Realme 12 Pro+ Camera Details Revealed Ahead Of Launch

Realme has already confirmed that it will launch its Relame 12 series of smartphones later this month. The Chinese smartphone maker has revealed that it will launch the Realme 12 Pro and Realme 12 Pro+ smartphones on January 29 in India. Relame has revealed that the Realme 12 Pro+ will come in two colour options — blue and cream. The smartphone will sport a circular camera module with triple rear camera setup. The company has revealed that the upcoming Relame 12 series smartphone will sport a 64MP main camera with 120X zoom functionality. The smartphone comes equipped with a Sony IMX890+ sensor with optical image stabilisation. The smartphone also house a Periscope Portrait camera. The periscope zoom camera in question utilizes a 64MP OmniVision OV64B sensor with a substantial 1/2-inch dimension. Realme emphasizes that, when compared to the 3x zoom camera in the iPhone 15 Pro (12MP) and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (10MP), the Realme 12 Pro+'s sensor is significantly larger, exceeding 2.6 times in size. Consequently, this results in over 1.8 times the light intake.In simpler terms, mainstream flagship phones often do not prioritize telephoto cameras. The comparison images presented during the launch event were compelling, demonstrating Realme's ability to maintain an impressive level of detail even with significant cropping. However, a conclusive assessment will be provided based on our hands-on experience in the future.   

Go Nisha Go game empowers 2,000 girls in Patna, Jaipur, and Delhi about menstrual health and more

This mobile game is empowering girls in India with knowledge that changes lives. Howard Delafield International (HDI), a woman-owned social impact firm, hosted an event in New Delhi on January 18 highlighting the impact of the award-winning mobile game Go Nisha Go. Developed with support from USAID, this innovative role-playing game aims to shape knowledge and behaviours among adolescent girls aged 15-19, empowering them to reach their full potential.Since its launch, Go Nisha Go has been downloaded over 300,000 times. Players take on the role of Nisha, the protagonist, and make important choices that significantly influence her life journey. Through Nisha, girls can explore critical topics like menstrual health, consent, contraception, pursuing an education, delaying early marriage, and gaining financial independence. The game provides credible information and advice from mentor figures to help guide the choices. Access to in-game resources combined with the ability to make decisions and see the outcomes has led to measurable impact, as shown by a randomised control trial conducted by Population Council Consulting. The study enlisted approximately 2000 girls in Patna, Jaipur, and Delhi – regions with high rates of early marriage and adolescent pregnancy which can disrupt a girl’s education and life prospects.The research revealed that girls who played Go Nisha Go demonstrated substantially improved knowledge compared to those who did not play the game. Players were at least twice as likely to have comprehensive awareness of modern contraceptives like condoms, birth control pills, and emergency contraception. Understanding of fertility and the menstrual cycle increased by 119%. Significant gains were also seen in knowledge of menstrual issues, timing of marriage, and contraception.Beyond expanding knowledge, the game also boosted self-efficacy and intent among players. Girls felt more confident in accessing health services and speaking to providers about their needs. They were more determined to pursue their education, delay marriage, and gain financial independence.   

Best tablets deals from Republic Day sale on Amazon and Flipkart

Indian e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart have commenced their Republic Day 2024 sale, offering discounts on various electronics like laptops, mobiles and tablets. If you are looking to buy a tablet from brands like Apple, Samsung, Redmi and others, here are some of the best deals you can get your hands on during the sale. Looking for a tablet for media consumption and casual browsing under Rs 20,000? The Redmi Pad might be a good choice. Powered by the Helio G99 chipset, the tablet has a 10.61-inch LCD screen with a refresh rate of 90Hz. It comes with Android 12 but can be upgraded to MIUI 13 based on Android 13 and has 128GB storage that be expanded using a microSD card. The tablet packs an 8,000mAh battery and has a quad-speaker setup that is loud enough if you plan to watch movies or videos in a small to medium room. You can purchase the 4GB RAM version from Amazon for Rs 13,999, but we recommend going with the 6GB RAM variant that costs Rs 15,999. Lenovo’s Tab P12 is a mid-range tablet with a large 60Hz 12.7-inch LCD screen that has a resolution of 3K, making it one of the best tablets in the price segment to watch movies, browse the web or multitask Powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7050 chipset and backed by 8GB RAM, the Lenovo Tab P12 (review) cannot run games like BGMI and Call of Duty: Mobile at 3K resolution but dialling down the graphics might help them run smoothly. It even has a dedicated desktop mode if you want to work on the go. While this may not be a good option for gamers, the large screen makes it great for media consumption and browsing. You can buy it from Amazon for Rs 24,999. Xiaomi last year launched the Pad 6, another mid-range tablet that can do it all without burning a hole in your pocket. Sporting an 11-inch 144Hz LCD screen with a resolution of 2.8K, the Xiaomi Pad 6 (review) features one of the most well-optimised Qualcomm chipsets – the Snapdragon 870.It has 4 speakers that can fill up a medium room, making it one of the best tablets for media consumption. If you want a tablet that offers great value for money, can play all the latest games and multitask without any hiccups, the Xiaomi Pad 6 is one of the best devices money can buy right now. It is currently available on Amazon for Rs 24,999. Launched in 2022, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 is one of the most powerful Android tablets you can buy right now. While may not be the fastest, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 can easily run multiple apps and can comfortably run games like Genshin Impact, BGMI and others at high settings.It has an 11-inch 120Hz LCD screen that is bright enough for outdoor use and packs an 8,000mAh battery. The base variant of the Galaxy Tab S8 has 8GB RAM and 128GB storage and comes with S-Pen. It runs on Android 12 out of the box, with Samsung promising 4 years of OS updates and 5 years of security patches. If you are looking for a tablet that performs on almost all fronts and don’t mind the LCD screen, the Galaxy Tab S8 is a great buy for Rs 47,999.  

Galaxy S24 Ultra vs S23 Ultra: How Samsung’s top-end phones stack up

Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S series sees its latest iteration with the new Galaxy S24 Ultra, succeeding last year’s S23 Ultra. While retaining the S series DNA, Samsung has made subtle but meaningful upgrades to the S24 Ultra’s design, display, performance, camera, and software capabilities. But are these incremental improvements compelling enough for S23 Ultra owners to upgrade? Let’s find out. The design evolution from the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra to the new S24 Ultra is subtle. While retaining the recognisable tall, rectangular shape with ever-so-slight rounded edges, the S24 Ultra trims a wee bit of fat, shaving off 2 grams of weight for a total of 232 grams. It also slims down by 0.3mm to 8.6mm thickness. That said, this is not exactly a dramatic reduction from the S23 Ultra’s 234 gram weight and 8.9mm thickness. And if we’re being honest, we expected more in terms of weight reduction considering the phone gets a titanium frame this year. For comparison, the iPhone 15 Pro Max saw a substantial 20-gram weight loss by shifting to titanium.A more meaningful improvement is seeing upfront of the handset, which thanks to the combination of a flat display and a trimmed bottom bezel, now features symmetrical bezels all around. The S24 Ultra also introduces an appealing new lineup of colour options. The S23 Ultra played it relatively safe with Phantom Black, Cream, Green and Lavender as widely available colours. By contrast, the S24 Ultra really embraces colour with options like Titanium Gray, Titanium Black, Titanium Violet, and Titanium Yellow for all retailers. Even bolder Titanium Green, Titanium Blue, and Titanium Orange colours join the lineup as Samsung.com exclusives. The most noticeable change with the new Galaxy S24 Ultra is that its display has been hammered completely flat. Samsung has progressively reduced the display curvature of the Ultra models over the past couple of years and it’s now finally settled for completely flat edges, with the S23 Ultra being the last holdout with curved edges. Additionally, the S24 Ultra gains a brightness boost up to 2600 nits peak compared to 1750 nits on its predecessor, which should make the screen more visible and usable outdoors. The Galaxy S24 Ultra features an upgrade in processing power over its predecessor, packing the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. This replaces the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 found in last year’s Galaxy S23 Ultra model.With artificial intelligence being all the rage, the upgraded Snapdragon processor aims to provide a boost to AI capabilities. Qualcomm’s already shown that the new chip brings faster performance when using large language models, Stable Diffusion, generative AI applications and more that leverage machine learning.The new chip is also engineered to deliver enhanced graphics for mobile gaming without sacrificing battery life. However, we’ll have to get our hands on the S24 Ultra to see if these performance gains are as substantial as promised over the previous generation. Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S series has seen incremental upgrades over the past few generations, with no major leaps forward each year. However, with the launch of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, Samsung is focusing on revolutionary AI capabilities rather than minor spec bumps. The standout upgrade in the S24 Ultra is Galaxy AI, a suite of useful AI-powered features. While the S23 Ultra boasted impressive hardware, it simply can’t compete with the S24 Ultra’s intelligent software. Galaxy AI enables real-time translation during calls and texts with Live Translate. It also offers in-person translation with Interpreter mode. For productivity, Note Assist provides handy summaries and formatting for your notes. Chat Assist helps you strike the right tone in messages, whether chatting with coworkers or connecting on social media. And Circle to Search lets you draw a circle around anything on screen to instantly search for it.The new Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra boasts of several AI-powered image editing and enhancement features over its predecessor, the S23 Ultra. But when you strip away the AI-powered software tricks, the hardware isn’t as different as you might expect. Let’s break it down. The S24 Ultra comes loaded with nifty new AI camera features like Edit Suggestion, which makes recommendations to improve your photos, and Generative Edit, which can fill in background details using AI. There’s also Instant Slow-mo for buttery smooth slo-mo videos. Pretty neat stuff.  

Apple to remove blood oxygen feature from some watches after US ban

Apple will remove the blood oxygen monitoring feature from the Apple Watch 9 and Ultra 2 sold in the United States due to a patent infringement claim. Apple will remove the blood oxygen measuring feature from some of its latest Apple Watches in the United States in a move that will allow the company to continue selling the devices in the country as it fights a lawsuit against California-based health technology firm Masimo. The company said in a statement that the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 model smartwatches will start going on sale on Thursday, reported Reuters. The company has been embroiled in a legal dispute with Masimo, which manufactures medical devices, ever since the International Trade Commission (ITC) in October found that its smartwatches had sensors that infringed upon Masimo’s patents. The watches that had the sensors were banned on December 26 last year before Apple got a victory in a US appeals court on December 27 to pause the import ban on the smartwatches. But the court did not turn the ITC decision, which is currently under appeal. It is quite rare for technology companies like Apple to remove features from released products and there is a chance that the absence of a blood oxygen sensor might turn away some customers.“Pending the appeal, Apple is taking steps to comply with the ruling while ensuring customers have access to Apple Watch with limited disruption. These steps include introducing a version of Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the United States without the Blood Oxygen feature. There is no impact to Apple Watch units previously purchased that include the Blood Oxygen feature,” said an Apple spokesperson to CNBC. The Apple Watch is an important product category for the company. It made nearly $40 billion in sales from the wearables category in 2023. This category also includes its headphones but the watches make up a significant chunk. Masimo accused Apple of hiring its employees and stealing its technology to create the pulse oximetry devices used in the smartwatches. The watches continued to be available for sale in the United States through various channels after Apple received a temporary reprieve from the US court.Masimo’s founder and chief executive Joe Kiani said the ruling showed that “even the largest and most powerful companies must respect the intellectual rights of American inventors and must deal with the consequences when they are caught infringing others’ patents,” according to BBC.  

Google Pay, NPCI Sign MoU to Expand UPI Globally, Aim to Ease Digital Payments Abroad

Google Pay and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will work together to expand Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the instant payments system widely used in the country, to international markets, Google and NPCI confirmed Wednesday. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between Google Pay India and NPCI subsidiary, NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL), to bring the instant payment functionality to other countries. UPI has become a widespread mode of digital payment throughout India in recent years, with interoperability between payments apps like Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm. The value processed via UPI payments in 2023 stood at Rs. 167 lakh crores, according to Google.The MoU signed between Google Pay India and NIPL primarily seeks to ease digital payments abroad for travellers outside of India. The collaboration will also aid in establishing a UPI-style digital payments infrastructure in other countries, a press release for the announcement said. Additionally, Google and NPCI also aim to leverage the UPI infrastructure to ease the process of remittances between countries, thus simplifying cross-border financial exchanges. “UPI has demonstrated to the world the step change that happens in economies with the introduction of interoperable, population scale digital infrastructure and each economy that joins such networks will create impact beyond the sum of parts,” Deeksha Kaushal, director of partnerships at Google Pay India said.According to the press release, the initiative will also help bring Indian customers to foreign merchants, reducing the need for credit or forex cards and instead allow UPI apps like Google Pay for international digital payments. “This strategic partnership will not only simplify foreign transactions for Indian travellers but will also allow us to extend our knowledge and expertise of operating a successful digital payments ecosystem to other countries,” Ritesh Shukla, CEO of NPCI International Payments Limited, said. Last year, Google Pay introduced a UPI Lite feature on its platform that enables small-value digital payments with just one tap, without the need to enter the UPI PIN, as required in regular transactions. UPI Lite supports a maximum instant transaction of up to Rs. 200 at a time. Users can load their UPI Lite account with up to Rs. 2,000, twice a day.In August, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the UPI Lite transaction limit from Rs. 200 to Rs. 500. The overall wallet limit, however, was retained at Rs. 2,000 only. A month later, NPCI said that UPI transactions had crossed the 10-billion mark in August. According to the NPCI data, number of UPI transactions stood at 10.24 billion on August 30. In value terms, the transactions amounted to Rs. 15,18,456.4 crore exchanging hands.  

Apple Vision Pro to Support Several Streaming Services in the US; to Feature 3D Versions of Over 150 Movies

Apple Vision Pro is set to arrive next month and the Cupertino company has now revealed a list of streaming services that will be supported when its first mixed reality headset makes its debut in the US. Meanwhile, customers who want to watch content from other services can do so via Safari, according to Apple. The Vision Pro headset will allow wearers to watch both 2D and 3D movies and over 150 movies will be available on the headset when it is launched. The company has announced that the Apple Vision Pro will support several streaming services such as Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll, Discovery+, Disney+, ESPN, Fubo, IMAX, MLB, MUBI, Max, NBA, PGA Tour, Paramount+, Peacock, Pluto TV, Red Bull TV, TikTok, and Tubi. These platforms will allow users to download and stream TV shows and movies or watch sports content with their subscription. Streaming applications will also be able to take advantage of the immersive features offered by the Apple Vision Pro. Four 'environments' will be available on the headset — the El Capitan Theatre-inspired by Disney+ Theater, the Scare Floor from Monster's Inc, the cockpit of Luke Skywalker's landspeeder, and the view of downtown Manhattan from Marvel's Avengers Tower, according to the company.Meanwhile, the Apple Vision Pro will allow you to view movies in 2D and 3D with Spatial Audio — customers will have access to 150 3D movies including Avatar: The Way of Water, Dune, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Other 3D movies will also be available to rent or buy via the Apple TV app, according to the company.Scheduled to arrive in the US on February 2, the Apple Vision Pro is equipped with dual micro-OLED displays with a combined 23 million pixels. The headset is powered by the company's M2 chip for CPU, GPU, and NPU tasks, while another, new M2 based chip called R1 handles streaming to the display. Apple's headset is powered by an external battery pack that offers up to 2.5 hours of battery life.The device has an eye-watering $3,499 (roughly Rs. 2.9 lakh) price tag, while customers who wear spectacles will have to shell out more for Zeiss optical inserts. The company is yet to provide a timeline for the launch of the Apple Vision Pro in other markets — including India, but more information could be made available in the coming months.  

Google Chrome Incognito Mode Warning Updated After Long-Disputed Tracking Lawsuit

Google Chrome has been updated with an updated warning that is displayed when users open the built-in Incognito Mode, the private browsing feature that is designed to clear user data from the same session after the browser is closed. The new message displayed when Incognito Mode is opened informs users that websites can still collect user data, while other users on the device won't be able to see their activity. The change comes after a long-disputed tracking lawsuit that claimed Incognito Mode was not as private as advertised. MSPowerUser spotted a new warning on Google Chrome Canary 122.0.6251.0 that changes the message displayed when an Incognito Mode window is opened. The version of Google Chrome on the stable channel says “Now you can browse privately, and other people who use this device won't see your activity. However, downloads, bookmarks and reading list items will be saved."The new message displayed by Google now says “Others who use this device won't see your activity, so you can browse more privately. This won't change how data is collected by websites you visit and the services they use, including Google. Downloads, bookmarks and reading list items will be saved." The warning clearly informs users that websites can still collect data on their browsing activity, even when Incognito Mode is enabled. The other details of items saved by Chrome locally on the device and visibility of personal information to third parties remains the same, according to the screenshot shared by the publication. The changes made to Chrome come a month after Google reportedly said it was ready to settle a class action lawsuit that began in 2020 and accused the company of "track, collect, and identify [users'] browsing data in real time" even when they had enabled Incognito Mode on their browser. The agreement is expected to be presented by the end of the month and approval could reportedly be granted in February. Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.  

US Supreme Court Rejects Appeals From Apple, Epic Games Over App Store Antitrust Ruling

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear a challenge by Apple to a lower court's decision requiring changes to certain rules in its lucrative App Store, as the justices shunned the lengthy legal battle between the iPhone maker and Epic Games, maker of the popular video game Fortnite.The justices also turned away Epic's appeal of the lower court's ruling that Apple's App Store policies limiting how software is distributed and paid for do not violate federal antitrust laws. The justices gave no reasons for their decision to deny the appeals. Epic filed an antitrust lawsuit in 2020, accusing Apple of acting as an illegal monopolist by requiring consumers to get apps through its App Store and buy digital content inside an app using its own system. Apple charges up to a 30 percent commission for in-app purchases.US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in 2021 rejected Epic's antitrust claims against Apple. But the judge found that Apple violated California's unfair competition law by barring developers from "steering" users to make digital purchases that bypass Apple's in-app system, which Epic contends could save them money with lower commissions. The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld much of Rogers' decision in 2023, finding that Epic had "failed to prove the existence of substantially less restrictive alternatives" to Apple's system.The judge's injunction requires Apple to let app developers provide links and buttons that direct consumers to other ways to pay for digital content that they use in their apps.In its appeal to the Supreme Court, Epic had said that the 9th Circuit's decision "guarantees severe anticompetitive harm and effectively insulates the most monopolistic tech-platform practices from antitrust scrutiny. "Sweeney wrote on his social media post: "As of today, developers can begin exercising their court-established right to tell US customers about better prices on the web."Apple had noted in its appeal that Epic did not file a class-action lawsuit and said the broad injunction imposed by Rogers exceeds the constitutional authority of federal courts, which typically should be limited to providing relief to the parties before them.    

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Adobe Announces New Audio Feature For Premiere Pro With AI Capabilities In Beta

Premiere Pro’s new audio feature include interactive fade handles on clips in the timeline so editors can simply click and drag to create a variety of custom audio fades. Additionally, new AI-powered audio category tagging automatically identifies and labels clips with icons for dialogue, music, sound effects or ambient noise, giving editors one-click access to the most relevant tools for each type of audio.Furthermore, there are redesigned clip badges that enhance visibility, making it easier to identify clips with effects, swiftly add new effects, or adjust effect settings. The waveforms, now more modern and intelligent, dynamically resize when the track height is changed. Additionally, improved clip colors contribute to enhanced visibility and facilitate audio work on the timeline.Collectively, these new features and innovations constitute a significant update to the audio workflow in Premiere Pro. They empower editors to create videos with high-quality audio and streamline the final mix process with fewer clicks.Whether your project is completed inside Premiere Pro or moves to other finishing tools, it’s become critical that picture and audio look and sound finished throughout the editing process so the narrative can shine through. As more professional editors than ever choose Premiere Pro than ever, we’re prioritizing core workflows so you can tell your story with powerful industry standard tools.Our product managers, designers, and engineers worked closely with hundreds of professional editors to understand how to improve this core editing workflow without impacting muscle memory. We worked through iterating designs, testing ideas, and incorporating feedback based on real world use cases over months of development, and we’re excited these features are available for you to use today. We encourage you to try this in the Premiere Pro (beta) and give us your feedback! If you’re a Creative Cloud member, you have access to beta apps. You can even install the beta side-by-side with the current release of Premiere Pro without issue.The charging case is a bit large to store the fins, and they just about squeeze into the coin pocket of your denim. I liked how the pods go into pairing mode as soon as you take them out of the case and connect seamlessly to your phone. On the pods, you have touch controls to do everything from changing tracks to adjusting volume. But you will need to take some time to remember how many taps are needed for each of these and on which sides.  

“There Will Be Jobs”: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella On How AI Will Change Workplace

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is considered to be one of the key developments of 2023 as tech honchos highlighted the positive impact of the technology across society. However, several C-suite executives, including OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Google CEO Sundar Pichai have hinted at job cuts, sugarcoating what’s to come.Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has shared his take and just like his industry peers, he has also painted an optimistic picture, saying that there will be a reduction in jobs as we know but different types of jobs will be created that will require new sets of skills. “There will be jobs, the question is the shape of these jobs. If anything, these tools can be very helpful with getting us the skills for what is the new set of tasks,”Artificial Intelligence (AI) is considered to be one of the key developments of 2023 as tech honchos highlighted the positive impact of the technology across society. However, several C-suite executives, including OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Google CEO Sundar Pichai have hinted at job cuts, sugarcoating what’s to come. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has shared his take and just like his industry peers, he has also painted an optimistic picture, saying that there will be a reduction in jobs as we know but different types of jobs will be created that will require new sets of skills.“There will be jobs, the question is the shape of these jobs. If anything, these tools can be very helpful with getting us the skills for what is the new set of tasks,” he said at London’s Chatham House, a day before heading to Davos for the World Economic Forum.“Everyone can become an expert in anything because they have an AI assistant,” he added.His comments came soon after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that AI is set to affect nearly 40% of all jobs, with IMF’s managing director Kristalina Georgieva adding that “in most scenarios, AI will likely worsen overall inequality”. Nadella on use cases of AINadella also said that generative AI products like ChatGPT should be welcomed as they disrupt how people get access to information.“Let’s face it, there’s a real aggregation power in a few places, right? Search is one. News feeds is another. Both of these things could be up for disruption,” Nadella said, adding that as a result, journalists and publishers “should welcome” generative AI, as per a report by Politico.Recently, The New York Times filed a lawsuit against both OpenAI and Microsoft accusing the companies of copyright infringement. It said that the outlet’s journalistic content was used to train models underlying the ChatGPT AI chatbot.  

MrBeast Posts His Video On X, Here’s What He Is Testing

It all started around two weeks ago when MrBeast said in a post that he had uploaded a video on his other social platforms and that users should go and watch it. Replying to his post, a user said that he should post videos on X to monetise them.“Yeah,” Musk said, joining the conversation. However, MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, said, “My videos cost millions to make and even if they got a billion views on X it wouldn't fund a fraction of it.” “I'm down though to test stuff once monetization is really cranking!” added MrBeast, who said in an interview in 2022 that his video production has a massive budget. He said that he could be doing cheaper videos but he doesn't want to and “want to push the boundaries to go bigger, bigger.”The billionaire re-posted a video created by Jimmy Donaldson, better known to his 230 million-plus YouTube subscribers as MrBeast. That’s after a back-and-forth dating back years, during which the Tesla Inc. chief executive traded messages with the online celeb about X’s potential.Musk’s vision is to transform the social media platform he took over in 2022 into what he calls “the everything app,” or a collection of the services that users now turn to on their smartphones. Musk has mentioned his interest in making X more competitive with Google’s YouTube, the global leader in online video. This month, X announced a slate of new shows, including a partnership with former CNN anchor Don Lemon.But it still has only a fraction of the users on rival services such as Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook, and advertisers have migrated to other platforms. Ad revenue was on track to slump in 2023, in part because of brands’ concerns about changes to X’s content-moderation policies.  

Dakar 2024 Result: Harith Noah Wins in Rally 2 Class, Hero MotoSports Makes History

The 2024 Dakar Rally was a great event that came to a close. After years of KTM domination, Honda finally won the Dakar Rally, with Hero MotorSports finishing in second place, just behind the KTMs. It is worth mentioning that Harith Noah won the Rally 2 class, which was a significant milestone for India in the Dakar Rally.The short 175km special stage of the day was all KTM, as the brand was on full display with a 1-2 podium finish. Toby Price won the stage, with defending champion Kevin Benavides in hot pursuit. But the overall winners were decided over the previous days, and Honda's Ricky Brabec was in the lead from the start. For a short time, Hero's Ross Branch was the race leader. After Benevides and Price of KTM crossed the finish line first and second, Adrien Van Beveren of KTM took third.As the only manufacturer entered in the Rally 2 class of this year's Dakar Rally, Harith Noah—supported by TVS—and Sherco were the only competitors to stand out. After finishing the most recent stage in eleventh place, the Indian rider won the Rally 2 class overall. Even in the overall standings, Noah's performance was remarkable. He finished the 2024 Dakar Rally in eleventh place, making history as the first Indian to ever win a stage, finish on the podium, and finish in the top fifteen.Noah showed resiliency by overcoming health issues in the first week and then picked up steam in the second week of the competition. His incredible jump from 18th to 13th place overall over the 48H Chrono Stage 6 is worth noting. Stage 8 and Stage 10, in which he twice set the fastest rally, were particularly impressive for his sustained growth.It's important to remember that RallyGP and Rally 2 are two separate classes. Only highly experienced racers who have been accepted by the FIM Championship Committee based on their sports credentials are allowed to compete in the RallyGP class. Rally 2 offers a more welcoming environment for riders from various backgrounds since it is available to anyone who isn't already in the RallyGP riders' registration.Despite finishing ten minutes and fifty-three seconds behind winner Ricky Brabec, Hero MotoSports' Ross Branch managed an outstanding second-place finish in the 2024 Dakar Rally. Hero MotoSports has achieved a remarkable feat, becoming the first Indian team to secure a podium place in the esteemed race.By the end of the sixth stage of the 2024 Dakar Rally, three of Hero's four riders had pulled out due to the extreme difficulties they had encountered. Ross Branch was the sole Hero MotoSports competitor in Dakar 2024, despite the team's other three riders withdrawing: Joaquim Rodrigues, Sebastian Buhler, and Joan Barreda Bort. Nevertheless, he quickly established himself as a strong candidate for the ultimate win.Branch won the first stage of the rally and remained in first place until the fifth stage. He showed his skill by finishing second in Stage 11 with the fastest time and then followed Honda's Ricky Brabec closely in the following stages.Ross Branch said: “Finally finished the Dakar!! It was a really tough Dakar 2024, and I'm so thrilled to be here! Finishing on the podium was always the goal, and today it's a dream come true. I'm really over the moon to achieve this goal for Hero. And a big thank you to the team for developing a highly competitive machine, for the sleepless 3 weeks here, and for everything they've sacrificed to reach to this point. I'm really proud of my team. We've got some more work to do to be on the next step, so we'll look forward to that in the next year. A big thank you to everyone for your continued support from all around the world!”With a ninth-place finish in the last 174-kilometre stage near Yanbu, the South African rider solidified his position as second overall. This incredible feat not only marks Branch's first podium finish at the Dakar, but it also marks the first podium for an Indian team in the history of the race.    

Hyundai Motor India Acquires GMs Talegaon Plant; to Invest Rs 6,000 Crore in Maharashtra

Hyundai Motor India Ltd. (HMIL), has acquired the Talegaon factory of General Motors India, located in Pune, Maharashtra. Following the fulfillment of specific requirements and obtainment regulatory clearance from the relevant government departments and stakeholders, the acquisition has been completed. Hyundai Motor India has also inked a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra government. With this, it has pledged to spend Rs 6,000 crore in the state.  At the moment, the Talegaon factory produces 1,30,000 units per year. To reach its targets, the automaker plans to increase production capacity even further. HMIL states that the facility will be updated to meet the company's global manufacturing and operational needs. To achieve production excellence, investments will be undertaken in stages to gradually update the plant's existing infrastructure and equipment.Mr. Un Soo Kim, MD & CEO, of Hyundai Motor India Ltd., shared his thoughts on the acquisition and commented ''India is a very important market for Hyundai Motor Company, and we are committed to providing benchmark creating products & technologies to Indian customers. As we look forward to the next decade of progress for Hyundai Motor India, it is critical for us to augment our manufacturing capacity in India.''He further added ''The Talegaon manufacturing plant will play the role of a catalyst in achieving HMIL’s 1 million annual production capacity milestone. The acquisition of the Talegaon plant reinforces our commitment to ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (Self-Reliant India), by making India a hub for advanced smart mobility solutions, Make-In-India for the world. Our manufacturing operations are scheduled to begin in Talegaon, Maharashtra in the year 2025.”With a starting price of Rs 10.99 lakh (ex-showroom), Hyundai launched the eagerly awaited Creta Facelift in India on January 16. Along with many interior upgrades and a new engine option, the facelift gives the car a more robust exterior look. Over 70 safety features—36 of which are standard—are included in the recently redesigned Creta. TPMS, electronic stability control, an all-wheel disc brake system, and six airbags are a few of them. The highest-spec versions come with 19 Level 2 ADAS features (Hyundai SmartSense).The 1.5-litre naturally aspirated (NA) and 1.5-litre CRDi diesel engine options for the SUV remain the same. However, a new 1.5-litre turbocharged GDi petrol engine is now offered as an option in this lineup. The new 1.5-litre turbocharged GDi petrol unit delivers 158bhp and 253Nm of performance numbers.    

Volvo’s 10,000th car in India is its first pure electric offering

Volvo Car India has achieved a significant milestone by producing its ten thousandth car at its Bangalore facility. The company, which began assembly operations in 2017, has seen the highest production of the XC60 model, with over 4000 units produced to date.Jyoti Malhotra, Managing Director of Volvo Car India, in a company statement, revealed that the honour of being the ten thousandth car produced goes to the XC40 Recharge, the company's first pure electric offering.Malhotra said, "It is indeed a matter of pride for the company to have reached this milestone in a short span of time in spite of nearly three years of pandemic disruptions."Gao Feng, Production Head of Volvo Car India, highlighted the plant's achievement of rolling out India's first domestically assembled electric vehicle (EV), the XC40 Recharge. Today, the company assembles all its models in India, including the XC90, XC60, S90, XC40 Recharge, and the recently launched C40 Recharge.Meanwhile, Volvo Car India announced a 2% price increase for its conventional engine vehicles on Monday, while the prices of its EV offerings remain unchanged.Following the price hike, the XC60 is priced at ₹68.9 lakh, the S90 at ₹68.25 lakh, and the XC90 at ₹1,00,89,000.However, the prices of the XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge remain unchanged at ₹57.9 lakh and ₹62.95 lakh, respectively.    

Hyundai introduces ‘IONIQ 5 N NPX1’ concept with N Performance Parts

Hyundai Motor Company has unveiled the ‘IONIQ 5 N NPX1’, a concept model equipped with prototype N Performance Parts, at the Tokyo Auto Salon 2024. The ‘NPX1’ is the first N Performance Parts concept model based on the company’s high-performance electric vehicle (EV) IONIQ 5 N. The company plans to enhance the EV ownership experience with N Performance Parts, a project that began in 2019 and continues to develop high-quality tuning parts for customers. Following the success of internal combustion engine vehicles such as the Elantra N, i30 N, and i20 N, Hyundai N plans to offer specialised tuning components for all-electric N models, including the IONIQ 5 N.The ‘NPX1’ concept model previews a range of N-specific enhancements that will soon be available for purchase from a catalogue of N Performance Parts.These enhancements include a carbon front splitter, side skirts, rear diffuser, rear wing spoiler, lightweight hybrid carbon wheels, high-performance brake pads, and lowering springs. The concept model’s interior is further enhanced with Alcantara material and racing bucket seats.The prototype N Performance Parts applied to the NPX1 concept will be further developed for production in preparation for sales in 2024. Starting with the IONIQ 5 N, Hyundai N will expand the availability of N Performance Parts products for all N models.Joon Park, Vice President of N Brand Management Group at Hyundai, said, “In 2024, Hyundai Motor Company will take a step forward as a leader in new tuning parts suitable for the high-performance EV era as demonstrated with the ‘NPX1’ concept model.”He added that the company is also developing software customisation such as sound and vehicle calibration by over-the-air (OTA) updates, opening a completely new category of EV customisation for an exciting future for the tuning community.    

Tata Punch facelift launch confirmed for 2025

The Tata Punch petrol will see a mid-life facelift sometime next year. Confirming this development on the sidelines of the Punch EV launch, Tata Motors’ Passenger Vehicles Unit MD, Shailesh Chandra, said, “As far as the upgrade of the Punch is concerned, you know that it was launched in October 2021. Typical facelift period is three years. So, we should be expecting a facelift for the ICE version only in mid-2025, or slightly later.” Just like what we’ve seen on the Nexon and Harrier facelifts recently, expect Tata Motors to update the Punch SUV’s styling with fresh design cues to bring it in line with the newer Tata models. Changes to the front bumper and grille, along with minor tweaks to the headlamps and the bonnet can be expected to make the small SUV look new.Like the Nexon and the Nexon EV facelift, there will be styling bits that will help differentiate the petrol-powered Punch from the recently launched Punch EV. What’s more, Chandra also said that the Punch will have feature differences between the petrol and EV versions.   

Renault Bigster global debut later this year

The new Renault Bigster SUV will see a global debut later this year and is expected to go on sale internationally by early 2025. Revealed as a concept in 2021, it is essentially a three-row iteration of the all-new Duster, which made its global debut a few months ago.  Sources have conveyed to our friends at Motor1 Brazil that the Bigster SUV will share its design cues largely with the new Duster and the Bigster concept. Essentially, it will be most likely an elongated version of the Duster, similar to what we see with the Creta and Alcazar in India. There will, however, be styling, tech and equipment differences on the inside and out.  This new SUV from Renault will be around 4.6 metres long – nearly 0.3 metres longer than the new Duster, which measures 4.34 metres. It will get rugged looks and interior bits from the Duster, but there will be more upmarket materials and additional creature comforts to justify the SUV's higher price tag. The Duster currently has a 2,657mm wheelbase, which also could see an increment for the Bigster in order to facilitate easy ingress-egress and more cabin room. As far as the platform goes, the Bigster will share the same CMF-B modular architecture. There isn’t much known about its powertrain options, however, it will be safe to expect that the SUV will share its powertrain line-up with the latest-gen Duster, which comes with three engine options – two of which are electrified.  Starting the proceedings is the 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol hybrid that gets two electric motors; this engine comes with an automatic gearbox. It also comes with regenerative braking and a 1.2kWh battery, enabling purely electric driving for up to 80 percent of the time in the city.The next engine is the 130hp, 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol coupled with a 48V starter motor. While the Duster will also come with a 1.0-litre petrol-LPG option in some markets, there is no diesel option in any market right now. The next engine is the 130hp, 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol coupled with a 48V starter motor. While the Duster will also come with a 1.0-litre petrol-LPG option in some markets, there is no diesel option in any market right now.