Your Tech Story

product

Flipkart Hosts the Sale for the Latest Nokia 5.1 Plus Today

News, Product, Product Management, Tech News / By

In the August month of this year, HMD had announced the launch of the new Nokia 5.1 plus smartphone. But, it did not disclose the date of the launch and the price of the smartphone. Finally, last week HMD launched the smartphone, and the sale is about to start in less than an hour, today, on Flipkart.

Last week, HMD unveiled the Nokia 5.1 plus, having an iPhone X-like 5.86-inch HD+, 2.5D rounded edge glass display screen. The smartphone is a look-alike of the Nokia 6.1 plus, supporting 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage expandable up to 400GB external storage.

nokia
Image Source: gadgets360cdn.com

The Nokia 5.1 Plus runs on the Android 8.1 Oreo and is powered by octa-core MediaTek Helio P60 SoC, having advanced AI features. The smartphone will get regular security updates, and soon it can be updated with the latest Android Pie. The Nokia 5.1 plus has a glass sandwich design providing a great grip and better touch properties for the user. The smartphone will be available in Gloss Black and Gloss Midnight Blue colours.

The new Nokia 5.1 plus like its contemporaries, support the dual camera. It has a 13 MP f/2.0 primary sensor, and a 5 MP depth sensor. The camera is placed vertically on the back of the phone, along with the LED flash, and the fingerprint sensor. Also, it has an 8 MP f/2.2 camera with 80.4-degree wide-angle lens, on the front. The old Nokia phones were known for its battery backup and the Nokia 5.1 plus is backed up with a 3060mAh battery. It is a dual sim 4G smartphone, having a type-C USB port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Nokia 5.1 plus sale will take place on Flipkart, that will start today in the afternoon. The sale will start in less than an hour, and the smartphone will cost 10,999 INR. The buyers must update their address and the payment method on the site. It is expected that, with such a price, the smartphone will lack the availability soon on successful completion of the sale. The buyer will receive multiple offers, like Rs 1800 cashback for the Airtel postpaid users, and other EMI offers on various bank’s cards.

Microsoft Announced the Office 2019 Setup for Windows & Mac OS

News, Product, Product Management, Tech News / By
Microsoft-Office-2019
Image Source: fonearena.com

During the Microsoft’s Ignite conference held in Orlando, Florida, Microsoft announced many new products, and have upgraded many older products, too. Among all those products, Microsoft has announced the new Microsoft Office 2019. The Office 2019 is the successor of the Office 2016 and has been embedded with all the Office 365 ProPlus features, that were added to it, in the past three years. Most importantly, the Office 2019 is built for both Windows and Mac operating systems and is available for volume licensed customers.

The new Ms Office 2019 has got different updates for each of its members, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Project, Visio, Access, and Publisher. With the cinematic presentation included to PowerPoint, Microsoft has also added SVG, 3D model support, and 4k video export to it. The Office 2019 has also added the play in-click sequence feature, and for better presentation, features like Morph and Zoom to Powerpoint. The Word has got a new translator along with the focus mode feature. There have also been upgrades in the security features, usability and accessibility of the Ms Office.

The Office 2019 is focused on lesser network consumption, security, streamlined administration and time efficiency. The setup is going to have a roaming pencil case, ribbon customizations, pressure sensitivity and tilt effects added to it, to help the user to create a document more easily. The Ms Excel is also upgraded with the new data analysis feature along with formulas, charts etc.

By the coming week, Microsoft will also have upgrades to its servers including the Exchange Server 2019, Skype for Business Server 2019, SharePoint Server 2019, and Project Server 2019. The Office 2019 is equipped with all the previous useful updates and according to Microsoft, it is not going to receive any further updates in the future. However, the Office 365 ProPlus will continue receiving regular monthly updates.

Facebook Unveils the Latest Standalone VR Headset Oculus Quest

Facebook, News, Product, Product Management, Tech News / By
Oculus Quest
Image Source: businessinsider.com

Oculus Connect conference took place in San Jose, California, on Wednesday. The Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook’s latest VR headset, during the event. The VR headset is called the Oculus Quest. Facebook had already unveiled its prototype two years ago that gave a hint of its being similar to the Gear VR pro or the Rift lite.

Now, when it has been showcased, in the yesterday’s event, we found it most similar to the Rift, but without having a PC base. The new Quest is a wireless, independent VR box that lets you move across 4,000 square feet of space. The Oculus Quest is embedded with the inside-out tracking technology, i.e., the headset has its inbuilt movement detection sensors, rather having it on the external bases.

The Quest supports the 6DOF (Six Degrees of Freedom), i.e., the headset can measure the user’s position in 6 different directions, in the virtual environment, with accuracy. It has a 1600×1440 resolution display that makes the experience more realistic.

Along with the Quest headset, Facebook also unveiled the Touch Controllers, a set of controllers. The controllers are similar to the Rift’s handheld motion Touch Controllers and are made compatible with 50 existing Oculus applications.

Facebook also previewed new and more realistic Avatars for the VR developers. The Avatars will be more expressive with their eye movements and lip sync properties. The Oculus Quest is Facebook’s first all-in-one standalone VR system, that doesn’t need any computer-based setup and gives you the freedom to walk around freely. This amazing product will cost around $399 (Rs. 28000) and will come in the market by the spring of next year.

Amazon Added New Product to its Echo Speaker Series

News, Product, Product Management, Tech News / By

Amazon hosted its hardware event in Seattle, Washington, in the Amazon’s Spheres biodome, located next to its corporate office. In the one hour of the hardware event, senior vice president of devices and services, Dave Limp claimed to showcase 70 products, including 13 new devices and new software updates. The event was a sign that Amazon is trying really hard to expand in every field.

In the new launch, Amazon has focussed on its Echo-branded speakers as its priority. It has updated its Echo Dot, Echo Plus, and Echo Show speakers, enhancing the sound and look up to 70 per cent.

amazon
Image Source: techhive.com

The exterior of those speakers has also been changed to a better version increasing the size of the speakers. Even the addition o new features to the speakers, these are still available at the same price. The Echo Dot is available for $69.64 (Rs 4,499) and the Echo Plus, with a larger 3-inch Neodymium woofer is available for $208 (Rs 14,999). The Echo Show, on the other hand, is out with improved sound, 10-inch HD display and even support for Microsoft’s Skype for video calling. The Echo Show with its new update, have got a web browser access for the users, on which the user can play music or search any recipe. The cost of Echo Show’s new updated version is $228 (Rs 16,407).

The major new products that Amazon has launched, comprises the series of the Echo Companion speakers. The Echo Companion series covers the Echo Sub, Echo Link, Echo Link Amp, and the Echo Input. The cost of the Echo Sub is $130 (Rs. 9334) and can be used by plugging into one or two Echos. The Echo Link and Echo Link Amp are the Sub Bwoofer, that can be paired with a stereo, making the stereo an Alexa-powered sound station. The latter product is having an additional amplifier, as well. The Echo Link is $200 (Rs 14360) box and the Echo Link Amp costs around $300 (RS 21540). The Echo Input has a four-microphone array, that is built for receiving commands from any of the rooms in a house, and is designed to support multiroom audio, so, that you can play the same song in multiple rooms.

Amazon is not only providing you with the home speakers but, also has entered into your car. It has launched an in-car speaker, powered by Alexa: Echo Auto. The Echo Auto uses the Amazon Smart Plug, worth $24.99 (Rs 24.99), and the price of the former is $49 (Rs 3518), and $25 (Rs 1795) for special invites.

Along with the speakers and the subwoofers, a wall clock with a ring of LEDs around the clock face, compatible with all of the Amazon Echo devices, costing $29.99 (Rs 2153), the Fire TV Recast DVR box providing 500GB storage, costing $229 (Rs 16442) and a microwave oven enabled by Alexa, costing $59.99 (Rs 4307), were also launched during the event. The products are ready for pre-order and will be available by the end of October 2018.

Apple’s Next-Generation iOS 12 Available On the Latest iPhones

News, Product, Product Management, Tech News / By

Apple, on Monday, launched its iOS 12, two months later the announcement of its launch in June. The much-awaited Apple iOS 12 is out and is available for the iPhones and iPad released in 2013 and later. The new iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and XR model will have this version of iOS inbuilt. Last year the release of iOS 11 was quite a disappointment as those flashy updates could not do any better for the iPhone’s performance, but slowing down the speed. After iOS 11, all the older users have been sceptical about the new updates as it had worsened the performance of their phones instead of making any improvements.

The iOS 12 has been pushed out with the claims of having better performance and new features added to it. It is good to know that this time Apple has put all its efforts in enhancing the performance of the iPhones, i.e. 40 per cent faster speed. Unlike the iOS 11, that just had a few flashy changes and redesigned the look and the appearance of the OS and the Apps.

Apple iOS 12
Image Source: futurecdn.net

In the earlier iOS versions, there used to be 10 different notifications for a single app at the same time. Now, iOS 12 has introduced group notifications for a single app. You can now manually turn off or mute the notification, for any of the apps, to avoid the disturbing notification sounds.

Like the new Android 9, Apple has also become considerate about the screen time of the user. The iOS 12 has provided an option for tracking and limiting the time the user spends on a particular app or on the phone. You can also set the time of sleep, and the app will notify you to stop using the phone and the screen will become grey. Although, you can still continue running the phone by changing the settings.

Also, the iOS has also updated its password management by providing two-factor authentication services. Similar to the iPhone X, now you can also swipe between the apps, notifications, and access the control centre, using the gesture navigation. You can also add your conversations and instructions to Siri with its new shortcuts.

The iOS 12 is also added with the feature for creating the Avatars, by mixing emojis and animoji, i.e., Memoji. You can create custom animated Animoji avatars that you can use in the real time on top of live pictures, messages and videos. The feature is currently available in the latest iPhone XS, XS Max, or XR models.

There have been many other changes as well, including easy photo sharing, easy photo searching, easy browsing eBooks, real-time object measurements, improved ARKit 2, Google Maps embedded to CarPlay, Group Video calls for up to 32 users. The group call feature has not been launched yet and will be available by the end of the year.

It is great that Apple has been thinking of improving its performance instead of the design of the iOS. And, the smaller iPhones and the older iPads will also enjoy these features without worrying about the poor performance.

Verizon to Step into 5G Internet Service With its Home Broadband

News, Product / By
Verizon 5G
Image Source: verizon.com

Last year, in the November, Verizon had indicated the launch of its 5G home network, by the end of 2018. It has been working on its 5G network for a long time and finally, it has announced its launch to be on October 1st this year. The 5G home is simply concentrated on providing faster wireless network, that will be a huge growth in the mobile technology. The 5G home internet will be available in the American metro cities including Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Sacramento, and will be simply called 5G home.

The world’s first 5G commercial service, 5G home, is currently open for subscriptions and the installation will start on 1st of October this year. The 5G home is going to provide a basic speed of 300 Mbps and can reach 1Gbps, with no data caps, depending upon the locality and the signal range.

The early subscribers will get benefits like free installation, free YouTube and complimentary services for three months, and, also a free Chromecast or Apple TV 4K. The cost for the Verizon’s existing customers for the 5G home will be $50 a month, while the new customers will be charged $70, for their monthly subscription.

The 5G home is not purely a 5G service, but, is claimed to be faster than the 4G and LTE data networks. The 5G home is restricted to only a few cities and is a home broadband network. T-mobile has also announced a better 5G network, in competition with the Verizon 5G service and companies like Sprint and LG, are planning to launch the first 5G smartphones in the coming year.