The smartwatch market around the globe is swelling, in the case of both value and volume of the shipment. Keeping it in mind, the mobile accessories maker, Ambrane, on this Monday launches its new smartwatch named Ambrane Plus and this product is dropped in worlds one of the biggest markets India. Before going to the pricing and availability details, have a look at its features.
The Ambrane Plus smartwatch is coming with a 1.3 inch LCD touch display having a resolution of 240×240 pixels. You can personalize the watch face too as per your style, the company is providing you four options for that.
As it is a smartwatch, various sensors and trackers are added to it. To utilize those, you need to connect it with your smartphone first through Bluetooth 5.0. After that, you can measure your heart rate, the oxygen level in your blood, monitor your blood pressure, and more. Apart from that, there are eight separate sports modes too. The list includes walking, running, hiking, riding, treadmill, mountain climbing, spinning bike, and yoga.
Besides all these, you can manage tracks, calls, WhatsApp notifications, and text notifications. Sedentary and hydration reminders are also available in this smartwatch. The waterproofing up to 5 ATM gives you additional safety.
You can expect up to 10 days of service from this product as it carries a 210mAh battery inside. With the magnetic charging facility, you can recharge it in less than 2.5 hours.
Ambrane is selling its new Ambrane Plus smartwatch in black color at Rs.3,499. It is a Flipkart exclusive product.
Square Enix’s upcoming game- Marvel Avengers is set to release on the 4th of September 2020 on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Stadia. Previously few lucky players got the chance to play the beta version of the game and the gameplay showcased the main characters of the Avengers series like Ironman, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, and Black Widow.
Data miners, who got access to the beta version of the game reportedly found that are 15 characters that haven’t been announced yet. The list of characters who will be added in as playable characters in the near future are as follows-
Winter Soldier
Captain Marvel
Scarlet Witch
Kate Bishop
Vision
She-Hulk
War Machine
Falcon
Mar-Vell
Mockingbird
Black Panther
Dr. Strange
The Wasp
Ant-Man
Quake
When data mining was performed on the game for the second time some more characters are seen on it. An entry for AntMan 2 was found which seems to mean that there are both Hank Pym and Scott Lang as different versions of Antman. Other characters that were found int entry lists are- Frenzy, Ultron, Red Hulk, Deathlok, Vindicator, and Monica. These characters are not for sure whether they are the game or not.
If the reports of the data miners are true then you’ll have an arsenal of choices to make i.e. which characters you’ll like to play with and many different abilities to play with.
Baichung Bhutia is considered as one of the greatest ever footballers of India. He was born in Tinkitam, Sikkim in 1976. He is now going to be the first-ever footballer in the country to have a stadium named after him.
A floodlit, 15,000-capacity stadium has been built in Namchi, which is 25 kilometres away from Bhutia’s birthplace in Tinkitam. It will be inaugurated once the Coronavis pandemic gets over.
Menla Ethenpa, President of Sikkim Football Association told All India Football Federation’s official website: “It’s our tribute to one of the best Indian footballers. Even after hanging his boots, Bhaichung Bhutia has been a role model to many and he will continue to inspire young footballers of India, let alone Sikkim. We can’t repay for what he has done for Indian Football. But a stadium named after him might be a small homage towards the great footballer”.
The football stadium named after former Indian legendary striker Bhaichung Bhutia was started building in the 2010s before it faced many obstructions due to financial issues. After current Chief Minister of Sikkim, Prem Singh Tamang assumed his office, the construction work of the stadium has resumed once again.
The artificial turf has already been laid besides setting up the 15,000-capacity stands. The plan of installing floodlights is already in the pipeline and it’ll be covered in the second phase of work.
Baichung Bhutia feels honoured by this gesture of naming the stadium after him. He said: “I’m very much honoured and excited. If you look at the larger picture I’m happier because the budding footballers will get another top-class facility and infrastructure to play football. This stadium has produced many footballers including me. I have so many memories of playing there.”
He further added: “We have already spoken with the State Government about setting up a Football Academy. It will be a joint venture between the government and United Sikkim – the biggest semi-professional football club in this region. It’ll provide a platform for the youths to play football. We look forward to hosting Golden Baby Leagues too.”
Baichung Bhutia is the only Indian footballer to be inducted into the Asian Football Hall of Fame which has been created by AFC. He has also received the Arjuna award and Padma Shri. After retiring from football, Bhutia has now turned into politics.
The Taiwanese OEM has launched a wide range of laptops in India recently and among them the ASUS VivoBook S14 series is the one to look out for. People these days require a reliable, agile and decent performing laptop for their daily work as now, thanks to the pandemic, the work culture has changed totally.
There a lot of enthusiasts who look for a proper work laptop with a good display and long battery life, but the budget obviously becomes a headache. If you even manage one, you end up sacrificing the performance, so it gets harder for us to recommend something but Asus’s new budget VivoBook S14 series manages to balance all of the key things for those of you who need a good laptop in the Rs.60k – Rs.70k price bracket.
The VivoBook S14 comes both with the latest Ryzen 4000 APUs and 10th gen Intel Ice Lake CPUs, so performance-wise you have no compromise at all, however, the Intel variant is much better as overall. Why? There are many key factors that support this question which we will discuss soon after learning the specs of this laptop:
Processor: 10th Gen Intel Core i5-1035G1 Processor, 1.0 GHz (6MB Cache, up to 3.6 GHz, 4 Cores, 8 Threads)
Display: 14.0-inch (16:9) LED-backlit FHD (1920×1080) 60Hz, 300nits Brightness, Anti-Glare, IPS-level Panel, with 100% sRGB Color gamut, 87% Screen-to-body ratio and 178° viewing angles
Software Included: Pre-installed MS Office Home and Student 2019 | Operating System: Pre-loaded Windows 10 Home with lifetime validity
Design & battery: Metallic body | Thin and Light Laptop | Laptop weight: 1.35 kg | 72WHrs, 4-cell lithium-polymer battery | Up to 24 hours battery life
I/O Ports: 1x HDMI 1.4, 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack, 1x USB 2.0 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1x Thunderbolt 3 USB C (with supports for display/power delivery), 1x 2 in 1 card reader SD/MMC
Other: FingerPrint Reader with Windows Hello support | 720p HD web camera | Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) (802.11ax) 2*2 | Bluetooth 5.0 | Built-in 2 W Stereo Speakers with Microphone | US MIL-STD 810G military-grade standard
On paper, the laptop looks promising and it is priced at ₹ 66,555, however with discounts and offers, if you can get it around Rs. 60k then this is a steal deal. Here are the five reasons to buy the new ASUS VivoBook S14 with Intel Ice Lake CPUs:
1. Design & Build quality
The ASUS VivoBook S14 is MIL-STD-810G military certified for durability and reliability as it features metal-unibody design, making the laptop look premium and worth spending the money upon. On top of that, the laptop weighs just 1.35 kg, so you can carry it easily anywhere you want.
2. Display
Generally, in budget laptops, you get a decent FHD display but dull when it comes to color accuracy, but here, Asus has equipped the laptop with a 14-inch LED-backlit FHD anti-Glare display with 300nits of peak brightness and covers 100% sRGB Color gamut. Also, the bezels are very sleek on this laptop as the display features a 87% screen-to-body ratio.
3. Intel goodness
The Asus Vivobook S14 features the 10th Gen Intel Core i5-1035G1 processor that comes with 4 cores and 8 threads along with 6MB cache and up to 3.6 GHz clock speeds. Not the most convincing specs as compared to AMD’s Ryzen 4000, but it is good for day-to-day tasks, office work, and even a nice option for students, provided you do not try to game on it.
Another important thing to note is that the laptop features a fast 8GB LPDDR4X 3733MHz RAM and on top of that you have 32GB Intel Optane Memory (Intel H10 SSD). This optane memory can make a huge difference in performance over time as if you cannot upgrade the RAM, this ultra-fast memory will back you up, which is missing on AMD models. So, for coders and app developers, this is a great laptop who can actually make use of this fast memory for compiling and developing stuff.
4. Battery Life
This is the most important thing to note before buying a laptop, however, budget laptops make a huge sacrifice in this area. But, the Vivobook S14 comes with a huge 72WHrs 4-cell lithium-polymer battery, which they market as to endure up to 24 hours battery life, which is a bit cheesy. So, even if it gives at least 10-12 work hours, its more than enough for a budget laptop.
5. Thunderbolt 3 & few good add-ons
Being an Intel laptop, you get the Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C port that gives you the freedom to charge the laptop and delivers transfer speeds of up to 40 Gbps. Also, if you are a gamer, you can easily use an external GPU to fire up the laptop anytime you want to, having this port at this budget makes it very useful. As we talked about the Intel goodness, it even comes with Intel Wi-Fi 6 support, making the laptop future-proof as well.
Coming to add-ons, the laptop features a full-size backlit chiclet keyboard that has 1.4mm key travel distance, so this is a great keyboard for daily usage, undoubtedly. Asus has given another modern feature to this laptop: FingerPrint Reader with Windows Hello support, so you can easily log in to Windows seamlessly. The Vivobook S14 has a 720p HD web camera and comes with Windows 10 Home with lifetime validity along with Pre-installed MS Office Home and Student 2019.
Overall, this laptop from Asus is a total package and very much recommendable for daily usage and for serious coders or app developers as well. With the VivoBook S14 Intel variant, Asus has brought all of the key benefits of an Intel laptop at a good price of ₹ 66k, however, if you get a discount of some sort then, this is a steal deal for you.
Apple iPhone 12 series is expected to have four different models – iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Max and iPhone 12 Pro Max. According to some previous reports Apple might launch the iPhone 12 series on late September or October. Moreover, different types of leaks are surfacing regarding the launch and other specs of this upcoming series. It is also anticipated that the phone will come with A14 Bionic chip and might support 5G this time.
Different types of design renders have surfaced claiming maximum of three rear cameras and a minimum of two cameras in the base models. The renders indicates that the notch sizes will remain the sme, but at first we got some reports claiming that the notch size may decrease but from recent reports the claim has been revoked.
A recent report from @komiya_kj revealed the price of the iPhone 12 series. Before jumping into the price segment there is another report claiming that iPhone 12 series smartphones will discontinue the 64GB storage version and the pricing will be done accordingly. Now let’s see the prices of the iPhone 12 series smartphones.
iPhone 12 (128GB) – $699
iPhone 12 (256GB) – $799
iPhone 12 Max (128GB) – $799
iPhone 12 Max (256GB) – $899
iPhone 12 Pro (128GB) – $999
iPhone 12 Pro (256GB) – $1099
iPhone 12 Pro (512GB) – $1299
iPhone 12 Pro Max (128GB) – $1099
iPhone 12 Pro Max (256GB) – $1199
iPhone 12 Pro Max (512GB) – $1399
The above list starts with $699 for the base iPhone 12 (128GB) version and it is the pricing of the 4G versions. The 5G versions might not be available this time or may be revealed later on.
Another report claim that iPhone might not come come with 120Hz display refresh rate due to the scarce in supply.
The gaming market has seen a steep rise in graph. During this pandemic, more people had taken into gaming for recreation. This has seen a huge hype in the gaming industry.
The Marvel’s Avengers is one of the most awaited games which will be launching next month. There are many more games which have created hypes among gamers.
Let’s have a look at the top 5 games releasing in September 2020:
Marvel’s Avengers
Platform – PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC, Google Stadia Release date – 4th September
Marvel’s Avengers is an action-adventure video game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix. Based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers, the game is inspired by the long-running comic book mythology and adaptations in other media.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2
Platform – PS4, Xbox One, PC Release date – 4th September
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is a skateboarding video game developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision. The franchise is making a comeback with the remaster of its first two games.
NBA 2K21
Platform – PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC, Nintendo Switch, Google Stadia Release date – 4th September
NBA 2K21 is a basketball simulation video game that is developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports, based on the National Basketball Association. It will be the 22nd installment in the NBA 2K franchise and the successor to NBA 2K20.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds
Platform – PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, Google Stadia Release date – 18th September
WWE 2K Battlegrounds is a professional wrestling video game developed by Saber Interactive and published by 2K Sports. It is a spin-off of WWE 2K20. It is the eighth game under the WWE 2K banner.
Mafia: Definitive Edition
Platform – PS4, Xbox One, PC Release date – 25th September
Mafia: Definitive Edition is an action-adventure video game developed by Hangar 13 and published by 2K Games. It is a remake of the 2002 video game Mafia.
Patrice Evra joined Manchester United in 2006. He was a key player for United in his tenure at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson. He has won five Premier League titles, one Champions League, one Club World Cup, and three League cups with Manchester United.
After the horrible season under David Moyes, he was out of the plan of new manager Louis Van Gaal. Evra then joined Serie A side Juventus in 2014.
Former Manchester United captain Patrice Evra was asked about the reasons for which he left United.
In that interview, Evra said: “I felt betrayed by Ed. I called Juventus to tell them I am coming. Ed then said: ‘We offer you a two-year contract, more money, the captaincy, a testimonial.’ But it was too late [for Evra to trackback from his Juventus decision].”
Next year Evra was in the Champions League final with Juventus whereas United was facing another horrible season under Louis Van Gaal.
Evra added: “My ex-wife said: ‘See? Manchester are nearly in the Championship and you’re in this final.’
“I love Juventus but I said: ‘Even if they’re in the Championship, I prefer to be at United. Nothing can replace my love for them.’”
Many United fans believed that Evra could have provided his experience to the team back then when United was rebuilding.
A large section of United fans wants Ed and Glazers to resign as soon as possible because of their bad transfer policies and so many other reasons. Manchester United has once again failed in their transfer pursuit, this time for Borussia Dortmund star Jadon Sancho.
This interview of United fans’ favourite ‘Uncle Pat’ can add fuel to the fire.
Emerging as one of the most lucrative markets in recent times, the Indian Esports Industry ranks at No. 17 globally with an estimated net worth of over $818 million and is expected to generate revenue upto $118.8 billion by 2023.
While PC gaming is emerging globally, its counterpart is revolutionizing the Indian gaming industry – Mobile gaming. With access to a wide array of PC-like multi-genre games in mobile, the Indian mobile gaming industry is projected to reach 628 million users by 2021 positioning India to be the next major gaming market. With mobile gaming, the Indian Esports ecosystem has seen increasing engagements by attracting a wide pool of consumers which PC and console gaming were not able to tap.
Being the most interactive and community-driven industry, the gaming community has also seen a surge in online gaming content built by content creators who curate gaming news, fan-art, and video content for the community. With the increase of gaming tournaments, it has opened up opportunities for casters and event managers as well.
There are several reports stating higher anxiety and depression issues amongst people who are stuck at home. Many people have lost their jobs or sent on furloughs, sabbaticals, etc. this time is the toughest for them. However, many have been leveraging this time to engage in their hobbies and other activities. The most trending and popular being – Gaming.
To cope with the isolation/work from home and hometowns during this pandemic, many gaming patrons can now indulge in the following Esports gaming platforms to diversify their time and avoid boredom of any sorts:-
1)Indian Gaming League (IGL) – India’s most popular competitive gaming and Esports league that hosts gaming tournaments online. Games on IGL can be played on any platform including Xbox, Playstation 4, PC, and smartphones.
IGL was created by a team of gamers who strongly feel that Indian players need a stage to jump-start their gaming careers. Participating in IGL will not only give amateur and professional gamers the ability to earn some serious cash, but top tier gamers will also receive an opportunity to compete with other professionals on a national level!
2) JetSynthesys– JetSynthesys is a part of the JetLine group whose primary focus is on IT services, digital media, and new ventures in innovative entertainment and organized consumer retail.
JetSynthesys was formed with the driving purpose to enrich the lives of all Indians. They know the terrain well and are shaping the Indian culture and consumers. They passionately keep their finger on the pulse of the shifting trends and the needs of the Indian people as well as the western world. They take pride in being agile and strategic, helping to generate and provide support structures for these different worlds to connect.
3) Nazara Technologies – Nazara Technologies is one of the leading mobile games companies headquartered in Mumbai, which is engaged in the acquisition of, value addition to and distribution, of mobile games across emerging markets such as India, the Middle East, Africa, South East Asia, and Latin America.
Nazara Technologies Pvt., Ltd. develops mobile content in India. The company offers games, multimedia, themes, and wallpapers. It also provides solutions for the development, deployment, targeting, and tracking of promotional campaigns on mobile platforms; and wireless solutions that integrate the content of media companies, marketing messages, and the consumer reach of wireless carriers.
4) Gaming Monk– The company started as an e-commerce marketplace for games, but recently they became an esports event organizer.
A company actively involved in conducting sports tournaments in India through offline and online portals. They are striving to create a gaming community that can compete against each other and sharpens their skills for upcoming tournaments.
5) Team Brutality– Team Brutality aims to be the best performing team of Asia and is registered with racing game squads such as Need for speed, Forza Motor Sports, etc. Team Brutality is a leading team in CSGO community.
Power A manufactures officially licensed controllers for Xbox and PlayStation. Often we have trust issues with third-party gaming accessories and want to stick with Microsoft and Sony accessories. But Power A have built a name for themselves in all these years. So I decided to try out one of their controllers.
I have been on the lookout for a controller which is priced under Rs 2,000 but offers great gaming experience. Personally I prefer Xbox type controllers over PlayStation type controllers to play games on my PC (previously I was using RedGear Pro Series wired gamepad).
So, I found the XB1 Core Wired Controller (blue) made by Power A on Amazon and decided to have a go. I ordered the controller for Rs 1,899 and got it delivered last week. I have been using it for the last 3-4 days and now I’m going to share my experience with you.
In the box
The box contains 1 Power A – XB1 Core Wired Controller (blue), 1 micro-USB to standard USB cable and 1 user manual.
Specifications of Power A – XB1 Core Wired Controller
Officially licensed and compatible with Xbox One, Xbox One S, Xbox One X, and Windows 10
Dual rumble motors
8-Way plus-shaped directional pad (D-pad) and standard A/B/X/Y button placement
Left/right bumpers and triggers
3.5mm stereo headset jack
Detachable 8ft micro-USB to standard USB cable
Design and build quality
The Power A – XB1 Core Wired Controller looks like the Xbox One controller on the first glance. It is almost the replica of Microsoft’s gamepads. It has a U-shaped frame with large, curved grips. It is very well built and have a premium look and finish. It offers good grip while gaming and feels smooth and soft as well. The buttons are also sturdy and don’t feel like poor quality.
The gamepad also features a 3.5mm stereo headset jack on the bottom edge, just like the Xbox One controller. This is a new feature for me as almost no other controllers under Rs 2,000 provide this feature. It is a very useful addition. The controller has an 8ft long cable so you can easily play sitting on the couch. Normally, wired headsets don’t have such long wires so you can now plug your headset into the gamepad and enjoy listening to music (it doesn’t support mic connectivity).
The only downside of this controller on the built front I felt is that Power A should have made the micro-USB socket in the gamepad normal. It has a rarely built structure so you can’t use the normal micro-USB cables lying at your homes.
Buttons
The controller has offset dual analog sticks with convex caps. It also features a direction pad, two shoulder buttons and standard A/B/X/Y buttons. The two triggers at the back of the gamepad also feel quite handy and you don’t have to worry about it getting damaged (as it is the case in most of the gamepad in this range).
It has a view and menu button and also a round guide button with the Xbox logo, which seems cool though it doesn’t glow while playing, only a small led below it glows.
The buttons are sturdy and offers great gaming experience. The analog sticks are also well-built and you would have almost no problem with them. It also has dual rumble motors which offer great vibration feedback.
Gaming experience
Latency is one of the most important parts of a controller. The latency must be very low in order to offer a good gaming experience. I usually play FIFA 20 on my PC and I have been playing FUT rivals and championship matches with it. I haven’t felt any delay or latency problem while playing the online matches. The buttons and triggers are also very sturdy and the overall grip of the gamepad is quite nice. It actually feels nice to hold the controller in your hands during playing.
I also tried playing Need For Speed: Heat with this controller. I am quite satisfied with the results. The analog sticks allowed me to control my car very precisely and the triggers offered great acceleration and braking features. The vibration feedback also helps to have the feel of driving a real car.
So the overall gaming experience which the Power A – XB1 Core Wired Controller offers is unparalleled in this price range.
Pros and cons
Pros
Cons
Well-built and offers premium finish
USB slot should have been normal
Sturdy and standard buttons
No mic support in the headphone jack
Long cable
No advanced gaming buttons
Headphone jack
Good vibration feedback
Verdict
Personally, I fell this is the best controller you can buy under Rs 2,000. It is definitely worth a buy and you won’t regret buying it either. The other gamepads in this price range like the one I was using before didn’t feel premium like this one and didn’t offer such great build quality. The headphone jack is also a bonus.
So if you’re looking to buy a controller in this price range, then you can go for this one. It won’t disappoint you!
Buy the Power A – XB1 Core Wired Controller from Amazon:
Reliance Jio again brings their boutique of offers as the IPL 2020 approaches and announces the Cricket Dhan Dhana Dhan offer but not only this time will the telecom giant give extra data but also free Disney + Hotstar VIP Subscription.
Yes, you heard it right, Jio is giving away the Disney + Hotstar VIP Subscription worth Rs. 399 for 1 year at no extra cost along with extra data so that you can enjoy IPL on Hotstar and never fall short of data. The telecom giant’s new schemes are:
Rs 499 CRICKET PACK (DATA ADD-ON)
1-year subscription of Disney+ Hotstar VIP worth Rs 399
1.5 GB of data daily for the entire period of the cricket season (56 days)
Rs 777 QUARTERLY PLAN
1-year subscription of Disney+ Hotstar VIP worth Rs 399
131 GB data, unlimited voice calling and access to Jio apps valid for 84 days
Jio has summarized all its new plans that will guarantee you the Disney + Hotstar VIP Subscription and some special add-on packs as well:
So, you can choose from the wide range of plans that Jio is giving away as a part of its Cricket Dhan Dhana Dhan offer and opt for the new data add-on packs if you need for watching endless cricket action on Hotstar.
