OnePlus 6 launch in Q2: What we know of the mid-range flagship so far

The OnePlus 6 is expected to take design cues from Oppo R15, which has been launched in China. The device sports a 19:9 aspect ratio screen, with a notch similar to the Apple iPhone X.

Technology News : Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus is working on its next-iteration of the flagship OnePlus 6, which is expected to be launched in the July-September quarter this year. Before the official launch, however, the device’s purported specifications, features and price have been leaked and are doing the rounds of the internet.

Here is what we know of the mid-range flagship so far:

While nothing has officially been confirmed, online technology portal Techslize claims to have got hold of the upcoming smartphone’s technical specification sheet, which hints at a larger display, updated processor and new camera sensors.

According to the specification sheet listing, the OnePlus 6 would sport a 6.28-inch AMOLED screen of 2280 x 1080 resolution. The screen size and resolutio hints at a notch-based screen, similar to the Apple iPhone X and the recently launched Vivo V9.

OnePlus 6 leaked specsOnePlus 6 leaked specs The upcoming smartphone is expected to use Qualcomm top-of-the-line Snapdragon 845 system-on-chip (SoC), clocked at 2.7GHz. In terms of imaging, the phone would come with dual rear-cameras of 20-megapixel and 16MP resolution and f/1.7 aperture on both the lenses – according to the leaked specification listing. On the front, however, the phone would get a new 20MP sensor with bright f/2.0 aperture lens.

The phone might come with an additional 256GB storage variant, along with 64GB and 128GB – as revealed in the leaked price comparison slide uploaded on Chinese social media platform Weibo.

In the OnePlus 5T, the company moved the fingerprint scanner to the back as there was no space on the front to accommodate one.

However, the OnePlus 6 is expected to bring the fingerprint scanner back to the front, and this time it might use the in-display technology first seen in the Vivo X20 UD.

Based on OnePlus history, it is assumed that the upcoming smartphone would take design cues from Oppo R15, which was recently launched in China.

→ OnePlus 6 Price ←

Chipko movement turns 45, Google ’embraces’ it with a doodle

The word Chipko means ‘to stick’ or ‘to hug’ and the name of the movement has been derived from these words.

Latest News : To mark the 45th anniversary of the famous Chipko Movement, search engine giant Google on Monday dedicated its doodle to the movement.

The doodle portrays a colorful design where a group of women are standing around a tree, representing their fight against deforestation which was the main objective of Chipko Movement.

The word Chipko means ‘to stick’ or ‘to hug’ and the name of the movement has been derived from these words.

Though the Chipko Movement dates back to 1730 AD when in khejarli village of Rajasthan, 363 people sacrificed their lives to save khejri trees. In modern India, the movement began in 1973.

Sunderlal Bahuguna, a renowned environmentalist took the initiative to protect the beautiful regional forests in Uttar Pradesh. Chipko Andolan was to preserve the nature from being mercilessly destroyed on accounts of setting up of factories or roads and constructing dams. Sundarlal Bahuguna was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2009.

One of Chipko’s most salient features was the mass participation of female villagers.

Rahul’s #DeleteNamoApp Twitter campaign fails; NaMo popularity rises

Rahul Gandhi on Sunday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s app was leaking user data to a third-party US company without users’ consent.

Latest News : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s app was leaking data to a third-party US company. In a post on Twitter, Gandhi claimed that the prime minister was allowing ‘American companies’ to take away the data of users who signed up for his application.

Rahul Gandhi’s allegations come after the data leak scandal involving Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, and the many reports of Aadhaar data of Indians being at a risk of compromise. Now, Modi app also seems to be in the eye of a storm, and a new flashpoint in the war between the Congress and the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).

“Hi! My name is Narendra Modi. I am India’s Prime Minister. When you sign up for my official App, I give all your data to my friends in American companies,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

To this, the BJP countered the charge by saying that Gandhi and his party had zero knowledge of technology. “The Narendra Modi App is a unique app, which unlike most apps, gives access to users in ‘guest mode’ without even any permission or data… The app does not ask for blanket permissions when the app is started,” said a BJP source. Sources said the permissions required are all “contextual and cause-specific”. For example, a selfie campaign requires access to the camera and/or photo gallery.

“Contact access is required to connect with friends or fellow party workers on the New India connect module. If a person has entered his email address and date of birth, he receives a personalised birthday greeting from the prime minister. Each function asks for specific permissions when access is required,” a source said.

Sources held that the data is being used for analytics using third party service, similar to Google Analytics.

→ #DeleteNamoApp ←

Ball Tampering Row: Steve Smith may get a life ban

Amid the ball-tampering controversy, IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals, after getting a clarification from BCCI, might sack Steve Smith and instead appoint Ajinkya Rahane as its skippers for IPL 2018.

The Australian ball tampering controversy has caught cricketers Steve Smith, Cameron Bancroft, and David Warner on the wrong foot, and taken cricket fans by surprise, with Smith stepping down as Australia’s captain for the rest of the ongoing third Test match against South Africa. Smith was penalised by the International Cricket Council (ICC), which slapped the Australian with a one-match suspension and fined his entire match fee on Sunday.

Steve Smith‘s deputy, David Warner, also stepped down as Australian cricket team’s vice-captain, while wicketkeeper Tim Paine was named to act as a stand-in captain at Newlands, with both Smith and Warner taking the field on Sunday. Meanwhile, days before IPL 2018 commences from April 7, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Indian Premier League (IPL) are playing the waiting game on Smith and Warner’s fate.

Steve Smith might also lose the captaincy of the Rajasthan Royals IPL franchise. In that case, Ajinkya Rahane would likely lead the IPL side. For now, the BCCI and Royals have reportedly heaved a sigh of relief after Smith escaped with a mild punishment.

Smith o Saturday admitted to masterminding a premeditated plan to indulge in ball-tampering, which, among others, prompted even Australia’s prime minister to react and a long-retired captain to mull a comeback. Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called the incident a “shocking disappointment”, while Michael Clarke kept open the possibility of returning as the Australia cricket team’s captain.

On the third day of the Cape Town Test on Saturday, television footage showed Smith’s teammate Cameron Bancroft, 25, taking a yellow object (sandpaper to scruff up one side of the ball to aid reverse swing) out of his pocket while fielding in the post-lunch session and appearing to rub it on the ball before putting the material into his trousers in an attempt to hide it.

Reliance Jio Prime membership subscription to end on March 31: What next?

Jio Prime subscriptions, started April 1 last year, expire on 31 March. Now, with the expiry approaching, it is expected that Jio would make a new announcement sometime soon.

Business News : Reliance Jio shook the Indian telecommunication space with the launch of its affordable, data-centric network. After doling out freebies for more than the first six months since the launch, the Mukesh Ambani-owned telecom major introduced Prime membership at Rs 99 with the promise of offering subsidised recharge options and additional benefits for a period of one year.

The Jio Prime membership, which came into effect on April 1 last year, are valid until 31 March. Now, with the subscription expiry approaching, it is expected that Jio would make an announcement sometime soon.

While there is nothing official yet, it is expected that the company might completely do away with the Prime subscription or offer it as a free service.

Here is what the company offered in the first iteration of the Prime membership:

• Free unlimited data and voice services for one year at an effective price of Rs 10 per day
• Special recharge plans with additional data and validity
• Free VoLTE-based voice calls to any network, even on roaming with no black out days either.
• Free access to Jio app suite

The Prime membership was initially rolled out as a loyalty programme to retain subscribers as the company moved from free to paid services.

In the first leg, the Prime membership was advertised as a limited period offer. However, as time moved, the company continued offering the membership to get more subscribers. Now, according to Jio’s official portal, there is no mention of services that the company offers to non-prime subscribers. Therefore, it is safe to assume that the subscription based membership program may eventually fade out.

Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018: JDS is “B team” of BJP, says Rahul Gandhi

The congress president claimed that his party believes in taking together the poor, dalits, advasis, backward communities and downtrodden.

Karnataka Assembly Polls 2018 : Addressing a rally here in the Lok Sabha constituency of former prime minister and JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda, he said “they (JDS) are supporting BJP from behind. They feel that people of Karnataka will not come to know and they can’t understand.”

Gandhi was on his third round of election campaign in poll bound Karnataka.

The Congress president said “In Karnataka only one party is going to win, its name is Congress party. ”

“Let RSS’ A team, B team, C team, D team, E team join hands, it makes no difference, Congress is going to win,” he added.

Assembly elections 2018 are expected to be held in Karnataka in April/May.

JDS and BJP had earlier joined hands to form a coalition government in Karnataka in 2006, with Deve Gowda’s son H D Kumaraswamy as Chief Minister and current state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa as his deputy.

The congress president claimed that his party believes in taking together the poor, dalits, advasis, backward.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi today termed Janata Dal (Secular) as “B team” of BJP and said his party would win the coming Karnataka assembly polls 2018.

“JDS people, they have only one work do, (they are) BJP’s B team. They have decided, let whatever happens, let whatever needs to be done…make BJP win,” Gandhi said.

The congress president claimed that his party believes in taking together the poor, dalits, advasis, backward communities and downtrodden.

“On the other side, there are other parties that want to give away entire money of Karnataka to the rich,” he said.

He also asked the people to choose between the party that has given transparent government in Karnataka for the last five years and parties that are involved in corruption.

→ Karnataka Assembly Election 2018 ←

Oppo F7 complete specifications leaked before official launch on March 26

The Oppo F7 is said to sport a 6.23-inch fullHD+ screen, with a notch on top, and a 19:9 aspect ratio screen. It might feature a MediaTek processor, coupled with the company’s NeuroPilot AI technology.

Technology News : Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo is gearing up to launch the selfie-centric smartphone, expected to be called the Oppo F7, on March 26. The smartphone could feature a system-wide artificial intelligence technology, along with a notch-based screen, and a 25-megapixel selfie camera.

While some images, purportedly of the Oppo F7, have been leaked in the past, this time it is the specifications that have, apparently, found their way to the internet. These leaks hint at several things that you could expect from the upcoming smartphone.

According to leaked specifications, the Oppo F7 would sport a 6.23-inch fullHD+ screen, with a notch on top, in 19:9 aspect ratio.

It would feature a MediaTek Helios P60 processor, coupled with the company’s NeuroPilot AI technology. There would be a 3,400 mAh battery with an on-battery time of 15 hours – according to the leak.

In terms of imaging, the Oppo F7 would sport a 16-megapixel rear camera and a 25MP high dynamic range (HDR)-enabled front camera assisted with AI. The selfie camera would support artificial reality-based stickers, along with an enhanced beauty mode.

On the feature side, the phone would boot Oppo’s proprietary ColourOS 5.0 based on an unknown version of Google Android. It is expected that the operating system would be based on Android Oreo 8.0. The phone would come with the face unlock feature, along with a fingerprint scanner that would recognise wet fingers too.

Apple’s 2018 iPhone with 5.85-inch OLED to cost much lower than iPhone X

According to Digitimes research analyst Luke Lin, the next-generation iPhone’s manufacturing bill of materials will be over 10 per cent lower than that for iPhone X.

Technology News : The Apple iPhone X was the first smartphone that crossed the $1,000 price mark — the smartphone was launched at $999 and $1149 for 64GB and $256, respectively. Now, according to Digitimes research analyst Luke Lin, the company would launch a new 5.85-inch iPhone this year with OLED screen that would cost much lower than the iPhone X.

According to Lin, who cited information from Apple’s upstream supply chain, the next-generation iPhone’s manufacturing bill for materials will be over 10 per cent lower than that for the iPhone X. He added, that the MBOM of the iPhone X was more than US$400 in 2017.

In the past, Lin also alleged that Apple was preparing for a new inexpensive smartphone similar to the iPhone SE for 2018, featuring the wireless charging functionality, but without 3D-sensing technology.

In 2018, Apple is expected to launch three iPhone models, according to Taiwan-based KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The smartphones are reported to sport screens of sizes between 5.8 inches and 6.2 inches, and different display technologies – OLED and IPS LCD.

Recently, a leak had emerged showcasing a smaller 4-inch iPhone SE-based design with all-screen display, similar to the one found in iPhone X. Touted as the iPhone SE 2, the smartphone’s design sketches were first reported by a technology portal BGR, which claimed to have received them from a reliable industry source.

Also, a video that recently surfaced on the web showcased a working prototype of the product.

The purported iPhone SE 2 shows an aluminium chassis, similar to the one seen in the original iPhone SE. However, the front showed an all-screen design with an iPhone X-inspired notch. On the back, the leak video also showed a dual-camera set-up placed in a style similar to the iPhone X’s.

→  Apple 2018 iPhone  ←

Karnataka Assembly Election 2018: Dates, Results and Opinion Polls

Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018 is one of the most keenly awaited electoral battles of 2018.

Karnataka Assembly Polls 2018 : In 2018, the Karnataka electoral battle becomes that much more interesting as Karnataka is one of the last two big states along with Punjab that is held by the Congress. Karnataka is also the only Southern state of India that has been ruled by the BJP in the past. The Karnataka state elections 2018 is being fought on the backdrop of recent by-poll election losses for the BJP which were held for both state assembly seats and Lok Sabha seats in the states of Rajasthan, MP, UP and Bihar.

Karnataka Assembly Elections 2013:

• From 2008 – 2013 Karnataka was ruled by the BJP government after it came to power under the leadership of B. S. Yeddyurappa by winning 110 seats in 2008 assembly elections and forming the government with the help of few independent MLAs. But later in 2011 due to corruption charges and internal revolts, B. S. Yeddyurappa had to resign from the CM’s post. Later he quit BJP and started his own party named Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) and fought against the BJP in the 2013 assemble elections. The Karnataka legislative assembly election of 2013 was held on 5th May 2013 with voting taking place in 50,446 polling stations. The state assembly elections in 2013 saw a healthy voter turnout of 70.23% with 4.18 crore voters exercising their right to vote. The results were declared on 8th May 2013 in which the Indian National Congress (INC) under the leadership of Siddaramaiah was able to secure simple majority of 122 seats with 36.6% vote share, 9 more than the majority mark of 113 in the 224 member house.

Karnataka Elections Dates & Voting Result:

• The current tenure of Karnataka assembly will end on 28th May 2018 and as per rules the assembly election will have to be held and new house will have to be constituted before the said date. It is expected that the Election Commission of India (ECI) will visit Karnataka in the first week of April 2018 and declare the official poll dates somewhere around 15th April 2018 after various board and other examinations are completed. Voting for the 224 assembly seats is expected to be held in early May 2018 with 2nd May being stated as the likely date. The polling is expected to be completed in a single phase just like in 2013.

  Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018 Opinion Polls:

• All the three major political parties and others in the race have launched their election campaign and last ditch political maneuvering is being played out by all players in the state of Karnataka as we speak. Most opinion polls held by private players in early January 2018 had predicted a hung assembly with a nail biting contest between all the three major players; Indian National Congress under the leadership of Siddaramaiah, Bharatiya Janata Party under the leadership of B. S. Yeddyurappa and Janata Dal (Secular) under the leadership of H. D. Kumaraswamy.

→ Karnataka Assembly Election 2018 ←

Cambridge Analytica Row: Who used stolen data for polls – Congress or BJP?

Ravi Shankar Prasad said, ‘The Congress must explain if it has engaged in data trade with Cambridge Analytica’.

Latest News : The BJP and the Congress accused each other of using the services of embattled data consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica (CA) that along with Facebook is at the centre of a global row over the alleged unauthorized use of personal data from the social media giant.

As the firestorm over the issue hit India, the government warned Facebook, which is being probed by US and British lawmakers over a potential breach of user confidentiality, of stringent action if any attempt was made to influence the country’s electoral process through “undesirable means”.

However, the company’s India partner Oveleno Business Intelligence (OBI) lists the BJP, the Congress and the JD-U as its clients. The India partner is by Amrish Tyagi, son of senior JD-U leader K. C. Tyagi. In media interviews, the junior Tyagi admitted that the Youth Congress in Jharkhand, the BJP and the JD-U had used its services to conduct research.

BJP leader and Union Law and IT and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad cited media reports to allege that the Congress was using the services of the London-based political data analytics firm for the next Lok Sabha election and boost its president Rahul Gandhi’s social media profile and its outreach.

“The Congress must explain if it has engaged in data trade with Cambridge Analytica,” the minister said.

He said the number of Gandhi’s followers on Twitter had risen recently and wondered if the Congress had used the services of the Cambridge Analytica for this “fake popularity”.

“Will the Congress now depend on data manipulation and theft to woo voters,” Prasad asked.

“These days, there is a lot of news about CA and how it has been involved in data theft, psychometric analysis, data manipulation and subversion of democratic processes. Can the Congress deny that?” he asked.

→ Cambridge Analytica , Cambridge Analytica Row ←