WhatsApp for Android could get expiring messages, multiple device support and more soon

WhatsApp has pushed yet another update for its Beta app in android, bringing the version number to 2.20.110. It makes a few changes including renaming delete messages, testing support for multiple device login and reducing WhatsApp Status video length for Indian users. WhatsApp has been testing the concept of messages disappearing after a set interval in its beta apps for quite a while now. It has undergone three name changes, from Disappearing messages to Delete messages and now its called Expiring messages. Initially the feature was only available for Groups, but WhatsApp made added the feature for individual chats too. In the new update, they have added an indicator for those chats who have expiring messages enabled. It will show both in the chat list and in the chat itself. The next feature that WhatsApp appears to be working on is simultaneous multiple device login (finally). This will users to sign into multiple device like a phone and tablet with a single account at the same time. The feature is not visible publicly, with WhatsApp making a lot of under-the-hood changes to ready up the feature. For example, when a user logs in/out of multiple devices, the security code for end-to-end encryption changes. And the ...

POCO X2 gets a Rs. 1000 price hike after increase in GST

Earlier last month, the GST Council in its 39th meeting increased GST rates for several products including mobile phones from 12% to 18% applicable from April 1st, 2020. As announced, mobile brands have increased the prices of their smartphones and earlier today, Apple increased prices of the iPhone lineup. Following that, POCO has also announced that a Rs. 1000 price hike across all variants of the POCO X2 smartphone. After the price hike, POCO X2 6GB + 64GB variant costs Rs. 16,999, against its previous price of Rs. 15,999. The 6GB + 128GB variant now costs Rs. 17,999, against its previous price of Rs. 16,999, and lastly the top-end 8GB + 256GB variant now costs Rs. 20,999, against its previous price of Rs. 19,999. The revised prices are already live on Flipkart but due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, it is temporarily unavailable. Model Old MRP (INR) New MRP (INR) % increase POCO X2 (6+64GB) Rs. 15,999 Rs. 16,999 6.25 POCO X2 (6+128GB) Rs. 16,999 Rs. 17,999 5.88 POCO X2 (8+256GB) Rs. 19,999 Rs. 20,999 5 To recall, POCO X2 packs a 6.67-inch Full HD+ “Reality Flow” 120Hz LCD screen with 4.38mm, a dual-punch-hole screen with 91% screen-to-body ratio, thanks to 4.25mm ultra-narrow bottom frame, is powered by Snapdragon 730G with up to 8GB ...

Dark Sky hyperlocal weather app purchased by Apple; loses Android app

Dark Sky, a very popular hyper-local weather app, has been acquired by Apple for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will result in a number of changes that include integration of Dark Sky into the iOS native Weather app and removal of the Android app and its APIs. In a blog post today, Dark Sky explained how it has a new home for its app and what it means for its support on other platforms. For iOS, the app will remain available in the App Store, however we can expect Apple to soon integrate Dark Sky into the iOS native weather app to boost its functionality. In the past, Apple has used Yahoo Weather and it currently uses The Weather Channel for its weather services. Regarding Android, Dark Sky has stated that its app on the Play Store will be no longer be available from today. For existing users, the app will continue to function till July 1, 2020, which is also when weather forecasts, maps, and embeds will stop functioning on its website. Importantly, Dark Sky will end its API support for Android in 2022, which is currently in use with other weather apps like Carrot Weather, DuckDuck Go, Microsoft, Runkeeper and more. ...

Uber India launches UberMedic service for COVID-19 crisis

The whole world is fighting the coronavirus pandemic and the outbreak has impacted many. As many places in the world are under lockdown, many companies are introducing special measures to help people. On similar lines, Uber India has now introduced UberMedic Service to assist healthcare providers with its technology and wide network of drivers. With UberMedic service, Uber will facilitate top-rated drivers and dedicated cars to the hospitals through its platform. The safety of the drivers will also be taken care of by the company, and they will be provided with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) including face masks, hand sanitizers, gloves, and disinfectant sprays. The company will be making available its wide network of drivers to healthcare providers who need to be mobile during this crisis. Furthermore, riders will not be allowed to sit in the front passenger seat and the drivers will be trained in related safety protocols. UberMedic Service will be available 24/7 and Uber will provide dedicated phone support to riders who use this service. Uber India in a statement said: The COVID-19 crisis is being felt across India. Our teams are working 24/7 to assist health and medical care authorities in their response to the pandemic, and to take actions that ...

Fitbit Charge 4 with swimproof design, built-in GPS, up to 7 days battery life launched in India starting at Rs. 14999

Fitbit has launched  Charge 4, the company’s next-generation fitness  tracker in India after it launched the Charge 3 back in 2018. It has built-in GPS and Spotify (Premium required), features a swimproof design, an inductive button, a scratch-resistant screen, a bright, crisp touchscreen display that is easy to view in natural light and promises up to 7 days of battery life. Features of Fitbit Charge 4 Active Zone Minutes, a new personalized standard based on your resting heart rate and age that tracks any workout that gets your heart pumping, from indoor biking to yoga, measuring the time you spend in each heart rate zone toward a weekly goal of 150 minutes. As the first Fitbit tracker with built-in GPS, you can leave your phone at home and get optimal performance for activities like running, walking and other outdoor excursions. Now with the ability to track your pace and distance in real-time, in addition to the 20+ goal-based exercise modes, you can access seven GPS-enabled exercise modes, including a new outdoor workout mode for any outdoor activity like hiking, running or a brisk walk. After completing a GPS-enabled workout, sync your device for a GPS-powered heat map in the Fitbit app ...

Apple iPhone 9 / SE 2 could be announced on April 15

Apple launched the compact iPhone SE back in 2016 with iPhone 5s-like design and while Apple shifted the design language starting with iPhone X, a lot of users have been waiting for a refresh to the iPhone SE. Multiple renders and rumors surfaced on the iPhone 9 / iPhone SE 2 recently and now a new report suggests that Apple could finally announce the iPhone 9/ iPhone SE 2 on April 15th, 2020. According to an internal meeting by Apple yesterday, the company is said to be preparing for the announcement of the iPhone 9 on April 15th, 2020 and the shipments could start on April 22nd, 2020. Furthermore, the company is said to train a select few retail employees who are working remotely to offer technical and sales support to users and is reportedly sending iMacs to them. Another report confirms the development that Apple is asking select retail employees who are working remotely to offer sales and technical support to users. Previous rumors suggested that Apple could announce the iPhone 9 / iPhone SE 2 at an event on March 31st, but it did not happen. The renders of the iPhone SE 2 / iPhone 9 surfaced earlier suggest that the ...

OnePlus 8 Pro: Snapdragon 865 SoC, LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.0 storage confirmed, 24fps to 120fps with MEMC chip teased

OnePlus already confirmed the OnePlus 8 series will be introduced in an online event on April 14th. After confirming Quad HD+ HDR 120 Hz Fluid Display with MEMC chip back in January, and 5G support recently, the company has now confirmed Snapdragon 865 SoC, coupled with LPDDR5 and UFS 3.0 for the OnePlus 8 Pro. Regarding this OnePlus CEO Pete Lau said: ..But hardware alone can only take you so far. In fact, “fast and smooth” has never been achieved by just throwing the best components together. We put a relentless focus on software optimization, maximizing the performance of the hardware combination by only adding the features that truly matter to you, making an even better flagship smartphone experience. This drive to bring out the true power offered by the top-of-the-line specs comes to life with our specialized R&D team, literally named the “FSE Team” (Fast, Smooth, Efficient). We set up this team in 2016 with the sole focus on system optimizations. Its only objective is to ensure that OnePlus devices can deliver the fastest and smoothest experience possible, in a continuous and stable manner. In fact, we don’t even release products until they meet, or better yet exceed, the extremely high standards ...

Apple iPhone 11 series, iPhone 8 series, iPhone 7 series, iPhone XR and XS get a price hike in India after increase in GST

Apple has increased the price of its iPhones, including its iPhone 11 series, iPhone 8 series, iPhone 7 series and iPhone XR and XS in India after the increase in GST from 12% to 18% on mobile phones starting today, April 1st, 2020. This is the second price hike on Apple iPhones this year in the country, after Apple increased the price of iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max smartphones in the country last month due to increase in import duty. The entry-level iPhone 7 32GB now costs Rs. 31,500, compared to Rs. 29,900 older price and the high-end iPhone 11 Pro Max 512GB version now costs Rs. 1,50,800, compared to the previous price of Rs. 1,43,200, which is about 5.3% increase for both. The price hike varies from 5.15% to 5.3% for the iPhone depending on the models. Even though Apple sets a standard MRP, some third-party retailers sell the smartphones at cheaper rates. So you can get it online at cheaper even after this price hike. Check out the change in price below. Model Old MRP (INR) New MRP (INR) From April 1 % Increase iPhone 7 32GB 29,900 31,500 5.35 iPhone 7 128GB 34,900 36,700 5.15 iPhone 7 Plus 32GB 37,900 39,900 5.27 iPhone 7 Plus 128GB 42,900 45,100 5.12 iPhone 8 ...

ACT Fibernet offers free upgrade to 300Mbps speeds and unlimited FUP for March [Update: Extended till April 30]

Update: April 1, 2020 - ACT Fibernet has extended 300 Mbps speeds and unlimited data offer till April 30th without extra cost. If you had activated this in March, you don't need to do anything. Earlier: ACT Fibernet usually offers free additional data for users during cricket matches. Since some offices in few cities have introduced work from home policy as a precaution measure due to coronavirus situation. ACT Fibernet has announced upgrade to 300 Mbps speeds and unlimited data consumption for all users at no extra cost for entire month of March. How to get the free speed and unlimited FUP? Download ACT Fibernet app for Android / iOS  Login with your mobile number and enter the OTP In the app click the banner in the middle that says "Click to Boost" Your plan will be upgraded to 300 Mbps speeds with unlimited data till March 31st, and you will also get notified about this 300Mbps speeds might vary depending on the router (Requires Gigabit Ethernet port) and the Ethernet cable (requires Cat 5e and above) used, if you have a PC. It is not clear if ACT Fibernet will extend this offer. Regarding this ACT Fibernet said: We realise that many of our ...

HONOR 8A Prime with 6-inch waterdrop notch display, fingerprint scanner announced

Yesterday at an event, HUAWEI’s HONOR brand announced the Kirin 820 5G SoC, HONOR 30S, and HONOR Play 9A smartphones. Now HONOR has introduced  HONOR 8A Prime, the company’s latest budget smartphone in Russia. The 8A Prime is just a rebranded HONOR 8A Pro that was launched last year, but this one comes at a much lower price point. HONOR 8A Prime flaunts a 6.09-inch HD+ waterdrop notch display with an 87% screen-to-body ratio, is powered by MediaTek Helio P35 12nm SoC with 3GB of RAM, runs Android 9.0 (Oreo), and has a 13-megapixel rear camera with f/1.8 aperture, and an 8-megapixel front camera. It has a fingerprint sensor, unlike the Chinese model, comes with face unlock that can scan 1024 facial points, features dedicated dual SIM and microSD card slots and packs a 3020mAh battery. Honor 8A Prime specifications 6.09-inch (1560 × 720 pixels) HD+ 19:5:9 2.5D curved glass display 2.3GHz Octa-Core (ARM Cortex A53) MediaTek Helio P35 12nm Processor with 680 MHz IMG PowerVR GE8320 GPU 3GB RAM, 64GB storage, expandable memory up to 512GB with microSD Android 9.0 (Pie) with EMUI 9.0 Dual SIM (nano + nano + microSD) 13MP rear camera with LED flash, f/1.8 aperture 8MP front-facing camera with ...