Where to buy the Xiaomi Mi A1 in India

The Mi A1 is limited to flash sales, but you can walk into a retail store and pick up the phone.

Xiaomi has dominated the budget phone segment in India, and its latest phone, the Mi A1, is particularly interesting. Google teamed up with Xiaomi to re-launch the Android One initiative, with the Mi A1 being the first phone from the Chinese brand to run stock Android. A small subset of Xiaomi fans have been clamoring for such a device for some time now, and with the Mi A1, we finally have a phone that marriers Xiaomi’s evocative design with a clean uncluttered software experience.

As a refresher, the Mi A1 offers a 5.5-inch Full HD panel, Snapdragon 625, 4GB of RAM, 64GB storage, microSD slot, dual 12MP camera with a primary lens backed by a telephoto lens, 5MP front shooter, IR sensor, and a 3080mAh battery. It comes with Android 7.1.2 Nougat out of the box, and Xiaomi has committed to delivering the Oreo update before the end of the year.

With the Mi A1, Xiaomi is once again relying on its flash sales model. The phone will be going up for sale once a week at a predetermined time. The first sale kicked off at 12 p.m. on September 12, and the second sale is on September 19, once again at 12 p.m. Given the sheer amount of interest in Xiaomi’s phones (and the Mi A1 in particular), you’ll want to make sure you’re signed in to Mi.com before the sale kicks off for a chance to be able to score a unit. With Xiaomi aggressively targeting the offline segment, there are other avenues to pick up the Mi A1.

Flipkart

Flipkart is Xiaomi’s online partner for the Mi A1. The site is offering the Mi A1 in both black and gold color options, but you’ll have to wait until the flash sale kicks off every week to get your hands on a unit. It looks like Xiaomi will have a fresh batch of units up for sale every Tuesday at 12 p.m.

As always, there are plenty of financing options available, and you’ll be able to pick up the Mi A1 for as low as ₹728 a month. If you have an Axis Bank Buzz credit card, you’ll get a 5% discount.

See at Flipkart

Xiaomi

Alongside Flipkart, Xiaomi will sell the Mi A1 on its own Mi.com portal. You’ll once again have to wait for a flash sale to be able to get your hands on the phone, and Xiaomi is selling the Mi A1 in both the black and gold color options. The rose gold variant will be making its debut in a few weeks.

If you’re looking to buy direct from Xiaomi, then a good bet is to have the Mi Store app installed. The app works much better when you’re trying to hit the “buy” button the second a flash sale kicks off, and you’re likely to encounter less timeout errors.

If you don’t want to go through the rigmarole of a flash sale, then you can head to the Mi Home store to get your hands on the Mi A1. The only problem, however, is that there are just five Mi Home stores in the country as of now, but if you’re living in Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, or Hyderabad, you’ll be able to walk into a Mi Home outlet and pick up the Mi A1. Location details of all the Mi Home stores in India are available here. If you don’t live in a city that has the Mi Home store, you can visit a Mi Preferred Partner store.

See at Mi.com

Partner stores

Xiaomi currently has over nearly 700 Mi Preferred Partner stores across 11 cities, including Bangalore, Delhi, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Mumbai, and Hyderabad. You can walk into any of these retail outlets and pick up the Mi A1.

Xiaomi is set to add more stores in the coming months, with the brand committing to launching 1,000 stores before the end of the year. If you don’t see a store in your city just yet, you may want to look at third-party sites that list retail stores in your locale. You’ll likely end up paying ₹500 more to get your hands on a unit, however.

Where did you buy your Mi A1 from? Let us know in the comments below.

Google unveils Tez, a secure mobile payment system for India

There’s a new mobile payment service in India, and it’s directly from Google.

Google has unveiled a new mobile payments system for its growing Indian customer base called Tez that attempts to work with the country’s growing UPI standard to reach millions of customers overnight.

Long rumored to be developing a custom mobile payment solution for the unique demands of the Indian market, which is largely made up of inexpensive Android phones without NFC (precluding the use of Android Pay and other like services), Tez uses the UPI standard that has already been adopted by over 50 banks throughout the country.

Tez, which is also available for iOS on day one, links one or more bank accounts to a user’s phone, allowing him or her to pay in-store and send money directly to other people. There’s built-in two-factor authentication, too, so users don’t have to fear being scammed.

While Google is working with merchants like redBus and Domino’s to allow for payments of products and services, it has also unveiled an API that will allow all merchants to support Tez down the road. Tez also has a gamified section called Scratch Cards that allow users to randomly win money whenever they use the service.

Finally, Tez supports most major Indian languages, including English, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu.

It’s unclear whether users pay fees to use the service, or whether merchants will eat the costs similar to hosting credit card terminals, but Google clearly intends for this to be a very consumer-friendly product, so it may be subsidizing some of those costs for merchants at the beginning.

While Tez is only launching in India today, Google may be bringing the service to other countries in Asia, like Indonesia and Philippines, according to Techcrunch.

Do you plan to use Tez in India? Let us know in the comments below!

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ wins big for Hulu at the Emmy Awards

The Handmaid’s Tale continues to be an awards magnet for Hulu. The show won the coveted “Outstanding Drama Series” Emmy Award tonight — a first for any streaming offering — following five other major triumphs throughout the ceremony. And that’s on top of snapping up three Creative Arts Emmys during a smaller celebration last week. The Handmaid’s Tale is Hulu’s biggest series yet, and its success shows the value a streaming network can get from producing their own programming. It’s no wonder Hulu is planning to spend $2.5 billion on original content this year.

As for other awards tonight, The Handmaid’s Tale star Elisabeth Moss walked away with “Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama” win, while Alexis Bledel nabbed the “Guest Actress” trophy for the series. Additionally, the show also trounced the competition when it came to best directing (Reed Morano), writing (Bruce Miller), and supporting actress (Ann Dowd).

Given that these are all major categories, it’s clear that The Handmaid’s Tale has proven that Hulu is now a streaming force to be reckoned with. Its win for “Outstanding Drama” was particularly surprising, since it was going against beloved series like This is Us and Westworld, as well as Netflix’s The Crown, Stranger Things and House of Cards. And yes, it’s also intriguing that streaming shows far outnumber the competition in that category.

Netflix still led with overall wins this year, though, after scoring 16 Creative Emmy Awards last week. Tonight, British import Black Mirror won two awards for the incredible San Junipero episode: “Outstanding TV Movie” and “Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or Special.” The latter is a notable win for the show’s creator, Charlie Brooker, who initially caught some flack for bringing the series to Netflix. Finally, Aziz Ansari and Lena Waith picked up the “Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series” award for Master of None.

Noticeably absent from the stage this year? Amazon. Its Emmy mainstay Mozart in the Jungle won a Creative Arts Emmy, along with the short form series Dropping the Soap. But Amazon’s big Emmy magnet, Transparent, came away empty, despite three nominations. (Honestly, the last season of the show wasn’t anything special.)

Source: Emmy Awards

DNA ‘robots’ could sort molecules in your blood

Robots are already good at sorting things, so wouldn’t it be nice if they could sort things out on a much smaller scale? They might soon. Caltech researchers have developed a ‘robot’ made from a single DNA strand that autonomously picks up molecules and moves them to specific places. It certainly doesn’t look like a machine (what you’re seeing above is merely representative), it behaves like one. Each segment is a collection of nucleotides that automatically performs a specific task: one segment tells the bot where to go, while separate limbs help it move around and grab molecules.

The trick is to choose nucleotides that produce specific reactions in DNA, such as zipping (merging) or unzipping (splitting). As you can estimate how much energy it takes for those actions and the size of the strands, you can customize how quickly the bot moves.

At the moment, the DNA robots have only moved on a nano-sized peg board where it’s easy to track where they go. Also, it can take a day for a robot to travel every corner of one of those boards — efficient, but not very timely. In the long term, though, these genetic automatons could be vital in medicine and other fields. The team envisions nanorobots delivering drugs in your bloodstream when they’re triggered by signals or synthesizing therapies in molecular ‘factories.’ They could even help the environment by sorting molecules in recycling. In short: it’s flexible enough that you could eventually have a legion of invisible, microscopic helpers.

Via: Phys.org

Source: Caltech (1), (2)

Sony X930E TV unboxing and setup: Get your new big screen ready to watch

Near the top of Sony’s LED lineup sits the Sony X930E TV — just behind the Sony X940E TV. The X930E comes in 55-inch and 65-inch sizes and features smart home device integration. To make it easier to get this TV ready for viewing, we have created a video explaining the Sony X930E TV unboxing and setup. Follow along with the video to get tips and tricks for setting up your TV.

Unboxing tips

When you begin to set up your Sony X930E TV, open the top of the box first because that is where a handy setup guide is located.

What’s in the box

• TV stand
• Stand legs
• Screws
• Wall spacers
• Power brick
• Power cable
• IR blaster
• Remote
• Batteries
• Decorative panels

Items not included

Several items are not included with the TV. You will need to buy HDMI cables to connect your TV to other devices. The easiest way to ensure you have the proper HDMI cables is to buy the AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI cables at the same time you buy your TV. If you do not buy the AmazonBasics HDMI cable, make sure the cables you use are rated as “high speed,” as they’ll be handling a large amount of 4K HDR data.

While the TV does come with wall spacers, it does not include any of the other necessary equipment for wall mounting a TV. For more information about wall mounting, check out our wall-mounting guide video.

TV setup

Setting up the stand is the first step in assembling the TV. Place the base plate upside down on your knees and attach the legs. There is numerical coding on the legs and base plate, so you know where to attach the legs. Slide the legs on and then secure them in place with the small screws. The TV comes in a protective shroud, so you can carefully place it facedown on a flat surface to make attaching the stand easier. The stand slides into place on the back of the TV and you can secure it in place with the bigger screws.

The next step is to run power to the TV. Find the power brick, then attach the AC cable to the bigger jack. Turn the power brick 180 degrees and you will see the little jack — the custom cable that came in the box goes in there. Now attach the free end of the custom cable to the back of the TV in the recessed bay in the left middle part of the TV.

The Sony X930E also comes with a variety of connections. This doesn’t appear to be the case at first glance because the connections are hidden behind panels on the back of the TV. There are two connection bays on the right of the TV. The main connection bay has three HDMI inputs, one USB input, a land cable input, and an infrared blaster input. The second side bay has one HDMI input and several older legacy connections. Since the connection bays are covered, there is a cable management system to help organize your cables. Run the cables through two black brackets and then through the legs of the TV to the back of your entertainment center. After that, replace the two decorative panels to completely cover the back of the TV.

Design features

Given the slim profile of the TV, it makes sense as to why Sony used a power brick — it helps keep the TV slim. The covers on the back give the TV a sleek look with no obvious ports visible. From the front of the TV, you can see a little bit of a bezel. The bezel is necessary due to Sony’s slim backlight master drive scheme — the bezel covers the outer edges of the system. The narrow pedestal for the TV is a nice feature because you can place this TV on almost any entertainment stand.

Set up connections

When you turn the TV on, the X930E’s Android system will take you through a setup wizard. The first thing you will be asked to do is enter your Wi-Fi password to connect your TV to your internet network. If you have a Google account, you will want to log in. Your Google account is how the TV will track what you like to watch and will enable you to access the different videos, music, and photos you may have connected to your Google account. The TV will also offer to scan for over the air channels connected via an antenna to your TV, or it will program itself to control your cable box.

This TV allows voice search with “OK, Google.” You can also control it with Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant using an Echo device. You can also cast content to this TV from your smart phone, tablet, or PC using Google Cast compatible apps.

Adjusting settings

The color settings on this TV are more than respectable right out of the box. If you select the Cinema home setting under Picture mode, you really don’t need to touch any other picture settings. If you do want the screen to be a little brighter, standard mode is also good.

Optoma UHD60 projector unboxing and setup: Kick your home theater up a notch

The Optoma UHD60 projector is one of the most exciting new products in the audio/visual world of 2017. For less than $2,000, it offers 4K Ultra HD picture with HDR processing — features that even a year ago were costing home theater geeks some serious dough.

With a massive amount of picture customization options, a very bright picture, and a solid number of connectivity options, we’ve been smitten with the UHD60 since the moment we got it functioning in our testing room.

Whether you’re looking for some help with setup, or simply want to make sure the UHD60 has everything you need to integrate it into the next generation of your home theater rig, we’ve got you covered. Check out our Optoma UHD60 Projector unboxing and setup video above, or read below to get a better idea for what’s going on with this cool new projector.

What’s in the box?

Other than the projector itself, the UHD60 comes with:

• A power cable
• An HDMI cable
• A backlit remote
• Batteries for the remote
• A user manual on CD

As with most high-quality projectors, the Optoma UHD60 is a delicate instrument. If you ever want to move the UHD60 around, we recommend holding onto the included box, which uses molded foam pieces to ensure safe transport.

Features and remote

The large white projector features a variety of analog and digital inputs and outputs on its back, including:

• A power input
• RJ-45 and RS232 ports for custom integration into larger setups
• Two HDMI inputs (one HTCP 2.2)
• A VGA input
• 3.5 mm audio input and output jacks
• USB power out
• 12-volt trigger jack
• USB input
• Optical digital audio output

A panel on top of the projector lifts to reveal zoom and lens shift controls, which allow you to make the image bigger or move the lens up or down for perfect centering.

The big lens in the front comes with a nice lens cap for when you’re not using the projector. Once removed, focus can be adjusted just as it would be on a manual camera lens, with a small amount of movement going a long way.

The right side of the Optoma UHD60 offers a few buttons for controlling the projector without the remote, including power and input switching, as well as a menu button and navigation keys. You’re not going to use these very often because the included remote functions much better, but it is nice they are available just in case.

Speaking of the remote, we love how bright the backlight is behind each key, because projectors are typically going in very dark rooms.

The bottom of the projector features screw-able feet for four-way tabletop adjustment, as well as four mounting holes for those who purchase a ceiling mount.

Fine-tuning tips

If you’re planning on using a projector mount for your UHD60, we highly recommend one that offers a fine level of pitch and other controls so that you can get your projector positioned just right.

Once you’ve got your focus and zoom set up manually for a quality image in your space, you’ll want to start with digital adjustments. The remote offers basic controls for brightness and contrast. There’s also a mode button that you’ll want to play around with. We preferred HDR mode — especially with some ambient light in the room. From there, you’re going to want to go to the settings menu and make sure you have the orientation of the image right, especially if you flipped the projector upside down in order to mount it on the ceiling.

You can make sure the image is filling the screen perfectly by using some of the test patterns found in the settings menu.

Finally, you can go into display settings for even finer control adjustment. Many of these go beyond what the basic user will need, but options include wall color, sharpness, color, and tint adjustment — the kinds of things a professional calibrator will use to adjust the image if they are helping you set up your home theater.

5 Hidden iOS 11 features that’ll make your life a little bit easier

With each new iPhone comes another iteration of iOS, and this year’s no different. The latest update — which is set for release alongside the iPhone 8 and later the iPhone X — is chock-full of small refinements and features, such as portrait lighting, an App Store makeover, an emergency SOS feature, and screen recording, just to name a few. The iOS 11 update is pretty expansive, and along with the notable changes coming, there are several hidden iOS 11 features that you might not know about. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Smaller videos and images

If you’re an avid photographer or an aspiring social media star who’s looking to go viral, your iPhone is likely filled to the brim with photos and videos that you probably don’t want to part with. Thankfully, the latest update to iOS 11 utilizes HEVC (high efficiency video codec) video files and HEIF (high efficiency image format) image files. In laymen’s terms, your photos and videos will stay the same quality but will benefit from a smaller file size.

Better storage management

Speaking of storage, iOS 11 has simplified storage management for the better. What used to be called “Storage & iCloud Usage” in the Settings menu is now just “iPhone Storage.” With the name change comes a cleaner layout. You’ll also get recommendations on how to better condense your storage.

If, for example, you have 2GB of messages on your iPhone, you might get a recommendation to upload those messages to iCloud and delete them from your phone. It’s a simple solution to what is a never-ending problem for most people, and we welcome it with open arms.

A built-in QR scanner

You know those weird, black-and-white codes that you see on some signs and business cards? Those are QR Codes, and in order to scan a code in the past, you’d have to download a third-party QR scanner in order for your iPhone to redirect you to the site affiliated with said code.

QR codes are not all that popular (at least not in the United States), but it looks Appl is trying to change that. With iOS 11, you can use your regular camera to scan a QR code, which will take you to the website in question — no third-party app required.

Greater control over when apps have your location

iOS 11 has now added the Location Services option to every app you download. Before this, it was up to the app developer to add the feature, and most wouldn’t. This meant that you’d be stuck with two choices: Never allow the app to access your location, or always let the app access your location, which would quickly drain your phone’s battery.

Thanks to iOS 11, you’ll now always have the “while using the app” option in your Settings, which represents the best of both worlds.

No more ads chasing you around

In the never-ending battle to piss off Google, Safari is once again trying to fend off ads by stopping sites from being able to track you. Sites can track you with cookies, which are affixed to your browser once you visit a page that is of interest to advertisers.

Fortunately, Safari now blocks cookies in iOS 11. This doesn’t mean your browser will be rid of all ads– just the ones that follow you around. This feature might be all for nothing, however, because it looks like Google might’ve figured out a way around this.

Verizon gives the boot to 8,500 rural customers for ‘using too much data’

Why it matters to you

Verizon’s decision to cut off 8,500 customers could mean that many lose cell service altogether.

Verizon may be touting its position as the best network in America, but not all Americans can take advantage of this positioning. The wireless carrier has now confirmed that it has disconnected 8,500 customers in rural parts of the country because they were using too much data. So really, folks who need Verizon and its networks the most are now being cut off.

“Approximately 8,500 customers – using a variety of plans – were notified this month that we would no longer be their service provider after October 17, 2017,” Verizon director of corporate communications Kelly Crummey said. “These customers live in 13 states (Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wisconsin) and in areas outside of where Verizon operates our own network.”

Rumors first began to circulate a few months ago regarding Verizon’s contentious decision to remove customers who were “using too much data,” but at the time, the company noted that only a “small group” of subscribers would be affected, and that the decision was based on expired contracts. But apparently, that wasn’t entirely true.

Local media in parts of Montana and Maine first noted that thousands of local residents were suddenly without service. Many of those who were removed from Verizon’s dockets were paying for the Unlimited data plan, but due to their rural location, were depending largely upon roaming data. Verizon has since confirmed that disconnections applied to both Unlimited and other customers.

The problem, Verizon explained, is that it’s very expensive for the company to pay for their customers’ roaming fees. “Many of the affected consumer lines use a substantial amount of data while roaming on other providers’ networks and the roaming costs generated by these lines exceed what these consumers pay us each month,” Crummey said. But now, customers are being left high and dry. Verizon has notified customers that they either have to switch carriers or lose their numbers by mid-October.

Needless to say, consumers aren’t happy about the decision, especially because Verizon is often the only option in these more remote areas. But Verizon has defended its decision, with Crummey noting, “We are absolutely not abandoning rural customers. Many current customers in this area have lines which do not rack up roaming charges that are higher than what they pay us each month. People who live within the area where Verizon operates its own network are not impacted. Neither are businesses or government accounts which we serve.”

Satellites help predict malaria outbreaks months in advance

Malaria is one of the greatest health threats in tropical regions like the Amazon, but predicting its spread is difficult. While it’s no secret that mosquitoes prefer warm air and standing pools of water, how do you translate that awareness to a large scale? By getting a little help from orbit, apparently. Researchers are using data from NASA satellites (such as the Landsat series) to predict malaria outbreaks by identifying areas where the soil moisture creates prime breeding grounds for the mosquitoes that transmit malaria. They know that floods and deforestation tend to create mosquito-friendly pools of water — compare that with fine-grained models of human behavior (say, loggers or miners who work in wet conditions) and you have a unified system that can anticipate outbreaks about 3 months in advance, right down to individual households.

The satellite-based modeling will need refinement before it’s ready for service, but it could be active within a few years. If so, it might not only help prevent malaria outbreaks through timely responses, but could lead to more efficient ways of fighting the illness. Right now, countries like Peru have to distribute bed nets, sprays and other tools on a very broad level, as they only have a vague idea of where outbreaks are likely to occur. This new model could focus aid on specific neighborhoods, saving resources that could be put to use somewhere else.

Source: NASA

First iPhone 8, Apple TV 4K, and Apple Watch Series 3 Orders Begin Shipping Out to Customers

The first iPhone 8, iPhone Plus, Apple TV 4K, and Apple Watch Series 3 orders began shipping out to customers today ahead of a promised delivery date on Friday, September 22, the official launch date for all of the devices.

Apple hasn’t updated its order statuses from “Preparing for Shipment” just yet, but packages shipping via UPS are already in transit and can be tracked using a UPS My Choice account or in some cases, by reference number on the UPS website after inputting a phone number associated with an order.

As MacRumors forum members have discovered, many iPhone 8 and 8 Plus devices are shipping from Pennsylvania, while some Apple Watch and Apple TV 4K orders are coming from China. Official shipment notifications from Apple should start going out soon. Not all orders are trackable just yet.

Pre-orders for the three devices started on Friday, September 15 at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time, and initial orders shifted to preparing for shipment across Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

While newly released iPhone models often sell out following pre-orders, supplies of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are plentiful. SIM-free and some T-Mobile models are listing shipping dates of one to two weeks for home delivery, but are readily available for in-store pickup. Other models remain in stock.

Launch day supplies in retail stores around the world should also be largely available, and the traditional stock shortages and long lines that we generally see before an iPhone launch aren’t likely to happen with the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.

As for the Apple Watch Series 3 with cellular functionality, that’s harder to come by. LTE Series 3 Apple Watches have largely sold out at this point and won’t ship out for a good three to four weeks. Non-LTE models remain in stock.

The new Apple TV 4K is also a bit more limited than the new iPhone models, and orders placed now won’t be delivered until October, with the 64GB model harder to come by than the 32GB model.

The first Apple Watch Series 3, Apple TV 4K, and iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus orders will begin arriving to customers on Friday, September 22, with customers in Australia and New Zealand being the first to get their hands on the new devices.

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