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COVID-19 concerns: Samsung not to join MWC 2021 physically

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South Korean electronics giant Samsung will skip in-person exhibitions at the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2021 in Barcelona due to COVID-19 concerns. The company, however, plans to participate in the event online.

As per reports, Samsung will not showcase its products and technologies offline at MWC, which is said to be one of the top three tech events in the world, along with the Consumer Electronics Show in the United States and IFA in Germany. The event will be held between June 28 and July 1 in Barcelona, Spain.

Samsung, in a statement, said, “The health and safety of our employees, partners and customers is our number one priority, so we have made the decision to withdraw from exhibiting in-person at this year’s MWC.”

“We look forward to participating virtually and continuing to work with GSMA and industry partners to advance new mobile experiences,” it added.

The mega tech event, focussed on mobile technologies, has been held in Barcelona usually between February-end and early-March each year, but it was cancelled last year due to the global pandemic, and this year, it was pushed back to June.

Other tech majors such as Sony, Nokia and Ericsson, have already announced their withdrawals from the event due to the novel coronavirus concerns, according to reports.

Another Korean electronics behemoth LG is unlikely to join the event, as it recently decided to pull out from the smartphone business.

Trend: Inseparable part of every youth’s life in the age of social media

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Today, everyone is on social media platforms for various purposes, like, exploring new and innovative ideas, to create something different, to express themselves or to entertain. And everyone wants to see “Woww!” content.

Social media platforms today are dominated by content creators and influencers who create amazing content using creativity, art, ideas, imagination etc. This content can be just to express themselves or to entertain or to influence. Every piece of content created on social media is a new and a different story that a content creator wants to say. And sometimes, if the story really gets to the audience or connects with the audience then the audience want to create their version of the same story, that’s when the trend starts.

These trends are in the form of photos, short videos, long format video, challenges, songs, fashion, makeup, lifestyle etc. Everyday these trends are calculated on the basis of content sharing, user interaction and journey of users on the web. Depending on the nature of the trend, some last for a week and some stick around long enough to have the general public participation in it.

“Every piece of content created on social media is a new and a different story that a content creator wants to say. And sometimes, if the story really gets to the audience or connects with the audience then the audience want to create their version of the same story, that’s when the trend starts”

These trends can be classified under a few categories such as Social trends for the wellbeing of society, Photo trends, Art-based trends, Fashion trends, Fun trends and Educational tips or DIY. For example:

To empower women: #MeToo is one of the most viral trends- A campaign under which women are being empowered to come forward and talk against sexual harassment at the workplace till date.

Food niche: Dalgona coffee in late March 2020 in the midst of the pandemic, this coffee has gained attention across the world.

Wellbeing: Fitness challenges, film yourself doing 10 pushups and nominate 3 more people to do – also known as chain/ reaction trends.

Makeup Challenges: Bajjre da sutta, Kudiyo ne nachne de and so much more. It also promotes desi culture.

Photo Trend: Grain or Bling effects

Entertaining trends: Lipsyncing videos, dance on music trend, this or that trend, 2 video 20 photo trends and many more.

These trends have started to make an impact on everyday life of social media users and affect the way they think and their perspectives, exposing them to the creative side of themselves, not only that – it also spreads the feeling of becoming a part of the community and something bigger than the trend itself.

There are a set of people who pioneer new trends on a daily basis – some of it may go viral and some of it may not.

As per our research, the current trends are divided in 2 major parts – creating content for entertainment and creating content for information.

Currently, a big group of users are interacting with filters that have features such as – warm tones, smooth skin, pops facial features, natural makeup looks, or dust, grain effects, frame effects, old looks, light and bling effects.

There are different ways to create trends such as on Stories, Reels, Feed Posts, YouTube Challenges, Blogs etc.

The trends which kept so many Indians stick to their phone is dialogues or lip-syncing short videos, which started from the short video app “TikTok”. These trends just not stop at photos and videos, it’s being extended to Augmented Reality (AR) which is highly effective and interactive for engagement.

These challenges have the ability to keep us all hooked for hours at a stretch on our devices. From youngsters to senior citizens, everyone is giving in these catchy viral trends.

This also helps brands integrate the product and services to introduce ecommerce into everyday lives.

We try to cater to all age groups with different type of creative expression- filters.

Due to these trends, the world is growing and changing in ways that we can only predict, every day is a new ray of hope to only see the internet rising into new ways and change the way we see.

Trends in a way also affect how the content is consumed by the end user and have created various communities and training programs for content creators to start new trends with the use of hashtags. It helps to enhance the post reach and improve traffic.

Companies recognized them as a community and make an integrated effort to align with the requirements of common man as well as creators. Until then, keep creating!

The author, Nidhi Agrawal, is Country Manager, B612, a beauty and filter camera app.

TCL, iFFALCON offer discounts on smart TVs at Amazon

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Popular television brands TCL and iFFALCON have come up with their latest combined sales offer on Amazon. As part of the ‘TV Upgrade Days offering’ on the ecommerce platform, the brands are selling some of their best high-end smart TVs, including the recently-launched 4K HDR P725 at exciting prices. The TCL and iFFALCON smart TV models on sale include P615, P715, P725, C715, C815, K71 and H71.

Mike Chen, General Manager, TCL India, said, “At TCL and iFFALCON, we aim to bring new advancements to the smart TV ecosystem and our consumers at affordable rates. We are happy to offer some of our flagship and high-end models on Amazon and allow users to shop them at lucrative discounts. We will continue to come out with more new exciting offerings to make shopping rewarding for our consumers in the times to come.”

TCL 4K HDR P615: The model features Micro Dimming, 4K HDR, and supports Dolby Audio for immersive TV viewing with superior sound output. Available in 55-inch and 65-inch, the TVs are priced at Rs 40,999 and Rs 55,499 respectively.

TCL 4K UHD P715: The model comes with Dynamic Colour Enhancement, Micro Dimming, and 4K Upscaling for an enhanced viewing experience. It supports Dolby Audio for high-quality audio, and sports hands-free voice control to enable users to operate the device using simple voice commands. available in 55-inch, the TV is priced at Rs 42,999.

TCL 4K HDR P725: The latest addition to the TCL’s P series, P725 offers AiPQ Engine, MEMC, and Dolby Vision for optimized picture and video quality. It supports Dolby Atmos, which is an advanced version of Dolby Audio, ensuring a true surround sound experience at home. It also comes equipped with a video call camera for smooth interactions with people on a bigger screen and a hands-free voice control feature for seamless control. Available in 65-inch, the TV is priced at Rs 89,990.

TCL 4K QLED C715: The model comes packed with Quantum Leap Technology, Dolby Vision, HDR 10, and IPQ Engine for stunning video and picture quality. It also supports Dolby Atmos and DTS Smart Audio Processing for rich and clear sound experience, and hands-free voice control for providing better control to users. Available in 50-inch, 55-inch, and 65-inch, the TVs are priced at Rs 49,999, Rs 56,999 and Rs 88,499, respectively.

TCL 4K QLED C815: Another flagship from TCL, C815 comes with Quantum Dot Technology, Dolby Vision, HDR 10+, and MEMC for a superior TV viewing experience. The TV also comes with Dolby Atmos and integrated ONKYO Soundbar for unmatched sound quality. Apart from this, it offers hands-free voice control and a video call camera for seamless interactions with family, friends, and colleagues. Available in 55-inch, the device is priced at Rs 78,499.

iFFALCON 4K UHD K71: Sporting a full-screen design, the TV supports Dolby Vision and Dolby Audio for a high-quality entertainment experience at home. The device is powered by a 4K display and also offers hands-free voice control for enhanced control using direct commands rather than speaking to the remote first. Available in 43-inch, 55-inch and 65-inch, the models are priced at Rs 26,999, Rs 36,999 and Rs 52,999 respectively.

iFFALCON 4K QLED H71: A high-end QLED model from iFFALCON, H71 comes with Quantum Dot Technology, 4K HDR, Dolby Atmos, and Dolby Vision for an ultra-immersive TV viewing experience with rich sound quality. It also offers hands-free voice control for enabling users to speak to the TV directly and play their favorite videos, movies, shows, and apps. Available in 55-inch and 65-inch, the TVs are priced at Rs 49,999 and Rs 83,999 respectively.

Cashback platform Fyool rolls out new user interface

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Cashback app Fyool, which hit the Android market last year, offering benefits on petrol, diesel, CNG, LPG, restaurant along with all types of wine and beer, now boasts of a new user interface in which school fee, groceries, travel, hospital, pharmacy, saloon, apparel, online bill payments and a lot more has been included.

Looking at the growing user base, the app is all set to kick off with its dedicated ‘Rupay card’ which will be used for all the shopping and cashback. The card can be easily booked by a request made through the application itself. The card will work like a prepaid debit card and is valid for all online shopping and swipe machines. It will give added comfort to the users as they no longer have to upload bills in the new version. All the transaction and shopping will be made through the card.

The card needs to be recharged like any prepaid card. Users can recharge cards from the application. The app will be setting limitations on the monthly cashback which can be redeemed by claiming any product from the app without paying any cash by the user. Fyool Rupay prepaid card was recently launched by TV celebrities Delanz Irani and Pankit Thakkar.

Raunak Sharma, Founder, Fyool, said, “We have upgraded to the new version as we are getting a very good user response and felt that the time is apt to move to the next level of offering. Our intention is in sync with our core philosophy of reducing the financial stress of the common man that this difficult time has pressed upon us. We want to ease the financial drain on the middle-class people who have been severely hit by the pandemic situation, hence we have now added the grocery category too. We all know in the current scenario; the lower income group continue to feel the pinch while buying daily household items. We want the housewives also to be benefitted by by using the cashback for grocery items.”

iQOO 7 Review: High on design and smooth in performance

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Starting off its journey as a Vivo sub-brand, iQOO made its debut in India in 2020 with a focus on gamers. It’s back with a bang now with two new phones – iQOO 7 and iQOO 7 Legend – that have almost all the elements required for a premium device to hit the bull’s eye. The one that I had for review is iQOO 7, which is more competitively positioned of the two, with the prices starting from Rs 31,990 for the base variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. The smartphone comes in Storm Black and Solid Ice Blue colour options, and looks really good on paper with decent upgrade and at par with many flagships launched in the recent past. Let’s discover where this phone stands out in this review!

Design

The Storm Black variant that I had for review will give you a premium feel as soon as you take this out from the box, which also contains 66W fast charger, USB cable, TPU case and user manual. It boasts a dual-tone shell on the rear with dark blueish on the sides and light blue in the middle when viewed from a certain angle. It looks beautiful in the sunlight. The handset sports a raven-hued camera module in the top-left corner with iQOO brand underneath.

The smartphone is quite slim and light, measuring 8.4mm in thickness and weighing below 200 grams. The side frame is made of good quality polycarbonate. While the left side of the device is blank, the right side has the power button and volume keys located suitably for your thumb, as there’s no need to shuffle the phone in your hand to reach these buttons. At the bottom, you’ll find a SIM tray, Type-C port and speaker grille.

There’s an optical in-display fingerprint reader and a fast face unlock on the front to unlock the device. The display on the front has almost uniform bezels and a centrally aligned punch hole notch. There’s a pre-applied screen protector that has an unmatched dew-drop cutout over the front camera.

Taken as a whole, the iQOO 7 looks quite attractive, is compact and very handy. On the downside, there’s no audio jack in this device.

Display

The phone houses a 6.62-inch full HD+ (1080?x?2400?px) AMOLED display that supports a 120Hz refresh rate and a 300Hz touch sampling rate. The display supports wide colour gamut, is HDR10/HDR10+ compliant, and can get really bright with the company claiming 1300 nits of peak brightness. The handset comes equipped with DRM L1 certification and can stream 1080p content on video streaming platforms such Netflix, Amazon Prime Videos and YouTube. There are three colour profiles to choose from and each comes with a colour temperature slider. The phone also supports DC Dimming that reduces PWM flicker when using the screen at low brightness, thus reducing eye fatigue. iQOO has incorporated special Intelligent Display Chipset, which promises an enhanced frame rate in games for smoother visual enjoyment. Overall, the display quality is truly excellent in the given price.

Platform

The all-new iQOO 7 is powered by 5nm class Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 octa-core processor, which is further backed by Adreno 650 graphics engine, Android 11-based FuntouchOS 11.1. It comes equipped with up to 12GB LPDDR5 RAM and up to 256GB of the latest UFS 3.1 storage.

The smartphone has a Multi Turbo feature that is capable of extending memory space and reduces energy consumption to offer a lag-free experience. If your phone model has 8GB RAM, the phone can extend to a further 3GB to 11GB RAM virtually to offer smooth functioning of the device for tasks such as playing graphics-rich games or while recording high-resolution videos. Besides, there is a 6000mm² Graphite layer and also there is a liquid cooling system in place to dissipate excessive heat, which happens while doing heavy-duty tasks.

If we look at its performance, the gaming experience was simply wonderful, as many of the games ran very smoothly even without leveraging the game-centric features. The game mode has three new highlights – 4D game vibration, Game frame interpolation and Display enhancement – the last two of which are powered by a separate display chip.

The in-display fingerprint reader works very smoothly and performance is a very strong part of this device. On the flip side, bloatware is present. There are a number of third-party apps, many of which can be uninstalled.

In terms of audio output, the device has stereo speakers that get pretty loud. The stereo output is outstanding and immersive while listening to music or watching movies.

Cameras

The iQOO 7 houses a triple-camera module on the rear – a 48MP (Sony IMX598 sensor, f/1.79, OIS: Optical Image Stabilisation), a 13MP 120-degree ultra-wide sensor (f/2.2 with 2.5cm macro) and a 2MP mono camera (f/2.4) with LED flash to help with portraits. On the front, it has a 16MP (f/2.0) sensor for taking selfies.

In terms of camera performance, the phone takes pretty good pictures in proper daylight. It captures sufficient details. Colours come out nicely and the dynamic range is wide. In the lowlight conditions, camera algorithms bump up ISO rather liberally, but the noise and artifacts are still very acceptable. The OIS helps with lowlight photography. The portrait sensor does a decent job with edge detection and there are a number of style filters. Selfies taken by this phone in daylight is outstanding, whereas it struggles a bit in the lowlight. Videos come out well with this phone.

On the whole, the iQOO 7 carries Vivo’s legacy of offering camera-centric phones, particularly for those who are obsessed with posting pictures on social media.

Battery

The iQOO 7 comes equipped with a 4,400mAh battery, backed by a 66W super-fast charging adaptor. It takes within 30 minutes to fully charge the phone. The power backup is sufficient for more than a day. This is one of the best value-added features of the iQOO 7.

Conclusion

The smartphone stands tall in every department, offering premium design, decent display, great performance, amazing cameras and heavy-duty battery. The iQOO 7 is an all-rounder indeed, even though it is aimed at reaching out to more gamers.

Camera app B612 initiates COVID-19 awareness campaign in India

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Beauty and filter camera app B612 has come up to increase the awareness regarding the pandemic situation in India by joining hands with the content creators as well social media users.

The photography platform has initiated #PreventCOVID19 challenge from May 7-11 to spread the awareness and urge their followers to stay home. They are taking these little steps with the motive of each one can help one, and to encourage people to stay indoors, wash hands, keep distance etc.

“In this hard time of self-isolation across India, we have tried to add some fun to the life of people keeping in mind the need for awareness about COVID protocols,” said B612 in a statement.

Telecom body cautions people on false rumours connecting 5G with COIVD-19

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The Cellular Operators Association of India has expressed its concern regarding false rumours connecting 5G technology with the spread of COIVD-19.

COAI said it has come across multiple messages on social media platforms as well as reports in a few regional media mentioning ‘5G spectrum trials’ as the probable cause of rising cases of COVID-19.

“We would like to clarify that these rumours are absolutely false. We urge people not to fall for such baseless misinformation. Several countries in the world have already rolled out 5G networks and people are using these services safely. Even the World Health Organisation has clarified that there is no correlation between 5G technology and COVID-19,” said Lt Gen. Dr S.P. Kochhar, Director General, COAI.

“We have shared our concerns with the Department of Telecommunications and have apprised them of the situation. I appeal to fellow citizens to beware of these fake messages. Together we can fight this menace of misinformation,” he said.

COAI added that importantly, there are no 5G trials in the country. No 5G towers have been installed as yet. “Telecom services are a lifeline for the nation, especially in the current times. In fact, these networks are keeping people safe by enabling work from home, online classes, e-health and online doctor consultations etc. Hundreds of millions of people depend on these networks to access real time information when they need it the most,” Kochhar added.

The World Health Organization (WHO), which has been at the forefront of the global fight against COVID-19 and in busting myths and false information about the disease, has reiterated that ‘viruses cannot travel on radio waves / mobile networks.’ Elaborating on 5G and human health, WHO has stated that ‘no adverse health effect has been casually linked with exposure to wireless technologies.’

The telecom industry body urged the media to help quell such unsubstantiated and unverified claims.

HyperX becomes global founding partner for VALORANT Champions Tour

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Gaming peripheral brand HyperX has become a founding partner of Riot Games’ VALORANT Champions Tour. With this deal, HyperX has become the official sponsor for gaming keyboard, mice and mouse pads.

“We’re excited to welcome our newest partner to the VCT. HyperX joins us as the Official Keyboard, Mouse, and Mousepad Partner of the VALORANT Champions Tour,” said Naz Aletaha, Head of Global Esports Partnerships and Business Development at Riot Games. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome them and have their amazing products supporting our event in Reykjavik and beyond.”

VALORANT quickly established itself as the fastest growing esport of 2020. To support the competitive scene, Riot Games launched the VALORANT Champions Tour, a year-long, global circuit featuring three levels of competition: Challengers, Masters and Champions. Teams compete through regional Challengers events, then qualify into international Masters events, with the goal to earn a spot at Champions. In this two-week long tournament, one team will be crowned the VALORANT Global Champion. The season-long tour will feature competitions in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Riot Games’ VALORANT Champions Tour,” said HyperX. “In almost two years, VALORANT has amassed a huge community and has now evolved into a global esports tournament. For over a decade, HyperX has sponsored pro esports teams and tournaments. Our experience and knowledge have become embedded into the development of our award-winning line up of gaming peripherals, including the Alloy gaming keyboards and Pulsefire gaming mice. We are excited to continue this tradition and ensure all players play better with HyperX,” it added.

Homegrown VideoMeet introduces AI in video conferencing

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Jaipur-based video conferencing platform VideoMeet has come up with an integrated advanced Artificial Intelligence system, which will boost the application for their users in terms of the variety of tasks that can be performed simultaneously. The entire AI module works within the browser and there is nothing to install on the computer.

VideoMeet comes with an intelligent system to detect and auto increase/decrease the bandwidth requirement of video call as per the quality of internet available on endpoints. The virtual backgrounds get automatically applied and adjusted according to the user/host preference and provide an almost live experience to all the participants. This is very useful considering people are having meeting from all kinds of places and the background need to be more professional looking.

Captioning being one of the resourceful features, help to build smoother communication between people from diverse backgrounds. VideoMeet is the only application to roll out this feature with Hindi and English captions and plans to introduce all Indian regional languages with future app updates.

The purpose behind introducing this feature was to reduce the intensity of disturbing elements in the meeting and uphold a convenient communication channel between participants.

The app was conceptualized last year as a result of MeitY’s ‘Made in India Videoconferencing Challenge’ where it received acclaim and appreciation. With a capacity of holding virtual conferences of almost 2,000 people, VideoMeet is capable of replacing other foreign alternatives when data privacy is of utmost importance. Data breaching has become a common practice, servers of multinational companies are being hacked, and with the usage of homegrown apps, Indian corporations can control this.

Dr Ajay Data, Founder, VideoMeet, said, “India is riding on a digital wave with a user base of 500 million people. However, this unprecedented growth has come in the absence of strong legal frameworks amid a pandemic, so protecting data and users’ privacy is vital. Therefore, there is an ardent need for local IT players to design and build apps that not only offer end-to-end encryption but also promise information and meetings hosted are on local servers to ensure the safety of sensitive business and trade information.”

RAEGR brings in new MagFix MM60 Wire Manager Cable Organizer Dock

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Homegrown lifestyle tech brand RAEGR has introduced MagFix MM60, a Wire Manager Cable Organizer Dock for Apple iPhone 12 series Mag-Safe Chargers and MagFix M920 Charger. The MagFix MM60 helps keep your desk neat from cable mess while ensuring long life and stable performance when wirelessly charging your iPhone 12.

Ajesh George, MD, RAEGR, said, “The RAEGR MagFix MM60 is an elegant desktop accessory for all Apple iPhone 12 users which helps prolong the life and efficiency of its original wireless-charging MagSafe charger and cable while also helping organize your desk. Also, the wire manager makes it super convenient to carry around. The MM60 is made using high-quality materials and converts the Apple original MagSafe charger and RAEGR’s MagFix M920 MagSafe charger into a desktop charging pad with silicone protection for longer periods.”

The RAEGR MagFix MM60 is a simple and elegant, yet robust Wire Manager Cable Organizer Dock for MagSafe chargers. It doubles up as a Cable Manager, Dock Holder and Organizer for the Apple iPhone 12 Series’ MagSafe chargers and is also compatible with RAEGR’s MagFix M920 MagSafe charger.

The RAEGR MagFix MM60 is built using a high-quality silicone material that helps protect your original MagSafe chargers for prolonged use. It helps enclose the original Apple MagSafe charger (not included) and converts it into a desktop charging pad. Since the magnets in the MagSafe charger/connector are very powerful, it becomes difficult to lift the iPhone 12 away as it strongly attaches itself to the phone. The MM60 helps easily separate the phone from the charger by simply prying it with a finger.

Additionally, the RAEGR MagFix MM60’s silicone enclosure also helps as a cable manager/organizer, while offering additional grip when kept on a desk. Simply insert the MagSafe charging cable inside the silicone housing and wrap the extra cable around the edges to shorten it as much as needed. This helps avoid cable mess and knots and enhances the life of the cables by preventing tangles and tension.

The RAEGR MagFix MM60 weighs just 36 grams, making it very lightweight and highly portable so that you can carry it around wherever you go. Lastly, the silicone housing is highly durable and washable so you can keep it clean whenever you need it. Simply detach the MagSafe charger and wash the MM60 with mild soap and water to make it look new once again.

The RAEGR MagFix MM60 is available on Amazon and Flipkart for a price of Rs 799 with a standard industrial warranty of 1 year.