Tech Cafe

Qualcomm announced the  Snapdragon 865  and  Snapdragon 765/765G  mobile platforms in December 2019 and a fascinating addition to the list of gaming features supported on these chipsets was support for updateable GPU drivers. Although GPU drivers are usually bundled along with OTA updates, Qualcomm resolved a way to push out more frequent updates via app stores and  Xiaomi became the first smartphone brand to push out GPU updates  to the Mi 10 series and the Redmi K30 Pro earlier this year. Following the suit, the silicon design company ARM has also announced similar support for its Mali class of GPUs found on MediaTek, Huawei’s HiSilicon, and Samsung’s Exynos mobile processors. Just like PCs, updateable GPU drivers on smartphones can come in handy for fixing bugs, improving graphics performance, or adding new features from OpenGL or Vulkan APIs. Since manufacturers take months to perfect OTA updates, updates to GPU drivers can be sent quickly and more frequently through app stores whe

OnePlus  confirmed  plans to bring a new range of TVs to India earlier this month, with a launch date set for July 2. Can’t wait until then to commit to a purchase? Then you can pre-book a TV right now via Amazon india. Well, OnePlus is calling it a pre-booking process but it doesn’t seem like you’re actually reserving a unit. So it seems like you might as well wait until July 2 to purchase the TV anyway. Check out the steps below. Purchase a   two year extended warranty   worth Rs 3,000 for Rs 1,000 (valid between June 23 and July 2). You’ll then receive confirmation of the extended warranty via email. Buy a 2020 OnePlus TV via Amazon India before August 5. Receive Amazon Pay credit of Rs 1,000 after buying the TV. In any event, OnePlus  previously confirmed  that it’s targeting both mid-range and entry-level segments with its new 2020 series of TVs. Furthermore, the company noted that the new range will offer a bezel-less screen, Dolby Vision support, and a 93% DCI-P3 colour gamut.

We’ve known that OnePlus has been working on  a more affordable phone  for a while now, and leaks paint the picture of a rather compelling mid-range offering. But the new phone’s name has been somewhat of a mystery, with some people calling it the OnePlus Z and others more recently saying it’s the OnePlus Nord. Now, a prematurely published Instagram post may have just revealed the answer. OnePlus briefly posted an image on its private  OnePlusLiteZThing Instagram account , showing a card with Nord branding. Thankfully, the post was captured by Twitter users, and can be seen below. The words on the card are tough to make out, but it seems like the first line reads “your early support for OnePlus Nord means a lot.” The card seems to conclude with a thank you to the recipient. Nevertheless, this post confirms that the new mid-range OnePlus phone or the entire series will indeed be called OnePlus Nord. We’re expecting more teases in the lead-up to the launch, with the firm already dishing

Call of Duty Mobile,  which is the smartphone version of the popular game Call of Duty, was released on 1 October 2019, immediately breaking all records by raking up 150 million downloads in the first month itself. Now, according to new estimates by  Sensor Tower , Call of Duty Mobile has surpassed 250 million-plus downloads. This includes installs of all of the game’s versions across the world. Which means that since the October launch,  Call of Duty Mobile  has surpassed  250 million .  PUBG Mobile  is the next-best game with  236 million downloads  in the same time frame, followed by  Fortnite  with  78 million downloads . Call of Duty Mobile most popular in the US In terms of popularity, Call of Duty Mobile has been most popular in United States, where it has seen nearly 45 million downloads, or close to 18 percent the total number. India is the No 2 country for downloads, with Brazil coming in at 3. "Till date, COD: mobile has raked around 327 million USD in player spending,

  If Bitcoin sticks with its current consensus algorithm, miners will need to subsist with just transaction fees as an incentive. There are 21 million  Bitcoin . That’s it. Once they’re all mined, which should occur in  around 2140 , no new Bitcoin will enter circulation. The Bitcoin blockchain was designed around the principle of controlled supply, which means only a fixed number of newly minted Bitcoin can be mined each year until a total of 21 million coins have been minted. Once all 21 million BTC have been mined, the network will largely operate the same as it does now, but with one crucial difference for miners. When will the last Bitcoin be mined? Approximately every ten minutes,  Bitcoin miners  ‘discover’ a new block, solving a cryptographic puzzle that allows the successful miner to add the newly discovered block to the blockchain. This block is filled with transactions that were previously waiting in the Bitcoin memory pool, usually chosen based on the size of the transactio

One of the key features of video games since their inception is the presence of collectibles. Replayability has always been a priority for video game developers, and Rockstar Games offers plenty of reasons for players to keep playing the GTA games over and over again. GTA  incentivizes exploration by rewarding the player with Trophies/Achievements for finding  collectibles . However, the rewards offer much more than a mere trophy or achievement in GTA: Online. Rewards are presented to players for collecting a certain number of each collectible, with each individual collectible offering a small cash dividend once picked up. The single-player campaign of GTA V has several collectibles, which include Spaceship Parts and Letters Scraps. Meanwhile, GTA: Online has  side quests  that involve exploring the city to find collectibles. List of Collectibles in GTA: Online # 1 Playing Cards Playing Cards Locations in GTA: Online There are a total of 54 playing cards available in GTA: Online and pl

GTA V was announced as the first next-gen release for Rockstar Games in 2021. The announcement was made at the PS5 Reveal Event that took place on 11th June. Some fans were quickly angered at Rockstar's decision to not reveal any information regarding GTA VI. The last installment in the franchise, GTA V was released in the year 2013. Although fans have been enjoying GTA: Online for a while now, they expected at least some news regarding the next GTA game. Industry insiders believe that the game has been in early stages of development for a while now, and can have a 2022 or 2023 release date. Rockstar Games spend a long time developing their games to ensure that each product is given the care and polish the fans demand. Rockstar's last big release was Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2018, and the game was one of the most critically acclaimed games of that year. The same polish and attention to detail can be expected from GTA VI, therefore, a 2022 release date seems likely. According to

Yesterday Apple announced iOS 14, a major new release, as part of its WWDC 2020 keynote. As usual, the company spent a big part of the event discussing its new mobile operating system and its major new features, which includes things like updated widgets, new Messages, Maps, and Safari apps, Translate, updated Siri, improved CarPlay and App Clips. That's a sizable list of major new features to discuss in one event where Apple also had to talk about other things. So what Apple mentioned during its WWDC keynotes is usually just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the new features in its major new OS releases. And this year arguably has the longest list of changes hidden away in the 'All New Features' page on the company's website. So we went through the 191 new features listed on Apple's website to pick the ones that Apple missed out on mentioning during the keynote but are seriously worth your attention. For some of you, the features listed below might even b

no secret at this point — Xiaomi is about to release an Android TV dongle called the “Mi TV Stick.” While the device has  been officially teased , it  still  hasn’t been released, but that hasn’t stopped multiple retail listings and leaked screenshots from revealing more Mi TV Stick information including 4K support, multiple models, and what comes in the box. Previously, there was only one Xiaomi Mi TV Stick expected to hit the market — a 4K-capable, slightly upgraded Mi Box S in a smaller case. Now, though, a  listing from Aliexpress   has revealed that’s a second variant. As previously leaked   on Gearbest , the primary Mi TV Stick is a 4K-capable device running on Google’s Android TV with an Amlogic S905Y2 quad-core chip, 8GB of storage, and 2GB of RAM. It even uses USB-C to charge, potentially opening the door to using dongles to get a bit more functionality out of the port. What about this new low-end model? Instead of 2GB of RAM, it has just 1GB. Instead of 4K output, it offers j

Here's everything that has been announced at Apple WWDC 2020 from iOS 14 to macOS Big Sur. No lines, no rush for the best seats and no waiting for the event to begin. WWDC was on YouTube this time, streaming CEO Tim Cook and gang directly into living rooms of thousands of developers and millions of fans all over the world. Even as  Apple  executives came on screen for cinematic cameos, improving one feature after the other on all the software, the biggest announcement was held for the last — the Appe silicon that will power future Mac devices. This is big, given that Mac devices will no longer rely on  Intel  processors. But this was coming, as Apple makes chips for almost all its products from the iPhone and iPad to the Apple Watch. Apple claims its processors will give more performance at lower power, the problem all chipmakers have been trying to solve for long. So, there will be a family of SoCs for the Macs, which will fuse better with Apple’s own software that will take these