Archives 2023

Vivo has launched the V30 Lite, the successor to V29 Lite, in Mexico. The smartphone comes with a 120Hz display, a Snapdragon 695 SoC, and a 50MP selfie camera. Here’s all you need to know about Vivo V30 Lite.
Vivo V30 Lite: Price and availability
Vivo V30 Lite is priced at 8,999 Mexican Pesos, around Rs 44,000. The smartphone is already on sale in the country, but there is no word on if or when the smartphone will launch in other regions.
Vivo V30 Lite: Specifications, features, and more
Vivo V30 Lite features a 6.67-inch FHD+ flat AMOLED screen with a refresh rate of 120Hz.The display offers a peak brightness of up to 800 nits, covers 100 per cent of DCI-P3 colour gamut, and 107 per cent of NTSC colour gamut. The phone has an in-display fingerprint sensor. The V30 Lite comes with a glass back in Green and Desert Gold colours, with the latter having a Dune pattern that reflects light at some angles.
The smartphone is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 695 chipset, the same as the V29 Lite. The 8nm chipset has 2x 2.2GHz cores, 6x 1.8GHz Kryo 560 CPUs, with Adreno 619L GPU. It has 12GB of LPDDR4x RAM paired with 256GB of UFS 2.2 internal storage, which is expandable up to 1TB with a microSD card. The V30 Lite is backed up by a 4800mAh battery with 44W fast charging, which can charge the battery up to 50 per cent in 28n minutes. It runs FunTouch OS 13 on top of Android 13.
The V30 Lite comes with a triple camera setup consisting of a wide, ultrawide, and portrait unit. The setup is led by a 64MP wide camera with f/1.9 aperture, along with a 8MP ultrawide camera having a f/2.2 aperture, and a 2MP portrait camera with f/2.4 aperture. The smartphone also has a LED flash and Aura LED at the rear. On the front, the phone has a 50MP camera for selfies housed inside the centred punch hole cutout.

Apple is gearing up to launch the Vision Pro in early 2024, with production for mixed reality headset being ramped up in China ahead of release. As Apple’s spatial computer nears its launch, the company already has its eyes on the Vision Pro 2. The Cupertino, California based tech giant reportedly plans to bring even better displays to its second headset. Apple Vision Pro’s successor is said to get brighter and more efficient micro-OLED displays. The upcoming Vision Pro already has an excellent twin micro-OLED displays that, according to Apple, will feature more pixels than a 4K TV for each eye.

According to a report from market research firm Omidia cited by Korean news outlet The Elec (via MacRumors), the Apple Vision Pro 2 will get an RGB OLEDoS display when it launches in 2027. The new displays will represent an upgrade over the WOLED displays with colour filter used in the first-generation Vision Pro headset.

The report says that the upgraded displays do not require colour filters as the RGB OLEDoS technology generates light and colour directly from nearby RGB sub-pixels on a single layer. The displays that utilise the technology turn out to be considerably brighter and more efficient than WOLED and colour filter OLEDoS displays.

Additionally, the only company that currently supplies RGB OLEDoS displays is Apple’s longtime rival Samsung. According to the report, after its acquisition of OLED microdisplays manufacturer eMagin, Samsung will be the likely supplier for Apple in case the iPhone maker opts to upgrade the displays on the Vision Pro headset. This, however, would not be out of the ordinary as the South Korean technology conglomerate has long produced the OLED displays used on Apple’s iPhone models.

The Vision Pro 2 is reportedly already in development and is codenamed Project Alaska. Leaks last month had said the second-generation Apple headset could release in 2026 with redesigned rear strap. Other leaked specifications for the Vision Pro 2 include two Micro OLED displays with semi-automatic interpupillary distance (IPD) adjustment, a TrueDepth camera, four computer vision cameras, two RGB cameras, two low-light infrared illuminators, and a range of other smartphone sensors.

Meanwhile, the first-generation Apple Vision Pro units will reportedly be ready to ship by as early as January 2024. TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed earlier this week that the headset would be Apple’s “most important product of 2024.” The company is expected to ship as many as 5,00,000 units in 2024. Vision Pro units are said to be in mass production currently and will begin shipping by the first week of January 2024, as per Kuo. Apple hasn’t announced a concrete release date for its spatial computer and has stuck to an early 2024 launch timeline.

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Web Werks Data Centers India has appointed SupertronVAD Venture as its Value-Added Distributor as a part of its strategy to leverage strategic alliances and develop reseller-based partnerships to drive Enterprise sales.
Supertron VAD’s business is predominantly exclusive, with 70% of its operations falling under this category, underscoring the significance of exclusivity as a core strength for the company.In the designated territories, all resellers and dealers are mandated to procure products exclusively from Supertron VAD. The company also serves as a fulfillment center for these resellers and System Integrators. Additionally, Supertron VAD’s strength lies in its robust supply chain system and extensive Pan-Indian presence.
“At Web Werks, we estimate that over 50% of our domestic enterprise revenues will be driven by the partner eco-system. I am delighted to announce SupertronVAD venture as our value-added distributor to lead this effort. I am quite confident that with SupertronVAD, we’ll be able to build a world class partner eco-system in India & beyond. Organizations across industries are in the midst of digital transformation and looking to cloud solutions for business growth, utilizing our solutions will help them to achieve cost savings, enhanced security and agility for operations. Together with SupertronVAD, we aim to provide an end- to-end solution to organizations in their digital transformation journey.” Amit Agrawal, Chief Business Officer, Web Werks Data Centers India.
Debraj Dam, Chief of Value Added Distribution, Supertron said “The India Data Center Market size is expected to grow from USD 6.12 billion in 2023 to USD 10.89 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 12.22% during the forecast period (2023-2028), and it’s fit in our natural progression in our growth journey to offering world class Iron Mountain’s WebWerks Data Centers India solutions that include information management, digital transformation, secure storage, secure colo data centers, cloud services offerings to our CIB partner community in our Data Center and software domain. It will further solidify our commitment to our partner ecosystems and their customer’s leadership position and also reinforce our position with our strong partner network in Asia Pacific and Middle East market demand to power their cloud journey through this partnership. With the WebWerks our partners will also be able to leverage Nutanix Hyper Converged Infrastructure (HCI) along with our other integrated solutions.”

With 2024 approaching, the frequency of solar storms, solar flares, geomagnetic storms, and other solar phenomena is set to increase. According to various models and predictions by scientists, the solar cycle 25 will enter the peak of solar maximum in mid-2024. Solar maximum is when the Sun has the highest number of sunspots (active areas of solar flares). These sunspots are what send these vicious solar storms toward the Earth. A recent report has suggested that a solar storm is set to hit Earth and there’s a chance that it will generate auroras. Know all about it.

Solar storm today

According to Space Weather Physicist Dr. Tamitha Skov, a solar storm was launched towards Earth on December 25. It will result in fast solar winds that are expected to boost solar flares and solar storm activity in the next four days. As per the report, there is a 30 percent chance of a minor solar storm on January 1, the first day of the new year. Such storms can do more damage than normal. They can damage small satellites, impact mobile networks, and GPS, and even pose a threat to ground-based electronics and power grids by increasing the magnetic potential by huge amounts. 

While there is some time until the solar storm approaches, auroras could be sighted today, December 29. As per the report, auroras could be visible at high latitudes.

How do auroras form?

According to NASA, when a solar storm interacts with Earth’s magnetic field, it results in the formation of geomagnetic storms. The solar particles released during this interact with the various gases present in our atmosphere and form stunning Auroras which are a sight to behold, especially from places like Reykjavik in Iceland and Svalbard in Norway.

Reason behind increased solar activity

The Sun entered solar cycle 25 in 2019 and it is expected that it will hit its peak in July 2025. And this is the main reason why the Sun has suddenly become so violent. The Earth is in for a rough ride. If the Earth is hit with a G5-class solar storm, as predicted by observing the growing sunspots, it can not only damage satellites and disrupt wireless communications such as internet services, mobile networks, and GPS, but it can also cause power grid failures and even disrupt electronics such as pacemakers on Earth.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced a final rule that will increase premium processing fees across a few categories of visas. The visas for which the fee is going up include H-1B applications.
According to immigration attorneys, sponsoring employers should factor the new premium processing fees into their immigration budget planning for the coming year.Typically, E-registrations for H-1B applications begin in March, followed by the lottery and then the final visa application for the selected beneficiaries.
What is the new fee and when it comes into effect
Fees for premium processing of Form I-129, (which is the application for a non-immigrant worker such as those on H-1B visas or L1 – intercompany transfer visas) have increased by 12% to $2,805. The fee change will go into effect starting February 26, 2024.
The premium processing charges for Form I-539, used by international students, spouses and dependents of H-1B visa holders for extending or changing their non-immigrant status stands increased to $1,965 from the existing $1,750. Form 1-765, which is for seeking employment authorisation, such as for F-1 students for their optional practical training (OPT) increases to $1,685 from $1,500.
What is premium processing
If a visa application is applied for via premium processing, the case is adjudicated within the shorter timeline as prescribed. For instance, for Form I-539 and Form I-765 it is 30 calendar days. H-1B premium processing is undertaken in 15 calendar days.
The premium processing fees stand increased to reflect the amount of inflation from June 2021 through June 2023. USCIS says that it plans to increase premium processing fees biennially in the future. It is not currently planning to change the timeframes for cases requesting premium service.

Google is settling a lawsuit accusing it of tracking users’ browsing activities in Chrome‘s “Incognito” mode. The lawsuit filed originally in 2020 sought $5 billion in damages, but neither of the parties have made the settlement details public.
Google was sued by three users for violating wiretap laws. They claimed that Google Analytics and Ad Manager collected data from browsers in Incognito mode and that Google was merging Chrome users’ private browsing activity with their existing user profiles.Google responded by saying that while users’ activity won’t be saved on their device in Incognito mode, websites could still collect information during the session.
They have claimed that this has turned Google into an “unaccountable trove of information” as the company has been able to learn about their interests, online shopping habits, and even potentially embarrassing activities.
Google’s attempt to dismiss the lawsuit was rejected by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in August. The company was referring to the message that warned users that their activity “might still be visible to websites you visit.” She noted that Google had never disclosed to its users that their data was being collected while they were surfing in Incognito mode.
According to the ruling by Judge Rogers, Google has been accused of collecting user data without their consent while they were browsing in private mode. Google argued that the users had given their consent to the data collection, but the judge rejected this claim, stating that Google did not explicitly inform the users about the data collection. Thus, the court cannot conclude that the users had given their explicit consent to the data collection.
The plaintiffs sought a minimum of $5 billion in damages, with a claim of at least $5,000 per user for those who used private browsing modes between 2016 and 2020. The lawsuit alleges that millions of Incognito users since 2016 were likely affected, leading to the damages sought from the company. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. A formal settlement for court approval has to be presented by February 24, 2024.

Riding the AI wave, Microsoft has overhauled Windows with AI features this year. And if you thought that it had forgotten its Surface lineup, then Microsoft is coming to prove you wrong, though it will take some time. Microsoft has some significant upgrades planned for Surface PCs, which, as per a report from Windows Central, include improved design, internals, and new AI-enabled features, coming next year.
As usual, next year’s Surface PCs would come in two options – one powered by Intel’s 14th generation chips and Arm ones that will be powered by Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X chips.
The Arm models, which are codenamed CADMUS, will be specifically designed to support the AI features that Microsoft plans to include in a future release of Windows. In addition, they will offer improvements in terms of performance, battery life, and security that are comparable to Apple’s silicon chips.
According to the report, the upcoming Surface Pro 10 will have a brighter display that supports HDR. It will also come with an anti-glare coating and give users the option to choose between 2160 x 1440 or 2880 x 1920 resolution. The device may have rounded corners, similar to the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio lineup. Additionally, it may support a new Type Cover with a button that opens Windows Copilot. There is a major redesign planned for the Surface Pro 6, though that is not coming until 2025.
The Surface Laptop 6 will reportedly have a slightly larger 13.8-inch display compared to the 13.5-inch display on the Surface Laptop 5. The 15-inch model will remain the same size, and the device may sport a rounded display with thinner bezels. It could also have new ports, including two for USB-C, one for USB-A, and one for Surface Connect charging. The laptop is rumoured to come with a haptic touchpad and a keyboard button dedicated to Windows Copilot.
According to the report, Microsoft could launch the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 sometime next year. There are also rumours of a new refreshed Surface Laptop Studio, that would come in 2025, again in two options – Intel and Arm.

Oppo’s next batch of flagship smartphones – the Find X7 series – is set to make its debut on January 8. The series will have two models – Find X7 and Find X7 Ultra, and the reservations for the two models have already begun in China, with sale scheduled for 2:30 PM local time on January 8. The teasers show the two phones from all angles, revealing the Find X7 and Find X7 Ultra in different colourways.
The two phones will come in glass and leather back versions, sporting a ‘H’ branding on the back for the Hasselblad partnership. The Find X7 will come in four colours – Smoky Purple, Starry Sky Black, The Sea and the Sky, and Desert Silver Moon. The first two are all-glass, and the latter two have partly faux leather and partly glass back. The Find X7 Ultra comes in The Sea and the Sky, Desert Silver Moon, and Pine Shadow, the latter with a partly faux leather and partly glass finish in black and dark grey.
The Find X7 is equipped with three rear cameras, including a single periscope. On the other hand, the Find X7 Ultra will have a quad-camera setup at the back, including two periscope zoom cameras, making it the first smartphone in the world to have such an arrangement. The other two cameras will be wide and ultrawide.
The two models will feature curved screens, having a punch hole at the top centre housing the selfie camera. Rumours are that the Oppo X7 Ultra would have a 6.82-inch 2K LTPO screen with 120Hz refresh rate. Then the two also have the alert slider, which is often found on Oppo’s sister brand OnePlus smartphones.
The word around the town is that the Find X7 Ultra could come with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, while the Find X7 might be powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 9300 chipset. The two smartphones are said to have a 5,000mAh battery with 100W wired charging support. The Ultra model is said also to support 50W wireless charging.
Additionally, these two models will also support satellite connectivity, which is said to be powered by BeiDou, so chances are that the satellite connectivity features will remain limited to China.
So far, there is no word on if or when the Oppo Find X7 series will launch outside of China.

Samsung Galaxy S24 series is expected to make its way to the market soon. Over the past few months, there have been several leaks suggesting the major features coming to the Galaxy S24 lineup. The phones are said to get a faster Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, an improved camera system, new design and AI-based features. A media report recently indicated the European pricing details of the Samsung Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+, and Galaxy S24 Ultra. The regular models are expected to be priced lower than the launch price of Galaxy S23. However, the pricing of the top-end model could remain the same as its predecessor.

As per a report by GalaxyClub (Dutch), the price of Galaxy S24 will start at EUR 899 (roughly Rs. 82,000) for the base 8GB RAM + 128GB storage model. The 256GB storage model could be priced at EUR 959 (roughly Rs. 88,000). The Galaxy S24+ will reportedly be priced at EUR 1,149 (roughly Rs. 1,05,000) for the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage model and EUR 1,269 (roughly Rs. 1,16,000) for the 12GB + 512GB variant.

The top-end model of the lineup Galaxy S24 Ultra could be priced at EUR 1,449 (roughly Rs. 1,33,500) for the 12GB + 256GB version. The 12GB RAM + 512GB and 12GB + 1TB models is said to be priced at EUR 1,569 (roughly Rs. 1,44,500) and EUR 1,809 (roughly Rs. 1,66,500), respectively.

If this leak holds any weight, the Galaxy S24 and S24+ might be slightly cheaper than the launch price of their predecessors. The Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ debuted with a price tag of EUR 950 (roughly Rs. 87,000), and EUR 1,200 (roughly Rs. 1,10,000), respectively. The pricing of the Galaxy S24 Ultra could remain relatively the same. The pricing is likely to vary across countries depending on currency exchange rates.

Samsung has not yet announced the launch date of the Galaxy S24 series, but it is highly speculated to be unveiled on January 17. The brand is expected to pack Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC for Galaxy with overclocked CPU and GPU cores in both Galaxy S24+ and Galaxy S24 Ultra across all markets. The US and Canada Samsung Galaxy S24 variant could run on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, while most regions will see the handset powered by an Exynos 2400 SoC.

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