There’s good news for you if you own a Google Home smart speaker and the preferred language on your smartphone is Hindi. According to a blog post by Google, its popular virtual assistant, Google Assistant now understands Hindi on Google Home devices, which means you can say ‘OK, Google’ to trigger the assistant and then ask a question in Hindi. The response from Google Assistant will also be in Hindi. The new feature works on Google Home and Google Home Mini. There’s some setup you’ll have to do before you go asking Google Assistant to tell you jokes in Hindi. You’ll have to open the Google Home app on your smartphone, click on the Account icon on the lower right corner and select Settings. Then go to the Assistant tab and select Languages. Click on ‘Add a language’. Select "Hindi (Bharat)" (written in Devanagari) as the first language in the list and that’s it; you’re all set to converse with your Google Home smart speaker in Hindi. With Google Home’s language is set to Hindi, you should be able to ask Google Home the same questions you could in English before, in Hindi. Google Home should even understand commands to connect to other smart devices like lights and air purifiers. The smart speaker should be able to turn on and off connected devices with a single command in Hindi. Like in English, Google Home will be able to give you information about your day, including weather forecasts, calendar appointment details, and news briefs from a source of your choice. This new language pack availability on Google Home comes eight months after Google rolled out the Hindi language pack for Google Assistant on Android and iOS devices. Purvi Shah, the Technical Program Manager for Assistant had commented back in March, “Google Assistant is truly Indian, it’s your helpful dost that speaks our language and understands the things you care about, from finding biryani recipes, to pulling up the latest cricket score, or finding directions to the nearest ATM." Here is a full list of commands you can try with your Hindi-speaking Google Home speaker.
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Apple has announced a Vintage Repair Program for older devices which will extend the ‘end-of-life’ date for many of Apple’s older products. The program will at first include very limited devices, but according to sources, other devices will be added over time. At launch, the program will include only the following devices from Apple. iPhone 5 (GSM/CDMA) MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2012) MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2012) iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011) – US and Turkey only iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) – US and Turkey only On November 30, Apple is said to include more devices into the Vintage Program like the iPhone 4s and MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012) followed by the MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012), MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2013), MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012), Mac Pro (Mid 2012), and iPhone 5 (GSM) on December, 30. The Vintage program means that devices which have been labelled by Apple as Vintage and Obsolete will now once again receive service, on some conditions. The few caveats to the program are that service will only be offered based on availability of the part for the device in question. If a part is not available, service will be denied. In essence, your device being a part of the Vintage Program does not guarantee that you will be able to get service for it. 
The Amazon Great Indian Festival sale is back for the third time in a row. The sale will last for five days till November 5. Besides regular deals and discounts, Amazon has also collaborated with HDFC bank and offering up to 10% additional discount on using bank’s debit or credit card. Other than that, buyers will also get an extra cashback on their Amazon wallet when they will make payment using any prepaid mode. Also, those who will place an order of Rs 500 or more today will get a Rs 500 coupon, which can be used to book movie tickets, order food online and for mobile recharge. Now, let’s take a look at the deals. Vivo V9Pro Price: Rs 19,990 Sale price: Rs 15,191 (HDFC 10% discount + Amazon cashback) The Vivo V9 Pro sports a 6.3-inch FHD+ display that comes with a notch at the top of it. The smartphone runs on Android 8.0 Oreo and is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 octa-core processor. During the sale, one can get this device at Rs 15,191 (appx) that includes HDFC bank discount and Amazon cashback as well. View deal here. Honor 8X Price: Rs 14,999 Sale price: Rs 12,499 (HDFC 10% discount + Amazon cashback) The Honor 8X features a 6.5-inch FHD+ display that offers a resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels. The smartphone is equipped with a dual 20MP + 2MP AI powered rear camera with a 16MP unit on the front. During the Amazon Great Indian Festival sale, you can get the device at a price of Rs 12,499. View deal here. Redmi 6 Pro Price: Rs 11,499 Sale price: Rs 8,899 (HDFC 10% discount + Amazon cashback) The Xiaomi has recently launched three new smartphones in India among, which the Redmi 6 Pro is the most premium device of all. The smartphone was launched with a price tag of Rs 11,499. It comes with a 5.84-inch full HD+ display and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 octa-core processor. During this sale, you can get this device for Rs 8,899 (appx) that includes HDFC 10% discount and Amazon’s Rs 1,000 cash back. View deal here. Apple iPhone 6 Price: 31,990 Sale price: Rs 16,991 (HDFC 10% discount + Amazon cashback) If you’re waiting from a long period of time to purchase an Apple device, then this might be the right time to grab one. The Apple iPhone 6, which comes with a 4.7-inch display and an 8MP rear camera is now available for Rs 16,991 (appx). You will also get a Rs 500 coupon on this purchase, which is an exclusive offer for today only. View deal here. Xiaomi Mi A2 Price: Rs 19,999 Sale price: Rs 15,191 (HDFC 10% discount + Amazon cashback) The Xiaomi Mi A2 features a 5.99-inch FHD+ display with a resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 octa-core processor. It has a dual 12MP + 20MP rear camera with a 20MP unit on the front. At the sale, it is available for Rs 15,191 (appx). View deal here. Huawei P20 Lite Price: Rs 19,999 Sale price: Rs 12,499 (HDFC 10% discount + Amazon cashback) The Huawei P20 Lite is powered by a Kirin 659 octa-core processor, which is paired with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal memory. The device comes with a 5.84-inch FHD display with an notch at the top. At the sale, you can get this smartphone for as low as Rs 12,499. View deal here. Honor 7C Price: Rs 9,999 Sale price: Rs 7,000 (HDFC 10% discount + Amazon cashback) The Honor 7C was launched in India with a price tag of Rs 9,999. During the sale, you can get this device for Rs 7,000 (appx). When it comes to the specifications, it has a 5.99-inch HD+ display with a resolution of 720 x 1440 pixels. The smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 octa-core processor. View deal here. Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Price: Rs 52,990 Sale price: Rs 40,990 (HDFC 10% discount + Amazon cashback) The Samsung flagship device Galaxy Note 8 was launched last year at a price of Rs 74,690. During the non sale period, it was available on Amazon for Rs 52,990. Now, one can get this premium smartphone at the sale for Rs 40,990 (Appx). View deal here. RealMe 1 Price: Rs 13,990 Sale price: Rs 9,791 (HDFC 10% discount + Amazon cashback) The RealMe 1 has become a quite popular smartphone among youths. The smartphone comes with a 6-inch full HD display with a resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. The device is powered by a Helio P60 octa-core processor. During this sale period, you can get it for as low as Rs 9,791 (appx). View deal here. Apple iPhone X Price: Rs 95,390 Sale price: Rs 71,999 (HDFC 10% discount + Amazon cashback) Last but not the least, the Apple iPhone X is once again available on Amazon with a hefty price cut. You can get this premium device at Rs 71,999 (appx). There is also a no-cost EMI available on this purchase. View deal here. 
Reliance Jio has announced a limited-period festive sale of the JioPhone 2 that will start from 12PM on November 5 and will run through November 12. The festive sale will see the JioPhone 2 take a break from flash sales for the first time since its launch. The JioPhone2 is an upgraded version of the existing JioPhone and comes with a QWERTY keypad for easy messaging. According to the company’s website, the telecom service provider is currently offering three prepaid recharge packs for these smart feature phones: Rs 49, Rs 99 and Rs 153 packs, all of which come with a 28 days validity. Reliance Jio launched the JioPhone 2 at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in July. The phone features a 2.4-inch QVGA horizontal display and features like support for VoWiFi, evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (eMBMS) and supports dual SIMs. The handset is equipped with 512MB RAM and 4GB internal storage, along with microSD card support of up to 128GB. It sports a 2MP camera on the back and a VGA front-facing sensor. As mentioned, it comes with a QWERTY keypad with a four-way navigation key and is backed by a 2000mAh battery. The JioPhone 2 runs on KAI OS, and supports VoLTE, LTE Band 3,5,40, along with 900/1800 MHz 2G bands. The company did not disclose what processor powers the JioPhone 2; it could be the Spreadtrum SP9820A or the Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform (MSM8905). In its 2018-2019 second quarter earnings, Reliance Jio now has a total of 252.3 million people using its services. According to Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL) the company has achieved this feat in only 25 months since the commencement of the services. The telecom company also announced that in the last quarter, data consumption touched a record 771 crore GB with each user averaging 11GB data usage per month. The company announced that Jio added 37 million subscribers in the second quarter -- against 28.7 million in the previous quarter -- which is the highest in any quarter since the launch of commercial services.
If you are looking to pick up a Mac in India, then you may want to hurry. Apple has officially increased the price of its iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro, old MacBook Air and Mac Pro offerings. The new prices are reflecting on Apple’s India website however, some of these devices are available for a lower price on ecommerce websites. If you look closely, the ecommerce websites house the old MRPs as well. Below we will run through one offering from each Mac family of devices and tell you the change in price. Old MacBook Air Apple recently announced a refresh to its most affordable laptop and has made it unaffordable. The MacBook Air saw a design change after nearly a decade and with the new design comes a new price tag. The new MacBook Air starts at Rs 1,14,900. If you are thinking of picking up the previous generation MacBook Air, then the MRP has changed from Rs 77,200 to Rs 84,900. MacBook Apple’s 12-inch MacBook which had an MRP of Rs 1,04,900 now has an MRP of Rs 1,19,900 after a price hike of Rs 15,000. The 12-inch laptop which comes a 1.2GHz dual-core m3 processor with 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM. 13-inch MacBook Pro The 13-inch MacBook Pro comes with a 2.3GHz core i5 processor, 8GB RAM and 128GB SSD storage. The laptop has seen a price hike from Rs 1,04,900 to Rs 1,19,900. 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch bar The price of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar that comes with a 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, 256GB SDD has see a price increase from Rs 1,49,900 to Rs 1,69,900. A hike of Rs 20,000. 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar The 15-inch variant of the MacBook Pro with a touch bar has seen a price rise of Rs 25,000. The laptop comes with a 2.2GHz 6-core Intel Core i7 processor coupled with 256GB storage has gone from Rs 1,99,900 to Rs 2,24,900. Mac Pro Apple’s work station desktop, the Mac Pro that comes with a 3.5GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon E5 processor, 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD storage now costs now cost Rs 2,79,900 which is up from Rs 2,43,100. iMac 21.5-inch The 21.5-inch iMac that comes with a with 2.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, 1TB storage and Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 now cost Rs 99,900. The earlier price of the machine was Rs 90,200. iMac 27-inch The big brother to the 21.5-inch iMac that comes with a 27-inch 5K display, 3.4GHz processor 8GB and 1TB storage used to cost Rs 1,47,400 but now costs Rs 1,69,900.
Among the cargo that was delivered to the International Space Station in August last year is an equipment named The Spaceborne Computer. Made as an experiment by Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, the Spaceborne Computer has been put through a year of testing, as agreed upon by NASA and HPE. Now, the 1-teraflop supercomputer is ready to work on experimental data for ISS astronauts. The new “above-the-cloud” services, as HPE calls them, will enable ISS astronauts run analyses on-station without having to beam data down to earth for processing. The Spaceborne Computer on the ISS has 32 cores and is similar to machines HPE sells on earth. According to Mark Fernandez, HPE’s Technology Officer, it is 30 to 100 times faster than an iPhone or a tablet. “It can be loaded with the software you need for science, engineering, and exploration. We took a system from factory floor with no hardening, no preparation, running an open source operating system. The majority of the community didn’t think it would function or wouldn’t last long,” he commented. Astronauts aboard the @Space_Station now have the direct access to the supercomputing powers of the Spaceborne Computer without having to communicate with Earth. Read the latest space announcement from @HPE! https://t.co/KCuXZ9K5L1 — HPE News (@HPE_News) 1 November 2018 HPE relies on software to make the Spaceborne Computer resilient to power outages and fluctuating radiation levels. “We monitor power, cooling, components,” Fernandez added. “When they get out of nominal range, we isolate them, work around them or do something. Each system is self-sufficient with fault detection and isolation.” According to him, there was already an instance where the smoke detector on the ISS went off and killed power supply to the supercomputer but the software kicked in to perform diagnostics and health checks. In his words, the “software did what it was supposed to do.” The Spaceborne Computer weighs 56 kilogrammes and is mounted to an ISS ceiling-mounted server rack that measures 30 x 61 x 91 centimetres roughly. According to Fernandez, the Spaceborne Computer will really help astronauts be “self-sufficient” in longer space missions, like one involving a voyage to Mars. Astronauts will be able to access information contained within the supercomputer without having to wait for up to 24 minutes to contact earth.
