The beta test of the Jio Phone will start tomorrow and will be available for public pre-order on August 24. But certain retailers in the Delhi-NCR area have already begun taking Jio Phone bookings a week ahead of schedule; it is not yet clear whether the bookings have also started in other cities. You need an Aadhaar number to book the device and the Rs. 1,500 deposit is due when you receive the handset. This means you can be one of the first people to get your hands on the device, provided you book now.
In more Jio news, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has stated that the telco added more than six million wireless subscribers in June alone. In comparison, Airtel said more than two million and Vodafone less than one million. With this increase, Reliance Jio now has 10.39 percent of the market share in wireless subscribers, while Airtel is still in the top tier with a market share of 23.65 percent. Vodafone is in second place with 17.86 percent, and Idea has 16.54 percent on June 30 of this year.
Nokia 3310 (2017) 3G variant will be launched in late September or early October: message A 3G version of the new Nokia 3310 is on the way. It is expected in late September or early October. In response to a customer question on Twitter, Irish telecom operator Three Ireland Online said the 3G variant of the Nokia 3310 (2017) will arrive in late September or early October, according to a report by Nokiapoweruser, with the tweet now deleted. This follows the listing of the phone on the US FCC certification site.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A specs leaked, August 21 launch tipped. Details about the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A have surfaced. Specifications include a Snapdragon 425 SoC and 2 GB of RAM. There is a 13-megapixel camera on the back, a 5-megapixel camera on the front for selfies, and a 3080mAh battery. It is expected to be released on August 21 for CNY 999 (approximately Rs. 9,600). And if that wasn’t enough, there are rumors that two Snapdragon 625 versions are also on the way.
Android O name, final build to be released August 21: Reports Android O release is scheduled for the week of August 21, “most likely on the 21st itself”. In contrast, a separate report hints that the Google Pixel devices will receive Android O on August 21 without clarifying whether the other compatible devices will also receive it. It also claims that the name of Android O will be released on the same day as the upcoming solar eclipse, which is August 21. If true, it means the name will be revealed, and the final build will be released on the same day.
iPhone 6 32GB Gold variant is now available in India via Amazon. The iPhone 6 32GB was launched earlier this year. At the time, Space Gray was the only option. Now Apple has brought the Gold variant. It is exclusive to Amazon India and costs Rs. 26,999. The smartphone debuted in the Amazon Great Indian Sale that ended on August 12. After being made available for a discounted price of Rs. 24,999 for just one day, the iPhone 6 is now available for Rs. 26,999 exclusively on Amazon India.
Google Voice Search adds support for more Indian languages. Google has announced expanded language support for its voice search feature. The Android maker is adding support for 30 new languages, eight of which are from India. The new Indian languages are Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. Before the rollout, which will hit most Android phones on Monday, Google’s voice search only supported the Hindi language in India. The company said it would roll out these features to its services on iOS in the coming weeks. The move will allow millions of Indians to access Google’s Search more easily – as well as the Gboard app, which also adds support for these languages today.
Moto X4 leaked renders, color variants, and specs tipped Moto X4 leaked renders suggest a glass back and dual camera design. The smartphone is available in Super Black and Sterling Blue and has a fingerprint sensor on the front of the home button. In terms of specs, we could see the Moto X4 launch with a 5.2-inch full-HD display, Corning Gorilla Glass, a Snapdragon 630 processor, and an Adreno 508 GPU.
Reports claim that there will be two Moto X4 variants – one with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage and the other with 4 GB and 64 GB of storage. The 3 GB RAM variant has been tipped to launch in North America, Latin America, and Europe. The 4 GB RAM variant is expected to mariachi the Asia-Pacific region. In terms of optics, the Moto X4 smartphone is tipped to come with a dual camera setup consisting of a 12-megapixel sensor and an 8-megapixel sensor. On the front, the Moto X4 is expected to have a 16-megapixel sensor, with an aperture of f/2.0 and a pixel size of 1 micron, which can record videos in resolutions up to 4K.
Top Dota 2 players defeated by Elon Musk-backed OpenAI startup A bot created by the Elon Musk-backed non-profit startup ‘OpenAI’ defeated champion Danylo ‘Dendi’ Ishut in the online multiplayer battle arena Defense of the Ancients 2 (Dota 2) in two consecutive demonstration matches. Several exhibition games were played this weekend with other top players, including Syed ‘Suma1l’ Hassan and Artour ‘Arteezy’ Babaev.
The game, played at the annual tournament The International on Saturday at Seattle Center’s KeyArena, has a winning prize of nearly $24 million. Dota 2 is a complex team-based game played by over 10 million people every month. The game is continuous, has hidden information, and good strategy and positioning win over the rough mechanics. OpenAI uses Dota 2 as a testbed for new AI technologies. Musk praised the achievement on Twitter, saying, “It was a significant advance over what AI had accomplished in more traditional games.”
Microsoft memo shows high return rates for Surface Book; report says Consumer Reports has released results of a study claiming the Surface line of devices isn’t as reliable as Microsoft wants them to be. Although the company rejected these claims, an internal memo has leaked, which goes deep into the possible reasons for Consumer Reports’ conclusions.
In the memo, Surface product leader Panos Panay writes: “It is important for us always to learn more from our customers and how they see their ownership journey with our products. Feedback like this [from Consumer Reports] stings but forces us to be more obsessed with our customers.”
Panay also writes that Microsoft has worked tirelessly to resolve all issues, and return rates have plummeted over the past 12 months; however, that’s not reflected in the Consumer Reports findings, and the research relies heavily on just Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book users. He claims that subsequent devices have launched in much more reliable states and that Microsoft is adamant about letting its users know. †[We] have compiled a comprehensive set of data that reflects the strength of our quality and customer sentiment, and will work with partner organizations, including marketing, retail, and sales, to broadly share that information,” Panay wrote in the memo.
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