Apple unveils 3 iPhones with dual SIM, impressive cameras
San Francisco, Sep 13 : Apple officially introduced its 2018 line-up of iPhones -- the premium iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR at an event in California late on Wednesday.
The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max will support dual SIM and dual standby functionality.
The premium iPhone XS and XS Max come with upgraded 12MP + 12MP camera and 2x optical zoom. There is an improved TrueTone quad-LED flash as well. Both the models have a 7MP RGB camera sensor in the front with F/2.2 aperture while the iPhone XR has a single 12MP camera at the rear.
The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max would be available in 64GB, 256GB and 512GB storage variants in space grey, silver and a new gold colour starting at Rs 99,900 and Rs 1,09,900, respectively through Apple authorised resellers in India.
The cheapest of the lot -- the iPhone XR -- has a starting price of Rs 76,900.
The premium iPhone XS is made with stainless surgical grade steel with a new glass formulation and has edge-to-edge screen, Apple said in a statement.
Both the iPhone XS and XS Max are fueled by Apple's latest A12 Bionic chipset built on 7-nm design, which allows for 6.9 billion transistors on the chip. Also, there is a new neural engine with an 8-core dedicated machine learning (ML) processor.
The iPhone X comes with a 5.8-inch OLED display while the iPhone XS has 6.5-inch OLED screen -- the biggest ever on an iPhone. Other than the size, both the models have 3D Touch and HDR.
The Face ID in these models is said to work faster this time than last year's iPhone X. The affordable iPhone XR has a 6.1-inch LCD screen with liquid Retina display and aluminium body instead of a steel one.
The Cupertino-based company also unveiled its new Apple Watch Series 4 with improved health features. Its next generation of Apple Watch features edge-to-edge display with smaller bezels, which is 30 per cent bigger.
The device brings a design overhaul to the Apple Watch as the iPhone-maker is now using a new dual-core 64-bit chipset, custom designed to improve performance.
"Apple Watch isn't just the number one smart watch, it is the number one watch in the world period," Tim Cook, CEO of Apple said. Apart from heartbeat data, the devices would now also track heart rhythm and notify users.
The new series has been approved by FDA for ECG recording as well but this feature would be limited to only US-based users initially. The tech giant said it is working to introduce this feature in other countries as well.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
US SC rejects 26/11 attack accused Tahawwur Rana’s plea seeking stay on his extradition to India
New York, Apr 7 (PTI): The US Supreme Court has rejected 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana's appeal seeking a stay on his extradition to India, moving him closer to being handed over to Indian authorities to face justice.
Rana, 64, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is currently lodged at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles.
He is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks. Headley conducted a recce of Mumbai before the attacks by posing as an employee of Rana’s immigration consultancy.
Rana had submitted an ‘Emergency Application For Stay Pending Litigation of Petition For Writ of Habeas Corpus' on February 27, 2025, with Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit Elena Kagan.
Kagan had denied the application earlier last month.
Rana had then renewed his ‘Emergency Application for Stay Pending Litigation of Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus previously addressed to Justice Kagan’, and requested that the renewed application be directed to US Chief Justice John Roberts.
An order on the Supreme Court website noted that Rana's renewed application had been “distributed for Conference” on April 4 and the “application” has been “referred to the Court.”
A notice on the Supreme Court website Monday said that “Application denied by the Court.”
Rana was convicted in the US of one count of conspiracy to provide material support to the terrorist plot in Denmark and one count of providing material support to Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashker-e-Taiba which was responsible for the attacks in Mumbai.
New York-based Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra had told PTI that Rana had made his application to the Supreme Court to prevent extradition, which Justice Kagan denied on March 6. The application was then submitted before Roberts, “who has shared it with the Court to conference so as to harness the entire Court’s view.”
The Supreme Court justices are Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
In his emergency application, Rana had sought a stay of his extradition and surrender to India pending litigation (including exhaustion of all appeals) on the merits of his February 13.
In that petition, Rana argued that his extradition to India violates US law and the UN Convention Against Torture "because there are substantial grounds for believing that, if extradited to India, the petitioner will be in danger of being subjected to torture."
"The likelihood of torture in this case is even higher though as petitioner faces acute risk as a Muslim of Pakistani origin charged in the Mumbai attacks,” the application said.
The application also said that his “severe medical conditions” render extradition to Indian detention facilities a “de facto" death sentence in this case.
The US Supreme Court denied Rana's petition for a writ of certiorari relating to his original habeas petition on January 21. The application notes that on that same day, newly-confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio had met with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Washington on February 12 to meet with Trump, Rana’s counsel received a letter from the Department of State, stating that “on February 11, 2025, the Secretary of State decided to authorise” Rana’s "surrender to India,” pursuant to the “Extradition Treaty between the United States and India”.
Rana’s Counsel requested from the State Department the complete administrative record on which Secretary Rubio based his decision to authorize Rana’s surrender to India.
The Counsel also requested immediate information of any commitment the United States has obtained from India with respect to Rana’s treatment. “The government declined to provide any information in response to these requests,” the application said.
It added that given Rana’s underlying health conditions and the State Department’s findings regarding the treatment of prisoners, it is very likely “Rana will not survive long enough to be tried in India".
During a joint press conference with Prime Minister Modi in the White House in February, President Donald Trump announced that his administration has approved the extradition of "very evil" Rana, wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, "to face justice in India”.
A total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing people at iconic and vital locations in Mumbai.
