| | | Good morning! Opening thoughts. We chatted last week about SaveSage, a fintech that is trying to use AI to help you save money and make the best redemptions with credit card transactions and loyalty programs. That got me thinking about something, and we must chat about this — why are India’s credit card issues and indeed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ignoring the simple matter of listing the MCC, or merchant category code, on the payment authentication page (the one where you punch in an OTP) as a rule for online transactions? I ask that, because increasingly, credit card issuers and banks are restricting cashbacks for transactions based on this elusive MCC code. If anyone says memorise MCC codes, they’re simply kidding you. Did you know fuel (codes 5172, 5541, 5542 and 5983) are different from school and educational services (codes 5111, 5192, 5942, 5943, 8211, 8220, 8241, 8244, 8249, 8299, and 8351), which are different from utility payments (codes 4900, 4814, 4816, 4899, 9399) and so on? If you are using cashback focused cards (of which there are many these days), many of these MCC codes are not eligible for cashback benefits. How would you know, as a customer? Make a wild guess? High time this gets corrected. And when this happens, it’ll have the additional benefit of cleaning up incorrect MCC codes that merchants often tend to use.  | | EDITOR’S MARGIN: OPPO AND HASSELBLAD’S CRAZY KIT Oppo and Hasselblad’s absolutely crazy combination of the Find X9 Pro smartphone with the Oppo Hasselblad Teleconverter Kit is, and I don’t say this lightly, perhaps the ultimate elaborate mechanism at giving the smartphone pristine telephoto and distant vision capabilities. None of this combination comes cheap. The fantastic flagship Oppo Find X9 Pro smartphone, the strengths of which I had detailed in a review not too long ago, is priced at ₹109,999 whereas the Teleconverter Kit costs an additional ₹29,999 (I don’t see any bundled pricing, and perhaps Oppo is missing a crucial trick here). All I will say is, if I needed to buy an Android flagship phone now and if I could afford this combination, there would be no over-thinking for this specific purchase. The phone’s photography skills are already pristine, the kit simply gives it some new tricks.  Oppo Find X9 Pro review: Elite camera arsenal, and a flagship benchmark Three things make up this kit, and there’s a chronology that must be followed ahead of first use. Snap the Magnetic Case on the phone > install the mounting ring sitting atop the camera island > align the Teleconverter lens and rotate it into place. There is also an attachment for use with tripods. There is no soft carry case for this lens, and that’s a big miss — not something you’d leave attached to the phone all the time, but there is no secure method of storing this in the backpack either. Take a cue from earphones, Oppo! Mind you, this is a heavy lens and you’ll need both hands to hold the phone or to take photographs. Once this is installed, you must select the ‘Hasselblad Converter’ mode in the camera app on the Find X9 Pro. Takes some getting used to, but that learning curve in a way speeds up once you see the results. The viewfinder on the phone will give you default 10x, 20x and 40x zoom options, but press and hold on any of these numbers to illuminate the dial that lets you go up to 200x with this lens. Anything above 60x, in my experience, requires really stable hands, if not a tripod, to get the shots aligned. In the midst of the testing, Oppo rolled out a significant ColorOS update that particularly noted a couple of improvements for the Teleconverter Kit scenarios, and that did make a world of difference — the 40x photos which previously were a tad too soft, now adopted just the right crispness. Secondly, colours also look much better, and third (and perhaps most importantly), image processing retains most finer details even at 60x or 100x. Difficult to pinpoint exactly why, but Oppo and Hasselblad’s teleconverter lens is returning some very lively photos. Including in low light, without any visible over-processing of details or boosting illumination unnaturally. If you’re waiting for pure specs, here’s the lowdown — 200-megapixel resolution, 1/1.56-inch sensor, 230mm focal length, f2.1 aperture and shoots up to 4K HDR videos at 60fps. That said, videos aren’t as easy to capture unless you’re using a tripod or have unnaturally stable hands. The weight of the lens attempting to tilt the phone forwards as well as the optical zoom lens positioning itself at the slightest of movements, is a balance that must be maintained. Now that the Hasselblad smarts no longer grace OnePlus phones, Oppo’s Find X9 Pro is making the most of that exclusivity. A little bit of show-off with this really, really capable Teleconverter lens isn’t at all out of place. There is a realism to photos that isn’t always achieved by phones at high-er zoom levels. The image processing does rely on artificial intelligence to plug in the details which may otherwise have been lost in translation, but at no point did I notice this AI adding unnatural details or boosting colours for the sake of it. It must be said, this is a really likeable accessory for smartphones, one that’s rare and one that equally demands you part with a significant wad of cash. The question you still must answer is, do you really need a teleconverter lens, and how many times will you actually get around to using the long zoom for your photographs — it’ll define whether this is worth spending money on, or not. Must note, it is just a factor of timing in the NCR regions where pollution envelopes our lives at this time every year, and I I’d love for clearer skies to really adopt the Oppo Hasselblad Teleconverter Kit. If I have it around till then, that is. | | TECH SPOTLIGHT: STUFFCOOL ZENO 30 Many of you may have noticed my eagerness to talk about nifty workstation and travel accessories. The ones I pick mostly have genuine utility attached, something I do my utmost to illustrate. It’s important to find these nifty gallium-nitride (GaN) chargers, charging stations or even multi-port hubs, considering most of us are usually juggling more than one device at a time. This week, I must talk about the impressive Zeno 30 GaN charger from the Indian tech company, Stuffcool. The 30 in the name indicated the 30-watt charging speeds, which makes this ideal for pretty much most recent generations of the Apple iPhone and also the Google Pixel line. I’d go so far as to say, even Samsung Galaxy owners must consider this charger as a travel accessory. The Stuffcool Zeno 30 has one USB-C port, but the reason to buy this is the convenience of the retractable USB-C cable. This cable extends a bit more than 25 inches at its maximum, and that is more than usable if you plug this in and place the phone on a table or flat surface nearby. When the retractable cable or the USB-C port are used individually, the charging speed is 30-watt — but if both are used in parallel, that’s equally divided. The latter scenario, a cinch if you’re charging a smartwatch and a true wireless earbuds or headphones. In our experience, the Stuffcool Zeno 30 does heat up quite a bit in the first few minutes of a charging session, but cools down as time goes. This, as long as the receiving phone doesn’t heat up for instance, delivers a smooth 28-watt of consistent charging speed. The size is appreciably small, and for a charger that is so capable, this easily fits in the palm of your hand. Stuffcool says the Zeno 30 is made in India, and for now, only the white colour option is available. You’ve to be careful with the retractable cable though (it’s the flat-er type, mind you), and it must be pulled out gently for this is not a toy. And for ₹1,899 at this point in time, this is surely a must-have accessory in your travel kit. And perhaps even find a place in the wall socket adjacent to your bedside table. | | CAR CORNER: THE RETURN OF A TATA ICON  A few days ago, Tata Motors officially brought back a car from my childhood. The Tata Sierra. It was a design icon at the time, and perhaps much before its time, with the perspective being this has now become a country where people will buy just about anything if it is somehow labeled as an “SUV”. Many of you may not believe it, but I’d seen up-close a very early stage prototype of the very Sierra that’s been launched in India now, way back in the summer of 2023. At the Tata Motors Design Tech Centre in Coventry, as I sat down for a conversation with Martin Uhlarik, who is Head of Design for Tata Motors. Something he said resonates even today — “One of the roles that designers have is, it’s you’re not just styling the car and making it look beautiful. A designer’s job is ergonomics.” Martin joined Tata Motors in 2016 as Head of Design, UK and assumed the role of Global Design Head in 2020. In the years since, you’d have likely noticed this too — a completely new design language has become clear across Tata’s portfolio of motor vehicles. The Nexon, Harrier, Safari and now the Sierra, as examples of cars that undoubtedly get your attention on the road. Secondly, Martin had talked about versatile platforms that’ll define Tata Motors’ cars in the next few years, and we’re seeing another chapter in that now. The Sierra, which is presently a 5-seater, can very much be transformed into a 7-seater too. Key to this is the ARGOS platform. There’s a lot more to come from Tata Motors’ on this front, in the next few years. Little surprise then, they’re aiming for a big chunk of India’s SUV market in the next few years. Must talk about why the Sierra is destined for success. First and foremost, the design that is absolutely unmatched at this time in the SUV space, this side of ₹30,00,000. Attention to detail perhaps best understood by the fact that the Pure, Adventure and Accomplished trims, all have different alloy wheel designs. How many automakers do that across their variants? Auto geeks like me, would probably have fun times identifying the variant by just looking at the alloys! Secondly, the footprint. The Sierra is longer, wider and taller than most of its competitors (the Hyundai Creta, Kia Celts, Maruti Grand Vitara, Honda Elevate and the Skoda Kushaq). That means most boot space in the category, maximum wheelbase, most rear legroom plus headroom, loaded with safety and convenience tech, as well as the complete range of naturally aspirated (NA) and turbo petrol as well as diesel powertrains. Prices for the entire line-up may be revealed by the time you read this, maybe not. But at ₹11.49 lakh starting point, I can say with some level of certainty — rival automakers are worried. Very worried. | | SECOND THOUGHTS: A WINDOW(S) TO REALITY Windows 11 is an absolute mess. There, it had to be said, and someone had to say it. From the hype of a few months ago when it was claimed that AI was writing as much as 30% code for all things emerging from the house of Microsoft (and safe to assume quite a bit of that would’ve been Windows), we’ve reached a stage where regular Windows users are now calling it the worst phase for the operating system. I have, mercifully, not had to bear with Windows in many a years as my primary work machine (or my secondary, or third work machine either — yes, I’ve very specific pieces for every puzzle), but it is clear that if Microsoft cannot even get the basics such as the File Explorer working properly, they really have little chance at keeping this OS stable for most users. If it’s not already unreasonably unreliable for many. Two things. First, the Windows 11 24H2 update has a bug that leads to the Explorer and the Start Menu crashing. Secondly, Microsoft now says they’ll begin to preload File Explorer in Windows 11 to make it launch faster. The latest preview builds ring in this change in approach. Think about it — this is a file tree which is at the most displaying a list of dozen or so files per folder at a time. It doesn’t get any more rudimentary than this, and it needs to be preloaded. Think about it. Over the summer, Microsoft did something similar with Office apps, starting with Word — a new scheduled task that will run silently when you boot your PC to make sure Office apps open quickly. These are core Windows features, and they are in essence broken. The obsession with trying to impress investors (they’ll abandon ship at the first sign of trouble, mind you, but customers will stick around much longer) by turning this operating system into an “agentic OS”, while everything else seems to be breaking, is purely negligent . All I can ask at this point is — does anyone at Microsoft even use Windows? | | | | Were you forwarded this email? Did you stumble upon it online? 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