Jio may have been the fastest telecom operator to reach a subscriber base of over 100 million in just six months, but this increase in users has come with a price tag. According to a report by London-based OpenSignal, Reliance Jio currently has the slowest average 4G LTE speed at 3.9Mbps, while the average peak speed was actually quite good at 50Mbps. For its test, OpenSignal told Gadgets 360 that it collected data from 93,464 users in the three months between December and February. Airtel was registered with the best average speed, followed by Vodafone and Idea.
The company also made its way into the world of feature phones with the announcement of Jio Phone, which has now been confirmed to be a single SIM phone that will be locked to the Jio network. Meanwhile, in the ongoing debate on dropping IUC rates, Sunil Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel, has urged India’s telecoms regulator to reject the ‘Bill and Keep’ (BAK) method and said it should go ahead with the regime of the interconnection usage charge (IUC). Mittal wrote to TRAI chairman RS Sharma: “BAK must be rejected and India must not be subjected to a regime alien to the mobile industry around the world.”
Redmi Note 4 blast video ‘fake’, says Xiaomi Recently, a video claiming that a Redmi Note 4 unit in Bengaluru spontaneously caught fire in Bengaluru went viral, but Xiaomi has now responded by saying the video was actually fake. While the company acknowledged that the customer’s Redmi Note 4 (Reivew) caught fire (as can be seen in the photos), the video circulating on the web of the incident was actually fake. Xiaomi also condemned the blog that distributed the video of the exploding handset, calling its behavior “irresponsible and disturbing”. It added that it is “currently evaluating legal action against this publication”. Speaking to Gadgets 360, the blog owner said the video came from the customer himself.
Nokia 8 and Lenovo K7 Note are expected to be launched soon HMD Global’s upcoming flagship was recently tipped to be the Nokia 8. Now that the Finnish manufacturer has reportedly sent out media invites to a launch event in London on August 16, the launch of the Nokia 8 is not expected to be too far. According to previously leaked renders, the phone should have a dual rear camera with Carl Zeiss optics and be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC. It will most likely also have a home button with a possible integrated fingerprint sensor and two capacitive buttons. From the images, it also looks like HMD Global is sticking with the 3.5mm headphone jack.
Lenovo is also gearing up to announce a new smartphone in India. Based on a video teaser on the company’s social media channel, we get a glimpse of a phone with the hashtag “KillerNote,” suggesting the K7 Note launch is imminent.
Self-driving cars are not allowed in India As other countries embrace the future, it seems that India has major reservations when it comes to automating public transport. Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has said driverless cars will not be allowed in India as it will lead to unemployment. He further said that the government will instead focus on training drivers as adequate driving skills can provide employment for about 50 lakh people through a taxi aggregator platform. Although he is against self-driving cars, he did say that the government welcomes electric vehicles.
Meanwhile, Uber is trying to improve the tap-and-ride cab experience for commuters by rolling out a driver profiles feature in India. This will give you more information about the driver and also show you additions and feedback that previous commuters have left for that driver.
Moto Z2 Force live images leak Lenovo is all set to launch a host of new smartphones at an event on July 25, and new live images suggest the Moto Z2 Force will be part of this ensemble. In particular, the newly leaked images suggest a design similar to previous leaks about the upcoming Moto smartphone. Tuesday’s event will also see the launch of the Moto Z2, Moto X4, Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus. The Moto Z2 Force is expected to run on Android 7.1.1 Nougat, a 5.5-inch Quad HD display and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC.
iPhone 8 renders reveal key design details and price As we get closer to Apple’s next big event, the floodgates are beginning to open for the company’s new iPhone. The latest render suggests that the iPhone 8 will have a 5.8-inch OLED display with thinner bezels down to 4mm on all sides. It claims that the top bar only shows the connection and battery status, and the notifications will be moved to the bottom ‘Functions area’ for a cleaner and non-shattering iOS 11 interface experience. In terms of pricing, the report notes that the iPhone 8 is expected to be priced from $1,100 to $1,200 (about Rs. 70,800 to Rs. 77,200).
Yu Yunique 2 with Truecaller integration launched in IndiaYu Televentures, a subsidiary of Micromax, has launched a revamped version of its Yunique smartphone, the Yunique 2 with Truecaller integration for caller ID and spam protection features. Other highlights include Corning Gorilla Glass 3, 4G VoLTE support, Android 7.0 Nougat, a 13-megapixel rear camera and a budget price of Rs. 5.999. The Yu Yunique 2 will be available to purchase exclusively through Flipkart from Thursday.
Gionee A1 Plus ‘selfie-centric’ smartphone launched in IndiaGionee has launched the A1 Plus in India at a price of Rs. 26,999, the main highlights of which are the large 4550mAh battery and a 20MP front camera. The dual-SIM phone runs on Amigo 4 OS based on Android 7.0 Nougat and has a 6-inch full-HD (1080×1920 pixels) IPS display. The smartphone is powered by a MediaTek Helio P25 octa-core SoC clocked at up to 2.6GHz, coupled with 4GB of RAM.
Android O Developer Preview 4 and MIUI 9 Preview are out Google has started rolling out Android O Developer Preview 4 for compatible devices. These include Pixel, Pixel XL, Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Pixel C, Nexus Player and Android Emulator users who are enrolled in the Android beta program. The Developer Preview 4 is a release candidate build with the latest bug fixes, making it up-to-date for developer app testing. It is the final preview build before the stable release later this year.
Xiaomi will also be launching the Xiaomi Mi 5X smartphone tomorrow, and it will be the first phone to run MIUI 9 out of the box. MIUI 9 is also launching and will include new themes, new design elements and shortcuts on the lock screen, a split screen feature and much more.
Elon Musk says Mark Zuckerberg’s understanding of AI is limited A day after Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Musk’s doomsday scenario of AI is “irresponsible.” The founder of Tesla, SpaceX and SolarCity returned the favor by calling Zuckerberg’s understanding of AI “limited.” Responding to a tweet Tuesday discussing Zuckerberg’s comments on the matter, Musk said he has spoken to the Facebook CEO and concluded that his “understanding of the subject is limited.”
