TechnoMinati

30 SEPTEMBER 2017 Apple has launched the  iPhone 8  and  iPhone 8 Plus  in India today, alongside 8 other countries, including Andorra, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Greenland, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Isle of Man, Israel, Jersey, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Monaco, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia and Slovenia. In India, the device is priced at INR 64,000 ($975) and INR 77,000 ($1179) for the 64GB and 256GB iPhone 8. The iPhone 8 Plus is priced at INR 73,000 ($1117) and INR 86,000 ($1317) for the same capacities. What's important here is Apple's partnership with Reliance Jio, that has come up with some impressive launch day offers to Jio subscribers. Customers purchasing the iPhone 8 or 8 Plus from Reliance will get 70% of the amount they spend back as buyback after one year of using and returning the phone. This offer is unprecedented, and takes a major chunk out of the hefty ...

30 September 2017 As a former Google engineer is out to create a god based on artificial intelligence to make society better, many scientific experts warn that our current love affair with artificial intelligence could get us all killed. Anthony Levandowski of Google's self-driving car’s fame, has set up a religious nonprofit organization called Way of the Future and devoted to the worship of artificial intelligence. According to the organization’s founding documents, it intends to “develop and promote the realization of a Godhead based on artificial intelligence and through understanding and worship of the Godhead contribute to the betterment of society.” An AI god sounds like something coming from a sci-fi flick or computer game and as such could certainly appeal to Silicon Valley futurists and transhumanist more than to espousers of traditional religions. However, many scientists and technology experts, including Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk, believe that this predilection...

29 SEPTEMBER 2017 The price of the  LG V30  has been a bit of a mystery, but stores and carriers in the UK and the US have finally slapped price tags on the flagship. US AT&T  will have V30 units in stores from October 6 (next Friday) and pre-orders start the day before. On a 30-month plan, the you will be paying $27 a month. That works out to $810 total. T-Mobile  will be taking pre-orders from October 5 (next Thursday) and online sales will begin on October 13. T-Mobile’s Equipment Installment Plan will cost $80 up front and $30 a month. Only the Silver version is available. T-Mobile’s 600MHz band  is supported . Sprint  has not announced pricing yet, but it  has exclusivity  on the V30+ (the 128GB model). Verizon  will also carry the V30 starting from October 5. Pricing details will be announced later.       LG V30: Cloud Silver • Moroccan Blue UK Carphone Warehouse  has exclusivity on the LG V30. A SIM-f...

29 SEPTEMBER 2017 Amazon has launched a new redesigned Fire TV with features like 4K, HDR, Dolby Atmos, Alexa and more for $69.99. Amazon Fire TV The new Fire TV has been completely redesigned. Gone is the puck shaped, Apple TV-like design and in its place is a more compact, Chromecast-like design. With the built-in HDMI cable, the device now plugs straight into your TV without taking up additional space below it, although it will still need to be powered using the bundled wall outlet. The new Fire TV has a faster Amlogic processor with 4x Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.5GHz and Mali-450 MP3 GPU, along with 2GB of RAM and 8GB internal storage. This allows the device to stream in 4K 60fps with HDR-10 support. There's also Dolby Atmos, for those with fancy home theater setups but there is no Dolby Vision support, unlike the new Apple TV 4K. Amazon Fire TV with HD Antenna A new feature is support for HD Antenna that can be purchased separately, which allows you to also watch cabl...

29 SEPTEMBER 2017 The Google Assistant has reached another platform today, following Android, iOS, and the Google Home device. Starting now, it's also available on Android TV - first on the Nvidia Shield TV console. In the coming months, it will be rolled out to Sony Bravia TVs running Android TV too. Google Assistant on Android TV can be told to play a wide variety of content - movies, TV shows, YouTube clips, and music. It supports HBO Now and Netflix for the first two. You can ask for something by name or even use vague terms such as "movies about climbing Mount Everest". For music, Assistant supports YouTube Music, Google Play Music, Spotify, and Pandora. Additionally, it lets you quickly catch up with news, but it knows your calendar appointments too so you can ask it about that if you want a refresher. Apps for Google Assistant work on Android TV as well, and with Google Express you're able to shop and reorder stuff from Walgreens, Walmart, and other stores....

28 SEPTEMBER 2017 The  Essential phone  drew much attention from geeks the moment it was announced. There’s a singular reason for that – it’s made by a startup founded by Andy Rubin, often called the father of Android. And not just any startup, a  $1.2 billion  startup. So, how many phones has Essential sold since sales went live  on September 9 ?  BayStreet Research  estimates that number is 5,000. Five thousand phones in the hands of consumers is not a huge number. Despite a troubled launch, the OnePlus One quickly reached  500,000 sales  (Essential  experienced a delay  as well). To be fair, the One was sold at manufacturing cost but it successfully rode the hype train. The Essential phone meanwhile is fairly expensive ($700 is still a lot, no matter the Apple comparisons) and is exclusive to the smallest US carrier – Sprint. The only other country to get it is Canada, a European launch was confirmed ...

28 SEPTEMBER 2017 You have to give it to Google – this was a great misdirect.  “No 3.5mm headphone jack” . That sucks, but how about no SIM card slot? According to rumored info, the  Pixel 2  will have an embedded SIM card (eSIM) so you switch carriers without having to switch SIM cards. Yes, that’s the same setup as the new Apple Watch. But check out the carrier support for the watch. We’re sure the new Pixels will work great with Google Fi, but that’s of little comfort for Europeans. At any rate, this info could be wrong or there still might be an old-school SIM slot. Moving on, both the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL will be powered  by Snapdragon 835 chipsets . They will have stereo speakers on the front, flanking the screen.     Screen protectors for the Pixel 2 and 2 XL, showing the stereo speaker cutouts Here things diverge a bit, the smaller phone will have a 1080p screen while the XL model will have QHD resolution and will support Wide Color Gamut. ...

28 SEPTEMBER 2017 Nokia 3310 (2017)  was a massive hit after its announcement in the beginning of 2017. The joy was cut somewhat short after HMD told everyone the phone does not support 3G networks. This meant fans in the US and other countries that are in the process of disabling 2G to wouldn't get the phone. This is about to change now, though. The Finnish company just unveiled the  Nokia 3310 3G  with new colors, new user interface and, as the name suggests, a 3G radio. This lets the nostalgia-infused phone reach even more fans around the world, HMD said in a press release. It also promises 6.5 hours of talk time and 27 days of standby time. HMD also redesigned the user interface and added more color options to the refreshed phone. The customization includes rearranging icons and choosing color themes from one of six colors. The Nokia 3310 3G will be offered in Azure, Yellow, Warm Red or Charcoal and will have a €69 price tag. It will roll out from mid-Octob...

28 SEPTEMBER 2017 The India Mobile Congress 2017 was the host of a Mediatek event where the Chinese company announced a new entry-level chipset MT6739. The SoC has quad-core CPU and supports two main cameras, 18:9 ratio screens and dual VoLTE. The processor has four Cortex-A53 cores and operates at up to 1.5 GHz. Its screen resolution support is limited to to 1440x720 pixels - 720p in 18:9 ratio. The modem is LTE Cat.4, and dual SIMS are supported. Here’s a full list of the MT6739 specs: [ CPU: 4x ARM Cortex-A53 up to 1.5GHz Memory: LPDDR3 (Up to 3GB, 667MHz) Storage: eMMC 5.1 Camera: 8M+0.3M (VGA) dual camera Video Decoding: 1080p @ 30FPS, H.264/HEVC Video Encoding: 1080p @ 30FPS, H.264 Graphics: IMG PowerVR GE8100 up to 570MHz Display: 1440 x 720 Modem: 4G LTE Cat. 4 DL / Cat. 5 UL (FDD/TDD), C2K SRLTE, L+G, L+W/L+L DSDS, eMBMS, HPUE, 600MHz band supported Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, FM, GPS+Glonass / GPS+Beidou ] The MT6739 is arriving as an update to the ...

28 SEPTEMBER 2017 Back in 1997 Larry Page started a search engine named after the number “googol” and 19 years later we all celebrate the birthday of one of the largest tech companies globally. Today may be a day for celebrations over at Mountain View, but we also get to feast with 19 surprises, available through a spinning wheel and a new Easter egg. When you google “google birthday surprise spinner”, you’ll get a spinning wheel like the one on “The Price is Right”. Spinning it, you get plenty of surprises, including games like tic-tac-toe, Solitaire, a tour around the Galapagos islands or Earth Day quiz. The Easter egg is also intriguing. When you enter “snake” into the search bar, you’ll get the Snake game before any suggestions, results, and images. Playing the game is easy both on desktop and mobile. Google boasts that it currently serves 4.5 billion users in 160 countries and speaks 123 languages. 

26 SEPTEMBER 2017 Arriving a tad later than the other two, the  iPhone X  has been certified by TENAA, which lists its battery and RAM capacities – numbers that Apple rarely talks about. There are some good news and some bad news, neither particularly unexpected. First the good: the X has a slightly bigger battery than the 8 Plus. It’s not a huge difference, but keep in mind that the X is more compact than the Plus model. We’re about to see if the AMOLED screen is more power efficient than the LCD. The bad: you get 3GB of RAM and you better like it. Yes, the iPad Pros have 4GB of RAM and yes, they are cheaper than the iPhone X. That’s Apple for you.

26 SEPTEMBER 2017 The  Moto Z2 Force  is boasts a Shatterproof screen, MotoMod compatibility and a $720 price tag. Is there something we can do about that last one? There sure is – T-Mobile is selling the phone for $500. That’s $220 off the MSRP. Note that the phone is locked to T-Mobile, but this is a SIM-free price. You can also get it for $20 a month (and $20 up front) if you have good credit. If you get one by midnight Friday, you’ll score a free Insa-Share Projector. This is the MotoMod that can project up to a 70” image and carries a $300 price on its own. Hit the source link to see details on the deal.

26 SEPTEMBER 2017 Nokia has launched its flagship  Nokia 8  smartphone in India. The phone is priced at INR 36,999 and will be available offline across major retail outlets and online exclusively on Amazon starting October 14. The Nokia 8 is the first high-end premium smartphone from the brand since it resurfaced last year and it comes packed to the gills with features and an impressive spec sheet. For starters, it has a 5.3-inch 2560x1440 resolution IPS LCD with curved Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It is built into an 6000 series aluminum unibody design with a polished, high-gloss surface on some of the colors. The Nokia 8 is powered by the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor with 4GB of LPDDR4X memory and 64GB UFS 2.1 storage with microSD support. The phone has a dual camera system on the back comprising a 13 megapixel color sensor with OIS and a 13 megapixel monochrome sensor that work together to create sharper, cleaner images even in low light. There is a...