MWC 2019: It’s all about the IP, baby!

When you think of Mobile World Congress, the first thing that comes to mind is "New Devices!". That is pretty much the case every year, but it is indeed a very small part of the experience. Well, if one steps outside of that bubble that is. What stands out is the sheer ingenuity on display by every single company that wants to make a mark on the minds of the over 100,000 attendees walking the show floor. So, who ends up grabbing the attention? It's the ones that perfectly understand the needs of the future, of course. For example, we spent most of our time at the Qualcomm booth, which has a plethora of demos and presentations and almost every single one of them were about addressing the needs of the present and the future. With Qualcomm, there was more about the future of course. There was a whole wall of presentations, which occupied the main attention of the attendees, and it was full of research and future potential. In this case, of 5G standardization and what Qualcomm is doing about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6M6A8RHNhA At the end of this video, we talk about something called Spectrum Sharing, which is literally at least 4-5 years ...

Qualcomm’s Boundless XR is a clear vision of the future

The potential of 5G is immense. What we got to see at the Qualcomm booth regarding this new generation of cellular wireless technology laid down a clear path to the future. Part of that future is what Qualcomm calls "Boundless XR". XR is short form for extended reality and it includes both virtual reality and augmented reality. So, what is "boundless"? Well, this is where Qualcomm's expertise comes into play. Using 5G and powerful chips in smartphones, the IP-heavy company demonstrated its plans to break the XR experience from the shackles of wires and beefy computers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIS_5h6sF50 The first demo I had was of the Snapdragon 855 powered AR glasses called the nreal light. These glasses offloaded their computing entirely to the phone, making it cheap and affordable as a solution and creating some really unique experiences. The glasses have two 1080p screens reflected onto the eyes through mirrors and using two RGB cameras, a depth sensor, an IR camera, it can calculate depth and overlay digital holograms on to the real world. First I was greeted with a menu of items, with a couple of demos I could try. The first demo was 3D objects placed on a flat surface and I ...

Google Pay now lets you book train tickets at no additional cost

Google Pay already offers cab and bus ticket bookings with abhiBus, Goibibo, RedBus, Uber and Yatra. Today it has introduced train ticket booking for Indian Railways, powered by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) at no additional cost at the launch. You can just click Trains option inside the Google Pay app to access this feature. This lets you search, book and cancel train tickets within the app. The new feature will roll out on Google Pay app on Android and iOS starting today. You will be able to search and browse train options, and book or cancel tickets with your IRCTC account, within a fast, intuitive and reliable user experience. See availability and duration — You can easily see details like seat availability, journey duration, and travel times between your stations of choice, so it is easy to compare and choose between options. Buy tickets at no additional cost - Book your train tickets on Google Pay, without any extra charges, as we launch. Source

Google Drive’s AI-driven Priority page with Workspaces exits beta

At Cloud Next 2018 in July, Google announced new “Priority” view that utilizes machine learning to show relevant files, while “Workspaces” group together similar documents, now the company has announced that it is out of beta. You can access the Priority page from the left-hand navigation panel in Drive. With “Priority,” Google wants its machine learning to take over so that users can “spend less time searching for content.” With the new Priority page, not only are the most relevant files served up to you, but you can take action on them, as well as sort them into workspaces. Coming to the In Workspaces, you’ll be able to see intelligent suggestions of related content to group together for easier access— like multiple files related to the same project. It also allows you to create your own personalized Workspaces collecting any files you have access to, including content stored in your My Drive and various Team Drives. If users would like to make Priority their default home page, they can do so in their settings, which is accessible via the gear icon in the upper right-hand corner. It’s now rolling out to G Suite Basic, G Suite Business, and G Suite Enterprise. It’s coming soon ...

Samsung Galaxy A20 with 6.4-inch Super AMOLED Infinity-V display, dual rear cameras, 4000mAh battery announced

Samsung has finally announced Galaxy A20, a mid-range smartphone in Russia, after it introduced the Galaxy A10, A30 and A50 last month. It has a 6.4-inch HD+ Infinity-V Super AMOLED display, is powered by Exynos 7884 Octa-Core processor with 3GB of RAM and runs Android 9.0 (Pie) with Samsung One UI. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera along with a 5-megapixel secondary and an 8-megapixel front camera. This has a fingerprint sensor on the back, which the Galaxy A10 lacks, and also comes with a larger 4,000mAh battery, similar to the Galaxy A30 and Galaxy A50. Samsung Galaxy A20 Specifications 6.4-inch (1560 × 720 pixels) HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity-V display Octa-Core Exynos 7884 (Dual 1.6 GHz + Hexa 1.35 GHz) processor 3GB RAM, 32GB Storage, expandable up to 512GB via micro SD card Android 9.0 (Pie) with Samsung One UI Dual SIM 13MP rear camera with LED flash, f/1.9 aperture, 5MP secondary camera with f/2.2 aperture 8MP front camera with f/2.0 aperture Fingerprint sensor Dimension:158.4 x 74.7 x 7.8mm 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5, GPS + GLONASS 4,000mAh battery The Samsung Galaxy A20 is priced at 13990 rubles (US$ 217 / Rs. 15,000 approx.) and will go on sale ...

Call of Duty: Mobile for Android and iOS announced

Activision, in collaboration with Tencent has announced Call of Duty: Mobile is coming to previously unannounced regions, including North America, South America, Europe, and more, after it started Alpha testing in December. Developed by Tencent’s award-winning Timi studio, this free-to-play game brings together maps, modes, weapons, and characters from across the Call of Duty franchise, including Black Ops and the Modern Warfare series. It features multiple game modes pitting players in head-to-head, competitive action as they test their skills against players all around the world. It offers fluid, first-person combat of Call of Duty, fighting head-to-head in fan-favorite modes such as Team Deathmatch, Search and Destroy and Free-For-All, in iconic maps from the series such as Nuketown, Crash, Hijacked and more. Along the way, players will earn and unlock classic Call of Duty characters, weapons, score streaks and other gear to equip and customize their loadouts as they battle to be among the best in the world. Even though the game is currently available only in Alpha, public beta will be available this summer in select regions. You can pre-register on callofduty.com, Google Play  and soon on iOS before the official release. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a42gXZQ-eII PLAY ICONIC CALL OF DUTY GAME MODES The foundation of Call of Duty: Mobile ...

Google Calender’s AI-powered meeting room suggestions now rolling for Android and iOS

Google has been revamping things, adding features and much more to its GSuite, in a bid to give users a smooth experience. As we all know, last the company launched automatic room suggestions in Google Calendar on the web. In the recent development, the search engine giant is planning to bring this feature to Android and iOS devices as well. This feature, using Google AI, suggests the rooms for your meetings based on the locations and preferences of the guests. Automatic room suggestions factor guest location like building and floor, as well as past preferences. This includes history, audio/video equipment needs, and room capacity requirements. To enable this feature, structured resource information and users’ work locations are required to be set. Initially, this Google AI-powered capability was first announced in February, and rolled out to the desktop web client in July. Source

Google Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL detailed specifications surface — 5.6-inch and 6-inch FHD+ OLED displays

Rumors and leaks about both the Pixel 3 Lite and Pixel 3 Lite XL codenamed 'sargo' and 'bonito' surfaced few months back. Last week with Android Q beta release it was revealed that the phone will be launched Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL. Now detailed specifications of the phones have surfaced. This reveals a 5.6-inch FHD+ OLED screen and Snapdragon 670 for the Pixel 3a, and a slightly bigger 6-inch screen and Snapdragon 710 for the Pixel 3a XL, 4GB RAM, 32GB or 64GB storage, 12MP rear camera and a 8MP wide-angle front camera for both. These are expected to retain rear mounted fingerprint scanner and Active Edge features, but it is not clear if these will have IP68 ratings for water resistance, but these bring back the 3.5mm audio jack that the Pixel 3 and the 3 XL lacks. Google Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL rumored specifications Pixel 3a — 5.6-inch (2220×1080 pixels) FHD+ OLED 18.5:9 display, 440 PPI Pixel 3a XL — 6-inch FHD+ OLED display Pixel 3a — Octa-Core Snapdragon 670 (2 x 2GHz Kryo 360 + 6 x 1.7GHz Kryo 360) 10nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 615 GPU Pixel 3a XL —  Octa Core Snapdragon 710 10nm Mobile Platform (Dual 2.2GHz Kryo 360 + Hexa ...

Xiaomi Redmi Go Android Go Edition smartphone with 5-inch HD display launched in India for Rs. 4499

Xiaomi just launched the Redmi Go, the company’s first Android Go Edition smartphone in India, as it had promised. It was announced earlier this year and packs a 5-inch HD screen, Snapdragon 425 SoC with 1GB of RAM, 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, 5-megapixel front camera, 4G LTE with dedicated SIM slots and a 3000mAh battery. Xiaomi Redmi Go specifications 5-inch (1280 x 720pixels) HD 16:9 display with 380 nits brightness, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 72% NTSC Color Gamut 1.4GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 425 Mobile Platform with Adreno 308 GPU 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage, expandable memory up to 128GB with microSD Android 8.1 (Oreo Go Edition) Dual SIM 8MP rear camera with LED Flash, f/2.0 aperture, 1.12μm pixel size, 1080p video recording 5MP front-facing camera with f/2.2 aperture, 1.12μm pixel size, auto HDR option 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio, dual microphones Dimensions:140.4x 70.1 x 8.35mm; Weight: 137g 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS 3000mAh battery The Xiaomi Redmi Go comes in Black and Blue colors, is priced at Rs. 4499 and will go on sale starting March 22nd on Flipkart, Mi.com and Mi Home Stores. It comes with Rs. 2200 cashback in the form of vouchers and 100GB data for Jio users. Xiaomi opens 7th smartphone manufacturing plant in ...

Xiaomi launches Mi Pay mobile payment solution in India

Xiaomi has officially launched Mi Pay, the company's latest mobile payment solution in India, after it was introduced back in December last year. Mi Pay is supported by ICICI Bank, has a basic UI and it requires Phone, Contacts and SMS permissions to run. Users have an option to transfer money to UPI address and Bank Account directly. Mi Pay is integrated within the Contacts, SMS, Scanner apps as well as App Vault in MIUI. It lets you easily transfer money to others through UPI, make payments for several utilities such as phone bill/recharge, DTH recharge, water bill, electricity bill and more than 120 billers. All user-generated data will be kept in a highly encrypted format within the India-based cloud infrastructure, said that company. Highlights of Mi Pay Link or unlink your bank accounts to Mi Pay to facilitate transactions using the UPI PIN and the virtual payment address (VPA) Transfer money to other UPI users, request and collect money from other UPI users and pay for goods or services that accept UPI payments, using your bank account Modify or reset the UPI PIN for your bank account Check the balance of your bank account Pay by scanning QR codes, including Bharat QR codes ...