Galaxy Note20 and Note20 Ultra: 5 New Features You Should Know

August 20, 2020

Galaxy Note20 and Note20 Ultra: 6 New Features You Should Know

Earlier this month Samsung launched Galaxy Note20 and Note20 Ultra in which the company has incorporated many innovative features. The company today published a list of 5 new features that these two new additions in the Galaxy family have. Both the phones come with powerful productivity apps and premium entertainment features. Here we are publishing the five hidden features in the Galaxy Note20 series that will take your experience with your phone to a new level. Following is the list of five tricks that you can make use of to enhance your day.

Features in Wi-Fi Connectivity

Connect to The Highest Quality Wi-Fi Network

Galaxy Note20 Wi-Fi Networks Status — Image credits: Samsung

When you’re in a place where public Wi-Fi networks are available, the Galaxy Note20 series phones will find the fastest and most stable network for you automatically. Both the phones will display the information about the connection quality and its login requirements. It will give you the option to connect to the most stable and secure connection.

Share Wi-Fi With Other Devices

Note20 Series Wi-Fi Request Feature — Image credits: Samsung

Tired of asking for/sharing your passwords again and again? The Galaxy Note20 series removes this burden and lets you request Wi-Fi access details from nearby devices of your contacts. They can then share the password with you to login with a single click.

Galaxy Note20 Features in Camera

Capture More With Single Take

Galaxy Note20 Single Take Features — Image credits: Samsung

The Galaxy Note20 and Note20 Ultra has an AI-powered feature that lets you capture up to 14 different photos and videos simultaneously. You can set the capture time from 5 to 15 seconds and then tap the shutter button. When you finish capturing the view by panning around the camera, the feature will show you the optimized results for what you captured. To use this feature you need to select Single Take mode from the camera menu.

Change Background Colors in Portraits

Note20 Series Portrait Background Change — Image credits: Samsung

Apart from giving more time to shoot the pictures in the Single Take mode, you can also pick the background colors using the Color Picking Portrait function. It lets you take studio-like portraits by adjusting the background color.

Other Features

Share Your Favorite Songs With Your Friends

Galaxy Note20 Music Share Update — Image credits: Samsung

The phones from the Galaxy Note20 series allow you to share your favorite songs easily with the help of an upgraded music-sharing feature. Now you can share and listen to the same music on the buds connected to your device and the Galaxy Buds connected to your friend’s device. Earlier the feature was limited to playing the music on devices connected to a shared device only.

Use Bixby to Control Video Watching Experience

In Galaxy Note20 and Note20 Ultra phones, you can use Bixby voice control to give instructions to your phone while watching your favorite shows. To watch the show on the TV screen, tell “Play this show on TV” to Bixby. To switch it back to mobile, tell “Play this show on mobile again.”

You can also ask Bixby to skip ahead, fast forward, rewind, play, or pause the video.

Apple Announces Two New Radio Stations, Apple Music 1

Kirtik Singh

August 20, 2020

Apple Music has had some of the best Radio Stations in our opinion, and I am a user of the same myself. In the latest press release, Apple announced two new radio stations on Apple Music, along with renaming Beats 1 to Apple Music 1.

Apple Music Revamped — Image Courtesy: Apple

Apple Music Hits and Apple Music Country will be available across more than 165 countries worldwide. At the same time, it rebranded Beats 1 to Apple Music 1. This can be seen as an incremental way of phasing out the Beats branding, making everything uniform – Apple.

What’s New with the New Apple Music Radio Stations?

The two new stations – Apple Music Hits and Apple Music Country, are going to attract a lot of people. Apple Music Country is going to feature the country genre of music – guessed it by the name, eh? Apple promised exclusive shows from various artists like Dierks Bentley, Breland, Jimmie Allen, Kelsea Ballerini, The Shires, Carrie Underwood, Luke Combs, Pat Green, Willie Jones, Luke Bryan, Morgan Evans and Morgan Wallen in this station. The show will be hosted by various known personalities too, only if you’re into this of course.

Apple Music 1 Station radio — Image Courtesy: Apple

Apple Music Hits would feature songs from the 80s, 90s, and 2000. The station would also be hosting exclusive plays for artists like Backstreet Boys, Mark Hoppus, Snoop Dogg, Shania Twain, Meghan Trainor, and many more. The station would also be featuring on-air hosts including Jenn Marino, Jayde Donovan, Sabi, Nicole and Natalia Sky, Estelle, Lowkey, and George Stroumboulopoulo.

Future of Apple Music

While Apple Music is one of the very few music streaming services which do not have a free counterpart, it is pretty amazing! For around Rs. 30 a month (on a family sharing plan), you get access to almost every artist, album, or single that you may look for. It is one of the better music streaming services in India right now, and with small changes like these, the future looks good.

Trump Supports Oracle’s Bid to Acquire TikTok

Punkaj Kumar

August 20, 2020

The Chinese video-sharing social media platform TikTok, after facing a country-wide ban in India has met its fate in the United States too. Earlier this month, the Trump administration passed an executive order to ban the TikTok in the country unless it ends the ties with its parent company in China. The company is now selling its US operations, and the bidding process is already on.

As per the reports, Oracle has approached the venture capital firm Sequoia Capital for a bid to acquire TikTok. On Tuesday, the US President Donald Trump expressed his support for the Oracle corporation to buy TikTok US operations but it has risen a new controversy. Many allege the corporation is run by the supporters of US President Donald Trump, as the company’s co-founder Larry Ellison voiced his support for him. After the executive order, the company is finding a buyer for its operations in the US. Many companies, including Twitter and Microsoft, have shown interest in buying the app. ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok was facing a deadline of 45 days from Trump administration to find a buyer. However, the Trump administration has now extended the date till November when the US presidential elections are over.

Controversy on Oracle Buying TikTok

According to the reports from international media, the CTO of Oracle Larry Ellison supports Trump for the 2020 US elections. The whole controversy comes after both the parties, Donald Trump and the Oracle corporation expressed support for each other. The business database software company is accused of being run by Trump supporters, which many people don’t seem to like. However, it is true that apart from Ellison, the company’s CEO Safra Catz has also supported the president. Back in 2016 she had joined the Trump’s transition team while still being the CEO of the company.

Many nations have increased the scrutiny on the Chinese apps like TikTok, citing the cybersecurity concerns. The viral video sharing app faced a complete ban in India, along with 50+ other Chinese apps.

OnePlus Buds Gray Color Finally Available for Sale via OnePlus.in

Kirtik Singh

August 18, 2020

OnePlus Buds Image Gray Color Available for Sale

OnePlus has finally made available the Gray color of OnePlus Buds, after almost a month after its launch.

While you may have known about the launch of the OnePlus Buds along with the OnePlus Nord, none of those products were available to purchase until at least 10 days of the launch. OnePlus had only made the Buds available on July 30 in the white color, while the Amazon sale started August 4. Even then, you could only get your hands on the White and the Nord Blue color of the buds.

OnePlus Buds with 30 Hour battery Featured Image — Image Courtesy: Android Authority

Don’t get us wrong, these two colors looked very attractive, but not everyone has the zeal for bright colors. To most, the Gray would’ve been the ideal go-to choice. OnePlus probably saw it coming and wanted to boost the sale of the other colors – is why we feel such a strategy may have been adopted.

Availability of the Gray Colored OnePlus Buds

For most people, the Gray Color OnePlus Buds must’ve been what they were waiting for. The news for the sale of which, arrived via mail to OnePlus.in subscribers. You can see a snapshot of the mail received down below.

OnePlus Buds Gray Color Availibility Mail Subscription

For those unaware, here are some of the specifications of the OnePlus Buds that set them apart.

Specification Recap

The OnePlus Buds are OnePlus’s take at truly wireless earbuds. As with all OnePlus products, the ace the battery and charging department. With the ability to offer up to 30 hours of total battery life and having fast charging, these buds would allow you to listen to your favorite music or podcasts for a really long time. The case can give you up to 10 hours of battery life on a 10-minute charge, while the buds can give 2 hours when charged for the same time in the case. The case of the Buds are quite pocketable too, and the Buds themselves have a lightweight design.

You can purchase the OnePlus Buds via Amazon or OnePlus.in.

Realme Launches Two New C12 and C15 Budget Smartphones in India

Punkaj Kumar

August 18, 2020

Realme Launches Two New C12 and C15 Budget Smartphones in India

The Chinese smartphone maker Realme is known for launching budget-friendly smartphones in the market. Today, the company launched two new smartphones C12 and C15, in India. The launch event started at 12 PM IST. Both the smartphones are budget-friendly devices packed with a massive 6000mAh battery. In fact, the Realme C15 was already launched in Indonesia on July 28.

The company briefed through a tweet that both the phones feature a 6,000 mAh battery and have an instant fingerprint sensor.

Realme C12 & C15 Specifications

Both Realme C12 and C15 offer a 6.5-inch HD+ display with a 20:9 aspect ratio. The displays offer a high 88.7% screen-to-body ratio. Thanks to the 30.9 percent smaller mini-drop that makes this feat possible. Both devices run on ColorOs 7, Oppo’s custom skin based on Android 10. Powered by MediaTek Helio G35 processor, both the smartphones feature an instant fingerprint sensor along with facial recognition technology.

The Realme C12 comes with a 10W charger while the C15 comes with an 18W fast charger. The 18W, fast charger is capable of charging the 6,000 mAh battery from 0 percent to 25 percent in 30 minutes.

Realme C12 & C15 Camera

As most of the specifications of both C12 and C15 remain similar, the cameras come with a major difference. The Realme C12 features a 13 megapixel AI triple camera with portrait mode and slow-motion video recording functionality. The other two cameras include a 2MP B&W lens and a 2MP Macro lens. It has a 5-megapixel selfie camera and supports a Panoselfie feature that aids in capturing wider selfies.

On the other side, the Realme C15 features a quad-camera set-up with a 13-megapixel main sensor. The other three cameras include an 8-megapixel Ultra-Wide-Angle lens, 2-megapixel Retro lens, and a 2-megapixel B&W lens. C15 is the first Realme smartphone from the C-series that is equipped with a quad camera. It has an 8MP selfie camera on the front that supports HDR mode, portrait mode, AI beautification, and a Panoselfie feature.

Price and Availability

Both these newly launched smartphones will be available for order online on realme.com and Flipkart. The Realme C12 is available in only one variant and would cost ₹ 8,999. On the other hand, Realme C15 comes in two variants — a 3GB+32GB and a 4GB+64GB. The 3GB+32GB variant will cost ₹ 9,999 and will go on sale on August 24 at 12 PM. The 4GB+64GB variant will go on sale on August 27 at 12 PM, and will be available for ₹10,999.

Zombie Driver Immortal Edition Launches on PS4

Punkaj Kumar

August 17, 2020

Zombie Driver Immortal Edition Launches on PS4

For all the fans of old-school who are using PlayStation 4, there is good news for you! EXOR Studios, the developer of Zombie Driver, has now launched the Zombie Driver: Immortal Edition gameplay on PS4. Paweł Lekki, the co-founder of EXOR Studios, announced the launch on August 14 through the PlayStation blog.

Zombie Driver is a vehicular combat game in which there’s a zombie apocalypse in the city, and the player has to undertake various missions. Zombie Driver Immortal Edition is the latest version of the game on PS4. It has all the DLC content with the original game and runs at 60FPS.

Having more than 30 missions in the story mode with epic fights with zombies, it contains dozens of race events. They are full of bloodshed with missions to defend key targets from zombies, rescue survivors in time, spray anti-zombie repellent around the city, and more. With the launch of this gameplay on PS4, gamers can experience and relive their memories in high quality.

Zombie Driver Immortal Edition Release

Zombie Driver Immortal Edition PS4 Gameplay — Image: PlayStation Blog

The game edition was first released on July 25, 2019, on Nintendo Switch. Earlier, there was another version of the gameplay — Zombie Driver HD. It was released on PlayStation 3 on December 18, 2012, and has been featured on PS Plus. The new launch of Zombie Driver Immortal Edition on PS4 will be the best opportunity for PS lovers to experience their favorite game in the best possible quality.

One more good thing for gamers is, those who already have bought the Zombie Driver HD edition, EXOR Studios is giving them the Immortal Edition for free. If you have any of the Zombie Driver HD edition added to your account through PS Plus, then you can get it for free.

Pawel Lekki said they are doing this as an expression of gratitude to all those who supported them in the past. He also thanked the users for their support and credited the success of the game to them.

Xbox Ultimate Game Sale Has Deals on Games For Everyone

Kirtik Singh

August 17, 2020

The Ultimate Game Sale by Xbox from August 14 till August 24 has some pretty great games you should buy right now.

Each year, game developers, game stores, or console makers put games to sales. We have seen this before with Epic Games giving away GTA V for free sometime back. Now, Microsoft is bringing some epic sales for Xbox games, with the drop ending August 24. We have picked up some of the best ones you can find in our article right here.

What Does the Xbox Ultimate Game Sale Have?

Xbox game pass ultimate — Image Courtesy: Digital Trends

In the Ultimate Game Sale, you can find titles for up to 65% off on some very popular games too. These include titles like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and Red Dead Redemption 2. The best part about it is that many accessories and gaming peripherals are also on discount. However, do note that some of these games require you to have a Game Pass, and others would be even cheaper if you are a member of Xbox Live Gold(a part of Game Pass Ultimate). There’s also a discount available for Windows PC games, while you can score a Game Pass Ultimate for just $1 for the first month.

Discounts in the Ultimate Game Sale

Games

While you can check out all the titles and discounts on Xbox.com here, here is a smaller list of some popular games taking the rounds:

Apex Legends – Lifeline/Bloodhound Double Pack — $21.44 / $25.34 ($39)
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey – Deluxe Edition — $20 / $28 ($80)
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night — $20 / $24 ($40)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare — $39 / $45 ($60)
The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan — $15 / $18 ($30)
Dark Souls III — $15 / $21 ($60)
Dead by Daylight – Special Edition — $12 / $15 ($30)
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot — $36 / $42 ($60)
Forza Horizon 4 — $30 ($60)
Gears 5 — $20 ($40)
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice — $15 / $18 ($30)
Metal Gear Solid V – Definitive Experience — $9.89 / $12 ($30)
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne – Master Edition — $36 / $42 ($60)
Mortal Kombat 11 — $20 / $25 ($50)
Life is Strange 2 – Complete Season — $16 / $20 ($40)
Little Nightmares – Complete Edition — $7.49 / $10.49 ($30)
The Outer Worlds — $30 / $36 ($60)
Red Dead Redemption 2 — $30 / $36 ($60)
Resident Evil 2 — $20 / $24 ($40)
Resident Evil 3 — $36 / $42 ($60)
The Sims 4 Plus Cats and Dogs Bundle — $25 / $30 ($50)
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order — $30 / $36 ($60)
Titanfall 2 – Ultimate Edition — $4.49 / $7.49 ($30)
A Way Out — $7.49 / $10.49 ($30)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — $12 / $16 ($40)

Accessories

There are also a couple of accessories, which you can get on discounted rates. Some of which are:

$5 savings on PowerA MOGA Mobile Gaming Clip for Xbox
$10 additional savings on Western Digital Black P10 Game Drive (for Xbox One)
Up to 50% off on select Official Xbox Gear
Savings on bundles, including Razer DeathAdder V2 Gaming Mouse + Razer BlackWidow Elite
Savings on Razer Viper Gaming Mouse + Razer Kraken Tournament Edition Wired Gaming Headset bundle

Chinese Video Streaming Site iQiyi Faces SEC Probe, Shares Drop By 18%

Punkaj Kumar

August 15, 2020

Chinese Video Streaming Site iQiyi Faces SEC Probe, Shares Drop By 18%

On early Friday, China’s Netflix-like platform iQiyi showed a steep fall in its shares. The shares dropped abruptly after the Beijing-based streaming service announced the probe launched by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into the company. iQiyi shares plunged over 18% in the extended trade; however, the company managed to lessen some losses too. At the end of the after-hours trade period, the company was down by 12.36% — a recovery of about 5%.

The video and movie streaming service iQiyi is owned by Baidu – China’s own search engine. A firm called Wolfpack Research has accused the company of fraud that has prompted the SEC investigation into the company — the effect being, bringing the company’s shares down.

iQiyi SEC Probe Details

iQiyi has said that the SEC has asked them to produce the financial and operational records starting from January 1, 2018. It says, the investigation agency has also sought the documents related to the acquisitions, plus the investments done by the company that surfaced in the report of Wolfpack Research in April this year.

The company adds that it has currently engaged the professional advisers in conducting an internal review into the Wolfpack’s allegations.

Allegations Against iQiyi

According to Wolfpack Research, iQiyi in 2019 allegedly inflated its revenue by approximately $1.13 billion to $1.98 billion, which accounts an increase from 27% to straight 44%. The firm has also accused the service of overstating the user numbers and expenses.

This is not the first company facing an SEC probe amid the rising scrutiny on Chinese companies in the US. The US department earlier this year had found another Chinese company Luckin Coffee guilty of fabricating its numbers. Luckin Coffee even admitted that it fabricated its sales numbers for the year 2019.

The US Senate has also passed a bill in May to increase the auditing scrutiny on Chinese firms. The companies who don’t comply are likely to get delisted from the Nasdaq as Luckin Coffee got delisted in June.

Trump Signs Order, Deadline for TikTok Sale Set

Kirtik Singh

August 15, 2020

Trump tikTok ban order signed — Image Courtesy: Free Press Journal

Latest Order by Trump concludes investigation for national security, the latest action against the video-sharing app – TikTok

An order was issued late on Friday by Donald Trump calling out TikTok’s owner ByteDance to divest its U.S. operations. A 90-day deadline was set for compliance for the transaction to be completed. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the event, and here’s what its implication is.

Trump tikTok ban — Image Courtesy: Wall Street Journal

TikTok has come under the radar of the United States surrounding concerns around national security. These claims are made on the basis of possible data sharing with Chinese authorities or companies, following the Indian TikTok ban. Trump had even issued an executive order just last week, saying it would ban U.S. transactions with ByteDance and WeChat in 45 days, escalating concerns about the global tech economy.

Trump’s Order Sets Deadline for TikTok Sale

In this order, Trump asked ByteDance to take action that impairs the national security of America ordering ByteDance to sell off any assets that support its operation of TikTok without the borders of the United States. The Trump administration has set out on a task to purge “untrusted” and “controversial security”-based apps. It is not surprising that most of these are China-based companies (Remember Huawei?).

Compared to the earlier order, TikTok now has some more time, till around November 12 to work out its operations. Earlier, it was supposed to end around September 20. Microsoft Corp was said to be interested in buying TikTok’s American operations but there are expected to be many other potential buyers interested. Nevertheless, Trump had said that he would ban TikTok on September 15, raising concerns over a political fallout.

According to the latest order, TikTok would also have to destroy all data of American users, including data from Musical.ly. For those unaware, ByteDance had acquired Musical.ly back in 2017, merging it with TikTok.

Instagram Spotted Testing Reels Shortcut on Their App

Kirtik Singh

August 14, 2020

Instagram to Introduce Direct Access to Reels via a Shortcut

The new Reels Button Shortcut on Instagram would replace the Explore button, which will be moved to the top of the Homepage Feed.

Instagram is testing Reels quite rigorously and it is not hidden that it wants to gauge on TikTok’s audience. After the government of India’s ban on 59 Chinese apps, Instagram released the feature in the Indian market quite soon. Now, accessing Reels is going to be easier after Instagram is making a shortcut to it, replacing the Explore tab.

Why Instagram Reels Needed a Shortcut?

TikTok was evidently popular in the masses due to its instant access to short videos directly as the app was opened. Instagram Reels was introduced with a similar video watching experience in mind and has garnered a huge audience. Now, Instagram wants to make accessing the Reels section easier by introducing a shortcut button to it, directly in the footer of its mobile apps.

Instagram Reels Shortcut UI change button — Image Courtesy: NDTV Gadgets 360

Clearly, Instagram wants to get more users on board to Reels, hence it is making the right moves. Clicking on the Reels Shortcut button gets users to the new reels section. Afterward, a random Reel starts playing, which can be moved to the next one by swiping. You might think it is just like a clone of TikTok’s interface, which it is.

Why Can I Not See This New Option

While we are sure this option is being rolled out, it might be in testing. As a result of which, only some of the people in our team can view the new UI. We can expect it to slowly roll out to more devices on the latest version of the app.

You can always let us know down in the comments below, what you feel about this change. Well, I used the Explore tab a lot, so I am not in favor of the change. But we would like to know what you feel about it!

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