 9820 8nm SoC with Tri-cluster CPU, integrated NPU, up to 2Gbps LTE-Advanced Pro modem announced

Samsung has announced Exynos 9 Series 9820 SoC, as it had promised. It is the successor of Exynos 9 Series 9810 SoC that powers the Galaxy S9 series and the Galaxy Note9. It is based on the 8nm LPP (Low Power Plus) FinFET process that reduces power consumption by up to 10% compared to 10nm LPP process, while the Exynos 9820 also optimizes power consumption of CPU and GPU through reduced operating voltage, idle, and leakage power. It has Samsung’s 4th generation custom designed CPU cores which uses innovative tri-cluster architecture. The CPU consists of two custom cores for ultimate processing power, two Cortex-A75 cores for optimal performance, and four Cortex-A55 cores for greater efficiency, resulting in superior performance that lasts. "Tri-cluster with intelligent task scheduler boosts multi-core performance by 15% when compared to the Exynos 9810, while the 4th generation custom CPU with enhanced memory access capability and cutting-edge architecture design improves single core performance by up to 20% or boosts power efficiency by up to 40%," said Samsung. It has LTE-Advanced Pro modem with support for LTE Category 20 to offer downlink speed of up to 2.0Gbps with 8x carrier aggregation (CA) and uplink speed of up to 316Mbps. Highlights of Samsung Exynos ...

Funcl W1 and Funcl AI True wireless headphones with Bluetooth 5.0 announced [Update: Now available for order]

Update - November 14, 2018 - As promised, the Funcl W1 and Funcl AI are available for order through Indiegogo at $19 (Rs. 1,380 approx.) and $54 (Rs. 3,921 approx.), respectively and ships worldwide starting December. The company has already hit 100% ($50,000) funding goal in just 8 hours. Earlier: Funcl, a hardware startup with a group of experienced professionals who worked top audio companies and manufacturers (Harman Audio, Foxconn, Xiaomi, and Goertek) before has introduced new Funcl W1 and Funcl AI True wireless headphones. Both these are powered by Bluetooth 5.0 and offer long battery life. The Funcl W1 true wireless headphones is powered by Bluetooth 5.0, has easy touch control, ergonomics and promises up to 18 hours total battery life. The Funcl AI is the most affordable AptX headphones offering Hi-Fi sound quality and extremely low latency (< 60 ms) for the best gaming experience, says the company. It is also powered by Bluetooth 5.0, and promises up to 24 hours of battery life with the charging case and the headphones can last for 6.5 hours on a single charge. It also has IPX5  ratings for dust and water resistance. The Funcl W1 and Funcl AI are priced at $19.99 (Rs. 1,460 approx.) and $54.99 (Rs. 4,010 approx.), respectively ...

Samsung introduces Galaxy S9 and S9+ Ice Blue Gradient color variant

Samsung has announced new Ice Blue color variants of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ smartphones. These join the Midnight Black, Titanium Gray, Coral Blue, Lilac Purple, Sunrise Gold and Burgundy Red color versions that were introduced earlier this year. It has a gradient color finish for the first time that makes it more fashionable. The Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ Ice Blue edition are available for order in China from today in 128GB storage versions priced at 5499 yuan (US$ 790 / Rs. 57,425 approx.) and 6499 yuan (US$ 934 / Rs. 67,870 approx.), respectively and will be shipped from November 26. The new color variant is expected to roll out in other markets soon.

Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal steps down as CEO

Binny Bansal has announced his resignation as CEO of Flipkart Group, effective immediately. Though being an important part of Flipkart since co-founding the company, but owing to the recent events Binny has made a decision to step down. However, his decision to leave the company follows an independent investigation on behalf of the Flipkart and Walmart into an allegation of serious personal misconduct. Though he strongly denies the allegation. While the investigation did not find evidence to corroborate the complainant’s assertions against Binny, it did reveal other lapses in judgement, particularly a lack of transparency, related to how Binny responded to the situation. This is why the company has accepted the resignation. Going forward, Kalyan Krishnamurthy will continue to be CEO of Flipkart, which will now include Myntra and Jabong, continuing to operate as separate platforms within the Flipkart business. Ananth Narayanan will continue providing leadership as CEO of Myntra and Jabong, and will report into Kalyan. Sameer Nigam will continue leading PhonePe as CEO. Both Kalyan and Sameer will report directly into the board. In a blog post, Flipkart said: As we look ahead, we have full confidence in the strength and depth of leadership across the company. We remain committed to investing for ...

TRAI seeks views to regulate OTT apps like WhatsApp, Skype and more

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has determined to sort views on whether to regular communication apps such as WhatsApp, Skype, and Viber. This comes to light mainly because of economic and security matters. In a paper released Monday, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India asked views of the industry to identify which of these apps should be regarded as providing the same services like mobile phone operators. It also wanted to know the costs and benefits of bringing these communication apps under the regulatory regime. The department's main goal is to know if communication apps need to be regulated much like the telecom networks for issues around lawful interception in the interests of national security. It wanted to know if OTT players that provide communications services should be treated differently from licensed telecom network which needs to ensure privacy and security of data. The regulator’s decision to bring in the OTT debate comes from the fast-evolving nature of the sector and changes in the regulatory and policy framework since it first began consultations in March 2015. TRAI said the terms and reality had changed from the time a telecom department panel had recommended regulating communication OTTs to prevent cost arbitrage with ...

Vivo Y95 with 6.22-inch 19:9 Waterdrop notch display, dual rear cameras, 20MP front camera, 4030mAh battery announced

Vivo has announced Y95, the company’s latest mid-range smartphone in the ‘Y Series’. It packs a 6.22-inch HD+ screen with 19:9 aspect ratio waterdrop notch display and 88.6% screen-to-body ratio, is powered by Snapdragon 439 12nm SoC with 4GB of RAM, runs Android 8.1 (Oreo) with Funtouch OS 4.5, comes with a 13-megapixel rear camera along with a secondary 2-megapixel camera for potraits, as well as a 20-megapixel front camera with support for face unlock. It has a fingerprint sensor on the back, features a gradiant design and packs a huge 4030mAh battery. Vivo Y95 specifications 6.22-inch (1520×720 pixels) HD+ 19:9 IPS 2.5D curved glass display Octa-Core (Quad 1.95GHz Cortex A53 + Quad 1.45GHz Cortex A53) Snapdragon 439 Mobile Platform with Adreno 505 GPU 4GB RAM, 64GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD Dual SIM Funtouch OS 4.5 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo) 13MP rear camera with LED flash, f/2.2 aperture, 2MP secondary camera 20MP front-facing camera Fingerprint sensor Dimensions: 155.11x75.09x8.28mm ; Weight: 163.5g 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2 LE, GPS 4030mAh battery The Vivo Y95 comes in Starry Black and Aurora Red colors, is priced at 13,999 Philippine Piso (US$ 264 / Rs. 19,190) and is available from Lazada ...

Apple iPad Pro (2018) now available for pre-order in India starting at Rs. 71900, launching on November 16

Apple introduced the new 11-inch iPad Pro and 12.9-inch iPad Pro  models with new all-screen Liquid Retina True Tone displays with refresh rate up to 120Hz, Face ID, new Octa-Core A12X Bionic 7nm chip with next-generation Neural Engine, seven-core GPU and USB-C connector at its New York event starting  last month. It also announced that these will start at Rs. 71,900 (MRP) and Rs. 89,900 (MRP), respectively for the base 64GB WiFi variant. Today the company has announced that it will Pricing and availability iPad Pro 11″ 64GB WiFi – Rs. 71,900 iPad Pro 11″ 256GB WiFi – Rs. 85,900 iPad Pro 11″ 512GB WiFi –  Rs. 1,03,900 iPad Pro 11″ 1TB WiFi – Rs. 1,39,900 iPad Pro 11″ 64GB WiFi + Cellular – Rs. 85,900 iPad Pro 11″ 256GB WiFi + Cellular – Rs. 99,900 iPad Pro 11″ 512GB WiFi + Cellular – Rs. 1,17,900 iPad Pro 11″ 1TB WiFi + Cellular – Rs. 1,53,900 iPad Pro 12.9″ 64GB WiFi – Rs. 89,900 iPad Pro 12.9″ 256GB WiFi – Rs. 1,03,900 iPad Pro 12.9″ 512GB WiFi – Rs. 1,21,900 iPad Pro 12.9″ 1TB WiFi – Rs. 1,57,900 iPad Pro 12.9″ 64GB WiFi + Cellular – Rs. 1,03,900 iPad Pro 12.9″ 256GB WiFi + Cellular – Rs. 1,17,900 iPad Pro 12.9″ 512GB WiFi + Cellular – Rs. 1,35,900 iPad Pro 12.9″ 1TB WiFi ...

Honor 10 Lite with AI dual rear cameras, gradient finish to be announced on November 21

After the Honor 10 and the Honor 10 GT earlier this year, Huawei's Honor brand is all set to introduce the Honor 10 Lite, a cheaper version in China on November 21st. It shows Zhu Zhengting holding the phone. The images of the smartphone have also surfaced on TENAA with the model number HRY-AL00 in Blue, Red and Black colors. The image shows waterdrop notch display, dual rear cameras with AI features, fingerprint sensor on the back and a gradiant finish on the back. The design resembles the Honor 8X that was introduced recently. The Honor 10 Lite press renders have also surfaced that reveals that there is a specicial edition of the phone will be launched in collaboration with Supreme in some markets. We should know all the specifications of the phone once it gets certfied by TENAA in a few days. Source 1, 2, 3

Microsoft Surface Go LTE with 10-inch display, 8GB RAM now available to pre-order in select markets

Back in July Microsoft has introduced the Surface Go 2-in-1 that came with  10-inches display and powered by 7th Generation Intel Pentium Gold Processor 4415Y and packs up to 8GB RAM and 128 GB SSD. The company has announced the Surface Go with LTE Advanced is available for pre-order in select markets. While the rest of the specifications remain the same, the only addition is the Qualcomm Snapdragon X16 LTE modem. The Microsoft Surface Go sports a 10-inches display (1800 x 1200 pixel resolution) with a 3:2 aspect ratio. The 2-in-1 packs a custom-built high-resolution PixelSense Display that supports Surface Pen with 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity, low pen parallax, low latency, and precision for accurate note taking, drawing and computer-aided design. It comes with Microsoft’s proprietary Surface Connector port for charging and connecting to a desktop dock. It is powered by the 7th Generation Intel Pentium Gold Processor 4415Y and packs up to 8GB RAM and 128 GB SSD. It runs on Windows 10 with S mode enabled by default. But users can switch to a full version of Windows 10 for free if they want. Connectivity features include Surface Connect for charging and docking; USB-C 3.1, a headphone jack; and a MicroSD card reader for storage expansion. The full friction hinge extends ...