CMP Gadgets

Category: Electronics

  • Amazfit Balance

    Amazfit Balance smartwatch is getting new features with the latest Zepp OS 3.5 update, including new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered features. The Zepp Health-owned brand has rolled out a new update that adds new sports modes, an enhancement to existing trackers, support for WhatsApp image messages, improved offline maps, and more. The premium smartwatch was launched in India in November 2023 with Zepp OS 3.0 and features a 1.5-inch AMOLED display, an AI Fitness Coach, and Bluetooth calling support.

    The Zepp OS 3.5 update introduces a new feature called the Zepp Flow. It comes with a Natural Language User Interface (LUI) that is powered by a large language model (LLM). The AI feature allows voice interaction support with the smartwatch. Amazfit Balance users can now schedule events, reply to notifications, check weather, engage in free chat, and more using conversational voice commands. Users do not have to use specific commands to activate these features and instead just speaking to the watch gets the task done.

  • Google Play Store

    Google Play Store has rolled out a new feature that will make the lives of users a little easier. The Android’s default app marketplace is now allowing users to download multiple new apps simultaneously, eliminating the need to wait to download apps one by one, which can be quite time-consuming especially if the size of the apps is large.

  • Google Pixel 8a

    Google Pixel 8a is expected to make its debut next month at the company’s annual Google I/O conference that begins on May 14. While the company is yet to announce plans to launch a new handset, details of the purported Pixel 8a have been spotted online several times over the past few months. With a few weeks to go before its anticipated debut, a promotional video showing off the handset’s AI features has been leaked. Meanwhile, other Pixel exclusive features and software support for the upcoming Pixel 8a has also surfaced online.

    Tipster Steve Hemmerstoffer (X: @OnLeaks) leaked a promo video for the Pixel 8a in collaboration with MySmartPrice that shows several Pixel-exclusive features expected to arrive on the upcoming smartphone. The video shows the Pixel 8a will include Google’s Best Take feature that swaps out faces from multiple group photos or burst photos to ‘replace’ faces with eyes closed or unwanted expressions.

    Circle to Search — another feature currently available on select Pixel and Samsung Galaxy smartphones — will also be available on the Pixel 8a, according to the leaked video that also suggests the smartphone will feature Google’s Audio Magic Eraser feature that is designed to remove unwanted background sounds from recorded videos using artificial intelligence (AI). Live translation will for voice calls will also be supported on the Pixel 8a.

  • Vivo X100 Ultra

    Vivo X100 Ultra is expected to launch in China soon as the company’s top-of-the-line model in the X100 series of smartphones and the handset has been certified in China, alongside the Vivo S19 and Vivo S19 Pro. The upcoming Vivo X100 Ultra is expected to run on Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip along with 24GB of RAM and feature a quad camera setup that includes a 200-megapixel periscope telephoto camera. It is equipped with a 5,400mAh battery with support for 80W charging.

    The three handsets were spotted on China’s 3C certification website by MySmartPrice, and the presence of these listings suggests that vivo will introduce these phones in China in the coming months. The Vivo X100 Ultra is listed with the model number V2366GA, while the Vivo S19 Pro and standard Vivo S19 have the model numbers V2362A and V23664A, respectively, according to the report. It appears that vivo has listed all three handsets with two charger models — V8073L0A1-CN and V8073L0E0-CN.

  • Itel T11 Pro

    Itel T11 Pro true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds have been launched in India. The latest affordable earbuds have a stem design and are offered in two colour options. They feature 13mm drivers and offer Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity. They have touch controls and offer support for voice assistants for hands-free operation. The Itel T11 Pro have AI backed environmental noise cancellation (ENC) feature. They are IPX5-rated for sweat and water resistance. Itel claims that its new TWS earbuds can offer up to 42 hours of total playback time along with the charging case. Itel T11 Pro earbuds are available in India with a price tag of Rs. 1,299 and are offered in Aurora Blue and Ashy Green colour options. They are confirmed to be available for purchase via retail outlets and are currently listed on the company’s official website.

  • Snapdragon X Plus

    Snapdragon X Plus was launched on Wednesday as Qualcomm’s latest Arm-based chip for laptops. It follows the launch of the chipmaker’s top-of-the-line Snapdragon X Elite platform. The latest laptop processor is equipped with a 10-core CPU and a 45 TOPS NPU, along with support for 64GB of RAM. Qualcomm has also touted the on-device artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities of the Snapdragon X Plus chip, which comes with support for three external displays at 4K HDR resolution. along with 5G and Wi-Fi 7 connectivity. The new 4nm Snapdragon X Plus platform (XIP-64-100) is comprised of 10 Oryon CPU cores with a peak clock speed of 3.4GHz, and a 3.8 TFLOPs Adreno GPU. It is also equipped with a 45 TOPS Hexagon NPU from Qualcomm that enables support for on-device AI computing. The chip supports up to 64GB of LPDDR5x RAM, along with NVMe (PCIe Gen 4) or UFS 4.0 or storage.

  • Android 15

    Android 15 could arrive with a powerful new privacy feature that could help prevent users from leaking their personal information while sharing their screen, according to a report.

    The next version of Google’s smartphone operating system — expected to arrive in the second half of 2024 — might obscure certain parts of the screen, such as password fields or sensitive notifications, from being displayed when screen sharing is enabled. Google might also allow users to disable these protections on their Android smartphone.

    As per an Android Police report, the latest Android 15 Beta 1.1 release contains a new toggle in the Developer options menu titled Disable screen share protections. The description for the toggle explains that the setting will disable system protections for “sensitive app content” when a user shares their screen in the future. Unfortunately, the feature is yet to be enabled by Google on the latest Android 15 beta.

  • Lava ProWatch Zn

    Lava ProWatch Zn has been launched in India as the latest wearable offering from the domestic electronic brand. The new smartwatch has a metallic build and features a 1.43-inch AMOLED touchscreen display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 coating. The ProWatch Zn has an IP68 water-resistant build and is equipped with a Photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor to deliver real-time heart rate monitoring. It also provides other health tracking including blood oxygen saturation level (SpO2) monitoring. The Lava ProWatch Zn has more than 110 sports modes and its battery is claimed to last up to eight days with standard use. Lava ProWatch Zn is priced at Rs. 2,599 for the silicon strap variant, whereas the metallic strap variant is priced at Rs. 2,999. The wearable is available in Black and Grey shades and will go on sale through the company website, Amazon and select retail stores across the country starting April 26.

  • Google’s AI Gemini: New Feature

    Google added its native artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot to the Android operating system as an on-device voice assistant earlier this year. This feature gave users the option to replace Google Assistant with Gemini as the default assistant for the smartphone. However, there were certain drawbacks to using the AI chatbot as it cannot set alarms, add reminders or launch apps like its counterpart. A new report has now found that the tech giant might soon add the capability for it to play music with a simple voice command.

    The new feature was spotted within the settings options of the Gemini app for Android by a PiunikaWeb report (via AssembleDebug). Based on screenshots shared, a new option was seen within Gemini Settings. The second option from the bottom now has a Music option which features the description “Select preferred services to play music”. Another screenshot shows that within the option, another title says, “Choose your default media provider”.

  • YouTube: New Update

    YouTube has rolled out a new update for its app for the Meta Quest. The users of the mixed reality headset can now reportedly view YouTube videos in 8K resolution. However, it is said that HDR videos do not support 8K and instead will be available to watch in a maximum of 4K resolution. The feature was reportedly rolled out recently with a new update to YouTube’s app for the Meta Quest interface. Notably, the video-streaming giant recently stated that it will begin taking appropriate action against third-party apps that block ads.

    According to a report by Android Central, the YouTube for Meta Quest app’s latest version 1.54 now supports 8K resolution or 7680 × 4320p. The feature was spotted on the Meta Quest 3, which was launched in October 2023. Interestingly, the Meta Quest 3 display features 4K LCD panels with 2064 x 220p resolution per eye. It is unclear if viewers will be able to tell the difference between 4K and 8K video quality on the mixed reality headset.