Heena Sharma Blog

Chinese electronics manufacturer Xiaomi on Thursday announced its annual ‘ Black Friday Sale ’, in which the company is offering discounts, cashbacks, bank offers, and more, on several products, including smartphones, televisions, and ecosystem devices like smart bulbs, fitness bands, Bluetooth speakers, etc. The Xiaomi Black Friday Sale will start from November 29 and continue until December 2. It will be applicable on online and offline platforms — Flipkart, Amazon, Mi online store and Mi Home. In the sale, the company is offering 10 per cent instant discount on HDFC Bank debit and credit card transactions on Mi online store, Flipkart and Amazon. At offline stores, users can avail of cashback of up to Rs 1,500 on HDFC debit and credit cards. Xiaomi Black Friday sale details: Xiaomi recently introduced new colour variants of its Redmi Note 8-series smartphones – electric blue and cosmic purple for the Redmi Note 8 Pro and the Redmi Note 8, respectively. The phones’ new colo...

Singapore’s newest billionaire is a former government employee who rode mobile sensation Free Fire into the ranks of the ultra-wealthy this week. The battle royale or fight-to-the-death title distributed by Sea Ltd. ranked among the five most downloaded games on the Apple and Google app stores for three straight quarters this year and has amassed $1 billion in adjusted revenue since launching in 2017. That propelled a tripling in Sea’s market value and the fortune of co-founder Gang Ye, a Carnegie Mellon University alum who’s worked for Wilmar International Ltd. and Singapore’s Economic Development Board. The 39-year-old joins fellow co-founder Forrest Li, whose larger stake in the fast-growing games-to-shopping company earned him a ten-digit fortune earlier this year. Ye, who moved to Singapore from China in the 1990s as a teenager and became a citizen shortly after his return from the US, has served as Sea’s chief operating officer since 2017. The executive holds an 8.4...

The Centre told the Delhi High Court on Thursday that blocking of online gaming sites, including those of card games, was " technologically infeasible " as many states have enacted laws which partially or fully allow such activities. The submission on affidavit was made before a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) which said that it has to be determined first whether the games on the sites involved games of skill or chance in order to block them for propagating gambling activities. The Delhi government told the court it can only take action if a gambling site was being hosted in the national capital or if there were instances of offline gambling. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its affidavit, has said it has taken each and every step under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) to prohibit, forbid and bar any kind of transaction which was illegal and contrary to forex ...

The premium smartwatch segment seems empty with very few options that can take on the exalted Apple Watch or Samsung S3 gear. However, some players now want to carve a niche for themselves. We recently came across Mobvoi's TicWatch Pro, a premium smartwatch with one of the best displays and a bag full of features. We felt the watch can easy give premium smartwatches a run for their money, but does the first impression stick on after almost a month of use? Let’s find out. Design and build quality Mobvoi TicWatch Pro smartwatch Mobvoi TicWatch Pro looks like a premium smartwatch from every angle. It has hybrid leather straps on the outward side, while the inner side has a silicone layer. You can carry the watch with formals and casuals, it complements both the looks. The smartwatch has a large face (1.39-inch) with a carbon fiber case. It looks bulky but isn't heavy on the wrist. There are two buttons on the right, one for navigation and the other is dedicated to...

The monthly number of users affected by fraudulent browser push notifications as a means of phishing and advertising has grown from 1.72 million in January to 5.54 million in September 2019, according to a research by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky . Kaspersky said its products protected more than 14 million users from attempts to allow websites to show unwanted notifications. Browser push notifications were introduced several years ago as a useful tool that kept readers informed with regular updates, but today they are often used to bombard website visitors with unsolicited adverts or even encourage them to download malicious software. Useful user-friendly features, such as push notifications, are easy-to-use instruments for scams based on social engineering techniques, and therefore their growing popularity is not entirely unexpected. "We have seen a rise in push notifications being abused, as attackers continue to creatively adapt new technologies in order to trick ...

Chinese smartphone brand Realme’s recently launched premium smartphone, the Realme X2 Pro , goes on sale under the company’s Black Friday sale at the Realme online store today. The phone comes in 8GB RAM + 128GB storage and 12GB RAM + 256GB storage variants, priced at Rs 29,999 and Rs 33,999, respectively. As part of the company’s introductory offer on the phone, the Realme X2 Pro gets a 10 per cent instant discount (up to Rs 500) on HDFC Bank debit card transactions. The phone is also eligible for Bajaj Finserv’s no-interest equated monthly instalment (no-cost EMI) scheme. Additionally, the phone comes bundled with a Reliance Jio offer that includes benefits worth Rs 5,500 in the form of additional data and coupons. At its price, the Realme X2 Pro has something in store for everyone — a premium design, 90Hz super AMOLED screen, Dolby-tuned stereo speakers, ultra-fast charging and quad-camera set-up on the back. Here are five reasons why you should consider this smartphone: De...

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray will on Thursday evening join the league of seven leaders who got the chief minister's post in Maharashtra when they were still not member of either the state Legislative Assembly or Council. Congress leaders A R Antulay, Vasantdada Patil, Shivajirao Nilangekar-Patil, Shankarrao Chavan, Sushilkumar Shinde and Prithviraj Chavan are among the leaders who were not members of any of the state legislature Houses when they occupied the top post. The then Congress leader and current NCP chief Sharad Pawar also finds name among these leaders. Thackeray, 59, to be sworn in as chief minister at the Shivaji Park here on Thursday evening, will become the eighth such leader. According to provisions of the Constitution, any leader who is not a member of the Assembly or Council has to become member of the legislature within six months of taking oath of the post. Antulay became the first such leader in the state when he was sworn in as the chi...

Facebook-owned WhatsApp is working on a feature that will delete messages automatically after a stipulated time as set by users, according to WABetaInfo, a fan site that tests new WhatsApp features early. Renamed " Delete Messages " from earlier " Disappearing Messages ", the feature is being tested in beta mode. "In the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.19.282 update, we presented a new feature called ' Disappearing Messages ' that will automatically delete messages after a certain time. The feature is still under development, and WhatsApp is starting to work again on it in the 2.19.348 update, where they renamed 'Disappearing Messages' to 'Delete Messages'," WABetaInfo reported. Once available, the "Delete Message" feature will come with a toggle on/off button and users can choose a stipulated time -- 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week, 1 month or 1 year -- for the messages to automatically disappear. Read More

Chinese electronics maker Xiaomi on Thursday launched in India the Mi TV 4X (55) 2020 Edition. Priced at Rs 34,999, the smart television will be available on Amazon India starting December 2, apart from Mi online store and Mi Home. As part of the television’s introductory offer, the company is offering Airtel direct-to-home (DTH) connection bundled with a four-month subscription, worth Rs 3,450, at a discounted price of Rs 1,800. Successor to the Mi TV 4X (55) Pro, the Mi TV 4X (55) 2020 Edition has a 55-inch screen of ultra-high-definition (4K) resolution. It has a 10-bit HDR panel, complemented by company’s in-house image processing algorithm and a vivid picture engine. Audio is covered by 20W speakers, which are tuned by Dolby and support Dolby Audio and DTS-HD. Powering the Mi TV 4X (55) 2020 Edition is the Android 9 Pie operating system, covered under company’s custom PatchWall 2.0 user interface. Unlike its predecessor, the smart television gets native support for p...

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray will take oath as chief minister of Maharashtra on Thursday evening at the Shivaji Park here. With the swearing-in of 59-year-old Thackeray, the state will have a chief minister from the Sena after 20 years. The oath taking ceremony will be held at the sprawling Shivaji Park, where his father and Sena founder Bal Thackeray addressed his famous Dussehra rallies. The last Sena man to occupy the chief minister's chair was Narayan Rane in 1999, after Manohar Joshi, who in 1995 became the first CM from the party. The swearing-in ceremony follows days of dramatic political developments, which included a three-day government formed by an unexpected support from NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who has since returned to the Sharad Pawar-led party fold. The Sena, along with the NCP and Congress constituted the 'Maha Vikas Aghadi' to form a non-BJP government in the state. Read More

Chinese smartphone maker Honor, a sub-brand of Huawei, is confident about its survival despite no access to Google Mobile Services (GMS) as the company is fast developing its own Huawei Mobile Services (HMS), a top company executive told IANS here on Thursday. Google Mobile Services (GMS) are the apps by Google that often come pre-installed on Android devices. Honor is working on a pre-planned strategy to overcome the difficulties being faced owing to the ongoing US-China trade war and restrictions imposed on the giant. The company has already started talent acquisition and it's not 'Mission Impossible' for us to stand in the global market without Google's support, said James Zou, President of Honor's Overseas Marketing and Sales. "Google acquired Android around 10 years back for less than $20 million and several companies worked with it to build the entire Android ecosystem, including Huawei. "We thought Android is open source so we work...

GATE 2020: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has released the schedule for the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) 2020 exam. GATE 2020 will be on February 1, 2, 8 and 9 for which, 860,000 candidates have registered. GATE 2020 Schedule The exam will be held in 8 sessions for 25 subjects. February 1 (9.30 am to 12.30 pm): IN, ME1, MT, PE, PH February 1 (2.30 pm to 5.30 pm): CY, ME2, PI February 2 (9.30 am to 12.30 pm): AR, BM, BT, CH, MA, MN, ST, XE, XL February 2 (2.30 pm to 5.30 pm): AE, AG, EC, GG February 8 (9.30 am to 12.30 pm): EE, EY, TF February 8 (2.30 pm to 5.30 pm): CS February 9 (9.30 am to 12.30 pm): CE1 February 9 (14.30 pm to 5.30 pm): CE2 GATE 2020 admit card Admit card for GATE 2020 will be released on January 3. About GATE exam The GATE exam is conducted for admissions to M.Tech and M.Sc programmes in Engineering, Technology and Architecture. GATE is a national level examination and is also used to determine the...

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said on Wednesday that it will file a review petition against the Supreme Court's verdict on Ayodhya title suit before December 9. "The board is firm on its decision to file a review petition in the Supreme Court and we have time till December 9 for doing so," AIMPLB secretary Zafaryab Jilani told PTI. The Sunni Central Waqf Board decided on Tuesday that it would not file a review petition against the Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya case, but was yet to take a call on whether to accept a five-acre alternative plot for a mosque. Stressing that the decision of the Sunni Central Waqf Board, one of the main litigants, will have no effect on the AIMPLB decision, Jilani said the board has already taken a final decision in this regard in its meeting here on November 17. "Exercising our constitutional right, we are going to file a review petition in the Babri Masjid case during the first week of December. Sunni ...

Chinese smartphone manufacturer HONOR unveiled the HONOR View 30 series , the first dual-mode 5G smartphone lineup from the company, here on Tuesday. The phones are equipped with 5G/4G dual-mode, which addresses the need of dual-SIM users in the 5G era, while maintaining compatibility with other network standards, like 4G, 3G and 2G. "A 5G-enabled smartphone will change how we live, work and play, and pave the way for boundless opportunities in the Internet of Things," said George Zhao, President of HONOR. "Boasting the latest Kirin 990 processor series and the world's first Aurora nano texture design, the HONOR View 30 series is our most innovative smartphone to-date, which will make spectacular impacts on the daily lives of people around the world," he said. The View 30 will be available in 6GB RAM/128GB storage and 8GB RAM/128GB storage options at 3,299 yuan and 3,699 yuan, respectively. The View 30 Pro with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage costs 3,89...

Chinese handset maker Oppo's customised operating system (OS) ColorOS 7 , which is based on Android 10 and brings in localised features like DocVault -- the government-approved DigiLocker integration, was unveiled here on Tuesday. Oppo's new ColorOS 7 is faster and increases application response time by 30 per cent with multiple apps running in the background, according to the company. "We strive to make ColorOS broader yet more localised, creating a truly global system that users in different markets can experience and enjoy. This means we will continue to expand our localisation efforts to ensure that ColorOS is highly adapted to local user needs," Manoj Kumar, Senior Principal Engineer, Oppo ColorOS, said in a statement. The new customised OS has adopted a lightweight visual approach that simplifies it helping users focus more on the content. Read More

Google has rolled out a new Android feature that makes your smartphone useful even while it is charging. The new ' ambient mode ' lets you set an alarm, check for upcoming meetings, control smart lights, and even browse a photo slideshow in fewer taps and clicks, the company notes in an official tweet. The aim behind the ambient mode is to make your device use move from app-based to intent-based using Google Assistant. The feature is supported on Android 8 and above. Read More

Facebook-owned Oculus on Tuesday said it is buying the studio behind hit virtual reality game " Beat Saber " as it looks to expand VR technology to wider audiences. Oculus, which makes Rift and Quest VR headgear, did not disclose financial terms of the deal to acquire Prague-based Beat Games. "Beat Games is joining us in our quest to bring VR to more people around the world," Oculus director of augmented and virtual reality content Mike Verdu said in a blog post. "Beat Games' accomplishments are already impressive, but Facebook and the Beat Games team know that there is so much more that can be done across VR, games, and music." Verdu assured players that the studio would continue to ship content and updates for "Beat Saber" on platforms where it is already available. In the virtual game, players use light sabers to slash oncoming, large cubes to the beat of music, sometimes twisting or ducking to avoid oncoming walls. ...

India launched 14 satellites Wednesday morning, boosting the morale of its space agency which lost contact with a spacecraft to trying to land on the moon in September. Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C47 (PSLV-C47) placed in orbit India's earth observation satellite Cartosat-3 and 13 nano-satellites for the US when it blasted off from the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro's) Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 9:28am. Seventeen minutes after lift-off, Cartosat-3 separated from the launch vehicle and put into orbit. The 13 US satellites will be launched in the next eight minutes, completing the first business order of Isro's newly formed commercial arm NewSpace India Ltd. Cartosat-3, India’s third-generation earth observation satellite, will be used for large-scale urban planning and to monitor coastal land, rural resources and infrastructure development. The satellite, which will last for five years and weighs 1,625kg, can pick a 25-cm object fr...

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar has resigned, four days after he controversially joined BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis’s government and said he had the support of legislators belonging to his National Congress Party. Pawar resigned after the Supreme Court this morning ordered Fadnavis to take a floor test on Wednesday, prompting a three-party Opposition alliance to claim victory against the BJP. Fadnavis will speak to journalists in Mumbai at 3.30pm, TV reports said. Ajit Pawar is the nephew of Sharad Pawar, NCP president, who aimed to form a government along with the Shiv Sena and Congress party. Read More

Chinese smartphone maker Coolpad recently launched the Coolpad Cool 5 smartphone in India at a price of Rs 7,999. The phone comes in gradient blue and midnight blue colours. Business Standard took the phone out for a spin to test how it fares on key parameters. Here are the findings: Design and display With its thin bezel and dewdrop screen, Coolpad Cool 5 rocks the standard design of budget smartphone nowadays. It has a glossy back with black shade merging into the violet, which looks good but is susceptible to fingerprint marks. You get a plastic case inside the box, in case you opt for it. Apart from that, the phone has a fingerprint scanner and a 13 megapixel (MP)+2 MP dual camera, along with an LED flash slotted on the top left rear. Upfront is a 6.22-inches HD+ screen with 1520 x 720 pixels resolution and an aspect ratio of 19:9 with good viewing angles. The display is vibrant and bright enough even under broad daylight. On the right you have the volume and power but...

Ride-hailing major Ola, which is one of the earliest players to launch bike taxi service , is seeing huge demand in smaller cities and towns across several states. Ola Bike is quietly tapping India’s hinterland where users see bike taxis as the most convenient and cheapest mode of commute in the absence of proper taxi service. For example, Ola Bike is operating in towns such as Gaya, Bikaner, Mughalsarai, Tirupati, Ambala, Pathankot, Ajmer, etc. In tier II cities and beyond, bike taxi services are popular because of the lack of public transport infrastructure. Arun Srinivas, chief sales and marketing officer of Ola, says, “Ola Bike has seen large-scale adoption among people living in India’s hinterlands which have not had access to convenient, affordable and reliable on-demand transportation so far, unlike the larger cities.” Ola Bike, which was first launched in 2016, is now accessed by over 150 million users. The firm now claims Ola Bike has expanded to over 200 cities and...

Deutsche Post DHL Group's StreetScooter electric vehicle unit will enter the U.S. market next year as delivery firms and municipalities work to cut greenhouse gas emissions. DHL will debut StreetScooter's zero-emission Work L delivery van in two urban U.S. markets, one on each coast, starting in Spring 2020, the companies said. They did not specify which markets would be the first. Full deployment could come in 2022 and 2023, said Ulrich Stuhec, StreetScooter's chief technology officer, who joined the company from Ford Motor Co in October. Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Tokyo and 30 other cities around the globe have been working to establish zero-emission zones by 2030. Those cities hope to curb accumulating greenhouse gases that contribute to extreme weather, higher temperatures and rising sea levels, which have steep economic, environmental and human costs. The transportation industry - which includes fossil fuel-burning ships, trains, trucks and planes - acc...

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has to prove his majority in the Assembly on Wednesday, said the Supreme Court as it ruled on a petition filed against the governor’s surprise decision to swear in the BJP leader. The floor test will be through open ballot and it will be recorded on video, the court said in a decision welcomed by the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party, and the Congress. The court ordered Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to ensure that all newly elected MLAs are sworn in by 5 pm on Wednesday. A pro-tem or temporary Speaker will administer the oath, said a bench comprising Justices N V Ramana, Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna. "In a situation wherein, if the floor test is delayed, there is a possibility of horse-trading, it becomes incumbent upon the Court to act to protect democratic values. An immediate floor test, in such a case, might be the most effective mechanism to do so," said the court, prompting the three-party alliance to dec...

Huawei officially launched its 10.8-inch MatePad Pro , an Apple iPad Pro competitor. The MatePad Pro features slimmer 4.9mm bezels, an 8-megapixel hole-punch front camera, 13-megapixel rear camera, Kirin 990 processor, and 7,250mAh battery with 40W fast charging, Engadget reports. Huawei MatePad Pro starts at 3,299 yuan for 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. The 8GB and 256GB version costs 4,999 yuan and comes with a stylus and keyboard. Read More

With the chit fund sector now on a firm legal pedestal with the recent passage of the Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2019, the emerging fintech space surrounding chit finds is set to get a boost. At the heart of this growth is the quest for the gold mine of data hidden in sector, running into several million. Over the last couple of years, several fintech players are already in the business of data analytics in the chit fund sector, providing services like credit bureau checks and facilitating loans for chit fund subscribers and companies. Also, in the recent years, with banks and non-banking finance companies facing liquidity crunch, chit fund has become a booming business. According to T S Sivaramakrishnan, president, All India Chit Fund Association, and managing director of Balussery Benefit Chit Fund, the sector has been growing at about 10-15 per cent annually over the past few years. “ After demonetisation, we saw good growth in the value of chit funds. With banks, NBF...

Politics News - In the wake of remaining tucked away in his south Mumbai living arrangement all through Sunday, NCP pioneer and recently blessed delegate CM Ajit Pawar met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis late night and had shut entryway dialogs. Prior in the day, the incomparable court gave notification to the Center, Maharashtra government, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar on a request documented by the Congress-Shiv Sena-NCP consolidate looking for subduing of the representative's November 23 request welcoming the BJP pioneer to frame government. Senior BJP pioneers Chandrakant Patil, Vinod Tawade and Girish Mahajan went to the gathering held at the official living arrangement of the central priest. The zenith court guided the Center to put before it on Monday morning the letters of the senator Bhagat Singh Koshyari welcoming Fadnavis and of the BJP pioneer asserting some authority with regards to shape the legislature in the state. Read More

Google India on Monday announced its latest smart speaker -- Nest Mini is available in India on Flipkart for Rs 4,499. The device is a successor to Google Home Mini , and has been completely re-engineered with Google Assistant. The Nest Mini will be available in chalk and charcoal colour variants. "Nest Mini provides bass that's twice as strong as the original Google Home Mini (measured from 60-100 Hz at maximum volume). Google's expert audio engineers developed proprietary audio tuning software, allowing users to get the most out of the hardware," the company said in a statement. The new device brings improved ability to operate in noisy environments, according to the company. The Assistant automatically modulates the output sound according to the background noise in the room. It also senses proximity to light up the LED as soon as the user's hand gets close to the device -- guiding where to tap and adjust the volume. "Users can connect mul...

It has been five years since the Chinese smartphone brand OnePlus launched its first smartphone in India. Celebrating the company’s fifth anniversary, OnePlus announced several offers in partnership with Amazon India, including discounts, zero- interest equated monthly instalment options and instant cashback on HDFC Bank debit and credit cards. The OnePlus five-year anniversary sale, which started on November 25, will continue until December 2. Here are the offers: OnePlus 7T The company’s midrange-premium smartphone is available at a discounted price of Rs 34,999 and Rs 37,999 for 128GB and 256GB storage variants, respectively. In addition, the company is offering flat Rs 1,500 instant discount on HDFC Bank debit and credit cards, and EMI transactions. You can also exchange your old phone for a value of up to Rs 7,000. OnePlus 7 Pro The company’s premium smartphone is available at a The company’s premium smartphone is available at a discounted price of Rs 39,999, Rs 42,9...

Tesla Inc 's highly anticipated unveiling of its futuristic pickup truck suffered a setback after its " armoured glass " windows shattered during a demonstration. During the tightly choreographed unveiling of the Cybertruck to cheering fans on Thursday, Tesla boss Elon Musk had taken a stab at the design, power and durability of mainstream trucks, only to be shaken when his boast about his new truck's windows backfired. With a starting price of $39,900, the Cybertruck's futuristic, angular body in gun-metal grapy resembles an armoured vehicle and takes aim at the heart of Detroit automakers' profits. Musk singled out the Ford F-150, the top-selling vehicle in the United States, to highlight the capabilities of the Cybertruck, showing an edited video of the two trucks in a back-to-back "tug-of-war" in which the Cybertruck takes off, dragging the F-150 behind it shortly after both trucks accelerate from starting position. To show off the...

Smartwatches usually look great, but choosing the right one is not always easy, especially if you have an Android smartphone. Some Android-compatible smartwatches do offer a balanced mix of utility and features, but many others focus more on design than utility. The Fossil Carlyle HR (Gen 5) might fit better in the latter type. Being a smartwatch, it does a lot more than showing just time and date. But is it a capable smartwatch in terms of features? Let’s find out: Design Manufactured by American contemporary accessories brand Fossil, the Carlyle HR is one of the better-looking smartwatches. Its classic circular design makes sure you do not look nerdy. There is a 1.3-inch AMOLED touchscreen; and its 44mm stainless steel case, treated in smoked colour, blends well with most clothing styles. The watch’s stainless steel strap is easy to wear and looks luxurious; you can change them for silicone or leather straps (sold separately), based on your choice. Features Fossil has ...

Chinese smartphone brand Vivo on Friday launched in India the Vivo U20 . Second in the company’s budget U-series smartphones, the Vivo U20 boasts waterdrop-shaped notch screen, big capacity battery with fast charge support, triple rear cameras and capacitive fingerprint sensor on the back. The phone comes in 4GB RAM + 64GB storage and 6GB RAM + 64GB storage configurations, priced at Rs 10,990 and Rs 11,990, respectively. Both the variants will go on sale from November 28 on Amazon India and Vivo e-Store. Vivo U20 specifications The Vivo U20 has a 6.53 waterdrop-shaped notch screen of fullHD+ resolution. The screen is covered under Panda Panda MN228, which is a protective glass just like the Corning Gorilla Glass. The phone is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 system-on-chip, paired with up to 6GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. The dualSIM phone has a storage expansion slot, which supports up to 512GB microSD card. The phone boots Android Pie operating system, covered under ...