Check out the latest tech and unique accessories launched in India

In Just 8 Months, Sony’s PS5 Console Surpassed The Sales Milestone Of 10 Million

Sony celebrated its 75th anniversary this year, and the brand has created several mind-blowing products over the years. Last year, on 12th November, Sony launched its most-awaited product, the PlayStation 5 or PS5 console, and within a year, the company has now sold more than 10 million PS5 consoles, which makes PS 5 the fastest-selling gaming console ever built by Sony, outpacing the PS4 by nearly a month.

We can not deny the fact that most of us got to know about Sony via the PlayStation consoles. PS 5 had the biggest launch of any console to date, and it recently achieved the benchmark of fastest-selling PlayStation. However, the PlayStation 2 is still the world’s best-selling gaming console that has sold over 163 million units.

Sony’s latest gaming console PlayStation 5, surpassed the significant milestone on 18th July, but it’s incredibly hard to buy one because of its less market availability. The Japanese tech giant sold 4.5 million PS5 in 2020 but sold only 3.3 million in the first quarter of 2021, and due to the ongoing pandemic, the product took another four months to reach the 10 million mark.

Sony is still dealing with the hardships of making enough supply and ongoing chip shortages that reportedly held sales back. The company has to work hard as the demand for PS5 continues to remain high despite an adequate stock. Sony continues to face the supply constraint, and it might stay with the company till 2023.

The last time the PS5 went for a sale on Amazon India, it went out of stock within five minutes of listing. The frequency of sales has increased now, and it seems like the company has found a way to increase the supply despite the challenges. Along with PS 5, Spider-Man: Miles Morales has sold more than 6.5 million units since its launch in November, and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart has sold more than 1.1 million copies since its launch in June.

Artificial Intelligence Tool LuminarAI Brings New Update

If you are a selfie geek, you will always like to have the finest smartphone in your pocket that has advanced filters and image editing options to make images glitter more. But, if you ask a professional photographer about these features present in your smartphone, they may call you naive. It’s because a professional photographer has software or application that is like Virat Kohli of image editing in front of your Naseer Jamshed (don’t even hear of it?) Now, please don’t approach a judicial authority as it has undermined your dignity and ego. But now, you must know that these photographers will feel more empowered as one of their favorite platforms, Skylum, is coming up with an update that has inducted an artificial intelligence tool. Through this Exhibit blog, you will get more details related to this news.

Skylum’s Artificial Intelligence Tool – LuminarAI

Skylum has brought the fourth update in their product LuminuminarAIarAI that has a feature named Portrait BokehAI. This new feature will be the biggest attraction point for professional wedding photographers. It is because this feature tried to identify the position of an individual or an entire group. BokehAI can blur the background for the emulation of richness that can come out from the picture to give more focus to such positions. Portrait BokehAI will also help out a photographer like you to add intelligent mask creation to the subjects. Though the boken gets automatically generated or created, the photographer gets full control by editing these pictures using some sliders. Hence, you will have the finest and sophisticated virtual tools to create a masterpiece from the captured snapshots.

How is artificial intelligence helping?

There’s a possibility that developers have added high-end image libraries separately to add these new functionalities to this application. Through these libraries, you can access all the essential values related to the image that you are editing. Now, when you obtain all these parameters, you have the sliders through which you can set a new value or range for the same parameters and attributes. Fetching these values and presenting them to you is possible because of the training of these tools over a dataset. Now the image that you have to edit is like the test data over which the tool performs as per the functionality.

How can you get this update?

Well, if you are already a LuminarAI user, you will get this as a free update. But a lot depends upon the operating system that is loaded in your PC. If it’s macOS, all you need is to launch the LuminarAI application and from the menu bar, select the LuminarAI option and then choose the Check for Updates. It is slightly different in the case for Windows as you can’t see the Check for Updates options from the LuminarAI. For Windows, you will get in the Help window.

Alexa Gets A New Name Along With A Masculine Voice Option

Amazon Alexa, or simply Alexa, is a device that has been a part of our smart life since its invention in 2013. It helps us through virtual assistance, whether waking up in the morning or reminding us to pay pending bills. Alexa allows users to activate the device using a wake-word, Alexa or Amazon or Echo, but now the device finally gets a new name, Ziggy.

The backstory behind the name might be that Amazon wants to keep the name related to its design element, which indicates the message that Amazon sells everything from A to Z. Alexa and most of the other companies’ virtual assistance devices started out their journey with a feminine voice because female voices sound more pleasant and amusing to listeners of any gender.

However, there are many people out in the world who’ll prefer a masculine voice over a feminine voice, and that’s where the change arose, and companies started offering male voice assistance. Among prominent companies, Amazon is the last to provide virtual assistance devices in a masculine voice. The newly added masculine voice is available for users to either use with the Ziggy or Alexa.

The Ziggy wake word joins the existing Alexa, Computer, Echo, and Amazon wake words, but Ziggy will be the first name to appear as an option besides Alexa. Also, users can mix and remix the feminine and masculine options however they want since they are not linked to each other, and different setting options are available for voice.

The feminine and masculine voice may matter for users, but it doesn’t matter to Alexa at all, as the device answers, I’m not a woman or a man; I’m an AI when asked about its gender. The new masculine-sounding Alexa voice feature is only available in the United States for now, but soon it will make its way to the rest of the world.

Snapchat App is Expanding: Fastest Way to Share Moments

Use Signal. This tweet came from Tesla and SpaceX’s CEO, Elon Musk when the questions came up to find alternatives to WhatsApp. The Snapchat team must have thought to connect with Elon Musk to know he didn’t take their name. Anyways, let the bygones be bygones. Snapchat has challenged the space of the social media messaging app market through its rapid surge in the past few months. Some reports state that Snapchat now has almost 293 million users. Let’s go through this Exhibit blog to know more on this latest update that has cheered the entire Snapchat app team.

Snapchat App’s Growth in 2020-2021

The news coming out is that Snapchat has added 13 million users in the last quarter, which is quite phenomenal considering the birth of Snapchat in 2017. Through this, Snapchat has registered a growth of almost 23% in its user base from the last year. Snapchat, through this, has surpassed Twitter which has 209 million users as of now. Snapchat has one more surprise for you in terms of its revenue. Yeah, the business of Snapchat is about to touch a billion-mark. Hence, it should raise some concerns for Mark Zuckerburg and Jack Dorsey as with this Snapchat has become a faster-growing business than Facebook and Twitter.

About Snapchat App

The best thing I remember when it comes to Stanford is the power-pack dialogue thrown by Douglas Urbanski in The Social Network movie. Stanford really has the tradition where people come and do something to express their form of innovation. Yeah, three tech nerds from Stanford, Bobby Murphy, Evan Spiegel, and Reggie Brown, developed this messaging charm – Snapchat. The tagline of this app is simply awesome – the fastest way to share a moment. I guess Snapchat was thought to be close to journalism. That’s why they call the messages as snap, somewhere related to a journalist’s scoop. Do you know that by using this social media messaging app, you can become a millionaire? Last year, the Snapchat team announced that they would pay 1 million $ (around 7.4 Crore INR) for posting viral videos.

Conclusion

Maybe this millionaire news has brought so many Snapchat users. But, this growth in the Asian region as Snapchat has more outreach in Europe and America. Snapchat may have accomplished good results, but they are far behind the reputation of other messaging apps. Only time will tell what’s the fate of Snapchat. However, you should think about this a million offer by the Snapchat team.

Mi 67W Charger Set To Launch In India On 12th July

Every time we pack for a trip, we wonder what if one charger works for all of our devices? If it happens, then our backpack would become a little light, and we don’t have to double-check on the chargers before leaving for a trip. Xiaomi has listened to our problem and came forward to fulfil our long-pending wish as the company is all set to launch the 67W charger on 12th July.

The Chinese smartphone making company teased the device’s arrival through a tweet showing glimpses of its design and labelled the upcoming charger as our most powerful charger yet, which charges anything and everything, including phones, laptops, Type-C compatible devices, headphones, MI bands, and even superphones.

Your one stop solution for all your devices.

Watch this space tomorrow for more!#SonicCharge
Know More: https://t.co/nu4gxrZg6Z pic.twitter.com/BeFVbDRSZw

— Xiaomi India (@XiaomiIndia) July 9, 2021

Xiaomi has also mentioned a dedicated link to know more about the yet to be launched 67W charger, which takes you to the countdown running event page. The micro page reveals a few key features and specifications of the charger. The white-coloured charger features a small compact design with a two-prong plug and supports the Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 feature for universal fast charging.

A month ago, Xiaomi launched a 200W HyperCharge fast charging technology that accomplishes the benchmark of 100% charging within 8 minutes with a custom-built Mi 11 Pro and before a couple of months ago, Xiaomi introduced the Mi 11 Ultra with a number of the highest-end parts, which includes support for 67W fast charging.

Unfortunately, the company didn’t ship the 67W charger along with the box; instead, they shipped the 55W charger due to regulations and assured us of bringing the 67W Sonic charger soon, which they’re about to launch on Monday, 12th July.

The upcoming charger can deliver 67W output, and it comes with a USB Type-A to USB Type-C cable included in the box; also, it has inbuilt surge protection with BIS certification. The company will reveal more details about the charger, pricing and availability on the day of its launch.

Mozilla: YouTube’s Algorithm Pushes Harmful Content

A new study conducted by the non-profit Mozilla Foundation suggests that YouTube continues to recommend harmful videos to users that violate its own content policies.

The crowd-funded study found that around 71% of the videos that viewers considered ‘regrettable’ were recommended by the video platform’s own algorithm.

What Exactly is YouTube Regrettables?

Let’s understand it this way, any content that a user finds disturbing or harmful is deemed as regrettable. For example, some volunteers were often recommended videos titled, ‘Man humiliates feminist’.

Such misogynistic videos would fall under YouTube regrets. Other examples would include Covid misinformations, extreme political inclinations, or hate speeches.

Further Investigation

The finding was made using crowdsourced data from RegretsReporter, a browser extension that lets users report information on harmful videos and what actually led them there. More than 30,000 YouTube users used the platform to report the harmful content that was recommended to them.

The investigation further suggests that non-English speakers were more prone to disturbing content and that ‘YouTube regrets’ was 60% higher in countries that don’t have English as their first language. Mozilla says that there were a total of 3362 regrettable videos from 91 countries, between July 2020 and May 2021. Most of these were either misinformation, violent or graphic content, hate/polarization speeches, and scams.

The study also suggests that recommended videos were 40% more likely to be reported by users than videos for which they searched.

Brandy Geurkink, Mozilla’s Senior Manager of Advocacy says that YouTube’s algorithm is designed to misinform and harm people:

“Our research confirms that YouTube not only hosts, but actively recommends videos that violate its very own policies. We also now know that people in non-English speaking countries are the most likely to bear the brunt of YouTube’s out-of-control recommendation algorithm. Mozilla hopes that these findings — which are just the tip of the iceberg — will convince the public and lawmakers of the urgent need for better transparency into YouTube’s AI.”

User Attention

The YouTube algorithm is essentially a black box. The video-streaming platform relies on its algorithm to show users what they like or might like to keep them hooked on for as long as possible.

The study by Mozilla backs up the notion that YouTube’s AI continues to feed users ‘low-grade, divisive, misinformations’. This makes it easier for the video streaming platform to easily grab eyeballs by triggering people’s sense of outrage. This only implies that the problem of regrettable or triggering recommendations is indeed systematic. The more you outrage people, the more you expand your appetite for ad revenues!

As a method to fix YouTube’s algorithm, Mozilla is calling for ‘common sense transparency laws, better oversight, and consumer pressure’. It also called for the protection of independent researchers to empower them to interrogate algorithmic impacts, as an exercise to repair the worst excesses of the YouTube algorithm.

Superficial Claims

YouTube has a history of being accused of fuelling societal ills by feeding hate speech, political extremism, and conspiracy junk. The parent company and tech giant Google has always responded to negative criticism flaring up around algorithms, by announcing few policy tweaks.

The dangerous behavior of YouTube algorithms, only suggests that Google has been making superficial claims of reform.

Xiaomi Rolled Out MIUI 12.5 Update To Limited POCO X3 Pro Users

The newest version of Xiaomi’s custom skin MIUI 12.5 update is now rolling out for Poco X3 Pro, but as of now the latest software update is available only for limited devices. POCO X3 Pro is the first POCO device to receive the MIUI 12.5 update and we can expect other devices such as POCO M3 Pro 5G, POCO X3, and others will soon receive the update in the coming weeks.

POCO India, Country Director, Mr. Anuj Sharma has confirmed that if everything works fine without perceiving any big issue, the update will soon roll out for all the Poco X3 Pro phones. The Chinese tech giant Xiaomi first unveiled the MIUI 12.5 update in late 2020, and since then, the update is being rolled out for various devices of Redmi, Mi, and POCO phones. Recently, it was made available for the Mi 10T, Mi 10T Pro, and MI 11.

POCO X3 Pro was launched in India in March, and since then it is competing with other devices like Xiaomi Mi 10i 5G, Samsung Galaxy F62, Realme X7 5G, and Vivo V20 2021. The phone packs a 6.67-inch LCD 120Hz panel, Snapdragon 860 SoC, up to 8GB RAM, 256GB, quad cameras, and a 5,160mAh battery with 33W fast charging support.

The new build is specified as MIUI 12.5.3.0.RJUINXM, and it weighs 830 MB. The firmware update is said to be lighter, faster, and more durable. In terms of computing power, it has 20 times more rendering power now. The update includes the June 2021 security patches, refreshed UI animations for a more seamless experience., and it comes with fewer and uninstallable system apps, which is one of the most notable parts of the update.

Additionally, the Notes app has received a tremendous update with support for a gesture shortcut, and new tools for doodling and sketching. So, if you own a POCO X3 Pro then go ahead and check for the new firmware update, if you’re one of the lucky users you’ll get it, otherwise wait for a few more weeks!

How WhatsApp’s Yet To Be Launch Feature View Once Works?

Technology has helped humans to cross the boundaries of the planet, but at the same time, it emerges as a curse to humanity; most of the credit belongs to the people who use technology as a widget tool to leak someone’s confidential data.

Sharing someone’s personal images and videos was not a reliable option to exert an act of revenge, but people won’t understand it due to their small mindsets. Well, WhatsApp has introduced a new feature for you on the lines.

The latest feature, View Once, will help you to stay more secure after sharing your images and videos with someone. WhatsApp beta testers are currently testing the feature that enables users to send images or videos that the receivers can only view once. The feature is very similar to the one’s already available on social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat.

The View Once feature from WhatsApp will enable the sender to see if the recipient has opened the media or not. Also, it permits the receiver to open the image or video only once, and it gets deleted after being opened, which plays a crucial role in terms of security, but the View Once feature is not completely secured; it comes with a few drawbacks.

One can take a screenshot of the received media on WhatsApp, and the sender will never know about it; but in contrast to what WhatsApp is offering, a similar feature in Snapchat even notifies you when the recipient took a screenshot of the image. The new View Once feature is available in group chats too, but the flaw is blocked contacts can still see single-use attachments, which raises an eye over its safety concern.

The feature will be soon available for all Android users if it performs well during the beta testing as it is being monitored for blemishes, but there’s no word on when the feature will roll out to iOS and desktop.

SpaceX’s Satellite Internet Network Starlink Is Expected To Hit 5,00,000 Users By August 2022

Dogefather Elon Musk, who is popular for making daring statements and optimistic assurances, hit again with another statement linked to SpaceX’s Starlink internet service while speaking virtually at the Mobile World Congress trade show held in Barcelona, Spain.

Currently, SpaceX’s satellite internet network Starlink has close to 70,000 active users, and the service is available in 12 countries at the moment. While speaking at the event, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he’s expecting massive growth in the next 12 months as the service is about to hit globally in August, and soon it will clock about 5 lakh users globally for his ambitious satellite internet network Starlink, which indicates Starlink has to sign about 430,000 users by the end of August 2022.

Starlink is one of his most ambitious projects, which builds an interconnected internet network with thousands of satellites, known in the space industry as a constellation, which typically means stars and these satellites designed to deliver high-speed internet to consumers anywhere around the globe. Elon Musk is expected to launch all 72 orbital planes that will provide worldwide coverage, except for the polar regions.

Starlink is a satellite internet network under Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Currently, it is the world’s largest satellite constellation, with above 1,500 Starlink satellites launched to orbit to date. The satellite internet network is routed through low-Earth orbit satellites and is expected to provide download speeds of 100 Mbps and upload speeds of 20 Mbps.

The subscription fee prices for the service are set to $99 per month, along with a $499 Starlink kit containing a dish and the WiFi router, which means it will cost around ₹7,000 per month and is expected to reach India by 2022. While talking about the hefty kit prices, Elon said the company is looking to lower the prices in future with next-gen terminals. Furthermore, he added that SpaceX would launch version two of the satellite next year, which will be more capable and updated.

LG Firmware Update Unlocks Dolby Vision HDR At 4K 120Hz Gaming Support In 2021 C1 & G1 OLED TVs

LG has stated that it’s the first manufacturer who’s rolling out a firmware update that unlocks Dolby Vision HDR at 4K 120Hz gaming on some of its TVs. The South Korean company claims that the update is being rolled out on the latest 2021 C1 and G1 series OLED models. Additionally, according to some of the reports, the update will also support last year’s CX and BX models.

The firmware version 03.15.27 enables the feature Dolby Vision HDR at 4K 120Hz gaming on C1 and G1 2021 OLED TVs. The update will hit on other 2021 premium models, including the OLED Z1 series, QNED Mini LED QNED99 series and NanoCell NANO99 series TVs, in July. Along with these models, the company is testing 2021 and 2020 TV models for Dolby Vision gaming at either 60Hz or 120Hz.

When Microsoft launched Xbox Series X and Series S consoles with the 4K Dolby Vision support at 120 Hz, Gamers were happy, but their TV sets popped up with an error message when they tried to cherish the moment. At that time, there were no TVs available in the market that supported all of these things at once, but now, LG has conquered all the barricades with the launch of firmware version 03.15.27.

The new firmware also brings the Game Optimizer in the Game Dashboard and a floating menu that helps LG OLED TV owners optimize settings and allows gamers to quickly see the TV’s settings and switch between different genres – Standard, FPS, RPG or RTS.

LG has launched the firmware update, which supports Dolby Vision HDR at 4K 120Hz gaming, but unfortunately, there are currently no games that work fluently with 4K 120Hz Dolby Vision. The day they arrive, gamers will be able to enjoy brighter images, improved contrast, and more vibrant colours while playing, quite like the Dolby Vision-encoded movies and TV series.

Xbox Cloud Gaming Rolls Out For iOS & Desktop Through The Browser

Microsoft officially launched the public and open beta of its new Xbox Cloud Gaming Platform for iPhone and iPad, which means you can finally stream Xbox games through the Apple Safari on iOS devices. Along with iOS devices, the cloud gaming platform is also launched for Windows 10 and 11 PCs, where you can play Xbox games through browsers like Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome.

The Xbox Cloud Gaming Service is now available to all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members across 22 countries. The members can log in to xbox.com/play on Safari, Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome on PCs or mobile devices to start playing over 100 high-quality console games from the Xbox Game Pass library with the help of a compatible controller.

Catherine Gluckstein, Vice President & Head of Product, Xbox Cloud Gaming, said in a statement reported by IANS, “With billions of active Windows 10 PCs, iOS devices and Android phones, we want you to have new opportunities to play the deepest, most immersive games whenever and wherever you choose. To make it more simple, we’re bringing the Xbox experience directly to the devices you use most.”

The cloud gaming on Xbox.com is supported on iPhone and iPad devices running iOS 14.4 or higher. Along with these requirements, users must have at least a 10Mbps internet connection and a Bluetooth or USB controller. iPhone users can purchase Backbone One switch-style game controllers explicitly designed for mobile gaming and enjoy a similar physical experience to the Nintendo Switch and the Razer Kishi.

The Backbone One Gamepad is compatible with all iPhones running iOS 13 or later; it uses a similar layout to Microsoft’s own Xbox controllers. An Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription will cost you ₹ 699 per month, but you can get the best value pack for the first three months for ₹ 50 as part of a limited-time offer.

Vivo Reportedly Plans To Release A Rollable, Slidable & Foldable NEX Series Phones

People were and still are crazy about foldable smartphones, which is why top smartphone manufacturers are risking to join the segment. The latest one comes from the Chinese smartphone brand Vivo, which reportedly plans to release a rollable, slidable, and foldable smartphone by the end of 2021, under the trademark NEX Roll, NEX Slide, and NEX Fold.

Earlier, Samsung kicked off the foldable smartphone segment with the Galaxy Fold, and the Korean brand is now on the third generation of its foldable smartphones. Along with Vivo, 2021 is expected to witness the launch of Xiaomi, Oppo and Google’s foldable smartphone. LG was also preparing a rollable smartphone, but it failed to survive in the smartphone market, and the company shuts down its smartphone manufacturing section.

On May 24, Vivo has trademarked these three NEX devices, but the real journey began when Vivo launched the world’s first smartphone, Vivo APEX, with a full-screen design and a pop-up camera mechanism. Later on, APEX turned into Vivo NEX, which marked the trend of smartphones with a full-screen design and pop-up cameras.

The upcoming NEX smartphone lineup will bring cutting-edge design and innovative features. Last year, OPPO showcased it’s Oppo X 2021 as the world’s first rollable smartphone, and we all know how Oppo and Vivo are linked to each other as they’re part of BBK electronics. So, it’s not hard to presume that they both are working together to create more innovative smartphones somewhere down the line.

Earlier, a report said that Vivo filed a design patent with the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Office), where the company registered a patent for a new foldable smartphone design with a stylus. Also, the report said, the smartphone will feature an inward folding screen that unfolds into a tablet. Unfortunately, there’s no official statement from Vivo, but hopefully, more details will appear soon.