TECH NEWS : MI MIX 2S LEAK, WHATSAPP PAYMENTS, SONY NEW 4K TV'S ASSISTANT

TECH NEWS


Reliance JioPhone can now be purchased from MobiKwik
Reliance Jio has announced that its 4G feature phone will now be available for purchase via MobiKwik. As per a PTI report, MobiKwik has become the first platform, apart from the company's own website, where the mobile phone can be purchased. It should be noted that after booking the device, it is not delivered to the customer and one needs to visit a store for picking it up.
In order to book the JioPhone on MobiKwik, one needs to click on the Recharge option on the apps' homepage. The device will be listed under the 'Phone Booking' option, under 'Recharge and Bill Payments'.
After entering the necessary details, a review detailing the transaction amount along with the registered mobile number is displayed and the buyer can proceed to pay for the device. After successful payment, Jio will send a confirmation SMS to them and they will also receive another text of the store details, from where they can pick up the JioPhone. It should be noted that the device will be handed over to the customer after identity verification.
Reliance Jio announced the JioPhone in July last year and the company recently commenced its second round of prebookings. The smart 4G feature phone is priced at Rs 1,500 and is effectively free as the amount paid while purchasing it will be refunded to the buyers on returning the device after three years. The device runs on KiaOS, which is a forked version of Firefox OS and currently supports apps such as JioTV, JioMusic and more. The company has said that it is working on bringing support for popular apps like Facebook and Whatsapp to the feature phone.

WhatsApp Payments based on UPI now live in India

WhatsApp has about 1.5 billion monthly active users globally, out of which about 200 million are in India. With services like PayTM, Google Tez and more dominating payment services, it's natural that WhatsApp wants a piece of the pie. If you want to know the details of WhatApp Payments, you can do so here. In this article, we will take a look at the steps needed to make UPI payments via WhatsApp. Remember, WhatsApp Payments is limited to peer-to-peer payment only as of now. You cannot make merchant payments yet. Also, both the parities will need to install the latest version of the app with payments enabled.
You should see the WhatsApp payment option in the WhatsApp settings. If you don't, then you haven't received the update yet. Remember, the WhatsApp payment service is in beta as of writing this story.
One key thing to consider is that your WhatsApp number needs to be the same as your mobile number used to link your bank account with UPI.
To send money, users will need to select the attachment icon in a chat window (the same one used to send contacts, media, location, etcetera). Here you will see the new "Payment" option. Once you have accepted the terms and conditions, you are ready to send and receive payments.
Users will have to verify their phone number. So, it's best to register the same number that you use with UPI payments with your WhatsApp account to make the most of WhatsApp payments.
WhatsApp Payments supports more than 70 banks. You can choose the bank that you use from the presented list of options. All major banks such as HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Airtel Payments Bank, Yes Bank, Andhra Bank, Allahabad Bank, Bank of Baroda, and more are supported.
If you do not have a UPI account, then worry not. WhatsApp Payments offers an option to create a UPI account. Once your WhatsApp payments account is setup, you are all ready to send and receive money. Simply chose the contact you want to send money to, select the bank account and the amount, enter your UPI Pin (this is an ATM like pin you generate when you create a UPI account) and the money has been sent.
Remember, users can keep track of payments made from within the app. You can do so by checking the Payment history option in WhatsApp. That was a quick look at how to use WhatsApp Payments. Once again, remember, the service is available in Beta only.

Sony's new 4K HDR TV's come with Google Assistant
At CES 2018, Sony showed off its new TV's with the key highlight being the implementation of Google Assistant in the TV. The Sony X900F series was showcased at CES 2018 and comes in 55-inch, 65-inch, and 75-inch sizes. The panels are LED, and have the X1 Extreme processor inside. The TV's boast of 4K HDR picture quality and of course feature the Google Assistant.
The X850F series is a new series and comes in 65-inch and 75-inch screen sizes, and features OLED panels. The TV's feature the Acoustic Surface technology first seen in Sony's 2017 flagship A1 OLED TV.
Any Sony Android TV from 2017, along with select models from 2016 which include the Z9D (Read our review here ), X800D and X750/X700D, will be able to make use of the Assistant.
The assistant can be summoned by pressing the microphone button on the remote control.
"Sony's goal is to provide our customers the Smart Home functionality they desire in the manner they choose. With the Google Assistant, Sony TV owners get all the answers and tasks they need done, just by using their voice," said Mike Fasulo, President and COO of Sony Electronics. "This software update is available today for those that already own, or plan to buy, a supported Sony 4K HDR television with Android TV - bringing new innovative technologies to our customers."
It isn't clear when the new Sony TV models will make their way to India. As of writing this story, Google Assistant isn't listed as a feature on the Sony India website when you take a look at the feature set of the flagship TVs.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S with 5.99-inch bezel-less display

Xiaomi is expected to unveil its Mi Mix 2S, the successor to Mi Mix 2 at the Mobile World Congress 2018. However, an alleged official poster of the smartphone has surfaced on Weibo ahead of the launch, which reveals its design alongside some specifications of the rumoured device. The leaked poster shows an almost bezel-less Mi Mix 2S with a small notch on the top-right corner, which houses a front-facing camera.
If the poster is to be believed, the smartphone will feature a 5.99-inch bezel-less display with a 95% screen-to-body ratio. Its predecessor, the Mi Mix 2 (review), sported the same display size but with a 91.3% screen-to-body ratio.
The leaked poster also reveals that the Mi Mix 2S could be powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 845 platform and 8GB RAM coupled with 256GB internal storage. This could turn out to be true as Xiaomi has already announced that their upcoming flagship smartphone would be equipped with the Snapdragon 845 and the smartphone was recently spotted on AnTuTu as well, sporting the codename "Polaris". It scored 270,461 on the performance tests, demonstrating the prowess of the Snapdragon 845 chipset.
The Mi Mix 2S is seen featuring vertical dual rear cameras and as per the poster, it will come with four-axis optical image stabilization. It seems that the device skips on a fingerprint sensor as it can't be seen on the rear and rumours suggest that the smartphone could sport an under-display fingerprint reader along with facial recognition feature, akin to the iPhone X.
Xiaomi was earlier expected to launch the Mi 7 at MWC 2018. However, a recent report suggests that the company might not do so, in order to avoid their launch event clashing with Samsung who will be unveiling its flagship Galaxy S9 and S9+ smartphones. As per another separate report, Xiaomi could debut the the Surge S2 chipset and the Mi Mix 2s instead.

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