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POCO X6 Pro review: Competitively priced performance-centric midrange phone

POCO X6 Pro review: Competitively priced performance-centric midrange phone

by | Jan 16, 2024 | Technology


The advent of 2024 witnessed a surge in smartphone releases within the midrange segment. Noteworthy among these is the POCO X6 Pro, the flagship model in the POCO X6 series, which debuted in India on January 11. This smartphone marks the introduction of the Android 14 operating system-based Xiaomi HyperOS and the MediaTek Dimensity 8300 Ultra system-on-chip to the Indian market. Additionally, it stands out as the inaugural device in the POCO X-series to incorporate an in-display fingerprint sensor. Further enhancements include a revamped design, an upgraded camera system, and a next-generation storage and RAM configuration. At first glance, the POCO X6 Pro appears competitively priced, starting at Rs 26,999. Is it? Let us find out:


Design


The POCO X6 Pro boasts a minimalist yet distinctive design, particularly in the racing grey variant under review. This iteration features a glass finish with a glossy texture on the back cover. While visually appealing, the smooth, glossy texture renders the device susceptible to fingerprints and increases the risk of accidental drops. Notably, the extended rear camera island enhances the design without compromising usability, ensuring stability on flat surfaces.

On the sides, the phone has a flat plastic frame with a metallic finish. The frame incorporates power and volume rocker buttons on the right side, a secondary speaker, secondary microphone, and IR blaster on the top side, and a USB-C port, primary speaker, primary microphone, and a removable SIM slot on the bottom side.

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The front of the phone is dominated by a flat display with thin bezels, providing a sleek appearance. The absence of a plastic bracket ensures that the display sits seamlessly within the frame, facilitating natural use with gesture navigation. Overall, the phone’s fit and finish are exemplary, and its lightweight construction, coupled with modest thickness, contributes to a superior user experience.


Display and audio


The POCO X6 Pro sports a 6.67-inch 1.5K (2712 x 1220) AMOLED display of 120Hz refresh rate. It is a 12-bit display (68 billion colours), but most importantly a bright one with support for Dolby Vision. Speaking of brightness, the display is touted to hit 1800 nits peak brightness levels. It essentially means good legibility in bright outdoor conditions and enhanced experience while watch high dynamic range content. In reality, the display on the POCO X6 Pro delivers optimal experience in both scenarios.


As for the generic use, the display is responsive and boasts accurate touch recognition. POCO has included multiple pre-set colour schemes, including the “Original Colour PRO” that calibrates the display to reproduce natural colours and tones.


Complementing the dazzling display is the audio experience, powered by Dolby Atmos. The POCO X6 Pro has a pair of speakers for stereo output. While the speakers produce loud and clear audio, an imbalance exists, with the bottom-firing speaker outperforming the secondary speaker. Notably, the absence of a 3.5mm audio jack follows a trend observed in several brands.


Camera


The POCO X6 Pro introduces a new triple-camera system on the rear with optical image stabilisation on the main 64-megapixel camera sensor – a new and welcome addition to the line-up. The other two camera sensors on the rear and the front camera sensor, however, remain identical to the predecessor – 8MP ultra-wide-angle and a 2MP macro on the rear and 16MP on the front. That said, it is the main camera sensor driving the imaging experience for the POCO X6 Pro.


While not the best in its segment concerning image quality, the main camera performs adequately across lighting conditions, excelling in good light conditions with detailed, vibrant, and well-contrasted captures. The ultra-wide-angle lens is effective with ample light, featuring a 120-degree wide field-of-view suitable for cityscapes and landscapes. However, the macro lens proves challenging to use and often yields underwhelming results.


The front camera delivers satisfactory results and includes useful features such as beauty tools and colour filters. HDR support is present but is not as effective as with the rear cameras.


Software


The POCO X6 Pro boots the Android 14 operating system-based Xiaomi HyperOS. This user interface introduces several improvements, encompassing enhanced transition effects, customisable lock screen styles, new fingerprint animations, and AI-based object detection in photos with background alteration options.


Since the device runs the initial version of Xiaomi HyperOS, minor imperfections exist, such as the absence of setting options in the control centre and misalignment of the edit option. Additionally, some pre-set lock screen styles display Chinese text, though they can be edited to English. Object detection in photos using AI is not consistently precise.

Screenshot


Certain issues ingrained in the system, such as excessive bloatware and in-app advertisements, detract from the overall user experience and leave room for improvement.


Performance


Renowned for setting performance benchmarks, POCO continues this trend with the X6 Pro. Powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 8300-Ultra, paired with 12GB RAM (LPDDR5X), and 512GB storage (UFS 4.0), the POCO X6 Pro emerges as a performance powerhouse, delivering consistent performance even after prolonged use. Gaming performance, a core strength of POCO smartphones, remains impressive, though the device tends to heat up significantly during extended gaming sessions.


Battery and charging


With a 5,000 mAh battery, the POCO X6 Pro provides robust on-battery time, exceeding a day under regular usage. Demanding tasks such as extended video recording, multimedia editing, and gaming understandably deplete the battery faster. The 67W wired charging capability comes to the fore, recharging the battery in under an hour.


Verdict


While not flawless, the POCO X6 Pro merits consideration as a midrange smartphone. Its strengths lie in its refined design, vibrant display with thin bezels, robust stereo speakers, feature-rich camera system, highly customisable user interface, and top-tier performance. These attributes outweigh the weaknesses, primarily rooted in the user interface — an aspect that holds potential for improvement through firmware updates, should POCO choose to address them.

First Published: Jan 16 2024 | 10:34 AM IST



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Microsoft introduces subscription based Copilot Pro AI to boost business

Microsoft introduces subscription based Copilot Pro AI to boost business

by | Jan 16, 2024 | Technology



Microsoft on Monday said consumers and small businesses can buy subscriptions to access more capabilities in its artificial intelligence “Copilot,” as it moves to grow sales beyond large enterprises.

 


After introducing a free AI Copilot for its Bing search engine last year, Microsoft will offer what it calls Copilot Pro to individuals for $20 a month.

 


The subscription will add a text-drafting, number-crunching AI assistant to Microsoft’s widely used applications including Word and Excel, and it will give purchasers access to new tools and AI models such as GPT-4 Turbo.

 


The company also said it was removing a 300-person minimum requirement to buy the enterprise version of the software, making the security controls and Microsoft Teams upgrade that come with the $30 per-month per-user Copilot available to smaller businesses.

 


Microsoft now expects virtually all of its business customers to sign up, Corporate Vice President Jared Spataro said in an interview.

 


“I can’t imagine a commercial organisation out there that will not buy at least a seat of Copilot to see what it’s all about,” he said.


Alphabet’s Google is competing with Microsoft in marketing AI for productivity and cloud software to business customers.


Microsoft’s Copilot Pro is also entering an increasingly competitive consumer market. ChatGPT’s creator OpenAI, which Microsoft has funded, announced a $20-per-month subscription nearly a year ago called ChatGPT Plus that gives early access to new features and AI models.

 


Spataro said Copilot Pro would stand apart because it is integrated into applications that “people use every day”.

First Published: Jan 16 2024 | 10:17 AM IST



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OpenAI to roll out new tools to thwart misinformation ahead of elections

OpenAI to roll out new tools to thwart misinformation ahead of elections

by | Jan 16, 2024 | Technology



By Shirin Ghaffary


OpenAI is rolling out a series of initiatives to prevent its products from being used for misinformation ahead of a major year for US and global elections. 

 


On Monday, the artificial intelligence startup announced new tools that will attribute information about current events provided by its chatbot ChatGPT, and help users determine if an image was created by its AI software. The changes comes as concerns rise over the risks of so-called “deepfake” images and other AI-produced content that could misguide voters during campaigns.


“Protecting the integrity of elections requires collaboration from every corner of the democratic process, and we want to make sure our technology is not used in a way that could undermine this process,” the company wrote in a blog post on Monday.


The startup will start encoding images produced by its Dall-E 3 image-generator tool with provenance information — which refers to data about the origins of a piece of content, such as who produced the image and when it was made. That could help voters better understand whether images they see on the web are made with AI. The process will use a cryptographic standard established by the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity, or C2PA. Adobe Inc., Microsoft Corp., Intel Corp and a handful of other companies co-founded the coalition in 2021.


OpenAI also said it will release an image-detection tool that people can use to look up whether an image was generated by Dall-E. The company will first roll out the tool to journalists, platforms and researchers for feedback. Historically, many detection tools that try to determine if specific images or writing were created by AI have struggled with accuracy. However, OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati said in October that the image-detection tool the company has been working on had 99% accuracy in internal testing. 


For ChatGPT, OpenAI will enable people to get real-time information about current events using the chatbot. Results will provide attribution and links to articles, features it currently doesn’t show by default in the app. The company said it’s “increasingly integrating with existing sources of information.”


OpenAI is in talks with dozens of media companies to make content licensing deals, including major media outlets like CNN, Fox Corp., and Time, Bloomberg previously reported. The startup has already reached agreements with Axel Springer SE and the Associated Press.


“As with imagery, transparency around the origin of information can help voters better assess information and decide for themselves what they can trust,” the company said in the post.

First Published: Jan 16 2024 | 8:26 AM IST



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Apple to pull blood-oxygen tool from watches to avoid ban if appeal fails

Apple to pull blood-oxygen tool from watches to avoid ban if appeal fails

by | Jan 16, 2024 | Technology



By Mark Gurman


Apple Inc. is planning to remove its blood-oxygen feature from its latest smartwatches — the Series 9 and Ultra 2 — to get around a US ban of the devices if an appeal of the decision fails.

 


The plan was disclosed Monday by Masimo Corp., which has been locked in a feud with Apple over patents related to the technology. It said that US Customs and Border Protection approved the move on Jan. 12. The agency “decided that Apple’s redesign falls outside the scope” of an import ban by the US International Trade Commission, signaling that the adjustment will let Apple keep its watches on the market.


The ITC had ruled in October that Apple’s devices violated Masimo patents related to blood-oxygen measurement. That led Apple to pause sales of the smartwatches just ahead of Christmas, though an interim stay allowed the company to bring the products back late last month.


The iPhone maker developed a software workaround intended to sidestep the dispute and presented the solution last week to the customs agency, which is in charge of enforcing import bans. Apple explained that the redesigned watches “definitively” do not contain the technology at issue, known as pulse oximetry, according to Masimo.


The dramatic step would probably only take place if Apple fails to win a longer stay from a federal appeals court. The company said Monday it expects the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to rule on its motion for a stay for the entire appeal period as early as Tuesday. The company said it believes the period could last a year or more.


Until then, the Apple Watch blood-oxygen feature continues to be available on newly sold units, the Cupertino, California-based company said. The customs agency hasn’t publicly published its decision, but shared it with the parties.


“Apple’s claim that its redesigned watch does not contain pulse oximetry is a positive step toward accountability,” Masimo said. “It is especially important that one of the world’s largest and most powerful companies respects the intellectual property rights of smaller companies and complies with ITC orders when it is caught infringing.”


Removing the technology from the Apple Watch would be significant move. The company’s engineers have been working on a software update that changes the blood-oxygen app and its algorithms in a way that might circumvent the issue without losing the feature. But eliminating the capability would likely be the quickest way to avoid seeing the ban reimposed, which could have occurred as early as this month.


“Apple may have paid a steep price to get around a US import ban,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Tamlin Bason said in a note. “That was a highly touted feature.”


Though addressing the immediate risk of a ban is positive, the move “could dent customer demand,” Bason said.


Apple’s operations team has already begun shipping modified Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches to retail locations in the US, likely in case the appeal fails this week. The stores were told not to open or sell the tweaked devices until they receive approval from Apple’s corporate offices. It’s possible that those models are the new versions without the blood-oxygen feature. 


Separately, a federal appeals court is expected to hear an Apple motion as early as this week for a continued stay on the ban. The prohibition was overturned on an emergency basis while Apple waits for a hearing. Last week, the ITC urged an appeals court to reject “weak and unconvincing” arguments supporting a bid to block the trade agency’s enforcement of the ban.

First Published: Jan 16 2024 | 7:10 AM IST



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40% of global employment could be disrupted by Artificial Intelligence: IMF

40% of global employment could be disrupted by Artificial Intelligence: IMF

by | Jan 15, 2024 | Technology


In her blog post, Georgieva also cited opportunities to boost output and incomes around the world with the use of AI


A seismic shift in the global employment landscape is looming as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issues a stark warning, suggesting that nearly 40 per cent of jobs worldwide could be disrupted by the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI), CNN reported.


IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva raised concerns over the potential deepening of inequality and urged governments to take proactive measures during a Sunday blog post.


“In most scenarios, AI will likely worsen overall inequality, a troubling trend that policymakers must proactively address to prevent the technology from further stoking social tensions,” Georgieva wrote ahead of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.


As the prestigious summit commenced on Monday, the ski resort town of Davos was adorned with AI advertisements and branding, setting the stage for discussions that are expected to centre around the impact of AI on the workforce.


The effects of AI adoption are anticipated to be a double-edged sword, noted Georgieva. While it holds the potential to enhance productivity and job functions for approximately half of the workforce, the other half faces the risk of job displacement, lower wages, and reduced hiring.


“In the most extreme cases, some of these jobs may disappear,” warned Georgieva, citing the IMF’s analysis. Advanced economies, particularly in more developed regions, are projected to bear the brunt, with up to 60 per cent of jobs potentially impacted by AI, as reported by CNN.


However, emerging markets and lower-income nations are not immune, facing a projected impact on 40 per cent and 26 per cent of jobs, respectively. Georgieva underscored the risk of exacerbating inequality in these regions due to a lack of infrastructure and skilled workforces to harness the benefits of AI.


Beyond economic consequences, Georgieva highlighted the potential for AI to fuel social unrest, particularly as younger, tech-savvy workers embrace the technology for increased productivity, potentially leaving their more senior counterparts struggling to adapt.


AI has become a central theme at Davos, with industry leaders like Sam Altman, Chief Executive of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella slated to speak at the event. The programme includes a debate on “Generative AI: Steam Engine of the Fourth Industrial Revolution?” reflecting the growing influence of AI in shaping the future of work.


Despite the challenges, there are proponents of AI who argue that widespread adoption could lead to a significant boost in labour productivity, potentially increasing global GDP by 7% annually over a 10-year period, according to a March 2023 estimate by Goldman Sachs economists.


In her blog post, Georgieva also cited opportunities to boost output and incomes around the world with the use of AI.


“AI will transform the global economy,” she wrote. “Let’s make sure it benefits humanity,” CNN reported.

(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.)

First Published: Jan 15 2024 | 9:23 PM IST



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Sachin Tendulkar's deepfake video sparks concern: How to protect yourself

Sachin Tendulkar's deepfake video sparks concern: How to protect yourself

by | Jan 15, 2024 | Technology


Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. (File)


Sachin Tendulkar, on Monday, expressed his concern over a viral deepfake video featuring the former cricketer and urged social media platforms to curb the spread of such posts, aimed at spreading misinformation.

The fabricated video of the cricketer depicted him endorsing a mobile gaming application, sparking concerns among the general public over the rising cases of the harmful trend and its impact on society, especially women and children.


Notably, Tendulkar is not the only celebrity to have been caught up in this deepfake artificial intelligence (AI) mess. In November, Rashmika Mandana had also expressed her concerns after a viral deepfake video of the actress emerged.


What is deepfake technology?


Deepfake artificial intelligence(AI) is a type of emerging technology which is used to create convincing deceptive images, audio and video footage. “The underlying technology can replace faces, manipulate facial expressions, synthesise faces, and synthesise speech. Deepfakes can depict someone appearing to say or do something that they, in fact, never said or did and are aimed at spreading misinformation,” the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) explains.


Apps undressing women gaining popularity


However, it’s not just the public figures who risk privacy rights violations in such cases. The common public is just as vulnerable in this worrying trend, which is increasingly being used in financial fraud and nonconsensual pornography. Research conducted last year had flagged how applications designed to undress women in photos are gaining popularity. In September 2023 alone, 24 million people visited undressing websites, the social network analysis company Graphika found.


Notably, the ‘State of Deepfakes Report’ by ‘Home Security Heroes’, a US-based web security services company, also highlighted that deepfake videos saw a five-time increase in 2023 from 2019.


How to protect your data online


While social media platforms and governments across the world are still coming up with legislation and moderation methods to curb the spread of misinformation using AI, user media users are generally advised to have guardians to protect their data and information from hackers.


According to the American nonprofit National Cybersecurity Alliance, users are advised to act cautiously when sharing information on public platforms. “Limit the amount of data available about yourself, especially high-quality photos and videos, that could be used to create a deepfake,” the organisation says. It encourages to enact stronger privacy settings available to them, including two-factor authentication that requires a one-time password on the users’ linked mobile number to ensure authentic log in into social media accounts.


The organisation also advises using watermarks on photos and videos to discourage hackers. Additionally, users should change their passwords often and integrate the habit of using unique password combinations for enhanced security.


How to identify deepfake AI image or video


The US government’s Department of Homeland Security outlines a set of signs that may indicate that a video or an image is fake.


Identifying deepfake AI videos


1)These cues include looking out for a change of skin tone near the edge of the face

2)Double chins

3)Whether the face gets blurry when it is partially obscured by a hand or another object

4)Box-like shapes and cropped effects around the mouth, eyes, and neck

5)Blinking (or lack thereof), movements that are not natural

6)Changes in the background and/or lighting.


Identifying deepfake AI audios and texts


1)To check audio, the US government suggests checking if sentences are choppy

2)Whether they are varying in tone, have an odd phrasing or lack context.

3)It also says to see if the background sounds are consistent with the speaker’s presumed location.


4)In the case of texts, the federal organ advises misspelt words, lack of sentence flow, lack of context and sources of information.

First Published: Jan 15 2024 | 6:54 PM IST



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