Tech News Updates: December 2020

Thursday, December 31, 2020

Vybe Together App That Promoted Private Parties During COVID-19 Removed From Apple's App Store

Vybe Together, an iOS app that promoted private parties during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been removed from the App Store. Vybe Together’s deleted FAQ page said that the app was designed to promote ‘small gatherings’ rather than ‘big parties’, although it acknowledged the dangers of the pandemic, as per a report.

Sony PlayStation 5 Launch Dates Announced As New Year Gift for Indians: Pre-Orders Begin January 12

The Sony PlayStation 5 has been priced in India at Rs 49,990 for the standard edition with a disk drive, and Rs 39,990 for the digital edition.

New Year 2021: Our Gadgets Wishlist, From iPhone 12 to PlayStation 5

iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 13 Pro Max, Apple Watch SE, PlayStation 5, MacBook Air M1, iMac, Apple One, Nvidia GeForce 2060, Intel Core i7-10700K, Ikea office chair — the gadgets Gadgets 360 staff is hoping to buy for themselves in 2021.

Explained: Your Credit Card Now Becomes Even More Powerful For Contactless Payments

You can now utilize the contactless payment method for your credit card payments and not have to enter a transaction PIN for purchases up to Rs 5,000 at stores. Cards issued by banks in India offer contactless payments feature, and is applicable for Mastercard, Visa and American Express credit cards.

Bitcoin Touches Record Above $29,000, Extending 2020 Rally

The price of Bitcoin topped $29,000 on Thursday for the first time, with the digital currency almost quadrupling in value this year amid heightened interest from investors big and small alike.

Alphabet Unit Wing Blasts New U.S. Drone ID Rule, Citing Privacy

Alphabet Inc's drone delivery unit Wing criticized Trump administration rules issued this week mandating broadcastbased remote identification of drones, saying they should be revised to allow for internetbased tracking.

iQoo 7 Confirmed to Come With 120W Fast Charging, May Launch Alongside iQoo 7 BMW Edition

iQoo confirmed the iQoo 7 BMW Edition launch on its official Weibo handle yesterday. The company had earlier shared its image that revealed the smartphone's back panel design and the triple rear camera setup.

IRCTC Overhauls Site With AI Recommendations, Meal Booking and More: All New Features

IRCTC’s new website claims to offer a highly improved usage experience, along with larger peak traffic capacity, smoother operations, streamlined user interface and more.

Amazon Acquires Podcast Production Firm Wondery, New Episodes to Come on Its Music App

Wondery, that has roughly 20 million monthly unique listeners would hope to bring more audience to Amazon's Music app that launched podcasts in September 2020. It would hope to rival Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Vijay Sales Welcomes New Year With Apple Days: Never Seen Before Prices on iPhones, MacBooks & More

The iPhone 12 Mini is being sold at a Rs 3,000 discount over its price tag at Rs 66,900. Further Rs 6,000 cashback on using HDFC card will allow buyers to get the effective price down to Rs 60,900.

All Jio Voice Calls to Be Completely Free From January 1, 2021 as IUC Charges End

Reliance Jio has kept its promise of removing interconnect usage charges from its voice calls, now officially making all calls to any operator completely free.

Spotify Loophole Allowed Users to Upload 'Slowed' and 'Reverb' Version of Songs as Podcasts

It is unclear how the loophole works that allowed users to upload fan-made versions of songs. Regular Spotify users could find remix versions of songs by adding terms like "chopped" and "screwed."

Apple AirPods Max Condensation Issue Forming Water Droplets on Under Removable Earcups, Near Drivers

One user said that he faced the same issue after wearing the AirPods Max for about an hour while watching a movie in a 20 degrees Celsius living room.

Apple Removes 39,000 Unlicensed Gaming Apps From Its China App Store to Meet Deadline

Apple initially gave game publishers an end-of-June deadline to submit a government-issued licence number enabling users to make in-app purchases in the world’s biggest games market. Apple later extended the deadline to December 31.

Apple Removes 39,000 Games From China App Store to Meet Year-End Deadline

Apple removed 39,000 game apps on its China store, the biggest removal ever in a single day, as it set year-end as deadline for all game publishers to obtain a licence.

Xaiomi Mi 10i 'Made in India' Phone With 108-Megapixel Primary Camera to Launch on January 5

Xiaomi already offers a slew of devices under the Mi 10 family in India such as the Mi 10, Mi 10T Pro, and Mi 10T. The company says that the Mi 10i would be made in India and customised by the India product team.

Asus Adolbook 13 (2021) With Intel 11th Gen Tiger Lake CPU Launched: Price, Specifications & More

The audio on the Asus Adolbook 13 (2021) is handled by a Harman Kardon streo speaker system. There is also an inbuilt microphone as well as an HD webcam.

Apple Removes 39,000 Game Apps From China Store To Meet Deadline

Apple removed 39,000 game apps on its China store Thursday, the biggest removal ever in a single day, as it set yearend as deadline for all game publishers to obtain a licence.

Google Photos Year in Review Section Will Give You a Recap of Memories From 2020

Google Photos app for Android and iOS is also getting a "Preview book" button that allows users to create an annual photo book. Earlier this month, Google started rolling out new themes for the Memories carousel.

Google Photos Is Rolling Out a ‘Year in Review’ Feature, 2020 Photo Book: Report

Google is letting Android and iOS users look back at 2020 through a ‘Year in Review’ feature in the Memories carousel in Google Photos. You can also create a 2020 photo book from the pictures of the year gone by.

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip Starts Receiving Android 11-Based One UI 3.0 With December 2020 Security Patch

The Android 11-based One UI 3.0 update for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is said to be roughly 2GB in size. Earlier this week, Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10 Plus started receiving the latest version of the Samsung custom skin as well.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T Spotted in Geekbench Listing, May Come With MediaTek Dimensity 800U SoC

The Geekbench listing of the Xiaomi M200722G is being associated with the Redmi Note 9T as the smartphone was recently spotted with the same model number of Thailand's NBTC certification site and also on Malaysia's SRIM certification site.

Motorola Smartphone With Four-Way Curved Screen, Quad Cameras Hinted In Leaked Renders

The sketch of the back panel of the purported Motorola smartphone hints at a quad camera setup that comprises of three cameras placed vertically, with the fourth one placed on the side of the three cameras.

OnePlus Band Fitness Tracker May Launch Before OnePlus Watch, Could Debut in India First

OnePlus will reportedly release its fitness tracker that may be called the OnePlus Band in Q1 2021.

Amazon Signs Deal to Acquire Popular Podcast Producer Wondery

Amazon said it signed a deal to acquire the hit podcast production firm Wondery, in a move which boosts the US tech giant's efforts to round out its offerings from its music platform.

Digital Payments Got A Big Push In India This Year And That Included UPI And Credit Cards

The UPI, or unified payments interface, transactions have been consistently growing month on month. Credit card transactions have also seen a spike in the past few months. The credit cards business also saw a renewed push, with banks and digital platforms investing heavily in the co-branded cards space.

Amazon To Soon Launch Its Future Engineer Computer Education Programme in India, Job Posting Hints

Apart from Amazon, Google and Microsoft have also long shown interest in Indian students. Facebook, earlier this year, invested in ed-tech startup Unacademy and tied up with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for training students on digital safety and augmented reality.

Poco M2 Getting Stable MIUI 12 Update in India With December 2020 Security Patch

The MIUI 12 update for Poco M2 comes as firmware version MIUI 12.0.1.0.QJRINXM and is 504MB in size.

Netflix January 2021 Releases: The White Tiger, Cobra Kai, and More

The White Tiger, Cobra Kai season 3, Mortal Engines, Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous: Season 2, Pieces of a Woman, Outside the Wire, Call My Agent season 4, The Dig, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon — the biggest movies and TV shows on Netflix India in January 2021.

Realme UI 2.0 Early Access Now Open for Realme 7, X2 Pro, 6 Pro and Narzo 20 Pro Users, How to Register

The Realme UI 2.0 early access is rolling out to those users who have filled a Google form, requesting the update. Realme 6 Pro, Realme 7, Realme X2 Pro and Narzo 20 Pro users can head the Realme community website to register for the programme.

Bitcoin Jumps To Record $28,600 As 2020 Rally Reaches New Heights

Bitcoin on Wednesday jumped to a record $28,599.99, after the digital currency almost quadrupled in value this year amid heightened interest from bigger investors.

Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro May Be Launched in February 2021 With Improved Camera, Faster Charging

Xiaomi recently launched the Mi 11 vanilla model as the first smartphone to be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC. The smartphone also comes with a 2K display and a 108-megapixel primary rear camera.

Samsung Galaxy Buds Live, Buds Plus Prices Cut by Rs 3,000: Galaxy M01, M01s Prices Also Slashed

The price cut on the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ and Galaxy Buds Live is being speculated to be because Samsung is about to reportedly unveil the Galaxy Buds Pro in January.

iQoo 7 BMW Edition With Snapdragon 888 SoC, Triple Rear Cameras to Launch on January 11

iQoo might unveil the vanilla iQoo 7 alongside the iQoo 7 BMW Edition on January 11. The BMW edition will also feature enhanced versions of LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage, as per the company.

Android’s Smart Text Selection Tool Adds Unit Conversion Feature, Redirects to Google

Android’s Smart Text Selection tool has added a feature for unit conversions. If you select part of a measurement, it will automatically select the full measurement, with the number and the unit, and a button offering to convert it will pop up. The feature doesn’t appear to have rolled out to all users as of now.

WhatsApp Users Had An Amazing Year With Cool New Features: WhatsApp Payments, Forever Mute And More

The good folks in the WhatsApp development teams have been super active in terms of rolling out new features, functionality and updates for WhatsApp for Android, WhatsApp for iPhone and WhatsApp Web. The standout features include WhatsApp Payments, Disappearing messages and forever mute WhatsApp groups.

Google Search Testing New Feature That Shows TikTok and Instagram Short Videos in a Dedicated Carousel

Google Search also displays short videos in a dedicated carousel from other platforms such as YouTube and its own short-form video project Tangi. Currently, its in early stages of development.

Paytm Payouts Crosses Rs 100 Crore Worth of Corporate Gifting Transactions in Yearly GMV

Paytm said that the growth comes as companies are adopting the offerings by Paytm Payouts for corporate gifting this holiday season.

Google Is Testing a Feature That Will Aggregate Short-Form Videos From TikTok, Instagram: Report

Google is testing a feature that will aggregate videos from TikTok and Instagram in dedicated carousels in the Google app, as per a report. It appears to be a limited early-stage feature as of now. If this feature rolls out widely, users won’t have to open individual apps to watch short-form videos.

Google to Host Hello 2021 India Virtual New Year's Eve Party on YouTube With Zakir Khan, Badshah and More

Google has also added a party popper icon on its Search app and web client to celebrate the end of 2020. The party popper releases confetti every time a user clicks on it.

Apple Removes Vybe Together App For Flouting COVID-19 Restrictions, Promoting Parties

It is not known as to what extent the app contributed to people hosting unsafe parties. Reports suggest that there was also an upcoming New Year's Eve party, which was also promoted on TikTok.

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Vivo Y20 (2021) With MediaTek Helio P35 SoC and 5,000mAh Battery Launched, Priced at Roughly Rs 10,900

The Vivo Y20 (2021) is currently retailing in Malaysia and the Chinese smartphone maker is yet to share its global availability details. It comes with triple rear cameras.

Indonesia Says $9.8 Billion EV Battery MOU Agreed With LG Energy Solution

Indonesia and a unit of South Korean firm LG Group have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on a $9.8 billion electric vehicle (EV) battery investment deal, the head of Indonesia's Investment Coordinating Board said on Wednesday.

Caviar's Outrageous PlayStation 5 Golden Rock Edition Is Made With 20Kg 18-Carat Gold, Crocodile Leather

PlayStation 5 Golden Rock Edition's DualSense controller will also be covered in expensive crocodile leather, which the company says will enhance the "real tactile pleasure of the owners."

Apple Loses Copyright Claims In Lawsuit Against U.S. Security Bug Startup

A federal judge in Florida on Tuesday dismissed Apple Inc's copyright infringement claims against a Florida startup whose software helps security researchers find vulnerabilities in Apple products including the iPhone.

Apple Loses Copyright Lawsuit Against Security Bug Startup That Replicated iOS to Find Flaws

Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Xiaomi Launches Mi Router AX6000 With Up To 4,804Mbps Speed: Price, Specifications & More

The Mi Router AX6000 comes with six external high-gain antennas and Wi-Fi 6 support, along with an external AIoT antenna. The Mi AX6000 router has been priced at CNY 599 (roughly Rs 6,800) in China.

You Asked: How Can I Buy A New FASTag And Where Can I Recharge It? Here Are All Your Options

At this time, FASTags are being issued by multiple banks, including HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, Paytm Payments Bank and IDFC First Bank, to name a few. Mobile wallet apps such as Paytm and PhonePe that let you recharge pretty much any issuing bank’s FASTag.

Flipkart Mobile's Year End Sale: Best Deals on iPhone XR, iPhone SE (2020), Realme 7, Mi 10T & More

The Flipkart Mobile's Year End sale kicked off on Tuesday, December 29 and will go on till Thursday, December 31.

Exclusive: Hedge Fund Third Point Urges Intel To Explore Deal Options

Activist hedge fund Third Point LLC is pushing Intel Corp to explore strategic alternatives, including whether it should keep chip design and production under one roof, according to a letter it sent to the company's chairman on Tuesday that was reviewed by Reuters.

WandaVision, The White Tiger, and More: January 2021 Guide to Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar

Tandav, The White Tiger, Riverdale season 5, Cobra Kai season 3, WandaVision, Dickinson season 2, Pieces of a Woman, Batwoman season 2, One Night in Miami, American Gods season 3, Outside the Wire — the biggest movies and TV series on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, Apple TV+, and Colors Infinity in January 2021.

The 42 Most Anticipated Movies of 2021

The biggest Bollywood and Hollywood movies in 2021: Marvel (Spider-Man 3, Black Widow, Eternals, Shang-Chi), Fast & Furious 9, Tom & Jerry, Mission: Impossible 7, No Time to Die, The Matrix 4, The Suicide Squad, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Dune, Uncharted, Godzilla vs. Kong, and Minions: The Rise of Gru.