Tech News (16 August 2019)

1. Samsung Could Have a Smartphone With a Graphene Battery by 2021

Samsung is said to be working on making graphene batteries viable for use on smartphones. It could be on at least one Samsung smartphone by 2021. Today, most smartphones today have lithium-ion batteries. Graphene batteries will allow for more capacity in a smaller size, allowing for slim smartphones with compact batteries that can power the phone for longer.

 

2. Snap Inc. launches Spectacles 3 with dual cameras for $380 in the US

 For a premium feel and durability, the new Spectacles 3 feature a steel wireframe instead of thick plastic found on previous models. Spectacles 3 is the most expensive version released by the company. As an upgrade, Spectacles 3 features two lenses instead of one found on the previous version. The two cameras support Augmented Reality (AR) with better depth mapping.

3. This WhatsApp privacy feature makes your chats ‘more private’

WhatsApp has a new privacy feature which will help users keep chats more secure on their phones. WhatsApp recently rolled out fingerprint unlock for its beta platform on Android. WhatsApp beta users on Android can now unlock the app using their fingerprint.

4. Indian smartphone market grows 14.8 percent in Q2, Xiaomi continues to lead: IDC

India is one of the biggest smartphone markets in the world. In Q2 2019, the smartphone market in the country saw its highest-ever in the second quarter. A total of 36.9 million smartphones were shipped to consumers, which is a 14.8 percent increase over the same quarter last year. It is also a 9.9 percent increase year-on-year. The data is courtesy of a new report by the International Data Corporation (IDC). The report also states that about 69.3 million mobile devices were shipped to India in Q2 2019, which saw an increase of 7.6 percent compared to Q1.

5. Amazon Messaging assistant gets Hindi language support

Amazon’s automated messaging service (aka chatbot) now speaks Hindi. The e-commerce platform has launched Hindi language support, which is one of the official languages of India, for its smart assistant. This is said to help non-English readers get their queries resolved in the language of their preference, without even connecting with an associate. According to Amazon, the automated assistant in Hindi is aimed to break the language barrier and provide hassle-free support for millions of customers. Starting today, the Hindi chat experience will be available on Amazon.in the Android app.

6. PUBG Mobile Independence Day Challenge: Crate Coupons, Headgears, Gun Skins, Parachutes and More

PUBG Mobile is offering special rewards to Indian users this Independence Day. This Independence Day PUBG Mobile is offering its players a chance to win some free rewards via a special event called the Independence Day Challenge. Exclusively for Indian users, PUBG Mobile will be giving them a chance to claim crate coupons, headgears, gun skins, parachutes, and more items.

7. Is this the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Super? New Nvidia graphics card appears

Fresh off the release of its Super RTX graphics cards, Nvidia might not be done giving AMD a run for its money. According to Tom’s Hardware, the Santa Clara company is working on an all-new graphics card that will likely surpass or match its most powerful models.

Nvidia hasn’t revealed any plans to design a Super version of its incredibly powerful Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti, but these new details certainly highlight the possibility.

8. Huawei announces when the Mate 20, Honor 20, and Honor View 20 will start getting EMUI 10 (Android Q)

Huawei has been hard at work on its own homebrewed Harmony OS, but the company strongly insists that Harmony OS is the company’s Plan B. This new OS will be used if and only if using Android on Huawei and Honor devices becomes impossible. Huawei is still committed to Android and the next EMUI 10 update will also be based on Android Q, the next version of Google’s operating system. At the Huawei Developer Conference, Huawei confirmed that EMUI 10 beta will be coming to the Huawei P30 and the Huawei P30 Pro on September 8, 2019. Now, reports suggest that Huawei has also shared a timeline for EMUI 10 beta release for its other devices.

9. Huawei aims to challenge Google Maps with Map Kit

According to Huawei, its Map Kit technology will be built in partnership with US-based traveling hub Booking Holdings and Russia’s Yandex. Huawei has a major advantage in the mapping sector because of its primary business of providing technology infrastructure to cellular operators across the World — Map Kit can use the cellular location network in tandem with satellite driven positioning services to offer a strong GPS network to its users. This will reportedly have significant benefits — Zhang Pagan, president of Huawei cloud services and consumer business told China Daily that among other features, Map Kit will feature an advanced augmented reality mapping feature to stand out from the crowd.

10. Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 8 will get security updates till 2020

Many of the first-generation Nokia Android phones will keep getting software support until next year, the company has announced. The list of smartphones includes Nokia 2, Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 6, and Nokia 8 smartphones. All these are non-Android One smartphones that were launched back in 2017. While the security updates for Nokia 3, Nokia 5, and Nokia 8 will continue until 2020, the support for Nokia 6 will end on October 2019. For users of Nokia 2, the security support will conclude in November 2019. HMD Global will be providing these software updates for the handsets past the two-year cycle.