Despite HMD Global’s claims that the Nokia 3 is an offline exclusive, the company’s highly anticipated Android smartphone is now available online, albeit unofficially. Electronics chain Croma has offered the Nokia 3 for sale on its site. Priced at Rs. 9,499 it is available in black with other colors sold out. Before that, the nostalgia-inducing Nokia 3310 was also available through the Croma website, although it was said to be an offline exclusive in India. The Nokia 5, which is another smartphone that will only be sold offline, is also on Croma.
WhatsApp May Get Media Bundling, Redesigned Call Screen The popular messaging app WhatsApp is expected to receive some new features according to reports from those in beta. These include media bundling – where WhatsApp users can send a bunch of photos and the recipient will receive them as a bundle and not one after the other as was the case before, and a minor change in call taking. Users now have to swipe up instead of sideways to take a call.
Amazon India Pre-GST Sale offers discounts on TVs, home appliances and other deals. With the Goods and Services Tax (GST) soon to be rolled out across India, Amazon India is offering pre-GST discounts on a slew of electronics. These include the Panasonic TH-40DS500D full HD LED smart TV which costs Rs. 31,998 instead of the usual Rs. 46,900. Meanwhile, the Sony DAV-TZ145 Home Theater System now costs Rs. 10,819 instead of Rs. 11,990 and the JBL GO Portable Wireless Bluetooth Speaker is currently available for Rs. 1,999 (at the usual price of Rs. 3,490) as part of this sale. Other categories included in the Amazon Pre-GST Sale include major appliances such as air conditioners, washing machines, and inverters.
New offers from Vodafone and Airtel to acquire and retain users Over the weekend, Vodafone announced that certain Vodafone RED postpaid subscribers would get a year of free Netflix subscription. Those with the Vodafone Rs. 1,299 subscriptions and above can take advantage of this. The Vodafone website confirms that eligible RED postpaid customers can enjoy the free Netflix subscription for up to one year by visiting the official Vodafone India online store or also by texting ‘Netflix’ to 199 from an eligible RED postpaid number. Depending on the value of the subscription, users will get Rs. 500 credited to their Netflix account per month.
Airtel is unbeatable. On Sunday, the company announced the ‘Monsoon Surprise Offer’ for postpaid users. With this, Airtel offers up to 30 GB of data for three billing cycles. And yes, it is an extension of the ‘Airtel Surprise Offer’ for another three months. As usual, you can thank Reliance Jio for making the telecom space much more competitive.
UberPASS rollout begins in India A week after the announcement of UberPASS, Uber has started rolling out it as an option for users. This means that you can pay a fixed amount to drive without cancellation or subscription. During the current pilot, you must have made a minimum number of trips to continue using UberPASS the following week. At this time, UberPASS rates are applied to UberGO rides and not to shared rides or other categories. It is being rolled out to users in phases. You can only use it if Uber sends you an email or text alert.
Apple plans to move to 100 percent renewable energy in India; Prime Minister Modi meets US tech CEOs and invites them to invest in India. Apple’s Indian business will run 100 percent on renewable energy in the next six months, the company told Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently touring the United States. On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met CEOs of 20 leading US companies for a roundtable discussion. This included Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Sunder Pichai, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to name a few. Prime Minister Modi said India is now a business-friendly destination, compounded by the implementation of GST next month. He also said that India has attracted the most foreign direct investment thanks to NDA government policies. Prime Minister Modi highlighted the reforms his government has implemented, more than 7,000, that aimed at “ease of [doing] business and minimum government, maximum governance.”
Moto E4 Plus and Honor 8 Pro India to launch soon The Moto E4 Plus appears to be Motorola’s next smartphone to be launched in India. A teaser poking fun at smartphones running low has emerged from Moto. It ends with the question ‘What’s coming next?’ Considering the Moto E4 has a massive 5,000mAh battery, we could see it reach the country soon.
Also teased, albeit in a more obvious way, is the Honor 8 Pro. Amazon India has said it will launch on July 6 and will be exclusive to the e-commerce giant. Expect the Honor 8 Pro price to be revealed in India when it launches itself on July 6. The smartphone cost 549 euros (about 39,500 rupees) when it landed in Europe and the price in India should be about the same.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8 with 6 GB RAM, dual rear cameras that is said to be launched in September. If you expected the release date of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 to be in August, think again. A report from VentureBeat citing a person familiar with the company’s launch plans has revealed that the flagship will be Samsung’s most expensive phone to date, with a retail price of EUR 999 (almost Rs. 72,100) and in the market. will be published in the second half of September. There may also be specific souped-up features rather than just a bigger screen compared to the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+. These may include 6 GB of RAM, a 6.3-inch screen and dual cameras. Although the same 18.5:9 aspect ratio present in the S8 and S8+ remains possible.
OnePlus 5 opens tonight in India Although OnePlus has manipulated synthetic benchmark scores to make the OnePlus 5 look better, the latest real-world speed test comparison has shown that the company may be able to back up its claims. A comparison test video by Jeremy Ortega shows that the OnePlus 5 outperforms the HTC U11 and Samsung Galaxy S8 – two devices with the Snapdragon 835 SoC. This comes just before the OnePlus 5 goes on sale in India through Amazon India, the OnePlus Store and the OnePlus Experience store in Bengaluru from 12 noon IST on June 27. With the phone becoming available in more countries, the company has released a 36MB update to fix issues such as “app installation issue” and “system update error.” And if you’re waiting for another color, you’re in luck, a Mint Gold variant of the OnePlus 5 has been spotted on the Chinese certification site TENAA.
Flipkart reveals Rs. 999 laptop offer per month in partnership with HP, Intel, Microsoft Flipkart announced a partnership with HP, Intel and Microsoft to enable consumers to buy a laptop for Rs. 35,954 for just Rs. 999 per month. This is possible by using a 36-month EMI option. This is an effort to appeal to students and new PC buyers. ICICI Bank and Citibank have been brought in to offer hassle-free financing options as well. As for the laptop in question, it’s an HP Imprint – an Intel Core i3-powered Windows 10 laptop.
A tax expert came to talk to us about the impact of GST on the prices of gadgets and IT services in India on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast. You can subscribe to it via Apple Podcasts or RSS or just listen to this episode by hitting the play button below.
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