OPPO Find N is yet to release in India but can reportedly hit the markets anytime soon. The new foldable device looks like a good answer to Samsung Foldable devices such as Z Fold3. Check out the video for specifications of OPPO Find N and its comparison with Z Fold3. The future of smartphones is foldable.
Tag: tech updates
Playdate Sells 20,000 Units In Less Than Twenty Minutes
The buzz around the little retro-inspired handheld Playdate gaming device seemed strong, and it translated into actual sales. Panic, the publisher behind the popular untitled Goose game, committed to selling 20,000 units on a first-come, first-serve basis.
According to Panic’s shipping estimator, Playdate’s first wave of pre-orders sold out in less than 20 minutes. The anticipated launch had few technical troubles in its way, especially for International checkers. Playdate tweeted about the server instability and 502 errors after international shipping came crashing down.
What is Playdate?
The Playdate is a gaming device built by Panic in collaboration with Teenage Engineering. It is an odd little yellow device that looks adorable by any standards. The device boasts a unique black and white display that, according to Panic, “looks more amazing than you are probably imagining.”
It has got a unique crank on its side for controlling games. Playdate is planning more than the original 24 games, although no official announcements have been made. You’ll get to unlock two games each week for 12 weeks straight. For example, if you get your device in 2022, someone who received their unit in 2021 may already be nearing the end of their 12 week season.
How To Pre-Order a Playdate?
You can order Playdate directly from the website for $179.
Remember, the price is just for the console and does not include a Stereo Doc accessory or pen, which can be bought separately. The availability and price of the following accessories haven’t been announced yet.
When is Playdate Launching?
There has been no official announcement made as far as the launch date is concerned. The company is supposed to be shipping its first 20,000 units at some point in 2021. Panic will likely be giving more information soon about the same.
Here are the countries where Playdate will be shipping at the launch:
US
UK
Australia
Belgium
Canada
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany Ireland
Italy
Japan
Netherlands
Poland
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Best Laptops To Buy In 2021 For Less Than 50,000
There were times when spending Rs 50,000 wasn’t enough for a good laptop. With new technological innovations and price drops, times have certainly changed for the better.
During the COVID 19 pandemic, people have been working mostly from their homes and hence the demand for affordable laptops have skyrocketed.
The best of laptops have to offer a great balance between power, performance, and price. The laptops that we have compiled in this list may not be the fastest or the most powerful laptops, but they will get you through your day-to-day workloads without causing any issues.
There are also few ultrabooks in this list that can be considered a decent gaming laptop. Let’s look at the options:
HP 15 15s- gr0012AU
The HP 15s laptop comes with a 15.6-inch display and a dedicated number pad. It is powered by the 3rd generation AMD Ryzen 5 325OU processor, which is paired with 8GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, and a 1TB hard disk. The graphics are handled by the Radeon Vega 6 integrated graphics.
You can get an HP15s laptop from Amazon for Rs 41,990.
MI Notebook 14
MI Notebook 14 XMA1901-FA is light but versatile machine and is powered by the 10th Generation Intel Core i5 – 10210U processor with 4 cores and 8 threads. The laptop offers 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD.
MI Notebook comes with a scissor-switch keyboard and a multi-touch trackpad and is perfect for multi-tasking. It is powered by a 46 Wh battery and can run up to 10 hours of usage on a single charge.
You can buy MI Notebook 14 from Amazon for 48,000.
ASUS Vivobook 14
The ASUS Vivobook 14 features a 14 inch Full HD LED-backlit anti-glare display and is powered by the AMD Ryzen 5 3500U processor. The system is designed to be thin and light and is coupled with 8GB DDR4 RAM and 128 GB SSD.
The display is a matte 1920×1080 IPS panel and you get a subscription to Microsoft Office 365 and Windows 10 Home with this laptop.
You can buy ASUS Vivobook 14 from Amazon for 40,000.
Lenovo ThinkPad E15
The Lenovo ThinkPad E15 is a perfect laptop for multitasking. It comes equipped with the 11th Generation Intel Core i3 1115G4 processor and has a 15.6 inch Full HD display. The machine is paired with 8GB of RAM and 256 GB SSD.
You can buy Lenovo ThinkPad E15 from Amazon.
LG’s PuriCare Face Mask Now Comes With Built-In Mic And Speakers
The COVID-19 pandemic is still pretty much ongoing. While many industries have suffered heavy losses due to financial and operational risks, tech firms have found ways to seize the market through their technological innovations.
LG has announced a handful of updates to its high-tech, air-purifying mask, named LG Puricare Wearable Air Purifier. The product that was launched last year initially had air filters and built-in fans to filter the air. The new version will now witness upgrades such as a more efficient motor, built-in microphones and speakers.
The technology, which LG calls VoiceON, automatically recognizes when the wearers are speaking and amplifies the voice through built-in speakers. However, the mask will continue to use HEPA filters, which purifies almost 99% of the particulates down to 0.3 microns in size.
The company has yet to announce its pricing and availability. Still, it plans to go ahead with the launch in Thailand next month “with other markets to follow once approved by local regulators.” Pandemic is a perfect opportunity to roll out products that will remain in demand for this period.
According to LG, the new sound system hit a 0.75(excellent) Korean Electronics Technology Institute’s Sound Transmission Index. This means that we will be able to conveniently hold conversations without taking the mask off.
The company is targeting athletes prominently with the new PuriCare mask. The Thai Olympic Team even wore the gadget for a photo session on their way to this year’s Olympics. LG claims that the athletes could comfortably wear the PuriCare for hours at a time.
What is notable is that the company did not mention COVID-19 in its announcement. It is nowhere claiming that the PuriCare Mask will protect against the Novel Coronavirus in any way. It’s true that most purifiers can target particles the size of the virus, yet without any scientific study on the mask, we cannot and shouldn’t take a stand on the efficiency of the mask.
Twitter Tests Upvote And Downvote Feature On Tweets
Twitter’s Chief Product Officer Kayvon Keykpour, last year confirmed that Twitter is ‘exploring’ the idea of adding a dislike button to the app. The social media app is now working on adding a new upvote and downvote reactions to tweets.
The company confirmed that it is testing the feature for a small group of iOS users through a tweet. Twitter said that the new feature might be available to the users in several different styles(up and down arrows, a heart icon, and thumbs up and thumbs down icons). The app is testing the feature to ‘understand the types of replies you find relevant in a convo, so we can work on ways to show more of them.’
However, downvotes will not be shown publicly, and the upvotes will be displayed as likes since the feature is intended only for internal metrics.
Twitter has clarified that the feature is just for research purposes and hasn’t finalised rolling it out yet. The company hasn’t yet defined how voting will affect what you see in your feed since the feature can draw parallels to Reddit. Upvoting or downvoting on Reddit is a way of surfacing a Redditor’s favourite replies, responses or posts.
Many users have noticed this similarity, including Reddit itself, who tweeted this in response:
Twitter has also recently announced that it is testing a new set of features for TweetDeck. The company is revamping its often-ignored dashboard with updates such as a full tweet composer, new advanced search features, new column types, and a new way to group columns into new workspaces.
This feature is being tested with a few US, Canada, and Australia users. The social media giant is consistently working upon bringing new and desirable changes to its app so more and more users can connect conveniently.
Of course, the application of these features will depend upon the reviews that Twitter gets during the research process.
Xiaomi Leaves Apple Behind As World’s Second Largest Smartphone Maker
Xiaomi takes over Apple to become the world’s second-biggest smartphone maker. According to Canalys’ most recent data, Xiaomi Corp. witnessed an 83% jump in shipments in the second quarter of 2021.
The South Korean smartphone giant Samsung continues to lead the spot with a 19 per cent market share. However, Xiaomi has significantly closed the gap with a 17 per cent market share, giving cut-throat competition to the tech giant.
Xiaomi Is Now Second Largest Smartphone Maker
Xiaomi’s shipments in Latin America witnessed a climb by more than 300 per cent, by 150% in Africa, and 50% in Western Europe. The main reason for this growth is that Xiaomi offers products that cost 40 to 70% cheaper than Samsung and Apple devices. According to Canalys, Xiaomi should focus on increasing its sales of smartphones like the Mi 11 Ultra.
Huawei Technologies Co. was in the league of disrupting the rankings until sanctions cut it off from essential supplies last year. Its withdrawal pushed other Chinese vendors to spend aggressively on new upgrades into the market.
Xiaomi actively launched two flagship devices within the first four months of the year. The company’s Mi 11 Ultra features one of the largest camera sensors to date, pushing it further into the premium pricing range.
Catalyst Research Manager Ben Staton said in a release,
“It is now transforming its business model from challenger to incumbent, with initiatives such as channel partner consolidation and more careful management of older stock in the open market. It is still largely skewed toward the mass market, however, and compared with Samsung and Apple, its average selling price is around 40% and 75% cheaper respectively. So a major priority for Xiaomi this year is to grow sales of its high-end devices, such as the Mi 11 Ultra.”
Even so, Xiaomi stole this position; Apple is still in a good position. iPhone 13, which is expected to be introduced this fall, can keep up the robust iPhone 12 sales, like Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan believed. Research conducted by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners showed that iPhone 12 accounted for 63% of the US iPhone sales during the third quarter of 2021.
Realme GT Master Explorer Edition Tipped, Likely To Launch With Master Edition By July End
Smartphone manufacturer Realme has been exposed to numerous leaks and renders lately. We witnessed how few hands-on leaked images of Realme Pad surfaced on the Internet, which suggested that the device was still in the stage of work in progress. The latest to join the trail of leaks is the Realme GT Master Explorer Edition.
Realme is prepared to stretch its GT series of smartphones with the GT Series Master Edition launch in China. The handset with the model number RMX3366 was revealed on the website of China’s TEENA, hinting towards an imminent launch. A new leak by a Chinese tipster suggests that the company will announce yet another Pro variant of the Realme GT Master Edition.
The claims, if believed, propose that the new smartphone could be Realme GT Master Explorer Edition.
Realme GT Master Edition and GT Master Explorer Launch Time Frame
The reports claim that the company plans to launch the Realme GT Master Edition alongside the GT Master Edition. Going with the leaks, the smartphones are expected to launch by the end of July this year. Reports also suggest that the smartphone company will launch its first laptop at the global GT event.
Realme GT Master Specifications
The handset that was spotted on TEENA had few key specifications revealed last week. As per the details, the GT Master Edition is to feature a 6.43-inch FHD + AMOLED display with a 120 Hz refresh rate. The smartphone can also feature an in-display fingerprint sensor supposedly powered by a Snapdragon 778 5G chipset.
The phone can be tipped with 12GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage. We can also expect the device to run Android 11 on its system.
Realme GT Master can also sport a triple-camera setup. The rear-facing camera module can house a 64 MP primary main camera, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens, and a 2MP depth sensor. The device might also feature a 32 MP front camera for selfies and video calling purposes. The handset is also tipped to pack a decent 4500 mAh battery with 65W SuperDart charging.
The smartphone is retail for around EUR 399 (Rs 35,300) for 8GB RAM and 256 GB storage, and EUR 499 (Rs 39,700) for the 12 GB RAM model.
The specifications and other details for the Realme GT Master Explorer Edition have not been revealed at the moment.
Alleged Realme Pad Leaked In Live Images
During the global launch of the GT smartphone, Madhav Seth, India-based CEO of Realme, confirmed that the company would launch its first-gen Pad soon. Few hands-on leaked images have surfaced on the Internet, claiming the device to be Realme Pad.
Here is the picture that was shared online via SlashLeaks:
The Pad, which seems to be still in the work of progress, has a few stickers and labels suggesting internal testing, but the Realme logo is nowhere to be seen! Since the images have been clicked from a distance, it is not the clearest that we could come across.
However, its slim unibody seems to be in Space Gray colour and has the standard-looking camera-hump in one corner, which appears to be similar to the cryptic image shared during the global launch.
The brand’s first tablet product is expected to launch alongside its first-ever laptop, the Realme Book. The Realme Tablet appears to have an aluminium or metal alloy frame with a single camera at the back, placed in an extending module. The Tablet also holds a square design which is somewhat similar to the Apple’s iPad Pro models.
This could mean that the device would be a premium device. It could even come up with Flagship hardware such as the Snapdragon 870 chipset and include a lot of storage. However, Realme has been relatively silent about the specifications and features of the device, so we are left with very scarce information about the same.
That’s pretty much everything we know about the Realme Pad so far, but we can expect more details very soon if more leaks appear.
Recently, the company has launched its Realme C11 2021 in India. The smartphone is the latest addition to the entry-level C series smartphone and comes with a 5000 mAh battery. The device also supports reverse charging, and UNISOC’s SC9863A octa-core processor powers it. It also has a 6.5-inch display with 2GB Ram, 32 GB internal storage and is priced at Rs 6,999 in Cool Blue and Cool Grey colours.
Qualcomm Launches $1500 ‘Smartphone For Snapdragon Insiders’
US-based chip making giant Qualcomm, which manufactures Snapdragon processors and modems for almost every primary Android device, is now launching its Flagship. Qualcomm and Asus have collaborated on a custom device called ‘Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders.’
As the name suggests, Qualcomm will sell the $1500 phone directly to members of its Snapdragon Insider Fan Community, which was launched earlier this year. It is much of a token of appreciation for the community keen on learning about Qualcomm’s developments before anyone else.
Smartphone For Snapdragon Insiders Specifications
The flagship smartphone runs Android 11, Snapdragon 888 chip, has 16 GB of Ram and 512 GB of storage, a 6.78-inch, 144 Hz Samsung OLED panel with Gorilla Glass Victus, and offers a rear fingerprint scanner.
However, the Snapdragon 888 processor feels like an odd choice for a device this expensive since the company has already launched a more powerful 888 plus model. Although there is very little difference between the vanilla and the Plus variant, the latter is supposed to handle graphics better. The smartphone offers a 4000 mAh battery, which is again not the biggest we have seen in a smartphone.
Snapdragon Insider features a three-camera setup at the back, with the main one featuring a Sony IMX686 64- megapixel image sensor. There is also an 8-megapixel telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. The front camera offers a 24-megapixel lens. The phone can shoot 8K at 30 frames per second and 4K at 30 or 60 frames per second.
What stands out in Flagship is Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon Sound classification, which other Android devices have not yet offered. It promises a hi-fi music playback at up to 24 bit 96 kHz. Also, it includes some Master & Dynamics earbuds, which eventually appears to be MW08 earbuds with Snapdragon Logo on them. These earbuds sell in the market for $299 if that makes you feel any good about the $1499 price tag!
Snapdragon also boasts of offering the most comprehensive support for all key 5G wavebands in a single device. The device also supports Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2.
In addition, the phone also includes a 65W Quick charge 5.0 charge, USB C to USB C, and USB C to USB A cables.
Biggest Setback
The major setback for the Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders is that the device does not feature the company’s latest processor. Neither does it push the technology any further than what most powerful smartphones have to offer. OnePlus 9 Pro and Galaxy S21 Ultra provide the exact specifications for far less money.
The glowing Snapdragon logo at the back doesn’t make the smartphone worth the premium price tag.
Launch
The Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders will be first available in the US, China, UK, and Germany by August. It will launch in India soon, and the price could nearly equal 1,12,200, although no official data is available about the release.
Mozilla: YouTube’s Algorithm Pushes Harmful Content
A new study conducted by the non-profit Mozilla Foundation suggests that YouTube continues to recommend harmful videos to users that violate its own content policies.
The crowd-funded study found that around 71% of the videos that viewers considered ‘regrettable’ were recommended by the video platform’s own algorithm.
What Exactly is YouTube Regrettables?
Let’s understand it this way, any content that a user finds disturbing or harmful is deemed as regrettable. For example, some volunteers were often recommended videos titled, ‘Man humiliates feminist’.
Such misogynistic videos would fall under YouTube regrets. Other examples would include Covid misinformations, extreme political inclinations, or hate speeches.
Further Investigation
The finding was made using crowdsourced data from RegretsReporter, a browser extension that lets users report information on harmful videos and what actually led them there. More than 30,000 YouTube users used the platform to report the harmful content that was recommended to them.
The investigation further suggests that non-English speakers were more prone to disturbing content and that ‘YouTube regrets’ was 60% higher in countries that don’t have English as their first language. Mozilla says that there were a total of 3362 regrettable videos from 91 countries, between July 2020 and May 2021. Most of these were either misinformation, violent or graphic content, hate/polarization speeches, and scams.
The study also suggests that recommended videos were 40% more likely to be reported by users than videos for which they searched.
Brandy Geurkink, Mozilla’s Senior Manager of Advocacy says that YouTube’s algorithm is designed to misinform and harm people:
“Our research confirms that YouTube not only hosts, but actively recommends videos that violate its very own policies. We also now know that people in non-English speaking countries are the most likely to bear the brunt of YouTube’s out-of-control recommendation algorithm. Mozilla hopes that these findings — which are just the tip of the iceberg — will convince the public and lawmakers of the urgent need for better transparency into YouTube’s AI.”
User Attention
The YouTube algorithm is essentially a black box. The video-streaming platform relies on its algorithm to show users what they like or might like to keep them hooked on for as long as possible.
The study by Mozilla backs up the notion that YouTube’s AI continues to feed users ‘low-grade, divisive, misinformations’. This makes it easier for the video streaming platform to easily grab eyeballs by triggering people’s sense of outrage. This only implies that the problem of regrettable or triggering recommendations is indeed systematic. The more you outrage people, the more you expand your appetite for ad revenues!
As a method to fix YouTube’s algorithm, Mozilla is calling for ‘common sense transparency laws, better oversight, and consumer pressure’. It also called for the protection of independent researchers to empower them to interrogate algorithmic impacts, as an exercise to repair the worst excesses of the YouTube algorithm.
Superficial Claims
YouTube has a history of being accused of fuelling societal ills by feeding hate speech, political extremism, and conspiracy junk. The parent company and tech giant Google has always responded to negative criticism flaring up around algorithms, by announcing few policy tweaks.
The dangerous behavior of YouTube algorithms, only suggests that Google has been making superficial claims of reform.