Amazon offers flat Rs 9,000 off on iPhone 8; Best time to upgrade?

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December 31, 2017

Apple has been in a lot of controversies these days due to them publicly admitting the fact that they slow down old iPhones in order to increase their battery span. At least that's what Apple says it to be the motive behind their decision. People and lawsuits claiming it was to make people upgrade to newer iPhones. If you were looking to upgrade to an iPhone 8, it might be the best time to do it now. Amazon India is currently offering a discount of flat Rs 9,000 to anyone looking to buy the latest from the Apple's line of products, the iPhone 8.

Amazon.in has currently listed the iPhone 8 64GB (Space Grey variant) for only Rs 54,990. That's a Rs 9,000 off from it's original MRP of Rs 64,000. If you planning to buy the bigger 256GB variant, it will cost you Rs 69,432. That's down from it's original MRP os Rs 77,000. This makes the 64GB variant of the best deals to upgrade to a newer iPhone.

Apple iPhone 8 specifications

In terms of specifications, the iPhone 8 has the same processor, RAM and most of the internals as the bigger Plus model or even the almost twice as expensive iPhone X. The only differences are a smaller less fancy screen and FaceID compared to the twice as much coasting iPhone X. You also get a fingerprint sensor which is absent on the iPhone X. While compared to the iPhone 8 Plus, you will a single camera setup at the rear instead of the of the dual camera setup of the Plus model.

Apple iPhone 8 sports a 4.7-inch full-HD Retina Display. It comes with iOS 11 out of the box and is powered by the latest A11 Bionic chip with a 64-bit architecture and a dedicated "Neural Engine" coupled with M11 motion coprocessor. The A11 processor on the GeekBench proves that the processor is almost twice as powerful as the Snapdragon 835.

For the optics, the iPhone 8 sports a 12MP primary rear camera with optical image stabilisation (OIS), Digital zoom up to 5x, and Quad-LED True Tone flash. The same rear camera is powerful enough to record 4K video at 30 fps or 60 fps and slow-motion video recording in 1080p at 120 fps. The only downside is that the iPhone 8 camera doesn't have a portrait mode. It is reserved for the bigger Plus and the iPhone X. For the selfie lovers, there's a 7MP FaceTime HD camera with Retina Flash for video calls and selfies.

The iPhone 8 is powered by a 1960mAH battery. The battery backup is the best any iPhone ever had till this date. The iPhone 8 also supports wireless charging and comes with IP 67 water and dust resistance.

Xiaomi Mi A1 starts receiving Android 8.0 Oreo update: Here's how to get it

By

Devesh Arora

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December 31, 2017

Google released the much-awaited Android Oreo update a few months ago. Since then companies have been working hard in rolling out a stable version of the operating system for their smartphones. As smartphones with custom skins will take some time to receive the update, stock Android smartphones including the Xiaomi Mi A1 are faster in getting the update. After a couple of beta versions, Xiaomi is now finally rolling out a stable version of the much-awaited Android Oreo OTA update.

The Android Oreo update on the Xiaomi Mi A1 brings all the features provided by Google along with the latest security patch. The features provided by Google include Picture-in-Picture mode, Autofill, Smart text selection, Notification Dots and much more. Apart from the new features, Xiaomi Mi A1 also gets support for fast charging.

The smartphone also gets Android Oreo's Rescue Party feature which helps the device recover from constant boot loops. Keeping the features aside, with the new Android Oreo update, the Xiaomi Mi A1 gets faster boot times and a better battery life when compared to Android Nougat. Xiaomi has started rolling out the software update and users will be getting the Oreo update anytime soon.

Also Read: Xiaomi to introduce Gesture Controls similar to the Apple iPhone X to its smartphones

To recall, the Xiaomi Mi A1 was the first smartphone launched by the company with Android One. The smartphone features a 5.5-inch display with a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels. is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC coupled with Adreno 506 GPU. The smartphone packs 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage which is further expandable up to 128GB using a microSD card. The Mi A1 is backed by a 3,080mAh battery and runs on stock Android Nougat which will now be updated to Android Oreo.

OnePlus 5T to get a Sandstone finish variant next month

By

Lalit Wadhwa

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December 31, 2017

OnePlus likely to revive the classic OnePlus sandstone finish of the OnePlus One and the OnePlus Two with the OnePlus 5T. The smartphone manufacturer has published a teaser video called “What’s in the Box?” on YouTube portraying people touching and feeling a mysterious device in the box. While the video nor the company told anyone about what's inside the box, we hear words like “smooth,” “textured,” “stone,” “sand,” “grippy,” and even something as clear as original OnePlus One Sandstone finish. However, the video ends with a caption saying “Unbox the mystery. January 2018.”

OnePlus ditched it's famous Sandstone finish with the OnePlus 3 and never re-introduced it back again in their smartphones. The company's latest flagship, the OnePlus 5T was launched only in one colour, namely Midnight Black. The company also added a white finish OnePlus 5T in the form of the Star Wars Edition. The video and all the shreds of evidence give away the fact that the company is working on the sandstone finish for the OnePlus 5T.

With the Star Wars edition being a limited edition device, the sandstone finish will be officially the second colour option for the device. The smartphone will be launching globally in January according to the video, by OnePlus still hasn't confirmed anything let alone the Sandstone finish variant.

Also Read: Samsung and LG claim to not slow down their smartphones with software updates like Apple

OnePlus has consistently been good at improving the user experience and the smartphone design based on user feedback and responses of its fans and its users. It won't be a surprise if they bring back the long-demanded sandstone finish.

OnePlus 5T specifications

The OnePlus 5T replaced the OnePlus 5 in November. The smartphone was an upgrade to the OnePlus 5 by featuring thinner bezels and giving a more 2017 look. It sports a 6-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display with 18:9 aspect ratio. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset and comes in two storage options: 6GB RAM variant with 64GB storage and an 8GB RAM variant with 128GB storage.

Apart from a better display the OnePlus 5T also improved the camera. It features a dual rear camera setup with a combination of 16-megapixel sensor and a 20-megapixel secondary sensor. The selfie camera is the same 16-megapixel setup found on OnePlus 5. The smartphone is powered by a 3,300mAh battery. The device can be purchased only from Amazon India at a starting price of Rs. 32,999.

Samsung and LG claim to not slow down their smartphones with software updates like Apple

By

Devesh Arora

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December 30, 2017

This month we have seen a lot of developments regarding Apple slowing down their older generation smartphones with subsequent updates. A group of Redditors found out that Apple was slowing down the processors of its previous generations iPhones. The company claims to be doing so due to degraded batteries in older smartphones might cause unexpected shutdowns.

This fiasco led people to wonder if any Android smartphone manufacturer was also practising the same. Motorola and HTC got their hands clean by confirming earlier that they don't follow this practice. In a statement given to PhoneArena, two major smartphone manufacturers, LG and Samsung have claimes that they also don't follow this practice.

Never have, never will! We care what our customers think,

LG

Product quality has been and will always be Samsung Mobile’s top priority. We ensure extended battery life of Samsung mobile devices through multi-layer safety measures, which include software algorithms that govern the battery charging current and charging duration. We do not reduce CPU performance through software updates over the lifecycles of the phone.

Sammsung

Android devices do slow down after a few years of usage for various reasons. However, it is a bit reassuring to know that it isn't just because a money hungry manufacturer is forcing the devices to do so.

Also Read: Samsung Galaxy Note 8 users complaining about battery issues, phone does not turn on

Apple has already apologized for doing so and reduced the price of battery repairs from $79 to $29. However, there is still mystery over what smartphones will qualify under this battery replacement program. This will be clarified in January when Apple will be releasing more details about it. The company will also be releasing a software update next month which will be giving the users easier access to the battery health information.

Xiaomi Yeelight Voice Assistant powered by Amazon Alexa launched

By

Devesh Arora

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December 30, 2017

Xiaomi has recently been launching various new products across various genres. It seems now the company wants to get its hands into the smart speaker market also. One of Xiaomi's subsidiaries Yeelight today has launched a new smart speaker, the Yeelight Voice Assistant. It will be powered by Xiaomi's own AI assistant in China, whereas in the global markets the device will be making use of Amazon's Alexa Voice Assistant. The Yeelight Voice Assistant looks extremely similar to the Echo Dot smart speaker from Amazon. It also features a similar LED ring on top along with all of the control buttons.

The Yeelight Voice Assistant comes with a Dual AI system which will allow the users to control their home automation products including smart LED lamps, table lamps, bedside lamps, ceiling lights, and much more. Sadly, the device currently only supports Xiaomi branded home automation products. However, the company claims that in the coming weeks support will be extended to more devices.

As for the specifications, the Xiaomi Yeelight smart speaker is powered by a quad-core Cortex-A53 processor. It comes with 256MB of RAM along with 256MB of internal storage. It features a total of six microphones, which the company claims to have a 360-degree 5-meter listening range. The company has also used the Acoustic Echo Cancellation and Beamforming technology to reduce the echo and to hear the sound much better.

Also Read: Xiaomi Mi 7 to come with Face Unlock technology similar to the Apple iPhone X, will ditch fingerprint sensor

As for connectivity options, it has a 4 GHz/5 GHz dual-band Wi-Fi connectivity along with the capability to be paired via Bluetooth.

The Xiaomi Yeelight Voice Assistant has been priced at CNY 199 (Approximately Rs. 1955). It will be made available exclusively on the Xiaomi online store starting January 31.

Motorola slashes price of Moto G5S Plus and G5S in India

By

Lalit Wadhwa

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December 30, 2017

Motorola recently launched the Moto G5S Plus and the Moto G5S in India. Not even six months have passed and the company has already decided to slash the price of the devices. The Moto G5S Plus was launched at Rs. 15,999, and will now be available at Rs. 14,999. Whereas, the Moto G5S was launched at Rs. 14,999, and will now be available at Rs. 13,999. The Lenovo owned brand announced this in a press statement on Friday. The Moto G5S Plus and the Moto G5S are available at these prices on both Amazon.in and Moto Hub stores across India.

The Moto G5S Plus was an upgrade to the Moto G5 Plus. It comes with a dual camera setup consisting of two 13-megapixel sensors. The Moto G5S sports a simple 16-megapixel camera from the Moto G5. It also bears the same metal unibody design, a water-repellent nano-coating making splash-proof, and ships with a Moto TurboPower charger for fast charging. Both the devices currently run on Google's Android 7.1.1 Nougat operating system. The company has promised to release an update for Android 8.0 Oreo soon.

Also Read: Idea is now offering 1.5GB data per day with unlimited calls for Rs. 309

Moto G5S and G5S Plus Specifications

The Moto G5S Plus is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC, coupled with 4GB of RAM. The Moto G5S is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 SoC coupled with the same 4G of RAM. The optics on the Moto G45s Plus are two 13-megapixel sensors with a f/2.0 aperture, depth editing software, and colour correcting dual-LED flash. The smaller Moto G5S has a 16-megapixel sensor with a f/2.0 aperture, depth editing software, and colour correcting dual-LED flash. For the selfies, the Moto G5S Plus bears an 8-megapixel sensor with a f/2.0 aperture, wide-angle lens, and an LED flash. The smaller Moto G5S sports the smaller 5-megapixel sensor with a f/2.0 aperture, wide-angle lens, and an LED flash.

Both the smartphones are backed by a 3,000mAh non-removable battery. Additionally, these are bundled with a TurboPower charger in the box.

Apple apologises for slowing down iPhones, Will offer discounted replacement batteries

By

Lalit Wadhwa

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December 29, 2017

Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook apologises for not being clear that the company slows iPhones only with the ageing battery and not the ones with the newer batteries. He also promised that in the future updates, Apple will "give users more visibility into the health of their iPhone's battery" and let them also know that how this battery health will affect the performance of their device.

To compensate this hiding of facts Apple is offering a discount on battery replacements. Anyone with an iPhone 6 or later, can buy a replacement battery for just $29 instead of $79 earlier starting late next month. The cheaper price is in line with the third party repair shops, giving a relief to an extent to their customers.

While Tim Cook's message was in an apologetic tone, he still refuses the fact that Apple slows down old iPhone to push users to buy the new one. "First and foremost, we have never - and would never - do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades," he said.

Also Read: Here’s a few Tips and Tricks that will help speed up your iPhone

The company states the purpose of this slowing down of iPhones is to protect the decaying batteries. This slow down in performance will increase the battery life of the smartphone. If they don't do such an act, the batteries will run a high risk of total shutdown.

Whats the effect of this on Apple?

This disclosure has called in for a number of class action lawsuits. A French consumer rights group filed a suit against Apple on Dec. 27 that accuses Apple of degrading its old phones in order to sell new ones. In France, it's illegal to degrade old products to promote the sale of new ones, meaning that the suit filed in France by the group Halte à l'Obsolescence Programme is the only lawsuit that carries the possibility of up to two years in prison.

Apple iPhone 5 — Apple slowing older iPhones without telling users forcing them to upgrade to new ones, dumping their perfectly working iPhones.

Apple faces more than eight different lawsuits from iPhone owners in places including California, New York, New Jersey and even Israel that claims that the Apple should have previously disclosed the fact, that it slows down the iPhones. South Korean officials said they will look into the matter and might even ban the sales of the iPhone as well we charge them a huge fine in the country.

The argument and lawsuits are based on basically two claims. One, that Apple hurt the performance of the phones in secret and two, that doing so made it more likely that someone would buy a new iPhone rather than fix their old one.

Also Read: Here’s how to get Apple iPhone SE with Rs. 8,000 discount in India

Further issues for Apple

One of the lawsuits filed in the state of Eastern District of New York is that of a fraud stating "Had Plaintiffs been informed by Apple that a simple battery replacement would have improved the performance of their iPhones, Plaintiffs would have chosen to replace their batteries which were clearly a more cost-effective method rather than upgrading to a new iPhone that was extremely costly."

The lawsuits end Apples one of the rockiest years, with a lot of financial success and a lot of controversies including a bug that prevented iPhone owners from typing "i" and several software issues. It has also faced criticism over a lukewarm reception for its iPhone X and due to unseen reasons have to delay the release of its smart speaker, the HomePod, to 2018.

Idea is now offering 1.5GB data per day with unlimited calls for Rs. 309

By

Devesh Arora

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December 29, 2017

Idea Cellular to take on Reliance Jio has reworked its Rs. 309 plan, under which it now offers 50 percent more data, than it initially did. Now, it offers 1.5GB of 4G data daily instead of 1GB, taking the total bundled data for the time period from 28GB to 42GB. All the other offerings of the plan remain the same as before. The introduction of this new plan comes only a few days after Reliance Jio launching the Rs. 199 plan under which the users are being offered 1.2GB of daily data along with all the other freebies Jio has to offer for a time period of 28 days.

The Idea Cellular pre-paid customers who decide to now sign up for the plan will be getting unlimited calls with a daily FUP of 250 minutes per day and 1,000 minutes per week. And if they are to exceed the FUP they will be charged one paisa per second for making calls.The free SMS count remains 100 per day, after which they will have to pay Re. 1 per SMS. Additionally, customers will also get free outgoing calls during roaming.

As of now, Reliance Jio is also offering a Rs. 309 plan for its pre-paid users, under which it is offering 1GB of 4G data daily along with unlimited calls and free access to all of the Reliance Jio apps. This plan comes with a validity of 49 days and also offers free incoming and outgoing calls during roaming.

Also Read: Idea just like Reliance Jio to launch a 4G feature phone

Interestingly, Idea isn't the first telecom operator to have updated its plan due to Reliance Jio. Other telecom operators like Airtel and Vodafone have also reduced their tariff plans radically due to this.

Xiaomi Mi 7 to come with Face Unlock technology similar to the Apple iPhone X, will ditch fingerprint sensor

By

Devesh Arora

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December 29, 2017

Xiaomi, the Chinese tech giant, has been reportedly working on the Xiaomi Mi 7 which is expected to launch in early 2018. As the smartphone industry is moving towards smaller bezels up front and 18:9 aspect ratios it is now difficult to put a fingerprint scanner up front. Some companies tackled the problem by moving the fingerprint scanner at the back while others implemented features like Face Unlock and Iris scanner. Xiaomi, with the Mi 7 is expected to get the Face Unlock feature instead of the fingerprint scanner.

OnePlus also introduced the Face Unlock feature on the 5T but still kept the fingerprint scanner for higher security. Xiaomi, on the other hand, will be the next company after Apple to ditch the fingerprint sensor in favour of Face Unlock. However, there have been contradicting reports that suggest Xiaomi will be one of the first brands to introduce under-display fingerprint scanner with their flagship Mi 7.

Also Read: Xiaomi now lets you track phone repair status online: Here’s how it works

In terms of specifications, speculations are that the Xiaomi Mi 7 will feature a 6-inch OLED display with minimal bezels and 18:9 aspect ratio. The smartphone is rumoured to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845. The Mi 7 is expected to carry 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage on its base variant. The smartphone will run on MIUI 9 based on Android Oreo out of the box.

If the rumours are to be believed, it will be interesting to see how well does the Face Unlock on Xiaomi Mi 7 performs. It will also be interesting to see how will the Mi 7's Face Unlock stack up against iPhone X's FaceID or OnePlus 5T's Face Unlock.

Xiaomi to introduce Gesture Controls similar to the Apple iPhone X to its smartphones

By

Brahmjot Singh

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December 29, 2017

Xiaomi started the trend of the bezel-less displays with the Mi Mix and Apple implemented it very well by providing swipe gestures on the iPhone X. Apple replaced the home button on the iPhone X by providing swipe gestures which were a bit complicated at first but swirls around the UI once the user learns them.

Xiaomi is now planning to bring those gestures to their smartphones that come with a full-screen display like the Mi Mix and Mi Mix 2. These gestures will also come to the recently launched Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus as they come with a nearly bezel-less display.

MIUI team member PatrickXi confirmed on a post in MIUI Forum that the above-mentioned devices will get full display gestures. The gestures will be included in the MIUI 9 7.12.28 ROM for these devices. Just like the iPhone X, MIUI users can now swipe up from the bottom to get to the home screen. Swiping from the bottom and them holding for a second will lead to the Recents tab. As on the iPhone X, users can also switch between apps by swiping left or right from the screen to the middle.

Also Read: Xiaomi starts rolling out MIUI 9: Here’s if and when your Xiaomi device will receive it

Apart from the new gestures, the new update will bring some fixes to bugs like Top Sites tab getting restored automatically in the native Mi browser and app vault force closing issues. The new software update will also fix issues with the dual app feature.

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Apple iPhone 8 specifications

OnePlus 5T specifications

Moto G5S and G5S Plus Specifications

Whats the effect of this on Apple?

Further issues for Apple