Domestic gadget accessory and consumer electronics brand Ubon has expanded its product line with the launch of brand new BT-5690 Prime Star headphones which can stream powerful sound upto 12 hours at a single charge.
These headphones are equipped with 32 mm Ubon drivers and are easy to use because of the wireless Bluetooth technology. The headset has a built-in dual microphone which provides a 360-degree surround sound support. Its independent CPU delivers a crystal clear sound and a deeper bass music and is equipped with durable connector.
Ubon’s Prime Star headphones are carefully designed to provide hands-free experience for those indulging in sports activity or driving without any hassle. It’s adjustable volume feature helps you to adjust volume when you’re listening to music or you want to talk on call without any distraction.
The headphone offers extra soft cushions for superb comfort and its speaker provides natural sound effect to give a real-time experience. This Bluetooth device has an inbuilt Aux system to play music anywhere and anytime. With easy portability, these headphones are a grab to inject music into the everyday aspect of your busy life.
Mandeep Arora, Managing Director, Ubon, said, “The Ubon BT-5690 Prime Star headphones have been launched with undisturbed and constant 12H audio. We have worked on the material factors of consumer demand and therefore these headphones are lightweight and compact with noise isolation and suited with the active lifestyle. We will try to maintain our performance level best for the upcoming years as well.”
Priced at Rs 2,499, the all-new headphones are available for sale at offline retail outlets and e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal etc.
Fabless semiconductor major MediaTek, which claims to power nearly 2 billion connected devices a year, has announced plans to further strengthen its India footprint by enabling the smart device ecosystem through OEM collaborations in technologies like 5G, IoT and Wi-Fi routers across both smartphones and smart device categories.
The leading provider for smartphone SoCs has also introduced its flagship System-on-Chip (SoC), Dimensity 1200, in the Indian market with Realme being the first smartphone brand to feature the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC in India.
MediaTek showcased its latest technologies at the 8th edition of the MediaTek Technology Diaries titled “Incredible Technologies empower Incredible Experiences.” MediaTek also reiterated its commitment to spur innovation in the smart devices segment across a wide range of products powered by MediaTek – such as Chromebooks, Smart TVs, Voice Assistant Devices (VAD).
Anku Jain, Managing Director, MediaTek India, said, “As a frontrunner in 5G domain, MediaTek has been ambitiously pursuing the vision of creating incredible technologies and delivering exceptional 5G solutions to everyone. We have strengthened our R&D in India to further advance our product portfolio. Our continued effort in this line has brought several leading OEM brands on board, who deliver on the commitment of our incredible, experiences across device.MediaTek has identified a great opportunity in the Indian smart devices segment and has tailored the products to address the emerging demands from the digitally empowered customers here opening a new world of opportunities for the industry players and customers.”
Also present on the occasion were Madhav Sheth – Vice President – Realme and CEO, Realme India and Europe, Nitish Singal – Category Head for Notebooks & Desktops, HP India, Varun Gupta – Whole Time Director, Kent Ro Systems, Prabhu Ram – Head – Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CyberMedia Research (CMR), Aveg Agarwal – SVP, Institutional Sales, Toppr, Kuldeep Malik – Director, Corporate Sales, MediaTek India, Raghavan Sampath – Director, Business Development, ?MediaTek India and Anuj Sidharth – Deputy Director, Marketing & Communications at MediaTek India.
Focused on designing innovative solutions, MediaTek has two R&D centers in India located in Noida and Bangalore. MediaTek is a market leader in digital TVs, voice assistant devices, Wi-Fi routers and other smart home products with a portfolio that caters to a wide range of customers across smartphones, smart homes, automotive, IoT and home/enterprise connectivity segment.
Smartphones and tablets contribute a major share, about 45-50% of the company’s revenue, while solutions like VADs, AIoT, Power Management and ASIC etc. contribute 29-33% revenue. The remaining 21-26% of the revenue is led by smart home and other categories which includes Digital TVs, DVD Players, Optical Storage, STB and feature phones etc. The MediaTek Dimensity 5G family has 1100, 1000+, 1000, 800U, 700 and the flagship Dimensity 1200 SoC in India.
Esports and skill gaming platform Mobile Premier League has acquired New Delhi-based GamingMonk which hosts esports tournaments across multiple platforms including PC, console and mobile. It serves as a launchpad for publishers and a community for gamers creating an integrated ecosystem across esports, live streaming and content discovery.
As part of the transaction, MPL has absorbed the complete GamingMonk team. This acquisition will allow MPL to accelerate bringing to market key national, regional and global tournament IPs and allow MPL to develop a full suite of esports and broadcasting capabilities. This would be anchored by the GamingMonk team’s strong track record of leading online and offline esports tournaments.
As of April 2021, GamingMonk had a registered user base of over 1.3 million users.
Speaking about this strategic acquisition, Sai Srinivas, Co-founder and CEO, MPL, said, “In our mission to serve gamers in India, GamingMonk will augment our efforts in reaching our target audience and engage with our users effectively. With the increased consumption of esports in the last couple of years and it becoming as competitive as any other sport, it gives us immense pleasure to present our users with the best of games to play, and enjoy their passion for gaming.”
Esports Arena Launch
MPL has also launched Esports Arena, the banner under which the platform will host fortnightly esports tournaments in some of its marquee games such as Chess, WCC, Pool, etc. Each of these tournaments will carry a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh and entry is free for all gamers. MPL will also stream the games on its social media platforms to millions of viewers.
With Esports Arena, MPL aims to take esports truly to the masses across India, with gaming titles that are smartphone friendly and can be played on a range of smartphones, it said. With so much untapped talent all over the country, MPL hopes to discover the next esports champions through Esports Arena, it added.
In four such tournaments conducted for games such as Pool, Chess, and WCC, the number of livestream views have crossed 5 million, with over 70,000 participants registering for the tournaments. Chess grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi, along with famous gamers and streamers such as Jonathan Gaming, Gaming Guru, Soul Regaltos, and others were a part of these tournaments.
“We are extremely excited to be a part of MPL. From the very onset, GamingMonk’s vision was to change the esports scenario in India, and I strongly believe that our collaboration with MPL will not only help us accomplish our goal, but also transform the way every individual in our country views esports. MPL has been one of the pioneers in changing the gaming culture in Asia, and it was a no brainer for us that if there was someone who could help us reach our goal at the earliest it had to be them,” said Ashwin Haryani, Co-founder, GamingMonk.
US-based consumer electronics brand Anker Innovations has signed cricketer Washington Sundar as its brand ambassador in India. Sundar will helm all major campaigns for the brand, across media platforms and will soon appear in his first promotional TVC for the brand. With this partnership, Anker aims to elevate the existing loyal customer base and further reach out to the youth, acknowledging his popularity, it said in a statement.
Anker innovations in 2019 had appointed the Olympic medalist and ace badminton player, Saina Nehwal, as its brand ambassador.
Gopal Jeyaraj, Country Head, Anker Innovations, said, “We are excited to begin our new innings with Washington Sundar as our brand endorser. Anker’s journey has been similar to that of Washington Sundar who rose from very humble beginnings to touch cricketing heights at international level. We feel that his persona is an excellent fit for our brand. We are looking forward to this amazing partnership and extending our best wishes to Sundar for the ongoing IPL season.”
To introduce Washington Sundar’s association with Anker, the brand engaged a very unique social media banter between Saina Nehwal and Washington Sundar. The witty and clever chat led to the announcement of the #PowerofDuo with Anker Group.
Washington Sundar said, “I am excited to partner with a young and dynamic brand like Anker, which is breaking the Industry stereotypes, and are constantly evolving with innovative and stylish tech products. Through this association, I’m happy to explore my love for gadgets and extend my complete support to see them achieve new heights.”
With this, Anker Group aims to achieve a very strong foothold in the Indian market. The brand is looking to increase its presence across the country in the next one year.
Cupertino-based, Apple, may use its upcoming Spring Loaded event to launch a premium podcast subscription, one which could provide exclusive programming to paid users.
Apple will be holding a special event on Tuesday, one expected to feature the launch of a number of hardware products, including new iPad Pro models and an iMac refresh. However, there appears to be a chance Apple could use it to bolster its Services arm with a new feature.
According to a report, Vox Media’s Peter Kafka, has tweeted and claimed that he is “pretty sure Apple is prepping its own podcast plan – a paid service – on Tuesday.” Bolstering the claim, a tweet by Steve Moser of MacRumors said the supposed announcement lines up with his own findings from March relating top the iS 14.5 beta ,which includes a new account button in the Listen Now tab.
This is not the first time a rumor has surfaced over a possible premium podcast subscription service. In January, reports claimed Apple was in discussions over the service, which would presumably include exclusive content.
Apple is already working on its own exclusive content for its users, and has created Apple Original podcasts related to its Apple TV+ shows. This includes podcasts with Oprah, as well as shows promoting “The Line” and “For All Mankind.”
It is likely that such a move would be an attempt to counter rival audio service Spotify’s moves to court podcasters into creating exclusive content. A premium offering could allow Apple to offer lucrative deals to podcasters in exchange for exclusivity, bringing audiences over to its own platform.
If it launches, Apple will probably incorporate it as part of the Apple One subscription alongside its other premium offerings.
Reiterating its commitment to enabling the Indian smartphone ecosystem and delivering premium and immersive 5G experiences, MediaTek, a leading provider for smartphone SoCs, today announced the launch of the flagship System-on-Chip (SoC), Dimensity 1200, in the Indian market. The announcement was made at the 8th MediaTek Technology Diaries virtual session held today. MediaTek also announced Realme as the first smartphone brand to feature the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC in India.
“MediaTek Dimensity 1200 reiterates our focus on 5G and commitment to deliver compelling technologies. It will enable our OEMs to build competitive products that enable premium and incredible experiences. The SoC will mark a new beginning for the smartphone segment in India with its flagship features that blend the best of all worlds – be it processor technology, camera, AI features, gaming or connectivity enhancements. With flagship 5G chipset technology, MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC will take user experience to the next level be in terms of AI, camera, processor speed, gaming capabilities and much more. We expect more OEMs to launch MediaTek Dimensity 1200 powered smartphones in the near future,” said Anku Jain, Managing Director, MediaTek India.
The 6nm MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC features one of the fastest smartphone octa-core CPUs ever: with a clock speed of 3GHz with up to 22% faster CPU performance while also being 25% more power-efficient versus the previous generation. Equipped with Arm Mali-G77 MC9 GPU and six-core MediaTek APU 3.0 with 12.5% faster performance, the SoC delivers flagship-level premium performance with AI multimedia capabilities, incredible displays, faster refresh rates, gaming enhancements, and much more.
Madhav Sheth, Vice President – Realme and CEO, Realme India and Europe, said, “Realme and MediaTek have collaborated since the launch of Realme 1 in 2018, bringing MediaTek Helio P60 chipset for the first time to India. The launch of Dimensity 1200 is another milestone towards realizing that vision, as it brings the power of nanoscale processor with 6nm design, up to 3 GHz speed with octa-core CPU, power-efficient and highly capable 5G integrated mode. Realme will be launching India’s first Dimensity 1200 powered smartphone very soon. The high-performance SoC will evolve the average owner’s smartphone usage exponentially, with enhanced video and photography capabilities, gaming technology, refresh displays, and an AI processor.”
Powered by MediaTek HyperEngine 3.0 gaming technology, the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC enhances the smartphone gaming experience with a new generation of wireless audio and Ray Traced graphics capabilities. The chipset packs in the most powerful imaging and AI processors for incredible camera experiences with up to 200MP camera support and is equipped with MediaTek MiraVision HDR video playback and AV1 video decoding, bringing cinema-grade visual experiences to the small screen. The SoC is built with an integrated 5G modem featuring MediaTek’s 5G UltraSave technology for greater energy savings. It supports 5G carrier aggregation (2CC) across frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD), dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS), True Dual SIM 5G (5G SA + 5G SA) and Voice over New Radio (VoNR). The chipset also integrates 5G HSR Mode and 5G Elevator Mode enhancements to ensure a seamless, reliable 5G connection across networks.
MediaTek Dimensity 1200 has already received TÜV Rheinland certification for its 5G performance, with tests covering 72 real-world scenarios. The certification verifies that the chipset provides reliable, high-performance 5G connectivity and offers users high-quality 5G experiences across a wide variety of scenarios.
MediaTek’s 5G portfolio in India comprises MediaTek Dimensity 1000, the first 5G chip from MediaTek featuring the world’s most advanced 5G SoC architecture; MediaTek Dimensity 800U helps drive mass-market 5G smartphones and empower users with incredible smartphone experiences; and the recently launched MediaTek Dimensity 700 that brings advanced 5G capabilities to its power-efficient design. MediaTek technology powers not only smartphones but also laptops, tablets, smart TVs, Blu-ray, voice assistant devices, smart speakers, Wi-Fi routers, smart home, IoT devices among others.
Following a series of speculations, social media major Facebook is finally taking its first steps towards creating an integrated platform for user convenience. The plan is to make an all-in-one texting platform that will bring together Facebook messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram DMs.
Facebook had already teased about this initiative and had merged Facebook messenger and Instagram DM in August last year.
According to WhatsApp independent portal WABetaInfo, a WhatsApp chat was found hidden inside a Facebook messenger code. While it is still a mystery as to how the two popular apps will be integrated, Italian code-digger Alessandro Paluzzi drew a basic map of what the feature will look like in the future by forcing a thread to be recognised as a WhatsApp conversation via WABetaInfo. This essentially means that he discovered a WhatsApp chat hidden within the Facebook messenger.
The tipster, as per reports, stated that the integration between WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger will remain optional as it currently is for Facebook Messenger and Instagram DMs.
If the WABetaInfo report is to be believed, several features that have already been implemented on Facebook are likely to head to WhatsApp soon. Apparently, the feature is still in its testing stage and is currently being piloted for iOS users. No confirmation has been made yet on when this feature will be available on these platforms.
Since the integration feature is reportedly already in its testing stage as well as showing up in the app’s code, it can be safe to assume that the feature will go live by the end of this year.
Domino’s India data breach allegedly exposes 1 million credit card details, 180 million order details
Domino’s India, the popular American multinational pizza restaurant chain, is allegedly the latest victim of a data breach. The Domino’s data breach has exposed 1 million credit card details along with 180 million order details. The database includes details like mobile numbers, names, home addresses, payment type and social login tokens. Apart from the data of Domino’s India’s users and orders, the hacker also got access to data of 250 employees of the company across different departments like IT, Legal, Finance among others.
Apple to launch Podcast subscription service at ‘Spring Loaded’ event
Apple is already rumored to launch some hardware products including the new MacBook Pro models, AirTag accessory and more at its April 20 ‘Spring Loaded’ event along with major operating system upgrades for its iPhones, Apple Watch, Apple TV, iPad and Mac. However, according to a new finding in the beta version of iOS 14.5, the company might also announce a podcast subscription service at its event tomorrow.
South Korean users to sue Facebook over leaked user data
A group of Facebook users in South Korea is pushing to sue the tech giant for passing users’ information to other companies without their consent. According to some media reports, the local law firm Jihyang and the Jinbo Network Center, a civic group advocating for people’s information rights, are gathering plaintiffs willing to participate in a mass legal action by the end of May. In November last year, the country’s Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) said Facebook violated the country’s law by providing personal information of at least 3.3 million of the total 18 million users here to third parties from May 2012 to June 2018.
FB set to take on Clubhouse, Zoom with social audio products
Social media giant, Facebook, is all set to announce a bouquet of social audio products to take on invite-only audio meet app Clubhouse and video conferencing platform Zoom. The likely products, to be unveiled are an audio-only version of videoconferencing product Rooms, a Clubhouse-like audio chat product, a podcast discovery product that will be connected with Spotify and another product that will let Facebook users record brief voice messages and post them in their newsfeeds.
The Indian arm of multinational pizza restaurant chain Domino’s is reportedly the latest victim of of a data breach in India. The Domino’s data breach has exposed 1 million credit card details along with 180 million order details.
According to reports quoting Alon Gal, security researcher and Chief Technology Officer of cybersecurity firm Hudson Rock, the reseller is demanding 10 Bitcoin, which is approximately $570,000 for the complete database, which is 13TB in size.
Gal is further quoted as saying that the hacker has plans to build a search portal similar to the MobiKwik one, allowing anyone to enter a search string to confirm the existence of those details.
Notably, the database includes details like mobile numbers, names, home addresses, payment type and social login tokens.
Another security researcher Rajashekhar Rajaharia also confirmed the breach, along with a data tree that reveals all the details that have been accessed by the hackers.
Besides the data of Domino’s India’s users and orders, the hacker also got access to data of 250 employees of the company across different departments like IT, Legal, Finance among others.
The incident highlights the endless stream of Indian companies facing security concerns. Recently, MobiKwik was reportedly hacked, exposing data of 3.5 million users. While the company denied it, it ordered a forensic audit post-fact. Juspay, BigBasket, Unacademy and others are were also breached in the recent past.
Smartphone with camera or camera with a smartphone that is the question!
Nowadays, not just smartphones are evolving, the camera technologies present in smartphones are also evolving massively. Gone are the days when we used to travel with heavy cameras separately for photography. Smartphone brands are working to be on top of their game.
Smartphone brands like Apple, Samsung, and Google command over headlines, but a lot of innovation is in mobile photography is coming from Chinese brands. Chinese smartphone brands like Vivo, Oppo, and Huawei are always testing the waters of what’s possible in phone photography.
And if we talk about Vivo, the company throws out the word professional for its smartphone’s photography skills. Clearly because of its partnership with Zeiss. The Chinese smartphone maker recently launched its all-new Vivo X60 series, and as mentioned – it partnered with Zeiss to co-engineer the imaging system in the X60 devices.
The company is clearly betting big on this one, so we tested the device, and to know more let us check out the review!
Design and Display!
This was my first time reviewing a Vivo device, so I went in with a clean slate. And from the first look, it is hard not to like the Vivo X60 Pro. From the design standpoint, it looks fresh and stylish at the same point. This device standouts with its four camera lenses at the back with a prominent logo of Zeiss.
The Vivo X60 Pro comes with a 6.56-inch Super AMOLED display, and it is nice to look at. Its modest 2376 x 1080 resolution is something of a surprise for a flagship at this point, but it’s one of the corners Vivo cut to accommodate the 120Hz refresh rate. By default, it is set to “Smart Switch,” which dynamically switches between 120Hz and 60Hz, which is according to the company is a feature to partly save the battery life.
In terms of design the company has not changed much, it looks very similar to the Vivo X50 series, and you get the same minimal frosted glass back design which is less prone to fingerprints. The back also has the same two-step camera module. However, the number of sensors has changed.
Vivo X60 Pro comes with an aesthetic design that is further complemented by its sleekness and lightweight. The dice comes with a 7.599mm thickness and is 177 grams of weight, which is quite lightweight and very easy to hold, and above all its curved edges feel better in hands.
Although, Vivo could have made some changes in the rear panel because almost all the previous mid-range smartphones launched by the company sport a very similar design. But having said that it is still a very good-looking smartphone.
The screen of the device is Full HD+, sharp, and offers colors that will please your eyes. The screen is also HDR10+ certified and offers vibrant colors with enhanced contrast for a better viewing experience.
What makes the viewing experience even better is that almost bezel-less design. It curves slightly along the sides to offer a bezel-less look. Apart from the curved sides, the X60 Pro has a very thin top and chin bezel. The top bezel is a mere 1.75mm thick, whereas the bottom bezel is only 2.76mm. Vivo x60 Pro offers a 92.7 percent screen-to-body ratio, which is among the highest in its price range.
The Vivo X0 Pro does not sport a dual-speaker setup which is a disappointment, since they are asking a lot of money, and there is no 3.5mm headphone jack either. But otherwise, the speaker grille on the bottom gives you a good sound.
Performance and Software!
The Vivo X60 Pro comes with Snapdragon 870 SoC, which is enough for a good lag-free and smooth performance. The RAM management is also quite good. 12GB of RAM is more than enough to keep your apps running in the background, and multitask at the same time, without any lag, the smartphone hardly gave us any glitch in the performance. There is also a Virtual RAM feature that offers an additional 3GB of RAM. It utilizes the phone’s 256GB internal storage when the system needs more buffer memory.
The device also offered a decent battery life, we used the device for almost a day on a single charge in which 2 hours of gaming and 2 hours of Netflix plus endless ranting on social media. On days when there was relatively less usage, the 4,200 mAh battery lasted for long hours on a single charge. You get a 33W fast charger in the box to refuel the cell. It usually takes 40 to 50 minutes to charge the device using the proprietary charging tech.
If we talk about the software, the X60 Pro runs on Android 11-based Funtouch OS 11 out of the box. Vivo has incorporated a few gestures and custom features on top of Android 11 features that Google offers. The phone also comes pre-loaded with a few third-party apps like Moj, Flipkart, etc. You can choose to uninstall these apps.
Let’s talk about the ‘Professional’ Camera!
As we mentioned at the starting of the article the company is betting big on the X60 Series camera capabilities, especially after its partnership with Zeiss. The triple camera setup of Vivo X60 Pro comes with a 48MP Sony IMX598 sensor, a 13MP ultrawide lens, and a 13MP portrait lens. On the contrary the Chinese variant of the X50 Pro there was an 8MP periscope lens that is missing in this device.
The primary camera clicks detailed shots in daylight. You get true-to-life colors, except for the Red and Orange that are slightly oversaturated at times. The dynamic range is among the best that we have seen on a smartphone’s camera. A lot of the credit also goes to the camera’s software algorithm. It also doubles up as a macro camera when you go very close to the subject.
In low light, the camera performs exceptionally well. There were times when we did not feel the need to use the dedicated night mode as the normal ‘Photo’ mode got the best details. It exposes the shadows well without overblowing the highlights. The camera’s AI Scene Detection feature did mess up with the exposure sometimes and we decided to simply disable it.
The ultrawide shots showed a slight difference in color temperature. We hope a software update fixes the warm color tone. The camera app offers a lot of features. It comes with an improved 5-axis Gimbal Stabilisation 2.0 and Pixel Shift imaging technology. You can use the ‘Ultra Stabilisation’ mode to record videos when on the move. The tech underneath, combined with the software, manages to offer decent stabilization when you are clicking hand-held photos and videos.
But overall the camera performance is quite fancy, no wonder the company is hyping it so much!
Verdict!
Now the question is should you consider buying the Vivo X60 Pro? Well, it is totally up to you but you do have to consider that the company is really on top of its game.
The Vivo X60 Pro comes at the price of Rs 49,999, and it is packed with some major performance improvements over its predecessor and packs a Snapdragon 870 SoC. If you want the ultimate flagship performance, there is the Vivo X60 Pro+, which packs the Snapdragon 888 SoC.
And now if we talk about the camera performance, then the smartphone is ‘the one’ for a shutterbug in you. While last year’s X50 Pro inched towards optical excellence, the partnership with Zeiss has helped the Vivo X60 Pro leap further. Whether you buy the Vivo X60 Pro for its best-in-class, feature-rich camera or the boosted performance and elegant design, it is a win-win situation.
However, there are other smartphones in the same price category that offers you some promising hardware. But having said that the Vivo X60 Pro is something worth considering.
