Microsoft has confirmed that it will not release a lightweight and simplified Windows 10X operating system.

Billed as a competition to the Chrome OS, the 10X operating system was expected to come along with new dual-screen devices like the Surface Neo before the pandemic hit the world.

“Instead of bringing a product called Windows 10X to market in 2021 like we originally intended, we are leveraging learnings from our journey thus far and accelerating the integration of key foundational 10X technology into other parts of Windows and products at the company,” said John Cable, head of Windows servicing and delivery, in a blog post on Tuesday.

Microsoft said that its teams continue to invest in areas where the 10X technology will help meet its customer needs as well as evaluate technology experiences both in software and hardware that will be useful to its customers in the future.

“This shift in thinking is an incredible example of the company’s value of a growth mindset at work and exemplifies our customer-first focus,” Cable said.

Microsoft said that in the current environment, people continue to rely on PCs more than ever.

“As a result, we are initially taking a measured seeker-based approach to the rollout of the May 2021 Update. We are throttling availability up over the coming weeks to ensure a reliable download experience for all, so the update may not be offered to you right away,” Cable informed.

The May 2021 Update is available initially to select devices running Windows 10, version 2004 or later who are interested in experiencing the latest feature updates and are ready to install this release on their device.

As a first half (H1) of the calendar year release, all editions of the May 2021 Update (version 21H1) will receive 18 months of servicing and support, beginning from Tuesday, the company said.

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Apple Inc. is preparing to release several new Mac laptops and desktops with faster processors, new designs and improved connectivity to external devices, accelerating the company’s effort to replace Intel Corp. chips and leapfrog rival PC makers.

The overhaul encompasses a broad range of Macs, including Apple’s higher-end laptop, the MacBook Pro; the laptop aimed at the mass market, the MacBook Air; and its desktop computers, the Mac Pro, iMac and Mac mini, according to people familiar with the matter.

Redesigned MacBook Pros are expected to debut as soon as early this summer, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss an internal matter, followed by a revamped MacBook Air, a new low-end MacBook Pro and an all-new Mac Pro workstation. The company is also working on a higher-end Mac mini desktop and larger iMac. The machines will feature processors designed in-house that will greatly outpace the performance and capabilities of the current M1 chips, the people said.

Apple plans to launch the redesigned MacBook Pros in 14-inch (code name J314) and 16-inch screen (J316) sizes. They’ll have a redesigned chassis, magnetic MagSafe charger and more ports for connecting external drives and devices. Apple is also bringing back the HDMI port and SD card slot, which it nixed in previous versions, sparking criticism from photographers and the like.

Apple on Tuesday said the new 24-inch iMac will be available in stores on May 21. The shares were mostly unchanged.

PC shipments jumped 32% in the first quarter, Gartner Inc. said last month, the fastest year-over-year growth since the firm began tracking the market in 2000. Apple was the fourth-leading seller with 15% of the U. S. market, an increase from 12% in the quarter a year earlier, and 8% globally.

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South Korean video game developer Krafton on Tuesday announced pre-registration for Battlegrounds Mobile India, a replacement for its now banned game PUBG Mobile. The pre-registration for the game is now live on Google’s Play Store in India for Android devices.

Krafton says, players pre-registering for Battlegrounds Mobile India will get 4 amazing rewards — the Recon Mask, the Recon Outfit, Celebration Expert Title, and 300 AG. These rewards are for people who pre-register.What is Battlegrounds Mobile India

The Battlegrounds Mobile India is a battle royale game where multiple players employ strategies to fight and be the last man standing.

The India-exclusive multiplayer game from the makers or popular gaming title PUBG Mobile is free-to-play and offers diverse game modes — squad-based or one-on-one.

The game features diverse maps with different terrains in a virtual setting. Based on Unreal Engine 4, the game is touted to bring alive fantastic worlds augmented by 3D sound for immersive experience.

The game requires devices based on Android 5.1.1 operating system with at least 2GB RAM.How to pre-register for Battlegrounds Mobile India

To pre-register for the Battlegrounds Mobile India game, go to Google Play Store and search for Battlegrounds Mobile India. Alternatively, click here to visit the game landing page. On the landing page, click on the “Pre-Register” button, and your rewards will automatically be available to claim on game launch.

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Google I/O is an annual developer conference where the technology giant showcases its innovation competence with regard to products and services. This year, the company showcased some futuristic technologies besides detailing the upgrades coming to Android and Wear OS operating systems for smartphones and smartwatches, respectively. The Google I/O 2021 was full of surprises and interesting announcements. Here is a quick recap of everything announced at the Google I/O 2021:Android 12

Google has come a long way enhancing its Android operating system for smartphones. The next iteration of the OS is set to get major design changes, including a revamped look called ‘Material You’ that dynamically changes the user interface and its elements based on users activity, apps, time of day, weather, etc. In retrospective, OPPO experimented with something of similar sorts in its Android 11 based ColorOS11 custom skin. The Chinese smartphone maker integrated tons of UI customisation options within the user interface to give the OS a new look. In Android 12, however, the changes are dynamic and not require user intervention.WearOS

Google’s operating system for smartwatches is set to get a revamp both in terms of design and utility features. In retrospective, the company earlier acquired wearables maker Fitbit. Now, the latter’s health and fitness centric features and tools are coming to WearOS, along with new apps integrations. Besides, the WearOS is set to get new capabilities for Google apps — like turn-by-turn navigation in Google Maps, or downloading songs from YouTube Music for offline listening. This is not it, Google also announced a unified smartwatch platform in partnership with Samsung, which has so far been excelling at making smartwatches powered by Tizen operating system. The unified platform will allow developers to make apps that work on both Tizen and Wear OS. In all likelihood, the WearOS is going to be the OS of next generation Samsung Galaxy Watch.Smart Canvas

For business users, Google announced ‘Smart Canvas’. It is a single window integrated with Google productivity and collaboration tools, including the most commonly used ones like Docs, Meets, GDrive. Google said it is experimenting with new features as a part of its efforts to improve the Smart Canvas user experience. The Smart Canvas update is rolling out and it will be updated in the months to come with new features and tools.

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The consumer internal SSD market shipments recorded 34 per cent growth (quarter on quarter) in the first quarter of 2021 while on an annual basis, the overall market registered remarkable 172 per cent growth in Q1, a new report showed on Tuesday.

While PCIe/NVMe SSD shipments registered 433 per cent (YoY) growth on a small base, portable SSD market shipments were up 64 per cent in the first quarter of the year, according to market research firm CMR’s ‘India Hard Drive Market Review for Q1 CY2021’.

In the overall consumer internal SSD market, WD captured 14 per cent market share followed by Adata capturing 13 per cent and Crucial at third position with 12 per cent share.

“The internal SSD market growth is largely attributed to the increased relevance of PCs due to the extended work from home (WFH) and remote learning. Growing awareness about the supreme features of SSDs over traditional HDDs gave an additional boost,” said Shipra Sinha, Analyst, Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR.

“Consumers inclination towards SSDs was clearly visible giving ample growth opportunity. A significant contribution was observed by the lesser-known brands thus increasing the overall internal SSD base,” Sinha added.

In the external SSD market, Samsung stood at the top spot with 51 per cent market share followed by WD at 41 per cent.

WD shipments increased by 32 per cent YoY, while Samsung shipments went up by 109 per cent YoY.

Seagate captured the third position with 6 per cent market share, the CMR report said.

CMR anticipates the internal SSD market to grow 25-30 per cent (YoY) by the end of CY2021 on back of increased SSD adoption and penetration, making it a mainstream product.

Portable SSDs are also expected to grow 50 per cent YoY on a small base.

“Unabated growth in data and increasing complexity in data management will drive portable SSDs future growth,” Sinha said.

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Smartphone brand realme is finally foraying into its much-anticipated TechLife vertical with launching a new brand on May 25 that begins with the letter D.

The brand name with ‘D’ letter was teased by Madhav Seth, Vice President, realme and CEO, realme India and Europe, during the 8 Pro smartphone launch last month.

The new brand will have its own line of products, industry sources told IANS on Monday.

The launch of the first brand in realme TechLife ecosystem will not be a big splash launch owing to the ongoing Covid situation in the country, they added.

The TechLife ecosystem of the company will look for innovative partners globally to provide products with a new technology experience for users through independent R&D, joint custom development and product selection.

The fast-growing smartphone brand realme earlier told IANS that TechLife will help other budding brands with similar dreams to make more versatile technology products in the country.

“We will be supporting our partners who have joined the ‘realme TechLife’ platform with our product, R&D, supply and quality assurance. We leave options to onboard brands to choose their original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partners freely,” Sheth had said.

“Some brands also own their own factories. In case any brands need support of a local OEM, realme will provide all the support in figuring out local OEM partners for them, who could help them manufacture their products and give the best quality assurance,” Sheth elaborated.

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The Centre on Monday told the Delhi High Court that it views the new privacy policy of WhatsApp as a violation of the Indian Information Technology (IT) law and rules, and sought directions to the social media platform to make it clear whether it was confirming to the same.

The central government’s claim was made before a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh during hearing of several pleas challenging WhatsApp’s new privacy policy, which according to the platform has come into effect from May 15 and has not been deferred.

WhatsApp told the bench that while its new privacy policy has come into effect from May 15, it would not start deleting accounts of those users who have not accepted it and would try to encourage them to get on board.

The platform said there was no universal or uniform time limit after which it will start to delete accounts as each user would be dealt with it on case-to-case basis.

The bench issued notice to the Centre, Facebook and WhatsApp and sought their stand on one of the pleas by a lawyer who has claimed that the new policy violates users’ right to privacy under the Constitution.

During the hearing, the Centre said that according to it the policy was in violation of Indian IT laws and rules.

It said it has written to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the issue and a reply is awaited and therefore, there was a need to maintain status quo with regard to implementation of the policy.

WhatsApp, opposing the contention, said it was conforming to Indian IT law and rules and added that its policy has come into effect from May 15, but it won’t be deleting accounts right away.

When the matter was initially listed before a single judge, the Centre had said that WhatsApp was treating Indian users differently from Europeans over opting out of its new privacy policy which was a matter of concern for the government and it was looking into the issue.

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Apple has announced that its music streaming service Apple Music will get lossless audio and Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos in June. Both the upgrades will be available for free to the Apple Music subscribers, including those on family and student plans.

According to Apple, the default Apple Music setting will let users automatically play Dolby Atmos tracks on all AirPods and Beats headphones with an Apple H1 or W1 chip, as well as the built-in speakers in the latest versions of iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Moreover, Apple Music will be adding new Dolby Atmos tracks and will be curating a special set of Dolby Atmos playlists to help listeners find the music they love.

“Apple Music is making its biggest advancement ever in sound quality,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats. “Listening to a song in Dolby Atmos is like magic. The music comes from all around you and sounds incredible. Now we are bringing this truly innovative and immersive experience to our listeners with music from their favorite artists like J Balvin, Gustavo Dudamel, Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Kacey Musgraves, The Weeknd, and so many more.

Subscribers will also be able to listen to their music in the highest audio quality with Lossless Audio. Apple Music as we know it is about to change forever.”

ALSO READ: Apple India logs record quarter: PC, smartphone, iPad biz grows rapidly

As for the lossless audio, Apple says it will have 75 million supported audio songs in its catalog by the end of the year. The lossless audio will be facilitated by Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC). Unlike the Spatial Audio, Lossless Audio will be available as an opt in due to the large file sizes and bandwidth needed for Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless Audio to stream. To turn on lossless audio, subscribers must run the latest version of Apple Music and can go to Settings — Music — Audio Quality. Apple says, the Apple Music offers Hi-Resolution Lossless all the way up to 24 bit at 192 kHz.

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Home-grown audio accessory brand Zebronics recently launched the Zebronics Juke Bar 3800 Pro Dolby soundbar audio system. Priced at Rs 6,100, the soundbar is one of the few in entry-level segment to boast Dolby Digital Plus sound. Though it comes sans a woofer, the Zebronics Juke Bar 3800 Pro Dolby seems to be a value-for-money proposition in its segment. Is it? Let’s find out:

Design

The Juke Bar 3800 Pro Dolby looks similar to other Zebronics soundbars. It has a sleek and minimal design, and good build quality. The body is made mostly of plastic, with a metal grille at the front side covering the speakers. There is no dedicated subwoofer here but the speakers has a full range speakers to deliver ample bass. The soundbar is decently sized and looks ideal together with a 43-inch screen. You can mount the soundbar on a wall or place it on table top. It ships with a tiny remote control for ease of use.

As for the input ports, most of them are available on the back side of the soundbar. The most commonly used ones, however, are on the sides. For example, the USB port is on the left side and the right side there is power button and volume control keys. Complementing the design is the LED indicator lights, which show input mode, volume level and equalizer in use.

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Avita continues to expand its laptop line-up in India. Known for its peppy looking thin-and-lightweight laptops, the Hong Kong-based electronics maker recently launched in India online exclusive Avita Liber V laptop. This Microsoft Windows 10 operating system-based laptop seems to be a feature-rich proposition powered by 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor. Is it as good as it seems to be on paper? Let’s find out:

Design, display and design

Being a thin-and-light laptop, the Avita Liber V looks neat and features a slim chassis that weights around 1.28 kg. Complementing the design is the minimal bezels around the display. The thin-and-light design makes it easy to operate and the compact form factor makes it easy to carry. The laptop’s silver colour unit (review unit) boasts blue coating on the top side of the display lid. While the coating enhances the looks, it might not age well and start to chip off in the long term.

On the inside, the laptop features a one-megapixel camera, accommodated on the top display bezel area, for video calls. Downside, the laptop sports a backlit keyboard, with keys spread in distance to each other for convenient usage. Though the keys spacing isgood, the keys are not big and feel inadequately sized, especially for someone with fat fingers. The keys might seem small to some but the laptop’s trackpad is big. It is easy to use and support Windows precision touch gestures. However, the touchpad placement makes it susceptible to accidental touches. The trackpad is home to the laptop’s fingerprint sensor for Windows Hello login. It is not accurate but nonetheless a good addition.

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