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  Realme  on Monday launched in India the  Realme  X7 Max smartphone along with a two 4K LED smart televisions. The  Realme  X7 Max is the first smartphone in the country powered by MediaTek Dimensity 1200 system-on-chip. It is a flagship grade smartphone with super AMOLED screen of 120Hz refresh rate, stereo speakers with Hi-Res audio and Dolby Atmos support, 64-megapixel based triple camera array on the back, and 50W fast-charging capability. The Realme Smart TV 4K, on the other hand, boasts UHD screen with support for Dolby Vision and HDR10 content, DTS surround sound and Dolby Audio, and hands-free voice assistant through built-in far-field microphones. The Realme X7 Max will be available in mercury silver, asteroid black and milky way colours from June 4 on Realme online portal, Flipkart and other mainline channels. The phone will be available in 8GB/128GB and 12GB/256GB configuration, priced at Rs 26,999 and Rs 29,999, respectively. The Realme Smart TV 4K comes in 43-inch and

  Global chip maker  Intel  on Monday said it could take a couple of years to address the supply shortage in the semiconductor ecosystem that is witnessing huge demand for tech products, accelerated by the COVID pandemic. Intel  CEO Pat Gelsinger noted that the work and study-from-home trends during the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a "cycle of explosive growth in semiconductors" that has placed huge strain on global supply chains around the world. "We have been working diligently with our partners... to address constraints and increase output to meet demand, and we are acting to help ensure capacity to meet the world's needs for this new era... But, while the industry has taken steps to address near-term constraints, it could still take a couple of years for the ecosystem to address shortages of foundry capacity, substrates and components," he said at a virtual session at the Computex event. He stated that the company has doubled its internal wafer capaci

  Twitter  has to comply with the new Information Technology Rules for digital media if they have not been stayed, the Delhi  High Court  said on Monday. Justice Rekha Palli issued notice to the Centre and  social media  platform  Twitter  seeking their stand on a plea by a lawyer, Amit Acharya, claiming non-compliance of the rules by it. While  Twitter  claimed before the court that it has complied with the rules and appointed a resident grievance officer, the central government disputed the claim. "They have to follow it (rules), if it has not been stayed," the court said. In his plea, filed through advocate Akash Vajpai and Manish Kumar, Acharya said that he came to know about the alleged non-compliance when he tried to lodge a complaint against a couple of tweets. During the hearing, central government standing counsel Ripudaman Singh Bhardwaj told the court that Twitter has not complied with the rules. Acharya, in his plea, said that the new IT Rules took eff

  Realme  is set to launch in India the  Realme  X7 Max smartphone and a couple of 4K LED smart televisions at 12:30 pm on Monday. The Chinese smartphone brand is hosting a virtual event to launch the products, and the event will livestream on its social media platforms, including Facebook and YouTube. You can also watch the livestream on the video embedded below. Realme  X7 Max 5G Third smartphone in the performance-centric Realme X7 series, the Max edition will be powered by MediaTek Dimensity 1200 system-on-chip. It is a flagship octa-core chip with a prime Cortex-A78 core clocked at up to 3.0GHz; three additional A78 cores clocked at up to 2.6GHz; and four energy-efficient Cortex-A55 cores that could go up to 2.0GHz. Besides, the phone will sport a super AMOLED screen of 120Hz refresh rate. It will boast a triple-camera set-up on the rear, featuring a 64-megapixel primary sensor. It will be a 5G smartphone with dual-SIM dual-standby and standalone carrier support on both SIMs

  Apple  maintained its leading position and registered a healthy 50 per cent growth in the global  smartwatch  market in the first quarter this year, as worldwide shipments in grew 35 per cent (on-year) in Q1 2021, a new report showed on Thursday. With a surge in demand for its Series 6 models,  Apple  saw its market share climb by 3 per cent from the year-ago quarter to reach 33.5 per cent in the March quarter this year, according to Counterpoint Research's 'Global  Smartwatch  Model Tracker'. Samsung's shipments also rose 27 per cent with the popularity of the Galaxy Watch 3 and Galaxy Watch Active series. Huawei continued to lose share compared to a strong quarter a year ago. " Apple  was able to further solidify its leadership position in the market by widening the portfolio from Watch SE to Series 6 at the right time. This may drive Samsung to launch a mid-price-tier model to boost growth," said senior analyst Sujeong Lim. In terms of  smartwat

  Google  CEO  Sundar Pichai  on Thursday said the company continues to engage closely with partner Jio on the initiative of building an affordable smartphone and that work is underway on the project. Last year,  Google  had picked up a 7.7 per cent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 33,737 crore. It had also entered into a commercial agreement with Jio Platforms to jointly develop an entry-level, affordable smartphone. "We are focused on building an affordable phone... we are committed to making progress on the project and we are working with them (Jio)," Pichai said in a virtual conference with select reporters from Asia Pacific. He, however, did not divulge other details, including possible launch date and pricing. Availability of affordable devices, along with cheap data rates can help bring the internet within reach for more people across the country. Google's investment in Jio Platforms was part of ' Google  for India Digitisation Fund' that was announc

  Looking to make a toehold in the market beyond smartphones,  OnePlus  is gradually expanding its products line-up. Fresh in the company’s portfolio is a smart wearable, the  OnePlus  Watch. Labelled a smartwatch, the  OnePlus  Watch covers a wide spectrum of features and services that one looks for in  smartwatches.  Among the most notable is the built-in storage for music, a speaker and mic set-up to attend calls, and a sensor to monitor blood oxygen saturation (SpO2). As a debutant, the OnePlus Watch seems to be a solid smartwatch. But how does it fare vis-à-vis peers? Let’s find out: What’s good Design:  OnePlus has done a spectacular job in designing its first smartwatch. The Watch looks premium, especially the moonlight silver colour variant (review unit), which goes well with most outfits. It has a solid build, complemented by a circular case that makes it look more like a watch and less like a toy. The top side of the case is dominated by a screen with thin bezels around.

  Cyclone  Yaas LIVE updates:  The landfall process of very severe cyclonic storm Yaas began at 9 am on Wednesday near the Dhamra port in Odisha's Bhadrak district, an official said. The location of the landfall is north of Dhamra and south of Bahanaga, close to Bahanaga block, on the coast, around 50 km of Balasore, he said. The wind speed during landfall was at 130-140 kmph, gusting to 155 kmph, as per Doppler radar data. "The landfall process has begun and will take three- four hours to complete. The maximum impact will be in Balasore and Bhadrak districts," Odisha's Special Relief Commissioner PK Jena said.   In view of the storm, the coastal states of West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand carried out a mass evacuation drive and over 1.2 million people have been shifted to safe shelters.   Last week,  Cyclone  Tauktae slammed into the west coast. Cyclone Yaas update: Yaas to reach Jharkhand on Thursday Cyclone Yaas is crossing Odisha border, south of Balas

  WhatsApp  on Tuesday filed a legal challenge against the Indian government, protesting before the Delhi High Court new IT rules that would require messaging services to trace the origin of particular messages. “Requiring messaging apps to “trace” chats is the equivalent of asking us to keep a fingerprint of every single message sent on WhatsApp, which would break end-to-end encryption and fundamentally undermines people’s right to privacy," said a  WhatsApp  spokesperson. "We have consistently joined civil society and experts around the world in opposing requirements that would violate the privacy of our users. In the meantime, we will also continue to engage with the Government of India on practical solutions aimed at keeping people safe, including responding to valid legal requests for the information available to us,” said the spokesperson. Under the recently notified Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, social

  Poco X2 (review)  is the last smartphone from Chinese smartphone brand Poco that I tested. Though among the good ones of its time, the smartphone left me in the lurch simply because I was expecting Poco to make a comeback after a silent gap of over two years after the  Poco F1.  The next Poco smartphone that I used after about a year, the Poco X3 Pro, seemed to be a performance-centric package. With Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 system-on-chip in tow, the Poco X3 Pro is touted to be the spiritual successor to the  Poco F1.  But is it really that? Let’s find out: Poco X3 Pro: Design Poco is one of the brands that do not shy away from experimenting with radical colour themes in their  smartphones.  That legacy continues with the Poco X3 Pro. Aimed at young buyers, the phone comes in three jazzy colour options – graphite black (review unit), steel blue and golden bronze. The colour theme is accentuated by an unconventionally shaped rear camera module and an intriguing patterned design on

  British home appliance maker  Dyson  on Tuesday launched two new brands of vacuum cleaners equipped with dust-detecting laser technology as the company tries to expand sales here amid the pandemic-induced stay-at-home trend. Dyson's V15 Detect and V12 Detect Slim cordless vacuum cleaners will be sold in South Korea with price tags of 1.24 million won ($1,100) and 1.09 million won, respectively. The two vacuum cleaners were already launched in select markets earlier this year. Dyson  said the latest vacuum cleaners boast a laser technology on the cleaning head that reveals micro dust and dirt particles on the floor, reports Yonhap news agency. They also have a piezo sensor that can measure and count dust particles, and show such data on an LCD screen. The sensor, which converts vibrations into electric signals, counts the particles 15,000 times a second, according to the company. Dyson  hopes the latest products can boost sales in South Korea, where it competes against hom

  In a bid to help protect browsing history and search activities of its users from others to see,  Google  will now let them password-protect the page that shows their searches. Whenever people use a  Google  device or product (Android smartphone or Chrome browser), their activity history is stored and is available for them to review via 'My Activity; feature. Now, "if you turn on extra verification,  Google  will make sure it's really you before you can see or delete your full history on My Activity," the company said in an update. "This can help keep your history safer on shared devices. This setting only applies to My Activity. Your history may still appear in other Google products," the company added. To strengthen your privacy on shared devices, you can choose to require an extra verification step to view your full history on My Activity. To activate the verification, go to activity.google.com and click the Manage My Activity verification lin

  Aimed at the evolving needs of users in hybrid work environments,  Microsoft  India on Tuesday announced the general availability of Surface Laptop 4 for commercial and education customers. Surface Laptop 4 for consumers will start from Rs 102,999 (AMD Ryzen 5 4680U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 13.5-inch size) and going up to Rs 151,999 (Intel Core i5-1135G7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 13.5-inch). The device for commercial users will start from Rs 105,499 (AMD Ryzen 5 4680U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 13.5-inch size) and go up to Rs 177,499 (Intel Core i7-1185G7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 15-inch), the company said in a statement. "Our latest line-up provides increased mobility, enhanced performance, and enterprise-grade security features to support the modern-day user throughout their transition into the hybrid era," said Rajiv Sodhi, Chief Operating Officer,  Microsoft  India. The devices are offered in either the 11th Gen Intel Core processors, or AMD Ryzen Mobile Processors with Radeon G

  The deadline to comply with the new legal rules meant for big social media platforms, which were issued by the government three months ago, is ending on Tuesday, threatening the operations of the likes of  Twitter  in India. According to top official sources, social media platforms such as Twitter,  Facebook  and others, which were required to abide by the rules notified in the gazette of India on February 25 under Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules, 2021, have failed to comply on many accounts till date. The government's rules will come into effect from May 26. "If social media companies do not obey the rules, they may lose their status and protections as intermediaries and may become liable for criminal action as per the existing laws of India," top official sources said. Except one Indian social media company, Koo, sources said that none of the top social media intermediaries have appointed a resident grievance officer, a chief compli

  Apple  is bringing its lossless audio technology to HomePod and HomePod Mini in a future software update. Apple  has developed its own lossless audio compression technology called  Apple  Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC). In a new support document, the tech giant also revealed that Apple TV 4K will only support standard lossless audio at its launch. Apple Music will offer more than 20 million songs in lossless quality for free at the launch of ALAC technology in June that will reach over 75 million by the end of this year. Most audio compression techniques lose some amount of data contained in the original source file. Lossless compression is a form of compression that preserves all of the original data. In addition to Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC), the entire Apple Music catalog is now also encoded using ALAC in resolutions ranging from "16-bit/44.1 kHz (CD Quality) up to 24-bit/192 kHz," the company informed. Apple will deliver music using lossless audio compressio

  The audio social media platform Clubhouse, which was launched as an iOS-exclusive audio-chat platform back in September 2020, is now available for Android users in India and other parts of the world. That being said, according to Mashable, those who want to sign up, still need an invite, either from an iOS user or a fellow user of the Android version. Once invited, the sign-up process thereon will be smooth sailing. However, Android users who've tried to sign up have reported that the verification process hasn't been working as advertised and people aren't happy about it. A lot of disappointed users have made their unhappiness known on the Play Store review section. A number of them reported in the reviews section claiming that they haven't been receiving verification codes and when they try re-entering their phone numbers, they're either told that the number entered is incorrect or not supported. To be fair to Clubhouse, this is a public beta and not quit