Gadgets And Technology Daily News | 20 May 2023
Views (178)
Google Pixel 7a Survives JerryRigEverything's Durability Test; Seems Better Than Pixel 7 Pro
Google Pixel 7a was launched last week during the company's I/O event. The Pixel 6a successor runs on Google's in-house Tensor G2 SoC and flaunts a 64-megapixel dual camera unit at the rear. It has an updated design with an IP67 rating. Now, YouTuber Zack Nelson from JerryRigEverything put the Pixel 7a through his durability test to see if it would fare like the Pixel 6a. The new handset appears to have survived most of Nelson's different customary scratch, burn, and bend tests. The device did not, however, burn, break, bend or lose its shape during the tests and found to be solid than the expensive Pixel 7 Pro.
Zack Nelson in his latest episode of JerryRigEverything put the latest Pixel 7a through a slew of durability tests. The phone is first subjected to a scratch test on its OLED panel. Just like most other phones, the screen protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3 started showing scratches at level 6 of the Mohs hardness scale. It gets deeper grooves at level 7.
Like the Pixel 6a, the Google Pixel 7a's sides are made of metal. Nelson's razor blade was used against the volume and power buttons and camera unit. The rear camera module also has a separate metal coating. In contrast to the Google Pixel 7 Pro's glass panel, the Pixel 7a has a plastic rear panel. The fingerprint scanner of the device failed to function properly after receiving scratches.
The Pixel 7a has a 6.1-inch full-HD+ OLED display. The 90Hz refresh rate display remains stable under a lighter's flame for 25 seconds before the pixels begin to turn white. However, the OLED panel completely recovers.
In the final round, the Pixel 7a was subjected to a bend test. The device held up admirably under the pressure and barely showed any signs of bending. "There is almost no flex at all when bent from the back and again almost no flex when bent from the front," says Nelson. He claims that Pixel 7a clobbers the premium Pixel 7 Pro in the bend test and the durability of the new handset is significantly better than that of the Asus Rog Ultimate 7.
The Google Pixel 7a is priced at Rs. 43,999 for the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage model in India. It is offered in Chalk, Snow, and Sea colour options.
Instagram Could Release Text-Based App to Rival Against Twitter by June 2023: Report
Meta Platforms' Instagram is planning to release a text-based app that will compete with Twitter and may debut as soon as June, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Facebook parent is testing the product with influencers and some creators, according to the report.
The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Meta has been contacting talent agencies and celebrities to gauge their interest in trying an early version of the app, which will be integrated with Instagram, said Alex Heath in a newsletter.
"The decentralized app is built on the back of Instagram but will be compatible with some other apps like Mastodon," according to a newsletter by Lia Haberman, who teaches social and influencer marketing at UCLA in California.
The report also mentions that the parent company Meta has made the new app secretly available to select creators for months. It is said to be separate from Instagram yet allow people to connect accounts.
As per Lia Haberman's screenshot, the app will let people connect with their friends using texts, shared links, photos as well as videos. Moreover, fans will be allowed to join the accounts of the influencers and creators they follow on Instagram with just one tap.
The app is also being update for security measures. To ensure the privacy of accounts, the users blocked on Instagram may soon be carried over to the new app. To add, this new app is also working on compatibility with Twitter's rival Mastodon.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
Tesla 'Serious' on Setting Up Production, Innovation Base in India, Says MoS IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar
Tesla is "serious" about its plans to establish a manufacturing base in India, the country's deputy minister for technology told Reuters in an interview on Friday, a day after meeting senior executives of the electric vehicle maker.
The Elon Musk-led US automaker held talks with Indian officials this week on various topics including incentives for car and battery manufacturing, Reuters reported on Thursday, as Tesla looks anew at entering the Indian market.
"They are very seriously looking at India as a production and innovation base," Rajeev Chandrasekhar said in the first public comment by an Indian government official on the talks.
"We have signaled to them that the government of India is working together (and) will certainly make whatever ambitions they have or investment objective they have in India a success," said Chandrasekhar, who is one of the highest-ranking officials in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration.
Tesla proposed setting up a factory in India to build electric vehicles (EVs) and is also looking at manufacturing EV batteries, Reuters reported.
Asked if talks with Tesla included more than just making vehicles, Chandrasekhar said "You don't talk about cars alone" when such discussions take place.
"You talk about cars, you talk about energy, you talk about manufacturing technology. So all of that figures in the conversation. What they will want to do in India, it's too far for me (to tell) and it's not for me to say," he added.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The discussions in India represent a shift in stance for Tesla, which said late last year it was focused on seeking lower import taxes on cars, which can be as much as 100 percent.
Talks became deadlocked as the government is keen for Tesla to make cars locally, while the carmaker said it wanted to export to India first so that it could test demand.
Outside the United States, Tesla has a plant in Shanghai - its largest factory worldwide - and one in Brandenburg, Germany.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
Apple Reality Pro Headset Will Feature External Display Showing Facial Expressions of User: Mark Gurman
Apple is expected to show off its long-rumoured AR/VR headset at Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2023 in June first week. Now, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman's latest predictions add more credibility to this rumour, with the industry analyst claiming that the announcement could be one of Apple CEO Tim Cook's last big swings as Apple CEO and will affect his legacy. The Apple Reality Pro — the purported first mixed reality headset from the Cupertino-based company, is said to feature an external display that shows facial expressions. It is expected to run on a new xrOS operating system and cost about $3,000 (roughly Rs. 2,50,000).
In his weekly Power On newsletter on Thursday (May 18), Mark Gurman says that Apple's wearable mixed reality headset will be equipped with an outward-facing display. This external display will keep the wearers engaged with the real world by displaying their eye movements and facial expressions. Apple reportedly considers this feature as a key differentiator from enclosed VR headsets.
Citing a person familiar with the device, Gurman states that the exterior screens would allow people to interact with a headset wearer without feeling as if they're talking to a robot.
According to Gurman, the debut of the long-awaited mixed reality headset could be one of Tim Cook's last big swings as Apple CEO. It would either give him another major achievement or underscore the narrative that the company's biggest victories were initiated under Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
Apple's mixed reality headset, which has been in development for over seven years is said to have deviated far from Cook's initial vision. It could resemble a pair of ski goggles and might include a separate battery pack. The battery may look like an iPhone-size pack attached by a power cord. The Apple Reality Pro is expected to run on a new xrOS operating system and cost about $3,000.
It could be able to work as an external Mac monitor and could allow users to make multiperson video calls. Apple is reportedly working with software and game developers, as well as other entertainment companies to create content for the device once it goes official.
While outlining the challenges the company faced in developing its mixed-reality headset, Gurman states that the iPhone maker's much-expected augmented reality (AR) glasses are still at least four years away from hitting shelves.
Apple is yet to acknowledge the development of the Reality Pro headset. The company is said to use its M2 processor with 16GB of memory for the mixed-reality headset. Apple is expected to break its silence about the existence of the headset during the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) starting June 5.
Realme 11 Pro 5G Series Flipkart Page Goes Live Ahead of India Launch
Realme 11 Pro 5G series is expected to launch in India soon. The lineup was released in China earlier this month with the Realme 11 Pro and Realme 11 Pro+ models, alongside the basic Realme 11 variant. The phones run Android 13 with Realme UI 4.0 custom skin on top and are powered by high-speed MediaTek Dimensity SoCs. They are backed by 5,000mAh battery units and are offered in three colour variations. On Friday, the Flipkart microsite of the smartphones went live, suggesting the impending India launch of the models.
The Flipkart promotional page does not reveal much details other than suggesting that one of the upcoming Realme phones will sport the world's first 200-megapixel camera with 4 times in-sensor zoom by Samsung.
The 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant of the Realme 11 Pro is priced at CNY 1,699 (roughly Rs. 20,000), while the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage and 12GB RAM + 512GB storage variants of the phone are marked at CNY 1,999 (roughly Rs. 24,000) and CNY 2,199 (roughly Rs. 26,000), respectively.
On the other hand, the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage of the Realme 11 Pro+ is priced at CNY 1,999 (roughly Rs. 24,000). The 12GB RAM + 512GB storage variant costs CNY 2,299 (roughly Rs. 27,000) and the high-end 12GB RAM + 1TB storage model was marked at CNY 2,599 (roughly Rs. 30,000).
Both models are offered in the City of Rising Sun, City of Green Fields and Starry Night Black (translated from Chinese) colour options.
The dual-SIM Realme 11 Pro smartphones run Android 13 with the Realme UI 4.0 skin on top. The models feature 6.7-inch full-HD+ (1,080x2,412 pixels) curved display panels each with a touch sampling rate of 360Hz.
The phones are powered by a 6nm octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 7050 SoC paired with a Mali-G68 GPU and up to 12GB of RAM. The Dynamic RAM expansion feature enables the users to expand the RAM of the handsets to up to 20GB virtually. The Realme 11 Pro comes with up to 512GB of inbuilt storage, while the Realme 11 Pro+ is equipped with up to 1TB of inbuilt storage.
The dual rear unit of the Realme 11 Pro includes a 100-megapixel primary sensor with Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) and a 2-megapixel secondary sensor. The front camera of the handset is equipped with a 16-megapixel sensor.
The highlight of the series is the triple rear camera unit of the Realme 11 Pro+. It includes a 200-megapixel Samsung HP3 sensor with Super OIS support, an 8-megapixel sensor with an ultra-wide-angle lens and a 2-megapixel macro sensor. The 32-megapixel selfie sensor of the Realme 11 Pro+ is housed in the centre-aligned hole-punch slot at the top of the display.
Both models pack a 5,000mAh battery unit each. The Realme 11 Pro supports 67W wired fast charging while the Realme 11 Pro+ supports 100W wired fast charging. The handsets are also equipped with in-display fingerprint sensors and they also sport dual linear speakers with Hi-Res audio support and dual microphones with noise reduction features.
Sony Doubles Down on Entertainment, Expects to Sell 25 Million PS5 Consoles This Financial Year
Sony Group on Thursday said it is examining a partial spin-off of its financial business just three years after taking full control, as the conglomerate doubles down on entertainment and image sensors.
Sony said it is considering a time frame of two to three years to spin off Sony Financial Group — whose operations include life insurance and banking — with an eye to listing the business and retaining a stake of slightly under 20 percent.
Given the capital the business requires, "it is a challenge to balance this with our investment in other growth areas such as entertainment and image sensors," Sony Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki told a strategy briefing.
The conglomerate is pursuing synergies between its business lines, which include video games, music and movies. It said hit drama The Last of Us on television network HBO drove uptake of the game franchise on which it is based and the music used.
A partial spin-off of Sony Financial, which the group said was made possible by changes in tax rules, would allow the newly listed business to retain Sony branding.
"It doesn't change anything drastically in terms of the outlook for Sony but it does make it a more pure play entertainment company which the market generally likes," said Mio Kato, an analyst at LightStream Research who publishes on Smartkarma.
The finance business reported a 5 percent fall in revenue to YEN 1.45 trillion (nearly Rs. 87,190 crore) in the year ended March. Operating profit rose 49 percent helped by a one-off gain from a real estate sale.
In the current financial year, Sony expects a 40 percent drop in revenue at the unit due to an accounting change, and a 20 percent drop in profit due to the absence of the year prior's one-off gains.
Sony share price was up 6 percent in Tokyo trade, a day after the group said it would buy back up to 2.03 percent of its stock.
Loveable Characters
Sony has said it expects to sell 25 million PlayStation 5 consoles this financial year as supply chain snarls ease. That would be a record for any PlayStation device.
However it has also forecast a slide in first-party software sales, reflecting weakness in the games pipeline.
A sequel to Sony's hit Marvel's Spider-Man is among games due for release this year.
Rival Nintendo, whose Switch console has an install base of more than 125 million units, sold over 10 million copies of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom during the first three days from launch.
It has also scored a monster hit with The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida said he recently watched the movie in Tokyo and used to play Super Mario too.
"Loveable characters and intellectual property (IP) can live for 30, 50 or 100 years," he said.
"That's something we want to make investment in for sustainable growth," Yoshida said.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
0 Likes