Japan said it will give TSMC up to 732 billion yen ($4.86 billion) more in subsidies to help it build a second chip fabrication plant as the Taiwanese company on Saturday marked the opening of its first Japanese factory.

TSMC’s decision to build chips in Japan has become a key component of Tokyo’s push to revive advanced semiconductor manufacturing and harden its industrial supply chains against disruptions as tensions with neighbouring China grow.

“The chips will be more advanced than the first factory and can be used for AI and autonomous driving, and will ensure we have stable supply of semiconductors in Japan,” Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ken Saito told reporters after attending a ceremony for the opening of the first factory in Kumamoto on Japan’s Kyushu island, hosted by TSMC’s founder Morris Chang.

The latest financial commitment, which will add to money given to the world’s biggest chipmaker for its first factory, could push taxpayer-funded subsidies for TSMC beyond 1 trillion yen.

TSMC, which is also expanding in the U.S. and Germany, plans to ramp up to mass production in Japan before the end of the year. Total investment in the venture, including a second plant, will exceed more than $20 billion, according to the Taiwanese company.

When completed, monthly capacity across the two factories will exceed 100,000 12-inch wafers that TSMC will supply to technology firms and carmakers including Sony and Toyota Motor.

Japan is also investing in a homegrown chip venture, Rapidus, which is partnering with IBM and Imec, a European chip research organisation, in a bid to mass produce cutting-edge chips on the northern island of Hokkaido from 2027.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

The Vivo V40e was launched in India towards the end of September and is the most affordable option in the lineup, which also includes the standard V40 and the V40 Pro. Therefore, I believe that the ‘e’ in the name stands for ‘economical’, but I bet Vivo would not agree with me. The V40e is a mid-range smartphone whose main selling point is its design and a claim that it’s the slimmest smartphone with a 5,500mAh battery. Vivo also states that the phone is a pro at taking portrait photos thanks to the Aura light.

At a starting price of Rs. 28,999, the Vivo V40e sounds like a good deal for something specifically looking for a phone with a large battery, slim design, and taking plenty of portrait photos. Is it, though? Read on to find out.

Vivo V40e Design: Visually pleasing

• Dimensions – 163.7 ×75 ×7.49mm
• Weight – 183g
• Colours – Mint Green, Royal Bronze

You do get a sleek and stylish phone as advertised. The Vivo V40e is just 7.49mm thin and feels slimmer thanks to the curved edges on the front and back. The corners are rounded, and you get a glossy plastic frame. The top and bottom are flattened, though. You’ll also find the pill/keyhole-shaped camera module with the top oval protruding out and the lower unit sitting flush with the Aura Light LED at the back. We reviewed the Royal Bronze unit, which has a matte finish rear plastic panel and doesn’t have any patterns. The panel is prone to fingerprints and scratches, though, so it’s best to protect the phone with a case.

The phone is just 7.49mm thick despite having a 5,500mAh battery

The phone has the right amount of weight, and it feels like it costs more than it does. The right edge houses the volume and power buttons. There’s a microphone, loudspeaker, SIM tray, and a USB Type-C port at the bottom, whereas the top houses another microphone. The V40e also gets an IP64 rating, and I did find a rubber seal inside the SIM card tray.

Vivo V40e Display: Big and curvy

• Size – 6.77-inch, full-HD+ resolution
• Type – AMOLED, 120Hz
• Protection – SCHOTT Xensation Up glass

On the front, the phone has a large display with curved sides. Other than making the phone feel slimmer than it actually is, the curved sides also make the side bezels appear thinner. The bezels are also uniform on the top and bottom. The panel is plenty bright for indoor use, and it’s also usable outdoors, as long as it’s not a super bright day.

The display supports a 120Hz refresh rate

As for refresh rate, the display gets up to 120Hz support with a Smart Switch option available as well. You can switch between 60Hz or 120Hz as well. The display supports HDR10+ and offers three colour modes – Standard, Professional, and Bright. There’s also an SGS low blue light certification available on the phone. All of the above make the display on the Vivo V40e an excellent option for watching content and playing games.

The in-display fingerprint scanner sits low

The display also offers an in-display fingerprint scanner, which, apart from a few failed attempts, was fast and worked well during my time with the phone.

Vivo V40e Software: Smooth but bloated

• OS – Android 14
• UI – Funtouch OS 14
• Latest security patch – October 1

The Vivo V40e runs Android 14-based Funtouch OS 14 out of the box, and I received several updates during the review period. Vivo has promised to provide three years of OS updates and four years of security patches. The software experience is like most other mid-range smartphones from Vivo. You get a lot of third-party apps from the get-go, but luckily, these can be uninstalled. There’s also the Vivo V-Appstore and a few other Vivo apps, such as the Browser, that keep sending notifications and can’t be removed.

The Aura Light at the back can be used for notifications

However, you will find some useful features on the phone. An AI eraser tool is present in the Gallery app, and it works decently. You also get an AI Photo enhancement feature that is claimed to unblur, beautify, and reduce noise. However, it did an okay job in reality. You also get features such as a Smart sidebar to make use of the curved display, Dynamic light that uses the Aura light to show notifications, Ambient light effect that uses edge lighting for notifications and acts as a light show when playing music, and more.

The software experience on the phone is mostly smooth, but the unwanted notifications from the built-in apps are quite annoying.

Vivo V40e Performance: Good enough

• SoC – MediaTek Dimensity 7300
• RAM – 8GB LPDDR4X
• Storage – Up to 256GB UFS 2.2

The MediaTek Dimensity 7300 on the V40e is an octa-core 4nm chipset that is paired with the MediaTek NPU 655 and an Arm Mali-G615 GPU. When it comes to regular usage, I did not notice any lag. Apps open fast, multitasking isn’t a task, and animations throughout the UI are smooth. The camera app also works flawlessly, and there’s no major shutter lag. Overall, this phone is easy to recommend for day-to-day tasks.

Gaming isn’t a problem on the phone, and it doesn’t heat up a lot either

I ran a couple of benchmarks to compare it with phones in a similar price bracket, and the numbers showed that the Vivo V40e offered lower performance in most cases. Of course, you must keep in mind that these benchmarks shouldn’t be taken at face value, as real word usage will vary.

The phone also performed decently when playing games and didn’t overheat even after a 45-minute session of BGMI. I played BGMI with HDR graphics and Ultra frame rate and did not notice any major lag. I also played Genshin Impact and COD with medium settings, and they worked fine mostly.

The phone has a dual speaker setup, which is good enough for indoor use. It doesn’t offer a lot of bass, but there is a volume booster mode that does increase the sound output. Calls and connectivity are also pretty good. Audio from the microphone and ear speaker was clear on both ends, and I didn’t notice any major network issues in my area.

Vivo V40e Cameras: Not the Pro it’s claimed to be

• Main rear – 50-megapixel, OIS, Sony IMX882 sensor, f/1.79 aperture
• Secondary – 8-megapixel ultrawide, f/2.2, 116-degree FoV
• Selfie – 50-megapixel, auto-focus, f/2.0, 92 degree FoV

You get two rear cameras on the V40e and two different types of LED flash. The Aura light is mainly meant for portrait photos, but you can use it in creative ways as a fill light. 

There are two different LED options available on the phone

The primary camera is good for daylight photos but can produce decent night results. Photos offer good details, colours, and white balance. Even low-light photos with enough lighting offer good details, albeit with some noise.

The secondary camera, an 8-megapixel ultrawide, is okay for daylight photos, but you’ll see colour inaccuracy between the two rear sensors. Low-light photos with the ultrawide camera are blurry and have a watercolour-like effect.

I’m not sure why Vivo markets this as a pro camera for Portraits, as the phone doesn’t even have a depth sensor. It uses the primary camera, and you get to choose between a 1x or 2x crop. However, the results are somewhat nice, and you get a decent blur effect, but the edge detection could’ve been better. The Aura light also helps take nice portrait photos at night.

Portrait shot with Aura Light enabled

Switching over to the front, the 50-megapixel Samsung JN1 sensor with autofocus does a good job with selfies. The skin colours are mostly accurate, the colours are nice, and there’s a good amount of detail. Selfies in low-light conditions aren’t that great, though.

Moving on to video, you can record at 4K 30fps from the main rear and the front cameras. There is stabilisation available as well, which does a decent job of removing shakiness, but panning is janky. Video quality is decent when there’s a lot of light, with slightly boosted colours. However, I did notice that the dynamic range and white balance are all over the place.

Vivo V40e Battery: Impressive

• Capacity – 5,500mAh
• Charging speed – 80W
• Charger – 80W in the box

The battery performance of the Vivo V40e, as I’ve mentioned in the subheading, is impressive. The 5,500mAh battery easily lasts a day and more with regular usage. In our HD video loop test, the phone managed to last over 32 hours on a single charge. This was with the refresh rate set to 120Hz. Not a lot of phones in this price segment can manage that.

Charging is a quick affair

Charging is quite fast, thanks to the included 80W charger. A full charge from 0 to 100 percent took about an hour. It also doesn’t heat much when charging.

Vivo V40e Verdict

While the Vivo V40e is definitely not the one to get if you’re after Portrait photography, it is something I’d recommend if you want amazing battery life and a good-looking design. The Royal Bronze option is nice to look at, and the curved edges make the phone easy to hold. The phone also has a large, bright display for most conditions. Sound output is decent, the primary rear camera and the front camera are good during the day, and performance is also pretty decent.

As for alternatives, you can go for the Nothing Phone 2a Plus (Review) if you want a more unique design and better performance. The OnePlus Nord 4 (Review) is also an excellent choice if you prefer better cameras and much higher performance. There’s also the Infinix Zero 40 (Review), which offers much better performance and a good main rear camera.

PlayStation Plus’ monthly free games for August 2023 have been announced. The three titles will be available to members of PS Plus Essential, Extra, and Deluxe/ Premium plans, starting August 1. Members can compete to become the next FedExCup Champion in PGA Tour 2K23, slay armies of fantastical beasts and demigods in Death’s Door, and dive into the ever-changing universe of Dreams, which is laden with community-created games and tools to unleash your creativity. These games can be added to your PS4 and PS5 games library until September 4, after which you’ll need to hold on to your PS Plus subscription for continued access.

Much later, on August 29, Sea of Stars, the retro-styled turn-based RPG from Sabotage Studio, will become the first title to drop on the PS Plus and Xbox Game Pass services simultaneously. The eye-catching indie game is presented in the style of acclaimed titles like Chrono Trigger and follows two children who’d combine the powers of the sun and moon to perform an ‘Eclipse Magic,’ which is capable of defending the lands against the monstrous creations of an evil alchemist. In addition to ditching the genre’s tile-based movement formula, it reinvents the combat — timing the action button in sync with the animation exerts more damage. A free demo for Sea of Stars is out now on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.

Circling back to next month’s PS Plus additions, Sony confirmed the entries on its PlayStation Blog late on Wednesday, adding that members have until July 31 to add July’s free games to their library. The lineup includes Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the episodic horror game Alan Wake Remastered, and Endling – Extinction is Forever, where you explore a ravaged world through the eyes of the last fox on the planet.

PS Plus August 2023: PGA Tour 2K23

Drive, putt, and chip your way through in the FedExCup to become the next champion against Tour professionals, as you build new rivalries. The officially licensed golf sim from 2K streamlines controls by adding a 3-Click swing system that has you time buttons to determine the swing accuracy, in addition to keeping the traditional analog stick for the old-timers. PGA Tour 2K23 also marks the first entry to include both male and female pro golfers — including Tiger Woods, who’s a key part of the marketing — across both online and local sessions. Build your own dream courses, level up your skills and archetypes in MyPlayer, or put on licensed apparel to represent yourself on the pitch.

PGA Tour 2K23 will be available to play on both PS4 and PS5.

PS Plus August 2023: Death’s Door

Collecting lost souls can be a pretty monotonous job for the Reaper Crow, that is until your assigned soul gets stolen, sending you on a fetch quest out in the world of the living where monstrous creatures thrive, consumed with greed and power. Death’s Door’s 3D isometric world and design mimic Dark Souls and Zelda games, where progression relies on character customisation, as you master its tricky combat — melee, magic, and long-range, clear environmental puzzles, and defeat colossal bosses who have backstories of their own. Venture past the doors to uncover the truths behind the lost souls, a crow’s role in all of this, and bring hope to the tarnished realm.

Death’s Door will be available to play on both PS4 and PS5.

PS Plus August 2023: Dreams

A month before developer Media Molecule ends live support for Dreams, its ever-expanding digital playground heads to PS Plus. That said, players should still be able to create their own pieces of art renders, music, or games and share them with the larger online community. However, it won’t be receiving any further game updates, nor will the developer host community-driven events like the Impy Awards and DreamsCom. Its PS Plus launch also brings a new game called Tren, available to play within Dreams, throwing you in the driver’s seat of a remarkable toy train as you learn about growing up.

Dreams will be available to play on the PS4.

Earlier this month, PlayStation also announced the set of games coming to its Game Catalog, available to PS Plus Extra and Deluxe/ Premium tier subscribers. Key highlights include It Takes Two, Sniper Elite 5, Undertale, and a lot more.

PlayStation Plus subscription in India starts at Rs. 499 per month for Essential, Rs. 749 per month for the Extra plan, and Rs. 849 per month for the top-tier Deluxe. The monthly free games are included with all three tiers.