Netflix is offering a few original shows and movies for free to everyone, without an account

The quest for dominance in the online video streaming industry is shared across different services, each of them battling for your free time and attention, and of course, your wallet. While platforms like YouTube primarily rely on user-submitted content that is broadcasted for free, other platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video aim to be more of a cable-replacement, offering premium-quality content usually behind a subscription paywall. But not everyone can experience premium paywalled content all the time, which makes it a little difficult to entice potential subscribers to part with their money. One way is to offer lower payment threshold plans to lower the barrier of affordability, and Netflix is building up on it by now offering a few of its original shows and movies for everyone to watch for free, even without needing a Netflix account.

As spotted by OnlyTech, Netflix is now offering non-subscribers the ability to watch Netflix Original series and movies for free without needing to create a Netflix account. The list of content available could possibly vary across regions, but here are the titles available in India:

• Series:
  • Stranger Things
  • Elite
  • Boss Baby – Back in Business
  • When They See Us
  • Love is Blind
  • Our Planet
  • Grace and Frankie
• Movie:
  • Murder Mystery
  • Bird Box
  • The Two Popes

Watch for free on Netflix.com

All of these titles are available to play with a simple click on desktop and Android browsers. iOS browsers are not supported. Curiously, you can’t watch these for free on the official Netflix app on Android or on Android TV.

What’s the catch, you ask? The only catch that we could spot was the fact that only the first episode is available to watch for free for the listed series.

In a statement to NDTV Gadgets, Netflix offered the following statement:

We’re looking at different marketing promotions to attract new members and give them a great Netflix experience.

There is no indication that this marketing promotion is temporary, but it’s best to make hay while the sun still shines. These movies and shows might not be enough by themselves to convince users to opt for an annual subscription, but they might just be the kickstart needed to get some consumers onto the more basic and monthly subscription plans, just to find out what happens next in the series.

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Google Pay tests NFC-based contactless payments in India

Google will soon let Indian Google Pay users make contactless payments using their debit or credit card. Currently, Google Pay only offers Unified Payment Interface (UPI) payments that let users send or receive money directly to their bank accounts either by entering a mobile number or scanning a QR code. But that’s set to change as Google has begun testing tokenized card payments for a small batch of users in India.

As spotted by Android Police, some Google Pay users have started seeing the option to add a credit or debit card as a supported payment option in the Google Pay app. The option isn’t available for everyone as of now, but Google has slowly been expanding its A/B testing to more users over the last couple of weeks. The feature is most probably a server-side switch and doesn’t seem to require to be on the most recent version of the app. The option was unavailable for me on both my phones running the Google Pay version 65.0.001_RC06.

Google already has a support page up, which describes how users can set up their cards to use with Google Pay. Basically, users will have to fill in their card details (card number, expiry date, CVV, etc.) and authenticate it using the One Time Password.

Once activated and verified, users will be able to make tokenized card payments at NFC-enabled POS terminals, QR-based payments at vendors, and online payments on 3rd-party merchants where Google Pay is accepted. We first learned about Google’s plans to add support for tokenized cards in September last year. However, it’s only now that the company has finally begun to roll out the functionality to Google Pay users in India.

For now, Google only supports Axis debit/credit cards and SBI credit cards issued by Visa, but it’s likely it will bring support for more banks and issuers once the feature becomes available for all users.

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Google Pay: Pay with your phone and send cash (Free, Google Play) →

Via: Android Police

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OxygenOS 10.5.6 for the OnePlus Nord improves Bluetooth connectivity and optimizes image stabilization

Another day, another round of software updates! This time OnePlus is back with a new build of OxygenOS for the OnePlus Nord. Tagged as OxygenOS 10.5.6, the latest update comes with a comparatively tiny changelog, but it does contain optimizations and fixes for the camera, system, and Bluetooth. However, there is no change in the Android security patch level (SPL) with this OTA.

OnePlus Nord XDA Forums

The previous update for the OnePlus Nord brought macro camera quality improvements. The OEM continues to push camera-related fixes, as the latest build specifically targets the domain of image stabilization performance. OnePlus also highlights a few improvements related to general power consumption and Bluetooth connectivity in the new firmware.

OnePlus Nord Review: Great Performance at a Great Price

The full changelog for the OxygenOS 10.5.6 update can be found below:

• System
  • Improved system stability
• Camera
  • Optimized image stabilization performance
• Power
  • Improved general power consumption
• Bluetooth
  • Improved Bluetooth connection stability

Thanks to OnePlus Community member Sagar366 for the screenshot!

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Download OxygenOS 10.5.6 for the OnePlus Nord

As always, OnePlus is following a gradual rollout model. The company is rolling out the new update to a handful of users first. If no critical issue pops up during the initial phase, the rollout will be expanding to more devices over the coming days. In case you haven’t received the OTA update yet and you don’t want to wait for it, you can grab the appropriate update package for your model from the index below and freely sideload it right away. We have provided links to both incremental OTA and full OTA zips.

• Global: OxygenOS 10.5.6.AC01AA​
  • Full OTA
  • Incremental OTA from OxygenOS 10.5.5
• India: OxygenOS 10.5.6.AC01DA
  • Full OTA
  • Incremental OTA from OxygenOS 10.5.5
• Europe: OxygenOS 10.5.6.AC01BA
  • Full OTA
  • Incremental OTA from OxygenOS 10.5.5

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Thanks to XDA Senior Member Some_Random_Username for the download links!

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Samsung starts mass producing its third-gen 16Gb LPDDR5 RAM modules

LPDDR5 RAM has now become the standard on flagships, and we are seeing new flagships in 2020 regularly reach the insane 16GB capacity. This jump up implies an increase in demand, and consequently, an increase in supply. Back in February 2020, Samsung had begun its first mass production line for the 16GB LPDDR5 mobile DRAM package utilizing the 1y process node (second-generation 10nm class process). Now, Samsung has begun mass production for the 1z process node for 16Gb LPDDR5 DRAM.

Samsung Electronics has been pushing the envelope for high-capacity RAM adoption. The company had announced the development of 8Gb (gigabit) LPDDR5 RAM in back in July 2018, following up with mass production of 12GB LPDDR5 mobile DRAM package in July 2019 and 16GB LPDDR5 mobile DRAM package in February 2020. This new announcement is for the second production line in Pyeongtaek, Korea, which has now commenced mass production of the industry’s first 16-gigabit (Gb) LPDDR5 DRAM using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) technology and built on Samsung’s third-generation 10nm-class (1z) process.

“The 1z-based 16Gb LPDDR5 elevates the industry to a new threshold, overcoming a major developmental hurdle in DRAM scaling at advanced nodes. We will continue to expand our premium DRAM lineup and exceed customer demands, as we lead in growing the overall memory market.”

Jung-bae Lee, Executive Vice President of DRAM Product & Technology, Samsung Electronics

Samsung’s Pyeongtaek Line 2 is the largest-scale semiconductor production line to date, spanning more than 128,900 square meters/1.3 million square feet, which is the equivalent of about 16 soccer fields. Samsung says that the new Pyeongtaek line will “serve as the key manufacturing hub for the industry’s most advanced semiconductor technologies, delivering cutting-edge DRAM followed by next-generation V-NAND and foundry solutions, while reinforcing the company’s leadership in the Industry 4.0 era“.

The new 16Gb LPDDR5 is the first memory based on currently most advanced 1z process node and which is being mass-produced using EUV tech, making it the highest speed and largest capacity available in mobile DRAM. The 1z process also makes this LPDDR5 package about 30% thinner than its predecessor (referring to the 12Gb LPDDR5 package), and about 16% faster. The 16Gb LPDDR5 can build a 16GB package with only eight chips, whereas the 1y-based 16GB LPDDR5 package required 12 chips (eight 12Gb chips and four 8Gb chips) to provide the same capacity.

Samsung is also planning to expand the use of its LPDDR5 offerings into automotive applications, offering an extended temperature range to meet strict safety and reliability standards in extreme environments.

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Source: Samsung Newsroom

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[Update: Wider Rollout] Google is rolling out Nearby Share, its file-sharing AirDrop clone for Android 6.0+

Update 1 (08/31/2020 @ 01:20AM ET): Google Nearby Share is rolling out widely. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on August 4, 2020, is preserved below.

Last year, we learned that Google was preparing a new file-sharing service for Android. This file-sharing service was originally called “Fast Share” during early iterations, but Google eventually rebranded it to “Nearby Share” during the course of development. We got an early glimpse of the feature in January, and in late June, Google started testing the service with a handful of users on the latest Google Play Services beta release. Today, Google has announced that they are finally rolling out Nearby Share to millions of Android smartphones running Android 6.0 and above.

For those unaware, Android has never had a simple, fast, and unified way to share files between devices. Until Android 10, most Android devices did have access to Android Beam, a file-sharing service that required users to tap their phones together to initiate a handshake over NFC followed by a file transfer over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi Direct. Android Beam is, however, deprecated, clunkier, and slower than AirDrop, the file-sharing service on iOS that’s been around for years and is used by millions of iPhone and iPad users. AirDrop lets you quickly share files with any fellow iPhone or iPad users that are nearby. There are file-sharing services on Android that are arguably as simple and fast as AirDrop, but they all either require users to either download a third-party app or own a device from a specific smartphone manufacturer. Google is uniquely equipped to roll out a simple, fast, and unified file-sharing service thanks to its control over Google Play Services, which is installed on the vast majority of Android devices sold outside of China regardless of the manufacturer. That’s exactly what Nearby Share is—a simple, fast, and unified file-sharing service for Android.

With Nearby Share, Android users can quickly share files to nearby users with the tap of a button. After tapping the “share” button in an app, users can share file(s) by selecting the “Nearby Share” option. Nearby users will then get a notification that someone wants to share content with them. Users will always have the option to “accept” or “decline” the file, so files are never transferred without explicit confirmation. After tapping “accept”, the file(s) are transferred using the best available communication protocol: Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, WebRTC, or peer-to-peer WiFi. Thus, files can be shared even when the sender and recipient devices are both fully offline.

Google designed this feature with privacy in mind. You can send and receive files anonymously, for example. You can also choose which contacts (all, some, or none) are able to immediately see you when you turn on Nearby Share.

Perhaps the best part of Nearby Share is that Google is making it cross-platform. While we don’t know about iOS compatibility, Google confirmed they’re working to expand the feature to additional platforms. The company confirmed that feature will work with Chromebooks in the coming months. In fact, it’s already available on Chrome OS if you enable a few feature flags. More general OS support, such as Windows, will be available via Google Chrome.

Starting today, select Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy smartphones running Android 6.0 or later will start getting Nearby Share. Since this feature is baked into Google Play Services, it’ll eventually become available for more Android smartphones. Check out this support page for more information on how the feature works.

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Update: Google Nearby Share now rolling out widely

It appears that Google is rolling out Nearby Share more widely. We’ve spotted the feature on several devices now, like the ASUS ZenFone 7 Pro, OnePlus Nord, Nubia Red Magic 5S, and LG Velvet. All of these devices are running Google Play Services 20.30.19 stable. Other users with OnePlus, Xiaomi, Honor, Realme, and Nokia phones have also mentioned that they have received the feature.

To access Nearby Share, go to Settings > Google > Device Connections > Nearby Share, or Settings > Connected Devices > Connection Preferences > Nearby Share (this menu isn’t available on all OS versions and/or OEM skins). If this setting is visible to you, you can also edit your Quick Settings to add the Nearby Share tile.

As the screenshot indicates, number verification appears to be a newly added feature.

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T-Mobile OnePlus 7T, 7T Pro McLaren Edition can now be bootloader unlocked without waiting, 7T rebranding also possible

The bootloader unlocking experience on a T-Mobile-branded OnePlus smartphone is very much different from the unlocked variants. Once you pay off the contract and use the device on the network for at least 40 days, you’re eligible to perform a SIM unlock. After SIM unlocking, you need to generate a unique unlock token to be able to unlock the bootloader. Besides the added complexity of bootloader unlocking, the slower update frequency and the inability to participate in the OxygenOS Open Beta and Developer Preview programs are some of the main reasons why people prefer to “rebrand” their T-Mobile OnePlus phones to international (i.e. non-T-Mobile) firmware. If you have the T-Mobile OnePlus 7T and want to get rid of the carrier firmware, then you’ll be interested in learning that XDA Senior Member Superboy58 has managed to find a way to convert this variant to international without a traditionally unlocked bootloader/SIM unlock.

OnePlus 7T Forums

The trick is to patch the OPS file from the official unbrick package in such a way that the bootloader ignores the token generation part and allows users to unlock it with a standard Fastboot command. As soon as you unlock the bootloader, pick the Fastboot-flashable global firmware for the OnePlus 7T and do a clean flash to complete the rebranding process. Head over to the thread linked below for more instructions.

Rebrand T-Mobile OnePlus 7T to international firmware — XDA Thread

In case you have the T-Mobile OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren Edition, there’s a similar mod to unlock the bootloader without waiting. The only catch is, you can’t rebrand it like the other model. The T-Mobile variant is 5G capable, whereas an international variant of the OnePlus 7T Pro 5G simply does not exist. There is no way you can replace the stock T-Mobile McLaren Edition firmware with another official OxygenOS ROM. You can, however, opt for custom ROMs that are specifically built for this model.

Bootloader unlock T-Mobile OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren Edition without waiting

T-Mobile OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren Edition Forums

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Google Pixel 5, Pixel 4a 5G, Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, Galaxy M51, and Nubia Red Magic 5S forums are open

It’s been a busy month for smartphone releases, and there are no signs of that slowing down. After opening up forums for the ZenFone 7, Moto G9, and two new Realme devices, we’re opening up the floodgates for more devices for people to chat about. Our forums for the Google Pixel 5, Google Pixel 4a 5G, Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, Samsung Galaxy M51, and Nubia Red Magic 5S are all open.

Google Pixel 5

Not long after Google teased the Pixel 5, some big leaks hit the web. In addition to a series of renders, nearly all of the specs of the Google Pixel 5 were revealed, including the battery size, RAM, and more. In other words, there’s not much we don’t know about the Pixel 5, except maybe the price. Google is expected to officially unveil the Pixel 5 towards the beginning of October.

Google Pixel 5 Forums

Alleged Google Pixel 5 CAD render. Source: @OnLeaks/Pricebaba.

Google Pixel 4a 5G

In addition to the Google Pixel 5, Google is also gearing up to introduce the Pixel 4a 5G. The device is expected to be a step up from the Pixel 4a and includes support for 5G which, as you’d expect, will demand a higher price tag. Some of the device’s specs were already unveiled, and there’s even been a leaked picture, so there’s not much else to do but wait for Google to unveil it alongside the Google Pixel 5 in October.

Google Pixel 4a 5G Forums

Alleged Google Pixel 4a 5G CAD render. Source: @OnLeaks/91Mobiles

Samsung Galaxy 20 FE

Samsung has announced the new Galaxy Note 20 series, but the company isn’t done yet with the Galaxy S20 series. The company is allegedly prepping the Galaxy S20 “Fan Edition,” which is expected to feature a tweaked design and support 5G when it launches in the U.S. There are a number of other leaks and rumors about this device, which you can discuss freely in the forums.

Samsung Galaxy 20 FE Forums

Alleged Samsung Galaxy S20 FE press render. Source: Evan Blass

Samsung Galaxy M51

Big batteries have become commonplace in today’s smartphone market, but the Samsung Galaxy M51 will allegedly take it to the next level. Recent reports claim the device, which may include Qualcomm’s mid-range Snapdragon 730 chip, will feature a massive 7,000mAh battery, which should be plenty of juice to last through a day or two.

Samsung Galaxy M51 Forums

Alleged Samsung Galaxy M51 press render. Source: @Sudhanshu1414

Nubia Red Magic 5S

Looking to get your game on? Look no further than the Nubia Red Magic 5S. The gaming smartphone comes equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chip, 144Hz OLED display, and a triple-camera setup, rounding out what should be a pretty impressive flagship device. And it costs a respectable $579, making it an affordable yet powerful experience all around.

Nubia Red Magic 5S Forums

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Are you looking forward to the Google Pixel 5, Google Pixel 4a 5G, Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, or Samsung Galaxy M51? Thinking of picking up the Nubia Red Magic 5S? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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