Samsung has been reportedly working to introduce a new entry-level smartphone, which will be a successor to the Samsung Galaxy A03s. The upcoming model, called Samsung Galaxy A04s, may still take a few months to be announced. However, we may have already got a sneak-peak into the phone’s design and specification, as some CAD renders of the smartphone have been leaked online by tipster Steve Hemmerstoffer, aka Onleaks. The high-resolution renders suggest that there is no stark difference in design as compared to its predecessor.
Given the fact that the Samsung Galaxy A04s will be a pocket-friendly phone, not much is expected from it in terms of features. The leaked renders hint at a flat display, which is expected to be around 6.5-inch, and is said to sport a V-shaped notch at the top. The display will reportedly come with an HD+ resolution panel.
The dimensions of the smartphone, as suggested by the OnLeak renders shared in collaboration with Giznext, are said to be 164.5 x 76.5 x 9.18mm.
Samsung Galaxy A04s seen from the sides Photo Credit: Giznext/ OnLeaks
On the processor front, it is yet to be confirmed if Samsung chooses to go with MediaTek, Qualcomm or Unisoc series of SoC. The details on battery front are not out yet, but just like its predecessor Samsung Galaxy A03s, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy A04s could be available with a 5,000mAh battery that offers 15W charging.
As per the leaked renders, the right side of the phone appears to have control buttons for adjusting volume. Just like other Samsung smartphones, the power button is also provided on the right-side panel and may also include an integrated fingerprint scanner. The rear panel, as per the renders, shows a vertical triple camera setup, the details for which are yet awaited. Unlike the Samsung Galaxy A03s, there appears to be no camera bump in the upcoming Samsung Galaxy A04s. However, the lenses stick out from the back – similar to the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.
The leaked renders also show a 3.5mm headphone jack at the bottom, a USB Type-C port for charging, and speaker grilles. The left side of the phone appears to have a SIM + microSD slot.
Samsung Galaxy A03s specifications
As the upcoming Samsung Galaxy A04s is expected to be similar to the Samsung Galaxy A03s, we can take a look at the predecessors’ specifications to understand what to expect from the next offering. The smartphone is offered in market with a 6.50-inch HD+LCD display, and is equipped with a Unisoc T606 processor. It comes packed with a 5,000mAh battery and runs on Android 11 OS. Along with a rear camera support of 48-megapixel + 2-megapixel, Samsung Galaxy A03s provides a 5-megapixel front camera for selfies. The phone is available in a single variant that offers 4GB RAM + 64GB storage.
Are the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 still made for enthusiasts — or are they good enough for everyone? We discussed this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
OnePlus Nord Buds were launched in India on Thursday. The new audio offerings were unveiled alongside the OnePlus 10R 5G and Nord CE 2 Lite 5G smartphones. The latest addition to the brand’s earbuds portfolio comes with an ergonomic design and feature 12.4mm titanium drivers. OnePlus Nord Buds feature active noise cancellation (ANC). The earbuds have Bluetooth v5.2 for connectivity and are IP55 rated for sweat and water resistance. OnePlus claims that its new TWS earbuds can offer a total of up to 30 hours of playback time along with the charging case.
OnePlus Nord Buds price in India, availability
The new OnePlus Nord Buds are priced at Rs. 2,799. They are offered in Black Slate and White Marble colour options. The new OnePlus earbuds will go on sale starting 12pm IST on May 10 in India via the company website, Amazon India, Flipkart, and OnePlus Exclusive Stores.
OnePlus Nord Buds specifications
On the specifications front, OnePlus Nord Buds are powered by 12.4mm Titanium drivers that have a frequency response range of 20Hz–20,000Hz and a driver sensitivity of 102dB for better bass and sound quality. The earbuds have an IP55-rated body that is dust- and water-resistant and have a lightweight ergonomic design.
The new OnePlus Nord Buds feature Bluetooth v5.2 connectivity with a maximum operating distance of 10 meters. The earbuds can deliver a latency rate of up to 94 milliseconds with select OnePlus smartphones with gaming pro mode enabled. Further, the earbuds feature four microphones
They can be paired with both Android and iOS devices. Like OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2, the new earbuds support company’s fast pairing technology that claims to connect the earbuds with a paired OnePlus smartphone as soon as the charging case is opened.
OnePlus says the OnePlus Nord Buds alone can provide up to seven hours of playback on a single charge. The earbuds are accompanied by an oval-shaped charging case and their combination is said to deliver up to 30 hours of playtime. Further, OnePlus Nord Buds claim to offer five hours of playback time with just a 10-minute charge. There is a 41mAh battery inside each earbud and a 480mAh battery inside the charging case. The case can be charged via the bundled USB Type-C cable.
The OnePlus Nord Buds measure 67.9x 35.5x 28.68mm with the case. Each earbud weighs 4.8 grams and earbuds combined with their charging case weighs 41.7 grams.
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Google has revealed that it blocked as many as 1.2 million apps from being published on Google Play in 2021 as they were violating its policies. The company said that it introduced privacy-focussed features and enhancements to protect users against bad apps and developers, and improved data safety that all helped bring improvements for Android consumers. In addition to its ongoing efforts, Google has the Google Play Protect pre-installed malware protection that is claimed to scan billions of installed apps each day across billions of devices to limit malicious and unwanted software from Android phones.
In a blog post, Google’s Android security and Privacy team said that by blocking 1.2 million policy-violating apps from being published on Google Play, it prevented billions of harmful installations. The Android maker also noted that it banned 190,000 bad developer accounts to reduce malicious and spammy developers. It also closed around 500,000 developer accounts that were inactive or abandoned.
“Providing a safe experience to billions of users continues to be one of the highest priorities for Google Play,” the team said.
In May, Google announced its Data safety section, which essentially works similar to Apple’s privacy ‘nutrition labels’, and lets developers give users the information about the privacy and security of their apps directly through their app listings on Google Play. It rolled out to users earlier this week, and developers are required to complete the information required in this section for their apps by July 20.
The Data safety section is one of the moves by Google to help make users aware of what data they are sharing with app developers and for what purposes. However, since the onus of sharing data access information is on developers, there could be some instances of misleading details. Google, though, said that apps that don’t become compliant will be subject to policy enforcement.
Google has features including the Policy and Programs section on Google Play Console. It also worked with system development kit (SDK) developers to improve the safety of its SDKs. As a result of all these initiatives, Google said that as much as 98 percent of apps migrating to Android 11 or higher have reduced their access to sensitive APIs and user data. It also claimed to have significantly reduced “the unnecessary, dangerous, or disallowed use of Accessibility APIs in apps migrating to Android 12, while preserving the functionality of legitimate use cases.”
Specifically for Google Pixel users, Google said that its in-house devices now use new machine learning models that help improve the detection of malware through Google Play Protect.
“The detection runs on your Pixel, and uses a privacy preserving technology called federated analytics to discover bad apps,” the team said.
TikTok has surpassed Instagram and become the world’s top downloaded app in the first quarter of 2022, according to a report by app market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. The short-video app, which is banned in India, managed to continue to be one of the top-five top downloaded apps worldwide. However, Meta — the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — retained its dominance in the app market globally, with Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp as the three top downloaded apps worldwide after TikTok.
Sensor Tower reports that no app has had more downloads than TikTok since the start of 2018. Since the beginning of 2022, the app has been downloaded more than 175 million times, according to the report.
TikTok was the top app worldwide in Q1 2022 Photo Credit: Sensor Tower
TikTok surpassed 70 million downloads on the App Store worldwide for the third time in the first quarter. It was driven by 11 percent quarter-over-quarter growth in Asia. CapCut, a video editing app from TikTok’s publisher ByteDance, also had the last quarter as its best to date with more than 30 million downloads. It has ranked among the top 10 App Store apps each of the past five quarters, Sensor Tower said in its 75-page report.
Alongside the worldwide growth, TikTok has emerged as the top downloaded app on both the App Store and Google Play in the US and on Google Play in Europe. The ban in India also didn’t impact much in Asia as TikTok continued to be the top-downloaded app on the App Store in the region. It also moved to the third top downloaded app position on Google Play from the fourth one in the quarter earlier.
However, on Google Play worldwide, Instagram and Facebook managed to continue to fight TikTok and retain their leadership on the top-two positions.
In addition to TikTok, YouTube emerged as one of the top-two apps on the US App Store each quarter since the first quarter of 2021, per the report.
Sensor Tower said that while TikTok has surpassed 10 million downloads each of the past nine quarters, YouTube has overtaken this threshold for eight straight quarters.
But nonetheless, TikTok continued to gain momentum in the US. Sensor Tower noted that it was the top app on Google Play for the third straight quarter, with installs up 19 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.
The ongoing trend of connecting people over virtual calls — despite the revival of physical meetings — has apparently helped Zoom to grow in the market in which entertainment-focussed apps including TikTok and Facebook parent Meta are writing new growth stories.
Sensor Tower said that Zoom had positive quarter-on-quarter growth for the first time in a year by reaching the number six position on Google Play in the US with more than three million downloads. It was the top app on Google Play as recently as the first quarter of 2021, the report said.
Apps including Telegram and WhatsApp have a tough fight in Europe. While WhatsApp managed to take the second position in the list of top downloaded apps in the continent, Telegram also had its second-best quarter in the region in the first quarter of 2022, trailing the nearly 28 million installs it had in the same quarter of 2021, according to Sensor Tower.
WhatsApp was also the top app particularly on the App Store in Europe for the seventh straight quarter in the first quarter. Sensor Tower said that it was also WhatsApp’s best first quarter of the year since 2018.
In Asia, Instagram continued to come as the top app for the third straight quarter in the first quarter, followed by Facebook. Instagram was also the top app in India where it accounted for more than 60 percent of Instagram’s installs in the country, Sensor Tower said.
Instagram was also the top app on Google Play in Asia — ahead of Facebook and Shopee. Sensor Tower noted that the photo-sharing app accounted for 29 percent of Meta’s Google Play installs in Asia in the first quarter, up from 26 percent in the same quarter last year and 18 percent in the same quarter of 2020.
Shopping apps are also seen getting bigger in Asia — at least on Google Play. Sensor Tower said that shopping app installs on Google Play in Asia grew 63 percent year-on-year in the first quarter. Top apps include Shopee, Meesho, and Flipkart’s Shopsy.
On the App Store, Subway Surfers, Wordle, and Coloring Match were the top-three games worldwide in the last quarter. Garena Free Fire, Subway Surfers, and Merge Master were, however, the top-three games worldwide on Google Play.
Wordle — which is named after New York Times’ word game Wordle — was also the top game in the US, with more than nine million downloads. It was also the top game on the App Store in the country and had the top US App Store downloads since Among Us in the fourth quarter of 2020. Wordus and Word Guess were the other two games with Wordle-style gameplay that ranked among the top 20 games in the country, the report mentioned.
However, Sensor Tower said Roblox managed to continue ranking among the top-five games each quarter since the fourth quarter of 2020. In Asia, the list of top-three games in the first quarter was the same as the previous quarter, with Garena Fire Fire leading the chart, followed by Ludo King and Subway Surfers.
“Garena Free Fire and Ludo King have been in a tight race since the start of 2019, with Garena Free Fire’s 468 million installs edging Ludo King’s 461 million since that time,” Sensor Tower said.
PUBG Mobile also returned to the top-five list in Asia in the last quarter. It took the top spot on the App Store in the continent, with 37 percent quarter-on-quarter growth. However, Garena Free Fire emerged as the top game on Google Play in Asia. Garena Free Fire Max also managed to get more than 60 percent of its Google Play downloads in Asia in the last quarter, whereas the original title took the other 39 percent, the report shows.
In terms of demographics, India has continued to be the largest market for app downloads in the world in the first quarter. It was followed by the US, Brazil, and Indonesia, per the report.
India continued to lead in the top app markets worldwide in Q1 2022 Photo Credit: Sensor Tower
Sensor Tower also noted that Meta emerged as the top publisher across the globe for the first time since the first quarter of 2020. Google and ByteDance were, though, the two other top publishers in the app market globally.
Overall, worldwide downloads of apps grew 1.4 percent in the first quarter to 36.9 billion from the 36.4 billion downloads reported for the first quarter last year. Downloads from the App Store globally increased to 8.6 billion from 8.4 billion last year, while Google Play downloads reached 28.3 billion from 28 billion, Sensor Tower’s report shows.
The report is based on App Store and Google Play download estimates between January 1 and March 31. Download estimates are on a per-user basis and don’t count re-installs and updates of the same app by the same user. Also, Android app download estimates represent downloads from Google Play only and don’t consider download estimates from third-party Android stores.
CERT-In has asked all government and private agencies, including Internet service providers, social media platforms, and data centres, to mandatorily report cybersecurity breach incidents to it within six hours of noticing them.
The new circular, issued by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), mandates all service providers, intermediaries, data centres, corporates, and government organisations to mandatorily enable logs of all their ICT (Information and Communication Technology) systems and maintain them securely for a rolling period of 180 days, and the same shall be maintained within the Indian jurisdiction.
The log should be provided to CERT-In along with reporting of any incident or when directed by the computer emergency response team.
The move will help in fighting cybercrime more effectively, minister of state for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said in a tweet, asking all companies and enterprises “must mandatorily report cyber incidents to IndianCERT”.
CERT-In is empowered under section 70B of the Information Technology Act to collect, analyse, and disseminate information on cybersecurity incidents.
CERT-In said that during the course of handling cyber incidents and interactions with the constituency, it has identified certain gaps causing hindrance in the analysis of breach incidents.
“To address the identified gaps and issues so as to facilitate incident response measures, CERT-In has issued directions relating to information security practices, procedure, prevention, response, and reporting of cyber incidents under the provisions of sub-section (6) of section 70B of the Information Technology Act, 2000. These directions will become effective after 60 days,” Cert-In said.
According to the latest order, data centres, virtual private server (VPS) providers, cloud service providers, and virtual private network service (VPN Service) providers need to register the accurate information related to subscriber names, customer hiring the services, ownership pattern of the subscribers etc, and maintain them for five years or longer duration as mandated by the law.
“Many times during LEA (Law Enforcement Agency) requests and investigations, we have seen cases of non-storage or availability of data and proper records with intermediaries and service providers. These guidelines will streamline the date records to be maintained and proper reporting of security incidents to CERT-In,” said Jiten Jain, Voyager Infosec director of digital lab.
There have been several incidents of data breach in Indian entities that have led to leak of personal data of crores of individuals.
Some companies continued to ignore alerts by cybersecurity researchers and acted only after the data was made public.
“End-user has the right to know if their data is loaded so that an individual can protect himself from fraud transactions, fake loans, ID misuse etc. Government should also force companies to inform their users within 24 hours of the incident. Neither CERT-In nor companies inform users. We saw a lot of data breaches last year. None of them informed their users. As a result, cybercrime, financial frauds and ID misuse have spiked,” cybersecurity researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia said.
He said that users are still unaware if their KYC (Know Your Customer) and financial data is safe or not.
The crypto culture seems to be on an expansion in parts of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In a latest development, Dubai-based real estate developer Damac Properties has decided to accept payments in the form of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin and Ether, the top two cryptos in-terms of valuation, have been declared as accepted payment modes for property purchases. The company aims to be on the forefront of “revolutionising the future of real estate” while also adding more options of payments for customers.
“This move towards customers holding cryptocurrency is one of our initiatives to accelerate the new economy for newer generations, and for the future of our industry,” Ali Sajwani, general manager of operations at Damac and head of the organisation’s digital transformation initiatives said in a statement.
The announcement was also officially shared by the developers on Twitter.
Sajwani has urged other global businesses also to add crypto transactional modes to their services.
“It is crucial for global businesses like ours to stay at the top of evolution. Offering yet another transactional mode is exciting and we are glad to recognise the value this technology brings to our customers,” he noted.
Dubai, in recent times, has accelerated its speed heading towards establishing itself as a global crypto hub before others catch pace.
In March, UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum signed a new law for virtual assets while establishing an independent body to oversee the governance of the crypto space.
Soon after, a local school in Dubai announced that it is considering accepting Bitcoin and Ether as payments for tuition, making it the first school in the Middle East to do so.
In December last year, the Dubai Media Office announced that the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) will become a crypto zone for virtual assets – including digital assets, products, operators and exchanges
Relevant authorities are also working on enforcing rigorous standards for investor protection, anti-money laundering provisions, combating terror financing, ensuring compliance, and allowing cross border deal flow tracing in Dubai.
Since he closed the deal to buy Twitter a few days ago, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk appears to have been bombarded with requests to fix other products of public use. Though he must be enjoying the attention, he also appears to be frustrated by these requests. The Tesla founder has a reputation of making startling statements and following through on some of them when least expected. Twitter users dug out his old tweets and some even circulated fake ones to suggest Musk had desired to buy some successful companies to “fix” them.
Musk has responded to these requests and fake screenshots in his trademark funny style, saying he intends to buy beverage giant Coca-Cola next “to put the cocaine back in”.
Next I’m buying Coca-Cola to put the cocaine back in — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 28, 2022
He also urged people to make Twitter a “maximum fun” place.
Let’s make Twitter maximum fun! — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 28, 2022
After trying to use satire to make people understand that it’s futile to expect him to correct everything they believe is wrong with the world and people should take initiatives themselves, Musk shared another tweet speaking plainly on the matter.
Sharing a screenshot that showed his old tweet about his intention to buy McDonald’s and fix its ice cream machines, Musk told his followers, “Listen, I can’t do miracles. Ok.”
Musk has been at the receiving end of criticism from a section of Twitter users over his recent public criticism of Twitter staff. Many people have questioned his plans for running the company and warned that other Twitter employees were watching how he was slamming their colleagues in the open.
Since then, Musk has restricted himself to tweeting suggestions about how he wants Twitter to change. For example, he has suggested that Twitter Direct Messages should have end-to-end encryption, so no one can spy on or hack messages.
Twitter DMs should have end to end encryption like Signal, so no one can spy on or hack your messages — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 28, 2022
He has also called for Twitter to be politically neutral to gain public trust. “For Twitter to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral, which effectively means upsetting the far right and the far left equally,” he said.
For Twitter to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral, which effectively means upsetting the far right and the far left equally — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 27, 2022
Musk bought a 100 percent stake in Twitter in a $44 billion deal.
OnePlus 10R, OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G, and the Nord Buds are all set to launch in India today at a virtual event called ‘More Power To You’. The Chinese electronics brand will introduce the OnePlus 10R as its latest smartphone in the country under the R-series. Another pocket-friendly offering from the company is the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G, which is said to sport a 6.58-inch full-HD+ display. Alongside, OnePlus will also introduce the Nord Buds. Both the smartphones and the buds are expected to debut in two colour options.
OnePlus 10R, Nord CE 2 Lite 5G, Nord Buds India launch livestream details
The launch event for the OnePlus 10R 5G, Nord CE 2 Lite 5G, and the Nord Buds will begin at 7pm IST. The event will be livestreamed on the OnePlus’ official website and YouTube channel. Users will also be able to livestream the launch event on the OnePlus India YouTube channel. For live updates, you can browse through OnePlus India’s social media handles on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. You can also watch the event live from the video player embedded below.
OnePlus 10R 5G price in India (expected)
According to the latest leak shared by Tipster Yogesh Brar (@heyitsyogesh), the OnePlus 10R 5G is expected to be priced at Rs. 38,999 for the 8GB RAM + 128GB model, while the 12GB RAM + 256GB variant is said to carry a price tag of Rs. 44,999.
OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G price in India (expected)
The pocket-friendly handset for Indian customers, according to Brar, is expected to have a price tag of Rs. 17,999 for the 6GB RAM +128GB storage model, while the 8GB RAM + 128GB variant is said to cost around Rs. 19,999. However, according to another tipster, Abhishek Yadav (@yabhishekhd), the 6GB RAM +128GB storage variant will reportedly be priced at Rs 19,999, whereas the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage model is said to be offered at Rs. 21,999.
OnePlus Nord Buds price in India (expected)
The OnePlus Nord Buds are expected to be priced at Rs. 2,999, and we should know the exact pricing and availability details later today.
OnePlus 10R 5G specifications in India (expected)
With curiosity around the upcoming launch of the OnePlus 10R 5G, there have been several hints and leaks on social media that provide a sneak-peak on the Chinese smartphone maker’s latest offering.
The OnePlus 10R 5G will come with a 120Hz fluid display with adaptive frame rate and a 6.7-inch full-HD+ Fluid AMOLED display. OnePlus has already confirmed the presence of MediaTek Dimensity 8100-MAX SoC on the smartphone. The processor offers a maximum clock speed of 2.85Ghz, and is integrated with the Arm Mali-G610 MC6 GPU.
As mentioned above, the company is expected to launch the OnePlus 10R with two storage options – a base variant with 8GB RAM + 128GB storage and an upgraded model with 12GB RAM + 256GB storage. It will feature a triple-rear camera setup, which will reportedly include a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 main camera with Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS), an 8-megapixel Ultrawide lens, and a 2-megapixel macro lens.
The base model is said to offer 80W charging support, while the top-end variant will come with 150W charging support, and both will get a 4,500mAh battery. With special focus on gaming being given to the OnePlus 10R, the phone will support HyperBoost gaming engine. With 150W fast charging, a user can fully charge the phone’s battery in 17 minutes. The phone is expected to run Android 12-based Oxygen OS 12.1 out of the box.
The OnePlus 10R will reportedly debut in Black and Green colour options.
OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G specifications in India (expected)
OnePlus is introducing the Nord CE 2 Lite 5G, a mid-range smartphone, which will come with a 6.59-inch full-HD+ display and 120Hz refresh rate. It is expected to be powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 695 SoC, with up to 8GB of RAM. The smartphone is also said to run OxygenOS 12.1 out of the box.
OnePlus will offer an AI-backed triple rear camera setup in the upcoming mid-range smartphone, which will include a 64-megapixel primary sensor. It will also reportedly feature a 16-megapixel selfie sensor. For battery, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G will offer a 5,000mAh battery with support for 33W SuperVOOC fast charging.
The company logo will be displayed on the centre of the rear panel, while the right side has control panel for power button. The bottom of the phone will get a 3.5mm headphone jack. The OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G could be offered in Black and Blue shades.
OnePlus Nord Buds specifications (expected)
The new OnePlus Nord Buds from OnePlus are expected to come equipped with 12.4mm drivers, as per a leak by tipster Max Jambor (@MaxJmb). Other details mentioned in the tweet include Bluetooth v5.2 connectivity for the Nord Buds. These are said to be rated IP55 for water and dust resistance. However, they do not feature active noise cancellation (ANC) technology. OnePlus has confirmed most of these specifications via an official microsite.
All the reports so far suggest the earbuds to come packed with 41mAh battery, and a charging case having a 480mAh capacity. The leaks indicate that these buds will offer listening time of 7 hours on every charge, while charging case can provide 30 hours of backup. The buds are also expected to offer a quick charging feature, which will enable interested buyers to avail 5 hours of listening time with a 10-minute charge. The earbuds are expected to debut in Black and White colours.
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Realme GT 2 will go on sale for the first time in India today at 12pm IST. The flagship phone from Realme was launched in India a week ago. The smartphone is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 SoC. The Realme GT 2 comes with features including a 120Hz AMOLED display, triple rear camera setup, and a Paper Tech Master Design that debuted on the Realme GT 2 Pro. The smartphone will be available in three colour options, and go on sale via Flipkart and Realme.com.
Realme GT 2 price in India, launch offers
The Realme GT 2 is priced in India at Rs. 34,999 for the base 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant. The phone also comes in a 12GB + 256GB model that carries a price tag of Rs. 38,999. The handset will go on sale via Flipkart and Realme.com starting 12pm today.
The Realme GT 2 comes in Paper Green, Paper White, and Steel Black colour options and the launch offers on the smartphone include Rs. 5,000 cashback for customers using HDFC Bank card or EMI transactions.
As mentioned earlier, the Realme GT 2 was launched in India a week ago. The handset was introduced in China at a starting price of CNY 2,699 (roughly Rs. 31,700) for the base 8GB + 128GB variant. It comes in an 8GB + 256GB variant at CNY 2,899 (roughly Rs. 34,100) and the top-end 12GB + 256GB model at CNY 3,199 (roughly Rs. 37,600). Just over a month after its launch in China, the Realme GT 2 had its global debut at MWC 2022, with a starting price of EUR 549 (roughly Rs. 45,400).
Realme GT 2 specifications
The dual-SIM (Nano) Realme GT 2 runs on Android 12 with Realme UI 3.0 on top and sports a 6.62-inch full-HD+ (1,080×2,400 pixels) AMOLED display that has a 120Hz refresh rate apart from Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. The phone is powered by the octa-core Snapdragon 888 SoC, along with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM.
For optics, the Realme GT 2 bears a triple rear camera setup that houses a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 primary sensor. The camera setup also includes wide-angle and macro shooters. For selfies and video chats, the handset sports a 16-megapixel Sony IMX471 selfie camera sensor at the front.
The Realme GT 2 carries up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. Connectivity options of the handset include 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth v5.2, GPS/ A-GPS, NFC, and a USB Type-C port. Sensors on board the Realme GT 2 include an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, gyroscope, magnetometer, and a proximity sensor. There is also an in-display fingerprint sensor on board.
Realme has packed the handset with a 5,000mAh battery that supports 65W SuperDart Charge fast charging tech, which is claimed to charge the inbuilt battery pack from zero to 100 percent in 33 minutes. The Realme GT 2 measures 162.9×75.8×8.6mm and weighs up to 199.8 grams.
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Microsoft announced its earnings report for the its FY22 Q3 period on Tuesday, and on the earnings call, CEO Satya Nadella revealed that over 10 million people have streamed games using the Xbox Cloud Gaming service till date. However, it is not yet clear if these users have streamed games online through an active Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, or whether the games were streamed during the trial period before cancelling the subscription.
On the earnings call, Nadella said, “And with Xbox Cloud Gaming, we are redefining how games are distributed, played, and viewed. To date, more than 10 million people have streamed games. Many of our most popular titles, including Flight Simulator are now accessible on phones, tablets, low-spec PCs for the first time.” He added, “Billions of hours have been played by subscribers over the past 12 months, up 45 percent.”
These numbers can include active subscriptions, as well as those who purchased Xbox Game Pass Ultimate that can be cancelled later. Moreover, there is no description given for minimum playtime required to count one stream. However, the figures shared by Microsoft proves the popularity shared by Xbox Cloud Gaming, with a lot of people checking the service out. For those who are unaware, Xbox Cloud Gaming is currently in beta, and a part of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate package, which can be subscribed at a cost of $14.99 per month (Rs. 499 a month in India, though Xbox Cloud Gaming is not available in India).
Back in January 2022, Microsoft revealed that it had achieved more than 25 million subscribers on Xbox Game Pass, which was up from last year’s 18 million subscriptions. In the recent Q3 earnings call, Microsoft has not delved into any details on the updated number of subscriptions on Xbox or PC Game Pass.
The quarterly report also revealed that Xbox gaming has accounted for 4 percent growth in content and services, while Xbox hardware revenue was up by 14 percent with an overall 6 percent boost for gaming revenue. In its forward-looking statements, the company stated that it will be “increasing focus on cloud-based services presenting execution and competitive risks,” along with lower revenues due to intense competition.
In March 2022, Microsoft India slashed subscription tariffs by roughly 28 percent, with a price drop for Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, Xbox Live Gold, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions. The new subscription prices, active from April 1, starts at Rs. 499 per month for the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, while the yearly subscription is now available at Rs. 5,999.
PS5 vs Xbox Series X: Which is the best “next-gen” console in India? We discussed this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.
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The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
