The Lenovo Legion Y720 is a gaming laptop priced at Rs 1,49,990 in India. Here is our full review of the Lenovo Legion Y720:
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HP Pavilion Power Laptop Review
The HP Pavilion Power laptop is a great laptop with powerful specs and performance. Here is iGyaan’s full review of the HP Pavilion Power laptop:
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Samsung’s New Acquisition Proves AI Is The Next Big Thing In Smartphones
In the smartphone industry, every year sees a new trend becoming the norm. 2017 saw thin bezels becoming a norm and with the launch of the Google Pixel 2 and Apple iPhone X, it appears that AI will be the next big thing in the smartphone industry. With Samsung being the biggest smartphone maker in the world, you’d expect the South Korean tech giant to be one of front-runners in the AI game as well.
A new acquisition by Samsung shows that it wants Bixby to be the new Google Assistant for all its consumers. According to a report, Samsung has just acquired an AI property, Fluenty, a Korean startup notable for its chatbot of the same name.
Founded in 2015, Fluenty company currently develops a dedicated app and a separate “smart reply” API. The app uses machine learning to give custom response to users and is compatible with a number of popular messaging services like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
This is what the official website of Fluenty says:
Fluenty is able to suggest smart replies that are specific to the person typing them. Let’s say for example that someone likes to say ‘Cheers!’ instead of ‘Bye!’ when closing a conversation. Fluenty is able to pick that up and will suggest it as a way to say goodbye in future messages.
This means that Fluenty uses more than just web searches to customise user experience and adds a personal touch rather just being a robotic assistant.
Bixby could take a few feathers out of Fluenty’s cap thanks to its machine learning capabilities. For example, if you are meeting someone at a bar, Bixby could pull out a Google Map location of the bar and start navigation.
Bixby has not been received very well since it was announced along with Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. It will be interesting to see how Bixby will incorporate Fluenty’s capabilities and enhance the user experience, and try to replace Google Assistant with Bixby.
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New Honor V10 Images Leaked Before Imminent Launch
Huawei’s sub-brand Honor is preparing to launch the Honor V10 in London on the 5th of December. However, there have been multiple leaks that have revealed a lot of the specifications and features of the smartphone well before the official launch.
The new leaked images show the phone in a bright red colour. The bezels remain thin around the display and the phone has a front-mounted fingerprint sensor.
A benchmark listing revealed the specifications of the upcoming Honor V10.
The Honor V10 will have 5.99-inch FullView screen with Full HD+ resolution (2160 x 1080 px). An 18:9 aspect ratio means that the phone will have a tall display and thin bezels, which has become a norm in 2017.
Under the hood, the Honor V10 will have the Kirin 970 chipset, Mali-G72 MP12, 6GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of onboard storage. As per the leaked images, the Honor V10 will have a fingerprint sensor placed on the back of the phone due to thin bezels and a missing home button. The smartphone is expected to be powered by a massive 4000 mAh battery with support for QuickCharge.
You may like – Unboxing The Honor 7X
Huawei announced EMUI 8.0 along with the launch of the Mate 10 Pro, which means that the Honor V10 might run Android 8.0 Oreo (since EMUI 8.0 is based on Android 8.0 Oreo) and EMUI 8.0 on top.
The Honor V10, according to the listing, will have a 16MP+20MP setup at the back. Considering how Honor has so far predominantly implemented the dual-camera setup, one of the cameras will have an RGB sensor while the other will be equipped with a monochrome sensor. On the front of the phone will be a single 13MP camera.
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Bitcoin Reaches All-Time High, Approaches USD 10000
Bitcoin has reached an all-time high of over USD 9800 and is fast approaching the psychological USD 10000 barrier. At the current rate, it is worth more than seven times an ounce of gold. The cryptocurrency, which started the year at USD 1,000, had reached USD 5,000 by October.
Experts believe that the cryptocurrency is more volatile than ever. Neil Wilson, a senior market analyst at ETX Capital said:
Rather than a commodity or currency, bitcoin is like owning stock in a company that will only ever issue 21m shares and never pay a penny in dividends.
The only way it has value is if the next guy is willing to pay you more for it – the greater fool. With no intrinsic value to bitcoin, it’s hard to see this as anything other than a giant speculative bubble
Bitcoin is a type of cryptocurrency which operates on the encryption technique but, does not have a legal backing from the central bank. It is an unrelated digital private currency created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008.
Bitcoin has no value as it is like a digital form of private currency and does not have any underlying asset of value -base.
Bitcoin should not be confused cryptocurrency or blockchain. Cryptocurrency is a digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds.
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Face ID Cracked Yet Again
Face ID might be the future, according to Apple but, it sure has some loopholes. Then again, which technology doesn’t? Vietnamese cyber security research firm Bkav was able to crack Face ID for a second time using a more elaborate mask and nearly US $150 in materials.
The researchers were able to crack Face ID with a 3D printed mask of the user’s face made of stone powder. Infrared images of the user’s eyes were printed on paper and glued onto the 3D mask to trick the iPhone X’s infrared camera into perceiving that real eyes were looking at it.
After the first attempt at fooling Face ID, the firm recommended that businessmen and National Leaders not use Face ID for securing their iPhone Xs. After the second attempt, the firm has come to conclusion that Face ID is not secure enough business transactions like Apple Pay.
To say that your iPhone X is not secure at all and you should stick to a passcode is a little far-fetched. The process that Bkav undertook to fool Face ID is quite intensive and required special equipments to attain the desired results. You would also need access to a high-quality image of the person’s face and uninterrupted time with the user’s iPhone X.
Apple can take a feather out of Android Jellybean’s hat by adding an extra layer of security wherein the user has to blink before FaceID unlocks the phone. Android Jellybean had a feature called ‘liveness check’ but, it was easily fooled. Face ID on the other hand will implement it much better.
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Samsung Galaxy S9 Might Have A Feature The iPhone X Should Have Had
Samsung Galaxy S9, despite many reports, might have a screen-embedded fingerprint sensor.
The Apple iPhone X became available to the public in November, just a few months before the launch of the Galaxy S9. One of the most talked about features of the iPhone X has to be Face ID and the lack of a fingerprint sensor. Similarly, the awkward placement of the fingerprint sensor on the Galaxy S8/S8+ was also a talking point for many and iGyaan pointed it out as well in our full review of the Galaxy S8/S8+.
It appears that Samsung will fix that by embedding the fingerprint sensor inside the display rather than positioning it in the middle at the back of the phone. The patent was first reported by LetsGoDigital, which notes that the new technology is likely to appear on the Galaxy S9.
The international patent was submitted in April 2017, while the Korean patent was filed during 2016. This shows that a screen embedded fingerprint sensor has been a long standing aim of the Samsung design team. This looks like the ideal place for the fingerprint sensor instead at the back or completely moving to another way of biometrics like Face ID.
The Samsung Galaxy S9 is expected to be unveiled at CES 2018. As we have reported, the Galaxy S9 will be the first smartphone to have the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset, as per a deal with Qualcomm. Other than that, the new smartphone is expected to be an incremental upgrade over the Galaxy S8 although, a screen embedded fingerprint sensor will mean that the Galaxy S9 will grab all the headlines at the time of its launch and might push Galaxy S8 users to upgrade to the Galaxy S9.
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New Samsung Patents Show What The Future Galaxy Lineup Could Look Like
Samsung has been the number one smartphone maker in the world for a quite some time now. The smartphone industry has been stagnant in terms of innovation in the past few years. We have seen a surge in new “bezel-less” phones but, they aren’t really bezel-less. But, it appears that Samsung has a few new designs up its sleeves for the coming years.
The Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) has been working on batteries that can be recharged in 12 minutes using graphene. That is five times faster than the existing batteries that support fast charging technology but, they still take about an hour to fully charge.
It is not a news that Samsung is working on a foldable smartphone. The Galaxy X is very much a reality and a launch is expected in the first quarter of 2018. Now, a new patent discovered shows Samsung’s plan for a foldable smartphone. The patents show clamshell and candy bar smartphone designs that feature flexible displays and bodies. It will be interesting to see the implementation of the foldable design on the upcoming Galaxy X (tentatively called).
What does seem apparent is that the upcoming foldable Galaxy phone will not have an all-screen design.
Another patent unearthed that belongs to Samsung shows an all-screen display with no cutouts for a camera or any of the sensor. It is worth noting that the Galaxy S6/S7 turned out to be very similar to their patents. So, to believe that an all-screen phone from Samsung is not too far in the future won’t be a stretch.
Galaxy S6/S7 Patent A new design change like this along with new offerings like a foldable smartphone which will be available to an average consumer might be the ignition that Samsung needs to stay ahead of the constant competition from Apple.
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Another Flagship To Launch Along With The Galaxy S9
As we approach the end of 2017, the focus has already shifted to what we can expect from the 2018 flagship phones. A new report suggests that along with the Samsung Galaxy S9, the LG G7 will also be unveiled at CES 2018.
2017 has seen the Samsung Galaxy S8, Galaxy Note8 and the iPhone X steal the limelight from the likes of the LG V30. That, however, has been the case for a few years now. The LG flagship phones make the list of every tech critics’ ‘Top’ list but, never seem to capture the consumer’s imagination like its rivals.
LG G6 2018 by the looks of it, won’t be any different. The LG G7 is expected to be launched with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 since Samsung will most probably have exclusive access to the Snapdragon 845 chipset for the first few months of 2017. Something similar happened in 2017 when LG G6 launched close to the Samsung Galaxy S8 and had to make do with the Snapdragon 821 chipset.
Samsung Galaxy S9 Renders The LG G7 is also rumoured to feature an OLED display, with the fingerprint sensor to be placed under the screen rather than the back. The Samsung Galaxy S9, meanwhile, will have a regular rear-facing fingerprint sensor but, reports suggest that it will be positioned in a better location.
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Kickstarter Launches India Operations With Amazon And HAX
Kickstarter, one of the largest crowdfunding platform in the world is entering India in association with Amazon Launchpad and HAX. Together, the three global entities will launch Startup C-Cube, a multi-level challenge for Indian start-ups that flags off in Bangalore on the 5th of December 2017.
HAX is a hardware accelerator that invests in select startups in their early stages and provides guidance and resources in exchange for equity. Kickstarter is a platform for entrepreneurs to showcase their products and start a crowdfunding program. Amazon Launchpad is a global program that curates, showcases and delivers all kinds of products from startups to Amazon customers.
Amazon Launchpad In India The Startup C-Cube challenge will be officially flagged off by Amazon Launchpad, HAX and Kickstarter at an event in Bangalore on the 5th of December. This will also mark Amazon Launchpad’s one year anniversary in the Indian market. The winning start-up will be supported by the three companies through the entire “concept-to-customer” journey and the joint program will also provide resources to the winner for launch, both in India and in Europe/US, depending on the scalability of the idea.
Manish Tiwary, VP of Category Management at Amazon India said:
Business growth of some of the start-ups on Amazon Launchpad has elicited interest in these start-ups from VCs as well as other funding agencies in the last one year.We are very happy to bring Kickstarter and HAX to India to give Indian start-ups an opportunity to get their ideas noticed at the global stage and arm them with resources to convert these into real business opportunities.If you think you have the idea and the planning to win The Startup C-Cube challenge, then you can enter the competition by clicking here. -
Here Are All The Samsung Phones That Will Receive Android 8.0 Oreo Update
Android 8.0 Oreo was launched back in August and the adoption rate of the newest Android OS has been abysmal, to say the least. Samsung, however, appears to have great plans for updating a slew of its smartphones to the latest Android 8.0 Oreo in the coming months.
In the image leaked above, you can see all the phones and tablets from Samsung that will receive the Android 8.0 Oreo update. Android phones have a notorious history of not being updated to the latest software if they are more than a year old. That is one of the reasons why Android adoption rate for the latest OS is so low as compared to iOS. In this list, however, devices such as Galaxy A8 (2016), Galaxy A9 Pro (2016), Galaxy J7 (2016), Galaxy Tab A (2016) and Galaxy C7 were all released back in 2016 and Samsung has plans of updating them to Android 8.0 Oreo.
Even the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, the flagship phones from 2015 will receive the new update. This move from Samsung will definitely be appreciated by the brand loyalists and people who are planning to buy a Samsung mid-ranger in the coming months. It will ensure consumers that their phones will be supported even when newer variants of their phones are launched.
It is worth noting that the list also includes unannounced 2018 A-series smartphones, which, as per many leaks, will be running Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box.
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Honor V10 Leaked In Official Images
Huawei’s sub-brand Honor is gearing up to unveil the Honor V10 at an event in China on the 28th of November before the global launch on the 5th of December. While the launch is a few days away, there have been certain leaks revealing what the Honor V10 might offer the consumers.
In the images above, the tall 18:9 display with thin bezels is on full display with a dual camera setup at the back.
A benchmark listing revealed the specifications of the upcoming Honor V10.
The Honor V10 will have 5.99-inch FullView screen with Full HD+ resolution (2160 x 1080 px). An 18:9 aspect ratio means that the phone will have a tall display and thin bezels, which has become a norm in 2017.
Under the hood, the Honor V10 will have the Kirin 970 chipset, Mali-G72 MP12, 6GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of onboard storage. As per the leaked images, the Honor V10 will have a fingerprint sensor placed on the back of the phone due to thin bezels and a missing home button. The smartphone is expected to be powered by a massive 4000 mAh battery with support for QuickCharge.
You may like – Unboxing The Honor 7X
Huawei announced EMUI 8.0 along with the launch of the Mate 10 Pro, which means that the Honor V10 might run Android 8.0 Oreo (since EMUI 8.0 is based on Android 8.0 Oreo) and EMUI 8.0 on top.
The Honor V10, according to the listing, will have a 16MP+20MP setup at the back. Considering how Honor has so far predominantly implemented the dual-camera setup, one of the cameras will have an RGB sensor while the other will be equipped with a monochrome sensor. On the front of the phone will be a single 13MP camera, which means no “four cameras” on this one from Honor.
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New Google Patent Reveals Self-Adjusting Pixelbook Lid
The Pixelbook was unveiled back in October along with the Pixel 2 smartphones and a few other Google products. It now appears that Google is working on a new Pixelbook which will self-adjust the display angle according to the user’s face and will be activated by a touchpad.
In a new patent, a motorised lid for the Pixelbook was spotted. This lid would ensure that you wouldn’t have to exert as much physical force to use your laptop.
The patent was filed back in Q4 of 2013 but, it was only recently granted to the tech giant. It is worth noting here that one of the people credited for the patent is Ken Loo, who is a Senior Product Design Engineer who worked on the Pixel phone, Pixelbook, and as the lead engineer for Google’s self-driving car’s sensors.
Here’s how this futuristic self-adjusting Pixelbook will work: The user will tap the touchpad with a certain level of pressure or duration of time (which should be customisable), which would make the hinge motor open the lid. The front-facing camera would then track your face and make the hinge’s angle optimal for your the best viewing angle. It won’t be a surprise if face unlock is also incorporated in this laptop since highly accurate cameras or sensors will be used to track the face.
The lid will keep on adjusting itself while you use the laptop. The computer might even use a body part, or an accessory to predict the location of your face and adjust accordingly. However, if the sensors do not detect a face for x number of seconds, it would automatically close and lock itself. You’d also be able to close it via a certain motion on the touchpad.
All of this sounds great in theory but, it will be interesting to see how the implementation will done on this Pixelbook. Google’s hardware team has its plate full if it has to nail this technology and make the Pixelbook a viable option in a market where MacBooks and spec’s out PCs dominate the consumer’s mindset.
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Motorola Mocks Samsung And Apple In A New Advertisement
Motorola has come out with a new advertisement in which it mocks Samsung and Apple. The ad continues from where Samsung’s infamous advertisement ends in which Samsung mocks Apple and the iPhone X.
https://youtu.be/Dw7verGkl5c
The new ad from Motorola shows off the projector mod on the Moto Z2 Play. While the Samsung ad was rather elaborate in mocking Apple and its range of iPhones, Motorola has gone ahead and been brief about its attempt at mocking the two smartphone giants. The name of the campaign is “Up-upgrade” in reference to Samsung’s campaign which was called “Upgrade.”
While many were waiting for Apple’s response to the advertisement where Samsung mocked it, Motorola has swooped in and taken the opportunity to mock the two giants in a single advertisement.
This trend of rival brands mocking each other appears to be catching up and it will be interesting to see if either company will go ahead and respond to this effort by Motorola.
https://youtu.be/R59TevgzN3k
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OPPO R13 Is The iPhone X Clone You Need
The Apple iPhone X is the most expensive iPhone ever. In a country like India, buying the 256GB variant of the iPhone X can cost you over a lakh, which is not a small amount for a smartphone. Now, being the ‘trendsetter’ that Apple is, it has prompted OPPO to go the bezel-less route and embrace the “notch” life as well.
In new leaked images of the upcoming OPPO R13, the influence of the iPhone X is on full display. The OPPO R13 has been revealed to have a design way too similar to the iPhone X with a glass back, vertically placed dual cameras and a bezel-less display.
According to a report, OPPO had filed a display patent back in September which showed an iPhone X-like notch on the top alongside a full-screen display. The leaked images certainly reveal the implementation of that patent as OPPO sets out to make an Android-powered iPhone X.
There is also a home bar at the bottom of the screen, just like the iPhone X. The iPhone X uses gestures for navigation within the OS since there is no home button due to shrunken bezels and, it appears that OPPO has done the same, even though, Android has had on-screen navigation buttons since eternity.
To recall, the OPPO R11 was also uncannily similar to the iPhone 7 Plus which became more famous because the OPPO R11 was the OnePlus 5 which resulted in comparisons. So, OPPO’s move is not surprising but, the company has gone all out this time.
Face ID on the iPhone X It is worth noting here that there is no fingerprint sensor visible in the photos. Now, either OPPO has housed the sensor in the lock button like the Razer Phone or, has its own version of Face ID. No word on specifications or release date of the phone has been revealed as of now.