If you’re looking to buy a new pair of wireless in-ear Bluetooth headphones you could do a hell of a lot worse than the Sennheiser Momentum Free. They sit at the ultra portable end of Sennheiser’s best selling Momentum series of consumer headphones and earphones and they weigh in at a cost of $185 in the US and £169.99 in the UK.
Features
They’re not wireless ear buds in the same vein as the Apple Airpods - the two buds are connected by a wire which can go either behind or in front of your neck, with an inline clicker on the right and a battery cell on the left. So they sit between that super compact Airpod design and something more like the Sennheiser Momentum In-ear Wireless which uses a neck band to add more battery life.
These earphones will pair with two devices at once so it’s super easy to listen to music through your laptop and then take a call on your phone without disconnecting or popping one of the ears out.
The stainless steel earbuds are magnetised, so when you’re out and about and not using them you are supposed to be able to wear them around your neck without the risk of losing them. The idea is that they stick magnetically together in front of your neck but honestly I found this feature to be sorely lacking - the magnets are simply too weak so even a gentle shake, a very light jog or sometimes no movement at all is enough to detach them. More than once while I was testing they almost fell off my shoulders without me noticing.
Bluetooth 4.2 and and apt-X supply the high quality and power efficient audio connection to your devices - though missing in action are apt-X HD, noise cancellation and NFC pairing. Most people won’t miss these high-end features, and really you can't expect them with lightweight earphones like this, but it’s worth considering if you absolutely must have the latest features over lightweight portability. Note that some retail listings give NFC as an included feature but this product definitely doesn’t have NFC.
You do get a nice leather zip travel case though and you are going to want to keep these things safe and protected.
Not gym friendly
It's worth noting at this point that despite the ultra lightweight design of these headphones, they're not particularly well suited to using while running or when at the gym. The earbuds will start to pop out of your ears when you introduce sweat into the equation.
So you'll probably get away with a light run but if you're looking for a pair of ultra lightweight earphones to use at the gym there's an obvious reason why Sennheiser as a similar but separate product - the Sennheiser CX Sport.
Battery life
The stated battery life on the Momentum Free is 6 hours and my testing just about verified this. They’ll hit 6 hours pretty consistently and they charge from flat to max in about an hour, but don’t expect to get a cheeky extra 30 mins - the 6 hours really is a maximum. You need to be careful how you charge these headphones too - always use the supplied cable. There is absolutely no mention of this in the supplied manual but I managed to kill the first pair I tested by plugging them into a phone wall charger using a third party high capacity USB cable - it killed the battery and my first pair of Free’s never woke from their coma after that.
If you stick to the supplied cable though you won’t have a problem and even a standard USB port on a laptop is powerful enough to charge them up quickly. There’s no visual battery indicator to speak of but when you’re not playing music if you give a quick tap of the ‘vol down’ button on the clicker a friendly woman will let you roughly how much charge you have, plus when you’re really low the LED will flash orange.
Sound quality
These wireless earphones are not cheap by any measure and so it doesn’t matter how good they look (very good) and how premium they feel (very premium) - they need to sound good. They do.
No matter what you’re listening to - Spotify playlists, podcasts, audiobooks, radio streams, Tidal albums - everything sounds fantastic. Balanced and detailed with just the right amount of punch and crispness. Bass is nice and tight and offers something for everyone - whether you’re a bass head or someone who prefers a more authentic flat sound, the Sennheiser Momentum Free won’t disappoint you. They’re surprisingly well rounded. The midrange is also unusually wholesome and don’t give you that disappointing hollow sound you get from products that amp up either the bass, treble or both in the absence of true audio excellence and calibration.
Verdict
The Sennheiser Momentum Free in-ear Bluetooth headphones are brilliant. They sound fantastic and the lightweight portability of the design makes them super easy to get around with. Admittedly they are quite pricey and the 6-hour battery life makes them inappropriate for travel or any other kind of use where you might not have regular access to USB power. But as a second pair of ultra portable in-ear wireless headphones they’re superb.
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NVIDIA held its much-awaited press event for the new Turing-based GeForce 20-series graphics cards at Gamescom 2018. Most of the details including the partner cards, price, specifications and features have been the subject of several leaks in the weeks leading up to today’s event. NVIDIA CEO, Jensen Huang revealed the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti and the RTX 2080 as the first set of graphics cards from the 20-series. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Founder’s Edition will be priced at $1,199, the GeForce RTX 2080 Founder’s Edition will be priced at $799 and lastly, the GeForce RTX 2070 will be priced at $599. Board partners will be selling their cards at much lower prices. The RTX 2080 Ti will be priced at $999, RTX 2080 at $699 and the RTX 2070 at $499. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, 2080 and 2070 Specifications Today’s announcement confirms all the specifications of the new graphics cards that were leaked on the PNY website two days ago. With the reference design Founder’s Edition cards, we don’t see much of a difference from what we know. The core counts, memory specs, TDP and multi-GPU capabilities have not changed. NVIDIA RTX 2080 Ti NVIDIA RTX 2080 NVIDIA RTX 2070 CUDA Cores 4352 2944 2304 Core Clock 1350 MHz 1515 MHz 1410 MHz Boost Clock 1545 MHz 1710 MHz 1620 MHz FE Boost Clock 1635 MHz 1800 MHz 1710 MHz Memory Type GDDR6 GDDR6 GDDR6 Memory Capacity 11 GB 8 GB 8 GB Memory Interface 352-bit 256-bit 256-bit Memory Bandwidth 616 GB/s 448 GB/s 448 GB/s TDP 285 W 285 W 285 W SLI NVLink 2-way NVLink 2-way NVLink 2-way Multi-Screen Yes Yes Yes Max Resolution 7680 × 4320 @60Hz (Digital) 7680 × 4320 @60Hz (Digital) 7680 × 4320 @60Hz (Digital) Power Input 2x 8-Pin 1x 6-Pin 1x 8-Pin 1x 6-Pin 1x 8-Pin Bus Type PCI-Express 3.0 PCI-Express 3.0 PCI-Express 3.0 FE Price $1,199 $799 $599 Partner Price $999 $699 $499 The key difference here is that the Founder’s Edition graphics cards are better off in terms of boost clock. The Founders Edition GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 get an increment of 90 MHz over the reference boost clock. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, 2080 and 2070 Prices NVIDIA has begun accepting pre-orders for the Founder’s Edition RTX 2080 Ti, 2080 and 2080 on their respective regional websites and the prices for these cards are as follows. GeForce RTX 2080 Ti: $1,199 (Rs.84,000) GeForce RTX 2080: $799 (Rs.55,800) GeForce RTX 2070: $599 (Rs.41,800) We do not have Indian pricing for the cards as of now and the above values as direct forex conversion. If we are to consider import taxes, then the pricing for these cards could be somewhat like this. GeForce RTX 2080 Ti: Rs.1,13,400 GeForce RTX 2080: Rs.75,000 GeForce RTX 2070: Rs.56,500 It would appear that the lack of competition from AMD has given NVIDIA a free hand to jack up the prices to exorbitant levels. However, board partners get to sell it at a lot better prices and they're as follows. GeForce RTX 2080 Ti: $999 (Rs.70,000) GeForce RTX 2080: $699 (Rs.49,000) GeForce RTX 2070: $499 (Rs.34,900) Indian prices with taxes could be approximately this: GeForce RTX 2080 Ti: Rs.94,500 GeForce RTX 2080: Rs.75,400 GeForce RTX 2070: Rs.56,500
Whether you’re looking for a gamepad or an earphone, we’ve got you covered. This list contains gadgets like keyboards, gamepads, speakers and more. Redgear Pro Wireless Gamepad Price: Rs 1,599 Deal price: Rs 1,299 The Redgear Pro Wireless Gamepad is compatible with Windows 7 and above. The controller connects to your PC via a nano receiver, which works up to a distance of 10m from a connected device. As per the company, the device has a battery life of up to ten hours. Click here to buy. Logitech MK215 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo Price: Rs 1,645 Deal price: Rs 1,199 The Logitech MK215 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo feature USB 2.4GHz connectivity. The Logitech claims that the keyboard battery will last for up to two years, while the mouse battery will work for five months on a single battery. The device is compatible with Windows operating systems only. Click here to buy. Nu Republic Nu Jaxx Wireless Earphone Price: Rs 3,999 Deal price: Rs 1,399 The Nu Republic Nu Jaxx Wireless Earphone features a tangle-free flat cable that won’t let your wire tangle up in knots. It comes with an intelligent noise reduction feature to enhance the listening experience of users. As per the company, the earphone can last for up to five hours on a single charge. Click here to buy. TAGG SoundGear Earphones Price: Rs 1999 Deal price: 799 The Tagg SoundGear Earphones feature a 10mm dynamic drivers and weighs around 141g. The earphone comes with an in-line microphone and remote that lets you manage tracks and calls easily. It also has a passive noise cancellation feature, which reduces the outside noise for a better listening experience. Click here to buy. F&D 2.1 Channel Multimedia Speakers System Price: Rs 1,799 Deal price: Rs 1,179 The F&D 2.1 Channel Multimedia Speakers System features a 1500W power output. The system includes one 4-inch bass driver subwoofer and two 2.5-inches speakers. The device can be connected to your TV or a smartphone via an AUX cable. Users can also connect the speakers to a USB compatible devices. Click here to buy.
Today, we have put together some of the best 4K TV deals that are currently available on Flipkart. The products in this list are from brands like Vu, TCL, LG and more. Vu Official Android 43-inch Ultra HD 4K LED Smart TV Price: Rs 50,000 Deal price: Rs 35,370 The Vu Official Android 4K LED Smart TV offers a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels with a panel size of 43-inches. The TV comes with a Vu Voice Active feature, which lets you search for your favorite content via voice search. As it is a Smart TV, users can also download apps like Netflix, Youtube, Hotstar and more. Click here to buy. Vu Official Android 55-inch Ultra HD 4K LED Smart TV Price: Rs 68,000 Deal price: Rs 52,999 If you’re looking for a bigger panel size then the Vu 55-inches Smart TV might fit the bill. The TV offers the same features as the 43-inch model, which we mentioned above. It has two HDMI ports, two USB ports, and one 3.5mm audio jack to connect a headphone or a speaker. Click here to buy. Panasonic 43-inch Ultra HD 4K LED TV Price: Rs 75,990 Deal price: Rs 34,999 The Panasonic 43-inch UHD 4K LED TV available on Flipkart with a hefty 53 percent discount. The TV has three HDMI ports and two USB ports to connect external devices such as flash drives and game consoles. Click here to buy. LG 43-inch Ultra HD 4K LED Smart TV Price: Rs 67,990 Deal price: Rs 54,999 The LG 43-inch UHD 4K LED Smart TV offers a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels. The TV lets you watch your photos and videos on a bigger screen with the Cloud Photos and Video app. Users can also download apps like Netflix, Hotstar, Voot and more. Click here to buy. TCL 55-inch Ultra HD 4K LED Smart TV Price: Rs 89,990 Deal price: Rs 59,999 The TCL Ultra HD 4K LED Smart TV offers a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels with a panel size of 55-inches. This Android TV allows you to access Google Play store and download apps like Netflix, Youtube, Voot, Hotstar and more. The TV is also equipped with a Harman Kardon speaker, which comes with a Dolby surround sound audio. It also has a voice search feature that lets you search for your content easily. Click here to buy.
You never know when you will run out of space or lose data on your PC or laptop. One of the best ways to keep your data safe and easily accessible is by keeping it on a portable hard drive. Today, we’ve listed down some of the best deals of Paytm Mall on hard drives. WD Elements 1TB Portable External Hard Drive Price: Rs 7,350 Deal price: Rs 3,454 (inclusive of cashback) The WD Elements 1TB Portable External Hard Drive features USB 3.0 connectivity. The device is compatible with Windows PC and also supports a USB 2.0 interface. It comes with a two year manufacturer warranty as well, which does not cover physical damage. Click here to buy. Seagate 2TB Portable Hard Drive Price: Rs 12,999 Deal price: Rs 5,050 (inclusive of cashback) The Seagate 2TB Portable Hard Drive features a USB 3.0 interface and is compatible with USB 2.0 as well. The device works with both Windows and Mac. As per the company, it can transfer the data at the rate of 120MB/s. Click here to buy. HP 1TB External Hard Disk Price: Rs 5,512 Deal price: Rs 3,599 (inclusive of cashback) The HP 1TB External Hard Disk is compatible with both USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 interfaces. The device is compatible with Windows operating systems only. It also comes with a two year manufacturer warranty. Click here to buy. Sony 1TB Portable External Hard Disk Price: Rs 6,700 Deal price: Rs 4,041 (inclusive of cashback) The Sony 1TB Portable External Hard Disk supports a USB 3.0 interface. As per the company, the drive can transfer data at the rate of 5GB/s with a USB 3.0 port and 480MB/s with a USB 2.0 interface. Other than that, the device is compatible with Mac as well. Click here to buy. WD 4TB Portable External Hard Disk Price: Rs 12,670 Deal price: Rs 8,279 (inclusive of cashback) The WD 4TB Portable External Hard Disk is available on Paytm Mall with over a 25 percent discount today. The device supports both USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 interfaces. Click here to buy. Toshiba Canvio Ready 1TB Price: Rs 5,000 Deal price: Rs 3,381 (inclusive of cashback) The Toshiba Canvio Ready 1TB hard drive features USB 3.0 connectivity, which as per the company, can transfer the data at the rate of 5GB/s. The hard drive comes with a ramp load and a shock sensor as well, which keeps your data safe in case of a sudden power loss. Click here to buy.
While Apple is already fighting an iPhone battery crisis, an incident in Netherlands has grabbed the eyeballs of people from all over the world. An iPad exploded in an Apple Store in Amsterdam while people were busy shopping in the area. Soon after a tiny explosion, the store was evacuated because the explosion had released potentially harmful substances into the air. Apple’s Amsterdam store has been temporarily closed. According to Dutch news website iCulture, Apple Store employees secured the defective iPad and the punctured battery in a sand container. The defective device did not emit any fire or smoke but potentially released harmful chemicals. The firefighters worked to ventilate the area and clear out harmful vapors, if any. No one sustained any major injuries but Apple Store employees sustained minor burns possibly while containing the defective iPad. Battery problems have been plaguing Apple for a quite long time now. Last year, Apple announced a programme in which it replaced batteries of iPhone 6 and above. It competitor, Samsung has also had its share of flak when the batteries of the Galaxy Note 7 started to explode in different parts of the world. The South Korean giant later stopped the production of the phone and gave the customers of the phone the Galaxy S7 Edge smartphones.
Vivo and Oppo made waves when they came out with pop-up camera modules in their recent smartphones. It seems that now both companies are ready for another set of offerings that may set a new trend in the smartphone industry. First seen on Essential Phone, Oppo has been advertising the waterdrop notch design for the R17, R17 Pro, F9 and F9 Pro smartphones. Vivo X23 is the newest addition to this list. The smartphone has been listed on Vivo’s official website in China. According to the website, the smartphone will come with a “Waterdrop” notch display by which it is able to get a whopping 91.2 percent screen-to-body ratio. There is a thin chin and the smartphone has an edge-to-edge display. On the back, there is a vertically stacked AI-powered dual camera module which is placed on top left corner of the phone. Below the cameras, there is a LED flash and no fingerprint scanner could be seen on the device. The Vivo X23 will come with the latest in-display fingerprint scanner. The other unlocking option could be an advanced 3D face recognition. Under the hood, the Vico X23 may come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 670 processor with 8GB RAM. The images on the website shows the phone in two hues: Purple and Pink. Barring the notch, the Vivo X23 has the same design as the X21. The Vivo X21 was launched with a 6.28-inch full-HD+ Super AMOLED display with a 19:9 aspect ratio. It is powered by the Snapdragon 660 SoC and comes with 6GB RAM, coupled with 128GB of onboard storage. In terms of optics, the Vivo X21 is equipped with a vertically stacked dual-rear camera setup with a 12MP primary sensor and a 5MP secondary sensor. On the front, it features a 12MP sensor. The phone is backed by a 3,200mAh battery. 
Samsung is promoting its Galaxy A8 (2018) smartphone in Brazil and it recently tweeted out some images supposedly taken from the device’s selfie camera. However, a keen observant on Twitter, @felipras, caught that the posted images were not taken using the Samsung phone and are actually stock photos from Getty Images that were originally posted on the stock photo agency’s website back in 2015. The user posted the original image as a reply to Samsung Brazil’s original tweet saying (translated directly from Portugese), “Want to fool who, @ SamsungBrasil.” As a response the company again tried to pass the images as photos taken using its smartphone by replying, “This is ours, isn't it nice?” The Twitter user then took it upon himself to dig into other photos posted by Samsung Brasil and find the original images along with their prices. When the user again posted the original images from Getty as a reply to the company’s tweets of images that were supposedly captured using the Galaxy A8 (2018), Samsung realised that its lie has been caught and responded saying, “Oops, sorry, you're right, Feliperas. The answer given before was not really correct. Many of the photos we post are taken using our smartphones, but some, like that, are images that also express the attitude of our target audience.” The company later deleted the tweets. Quer enganar quem, @SamsungBrasil? pic.twitter.com/Xy7b2dsRcz — Fᴇʟɪᴘᴇʀᴀs (@feliperas) August 16, 2018 This is not the first time a company has intentionally or unintentionally tried to mislead its customers. Back in 2012, when Nokia was a part of Microsoft, the company demonstrated the effectiveness of OIS on the Nokia 920. In a video, we saw a couple riding bikes and the guy is recording a video. The promotion was almost flawless and the video was astonishingly stable for being captured from a mobile phone back in 2012, until in a reflective surface we clearly get to see that it is actually being shot using a professional grade camera from a white van with a complete camera crew. Nokia later apologised for the fiasco and posted another video, which it said was captured using the phone, however, the damage was already done. You can read about this in detail here.
In an apparent repeat of Apple-FBI issue, the US government is reportedly pressurising Facebook to remove the encryption from its Messenger platform so that the authorities can wiretap the “secret conversations” between the alleged members of the MS-13 gang. According to an exclusive report by Reuters, the case is in a federal court in California and since it is proceeding under seal, no filings are publicly available. But citing sources, Reuters says that Facebook is contesting the US Department of Justice’s demand. The judge in the Messenger case has heard arguments last week in which the government seeks to hold Facebook in contempt of court for refusing to carry out the surveillance request. According to legal experts, if the government wins the case, Facebook could be forced to rewrite services such as WhatsApp, which include both voice and text functions. Meanwhile, Facebook is arguing that Messenger voice calls are encrypted end-to-end which means that only the two parties have access to the conversation. Facebook has two options, either it can comply with the government’s request and remove the whole encryption or ‘hack’ the government’s target, the MS-13 gang. For those who don’t know, Mara Salvatrucha, infamous as MS-13, is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1980s. US President Donald Trump has often used the gang as a symbol of lax US immigration policy and a reason to attack so-called “sanctuary” laws preventing police from detaining people solely to enforce immigration law, Reuters report claimed. This development comes at a time when the Apple-FBI feud over user privacy is still fresh in our minds. In that case, Apple was being forced to unlock the iPhone 5C of an Islamic State (IS) terrorist who sprayed bullets on innocents in San Bernardino, California, in 2016. Apple said that it won’t unlock the phone because if it does, it would be violating the company’s First Amendment speech and expression rights. Facebook and Google sided Apple and the investigators hacked the phone with the help of an outsider. (Facebook Messenger’s normal conversations are not end-to-end encrypted. The app has a Secret Conversations feature that can secure chats under strong encryption when it is enabled.)
If you’re looking for a Bluetooth speaker with a limited budget, then you’ve come to the right place. We have listed down a wide range of Bluetooth speakers, which are available on Paytm Mall with a hefty price cut. The products we have in this list are from brands like Sony, JBL, boAt and more. JBL Pulse 3 Price: Rs 14,999 Deal price: Rs 10,719 (inclusive of cashback) The JBL Pulse 3 is a wireless Bluetooth music streaming device, which features an IPX7 rating. The speaker can be connected to up to two smartphones or tablets at once. As per the company, the device can stream music for up to 12 hours on a single charge. Click here to buy. Ultimate Ears Wonderboom Price: Rs 7,995 Deal price: Rs 5,096 The UE Wonderboom is a portable wireless Bluetooth speaker that offers 360 degree sound. The speaker is IPX7 rated, which means the device should work fine, even after a few splashes of water. As per the company, it has a battery life of up to ten hours and can be connected to up to eight Bluetooth enabled devices at once. Click here to buy. Sony SRS-XB10 Price: Rs 4,990 Deal price: Rs 2,654 (inclusive of cashback) The Sony SRS-XB10 is a water-resistant compact Bluetooth speaker, which comes with an IPX5 rating. According to the company, the device has a battery life of up to 16 hours. Click here to buy. Amazon Echo Price: Rs 9,999 Deal price: Rs 8,099 The Amazon Echo is a hands-free smart speaker, which connects to the voice control cloud-based assistant Alexa. The speaker is capable of voice interaction and plays music, check the weather, and set alarms. Moreover, the device is also able to control smart devices such as smart lights. Click here to buy. boAt Stone 200 Price: Rs 2,750 Deal price: Rs 1,111 (inclusive of cashback) The boAt Stone 200 is a waterproof and shockproof Bluetooth speaker, which features an IPX5 rating. It also comes with an onboard control to manage audio tracks and volume. As per the company, the device can stream music for up to ten hours with a single charge. Click here to buy
Today, the Amazon is giving away up to Rs 20,000 off on laptops with an additional 5% cashback on select bank debit/credit cards. We have covered laptops across various price ranges in this list, which consists of a budget laptop as well as a high-end gaming system. Dell Vostro 3568 Price: Rs 35,487 Deal price: Rs 26,839 The Dell Vostro 3568 is powered by an Intel Core i3 6th Gen processor, which is clocked at 2.0GHz. The device packs 4GB DDR4 RAM and 1TB hard drive. The machine is equipped with one HDMI port, two USB 3.0 ports, one USB 2.0 port, and one SD card reader slot as well. It should be noted that users install Windows on its own. Click here to buy. HP 15-bs675tx Price: Rs 39,999 Deal price: Rs 34,990 The HP 15-bs675tx is backed by a 2.3GHz Intel Core i3 7th Gen processor, which is paired with 4GB DDR4 RAM and 1TB hard drive. This laptop also comes with a 2GB AMD Radeon 520 graphics card. Moreover, the machine comes pre-installed with Windows 10. Click here to buy. Lenovo Ideapad 330E Price: Rs 37,690 Deal price: Rs 31,990 The Lenovo Ideapad 330E sports a 15.6-inch HD display with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. The device comes with a 2.0GHz Intel Core i3 7th Gen processor, which is paired with 4GB DDR4 RAM and 1TB hard drive. The laptop comes with an installed Windows 10 as well. Click here to buy. Dell Vostro 3568 Price: 38,450 Deal price: Rs 27,990 The Dell Vostro 3568 is powered by an Intel Core i3 6th Gen processor, which is clocked at 2.0GHz. The device offers a 4GB RAM and 1TB hard drive. Click here to buy. Acer Nitro Spin Laptop Price: Rs 89,999 Deal price: Rs 67,990 The Acer Nitro Spin gaming machine is powered by the latest 8th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, which is clocked at 1.6GHz. The machine packs 8GB DDR4 RAM and a 1TB hard drive. As far as the graphics card is concerned, the device comes with a 4GB DDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 card. Click here to buy.
HMD Global has already sent out invites for an event dated August 21, where it is expected to launch the Nokia 6.1 Plus smartphone. Now, it seems like the upcoming product will be a Flipkart Exclusive as the online retailer has hosted a dedicated webpage for it and has also put up a teaser video that hints at a Nokia smartphone with an emphasis on the hashtag “#TwoOfAKind”. This could be a hint at an exclusive partnership between Flipkart and Nokia that could be announced at tomorrow's event, similar to the Asus-Flipkart partnership which was announced some time ago. If this is the case, future Nokia smartphone buyers can expect some exclusive offers on their purchase. The Nokia 6.1 recently received a price cut out-of-the-blue, hinting that HMD Global will announce the new Nokia 6.1 Plus in India, which is the global variant of the Nokia X6. Nokia 6.1 Plus expected price Back in May this year, HMD Global launched the Nokia X6 as a China exclusive smartphone. A couple of months later, its global variant was announced in Hong Kong as the Nokia 6.1 Plus in one 4GB RAM, 64GB storage variant, which is priced at HKD 2,288 (Rs 20,000 approx). In China, the smartphone is available in three variants, two 4GB RAM models with 32GB and 64GB storage options, which are priced at CNY 1,299 (Rs 13,700 approx) and CNY 1,499 (Rs 16,000 approx) respectively and a 6GB RAM version with 64GB storage, which is priced at CNY 1,699 (Rs 18,200 approx). The smartphone is expected to be priced similarly in In India. Nokia 6.1 Plus Specifications In terms of specifications, the phone sports a 5.8-inch Full HD+ notched display with a 19:9 aspect ratio. The screen is protected by Gorilla Glass 3 and has thin bezels all around but a noticeable chin. Coming to the optics, the Nokia 6.1 Plus comes equipped with a dual-camera system with 16MP + 5MP sensors and Zeiss lenses on the back. On the front is a 16 MP sensor and both the cameras come with a f/2.0 aperture. The handset is powered by the Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 SoC and it is backed by a 3,060mAh battery that also supports fast charging. 
“You’ll be tracked, you’ll be monitored, you’ll be recorded in a hundred different ways and not by UIDAI, but by the Aadhaar number they created that is being used by every other company and every other group in society,” Edward Snowden said during the ‘Talk Journalism’ event held in Jaipur last weekend. A video of Snowden’s live stage interview via Google Hangouts was published on YouTube recently. The said video has also been shared by many through a Google Drive link on Twitter. The ex-CIA employee responsible for exposing multiple global surveillance programmes run by the National Security Agency (NSA) in the US, was speaking his mind on digital privacy and India’s Aadhaar initiative which has been mired by various controversies since its weak data security protocols were exposed multiple times. According to Snowden, Aadhaar should only be used solely for the purpose of social benefit and not be required for any other service. Snowden called for criminal penalties on companies that ask for a person’s Aadhaar number for a service that the Govt is not paying for. “The biggest crime behind this system is that it’s being used for things that are unrelated to what the Govt is paying for. If you want to open an account, buy a train ticket, more and more of these services are demanding an Aadhaar number. Not just the number, they are demanding that you show them the physical card. This is creating a systemisation of society, of the public and this was not the intention of the programme,” Snowden said. He continued to talk about how telecommunications companies in India misuse Aadhaar information for their own selfish purposes and to keep tabs on users. Snowden was obviously hinting at how Airtel misused Aadhaar information of its users to add new customers to its Payments Bank service without their explicit informed consent. Snowden also addressed the recent Aadhaar controversy where Google admitted to pushing UIDAI’s helpline number to all Android phones. Questioning how the UIDAI phone number landed on all Android phones in the country, Snowden said, “They (Google) have an extraordinary amount of market share. Everyone in India is using an Android phone, unless they are rich enough to afford an iPhone. When you have that kind of position, it’s very difficult to make a change that affects the phone of everybody i the country and yet somehow, they managed to push this phone number to everybody.” According to Snowden, UIDAI should make people aware of how Aadhaar can be misused instead of transferring the blame on Google and pretending not to have any knowledge of the fact. “The number 1 thing they always say in the public is that their data is safe, their biometrics are secure. The idea isn’t that you can go on the internet and access anyone’s Aadhaar information directly, it’s that it is being leaked,” he said referring to how claims like these led to TRAI Chairman RS Sharma’s data getting exposed after he shared his Aadhaar number on social media as a challenge to hackers. Snowden concluded his comments on Aadhaar by saying that the system in already going bad and that privacy of Indians (digital or otherwise) is not adequately protected. 
In what can be called a bizarre step by Google, the tech giant has suddenly rolled back an update that brought the all new Dark Mode, a revamped UI and a Smart Reply feature to Android Messages, even before it could reach every user who is using a compatible Android phone. Moreover, instead of releasing a new update through Google Play to bring the old app UI back, Google apparently chose a server-side update to discard the changes. The change were first noticed by a Pixel 2 XL user who posted them on Reddit. “I updated the messages app earlier today and turned in the dark mode but when I opened the app a few minutes ago it cracked and I no longer have the dark mode option. Did this happen to anyone else," the user wrote in a post on Reddit. In an “Edit”, he realises that the app no longer has the redesign at all and is now exactly like it looked before the update. Google has not announced any reasons behind its actions but it seems they might have found a bug and decided to reverse the update. Given that Google is adopting a uniform UI on all of its services, the updates are expected to roll out soon. In case you missed out the update and are now reading the update pull-back story, you can read about what all changes were introduced in the it here. Google recently announced the completion of the rollout of its Messages for web feature. Just like one does in WhatsApp for Web, Android Messages for Web can be used to text from a browser by navigating to messages.android.com. To access the service, users need to scan a QR code that is displayed on the website from their Android mobile device by tapping on the three-dot menu on the upper-right corner of the Messages app. They can then continue texting from their browser.
Taiwanese hardware and electronics maker Asus announced a new Republic of Gamers laptop last week in Taipei, Taiwan. Dubbed the Strix SCAR II (GL704), the new gaming laptop comes with a slew of novel features. To start with, it has an ample 17.3-inch display that sits inside the body of a 15.7-inch chassis. This is made possible through clever engineering and slim bezel design. According to the company it’s the first laptop in its class to span less than 400mm in width. Display options include a Full HD screen with a refresh rate of either 144Hz or 60Hz, depending on the variant. The variant with a refresh rate of 144Hz gets complete sRGB colour gamut coverage and a 3ms response time. The SCAR II has a body texture that combines Kevlar and camouflage. What’s unique about it is the bright RGB light bar that stretches along the front edge of the laptop’s base. Through the AURA Sync app, RGB lighting across seven zones on the laptop—including four on the keyboard, two on the frontal light bar, and one on the ROG logo of the lid—can be customised by the user. The keyboard on the Strix SCAR II has been rated for 20 million keystrokes, according to Asus. An Overstroke technology allows the keys to register strokes even when they’re fired only halfway through the 1.8mm key travel for faster response. During the product demo I had a chance to try typing on the laptop for a brief duration. I thought the keys depressed accurately during every stroke and the key travel seemed more than sufficient. Powering the Strix SCAR II is the latest generation of Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors. Graphics is taken care of by an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 GPU with 6GB of video memory. RAM options go up to 32GB. According to an Asus representative I met at the demo, the laptop has two RAM slots. So a 16GB + 16GB RAM configuration is possible. Storage is taken care of by a PCIe NVMe SSD that goes up to 512GB along with either a traditional hard drive or solid-state hybrid drive that goes up to 1TB. The model I viewed at the demo had a 1TB Seagate FireCuda hybrid drive. Asus has employed thin copper fins and patented trapezoidal cuts in the lid to ensure better heat dissipation. It has also updated its Gaming Centre app to Armoury Crate, a more unified control centre for adjusting various system settings like fan speed and acoustic performance. The ROG Strix SCAR II (GL704) is expected to launch in India well before Christmas this year.