NewsBytes Briefing: Apple releases iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and more
Last night, Apple started rolling out its latest operating system for mobile and tablets, the iOS 14 and iPadOS 14. The iOS 14 comes with features like widgets, App Library, Apple Clips, PiP mode and is available on iPhone 6s and above, while iPadOS 14 brings many of those functions with a few quirks of its own like Scribble. Here are other developments.
Sony PlayStation 5 arrives in November, starting at $399
Sony held its PS5 showcase and confirmed that the long-awaited console will be launched globally on November 19. The console will be released in two variants: a 4K UHD Blu-ray disc-based version priced at $500 and a digital edition, which will come at $400. Apart from this, both are essentially similar. The India price of the device is yet to be announced.
Facebook is bringing Smart Glasses, and more
Facebook held its Connect conference and announced the Oculus Quest 2 VR headset that starts at $299 and offers bumped-up specs, with features like Oculus Link, Facebook Messenger, and Infinite Office to let you work from anywhere in VR. The company also confirmed several games for Quest 2 VR and announced work on smart glasses with Ray-Ban, and more sophisticated AR glasses called Aria.
Google enhances Meet, brings security improvements
Google has started rolling out 49-person grid-view and background blur for Meet, its dedicated video conferencing service. The company has also launched a new advanced protection feature in Chrome to scan files being downloaded and warn about potentially risky ones. Users will have the option to ignore this warning and proceed with downloading the file anyway.
Other important developments to note
Among other things, Amazon Music launched podcasts for Prime subscribers in the US, the UK, Germany, and Japan; and Apple extended AppleCare+ to cover two incidents of accidental damage every year. Walmart-owned e-commerce giant Flipkart, meanwhile, is said to be planning to make its public debut sometime in early 2021. The report of the IPO, however, is not confirmed yet.
Finally, some COVID-19-related updates
India on Wednesday reported nearly 98,000 new coronavirus infections, pushing the nationwide tally to 51.15 lakh. Over 1,100 fresh fatalities pushed the death toll to 83,251. For vaccine, Russia is set to supply 100 million doses of its Sputnik V vaccine to India, while US President Donald Trump said mass inoculations could begin in the country starting from October.
