Samsung’s new flagship smartphones and tablets are here, Tesla’s big recall, Airtel Xtream Premium goes live, and more.
February 12, 2022 / 03:48 PM IST
Samsung concluded its first Unpacked event of 2022 this week, introducing three new flagship smartphones and tablets to the lineup. They include the Samsung Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+, and Galaxy S22 Ultra. Additionally, Samsung also announced the Galaxy Tab S8 series, which includes the vanilla Galaxy Tab S8, Tab S8+, and Tab S8+ Ultra. The Samsung Galaxy S22 series starts from starts at $799 (Roughly Rs 59,800), while the Galaxy Tab S8 series features a starting price of $699 (Roughly Rs 52,300).
While Samsung hasn’t provided details about the Galaxy S22 line-up’s pricing in India, the company did confirm that the phones would use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset in the country as opposed to the Exynos 2200. The entire Galaxy S22 series will be supported by up to four generations of Android OS upgrades. Samsung also announced a new update to the Galaxy Watch4 and Galaxy Watch4 Classic.
Android 13 Developer Preview 1 is available to give developers a first look at Android’s next release. Google says Android 13 will continue improvement of important themes like privacy and security, as well as developer productivity. Android 13 is named ‘Tiramisu’, named after the Italian dessert. Google has also detailed the release timeline for Android 13 to help developers keep apps ready ahead of the release of Android 13 to consumers. Google has also decided to have two developer previews for Android 13.
Tesla is recalling nearly 579,000 vehicles in the US because a “Boombox” function can play sounds over an external speaker and obscure audible warnings for pedestrians. The recall is the fourth made public in the last two weeks as US safety regulators increase scrutiny of the nation’s largest electric vehicle maker. In two of the recalls, Tesla made decisions that violate federal motor vehicle safety standards, while the others are software errors.
Microsoft has officially confirmed that Activision Blizzard Games Will be Available on Sony PlayStation. In accordance with its new App Store principles, the company shared the future of Activision Blizzard games on Sony’s PlayStation platform. Microsoft’s blog post reads, “To be clear, Microsoft will continue to make Call of Duty and other popular Activision Blizzard titles available on PlayStation through the term of any existing agreement with Activision.” In addition to PlayStation, Microsoft has also committed to taking similar steps to support Nintendo platforms.
Apple has purchased AI Music, a company that can create soundtracks by piecing together compositions from royalty-free music. According to sources close to Bloomberg, the acquisition was completed in recent weeks and the start-up’s site has been taken offline. AI Music specializes in creating dynamic soundtracks that can change depending on user interaction.
Bharti Airtel announced its new video streaming services – ‘Airtel Xtream Premium’ – a ‘streaming super app’ on February 10, which will provide access to 15 over the top (OTT) video streaming apps, including SonyLiv and LionsGate Play, through a single-login subscription, starting at an introductory price of Rs 149 per month or Rs 1,499 per year. The telecom major announced that the new service is available exclusively for Airtel customers and can be accessed on the mobile app, tablet, desktop app, desktop browser, smart TV application, and Airtel Xtream set-top-box as well.
Google is changing its Chrome browser logo for the first time in eight years. The Google Chrome logo has changed several times, but its basic design remained the same. Google Chrome was launched in 2008 with a shiny, three-dimensional emblem. In March 2011, Google introduced a new simplified logo to replace the previous 3D logo that had been used since the project’s inception. In the new readjusted Chrome logo, the circle in the famous logo has gotten a little bigger and a new shade of subtle gradient was added to the main icon.
India saw the launch of several new smartphones this week. The Tecno Pova 5G, Redmi Note 11, Redmi Note 11s, and Vivo T1 5G. The Tecno Pova 5G arrived as the first 5G phone from Tecno in the company. The Tecno Pova 5G comes in a single 8GB + 128GB storage option. It is priced at Rs 19,999. The Vivo T1 5G affordable smartphone has been launched in India. Vivo T1 5G is available in three variants – 4GB RAM, 6GB RAM, and 8GB RAM. The 4GB+128GB variant of the phone is priced at Rs 15,990. Redmi Note 11 India price and availability details have been launched at the Redmi Note 11S launch event. The Redmi Note 11 price in India for the base 4GB + 64GB storage option is priced at Rs 13,499.
The smartwatch market in India had its strongest year-on-year growth in 2021. The fourth quarter was the biggest quarter for smartwatches. The International Data Corporation (IDC) reported that India’s watch market, which comprises smartwatches and connected watches, grew by 364.1 percent YoY in 2021 to 12.2 million units. Noise led the market in 2021 with a market share of 27 percent. Other top manufacturers included boAt, Fire-Boltt, Realme, and Amazfit.
