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Airtel Wynk Shutting Down; To Offer Apple Music On Discount

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Aug 28th, 2024, 1:57

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3 min read

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Highlights

  • Bharti Airtel will soon call it a day for its music streaming service - Wynk Music - a decade after its launch.

  • The company will be absorbing all its employees in the Airtel ecosystem, a company spokesperson has confirmed.

  • Airtel’s Wynk Music was launched in 2014 and enabled users to download music for offline streaming, set caller tunes, and tune into podcasts.

Bharti Airtel will soon call it a day for its music streaming service - Wynk Music - a decade after its launch. The company will be absorbing all its employees in the Airtel ecosystem, a company spokesperson told Moneycontrol.

 

"We can confirm that we will sunset Wynk Music and all Wynk Music employees will be absorbed within the Airtel ecosystem," the spokesperson said. The move comes after the company announced a partnership with Apple Inc. to offer exclusive deals for OTT video and music streaming services, such as Apple TV+ and Apple Music for Indian users.

 

"Airtel users will have access to Apple Music. Additionally, Wynk Premium users will receive exclusive offers from Airtel for Apple Music," Bharti Airtel spokesperson told Moneycontrol.

 

Also Read: Huawei Tri-Fold Smartphone Launch Confirmed By CEO

 

Airtel Announces Strategic Partnership With Apple

 

Airtel’s Wynk Music was launched in 2014 and enabled users to download music for offline streaming, set caller tunes, tune into podcasts, and stream music in multiple regional languages, among other features.

 

“After launching and operating the music platform for ten years and serving 100+ million customers, Wynk will cease to exist as a standalone entity,” Airtel said in an internal mass mailer to Wynk customers. Wynk is part of the company’s digital services business and generates approximately Rs 250 to Rs 300 crore in annual revenue for the telecom company.

 

Airtel announced on August 27 that it is tying up with Apple for a strategic partnership to offer exclusive offers for its OTT video and music streaming services, including Apple TV+ and Apple Music, in India. The tie-up will allow Airtel Xstream customers to access content from Apple TV+ with premium Airtel WiFi and Postpaid plans. The company said the addition of Apple services will make the deal sweeter for the Airtel Xstream fiber offering later this year.

 

Also Read: Gigabyte Unveils Gaming-Centric AORUS OLED Monitors In India

 

Why Is Airtel Shutting Down Wynk Music?

 

As per the sources, Airtel decided to shut down Wynk’s service because it did not make commercial sense to continue running it without a clear monetization plan. "In India, music streaming monetization is already low. Secondly, Airtel wanted to offer a better service in the music streaming space. Apple is an established player in the global music streaming space," a source told Moneycontrol.

 

The source also said that the partnership will also help Apple acquire quality subscribers. "Under the deal, Airtel will offer Apple Music subscription at a much better and discounted rate than Apple’s pricing. Such plans will remain exclusive to Airtel customers and unavailable through any other telco." The source also added that both companies are working on a carrier billing alliance, which will help Apple monetize its OTT and music streaming services.

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Realme TechLife Studio H1 Headphones With Hi-Res Audio Launched

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Oct 11th, 2024, 7:23

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3 min read

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Highlights

  • Realme brought two new products to India on October 15: the P1 Speed 5G phone and the company’s first headphones, the TechLife Studio H1.

  • The TechLife Studio H1 sports a 40mm Giant PET diaphragm, making sure rich and immersive audio. It is certified with Hi-Res LDAC.

  • The headphones also offer 360-degree Spatial Sound effects, creating a surround sound experience.

Realme brought two new products to India on October 15: the P1 Speed 5G phone and the company’s first headphones, the TechLife Studio H1. The TechLife Studio H1 sports a 40mm Giant PET diaphragm, making sure rich and immersive audio. It is certified with Hi-Res LDAC, guaranteeing high-quality audio playback.

 

The headphones also offer 360-degree Spatial Sound effects, creating a surround sound experience. The headphones come with Hybrid Noise Cancellation up to 43dB, effectively blocking out background noise so users can focus on their audio without distractions.

 

Also Read: Anker's Latest 100W Nano Charger Is As Small As Your AirPods

 

Realme TechLife Studio H1 Features

 

Design-wise, the headphones come with a sleek matte metal finish, an adjustable head beam for a custom fit, easy-to-use function buttons, a collapsible metal shaft for portability, and soft memory foam cushions for added comfort during long listening sessions.

 

The company promises up to 70 hours of battery life on a single charge, so users can enjoy their music without frequent recharging. Available in colors like Midnight Magic, Ivory Beats, and Crimson Beats, there’s a style for everyone. Availability details are limited, but a Flipkart listing hints sales will kick off on October 21.

 

Besides, Realme has announced the launch of the Realme Pad 2 Lite tablet in the Indian market alongside the new budget-friendly Realme P2 Pro smartphone. The new device comes with 4GB+128GB and 8GB+128GB storage models.

 

Also Read: Realme P2 Pro 5G Confirmed To Launch For Indian Market

 

Realme Pad 2 Lite Tablet Launched At Rs 14,999 In India

 

The tablet comes in Nebula Purple and Space Grey color options. However, the company hasn’t announced any official sale date for the Realme Pad 2 Lite tablet in India. Notably, it runs on Realme UI 5.0.

 

The latest tablet comes at a price of Rs 14,999 for the 4GB+128GB base model. Meanwhile, the 8GB+128GB variant carries a price tag of Rs 16,999. For consumers, the Realme tablet will soon be available via the company’s official website, Flipkart.

 

The Realme Pad 2 Lite comes packed with a 10.95-inch screen like the Realme Pad X. It also provides a 2K resolution, a 90Hz refresh rate, and 450 nits of peak brightness. The display is optimized for eye comfort, featuring modes such as AI Eye Protection, Reading Mode, and Sunlight Mode. Besides, the high resolution makes sure users get smooth visuals whether browsing the web, watching videos, or playing games.

 

The table comes equipped with the MediaTek Helio G99 chipset. It is powered by an 8300mAh battery, similar to the Realme Pad X, and includes 15W wired charging support.

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Intel Core Ultra 200S Series Desktop Chipsets With Iris GPU Launched

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Oct 11th, 2024, 7:03

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3 min read

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Highlights

  • Intel Core Ultra 200S series chipsets for desktop PCs codenamed Arrow Lake, have been launched by the company.

  • This is the first desktop offering by the chip maker with a dedicated neural processing unit (NPU).

  • With 36 trillion operations per second (TOPS) performance claimed, these will also be the first Intel chipsets to power AI PCs.

Intel Core Ultra 200S series chipsets for desktop PCs codenamed Arrow Lake, have been launched by the company. This is the first desktop offering by the chip maker with a dedicated neural processing unit (NPU).

 

With 36 trillion operations per second (TOPS) performance claimed, these will also be the first Intel chipsets to power AI PCs. Apart from enhanced performance via the NPU, the company also stated that the CPU and GPU have also received significant upgrades. The Intel Core Ultra 200S processors will be available in retail and online stores as well as via OEM partner systems starting October 24.

 

The company detailed the new chipsets in a press release. The Intel Core Ultra 200S processor family is led by the Intel Core Ultra 9 processor 285K as well as five other desktop processors. All of these features up to eight performance cores (P-cores) and up to 16 efficient cores.

 

Also Read: Intel’s Gaudi 3 Accelerators Pose Stiff Competition For Nvidia GPUs

 

New Chipsets To Offer Faster Performance

 

Intel claims that the new PC architecture offers up to 6 percent faster single-threaded performance and 14 percent higher performance in multi-threaded workloads compared to the previous generation. The chipsets also sport a built-in Iris Xe GPU.

 

Intel noted that the Arrow Lake processors are focused on power efficiency, and offer up to 58 percent lower package power while running everyday apps and up to 165W lower consumptions of system power during gaming.

 

Speaking of the NPU, the dedicated system offers hardware-accelerated AI capabilities. Intel also claimed that the Core Ultra 200S series can offer up to 50 percent faster performance in AI-enabled creator apps compared to competing chipsets.

 

Speaking of connectivity, the Intel Core Ultra 200S series desktop processors offer compatibility with up to 24 PCIe 4.0 lanes, up to eight SATA 3.0 ports, and up to 10 USB 3.2 ports. Moreover, they also support two integrated Thunderbolt 4 ports, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3.

 

Also Read: Intel Xeon 6700E ‘Sierra Forest’ CPUs With 34 Percent More Efficiency

 

Intel Launches Xeon 6700E ‘Sierra Forest’ CPUs

 

Intel has made some big announcements along with the launch of Xeon 6700E “Sierra Forest” CPUs with up to 144 cores. The new CPUs are the first of the new server chips featured in the Xeon 6 family.

 

This family will come with both P-Core and E-Core variants launching at their respective timelines and for respective platforms. Intel noted that the Xeon 6700E CPUs are optimized for performance per watt in high-density workloads. These CPUs are said to be based around an open ecosystem with an open software and open platforms approach.

 

Intel wants the Xeon 6700E E-Core line to cater to data center clients who are using a 2nd Gen Xeon or older platform. The company notes that the new chip not only offers up to 4.2x faster performance and up to 2.6x perf/watt, but will enable users to save a lot of space, power, and money. 

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Google’s Upcoming Tool Will Help You Identify AI Images

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Oct 11th, 2024, 6:18

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3 min read

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Highlights

  • Among all the generative AI-based features, the one feature that caught the most eyeballs was the ability to generate AI images.

  • The feature enables users to generate and even edit an existing image that looks similar to real-life images using simple text prompts.

  • All of this has brought a huge issue – how to differentiate a real image from the AI-generated ones.

Among all the generative AI-based features, the one feature that caught the most eyeballs was the ability to generate AI images. The feature enables users to generate and even edit an existing image that looks similar to real-life images using simple text prompts.

 

All of this has brought a huge issue – how to differentiate a real image from the AI-generated ones. With AI evolving at an alarming rate, things are becoming more difficult. Google might have a solution or at least the company is planning to offer a solution just for that.

 

As per a report from Android Authority, Google is working on a new feature within the Google Photos app that will show users information to help them identify AI images. The feature has been found within the code of an unreleased version of Google Photos app – version 7.3 – to be specific. The code suggests an upcoming AI identification feature within the app.

 

Also Read: Google Pushes Pixel 9’s Gemini AI Features To All Android Phones

 

How Does Google Photos AI Identification Feature Work

 

The feature is yet to be released, but whatever the code has revealed suggests that the Photos app will show credits for given photos with details like “Made with Google AI” in the credit tab which will be accessible via EXIF data of the image.

 

Also, Google Photos images that have been generated or edited using AI already come with the disclaimer – "AI-Generated with Google Photos" or "AI-Generated with Google." That’s not all, Google Photos might also be able to tell users the exact AI tool used to create, modify, or edit the image.

 

As of now, the feature seems to be under development and we expect it to live for all Google Photos users with future updates. Besides, it’s hard to say whether the company will make the feature available for all users or only for Google One subscribers.

 

Also Read: Google’s Circle To Search Feature Coming To More Smartphones

 

Google Could Split Chrome And Android Over Antitrust Issues

 

Google could soon face regulatory action as the DOJ considers antitrust measures to lose the company’s grip on online search. This could involve splitting Android, Chrome, and other assets.

 

The U.S. Justice Department has revealed an ambitious plan to tackle Google’s monopoly as part of its antitrust lawsuit against the company, as reported by CNBC. This comes on the heels of the DOJ’s legal victory in August when the US District Court labeled Google a “monopolist” for breaking antitrust laws in its efforts to stay the default search engine on devices and browsers.

 

The US government has found a potential anti-competitive network connecting Android devices, the Google Play Store, Chrome, and Search.

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OnePlus 13 To Receive Big Upgrades Over Predecessor: Reports

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Oct 11th, 2024, 6:47

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3 min read

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Highlights

  • The internet has been buzzing with reports surrounding the OnePlus 13, with reports suggesting it could launch earlier than expected, possibly this month.

  • If this turns out to be true, it would break OnePlus’ usual December release schedule, marking a significant shift in its launch strategy.

  • One of the standout rumors is that the OnePlsu 13 might come with a huge 24GB of RAM, a significant jump from the 16GB.

The internet has been buzzing with reports surrounding the OnePlus 13, with reports suggesting it could launch earlier than expected, possibly this month. If this turns out to be true, it would break OnePlus’ usual December release schedule, marking a significant shift in its launch strategy.

 

While OnePLus hasn’t confirmed anything yet, leaks from sources such as Digital Chat Station, have already started hinting at some major upgrades that have fans eagerly anticipating its release.

 

One of the standout rumors is that the OnePlsu 13 might come with a huge 24GB of RAM, a significant jump from the 16GB seen in high-end smartphones like the Google Pixel 9 series. This bump in memory will likely enhance the smartphone’s ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, making it ideal for gaming and power-hungry apps.

 

Also Read: OnePlus 13 With Curved Display Launching In October

 

What to Expect From OnePlus 13

 

The OnePlus 13 is said to be the first smartphone from Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset, offering a substantial performance boost over the current Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. This could make the upcoming smartphone one of the most powerful smartphones out there.

 

The design of the OnePlus 13 might also see some changes. Leaks hint that the circular camera module seen on the OnePlus 12 will be replaced with a vertically stacked camera setup in the top-left corner of the rear panel.

 

The partnership with renowned camera brand Hasselblad is expected to continue, making sure that photography remains a strong feature of the device. Some suggest that the OnePlus 13 might come with advanced camera features from Oppo, which shares the same parent company, possibly including a high-quality sensor and impressive optical zoom.

 

As for the display, the OnePlus 13 is said to retain a 2K resolution screen, ensuring sharp visuals for media consumption and gaming. Another possible upgrade is the introduction of an ultrasonic sensor, providing faster and more secure unlocking.

 

Also Read: OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Launched With ANC At Rs 2,299 In India

 

OnePlus 13 Could Come With MagSafe Wireless Charging Like iPhone

 

The OnePlus 13 is officially on its way, set to launch in China later this month, and the excitement is palpable among tech enthusiasts. This flagship smartphone is said to bring many standout features, particularly the much-anticipated Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. Now, leaks suggest that OnePlus might be bringing magnetic wireless charging, a feature that many will recognize from Apple’s iPhone series.

 

OnePlus China president Louis Lee hinted on Weibo that the OnePlus 13 will introduce a "magnetic function," suggesting it could support Qi2 MagSafe charging technology. If this turns out to be true, this would put OnePlus ahead of competitors like the Samsung Galaxy S25 and Pixel 9 series, both of which have yet to incorporate this tech.

 

Qi2 magnetic charging, launched in 2023, has already made waves in the smartphone world, being adopted by all iPhones. As of now, the HMD Skyline is the only Android phone utilizing this technology, making OnePlus’ potential inclusion a good move in the market.

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Qualcomm Confirms Security Issues On Android Devices

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Oct 11th, 2024, 6:48

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3 min read

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Highlights

  • Qualcomm recently confirmed that hackers managed to exploit a zero-day bug - a vulnerability that was unknown to the maker when it was exploited.

  • The breach was found in dozens of chipsets used in millions of Android smartphones across the globe.

  • The San Diego company also revealed a patch was sent out to OEMs in September and called the attack a "limited, targeted exploitation."

Qualcomm recently confirmed that hackers managed to exploit a zero-day bug - a vulnerability that was unknown to the maker when it was exploited. The breach was found in dozens of chipsets used in millions of Android smartphones across the globe.

 

The San Diego company also revealed a patch was sent out to OEMs in September and called the attack a "limited, targeted exploitation." the security vulnerability is said to have affected 64 chips made by Qualcomm.

 

Also Read: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 QRD Seen In Benchmarks

 

Which Smartphones Are Affected By The Breach

 

The affected Qualcomm chips include the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, powering smartphones such as Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, OnePlus 10 Pro, Sony Xperia 1 IV, Oppo Find X5 Pro, Honor Magic4 Pro, Xiaomi 12, and others. The list also features Snapdragon modems and FastConnect modules, used for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity.

 

A spokesperson for Qualcomm said that the company already sent out a patch but it is up to the smartphone makers to release it to their customers. Amnesty International's Security Lab confirmed a Google Threat Analysis Group assessment that the issue was serious.

 

The research on who is to be blamed and who might have taken advantage of the vulnerability will be "out soon," said an Amnesty spokesperson. Investigation from firms like Google and Amnesty hints the hacking campaign may have targeted specific individuals rather than a large group of users.

 

Also Read: Qualcomm Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 To Make 5G Phones Dirt Cheap

 

Indian Govt Warns Microsoft Edge Users Against Critical Risk

 

The government of India has issued a critical warning to Microsoft Edge users in the country. Users have been urged to update their browsers to the latest version to protect against significant security vulnerabilities.

 

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), a division of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, has found several security issues in versions of Microsoft Edge earlier than 129.0.2792.79. These vulnerabilities could potentially enable remote attackers and cybercriminals to bypass security controls and execute arbitrary code on a user’s device.

 

As per CERT-In, these security flaws arise from multiple underlying issues, such as insufficient data validation in Mojo, inappropriate implementation in the V8 JavaScript engine, and an integer overflow in the Layout component of the browser.

 

Exploiting these weaknesses could also let attackers target users by tricking them into visiting malicious websites or opening compromised HTML pages, putting personal data at risk. The government agency has highlighted that these issues if left unpatched, could lead to substantial security breaches. In response, users are strongly encouraged to update their browsers to the newest version, making sure they get the essential security patches provided by Microsoft.

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