Samsung has finally launched its highly anticipated 2017 flagships in India. The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ will be available in the country from May 5, while pre-orders have already started. The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8+ will be available at select offline retailers and will also be available through Flipkart and the Samsung India E-Store. In India, the phones are powered by the Exynos 9985 chipset and feature dual-SIM functionality. The price in India of the Galaxy S8 is Rs. 57,900 (MOP) and will be available in Midnight Black and Maple Gold colors. In contrast, the Samsung Galaxy S8+ is priced at Rs. 64,900 (MOP) and will be available in Midnight Black, Coral Blue, and Maple Gold colorways.
For those who pre-order the Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+, Samsung will bundle a free wireless charger (Rs. 4,499) with the handset. On the other hand, the Samsung DeX mobile-to-PC transition tool has to be purchased separately and costs Rs. 8.999. There is no word on Indian pricing for the new Gear VR headset (with controller) or the new Gear 360 camera. We’ve also discussed whether the Galaxy S8’s India price gives it an edge over iPhone 7 and Google Pixel in India in our podcast, so be sure to check that out too.
This is what made even more news in the world of technology today.
Reliance Jio ‘Double Data’ offer for Samsung Galaxy S8 With the launch of its flagships in India, Samsung and Reliance Jio have teamed up to offer a ‘Double Data’ offer to Jio users who buy the Galaxy S8 or Galaxy Buy S8+. As part of this offer, buyers of Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ on the Jio network will get 448 GB of 4G data for eight months on a monthly top-up of Rs. 309; this equates to 2GB of data per day. When purchasing the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, the Jio Double Data offer doubles what Reliance Jio offered in its Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan subscription. The offer starts on May 5 and lasts for eight months. This is only available to Jio users who have signed up for Prime membership.
Xiaomi Mi 6 Launched With 6GB RAM And Dual Rear Cameras After many leaks, Xiaomi has finally launched its flagship Mi 6 smartphone at an event in Beijing. Some highlights of the Xiaomi Mi 6 include a Snapdragon 835 SoC, 6GB of RAM, and dual rear cameras. The Mi 6 variant with 64 GB storage and 6 GB RAM costs CNY 2,499 (about Rs. 23,500), while the model with 128 GB storage and 6 GB RAM costs CNY 2,899 (about Rs. 27,000); both variants are available in colors black, white and blue. There is a third version of the smartphone, the Xiaomi Mi 6 Ceramic, which has a four-sided curved ceramic body and 18K gold-plated camera bezels on the back and comes in black. It is priced at CNY 2,999 (about Rs. 28,000) and comes with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage.
Amazon Fire TV Stick launched in India for Rs. 3,999 Just as we expected; Amazon has launched the Fire TV Stick – its competitor to Google Chromecast – in India for Rs. 3,999, which means you can now easily watch Prime Video on your TV. If you are a Prime member, it will be sent with your credentials configured, and you will be charged Rs. 499 cash back through Amazon Pay. You can also get it from Thursday at brick-and-mortar retailers such as Croma and Reliance Digital. Some limited-time offers to include 100 GB of free data on your Airtel broadband/4G Wi-Fi connection for three months and 240 GB on your You Broadband connection for the same period. There is also a free three-month premium subscription to Eros Now, six months of ad-free streaming on Gaana, and a month on Voot with the Amazon Fire TV Stick in India.
Facebook’s F8 2017 Developer Conference Kicks Off Facebook’s annual F8 2017 developer conference kicked off on Tuesday at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California. On Day 1, augmented reality took center stage in the event’s discussion. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called smartphone cameras a first and promising platform for expanded reality features in applications tailored to sync with the social network. Previously, Facebook has focused heavily on virtual reality as the next major computing platform, most notably using Rift headgear made by its Oculus unit.
Zuckerberg also seems to have taken a stab at Snapchat by stating that Facebook innovates to serve “everyone” in the community, not just the “high-end”. This is an apparent swipe at the Snapchat boss’s reported “poor countries” comment that sparked controversy in India. He also told investors that he is in no rush to monetize Messenger. Last year, Facebook Messenger got users to talk to businesses through automated bots, sparking a wave of hype and skepticism because the tools were so rarely used. The company plans to double this to improve functionality.
Check out the rest of the updates from the Facebook F8 conference.
The report claims that BigBasket is in talks for a possible merger with GrofersIndia’s online grocery delivery service, BigBasket, and smaller rival Grofers; discussions have begun about a potential merger. If this goes through, SoftBank Group, an existing investor in Grofers’, will participate in a $60 million to $100 million (approximately Rs. 388 crores – Rs. 645 crores) financing round in the merged company, the report added.
Paytm is reportedly in talks with SoftBank to raise $1.5 billion. The electronic payment provider Paytm is in words with Japan’s SoftBank Group to raise $1.2 to $1.5 billion (about Rs. 7,748 crores to Rs. 9,685 crores) in cash. Largest shareholders in the fintech start-up, Mint reported on Wednesday. Through the deal, which could boost Paytm’s valuation to $7 to $9 billion (approximately Rs. 45,196 crores to Rs. 58,108 crores), SoftBank will purchase some shares of existing Paytm investor SAIF Partners and founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, in addition to investing money in the company, added the report.
ZTE Axon 7s and Axon 7 Max launched Chinese handset maker ZTE has unveiled the Axon 7s alongside the Axon 7 Max, an upgrade to the company’s premium Axon 7 smartphone. The Axon 7s is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, while the Axon 7 Max has a massive 4100 mAh non-removable battery. The company highlights in a release the security features of the new smartphones that come with “systematic integration of intelligent encryption”.
Windows 10 gets a ‘Power Throttling’ feature to extend battery life in laptops. Microsoft wants to address one of the biggest pain points: battery life because multiple apps are running in the background. In the latest version of Windows 10 Insider Preview, Microsoft is testing a Power Throttling feature to save overall battery usage. It is claimed that the feature can save up to 11 percent in CPU power consumption. The only requirement for this feature to work is that your machine must be running on Intel sixth-generation Core processors and above – meaning only Skylake and Kaby Lake processors can take advantage of this feature for now.
Google Maps for iOS Finally Gets Timeline Feature Google just updated its Maps app on iOS to allow users to share their real-time location with friends and even added a directions widget on the lock screen for convenience. Now it has finally started rolling out the timeline feature, which has been available for Android and desktop users for quite some time, including the iOS app. Accessible through the slide-out menu, the feature allows users to quickly view recently visited places and help them keep track of their activities.
Apple’s GarageBand, iMovie, and iWork apps are now free. In a new development, Apple is making its GarageBand, iMovie, and iWork apps free for all users. While most users with iOS and macOS devices were already using them for free, some legacy handset users still had to pay a premium fee to use these apps. However, in the future, all users will be able to use it for free. Most users who bought Apple hardware after 2013 probably won’t see any change, but old hardware users will now see these apps as free in the respective stores.
Disclosure: Paytm’s parent company, One97, is an investor in NDTV’s Gadgets 360.
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