Samsung on Monday said it will launch Galaxy M53 5G, its next M series smartphone, on April 22 that may cost around Rs 25,000.

Galaxy M53 5G comes with segment-best 108 MP camera, ‘Auto’ data switching and sAMOLED+ display.

The ‘Auto’ data switching feature helps consumers stay connected through their secondary SIM seamlessly for calls or data streaming when the Primary SIM loses network, according to the company.

The devices houses sAMOLED+ display while the Infinity-O display with 120Hz refresh rate comes with Gorilla Glass 5 protection and makes content look bright and vivid.

Galaxy M53 5G also comes with Object Eraser, Video Call Effects and Photo Remaster features.

Object Eraser makes any shot flawless by erasing unwanted object from your pictures.

“Video Call Effects let you set the background of your choice during video calls. Consumers can also bring life to their old or low quality photos with the Photo Remaster feature,” said the company.

Galaxy M53 5G is Samsung’s second M series smartphone this year.

Earlier this month, Samsung launched Galaxy M33 5G with a large 6000mAh battery and 120Hz FHD+ display in the country.

Galaxy M33 5G is priced at Rs 18,999 for 6GB+128GB and Rs 20,499 for 8GB+128GB variant.

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After rolling out emoji reactions, Meta-owned WhatsApp is reportedly adding the option to hide your ‘Last Seen’ status from specific contacts.

With the latest beta release of its iOS app, WhatsApp has added an option that allows users to limit specific individuals from seeing their “Last Scene” status, according to WABetaInfo.

If you are not familiar with that part of WhatsApp, it is the feature that indicates when someone last checked the app, and it is a way to find out if a contact may have potentially seen your message even if they have read receipts turned off, reports Engadget.

For a while now, WhatsApp has allowed you to limit who sees your status to only your contacts. You can also disable the feature altogether, but you have not had the ability to prevent specific individuals from seeing that information.

However, WhatsApp iOS beta version 22.9.0.70 adds a new “My Contacts Except” option under the Last Seen section of the app’s privacy settings.

According to WABetaInfo, adding an individual to that list also prevents you from seeing their status.

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Web browser company Opera has announced that its Crypto Browser for Web3 is now finally rolling out on iPhones and iPads.

The company said that Web3 is gaining further momentum day by day.

“The Opera Crypto Browser, for Windows, Mac and Android, is a dedicated web3 browser with a built-in non-custodial crypto wallet,” the company said in a blogpost.

“Built for crypto experts and novices alike, it provides a streamlined and comprehensible user experience with decentralised apps (dapps), games and metaverse platforms, so that no one, including our friends on Macs and iPhones, is left out,” it added.

Among its features is a news and data aggregator called Crypto Corner, a dedicated start page with live crypto information and updates, crypto asset prices and gas fees, as well as crypto events, airdrops, and even podcasts.

It brings together all the information users need to both learn about and stay up to date on, the world of crypto.

“The Opera Crypto Browser Project was built to simplify the Web3 user experience that has often been bewildering for mainstream users. Opera believes Web3 has to be easy to use in order to reach its full potential and a mass adoption,” said Jorgen Arnesen, EVP Mobile at Opera.

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Upgrades are integral part of our lives and as the last two years saw millions work from home, study and create, Apple has also enhanced its portfolio to address the new hybrid workforce/learning and a booming creators and gamers’ ecosystem in India and globally.

Everyone of us is now a content creator, thanks to the availability of several online apps/platforms, and the new iPad Air — which joins the powerful iPad Pro, the popular iPad (9th generation) and iPad mini — with Apple-designed M1 chip promises to deliver a massive leap in performance for all of us.

Will this be your go-to-device in the new hybrid normal? Let us dig out.

First and foremost, it is no denying the fact that with the breakthrough M1 chip and Ultra Wide front camera with Center Stage (for a more natural video conferencing experience), iPad Air is now more powerful, more capable, and simply more fun than ever.

With the M1 chip, the 8-core CPU delivers up to 60 per cent faster performance, and the 8-core GPU delivers up to 2x faster graphics performance compared to the previous iPad Air, says the company.

The outcome is outstanding while creating, gaming or regular work.

From editing multiple streams of 4K video, to playing graphics-intensive games, redesigning a room in 3D, and more realistic augmented reality (AR), the performance of M1 will enable you to do more than ever.

The new iPad Air with 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display comes in space grey, starlight, pink, purple, and new blue finishes.

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Tech giant Apple has reportedly delayed its augmented reality (AR) headset and will likely only launch at the beginning of the next year.

Supply chain constraints and the fact that the tech giant does not want to release its first AR device in limited stock forced the company to push back the date again, reports GSMArena.

Initial expectations sit at around 1 to 1.5 million sales in the first year, which is quite an ambitious goal, the report said.

Although AR and VR glasses are not a new thing, Apple’s solution, which is tipped to cost around $2,000, will be the first one in the premium segment and that’s another reason not to release the device in limited quantities from the start.

A recent report said that the headset would feature advanced micro OLED displays.

Micro-OLED displays are built directly onto chip wafers rather than a glass substrate, which results in displays that are thinner, smaller, and more power-efficient.

Micro OLED displays have a much faster microsecond response time which is good for AR and VR applications.

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Walmart-owned digital payments firm PhonePe, mobile platform Indus OS, Affle Global Pte Ltd (AGPL) and Ventureast (VPF) said that they are moving towards an out of court settlement regarding the dispute about PhonePe acquisition of Indus OS.

In a joint statement, the firms said that the settlement of the dispute involving VPF shares in Indus OS is a significant step towards a greater outcome for Indus OS and its stakeholders.

The joining of many important forces (Indus OS Founders, PhonePe, Samsung and AGPL) would anchor Indus OS in the next part of its value creation journey.

“The strategic confluence of parties and the long-term alignment could not have been accomplished without the initial strife, and the subsequent maturity of vision and leadership by all parties,” said the companies in a statement on Wednesday night.

Different parties have played supporting roles in the Indus OS journey. Ventureast played a key role in the initial stages of bringing in angel investors and VC investors even before they were an investor, and subsequently was the investor who backed Indus OS in a maximum number of rounds. AGPL has delivered strategic value creation and sustainable growth.

“Now with PhonePe’s involvement last year, and the long-term alignment of the founders, PhonePe, AGPL and Samsung that is coming about now, the value accretion may be huge for all stakeholders including the entrepreneurs and consumers in India,” said the companies.

The issue goes back to last year when PhonePe was in the process of acquiring Indus OS for $60 million. The acquisition was expected to help PhonePe in its “super app and vernacular language” strategy to integrate various apps on its platform. The move was expected to help PhonePe to compete better with players such as Paytm, Google Pay and Amazon Pay, which are also building similar capabilities.

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Tech giant Google has quietly launched its most awaited ‘Switch to Android’ app on the App Store in some countries, including the US.

According to TechCrunch, the app promises to make the transition between mobile platforms easier to manage by helping users import their contacts, calendar, photos and videos to their new Android phone.

The app also instructs users how to turn off Apple’s iMessage to get text messages on their new device and has them connect with iCloud to migrate their photo and video library to Android.

Google’s Switch to Android website has not yet been updated to indicate the new app is available and the company has not officially announced its launch, the report said.

The app is also not appearing on Google’s developer page on App Store or in App Store search results. It can only be found when clicking the direct link, it added.

Currently, the Switch to Android website guides users through the standard process for moving to Android which involves users backing up their contacts, calendar, photos, and videos via the Google Drive iOS app before changing devices.

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OnePlus 10 Pro 5G is a maiden OnePlus premium flagship smartphone to launch after its integration with OPPO. With premium glass-metal construction and top-notch specifications, the OnePlus 10 Pro 5G has the classic OnePlus underpinnings. However, one can clearly see OPPO’s influence on the smartphone on the interface side. This is despite the phone running on the OxygenOS interface, which has been core to the OnePlus experience. So, how does the integration change the scheme of things for OnePlus. Importantly, how is the experience using the OnePlus 10 Pro? Let’s find out:

Design

The OnePlus 10 Pro 5G looks similar to the OnePlus 9 Pro (review), except for the design of the rear camera module. It boasts a premium construction with glass on the front and the back, and an aluminium chassis. The glass on the front and back has a two-side curved profile with smooth contours that make the phone easy to handle and operate. The smartphone comes in two colourways – volcanic black and emerald forest. The emerald forest (review unit) colour sparkles despite featuring an anti-glare coating on the back glass cover and, therefore, looks novel.

The phone is neither heavy nor bulky, but appropriately built for comfortable use. It is sturdy and boasts Gorilla Glass Victus protection on the front and Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the back. Moreover, the OnePlus 10 Pro 5G is IP68-rated for water and dust resistance. Therefore, the phone has a chance at surviving in the face of water and dust but it is strongly advised not to intentionally put its ingress protection capability to test by doing so.

The only thing odd about the design is the rather expanded rear camera module. It does not look bad and boasts ceramic coating for resistance against everyday abuse, but the generously spaced triple-camera array seems like an afterthought in the overall design language.

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OnePlus 10 Pro 5G is a maiden OnePlus premium flagship smartphone to launch after its integration with OPPO. With premium glass-metal construction and top-notch specifications, the OnePlus 10 Pro 5G has the classic OnePlus underpinnings. However, one can clearly see OPPO’s influence on the smartphone on the interface side. This is despite the phone running on the OxygenOS interface, which has been core to the OnePlus experience. So, how does the integration change the scheme of things for OnePlus. Importantly, how is the experience using the OnePlus 10 Pro? Let’s find out:

Design

The OnePlus 10 Pro 5G looks similar to the OnePlus 9 Pro (review), except for the design of the rear camera module. It boasts a premium construction with glass on the front and the back, and an aluminium chassis. The glass on the front and back has a two-side curved profile with smooth contours that make the phone easy to handle and operate. The smartphone comes in two colourways – volcanic black and emerald forest. The emerald forest (review unit) colour sparkles despite featuring an anti-glare coating on the back glass cover and, therefore, looks novel.

The phone is neither heavy nor bulky, but appropriately built for comfortable use. It is sturdy and boasts Gorilla Glass Victus protection on the front and Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the back. Moreover, the OnePlus 10 Pro 5G is IP68-rated for water and dust resistance. Therefore, the phone has a chance at surviving in the face of water and dust but it is strongly advised not to intentionally put its ingress protection capability to test by doing so.

The only thing odd about the design is the rather expanded rear camera module. It does not look bad and boasts ceramic coating for resistance against everyday abuse, but the generously spaced triple-camera array seems like an afterthought in the overall design language.

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A day after India-US announced the intent to establish a new Education and Skills Development Working Group, a Washington-based expert said that higher education cooperation between the two countries will help deliver the real promise of diplomatic relationship.

“Great today to be at Howard University to have a meeting with the Secretary of State and India’s External Affairs Minister to talk about the real promise of US-India higher education cooperation,” Richard Rossow, Wadhwani Chair in US-India Policy Studies at Center for Strategic and International Studies, told ANI.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday participated in a conversation with students, faculty, and leadership of Howard University. Both foreign ministers interacted with Indian students, scholars, and researchers who have worked in the United States, and with US students, scholars, and researchers.

Talking about the key takeaways from this interaction, Rossow said the high-level takeaway is that both ministers got together to talk about higher education. “When you talk about 200,000 Indian students coming here, number of US universities that have research partnerships there-a lot going on that underpins many other elements of our relationship,” he added.

At the working level, Rossow said that the ministers announced during the 2+2 Summit on Monday that they created a new working group on higher education skills development. “Trying to underscore and underpin this vital element of our relationship that sits there, very exciting to see this much attention,” he said.

On the question of what more can be done in the field of higher education, Rossow said “Once the American business realise that India is today and certainly will be in future a critical part of global investment and trade regimes, they got to send signals to MBA students that you need a little bit of background if you gotta succeed in big corporate America.”

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