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  I thought it would not be easy to like any other smart television after my experience with Sony’s flagship  A8H OLED TV (review) . Now it seems I might have been wrong. Xiaomi’s debutant 55-inch QLED TV is quite a competent smart television. Though not as technology-rich as Sony’s OLED, it delivers a comprehensive experience that few premium  smart TVs  can match. Important to note that the  Xiaomi  Mi QLED TV 4K is priced at Rs 54,999 which makes it an entry-level smart TV in the QLED segment. The Mi QLED TV 4K does carry an accessible price tag, but make no mistake: It barely cuts corners on any major features, technology or otherwise. Starting with the design, the Mi QLED TV 4K boasts a metallic frame with a 55-inch screen covering almost the entire front. The edge-to-edge stretched screen leaves negligible borders and the otherwise prominent bottom bezel is also reasonably thin. The TV’s metallic frame has a glossy finish with diamond-cut edges for a smooth profile, and laser c

  With 2020 coming to a close, most of us would be eager to leave behind the dark memories of the past year and hope for a better 2021. And what could be better than starting the New Year by grabbing your favourite bike. But if you are confused which one to buy, we have prepared a list of the 10 upcoming models in 2021 in India that you may like. Honda CB650R Honda CBR650R has already been launched overseas. The new Honda offering will be BSVI compliant. It will be powered by an updated 649cc liquid-cooled, in-line-four engine which will produce 95PS, at 1,200rpm and 64Nm at 8,500rpm. The electronics will have multi-stage traction control. It will also have new twin LED headlamps and digital instrument console. • Expected price: Rs 7.5 lakh • Expected launch date: March 2021 • Competition: Kawasaki Z650, Benelli TNT 600i Read Complete Article

  Although 2020 hit Bollywood real hard, millennials were not short of entertainment, thanks to the vibrant  OTT  scene. From Paatal Lok on  Amazon Prime  Video to Season 2 of Criminal Justice, which released a week ago, viewers had enough choices to spoil themselves. Yet, if you need encouragement to move through the pandemic with a few more months of working from home, here are five Indian web series to binge-watch in 2021: 1. The Family Man: Season 2 After the success of season 1 in 2019, creators Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K. will most probably be back with season 2 of the action-thriller on  Amazon Prime  Video in 2021. Starring Manoj Bajpayee and Priyamani, it's a story of a middle-class man secretly working as an intelligence officer in a fictitious branch of the National Investigation Agency. 2. Nail Polish Directed by Bugs Bhargava Krishna, Nail Polish is a new Hindi courtroom-drama series to be aired on Zee5, starring Arjun Rampal, Anand Tiwary, and Manav Kaul i

  Infrastructure company  Larsen & Toubro (L&T)  on Thursday said its construction arm has received orders in the overseas and domestic market. The company did not provide the value of the contracts, but said the orders fall under the 'significant' category, which ranges between Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 2,500 crore, according to the classification of contracts. "The construction arm of L&T has secured orders from prestigious clients for two of its businesses," L&T said in a regulatory filing. L&T said its power transmission and distribution business has won two transmission line packages in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. These lines are expected to strengthen the grid in the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia and facilitate power evacuation. Its water and effluent treatment business has secured an EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) order in Gujarat to execute a package in the SAUNI Yojna Link 3. Read Complete Article

  Samsung  is reportedly planning to launch three foldable  smartphones  in the market next year, including Galaxy Z Fold 3, Galaxy Z Flip 3, and an affordable model which could be named Galaxy Z Flip Lite. To keep the phone's price low, the company has decided to make this affordable mode an LTE-only smartphone, which means it won't have support for the latest 5G communication technology, reports news portal Gizbot. A new  Samsung  foldable smartphone with the model number SM-F720F was spotted and is expected to draw power from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset, which is the currently available 4G chipset. Apart from this, there's not much information about the rumoured  Samsung  Galaxy Z Flip Lite. Earlier, the company filed a patent for three foldable smartphone designs with cutouts for inner cameras. The patent includes three different designs -- two with an outward folding screen like the Huawei Mate Xs and one with an inward folding screen like the Galaxy

  Xiaomi  has launched as many as eight phones in the Redmi 9 series in India and now, the company has launched an affordable Redmi 9 Power device with a massive 6000mAh battery. The Redmi 9 Power is priced starting at Rs 10,999 for the base variant with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage and Rs 11,999 for the 128GB storage option. The phone is offered in four colours -- mighty black, blazing blue, fiery red and electric green. We used the 128GB variant in blazing blue colour option for around a week and here is what we think about the new budget device. At the base, it features a Type-C port at the base with a mic on the right side and a single grille speaker on the other side. At the top, it has IR Blaster along with a 3.5mm audio jack. The volume rocker is on the right, with the fingerprint sensor which also doubles up as a power and display button just below it. There's a USB Type C port on the base. Read Complete Article

  Russian luxury goods brand Caviar, known for making luxury variants of popular gadgets, has unveiled custom-made, over-ear headphones AirPods Max plated with "pure gold" for the high price of $108,000, which roughly translate to nearly Rs 80 lakh. Caviar said that the luxury headphones will be "released in a single piece worldwide," indicating that supplies will be limited. The earcups of the headphones are made from pure gold, replacing the current aluminium that  Apple  makes the earcups out of. Caviar is also replacing the mesh headband with "rare crocodile leather". The Caviar AirPods Max headphones will come in white or black headband but the earcups will remain in gold for both versions. AirPods Max was launched earlier this month with high-fidelity sound, Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Cancellation and spatial audio for Rs 59,900. AirPods Max uses Adaptive EQ to adjust the sound to the fit and seal of the ear cushions by measuring the sound

  A federal judge in Florida on Tuesday dismissed  Apple  Inc's copyright infringement claims against a Florida startup whose software helps security researchers find vulnerabilities in  Apple  products including the iPhone. U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith ruled in favor of Corellium LLC, saying its software emulating the iOS operating system that runs on the iPhone and iPad amounted to "fair use" because it was "transformative" and helped developers find security flaws. Apple  accused Corellium of essentially replicating iOS to create "virtual" iOS-operated devices, whose "sole function" was to run unauthorized copies of the system on non-Apple hardware. But the Fort Lauderdale-based judge said Corellium "adds something new to iOS" by letting users see and halt running processes, take live snapshots, and conduct other operations. "Corellium's profit motivation does not undermine its fair use defense, particularly

  From interest rates to fashion, pandemics in the past — like the Black Death in the 14th century — have left deep imprints on economic life. This time may be no different. In the aftermath of the coronavirus, governments can reimagine  capitalism  by giving all of us a stake in the most valuable byproduct of our day-to-day living: data. But make no mistake. It will still be a Faustian bargain. A global data profit will be a very different GDP from gross domestic product. The case for technology companies to share it with we, the people who supply them the bits and bytes, is compelling. In fact, it could even emerge as a better universal basic income — another revolutionary concept whose time may have come — for the post-Covid world. A state-provided allowance can improve citizens’ well-being, a widely studied Finnish experiment has shown. Yet only a small group of developed countries would even have a chance of sustaining a meaningful subsidy, provided taxpayers agree. Most devel

  As a successor to the Pixel 5, Google is likely to launch its Pixel 6 smartphone next year and now a new patent has claimed that the device will feature an under-screen selfie snapper. The patent doesn't go into any detail as to how that's achieved but, presumably the camera would be underneath the screen, reports Techradar. ZTE has already released a smartphone with an under-display front shooter and Xiaomi and OPPO have exhibited their prototypes. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, which will likely arrive in the second half of 2021, is also expected to feature the tech. The patent has revealed other details about the phone, including its basic design and the location of the main camera. The patent shows the primary camera module's design and location will remain unchanged from what was seen on the Pixel 5. As such, the patent suggests the camera module will include two sensors and an LED flash. Read Complete Article

Payments gateway Razorpay and investment platform Zerodha entered the billion-dollar club, as digital payments and investments boomed. The boom in online education made a decacorn of learning platform Byju’s and sparked a flurry of investments in the edtech space, notably in Vedantu, Unacademy and Topprs. The trend is set to hold up. It was time to say goodbye for one of the banking industry’s most prominent faces. After a 25-year stint that saw HDFC Bank go from a start-up to an industry leader, Aditya Puri stepped down as its CEO in October as he turned 70, paving the way for Sashidhar Jagdishan. Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries went on a fund-raising spree, ending the year with a Rs 1.25-trillion boost from a long list of investors, including Facebook. The gush of fund was chiefly into the telecom venture, Jio Platforms. Facebook’s Rs 43,574 crore for a minority stake in Jio was the largest FDI for a minority stake in an Indian tech firm ever. Read Complete Article

The Hammer KO is a pair of entry-level true wireless stereo earbuds manufactured by home-grown technology startup Hammer. These basic wireless earbuds come with a hook-based design for a secure fit – that seems to set it apart from peers in the budget segment. Except for hooks, however, there is nothing novel about these earbuds. They have Bluetooth v5.0 for connectivity, microphones for voice calls, touch controls and IPX4 water resistance rating. So far as design is concerned, these earbuds are not ergonomically sound, thanks to their hook-based build. But they sure are lightweight. The earbuds are made mostly of plastic, with matte texture on the outer side, and rubber hooks. The ear hooks do make them comfortable to wear, but the Hammer KO lacks snug fit, despite being an in-ear earphones. This hampers the earbuds’ passive noise isolation capability. They do not come off the ears easily, thanks to the hooks, but you need to constantly adjust them for optimal fit. On the positive

  As  video calling  became the norm in the pandemic-hit year,  Google  Duo and  Google  Meet hosted over one trillion minutes of video calls globally -- equal to more than 18 billion hour-long virtual workouts in a single year. The company said that with your Gmail account, Meet calls are unlimited through March 31, 2021 so that families can enjoy holiday traditions without interruptions. In 2020,  Google  added a Meet tab in Gmail so that with one tap, people can jump from an email to a video call. "We also brought Meet to Nest Hub Max and Chromecast to help people get up, move around, and have hands-free calls at home," said Dave Citron, Director of Product Management,  Google Duo  & Google Meet. "Google Meet and  Google Duo  were built with an emphasis on privacy and security, to keep your calls and meetings safe and your information private". The Google app crossed 100 million users daily and its daily user numbers "had a peak of 235 million&

  Coronavirus induced lockdown and subsequent restrictions on movement pushed people inside home for most part of this year. The changed environment, however, did not deter camera makers from introducing new products in the market. While the mirrorless  cameras  continue to make inroads in the camera segment, niche products like instant  cameras  also drove the sentiment. Of the many launches this year, Business Standard lists the best four  cameras  launched in 2020: Fujifilm  X-T200 Mirrorless cameras have come a long way. The new breed of mirrorless cameras is compact yet powerful. The  Fujifilm  X-T200 is one of the new-age mirrorless camera aimed at vloggers and those switching from a standard DSLR. The XT-200's appeal lies in its retro look and small body. It comes with a 24.2-megapixel sensor with improved autofocus system aided by phase detection technology and supports 4K video recording at 30 frames per second. Read Complete Article

  Microsoft this year launched not one but two  gaming consoles  – the top-end Xbox Series X and a cheaper digital-only model Xbox Series S. The Xbox Series X is a premium gaming console that boasts the best of the company’s technological prowess, being the most advanced gaming console available in India at present. It is no surprise that the Xbox Series S pales in comparison to this high-tech model, but by no means is the affordable model incompetent. Instead, it seems just about perfect if you drop the comparison and just it as a standalone product. The Xbox Series S is the smallest Xbox ever made – merely 27.5cm tall, 15.1cm deep, and 6.5cm broad in the vertical position. Its petite form factor makes it stand comfortably next to a TV or a gaming monitor, even if there is not much space to accommodate anything else. Moreover, it can be placed in both vertical and horizontal positions. Therefore, you have the choice to stand it next to the screen or slide it under just like a soundb

  The  Asus  ZenBook Flip S (UX371) is among the first  laptops  in India to be powered by Intel’s 11th Gen Core processor. Based on the Intel Evo platform, the laptop is touted to be deliver optimal performance, top-notch connectivity solutions, enhanced on-battery time, and fast data transfer rate. Besides, the ZenBook Flip S (UX371) boasts a vivid 4K OLED screen, a premium metallic design, full-size backlit keyboard, and Harmon Kardon-certified audio system. Priced at Rs 1,49,990, the ZenBook Flip S (UX371) seems to be a solid laptop for work, play and entertainment. How does it justify its price tag when put to the rigours of daily use? Let’s find out: Design The ZenBook Flip S (UX371) is a premium laptop with a convertible design and thin-and-light form factor. It is only 13.9mm thick and weighs around 1.2kg. Its lightweight build makes it convenient to use in diverse environments – office, home, cab, metro, etc. Moreover, its thin profile makes it easy to handle and store; it

  Wireless  headphones  continue to upbeat in the audio hearables segment despite the true wireless earbuds blitzkrieg throughout the year. Japanese electronics maker  Sony  is among the established brands that reigned supreme in the wireless  headphones  segment with its WH-1000XM4  headphones.  Of the many launches this year, Business Standard lists top three wireless headphones that stood out in 2020: Sony  WH-1000XM4 Successor to the WH-1000XM3, the Sony's WH-1000XM4 has it all to woo the audiophile. From mature sound signature to industry leading active noise cancellation (ANC) capability, the headphones is second to none. Besides ANC and multiple sound modes, the headphones boast tons of other value-added features too. For example, there is transparency mode to hear ambient noise without disabling ANC. Similarly, there is a ‘Speak to Chat’ feature which pauses the music if it detects you are speaking to someone. The headphones ability to connect to two devices simultaneou

  From a niche product category, tablets graduated to the mainstream this year due to rise in demand owing to the coronavirus pandemic, which defined a new normal where digital took precedence as home turned into workplace and classrooms shifted online. Despite the surge in demand for the big-screen slates, there was barely any new entrant in the segment and the  tablet  market continued to be dominated by Apple and Samsung in 2020. Business Standard lists top 5 tablets that stood out: Apple  iPad  Air 2020 If there is one  tablet  that grabbed attention in 2020, it was Apple's  iPad  Air 2020. A toned-down version of the iPad Pro, which it touted to be good enough to replace even powerful laptops, the iPad Air 2020 is powered by the Apple's A14 Bionic chipset. Besides, there is a complete overhaul in terms of design compared to its previous generation. It is 6.1mm thick and 458g in weight. The iPad Air sports a 10.9-inch screen size only, with 64GB base storage and a 256GB

  Xiaomi  Corp. founder Lei Jun can finally rejoice after the Chinese smartphone maker’s market value swelled past the $100 billion mark, a figure his company fell far short of when it listed two years ago. The firm’s stock rallied as much as 9.1% Wednesday to a fresh record in Hong Kong, making it the 13th stock in the city’s benchmark Hang Seng Index to have a market capitalization above $100 billion. It ended the day 7.6% higher with a market value of HK$802 billion ($103 billion). Xiaomi, which generates the majority of sales from its smartphone business, originally eyed a $100 billion valuation for its initial public offering, people close to the deal said in May 2018. But it was only at half that level upon its debut, and shares traded below the HK$17 offering price for most of its first two years as a public company. The stock saw its fortunes reverse in August, after it was announced that  Xiaomi  would be added to the Hang Seng Index. Shares have more than doubled since.

  Homegrown  social media  platform  ShareChat  on Tuesday said over 750 million user generated pieces of content were uploaded this year. The user generated content also saw 24 billion WhatsApp shares during the year. Hindi users led content creation with 26 per cent contribution, while Tamil users led WhatsApp shares with 24 per cent share. ShareChat  in its report said COVID-19 induced lockdown and physical distancing impacted the community's behaviour on the platform with users engaging more on  ShareChat  during and post the lockdown. The average user time spent daily on the platform increased from 24 minutes pre-lockdown to 31 minutes post lockdown, it added. The report also brought to the fore Top Moments of the year. COVID-19 and conversations around the life-altering global pandemic led the list, followed by conversations around Sushant Singh Rajput's demise, ban on Chinese apps, IPL, and the rebuilding of the Ram Mandir. IPL was trending in a few Indic lan

  Google  diagnosed a widespread outage that knocked out major services earlier this week, such as  Gmail  and YouTube, as a mistake with its system for identifying people online. Alphabet Inc.’s  Google  has several tools that enable it to verify and track logged-in users. In October, the company began moving those tools to a new file storage system, and in the process misreported portions of the data, according to a Friday post. That caused several of its services to go down for 47 minutes Monday morning, a rare technical misstep. Google’s explanation comes amid heightened cybersecurity vigilance. A hack on software provider SolarWinds Corp. has exposed companies including Microsoft Corp. and multiple U.S. government agencies. A  Google  spokeswoman said on Friday that the internet giant has found no evidence the SolarWinds hack affected Alphabet or Google’s systems. About 15% of requests sent to Google’s cloud storage service were disrupted during the Monday outage, the compan

  Adapting to the new hybrid normal of working remotely as well as from office, cautiously optimistic  companies  are looking to hire more people and provide better appraisals in 2021, as they step out of pandemic-ravaged 2020. The pandemic emerged the biggest inflection point for the Indian job landscape. For corporates, work-from-home and remote workers became the new normal, while for professionals, online learning and digital skills took centre stage. In 2020, most  companies  “deprioritised” their hiring plans amid the uncertain economic outlook, while industries such as travel, hospitality, retail, aviation, real estate, construction, and automobile were severely hit. Nevertheless, there is cautious optimism among corporates, which is getting reflected in their recruitment plans for the new year. “Yes, the market is showing positive signs of recovery with almost all industries showing growth in hiring but with caution. Overall, the intent to hire recovered smartly from 11 p

  David Warner  and Sean Abbott have been ruled out of the second Test against India and will rejoin the Australian squad ahead of the third Test, Cricket Australia (CA) said on Wednesday. CA, in a statement, said Warner and Abbott spent time in Sydney outside the team's bio-secure hub to recover from injury. "While neither player has been in a specific 'hotspot' as outlined by NSW Health, Cricket Australia's bio-security protocols do not allow them to rejoin the squad in time for the Boxing Day Test," the statement read. "Warner has not fully recovered from a groin injury suffered in the ODI series against India and would not have been available for the second Test match, while Abbott has recovered from a calf strain sustained during Australia A's tour match against India and would have been available for selection for the Boxing Day Test," it added. The pair travelled from Sydney to Melbourne to continue their rehabilitation given the c

  Reliance Capital  (RCL), part of the debt-ridden Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Group, has received 10 more bids, including from SBI Life, for its subsidiaries, sources said. Earlier this month, the Committee of Debenture Holders had extended the last date for submission of expression of interest (EoI) to December 17, 2020. Following this, 10 new bids have come in for Reliance Capital's assets, taking the total number of bids to 70, the sources said. State Bank of India's subsidiary SBI Life has also shown interest in picking up Reliance Capital’s stake in Reliance Nippon Life Insurance, they added. Reliance Nippon Life Insurance Company, a joint venture with Japan's largest life insurer-Nippon Life which holds 49 per cent shareholding, has a paid-up capital of Rs 1,196 crore as of September 30, 2020. Read Complete Article

  Samsung is reportedly planning to launch new Galaxy Buds Pro  earbuds  next month and a new report has claimed that it will have a feature that is quite similar to the Spatial Audio function available in the AirPods Max and AirPods Pro. The details were spotted in the Galaxy Wearable app ahead of its official launch, reports 9To5Google. "It indicated that Spatial Audio, which adjusts audio based on the direction of a user's head, will work when the Galaxy Buds Pro are connected to a Samsung phone running Android 11". Spatial Audio is designed to provide a theater-like surround sound listening experience on iPhone and iPad using dynamic head-tracking capabilities. Galaxy Buds Pro will also have a "voice detect" feature that automatically enables transparency mode and lowers the volume of your audio when the  earbuds  sense that you're speaking. The new  earbuds  have also been certified by China's 3C with a 472 mAh battery in the case, as well