Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Ti High-End GPU Announced, Prices Start at Rs. 39,000 in India

Nvidia has announced a new GPU, the GeForce GTX 1070 Ti, which slots in between the GeForce GTX 1070 and GeForce GTX 1080, both of which were launched in the middle of 2016. Nvidia fleshed out its range with more affordable GTX 1060 and GTX 1050 models over the course of last year, but this is the first new model to be inserted into the middle of the lineup. It is aimed directly at AMD's recently launched Radeon RX Vega 56, closing a gap in Nvidia's lineup which AMD was able to exploit.

Nvidia partners including Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, Zotac, Palit, Galax, PNY, and Inno3D will be launching GeForce GTX 1070 Ti graphics cards on November 2. Nvidia's Founders' Edition card, with the same blower-style stock cooler used across the rest of the GTX 1000 series, has officially been priced at Rs. 39,000 ($449 in the USA), but manufacturers will also be releasing custom versions with their own coolers and other tweaks. Street prices are also likely to vary thanks to cryptocurrency mining.

iPhone X, Apple's first all-screen smartphone, is all set to go up for pre-orders in 55 countries including India from today, Friday, October 27. The phone will go on sale next Friday, November 3, in the same regions i.e. Andorra, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UAE, the UK, the US, and US Virgin Islands.

iPhone X pre-orders and price in India

If you are interested in pre-ordering the iPhone X in India, you can head to Amazon or Flipkart - iPhone X pre-orders open at 12:31pm IST, the same time that pre-orders open in Cupertino, California at 12:01am local time on Friday. Users can also head to Apple resellers and other partner outlets to pre-book their iPhone X unit.

iPhone X India price starts at Rs. 89,000 for the 64GB version while the 256GB version is priced at Rs. 1,02,000. The smartphone will be available in Silver and Space Grey colours. Apple has already revealed pricing of the Apple-designed accessories like leather and silicone cases which will be available starting at Rs. 3,500. An all-new iPhone X leather folio will be available at Rs. 8,600 while a Lightning Dock in colour-matching metallic finishes will be available at Rs. 4,700.

Windows 10 PCs Running on Snapdragon ARM Chips in Final Stages of Testing: Report

    HIGHLIGHTS

• Microsoft and Qualcomm are working on mobile PCs
• These mobile PCs will have eSIM and will stay connected at all times
• These mobile PCs might have 'multi-day' battery life, report claim
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Windows devices running on Qualcomm's Snapdragon ARM-based processors are inching closer to a retail store near you. Microsoft this week said that it was in the latter stages of testing such mobile PCs.

In an interview with ZDNet, Pete Bernard, group program manager for Windows expressed his excitement about the Windows on ARM project, adding that the company is testing "hundreds" of these mobile PCs in its offices on a daily basis. "The PC space and the phone space have been sort of in parallel universes for a couple of decades... what two better companies to bring those worlds together than Microsoft and Qualcomm?" he said.

A Qualcomm executive said this was one of the most exciting projects the chipmaker has been working on. At present, the companies are also testing these devices with mobile operators. "We have been engaged with a lot of mobile operators... talking about not only strategically where does this fit into the portfolio and opportunities it brings them, but tactically how do we get these things into the market and into people's hands," he said.

These mobile PCs will feature an embedded SIM to enable simple activation of the device. The device will have an "always-on" connectivity as well. As an individual customer, you would want be excited about these mobile PCs as well.

First, these devices are expected to hit the market as soon as December, according to TrustedReviews. Second, these devices will have an amazing battery life. Microsoft is promising multi-day battery life for instance.

Microsoft's Bernard said several executives at the company are using this mobile PCs already. He said, he was pleasantly surprised when some of these executives said there was something wrong with the battery meter, it wasn't draining fast enough. To which, Bernard recalls "It turned out not to be a bug; it just has a great battery life."

                  OCULUS A NEW VIRTUAL REALITY

Facebook Inc is launching a new virtual reality headset that does not require a separate computer to operate, allowing more mobile uses than the company's existing Oculus Rift product, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday.

Zuckerberg, speaking at a conference for virtual reality developers, said the "Oculus Go" device would cost $199 (roughly Rs. 13,000) and ship early next year, too late for this year's holiday shopping season but likely ahead of rivals.

Facebook has invested heavily in virtual reality hardware in hopes the technology, which offers a 360-degree panoramic view of faraway or imaginary spaces, will move from a niche interest to a widely used platform for gaming, communication and business applications.

In 2014, Facebook paid $3 billion to acquire Oculus and retain its employees.

The Oculus Go is billed as simpler than the Rift, which went on sale last year, or the Vive system made by HTC Corp. Both of those require desktop computers to operate.

"I think you're going to see these a lot on airplanes, because it's way better than the back-of-the-seat monitor or my phone," Mike Schroepfer, Facebook's chief technology officer, said in an interview.

Schroepfer said the device is aimed at people who do not have Samsung smartphones. Oculus and Samsung Electronics Co already sell a device, named Gear VR, that when paired with certain Samsung phones is similar to Oculus Go.

Alphabet Inc offers a rival headset, Google Daydream, that works with yet more smartphones.

"The Oculus Go has potential to be a huge driver of growth," if people like the titles and apps on it, Stephanie Llamas, vice president of research at Super Data, said in an email.

Facebook will permanently cut the price of the Rift system to $399 (roughly Rs. 26,000) from $499 (roughly Rs. 32,500), the company said.

Facebook is expected to ship 213,000 Rift systems this year, while HTC is expected to ship 305,000 Vive systems, according to Super Data research.

Beyond price cuts and new products, Facebook is trying different ways to attract people to the virtual-reality medium.

The company is developing software known as Facebook Spaces that allows friends to meet in virtual rooms, and it said it will soon integrate live video.

On Wednesday, the company said it was releasing technology to create better, customised facial images, or avatars, and would soon add the ability to use playing cards in Facebook Spaces, in addition to the dice it already has.

Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Plus Alexa-Powered Smart Speakers Launched in India; Prime Music Coming Soon

Amazon said on Wednesday it is bringing Alexa as well as Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Plus smart speakers to India, its fastest growing marketplace, as the company looks to extend its lead over Google Assistant-powered Google Home, and Apple's Siri-powered HomePod in the smart speakers market. The company also said it will soon be bringing Amazon Prime Music, its music streaming service in the country. India is the fourth market after the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany where Amazon has officially made Alexa and its smart speakers available, the company said.

The hockey puck-shaped Amazon Echo Dot, priced at Rs. 4,499 (roughly $69), is the most affordable Echo smart speaker from the company. Once you have set it up, you could ask the Echo Dot to play music, read you news, share reminders, and wake you up in the morning. The new Amazon Echo, which offers louder and improved sound quality, is priced at Rs. 9,999 (roughly $154). The Echo Plus, offers even better speakers than the Amazon Echo, and also lets users control other connected things in their house. It is priced at Rs. 14,999 (roughly $231). All the speakers need to be tethered to a power source at all times. The company says it will begin accepting the orders for the Echo speakers on an invite-only basis for now. Customers who are interested can request an invite from the website. Amazon India will begin shipping the Echo speakers in the country starting the week of October 30.