What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word IMDb? Of course, movies and series, as the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) website, have been serving the world for a long time. Originally started as a fan-operated website, the database is now owned and operated by IMDb.com, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon.
In 2019, Amazon founded IMDb TV, a free, ad-supported streaming service, and since then, it is a dedicated hub for free, ad-supported movies and series, which also telecasts content produced by Amazon Studios. It’s been available on various platforms, including the IMDb app, where you could access IMDb TV’s content slate.
All these years, IMDb TV was away from the limelight of iOS and Android as it did not have a standalone app, and that’s where Amazon decided to come up with a dedicated app, which is now available on iOS and Android in the United States. The separate app will make your experience more straightforward, but only if you don’t mind ads.
The newly launched IMDb app provides access to the entire service’s catalogue for free. The content includes a range of classic and even latest movies and shows such as Chicago Fire, Mad Men, How to Train Your Dragon, Schitt’s Creek, All in the Family, Wolf of Wall Street, Donnie Darko, and even Amazon Originals crime drama Leverage: Redemption.
Additionally, according to a recent deal between Amazon and Universal, IMDb TV will also exclusively stream some films made by Universal following their release in theatres and a pay-one premiere on Peacock. Previously, the subsidiary released IMDb TV apps for newer LG Smart TVs, PlayStation 4, Fire TV, Roku, Xbox, Android TV, NVIDIA Shield and TiVo Stream 4K in March.
We’ve missed a lot of events, functions and ceremonies due to the pandemic and its after-effects. Over a year, we’ve managed to watch our friends getting married or celebrating someone’s birthday through WhatsApp calls, but being there at the moment has its perks.
Well, technology can not put you at the live event, but if you’re a Jio Fiber user, you can skip the small smartphone screen and make video calls from your TV. Jio has launched a new feature named ‘Camera on Mobile’ for its Jio Fiber users, where they can make video calls from their TVs without even connecting their TV’s to an external camera or a webcam.
The feature would let users make video calls from their TVs using the JioJoin app, previously termed the JioCall app. The app is available on Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store; after downloading the app, users will be required to download a 10-digit JioFiber number to connect their Android smartphones and iOS devices with the TV which enables video-calling through the JioFiberVoice.
Once you’ve completed the configuration process, you can enable the ‘Camera on Mobile’ feature from the app. The enabling option will turn your smartphone into a web camera to make video calls via your TV. Jio Fiber users can use the same app to make voice calls using their landline number.
A step-by-step guide to help you use Jio’s ‘Camera on Mobile’ feature:
Download the JioJoin app (works on Android phones running 6.0 and newer and iOS 10.0 and newer)
Download the 10-digit Jio Fiber number and configure it on the JioJoin app
Enable the ‘Camera on Mobile’ feature in the JioJoin app settings
The option will turn your phone into a web camera, place it alongside the TV to make video calls
Furthermore, Jio has urged users to get a 5GHz Wi-Fi band on their modems to experience better connectivity and quality in their video calls. The “Camera on Mobile’ feature will be beneficial for Smart TV’s that do not provide an inbuilt webcam.
We’ve seen a showdown between the flagship smartwatches Apple Watch Series 6 vs Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 when they were released a couple of years ago, and now it’s time for one more rivalry between two of their future counterparts. Apple Watch Series 7, sporting a new design and top-notch features, is about to launch in India in September, and now, the prices of Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic are allegedly roaming around the web.
The South Korean tech giant Samsung will release the Galaxy 4 Series smartwatches along with a few other products next week during its Galaxy Unpacked August 2021 event. Previously, the images of these flagship smartwatches from Samsung were leaked online, and most of us know what these smartwatches look like.
Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic smartwatches will sport circular Super AMOLED displays with Corning’s Gorilla Glass DX/DX+ protection. The company hasn’t revealed anything about the processor yet, but both the flagship smartwatches are expected to be powered by the Exynos W920 SoC and will run One UI Watch 3.5 software based on Google’s new iteration of Wear OS.
The Galaxy Watch 4 is tipped to feature a 1.19-inch display in 40mm and 44mm dial sizes, whereas the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic is expected to arrive in three sizes – 42mm, 44mm, and 46mm. The Galaxy Watch 4 Series smartwatches will feature stress monitoring, ECG, GPS, gyro, heart rate monitor, body fat composition measurement and IP68 certification for dust, water, and shock resistance.
The Galaxy Watch 4 Classic is tipped to arrive in three colours and will feature a rotating bezel along with two buttons on its right side. Samsung Galaxy Watch Series 4 smartwatches are tipped to be waterproof up to 50 metres (5ATM). Along with these, the flagship smartwatches will have 1.5GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage.
The Galaxy Watch 4 in the 40mm dial size can be expected to cost around ₹25,000, and the 44mm dial variant is expected to be priced around ₹27,500. Meanwhile, Galaxy Watch 4 Classic is expected to be priced around ₹33,500 for 42 mm, ₹35,000 for 44 mm, and ₹36,100 for the 46 mm variant.
Google recently teased the world with an early launch of its upcoming flagship smartphone lineup, Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. Google’s next-generation Pixel 6 lineup will ditch the regular Qualcomm SoC and feature the custom Tensor SoC, the first system-on-chip designed by Google. The new SoC announcement marks Google’s entry into the list of companies developing custom-based silicon chips.
The yet to debut Tensor SoC is custom-designed and features artificial intelligence (AI) along with more robust machine learning (ML) capabilities for better integration, which is completely new for the Pixel phones. The newly designed SoC by Google will make the upcoming Pixel 6 lineup the fastest, smartest and most secure Pixel phone yet.
Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro features an all-new aggressive design, and after a very long period, the company has come up with a fresh design. There’s a band on the back of the Pixel 6 lineup phones, which adds more decency to the lineup. The camera bump gets a shiny treatment in both smartphones, and the display is somewhat curved along the edges.
The Pixel 6 smartphone will feature a new camera system with wide and ultra-wide cameras, while the Pixel 6 Pro will emphasise the same features as the Pixel 6 with one additional camera of a 4x telephoto lens. The Pixel 6 lineup will have a single hole punch camera at the top of the display. The Pixel 6 will feature a 90 Hz display and the Pixel 6 Pro will feature a 120 Hz display.
Google hasn’t revealed any specs related to the size of the Pixel 6 lineup yet, but looking at the size of the Pixel 6 Pro, it seems pretty similar to the size of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. The new custom made sensor could be the game-changer for Google smartphones, as the company was struggling to compete with other smartphone makers mainly because of the chipset.
The new design, custom made SoC and pre-installed Android 12, will help Google Pixel 6 lineup in showcasing what they are capable of. The pricing of the Pixel 6 lineup is not revealed yet but we can expect them to be priced between 45,000 to 55,000. The Pixel 6 smartphones will be launched later this year in at least eight countries, including India.
Google hasn’t said anything officially about Microsoft’s Windows Platform or specifically about the Microsoft store, but it’s obvious the search engine giant is not a big fan of Microsoft’s services, and that’s the precise reason Google is moving to web-based applications through its PWA initiative. The PWA initiative allows users to install YouTube, Google Maps, and many more Google apps smoothly on their desktops straight from the web browser.
Web-based apps deliver a faster web experience when compared to standard apps. The recent entry in this squad is Google’s standalone web app for its video calling platform Google Meet. Previously, to start a meeting on Google Meet, users have to type out the URL or have to visit Gmail, but with the arrival of Progressive Web Application (PWA), now they only have to download the app once on their laptop, and that’s the end of regular hustle.
The Google Meet PWA app will take users to the same landing page they used to visit earlier, but with a blue app bar up top rather than a regular tab strip. It would function just the same as Google Meet and will have the equivalent features. The web-based apps are available on Windows, macOS, Chrome OS, and Linux and will automatically update when the browser updates itself.
How to install Google Meet Progressive Web App on your laptops?
Visit meet.google.com
Go at the top right of your browser, in the URL bar, click on the option install Google Meet
The Google Meet app will appear on the app dock, and the shortcut for the same will appear on your desktop screen
Users who wish to install the Google Meet web app can use a similar set of steps on other browsers like Apple Safari and Microsoft Edge. Google Meet offers up to 24 hours of calling for one-on-one calls and up to 60 minutes of calling for group calls with three or more participants, where users will get a notification after 55 minutes that the call is about to end. The PWA app is free to use for all Workspace customers and personal Google account holders.
Google won’t let you sign in on Android phones running on version 2.3.7 (Gingerbread) or lower from 27th September onwards. So, if you’re holding onto one of these phones, then it’s time to say goodbye as the company’s closing the Google account support on that device.
After 27th September, when users try to sign in to Google apps like Gmail or YouTube or Google Maps, they’ll receive a username or password errors. Along with this, if users attempt to add their other Google accounts or create a new Google Account or perform a factory reset and try to sign in once again, they’ll receive an error message.
Android 2.3.7, the final version of Gingerbread, was released about ten years ago, and this is one of the rare instances where Google is completely cutting off the support. Though, users still are able to use some of the Google services if they sign in through the phone’s web browser.
Unfortunately or on purpose, if you’re still holding on to an android device with the 2.3.7 version, then to use it in the future, you must have to check whether your device has the ability to update to a newer Android version 3.0 Honeycomb or Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to avoid extreme nuisances while controlling Google apps like Gmail, Google maps and others.
The Google account cut-off service news is not going to affect many users, but it’ll still affect some of the old Android users. Google has said the reason behind cutting off the services is that these devices are very old and lags in the world of modern security and can not be updated with the latest security patches.
Wireless chargers are the future, and every other company is trying their best to come up with one. The word wireless charger sounds cool, but it is slower than wired charging and puts an enormous strain on the battery. Whatever it is, no one really cares about its slow charging because the millennials prefer cool-tech over anything. Recently, Apple rolled out iOS 14.7 with the MagSafe Battery Pack support for iPhone 12 lineup, and now, Realme teases the world with MagDart Magnetic Wireless Charger.
The next-generation wireless charger system from the house of Realme, dubbed MagDart, is slated to release on 3rd August, and it looks much similar to Apple’s 15W MagSafe. The Chinese smartphone maker will also be launching a Realme Flash smartphone with magnetic charging support simultaneously, making them the first brand to bring magnetic charging technology to Android smartphones.
Over the past few days, MagDart-powered wireless chargers have appeared in several leaks, and recently, Realme CEO Madhav Seth revealed the MagDart technology would be 440% faster and thinner, taking an indirect dig at its only alternative, MagSafe. Apart from Realme, there aren’t any companies that offer such speeds globally besides Xiaomi, which offers 80W fast charging.
Realme MagDart will have at least two variants, one with a cuboidal structure for faster battery-charging speeds and the other one being a ring-like structure which was showcased on a teaser poster, similar to Apple MagSafe’s disc-like charger.
The render images suggest that the cuboidal one will be thicker than a MagSafe charger and have fans to maintain temperature. It would be powered by a Type C cable and deliver charging speeds of over 15W.
The new wireless technology is expected to come with magnetic snap-on capabilities, similar to Apple’s MagSafe system. Also, the wireless charger is tipped to be the fastest wireless charger in the world.
As for the Realme Flash smartphone, the company hasn’t mentioned anything besides its name, but it is expected to be powered by a Snapdragon 888 SoC and Android 11. Also, the upcoming smartphone is tipped to feature a hole-punch display, a triple rear camera setup, and 12GB RAM with up to 256 GB storage.
Sony celebrated its 75th anniversary this year, and the brand has created several mind-blowing products over the years. Last year, on 12th November, Sony launched its most-awaited product, the PlayStation 5 or PS5 console, and within a year, the company has now sold more than 10 million PS5 consoles, which makes PS 5 the fastest-selling gaming console ever built by Sony, outpacing the PS4 by nearly a month.
We can not deny the fact that most of us got to know about Sony via the PlayStation consoles. PS 5 had the biggest launch of any console to date, and it recently achieved the benchmark of fastest-selling PlayStation. However, the PlayStation 2 is still the world’s best-selling gaming console that has sold over 163 million units.
Sony’s latest gaming console PlayStation 5, surpassed the significant milestone on 18th July, but it’s incredibly hard to buy one because of its less market availability. The Japanese tech giant sold 4.5 million PS5 in 2020 but sold only 3.3 million in the first quarter of 2021, and due to the ongoing pandemic, the product took another four months to reach the 10 million mark.
Sony is still dealing with the hardships of making enough supply and ongoing chip shortages that reportedly held sales back. The company has to work hard as the demand for PS5 continues to remain high despite an adequate stock. Sony continues to face the supply constraint, and it might stay with the company till 2023.
The last time the PS5 went for a sale on Amazon India, it went out of stock within five minutes of listing. The frequency of sales has increased now, and it seems like the company has found a way to increase the supply despite the challenges. Along with PS 5, Spider-Man: Miles Morales has sold more than 6.5 million units since its launch in November, and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart has sold more than 1.1 million copies since its launch in June.
Cryptocurrencies are one of the most long-lasted trending topics in the world; from Mike Tyson, who saw the future of cryptocurrency even before it was in trend, to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, many celebrities backed the digital currency, which influences millions of people to invest in the cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin and Ethereum are two of the most popular cryptocurrencies globally, and their trading is legalized in many developed countries, including Japan, the United States, Canada, Australia and a number of European countries.
The Background:
Everyone who invests or wishes to invest in stocks or cryptocurrencies is aware of its unpredictable nature. Recently, Bitcoin and a few other popular cryptocurrencies encountered a dramatic pullback in the market. The flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin confronted the highest low ($30000 at one point) in the last three months, and Ethereum drained to below $2,000 at one point.
The dramatic collapse created a buzz in the online trading world with negative headlines and raised concern over the future of cryptocurrencies. The future of digital currencies is uncertain, but only if you invest blindly and only if you’re looking for immediate returns. It is currently dealing with the struggling phase because the whole world hasn’t accepted it, but it’ll surely go up when it does.
India and China cover about 35% of the world population; amongst them, more than 50% population predominantly includes young tech-savvy investors who are more flexible to crypto savings. Several countries have already begun real-world trials of their digital coins. So, the day is not far when these two countries legalize crypto, which will ultimately surge the value of digital currencies.
The Latest Move by the Indian Government:
The Indian investment in cryptocurrencies was around $923 million until April 2020, which spiked up dramatically to $6.6 billion (close to INR 50,000 crores) until May 2021. India is currently ranked at number 11 out of 154 nations, who have adopted and invested in cryptocurrencies. However, digital currency is not sanctioned officially by the Indian government yet. According to recent reports, the Reserve Bank of India is planning to introduce its own digital currency dubbed Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
The latest initiative by the RBI might open the gate for the trading of cryptocurrencies in India, but it will take years for final approval, and till then, a large sum of the population would not dare to invest. Still, if you’re looking to invest in crypto and looking for better currencies that will last longer and benefit you after 20-25 years, here’s a list of top cryptocurrencies with the best future.
1. Bitcoin:
Currency Symbol:₿
Market Capitalization: Over $750 billion
Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency, which works without a central bank or single administrator, and runs on a blockchain system distributed across a network of thousands of computers. Bitcoin or BTC is referred to as the original cryptocurrency, and it was created in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto, a fictitious or pseudonym name of the founder whose identity is still unknown to the world.
Bitcoin is a computer file stored in a digital wallet app on a smartphone or computer. It is executed as a chain of blocks, which keeps it secure and safe from fraudsters. Each block contains a hash of the previous block up to the genesis block of the chain. Bitcoin has struggled over the last couple of months, falling about 50% from its peak, but still, today, one Bitcoin is valued at $40k (₹29,80,000).
Glancing at the current status and dramatic downfall of Bitcoin, it might look like investing in digital currency is no longer a good choice. However, if you’re a keen observer of the cryptocurrencies, you’ll notice the price is still up from where it began its parade in late 2020. If you’re looking for a handsome profit through your investment in Bitcoin, you should learn how to keep yourself patient and forget your investment for the next 10-15 years.
According to recent predictions by cryptocurrency experts, bitcoin will overtake the US dollar as the predominant form of global finance by the year 2050, and the value of one Bitcoin will strike $65,000 by the end of 2021 and will overtake the US dollar with the value of $1,50,000 by the end of 2025.
2. Ethereum:
Currency Symbol:Ξ
Market Capitalization: Over $268 billion
Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain and distributed computing platform that enables smart contracts and decentralized applications. The smart contract functionality of the platform helps in automatic execution when conditions are met along with non-fungible tokens. Ethereum was co-founded by Vitalik Buterin and Gavin Wood in 2015, and ether is the native cryptocurrency of the platform.
Ethereum has experienced a tremendous level of growth; it had started its journey at just $11 and reached over $2,500 in just five years. One Ethereum is currently valued at around $2,300k (₹1,70,000), which seems far away from the current value of one Bitcoin. Ethereum blocks do verification approximately every 12 seconds, whereas Bitcoin does the same every 10 minutes.
When Bitcoin faced a global crackdown, several other cryptocurrencies proved themselves to be a new contender for a top position in the crypto world, and Ethereum was one of them, who grabbed a lot of praise and attention. According to the latest predictions by investment banking company Goldman Sachs, Ethereum could soon make the cryptocurrency the dominant digital store in the world, and it could overtake Bitcoin in the coming years.
The investment banking company also mentioned that gold would remain the first choice for investors despite the conflict between top cryptocurrencies. Ethereum grew over 900% over the past year, while Bitcoin only managed to jump 275%; still, Bitcoin is way ahead of its close rival, Ethereum. Surpassing Bitcoin won’t be an easy game, but looking at the innovation and developer interest, some experts also believe Ethereum might surpass Bitcoin in the near future.
3. Tether:
Currency Symbol:₮
Market Capitalization: Over $61 billion
Tether is the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency by market value, and it is rumoured to be backed by fiat currencies like U.S. dollars and the Euro. Ordinary people haven’t heard of it, but it is considerably popular amongst crypto traders who often use tether to buy cryptocurrencies due to its stable nature.
Tether is referred to as stablecoin because it was initially designed always to be worth $1.00, and that’s why the currency is more favoured by the investors who are cautious of the extreme volatility of other coins. The stablecoin is controlled by the owners of Bitfinex, a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange.
Along with these three cryptocurrencies, there are more than 10,000 different cryptocurrencies globally, including some of the popular currencies like Binance Coin, Cardano, Dogecoin, XRP and USD Coin. All of these cryptocurrencies hold a total value of more than $1.3 trillion till 28th July 2021, after falling from a career-high of $2.2 trillion in April.
Amazon Alexa, or simply Alexa, is a device that has been a part of our smart life since its invention in 2013. It helps us through virtual assistance, whether waking up in the morning or reminding us to pay pending bills. Alexa allows users to activate the device using a wake-word, Alexa or Amazon or Echo, but now the device finally gets a new name, Ziggy.
The backstory behind the name might be that Amazon wants to keep the name related to its design element, which indicates the message that Amazon sells everything from A to Z. Alexa and most of the other companies’ virtual assistance devices started out their journey with a feminine voice because female voices sound more pleasant and amusing to listeners of any gender.
However, there are many people out in the world who’ll prefer a masculine voice over a feminine voice, and that’s where the change arose, and companies started offering male voice assistance. Among prominent companies, Amazon is the last to provide virtual assistance devices in a masculine voice. The newly added masculine voice is available for users to either use with the Ziggy or Alexa.
The Ziggy wake word joins the existing Alexa, Computer, Echo, and Amazon wake words, but Ziggy will be the first name to appear as an option besides Alexa. Also, users can mix and remix the feminine and masculine options however they want since they are not linked to each other, and different setting options are available for voice.
The feminine and masculine voice may matter for users, but it doesn’t matter to Alexa at all, as the device answers, I’m not a woman or a man; I’m an AI when asked about its gender. The new masculine-sounding Alexa voice feature is only available in the United States for now, but soon it will make its way to the rest of the world.
