The second day of Flipkart’s Big 10 Sale kicked off with several smartphone deals, culminating in the iPhone 7 32GB, which was briefly available for Rs. 39,999 before it sold out. Flipkart advertised this as the “lowest price ever” on the iPhone 7, but rival Amazon countered and staged a flash sale for Prime members, selling a small number of 32GB iPhone 7 units for Rs. 39,499. Amazon’s own Great Indian Sale event ended a day ago. The price of the entry-level iPhone 7 has now returned to Rs. 43,990, which is still a significant discount compared to the MRP of Rs. 60,000.
Other specials announced for the Flipkart Big 10 Sale include an open sale of all three variants of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 starting at Rs. 9,999; the 32GB Google Pixel and Pixel XL sell for Rs. 43,999 and Rs. 53,999, respectively; and the Moto G5 Plus retails for Rs. 15,999 lower than Rs. 16,999. Flipkart also offers cashback and swap offers. Several other gadgets and accessories also went on sale today, including cameras, hard drives, and power banks.
Government announces WannaCry ransomware response plan The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has announced its “preparedness and response mechanism” in the wake of the massive WannaCry ransomware outbreak that took the world by surprise late last week. The government agency has commissioned an emergency response team to collect information. A “critical warning” has been issued due to the malware’s rapid spread and severity.
This follows a May 13 advisory with instructions to prevent the malware from spreading and talks with public and private sector stakeholders to educate them about patching old PCs.
What is WannaCry, and everything else you need to know about it?
Xiaomi Redmi 4 is likely to be launched in India soon. Xiaomi has sent out invites to a launch event on May 16, where Indian availability and pricing of the new Redmi 4 and a Redmi 4 Prime variant are expected to be announced. Both phones are expected to bolster Xiaomi in the budget segment, which has already achieved significant success. The phones will be sold exclusively through Amazon in India.
Not to be overshadowed by phones, Xiaomi today also announced another product, the Mi Bluetooth headset. It has a stylish appearance, ceramic antenna, and optimized sound quality. Priced at Rs. 899 and weighing 6.5 grams, the device is only available in black.
The company also stated that it had shipped four million copies of the Redmi 3S and Redmi 3S Prime, which were launched nine months ago. Xiaomi claims that the Redmi 3S and 3S Prime are the “best-selling smartphones online”.
Snapdeal staff will benefit from a merger with Flipkart Snapdeal’s founders are reportedly planning to pay out half of their $30 million payout (approximately Rs 193 crores) to staff if a deal acquired by Flipkart goes through. The founders want to ensure that the company’s 1,500-2,000 remaining employees are taken care of. Senior employees who recently left may also receive a payout, and the move is seen as compensation for the lost value of stock options. Board members have reportedly agreed to the potential deal, which SoftBank oversees.
Alleged OnePlus 5 renders indicate dual cameras and more features. The phone will have dual rear cameras arranged vertically, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC, 8GB of RAM, and a 4000mAh battery. Nothing specific is known about the price or launch time yet, but it will certainly be in high demand, just like all its predecessors.
Oppo F3 goes on sale in India. After its official launch earlier this month, the Oppo F3 is on sale online in India. It is priced at Rs. 19,990 and is available from Amazon, Flipkart, and Snapdeal. Its main feature is the dual front cameras. Users can switch between the standard and wide-angle lenses. There’s also a fingerprint reader, a 5.5-inch full-HD display, 64GB of storage, and Gorilla Glass 5 for protection.
There were a lot of rumors going around about it. Lenovo’s entire 2017 Moto smartphone lineup is said to have been leaked. According to a highly credible leak, Lenovo will bolster its Moto lineup with several new launches in 2017. The sub-brand will have phones divided into five tiers – Z, X, G, E, and C. Revamped E-Series phones and a new ultra-budget C-Series. Still, it looks like refreshed Moto G5S and G5S Plus models, a revived Moto X, and the top-tier Moto Z Play and Moto Z Force’ll join them. The lineup will serve different price points and take advantage of the long legacy of the Moto brand.
Samsung Z4 launched with Tizen 3.0. Samsung continues experimenting with its Tizen operating system as an alternative to Android. The budget-minded Samsung Z4 will be launched with Tizen 3.0 and cost Rs. 5,790. The phone has 5-megapixel cameras on the front and back, a dual LED flash on the back, a 4.5-inch 480×800 pixel screen, and 1GB of RAM. Removable back covers allow users to customize the look of their devices. Samsung is targeting more than 500 million feature phone users who may want to upgrade to a smartphone shortly.
Meizu M5 targets the value market Meizu has launched a new model, the M5, which targets the value segment with a price tag of Rs. 10,499. It supports 4G and VoLTE and features an octa-core processor, a a 13-megapixel camera, and a fingerprint sensor. The device is sold exclusively on the Tata Cliq website in blue or champagne gold.
Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) unveiled Samsung has also launched a new model internationally. AT&T will sell the Galaxy J3 (2017) in the US for $179.99 (about Rs. 11,500). It runs Android 7.0 and has a 5-inch HD display. It is powered by a quad-core Samsung Exynos processor and has 1.5 GB of RAM. The budget-friendly device gets a 2600mAh battery and a 5-megapixel camera on the back. A launch in India is not yet planned.
Nintendo recently released apps that extend some of its successful franchises to mobile platforms, including Miitomo, Super Mario Ru, and Fire Emblem Heroes. Nintendo is bringing The Legend of Zelda to Android, and iOS Nintendo is reportedly planning to release Android and iOS versions of The Legend of Zelda this year, following the Animal Crossing rollout later this year. The company has not officially confirmed any plans. There is currently no release date or pricing information.
