Google is working on a new feature that could protect a user’s privacy while using apps that ask for their email address, according to a report. Strings of code spotted in one of the company’s applications reveal that a feature called Shielded Email is currently in development, and it could allow users to share email address ‘aliases’ when signing up for apps or newsletters. Apple already offers a similar feature on its devices called Hide My Email, for iCloud+ subscribers.

Shielded Email Feature Could Offer Email Aliases With Forwarding Support

Android Authority and AssembleDebug spotted a new feature while performing a teardown of the Google Play Services version 24.45.33 APK, which is dubbed Shielded Email. Various strings of code discovered by the publication give us an idea about the purported feature and how it might work, if it is eventually rolled out by the company.

According to the report, the Shielded Email feature will let users keep their email address private by generating an email alias when an application asks a user to provide their email address. One of the strings also suggests why the feature could come in handy — by protecting them from “online tracking and data breaches”.

It also appears that these email aliases will be capable of forwarding emails to a user’s real inbox, which could provide a buffer from services that send out spam emails. It’s currently unclear whether users will be able to generate multiple Shielded Email addresses (or aliases).

Google could integrate the Shielded Email feature with its Autofill functionality on Android smartphones, according to the publication — a screenshot of the Autofill settings section shows a new icon that depicts an email with a blue tag and the Google logo. 

It’s worth noting that Google’s rival Apple already offers a similar feature called Hide My Email. This feature is available to iCloud+ subscribers and allows users to instantly generate email aliases instead of sharing their real email address with an application or website. Emails sent to these aliases are also forwarded to the user’s actual email inbox. 

It’s unclear whether (or when) Google will roll out the new Shielded Email feature to users. Other details, such as availability and pricing (or whether it will be limited to Google One customers), are also currently unknown. but we can expect to learn more about the feeature and how it works in the coming weeks or months.

Zoom Video Communications has met with regulators from the United States, European Union, and other jurisdictions to outline concerns about Microsoft’s alleged anti-competitive behavior, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. The video conferencing platform has spoken with the US Federal Trade Commission, as well as competition enforcers from the EU, UK, and Germany over the past year, the report said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Zoom had expressed its concerns about the way Microsoft has given preference to its chat and video app Teams through price bundling and product design, the report added.”If you have unfair competition, you may not win,” Zoom CEO Eric Yuan said, while answering a question at the Goldman Sachs Communications & Technology conference on Tuesday.

FTC declined to comment, while Zoom and Microsoft did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Microsoft had found itself a target of a European Union antitrust investigation over the bundling of its Teams with its Office product in July, following a complaint by Salesforce-owned competing workspace messaging app Slack in 2020.

A month later, the software giant said it would unbundle Teams from its Office products and make it easier for competing products to work with its software, in an attempt to stave off a possible EU antitrust fine. 

© Thomson Reuters 2023 

OnePlus is all geared up to launch the OnePlus 13 in the coming week. With a little over a week to go, the company has now revealed the camera features and camera samples of the flagship smartphone. The OnePlus 13 will carry a Hasselblad-branded triple rear camera unit, like its predecessor. The brand also shared a quick unboxing video of the phone revealing its design. Additionally, the pricing of the handset has leaked online.

OnePlus 13 to Get Periscope Telephoto Camera

OnePlus revealed details of the OnePlus 13 camera unit via Weibo posts. Like the OnePlus 12, the next offering will have triple rear cameras jointly developed by OnePlus and Hasselblad. The camera setup will include a 50-megapixel Sony LYT-808 main camera with a 1/1.95-inch size, f/2.6 aperture and OIS support. The phone will also get a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto sensor and a 50-megapixel ultra wide-angle camera with a 120-degree field of view.

The OnePlus 13 is confirmed to use the same image algorithm as the Oppo Find X8 series. The brand has posted some camera samples to show off the capabilities of the upcoming device.

On top of that, OnePlus 13’s short official unboxing video was posted on Weibo. The video assures that it will ship with ColorOS 15 out of the box. The handset is shown in a red rectangular box. It is seen with a flat-screen and narrow bezels all around.

Meanwhile, an X user Tech Home (@TechHome100) spotted the listing of the OnePlus 13 online with a price tag of CNY 4,699 (roughly Rs. 55,000). That’s CNY 400 (roughly Rs. 4,500) more than the OnePlus 12, which was launched at CNY 4,299 (roughly Rs. 50,700) for the base 12GB RAM + 256GB storage model.

The OnePlus 13 will run on the newly announced Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, paired with up to 24GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. It will also support magnetic wireless charging.

Dell XPS 16, XPS 14, Alienware m16 R2, and Inspiron 14 Plus laptops have been refreshed with the latest Intel Core Ultra processors in India. The gaming and consumer portfolio by Dell now comes with a range of AI-based features for enhanced performance and efficiency. The Dell XPS models and the Alienware gaming laptop come with up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics, while the Inspiron 14 Plus runs on Intel Arc GPU.

Dell XPS 16, XPS 14, Alienware m16 R2, Inspiron 14 Plus price in India

Dell XPS 16 (9640) starts at Rs. 2,99,990 in India, while the XPS 14 (9440) has a starting price tag of Rs. 1,99,990. Dell’s Alienware m16 R2 (7440) price begins at Rs. 1,49,999, while the Inspiron 14 Plus comes with a price tag of Rs. 1,05,999.

The updated laptops will be available across the company’s official website, DES, and other retail outlets in the country. The Dell XPS models will go on sale starting April 25, while the Alienware m16 R2 and Inspiron 14 Plus are currently available for purchase.

Dell XPS 16, XPS 14 specifications

The Dell XPS series comes with several AI-based features including Copilot in Windows 11 and Touch Function Row. The latter assists in switching between media and function keys. The Dell XPS 16 is the most premium option in the lineup and it can be configured with up to Intel Core Ultra 9 series processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics. It is claimed to offer higher performance than the previous XPS 15 model. Meanwhile, the smaller Dell XPS 14 supports up to Intel Core Ultra 7 series processors alongside up to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU.

Dell XPS 16 features a 16.3-inch 4K+ (2,400×3,840 pixels) OLED display while the XPS 14 gets a 14.5-inch OLED screen with a 3.2K+ resolution. The display on both laptops offer a refresh rate of up to 120Hz and Dolby Vision. Further, the company’s Eyesafe technology reduces harmful blue light and optimises eye comfort. The frame of the laptops is made of aluminium with the display receiving Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The laptops feature a glass touchpad with haptic feedback.

The laptops get 3D stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos and Waves MaxxAudio tuning. The Dell XPS 14 has a 8W quad-speaker design and Wi-Fi 6E connectivity while the Dell XPS 16 has a 10W quad-speaker design along with Wi-Fi 7 connectivity. They sport a full-HD (1080 pixel) Webcam as well.

Dell has packed a 99.5Whr battery on the XPS 16 with support for 130W fast charging via USB Type-C port, whereas the Dell XPS 14 houses a 69.5Whr cell and gets a 60W charger.

Dell Alienware m16 R2 specifications

The gaming-focused Alienware m16 R2 runs on Windows 11 Pro and features a 16-inch QHD+ (1,600 x 2,560 pixels) display with 240Hz refresh rate, 300 nits peak brightness, and 16:10 display. It is compatible with up to Intel Core Ultra 9 185H CPU and up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU with a TGP of 140W and a total performance power of up to 175W. It packs up to 64GB dual channel DDR5 memory and up to 8TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD storage option.

Dell Alienware m16 R2 offers a 14 percent larger touchpad than the previous models. It also gets a full-HD webcam equipped with IR for facial recognition, and HDR support. The laptop supports Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos technologies and features Alienware’s Cryo technology for thermal management during intense gaming sessions. It offers Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity as well.

The Alienware m16 R2 features a new Stealth Mode feature that allows users to set the performance of the machine to Quiet mode by pressing Fn + F2. This turns off the AlienFX lighting and changes the keyboard backlight to white.

It houses a 90Whr six-cell lithium-ion battery with support for 240W GaN or 280W standard AC charging options. It measures 23.5×249.4×363.9mm and weighs around 2.55 kilograms.

Dell Inspiron 14 Plus specifications

The Dell Inspiron 14 Plus runs on Windows 11 and features a 14.0-inch 2.2K(1,400×2,240 pixels) display with 16:10 aspect ratio and 300 nits brightness. It can be configured with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU alongside an Intel Arc GPU paired with 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD storage.

Dell has equipped the Inspiron 14 Plus with a full-HD Webcam, a backlit keyboard, and a fingerprint reader with Windows Hello support. It also includes a touchpad. The laptop packs a 64Whr battery coupled with 100W charging.

Apple Inc. faces a lawsuit from a UK consumer group over allegations its monopoly on data storage breaches competition law, in a fresh class action that could ultimately cost the tech giant billions.

The iCloud provider is accused of abusing its market dominance by making it difficult for consumers to use alternative means of storing photos, videos and other data beyond that of its own service, according to lawyers at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, who filed the suit London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal on behalf of Which? Ltd. 

Britain’s opt-out class-action regime has become an increasingly popular route for consumers to try and hold a handful of globally dominant firms to account. Tech companies — Apple included — in particular have been targeted for abusing their dominant position to overcharge customers. None of the recent filings have made it to a full trial. 

Apple raised the price of iCloud storage for UK consumers by between 20 percent and 29 percent across its storage tiers in 2023 – fees which customers have no choice but to pay once they surpass the free storage limit of 5GB, according to the claimants.  

Which? estimates that the damages in the case could reach as high as £3 billion ($3.8 billion or roughly Rs. 32,081 crore) should the 40 million British customers who use Apple storage products take part in the litigation. A London judge will have to approve the class action before the real scope can be decided. 

“Our users are not required to use iCloud, and many rely on a wide range of third-party alternatives for data storage,” Apple said. “We reject any suggestion that our iCloud practices are anticompetitive and will vigorously defend against any legal claim otherwise.”

© 2024 Bloomberg L.P.

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