This makes the Xiaomi Poco F1 all the more attractive

The Poco F1 is an insane value for money phone and even though it isn't perfect, the price that Xiaomi sub-brand Poco has launched it in the Indian market makes you look past all its imperfections. It makes you want to buy it. No wonder Xiaomi Poco sold Poco F1 phones worth over Rs 200 crore in 5 minutes in its first sale on August 30. The numbers would have you believe that Poco must have sold a crazy number of Poco F1 phones on August 30 which, contrary to Xiaomi's early days when it was literally impossible for many to get a hold of one of its new phones, is a big change. The numbers would have you believe how times are changing and how Poco comes at a time when Xiaomi has become the go-to brand for many in the under Rs 20,000 price segment.

With the Poco F1, Xiaomi and Poco, are quite possibly looking to capture the Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 price segment. It has the specs to do that, and a price that is as mouth-watering as any other Xiaomi product. It was a winner on arrival, and also it is garnering rave reviews for packing so much and yet somehow costing 2X, or 3X less than premiere competition. A lot of this was of course made possible due to Xiaomi's backing and Poco has been more than vocal about it. On September 14, Poco made yet another announcement, that also has Xiaomi at its helm, and should make the Poco F1 all the more attractive for buyers.

We are talking about wide-scale availability. Starting September 14, potential buyers will be able to buy the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage variant of the Poco F1, round the clock. This particular variant of the Poco F1 will no longer be sold in weekly flash sales. If you're looking to buy one, you can head over to either Flipkart or Mi.com/in, and you will be able to add it to cart as and when you like. At the time of writing, the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage variant of the Poco F1 is available for buying on Mi.com/in while Flipkart is "witnessing a surge in the number of shoppers" which is probably more a server issue and not connected to availability of Poco F1 units.

Going forward, Xiaomi Poco is also looking to ramp up production of the other variants of the Poco F1, and going by how fast the company has been able to ramp up production of the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage variant, it shouldn't be long before all Poco F1 variants will be available through open sale.

The Poco F1 has a starting price of Rs 20,999. This is for the base 6GB RAM and 64GB storage variant. The 6GB RAM and 128GB storage version sells for Rs 23,999, while the top-tier version with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage sells for Rs 28,999. Poco also has a special armored edition of the Poco F1 that ships with a Kevlar back, 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. The armored edition of the Poco F1 sells for Rs 29,999.

This is what I had written about the Poco F1 in my full review of the phone:

"Shut up and take my money is the ideal way to describe the Poco F1. It checks all the boxes that you generally expect from a phone that costs 2X or 3X more. It is built rock solid, it has a gorgeous display, it is blazing fast, it's available in a range of options, it has capable cameras, it has dual speakers and it has fantastic battery life."

There's a lot to love about the Poco F1. Its biggest takeaway is its low price, but now that it is also available at large, makes the Poco F1 all the more attractive.

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Google is finally bringing a new look to smartwatches with Wear OS

At I/O 2018, Google took the wraps off of Wear OS, the Mountain View company's fresh attempt to make smartwatches make sense again. It is supposedly the biggest overhaul to Android Wear since its inception although at I/O 2018, Google did not explicitly say much about it. Today, it is saying something substantial, and even though there aren't many good Wear OS-based smartwatches in the market right now, today's update brings hope. Google is finally bringing a new look to smartwatches through Wear OS.

Also, Google is changing the way you interact with your Wear OS-based smartwatch so much so that if you already own a Wear OS-based smartwatch, you'll need to get better acquainted with things starting from next month when the update starts rolling out. The all-new look and the new interactions that the upcoming update will bring along are all directed towards ease of use, and of course, making the Google Assistant all the more accessible.

"We're evolving the design of Wear OS by Google to help you get the most out of your time - providing quicker access to your information and notifications, more proactive help from the Google Assistant, and smarter health coaching - all with a swipe of your finger," Google said in a blog post.

There will broadly be four kinds of interactions in Wear OS, post the new update. While swiping up will take you to notifications, swiping down will take you to quick settings which will now also house, in addition to the usual, quick access to find your phone and Google Pay (which is also now available in India by the way). Swiping right will bring the Google Assistant feed, quite similar to Google Now, only more useful. Swiping left will meanwhile take you directly to Google Fit that will now also include the newly introduced rings for "move minutes" and "heart points." You can change watch faces by press and hold, much like it is in the case of the Samsung Galaxy Watch.

The new ways to interact with your smartwatch in Wear OS are simpler and also more fluid. But the most important change comes in the way your smartwatch will handle notifications. Now all your notifications will be grouped under one scrollable menu and it will also be possible to respond to certain apps directly from this menu. Previously notifications filled the entire screen and you had to swipe to view them one by one. The new interface is more user friendly.

Google is reportedly working on its own Pixel smarwatch this year and chances are the new update will be rolled out around the same time that it announces it sometime in October.

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What is the big deal about iPhone XS? May be it is all about its brand new camera this year

On paper almost everything that is inside the iPhone XS, launched on Wednesday, can also be found inside the iPhone X, which is last year's phone. In terms of looks and design, the two phones are near identical. Or rather 99 per cent identical. The differences are so minute, like three holes on the bottom edge instead of six in the iPhone X, that they don't matter. The screen is almost the same. Under the hood there are some bigger changes. For example, the iPhone XS comes with a more powerful A12 Bionic processor. But then the iPhone X is hardly a slow phone. And both phones run the iOS 12. So where is the new stuff? It's primarily in the camera: the iPhone finally has a camera that seems like a winner.

Let's get real here. The iPhone has a lot of goodness inside it, and over the years there have been a number of areas in which Apple has left its Android competitors behind. But there has also been an area in which it has lagged: this is the camera performance of the iPhones. For the last three odd years, since the days of the Nexus 6P, HTC 10 and the Galaxy S7, it is the companies like Google, HTC and Samsung that are setting the benchmarks when it comes to cameras in phones. A lot of that has happened because these companies moved to bigger image sensors in their cameras. Until now, Apple resisted, largely because it optimised the sensors it had in the iPhones very well.

This year it changes. Apple has finally moved to a much bigger image sensor in the iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max. In the iPhone X, the company used a 12-megapixel image sensor that 1.22um pixels. In the new iPhones the company moves to a new sensor which too clicks 12-megapixel images but now has the pixels that measure 1.4um. In other words, the sensor in the iPhone XS and the iPhone XS is physically bigger. Its size is now more or less comparable to the size of image sensor in the phones like the Google Pixel 2 and the HTC U12, which too use a 12-megapixel image sensor that have pixel size of 1.4um.

The increase in the image sensor size is going to bring some significant improvements to the iPhone camera performance. The bigger image sensors and the bigger pixels capture more data and more light. The result is that it is easier to click photos that have better dynamic range, better details, less noise, less grain in low light pictures with cameras that have bigger image sensors.

Low light photography is one area where the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X struggle against the likes of the Pixel 2 and the Samsung Galaxy S9. The iPhone XS should fix this problem.

In addition to the bigger image sensor, Apple also seemingly using a few other tricks to improve the performance of the iPhone XS camera. Both the iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max come with optical image stabilisation on their two rear cameras. And they likely have better lenses - even though the number of elements remain same at 6 and aperture is still F1.8 and F2.4 - that will make them less susceptible to flare.

Then there are improvements in the software. One of the reasons why Google Pixel 2 clicks such wonderful photos is its HDR+ mode, which is always on. Since the time of Nexus 6P, Google has used this HDR+ technology where cameras in its phones click multiple photos at different exposure when a user is shooting scene. These multiple photos are then combined to create one picture that has better amount of detail and higher dynamic range. Professional photographers know this technology as bracketing but Google brings it to masses and using its smart algorithms makes it seamless.

Apple is introducing something similar in the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and the iPhone XR. The company calls the technology Smart HDR. It says that with additional processing power offered by the A12 Bionic processor, it can offer Smart HDR that will be fast - happens within a second - and seamless.
The idea is again the same: combine images taken at multiple exposure to create a photo that is just so much more vibrant and full of details.

Finally, there is Apple's "bokeh" talk. Almost all high-end phones nowadays come with portrait mode that blurs the background. In a DSLR camera, the blurred background is created with the laws of physics: the focus point and where the light is hitting. In smartphones, blurred backgrounds are created using algorithms.

Apple is now saying that even though algorithms can do a nice job, the effect is unreal, not natural. To bring the natural look to the blurred background - think those nice round colourful lights in many night scenes - in photos clicked with the iPhone XS, the company studied expensive DSLR cameras and ultra expensive lenses. When Apple executives introduced the iPhone XS at the "Gather Round" event, no names were dropped about these lenses. But the impression that went out was that Apple engineers and imaging group really took apart those $5000 Zeiss and Leica lenses and then worked to integrate the way these lenses function into algorithms so that they can create the same effect in photos clicked with the iPhone XS.

ALSO READ: iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR quick review: Shiny, expensive and for Apple fans

As I often write, the proof of the pudding is in eating. In the coming days we hope to try the iPhone XS camera in detail. But at least on the paper, Apple seems to be doing much more this time around to improve the camera performance of the iPhone. And about time too because in the last couple of years the iPhone has fallen slightly behind the Pixels and the Galaxys when it comes to clicking sunset or a street lit in night in rain.

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Rewari SP transferred as probe continues in gang rape of 19-year-old CBSE topper

As news of the rape of a 19-year-old CBSE topper continues to make headlines, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar ordered for Rewari Superintendent of Police (SP) Rajesh Duggal's transfer. Rahul Sharma will be taking over as the new SP, ANI news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the victim's family has rejected the Haryana government's proposal to transfer the victim to Medanta Hospital in Delhi. She will stay in the civil hospital in Rewari.

"The doctors here have assured us that they will provide proper treatment. We do not want her to be transferred," said the victim's father.

The information comes on a day when Haryana Police arrested one person in connection with the Rewari rape case. Deen Dayal, the owner of the place where the girl was gangraped on September 12, was arrested.

Deen Dayal had rented out his place to his friends. Police claim he was aware that the crime was being committed at his place. The Haryana Police has so far questioned 60 people in connection with the case.

"Around 60 people have been questioned and the crime scene has been identified. The forensic report, which is likely to provide a key breakthrough, is likely to come by this (Sunday) evening," said Superintendent of Police (Nuh) Nazneen Bhasin. Bhasin is heading the Special Investigation Team commissioned by the Haryana Police.

The girl, a recipient of President's award for her academic achievements at school, was allegedly kidnapped by two people in a car while she was heading for her coaching classes in Kanina town of Mahendragarh district. The duo took her to a secluded place, served her a drink laced with sedatives, called a friend and gangraped her.

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