Articles by Babu Mohan

The new subscription service might be limited to the U.S.

What you need to know

Google is working on a new subscription service to “address users’ mobile needs end-to-end.”
The service, which will apparently be called Pixel Pass, is going to be similar to Apple One.
Users will be able to get a Pixel 6 with an extended warranty, Google One, Play Pass, and YouTube Premium services for a single monthly fee.

Google is working on a new subscription service that will let users get a Pixel 6 along with access to some of the search giant’s best services, according to a new leak from YouTuber M. Brandon Lee.

Pixel Pass: This appears to be a blend of the iPhone upgrade plan where you can get a new phone every year and the Apple One Subscription.Contains YouTube Premium, Google One, Play Pass, extended warranty, and is associated with Google Fi.#pixel6 #teampixel pic.twitter.com/iU7VTc16vS— M. Brandon Lee | THIS IS TECH TODAY (@thisistechtoday) October 10, 2021

The subscription ser…

The phone could debut sometime early next year.

What you need to know

A new rumor claims Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 11 series phones could support 120W charging speeds.
Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 10 series phones only support 33W fast charging.
Currently, the only Xiaomi Android phones with 120W wired charging are the flagship Mix 4 and 11T Pro.

Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 10 Pro Max successor could be its first budget phone to support 120W charging, according to a new Weibo post by tipster Digital Chat Station.

Xiaomi’s best budget Android phones — including the Redmi Note 10 Pro and Pro Max, support 33W wired charging. The Chinese variant of the Redmi Note 10 Pro is the only budget phone from Xiaomi to offer 67W fast charging.

Currently, 120W charging is limited to a handful of flagship Android flagship phones. Xiaomi’s Mi 10 Ultra, which was launched in August last year, was the first phone to come with ultra-fast 120W charging. Xiaomi’s 2021 lineup includes just two Android phones with 120W …

The value flagship is expected to be limited to China and India.

What you need to know

OnePlus 9 RT will debut in China on October 13.
The phone is expected to come with a Snapdragon 870 chipset, 65W fast charging, and a 50MP Sony IMX766 primary camera.
OnePlus Buds Z2 will also debut alongside the value flagship.

OnePlus will take the wraps off the OnePlus 9 RT at an event in China on October 13. The company made the announcement in a post on its official Weibo page.

The OnePlus 9 RT is expected to feature a 6.55-inch AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution and the same 120Hz refresh rate as the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro. Under the hood, it will have Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 870 chipset, just like the OnePlus 9R. Some rumors, however, suggest the phone could get the more powerful Snapdragon 888 instead.

In the camera department, the phone will have a 50MP Sony IMX766 primary sensor, a decent upgrade over the 48MP sensor used in the OnePlus 9R. The same sensor is also used in th…

The earbuds offer up to 45 hours of total battery life with ANC disabled.

What you need to know

Grell TWS/1 are a pair of true wireless headphones by former Sennheiser engineer and headphone designer Axel Grell.
The earbuds feature active noise cancellation, Bluetooth 5.2 support, and IPX4 splash resistance.
They are now available to pre-order for $200 / £180.

Axel Grell, who designed some of Sennheiser’s most popular headphones — including the HD580 and HD800, left the company in 2019 to set up a new company called Grell Audio. The company has now launched its first product, dubbed Grell TWS/1.

The new true wireless earbuds feature a minimalistic design and are claimed to have a “stunning sound signature created for a new generation of digitally-connected listeners.” They also have all the features you’d expect from a premium pair of true wireless earbuds.

The earbuds use custom 10mm high-precision dynamic drivers with Noise Annoyance Reduction (NAR) technology to give…

Twitch is currently trying to understand the extent of the breach.

What you need to know

The source code for Twitch’s streaming service has been leaked online by an anonymous hacker.
The leak includes creator payout reports, the entirety of twitch.tv, and an unreleased Steam rival.
It is believed that the data may have been obtained earlier this week.

An anonymous hacker has leaked the entirety of Twitch in a 125GB torrent uploaded to 4chan, according to Video Games Chronicle. The report suggests the data may have been obtained as recently as Monday.

Twitch has confirmed the breach with Android Central and promised to share additional details after it completes its investigation.

In addition to Twitch’s entire source code, the leak is said to contain creator payout reports from 2019, proprietary SDKs and internal AWS services, internal “red teaming tools,” as well as an unreleased Steam challenger codenamed Vapor from Amazon Game Studios.

The torrent file has been named “Twi…

Google believes the turning on security protections by default is the best way to keep its users safe.

What you need to know

Google plans to auto-enroll 150 million more users in two-step verification by the end of the year.
YouTube creators will be required to turn on two-step verification to access Studio from November 1.
The search giant is also rolling out a new feature that allows users to access all their passwords saved in Google Password Manager from the Google app menu.

Back in May this year, Google announced plans of enabling two-factor authentication by default for users with “appropriately configured” accounts. The search giant has now confirmed in a new blog post that it will auto-enroll 150 more Google users in “two-step verification” by the end of 2021.

However, Google says it will only auto-enroll those accounts that have “the proper backup mechanisms in place to make a seamless transition to two-factor verification.” As part of its efforts to prevent unauthori…

Not all variants of the Samsung Galaxy S22 will feature the Exynos 2200 chipset.

What you need to know

Samsung has confirmed that its next-gen Exynos 2200 chipset will support ray tracing.
The chipset will use a GPU based on AMD’s RDNA2 architecture.
Samsung’s Galaxy S22 is expected to be the first phone to come equipped with the Exynos 2200.

Earlier this year, AMD CEO Lisa Su confirmed that the company was working with Samsung to bring ray tracing to phones. Samsung has now announced in a post on Weibo that its next-gen Exynos 2200 chipset will be the first to come equipped with ray tracing support.

The Exynos 2200 will feature a GPU based on the AMD RDNA2 architecture, codenamed “Voyager.” AMD’s RDNA2 architecture is used in not just the company’s RX 6000 GPUs but also powers the graphics in both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

The chipset itself is codenamed “Pamir” and could be announced sometime early next year. Similar to the Exynos 2100, the Exynos 2200 is rumored…

The Pixel 6 Pro is expected to be one of the most impressive camera phones of 2021.

What you need to know

A new leak gives us an early look at the camera performance of Google’s upcoming Pixel 6 Pro.
Both the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are tipped to feature a 50MP primary sensor.
Google is expected to unveil the Pixel 6 series at an event on October 19.

Google’s upcoming Pixel 6 Pro is rumored to be a pretty significant upgrade over the Pixel 5 in the camera department. It is tipped to use an upgraded 50MP main sensor and a periscope lens with 4x optical zoom. The first Pixel 6 Pro camera samples have now leaked online, courtesy of Brandon Lee from This is Tech Today.

Since full-size samples haven’t been posted yet, it is difficult to judge the quality of the camera from these images. That said, they do suggest Google’s answer to the best Android phones of 2021 will retain all the major strengths of the Pixel 5’s camera. The photos appear to have plenty of detail, and the colors ar…

While the TeslAA app is still in beta, most users claim it works quite well.

What you need to know

Tesla owners can now access Android Auto through the web browser.
The app, which makes the experience possible, is currently in beta.
It is compatible with all Tesla cars that support Netflix/YouTube/Disney+.

Tesla owners can finally mirror apps from their Android phones to the center console on their vehicles, thanks to a new app called TeslAA. The app is priced at $6.5 and can now be downloaded from the Google Play Store.

Once you download and install the app on your phone, you’ll have to connect the phone to your vehicle via Bluetooth. Next, connect the Tesla WiFi to your phone’s hotspot and head over to androidwheels.com in the Tesla browser.

Although the implementation isn’t perfect, it lets users easily mirror the best Android apps such as Google Maps on their Tesla’s center display.

There are, however, a few bugs that you need to consider. These include the video becom…

A future One UI update will remove ads from Samsung’s stock apps.

Update, Oct 1 (11:10 a.m. ET): Samsung Pay and Samsung Health apps no longer include ads

What you need to know

Samsung could soon stop displaying ads in its stock apps.
The decision was reportedly announced by Samsung’s mobile chief TM Roh during an online town hall meeting.
Samsung began showing ads in some of its apps last year.

In June last year, Samsung began showing ads within some of its apps like Samsung Music and Weather. Unsurprisingly, the move didn’t go down well with Galaxy users and caused a lot of outrage. Fortunately, it looks like Samsung has finally decided to listen to its customers and remove ads from pre-installed apps on Galaxy phones and tablets.

According to South Korean publication Maeil Business News, Samsung’s mobile chief TM Roh announced during a town hall meeting earlier today that the company will soon remove ads from stock apps such as Samsung Pay, Weather, and Samsung Themes.

T…