Tech News Highlights March 9, 2020: All the tech news from today.
Tech News Highlights, March 9, 2020: The latest update from the world of tech is from Apple. The Cupertino based tech company has launched a service programme for the third-generation iPad Air (2019) models affected by a “Blank Screen” issue. The company confirmed that the screen problem has affected a “limited number” of third-generation iPad Air devices which were launched in 2019.
“A brief flicker or flash may appear before the screen goes blank,” Apple stated on a support page describing the ‘iPad Air (3rd Generation) Service Program for Blank Screen Issue’. The tech giant is asking users with affected iPad Air models to visit the nearby Apple Authorised Service Provider with their device and get the “Blank Screen” issue fixed. The repair is free of cost and users will not need to pay anything. The service programme Apple said is live across the globe including India.
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The service programme includes all affected iPad Air devices manufactured between March and October 2019 and doesn’t include any other iPad models. So you must first check the manufacturing date of your iPad before heading to the service store. Indian users with faulty iPad Air can just visit the nearby Apple Authorised Service Provider to get a free fix for the Blank Screen issue. In other tech news, Nokia 5.3’s price and specifications got leaked ahead of the launch. Read all other updates right below this space:
Oppo has hinted that it will soon be launching its own Smart TV lineup. The Oppo VP Liu Bo announced that the lineup will go official in the second half of this year. With the launch of its smart TV lineup, the company will be joining the likes of Xiaomi, Huawei, Honor, Motorola, Nokia, and OnePlus. Recently, Oppo had announced the Find X2 series, which includes the X2 and X2 Pro devices.
Holi 2020 is almost here, and there's no better time to click some colourful pictures of the celebrations. We are listing out some tips and tricks to get the most out of your Holi pictures. Just follow these steps.
Holi is almost here and if you are looking for stickers to send festive wishes to your friends and family, you can download third-party Holi sticker apps for WhatsApp from the App Store or Google Play. You can also make your own custom sticker. We explain how.
Coronavirus has impacted Apple iPhone sales in China and also affected the supply chain and in turn manufacturing of the upcoming iPhones. Due to the very same reason the launch of iPhone SE 2 or iPhone 9 has also been delayed, several reports suggested. Apple has put a ban on engineers from traveling to Asia which heavily affected the development of the next-generation 5G iPhones. This could led to the launch delay of 2020 iPhones aka iPhone 12, claims a new report coming from DigiTimes. The report further states that Apple has extended deadline for the removal of employee travel restrictions by one month. The restrictions hav reportedly delayed the engineering verification tests (EVTs) for the 5G iPhones at manufacturing facilities in China.
"Related supply chain makers had originally expected the rescheduled EVT procedures to be carried out by the end of March enabling the kick-off of volume production of the new iPhone devices in June, said the sources, adding that a further delay of EVT tests to the end of April could postpone the volume production by another 1-2 months. Judging from the revised EVT schedule, Apple's product launch for the next-generation iPhone devices could to be postponed to October," sources told the publication.
On Monday Vivo confirmed Android 10 update timeline for some of its phones. The first Vivo phones to get Funtouch OS 10 based on Android 10 are: NEX 3 and NEX 3 5G on March 14. The company however confirms that only the users who registered first will get the update. Phones like Vivo X27, Vivo X27 Pro, NEX S, NEX A series, and NEX Dual Display will get the update in early April. Following will be Vivo S5 in mid-april and Vivo Z5, Z5i, Z5x, S1, and S1 Pro in late April. The Vivo Z3, Z3i, and X23 will get Android 10 update in late June.
Asus is is news. On Monday the company teased the rollout of stable Android 10 for ROG Phone II that launched last year. Through the ROG Global official Twitter handle Asus confirms that the update will begin seeding starting March 10, Tuesday. The Taiwan based company is yet to confirm the countries that will receive the Android 10 update.
PhonePe saw an extended service outage, which started immediately after the RBI moratorium on Yes Bank on March 5. The outage lasted for nearly 24 hours. The company claimed that the “PhonePe team worked overnight with NPCI and ICICI bank, its new UPI partner to ensure all its services were up and running within a day”. “The platform processed over Rs.4000 crore worth of transactions in 24 hours and saw its largest ever volume of user traffic in a single day (with over 70Mn app sessions),” PhonePe noted in a press release.
Pixel 3a successor could be coming soon. A new leak coming from Twitter user TechDroider (@techdroider) posts pictures of alleged Pixel 4a which Google could announce at its I/O event in May. For the unaware Google has cancelled the on ground I/O event scheduled to take place between May 12 and May 14 due to concerns over coronavirus. Last year alongside the Android 10 the company launched Google Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL. The same is expected this year. The new leak shows the phone from the back and it looks like yet another budget phone from Google. The alleged Pixel 4a appears with a square camera module and circular rear mounted fingerprint sensor at the back. On the front the pictures show the Pixel phone with a single punch hole camera. The black colour variant of the phone is shown in the leaked pictures.
Feedback from this test will help us determine the ruleset for our upcoming Competitive Mode," it added while providing a link to the site. The test schedule in PUBG LABS for these rules is currently underway now and will run until 16:00 KST March 9th or 12:30 pm IST.
HMD Global is hosting an event in London on March 19 where it is expected to unveil its first-ever 5G smartphone-- Nokia 8.2 5G. However, a report by Nokia Power User claims that the company will be announcing a mid-range phone Nokia 5.2 at the event as well, which will actually debut as the Nokia 5.3. The device is reported to feature a 6.55-inch display with water-drop notch at top and 18.5:9 aspect ratio. The Nokia 5.3 is also leaked to be powered by the Snapdragon 660/665 processor paired with up to 6GB of RAM and up to 64GB of storage. The phone is reported to sport 8MP front camera, 16MP+5MP+8MP triple-rear camera setup, and 4000mAh battery. The device is reported to be priced at $180.
Realme 6 Pro was recently launched with 6.6-inch FHD+ screen with 90hz refresh rate, Snapdragon 720G processor, 16MP+8MP dual punch hole camera, 64MP +12MP+8MP+ macro lens, 4300mAh battery with 30W fast charging support. We have reviewed the device and believe that it offers "more bang for the buck". You can read our Realme 6 Pro review right here.
Samsung Galaxy M21 is expected to launch in India next week on March 16. A report comes from IANS. Samsung is yet to confirm the launch date or any details regarding the Galaxy M21. The same report reveals some specification details about the Galaxy M21. It suggests that the upcoming Samsung phone will come packed with 48MP triple camera set up at the back, 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display, and a massive 6,000 mAh battery similar to the recently launched Galaxy M31. Separately, the Samsung phone has been spotted listed on Geekbench that reveals more details. The benchmarking website suggests that the Galaxy M21 will be powered by Exynos 9611 SoC paired with up to 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. The phone is tipped to come with Android 10 out-of-the-box, ofcourse.
Read our review of the Galaxy M31 here