Microsoft has, in a surprise announcement, stated that it will shut down Mixer, its streaming service and provide existing partners the option to switch over to Facebook Gaming. In late January 2020, Mixer had entered into an exclusive partnership with Tyler “Ninja” Blevins to stream on Mixer. Ninja was paid somewhere between $20 million to $30 million for the deal. Other big name exclusive partners include Cory “King Gothalion” Michael, and Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek. Mixer is slated to shut down on July 22, 2020 and all exclusive partners will be free agents to move to the platform of their choice.
Mixer - Aug 2017 to July 2020
Mixer started out in January 2016 as Beam by Matthew Salsamendi and James Boehm, and was soon acquired by Microsoft in August 2016. Microsoft rebranded Beam as Mixer in 2017 and integrated Mixer into the Xbox Division. Despite the integration into Microsoft’s Xbox One gaming console and into Windows 10, Mixer did not gain a large enough user base to compete with the likes of Twitch and YouTube Gaming. The exclusivity agreement with several top Twitch streamers was to remedy this particular situation.
As of 2019, Twitch controls 73% of the streaming market with YouTube gaming coming in at 21%, Facebook Gaming at 3% and Mixer at 3% as well. Despite the exclusivity agreements with some of the largest influencers in the streaming market, Mixer could not grab a larger piece of the streaming pie. Between 2018 and 2019, Facebook Gaming outgrew Mixer in terms of ‘hours watched’ without entering into any exclusivity agreements with streaming influencers. The Average Concurrent Viewers on Mixer peaked in Q2 2019 and had been steadily dropping in Q3 and Q4 2019. Clearly, influencer marketing didn’t work out for Mixer. Mixer’s co-founders left Microsoft in late 2019.
Onto Facebook Gaming
Microsoft will offer existing users the opportunity to migrate to Facebook Gaming starting today. Existing Mixer partners will be granted partner status on Facebook Gaming and any streamer who has access to Mixer’s monetisation program will be granted access to Facebook’s Level Up program. Microsoft’s tie-up with Facebook is part of their long-term strategy for xCloud, Microsoft’s upcoming game streaming service that’s slated to launch later this year. Microsoft aims to bring xCloud to 2 billion gamers as part of their vision for the platform and Mixer’s slow growth did not align with this goal. It stands to be seen whether Facebook will be the right platform to bring Microsoft’s xCloud ambitions to fruition.
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SoloCoin is an app that encourages people to stay at home during the pandemic, with reward tokens, which can be exchanged for discounts on services that are useful during the lockdown, such as Netflix and Swiggy. The app came in third at the CODE19 hackathon organised in India on April 10, with the winners announced 4 days ago. The CODE19 hackathon was an effort to quickly find technological solutions for the challenges faced by the Covid-19 outbreak and the following nationwide lockdown. On April 30, there was more good news for the app, as it went on to win first place in the “other” subcategory of the “Social & Political Cohesion” category of the pan European EUvsVirus hackathon.
The founder of the app is India based Arbob Mehmood, a 22 year old who has previously founded Bramble. The main product of Bramble is an API that allows developers to reward gamers in cryptocurrencies for playing their games. The experience Mehmood gained from working with Bramble was used to work on SoloCoin. Specifically, a similar gamification system was used to reward people for staying at home, instead of playing the game. SoloCoin is an app that gamifies social distancing and rewards people with SoloCoins, a token currency within the application, that can be exchanged for discounts of services such as Amazon, Netflix, Swiggy, Zomato and other services that are required for staying at home. Currently, the coupons offered on the app are sourced through third party affiliates, but the team is working on integrated these coupons natively.
Building a team and onboarding partners
Mehmood is an avid reader of our magazine, and we reached out to him to learn more about the application. One of the things that we noticed was that signing up for the app has a waitlist,and it has not been released just yet. If you are interested in the app, you can sign up for the waitlist here. One of our first questions was, why does the app have a waitlist in the place? Mehmood replied, “The app is still in development. It’s in private beta right now and is only accessible via an invite-only system that too within our community. We are planning on launching this app next month globally so we want some people to try it firsthand and give feedback so that we can release a relatively bug-free app.”
One of the effective ways in which the app, and the invite system is marketed and propagated, is through social media influencers. We asked Mehmood how the experience of working with influencers was. He responded, “I had worked with influencers in my previous startups, so, it was not new to me. We also have a community member with lots of influencer connections that helped us in connecting with them. The primary thing to know while talking with influencers is their charge because they negotiate way too much. Now, we were lucky here because we are an open-source startup tackling the COVID crisis so many of them agreed to do some of the marketing for free. Influencers can get you a great RoI if you choose them carefully according to your target market and have a way with negotiations.”
One of the reasons why the app is so successful, is that Mehmood put together a really good team to work on it. This team includes many people from around the world, who are really enthusiastic about the idea of the app. We asked him about the team and how it came together. Mehmood responded, “When I had the idea, I was building it on Python's Beeware toolkit which ports python code to a native mobile app. But it's features were limited. Then, I heard about COVID hackathons happening across the country. So, I started to scout for members across hackathons. Since the idea was innovative and impactful, many amazing people joined my team. then the team decided to make it on native Android and iOS directly for better usability and support. We have a group of open-source collaborators from around the world including startup founders & CXOs, people from IITs, BITS, Stanford, Microsoft, Uber, Github, Neuro-Researchers, and more among our community. The core team has 7 people in it with 20+ contributors across the different domains. The community count is 300+. The product is built 100% remotely.”
Apart from a great team, Mehmood has managed to onboard a large number of partners in a remarkably short span of time. We asked him how he achieved this, to which Mehmood said, “cold emails. Linkedin messages to senior employees and twitter DMs. basically, hustling our way through the partner contact. Our community members have worked very hard to get partners on board, however, we are still waiting for big guys like Amazon, Zomato and Swiggy to respond and officially come onboard (The coupons you’re seeing on our app page is basically affiliate coupons from other coupon websites.) but other big brands like Yatra’s CEO, 1MG, FitIndian, etc. have showed interest in us and are looking to integrate their services on our app. Again, a sense of contribution towards something bigger has helped us a lot in the exposure of our product. Brands genuinely want to join such noble cause and do their part in stopping the spread of COVID. So, I’d like to take this opportunity and invite potential partners who are reading this to join us, promote your services on our app, and help stop the spread of coronavirus.”
One of the things that really stood out to us was how awesome the UI was. We asked Mehmood about the process behind creating this aspect of the app. Part of the magic is continuous iterations based on user feedback. Mehmood responded, “we are an open-source, decentralized, community-based initiative. Brilliant People from all walks of life, around the world, have come together to make this app a success. Me and my teammate handle most of the design. I have great amount of experience in designing consumer and blockchain apps and my teammate Adesh Bhansali (a graduate from the Indian school of design and innovation) work on all the designs. I create a rough wireframe/mockup and he adds necessary colors and makes it more aesthetically pleasing to the users. Then we show the designs to the community and get feedback. Getting feedback is the most important part here since it helps us in getting different perspectives and ideas. Our primary goal with the design is to make our core features easily accessible and feel pleasing on the eyes so that people can interact with it more. And, after we’re done we finalize it and move it to frontend devs for final integration.”
One of the things that Mehmood pointed out to us, was that what really motivated people in using the app was not the money they got for discounts on products and services, but the knowledge that their efforts had in some way contributed to the global fight against the pandemic. We probed Mehmood on how he came to this realisation, and he said, “One thing I've noticed while building our product is the founder's vision and the potential impact of the said product is very important. When I first pitched the idea of SoloCoin, I was alone. But the idea was innovative and has never been done before. The vision I put to gamify social-distancing and help to stop the spread of COVID resonated with people and that helped us in getting amazing people with great skills from all over the world to voluntarily work on my idea without any financial incentive. I don’t think this would’ve have been possible if I had pitched a me-too idea or a less impactful idea in front of people. This is true for regular users and potential customers as well. There are many rewards app but the only reason we have received this much interest from the community and waitlist registration is that we were doing something that will help make the world a better place. We have learned that working towards something bigger is a much bigger reward than any discounts. With our app users had a sense of belonging and contribution towards a bigger cause. They are proud of it. And, it doesn’t hurt that by doing so, they can earn rewards and recognition in their social-circle.”
Future plans
We then asked Mehmood on what are his future plans for the app, now that SoloCoin has won a national level and an international hackathon. Mehmood replied, “Currently, our app is focused on the COVID-affected world and how it can help stop the spread of coronavirus. Our near-future plans are: Proximity-based social-distancing to track if the user in your proximity is infected or not, rewarding for good habits like washing hands, timely self-isolation, Yoga, etc. determining efficient/less crowded routes for commuting and avoiding people, giving users the possibility to chat with nearby quarantined people, map list of nearby available essential stores for groceries, medicines, etc and giving users the possibility to add a mask to their profile picture to tell people they are practicing social-distancing.”
We asked Mehmood what his plans for the app are once the pandemic is over. The answer was really interesting. The app that rewarded people for staying at home, will shift to reward people to coming together! Mehmood replied, “For the post-COVID world, We have identified many ideas on what we can do with our tech post-COVID. Our app can be used for concerts/stores, basically to gather people. The more they stay the more they earn. That way sponsors will get better revenue as well. Office spaces can use this (technology) to incentivize the employees to stay in longer to increased points (the longer they’re connected to the office wireless can be a marker). At the current stage, the app is used as a Social-distancing app with a home geo-fence. After COVID, we can increase the geo-fence to multiple locations like concerts, malls or local stores. Now if you think about it we're venturing into not a consumer app space, but rather the ad-tech space. Our app can now be at the forefront of hyperlocal based targeted ads, basically directly competing with Google's and Facebook's Pay Per Click.”
We then asked Mehmood to share with us, and other readers his personal journey with Digit as a reader of the magazine. Mehmood replied, “Digit has played a vital role in the development of my tech/startup mindset. I’m reading Digit since I was 13, mostly purchased from the nearest railway station. I used to read Chacha Chaudhary and Billoo a lot during those times. But one day while I was browsing for something different I encountered Digit. The shopkeeper recommended to me that it has computers and mobile phones in it. I loved computers and working on the computer since when I was 8 but never thought to do anything with it except for getting a job. Once I got the magazine I was hooked. I got into tech after reading amazing articles on digit. I realized how awesome career in tech can be. Not to mention the articles about tech entrepreneurs have motivated me to start my own tech startup and that led me to learn to program and founding my first startup at the age of 17.
I was fortunate enough that my parent have allotted the money for me to purchase two magazines each month - one digit and another Chip, every month. But let me tell you, digit was an expensive magazine for any 13 yr old at that time and buying directly from stores is not at all cheap. I used to eagerly wait for the 2nd date of every month for Digit to get to the store. However, I somehow convinced my parents to let me subscribe to the digit, and to this day I subscribe to it. (I, however, paused the subscription due to severe lack of time because of my startup and COVID, but expecting to resume soon) The things digit taught me about tech and the awesomeness in tech are priceless and I thank every digit member and their articles, which helped a simple boy from small town to put on a path to tech-entrepreneurship and help me reach where I am today. But, picture Abhi baaki hai mere dost. Much more amazing things to come as I’m still 22.”
We followed that up by asking Mehmood what his favorite sections were, to which he replied, “My favorite sections are: Robert’s Column (1st priority), Agent 001 (For recommendations and error fixing - I like to be called the Tech guy in my network.), the reviews (because not everyone in the tech has a better parameter to judge gadgets like you guys), Digit Diary and boo-man obviously (To get a different perspective of the world), the small article snippets on the top (much informative stuff there), DGT section (love moonshot products), and last but not the least, ANNIVERSARY EDITIONS.” Watch out for our next anniversary edition, which is right around the corner.
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If you are looking to get your hands on the new OnePlus 8 Pro and its wireless charger, then there is good news for you. Just like the OnePlus 8 family of devices, it looks like the wireless charger will be priced cheaper in India than its international pricing. If information circulating the internet is to be believed, then the OnePlus Warp Charge 30 wireless charger could cost Rs 3,990 in India.
OnePlus Warp Charge 30 wireless charger specifications and features
This is the first time OnePlus has gone wireless when it comes to charging. The company had maintained that they will not use the technology till it’s fast enough to match speeds offered through the thick, red USB cable that has become sort of a signature. The company seems to have cracked it. The Warp Charge 30 wireless charger can deliver 30W of power and can top up the OnePlus 8 Pro from 1-50% in just 30 minutes.
As revealed in the blog post, the Warp Charge 30 Wireless charger relies on an industry-first isolated charge pump with Warp Wireless direct charging architecture. OnePlus claims this ensures a charge efficiency of 97 percent and minimizes the energy converted into heat. The charger comes with “full-fledged fan systems” to aid in the cooling. The wireless charging is modulated using a customized chip in the charger that controls the current and voltage to maximize efficiency. The charger is also Qi-compatible and comes in the pad and stand versions.
OnePlus Warp Charge 30 wireless charger price
As mentioned above, it looks like the charger will be priced cheaper in India than its international counterparts, as per tipster Ishan Agarwal. The wireless charger will be priced at Rs 3,990 in India as compared to the $70 price tag in the US which translates to Rs 5,340 approx. directly converted.
If you are looking to get your hands on the OnePlus 8 or the OnePlus 8 Pro you can check out the information of the smartphones in detail here. You can also check out our comparison of the OnePlus 8 vs its competitors and the OnePlus 8 Pro vs its competitors to make an informed buying decision
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OnePlus has generally pushed software updates out to its devices in a timely fashion. In the latest instance of this positive trend, the Chinese electronics manufacturer is rolling out the latest OxygenOS 10.3.2 software as an over-the-air update to the OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T. The update, which contains the latest security patch for Android, is currently being rolled out in a staged manner. If you own either of the models, you can expect to see the notification update pop up anytime now.
According to OnePlus Global Product Operations Manager Manu J, the new OxygenOS 10.3.2 update carries the latest February 2020 security patch for Android. In addition, it comes with a fix for a previously reported bug that causes the screen to flicker when the user is swiping up from the lock screen to unlock the device. Lastly, the update contains fixes for some ‘general bugs’ and improves the overall system stability. Read the changelog published by OnePlus here.
According to some of the OnePlus Community members, the new update indeed fixes the screen flickering issue in the lock screen but fails to bring a solution for a notch-related complaint that began with Android 10. According to many users on the forum, Android 10 does not ‘hide’ (blacken) the status bar around the display notch the way Android 9 Pie did. Instead it pushes the entire status bar below the notch, thus wasting some essential screen space.
The OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T received their last software update to OxygenOS 10.3.1 exactly one month ago, which contained a long list of system-level bug fixes. Apart from carrying the December 2019 security patch for Android, the OxygenOS 10.3.1 update fixed a critical camera crash issue and optimised the image preview time in Pro mode. It also fixed a disconnection issue many users reportedly faced while using 5GHz Wi-Fi hotspot. You can read more about the fixes in the previous software update here.
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If you’ve been eyeing the Redmi Note 8 Pro but haven’t yet hit the ‘Add to Cart’ button, there’s some good news in store for you. The base variant of the handset has received a price cut of Rs 1,000, which means it now starts at Rs 13,999. For that money, the phone gets 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. It’s important to note that Redmi is offering the price cut on only the base variant of the Redmi Note 8 Pro. The Redmi Note 8 Pro is currently available on Mi.com and Amazon.in among other outlets in four colour options, including Shadow Black, Gamma Green, Halo White, and Electric Blue.
The Chinese smartphone manufacturer announced the price slash on its official Twitter account yesterday but did not mention why it is applicable only on the base variant of the phone. The new price currently reflects on Mi.com and Amazon.in. The 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant retains its price tag of Rs 15,999, and the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage, Rs 17,999. Redmi is currently offering a Mi Screen Protect package for an extra Rs 699 along with the Redmi Mi 9 Pro.
The Redmi Note 8 Pro was launched late last year and sold through regular limited-period ‘flash’ sales before entering an ‘open’ sale in late December. It is powered by a MediaTek Helio G90T chip. The handset’s screen measures 6.53 inches diagonally and has Gorilla Glass 5 protection. On the back panel, the device has as many as four cameras: a Samsung-developed 64MP sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide sensor, a 2MP depth sensor, a 2MP macro sensor. On the front, there’s a single 20MP camera for selfies. Read our performance review of the Redmi Note 8 Pro here.
Like the Redmi 8 Pro, the Realme 5 Pro received a price cut of Rs 1,000 last month, thereby bringing its starting price down to Rs 12,999. The Realme 5 Pro is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 chip. Its screen measures 6.3 inches and has a maximum resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels. The back panel of the handset is home to a quad camera setup. Realme launched the Realme 5 Pro in India in early September 2019 at a starting price of Rs 13,999. Since then, the handset has been receiving software updates regularly. You can read more about it here.
The #64MPQuadCamBeast #RedmiNote8Pro (6GB+64GB) is now available at a discounted price of ₹13,999. Avail No Cost EMI on selected credit cards. Get yours now from https://t.co/cwYEXdVQIo, @amazonIN, Mi Home or Retail Outlets. pic.twitter.com/B2SflOJ6TT
— Redmi India (@RedmiIndia) February 19, 2020
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Watching television at home got a bit confusing after TRAI’s mandate implemented Network Capacity Fees (NFC) and per-channel fee. However, almost all digital cable providers have come up with new packs and plans to help users select the channels they want to watch. Dish TV has now come up with a new Rs 219 festive plan for retaining its existing customers and enticing new ones. First spotted by TelecomTalk, the new Rs 219 festive offer is touted to offer some of the most popular TV channels at notably lowered prices. However, there’s a catch since one needs to get a two year subscription to get the Rs 219 monthly plan.
There are also some new channel packs that Dish TV users can subscribe to. There’s the Family Entertainment SD and HD packs, which are priced at Rs 5,256 and Rs 71,76 respectively, for 24 months. This means that one will get to avail the offer at Rs 219 and Rs 299 per month. Then, there’s the Family English SD Pack priced annually at Rs 7,800, with a monthly price of Rs 325, Family English HD channel pack for Rs 10,776 (monthly rental Rs 449). Additionally, there’s the Family Cricket Pack SD for Rs 6,600, whose effective monthly price comes down to Rs 275, Family Cricket Pack HD Pack for Rs 8,376 with a monthly price of Rs 349. As per the report, all these channel packs offer more than 250 channels.
The new festive plan by Dish TV comes soon after the company announced its new hybrid set-top box. It is priced at Rs 2,499 for existing customers, while new consumers can buy it for Rs 3,999. The ‘Dish SMRT Hub’ Hybrid HD Set Top Box runs on AndroidTV 9.0 and supports Dolby Audio. It also supports Alexa and enables access to some of the most popular OTT apps.
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The TrickBot malware has returned with a new attack that may have compromised around 250 million email addresses. Earlier this year TrickBot worked side-by-side the Ryuk ransomware to siphon millions of dollars for hackers, and now it is back again in less than a year. According to a report by Deep Instinct, a cybersecurity company, a new variant of TrickBot was revealed that joins forces with a malicious, email-based infection and distribution module named TrickBooster. The malware now has new capabilities such as stealing cookies.
The method for the attack hasn’t undergone too much change from previous methods, at least at the beginning of the attack. TrickBot infiltrates a victim’s computer and then the malware makes the machine download TrickBooster. This, in turn, reports back to a dedicated command and control server with a list of email addresses and log-in details which are gathered from the victim’s Inbox, Outbox and Address Book. After this, the TrickBooster server orders the infected machine to send malicious infection and spam emails. All these emails are then deleted from the Outbox and Trash so that the victim doesn’t realise the threat.
Deep Instinct investigated TrickBooster and its network infrastructure to find a database comprising of 250 million email addresses that were gathered by TrickBot operators. These email accounts were also, in all likeliness, targeted with the malicious emails. An email dump was recovered and this included about 26 million email accounts on Gmail, 19 million on Yahoo, 11 million on Hotmail, 7 million on AOL, 3.5 million on MSN, and 2 million on Yahoo U.K. Further investigation revealed that the compromised accounts involved several government departments and agencies in the US which included the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, the Social Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and more. There were also some government organisations and universities affected in the UK and Canada.
According to Deep Instinct, the discovery of TrickBot “highlights the success and sophistication of TrickBot”. The model of attack was described as “a powerful addition to TrickBot’s vast arsenal” of attacking methods. According to reports, the cybersecurity company stated that they are continuing their research and analysis in TrickBooster, and they will also be reporting details of the new TrickBot attack to the authorities.
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The Nokia 6.1 which launched back in 2018 has seen a price drop. The smartphone is available in two variants - 3GB RAM + 32GB storage and 4GB RAM + 64GB storage. As of writing this story, the new price is yet to reflect on e-commerce websites like Flipkart and Amazon. The new price of the smartphone is Rs 6,999 for the 3+32GB variant and Rs 9,999 for the 4+64GB variant. Even though the smartphone launched at a much higher price point, it was available on e-commerce websites for Rs 8,999 and Rs 9,999 for the 32 and 64GB variants respectively.
Speaking of the specifications of the smartphone, the Nokia 6.1 runs Android Pie. It sports a 5.5-inch full-HD IPS display with a 16:9 aspect ratio. Under the hood, the device has the Snapdragon 630 SoC. On the camera front, the smartphone has a single 16MP camera with an f/2.0 aperture. The camera is accompanied by an LED flash. The front has an 8MP sensor for selfies. AS mentioned above, the smartphone is available in two storage and RAM options and the storage is expandable via a microSD card. For security, the phone sports a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. A 3000mAh battery powers the entire package.
Those interested in purchasing the device can check out our review of the smartphone here.
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Amazon recently launched its Echo Show device in India, which features a 10-inch HD display and is priced at Rs 22,999. Now, the company has introduced a smaller, less powerful and less expensive version of it as the Amazon Echo Show 5. The new Echo Show 5 is priced at Rs 8,999 and it features a 5.5-inch touch enabled display that sports a 960 x 480p resolution. The device is aimed at not only enabling users to interact with Alexa using voice commands, but also to let them make use of the screen for entertainment, video calling and other visual tasks. Echo Show 5 comes in Black and White colour options, and is currently up for pre-order via Amazon.in, with shipping slated to commence in July. It joins the Echo Dot, Echo, Echo Spot, Echo Input, Echo Plus, and Echo Show in Amazon’s Echo range of devices in India.
While the Echo Show (First Impressions) sports two 10W drivers with a passive radiator, the new device features a 1.65-inch speaker. The Echo Show 5 sports a 1MP camera on the front and those who get the device will be able to place video calls to those who have an Echo Spot, Echo Show, the Alexa smartphone App, or Skype. Alongside a microphone/camera off button, the Echo Show 5 also comes equipped with a physical camera shutter aimed at providing a sense of privacy to users. Additionally, Amazon recently announced that the Alexa Announcements feature is available for all Amazon Echo devices and the new Echo Show 5 gets it as well.
“Customers love the screen complementing Alexa on the Echo Show. The Echo Show 5 now makes it easier and more affordable to have a smart display in every home. The new form factor is perfect for a bedside table, living room side table or desk, plus it has a camera shutter for added peace of mind, and new Alexa privacy features for even more control,” says Parag Gupta, Head of Amazon Devices, India.
The display on the Echo Show and the Echo Show 5 can be used to enable clock faces, add personal photos, play slideshow of images, follow recipes, watch videos on Amazon Prime Video and more. Amazon says a new Alexa Privacy Hub will soon be made available, which will be a “single source of information on how Echo devices are designed as well as the controls you have over your Alexa experience”. All Alexa enabled devices will also get a new skill, which will enable users to delete their voice recording by saying “Alexa, delete what I just said” or “Alexa, delete everything I said today”.
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For Dell, Computex 2019 was its biggest set of announcements in many years. Typically, the company makes its biggest reveals at CES in Las Vegas, but Computex 2019 saw some pretty exciting announcements as well. One of these announcements is the new Alienware m15 and the Alienware m17, both of which now carry the designation R2.
The most striking change to the new m15 and m17 laptop happens to be its upgrade to the Legend design. Alienware had debuted their new industrial design nicknamed Legend at CES 2019, with the Area 51m being the first machine to sport it. CES 2019 was also when the company launched the new m15 and m17 laptop, the company’s smallest and lightest gaming laptops in their respective sizes. We reviewed the m15 and for the most part, recommended, save for some heating issues.
The Alienware m15 R2 with its Legend design comes with honeycomb cutouts for improved airflow
At the launch, we caught up with Joe Olmsted, Director Gaming Products, Alienware and asked him why Alienware would release a redesigned m15 so quickly. To this, he said that Alienware wanted to introduce the new Legend Design and for that, the Area 51m was the perfect candidate. It is understandable that the company would want something iconic looking in the market to go with a stand-out machine. On being asked if this would upset buyers, he assured that Alienware would maintain both the Alienware m15 R1 and R2 in the market. When asked why anyone would want to go with the R1 over the R2, he said “well, for one, it’ll be cheaper,” further adding that the m15 R1 supports up to 32GB RAM with SODIMM slots while the m15 R2 supports a maximum of 16GB RAM that is soldered onto the board.
While the R1 will also get an update to Intel’s 9th generation Core processors, the real differentiator between the two generations really is the design. But it isn’t just a cosmetic thing. Measuring a little under 20mm at its thickest, the Alienware m15 R2 also features a completely redesigned keyboard. Olmstead reveals that Alienware designed the keys and switches from the ground-up, emulating the curve of desktop mechanical keys on the laptop. While definitely not a mechanical keyboard like experience, the new keys do feel al whole lot better to type on than those on the m15 R1. Lastly, Olmstead says the cooling on the m15 R2 has been improved, to allow for 10-30 percent better airflow.
The all-new keyboard on the Alienware m15 R2 offers an excellent typing experience
New Alienware Headsets
The new Alienware m15 and m17 R2 laptops were also joined by two new Alienware branded headsets, the Alienware AW510H and the Alienware AW310H. The former is a 7.1 surround sound headset while the latter is a stereo sound headset. At the event, Wee Kee Yeo, Vice President and General Manager Client Peripherals was nice enough to answer a few questions. He highlighted the sheer amount of attention to detail Alienware put into creating the two new headsets, saying that the 50mm drivers were very specifically tuned for gaming. Additionally, the choice of materials for the inner cup along with the diameter of the cup itself was very carefully chosen to meet the expectations of delivering pin-point accuracy for gamers. He also reassured us that both the headsets have undergone extensive testing, especially with regards to their durability. The headsets are tested for stretching of the headband from prolonged use, as the company doesn’t want the headset to get loose over prolonged usage.
First Impressions
The new Alienware m15 R2 is definitely a striking redesign. The upgrade to the Legend theme is definitely working in the new machine’s favour, making it look slimmer than it actually is. The new honeycomb cutouts that are a part of the Legend design also aid in better airflow simply by virtue of being there, but the bigger fans on the inside are expected to definitely help with thermals. The two new headsets that debut at under $100 are also promising devices, especially at the price point they’ve been launched. Dell is yet to give any official word on when the new Alienware portfolio will come to India.
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While a smartphone might be your device of choice for playing a round of the uber-popular battle royale title PUBG Mobile, some players prefer the keyboard-mouse experience. For such players, Tencent has an official emulator called the Tencent Gaming Buddy and one can download and install it to play PUBG Mobile on a PC. The game developer is now offering additional credits, weapon skins and more for emulator using players as a reward under an ongoing event. Under the event, a player gets three chances to participate in a lucky draw thrice and there are a total of seven rewards.
One can win three out of these seven rewards, which consist of 3850 UC, a rename card, permanent Dcamo Scar-L Skin, Nightmare Enforcer Set for 30 days, Emperor Penguin suit for 7 days, 128 BP coins or 2 x BP Card for 3-days. One apparently needs to log into the Tencent Gaming Buddy Emulator with Facebook to get the option of participating in the lucky draw. As per a report, one would get three lucky draws everyday till the event is happening and clicking on the redeem button that pops up to enter their player ID and redeem code to get the reward.
In case you are interested in getting the rewards and/or playing PUBG Mobile on your PC, you can do so by installing the emulator. One needs to download and install official Tencent Gaming Buddy Emulator and run it to download PUBG Mobile. The software downloads game files on its own and one will just need to change its language, if required. After that’s done, one simply needs to run PUBG Mobile, which will download additional game files and that’s it. One is ready to go get some chicken dinners. However, if you still have some doubts, you can check out our detailed guide on how to install and play PUBG Mobile on PC here.
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The recently launched OnePlus 7 (First Impressions) will go on sale at 12:00 PM on June 4. The device will be available via Oneplus.in, Amazon.in (only for Prime customers) and at all OnePlus exclusive offline stores. At all partner retail outlets, pre-booking for the OnePlus 7 will begin on June 7 and the sales commence on June 14. The OnePlus 7 was launched along with the OnePlus 7 Pro on May 14, and it features a design similar to its predecessor, the OnePlus 6T.
The OnePlus 7 will be available in Mirror Grey colour and in 6GB RAM + 128GB storage and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variants. The Red colour variant will only be offered in 8GB RAM + 256GB local storage model. The device will be available starting at Rs 32,999 for the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant and Rs 37,999 for the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage model.
OnePlus 7 Specifications:
The OnePlus 7 doesn’t get a full-screen display design like the OnePlus 7 Pro and features a waterdrop notch display like the OnePlus 6T. It sports a 6.41-inch Full HD+ Optic AMOLED display with 60Hz refresh rate. The display sports pixel density of 402 PPI and has an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. Under the hood, the OnePlus 7 ships with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 mobile platform. As mentioned, the phone will be available with 6GB/8GB LPDDR4X RAM, and 128GB/256GB UFS 3.0 storage. Just like the Pro variant, the OnePlus 7 also gets dual stereo speakers.
The smartphone features a dual camera setup on the back with a 48MP Sony IMX586 main sensor. It is paired with a lens having an aperture of f/1.7. This main sensor supports Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) and Phase-detection autofocus (PDAF). There is also a 5MP secondary sensor, and the lens with this sensor has an aperture of f/2.4. The setup is assisted by a dual LED flash. On the front is a 16MP Sony IMX471 secondary sensor with the lens having an aperture of f/2.0. It is equipped with a 3,700mAh battery with fast charging support (5V/4A), and the phone features an in-display fingerprint sensor.
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The US Patent and Trademark Office has granted Apple a patent for a foldable screen that could be used on iPhones and other devices. According to Patently Apple, the patent is for an electronic device with a display and cover that are flexible or bendable. The flexible cover layer may be formed from materials like glass, strengthened glass, sapphire or zirconia to provide protection to the flexible display from potential damage. This layer may also provide structural support for the display.
The latest patent differs from the one that was granted to Apple earlier this year. Two parts hinged together with a foldable panel fixed on top were depicted in that patent. The new patent shows a foldable phone that wraps around the outside of the device. It should be noted that companies, including Apple, often patent ideas that never get transformed into a product or a service. It could also be that Apple is experimenting with different designs to get one right for foldable iPhones to come. Reports of bendable iPhones have been doing the rounds since 2016 and Apple has been rumoured to be in talks with Samsung, LG and BOE for foldable displays in the past. So the Apple wagon is certainly moving towards some form of foldable device in the future.
While Samsung and Huawei picked up on the foldable phone trend this year, Apple still finds itself on the other side of the fence. Samsung’s Galaxy Fold, however, is on a sticky wicket after several reviewers reported issues with the display and Samsung delayed the launch of the phone. Huawei is yet to launch its Mate X foldable device which is slated for a July debut. Samsung's bendable flagship could arrive alongside the Mate X in July unless the company hits any further hardware snags.
Talking about Apple's stake in the market, Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, told CNN Business., "They're [Apple] well behind Samsung when it comes to foldable phones. But one advantage is that Samsung's Galaxy Fold has had technical issues as well as expensive pricing.”
Apple has also filed patents for a flexible display with touch sensors and portions, as well as a flexible iPhone that can fold in half and grip a person's clothes. It has been reported that the Cupertino-based company will launch a foldable phone in 2020. “Foldable phones and 5G represent the next generation of smartphones in the coming years,” Ives added. Maybe Apple will have that chunk of the pie after all.
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PUBG Mobile is one of the most famous battle royale games available right now, alongside Fortnite and the soon to be launched Call of Duty: Mobile. The title rose to fame with its unique gameplay style and new content that the developers keep adding to it from time to time. It’s no surprise that people would try and get a leg up in the competition via unfair means but this mars the experience for honest players. PUBG Mobile is now cracking down on such players who use unfair means to gain an advantage. It has posted a partial list of 99 players that have been banned from the game for 10 years for cheating or using unauthorized 3rd party app to “dishonestly assist their game play in a match.”
“We take this issue very seriously; as such, each account in violation has received a 10-year ban. We would like to remind all players about the importance of fair play, and thank you for keeping PUBG MOBILE fair and fun. We will continue to enforce stringent discipline against cheaters and publish the IDs of confirmed cheaters. Thank you for helping us make PUBG MOBILE a better game,” reads a PUBG Mobile blog post. The game devs are serious about such offences as the list of players banned by them partially reveals their ID and account numbers.
Back in December 2018, PUBG implemented new anti-cheating system on PC, Xbox, and PS4. This resulted in banning of over 30,000 players and 16 professional players who were reportedly using radar hack. In January this year, PUBG banned four professional players for three years as they were first suspected of employing unauthorised software for winning games and after an investigation, it was confirmed that these players were indeed cheating. As a result, pro-PUBG players Christian “Cuhris” Narvaez, Liam “Liammm” Tran, Tyler “DevowR” Sti and Mark “Tefl0n” Formaro have been banned from participating in all official esports competitions for three years, starting December 31, 2018.
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Earlier this month, OnePlus announced that it will trickle down the Zen Mode and Screen Recorder features to the OnePlus 6 and the OnePlus 6T smartphones. The company has now delivered on its promise and has released open betas for both these devices bringing the above-mentioned features in last year’s flagship devices. For OnePlus 6 it’s an OxygenOS Open Beta 19, and for the OnePlus 6T, the update is Open Beta 11. Apart from these, OnePlus has also rolled out fixes and improvements in other areas as well.
The Zen Mode in OnePlus 7 Pro is basically a “stricter” version of Google Wellbeing. It helps users to stay away from their phones for a certain period of time. When the feature is turned on, the user won’t get any notifications, calls, or messages for 20 minutes straight. What’s interesting is that a user who has opted to enable this mode, there is no turning back. Once you’ve chosen to enter into the ‘Zen Mode’, no matter what you do (even restart the phone), you cannot exit the mode for 20 minutes. Users, however, can make emergency calls and click images.
The second feature, called screen recording, essentially records what you do on your screen. This is not a new feature because OEMs like Apple and Huawei have already offered it in their phones. Google is expected to bring this feature natively in Android Q. According to the changelog on OnePlus forum, the company has also fixed the bug where Facebook messenger pops up notifications when in gaming mode. The update also brings an improved smooth-scrolling experience to the device. The PIN-TO-TOP feature for notification category has also been rolled out to users only in India.
People who have enrolled for Beta testing will receive the new build as an OTA. Those who have migrated to the beta testing will continue to receive Open Beta OTAs, but won’t receive the regular Official Stable OTAs. If you want to move back to the Official OTA path from the Beta path, you will require a full install and clean flash.
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Redmi recently launched its new flagship smartphone, the Redmi K20 Pro in China, along with the Redmi K20. At the launch event, the company also announced a new laptop called the RedmiBook 14, which is the company’s first notebook. At first glance, the device’s design resembles a MacBook but the specs are different from what Apple offers on its laptops. The new RedmiBook 14 comes with up to 8th Gen Intel Core i7 Processors and gets an Nvidia GeForce MX250 GPU. The laptop is said to weigh around 1.5kg and deliver up to 10 hours of battery life on a single full charge.
RedmiBook 14 specifications
The new RedmiBook 14 falls under the thin and light category of laptops. As mentioned, it is powered by up to 8th Gen Intel Core i7 processors and features the discrete Nvidia Geforce MX250 GPU. Equipped with a 14-inch 1920 x 1080p display, the device sports 8GB RAM that is coupled with 512GB of SSD storage, and comes with an ‘efficient’ cooling system. The laptop is touted to deliver DTS surround sound and is said to deliver up to 10 hours of usage on a single full charge.
The RedmiBook 14 features a full-size keyboard with 19mm wide keys that have a travel distance of 1.3mm. Its touchpad also supports multitouch gestures. In terms of connectivity, the laptop features an HDMI port, 2 x USB 3.0 ports, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a USB 2.0 port. The laptop includes a genuine Microsoft Office Home and Student editions.
RedmiBook 14 pricing
The base variant of the RedmiBook 14 is priced starting at CNY 3,999 (Rs 40,300 approx). It comes equipped with the Intel Core i5 processor and 256GB of SSD storage. The 512GB SSD variant of the laptop is priced at CNY 4,299 (Rs 43,300 approx), while the top-end Intel Core i7 model with 512GB SSD is priced at CNY 4,999 (Rs 50,400 approx). There is no info on whether the device will make it to India or not. In China, it will be available for pre-bookings from 12 AM local time on June 1 and go on sale starting June 11.
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Expanding its Y-Series of smartphones, Vivo has launched the Vivo Y15 smartphone for a price of Rs 13,900 in India. The phone’s USP is its massive 5000mAh battery and an AI-powered triple rear camera. The Vivo Y15 will be available in Aqua Blue and Burgundy Red colours across online platforms (Flipkart, Amazon.in, Paytm, Tata Cliq), all offline partner outlets and Vivo India E-store.
The phone will be available on EMI options with 0 percent interest with Bajaj Finserve, IDFC Bank, HDBFS, HDFC Bank, Home Credit and Pinelabs Credit/Debit cards. The lowest EMI option starts at Rs 1166. Reliance Jio customers can avail benefits worth Rs 4,000 along with 3TB data. There is an offer under which users can get extra Rs 1,000 off on exchange.
Vivo Y15 specifications:
The Vivo Y15 sports a 6.35-inch Halo FullView HD+ LCD display with a waterdrop notch, offering 89 percent screen-to-body ratio. The phone is equipped with Helio P22 processor, along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB onboard storage. The phone runs Android 9 Pie based Funtouch OS 9 and houses a 5000mAh battery. The back panel wears a gradient design and has a square-shaped fingerprint sensor.
The Vivo Y15 sports a vertically-aligned triple camera setup at the back consisting of a 13MP primary sensor with a lens having an f/2.2 aperture. There is an 8MP super-wide angle lens with f/2.2 aperture and a 120-degree field-of-view. The third 2MP depth sensor has a lens with an f/2.4 aperture. On the front is a 16 shooter with a lens having an aperture of f/2.0.
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In a bid to gain more subscribers, and increase overall revenue, YouTube has announced a new Student Plan in India. The new plans are available for both YouTube and YouTube Music Premium, and students will have to shell out less money when opting for the plan. Students who are eligible to opt for the plan will be able to subscribe to YouTube Music Premium at Rs 59 and YouTube Premium at Rs 79 per month. Standard users need to pay a monthly fee of Rs 99 and Rs 129 to get premium access to YouTube Music and YouTube respectively.
In India, the ‘Student Plans’ are currently open for full-time students from accredited colleges or universities. Eligibility rules to opt into student plans dictate that one must be enrolled as a student at a higher education institution in where YouTube student memberships are offered and which the verification platform SheerID has approved. One will have to check if their college has student plans available by visiting the YouTube Premium or YouTube Music Premium page, selecting ‘Get Student Plan’ option and punching in their college in the school SheerID form. If their college name appears, then they can avail the service.
Do note that after successful verification, one will be eligible to continue with the student plan for four years but will need to re-verify every year. In addition, if one currently uses an active premium subscription of YouTube or YouTube Music but wants to shift to a discounted student membership, they will need to first cancel the existing subscription. The new student plans by YouTube are not dissimilar to what other online music streaming services offer. For example, Spotify's student plan in India enables one to avail premium subscription to its service at Rs 59 per month. Apple charges Rs 60 monthly to students who buy an Apple Music membership.
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Computex 2019 is at full swing in Taiwan and manufacturers have already unveiled a bunch of exciting components and devices. Not to be outdone, MSI has also unveiled a bunch of stuff like motherboards, laptops, and more. Among the announcements include the new MEG X570 motherboard and the GT76 Titan laptop.
X570 series motherboards
MSI MEG X570 Godlike
The MEG X570 Godlike motherboard packs an OLED display that shows the various hardware conditions. It also incorporates the Killer xTend network solution as well as the Killer Wi-Fi 6. For audio, the motherboard incorporates Xtreme Audio DAC. Other features include the new Frozr Heatsink Design that sports double ball bearings and a patented fan that packs the company’s Propeller Blade Technology and Zero Frozr Technology. This is then connected to an extended heat-pipe
The MEG X570 Godlike features Gen4 PCIe and M.2 solutions for up to 64GB/s bandwidth and the double-layer M/2 Shield Frozr help avoid throttling. It also bundles the M.2 XPANDER-Z Gen4 card and a 10G Super LAN Card. Further, Mystic Light Infinity II offers new RGB lighting with infinity mirror reflection effects.
MSI Prestige X570 Creation
While MEG X570 Godlike is aimed at gamers, the Prestige X570 Creation is geared towards content creators. The motherboard offers dual LAN with 10G Super LAN. It also offers Wi-Fi 6 standard, which is said to offer 3x bandwidth and lower latency. Like the MEG X570, it too offers Frozr Heatsink, extended heat-pipe and M.2 Shield Frozr. Users also get the new MSI Creator Center software. Which allows for adjustable system modes and resources.
MSI MEG X570 Ace
Like the MEG X570 Godlike, the X570 Ace is also aimed towards gamers. The motherboard features PCIe 4.0 standard for M.2 and PCIe expansion slots. The company notes that the Gen4 M.2 can support up to 64GB/s bandwidth and offer faster transfer speeds. Like others in the series, the MEG X570 Ace offers the M.2 Shield Frozr to cool M.2 devices. Other thermal solutions include the Frozr Heatsink Design.
During Computex 2019, MSi also announced that they will be working with Phison for improved PCIe ecosystem. The company showcased that the MSI Lightning Gen4 M.2 slots on the MEG X570 ACE with the Phison Gen 4x4 MVMe Ps5016-E16 SSD were capable of recording a sequential read speed of 5000 MB/s. The company notes that this is an improvement over previous standards by over 150%.
Laptops
MSI GT76 Titan
The MSI GT76 Titan features a 17.3-inch display with a 144Hz refresh rate. The laptop packs 9th Gen Intel Core processors that can be overclocked to 5.0GHz. For graphics, the laptop is available with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080. For cooling, the device packs the Cooler Boost Titan. The company notes that this 4-fan and 11-pipe cooling design is capable of generating 2.25 times the airflow. Other features include the upgraded Kinner DoubleShot Pro which supports 2.5Gbps LAN and Wi-Fi 6.
MSI P65 Creator
As the name would suggest, the P65 Creator is aimed at content creators. It packs a 15.6-inch panel, which MSI saus offers “close to 100%” of the sRGB gamut. It also comes with MSI True Color technology for better colour fidelity. It is powered by Intel’s 9th Gen Core i9 processor and sports Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics. The laptop also aims to offer portability and battery life. The MSI P65 Creator is 17.9mm thick, and the company claims a battery life of over eight hours.
MSI WS65 Workstation
MSI also unveiled a lineup of upgraded workstations, including the MSI WS65, which is said to be the world’s first laptop to be powered by the Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 graphics card. Other features include a 4K display, glass touchpad, fingerprint reader, Windows Hello and TPM 2.0 crypto-processor technology. Other features include a white backlit keyboard and Thunderbolt 3.0 compatibility. MSI claims that the laptop can offer a battery life of over nine hours. It will be available in the US for $3,499 (approx Rs 2,44,601).
MSI announced at all of its WS and WE series of workstations, including the new WP series will offer Nvidia Quadro RTX graphics and 9th Gen Intel Core i9 processors. The company claims that their workstations offer MIL-STD 810G certification for ruggedness.
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HMD Global, the company that sells Nokia-branded phones, might launch its flagship Nokia 9 PureView in India on June 6. The Finnish company has sent invites to the media fraternity for a launch taking place in New Delhi on June 6. The Nokia 9 PureView is one of the devices from HMD's 2019 portfolio that we haven't yet seen in India. Apart from the Nokia 9 PureView, HMD Global is also yet to launch the Nokia 1 Plus and Nokia 210 in India.
The Nokia 9 PureView, Nokia 1 Plus and Nokia 210 were launched at MWC 2019 in Barcelona. The USP of the Nokia 9 Pureview is the penta-camera setup on the back. The flagship Nokia phone was under development for long and missed several launch dates last year. Nokia claims that the phone has something unique to offer for both professional and amateur photographers. While the Nokia 1 Plus is an entry-level Android Go smartphone, the Nokia 210 is a smart feature phone. Earlier this month, the company launched the Nokia 3.2 and the Nokia 4.2 smartphones in the country.
Nokia 9 PureView specifications
The Nokia 9 PureView has a glass-sandwich body with a metal frame that has the same diamond-cut finish as the Nokia 8 Sirocco. It sports a 5.99-inch display with an aspect ratio of 18:9. The P-OLED display with 2K resolution and HDR10 compliance is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. There’s an under-display fingerprint sensor as well. Under the hood, the phone has Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, which is coupled with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. The phone is rated IP67 for water and dust resistance.
In the camera department, the Nokia 9 Pureview sports five cameras on the back and all of them have 12MP resolution. Three of the five cameras have monochrome sensors and two are RGB sensors. There’s an additional ToF depth sensor and a dual-tone LED flash in the module. All the five sensors have a fixed focal length of 28mm. The Nokia 9 shoots from all five cameras simultaneously, and Nokia claims that the cameras deliver a 12.4-stops of dynamic range for a more detailed image.
On the front, the Nokia 9 Pureview has a 20MP f/1.8 aperture camera that supports 4-in-1 pixel binning. The phone comes with Android 9 Pie out-of-the-box, and is powered by a 3320mAh battery. It supports fast charged with Quick Charge 3 and USB Power Delivery as well as 10W wireless charging. The phone does not have a 3.5mm jack.
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