Tag: Magazine India

How to protect your privacy in a digital era

In an increasingly digitized world, protecting one’s privacy may, essentially, be an impossible task. It is no longer a mystery that we are being watched with every move we make on the internet. As small and accessible as our worlds are now, it comes at the cost of losing autonomy over who has access to our private information and what they do with it. So, how do you reap the benefits of a technologically advanced planet while ensuring that you are safeguarding sensitive information, sufficient downtime, and your sanity? WhatsApp is a popular internet-based text and voice messaging service with over two billion users worldwide. It is possible to use their privacy features to minimise visibility and disruptions. 

Open WhatsApp, go to Settings, tap Account, and then Privacy to customize who has access to your ‘Last Seen’, ‘Status’ and who is allowed to add you to WhatsApp groups. You can block or report contacts by clicking on the contact name and scrolling all the way down and tapping Block Contact or Report Contact. Instagram is a popular social networking and photo-sharing app that allows you to connect with celebrities, brands, family and friends. There are multiple ways that you can be discreet on Instagram. 

You can change the settings to make your account private thereby controlling who has access to your photos and videos. You can do this by going to Settings, Privacy and then tapping next to Private Account.You can block users by tapping on their username, scrolling all the way down and tapping on Block. If what you really need is a break from social media then you can temporarily disable your Instagram account by logging onto www.instagram.com, clicking on your profile and tapping on Edit Profile. You can scroll down and connect Temporarily Deactivate Account. 

These privacy considerations are the bare minimum in times when the fear of losing oneself to the peculiar ways of the internet is looming large. As users become more vigilant, there will be a need for more intricate privacy settings such as time-specific visibility on social media and instant messaging applications.

Xiaomi Smart TV 5A!An important update in a competitive market

Research has found that 43-inch televisions are the most sold television size in India. Thanks to the predecessor of the unit we review below, 43-inch television prices became competitive. In 2022, getting a new television is not that big deal. Infact there is now a paradox of choice. Most options are so good that it is almost impossible to go wrong when selecting a 43-inch television. I own the Xiaomi Smart TV 4X, and this is how I feel the newer 5A TV has improved over the years. 

New age budget package 

This time around, the Xiaomi 5A TV features slim and thin bezels. It makes the television seem much more premium than its asking price. It has almost identical TV stands as the earlier models, and nearly all exterior is gloss black plastic, including the stands. A subtle Xiaomi branding upfront and an LED light with a power button below it keep the design clean. There are two HDMI 2.0 ports with one supporting ARC, two USB Type-A ports mashed into one socket, an ethernet port, an AV composite port, an optical port and a 3.5mm audio jack. Basics done right! The display has improved many folds. The remote, too, has seen improvements with Google Assistant speak to command button right below the power button.  

The remote buttons have been updated, and now this television gets 14 controls with a volume rocker. These also include popular OTT applications Netflix, amazon prime video, Disney+ Hotstar and a dedicated apps button to access all the apps quickly.

Evolutionary improvements

The 43-inch display now comes with IPS LCD technology. A new vivid picture engine powered by a new age low-end quad-core processor, 1.5GB RAM, and 8GB ROM, make the display brighter and more vibrant. The overall feel, bezel-less design, and better picture quality make the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A a worthy competitor in a crowded, dynamic TV market. The TV comes loaded with Android TV 11 based on Android 11 and thus supports all modern apps available on Google Play Store for Android TV. 

The video experience is enhanced with global dimming controls, local contrast control and adaptive luma control. But the main highlight is the vivid picture engine that makes the contrasts, brightness and colours look better than in previous iterations. The most significant change from the last 4 series must be the new and improved 24W dual-speakers with Dolby Atmos and DTS-X software enhancements. 

The audio quality of the television is further improved with options like DTS-X bass enhancement, surround virtualizer and dialogue clarity. If that wasn’t enough, there is a DAC-4 dialogue enhancer with three levels of settings. Technicals aside, the television sounds above average in its segment and is enough to fill a small room easily. 

A budget option in a crowded market

The 43-inch TV market is buzzing with good options from all brands. Xiaomi Smart TV 5A is an excellent addition to the budget market and improves on the overall appeal as a feature-loaded budget smart TV. Android 11 over and above the improved audio-video experience. This is a worthwhile investment if you’re looking for a budget 43-inch FHD TV. 

Good – Improved AV experience, Android TV 11

Bad – No more bundled OTT content 

Ugly – Competitor offerings 

Price – INR 25,999

Specs 

43-inch IPS Panel 

Dual-band WiFi, BT 5.0

Android TV 11

Quad-core A55 SOC with 1.5GB RAM and 8GB storage

24W Speakers with Dolby Audio, DTS-X

Rating – 3.5/5

 

OnePlus 10R-R stands for rapid charging or rebranded?

It doesn’t look like a OnePlus phone!

The OnePlus 10R feels like it was rebranded, and maybe that’s true. The new age, flat edge design looks neat, but the sharp design with more contemporary looks does feel a stark departure from the traditional curved configurations of the past from OnePlus. It feels relatively lightweight for a 6.7-inch display phone with plastic sides and back along with Gorilla Glass 5 protection up front, weighing 186gms. Buttons are tactile, and the overall sharp edge feels like a love or hate situation. Available in two colours – Forest Green and Sierra Black, we test the latter but opine the former as a choice. 

Top-tier hardware but lacklustre software  

Our unit features a mind-blowing 160W charger inside the box and a 4500mAh battery. This device’s highlight must be that insane combination of blazing-fast 150W SuperVOOC charging. The phone juices up in less than 10 mins when it comes to charging up to 70+% and thus eliminates charge anxiety in a weird way. A full charge comes in less than 18 minutes, which is mighty impressive. The phone is no slouch either, with Dimensity 8100 Max (custom SOC), 12GB RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1, an in-display fast fingerprint sensor and relatively long-lasting battery life. 

The AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate feels fast, but the Oxygen OS 12.1 is based on Android 12. Yes, the usual customisations, simplicity, and speed prevail, but there are glitches, and we faced quite a few. For instance, the YouTube app would randomly hang and display over all other apps, including system UI. A long press on the power button triggered the power menu but was not accessible thanks to YouTube recommendations scrolling endlessly on display. This also happened with other apps like GPay and thus was not limited by one app misbehaving. 

We did receive two updates during our usage with the phone, but none seemed stable. That said, the hardware and the triple-camera setup are an excellent package. The 50MP primary shooter with f/1.8 and OIS can capture good images and videos even in low light. The 8MP ultrawide manages to match colours, and FOV is quite broad. There’s a 2MP macro shooter lacking details, but weirdly enough, all the rear sensors are capable of shooting in 4K! The front 16MP camera with f/2.4 is wide and clear but can only do EIS 1080p recordings. Mics and connectivity are spot-on, and there were no issues. There is dual-SIM 5G support, with no spectrum to test. 

The phone was stable after four non-stop battle-royale games, which was undoubtedly impressive with an astounding 720Hz touch-sampling rate. None of the games supports 90fps yet, but they all easily ran at their max settings. WiFi 6 support is icing on a rather tasty yet simple-looking cake. All OTT apps support FHD resolution and HDR10+ content. 

A sleeper phone?

The OnePlus 10R blazed through our tests only to get stuck on any random app requiring a soft reboot. The phone is not only capable of handling this generation of usage but charges faster than most of our bath times. As much as we loved it, we do not wish random software glitches on anyone. If the software experience improves with OTA updates, and you can look past the relatively simple generic look of the OnePlus 10R, it is a great all-around phone. 

Good – Insanely fast charging, good hardware

Bad – Generic looks 

Ugly – Software glitches

3.5/5

Processor – Dimensity 8100 Max

RAM – 12GB + UFS expandable 

ROM – UFS 3.1 256GB

Charge – SuperVOOC 150W Charging

Charge time – 0-100% – 18 Mins

Touch sampling rate – 720Hz

Display – 6.7-inch AMOLED 120Hz 

Cameras – Rear – 50MP OIS, 8MP Ultrawide, 2MP Macro, 16MP front camera

Google Launches ChromeOS 103 for Chromebooks: Top New Features

Back in CES 2022 in January, Google demonstrated new features to improve their “Better Together” ecosystem experience. Today, with the latest instalment of ChromeOS 103, users can finally experience features such as viewing the camera roll from your phone on your ChromeOS device through the Phone Hub interface, as well as Android’s reply to AirDrop, nearby-share to share Wi-Fi information between supported Google devices.

Beginning with the camera roll sharing, as it stands, the Phone Hub (pretty much the equivalent of the Your Phone app available on Microsoft’s Windows products) can allow the user to keep up with notifications sent to the phone, view recent Chrome tabs, and execute actions such as pinging the phone to locate it, turning on and off the hotspot, and changing the ringer settings on the android device. 

Now, however, the application allows users to see their phone’s camera roll through the Chromebook. Sure, you might be thinking photos.google.com does the same thing? However, Google claims that this feature works completely offline as well. Tapping a photo will allow users to download the selected image to the Chromebook.

Google also announced Chromebook support for Google Fast Pair, which is a proprietary device pairing standard using Bluetooth Low Energy to enable the iconic “AirPods Pairing” window to make wireless accessories easier to use, but for a much larger range of devices that can be experienced on modern Bluetooth earphones and accessories on Android. 

Furthermore, Google also claims that with the latest iteration of Nearby Share, “sharing is up to 10 times faster.” Finally, Nearby Share also adds a minor yet meaningful feature in the form of Wi-Fi credentials sharing, making sharing Wi-Fi passwords much faster and also much more secure between supported devices.

OnePlus 10T reportedly sports improved gaming performance

Likely launching next month in India, the OnePlus 10T has been spotted on Benchmark sites reportedly performing with the latest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 at the helm. Frame rates, along with operating temperature have been reported on Twitter by leaker Yogesh Brar, claiming that in the popular and graphically demanding game Genshin Impact, the newly identified OnePlus smartphone boasted 57FPS on average, at 43-46˚C on Extreme graphics settings. This is in comparison to the existing OnePlus 10 Pro which currently performs at 55FPS running at 45-49˚C. A common complaint with the 10 Pro is that the phone runs too hot. Although this is not entirely fixed, OnePlus has partially internalised this problem with the new chip.

Another leaker Mukul Sharma revealed that the OnePlus 10T is currently undergoing Research and Development testing in India, revealing variants with 8GB/128GB and12GB/256GB, attesting that 150W charging is quite likely. Two supposed finishes are a Green and Grey shade, while he further confirms that the smartphone will be offered as an upper mid-range device.

In other news, the smartphone is expected to come with a 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED panel with second-generation LTPO technology allowing the display to refresh between 1hz and 120hz. The phone might come with a 360hz touch sampling rate to improve responsiveness and gaming. On the back of the phone, the phone is rumoured to come with a triple camera setup yet again, with the now popular 50MP IMX766 sensor on the primary shooter, an 8MP sensor for the ultra-wide-angle lens, and a 2MP macro camera. The phone would feature anything between 4500-5000mAh battery as there is no real clarification on the same.

Moto G82 5G Launched in India

Motorola has made its mark in the Indian market hot on the heels of releases such as the Motorola Edge 30, G52, and Edge 30 Pro. The OEM recently announced the Motorola G82 for India, sporting the Snapdragon 695 5G and a 120hz display in the mid-range segment.

The build and design of the phone are fairly basic, with a PMMA Thermoplastic material on the back panel, and Gorilla Glass 3 protection on the front. The phone comes in two finishes – Meteorite Gray and White Lily. All this is topped off by a water and dust resistance rating of IP52.

The display is a 6.6 inch 120hz 10-bit pOLED panel delivering inky blacks and vibrant colours. With a 360hz touch sampling rate, gaming and general usage are more responsive to touch input, providing a snappier experience. 

The G82 comes with 6 or 8GB of DDR4X memory, and 128GB of uMCP storage, with up to 1 TB expandable storage through the microSD card slot available on the sim tray. 

The phone contains a 5000mAh cell, with an included charger for 33W “Turbo Power” fast charging, as the company calls it. 

Moving on to the cameras, the triple camera setup on the back is a 50+8+2 MP effort for the Main, Ultra-wide, and Macro cameras respectively. The 50-megapixel main camera with an f/1.8 aperture supports OIS, a rare addition in this competitive segment, but definitely great for both stable video and improved Night Mode shots. Furthermore, video is capped to 1080p 60fps on the main lens. Towards the front, is a 16MP selfie camera with an f/2.2 aperture with the ability to capture up to 1080p 30fps.

The Moto G82 will be shipping with Android 12 with a light skin over an otherwise close-to-stock android experience, delivering a bloatware-free, smooth and unified experience powered by Google products. The phone will be available for purchase on Flipkart from the 14th of June.

Specs:

  • SoC: Snapdragon 695 5G [Octa-core]
  • Display: 120hz pOLED 6.6 inches FHD+
    • 360hz Touch Sampling
    • 700 nits (1000 nits peak)
    • 10-bit colour, covering the DCI-P3 colour gamut
  • RAM: 6GB/8GB RAM LPDDR4X
  • Storage: 128GB + 1TB Expandable – uMCP
  • Battery: 5000mAh + 33W “Turbo Power” Fast Charging
  • Operating System: Android 12 My UX

Back Cameras:

  • 50 MP f/1.8, Wide Angle, Primary Camera with OIS up to 1080p 60fps
  • 8 MP f/2.2, Ultra-Wide Angle Camera
  • 2 MP f/2.4, Macro Camera

Front Cameras:

  • 16 MP f/2.2, Wide Angle, Primary Camera

Build and Design

  • PMMA Thermoplastic
  • IP52 Water and Dust Resistance
  • Stereo Speakers
  • Gorilla Glass 3 Protection
  • Headphone jack

Optoma GT1080HDR DLP Projector – An Ambiguously Pleasing 4K/HDR DLP Projector

Don’t we all love large displays, why else would we want to watch movies on those large crisp projections in a movie theatre? LCD, and OLED displays as good as they may be and as large as they get, might not be the optimal solution when it comes to viewing content on a large canvas especially while saving some bucks. Do you know how much a 55-inch television with 4K HDR 120Hz refresh rate costs in India? You might want to google search and see for yourself!  This is exactly why movie theatres use projectors rather than large AMOLED displays. Today, we have an alternative to something as large as a 300-inch crisp 4k HDR 120Hz display, powered by something so small, that we could carry it around. Meet the Optoma GT1080HDR DLP Projector. 

Simply Optoma:

Design is simple yet lightweight and installation on a table or ceiling is easy. The front-facing projector is about a foot wide with 12.4-inches, 4.5-inches tall and 9.5-inches in length. The remote has all the necessary buttons and every button is illuminated. There’s also a lens cover that covers the short throw lens neat and complete. 

More value than money:

Being DLP this projector is virtually maintenance-free, has better picture quality, wider colour range and greater contrast while also being capable of displaying up to 3800 Lumens of vibrant bright projection. Do not go by its name of GT1080HDR as the projector is able to project up to 4K HDR at 120Hz refresh rate. Optoma has packed the GT1080HDR DLP Projector with multiple I/O when it comes to connectivity. HDMI 2.0, HDMI 1.4a, VGA in and out, USB power in and out, audio in and out, RS 232 port, AC power and Kensington lock. 

Projector distance can be adjusted from as low as 1.3 feet to 11.3 feet. Being a short-throw projector the Optoma GT1080HDR DLP Projector can produce a crisp 4K 120inch display from a mere 4 feet. The remote is illuminated, a clever trick especially for a projector. Active and passive 3D is offered with the right content and glasses at a rapid refresh rate of 144Hz, mighty impressive for a product that costs less than a 55inch 4k television with similar specs. The contrast is 50000:1 and thanks to DLP, the projector lamp is easily replaceable by a claimed viewing time of 10 years as per normal usage of 4 hours per day. If all of this wasn’t enough, Optoma has loaded a 10-watt speaker inside the projector to have an audio and video experience right out of the box. 

 

We played a couple of games at a 4K HDR high refresh rate and the projector pleasantly surprised us. Colours and contrast are amazing in games and games look more immersive with naturally punchy colours. The speaker too performs decently for a built-in speaker and no complaints here. The built-in fan is relatively silent and never audible. Next, we tried a couple of movies, youtube songs and the audio-video experience left us mesmerised. Optoma colour reproduction is one of the best when it comes to projections. Colour tones are natural throughout ECO and ECO+ modes. HDR performance was at par with expensive projectors and overall, the Optoma GT1080HDR DLP projector seems to have more value than money for what it provides.

Verdict:

If you are looking for a capable 4K display and own a new-gen console like the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, definitely consider auditioning the Optoma GT1080HDR DLP Projector. With the right panel, proper sources and innate capabilities like impressive colour tones, passive 3D, and keystone correction with +/- 40 degrees, this Optoma projector is definitely a great value addition to your display arsenal. 

Rating – 4.5/5

Good – Short-throw projection, display customisation

Bad – Manual keystone correction, old UI

Ugly – Bright mode distorts colours

Projection – Upto 300inch 4K Signal / HDR Compatible

Shorter installation distance with short throw lens design

Bright 1080p projector – 3,800 ANSI Lumens

High contrast outcome – 50,000:1

Easy connectivity – HDMI, VGA, R232, 10W speaker

Low ownership costs – up to 15,000 hours of lamp life (Eco+ Mode)

26dB Quiet Operation

POCO Smartphones to be Launched Globally as Redmi Note 11T and 11T Pro

After launching POCO M4 5G in the Indian markets, the brand is all set to launch the smartphone in the global markets. As per the reports, POCO M4 5G might not be the only phone that the brand is gearing up to launch globally. Two new POCO smartphones with model numbers 22041216G and 22041216UGwere spotted on the FCC certification database.

On having a closer look at the documents, the model numbers are rebranded as Redmi Note 11T and the Redmi Note 11T Pro. The FCC certification database also reveals some specifications of the product.
The new smartphone comes with an MIUI 13 for POCO along with an 8GB and 12GB RAM option with 256GB internal storage.

The new POCO smartphones will have 5G, Bluetooth, and NFC connectivity options. An expectation of a 4300 mAh battery with 120W fast charging is set as Redmi Note 11T was seen with exact battery details on the 3C certification website.

Another record implies that Xiaomi hopes to sell the 22041216UG in Europe and the US. A launch date for each smartphone has now no longer surfaced yet, although a confidentiality record indicates that the pair should be with us by the end of October at the latest. In all likelihood, Xiaomi will announce 22041216UG and 22041216G in the subsequent month or two.

Mom v. Tech

There are certain things that moms like, and there are things that moms despise. If my mom is to be believed, I would be living a much-sorted life if I didn’t invest much time on my mobile phone. The funny part is that I see my mom busting out YouTube videos at maximum volume as I jot this article down.

Here are five tech devices that our mothers prefer or do not prefer having.

Smartphones

The one thing that moms have a love-hate relationship with. They only love it when the ball is in their court. Smartphones have become a convenient medium to kill the boredom of aged beings. The inclusion of OTT platforms has also made it easier for our parents to watch movies on the go. Now that I am mostly out for work, I find it relieving that my mom has her little friend to keep her occupied. And yes, I almost forgot, the annoying family Whatsapp groups make the smartphone even more interesting.

Video-games

I have lost count of the number of times I got trashed in my childhood for playing video games. I am sure most of you have gone through this or at least have been asked to pause your online game. Playstation and other video game consoles are totally uncool and would ruin your eyesight, of course, according to our moms. 

Television

Although my mom wasn’t ever into television dramas, I have seen in my friends’ house how much of a television buff moms become when those family dramas start to roll on the screen. I still haven’t figured out why anyone would watch 1000 episodes of something that doesn’t seem to go anywhere. Or maybe I am just bad at understanding moms.

Amazon Echo

During the corona days when everyone was stuffed inside their homes, I bought an Amazon Echo device, and little did I know it would be one of the essentials for mom. Now she orders Alexa to play music or listen to recipes, and stream movies, and there’s a pinch of excitement every time she does it. Echo has been a constant with mom, especially when she’s in the kitchen preparing food. 

Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Ah! The hate that moms have for this machine is real. They wouldn’t trust anyone with the house cleaning out themselves. We always get to hear this complaint that the vacuum cleaners do not cover the corners, which becomes a big headache for moms. Why have a machine when everyone can do their bit of cleaning and chores and not leave everything for moms?

#HappyMothersDay

Samsung S21 Ultra 5G – Is it the best out there?

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra represents the best of the Korean tech giant. But is it the best one overall? In this detailed review, we finally tell you our verdict of the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and the answer burning question on everyone’s mind, “is it worth its high price tag?”

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