TECH NEWS : JIO PRIME MEMBERSHIP, REDMI NOTE 5 UPDATE, APPLE MAC GPU SUPPORT

Tech News

OnePlus 6 might not be the name of 2018 flagship

OnePlus is one of the few smartphone brands that has not been predictive when it comes to the naming of its smartphones. The company skipped the OnePlus 4 last year and jumped to OnePlus 5. This year, the company is expected to unveil a flagship smartphone called OnePlus 6. However, fresh information from the company's co-founder suggests that the device could carry a different moniker.

According to a recent post made on the official Weibo account of OnePlus co-founder Pete Lau, there is a hint that the OnePlus 6 could be dubbed OnePlus 7 or OnePlus 8. On translating the post, it reads, 'Equal to 7 or 8 equal to it'.

Though this post does not divulge any information regarding the upcoming flagship smartphone, it reveals that there is a possibility for us to see the company skip the OnePlus 6 name.

This is something that is not new for OnePlus. Last year, the company skipped the moniker OnePlus 4 and leapfrogged to OnePlus 5 as the number 4 is considered unlucky in China. If it turns out to be true that OnePlus will skip the moniker '6' as well, then there should be something serious reason associated with it.

Analyzing the smartphones launched by the company so far, the OnePlus 2 launched back in 2015 did not impress the consumers as the others did. So, there could be sentiment for the company to stay away from the even number products. But if this is the reason for the company to skip the name OnePlus 6, then we are sure that the upcoming smartphone could be launched as the OnePlus 7 and there would be no device called OnePlus 8.

Talking about the device, the company recently confirmed that their upcoming flagship will feature a display notch with an aspect ratio of 19:9. Also, it has been stated that the notch will be smaller than the one seen on the iPhone X. The company's CEO Carl Pei did affirm that the smartphone will not look like the Oppo R15, which was recently launched in China.

From the existing reports, the device is expected to arrive with a Snapdragon 845 SoC paired with 6GB/8GB RAM and 128GB/256GB storage space. And, it is likely to be the most expensive smartphone to be launched by OnePlus so far.

Apple brings external GPU support for Mac

Apple in 2017 announced that would add support for external GPUs to macOS. And now the company has finally rolled out the support with the latest update to macOS High Sierra. Now users will be able to connect the different graphics card to the Mac using a Thunderbolt 3 port and make use of the additional power to speed up high-end processes such as gaming and video editing. The company specifically highlights its use for virtual reality.

Although, external GPU isn't something new, for Apple's walled garden this might be welcomed change. However, there are few restrictions on what you can do with the external GPUs.

First being, only a few models are officially supported. Also, the company is only supporting some of AMD's Radeon GPUs.

Users will also not be able to use external GPUs on Windows through Boot Camp. Finally, to get the external GPU support, you will need a new enough Mac, since the support relies on Thunderbolt 3. So users with 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pros, 2017 iMacs, and the iMac Pro will be the only ones to take advantage of the new service. So if have a new machine and apps to support it, then this might interest you.

Apple also rolled out the iOS 11.3 update for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. The update brings an array of new features including the ability to turn off the processor throttling for iPhones with aging battery life. The update also adds new Animojis for the iPhone X, enhanced ARKit for better-augmented reality and more.

The 'Battery Health' The feature is the result of the bad press that Apple witnessed after it was discovered that the system automatically slows down the processor's performance to avoid unexpected shutdowns. Apple also issued a public apology and offered cheaper battery replacements programs. But turning down the throttling also result in lower battery life.

There are chances that the battery won't be able to provide enough power for some intense tasks. The best alternative to maintain the peak performance and avoid throttling is to get the old battery replaced. The new feature only applies to the iPhone 7 / 7 Plus, SE, 6S / 6S Plus, 6 / 6 Plus as of now. Users will also see a new battery health option that will notify if the battery needs servicing.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 receives MIUI 9.5 update

Following the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro, Redmi Note 3, Redmi Note 4 and Redmi 3S/3S Prime, the newly launched Redmi Note 5 have started receiving the latest update from the company. Well, the talk is about the MIUI 9.5 Global Stable ROM. This update does not come as a big surprise as the smartphone is one of the 30 compatible devices to receive the update.

The Redmi Note 5 units in India have started getting the MIUI 9.5 update with the version number 9.5.3.0 NCFMIFA. This update brings a slew of new features, bug fixes and optimizations to the smartphone. The users of the Redmi Note 5 smartphones will get the MIUI 9.5 build via an OTA update in April.

The Redmi Note 5 was launched in India in mid-February with Android 7.0 Nougat topped with MIUI 9 out of the box. The device exists in China as the Redmi 5 Plus, which was launched back in December 2017. While the Redmi Note 4 was the first one to get the MIUI 9.5 Global Stable ROM, it received the update as a Nightly build initially but the Redmi Note 5 MIUI 9.5 update is being rolled out on a wider scale directly.

The Redmi Note 5 recently received the MIUI 9.5.3.0 NEGMIFA update, which rolled out bug fixes, an option to resume interrupted transfers in the Mi Mover app, quick search options, a revamped start page, an optimized browser kernel and sound recording options for the screen recorder app among others. The MIUI forum has listed the complete changelog of the MIUI 9.5 update being rolled out to the Redmi Note 5.

The users of the Redmi Note 5 in India will receive the update notification to update the device to MIUI 9.5.3.0 NCFMIFA. Alternatively, users of the device can also head to Settings → About Phone → System Updates in order to check for the update and flash the ROM using the recovery method.

Reliance Jio extends Prime membership

Mukesh Ambani- led Reliance Jio extended its Prime membership benefits for another year, yes you heard it right as the company announced on Friday that it is going to continue its Prime membership to existing prime members at no extra cost.

Jio said, 'All Jio PRIME members who have subscribed to the exclusive membership benefits until 31st March 2018 will get another year of complimentary PRIME benefits at NO additional fee (LIMITED PERIOD OFFER).'

'Jio deeply values its loyal PRIME members and will continue to deliver additional benefits and superior value to these founding members,' the company said.

For new Jio users, the Jio Prime Membership continues to be available at an annual membership fee of Rs 99.

The continued availability of the Jio Prime Membership to new subscribers reiterates Jio's commitment to deliver a differentiated Digital Life experience to Indians and will propel this into the world's largest loyalty programme.

The company has announced its Prime membership last year and provides access to 550 Live TV Channels, 6,000 movies, and songs, as also value on overall tariffs.

HOW TO GET JIO PRIME BENEFITS

1. EXISTING JIO PRIME MEMBERS (Joining date on or before 31st March 2018)

Step 1: Download MyJio

Step 2: Express your interest to get the COMPLIMENTARY membership for next 12 months

Step 3: Enjoy Jio Prime benefits

**This is a limited period offer.**

2. New Jio Prime members (Joining date on or after 1st April 2018)

Pay Rs 99 during onboarding, for Jio Prime membership for the annual subscription.

With the on-going augmentation of content offerings and consumer engagement programs, Jio is gearing up to bring new and superior experiences with the PRIME program and will ensure that PRIME members get substantially better benefits than the counterparts in the industry.

Google end support of URL shortening service

Google URL shortening service goo.gl might not see the light of the day in coming days. It is being reported that the tech giant will be ending the support for goo.gl URL and will be replacing it with Firebase Dynamic Links (FDLs) that works on Google's Firebase mobile and web development platform. However existing users should not worry as Google has cleared the air that it will keep the existing links and they will continue to work as they used to.

Further as per some reports from Beebom, the users who have not yet created goog.gl link as of now will not be able to use the service after April 13, 2018, whereas the existing users will be able to continue to use the service which is due to discontinuing completely by March 31, 2019, following which there will be no APIs available for the service.

For the developers, Google plans on keeping the service active for the projects that have accessed the URL shorten APIs earlier and provide them with the permission to create short links even after May 30, 2018. However, the APIs will be discontinued permanently on March 30, 2019. That said about the APIs related to goo.gl URL shortening service, we will keep you further posted on the same.