The OPPO Enco W31 is a pair of true wireless stereo earphones that Chinese smartphone maker OPPO launched recently as part of its bid to enter product categories other than smartphones. Priced at Rs 3,999, these earphones boast an in-ear design, something most of its peers in the segment lack, and an ingress protection rating (IP54) for water and dust resistance.

On paper, the Enco W31 seems to be a strong contender in the budget TWS earphones segment. But is it worth your money? Let’s find out:

 OPPO Enco W31: Design

Though budget earphones, the Enco W31 boasts a design better than your regular ‘budget’ product. These earphones come in a petite circular-shaped charging-cum-storage case, which is convenient to carry and fits easily even in the most cramped places like jeans pockets. Made of plastic, the case has a matte texture with OPPO printed on top and a USB type-C charging port at the back. Overall, the case has a minimal yet functional design.

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MediaTek on Tuesday expanded its G-series mobile processors with the launch of Helio G35 and Helio G25 system-on-chips. The SoCs feature MediaTek HyperEngine game technology for enhanced gaming performance without compromising on the power efficiency. Besides gaming-centric enhancements, the chipsets are touted to bring improvements with regard to imaging capabilities. Targeting the global smartphone user base, the new chips are designed for feature-rich smartphones in budget and midrange segment.

“The MediaTek Helio G25 and G35 chips offer smartphone users premium features included in our other G-series family, including enhanced power efficiency, optimum performance, seamless gameplay, and enhanced photography,” said Dr Yenchi Lee, Deputy General Manager, Wireless Communications Business Unit, MediaTek.

ALSO READ: Qualcomm unveils 5G-ready Snapdragon 690 SoC for midrange phones: Know more

Both the chips boast ARM Cortex-A53 CPUs, which operate at a peak frequency of up to 2GHz on the Helio G25 and up to 2.3GHz on the Helio G35. The chips have IMG PowerVR GE8320 graphic processing unit, with speeds of up to 650MHz and up to 680 MHz for the MediaTek Helio G25 and G35, respectively. Built on 12nm FinFET production process, the chips feature MediaTek HyperEngine’s intelligent power management for enhanced battery-life and power efficiency.

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Vivo is known for its camera-centric smartphones. Over the years, the Chinese smartphone maker has made strides in other smartphone categories but imaging remains one of its key core strengths in its smartphones. Continuing the legacy is the Vivo V19, which the company recently launched in India to expand its V-series line-up. On paper, the Vivo V19 seems to be a premium camera-centric smartphone with something in store for everyone. But is it? Let’s find out:

Vivo V19 price in India

The Vivo V19 comes in 128GB and 256GB internal storage variants, both with 8 GB of RAM, priced at Rs 27,999 and Rs 31,990, respectively.

Vivo V19 specifications round-up

The Vivo V19 has a 6.44-inch super AMOLED display with a punch hole for selfie camera. It boasts a 3D glass curved back with a gradient design that looks premium. The phone comes in two colours — Mystic Silver and Piano Black (Business Standard reviewed the Mystic Silver unit). Overall, the phone is lightweight and has good ergonomics. However, it has a camera bump on the back that makes it wobble when kept on flat surfaces. Speaking of camera, the phone has a 48-megapixel primary rear camera, paired with 8MP ultra-wide sensor, 2MP depth sensor and a 2MP macro sensor. On the front, the phone has a 32MP-based dual selfie camera. The phone is powered by a 4,500mAh battery and supports 33W fast wired charging. The V19 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 system-on-chip and it ships with Android 10 operating system-based Funtouch 10.0 user interface.

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From 61st position last year, the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore has broken into the global top 50 Executive MBA (EMBA) Rankings by QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) this year at 36th position.

The EMBA rankings measure management programs meant for executives with prior work experience. In India, business schools (B-schools) like IIMs have their flagship programs open for both freshers and working professionals. However, they also run one year executive management program or MBA that are strictly meant for those with prior work experience of anywhere between five and ten years or beyond.

  Under QS’ EMBA rankings, IIM Bangalore’s EPGP program has been ranked.

Methodology of the EMBA rankings provide varied weightage to five metric groups including employer reputation, thought leadership, executive profile, career outcomes and diversity. While employer reputation carries a weightage of 30 per cent, thought leadership and executive profile hold 25 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively. Career outcomes and diversity hold the rest 20 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.

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TikTok has not shared information on Indian users with China or other foreign governments, it said on Tuesday after New Delhi last evening banned it along with 58 other apps with Chinese links.

“We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications,” said Tik Tok India head Nikhil Gandhi in a statement.

TikTok “continued to comply with data privacy and security requirements under Indian law” and had not shared any information of users in India with “any foreign government, including the Chinese government”. The viral app added: “if we are requested to in the future we would not do so.”

ALSO READ: India bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, UC Browser and others

“TikTok has democratized the internet by making it available in 14 Indian languages, with hundreds of millions of users, artists, story tellers, educators and performers depending on it for their livelihood, many of whom are first time internet users,” said the statement.

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The Galaxy Buds Plus is a pair of true wireless stereo earphones from South Korean electronics maker Samsung. A successor to the Galaxy Buds, the Plus edition gets new touchpad functions, better audio drivers, additional microphone and enhanced on-battery time.

How do these improvements add up when it comes to overall experience? And where do they put the Galaxy Buds Plus in 2020? Let’s find out:

 Samsung Galaxy Buds+ design

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” seems to be the mantra behind building the Galaxy Buds+. These earphones are quite like predecessor Galaxy Buds. A closer inspection, however, shows that the buds get another tiny opening for a secondary microphone on the outside frame for better voice reception during calls. The earbuds come with three pairs of silicone-made ear tips of different sizes. These ear tips provide snug fit and the earbuds latch well into the ears. The earbuds’ fat build might draw attention, but the lightweight design and comfortable ear tips make them unnoticeable to user even after extended use.

Samsung Galaxy Buds+ features

The Galaxy Buds+ has got some new features and functionalities as part of upgrades. The earbuds support Microsoft Swift Pair feature, which makes it effortless to pair the earbuds with Bluetooth-enabled Windows 10 running notebooks. Additionally, the earbuds get Spotify integration and a simple tap and hold gesture on the earbuds’ touch pad enables the music-streaming service on the phone to play music. The earbuds have also got an enhanced ambient mode, which lets you stay aware of the surrounding noise — only if you want to.

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The Xiaomi Mi Box 4K is a peripheral device that adds smart capabilities — like internet connectivity, voice assistant and access to over-the-top (OTT) content — to non-smart televisions or monitors, when connected with high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port. Though there are several other devices offering a similar experience, such as smart set-top boxes and Amazon Fire Stick 4K, the Mi Box 4K is the only no-frills device that promises nothing more than adding smart utilities to supported non-smart screens.

How does the Mi Box 4K fare in comparison to other such devices, and which one is the best pick among? Let’s find out:

 Design

The Mi Box 4K is neither too big like set-top boxes, nor too little like the Amazon Fire Stick 4K. It is a palm-sized device with a squarish (rounded from corners) form factor. It has a dim-lit LED on the front that is hard to notice in good light conditions. Its back accommodates all its ports — HDMI port, full size USB port, power port and a 3.5mm audio out port. The ports at the back are placed far wide apart, making it possible to use all of them simultaneously. Overall, the Mi Box 4K has a minimal profile, which is good in a peripheral device. Though it is best suited for a table-top set-up, you can also put it on the television’s back like the Fire Stick 4K.

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NASA is calling on the global community for toilet designs that will work both in microgravity and lunar gravity. For this, the space agency has tied up with HeroX to launch a Lunar Loo Challenge on Thursday. Interbartolo is the project manager for the Challenge.

Space toilet technology has come some way from the grim Apollo years, when bags had to be taped to the astronaut’s buttocks in a setup that was not always as secure as might have been hoped. One mission transcript records an exchange between crew members: “Where did that come from?… There’s a turd floating through the air.” The international space station (ISS) features a large, industrial-looking Russian-made toilet that uses suction technology to overcome the challenge of pooing and peeing in microgravity. NASA, however, is seeking something that would function equally well on the lunar surface, where gravity is about a sixth of that on Earth.

NASA is already working on approaches to miniaturize and streamline the existing toilets, designed for microgravity only.  With this challenge, the agency hopes to attract radically new and different approaches to the problem of human waste capture and containment. NASA is looking for a next-generation device that is smaller, more efficient. These designs may be adapted for use in the Artemis lunar landers, mission to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024.

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The Mi Notebook 14 Horizon Edition, a thin and light notebook series from Chinese internet company Xiaomi, recently made its global debut from India. It comes with 10th-generation Intel Core i5 and Intel Core i7 processor variants. The two variants are quite similar — other than the processor, of course — so, they have a price difference of only Rs 5,000.

Which one makes a better value proposition, and why? Before we answer this pertinent question, let’s look at what the Mi Notebook 14 Horizon Edition has in store for laptop users:

Mi Notebook 14 Horizon Edition Design

The Mi Notebook 14 Horizon Edition has an intriguing design, which you otherwise get only in premium notebooks like Apple MacBook Pro and Dell XPS 13. Made of aluminium and magnesium alloy, the notebook looks premium and has a compact form factor that is both thin (17.15mm) and lightweight (1.35 kg). The design is accentuated by a 14-inch screen, which leaves minimal bezels on the top and sides, and the prominent bottom bezel is also marginally thin if you compare it with other notebooks in the same segment. However, the almost bezel-less design comes at a cost — the notebook lacks a built-in webcam. Thankfully, Xiaomi is shipping the unit with an external Mi-branded 720p webcam, which does the job just fine but looks awkward and goes against the notebooks’ minimal aesthetics.

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Google has redesigned Photos, which brings stories-like ‘memories’ to give more prominence to older photos and videos. It also brings search front-and-centre with a new three-tab structure: Photos, Search and Library.

The main tab contains all the photos and videos but users will see larger thumbnails, auto-playing videos, and less white space between photos.

 “At the very top, you’ll also notice a larger Memories carousel. It’s become one of our most beloved features, with more than 120 million people viewing Memories every month,” informed Google.

Google said it is putting search front and centre to give you quick access to the people, places, and things most important to you.

“The library tab contains the most important destinations in your photo library, like Albums, Favorites, Trash, Archive and more. If you’re in the US, EU or Canada, you’ll also see our Print Store, where you can purchase printed products featuring your own photos,” Google explained.

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