Defending champions Manchester City beat injury-hit Chelsea 1-0 on Thursday to close the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal to just five points. Pep Guardiola's men were well below par in the first half but were transformed after the break, with substitutes Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez combining for the only goal, scored by the Algerian in the 63rd minute.Qualcomm, American semiconductor manufacturer behind Snapdragon chipsets on the mobile platform, has announced satellite-based two-way messaging feature for smartphones at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2023). The company's Snapdragon Satellite solution will allow users to send and receive emergency messages, SMS, and texts on other messaging apps on Android smartphones globally. The feature will first come to devices based on the company's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform. A similar feature is available on Apple's latest iPhones, which lets users send emergency SOS messages via a satellite connection.
The company has partnered with satellite telecommunications company Iridium to provide the service to users around the globe. Snapdragon Satellite will be powered by Snapdragon 5G Modem-RF Systems and will utilise Iridium's constellation of satellites orbiting earth, enabling manufacturers to offer the service worldwide, according to Qualcomm.
It's worth noting that Apple's Emergency SOS via Satellite feature is currently only available in USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, and Ireland.
Qualcomm's satellite-based messaging service is expected to launch in select regions sometime in the second half of 2023. The company is also planning to expand the feature beyond smartphones to laptops, tablets, vehicles, and IoT devices. It intends for manufacturers and app developers to develop proprietary features and applications based on the capabilities of Snapdragon Satellite.
Garmin, which makes popular GPS-based activity tracking smartwatches, has already said it intends to collaborate with Qualcomm to bring the feature to its devices. Garmin watches have their own SOS feature, Garmin Response, which activates when a user presses the SOS button, connecting them to the Garming Response team for rescue or aid.
Snapdragon Satellite feature promises to offer “pole-to-pole" coverage for satellite-based two-way messaging in remote, rural, and offshore locations. In addition to emergency use, the service could also be used for recreational purposes. There is currently no word from the company on whether smartphones in India will offer support for Snapdragon Satellite, when it arrives later this year.
Having suffered a narrow two-run defeat in the first T20I, Sri Lanka fought back brilliantly to draw level in the series with 16-run victory over India in the second match on Thursday in Pune.
All-rounder Cameron Green has rubbished reports of his unavailability to bowl in early part of the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). "No, that's not correct," Green was quoted as saying by SEN. Bought by Mumbai Indians for Rs 17.5 crore at the IPL auction, he hit on his finger by South African pacer Anrich Nortje during the teams' second Test in Melbourne.
In a series of debuts, another player could get India cap at the MCA Stadium in Gahunje on Thursday.
Premier League, the top-flight English club football competition, got its first Sikh assistant referee on Wednesday, when Bhupinder Singh Gill was seen running the line at Southampton's home ground St Mary's in their match against Nottingham Forest.
Ansu Fati snatched an extra-time winner for Barcelona in a thrilling 4-3 victory over third-tier Intercity in the Spanish Cup round of 32 on Wednesday.In addition to unveiling a raft of new gaming laptops, MSI has also updated its models aimed at professional content creators and those who need the performance but not necessarily the style of most gamer-focused hardware. These laptops feature Intel's new 13th Gen Core CPUs and Nvidia's GeForce RTX 40-series GPUs. The creator models also typically use Nvidia's Studio drivers which are optimised and certified for content creation workflows and apps. The new models should go on sale in the US within a few weeks and make their way to India soon after.
The new MSI Creator Z17 HX Studio and Creator Z16 HX Studio feature Intel's 13th Gen HX-series Core CPUs, up to the Core i9-13950HX with 24 cores, which is said to deliver desktop-class performance on the go. They also feature a new vapour chamber cooler. GPU options go up to the new Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 with 8GB of GDDR6 RAM. Both models support up to 64GB of DDR5 RAM and feature one PCIe 5.0 X4 slot for a high-performance NVMe SSD.
The larger Creator Z17HX Studio has a 17.3-inch QHD+ 16:10 2560x1200-pixel IPS-class panel with a 165Hz refresh rate and 100 percent DCI-P3 colour coverage. The slightly more portable Z16 HX Studio features a 16-inch 120Hz panel with the same resolution and other specifications. The two weigh 2.49kg and 2.35kg respectively.
Other features include Thunderbolt 4, an SD Express card slot, an IR webcam, fingerprint sensor, per-key RGB LED backlighting, and a quad-speaker sound system on both models. Prices start at $2,999 (approximately Rs. 2,48,225 before taxes) and $2,899 (approximately Rs. 2,39,950) respectively.
As for the thin-and-light Prestige series, MSI has introduced refreshed MSI Prestige 14 Evo and Prestige 16 Evo models as well as the all-new MSI Prestige 13 Evo. The latter is what MSI is calling the lightest laptop in MSI's entire lineup, weighing only 990g thanks to an aluminium alloy chassis, while still delivering up to 15 hours of battery life.
The larger two models feature up to a Core i7-13700H CPU while the ultraportable Prestige 13 Evo gets a Core i7-1360P CPU. All three rely on Intel's Iris Xe integrated graphics but MSI also offers another model, the Prestige 16 Studio, with up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 discrete GPU. All models have 16GB of soldered LPDDR5 RAM and ship with Windows 11. They all feature white backlit keyboards, IR webcams, fingerprint sensors, and microSD card slots.
The MSI Modern series gets updated hardware and new colour options to keep things fresh. There's also a new MSI Summit Flip Evo model with a 13.4-inch full-HD touchscreen.
In addition to laptops, MSI has announced its new MSI Pen 2 stylus, which uses the MPP 2.6 standard to ensure compatibility with a variety of laptops, and boasts of haptic feedback as well as 4,096-level pressure sensitivity. It can also work as a traditional writing implement so you don't have to switch what you're holding to take notes on paper.
Disclosure: MSI sponsored the correspondent's flights and hotel stay for CES 2023.
MSI on Wednesday announced that it has overhauled its entire gaming portfolio with the latest Nvidia RTX 40 series GPUs and 13th Gen Intel CPUs. The firm says all the heat pipes have been redesigned to include shared pipes, dedicated pipes, and VRAM-exclusive pipes for maximum performance. MSI has released over 10 new designs in its gaming series and some of the laptops such as the Raider GE, Vector GP, and Stealth series have been equipped with 16:10, 240Hz Quad-HD+ displays. MSI is yet to announce pricing details for the new laptops, but the firm has revealed that the new range will be available in India soon.
The newly announced MSI Titan GT and MSI Raider GE can be configured with the top-of-the-line Intel Core i9-13980HX processors and up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 GPU. These laptops also feature MSI's OverBoost Ultra technology that is said to be able to push the CPU and graphics to a total of 250W of power or support 5.2GHz frequency across eight P-cores on the CPU, depending on the workload.
The Titan GT is also said to have the world's first 4K Mini LED display with a 144Hz refresh rate, and can deliver up to 1000 nits of peak brightness. Meanwhile, the MSI Vector GP series features a 17.3-inch QHD IPS display with a 240Hz refresh rate. This laptop can be configured with up to an Intel Core i9-13900H CPU and up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU.
The MSI Cyborg 15 is a new entry-level gaming laptop
The MSI Stealth series will be available in 14-inch, 15-inch, 16-inch and 17-inch screen sizes. The MSI Stealth 14 Studio and Stealth 16 Studio are new laptops that feature magnesium-aluminium alloy bodies for low weight and a slim design.
The Stealth 16 Studio comes with a trilateral Dynaudio six-speaker sound system. The Stealth 17, 16, and 14 Studio laptops are also Nvidia Studio validated and are geared towards content creation. The MSI Stealth Studio 15 features a 240Hz OLED display and a quick 0.2s response time. It also supports a 100 percent DCI-P3 colour gamut.
According to the company, the MSI Cyborg 15 is a brand-new entry-level gaming laptop featuring a translucent chassis design, allowing you to see some of the components inside. This laptop can be configured with up to an Intel Core i7-12650H and up to an Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU.
The MSI Katana, MSI Sword and MSI Pulse series have also been updated with high refresh rate displays and feature Nvidia's GeForce RTX 40 series CPUs.
Disclosure: MSI sponsored Gadgets 360's flights and hotel for the trip to Las Vegas.
Australian spinner Adam Zampa admitted he "saw red a little bit" but insisted he was within his rights after attempting a controversial 'Mankad' run-out in the domestic Twenty20 Big Bash League.Tecno has been known for its budget and mid-range smartphones in India. Last April, the company launched the Phantom X as its flagship smartphone for India in 2022 and we now have its successor, called the Phantom X2 5G. Here's our first impressions of the device.
The Tecno Phantom X2 5G comes in a black, matte-finished box with the ‘PHANTOM X 2 5G' writing embossed on it. Inside, we're greeted by the smartphone and two additional boxes which contain the 45W power adaptor, a USB Type-A to Type-C charging cable and surprisingly, a wired earphone with a USB Type-C input. Under the smartphone is another box that contains the SIM eject tool and a hard case for the phone that also doubles as a stand.
The Tecno Phantom X2 5G ships with a hard-shell case
The Tecno Phantom X2 5G is available in a single variant with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It comes in two colour options, Moonlight Silver and Stardust Grey. It is priced at Rs. 39,999 in India and will compete with the likes of the Oppo Reno 8 Pro 5G and Xiaomi 11T Pro 5G.
Coming to the design of the smartphone, this is a quirky-looking device for sure. The Tecno Phantom X2 sports a glass-sandwich design with the back featuring a matte-finished AG glass. We have the ‘Phantom' branding on the back but there's no sign of any Tecno branding on the smartphone. The Moonlight Silver colour does not attract any fingerprints and is quite smooth to the touch. The aluminium unibody design looks good with the glossy frame, but this doesn't attract as many fingerprints as I thought it would.
The Tecno Phantom X2 5G has an aluminium frame
On the right side of the Tecno Phantom X2 5G, we have the power and the volume buttons. The Type-C charging port, speaker grill, microphone and the SIM slot are all located at the bottom, followed by another microphone for noise cancelling on the top of the handset.
The rear camera module on the Tecno Phantom X2 5G is what makes this a unique looking device. The module protrudes quite a bit from the matte-finished glass back and the cameras are aligned diagonally, similar to the iPhone 13. The only difference is that the lenses on the Phantom X2 are simply huge, which gives it a striking look. I personally liked this fresh design language, but I can see how some might be put off by this quirky design choice.
The Tecno Phantom X2 5G has a uniquely designed rear camera setup
The three rear cameras consist of a 64-megapixel primary camera with optical stabilisation (OIS), 13-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a 2-megapixel depth camera, along with a quad-flash setup. Initial samples from these cameras look decent. The newly added ‘Sky Change' option in the camera interface is unique and can be used to change the look of the sky in landscape shots. The Tecno Phantom X2 sports a 32-megapixel front camera that captures good images given enough light.
The curved-edge display gives the Tecno Phantom X2 a premium look
Coming to the display of this smartphone, the Tecno Phantom X2 is equipped with a 6.8-inch curved-edge AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a 360Hz touch sampling rate. The display seems bright enough to be used in most environments and is quite sharp. Viewing 4K 60fps videos on it was a good experience. This display also has an in-display fingerprint sensor.
The Tecno Phantom X2 5G has a dual nano-SIM tray
The Tecno Phantom X2 5G sports a 5160mAh battery and supports 45W fast charging. It is equipped with the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 5G SoC. In my limited time using it, I found the phone to be quite fast for browsing the web, streaming videos, and even gaming. I'm not a huge fan of Tecno's custom Android skin called HiOS, but this time it feels a lot smoother. The smartphone still runs on Android 12 though, which is a bummer.
The Tecno Phantom X2 5G is a unique-looking smartphone and is sure to grab anyone's attention, especially looking at the rear camera design. On paper, the smartphone has a good camera setup, great display, and a big enough battery capacity, but is it enough for you to consider it over more established names in this segment? This will most likely be Tecno's biggest challenge with the new Phantom X2 5G.
Arsenal were held to a goalless stalemate by high-flying Newcastle on Tuesday but still extended their lead to eight points at the top of the Premier League as Manchester United strengthened their grip on a top-four place.
