After weeks of teasers, Motorola officially bounced back in the Nepalese market and launched two phones during the Daraz 12.12 campaign. One of them is the Moto G9 Play, which looks to be a decent contender in the best phone under 20K market in Nepal. So, let’s take a look at the specs, features, official price, and availability of Motorola Moto G9 Play in Nepal.
Motorola Moto G9 Play Overview:
Design and Display
Moto G9 Play features a 6.5-inch Max Vision display. The display is based on IPS LCD technology and sports an HD+ resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels. There is a waterdrop style notch on the top that houses the front camera. The aspect ratio on this is 20:9.
The body of the Moto G9 Play is entirely made up of plastic. One can notice the square camera bump on the rear panel. The rear panel also houses a physical fingerprint sensor. Motorola has opted for a water repellent design to keep the device safe from minor spills and splashes.
Performance and Memory
Likewise, Moto G9 Play is one of the first devices to sport the Snapdragon 662 SoC. This chipset is based on the 11nm node and features eight Kryo 260 cores clocked at 2GHz. The graphics are handled by Adreno 610 GPU clocked at 950MHz. Similarly, the phone comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. With this, Moto G9 Play goes head-to-head against the likes of POCO M2 and Redmi 9/Prime. Users can expand the latter by up to 512GB using a microSD card. The device ships with near-stock Android 10 with default Google apps.
The G9 Play flaunts a triple camera setup on the back. Its 48MP primary sensor has a pixel size of 1.6micron and supports Quad Pixel technology. It is joined by a portrait and a macro lens; both featuring 2MP sensors. For videos, it can capture 1080P footage at 60fps. Similarly, slow mode, timelapse, and hyper-lapse videos are also supported. The waterdrop style notch houses the 8MP front-facing camera.
Rest of the specs
Motorola is claiming a battery life of up to 2 days with the 5,000mAh battery. A 20W USB Type-C fast charger is also included in the box. However, the phone only supports 15W charging. The device features a hybrid dual SIM slot. For connectivity, G9 supports dual-band Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth v5.0, and NFC.
Motorola Moto G9 Play Specifications:
Body: 6.50 x 2.98 x 0.36 inches, 200 gm, Water-repellent design
Display: 6.5-inches IPS LCD panel, 269PPI, 87% screen-to-body ratio
Resolution: HD+ (1600 x 720 pixels), 20:9 aspect ratio
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 (11nm Mobile Platform)
With the year coming to an end most of the shops are beginning their year-end sales. And it is no different for e-commerce platforms either. One such sale event that’s been making rounds on the internet is the Daraz 12.12 year-end sales. As with other sales events, 12.12 year-end sales offer customers a chance to get discounted items and win exciting gifts too. As the name suggests, Daraz’s 12.12 starts on 12th December and will end on 18th December. Let’s take a look at some of the exclusive launches and offers that are on the table during the Daraz 12.12 sales this year.
Daraz 12.12 Sale: Exclusive Phone Launches
This year’s 12.12 sales include some exclusive online launches of smartphones. In total, there are six smartphones to look out for. Customers can purchase them at a discounted price using collectible vouchers. Furthermore, bank discounts of up to 12% (Rs. 1,212) are also available if purchased through one of the partner banks. Smartphones that are receiving online launch during Daraz 12.12 include iPhone 12, Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, and many more.
1. iPhone 12
iPhone 12 is the latest flagship from Apple. It comes with a 6.1-inch (2532×1170 pixels) OLED Super Retina XDR display. There are two 12MP sensors on the back, one of them is the ultra-wide lens. Moreover, the front camera is also a 12MP sensor. It runs on A14 Bionic SoC which delivers a beast of a performance. You can check out our review of the iPhone 12 to get a better rundown about the device. Pre-booking of the device is available on Daraz and its shipping will start from 13 December. The 64GB variant of the iPhone 12 is priced at NPR 133,900.
2. OnePlus Nord N10 5G
OnePlus Nord N10 5G is a slightly cheaper version of the original OnePlus Nord. It features a 6.49-inch FHD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate and Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It runs on Snapdragon 690, which is a 5G-capable chipset from Qualcomm. Similarly, the phone features a quad camera setup on the back with a 64MP primary sensor. The device with a 6/128GB configuration is available for NPR 39,499. Currently, it’s only available for pre-booking. However, its delivery will start on December 14.
3. OnePlus Nord 5G
The OnePlus Nord is a low-cost premium midrange alternative to the high-end OnePlus 8 series. The screen size of the device is of 6.44-inches. It is a Fluid AMOLED panel with a 90Hz refresh rate. Furthermore, it is the first phone from the company to sport a dual selfie camera. It has an excellent quad-camera setup on the back with a 48MP primary sensor. You can check out our review of the OnePlus Nord 5G for more detailed information about the device. Its 12/256GB variant will be available during Daraz 12.12 sales for NPR 63,999.
4. Motorola Moto G9 Play
Moto G9 Play features a 6.5-inch Max Vision display. It is based on IPS TFT LCD technology and sports an HD+ resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels. It runs on Snapdragon 662 SoC. Its 5000mAh battery with support for 15W fast charging is clearly the selling point. The device is priced at NPR 19,990 on Daraz.
5. Motorola Moto E7 Plus
The Motorola Moto E7 Plus is more of a budget offering from the company. It has a 6.5-inch LCD panel with HD+ resolution. It runs on the entry-level Snapdragon 460 SoC and flaunts a dual-camera setup on the back. However, it does have a big 5000mAh battery that supports 10W fast charging. The 4/64GB variant of the phone is priced at NPR 16,590 on Daraz.
6. Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
Galaxy S20 FE is an affordable take at the flagship from Samsung with most of the essential specs intact. It has a flat 6.5-inch AMOLED display, FHD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling, and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It is the 4G variant that’s available in Nepal. Thus, it runs on the Exynos 990 chipset.
Now, the device was already available on Daraz previously, so it’s not much of an exclusive launch. However, during 12.12 sales, you do get free shipping on a purchase of the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE. Furthermore, you also get a chance to win the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE for free as a part of the Mega Giveaway. All you got to do is make a purchase of any item during Daraz 12.12 Sale and you get registered as a participant for the giveaway. The checkout price of the 8/128GB variant during Daraz 12.12 is NPR 69,999, and that of the 8/256GB variant is NPR 74,999.
Tech Deals During Daraz 12.12 Sale
Tech deals, other than that of the aforementioned smartphones during Daraz 12.12 sales mostly include earphones, speakers, and power banks. Most of them are available at a discounted price. However, you can also make use of the Daraz collectible vouchers to slash down the price by a fair amount. Furthermore, a 12% card discount (max NPR 1,212) is also available. Some of the best tech deals of the Daraz 12.12 sales include:
Digicom Flex 3 Bluetooth Neck Band In-Ear Earphone: NPR 1,575
X-AGE ConvE Flash 10000 Fast Charging Power Bank – (XPB01): NPR 1,400
Digicom K8 Bluetooth Stereo Over-Ear Headphone: NPR 2,327
X-AGE ConvE Twins Bluetooth Wireless Earbuds (XTW01): NPR 2,400
Anker 10000Mah PowerBank: NPR 1,999
Digicom Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard DG-IK8500: NPR 4,950
Anker Soundcore Spirit X2: NPR 9,999
Anker Soundcore Flare+ Speaker: NPR 13,990
Daraz Mission 12.12
As always, the Daraz app (Android | iOS) tends to include various games through which buyers can win exciting gift hampers. For the 12.12 sales, Daraz has introduced mission 12.12 alongside the One Rupee game. So, what is this mission 12.12?
Basically, buyers will have to complete 12 different missions before the Daraz 12.12 ends i.e before 18th December. After the completion of the missions, users become eligible for a lucky draw that includes gift vouchers from some top brands. However, you also become eligible for a guaranteed reward once you complete 11 of the 12 missions.
To play Mission 12.12, all you got to do is log in to your Daraz app and click on the Mission 12.12 banner. Then you’ll be able to start your missions. The missions include:
Open Daraz App for 7 days till the 18th of December
Search for 12 products in your shopping list
Add 5 products to your cart
Follow 5 Daraz Mall stores
Share a product review on Daraz
Click on any 5 Daraz app notification
Place an order for any dMart/dFresh product
Play any 5 different games on Daraz First Games
Participate in the One Rupee Game
Collect 5 Vouchers
Place an order of NPR 1212 or more
Share 3 mega-deals with your friends
Bank Discounts
As mentioned earlier, you can get up to 12% (max NPR 1212) off when you make payments from one of the partner banks. The partner banks include:
Sanima Bank
NIC Asia – Credit card only
Machhapuchhre Bank
Citizens Bank
HBL Bank – Credit and prepaid cards only
So, are you excited about the Daraz 12.12 end of year sale 2020? And will you be purchasing anything? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Earlier this month, Qualcomm introduced its latest flagship processor – the Snapdragon 888 SoC. And it looks like it’s Samsung’s turn to unveil its premium SoC. Yesterday, Samsung Exynos thanked its fans via a tweet. The message was paired with a YouTube video titled Thank You (Trailer). This could be a hint for the launch of the much-anticipated Exynos 2100 SoC. Keep reading to learn more about Samsung Exynos 2100 SoC including its launch date.
Samsung Exynos Thank You Message
As mentioned earlier, the official Twitter handle of Samsung Exynos uploaded a video to thank its fans. It has been mentioned in the video that Samsung has created something small for its fans who have been supporting it through this tough year. This year has been tough for everyone because of the outbreak of COVID-19.
But there is more to it. Throughout this year, Samsung’s Exynos chipset has faced harsh criticism from fans and enthusiasts alike. Numerous tests conducted between Exynos 990 and Snapdragon 865 showed the former was behind its rival in almost every aspect. Thus, through this video, Samsung Exynos team are apologizing for all the shortcoming of the company’s recent chips.
The animated video shows a rather depressed-looking cartoon character going through stuff at his house until he finds something of interest. It is only at the end that the character is shown smiling, after making the discovery. Samsung Exynos may be hinting that the upcoming SoC will re-ignite interest in our products.
Throughout this year, several sources have claimed that Exynos 2100 will be as capable as its Snapdragon counterpart. We also saw different leaked benchmark tests showing close competition. Still, all these tests were conducted on prototype models. And as Ice Universe puts it – Geekbench results are not usually accurate before the official release. He rather encourages comparison based on the architecture.
The Exynos 2100 is expected to be based on Samsung’s 5nm process on which its rival SD 888 is also based on. Like the SD 888, it will have a three-tier core architecture with Cortex X1 as a prime core, three Cortex A78 cores for performance, and three Cortex A55 cores for efficiency. However, the cores on the Exynos 2100 will have a higher clock speed. The comparison graph below was published before the announcement of SD 888.
Samsung Exynos 2100 Launch Date
If the date in the description is any clue, Samsung will unveil the Exynos 2100 on 15th December. Samsung Galaxy S21 series powered by Exynos 2100 is most likely to launch in January 2021.
Samsung Mobile SoC
Launch Date
Exynos 2021
December 15
Watch our review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 10.4 (2020).
If you’ve been following us on Instagram, you would know that I’ve had the new iPhone 12 with me for almost a month now. With this, everyone’s been asking me for my review of the phone. To be completely honest with you, because it’s my first iPhone in ages, I wanted to use it for at least a month or so—instead of rushing to come up with a review. And finally, here I am with my full review of the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro.
iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro Specifications:
Dimension: 146.7 x 7.4 x 71.5mm | iPhone 12: 164gm | 12 Pro: 189gm
Display: 6.1-inch (2532×1170 pixels) OLED Super Retina XDR display, 460ppi
Back Camera:
– 12MP wide-angle f/1.7 primary camera, 7-elements lens, OIS, True Tone flash with Slow Sync, 4K Dolby Vision video recording at 60 fps,
– 12MP 120° Ultra Wide f/2.4 camera, 7-elements lens|
– (only 12 Pro) 12MP f/2.0 telephoto lens, 2x optical zoom, 52mm focal length, 6-elements lens, OIS
– (only 12 Pro) LiDAR scanner for AR workloads, night portraits, etc.
Front Camera: 12MP front camera with f/2.2 aperture, 1080p video recording, Retina Flash, Dolby Vision HDR recording up to 30 fps, 4K video recording at 60 fps, Slo‑mo 1080p at 120 fps
Security: TrueDepth camera for FaceID facial recognition
Connectivity: 5G (sub-6GHz and mmWave), Gigabit LTE with 4×4 MIMO and LAA, 802.11ax Wi‑Fi 6 with 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, GPS with GLONASS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, and Beidou
Other features: Water and dust resistance (IP68), Stereo speakers
iPhone 12 Pro: Graphite, Silver, Gold, Pacific Blue
Battery: 2815mAh; 20W fast charging, 7.5W Qi Wireless Charging; 15W MagSafe Wireless Charger (No charger included in the box)
iPhone 12, 12 Pro Review:
Before moving ahead, I must tell you the reason why I skipped the 12 Pro and got the standard iPhone 12 instead. The thing is, here in Nepal (and even in India for that matter) the iPhone 12 Pro is ridiculously overpriced.
iPhone 12 Price
Storage
US
Nepal
India
64GB
$829
NPR 134,000
INR 79,900
128GB
$879
NPR 142,000
INR 84,900
256GB
$979
NPR 158,000
INR 94,900
iPhone 12 Pro Price
Storage
US
Nepal
India
128GB
$999
NPR 170,000
INR 119,900
256GB
$1099
NPR 187,000
INR 129,900
512GB
$1299
NPR 220,000
INR 149,900
As you can see from the table here, in the US, the 128GB variant of the iPhone 12 Pro is only $120 more than that of the iPhone 12. However, the difference in this part of the world is a staggering 28K (~$238). And surprisingly in India, the deviation is an outrageous INR 35K (~$475), which I simply don’t understand. The launch of Apple’s official website was supposed to be a step in a positive direction, but here we are.
Anyway, because of that, I got myself the iPhone 12 (128GB) variant. I also tested it against the iPhone 12 Pro that my friend bought to come with this review. And to be honest, there aren’t too many differences between them, at least for me. Another reason I didn’t go with the Pro. Both of them come in this new boxy flat design that reminds me of my first iPhone. This “new” aesthetics makes it different and visibly unique from practically every other smartphone you see in 2020.
Design & Build
Glass front/back, aluminum/stainless steel frame
Flat edge on the sides, IP68 dust/water resistance
Having said that, the 12 Pro has a slightly premium design than that of the iPhone 12, with a matte finish at the back and a stainless steel frame. This frame also makes for an overall heavier device. While many of you might like your phone to have that heft, for me, the iPhone 12 feels just right, despite both phones sharing the same dimension
Regardless, in my usage, the iPhone 12 successfully managed to survive a couple of accidental drops from about 2 feet—major thanks to the Ceramic Shield on the front of the glass. But, you need to be aware of the fact that the ceramic protection is exclusive to the front of the phone, and not the back.
Scratch resistance?
Unfortunately, I got this nasty scratch on the front despite being really careful with it. So, while the ceramic shield most definitely offers a better drop resistance, it’s still not big on scratch immunity. In the end, I felt obligated to put on tempered glass. The only thing I dislike about the updated design is how the camera module attracts so much dirt… all the time. Every time I open up the camera to take a picture, I would first have to wipe off the dirt. And as you could figure, things got really annoying, really fast.
Overall, in terms of design, yes, the iPhone 12 Pro is more premium of the two. But for the majority of us, it isn’t going to even matter because let’s face it, at the end of the day, we are going to a back cover for added protection and grip anyway. And that’s especially true in the case of the iPhone 12 Pro since the stainless steel is really slippery.
Display
6.1-inches OLED Super Retina XDR panel
Dolby Vision compliant, 1200 nits peak brightness
Standard 60Hz refresh rate, Ceramic Shield protection
The similarities between the two phones extend to their displays as well. Here, both the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro have the same OLED panel. Now this one’s a really positive development because historically speaking, the non-Pro iPhone would have an LCD panel while the superior OLED display would be reserved for the expensive variants only. In fact, even the cheapest iPhone of this year—the 12 Mini features an OLED screen.
Despite all this, the OLED panel is not minded blogging in any way; considering just how far the industry has come when it comes to smartphone displays. Apple is still sticking to the good-old’ 60Hz refresh rate. If you have used a flagship Android device of the past year, like the OnePlus 8 Pro or the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro feel ordinary, at least that’s my finding from this review. But again, this display is more than good enough with excellent sharpness and color accuracy. Although the vibrancy is not as punchy as premium Samsung phones, I am not complaining.
The touch response has been great too—no accidental touches or unresponsive inputs throughout my usage. Furthermore, I also had no problems regarding its brightness even when using it outdoor, especially during winter when I often tend to sun bask outside my office. The iPhone 12 Pro does have a slight edge here as it can go up to 800 nits of brightness as compared to 625 on the regular iPhone 12. But trust me when I say that 625 nits on the iPhone 12 is plenty enough.
Cameras
12MP wide, 12MP ultrawide cameras (iPhone 12)
Plus 12MP telephoto lens, LiDAR scanner (only 12 Pro)
12MP TrueDepth camera with FaceID
Cameras
1 of 2
Back (Left: iPhone 12 | Right: iPhone 12 Pro)
Front (Left: iPhone 12 | Right: iPhone 12 Pro)
Okay, while things between the two phones sound incredibly similar up until now—almost to the point that you’d question the validity of the expensive 12 Pro entirely, the reason you might want to spend a little extra cash is the cameras. While the iPhone 12 comes with a measly dual-camera setup, you get an extra telephoto lens and a LiDAR scanner.
Normal Images
Before going on about the additional sensors, let’s talk about the common lenses first. Both the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro have exactly the same wide and ultra-wide-angle lens.
Normal
1 of 20
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
On my camera tests too, I found the quality to be identical—as expected.
Wideangle Images
Wideangle
1 of 14
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
From regular day time to wide-angle to low-light to portrait shots, it’s like clicking photos from the same phone.
Nighttime Images
Nighttime
1 of 10
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
And as you’d expect from an iPhone, the image quality is stellar. The images have great details, exposure, dynamic range, and aren’t oversaturated either.
Selfie Images
The selfies from the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro are incredibly similar as well.
Selfie
1 of 4
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
It can capture plenty of detail with great background exposure, while fairly maintaining the color tone of the subject as well.
Telephoto Images
The only uptick with the 12 Pro is when taking photos of faraway objects since it has a dedicated 2x telephoto zoom lens. But for me, the digital zoom on the iPhone 12 works perfectly fine.
Zoom
1 of 4
iPhone 12 - Digital Zoom
12 Pro - Telephoto
iPhone 12 - Digital Zoom
12 Pro - Telephoto
Yes, the quality on the iPhone 12 Pro is obviously a tad bit better; especially while taking 2x zoom videos as well as in 2x portraits, but that’s about it. Plus, we’ve already seen far superior telephoto lenses from the likes of Huawei and Samsung. So it’s not too surprising to come to the conclusion that the telephoto lens on the iPhone 12 Pro isn’t revolutionary by any means.
LiDAR scanner
As I mentioned earlier, iPhone 12 Pro also has a LiDAR sensor and throughout my review, I didn’t find it to be a game-changer as Apple would want you to believe. Of course, it has its benefits, but that, unfortunately, didn’t resonate with my use case. Let me briefly explain what LiDAR actually is.
Short for Light Detection and Ranging, LiDAR is more like the TOF (Time Of Flight) sensor we saw on Samsung’s Galaxy S20 Ultra. While TOF works by shooting a single beam of laser/infrared light and measuring the time it takes to return, LiDAR takes things to next level with multiple beams of laser all around for depth-sensing. Apple claims that the LiDAR scanner on the iPhone 12 Pro series can effectively measure object depth up to 5 meters away.
D = (speed of light X time taken by LASER to hit the subject and come back) / 2
Because of this, the LiDAR scanner brings two improvements in terms of photography:
Good portraits in low-light conditions
Better, faster focusing
Nighttime Portrait Images
Having said that, I did try comparing the nighttime portrait images from the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro for this review.
Nighttime Portrait
1 of 6
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
iPhone 12
12 Pro
To my dismay, I found little to none difference between the actual quality of the two photos. Same with focusing.
Despite photography, the LiDAR scanner comes useful in other areas like augmented reality (AR), 3D scanning, and such. You might’ve seen some videos floating around the internet on how people are measuring someone’s height with the iPhone 12 Pro. Yep, thank LiDAR for that. It also lets you measure the dimensions of other objects. While these do sound fun and kinda-sorta useful, I wasn’t particularly excited with the sensor during my time with the phone.
Dolby Vision HDR recording
Moving on, the new iPhone 12 series are also the first devices to support shooting and editing 10-bit Dolby Vision HDR videos. Even though we’ve seen HDR recording capability from other smartphones in the past, all of them use open source metadata platform like HDR10. The reason Dolby Vision is superior to the other standards is because of its use of dynamic metadata. What this means is that all the enriched colors, contrast info is dynamically adjusted on a frame-by-frame basis—instead of how HDR10 sends static metadata. A one-for-all kind of deal.
This achievement has been made entirely possible because of the new A14 Bionic chip and its ISP. While all phones in the iPhone 12 series share the same silicon, the iPhone 12 can only shoot Dolby Vision videos at 30fps, whereas the 12 Pro can go up to 60fps.
Memory configuration
That’s because of the difference in their RAM capacity since the iPhone 12 only has 4GB of RAM whereas the Pro has 2GB more. Like I mentioned before, if you wish to edit the footage in post, you can enable it in the settings too. But not everyone needs or can make use of Dolby Vision recording. And for them, regular videos from the 12 or 12 Pro will do just fine.
Anyhow, just being able to shoot in Dolby Vision is just half the battle since watching it requires a Dolby Vision-capable display itself. And unless you’re fine with the relatively small display of an iPhone, I’m willing to bet that many of us might not have a compatible TV/monitor. Likewise, even YouTube doesn’t support it for now—just the standard HDR. But, this could change in the future with more people making videos in Dolby Vision format.
ProRAW for pros
Similarly, the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max now support the ProRAW image format since the iOS 14.3 beta update. Allowing you to manually adjust settings like white balance, exposure, contrast, etc. in the post without introducing a drop in picture quality is something especially alluring to professional photographers.
But what bugs me is Apple’s decision to not include this “software feature” on the non-Pro iPhone 12 models. So typical. Obviously, the iPhone 12 is more than capable to capture RAW images as it has the same A14 Bionic chipset and a similar camera setup as the 12 Pro. So hopefully, Apple will have a change of heart in the future, but if it doesn’t—I won’t be surprised.
Performance
Hexa-core Apple A14 Bionic SoC (5nm)
4/6GB RAM with up to 512GB storage (fixed)
Speaking of the A14 Bionic, Apple has once again proved that they are the best when it comes to performance. I’ve been using Samsung flagships for the past couple of years and switching to the iPhone 12, I could almost instantly notice the jump in performance. The A14 is so powerful that even in like 3-4 years, it will still be able to power through your everyday needs without a hiccup. The same, I cannot say about the Android flagships like the OnePlus 8T or the Galaxy S20 FE. That has always been one of the strongest feats of an iPhone and with the 12 series, the legacy continues.
Still and all, it does leave a few things to be desired. Like, I miss a smooth refresh rate experience transitioning from my Android phone. Just imagine, the A14 + 120Hz would’ve been a killer combo. But, Apple is still holding on to the smooth tech for now.
Besides the cameras, everything else on the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro are the same. You get the same stereo speaker which produces balanced sound. It’s not the best speakers you can find on a smartphone as I think the ASUS ROG Phone 3 and the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra are better for that matter. Still, the audio from the iPhone 12’s speaker setup is acceptable as well.
Swift iOS
Moreover, the vibration motor and its haptic feedback have been really good and I like how iOS complements the hardware to provide a better overall experience. The Face ID is still here, although the rumors of Apple resurrecting the Touch ID on iPhones had me excited. It is really fast, secure, and accurate. But during these trying times when everyone is wearing a mask, I would’ve had to use the passcode almost all the time.
Finally, let’s get into the battery life. Both iPhone 12 and 12 Pro are powered by the same 2815mAh cell. That’s not a big battery compared to Android flagships, or is it? During my usage, I was able to get a decent, if not great battery life out of it. Playing games for like an hour or two every day resulted in like 5 hours of SOT, whereas on a day when I didn’t play games, I got around 6 to 7 hours screen-on-time. I just wished that Apple would’ve gone with a slightly bigger battery. For now, I give iPhone 12, 12 Pro’s battery life a B+.
And yeah, as you might’ve heard by now, Apple is revolutionizing the way phones are sold by excluding a charging brick, or wired earbuds inside the box. This move hasn’t been immune to controversies though. On the one hand, yes, it does help with reducing carbon emissions. But on the other hand, people now have to pay extra for something so elementary to a smartphone experience.
Overruled
Interestingly, the company has been forced to ship iPhone 12 series with earpods in France citing radiation laws; while buyers in Brazil will still enjoy a power adapter inside the box—thanks to a government mandate.
So, I got myself an 18W charger from last year instead of the new 20W charger since they’re not that different, to begin with. The 20W adapter can push up to 15W of power to a MagSafe charger but as things stand, MagSafe is just too slow for me as it takes like 3 hours to charge the iPhone 12. Maybe next year it will be faster—we will have to wait and see.
Conclusion
Overall, after using the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro for almost a month now for review, I think I will keep using it as my primary phone for a while. Apple has been clever enough to properly differentiate the iPhone 12 from its Pro siblings. Therefore, in the end, it isn’t too difficult for people to choose between the two.
Still, if you are someone from in the US or other countries where the difference between the 12 and 12 Pro isn’t significant, you might want to get the 12 Pro instead without giving too much thought. But if you are someone from Nepal or especially India, you should definitely get the iPhone 12 over 12 Pro unless the 12 Pro’s price drops in the next few days. That’s because even though the 12 Pro is objectively superior between the two, the regional price difference makes it unappealing compared to the standard iPhone 12.
Apple has this, sort of, unparalleled triumph in the world of smartwatches. While Samsung’s alternatives are pretty good in themselves, ultimately, they don’t compare. Recently, OPPO joined the smartwatch market with something that’s almost a carbon copy of the last-gen Apple Watch. This Wear OS-powered OPPO Watch made headlines throughout the world about how it looks exactly like an Apple Watch, while not being an Apple Watch, thus tempting us for a review.
Well, having your product’s identity defined by a rival product wouldn’t exactly be the first objective off the top of my head when designing something new. But hey, OPPO went on to do exactly that, so the comparison is 100% warranted. And I was quite intrigued to see the product receive high remarks from so many tech blogs. Allow me to discuss my findings of the OPPO Watch in this review.
Starting with the design, as I mentioned earlier, it bears a striking resemblance to an Apple Watch. From its square-ish screen to a similar strap mechanism, this thing is a definite head-turner. My review unit is the OPPO Watch 46mm (WiFi-only) version, whereas it is available in 41mm and 46mm (WiFi + LTE) models as well. While the larger 46mm option is available in either Black or Glossy Gold colors, the 41mm OPPO Watch can be found in Black, Pink Gold, and Silver Mist variants.
Personally, the larger of the two looks quite big on my hands—although comfort is not an issue. Besides the obvious difference in screen real-estate and battery size, the 41 & 46mm OPPO Watch differs in terms of build quality too. While both variants’ frame is made from aluminum alloy, the rear panel is all plastic on the smaller 41mm option, whereas the heart-rate sensor module is protected with ceramic on the other. Likewise, the water resistance level is downgraded from 5ATM in 46mm to 3ATM in the smaller alternative.
Rubber Strap
Moving on, the fluororubber strap on the OPPO Watch is reminiscent of a regular silicon material but feels slightly less flexible. The Apple Watch-like mechanism has been tweaked with a band retainer/loop, so as to avoid a potential design lawsuit, possibly. This “compromise” does have its flaws as I’ve already lost one of the two loops that come inside the box. Now that’s because of how easy it is for the loop to come off the strap, if not handled with finesse.
Despite all these, make no mistake, the watch is very comfortable to wear—even when you’re walking or running. I didn’t experience any skin irritation or allergy from putting it on, which is fantastic. The durability does remain a matter of concern though. Because the company has prioritized fashionable aesthetics, it is not the most enduring of smartwatches. Even without any significant impact, I’ve managed to get a couple of dents on the top frame of my unit—and I can’t help but wonder what would happen to it upon a heavy-impact collision or fall.
Display
1.6/1.91″ AMOLED panel (curved/rigid)
Gorilla Glass/SCHOTT Xensation protection
Getting to the display, the 46mm variant of the OPPO Watch comes with a bigger 1.91” AMOLED screen that has a subtle curve on the side. Similarly, it is protected by SCHOTT Xensation 3D glass. On the other hand, the smaller 41mm option has a flat AMOLED panel with Gorilla Glass protection.
With a 402×476 resolution and a 326ppi, everything looks absolutely incredible on this watch. There is no noticeable pixelation of any kind and the content on the screen looks sharp. Plus, the colors, contrast are excellent as well. With 5 levels of brightness to choose from, I had no visibility issue with the watch even under direct sunlight.
Here, the device also comes with an ambient light sensor. During my review, I set the brightness level on OPPO Watch to “automatic”, where it would automatically switch the illumination level depending upon the surrounding lighting condition. While this feature does work pretty well, the time it takes to switch between the brightness level is abnormally long—compared to how we’ve been conditioned to the same functionality on our smartphones.
Watch face
In terms of watch faces, it comes with very few selections by default, but one can always more download from the Play Store.
Watch Faces (default + downloaded)
1 of 4
Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t find one that vibed with me so I ultimately decided to go with custom images as the watch face, which switch upon each screen wake-up (or I can change them with a single tap). You can also change the watch face by long-pressing the home screen, or via the HeyTap Health app.
Performance, Wear OS
Quad-core Snapdragon Wear 3100 SoC (28nm)
Plus, Ambiq Micro Apollo3 Wireless processor
1GB RAM plus 8GB internal storage
Powering the international variant of the OPPO Watch is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 3100, alongside the Ambiq Micro Apollo3 Wireless SoC. Here, while the Wear 3100 handles regular functionalities, the Ambiq Micro is a secondary processor to support low-power threads and aid in power saver mode. This setup is fortified with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage.
Now, there’s also a Chinese variant of the OPPO Watch, which swaps the Snapdragon Wear 3100 with Wear 2500 and runs on ColorOS Watch instead of Wear OS.
Anyway, as much as I would’ve preferred the newer Wear 4100 silicon (found in recent smartwatches like Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3), I don’t have any complaint regarding the performance on this watch. From UI animations to transitions, everything is very smooth, and apps open up pretty quickly as well. On rare occasions, the UI would also freeze for a bit when updating the apps, but I wouldn’t entirely hold that against the terrific cumulative performance. The navigation though is a bit of a hassle.
Navigation
OPPO Watch perfectly demonstrated how spoiled I’d become with Samsung Galaxy Watch3’s rotating bezel. Since the former solely relies on taps and swipes, getting from one menu to the other feels like forever. It does come with two buttons on the right for navigation—a home (which also doubles as an app drawer), and a customizable button with an emerald green accent. By default, it triggers the workout app and I left it be since I found the setting perfect for my use case.
Swiping to the left gets you to the Google Assistant page, and I don’t understand why but it also includes “inspirational quotations” for some reason. And while there is an option to trigger the assistant with the “Ok, Google” command, I couldn’t get it to work—not even once. Not sure what’s going on there. By swiping down from the top, you can toggle various controls like settings, power saver mode, etc. However, you can’t add to or change the layout in any way and weirdly, the command center can only be accessed when you’re on the home screen—further complicating the process.
Notifications
Similarly, all the notifications are neatly arranged at the bottom. Being a smartwatch, it also supports actionable notifications, and one can reply to messages from the watch itself. You can choose to dictate, type, or draw up an emoji reply. The default keyboard’s layout is quite cramped, but I was quite surprised to find out how accurately I could type on this tiny thing. Swipe-typing is even easier if you’re familiar with the format.
HeyTap Health
1 of 3
Settings
Sync Notifications
Workout settings
While you can go back from a screen via a swipe to the left, it doesn’t work when you’re using the keyboard. Additionally, choosing which apps display notification can be customized from the aforementioned app, or the watch itself.
A limiting experience
Likewise, all the widgets (called Tiles) are organized on the right side of the screen. But what’s annoying is that the OPPO Watch can only store up to 5 tiles at a time. This feels really limiting for a smartwatch, especially one of this stature. I mean, it’s a pretty damning limitation, wouldn’t you agree? Besides all these, the watch also supports gesture navigation. By flicking your wrist, you can pull up the command center, notification panel, app drawer, or jump to the home screen. Though not perfect, I would say that it works better than expected.
Moving on, the watch includes two layouts for the app drawer. Personally, I’m fond of the traditional list view, but there’s also a 3×3 grid layout with circular icons that I’m sure many would prefer instead. There’s also this neat shortcut on the Play Store, that lets you install select apps from your phone, that are available on the Wear OS platform—eliminating the need to separately search them. Talking about apps, since Spotify doesn’t officially work in Nepal, I couldn’t install it on the watch. I would’ve been grateful if it came pre-installed, but unfortunately, that’s not the case.
You can make and receive calls on the OPPO Watch too, although I was quite disappointed with it throughout my review period. The call quality leaves much to be desired. I constantly got a complaint about how my voice sounded muffled, unclear from the receiver’s end even when I was indoors—all the while I could hear them quite well from the watch’s speaker. The sound quality is fairly decent and is actually quite useful when interacting with the Google Assistant.
Health, Fitness, Sleep Tracking
5 workout modes, no automatic detection
Over 5 dozen workout modes under “Fit Workout”
No SpO2 monitoring, women’s health recording
Okay, let’s talk about the fitness tracking features now. The Watch comes with OPPO’s own 5 workout modes, which consist of fitness run, fat burn run, outdoor walk, outdoor cycling, and swimming. Regrettably, it can’t automatically detect a workout—a feature I dearly miss, coming from the Galaxy Watch 3.
Moreover, under “Fit Workout”, you’ll find more than 5 dozen workout modes. Some of them include: yoga, treadmill running, biking, dancing, golf, pilates, and… flossing? What?! Yeah, I suppose it can be considered as a workout but now way would I want to see an adult floss. I found the 5-min workouts particularly more useful than all these. It includes a range of activities, which are tailored for a different purpose, or a different time of the day.
5-min workout
1 of 2
There are five 5-min workouts altogether: morning energizer, get moving, full-body workout, fat blaster, and bedtime stretches—while each of them is comprised of 8-9 distinct exercises. This is really ingenious of OPPO considering how most of us can’t dedicate hours of our day to get fit. A sad reality of our concrete civilization.
Audio-visual guide
In addition, OPPO Watch also gives an audio-visual guide to usher you through the workout, which was a feature I was quite curious about going into the review. But in my unit, I only got audio feedback under the “get moving” and “bedtime stretches” workouts. I can’t speak with 100% certainty if that’s how it’s supposed to be or not—although it definitely feels like it should.
Likewise, the watch also periodically reminds you to get up and exercise a little, if it senses you sitting still for about an hour. If you find the reminder annoying, you can set it off altogether. Other notable exercise includes breathing, which is really useful when you feel like you’re stressed out. Besides, like every other smartwatch, the OPPO Watch lets you set a per-day target for various activities like steps, workout, calories burnt, etc. And if you meet them at any point in the day, it gives you a swift reminder as well.
Fitness, Sleep Tracking
1 of 6
Daily Heart Rate
Weekly Heart Rate
Daily Sleep
Weekly Sleep
Daily Workout
Daily Workout
On top of all this, it also supports 24-hour heart rate monitoring and sleep monitoring. Seeing it miss out on such important fitness tracking as blood oxygen, women’s health is incredibly disheartening, seeing how it is priced as a premium smartwatch. I did find its sleep tracking to be pretty accurate as it managed to record my time to sleep, awake time, and wake up time almost precisely. Every morning, you also get a notification about your sleep cycle, but it is delivered way too late—almost an hour or more after you’ve woken up.
Built-in GPS
OPPO Watch also has a built-in GPS and I found its location tracking to be fairly correct. There is a flaw in the GPS-locking mechanism though, but not in the way you’re probably imagining. The thing is, whenever I started any workout, I would get a “Searching for GPS” marquee for quite some time, suggesting that the watch is taking too long to lock-in GPS.
Location Tracking
1 of 3
HeyTap Health - Homescreen
Location Tracking
Walking Exercise
But when my impatience would get the best of me and I would hit start on the workout anyway, turns out, the GPS reading had already set-in. So, at this point, I’m just waiting for an update to fix this issue, I’m afraid.
All this data can be viewed to their full extent using the HeyTap Health app. But you’d be surprised to know that you are required to download a separate “WearOS” app at first to pair the two devices. While the app works fine and all, having used smartwatches from Samsung and Huawei, this one takes particularly long to sync data between the phone and the watch. Additionally, I would’ve liked the ability to zoom in on my trail on the app as well.
Battery Life
Either 300/430mAh battery
5V/1.5A Watch VOOC Flash Charging
Getting to the battery, the 46mm OPPO Watch comes with a 430mAh cell. The company advertises that it can get you up to 21 days of battery life, and that could very possibly be the most misleading statement I’ve heard in a while. Yes, technically it might get you that much juice but the thing to note here is that the claimed battery life is strictly under power saver mode the entire time. And who in their right mind would buy a smartwatch, only to wear it devoid of almost 99% of functionality.
Even under the power saver mode, it can track your heart rate and step, so that’s nice I guess. I obviously used it normally and didn’t turn on Always-on Display (AoD) either. Under this “smart mode”, OPPO says the battery should last about 30 hours, but I struggled to get it throughout the day and clocked in about 21 hours almost every day. Turning on the battery saving mode at say 20% (you also get an automatic notification when the juice is low, btw) can go on to last a full day, which is amazing.
In terms of charging, the OPPO Watch supports 5V/1.5A Watch VOOC Flash Charging that can fully juice up the battery in about an hour. It uses a proprietary charger that clasps the watch magnetically. Unlike other company’s smartwatches, this fast charging mechanism is a breath of fresh air, although I’m not sure what level of impact it’ll have on the battery health in the long run.
Conclusion
To conclude this review, the OPPO Watch is—like most other OPPO products, a fashion-first smartwatch. Its Apple Watch resemblance may be an attractive aspect to many, but when it comes to Apple’s level of health tracking and fitness monitoring, the company still has a long way to go. The display is excellent and WearOS plays pretty nice, but sadly, it emulates the worst part of its inspiration too, which is the battery life. So, while I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to those looking for an absolute premium smartwatch experience, it will more than suffice the needs of an average user.
With the success of Oneplus Nord in a premium midrange segment, Oneplus Nepal has also launched another mid-range phone in the form of Oneplus Nord N10 5G. It is a slightly cheaper version of the original Oneplus Nord. Let’s learn more about the Oneplus Nord N10 5G along with its price and availability in Nepal.
OnePlus Nord N10 5G Overview
The OnePlus Nord N10 5G features a 6.49-inch FHD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate and Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The display panel is an IPS LCD instead of an AMOLED we saw on the Oneplus Nord. Hence, don’t expect the same level of contrast and colors on the N10.
As for performance, the device is powered by Snapdragon 690. It is currently the cheapest 5G chipset in the Snapdragon lineup. It features two cores based on Cortex A77. The rest of the cores are based on Cortex A55. The graphics will be handled by Adreno 619L, which is slightly inferior to that of Adreno 620 used on the Snapdragon 765G of the Oneplus Nord. The integrated X51 modem supports the sub-6Hz 5G band but misses out on the faster mmWave band.
At the back, the device will flaunt a quad-camera setup. There’s a new 64MP primary camera which is accompanied by an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera. Completing the setup is a gimmicky 2MP monochrome sensor and a 2MP macro camera. The main 64MP lacks OIS but can shoot videos in 4K 30fps and 1080P 60fps with EIS.
In terms of looks, the Nord N10 looks similar to that of the cheaper N100. The back is made of polycarbonate with a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. There’s a punch hole at the left side of the display that houses a 16MP selfie camera. Finally, fueling the device is a 4,300mAh battery with Warp Charge 30T charging.
Storage: 128GB UFS 2.1, expandable memory up to 512GB with microSD
Audio: Stereo Speakers, 3.5mm headphone jack
Battery: 4300mAh, Warp Charge 30T charging (Type C)
Color Option: Midnight Ice
OnePlus Nord N10 5G Price and Availability in Nepal
OnePlus Nord N10 5G Price in Nepal is set at Rs. 39,490. It is currently available for pre-order from sastodeal and Daraz and select retail shops all over Nepal. At this price, it will go head-to-head against the likes of Vivo V20 SE and Samsung Galaxy M51.
Established in 2008, Smart Telecom ranks third in our list of best telecom service providers in Nepal. It provides 2G and 4G services in the country, while the latter is limited to mere 19 districts. Smart is known for its affordable internet plans. Today, we will be taking a look at all the data packs that Smart Telecom provides including the price, volume, and validity period.
Smart Internet Rates without Data Packs
If you aren’t subscribed to any data pack, Smart Telecom charges you Rs. 1.92 for every 1MB of data. The rate is uniform over both 2G and 4G networks.
Smart Data Packs: Volume, Price & Validity
1. Smart Recharge Pack
As a Smart user, you get a bonus with every recharge worth Rs. 100 or above. The bonus includes free 4G data packs, talk time, and SMS. It also increases with the recharge amount and so does its validity period. You can use the bonus talk time and bonus data to connect to your friends with different network providers.
Recharge amount
Bonus
Validity period
Rs. 100
400MB 4G Data
10 minutes talk time
10 SMS
7 days
Rs. 200
800MB 4G Data
20 minutes talk time
20 SMS
15 days
Rs. 500
3GB 4G Data
100 minutes talk time
100 SMS
30 days
Rs. 1000
6GB 4G Data
200 minutes talk time
200 SMS
30 days
2. Smart Weekly Combo Pack
Smart Weekly Combo Pack was brought during the ongoing pandemic to help users connect with their loved ones at affordable rates. Under this pack, users get 3GB of data and unlimited talk time within Smart networks for a price of Rs. 98.
Like the previous one, Smart Work From Home Pack was also announced during the lockdown, to facilitate users who are having a hard time working from home. It is very helpful for students who are attending online classes from home. For just Rs. 382, you get 45GB of data with 30 days’ validity period. The catch is, you can only use the data between 6 AM and 6 PM.
Pack Name
Volume
Activation
Price
Validity
Smart Work From Home
45 GB Data (6 AM to 6 PM)
*141*7*1*1#
Rs 381.79
30 days
4. Smart Data Packs
When Smart decided to phase out its unlimited data packs, it did so by doubling the volume on its volume-based data packs as compensation. The Double Data pack offers double the volume than its predecessors offered but at the same price. Since then, Smart has made some changes to the packages and has been advertising it simply as Smart Data Packs.
Data Volume
Activation
Price
Validity
100MB + 100MB
*141*3*1*6#
Rs. 11.49
1 day
500MB + 500MB
*141*3*1*1#
Rs. 37.03
1 day
1GB + 1GB
*141*3*1*2#
Rs. 88.11
7 days
1GB + 1GB
*141*3*1*3#
Rs. 113.64
15 days
2GB + 2GB
*141*3*1*4#
Rs. 254.10
30 days
5GB + 5GB
*141*3*1*5#
Rs. 407.33
30 days
20GB
*141*3*2*6#
Rs. 509.48
30 days
5. Unlimited Night Pack
There is also an unlimited night pack for night owls out there. Upon subscription, users can access unlimited data starting from 11 PM to 6 AM the next day.
Pack Name
Activation
Price
Validity
Unlimited Night Pack
*141*3*3*1#
Rs. 19
11 PM – 6 AM
If we compare these rates to other telecom service providers in the country, we can see that Smart provides data at the cheapest rates. But are you satisfied with the quality of services? While its competitors provide unlimited packs with an hour of validity, Smart doesn’t have one. Personally, I would have liked a night data pack as well, which is rare these days in any network. Do share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Back in April this year, Samsung Newsroom published an editorial on how Samsung is rivaling the human eye. The editorial by Yongin Park boasted about Samsung’s advancement in the image sensor technology and what the company is eyeing for the future. It was in this article where it was mentioned that the South Korean company is looking to develop a 600MP camera. And now, a popular leakster IceUniverse has confirmed that Samsung is indeed working on a 600MP smartphone camera sensor.
Higher resolution trend in smartphone cameras
Today, we see smartphone companies boast about picture sizes (measured in megapixels) that their devices capture. 48MP or 64MP cameras have now become normal in mid-range phones. While flagship phones now come with camera sensors of up to 108MP. Samsung does have a hand in this trend of increasing megapixels in smartphone cameras. In fact, it was the first to announce a 64MP sensor. Around half a year later, it then announced a 108MP camera. Just some weeks ago, we saw Xiaomi adopt Samsung’s latest 108MP camera – Isocell HM2 in the Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G.
Higher the number of pixel, the smaller the size
The issue with higher resolution smartphone cameras is that the real state of the smartphone is limited. Thus, we can’t fit in a sensor the size of a digital camera. So cramping in more pixels is only possible when the size of these pixels is very small. For instance, individual pixels in the HM1 measures only 0.8um. Tiny pixels can’t trap enough light and thus cannot produce enough details, especially when paired with a small sensor.
Pixel-binning
This is where pixel-binning comes in. Almost all higher resolution smartphone cameras make use of this technique. Here, a bunch of tiny pixels is treated as a single pixel. For example, Samsung’s Nonacell technology allows one 0.8um pixel to function as a single 2.4um pixel.
Samsung is now planning a major leap to 600MP. In case you don’t know, normal human eyes have a resolution of 576MP. So, if 600MP is beyond what our normal eyes can notice, why is Samsung working on it? The slide leaked by IceUniverse reveals that Samsung wants to use the 600MP sensor to improve the 4K/8K video recording. The company knows that trend of 4K/8K video recording in smartphones is not going to slow down. The 600MP sensor will allow the camera to take zoomed videos without losing much detail.
Samsung believes that sensors that can capture invisible light will turn out to be beneficial in the longer run. The company proposes sensors with an ultraviolet light perception that can diagnose skin cancer by differentiating between healthy and cancerous cells. Similarly, infrared sensors can be used for quality control in agriculture and other industries.
However, there are some problems that come with it. For instance, to accumulate 600MP pixels the size of the sensor will be around 1/0.57”. It’s way bigger than the 1/1.3” sensor used in mainstream 108MP cameras. The new sensor is expected to cover around 12% of the rear panel of the device. And the problem doesn’t end here. The 600MP sensor will also require the camera to be around 22mm thick (with the camera bump), which is way thicker than most of the smartphones out there.
Samsung 600MP smartphone camera sensor availability
So the question remains – will the next Samsung flagship smartphone come equipped with a 600MP camera? And the answer is no. As mentioned above, Samsung has a lot of things to improve. While we can expect the company to launch a 600MP camera sensor eventually in the future, we won’t be seeing such technology anytime soon.
Watch: Galaxy S20 FE Vs Oneplus 8T – ultimate camera comparison
Chinese smartphones are popular for being cheap and affordable. This is also the reason they have been popular in price-conscious markets like ours. While these brands offer capable hardware for less, there have been questions about how they manage to earn profits. Many of these companies include ads and bloatware in their custom skin to raise cash. However, many generate cash through malpractices. Earlier this year, we reported Tecno stealing money from its customer with out-of-the-box malware. And now, another report claims Gionee of earning money illegally through a Trojan horse.
Gionee and Trojan Horse
The China Judgement Document Network has found Gionee guilty of illegal control of computer information systems. According to the published verdict, the Chinese smartphone company was successful in implanting a Trojan horse in more than 20 million Gionee smartphones. The app was used to generate illegal business and illicit fortunes.
Method
The Shenzhen Zhipu Technology Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Gionee, included the Trojan horse through an update of the Story Lock Screen app. The company is responsible for software development and advertising business.
The act was in collaboration with the Beijing Baice Company. The Trojan Horse was updated along with the app using a “Live Pull” method. Later they used a “Dark Horse Platform” plug-in to make the pull live operation more efficient. From December 2018 to October 2019, the company was able to successfully implement the Pull Live monthly update 2.88 billion times.
Earning
As per the report by cnBeta, the Shenzen Zhipu Technology company claimed 70% of the revenue. The rest went to the Beijing Baice Company. The revenue and expenses of the company are estimated to be 27.85 million Yuan and 8.425 million Yuan, respectively.
The Chinese court has found Xu Li, the legal representative of the company, guilty along with Zhu Ying, Jia Zhengqiang, and Pan Qi. They will have to serve up to three years and six months of jail term. They will also have to pay a fine of up to 200,000 Yuan. However, the three are first time offenders and have pleaded guilty and thus are liable to clemency in accordance with the law.
Check out our review of Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 10.4 (2020).
Earlier this week, we reported that Nepal Rastra Bank is carrying out an internal discussion for an international payment system in the country. And yesterday, the issue was addressed in the first quarter review of monetary policy (2020-2021). Let’s dive deeper into the provision of an international payment system in the first quarter review of monetary policy.
An international payment system in Nepal
The topic caught some momentum when Maha Prasad Adhikari, the Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, hinted that one could soon make payments in foreign currency for international products from Nepal. It was in response to a question put forward to him during the first session of the FonePay Digital Economy Conclave. The Governor assured that the central bank is serious on the matter and is working to develop a robust system for the same.
International payment in monetary policy
International Payment has been addressed in the first quarter review of Monetary Policy (2020–2021). The policy states an arrangement to provide foreign currency exchange facility up to a certain amount to import foreign goods and services via an online medium. This aligns with the Governor’s statement imposing a transaction limit of $500 for each individual. NRB will also be reviewing the fee that payment service providers are charging for electronic payment.
Present condition without an international payment system
Digital entrepreneurs and students will benefit the most from an international payment gateway. The major businesses in the world are making the transition to the cloud. But the ones based in Nepal are behind because of the payment restriction. There are few service providers with licenses for the same but not everyone has access to them. Thus, there is a need for a platform that allows the individual to make direct payments to international service providers
Similarly, the present condition has also given rise to frauds. People have to go through middlemen whenever they have to pay for international products. These middlemen charge heavy fees for each transaction. Some don’t even deliver goods after receiving payments. Some are selling trial versions of subscription-based products for premium prices. So, eliminating these middlemen and being in control of your own finances is a pretty big deal; and we can’t wait to see the system in action.
Watch our review of the Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 gaming laptop.
![OnePlus Nord - Design [2]](https://cdn.gadgetbytenepal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/OnePlus-Nord-Design-2.jpg)
![Galaxy S20 FE - Display [1]](https://cdn.gadgetbytenepal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Galaxy-S20-FE-Display-1.jpg)
![Smart Data Packs: Price, Volume, & Validity Period [December 2020]](https://cdn.gadgetbytenepal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Smart-Telecom-Data-Packs.jpg "Smart Data Packs: Price, Volume, & Validity Period [December 2020]")
