Jeet, Author at Gizmochina

Sennheiser Accentum Wireless headphones with 50-hour battery life and hybrid ANC launched for $179.99

Jeet — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 03:55:04 +0000

Sennheiser, known for its audio products, has announced a new line of wireless headphones in the market called Accentum. The company says that the new Sennheiser Accentum wireless headphones share much of its DNA with the flagship Momentum 4.

In terms of design, the new headphones look similar to the Momentum 4, but because they are cheaper, the company has taken some cost-cutting measures. The headband is made of hard plastic, and the touch gestures for controlling music playback and calls are replaced by a four-button layout at the bottom of the left cup.

The Accentum comes packed with 37mm dynamic transducers, which the company claims can deliver outstanding bass performance and offer striking clarity. There’s also Hybrid ANC that uses microphones on both inside and outside of the headphones to cancel out sound. It also has a wind-reduction mode to keep calls clear in a windy environment.

It comes with support for Bluetooth 5.2, supporting multipoint connection. This means that the headphones can be switched from one connected device to another without having to re-pair, making it easy to swap between devices. There’s also support for aptX HD codec for better sound quality and stability, along with support for SBC and AAC codecs.

Sennheiser says that the Accentum wireless headphones can offer up to 50 hours of battery life on a single charge, and there’s support for quick charging, which offers five hours of battery life with just 10 minutes of charging. It comes with a USB-C cable for charging the headphones, which can also be used to connect with any USB-C-supported device.

Coming to the pricing, the Sennheiser Accentum wireless headphones are priced at $179.99 (Amazon) and will be available from select retailers and the company’s own website. The company will start taking pre-orders from 26th September for the headphones, which come in two color options — Black and White. The black colored model will go on sale from 4th October, but the White version will start shipping in November.

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Spotify trials making in-app lyrics feature part of paid subscription

Jeet — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 01:38:04 +0000

Spotify, one of the leading music streaming platforms, has a fast-growing user base, but the paid subscribers of the platform are not growing as fast as the number of free users.

In a bid to increase the conversion of free subscribers into paid ones, Spotify seems to be exploring putting some of the features behind a paywall, only accessible to the paid subscribers.

In the latest development, Spotify appears to have locked down the lyrics feature, which shows the lyrics of the currently playing song on the screen, behind a paywall. For the free users, the company is showing a message that reads: “Enjoy lyrics on Spotify Premium.”

According to the company’s PR executive CJ Stanley, the change is not yet permanent as the company is currently testing it with a limited number of users in a couple of markets. Since the company is testing the feature, it’s safe to assume that it has plans to roll out the feature on the platform.

Spotify has revealed that its monthly users on the ad-supported tier or the free subscribers have increased by 34 percent over the last year, reaching 343 million. On the other hand, the number of paid subscribers increased by 17 percent to 220 million.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 tablet reportedly powered by MediaTek Helio G99 SoC

Jeet — Tue, 05 Sep 2023 00:38:10 +0000

Samsung recently launched the Galaxy Tab S9 series of tablets as the flagship offering from the brand, but now the South Korean giant is gearing up to launch a new budget tablet under the Galaxy A-series, dubbed Samsung Galaxy Tab A9.

Ahead of the official launch of the Galaxy Tab A9, the device has been spotted on the BIS certification website, indicating that it will soon launch in the Indian market. Now, the chipset powering the tablet has also been leaked online.

According to the new report, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 will come powered by the MediaTek Helio G99 processor. It appears to be much better in terms of performance when compared to the MediaTek MT8768 powering the Galaxy A7 tablet.

The MediaTek Helio G99 SoC is built using a 6nm process by TSMC and the company claims that it enables great gaming all day, plus big cameras, fast displays, smooth streaming, and reliable global connectivity. It packs two Cortex-A76 cores at 2.2GHz and six Cortex-A55 cores at 2.0GHz, coupled with Mali-G57 MC2 GPU.

Based on the BIS Certification listing, the Galaxy Tab A9 carries the SM-X115 model number and will offer 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and FM support. Under the hood, the device is powered by a 5,100mAh battery and has support for 15W fast charging.

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New Amazon Fire TV Stick appears on FCC website ahead of launch this month

Jeet — Mon, 04 Sep 2023 03:54:11 +0000

Amazon appears to be preparing to launch a new Fire TV Stick in the lineup that already has a few options to choose from. If it is indeed set to launch a new product, then it will be the first one to go official since 2021.

As per the report, two new devices from the brand have passed through the FCC website. While they aren’t labeled as Fire TV Stick, everything points towards the upcoming devices being part of the Fire TV Stick lineup.

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K

The listing on the FCC website for these new products does not reveal any specifications but given that it’s already been over a couple of years since the company refreshed the lineup, we are looking forward to upgraded models.

The devices have model numbers M3N6RA and K3R6AT and have been labeled as Amazon-branded digital media receivers. It seems like the M3N6RA model supports Wi-Fi 6, while the K3R6AT supports Wi-Fi 6E.

Currently, none of the Fire TV Stick models come with support for Wi-Fi 6E, and the only media streaming device from Amazon to have Wi-Fi 6E support is the Fire TV Cube launched last year.

Amazon is currently selling four Fire TV Stick models in the market — Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Stick Lite, and Fire TV Stick 4K Max. The upcoming models could replace one of the existing models, and given the Wi-Fi 6E support, we expect them to be high-end 4K supporting models.

The e-commerce giant is hosting an event on 20th September to reveal its new 2023 devices, and we expect the company to officially announce these new Fire TV Stick models at the event.

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Vivo X100 Pro smartphone to feature 100mm periscope with a 64MP sensor

Jeet — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 01:38:04 +0000

Vivo is working on a new smartphone dubbed Vivo X100, and based on the information that’s coming out, it appears that the phone will come with an impressive set of camera sensors.

According to the latest leak from Digital Chat Station, the upcoming Vivo X100 smartphone will come with a 64-megapixel camera sensor with a periscope module.

Vivo X100 Pro+ mock render

It is said that there will be a 100mm periscope lens with a f/2.5 aperture tuned for shooting during low-light conditions. It will also have an OmniVision OV64B 64-megapixel 1/2” sensor with 0.7µm native pixels and support for 4-in-1 binning.

The company is reportedly collaborating with Zeiss and will be using Vario-Appo-Sonnar lenses on the smartphone. The primary camera sensor on the device is expected to be a customized sensor for Sony, likely to be a 53-megapixel 1/1.43” sensor.

The Vivo X100 lineup is said to have three phones in the series —X100, X100 Pro, and X100 Pro+. While the X100 and X100 Pro are expected to be available sometime around November this year, the X100 Pro+, the top-end model in the lineup, could be released early next year.

There’s also a possibility that the smartphone lineup could also come with the company’s own Vivo V3 6nm image chip along with a new Zeiss T* coating technology.

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OpenAI launches ChatGPT Enterprise with focus on business security and privacy

Jeet — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 00:52:57 +0000

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, made a big announcement today by launching ChatGPT Enterprise. As the name indicates, it’s a business tier of the AI chatbox, which is now available.

ChatGPT Enterprise is built on OpenAI’s most advanced language model, GPT-4. The biggest benefit of the business tier is that it protects the companies’ proprietary information, and it promises not to use their data to train the product.

Brad Lightcap, COO of OpenAI, has said that the tool has been in development for under a year and has worked with more than 20 companies of varying sizes and industries.

Apart from the protection of data, the ChatGPT Enterprise edition also offers GPT-4 access without usage caps and twice the performance of the previous versions. As per the pricing, it is not being announced publicly as it will depend on the company’s size and use cases.

Shedding more light on OpenAI not using the company’s data to train its models, it adds that the clients’ conversation data would be encrypted both at transit and at rest. However, it will log aggregate data on how the tool is used, including performance metadata.

The development comes at a time when the AI market is heating up. A few weeks ago, OpenAI launched the Android app, and before that, in May, the iOS app was launched. The company primarily competes against Google, which is regularly releasing updates to Bard.

Microsoft is also releasing a lot of AI-based features to its products, based on the OpenAI technology. It’s noteworthy that Microsoft is one of the largest investors in OpenAI, having around 49% stake.

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Apple iPhone 15 series production reportedly slashed due to supply chain issues

Jeet — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 00:12:11 +0000

Apple is gearing up to launch the next generation of its smartphones in the form of the Apple iPhone 15 series in a few weeks, which will include the iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, and 15 Ultra or 15 Pro Max.

The upcoming smartphones are already in the mass production phase, but as per the new report, the Cupertino-based technology giant has slashed production because of supply-chain issues.

The report by Haitong International Securities analyst Jeff Pu claims that the forecast of the new iPhones has lowered from 83 million to 77 million units.

On the other hand, analysts from Mizuho Bank in Japan are now expecting 73 million units of the iPhone 15 series instead of 84 million. It also anticipates Apple to produce 217 million units of iPhones in 2023 instead of its earlier forecast of 227 million.

If the reports are to be believed, then Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 15 series smartphones in the month of September, with models being available for purchase from 22nd September, except for the iPhone 15 Pro Max (Ultra).

It is said that the launch of the 15 Pro Max could be delayed to October. This is being linked to Sony not being able to deliver enough camera sensors in time for this model. It’s noteworthy that the iPhone 15 Pro Max is expected to be the first iPhone to use a periscope lens.

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Qualcomm announces new Snapdragon G Series chips aimed at handheld gaming devices

Jeet — Thu, 24 Aug 2023 00:43:33 +0000

Qualcomm has announced a new lineup of chips — Qualcomm Snapdragon G-series, which is focused on handheld gaming devices. In the lineup, the company has unveiled three chips — Snapdragon G1 Gen 1, Snapdragon G2 Gen 1, and Snapdragon G3x Gen 2.

These three new processors from the company are intended to work with different form factors and handle specific gaming needs. They differ from each other in terms of power and performance.

Qualcomm Snapdragon G3x Gen 2

This is the flagship offering from the company and is a successor to the Snapdragon G3x Gen 1, which is powering the Razer Edge 5G. It is claimed to offer 30 percent faster CPU performance and twice the GPU performance than its predecessor. The chipset comes with Qualcomm Kryo octa-core CPU and Adreno A32 GPU.

It also supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing as well as game super-resolution, and XR glass tethering. It comes with support for low-latency premium Bluetooth audio and Snapdragon Sound Technology Suite. There’s also Wi-Fi 7 High-Band Simultaneous (HBS) as well as 5G sub-6 and mWaveray tracing.

Qualcomm Snapdragon G2 Gen 1

It has a Qualcomm Kryo octa-core CPU and a gaming-optimized Adreno A21 GPU along with a Snapdragon X62 5G Modem-RF System and 5G and Wi-Fi 6/6E connectivity via Qualcomm FastConnect 6700 Mobile Connectivity System. This chip sits between the G3x Gen 2 and the G1x Gen 1 and is claimed to be capable of full-featured mobile and cloud gaming.

Qualcomm Snapdragon G1 Gen 1

This is the base version in the lineup, offering Qualcomm Kryo octa-core CPU and Areno A11 graphics processor. The company has said that it is a designed for fanless gaming handhelds and is mostly intended to power devices for cloud streaming.

As of now, there’s no information about when devices powered by these chips will hit the market, but the company has revealed that several brands are already collaborating for handheld gaming devices powered by the Snapdragon G-series platforms, including AyaNeo, Thundercomm, and more.

Samsung One UI 6 Beta version based on Android 14 expands to India, China, UK, and Poland

Jeet — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 00:41:53 +0000

Samsung recently launched its next-generation foldable smartphones in the form of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the Galaxy Z Flip 5, running Android 13 with its own One UI 5.1.1. The South Korean giant is already working on a newer One UI 6 user interface based on the Android 14 operating system.

Now, the company has announced that it will expand the Samsung One UI 6 Beta program to four more countries — China, India, the UK, and Poland. For those who are unaware, the program is already available in the US, South Korea, and Germany.

While the company has announced that the One UI 6 program will be expanded to four countries, it has not yet been revealed when access will be available to users, but rumors indicate that it could be released later this week.

In countries where the beta program is available, eligible users can try out the latest version of Samsung’s custom Android-based operating system ahead of the official release. As of now, the program is open to Galaxy S23 users, and enrollment is done through the Samsung Members app. We expect the beta program to be expanded to more phones, including the Galaxy S22 lineup, the Galaxy Z Flip 5, and the Galaxy Z Fold 5, in the coming weeks.

Samsung One UI 6 is based on the Android 14 operating system and comes with a number of features and improvements. It offers a new design language and a more intuitive interface, along with some additional privacy features.

Telegram Stories feature no longer limited to premium users; now available for everyone

Jeet — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 00:17:41 +0000

Telegram, a popular instant messaging application and competitor to WhatsApp, released the Stories feature to its premium users last month, and now the feature is available for everyone.

The announcement about the Stories feature being available for everyone on Telegram comes as the company celebrates its 10th anniversary.

The Stories feature on Telegram is similar to what other platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, or Instagram offer. However, unlike other platforms, it has one feature that sets it apart from others; Telegram allows users to edit Stories after posting.

There are some customizable options, including the ability to choose who can see stories, how long they last, and whether or not they can be saved by others. Premium users also have access to additional features, such as the ability to view others’ stories in stealth mode, a permanent view history, and the ability to save stories to their gallery.

Making the announcement, the company said in a blog post, “This was by far the most-requested feature in the history of Telegram – and we’ve spent several months innovating and refining the format. Telegram Stories have all the things you’d expect – and plenty more that have never been done before.”

To use this new feature, users simply have to open the Telegram app and tap on the “Stories” icon located at the bottom bar. From there, they start creating a new story by tapping the “+” icon, and once done, choose who can see them by tapping the “Share” button or setting a timer for how long it will be available for others to see.

Google enables RCS for all Messages users; chats are now end-to-end encrypted

Jeet — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 02:18:47 +0000

It’s been a long time since Google started pushing RCS as a new standard for texting, replacing SMS and SMS. While the company works on getting more players onboard, the Mountain View-based tech giant keeps on adding new features.

In a new development, Google has announced that all users will now have RCS enabled by default unless it was previously disabled by the user. Also, RCS messages in the Messages app will now be fully end-to-end encrypted by default.

As for the enrollment in RCS, instead of manually enrolling for the service or registering with a phone number, the enrollment will now happen automatically and silently in the background, without the need for user input.

With end-to-end encryption, the messages will remain private from Google as well as network carriers, making it a big milestone for the service. The company has also announced that the group chats in Messages are also end-to-end encrypted.

Apart from encryption, RCS comes with several improvements over the standard SMS, such as typing indicators, read receipts, as well as the ability to share high-resolution photos and videos.

Google Messages is now looking like the true iMessage competitor for Android users. While Google is working on convincing more manufacturers to adopt RCS, Apple is a major holdout but if Apple adopts it, then texting between iPhone and Android phones would be much better.

Apple reportedly testing M3 chips for upcoming Mac devices; launching this fall

Jeet — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 01:05:34 +0000

Apple has been working on its next-generation Apple Silicon chips, and the company has now reportedly started testing the new Apple M3 series chips for its upcoming devices.

As per the latest report from Bloomberg, the new chips are expected to arrive as soon as October this year, i.e., in a couple of months. It also adds that the company is testing multiple variants of the chip.

The report indicates that the high-end chip in the lineup, the Apple M3 Max, may have four more high-performance CPU cores and at least two more graphics cores compared to the M2 Max chip, which was made available earlier this year.

Coming to the devices, the Cupertino-based tech giant is testing new iMacs, a 13-inch MacBook Pro, a 13-inch MacBook Air, a 15-inch MacBook Air, and a new Mac Mini. All these devices are running the M3 chip and are expected to go official in the next 12 months. It seems that we may have to wait a bit longer for the updated 14-inch and 16-inch models of the MacBook Pro.

The refresh cycle for the devices seems to have become a bit aggressive from Apple as the company is trying to move ahead from the struggling sales. The anticipated 15-inch MacBook Air got launched in June this year, but the sales numbers are not matching the company’s expectations.

As for the launch of the new chip and Mac devices, the company is expected to announce them in the month of October but an exact launch date is yet to be revealed.

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OPPO Find N3 foldable smartphone’s certification reveals 100W fast charging

Jeet — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 01:18:16 +0000

It’s been a couple of years since OPPO entered the foldable smartphone market, and the Chinese company is now all set to launch its third-generation foldable flip phone, dubbed OPPO Find N3.

Ahead of its launch, the smartphone has passed thorugh a certification process in its home country China which has revealed that the device will have 100W fast charging support.

OPPO Find N2 Foldable Smartphone

The certification for the phone with model number PHN110, manufactured by OPPO Guangdong Mobile Communications Limited, reveals that the device will come with a VCB7CACH charger in the box, which supports up to 100W fast charging. It has USB-C and USB-A interfaces with single-port 100W output and dual-port 50W output for each port.

Based on the leaks, the OPPO Find N3 foldable smartphone will offer a 2K screen resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate. It is expected to have a primary display of 8 inches and an outer cover display of 6.5 inches. Under the hood, the phone will come powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor.

The camera department will have a triple-camera setup offering a 50MP Sony IMX890 primary camera, a 48MP IMX581 ultrawide camera, and a periscope zoom camera. The front side will feature a 32MP snapper on the cover screen and another camera sensor on the inner screen.

Internally, the device is expected to come packed with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of internal storage. It will run the Android operating system with the company’s own ColorOS custom interface on top. The device will be powered by a 4,805mAh battery, and it now appears to have support for 100W fast charging.

Although the company has not yet officially confirmed the launch date for the OPPO Find N3 foldable smartphone, the device is expected to go official this month at a special event.

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Sonos Move 2 speaker with improved performance and battery life leaks ahead of launch

Jeet — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 00:45:23 +0000

Sonos, a company known for making high-end speakers, is now gearing up to launch its next portable speaker, dubbed Sonos Move 2 in a few weeks, most likely towards the end of next month.

As per the report from The Verge, the upcoming Sonos Move 2 speaker will be similar to the first-generation Sonos Move in terms of design and weigh a bit over six pounds.

While the speaker is said to have the same design, the company has reportedly made several improvements when it comes to audio performance, connectivity, and battery life. The report from The Verge has also revealed the first look of the Sonos Move 2 (pictured above), which it claims to have obtained from sources familiar with the company’s plans.

It is said that the Move 2 speaker will come with support for true stereo audio playback, made possible because of the addition of dual-angled tweeters. This is a major improvement given that the original Move supported only mono output as it had only one tweeter. There will also be a woofer for handling bass.

The device features Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 for connectivity and has a new switch on the back for disabling the voice assistant microphones. For voice assistance, it supports Amazon Alexa and Sonos Voice Control but has dropped Google Assistant.

The speaker will have support for line-in audio through a USB-C port and the users will also be able to charge mobile devices using the same port. It will also have IP56 ratings, making it dust and water resistance, and to protect it from drops and accidents, the company is said to have opted for shock-absorbent materials.

As for the battery life, the device is touted to support continuous playback of around 24 hours, more than double the 10-hour playback supported by the first-generation Sonos Move. The standby endurance should also improve as the company has designed the battery to use less energy when idle.

Coming to pricing and availability, the Sonos Move 2 will reportedly come in three colors — Black, White, and Olive. It is expected to be priced at $449 in the United States and could be launched in a few weeks.

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Apple iPhone 15 Pro to reportedly have Titanium frame and thinner bezels

Jeet — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 01:08:12 +0000

There have been many rumors about the upcoming iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro series models, and the new report from Mark Gurman of Bloomberg pretty much confirms some of the rumors for the devices.

According to the latest report, the Apple iPhone 15 Pro models will come with a Titanium frame for smartphones, while the bezels around the display will be thinner.

The report reveals that instead of the stainless steel frame, the new Pro models of the iPhone will come with titanium frame. Also, thanks to the new display technology, the bezels around the screen will be thinner, shrinking the size of the black border by about one third.

Earlier, it was reported that the company will swap out the mute button on the smartphones for a customizable button and the company’s proprietary Lighthing port will be replaced by the USB-C port.

While the features for the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro series models are appealing, the users will be paying a higher price. Some of the analysts are expecting up to $200 price hike for the Pro Max model. To know for sure, we will have to wait for the official launch in the coming month.

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Google Pixel Watch 2 watch faces and color scheme leak online

Jeet — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 02:25:19 +0000

Google is reportedly working on its next-generation wearable device, which is likely to be called Google Pixel Watch 2. Ahead of the official launch, the watch faces for the device have leaked.

There are four different categories of watch faces – Accessible, Arc, Bold Digital, and Analog Bold. The four watch faces that fall into the Accessible category are named Just Time, Circular, Linear, and Stacked Time.

On the other hand, the Arc category watch faces are a bit complex and highly customizable. There are six variants overall, but each has two sub-variant with a choice of either two or four complication slots.

The Bold Digital category is in line with screen clocks for Pixel phones running Android 14. This category uses bold, overlapping font and colorful palettes. Lastly, Analog Bold looks like a combo between the Arc and Bold Digital watch faces.

Apart from the customizable watch faces, the upcoming Google Pixel Watch 2 is expected to have some additional features in the Wear OS 4, like dynamic theming to adopt a custom color scheme for the watch’s user interface.

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Apple MacBook Air 15-inch model’s demand lower than the company’s expectations

Jeet — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 03:38:21 +0000

Recently, Apple unveiled the anticipated 15-inch model of the MacBook Air, which is similar to the regular 13-inch model of the MacBook Air but with a bigger screen.

While the device was highly anticipated for a couple of years, customers’ actual demand for the 15-inch MacBook Air is not matching up. In fact, the sales numbers are so low that the company is cutting production.

According to the latest report coming from DigiTimes, sources in the supply chain claim that sales for the new 15-inch MacBook Air are as much as 50 percent lower than the Cupertino-based tech giant’s predictions.

The report further adds that because of the low demand, the company is scaling back production, but it is not yet known if Apple has made the move to lower the production numbers or is still in consideration.

This is the first model of the Apple MacBook Air to feature a larger 15-inch display. Prior to this, users would need to purchase the more expensive MacBook Pro models if they wanted a larger than 13-inch screen.

Apple’s new 15-inch MacBook Air, launched last month at WWDC, carries a starting price of $1,299. It continues with the same design and M2 chip as the regular model but with a larger display and two extra speakers.

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Apple MacBook Pro and Mac Mini powered by M3 chip to launch next year

Jeet — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 03:07:24 +0000

Apple is working on its next generation of Apple Silicon chips, and the company is expected to release M3 chips in the coming months as a successor to the current M2 lineup of processors.

The Cupertino-based tech giant is also expected to announce MacBook Air powered by the M3 chip in the coming months. But the most powerful devices are expected to make their way next year.

According to the latest report from Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, Apple could launch a high-end MacBook Pro and Mac Mini, powered by the Apple M3 chipset, some next year.

In the Power On newsletter, he says, “It’s a sure thing that an M3 version of the Mac Mini is eventually coming,” but it is not imminent. He adds that the device isn’t expected to debut until late 2024, so it won’t be among the first series of M3-powered Macs. Similarly, the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are expected to launch sometime in the middle of 2024.

The first lineup of Mac devices powered by the new M3 chip is expected to get launched as early as October this year, including a 13-inch MacBook Pro, a 13-inch MacBook Air, and a 24-inch iMac.

The upcoming Apple M3 processor is expected to be manufactured by TSMC using its 3nm process, offering significant performance and power efficiency compared to the current-generation M2 chips made using a 5nm process.

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Elon Musk to rebrand Twitter to X and get rid of the famous bird logo

Jeet — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 01:15:05 +0000

Ever since Elon Musk acquired the microblogging platform Twitter, the social network has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Now, the company is undergoing a change that may not sit well for many.

Elon Musk has announced that Twitter will be rebranded to X, getting rid of the iconic blue-colored bird logo. Instead of the current logo, the new one will only show the letter ‘X.’

Further, it has also been revealed that the URL x.com will redirect users to Twitter. This may be the most dramatic change coming to the social media platform since Musk acquired it last year.

This could be a step forward for the company towards the long-envisioned super app named X by Elon Musk to offer a wide range of services to the users. Last year, Elon Musk said that buying Twitter “is an accelerant to creating X, the everything all.” Similarly, Twitter’s new CEO Linda Yaccarino said that “X will be the platform that can deliver, well….everything.”

With major changes coming to the platform in a short period and Elon Musk trying to retool the platform to his vision, the platform is facing several issues. Recent significant changes to the platform include firing several top executives and employees, rolling back content moderation policies, restricting access for regular users, and more.

This is impacting business, as Musk himself admitted last week that the ad revenue at Twitter is down 50 percent. It remains to be seen whether rebranding helps the company or adversely impacts the business.

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OPPO K11 smartphone confirmed to officially launch in China on July 25

Jeet — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 02:23:44 +0000

OPPO has today officially announced that the company will be launching its new K-series smartphone, dubbed OPPO K11, in its home market China on 25th July.

The launch event for the OPPO K11 for the Chinese market will take place on 25th July at 02:30 PM local time. The phone has already passed 3C certification at reportedly carries model number PJC3.

Based on the leaks so far, the OPPO K11 features a 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a centered hole-punch design and an under-display fingerprint sensor. The display is expected to have a smooth 120Hz refresh rate.

Under the hood, the device will come powered by an octa-core processor clocked at 2.7GHz, which is most likely to be the Qualcomm Snapdragon 782G.

In the camera department, the phone has a triple-camera setup on the back that includes a 50MP primary Sony IMX890 sensor, an 8MP secondary sensor, and a 2MP tertiary sensor. On the front side, there will be a 16MP snapper for taking selfies and video calling.

The smartphone will run the Android operating system with the company’s own ColorOS custom user interface. The device is expected to be powered by a 4,870mAh battery and has support for 100W fast charging.

Apple M3-powered Mac devices expected to launch in October this year

Jeet — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 03:17:24 +0000

Apple has been working on its next-generation Apple Silicon chips, and now it looks like the Cupertino-based tech giant is all set to release devices powered by the new Apple M3 chip in the coming months.

According to the latest report from Mark Gurman in his Power On newsletter for Bloomberg, he says that Apple could launch new Mac devices powered by the M3 chip in October this year.

He adds that Apple could launch the new iMac and 13-inch MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro, all powered by the M3 processor. It may seem that M3-powered devices are coming too soon, especially with M2 Ultra-powered devices getting launched last month. If the speculations are correct, the M2 lineup of chips got delayed because of supply chain issues.

As for the Apple Silicon M3 processor, the chip is expected to have similar core counts as its predecessor but with enhanced performance and efficiency as the chipset is reportedly being manufactured using the new 3-nanometer (3nm) fabrication process.

It is not yet confirmed if the company plans to hold a launch event for the new M3 chip and devices powered by it or if the company will make an announcement thorugh a press release. Whatever the case, we should know about it in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Apple is gearing up for its upcoming flagship smartphones and smartwatch in the month of September. The company will launch Apple iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro lineup along with the Apple Watch Series 9.

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FiiO FW3 HiFi TWS Earbuds now available in White color for 499 yuan ($70)

Jeet — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 01:17:44 +0000

Earlier this month, FiiO, the company known for making audiophile products, launched its new budget true wireless earphones in the market, dubbed FiiO FW3 HiFi.

Today, the company has added a new color option, White, which is now available for purchase in China for the price of 499 yuan, which roughly converts to $70.

The FiiO FW3 HiFi TWS earbuds come with a 10mm carbon-based dynamic driver and have support for Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity. Along with the Bluetooth receiver chip, there’s also an AKM “Velvet Sound” AK4332 chip in each earbud that combines DAC and a headphone amplifier.

The earphones are powered by the Qualcomm QCC5141, which adopts dual DSP and dual-core CPU architecture for the stability of Bluetooth audio and system operation. The company is also boasting about Snapdragon Sound certification, but it appears that there’s no support for aptX Lossless codec.

It also comes with a low-latency game mode, greatly reducing transmission delay. They have a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of up to 106dB, a distortion rate of as low as 96 dB, and a dynamic range of 102 dB. They are rated to last 7 hours on a single charge, and the charging case provides additional 21 hours of battery life.

FiiO’s Music application allows users to adjust a 10-band parametric EQ along with allowing users to adjust left/right balance as well as select their preferred DAC filter and Bluetooth codec. However, iPhone users are locked into AAC, but Android users can access the FW3’s support for LDAC, LHDC, aptX Adaptive, aptX, and SBC.

Foxconn pulls out from joint venture with Vedanta in India for a semiconductor factory

Jeet — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 02:59:25 +0000

Foxconn, the company known for manufacturing Apple iPhones, had last year announced a joint venture with Vedanta, an oil and metal corporation, to build a semiconductor plant in India.

Now, just weeks after the announcement, Foxconn has pulled out of the deal that is reportedly worth $19.5 billion. The company says that the deal was ended mutually, and it appears that Vedanta will move ahead with other partners.

In a statement, Foxconn said: “In order to explore more diverse development opportunities, according to a mutual agreement, Foxconn has determined it will not move forward on the joint venture with Vedanta.” It is now working towards removing its name from what is now a wholly-owned entity of Vedanta.

This is a blow to the Indian government, which has been trying to put efforts toward economic growth and government programs that are trying to promote manufacturing in the country.

Although several companies, including Apple, are working towards diversifying manufacturing outside of China because of political and economic uncertainties, India stands to benefit the most but hasn’t been able to make the most of this opportunity yet.

For those who are unaware, Foxconn and Vedanta last year signed a pact to set up semiconductor and display production plants in the state of Gujarat in India. As per the reports, chipmaker STMicroelectronics was being roped in as a technology partner for the venture, but talks were deadlocked.

Red Magic 8S Pro gaming smartphone goes on sale in China; price starts at 3,999 yuan ($553)

Jeet — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 01:17:56 +0000

Red Magic, the gaming brand from ZTE’s Nubia, was announced a few days back, and now the latest gaming smartphone from the brand is officially available for purchase in the Chinese market.

The smartphone, touted to be the first mobile phone with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Advanced Edition and 24GB of RAM, has a starting price of 3,999 yuan, which roughly converts to $553.

The Red Magic 8S Pro base model with 8GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage costs 3,999 yuan, while the top-end model with 12GB RAM and 512GB of internal storage is priced at 5,699 yuan.

On the other hand, the Red Magic 8S Pro+ starts at 5,499 yuan for 16GB RAM and 256GB storage, and it goes up to 7,499 yuan for the top-end model with 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

The smartphone features a 6.8-inch 120Hz AMOLED FHD+ display, offering a 960Hz touch sampling rate, peak brightness of 1300nits, 10-bit color depth, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, and 93.7% screen-to-body ratio. It also comes with a seventh-generation ultra-thin fingerprint sensor and an under-display camera.

Under the hood, the device is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Advanced Edition, coupled with up to 24GB of LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 internal storage. There’s also the company’s self-developed RedCore R2 gaming chip along with ICE 12 Magic Cooling system.

In the camera department, the phone has a triple-camera setup on the back that consists of a 50-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens, and a 2-megapixel macro lens. On the front side, it features a 16-megapixel snapper for taking selfies and video calling.

As for the software, the smartphone runs the Android 13 operating system out-of-the-box with the company’s own RedMagic OS 8.0 on top. There are tons of customizations for gaming and some gaming-centric features to enhance gameplay. It is powered by a 6,000mAh battery and comes with support for 80W fast charging.

Samsung Galaxy Unpacked launch event confirmed to take place on July 26th

Jeet — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 01:51:14 +0000

Samsung recently confirmed that the company will be hosting its next Galaxy Unpacked event in its home country South Korea. Now, the company has revealed the launch date.

The upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event from Samsung will take place on 26th July at 07:00 AM ET. The poster shared by the company also teases the next-generation foldable smartphone from the brand.

The Galaxy Unpacked launch event will be live-streamed on Samsung’s official website as well as on its YouTube channel. Apart from the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphones, the company is also expected to launch a few other devices at the event, including the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 series, tablets, and earphones.

As for the phones, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is expected to be an incremental update with a slightly smaller and lighter design, a more durable hinge, and an improved user experience. On the other hand, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is expected to come with a larger front-facing display and a more powerful processor.

The South Korean tech giant is also offering pre-order reservations for the foldable smartphones, offering a $50 credit when the customer places a pre-order. The reservation window will be open starting tonight through the 25th of July.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch powered by M2 chip gets Bluetooth 5.3 support

Jeet — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 07:19:36 +0000

Last year, when the Apple MacBook Air 13-inch model was launched, the laptop came with support for Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity out-of-the-box. That has now changed, based on the official specs listed on the company’s website.

As per the listing of the 13-inch MacBook Air on the Apple website, the device now has support for the newer Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity, which is said to be faster and more reliable.

The development comes after the Cupertino-based technology giant introduced the new 15-inch MacBook Air laptop with support for Bluetooth 5.3 at WWDC last month.

Thanks to the latest standard, the device will now have more reliable connections with Bluetooth accessories and improved power efficiency, which can contribute to longer battery life.

Bluetooth 5.0 is now a bit older technology, launched back in 2016. On the other hand, Bluetooth 5.3 was introduced in 2021 and a lot of Apple devices use it, including the iPhone 14 series, Apple Watch Ultra, AirPods Pro (2nd Gen), and the latest iPad Pro models.

The 13-inch MacBook Air also comes with a new 70W USB-C power adapter, similar to the 15-inch model. Recently, Apple expanded its self-repair program to include M2-powered MacBooks and the iPhone 14 lineup.

Instagram’s Twitter competitor Threads now available for pre-order on App Store

Jeet — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 02:37:33 +0000

Instagram has been working on a Twitter competitor named Threads, which was leaked a few weeks back. Now, it appears the company is all set to launch it in the coming days or weeks officially.

The official Instagram Threads application from Meta is now available for pre-order on Apple’s App Store, indicating that the launch is imminent.

While the company has not yet revealed the launch date, the listing on the App Store reveals that the application could get launched on 6th July, in just a couple of days. It is being said that Instagram Threads will integrate with the decentralized social media protocol used by Mastodon, called ActivityPub.

The official description of the application on the App Store listing reads: “Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow. Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favorite creators and others who love the same things — or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world.”

It remains to be seen if the company will adopt a slower rollout for users, which is more likely to happen. So, while the app may be available for download from the 6th of July, not everyone will be able to post on the platform from that date.

Twitter has been facing a lot of issues with the platform, especially after its acquisition by Elon Musk. While there were issues with the content moderation policies, the platform has had a lot of technical problems over the past few weeks. Given Twitter’s condition these days, it looks like a perfect time to launch a competing product.

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Volkswagen reportedly in talks with Tesla to adopt its NACS charging technology

Jeet — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 04:44:05 +0000

In a move that could further unify charging standards for electric vehicles in North America, Volkswagen is reportedly in talks with Tesla to adopt its North America Charging Standard (NACS) technology.

It’s noteworthy that the charging network unit of the German carmaker, Electrify America, which plans to expand its network to 1,700 stations by 2025, has already agreed to adopt the NACS port.

For those who are unaware, NACS is a proprietary charging connector developed by Tesla and is currently used on the company’s Supercharger network, which is the largest fast-charging network in North America, available at more than 12,000 locations across the continent.

It is a single-port charging system that has support for both AC and DC charging. Compared to the Combined Charging System (CCS) connector, the NACS connector is about half the size and twice as powerful.

The development comes days after Volvo announced that it would adopt NACS for its electric vehicles in the North American market. If the deal with Volkswagen goes through, it will be a boost for Tesla, which has been criticized for its closed charging system, making it difficult for other automakers to integrate their vehicles with the Supercharger network.

As of now, it’s not clear when Volkswagen and Tesla will reach an agreement on NACS, but the engagement in talks between these companies is a positive sign for the unification of charging standards.

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Redmi Note 12R smartphone goes on sale in China; price starts at 1,099 yuan ($152)

Jeet — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 04:08:02 +0000

Xiaomi’s newly launched smartphone under the Redmi brand, dubbed Redmi Note 12R, is now finally available for purchase in its home country China.

The Redmi Note 12R goes on sale in China today (i.e., 30th June) for the starting price of 1,099 yuan, roughly converting to $152.

Redmi Note 12R

The smartphone features a 6.79-inch LCD panel with a centered punch-hole for housing the camera sensor. It offers a Full HD+ screen resolution, a 90Hz refresh rate, a 240Hz touch sampling rate, and DC Dimming.

Under the hood, the device is powered by the newly announced Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 chipset, offering 5G connectivity. It packs up to 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.2 internal storage.

In the camera department, there’s a dual-camera setup on the back consisting of a 50-megapixel primary sensor and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. On the front side, there’s a 5-megapixel snapper for taking selfies and video calling.

The phone runs the Android 13 operating system out-of-the-box with the company’s own MIUI 14 custom user interface on top. The device is powered by a 5,000mAh battery which comes with support for 18W charging.

Stitcher, a popular podcast application to shut down on August 29

Jeet — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 02:17:16 +0000

Stitcher, a popular podcast application and web service, will be shutting down in August this year, as its parent company SiriusXM has announced on its website.

As for the reason behind the shutdown, the company says that it has decided to focus on its own SiriusXM application instead of the dedicated podcast application.

SiriusXM believes that the company can better compete in the market by focusing on its own application, given that the podcasting market has become very crowded and tech giants have entered this space, like Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify, among others.

Users of the Stitcher application may get impacted by the shutdown, especially those who have premium subscriptions. The company says that the users will need to cancel their subscription before 29th August, the day app is shutting down. It will be offering refunds to subscribers who have paid for a subscription that extends beyond August 29.

For those who are unaware, Stitcher was one of the first applications for podcasts that gained popularity, thanks to a number of features that made it easier to discover podcasts and get recommendations and curated lists. The app offered a large library of podcasts and some additional features in the premium version, including the ability to listen to podcasts without any advertisements.

Stitcher was launched in 2008 and was acquired by Deezer in 2014, which later sold the platform to Midroll Media. Finally, the app was acquired by SiriusXM in 2020 for $325 million. The company has said that it plans to continue offering Stitcher’s content on its own SiriusXM app.

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Volvo announces adoption of Tesla’s NACS charging port for its cars in North America

Jeet — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 01:47:06 +0000

With more and more car manufacturers heavily focusing on electric cars, there’s now a need for a standard charging port that can help in the long run with better and unified infrastructure for charging stations.

In line with that, Volvo Cars has announced that the company will adopt Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) for its electric vehicles sold in the North American market. This makes Volvo the first European car manufacturer to adopt this charging port.

Volvo EX30

With this move, the cars from Volvo with NACS port will be able to access Tesla‘s Supercharger network, which is currently available at more than 12,000 locations across the continent.

For those who are unaware, NACS is a single-port charging system that has support for both AC and DC charging. Compared to the Combined Charging System (CCS) connector, the NACS connector is about half the size and twice as powerful.

Commenting about this, Henrik Green, chief technology officer at Volvo Cars, said, “We are committed to making electric cars more convenient and accessible for our customers. By adopting NACS, we are giving our customers the freedom to charge their cars anywhere in North America.”

The development from Volvo is a major step towards a unified charging infrastructure in North America. It also gives a boost to Tesla, which has often been criticized for having a closed charging network.

As of now, Volvo has not announced which models will be available in the new connector but the first NACS-equipped vehicles from the company are expected to go on sale later this year.

Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 ultra-wide monitor now available for purchase; costs $2,199

Jeet — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 04:52:27 +0000

Earlier this year, during CES 2023 in January, Samsung revealed its new monitor named Odyssey OLED G9 and recently, the company officially launched the product.

Now, the Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 ultra-wide monitor is finally available for purchase in the United States, carrying a price tag of $2,199.

The Odyssey OLED G9 features a 49-inch QD-OLED display with a gently curved panel featuring a 1800R curvature. It has a Dual QHD screen resolution of 5,120 x 1,440 pixels, offering a wide and immersive viewing experience with its 32:9 ultrawide aspect ratio. The monitor also supports NVIDIA G-SYNC and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro.

Further, it offers a 240Hz refresh rate and a rapid 0.03ms response time for smooth and fluid motion, minimizing lag and blur. It is powered by a Neo Quantum Processor Pro chip that enhances image rendering for exceptional clarity and vividness. The monitor supports HDR10+ and carries VESA’s DisplayHDR True Black 400 certification, providing deep blacks and vibrant colors.

As for the software, it runs the Tizen operating system and provides a user-friendly interface with support for popular audio and video streaming apps. It comes with an HDMI 2.1 port, a Micro HDMI 2.1 port, and a DisplayPort 1.4 port for versatile connectivity options. There’s also a USB 3.0 hub, a height-adjustable stand, and support for VESA mounting.

Apple anticipates high sales for iPhone 15; Suppliers to stock devices from next month

Jeet — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 01:51:50 +0000

In a few months, Apple will announce its next-generation smartphones in the form of the iPhone 15 lineup. And this time, the company is expected to have high sales from the initial months.

Anticipating high sales for the iPhone 15, the Cupertino-based tech giant has reportedly started preparation to stock up on retailers from the month of July, i.e., next month.

By having the device stocked early this time, the company is trying to avoid supply chain disruptions that led to long wait times for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max last year.

As per the report, Apple is expecting the iPhone 15 lineup to sell better than the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 models and is putting in efforts to ensure it can meet the demand.

Apple iPhone 15 is said to come with several new features and improvements, including an improved design, a faster processor, and a better camera setup. The device is expected to be powered by the Apple A17 Bionic chipset, a new camera system with a 48-megapixel primary sensor, support for Wi-Fi 6E, and a longer battery life.

While the launch date is not yet confirmed, we expect the company to follow its tradition and announce the Apple iPhone 15 series, along with the new Apple Watch Series 9 in the month of September, with devices going on sale a couple of weeks after the launch.

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Apple to reportedly not include overhead strap for Vision Pro in the box

Jeet — Mon, 26 Jun 2023 01:22:48 +0000

At WWDC earlier this month, Apple finally unveiled its highly anticipated mixed-reality headset, dubbed Apple Vision Pro. There have been a lot of talks about this new device from the company, given that it marks Apple’s foray into new technology.

While most of the talks revolve around technology, some discuss the accessories related to the device. The device comes with a stretchable 3D knitted fabric headband that goes around the user’s head behind their ears. But there’s another strap that the company hasn’t talked about yet.

An additional overhead strap is most likely to help balance the headset and keep it from getting easily dislodged when the user is in motion. It appeared briefly during the WWDC keynote in one of the promotional materials, but the company hasn’t talked about it.

The Cupertino-based technology giant has not yet revealed the weight of the Vision Pro, but the device is expected to be quite heavy, especially since Apple decided to offload the battery to an external pack. In this case, the additional strap over the head could dramatically balance the device’s weight and offer a better experience while using it.

Since the company has not talked about this additional strap and has not mentioned it in the marketing materials, it’s likely that Apple plans to sell it as an additional accessory and not include it in the retail box of the device. To know for sure, we will have to wait for an announcement of confirmation from Apple.

Opera launches new Opera One web browser with built-in AI-powered Aria chatbot

Jeet — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 02:52:58 +0000

Opera has announced a new version of its web browser called Opera One. A major addition to the software is an AI-powered chatbot called Aria.

Similar to the Bing chatbot in Microsoft Edge, the Aria chatbot also resides within the sidebar of the browser and can answer questions using real-time information, give suggestions, and more.

Apart from the AI-powered chatbot Aria, the browser also comes with a redesigned look and feel and some new features which aim to make the browsing experience intuitive and productive.

It comes with a feature called Tab Islands, a new way of organizing tabs into groups that are related to each other. Users can create different Tab Islands for work, personal, etc., and can quickly switch between them.

The Aria chatbot, which can search the web, generate text, and write code, is powered by OpenAI’s GPT technology — the same technology that is powering Bing from Microsoft. To use the tool, users need to sign up for an Opera account if they don’t already have it.

Built on the company’s new Modular Design framework that is touted to offer more flexibility and customization, the web browser also comes with a built-in VPN, a battery saver mode, and more.

The company started testing this new Opera One web browser last month but now it is available for everyone. It is now available to download for Windows, Linux, and macOS.

Microsoft announces price hike for Xbox Series X and Xbox Game Pass

Jeet — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 00:20:05 +0000

Technology giant Microsoft has announced that the company will be increasing the pricing of its latest gaming console Xbox Series X as well as its gaming subscription service Xbox Game Pass.

The Xbox Series X will increase its pricing by $50, from $499 to $549, but the Xbox Series S pricing remains the same in all markets. The company has recently introduced a new black model of Xbox Series S with 1TB storage for $349.

Along with the increase in pricing for the new generation of gaming consoles from Microsoft, the Redmond-based tech company is also increasing the price of the Xbox Game Pass from $10 per month to $12 per month for the standard plan while the price of the Ultimate plan will rise from $15 per month to $18 per month.

Commenting about this, the company has said that the price increase is a necessary step to continue investment in the “best gaming experiences.” Further, it adds that the company would be offering several ways for customers to save money on Xbox Game Pass, including a yearly subscription option and a family plan.

The price change will go into effect from 6th July for new customers, but those who are already monthly subscribers won’t be impacted by the change until 13th August. Those who are on the yearly subscription of Xbox Game Pass will continue to use the service without any impact until they renew the subscription.

This development isn’t surprising given that the company was expected to increase pricing for the Xbox lineup as Sony did the same with its PlayStation 5 last year.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 to reportedly be priced lower than its predecessor

Jeet — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 00:38:16 +0000

Samsung has a lineup of foldable smartphones and the Galaxy Z Fold series has been one of the most popular foldable smartphones in the market. While foldable smartphones have been getting traction, it still remains out of reach for most users because of the pricing.

Now, as per the latest report, the South Korean technology giant is expected to price the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 foldable smartphone lower than its predecessor, Galaxy Z Fold 4.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 leaked render by MySmartPrice

According to the report from Revegnus, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is expected to be priced at $1,699, which is $100 less than the price of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 when the phone was launched. As of now, this is just a rumor so we advise you to take this information with a pinch of salt.

If the leaks are to be believed, then the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 will feature a 7.6-inch QHD+ AMOLED primary display and a 6.5-inch Full HD+ AMOLED cover display, both screens offering support for a 120Hz refresh rate.

Under the hood, the smartphone will come powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, coupled with 12GB of LPDDR5x RAM and up to 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage.

In the camera department, the phone will have a 50MP primary camera, a 12MP ultra-wide sensor, and a 10MP telephoto lens in the triple-camera setup at the back. On the front side, there will be a 12MP front-facing snapper, and is also rumored to have a 4MP under-display camera.

The foldable smartphone will run the Android 13 operating system out-of-the-box with the company’s own One UI custom user interface on top. The device will be powered by a 4,400mAh battery and come with support for 45W fast charging and 15W wireless charging.

Samsung has confirmed that the company will host its next Galaxy Unpacked event in Seoul, South Korea. While the date has not been announced yet, it is expected to take place towards the end of July, most likely on 27th July. The company is also expected to host a separate launch event in North America for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphones.

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OPPO Watch 3 Blue color version goes on sale in China; priced at 1,499 yuan ($210)

Jeet — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 02:58:47 +0000

Last year, OPPO launched a new generation of its smartwatch — OPPO Watch 3. A few weeks back, the company announced a new Blue color option for the wearable device, along with two new strap options.

Today, the Blue-colored OPPO Watch 3 officially goes on sale in the Chinese market for the price of 1,499 yuan which roughly converts to $210.

The company describes the new addition to the wearable lineup as something designed for summer and adds that it brings “a touch of coolness to the sweltering summer.”

As for the specifications, the OPPO Watch 3 features a 1.75-inch AMOLED screen with a 430 x 372 pixels screen resolution and 326 PPI pixel density. Under the hood, it is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 chipset paired with 1GB RAM and 32GB storage.

There’s also the company’s in-house developed Apollo 4 Plus chip. Coming to the software, the smartwatch dual-boots ColorOS Watch based on Wear OS and RTOS. It offers LTE connectivity, Bluetooth 5.0, GNSS, and NFC, along with sensors like an accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, optical heart rate sensor, SpO2 sensor, ambient light sensor, and altimeter.

The device is powered by a 400mAh battery which the company claims can offer up to four days of usage on a single charge, but using LTE mode reduces the battery life by a day. However, in the RTOS mode, the smartwatch is claimed to last for up to 14 days on a single charge.

Nubia Neo budget gaming smartphone powered by Unisoc T820 SoC to launch this month

Jeet — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 02:29:01 +0000

Nubia, the ZTE-backed brand known for launching gaming-focused productions, is now gearing up to launch yet another gaming smartphone in the market.

Interestingly, the upcoming Nubia Neo gaming smartphone will not be powered by Qualcomm or MediaTek’s chip but will rely on Unisoc’s SoC to power the device.

The Nubia Neo gaming smartphone, which the company has already confirmed will be up for pre-order in the Chinese market from 20th June, will come powered by the Unisoc T820 processor.

As per the report, the chipset packs 1 ARM Cortex-A76 core at 2.7GHz, thee Cortex-A76s cores clocked at 2.3GHz, and four Cortex-A55 cores at 2.1GHz. Coming to the graphics part, the chipset will feature Mali-G57 MC4 GPU.

From the specifications, it’s clear that the upcoming Nubia Neo gaming smartphone is nowhere near the RedMagic lineup, but the company has focused on the design of the phone to make it look like a gaming device.

The Nubia Neo gaming smartphone will be a budget offering from the company, which is slated to be available for pre-orders in China from 20th June. It is also being reported that the phone will be launched in the global market, but not much is known about it at this time.

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Twitter could soon limit the number of DMs users can send without Twitter Blue subscription

Jeet — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 01:27:26 +0000

Twitter, which has been limiting features for users who don’t pay for the service, is now working on yet another feature that will restrict access to some features that are currently available for free of cost.

As per the latest news, the microblogging platform is working on limiting the number of direct messages or DMs that a user can send if that user isn’t a premium Twitter Blue subscriber.

It is being reported that the company will limit the number of DMs to 30 for the free users, which is currently set at 500 DMs per day. With such a move, it seems that the company aims to nudge users to become paid subscribers of Twitter Blue, a premium subscription service from the platform that offers more features.

Some of the features that are available to Twitter Blue subscribers include the ability to undo tweets, write longer tweets, pin tweets at the top of the profile, and access some of the exclusive content, among others.

It’s noteworthy that Twitter hasn’t officially announced this change of limiting the number of DMs for free users, but the feature appears to be currently under testing and could be rolled out in a few days.

Recently, it was confirmed by Elon Musk that the company is working on releasing an update that will restrict the ability to send DMs to only those who follow the sender. Only verified users or Twitter Blue subscribers will be able to send DMs to the users who are not following them.

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