When it comes to telecom service providers in Nepal, NTC and Ncell are the first names that come to mind. These rival companies have their own range of data and voice packages. With the aftermath of the country’s recent lockdown, NTC and Ncell have now devised new affordable data packages for the needy.
NTC data packages
Although NTC has not introduced dedicated lockdown data packages for lockdown 2.0 like Ncell, we found some interesting options from the company that may fulfill your requirements. We have categorized the packages into long-term and short-term.
Long-term data packages
The first entry here is the 1GB per day pack. Here, you can choose from three different options. The first one is the data-only package with 1GB of internet every day. Following that, one can purchase 1GB of data and 14 minutes of voice pack, which can be renewed every seven days. There is also a cheaper 4-week bundle of the very same package.
If the above plans don’t work for you, there are some alternate NTC data packages too. For only Rs. 95, you can subscribe to get 1.5GB of data which will be valid for seven days. Similarly, if you only need data for an hour or two, you can subscribe to 2 hours of unlimited data for Rs. 30.
Data
Price
Validity
Subscription
1.5 GB
Rs. 95
7 Days
*1415*1*1*4#
Unlimited
Rs. 30
2 Hrs
*1415*8#
Ncell lockdown data packages
Contrary to NTC, Ncell has already introduced lockdown data packages focusing on the needs of those working from home. Let’s walk through the new plan introduced by Ncell.
Work from Home
As the name implies, the offer is intended for people who are working remotely. The data can only be used on video-conferencing applications (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet). However, Ncell is also providing complementary all-time data with the purchase of this plan for an added versatility.
Students and teachers can make the most of Ncell’s “Work from Home” plan if their schools are conducting online classes through the aforementioned video conferencing applications.
Under this plan, you can subscribe to a single-day package for Rs. 31, where you can enjoy 2GB of “Stay Safe” data. Mind you, this data can be used between 6 AM and 6 PM only. In addition, you will receive 150MB of all-time data for one day.
If you feel this package is insufficient, you can purchase 14GB of data for the above-mentioned app. Moreover, you will be eligible for 3GB of all-time data. The plan will cost you Rs. 127 and will be effective for 7 days. Not to forget, the users need to utilize the Stay Safe data for video-conferencing apps between 6 AM to 6 PM here too.
App Data
All-time data
Validity
Price
Subscription
2GB
150MB
1 Day
Rs. 31
*17123*9#
14GB
3GB
7 Days
Rs. 127
*17123*9#
New Pack
Under this, you can subscribe to standard internet plans that range from 65MB to 750MB. However, each data packs has its own validity period.
Data
Price
Validity
Subscription
65MB
Rs. 19
3 day
*17123*9#
150MB
Rs. 39
5 days
*17123*9#
200MB
Rs. 49
7 days
*17123*9#
300MB
Rs. 59
10 days
*17123*9#
400MB
Rs. 69
14 days
*17123*9#
550MB
Rs. 79
21 days
*17123*9#
750MB
Rs. 99
30 days
*17123*9#
Meanwhile, check out our video to know about Worldlink’s Wi-Fi mobility.
Fitness trackers kicked off a whole new way of keeping up with your health. A svelte, tiny gadget wrapped around your wrist that can track so many things—things were looking futuristic—back in 2015. Half a decade later, while things have evolved by quite a big margin, a new storm is brewing. Just like how smartphones have evolved throughout the year, fitness trackers are now shaping up more and more like miniature smartwatches. And leading the charge is Xiaomi’s new Mi Watch Lite. Let’s find out more about the Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite in this review.
Unlike traditional smartwatches, Xiaomi has opted for a squarish design for the Mi Watch Lite. This form-factor also contrasts the circular build of the more expensive Mi Watch Revolve. Anyway, I’m really fond of the way it feels. Being the budget smartwatch that it is, Watch Lite has a plastic-build all-around resulting in a net weight of just 35 grams. As a result, it is super light-and-comfy on my hand. Plus, the TPU strap is incredibly soft and comfortable to put on as well.
After almost 2 weeks of using the Mi Watch Lite, I haven’t developed an allergy or discomfort with the Mi Watch Lite either. And if you’d like, you can even play around with different colors of straps that Xiaomi sells. It’s a proprietary one so don’t get too excited about switching it up with a universal 20/22mm strap. Still, it is 5ATM rated meaning you will be able to take it to your swimming sessions. And it also helps that the watch can track open water and pool swimming, so that’s great.
Here, Mi Watch Lite has a traditional loop/buckle strap mechanism. Now, the following is me entirely nitpicking but I would’ve liked an additional loop to hold the strap more securely. Moving on, there’s a multi-function on the right frame of the watch. You can trigger the home screen or the app drawer. I wish it doubled as a back button as well but Xiaomi wants you to swipe right for that.
Display and UI
1.43-inches TFT LCD panel, 323 PPI
120+ watch faces, 60% NTSC gamut
Let’s shift our gear to the display now. Greeting you is a big 1.4-inches TFT LCD screen with a 320 by 320-pixel count and a 323 PPI pixel density. Additional specs of this display include 60% NTSC color space and a rated brightness of 350 nits. Moreover, the screen is curved on all four edges for added comfort and ease for swiping. In order to not sway people from the company’s other more premium smartwatches, this one comes with big bezels on all four sides.
But if you can look past that (which you should), Mi Watch Lite offers a decent viewing experience. The texts look sharp enough and I didn’t notice any sort of pixelation issue either. With a total of 6 levels of brightness to choose from, thanks to the L-sensor, you can even set it to Auto—thereby shifting the level of illumination automatically.
The screen has a nice response too and it would accurately recognize input even when you’re tapping the edge of the display. “Raise to Wake” works perfectly fine as well and the watch screen turns on even with the gentlest action.
Well-designed watch faces
In terms of watch faces, Xiaomi gives you 120+ options to choose from. That’s a fairly vast selection for a budget smartwatch. Here, I settled to this “Extreme LCD” watch face almost immediately. So retro, so nostalgic, so timeless—I love it. If this doesn’t float your boat, I’m happy to report that there are a bunch of really well-designed watch faces you can choose from too. Additionally, you can even customize a couple of them with different widgets.
Getting to the UI, it’s pretty basic stuff here. Swiping left/right switches between different pages like heart rate, weather, sleep record, music, etc. Similarly, all your notifications will be stacked on the top while you can bring up the control panel by swiping up from the bottom.
From here, you can head to the settings, lock-screen, turn on the flash, and more. As expected, there’s no way to switch them up though. And about that notification, Mi Watch Lite supports call/app notifications.
I would’ve preferred for the text to be arranged with justified alignment since breaking the same word into two lines without a hyphen looks super weird. Also, they’re not actionable but that’s to be anticipated from a budget smartwatch. The call notification does take it a step further though since you can reject calls directly via the watch although accepting one isn’t possible.
No animation
Now, all of this sounds really good for a budget smartwatch—and hey, it absolutely is. Decent brightness, colors, and sharpness should be your top priority when looking for a good inexpensive fitness tracker. The only complaint I have with this screen is its animation—or better yet—its lack thereof. The UI transition is rigid and soulless. And it doesn’t help that Mi Watch Lite doesn’t have a scrolling UI either—it’s just one page jump after another.
Maybe that’s a clever way to cloak its chipset’s weakness. We’ve seen Xiaomi struggle at this department in its Mi Band lineup of fitness trackers as well. On the contrary, Honor delivers on this front even in the budget Honor Band 5i. I’m telling you—if only the Mi Watch Lite had a fluent animation adding a little life into it, you’d be getting an entirely elevated user experience.
Throughout my usage, I was hoping for an update that would introduce fluid animation but nope. Instead, I did receive an update adding support for multiple languages and other under-the-hood fixes.
Health, Fitness, Sleep Tracking
11 sports modes in total, Built-in GPS
No SpO2 monitoring, women’s health tracking
Okay, let us now move on to the fitness tracking side of things. Mi Watch Lite features a total of 11 workout modes including running, cycling, swimming, cricket—the standard stuff. There’s no automatic workout detection either but more importantly, I was disappointed to see the lack of SpO2 (blood oxygen) monitoring here.
Considering how the budget fitness trackers from Honor and Huawei have been including them from their last-gen lineup, Xiaomi is still letting us down in this front. Furthermore, there’s no women’s health tracking with the Mi Watch Lite either.
But if you’re on a jog or other exercise and would like to record your trail, the built-in dual-GPS system lets you do that here. While it works perfectly fine when you’re in an open space, I would constantly get a notification that reads “GPS signal is weak, Exercise in the open area” whenever I got indoors or in a dense suburban area.
Anyway, there’s no guided workout but the watch will notify you when you reach a certain milestone like walking a kilometer. There’s also “Idle Alert” that reminds you to get up and take a walk every now and then.
Breathing exercises
To help you relax, Mi Watch Lite also supports breathing exercises and you can even set the speed of the session. All your workout data can be viewed in the Xiaomi Wear app in detail but some basic options like calories burnt, steps taken, and standing data are available on the watch itself.
On top of this, it can also monitor your heart rate. There’s no 24-hour monitoring, but what the Watch Lite can do is record it cyclically under different intervals ranging from 1 to 30 minutes. Plus, it will also send out an alert if your heart rate exceeds the normal level. Moving on, this smartwatch is also capable of monitoring your sleep.
But on more than one occasion, I noticed that it got my sleep cycle over-recorded—especially the time I got up. It seems that Mi Watch Lite will only recognize you’ve gotten up once you get up from the bed and start moving around—which hasn’t been the case with practically every other smartwatch I’ve used so far. Besides, it also shows you records like deep sleep, REM sleep and scores the quality of your sleep between 0 and 100.
In addition, there are a bunch of other assorted features in Mi Watch Lite. It comes with a barometer (altimeter) through which it serves you air pressure and altitude data. There’s also a compass by calibrating it is a bit of a hassle. What’s more, you can even control the music playback on your phone via the watch itself. Other sets of features include finding your phone, alarm, stopwatch, etc.
How’s the app?
Allow me to briefly talk about the companion app now. To sync up your watch data with your phone, you’ll need to download the Xiaomi Wear app (which goes by Xiaomi Wear Lite for iOS devices). For what it’s worth, it’s a fairly well-designed app and the stats are organized in an easy-to-read fashion.
Yet, it overcompensates on certain aspects like how the home screen has this “Sort” option that lets you re-organize the widgets. While the first half of that statement is perfectly fine, the hidden items list includes a set of features that are just not available on the Mi Watch Lite. Shouldn’t those be non-existent in the first place?
But my biggest complaint about the app has to be how it completely erased my past activity data once I tried signing out and logging back in. Weeks of academy training, wasted. No idea what’s going on here but Xiaomi should take a look at it ASAP. So, if you’re using a Mi Watch Lite and want to switch between devices, you have been warned.
Battery Life
230mAh with up to 9 days of battery life
Finally, let’s talk about battery life. With a 230mAh cell, Xiaomi promises up to 9 days of endurance under normal usage and 10 hours with continuous GPS on. Surprisingly, I managed to net out 10 days of battery life under regular usage including an hour-and-a-half of GPS session. I set my brightness level at auto and heart rate monitoring intervals at 30 minutes. So yeah, the battery life on the Mi Watch Lite is pretty exciting. I would’ve also liked a battery-saving mode but it’s not supported yet.
On the charging front, it has a big, bulky charging dock that takes power via a USB-A connection. Thankfully, you don’t need to take off the straps from the watch to charge it up. It took me 1 hour and 33 minutes to reach from 1 to 100%. While that’s definitely not the fastest, this charging speed is more than fine by me.
Conclusion
To wrap up this review, Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite is an excellent budget fitness tracker disguised as a smartwatch. It obviously doesn’t have any “smart” features to begin with so the bigger screen is the only point that’s driving it home. Getting this much by investing just a little more than what the regular Mi Band 5 costs, is truly remarkable. So, if you’re not an absolute fitness fanatic and are looking for a basic fitness tracker but a little pizazz, the Mi Watch Lite will bode well with you.
Watch our video review of the Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite.
Because of the ongoing pandemic, the majority of industries are facing chip shortages and analysts say it could last through 2021. The crunch has expanded from automotive chips that power car brakes to consumer electronics. Despite this, IBM has announced the world’s first 2nm chip. The company says it is expected to perform 45% better or use 75% less energy than the current 7nm process technology.
IBM unveils world’s first 2nm chip:
IBM was the first to announce 7nm and 5nm test chips. And, with the new 2nm chipset, the company has made yet another breakthrough in the field of semiconductor design. In the age of hybrid cloud, AI, and the Internet of Things (IoT), the new 2nm technology is expected to satisfy the ever-increasing consumer demand for high-performance chips.
The 2nm test chip was created at the company’s R&D facility in Albany, New York. It employs Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistors built using IBM’s nanosheet technology. To be more specific, the 2nm chip will have about 50 billion transistors in a fingernail-sized chip, an increase from the 30 billion transistors used in 5nm chips in 2017.
Advantages
The more transistors the silicon has, a processor designer has more opportunities to incorporate core-level technologies to enhance capabilities for cutting-edge workloads. IBM determines the potential advantage of these 2nm chipsets in terms of:
Quadrupling cell phone battery life. This means you might only need to re-charge your handset every four days.
It could aid in lowering the carbon footprints of data centers, which account for 1% of global energy consumption.
It has the potential to significantly increase processing capabilities in laptops.
Likewise, it contributes to faster object detection and response time in autonomous vehicles such as self-driving cars.
Image: Transmission electron microscopy of 2nm chipset
AnandTech reports that the fingernail scale IBM is referring to is 150 square millimeters. The latest 2nm silicon has about 333 million transistors per square millimeter (MTr/mm2). In contrast, the TSMC 5nm chipset has about 172 million transistors per square millimeter (MTr/mm2). Each transistor in an IBM 2nm chip is made up of three stacked nanosheets that are 40nm wide and 5nm high. The GAA employs a cell height of 75nm in total. Likewise, the gate pitch is 44nm, and the gate length is 12nm.
Availability
The research and development that led to the 2nm process is clearly the result of years of work by IBM. Since the company already has a lot of testing to do before the 2nm chip is ready for shipment, there are no chances that we could see any products with a new process any time soon. So, to be clear, IBM’s 2nm chipset is just a proof of concept for now.
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Galaxy A52.
Honor has launched very few tablets since its separation from Huawei, the latest one being the Tablet 7. It was announced during the company’s latest product launch conference. Let’s take a look at the official specs and key features of the Honor Tablet X7 along with its expected price in Nepal.
Honor Tablet X7 Overview:
Design and Display
Starting with the display, Honor Tablet X7 features an 8-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. It yields a pixel density of just 189 PPI which is quite low. It covers 60% of the NTSC color gamut and is 10-point touch-enabled too.
The display is able to produce 16.7 million colors. Also, the bezels around the screen are quite noticeable. Additionally, it is also TÜV Rheinland certified against harmful blue light emissions.
The tablet has a metal body with a micro-sand texture on top for a more comfortable finish. It is 8.5mm thick and weighs around 325 grams.
Honor has opted for MediaTek Helio P22T as the SoC here. It’s an octa-core processor with two clusters of Cortex-A53 cores (4+4) clocked at 2.3GHz and 1.8GHz, respectively. The Tablet X7 ships with Android 10 out-of-the-box with Honor’s Magic UI 4.0 on top. You get 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The latter can be expanded up to 512GB using an external MicroSD card.
Rest of the features
The rear 5MP camera has auto-focus and can record up to 1080p 30fps videos. Upfront, the 2MP shooter can only record up to 720p 30fps videos. It also doesn’t have autofocus.
Honor Tablet X7 comes with a built-in Education Center. You can even share your screen during video calls for interactive learning. There are numerous other features designed to be used by children too. In terms of connectivity, it has dual-band Wi-Fi ac and Bluetooth 5.1. There is also an LTE variant if you are looking for cellular connectivity.
Fueling the device is a 5,100mAh battery that supports 10W charging via the micro USB port. There is also a 3.5mm headphone jack to connect your wired headphones.
Honor Table X7 is now available in China where its price is 899 Yuan for Wi-Fi only model and 1,199 Yuan for the LTE variant. There is also a special children’s edition that costs 999 Yuan. If it were to launch in Nepal, we expect the price of Honor Tablet X7 to start at NPR 22,500.
Honor Tablet X7
Price in China
Price in Nepal (Expected)
Wi-FI only
899 Yuan
NPR 22,500
4G LTE
1,199 Yuan
NPR 27,500
Children edition
999 Yuan
NPR 24,000
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 10.4.
Apple recently added a new privacy label in App Store to increase clarity over the types of data used by each app. And it seems that Android users will have a similar degree of transparency in Play Store. Google is expanding Play Store’s app transparency policy which will include more insight into how an app uses user data under something called the “safety section”.
Google’s upcoming safety section in Play Store:
Google revealed in its Android developer blogs that it is introducing a safety section in Google Play; which will provide a summary of the data that an app collects or shares. It also informs you whether or not the data is secure, as well as other information that affects a user’s privacy and security.
Per the company, they needed straightforward ways to communicate app safety that are easy to understand while also assisting users in making informed decisions about how their data is treated. Furthermore, developers will include an additional context to clarify data usage and how safety practices can impact the app experience.
In total, the safety section in Google Play Store will highlight:
If the app has security practices, like data encryption.
Google says the safety section will provide information about the types of data collected and stored by a specific app. The data can include location, contacts, personal information (e.g. name, email address), images and videos, audio files, and storage files.
Furthermore, developers would be required to report how the data is used. In addition, Google Play will have a policy requiring developers to have truthful details. During the process, if developers are found misrepresenting the data they submit and violate the policy, they would be asked to correct it.
Planned launch
Interestingly, Google will share the details and provide a policy for its in-house apps too. And to do so, the tech giant is providing plenty of time for developers to cope up with the change.
Starting this summer, the company will share the new policy requirements and resources, including detailed guidance on app privacy policies. And, starting in the second quarter of 2022, all the apps on Google Play Store must include this information.
Meanwhile, check out what’s in Pratima’s tech backpack.
Having a strong password to secure your account on the internet is crucial. A dynamic alphanumeric combo including special characters is the way to go but one can further enhance their account security by enabling two-factor authentication. With this in mind, Google has announced that it will shortly begin enabling two-step verification (2SV) for user accounts automatically.
Commemorating World Password Day:
The tech giant has shared the plan to commemorate this year’s World Password Day (May 6). Google shared the idea of making an account safe and creating a simpler future where you won’t need a password at all in a blog post.
Passwords, according to Google, are the single greatest threat to your online security because they are easy to steal, difficult to recall, and time-consuming to manage. They also stated that using complex passwords encourages people to use the same password across several accounts.
According to statistics, 66% of Americans use the same login credentials on many accounts making all of those insecure if any one of them is compromised. This is why people nowadays have started to use a password manager to create and store them securely.
Furthermore, most of us are already using the password manager tool in Chrome, Android, and iOS devices which use the latest security technology to protect our passwords across all the sites and apps. Google password manager is also integrated into the company’s single-click Security Checkup; which informs you if any of your passwords have been compromised.
I believe we can all agree that using two-step authentication is the best way to keep an account safe. It adds an extra layer of security to your account, ensuring that you are the one attempting to access it.
Image: Google’s Safety and Security Blog
When people have enrolled for 2SV, it asks for a simple tap with a Google prompt on their phone whenever they sign in. Google says if users’ accounts are properly configured, it would automatically begin enrolling 2SV in such accounts.
But, if you’re wondering what “appropriately configured” entails, let me elaborate. It means that you should have already submitted recovery information for your accounts such as a secondary email address or phone number. Almost all of us have this information filled in, which means the 2SV will be enabled in your account soon.
Google added that they are building advanced security technologies into devices to make this multi-factor authentication experience seamless and even more secure than a password. For the time being, the company has integrated security keys directly into Android devices and published the Google smart app for iOS. As a result, users will be able to use their phones as a secondary method of authentication.
Verdict
Google has just begun the initiative to roll out two-step verification automatically to all accounts. But, we suggest that you should enable 2SV on your own if you haven’t already. And, if you use the same password on many sites, change it right away. Alternatively, we consider using password manager tools, or you can use our guide to test the strength of your password.
Meanwhile, check out our long-term review of the OnePlus 9 Pro.
Oppo Enco Air is among the new products that the company announced alongside the K9 5G smartphone and Smart TV K9 series at its latest launch event. Here, we will be discussing the key features of the Oppo Enco Air along with the expected price in Nepal.
Oppo Enco Air Overview:
Though the company has not revealed the global launch of Enco Air, it went official in Italy a few months ago. Rumors even suggest that it could be rebadged as Oppo Enco W32 (successor to Enco W31) elsewhere.
Design
Anyway, starting with the design, Oppo Enco Air comes in an elliptical case. It sports a semi-translucent design. That is, the lid here is semi-transparent, thereby letting you have a peek at the earbuds inside. In addition, Oppo says the case has a soft matte finish for a premium feel. It is available in four color options – White, Black, Green, and Blue.
The earbuds have the same color as the case. These semi-in-ear earbuds get a stem sticking out of the ear when putting them on. For durability, Enco Air is IPX4 rated against water splashes as well. Oppo has not listed the weight of individual earbuds but says that the whole setup (case + earbuds) weighs 40.4 grams.
Drivers and Connectivity
Coming to the internals, the Oppo Enco Air features a 12mm titanium-composite dynamic driver. There is the power bass booster tech to amplify lower frequencies. Similarly, it has a dual-microphone setup for voice calls. Oppo has embedded a Deep Neural Network-based noise cancellation algorithm for calls and gaming. In terms of connectivity, you get Bluetooth 5.2 with coverage of a 10m radius.
Oppo Enco Air is even TUV Rheinland-certified for higher performance and low latency. The company claims latency as low as 80ms with the Game Mode enabled. This works with phones with Qualcomm and MediaTek processors.
Users with ColorOS 11.0 running devices can activate/customize the Game Mode from settings. Android users on the other hand need to download the HeyMelody app from Play Store that supports Android 6 or later.
You can even customize the touch controls in the same way. By default, you have options for playback control, activating voice assistant, and adjusting the volume. The TWS also supports quick connection with select Oppo devices running ColorOS 11.0.
Battery and Charging
Each earbud features a 25mAh battery that the company claims can last for 4 hours on 50% volume. Taking into account the 440mAh battery in the case, Oppo is claiming up to 24 hours of backup on these earbuds. The case has a USB Type-C port for charging which takes around 1.5 hours.
Noise-canceling: DNN-backed noise reduction for calls, games
Other: Game Mode, Quick Connection, Fast Charging, Customizable Touch Control
Color: Black, White, Green, Blue
Oppo Enco Air Price in Nepal & Availability
Opp Enco Air TWS earbuds is available for pre-order in China where its price is 249 Yuan. We expect the price of Oppo Enco Air in Nepal to be NPR 5,500 if and when it launches here.
TWS Earbuds
Price in China
Price in Nepal (Expected)
Oppo Enco Air
249 Yuan
NPR 5,500
Check out our review of Oppo Enco W11, W31, M31 earbuds.
COVID-19 has introduced a whole new practice in education faculty—or rather expanded the practicality of an existing one. We had just recently begun our return to normalcy, but the second wave of COVID-19 has hit the country hard. The ongoing lockdown has further complicated things for students, especially the young. So, with that in mind, we have compiled this list of the best e-learning platforms in Nepal.
Best e-learning platforms in Nepal:
Before moving forward, I should mention that the following entries in our list of best e-learning platforms in Nepal are organized randomly and don’t hold an objective superiority over one another. Let’s begin.
My Second Teacher
When it comes to online education, My Second Teacher is a global name. This Made-in-Nepal app is an award-winning platform that has been accepted by thousands of Cambridge schools all over the world. The platform includes student-teacher dialogue-based videos with an immersive interface that aids in understanding. For on-the-go learning, My Second Teacher is available as an Android and iOS app too.
It provides video materials based on the syllabus of the respective class. And the students can generate the test paper of available subjects on their own as well. You will also get mentor service 24/7, and features including eBooks and group chat are on the way.
The registration process for students is simple. Simply click the Register button and enter your details. After successfully logging in, you can see a list of all available subjects in the subject menu. With the free account, the website now offers subjects such as Math, Science, English, and Economics to students in Grade 10. We anticipate that other modules will soon occupy the site database.
E-Paath is a collection of digital interactive learning activities created by Online Learning Exchange (OLE) Nepal. When it comes to OLE, it is a non-profit organization devoted to improving education efficiency and affordability through the use of technology. All of the content available on the website follow the guidelines of the national curricula.
E-Paath is available in Nepali and English language for students from grades 1 to 8. That’s not all. They have translated the course content from classes 2 to 6 to the Chepang language as well, for which we applaud the whole team. We hope that other platforms can take a cue from E-Paath and prioritize other underprivileged communities too.
Each activity module includes a “lesson” section that helps students understand the subject being taught. Moreover, there’s an “exercise” section that tests how well students understood the topic. E-Paath uses multimedia-based material that is simple to comprehend, but there are no visual tutorials. To grasp the content, students must concentrate on the graphics shown.
E-Pustakalya
If you’re more of a reader instead, OLE Nepal has a dedicated platform for you guys as well. E-Pustakalya is an education-focused free and open digital library. The platform includes adult and children’s literature in Nepali, English, and other languages, as well as books and materials on various art forms. Furthermore, as with other sites, the materials are planned in accordance with the national curriculum, and it also includes teaching manuals and training materials for teachers.
Similarly, E-Pustakalya can be enjoyed on the Android platform with its dedicated app. Moving on, it has devised a workaround for places where the internet is inaccessible, unreliable, or prohibitively costly. E-Pustakalya can be deployed on low-power servers like those used in schools, colleges, and community libraries.
If the schools have a computer network, they can add an E-Pustakalya server to their setup and use it when they do not have an internet connection or if their connection has low bandwidth. In addition, if the schools do not have a dedicated computer network, E-Pustakalya will also help set one up. The website features thousands of books, educational videos, audiobooks, reference resources, and immersive learning apps.
Neema Academy is a Nepali ed-tech company that aims to digitize the education system of the country. The platform includes course content ranging from elementary to secondary school. It can track your progress in an enrolled class, save your notes, and create a study plan based on your needs.
Similarly, you can take live tests for the subjects in which you have enrolled. Aside from that, students can learn and play games at the same time. The website includes a set of 40 games that are both interactive and educational.
You can put your brain to the test by taking quizzes and increase your strength. It has paid as well as free-of-cost content on its platform. Neema Academy is available on Android and iOS platforms too.
Midas eClass
Midas is yet another Nepalese homegrown brand for online education. It provides students with a broad range of curriculum-based materials. Midas eClass has its own sets of animated videos which makes the students’ learning experience more enjoyable. Similarly, if you are unfamiliar with a topic, you may ask a question and receive a response, which is dubbed as “You Ask, We Answer.”
Students can take quizzes on each topic and participate in discussions on each chapter through a dedicated tab. Likewise, you can request a set of questions, appear on it, and check the answers to see if they are correct. The registration process is pretty simple too. Students can register and access the content of Midas eClass via their website or Android platform.
Mero School
Mero School is yet another floor of e-learning in Nepal. The website gives a huge array of academic options to students from conventional to contemporary studies. It is an easy-to-use platform. Furthermore, the website offers more than just school-level courses; it also features course materials for engineering majors, as well as graphic design and illustration classes.
Not to forget, you can only join the course after you register on the site and enroll in it. Similar to the preceding platform, it also has paid as well as free content available on its platform. Its app is available for Android users as well.
Kullabs
Here, Kullabs is a knowledge-sharing portal for both teachers and students. Kullabs’ key goal is to make knowledge accessible to everyone. With this goal in mind, the website is free to everyone and shares the best e-learning materials. Students from grades 6 through 12 can enjoy the available content. Notes, recordings, exercises, and practice assessments are present as a part of the course curriculum.
In addition, you can either use the Android app or the website to get access to the study materials. We assume the platform is a little underdeveloped, but with more courses added, it has the potential to create a spark in the sector.
Alongside the K9 5G smartphone and a pair of TWS earbuds, Oppo recently announced the launch of the Smart TV K9 series. This lineup currently features smart TVs of three different sizes with slight differences in terms of specs. Here, we will be taking a look at the key features of the three TVs under the Oppo Smart TV K9 series along with their expected price in Nepal.
Oppo Smart TV K9 Series Overview:
Design and Display
As mentioned earlier, the Oppo Smart TV K9 is available in three different screen sizes – 43”, 55”, and 65”. The 43” variant comes with FHD resolution while the other two are 4K TVs. All three TVs use an LCD panel. The 55” and the 65” variants cover 93% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and have typical brightness of 300 nits. The 43” variant is comparatively dimmer at 230 nits.
They all come with a standard 60Hz refresh rate but the 65” variant has MEMC dynamic compensation. All three TVs are compatible with HDR10 and HLG standards while the bigger 55″ and 65″ are HDR10+ certified as well.
Oppo Smart TV K9 has a metal frame and boasts a screen-to-body ratio of up to 95%. The dimensions and weight vary with the display size.
Internal hardware
Internally, all these TVs are powered by quad-core MediaTek processors. The 65” variant features four Cortex-A73 cores CPU while the other two get four Cortex-A53 cores processor instead. Mali-G52 MC1 GPU is uniform over all the configurations.
Oppo Smart TV K9 comes with 2GB of RAM. The 45” and 55” variants arrive with 8GB of internal storage which is half of what the 65” offers. On the software front, they ship with ColorOS TV 2.0.
Audio and Connectivity
Oppo Smart TV K9 features a stereo sound setup with Dolby Audio and Dolby Atmos. The base variant has a rated output power of 2x 10W while the rest of the lineup is rated for 2x 15W output.
Coming to the ports, you get a digital TV interface, coaxial digital audio output, LAN, HDMI 2.0 (x3), and USB 2.0 (x2) ports. The 55” and 65” variants also feature AV port (RCA and Mini 3-in-1, respectively). These two can also be connected to an external camera for video calling.
The Bluetooth remote that ships with Smart TV K9 support Voice Control too. Similarly, it also has NFC for quick screen casting. You can even control the TV using a smartphone (Oppo TV Assistant app) and Smartwatch (Oppo TV Assistant App).
3x HDMI 2.0, 2x USB 2.0, 1x DTMB, 1x Digital Audio Output, 1x LAN,
1X AV (RCA), 1x DTMB, 1x Digital Audio Output, 1x LAN, 3x HDMI 2.0, 2x USB 2.0
1x Mini 3-in-1 AV, 1x DTMB, 1x Digital Audio Output, 1x LAN, 3x HDMI 2.0, 2x USB 2.0
Connectivity
Wi-Fi a/b/g/n (2.4 GHz / 5 GHz), Bluetooth 5.0
Remote
Bluetooth Remote with Voice Control and NFC
Oppo Smart TV K9 Price in Nepal [Expected]
Oppo Smart TV K9 will go on sale in China starting May 11 where its price is 1,999 Yuan for 43″ variant. Likewise, the 55”, 65” variants cost 2,799 Yuan, 3,999 Yuan, respectively. Oppo is yet to bring its TVs to Nepal but if Smart TV K9 launches here, we expect its price to start at NPR 42,000.
Oppo Smart TV K9
Price in China
Price in Nepal (Expected)
45” FHD
1,999 Yuan
NPR 42,000
55” 4K
2,799 Yuan
NPR 58,500
65” 4K
3,999 Yuan
NPR 85,000
Meanwhile, check out our comparison between Mi TV 4x and Samsung TU8000. [Nepali]
Oppo recently held an event in China where it launched a bunch of new products including smart TV, TWS earbuds, and a fitness band. Oppo K9 5G, whose key specs were already confirmed last week was also launched in the same event. Here, we will be taking a look at the complete specs of the Oppo K9 5G along with its expected price in Nepal.
Oppo K9 5G Overview:
Design and Display
The phone features a 6.43-inch AMOLED display manufactured by Samsung. This FHD panel has support for a 90Hz refresh rate and a 180Hz touch sampling rate. It has a left-aligned punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera. Similarly, Oppo has included its sixth generation optical in-display fingerprint scanner for biometrics.
At the back, there is a rectangular camera bump on the top left corner. The left side of the panel is covered with branding materials. The phone is just 7.9mm thick and weighs around 172 grams.
Oppo K9 5G comes with the Snapdragon 768G processor which happens to be an overclocked variant of the Snapdragon 765G. Here, its Kryo 475 Prime core has a clock frequency of up to 2.8GHz instead of 2.4GHz. Similarly, the Adreno 620 GPU is clocked higher at 725MHz. It is also the first chipset in Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 700 series to support an updateable GPU. However, it is entirely up to Oppo if it wants to utilize this feature.
The phone also has a 3D liquid-cooling setup consisting of a vapor chamber, copper plate, and multi-layer graphite sheet. It comes with 8GB of RAM and users can make the choice between 128GB and 256GB of internal storage.
Camera
Oppo has opted for a triple camera setup at the back of the K9 5G. A 64MP primary leads the lineup, which is accompanied by an 8MP ultrawide sensor. The third sensor is a 2MP macro camera. There is a 32MP shooter up front for selfies.
Rest of the specs
Fueling the device is a moderate 4,300mAh battery which the company claims can go from 0 to 100% in just 35 minutes using the 65W fast charging technology. Oppo will be including a compatible charger in the box too. The phone will be available in two color options – Black and Symphony.
Oppo K9 5G is now up for pre-order in China where its price is CNY 1,999 and CNY 2,199 for the 8/128 and 8/256GB variant respectively. Its sales will begin from May 11. It’s unlikely that Oppo K9 5G will launch in Nepal but if it does, we expect its starting price to be around NPR 40,000.
Oppo K9 5G
Price in China
Price in Nepal (Expected)
8/128GB
CNY 1,999
NPR 40,000
8/256GB
CNY 2,199
NPR 45,000
Meanwhile, check out our unboxing and impressions of Oppo F19 Pro.
