Xiaomi has launched as many as eight phones in the Redmi 9 series in India and now, the company has launched an affordable Redmi 9 Power device with a massive 6000mAh battery.

The Redmi 9 Power is priced starting at Rs 10,999 for the base variant with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage and Rs 11,999 for the 128GB storage option.

The phone is offered in four colours — mighty black, blazing blue, fiery red and electric green.

We used the 128GB variant in blazing blue colour option for around a week and here is what we think about the new budget device.

At the base, it features a Type-C port at the base with a mic on the right side and a single grille speaker on the other side.

At the top, it has IR Blaster along with a 3.5mm audio jack.

The volume rocker is on the right, with the fingerprint sensor which also doubles up as a power and display button just below it. There’s a USB Type C port on the base.

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Russian luxury goods brand Caviar, known for making luxury variants of popular gadgets, has unveiled custom-made, over-ear headphones AirPods Max plated with “pure gold” for the high price of $108,000, which roughly translate to nearly Rs 80 lakh.

Caviar said that the luxury headphones will be “released in a single piece worldwide,” indicating that supplies will be limited.

The earcups of the headphones are made from pure gold, replacing the current aluminium that Apple makes the earcups out of.

Caviar is also replacing the mesh headband with “rare crocodile leather”.

The Caviar AirPods Max headphones will come in white or black headband but the earcups will remain in gold for both versions.

AirPods Max was launched earlier this month with high-fidelity sound, Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Cancellation and spatial audio for Rs 59,900.

AirPods Max uses Adaptive EQ to adjust the sound to the fit and seal of the ear cushions by measuring the sound signal delivered to a user and adjusting the low and mid-frequencies in real-time – bringing rich audio that captures every detail.

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A federal judge in Florida on Tuesday dismissed Apple Inc’s copyright infringement claims against a Florida startup whose software helps security researchers find vulnerabilities in Apple products including the iPhone.

U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith ruled in favor of Corellium LLC, saying its software emulating the iOS operating system that runs on the iPhone and iPad amounted to “fair use” because it was “transformative” and helped developers find security flaws.

Apple accused Corellium of essentially replicating iOS to create “virtual” iOS-operated devices, whose “sole function” was to run unauthorized copies of the system on non-Apple hardware.

But the Fort Lauderdale-based judge said Corellium “adds something new to iOS” by letting users see and halt running processes, take live snapshots, and conduct other operations.

“Corellium’s profit motivation does not undermine its fair use defense, particularly considering the public benefit of the product,” Smith wrote.

The judge also rejected Apple’s argument that the Delray Beach startup acted in bad faith by selling its product indiscriminately, including potentially to hackers, and by not requiring users to report bugs to Apple.

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From interest rates to fashion, pandemics in the past — like the Black Death in the 14th century — have left deep imprints on economic life. This time may be no different. In the aftermath of the coronavirus, governments can reimagine capitalism by giving all of us a stake in the most valuable byproduct of our day-to-day living: data. But make no mistake. It will still be a Faustian bargain.

A global data profit will be a very different GDP from gross domestic product. The case for technology companies to share it with we, the people who supply them the bits and bytes, is compelling. In fact, it could even emerge as a better universal basic income — another revolutionary concept whose time may have come — for the post-Covid world.

A state-provided allowance can improve citizens’ well-being, a widely studied Finnish experiment has shown. Yet only a small group of developed countries would even have a chance of sustaining a meaningful subsidy, provided taxpayers agree. Most developing nations would balk at the expense. Inequality between the global North and South would worsen.

This is where a share of global data profit for the 63 per cent of the world population that’s already online could prove helpful. The FANG quartet — Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Netflix Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. — garners $140 billion in combined operating earnings. China’s BAT trinity of Baidu Inc., Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. hauls in another $50 billion. Throw in device makers like Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. and Xiaomi Corp., payment processors like Visa Inc., Mastercard Inc., and Paypal Holdings Inc., and the available profit pie of our data overlords is at least $350 billion. Their combined revenue is in excess of $1.3 trillion.

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As a successor to the Pixel 5, Google is likely to launch its Pixel 6 smartphone next year and now a new patent has claimed that the device will feature an under-screen selfie snapper.

The patent doesn’t go into any detail as to how that’s achieved but, presumably the camera would be underneath the screen, reports Techradar.

ZTE has already released a smartphone with an under-display front shooter and Xiaomi and OPPO have exhibited their prototypes. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, which will likely arrive in the second half of 2021, is also expected to feature the tech.

The patent has revealed other details about the phone, including its basic design and the location of the main camera.

The patent shows the primary camera module’s design and location will remain unchanged from what was seen on the Pixel 5. As such, the patent suggests the camera module will include two sensors and an LED flash.

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Payments gateway Razorpay and investment platform Zerodha entered the billion-dollar club, as digital payments and investments boomed.

The boom in online education made a decacorn of learning platform Byju’s and sparked a flurry of investments in the edtech space, notably in Vedantu, Unacademy and Topprs. The trend is set to hold up.

It was time to say goodbye for one of the banking industry’s most prominent faces. After a 25-year stint that saw HDFC Bank go from a start-up to an industry leader, Aditya Puri stepped down as its CEO in October as he turned 70, paving the way for Sashidhar Jagdishan.

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries went on a fund-raising spree, ending the year with a Rs 1.25-trillion boost from a long list of investors, including Facebook. The gush of fund was chiefly into the telecom venture, Jio Platforms. Facebook’s Rs 43,574 crore for a minority stake in Jio was the largest FDI for a minority stake in an Indian tech firm ever.

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The Hammer KO is a pair of entry-level true wireless stereo earbuds manufactured by home-grown technology startup Hammer. These basic wireless earbuds come with a hook-based design for a secure fit – that seems to set it apart from peers in the budget segment. Except for hooks, however, there is nothing novel about these earbuds. They have Bluetooth v5.0 for connectivity, microphones for voice calls, touch controls and IPX4 water resistance rating.

So far as design is concerned, these earbuds are not ergonomically sound, thanks to their hook-based build. But they sure are lightweight. The earbuds are made mostly of plastic, with matte texture on the outer side, and rubber hooks. The ear hooks do make them comfortable to wear, but the Hammer KO lacks snug fit, despite being an in-ear earphones. This hampers the earbuds’ passive noise isolation capability. They do not come off the ears easily, thanks to the hooks, but you need to constantly adjust them for optimal fit. On the positive side, the earbuds’ ear tips are soft and do not cause any unnecessary discomfort, even when used for extended hours. The earbuds come in a rather big storage-cum-charging case, which is not best for carrying around in hand or jeans pockets. Moreover, the case has an aged microUSB port for charging.

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As video calling became the norm in the pandemic-hit year, Google Duo and Google Meet hosted over one trillion minutes of video calls globally — equal to more than 18 billion hour-long virtual workouts in a single year.

The company said that with your Gmail account, Meet calls are unlimited through March 31, 2021 so that families can enjoy holiday traditions without interruptions.

In 2020, Google added a Meet tab in Gmail so that with one tap, people can jump from an email to a video call.

“We also brought Meet to Nest Hub Max and Chromecast to help people get up, move around, and have hands-free calls at home,” said Dave Citron, Director of Product Management, Google Duo & Google Meet.

“Google Meet and Google Duo were built with an emphasis on privacy and security, to keep your calls and meetings safe and your information private”.

The Google app crossed 100 million users daily and its daily user numbers “had a peak of 235 million” in the third quarter of this year, according to the BBC.

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Coronavirus induced lockdown and subsequent restrictions on movement pushed people inside home for most part of this year. The changed environment, however, did not deter camera makers from introducing new products in the market. While the mirrorless cameras continue to make inroads in the camera segment, niche products like instant cameras also drove the sentiment. Of the many launches this year, Business Standard lists the best four cameras launched in 2020:

Fujifilm X-T200

Mirrorless cameras have come a long way. The new breed of mirrorless cameras is compact yet powerful. The Fujifilm X-T200 is one of the new-age mirrorless camera aimed at vloggers and those switching from a standard DSLR.

The XT-200’s appeal lies in its retro look and small body. It comes with a 24.2-megapixel sensor with improved autofocus system aided by phase detection technology and supports 4K video recording at 30 frames per second.

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Microsoft this year launched not one but two gaming consoles – the top-end Xbox Series X and a cheaper digital-only model Xbox Series S. The Xbox Series X is a premium gaming console that boasts the best of the company’s technological prowess, being the most advanced gaming console available in India at present. It is no surprise that the Xbox Series S pales in comparison to this high-tech model, but by no means is the affordable model incompetent. Instead, it seems just about perfect if you drop the comparison and just it as a standalone product.

The Xbox Series S is the smallest Xbox ever made – merely 27.5cm tall, 15.1cm deep, and 6.5cm broad in the vertical position. Its petite form factor makes it stand comfortably next to a TV or a gaming monitor, even if there is not much space to accommodate anything else. Moreover, it can be placed in both vertical and horizontal positions. Therefore, you have the choice to stand it next to the screen or slide it under just like a soundbar audio system. The Xbox Series S looks good and complements the TV or gaming monitor space, irrespective of its placement orientation.

As for ports, the Xbox Series S features three – USB 3.1 Gen 1, an HDMI 2.1 out, an Ethernet port – and a storage expansion slot. Except for one USB port on the front, all others, as well as the storage card slot are on the back side. The ports on the rear side are easy to access, thanks to the dotted textured pattern next to the ports. While everything seems in place, the absence of USB-C port/s might make the Xbox series S less appealing to those who have supporting display and accessories. Disc drive is another piece of hardware missing here. Therefore, you will not be able to use any of your previously purchased Xbox game discs. It is a digital only model with built-in Xbox Store to purchase and download digital versions of a game.

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