The Google Pixel 5 is the latest flagship from Google, and the successor to 2019’s Google Pixel 4. But the new phone isn’t as much of an upgrade as you might expect – in fact, it's arguably not an upgrade at all, as the chipset is mid-range and the price is temptingly low.
As such, you might be wondering whether it’s better to just pick up a Pixel 4 instead, or if it’s worth upgrading from the Pixel 4 to the Pixel 5. To help you answer those questions we’ve compared the two phones based on their core specs and features and – in the case of the Pixel 4 – our hands-on experiences.
So read on to see how the new Google Pixel 5 stacks up against the older Google Pixel 4 in all the areas that matter – from the screen to the camera, and the all-important price.
Design
From the back the Google Pixel 4 and Google Pixel 5 look quite similar. They both have a square camera block in the top-left corner and a Google logo near the bottom, and are otherwise near featureless single-color slabs.
However there are two key differences. Firstly, the Pixel 5 has a fingerprint scanner on the rear, whereas the Pixel 4 doesn’t have a fingerprint scanner at all. The other big difference is that while the Pixel 4’s back is made of glass, Google has gone with the unusual choice of using aluminum for the Pixel 5.
The colors of the back also differ – the Pixel 4 comes in black, white, and orange shades, while the Pixel 5 is available in a choice of green or black.
The Pixel 5 has a plain metal back(Image credit: Google)
From the front these phones look quite a lot different, as while the Google Pixel 4 has a large bezel above the screen, which houses its front-facing camera, the Google Pixel 5 has a more modern (and Pixel 4a-like) punch-hole camera and minimal bezel. However, one thing you get with both phones is water and dust resistance.
As for dimensions and weight, the Google Pixel 5 comes in at 144.7 x 70.4 x 8mm and 151g, while the Pixel 4 is 147.1 x 68.8 x 8.2mm and 162g, so they’re very similar in size, but the Pixel 5 is a little shorter, wider, thinner and lighter.
Screen
The Pixel 5 has a bigger screen than the Pixel 4: it’s a 6-inch 1080 x 2340 OLED display, with 432 pixels per inch and a 90Hz refresh rate.
The Google Pixel 4, meanwhile, has a 5.7-inch one with a marginally lower resolution of 1080 x 2280 and 444 pixels per inch. It’s still OLED though, and also has a 90Hz refresh rate, so interactions should feel just as smooth.
The Pixel 5 (above) has a bigger screen than the Pixel 4(Image credit: Google)
Really on paper then there’s minimal difference between these two screens – the Pixel 5’s is a little bigger, but that’s about all. Of course, it might perform better in practice, but we won’t know that until we’ve put the phone through our testing process.
For what it’s worth, we were reasonably impressed with the Pixel 4’s screen, calling it “bright and colorful” in our review.
Camera
As with the screen, there’s not a huge amount of difference between the cameras on these two phones, at least on paper.
They both have a dual-lens camera with a 12.2MP f/1.7 main snapper, although while the Pixel 4 has a 16MP f/2.4 telephoto camera (with 2x optical zoom), the Pixel 5 swaps it for a 16MP f/2.2 ultra-wide one. Both phones have an 8MP camera on the front.
The Google Pixel 4 has a telephoto lens(Image credit: Future)
The fact that the Pixel 5 has the same main camera isn;t necessarily a bad thing, as the Google Pixel 4’s snapper is excellent – in our review we called it “great” and we found that it performed well even in low light.
But we were also fond of the telephoto camera, so whether the change to an ultra-wide on the Pixel 5 will prove the right decision remains to be seen.
Battery life
One big upgrade in the Google Pixel 5 is its battery, as the phone has a 4,080mAh cell, while the Pixel 4’s comes in at just 2,800mAh.
Whether that will lead to much better life from the Pixel 5 remains to be seen – while Google claims that both phones offer “all-day” life, in our Pixel 4 review we found that the phone had “frustratingly short” battery life, with the phone often failing to make it through a full day.
The Google Pixel 5(Image credit: Google)
So we certainly hope the larger capacity translates into a significantly longer lifespan. It’s likely to have done, but we’ll let you know for sure once we’ve fully reviewed the Pixel 5.
Both phones support 18W fast charging, and both support wireless charging.
Specs and features
The Google Pixel 5 has an upper mid-range Snapdragon 765G chipset, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. While those specs are reasonable, the processor isn't a match for the likes of the Snapdragon 865 and Snapdragon 865 Plus, found in phones such as the OnePlus 8 Pro and Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.
In fact, it’s debatable whether the Pixel 5’s chipset is even an upgrade on the Pixel 4’s, which is the Snapdragon 855. That’s an older chipset, but it was high-end at launch. However, it’s paired with just 6GB of RAM in the Pixel 4, along with either 64GB or 128GB of storage. It’s also worth noting that while the Google Pixel 5 supports 5G, the Pixel 4 doesn’t.
The Pixel 4 has less RAM but a potentially faster chipset(Image credit: Future)
In terms of software, both phones run Android 11 – although while the Pixel 5 runs it out of the box, the Pixel 4 launched with Android 10 and will probably stop getting updates before the Pixel 5 does.
As for features, one of the biggest features on the Pixel 4 was Motion Sense. This allows the phone to detect when you’re near it and automatically turn the screen on. It also allows you to perform air gestures above the screen, so you can interact with your handset without touching it.
However, we found that its usefulness was limited, and that it was a big battery drain, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that Google has ditched the feature for the Pixel 5.
One thing you do get on the Google Pixel 5, though, is a fingerprint scanner. This is located on the back of the phone, and it’s something the Pixel 4 doesn’t have at all – it’s instead reliant on facial recognition.
Price and availability
The Google Pixel 5 costs $699 / £599 / AU$1,079. It’s not yet available to buy at the time of writing, but you can pre-order it now, and it’s landing on October 15.
The Google Pixel 4 has of course been on sale for a while, and starts at $799 / £669 / AU$1,049 for 64GB of storage, rising to $899 / £769 / AU$1,199 for 128GB.
So the Pixel 5 is actually cheaper than its predecessor, thanks presumably to its lesser chipset – though of course the Pixel 4 is likely to start being heavily discounted now that the Pixel 5 has landed, so you may well be able to find the older phone for less than the new one.
Surprisingly, the Pixel 4 is the more expensive of the two(Image credit: Future)
Takeaway
Based on first impressions the Google Pixel 5 is a bit of an oddity – it’s a clear upgrade on the Pixel 4 in some ways, offering a bigger battery, 5G, more RAM and a larger screen.
But the chipset is arguably a downgrade, and some other aspects are either much the same or different without necessarily being better, such as the change from a telephoto lens to an ultra-wide one.
The phone is priced accordingly, but as a successor to the Pixel 4 it might disappoint people hoping for a 2020 Google flagship. We’ll have to put it through a full review to know for sure though – and the lower price may end up giving the phone more mainstream appeal than its predecessor.
As people spend less time out and about and more time daydreaming about when a vaccine will arrive, lifestyle shoes are only gaining traction.
One obvious beneficiary is Allbirds, the San Francisco-based maker of comfortable, sustainable kicks that launched in 2016 and quickly became a favorite in Silicon Valley circles before taking off elsewhere.
Though the company saw its business slow this year because of the pandemic, its products are now available to purchase in 35 countries and its 20 brick-and-mortar stores are sprinkled throughout the U.S. and Europe, with another outpost in Tokyo and several shops in China.
Investors clearly see room for more growth. Allbirds just closed on $100 million in Series E funding at roughly the same $1.6 billion valuation it was assigned after closing on $27 million in Series D funding earlier this year, and blank-check companies have been calling, says cofounder and CEO Joey Zwillinger. He talked with us earlier this week in a chat that has been edited for length and clarity.
TC: Your shoes are sold worldwide. What are your biggest markets?
JZ: The biggest market by far is the U.S., and the same day that we started here in 2016, we also launched in New Zealand, so that’s been very good to us over the last four years, too. But we’ve seen growth in Japan and Korea and China and Canada and Australia. We have a network of warehouses globally that lets us reach 2.5 billion people [who], if they were so inclined, could get their product in three days. We’re proud of the infrastructure we’ve set up.
TC: We’ve all worn shoes a lot less than we might have expected in 2020. How has that impacted your business?
JZ: We’re growing but definitely not at the same pace we would be had the pandemic not occurred. We’re predominantly digital in terms of how we reach people, but stores are important for us. And we had to switch [those] off completely and lost a portion of our sales for a long time.
TC: Did you have to lay off your retail employees?
JZ: A large portion of our retail force was unable to work, but we were luckily able to keep them fully paid for four months, plus [some received] government benefits if they got that. And now all of our 20 stores are up and running again in a way that’s totally safe and everyone feels really comfortable.
We also donated shoes to frontline workers — 10,000 pairs or around a million dollars’ worth.
TC: What does Allbirds have up its sleeve, in terms of new offerings?
JZ: We just launched our native mobile app, and through it we’re able to give our more loyal fans exclusives. It’s a really cool experience that blends technology with fashion. You can try on shoes in a virtual mirror; you’re given information [about different looks] that you wouldn’t have otherwise.
We also launched wool-based weather-proofed running shoes in April that have blown away our expectations but [were fast discovered by] people who haven’t really been running for 10 to 15 years and are running again [because of gym closures]. It’s a super high-stakes category and one that’s hard to break into because people buy on repeat. But we spent two years making it. It’s not like we launched it because of the pandemic. It’s a shoe for 5K to 10K distances — it’s not a marathon shoe or a trail shoe — and that we’ve been able to clearly articulate that speaks to its success, I think.
TC: What about clothing?
We launched underwear and socks last year in a small launch. We developed a textile that hasn’t been used before — it’s a blend of tree fiber and merino wool because our view is that nature can unlock magic. Underwear is typically synthetic — it’s made from plastics — or cotton, which isn’t a great material for a whole bunch of reasons. [Meanwhile] ours is phenomenal for temperature control; it also feels like cashmere.
TC: Patagonia really advertises its social and environmental values. Do you see Allbirds evolving in a similar way, with a growing spate of offerings?
JZ: I’m incredibly humbled by [the comparison]. Given their environmental stewardship of the retail sector, we hope we’re compared to them. But they are much more of an outdoor brand — not a competitor so to speak. And we’d love to share more of the retail world with them so we can do our environmental thing together.
TC: You just raised funding. Are you profitable and, if not, is profitability in sight?
JZ: We’ve been profitable for most of our existence. Having some discipline as we grow is good. We’re not close to the profitability that we’ll eventually have, but we’re still a small company in investment mode. After we emerge from the pandemic, we’ll enter a ramping-up phase.
TC: Everyone and their brother is raising money for a blank-check company, or SPAC, which can make it a lot faster for a private company to go public. Have you been approached, and might this option interest you?
JZ: Yes and no. Yes we’ve been approached, and no, we’re [not interested]. We want to build a great company and being public might be something that helps enable that for a whole bunch of reasons. But we want to do it at the right time, in a way that helps the business grow in the most durable and sustainable fashion. Just jumping at the opportunity of a SPAC without doing the rigorous prep the way we want to, we’re not super focused on that
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Google Pixel 5 vs Google Pixel 4: which flagship Android phone is for you?
For the last couple of years, Amazon Prime Day has been our mid-year shopping spree – something to look forward to right after the end-of-financial year sales in Australia. However, July has come and gone, as has August, and finally Amazon has announced when its big sale will begin.
Prime Day 2020 is officially kicking off at midnight October 13 and will go on until 11:59pm AEDT October 14... at least for the offers available locally. You can continue shopping for an additional 18 hours – until 6pm on October 15 to be precise – for offers from the US, giving Aussies a marathon 66 hours of deals.
There's a dedicated Prime Day landing page on Amazon Australia where the company will be listing all its deals. You can bookmark this page for when the sale begins but the sheer volume of offers that are available during Prime Day can be overwhelming and can take a long time to trawl through.
So let us save you time and energy and TechRadar's Australian team will be on hand to sift through it all and list only the biggest bargains on the hottest tech in town.
With just two weeks to go, it's time to get cracking on your Amazon wish list, which you can save on the site itself and use that during the sale to save you time and, more importantly, money.
Amazon Prime Day began in the US in 2015 as a celebration of the company’s 20th anniversary, with more deals on offer than Black Friday back then. Prime Day then quickly transformed into Amazon’s mid-year sales event where members of Amazon Prime get exclusive discounts on a wide range of items. While it began as a one-day sale, 2018 saw the offers last for 36 hours, while 2019 saw a recording-breaking 65-hour event for shoppers in Australia.
How to shop during Prime Day 2020
The only way to maximise your savings during the Prime Day sale is to become a Prime member. Click on the link below to sign up now and you'll get a 30-day free trial, plus access to a lot of other Amazon services, including Prime Video, Prime Reading and Prime Gaming (previously called Twitch) Sign up for Amazon Prime now
Why does Amazon have Prime Day? It's presented as a neat ‘thank you’ to its paying members, but one that involves giving Amazon more money and shifting a lot of stock at the same time.
Prime Day isn’t just about selling Amazon-branded products – many other brands and third-party sellers also save their best deals for Prime Day, completely aware that thousands of extra shoppers will be hitting the online store.
To make the most of Prime Day you’ll need to get yourself an Amazon Prime membership which, in Australia, will set you back just AU$6.99 a month or AU$59 a year – half the cost of the US subscription.
While you’re paying for the privilege of free, swift delivery, signing up for Prime means you’ll also have free access to Amazon’s streaming services, including Prime Video, Prime Music and Twitch. Members also get free access to Prime Reading and Prime Photos for all their ebook and storage needs.
If you'd like to know more about how a Prime membership can benefit you, head to our dedicated page on Amazon Prime in Australia where we explain it all.
When is Amazon Prime Day 2020?
Amazon has finally confirmed the highly anticipated dates of Prime Day 20202. As mentioned earlier, this year the sale event kicks off at 12am AEDT on Tuesday, October 13 – a first as Prime Day is usually in July and always on a Monday.
In Australia, the sale will carry on for a massive 66 hours. Until 11:59pm on Wednesday, October 14, you'll be able to shop for all offers – those sold and shipping domestically and those shipping from abroad (like the UK and US). Once that ends there'll be 18 hours more of offers for Aussie shoppers, although these will be the US deals which, like last year, will carry on until they end in the US West Coast. That's 6pm AEDT on Thursday, October 15.
Last year's Prime Day was 65 hours, but thanks to daylight savings kicking in early October, we get an extra hour to shop this year.
If you're a music buff, this might just be for you. If you're a new customer and sign up for Amazon's music streaming service now, you'll only need to pay 99c for a full four months of access to 60 million songs, all playing ad free. After the four months, though, you'll need to pay the usual monthly subscription fee of AU$11.99.View Deal
Avid readers, specifically those who've never tried Kindle Unlimited before, will be able to score a three-month free trial period instead of the usual one month. That means you get free access to over a million titles and their audiobooks as well. If you're loving the experience, then after the three-month trial you'll need to cough up AU$13.99 per month for the service.View Deal
Audible| three months for free, plus free monthly audiobook
Another excellent offer for Prime members right now – if you're looking to try out Audible audiobooks, Amazon Prime members can get three free months of the service. On top of that, you'll be getting a free audiobook of your choice each month. After the trial, it'll return to AU$16.45 per month. View Deal
Prime Video is part of Amazon's Prime membership package, but not everything is free to stream. There's a store where you can buy or rent the blockbusters and classics that aren't available for free. In the lead up to Prime Day, Aussie Prime members will be able to save on movie rentals with some of them starting at just 99c. Great time to catch up on all those flicks you've been wanting to watch.View Deal
With a 5-inch screen and all the Alexa smarts on board, this little device will fit into any space and help you control your smart home setup. If you don't have connected devices, you can still use it to watch videos, check the weather, keep up with the news and listen to music. Better yet, the 23% discount makes the Echo Show 5 a lot more affordable at just AU$99.View Deal
For those who might find the 5-inch screen of the Echo Show 5 too small, there's the option of going one step higher for the 8-inch display of the Echo Show 8. Not only do you get a bigger screen, you get a better, higher resolution one, with a speaker that boasts bigger sound too. It's the perfect middle ground if you don't want to spend the premium price for the new Echo Show 10, and it's available with a AU$70 saving.View Deal
Amazon’s just-released Fire TV Stick Lite is already pretty cheap, but there’s a great deal available if you’re looking to buy a smart speaker too. If you bundle the Stick Lite (which retails for AU$59) with the third-generation Echo Dot (worth AU$79) you’ll score both of them for just AU$89. That’s a great price for the smart speaker and the streaming stick bundle, saving you AU$49 in total. The Fire TV Stick Lite is now available to pre-order from Amazon, shipping on October 6.View Deal
It's not very often you find retailers discounting recently announced cameras. But Amazon is and it's official Nikon stock too. So if you're looking for an entry-level camera with some serious skills and features, you really can't go wrong with this full-frame mirrorless marvel that takes a leaf or two out of its more expensive and older Z6 sibling. This single-lens kit is a good buy at 17% off the listed price.View Deal
Garmin has been edging towards smartwatch territory, and the Venu is its best effort yet. It comes with a vibrant AMOLED touchscreen display, which it matches with a strong battery life and a full suite of fitness features, as a Garmin watch should. While it can't quite keep up with the likes of Apple, it's a superb sports watch which can track almost anything you throw at it.View Deal
Are Prime Day deals competitive?
Amazon has a plethora of offers on its site each day and those are usually some of the best prices you can find on consumer tech. Whether you’re after a Samsung Note 10 or a Philips Hue smart lighting system, chances are you’ll get them cheaper on Amazon than any other Aussie retailer. It’s even more the case with Prime Day deals.
Leading the raft of deals during Prime Day 2020 will be Amazon’s own products, including all the Echo and Kindle products, not to mention Ring security devices. Amazon is also one of the most convenient places to score a discount on the Oculus VR headsets and, now, lay your hands on official stock of Samsung devices, Xiaomi phones, Instant Pots and Nikon photography gear.
You can easily score about 35% off on Amazon’s own devices during Prime Day which, for the rest of the year probably don’t drop more than 28% or thereabouts. If you’ve managed to score a $500 discount on Samsung or Huawei devices during one of Amazon’s regular deals, then it’s highly likely that the discount will be much deeper come Prime Day. It’s the perfect time to snag a Nintendo Switch or find the lowest prices on the best premium headphones – cheaper than any other retailer who will likely be scrambling to price-match.
What were people searching for on Amazon Prime Day 2019?
According to analytics experts Hitwise, Amazon saw an increase in traffic across all major categories on the Australian site, with the Electronics & Computing showing a 359% growth in reach between 2018 and 2019, with Amazon-branded items being the most popular products on the site, followed closely by the Nintendo Switch. There were nearly 100,000 page views for all NIntendo-branded items, including consoles and games.
With Samsung now having partnered with Amazon to sell its products on the e-commerce platform in Australia, it was no surprise that the South Korean brand clocked up over 95,000 pageviews during Prime Day 2019.
The other big winners in Australia included Sony, Sandisk, Corsair and Philips.
What to expect from Prime Day 2020
We’re not expecting shopping trends during Amazon Prime Day 2020 to change very much. The Nintendo Switch is still going to disappear within minutes of being discounted, and this could happen to the Switch Lite too if you aren’t quick enough. We're not expecting the next-gen game consoles from Sony and Microsoft to be discounted either, but you'll be able to save a packet on older models still in stock.
Of course, Amazon’s Echo devices will likely be flying off the shelves like before, and we’ll still see the Paperwhite beating out the other Kindles in terms of sales. You can even expect to pocket some decent savings on Ring’s range of security devices, including the Doorbells and the cameras.
Premium headphones have been very popular on Amazon over the last couple of years and 2020 will likely see that continue, particularly for Sony and Bose headphones. With the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 one of the more expensive ANC cans on the market, Prime Day will be a great time to get a set for less.
With more TVs available on Amazon Australia now, we think Prime Day 2020 would be an ideal time to upgrade your home entertainment system, especially if you’re in the market for a good 4K smart telly – we've already seen Sony's TVs discounted on the site on a regular basis.
It will also be a good time to get yourself a new fitness wearable, be it from Garmin’s very premium GPS sports watch range or more affordable options from Fitbit. Likewise, cameras and drones will see a price drop, too, so keep that credit card handy.
How to shop on Prime Day in 2020
1. Check out our deals predictions and, eventually our Prime Day deals list
There are also too many deals available on Prime Day. It's never a problem finding discounts, it's always an issue of figuring out what deals are worth your money. That's why we always set up a curated list during the sales marathon.
2. Amazon Prime Day has historically required being a Prime member, so be sure to have a subscription on Prime Day
Amazon started Prime Day as a clever way to drive up its Prime subscription count, and this online shopping marathon – conveniently opposite Black Friday – accomplished just that.
3. Create a wish list to curate what you want, as there will be loads of deals
You're also going to want to create a wish list ahead of time, which will let you sort out what you want and how much everything costs. This will give you a head start. You'll be able to see which deals dropped in price and which did not.
4. Snap up the best Prime Day 2020 deals before they're gone
We often find the best deals to go in a matter of minutes, at which time Amazon rolls out a waitlist for those who were just behind the curve.
Prime Day: why does it matter more to Amazon?
There are some crucial differences between Prime Day and Black Friday. The first is that Prime Day is Amazon’s own day. It’s right there in the name which, of course, refers to Amazon’s Prime membership program and associated services. Amazon doesn’t own Black Friday, and that means ultimately it’s just another retailer shouting for attention – a massive retailer with a really loud voice. Black Friday is a sales event for the entire retail sector. With Prime Day as its own take on November sale period, it makes it much harder for rivals to muscle in on something that Amazon has effectively created from thin air.
The second and more important difference is that Black Friday doesn’t create new spending. It just moves it slightly. As we’ve discovered in recent years, the money people spend over the Black Friday period is money they were probably going to spend anyway: all Black Friday really does is concentrates pre-Christmas shopping in the last week of November.
Prime Day spending is different in two ways. First of all, people aren’t spending the money they’d already planned to spend on Christmas presents. And secondly, they’re buying mainly for themselves, not for others.
There’s another key benefit for Amazon. Its global bestsellers on Prime Day weren’t just Amazon devices; they were Amazon devices that connect to Amazon services. Fire TVs, Kindle Fires, Echo devices, Alexa remotes. Each one of them connecting to Amazon Prime, and each one of them requiring a Prime membership to buy in the first place. So when Black Friday rolls around, Amazon will have a whole bunch of Prime members for whom shopping on Prime is the default, and who might want to enhance their Amazon-powered smart homes with Amazon-branded Black Friday deals.
Prime Day means that, for Amazon, Christmas now comes twice a year.
The recent Google Play Store fiasco with PayTM and the emerging controversy over Google's 30% fee demand for using the Play Store seem to be leading to the inevitable: A plea for setting up an Indian digital app ecosystem.
According to multiple reports, a number of prominent technology entrepreneurs in India are joining forces in a bid to create an indigenous app store and reduce the dominance of US tech biggies Google and Apple.
A bunch of Indian technology entrepreneurs have had a meeting this week and discussed ways and means to set up a platform that will host apps, especially Indian ones and not be at the mercy of companies like Google and Apple.
Tech companies are doubtless concerned at the monopolistic approach of both Google and Apple.
The issue has been brewing for nearly a year or so. But when Google temporarily removed India's dominant digital payment app PayTM from the Play Store, the matter came to a head.
And it further got vitiated with the move by Google to increase the commission on purchases made on its app store.
This has a brought of clutch of influential Indian firms together and petition the Indian government to help create an Indian digital ecosystem. And with the mood still dominated by 'Make in India', there seems to be plenty of takers to the idea.
According to a report in Economic Times, "Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Yashish Dahiya of Policybazaar and Murugavel Janakiraman of Matrimony.com, plan to approach the country's banking regulator as well as the finance ministry seeking redressal for Google's recent move to increase commission on purchases made on its app store."
As it happens, just yesterday, food delivery apps Swiggy and Zomato have received notices from Google stating that the in-app gamification feature used by both platforms violate its Play Store guidelines.
Google's actions have been questioned by legal experts who question its right to play both the gatekeeper and policy maker due to the obvious conflict of interest. Android holds more than 90% share in India's mobile market and amounts to Google playing judge, jury and executioner, is the general opinion.
Politics behind Google and FB investment in India?
Even as the move against Google, and by extension against Apple, gathers momentum, there is a belief in certain sections in India that both Google and Facebook have invested in Jio Platforms in the hope that it brings with it some leverage with the India government. The suggestion here is that the Reliance Industries, which owns Jio Platforms, is powerful enough to influence Indian governmental policies.
Whether it is true or not, the fact is the fight against companies like Google, Apple and Facebook is not going to be easy. Even in the US there have been antitrust cases against them. But nothing has emerged out of them.
In India, the move against Google and Apple may, however, help Indus OS (on Android platform), which has a suite of localized applications focused on serving the Indian market. Interestingly, Samsung and Venturest have funded the four-year-old startup’s $5.75 million Series B round last year.
Indus OS over 100 million monthly active users. This should be a good number to build on.
Google has already confirmed that the new Googe Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G won't make to India a couple of months. However, the Google Pixel 4a which was launched in India was confirmed to launch in India.
Last night, after Google's "Launch Night In" event, several users from India on Twitter started asking the company about the availability of the Google Pixel 4a. To which the Made By Google handle responded with the actual launch date of the device.
Hi Roger, we appreciate your interest in our Pixel devices. The Pixel 4a launches in India on October 17th and will be available for purchase on Flipkart. To learn more about the Pixel 4a check out the official blog post here: https://t.co/EOgWtQ7NMg Appreciate it.October 1, 2020
The Pixel 4a launches in India on October 17th and will be available for purchase on Flipkart, said the tweet response to multiple queries about the availability of the Pixel 4a. The teaser page is live on Flipkart for the past couple months.
The Google Pixel 4a offers a 5.81-inch 1080 x 2340 OLED screen that’s fairly compact for a 2020 smartphone. It has a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The device is powered by a mid-range Snapdragon 730G octa-core chipset, which is paired with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The battery meanwhile is 3,140mAh, which isn’t massive. It supports 18W fast charging, but there’s no wireless charging.
Since its a Pixel phone, the camera is the USP of the device. It has a single-lens 12.2MP shooter with an f/1.7 aperture and optical image stabilization on the rear. The front camera meanwhile is an 8MP in a punch-hole, and there are stereo speakers along with a plastic back with a fingerprint scanner in the center. The device runs on Android 10 out of the box and the Android 11 update is already out for the same.
As for the pricing, the predecessor, Google Pixel 3a currently retails for Rs 30,999. So, we can expect the Google Pixel 4a to launch in India for around Rs 35,000.
Dell has cut a huge AU$1,050 off the asking price of its G7 17 gaming laptop, bringing the total price down to just AU$2,449.
If you’re a gamer, you’ll appreciate the G7’s excellent performance thanks to its i7 CPU paired with robust Nvidia RTX 2070 graphics. A relatively low resolution 1080p screen runs at an exceptionally high 144Hz, so you should easily see silky smooth gaming approaching the maximum frames per second this screen is capable of running.
It’s also great for casual use as well as productivity, boasting 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD and a 9th-generation six-core Intel Core i7 processor.
This laptop would suit those who identify themselves as an ‘active gamer’ that requires a new rig to not only play their favourite titles but also to perform a range of other tasks.
If that sounds like you, the Dell G7 17 is definitely a machine worth considering (especially with the enormous AU$1,050 discount).
No code is required to receive the generous discount, meaning you simply have to head to Dell’s online store to secure yours today. Whilst there isn’t a displayed deal expiration date, Dell often refreshes its deals every Friday, meaning this discount may not be here tomorrow. In other words, now's the perfect time to make a decision.
An impressively sleek and slim laptop with 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD and a 9th generation six-core Intel Core i7 processor, Dell’s G7 17 Gaming Laptop also packs in Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 2070 design graphics card for immersive 1080p gaming. Currently discounted by 30% through Dell’s online store – that’s a massive saving of $1,050!View Deal
Get ready for more amazing deals and discounts with Amazon Prime Day starting on October 13. Click here to find out more
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Update(October 1) : The Redmi 9i will go on sale again today at 12 noon via Flipkart . Xiaomi's latest budget phone, the Redmi 9i wi...
Redmi 9i to go on sale in India today: price, availability, and specs
Update(October 1): The Redmi 9i will go on sale again today at 12 noon via Flipkart.
Xiaomi's latest budget phone, the Redmi 9i will be up on sale today for the time. The newest Redmi 9 series device was unveiled in India earlier this week.
The Redmi 9i will go on sale at 12 noon today via Flipkart. The Redmi 9i base variant with 4GB of RAM and 64GB is priced at Rs 8,299. And, the 4GB+128GB variant is priced at Rs 9,299. The device will be available in three colour options - Midnight Black, Sea Blue, and Nature Green.
Starting off with the display, you get a 6.53-inch HD+ IPS display with a 20:9 aspect ratio. The display is also certified by TUV Rheinland for low Blue light. It sports a water-drop notch at the front which houses the selfie camera. On the inside, the device is powered by an octa-core MediaTek Helio G25 chipset clocked at 2GHz. The PowerVR GE8320 GPU will take care of graphics.
The Redmi 9i comes in two storage options with 4GB of RAM common across the variants. You can opt between 64GB and 128GB storage options. Additionally, you also get a microSD card slot which can further expand your storage. Powering the device is a 5,000mAh battery. The battery is capable of 1000 recharge cycles.
For optics, the Redmi 9i is said to come with a 13MP shooter at the rear and a 5MP selfie snapper. The camera comes with a bunch of shooting modes including HDR, portrait, AI modes, and filters. And, finally, as for software, the Redmi 9i runs on MIUI 12 out of the box which is based on Android 10.
Xiaomi unveiled its latest budget centric fitness tracker in India earlier this week. The Mi Smart Band 5 was unveiled in India along with Mi Watch Revolve and a bunch of other AIoT products at Xiaomi's annual Mi Smarter Living event.
The Mi Smart Band 5 will be available on Amazon starting 12 noon today. The Mi Smart Band 5 is available in Black, Teal, Purple, Navy Blue, and Orange colour options. The biggest upgrade in terms of hardware is the 20% larger screen compared to the last-gen Mi Band 4.
While its dimensions dont really change, the Mi Smart Band 5 has a 20% bigger display, now spanning 1.1-inches. It’s an AMOLED touchscreen with a resolution of 126 x 294. The brightness also gets a bump up to 450 nits. Xiaomi tells us that the bands from the previous Mi Bands should also be compatible. The other hardware change comes with the new magnetic charging connector, replacing the finicky old cradle mechanism.
The Mi Smart Band 5 comes with multiple new tracking modes that can check your vital physical and mental stats: stress, breathing, heart rate, sleep tracking and nap tracking, menstrual cycle, step counting, calories, etc. Personal Activity Intelligence (PAI) also makes the cut to track progress over time. The total number of workout modes has also been increased to 11 with the addition of yoga, power walking, swimming, jump rope and freestyle.
Hundreds of watch faces will be available at launch, and each can be further customized as per liking. Music and media playback can also be controlled. A notable new feature is the remote shutter control to click pictures on the connected phone. The Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 5 can also be used to unlock Xiaomi phones and laptops, bypassing the need to enter a password.
A battery life of 14 days is claimed, with the power saver mode taking it up to 21 days. The included charger should take it from 0 to full in less than 2 hours.
The VPN firm will provide a one-month trial to users of LastPass Premium and Family packages, which can be activated by logging into the LastPass Vault and accessing the Security Dashboard on the left hand menu.
The move, while unexpected, is logical for two of the biggest players in their respective fields. Rival password manager Dashlane, for example, already offers a VPN service from Anchorfree, the company behind HotspotShield. The combo package costs $60 per year and offers credit monitoring, identity restoration support and identity theft insurance.
Privacy focused bundles are rapidly becoming the norm in the security market, with most big players (e.g. Norton, Bitdefender, F-Secure) offering an integrated approach to security.
While most examples come in the form of software-as-a-service (SaaS), there's also a growing number of providers that offer hardware solutions too, like Torguard.
Just like the rest of the sporting world, it’s been a season like no other for the AFL. Now heading into the first week of the finals series, we’re looking at four powerhouse matches, and it all kicks off tonight.
The road to finals glory starts today (Thursday, October 1 at 7:40pm AEST) with the Power playing to a fired-up home crowd, but the team have its work cut out for it when facing the Cats. Port Adelaide was dominated by Geelong back in round 12, where the Cats lost 91-31.
The Brisbane Lions will face Richmond at the Gabba on Friday, October 2 (7:50pm AEST) in a qualifying final. The Tigers have been in top form, but if Brisbane can handle the pressure and come out on top, the Queensland team will be on its way to securing a home ground final.
St Kilda will meet with the Western Bulldogs on Saturday, October 3 (4:40pm AEST) in an elimination match. This has been a long time coming for the Saints, who will be making their first finals appearance since 2011.
Later that night, West Coast Eagles will face Collingwood in another finals decider (8:10pm AEST / 6:10pm WST). The Magpies started off strong this year, but have since slumped to the bottom of the top eight teams. Collingwood has had a rocky season on and off the field, so this go-hard or go-home match to be played with an Eagles home crowd will be hard won.
Every finals game will be broadcast live online and on free-to-air. Here's how you watch it all unfold in the lead up to the Grand Finals on October 24.
How to watch AFL 2020 Finals Week online
The best place to catch all the qualifiers live online would be on Kayo. This streaming service is dedicated to sports so there won't be any distractions, with the exception of a few ad breaks perhaps.
The advantages with watching footy on Kayo is the versatility – you'll get live interactive stats while the matches are happening, the ability to watch up to three other streams at the same time in SplitView and have all the AFL matches available on-demand later if you happen to miss it all. If you want to just check the highlights, Kayo Mini videos are bite-sized clips of all the best bits.
And, if you haven't signed up yet, you get a 14-day free trial before you need to pay your monthly subscription. If you'd like to know more about the streaming service, take a look at our in-depth Kayo Sports review.
Kayo’s Basic package will let you live stream and catch up on over 50 sports on two devices at the same time. You’ll have access to Kayo’s features such as SplitView, and you can cancel any time as there’s no lock-in contract.View Deal
How to live stream AFL 2020 Finals Week for free
The Seven Network has broadcast rights to all the qualifier games during Finals Week. They'll be available to watch live and free on Seven or 7Mate, depending on which state you're in.
That means, you'll also be able to stream the games on the Seven Network's catch-up app, 7Plus. This platform is available on a web browser, and has apps for both Android and iOS.
How to live stream AFL 2020 Finals Week from abroad
If you're a footy fan who happens to be living outside of Australia, New Zealand or the Pacific Islands, you needn't despair. You can watch every single AFL game this season no matter where you are on the Watch AFL streaming service.
Like Kayo, Watch AFL is also a subscription service and has three different plans to choose from:
For the qualifiers, Watch AFL has a new option called the Finals Pass, which temporarily replaces the monthly plan. It gives customers the ability to watch all the matches during Finals Week as well as the Grand Finals live.
The contents of this streaming service are only available to view outside of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, but a subscription can be purchased from anywhere. It includes every match in the Premiership, including the fixtures from the Women’s League. Watch AFL allows you to pause and rewind live matches, and also allows you to download matches for offline viewing. While you can watch the livestream on desktop via the website, the Watch AFL app is also available for iOS, Android and Apple TV. You can even cast onto a TV via AirPlay or Google Chromecast.View Deal
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Google, which reaches more internet users than any other firm in India and commands 99% of the nation’s smartphone market, has stumbled upo...
Indian startups explore forming an alliance and alternative app store to fight Google’s ‘monopoly’
Google, which reaches more internet users than any other firm in India and commands 99% of the nation’s smartphone market, has stumbled upon an odd challenge in the world’s second largest internet market: Scores of top local entrepreneurs.
Dozens of top startups and firms in India are working to form an alliance and toying with the idea of launching an app store to cut their reliance on Google, five people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.
The list of entrepreneurs include high-profile names such as Vijay Shekhar Sharma, co-founder and chief executive of Paytm (India’s most valuable startup), Deep Kalra of travel ticketing firm MakeMyTrip, and executives from PolicyBazaar, Sharechat and many other firms.
The growing list of founders expressed deep concerns about Google’s “monopolistic” hold on India, and discussed what they alleged was unfair and inconsistent enforcement of Play Store’s guidelines in the country.
The conversations, which began in recent weeks, escalated on Tuesday after Google said that starting next year developers with an app on Google Play Store must give the company a cut of as much as 30% of several app-related payments.
Dozens of executives “from nearly every top startup and firm” in India attended a call on Tuesday to discuss the way forward, some of the people said, requesting anonymity. A 30% cut to Google is simply unfeasible, people on the call unanimously agreed.
Vishal Gondal, the founder of fitness startup GOQii, confirmed the talks to TechCrunch and said that an alternative app store would immensely help the Indian app ecosystem.
TechCrunch reached out to Paytm on Monday for comment and the startup declined the request.
In recent months, several major startups in India have also expressed disappointment over several of the existing industry bodies, which some say have failed to work on nurturing the local ecosystem.
The tension between some firms and Google became more public than ever late last month after the Android-maker reiterated Play Store’s gambling policy, sending a shockwave to scores of startups in the country that were hoping to cash in on the ongoing season of Indian Premier League cricket tournament.
Google temporarily pulled Paytm’s marquee app from the Play Store citing repeat violation of its Play Store policies. Disappointed by Google’s move, Paytm’s Sharma said in a TV interview, “This is the problem of India’s app ecosystem. So many founders have reached out to us… if we believe this country can build digital business, we must know that it is at somebody else’s hand to bless that business and not this country’s rules and regulations.”
Google has sent notices to several firms in India including Hotstar, TechCrunch reported last month. Indian newspaper Economic Times reported on Wednesday that the Mountain View giant had also sent warnings to food delivery startups Swiggy and Zomato.
Vivek Wadhwa, a Distinguished Fellow at Harvard Law School’s Labor and Worklife Program, lauded the banding of Indian entrepreneurs and likened Silicon Valley giants’ hold on India to the rising days of East India Company, which pillaged India. “Modern day tech companies pose a similar risk,” he told TechCrunch.
Some of the participating members are also hopeful that the government, which has urged the citizens in India to become self-reliant to revive the declining economy, would help their movement.
India’s richest man Ambani, who runs oil-to-retails giant Reliance Industries, is an ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Jio Platforms has attracted over $20 billion in investment from Google, Facebook, and 11 other high-profile investors this year.
The voluminous investment in Jio Platforms has puzzled many industry executives. “I see no business case for Facebook investing in Jio beyond saying we need regulatory help,” said Miten Sampat, a high-profile angel-investor on a podcast published Wednesday.
“This is a white-collar way of saying there is corruption involved, and if the government gets upset, I have invested somewhere with some friend of the government. All of us are losing at the benefit of one company,” he said. Sampat’s views are shared by many industry executives, though nobody has said it on record and in such clear terms.
Google said in July that it would work with Jio Platforms on low-cost Android smartphones. Jio Platforms is planning to launch as many as 200 million smartphones in the next three years, according to a pitch the telecom giant has made to several developers. Bloomberg first reported about Jio Platform’s smartphone production plans.
These smartphones, as is the case with nearly 40 million JioPhone feature phones in circulation today, will have an app store with only a few dozen apps, all vetted and approved by Jio, according to one developer who was pitched by Jio Platforms. An industry executive described Jio’s store as a walled-garden.
A possible viable option for startup founders is Indus OS, a Samsung-backed third-party store, which last month said it reaches over 100 million monthly active users. As of earlier this week, Paytm and other firms had not reached out to IndusOS, a person familiar with the matter said.
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Guests like Anthony Fauci, Lisa Piccirillo, Patrice Peck, and Audrey Tang discussed how to puzzle through seemingly intractable situations. ...
Asics has launched a new virtual running event, allowing teams from all over the world to compete in a virtual relay for free. Teams can be made up of friends, family members, running clubs, work colleagues, or anyone else you’d like to run with
Virtual running events have existed for years, but have really come into their own during the pandemic as mass participation races are cancelled and people are unable to meet up for regular training face-to-face.
The new event, Asics World Ekiden, is inspired by Japanese running culture. In traditional Japanese races, a ribbon called a tasuki is worn like a sash, and passed from each runner to the next like a baton.
In Asics World Ekiden, the 26.2-mile race is split into six legs of varying lengths to suit the mix of participants. Log your section of the race with the Asics Runkeeper app between November 11 and 22, then pass the virtual tasuki on to the next person.
How to join
The event is being managed through the Asics Runkeeper app, which is available for Android, iPhone and Apple Watch. You can use Runkeeper together with almost any GPS fitness tracker, including Apple Watch, Fitbit and Garmin devices.
You and your team will be able to see your global ranking on an online leaderboard, and each member will get customized in-race audio during their run.
You and your team can sign up directly through Runkeeper, or through the Asics Hub. You can also find more info on Twitter using the hashtag #ASICSWorldEkiden.
LG’s rollable TV, with a 65-inch screen that rises from a box and can be rolled up inside, was first unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the United States last year. The advantage of an OLED display is that it can be bent or rolled freely because it does not have a backlight.
As per media reports, after holding an event for its customers in Seoul, LG is expected to launch the rollable TV in the market in late October.
Signature OLED RX TV has been reportedly priced at over 100 million won ($85,400).
Quite simply, the TV can, like a cloth or film screen, roll into its base.
LG's new TV has three viewing options - full view, line view (where only a part of the screen is showing), and zero view to keep the TV nicely hidden.
LG's OLED RX TV, like the rest of LG's 2019 OLED range, is based on the company's 2nd-gen Alpha 9 intelligent processor the enables LG's ThinQ AI to offer new display algorithms and Amazon's Alexa and Google's Assistant.
The TV also features HDMI 2.1, high frame rate (HFR) support, enhanced audio return channel (eARC), variable refresh rate (VRR) and automatic low latency mode (ALLM). LG's flagship OLED also feature Dolby Atmos for immersive entertainment.
LG OLED TV uses, what it calls, self-lit technology. "Over 100 million self-lit sub-pixels come together to deliver the next level of TV," the company says. It gives the deepest blacks, richest colors, and most realistic picture quality.
Samsung's micro LED TV
Talking of self-lit technology, LG's South Korean rival, Samsung Electronics, is planning to launch a micro LED TV that also uses self-illuminated technology.
"It uses micrometer-sized ultra-small LEDs to remove backlight and color filters. LEDs themselves become a light source for the screen. Compared to current displays, the micro LED TV excels in terms of brightness, contrast ratio, color reproducibility, and black color expression. It also has an improved viewing angle," a report in BusinessKorea said.
Samsung had unveiled 75-inch, 88-inch, 93-inch and 110-inch micro LED TV models at the CES that happened this year.
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