After 3 years, Niantic announces to roll out new updates to Pokemon Go map

by Hansraj Agrawal | Oct 27, 2022 | Technology

Leading augmented reality (AR) company Niantic has announced updates to the Pokemon Go map.

After three years, Pokemon GO is releasing upgrades to keep offering an experience that unites trainers’ global adventure, the company said.

A visual change will be made to the Pokemon GO map so that it better reflects the actual world.

“The map will more accurately reflect the environment, and different Pokemon will appear in a greater variety of places,” the company said.

Following the new update, users will start to notice recent local changes on the map. This can involve the reconstruction of recently built buildings and the elimination of old roads.

Different Pokemon will soon be visible in even more locations than now.

The company also warned users to be aware of their surroundings and follow guidelines from local health authorities when playing the game.

Earlier, the game had come up with an update — 1.191.0 — that allowed iOS users to run the game at higher frame rates.

With version 1.191.0, the “advanced settings” section of the app included an option that reads “Unlock your device’s native refresh rate for higher FPS”.

The feature was not limited to the 13 Pro and Pro Max, which are the only iPhones with 120Hz “ProMotion” displays.

It was also possible to unlock the frame rate in an old 8 Plus device, it added.

–IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Satellite communications to play key role in India’s tech ambitions: MoS IT

by Hansraj Agrawal | Oct 27, 2022 | Technology

Satellite communications is emerging as an important part of India’s ambitions to scale up quality internet access across the country, Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Thursday.

For the digital economy and India’s growing clout in global technology landscape, satellite communications holds significant relevance, the minister said speaking at India Space Congress 2022.

“Our goal…is by 2025-26 to have 1.2 billion Indians have the ability to connect to the internet directly through their device, and…role of satellite communications and space segment is an inherent part of this,” Chandrasekhar said.

At times, wireless technology may have limitations and “satellite is clearly emerging as an important part of the blueprint of delivering quality internet to all citizens and enterprises of India,” he said.

Satellite and space, therefore, will be important in the overall mission to ensure delivery of internet and goal of connecting people to the digital economy.

India’s tech economy has evolved from being IT services orientated to additional realms such as innovation, startup segments, consumer tech, fintech, and e-commerce.

“We have a momentum going there, which makes us competitive with the rest of the world in terms of scale and quality and size, and innovation and applications that our startups are creating. But our focus is now also on the nuts and bolts of the internet, the underlying electronics, technology, devices and products that power the internet” the minister said.

The space and satcomm sectors are going to offer interesting and critical use cases that will catalyse startups, and development of devices and electronics.

India is an island of calm in an otherwise disturbed, turbulent global environment, where many nations are struggling with inflation and post-COVID era issues, the minister said.

India has carefully navigated the storm, to emerge as the fastest-growing innovation ecosystem in the world, attracting high FDI inflows, he noted.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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The mystery of costly Apple iPhone 14 Pro selling better than iPhone 14

by Hansraj Agrawal | Oct 27, 2022 | Technology

Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro smartphone was launched last month and it costs more, but it is selling better than the cheaper iPhone 14 model in India.

Due to tepid demand, Apple has reportedly dropped plans to boost production of its base iPhone 14 model. The American technology giant has alongside increased the production of iPhone 14 Pro models to 60 per cent of total iPhone output, from the initially planned 50 per cent. It could raise iPhone 14 Pro production to 65 per cent, according to market research firm TrendForce.

Pricing could be one reason for the weak demand for iPhone 14 models, especially in India. Though similar to the older iPhone 13 in terms of design, features, and specifications, the base model of iPhone 14 costs Rs 10,000 more at Rs 79,990. The big screen ‘Plus’ model costs even more at Rs 89,990 for the base model.

In comparison, the iPhone 13 costs Rs 69,990 for the base model.

The price margin between the iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 widens further after discounts, cashbacks, and bank offers from online e-commerce platforms and retail stores such as Croma and Reliance Digital on the latter smartphone.

“Ultra-premium category smartphones, especially older generation flagships, experienced strong demand momentum amid price cuts. Samsung offered deep discounts on its older generation Galaxy Z Fold3 and latest Galaxy S22 series in online and offline channels. Similarly, demand for the aggressively discounted iPhone 13 outstripped the latest iPhone 14, whose value proposition is very similar to the former,” according to research firm Canalys, referring to smartphone demand during festival sales.

ALSO READ: Apple iPhone 14 Pro review: Familiar, but with a good new user experience

The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus are both readily available for orders on Apple’s online store and retail stores. However, demand for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max make them hard to get quickly, with estimated shipping timeline varying between three to four weeks on the Apple store online. iPhone 14 Pro starts at Rs 1,29,990 and iPhone 14 Pro Max at Rs 1,39,990.

Though on the expensive side, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models get fresh upgrades from Apple such as screen with Dynamic Island and 48-megapixel primary camera on the rear side. These upgrades make them look better value proposition compared to the vanilla models, which are identical to the last year models with incremental upgrades such as crash detection and satellite connectivity features.

Regarding the unavailability of the Pro models, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Wednesday said he had spoken to Apple, which said that the iPhone 14 demand is being met with India production, and the iPhone 14 Pro demand has surged and is facing supply constraints that it is addressing.

“I have spoken with Apple and they have said while iPhone 14 demand is being met also with India production, the iPhone 14 Pro demand has surged and is facing supply constraints which they are addressing,” he said on Twitter.

iPhone 14: Starts at Rs 79,990 (shipping in 1-2 weeks)
iPhone 14 Plus: Starts at Rs 89,990 (in stock)
iPhone 14 Pro: Rs 1,29,990 (shipping in 3-4 weeks)
iPhone 14 Pro Max: Rs 1,39,990 (shipping in 3-4 weeks)

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Google Workspace Individual storage raised from 15GB to 1TB: Details here

by Hansraj Agrawal | Oct 27, 2022 | Technology

Google has announced that it will soon introduce more features for “Workspace Individual” users, including an increase in storage capacity and advances in email personalisation for all customers.

The Workspace Individual account soon will get 1 TB of secure cloud storage instead of 15 GB.

Every account will be automatically upgraded from their existing 15 GB of storage to 1 TB as the company roll this out, said Google in a blogpost.

With this upgrade, most Workspace Individual users won’t need to worry about running out of storage space in Gmail and Drive anymore.

Additionally, Google Drive comes with built-in protections against malware, spam, and ransomware, so users need not worry about opening a document and accidentally exposing themselves to malware.

With the built-in mail merge update, users can now add mail merge tags like @firstname to multi-send emails, so each recipient receives a unique email that feels individually crafted just for them, it added.

However, by default, multi-send emails include an unsubscribe link, allowing recipients to opt out of receiving future messages.

Google is also launching Workspace Individual in some new countries and regions: the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, the Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium, Finland, Greece and Argentina.

The new countries will join a growing list of places business owners can sign up for Workspace Individual, including the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, Australia and six countries across Europe.

With the expansion of Workspace Individual, the company will also be adding more features, including Premium Meet, eSignatures in Google Docs, appointment scheduling, and flexible layouts in Gmail, according to a report.

–IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Apple announces new iCloud web interface for beta users: Details here

by Hansraj Agrawal | Oct 27, 2022 | Technology

Tech giant Apple on Thursday announced newly designed iCloud web interface for beta preview.

Apple users can access the private information they keep in iCloud from any location through the iCloud web. This includes every image, text and other files they create on their iPhone or other Apple devices.

It give users a customised homepage for a more individualised experience and makes it simple for them to access their most recent information.

Additionally, users can simply use iCloud+ services like Hide My Email and Custom Email Domain from the web, as well as find useful information about their iCloud+ plan.

The new web interface is available at ‘beta.icloud.com’ for beta preview.

Earlier, the iPhone maker began testing a major redesign to the iCloud Mail experience on the web, which brought its webmail service more in line with design changes made in macOS Big Sur.

The new design looked more similar to the Mail app which was available on the iPad and Mac, as it featured a cleaner interface with thicker icons.

It seemed that Apple finally brought a more modern look to the iCloud web, starting with Mail — other iCloud web apps were still with the old design even on the beta website.

–IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Meta plans to launch consumer-grade virtual reality headset next year

by Hansraj Agrawal | Oct 27, 2022 | Technology

Meta has announced plans to launch another consumer-grade virtual reality headset next year.

At the company’s earnings call late on Wednesday, Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the new high-end VR headset delivers high-resolution mixed reality to blend virtual objects into the physical environment around the users.

“Our goal for the Quest Pro line over the next several years is to enable more and more people to get their work done in virtual and mixed reality even better than they could on PCs,” said Zuckerberg.

“I think that our work is going to be of historic importance and create the foundation for an entirely new way that we will interact with each other and blend technology into our lives as well as the foundation for the long-term of our business,” he added.

Zuckerberg believes that the stronger prioritisation, discipline and efficiency will help to navigate the current environment and grow into an even better firm.

Recently, Zuckerberg in the presence of the company’s chairman and CEO Satya Nadella, had unveiled a VR headset Meta Quest Pro that was packed with features like full-colour mixed reality and was priced at $1,500.

“Meta Quest Pro was the first in a new line of advanced headsets built to expand the possibilities of virtual and mixed reality. Its pancake lenses folded light over several times, which reduces the size of the headset while showing sharper visuals,” said Zuckerberg at Meta Connect’ event late on Tuesday.

–IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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