Category: Review

Werewolf by Night — out Friday on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar — pushes the Marvel Cinematic Universe into a new dimension. On paper at least. It's the first TV special that Marvel Studios has produced. (TV special is basically a fancy term for an hour-long movie.) The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special — coming in December, also to Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar — was set to be the first, but Werewolf by Night emerged out of nowhere last month at Disney's D23 Expo 2022. More importantly, Werewolf by Night is also the first full-on MCU horror flick, though we sort of went there with the Sam Raimi-directed Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen, earlier this year.
Intriguingly, Werewolf by Night comes from an unexpected source too. It's directed by Michael Giacchino, the guy otherwise known for composing indistinguishable background scores for several Marvel movies, including the Cumberbatch-led Doctor Strange, Thor..

House of the Dragon episode 8 — out now on HBO Max and Disney+ Hotstar — is titled “The Lord of the Tides”. That's because it's largely focused on deciding who will inherit the throne of Driftmark, what with Lord Corlys “Sea Snake” Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) believed to be gravely injured. (It's a bit weird that the Game of Thrones prequel spin-off series has essentially killed one of its main cast members entirely off-screen. Thanks, time jumps.) In some ways, House of the Dragon episode 8 could've been called “The Lord of the Undercurrents”. While everyone involved can feel it, nearly no one has the audacity to admit that a war is inevitable and around the corner. This is, if you can term it as such, the calm before the inevitable storm.
And what a strange tension-filled calm it is. Six years have passed since the events of House of the Dragon episode 7. King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) is a shadow of his former self. Half his face is gone, he's more ..

Apple launched a brand new model of its Apple Watch called the ‘Ultra' at this year's ‘Far Out' launch event and it has been a major talking point. It's bigger, chunkier, offers better hardware, and is designed keeping in mind a very special set of users. Another thing that the Apple Watch Ultra managed to do is steal the show from the standard Apple Watch Series 8. The new model does pack a few upgrades over the previous Series 7, but not as much as we were hoping for. Is the new Apple Watch Series 8 worth upgrading to or should you stick (or upgrade) to the Series 7 instead?
Apple Watch Series 8 price in IndiaThe Apple Watch Series 8 is available in two case sizes (41mm and 45mm) and two case finishes (aluminium and stainless steel). Another category you need to keep in mind when choosing an Apple Watch is connectivity. Here, you can choose between the GPS model or the GPS + cellular model.
Apple Watch Series 7 Review: Just Bigger?The Apple Watch Series 8 with the..

Xiaomi has, in a short time, made big strides in the television business in India. Among the leading brands in the smart TV space and a popular option for buyers looking for affordable, value-for-money big-screen TVs, Xiaomi's televisions are usually on the radar of many buyers in India. While it does offer some high-end options including OLED and QLED TVs, the brand is best known for its affordable products, making the new Xiaomi Smart TV X Series particularly relevant in its growing product portfolio.
Priced at Rs. 34,999 in India for the 50-inch variant (L50M7-A2IN) on review here, the Xiaomi Smart TV X Series is similar to the Mi TV 5X that was launched in 2021, but with a more spartan approach that sees fewer features and frills in favour of more competitive pricing. Xiaomi has, however, retained some key specifications, including the Ultra-HD screen, support for Dolby Vision HDR, and Android TV with the PatchWall and stock Android TV UIs. Is this the best affordable Ultra-HD..

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power — Amazon's millennia-prior prequel that draws from the appendices of J.R.R. Tolkien's three-volume novel — was, in some ways, doomed from the very beginning. Years before cameras began rolling, it gained the notorious tag of being the world's most expensive TV series. Amazon had made a billion-dollar five-season commitment, forking over $250 million (about Rs. 2,057 crore) for the rights alone. By the time cameras were done rolling on The Rings of Power season 1, it had spent another $465 million (about Rs. 3,826 crore) on the “infrastructure that will sustain the whole series.” Its inexperienced creators, showrunners and head writers, J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay, have mapped out all five seasons. They even know their final shot.
But it seems they overlooked what comes before the destination: the journey. While The Rings of Power season 1 finale was impressive and emotional in parts, the season as a whole got off to a poor star..

5G has been officially launched in India. As telecom operators rush to make 5G available across different parts of the country, smartphone brands are also introducing multiple devices, across multiple price points that support the next-generation network. Even before 5G rolled out in India, a plethora of smartphone options were available for consumers to choose from, especially under Rs. 20,000. One such recent option was the iQoo Z6 Lite 5G, which went on sale in early September. This smartphone is priced under Rs. 15,000 and it is the company's most affordable 5G smartphone currently in India.
The iQoo Z6 Lite 5G is currently the only smartphone in India to feature the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 SoC, which is based on a 6nm process. iQoo claims that its 5G smartphone can outperform competitor devices. It also offers a 120Hz display, a dual-camera setup and a beefy battery in the hopes to offer a good all-round experience. With all that is on offer, is the iQoo Z6 Lite 5G th..

The Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro have been launched in India, four years after the 2018 Pixel 3 and Pixel 3XL. After waiting for so long, Google finally decided to offer top-end smartphones for Indian consumers again. Sure, Google did launch the more affordable Pixel 6a here not too long ago, but it was nowhere close to its flagship counterpart in terms of performance. Launching premium smartphones after a gap of four long years in India, will Google be able to regain its position in the premium price segment? Especially now, when Indian consumers have access to a variety of devices from various brands in these price segments. I got to spend some time with the latest offerings from Google at its event in New Delhi, and here are my first impressions of the Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro.
Google Pixel 7 is priced at Rs. 59,999 and the Google Pixel 7 Pro is priced at Rs. 84,999 in India. They are currently being sold only through Flipkart. Pixel 7 comes in three colours: Snow, Obsidian,..

House of the Dragon episode 9 — out now on HBO Max and Disney+ Hotstar — isn't the traditional penultimate episode that Game of Thrones had gotten us used to. There are no big set-pieces here (with that dragon at the end more a sign of things to come). And this new episode doesn't wrap up any long-running storylines (which, on Game of Thrones, opened up the finale to set the table for the next season). In fact, it's an extremely contained episode. Set during the two days immediately following the death of King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine), House of the Dragon episode 9 finds the Queen and her father — Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and Otto (Rhys Ifans) — bickering over how succession will play out. They share a common goal, but their approaches are wildly different.
Having entirely misunderstood what her husband was talking about, Alicent confides in her father that Viserys “wished” for Aegon to be king with his dying breath. Otto has always desired this — it's why ..

In a world where even Android phones priced below Rs. 20,000 can do pretty much everything the average person might need, Apple's Pro tier of iPhones, which all cost well over Rs. 1,00,000, have to push above and beyond. Each new model has to advance the state of the art, or has to at least seem fresh and fashionable. This is the route that Apple has taken for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max – they don't do anything drastically new and they don't look much different, but there are a few updates that might make you decide to upgrade if you haven't felt the need to before now.
We're reviewing the iPhone 14 Pro, but its larger sibling, the iPhone 14 Pro Max, offers identical functionality for those who want a bigger screen or better battery life. In my review of the iPhone 13 Pro Max, I found it a bit too heavy and unwieldy for everyday use, and that hasn't changed with this generation. After spending a bit of time with both at Apple's big launch..

A portable, touchscreen monitor is a niche product, but could be a handy solution for those who require the extra screen real estate on the move. The use case for such a device could be anything from enabling touch controls for a laptop or desktop that doesn't have a touchscreen, dual-screen connectivity on the go, or generally having a larger screen to use with a compact laptop as needed. One such product that fits this description is the ViewSonic TD1655 15.6-inch portable touch monitor, which I'm reviewing here.
Priced at Rs. 33,500 officially (but available for as low as Rs. 23,999 online), the ViewSonic TD1655 monitor promises convenience of connectivity and usage, portability, and touchscreen capabilities. Is this unique portable monitor worth the asking price? Find out in this review.
The ViewSonic TD1655 is available in a single 15.6-inch size, and has a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels
ViewSonic TD1655 Monitor designThe ViewSonic TD1655 monitor, at first glance, looks ..