Not content with disrupting the telco space, Reliance Jio also has its eyes set on the home broadband market. Reliance Jio customer service confirmed on Twitter that it is currently testing its JioFiber home broadband service in six cities. Now that the company has set its sights on dominating the market across the country, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Reliance Jio is expanding its JioFiber home broadband trials to more cities. The plan to expand broadband testing to more cities “in the next few months” had been mentioned in a Q1 earnings call, but there was no mention of when this would happen.
Amazon Great Indian Sale sees discounts on phones, Flipkart Big 10 Sale follows Amazon Great Indian Sale went on its second day today, with the iPhone 6s 32GB available for Rs. 34,999 with an exchange discount of up to Rs. 11.002. The iPhone 7 price is still the lowest among Amazon sales, with the 32GB variant selling for Rs. 43,999 with an additional exchange discount of up to Rs. 11.002. Likewise, the iPhone 5s 16GB and iPhone SE 16GB are selling for Rs. 15,999 and Rs. 20,999, along with exchange discounts of up to Rs. 11.002. Other deals include Samsung Galaxy On8 (Rs. 12,740, up to Rs. 9,512 exchange discount) and the Moto Z, which comes down to Rs. 34,999, which means Rs. 5,000 off the retail price.
Not to be outdone, the Flipkart Big 10 Sale will take place from May 14 to May 18. In the run-up, it has announced lucrative smartphone deals, offers, price cuts, and exchange discounts. The e-commerce site has also confirmed that the buyback guarantee program introduced in March for the Moto G5 Plus will be extended to “best-selling smartphones from leading brands”. As part of the Flipkart Big 10 Sale, Samsung will offer its Galaxy On5. and Galaxy On7 smartphones for Rs. 6,490 (fixed discount of Rs. 2,500) and Rs. 7,990 (fixed discount of Rs. 1,000), respectively.
Nokia Phones India launch likely in the first week of June HMD Global is gearing up to launch Nokia phones in India, and sources tell Gadgets 360 that a Nokia launch event will be held in New Delhi in the first week of June. It’s not yet decided whether all four phones – the Nokia 6, Nokia 5, Nokia 3, and the new Nokia 3310 feature phone – will launch at the same event or on separate occasions. If the company decides to hold different circumstances, it could launch the Nokia phones in the first week of June, with the remaining two slated to launch later. This decision is expected to be taken at the end of May.
Refurbished Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Reportedly Starts Selling in China A Chinese e-commerce website has reportedly listed the Samsung Galaxy Note 7R, the refurbished version of the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7, for sale at a price range of CNY 3,599-3,999 (approx. Rs 33,540 – Rs 37,300). A previous leak had said the refurbished model would cost half the price and come in two variants: one with a 3200mAh battery and the other with a 3500mAh battery. However, the latter would still be changed.
The income Tax Department launches a new e-facility to link Aadhaar to PANThe Income Tax Department has launched a new e-facility to link a person’s Aadhaar to Permanent Account Number (PAN). The department’s e-filing website has created a new link on its homepage, making it “easy” to link a person’s two unique identities. While this move could make filing tax returns easier, we wonder if there are any security safeguards in place, given how common data breaches regarding Aadhaar seem.
NASA telescopes detect signs of water on distant ‘Warm Neptune’ Scientists using NASA telescopes have detected a strong water signature’ in the atmosphere of an alien planet the size of Neptune, which could help understand more about its birth and development of planetary systems. The study, which combines observations from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, shows that the distant planet HAT-P-26b has a primitive atmosphere composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium. HAT-P-26b is located about 437 light-years away and orbits a star back twice our sun’s age. The analysis is one of the most detailed studies yet of a “warm Neptune,” or a planet the size of Neptune and close to its star.
Windows 10 Fall Creators Update with Timeline Features, Cloud-Aware Clipboard, and More Windows 10 Fall Creators Update brings a new Timeline feature that provides a historical record of everything you do on your devices. Microsoft says, “The timeline allows users to jump back in time with a visual timeline that shows what a user was doing before and easily jump back into files, apps, and websites as if it were real-time.”
That’s not all; with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, the Clipboard is also becoming Cloud-aware, allowing you to copy the text on a Windows 10 device and paste it on an Android smartphone, for example. Microsoft is also bringing Apple Continuity-like features to Windows 10 by letting you start tasks on one device and continue them on another. This is accomplished using Cortana, the virtual assistant built into Windows 10 and available as a third-party app on iOS from Apple and Android from Google. The company also announced some new features for OneDrive mobile apps, adding support for offline folders and introducing an iMessage app that makes it easy to share documents stored on OneDrive with your contacts. Plus, OneDrive for Windows 10 downloads files on demand, freeing up space on your PC.
Windows Store gets iTunes, Fedora, SUSE Linux, and Ubuntu. Another big announcement is the addition of iTunes to the Windows Store. Popular Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, SUSE Linux, and Fedora are also coming to the Store, which will be available to install and run in a virtualized environment, complete with command-line options. There’s no real timeline as to when some of these apps will appear in the Windows Store or what they’ll look like when they go live. The introduction of iTunes to the Windows Store means it should also run on Windows 10 S, just like the other Linux distributions. No screenshots of how iTunes will be designed for Windows have been shared, but it will provide all the functionality that the current Windows app offers. This includes access to Apple Music and iTunes Store.
Finally, the Redmond-based company has started taking pre-orders for HP and Acer’s mixed reality development kits. Microsoft also announced its motion controllers for Windows 10 VR at the Build conference.
Panasonic Eluga Ray, Intex Aqua Crystal Plus Launched In IndiaPanasonic has launched the Eluga Ray in India and will go on sale May 15 as part of the Flipkart Big 10 Sale. Priced at Rs. 8,999, the Panasonic Eluga Ray is an Android 6.0 Marshmallow smartphone with a 5-inch HD display, 1.3GHz quad-core processor, 3GB RAM, 13-megapixel rear camera, 5-megapixel front camera, and 4000mAh battery.
Intex also launched the Aqua Crystal Plus for Rs. 6,799 today. The smartphone also has a 5-inch HD display but runs on Android 7.0 Nougat; other features of Intex Aqua Crystal Plus include 1.25GHz quad-core MediaTek MTK6737 chipset, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, microSD support up to 128GB, 4G VoLTE support, 13-megapixel rear camera, 5-megapixel front camera the front and 2100mAh battery.
Amazon Prime Video app for Apple TV, 3D front camera for iPhone 8 Apple plans to announce the Amazon Prime video app on its Apple TV App Store during its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 5 in San Jose, California, according to a media report. The app is expected to go live this summer, but the firm launch date could change. Amazon had previously refused to submit a Prime Video app for inclusion in Apple’s Apple TV App Store, despite Apple’s ‘all are welcome’ proclamations, BuzzFeed reported Friday.
Amid all the drama, recent posts bring news that isn’t so bad on the ears. One report claims that Apple will add a front-facing camera with facial recognition, despite recent reports of technical difficulties in producing 3D cameras. The other report claims that TSMC has already started mass production of the Apple A11 SoC on the 10nm process, the SoC that will be integrated into the new iPhone models this year. In other Apple news, Apple is said to be addressing several reported yield issues it faces with iPhone 8, including new hardware components, Touch ID enhancements, OLED panel yield, and much more.
