Airtel has the highest download speeds on its 3G and 4G networks combined when compared with the top telecom companies offering their services in India, OpenSignal, a London-based company which specializes in wireless coverage mapping, has said in its latest report which measures the real-world experience of consumers on mobile networks. The firm found that Reliance Jio provides the widest 4G availability and lowest latency. In the the upload speed department, Idea tops the list of networks that provides the best upload experience. The three major players - Jio, Airtel and Vodafone - scored s draw when it comes to providing the best video experience on the network. OpenSignal has published the report after accessing 10,509,371,943 data points that were collected from 1,769,711 users during the period from June 1 to August 29, 2018. The report seems to keep Vodafone and Idea as separate providers apparently because the merger of these companies was announced on August 31, 2018. India’s first LTE network launched in 2012, and OpenSignal says that in India, it is seeing some of the highest 4G Availability scores of any of the markets that it has analysed. The firm included awards for the five operators across all 22 of India’s telecoms circle regions for the first time. Video Experience OpenSignal found that there was a three-way tie in its mobile video experience analysis, as Airtel, Jio and Vodafone all posted scores within a point of each other. It says that Jio continues to impress in its 4G availability analysis, as the operator’s score continues to grow from 96.4 percent to 96.7 percent which is “remarkable in a relatively new LTE market like India.” The winners all scored around 39 points in the analysis, while Idea was very close behind the top three. “We discovered there is no link, or correlation, between the time Indian smartphone users spend on 4G (4G Availability) and the quality of the mobile Video Experience they enjoy,” OpenSignal said in a statement. 4G Availability According to OpenSignal, the 4G Availability winner is Reliance Jio. All three other major operators continued to increase their scores, passing the 70 percent mark with rises of well over 3 percentage points each in measurements. Second-placed Airtel registered the largest rise of over 7 percentage points to reach 74 percent in the 4G Availability metric. “It’s impossible to analyse recent developments in Indian mobile without talking about Jio. Coined the world’s first ‘super-disruptor’, the Reliance Industries amassing over 100 million subscribers in less than six months and launching its own range of handsets to huge success. But from OpenSignal’s point of view, one of Jio’s most impressive achievements has been in 4G Availability. The operator has managed to achieve availability scores of over 95 percent in all of India’s regions, despite huge variations in topography, and in the face of massive increases in subscribers and data consumption,” the firm said. When it comes to regional availability, OpenSignal said that Jio came top in all 22 telecoms circles scoring over 95 percent in 4G availability measurements in all regions, and topped 97 percent in 10 of them, including the Kolkata metro circle. Jio’s average 4G Availability score across all 22 circles we analysed was 96.7 percent and out of the other operators providing their services in the country, Idea scored over 80 percent in 4G Availability in three regions, while Airtel and Vodafone managed this in two each. Latency Experience Jio also won OpenSignal’s Latency Experience award, although it was Airtel which claimed the top spot for the 4G-only latency table after edging ahead of Vodafone (that grabbed the spot in this category six months ago). Jio had an average score of 72.2 milliseconds (ms), a 8ms improvement on its closest rival, while Vodafone, Airtel and Idea weren’t far behind and they were in a tight group just over the 80ms mark. Latency refers to the delay users experience as data makes a round trip through the network: If the latency of your network is high, you’ll experience a lot more lag time. Lower latency scores mean webpages begin loading more quickly and real-time communications apps and online games experience less lag. “Jio was the standout operator in our analysis of Latency Experience in India’s regions, winning in 17 circles and drawing in a further two. Jio’s best average Latency Experience score was 54.7ms among our users in Mumbai, over 10ms better than its closest rival in that circle, Idea. Of the other operators, Vodafone won two circles and drew in three others. The operator drew with Jio in Kolkata, with Idea in the North East, while we saw a three-way tie in Maharashtra,” OpenSignal said. Download Speed Experience Airtel kept its Download Speed Experience crown, surging further ahead with over 25 percent growth in measurements in the past six months. The firm says that the network provider has traditionally won the lion’s share of its mobile experience awards, and as mentioned above, tied for top spot in Video Experience and came in second place in 4G availability analysis. OpenSignal says that Airtel dominated 16 circles and drawing in two others. “Airtel’s highest score was in Orissa where we measured its average speed at 9.9 Mbps. Airtel tied with Jio in Himachal Pradesh and with Idea in West Bengal. Elsewhere Vodafone won our Download Speed Experience crown in Gujarat, Jio came top in Jammu and Kashmir as well as in Uttar Pradesh (East), while Jio drew with Idea in Uttar Pradesh (West),” it said. Upload Speed Experience With averaging speeds of 2.88 Mbps, Idea was the leading operator in the upload speed experience category, winning outright in 10 circles and drawing in a further six. Idea topped both 3G upload and 4G upload speed tables, with average scores 15 percent faster than its closest rival Vodafone in 3G and 30 percent faster in 4G. Idea achieved its best average score of 3.9 Mbps in Punjab, but no operator was able to pass the 4 Mbps mark. “Competition was high in this category, with Vodafone winning in three regions including the Delhi and Kolkata metro circles and drawing in two others. Of the other operators, Airtel won two regions and drew in a third, while Jio managed a draw in two circles,” OpenSignal noted. Meanwhile, taking a dig at the competition, Airtel has said that its focus remains on building the fastest and the best network that enables a high quality digital experience for discerning customers “who prefer network quality over deals and discounts.” “We are delighted to see a reputed international platform rating Airtel as India’s fastest network. This latest report is yet another reaffirmation of Airtel’s obsession with network excellence. Over the last 90 days our pace of deployment and investment has continued to pick up. This is allowing us to decisively win with 4G customers in the top 500 cities. We remain committed to leveraging state of the art technologies and tools to delivering India’s decisively best network and sustain our leadership,” Randeep Sekhon, CTO, Bharti Airtel, said in a statement. Source: OpenSignal Report
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It seems that LG has identified the “right time” to unveil a smartphone with a foldable display. As per famous tipster Evan Blass, the company is expected to launch the smartphone at the CES 2019. The news comes weeks after the company confirmed that it is developing a foldable smartphone. LG also noted that it is not gunning for headlines for being the first company to do so and instead, it wants to create something that consumers really need. LG has not disclosed any information on the specifications or the features of the smartphone but it is said to be working on something which could help it stand out from other reported foldable smartphones in the making. LG’s South Korean counterpart Samsung is also in the new for working on a foldable smartphone. Unlike LG, Samsung has been more vocal about the smartphone. CEO of Samsung’s Mobile Division, DJ Koh had already announced that Samsung thinks that the time has come for the company “to deliver” the foldable device. It is expected that a smartphone with foldable display will cost upwards of $1800. Koh claimed that Samsung took the decision to launch such a phone after the company carried out consumer surveys which showed that there is a market for these handsets. However, LG says that there is currently no market for a $2,000 phone. Further, Samsung is not the only company that is developing a foldable smartphone. Apparently, Apple and Huawei also have dedicated teams which are working to develop a phone with a foldable display. Meanwhile, little-known Chinese manufacturer Royole Corporation has already made a device with a display that can be folded like a book. Called the FlexPai, the device features a 4:3 7.8-inch display with 1920 x 1440 pixel resolution. The device resembles a tablet when it opened like a book and when folded backwards in the middle, it looks like a phone. The device is still a prototype but it is surely the first smartphone showcased publicly that has a foldable display. The FlexPai display doesn’t fold completely though and there is a large gap between it folds. A folded side of the display measures 4 inches diagonally. You can check the device out here.
Xiaomi will open its largest Mi Home Experience Store in India on November 2. However, we got exclusive access beforehand to play around with some Xiaomi gadgets that are yet to reach Indian shores. Manu Jain, Global VP and MD of Xiaomi India, was also present, along with the newly launched Mi Mix 3 smartphone. We almost snatched the phone off of him to play around with it as other phones like the Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition, the Mi Mix 2S and the Xiaomi BlackShark were also on display, there was no Mi Mix 3 to check out. So, here's our first impressions of the first Xiaomi phone with a sliding display. As mentioned above, we did nearly snatch away the phone from Manu, but it was password protected. It was the “Forbidden City Palace Museum” special edition variant of the phone, which comes with 10GB RAM and 256GB of internal storage. Even though we couldn't get into the phone, it was apparent that the build quality was what one would expect from a Xiaomi flagship device. At first glance, it looks almost identical to the Mi Mix 2S, but press the power button on the right edge and it's clear that it isn’t. The near bezel-less design of the phone does leave an impression as there is no notch to hinder the viewing experience and also has considerably thinner bezels than what we are used to on phones. There is still a noticeable chin below the display though. While Oppo tried to use a motorised camera setup to pull off the "immersive display," Xioami has kept things simple with a magnetic slider. Pushing the display down with minimal force will easily pop the front cameras up, which are hidden behind the display. The movement of the display and the rear panel felt smooth but moving parts are notorious for breaking down as general usage along with wear and tear takes its toll over time. Xiaomi does claim that the slider will last for 300,000 cycles but only when we get the phone in for a review will we be able to say if the claim is actually true. The 6.4-inch AMOLED display looks vivid, slightly oversaturated even but again, we were limited to staring at the lock screen as Manu refused to unlock the phone. The Mi Mix 3 seems to sport thin edges, but it’s actually the rear panel that wraps around it to give the effect. There is also a dedicated Xiao AI button on the phone's left edge but it won’t work in India. Manu Jain said that the Xiao AI is limited to China and there's no English version of it. So, for the foreseeable future, we can expect the company's smart assistant to be bound to China. Coming back to the handset, its rear panel is made of ceramic that feels premium to the touch and is a sucker for fingerprints. The phone now also supports wireless charging, thanks to the conductive back panel, and there's a familiar vertically stacked dual-camera configuration on the back with an LED flash in between. The camera bump is quite significant and we wonder whether once smartphone makers are done with reducing bezels, the next chase will be after making the camera sit flush with the back panel. There are ridges on the back of the display when it was pushed down, it seems like these grooves facilitate in the movement of the magnetic slider. A few times we ended up trying to slide the display up as a carried over habit from when some legacy phones with a sliding display had to be pushed up. Overall, the Mi Mix 3 looks promising when it comes to implementation of the new method of getting rid of the notch. It’s not confirmed whether the Mi Mix 3 will be made available in India but Xiaomi sells a wide range of products in China like electric scooters, smart home appliances, smart robot vacuum cleaners, and more. It wants to bring some of these devices to India but will be seeking feedback from its Indian customers. Xaiomi says that if a gadget garners enough interest, the company would strongly consider launching it here for its customers.
For the third time in a row, Flipkart is back with another Festive season sale that will run for five days till November 5. The e-commerce platform has plenty of offers for its customers. They have also collaborated with SBI bank and offering up to 10% discount to customers on using SBI credit card. Thomson B9 Pro 40-inch Full HD LED Smart TV Price: Rs 25,999 Sale price: Rs 16,999 The Thomson B9 Pro 40-inch Full HD LED Smart TV can convert your 4K content to FHD. The television comes with pre-loaded apps like Netflix, Youtube, Hotstar, Facebook and more. One can get this TV for as low as Rs 15,300 (appx). View deal here. iFFALCON Certified Android 32-inch HD Ready Smart TV Price: Rs 18,999 Sale price: Rs 13,499 The iFFALCON Certified Android TV comes with features like Google voice search, Google app store, built-in chromecast and more. It has an A+ grade HD panel that offers a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. If you have an SBI card then you can get an additional 10% discount as well. View deal here. Mi LED Smart TV 4A Price: Rs 25,999 Sale price: Rs 21,999 The Mi LED Smart TV 4A is one of the most reasonable full HD TV available in Indian markets. The TV comes with a panel size of 43-inches and offers a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. As it is a smart TV, users can also enjoy content from apps like Youtube, Hotstar, Voot and more. During this sale, you can be able to grab this TV for Rs 19,999 (appx) that includes SBI 10% discount as well. View deal here. MarQ by Flipkart Certified Android 43-inch 4K Smart LED TV Price: Rs 42,999 Sale price: Rs 27,999 The MarQ by Flipkart is a certified Android TV that offers four times better resolutions than the full HD TV. The TV runs on Android 8.0 and has Google voice search feature as well. The TV comes with an IPS panel that offers a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels and is equipped with Dolby digital speakers. View deal here. Samsung On Smart 49-inch Full HD LED Smart TV Price: Rs 74,900 Sale price: Rs 45,999 The Samsung On Smart 49-inch Full HD LED Smart TV give users an access to watch Netflix, Youtube, Hotstar and more on the TV. It comes with a full HD LED panel that offers a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. Users can also connect a speaker or a headphone to TV via Bluetooth directly. You can get this TV for as low as Rs 40,000 (appx) including SBI 10% instant discount. View deal here. iFFALCON Certified Android 55-inch Ultra HD 4K LED Smart TV Price: Rs 45,999 Sale price: Rs 41,999 The iFFALCON 4K Smart TV comes with a built-in chromecast that allows you to watch content of your smartphone on the TV. One can also download streaming apps such as Netflix, Youtube, Hotstar and more on it. At this sale, you can get it for Rs 38,000 (Appx) that includes SBI bank discount as well. View deal here.
