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• Apple to Start Using Localised Modems From 2023 Suggest Reports
• Vivo Commits to Three Years of Major Updates for Certain Devices
• AMOLED Panels Aren’t Worth the Hype, Know Why
• PS5 Isn’t Coming on Stock Anytime Soon in India
• The iPhone 13 Will Build on Its Predecessor’s Work, Reports Suggest
• Xiaomi Was Ahead of Apple, OnePlus, Vivo and Oppo in India in Q1 2021
• Realme Narzo 30 Unboxing Video Goes Live Ahead of Official Launch
• BSNL 4G Extended to New Rural Parts of India
• POCO F3 GT Appeared on Global E-Commerce Site Ahead of Official Launch
• Oppo E-Store Official in India Now, Check Out Offers
• Redmi Note 10S Indian Variant Spotted on Google Play Console Listing
• Huawei and ZTE’s Sad Future in the Indian Telecom Industry
• Airtel Thanks Providing Pack Information in Users Preferred Language
• Starlink Sends 60 New Satellites to Orbit, Falcon 9 Creates History
• LTE-M vs NB-IoT, Differences Explained
• Asus ROG Phone 5 Review: The Perfect Device for Gamers
• BSNL Bharat Fibre Broadband Plans to Look Out for in May 2021

Apple to Start Using Localised Modems From 2023 Suggest Reports Posted: 10 May 2021 08:30 AM PDT Apple decided to start doing things in-house after making a complete shift in regards to its processors, from the A-series chips for the iPhone and iPad to the more recent M1 chip for its entire Mac line. The company is also working towards bringing this unification to other products in its Mac lineup, be it the Mac Pro or the MacBook, in a bid to push localised production. Now, it seems the modems in use will also receive a major change. It was revealed on Monday that Apple would be working on replacing its use of Qualcomm's 5G modems with its own in-house modems, with early examples of its use debuting around 2023, with the first of such devices scheduled to launch during the same period. Apple To Shift From Qualcomm Modems To Localised Modems As per a report by MacRumours, the renowned Apple analyst recently revealed as part of his note to investors that Apple would likely opt to adopt its own 5G baseband chips in 2023 at the earliest. The report further mentions that Apple has been working on its own modem designs since last year, a year after the company bought Intel's smartphone modem business, complete with staff well versed with networking, who, at the time, were working on 5G related projects. This is a bit of a good news-bad news situation, since this is in favour of Apple but will result in an overall hit when it comes to Qualcomm's business since the loss of orders from the iPhone maker will make a significant dent in the overall revenue. The analyst is probably hinting at the large foothold that the iPhone holds in the premium smartphone market, even managing to muster up a bit of a cult status. Additionally, the report quotes Kuo stating that Qualcomm could have competition from Mediatek in the budget segment. Coming back to Apple's side of the pond, it is a great decision that will offer improvements over third party integration with Qualcomm. Android devices make use of some of the fastest 5G modems, most of them supplied by Qualcomm, but Apple's modems will provide better performance that might even put the former at risk. Kuo does state that the devices such as the iPhone 13 and 14 will make use of Qualcomm chips, whilst the iPhone 15 might be the first device to sport the 5G modem from the Cupertino based company.

Vivo Commits to Three Years of Major Updates for Certain Devices Posted: 10 May 2021 07:29 AM PDT   Vivo has made decent strides over the course of the last two years, going from a company that offered poor specifications and a lacklustre UI for a rather expensive price, with the sole purpose of targeting offline markets to going to offering decently priced devices that offered features that made the device worthy of a slightly higher price. This also made the company's recent devices, especially from the X-series and V-series of devices, proper contenders in the hotly contested Indian market. That being said, the software side is not behind as well, going from a bloated UI to something that was quite similar to stock Android but with some features that make it easy to use the device. Now, in a bid to further provide a better experience, the company has announced that it will be expanding the software support for certain devices providing three years of updates, namely proper Android versions for select devices. Will Vivo Actually Provide Three Years Of Software Support Well, yes, but there is a catch. The company has stated that it will be providing software support, including three years of major OS upgrades and security updates to its X-series of devices, but this will be applicable for devices launched post-July of 2021. To add to this, the software support will be applicable to only three markets, namely Europe, Australia and India. As for the other markets, Vivo has stated that they will continue to get regular Android security updates. This move, as per the company, is part of its commitment to provide new products to its consumers, with the Senior Vice President and CTO Yujian Shi stating that featuring top of the line hardware, the X-series of devices are built to last. Now, the company wants to make sure that customers get software support that lives up to their expectations. He also added that the company continues to innovate, keeping the user in their mind and, with this pledge, it is making a promise to the customers that they will be able to enjoy a flagship device for an extended period and benefit from the latest software features. This announcement came after the company launched the Vivo Y52s t1, which sports a 6.58-inch LCD panel with a refresh rate of 90Hz. The device relies on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 SoC coupled with 8GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage. As for the optics, the device relies on a 48MP+2MP dual camera setup with an 8MP selfie sensor. For power, it relies on a 5000 mAh battery coupled with 18W fast charging.

AMOLED Panels Aren’t Worth the Hype, Know Why Posted: 10 May 2021 06:52 AM PDT To the non-technical user, an AMOLED panel might seem to be the better choice, despite that not being the actual case. This is due to the fact that they rely on data based on adverts and word of mouth, wherein AMOLEDs are shown as panels providing rich colour and deep blacks. Whilst that is not completely wrong, there is more to a display panel and, one must not believe what they read or hear without testing them out themselves. Today, we will try to clear the air regarding the god-tier status that AMOLED panels hold. AMOLED vs LCD Display: Which One Is Better LCD panels have been there for a long time, whilst AMOLEDs were primarily brought into force by Samsung, who decided to move its flagship lineup to the AMOLED screen before its competitors. That being said, we need to first take a look at the technological advancements that both of them use to make a decision as to which one of them is worse. On a technical level, both screens make use of pixels, which in itself is divided into 3 sections known as sub-pixels. The three sections are red, green and blue, which are primary colours for display technology. In order to produce a certain colour, each pixel allows necessary light to pass through each pixel at different places, allowing for the colours to show on your screen. The key differentiator comes in the way light is generated in each screen, where LCD panels make use of a backlight to generate light. A series of transparent mirrors, an array of white LED lights and series of films distribute light across the back of the display. At times in lower-quality panels, one can spot bright spots on the screen, which may be caused by uneven distribution. This arrangement results in blacks that are not 'true blacks' as, no matter what light passes through, the darkness is not at the same level of an AMOLED panel. Coming to the AMOLED panel, each pixel depends on itself since it is its own light source, which means that no backlight is necessary. This allows for a thinner screen with more consistent lighting all over the display. To add to this, each pixel is an OLED, which shows proper black by shutting off pixels, as they do not need to generate any kind of colour. Here are some key differentiators that will help you understand the differences between the two panels quite easily. LCD panels are quite reliable in comparison to AMOLEDs since they do not suffer from issues such as burn-in, which is a common complaint that can be heard by a user who has an AMOLED panel, especially one that gets a bit older. Most LCD panels have better viewing angles in comparison to an AMOLED panel, meaning that overall content consumption does not suffer. The LCD panel is also capable of providing true-to-life colours instead of slightly boosted colours, something that might not be appealing to most, but being accurate is a pro for most. One first needs to know about the two major cons to an AMOLED before delving into the pros list. One of them was durability, discussed above. The other one is a higher panel cost, meaning it generally results in a higher overall price for the product. As for the positives, the first feature is the ability to provide deeper and actual Blacks, something that even an A+ level LCD panel will fail to achieve. Vivid colours are another feature one can expect from an AMOLED panel; this might be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the user, but most people prefer a brighter and more punchy output. AMOLEDs also have the ability to flex, meaning they can be used in devices such as foldables since it is easy to bend or fold them in a bid to make a flexible or compact device. AMOLEDs are also energy efficient since the backlight is missing. Darker pages require half or less than half of the energy than that on a white page, meaning that for certain applications or sites that have darker backgrounds, overall battery consumption is greatly reduced. In the end, it should be quite clear. If you, as a user, prefer brighter and more punchy images or content output and want deeper blacks, the AMOLED panel is the one for you. But, if you are a user who keeps their device for a longer time and wants better accuracy for a fair price, an LCD based device will be the perfect option for you.

PS5 Isn’t Coming on Stock Anytime Soon in India Posted: 10 May 2021 05:50 AM PDT Sony launched its most-awaited next-generation gaming console, the PlayStation 5, back in 2020, and it took the company several months to launch the console in the Indian market. The console is mostly out of stock since its launch in India. Now it seems that the shortage will be there for a long time. According to a report from Gadgets 360, Sony has notified a group of analysts that PS5 will be short in supply until 2022. So if you’re planning to buy the highly demanded PS5, then it’s better to postpone your plans at least until 2022. Let's have a closer look at the latest report about the PS5 availability in India. Sony PS5 won't Get Restocked in India Sony announced its financial result in late April, and the company revealed that it had sold 7.8 million units until March 31. The company is aiming to hit 14.8 million units sales in the current fiscal year. After the results, Sony told a group of analysts that the company is facing huge difficulty in keeping up with the demand for PS5 across the globe, including India. Due to a shortage in components like semiconductors, the pace of production has suffered, and due to that reason, it is difficult to restock the consoles in most of the markets. The company didn't mention when the supplies are going to be normal, and people will not have to wait for the company to restock the console. Sony's Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki said that the demand is not going to calm down any time this year, and even if the company manages to produce a lot of devices, the demand will not be fulfilled by next year. Sony's supply is unable to catch up with the demand. Further, he added that the company needs to speed up the production as soon as possible to fulfil the demand. This COVID-19 situation has already made things worse for a lot of manufacturing companies, and Sony also seems to be affected by the virus. Let's see how the company is going to cope-up with the demand and when it’s planning to restock the console in India. Do share your thoughts about the PS5 in the comment section.

The iPhone 13 Will Build on Its Predecessor’s Work, Reports Suggest Posted: 10 May 2021 05:30 AM PDT Apple's latest and greatest smartphone, the iPhone 12 and its counterparts, namely the iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, have been the pinnacle of consumer smartphone tech. Despite these devices being quite recent, we are already hearing a lot of things about the iPhone 13. The key changes, as per certain rumours, will come in the form of improved cameras and a smaller notch. A faster refresh rate panel might also come in tow, but only on the flagship pro series. As per analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, there will be four models to the iPhone 13 lineup, from the iPhone 13 Mini to the iPhone 13 Pro Max, much like the current lineup, with the iPhone 13 and 13 Pro slotting in between. What Will The iPhone 13 Do Differently The iPhone 13 will bring some rather major changes whilst keeping certain features similar to the iPhone 12, since if it's not broken, why fix it. Here are the key changes expected to come with the iPhone 13 lineup. 1. The first key change or the lack thereof will be for the design of the iPhone 13. With the iPhone 12 bringing a revamped design reminiscent of the iPhone 5 series, providing flat-side edges to make the device feel more industrial, one can expect to see minor improvements such as a relocated earpiece and the smaller notch, but the overall design will be retained. 2. As per certain rumours, the pro series might get rid of the lightning port in a bid to provide a completely wireless experience, which might not go down well with general consumers. 3. Display sizes will remain similar, with the iPhone 13 and 13 Pro sporting 6.1-inch OLED panels, whilst the iPhone 13 Mini and the iPhone 13 Pro will come with 5.4-inch and 6.7-inch OLED displays, respectively. A 120Hz refresh rate option is still in the cards, but one can never say for sure whether or not it will come to the final product. 4. One can easily presume that Apple will opt for the A15 Bionic chip for performance, based on the 5nm process, but with significant improvements to the battery life and performance with support for 5G, much like the iPhone 12. 5. Storage variants are expected to remain the same, but certain reports suggest that a 1TB variant might be on the way for the Pro series of devices. 6. Cameras are another area where, supposedly, an interesting scenario will play out, with Apple opting to bring the superior sensor from the iPhone 12 Pro Max to all devices of the iPhone 13 lineup, alongside a new ultra-wide camera with an aperture of f/1.8. There could also be a periscope lens capable of providing proper 5x zoom. These were the key changes that are rumoured to come with the iPhone 13. Pricing has not been leaked yet, but supply will not be impacted like last year, so there should be a timely launch for the iPhone 13, with reports hinting at the same launch price as the iPhone 12 for the iPhone 13.

Xiaomi Was Ahead of Apple, OnePlus, Vivo and Oppo in India in Q1 2021 Posted: 10 May 2021 04:30 AM PDT The smartphone market in India is one of the most competitive spaces to be in right now. Although India does not leave a considerable mark in the smartphone manufacturing section of the market but, with the rise of 4G and the much anticipated 5G, the sales are roaring. Smartphone companies are bombarding their products on to the consumers by launching multiple devices in a diversified range like – budget-friendly, gaming phones, battery champ etc. No matter what your budget and feature expectations, you will surely find multiple brands offering competitive smartphones in that range. Overall Smartphone Market in Q1 2021 In the midst of the pandemic, as India saw a decline in cases towards the end of the first wave of the virus in early 2021, the shipment of smartphones in India grew by 23% YoY. According to a report by CMR's India Mobile Handset Market Review, the Indian market saw strong demand for 4G compatible phones, with shipments for 4G phones growing 14% YoY. Company- Wise Performance in terms of Numbers The top three players in the Q1 2021 leaderboard were Xiaomi taking the number one space, followed by Samsung and Vivo taking the third spot. Here's some more information on how the major smartphones companies performed in Q1 2021 – Xiaomi, as we mentioned above, led the space with the mid-range, budget phone approach that works well in the Indian market. The company saw 8% YoY growth in shipments in the first quarter of 2021. The best performing smartphones for Xiaomi were Redmi 9 and 9A that together comprised 38% of the company's overall shipments. Its sub-brand POCO saw an unbelievable growth of 467% YoY thanks to its budget-friendly approach. Samsung held the second position grew 41% YoY with an 18% market share. This increase happened as the company entered the budget-friendly and mid-range phone segment with its A and M series phones. Vivo and Oppo, sister companies, saw a YoY shipment increase of 20% and 16%, respectively. Vivo offered some premium range of devices, but its more affordable Y series contributed to 50% of the sales. Vivo holds 16% of the market share, whereas Oppo holds 11%. OnePlus is another sister company of Vivo and Oppo but has a separate fan base of its own. It saw a whooping 400%+ increase in shipments, with the number of shipments almost reaching a million. OnePlus launched the mid-range series phone, the OnePlus Nord, which made up for 37% of the shipments for the company. Apple surprisingly ranked 8th in the list of top smartphone companies in Q1 2021. Apple’s iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 models reckoned 71% of its total shipments. Apart from these 4G smartphones brands, Nokia and Micromax witnessed a decline of 7% each in their 2G feature phone segment, whereas Lava had a positive increase of 15% YoY in shipments.

Realme Narzo 30 Unboxing Video Goes Live Ahead of Official Launch Posted: 10 May 2021 04:01 AM PDT   Realme launched its Narzo 30 Pro and Narzo 30A smartphone in the Indian market back in March, but the Narzo 30 handset is still due for the launch. However, the company did confirm that the vanilla variant is in the works, and both 5G and 4G models will make their way to the Indian market. Recently, the company has officially revealed the launch of the Narzo 30 in Malaysia on May 18th, which also hints that the Indian launch is imminent. Now in the latest development, the unboxing video of the smartphone has been posted by YouTuber Mark Yeo Tech ahead of the official launch. The unboxing video has revealed the entire design and specifications of the phone; let's have a detailed look at the latest leak. Realme Narzo 30 Design Revealed The unboxing video of the Realme Narzo 30 revealed that the handset would feature a punch-hole cutout design placed at the top-left corner of the display. The punch-hole design is there to accommodate the front camera setup. At the back, the smartphone seems to feature a rectangular-shaped triple camera module along with an LED flash aligned at the top-left corner of the rear panel. A Narzo branding is also noticeable at the vertical strap with an arrow pattern at the back panel. On the left chassis, the phone features volume rocker keys, and on the right, it has the power button. The fingerprint scanner is embedded in the power button for security. The smartphone seems to arrive in a silver colour option. Realme Narzo 30 Specifications and Features (Expected) The Realme Narzo 30 might feature a 6.5-inch FHD+ LCD display with 90Hz refresh rate and 580nits of peak brightness. Under the hood, the handset is expected to be powered by the Media Tek Helio G95 SoC, clubbed with up to 6GB RAM. It is expected to run on Android 11-based Realme UI 2.0 skin out of the box. As far as cameras are concerned, the handset is tipped to launch with a 48MP primary camera sensor clubbed with a 2MP macro lens and a 2MP B&W sensor, along with an LED flash. Upfront, it is expected to house a 16MP camera sensor for selfies and video calls. The handset is expected to pack a 5,000mAh battery with 30W fast charging support. It would be interesting to see at what price the company is planning to launch the smartphone in India and when.

BSNL 4G Extended to New Rural Parts of India Posted: 10 May 2021 03:29 AM PDT Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is trying to grow its 4G services in the country as fast as possible. The state-run telco is in the process to release a new hybrid 4G tender that will help it in rolling out 4G PAN-India with the help of both the Indian companies and the foreign vendors including Nokia, Ericsson, and more. BSNL already offers live 4G VoLTE services in certain parts of India including Coimbatore, Chennai, Kerala, and more. According to a source, the company has now added new rural areas in the state of Gujarat that will receive 4G services from the company. BSNL 4G Services Available in Rural Parts of Ahmedabad The source confirmed that BSNL has refarmed the 3G spectrum for 4G services in the rural parts of Jamnagar. Jamnagar is one of the prominent cities of Gujarat. The 4G services won't be directly available in the city of Jamnagar, but only the rural areas surrounding the city. Areas including Bhanvad and in more such places the 4G VoLTE services of BSNL are now available. Locations Where BSNL 4G VoLTE is Live in India BSNL 4G VoLTE services are available in limited locations of India. The first location to receive VoLTE services from BSNL was South Zone in Coimbatore. Later, the service was extended to Karnataka, Chennai and Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh. With the 4G VoLTE services, users living in the select rural areas of Gujarat will be able to get a higher-quality voice calling experience. The state-run telco offers a variety of 4G plans to the users out of which multiple plans come with unmatched benefits such as 5GB daily data per day or truly unlimited data without any fair-usage-policy (FUP) limit. If you want a BSNL 4G SIM card, you can purchase one for only Rs 20 and recharge it with any of the available First Recharge Plans (FRCs) offered by the company. In the next 14 months, if things remain well-paced without any hindrance, the telco could launch its 4G networks PAN-India with the help of its hybrid tender for which the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has already given its nod.

POCO F3 GT Appeared on Global E-Commerce Site Ahead of Official Launch Posted: 10 May 2021 02:36 AM PDT Xiaomi is a smartphone manufacturing brand that is unknown for its wide range of smartphones in the global market. Recently, the company launched its Redmi K40 Gaming Edition smartphone in the home country China which features MediaTek Dimensity 1200 chipset, game triggers, AMOLED display, and a lot more. The handset is speculated to hit the global market as the POCO F3 GT, but the companies are yet to make any official statement about it. New leaks and rumours are popping up on the internet and now the smartphone has been listed on some e-commerce websites as well. Let's have a detailed look at the POCO F3 GT rumoured price and specifications. POCO F3 GT Spotted on e-Commerce Website Popular tipster Mukul Sharma shared some screenshots of the POCO F3 GT listed on an e-commerce website revealing some of the major information about the smartphone. The handset has been listed on the e-commerce site WelElectronics revealing the price and specifications of the upcoming POCO F3 GT. As per the listing, the smartphone is tipped to be up for grabs in the global market at USD 1,299.99 (approx Rs 95,400). The price of the device seems to be significantly higher than the China launch. The Redmi K40 Gaming Edition phone was launched in China at CNY 1,999 (around Rs 23,000). The listing price seems to be way higher than the original price. It seems that the seller is just taking the advantage of the global unavailability of the smartphone. But we don't think that the consumers are dumb enough to pay for the smartphone at such a high price. The listing also confirmed that the handset will ship with model number M2104K10I and it will have similar specifications to the Redmi K40 Gaming Edition. POCO F3 GT Speculated Specifications Going with the listing, the POCO F3 GT is expected to have a 6.67-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display with a punch-hole camera cutout. The smartphone is said to feature a 120Hz refresh rate with a 480Hz touch sampling rate and HDR10+ support. Under the hood, the handset is expected to be powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC, clubbed with up to 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. As far as cameras are concerned, the POCO F3 GT is said to offer a triple rear-camera setup with the combination of a 64MP primary camera accompanied by an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens and a 2MP macro lens. Upfront, it's said to ship with a 16MP camera sensor for selfies and video calls. The smartphone is also speculated to pack a massive 5056mAh battery with 67W fast charging support.

Oppo E-Store Official in India Now, Check Out Offers Posted: 10 May 2021 01:30 AM PDT Oppo last month announced that it was going to launch an official e-store in India. Until now, the company's online sales were through different retail platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart. But now, Oppo fans can purchase the products of the company directly through its e-store called the 'Oppo Store'. The store is already live on the website of the company. On the platform, there are plenty of exciting offers and amazing deals that the company is offering users once the sale starts. Oppo E-Store Deals Will Go Live on May 11, 2021 All the Oppo e-store deals that are visible on the website of the company will go live on May 11, 2021. They will be valid for a limited period until May 17, 2021. This will be a one-stop-shop for the customers where more than 80 varieties of the products will be available in different price ranges. Oppo has further partnered with major banks such as the HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Kotak, and Standard Chartered to offer users no-cost EMI on their purchases through the Oppo e-store. On top of this, with select credit/debit cards, users can also get a 10% discount on their purchase. Oppo Rs 1 Mystery Box Oppo has also announced a Rs 1 flash sale for the users. It will include a mystery box wherein users can win a device such as the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom, Oppo A5 2020, and more, along with wearables such as Oppo Band Style, W31, W11, and more. Users can also purchase bundled offerings of the company that will include smartphones and wearables. The advantage of purchasing the bundled offerings will be up to Rs 1,000 discounts on the total cost. There is also a spin-to-win feature included on the Oppo e-store wherein customers can win devices such as the Oppo Reno 5 Pro, Enco X, A53, Oppo Band Style and several coupons worth of different denominations. The Oppo e-store is certainly going to catch the attention of the users with such lucrative offers and deals. It is worth noting that the Oppo e-store is very much like the OnePlus Store from OnePlus that too offers lucky draws and bundled offerings.

Redmi Note 10S Indian Variant Spotted on Google Play Console Listing Posted: 10 May 2021 01:00 AM PDT Redmi phones have gained quite some popularity in the Indian market with an exquisite range of mid-range devices and subsequently high-level specs. This is evident with the parent company Xiaomi capturing a market share of 26% in the Indian market. Redmi is coming up with the new Redmi Note 10S Indian variant that is supposed to launch on May 13, 2021. MySmartPrice spotted the Google Play Console listing, which revealed some of the key specifications of the smartphone just a few days ahead of its launch. From the looks of it, it seems like the features of the Indian variant is going to be similar to the ones in the global variant. The price of the device still remains a mystery to the customers and will be unveiled along with the phone on the launch day. Redmi 10S Expected Specifications According to the Google Play Console listing, the new Redmi Note 10S India will be powered by Helio G95 SoC which is a MediaTek MT6785 chipset that MediaTek claims can "maximize gaming". It would use the ARM Mali G76 GPU. The phone will have a new standard normal 6GB of RAM. Also, Redmi Note 10S will come with the latest Android 11 out of the box. The Google Play listing did not reveal the entire specifications related to hardware other than the display. The Redmi Note 10S Indian variant will have an FHD+ (1080*2400) display with a screen density of 440 PPI. Other than this, we can make a few accurate guesses going by the assumption that the specs of the Indian variant are going to be similar to the global version. The Redmi 10S Global Variant Specifications The global version of The Redmi Note 10S packed a 6.43-inch AMOLED display with a not so exciting 60Hz refresh rate. Unlike the Indian variant, it has a RAM capacity of up to 8GB and an internal memory of 128GB. The global variant sports a quad-camera setup with a combination of a 64-megapixel primary sensor, 8 MP wide-angle lens, a 2MP depth sensor and a 2MP macro lens as well. It juices up using a 5000 mAh battery with fast charging support of up to 33W. It also packs some good to have features in a phone, like a dedicated fingerprint sensor on the side, an IP53 rating for water spills, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a dual speaker setup. The upcoming Indian variant is expected to launch for Rs 16,970 on May 13, 2021. As for all the other features unconfirmed features, let us all wait for the launch and find out everything related to the Redmi Note 10S Indian variant.

Huawei and ZTE’s Sad Future in the Indian Telecom Industry Posted: 10 May 2021 12:40 AM PDT Huawei and ZTE don't seem to have a very bright future in the Indian telecom industry. It is not just the border tensions between India and China, but also the Chinese companies' dropping reputation across the world. Thus, it is not just Huawei and ZTE but also other Chinese companies that will be affected. The Indian government has made it clear that it doesn't want Chinese technologies on the future telecom networks of the country, including 5G. The telecom operators have also been communicated the same indirectly that they are not to award any new contracts to the Chinese companies. Huawei and ZTE Played a Key Role in the Development of 4G While Reliance Jio relied on Samsung to develop its 4G networks, the other operators took the help of Huawei and ZTE. Both the companies have played a key role in the network expansion and development of 4G in several circles of India. Bharti Airtel's Chairman, Sunil Bharti Mittal, has even backed the Chinese vendors to provide proven technologies at cheap rates to the Indian companies. Huawei and ZTE have been a part of the Indian telecom ecosystem for a long-time, even before the arrival of 4G. But now, both the companies, along with other telecom equipment vendors based out of China, don't have a bright future in India. This is because of the security concerns and their reduced reputation in the international markets. Telcos Exclude Huawei and ZTE From 5G Trials The government had recently announced that the telcos would soon start with the 5G trials. All the operators have chosen European vendors for helping with the trials. The Chinese companies have been kept out signalling what's about to be their certain future in India. It is not just India but also Europe and the United States (U.S.) that has started phasing out Chinese companies out of their ecosystem. The U.S. was particularly vocal in expressing its happiness and contentment on the decision of the Indian government to keep Huawei and ZTE out of the 5G trials. New Government Portal to Further Ignore Chinese Companies The National Cybersecurity Coordination (NCSC) is a government body that's been designated the task of coming up with a list of trusted companies through which the telecom service providers (TSPs) of India can source their equipment from. A meeting held between companies a few weeks back for the same portal didn't include any Chinese companies. This further assures us that the Chinese companies won't get any contracts in India in short to medium future at least. Huawei Positive About Its Future However, Huawei is quite positive about its future in India. One of the senior officials of the company had recently said that when the time comes, the Indian government will recognise the value of Huawei and include it in its plans for rolling out 5G in India. Given the situation and the recent developments, it doesn't seem like the Indian government is at all interested in including Huawei on its telecom networks anymore.

Airtel Thanks Providing Pack Information in Users Preferred Language Posted: 09 May 2021 11:17 PM PDT Bharti Airtel's rewards application called 'Airtel Thanks' now enables users to get the information they want in their preferred language. The company is making it convenient for the users living in different parts of the country to gain knowledge or information about the pack they are using or want to recharge with. This is a good move from the telco given it has a deep reach in the Indian telecom market as its users are spread across the country even in the most remote regions. It will empower people to gain correct information about the pack they are using and further allow them to understand which plan they want to recharge with in the future. Airtel Thanks Now Offering Pack Information in Multiple Languages The banner inside the app displays that users can get a pack's information in their own language. They can just select a preferred language and go for recharging the pack they like. Airtel Thanks is an application of Bharti Airtel that not only offers rewards but also allows users to purchase new services from the company and recharge their SIM cards. There are now 10 languages the users can choose from if they want to change the default language of the application. These 10 languages include – English, Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Telugu, Bangla, Punjabi, Kannada, Tamil, and Gujarati. Users can select one of the above mentioned languages within the app and continue browsing plans and services of the company. The plans and benefits will remain the same for users browsing in any language supported by the application. Further, users have the option to keep switching the language they want to browse in as per their convenience. Airtel Thanks is available to be downloaded on both the Android and iOS devices from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. You can also access a number of other details including your account information, active services, and more from the application. Further, users can also utilise the Airtel Payments Bank service within the app to deposit any extra money for savings and earn rewards through any transactions they make through the account. The language changing feature is already live on the app for the users across the nation. Ensure that you are running the latest version of the Airtel Thanks app.

Starlink Sends 60 New Satellites to Orbit, Falcon 9 Creates History Posted: 09 May 2021 10:35 PM PDT Starlink, a global satellite internet service provider (ISP), now has 60 new satellites on-orbit offering satcom services. The new satellites were launched by Elon Musk owned SpaceX through the Falcon 9 rocket. In the process, the Falcon 9 has created history by becoming the first Falcon rocket to make 10 trips to orbit and back. The Falcon 9 is a reusable booster of SpaceX that recorded the 10th flight to orbit for releasing satellites into space. SpaceX Launched Two Falcon 9 Rockets in the Same Week As per an IANS report, this is the second time that SpaceX launched two 229-foot tall Falcon 9 rockets within the same week where each rocket was carrying 60 flat-panelled Starlink satellites for providing broadband services. Starlink has been expanding operations very fast and is creating its own constellation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to compete with other satcom companies in the same field, including OneWeb and Amazon's Project Juniper. The aim of Starlink is to provide fast internet connectivity to different parts of the world through satellites. It is worth noting that Musk's satcom company has already been offering pre-booking to Indians through its website. Starlink's website says that it will start providing services in India by 2022, and the connection is subject to availability. At present, only users living in select areas can pre-order the connection by paying an advance of $99 (roughly Rs 7,000). However, the company has promised that in case the user doesn't want the connection after paying the deposit/advance fee, they can request for a complete refund. Starlink has faced a lot of heat from the Indian industry bodies arguing that the company has no suitable license for selling its services in the country yet. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had said that it would personally examine the services offered by Starlink to determine whether the company has legal grounds of selling the pre-booking connection to Indians or not. Further, the DoT hasn't event allocated frequency to Starlink for providing services in India. It remains to be seen whether the company can actually start providing satellite internet in India by 2022, or it is just speculation on Starlink's behalf.

LTE-M vs NB-IoT, Differences Explained Posted: 09 May 2021 09:30 PM PDT 5G networks are rapidly increasing in scale with every passing day in the tech industry. The reach and connectivity are expanding as nations are developing their 5G network infrastructure. These new network technologies supporting low power wide area network (LPWAN) are becoming available globally in the form of LTE-M and NB-IoT, which are popularly known as Mobile IoT. As the name suggests, both LTE-M and NB-IoT are established on mobile technology. Before we move on to comparisons, let us first understand what LTE-M and NB-IoT actually mean. What is LTE-M? LTE-M or LTE-MTC stands for Long Term Evolution for Machine Type Communication. It is an LPWAN technology that sanctions the user to reuse the LTE installed base with a broadened coverage. It is a low power wide area technology assisting IoT through lower device complexity. LTE-M has been developed by 3GPP, which is an amalgamation of seven telecommunications standard development organisations. LTE-M also facilitates massive connection density, low latency and low device power consumption. LTE-M can be established "in-band" within a normal LTE or can also be "standalone" in a dedicated spectrum. What is NB-IoT? NB-IoT stands for Narrow Band-Internet of Things. It is a radio technology built over mobile networks and curated for a large number of low throughput devices with improved indoor coverage, long battery life and most importantly, ultra-low device cost. Apart from that, NB-IoT also supports low delay sensitivity, low device power consumption and optimized network architecture. Differences Between LTE-M and NB-IoT To pick the best alternative between LTE-M and NB-IoT for your low power IoT, you must first ascertain your use case scenario. The decision would predominantly depend on two main factors, which are speed and latency. Since other aspects like cost, power, and coverage are near the same between the two LPWA technologies, speed and latency could be the differentiating factors. Depending on the amount of data your IoT application would use and the level of latency that is acceptable to you, an informed decision can be made. Speed and Latency Differences Faster speed directly translates to a larger amount of data going through the network in a fixed timeframe. If your IoT application is something that is data-intensive like a wearable device or home security, speed places an important role. So, if speed is what you require, LTE-M allows more data throughput in comparison to NB-IoT. Devices can communicate with the cloud in two ways. One of them is by sending packets of information in intervals of time or real-time communication. LTE-M supports devices that can communicate in real-time, and it is beneficial in mission-critical applications. Since NB-IoT is focused on low data rates, the latency with that technology is comparatively higher. To sum things up, an interesting fact to note while making this decision between LTE-M and NB-IoT is that there are no NB-IoT applications that LTE-M would not be able to support. LTE-M can support any LPWA applications whereas NB-IoT's design is limited to support simpler static sensor applications.

Asus ROG Phone 5 Review: The Perfect Device for Gamers Posted: 09 May 2021 08:03 PM PDT Asus launched the ROG Phone 5 in multiple variants in India. There is a vanilla Asus ROG Phone 5 available in two variants; then, the Asus ROG Phone 5 Pro and Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate are available in a single variant each. The company broke all bounds offering users the 'Ultimate' variant of the series with 18GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage. I used the vanilla Asus ROG Phone 5 for a brief period and here's what I feel about the device. Asus ROG Phone 5 Review: Design Starting with the design, the ROG Phone 5 gives a more 'gamery' feel than any of its predecessors. The design isn't tweaked a lot by the company. However, the subtle changes make it better and more modern when compared with the Asus ROG Phone 3. The Asus ROG Phone 5 has a glass body at the rear with a carbon fibre-esque print with the RGB logo on top. The camera module at the rear is identical to what we saw in the Asus ROG Phone 3 and the overall feel of the device is quite solid. Further, the RGB logo at the rear can be customised to alert you whenever a notification comes in. Asus ROG Phone 5 doesn't attempt to look beautiful or feel light at all. The company went bold with the device and packed it with modern aesthetics and didn't cut out on including anything important inside the device making it 238 grams heavy. Asus ROG Phone 5 Review: Display The display of the Asus ROG Phone 5 is certainly where the company stepped up its game. The device has a 6.78-inch FHD+ E4 AMOLED display with support for 144Hz refresh rate. There were no issues with the response rate of the screen given the support for 300Hz touch-sampling rate which helped me move the player on the screen faster. One thing where I think Asus could have worked better was the brightness support of the device. The Asus ROG Phone 5 comes with maximum brightness support of 800nits which compared to the OnePlus 9 Pro's 1300nits is very less. For the protection of the display, the screen comes covered with the Gorilla Glass Victus and for the rear, there is the Gorilla Glass v3. One thing that I appreciate about the display of the device is its intelligent switching feature between 144Hz, 120Hz and 60Hz refresh rates to elongate the battery life. As per the demand of the content on the screen, the device intelligently switches between different refresh rates. There is also support for the Always-on-Display (AOD) function which does consume a bit of an extra battery but allows you to check notifications and time on the go. Asus ROG Phone 5 Review: Software, Battery and Performance The Asus ROG Phone 5 doesn't disappoint when it comes to performance. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC coupled with up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. Thus the device is more than capable of handling multiple heavy mobile applications all at the same time. I played Call of Duty Mobile to test out the power of the device. What I found was the device is super fast and doesn't heat during long gaming sessions because of its excellent cooling system. The animations and the transitions are super smooth as well. There is no problem in maxing out the graphics settings on the games since the refresh rate is unaffected. One of the coolest features of the device is the Air Triggers. Most of the other devices such as the OnePlus 9 Pro and more can give you a great gaming experience as well, but they don't come with the Air Triggers. It makes the overall experience of playing the game easier and helps you aim precisely. The 'Game Genie' function of the device is excellent since it disposes a plethora of options at the feet of the user. I could record the gameplay in high quality and stop all the notifications from hindering me with gaming with the 'Game Genie' function. The Asus ROG Phone 5 packs a 6,000mAh battery which can charge at a rapid speed with the 65W charger that comes inside the box. There is a USB Type-C port present on the device to facilitate fast charging. The smartphone runs on Android 11 out of the box. It has multiple stock Android features, however, for some reason, the experience of the UI didn't excite me enough. On the OS front, I think Asus can still do a lot more when it comes to providing a clean and smooth experience to the user. More importantly, the OS didn't feel like home to me. While this is more of a subjective thing, I think Asus has a big room for improvements in the OS. Asus ROG Phone 5 Review: Camera Asus ROG Phone 5 isn't a device that users would purchase to get high-end camera specifications and features. I think that is what Asus was thinking as well since the company literally deployed the same camera system as in the Asus ROG Phone 3 on the ROG Phone 5. There is a triple-camera setup at the rear where the primary sensor is a 64MP Sony IMX686 lens coupled with a 13MP wide-angle sensor and a 5MP macro sensor. At the front, there is a 24MP sensor for selfies and video calling. All the photos that came out of the camera of the device were toned down in colour. This might be for delivering more natural colours to the users. However, compared to other flagships, the camera of the Asus ROG Phone 5 delivered pale photos mostly. If you are looking for a device with an excellent camera, Asus ROG Phone 5 might not be the best bet for you. Asus ROG Phone 5 Review: Verdict The Asus ROG Phone 5 is an excellent device if your needs are gaming-specific. There are a few clever features incorporated by Asus to enhance the device's gaming capabilities, however, it might not be worth your while for some reasons. If you are looking for a device that's not only powerful but also great in design with a sleek body and light in weight, you should consider other devices. The ROG Phone 5 is built to be powerful, not look good. Further, it is not the best in the camera department, you should not have great expectations from the device's camera. Considering its price of Rs 49,999 for the base 8GB+128GB variant, you can also get the OnePlus 9 at the same price. So I expect, only hardcore gaming fans will be looking at the ROG Phone 5 as an alternative to traditional flagships.

BSNL Bharat Fibre Broadband Plans to Look Out for in May 2021 Posted: 09 May 2021 06:30 PM PDT Last year in October, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) launched the 'Bharat Fibre' broadband plans that came to compete directly from the fiber broadband offerings of Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. BSNL offers broadband plans that are very similar in price and benefits as that of the plans offered by other major internet service providers (ISPs). Users get not only a ton of data benefits but also over-the-top (OTT) benefits. There is also a free landline connection included with the plans to offer users unlimited voice calling. Here are all the BSNL Bharat Fibre broadband plans that you can check out for May 2021. BSNL Bharat Fibre Broadband Plans For May 2021 There are six fiber broadband plans that BSNL is offering its users in May 2021. These plans are 'Fibre Basic', 'Fibre Basic Plus', 'Fibre Value', 'Fibre Premium', 'Fibre Premium Plus', and 'Fibre Ultra'. The plans range from 30 Mbps to 300 Mbps speeds. The base plan called 'Fibre Basic' offers users 30 Mbps speed with 3.3TB data along with unlimited voice calling benefit. Post consumption of fair-usage-policy (FUP) data, the speed of the plan will drop to 2 Mbps. The second plan with 60 Mbps speed is 'Fibre Basic Plus' that too comes with 3.3TB data and unlimited voice calling benefit. The speed drops to 2 Mbps after consumption of FUP data. Neither of the above-mentioned plans is bundled with any OTT benefits. The third plan is called 'Fibre Value' that comes with 100 Mbps speed and offers the same 3.3TB data. The other benefits of the plan remain the same as that of the two plans mentioned above. BSNL Bharat Fibre also offers two 200 Mbps and one 300 Mbps broadband plan. The first 200 Mbps plan is called 'Fibre Premium', and the second one is called 'Fibre Premium Plus'. The Fibre Premium plan comes with 3.3TB of data, unlimited voice calling, and an OTT benefit of Disney+ Hotstar Premium for one year. The Internet speed will be capped at 2 Mbps post-consumption of FUP data. The second 200 Mbps plan is called 'Fibre Premium Plus', and it offers users 3.3TB data without any OTT benefit. The speed drops to 15 Mbps post-consumption of FUP data. Lastly, the fastest and most expensive broadband plan from the company is 'Fibre Ultra'. This plan comes with 300 Mbps speed and offers users 3.3TB of data with a free subscription of Disney+ Hotstar Premium for one year. BSNL Bharat Fibre Broadband Plans Price The base plan called 'Fibre Basic' comes for Rs 449 per month. Further, the 'Fibre Basic Plus' plan costs Rs 599 per month, 'Fibre Value' plan costs Rs 799 per month, 'Fibre Premium' plan costs Rs 999 per month, 'Fibre Premium Plus' plan costs Rs 1,277 per month, and lastly, the 'Fibre Ultra' plan costs Rs 1,499 per month. None of the prices mentioned above includes GST. Further, some of these fiber broadband plans from the company are available in select circles of the country only.

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