LG W-Series smartphone with waterdrop notch display, AI triple rear cameras launching soon on Amazon in India

LG Electronics has been dormant for quite some time in the budget and mid-range smartphone market in India. But, it seems to change soon as LG and Amazon have posted teaser regarding the launch of new LG W-series smartphone and is expected to take directly on Samsung's 'M' series smartphones. Amazon India has posted a teaser of a new upcoming LG smartphone under 'Amazon Specials' section. The teaser image says "W FOR THE WIN, Coming Soon" along with some key features of the smartphone. LG 'W' series smartphone will come with a notch display and the company says that the notches can be customized on display according to the user's preference. It will sport AI-enabled triple rear cameras with various modes like normal, front camera selfie, portrait, night mode, wide angle, bokeh and more. The triple rear camera setup is likely to be a combination of a regular lens, wide angle lens and a lens for capturing portrait mode photos. The teaser page on Amazon also has camera samples taken with the triple rear camera i.e., wide-angle shot, low light picture and portrait mode photos. The smartphone will sport a gradient back and come in three colors- black, blue and green. Lastly, the teaser also ...

Spotify on PlayStation Music expands to more countries including India

Sony collaborated with Spotify for the PlayStation Music service in 2015 and later it was launched on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. Now the company is expanding the music service to many countries including India. Earlier this week, Sony announced that Spotify on PlayStation Music is rolling out to more regions which include India, Colombia, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Lebanon. The company is offering free one month trial of Spotify Premium for users who haven’t previously subscribed to Spotify Premium’s monthly subscription service and existing users can also link their Spotify account to PS Music compatible devices. PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 users will be able to use the 'Spotify Connect' feature and select their favorite playlist, skip songs, adjust the volume, and more. In addition to this, PS4 owners can also let friends and family know what tracks they’re listening to using PS4’s share button feature. Commenting on this, Yuki yhashimoto, PlayStation Music, Global Store, and Services Marketing said: With more than 50 million songs and 3 billion playlists, there are plenty of music choices for gamers to listen to while playing. You can access Spotify’s free service on PlayStation Music through your PS4 and PS3 system.

Google releases Android Q Beta 4 with final APIs, reveals upcoming ‘Screen Attention’ and ‘Face authentication’ features

Google released Android developer preview for Android ‘Q’ back in March, released Beta 2 in April and Android Q beta 3 last month during I/O. Today it has released beta 4 for Pixel devices with final Android Q developer APIs (API level 29), the official API 29 SDK, and updated build tools for Android Studio. It brings rotation lock button to gesture navigation. The update has hidden features that includes Dynamic System Updates (DSU) that lets you install a GSI (or other Android system image) onto your device without unlocking the bootloader. This can be enabled on the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL running Android Q Beta 4 through ADB command, and invoke it over an ADB shell. It also reveals hints about "Screen Attention" feature, similar to Samsung's Smart Stay that keeps the screen on when you are looking at it. This is expected to be enabled after Pixel 4 release later this year and roll out to older Pixel phones after that. Another upcoming feature is Face authentication, where users will have the option of requiring eyes open to unlock. This will work for application sign in and payments. It brings a wider bar on the bottom that is fully overlaid on the app behind it, with no white strip. The ...

Paytm SoundBox First Look — Offline payments made easy

Paytm, an Indian e-commerce payment system and digital wallet company launched its own wallet i.e., Paytm wallet in 2014. It is being widely used by many users, retailers and more to send/receive money easily. Now, Paytm is testing a nifty new device known as Paytm SoundBox that is aimed to streamline offline payment systems and is tailored for retailers as well as customers. We spent some time with the SoundBox, and here is the first look. Many people use Paytm to make transactions in shops, petrol pumps, hotels, etc and currently, and they make the payment by scanning the QR code or share an OTP with the retailer to confirm the payment. In this process, the retailer has to share the QR code first, the user makes the payment and then the retailer has to wait until they receive a confirmation SMS on successfully receiving the amount. More often than not, retailers don't receive the SMS instantly and there is a delay. Paytm aims to solve this issue and streamline the process with the Paytm SoundBox. What is Paytm SoundBox and how does it work? Paytm SoundBox is a speaker that will act as a voice-activated POS (point-of-sale) machine for the retailer. Once a ...

Nokia 2.2 Android One smartphone surfaces ahead of today’s launch

HMD Global started teasing a new Nokia phone last week, ahead of launch in India today. Now the image of Nokia 2.2 has surfaced, thanks to @evleaks. This shows a waterdrop notch display, bezel below the screen with Nokia branding, single rear camera with LED flash and a glass-like back with Android One branding on the bottom part. This should come with notification light on the power button and a dedicated Google Assistant Button, similar to the Nokia 3.2 and Nokia 4.2 smartphones that were launched in India recently. According to earlier rumors, the TA-1183 recently received FCC certification as well as BIS certification in India, which should be the Nokia 2.2 codenamed Nokia Wasp. It is said to come with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage, but there should be 2GB RAM with 16GB storage version, similar to the Nokia 3.2. The phone will have 145.96mm x 70.56mm dimensions, based on  FCC  certification. The successor of last year’s Nokia 2.1 is expected to be priced less than Rs. 7000. We should know all the details when the phone goes official in a few hours. Source

HONOR 20 Camera Samples – Quad Rear Cameras

A few days back, HONOR, the sub-brand of HUAWEI has announced  HONOR 20  with a promising internals and quad-camera setup at an event in London. For the uninitiated, HONOR 20 is the successor of HONOR 10 that was announced last year. Even though we are not sure about the release of the smartphone at present, we decided anyways to showcase the capability of HONOR 20's quad-camera output at various scenarios. For the uninitiated, the HONOR 20 is powered by Kirin 980 SoC with Dual NPU and GPU Turbo 3.0 under the hood. Talking about the optics, it comes with 48MP rear camera (1/2″ Sony IMX586 sensor, f/1.8 aperture), a 16MP (117-degree Ultra Wide Angle lens), a 2MP (f/2.4 aperture camera for 4cm macro), and 2MP (f/2.4 aperture) camera for depth sensing. It has a 32MP front camera with f/2.0 aperture. Check out the camera samples below (Click the image to view the full resolution sample) Photo Samples [gallery link="file" columns="2" size="medium" ids="284049,284047"] [gallery link="file" columns="2" size="medium" ids="284048,284046"] [gallery size="medium" link="file" ids="284053,284052,284050"] [gallery link="file" columns="2" size="medium" ids="284038,284037"] [gallery link="file" size="medium" ids="284036,284035,284034"] [gallery link="file" columns="2" size="medium" ids="284033,284032"] [gallery link="file" columns="2" size="medium" ids="284044,284043"] [gallery link="file" size="medium" ids="284039,284042,284041"] [gallery link="file" size="medium" ids="284045,284040,284054"] [gallery link="file" columns="2" size="medium" ids="284055,284056"] [gallery link="file" columns="2" size="medium" ids="284064,284057"] [gallery link="file" columns="2" size="medium" ids="284060,284059"] [gallery link="file" size="medium" ids="284062,284061,284063"] Video Samples https://youtu.be/sUKGovT_ZRw https://youtu.be/4Zb05xEs2xw Full HONOR ...

HONOR 20i Hands On and First Impressions

HUAWEI's HONOR brand introduced the HONOR 20i smartphone in China back in April, and the phone will launch in India soon, within months of the launch of Honor 10 Lite in the country . Here we have the first impressions. Box Contents HONOR 20i smartphone in Gradient Blue color Micro USB Cable 2-pin charger (5V-2A) SIM Ejector tool Clear protective case User manual and warranty information The phone packs a  6.21-inch (2340 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:5:9 aspect ratio dewdrop notch display, which looks bright and sharp.  Running on Android 9.0 (Pie) with EMUI 9.0 on top, the phone is powered by the company’s own Octa-Core Kirin 710 12nm SoC with support for GPU Turbo and 4GB RAM. The notch houses a 32-megapixel camera with f/2.0 aperture is housed inside the notch. The camera uses 4-in-1 light fusion technology and exposure compensation technology for a better selfie experience and has AI feature that recognizes eight selfie scenarios. The earpiece is present on the top edge. It has a small chin below the display. On the back there is a 24-megapixel primary camera with f/1.8 aperture along with a secondary 2-megapixel camera for AI portraits and AI scene detection for detecting different scenes. There is also a 8-megapixel 120° ultra wide-angle ...

Instagram launches data-saving feature for Android

Facebook-owned Instagram got new changes and features through recent updates. The company recently rolled out a redesigned camera UI, new stickers, shopping in stories and more. In similar lines, Instagram has started rolling out a new data-saving feature to its platform and will be initially available for Android users. The new data-saving feature on Instagram will neither pre-load the photos and videos nor download them at high resolution unless the users choose to tap on select ones. This gives users greater control over the media they would like to view on the app and also saves the data, which is the primary focus of this feature. Apart from this, with the feature turned on, the chosen photos and images will load faster since all the media is not being downloaded. To use the data saving feature on Instagram, users have to navigate to Settings->Account->Mobile data use. Under 'Mobile data use' there will three options ‘Never’, ‘Wi-Fi Only’, and ‘Cellular + Wi-Fi’ and users can choose any one of the options according to their preference. This feature is targeted at countries where the network speeds and penetration is low compared to other countries. Instagram is rolling out this feature to users globally in the coming days and ...

Realme releases kernel source for Realme 3 Pro

Realme has gained popularity since its inception because of VFM offerings in the mid-range smartphone segment. The company launched its latest offering Realme 3 Pro in the country on 22nd April. The smartphone packs a 6.3-inch Full HD+ Dewdrop notch display with 90.8% screen-to-body ratio and is powered by Snapdragon 710 10nm SoC with up to 6GB RAM. Now, the company has released kernel sources for the Realme 3 Pro, so there are good chances that we see custom ROMs for the smartphone in coming months. The company has also updated its Bootloader unlock tool, and Realme 3 users can now unlock the bootloader of their devices but unlocking bootloader will downgrade the Widevine certification level to L3 from L1 and users will no longer be able to enjoy HD content on apps like Hotstar, Amazon Prime Videos, and Netflix. Unlocking the bootloader will affect OTA updates and users will also not get official OTA updates as bootloader unlocking makes the secure data partition inaccessible. The company also says that bootloader unlocking and flashing a custom ROM will not affect the warranty of the device. Even though the source code is not useful for normal users, it would be helpful for Android developers and ...

Skype screen sharing now available for Android and iOS

Microsoft rolled out Skype version 8.0 for desktop last year that brought features like screen sharing calls, chat media gallery, share photos, videos, and other files, and more. Expanding the screen sharing feature, today, Skype has launched the screen sharing feature on Android and iOS along with multiple improvements to their mobile calling experience. Skype screen sharing comes to Android and iOS and with this feature, users can share their screen on Skype and get things done from anywhere. The company has redesigned the  “…” menu and now it includes screen sharing feature during a Skype call. To start using this feature, users have to start a Skype call, tap the new  “…” menu and click on 'Share screen' option to start sharing their screen with their friends. Alongside the launch of the screen sharing feature, Skype is introducing an improved and redesigned mobile calling experience. The speaker and audio device button now is in the upper right, next to the user's video and the company says that this makes it easy for one handed audio device switching while on the go. A single tap will dismiss the call controls and to make it clutter-free, double tapping will remove it all.  The redesigned “…” menu allows users to access features ...