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Samsung Is Developing A Rollable TV
Samsung is not only the worlds number one smartphone manufacture, it is also a leader in display technologies. A patent granted to the company reveals they are working on a TV with a rollable display.

Rollable TV Patent
- Space Saving- This is one apparent benefit of owning a television with a rollable dipslay. Such a TV can be rolled into its casing which will free up the space surrounding the TV set. In addition, transporting a compact rollable TV would be much easier in comparison to a conventional flat screen TV. This will reduce logistics and costs to allow the TV to become cheaper.
- Tough – Due to its flexible nature, the display panel wont break easily unlike glass panels on currently available Televisions. The currently available TVs are prone to breaking if hit by a sharp object. Whereas the flexible panel would be harder to break and the shell protecting the display can further increase its life. Such a device would be a perfect fit of homes with toddlers and growing up teens.
- Variable Aspect Ratio- Future TVs with rollable display can have variable aspect ratio as the outer shell can be opened to a particular width to alter its aspect ratio.
Samsung’s Rollable TV Patent

Samsung Electronics filed a patent with USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) for a TV with a rollable display which has been granted. The patent reveals a wide screen television that can fold in to a close packed form factor. The stand of the TV with rollable display acts as the base when it is in the closed state. The rollable display and the rolling mechanism is concealed behind the side protection covers of the device.

The flexible LED panel rolls out on either sides to transform into a full screen television. The mechnaism of the TV from Samsung’s patent is quite similar to that of a roller blind. The top and bottom sides of the flexible LED panel has grooves that interlock when in closed state. Another patent illustration reveals that the base of the stand has a rack and pinion cogged mechanism which will likely be controlled with the help of motors.

Lg Already showcased a vertically rollable POLED based TV which has a different design from this patent. ( See Top Image.)

Launch Date

Also Read: Samsung Galaxy M10 Spotted At FCC

Even tough Samsung has not announced the launch date of a Television with a rollable display. The details of the patent indicate that such a device could launch soon. Perhaps the company can showcase a rollable TV at one of the upcoming tech events like CES or IFA 2019.
January 1, 2019
Mi TVs Get Price Cut In India

Apart from smartphones, Xiaomi sells several products in India. Mi Televisions in India are very competitively priced. The Mi LED TVs range between a screen size of 32-inch to 55-inch. A tweet shared on Mi India’s Twitter page states that a variety of Mi TV models have received a price cut of up to Rs 2,000.

Mi TV Price-cut

Mi is able to reduce the price of following TV models due to relaxation in Government policies and strong performance of Rupee in comparison to the US Dollar. Following is the list of all Mi TVs that will receive a price cut.

1.) Mi LED Smart TV 4A 32

As the name suggests, the Mi TV 4A has a 32-inch HD display panel with a resolution of 1376 x 768 px. The TV has 2×10 watts stereo speakers and feature a 64-bit quad core processor. The Mi TV 4A has 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of inbuilt storage. Prior to the price cut, the LED TV was available at a price of Rs 13,999. After a Rs 1500 price drop, it will be available for Rs 12,499.

Click Here To Buy Mi TV 4A 32

2.) Mi TV 4A Pro 49

The Mi TV 4A Pro has a 49-inch Full HD display panel with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 px. It also features the 64-bit quad-core Amlogic SoC which is present on other models. Most notably, it has 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of inbuilt storage. The Mi TV 4A Pro 49 run on Android operating system. The TV was previously available at a price of Rs 31,999 and after the 1000 Rs price cut it will be available for Rs 30,999.

3.) Mi TV 4C Pro 32

Also Read: Most Anticipated Smartphones Of 2019

The Mi TV 4C Pro has similar specifications to the Mi TV 4A. The major difference between the two is that the 4C Pro runs on Android OS while the latter has Xiaomi’s in-house developed operating system. It also has a 32-inch display panel with a resolution of 1376 x 768 px. In addition, the remote control of the 4C Pro can be used to interact with Google voice search. The TV was originally available at a price of Rs 15,999. After the price drop of Rs 2,000 it will be available for Rs 13,999.

January 1, 2019
Stranger Things Season 3 Premiere Date Revealed

Netflix has given us all a new year gift! They have finally revealed the premiere date for the much anticipated show- Stranger Things. Netflix shared an image for the show on a popular social networking site which just read “JULY4” indicating the premiere date. The image shows the kids we all know and love standing on a viewpoint watching the fireworks.

JULY 4 pic.twitter.com/UX9M1L02rd
— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) January 1, 2019

What we know so far

But Netflix being so meta, they shared another seemingly unsuspecting tweet before sharing the image. That consisted of a video showing parts of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve countdown from Dec. 31, 1984. The video was interrupted with occasional glitches with alphabets written on them. This is like a word search game we see in newspapers and magazines, except a few words were highlighted.

Live from WIYZ, it's a Hawkins New Year's Eve! https://t.co/GhaGjVyNse
— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) January 1, 2019

The sentence read “When Blue And Yellow Meet In The West”. The trailer also shows someone hacking into “Lynx Corp”. It also shows a copyright from 1984-1986, and shows someone running the program “SilverCatFeeds.exe.” The live countdown feed for the new year then glitches out finally showing SMPTE color bars.

Then the feed comes back on again with a tagline that states “One summer can change everything” and then the date July 4, 1985 which changes to July 4, 2019.

Stranger Things star David Harbour also said in an interview that this season will be a “Summer of love” which might be fitting since the last season ended with Mike and Eleven dancing at a school event. The Season 3 will have 8 episodes. The episode names have also been revealed which might give further clues as to how the story will evolve. The first episode is named “Chapter One: Suzie, Do You Copy?” and the last is called “Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt”. Stranger Things fans have already started to try and decode what the hidden messages mean and how the storyline would progress. We would love to see if 4Chan can decode this before 4th of July.

January 1, 2019
SpaceX’s Starship Prototype Being Built At Breakneck Speeds

In September 2016, Elon Musk had revealed his plans to build a super-heavy launch vehicle that could transport people in space. It was called the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS). Then in 2017, Musk showed the world an updated design of that space ship. He also renamed it to Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) and the Big Falcon Spacecraft (BFS). Now the name has changed again. The new name of the craft is Starship and the work is already in progress.

What has changed?

The rocket will be made out of polished stainless steel. Elon Musk has already shown off that rockets can be reused upon re-entry to earth, thus reducing the cost of space travel. According to Musk, a smaller version of the Starship will also be built for testing. The ship is being built at their South Texas launch site. This is also where the first hop test will be conducted in June 2019.

The hull of the ship was originally supposed to be built with carbon composites (CCs) but a recent image shared by Elon Musk on Twitter suggests that it is being built with stainless steel alloy. The company is using 300 Series Stainless steel for the hull.

On being questioned if stainless steel would make the ship heavier, Elon Musk stated that the alloy is heavier compared to carbon composites at room temperature. However it is lighter and stronger at cryogenic temperatures ranging from –150 °C (-238 °F) to absolute zero (-273 °C; -460 °F).

Why Stainless Steel?

Stainless steel’s natural reflectivity also has it’s positives since it will require less heat shielding. The steel is coldformed at cryogenic temperatures. This process allows for the end product to be lighter and tougher than traditional hot-rolled steel.

SpaceX is also working on a staged combustion, methane fuelled rocket engine called Raptor. On being asked of be Raptor will be powered by electric turbo pumps, Elon further tweeted that the Raptor will not feature the electric pump fed engine. According to Musk, the Raptor turbopumps need 100,000 horsepower per engine.

The image shared by Elon looks like it is directly out of a Sci-fi movie and we hope Space X achieves what it has set out to achieve. 2019 will be a very important year for the company as it has set various goals in this year.

January 1, 2019
Samsung Galaxy M10 Spotted At FCC

Samsung is all set to launch a new mid-series of smartphones that will carry the ‘Galaxy M’ branding. The Galaxy M20 was previously leaked with an octa-core processor and a jumbo 5,000 mAh. It’s younger sibling, the Galaxy M10 has also received FCC’s approval. The FCC listing provides information about the key specifications of the Galaxy M10.

Galaxy M10 Specifications

According to the FCC listing, the upcoming Galaxy M10 has a length of 155.7 mm and a width of 75.8 mm. However, there is no information about the thickness and weight of the device. The front of the smartphone has an overall diagonal length of 6.5 inches or 165.5 mm while the size of the display is 6.03 inch or 153.2 mm.

In terms of connectivity, the Galaxy M10 supports 4G VoLTE, 802.11 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2. Although the listing does not provide the battery capacity details of the device, it does provide the model number of the battery which is “EB-BA750ABN”. The same battery is also present on the previously launched Galaxy A8s and it has a capacity of 3,400 mAh.

Under the hood, the Galaxy M10 features the Exynos 7870 SoC. The Exynos 7870 is manufactured using 14 nm FinFET process and it consists of an Octa-Core CPU along with the Mali-T830 GPU. The eight Cortex-A53 cores are clocked at a frequency of 1.6 GHz. While the FCC listing does not reveal the camera details, but according to Nashville Chatter Galaxy M10 will have a 13 MP rear camera and a 5 MP front selfie camera.

Price And Launch

Also Read: Huawei Y7 Pro Launched With Octa-Core Processor

The official price of the Galaxy M10 will only be revealed at the time of its launch but going by the specifications it can a sub 15k smartphone. The smartphone is expected to launch in Q1 of 2019.

January 1, 2019
Most Anticipated Smartphones Of 2019

The year 2018 is over and it has been a great year for smartphones around the world. From the notch becoming a trend to retractable cameras and in-display fingerprint sensors. Smartphones saw a lot of innovations this year. However, for 2019 there is a lot more to be seen! Each and every company is racing towards making the experience of using a smartphone better and more immersive and that means the notch has to go. Everything from foldable displays, dual displays, in-display cameras and a lot more can be expected from the year to come. In this article, we find out what the most anticipated phones of 2019 are.

Samsung Galaxy S10

Rumors were doing the rounds that the Galaxy S10 would have a folding display that Samsung is working on. But now it seems Samsung will have two separate products – the smartphone and the tablet that folds up to become a phone. In a recent event, the company showed us an early prototype of the folding tablet and we might see it sooner than expected.

The base model Galaxy S10 will have a flat screen design with in-display front cameras and will have an edge to edge screen. Leaks also suggest that there will be three different variants of the phone. Two with an Edge display while one without.

Apple iPhone XI

Apple has always been tight-lipped about their new phones but the 2019 upgrades might not be too revolutionary. It has been widely reported that the iPhone will still feature the notch in its 2019 version and may finally do away with it in 2020. A recent report suggests that Apple is teaming up with Sony to build 3D cameras that will provide more security and will bring about change in the way we photograph and view things.

Sony has also revealed that their 3D camera technology will be ready in 2019 itself and will be mass produced for consumers this year. Apple iPhones are known for their security features and great cameras. the company may use this technology this year itself or save it for the next big design change in 2020.

OnePlus 7

Oneplus devices are one of the most anticipated devices every year due to their ‘budget flagship’ tag. OnePlus 7 will most probably see it’s launch around midsummer in 2019. The device is anticipated to have a small camera hole under the screen and is rumored to have smaller bezels. The in- display fingerprint sensor stays.

We are still not sure if Oneplus 7 will finally see an IP rating and a wireless charging feature or not but a recently leaked photo shows the company’s executives holding a phone with a huge circular shaped camera design at the back that is reminiscent of the Lumia 1020.

Pixel 3 Lite and Pixel 4

Users were extremely unhappy to see the hideously big notch on this years Pixel device. Google being new to the hardware space, might take a little time to understand the trends in the smartphone industry. However, we can expect great things from the Pixel 4.

Keeping to the tradition, we can expect one of the best cameras on a smartphone from the Pixel 4 as is the case with all Pixel devices. We can also expect a bigger screen and no notch or a very small notch. There have been no leaks so far regarding the next generation Pixel.

Huawei P30

As 5G knocks on the door of technology, most manufacturers are trying their best to re-imagine their upcoming phones with 5G. Huawei is no exception and the company’s new phone, the Huawei P30, will be 5G enabled. According to some renders, the Huawei P30 might feature 4 cameras at the back with a teardrop notch in front. The phone will look sleek and have very little in terms of bezels. It is expected to feature a Kirin 985 CPU and might sport 8GB/10GB of RAM. Reverse Wireless charge is expected to come to the P30.

Xiaomi Poco F2

Xiaomi created a revolution with the launch of the Poco F1 which featured a Snapdragon 845 on a budget smartphone. The Snapdragon 845 was always seen in expensive flagship phones and a few lower price point flagships but a budget phone with the latest CPU offering was unheard of. Xiaomi quickly garnered a lot of support for the Poco lineup and now 2019 might see the second version of the phone.

According to a Geekbench listing, Poco F2 might not sport the latest Snapdragon 855 that almost all high end phones will feature in the coming year. The Poco F2 is reported to receive very little changes compared to its predecessor. The phone will have 6GB of RAM and will be loaded with Android Pie out of the box. It will be interesting to see what price point Xiaomi places this phone at and how it is welcomed by the Poco F1 fans.

December 31, 2018
Huawei Y7 Pro Launched With Octa-Core Processor

Huawei launched the original Y7 Pro smartphone earlier this year. The company has now launched its successor, the Y7 Pro (2019). The smartphone is currently available in select regions and the company might soon launch it in other regions as well.

Design & Performance

The Huawei Y7 Pro has an all-glass front and back panel which gives it a premium look. On the front of the smartphone sits a 6.26-inch HD+ display that has a pixel density of 1520 x 720 px and a 19:9 aspect ratio. The smartphone also has a small waterdrop notch at the top of the display which houses the 16 MP selfie camera. Except for the chunky bottom chin, the smartphone has thin bezels on all sides. The earpiece for listening to voice call is built-into the top bezel above the display. The top side of the Huawei Y7 Pro is occupied by the 3.5 mm audio jack while the bottom side is occupied by the Micro-USB 2.0 port and the loudspeaker grille.

The rear side of the Huawei Y7 Pro has a similar design to a lot of other Huawei smartphones. The smartphone is available in two different coloured back panel options which are Black and Aurora Green. The rear of the device houses the dual camera setup and the vertically placed Huawei branding. The rear camera setup consists of dual 13 MP + 2 MP camera sensors along with an LED Flash. Additionally, the smartphone has AI camera assistance which helps to click better pictures.

Under the hood, the Huawei Y7 Pro features the Octa-Core Snapdragon 450 CPU along with the Adreno 506 GPU. The smartphone runs on EMUI 8.2 and is powered by a large 4,000 mAh battery. In terms of connectivity, it supports 4G VoLTE, 802.11 ac Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.2. The phone also supports facial unlock technology for quickly and securely unlocking the device.

Price & Availability

Also Read: Press Renders Of Nokia 9 PureView Leak

The smartphone is available in single RAM + ROM configuration and is currently available in Vietnam. The price of the smartphone for 3GB RAM + 32 GB ROM is 39,90,000 Vietnamese Dong (around Rs 12,000 INR).

December 31, 2018
WhatsApp Will Soon Stop Working On These Mobile Phones
WhatsApp Messenger is a cross-platform messaging and VoIP application that was originally launched in the year 2009. At the time of its launch, only a handful of companies manufactured smartphones. Android and iOS are currently the leading smartphone operating systems but the scenario was completely different a decade ago. According to WhatsApp, 70 percent of mobile phones sold at that time had operating systems offered by Nokia and BlackBerry. While Android, iOS and Windows Phone OS were on less than 25 percent mobile phones sold at that time.

Phones That Will Soon Stop Supporting WhatsApp

Prior to the inception of smartphones, Nokia feature phones ruled the mobile kingdom. Even after the launch of Android and iOS smartphones, those feature phones would sell in huge quantities. However, due to cheap feature-laden smartphones, the sales of Nokia feature phones started falling sharply. It has fallen so much so that the only 0.5 percent of all WhatsApp supporting devices are Nokia S40 phones.

Prior to the inception of smartphones, Nokia feature phones ruled the mobile kingdom. Click to Share

After the doom of Symbian, Nokia launched the Asha series smartphones which were both affordable and supported a wide variety of apps. Some smartphones from the Asha series that support WhatsApp include Asha 200 series, Asha 300 series and the Asha 500 series. Till now these smartphones supported all the functions of WhatsApp but now the company has pulled the cord on these devices as well. Therefore, Series 40 Nokia devices will soon stop supporting WhatsApp. In addition to Nokia S40 phones, WhatsApp will soon axe support from a variety of other smartphones which are as follows:
- Android device 2.3.7 and older- Support until 1 February 2020
- iOS 7 and older versions- Support until 1 February 2020
Also Read: Press Renders Of Nokia 9 PureView Leak
December 31, 2018
Press Renders Of Nokia 9 PureView Leak

Nokia is reportedly working on a camera-centric smartphone, the Nokia 9 PureView. The specifications and accessories of the smartphone have leaked on several instances. A latest leak of the Nokia 9 PureView provides detailed information about the design of the smartphone. The renders of the smartphone were shared on Twitter by notorious leakster EvLeaks.

Nokia 9 PureView Design

Nokia 9 PureView "Beholder." HNY pic.twitter.com/x4Kh3anP46
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) December 31, 2018

The Nokia 9 PureView seems to have an all glass front and back build with an aluminum chassis. The aluminum chassis has chamfered edges that look very attractive. The front of the Nokia 9 PureView has a large screen display with minimal right and left bezels. However, the top and bottom bezels are quite notable. The top bezel of the smartphone accommodates a single selfie camera, earpiece, light sensors, and the Nokia branding. Most notably, the display of the Nokia 9 PureView has a fingerprint indicator that states the smartphone will have an In-display fingerprint sensor.

The glass back of the Nokia 9 PureView tapers towards the sides and houses it’s key highlighting feature, the five camera setup. Additionally, the rear of the smartphone carries the Nokia logo and the android one marking. The android one marking ensures that the smartphone will receive prolonged Android updates. The five rear camera setup has an unconventional placement and reportedly each camera lens will serve a dedicated purpose. In addition to the five camera lenses, the rear camera setup also has an LED flash and a circular sensor which could be some kind of a light sensor. The detailed specifications of the smartphone will only be revealed after its official launch.

Launch Date

Also Read: Samsung Galaxy A50 Will Feature A 4,000 mAh Battery And 24 MP Main Camera

Although Nokia is yet to officially announce the launch date of the Nokia 9 PureView, reports suggest that the smartphone will launch in the last week of January 2019.

December 31, 2018
Best Indian Superhero Comics That You Need To Read Now !

We have all known and loved superheroes like Superman, Spider-Man, Batman and the likes but did you know that there are a lot of superheroes that are closer to home? Yes, India has a host of superheroes with some using brawn and others using their brainpower to solve mysteries and fight crime! In this article we look back at the legacy of the forgotten Indian superheroes and try to list some of the best ones yet!

Chacha Chaudhary

Not all superheroes wear capes. And not all superheroes need to look muscular. Chacha Chaudhary is the quintessential Indian comic book hero that is fun for all ages. The comic revolves around an old man names Chacha Chaudhary and his adventures. Chacha is the Hindi for paternal uncle. Being an old man, his years of experience is the weapon of his choice. Although he isn’t afraid to show his moves when need be, being an ex- professional boxer back in the day. He uses his experience and knowledge to solve crimes and when a little muscle power is needed, he takes the help of Sabu, an alien from Jupiter. The comics are small, entertaining and extremely fun to read. It is written in extremely simplistic language so that even kids can read the comics but is no less fun for adults either!

Chakra- The Invincible

This comic, believe it or not is co-created by Stan Lee along with Sharad Devarajan from Graphic India. The comic book follows a young boy from Mumbai who creates a super suit that unlocks the mystical chakras of the body giving him super powers. He becomes the protector of the city of Mumbai using his new gained powers. The book is extremely well drawn and illustrations of this quality are rarely seen in Indian superhero comics.

Super Commando Dhruva

Super Commando Dhruva is a superhero from the fictional Indian city of Rajnagar. He is the founder of a fictional government-approved crime fighter organisation called Commando Force. He has no superpowers per se, but his intellect, detective skills, ability to talk to almost every kind of animals, scientific knowledge, martial art and acrobatic skills and an unparalleled willpower helps him achieve his goal which is to eliminate evil from the world. The comics are extremely well written and the storyline is quite strong. It is also worth noting that Dhruva, unlike most superheroes does not wear a mask and has no alter-ego. Dhruva also believes in very minimal violence and does not kill anyone. The writer has written him in a way that makes the comic book hero feel like someone children can idolize.

Devi

Devi is an Indian comic book with a woman as the central character. The woman is named Tara Mehta. Devi, a celestial warrior goddess was made by the Gods to fight Demon Lord Bala in the second century of man. But when Bala rose again, Devi was reborn in Tara Mehta. Tara Mehtais shown to lead a posh lifestyle alongside her boyfriend Iyam, who is a gangster. It is also revealed that during the ancient battle, Iyam was one of Bala’s favourite generals. The story has intricate details and twists and the characters in the comic book are well thought out as well. The artwork is also extremely dark and gritty while being very detailed. It makes for an overall great read!

Parmanu

The story of Parmanu is also very interesting. It is about a boy named Vinay who saw his classmate getting killed by criminals in school and decided to avenge her death. He found the actual murder weapon which was a revolver and discovered that the killer was the head of police himself. This led to the police officer trying to kill him before he killed the officer. Vinay was rescued from the officer’s hands by Prof. K.K. Verma by hiding him in his lab.

The professor told Vinay that he had developed a super suit that would give him super powers to help him avenge the death of the classmate. The suit, a yellow bodysuit and a utility belt gave him amazing superpowers. These include firing atomic bolts from his chest and hands, reeling out atomic rope from his wrist band apart from the ability to teleport, atomize, and reduce his size to any desired level with the help of his belt.

Sadhu

The Sadhu is a very unique Indian graphic novel whose main character isn’t Indian.The theme is set during the British rule in India. The story starts in Britain where two young brothers are looking for a job on the docks of London. James, one of the brothers, has to take up a job as a member of the Imperial army in India due to a chain of events and circumstances. The story follows James where he eventually meets a band of Indian killers. The leader of the bandit gang recognizes him as The Sadhu, who was once his mentor. The Sadhu is a force for good recruited by the goddess and that his entire life is a preparation for this conversion. He possesses mystical superpowers which he uses for the good and to defeat his enemy Colonel Timothy Townsend.

Shakti

Shakti is an Indian comic book series published by Raj Comics. The comics revolve around the central character of Chanda who was an ordinary housewife. She discovered that her husband was killing off her daughters and that filled her with rage. The unhindered rage sent smokes to the heaven and that is when the Goddess Kali descended into her body to deliver justice. She became Shakti. Chanda has a third eye on her forehead that she hides with a headband as she goes about her business. Goddess Kali is the destroyer of demons and also possesses a third eye. She has the ability to sense any woman’s cry and pain in the world. Shakti also has lighting speed and can shoot beams through her third eye when in rage. She is indeed the symbol of woman power in the Indian comic book fraternity.

December 29, 2018
Samsung Galaxy A50 Will Feature A 4,000 mAh Battery And 24 MP Main Camera

Samsung is expected to launch a new Galaxy A series smartphone, the Galaxy A50. Earlier this month, the smartphone was spotted on Geekbench’s website. According to a latest leak, the upcoming Samsung handset will feature a large capacity battery and a high-resolution main camera.

Battery And Camera

The alleged details about the battery and the camera of the Galaxy A50 were revealed by a Dutch website, Galaxyclub which happens to be a trustworthy source. According to the source, the Galaxy smartphone will have a 4,000 mAh Lithium-Ion battery like the Galaxy Note 9. In addition, Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy M20 smartphone which reportedly has a massive 5,000 mAh battery. It seems Samsung has started to realise that smartphones with large battery capacities can help the company to gain traction and boost sales.

Furthermore, the source claims that the Galaxy A50 will have a 24 MP rear camera. Other Galaxy A series smartphones including the Galaxy A9 and the Galaxy A7 have more than one rear camera. Perhaps, the Galaxy A50 will have additional rear camera sensors except for the 24 MP main sensor.

Past Leaks

The Galaxy A50 was previously spotted on Geekbench’s website that revealed the chipset, RAM details and Android version of the smartphone. According to the Geekbench listing, the handset runs on the latest Android 9.0 Pie which is likely to be skinned with the company’s latest One UI. It features the Octa-Core Exynos 9610 SoC which is paired with 4 GB of RAM. However, the company might as well launch higher RAM capacity variants of the device. The smartphone registers a single-core score of 1615 points and a multi-core score of 4380 points. Going by the Geekbench scores, the device will compete against smartphones that feature the Snapdragon 660 SoC.

Launch Date

Also Read: Apple iPhone Flagships To Be Manufactured At Foxconn Chennai Plant

Samsung is yet to comment about the launch date of the Galaxy A50. Albeit the company is expected to launch the A50 after the launch of the Galaxy S10 lineup which will reportedly launch in the Q1 of 2019.

December 29, 2018
Essential Phone Discontinued But Not Quite

Essential phone was one of the fist mainstream phones to come with a notch. Essential phones had gone out of stock everywhere in the last few months. And this had led to speculation that Essential Phone 2 was on it’s way into the market. But now, we have received news that Essential phone is no more. The company has now confirmed that they will not add any more stock to the inventory. While the Essential Phone was launched way back in 2017 it was receiving updates regularly and customers were waiting for a new version of the phone. However, all hope is not lost yet!

While the discontinuation of the Essential phone does not come as a shock, since they had only sold 88,000 units in 2017, it does disappoint the cult following that the phone had. The company has however revealed that they are working on another phone. Just last month, it was reported that Essential was working on an AI based phone. The company recently acquired the company behind Newton Mail. Only time will tell if that means they are going into software designing and internet space or not. Essential did have a rocky start with data breaches, sexual scandals and layoffs, but they struggled against all odds and survived.

Essential PH-1 Features

The Essential phone had a strong built with front glass, titanium frame and a ceramic back and had an Octa- core Snapdragon 835 SoC with an Adreno 540 GPU. While the cameras were not upto industry standards, the phone was one of the fastest to receive Android updates, right after Google themselves. Many Nexus users who loved to have a stock Android experience were known to have shifted to the Essential Phone.

The company however has assured that they will continue to sell accessories and provide speedy software updates. Customer support will also be available to the existing community of Essential Phone users. It will be interesting to see what mobile device they work on and how the market accepts it in future.

December 29, 2018
Huawei P Smart (2019) Officially Announced

Huawei launched the original P Smart back in 2017. It’s successor, the P Smart (2019) was previously listed on a French retailer’s website prior to its official launch. However, the company has now officially taken off the curtains from the smartphone. The smartphone is set to go on sale early next year.

Looks And Features

The design of the Huawei P Smart is reminiscent to a lot of other Huawei smartphones. The front of the smartphone accommodates a 6.2-inch Full HD display with a resolution fo 2340 x 1080 px and a pixel density of 415 ppi. The front of the smartphone also has a small U shaped notch at the top of the display which houses the 8 MP selfie camera that can also capture 1080p videos at 30 fps. The earpiece for listening to the phone calls is built into the top bezel above the screen.

The bottom chin at the front of the Huawei P Smart is a bit chunky while the top, right and left bezels are negligible. The volume rockers and the power button sit on the left side of the smartphone while the 3.5 mm audio jack, Micro-USB port, and the loudspeaker grille are placed at the bottom. The rear of the P Smart harbors the dual camera setup, fingerprint sensor, and the Huawei branding. The smartphone is available in two colour options. One has a blue gradient back panel and the other has a solid black finish. The dual rear camera setup of the smartphone consists of a 13 MP + 2 MP sensor along with an LED flash. Like the selfie camera, the rear cameras can also capture 1080p videos at 30 fps.

Under the hood, the Huawei P Smart features the Kirin 710 SoC. The Kirin 710 consists of an Octa-Core processor and the Mali-G51 GPU. The smartphone is powered by a 3400 mAh battery and runs on EMUI 9 which is based on Android 9 Pie. For connectivity, the handset supports 802.11 ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC and Dual 4G VoLTE.

Price, Storage Options And Availablity

Also Read: Indian Government Bans Smartphone Online Exclusive Sales

The Huawei P Smart will initially be offered in select European markets from 2 January 2019. It is available in a single 3 GB RAM + 64 GB ROM variant. The device also supports memory expandability up to 512 GB via the microSD card which uses the SIM 2 slot. The Huawei P Smart is priced at which roughly translates to Rs 20,000 in India.

December 29, 2018
HP 27 XQ Quad HD Gaming Monitor
Desktop gaming is slowly gaining traction in India. As the demand for high-end computing products and accessories rise, companies start supplying these devices in India as well. HP has launched a 4K gaming monitor in the country which is called the HP 27 XQ. It is a Quad HD gaming monitor with a 144 Hz refresh rate.

Size & Features

In terms of design, the HP 27 XQ has thin top, left and right bezels while the bottom bezel is quite thick. The bottom bezel of the gaming monitor carries HP branding and a small green coloured LED-lit bar. As the name suggests, the HP 27 XQ has a 27-inch display panel with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 px and an aspect ratio of 16:9.

The HP 27 HQ measures 596.74 x 335.66 mm and tips the scale at 6.1 kilograms. It has an adjustable height base which can go all the way up to 131.39 mm. It also has a 100 x 100 VESA mount which is a flat display mounting interface. Therefore, the user can attach the monitor to any VESA stands or arms that the user might already own. The HP 27 XQ has a horizontal viewing angle of 170 degrees and a vertical viewing angle of 160 degrees.

Most notably, the HP 27 XQ uses a TN panel with a 144 Hz refresh rate. In comparison, the regular non-gaming specified monitors have a refresh rate of 60 Hz. This higher refresh rate of the gaming monitor provides a smooth and fluid viewing experience. The gaming monitor has a brightness level of 350 nits which produces deep colour contrasts. The monitor has an Anti-glare display panel and Low blue light mode which keeps the eyestrain at bay even during long gaming sessions.

Another noteworthy feature that the HP 27 XQ has is the support for AMD FreeSync technology. FreeSync is the name for an adaptive synchronization technology for LCD displays. FreeSync certified displays support a dynamic refresh rate which helps to reduce tearing and stuttering that is caused by misalignment of the content’s frame rate.

I/O Ports & Controls

The control buttons of the HP 27 XQ including the power button, brightness button along with a green LED are placed at the right side of the bottom edge. The rear of the gaming monitor harbors the HDMI port and one DisplayPort. To secure the monitor to a desk, the rear of the monitor also has a Kensington lock. However, the Kensington lock cable is sold separately. The 40-watt trapezium shaped port that accepts power is also placed on the back side of the monitor. The gaming monitor also supports analog headphone audio output via rear mounted 3.5 mm audio jack.

What’s In The Box And Price

Also Read: Apple iPhone Flagships To Be Manufactured At Foxconn Chennai Plant

Except for the user manual and the quick start guide the HP 27XQ is shipped with the following items:
- A/C power cable (1.8m) 5.9 ft
- HDMI cable(1.8m)5.9ft
- Warranty card
The HP 27 XQ gaming monitor is available both online and offline at a price of Rs 30,000.
December 29, 2018
Here Is The Order In Which You Should Watch Marvel Cinematic Universe Movies

The Marvel Cinematic Universe or MCU is a universe in itself. It has been planned and plotted for almost a decade and the entire storyline has finally converged to a single point in time with Endgame being the end of the MCU as we know it. However for a new viewer, it can sometimes be very difficult to understand which movie to watch. Here is a chronological list of the entire movie timeline for the new viewers to binge watch before Endgame releases. This is a spoiler free article and thus, we have kept the movie details to a bare minimum.

Captain America: The First Avenger

Even though this movie was released in 2011, three years after the first MCU movie, it is the first movie one should watch. Timeline-wise, this movie sets the theme for superheroes and how experiments began to create super-humans. The movie features actors such as  Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Samuel L. Jackson.

Iron Man

This is the first movie of the MCU, released in 2008 but the second to be on your watch list. This movie follows Tony Stark, an eccentric billionaire who creates a super suit to fight crime. The movie stars  Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and Terrence Howard in leading characters.

The Incredible Hulk

This movie follows the central character of Bruce Banner, a scientist on the run from the U.S. Government who turns into an angry giant when he is angry. Hulk also becomes one of the central characters in the storyline of Avengers. The movie stars  Edward Norton, Liv Tyler and Tim Roth.

Iron Man 2

Tony Stark battles his declining health and faces widespread public attention as well as criticism all the while fighting a madman who has a score to settle with Stark. Both Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow reprise their roles as Iron Man and Pepper Potts and Mickey Rourke plays the role of Whiplash.

Thor

The storyline follows Thor, an Asgardian God. He is cast out of Asgard to live amongst humans in Midgard (Earth), where he falls in love with the people and becomes their protector. The movie stars eminent celebrities like Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman.

The Avengers

Being the first superhero crossover film, it features all the superheroes like Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Loki and more. This much anticipated film starred Mark Ruffalo as Hulk instead of Edward Norton. It was released in 2012.

Iron Man 3

This 2013 film features Tony Stark a.k.a Iron Man battling an extremely powerful hero called Mandarin. The movie stars eminent actors such as Guy Pearce, Don Cheadle, Ben Kingsley and more apart from having Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow reprising their roles.

Thor: The Dark World

Thor: The Dark World was also a 2013 release. Thousands of years ago, a race of beings known as Dark Elves tried to send the universe into darkness by using a weapon known as the Aether. When Dr. Jane Foster gets cursed by Aether, Thor heads to “The Dark World” to destroy the Aether and save Asgard. The film reprises  Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston in their roles as Thor, Dr. Jane Foster and Loki.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Steve Rogers struggles to understand the ways of the modern world and teams up with Black Widow to fight an assassin known as the Winter Soldier. The movie stars  Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson and Sebastian Stan.

Guardians of the Galaxy

This is a fun and quirky movie where intergalactic criminals band together to stop Ronan the Accuser from taking control of the universe. The film has a huge star cast Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel and more.

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2

This movie tries to unravel the mystery behind Star Lord’s true parentage as the band of criminals face challenges on their way. Eminent stars such as Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper and Dave Bautista reprise their roles.

The Avengers: Age of Ultron

When Tony Stark and Bruce Banner try to restart a peacekeeping program that the government had shut down, they accidentally create a robot called Ultron who wishes to take over the world with the help of his robot army. The film stars  Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson and more.

Ant-Man

This 2015 movie is based on Scott Lang who comes across a super suit that makes him shrink and lets him control ants. The suit also increases his strength tenfold. The movie features Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas and Corey Stoll as the main characters.

Captain America: Civil War

Released in 2016, Captain America: Civil War showcases a rift between Iron Man and Captain America which leads them to have a showdown. The character of Spider-Man is first introduced in this movie. Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Chadwick Boseman, Jeremy Renner , Tom Holland and a lot of other heavyweight actors feature in this film.

Doctor Strange

Another 2016 release, Doctor Strange was an extremely anticipated movie. When a successful neurosurgeon gets drawn into the mystic world, chaos ensues. The film features  Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange and also features other notable actors such as  Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams and Tilda Swinton.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

A rehash after Sony’s Spider- man movies, Marvel decided to put Spider- man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As the story goes, Peter Parker tries to deal with his newfound superpowers and his life as an ordinary student, end up into situations that he did not wish for. He fights crimes and faces villains like The Vulture.  Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr. and Marisa Tomei are some of the notable stars in the movie.

Thor: Ragnarok

Thor, when imprisoned in a planet called Sakaar tries to flee and rescue his own planet Asgard from the powerful and ruthless Hela.  Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston and Cate Blanchett among others have a notable role in the film.

Black Panther

This 2018 movie broke all ticket sales record and became one of the highest grossing films in the MCU. The story follows the lead character T’Challa who is the heir to a technologically advanced kingdom of Wakanda. The movie features actors such as Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o and more.

Avengers: Infinity War

The super blockbuster movie featuring almost all the characters in the MCU thus far drew a huge crowd. The film showcases the heroes of the Avengers getting back together and uniting against a common enemy Thanos who wishes to destroy half the population of the Universe.  Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and almost everyone else mentioned above can be found in this film.

Ant-Man and the Wasp

This 2018 film finds Ant man trying to balance between being a superhero and a father and trying to team up with The Wasp to uncover secrets from their past.  Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly and Michael Peña are some noteworthy actors featured in the movie.

Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame

These two movies will end the long and arduous MCU journey as we know it. Captain Marvel is thought to be the most powerful superhero of all time and they will, together face Thanos in one last battle to save the universe in Avengers: Endgame.

December 29, 2018