Category: Tech

Sony Said to Be Planning to Call Off $10 Billion Merger With Zee

Sony Group is planning to call off the merger pact of its India unit with Zee Entertainment Enterprises, said people familiar with the matter, capping two years of drama and delay in creating a $10 billion (roughly Rs. 83,040 crore) media giant.

The Japanese conglomerate is looking to cancel the deal due to a standoff over whether Zee’s Chief Executive Officer Punit Goenka, also its founder’s son, would lead the merged entity, the people said, asking not to be named as the information is not public. While the agreement signed in 2021 was that Goenka would lead the new company, Sony no longer wants him as CEO amid a regulatory probe, the people said.

Sony plans to file the termination notice before a January 20 extended deadline for closing the deal, saying some of the conditions necessary for the merger had not been met, one of the people said. Goenka has stood his ground in wanting to helm the merged entity, as agreed initially, over prolonged meetings in the past few weeks, according to another person.

Discussions are still ongoing between the two sides and a resolution can still emerge before the deadline.

Representatives for Sony and Zee did not immediately respond to an email and phone calls seeking comment.

Last-Mile Tussle

The scuttling of the deal due to the last-lap leadership tussle will not only leave Zee vulnerable to possible defaults, it’s coming at a time when billionaire Mukesh Ambani is seeking to bolster Reliance Industries Ltd.’s media ambitions by negotiating a merger with Walt Disney Co.’s India unit.

The Sony-Zee combine aimed to create a $10 billion media behemoth with the financial muscle to take on global powerhouses Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. as well as local heavyweights like Reliance.

Mumbai-based Zee had earlier requested for an extension of a December 21 deadline by a month. Sony said then that it wanted to hear Zee’s proposals on completing the “remaining critical closing conditions.”

The Securities and Exchange Board of India alleged in June that Zee faked the recovery of loans to cover private financing deals by its founder, Subhash Chandra. Chandra and his son, Goenka, “abused their position” and siphoned off funds, SEBI said in an interim order, barring Goenka from executive or director appointments in listed companies.

While Goenka got a reprieve from an appellate authority against the Sebi order, Sony views the ongoing probe as a corporate governance issue, Bloomberg reported earlier.

Sony Pictures Networks India would have owned a 50.86 percent stake in the merged media firm and Goenka’s family was to own 3.99 percent in the proposed transaction, according to the 2021 agreement. The proposed merger has received almost all regulatory approvals and would have helped expand Sony’s media business in the world’s most-populous country.

© 2023 Bloomberg LP

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Will Apple’s Vision Pro launch be a Groundhog Day for immersive computing?

Apple’s Vision Pro headset is set to finally launch in the U.S. on February 2, at a retail price of $3,499. At that price, there’s no doubt it’ll have limited appeal, which seems just fine with Apple given reports about their initial sales expectations. Apple originally announced Vision Pro last June at its annual developer event, and it’s been teasing out hands-on time to select media, influencers and developers in an extended hype and ecosystem preparation event ever since.

The big question remains, will Apple Vision Pro meaningfully move the needle on immersive computing – or will it be yet another splashy launch for a VR/AR/MR product that fails to change the status quo?

Based on the handful of first-hand accounts available, one thing seems clear about Apple Vision Pro: No one’s doubting its quality or capabilities. Many were impressed by the experience of playing back volumetric video they themselves had captured with their iPhones thanks to a recent software update, and people seemed to universally enjoy watching blockbuster movies in 3D on the headset during their demo. Reactions to other aspects of the experience were more mixed, but again generally very positive.

Curiously, much of what Apple pitched with the Vision Pro launch focused on things you already do all the time on your other devices, including your iPhone, Mac and iPad. The strategy makes a lot of sense given how prior mixed reality devices have missed the mark with overblown claims about revolutionary new computing paradigms, only to end up as niche successes at best – or expensive closet adornments at worst.

The other major player who’s had any success so far in this market is Meta, which introduced the third generation of its Quest headset last year. Meta’s playing in a very different pond when compared to Apple based on price point alone, since the Quest 3 retails for $499 – seven times less than Apple’s debut hardware. Meta started with a more expensive, higher-end option way back in the Oculus origin days, and then went for a mass-market approach, tackling price first and adding back in features as component costs went down to try to find a happy medium where budget accommodations met feature set and quality to drive mass market appeal.

Based on VR client usage tracking numbers, the Meta Quest 3 appears to be doing decently well and may have picked up steam during the most recent holiday quarter, but it’s also been reported that demand for the category is down generally and Meta’s still funnelling way more money into the category than it’s recouping from potentially dwindling demand. And that’s with an extremely solid product on the market: The Quest 3 is easily the best VR hardware I’ve used so far in terms of balancing great features and performance with a decent price tag and a fairly impressive software library.

It’s unclear what kind of software library Apple Vision Pro will have at launch; the company has been hosting developer preview events and working with them to prepare apps for consumer availability, so it seems likely they’ll have some standout offerings when it’s time for the first Vision Pro customers to boot up their devices and strap them to their faces.

Apple’s approach to this inaugural launch of its XR ambitions is unique, and it has the added advantage of being a company with a long history of coming relatively late to a category and then owning it, with the iPhone, the iPad and the Apple Watch all being stellar examples.

But it’s facing something here it hasn’t necessarily in the past, which is a device category that has actually enjoyed lots of hype and heraldry as the ‘next big thing’ in computing – for around a decade now. Portable media players and smartphones in particular didn’t enjoy this kind of paradigm-shift shot-calling, only to fall mostly flat the way VR and mixed reality has to date.

Mark Zuckerberg has experienced first-hand how easy it is to be stuck in a seeming time-loop unveiling the next generation of spatial computing, only to find himself on stage the very next year announcing basically the same thing in a slightly different way – and yet not having that future come to pass. Apple seems poised to potentially fall into the same trap, with Vision Pro a splashy instantiation of a mixed reality future we’ve all seen promised before but have no real interest in actually collectively buying into.

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Oppo Find X7, Find X7 Ultra Debut With Up to Dual Periscope Cameras: Price, Specifications

Oppo Find X7 Ultra has been launched in China as the first phone with two periscope cameras. The flagship smartphone was unveiled alongside the Oppo Find X7 and features a Hasselblad-branded quad rear camera setup including four 50-megapixel cameras. The Find X7 Ultra is the first handset to include Sony’s second-generation 1-inch-type LYT-900 sensor. The handset runs on Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, paired with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of onboard storage. The Oppo Find X7, in contrast, has a MediaTek Dimensity 9300 SoC under the hood. Other key features of the lineup include AMOLED screens with 120Hz dynamic refresh rate, 32-megapixel selfie shooter, 5,000mAh battery, and 100W charging support.

Oppo Find X7, Oppo Find X7 Ultra price

The newly launched Oppo Find X7 Ultra is currently available in China with a price tag of CNY 5,999 (roughly Rs. 70,000) for the base 12GB RAM + 256GB storage model. The 16GB RAM + 256GB storage version is priced at CNY 6,499 (roughly Rs. 75,000), while the top-end model with 16GB RAM + 512GB model is priced at CNY 6,999 (roughly Rs. 80,000). It is offered in Pine Shadow, Silver Moon, Vast Sea, and Sky (translated from Chinese) colour options.

The price of Oppo Find X7 is set at CNY 3,999 (roughly Rs. 46,000) for the 12GB RAM + 256GB version and CNY 4,299 (roughly Rs. 50,000) for the 16GB + 256GB storage variant. The top-end models with 16GB+ 512GB and 16GB + 1TB are priced at CNY 4,599 (roughly Rs. 53,000), and CNY 4,999 (roughly Rs. 58,000), respectively. The vanilla model is available in Black Starry Sky, Silver Moon, Purple Smoke and Sea, and Sky (translated from Chinese) shades. 

The Oppo Find X7 Ultra is likely to remain exclusive to the Chinese market like last year’s Oppo Find X6 series. Details regarding the launch of the new series in global markets are yet to be announced. 

Oppo Find X7 Ultra specifications

Oppo Find X7 Ultra runs on Android 14-based ColorOS 14.0 and features a 6.82-inch QHD (1440×3,168 pixels) AMOLED LTPO display with 510ppi pixel density, 4500nits peak brightness, up to 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, and up to 240Hz touch sampling rate. As mentioned, the flagship smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, along with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 onboard storage.

The Oppo Find X7 Ultra is the first smartphone to include two periscope cameras and the first in the market to pack a 1-inch Sony LYT-900 sensor. It has a Hasselblad-tuned quad rear camera setup comprising four 50-megapixel cameras. The camera setup includes a 50-megapixel LYT-900 one-inch main camera with f/1.8 aperture and OIS (optical image stabilisation) and a 50-megapixel LYT-600 ultrawide secondary shooter with 1/1.95-inch size 14mm focal length. The handset flaunts two periscope cameras. The 65mm periscope camera offers a 3x zoom while the second periscope lens offers a 6x optical zoom. For selfies and video chats, there is a 32-megapixel camera sensor on the front.

Connectivity options on the Oppo Find X7 Ultra include NFC, 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth, USB 3.2 port, GPS/ A-GPS, and a USB Type-C port. It has a Satellite Communication feature. Sensors on board include an accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor, and geomagnetic sensor. It also features an in-display fingerprint sensor for authentication. The handset supports facial recognition and has an IP68 water and dust resistance rating.

The Oppo Find X7 Ultra is backed by a 5,000mAh battery with support for 100W SuperVOOC charging and 50W wireless charging. It measures 164.3x 76.2×9.5mm and weighs around 221 grams.

Oppo Find X7 specifications

The dual SIM (Nano) Oppo Find X7 runs Android 14 with ColorOS 14 and features a 6.78-inch 1.5K (1,264×2,780 pixels) AMOLED display with dynamic refresh rate ranging from 1Hz to 120Hz and up to 4500 nits peak brightness. It is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 9300 SoC along with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage.

For optics, the Oppo Find X7 has a triple rear camera unit tuned by Hasselblad. The camera setup comprises a 50-megapixel main sensor with f/1.6 aperture and OIS, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide angle camera, and a 64-megapixel periscope telephoto camera with OIS. On the front, there is a 32-megapixel selfie camera.

Connectivity options and sensors in the Oppo Find X7 are identical to the Oppo Find X7 Ultra. It includes an in-display fingerprint sensor and supports facial recognition. The phone features an IP65 rating for dust and splash resistance. 

The Oppo Find X7 is backed by a 5,000mAh battery that supports 100W wired fast charging. The fast charging technology is claimed to fill the battery from zero to 50 percent in just 10 minutes and to 100 percent in 26 minutes. It measures 162.7×75.4×9.0mm and weighs around 206 grams. 

Oppo has promised four major Android updates and five years of security updates for both the Find X7 and Find X7 Ultra.

The newly launched Oppo Find N2 Flip is the first foldable from the company to debut in India. But does it have what it takes to compete with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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iPhone to Get New AI Features as Part of iOS 18 at WWDC 2024: Report

Since the launch of ChatGPT, OpenAI’s wildly successful AI chatbot in November 2022, technology companies have rushed to integrate artificial intelligence tools to their hardware and software offerings. Microsoft, which is also an OpenAI backer, moved early last year to launch its own generative AI chatbot, Bing Chat (now renamed as Copilot), in addition to bringing the new technology to its wide range of applications and services. Google, too, rushed out Bard through the gates and has since added a host of AI features to its products after a wobbly start. And Samsung is getting ready to launch its next lineup of flagship Galaxy S series smartphones packed with AI features later this month. Apple, on the hand, has lagged far behind its competitors in the AI race, even as it remains hard at work on its own generative AI offerings. The company is reportedly planning to announce the same at its Worldwide Developers Conference later this year.

In his Power On newsletter for Bloomberg on Monday, Mark Gurman said that Apple’s generative AI push will come packaged as part of iOS 18. The iPhone maker is working on its own large language model (LLM), internally known as Ajax, and will likely announce its AI offerings at WWDC in June, the newsletter added. Gurman claimed that Apple had been testing its AI model since early 2023.

While Google has already released its AI-ready Pixel 8 series of phones and Samsung is set to bring Galaxy AI on its upcoming smartphones, offering a host of on-device AI-powered features, Apple is readying AI services for iPhone in its efforts to catch up to its rivals. Gurman’s newsletter mentioned some of the likely offerings on the way. “Apple is eyeing adding features like auto-summarizing and auto-complete to its core apps and productivity software such as Pages and Keynote,” it said.

Additionally, the Cupertino, California-based company also plans to bring AI to Apple Music for better playlists and recommendations. According to the newsletter, Apple’s on-device assistant Siri is also set for an AI overhaul as advanced chatbots like ChatGPT and Copilot pull ahead in the space. While the company will likely roll out its AI offerings later this year, Gurman said that the company would only be able to fully scale its generative AI vision by at least next year.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, too, had said in December that upcoming iPhone 16 models would be equipped with an upgraded microphone designed to significantly boost the Siri experience and voice input. According to Kuo, the Siri team at Apple has been working on LLMs and other AI features since Q3 2023.

Last month, it was reported that Apple is negotiating deals with publishers to train its generative AI systems on news content. The company had reportedly pitched multiyear deals worth at least $50 million (roughly Rs. 420 crore) to license the news article archives from publishers like Condé Nast, the New Yorker, NBC News and more.

Apple launched the iPad Pro (2022) and the iPad (2022) alongside the new Apple TV this week. We discuss the company’s latest products, along with our review of the iPhone 14 Pro on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Crypto Industry’s Talent-Demand Supply Dynamic Notably Diversified in 2023, Good Scope Ahead: Unocoin CEO

The regulatory and safety concerns kept the global crypto market highly volatile in 2023. This made 2023 the slowest year for crypto since 2019. The number of job openings in the Web3 sector also registered ups and downs last year – where opportunities did diversify on the global level but saw a reported decline of over 15 percent. In conversation with Gadgets360, Unocoin’s Sathvik Vishwanath said that the talent demand-supply dynamic of the crypto industry has diversified and moved beyond classic developer roles in the last one year.

More established firms started small experiments with Web3 in 2023 after the regulatory landscape took some shape on an international level. Under India’s presidency, the G20 nations adopted a roadmap to regulate the crypto sector that is gradually making inroads into the industry. European Union’s MiCA regulation, meanwhile, has also started to attract players from the Web3 industry to set shops within its jurisdiction.

As sector regulations begin taking shape globally, more Web3 and crypto-related jobs found their way onto search portals.

“With startups, established companies, and traditional financial institutions actively recruiting skilled individuals to navigate the evolving crypto landscape, professionals with expertise in decentralised finance (DeFi) and blockchain have emerged as particularly sought after,” Vishwanath told Gadgets360.

As per the Coincub’s Blockchain Jobs Report 2023, India’s LinkedIn space saw around 3,690 job openings in 2023. Comparatively, Germany, the US, France, the Netherlands, and Spain generated more jobs in Web2 last year.

Some of the top job profiles in Web3 last year were crypto investment manager, legal expert, blockchain product manager, crypto researchers, crypto security consultant, NFT specialist, data analyst, and crypto marketing manager alongside the typical roles of crypto and blockchain developers.

Vishwanath believes that the year of 2024 will see the jobs landscape around Web3 expand and mature overall – but the space is still riddled with challenges, he noted.

“Despite regulatory clarity and institutional adoption contributing to job demands in Web3, challenges persist, such as a shortage of professionals with the necessary skill sets. Educational institutions are working to bridge this gap, but the rapid pace of technological advancements often outpaces traditional learning programs,” the Unocoin honcho added.

In the last few months, many global authorities have undertaken the responsibility to drive training and education around Web3. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has decided to launch a blockchain academy in 2024. Through this initiative, the UNDP is also looking to train 22,000 staff members in blockchain and Web3 technologies.

In India, crypto players like CoinCX and Binance as well as organisations like the Bharat Web3 Association are working to propagate technical training in the sector.

Data from 2022 indicated that crypto jobs had risen by 804 percent increase between April 2020 and April 2022. The catastrophic fall downs of projects like FTX and Terra in 2022 totally impacted the trajectory of the industry in 2023. The crypto sector valuation, that was over $3 trillion towards the end of 2021 – was valued at $1.65 trillion at the end of 2023.

“Looking ahead, the talent landscape in 2024 will likely be characterised by fierce competition, leading to increased salaries and incentives for qualified professionals. Interdisciplinary expertise combining blockchain knowledge with finance, law, and cybersecurity will become increasingly valuable, emphasising the importance of continuous learning and adaptability for thriving in the dynamic and rapidly expanding crypto job market,” Vishwanath noted.

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Acer Swift X 14, Swift Go 14, Swift Go 16 Laptops Refreshed With Intel Core Ultra CPUs: Price, Specifications

Acer has refreshed a few Swift series laptops ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2024, which will be held from January 9 to January 12 in Las Vegas. The Acer Swift X 14, Swift Go 14, and Swift Go 16 models have been refreshed with Intel Core Ultra processors. These chipsets were launched in December 2023 and are equipped with Intel AI Boost Neural Processing Units (NPUs), which are said to offer increased support for inbuilt AI-backed features. They also come with a dedicated Microsoft Copilot key. These laptops will be available for purchase in different regions across the world over the next few months, although their India launch has not yet been confirmed.

Acer Swift X 14, Swift Go 14, Swift Go 16 price, availability

The company has announced that the Acer Swift X 14 will start in the US at $1,399.99 (roughly Rs. 1,16,300), while the Swift Go 14 and Swift Go 16 will have a starting price of $749.99 (roughly Rs. 62,300) and $799.99 (roughly Rs. 66,500), respectively. The company has also confirmed that the Acer Swift X 14 and Swift Go 14 will be available for purchase in the US, the EMEA region and China in February 2024. The Swift Go 16, on the other hand, will be available starting in February in the EMEA region and in March in North American markets.

Acer Swift X 14, Swift Go 14, Swift Go 16 specifications, features

The Acer Swift X 14 features a 14.5-inch 2.8K (2,880 x 1,800 pixels) OLED panel with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. The Acer Swift Go 14 and Swift Go 16 are equipped with a 14-inch 2.8K (2,880 x 1,800 pixels) touchscreen OLED with a refresh rate of 90Hz and a 16-inch 3.2K (3,200 x 2,000 pixels) touchscreen OLED with a refresh rate of 120Hz, respectively. These displays come with a peak brightness level of 500 nits and VESA Display HDR TrueBlack 500 certification.

All three laptops are powered by up to Intel Core Ultra 7 processors paired with up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, which also supports up to 32GB of LPDDR5X-6400 DRAM. The Acer Swift X 14 offers support for up to 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD onboard storage, while the Swift Go 14 and Swift Go 16 come with up to dual-slot 2TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage.

The company claims that Acer Swift X 14 and Swift Go 14 offer a battery life of up to 12.5 hours, whereas the Swift Go 16 is said to provide a run time of up to 10.5 hours. The Swift X 14 comes with two USB Type-C ports, one HDMI 2.1 port and one MicroSD card reader slot. Meanwhile, the refreshed Swift Go models have two USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB-A and one HDMI 2.1 port, alongside a MicroSD card reading slot.

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Astrobotic lander on its way to the moon with ULA’s historic flight

It’s hard to understate just how much was at stake in Monday’s early morning launch of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket: multiple major reputations, billions of dollars, a new moon lander, the country’s dreams for lunar exploration, brand new rocket engines flying for the first time, and what is quite literally ULA’s future.

And ULA pulled it off. The company’s next-generation rocket Vulcan Centaur successfully lifted off in the early hours of Monday, and its primary payload, a lunar lander from Astrobotic, is now on its way to the moon.

The heavy-lift rocket took off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Center at 2:18 AM EST Monday. The first stage, which is powered by two methane-fueled BE-4 engines from Blue Origin, separate from the Centaur V upper stage at around 2:24.

Main-engine cut-off on the Centaur took place around T+15 minutes. The Centaur executed two more burns to get Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander on the correct trajectory to the moon. With those complete, the lander, called Peregrine, will now embark on a one-and-a-half month journey to the moon. Peregrine is taking a slightly longer route to the moon, and so will have to execute a handful of complicated burns to maneuver into progressively lower lunar orbits. Eventually, the spacecraft will attempt to land autonomously near a region called Gruithuisen Domes on February 23.

The launch and subsequent journey to the moon are a watershed moment for both United Launch Alliance and Astrobotic. The former company, a 50-50 joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, is envisioned as the future of ULA. The rocket is designed to replace the Atlas V and Delta IV Heavy, both of which are due to retire.

The rocket is also designed to compete against other launch providers, like SpaceX, by offering a large payload fairing and an adjustable configuration depending on the mission profile. So customers will be able to choose between two payload fairing sizes (51 or 70 feet long) and four standard configurations with zero, two, four or six solid rocket boosters, depending on the mission profile and customer requirements.

ULA has already sold a number of missions for the 202-foot-tall Vulcan, including 38 launches to Amazon to deploy part of its ambitious Project Kuiper satellite broadband constellation. The launch company also won over two dozen contracts with the U.S. Space Force (USSF), though it must complete one more certification launch before it can start fulfilling those launches.

If all goes to plan, ULA could execute that second certification launch, called Cert-2, as early as April. That mission will fly another high-profile, high-stakes payload: Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane, which would take a journey to the International Space Station. The remaining four missions on Vulcan’s manifest this year would all be for USSF.

ULA and Astrobotic are not the only ones with something to celebrate: this is also the first time that Blue Origin’s BE-4 engines have seen flight, a triumph that comes after nearly a decade of development. While Vulcan will initially be fully expendable, the eventual aim is to recover the two engines mid-air and reuse them to further drive down costs.

Astrobotic’s Peregrine is also the first lander to fly under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, an initiative to kickstart the development of lunary delivery services from commercial providers. Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic was awarded $79.5 million for this mission in 2019, a cost that was later increased to $108 million; even if it doesn’t manage to stick the moon landing, it’s still a major proof-of-concept for NASA’s ambitious efforts to foster advanced space services from private industry.

Developing…

 

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Poco X6 Pro Camera, Display Details Teased Ahead of January 11 Launch

Poco X6 series will launch globally and in India on January 11. The lineup will include a base Poco X6 and a Poco X6 Pro. The new phones will succeed the Poco X5 and the Poco X5 Pro, that were unveiled in February 2023. The upcoming Poco X6 Pro has previously been tipped to be a rebranded version of the Redmi K70E, which was introduced in China in November 2023. Earlier leaks have suggested the design and key specifications of the Pro model of the series. Last week the company revealed some key details of the handset. Now, Poco has further teased the camera and display details of the X6 Pro.

In a post on X, Poco India revealed that the Poco X6 Pro will be equipped with a 64-megapixel primary sensor with optical image stabilisation (OIS) support. The triple rear camera system is also set to get 2x lossless in-sensor zoom. 

Previous leaks have suggested that the camera unit of the high-end Poco X6 model is expected to include an 8-megapixel sensor with an ultrawide lens and a 2-megapixel macro shooter. 

 

In another X post, the company announced that the Poco X6 Pro will feature a 1.5K AMOLED panel with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz.

The Poco X6 Pro has been tipped earlier to sport a 6.67-inch screen. It is also expected to pack a 5,000mAh battery with 67W wired fast charging support. The 12GB + 512GB variant of the phone is likely to be priced at AED 1,299 (roughly Rs. 29,500). The model is said to be offered in black, grey, and yellow colour options.

Notably, the Poco X6 Pro was also spotted over the weekend being promoted on an Indian reality TV show, Bigg Boss. The handset was seen in a yellow colour option with a vegan leather finish.

Poco has already confirmed that the Poco X6 Pro will launch with a MediaTek Dimensity 8300 Ultra SoC. It is also set to boot Xiaomi’s new HyperOS out-of-the-box. The phone will be available for purchase in the country via Flipkart.

Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company’s new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Golden Globe Winners 2024: The Full List, From Oppenheimer to Succession

The 2024 Golden Globes were held earlier on Sunday night in Los Angeles, honouring the best talent in the film and television industry from the past year. Oppenheimer reigned supreme at the ceremony, bagging five awards, including the Best Motion Picture Drama trophy. Its helmer Christopher Nolan was crowned Best Director in the same category, while lead Cillian Murphy and co-star Robert Downey Jr. took home the acting prizes. Meanwhile, Yorgos Lanthimos’ absurd Frankenstein-inspired film Poor Things won the award for Best Picture – Musical or Comedy, with its star Emma Stone snagging the Best Actress accolade.

Another major film this year was Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, which secured two trophies — one for the ‘What Was I Made For?’ song by Billie Eilish and Finneas, while the other was for its box office accomplishment. This year, the show added a ‘Cinematic and Box Office Achievement’ category to recognise the biggest movies of the year; ones that grossed at least $150 million, of which $100 million must be from within the US. In addition to the critical performance, Barbie has totally outperformed expectations for Warner Bros., having made $1.442 billion (about Rs. 11,979 crore) at the global box office.

Elsewhere, Lily Gladstone, a first-time Golden Globe nominee, emerged as the best female actor in a drama for her performance in Killers of the Flower Moon, marking the only award for the film from seven nominations. As expected, Anatomy of a Fall netted an honour for the best non-English language film, with its co-writers Justine Triet and Arthur Harari adding to the tally with the best screenplay award. Hayao Miyazaki’s final film before retirement, The Boy and the Heron, also came out on top as the Best Animated Picture at the 81st Golden Globes.

From Barbie to Killers of the Flower Moon: The Best Movies of 2023

On the TV side, the fourth and final season of Succession was crowned Best Drama Series, in addition to leading the pack of winners with four trophies in total. Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook won Best Actor and Best Actress respectively, for portraying the cunning children looking to inherit their father’s empire and possibly prevent it from getting acquired by a billionaire techie. Matthew Macfayden, who played the crafty Tom Wambsgans in the show, was awarded Best Supporting Actor. Other highlights include The Bear season 2 dominating in the musical/ comedy category with awards for best TV series, best actor (Jeremy Allan White), and best actress (Ayo Edeberi). HBO’s The Last of Us series, which was the talk of the town when it premiered in early 2023, didn’t win a single Golden Globe but grabbed eight wins at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

With that, here’ the entire list of winners at this year’s Golden Globes:

2024 Golden Globe Winners — the full list

Best Picture – Drama

Oppenheimer — WINNER
Anatomy of a Fall
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Past Lives
The Zone of Interest

Best Picture – Musical or Comedy

Poor Things — WINNER
Air
American Fiction
Barbie
The Holdovers
May December

Best Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon — WINNER
Annette Bening, Nyad
Cailee Spaeny, Priscilla
Carey Mulligan, Maestro
Greta Lee, Past Lives
Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall

Best Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer — WINNER
Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers
Barry Keoghan, Saltburn
Bradley Cooper, Maestro
Colman Domingo, Rustin
Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Emma Stone, Poor Things — WINNER
Alma Pöysti, Fallen Leaves
Fantasia Barrino, The Color Purple
Jennifer Lawrence, No Hard Feelings
Margot Robbie, Barbie
Natalie Portman, May December

Best Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers — WINNER
Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction
Joaquin Phoenix, Beau Is Afraid
Matt Damon, Air
Nicolas Cage, Dream Scenario
Timothée Chalamet, Wonka

Best Director – Motion Picture

Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer — WINNER
Bradley Cooper, Maestro
Celine Song, Past Lives
Greta Gerwig, Barbie
Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, Anatomy of a Fall — WINNER
Celine Song, Past Lives
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Eric Roth, Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, Barbie
Tony McNamara, Poor Things

Best Supporting Female Actor – Motion Picture

Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers — WINNER
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
Jodie Foster, Nyad
Julianne Moore, May December
Rosamund Pike, Saltburn

Best Supporting Male Actor – Motion Picture

Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer — WINNER
Charles Melton, May December
Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things
Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Willem Dafoe, Poor Things

Best Picture – Non-English Language

Anatomy of a Fall, France — WINNER
Fallen Leaves, Finland
Io Capitano, Italy
Past Lives, US
Society of the Snow, Spain
The Zone of Interest, US

Best Picture – Animated

The Boy and the Heron — WINNER
Elemental
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Suzume
Wish

Best Original Score – Motion Picture

Ludwig Göransson, Oppenheimer — WINNER
Daniel Pemberton, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Jerskin Fendrix, Poor Things
Joe Hisaishi, The Boy and the Heron
Mica Levi, The Zone of Interest
Robbie Robertson, Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Original Song – Motion Picture

“What Was I Made For?” Billie Eilish, Finneas (Barbie) — WINNER
“Addicted to Romance,” Bruce Springsteen (She Came to Me)
“Dance the Night,” Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt, Dua Lipa, Caroline Ailin (Barbie)
“I’m Just Ken,” Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt (Barbie) “Peaches,” Jack Black, Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Eric Osmond, John Spiker (The Super Mario Bros. Movie)
“Road to Freedom,” Lenny Kravitz (Rustin)

Cinematic and Box Office Achievement

Barbie — WINNER
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
John Wick: Chapter 4
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour

Best Drama Series

Succession — WINNER 1923
The Crown
The Diplomat
The Last of Us
The Morning Show

Best Musical/ Comedy Series

The Bear — WINNER
Abbott Elementary
Barry
Jury Duty
Only Murders in the Building
Ted Lasso

Best Limited Series, Anthology Series, or TV Motion Picture

Beef — WINNER
All the Light We Cannot See
Daisy Jones & The Six
Fargo
Fellow Travelers
Lessons in Chemistry

Best Television Female Actor – Drama Series

Sarah Snook, Succession — WINNER
Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us
Emma Stone, The Curse
Helen Mirren, 1923
Imelda Staunton, The Crown
Keri Russell, The Diplomat

Best Television Male Actor – Drama Series

Kieran Culkin, Succession — WINNER
Brian Cox, Succession
Dominic West, The Crown
Gary Oldman, Slow Horses
Jeremy Strong, Succession
Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us

Best Television Female Actor – Musical or Comedy Series

Ayo Edebiri, The Bear — WINNER
Elle Fanning, The Great
Natasha Lyonne, Poker Face
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building

Best Television Male Actor – Musical or Comedy Series

Jeremy Allen White, The Bear — WINNER
Bill Hader, Barry
Jason Segel, Shrinking
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso
Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building

Best Female Actor – Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Television Motion Picture

Ali Wong, Beef — WINNER
Brie Larson, Lessons in Chemistry
Elizabeth Olsen, Love & Death
Juno Temple, Fargo
Rachel Weisz, Dead Ringers
Riley Keough, Daisy Jones & the Six

Best Male Actor – Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Television Motion Picture

Steven Yeun, Beef — WINNER
David Oyelowo, Lawmen: Bass Reeves
Jon Hamm, Fargo
Matt Bomer, Fellow Travelers
Sam Claflin, Daisy Jones & the Six
Woody Harrelson, White House Plumbers

Best Supporting Female Actor – Television

Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown — WINNER
Abby Elliott, The Bear
Christina Ricci, Yellowjackets
Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso
J. Smith-Cameron, Succession
Meryl Streep, Only Murders in the Building

Best Supporting Male Actor – Television

Matthew Macfadyen, Succession — WINNER
Alan Ruck, Succession
Alexander Skarsgard, Succession
Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear
James Marsden, Jury Duty

Best Stand-Up Comedian on Television

Ricky Gervais, Ricky Gervais: Armageddon — WINNER
Amy Schumer, Amy Schumer: Emergency Contact
Chris Rock, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage
Sarah Silverman, Sarah Silverman: Someone You Love
Trevor Noah, Trevor Noah: Where Was I
Wanda Sykes, Wanda Sykes: I’m an Entertainer

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Original Source

BTC-Accepting Businesses Rose by Over 170 Percent in 2023, Some Also Identified in India: Report

The number of vendors and businesses accepting payments through Bitcoin spiked by a whopping 174 percent last year. The most expensive cryptocurrency in existence, Bitcoin went through a notable slump in 2023 after several market shaking incidents like the collapse of FTX and Terra left investors high and dry. For most of the year, Bitcoin was trading around the mark of $30,000 (roughly Rs. 24.9 lakh) before finally shooting up over $40,000 (roughly Rs. 33.2 lakh) at the end of 2023.

Bitcoin-accepting restaurants, bars, shops, and services reached the figure of 6,126 by the end of last year, showed data from tracker BTC Map. To put the spike in perspective, BTC Map also showed that the number of businesses that were accepting payments via BTC at the start of 2023 stood at just 2,207 merchants.

BTC Map identifies regions where BTC is being used for daily transaction purposes through OpenStreetMap where people and merchants can tag these pro-crypto vendors and merchants. BTC Maps showing a rise in the number of pro-BTC merchants also indicates that more people are actively tagging spots where crypto payments are being accepted.

The regions of Central and South America alongside those in the US and Europe showed larger clusters of BTC-accepting businesses. Over 1,000 BTC-accepting businesses were tagged in Italy and 380 were marked in South Africa.

In India, data by the BTC Maps managed to identify BTC-accepting vendors in Surat, Mumbai, Gaya, Delhi, and Chennai. There were no tags identified in China and Russia.

With regulatory challenges starting to sort out gradually around the world, more brands could also open crypto payments in the times to come.

One of the biggest brands that started accepting payments in BTC was Italian luxury carmaker Ferrari. In October 2023, Ferrari decided to accept payments in the form of Bitcoin, Ether, and USD Coin in the US.

Fashion label Ralph Lauren, McDonald’s, and Gucci are among other brands that have opened crypto payments in select regions.

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Original Source

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