Redmi 6 Pro will be up for grabs at just Rs. 7,999
With Flipkart celebrating the first three days of April for their sale, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has also announced a sale. The company will be hosting Mi Fan Festival 2019 sale in India. It is set to kick off on April 4 and will go on until April 6. During the three day sale, Xiaomi will be offering great deals on their products including Poco F1, Redmi Note 6 Pro, Mi LED TV 4 Pro and more.
As a part of the sale, Xiaomi will also bring its Re 1 flash sales where users can grab phones or even televisions for just Re. 1. There will also be a Mystery Box sale during all the three days. The Mi Fan Festival Sale will be held on the Mi.com, online partner platforms partners, Mi Home Mi Store and partner offline stores.
Xiaomi's one of the most popular smartphones, the Poco F1 will be available at a price of Rs. 20,999 for the 128GB variant. Last year's Redmi Note 5 Pro will also be a part of the sale where it can be grabbed for just Rs. 10,999 and Rs. 11,999 for the 4GB RAM and 6GB RAM variants. Even the Redmi Note 6 Pro will be available at a starting price of Rs 10,999, making it an obvious choice over the Redmi Note 5 Pro.
While the Xiaomi Redmi 6 will be available at a starting price of Rs 6,999, the Redmi Y2 will come in at Rs 7,999 for the 3GB RAM variant. The 4GB RAM variant of the Redmi Y2 can be picked up for Rs. 9,999. Even the Redmi 6 Pro will be available at a jaw-dropping price of just Rs. 7,999.
As far as the recently launched devices are concerned, the Redmi Note 7 and Redmi Note 7 Pro will be available at their regular prices. Even the Redmi Go will be up for grabs during the three-day sale.
Apart from smartphones, the company will also be giving discounts on their wide range of televisions. The Mi LED TV 4 Pro (55) will be available at a discounted price of at Rs. 45,999. Even products like Mi Compact Bluetooth Speaker 2, Mi earphones, Mi body composition scale, Mi Air Purifier 2S, Mi Pocket Speaker 2, Mi Bluetooth Speaker 2 and the Mi Band HRX Edition will be available at attractive prices.
Google is celebrating this April Fools Day by launching a Snake game within its Google Maps application. The game is available on the Android, iOS and desktop version of the app. It is quite inspired by the game, which used to come pre-loaded on Nokia phones almost a decade ago.
In the new Snakes game integrated on Google Maps, there are different locations such as Cairo, London, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Sydney and Tokyo. The option to choose will come as soon as you open up the game in Google Maps.
How to play Snakes in Google Maps?
Google integrated the iconic snake game into their mas application
Make sure the app is updated by heading over to the Google Play Store or Apple App Store
Now fire up the app and tap on the snake icon on the top left corner
Tap on "Play Snake" in the menu list
Wait for the game to load and select the map you want to play
Now you can just swipe towards the direction in which you want your snake to go
Making scores is as easy as picking up people and other objects. Make sure the snake does not eat itself or head out of the map area as that will end up killing you.
In order to give the game a Google Maps touch, the company has swapped the Snake for a train. According to the company, the train will travel around the world from Big Ben, the Great Sphinx of Giza to the Eiffel Tower. However, most of the gameplay remains similar to what we have seen on older Nokia feature phones.
Google is axing off it's popular email client, Inbox
Google is finally ending its "Inbox by Gmail" service, which was an email management app for iOS and Android. The service was launched back in 2015 and has now finally died in 2019. So, the users will now have to make a switch to other email clients. Here are the top 5 alternatives for Inbox by Gmail.
Outlook
Outlook is Microsoft's answer to Gmail.
Microsoft Outlook is one of the best email clients after Gmail. The application is also a part of Microsoft Office, which means the app could be on your PC as well. The app is available on both iOS and Android and allows to set up any type of email account. Most importantly it is free to use and offers tons of features.
Gmail
Gmail is another email client by Google
After the Inbox by Gmail app dies, the regular Gmail app will become the obvious choice for most users. The application itself is free and comes pre-loaded on almost every Android smartphone. However, Apple users will still need to install it from the Apple App Store. It also supports a unified inbox, Material Design and much more.
ProtonMail
Proton mail is on the more secure side.
ProtonMail has been here for ages and it is one of the most trusted third-party email clients. The app also ensures end-to-end email encryption, which is a good news for people who are highly concerned about security. It also comes with features like OpenPGP support, self-destructing emails, and labels and organization features. Notably, ProtonMail does store emails on a server. However, that server is completely encrypted and no one can read them, not even the company itself.
Blue Mail
Blue mail is famous for its intuitiveness
After Gmail, Blue Mail is one of the most popular iOS/Android app for emails. It supports a variety of clients including Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, Office 365 and more. Users can even setup custom server emails with IMAP and POP3 support. One of the major highlights of the app is the variety of notification settings for different email accounts. It even brings support for Wear OS. Other features include configurable menus, dark theme, some other smart feature.
OEM Email apps
Apple's mail application is the one people use on iPhones
A lot of OEM's like Huawei and Samsung ship their smartphones with pre-installed email clients aside from Gmail. These clients are free and good enough for regular usage. If you do not get them pre-installed, you can head over to their pre-installed app stores like Samsung Apps or Huawei App Store and install the application for free. Even Apple ships iPhones and iPads with a pre-installed email client.
Poco F1 is one of the best smartphones in the segment
When buying a new smartphone, most people look at Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 20,000 segment as they bring reasonably good performance without burning a hole in one's pocket. So, here are some of the top picks when it comes to selecting smartphones under Rs. 20,000 price bracket.
Poco F1
When looking for smartphones under Rs. 20,000, the Poco F1 becomes the obvious pick. It brings flagship grade specifications for a relatively lower price point. It comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor coupled with Adreno 630 GPU. It packs in up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. Xiaomi Poco F1 is currently available at a starting price of Rs. 19,990. However, we would suggest waiting for its successor as the Poco F2 is expected to launch sometime next month.
Samsung Galaxy A50
Samsung Galaxy A50 sports an in-display fingerprint scanner
Samsung Galaxy A50 has a lot to offer for a starting price of Rs. 19,999. The smartphone comes with an in-display fingerprint scanner, a Super AMOLED display and a waterdrop style notch up front. It is powered by the Exynos 9610 processor coupled with up to 6GB of RAM. The device also comes with a triple camera setup at the back.
Redmi Note 7 Pro comes with a gradient back design
The Redmi Note series has always been touted as the king of budget smartphones as they tend to bring a lot to the table for the price. The recently launched Redmi Note 7 Pro comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 chipset paired with up to 6GB of RAM. It features a 6.3-inch FullHD+ IPS LCD display with a waterdrop style notch. The major highlights of the device are the 48-megapixel camera at the back and the massive 4,000mAh battery under the hood. Redmi Note 7 Pro is available at a starting price of Rs. 13,999.
Samsung Galaxy M30
Samsung Galaxy M30 sports a Super AMOLED Infinity U display
Samsung recently launched its M-series in India in order to compete against its Chinese rivals, Redmi, Realme and others. The Galaxy M30 comes with a 6.4-inch fullHD+ Super AMOLED Infinity-U Display and it is powered by the octa-core Exynos 7904 processor paired with up to 6GB of RAM. The runs on Samsung Experience v9.5 built on top of Google's Android 8.1 Oreo. It is available at a starting price of Rs. 14,990.
Oppo K1
Oppo K1 comes with an in-display fingerprint scanner
Oppo has just launched the Oppo K1 smartphone in India, which comes with an in-display fingerprint scanner and a water drop style notch. It is one of the cheapest smartphones to feature an in-display fingerprint scanner and one of the very few phones under Rs. 20,000 to sport an AMOLED display. Priced at Rs. 16,990, the Oppo K1 has a lot to offer but here are some alternatives you should consider as well.
Oppo Reno is speculated to come with 10X lossless zoom
While March was a quite busy month in terms of smartphone launches, April is also expected to be quite occupied. Realme is expected to launch the Realme 3 Pro and Huawei is bringing the recently launched P30 series to India. Here are the top 5 smartphones launching in April 2019.
Realme 3 Pro
Realme 3 Pro is expected to come with a 48-megapixel camera
Realme recently launched the Realme 3 smartphone in India and at the time of the launch, they promised to launch the Realme 3 Pro soon. The company is expected to launch the smartphone in April 2019. The device will come with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 processor and the 48-megapixel Sony IMX586 sensor.
Redmi 7
Xiaomi Redmi 7 will take its design ques from the Redmi Note 7 series
Xiaomi launched its mid-range smartphones, the Redmi Note and Note 7 Pro in India recently. Now, the company is planning to bring the even cheaper model Redmi 7 to the country. The device sports a 6.3-inch HD+ display and it is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 chipset.
Oppo has been working on a new sub-brand called Reno for quite some time now. Reno is finally gearing up to unveil their first series of smartphones on April 10. The series is expected to come with Snapdragon 855 and Snapdragon 710 chipsets. It is also being said that one of the phones will come with the company's 10X lossless zoom technology, which they showcased at the MWC 2019.
Samsung Galaxy A40
Samsung Galaxy A40 is expected to look quite similar to the A30
The South Korean giant Samsung is gearing up to add another smartphone to their mid-range A-series. The new Galaxy A40 is expected to come with the Exynos 7885 processor and 4GB of RAM. The smartphone will be officially unveiled on April 10 at an event in Bangkok. It is expected to be priced at around EUR 249 (roughly Rs. 20,000) for the base model.
Huawei P30 Pro comes in an attractive set of colour variants
Huawei recently launched the Huawei P30 and P30 Pro smartphones at an event in Paris. The company is expected to bring those smartphones to India in April. While the P30 Pro is a full-fledged flagship smartphone with Kirin 980 processor, the P30 is just a toned down version of the same.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 comes with gradient back design
With Samsung launching its new M-series in India and the Realme 3 coming into the market, the budget segment has become really interesting. Companies like Xiaomi, Realme and Samsung are working really hard to bring the best value for money smartphones making it the best time for customers to get a new phone. Here are the top 5 smartphones you can pick under the Rs. 10,000 segment.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7
Xiaomi's Redmi Note 7 recently stepped into the Indian market and it is still facing flash sales. The device is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset paired with up to 6GB of RAM. It features a 6.3-inch FullHD+ IPS LCD display with a waterdrop style notch. One of the major highlights of the device is the 4,000mAh battery inside. Redmi Note 7 is available at a starting price of Rs. 9,999.
Realme 3
Realme 3 comes with an improved design
Realme recently launched their latest Realme 3 smartphone in India with a starting price tag of Rs. 8,999. The smartphone comes with a water drop style notch and the Mediatek Helio P70 processor. The device packs in up to 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. It looks really impressive with the gradient back design and the water drop style notch.
Samsung Galaxy A10
Samsung Galaxy A10 is a good budget option from Samsung
Samsung recently launched the Galaxy A10 smartphone in India. The smartphone comes with a 6.2-inch HD+ Infinity-V Display. It is powered by the octa-core Exynos 7884 processor paired with 2GB of RAM. The device runs on Samsung Experience v9.5 built on top of Google's Android 8.1 Oreo. It is available at a starting price of Rs. 8,490.
Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2
Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2 sports a dual-camera setup at the back
Asus ZenFone Max Pro runs on a nearly stock version of Google's Android operating system. It comes with a glass sandwich design and a notched display. The device is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC paired with up to 6GB of RAM. Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2 now retails at a starting price of Rs. 9,999.
Samsung Galaxy M20
Samsung Galaxy M20 comes with an Infinity V notch display
While the Samsung Galaxy M20 is priced slightly higher than the Rs. 10,000 mark, it still packs in a punch. It features a 6.3-inch fullHD+ Infinity-V Display. The device is powered by the octa-core Exynos 7904 processor paired with up to 4GB of RAM. It is available at a starting price of Rs. 10,990.
Detel Posh is quite minimalist looking and is very light to hold.
Detel is a new Indian consumer electronics brand that managed to surprise me with its Rs 4,000 television just a few months ago. The company has once again managed to surprise me with its new Detel Posh Bluetooth speaker, which has been priced at Rs 1,999.
It has been launching Bluetooth speakers for some time, however, none of them has appealed to me in neither build quality nor their sound. Detel Posh, on the other hand, breaks all these reservations that I had in my mind. The speaker has an amazing build quality and looks like a wooden showpiece that you can put on display somewhere in your home.
When the speaker was delivered to our office, the container was a bit bigger than we expected. When opened we were taken a few steps back, considering the usual size of Bluetooth speakers that we get at our office. The speaker looks like a small and a bit fat soundbar that you can connect to your television.
Price: Rs. 1,999
Detel Posh: Design
The speaker is quite minimalist looking and is very light to hold. The speaker features a wooden build, with a front firing speaker unit that is covered by a cloth to maintain aesthetic looks and filter the sound to let users have a better user experience.
On the top, we get to see a black panel which consists of three buttons to control the playback, two LED lights to see what's going on and a microphone for users to make phone calls. On the back, we get to see the black plate continue, with it having an on/off toggle switch along with a micro-USB port to charge.
In terms of Bluetooth connectivity, the device can have a connectivity distance of 10 meters.
It also comes with a USB type-A port, microSD card slot and a 3.5mm aux-in port for music playback. On the bottom edge of the device, we get to see four foam stoppers to save the device from garnering scratches when put down on any surface.
Detel Posh: Features
Detel Posh comes packed with interesting features like Bluetooth v4.2 support, aux-in, microSD card support, USB support and an FM tuner.
In terms of Bluetooth connectivity, the device can have a connectivity distance of 10 meters. Frequency response for the speaker ranges from 100Hz to 20kHz, with a sound profile of 84dB and a sensitivity of 82dB. The company claims there might be 0.5 percent distortion in the 4 ohms 5 watts loudspeakers.
In terms of battery, the speaker features a 3.7v, 2,000mAh battery. The device usually takes around three hours to fully charge and is able to provide a playback time of approximately three to four hours on a single charge.
The front firing speaker unit that is covered by a cloth to maintain aesthetic looks and filter the sound to let users have a better user experience.
To cycle between modes (FM, Bluetooth and microSD card), you are required to press and hold the play/pause button. Which is okay, however, to find the radio station you are looking for is a pain, as you need to cycle through each frequency manually and there is no option to enable auto-tune.
Considering all these features and how the device looks and feels, the first time I got my hands on it, I had never imagined that it was priced at Rs 1,999 only.
Detel Posh: Performance
Coming to the performance, Detel Posh hands down outperformed most speakers that are priced under Rs. 2,000. I personally, found that listening to music on the speaker was one of the most pleasant things during the day. However, tuning in an FM Radio station is a task you might not want to do at all, so let's ignore that feature altogether.
The speaker features a 3.7v, 2,000mAh battery. The device usually takes around three hours to fully charge and is able to provide a playback time of approximately three to four hours on a single charge.
The Detel Posh is able to deliver good volume with no distortion even at its full capacity, which is something to say when it comes to budget Bluetooth speakers. The speaker is able to deliver a good amount of bass for the price, however, the audiophile in me is a bit disappointed that the company could have done more. The speaker is able to delever higher frequencies with ease.
In terms of battery life, the device considering its size and its price, did not outperform what I had thought it might have been able to acheive. The entire size of the unit would allow the company to build in a much bigger battery unit. However, the current battery unit installed inside of the speaker is only able to provide a playback time of up to four hours on a single charge. So you might want to keep the charger handy.
Detel Posh: Verdict
Detel Posh might not be the best Bluetooth speaker I have personally heard. However, it is one of the best bang for the buck Bluetooth speaker you can currently purchase. The company according to me has outperformed itself and put out a product that I can stand behind and endorse.
The Detel Posh is able to deliver good volume with no distortion even at its full capacity.
This is one of the best Bluetooth speakers you can get under Rs. 2,000 if you have no concern for size. I can state that if you decide to purchase the Detel Posh Bluetooth speaker, you will not regret the decision.
Google recently rolled out the first developer preview of its Android Q operating system. The California-based company will discuss more about the operating system alongside its other projects at the Google I/O event. While we already had the dates, Google has now rolled out the full-fledged schedule of the three-day event.
Google I/O will kick off on May 7 in Calfornia and will go on until May 9, 2019. The company is expected to make announcements related to Android Q, Stadia, Assistant, Maps, AR, VR and other Google products. The opening keynote is scheduled for May 7 and will begin at 10:00 AM PDT (10:30 PM IST).
After the opening keynote, the company will host sessions specifically for Material Design, Machine Learning, Chrome, Google Maps, Assistant, Android TV and more. On the same date, there is even an event titled "Stadia Streaming Tech: A Deep Dive" at 3:00 PM PDT, where the company is expected to give more information about the project.
On the next day, Google will conduct sessions on IoT (Internet-of-Things), Digital Wellbeing, AR applications and AR experiences for Google Maps. This will be followed by sessions on interactive Google Assistant games, building Flutter apps for multiple platforms (iOS, Web, Chrome OS, Android), and machine learning.
Google has kept some of the more exciting and important stuff for the very last day. On May 9, the company will host events about Android security, TensorFlow (ML/A), Web apps, Android Q UI and Chrome OS apps.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds or PUBG Mobile has finally started rolling out the 0.12.0 update under the beta program. With the new mode, the update brings tons of changes alongside some bug fixes and improvements. Here's everything you need to know about the new update.
The 0.12.0 update brings a new feature called MugenSpace/Infinity that is said to replace the Event mode in the game. As it has replaced the Event mode, there will be lots of game modes added to it. Starting with the Infinity mode, it is Left 4 Dead situation where players will need to stay alive against dozens of Zombies. The teams that stay alive till the very end will get rescued and win the match. Notably, the Infinity mode can even have multiple winning teams.
Survive Till Dawn game mode has now been shifter under Expansions. Tencent games will bring more new modes under that section. The Survive Till Dawn game mode has also received a couple of improvements. These include stun Grenades working on zombies, added Liquid Nitrogen Grenades to freeze enemies and reduce their movement speed and added jumping zombies and zombie dogs. Some zombies can now even climb over low walls or onto the roof. The flamethrowers now give more damage and M134 rifle's handling has been tuned. Also, zombies now move slower after being hit by firearms.
Apart from that, there is a new mode called Companion System, wherein the player can take a Companion into a battle. Enemies will not be able to see them, leaving no exposure risk.
The changes are currently available only in the 0.12.0 beta version of PUBG Mobile. After the testing phase is done, the company will roll out the update for other users as well.
WhatsApp is finally bringing true PiP mode to its Android app
After Google brought the PiP mode feature to Android 9.0 Pie, WhatsApp updated its Android app in order to provide the feature. It is also available on the iOS version of the application. However, in Android, it had a huge limitation where users could only make use of the feature inside chats making it nearly useless.
PiP or Picture-in-Picture mode basically allows users to keep playing the video even after they close the video player. Now, with a new beta update, the Facebook-owned company seems to have solved the issue. According to WABetaInfo, the latest beta version 2.19.86 of WhatsApp for Android gets the PiP mode with similar functionalities as on an iPhone.
The new improved version brings a PiP Mode that continues playing the video in a small window even after the user exits the chat, minimizes the app or switch to another app. This allows the feature to showcase its true potential.
Notably, the feature is currently available in a beta version of the Android app, which means not everyone can make use of the feature right away. However, once the feature gets out of the testing phase, it will be rolled out to the users on the stable version.
Alongside the new PiP mode, WhatsApp has also added a new much-awaited feature to the beta version of the app that allows the app to plays consecutive voice messages automatically. A recent report also claims that the beta update even gets app lock, which has been on iOS for a couple of months now.
