When it comes to streaming devices, Netflix and Amazon Prime are the top two that instantly come to mind that has billions of subscribers worldwide but there is something new coming up regarding Disney Plus Hotstar.
Disney Plus Hotstar too is right up there when it comes to streaming platforms although it is not used as frequently in conversations as the other two but that doesn’t take away from its significance but the latest news coming up is that Disney has decided to increase subscription prices for Disney Plus Hotstar subscribers.
This is after Netflix decided to go for an add-supporting tier to the platform and Disney looks like this is going to one up on its rival and there has always been a great battle between these companies for one-upmanship.
Disney has been on an ad-supported tier called Disney Plus Basic where the monthly subscription that is priced at $7.99 per month while Hulu itself has increased at $7.99 per month thereby bringing it on par with Disney.
Music is the one gift of nature that stirs the soul of all living beings in many ways, which is why it is impossible to point out how, where and when it originated. Music changes with each passing decade and now in the 21st century there are so many music stations and options to choose from.
Airtel too has come up with an excellent way to give a platform to budding singers and musicians by launching the Wynk Studio where more than 5000 music artists will be able to showcase their talent.
Even though there are so many online platforms for singers to try out, this is going to be something different where they can monetize and launch videos on many of these online platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Spotify and others.
There is no dearth to online platforms but Wynk Studio is owned by Airtel where it can get the liberty to hire anyone they feel like as long as they have the talent and potential to prove their worth.
Brief Up
It was found out in a recent survey that most Indians spend more than 22 hours a week listening to music when compared to the global average of 18 hours, which prompted Airtel to use the situation to their advantage and convert it into an opportunity to achieve two ends.
One is where, as mentioned above, they could provide an excellent platform for singers and musicians to showcase their talent and the second to increase the listening pleasure of all those that are totally loyal to their music idols and spend most of their time listening to music.
Wynk Studio is well aware of the problems that artists face like monetization issue, discovery and data analysis because the creative economy for music is at a nascent stage but the studio has confidence that it will continue to grow at a slow and steady pace.
Wynk Studio is an opportunity to present such a platform for musicians to pursue their passion and earn a steady income simultaneously so that their talent reaches far and wide as it will be circulated from one platform to another.
Wynk is reported to have spent more than Rs.100 crore so as to bring more than 5000 independent music artists from all over India by the end of 2023 where around 100 artists have been assembled on the platform in India, US and Singapore.
Apple has been the number one tech giant for many decades and for very good reason so one can understand the immense pressure they have to live up to the expectations of their users who want their new device to be far superior than the previous one.
Apple, more often than not, does live up to expectations despite receiving stiff competition from other tech giants but the news doing the rounds is that it is stepping up on original podcasts and has signed up an agreement with a reputed studio and no less than a Pulitzer prize winning one at that.
Apple has always spent lavishly on original podcasts but has stepped up a few notches this time by getting into contract with a big studio along with getting into talks with other companies about more deals.
Podcasts app is one of the best features one can hope for in an iPhone and with Apple getting even more particular about original content and is very hopeful that it will turn into many a show on its Apple TV+ Service.
Futuro Studios, which is well known for making the crime justice series ‘Suave’, is the one that is putting all the money behind all the development and production of the podcasts, which will provide Apple a big opportunity to turn any podcast into a movie or TV show.
This isn’t the end of it as Apple has made arrangements with other reputed studios as well and spent more than $10 million as of now and announced podcasts with the likes of Campsite Media, Jigsaw Productions, Pineapple Street Studios, and many of their ilk.
Apple’s podcasting unit does not want to spend on individual shows and has avoided it doing so or purchasing networks as it wants to be seen and acknowledged as a neutral platform and is working well on it.
The tech giant has already financed amply on Jigsaw’s The Line, a multiple award winning podcast about Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher along with Campside’s ‘Hooked’, an excellent series where the story revolved around an engineer who turns into a bank robber due to circumstances.
When it comes to original podcasts as Spotify Technology and Amazon, Apple has avoided spending as much but the two companies have come $1 billion each acquiring programming an d companies with Spotify making some of the best podcasts on the planet that have attained global popularity despite being a hot rival for Apple’s music streaming service.
Despite a global pandemic, it doesn’t stop these big tech giants from bringing out a brand new device at regular intervals and Google, being one of the big guns, can never be left out of the conversation as it has come out with a new update for its Pixel 6 Series.
The latest update is good news for gaming aficionados called the Game Dashboard update that will include a range of in-game menu options on smartphones supported by Google although the company had initially introduced it with Android 12 so it was exclusively to Pixel devices.
Now with updated features on Android 13 along with Google Pixel 6, it can now be seen on Pixel 6a as well, which is welcoming news for its users who wanted to try out this new feature as well and now it is readily available on Google Play Services in version 22.30.
Users can go through the settings menu to check the availability of game dashboard menu, which once enabled will allow users to when they launch a game. The players will find a small arrow on the left-hand or right-hand side of the display screen that they have to tap and go to the game controller icon that appears, which when clicked will fire up the game dashboard menu.
The menu will have a do not disturb, frame rate counter, screen recording and a screenshot button, which will be accessible to the users when they enable the options through the Game Dashboard button.
Another option is where you can stream directly to YouTube live and game optimization tool but users are not allowed to tweak the dashboard settings with the menus but the tool will make it easier for them to gain access to other gaming tools.
It was being speculated that Google wanted the Game dashboard option on those devices that don’t belong to the Pixel lineup and the company has to bring Game dashboard into Google Play Services to accomplish their goals.
This tool will prove to be a game changing feature in the literal sense as users can now search for games of their choice while the above mentioned points will help them to understand on how things are to be done.
The game dashboard option will definitely increase the popularity of Google Pixel 6 series especially with people fond of playing games as they can not only play to their heart’s content but can stream YouTube live sessions as well.
Nowadays it has become quite easy to chat online with others when earlier it was simply limited to SMSs and messages but WhatsApp was the first application that changed everything where you could not only send and receive messages but audio and video clips as well.
Online interviews have become possible through live video calls and with the latest news that has been doing the rounds, things are only getting better and better for which the entire credit has to go to Google Meet.
Google Meet has come out with a brand new feature called live sharing through which you can enable meeting other participants and co-watch different kinds of content in real-time, which means that you can now watch YouTube videos with your friends, listen to music via Spotify, play games and create your own playlists or music library.
Although Duo made live sharing available in the early half of 2022 once Duo and Meet merged into one entity, Google Meet adding this new feature will enliven things up as it arguably has more users than Duo.
Brief Summary
You can find this new feature in the new Activities Tab found in the three dot menu where you can also find other icons like YouTube, Spotify and others through which they’ll be redirected to the application that is selected for the group session.
Google Meet has mentioned in a recent news report that it has upgraded many things in this live sharing application as they’ve been working on it since the past few weeks and revealed that the app will have a green icon that will be renamed as Google Meet (original).
The new updates will be available on smartphones and tablets through the month although for other devices it might take some time as the makers want to make sure that it passes all the tests before installing it in other electronic devices.
Now users will be able to initiate instant video calls with friends and colleagues or other groups at a fixed time along with changing the background and visual effects before starting the meeting.
Google has advised users to upgrade their apps to the latest versions in order to avail the new features as early as possible as they cannot be used with the old application. You can update an Android app via Google Play Store while YouTube live sharing was enabled on Google Meet in July 2022 itself.
Whenever a new device is set for launch in the market, there is a great deal of buzzing anticipation on what all new features it is going to have. The tech giants are doing a great deal to make this a grand sort of event so that the users get their money’s worth.
Xiaomi is one such tech giant that launches new devices every now and then but now it is ready with its new smartphone models- Xiaomi 12T and Xiaomi 12T Pro. However, its details have been leaked to the public even before the company could make any official confirmation regarding its launch.
Xiaomi 12T Pro is set to come out in October 2022 in the global market although the exact date is yet to be specified. If certain reports are to be believed, another device will be launched alongside it called Xiaomi 12T, which will be a vanilla model.
There are rumours and speculations floating around every device in the days and weeks prior to its launch and Xiaomi 12T Pro and Xiaomi 12T is no different as there is a strong buzz regarding its features and specifications that are been talked about in not-so-hushed tones.
According to a tipster, Xiaomi 12T will come with an 8GB RAM + 256GB internal storage configuration with a starting price of Rs.53,036 along with three colour options- Black, Blue and Silver while Xiaomi 12T Pro will have the same configuration and colour variants.
The designs may be inspired or even borrowed from the recently launched Redmi K50 Ultra and its features will include a 6.67 inch AMOLED FHD along with 144Hz display where you also get a fingerprint scanner at the back.
Then we have the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset that will power the handset with LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage along with a 5000mAh battery that comes with a 120W fast charging support.
You also get a 20 megapixel front camera and a main 108 megapixel + 8 mega-pixel ultra-wide + 2 mega-pixel macro triple camera unit. Xiaomi 12T will also have the same features and specifications but with the added Mediatek Dimensity 8100 ultra chip in place of Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1.
The above features will give a clear idea to users as to what all they can expect from the device but the exact details will only be confirmed from official sources as and when the company itself reveals some new information.
When it comes to the best smartphone brands, it is difficult to pick and choose the best although the likes of Apple and Samsung are always the top two whenever there is a list of top 10 smartphone brands although there are some brands that are left out.
iQOO is one such brand which although popular, it does not feature in conversations as frequently as it should despite coming out with the best devices all over where it is almost ready with the new iQOO Z6 5G Variant that is under development along with, as usual, some new features added for good measure.
Also Read: IQoo 11 5G India The Fasted Smartphone has been Launched
iQOO is a tech giant that is right up there with the two best tech companies mentioned above and ever since the launch of the iQOO Z6 5G series smartphones in March 2022, there have been high speculations surrounding the new variant where makers are said to be working on adding certain features that are quite unique and different from its predecessors.
Features
iQOO Z6 5G has an 80W charging support although its starting price have not yet been revealed but there are speculations going around that it will be costlier than the previous models, which doesn’t help much as any new model will have new features and will naturally cost more.
While there are many tech giants that are adding their two cents both for and against the new model only time will tell how this new model will turn out although makers have very high hopes regarding its success given how well their previous devices were received.
The handset will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 SoC with a 6.58 inch display screen with full HD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate along with a 240Hz touch sampling rate with an internal storage of 8GB LPDDR4X RAM.
Along with the regular features, it has a triple rear camera setup with a 50 megapixel primary sensor, a 2 megapixel macro lens and 2 megapixel bokeh lens while the front will sport a camera of 16 megapixel while the entire handset will be powered by a 5000mAh battery.
Google and Facebook are arguably two of the best social media platforms known to mankind today and both have completed nearly two decades although Google is already a few years older than Facebook.
We all have our own preferences on what all social media platforms we love where youngsters gravitate towards Facebook, Instagram and YouTube while the mature folks go for Twitter although in current times, they all have their own role to play in many fields and we are non-existent without it.
With so many platforms vying for public attention and having such a healthy rivalry, it is only but natural that they will come at loggerheads or disagreements, which was seen as per a recent news report when Google opposed to Facebook’s backed proposal for having a self-regulatory body in India.
Brief Up
There have been many complaints from users regarding decisions of content moderation for which a government panel was created by India to work out a solution for that matter, which was met with mixed reactions from all corners.
However, Google has criticized this decision to establish a self-regulatory body for the social media sector in the country where they will be able to hear complaints from users, which incidentally was met with support from Facebook and Twitter.
The government panel was proposed in June where users will get to put forward their complaints regarding content moderate decisions but owing to the lack of consensus among all the tech giants about a government panel being formed.
There was a closed-door meeting that was conducted in the first week of August 2022 when Google told other attendees about their skepticism regarding the merits of conducting a self regulatory body.
They feel it is a dangerous precedent for having such a body that was agreed upon by Facebook and Twitter along with Snap Inc and ShareChat, which are popular social media platforms of their own merit where all have billions of users in India.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, the tech giants are looking into the matter following the closed door meeting and are working out a solution or implementation for the issue where makers are hopeful that the problem will reach a definitive conclusion sooner or later.
With so many social media websites out there, it is difficult to pick and choose the best but Twitter is arguably the most controversial and has acquired somewhat of a sneaky reputation of sorts but that’s another story for another day.
Now there are many elements of Twitter– some with genuine and some with fake IDs so it becomes difficult to tell them apart. It is these unscrupulous elements that are notorious for spreading misinformation to create an atmosphere of panic and fulfill their devious agenda.
Thankfully, Twitter is all set to revive new features on the website and that too at the right time for the US midterm elections are due in November 2022 where there is so much riding on the welfare of the country.
With the revival of these new features no one will be able to spread fake news or misinformation regarding the midterm elections as Twitter wants to leave no stone unturned in this regard so that only accurate news and info is circulated.
There have been many civil rights and online misinformation experts that have expressed their dissatisfaction about social media and tech platforms of doing very little to prevent misinformation and fake news from spreading like wildfire and have clearly accused them of it.
They have even gone as far as to suggest that these platforms have done their best from preventing Joe Biden from winning the 2020 US elections and later spreading misinformation that Biden did not win the election at all and when the truth came out, there were rumours that the Democrats had rigged it.
Twitter has made it clear that it will apply the civil integrity policy to the November midterm elections where all 435 seats of the US House of Representatives are at stake along with one-third of the US senate 100 seats.
Conclusion
Twitter acted swiftly and permanently suspended Donald Trump’s twitter account in early 2021 following the elections as they feared that he incited violence through his Tweets after his hardcore supporters stormed the US Capitol in January 2021 and caused a large amount of chaos and pandemonium not to mention tremendous damage to property.
Twitter did not even spare Elon Musk when he tried to acquire their company and started immediate tests to prevent any misleading Tweets from being spread through recommendations to other users via notifications.
The tests proved fruitful and achieved the desired results as nearly 1.8 million misinformed Tweets were spread and they will continue to grow with the passage of time as Twitter wants to throw out unscrupulous elements from their platform.
There’s nothing like a long drive to spend your weekend with your favourite songs playing in the stereo of your car. Nowadays, people love listening to music with the help of earbuds while walking as it cools their mind off stress.
Every big tech giant launches a new device on a regular basis and Apple has anyhow gained expertise in both quality and quantity being topnotch with the latest edition being the new Custom Beats Pro earbuds but there is an interesting twist to the tale.
Apple has roped in renowned star Kim Kardashian or the launch as they want to capitalize on her starpower so that their new model gets as much attention as possible and, in any case, Beats too has a strong reputation as their devices have always sold like hot cakes
These new headphones are going to become a huge success as the Beats Fits New earphones have been launched in their custom version with new colour options- Moon light, Dune medium, and Earth deep, which features ‘Kim Kardashian’s signature minimalistic aesthetic’.
Brief Description
Apple has mentioned on its official website about the collection of Beats Fit Pro earphones that are called a special edition as they’re equipped with comfortable, secure-fit wingtips that are flex enough to fit into any ear like a Tee.
If you’re looking for a powerful, resounding but balanced sound, then you should definitely go for these headphones and have all the necessary features of its predecessors like transparency mode, noise cancellation but with the mode you can hear things while the spatial audio feature by Apple has three different sound dimensions.
The starting price of the earbuds is Rs.16,000, which will be available sometime next week while Apple has a different but loyal website for all its products that will be readily available at other retail stores albeit in limited quantities.
The makers are highly enthusiastic at what they consider to be the most innovative headphones with new colour palettes that will be lapped up by both music and fashion aficionados.
Beats Fit Pro earphones have a listening time of 6 hours along with an additional 18 hours that can be charged through the charging case that can be carried on in your pocket. So to add up, these earphones give you 24 hours of listening time, which is a boon for hardcore music lovers that are constantly put them on and listen for many hours.
