Tech wrap: Lenovo India CEO on gaming laptops, Facebook India head on politics and more

Today was a mix of everything from smartphone announcements to gaming apps and social media. We witnessed Facebook India head talking about the company’s stance over politics, Google Maps getting a new feature, Android 11 feature revealed by Google and more. 

We also had a word with Lenovo India CEO, Rahul Agarwal on gaming laptops. Check it out.

Lenovo India CEO on how Legion gaming laptops appeal to non-gaming users

Most of the gaming laptops are unwieldy, lack right software optimisations, and do not score high on portability scale – probably why productivity-oriented users stay at bay. Lenovo sees this as an opportunity to rope in its Legion laptops as the perfect product for both gaming and non-gaming users. Lenovo India CEO, Rahul Agarwal talks more about it.

Facebook India head clears the air on supporting political parties

Facebook India head, Ajit Mohan cleared the air in a blog post, stating that it is a non-partisan platform, meaning it doesn't support any one political party. Also mentioned was that Facebook will continue to remove content posted by public figures in the country. This announcement comes amid allegations that the firm did not apply hate speech rules for posts by certain ruling party politicians.

Oppo F17 Pro with an ultra-slim design set to launch in India soon

Oppo on Friday announced it will soon launch F17 Pro in India. Known for its slim form factor, Oppo F17 Pro comes with a 7.48mm ultra-thin design and weighs about 164 grams. We’ll know the price of the handset on the day of the launch. Oppo F17 Pro will succeed the F15 which launched in January this year.

Google Chrome Kaleidoscope brings all streaming services under one platform

Google is currently testing this feature on the Canary version of Chrome. the Chrome Kaleidoscope page reads the message “All your shows in one place”. There’s a short description which says, “You can see all your favorite shows in one place, no matter where they’re hosted. Select the providers you use below”. Listed on the site for now are Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar. It is not for sure when exactly will this be launched officially.

Apple grabbed record half of global smartwatch market in H1 2020

Unlike the smartphone market, the smartwatch market has seen a 20% revenue growth in H1 2020, according to the latest data from Counterpoint Research. Almost 42 million smartwatches were shipped in the first half of 2020 owing to the growing demand of “health conscious” users. Apple still took the lead with a 51.4% market share as it witnessed a strong demand for the Watch Series 5. 

Google Maps to now show wildfire boundaries in real-time

The latest feature shows wildfire boundaries in real-time. Google’s new feature is currently available to Maps users in the US. The company had conducted a pilot test of the feature in California last year. Google says when users will search for things such as “wildfire in California” or a specific wildfire like “Kincade fire”, they will see an approximate boundary of the wildfire.

Android 11 will limit third-party camera apps due to location spying fears, says Google

Google is bringing in a feature with Android 11 that’s going to make all the apps on your smartphone use the main built-in camera app for photos and videos even if you have other third-party camera apps on your device. Google has confirmed this and has explained why that’s going to be the case going forward.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg questioned by FTC investigators

The FTC’s probe into the company was disclosed last summer. The agency is one of the multiple enforcers, including the US Justice Department and states attorneys general, exploring Facebook’s market power and influence.

PUBG Mobile to make a major announcement on August 24: Here's what to expect

The firm has teased a “New Era for PUBG Mobile” on Twitter, more details on which will be revealed on August 24. The announcement, which will be done by developers on YouTube and Facebook lives stream at 7PM IST, is expected to be about the new Erangel map aka Erangel 2.0. 

Facebook’s overhauled UI design to become a default in September

This shouldn’t come a surprise as the new design was introduced last year during Facebook’s developer conference and initially rolled out to iOS and Android apps. In March this year it reached the web version as an opt-in feature. However, this won’t be an opt-in feature come September.

Oppo A53 with 90Hz display to launch in India on August 25

Oppo has announced the launch of a new smartphone in India. Oppo A53 that just made its debut in Indonesia will now launch in India on August 25. The new Oppo smartphone will be priced under Rs 15,000. Oppo A53 is scheduled to launch on August 25 at 12:30 pm. The launch event will be live streamed via Oppo’s official YouTube page.