Archives 2023

Vivo X100 series, which comprises the Vivo X100 and Vivo X100 Pro models, is all set to be launched in India on January 4. Just a week ahead of its official release, the pricing of the phones has been tipped online. The flagship handsets are expected to start from Rs. 63,999 in the country. The Vivo X100 and Vivo X100 Pro with MediaTek Dimensity 9300 SoC is already available in China and select global markets. The Indian variants of the Vivo X100 series will ship with 8T LTPO display, and Zeiss-branded triple rear cameras headlined by a 50-megapixel 1-inch-type main camera.

Vivo X100 series price in India (leaked)

As per a report by The TechOutlook, Vivo X100 will have a market operating price (MOP) of Rs. 63,999 for the base 12GB RAM + 256GB storage model. It could cost Rs. 69,999 for the 16GB RAM + 512GB storage. The Vivo X100 Pro, in contrast, will reportedly have a MOP of Rs. 89,999 for the sole 16GB RAM + 512GB storage model.

The Vivo X100 and Vivo X100 Pro were launched in China last month with a starting price tag of CNY 4,999 (roughly Rs. 56,500) and CNY 3,999 (roughly Rs. 50,000), respectively. Later, the Vivo X100 and Vivo X100 Pro were announced in select global countries with a price tag of HK$7,998 (roughly Rs. 85,224) and HK$5,998 (roughly Rs. 63,917) respectively.

Vivo X100 series specifications

The Vivo X100 series features curved 6.78-inch 8 LTPO AMOLED screens with up to 120Hz refresh rate. They run on MediaTek Dimensity 9300 SoC, coupled with Vivo’s V3 chip. Both models sport Zeiss-branded triple rear camera units and a 32-megapixel selfie shooter.

Vivo X100 houses a 5,000mAh battery with 120W fast charging support, while the Vivo X100 Pro packs a 5,400mAh unit with 100W charging and 50W wireless charging support. They have an IP68-rated build for water and dust resistance.

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OnePlus Nord 3 5G was launched in India in July this year. The phone is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 chipset, is backed by a 5,000mAh battery with 80W wired SuperVOOC charging support, and ships with Android 13-based UI. The phone is equipped with a 50-megapixel triple rear camera unit as well as a tri-state alert slider. It is offered in two RAM and storage configurations in the country. Both variants have now been spotted online with a significant price cut.

OnePlus Nord 3 5G price in India (revised)

The OnePlus Nord 3 5G launched in India with 8GB + 128GB and 16GB + 256GB variants, priced at Rs. 33,999 and Rs. 37,999, respectively. Now both models are listed online at discounted rates.

OnePlus’ official website now lists the 8GB + 128GB option at Rs. 29,999, while the 16GB + 256GB option is marked at Rs. 33,999. The OnePlus Nord 3 5G is offered in Misty Green and Tempest Gray colour options in the country. ICICI Bank, Citi Bank, and One Card Credit Card holders may be eligible for an additional instant discount of up to Rs. 2,000 at the time of purchase.

OnePlus Nord 3 5G specifications

The OnePlus Nord 3 5G features a 6.74-inch AMOLED panel with up to 120Hz refresh rate, a pixel density of 450ppi, and HDR10+ support. The phone is powered by an octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 9000 SoC paired with a Mali-G710 MC10 GPU, up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 onboard storage. It ships with Android 13-based OxygenOS 13.

For optics, the OnePlus Nord 3 5G carries a 50-megapixel Sony IMX890 primary sensor with optical image stabilisation (OIS) support, an 8-megapixel Sony IMX355 sensor with an ultra-wide-angle lens, and a 2-megapixel macro shooter at the back. The front camera features a 16-megapixel sensor.

The OnePlus Nord 3 5G packs a 5,000mAh battery with 80W wired SuperVOOC charging support via a USB Type-C port. It also supports 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, and GPS connectivity. For security, the phone has an in-display fingerprint sensor. It carries an IP54 rating for dust and splash resistance and is also equipped with a tri-state alert slider.

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Elon Musk’s Starlink has been working on providing satellite-based internet in quite a few countries. Now, China is gearing up to take on Starlink with its own satellite-based internet service. According to a report by South China Morning Post, production of China’s second low-earth satellite megaconstellation, aimed at providing broadband internet services, commenced in Shanghai on Wednesday. This initiative reflects China’s commitment to exploring opportunities in the space technology industry, intensifying competition with SpaceX’s Starlink.
Situated within the G60 Starlink industrial base, supported by the Shanghai municipal government, a digital-production plant achieved a milestone by producing its inaugural commercial satellite on Wednesday, as reported by authorities in the Songjiang district. As per the report, the factory aims to launch and operate a minimum of 108 satellites for initial commercial services by 2024. The idea is to establish a comprehensive industry chain capable of global competition by 2027, as outlined by the district government.
Shanghai Gesi Aerospace Technology, a state-owned entity formed in 2022 to manage the G60 Starlink factory, anticipates an annual production capacity of 300 satellites. General Manager Cao Jin noted that mass production capabilities would significantly reduce satellite production time from approximately two to three months to a mere one and a half days, according to the report. However, this output pace lags behind SpaceX’s Starlink, which produces six satellites daily.
China has strategically intensified efforts to cultivate the commercial satellite market, recognizing its pivotal role in frontier technology amid escalating competition with the United States. The G60 Starlink project, comprising 12,000 satellites, and the Guo Wang national network, with 13,000 satellites under construction, collectively represent China’s response to Elon Musk’s Starlink.
Projections by China Fortune Securities indicate that China’s aerospace information industry is poised to reach 44.69 billion yuan (US$6.26 billion) in 2025, up from 29.3 billion yuan in 2021. Research also reveals that the aerospace information industry commands a 73% share of the global commercial space market, valued at approximately US$384 billion in 2022, noted the report.

Xiaomi unveiled its first electric car SU7 at an event in China. The company has also launched a limited edition of its flagship smartphones — Xiaomi 14 Pro and Xiaomi 14. The limited edition of the smartphones come in Aqua Blue and Verdant Green colour options.
The special customised colour variants of both Xiaomi 14 and Xiaomi 14 Pro are available at the same price as the standard version. The starting price for the Xiaomi 14 is 4,999 yuan (Rs 60,320), while the Xiaomi 14 Pro, in its limited-edition colour, is priced at 5,999 yuan (Rs 72,385) for the 12GB + 256GB model.
Xiaomi 14 Pro specifications
The Xiaomi 14 Pro boasts a 6.73-inch 2K display featuring a pixel resolution of 1440×3100. The display stands out with its variable refresh rate of up to 120Hz and an impressive peak brightness of 3000 nits. To ensure durability, the display is protected by a layer of Xiaomi Ceramic Glass.
Powering this flagship smartphone is an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, coupled with 12GB of RAM. Users can choose from three storage options: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.
Operating on Xiaomi HyperOS, the dual SIM smartphone is equipped with a triple rear camera system developed in collaboration with Leica. The rear camera setup includes a 50MP main camera with an f/1.42 aperture, a 50MP Leica ultra-wide camera with an f/2.2 aperture, and a 50MP telephoto lens with an f/2.0 aperture. On the front, there is a 32MP selfie camera with an f/2.0 aperture.
In terms of security features, the Xiaomi 14 Pro incorporates an in-display fingerprint sensor and an infrared sensor. The smartphone features stereo speakers tuned by Dolby Atmos. Additionally, it holds an IP68 rating, making it resistant to dust and water.
The Xiaomi 14 Pro is powered by a robust 4880mAh battery, supporting 120W wired fast charging, 50W wireless charging, and 10W wireless charging.

Xiaomi unveiled its first electric car SU7 at an event in China. The company has also unveiled the limited edition of Xiaomi Watch S3 at the same event. Xiaomi has launched the Aqua Blue and Verdant Green limited edition in China. The colour of the limited edition matches that of its electric car.
The new limited edition of Xiaomi Watch S3 comes with a black high-gloss metal frame design. The Xiaomi Watch S3 limited edition smartwatch is priced at 1,099 can (Rs 13,260) and it is up for sale in China. The smartwatch offers the same set of specifications as the original Xiaomi Watch S3.
Xiaomi Watch S3 specifications
The Xiaomi Watch S3 boasts a 1.43-inch AMOLED display, featuring a high resolution of 466×466 pixels and adaptive brightness functionality. Running on Xiaomi HyperOS, this smartwatch is equipped with a heart sensor, acceleration sensor, air pressure sensor, and ambient light sensor. With over 150 sports modes, it’s designed to monitor daily health activities, including fall detection, women’s health, and stress monitoring.
Designed with a water-resistant build, the Xiaomi Watch S3 sports a strap made of Fluororubber and Leather. Powered by a 486 mAh battery, it ensures an impressive 7 days of battery backup on a single charge.
For accurate GPS tracking, the smartwatch utilizes independent dual-frequency five-satellite positioning. Its dual-layer antenna design enhances GNSS antenna reception by 50%, providing precise outdoor route recording that balances speed and accuracy.
A unique feature of the Xiaomi Watch S3 is its interchangeable bezel design, allowing users to effortlessly switch custom watch bezels through a simple twist and setting mechanism. These customizable watch faces come with dynamic animations and sound effects, delivering a sensation reminiscent of engaging a precision mechanism.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 is expected to land on January 17, so this high-profile handset is probably almost here. But you don’t need to wait until then to learn about it.

Well, officially you do, but leaks and rumors have revealed many likely specs and features of the phone, the best of which we’ve highlighted below.

Oppo Find X7 series launch date has been revealed. The lineup is expected to include the Find X7 and Find X7 Ultra. The company has announced the launch date of the series in China and also revealed the design and colour options of the models. The RAM and storage configurations of the phones have been confirmed as well. Oppo has also opened reservations for the handsets in China. The lineup has previously been tipped to include a Find X7 Ultra ‘Satellite Communication’ variant but the company has not yet confirmed its availability. 

The company announced that the Oppo Find X7 series will launch globally on January 8 at 2:30pm Beijing time (12pm IST). A promotional video of the upcoming lineup shows the design of the two handsets – the Oppo Find X7 and Oppo Find X7 Ultra. Ahead of the launch, both models are open for reservations in China. The listings of the phones on the official website also reveal the colour options and the storage configurations.

Oppo Find X7 is confirmed to launch in four colour options – Desert Silver Moon, Smokey Purple, Starry Sky Black, and Vast Sea and Sky (blue) (translated from Chinese). The black and purple colour options are seen with glass back panels while the other two designs appear with part faux leather and part glass finish. The Find X7 will be available in 12GB + 256GB, 16GB + 256GB, 16GB + 512GB, and 16GB + 1TB variants.

The Oppo Find X7 Ultra, on the other hand, will be offered in Desert Silver Moon, Song Ying Mo Yun (black), and Vast Sea and Sky (blue) (translated from Chinese) colourways. All options of the Ultra model will carry a part faux leather and part glass finish on the back. The phone is listed with 12GB + 256GB, 16GB + 256GB, and 16GB + 512GB storage options. 

Both Oppo Find X7 models are seen with a large circular camera module placed centrally towards the top of the back panel. They are seen with curved screens with a hole-punch slot at the top to house the front camera. The volume rockers and power buttons are placed on the right side of the handsets, while the left edge appears to sport an alert slider that is usually found on OnePlus smartphones.

The base Oppo Find X7 has been tipped to be powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 9300 SoC, while the Find X7 Ultra is said to carry a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. They are expected to ship with Android 14-based ColorOS 14. The vanilla handset is likely to sport a 6.78-inch 1.5K display with BOE 8T OLED LTPO panel with 120Hz refresh rate and 2,160Hz PWM dimming rate, and the Ultra variant could get a 6.82-inch 2K display. Both handsets are said to come with a 5,000mAh battery with 100W wired fast charging support.

For optics, the Oppo Find X7 could get a 50-megapixel LYT-808 primary rear sensor with optical image stabilisation (OIS), a 50-megapixel Samsung JN1 sensor with an ultrawide lens, and a 64-megapixel Omnivision OV64B periscope telephoto camera with 3x zoom and OIS support. Meanwhile, the Find X7 Ultra is said to feature a 50-megapixel LYT-900 main sensor with OIS, a 50-megapixel LYT800 sensor with an ultrawide lens, an OIS-supported 50-megapixel IMX890 sensor with telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, and a 50-megapixel OIS-supported IMX858 sensor with telephoto lens with 6x optical zoom.

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In a new development, NASA, with the help of its advanced ground and space-based telescopes, has revealed that an asteroid is expected to pass Earth today, December 29. The space agency made this discovery using its advanced instruments such as the NEOWISE telescope, Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), Pans-STARRS1, and Catalina Sky Survey. According to NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, the space rock has been designated Asteroid 2023 YZ. Know all about the asteroid’s close approach to Earth such as its speed, size, distance of approach, and more.

Asteroid 2023 YZ: Speed, size, distance, and more

As per the details, Asteroid 2023 YZ is expected to pass Earth at a distance of approximately 3.8 million kilometers. It is already travelling towards Earth in its orbit at 20233 kilometers per hour which is almost as fast as an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM)!

This space rock belongs to the Apollo group of Near-Earth Asteroids, which are Earth-crossing space rocks with semi-major axes larger than Earth’s. These asteroids are named after the humongous 1862 Apollo asteroid, discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s.

According to NASA, Asteroid 2023 YZ has passed Earth before. It first came close to Earth on January 30, 2022, at a distance of about 39 million kilometers. After today, it is not predicted to pass by the planet in the near future.

How big is it?

Asteroid 2023 YZ is almost the size of an aircraft, with a width of nearly 89 feet. Despite this big size, it has not been classified as a Potentially Hazardous Object and is deemed non-threatening. However, it could change if the asteroid gets knocked off its course due to interaction with a planet’s gravitational field.

Due to such close calls, NASA, ESA, and other space agencies have developed technology to track asteroids in their orbits, and even deflect them in case a potential impact scenario develops.

As part of compliance action against the offshore entities, Financial Intelligence Unit India (FIU IND) has issued show cause notices to nine offshore Virtual Digital Assets Service Providers (VDA SPs) under Section 13 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

According to an official release from the Ministry of Finance, “Virtual Digital Assets Service Providers (VDA SPs) were brought into the ambit of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (AML-CFT) framework under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PML) Act in March 2023.”

“As part of compliance action against the offshore entities, Financial Intelligence Unit India (FIU IND) has issued compliance Show Cause Notices to the following nine offshore Virtual Digital Assets Service Providers (VDA SPs) under Section 13 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA),” it said.

As per the release, the nine offshore Virtual Digital Assets Service Providers are Binance, Kucoin, Huobi, Kraken, Gate.io, Bittrex, Bitstamp, MEXC Global and Bitfinex.

“Director FIU IND has written to the Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to block the URLs of said entities that are operating illegally without complying with the provisions of the PML Act in India,” said the release.

VDA SPs operating in India (both offshore and onshore) and engaged in activities like exchange between virtual digital assets and fiat currencies, transfer of virtual digital assets, safekeeping or administration of virtual digital assets or instruments enabling control over virtual digital assets, etc. are required to be registered with FIU IND as reporting entities and comply with the set of obligations as mandated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002, it said.

The obligation is activity-based and is not contingent on physical presence in India.

“The regulation places reporting, record-keeping, and other obligations on the VDA SPs under the PML Act, which also includes registration with the FIU IND,” said the release.

To date, 31 VDA SPs have registered with FIU IND. However, several offshore entities, though catering to a substantial part of Indian users, were not getting registered and coming under the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (CFT) frameworks.

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The government has refuted a report which claimed that India demanded Apple to help soften the political impact of the threat warnings that some journalists and opposition leaders in India claimed to have received on their iPhones in October. IT minister Rajeev Chanrasekhar said that the “story is half facts”.
“Rebutting The Washington Post’s terrible storytelling is tiresome, but someone has to do it,” the minister said in a post on X.
“This story is half facts, fully embellished. Left out of the story is Apple’s response on Oct 31- day of threat notifications,” he added, sharing Apple’ response which it issued soon after the incident.
What did the report claim
Citing three individuals familiar with the situation, the report said that executives from Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino were summoned by India to be questioned about the security of the company’s devices.
However, the report added, instead of focusing on device security, the government asked the company to modify or soften its public statements.
At that time, union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said at the time that the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) had launched an investigation, and the government had sent a notice to Apple for a meeting with Indian officials.
Chanrasekhar targets news outlet
Chanrasekhar said that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (MeitY) and his response to this incident is for “Apple to explain if their devices are vulnerable and what triggered these notifications.”
He also noted that Apple was asked to join the enquiry with CERT-In and meetings have been held and enquiry is ongoing.
“Those are the facts. Rest of the story is creative imagination & clickbaiting at work masquerading as journalism,” he added.
In October, some opposition leaders and journalists said they received a notification on their iPhones that read, “State-sponsored attackers may be targeting your iPhone.” Apple said that “it’s possible that some Apple threat notifications may be false alarms.”