The India-China jousting, it seems, is shifting to the cyber frontier. Close on the heels of banning 59 Chinese apps, the Indian government has issued an informal warning to companies and its own systems to be on the vigil as it fears "intensified cybersecurity attacks from China."
According to a news report in Economic Times that quotes an unnamed senior government official saying, "among all the sectors, power, telecom and financial services are being monitored even more closely, given their exposure to Chinese infrastructure."
The report further sounded a warning bell that since India had so far permitted the Chinese to invest in critical infrastructure, especially in communications and power, those can get vulnerable as "the Chinese have keys to those networks in the country".
And even more direly, the report noted that the Chinese using that access may also try to weed into the financial sector.
Quite frankly, New Delhi expects China to foment problem from remote locations. It foresees retaliatory attacks for the bans slapped on the apps.
In the event, the government is beefing up its monitoring systems. And quite pointedly, the official also said the government would "focus on companies that are funded by Chinese investors, although the degree of surveillance may vary."
But allegations of Chinese State or non-State actors trying to attack cyber systems is not exactly new.
Just last week, the officials in the Indian State of Maharashtra claimed that hackers based in China attempted over 40,000 cyber attacks on India's information technology infrastructure and banking sector over just five days.
The spurt in online attacks from across the border was noticed after tensions rose between the two countries in eastern Ladakh.
India also warned its citizens of possible phishing attacks and issued an advisory on it.
There could be phishing attempts by impersonating, online, government agencies, departments and trade associations overseeing the disbursement of government fiscal aid, officials had said.
One such fraudulent email ID was found to be "ncov2019@gov.in'' which sent bogus information about free Covid-19 testing for residents of Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad.
The officials also cited complaints about data on Indian users being transferred abroad without authorisation.
According to one statistics, cyber threats in India had increased six-fold since the lockdown began on March 25.
Some people are asking what will we achieve by banning Chinese apps...1) Prevent a potential cyber attack2) Protect data and privacy of users3) Convey that Indian youth is India's asset; not theirs4) And send warning that this is just a beginning..Don't take us for grantedSome people are asking what will we achieve by banning Chinese apps...1) Prevent a potential cyber attack2) Protect data and privacy of users3) Convey that Indian youth is India's asset; not theirs4) And send warning that this is just a beginning..Don't take us for grantedJune 30, 2020June 30, 2020
Chinese surveillance equipment under surveillance
Meanwhile, in an ironical twist, questions are also being asked about some surveillance equipment of Chinese-make being used by the Indian State to keep tabs on people for purported security purposes.
Experts believe that surveillance devices made in China and are used in government and private offices will be next on the radar.
Cybersecurity experts also warned people to be careful against downloading spurious apps in their eagerness to replace banned Chinese apps. They fear people might end up having even more harmful clones on their phones and other digital systems.
Facebook announced this morning that stories with original reporting will get a boost in the News Feed, while publications that don’t clearly credit their editorial staff will be demoted.
The change comes as a number of high-profile companies have said that they will pull their advertising from Facebook as part of the #StopHateforProfit campaign, organized by civil rights groups as a a way to pressure the social network to take stronger steps against hate speech and misinformation.
On Friday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company will start labeling — but not removing — “newsworthy” content from politicians and other public figures that violates its content standards. (He also said that content threatening violence or suppressing voter participation will be removed even if it’s posted by a public figure.)
Today’s blog post from VP of Global News Partnerships Campbell Brown and Product Manager Jon Levin doesn’t mention the ad boycott, and it suggests that these changes were developed in consultation with news publishers and academics. But these certainly sound like concrete steps the company can point to as part of its efforts against misinformation.
What gets prioritized in the News Feed has long been a thorny issue for publishers, particularly after a major change in 2016 that prioritized content from friends over content from publishers.
“Most of the news stories people see in News Feed are from sources they or their friends follow, and that won’t change,” Brown and Levin wrote. “When multiple stories are shared by publishers and are available in a person’s News Feed, we will boost the more original one which will help it get more distribution.”
As for “transparent authorship,” Facebook will be looking for article bylines, or for a staff page on the publisher’s website. As Brown and Levin noted, “We’ve found that publishers who do not include this information often lack credibility to readers and produce content with clickbait or ad farms, all content people tell us they don’t want to see on Facebook.”
While these same like smart, straightforward changes (Google announced similar steps last fall), Brown and Levin also warned publishers not to expect “significant changes” in their Facebook traffic, since there are a “variety of signals” that go into how content gets ranked in the News Feed.
Also worth noting: These changes only apply to news content.
As announced earlier, Samsung has today revealed the availability of yet another premium lifestyle TV in India. The Serif makes its debut in India just days after the company introduced the 2020 version of The Frame TV in the country. Apart from The Serif, the company has also announced the range of 2020 QLED 8K TV in India.
The Serif
The Serif was first showcased at the CES 2019 and now makes its way to India in three different sizes 43-inch, 49-inch and 55-inch. This uniquely designed TV comes in a unibody design that resembles the shape of the letter “I” and is designed by the pair of French brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, who are famous for their furniture designs.
This new lifestyle TV from Samsung makes use of AI technology to upscale content to 4K resolution, It comes with an ambient mode that helps the TV to blend in with the interiors of the house and also displays weather and time when TV is turned off.
For connectivity, The Serif comes with WiFi, Bluetooth as well as NFC that lets users pair their smartphones by just tapping on the TV. Further, The Serif supports AirPlay 2 that allows users with Apple devices to stream content wirelessly onto the TV.
The Serif price in India
The starting Price of The Serif in India has been set at Rs. 83,900 for the 43-inch variant, the 49-inch variant is priced at Rs. 1,16,900 and the 55-inch has been priced Rs. 1,48,900. This new lifestyle TV will be made available via Samsung’s official online store and select Samsung Smart Plazas. It can also be bought from Amazon where the company will offer a special discounted price as a launch offer starting from July 8th to July 17th.
For a premium TV like The Serif, It makes sense when Samsung offers a 10-year no screen burn-in warranty, one-year comprehensive warranty and one-year additional warranty on the panel.
Apart from The Serif, Samsung has also introduced the ultra-premium 8K QLED TVs in India. These TVs are available in four different size variants starting from 65-inches going all the way up to 85-inches.
These new TVs from Samsung offer a whopping 99% screen to body ratio thanks to the bezel-less frame. Samsung states that the TVs offer a real 8K resolution and also have a built-in AI-upscaling that upscales all the regular content offering 8K clarity, along with the help of a Quantum Processor 8K, and Quantum HDR.
Other key features are Object Tracking Sound Plus technology that offers an immersive 3D surround sound as the audio follows the content displayed on the TV. It also has AVA (Active Voice Amplifier) technology that increases the volume of the TV automatically based on the external sound.
Price of Samsung QLED 8K TVs
The price of Samsung’s QLED 8K TVs in India is as below:
Variant
Price
65-inch version
Rs. 4.99 lakhs
75-inch version
Rs. 9.99 lakhs
82-inch version
Rs. 14.29 lakhs
85-inch version
Rs. 15.79 lakhs
As a launch offer, Samsung will offer 2 two Galaxy S20 Plus smartphones on every pre-booking done between July 1 and July 10, 2020. An additional Rs. 15,000 cashback is being offered if HDFC and ICICI (debit and credit cards) and Federal Bank (debit card) is being used for payment.
4K Ultra HD (that's ultra high definition) is how to describe the eye-popping resolution that brings you more pixels than ever before to your home TV.
We bet you've probably seen the 4K label on adverts, at your local high street retailer or mentioned here in our TechRadar TV reviews. But although the claims about a brighter, better picture might sound great, what really is 4K? What do you need all of those extra pixels for? And, crucially, why does it really matter whether you have a flashy 4K TV or a simpler HD display when it comes to buying a new TV?
It wasn’t that long ago that Full HD (that's full high definition) was the best and sharpest picture you could buy. But that’s all changed now that 4K resolution is on the scene. It brings you a whole new level of visual detail, as well as clarity, to the selection of TV displays on offer.
But nowadays, it's not o new anymore. 4K has become entrenched in the TV market, which means it's near-impossible to find a new HD TV these days – except for the odd small TV . And now you'll find that even more detailed 8K TVs are competing with 4K among the best of the best higher-end displays.
But it might not be the raw resolution of 4K that tempts you into your next TV purchase. Instead, the inclusion of other cool technologies, such as High Dynamic Range (HDR), Quantum Dot and OLED panels might be what sways your purchasing decision.
Here's a video outlining 4K in a nutshell, with more information about pixel count, viewing distances, and the difference 4K really makes below that.
What is 4K?
Essentially 4K means a clearer picture. And to get such high levels of clarity, it has more pixels (8,294,400 to be exact) on the screen at once. These are all being used to create images that are crisper and capable of showing more details than standard HD. That's it in a nutshell.
What is the resolution of 4K?
4K resolution, at least the way most TVs define it, is 3840 x 2160 or 2160p. To put that in perspective, a full HD 1080p image is only a 1920x1080 resolution. 4K screens have about 8 million pixels, which is around four times what your current 1080p set can display.
Think of your TV like a grid, with rows and columns. A full HD 1080p image is 1080 rows high and 1920 columns wide. A 4K image approximately doubles the numbers in both directions, yielding approximately four times as many pixels total. To put it another way, you could fit every pixel from your 1080p set onto one-quarter of a 4K screen.
Why is it called 4K?
Because the images are around 4,000 pixels wide. And before you ask, yes, the industry named 1080 resolution after image height, but named 4K after image width. For extra added fun, you also might hear this resolution referred to as 2160p. Welcome to the future. It's confusing here.
Samsung's new QLED TVs are 4K HDR with insanely high peak brightness levels of up to 2,000 nits
LG TV 2020 lineup: here’s every LG TV you’re going to see later this year
Do all of those extra pixels matter?
That's where it gets sticky. We're talking about a similar jump in resolution as the one from SD (480 lines high) to HD (1080 lines high). And 4K screens are noticeably sharper than 1080p screens.
But if you're sticking with roughly the same size of television, and are used to sitting pretty close, you may not see that much of a difference – especially if you're still mostly watching HD content rather than 4K video.
How close do I need to sit to a 4K screen?
Remember when Apple made a big fuss about "retina" displays a few iPhones back? "Retina" refers to screens that have sufficient resolution that at a normal viewing distance your eye can't make out individual pixels. Get far enough away from a 1080p set and, hey presto, it's a retina display!
More importantly, at that same distance, your eyeballs won't be able to squeeze any more detail out of a 4K image than a 1080 one. If you're at "retina distance" from your 1080p set now and don't plan on moving your couch closer, upgrading to 4K may not make a big difference to your experience. This chart shows how close you need to sit at any given screen size to see the difference.
If you have the bandwidth, you can now watch many of Netflix's shows in Ultra HD 4K(Image credit: Netflix)
Difference between Ultra HD and 4K
Technically, "Ultra High Definition" is actually a derivation of the 4K digital cinema standard. However while your local multiplex shows images in native 4096 x 2160 4K resolution, the new Ultra HD consumer format has a slightly lower resolution of 3840 x 2160.
This is one reason why some brands prefer not to use the 4K label at all, sticking with Ultra HD or UHD instead. However, the numerical shorthand looks likely to stick.
Why should I care about 4K Ultra HD?
There are many reasons why 4K should make you rethink your next TV purchase (actually, there are eleven and you can read about them here), not all of them immediately obvious.
Photographers who routinely view their work on an HD TV are seeing but a fraction of the detail inherent in their pictures when they view them at 2160p.
A 4K display reveals so much more nuance and detail – the difference can be astonishing. While 3D has proved to be a faddish diversion, 4K comes without caveats. Its higher resolution images are simply better.
The higher pixel density of a 4K panel also enable you get much closer without the grid-like structure of the image itself becoming visible –this means you can comfortably watch a much larger screen from the same seating position as your current Full HD panel.
4K UHD screens provide far more detail than HD sets
What is Ultra HD Premium?
If you're sitting there thinking that all these new technologies and acronyms sound confusing, you'd be right. That's why a group of companies decided to form the UHD Alliance with the expressed aim of defining what technologies should be included in the next generation of TV sets.
The UHD Alliance is comprised of 35 companies including television manufacturers such as LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Toshiba, Sony, Sharp, audio companies such as Dolby, and film and television production companies such as Netflix and 20th Century Fox.
The idea then is that if everyone can agree on what features they think UHD should include, then Disney (an example member of the alliance) can produce a movie that Netflix will be able to stream through a Samsung TV, and the eventual image will be exactly what the director at Disney intended.
The result of this alliance was the UHD Premium specification announced at CES 2016. The specification comprises a list of features that should be included in products like TVs and Blu-ray players to ensure maximum compatibility with other content and hardware produced.
Currently, in order to adhere to the UHD Premium specification a product must have:
A resolution of at least 3840x2160
10-bit color depth, allowing for 1,024 shades of each of the three primary colors red, green and blue, as opposed to the 256 allowed by the current 8-bit standard.
Be capable of displaying pixels at a certain brightness and darkness for HDR purposes (technically this light level is from 0.05 to 1,000 'nits' for LEDs and 0.0005 to 540 'nits' for OLED sets for all you number lovers out there). Adhering to these standards means blacks should look truly dark as opposed to just milky black and whites should really pop.
Samsung and Panasonic are embracing the new standard, with both of their flagship lineups wearing their UHD Premium badges with pride. Sony however have decided to go down a more confusing route and have decided to stick with their internal '4K HDR' label despite their sets all actually meeting the required specification. Philips won't be using the alliance's badge, but its sets don't currently meet the specification anyway.
It's only natural that while a technology is still emerging these problems will continue to exist, but we hope that soon we'll be able to recommend looking for a UHD Premium set without reservation. Until the whole industry unambiguously backs the standard however, we'd still recommend you tread carefully to ensure maximum compatibility.
UHD Premium: a helpful standard, or just confusing?(Image credit: Panasonic)
What about 8K?
We thought that might come up. You may have heard some of the buzz around 8K resolution – a new visual standard with four times the number of pixels of 4K.
Basically, it doubles the pixel height and width again to yield approximately 32 million pixels. The 8K standard was, until recently, still primarily for the exhibition market (aka movie theaters). To make that many pixels matter, you need to be feeding a pretty big screen and sitting close enough to tell the difference.
We're starting to see commercial 8K televisions come to market, though they'll cost you – and there isn't much in the way of 8K content to truly recommend them. You'll still get the benefit of advanced upscaling from HD or 4K, though, and if you fancy being at the cutting edge of TV technology, an 8K TV is probably what you want.
Confusingly, an 8K display would also be considered 'Ultra HD'.
More acronyms! Isn't this fun? OLED – organic light emitting diodes – have been around for some time, but producing big screens using this technology has proven to be prohibitively expensive, something which has so far prevented OLED television from being a mainstream proposition.
It's a real shame because OLED technology can be stunning, offering vibrant colors, deep blacks and bright whites. But don't give up hope just yet. Several companies (most prominently LG) are laboring away to bring OLED to 4K televisions. They're certainly gorgeous, though pricing remains high even years after they first came to market – and it's generally accepted that they don't have the longevity of LCD screens.
OLED TVs are improving year on year, though, with reduced risk of burn-in and a new 48-inch size looking to make flagship OLED sets that little bit more affordable to average wallets. You can find out more in our what is OLED guide.
Even Honor is getting in on OLED TVs(Image credit: Huawei)
Is Netflix in 4K?
Yes – if you pay for it.
Netflix has tiered pricing plans, with 4K films and TV shows becoming available on the Premium tier. Not everything on the service will jump in resolution, though there's a decent amount of 4K content available – including Dark, Star Trek: Discovery, Altered Carbon, and much more. The selection might be more limited than the amount of HD content, but it's increasing day by day.
Netflix isn't an outlier, either. Amazon has gotten into the 4K UHD streaming game by offering some of its highest-rated shows – Transparent, Mozart in the Jungle, Man in the High Castle, The Grand Tour and Mad Dogs – in Ultra HD.
You'll also find 4K content on Disney Plus, Hulu, Rakuten TV, and other TV streaming services like them – everybody's doing it! Not that some services allow 4K streaming for all subscribers, such as Disney Plus, rather than Netflix's tiered model.
Are 4K and HDR the same thing?
No. There's no shortage of acronyms in home entertainment, and it can certainly get confusing though.
HDR, or high dynamic range, essentially increases the difference between the lightest and the darkest portions of an image. Blacks get properly dark rather than milky grey, and whites get blindingly light.
This means that images have more depth to them, and you should also be able to perceive more detail in the lightest and darkest portions of the image.
Netflix was the first content provider to release HDR video in 2015, but Amazon Prime Video also offers high dynamic range content. HDR has also been included in the new Ultra HD Blu-ray standard. You can read our full explainer on High Dynamic Range here.
Dark (Netflix)
Why isn't broadcast TV all in 4K?
Because every 4K frame contains four times the information of HD, 4K content is four times more bulky than regular HD content in terms of its raw file size. That makes it a challenge to get it to you.
On the streaming side, bandwidth is a definite issue. The internet's bandwidth is already dominated by Netflix's traffic, prompting ISPs to go after them for extra cash, and that's with most of its streams at SD and HD levels. Upping everything to 4K doesn't sound like a reasonable option just yet.
Even if it were possible to stream 4K content to everyone without breaking the internet, streaming 4K content requires a 25Mbps or faster downstream internet connection, which is faster than most people have at the moment.
Want to game in native 4K? You'll need an Xbox One X.(Image credit: Xbox)
What about gaming in 4K?
We had 4K gaming on the PC for a while before consoles, but the more advanced versions of Sony and Microsoft's gaming machines can certainly compete.
Sony got the ball rolling with the PS4 Pro, which uses an advanced form of upscaling to generate a 4K image. It might not be native 4K, but we think the results are excellent.
Although Microsoft dipped its toe in the 4K water with the similarly upscaling Xbox One S, things got serious with the release of the Xbox One X – a powerhouse console which offers native 4K resolution on a handful of titles. We'll be sure to get 4K gaming on the next-gen Xbox Series X and PS5, too.
The two standard cables you're most likely to use are either a standard HDMI, or if you're connecting a PC to a Ultra HD monitor, DisplayPort.
HDMI cables now come in four flavors: high speed with ethernet; high speed without ethernet; standard speed with ethernet and standard speed without ethernet. Standard speed cables are capable of 1080i, but aren't able to handle the bandwidth of 4K. High speed cables can do anything higher than 1080i.
HDMI 2.0 comes as standard in new 4K TVs(Image credit: iStock)
Now, as long as you're using the same class of cable, there is no distinguishable difference in terms of performance between one manufacturer's set of cables and another's.
The speed of your connection, however, will depend on the types of connectors. HDMI 1.4 connectors support a 3820x2160-resolution at 30 frames per second (fps), while HDMI 2.0 can output video at Ultra HD resolution at 60 frames per second, and HDMI 2.0a is capable of HDR.
The latest spec, HDMI 2.1, goes that bit further with 4K at 120fps, or 8K at 60fps.
The bottom line is that if your HDMI cable is able to handle 1080p (the standard for a number of years now) then it should be able to also do 4K. Don't get conned into buying expensive cables.
The other type of cable you can use is DisplayPort. DisplayPort carries 4K image and audio signal from most high-end graphics cards to monitors without any noticeable artifacts or delays.
PS4 games like God of War offer incredible detail in 4K
Should I buy a 4K set now or should I wait?
This question is made harder by the fact that so few TVs aren't 4K these days. While the benefits of 4K are harder to see on smaller sets, it makes little sense not to get a 4K screen given how freely they're available.
For 32-inch TVs, you'll only be expecting Full HD resolution still, as you wouldn't really be able to see much difference with a 4K screen at that size. For 40-inch TVs, though, that benefit is clearer – if not as clear as larger 55-inch, 65-inch, or 75-inch sizes – and you'll now see a lot of the more premium TV technologies at the 40- or 43-inch size.
This year's Panasonic HX800 features broad HDR format support, with Dolby Vision and HDR10+ as well as HLG (hybrid log gamma), alongside an excellent picture quality, despite being a mid-price LED set. Designer TVs like Samsung The Frame TV, too, are also coming to highly compact sizes, meaning that small doesn't necessarily mean cheap anymore.
One issue to consider is brightness, though. Most 40-inch screens won't have the lighting array needed to really make those pixels shine in HDR – given it needs around 1,000 nits for its intended impact.
Check out the very best 4K TVs showcasing the technology
Scott Alexander originally contributed this article.
A growing number of internet service providers in India have started to block their subscribers from accessing TikTok a day after New Delhi banned the popular short-video app and 58 other services in the world’s second largest internet market over security and privacy concerns.
Many users on Airtel, Vodafone and other service providers reported Tuesday afternoon (local time) that TikTok app on their phone was no longer accessible. Opening TikTok app, users said, showed they were no longer connected to the internet.
For many others, opening TikTok app promoted an error message that said the popular app was complying with the Indian government’s order and could no longer offer its service. Opening TikTok website in India prompts a similar message.
Earlier on Tuesday, TikTok app became unavailable for download on Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store in India. Two people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch that ByteDance, the developer of TikTok, had voluntarily pulled the app from the app stores.
The vast majority of other apps including Alibaba Group’s UC Browser and UC News as well as e-commerce service Club Factory that India blocked on Monday evening remain available for download on the marquee app stores, suggesting that Google and Apple are yet to comply with New Delhi’s direction.
TikTok, which has amassed over 200 million users in India, identifies Asia’s third-largest economy as its biggest overseas market. Nikhil Gandhi, who oversees TikTok’s operations in India, said the firm was “in the process” of complying with India’s order and was looking forward to engage with lawmakers in the nation to assuage their concerns.
This is the first time that India, the world’s second largest internet market with nearly half of its 1.3 billion population online, has ordered to ban so many foreign apps. New Delhi said nation’s Computer Emergency Response Team had received many “representations from citizens regarding security of data and breach of privacy impacting upon public order issues. […] The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India.”
The surprising announcement created confusion as to how the Indian government was planning to go about “blocking” these services in India. Things are becoming clearer now.
TikTok, which was blocked in India for a week last year but was accessible to users who had already installed the app on their smartphones, said last year in a court filing that it was losing more than $500,000 a day. Reuters reported on Tuesday that ByteDance had planned to invest $1 billion in India to expand the reach of TikTok, a plan that now appears derailed.
Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for Chinese Foreign Ministry, told reporters in a briefing on Tuesday that “Indian government has a responsibility to uphold the legal rights of international investors including those from China.”
After getting a small preview of it at CES 2020, Vizio’s complete 2020 TV lineup has finally arrived, bringing new versions of the popular V-Series, M-Series, P-Series and its first-ever OLED Series to the fray. It’s a massive collection this year that runs the gamut of sizes and specs, and should have something for every type of TV buyer.
Well, OK, almost any type of TV buyer. Missing from this year’s lineup are 8K TVs.
That's because Vizio focuses on offering quality TVs at affordable prices and while there’s a few high-end sets in the range, most of what you’ll see this year are 4K HDR TVs that cost under $1,000 instead of monstrously expensive 8K sets.
A great example is the new OLED Series that, honestly, could be the cheapest OLED ever released when it comes to store shelves later this year and the new versions of the Vizio P-Series Quantum X that is one of the brightest TVs available to consumers at a fraction of the cost of Samsung's QLED screens.
Not sure where to start with Vizio’s 2020 TV lineup? Let us help you break it down.
Vizio TV 2020 technology
The biggest addition to Vizio’s audiovisual arsenal in 2020 are its new OLED TVs that are coming later this year in two sizes - 55- and 65-inches. Not only are they the first the company has ever produced, but at just $1,299 for the 55-inch version, they could stand to be the cheapest OLEDs on the market.
We’ll see what LG and Sony have to say about it when we get the final pricing on the LG BX OLED and when the Sony A8H gets its first inevitable price drop, but right now things look promising for Vizio.
Admittedly, though, 90% of the TVs Vizio is making for 2020 are still LED-LCD with full array lighting. Vizio is one of the few companies that tells consumers exactly how many contrast control zones go into each of its TVs making it easy to predict what kind of contrast to expect, which is something we really appreciate.
Internally, Vizio is equipping the vast majority of its TVs with its new IQ Ultra processor that helps SmartCast 4.0 run faster and improves HD upscaling. We’ll have to see it in action before we can say how it will stack up against LG’s Alpha a9 and a7 III processors, but again, on paper it all looks great.
Last but not least, gamers can look forward to better frame rates on Vizio TVs in 2020 thanks to the support for VRR via HDMI 2.1 and Vizio’s new ProGaming Engine that offers faster response time and lower input lag for the M-Series, P-Series and P-Series Quantum X.
New Vizio TVs for 2020
(Image credit: Vizio)
Vizio OLED (H1 Series)
The Vizio OLED might be one of the most exciting TVs of the year. It promises to lower the price of OLED screens by at least $300 here in the US if you plan on buying a 55-inch model, and even more if you have your eye on a 65-inch screen size.
In terms of specs, the Vizio OLED will use Vizio’s new IQ Ultra image processor and support VRR up to 120Hz. Vizio says the TV covers 98% of the DCI-P3 color space - but is limited to only around 800 nits of peak brightness.
Unlike the other Vizio 2020 TVs that are available starting in late June, we won’t get the Vizio OLED until the fall (September through November). By then, LG will have its BX OLED available and the Sony A8H OLED will have had a number of months head start. Still, if you can hold out for a few more months, you can stand to save a lot of money on an OLED.
US Model Names: Vizio OLED55-H1 ($1,299), OLED65-H1 ($1,999)
(Image credit: Vizio)
Vizio P-Series Quantum and P-Series Quantum X (Q9-H1 and QX-H1)
At the top of Vizio’s LED-LCD offerings are the Vizio P-Series Quantum and Vizio P-Series Quantum X that are returning for their second consecutive year.
The P-Series Quantum X is definitely the more formidable of the two, especially considering its crazy peak brightness, and will be available starting in June for $1,499. You’ll have three sizes to choose from (65-, 75- and 85-inches) and all of them use the new IQ Ultra image processor and VRR up to 120Hz. The 65- and 85-inch TVs hit 3,000 nits peak brightness and use 384 or 792 local dimming zones respectively, while the 75-inch version only reaches 2,800 nits with 480 local dimming zones.
Stepping down to the regular Vizio P-Series Quantum, you’ll still get the IQ Ultra image processor and VRR up to 120Hz, however you’ll take a massive hit in terms of brightness (they’re only 1,200 nits) and local dimming zones (200 or 240, respectively, for the 65- and 75-inch sizes). That said, the regular P-Series Quantum is cheaper than the P-Series Quantum X, and you can save about $300 by choosing the lower-specc’d displays.
All the TVs in the range except for the 85-inch P-Series Quantum X will be available in late June and the latter will be available in the fall around the time of the Vizio OLED.
US Model Names: Vizio P65QX-H1 ($1,499), Vizio P75QX-H1 ($1,999), Vizio P85QX-H1 ($2,999), Vizio P65Q9-H1 ($1,199), Vizio P75Q9-H1 ($1,699)
(Image credit: Vizio)
Vizio M-Series (Q8 and Q7)
As you step further down the lineup, things become even more complicated - for example, like last year you’ll find two different versions of the M-Series that are wildly different. Both only have a 60Hz native refresh rate and use the IQ Active image processor, but that’s where the similarities end.
The better of the two series is the Vizio M-Series Q8 that’s only available in either a 55- or a 65-inch screen size. Both have 90 contrast control zones, far less than the P-Series but far more than the M-Series Q7 models, and use the IQ Active image processor instead of the IQ Ultra that you’d find in the higher-end models.
Then there’s the Vizio M-Series Q7 that comes in 50-, 55- and 65-inch sizes that use 16 or 30 contrast control zones. They too use the IQ Active image processor and according to the specs provided by Vizio, hit between 400 and 600 nits of peak brightness. That said, they’re ultra affordable and will likely sell super well during Black Friday this year.
US Model Names: Vizio M55Q8-H1($549), Vizio M65Q8-H1 ($749), Vizio M50Q7-H1 ($399), Vizio M55Q7-H1 ($499), Vizio M65Q7-H1 ($699)
(Image credit: Vizio)
Vizio V-Series
In case you missed the memo, the V-Series stands for value. It’s Vizio’s catchall term to describe any TV that it feels like fits into that framework, and therefore is comprised of a number of different models, all of which use full array lighting and the IQ Active processor.
The good news is that all the TVs below support four types of HDR (HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision and HLG) and while they’re not the most advanced in terms of specs, offers a 70-inch screen size that’s only $659 brand-new. It’s a crazy deal and is available starting today.
Vizio has just taken the wraps off its 2020 TV lineup, and among the new Dolby Vision-ready V-Series screens and Vizio’s first-ever OLED series, is the new Vizio P-Series Quantum X that is, as far as we know, the brightest TV available to consumers at the cheapest price.
According to the specs provided to TechRadar, the Vizio P-Series Quantum X tops out at over 3,000 nits which puts it right alongside the new Samsung Q950T QLED TV in terms of overall brightness.
The differences here are that the Samsung Q950T offers an 8K resolution but only comes in a single screen size - a monstrous 85 inches - and costs $13,000 while the 4K HDR-ready 65-inch Vizio P-Series Quantum X can be yours starting today for just $1,500.
It’s a crazy value, even if it doesn’t match Samsung’s flagship screen spec-for-spec.
Brightness isn't everything... but it does count for a lot
Now, yes, obviously brightness isn't everything when it comes to a new TV. You have to consider resolution, how many active dimming zones it has, viewing angles, HDR support, refresh rate and the list goes on and on.
That said, brightness is important for a few reasons. For one, it helps in brightly lit rooms where screen glare can be an issue. In tandem with anti-reflective coating, ultra bright TVs are simply easier to see during daytime viewing.
For another, a certain level of brightness is required for achieving Wide Color Gamut support. In layman's terms, without enough brightness, colors can't reach their proper level of saturation and can look dull. Higher brightness doesn't always equate to a wider color range, but there's definitely a correlation between the two.
There's no doubt the Samsung is an exceptional TV - and will likely beat out the Vizio in side-by-side comparison, but at a tenth of the price the performance differential might not be enough to matter.
...of course, we'd still like to test it for ourselves to find out.
Looking for a new TV? Check out our list of the best TVs in 2020
Wondering what's new on Netflix in July 2020? This month's obvious highlight is The Umbrella Academy season 2, as the quirky superhero drama returns after a year-plus absence. But there are plenty more big TV shows and films to watch this month, like the drama Cursed from comics legend Frank Miller, or the Charlize Theron action movie The Old Guard.
While the below list of new TV shows and movies on Netflix in July 2020 only applies to the US, anything marked with 'Netflix Original', 'Netflix Documentary' or 'Netflix Film' will be available globally, so you can pick out some highlights wherever you are. Check out our recommendations of what to put on your watch list this month, too.
Willa, the Sweden and U.S.-based fintech that wants to help freelancers request payment and get paid immediately for a fee, has raised $3 million in funding. The company’s founders are former early members of Spotify’s growth team and also created influencer marketing platform Relatable.
Leading the seed round is EQT Ventures. Also participating is ex-Atomico partner Mattias Ljungman’s Moonfire Ventures, Nordic Makers, Michael Hansen and Johan Lorenzen. Willa says the injection of cash will enable it to launch “Willa Pay,” an app that promises to remove the paperwork required when billing corporations for freelance work and comes with a payment process that claims to make it easier to collect payments.
One you’ve completed a job, you use the Willa Pay app to enter the details of the work, how much you are supposed to get paid, and who you did the job for. Willa Pay then contacts the corporation and issues the paperwork.
If you wish to get paid earlier than a corporation’s standard terms, which is often anything from 30-90 days, for a small fee Willa will pay you directly. The idea is that freelancers gain more predictable income, and can pay their bills on time and protect their credit score.
“The payment process between freelancers and corporations is completely broken,” says co-founder and CEO Kristofer Sommestad. “It’s built for the old world, by people of the old world. Both freelancers and corporations are suffering a lot from this. At least half of freelancers experience problems getting paid, while a third of payments are late. The result? Credit scores decline”.
Sommestad says Willa Pay solves this problem by “re-engineering” the payment process. “We’re creating it from scratch with the new freelance economy in mind. And we’re starting with freelancers’ biggest problem: getting paid, on time, every time. As a freelancer, using the Willa Pay app is a faster, simpler and better way of requesting payment for your work”.
To help with Willa Pay’s launch, Sommestad says the product’s first 10,000 users will be influencers, averaging a 100,000-plus following. “They are brilliant creators, the world’s best product marketeers and suffering as much as anyone from the payment problems,” he tells me. “This is, by the way, a brilliant distribution move from the Spotify growth playbook”.
Meanwhile, on the question of competitors, the Willa CEO says financial services are typically built by massive companies like PayPal and Intuit, along with many startups “building shiny tools or launching yet-another challenger bank”.
“But none of them are solving the core problem for freelancers… That’s what we do at Willa. We’re focusing on solving the biggest problem, for the people that suffer the most”.
The X-Men movies are finally coming to Disney Plus this summer in the US, after a long wait. The mutant-themed superhero films, which were originally made by studio 20th Century Fox rather than the MCU stewards at Marvel Studios, have been released in other territories with the streaming service, but not in the US so far.
X-Men: Days of Future Past (July 10), X-Men: Apocalypse (July 17), X-Men (August 7) and standalone movie The Wolverine (September 4) all have dates, along with Fox's first (and by default best) Fantastic Four movie (August 28).
This is all part of an initiative called 'Summer Movie Nights', which also sees the non-Disney, non-superhero musical The Greatest Showman arrive on 14 August.
Of those four X-Men movies, one is great (the time-hopping Days of Future Past) two are good (the original X-Men and The Wolverine) and one is terrible (Apocalypse). It's not quite enough for a marathon, though, since gaps remain in the library.
The remaining X-Men movies still waiting for a Disney Plus release are X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class and last year's flop Dark Phoenix.
They'll likely make the leap to Disney Plus eventually. In the UK, for example, subscribers can already watch X-Men, The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Days of Future Past.
Logan, probably the best movie of all of them, will almost certainly never be released on Disney Plus because of its adult content. The same goes for the Deadpool films.
The X-Men movies are incredibly erratic, but very entertaining overall. While last year's Dark Phoenix made fans beg Marvel Studios to just make its own X-Men films (which is happening now), people forget that Fox also came up with the kind of bold superhero flicks you'd never see in the MCU.
Logan and Deadpool both required a movie studio to convince themselves superhero movies aren't just for kids. It was a heck of a gambit (no pun intended) that paid off, and suggested it was creatively healthy for the superhero sub-genre to be shaped by different people, rather than just two dominant studios in Warner Bros and Disney (though Sony holds the Spider-Man movie rights).
Still, the X-Men movies also had much lower lows than the MCU, with the likes of The Last Stand and Apocalypse feeling like big missed opportunities.
One final Fox X-Men movie, The New Mutants, is due for release on August 28.
Expectations are high for the Google Chromecast Ultra 2, the rumored 2nd Generation 4K streaming device from Google that follows in the footsteps of the amazing Chromecast Ultra.
Rumors of the new Google Chromecast Ultra device were compounded recently, when photos of the dongle were circulated by XDA and XDA Recognized Developer deadman96385, who found an ‘out-of-box experience’ video for the device (codenamed Sabrina) in a pre-release Chromecast firmware build.
If the rumors are true, the Chromecast Ultra 2 could offer two things we’ve never seen on any Chromecast product before – Android TV and a fully functional remote control.
You see, while Chromecast has always been the best platform to Cast to from your phone or tablet, we’ve never seen a full, robust smart platform on the device with its own apps and app store, and that’s what could be coming in the next generation.
So what do you need to know about the Chromecast Ultra 2? We’ve broken down all the rumors below so you can brush up before its potential unveiling at the next Google event, which is set to take place on July 8.
Cut to the chase
What is it? A 4K HDR streaming dongle with a remote and Android TV built-in
When is it out? Possibly July 8, but that's TBC.
How much will it cost? Likely around $80 (£60/AU$120)
Chromecast Ultra 2 price and release date
Most of the information we have about the Chromecast Ultra 2 comes from a source who spoke confidentially to 9to5Google who claims to know about the device.
While said source couldn’t pinpoint a launch date, based on an FCC filing by Google for a new remote, it sounds like we could see the streamer sooner rather than later – and with a Google smart home event set to take place on July 8, the new Chromecast Ultra could be with us in a matter of weeks.
Hmmmm... a Google Remote for an unknown device just passed through the FCC... https://t.co/nz0xBG8AtL pic.twitter.com/6gEQ35nR7gMarch 10, 2020
Google has been pretty consistent with its release dates and pricing for its Chromecast products: almost all of them release in the fall months for the northern hemisphere (September through November) and cost well under $100 (£80 / AU$150).
Early reports say that the device is expected to cost $80 (around £60 / AU$120) in order to compete with the Roku Streaming Stick Plus and Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, but again, this is all a moving target as Google finalizes its 2020 product launches.
Chromecast Ultra 2 design rumors
We have a pretty good idea of what the new Google Chromecast Ultra will look like, after photos of the dongle were circulated by XDA and XDA Recognized Developer deadman96385, who found an ‘out-of-box experience’ video for the device (codenamed Sabrina) in a pre-release Chromecast firmware build.
Based on the images, Google’s new streaming dongle has taken on an oblong shape, but retains many of the same design cues from previous versions – namely the embossed G in the middle of the device and the all-matte colored exterior.
Photos for the device show it in three different colors – white, black and peach – as well as the anticipated Android TV remote with a circular navigation wheel popping up in one of the photos as well.
The remote's design also gives us a few clues about the device, like the fact that it will be HDMI-CEC compatible, allowing you to raise the volume on your TV or mute the TV with the pack-in control. The remote also has a Google Assistant button which implies that it will have a microphone built-in as well.
Inside, it’s likely that Google will upgrade the processor to something a bit more current than the processor it plugged into the 2016 Chromecast Ultra but exact specs are TBD. The closest approximation of what the Chromecast Ultra 2 could be rocking under the hood comes from the ADT-3 developer device that Google released in 2019 that has a quad-core A53 processor and 2GB of DDR3 memory, with support for HDMI 2.1.
One of the images of the new Google Chromecast, uncovered by XDA.(Image credit: XDA Developers)
Chromecast Ultra 2 feature rumors
All the rumors so far point to an interface that’s going to be the latest version of Android TV (version 10, if you’re keeping track).
Admittedly, the latest version of the software wasn’t a massive improvement for the platform and mostly focused on some back-end improvements in the way of security and reliability, but Google is constantly experimenting with new row ideas and isn’t afraid to roll out major overhauls mid-release like it’s done in the past.
If you’ve never used it, however, Android TV tries to show you a buffet of content from different sources: the top row is your most regularly-used apps, with several rows underneath that follow content recommendation snippets for each of the main services.
In terms of supported services, all the main players are available on current Android TV devices – Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Vudu, HBO, Twitch, Hulu, Sling TV, Crackle, EPIX and many, many more are all available, and on the Nvidia Shield, two of those services offer Dolby Vision streaming (it’s Netflix and Vudu) which means that we could see the same functionality on the Chromecast Ultra 2 if it decides to go the full fat Android TV route.
(Image credit: XDA Developers)
Besides the quality of life enhancements offered by Android TV, a new Chromecast Ultra device could definitely tap into the Nest ecosystem should Google decide to go down that path. Android TV already has a fair amount of smart home integration using Google Assistant, and there's always a chance that Google could re-brand the streaming device under its Nest banner like it did with the Google Nest Mini.
We think the new Google Chromecast will offer support for Dolby Vision, too. While neither XDA nor the XDA developer that leaked the Chromecast photos could provide a ton of details on the specs of the platform based off the source code, the publication did find out that it will be running an Amlogic SoC that can support Dolby Vision playback.
Considering that the original Google Chromecast Ultra supported 4K HDR10 streaming, it would make sense for Google to up the ante here with Dolby’s more powerful format this time around.
Finally, we can’t shutdown the rumor mill without talking about support for Google Stadia, the company’s cloud gaming service that it launched in 2019.
Considering that the service launched on the original Chromecast Ultra, there’s little doubt in our minds that we’ll see the service again make an appearance on the Chromecast Ultra 2 and will be compatible with the Stadia Controller.
Writing top-quality code may be about to get a whole lot easier thanks to a new release from Amazon Web Services.
AWS has announced the launch of CodeGuru, a programming tool that uses machine learning to squash bugs, fix errors and suggest improvements in lines of code.
The company says that CodeGuru can provide huge savings in terms of productivity and efficiency, freeing up workers from spending hours trawling through individual lines of code or application logs in order to try and spot errors.
The platform includes two main tools that AWS says should help developers across a number of industries.
As mentioned above Amazon CodeGuru Reviewer can help to improve code quality by scanning for critical issues, identifying bugs, and recommending how best to remediate them. The platform has been trained on several decades of code reviews at Amazon.com and over ten thousand open-source projects on GitHub, giving it extensive knowledge on a large number of common issues.
Amazon CodeGuru Profiler helps developers find an application’s most expensive lines of code, providing specific visualizations and recommendations on how to improve this code to save money and make their processes more efficient. Amazon says it used the system to make previous Prime Day shopping events run smoothly, seeing huge increases in CPU efficiency and lowering costs.
“Our customers develop and run a lot of applications that include millions and millions of lines of code. Ensuring the quality and efficiency of that code is incredibly important, as bugs and inefficiencies in even a few lines of code can be very costly. Today, the methods for identifying code quality issues are time-consuming, manual, and error-prone, especially at scale,” said Swami Sivasubramanian, Vice President, Amazon Machine Learning at AWS.
“CodeGuru combines Amazon’s decades of experience developing and deploying applications at scale with considerable machine learning expertise to give customers a service that improves software quality, delights their customers with better application performance, and eliminates their most expensive lines of code.”
Amazon CodeGuru is available today in a number of AWS regions acros the US, EU and Asia, with availability in additional regions coming soon.
The news comes shortly after the release of Amazon Honeycode, a no-code app development program that lets users create mobile and web apps with no programming required.
Amazon Honeycode provides users with a web-based visual app builder that the company says takes a lot of the complications out of development, with the platform built on the power of AWS.
The role of technology and its integration within the organisations are evolving at a faster pace and entities are deploying software robots or bots to do the business processes much faster in a bid to keep business continuity due to Covid-19.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA), the use of software with artificial intelligence (AI) tools to automate high-volume and repetitive manual tasks in the enterprise sector that previously required human input, is one of the biggest disruptions happening at the workplace.
Milan Sheth, Executive Vice-President for India, Middle East and Africa at Silicon Valley-based Automation Anywhere, told TechRadar Middle East, that there are three sectors in the Middle East where there is a tremendous uptake - government-owned enterprises, financial services, energy and utility sectors but healthcare and life sciences are seeing an increase due to Covid-19.
However, retail and travel-related businesses have slowed down due to the pandemic.
Automation Anywhere is one of the three biggest RPA companies in the world, alongside UiPath and Blue Prism.
RPA helps enterprises raise their productivity, compliance and process efficiency levels; Sheth said and added that Automation Anywhere will be the largest digital employer in the world [with 3m bots] by the middle of next year from the current 2.1m.
“We have built products to automate the workforce for a modern enterprise. Between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, there will be more and more demand for expanding the digital workforce. It will create more jobs locally and instead of offshoring, you are bringing it back using technology and deliver productivity,” he said.
“Now, digital transformation is a CEO agenda and it is no longer a CIO agenda. The best businesses that had a digital way of operating had continued their operations even in bad times. Everybody has realised that it is not just needed for business continuity but also to create a better customer experience,” Milan Sheth, Executive Vice-President for India, Middle East and Africa at Automation Anywhere, said.(Image credit: Automation Anywhere)
MEA spending to increase four-fold
Manish Ranjan, Program Manager for Software and Cloud at IDC, said, that spending on RPA solutions in the Middle East and Africa region will represent an almost four-fold increase and a strong annual growth rate of 33% for a five year forecast period of 2019 to 2024.
He added that spending on RPA in the UAE is expected to grow 44.8% year on year in 2020 to reach over $11 million.
According to a latest IDC CIO survey, about 36% of CIOs said they are going to spend more on RPA in 2020 compared to their pre-Covid-19 plans.
During the current pandemic, Ranjan said that one of the key business priorities for both public and private sector is to ensure business continuity by providing better services, improved customer experience, enhanced collaboration across departments and improved business process automation. RPA can contribute to each of these priorities, by enhancing efficiency and agility across the organisation, he said.
According to a survey conducted by Automation Anywhere in over 20 countries across India, the Middle East and emerging markets in Africa, 80% of business owners plan to invest in digital technologies to build resiliency in their future business plans while 70% of executives expect 50% of their current work to move digital as a response to the current situation and more than 50% expect to invest in intelligent automation in this financial year to power their digital transformation mandate.
Intelligent Process Automation or intelligent automation is an upgrade of RPA and provides not only a rule-based but also judgement-based automation which is based on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).
RPA is rule-based task automation where the rules are defined by the user and can read structured data very well and brings speed while cognitive brings the ability to read unstructured data.
(Image credit: Future)
Big jump in digital transformation
Manish Ranjan, Program Manager for Software and Cloud at research firm IDC, said that as deployments of AI and cognitive solutions based on machine learning increase, demand for intelligent solutions capable of self-learning and self-healing will rise from organisations looking to enable true digital transformation.(Image credit: IDC)
“Now, digital transformation is a CEO agenda and it is no longer a CIO agenda. The best businesses that had a digital way of operating had continued their operations even in bad times. Everybody has realised that it is not just needed for business continuity but also to create a better customer experience,” Sheth said.
Ranjan said that as deployments of AI and cognitive solutions based on machine learning increase, demand for intelligent solutions capable of self-learning and self-healing will rise from organisations looking to enable true digital transformation.
There is increasing adoption of RPA globally, he said and added that the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is no different.
“Process-intensive departments such as finance and accounting, customer support, quality and process improvement, HR, and sales are the key business functions where RPA can be most effective. For the government sector, RPA is of paramount importance for customer/citizen care, and quality and process improvement,” he said.
Similarly, within healthcare, he said that RPA is being used to manage the influx of patient appointments, managing healthcare workflow and healthcare cycle, streamlining claim processes, speeding up the processing of various information and data entry etc.
The only thing that is unique in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries when compared to other regions, Sheth said is that governments are extremely citizen-oriented, particularly the UAE and Saudi Arabia. So, a lot of “citizen services” will also get digitalised.
“We have seen a big jump in digital transformation and with that, RPA and cognitive is going to take off in a big way. Cognitive automation is to handle unstructured data such as those residing in papers, emails and PDFs. Because people are not physically present in the office, digital documents are validated straight away on to the system. This has caught on in the Middle East,” he said.
Building digital workers
Because of Covid-19, Sheth said that RPA is seen not as a replacement of human workers but as resiliency and most of the big banks’ operations did not suffer during the pandemic because they had bots as backups.
Moreover, he said that RPA will evolve and intelligent process automation will eventually lead to digital workers.
By 2023 or 2024, Sheth said that they will be building digital workers doing end-to-end work for a company or a function and that is the end goal.
The ability to integrate legacy systems is the key driver for RPA projects and the biggest adopters are banks, insurance companies, telcos, utility and energy companies.
However, Sheth said that they deliberately avoided working with telcos because it does not serve its strategy.
“When you are tying up with someone, it should solve a problem. The problem in the Middle East today is to solve unstructured data as there are documents in multiple languages and that problem cannot be fixed in the cloud. The problems on the ground have to be solved first and once it is fully automated, then it can be put on to the cloud and that is where telco partnerships will come into play,” he said.
Automation Anywhere has tied up with AWS data centre in Bahrain, so that businesses can run bots from the cloud rather than from on-premise.
Globally, it has tied up with AWS and Microsoft for data hosting.
Compared to other parts of the world, Sheth said that the Middle East is very transaction oriented, such as trading transactions and consumer transactions.
“It is a consumer industry rather than a B2B industry. Financial services, retail, travel and hospitality have a high number of transactions, high number of consumer touchpoints and we are now focusing on that,” he said.
The Softbank-backed firm opened its regional headquarters in Dubai last year has plans to open offices in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh but Sheth said that Covid-19 has changed the timelines.
“Whenever an economic activity is back to normal, we will open offices,” he said.
Globally, they have more than 4,000 business groups as clients and 1,900 partners.
In the GCC, excluding Qatar, Automation Anywhere has close to 200 business groups as clients and out of that, more than 100 are from the UAE.
By 2021, Sheth expects to have 300 business groups, with 40% clients each from Saudi Arabia and the UAE and the rest 20% from other GCC countries.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the biggest markets for the company.
