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Samsung Galaxy M40 With Infinity O Display To Launch On 11th June

Samsung introduced the online-only Galaxy M series of smartphones back in the month of January. The devices introduced in the beginning were the Galaxy M10 and Galaxy M20 which were soon joined by the Galaxy M30 in the month of February. It was later reported the company will expand the lineup by launching the Galaxy M40. Key details about the device have been leaked in the past few weeks. Now, Samsung has officially announced the smartphone will be unveiled on the 11th of June at 6 PM in India. The teaser for the device is already live on the company’s website.

Galaxy M40

The Galaxy M40 will be a mid-range offering from the company and will take over from the Galaxy M30; as the most premium smartphone in the Galaxy M lineup. The teaser of the device reveals it will have an Infinity O display on the left to increase the screen real estate. This implementation was last seen in the company’s Galaxy A60 launched last month. More details in the teaser reveal the upcoming handset will run on a Snapdragon 6 series SoC. While what chipset the Galaxy M40 will sport is anyone’s guess, past leaks have hinted towards the 11nm Snapdragon 675 SoC. The chipset is comprised of an Octa-core CPU, the Adreno 612 GPU and is also present in the Galaxy A70 and Redmi Note 7. For biometric security and rapidly unlocking the handset, the teaser also reveals the smartphone will have a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. In terms of optics, the device will have a triple rear camera setup, details of which are unknown at the moment.

Samsung Galaxy M30

Also read: Google Pixel 3 And 3 XL Receive A Massive Price Cut Of Rs 28,000 In India

Past leaks have revealed the Galaxy M40 will have a 6.3-inch LCD display with a FullHD+ resolution. It is also expected to be the first device in the Galaxy M series to run on the OneUI; based on top of current Android 9 Pie out of the box. For memory and storage, the upcoming smartphone is likely to feature up to 6GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage. It is also expected to be powered by a massive 5000mAh battery with support for some kind of fast charging. Unfortunately, details about the pricing of the device still remain shrouded in mystery; although it is expected to be priced under Rs. 25,000 in India.

May 28, 2019
Intel’s Project Athena Pushes Higher Industry Standards For Ultrabooks

Intel was the first to coin the term ‘Ultrabook’ for high-end subnotebook computers. Spending millions of dollars into a marketing strategy aimed for the industry’s latest most powerful laptops that were less bulky without compromising on battery life overall. Project Athena as announced by Intel seeks to revisit this old definition and make true on certain promises left undelivered.

The Ultrabook laptops had unintentionally brought with them an industry standard demanding lightweight, thinner dimensions, effective performance and battery life. The Industry had, on the contrary, thrived with these new set of restrictive parameters that gave birth to a new breed of ultra-thin laptops capable of rivalling some of their desktop counterparts.

Gone were the days of plastics. These new machines now sported a more premium metallic form factor and were installed with new hardware that made the lag that had always accompanied laptops a less frequent occurrence. Powerful laptops like HP Spectre x360 and XPS 13 by Dell pulled ahead in the competition.

Intel has dedicated itself to challenge the norm again by taking laptops even further with Project Athena. However, unlike last time, Intel did not showcase a tag or name like ‘Ultrabook’ to market to the world. Project Athena’s focus is not on an inexpensive marketing gimmick but to hunt for the big industry-wide lies that have pervaded the market since its inception. Battery life sits at the forefront of such a lie.

Project Athena sets the minimal benchmark for laptops to deliver 9 hours of real-world battery life while browsing over the internet on Wi-Fi, at a brightness of 250 nits. Laptops have woefully failed to deliver on the longer battery life that had been promised before and thinner laptops have a stronger tendency to skimp out on the said feature. Manufacturers that advertise their products with 24 hours of battery life, with video playback that barely puts any strain on the CPU while Wi-FI is turned off and brightness at its lowest, do not portray an accurate real-life scenario of daily use.

Battery life is just the start. Project Athena will require a laptop to also boot from sleep within a second and be ready for web browsing in 2 seconds flat while having the same performance output regardless of whether the laptop is plugged in or running on battery. Intel set the basic hardware requirements with touchscreen displays, accurate trackpads, ample amount of RAM (8GB) and an NVMe SSD (256GB) equipped within the laptop.

Intel, taking it upon itself to enforce the standards set by them to actually satisfy the consumers’ needs. The company promises to discourage practices that have manufacturers cheap out on essential parts of a system. ‘Cheating’ as Intel put it will not be tolerated and the ‘Ultrabook’ brand will have its standards set high. Project Athena is not an advertisement or marketing scheme that the users shall ever encounter, dedicating themselves not to be in the face of every consumer but guaranteeing a good experience that they will feel.

There is just one glaringly obvious problem. OEMs and manufacturers have no real incentive or reason to actually adhere to these standards that may lead to the rise of the industry standards. Unlike what Project Athena is made to be, an industry standard for every laptop device to follow, the aforementioned OEMs will simply submit those laptops which are bound to pass the tests. The same laptops which are top of the line and cost just high.

Also Read: Alienware m15 And m17 Series Gaming Laptops Launched At Computex 2019

Project Athena is at its infant stage and Intel may in the future decide to incorporate some marketing strategy and brand name for the campaign to follow it. This comes along with Intel’s announcement of its 10th Gen Intel Core Processors that will power the latest generation of Ultrabooks.

May 28, 2019
Early OnePlus 7 Pro Users Complain About A High Pitched Noise On Voice Calls

OnePlus launched its latest flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 7 Pro on the 14th of May. The device was announced alongside the regular OnePlus 7 and features top tier specifications at a comparatively lower price than similarly specced handsets. A few days ago, early buyers of the device complained about phantom touch issues while using certain applications. Now, reports of another problem, this time pertaining to a high pitched noise from the earpiece of the OnePlus 7 Pro have surfaced online.

OnePlus 7 Pro Earpiece Issue

As mentioned above, early buyers of the OnePlus 7 Pro have been reported to face issues while using the voice call function of the handset. Some users claim they hear a high pitched noise emanating from the earpiece of the device. Since the discovery, more users have started complaining about a similar problem on the official OnePlus forum. While this issue is most prevalent when on a voice call, in some cases the sound can still be heard even when the smartphone is on standby. Unfortunately, it is not known if the problem is with the global variant of the handset or just for a particular demographic.

Also read: Oppo Reno Launched In India, Features 10x Lossless Zoom And Shark Fin Style Pop Up Camera

The problem with the earpiece of the OnePlus 7 Pro may be a software issue; as a user on the forum has claimed that they faced a similar issue with the OnePlus 3T which was launched in the year 2016. This problem apparently dissolved after a software update seeded by the company. It is thus believed OnePlus, as soon as it acknowledges the issue, will push an Over The Air (OTA) update to fix it. A temporary fix of the noise from the earpiece is claimed to be turning off the Wi-Fi of the smartphone. It can be done either through the notification toggle or by going into Settings, navigating to the Network and Internet option and disabling Wi-Fi.

May 28, 2019
Google Pixel 3 And 3 XL Receive A Massive Price Cut Of Rs 28,000 In India
As time passes by, smartphone companies tend to provide discounts on their ageing devices. Similar is the case with the Google Pixel 3 and the Google Pixel 3 XL which were launched in the Q4 of 2018. However, instead of a minor discount, the Pixel smartphone duo has received a whopping price cut of upto Rs 28,000 in India. Both the Google Pixel 3 smartphones are now available on Flipkart at revised prices which are as follows:
- Pixel 3 (4 GB + 64 GB)- Rs 52,499
- Pixel 3 (4 GB + 128 GB)- 58,999
- Pixel 3 XL (4 GB + 64 GB)- Rs 54,999
- Pixel 3 XL (4 GB + 128 GB)- Rs 65,999
Though it is not yet clear, whether the price cut is temporary or permanent, it is hard to argue otherwise. Nonetheless, if you have ever thought of buying a Pixel 3 smartphone that is known for its camera prowess, now might be the right time.

Click here to buy the Pixel 3 on Flipkart

Click here to buy the Pixel 3 XL on Flipkart

To recall the specifications of the two smartphones are as follows:

Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL Specifications

Pixel 3 XL

The Google Pixel 3 features a 5.5 inch display while the Pixel 3 XL features a 6 inch display with a wide notch up top. Both the smartphones are kitted with the Snapdragon 845 SoC which consists of an Octa Core CPU and Adreno 630 GPU. For biometric security, the two devices feature a rear mounted fingerprint sensor along with support for the traditional pattern lock.

Also Read: Oppo Reno With Shark Fin Selfie Camera Launched In India

Talking about optics, The Google Pixel 3 and the Google Pixel 3 XL have heterogeneous sensors. The smartphones feature a 12.2 MP rear facing camera and dual 8 MP + 8 MP front facing cameras. Connectivity options on the two devices include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac 2.4G + 5G, Bluetooth 5 .0, NFC, GPS and bottom mounted USB Type-C port. The smaller handset is powered by a 2915 mAh battery while the elder Pixel 3XL is powered by a 3430 mAh battery.

Click here to buy the Pixel 3 on Flipkart

Click here to buy the Pixel 3 XL on Flipkart
May 28, 2019
Oppo Reno With Shark Fin Selfie Camera Launched In India

Chinese smartphone maker, Oppo has finally launched its highly anticipated smartphone duo, the Oppo Reno in India. The smartphones were originally launched in China in the month of April 2019. The more affordable and less feature rich variant carries the ‘standard’ tag whereas the high-end variant of the device carries the ’10x Zoom’ suffix. The highlight of the smartphone is the shark fin style pop up camera, which is one of a kind. Except for the price, the main differences between the two newly launched smartphones are battery capacity, screen size, processor and number of rear camera sensors.

Oppo Reno Lineup: Features And Specifications

The Oppo Reno smartphone lineup, including the standard variant and the 10x zoom variant, has an attractive design. The large screen display of the smartphones is surrounded by narrow bezels on all four sides. The standard variant has a 6.4 inch AMOLED display while the elder sibling has a large 6.6 inch AMOLED display. Both smartphones have an impressive screen to body ratio of 93.1% which is attainable due to the aforementioned shark fin styled selfie camera.

The shark fin style extension houses a 16 MP camera sensor. The company claims that the selfie camera has a life cycle of more than 3,00,000 pop up which can be used as an indicator for its durability. The ‘standard’ variant of the newly launched smartphone has 2 rear facing cameras while the ’10x zoom variant’ has an additional 13 MP periscopic camera which offers 10x lossless zoom capability. Except for the periscopic camera, both variants have a 48 MP Sony IMX586 sensor and an 8 MP ultra-wide sensor.

The Oppo Reno ’10x zoom’ variant is kitted with the Snapdragon 855 SoC while the ‘standard’ variant is kitted with Snapdragon 710 SoC. Chipsets on both the smartphone variants have octa-core CPUs which can perform intensive tasks smoothly. The more affordable variant is powered by a 3765 mAh battery while the premium variant is powered by a 4065 mAh battery. Notably, both the variants support Oppo’s proprietary VOOC 3.0 charging technology. VOOC 3.0 allows the device to be charged with a maximum power of 20W which is equivalent to OnePlus’s Dash charge technology.

Both variants of the Oppo Reno run on ColosOS 6.0 based on top of Android 9 Pie. Connectivity options on both smartphones include Bluetooth v5.0, 802.11 ac Wi-Fi, 4G VoLTE, NFC and a bottom mounted USB Type-C port. Both the ‘standard’ and ’10x zoom’ variants of the Oppo Reno also have an in-display fingerprint sensor, which is becoming the norm for mid range to premium-range smartphones these days.

Oppo Reno Lineup: Price And Availability

Also Read: Unreleased Moto Z4 Accidentally Sold On Amazon, Buyer Posts Video On YouTube

Both the models of the Oppo Reno are available in two colour options which includes Jet Black and Ocean Green. The pricing of different storage variants is listed below:

Oppo Reno Standard Variant Oppo Reno 10x Zoom Variant

8 GB + 256 GB : Rs 32,990 6 GB + 128 GB : Rs. 39,990

8 GB + 256 GB : Rs 49,990

Click here to purchase the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom (8GB+256GB)

May 28, 2019
Alienware m15 And m17 Series Gaming Laptops Launched At Computex 2019

Alienware, the premium gaming brand by Dell had earlier this year announced the Area-51m model laptop. The gaming laptop brought modular functionality along with it, something that was unheard of at the time for laptops in general. In Computex 2019, Alienware announced the same design incorporated in their new iterations of the m15 and m17 gaming laptops.

The m15 and m17 series laptop adopt a lot of the designs from the company’s flagship (Area-51m), essentially making the laptops identical to each other to a certain degree. These laptops are reportedly slimmer however and do not support Area-51m’s modular capabilities.

Just announced! With hyper-e?cient voltage regulation, Cryo-Tech cooling v3.0 and a menacing design, our new thin and powerful #Alienware m15 lets you game like never before. #DellExperience #Computex2019 pic.twitter.com/I5ZbV8EDye
— ALIENWARE (@Alienware) May 28, 2019

The m15 had received a major overhaul last year while the m17 was refreshed at CES, this is the second time the series went under a major physical overhaul. Changes are not strictly aesthetical in nature with the Alienware gaming laptops receiving a new keyboard with deeper key travel, and a new glass finish trackpad alongside the latest 9th-Gen Intel CPU processors and NVIDIA’s latest GTX and RTX graphics card.

Apart from the screen size of 15 and 17 inch respectively, not much differs between the two Alienware laptops. Display options although vary between the two devices. The 15-inch model offers more options with 60Hz, 144Hz, or even 240Hz refresh rate on the 1080p display panel or 4K at just 60Hz, the last two options that are equipped with Tobii eye-tracking. The 17-inch model only offers 60hz or 144hz on its 1080p panel where only the 144Hz variant has the eye tracker.

Also Read: Xiaomi Launches RedmiBook 14 Laptop With Intel i7 Processor

The modular function that allows users to replace parts for a laptop, achieved by the Alienware Area-51m, is a feature that will be sorely missed. The m15 and m17 models are set to be launched on June 11th with prices starting at $1,499

May 28, 2019
Xiaomi Launches RedmiBook 14 Laptop With Intel i7 Processor
At an event held in China on May 28, Xiaomi’s subsidiary Redmi launched the RedmiBook 14 laptop alongside the K20 and K20 Pro smartphones. It is the company’s first laptop as an individual subsidiary, and it includes a good set of specifications and carries an aggressive price tag. Going by the looks of the device, it is clear that some inspiration has been derived from Apple’s MacBook lineup.

RedmiBook 14 Specifications And Features

The RedmiBook 14 has a metallic finish which gives it an elegant look. The laptop is branded with the Redmi Logo and features a 14 inch display. The laptop has an 81.2% screen-to-body ratio. It has a similar keyboard design to Apple’s MacBooks i.e island style keys. The left side of the laptop accommodates two USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI port and the power input socket, whereas the right side houses one USB 2.0 port and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Under the hood, the top variant of the RedmiBook 14 features the 8th generation Intel Core i7 processor. On the other hand, the specced-down variant of the same incorporates the 8th generation Intel Core i5 processor. The CPU is paired with the NVIDIA GeForce MX250 graphics chip, which has a TDP (Thermal Design Power) of 25W. In terms of memory, the RedmiBook 14 is kitted with 8GB of RAM across all variants. Storage options vary from 256GB of SSD to 512GB.

The laptop weighs at 1.5kg, which is quite light and is 17.95mm thick. As exhibited by the company, the RedmiBook 14 has air vents at the bottom and they cover an area of 2530mm^2,allowing for improved airflow. The laptop features a Modern Standby mode, which reduces battery consumption on standby. It boasts of DTS audio technology which claims to provide bass-rich sound. In terms of battery, the laptop can last for 10 hours on a single charge.

RedmiBook 14 Availability And Price

Also Read: Xiaomi Launches The Flagship Grade K20 and K20 Pro, Pricing Of The Redmi 7A Also Announced

The RedmiBook 14 will be available for purchase June 1 onwards. The pricing of the different variants is listed below:
- 8GB+512GB (Core i7): CNY 4,999 (~INR 50,400)
- 8GB+512GB (Core i5): CNY 4,299 (~INR 43,300)
- 8GB+256GB (Core i5): CNY 3,999 (~INR 40,300)
May 28, 2019

Redmi K20 & K20 Pro Launched

After much hype and speculations, Xiaomi’s subsidiary Redmi has launched its latest smartphones, the Redmi K20 and the Redmi K20 Pro. While the former is a mid-range offering, the latter is a flagship-grade device from the company, featuring top tier specifications at a competitive price. The handsets have been launched in China alongside the company’s first laptop called RedmiBook 14. Furthermore, the pricing of the Redmi 7A budget smartphone which was announced a few days ago has also been revealed at the event.

Specifications

As mentioned above, the Redmi K20 and the K20 Pro are the latest smartphones from the company. The devices have a glass design on the front and back with a metal chassis for reinforcement. They have an attractive gradient coloured design on the back. The handsets have a 6.39 inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 2340 x 1080 px. To maximise the screen real estate, they both have a pop-up mechanism on top to house the front-facing camera. For biometric security and unlocking the smartphones, the Redmi K20 series has an in display fingerprint scanner along with support for face unlock technology.

Under the hood, the Redmi K20 is kitted with the 8nm Snapdragon 730 SoC. The chipset is comprised of an Octa-core CPU and the Adreno 618 GPU. The more premium Redmi K20 Pro runs on the flagship grade 7nm Snapdragon 855 SoC which has an Octa-core CPU and the Adreno 640 GPU. In terms of optics, both smartphones have a triple rear camera setup consisting of an f/1.75 aperture equipped 48MP sensor, an f/2.4 aperture equipped 13MP ultra wide angle sensor; and a tertiary f/2.4 aperture equipped 8MP telephoto sensor. For selfies, an f/2.0 aperture equipped 32MP sensor is housed in the pop-up mechanism on top of the handsets.
Both the Redmi K20 and the K20 Pro are powered by a 4,000 mAh battery. However, the former supports 18 W fast charging while the latter supports 27 W fast charging. Both devices run on MIUI 10 which is based on top of the latest Android 9 Pie. The smartphone will be available in three colour variants namely, Blue, Red and Black.

Pricing & Availability

Also Read: Unreleased Moto Z4 Accidentally Sold On Amazon, Buyer Posts Video On YouTube

The pricing of the Redmi K20 and K20 Pro corresponding to the different storage variants is listed below.

Storage	Redmi K20 Price	Redmi K20 Pro Price
6GB RAM + 64GB ROM	CNY 1999 (INR 20,200)	CNY 2499 (INR 25,200)
6GB RAM + 128GB ROM	CNY 2099 (INR 21,200)	CNY 2599 (INR 26,200)
8GB RAM + 128GB ROM		CNY 2799 (INR 28,200)
8GB RAM + 256GB ROM		CNY 2999 (INR 30,300)

The price of the two variants of the previously announced Redmi 7A is as follows:

2 GB + 16 GB: CNY 549 (INR Rs 5,500)
2 GB + 32 GB: CNY 599 (INR Rs 6,000)

May 28, 2019

Asus Launches A Couple Of Laptops And Gaming Accessories At Computex 2019
Computex 2019 is at its full swing and Taiwanese electronics manufacturer, Asus has unveiled a wide variety of products at the event which includes laptops and gaming accessories. One notable device that Asus has unveiled is the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo laptop which features dual displays. Other products launched by the company are as follows:

ROG Strix XG17 Portable Gaming Monitor

As the name suggests, the ROG Strix XG17 is a portable gaming monitor with an inbuilt battery. The device features a 17.3 inch display with Full HD resolution. Noteworthy the display panel has a refresh rate of 240 Hz which provides for an ultra smooth gaming experience. The Asus ROG Strix XG17 supports Adaptive sync technology which eliminates choppy frame rates and screen tearing. It supports video input via the built in Micro HDMI port and the USB Type C port. The display can be used for playing games from mobiles, computers and consoles like Nintendo Switch. The aforementioned inbuilt battery is claimed to provide a battery backup of three hours. To keep the display of the Asus ROG Strix XG17 secure against scratches, it features a flip style cover which also doubles up as a stand.

Asus ZenBook 13/14/15

Asus has updated the ZenBook lineup of laptops for the year 2019 with latest innards while retaining the established name. The screen size of the three laptop models corroborates with the suffix in their name. The device is available in three different screen size options which include 13 inch, 14 inch and 15 inch. One key highlighting features of the ZenBook trio is the trackpad which doubles up as a secondary 5.65 inch display. The said display which is similar to one present on modern smartphones can be enabled or disabled by pressing the F6 key. The notable features this display can be used for include playing music, watching videos or play games like candy crush.

Talking about the specifications, the Asus ZenBook trio can be configured with Intel Core i7 CPUs along with Nvidia GTX 1650 Max Q GPU. In terms of memory and storage, the laptops support upto 1 TB of SSD storage and 8 GB of RAM. Input/Output ports on the three laptops are as follows:
1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C^™ (up to 10Gbps)

1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A (up to 10Gbps)

1 x USB 2.0

1 x Standard HDMI

1 x MicroSD card reader

1 x Audio combo jack

1 x DC-in

Asus ROG Theta Gaming Headsets

The company has unveiled two new pairs of flagship gaming headphones under the Theta sub brand which include the ROG Theta and ROG Theta Electret. The former has 8 Essence drivers with the largest being 30 mm in size. The headphone produces 7.1 surround sound output and supports AI powered noise cancelling microphones. On the other hand, the ROG Theta Electret is a pair of Analogue headphones with an impedance of 32 ohms and silver plated copper cables.

Asus VivoBooks

In addition to the ZenBook Pro Duo laptops and ZenBook laptops, Asus also unveiled updated VivoBooks. Like the ZenBooks, the new VivoBooks also have a ScreenPad 2.0 secondary display. Notably, the VivoBooks are economical than the ZenBooks, however, they still pack worthy features. They can be kitted with upto Intel Core i7 processors and Nvidia MX 250 GPU. The laptops feature Harman Kardon speakers that are claimed to have impressive sound output. They also have an ErgoLift hinge which raises the laptop from the surface for better airflow resulting in cooler temperatures while running heavy tasks.

Also Read: OnePlus 7 Pro Nebula Blue Edition To Go On Sale For The First Time In India

Pricing and availability of the newly launched products are yet to be announced which will be made available in the near future.
May 28, 2019
Unreleased Moto Z4 Accidentally Sold On Amazon, Buyer Posts Video On YouTube

Motorola’s long-awaited smartphone, the Moto Z4 that was set to replace its predecessor, namely the Moto Z3 of 2018, has had a lot of rumours and hype surrounding its release and pricing. There had been numerous leaks going around and a render that seemed promising.

Motorola had yet to provide a specific release date for its current-gen smartphone but in a bizarre turn of events, had the Moto Z4 listed in Amazon under a price tag of $499. Adding to the absurdity was the fact that a customer had actually bought the handset and making matters weirder, it actually got delivered.

Amazon shortly afterwards took down the listing of Moto Z4 after a Reddit post, by the aforementioned customer, started gaining traction online. However, it is already confirmed through the Amazon listing, the specification that the phone will carry. Sporting a 6.39-inch FHD+ OLED FullVision display alongside a Snapdragon 675 and 4GB of RAM with 128GB of storage. Powered by a 3600 mAh battery with 15W charging and a headphone jack as well.

The Moto Z4 receives an upgrade with its 48MP primary back camera that utilizes pixel binning (Quad Pixel technology) for a 12MP photo and the front-facing camera that has a 25MP sensor. The smartphone also offers an in-display fingerprint sensor and MicroSD card slot that is compatible with storage upto 2TB. A P2i splash-proof nano-coating, for protection against accidental spillage. The phone is built out of 6000 series aluminium, and a 2.5D curved glass layer finish on top. Moto Z4s display is protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3.

Also Read: OnePlus 7 Pro Nebula Blue Edition To Go On Sale For The First Time In India

Leaks similar to the Z4 also point towards a Z4 Force variant of Motorola. A screen protector on Amazon that is said to ‘Only fit the Moto Z4’ has been found. No other finder details have been announced by the company on its exact specifications and features or release date. However, the Moto Z4 Force is speculated to have the Snapdragon 855 and 8GB of RAM, powered by a 3230mAh battery.

May 28, 2019
The Laptop With World’s Six Most Dangerous Malware Sold For US$ 1.3 Million

What would you want to pay for a laptop that is a decade old and runs Windows XP? Oh, and add the fact that it has six of the world’s most dangerous malware installed in it. If you are having trouble answering the question, let us do the work for you. The laptop in question, framed as an artwork called Persistence of Chaos by Guo O Dong has been sold at an online auction for a whopping price of US$ 1,345,000 (INR 93,694,852).

About The Laptop

The laptop in question here is a Samsung NC10-14GB 10.2-Inch Blue Netbook which was introduced back in the year 2008. It was created by internet artist named Guo O Dong and was commissioned to do so by a cybersecurity firm known as Deep Instinct. The device as mentioned above runs 6 pieces of malware that are considered most dangerous in the world. All the malware installed in the laptop has been reported to have caused financial damages totalling US$ 95 Billion. The artwork has been kept isolated and is airgapped, which refers to it as it is kept away from the internet to prevent the spread of the malware.

Also read: OnePlus 7 Pro Nebula Blue Edition To Go On Sale For The First Time In India

The artist claims the intention behind the laptop was to make physical the abstract threat the digital world poses. The malware(s) inside the device are the ILOVEYOU virus, which was distributed via email and caused US$15 Billion in damages; the MyDoom, spread by Russian spammers and causing US$ 38 Billion in damages. The third is the SoBig worm, which was reported to have caused US$ 37 Billion in damages. Other malware includes the WannaCry, DarkTequila and BlackEnergy viruses, which also have been notorious in causing financial damage to consumers. For those curious, you can visit this link to watch the live stream of the laptop kept in its enclosure because apparently, that is a thing now.

May 28, 2019
OnePlus 7 Pro Nebula Blue Edition To Go On Sale For The First Time In India
Chinese smartphone OEM OnePlus launched its latest flagship device, the OnePlus 7 Pro at an event on the 14th of May. The handset boasts of top tier specifications at a comparatively affordable price tag than its competitors. While the smartphone was unveiled in three colour variants at the time of launch namely Mirror Black, Almond and Nebula Blue; the company only made available the former for the initial sales. Now, the much-awaited colour variant of the three, the Nebula Blue is all set to go on sale for the first time in India today. Noteworthy, it is the only variant at the moment available in the 12GB RAM and 256GB ROM configuration.

Pricing & Availability

The OnePlus 7 Pro Nebula Blue as mentioned above, features 12GB RAM and 256GB ROM. The smartphone will be available at a price of Rs. 57,999 for the top tier variant. For people looking for a more affordable deal, the variant with 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage is priced at Rs. 48,999 while the 8GB RAM and 128GB ROM version retails for Rs. 52,999. It will go on sale at 12 noon starting May 28th with the availability of the Almond variant to be announced soon.

OnePlus 7 Pro

To recall, the OnePlus 7 Pro is the latest flagship offering from the company and the specced-up variant of the OnePlus 7. The smartphone measures 162.6 x 75.9 x 8.8mm and weighs 206 g. It has an all-glass design on the front and back with a metal chassis for reinforcement. The device has a 6.67 inch Fluid AMOLED display with a resolution of 3120 x 1440 px which gives it a pixel density of 516 ppi.

The display on the OnePlus 7 Pro has a praiseworthy refresh rate of 90Hz which is also seen in handsets like the Asus ROG Phone and Nubia Red Magic 3. To maximise the screen real estate, the smartphone has minimal bezels on all sides of the display and utilises a pop-up mechanism to house the front-facing camera. For biometric security and rapidly unlocking the device, it features an in display fingerprint scanner with support for face unlock technology.

Under the hood, the OnePlus 7 Pro is kitted with the 7nm Snapdragon 855 SoC which consists of an Octa-core CPU and the Adreno 640 GPU. In terms of optics, the smartphone has a triple rear camera setup comprised of an f/1.6 aperture equipped 48 MP primary sensor; and an f/2.4 aperture equipped 8 MP telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom; the third sensor used is an f/2.2 aperture equipped 16 MP ultra wide angle lens with a Field of View (FoV) of 117 degrees.

It can also capture 4K videos at 60fps and supports Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) for smoother footage. For selfies, an f/2.0 aperture equipped 16 MP camera is housed in the pop-up mechanism on top of the display. Video from the front camera is capped at 1080p resolution at 30fps. In terms of memory and storage, the handset will be available in the following variants.
- 6GB RAM and 128GB ROM
- 8GB RAM and 256GB ROM
- 12GB RAM and 256GB ROM
Also read: Asus ZenBook Pro Duo With A Secondary ScreenPad Takes MacBook’s Touch Bar A Step Further

The OnePlus 7 Pro is powered by a 4000mAh battery with support for 30W Warp Charging technology. The smartphone uses a new X-axis Haptic Vibration Motor which the company claims will provide it with better haptic feedback than the OnePlus 6T. In terms of connectivity, the device supports Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0 and NFC. The OnePlus 7 Pro also boasts of Dual Stereo Speakers and Audio tuned by the Dolby Atmos technology. It is the first globally available smartphone to feature the Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 3.0 standard, which should result in fast read and write speeds.
May 28, 2019
Asus ZenBook Pro Duo With A Secondary ScreenPad Takes MacBook’s Touch Bar A Step Further
Taiwan based electronics manufacturer, Asus has unveiled yet another innovative lineup of laptops at the Computex 2019. The said event is held in Taipei, Taiwan and it is one of the world’s biggest PC convention. Taking the Touch Bar from Apple’s MacBooks a step further, Asus unveiled the ZenBook Pro Duo which features dual displays.

Asus ZenBook Pro Duo Specs & Design

As previously mentioned the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo has a distinctive design accrediting to two display. Out of the two displays, one is the primary screen while the second display is placed above the keyboard. The company has unveiled two models of the laptop which carry the following model numbers:
- UX581
- UX481
The key differences between the two models are disparate CPU, GPU and screen size. The Asus ZenBook Pro Duo UX581 features a 15.6 inch touch screen main display along with the 14 inch ScreenPad Plus (secondary display). On the other hand, the more affordable Asus ZenBook Pro Duo UX481 has a 14 inch main display along with 12.6 inch ScreenPad Plus display. Notably, the beefed up UX581 features 4K display while the UX481 has a display with FHD resolution.

In terms of processor, the Asus ZenBook UX581 is offered with two options a) i9-9980HK and b) i7-9750H. While the UX481 is offered only with the i7 option. The former features the Nvidia RTX 2060 GPU 6 GB of DDR6 RAM while the latter features Nvidia MX250 with 2 GB of RAM. The UX581 can be kitted with upto 32 GB of DD4 2666 MHz RAM while the former supports 2133 MHz DDR3 RAM upto 16GB.

Both the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo laptops can be configured with similar storage options which include 1 TB PCIE x4 SSD or 512GB / 256GB PCIe x2 SSD. The primary difference between the two storage options is dissimilar read and write speeds. The x4 SSD are upto twice as fast as the x2 variant. Features including connectivity, webcam and I/O port are identical on two variants of the Asus ZenBook. They support Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5 along with an IR webcam with Windows Hello Support. I/O ports on the two laptops are as follows:
- 1 x Thunderbolt
- 3x USB-C
- 2 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A
- 1 x Standard HDMI
- 1 x Audio combo jack
- 1 x DC-in
Notably, the economical Asus ZenBook Pro Duo UX481 also has a Micro SD card slot. The former is powered by a 70 Wh battery while the UX581 is powered by a 71 Wh battery.

Talking about the ScreenPad it is mainly targetted towards content creators who can use the secondary display to control or monitor additional controls in certain apps. One example of the ScreenPad would controlling additional features in video editing programs.

Also Read: Lenovo’s Project Limitless Features a 5G Laptop Running On Snapdragon 8cx CPU Processor

All in all, the newly launched Asus ZenBook Pro Duo ultrabooks laptop seem highly innovative. However, the price of the two devices is yet to be unveiled which can be expected in the near future.
May 27, 2019
Lenovo’s Project Limitless Features a 5G Laptop Running On Snapdragon 8cx CPU Processor

Lenovo along with other tech giants has made great strides in technological development that has been showcased at Computex 2019. Lenovo and Qualcomm have yet to divulge finer details regarding their Project Limitless other than the fact that the driving technology leading to this innovation is Qualcomm’s very own Snapdragon 8cx chipset that supports 5G connectivity.

Unveiled last December, the Snapdragon 8cx claims great performance with amazing battery life for Windows on ARM devices. Designed specifically to tackle issues and concerns surrounding Snapdragon’s previous iterations on PCs. The octa-core Kyro 495 CPU on the chipset features an increased 10MB cache, improving on Chromes performance than its previous versions. Built on a 7nm architecture the Snapdragon 8cx in the Lenovo laptop is reportedly a ‘lot more’ power efficient than the Snapdragon 855. A ‘lot more’ not in terms of hours but days.

The Units that were made available to the attendees of Computex were, however, demos, so no real benchmark on network speeds are available. According to the demo devices system settings, the Snapdragon 8cx CPU was reported to have been running at 2.8GHz clock speed along with 16GB of RAM, all in all, specs comfortable enough for multitasking processes.

Qualcomm, for comparison purposes, showcased its products capabilities by pitting it against its targetted rival, i.e Intel’s Core i5-8250U. Using the new PCMark 10 Application benchmark on systems of similar specs had the Qualcomm’s 8cx beat the Intel’s i5 on apps like Microsoft Edge and Word. Intel’s processor won on other apps like Excel and PowerPoint.

Also Read: Razer Adds Quadro RTX 5000 GPU To Blade Ultrabook Laptops

This may cement Qualcomm in the laptop grade CPU market and have their Snapdragon brand expand to laptops alongside Lenovo. The inclusion of 5G networking on sub-6GHz connection is a great plus point as well that goes along with the ‘Limitless’ nomenclature.

May 27, 2019
Apple iPhone XI To Have Full Screen Touch ID

Apple’s upcoming flagship smartphones have been a centrepiece of leaks and rumours for quite some time now. Going by previous leaks, the smartphones will feature triple rear camera sensors which may be set up in a triangular fashion. However, the latest revelations have nothing to do with the device’s camera. Instead, information regarding the biometric security has been leaked, and it divulges that the Apple iPhone XI may have a full screen Touch ID integration.

Apple iPhone XI Leaked Details

As per sources, Apple’s upcoming smartphones will resemble the design factor of their predecessors, with the major difference being the additional rear camera lens. Furthermore, 3D touch functionality will be removed from the 2019 iPhones, which indicates that the company may introduce a Haptic Touch feature in its handsets.

Reportedly, all the iPhones will be transitioned to OLED displays in the year 2020, with LG becoming the secondary supplier of the same, reports state. The company will reportedly step-up the production of the next-generation iPhones in the months of July and/or August. As mentioned previously, the iPhone XI series will incorporate support for 5G connectivity in addition to 3D sensing in the rear camera. The highlight of the leaks, however, is the acoustic fingerprint sensor, which will enable fullscreen Touch ID capability in the smartphone. If and when this happens, the Apple iPhone XI will be the first smartphone to exhibit the aforementioned feature.

Sources also indicate that Apple may also launch a budget iPhone SE 2, which will be based on the lines of the iPhone 8. The popular Apple iPhone XR is also expected to receive an upgrade, which will bump up the RAM capacity from 3GB to 4GB along with updated chipset and dual cameras.

Also Read: 2019 iPhone Models Will Get Support For Dual Audio Connection Over Bluetooth

In light of other leaks, the 2019 iPhones may sport a frosted glass casing and an improved battery capacity. Moreover, “bilateral charging” feature may make its way to the new devices, which will function similarly to the Reverse Wireless Charging feature in the Samsung Galaxy S10 lineup. Reportedly, the feature will allow users to charge their Apple AirPods and Apple Watch by simply placing them on the back of the iPhone. Going by the company’s launch patterns over the years, Apple will unveil its latest smartphones in the month of September 2019.

May 27, 2019

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8 GB + 256 GB : Rs 32,990	6 GB + 128 GB : Rs. 39,990
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