Oppo Reno-series India launch today: Watch livestream, know specs, and more

Chinese mobile phone maker Oppo is set to bring its recently introduced Reno smartphone series to India with the launch of the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom and the Oppo Reno on May 28. The two phones and will go on sale exclusively on home-grown e-commerce platform Flipkart.

Oppo Reno 10x Zoom specifications, features, camera, and more

The Oppo Reno 10x Zoom, as the name suggests, is a camera-centric smartphone with a 13-megapixel periscope telephoto lens on the back, capable of up to 10x hybrid lossless zoom. The phone sports two more optics on the back – a 48MP primary sensor and an 8MP ultra-wide angle lens. Another key feature of the device is shark fin shaped selfie camera (16MP) module, which comes out from the top. The phone sports a 6.6-inch AMOLED screen with no notch, thanks to mechanical pop-up selfie camera module. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 system-on-chip (SoC), mated with up to 8GB of RAM.

The phone has a 4,065 mAh battery, supported by VOOC 3.0 fast charging technology.

Oppo Reno specifications, features, camera, and more

The Oppo Reno is a vanilla edition of the Oppo Reno 10x. Though the phone resembles its elder sibling, it has different optics, screen and processor that makes it an affordable version. The phone has a 6.4-inch fullHD+ AMOLED screen. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 SoC, paired with up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. Imaging is covered by a 48MP primary camera on the back and a 5MP depth sensor. There is a 16MP selfie camera of f/2.0 that is part of the mechanical pop-up module.

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Google’s Duplex uses AI to mimic humans, but only sometimes

On a recent afternoon at the Lao Thai Kitchen restaurant, the telephone rang and the caller ID read “Google Assistant.” Jimmy Tran, a waiter, answered the phone. The caller was a man with an Irish accent hoping to book a dinner reservation for two on the weekend. This was no ordinary booking. It came through Google Duplex, a free service that uses artificial intelligence to call restaurants and — mimicking a human voice — speak on our behalf to book a table. The feature, which had a limited release about a year ago, recently became available to a larger number of Android devices and iPhones.

The voice of the Irish man sounded eerily human. When asked whether he was a robot, the caller immediately replied, “No, I’m not a robot,” and laughed.

“It sounded very real,” Tran said in an interview after hanging up the call with Google. “It was perfectly human.”

Google later confirmed, to our disappointment, that the caller had been telling the truth: He was a person working in a call center. The company said that about 25 per cent of calls placed through Duplex started with a human, and that about 15 percent of those that began with an automated system had a human intervene at some point.

We tested Duplex for several days, calling more than a dozen restaurants, and our tests showed a heavy reliance on humans. Among our four successful bookings with Duplex, three were done by people. But when calls were actually placed by Google’s artificially intelligent assistant, the bot sounded very much like a real person and was even able to respond to nuanced questions.

In other words, Duplex, which Google first showed off last year as a technological marvel using AI, is still largely operated by humans. While AI services like Google’s are meant to help us, their part-machine, part-human approach could contribute to a mounting problem: the struggle to decipher the real from the fake, from bogus reviews and online disinformation to bots posing as people.

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Xiaomi Black Shark 2 India launch today: Livestream, specifications, & more

Aimed at niche gamers, performance-centric gaming smartphones are making inroads in India. After the launch of Asus ROG (review) and Nubia Red Magic (review), Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi’s sub-brand Black Shark is set to bring to India its flagship smartphone on Monday (May 27). Named Black Shark 2, the phone was unveiled in March in the company’s home country China. The Flipkart-exclusive smartphone will be unveiled at 1 PM and goes on sale at the e-commerce platform soon.

Being a gaming smartphone, the Black Shark 2 boasts flagship hardware, including Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 system-on-chip (SoC), up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage, multilayer liquid cooling system and gaming-centric content and services.

The phone sports a 6.39-inch AMOLED screen of fullHD+ resolution, stretched in tall 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The display supports 100 per cent DCI-P3 colour gamut.

Imaging is covered by a dual camera module on the back, featuring a 48-megapixel primary sensor of f/1.8 aperture and a 12MP telephoto lens capable of up to 2x optical zoom. On the front, there is a 20MP selfie camera of f/2.2 aperture.

The phone features stereo speakers for immersive gaming experience. It is powered by 4,000 mAh battery, which supports 27W fast charging using Gen 2.0 USB type-C reversible connector. The phone comes in blue, silver and black colours.

Here you can see the video

Selena Gomez says she will marry her 68-year-old co-star Bill Murray

Singer-songwriter Selena Gomez made a surprise announcement on Instagram when she revealed her plan to marry co-actor Bill Murray!

Following her Cannes red carpet debut along with the screening of her film The Dead Don’t Die, the 26-year-old shared many pictures on social media. She made the announcement in one of the posts.

“My first time in Cannes! I’m so honored to have been a part of this movie with Jim and the whole cast. By the way Bill Murray and I are getting married,” read a gallery post shared by the I Can’t Get Enough songstress.

Change of guard: #Chowkidaar prefix to make way for new campaign

It seems chowkidaar would not be guarding BJP’s interest on the back of which it won its massive mandate. The tagline has been dropped from the Twitter handle of the PM. And other leaders, sources said, might follow suit.

“The time has come to take the chowkidaar spirit to the next level. The word chowkidaar goes from my Twitter name but it remains an integral part of me. Urging you all to do the same too!” Modi tweeted on Thursday evening.

According to sources in Bharatiya Janata Party, the party is going to coin a new term that would replace chowkidaar. This term would portray how the government would function over the next five years. “The people of India became chowkidaars and rendered great service to the nation. Chowkidaar has become a powerful symbol to safeguard India from the evils of casteism, communalism, corruption and cronyism,” the PM said in another tweet.

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‘India’s Most Wanted’ a game-changer in cinema on terrorism (Review)

Film: India’s Most Wanted; Starring: Arjun Kapoor, Rajesh Sharma; Writer and Director Rajkumar Gupta; Rating: ****(4 stars)

In a milieu of bustling violence, terrorism has been reduced to a formula in our cinema. A pretext to show larger-than-life villains with heroes to match.

But what about those real terrorists and those unsung heroes who have apprehended dreaded terrorists not for fame recognition or, God forbid, money. But simply because to them, that seems the right thing to do.

India’s Most Wanted is that rare film on counter-terrorism which seems to show no inclination to overplay its cards, Rajkumar Gupta’s target here is to not show his hero indulging in scene-stealing heroics (the kind Akshay Kumar would be seen doing), but to put the protagonist, a docile humble unostentatious man Prabhat who never smiles because…well, what is there to smile about? Have you seen the number of bomb blasts that have occurred in the last two decades?

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Apple MacBook Pro gets 8th, 9th-Gen Intel Core processors: Price, features

American technology giant Apple has updated its MacBook Pro-series with 8th-Generation and 9th-Generation Intel Core processors. The upgraded MacBook Pro is touted to deliver two times faster performance than the previous generation’s quad-core variant, and up to 40 per cent better performance than the hexa-core variant. The new MacBook Pro continues to come in 13-inch and 15-inch screen variants, priced at Rs 159,900 and Rs 199,900, respectively (for base models).

Besides new processors, the MacBook Pro features Apple’s Retina display with 500 nits of brightness, support for the P3 wide colour gamut and True Tone technology. It boasts stereo speakers, Touch ID, Touch Bar, and a large Force Touch trackpad.

The MacBook Pro also features solid state drive (SSD) storage, the Apple T2 Security Chip for enhanced security, and Thunderbolt 3 ports for data transfer, charging and connecting up to two 5K displays or four external GPUs.

ALSO READ: Apple iMac 2019 a lot like iMac Pro, but much cheaper: Know price, details

“Now with 8-core processors for an incredible performance boost, along with its stunning Retina display, fast storage, all-day battery life and running macOS, MacBook Pro continues to be the world’s best pro notebook and we can’t wait to get it into our customer’s hands to see what they do next,” said Tom Boger, Apple’s senior director of Mac Product Marketing in a statement.

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Here is the Indian cricket team’s schedule ahead of ICC World Cup 2019 opener against South Africa on June 5

The Virat Kohli-led India cricket team on Wednesday left for England to participate in the biggest international 50-over cricket tournament, the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup 2019. They will play their first match of the tournament on June 5 against South Africa, which would be keen to shed their ‘chokers’ tag this time around.

In the days leading up to the cricket world cup 2019 opening match, to be played between hosts England and South Africa on May 30, the 10 participating teams will play a number of warm-up games to acclimatise themselves to the English conditions.

ALSO READ: ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Why India are best placed to win the trophy

Eyeing their third World Cup title, Virat Kohli’s India would play their first warm-up match against New Zealand on May 25 and another against Bangladesh on May 28.

At a press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday, Kohli said India were entering the tournament with a balanced and strong side. “You saw in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as well. All the players in the squad are in great form and playing really well. I think, we just hope to play the best cricket we can,” the skipper said. ICC

PSLV-C46 takes off successfully with India’s earth observation satellite

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro’s) workhorse PSLV-C46, carrying RISAT-2B, a radar-imaging earth observation satellite, took off successfully from the Sriharikota space port. The satellite will beef up India’s surveillance capabilities in the sky.

After a successful countdown that started at 04:30 a.m. (IST) on Tuesday, the rocket was launched at 05:30 a.m. on Wednesday early morning as scheduled from the the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, near Chennai.

About 15 minutes into flight, the rocket placed RISAT-2B into an orbit of about 555 km.

Stating that he was extremely happy to announce that PSLV-C46 has successfully injected RISAT-2B in precise orbit, Isro chairman K Sivan said with this mission, the PSLV rocket had crossed the landmark of lofting of 50 tonnes since it started flying. Adding that the PSLV satellite has put into orbit 350 satellites, he said, “The rocket had a piggy back payload, the indigenously developed Vikram computer chip that will be used in the future rockets.”

PSLV-C46 is the 48th mission of PSLV and the 14th flight in ‘core-alone’ configuration (without the use of solid strap-on motors). This is the 72nd launch vehicle mission from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota and 36th launch from the First Launch pad. Read Complete Article

Skullcandy Set review: Affordable sweat-resistant earphones with microphone

Skullcandy Set is a pair of wired earphones for sports and fitness enthusiasts. Priced at Rs 2,999, the earphones are sweat resistant that makes them a suitable pair for people with active lifestyle. Besides, the pair also have a microphone and a call controller, which also doubles up as a track controller, that makes it easy to take calls, change audio tracks, play/pause music, etc. on the go — when connected with a smartphone.

Being budget earphones, the Skullcandy Set come in a generous package, which includes three different sizes of earbuds – small, medium and large – a pair of gels, and the main unit. The earphones come with two-year warranty that make these pairs a good play in the budget segment.

Design

The Skullcandy Set have an in-ear design with changeable ear buds that are neither too hard nor too soft, making them comfortable to use while providing good noise isolation as well. For sports enthusiasts, the earphones also have hook-shaped elongated removable gels for enhanced fit, making them stick in ears while running, jogging or doing any other physical activity.

While the earphones’ design seems satisfactory, it is the rubberised wire that does not do justice to them. It seems fragile, tangles easily and requires proper care. Moreover, it attracts dirt and get soiled easily too.

Performance

From sweat resistance to built-in microphone for calls, the earphones cover wide spectrum of utilities. Besides, it has sound drivers that push quality sound. The output is balanced with good mix of bass and treble. Push the earbuds a little deep inside the ear cavity, and the bass feels overpowered – do this if you like the bass-heavy audio tracks.

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