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Apple’s colorful M1-powered iMacs have finally launched in Nepal

Apple
iMac

Nikhil Shrestha

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June 27, 2021

Apple’s colorful M1-powered iMacs have finally launched in Nepal

Apple’s “Spring Loaded” event back in April was full of exciting launches. Surprisingly, the multiple color choices for the latest iMacs was one of the biggest highlights of the show—who would’ve thunk it? Anyway, they’ve now launched in Nepal. Let’s get into what’s in store with the new Apple M1 iMac 24 (2021) including its specs, features, official price in Nepal, and more.

Apple M1 iMac 24 (2021) Overview:

Design

Like I mentioned earlier, one of the biggest talking points of the iMac 24 is all the hues it’s available in. There were speculations about this based on the promotional poster in the official invite for the “Spring Loaded” event. In fact, this corroborated Jon Prosser‘s initial claim that the new iMacs would come in multiple color options—5, to be precise.

To our delight, you can choose from 7 colors for the iMac 24: blue, green, pink, silver, yellow, orange, and purple. And the (re)introduction of such colorful variants is a direct homage to the iMac G3 from back in 1998. But unlike its bulky CRT body, iMac 24″ is slim—slimmest in the history of iMacs, in fact.

At just 11.5mm thickness, it seamlessly blends into any room it’s in. That’s major thanks to Apple’s in-house M1 chip which I’ll get into in just a second. According to Apple, it occupies 50% less volume. Even in such a sleek body, the company has managed to install two small fans.

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Base vs high-end iMac

However, only the high-end 8-core GPU variant gets a dual-core treatment whereas if you opt for the base 7-core GPU model, Apple has fitted in a single fan in those iMacs. So, if your workload revolves around GPU-intensive tasks like photo/video editing, 3D rendering, and such, getting the high-end config would be a wiser choice.

There are enough real-life tests to verify this conclusion as well. At the back, you’ll find 4 USB-C ports (2x USB 4/Thunderbolt, 2x USB 3) alongside an optional Gigabit Ethernet port. There’s a 3.5mm headphone jack too.

Yet, the ones with a 7-core GPU M1 chip skip the USB 3 ports and the LAN connection. Moreover, the power connector (2 meters long) now attaches magnetically and adheres to your iMac’s color option as well.

Also Read:

Display

Coming to the front, there’s a 24″ 4.5K Retina display. It boasts Wide Color (P3), True Tone technology, and over a billion colors. In terms of brightness, this display peaks at 500 nits. Other amenities like anti-reflective coating are present here too.

Then there’s the 1080p FaceTime camera. Apple says this larger sensor works in tandem with M1’s ISP for the best image quality ever on an iMac.

Furthermore, there’s a “studio-quality” three-mic array with a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and directional beamforming. It also supports the “Hey Siri” command. Talking about audio, you get a six-speaker sound system that supports Dolby Atmos.

Performance

Powering the latest iMacs is Apple’s own M1 chip. You can learn more about why Cupertino ditched Intel’s x86 architecture in favor of Arm here. Anyway, the aforementioned reason as to why 2021’s iMac is so thin is the M1 chip. This has greatly allowed Apple to trim down the logic board and thermals to deliver a sleek form factor.

Getting into performance, Apple sells two variants of the iMac 24″: one with 8-core CPU and 7-core GPU, and the other with 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU. This has been coupled with either 8 or 16GB of unified RAM and up to 2TB of SSD storage.

Also Read:

Compared to the 21.5″ iMac of last year, Apple promises up to 85% fast CPU performance, 2x faster GPU performance, and up to 3x faster machine learning. It runs on the macOS Big Sur which enables seamless interaction with your iPhone.

Unveiled at WWDC 2021, Apple says Big Sur’s successor—macOS Monterey is coming this fall as well. Anyway, the M1 iMacs are complemented with a new keyboard, mouse, and trackpad that have matching colors with the iMac. Plus, the wireless keyboard features Touch ID as well.

M1 iMac 24 (2021) Specifications:

Size and weight: 21.5 x 18.1 x 5.8-inches, 4.48 kg
Colors: Blue, Green, Pink, Silver, Yellow, Orange, Purple
Display: 24-inch 4.5K Retina display, 500 nits brightness, Wide Color (P3)
Resolution: 4480 x 2520 pixels, 218 PPI
Chip: Apple M1 chip (8-core CPU, 7/8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine)
Memory: 8/16GB unified RAM, 256GB to 2TB SSD storage
Camera: 1080p FaceTime HD camera with M1 ISP
Audio: High-fidelity six-speaker system, Spatial audio (Dolby Atmos)
I/O ports: 2x USB 4/Thunderbolt, 1x Gigabit Ethernet, 1x 3.5mm headphone jack, 2x USB 3 (optional)
Connection: Wi-Fi 6 (ax), Bluetooth 5.0
Input: Magic Keyboard (with/out Touch ID), Magic Mouse

Apple M1 iMac 24 (2021) Price in Nepal & Availability

The price of the Apple M1 iMac 24 (2021) in Nepal starts at NPR 205,000 for the 7-core GPU variant with 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD. Similarly, 8-core GPU options with 8/256GB and 8/512GB memory cost NPR 235,000 and NPR 265,000, respectively. You can buy Apple M1 iMac 24 (2021) in Nepal from authorized retailer such as Hukut Store.

Apple M1 iMac 24 (2021) Model	Price in Nepal	Availability
7-core GPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD	NPR 205,000	Hukut Store
8-core GPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD	NPR 235,000
8-core GPU, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD	NPR 265,000

Meanwhile, check out our review of the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Forget about speed or FUP, Nepal’s ISPs should allow port forwarding

ISP

GadgetByte

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June 26, 2021

0

Forget about speed or FUP, Nepal’s ISPs should allow port forwarding

Most of us have subscribed to a home plan from a variety of ISPs. And it’s not unusual to register complaints about your internet’s speed to the customer service. But today, we’re talking about something completely different. Here, we are discussing port forwarding and Network Address Translation (or NAT) and their scenario in Nepal.

You might have experienced high ping and disconnections if you play online games. We aren’t sure about its cause in other countries, but one of the key reasons is the absence of port forwarding functionality by the internet service providers in Nepal. Other countries’ ISPs permit this functionality, whereas ISPs in Nepal don’t.

Port Forwarding Overview:

What is Port Forwarding?

Before moving forward, let’s understand what port forwarding actually is. It is a method of instructing the network to take a certain route or path. It will allow your network to route data packets on a single path, preventing your connection from roaming around elsewhere.

To put it another way, let’s say we’re going on a journey to Gosainkunda, and we haven’t hired a guide to help us get to our destination. Now, in the middle of the journey, if we keep flipping down the map to find our route, it would take longer. And, if we know our specific path, we can arrive at our destination in far less time.

This is precisely how port forwarding works. In this case, network packets or data follow a predefined path to reach their destination server or computer (final destination).

Where is port forwarding used?

The following aspects should give you a clear understanding of how port forwarding increases efficacy and enhances everyday internet performance.

Backups

There’s something needed to access backups from anywhere with an active internet connection—whether they’re files, servers, or hard drive copies. Port forwarding allows those with sufficient authentication to access even the most difficult-to-reach copies from anywhere.

Virtual desktops

Not all desktop runs in a local environment. Most business offices, banks, and big hospitals store computer desktops in cloud-based environments. Port forwarding allows users to access their virtual desktops from every device on-site.

CCTV and security

It is a router setup setting that requires correct configuration in order to access the security camera system from the internet. Unless you enable port forwarding, you cannot see a video recording from your phone or from a computer at another location. However, after it’s enabled, businesses or individuals can easily access their private security feeds from any location.

Game servers

Port forwarding is used for more than just business. Who says we can’t have any fun? Yes, you read it correctly. Gaming is one of the most popular applications for port forwarding. Therefore, port forwarding is useful for hosting private game servers.

How is it actually used in online games?

Before we get into how it works, you should be familiar with Network Address Translation (NAT). NAT usually distributes private IP addresses to multiple devices within your network so that they can share a single public IP address on the internet. With this, NAT can keep track of outgoing connections, such as a request for the Gadgetbyte website, and ensure that the response returning to your public IP address is routed to the correct computer within your network by keeping track of each connection and its port numbers.

However, if someone from outside the network attempts to connect to your device, NAT won’t know which one it’s for and will drop the attempted connection. That means, if you and your opponent are playing an online game, both should connect to the game’s servers, which may be a long way away. But, with port forwarding, you can easily tackle it.

With this, anybody attempting to connect to your public IP address on port number X gets to a specific computer in the network. Then, your adversary will bind to your IP directly, bypassing the intermediate node. It’s worth noting that this might work if one side uses port forwarding and the other doesn’t.

The scenario of port forwarding in Nepal and other countries

This brings us to our key topic. There are a total of 65536 ports. However, certain ports can be reserved by ISPs in order to fight viruses and spam. On the contrary, port forwarding is totally blocked by Nepal’s major ISPs, including Worldlink. Other countries, such as India, do not share this view.

When we attempted to play the online game FIFA, we encountered this issue. We got in touch with the Worldlink team asking if there was any way we could do enable port forwarding, and the response was to upgrade our plan. As a result, one can experience disconnections, high ping, and, last but not least, the inability to play a match with mates.

Solutions

As previously said, the ISP’s remedy is to upgrade our plan. Or, the next best option is to get a VPN that supports port forwarding. We must emphasize that these are just immediate remedies. ISPs must have a permanent answer to it.

ICT Award 2021 opens online nominations for 11 diverse categories

Featured

GadgetByte

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June 26, 2021

2

ICT Award 2021 opens online nominations for 11 diverse categories

The sixth edition of the ICT Award is here to honor innovations in Nepal’s ICT sector. The nomination process is now online because of the ongoing lockdown. Here, we will be discussing the nomination process, award categories, and eligibility criteria for ICT Award 2021.

ICT Award at a glance

ICT Award is among the biggest tech award in the country, which is hosted every year by “Living with ICT“. It has been around since 2016 and has honored over 50 awardees so far.

Last year’s campaign was a successful one, with over 400 applications. Though several events had to be canceled due to the pandemic, the winners were later honored at a separate event.

ICT Award 2021: Overview

As mentioned earlier, it is the sixth edition of the ceremony. There are 11 different awards categories, including two new ones. The decision to open nominees came after the recent decline in the number of COVID infections in Nepal.

Nomination process

The nomination process for ICT Award 2021 is already live. The forms are available from ICT Award’s official site. Interested individuals and organizations can apply for the relevant category till 16th Shrawan (30th June).

Also Read:
- China Mobile to invest $1 billion to build a mobile data network in Nepal
- Subisu deploys 400Gbps single optical fiber network across Nepal

Award categories

The awards can be roughly categorized into three groups. The first group is for innovations and startups while the second is for individuals. Finally, we have awards for private and government organizations.

Group	Awards	Eligibility	Last Year’s Winner
Innovation and Startup	Startup ICT	Companies registered in last 3 years	CryptoGen Nepal
	Product	Products made public from Baisakh 2077 to Chaitra 2078	CPFDS – AML and KYC Management System
	Rising Student	Projects by students under 30 years of age	Sanchai Chhau (St Xavier’s College)
Individuals	Pioneer	Contribution to ICT	Nilkantha Upreti
	Diaspora	Non-resident Nepali in ICT	Gaurav Raj Upadhyaya (Amazon)
	Entrepreneur	Entrepreneur in ICT	Vinay Bohara (Vianet)
	Woman Icon	Nepalese Women in ICT	Prof. Timila Yami
Organizations	Digital Education (Private)	Private educational institutes	NA
	Digital Services (Private)	Private sector	NA
	Digital Education (Public)	Public educational institutes	Budhanilkantha School
	Digital Governance (Public)	Government bodies	Inland Revenue Department
Other Winner from last year	Paila Emergency Resuscitator (Ncell Innovation Driven Crisis Response), Kiran Acharya (Media Person), and Hamro Swasthya (Jury Mention Award)

Selection process

Moving on, candidates will be analyzed by a jury of twelve members. For the first group, there will be three rounds of selections in three months. This will be followed by public voting for the top five candidates. Other categories will have to go through four rounds of selection and a field visit.

What’s in it for the winners?

In addition to the honors, winners will get different services and facilities according to their category. For instance, winners of the first group will get loans and investment opportunities.

Meanwhile, check out our initial impressions of the Samsung Galaxy M32.

Realme Smart TV Full HD 32” launched with 24W Dolby Audio speakers

GadgetByte

-

June 26, 2021

0

Realme Smart TV Full HD 32” launched with 24W Dolby Audio speakers

Along with Narzo 30 5G, Realme has introduced a new 32-inch Smart TV in India. This television has an ultra-bright Full-HD display and Chroma Boost picture engine. So, let’s take a close look at the specs, features, availability, and expected price in Nepal of Realme Smart TV Full HD 32″.

Realme Smart TV Full HD 32” Overview:

Display

As the name implies, it features a 32″ Full-HD LED-backlit LCD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The display boasts 16.7 million colors, HDR10, 85% NTSC color gamut, a 16:9 aspect ratio, and a 178° viewing angle. It has minimal bezels all-around, measuring as little as 8.7mm.

You can use the TV in 7 different modes – Standard, Vivid, Sport, Movie, Game, Energy Saving, and user-defined. Furthermore, Realme Smart TV Full HD 32″ has Chroma Boost picture engine for vibrant color reproduction.

Also Read:

Features

Powering the TV is a MediaTek chipset consisting of a quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU and Mali-470 MP3 GPU. Memory-wise, you get 1GB DDR3 RAM and 8GB of built-in storage. On the software front, it runs Android 9.0 with Google Play Store and Google Chromecast compatibility.

The voice-enabled remote control syncs with Google Assistant and has dedicated Netflix and YouTube hotkeys. Furthermore, it outputs audio through a 4-unit 24W speaker system that supports Dolby Audio.

Rest of the specs

Aside from that, wireless connectivity options include 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0. For I/O connection, it features three HDMI (1x ARC), one AV, one tuner, two USB, a S/PDIF, and a LAN connector.

Realme Smart TV Full HD 32” Specifications:

Display: 32-inch LED-backlit LCD, HDR10, 85% NTSC color gamut, 16:9 aspect ratio, 178° viewing angle
Resolution: FHD (1920 x 1080 pixels)
Dimensions: 730 x 469 x 161mm (w/ stand) | 730 x 432 x 88 mm (w/o stand)
Weight: 3.7kg (w/ stand), 3.6kg (w/o stand)
Sound: 4-unit 24W speaker
Audio Decoder: Dolby Audio
OS: Android TV 9
Processor: MediaTek quad-core CPU (Cortex-A53), Mali-470 MP3 GPU
Memory: 1GB RAM, 8GB storage
Viewing Angle: 178º
Power: 90-240V 50Hz
Wireless Connectivity: WiFi 2.4GHz, Bluetooth 5.0
I/O Ports: 3x HDMI (1x ARC), 1x AV, 1x tuner, 2x USB, 1x LAN, 1x S/PDIF

Realme Smart TV Full HD 32” Price in Nepal

Realme Smart TV Full HD 32” will go on sale in India from June 29 for INR 18,999. The company is also providing an early bird discount of INR 1,000 off the original pricing. If and when Realme launches the Smart TV Full HD 32” in Nepal, we anticipate its price tag to be around NPR 35,000.

Realme Smart TV	Price in India	Price in Nepal (Expected)
Full HD 32-inch	INR 18,999	NPR 35,000

Meanwhile, check out our review of the Mi 11 Lite.

Poco M3 gets a little more expensive in Nepal with the latest price revision

POCO

GadgetByte

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June 26, 2021

0

Poco M3 gets a little more expensive in Nepal with the latest price revision

A year after its initial launch in Nepal, Poco has increased the starting price of the M3. So. let’s check out the specs, features, official price, and availability of the Poco M3 in Nepal.

Poco M3 Overview:

To note, the Poco M3 is pretty much the exact same phone as the Redmi 9 Power or Redmi 9T. Besides a different design, the Poco M3 doesn’t have an ultrawide lens, unlike its two Redmi siblings. With that out of the way,

Design and Display

Anyway, Poco M3 sports a 6.53-inch Dot Display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on top for protection. It’s an FHD+ panel with an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. According to the company, the display covers 70% of the NTSC color gamut and has a contrast ratio of 1500:1.

Moreover, it has TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light certification. There’s also Widevine L1 certification for HD+ streaming on your favorite streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.

The design of the Poco M3 makes it stand out among its competition. It comes with a rectangular camera module which is enclosed by a larger rectangle with the Poco logo engraved. This gives the device its distinctive look. Poco says that the camera bump measures less than 1mm. The rest of the panel has an anti-fingerprint texture.

Performance and Memory

Poco M3 comes with Snapdragon 662 SoC. It is based on Qualcomm’s 11nm process and features eight Kryo 260 CPU cores with a clock speed of up to 2GHz. It is paired with Adreno 610 GPU.

The device comes with 4 or 6GB of LPDDR4x RAM, while users can choose between 64GB or 128GB of internal storage. Here, the 64GB option is based on UFS 2.1 technology, whereas you will get the faster UFS 2.2 on the 128GB variant. Poco M3 boots with MIUI 12 for Poco based on Android 11 out-of-the-box.

Camera

Talking about the cameras, there are three sensors in the rear panel and one in the front. The primary camera has been bumped to 48MP from 16MP on the Poco M2. The primary camera has a 1/2” sensor and an aperture of f/1.79. It is accompanied by a 2MP macro lens and another 2MP sensor for the portrait sensor.

Unfortunately, Poco decided to ditch the ultra-wide sensor that was on the M2. Similarly, the macro sensor has been downgraded from 5MP to 2MP.

In terms of videos, the rear camera is capable of recording up to 1080p footage at 30fps and slow-motion videos at 120fps. On the front, there is an 8MP front camera with an AI Beauty feature.