Vishal Mathur is Technology Editor for Hindustan Times. When not making sense of technology, he often searches for an elusive analog space in a digital world.
Articles by Vishal Mathur
Asus Zenbook Duo review: Two screens, a logical progression for Windows laptops
Two screens can always be useful, particularly at work. To make Windows 11 work properly on both screens, Asus has built an entire suite of tools
Published on Apr 16, 2024 09:02 AM IST
Tech Tonic | The notifications on our phones are an overwhelming mess
There is an urgent need to tame notification overload on our phones and smartwatches, but can we wrest back control? Truecaller for Web may have a solution
Published on Apr 13, 2024 08:40 PM IST
What would a ‘forever’ battery for an EV look like?
Companies are working on solid-state batteries that would store more energy, for longer, in a smaller space. They would also never need to be replaced.
Updated on Apr 13, 2024 01:21 PM IST
Vishal MathurVishal Mathur
Up and atom: How exactly does a ‘forever’ battery work?
They are small, nuclear, and will never need to be charged. But what are they likely to cost? What will their carbon footprint be? Take a look.
Updated on Apr 13, 2024 01:19 PM IST
Samsung’s refined ‘Solve For Tomorrow’ banks on teen energy for innovative ideas
Students as young as 14 years can innovate, for community, inclusion and environment themes. Samsung’s initiative points to a momentum of tech companies’ CSR programs in India
Published on Apr 12, 2024 11:04 AM IST
Blinkit is selling the Sony PlayStation 5 because we’ve changed how we shop
It has worked for Blinkit, hasn’t it? More than those specifics, my attention get drawn to our rapidly changing buying habits.
Published on Apr 11, 2024 10:47 AM IST
Are you backing up your smartphone, beyond the cloud, to a physical storage?
If not, that’s a recipe for disaster. Back to basics with a USB storage drive to store copies of essential files and media, is often more convenient that the Wi-Fi or 5G dependent cloud storage
Published on Apr 11, 2024 08:55 AM IST
Motorola Edge 50 Pro is a very workable mix of style with substance, and value
A genuine alternative to significantly more expensive flagship phones, the Motorola Edge 50 Pro now makes it a mid-range troika of choice for buyers, other two being the OnePlus Nord CE4 and the Nothing Phone (2a)
Updated on Apr 08, 2024 11:36 AM IST
Tech Tonic | Are we irreparably conditioned to give up privacy, on apps we love?
The data privacy problem is about to get a lot worse, with generative AI tools catching our attention and our data, more of which is ending up on the cloud
Published on Apr 04, 2024 08:14 PM IST
Music’s complicated tryst with generative AI tools, is only just beginning
Amidst AI and music’s complicated tryst, the need is to write a new chapter and things must evolve beyond mimicking voices of singers to generate artificial music
Published on Apr 04, 2024 11:37 AM IST
Is Android USB-C cable, charger completely compatible with iPhone too?
While some technologies such as Oppo’s SuperVOOC aren’t fully compatible with the Apple’s charging methodology, tests prove that USB-C cables and fast chargers originally for Android phones, work as well to charge the latest iPhone 15 series.
Published on Apr 03, 2024 04:00 PM IST
Turf wars: OnePlus Nord CE4 counters Nothing’s pitch for new-age ₹25k phones
OnePlus and Nothing Phone 2(a) have chosen different chip makers, but signify performance boosts for new mid-range Android phones
Updated on Apr 03, 2024 09:41 AM IST
Tech Tonic | Why Indian tech brands are dominating the wearables industry
Premium products that justify price tags, while still leaving room for value perception, is the next step.
Published on Mar 30, 2024 03:07 PM IST
Apple MacBook Air 2024 ushers in a new era as a resounding response to AI PCs
An upgraded 13-inch MacBook Air’s performance is closer to the MacBook Pro than it has ever been, which adds value and longevity, as all important upgrades hide in plain sight
Published on Mar 29, 2024 09:45 AM IST
Apple iPhone’s new legal tryst, while Canva finds value in Europe to rival Adobe
Apple is restricting “super apps”, which according to the lawsuit, “can improve smartphone competition by providing a consistent...
Published on Mar 28, 2024 03:59 PM IST
Noise Buds Xero underlines a premiumisation aspiration for Indian tech brands
Intricacies of audio drivers and noise cancellation tuned well, a beautiful design language and consistent battery life must be matched with a companion app that’s sorely missing
Updated on Mar 28, 2024 08:51 AM IST
A new native Chrome browser for Arm-based PCs points to something even bigger
Qualcomm’s next PC chip arrives later in 2024, and must balance performance and battery life, as Windows PCs and Chromebooks need to keep pace with Apple’s M-series chips
Published on Mar 27, 2024 12:28 PM IST
Power cuts and no Wi-Fi? Annoying problem and its straightforward solution
A recent evolution of simple power backups for Wi-Fi routers and modems, solves a rather annoying reality of power cuts. Without having to spend significantly more on larger UPS boxes
Published on Mar 27, 2024 09:53 AM IST
Honeywell Air Touch U series keeps the air pure, but needs refinement elsewhere
After another data revision about the poor quality of air in our cities, a good indoor air purifier in homes, becomes essential
Published on Mar 26, 2024 12:21 PM IST
AI’s chip wars are just getting started
Tech companies are racing to dominate hardware for generative AI, with Nvidia leading the way with its Blackwell superchip. Competitors like AMD, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Google are also in the game, aiming to reduce reliance on traditional chip makers. This shift in hardware focus is crucial as AI processing moves from the cloud to on-device, with companies like Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm integrating AI-specific chips into PCs and smartphones.
Updated on Mar 23, 2024 06:04 AM IST
Vishal Mathur, New Delhi
Tech Tonic | Bosses, optics and the refined art of the poker face
Amidst a sea of vague answers and optics being managed, is it right to criticise OpenAI’s Mira Murati for being honest?
Updated on Mar 22, 2024 09:56 PM IST
Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED rekindles the pursuit for an ultra slim, powerful laptop
Asus not just has the early mover advantage with the Intel Core Ultra chip upgrades, but also a significant price to value equation compared with what the competition offers
Published on Mar 22, 2024 11:53 AM IST
Nvidia's new AI chips take no prisoners, and EU moves forward with AI regulation
Regulating AI, Nvidia and Apple make everyone take notice and subscriptions
Published on Mar 21, 2024 04:43 PM IST
GaN chargers are relatively new and still expensive, but signify tech progress
The new technology, switching from silicon to gallium nitride, allows these chargers to deliver faster speeds in much smaller sizes, and can remain absolutely cool after hours of use
Published on Mar 20, 2024 09:53 AM IST
Tech Tonic | Bluetooth’s constancy has given us the soundtrack to life
After defining how we listen to audio at home, in the office and in the car, it is now time for the wellness space to derive simpler solutions from Bluetooth
Published on Mar 15, 2024 05:25 PM IST
As a concept, WatchOut’s watch and earbuds hybrid may prove a seminal moment
Indian tech start-up WatchOut has written a new template to meld smartwatches and wireless earbuds, into one
Published on Mar 12, 2024 09:55 AM IST
Wear next? The future’s calling: A look at the next-generation smartphone
The ‘phone’ to aspire to, in the age of AI, will likely be a tiny, multi-functional wearable device that looks nothing like what we‘re accustomed to.
Updated on Mar 09, 2024 06:43 PM IST
Tech Tonic | WWW disruptions can be more worrying than Instagram outages
Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini define undersea cables that carry much of the internet traffic as “unsung heroes”, and for once, AI chatbots are on point
Published on Mar 08, 2024 09:47 PM IST
Xiaomi 14 is a true flagship phone underlined by Leica’s photography expertise
Xiaomi 14 is simply some of the best camera hardware you’ll find on an Android flagship phone, for now. Excellent results are delivered with old-school optimisations, and little AI. Xiaomi may have given Samsung and Google some sleepless nights, with pricing too
Published on Mar 08, 2024 08:34 AM IST
Nothing’s resolute personality and value recipe defines an affordable Phone (2a)
There are the underpinnings from its more expensive siblings, the Phone (2) and indeed the Phone (1), which should allow Nothing something to mount a challenge against its rivals
Published on Mar 07, 2024 08:55 AM IST