SpaceX inches closer to an orbital launch attempt, test-fires its Super Heavy rocket for its longest duration

SpaceX moved an inch closer to an orbital launch attempt of its Super Heavy first stage and its Starship upper stage rockets. The Elon-Musk-owned space organisation test-fired its super Heavy rockets for about 12 seconds, making it the longest duration for which the massive booster has been fired. The test consisted of igniting at least 11 of the 33 Raptor rocket engines, that constituted the booster.

Earlier this month, SpaceX fired 14 Raptor engines on this booster for a few seconds, which set the record for the most number of rockets fired for this test. Although the attempt this week did not set any new records, it was monumental for its duration, as it proved that the booster rockets can handle load for a sufficient period of time. The latest firing is the longest period of time that so many Raptor engines have been fired at once.

The next step for Musk and his team is to fire a smaller set of rockets from the Super Heavy’s engines for about 20 seconds.

In all likelihood, SpaceX still has a couple of key tests to complete before the combined Super Heavy rocket and Starship upper stage are launched from the company’s Starbase facility in South Texas. It is anticipated that SpaceX will conduct at least a short-duration test firing of all 33 Raptor engines simultaneously to gain confidence in the totality of the complex plumbing to fuel and pressurize the rocket’s propulsion system. Then the Starship upper stage will be stacked on top of Super Heavy, and the combined vehicles must complete a wet dress rehearsal.

After completing all of its technical preparations, SpaceX must also obtain a launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration, which is in progress but has yet to be completed. While it remains theoretically possible that Starship will make its orbital launch attempt in December, there is an increasing likelihood that the test flight will slip into the early part of 2023.

What must have come as a pleasant surprise for SpaceX is that during the extremely risky test, none of the Raptor rockets malfunctioned, nor were there any major failures. Given SpaceX’s history with Falcon rockets and just risky any experiment with rockets are, this is a major succes for the SpaceX team.

from Firstpost Tech Latest News https://ift.tt/wRq3WdT

Fire-Boltt Hulk Watch Review: Impressive display but questionable fitness tracking

Rating: 3/5

Price: Rs 3,499

I have been noticing this brand Fire-Boltt quite a bit over the past few months, and I also read about them capturing a decent share of the Indian fitness watch segment. So when we received a watch from the company for review, I was keen on giving it a go. Being an MCU fan, the model name ‘Hulk’ caught my attention. But I was left wondering why it was called that.

For starters, I was expecting the watch to be green, but it isn’t. Personally, I have no issues with that, but there should have been a green variant (a Hulk-green variant to be specific). Secondly, it isn’t bulky either; again, no complaints. It doesn’t even have great energy reserves (battery backup). Eventually, I lowered my expectations to a Hulk watch face, but that’s not there either. There’s Virat Kohli instead! 

I will tell you the secret behind the model name at a later date if I manage to unravel it. But for now, I can tell you everything else you need to know about this budget fitness watch. After having used it for a couple of weeks, here’s what’s good about the Fire-Boltt Hulk and what Bruce Banner wouldn’t have approved.

What we liked about the Fire-Boltt Hulk Watch:

Lightweight and comfortable to wear
This Hulk has a rectangular frame and a physical button on the right. While the frame has a glossy finish, it doesn’t attract too many fingerprints or smudge marks. All the edges are nicely rounded and the build quality is quite good too. The IP67 rating makes the watch dust and water-resistant, but not swim-proof. So feel free to wear it for a stroll in the rain, but don’t dive in a pool wearing it.

The polycarbonate shell makes the watch fairly light, and weighs less than 40 grams with straps. The preinstalled silicone straps do not cause skin irritation even after wearing the watch all day. They have a standard locking mechanism, and the Fire-Boltt branding is present only on the buckle, which is good. Given that the straps have a standard width, they can be replaced with any third-party straps of the same width. 

Vibrant AMOLED display with multiple slots for watch-faces
The display is by far the best feature of this watch. The Fire-Boltt Hulk has a 1.78-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 368 x 448 pixels. The screen is quite sharp and the colour reproduction is vibrant. Incidentally, this is the third watch after the Realme Watch 3 Pro and OnePlus Nord Watch that we have tested recently to sport a 1.78-inch AMOLED screen, but the Hulk is priced a good 30% lower than those two.

The company doesn’t mention any scratch-resistant glass or oleophobic coating on the screen, but I couldn’t spot any scratches after two weeks. There weren’t many smudge marks visible on the screen either, and I didn’t need to wipe it often. The screen has a peak brightness level of 550 nits, and it can get quite bright at the maximum level. It is sufficiently bright indoors even at 25%, and you may need to push it closer to 75% when outdoors under bright sunlight. 

The default watch face has Virat Kohli staring at you, and there are a few more faces preloaded on this watch. In total, you have ten slots and most of the preinstalled faces can be replaced with those of your choosing from the companion app. No, you cannot drop Virat here either.

Simple UI with some interesting elements 
The user interface of the watch is quite simple and lag-free. You can swipe down on the home screen for settings and swipe up to check notifications. Swiping left takes you through the widgets like steps count, heart rate, sleep data, SpO2 level etc. Swiping right on the home screen brings up shortcuts to some of those widgets and watch functions, which is a nice idea. You can also add more widgets directly from the watch itself. The physical button can be used to wake up the screen or to access the app drawer from the home screen or simply as a back button on all other screens. 

You need to install the Da Fit app and sync this watch with it. The process is smooth but the app is quite basic. Given that this is an entry-level watch, it works well as it helps in keeping things simple. It shows the synopsis of your daily activity, steps count and sleep data along with certain health parameters like heart rate and blood oxygen level. Tapping certain modules give you a further breakdown of that activity, but not an in-depth analysis. The watch-face library is also available in the app.

Bluetooth calling feature
The Hulk supports Bluetooth calling functionality, and you can make calls directly from this watch courtesy of a built-in mic and speaker. You also get a dialer on the watch screen. Needless to say, the watch needs to be synced with your phone to place the call or receive one. The call quality is just about manageable in quiet places as the speaker isn’t very loud.

Can track a variety of workouts
The Fire-Boltt Hulk claims to track 100 different workouts but mostly they are different variations of walking, running, cycling, and free training along with a few popular sports like basketball, football, badminton etc. But given that it’s an entry-level tracker, don’t expect great accuracy. You get all-day heart rate monitoring with a frequency ranging from 5 minutes to an hour. This watch also has a SpO2 sensor to track your blood oxygen level. 

The oximeter is reasonably quick for the segment, but the readings are a point or two lower than over-the-counter oximeters. Sleep monitoring works generally well here with the watch tracking the quantum of deep sleep, light sleep and REM periods with reasonable accuracy. However, if you get up early in the morning and move around for a couple of minutes, it is considered your wake-up time even if you go back to sleep for an hour or two after that. 

What we did not like about the Fire-Boltt Hulk Watch:

Questionable fitness tracking
The wake-up time is not the only improper tracking I noticed during the course of my testing. The heart rate monitor tends to show a lower than actual resting heart rate at times. For instance, my heart rate reading reported was in the lower 50s when in reality it was in the higher 60s. Similarly, when in the gym, it would take longer than usual to show the correct heartrate. My guess is it doesn’t increase the frequency of heart rate monitoring as much as it should even when working out.

The biggest issue here though is steps and distance tracking. The distance is perpetually under-reported by a factor of at least 15%. Yes, this watch does not have built-in GPS, but an error of 5 to 7% is tolerable. Anything higher than 10% is a bit too much. The steps count errs on both sides. It does report a lot of false steps during the day or on a bike ride, but when you start the walking workout, it tends to report fewer steps than actual, and that is what leads to the incorrect distance figure.

There are more bugs
There are a few minor bugs here and there that can be fixed with a firmware update, and I hope the company bothers to do it. To start with, some of the workout records as well as sleep data just vanish. The previous night’s sleep information gets reset to zero on the watch in the middle of the day. Thankfully it is available in the app at least. I couldn’t find the missing workout records from the previous week even in the app.

Then I couldn’t find a way to schedule the screen to stay off during the night hours daily. You do have a theatre mode, but that only reduces the screen brightness and turns off the vibration for some reason, but does not disable the flick-to-wake gesture. For that, you need to enable low-power mode and disable it once you wake up. Despite being Bluetooth 5.0 compliant, the transfer of watch faces from the app to the watch is very slow. Each watch face takes over two minutes to transfer despite the file size being in kilobytes. 

Below-par battery life
The battery backup of this watch is not very impressive. The company doesn’t over-commit on that front and claims a figure of one week. In reality, I managed to get a little under 5 days out of it with a standard load. That is not a great figure for a watch without GPS. Several fitness watches in this price bracket easily manage to go past the 10 day mark comfortably, and some even two weeks. Another issue is with the battery percentage displayed on the watch. For the first 4 days, it seemed to go down by 15 points daily. But on the fifth day, it just went from 40 to zero in about 18 hours.

Price, verdict and alternatives:
The Fire-Boltt Hulk can be purchased for Rs 3,499 with a one-year warranty. The price is not an issue for what it offers, especially for a watch with an AMOLED display and Bluetooth calling. But some of its shortcomings like erratic steps and distance tracking and below-par battery backup are hard to overlook. To make matters worse for this Hulk, the competition is ruthless in this segment, and you get better alternatives under Rs 4,000, making it hard to recommend. 

Our top pick in this segment remains the Amazfit Bip 3 Pro which generally sells for just Rs 500 more and packs a lot of extra and useful features. You get built-in GPS, more than twice the battery backup, 5ATM water resistance that makes it swim-proof, and the Zepp app offers more features and in-depth fitness data analysis. It doesn’t have an AMOLED display though. 

If you push your budget to 5K, you get to choose between the Realme Watch 3 Pro and the OnePlus Nord Watch. Both have similar-sized AMOLED displays, and while the former offers built-in GPS, the latter has more than thrice the battery life as compared to the Hulk. Take your pick.

from Firstpost Tech Latest News https://ift.tt/B9vs2Mk

Google, iHeartMedia fined over $9 million for fraudulent advertisements of Pixel 4 on radio

The FTC or Federal trade commission and a number of states in the United States announced that Google and iHeartMedia had settled a case where they were accused of airing misleading and fraudulent ads of the Pixel 4 over the radio. 

The settlements stem from complaints alleging Google partnered with iHeartMedia paid to have radio personalities endorse and talk about their personal experiences using the Pixel 4 between 2019 and 2020, according to California Attorney General Rob Bonta. At the time, the phone wasn’t available and many of the radio DJs had not even used it, Bonta said.

The complaint alleges that the fraudulent ads were run more than 23,000 times across various radio stations and markets. 

To settle the lawsuit, Google will be paying about $9 million whereas iHeartMedia the largest owner of radio stations in the United States, will pay over $400,000. A few smaller radio stations which ran the ads are also likely to pay.

The complaint alleges that Google provided a script to iHeartMedia, which was then sent to radio hosts, radio personalities and various other influencers on board the media organisation. The scripts spoke positively of the photography and video experience of the device, and included first-person language of using the phone’s camera to take photos at night for events like football games and meteor showers and how well it performed in low light. The script also praised how well the integrated voice assistant and the voice activation system worked on the Pixel 4.

While brands sending scripts for “paid reviews” is a grey area and not an uncommon practice, the radio celebrities in this instance did not experience the device in any meaningful way to come to the conclusions that were highlighted in the ads. Most of them hadn’t even seen the smartphone in question. 

Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and Texas and the Federal Trade Commission were part of the settlements.

Of the settlement money, California will receive nearly $3 million. The money will be split between the state and Alameda County, where the case was filed, and be used to enforce consumer protection laws, a spokeswoman for Bonta said.

The settlement bars Google from making misrepresentations in endorsements of its products for 20 years. The company will also be required to regularly report to California about its compliance with the settlement.

from Firstpost Tech Latest News https://ift.tt/rei072t

India’s first private space launchpad, Agnikul, is set to give the aerospace industry a major boost

India’s aviation and aeronautics sector, along with the space research sector, got a major boost as the country’s first private space vehicle launchpad was declared operational recently. Along with the state-of-the-art launchpad, a new mission control centre was also inaugurated by officials from the Indian Space Research Organisation or ISRO.

The launchpad, as well as the mission control centre, was built by a space startup called Agnikul, which is based out of Chennai. The launchpad has been built at Sriharikota, an island off the Tirupati coast of Andhra Pradesh, which also houses the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The SDSC is one of two ISRO-operated launchpads in the country that are currently operational.

The Agnikul launchpad and mission control has been built inside ISRO’s campus on the island, given the critical and confidential nature of India’s space programme and all the development related to it. 

S. Somanath, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization or ISRO and secretary of the Department of Space, officially inaugurated the facility.

The Agnikul Launchpad (ALP) and the Agnikul Mission Control Centre (AMCC) are the two parts of the facility, according to a statement from Agnikul, which was planned and built with assistance from Isro and Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center or IN-SPACe. The launchpad was specifically designed and constructed with the capability of supporting liquid stage-controlled launches. The ALP and the AMCC have been built 4 kilometres apart from one another, and all connections between these two have the latest redundancies measures in place. 

In an official statement to the press, representatives of Agnikul announced that the launchpad and the mission control system will be carrying out their first launch, which will entail a controlled and guided mission for a vertical launch. 

The growing presence of private players in India’s space industry is a promising sign. Not only will this position India as one of the go-to places to launch missions for space research, but it will also give Indian space industries a massive boost when space tourism becomes a reality.

The growing number of private players in the industry should also ensure that new launch vehicles, which are economical and efficient to operate, are built and designed in the country. Recently, Skyroot Aerospace, an Indian space startup launched India’s first privately developed rocket, called the Vikram-S. 

from Firstpost Tech Latest News https://ift.tt/HGe0Nsj

Why Twitter is ditching its Prevention of COVID Misinformation policy now and shirking a “huge responsibility”

Much to the dismay of health experts and Twitter users, Elon Musk-led Twitter has announced that the platform will no longer be enforcing its Prevention of COVID Misinformation policy. What this basically means, is that Twitter will no longer be labelling any misinformation on COVID with a special tag on the platform.

Medical professionals, researchers and leading health experts have expressed their disappointment about the decision and claim that false and misleading health information around COVID still has the potential to harm individuals and public health, and put lives at risk.

“Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading information policy,” the social media platform announced across various places on its website.

Towards the end of 2020, the World Health Organization put out a call to action to address what it called the “infodemic,” which aimed to “mitigate harm from health misinformation” that can cause confusion, mistrust, harmful risk-taking behaviours, and can prolong and intensify disease outbreaks. 

WHO also started a myth-busting campaign to try to fight back against misinformation, producing advisories clarifying that medical masks do not cause oxygen deprivation, and drinking bleach does not prevent COVID-19 but will certainly harm you. Twitter, played a vital role in the campaign

In a press briefing earlier this year, Katherine O’Brien, WHO’s director of the Department of Immunization, Vaccines, and Biologicals, noted that false and misleading information on social media is not innocuous. “This is not just a matter of chatter on social media channels, it really has an impact on what people do, what they choose to do – for themselves, for their children, for their families. So, it’s something we take really seriously.”

Much like the Republican party and its leaders, Musk himself has a murky relationship with COVID-related health misinformation. Musk had also embroiled himself in a bit of a controversy when he forced workers at his Tesla plant to defy lockdown orders and continue working at the plant. In March 2020, he tweeted that “the coronavirus panic is dumb,” as well as the falsehood that children are “essentially immune” to COVID-19. 

The good thing in all of this though, is that Musk did come out in support of vaccines, and tweeted extensively supporting the vaccination campaigns across the US.

The devolution of credible content and discourse on Twitter is likely to spur yet more concern from health officials over misinformation on social media platforms.

As for Twitter, the main reason why they are no longer enforcing the policy is quite simple – they don’t have the people to do so. During his cleanup of Twitter, Musk unceremoniously got rid of several teams of content moderators, including people who were hired on a contractual basis.

Moreover, it seems that Musk simply isn’t interested in putting a moderation committee in place as he had previously promised advertisers and users when he took over the platform. 

from Firstpost Tech Latest News https://ift.tt/gPEoXnj

WhatsApp to roll out ‘Message Yourself’ feature for Android and iOS users; check how you can access it

In addition to traditional instant messaging, WhatsApp also provides a variety of features including e-commerce and online payments. A further highly anticipated element has been added. For users in India, the Meta-owned instant messaging service has unveiled a brand-new feature called “Message Yourself.”

You can effortlessly communicate with yourself with this new function. Although the idea may seem bizarre, it is actually widespread. In fact, before the feature was released, many users had already figured out how to text themselves. According to WhatsApp, this capability will soon be made available to all users and will work on both Android and iOS.

It’s simpler to text oneself now with the introduction of the WhatsApp Message Yourself option. When necessary, you can talk directly with yourself to provide notes, reminders, and updates. According to WhatsApp, users will be able to send themselves messages, photographs, audio files, and videos by using the feature. They will also have the option of instantly sharing documents from their devices.

Users must upgrade the WhatsApp application on their smartphone in order to access the WhatsApp Message Yourself feature. The most recent version of the application can be installed by going to the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.

Steps to follow to use the ‘Message Yourself’ feature:

• Launch the WhatsApp application on your mobile device.
• On Android phones, the new chat button is located at the bottom and on iPhones, in the top right corner.
• Here, your mobile number will be available on a contact card as “Message Yourself.”
• Just pick the contact and start sending messages to yourself.

In the meantime, WhatsApp has released a brand-new Polls feature for its messaging platform. With the help of this exciting tool, users will now be able to conduct polls in both group and private conversations.

from Firstpost Tech Latest News https://ift.tt/OnEiyxf

Intel 13th Gen Core i5 13600K CPU Review: A solid performer which shows why Intel’s hybrid architecture is the future

Pros
– Outright Performance
– Pricing compared to competitors
– Larger Cache and Core Count
– Overclockability and overclocking headroom
– Solid multicore and single-core performance
– Hybrid Architecture
– Compatible with previous gen Chipset
– Just marginally more expensive than last gen i5 12600K for a ton of more performance

Cons
– Draws more power than most competitors for better performance
– Possibly the last generation of CPUs using the LGA 1700 Socket

Price: Rs 34,500

Rating: 4.5/5

Intel 13th Gen i5 13600K Review: Overview
Intel’s i5 lineup of CPUs has been the best for mid-tier desktop rigs for ages now, especially because of its performance and the value it offers. Yes, AMD’s Ryzen series have disrupted Intel’s dominance of the mid and top-tier gaming and productivity rigs for a couple of years now, but the legacy and market share that Intel enjoys thanks to generations of powerful, efficient and competitively-priced CPUs has ensured that they still continue to have a dominant hold over the market. Just take a look at Steam’s hardware survey and you’ll get an idea of what we’re on about.

With the 12th Generation family of processors, especially with the Intel i5 12600K, Intel reestablished itself as the best mid-tier gaming and productivity CPU taking the crown away from Ryzen. The follow-up to the i5 12600K, the i5 13600K further solidifies Intel’s position as the go-to CPU for mid-tier gaming for a number of reasons.

Up until a few generations ago, Intel’s i5 CPUs weren’t unlocked meaning they couldn’t be overclocked. With Alder lake and the current Raptor lake, Intel allows users to overclock their CPUs to whatever extent they like as long as they have the PSU and the motherboard that supports it. The ability to overclock though isn’t the biggest thing that has shaken up the mid-tier performance CPUs. It is Intel’s hybrid architecture.

Intel started their current hybrid architecture with the Alder lake lineup. With Raptor lake, Intel has turned the dial all the way to 11. Although the 13th Gen CPUs are still based on the same Intel 7 process as the 12th Gen, and it has the same hybrid design of performance cores (P-cores) and efficiency cores (E-cores), the Core i5 13600K has just more cores over the previous generation i5 12600K. All 13th Generation CPUs have twice as many E-cores as the previous generation. What we get with this increase in E-cores, is better performance at lower power draw as well as on a full load.

Intel 13th Gen i5 13600K Review: Specifications
The Intel i5 13600K is based on the Raptor lake architecture, which is a slight variation of the Alder lake architecture. Like the previous generation of Intel CPUs, it has the Intel 1700 socket, which, and uses Intel 7 manufacturing process. These are expected to be the last CPUs built on Intel 7 before the move to Intel 4, and the last to support this current socket.

The i5 13600K comes with a total of 14 cores, which consists of 6 P-cores and 8 E-cores, and has a total of 20 threads. The P-Cores have a base clock of 3.5GHz and a boost clock of 5.1GHz. The eight E-cores max out at 3.9GHz. Multi-threaded performance gets another boost thanks to Intel’s hyperthreading technology on the higher-boosting P-cores. The increase in the number of E-cores has a dramatic effect on the performance of the i5 13600K, as we shall see later.

All of this makes the entire 13th Gen lineup of CPUs the first consumer-grade desktop CPUs to breach the 5GHz barrier. This also makes the 13th Generation of CPUs the fastest in the world, out of the box. 

The Core i5 13600K has 24MB of L3 Cache, which is about 4MB more than the 12th Gen Core i5 12600K. The L2 Cache has been bumped up all the way to 20MB, which is more than double the 9.5MB of L2 cache found on the Core i5 12600K. The Core i5 13600K also comes with Intel UHD Graphics 770, which is clocked 50Mhz faster than 12th Gen CPUs. If you want to save a couple of bucks on your system built, and have definitely allotted a budget for a discrete GPU, you can also go for the Core i5 13600KF version, which omits the integrated graphics and the related codecs.

The Core i5 13600K supports both DDR4 and DDR5 SoC, just like the Core i5 12600K. However, with the Raptor lake CPU, users get a faster DDR5 memory controller that supports DDR5 up to 5,600MHz. The Core i5 13600K supports up to 128GB RAM in a dual-channel configuration. As for PCIe expansion, you get a maximum of 20 lanes, which consist of both PCIe 5, as well as PCIe 4.

Intel 13th Gen i5 13600K Review: Compatibility
This is where Intel win major points. Intel’s 13th Gen CPUs come with a new chipset, the Z790, they are also backward compatible with the Z690 as well as the H670 and B660 chipsets, all of which have the LGA 1700 socket.

All these motherboards do let you use DDR5 memory, but with varying limitations on XMP profiles, so you might want to look into that. Also, potential buyers should check if the motherboard they are planning to buy has had its BIOS and firmware updated for the 13th Gen CPUs. The Z790 motherboards, though slightly expensive, are well worth the money spent.

Intel 13th Gen i5 13600K Review: Our test bench
For our tests, we ran the Core i5 13600K with the Gigabyte Z790 AORUS Elite AX motherboard, which Gigabyte let us borrow very graciously. We also borrowed their AORUS Waterforce X360 liquid cooler. For RAM, we went with Corsair Vengeance 32GB kit (2x16GB) DDR5 running at 5200MHz. 

For the GPU, we were using our own MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Ventus 3X 8G OC, and the Corsair CX750 Watt modular PSU for power.

The reason why we went with the Gigabyte Z790 AORUS Elite AX motherboard is pretty simple. Although the Core i5 13600K, like all other 13th Gen Intel CPUs support the Z690 chipset, we wanted to play with the latest and greatest that Intel has to offer in terms of Chipset, and Gigabyte’s Aorus motherboards are second to none when it comes to durability, port options and features.

And although we did not overclock our CPU for any of the tests, Gigabyte Z790 AORUS Elite AX is more than adequate to handle extreme overclocking. Also, with the Z790 AORUS Elite AX we get some nifty features like 2.5GbE LAN & Wi-Fi 6E, Q-Flash Plus or the ability to update BIOS without the CPU, RAM & GPU, and the fact that it has multiple temperature sensors, and hybrid fan headers with FAN STOP. And to make our lives much easier, it also comes with three PCIe4.0 x4 M.2 Connectors. Also, the PCIex16 Slot & M.2 Connectors come with quick release & screwless design.

As for the cooling solution, the Core i5 13600K can do with a beefy air cooler, but the AORUS Waterforce X360 AIO liquid cooler is just next level. We were able to achieve some pretty cool results in our thermals while testing. Plus, it has a cool display on top of the waterblock which gives you the temperature readings which looks really cool. And of course, the final and most important reason why anyone would go for a large AIO – the cool looks thanks to the RGB fans. 

Intel 13th Gen i5 13600K Review: Performance
The Core i5 13600K decimates the last generation Core i5 12600K in all benchmarks, which is not a surprise. What is surprising though is that it performs just as well as the last generation Core i7 12700K, if not better in most scenarios. While Intel may have positioned the Core i5 13600K as the successor to the Core i5 12600K, in reality, it is the follow-up to the Core i7 from the previous generation. 

This increase in performance is mainly due to 2 major reasons. First, is the increase in the number of E-Cores across the lineup, but more importantly, in the Core i5 13600K. Second, Intel has increased the size of the L2 caches on its Raptor Lake processors, along with a slight improvement in the read and write speeds.  

This when combined with the fact that the L3 cache is surprisingly fast, and actually manages to outperform the L2 cache in raw bandwidth, ensures that what we have is a CPU that can just go on and on. For gaming as well as heavy, multi-core workloads, the performance is absolutely stunning across the board.  For some detailed numbers and benchmark results, refer to the embedded graphs.

Intel also has some cool features on the 13th-generation CPUs that make life easier for users, especially when it comes to background tasks. Thread Director, for example, works in conjunction with the Windows Scheduler. What basically happens, is that the CPU will classify the threads and help the system optimize which ones to use for tasks. This helps in handling background tasks in a much more efficient manner.

In most of the CPU tests, the Core i5 13600K handily outperforms the Core i7 12700K, and as we said, completely decimates the Core i5 13600K.

Intel 13th Gen i5 13600K Review: Power consumption & Thermals
The Core i5 13600K’s thermal performance is also excellent relative to its overall speed. Though the Core i5 13600K does run considerably hotter than its predecessor, it also runs significantly cooler than the Core i7 12700K, which it marginally outperforms. This leaves the door open to some amount of overclocking, as the Core i5 13600K’s thermal limit is 100 degrees. And, thanks to its efficient design, and more E-cores, the power consumption is well within range of what it should be. 

Even under the heaviest of loads, our CPU did not exceed 85 degrees in a closed case, in room where the ambient temperature was north of 30 degrees. This basically means that as long as you have a cooler that can get the job done, like the AORUS Waterforce X360 AIO liquid cooler that we used, you can drive the Core i5 13600K pretty hard, without having to worry.

Intel 13th Gen i5 13600K Review: Verdict
The Core i5 13600K is hands down, the best CPU on the market right now if you’re looking to build a solid, mid-tier desktop PC for yourself, not just from Intel, but from AMD as well. Considering the benchmarks of the equivalent Ryzen 7 Series, the Core i5 13600K not only performs better, albeit slightly in most use cases, it is also relatively cheaper to get into. If you’re going for AMD this generation, you will have to go for DDR5 RAM, and that to superfast RAM because Ryzen CPUs perform their best when you use faster memory.

 

With the Intel Core i5 13600K, you can easily start off lower and then build your system gradually, if budget is a constraint for you. Intel, after a very long time, is playing the value proposition game really well.

Performance, as we said, is sweet and exceptional. Just by looking at the specification, it may not seem to be that major a jump over the previous generation Core i5 12600K, but it really is. As we stated, it is much closer to the Core i7 13600K than it is to the Core i5 12600K. The performance gains over one generation are truly monumental. The only downside that we can think of, is that maybe, this is the last LGA 1700 CPU, so future upgradability may be an issue, in certain scenarios. This, though won’t be an issue for most users, who upgrade their PCs after 4-5 generations. 

from Firstpost Tech Latest News https://ift.tt/5ovHgW3

Apple stopping its ad-spends on Twitter is a big concern for Elon Musk

Twitter, like most social media platforms, heavily relies on advertisers to generate revenue, However, unlike other social media platforms, Twitter has lost a significant number of advertisers ever since Elon Musk took over. With Apple suspending most of its ad-spending on the platform, Elon Musk surely must be worried.

Ever since Musk took over, Twitter has lost nearly 50 of its top 100 advertisers on the platform. Up until a week ago, about a third of Twitter’s top 100 advertisers had not advertised on the platform for over two weeks.

While the looming recession and economic churn that certain tech companies like Amazon, Meta, Google and Microsoft are facing, maybe a reason why brands are reducing their ad-spends and marketing budgets across social media platforms, the fact that Twitter has become so volatile is particularly concerning for brands and people who manage their brand’s ad-spending on Twitter.

The reason why Musk is singling out Apple is manifold. First, Apple on average spends about $100 million every year, easily on Twitter alone. In the first quarter of this year, Apple spent $48 million in ads on the platform, as per a report by The Washington Post. Seeing one of the biggest advertisers pulling out of Twitter is surely going to cause other advertisers to pull out as well. Or, they might be in a position to leverage Apple’s decision to quit to get a better deal.

The other reason why Musk is calling out Apple is the commission that Apple charges for each transaction that goes through the App Store. Apple and Google both charge a fee for enabling transactions through their respective app stores. Apple in particular, has a practice of charging 30 per cent on each transaction if the app generates revenue of $1 million. When you consider Musk’s plan to monetise various aspects of Twitter, that 30 per cent commission surely ads up. Although this isn’t something new, Musk calling it a “secret” Apple tax, shows how the disdain that he has for the practice. 

Finally, there is the fact that Apple has threatened to pull Twitter off of its App Store. Apple has a set of regulations that app developers have to follow so that they can be listed on Apple’s App Store. Musk’s recent actions regarding content moderation on Twitter, and the reinstatement of accounts that were previously banned for hate speech violate a number of terms and conditions that Apple has for apps on its App Store. 

While advertisers and brands have been cautious of Musk’s idea of how Twitter should function, they were warming up to the idea. However, seeing Apple, possibly the biggest tech company in the world pulling out of Twitter and then banning the app from the App Store is surely going to jolt up brands who were contemplating resuming their ad-spends on the platform.

from Firstpost Tech Latest News https://ift.tt/X2LFe0h

Elon Musk is picking a fight with Apple, and no, it has got nothing to do with free speech

Elon Musk is picking up a fight, and while he may be cloaking it as an issue of free speech in America, it really isn’t. Yes, Apple and Google have flagged Twitter for issues with content moderation on the platform, but Musk’s main gripe with Google and Apple has got very little to do with that.

Elon Musk started tweeting out about Apple after it was found that Apple has suspended its ad spends on the platform. This is a significant concern for Twitter and Elon Musk given that Apple was one of the biggest advertisers on the social media platform.

What’s going on here @tim_cook?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022

The thing is, Apple isn’t the only company that has suspended its ad spends on the platform. However, given that it was one of the largest spenders on the platform, that too by a mile, is surely hurting Twitter and Musk.

Then, there’s the fact that Apple and Google have issued warnings to Twitter over its content moderation practices. Developers who want to list their apps on Apple’s App store or Google’s PlayStore need to comply with some basic standards of content moderation on the platform and ensure that the platform deals with incendiary and bigoted speech in a proper manner. 

The terms of the agreement are pretty vague, but it is usually understood that apps need to ensure that they take action against individuals using their apps who disturb peace, something that Twitter doesn’t seem to be interested in, given that it has started reinstating profiles that got banned before. This is the main reason why Apple has warned Twitter that it may pull the app off of its App store.

Musk is also targeting Apple for the 30 per cent commission that they charge on transactions that are done through their App Store.

Did you know Apple puts a secret 30% tax on everything you buy through their App Store? https://t.co/LGkPZ4EYcz

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022

Apple charges a 30 per cent commission on all transactions that users do with apps through the Apple App Store, which make over $1 million a year. Apple has been doing this for a long time, and has faced lawsuits from other developers and game studios as well, so this can’t be the first time that Elon Musk has heard of something like this. Google does the same the thing apps that are listed on their PlayStore.

Basically, Elon Musk doesn’t want Twitter to pay the 30 per cent commission that all other major apps that make over $1 million do.

I have a feeling a certain somebody has only heard today that Apple takes a percentage of microtransactions on the App Store

Wait until he hears Google does the same thing lol

— Adam Conway (@AdamConwayIE) November 28, 2022

Although it remains unconfirmed why Apple is allegedly threatening to “withhold” Twitter from the App Store, tweets and Musk’s comments indicate that it might stem from the social media platform’s new moderation policy to safeguard “free speech”. 

Apple is yet to confirm these claims; however, this is not the first time the iPhone maker threatened to remove an app from its App Store. For instance, it removed Parler – a Twitter alternative – from its App Store following the US Capitol building riots early last year. The app was restored in May 2021 after Parler updated its content and moderation practices.

As much as Musk may try to portray that Apple is against free speech, the reality is that Twitter, with its recent activities around content moderation and charging a fee for Twitter’s Verified Programme and then not wanting to pay a commission is just trying to get his followers to turn on Apple and pressure them to make an exception for Twitter. Musk is also trying to cajole his users to put pressure on Apple to resume their ad spends on the platform. 

It remains to be seen if Musk truly believes that this will work, given how litigious Apple has been to protect their commission from their App Store. Moreover, Musk cannot possibly believe that he and his legion of followers can pressurise Apple to advertise on the platform.

from Firstpost Tech Latest News https://ift.tt/rBtJZIT

Best phones under Rs 30,000 (Nov 2022): iQOO Neo 6 5G, Motorola Edge 30 to OnePlus Nord 2T

This is a budget range where one can get certain flagship-grade features and fairly powerful processors at a reasonable price. In addition, one can expect high quality AMOLED displays with high refresh rate, impressive camera performance with features like optical image stabilisation (OIS) and more. All handsets in this list are 5G ready too. Time to meet the half dozen that we believe are the best phones under Rs 30,000 this month.

Best phones to buy under Rs 30,000 in India

Poco F4 5G
We start with two phones powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 SoC starting with the Poco F4 5G. You get 8 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage here, along with an impressive 6.67-inch AMOLED Full HD+ screen with 120 Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision compliance. The display has 1300 nits peak brightness and is protected against scratches by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The phone runs Android 12 with MIUI 13, and is one of the rare phones to offer a 2-year warranty.

The Poco F4 5G has an attractive design with a glass back, and measures just 7.7 mm in thickness. Photography is taken care of by a 64MP primary camera with OIS, an 8MP ultra-wide shooter and a 2MP macro camera. The 20MP front camera is quite good for selfies and video calls. Its 4500 mAh battery lasts over a day of moderate use, and the bundled 67W fast charger promises to juice it up fully in less than 40 minutes. 

Poco F4 5G price in India: Rs 29,999 for 8GB RAM/128GB storage

iQOO Neo 6 5G
The iQOO Neo 6 5G is the other handset powered by a Snapdragon 870 chip, and again, you can buy its 8 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage variant in this budget. It has a 6.62-inch HDR10+ compliant Full HD+ AMOLED display with a 120 Hz refresh rate for flicker-free performance in compatible apps. Just like the Poco F4, this too has a peak brightness of 1300 nits. It runs Android 12 with FunTouch UI 12, and the company has promised two more major Android updates in the future for this device.

The rear camera department on the iQOO Neo 6 5G is quite similar to the Poco F4. It is helmed by a 64MP primary camera with OIS, and accompanied by an 8MP ultra-wide camera and a 2MP macro camera. Its 4700 mAh battery lasts well over a day of moderate use, and the company bundles an 80W fast charger that promises to take it from 0 to 50% in just 12 minutes, and to 100% in a little over half an hour. 

iQOO Neo 6 5G price in India: Rs 29,999 for 8GB RAM/128GB storage

Motorola Edge 30
The Motorola Edge 30 is another excellent all-rounder in this budget. This phone is powered by a Snapdragon 778G chip and comes with 8 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage. While it may not have the most powerful processor in this budget, it more than makes up with some unique features. Its 6.5-inch Full HD+ OLED display flaunts a 144 Hz refresh rate along with HDR10+ compliance and capability to display over a billion colour shades. The screen has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection against scratches.

The photography department on the Motorola Edge 30 is impressive courtesy of two 50MP cameras, with the primary offering OIS and the secondary camera letting you capture some high quality ultra-wide shots. There’s also a 2MP depth sensor (for the record). The 32MP front camera will have the selfie enthusiasts interested. Its 4020 mAh battery lasts for a day of moderate use and supports 33W fast charging. This phone runs Android 12, and like most Motorola phones, you get a clean and near-stock user interface, which many prefer. 

Motorola Edge 30 price in India: Rs 26,999 for 8GB RAM/128GB storage

Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
The Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G is powered by a Snapdragon 778G chip too, and you get 8 GB RAM and 128 GB internal (expandable) storage to go with it. It is the only handset in this list to offer IP67 ingress protection making it dust and water resistant. It has a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display with 120 Hz refresh rate, 800 nits of peak brightness and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. Its 4500 mAh battery lasts over a day of moderate use and supports 25W fast charging.

Camera department offers a good variety with a combination of 64MP primary camera with OIS, 12MP ultrawide snapper, 5MP macro camera and a 5MP depth sensor to capture some quality photos in various modes. The 32MP selfie camera embedded in a tiny punch hole at the top of the screen is bound to appeal to the selfie crowd. The Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G launched with Android 11 and One UI 3.x and is upgradeable to Android 12 with One UI 4.1.

Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G price in India: Rs 29,990 for 6GB RAM/128GB storage

OnePlus Nord 2T
The OnePlus Nord 2T is arguably the best value for money phone from the company in 2022 across all budgets. The phone is powered by a Mediatek Dimensity 1300 chip that’s not a bad option at all for this segment. You get the 8 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage variant in this budget. This 5G-ready phone has a sharp 6.43-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display with a 90 Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ compliance. It is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, and the protection extends to the phone’s glass back too. 

The rear camera department consists of a 50MP primary camera with OIS that does a good job in different conditions. Giving it company are an 8MP ultra-wide shooter and a 2MP monochrome camera. The 32MP front camera is good enough to keep the selfie enthusiasts hooked. The OnePlus Nord 2T has a 4500 mAh battery that lasts close to a day and a half of moderate use, and the bundled 80W Super VOOC charger charges it fully in just 33 minutes. It runs OxygenOS 12.1 based on Android 12, and one can expect two more major Android updates for this device.

OnePlus Nord 2T price in India: Rs 28,999 for 8GB RAM/128GB storage

Redmi K50i 5G
If you seek a powerful processor and ample storage instead of an AMOLED screen and OIS, the Redmi K50i 5G is the phone for you. It is powered by a Mediatek Dimensity 8100 SoC that is found in more expensive phones like the OnePlus 10R and is more powerful than the Snapdragon 870 too. You get its 8 GB RAM and 256 GB UFS 3.1 internal storage variant comfortably in this budget. The photography department has a combination of a 64MP primary camera, an 8MP ultrawide snapper and a 2MP macro camera. A 16MP front camera handles selfies and video calls quite well. 

The Redmi K50i 5G has a 6.6-inch Full HD+ Liquid FFS display that’s HDR10 and Dolby Vision compliant. It is protected against scratches by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. It supports 144 Hz refresh rate for a smooth experience in compatible apps, and should also have the gamers interested. A 5080 mAh battery keeps the phone running for close to a day and a half of moderate use, and the bundled 67W turbo charger claims to charge it to 50% in just 15 minutes. This Xiaomi phone runs Android 12 with MIUI 13. 

Redmi K50i 5G price in India: Rs 26,999 for 8GB RAM/256GB storage

from Firstpost Tech Latest News https://ift.tt/gnF2tJ0

Amazon apparently plans to invest $1 billion in movies every year for theatrical releases

It seems that Amazon is planning to make some major moves as it plans to dive deeper into the movie business. Although Amazon makes a few original shows and movies for Prime Video, it has so far, stayed away from theatrical releases. That is set to change as reports have surfaced that Amazon is preparing to invest $1 billion annually for movies that will go straight for a theatrical release.

A report from Bloomberg states that Amazon is preparing to produce 12-15 movies in a year. For 2023, the number of movies that Amazon will produce won’t be that high, but that is mainly because they want to test the waters and figure out how to go about things.

Amazon has deepened its investments in original content over the years through its Prime Video streaming unit, as well as its movie and television studios. The company spent $13 billion on content for its video and music streaming services last year, up from $11 billion in 2020, as it looks to remain competitive in the crowded media landscape. 

Earlier this year, the e-retailer bolstered its media ambitions when it acquired legendary movie maker MGM Studios for $8.45 billion.

In the past, Jeff Bezos had very categorically said that he wanted Amazon to get into the media and content creation and distribution business, as that would be a great way to get more people to subscribe onto Amazon Prime, and use more of Amazon’s other web services that go beyond e-commerce.

While a $1 billion annual investment for film development is on the lower end of what major Hollywood studios spend each year, its a positive sign for the movie theater business, which has struggled in the wake of the pandemic.

Audiences have returned to cinemas, but because the production pipeline was stalled in 2020 and 2021, fewer movies have been released in cinemas in 2022. Blockbuster films continue to drive significant, sometimes record-breaking, domestic box office numbers, but without a steady slate of new and meaningful content, the overall industry remains significantly below pre-pandemic levels.

It will be interesting to see how the budget is allocated, and if Indian filmmakers and production houses are able to get any of the money earmarked for theatrical releases. 

 

from Firstpost Tech Latest News https://ift.tt/TaoQF21

Humans will be living & working on the Moon by the end of this decade thanks to Artemis 1, says NASA

NASA’s Artemis 1 mission is probably the most significant space mission of this decade. Thanks to this mission, humans will be returning to the moon for an extended period of time, and will be participating in months of exploration and in-depth investigation to see if life as we know it can be sustained in any way beyond Earth.

In an interview with the BBC, NASA’s Orion lunar spacecraft project leader Howard Hu stated, “We’re going to send people down to the surface, and they’re going to be living on that surface and doing research.”

“The mission allows us to have a stable platform and transportation system that enables us to get operating experience in that deep space environment”, he added.

NASA’s Artemis 1 Orion has set a new record for the spacecraft designed to carry humans to deep space by travelling 419,378 kilometres from Earth. The record was previously set during the Apollo 13 mission at 248,655 miles from our home planet. Artemis I will not land on the moon, but the spacecraft will orbit nearby before returning to Earth in 26 days.

For the next six days, Orion will remain in lunar orbit. It will then put the spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth, followed by a Sunday, December 11, splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, a press release by NASA said.

The US space agency intends to launch the first manned Lunar landing since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972 in late 2024 or early 2025. That will also feature the very first woman and the first person of colour to step foot on the moon.

According to NASA, this is the spacecraft that will take the astronauts who will land us back on the Moon once more. “We are developing a sustainable programme, and we are heading to the Moon,” said Hu.

NASA is expected to use innovative measures to learn more about the Moon’s South Pole. The agency will also try to understand the lunar surface with the help of the Gateway Space Station in orbit, the press note added.    

The spacecraft has a sensor named Commander Moonikin Campos attached to it. It will help provide information on what crew members may experience in flight. The Campos is named after Arturo Campos, the key player in bringing Apollo 13 safely back to Earth. 

from Firstpost Tech Latest News https://ift.tt/s1hn8IY

Want to use dual SIM cards, including e-SIM, on your iPhone? Here’s step-by-step process

Individuals like to use separate sim cards for their personal and professional usage. But, it was a problem for iPhone users as the iPhone models have just one slot to insert a sim card. However, since the introduction of the iPhone 13 series, users can get the benefit of dual SIM- two active eSIMs or a nano-SIM and an eSIM. Previously, outdated models like iPhone 12, iPhone 11, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR also had the option of multiple SIM but a physical one was mandatory.

Apple’s iOS 14.5 operating system or subsequent versions must be updated on older iPhone 12 models if you want to use 5G data connections with Dual SIM cards. With iOS 13, your device can only use one cellular data network at once if you are having dual SIMs.

Once configured, using multiple or dual SIM with your iPhone enables you to add a local data plan when travelling outside of your home country, allowing you to avoid paying roaming costs. After setting up mobile hotspots, you can also utilise separate SIMs for phone and internet plans to take advantage of lower data restrictions. Additionally, this feature will offer direct data usage reductions by allowing you to connect your laptop, tablet, or family devices to your iPhone.

To use the dual sim feature, you are required to obtain both sim cards (the physical one and the digital one) from the same operator. Your eSIM supplier will give you a QR code with your eSIM information when you purchase an eSIM. To activate your eSIM card, certain carriers can additionally provide you with a confirmation code.

Steps to install your eSIM on iPhones:

• Scan the QR code with your iPhone’s Camera app.
• Once the Cell Plan Detected notification arrives, click on it.
• Just at the bottom of the screen, tap Continue.
• Select ‘Add a cell plan’.
• If a confirmation code is required to activate the eSIM card, enter the operator-provided number when asked.

You can manually enter your eSIM information if you do not possess a QR code.

• Access Settings.
• Follow the previous method to navigate to ‘Add a cell plan’.
• Then, tap “Enter information manually” at the bottom and key in the details.

Steps to activate the eSIM:

After completing the installation process, you need to activate the eSIM by following these steps:

• Enter Settings.
• Tap Mobile Data or Cellular Data.
• Go to your eSIM plan (under Cellular plans).
• Enable ‘Turn on this line’.

More than one eSIM card can be kept on your iPhone, but only one can be accessible at once. To modify your eSIM card, select Settings, then Cellular Data or Mobile Data, and finally choose the desired plan.

from Firstpost Tech Latest News https://ift.tt/r1udDmp

Data of 500 million WhatsApp users leaked online, breach hit 80 countries including Russia, Spain and India

WhatsApp has suffered a major data breach. Data of over 500 million users from across the world, was leaked online and put up for sale on a number of hacking groups and communities by an anonymous seller. Given that WhatsApp has a user base of over 2 billion, the fact that over one-fourth or 25 per cent of users have had their data compromised,  is a massive setback for the Meta-owned messaging app.

The incident was first reported by Cybernews. Mark Zuckerberg-owned Meta is yet to confirm or deny the incident. The leak has reportedly affected as many as 80 countries, including Russia, Italy, Egypt, Brazil, Spain, and more. The list also includes India. The cited source has shared a chart via its Twitter handle, which shows that data of more than 6 million people has been leaked online.

The person who put up the data for sale claims that there are 32 million records of users from the US within the set. It also has numbers of millions of users from Egypt, Italy, France, the UK, Russia, and India.

According to the report, the US dataset is available for $7,000, while the UK one will cost $2,500. Cybernews’ report said that when they contacted the seller, he shared 1,097 UK-based numbers as proof. The publication investigated the numbers and confirmed that they were all from WhatsApp accounts.

Such information is often used for cyber crimes like smishing and vishing, both of which involve sending the user a text message and asking them to click on a link. The user is then asked to provide their credit card or other personal details.

This is not the first instance that a Meta-owned platform has been hit by a data breach. Last year, the personal data of over 500 million Facebook users, including 6 million records from India, was allegedly leaked. The leaked data then included phone numbers and other details.

In 2019, data from 419 million Facebook and 49 million Instagram users were exposed. In the same year, it faced another breach leaving the data of 267 million users exposed.

from Firstpost Tech Latest News https://ift.tt/byh4FBu

Gold tick for companies, blue for individuals: Musk & Twitter finally crack how to tackle impersonations

Elon Musk recently took to Twitter to announce that Twitter will be relaunching Twitter Blue and their Verified programme next Friday, i.e. December 2. Musk claims that going forward, there will be three kinds of ticks or verification badges – a golden one, a grey one and a blue one.

Musk responded to a user on Twitter apologising for the delay in relaunching the service, and stated that the company was “tentatively” launching its verification service on December 2. Twitter will use different coloured check marks to distinguish between three types of accounts, according to the platform’s new owner.

Sorry for the delay, we’re tentatively launching Verified on Friday next week.

Gold check for companies, grey check for government, blue for individuals (celebrity or not) and all verified accounts will be manually authenticated before check activates.

Painful, but necessary.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2022

As per Musk’s tweet, the golden badge will be for companies and other organisations, whereas the grey check will be reserved for government agencies. The existing blue tick will be reserved for individuals, whether they are a celebrity or not.

Explaining how the blue tick for individuals will function, Musk went on to say tweet, saying that all verified individuals will have the same blue check, it is difficile to define what exactly “notable” is, due to its subjective scope. Individuals may use secondary logos or labels to show they are associated with a notable organisation.  Musk also announced that Twitter will be pushing out a much more detailed explanation about the new verified badges, sometime in the upcoming week.

All verified individual humans will have same blue check, as boundary of what constitutes “notable” is otherwise too subjective.

Individuals can have secondary tiny logo showing they belong to an org if verified as such by that org.

Longer explanation next week.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2022

Musk also announced that going forward, all verified accounts will be manually authenticated by a team at Twitter, before they are allotted the check and the check appears on their platform.

Musk is adamant about charging a fixed monthly fee from users for certain privileges they enjoy. Apart from the verified badge, users also get a ton of other benefits with their Twitter Blue subscriptions. Going forward, there is a very good possibility that even DMs or Direct Messaging may also become a part of Twitter Blue or a different tier of paid service on the platform, given the sweeping changes and improvements that Musk plans on adding to DMs on the platform.

Musk had to pause the $8-a-month Twitter Blue subscription service, as fake accounts mushroomed and had said Twitter’s sought-after blue check subscription service will be relaunched at a later date. 

Musk then went on to tell his staff at an all-hands meeting that Twitter will not be relaunching the service until they are certain they can tackle impersonations and fake accounts getting Twitter blue ticks.

from Firstpost Tech Latest News https://ift.tt/MB4L5W8

Brazilian watchdog starts seizing Apple iPhones from retail stores due to charger ruling

A couple of months ago, the Brazilian Ministry of Justice ordered the suspension of Apple’s iPhone sales in the country for not including chargers with each purchase and forcing their customers to buy chargers separately. Brazil even fined Apple millions of dollars twice and ordered the tech giant to start shipping iPhones with chargers in the country, if they wanted to sell their devices. This judgement was passed right around the time Apple started shipping their latest iPhone 14 series. 

Apple appealed the decision, believing they could keep selling iPhones as the matter was under consideration. The Federal District-base consumer protection regulator has decided to seize iPhones from carriers and Apple Premium Resellers in an operation called Discharge.

As discovered by the Brazilian website Tecnoblog, PROCON-DF is forcing Apple to comply with a local law that requires smartphones to be shipped with the charger in the box.

After the operation, Apple Brazil requested the government to keep allowing iPhone sales until the final dispute, in which Apple said it would continue to sell iPhones in Brazil. This is the first time a Brazilian watchdog has seized iPhones.

Previously, in Sao Paulo, the largest city in Brazil, PROCON-SP fined Apple due to the lack of the charger in the iPhone’s box, although it hadn’t seized any model being sold.

Apple said it’s confident it will win the legal dispute and that customers “are aware of the various options for charging and connecting their devices.” Apple still says that removing the charger is part of the goal to become carbon-neutral by 2030.

In addition, since Brazilian’s FCC-like agency approved all iPhone models since the iPhone 12 without the charger, the company is technically not breaking any rule.

That said, it’s interesting to note that while Apple removed the USB-C cable to charge the Siri Remote of the new Apple TV 4K in the US, Brazil’s offering still has the cable as Apple is likely trying to avoid more problems with the local authority.

from Firstpost Tech Latest News https://ift.tt/PeOcIHk

Sony WF-LS900N (Linkbuds S) Review: Bridging the gap between Linkbuds and WF-1000XM4

Pros:
– Good sound quality
– Compact design, comfortable in-ear fit
– Impressive ANC and ambient mode
– Wear detection, multipoint support
– Support for LDAC codecs even when paired with two devices
– Useful companion app
– Good battery backup with ANC on

Cons:
– Touch controls configuration could have been smarter
– Average call quality
– Expensive

Price: Rs 16,990

Rating: 3.8/5

Sony launched two prominent TWS earphones this year in India. First was the flagship WF-1000XM4 which still remains the best TWS earphones under Rs 20,000 here and the benchmark for active noise cancellation (ANC) in the segment. Then came the highly unusual Linkbuds that served a completely different purpose. While the former was about cutting the outside noise, the latter was about staying connected all the time.

The latest from the company, Sony WF-LS900N, also known as Linkbuds S globally, not just looks to bridge the gap between the two but strives to offer the best of both worlds. In many ways, one can also call it 1000XM4 Mini (unofficially) given the similarity in appearance and feature list. Can it be the midrange player that Sony needs to take on the likes of Oppo Enco X2 and some others? Let’s find out.

Sony WF-LS900N TWS Earphones: Design and comfort (8/10)
These earbuds look like a compact version of the WF-1000XM4 with a similar shape and design. These buds are a good 40 per cent smaller than the Sony TWS flagship and weigh just 4.8 grams each. They feel a lot more comfortable in the ear due to the smaller footprint and the fit is snug too. They don’t stick out the ears as much as the 1000XM4 and stay in place during jogs. The bundled silicone ear tips provide a good seal, and as a result, the passive noise isolation is quite good. 

A few more pairs of tips are bundled in case the default ones aren’t the best fit for you. Do spend a couple of minutes choosing the right ones. The build quality of the product is solid with a smooth matte finish and sizable touch zones at the back of the buds. The same finish extends to the compact and pocketable charging case that weighs 35 grams. The case has a USB-C charging port and a Bluetooth pairing/reset button at the back and a charge status LED at the front. 

You get three colour variants of the LS900N – black, white and beige. Sony states that the buds are made of recycled plastic materials from automobile parts. Just like in case of some of their recently launched products, the packaging material is void of any plastic to keep things environmentally friendly. We appreciate this initiative.

Sony WF-LS900N TWS Earphones: Features and specifications (8.5/10)
Despite the smaller footprint, the earbuds host a 5 mm driver each, along with Sony’s V1 processor that is present in the 1000XM4 too, as well as the ANC circuitry. Keeping the weight of each bud under 5 grams despite all that and without compromising on the battery backup is commendable. The Sony Linkbuds S supports SBC, AAC and LDAC codecs over Bluetooth 5.2. You get to choose between sound quality or a stable connection, and a codec is assigned accordingly. As long as the buds and the source device are in the same room, it’s best to choose the former and use LDAC codecs.

The earbuds are touch-enabled and let you perform a handful of tasks using single-tap, double tap and triple-tap gestures. The functions can be configured using Sony’s Headphones app. However, things are not as granular as I would have liked. Like in most Sony earbuds, the functions are available in sets and you cannot assign a specific function for a specific gesture. For instance, if you choose ANC modes for the left bud, just the single tap is used to cycle through them, while a double tap and triple tap are left unused, and you cannot assign anything to them.

The companion app also offers you multiple audios presets and an equaliser to create your own. These earbuds have an IPX4 rating for sweat resistance and can be worn during workouts without worry. You get wear detection sensors to pause the audio when you remove the buds from your ear and resume when you put them back on. You also get multipoint support here to pair these earphones with two devices simultaneously. Even better, unlike older Sony devices, you can use LDAC codecs even when using multipoint.

Sony WF-LS900N TWS Earphones: Performance (7.5/10)
The wireless range is good even with LDAC codecs with the audio staying smooth even at 10 metres with a clear line of sight between the buds and the source device. But that drops to less than half with a concrete wall in between. There were no latency issues either when streaming videos. You get three listening modes here – Noise Cancellation On, Ambient Sounds On and Normal mode (both off). You can choose any two or all three from the Headphones app. 

The ANC may not be on the same level as the 1000XM4, but it is pretty effective and cuts down on a lot of low and certain midrange frequency sounds like that of a fan or hum of an AC. Even outdoors, it greatly reduces traffic noises and human chatter. As I mentioned earlier, the smaller earbuds coupled with the right-sized silicone tips provide very good passive noise isolation that makes the ANC more effective. The ambient mode here is one of the finest around with things sounding natural. This product does belong to the Linkbuds series after all that believes is staying connected with your surroundings.

You can toggle through the modes by tapping the left earbud once. You can touch and hold the back of the left earbud to momentarily let ambient sounds through, just like in the case of Sony’s 1000XM series headphones. You can also choose Adaptive Sound Control to automatically switch ANC and ambient modes on and off depending on your location and surroundings. Features like speak-to-chat, DSEE Extreme audio upscaling, 360 Reality Audio and support for multiple voice assistants are also available on these Hi-Res Audio certified earphones.

The Sony WF-LS900N is sufficiently loud at 60 to 70% volume level. While these buds look like the WF-1000XM4, they don’t exactly sound like them. These earphones are noticeably bass-heavy. The bass is reasonably tight and punchy but it does impact the lower midrange frequencies. The vocal clarity is pretty good but the instrument separation could have been better. The highs are sharp with a good amount of sparkle. They do not sound sibilant but roll off a bit sooner than they should. 

The overall detail in sound is good but not as good as the XM4 or even the Oppo Enco X2 for that matter. The sound stage is reasonably broad for TWS buds, and I got the impression that it feels just a tad broader when you turn on ambient mode. Most popular genres of music sound good on these earphones. The overall sound quality of the LS900N is enjoyable, but given its price tag, it is fair to expect a bit more resolved detail in the audio. 

Sony WF-LS900N TWS Earphones: Call quality (7/10)
The call quality of the WF-LS900N is average at best. The person on the line was clearly audible, and I was heard with reasonable clarity by the other person too, but the transmitted voice lacked sharpness. When outdoors, the microphones do pick up some ambient noise but not excessively. So the noise suppression algorithm works reasonably well but probably ends up impacting the vocal clarity too. It is nowhere close to bad, but I expect better on premium products.

Sony WF-LS900N TWS Earphones: Battery life (7.5/10)
Sony claims a battery backup of 6 hours for the buds and additional 14 hours with the charging case, with ANC on all the time. During my testing, I got a little over 5 hours out of the buds with ANC switched on most of the time at 60 to 70% loudness. The case can recharge these buds twice more with some juice left in the tank, thus taking the total battery backup close to 17 hours with ANC on, which is not bad at all. 

Generally, I would term 17 hours as average, but given that I was using LDAC codec all the time with ANC turned on, these are pretty decent numbers. With ANC switched off, these earphones should easily go past the 20 hours mark, perhaps even reach 24 hours. The battery status of each earbud as well as the charging case is visible on the phone. The app prompts you when the charge on the case drops below 30%. 

It takes over two hours to charge the buds and case fully from zero using a standard USB-C charger. These buds support fast charging too, and just 5 minutes of charging can give you about an hour of playtime; a handy feature to have when in a hurry. Wireless charging that was present in the WF-1000XM4 has been given a skip here.

Sony WF-LS900N TWS Earphones: Price and verdict
The Sony WF-LS900N TWS earphones are priced at Rs 16,990 with a one-year warranty and can be purchased for Rs 13,990 effectively inclusive of cashback using certain credit and debit cards till the end of this month. Sony could have certainly been more competitive here, and in our opinion, the price after cashback should have ideally been its official price. Now, the company has been known to stick to the introductory price for a lot longer than the stipulated date, and I hope they do the same with the LS900N too. I will explain why. 

At Rs 16,990, it is uncomfortably close to the WH-1000XM4, which is clearly a superior product in most departments. If someone is willing to spend that kind of money, they might as well spend 3K more and go for the flagship product that not just sounds much better but also offers better ANC. And that’s just the in-house competition. There are a few TWS earbuds available in this price bracket, but the LS900N needs to bother mainly about one – the Oppo Enco X2.

The Enco X2 sells for Rs 10,990, and actually sounds better than the LS900N, with more resolved detail and better balance. The Sony trumps it comfortably when it comes to ANC but there’s a lot going for the Oppo in addition to superior sound quality like better call quality and design to make it a better all-round option for your money, given the 6K price difference. If Sony can reduce the price gap by at least 3K, the contest would be a lot more even and provide the WF-LS900N with enough headroom and legroom to be a strong player in the sub-15K segment. 

from Firstpost Tech Latest News https://ift.tt/SfKemVv