Hello readers! Its another week and I’m back with the Weekly Tech RoundUp! #3. First of all, I’d really want to thank all you guys for the awesome support you showed us in the previous editions of the Weekly Tech RoundUp!.

Our episode 1 got 100+ views while our episode 2 has 88+ views. For the amazing support you guys have shown, I’ve added some more interesting content this time (find it in the bonus section). So, let’s get started!

1. WWDC 2019: Some Important Announcements!

The WWDC keynote 2019 on 3rd June was awesome. I watched it live (it was the first time for me to do watch it live). It started at 10:00AM PDT (10:30PM IST). Here’s a brief list of things that got updated!

WatchOS Updates!

• WatchOS was updated with cycle tracking for women, new clock faces and the ability to edit a clock face among some more. Apple also created a new App Store for WatchOS 6 thereby enabling third-party app developers to create apps for WatchOS. Apple also released some bands for the Apple Watches which matches certain Clock faces.

iOS updates

• Next up, iOS. iOS 13 got dark mode. The iOS keyboard now supports swipe typing (which Apple calls QuickPath typing).
• The photos app got a major revamp too Apple now provides a better way to sign in in apps via your Apple account.
• Siri is also updated. It now uses a better TTS (Text To Speech) technology called Neural TTS.
• Learn everything that’s updated, click here.

MacOS Updates!

• On macOS, I think that fewer things got updated this time. The name for macOS 10.15 is macOS Catalina.
• MacOS Catalina brings ScreenTime to the Mac, along with Activation lock (it requires the Apple ID password now to unlock a Mac after a boot), Voice Control (which allows people with disabilities to work with a Mac and an iPhone easily and many more.
• And the support for 32-bit apps is removed. The dashboard has also been removed.
• For developers, Apple has made it easier to port iOS apps to macOS, which means many iOS apps will be coming to Mac.

iTunes Split!

• Another major announcement: Apple split iTunes to separate apps which are Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and Apple TV.

iPadOS launched!

• And all the iPad users now have their own OS named iPadOS which is basically iOS customized for iPads.

Mac Pro!

• Apple also launched a new Mac Pro which is a computer for extreme professionals. The device has maxed out specs and the world’s first 32” 6k Retina display.
• But hilariously, if you buy only the screen then you’ll have to buy it stands separately for $999. (No, that’s not a typo. It’s actually $999).

Apple Arcade!

• With Apple Arcade, iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and tvOS will support Xbox One S and PS4 controllers.

2. Oppo Showed Off The Prototype Of Under-display Front Camera!

Earlier this week Oppo on its official Twitter page showed off their very first under-display front camera technology. The video they shared in the tweet had an oppo phone lying on a table that doesn’t have any front camera instead the camera was under the screen. To test it someone put his finger above the display and it showed in the camera app. I’ve added the video they shared below.

3. Following Oppo, Xiaomi Revealed Their Prototype Of Front Camera Hidden In Bezels!

Xiaomi showed a prototype phone in which the front camera was hidden under bezels. This is an innovative solution just like Oppo’s solution to notches, pop-up camera and punch-hole displays. The video was shared by Xiaomi’s co-founder Bin Lin on Weibo. He was a showing a Mi 9 phone without the regular notch. It may land in India in late 2019 or early 2020. The video shared is given below.

 

4. The flagship killer 2.0 Is Coming To India Within 6 Weeks!

Ready for the ultimate #knockout ??#RedmiK20 and #RedmiK20Pro coming to India soon! ?#FlagshipKiller 2.0.. ❤️❤️ #Xiaomi #Redmi pic.twitter.com/n1sPZelqwZ

— Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) June 3, 2019

Manu Kumar Jain, the head of Xiaomi India, recently in a tweet, said that the Redmi K20 and K20 Pro are coming to India within one and a half months. The most detailed specifications of the device can be found here. Most probably the Redmi K20 will start at ₹21,000 while it’s Pro variant will start at ₹26,000.

5. Sundar Pichai Refused To Take Extra $58M from Google!

Sundar Pichai, the CEO of the world’s biggest search giant, reportedly, refused to take stocks worth $58M from Google. The reason he gave for it was that he feels that he is already earning much. The last stock he was awarded was in 2016. His annual salary is $650,000. But some suspects that main reason for this is different; Some Google employees are complaining about not getting enough salary to support their life at pricey cities.

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6. Facebook Introduced A New Feature Called Avatars In Australia!

This new feature from Facebook lets you create a personalized cartoon-like figure of you just like Bitmoji. But it has better options for customizations. This can be useful when anybody doesn’t want to show his/her actual image. Avatars will possibly come to India later this year.

7. Call Of Duty Mobile Closed Beta Ends!

The mobile version of the amazingly popular PC/Console game named Call Of Duty had been launched under closed beta a few weeks ago. Gamers who had pre-registered for the beta were able to install it. Sometime later, many direct download links for the app and OBB files were made available through third-party sources.

From those links people who haven’t pre-registered could also download the game. But, recently, the closed beta testing for COD Mobile ended. The online battle Royale game is now no more available. The beta version was full of bugs and glitches and hope that the stable version will release some time soon.

8. Google Stadia: Launch Date, Games, and Pricing!

Google last year revealed its very own cloud game-streaming platform, Stadia. Stadia will launch in November and the price will be $9.99 per month for Stadia Pro, which will offer 4K gaming at 60fps HDR with 5.1 surround sound. The basic 1080p tier, called Stadia Base, will be free but will launch next year. Gamers residing the US can access the Pro tier by buying a $129 bundle called Stadia Founder’s Edition, which includes a Nighy-blue Stadia controller, a Chromecast Ultra, 3-month subscription to Stadia Pro and acmes to Destiny 2: The collection. Stadia will have 31 games at launch including Dragon ball Xenoverse 2, Doom Eternal, The Elder Scrolls Online, Final Fantasy XV, Tom Clancy’s division and more.

9. Android Has Pre-installed Malware!

Lets first get back to 2016 to understand this. In 2016, Kaspersky Lab researchers first uncovered one of the most advanced mobile trojans ever seen. They named the trojan Triada and explained how it existed on the Ram using root privileges to replace system files with malicious ones. Google recently, in its security blog, posted a detailed analysis of the Trojan. This confirmed that a backdoor did exist on brand new smartphones. Android system images were infected through a third party during the production process. When a device manufacturer wants to include features that aren’t the part of Android Open Source Project itself like say Face ID, it might engage third-party developers to develop the feature and send the entire system image to them for that process.

10. Bonus For The Week!

Make Android Notification Animations Amazing With This App!

I recently came across an amazing app that lets you change the notification animation on your Android phone. The app is called Notification Animations (download it here). The app has a simple interface that lets you preview and chooses the way you receive notifications from other apps. Once you’ve downloaded and opened the app, switch on the toggle at the top and tap on the name of any notification animation to preview. Tap the button beside it to apply it. Only some animations are available free and for others, you have to buy pro. There are ads inside the app but you don’t need to open the app every time, right? So they don’t matter much. For enhanced customisation, slide your finger from the left edge of your device’s screen and tap Settings. There you’ll find a few customisations including animation speed, position, text etc. The app is made in India.

Get Your Name To Mars!

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA has some exciting to offer. NASA is sending a craft to Mars with the names of many people. If you want your name to go to Mars, tap here.

The mission will begin in 2020, while the last date for submitting names is 30th September. After you fill out the details, you’ll get a boarding pass, which basically is not an actual boarding pass it’s just to show that your name will go to Mars. A total of 6878325 have submitted their names till now.

Thanks!

With this comes the end of episode 3 of the Weekly Tech RoundUp! We’ll be back next week with some more interesting content and a few improvements. Like I’ll fix a day for the WTRU to get live on the Mobisium website, probably Monday. So, meet up next Monday to make it better! Stay tuned and if you haven’t subscribed to my mailing list do it now by tapping here.