Technology

New Delhi: The week gone by marked the first week of February, bringing to us a host of new smartphones, as well as gadgets from various other categories. After a brief lull in the preceding week, there were plenty of smartphone launches this week, including the Realme X7 Pro and X7 5G, the Poco M3 and a bunch of other devices. Other product categories also chipped in, including the official availability of the Sony PlayStation 5 in India. Here's looking at the week gone by in tech, in terms of the biggest product launches across various tech categories through the past week.

PUBG has been one of the most popular games across the world. The game has totally revolutionised the Battle Royale genre and democratised the mobile gaming in a real sense.

PUBG Mobile has recently launched the PUBG Mobile Beta (1.3) version. Please note that the PUBG game is banned by the Indian government in September 2020 along with 118 Chinese apps in the wake of National security concerns. PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite will not be available in India anytime soon.

Here’s how you can download the PUBG Mobile Beta (1.3) version update on Android devices by sideloading the APK file.

New Delhi: Xiaomi will unveil its MIUI 12.5 custom ROM globally on February 8. As per a post on Facebook, the global launch will take place at a virtual event where the company is also expected to unveil the global variant of the flagship Mi 11 smartphone. The MIUI 12.5 that carries a slew of improvements over the existing MIUI 12 and was first unveiled in China last year. Xiaomi had claimed that the new MIUI version has fewer pre-loaded apps in comparison to Apple's iOS, Huawei's EMUI, and Vivo's new Color OS.

The company has also been teasing the launch of MIUI 12.5 for global markets over the last few days through multiple social media posts. Although the latest poster does not highlight its features, the company had showcased its key details during the launch event in China last month. The MIUI 12.5 comes with improved aesthetics and visual design that is said to be more efficient than the previous iterations. It carries 'Super Wallpaper' that consumes 40 percent less battery and can also change the mood to match the time of the day.

Around 30 percent WhatsApp users are planning to leave the messaging app after implementation of the new policy, according to a survey conducted by CyberMedia Research (CMR) firm. The messaging service recently announced that it is delaying implementation of the new privacy policy till May 2021 to give people time to understand the new terms. This seems to have worked in favour of the platform as the survey revealed that 79 percent of users are still reconsidering if they should use WhatsApp or move on to a new messaging app.

In response to WhatsApp's 'take it or leave it policy," consumers ascribed a range of emotions ranging from feeling angry (49 percent), to not trusting WhatsApp ever again (45 percent), to feeling a breach of trust (35 percent). The Gurugram-based company's latest research also revealed that a majority of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger users don't feel secure about storing their chats on third-party servers.

New Delhi: Apple launched its first in-house silicon chip M1-powered MacBook Air in November 2020. Now, it is being reported that the Cupertino-based giant is working on a thinner and lighter version of its entry-level laptop, a report citing people with knowledge of the matter said. According to the report, the next MacBook Air is scheduled to be released in the second half of this year at the earliest or in 2022.

The Bloomberg report also said that the next MacBook Air will include Apple's MagSafe charging technology, in line with a recent report that cited Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo as saying that Apple will bring back the magnetic charging port on its future MacBook laptops. The next MacBook Air is also said to be powered by a next-generation version of Apple's in-house silicon chips. Apple has also discussed making the laptop smaller by shrinking the bezels around the screen, which will remain the same size at 13-inches, the report further said.