Samsung chipset, IPhone X display issue, Youtube Kids app, Microma Bharat 1 review

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Samsung quietly launches 'Exynos 9810' chipset

Scotching rumours about a new processor before the launch of its Galaxy S9 next year, Samsung has quietly introduced its latest 'Exynos 9810' chipset.

"The Exynos 9 Series 9810 is Samsung's latest flagship processor, with 3rd-generation custom CPU cores, upgraded GPU, and gigabit LTE modem with industry-first 6CA support, the company wrote in a blog post late on Friday.
It is built on 2nd-generation 10 nanometer (nm) process technology.
"There was no launch event or even a press release," said a report in Android Authority.

Instead, the company revealed its new chip through acknowledging one of the 36 CES 2018 Innovation Awards the company recently won.
Samsung's 'Exynos 9810' chip is the successor to its first Exynos 9 series chip -- the 8895 which powers flagsip devices like Galaxy S8 and Note 8.
The new processor also promises peak download speeds up to 1.2 Gbps thanks to its use of 6 band LTE carrier aggregation technology, 4×4 MIMO, and 256 QAM.

YouTube Kids app lets you block specific videos and channels

YouTube Kids has announced new safety measures for parents to know if their kids are watching inappropriate videos at home even if it is not intentional. Now, parents can report inappropriate videos to YouTube and the same will be reviewed by a policy team.

While reporting a video, if the user is signed in to YouTube, then the video will be blocked from the video streaming platform for kids - YouTube Kids app, revealed the company in a statement. Parents have the freedom to customize the contents that will appear in the YouTube Kids app in select countries by just signing into the app and blocking the channels or videos that they want their kids to stay away from.

There is an inbuilt timer in YouTube Kids that will let parents limit the screen time by telling kids when it is time to stop watching videos on the app. The timer will display and a kid-friendly alert and will stop the app as soon as the session is over.

Users can create a profile for each kid and choose content based on the levels to manage the type of videos that the specific kid can watch. The kids' profiles will work across different devices. Parents can restrict their child's video watching experience to a limited set of content by turning off the Search functionality with the help of the parental settings.

The company has stated that irrespective of the status of the Search functionality in the app, there is a chance that the kid will find content that you actually don't want him or her to watch. In that case, you can notify YouTube by just flagging the specific video content. Once you block a video or channel, then you will no longer be able to watch that video on the YouTube Kids app when you are signed in to it. The blocked videos and channels can be unblocked from the Settings menu of the app if you happen to change your decision.

The YouTube Kids app has over 800 million learning video views per day. The app is now available in 37 countries across the world and benefits kids of different age groups.

Driver's safety an important feature of Pixel 2

Google provides details: how they are making Pixel better for Drivers.

Driving is an essential part of our daily activities. Google thinks so as well and has been thinking how to make Android devices better and safer for their users. How we can prevent distracted driving and together build an open ecosystem to enable safety first smartphone experiences.

Recently they have come up with 'Driving Do-Not-Disturb' on the newly announced Pixel 2 generation of devices. Once enabled, Driving Do-Not-Disturb automatically puts your device into a do not disturb mode while driving.

During this mode, any incoming messages and notifications are silenced while you can still receive incoming calls, navigation directions and voice interactions using a connected Car Bluetooth. The product is designed to limit distractions during driving while at the same time not getting in the way so users can continue to use the navigation or other similar apps with minimal friction.

Behind the scenes, it uses AI-powered on-device Activity Recognition that detects when a person is driving using low power signals from multiple sensors, Bluetooth and WiFi. Activity Recognition uses the Android Sensor Hub to ensure low latency, low power, and accurate driving detection.

Early next year, Google is going to open up this Activity Recognition Transition API used by Driving DND so that other developers can build distraction-free driving experiences.

Some iPhone X units are facing a display issue again

Recently Apple iPhone X users complained about the OLED burn-in on their phone's display. However, Apple refused to consider it as a real issue by stating that that screen burn-ins are a frequent phenomenon for OLED displays.

Well, looks like the iPhone X users are yet again facing an issue concerning their phone's display. As reported by MacRumors, an iPhone X user with the Twitter handle @mix0matosis has found a weird green light running vertically along the right or left side of the OLED panel of the smartphone. Apparently, he wasn't the only person to have noticed the problem.

Within one week of the release, at least 25 people have shared photos of their affected iPhone X on Apple Support Communities as well as on various social media platforms.

'Day one and a bright green line has appeared down the right side of the iPhone X,' commented Apple Support Communities user benvolio1979.

Another person who is a member of the MacRumors forum, said, 'So I was playing with my new phone and all of a sudden, this happened.'

It has also been revealed that the issue was not there immediately after taking the iPhones out of the box. The green line suddenly appeared on the affected devices after being used for a while.

The unfortunate thing is, this display issue doesn't seem to be fixable with a software update. Apparently, one user tried to get rid of the problem by restarting his iPhone X. However, to his dismay, the green line was still there even after that.

While Apple has not made a statement on this matter yet, customers who have faced this issue say the company has replaced their devices. This implies the appearance of the green line is probably caused due to a hardware problem. So software updates cannot fix the display issue.

It is worth noting, users from different parts of the world have faced this issue. So it is not region specific.

Micromax Bharat 1 review: It's true, all good things come in small packages

When Reliance Jio welcomed the first 4G VoLTE-feature phone - JioPhone - in India, there was a new trend in the market where telecom operators partnered with phone makers to launch affordable smartphones. Similarly, Micromax made its presence felt by launching a series of affordable smartphones and feature phones, one of them being the Bharat 1.

Micromax partnered with BSNL for its Bharat 1 feature phone that directly competes against JioPhone on every front. But the Bharat 1 phone gained an edge over JioPhone by being a network-unlocked device.

Even though JioPhone offers several benefits such as access to MyJio apps, refundable deposit after 3 years and affordable tariffs, Micromax Bharat 1 came with BSNL's Rs 97 per month plan, which offers unlimited calling and data.

But first, let us remind you that the Bharat 1 costs Rs 2,200 and it can be picked up from any retail store near you. If you argue that JioPhone is effectively free, Micromax co-founder Rahul Sharma explained Bharat 1 will cost customers Rs 5,692 while JioPhone cost could go as high as Rs 6,008 towards the end of three years.

Let's start with the design. Keeping the rural population in mind, Bharat 1 is designed to look familiar to any feature phone in the market. It's got physical screen, a tiny colour display and a torch as well. The T9 keyboard brings nostalgia to us, but many feature phone users will find it convenient as opposed to venturing into the world of touch displays.

The plastic build of the Bharat 1 is pretty sturdy. Even though we did not test any drops, it is likely to withstand an accidental fall. The removable back cover and battery is standard in feature phones as it accommodates SIM cards. In this case, there are dual SIM card slots and a dedicated microSD card slot for you to add more storage to the basic feature phone.

The phone has a standard microUSB port for charging and a 3.5mm headphone jack is included for all your music and hands-free calling.

The keyboard has spacious placement of buttons, which is comfortable to use even if you have broad fingers. Frankly, we struggled with the T9 keyboard use, but that's just due to the frequent use of smartphones and their QWERTY keyboards. But even for smartphone users, Bharat 1 can serve a great deal of purpose as a secondary phone, which is light, sturdy and supports 4G VoLTE along with smartphone apps like Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube.

That is indeed a game-changer for Bharat 1. WhatsApp in a feature phone is a win-win for both feature phone and smartphone users. Considering how easily the batteries of smartphones die these days, having a back-up phone with popular social networking tools can save the day.

There is no Play Store in the phone, but we never felt the use of it considering all the necessary apps were preloaded in the phone. All the apps work just fine, and there's Opera Mini browser to save the day when it comes to accessing any website.

The 2.4-inch screen certainly feels small while watching content on YouTube and scrolling through Facebook, but WhatsApp, browser, calls and SMS have no issues at all. On the downside, there's a curser for navigating inside multimedia apps, which can feel tiring at times, and the display isn't the best one out there. But again, we are talking about a feature phone offering a colour display at an affordable price.

The surprises don't just end at the pre-loaded apps inside the Bharat 1. There's Bluetooth for easy sharing, Wi-Fi, tethering and portable hotspot and GPS built inside, which users will find useful in more than one occasion. For instance, we connected our Sennheiser wireless headphones with Bharat 1 and they worked flawlessly.

There are two cameras on the device as well. The rear one has a 2MP sensor and there's a VGA front camera. Both are pretty basic, and their use is limited to well-lit areas. With all these features, a 2,000mAh battery sums up the spec-list. With our usage, Bharat 1 lasted 5 days with internet and calling. But we mainly used it as a secondary device, so those relying solely on Bharat 1 will find the battery last about 2-3 days at best.

Since the Bharat 1 competes against JioPhone, the former lacks support for voice commands. We briefly tested JioPhone's voice command, and it works great. It's mainly useful for those who are out of habit of using feature phones. But that's just one minor setback for Bharat 1, which makes other feature phones look like amateurs.

Verdict

Should you buy one? In our view, smartphone users can certainly use Bharat 1 as a secondary device for calls, messages (WhatsApp) and occasional social networking. But those in the rural areas, which is where the device is mainly targeted, Bharat 1 certainly makes complete sense. The handset does lack fluidity in terms of performance and the display flashes for unknown reasons before going off, which was odd. But the rest of the features of the Bharat 1 make it truly worthy of its price tag.