Tablets seem to have gained more currency in these times of pandemic, especially since strict lockdowns were imposed to control the spread of coronavirus earlier this year. Most working professionals and students have been depending on remote working and online classes, and tablets prove very effective for this purpose.

There has been little activity in the mid-range Android tablet market lately, so that has left the market open for the likes of Apple and Samsung, both of which have come up with a bunch of offerings — the Apple iPad 8th generation and Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (review) for example.

For those looking for the latest tab and do not wish to pay too much, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab A7 seems a decent proposition. Starting at Rs 17,999, the tablet comes with a 10.40-inch touchscreen display and offers a long battery life.

Let’s find out in this review if the Galaxy Tab A7 makes for a good second screen for online classes and basic work, besides the usual entertainment consumption.

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The newly-launched iPhone 12 and 12 Pro for which pre-orders were thrown open in India on October 23 have done tremendously well at Apple Authorised resellers who have received record pre-orders riding on cool, exciting offers.

Trade sources told IANS on Wednesday that the pre-orders for the new iPhones this time are super high and the authorised sellers are set to hand over the new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro on October 30 to those who pre-booked it in the country.

iPhone 12 in 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB models in blue, green, black, white, and (PRODUCT) RED — starting at Rs 79,900 — will be available for Rs 73,900 with HDFC Bank’s cash back offer for the 64GB version.

iPhone 12 Pro in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB models in graphite, silver, gold, and pacific blue — starting at Rs 1,19,900 — will be available for Rs 1,14,900 with HDFC Bank’s cash back offer for the 128GB version.

Once you opt for the trade-in and take the EMI route, the price will go down further, making the devices the most affordable new iPhones ever.

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Microsoft CEO is delighted by early reviews and excitement for the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X, which will be the most affordable and the most powerful consoles available next month.

“Our Xbox Game Pass service has more than 15 million subscribers,” Nadella said during the company’s fiscal Q1 earnings call on Tuesday.

“Quality differentiated content is the flywheel behind the service’s growth, and the addition of EA Play next month, along with our pending acquisition of ZeniMax Media, will add more of the world’s most iconic franchises to the more than 100 high-quality games already available and materially increases our ability to increase content,” he elaborated.

Microsoft beefed up Game Pass this year by adding plenty more titles for players to enjoy.

The company announced that EA Play would be added to Game Pass Ultimate in the coming months, bringing popular franchises like FIFA and Battlefield to the platform at no extra cost.

EA Play will arrive on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on November 10, the same day that Microsoft is launching both the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles.

Home-grown audio and gaming accessory company Zebronics recently launched its new soundbar, the Zeb-Juke Bar 9700 Pro, with Dolby Atmos support. Boasting a total sound output of 450W, the soundbar is competitively priced in the sub-Rs 20,000 category. But does the soundbar fare well enough on audio parameters to make for a sweet deal? We reviewed the device to see if it meets the expectations. Here’s what we found:

Design and connectivity

The Zeb-Juke Bar 9700 Pro has a sleek profile that goes well with most home décor types. The metal grilles covering the front and top add to the appeal of the soundbar. At the top, there are buttons for power, volume controls and input options. There is an LED display beneath the front grille to show basic information. However, the display looks a bit awkward.

The Zeb-Juke Bar 9700 Pro features multiple connectivity options, such as USB, HDMI, AUX, optical and Bluetooth. The good thing here is that you get cables for that – something that’s not common these days. The Bluetooth option comes in handy while pairing a phone or tablet with the soundbar and makes it easy when you want to watch a video on Netflix or other streaming platforms on your device.

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As you drive down the road leading to Jodrell Bank Observatory, a sign asks visitors to turn off their mobile phones, stating that the Lovell telescope is so powerful it could detect a phone signal on Mars.

Radio telescopes are designed to be incredibly sensitive. To quote the legendary astronomer Carl Sagan, “The total amount of energy from outside the solar system ever received by all the radio telescopes on the planet Earth is less than the energy of a single snowflake striking the ground.”

The total energy now is probably a few snowflakes’ worth, but nevertheless it is still true that astronomical radio signals are typically magnitudes smaller than artificial ones. If Jodrell Bank could pick up interference from a phone signal on Mars, how would it fare with an entire 4G network on the Moon?

That is the issue that is worrying astronomers like me, now that Nokia of America has been awarded US$14.1m (£10.8m) for the development of the first ever cellular network on the Moon. The LTE/4G network will aim to facilitate long term lunar habitability, providing communications for key aspects such as lunar rovers and navigation.

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Windows 10X, a modular and lightweight version of Windows 10 designed for dual-screen and foldable devices, is expected to arrive as early as December but without support for Win32 apps.

Win32 is the 32-bit application programming interface (API) for versions of Windows from 95 onwards.

Microsoft had promised that Windows 10X will be able to run Win32 applications using virtualization.

However, reports have emerged that there will no support for Win32 apps and the users will be forced to use Universal Windows Platform (UWP) and Progressive Web Application (PWA) applications.

Microsoft earlier confirmed that it is aiming to refocus Windows 10X on single-screen devices like laptops first and will look for a right moment to integrate Windows 10X with dual-screen devices.

The move is seen as reprioritising Windows 10X for laptops and single-screen devices because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Windows 10X will also come pre-installed with web versions of Office apps, such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Teams, Skype, etc.

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Smartphone brand OPPO has finally entered the wearable segment with a smart watch that aims to woo Indian consumers on Android who are looking forward to owning a good-looking smartwatch.

The ‘OPPO Watch’ is powered by Google WearOS and comes with premium smartwatch features such as heart-rate monitoring and advanced health tracking.

The smartwatch comes in 41mm and 46mm variants, priced at Rs 14,990 and Rs 19,990, respectively.

The 41mm variant has a 1.6-inch regular AMOLED display with 320×360 pixels resolution and 301ppi pixel density, whereas its 46mm counterpart offers a 1.91-inch flexible dual-curved AMOLED display with 402×476 pixels resolution and 326ppi pixel density.

We used the 46mm variant (black colour) for a couple of days and here is what we think about the device.

Text and icons are adequately sharp and clear and the curved display sides manage to instantly give it a distinctive look.

In terms of design, the OPPO Watch looks every bit like an Apple Watch. The similarities extend to the body, straps and fascia as well.

The backside has sensors including the heart rate sensor and pins for charging.

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WhatsApp is reportedly preparing to bring support for face unlock feature on Android devices.

According to WABetainfo, a website that tracks WhatsApp in Beta, the feature will be very helpful specifically for Pixel 4 users as the device comes without a fingerprint sensor and only supports facial recognition.

Once the feature rolls out, the “fingerprint lock” settings will be renamed to the more general “biometric lock”.

The settings are likely to be based on Android’s BiometricPrompt API, which allows apps to use biometric unlock for authentication.

Face unlocking has already been on iOS for some time now, which makes sense given the iPhone X first introduced FaceID back in 2017.

Whatsapp is also bringing a feature like Skype and Zoom where one can join the ongoing calls even if you have missed. This means when a user is busy and can’t join the video or voice call can join them later when the call is still ongoing.

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 The malicious apps masquerading as Adobe Flash installer are not going to go away anytime soon as Apple has once again fixed six more such apps.

Cyber criminals managed to pass malicious apps through the Apple app “notarization” process for the second time this year, reports ZDNet.

The malware passed through the strict Apple “notarisation” process that scans an app for security issues. Once approved, Mac’s in-built security screening software called “Gatekeeper” allowed the app to run.

Once added to the GateKeeper whitelist, notarized apps can be opened and installed with a simple click, without any warnings or popups.

“App notarization has been mandatory for all apps that want to run on Apple’s newest macOS releases, like Catalina and Big Sur”.

The six new notarised apps posed as Flash installers.

Once installed, the apps would download and install the OSX/MacOffers adware.

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