Amazon sends Legal Notice to India’s Future Group after recent deal with Reliance Retail

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Oct 8, 2020

A new report has revealed that the global shipments of small to mid sized LCD panels will remain steady for at least the next 5 year period. It is being forecasted that the displays will reach 1.82 billion units in 2025, despite seeing an on year fall of 19.7 percent to 1.81 billion units in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

According to a DigiTimes report, the demand for smartphone displays is currently the largest application segment for small to mid sized LCD panels. Furthermore, this segment is expected to recover in 2021. The report states that the global handset display shipments will grow by a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 3.1 percent from 2020 to 2025, with smartphone applications rising at a higher CAGR of 5.9 percent.

Although, this also includes AMOLED displays, which are expected to reach 40 percent of the total handset display panel segment by 2023. This would result in the LCD smartphone display’s CAGR fall by 0.8 percent during the five year period, as per estimation. For those unaware, AMOLED panels have been growing in popularity with each passing year.

However, the rise of IoT applications within the industry for automotive, smart speakers, and household appliances will have the related IoT applications aso boost the sales of small to mid sized LCD panels starting from 2022. The report estimates that these displays for IoT applications will grow by a CAGR of 6.1 percent between 2020 to 2025.

Semiconductor sales grow in August 2020

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Oct 8, 2020

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has reported that the worldwide sales of semiconductors have grown in the month of August 2020. As per their report, the sales reached 36 billion US Dollars.

According to TheElec report, the growth marks a 4.9 percent increase year on year from back in 2019 during the same month. Furthermore, this also showcases the growth of 3.6 percent from back in July 2020. Notably, the rise arrives as the seventh consecutive month where the industry has seen growth, with the most noticeable surge being seen in America.

In the US, sales rose by 23.6 percent year on year, reaching 7.92 billion US Dollars in the month of August. Similarly, other regions like China and the Asia Pacific also witnessed a growth of 3 percent and 2.1 percent respectively from the same month from back in 2019. However, despite the overall growth, the semiconductor sales in Europe declined by 10.1 percent, with Japan also seeing a drop of 1.4 percent as well.

Although, all other regions saw growth when compared to July 2020, with the Asia Pacific/All Others seeing a 5.6 percent growth, and Europe sales rising by 5.5 percent. China, the Americas, and Japan saw an increase of 2.9 percent, 2.6 percent, and 1.5 percent, respectively. But SIA also noted that it expected to see a negative trend from the remainder of the year, as uncertainties remain high from the coming months.

HONOR Watch GS Pro & HONOR Watch ES debut in India

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Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Oct 8, 2020

Last week, HONOR, the sub-brand of HUAWEI, announced to launch HONOR Watch GS Pro and HONOR Watch ES in India today (October 8). As expected, these two wearables have been now unveiled in the country for a cheaper price tag than in Europe. Surprisingly, the brand did not announce HONOR CHOICE True Wireless Earbuds, which was tipped to launch alongside these two smartwatches.

HONOR Watch GS Pro India Price & Availability

The HONOR Watch GS Pro is the brand’s first rugged smartwatch. It was initially unveiled at IFA 2020 for European markets. Some of its notable features include 1.39-inch circular AMOLED display, MIL-STD-810G certification for durability, 25-day battery life, over 100 workout modes, built-in GPS, Bluetooth calling, Kirin A1, and LiteOS.

This wearable is priced at ₹17,999 in India and will be sold exclusively on Flipkart. It will be available for purchase starting October 16 during Flipkart Big Billion Days sale.

HONOR Watch ES India Price & Availability

The HONOR Watch ES, on the hand, is the company’s first smartwatch with a 1.64-inch rectangular AMOLED display. Unlike the above wearable, this one is targeted at fashionable customers. Further, to make it stand out amongst competitors, apart from the design, this watch also comes with 12 animated workout courses.

HONOR Watch ES Featured — HONOR Watch ES – Coral Pink, Meteorite Black, and Icelandic White

That said, this smartwatch will be exclusive to Amazon India for a price tag of ₹7,499. It will go on sale starting Amazon Great India Festival sale, which is scheduled to begin from October 17.

Google faces antitrust challenge in India over abuse in Smart TV market

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Oct 8, 2020

Troubles for Alphabet’s Google in terms of antitrust cases seem to be piling up. The company is now facing a new antitrust case in India which alleges that the tech giant is abusing its Android operating system’s position in the Smart TV market.

The development, which was first reported by Reuters citing an unnamed person and two lawers as the source, is the fourth antitrust challenge for Google in India. As per the report, the company has been under the radar since June this year.

The allegation is regarding Google’s agreements with companies that effectively stop them from using both the Android system and a modified version of it on different devices that the companies make.

For example, if a company is making and selling smartphones powered by the Android operating system, the same company cannot sell Smart TV running its competition platform such as Amazon Fire TV. Similarly, if the company is selling Smart TV running a different OS, then it cannot offer Google’s services and apps on their phones.

EDITOR’S PICK: Genshin Impact has brought in $60 million in the first week, becomes the world’s No. 2 grossing mobile game

As per the report, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has been looking into the allegations that Google engages in anti-competitive practices by creating barriers for firms wanting to use or develop modified versions of Android for Smart TVs, such as Amazon Fire TV’s operating system.

The case against Google has been filed by two antitrust lawyers — Kshitiz Arya and Purushottam Anand. CCI had directed Google to submit its written responses to the allegations and the company has sought more time.

In the past couple of years, Google has faced three issues related to antitrust in the Indian market. Currently, the tech giant is also facing antitrust challenges in the United States and China is also gearing up for the same.

LG Wing sees lackluster pre orders, but within company’s expectations

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Oct 8, 2020

The LG Wing has been available for pre orders, with a new report suggesting that the device only managed to reach 1,275 units. While this figure is woefully unimpressive, it is still apparently in line with the company’s expectations.

LG Wing is priced at 1.09 million Won (roughly 940 US Dollars), which is quite a bit more reasonable than other smartphones with such a unique design or any foldable handsets. It arrives with a 6.8 inch primary display and a 3.9 inch secondary screen underneath. The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G, allowing 5G networking support as well.

According to a PhoneArena report, the South Korean company only managed to get 1,275 units in pre orders. In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 saw 80,000 units for pre orders. Although, this is not surprising since the former is one of the top brands in the entire industry while the former is struggling in the market, which is also why the brand is experimenting on smartphones with a unique design.

Pre order comparison(in Korea)
Galaxy Z Fold 2 : 80,000 units
LG Wing : 1,275 units (For reference, LG’s target is 3,000 units.)

— Sleepy Kuma (@Kuma_Sleepy) October 5, 2020

Notably, a tweet from Sleepy Kuma on Twitter revealed the information as well as the comparison. However, it also revealed that the lackluster pre orders for the LG Wing aren’t something unexpected since LG was reportedly only aiming at 3,000 units in pre orders. In other words, the figures won’t be disappointing with the company only expecting such a small number of pre orders, which the brand will likely be met.

Genshin Impact has brought in $60 million in first week, becomes the world’s No. 2 grossing mobile game

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Oct 8, 2020

The newly released mobile RPG video game, Genshin Impact, has seen great success since its launch. The game was released by Chinese publisher miHoYo and has generated over $60 million in player spending in both the App Store and Google Play combined within the first week of its official launch.

According to a SensorTower report, the video game is currently the world’s second highest grossing title, just behind Honor of Kings from Tencent Games and above PUBG Mobile. As per the report, it is also the highest earning mobile game in the RPG genre in the world this week and ranks above other known titles like Monster Strike and Fate/Grand Order, which arrive in second and third places respectively.

Genshin Impact has seen great success across the globe, especially in China, where the Chinese version of the game brought in close to $25 million in player spending so far on Apple’s App Store alone, which is close to 42 percent of its total revenue. This figure doesn’t include any other third party app stores. While the game has become popular globally, its primary market is still its home country, with $35 million or about 58 percent of its revenue coming from China alone.

At the moment, Genshin Impact is also the third highest grossing mobile game title in China, during its launch week. Similarly, it also ranked third in Japan and fifth in the US in terms of revenue generating mobile games. Furthermore, the App Store brought in the majority of the revenue, accounting for $42 million or 70 percent of the total revenue. On the other hand, Google Play brought in just $17.7 or about 30 percent of the total revenue.

Samsung estimates 58% rise in profits to $10.6 billion in Q3 2020

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Oct 8, 2020

South Korean giant Samsung Electronics has today revealed that the company’s profit for the three months that ended in September, i.e. in Q3 2020, has likely witnessed a growth of 58 percent compared to last year.

As per the company, the operating profit for the third quarter of this year stands at 12.3 trillion Korean won, which is about $10.6 billion. Consolidated sales were approximately 66 trillion won for the quarter, up about 6.5 percent than a year ago.

The numbers revealed by Samsung in its earnings guidance is higher than the 10.5 trillion won that analysts had predicted for the September quarter. In the second quarter, the company had posted a 23 percent jump in operating profit to 8.1 trillion won (~$7 billion).

Samsung has not provided a breakdown of how its different business units performance. However, it is being speculated that the results are driven by a rise in smartphone sales, consumer electronics, and home appliances in the third quarter as well as higher earnings in the memory-related business.

EDITOR’S PICK: Huawei may sell the Honor mobile phone business, predicts analyst Ming-Chi Kuo

The South Korean giant is in a pretty good position right now and is expected to register further growth in the coming quarters, at the expense of Huawei. The Chinese giant is facing several issues and is currently fighting to keep its business afloat and the biggest beneficiary seems to be Samsung.

Apart from the smartphone business, Samsung is also impacting Huawei in the network equipment business. Last month, the company won a network equipment supply contract from Verizon worth around $6.6 billion.

Apple isn’t ditching iPhone notch anytime soon

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Oct 8, 2020

After months of speculation and anticipation, Apple has finally confirmed that it will be hosting a digital event on 13th September. While the company has not confirmed the devices getting launch, it is going to launch its next-generation iPhone 12 models.

Ahead of the official launch, most of the details about the upcoming smartphones have already been leaked online. We know that all the models will have an OLED display panel and the usual wide notch on top of the screen.

If you were hoping that the next year’s iPhone model will get rid of the notch on top of the display for a full-screen experience or some other kind of solution so that the company could offer edge-to-edge experience and better STB ratio, then you will be disappointed.

A popular leakster has claimed through a tweet that iPhone 13, which will get released in 2021, will also have a notch on top of the display, but it will be a bit thinner compared to what Apple is currently offering.

EDITOR’S PICK: Broadcom is ending its exclusivity deal for seven years in EU antitrust deal

Many smartphone manufacturers have been trying out different types of solutions to get rid of the big notch on the display. Android phone makers have adopted pop-up camera modules, dot-notch, and pill-shaped notch to offer a better screen-to-body ratio.

However, it seems that Apple isn’t interested in trying out such solutions. Instead, it seems like the company is waiting for the under-display camera technology to be solid enough for mainstream commercial usage.

POCO X3 NFC launching in Indonesia on October 15

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Sudarshan Ravichandran

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Oct 8, 2020

POCO X3 NFC made its global debut in Europe in early September. Later, in the same month, a slightly different version of the handset called POCO X3 was unveiled in India. Now, the brand has confirmed to launch the original model in Indonesia on October 15.

The POCO X3 NFC is the successor to POCO X2 launched in the first quarter in India as a rebranded Redmi K30 4G. It is the world’s first smartphone to come with Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G chipset.

Just like its predecessor, it sports a 120Hz refresh rate LCD panel, however, its back is made of polycarbonate. But unlike its forerunner, it is IP53-certified for splash resistant. Also, it comes with a better 13MP ultra-wide-angle camera.

Further, the POCO X3 NFC is thicker and heavier at 9.4mm and 215g, compared to POCO X2, which measures 8.8mm and weighs 208g respectively. That’s because it has a larger 5,160mAh battery than the 4,500mAh unit present inside the previous model.

That said, it is not as thick (10.1mm) and heavy (225g) as the Indian POCO X3 that comes with a beefier 6,000mAh battery.

The POCO X3 NFC is sold in two variants – 6GB +64GB & 6GB +128GB in Europe priced at €229 and €269 respectively. It should cost less in Indonesia when it will launch in the country on October 15.

Broadcom ending its exclusivity deal for 7 years in EU antitrust deal

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Oct 8, 2020

Broadcom is apparently going to end the exclusivity deals that it had offered to TV and modem makers for seven years in a deal with EU antitrust regulators. This move arrives after a year long investigation by the European Commission that hasn’t found any wrongdoing on Broadcom’s part.

For those unaware, the European Commission started an investigation against the US based chipmaker in June 2019, and had even threatened to issue an interim order, the first in two decades, to stop such practices during the course of the investigation. Broadcom is a known supplier of Apple and even makes chips for smartphones, computers, and even networking equipment as well.

According to the EU competition regulator, “Broadcom will suspend all existing agreements containing exclusivity or quasi-exclusivity arrangements and/or leveraging provisions concerning Systems-on-a-Chip (SoCs) for TV set-top boxes and Internet modems, and has committed not to enter into new agreements comprising such terms.”

As per the Reuters report, the company will not offer price or non price incentives to TV and modem makers to buy a minimum number of its products in Europe. Furthermore, these purchases will also not be related to the sales of other products either. Similarly, Broadcom will also pledge not to offer price or non price incentives to TV and modem makers to buy more than 50 percent of its products or have its sales related to any other products for more than 50 percent of its products globally, excluding China.

Taiwan sees rise in exports in September because of Huawei stockpiling

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Oct 8, 2020

Before new sanctions on Chinese giant Huawei were set to kick-off from 15th September, the company had started stockpiling the necessary components to ensure that the business doesn’t go under.

Thanks to that stockpiling from Huawei, Taiwan has witnessed a rise in exports for the month of September. As per the report, the exports jumped 9.4 percent from a year earlier to $30.71 billion last month.

EDITOR’S PICK: Redmi General Manager hints the launch of new phones in October; Could it be Redmi K30T?

This is the second-highest monthly tally on record as far as exports from Taiwanese firms are concerned. The month of August had also witnessed a rise in export — an 8.3 percent increase, helped by Huawei.

For those who are unaware, the Trump administration expanded restriction on Huawei in the month of August and banned suppliers from selling chips made in the U.S. or using U.S. technology to Huawei without a special license. The new sanctions took effect in mid-September and thus, the Chinese giant had started stockpiling components.

It’s noteworthy that Taiwan’s September imports unexpectedly fell by 5.4 percent, against economists’ expectations for a 3 percent increase. As per the report, Taiwan, which has China as its largest trading partner, could see around 2 percent exports this month, i.e. October 2020, said Taiwan’s finance ministry.

Here are the top 10 app installs for September 2020

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Oct 8, 2020

Despite facing issues in a few countries, the short-form social media app TikTok continues to be the most downloaded non-gaming app worldwide for September 2020, according to the new report from Sensor Tower.

In the month of September, TikTok witnessed more than 61.1 million installs, which represents a 2 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

Zoom was the second most installed non-gaming app with around 55 million installs, a growth of 21.4 times compared to September 2019. Completing the list of the top five most downloaded apps last month include Facebook, WhatsApp, and Google Meet.

Following the top five apps, other apps that made it to the top 10 most installed applications in the month of September 2020 include Instagram, Snack Video, Messenger, Telegram, and Snapchat.

EDITOR’S PICK: U.S. House panel rules Facebook, Apple, Amazon & Google are abusing their market power

As for the countries, it was Brazil which saw the most number of installs in September, representing 11 percent of the total installs worldwide. It was followed by the United States, which captured 9 percent of the total installs.

Do note that the report from Sensor Tower is for non-gaming mobile applications downloaded from 1st September 2020 to 30th September 2020 through Apple App Store and Google Play Store and no third-party app store.

Also, the company has clarified that it does not count Apple’s own applications and pre-installed Google apps. Further, the report includes only unique downloads and combines multiple versions of apps into one. For instance, Messenger and Messenger Lite from Facebook are counted together.

Redmi GM hints launch of new phones in October; Could it be Redmi K30T?

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Oct 8, 2020

Yesterday, Redmi General Manager Lu Weibing released a Weibo that hinted that the company will be announcing new devices in this quarter. His Weibo post also reveals that Redmi will also unveil products this month. A well-known tipster shared the list of the phones that are expected to debut this month in China. He has revealed that the new Redmi K30 smartphones will break cover this month.

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The M2007J3SC 5G phone was recently certified by the 3C authority of China. It revealed that the phone could be coming with a 33W charger. The ‘C’ at the end of the model number hints that it is a Chinese version of the M2007J3SG model number that belongs to the Xiaomi Mi 10T.

There are rumors that claim that the Xiaomi Mi 10T will be rebranded as the Redmi K30T in China. The K30T is likely to rival with the iQOO Neo3 5G handset. It is unclear whether the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro will be arriving as the Redmi K30T Pro in the home market.

Editor’s Pick: Redmi TV Soundbar to debut soon in India, claims report

Xiaomi Mi 10T specifications

The Xiaomi Mi 10T has a 6.67-inch IPS LCD punch-hole display that offers a full HD+ resolution and a 144Hz refresh rate. The Snapdragon 865 mobile platform and a 5,000mAh battery powers the handset. The phone comes with up 8 GB of RAM and up to 256 GB of storage. It carries support for 33W fast charging.

The Mi 10T has a front-facing snapper of 20-megapixel. Its rear features a 64-megapixel main camera, a 13-megapixel ultrawide shooter, and a 5-megapixel macro lens. It is preinstalled with MIUI 12 skinned Android 10 OS. It is fitted with a side-mounted fingerprint scanner. It is not clear whether the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro will be rebadged as the Redmi K30T Pro.

Coming back to the Weibo post by the tipster, he has mentioned that the Realme Q2 will launch on Oct. 13 in China followed by the iPhone 12 series and the OnePlus 8T on Oct. 15. Apart from the new Redmi K30 series smartphones, this month will also see the arrival of the Mate 40 series.

Realme Q2 again tipped to debut on October 13

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Oct 8, 2020

Realme is reportedly working on the launch of the Realme Q2 smartphone. The device is expected to succeed the Realme Q phone that debuted in September 2019. According to a piece of leaked information shared by a Chinese tipster, the Realme Q2 will go official on Oct. 13 in China.

Not only him, but other digital bloggers on Weibo are also claiming that the Realme Q2 phone will break cover on Oct. 13. There are speculations that the Q2 will come preloaded with Realme UI 2.0 based Android 10 OS.

Editor’s Pick: Realme 7i and Realme 7 Pro SE with sun-kissed leather back unveiled for Rs 11,999 (~$163) and Rs 19,999 (~$272)

Two Realme phones with model numbers Realme RMX2173 and RMX2117 smartphones were approved by the TENAA authority in September. There is conflicting information on which of these devices will be debuting as the Realme Q2. There is a possibility that both devices may hit the Chinese markets as Q-series handsets.

The Realme RMX2173 has a 6.43-inch AMOLED display with full HD+ resolution support. It is integrated with an in-screen fingerprint sensor. It is fueled by a 2.4Ghz octa-core processor and 6 GB / 8 GB RAM. The handset was recently seen at AnTuTu with 519992 benchmarking scores. It is expected to arrive with 128 GB / 256 GB of storage. The phone has a 4,000mAh battery that seemingly supports 65W fast charging. It has a 48-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel + 2-megapixel quad-camera setup and a front-facing snapper of 16-megapixel.

The RMX2117 has a 6.5-inch FHD+ display, a 2.4GHz octa-core processor, up to 8 GB of RAM, up to 256 GB of storage, and a 5,000mAh battery. It has a 16-megapixel front camera, and a 48-megapixel + 8-megapixel + 2-megapixel triple camera system. Lastly, it has a side-mounted fingerprint reader.

OPPO A15 triple camera configurations officially confirmed

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Oct 8, 2020

Recent reports have revealed that OPPO could be planning to release the new OPPO A15 in multiple markets like India, Thailand, Indonesia, and Europe. India could be the first market to receive it as the phone’s promo page is already live on the Amazon India retailer site. Today, the page got updated with the configurations of the rear cameras of the OPPO A15.

The OPPO A15 sports a trendy square-shaped camera housing at the upper-left corner of its back panel. The camera setup features a 13-megapixel main lens, a 2-megapixel macro lens, and a 2-megapixel sensor. The A15’s launch date is still a mystery. It is speculated that the smartphone may go official ahead of the Great Indian Sale shopping festival that begins on Oct. 17 on Amazon India.

Apart from the camera details, only a few specs of the OPPO A15 are known so far. Its FCC certification had revealed that it is has a 4,230mAh battery that supports 10W charging, a USB-C port, and a 3.5mm audio. The handset also features a traditional rear-facing fingerprint sensor.

Editor’s Pick: Realme Smart Cam 360°, Smart Plug, Sonic N1 Electric Toothbrush, Selfie Tripod, and Power Bank 2 launched in India

Judging from the specs that have surfaced so far, it appears that the A15 could be priced under Rs 10,000 (~$136) in India. The Amazon listing of the device is expected to get updated with newer information on its specs in the coming days.

The FCC and NBTC (Thailand) certifications have revealed that the OPPO A15 has a CPH2185 model number. There is another phone called the OPPO A15s that has received approval from the EEC and Singapore’s IMDA authorities. The model number of the phone is CPH2179. As there is no information on the specs of the OPPO A15s, it is unclear whether it will be positioned lower than the OPPO A15.

Samsung Galaxy M31 Prime Edition moniker and color variants leaked

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Oct 8, 2020

Samsung has recently started teasing the arrival of a new M-series phone through Amazon India. The promo page on the retailer site only mentions it as Galaxy M Prime, but its source code revealed that it could be called Galaxy M31 Prime. Well-known tipster Ishan Agarwal has revealed through 91mobiles that the device will be breaking cover as the Galaxy M31 Prime Edition. He also shared the color variants of the smartphone.

The specs of the Galaxy M31 Prime Edition mentioned on the Amazon listing resemble with the Galaxy M31. It is unclear what differs the Prime Edition from the M31. Samsung announced the M31 back in February this year in color variants like Ocean Blue and Space Black. The publication revealed that the upcoming Galaxy M31 Prime Edition will be available in these two colors as well as in a new color named Iceberg Blue.

The Galaxy M31 Prime Edition promo page at Amazon India mentions that it is an Exynos 9611 chipset powered handset and it will come with 6 GB of LPDDR4x RAM and it has 64 GB / 128 GB of storage. Interestingly, the tipster claims that the Galaxy M31 Prime Edition will be available in a sole version of 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage.

Editor’s Pick: Samsung reportedly beats TSMC to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 750G orders

The Galaxy M31 Prime Edition has an Infinity-U notch display. It has a front-facing camera of 32-megapixel and its rear-mounted quad-camera system consists of a 64-megapixel main camera, an 8-megapixel superwide lens, a 5-megapixel macro shooter, and a 5-megapixel depth sensor.

The smartphone is equipped with a rear-mounted fingerprint reader. It is backed by a 6,000mAh battery that supports 15W charging. It also features a microSD card slot. At present, there is no word on the specifications of the device.

Google Assistant will soon get a guest mode feature

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Habeeb Onawole

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Oct 8, 2020

Google Assistant is available on a variety of devices from smartphones to speakers, to smart TVs. Since its launch, the Google Assistant has gotten new features such as support for more voices. Now Google says it will begin rolling out a Guest mode feature to the AI assistant.

A blog post by Google says that the feature will begin rolling out in the next few weeks. With Guest Mode, interactions with the Google Assistant are not saved to your Google Account. This can be likened to using incognito mode when browsing.

Google says you will be able to activate Guest Mode with a voice command. At the moment, you can ask Google Assistant to delete your last query and it will remove it from your Google Account. However, if you have multiple queries, that can be tiring. Guest Mode eliminates the need for that.

The blog post also revealed that Google will begin sending critical security alerts directly to users when using a Google app rather than to your email. So if you are using Google Maps and there is a security alert, you will be notified with the app. The notification will come via a blinking red icon on your Google account profile picture in the corner.

Redmi TV Soundbar to debut soon in India, claims report

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