Amazon Smart Plug Review — Easiest way to remotely control your appliances

If you are looking for the easiest way to remotely control your domestic appliances, the Amazon Smart Plug might be of interest to you. I have tried smart plugs and power strips from several companies over the past few years and it is good to finally see a product from Amazon which is the creator of Alexa and has smart devices under the Echo and Fire line-up. Amazon had announced a similar product in the US market almost 2 years ago at a similar price of $25 and continues to sell it. Now the Amazon Smart Plug has been launched it in India and I have been using it for a while now. Here are my thoughts on the device and if it makes sense to invest in one.

Continue reading “Amazon Smart Plug Review — Easiest way to remotely control your appliances”

WhatsApp begins global rollout of new Shopping button

Over the past few months, WhatsApp has steadily been adding features to improve the overall shopping experience on its instant messaging platform. With the ability to view catalogs, it is very easy to shop directly with a business and now, WhatsApp is adding a Shopping button that will let customers add items to a cart, make payment and check out all within WhatsApp.

Continue reading “WhatsApp begins global rollout of new Shopping button”

Apple halts future Pegatron Corp iPhone assembly due to labour violation

One of Apple’s iPhone supplier, Pegatron Corp. in China was discovered to be in violation of Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct and hence, Apple has halted their contracts with the supplier until corrective measures were taken. Pegatron Corp. was revealed to be falsifying paperwork to hide violations in a student worker program.

Continue reading “Apple halts future Pegatron Corp iPhone assembly due to labour violation”

OnePlus Nord SE with 65W fast charging said to be introduced in early 2021

OnePlus introduced its Nord mid-range 5G smartphone earlier this year, and the Nord N10 5G and Nord N100 smartphones last month, now the company is said to be working on Nord SE codenamed ‘Ebba’ for next year. It looks like an upgraded version of the Nord. Continue reading “OnePlus Nord SE with 65W fast charging said to be introduced in early 2021”

Nokia 8 V 5G UW with mmWave 5G announced for Verizon

HMD Global introduced the Nokia 8.3 5G, the company’s first mid-range 5G smartphone back in March and began global roll out in September. Today it has announced Nokia 8 V 5G UW which come with mmWave 5G support on Verizon in the US. It comes in Meteor Grey colour, starts at $699 (Rs. 51,651 approx.) and will be available from Verizon and Best Buy starting from November 12th. Continue reading “Nokia 8 V 5G UW with mmWave 5G announced for Verizon”

Apple MagSafe Duo charger and Leather Sleeve with MagSafe for iPhone 12 coming soon to India starting at Rs. 12900

Last month, Apple announced a new ecosystem of charging accessories, collectively called MagSafe, along with their iPhone 12 series of smartphones. At launch, Apple revealed a few new first-party accessories designed for the iPhone and now, two new MagSafe accessory have popped up in the Apple store, namely the MagSafe Duo Charger and Leather Sleeve with MagSafe.

Continue reading “Apple MagSafe Duo charger and Leather Sleeve with MagSafe for iPhone 12 coming soon to India starting at Rs. 12900”

Micromax IN Note 1 and IN 1B pre-booking starts November 10 on Flipkart

Micromax launched the new IN 1B and IN Note 1 smartphones in India last week. It announced that the phones will be available by the end of November. Today it has announced pre-bookings for the phones will begin tomorrow, November 10th from 12PM on Flipkart. Continue reading “Micromax IN Note 1 and IN 1B pre-booking starts November 10 on Flipkart”

Motorola Moto G Stylus 2021 with 6.81-inch FHD+ display, quad rear cameras surface

The Motorola Moto G Stylus was launched earlier this year, and it was one the cheapest smartphone that you could be that came with a stylus. Motorola is reportedly working on the next generation for the model with a planned release in 2021, and well known twitter user @evleaks has leaked some of its specs.

Continue reading “Motorola Moto G Stylus 2021 with 6.81-inch FHD+ display, quad rear cameras surface”

Vivo to introduce OriginOS with refreshed design on November 18

After teasers, vivo today confirmed that it will introduce its new OriginOS at an event in China on November 18th, a day before VDC (vivo Developers Conference) 2020. The invite has several circles in different designs and mentions Origin Studio. Continue reading “Vivo to introduce OriginOS with refreshed design on November 18”

Google Photos adds new colour pop editing feature as part of Google One subscription

Google Photos is easily one of the best free ways to view, organize, edit and store photos in the Android ecosystem. Till date, all of its editing suite tools used to be available freely to all users, however that is not the case anymore as Google has now added a premium colour pop filter that is only available with a Google One subscription.

Continue reading “Google Photos adds new colour pop editing feature as part of Google One subscription”

Apple iPhone 13 series said to feature same 4 models as iPhone 12 series; Pro models with improved Ultra Wide camera

For the first time with the iPhone 12 series, Apple launched 4 models flagship iPhones — a regular iPhone 12, two iPhone 12 Pro models and an iPhone 12 Mini. According to popular analyst Ming Chi-Kuo, Apple will continue this strategy with the iPhone 13 series for the next year too.

Continue reading “Apple iPhone 13 series said to feature same 4 models as iPhone 12 series; Pro models with improved Ultra Wide camera”

India smartphone market ships 54.3 million units in Q3 2020, growing 17% YoY: IDC

The International Data Corporation (IDC) has released its report of the state of the Indian smartphone market for the third quarter of 2020. Shipment numbers were recorded at 54.3 million units, which calculates to a YoY growth of 17%. The top 5 manufacturers were Xiaomi, Samsung, Vivo, realme and OPPO.

Continue reading “India smartphone market ships 54.3 million units in Q3 2020, growing 17% YoY: IDC”

LG W11, W31 and W31+ with 6.52-inch FullVision display launched in India starting at Rs. 9490

LG just launched the W11, W31 and W31+ smartphones as successors of last year’s W10 and W30 and W31+ phones in India. These have 6.52-inch HD+ FullVision screens with an 8MP camera inside the notch, run Android 10, and pack a 4000mAh battery.  The LG W31/W31+ sports 13MP with PDAF, 5MP Ultra-wide, and 2MP Depth Sensor. The LG W11 has 13MP camera along with 2MP depth sensor. Continue reading “LG W11, W31 and W31+ with 6.52-inch FullVision display launched in India starting at Rs. 9490”

Xiaomi shows off retractable wide-aperture lens technology for future smartphones

At the Xiaomi annual developer conference held in China yesterday, Zeng Xuezhong, the president of the company’s mobile phone department showed off  its latest self-developed, Retractable Wide-aperture Lens Technology. Xiaomi said that the retractable optical structure is designed to compactly lodge within the smartphone and can extend out when needed. Continue reading “Xiaomi shows off retractable wide-aperture lens technology for future smartphones”

WhatsApp enables in-app UPI payments for Indian users

With the advent of UPI payments in India, and with apps like Google Pay and PhonePe, transferring money between bank accounts have become incredibly easy. Joining these apps now is WhatsApp, one of India’s most popular instant messaging apps, integrating UPI payments directly into the chat interface. It started testing the payments service back in 2018.

Continue reading “WhatsApp enables in-app UPI payments for Indian users”