OnePlus has finally announced the launch date of its upcoming series of smartphones. The Chinese smartphone manufacturer is expected to launch two new smartphones this time around, the OnePlus 7 and a OnePlus 7 Pro. According to a teaser released by the company, the event is scheduled for May 14, 2019.
At the end of the video, OnePlus cleverly mentions "OnePlus 7 Series" instead of just "OnePlus 7", which clearly indicates that there will be more than one device this time around. According to the recent leaks and rumours, the OnePlus 7 will be more like the OnePlus 6T with upgraded internals. The OnePlus 7 Pro, on the other hand, will come with a curved display and a pop-up selfie camera.
Amazon India has even created a dedicated webpage for upcoming smartphones. Interested buyers can click on the 'Notify Me' icon on the webpage to be one of the firsts to know about the sale of the phone. If the phone is launching on May 14, it is most expected to go on sale starting May 15 midnight or soon after.
Both the new smartphones are expected to come with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor coupled. The devices will also feature the company's recently introduced Warp Charge technology. While the OnePlus 7 will come with a flat-screen display with a waterdrop style notch, the Pro variant is expected to come with a curved display with 90Hz refresh rate and a pop-up selfie camera.
PUBG Mobile has just introduced Easter eggs to celebrate the holiday.
While the festival of Easter just passed, PUBG Mobile took the opportunity to bring a few Easter inspired challenges for the player. The update brings something known as an Easter egg hunt, which allows users to look for Easter eggs around the maps. With each egg collected, the user will get something special.
According to Tencent Games, there are two types of Easter eggs in PUBG Mobile. that can be collected by the players. While the first one is a single egg, the other ones are quite a lot in number and can be found inside the game at multiple locations. The single egg can be opened to bring some special in-game apparel.
In order to get your first egg, you will need to open the spring draw tab. Once you open the tab, you will need to search for the egg behind the plants, which you can move by tapping on the screen. The egg will be hiding behind one of those plants. After collecting the egg, you can open it to get special in-game apparel.
As for the in-game easter eggs, you can simply get them by playing matches. These eggs will get you a free crate in the events tab when you are able to collect five of them. The player can also redeem them to get battle points and a few other random prizes.
Vivo V11 Pro Android 9.0 Pie update is currently being rolled out in phases as a test run.
Vivo has started rolling out Android 9.0 Pie operating system update for its Vivo V11 Pro smartphone in India. The update is rolling out in batches, which is being done to test out the update before a widespread rollout.
Currently, most of the Vivo V11 Pro units are running Google's Android 8.1 Oreo operating system. We checked on our unit and the update is yet to show up. Our unit showed that the device is currently running Funtouch OS 4.5 based on Android 8.1 Oreo.
A Twitter user posted the screenshot of the update, which you can look at below.
According to the screenshot, the update is 3.11GB in size. It states that the device will be upgraded to Android 9.0 Pie and will get a new UI (user interface) look along with an upgraded shortcut centre.
In a follow-up tweet, he also stated that the new update also brings a system-wide dark mode, which is a good addition to see with this update.
Vivo V11 Pro: Specifications
Vivo V11 Pro sports a 6.41-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080x2340 pixels. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset. The dual-SIM handset packs in 6GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage which is further expandable using a microSD card.
It runs on Android 8.1 Oreo-based FunTouchOS 4.5 out of the box. Under the hood, there is a 3,400mAh battery running the show with support for Dual-Engine fast charging.
On the optics front, the V11 Pro features a dual-camera setup at the back consisting of a 12-megapixel primary and a 5-megapixel secondary sensor. Up front, there is a 25-megapixel selfie shooter.
Netgear is one of the best companies when it comes to the computer networking sector. They produce some of the best routers, modems and other networking peripherals globally. While some basic routers would be sufficient for most people, there are still people who require their routers to do a lot more, which is where Netgear's Nighthawk series of routers come in. Here's our full review of the latest Netgear Nighthawk Pro XR500 gaming router.
Netgear Nighthawk XR500 Review: Design
Netgear Nighthawk XR500 router is aimed towards gamers, which is why it looks quite aggressive. The whole chassis is bigger than most other routers and almost triple the size of my regular Xiaomi router. However, with a great bulk comes tons of exciting features. The router has a proper CPU, RAM and Flash storage inside of it, which requires it to be this huge. Also, to keep the components cool, there are vents on the front as well as the back of the router.
The USB ports are located on the side.
As far as the port selection is concerned, Netgear Nighthawk XR500 gets five RJ-45 connectors, four of which can be used for LAN and one for the internet. Apart from the RJ-45 connectors, there is a power input port at the back. While the left side gets two USB 3.1 ports, the right side is left clean. There are also buttons for Wi-Fi, WPS and the LED lights that blink on the front. These LED lights include indications for Power, Internet, Wi-Fi 2.4GHz, Wi-Fi 5GHz, Guest Wi-Fi, USB 1, USB 2 and the four ethernet ports.
Netgear Nighthawk XR500 Review: Features
In terms of the features, the Netgear Nighthawk XR500 has plenty to offer. These features can be accessed by going into the router's user interface, which is built on top of the company's own DumaOS. The whole user interface has a red theme to it by default and it can be easily changed.
The interface has quite a lot of features baked into it.
The interface allows the user to monitor traffic, Wi-Fi and Ethernet connections, content filtering and much more. Also, as the router has two USB ports, one can always connect an external hard drive or SSD to make a shared storage system. I personally liked this feature and I left my 2TB external hard drive connected to it. This allowed me and my colleagues to easily access files off the drive here in our office. Another advantage of the feature is that the HDD, once connected, can be accessed from anywhere around the globe. So, in my recent trip to Dubai, I was easily able to access my drive without carrying the bulk.
Netgear Nighthawk XR500 Review: Performance
Performance is why most people would consider such an expensive router in the first place. The router is able to deliver a good range over 2.4GHz channels. Though the 5GHz channel reduces the range, it significantly improves the performance of the internet. In order to get the best experience, we would still recommend sticking with a LAN connection.
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As advertised on the box, the Nighthawk XR500 is able to deliver what it is here for. It reduces latency or ping issues in games. Also, a feature like QoS is really helpful if you have multiple people connected onto the same Wi-Fi network. It will limit data for streaming devices and browsing in order to provide a lag-free experience.
Even with QoS disabled, we noticed that while one PC was downloading Windows updates, the other two PCs were able to run Counter-Strike: Global Offensive without any lag. Whereas, this is not the case with a regular router.
Netgear Nighthawk XR500 Review: Verdict
It is a good router but quite pricey.
The Nighthawk XR500 gaming router does pack in a punch for the price. As advertised, it is able to improve the internet speeds as well as reduce latency issues in games like CS:GO and Call of Duty. It might be a worthy investment for professional players or a place where there are more than 3-4 gamers. However, for standard usage or casual gaming, we would recommend looking into some of the cheaper options.
Samsung recently started rolling out the Android 9 Pie update for the budget-oriented Samsung Galaxy J6 smartphone. The update was initially made available only in the countries Italy and Brazil. The company has finally started pushing out the update for the devices in India as well.
The new update brings the build number J600GDXU3BSD9. It comes with Google's latest iteration of Android, the Android 9 Pie. While it brings all the Android Pie goodness, it also brings Samsung's latest One UI, which is their latest custom skin. However, the firmware still carries an older security patch.
Samsung has rolled out the update over-the-air and should reach every Galaxy J6 in India in the coming few days. Once the update is available, the users will get a notification regarding the same. However, one can also check for the update by heading over to Settings > Software update > Check for updates.
Samsung Galaxy J6 Specifications
Samsung Galaxy J6 comes with a 5.6-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1480x720 pixels. The smartphone is powered by the company's own Exynos 7870 octa-core processor. It packs in up to 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. Under the hood, there is a 3,000mAh battery running the show.
On the optics front, the Galaxy J6 gets a 13-megapixel camera at the back with f/1.9 aperture. Up front, there is an 8-megapixel selfie shooter with f/1.9 aperture.
Asus ZenFone Max M1 is now available for just Rs. 6,999.
Asus launched two budget smartphones last year, the Asus ZenFone Max (M1) and the ZenFone Lite (L1). While they were here to compete against the Redmi series of smartphones, they have just got a price cut to make the competition even tougher. Prices for both the smartphones have already been updated on the e-commerce website, Flipkart.
The Asus ZenFone Lite (L1) is now available for an impressive price tag of Rs. 4,999. The smartphone was launched with a price tag of Rs. 5,999. Now the phone directly competes against the Xiaomi's recently launched Redmi Go smartphone. The device comes with a 5.45-inch display and a Snapdragon 430 processor. It also packs in 2GB of RAM and 16GB of onboard storage.
The Asus ZenFone Max (M1) on the other hand is now down from Rs. 7,499 to just Rs. 6,999. The smartphone features the same processor as the Lite L1 but comes with 3GB of RAM an d32GB of onboard storage. It also gets a fingerprint scanner at the back, which is lacking on the Lite L1.
As for the optics, the ZenFone Max (M1) gets a 13-megapixel camera at the back with f/2.0 aperture. Up front, there is an 8-megapixel selfie shooter with f/2.0 aperture. While the rear camera is same on the ZenFone Lite (L1), it gets a 5-megapixel selfie snapper on the front.
OnePlus 7 is also expected to have a water-drop style notch.
OnePlus is all set to launch its next line-up of flagships smartphones. This time around, the company is planning to launch two new smartphones, the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro. While the OnePlus 7 will keep the company's flag of having one of the best value for money, the OnePlus 7 Pro will compete against more premium phones like the Samsung Galaxy S10. Here's everything we know about the upcoming devices.
According to a recent tweet by Amit Bhawani from PhoneRadar, the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro Global launch is set for May 14. If the Global launch is set for May 14, we can expect the phone to launch in India on the same date or soon after that. The phone is expected to go on sale around May 21. Notably, the company usually launches its flagship smartphone in June and it is quite exciting to see an early launch.
As far as the specifications are concerned, OnePlus 7 will come with a 6.4-inch FullHD+ AMOLED display with a waterdrop style notch. OnePlus 7 Pro, on the other hand, is expected to come with a 6.64-inch curved display with a pop-up selfie camera. Both the smartphones will be powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor coupled with up to 10GB of RAM.
The devices will run on Android 9 Pie based OxygenOS out of the box. They are also expected to come with 4,000mAh batteries with support for the new 30W Warp Charging technology. However, there will be no wireless charging support this time around.
In terms of the optics, the OnePlus 7 is expected to come with a dual-camera setup at the back consisting of a 48-megapixel primary sensor. The OnePlus 7 Pro will get a triple camera set up at the back which will include a primary 48-megapixel sensor, a telephoto lens and an ultra-wide lens.
Huawei Mate 20 Pro has already started receiving the EMUI 9.1 update.
The Chinese smartphone manufacturer, Huawei, had recently announced an update for their own custom UI, the EMUI 9.1. It brings features like updated icon design, refined gesture controls, a new file system and much more to the table. The latest version is currently in a Beta phase and it is slowly rolling out to around 49 Huawei smartphones.
A recent post shared by Huawei tells us which of the Huawei and Honor smartphones will get the upcoming EMUI 9.1 update.
It is quite obvious that the company will first roll out the update for its flagship devices. The Huawei Mate 20 series including the Huawei Mate 20, Mate 20 Pro, Mate 20 X and the Mate 20 RS Porsche Design are already running on the latest update. The company will soon roll out the update for a few older flagship smartphones as well including the Mate 10, Mate 10 Pro, Mate RS Porsche Design, Mate 9, Mate 9 Pro, Mate 9 Porsche Design, P20, P20 Pro, P10 and the P10 Plus.
Apart from the flagships, the update will also be made available for the Huawei Nova 4, Nova 3, Nova 3i, Nova 2S, Honor Play, Honor 10, Honor Play 8A, Huawei Maimang 7, Honor View 10, View 10 Lite, Honor Note 10, Honor 9, Honor V9 and the Honor 8X.
While the EMUI 9.1 update is already being tested for the above-mentioned devices, the company also plans on releasing the update for Huawei Nova 4e, Nova 3e, Enjoy 9 Plus, Enjoy 8 Plus, Enjoy MAX, Enjoy 9S, Enjoy 7S, Enjoy 9e, Honor 9 Lite, Honor 8X Max, Honor 20i, 9i and the Honor 7X. Even some of the tablets including the MediaPad M5 10.1, MediaPad M5 8.0, MediaPad M5 8.4, MediaPad M5 Pro Tablet 10.8 and the MediaPad Tablet 5T 10.1 will get the update sometime later this year.
Amazon's new ad-supported music streaming service will have multiple general interest playlists like "Pop Culture," "80s music" and "country".
Amazon has launched a new free ad-supported music streaming web service for subscribers who don't own a subscription to Amazon Prime. According to the company, this new service will help sell more of its Echo smart speakers.
To recall, Amazon Prime members already get a free music streaming service in India, namely Prime Music. For the same service customers based in the US have to pay extra.
The new ad-supported music streaming service will have multiple general interest playlists like "Pop Culture," "80s music" and "country". The new service will take on similar options from Spotify and Sirius.
As of now, the service is currently available only in the US. However, it is soon expected to make its way to other markets including India.
As of now, Amazon Prime is currently available in India in two configurations - monthly and yearly. The monthly plan is priced at Rs. 129 and the yearly plan costs Rs. 999.
In related news, Google a few days earlier announced that they were also launching a free ad-supported version of their YouTube Music streaming service for its Google Home products. The company stated that consumers can request playlists and stations to stream different types of music.
As of now, the two most popular smart speakers in the market are the Amazon Echo lineup and the Google Home lineup. Seeing that both of them are releasing such sort of free services for consumers to enjoy, just makes us feel as if they are committed to their customers and will not leave them behind.
Hotstar India has announced new pricing for its popular media streaming app. The Hotstar Premium subscription plan now costs Rs. 299 per month. It is a straight Rs. 100 hike on the earlier Rs. 199 per month pack. However, the annual plan and the recently introduced Hotstar VIP plan have the same price tags.
The company has already updated its webpage as well as the iOS/Android apps in order to show the new pricing. According to a recent report, the newly announced Disney streaming service, Disney+, will be available via Hotstar in India. Notably, Disney recently became the official owner of Hotstar.
However, it is still unclear if the new pricing is applicable to new subscribers or to the existing subscribers as well. If it is for existing subscribers, then they will need to pay Rs. 299 per month instead of Rs. 199 from their next billing cycle.
To sum it up, the cheapest Hotstar plan one can get now costs Rs. 299 per month and brings all the premium features. However, if a user wants to go even cheaper, they can opt-in for the company's recently released Hotstar VIP Plan, which does not bring any American shows or Hollywood movies and costs just Rs. 365 annually. For those who think Rs. 299 per month costs way too much for the premium features, can pay an annual fee of Rs. 999.
Meanwhile, Mint has reported that the content created for the new Disney+ streaming service will be made available on Hotstar in India. This also means that Disney has no plans of launching Disney+ as a standalone streaming service in India. The report further claims that Hotstar has plans to localise the Disney+ content for India by adding dubbed versions or adding subtitles for regional languages.
