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PARANOID ANDROID | Mithun Mohandas | Managing Editor
The Next Villain
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trial and under-sea fibre lines, then stock markets are more than happy to shell out ridiculous amounts for quicker connections. As per some estimates, an undersea connection from New York to London will take 55 milliseconds one way and via Starlink it could be as low as 43 milliseconds. This 28% reduction is a massive improvement for stock markets. This way Starlink can make money to pay for its own upkeep, generate revenue for the parent company and even serve underserved markets in an altruistic manner. We obviously don’t know if it will indeed be as such but this approach keeps everyone happy without any signs of exploiting any of the consumers. What I’m trying to convey is that we are quick to label large companies as morallybankrupt and money-hungry but it need not always be the case. Certainly a large number of companies, by their own actions, have set this precedent (you can name any major tech company here) which makes us instantly vilify them before even properly investigating them and that’s wrong. It’s not right to paint all companies vying to serve the next billion with the same vilifying brush. Unfortunately, we all know that they will be. The next billion don’t know better. They have needs and they are likely to adopt and use products and technologies that serve those very needs. It’s up to us to give these up-and-coming startups a fair chance to explain themselves before we can call out the next villain targeting the next billion.
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AS TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICES COMPANIES go about figuring out how to get their services to the next billion, we are often quick to assume that these very companies are solely in it for the money. True, large businesses, especially the ones that are public tend to focus on the revenue generation aspect over everything else. However, the simple rule of building services or new technologies shouldn’t be forgotten. It’s always about filling a need. If the product that’s being built isn’t helpful or is a pain to use, then there’s little chance of it being adopted by users. No venture capitalist firm is ever going to throw money at a startup that has no revenue model. All you have to do is attend a few startup pitch sessions or competitions and you’ll realise that it’s one of the guaranteed questions. Very few ideas exist wherein the product is so mind-boggling that VCs are interested just so that they can be publicly associated with said startup. Sure you can have an altruistic angle or concept but if there’s no money to be made, then you might as well shelve the idea till you have enough money to fund yourself. Does the idea of having an altruistic product which can also generate revenue make the startup morally corrupt or hypocritical? Not at all. Not unless it is exploiting the very same users it aims to help in order to generate revenue. Take a look at Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite constellation project that aims to build a space-based internet communication system. With plans to deploy 12,000 satellites, Starlink isn’t exactly a cheap thing to build. It’s estimated to cost $10 billion and that’s a low amount because SpaceX already has the mechanism to launch satellites into space. Any other company would have had to pay through their noses. Starlink aims to provide internet services in underserved markets as well as services in urban markets. The money from this service wouldn’t be enough to pay for upkeep as well as cover the initial investments. However, if the latency for Starlink is lesser than existing terres-
“The simple rule of building services or new technologies shouldn’t be forgotten. It’s always about filling a need”
Let me know your thoughts on this column at: @mithun_mohandas | mithun@digit.in
www.digit.in | July 2019 | Digit | 1
THE RSS FEED | Robert Sovereign-Smith | Executive Editor
R.I.P. Internet
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your broadband connection, you could visit any server across the globe that was publicly serving up content or information. But do you? We all frequent very few places and have pretty fixed routines. I might love YouTube and spend hours a day there, watching content that the YouTube algorithm suggested, while you might spend hours on Discord as you game, or on Facebook, or trying to become a TikTok star... And we shall never meet. Heck, because I’m in a different geographical region, I often don’t even see the same search results as you – even when I use the exact same keyword! That’s Google’s algorithm at work, trying to make content more relevant to us. Unless you found me on Facebook (young people don’t use that anymore, right?), would we ever really interact? We had a better chance of doing so in the good old Web 2.0 days when you would leave comments on my articles, or chat with me on IRC, on the digit forum, etc. Now imagine the next 4 billion coming online. With all the languages they bring, the dialects, and their million different interest areas and differing needs… do you think that will bring us together, or actually end up fracturing the net even more? Just as we have arbitrary lines across continents that divide us up based on country, we will have the equivalent online. Yes, it’s already happening, but the divide will be much bigger. We will be sliced and diced into the equivalent of states and cities based on our languages, interests, skills, etc. Even what we want to do for fun might be very different. How is this different from now? It’s not that different, except that my assumption is that AI will improve drastically a decade from now, and thus keep you hooked using whatever flavour of bait works best…Thanks to the push of more ‘offline’ apps, and also perhaps some companies giving in to the temptation to physically fracture the net into smaller networks, (perhaps using “security” as a concern), I expect we will stop being able to universally ‘connect’ as well. In the end, the “Internet” that was envisioned all those years ago may not exist, and while that is not necessarily a bad thing, it will certainly be a sad thing. This has been coming for the past decade or so now, and there’s nothing that will stop it. The real question is, will you even care? So long as you get precision targeted content and services that make you happy, will it bother you if it’s from a walled off part of “the Internet”?
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WHILE WRITING THE COVER STORY FOR THIS MONTH, one of the points I wanted to write about was what the internet would look like in 2030. Why 2030? Given that all those who care to make predictions suggest that about 88% of the world’s population will be online by then (7.5 billion of 8.5 billion), it seemed apt to envision the way it would work then. There are the obvious predictions about it being essentially a mobileonly Internet, with almost nothing that PC users could exclusively do. Then there’s the Internet of Things to consider, which will run on pretty much every device made. But these are low hanging fruit in the soothsayer’s garden. Most predictions are too positive and almost hell bent on spreading feel-good love. This column will do the opposite. I think the Internet as we know it will cease to exist; and that’s a bad thing. The whole idea of the Internet is connectivity, exposing ideas to billions and communicating with one another, learning from one another. Obviously, that isn’t going to stop, but I foresee it being mostly in institutes and academia rather than being mainstream. The internet is already showing fault-lines in places where monopolies exist, and I see it completely fracturing and being broken up into continents. No, obviously I don’t mean physical continents like on a map, but digital continents based on what services a person uses or is hooked on. Facebook is a walled garden that others cannot breach, Twitter is the same. Apple have their own ecosystem that they’re trying to lock you into, and screaming about privacy (that doesn’t even exist anymore) is their way of shepherding you into their little paddock. Google isn’t far behind, and wants to do exactly the same… I still remember the WWW, and how it was open to all, and a very novel idea. It was just mind-blowing to us at the time that you could look at pictures from across the globe, and read someone’s project on MIT – things that we never dreamed possible. Messaging services ruled at the time because real-time conversations (even if they were only text) were revolutionary. Web 2.0 came along and changed everything again, and Wikipedia was the crowning achievement of that era for me. Social networking was the worst! By 2030, I expect we will have pretty decent AI, which will make the web semantic, but will anyone care? The Internet is merely another word for connectivity to an app now, and not the global connectivity we like to think of it as. Sure, using
2 | Digit | July 2019 | www.digit.in
“Web 2.0 came along and changed everything again, and Wikipedia was the crowning achievement of that era for me. Social networking was the worst!”
Liked or hated this column? Let me know at: editor@digit.in | facebook.com/raaabo | @raaabo
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contents
COVER STORY PAGE 67- 74
The Next Billion
JULY 2019
We explore the next billion people that will join the connected world and delve into the services they will require and how they will radically change the internet.
VOLUME 19 ISSUE 07
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TECH - PAGE 12-46
13 | TechWatch
The latest on cybersecurity, new phones on the block and useful apps to make life easier.
14 | 4D printing
The process of 4D printing is a lot like 3D printing but it seems to be the next big thing. We delve into the process and its applications.
6 | Digit | July 2019 | www.digit.in
16 | Recommerce
We explore the booming startup sector - recommerce, and outline its scope and challenges in India.
18 | DIY Chaos Pendulum
his DIY works great as a desk toy that you can fiddle around with in your home or office.
20 | Taking the heat
A bizarre request sends Agent001 onto a wild-goose chase for SSD heat sinks.
24 | Level-Up
Tips and tricks to make the most of Android 9 Pie, Google Sheets and Google Blocks.
44 | Investigative data journalism
We explore a career in this field which, contradictory to popular belief, is more than just numbers.
AND MORE
ALT - PAGE 82-95
SCIENCE - PAGE 47-66
ON THE DVD 83 | 1000 Words
Termite mounds are monumental bioengineering efforts by insects.
Paper art can be made with a wide range of techniques. You will find it hard to believe that some of this art is paper art.
50 | Unsolved mysteries
84 | Big bad dragons
We look at the most rivetting unsolved mysteries of science and tell you why they haven’t been solved yet.
Here are the most impressive Sci-Fi and fantasy dragons and what makes them so terrifying.
94 | Best subreddits
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56 | Man vs Pathogens: The Arms Race
TECH Essentials 7Zip Adobe Acrobat Reader Avidemux Calibre Chrome CPU-Z Deluge Discord EasyBCD FFmpeg File Splitter and Joiner Firefox Foxit Reader Free Download Manager Free OCR Handbrake HDD Low Level Format Tool IrfanView K-Lite Codec Pack LibreOffice Mouse Recorder Premium Notepad++ Opera PeaZip Image Power Defragmenter Q-Dir qBittorrent Skype SpeedFan SpeedRunner and more
A deep dive into the microscopic battle between pathogens and human immune systems.
These subreddits just may be the fastest way to spice up your feed.
AND MORE
58 | Fermi paradox
SKOAR! - PAGE 96-111
The question is simple. “Where are they (the aliens)?”
60 | Chandrayaan 2
A look at India’s follow up mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan 2.
AND MORE
CULTURE - PAGE 75-81
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98 | Total War Three Kingdoms Take to the field with legendary heroes from the Three Kingdoms.
100 | MotoGP 2019
The latest iteration of MotoGP comes with a lot of improvements.
102 | Gaming on Linux?
76 | Electronic Music
The origins of electronic music which has given us EDM today.
78 | Alternatives to GoT
Now that GoT has ended, long-time fans have been feeling a sizeable void in their lives. Here’s a list of alternatives to GoT.
AND MORE
Lumiette Belly Guardians Call Resistance is Futile r0x Neon Trigger Ravenfield
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48 | Termite Mounds of Brazil
Gaming on the ‘nux ain’t so bad after all.
106 | E3 2019 Roundup
Our favourite trailers and reveals from E3 2019.
108 | Mobile Monthly
Amixed bag of mobile games, from challenging to infuriating, in this month’s mobile monthly.
AND MORE
CULT Music Strictly for Background See What’s Inside SHMUP Kill2Kill USS Tlancy Soldat Air Assault 3D
Movies The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King The Hobbit SCI Frontiers in Astrophysics Introduction Planetary Orbits The Pluto Problem Discovering Exoplanets: Hot Jupiter Planetary Transits ALT Demos 1995 Agenda Debris Final2 Fr-043 Frameranger Happiness is around the Bend Iconoclast Lifeforce Liquid Magellan Metamorphosis Planet Risk Rupture Spin Stargazer The Golden Path Variform
www.digit.in | July 2019 | Digit | 7
TO ADVERTISE JULY 2019 • VOLUME 19 • ISSUE 07
PRODUCTS REVIEWED THIS MONTH
EMAIL: sales@digit.in SALES DIRECTOR: Rashmi Mamgain Kumar Mobile: +91-9900567780 NORTH: Mayank Sharma Mobile: +91-8800661912
EDITORIAL Executive Editor Robert Sovereign-Smith Managing Editor Mithun Mohandas Features Editor Aditya Madanapalle Writer Dhriti Datta SKOAR! Overlord Manish Rajesh
EAST: Jayanta Bhattacharyya Mobile: +91-93318 29284
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SOUTH: Jayanth Ramakrishna Mobile: +91-9964087233
BAZAAR Apple iPad Air 2019 OnePlus 7 Pro Nokia 2.2 Oppo Reno 10x Zoom HP Spectre x360 WD Black SN750 ASUS TUF FX705DT
WEST: Suvarna Shringarpure Mobile: +91-93249 28247
GAMES REVIEWED THIS MONTH
TEST CENTRE Reviews Editor Swapnil Mathur Reviewers Subhrojit Mallick, Vignesh Giridharan
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Total War: Three Kingdoms MotoGP 19
ADVERTISING INDEX
DIGIT.IN Editor Soham Raninga Managing Editor Adamya Sharma Assistant Editor Sameer Mitha Senior Sub-Editor Shrey Pacheco Writer Shubham Sharma
Brand.......................................... Page No.
Samsung.................................Inside front cover
MOBILE MONTHLY Godzilla Defence Force | GravityMan | Toy Story Drop! | Golf Blitz | WWE Universe | Ailment | Pokemon Rumble Rush | Durango: Wild Lands | Despotism 3K
Compuage...............................Inside back cover
TP-Link..............................................Back cover
Corsair..............................................................3
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DESIGN Sr. Art Director Anil VK Art Director Shokeen Saifi Visualiser Baiju NV Lead UI/UX Designer Shri Hari Tiwari
PRODUCTION AND LOGISTICS Manager Operations Rakesh Upadhyay Manager Logistics Mahendra Kumar Singh Executive Mohd. Nadeem Ansari
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READER SERVICES Team Leader Sudhir Patel +91-22-67899678 / help@digit.in 8 | Digit | July 2019 | www.digit.in
COVER DESIGN Anil VK
Published and printed by Kanak Ghosh for and on behalf of the owners, 9.9 Group Pvt. Ltd. (Formerly known as Nine Dot Nine Mediaworx Private Limited) 121, Patparganj, Mayur Vihar Phase-1, Near Mandir Masjid, Delhi - 110091 and printed at International Print-O-Pac Limited, C/4-11, Hosiery Complex, Phase II Extension, Noida-201306 (U.P.) INDIA. Editor: Kanak Ghosh.
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http://www.facebook.com/skoar What is life without gaming? Catch up on all the latest in gaming news, reviews and shenanigans from our test labs
www.digit.in | July 2019 | Digit | 9
WHAT’S NEW
Libra - Facebook’s foray into the world of cryptocurrency
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cryptocurrency and its ecosystem. It will be a stablecoin, i.e. Libra will be backed by a set of FIAT currencies so it will be more stable than cryptocurrencies. A full release of Libra is planned in 2020. Facebook hopes to integrate Libra into its messaging services as well. Facebook is also looking to set up ATM-like kiosks which will allow people to convert fiat currency into Libra. Libra will launch in all countries except India, China and a few others. https://dgit.in/LibraFacebook
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DOES THIS SECTION EVEN NEED AN INTRODUCTION? FROM COMPUTERS TO MOBILES, AND HEADPHONES TO GPUs, IT’S ALL HERE...
acebook unveiled Libra, a new cryptocurrency and a supporting payments infrastructure, with the support of a consortium of organisations that include credit card companies such as VISA and MasterCard, venture capitalist firms and tech companies such as Uber, PayPal, and Booking.com. All companies vying to be part of the Libra Association, an independent body that will govern the crypto coin, will have to invest $10 million to fund the development of the
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he last couple of years have seen a spate of privacyrelated incidents with major technology companies being the offenders. So, we’ve begun seeing more announcements from companies about being more privacy-conscious and taking steps in this regard. Google, on the other hand, seems to be going the other way by preventing ad and tracker blocking extensions from functioning as normal in
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THIS MONTH IN TECH: We give you a detailed look into the new world of 4D printing which allows malleable objects creation, explore the booming sector of recommerce, and provide you with a bunch of Android 9 Pie tips and tricks.
Firefox ramps up efforts to block online tracking
Huawei Ban: Broadcom forecasts reduced earnings Technology companies were rattled after Broadcom forecasted a reduction of $2Billion in sales revenue this year. The company cited the US Ban on Huawei to be the cause. The announcement saw shares of numerous technology companies taking a hit. https://dgit.in/ BCM2BDown
Microsoft bans employees from using competing apps
Microsoft has reportedly banned its employees from using Slack, a collaboration tool competing with Microsoft Teams software. Microsoft has also tagged AWS and Google Docs as “prohibited and discouraged technology”. https://dgit.in/SlackNoMS
12 | Digit | July 2019 | www.digit.in
Chrome. The list of changes, dubbed Manifest V3, will make its way into the developer
preview soon. It will implement changes to web request API which is used by ad blocking extensions to block web
Raspberry Pi 4 Model B launched
The next Raspberry Pi has finally arrived, priced at $35, with an SoC that’s 3x more powerful, 2x USB 3.0 ports, dual 4K monitor support and comes in three variants, each with different RAM capacities. It will be compatible with all older shields. https://dgit.in/RPi4ModelB
tracking methodologies. In light of this, Firefox plans to do the right thing, i.e. enabling their “enhanced” tracking protection by default on all installations. This will block third-party cookies that help companies advertise, track, etc. Firefox also announced an upgrade to its Facebook container extension which isolates Facebook from the rest of the user’s activity. It’s time to switch to Firefox. https://dgit.in/FireTracker
Gartner: RPA is fastest growing market
The Robotic Process Automation market grew by over 63% last year making it the fastest growing enterprise software market with an overall market value of $846.2 million. The biggest company in this sector is UIPath. https://dgit.in/RPAGrows
tech
2015 MacBook Pro recalled
Walmart blocking burglary
Apple voluntarily announces recall of all 2015 Macbook Pro batteries due to risk of overheating. https://dgit.in/july19-64
AGENT001
Walmart is using AI powered cameras to prevent theft at the check out counters. https://dgit.in/july19-65
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Taking the heat A bizarre request sends Agent001 onto a wild-goose chase for SSD heat sinks
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Agent001 | agent001@digit.in
bout a month ago, a friend of mine asked me to grab an SSD heatsink for him on my way back from a junket. He was extremely specific about getting a heatsink that covers the entire surface and should come with a backplate that can screw on so that he could vary the clamping pressure for whatever thermal interface material he intended to use. Given the peculiar nature of this request, I was quite intrigued with his thought process. Upon further questioning, he pointed out a video which mentioned that it’s better for SSDs if the NAND is kept at a higher temperature but the SSD controller has to be kept cool to prevent thermal throttling. What he basically wanted to do was to take the heat from the controller of the SSD, which runs quite hot, and channel it to the NAND via the heatsink. One can understand going to such extensive lengths in the data centre space where every fraction of performance matters but for a consumer drive, this seemed a bit too much. So, I decided to investigate a little further into this.
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NVMe SSDs are usually installed in the M.2 slot that sits right underneath the first x16 PCIe slot. This also means that this particular slot will always have hot exhaust air from the GPU blowing directly onto it. After running the GPU at peak load as well as normal load, I noticed that the SSD throttles rather quickly when the GPU is running at full load. Note that this is a plain SSD with no attached heatsink. In fact, the branding label pasted onto the SSD
20 | Digit | July 2019 | www.digit.in
has a layer of copper in it which essentially makes it a heatsink of sorts. The surprising part? It was that the SSD would throttle around the 10-15 second mark if the GPU was running a power-virus. If that were to be scaled down, and the temperatures similar to running popular AAA titles were to be simulated, then the throttling happened much later. It happened ap-
proximately, a minute into a consistent write operation. It seems, in most day to day situations, the SSD is not going to be running a persistent write for this long to even get throttled in the first place. You’re not going to be copying a movie while running a video rendering workload and be playing some video game in the foreground. Wait … that’s pretty much what Intel and AMD demonstrate when they want to showcase multi-tasking. Perhaps, you might be experiencing throttling after all. It’s just that with the ridiculous speeds that NVMe SSDs have these days, you’re not going to perceive the throttling because even during throttling, the speeds are going to be halved. So a drive that does 2800 MBps post-conditioning might end up giving you 1000-1400 MBps when throttled. It’s not like you’ll know the difference unless you are staring at a progress bar. So we’ve figured that the SSD (without a proper heatsink) will throttle during a persistent write cycle while the ambient temperature is high. The time it throttles at is a function of the heat generated by the SSD controller (which ramps up quick when actively
level
A COLLECTION OF PRO TIPS FOR EVERYTHING. Without being limited to a particular topic, these tips are from popular software, to coding, to browsers, search, storage rules, password rules, mobile device hacks, bios cracking, tweaks explained and everything tech under the sun.
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Lesser-known tips and tricks for Android 9 Pie
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mum connected Bluetooth audio devices option and select a lower number.
MUTE ALL REPETITIVE NOTIFICATIONS
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If you have recently received the update to the elusive Pie, then these set of tips and tricks will allow you to make the most out of your device. Dhriti Datta | dhriti@digit.in
ONLY ABOUT 10.4 PER CENT ANDROID SMARTPHONES RUN ANDROID 9 PIE AS OF NOW, as per Google. Therefore, as time passes, eligible smartphones are continually getting the update to Pie. Additionally, Project Treble has ensured that several phones already have the beta versions of Android 9. Smartphones out there are vying for their own tasty slice of Pie. Android One phones, Samsung Galaxy J series, a number of LG
smartphones and many others will be getting the update somewhere around the last quarter of this year. Smartphone users who receive the Pie update can make the most out of their phone by using some of the nifty tips and tricks made possible by this update. Let’s have a look at nine such tips and tricks smartphone users can utilise with Android 9 Pie.
REDUCE THE NUMBER OF BLUETOOTH DEVICES YOU CAN CONNECT TO
Previous versions of Android only allowed users to
24 | Digit | July 2019 | www.digit.in
connect to one Bluetooth audio device, however, with Android Pie that number has now been raised to five. In case you actually want to reduce the number of devices your smartphone can concurrently connect to, first enable Developer options by clicking on Build Number in the About Phone section in Settings continuously and then scroll down to Maxi-
Android Pie can actually recognise when you have been constantly dismissing notifications from the same app and will ask you if you want to mute them or allow them to keep displaying. This is a nifty little feature since most of us don’t want nonstop notifications from food ordering apps, travel apps and more. However, if you do want to bring back notifications from any app you have muted, you need to open Settings > App & notifications > Notifications. Here you can see how many alerts each app has sent and toggle the notifications on or off as you require.
You can connect to 5 Bluetooth devices with Android Pie, but you may not want to.
RESET THE ADAPTATIVE BATTERY FEATURE
Android Pie uses machine learning for their Adaptative Battery feature which shuts down unused apps that are running in the background to preserve battery life. In case this feature picks up bad habits, you can
reviews
For better understanding of our ratings, here’s a quick guide to our overall score 10 to 30 to 50 to
51
to 70 to
71
to 90 to
Keep away!
Strictly OK.
Not recommended
Decent product.
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31
Extremely poor product.
to 100 91 to
Go for it, but there may be better products out there.
Very good product. Highly recommended.
Ground-breaking product.
We’ve never seen anything like it before. A definite must buy!
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The Digit Test Centre receives hundreds of products every month. Each of these products is put through a series of tests and is finally given a score. The final score is arrived at after considering a number of factors and evaluating them in terms of features, performance, value for money, build quality, and, in the case of software, ease of use.
THE LATEST PRODUCTS REVIEWED FOR YOU
INSIDE
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WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD 1 TB
38
OnePlus 7 Pro
39
Nokia 2.2
36
HP Spectre x360 2019 34 | Digit | July 2019 | www.digit.in
PLUS
40 Oppo Reno 10x Zoom 41 ASUS TUF GAMING FX705DT
Falcon Heavy missed landing
Musk says he knows why Heavy’s core booster missed and splashed into the ocean instead. https://dgit.in/july19-90
AI Universe Simulator
A team of researchers recently pioneered the world’s first AI universe simulator. https://dgit.in/july19-91
tech REVIEWS
Apple iPad Air 2019
Is the 2019 10.5-inch iPad Air the right iPad for you?
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Price 9 23,99
With iPad OS 13, you will be able to use your iPad as a second display without the need for a third party app. There is nothing we could do on the iPad to make it stutter, lag or freeze. From PUBG to Dead Trigger and more, every game we played on the device worked exceedingly well. As of writing this review and running the device on iOS 12, we don't think the device is a replacement to your PC, yet. But that may change with iPadOS 13.
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he iPad Air has typically been for those looking for a great content consumption device. However, this time around, it has Apple’s flagship chip, supports the first gen Apple Pencil and Apple keyboard. It is almost like the first gen iPad Pro without the quad speaker setup. Is it this the right iPad for you? Let's find out.
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Build and Design
Battery
The 10.5-inch iPad Air has an 8134mAh battery. Playback from streaming services with brightness set to max and headphones plugged in saw a drop of 6-8 per cent in one hour based on the streaming service. Local playback saw a reflective at times, but nothing 5-7 per cent drop per hour. that can't be taken care off by Drop the brightness a litmoving it around. tle and you have a device Coming to the audio, the that can playback content iPad Air gets 2 speakers, FEATURE....................... 77 for almost 15 hours. Gamboth firing in the same PERFORMANCE...........83 ing drained the battery direction. The speaker BUILD............................90 faster though, with drops setup could have been on VALUE FOR MONEY.....82 of around 15 per cent either side of the display per hour. to give a stereo experience. Nonetheless, the speakers are loud, clear and perform well even Apple iPad Air 2019 Verdict for watching movies. Dialogues are The iPad Air is a fantastic device for crisp, even in situations where there is content consumption, playing games a background score, or loud exploand running a host of different apps. It sions. The speakers do a good job for has swift performance and the display FaceTime calls and music as well. is a treat. The battery life and touch response is good too. The sound output from the tablet is good. However, Performance it doesn’t have stereo separation when When it comes to everyday perforwatching movies and it does not supmance, like checking mail, browsing port the second-gen Apple Pencil. the Internet, watching videos, etc. the tablet without any stutters. It even –Sameer Mitha works very well when you use apps SPECIFICATIONS in split screen. iOS is designed for DISPLAY: 10.5-inch True Tone | RESOLUTION: 2224 x 1668 px | PLATFORM: Apple A12 Bionic | RAM: 3GB | BUILT-IN STORAGE: the iPad and will also be upgradeable 64GB/256GB | EXPANDABLE STORAGE: NA | SIM SUPPORT: Yes | to the upcoming iPadOS 13. If you USB-C: No | 3.5MM JACK: Yes | BATTERY: 8134mAh are a Mac user, then there are a lot of CONTACT convenient ways to move content from APPLE | PHONE: NA | EMAIL: Website form | WEBSITE: www. one device to the another like AirDrop. apple.com/in/
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The iPad Air has become slimmer with slightly more rounded edges. We get touch ID on the iPad Air while Apple’s Face ID is reserved for the iPad Pro. The front of the device is clean with only the home button cum Touch ID and the front camera. We got the Silver iPad Air for review but is available in Space Grey and Gold as well. At the back, you have the apple logo and the camera without a flash. You also have a headphone jack, a volume rocker and the lightning port along with two speakers on the device. On the left, we have the connector for the Apple Keyboard and the smart cover. The body of the iPad Air is solid aluminium and the build quality is top notch. As far as the design of the tablet is concerned it is ergonomic and easy to hold for long hours. The only downside is the smart cover. It fits snug on the iPad and protects the display but still only has only one angle on which the iPad Air can rest.
Display and Audio
The display on the 10.5-inch iPad Pro is fantastic. The resolution makes the content look crisp and it supports Dolby Vision. The vibrancy in the colours is definitely something to take note of. The colour and visual fidelity of the content is unmatched. We recorded a maximum of 550 lux on our brightness meter. We used the display under direct sunlight and it works quite well. It is
www.digit.in | July 2019 | Digit | 35
WHAT’S NEW
Spidey sense for drones
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Unmasking deepfakes via facial quirks
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THIS MONTH IN SCIENCE:
Researchers are attaching sensors on the outer shell of autonomous vehicles that are tuned to detect obstacles. These sensors are inspired by the fine hairs on legs of the spiders. They can be tuned to detect particular forces, which are associated with objects that need to be avoided. https://dgit.in/spidercar
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SCIENCE IS THE PATH TO KNOWLEDGE, AND FINDING OUT ABOUT HOW OUR UNIVERSE WORKS. YOU CAN’T BE A GEEK AND NOT KNOW YOUR SCIENCE!
rones and autonomous vehicles need to respond quickly to tricky or dangerous situations. Unlike the slow human and machine reactions, animals do have the ability to respond rapidly. Spiders, bats, and other creatures have special neurons called mechanoreceptors which are sensors for critical life-saving information. They are in the form of hair, cilia and feathers, which only kick in during life-threatening scenarios. They filter unnecessary data. On a spider’s leg, there are sensitive mechanosensors tuned to detect the vibrations associated with prey or mates. If dust settles on the spider web, the sensors will not detect that information, as it is irrelevant.
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any methods are available to produce fake videos of famous people. Lip-sync, face-swap and puppet-master techniques use an audio-video recording of one person, and the photo of another, well-known individual to produce deep fake videos. Lip-sync technique uses a base audio to manipulate the movement of lips of real videos of a person, to make it seem like they are in sync.
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We cover a new method used to 3D print human tissue without scaffolding, delve into Chandrayaan 2 and attempt to unriddle the fermi paradox.
The face-swap technique adds a digital mask atop a video of another person speaking. The puppet-master technique manipulates both the lips and jaws, by tracking an audio track. The resulting “deepfake” videos can be abused. New
digital forensics techniques are being used to identify deepfake videos by finding out particular quirks of the speakers. For example, Obama usually purses his lips after saying “hi everybody”. These facial quirks can be used to distinguish fake videos from real ones. It is a powerful tool to fight against misinformation. The technique,however, works best in official videos. https://dgit.in/unmskfk
Evolution of puppy eyes
Dogs have evolved special muscles above their eyes, which let them raise their inner eyebrows. This appearance allows them to evoke nurturing feelings from humans. This muscle is not present in the wild relatives of dogs, including wolves. Research also has shown that the dogs increase the use of the muscle significantly, when in the presence of humans. https://dgit.in/puppyeyes
How we stay focused
Many times we need to focus on certain conversations or perform some tasks in noisy environments. Neuroscientists have discovered a circuit in human brains that filters out unwanted sensory inputs. The prefrontal cortex filters out stimuli to minimise distractions. https://dgit.in/brainfocus
Mammals thrived alongside dinos
It is a myth that mammals could only evolve after the extinction of dinosaurs opened up ecological niches. Paleontologists identified three diversification events, where mammals evolved into new ecological niches. Two of which happened during the age of the dinosaurs. https://dgit.in/mamrad
Snail inspires superglue
Adhesives are of two types. Weak glue, which is easily reversible, and strong glue, which isn’t. Weak glue can be reused unlike strong glue. Researchers, inspired by the mucous of snails, combined dry and wet materials to create a strong glue, which is reversible and reusable. https://dgit.in/snailglue www.digit.in | July 2019 | Digit | 47
sci
Forgotten bomb
2019 MO Asteroid
A massive crater appeared overnight in Germany possibly caused by a WWII unexploded bomb. https://dgit.in/july19-52
FEATURE
This Asteroid entered Earth’s atmosphere recently and burned out in the sky as a fireball. https://dgit.in/july19-53
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UNSOLVED MYSTERIES OF SCIENCE
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Also known as Nobel prizes that are just waiting to be won, here’s a list of things humanity is left scratching its head about... Robert Sovereign-Smith | robert@digit.in
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e’re a cocky bunch, us humans. In fact, the less we know as individuals, the cockier we seem to be. That’s the human condition at work. We brag about our accomplishments and hide our failures. This article attempts the exact opposite, and wants to look at how little we know about so many things we seem to take for granted in science. Before we start, however, don’t expect to see things like evolution, vaccines, climate change, or any of the conspiracy theories that abound as a testament
50 | Digit | July 2019 | www.digit.in
to sheer human stupidity. Those things are already settled questions. With that out of the way, we’ll also mention that you won’t see a few popular mysteries of science mentioned here... for that very reason – they’re too popular. Now, let’s get right into it.
TIME
Time is a popular topic that we think we know the nature of, and yet we don’t. Let’s do a thought experiment. Walk three steps forward. You have now moved a particular direction in space, but you want to get back to your comfortable seat now. Thus, you walk three steps back. Now, can you go back 10 seconds and unread this paragraph? If time really is a dimension, then travel backwards and forwards
should be possible, and yet, we already know that time travel to the past is impossible, and yet we travel exactly one moment at a time into the future! So if it’s not a dimension, what is it? We just don’t know what the nature of time is. Can it be stopped? Rewound? Fast forwarded? You can fool it by travelling close to the speed of light out in space while your family is on earth. That would cause you to experience time differently, since time is relative. You could return a decade later in Earth time and only a few months would have passed for you! But that’s just using speed to minimise the effects of time. It’s not reversing what is called the Arrow of Time (one-way direction of time - past is behind, present is here, and future is forward). Philosophically, time has always been of great interest, and caused a lot of controversy, so much so that there are schools of thought that think time isn’t actually a thing. Perhaps it’s not time that we experience but entropy.
Imaging: Anil VK
SA cover story M PL E ook, this is just a catchphrase, a buzzword that companies, such as Google, are using to talk about the people who are yet to come online and start using the Internet fully. Approximately half the world is online in some form or the other, and the other half is yet to get access. Apart from really old
people who feel no use for, or just cannot use the Internet, globally, not being on the Internet boils down to questions of availability, affordability and relevance. In this cover story, we look at the next billion, many of whom reside in our country, and see how this will change the way the net works, and how we use it.
www.digit.in | July 2019 | Digit | 67
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cover story
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Robert Sovereign-Smith | robert@digit.in
ver half of the world (4.3 billion people or 56.8 per cent actually) is online already – using payment apps, catching up on entertainment and sports, social media, watching pointless videos or actually using the Internet to gain some knowledge. The other half is where the focus has shifted, and with good reason. It’s a mad rush to capture that virgin audience, and to hook them on to services. The profits companies will make off the next 4 billion may be far smaller, but there is a chance to build a monopoly or a niche, which most
68 | Digit | July 2019 | www.digit.in
companies cannot hope to do with the first 4 billion anymore. Note: If you’re a stickler for math, yes, we’re aware that the global population is considered to be 7.7 billion, and that it’s well under 4 billion who are still offline, but we’re talking about the next decade, and conservative estimates have the population of the world rising to 8.5 billion by 2030. That’s how we arrive at 4.3 billion online now, and another 4 billion or so to go. So who are these billions, and where are they located? One way to do this is to look at Internet penetration stats that are published by various sources, get an average
and subtract the percentages from 100 to arrive at stats for which countries or continents had the most percentages of their populations offline still. So let’s do that... According to internetworldstats. com*, 56.8 per cent of the global population (7,716,223,209 people) is online, which means that 43.2 per cent are still offline. That’s a total of 3,332,412,867 people who have not connected to the internet for a variety of reasons. When you break this up by continent, it’s pretty much as one would expect. Asia has a whopping 4.2 billion people overall, and 2 billion are connected, with 2.2 billion still to connect. Africa has 1.3 billion people with 855 million still to
WHAT’S NEW
The evil never left Hawkins in Stranger Things
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INSIDE
The tone of the trailer is morbid and instils a sense of doom. The new monster this season, as per the poster, is best described as colourful. However, from the trailer, we also learned that it is really bloody. And can apparently use a walkie-talkie. The inevitable storm, which is this season, will grace us July 4 on Netflix. https://dgit.in/StrangerThingsS3
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GEEK CULTURE IS OUR WAY OF LIFE, AND ENCOMPASSES MOVIES, GAMES, COMICS, AND TRENDS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE
he final trailer for Stranger Things Season 3 recently dropped and it has been the most sinister so far. There is an absence of comedy, in general and tension is at an all-time high. The trailer ominously reveals that despite the team’s best efforts in the previous season, the evil never left Hawkins, Indiana at all. The trailer also suggests that this evil would ultimately require another host, and it is heavily implied that this host would be Billy. Unfortunate, since he just became a lifeguard and all. Will Byers, who was a former resident of the ‘upside-down’ says, “What if he never left? What if we locked him out here with us?”
Watch out Avatar!
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isney wondered what they should do when they were only 50 million USD away from beating Avatar as the highest grossing movie of all time? The answer? Simple. Re-release the film with deleted scenes and an end-credit scene! That’s right. Barely two months post the release of the original version of Avengers: End Game in April, super fans can now watch the film with renewed vigour and enjoy a set of previously unseen clips. Marvel Studios
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THIS MONTH IN CULT: We look into the origins of electronic music, followed by a long list of shows you can watch to fill that Game of Thronesvoid in your lives. After that, find out what we’ve been up to this month in Diary and what the Digit forums have been going on about in discussions.
X-Men Dark Phoenix continues to sink
Dark Phoenix, after rather muted responses from both critics and audiences, receives yet another blow. Exhibitor Relations Co. reported that the film will be leaving 1,667 theatres in just the third week of its worldwide release. https://dgit.in/DPfiasco
Hunger Games Prequel novel in 2020
Scholastic announced an untitled novel which will be the prequel to The Hunger Games, set 64 years prior to events of the first novel. The novel is set 10 years after the inception of the Hunger Games. https://dgit.in/HG2020
head, Kevin Feige has revealed that the re-release of Avengers: End Game with bonus scene is looming around the corner and could be there within a month! Avengers: End Game is currently sitting comfort-
New Joker movie is R-Rated
It has been confirmed that the new DC solo film featuring the Joker will be an R-Rated film. Which makes perfect sense since the Joker’s story is tragic and riddled with violence. This will be the first R-Rated film in the Batman Movie Universe. https://dgit.in/JokerR
ably at a worldwide cumulative total of 2.743 billion USD, with Avatar at 2.788 billion USD. This re-release may very well push it over the top and effectively, beat Avatar’s long-standing record. However, the release date may somewhat coincide with the upcoming release of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Far From Home. Will this affect the box office numbers of Far From Home? We’ll just have to wait and see. https://dgit.in/EndGameRe
DC’s Swamp Thing cancelled
Reportedly, DC Universe has cancelled Swamp Thing after just one episode. However, all 10 episodes slated for this season will still air so fans already vested in this series will still be able to watch a new episode every Friday. https://dgit.in/STcancel
www.digit.in | July 2019 | Digit | 75
culture
The Office to leave Netflix
Gears 4 inspired by Mad Max
NBC announced that it has picked up the “exclusive” streaming rights to The Office. https://dgit.in/july19-72
FEATURE
In an interview with IGN, Fergusson said Gears of War 4 felt like Mad Max: Fury Road. https://dgit.in/july19-73
we, at Digit, attempt to fill this GoT-sized void with a comprehensive list of TV shows that could possibly prove as worthy alternatives for the massive TV phenomenon, GoT, that breathed its last this summer.
ROME
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Rome is an underrated TV show that revolves around two Roman soldiers during Julius Caesar’s time. Unfortunately, the historical drama was cancelled after a mere two seasons, since the production costs were appallingly high and it never really got the audience to support these costs. You can still watch the two seasons with 22 episodes and enjoy it thoroughly since it doesn’t feel unfinished or lacking even though the series was cancelled. While Rome lacks nerve-racking fights like in GoT, it has a stellar storyline and a capable cast. Much like GoT iself, being the protagonist or even an influential character in the show still doesn’t
GoT !
void no mo
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Now that the final season of Game of Thrones has aired and our ‘Watch’ has officially ended, long-time viewers are feeling a giant GoT-sized void in their lives. We bring you a list of possible replacements for the epic saga of Ice and Fire.
Dhriti Datta | dhriti@digit.in
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seasons, 73 episodes, 70 hours, 4200 minutes, and so on… Game of Thrones has been an integral part of a staggering 17.4 million viewers’ lives since the year 2011. Readers of George R. R. Martin’s books, which
78 | Digit | July 2019 | www.digit.in
inspired the series, have had GoT in their lives since 1996! The final episode of Game of Thrones aired on May 19 and the episode, rather a huge chunk of the last season, brought an onslaught of mixed emotional reviews. Some loved the treatment while some – more like a vast majority – vehemently revolted the ultimate season of the much-loved show. Regardless, a void has been created in our lives and
guarantee survival and these characters can be cut from the show just as mercilessly as George R. R. Martin is known for doing.
BLACK SAILS
Black Sail features a lot of the elements that pulled in viewers for GoT in spades, along with an enthralling storyline as well. Black Sails follows the adventures of a feared pirate of the golden age. While the first season may seem to be a tad too flashy, the next two seasons rectify this and more. The characters and style of storytelling are quite unique as well. Basically, if you like actionpacked TV series, you can’t go wrong with Black Sails. While this show takes longer to hook viewers to it than the flashy season one of Game of Thrones
WHAT’S NEW
Gutenberg did not invent the printing press
alphabets. These alphabets were arranged in a wooden frame to print a particular page. The letters could then be rearranged to create other pages. Choe finished the project in 1250. Gutenberg began working on his press around 1436. The technological development possibly spread from the East to the West. https://dgit.in/noguten
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ALT this month:
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THIS IS TECHNOLOGY, CULTURE AND SCIENCE WITH A DIFFERENCE, AND THAT DIFFERENCE IS USUALLY ENOUGH TO MAKE MOST NORMAL PEOPLE GO “WTF?”
he Gutenberg press is considered to be the invention that sparked the printing revolution, allowing knowledge to be transferred cheaply in the form of books. However, the printing press was actually invented in China in 800 AD. Books were printed using wooden blocks. When these technologies were imported to Korea, a Buddhist having to print out a voluminous treatise, concluded that the effort would be futile using only wooden blocks, as it would require carving a large number of blocks. Civil minister, Choe Yun-ui came up with the solution of using bronze coins to caste metal
What if Thanos erased half the life on Earth?
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hat would happen to the ecosystem of Earth if the snap really took place? The effects would vary from species-to-species depending on the rate at which they reproduced. Species that reproduce rapidly, like frogs and rats would return to their pre-snap population levels within a year. Mosquitoes would replenish their population within four months. The effect would be drastic on animals that breed slowly. The
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We have some interesting and beautiful paper art laid out for you to check out. Additionally, check out our reviews for Black Mirror Season 5, Men in Black International and more.
snap would decimate the tiger population, pushing them on the path of extinction. Other critically-endangered species, would also be pushed towards extinction, because they wouldn’t be able to find mates.
The species in the lower rungs of the food chain would be less affected than the species at the top. Species that go extinct would leave open ecological niches, to be taken over by the rapidly-breeding species. Common creatures would get more common and the rare would get rarer. The good news? The eradication of half of the human population would save some endangered species. https://dgit.in/snapanim
Dark Forest Internet Because of the general toxicity of online interactions, and the pervasive spread of misinformation, people around the world are retreating to private channels. These include groups on discord or slack, private versions of Instagram, or invite only groups on instant messaging apps. https://dgit.in/dfnet
Anaconda virgin birth
An anaconda named Anna in the New England Aquarium surprised the staff when she delivered a litter of baby snakes on her own, without a father. The birth took place through a process known as parthenogenesis. DNA testing of the babies confirmed the single parenthood. https://dgit.in/anna
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Heartbreak is painful
Researchers studying human reactions and emotions in a VR environment noticed that the same regions of the brain gets active when faced with rejection, as a physical injury. As far as the brain is concerned, there is no difference between a fracture and a broken heart. https://dgit.in/heartbreak
Mystery moon mass
Researchers have discovered a massive anomaly near the south pole of the Moon. There is about 2.18 quintillion kgs of metallic material, an abnormal amount to have accumulated in one place. The mass may be the remains of an ancient asteroid impact, with a metallic core. https://dgit.in/mmm
alt
Wearable tech wins our heart
Endgame Extended?
New wearable technology makes heart monitoring easier and more accurate. https://dgit.in/july19-68
GEEK-KEY
Kevinn Feige announced that an extended Endgame will re-release with ‘a few surprises’. https://dgit.in/july19-69
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BIG BAD DRAGONS
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The bestiaries of the middle ages had fanciful illustrations of what is now considered to be a typical western dragon. A fire breathing monstrous reptile with wings. Modern science fiction and fantasy use dragons, typically as a penultimate challenge before the hero meets the final boss. However, there are many creative ways in which dragons have been used, and the tropes subverted. Here are the most impressive dragons and what makes them so terrifying.
ALDUIN
Ancalagon is the biggest dragon in the Tolkien Legendarium, and was so massive that Smaug could easily fit in his jaws. Ancalagon represented the dragons at the height of their growth and powers. Morgoth actually managed to beat back the Valar by using a fleet of fire drakes, and Ancalagon was the head of all the other dragons. If you do not know who any of these characters are, they are similar to the demigods of Middle Earth, and more about them can be found in the ridiculously dense Silmarillion. Earendil, with the help of the Eagles of Manwe fought valiantly against Ancalagon, finally destroying him, and defeating Morgoth in the process. The body of the collosal dragon fell across three volcanic mountain tops, known as the towers of Thangorodrim, and destroyed them. That should give an idea of the sheer scale of this dragon.
Alduin is an ancient dragon who is intimately tied to the history of Nirn. The legends of various races refer to him as both a creator and destroyer. There was a period in history, where he ruled a race of dragons that kept the men in an enslaved state, with dragon priests indulging in human sacrifices as well. Three heroes defeated Alduin by using a shout to send him forward in time. In the future, during the time of the Skyrim civil war, Alduin would cause the Dragon Crisis by moving around the land and resurrecting the dead dragons. The dragonborn, or the hero of the game can defeat alduin once in the physical plane, and once again in the Nordic afterlife of Sovngarde, teaming up with the original three heroes who defeated Alduin in the first place. However, at the end of the encounter, there are hints that it is not the end of the road for Alduin, and that the Dragonborn will be required to defeat Alduin again at the end of times.
Image: Ruben de Vela
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ANCALAGON
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Image: Elder Scrolls Online
Aditya Madanapalle | aditya@digit.in
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