Google to pay $155 million in settlements over location tracking

Google agreed to pay 155 Million$ to settle claims by California Attorney general and private plaintiffs that Google misled consumers about how it tracks their locations & used their data without consent.

Google allowed users to disable their ‘location history’ while reassuring them that this action would prevent location tracking.

However, Google still collected & stored this data from other sources like user's ‘web and app activity’ tracker, which remained enabled by default.

Google does NOT admit these allegations but agreed to settle them
Google notes:
"These Allegations are based on outdated product policies we changed years ago.”

Now, Google has to pay $93 million to state of California & disclose more about how it tracks people's whereabouts & process that data
62$ Million for settlement with private plaintiffs, from which a large amount would go towards court-approved NGOs that track internet privacy concerns

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Apple and Amazon fined $218 Million for Price-Fixing

Back in 2018, Amazon & Apple reached a multi-country agreement to restrict the sale of Apple & Beats products to Apple authorized resellers only

This deal applies to: US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan & India

The reason behind the contract is to ensure that all Apple products offered on Amazon were genuine, after many fake products were discovered.

But this deal also completely destroyed business of 90% small resellers because it limited the competition.
The deal even increased the prices of Apple devices sold on Amazon, harming consumers & benefitting Apple

3 countries: Germany, Italy, Spain opened antitrust investigations

In 2021, Italian regulators concluded that Amazon & Apple were doing price-fixing & fined Apple €134.5 Mn & Amazon €68.7 Mn

But, Amazon & Apple appealed again, and won the case as the ruling over-turned

Now Spain finally fined Apple & Amazon worth €194 Mn (~$218 Million) for limiting online sale

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Xiaomi India launched ‘PickMiUp’ home pick-up service

Xiaomi India has introduced a convenient service called “Pick Mi Up” for Xiaomi and Redmi device users.

This service offers a hassle-free way to get your Xiaomeme smartphone repaired at your doorstep since it will be Xiaomi's responsibility now to pickup & drop your meme smartphone

Both Pickup & Drop service: Rs.199 + GST
Either Pick/Drop: Rs.99 + GST Tax

This service can be accessed from Xiaomi Service+ app on PlayStore

Disclaimer: I do NOT guarantee If OR When Xiaomi will ever come back at your doorstep to return your smartphone

Considering Xiaomi has a great record for keeping users' smartphone for a long time giving excuses of NO availability for motherboard or other spare parts

Use this service At Your Own RISK!

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OPPO A2 Pro launched in China

Specifications:
• 6.7" FHD+ resolution Curved AMOLED Display
• 120Hz refresh rate
• 2160Hz PWM dimming
• 950nits peak brightness

• MediaTek Dimensity 7050 SoC
(Rebranded Dimensity 1080 chip)
• LPDDR4x RAM with UFS 3.1 storage

• 64MP main (NO OIS) + 2MP useless Dual rear camera
• 8MP Front camera
• In-display fingerprint sensor
• 5000mAh battery with 67W Fast charging
• IP54 rated, Wi-FI 6
Colors: Vast black, Desert brown & Twilight

If Oppo A2 Pro battery falls below 80% under 4 years from the purchase date, Oppo will offer a FREE battery replacement.

Price:
8GB + 256GB = 1799 CNY (~250)
12GB + 256GB = 1999 CNY (~275)
12GB + 512GB = 2399 CNY (~330)

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OnePlus Watch 4 Details leaked
Source

Upcoming Oppo/ OnePlus Watch 4 (China variant) details has been leaked

Model: OWW231
Project ID: 23912 (OP5D68)
Codename: Star (HuaQin ODM)

Powered by ColorOS for Watch 6.0 / Android 11 Go
(Red Velvet Cake, RKQ1.211102.001, SDK 30)
DRM Level: Widevine L3

Specifications:
• Rotating Crown with dual buttons
• 1.43-inch (466×466 px) AMOLED display
• Always on Display
• Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 processor
• e-SIM support
Colors: White & Black

Health Monitoring: ECG sensor, Blood oxygen level, Stress & sleep tracking, heart rate monitoring, barometer sensor

Apps: RTOS WeChat & WeChat Pay, RTOS CJK Fonts

There is also an OPPO Watch 4 Pro (Round) for International Market that will be powered by Google's WearOS.

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Xiaomi teased Redmi Pad SE in Europe

Note: It has already been launched in Indonesia

Specifications:
• 11-inch (1200 x 1920 px) FHD+ IPS LCD display
• 90Hz refresh rate
• Snapdragon 680 SoC
• Upto 8GB RAM with 128GB "eMMC" storage
• MicroSD card slot

Cooling system for heat dissipation

• 8MP Single rear camera
• 5MP Front camera
• 8,000mAh battery
• Just 10W charging
• Quad Stereo speakers
• Dolby Atmos sound
• 3.5mm Headphone jack
• Android 13 based, running MIUI 14

Expected Price: €200

It will launch alongside Redmi Note 13 series on 21st September

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Honor concept Phone — Magic V Purse to debut officially in China

HONOR recently introduced the HONOR V Purse concept smartphone at the IFA 2023 event in Berlin

But now it has also announced that this conceptual foldable smartphone will be launched in China tomorrow i.e 19th September

Specifications:
• 2K resolution (2348 × 2016 px) with AMOLED Display
• Snapdragon 778G+ chipset LOL
• Dual rear cameras
• 35W Fast charging
• Thickness: ONLY 9mm

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Xiaomi MIX Flip is on the way
Source

The Xiaomi Mix Flip moniker has been spotted in an IMEI database in China
Model Number: "2311BPN23C"

Xiaomi MIX Flip will be powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor
It will also come with a Telephoto camera offering 3x Optical Zoom

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Info about Google Pixel 9’s Tensor G4 chip
Source

Google Pixel 9 series will be powered by Google Tensor G4

Earlier it was reported that Tensor G4 was meant to be Google's fully designed chip codenamed "Redondo" manufactured by TSMC, but unfortunately it got delayed by 1yr as the Tensor team missed the 2022 deadline

So, now Tensor G5 will be Google's 1st fully custom designed chip that will power Google Pixel 10 series to debut in 2025

Redondo will be now used be as a testing chip.
Tensor G5 is now codenamed as "Laguna" & its development board is codenamed “Deepspace.”

Now a new chip codenamed "Zuma Pro" will debut as Tensor G4 (Tensor G3 is "Zuma") to power Google Pixel 9 series

Tensor G4 is semi-custom designed by Google on Samsung's 3nm GAA architecture

Its development board is codenamed “Ripcurrent 24” OR “Ripcurrent Pro”
Tensor G3 uses "Ripcurrent" board

FunFact: Google Pixel 9 series will have 3 different models next year.
Could be a Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro & "Pixel 9 Ultra"

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