Thursday, February 29, 2024

OnePlus Watch 2 launched in India

During the Mobile World Congress, OnePlus unveiled its flagship Watch 2 in India, priced at ₹24,999 and powered by Google Wear OS 4. The Watch 2 employs a dual chipset system, integrating the Snapdragon W5 performance chipset and the BES 2700 MCU Efficiency chipset to manage background tasks and intense activities effectively. With a 500mAh battery, OnePlus asserts that the Watch 2 offers up to 100 hours of battery life in full Smart Mode, reducing to about 48 hours under heavy usage. It boasts quick charging capability, fully replenishing in just 60 minutes. Sporting tracking modes for over 100 sports, health features like heart rate variability tracking and sleep tracking, and GPS functionality, the Watch 2 ensures comprehensive activity monitoring. Available in Black Steel and Radiant Steel color variants, the Watch 2 with 2GB RAM and 32GB ROM memory will be accessible through various online and offline channels starting March 4.

Pebble Unveils the World's Thinnest Smartwatch Royale

Pebble, India's rapidly growing smartwatch brand, continues to push the boundaries of innovation with its latest offering, the Royale. Positioned as the world's thinnest Bluetooth calling smartwatch, the Royale exudes luxury and sophistication, catering to discerning individuals seeking elegance in their timepieces. Featuring a sleek stainless steel dial and an incredibly slim profile of just 3mm frame and 6mm body thickness, it boasts a Super Amoled 1.43” display, lightweight construction, and stylish design. Available exclusively on pebblecart.com, the Royale debuts at an introductory price of Rs. 4299, offering both leather and magnetic strap options to suit varied preferences. Pebble co-founder Komal Agarwal describes it as a tribute to the refined tastes of the "NextGen legends" who prefer minimalist fashion and premium quality. Ananth Narayanan, Founder & CEO of Mensa Brands, emphasizes Pebble's commitment to innovation in style, design, and specifications with the launch of the sleek Royale. Featuring advanced functionalities like Super Amoled Display, Always ON Display, BT calling with Voice Assistant, and comprehensive health monitoring, the Royale offers a blend of style and utility, catering to individuals who appreciate sleek and cutting-edge gadgets. With its array of strap colors and IP67 certification for water and dust resistance, the Royale promises to be an iconic accessory for those embracing a smart and stylish lifestyle. 

New Home-Screen Widget Expected Soon for ChatGPT Android App

Reportedly, the AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT from OpenAI is set to introduce a home-screen widget for Android, aligning with the trend of major releases in generative AI tools like Google's Gemini 1.5 and Copilot's upcoming default assistant capability on Android. Bhavish Aggarwal's Krutrim startup has also entered public beta. The widget aims to enhance the app's accessibility, with tipster Mishaal Rahman sharing insights on X (formerly Twitter), revealing its functionalities: "ChatGPT for Android now offers a home screen widget, featuring shortcuts for text/image/voice queries and conversation mode." Currently in beta, the widget, depicted in Rahman's screenshot, adopts a 4x2 grid style similar to Google Search but double in height. It includes a text field for queries and prompts, along with four icons for image upload, camera capture, speech input, and verbal responses. This widget caters to users' frequent needs, allowing for quick queries while multitasking, without occupying the full screen. OpenAI recently added long-term memory to ChatGPT, empowering users to customize their interactions further.

Vivo V30 and V30 Pro Launched in Indonesia

Vivo has launched the Vivo V30 and V30 Pro in Indonesia, expanding their lineup alongside the previously unveiled Vivo V30 Lite. Both the vanilla and Pro versions boast curved 1.5K displays and 50-megapixel front cameras. Scheduled for release in India on March 7, the Indian variants are expected to mirror their Indonesian counterparts. The Vivo V30 5G base model is priced at IDR 5,999,000 for the 8GB + 256GB option and IDR 6,999,000 for the 12GB + 512GB variant, available in Equatorial Green, Puspa White, and Volcanic Black colors. The Vivo V30 Pro is listed at IDR 8,999,000 for the sole 12GB + 512GB configuration. Featuring curved 1.5K AMOLED displays, 120Hz refresh rate, and 300Hz touch sampling rate, both models are powered by different chipsets and offer extensive RAM and storage options. They run on Android 14-based FunTouchOS 14, sport advanced camera setups, support fast charging, and come with IP54 ratings and various connectivity options.

Monday, February 26, 2024

Xiaomi 14 quick review

The Xiaomi 14 presents itself as a high-end smartphone with impressive specifications including a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, up to 12 GB LPDDR5X RAM, 1TB UFS 4.0 storage, and a 4,610 mAh battery. After a few days of usage, it delivers on its promise of premium performance, particularly in general usage, camera capabilities, and battery life. The device boasts a sleek design with a glass back and flat display, providing a compact yet spacious feel. While slightly heavy, it offers a comfortable grip. The display is vibrant and responsive, ideal for various tasks including social media browsing and video streaming. The camera, a highlight of the Xiaomi 14, offers Leica partnership features and versatile shooting modes. However, the HyperOS, though improved, still includes pre-installed apps. Overall, the Xiaomi 14 impresses with its performance and features, with further insights awaited in the detailed review, including its value proposition, expected to be priced between Rs 70,000 and Rs 75,000. Stay tuned for comprehensive coverage.

Global Launch Scheduled in Q2 2024 for HONOR MagicBook Pro 16

During MWC 2024, HONOR unveiled the inaugural AI-powered laptop, the HONOR MagicBook Pro 16, alongside the Magic6 Pro smartphone. Boasting an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, the laptop introduces platform-level AI integration, facilitating Cross-OS collaboration, Smart Interactions, and enhanced PC performance.

The MagicBook Pro 16 showcases a 3K eye comfort LCD screen with a resolution of 3072 x 1920, 100% DCI-P3 wide color gamut, and a remarkable 165Hz refresh rate, complemented by a hardware-level low-blue light filter. HONOR emphasizes its spatial audio feature, heralding it as the first Windows-based PC worldwide to offer such capability. Additionally, users have the option to select the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 series laptop GPU alongside the Core Ultra 7 processor.

Utilizing on-device AI, HONOR implements an AI-empowered OS Turbo, promising a 58% enhancement in battery life, delivering up to 12 hours compared to other RTX 40 series gaming laptops. The MagicBook Pro 16 streamlines connectivity across HONOR devices with MagicRing, ensuring seamless sharing of notifications and materials. Detailed specifications and pricing are anticipated upon the global release slated for Q2 2024, following its debut in China.

Glimpsing into a futuristic world through Lenovo's transparent laptop

Lenovo has unveiled its latest innovative device, the ThinkBook Transparent Display Laptop, at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. This futuristic laptop features a 17.3-inch MicroLED display with up to 55% transparency, transitioning from opaque to translucent as its pixels illuminate. Although its practical applications remain uncertain, Lenovo suggests it could benefit digital artists by enabling them to sketch while viewing the environment behind the screen. Additionally, the laptop boasts a flat touch keyboard that transforms into a drawing tablet, catering to creative professionals. However, challenges such as resolution limitations and usability issues persist, indicating that the device is still in development. Lenovo aims to spark public discourse on potential uses for this concept, anticipating that its technology may evolve into a consumer-ready product within the next five years.

Confirmation of Samsung Galaxy Ring Exhibition at MWC 2024

The Samsung Galaxy Ring is officially set to make its debut at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024 in Barcelona, where Samsung will emphasize its integration with the Samsung Health platform for health monitoring and insights. The company also plans to expand its AI suite across its product lineup. Reports suggest the Galaxy Ring may come in various colors and sizes. Samsung's announcement via its Newsroom indicated that the Galaxy Ring will be publicly unveiled at MWC 2024, without specifying the exact time. It's unlikely that attendees will have hands-on access during this initial unveiling. The Galaxy Ring will focus on health tracking, connecting to the revamped Samsung Health platform. Expected features include continuous heart rate monitoring, SpO2 sensing, sleep tracking, and potentially blood pressure monitoring. Samsung also disclosed plans to extend AI features beyond smartphones to products like the Galaxy Book 4 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series, each with tailored AI capabilities for productivity and health respectively. The post provided insights into upcoming health features like the My Vitality Score for personalized health assessments and Booster Card for goal tracking, with further details anticipated post-showcase.