Tech News Updates: July 2019

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Vivo Z5 With 4,500mAh Battery, Snapdragon 712 SoC Launched: Price, Features, and More

The Vivo Z5 has been announced in China and could soon head for the Indian market.

Google Play Pass Subscription Service in Testing With ‘Access to Hundreds of Premium Apps’: Report

Play Pass will allow users unlimited access to premium games and apps during the subscription period, for a single monthly fee.

Zomato Defends Using Halal Tag as People Leave 1-Star Ratings for the App on Google Play, App Store

Zomato is facing criticism from some people who are asking how it is fine if some customers specifically want Halal meat.

Hike Sticker Chat Brings Auto Backup Feature for Quick Data Transfer, Web Client Debuts Too

Hike Sticker Chat that was launched as a dedicated app back in April has received an Auto Backup feature for easy transferring of data from one device to another.

Huawei Y9 Prime With Pop-up Selfie Camera to Launch in India Today

The Huawei Y9 Prime features a notch-less display with a pop-up selfie camera and could be priced under Rs 20,000.

PUBG Mobile Lite: What's It Like to Play the Game on 4 Popular Phones Under Rs. 8,000

PUBG Mobile Lite was recently launched in India, so we picked up some popular entry-level smartphones to find out the most affordable smartphone that can run it.

OnePlus 7 Pro Gets OxygenOS 9.5.11 Update; Beats Google Pixel Phones to August Security Patch

The latest software patch will iron out the adaptive brightness issue as well.

Samsung Galaxy A80 With Rotating Camera Goes on Sale Today: Price, Specs and More

The Galaxy A80 is the first phone to feature the Snapdragon 730G chipset and also comes with a sliding and rotating camera mechanism.

Google Project Zero Researchers Disclose 5 ‘Zero Interaction’ iMessage Flaws, 4 Fixed in iOS 12.4

Google Project Zero team has yet again found a number of security vulnerabilities in Apple’s iOS operating system. Two members of the Project Zero team discovered five new “zero interaction” flaws in iMessage.

iOS 13 Beta Allows iPad Users to Resize App Icons With Different Home Screen Grid Layouts

Apple is adding a feature that would let people resize app icons on iPad models.

Truecaller Found Signing Up Users for Its Payments Service Without Permission in India, Company Blames a Bug

Truecaller on Tuesday found itself in the middle of a storm after multiple users took to social media to blame the app for trying to sign them up for its payments service without their permission.

Amazon Said to Be Launching Online Food Delivery Service in India to Rival Swiggy, Zomato

Amazon is planning a foray into the burgeoning online food delivery business in India this year, two sources aware of the development said, in a move that could raise competition in an increasingly crowded market.

Nintendo Sells 2.1 Million Switch Consoles in Q2, Sees Profit Drop

Nintendo Switch sales in the quarter brought the total installed base to 36.9 million units.

Qualcomm, Tencent Agree to Collaborate on Gaming Devices, 5G

Qualcomm and Tencent said they will cooperate on projects that could include making the latter's videogames play better on devices with the former's chips, and create a 5G version of a Tencent-backed gaming phone.

WhatsApp Multi-Platform System Confirmed, Will Allow Same Account to Run on Many Devices: WABetaInfo

WABetaInfo has now confirmed that the multi-platform system is indeed in the works and will launch in the future

Uber Lays Off 400 Employees From Its Global Marketing Team to Reduce Costs

Uber on Monday confirmed it is cutting 400 jobs from its marketing team of more than 1,200 workers to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

WhatsApp iOS Beta Starts Testing Quick Media Edit Feature, Multi-Platform System Rumoured

WhatsApp has released a new beta for iOS, and version 2.19.80.16 removes the ability to save profile pictures using 3D Touch.

Apple Admits a Small Portion of Siri Recordings Are Heard by Humans

Apple allows Siri recordings to be heard by contractors as part of a process called "grading", which improves the efficacy of the voice assistant, a report claims.

Zomato Now Delivering Food in 500 Cities; Users in Tier III and Tier IV Towns Are Loving The Idea

As it turns out, Chicken Biryani is the most ordered non-veg item in the Tier III and Tier IV cities, while Masala Dosa is the most popular order in the veg food category.

Indian Air Force: A Cut Above Flight Simulator Mobile Game Launched on Android, iOS

Based on a pre-existent flight battle simulator by Indian developer Threye Interactive, the IAF mobile game will also feature Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, and the Balakot Air Strike.

Facebook Fact-Checker Says Company Must Share More Data to Fight Misinformation

UK-based charity Full Fact issued a report urging Facebook to provide more data on how flagged content is shared over time, to see how quickly false information is spreading and assess how fact-checks are containing the spread.

Electronic Arts Revenue Jumps Thanks to Battle Royale Game Apex Legends

EA's live services led by Apex Legends, The Sims 4 and FIFA Ultimate Team spurred growth with net bookings jumping 12% to $504 million from a year ago. Apex Legends is EA's fastest-growing game ever.

How to Buy or Rent The Avengers: Endgame Movie For Rs 100 Right Now

The Avengers: Endgame movie and stream it now, from multiple streaming platforms—Google Play Movies, YouTube and Apple iTunes.

Apple Card will Roll Out in US this August, as Tech Companies Cannot Ignore The Fintech Lure

Apple has explained that users can sign up for the Apple Card from an iPhone and can use it either through Apple Pay or the physical titanium card.

Electronic Arts Posts Strong Q2 Results on Apex Legends, Sims 4, FIFA Ultimate Team

Electronic Arts' live services led by Apex Legends, The Sims 4 and FIFA Ultimate Team spurred growth with net bookings jumping 12% to $504 million from a year ago.

WhatsApp Users Beware! The Messages Offering 1000GB Free Internet Data Are a Scam

The fraudulent campaign is hosted by a domain that is home to yet more bogus offers pretending to come from other well-known brands.

Man Didn’t Want a ‘Non-Hindu Rider’ to Deliver His Food, This Is How Zomato Responded

Zomato on Wednesday came out on Twitter to defend its decision to not change the food delivery executive for a customer, who objected to the executive being a “non-Hindu.”

Samsung Galaxy Fold is Expected to Re-Launch in September, And we Hope it is Second Time Lucky

After its initial launch in South Korea and the US, Samsung Galaxy Fold could be launched in the UK, Germany and France.

Vivo Shows Off The Multi-Turbo Engine For Gaming at The 2019 PUBG Global Championship

The Multi-Turbo Engine adds and software and hardware tweaks to improve the gaming experience on smartphones.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Realme X to go on Sale on Flipkart and Realme.com: Price, Features, Offers and More

Realme X is priced at Rs 16,999 for the 4GB RAM + 128GB storage variant while the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant is priced at Rs 19,999.

Xiaomi Redmi K20, Redmi K20 Pro Sale Today at 12PM: Price, Specifications, and More

The Redmi K20 and K20 Pro were announced earlier this month and feature an AMOLED display, pop-up selfie camera, in-display fingerprint sensor, a triple-rear camera and more.

Samsung Profits Down 56% in June Quarter With Expectation That Galaxy Fold Will Revive Profits

Samsung has been hurt by a long-running trade war between the United States and China, and an escalating spat between Japan and South Korea is likely to pressure third-quarter results.

Bollywood Rapper Badshah Sets Viewer Record YouTube Isn't Talking About

Within 24 hours of posting his video Paagal to YouTube, Indian rapper Badshah broke a record even Taylor Swift couldn't touch.

Mirrorless Cameras Continue to be in Focus as Panasonic Adds The Lumix G95 to Its Portfolio

Panasonic's high mobility Lumix cameras, with powerful 4K features and 9fps burst shooting speeds, are aimed at videographers, YouTubers, advanced still photography.

An Artificial Intelligence Tool That Predicts Cell Behaviours During Diseases And The Treatment

The study, published in the journal Nature Methods, shows that the AI tool, scGen, will help to map and studying the cellular response to diseases and their treatment beyond experimentally available data.

If This is a Real Sony PlayStation 5 For Pre-order, it is More Expensive Than You May Have Imagined

The PlayStation 5 will take on Microsoft’s next Xbox, codenamed Anaconda.

Apple Q3 Results: Full Steam Ahead For Services as The iPhone Makes up Less Than Half of The Revenue

It is sharper focus on Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud and App Store, which are seeing more traction than ever before.

Grab Says to Invest $2 Billion in Indonesia Using Funds From SoftBank

Grab has said it will invest $2 billion into Indonesia over five years using capital received from Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group.

Tesla to Soon Get Netflix, YouTube Streaming Support: Elon Musk

Elon Musk has announced that people would be soon able to stream videos on digital platforms like Netflix and YouTube in parked Tesla electric vehicles.

Facebook’s Instant Games Migrating From Messenger to Main App

Facebook Instant Games will no longer be playable directly in the new version of Messenger on iOS starting later this summer.

Jio Saarthi Digital Assistant Launched to Ease Recharge Process for Subscribers

Reliance Jio has announced Jio Saarthi digital assistant that will be integrated within the MyJio app to make digital recharges easier.

Truecaller Bug Covertly Signed-up Indians for UPI Account With ICICI Bank

he affected users received an SMS from ICICI Bank, starting from late Monday evening till morning hours on Tuesday, saying "your registration for UPI app has started.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 4 With 5G Reportedly Certified in China

Xiaomi is currently limiting 5G support to its high-end phones and developed markets due to high costs and if the company has to launch a 5G smartphone, then it has to be under the Mi Mix or the Mi series.

Huawei Revenue Jumps 23.2 Percent in First Half of 2019 Despite US Ban

Huawei's smartphone shipments, including HONOR phones, reached 118 million units, up 24 per cent year on year.

Truecaller Found Signing Up Users for Its Payments Service Without Permission in India, Company Blames a Bug

Truecaller on Tuesday found itself in the middle of a storm after multiple users took to social media to blame the app for trying to sign them up for its payments service without their permission.

Banning Cryptocurrencies in India Not the Solution: Nasscom

According to Nasscom, cryptocurrency-based businesses can be tested in the regulatory sandboxes. A ban would handicap India from participating in new use cases that cryptocurrencies and tokens offer.

Sony PlayStation 4 Surpasses Selling 100 Million Units, Beats PS2 and Nintendo Wii Records

While it took the Nintendo Wii around six years to ship 100 million units and the PS2 managed it in five years and nine months, Sony’s PS4 has managed to achieve the goal in just five years and seven months.

iOS 13 Beta 5 Allows Users to Resize App Icons on Home Screen

With new bug fixes, Apple has released the fifth beta version of iOS 13 to developers. The icon-resizing feature is currently being tested on the iPadOS.

Nintendo Sells 2.1 Million Switch Consoles in Q2, Sees Profit Drop

Nintendo Switch sales in the quarter brought the total installed base to 36.9 million units.

Fancy a Flagship Killer Phone For Less Than Rs 30,000: Redmi K20 Pro, Realme X, Oppo F11 Pro And More

Looking for a solid performing smartphone under a budget of Rs 30,000? We have got you covered...

WhatsApp Scam: Don't Fall For Fake Messages Offering 1000GB of Free Internet Data

The fraudulent campaign is hosted by a domain that is home to yet more bogus offers pretending to come from other well-known brands.

Waymo, DeepMind Collaborate to Improve Self-Driving Cars

Waymo's self-driving vehicles employ neural networks to perform many driving tasks, from detecting objects and predicting how others will behave, to planning a car's next moves.

Google Pixel 4 to Feature Face Unlock And Motion Gestures Thanks to Project Soli

Google also revealed that Pixel 4 will have a feature called “Motion Sense,” which means that it will have a Project Soli chip that uses radar to detect hand gestures near the phone.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Latest Leaks Confirm Dual Camera, 7040mAh Battery and Snapdragon 855 SoC

The Galaxy Tab S6 sports a 10.5-inch display which is most likely AMOLED. The resolution is likely 2K. The processor of the Galaxy Tab S6 will be from the flagship Snapdragon 855 line.

Realme 3i Goes on Sale Today via Flipkart and Realme Store: Price, Specifications, Features and More

The Realme 3i sits between the Realme 3 and Realme C2, with a diamond-cut pattern on the back.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Lenovo Patents New Slider Smartphone With Round Camera Module

According to reports, the first model from Lenovo has only a dual-camera setup on the back and a single-camera selfie setup that’s revealed only when the phone is in the slid position.

Oppo K3 Goes on Sale Today at 12PM on Amazon: Here’s Everything You Need to Know

The Oppo K3 is available in India for a starting price of Rs 16,990 and comes in two variants.

Xiaomi Remains in The Lead Even as Smartphone Shipments in India Slip to 33 Million Units in Q2 2019

Xiaomi led the tally with 31 per cent market share to mark eight straight quarters as the market leader.

Qualcomm, Tencent Agree to Collaborate on Gaming Devices, 5G

WhatsApp Multi-Platform System Confirmed, Will Allow Same Account to Run on Many Devices: WABetaInfo

WABetaInfo has now confirmed that the multi-platform system is indeed in the works and will launch in the future

PUBG Mobile Lite is Already Topping The Google Play Store Charts in India, And Here is Why

And it has only been three days since the app was rolled out for downloads.

Uber Lays Off 400 Employees From Its Global Marketing Team to Reduce Costs

Uber on Monday confirmed it is cutting 400 jobs from its marketing team of more than 1,200 workers to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

Vodafone Idea is Adding Free Call And Data Packs For Customers in Flood Affected Assam

Vodafone Idea also has teams on the ground which are ensuring availability of food and water to flood victims at the relief camps.

Airtel is Offering Free Calls And Extra Data to Customers in Flood Affected Districts of Assam

For Postpaid customers the bill payment dates have been extended.

A Truly Multi-Platform WhatsApp is Surely a Great Idea, But When Will it Become a Reality?

You won’t need your phone switched on and connected to 4G or Wi-Fi to send and receive messages.

Huawei Mate X Foldable Smartphone Not Ready for Launch Yet, Company Says it's Optimizing the Phone

Huawei's Director of Consumer Business said that the smartphone is still being optimized to meet the company's strict quality requirements.

OnePlus 7 or OnePlus 7 Pro With Discounts, Zomato Gold Vouchers And More on Amazon

The OnePlus 7 is priced Rs 32,999 onwards while the OnePlus 7 Pro is priced upwards of Rs 48,999.

Want to Splurge on a OnePlus 7 or OnePlus 7 Pro? Amazon Offers Discounts, Zomato Gold Vouchers And More

The OnePlus 7 is priced Rs 32,999 onwards while the OnePlus 7 Pro is priced upwards of Rs 48,999.

PUBG Mobile Club Open: Top Esports Win Spring Split, India’s Team Soul Emerges as Crowd Favorites

The PUBG Mobile Club Open Spring leg came to an end on Sunday with Top Esports winning the tournament.

ZTE Patents Smartphone with Slider Design and Dual-Selfie Cameras

The slider design of ZTE's latest patent is similar to the Xiaomi Mi MIX 3, Lenovo Z5 Pro, and Honor Magic 2. Sliding down the handset's glass screen uncovers the camera which looks similar to a speaker grill.