Technology

San Francisco, Sep 23 (IANS) Tech giant Apple has asked its supplier Foxconn to retool some iPhone 14 production lines in order to accommodate the iPhone 14 Pro models, media reports say.

According to AppleInsider, Zhengzhou has dismantled at least five workshops at Apple's request, according to a report citing "incomplete statistics".

Changes in production lines match a report in which analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Foxconn was switching production lines for the iPhone 14 over to the iPhone 14 Pro models.

Kuo said this is a shipment increase of roughly 10 per cent for these devices in calendar quarter four of 2022.

Data from multiple sources point to solid demand for the iPhone 14 Pro models, with the Pro Max being the most popular, the report said.

In the US, iPhone 14 Pro Max has the longest lead time of any model released in the last six years at similar times after debut, at 36.5 days, according to investment bank Morgan Stanley.

Data from investment bank JP Morgan shows strong demand for the iPhone 14 Pro, saying it has a 35-day average delivery time and the iPhone 14 Pro Max is 41 days.

The reason is likely the newer features in the iPhone 14 Pro models. They get the new A16 Bionic chip, a 48MP camera, an always-on display, and more.

--IANS
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San Francisco, Sep 23 (IANS) Facebook users have sued its parent company Meta in the US for allegedly tracking them via an in-app browser on iOS devices despite tough Apple privacy policies in place.

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, alleged that Meta follows users' online activity by "funneling them into the web browser built into Facebook and injecting JavaScript into the sites they visit".

According to a TechCrunch report, that code makes it possible for the company to monitor "every single interaction with external websites".

Apple introduced a major iOS privacy update via iOS 14.5 last year to stop third-party apps like Facebook from tracking user behaviour and their browsing history via App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature.

However, according to the lawsuit, Meta snooped on users "through a workaround".

The proposed class-action lawsuit "could allow anyone affected to sign on, which in Facebook's case might mean hundreds of millions of US users," the report said late on Thursday.

According to it, Meta is not only violating Apple's policies, but also breaking privacy laws at the state and federal level.

A Meta spokesperson said in a statement that the allegations were "without merit" and it will fight them in the court.

"We have carefully designed our in-app browser to respect users' privacy choices, including how data may be used for ads," the spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has admitted that Apple iOS privacy changes will cost the company a whopping $10 billion in 2022.

Meta has also accused Apple of favouring Google over app-based platforms like Facebook with its privacy policies.

"We believe those restrictions from Apple are designed in a way to carve out browsers from the tracking Apple requires for apps. So what that means is that search ads could have access to far more third party data, for measurement and optimisation purposes, than app-based ad platforms like ours," according to Meta.

--IANS
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San Francisco, Sep 23 (IANS) Tech giant Apple has released a new update -- iOS 16.0.2 -- that addresses a variety of bugs for users, including the iPhone 14 Pro camera shaking bug.

The new update comes two weeks after the launch of iOS 16, and it follows iOS 16.0.1, an update made available to iPhone 14 owners on launch day, reports MacRumors.

The update is available for all iPhones that are capable of running iOS 16, the report said.

According to Apple's release notes, iOS 16.0.2 addresses several bugs impacting the iPhone 14 models and other iPhones running iOS 16.

It addresses an issue that could cause the camera to vibrate and shake in third-party camera apps, it fixes a bug that led to repeated copy and paste popups, and it resolves a problem causing the display to appear black during setup.

It also fixes an issue that caused some iPhone X, XR, and iPhone 11 models with replaced displays to become unresponsive after updating to iOS 16.

All of these bugs were found shortly after the new iPhones launched, the report said.

The camera vibration issue is one of the more serious bugs as it causes the rear camera to shake uncontrollably when filming a video on apps like Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram.

--IANS
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Bengaluru, Sep 22 (IANS) Global technology brand OnePlus on Thursday unveiled an exciting range of offers across its product portfolio for the festive season this Diwali, including the OnePlus 10R Prime Blue 5G Edition that will be available with lucrative offers.

With 5G rollout in the coming months, OnePlus said it is encouraging consumers to upgrade to the 5G experience with its devices across competitive price points.

OnePlus 10R 5G Prime Blue is introduced at Rs 32,999 on Amazon.in. Customers can also avail an instant bank discount up to Rs 3,000 on the device via SBI Credit Cards, said the company.

In addition, customers will get an additional instant cashback of Rs 500 via Amazon Pay on all prepaid payments with the purchase of the OnePlus 10R Prime Edition (for Amazon Prime members).

Amazon users who purchase the OnePlus 10R Prime Blue 5G Edition can also avail of a three-month Amazon Prime subscription for free.

"OnePlus and iOS users can also exchange their older smartphones to avail an additional exchange offer of Rs 3,000 on Prime Blue edition on Amazon.in," the company informed.

Users can purchase the OnePlus 10R Prime Blue Edition with up to 9 months No Cost EMI on Axis Bank Card transactions.

The OnePlus 10 Pro receives a special festive price of Rs 61,999 and Rs 66,999 for the 8/128 GB variant and 12/256 GB variant, respectively.

For the gamer community, the OnePlus 10R 5G also receives a festive season price of Rs 32,999.

Additionally, customers can also avail an instant bank discount of Rs 6,000 on OnePlus 10 Pro, Rs 5,000 on the OnePlus 10T 5G and Rs 3,000 on OnePlus 10R 5G.

"OnePlus and iOS users can exchange their older smartphones to avail an additional exchange offer of Rs 10,000 on OnePlus 10 Pro 5G, Rs 3,000 on OnePlus 10R 5G and Rs 5,000 on the OnePlus 10T 5G," the company said.

OnePlus has also brought a plethora of attractive offers on TVs.

Customers can now purchase the OnePlus TV Y1 at the starting price of Rs 10,499 (OnePlus TV 32Y1) post discounts and the OnePlus TV Y1S Pro series starting at Rs 23,499 after the discounts. OnePlus also announced offers on U and Q series TVs as well.

Customers buying OnePlus TV 55Q1 and OnePlus TV 55Q1 Pro can avail a discount of Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000, respectively.

With special discounts on the OnePlus ecosystem, customers can also enjoy offers across the OnePlus audio and wearables as well, said the company.

The 18W Freezing Point Phone Cooler will be available this festive season at Rs 3,299.

Customers can avail a festive season discount of Rs 2,500 on the OnePlus Buds Pro, and an additional instant bank discount of Rs 1,000 via SBI Credit Card on Amazon.in and Axis Bank Cards and EMI transactions on OnePlus.in, OnePlus Store App, OnePlus Experience Store, and partners stores.

Users can avail a discount of Rs 400 and Rs 500 on purchase of OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 and OnePlus Buds Z2, respectively.

Axis Bank cardholders can avail up to Rs 4,000 discount on the OnePlus Nord 2T 5G and SBI Credit cardholders can avail upto INR 4,000 discount on the OnePlus Nord 2T 5G on Amazon.in.

Nord Buds buyers can avail an instant discount of Rs 500 on OnePlus.in, OnePlus Store App, Amazon.in, Flipkart and offline partner stores.

Nord Buds CE can be purchased with an instant discount of Rs 400 while Nord Wired earphones come with Rs 200 discounts, said the company.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) With an aim to woo users, homegrown mobile accessories brand Gizmore on Thursday launched a new smartwatch -- GIZFIT Glow -- that comes with many new features along with a stylish design.

Priced at Rs 2,499, the next-generation smartwatch, with an Always on AMOLED display, will be available during Flipkart's Big Billion Days (BBD) Sale.

"This festive season, we want to bring to our customers a smartwatch that is sure to delight both their hearts and wallets," Sanjay Kumar Kalirona, CEO and Co-founder, Gizmore, said in a statement.

"The GIZFIT Glow smartwatch with an Always-on AMOLED display is a game changer in the segment. We thrive on engineering products that add value to our customers' lives and help them better understand their overall health and wellness," Kalirona added.

The large 1.37-inch circular display adds to the visual appeal and is well matched with a premium leather strap. It has a well-lit AMOLED screen that has 420X420 resolution, which offers sunlight visibility along with clear and sharp pictures. Productive and easy-to-use Gizfit Glow is also packed with an intelligent split screen offering quick access to frequently accessed functions. Navigating through GIZFIT Glow is breezy and fun, thanks to the rotating crown controls.

The company claimed that it comes with exceptional battery life along with multi-sport functions. Additionally, it has an IP68 certification, which makes it water-, sweat- and dust-proof. GIZFIT Glow often offers unlimited watch faces and customisations for those who seek newness.

With a button press, you can directly access the sports mode and double tap to change the UI. GIZFIT Glow can be controlled by voice as it supports Google Voice Assistant and Apple Siri.

The watch features SpO2 monitor, heart rate monitor, blood pressure monitor, stress monitor, sleep tracker and female health tracker and meditative breathing feature, to name a few. It is also equipped with several sports modes that allow you to capture all the fitness data comprehensively.

GIZFIT Glow has a Bluetooth calling feature that allows you to dial and receive calls directly from the watch. It also has a built-in microphone and speaker that offers crystal clear clarity. Once paired, you can also control your music now from the watch.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) Microsoft has made it official to launch next line-up of Surface laptops on October 12, that are likely to include a new 2-in-1 device called the Surface Pro 9 as well as Surface Laptop 5.

The "Microsoft Fall 2022 Event" plans to "talk about?devices", according to the company.

Microsoft hasn't organised any in-person Surface event since the pandemic and this time, it again looks like an online event.

The company is also organising its flaghsip Ignite event around the same dates.

According to reports, both the Surface laptops are likely to come with 12th Gen Intel CPUs, up to 1 TB storage and up to 16GB of RAM.

Microsoft is planning two new colour variants for Surface Pro 9 - Forest and Sapphire.

The Surface Pro 9 may cost 1,300 euros in the cheapest version (Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD) and Surface Laptop 5 with 13.5-inch display may cost at least 1,200 euros, while the larger 15-inch model may start from 1,500 euros, says German portal WinFuture.

The Surface Pro9 is set to be equipped with the latest Intel processors from the "Alder Lake" family.

"Specifically, our sources cite the Intel Core i5-1235U as the base model platform, while the Intel Core i7-1255U is used in the better equipped and more expensive versions of Microsoft's 2-in-1 tablet," the report claimed.

The top models of the Surface Pro 9 have the Intel Core i7-1255U, which offers an identical number of "P" and "E" cores.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 21 (IANS) Microsoft is geared up to launch its next line-up of Surface laptops next month, including a new 2-in-1 device called the Surface Pro 9 as well as Surface Laptop 5.

Both the Surface laptops are likely to come with 12th Gen Intel CPUs, up to 1 TB storage and up to 16GB of RAM, reports German portal WinFuture.

"Microsoft is currently preparing the launch of the Surface Pro 9 and the Surface Laptop 5 , which are likely to be presented at a hardware event by the company around mid-October," the report mentioned.

Microsoft is planning two new colour variants for Surface Pro 9 - Forest and Sapphire.

The Surface Pro 9 may cost 1,300 euros in the cheapest version (Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD) and Surface Laptop5 with 13.5-inch display may cost at least 1,200 euros, while the larger 15-inch model may start from 1,500 euros.

The Surface Pro9 is set to be equipped with the latest Intel processors from the "Alder Lake" family.

"Specifically, our sources cite the Intel Core i5-1235U as the base model platform, while the Intel Core i7-1255U is used in the better equipped and more expensive versions of Microsoft's 2-in-1 tablet," the report claimed.

The top models of the Surface Pro 9 have the Intel Core i7-1255U, which offers an identical number of "P" and "E" cores.

Compared to the Core i7-1185G7 from the Surface Pro 8, up to 12 per cent more single-core performance should be possible according to benchmarks, said the report.

The Surface Laptop 5 will have the same CPU variants and offer a similar storage configuration. The Intel Core i5-1235U and the Intel Core i7-1255U from the "Alder Lake" series are expected in this device too.

--IANS
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San Francisco, Sep 21 (IANS) Tech giant Microsoft has announced that it is now rolling out the latest version of Windows 11 -- Windows 11 2022 update -- in more than 190 countries.

The company said the new update will expand Amazon App Store Preview to international markets, built-in Game Pass for Windows 11, new accessibility features, advanced security updates, and much more.

"Our launch approach to Windows 11 leverages our well-established update systems and processes. The measured and phased rollout will offer the update via Windows Update when data shows that your device is ready, as our objective is to provide a quality update experience," John Cable, Vice President, Program Management, Windows Servicing and Delivery, said in a blogpost.

"We will initially ramp up the offering availability in the first weeks as we monitor quality signals. If we detect that your device may have an issue, such as an application incompatibility, we may put a safeguard hold in place and not offer the update until that issue is resolved," Cable added.

Eligible users can choose to install the new update by opening Windows Update settings and selecting Check for updates.

The company said it is announcing a new set of experiences including the Tabbed File explorer, considered a component of the 2022 Update for all editions, which will be ready this October.

Microsoft mentioned that it has planned a phased rollout timed with the October optional non-security preview release for these features and then they will be made broadly available in the November 2022 security update release.

It has also reduced the download size of feature updates by 450MB for many users.

"We have also reduced download and installation time of the monthly cumulative update, as well as reclaimed hundreds of megabytes of disk footprint to give back to the user. Learn more about these improvements," the company said.

--IANS
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San Francisco, Sep 21 (IANS) Google has announced a new feature that will allow users to buy train tickets in Search in select countries, which will be available in more countries soon.

The users in Germany, Spain, Italy and Japan can now shop for train tickets directly on Google Search, for travel in and around select countries.

Google said it has embedded sustainability into its travel tools.

"For some trips, taking a train might be the more sustainable option, but finding the prices and schedules to get from A to B can take a few separate searches," said Richard Holden, VP of Travel Products at Google.

"Starting today, you can now shop for train tickets directly on Google Search, for travel in and around select countries - including Germany, Spain, Italy and Japan," he mentioned in a blog post late on Tuesday.

Just query something like "Berlin to Vienna trains" and you'll see a new module in the search results that lets you choose your departure date and compare the available options.

Once you select the train that works best, there's a direct link to complete your booking on the partner's website.

"This feature will expand to more locations as we work with other rail providers. We also plan to begin testing a similar feature for bus tickets in the near future to broaden your choices for intercity travel," said Holden.

Moreover, with new filters for both flights and hotels, it's easier to find more sustainable options on Google Search, he added.

--IANS
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Montevideo, Sep 21 (IANS) Veteran striker Luis Suarez is in talks about a possible move to the U.S. Major League soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy, according to media reports in Uruguay.

The 35-year-old's contract with Montevideo outfit Nacional is due to expire in November, meaning he would be free to join the Californian side as a free agent the following month.

Media reports said the Galaxy viewed Suarez as an ideal replacement for Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, who is expected to leave the club in December, reports Xinhua.

Nacional president Jose Fuentes confirmed on Tuesday that the former Liverpool and Barcelona player would not extend his existing contract.

"When the (current) championship ends, Luis Suarez will leave Nacional. I am not going to generate false expectations," Fuentes told the Punto Penal television program.

Suarez has scored four goals and provided three assists in 10 matches since rejoining his original club as a free agent in July.

--IANS

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