Amazon Fire TV recently introduced a new “free” section to its menu. Fire TV now makes it easier for customers to find free movies, news, television shows, and other content. The free content is available across various apps. According to the Amazon Fire TV Blog, when you enter the tab, there appears a featured apps row that includes some of the most popular free, ad-supported streaming apps. They include apps like IMDb TV, Pluto TV, and Amazon’s News app. Other apps that offer free content like Twitch, Red Bull, PBS Kids, etc. can also be found there.
Amazon said that the free tab will be refreshed regularly. It also said most of it consists of a collection of curated and thematic rows of movies and TV shows from their content providers.
In Amazon’s Own Words
In a blog post Amazon’s Michael Polin wrote, “Over the past year, we’ve received great feedback from Fire TV customers about their growing interest in watching free content and their desire for an easier way to find the free content that is available on Fire TV.” Adding further, he said, “We wanted to build a curated experience that provides a simple way for customers to find movies and shows they love while also highlighting apps that offer free to watch content they may not have known about.”
Amazon offers thematic, horizontal rows of curated content below the free content apps. It includes a set of personalized recommendations of free movies and TV shows across various categories. The categories include the content marked as new, trending and popular, etc. and a complete row dedicated to Amazon’s News app on Fire TV. Users will have access to more than 20,000 free movies and TV episodes across different apps like IMDb TV, Pluto TV, and many others.
Free tab in Amazon Fire TV is already live in the United States since 13 May.
Its been over a month that OnePlus launched its 8 and 8 Pro worldwide but these devices haven’t been available in India yet due to the lockdown. The company had revealed special Indian pricing some time back but there was no update as to when we could get our hands on these devices. The company has revealed all you need to know about the sales of the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro, along with some appealing launch offers on its Red Cable Club Forum.
Fill in the blanks: The OnePlus 8 Series 5G will be available to buy starting from __________________
The smartphones shall be available to buy on Amazon and OnePlus’s Indian website, along with some offline retailers like Croma. This is to happen from 29th May, but there’s some good news for those having pre-booked their order via Amazon. All those having placed a pre-order can participate in the sale on 18th May at 2 PM.
Their Community post also mentioned some information about the limited edition ‘pop-up boxes’ that will also be available at launch. These limited edition boxes contain a pair of Bullets Wireless Z earphones, a cyan snap-on case, a Nylon(for the 8) or Karbon(for the 8 Pro) bumper case along with the devices by paying Rs.1000 extra. Red Cable Club members can get their hands on these starting 28th May.
Image Courtesy: OnePlus
Launch Offers
OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro are priced starting at ₹41,999 and ₹54,999 in India respectively. However, the company also announced a plethora of launch offers that will enable you to secure some great discounts.
You can use SBI credit cards to get an instant discount of ₹2,000 on the OnePlus 8 and ₹3,000 discount on the 8 Pro.
12 months of no-cost EMI across can be availed on Amazon and OnePlus’ online stores. All SBI credit card users can secure the sale deal at offline stores as well.
Red Cable club members get flat 10% discount on screen protection plans.
The Mi 10 and the iPhone SE will be available on sale before the OnePlus 8 and the POCO F2 Promight be launched in India soon as well. It will be interesting to see how the OnePlus 8 stacks up against the competition in our review. You can visit this link to pre-order the OnePlus 8 and get your hands on it before everyone else.
Sony’s one of the most famous products of all time is its PlayStation line of gaming consoles. And there are expectations that the company will offer a new addition to this family by the end of 2020. It is called the PS5, which stands for PlayStation 5, which comes up with some very high expectations to fulfill.
Image Courtesy: Extreme Tech
Meantime, the most recent gaming console that the company has launched is the PlayStation 4. This model has become one of the most celebrated gaming consoles with a sales figure of 106 million units.
PlayStation 5 will be a total next-generation gaming console with a lot of mind-blowing additions as per the rumors around the corner. There’s not much information about the design, but it is said to be large and v-shaped to make it easily stackable for the development team to run multiple tests. This design will help in optimally pushing air out of the sides and center helping the device to not get heated too much and too early. But we are assuming that the final product will be more compact and slimmer.
Let’s talk about the controller now, the company is addressing it as DualSense, which has a high design departure than never before. The controller has haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, and a built-in microphone array. It also provides you a USB-C charging port, and this time the Share button is going to get replaced with Create button according to the leaked intel.
What are the Major Upgradations to Expect
The company has done some revelations about the technology that has been integrated. According to the PlayStation 5 Lead System Architect Mark Cerny, the PS5 will have some serious improvements over the PS4. Here’s a complete overview of the PS5’s specs
PlayStation 5
CPU
8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz with SMT (variable frequency)
GPU
10.28 TFLOPs, 36 CUs at 2.23GHz (Custom RDNA 2 architecture)
RAM
16GB GDDR6/256-bit
Internal Storage
Custom 825GB SSD
Expandable Storage
NV Me SSD slot
External Storage
USB HDD support
IO Throughput
5.5GB/s (Raw), Typical 8-9GB/s (Compressed)
Memory Bandwidth
448GB/s
Optical Drive
4K UHD Blu-ray Drive
Source: Android Authority
The expectations are that the CPU’s upgraded version will be in the form of AMD Zen 2, which is a touts eight cores clocked at 3.5GHz. the combination of CPU and GPU with ray tracing acceleration will take the gaming graphics to a whole new level with a more realistic experience.
The console is having an 825GB SSD which will support off-the-shelf NV Me SSD expandability. This is going to enable users to expand their storage, faster load speeds, and better system memory management.
The last major revelation from the company’s end is about the console’s new custom AMD compute unit-based Tempest Engine. This will provide users a gaming experience that will be accompanied by high-quality 3D in-game audio with even the basic headphones or speakers.
There are even speculations about the company to release two versions of the console. One of which will be of 825GB SSD and the other one will be relatively expensive with a 1.65 TB SSD. But there is no official confirmation about this from the company’s part.
Will it be Compatible and Affordable too?
The company claims that the upcoming PS5 will be compatible with nearly all top 100 titles from the previous generation console. It believes that the PS4 titles will benefit from the new PS5 which has a better and more stable frame rate and high resolution. Though, it can’t be guaranteed that all the games will work, as all the titles are still going through the test.
There’s good news for the game geeks, once the console is launching and is available there are possibilities of some new titles, that will be one of the biggest and craziest games that we have ever seen. There are no specifications about the release date keeping in mind the current situation of the pandemic. Talking about the price there is a higher probable chance fo the PS5 to be more pricey than the PS4, which was $399. So, it’s expected that the price of PS5 will be up to $499 as the developers have incorporated expensive components.
Seems like we are going to witness the biggest revolution in the gaming world.
Google is well known for shutting down a number of its existing products and services. It has shut a large number of its successful products including Google Plus and Google URL Shortener (Goo.gl). Now Google is about to shut down its another service, Google Play Music this year. It is making a shift from Google Play Music to YouTube Music. The transition may take a while to complete fully, but it has now made it easier for users to transfer their content from Google Play Music. Now Google Play Music users can make the switch to the company’s now preferred music app, YouTube Music very easily.
YouTube Music now has a dedicated option that lets users transfer content such as uploads, purchases, added songs, albums, and playlists from Google Play Music. Google has also created a webpage for transferring podcasts from Google Play Music to Google Podcasts, Google’s own podcast app.
As per Google, Google Play Music as service will be terminated sometime later this year. In this transition, it would be a challenge for Google Play users to retain their content from Play Music. It all included their personalization preferences, library, and playlists from Google Play Music. Now this is where the new “transfer” option comes into play.
How to Transfer Your Content From Google Play Music to YouTube Music
On the YouTube Music app, users can now click on a “transfer” button on both iOS and Android to start the transfer of their content. Users will be able to transfer uploads, purchases, personal and subscribed playlists, added songs, and albums, likes and dislikes, and personal preferences. After the successful transfer, users will immediately see an updated YouTube Music home screen. Users will also receive an email when the transfer is complete and their music has been fully-added to the in-app “Library” tab.
Google has not provided an exact date to shut down the Google Play Music. The company said that for now, users will continue to have access to both of their services. They want to ensure that everyone has time to transfer their content and get used to YouTube Music. Company also said they’ll provide plenty of notice ahead of users no longer having access to Google Play Music later this year.”
This step from Google is a good relief for Google Play Music users otherwise they would lose their existing content in this transition.
POCO as a brand had a very promising start when it launched the POCO F1. The device managed to awe value chasers by providing flagship performance and specs at a small fraction of the price, without cutting too many corners. Even after the popularity of the F1, POCO was missing from the smartphone space for more than a year and got back in India with the POCO X2. It wasn’t a successor to the F1 but made a huge success in the midrange market. Nevertheless, users have clamored for a direct successor to the F1 for long. Finally, Poco has listened, launching it as the POCO F2 Pro on May 12.
Image Courtesy: POCO Global
Much like how POCO X2 was a rebranded Xiaomi Redmi K30 that was launched in China, the POCO F2 Pro is also a rebrand of the Xiaomi RedmiK30 Pro that was launched in China. It isn’t particularly negative, because all that really changes is the logo on the phone. The hardware remains the same along with some minor regional tweaks to the software, which is a good thing as the Redmi K30 Pro has promising specifications on paper.
Specification Overview
The POCO F2 Pro is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 and supports 5G. There’s up to 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256 GB of UFS3.1 storage available, but the base variant gets a slight downgrade on the RAM and memory standards. You even get support for up to 30W fast charging with a decently sized 4,700 mAh battery. For the display, it has a 6.67-inch Full-HD+ AMOLED display that comes without a notch or punch-hole cutout. This screen has a 20:9 aspect ratio alongside a 2340 * 1080p resolution, 180Hz touch sampling rate, and close to 1200nits of peak brightness, with support for HDR10+. What is disappointing to see is the omission of a high refresh rate screen, with the panel only offering a 60Hz refresh rate. This can be a bummer/dealbreaker for many people, especially after the POCO X2 hyped up the market with a 120Hz refresh rate.
Image Courtesy: POCO Global
At the camera front, the highlight of the device is a 64MP Sony IMX686 sensor having a large 1/1.7” sensor size, with 0.8μm pixels pre-binning, and dual EIS plus OIS stabilization, as well as HEIF image format and 8K video recording support. There’s even a 13MP wide-angle camera sensor, as well as a 2MP depth sensor which we don’t really appreciate. The fourth sensor is a macro 5MP camera supporting 50mm macro photography. The front camera is within the popup – a 20MP shooter like last year’s K20 Pro.
Other notable features on the device include WiFi 6 support, Bluetooth 5.1, and NFC. POCO even includes an IR blaster at the top to let you control home appliances. A larger vapor-chamber also aids in cooling and sustaining peak performance along with an improved vibration motor. Last but not the least, the 3.5mm headphone jack is retained! Old times huh?
Pricing and Availability
The POCO F2 Pro is available in four color variants: Neon Blue, Phantom Blue, Electric Purple, and Cyber Gray. We must agree, they do stand out from the other phones in the market right now. The base variant will start at €499, while the top variant starts at €599. What remains to be seen is whether the device will be making its way to India. It will be competing with the greatest phones in this segment, like the OnePlus 8 and Mi 10. If it does, we hope to see better pricing than the Mi 10. Xiaomi better picks up hints after the Mi 10 pricing backlash in India.
Sony Electronics recently announced the new HT-G700 3.1-Channel soundbar. This soundbar is enabled with Dolby Atmos and features Vertical Surround Engine technology. It includes a dedicated center speaker for providing a premium audio experience. The HT-G700 wireless subwoofer is available in the US now for $599.99. Sony claims that it has the ability to upscale stereo audio to 7.1.2 channel surround sound.
Image: Sony
Mike Fasulo, who is the president and chief operating officer of Sony Electronics in North America, said: “Offering a dynamic, best-in-class acoustic experience is of peak importance when designing our soundbars.” He also added, “The new HT-G700 soundbar delivers a fully immersive sound experience that elevates at-home viewing and provides customers with a front-row seat to their favorite movies, TV shows and content,” reported PR Newswire.
Sony HT-G700 3.1-Channel Soundbar Key Features
Hear HD Sound from All Directions: Equipped with Dolby Atmos/DTS:X and Vertical Surround Engine, you will be able to enjoy a superior audio experience. In addition, you have the ability to upscale even normal stereo audio to a 7.1.2 channel surround sound experience.
Central Speaker for Clearer Dialogue: The HT-G700 comes with a dedicated center speaker which ensures vocal clarity. It also enhances music to offer an enriched and intimate listening experience.
Enjoy Powerful Bass Sound With Wireless Subwoofer: Sony has enhanced it’s Extra Bass wireless speaker. The new soundbar features a powerful wireless subwoofer. It enhances the overall experience by delivering a deep bass sound.
Enhanced Experience Watching Movies and Listening Music: With Sony HT-G700, you can now enhance your movies and music experience. With premium settings and various sound modes, you can feel and hear the action of movies or hear every detail of your favourite music.
The Sony HT-G700 has the total power output of 440W, and 3.1ch amplifier channels and has a body size of 38-5/8″ x 2-5/8″ x 4-3/8″ (W×H×D).
The Tencent Games have started unveiling the 0.17.0 Beta updates for PUBG Mobile Lite users. With these latest updates, the company is going to introduce the most awaited Payload mode. The company is introducing an ample number of features and improvements to excite you.
Image Courtesy: India TV
Here’s all you need to know
These features are also available on the beta version of the regular PUBG Mobile game. The features include bringing helicopters and rocket launchers in the game which will increase the level of excitement and difficulty for the players.
The update will have a Falcon companion. Though this bird has no functionality it will add a little edge to the player’s disguise.
This update will even fix the bugs. The developers have not yet clearly mentioned the release date of the final version of PUBG Mobile Lite 0.17.0 to the public. But the game is expected to release it on 13th May. Once the update releases it will be available for download on the Google Play store. The update will have all the above-mentioned additions such as Falcon, Payload mode, and BRDM-2 among others.
The PUBG Lite 0.17.0 update size is expected to be around 192 MB which has been officially confirmed by the company’s recent announcement.
Recent Announcements and Updates
The company’s announcement pop-up said, “the game servers will be taken offline for maintenance on 12th May from 01:00 to 08:00 (UTC +0). Once the maintenance period finishes, the servers will go live with the 0.17.0 update, and players can enjoy the new features.”
Image Courtesy: Sportskeeda
The PUBG Mobile lite received the 0.16.0 update with features like “Cherry Blossom” in the Varenga map. In this feature, the players should look for the picnic baskets under some specific trees. The picnic baskets contain flare guns or “festive Paint Grenades”. Which can be used to call airdrops as these special guns or grenades release colorful paint when it bursts. This helps to dye a player in sprint colors for making it easier to spot them.
In total, players are eagerly waiting for the update to go through the game with a more adventurous outlook. The Tencent Games is now gearing up to launch the PUBG Mobile 0.18.0 update for both Android and iOS users.
Facebook was working on the redesign of the desktop version of Facebook.com for quite some time. It started rolling out the new design to the majority of its users in March. Only users who opted to browse Facebook.com on the new interface were provided with the new design. Facebook now states that all its users across the globe will get access to it. The company announced that its new desktop design is now available worldwide. The new design comes with a much-awaited feature of dark mode. In addition to this, the look of the new design is entirely different from the previous one. It comes with streamlined navigation and reduced clutter on the homepage. Facebook boasts the new version to be faster than the previous one. The interface is claimed to be easier to use as well.
Image: Facebook
Apart from the dark mode, there are many improvements done to the homepage. The new layout features a smoother News Feed and provides ample space on both the left and right columns. More icons are added to the menu bar with increased size. It is now easier to navigate to your favorite videos, pages, messenger, and settings.
How to Switch Facebook to New Design and Turn on Dark Mode
If you are excited to browse Facebook.com on your desktop with a new look, then you may need to turn on the new design first. To switch to the new interface and turn on the dark mode immediately, follow the given steps:
First click on the down arrow (which you earlier used to log out) at the end of the top menu bar.
Now click on “Switch to new Facebook.” You are now able to browse the new design of Facebook.
To turn on dark mode, click the same down arrow again and toggle dark mode from off to on.
The new design is much pleasant in looks and has easier navigation. If you get familiar with the new look of Facebook.com then this new interface will be much easier to use.
Instagram and its parent company Facebook have rolled out new features on Monday aimed to support small businesses. The new features are specifically intended for small businesses to cope with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In the recent official blog post, Facebook said, “As many stores remain closed and social media serves as an online Main Street, the shift to doing business online is more urgent than ever.”
To drive traffic to these small businesses, Facebook has introduced a new section titled Businesses Nearby. This feature will help people see the latest posts from nearby businesses. As per TechCrunch, the geographic radius can be varied from 1 mile to 500 miles. So users will be able to connect with business up to 500 miles away from them. People can see timings, delivery options, make bookings, or send messages to the business. Facebook describes it as a more quick way to find essential products and services.
Image: Facebook
Tools to Support Small Businesses
Facebook-owned Instagram also started a “Support Small Business” sticker that users can use in their Insta Stories to tag their favorite small businesses. This way other Instagram users will also be able to see who is using the sticker. This will raise awareness and visibility for those businesses. On the other hand, Facebook on its platform introduced the hashtag #SupportSmallBusiness using which users can show their support for small businesses.
Changes to Messenger
The social networking giant is also making it possible for businesses to access their business page inbox through messenger. This means that business owners will be able to see messages sent to their business page, right through their personal messenger. This way businesses will be able to communicate with customers very easily without even having to enter the page. Facebook is also allowing businesses to tag all their COVID-19-related posts from the Page composer.
Image: Facebook
In addition to this, Facebook is also posting COVID-19-related information, tools, and tips for small businesses. On both the Facebook and Instagram apps, the features are already live.
Gaming phones have become popular over the last few years and have almost carved a dedicated market for themselves. These devices feature RGB lighting, new thermal technologies, air triggers, and high refresh rate screens along much more. SoC makers are pulling up their socks to match the demand of this market and are developing gaming-centric technologies. The newly launched Snapdragon 768G is the right example.
Image Courtesy: Cnet.com
It’s not new for Qualcomm to release overclocked versions of its SoC’s. The Snapdragon 855+ and the custom-overclocked 845 for the ROG Phone were notable examples. The 768G is an overclocked 765G, which was, in fact, an overclocked 765! These specialized versions usually tend to give higher frame rates in games and eSports titles. We saw the arrival of Snapdragon 765/765G back in November 2019 and there are very few phones that ever shipped with the chipset. This chipset is realistically an overclocked version of the 765G 5G. Qualcomm says the new chip will “deliver immersive gaming experiences and truly global 5G”.
What does the Snapdragon 768G bring to the table?
The Snapdragon 768G improves upon previous variants by boosting up the clock speed of various components in the chip. It has boosted the Prime Core from 2.4Ghz to 2.8Ghz and the Adreno 620 GPU by 15%. This is a similar gain in GPU performance which was seen from 765 to 765G. It also features an integrated modem(X52), 5th gen AI engine, and Elite Gaming features. It is the first budget chip to support updateable GPU drivers, which will be a delight to gamers.
The Snapdragon X52 modem supports both mmWave and sub-6GHz 5G along with offering compatibility with standard non-5G networks. The 768G is mainly targeted towards devices that offer improved gaming experiences over previous generations. The Xiaomi Redmi K30 5G Racing Edition will be the first smartphone to use this new chip, packing in a 120Hz display, and 64MP quad-camera setup.
Image Courtesy: Xiaomi
We’re going to see more devices utilizing this chip in the future and it currently sits atop Qualcomm’s mid-range product line. It will offer better battery life and price to performance ratio v/s the Snapdragon 865 and should attract a large market. For people owning the 730G or the 720, this won’t be the upgrade you should consider, as the perceivable difference will hardly be distinguishable unless an extra 10FPS matters to you. The 5G tax would not return value either until 2022 in India.
