If you were worried about your old iPhone slowing down, this news isn’t going to sound good. Apple has admitted that when your iPhone’s battery gets weaker, the company takes some measures to ensure it doesn’t shut you down randomly. In plain language, this means that Apple slows down your iPhone’s processor when the battery can’t handle it. Apple says that when the phone’s battery can’t provide peak power, it takes steps to reduce its power requirement, causing the processor to slow down.
This isn’t an iPhone-specific issue, but Apple made this design decision to ensure that random shutdowns don’t affect your older iPhones. The problem stems from the fact that all lithium-ion batteries, used in industrial electronics, deteriorate over time and have problems supplying peak current. However, you can easily fix this by having your iPhone battery replaced. This can be had for $79 (about Rs. 5,100), and it’s free if you’ve purchased Apple Care’s extended warranty in countries where it’s available.
In slightly better news, a new report claims that Apple plans to combine iPhone, iPad, and Mac apps. IPhone and iPad apps are already similar, and developers can easily optimize them for both devices, but Mac apps have to be designed separately. If the report is true, this step will make all apps on the Apple platform work on all Apple devices. However, Apple has been slowly working towards this by combining iPhone and iPad apps since a few years ago and gradually making the iPad Pro more like a laptop than a tablet. Microsoft tried to do something similar with Windows 8, but failed miserably. No one knows what the future holds, but if this story is true, a big change could occur in Apple’s world.
Here’s everything else that has made the news in the world of technology today.
Honor 9 Lite launched Huawei’s Honor brand has launched a new smartphone in China. The Honor 9 Lite has a 5.65-inch display, and dual cameras on the front and back,, and EMUI 8.0, based on Android 8.0 Oreo. While the smartphone launched in China and will go on sale there on December 26, it is expected to go on sale in 14 countries after that. This second wave of countries includes India,, meaning you will see this smartphone here in India soon. It is powered by a Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 659 SoC (four cores clocked at 2.36GHz and four cores clocked at 1.7GHz). The Honor 9 Lite is a budget smartphone, priced at CNY 1,119 (approximately Rs. 11,700) for the 3GB RAM, 32GB storage variant, with the 4GB RAM, 32GB storage variant priced at CNY 1,499 (approximately Rs. 15,600) and the 4GB RAM, 64 GB. Storage variant priced at CNY 1,799 (roughly Rs. 17,500).
Nokia 9 leak again? The latest leak from the world of Nokia concerns its upcoming flagship smartphone – the Nokia 9. This leak claims that the Nokia 9 will have dual selfie cameras. This leak claims that the smartphone will have two five-megapixel selfie cameras on the front, which will support 1080p video recording. That’s good news for those who click selfies, record many vlogs, or even post live videos using the selfie cameras. The smartphone is expected to come with Android 8.0 Oreo and will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor and up to 128GB of built-in storage.
Samsung Galaxy S9, and Galaxy S9+ display details leaked Another one from the rumor mill. This rumor suggests that the two new smartphone models that have appeared on an HTML5 benchmark website are the Samsung Galaxy S9 and the Samsung Galaxy S9+. This leak indicates that both phones will feature a nearly bezel-free design with an 18.5:9 screen ratio. This rumor also claims that the phones will come with Android 8.0 Oreo, and a previous story had suggested that these phones would have dual cameras on the back. While there’s no official word, these phones are expected to launch in February 2018, with availability starting in March.
Asus launches new gaming laptops in India Asus has launched new ROG gaming laptops in India. The new laptops are ROG Strix HERO Edition, SCAR Edition gaming notebooks, Strix GL503 gaming laptop, and Asus Gaming FX503. The Asus Gaming FX503 is the most affordable, with a starting price of Rs. 69,990. Asus Gaming FX503 has an Intel i7-7700HQ processor and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics. The remaining two series are priced above Rs. 90,000 and packed with impressive hardware. The ROG Strix SCAR edition features an Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 series graphics cards, and a 144Hz display. The ROG Strix HERO edition features an Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia GeForce GTX 10-series graphics cards, and a 120Hz widescreen IPS display.
Dell launches three new Inspiron series laptops. If gaming isn’t what you want to do on a laptop, Dell’s new Inspiron series may interest you. Dell launched Inspiron 13 7000 2 in 1 (7373), Inspiron 13 5000 (5370), and Inspiron 15 7000 (7570). The Inspiron 13 7000 2 in-1 is powered by an Intel Core i5 processor and costs Rs. 76,290, with a Core i7 variant for Rs. 96,190. The Inspiron 15 7000 is priced at Rs. 77,190, with a Core i7 variant for Rs. 88,690. Finally, the Inspiron 13 5000 is priced at Rs. 60,690, with a Core i7 variant for Rs. 75,790, and it will go on sale in January 2018. These two are now available in India.
Google Chrome Installer Removed From Windows Store Some folks at Google seem to think it’s a good idea to try something as stupid as an installer app from the Microsoft Store. The Google Chrome installer app essentially redirects people to a download page, leaving Windows 10 S users in the dark as they can’t install apps outside the Microsoft Store. Fortunately, Microsoft quickly intervened to remove this app and issued a statement saying that the Google Chrome installer violated Microsoft Store policy. We can’t figure out why Google would try so hard to attract negative publicity.
Are Magic Leap One mixed reality glasses coming in 2018? Magic Leap is an American startup known for recently attracting huge funding rounds and operating in secret. Now it has revealed the products it has been working on all along a mixed reality pair of glasses called Magic Leap One. This product is available as a “creator edition, ” meaning that most people cannot buy it. It is only available to creators who can design mixed-reality experiences using the Magic Leap One. This headset comes with a wireless controller and an external computing unit called Lightpack, which powers Magic Leap’s proprietary spatial computing platform.
Netflix adds HDR streaming support to Windows 10If you care about the quality of the TV shows and movies you watch, then you should be happy with Netflix’s constant pursuit of better quality. Many Netflix shows now support 4K and HDR (High Dynamic Range), with the latter arguably more important for better picture quality. Netflix HDR streaming is now available on Windows 10, but with some drivers. This technology is limited to the Netflix app and Microsoft Edge browser on PCs with Intel’s 7th Gen Core (i3, i5, or 7xxx, or 7Yxx) or higher CPUs. Of course, you also need an HDR-compatible screen to enjoy your favorite content in the best possible quality.
