Poco continues to be fastest growing brand nationally for 2 consecutive quarters, registers 865% growth: IDC
The pandemic which hit the world in 2020 has wreaked havoc on almost all industries, barring some. But smartphone manufacturer Poco seemed to have its best quarter at the beginning of 2021 where it exhibited 300% growth compared to that of 2020.
And now it has reported that the growth has been manifolded in the second quarter and it has managed to be the fastest-growing brand in India for two consecutive quarters, registering an 865% growth. This was reported by the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, August 2021.
Read More at Techradar
Realme Band 2 has been spotted on BIS, launch imminent
The Realme Band 2 listing has been spotted on Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) website by Mukul Sharma, and has a model number RMW2010. This certification does not tell us much apart from this though.
But a Realme device with the same model number made an appearance on the Bluetooth SIG certification website. According to that listing, the smart wearable device features Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity.
Read More at Techradar
Gigabyte to replace ‘exploding’ PSUs that Newegg bundled with RTX 30-series cards
Gigabyte is offering a return and exchange service for two of its power supply units (PSUs), following complaints that the products were “exploding” or failing. PSU reviewer Aristeidis Bitziopoulos and Gamers Nexus both found that Gigabyte’s GP-P850GM and GP-P750GM models could fail catastrophically, with some sparking and others arriving dead out of the box. These models had been the subject of many negative reviews on Newegg, and were previously part of a forced bundle with RTX 30-series cards.
After spending months testing the two PSUs, Gamers Nexus found a surprisingly high rate of failures. Out of the PSUs that Gamers Nexus sourced from YouTube viewers or purchased, 50 percent of the GP-P750GM failed. Gamers Nexus even managed to fry a Gigabyte RTX 3080 card during its testing, although it’s not clear if this was directly related to the PSU failing or not.
Read More at The Verge
Mastercard will start removing magnetic strips from its cards in 2024
Mastercard will start phasing out magnetic strips on its debit and credit cards in 2024, and it expects the process to be complete by 2033, according to a release from the company on Aug. 12. Mastercard says it will shift to biometric cards, combining fingerprint and chip technology to verify a cardholder’s identity.
US banks will no longer be required to issue cards with a magnetic strip by 2027, and by 2029, no newly issued cards will have the magnetic strip.
Read More at Cnet
BGMI has hit 50 million downloads and introduces new rewards
Battlegrounds Mobile India which is PUBG Mobile’s proxy in India has been a smashing hit for Krafton after months of trying to bring the game back. After it was banned last year Krafton launched BGMI which according to the company is a revamped version of the immensely popular PUBG Mobile.
Krafton had promised previously that it would have special rewards for all players once the game crosses the 50 million download mark. And now that the game has crossed the threshold the developers honoured the promise and introduced rewards for all.
Read More at Techradar
Robots are delivering pizzas to dorms now — Strictly Robots
Starship Technologies is sending robots to college campuses, delivering everything from Starbucks to Panda Express.
From Mashable
See Boston Dynamics Atlas robots work a parkour course like it’s nothing
Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot has advanced its parkour skills since we first watched it navigate obstacles like a boss. In a new video from the company, the bipedal robots can be seen jumping up the levels of a tiered platform, running across and over a balance beam and generally making most humans look like clods in comparison.
The Atlas robot, which also counts backflips and handstands among its talents, has demonstrated impressive balance while parkour-ing before. The difference here is the robot can now adapt behaviors based on what it sees. That means engineers don’t have to pre-program jumping motions for all the platforms and gaps the robot might encounter. It’s become a more independent athlete.
Read More at Cnet
Photoshop for iPad inches closer to desktop version with new tools
Photoshop for iPad has been given some handy new retouching tools, including the ‘Magic Wand’, that help move it a little closer to the desktop version of the editing app.
In its August update (version 2.7), Photoshop for iPad gives you the ability to quickly choose parts of your image thanks to the ‘Magic Wand’ tool, which is a popular staple of the desktop app.
Adobe admits that the ‘Magic Wand’ has been a “highly requested” feature for the iPad version of Photoshop, which first arrived back in November 2019, so it’s good to see it finally added. The tool is particularly handy if you want to edit a distinctly-colored part of an image, or quickly remove an object from a background.
Read More at Techradar
Vivo X60 gets a price cut ahead of the X70 series launch
Vivo’s flagship smartphone the Vivo X60 has just received a price cut. The series includes the vanilla Vivo X60, Vivo X60 Pro, and Vivo X60 Pro Plus, however, the Vivo X60 is now available to purchase at up to Rs. 3,000 less.
To recall the lineup was initially launched in China back in December 2020 and later made its way to India in March this year. The lineup marks Vivo’s collaboration with Zeiss that helped the Chinese smartphone maker to build camera-centric smartphones.
Read More at Techradar
2022 Toyota GR 86 first drive review: An enthralling second act
In the decade since the Toyota 86 (neé Scion FR-S) and Subaru BRZ twins launched, they’ve become fixtures at autocrosses and road course paddocks. These lightweight, affordable, rear-wheel-drive coupes offer a perfect track car foundation on which to build. And for the 86’s second act, Toyota is giving it more of the good stuff without changing what makes this car so inherently great.
Read More at Cnet
