Quick Shots-16

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TSMC is raising chip prices as supply shortages continue

Image: Alex Castro / The Verge

TSMC is the biggest chipmaker in the world and the company responsible for the processors used by Apple, AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm, and even some Intel products. And its products are about to get a lot more expensive: the company plans to raise prices of its advanced chips by around 10 percent and less advanced products by about 20 percent, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal.

Semiconductor supply has become an increasingly important factor for major tech and automotive companies, as chips continue to be hard to come by. There are a lot of factors that go into the prices of phones, laptops, and game consoles beyond the actual bill of materials, so a 10 to 20 percent increase in processor and SOC costs may not necessarily correlate to a similar jump in price for consumers.

Read More at The Verge

Xiaomi launches Mi Band 6, Mi TV 5X, more IoT products in India

Image: Xiaomi

Xiaomi capped off a wave of announcements in India earlier today with the brand finally bringing over the Mi Band 6 as well as three smart TVs, two laptops, a home security camera and a new gigabit Wi-Fi router.

Read More at Gsmarena

Samsung nabs top 3 position in smartwatch market as it switches over to Google’s Wear OS

Image: 9to5Google

The smartwatch market is dominated by Apple, but other players are constantly shifting the metrics. This year, Samsung has managed to join the top three in the smartwatch market with the likes of Apple and Huawei.

Counterpoint Research today published a report on the smartwatch market, finding that it has grown 27% since Q2 of 2020. In this report, it’s revealed that the Apple Watch user base is likely over 100 million at this point despite the brand actually losing a few points in overall marketshare.

Samsung, though, is the big winner in the Q2 2021 results. Samsung saw 43% YoY growth in a “quick recovery” from a rough 2020. This reveal comes just as Samsung has launched its Galaxy Watch 4 series with Google’s Wear OS on board.

Read More at 9to5Google

Acer Swift X review: Content creation for cheap?

The Acer Swift X sitting on a desk.
Image: Digital Trends

The Acer Swift X’s AMD Ryzen 7 5800U, RTX 3050 Ti, and 14-inch display certainly seem up to the task. After putting it through its paces, the Swift X is far from a perfect machine — but its fantastic performance and good value make it a standout among its competitors.

Read More at Digital Trends

Google Makes Working With Formulas in Sheets Easier

Image: Google

Google Sheets is a potent tool for working with numbers and data. If you know how to work with formulas, you can do some amazing things. Thankfully, Google is making it easier to work with formulas and functions for users who are intimated by them.

According to a Google blog post, Google Sheets will now make intelligent formula suggestions based on the data you’ve entered.

“You’ll now see in-line, sequential, context-aware suggestions for formulas and functions when working with data in Google Sheets,” said the Google blog post.

Read More at How To Geek

Oppo could debut a premium tablet in the market soon

Image: Future

Just a few days back Xiaomi revived the Mi Pad lineup by introducing the Mi Pad 5 series in China. Its close rival Realme has also been pretty vocal about the upcoming Realme Pad. Similarly, we’ve had rumours that even Vivo and OnePlus are gearing up to launch their large-screened tablet in the near future.

Now, not to be left behind, even Oppo is said to be working on a new tablet and will compete with the likes of Samsung and Apple that dominate this segment.

According to a trusted Chinese leakster, Digital Chat Station, Oppo is looking to come up with a tablet that could be priced in the medium or high range.

Read More at Techradar

iPhone 13 Face ID tweak could work with masks, sunglasses

Image: Michael Simon/IDG

One of the best security features of Apple’s Face ID unlocking and authentication system is also its biggest annoyance: it only works when it can see your entire face, as millions of mask-wearing iPhone users learned during the pandemic. However, a new Face ID tweak might change that in the iPhone 13.

According to Jon Prosser’s Front Page Tech, Apple has tweaked the Face ID hardware in the iPhone 13 with a new location for the TrueDepth camera on the left side of the notch rather than its current position on the right side. While that doesn’t mean anything on its own, Prosser says the new placement is fueling a new feature that lets Face ID identify users wearing masks and glasses.

Read More at Macworld

Reuters: the Pixel 6 duo will come with a Samsung mmWave 5G modem

Reuters: the Pixel 6 duo will come with a Samsung mmWave 5G modem
Image: Samsung

While Exynos modems are in wide use around the world thanks to Galaxy phones of all shapes and sizes, they have been absent from the US for half a decade. This may change with the upcoming Pixel 6 series.

Google is reluctant to confirm it, but the custom Tensor chipset is reportedly based on an Exynos design. Now Reuters reports that Samsung will also be providing the 5G modem as well, citing two sources.

Read More at Gsmarena

YouTube has taken down over 1 million ‘dangerous’ COVID misinformation videos

YouTube Axon 10 Pro
Image: Jason England / Android Central

YouTube has removed over 1 million videos with “dangerous coronavirus information” such as false cures and hoax claims since February last year, according to a blog post by the Google-owned video platform’s Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan.

As per the blog post, YouTube removes approximately 10 million videos each quarter. Most of the videos that violate YouTube’s community guidelines are removed even before reaching 10 views. The executive adds that “bad content” accounts for a tiny percentage of videos on the platform.

Read More at Android Central

Why we’re committing $10 billion to advance cybersecurity

Article's hero media
Image: Google

We welcomed the opportunity to participate in President Biden’s White House Cyber Security Meeting today, and appreciated the chance to share our recommendations to advance this important agenda. The meeting comes at a timely moment, as widespread cyberattacks continue to exploit vulnerabilities targeting people, organizations, and governments around the world.

That’s why today, we are announcing that we will invest $10 billion over the next five years to strengthen cybersecurity, including expanding zero-trust programs, helping secure the software supply chain, and enhancing open-source security. We are also pledging, through the Google Career Certificate program, to train 100,000 Americans in fields like IT Support and Data Analytics, learning in-demand skills including data privacy and security. 

Read More at Google’s Blog

I’m a tech savvy person who occasionally cook and party. I am an engineer by profession and tech enthusiast by passion.
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