Analysts said that to counter Reliance Jio Summer Surprise’s new offerings and retain users, telecom operators such as Airtel, Vodafone, and Idea may soon launch aggressive offerings. The incumbents are expected to launch offerings similar to Jio Summer Surprise, even at the cost of short-term revenue loss.
In addition, analysts say these telcos may begin to market their new plans more heavily than they have so far to reduce churn, especially in the mid-to high-end segment.
Moto G5 launched in India for Rs. 11,999. Lenovo has launched the Moto G5 in India for Rs. 11,999, less than three weeks after its big brother – the Moto G5 Plus – arrived in India. If you go purely by size, the Moto G5 is a straight successor to the Moto G4 Play, although the panel has been upgraded to full HD (1080p) from HD (720p). More specifically, the phone has a metal design, much in contrast to the plastic construction of its predecessor.
Key Moto G5 specs include a 13MP f/2.0 camera, Android 7.0 Nougat, Snapdragon 430 chipset, 2800mAh removable battery, 3GB RAM, and 16GB storage. The smartphone will be sold exclusively on Amazon from Wednesday, April 5, at noon IST.
WhatsApp may launch a UPI-based payment service. WhatsApp looks set to expand its presence and reach in India and could soon launch a UPI-based digital payment service. According to a report, the Facebook company plans to launch the peer-to-peer payment service within six months. In a vacancy on its website, the company is looking for a Digital Transactions Lead for India; requirements include technical and financial background and an understanding of UPI and OHIM platforms to enable money transfers and payments to merchants. A WhatsApp spokesperson said: “India is an important country for WhatsApp, and we understand how we can contribute more to the vision of Digital India.”
Meanwhile, the latest version of WhatsApp for Android beta has removed the contact sharing limitation. Unlike before, you can now share multiple contact cards with your friends on WhatsApp simultaneously and get back to work faster.
New H-1B guidelines seen as a crackdown on computer programming New H-1B visa guidelines issued by the US have made it more difficult for companies to hire foreign technology workers. The changes require additional information for computer programmers applying for work visa to prove that the jobs are complicated and require more advanced knowledge and experience. The new guidelines are an extension of President Trump’s pledge to create local American jobs following the suspension of the accelerated visa process last month.
Xiaomi Mi 6 will be launched in April during a live stream, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun revealed that the Mi 6 – the successor to last year’s powerhouse Mi 5 – would be announced sometime in April. Jun shied away from a date, but previous reports pointed to a Xiaomi event on the 11th or the 18th. Little is known about the phone besides a dual-camera sensor with 30 megapixels. Fortunately, we will know more before the end of this month.
Apple reportedly orders 70 million OLED panels for iPhone 8. As Apple continues to push IPS LCD screens to most iPhones, iPhone 8 has long been rumored to have an OLED discussion. A new report claims that Apple has placed an order for 70 million OLED panels from Samsung Electronics. Market research firm IHS Markit reiterates that Apple has placed an order for 70 million OLED panels, adding that Samsung has 95 million units ready in case demand exceeds expectations.
Android 7.1.2 Nougat and iOS 10.3.1 Updates Rolling Out Now Both Apple and Google have rolled out minor updates to their devices to fix bugs and improve security on their platforms. For iPhone and iPad devices, the new iOS 10.3.1 update brings back 32-bit device support, so those who were left behind – iPhone 5/iPhone 5c – can now get the iOS 10.3 update they missed before. One of the update’s key features is a fix for a Wi-Fi vulnerability (CVE-2017-6975) affecting the above devices that could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code on the Wi-Fi chip.
On the Android front, v7.1.2 Nougat is available for Pixel, Pixel XL, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus Player, and Pixel C, and users can download factory images or the OTA files to sideload the update in case they don’t. Want to wait for the update to roll out for them. The new Android 7.1.2 update fixes several issues for Pixel smartphones, such as pink streaks on the camera, early shutdown, audio popping at high volumes, and other bug fixes. It also improves fingerprint swipe performance, improves Bluetooth connectivity, and alerts for battery usage.
Micromax Bharat 2 reportedly launched in India Micromax Bharat 2 – a low-cost Android smartphone with support for 4G VoLTE – has reportedly launched in India, if you believe photos from a particular retailer. The new Bharat 2 has a 4-inch screen with a 480p resolution, a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor, and only 512 MB of memory. That’s enough to run Android 6.0 Marshmallow, although you shouldn’t expect it to perform well in the long run.
The Bharat 2 has an MRP of Rs. 3,750, but is said to be available for Rs. 3,499 on the market. In terms of storage, you only get 4GB – try not to store a lot of music or videos; thankfully,, there’s a microSD card slot. Micromax has also decided to stick with the headphone jack, which is always good news.
Android overtakes Windows in internet traffic; study says. We have known for a long time that more and more people access the internet for the first time via mobile phones instead of desktops. So when a new report from web analytics firm StatCounter confirms the slide, it almost feels natural. Android has finally overtaken Windows as the most popular operating system for users on the web, by the fewest margins – 0.02 percent, to be exact.
Google’s open-source ecosystem stood at 37.93 percent in March, while Windows stood at 37.91 percent. The data combines internet usage on desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. StatCounter CEO Aodhan Cullen called it “the end of an era”. Hopefully, the data for April will not pour cold water on his words.
Facebook is testing two news feeds for Android, and iOS users. After endless copying of Snapchat, Facebook’s next target appears to be one of its own: Instagram. As proof of A/B testing, Facebook has introduced a new tab in its Android and iOS apps — between the News Feed and the Friends section — that delivers content that members may find interesting.
The approach is similar to Instagram’s search section, which studies your browsing and interaction to suggest stories, videos, and images you might like. Marked with a rocket-shaped icon, the second news feed provides users with photos, videos, and posts from sources that the user does not follow on the website but is similar to their interests.
Netflix brings downloads, and offline viewing to Windows 10 app. The Netflix app for Windows 10 PCs got an update on Monday to bring it in line with its mobile counterparts on Android and iOS. You can now download videos to watch later with the desktop app, which should help people who travel frequently and want to take their entertainment with them. To download Netflix content, you can choose between standard or high-quality videos, and the videos can be found in the My Downloads tab when you click on the hamburger icon in the top left.
According to a tweet from AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, what could only be an absurd rebranding effort, the imminent merger of Yahoo and AOL following Verizon’s acquisition of the former, will be known as Oath. Verizon’s merger of Yahoo and AOL is called Oath. It’s mind-boggling to imagine a marketing department picking the word “Oath” as a great name, especially considering how far Yahoo has fallen lately. First, it was valued at just $4.48 billion by Verizon, and the multiple revelations of hacking incidents late last year have only further damaged its reputation.
