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OnePlus Nord CE 5G Review: Meet Premium in the Middle

Posted: 22 Jul 2021 09:03 AM PDT

OnePlus Nord CE 5G OnePlus Nord CE 5G launched in India on June 10, 2021. The smartphone has received very mixed reactions from the OnePlus fans. However, in my interaction with several people who love OnePlus, I observed some things that people got wrong about the smartphone. In this review, I will share what the device was meant to do in the market so that the users get a fair idea of why OnePlus came out with this smartphone. Further, I will share my review of the advice which I have been using for almost a month now.

OnePlus Nord CE 5G Review: Display

OnePlus Nord CE 5G comes with a 6.43-inch Fluid AMOLED display with support for 90Hz refresh rate. The first thing that I fell in love with was the display of the device. Just the sheer smoothness that you get while doing any task or scrolling through your social media feed makes the OnePlus Nord CE 5G a very attractive smartphone. The brightness isn't an issue. Under the sun, I just increase the brightness to the full and keep using the smartphone uninterrupted. When it’s totally dark, I reduce the brightness completely and turn on the Vision Comfort mode. It is just a silky smooth experience to see the device's display at work. Watching any kind of content on YouTube or Netflix is a super good experience as well. Because of the large AMOLED display, you get true colours as well as great pictures. The display has just grown on me day by day and it doesn't feel like I want to stop using it to be honest.

OnePlus Nord CE 5G Review: Design and Body

The OnePlus Nord CE 5G has a very sleek body. The device is only 0.79 centimetres thick and weighs 170 grams, so very light as well. As soon as I took the 'Blue Void' variant out of the box, I could see just how beautiful and premium the device looked for being a mid-range smartphone. The edges of the smartphone look sort of purple which makes the device feel very fresh. The best thing is it perfectly fits into my hand. The camera bump doesn't look odd, instead helps the smartphone in looking premium. There is a 3.5mm audio jack at the bottom which lets me connect my wired earphones with the smartphone, so thank you OnePlus for that. But there's one thing missing from the body of the smartphone and almost everyone is disappointed by that. The missing thing that I am talking about is the 'alert slider’. The 'alert slider' being absent on a OnePlus smartphone is just unbelievable. It's like eating a Cadbury Dairy Milk without any sugar, totally tasteless. However, if OnePlus decided to go that way, it must have been for a good reason. Regardless, the alert slider is a very crucial component of the OnePlus smartphones and it should have been there!

OnePlus Nord CE 5G Review: Performance and Battery

The OnePlus Nord CE 5G is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G 5G SoC. The variant that I have has 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. There was no issue with multi-tasking. I downloaded few heavy games such as Asphalt 9: Legends, Battlegrounds Mobile India, and more and the Nord CE 5G let me play the games very comfortably without any lags or overheating issues. The battery life of the smartphone is better than I thought it would be. Even when I am playing heavy games and using the device quite a lot, I only have to charge it once at night. Further, the charging experience with any of the OnePlus smartphones is excellent and the Nord CE 5G is no exception to that. Coming to the security features, the face unlock is as fast as it can be and the in-display fingerprint technology is really good as well. OnePlus Nord CE 5G comes running on Android 11 (OxygenOS 11) out of the box. The OxygenOS 11 feels buttery smooth and the clean UI just adds to the user experience.

OnePlus Nord CE 5G Review: Camera

Talking about the camera of the OnePlus Nord CE 5G, it feels like OnePlus could have done a little better job on the software front. The image processing takes a little time after the shot is clicked and that can be a turn-off for people who click hundreds of pictures every day. I put the wide-angle lens of the smartphone to the test. The result is right below. On the right is the wide-angle image and on the left is an image I clicked by zooming in 2x. The image that came out of the wide-angle lens has captured more colours and the 2x zoom picture seems a little off with the green colour of the leaves. However, I am impressed by the level of detail each picture has. OnePlus One thing that I think OnePlus can heavily improve upon is the 'portrait' mode of the camera. Here is an example for you. On the right is the image of the cricket ball clicked on 'portrait' mode and on the left is through normal camera mode. The portrait mode has done a good job of hiding the background but the image has come out darker than it was supposed to be. Just a second after, I took the cricket ball's image from normal camera mode and it is clearly visible that the level of detail is still there and the light is much better. Frankly, I would never switch to portrait mode with the OnePlus Nord CE 5G. OnePlus Nord CE 5G Review

OnePlus Nord CE 5G Review: Conclusion

Is OnePlus Nord CE 5G the most perfect device from OnePlus yet? The answer is no. However, as I said above, it wasn't meant to be. This is a budget offering for users who wanted the OnePlus experience by paying less. The device is perfectly priced for the performance it offers. This isn't an upgrade over the OnePus Nord that came out last year. The OnePlus Nord CE 5G is just an affordable 5G smartphone from OnePlus that aims to bring the best without burning a hole in the pocket of the users. At this price range, I wouldn't pick any other smartphone because of the impressive OxygenOS from OnePlus. If you are thinking about purchasing the OnePlus Nord CE 5G, know that you can do almost everything on this smartphone that you can do on a flagship one. Sure, the experience will be a little different when compared with a flagship, but there's no denying that even with its tiny flaws, the OnePlus Nord CE 5G is a piece of art. The smartphone is available in three variants – 6GB+64GB for Rs 22,999, 8GB+128GB for Rs 24,999, and 12GB+256GB for Rs 27,999. OnePlus Nord CE

OnePlus Buds Pro Sporting Adaptive Noise Cancellation Launched for $149.99

Posted: 22 Jul 2021 08:09 AM PDT

OnePlus Buds Pro OnePlus on Thursday announced the company’s third attempt at making truly wireless earbuds, with this attempt being a flagship-grade one, with the moniker of the OnePlus Buds Pro. The earbuds have been dubbed as the company's most advanced listening device to date, with the new earbuds having debuted alongside the Nord 2 5G handset. The buds will go on sale in the US and Canada on September 1 for $149.99 and will be on offer in white and matte black hues. Design-wise, the shape of the earbuds seem influenced by AirPods Pros, but OnePlus seems to have differentiated itself by going with a chrome stem that sets it apart from the generic buds.

What Do We Know About the OnePlus Buds Pro

OnePlus Buds Pro The company seems to have made some design changes to avoid what happened with the OnePlus Buds, which were confiscated for imitating the AirPods. The OnePlus Buds Pro come with what the company dubs smart adaptive noise cancellation which basically refers to the ability to automatically adjust the amount of noise cancellation that is to be applied based on the surroundings. The press release from the company mentions that each earbud opts for a three-mic setup that actively filters out noise levels of up to 40dB as needed in order to deliver a more comfortable and tailored listening experience when compared to conventional ANC systems with fixed levels of noise cancellation. The Buds make use of  11mm Dynamic Drivers to provide flagship-grade sound. Another area where OnePlus is aiming to differentiate itself is endurance, with the Buds Pro offering the ability to last 38 hours when combined with the included charges. On a single charge, the buds last five hours with ANC on and seven hours without ANC on. These are better numbers when compared to other similarly priced TWS offerings. The Buds also come with the company’s proprietary Warp Charge wired charging, with a 10-minute charge offering 10 hours of listening time, with the pair also featuring support for Qi Wireless charging. The earbuds feature Bluetooth 5,2 and offer a low latency mode with a latency of 94 ms with the feature turned on. This is quite an upgrade when compared to the original OnePlus Buds, which offered similar battery life but lacked ANC and a dedicated gaming mode, two features that have become of utmost importance in today’s day and age.

OnePlus Nord 2 5G Featuring Dimensity 1200 AI Chip, 50MP Camera Launched in India

Posted: 22 Jul 2021 07:48 AM PDT

OnePlus Nord 2 5G OnePlus has finally launched the much rumoured OnePlus Nord 2 5G in India on Thursday, with the device sporting multiple features that were upgraded in comparison to the original OnePlus Nord. The device was launched alongside the OnePlus Buds Pro, which was the successor to the original OnePlus Buds launched back in July alongside the original Nord. So, without further ado, let us discuss the features and specifications of the OnePlus Nord 2 5G, which sports a 50MP camera, a MediaTek Dimensity 1200 AI chipset and more.

OnePlus Nord 2 5G: Features and Specifications

OnePlus Nord 2 is the latest Nord series handset from OnePlus. The phone comes with a 6.43-inch display which is of the AMOLED type. This panel also comes with a refresh rate of 90Hz. There is a single-punch-hole on top, which is different from the original OnePlus Nord’s pill-shaped module, with a 32MP IMX 615 selfie snapper inside. Performance-wise, the OnePlus Nord 2 5G comes with an octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 1200 AI processor, with the device running  OxygenOS 11.3. Software support is also pretty decent, with the OnePlus Nord 2 having been confirmed to get two OS updates and three years of software support. Optics wise, the handset comes with a triple-rear-camera module that makes use of a primary 50 MP IMX766 sensor. The camera will be aided with features such as dual video, nightscape ultra, group shot 2.0, which should make using the cameras much more fun on the smartphone. Storage-wise, the device comes with up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. OnePlus Nord 2 The battery on the OnePlus Nord 2 5G is a 4500 mAh unit with support for 65W fast charging. The device has dual-5G SIM card slots and Wi-Fi 6 technology to ensure that the user gets the fastest network speeds. OnePlus mentions that it has also added Haptics 2.0 which should make gaming and overall usage much better for the user. All of this makes the OnePlus Nord 2 5G a decent upgrade over the OnePlus Nord, which as of today stands discontinued, so as to avoid any kind of competition with the new handset which is priced quite similarly and when it comes to pricing, why not discuss the pricing and availability of the latest Nord handset from the company.

OnePlus Nord 2 5G: Pricing and Availability

The OnePlus Nord 2 5G is available in three different variants, namely 6+128GB, which retails for Rs 27,999, 8+128GB which retails for Rs 29,999 and the 12+256GB variant which retails for Rs 34,999. There are certain launch offers, such as Rs 1000 less with HDFC Bank Credit Cards and EMI. The OnePlus Nord 2 5G will be available for pre-order starting 22 July on OnePlus.com and Amazon, with shipments starting July 26. Open sales will commence starting July 28.

Samsung Z Fold, Z Flip 3 Could Finally Feature an IP Rating

Posted: 22 Jul 2021 06:34 AM PDT

Z Flip 3 It has been well known for quite some time that Samsung has been working on the next version of its foldables, the Z Fold 3 and the Z Flip 3, to cater to consumers of the Fold and Flip series of foldable devices from the Korean giant. It seems that the upcoming foldable could be the best of the rest when it comes to protection, since, as per Max Weinbach, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the Galaxy Z Flip 3 will supposedly be the company’s first foldables to come with a dedicated water resistance rating, which will be quite monumental for foldables going forward. This information was revealed whilst Max was answering a tweet, wherein he suggested that both handsets would support an IPX8 rating, which would bring the devices closer to Samsung’s flagships, with this tweet being in line with a rumour along the same lines that spread back in April.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, Z Flip 3 to Feature IPX8 Rating!

For those of you wondering, the rating means that the 8 number of the IPX8 rating would be capable of withstanding continuous immersion underwater. This usually refers to a depth of 1.5 meters and a maximum time period of 30 minutes, but, there are no clear numbers for the depth and duration. Do note that the foldables will still lack complete protection, as the X in the rating suggests that they have not been tested against dust particles, a con that plagued the original Samsung Galaxy Fold. It is interesting to note that to date, no mass-produced foldable has come with a proper protection rating, which is odd, since most traditional flagships come with either IP67 ratings or more, but the design of foldables might have something to do with the same. Usually, the design of the foldables are more prone to dust and water challenge and to prevent it, it is very tough to seal the moving parts when compared to solid chunks present on regular handsets. Always remember however that an IP rating will not provide 100% relief, since Pete Lau of OnePlus had mentioned that an IP rating test takes place in test conditions that vary massively when compared to the real scenarios. This is actually true, and the accidental cases that might occur with you are vastly different from the test. This news comes at a time when it was revealed that the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, along with other devices would be launched on August 11 as part of a Samsung Unpacked event.

Airtel Business Catches One Third of Market Share With Good Growth Numbers

Posted: 22 Jul 2021 04:57 AM PDT

Airtel Bharti Airtel has its hands in multiple areas. The Sunil Mittal-led company is not only helming the telecom industry but it also focuses on DTH and provides its services to enterprise and business customers as well. Although, Airtel is mostly known as a telecom operator in the country, but it's the B2B venture of Bharti Airtel that fetches the company most revenue. The new report by ICICI Securities also details the same. Airtel Business has been noted to be contributing 14% to the consolidated revenue and 12% of the EBITDA in FY21.

Airtel Business Focusing on SMEs

As per the report filed by the financial firm, Airtel Business's revenue has grown with a CAGR of 7.1% in the FY17-21. This growth took the revenue to Rs 144 billion. Also, the EBITDA of the business has grown at 12.9% CAGR to Rs 55 billion. As per the ET Telecom report on the matter, Airtel Business derives its 80% of the revenue from 20% of the customers and it also sees a lot of potential in hunting and farming. Airtel Business is not only focusing on the big enterprises, but it is also looking at Small and Medium Enterprises to offer its services. In the SME segment, Airtel Business is expanding its services to an in-source SME sales force; along with building omnichannel digital capabilities for customer acquisition and servicing. The company is also into offering data centers, Airtel Secure, Airtel IQ, Airtel Cloud, and Airtel IoT; and revamped teams' incentive structure with targets for "hunting and farming".

Various Platforms of Bharti Airtel Adding to the Revenue

Along with data, voice, collaboration cloud, data centres, security, IoT, network integration Airtel Business is also offering other digital services. Airtel Business also has a network of 365-Rkms covering 50 countries. Other digital platforms of Airtel have also been contributing to this growth. The most noteworthy figure of Airtel Business has been in its market share, which has grown by 8% to reach 31%, close to one-third of the total market share. ICICI Securities also noted that the telecom business remains exciting and the new technologies coming up on the horizon will also prove to be well for telcos.

Tata Sky, Airtel Offer Same Priced STB, What Should You Pick?

Posted: 22 Jul 2021 04:21 AM PDT

Tata Sky Set-Top Box (STB) providers have curated various offerings to cater to the entertainment needs of consumers. Two of the renowned entities that are known for their plans and exclusive benefits are Bharti Airtel and Tata Sky. The STBs offered by Airtel and Tata Sky come with a series of benefits. Both the providers offer a STB that is available for Rs 2,499. In this article, we will spill the details of the STB that Airtel and Tata Sky offer to their users.

Bharti Airtel Rs 2,499 STB

Airtel Rs 2499 is dubbed as Xstream Basic, which is packed with multiple offers and benefits. If DTH users opt for this STB, they will get an inbuilt Chromecast feature. Not only this, but Airtel has eliminated the need for traditional remote with this STB. Users can directly use their smartphone as the remote to use the box. One of the other benefits that users get from Xstream Basic STB is voice search. With the help of voice search, they can easily use the STB without any extended hassle. Additionally, users also get access to Xstream App premium, which has been developed by Airtel to cater to entertainment needs. The price of the Xstream Basic STB is exclusive of GST. If users book the STB in the current period, they can avail 10% off using the discount code ADTV10.

Tata Sky Rs 2,499 STB

Tata Sky has curated different Set Top Boxes that are packed with different specifications. Since its initiation, Tata Sky has been offering intriguing DTH services to its subscribers with various schemes and benefits. Tata Sky Binge+ Set Top Box offers seamless switches in TV and apps. Users get built-in Chromecast and access to the content for the past 7 days. Voice search remote is also available in the STB. Under the hood, the STB has 2GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. There are more than 5000 apps and games from the Google Play Store that is packed in the STB. Users can enjoy Live TV through Satellite or the internet. Not only this, but users can also avail Tata Sky On-Demand library that showcases 1000s of shows and movies. Additional benefits of the STB includes a one-month subscription to Amazon Prime Video and Tata Sky Binge+. Under the Tata Sky Binge, users will get access to various OTT platforms such as Zee5, SonyLIV and more. Talking about the price, the original price of the STB is Rs 3,999. However, Tata Sky is offering the STB for just Rs 2,499 exclusive of taxes. Users can also avail of Rs 200 off using the discount coupon.

BSNL Fibre Experience Broadband Plan Bundles 1000GB Data

Posted: 22 Jul 2021 03:55 AM PDT

BSNL Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has been in a frenzy of rolling out new offers for its subscribers. After launching a lot of offers on the prepaid segment, the offers on the wired broadband plans do not seem to be ending. Every other day, BSNL is coming up with new promotional schemes for its new and old subscribers both and today is no exception to this rule. If you recall, the BSNL promotional plans of Fibre-to-the-Home come with an introductory period after which the subscribers are migrated to the higher FMC (Fixed Monthly Cost) plans. The new offer rolled out by BSNL is also similar.

Rs 399 Plan Details and Data Offerings

The plan that we are referring to is the "Fibre Experience @ Rs 399" FTTH plan. Under this new offer, the new BSNL subscribers will get an FTTH connection. The old subscribers of BSNL will not be eligible for this offer. As for the benefits that are available in this plan, they include 1,000GB of data with 30 Mbps speed. So it is clear that BSNL is not offering 100 Mbps+ speed, unlike its other premium end plans. After the exhaustion of the 1000GB data limit, the subscribers will be downgraded to the 2 Mbps speed. The last and the most important thing about this plan is the upgradation post the 90 days mark. After the subscribers have used this plan for 90 days by paying Rs 399 per month, they will automatically be shifted to the Rs 499 broadband plan of BSNL.

BSNL Started Online Bill Payment

It is worth noting that BSNL has introduced such an offer before as well, wherein the subscribers are upgraded from the Rs 499 to Rs 599 plan automatically after three months. As per the Kerala Telecom report, The consent for the tariff raise will be taken at the time of the setting up of the connection and the raise will be done automatically. Lastly, if you are someone who is looking forward to subscribing to this plan, then you should note that it's available in the Gujarat, Tamilnadu, Telangana, and Kerala circles only. In other related news, BSNL has also started offering online bill payment facilities to its subscribers for easy payment of bills.

BIF, TSSC Sign MoU to Develop Manpower for 5G, IoT and More

Posted: 22 Jul 2021 02:03 AM PDT

BIF The Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC) – India's premier skill development institution for telecom, and Broadband India Forum (BIF) – the leading Policy think-tank for digital communications in the country, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) towards meeting and developing the manpower training requirements of BIF members, in accordance with the latest technologies and skilling standards. The MoU, which has been signed for a duration of 3 years, is aimed at facilitating the development of efficient and adequately skilled manpower resources amongst BIF's member organisations, especially for next-generation technologies, including 5G, WI-FI (PM WANI), Internet of Things (IoT), Small Cells, Digital In-Building solutions and other emerging technologies.

BIF Will Help With Creating and Upgrading Labs and Teaching Infrastructure

The efforts under this MoU will include joint mapping of skill requirements against the industry demand for both re-skilling and up-skilling to be conducted by BIF and TSSC. TSSC will support BIF's wide-ranging membership base in the development of their requisite training eco-system, alignment of training deliverables to industry requirements, and will create awareness of the skill program among them. TSSC and BIF will issue joint certificates on all the paid National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) aligned courses. TSSC will help develop programs with high industry visibility and traction for BIF members and provide guidance on various government skill development schemes for participating and deriving benefits from. BIF will provide its support to TSSC in the form of suggestions for course content for the training of its member organisations. Additionally, BIF shall help create/upgrade labs, classrooms and teaching infrastructure for them with TSSC's guidance. For the unaware, Broadband India Forum (BIF) works as an independent policy platform and knowledge-based think-tank that focuses on the upgradation, development and enhancement of the entire broadband ecosystem in India in a holistic, technology-neutral and service-neutral manner. The TSSC was formed under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. It stands for Telecom Sector Skill Council and is an industry-led top body, an NPO organization, focused on developing world-class skilled manpower for the telecom industry.

Bharti Airtel Modifies Postpaid Plans for Corporate and Retail Customers

Posted: 22 Jul 2021 01:45 AM PDT

Bharti Airtel Bharti Airtel, one of the best telecom operators in India, today introduced new postpaid plans for retail and corporate customers in India. In the post-pandemic world, the need for high-speed data is increasingly becoming a crucial need for customers; as WFH (Work From Home) and online education has become the new normal. In this context, Bharti Airtel has further enhanced its postpaid plans to offer industry-leading data benefits supported by a superior 5G ready network and superior digital-first customer care. The plans also come with a range of exclusive benefits such as bundled content and business productivity tools.

Bharti Airtel Corporate Postpaid Plans

Airtel

Bharti Airtel Retail Postpaid Plans

One of the key feedbacks that Bharti Airtel got from its customers was the need for more high-speed data as the entire family's use of digital platforms increased multiple times during the pandemic. As a response, Bharti Airtel has rejigged its family postpaid plans to help its customers in coping with the new normal. With its simplified postpaid offering, customers can also easily bundle add on connections with enhanced data benefits to their existing plans. The unlimited data plan offers 500GB of data and reduces the speed to 128 Kbps post-consumption. The company has stopped offering its 749 family postpaid Plan for new customers and will now offer 999 as the only Family Postpaid Plan with enhanced data benefits. Now, Customers can add a connection to any Airtel Postpaid plan at just Rs 299/SIM and get 30 GB additional data (10 GB earlier), unlimited calling and Thanks benefits. These plans will also affect the way people look at Airtel Black offering from the company. For the unaware, the Airtel Black offering is a bundled service from Airtel wherein customers get everything including a postpaid mobile connection, Direct-to-Home (DTH) connection, and a fibre broadband connection. The new plans will definitely push people to look at the Airtel Black offerings as totally different now. It will be interesting to see how the customers look at this change.

Ericsson and MediaTek Achieves Uplink Throughput of Nearly 500 Mbps

Posted: 22 Jul 2021 01:01 AM PDT

Ericsson Ericsson and MediaTek are extensively investing their efforts in the development of 5G network to bring the next big revolution in the tech industry. In the latest development, both the entities have jointly achieved a new milestone. Ericsson and MediaTek performed a four-component carrier (4CC) uplink aggregation on millimetre wave (mmWave) that recorded a peak throughput rate of 495 Mbps, of which 425 Mbps was achieved in New Radio (NR) and 70 Mbps in LTE. For the demo test, Ericsson and MediaTek used pre-commercial software on a device containing the MediaTek M80 5G chipset. Also, Ericsson RAN Compute baseband 6648 with the AIR 5331 mmWave radio was used for the lab test.

Ericsson and MediaTek 5G Lab Test Focused Uplink Carrier Aggregation

Download speed has been widely known as the crucial factor for deciding the quality of internet connection. However, the elevation in surfing and streaming during the Covid-19 lockdown period shed light on the importance of uplink or upload speed performance. The lab test conducted by Ericsson and MediaTek focused on uplink carrier aggregation, which is the first of its kind. The test highlighted the benefits of uplink speed in helping CSPs to deliver high data rates and capacity for uplink dominated applications such as content creation, steaming and more.

Customers Can Enhance Their 5G Offerings With Higher Uplink Data Rates

Hannes Ekstrom, Head of Product Line 5G RAN at Ericsson, stated that the entity continues to capitalise on previous achievements and break its own records in upload speeds. With an almost 500 Mbps peak rate, Ericsson with MediaTek has shown impeccable performance and revealed that how unprecedented data speeds can be delivered in uplink using mmWave and carrier aggregation. This directly intends that customers can enhance their 5G offerings with higher uplink data rates. Talking about the technical specifications of the lab test, both Ericsson and MediaTek integrated four-component carriers, each of 100 Mhz in uplink using a non-standalone blueprint. The test was implemented with the 39 GHz spectrum of NR (400 Mhz) and blending it with a single carrier of LTE 1900 Mhz spectrum (20 Mhz). The whole band by Ericsson and MediaTek was aggregated using LTE and NR links.

Starlink Broadband to Enhance How People Play Games

Posted: 21 Jul 2021 11:35 PM PDT

Starlink Starlink is a satellite communications company backed by Elon Musk's SpaceX. The company has plans of entering the Indian borders in mid-2022. One thing that's very highly likely is that satellite broadband plans will be much more expensive than the normal fixed-line broadband plans. However, they will be worth it for people who can't get fiber internet delivered to their homes or in the remote regions of the country. One thing that Starlink aims to do is enhance overall online multiplayer gaming for the users.

Elon Musk Says Starlink Working on Reducing Latency/Ping

As per a tweet from Elon Musk, Starlink broadband is working on enhancing the latency of its internet connections. For multiplayer online gaming, users need ultra-low-latency to be able to play the game in real-time with others. This is what Starlink is working on. The satcom company is working on reducing the latency/ping for the users so that they can get a better experience out of online gaming. As of now, the latency of a Starlink broadband connection can range from anywhere between 20ms and 88ms. Whenever it is as high as 88ms, a user can face significant delay while playing multiplayer games with others. Starlink wants to reduce the latency below 20ms. For doing so, the company is targeting to build more ground stations around the globe. On top of this, as per Musk, Starlink is streamlining the internet packet routing across its network. Going by the words of Musk, Starlink only requires 10 milliseconds for routing the internet data if everything is optimised. Further, Musk said that the laser links in the orbit can reduce the long-distance latency by as much as 50%. The company is already allowing Indians to prebook a satellite connection by paying a $99 fee or Rs 7,265. It will be interesting to see at what time Starlink comes out with the broadband connection in India.

OnePlus Nord Apparently Discontinued Ahead of Nord 2 5G Launch

Posted: 21 Jul 2021 10:50 PM PDT

Nord OnePlus has been hinting at the features and specifications of the Nord 2 5G in India, as it is set to debut today at 7:30 PM IST. The Nord 2, for those of you unaware, is the successor to the original Nord that was launched in the country in the month of July. A new report claims that the company on Thursday morning discontinued the original Nord in India, with the report, coming from BGR India stating that the mid-range OnePlus handset was available for purchase until stocks lasted and, now, it is not on sale anymore, owing to the launch of its successor. This is big news since it hints at a similar and, at most, slightly higher pricing and the discontinuation of a one-year-old model hints at OnePlus’ wish to not impede the sales of the new device, as some users might have expected for the price of the original Nord to go down, at which point they would swoop in and buy the same.

What Do We Know About the OnePlus Nord 2 5G?

In case you missed it, the Nord 2 5G is set to feature multiple upgrades in comparison to the original Nord, both in terms of hardware and main features. OnePlus recently launched the Nord CE 5G, which featured core features of the Nord at a lower price, so this move seems quite tactical and not related to the supply chain issues that are plaguing most smartphone brands. The official OnePlus India site lists the Nord as out of stock, with the Amazon listing having been removed as well. The report also mentions that the phone seems to be unavailable for purchase in offline stores too, so it seems that the device has been eradicated from the market as a whole. The Nord at the time of launch was offered in three different variants, the higher grade 12+256GB variant, the 8+128GB variant and the base 6+64GB variant. The Nord was priced from Rs 24,999 to Rs 29,999 and offered a 6.43-inch Super AMOLED panel with support for a refresh rate of 90Hz. The device also had a Snapdragon 765G SoC and a 4,300 mAh battery with 30W fast charging. In comparison, from what we know, the Nord 2 seemingly offers the same panel but with a single-punch hole camera. The performance side of things has also changed, with the device opting for a MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC. The device will come with a 4,500 mAh battery with 65W charging. Optics wise, the phone will come with a triple-camera setup to the rear with a 50MP primary sensor. Reports hint at a price hike from the original Nord, with a rumoured price of Rs 30,000 for the base variant.

5G in India Only Possible If This Happens

Posted: 21 Jul 2021 10:35 PM PDT

5G in India 5G networks are yet to go live in India. There are multiple reasons for the delay of the next-generation network rollout in India. While other nations have already come out with live commercial 5G networks, India is still in the testing phase. However, even after the trials are finished, the rollout of 5G will depend a lot on the spectrum auction that is expected to take place in the first half of 2022. The government and the sector regulator needs to ensure that the spectrum is availed to the telcos at a fair price.

5G Spectrum Auction Should See Reduced Price for 700 MHz Band

The 5G spectrum auctions are a long way from here. One thing that the government and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) need to ensure is the pricing of the spectrum is fair and not too expensive. The evidence is right in front of the industry and the officials. The telcos won't bid for the spectrum in the 700 MHz band because of its high pricing. For multiple auctions now, there have been no bidders for the 700 MHz band. The reason is its steep pricing. Telcos need the spectrum at an affordable price so that they can roll out the 5G networks within their planned budget. If the costs of rolling out the next generation telecom network are too high, the telco's won't have any other option but to increase the price of services and that will directly affect the end consumer. Further, the other bands such as the mmWave spectrum and the mid-bands should be available in sufficient quantity and at a feasible price so that the telcos can show the true power of 5G in India. If the pricing is too high, the telco's will just keep using their 4G core for providing 5G services with the help of Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) technology.

Samsung Galaxy A22 5G Launch Date Revealed, to Debut in India on 23 July

Posted: 21 Jul 2021 09:41 PM PDT

A22 5G In the month of May, Samsung had announced two new devices, the Samsung Galaxy A22 4G and A22 5G. Earlier this month, the 4G version of the same was launched subtly in India for Rs 18,499 or approximately $255. Now, the company has confirmed the launch date of the 5G variant of the Galaxy A22 5G. The South Korean giant took to Twitter to confirm that the 5G variant of the smartphone would be launched on 23 July. Whilst the details of the same are yet to be revealed, a leak has hinted at the device being priced around Rs 19,999 for the base 6GB RAM variant, whilst the higher 8GB RAM variant could retail around Rs 21,999.

Samsung Galaxy A22 5G Specifications, Features

For those of you wondering, given as to how the device has been launched in other markets, we know what to expect from the device. The Samsung Galaxy A22 5G will make use of a 6.6-inch FHD+ LCD display with an Infinity-V notch on top and support for 90Hz refresh rate. Performance-wise, the device will rely on the MediaTek Dimensity 700 octa-core chipset clocked at 2.2GHz, which seems to have become the budget 5G chip of choice, with Realme and Xiaomi opting to use the same on their entry-level 5G handsets, all of which retail around the Rs 15,000 segment. The processor will be coupled with 4G, 6GB and 8GB of RAM coupled with either 64GB or 128GB of internal storage, but, the company is yet to confirm which of the above variants will be launched in India. There is a MicroSD slot for expansion, in case you buy the base variant and need that extra bit of storage later on. Optics wise, the handset makes use of a triple-camera setup towards the rear with a primary 48MP sensor coupled with a 5MP ultra-wide lens and a 2MP depth sensor. Towards the front, the device will come with an 8MP selfie shooter. Miscellaneous features include a fingerprint sensor that is embedded with the power button. Samsung Pay, Wi-Fi b/g/n/ac, NFC, Bluetooth 5.0 are also supported. For charging, the device relies on a USB Type-C port that charges a 5000 mAh battery via a 15W charger. There is also a 3.5mm headphone jack. The device will run android 11 out-of-the-box with Samsung's OneUI 3.1 custom UI skin on top.

Twitter Is Testing Out the Ability to Dislike Replies on iOS

Posted: 21 Jul 2021 08:03 PM PDT

Twitter Dislike Twitter has always been a platform for lively discussions, with people more often than not getting too engaged in such kinds of discussions, for better or for worse. To date, however, there has been only one option, at least in recent times to show how you feel about the particular reply or tweet, which was the like button. This can show the user’s feelings towards another user’s tweet, if they like it they can press the like button, if not they can opt not to like and rather provide their thoughts via a reply.

Twitter Is Testing Down-Voting of Tweets

During the wee hours of Thursday, Twitter announced that it will be testing a way to up-vote and down-vote replies, in a bid to understand what remarks a user might find relevant in their context, and, what they might feel is non-contextual. This announcement was made via a tweet by Twitter Support, mentioning that some iPhone users could see this option. Downvotes would not be public as of now, but the upvotes will appear as likes on a particular mention or tweet. Cody Elam, a User Researcher at Twitter in a thread of tweets explained that this option would give the people the power to privately voice their opinion on the quality of replies without having to publicly shame others and providing more nuanced feedback. Twitter users who have spotted the new icons were quick to tweet out the images of the new tool, which looks like a thumbs-up and thumbs-down button. The company failed to mention the number of people involved, but a spokeswoman, reaching out to CNET said that it was part of a small research experiment. The spokeswoman also added that a reply would not be impacted depending on the ranking of the replies, but mentioned that Twitter was looking at how the upvote and downvote matches in contrast to what the company seems to think are the most relevant replies under a certain discussion or tweet. Recently, Twitter made some changes to TweetDeck as well, which is a social media dashboard offered by Twitter that not a lot of users know about and what could become a subscription-based service in the near future. The new features for TweetDeck include new column types, a new method of grouping columns into clean workspaces, advanced search abilities and full Tweet composers, as per Product Lead Kayvon Beykpour.

Airtel Black Plan That Is Perfect for Your Family

Posted: 21 Jul 2021 06:36 PM PDT

Airtel Black Bharti Airtel offers an 'Airtel Black' plan that is perfect for a small family or a group of friends. The second-largest telco in the country launched the 'Black' plans and service just a few days back. Users can also create a custom plan according to their needs. But if you are someone who doesn't want to think much and pick one of the plans curated by the company, you can choose the Rs 2,099 per month Airtel Black plan. Again, note that I am talking about this plan with the perspective that it is good for a family.

Airtel Black Rs 2,099 Plan

The Rs 2,099 Airtel Black plan from Bharti Airtel is exclusive of GST. Note that the service is only available for users who already own a postpaid mobile connection from the company or plan to get one. The Airtel Black plans aren't provided by the company for users who purchase prepaid services. Moving on, the Rs 2,099 Airtel Black plan brings three things to the table for users – postpaid connections, Direct-to-Home (DTH) service, and fiber broadband + landline service. Further, there are two over-the-top (OTT) benefits of Amazon Prime Video and Airtel Xstream provided. Users will get three postpaid mobile connections which will comprise 1 regular SIM and two add-on SIMs. The postpaid connections will get 260GB of data for consumption along with unlimited voice calling. With the DTH service, users can get a free Xstream Box by paying a one-time completely refundable fee of Rs 1,500. With the DTH connection, users will get a channel pack worth Rs 424 for free. With the fiber broadband connection, users will get a 200 Mbps download and upload speed along with a free landline connection with unlimited voice calling. Honestly, this is a super sweet deal offered by Bharti Airtel. The standalone cost of the fiber broadband connection with 200 Mbps speed would be around Rs 1,200 per month after including taxes. Apart from this, the DTH connection and three postpaid SIM connections would cost a family more than Rs 3,000 per month in just Airtel bills. Thus, if you are a small family or a group of three people living together, you can choose the Rs 2,099 Airtel Black plan from Bharti Airtel and enjoy all the benefits that the plan has to offer. Users will just have to pay a single bill for all the services. Further, the user has the power of opting out of the Airtel Black service whenever he/she wants.

Wi-Fi to Be Free in This Indian State as per the Government

Posted: 21 Jul 2021 02:47 PM PDT

Wifi free in India Internet connectivity has become the backbone of the global economy. Countries that are comfortable financially and socially despite the pandemic are those countries which have a good network infrastructure. Wi-Fi networks are one way to ensure that wherever you go, all of your devices remain to be connected with the internet. Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh said that people will soon get free Wi-Fi facilities in public places of the state.

Free Wi-Fi for People Living in Uttar Pradesh

As per a DNAIndia report, the Yogi Adityanath led government has promised that it will provide the users with free Wi-Fi at public places. The government is planning to include 217 cities under the free Wi-Fi program and will also be including 17 municipal cities. Popular destinations including Jhansi, Agra, Aligarh, Lucknow, Kanpur, Meerut, Ayodhya, Ghaziabad, Mathura, and more will get free Wi-Fi services. Public places such as railway stations, bus stands, tehsil, and more will be equipped with the necessary technology and fiber lines to provide free Wi-Fi to the people. Thing worth noting here is that this new announcement comes at a time when the state elections are near. This is a fair and appreciable attempt of motivating people to vote for the current government. Free Wi-Fi facility in the state would allow people commuting on a daily to get easy access to stable and fast internet where the reach of 4G networks is less. It is worth noting that many Railway stations and bus stands around the country are already equipped with Wi-Fi. The Indian Railways offer free Wi-Fi to travellers for a limited time at every station they arrive. In fact, there are Smart Bus Stands in multiple cities now that offer free Wi-Fi to people for a limited time as well.

Verizon Says 20% Users Already Own 5G Smartphones

Posted: 21 Jul 2021 01:12 PM PDT

Verizon 5G While there are 5G networks already live in the United States (US), the technology is still in its early stages. Only a handful number of people in the country consume 5G services, the majority of the users are still on 4G networks. Verizon said that its financial performance for the rest of the year should be better. This should happen on the back of the increasing 5G adoption rate and the fact that more people will soon be picking much more expensive plans. Verizon said that 20% of its user base is already using 5G smartphones.

Verizon Plans to Deploy Over 8,000 C-Band Sites This Year

For the unaware, C-Band spectrum ranges from 4 GHz to 8 GHz. The company said that it has already put more than $160 million in capex for deploying C-Band in the first half of 2021. Hans Vestberg, CEO and Chairman of Verizon said that the company has all the resources it needs to deploy 8,000 C-Band sites by the end of this year. One of the other big announcements that was made by the company was regarding its mmWave sites. Verizon said that it is much ahead of its schedule in deploying additional 14,000 mmWave sites in 2021. This will allow the operator to take its tally of mmWave sites up to 30,000 and will be able to cover over 1 to 2 million households with mmWave 5G networks. With the rising demand for 5G services and more 5G smartphones flooding the market every month, Verizon believes that its revenues should only go up from here. The telecom operator is very confident that people will be ready to purchase its expensive plans in the near future. Verizon reported a net income of $5.9 billion and said that its operating revenues for the quarter were 11% higher than the same time last year.

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