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Realme has confirmed the launch of its upcoming GT series smartphone, the GT Neo5, in China on February 9. The Realme GT Neo5 will come with 240W charging, which will be the fastest charging tech from the company so far.
Rumours are rife that the GT Neo5 will come in two variants – a 150W and 240W – charging speed variants. The 150W charging variant would pack a 5000mAh battery, while the 240W charging variant would have a 4,500mAh battery.
In a teaser, the company says that the 240W charger can offer up to 2 hours of talk time on a 30-second charge. However, the total charging time is still to be revealed. Further, the company adds that even with the 240W, the smartphone can be used for more than four years.
The company teased the design of the GT Neo5, showing off the rear panel of the smartphone has a triple camera setup within a dual camera island and a LED light.
The GT Neo5 could come with a 6.74-inch QHD 144Hz AMOLED with an in-display fingerprint sensor. As per the rumours, the smartphone would be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor from last year. The smartphone may come with up to 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and up to 1TB of UFS 3.1 storage. The smartphone may run Android 13 with Realme UI 4.0 on top.
In the teaser, the GT Neo5 is shown to have a triple rear camera setup. The triple camera setup could include a 50MP Sony IMX890 sensor with OIS, an 8MP IMX355 ultrawide, and a 2MP macro camera. On the front, the smartphone might come with a 16MP camera.
The smartphone might come with a stereo speaker setup with Dolby Atmos and hi-res audio.

Facebook-parent company Meta has reportedly received a go-ahead from a court to complete its purchase of virtual reality startup Within Unlimited, after the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sought to block the deal saying the purchase could end the competition in the market.
A report by Bloomberg cited people familiar with the ruling as saying that a US judge denied the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction to block the proposed transaction. The judge also issued a temporary restraining order that will essentially block Meta from closing the transaction for a week. This gives time to the FTC to appeal the ruling.
What’s the case?
In July 2022, the FTC filed a complaint to block Meta from acquiring virtual reality studio Within, which makes the popular VR app Supernatural. FTC said that the Mark Zuckerberg-owned company bought Within to end competition in the fitness market. Meta already owns Beat Saber which is a lot similar to Supernatural.

Meta fought the decision in December denying allegations of unlawfully monopolising the VR industry. As a result, Meta delayed the acquisition by a month. It meant that the company would not close the deal until January 31. In August, the Facebook-parent company agreed to not to close the deal until 11:59 p.m. on December 31.
Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth had said that “if this deal doesn’t close in a timely manner, we’ll probably just walk away.”
Companies Meta has acquired for metaverse
Meta is continuing to acquire companies despite witnessing losses in billions of dollars in the metaverse project. Last month, it acquired Gary Sharp Innovations, a Colorado-based optics startup that will help the company build better VR headsets as well as AR glasses. Meta entered a share purchase agreement with Gary Sharp Innovations in June.
In December, the Facebook-parent acquired Luxexcel, a company that makes 3D-printing prescription lenses for smart glasses. In June it bought BigBox VR, the maker of Population: One and April saw the purchase of Downpour Interactive, the studio behind the VR game Onward.

Samsung recently held its first major launch event of 2023, named Galaxy Unpacked in San Francisco, US. At this event, the South Korea-based tech giant introduced its latest flagship smartphone lineup — the Samsung Galaxy S23 series along with three laptops under the Galaxy Book3 series. Apart from the latest smartphone and laptop lineup, Samsung also announced that it has partnered with Google and Qualcomm to develop new “extended reality” (XR) products. At the end of the event, Samsung MX head TM Roh also invited Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon and Google executive Hiroshi Lockheimer on stage to announce the partnership.
Samsung’s upcoming XR device: What to expect
According to a report by the Washington Post, Roh has mentioned that Samsung is currently working on the XR device and that it’s “not too far away.” However, the company didn’t make any specific product announcements at the Unpacked event.
The report claims Google is working on the software part of the device which is expected to run an “unannounced version of the Android operating system meant specifically to power devices such as wearable displays”. Samsung will be promoting the upcoming device with the term XR, while Google is expected to prefer the term “immersive computing”.

Qualcomm will be supplying the chipset for the Samsung XR device. In November, the US-based chipmaker recently announced the Snapdragon AR2 Gen 1, which is a 4nm chipset designed specifically for augmented reality glasses. The company also has the XR2 chipset under its belt which is a platform for both augmented and virtual reality headsets.
As per the report, Samsung will also collaborate with other tech giants like Meta and Microsoft on “service partnerships.” The initial form factor of the XR device is expected to be a headset, like the Meta Quest Pro or the rumored Apple headset, the report adds.
During the event, Google’s Lockheimer discussed its partnership with Samsung on Google Meet, Messages, Wear OS, and large-screen Android devices (like tablets and foldables). Lockheimer also emphasised on ARCore, Google Maps Live View navigation and Google Lens visual search and explained how these products are a “prelude” to the company’s “long-term vision.”

WhatsApp has released its ‘Monthly India Report’ for the month of December. In the report, Meta-owned company has claimed that the instant messaging app banned more than 36 lakh malicious WhatsApp accounts in India.
WhatsApp says that out of these 3,677,000 accounts were banned, it proactively banned 1,389,000 of these accounts between December 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022, before any reports from users. It is to be noted that an Indian account is identified via +91 phone number.

“WhatsApp is an industry leader in preventing abuse, among end-to-end encrypted messaging services. Over the years, we have consistently invested in Artificial Intelligence and other state of the art technology, data scientists and experts, and in processes, in order to keep our users safe on our platform,” a WhatsApp spokesperson said.
WhatsApp releases the monthly report in compliance with the IT Rules, 2021.
“This user-safety report contains details of the user complaints received and the corresponding action taken by WhatsApp, as well as WhatsApp’s own preventive actions to combat abuse on our platform. As captured in the latest Monthly Report, WhatsApp banned over 3.6 million accounts in the month of December,” the spokesperson added.

More than 1,600 reports received
The messaging platform received 1,607 reports in the month of December in India and acted upon 166 of those accounts.
How WhatsApp tackles abuse
WhatsApp explains that ‘Accounts Actioned’ denotes reports where the company took remedial action. This means that the accounts were either banned or a previously banned account was restored as a result of the complaint. It also says that some reports may have been reviewed but not included as ‘Actioned’.
Last month, WhatsApp banned over 37 lakh accounts in India. It received 946 reports in November and acted upon 74 of them.

The US Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) and the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA) have come together to form a task force aimed at boosting cooperation between the two countries in the semiconductor industry. The task force will be made up of private sector stakeholders from both nations and will focus on several key objectives.
One of its goals is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of India’s semiconductor ecosystem and determine its level of readiness. This will help identify areas for improvement and create a roadmap for the development of a robust semiconductor industry in India.
The task force will also bring together industry players, government agencies, and academic institutions to identify near-term opportunities for growth and development in the sector. It will also study the challenges faced by India in increasing its role in the global semiconductor value chain, including chip manufacturing, and provide recommendations on how to overcome these challenges.
Additionally, the task force will explore workforce development and exchange opportunities between the two countries, which will benefit both nations. This could include programs to encourage the exchange of expertise and best practices, as well as collaboration on research and development initiatives.
The formation of this private-sector task force marks a significant step forward in the relationship between the US and India in the semiconductor industry. It will provide a platform for collaboration and create opportunities for growth and development in both countries, ultimately strengthening the global semiconductor ecosystem as a whole.
“We are thrilled to kick off this new initiative with IESA, our counterpart in India. India is already a major hub for semiconductor research, chip design, and equipment engineering, but its future potential is even greater. This task force will help identify tangible ways to unlock this potential by increasing collaboration between the US and India within the global chip ecosystem,” said SIA President and CEO John Neuffer.
“IESA is excited to be part of this new taskforce in partnership with SIA,” said IESA President and CEO Krishna Moorthy. “It will be an important platform to bring together global resources to identify actionable plans to support India to increase its presence in the world-wide chip industry and then enable global collaboration to execute the plans across all segments of the design and manufacturing supply chain, as well as creating semiconductor talent for the world.”

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced several measures to boost the satrtup industry in the country. In her budget speech, she proposed the extension of the date of incorporation for income tax benefits to start-ups from March 2024. “Entrepreneurship is vital for a country’s economic development. We have taken a number of measures for start-ups and they have borne results. India is now the third largest ecosystem for start-ups globally, and ranks second in innovation quality among middle-income countries,” said Sitharaman. In the Budget 2022-23, the government had allocated Rs 283.5 crore for the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme, which is higher than the Revised Estimates of about Rs 100 crore in the previous budget. The startup industry has welcomed the budget. Here are what CXOs of some popular startups have to say
Anirban Mukherjee, CEO, PayU India
“Budget 2023 is a great step towards supporting the long-term growth potential of India’s fintech ecosystem amidst increasing global headwinds. The new National Financial Information Registry, simplified KYC processes and adoption of PAN as the common business identifier will help streamline business operations for fintechs across India. The government’s strong focus on cutting-edge tech like AI & 5G will offer a much-needed growth impetus to our country’s digital infra at a grassroots level. We at PayU India welcome the policies laid out in Budget 2023 and are excited to contribute driving financial inclusion through our digital payments & credit businesses.”
Vikas Jain, Co-Founder, PLAY Design Labs
“A very sensible budget presentation and the FM has been considerate to the common man and industry alike. There is massive commitment of job creation and infrastructure spending which is very well received for India. Modification to the income tax slabs is a delight for the citizens and should encourage more citizens to declare their income statement. Most the industry is well taken care of and focus on strengthening manufacturing is evident. We hope to see some focus and action on the “cost of capital” in future budgets and themes. Backing manufacturing by incentivizing R&D/Design could have been a great addition and we remain hopeful for outlay for design in the forthcoming edition.”
Manu Rikhye, Partner, Merak Ventures
“It is a proud achievement for us that India is now the third largest ecosystem for startups globally. As investors, it is encouraging to hear the government is still keen on promoting startups. Entrepreneurship was and always will be vital for boosting the country’s economy. The major announcement on extending the income tax benefit date to start-ups has brought a brief reprieve to the space. To unleash innovation and research by start-ups and academia, a National Data Governance Policy was also brought out to enable access to anonymized data. We hope the government will further look into introducing deferment of the time of payment of tax on ESOP plans available to employees of more startups. It would have also been encouraging if the budget accommodated for an advisory on the PE/VC ecosystem. Easing of restrictions on domestic institutions like Provident Funds and NPS to invest in VC funds would have allowed for greater participation in domestic VC funds, which in turn, will help make patient and long term domestic capital available for AIFs. The carry forward of losses on change of shareholding of start-ups from seven years of incorporation to ten years will amp up investments in the sector. The budget could have been a game changer if the government did not miss the opportunity for rationalization of capital gains, taxation, especially for startups.”
Varun Sridhar, CEO, Paytm Money
“Union Budget 2023 reflects the government’s focus on inclusive growth and digitisation. The stability of reforms will contribute to the India growth story and will positively boost the morale of capital markets. From the simplification of KYC, cap on the maximum tax rate, to increasing the rebate on income tax and strengthening our infrastructural power — there are many welcome moves that will benefit Indians.”
Sanjeev Barnwal, founder and CTO, Meesho
“Making emerging tech mainstream by introducing it in engineering campuses is a masterstroke by our visionary government. The establishment of 5G labs and AI Centres of Excellence conveys a clear focus on boosting research and development, upskilling our workforce and preparing them for a new gamut of opportunities. At the same time, initiatives like the Agriculture Accelerator Fund and a unified Skill India digital platform have potential to deliver meaningful change at the grass roots.”
Ankit Kumar, CEO, Skye Air Mobility
“The budget for 2023 is forward looking and focuses on enhancing talent development and training in digital skills. PMKVY 4.0 will definitely be a boon to bridge the gap especially for the emerging technology sectors where skill manpower is the biggest challenge. The state of the art on job training programmes like coding, artificial intelligence, robotics, mechatronix, 3D printing, internet of things, drones, and other soft skills will surely pave the way for India to lead the world in the technology sector. Alone drone sector in India to witness a demand of 1,00,000 trained drone pilots in next 2 years and we are hopeful that with the launch of PMKVY 4.0 and emphasis on new age skilling and training this will be addressed adequately.”

OnePlus has set its sights on three areas of focus in 2023: the ultra-smooth interface, fast and smooth performance, extended battery lifespan, and ultra-fast charging.
The company says that it is dedicated to developing the most accurate and responsive touch experience possible, using a combination of hardware and software. The company’s close collaboration with chipset and RAM partners will ensure that its devices keep pace with the ever-evolving demands of smartphone users.
Moreover, the company is also working to extend battery lifespan and provide ultra-fast charging capabilities. With its focus on developing safe, efficient, and innovative charging technologies.
To showcase its achievements, OnePlus has partnered with TUV SUD for the OnePlus 11 5G evaluation. The company says that results have been impressive, and the company will share these advancements at its Cloud 11 launch event on February 7th.
OnePlus Cloud 11 event: What to expect
At the Cloud 11 event on February 7, OnePlus will be announcing the OnePlus 11 and OnePlus Buds Pro 2 in India. Alongside these two, OnePlus 11R, OnePlus Pad, the new OnePlus Y series television, and OnePlus Keyboard will make their debut at the event.
The OnePlus 11, the company’s high-end smartphone, will come with a 120Hz AMOLED display, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, and Hassleblad-tuned triple camera setup. Joining the OnePlus 11 will be the OnePlus 11R, which is expected to share a similar design as its high-end counterpart but will be powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset.
OnePlus Buds Pro 2 will also launch in India. The company has partnered with Dynaudio for its latest earbuds.
There is not much known about the OnePlus Pad, OnePlus Keyboard, and the new OnePlus Y series television. We expect to learn more about these products in the coming days.

Dell Technologies have launched the new Alienware Aurora R15 desktop series in India. These PC models will come equipped with 13th Gen Intel Core series processors, a 240mm AIO cooler and the optional Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 GPU. The company claims that these PCs will offer “the highest-end performance alongside stunning visuals.” Alienware Aurora R15 will be based on Dell’s Legend 2.0 design that promises to offer improved performance. These PC models will ship with an updated thermal strategy, newer technologies, a redesigned motherboard, and other gaming advancements.
Alienware Aurora R15: Price and availability
The new Alienware Aurora R15 will be available for purchase at Dell Exclusive Stores and Dell.com. The top model that is priced at Rs 5,49,000 will feature the 13th gen Intel Core i9 processor, 32 GB RAM and RTX 4090 graphics card. Meanwhile, the Aurora R15 will also be available in another variant that will have lower specs. Dell has not announced the price of the base model yet.
Alienware Aurora R15: Key features
Alienware Aurora R15 desktops will feature improved thermal strategies like hexagonal side vents for increased airflow, a bigger heat exchanger (240mm) and the Cryo-tech liquid cooling technology. Dell claims that these improvements will help the PC to achieve 5% lower CPU temperatures while delivering 58% more power.
This PC also claims to deliver improved acoustics under CPU as well as GPU-intensive tasks (66% and 32% respectively). Additionally, Aurora R15 also has a power threshold of up to 1350W and will be powered by the 13th Gen Intel Core series Raptor Lake CPU backed with up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card.

The PC will support ray-traced 4K gaming at 60+ FPS and enhanced overclocking. It will also include Nvidia’s DLSS 3 AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology for AI-based acceleration, Reflex technology for an intelligent response, the Broadcast App and the Ada Lovelace Architecture for an improved gaming experience. Aurora R15 also sports an internal architecture that is designed to support more power and higher wattage.
This PC is based on the Legend 2.0 design and offers a variety of connectivity ports that ensure minimal airflow obstruction. The Aurora R15 also brings the latest version of the Alienware Command Center application which includes — auto-tuned game profiles, thermal controls, advanced overclocking options, and customisable AlienFX settings.
The AlienFX software on the Aurora R15 will support up to 16.8 million RGB colours and customisable lighting capabilities that will help users to manage both internal ambient colours as well as traditional lighting areas.
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At Galaxy Unpacked 2023, Samsung unveiled its latest Galaxy S series flagship smartphones — Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+ and Galaxy S23 Ultra. The Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ feature an updated rear camera design with individually placed camera lenses. Additionally, the headsets are powered by the most powerful chipset available for the Android ecosystem — Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Other features include a 50MP triple rear camera setup with improved Nightography.
Samsung Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+: Specifications
In terms of specifications, the two Galaxy S23 smartphones aren’t that different. The entire Galaxy S23 lineup, including the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+, is powered by Qualcomm’s latest and most powered Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset clocked at up to 3.36GHz. The handsets come with 8GB RAM and up to 512GB UFS 3.1 storage.
The Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ feature a 6.1-inch and 6.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X FHD+ display, respectively. The display supports a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. In addition, the display on both handsets is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. In addition to that the displays also support Vision Booster and Enhanced Comfort features, which claim to optimise the displays for a better viewing experience.
In terms of camera, the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ retain the same camera setup as their previous generation counterparts. The handsets feature a 50MP primary shooter, a 12MP ultra-wide sensor and a 10MP telephoto sensor with 3X optical zoom and 30x hybrid zoom. Samsung claims that they’ve improved low-light photography and video capabilities by adding features like noise-reduction technology, Astro Hyperlapse and more.
Samsung has upgraded the front camera setup on both devices with a new 12MP sensor compared to the 10MP sensor from the previous generation.
The handset runs OneUI 5.1 based on the Android 13 operating system out-of-the-box. Samsung has increased the battery capacity on both handsets by 200mAh. The Galaxy S23 is now backed by a 3900mAh, while the Galaxy S23+ comes with a 4700mAh battery.
The Galaxy S23 supports 25W fast charging, while the Galaxy S23+ comes with 45W fast charging support. Also, both devices support wireless charging and wireless PowerShare.
(Disclaimer: The author is covering the Galaxy Unpacked event at San Francisco, USA on the invite of Samsung India.)

Twitter CEO Elon Musk has been experimenting with the platform ever since taking over. From introducing differently coloured verification ticks to tinkering with the algorithm, he has actively engaged with bringing new changes to the social media giant.
Musk’s latest experiment involves checking the impact of account privacy settings on tweet visibility. In a recent tweet, he shared that he was making his Twitter account private for a day to test this. He wrote, “Made my account private until tomorrow morning to test whether you see my private tweets more than my public ones.”

The backstory of Musk’s latest move
Musk’s decision to change his profile privacy setting to private stems from one of his recent interactions. Earlier, Twitter user “Libs of TikTok” – an account having over 10 million followers – tagged the billionaire and enquired about an odd observation. The user claimed that its tweets were not getting enough visibility until the account privacy was switched to private.
Following this tweet, the comment section was filled with users resonating similar concerns. A user reported not being able to post something on Twitter despite trying twice. Another one hinted that the platform may have reduced his tweet visibility by shadowbanning his account.

Among all these concerns popping up, Elon Musk chipped in and replied, “Something is wrong.” Not long after, he went ahead and made his account private as highlighted by the ‘lock’ next to his Twitter name.
The tweet where he revealed this move has 18 million views at the time of writing. Interestingly, this amount is close to the combined views (21.3 million) received by the three tweets before it.
Musk’s followers replied to this tweet apparently acknowledging they saw it without any delay. A few people also noted they have been observing seeing less of his tweets. Some others didn’t find any particular increase in tweets from Musk in their feed.
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