ACT Gaming Booster packs will enhance the gaming experience.
Today, at the launch of the World of Warships, ACT Fibernet announced new something called as the "ACT Gaming Booster" in India. The company is currently servicing in over 19 cities and has gigabit connections available in Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. With these new gaming booster packs, the company is aiming to bring a better gaming experience to the gamers.
ACT Fibernet is currently offering two gaming booster packs, namely, Basic and Ultra. While the basic plan costs just Rs. 500, the Ultra pack will set you back Rs. 2,000. Also, these prices are exclusive of GST. The booster packs can be added on top of any sort of plan and the amount will be added in the monthly bill.
As the name suggests, the "ACT Gaming Booster" packs boost the gaming performance. This happens in two ways, one being Speed Boost and the other is Data Boost. The Speed Boost brings 300mbps download speeds for 3 hours or 5 hours per activation on Basic and Ultra packs respectively. With the help of the speed gain, the users can instantly download games or their updates. Basic users can use the Speed boost 5 times a month whereas the Ultra users can use it 10 times a month.
The Ultra pack feels like a wiser choice to consider.
Data Boost brings 200GB and 1800GB additional data for Basic and Ultra packs respectively. Also, while the basic plan comes with a validity of just one month, the Ultra plan offers six months validity making it a wiser choice.
Since the company has partnered up with World of Warships, they have also included free bundles for WoW gamers. The Basic pack subscribers will get in-game benefits worth Rs 1,000 per month, a free premium account, 250 doubloons, 50 camouflages, 30,00,000 credits and much more.
As for the Ultra pack users, the company is providing a free premium account on World of Warships along with 750 doubloons, 100 camouflages, 45,00,000 credits and more.
With the ACT Gaming Booster packs, the users will also get one-time discounts of up to Rs. 1,500 on Zotac GTX and RTX GPUs, WD SSDs and more.
Disclaimer: The author is currently in New Delhi on the invite of Wargaming India.
Wargaming, the popular game developer and publisher has just launched the popular online combat game, World of Warships, in India. While the game itself is quite interesting, it also includes some of the historical events by adding the most iconic war vessels. The biggest advantage here is that the game is absolutely free to play.
World of Warships is basically a multiplayer online game, which features large scale naval battles for Player-vs-Player (PvP), cooperative or competitive modes. The game was launched back in 2015 and since then it has added over 30 million registered players around the globe.
The main focus of the game is towards history, military and engineering enthusiasts, who can not only enjoy the game but also have an amazing experience. Since the game has now arrived in India, the company has added some India-specific content, which includes national ship camouflages, India-themed skin, Hindi dubbed content and much more.
WoW is inspired by a lot of historical events.
In order to attract more players on board, the company has partnered up with ACT Fibernet, Zotac, ANT Esports and LG. ACT Fibernet will offer optimised connection to the EU servers so that the users will experience low latency. Apart from that, ACT users will get ACT Camo skin, up to Rs. 2,000 worth monthly in-game benefits and more.
Interested users can head over to worldofwarships.in and download the game for free. The game is currently available for Windows, Mac, PS4 as well as Xbox. Since the game is free-to-play, users will, however, need to pay to grab additional content faster. Considering India is a price-sensitive market, Wargaming will customise the in-game pricing for the Indian market.
Disclaimer: The author is currently in New Delhi on the invite of Wargaming India.
The 360-degree hinge and touchscreen completely changes the way you could use a laptop
The use case of laptops has changed a lot over the years. From a portable workstation to a media consumption device to a multipurpose system, modern laptops can be used for everything. 2-in-1 laptops with a 360-degree hinge and a touchscreen are getting famous due to that. Lenovo was one of the first to introduce the trend with the Yoga series of laptops.
One such laptop in the Lenovo lineup is the Lenovo Yoga 730. However, is it any better than a traditional laptop?
Lenovo Yoga 730 Review: Specifications
The ability to tilt the screen too far forward to hide the laptop is great for media consumption
Lenovo Yoga 730 is available in a variety of configurations. The variant we had for review purposes came with an 8th Generation Intel Core i7 8550U processor coupled with 8GB of RAM. It comes with a 13.3-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels anti-glare panel. The device also packs in 500GB SSD.
Lenovo Yoga 730 Review: Design
The Lenovo Yoga 730 looks sleek and portable with the Macbook Air like look to it from a distance. Once you get close, the laptop is nothing like the Macbook Air, with a slightly thicker body, better hinge design and a lot of weight.
Chamfered edges on the bottom part would be appreciated
The outer shell is made out of aluminium with a brushed matte feel to it. There are subtle Yoga logo on the back towards the corner and an even smaller Lenovo logo below the display on the side. The edges are not chambered which is something we would have liked.
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The 13.3-inch display has small bezels except for the massive bottom chin. Which we presume was required for some important reason. Unlike a lot of fo touch screen laptops, the touch panel is made out of glass instead of plastic. The matte aluminium feel to the body looks and feels really good and keeps the fingerprints away.
The wents on the back are quite effective considering all the things
The design of the Lenovo Yoga 730 is very sleek. The non-chambered edges are felt while moving with the laptop in hand or typing. Also, the laptop is a heavy side, although the weight is evenly balanced. Overall, the design is something that you can keep under the radar while not making it look ugly.
Lenovo Yoga 730 Review: Display
The 13-inch display could be bigger but it would interfere with using the laptop as a tablet.
Lenovo Yoga 730 sports a 13.3-inch IPS LCD panel with a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels. The panel is big enough for day to day work but a bigger display would be better for gaming and working. Also, the display is anti-glare so it helps when working in direct sunlight outside which the laptop which due to its dimensions and features is a great option. Media consumption such as movies is such a great experience cause you can tilt the screen in any direction use it in tent mode or a tablet mode to be at the most comfortable position you want it to be. The colour accuracy is good and the anti-glare matt display helps with the light a lot.
Lenovo Yoga 730 Review: Performance
The laptop is powered by the 8th Generation Intel Core i7 8550U processor coupled with 8GB of RAM. which is quite enough for most use case scenarios and also has room for upgradeability with an expendable open slot. There is a 512GB PCIe SSD which can be upgraded. There is no HDD but that is for the good.
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Due to it not sporting dedicated graphic cards, gaming was something that wasn't expected out of this laptop. Working on my daily basis, with around 101-5 chrome tabs open and a couple of tabs open on opera, with music in the background and typing and browsing the web, the laptop ran without any hiccup.
Lenovo Yoga 730 Review: Keyboard, Trackpad, and IO
The laptop comes with a backlit chiclet-style keyboard. It is quite comfortable for both, gaming and long typing sessions. However, the non-chamfered edges will make you feel uncomfortable depending on the size of your hand and your typing style. The keyboard spacing is good enough, something I was comfortable with. The trackpad uses Windows precession drivers, which means Windows 10 gestures work well.
The IO situation of the Yoga 730 is disappointing
The trackpad is smooth, not but has a finish that helps you use it precisely. The white backlight gets bright enough for usage in low light situations.
The IO on the Asus Yoga 730 is disappointing. The right side contains only a USB A port with a power button and the left side contains 2 USB Type-C ports with a 3.5 mm jack. The charging is done by one of the two Type-C ports. The lack of ports is felt when working on a daily basis.
Lenovo Yoga 730 Review: Battery
The battery life of the laptop is great for its size
Battery life is the most important thing in any portable gadget. Especially with the thin and light portable laptops. You don't wanna run out of battery when you are working on the go. The company promises a battery life of around 11 hours which is a bit too much, or I thought so. With the brightness at around 80% and laptop at balanced performance, we were able to get an average of 7 hours easily without any issue. So running the laptop at a lower brightness and power saver mode, one could easily achieve that 11-hour mark which is impressive. Looks like the laptop was a tad heavy to accommodate this impressive battery.
Lenovo Yoga 730 Review: Active Pen 2
Lenovo bundles in the Lenovo Active Pen 2 with this laptop which immensely helps to enable the laptop as a sketch pad. It can be paired to your laptop or used standalone. It requires batteries to be paired o your laptop which is a lot annoying. Also, there is a flimsy holder for the active pen 2 which goes into and blocks your only USB-Type A port which is a lot annoying.
The Lenovo Active Pen 2 has a long way to go.
Ignoring the part, that carrying it is a pain, the Active Pen 2 performs kinds of disappointing. The pressure sensitivity is not that great and the lag is tremendous while doing something like drawing. S-Pen with the Note Series performs way better. What's more annoying is that you need to keep changing out the batteries if you want the full functionality.
Lenovo Yoga 730 Review: Verdict
Lenovo Yoga 730 is the laptop you can carry anywhere, sit on an aeroplane, train, office, home to work or watch a movie. With the 360-degree hinge and a touchscreen, the laptop offers versatility like nothing else. However, with a starting price of around Rs 1,00,000, things start to get a little complicated.
The biggest drawback of the Yoga 730 is that Windows 10 is nowhere as good as the Mac OS
Its biggest direct competitor is the new 2019 Macbook Air, which is around the same cost and offers the same use case. With its 360 degrees hinge and a touchscreen, it offers more versatility than the Macbook, However, it is heavier than the Macbook but not by anything much, that you won't actually care. The biggest drawback of the Yoga 730 is its operating system. The Windows platform is just not able to provide as much smoothness and performance as the Mac OS X platform.
Apart from that, the Lenovo Yoga 730 is really a great laptop. It offers great versatility and portability for a price and performance which we can't argue about.
OnePlus 7T and OnePlus TV are launching on September 26.
OnePlus is gearing up to launch the next generation of smartphones alongside its much-awaited OnePlus TV. The company unveiled the OnePlus 7 series back in May 2019 and they are now ready with the 7T series. While some people might think its too early, the company is leaving teasers to keep fans excited.
OnePlus has already rolled out the media invites for the upcoming event which is scheduled to take place on September 26. The event will kick off at 7 PM IST in New Delhi, India. The OnePlus 7T will also be revealed in North America on September 26 at 10:30 AM EDT. Later there will be another launch event in Europe on October 10, which will kick off at 4 PM BST.
Just like every launch event, the company will allow the fans also to experience the launch event. Tickets for the launch event will be available on the oneplus.in starting September 20, at 10 AM IST.
OnePlus 7T to come with a 90Hz high refresh rate display.
Apart from all this, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer has also released a trailer for the upcoming OnePlus 7T series. The teaser is available on the company's official YouTube channel. They are also releasing multiple teasers on social media platforms including Instagram and Twitter.
As far as the specifications are concerned, the leaks and rumours suggest that this time around both the OnePlus 7T and the Pro variant will get a 90Hz display. Also, both smartphones will come with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus processor. This time around, both the handsets are expected to get a triple camera setup at the back.
Motorola India has launched a new TV and smartphone in India today. With the launch of the all-new Motorola E6s, the company is targetting the budget segment now. While the phone does come with a waterdrop notch and a few other attractive features, there are phones in the same segment that offer a lot more.
Redmi 7
Redmi 7 offers the most value for money.
Redmi smartphones have been the champions when it comes to the budget segment due to their aggressive pricing strategy. The Redmi 7, at Rs. 7,499, brings an HD+ display with a waterdrop style notch. Under the hood, there is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 chip running the show with the help of up to 3GB of RAM.
Realme 3i
Realme 3i comes with a Diamond style back.
After Xiaomi, if a company is able to cope up in the budget segment, it has to be Realme. The Realme 3i is powered by the MediaTek Helio P60 processor coupled with up to 4GB of RAM. It comes with a dual-camera setup at the back and a waterdrop style notch upfront. All of this comes in at a starting price of just Rs. 7,999.
HMD Global also has a few smartphones in the budget segment. The Nokia 3.2 is currently priced at Rs. 7,999. For that price, it brings a 6.26-inch IPS LCD display with HD+ resolution. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 429 processor. It is one of the few phones under Rs. 10,000 that come with Android One software.
Soon after Google released the stable version of Android 10 for its Pixel devices, OnePlus also released the open beta versions for its latest flagship smartphones. Now, OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro users can try out the latest version of Android. While the update brings all the features introduced by Google, OnePlus tops it up with its own set of features making the experience even better.
Customisation options
OnePlus finally brings options for themes.
OnePlus has already been known for offering light customisation options over stock Android. The company has taken it a step further by adding a whole new customisations tab in the phone's settings. It brings three new preset themes namely, Vibrant tints, Illuminating light and Nuanced dark. The users can now also customise the shape of the icons in the quick settings menu.
Gesture Navigation
While Google introduced gesture-based navigation only in Android 10, OnePlus brought it in Android Pie itself. However, with the new update, the company has also added the Android 10 gestures. So, now the users can choose between OnePlus gesture navigation, Android 10 navigation and the three-button layout. However, Android Pie's pill option is now gone.
Game Space
Game Space organizes all the games at one place.
Game Space is a feature, which has been popular on many smartphones including Oppo and Vivo. OnePlus has finally brought it in the Android 10 update. As the name suggests, the Game Space gathers all the games into one area. Also, it gives options like Fnatic Mode, Graphics Optimisation and more.
Since OnePlus smartphones come with an AMOLED display, the company has given the option for Ambient Display. Now, with the new update, there is a new Smart Display option which enhances the use of the Ambient Display. This shows information based on a specific time, location or event. However, many people might be disappointed by not seeing an Always-on option here.
Block spam messages
The stock messaging application on OnePlus smartphones allows users to block spam messages. However, with the new update, the users can block messages that include a particular word in it.
OnePlus 7 users can start experiencing Android 10 right away.
Google recently rolled out the public version of the Android 10 update for the Google Pixel devices. Apart from the Pixel devices, only the Essential Phone has received a stable update. While most other OEMs will take their own sweet time to roll out the update, OnePlus has already rolled out the Open Beta version for its latest OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro smartphones. Here's how you can download and install it right now.
Before we begin with the processes, we would recommend you to take a complete backup of your smartphone. Make sure that your phone has at least 3GB of free space available for the update to install. Also, since this is a beta version, there might be app compatibility issues and minor bugs here and there. Once we have that out of the way, we can begin with the easy process of upgrading.
How to install Android 10 on OnePlus 7/7 Pro
First, download the .zip file for your OnePlus 7 or OnePlus 7 Pro from the following links OnePlus 7 OnePlus 7 Pro
Once the file is download, copy it to the root of your phone's internal storage.
Now, on your OnePlus smartphone, head over to Settings > System > System Updates and click on the gear icon on the top right corner.
Here, tap on Local Upgrade and then click on the file that you recently copied.
Hit Install Now to begin the update process.
Once the update is installed, you will receive a notification requesting for a reboot.
Once you reboot your phone, you will be welcomed by Android 10.
In case you are not satisfied with the update or just want the beloved Android Pie back, you can simply download the Android Pie zip file for OnePlus 7 or OnePlus 7 Pro. Once downloaded, just follow the above procedure to roll back. However, in this case, you will lose all your data so make sure you take a complete backup of your phone.
Apple iPhone XR is now available for just Rs. 49,900.
Apple has recently launched the iPhone 11 series and as always they are quite costly at the time of launch. Also, since the new iPhones have arrived, the company has decided to drop the prices of the older flagship models. So, here are the new prices for all the old iPhones available in India right now.
The most popular iPhone of 2018 has to be the iPhone XR. The device recorded sales numbers higher than the iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max. While the phone was launched at Rs. 76,900, it is now available for a starting price of just Rs. 49,900. This means that the device has seen a price drop of Rs. 27,000 since launch. The 128GB variant is now available for Rs. 54,900.
Apple iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus 64GB variants will be available for a price of Rs. 39,900 and Rs. 49,900 respectively. These devices were priced at Rs. 64,900 and Rs. 73,900 respectively at the time of launch.
The cheapest iPhone available will be the Apple iPhone 7. The 32GB variant of the same will be available for a price of Rs. 29,900 whereas the 128GB variant will come in at Rs. 34,900. The bigger iPhone 7 Plus 32GB and 128GB will be available with a price tag of Rs. 37,900 and 42,900 respectively.
Apple has also dropped the price of the Apple Watch Series 3. The smartwatch is now available for a price of just Rs. 20,900.
Notably, the Apple iPhone 11 series is still cheaper in the US and the UAE. The iPhone 11, which is priced at Rs. 64,900 is available in the US for just USD 699 (roughly Rs. 49,700). In Dubai, the smartphone is being sold for a starting price of AED 2,949 (roughly Rs. 57,000).
Apple announced the latest software updates for its devices a few months ago at the WWDC 2019 conference. The iOS 13 update has been long-awaited and it has been in beta for a while now. The company is now gearing up to officially roll out the update to the supported iPhones. But before they do so, there are a couple of things you should keep in mind before updating.
What devices are supported?
All the Apple iPhone devices that were launched in 2015 or later. This list includes the iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, 7 Plus, iPhone 8, 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max. Notably, the all-new iPhone 11 series will ship with iOS 13 out of the box.
Backup your stuff
Since the update is arriving in a few days, you should consider taking a complete backup of your iPhone. One can do this by heading over to Settings > iCloud > Backup. Here you can simply hit the backup option and everything will be backed up to your iCloud drive. To be on a safe side, it is recommended to stay connected to a reliable Wi-Fi connection and put the phone on charge while it is backing up.
In case your iCloud is full or you are unable to find a reliable connection, we would recommend taking a manual backup on your Mac or PC.
Major iOS updates usually weigh more than 1.5GB. So, it is highly recommended to make some space on your iPhone for the upcoming update. There should be at least 5GB of free space on your iPhone to install the update without any hiccups. In order to make the space available, you can remove some of the most unused applications from your smartphone. Also, you can delete some videos and photos after taking a backup of them on the iCloud or Google Photos.
Apple has recently launched three new iPhones at their September 10 Apple event. While the smartphones were much anticipated, they are more or less an incremental upgrade over the last generation iPhones. The all-new iPhone 11 starts at Rs. 64,900 whereas the Pro versions start at Rs. 99,900. But the question here is that which iPhone you should be buying in 2019.
In my opinion, none of the latest iPhones is worth buying right now. With the launch of the new generation of Apple smartphones, the older flagship models will get a significant price drop. Since the Apple iPhone XR is currently priced at Rs. 59,900, it is expected to go below Rs. 50,000 in the next couple of weeks.
Apple iPhone XR was one of the best selling smartphones in 2018 and it got even more popular than the iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max. Sure the iPhone XR has its fair share of drawbacks when you compare it to the iPhone XS or even the iPhone 11. However, the number of features lost here are worth saving Rs. 50,000 on an iPhone XS or even Rs. 15,000 on the new iPhone 11.
When we compare the iPhone XR to the iPhone X, iPhone XS or the iPhone 11 Pro, the major drawback here is the screen. While the other three smartphones get an OLED panel with FullHD resolution, the cheaper iPhone XR gets away with a 6.1-inch LCD display with a resolution that is lower than 720p. However, it is worth noting that the difference is not going to be visible to the naked eyes.
The huge notch makes the phone feel a bit outdated when compared to some Android flagships.
Apart from that, the new iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro models get dual or triple camera setup respectively. Yes, that is a significant bump over the single 12-megapixel camera on the iPhone XR. However, it does not mean that the camera on the iPhone XR is bad by any means.
As far as the performance is concerned, the iPhone XR is just one year old. The Apple A12 Bionic chipset on the XR is still faster than most of the 2019 Android chipsets. Also, since the phone is only a year old, it is expected to get updates for at least three more years.
You can even find a great deal on the iPhone 8 or the iPhone 7 series, but I would personally recommend to shell out some extra cash and get the iPhone XR as it brings a more modern design and a larger display.
In conclusion, the Apple iPhone XR is the best Apple smartphone you can buy without shelling out a lot of money. While it might not feel value for money when you compare it to something like a OnePlus 7 Pro, but it will surely feel like a great value when you compare it to the iPhone 11 Pro.
