Win Galaxy M31s With Samsung MonsterShot Contest, Check Details

August 1, 2020

On July 30, Samsung launched Galaxy M31s in India and has now started the MonsterShot contest for its Indian customers. The contest is launched by Samsung India and is valid throughout India except the state of Tamil Nadu. The company said it will run the contest from August 1 to August 5, 2020, on its official Facebook, Instagram and Twitter handles. According to Samsung, there shall be only one winner and will announce it by August 20.

Earlier on July 26, Samsung had announced #AddMoreMithas contest for its Indian customers with a Microwave as the prize.

Samsung MonsterShot Contest Details

Samsung Galaxy M31s Sale Starts on August 6 — Image: Amazon

The smartphone manufacturer announced the contest through a tweet and put the detailed information on a Facebook note. According to Samsung, the name of the contest is #MonsterShot Contest and starts from today, ie. August 1. It will end on August 5 at 11:59 IST. The company also said that only Indian citizens, who are above 18 years of age, can participate in the contest.

Eligibility and Participation Criteria

The contest is available only on the official Samsung pages on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. To participate in the contest, participants have to answer a question in the comments section of the contest post. While answering the question, participants must ensure that they use the hashtags #MonsterShot and #SamsungM31s along with their contest entry. Samsung will select the winner through a lucky draw and if your luck favours, you may receive an amazing prize from Samsung.

Prize for the Winner

Samsung says that it’ll announce the winner on or by August 20 and will award a Samsung Galaxy M31s as the contest prize. However, the company also clarifies that the winner will have to bear all the applicable taxes.

How to Participate in MonsterShot Contest

To participate in the contest, visit the official pages of Samsung India on social media. Follow the Samsung MonsterShot Contest post on any of the social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Go to the comments section of the contest post and comment your contest entry along with the hashtags. If you’re lucky enough, the company will announce your name on its social media accounts and will contact you over email.

Nearby Share is Android’s AirDrop – Now Available for Chrome on PC

Kirtik Singh

August 1, 2020

Android Nearby Share — Image Courtesy: XDA

Apple has its AirDrop file sharing around for quite some time, and it is extremely popular and convenient to use. We have known that Google has also been working on something similar and this is the time it might finally be around. Nearby Share is an alternative to Apple’s AirDrop file-sharing feature. It started rolling out for selective users of the Google Play Services Beta program last month. Since then, the feature has also been rolled down to Chromebooks, allowing seamless file sharing.

What’s exciting is the rollout of this feature for Chrome browser on Windows PCs. The feature is still experimental, but it’s a good sign of moving forward! This was first spotted by people at TechDows, this feature is showing up on Google Chrome on the Chrome Canary and Dev channels. Chrome includes a “Nearby Sharing” flag, which can be turned on to use this feature. The requirements for using this feature are as follows:

Windows PC with Bluetooth functionality
Supported smartphone or Chromebook
Google Chrome Dev or Canary build
Both devices need to be close to each other and unlocked

How to Enable Nearby Share on Windows PC

If you haven’t already, download the Chrome Dev or the Chrome Canary build on your Windows PC.
Go to chrome flags by typing “chrome://flags” in your URL bar and search for “Nearby Share” in the search box above.

Enable the Nearby Sharing flag from the dropdown menu shown below.
Relaunch Chrome and type in “chrome://nearby” and press enter.

As of now, the feature didn’t work for us, and it seems like it is still in its development phase. Meanwhile, the placeholders as well as Next, Cancel buttons don’t seem to function as well. It is quite interesting to see this happening on the Android/Windows side of things and we hope that this feature will be soon released in the Public build of Chrome too.

We will keep you posted as to when it comes out. We would also be testing out its speed and reliability, as this feature could be a great alternative to Xender or SnapDrop.

Amazon India Prime Day begins 6th August 2020: The Best Deals

Kirtik Singh

July 31, 2020

Amazon India’s yearly Prime Day sale is closing in. If you’re unaware, Amazon Prime Day is an annual sale exclusive to Prime members for 48 hours. This year, the sale is scheduled for 6^th August in India and ends on 7^th August. There is a band of offers that are already online, and we have compiled some of the best ones. You can find the official page for the same here.

Discounts on Payment

Amazon Prime subscribers can avail various discounts based on the payment method they use during Prime Day sales. Amazon has yet again partnered with HDFC, offering a 10% instant discount on debit/credit cards, as well as EMI. You can also avail 20% cashback up to ₹150 on Prime Day orders on joining Amazon Prime. There will also be other offers/discounts on using Amazon Pay during this period.

Highlights

Amazon said that it will feature more than 1,000 products from Small and Medium Businesses (SBMs) during the Prime Day sale. The company also said that thousands of local shops on Amazon sellers, artisans, women entrepreneurs would be able to make their Debut online this year. The 1,000 new products are going to be from 17 different categories, ranging from home care products to health care. There are also around 300+ new product launches planned during this period, from the likes of Redmi, OnePlus, Samsung, Intel, and many others.

Discounts on Tech during Amazon Prime Day

Amazon will feature multiple discounts in various categories in technology. You can see discounts up to 40% on smartphones, with most options coming with No cost EMIs. We also expect to see discounts or price cuts on iPhone 11, OnePlus 8 series, and phones from Samsung. You can see more details as they are revealed here.

Amazon’s Echo and Kindle devices will also see various price slashes and cashback during this sale. There will also be many other offers on home appliances, laptops, speakers, and accessories. We recommend checking the Prime Day page regularly to keep up with all of the information, as stocks don’t last too long here.

Google to Announce Its New Budget Phone, Pixel 4a on August 3

Punkaj Kumar

July 31, 2020

Google to Announce Its New Budget Phone, Pixel 4a on August 3

The search engine giant, Google on Thursday added a teaser page to the Google Store with its new phone, the Pixel 4a. The page said that its next budget smartphone, the Pixel 4a will launch on August 3. The smartphone was earlier expected to be announced in May this year. Google has teased the Pixel 4a on its store, and we will get to see it on the coming Tuesday.

The upcoming smartphone from Google is a successor to its predecessor, the Pixel 3a. Google launched Pixel 3a last year for $399 and offered some features of the more expensive Pixel 3, like the high-end camera. Though the majority of the US market is dominated by Apple and Samsung, Google’s low-cost Pixel phones have managed to increase its sales.

From Google’s Words

The page on the company’s online store says, “The Google: Just What You’ve Been Waiting For Phone” will be revealed on August 3. You need to tap on the six boxes and match the colors to that of Google’s logo to see the message. If you are trying to see the actual message, you need to match the following sequence of colors: Blue, Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, and Red. Google also shared similar messaging and images on social media. The Made by Google Twitter account also suggests a new phone is about to come in less than a week.

With the launches of this year, Pixel 4a seems to compete directly with Apple’s new iPhone SE 2020. The iPhone SE 2020 price starts at $399.

Expected Specifications

Google hasn’t revealed any detail about the phone yet, not even the name. The only thing they teased the visitors is with a “Lorem Ipsum” text, along with the date on its store page. The text seems to give references to the Pixel 4a’s display, punch hole, and cameras in Google’s because of the presence of the words like “lowlightena,” “bokehus,” and “megapixelum.” However, a few leaks also claim some details like, the phone will feature a 5.8-inch OLED display with Qualcomm’s 730 chipset. They also claim the RAM size of 6GB, 64GB storage, and a 12-megapixel camera.

For sure we don’t know the exact details about the upcoming device from Google but one thing is sure that Google is going to release a phone on August 3. We’ll get to see all the details, features, price, and availability of the phone on the launch date, which is not far away.

Samsung Galaxy M31s Unveiled in India at ₹ 19,499 with 6,000 mAh Battery, 64MP Quad Cameras

Kirtik Singh

July 30, 2020

The Galaxy M31s is the newest addition in the very popular budget lineup from Samsung. It brings in a 6.5-inch Infinity-O Super AMOLED display and 25W fast charging, a first for the M-series. The phone comes with a unique gradient finish back with shades of black or blue, which looks very attractive.

Samsung Galaxy M31s — Image Courtesy: Bgr

Galaxy M31s Specifications and Features

Display

The Galaxy M31s brings in a large 6.5-inch sAMOLED panel with a very small punch-hole style front camera. It has a 2400 x 1800 Full-HD+ resolution with a 20:9 aspect ratio. This is the most vivid display ever used in the M-series range of smartphones and should be great for outdoor visibility and content consumption.

Cameras

To the back of the phone is a 64MP quad-camera setup. Firstly, we see a 64-megapixel main camera with an f/1.8 lens. Next up we see a 12-megapixel ultra-wide shooter, a 5-megapixel depth sensor, and a 5-megapixel macro camera. Meanwhile, you get a 32-megapixel front camera that resides in the very small punch hole cutout on top. Lastly, there are some useful features like Single Take, changing between the front and rear cameras between videos, and 4K 30FPS recording with the front camera.

Software, Hardware and User Experience

Samsung’s Galaxy M31s is going to run OneUI on top of Android 10. This is one of the best software skins available in the market, and we highly dig it. The storage options are interesting too, as the phone comes standard with 6/8GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 128GB of UFS2.1 storage. The only place Samsung cut corners, is the Exynos 9611 SoC that we have seen in multiple Samsung smartphones in the past. Don’t get us wrong, this is not a bad processor at all! We just wish Samsung used a newer chipset, preferably a Snapdragon one. Lastly, the phone still retains a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Battery Life and Charging

Samsung’s budget M series of smartphones has never disappointed in the battery department. Taking that forward, the Galaxy M31s comes with a massive 6,000 mAh battery, with a 25W fast charger in the box. This is a huge upgrade from the slower 15W chargers seen in the past, as huge batteries like this take more time to charge. Samsung claims that this charger can top up the phone from 0 to 100% in just 97 minutes! The charging cable is also the newer USB Type-C to C cable as seen on much more expensive smartphones.

Galaxy M31s Pricing and Availability

The Samsung Galaxy M31s is priced starting at ₹ 19,499 for the 6GB+128GB variant, while the 8GB+128GB variant will sell at ₹ 21,499 in India. There will be two color variants available – Mirage Black and Mirage Blue. The phone goes on sale starting 6^th August exclusively on Amazon.in as well as Samsung’s website.

BMW Finally Rolls Out Android Auto Update, But With Some Restrictions

Punkaj Kumar

July 30, 2020

BMW Finally Rolls Out Android Auto Update, But With Some Restrictions

As everything is becoming digital and smart, modern cars have also joined the race since the beginning. Android Auto is one such app developed by Google to enhance users’ driving experience. It mirrors features from your smartphone to the infotainment system of your car. Virtually every major auto manufacturer has incorporated it into their infotainment systems. However, BMW has always shied away from Android Auto and has supported Apple’s Carplay instead.

In 2017, the company had claimed that it had no plans to add Android Auto to its lineup. But now they seem to have changed their minds because last year in December they announced to roll out Android Auto in July 2020. It is now confirmed that BMW has finally rolled out the much-awaited Android Auto update in its cars. The feature is currently wireless only and it’s also not certain yet whether all the compatible cars have it or not.

BMW Android Auto Compatible Cars & Devices

Since the feature is currently wireless only, it limits the compatibility to only a few devices. Only Google Pixel, Nexus, and some Samsung models are compatible with Android Auto in BMW. Apart from the compatibility of the devices, only certain BMW vehicles support this feature. The cars having iDrive 7 are currently eligible for the update. The compatible models are:

2019+ 3 Series with Live Cockpit Professional

2020+ 5 Series, and 7 Series

2020+ 7 Series

2019+ 8 Series

2020+ X3 with Live Cockpit Professional

2020+ X4 with Live Cockpit Professional

2019+ X5

2020+ X6

2019+ X7

2019+ Z4

If you are driving a model other than these, the feature is not available for you. Additionally, it is still found to be buggy.

Restrictions and Issues

AndroidPolice reports that every few minutes there is a stutter in the playback. There are also issues with the connection. The phone keeps disconnecting and it demands the user to reconnect manually. Also, while switching the songs it takes some extra time.

Hand Talk: A Sign Language Translator App

Kirtik Singh

July 29, 2020

Hand Talk Translator Featured Image — Image Courtesy: Hand Talk

Hand Talk is a Google AI Impact Challenge grantee that built a live translation app that can translate text and audio to sign language.

Using Al or Artificial Intelligence, Hand Talk can now translate English to ASL or American Sign Language. Launched back in 2019, the app was only able to translate Portuguese to Brazilian Sign Language. Above all, this app aims to bridge the gap between the Deaf and the hearing community.

How Hand Talk Translates to Sign Languages

The Hand Talk app is like a pocket translator that translates oral (both written or audio) languages to sign language. App users can even use the app to review signs or learn sign language for the first time. In other words, all this is made easy with the help of an AI-powered virtual 3D avatar named Hugo.

Hand Talk App for Translation — Image Courtesy: LAVCA

The app is available for use on smartphones and tablets, both on the Play Store, as well as Apple’s App Store. Users have options to customize various functionalities as per the experience they desire. In other words, they can adjust Hugo’s speed, repeat translations, share GIFs of translations, and customize the avatar itself. Therefore, these customizations deliver a very personalized experience, allowing for changing the avatar’s looks and clothing.

Technology and Innovation

Behind this innovation is a group of American Sign Language specialists, along with the use of technology like AI. They record translations of various sentences and tag videos of signs to build increasingly advanced vocabulary. These help as an input for the Artificial Intelligence system to work and improve upon, helping it to perform better and more efficiently. The Hand Talk app had launched way back, supporting Portuguese/Libras, and garnering millions of users since then. With the launch of its support from English to ASL, we expect it to gain many more users now. Moreover, it was also recently featured in Google’s Twitter post as well!

Global Impact of Hand Talk

According to WHO (World Health Organization), there are close to 466 million Deaf people around the world, with 80% of them being unable to understand the written or spoken language of their respective countries. In conclusion, the Hand Talk app is a great accessibility feature and can work towards the inclusion of this community.

POCO M2 Pro to Go on Sale Tomorrow, Check Specs, Price, and Variants

Punkaj Kumar

July 29, 2020

POCO M2 Pro to Go on Sale Tomorrow, Check Specs, Price, and Variants

Xiaomi launched Poco M2 Pro in India in early June and went on its first sale on July 14. Now the smartphone will go on its next sale tomorrow, ie. on July 30. Poco India tweeted that the phone will go on the next sale tomorrow, at 12 PM on Flipkart. The Poco M2 Pro is the third Poco phone in the Indian market after the Poco F1 and the Poco X2. The phone looks like a mildly tweaked version of the Redmi Note 9 Pro and includes a rear quad camera setup as well as a hole-punch display.

How to Order Poco M2 Pro

The next sale of Poco M2 Pro is tomorrow at 12:00 PM on Flipkart. Follow these steps to order Poco M2 Pro in July 30 sale:

1. Visit Flipkart and search for Poco M2 Pro, or click here directly.

2. Select the desired model.

3. Next, click Notify Me so that you receive a notification before the sale starts tomorrow.

4. When the sale begins at noon, you’ll have the option to buy the phone.

You can then order the phone as usual.

Specifications

The Poco M2 Pro is a dual SIM (Nano) smartphone and runs on Android 10 with MIUI 11 for Poco. The device features a 6.67-inch full-HD+ display with an aspect ratio of 20:9, and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. In terms of performance, it is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G SoC processor. The set-up is coupled with a 6GB LPDDR4x RAM and up to 128GB storage. The phone also a dedicated microSD card slot that expands the inbuilt storage by up to 512GB.

Poco M2 Pro Price in India

The Poco M2 Pro base price is set at ₹13,999 for the 4GB RAM + 64GB storage model. For the 6GB RAM + 64GB storage variant, the company has set a price tag of ₹14,999. The higher storage version of 6GB RAM + 128GB storage costs ₹16,999. The phone is also available in three color shades. These are Green and Greener, Out of the Blue, and Two Shades of Black color.

Qualcomm Launches Quick Charge 5 Fast Charging That Can Fully Charge a Phone in 15 Minutes

Punkaj Kumar

July 29, 2020

Qualcomm Launches Quick Charge 5 Fast Charging, Can Fully Charge a Phone in 15 Minutes

In today’s times of smartphones and digitization, new technologies keep coming up every next day. One is the fast charging technology for smartphones. Many mobile phone companies like Oppo and OnePlus have their own fast charge tech. But the Quick charge technology of Qualcomm is still more prominent. Recently, Qualcomm revealed the Quick Charge 5, its new fast charging technology. According to the company, it can charge devices with 4,500 mAh battery, from 0 to 50 percent in just 5 minutes. Quick Charge 5 is the successor of Quick Charge 4+ that the company had released back in 2017.

Qualcomm launched Quick Charge 5 — Image credits: Qualcomm

The new technology is being touted as the “world’s first commercially viable fast charging platform to support more than 100 W charging power in a smartphone.” According to Qualcomm, it is 70 percent more efficient than its previous tech and supports 2S battery and 20 Volts of power delivery.

Qualcomm Quick Charge 5 Features

The new quick charge technology supports more than a 100W power output capabilities. On the other hand, its predecessor, the Quick Charge 4+, supported 45W charging. Also, compared to its all predecessors, the Quick Charge 5 is 10-degree Celsius cooler on a 4,000 mAh battery. It can charge a device fully in just 15 minutes.

One new feature of Quick Charge 5 is that it is backward compatible with Quick Charge 2.0, 3.0, 4, and 4+. Additionally, it is also compatible with other existing handsets powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon platform. In terms of charging pins, it is optimized for both USB Power Delivery (USB-PD) and USB Type-C charging technologies.

Effect on Battery Life

Other than its physical features, it also comes with features like Qualcomm Battery Saver and the Qualcomm Smart Identification of Adapter Capabilities technology. These technologies help in extending the battery life cycle on devices. The technology is currently in its testing phase, and the new devices based on this technology may start coming in the third quarter of this year.

Also, it is initially supported on Snapdragon 865, 865+, and other high-tier Snapdragon platforms. The manufacturer may enable its presence on smartphones based on Snapdragon 700 and earlier generations in the future.

OnePlus Buds with 30-hour Battery Life, Warp Charging Launched at ₹ 4,990

Kirtik Singh

July 28, 2020

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

OnePlus finally stepped into the Truly Wireless Earbud segment, with its newly launched OnePlus Buds. The OnePlus buds boast off touch controls, 30-hour battery life, Warp Charging, and in-ear lightweight design. The OnePlus Buds have been priced quite aggressively to compete with the likes of Xiaomi, Realme, Noise, and many other brands in this segment of devices.

OnePlus Buds with 30 Hour battery life — Image Courtesy: OnePlus Forums

Must Read: OnePlus Nord Availability in India and Pre-Order Information

OnePlus Buds: Specs and Features

The main focus of the OnePlus Buds is the battery life and charging. The launch event too, focussed on these elements a lot. After all, the 30-hour battery life with the case is what differentiates the OnePlus Buds from the competition. Each Earbud has a 35mAh battery, while the case has a battery of 430mAh. OnePlus claims about 7 hours of use with full charged buds out of the case. Meanwhile, the small and pocketable case can recharge the buds up to 4 times again, giving a total 30 hours for the battery life figures. There’s even fast charging support with 10 minutes of charge to the case giving 10 hours of total battery life! Meanwhile, 10 minutes of charging the buds in the case will give you around 2 hours of playtime. These are some amazing figures here!

As for the design, OnePlus has kept it simple with a half in-ear design, much like the AirPods. The buds themselves are shiny, with touchpads on each ear, containing a concentric-circle pattern. This is reminiscent of previous OnePlus earphones. Coming to the case, it has a matte finish and consists of a small LED and a device pairing button to the back. The entire package is quite lightweight, with the case weighing 37 grams, and each bud weighing just 4.7 grams.

OnePlus Buds Sound Quality and Connectivity

Being a half in-ear design, we offer the buds to provide less than average noise isolation, due to the lack of rubber tips. However, the 13.4mm dynamic drivers should match up to deliver decent, if not great sound quality. They also have Dolby Atmos Support, alongside support for low-latency Fnatic mode on OnePlus devices. There is also Fast Pair support for superfast pairing for devices and the touchpads on the buds allow for various functionality says OnePlus.

Also Read: Asus ROG Phone 3 has a Hidden 160Hz Refresh Rate

Pricing and Availability

The OnePlus buds are priced at just ₹ 4,990 in India and are available in 3 striking colors – White, Gray, and Nord Blue. The first sale for the OnePlus Buds starts at 10 AM, 31^st July 2020 on oneplus.in. The Amazon Page though, suggests the first sale to be on 4^th August 2020. While OnePlus has decided to not launch the OnePlus Nord in the United States, it will be releasing the Buds, starting at $79 in Gray and White colors. The Nord Blue color is limited to India and Europe for the time being.

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