Airtel postpaid plans updated to start at Rs 499 with 75GB data and go up to Rs 1,599 to offer unlimited data

With the competition heating up in the telecom sector, Airtel has revamped its postpaid offerings. The company reportedly slipped from being the second largest telecom operator to the third spot as Jio took over. Airtel is now revamping its postpaid offerings to make its services more attractive to users. As per its website, Airtel now offers only four postpaid plans, which start at Rs 499 and goes up to Rs 1,599. All of the four plans offer unlimited calling with SMS and some amount of data with rollover. However, the top-most plan that is priced at Rs 1,599 comes with unlimited data, calls and SMS messages. Here’s what all the plans offer:

Rs 499 postpaid plan

With the Rs 499 postpaid plan, a user will be credited with 75GB data for a month, who is eligible for data rollover. There’s also unlimited calling, 100 free daily SMSes and free three months of Netflix subscription. Additionally, a user will get to avail one year of free Amazon Prime subscription, access to Airtel TV Premium, Airtel Handset Protection, and free access to ZEE5 shows and movies. 

Rs 749 postpaid plan

The Rs 749 postpaid plan offers 125GB of high speed data access for a month, along with unlimited free calls and 100 daily SMS. This plan can be opted for three connections, two for regular ones and another one for data add-on. One will get the same free Netflix, Amazon Prime, Airtel TV Premium, Airtel Handset Protection, and ZEE5 access with this plan. There is also a data rollover facility that will credit any remaining data to a user’s data balance next month. 

Rs 999 postpaid plan

The penultimate postpaid plan by Airtel is priced at Rs 999 and comes with 150 GB data per month, along with data rollover facility. This plan is eligible for a total of five connections, which include four regular and one data add-on connection. There’s 100 SMS per day, along with unlimited calls and all the additional benefits mentioned in the previous plans. 

Rs 1,599 postpaid plan

The highest priced Rs 1,599 postpaid plan by Airtel offers a great deal with unlimited free data and calls for a month. One also gets 100 free SMS per day. This plan is eligible for two regular connections and comes with all the aforementioned benefits like free Netflix and Amazon Prime subscription, Airtel TV Premium, Handset Protection, and ZEE5 access. 

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Google IO 2019: A rundown of what to expect at this years conference

Google will host its I/O 2019 event from May 7 to 9 this year and it is expected to show off innovation at this annual developer conference. Company CEO Sundar Pichai will deliver the keynote at 10am PT (10:30pm IST) at the Shoreline Amphitheater. This year, Google will launch the Pixel 3a and the Pixel 3a XL, talk about the Android Q, may bring updates in Google Maps, and could reveal more info on its gaming platform Stadia. Following is a brief rundown of what may be launched at the event:

Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL

Google has already teased that it will launch a Pixel device at the event. Rumours are pointing that the company may announce two phones, the Google Pixel 3a and the Google Pixel 3a. These phones are said to take on the phones selling in the Rs 35,000-Rs 45,000 segment. The Google Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL are expected to come equipped with a 5.6-inch and 6.3-inch OLED displays, respectively. Under the hood, they are expected to be powered by the Snapdragon 670 platform coupled with 4GB RAM.

Both the phones are expected to be announced running on Android 9 Pie and would be the first to receive the Android Q update when it gets rolled out eventually. Google could also bring back the headphone jack, which it killed off with the Google Pixel 3 smartphones. Rumours also suggest that the phones will feature Google’s Pixel Visual Core chip for image processing as well as the Active Edge technology. The Pixel 3a could be backed by a 3,000mAh battery.

Android Q

Every year at I/O, Google discusses the next iteration in detail, and this year is not likely to be different. The company has already released the Beta 2 and we could get the Beta 3 at the event. The Beta 2 of Android Q brought the foldable emulator and Bubbles for multi-tasking. The foldable emulator will let developers make games and apps for the upcoming wave of foldable devices, and Bubbles is aimed at ease of multitasking. Google has also enabled Scoped Storage for new app installs in Beta 2. This will help developers and testers to easily see what is affected. This year, Google may also bring “Pixel Themes” that will let the Pixel owners change the accent colours, icon shapes and even the fonts.

Maps

Google has done a lot on Maps to make it a go-to app. Whether it’s providing notifications at a time when you approximately leave office, or using Augmented Reality to provide turn-by-turn navigation, the app has been at the centre of all innovation. Last year, Google spent a significant amount of time talking about Maps and its features, and this year as well, we can also see a dedicated time slot for announcements.

As mentioned, Google showed off the ability to use Augmented Reality to navigate using Google Maps at I/O 2018. Earlier this year, the company gave access to Local Guides to test it. Local Guides is the community that reviews places for Google and provides feedback on them. It is expected that Google may roll out the feature to the masses. Moreover, Pichai shared a Story on Instagram showing off this feature. This is a strong hint that Google has something in store for Maps.

Stadia

Stadia is Google’s game streaming service that was announced earlier this year and  is set to launch later in in 2019. At the launch, Google said it was working with a large number of developers to bring their games to Google’s platform. Although unlikely, we may see some announcements regarding Stadia and on how far have partnerships reached, and even a launch date. There may be some Google Assistant-related announcements as well.

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Realme X launch confirmed for May 15 in China

Realme has been teasing the launch of its upcoming Realme X smartphone in China from quite some time. Now, the company has now confirmed that it would announce the Realme X smartphone in China on May 15. The announcement comes via the company’s official Weibo account where the company's post states to give away 100 headphones, which are most likely the company’s Realme Buds earphones. While it is not clear, the company’s directly translated Weibo post suggests that the handset is already up for reservations via online e-retailers like JD and Suning. The company is also expected to launch the Realme X Lite (could also be called Youth Edition) smartphone alongside the Realme X. 

In addition to the official announcement, the Realme X was also recently spotted on the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) website. The phone has received its certification in India and is speculated to soon be launched in the country. Earlier leaks about the phone suggested that the Realme X might be announced in two variants, one with Snapdragon 730 and another with Snapdragon 855 SoC. The Realme X Lite or Young Edition is speculated to be similar to the newly announced Realme 3 Pro with Snapdragon 730 SoC, while the Realme X is touted to be launched running on the Snapdragon 855 platform. 

The Realme X could come equipped with a 6.5-inch display OLED display that sports a Full HD+ resolution. The handset’s display might be protected by Gorilla Glass 5 and feature a sixth-gen optical in-display fingerprint sensor. The smartphone is rumoured to come equipped with a 48MP + 5MP dual camera setup on the back and its TENAA listing hinted at a 16MP sensor on the front. The Realme X could be announced in a 6GB RAM + 64GB storage base variant, which could be priced at CNY 1,599 (Rs 16,500 approx). There could also be a 6GB RAM + 128GB version and a top-end 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant, which are said to be priced at CNY 1,799 (Rs 18,500 approx) and CNY 1,999 (Rs 20,600 approx) respectively.

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Xiaomi refutes research firms smartphone shipment numbers, releases its own figures

After alleging certain market research institutions of providing “inaccurate and unfair information” about the smartphones it shipped in the first quarter of 2019, Xiaomi has released a statement noting the figures based on its own management accounts. It also said that the information on the shipment of Xiaomi smartphones, once finalised, will be included in company’s results announcement [for the first quarter of 2019].

“This announcement is made by Xiaomi Corporation (the “Company” and, together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”) on a voluntary basis to inform the shareholders of the Company and potential investors of the latest business development of the Group,” Lei Jun, Xiaomi CEO and Co-founder, said in a statement. “The board (“Board”) of directors of the Company (“Directors”) is aware that recently several media publications quoted some information from certain market research institutions about our estimated shipment of smartphones in the first quarter of 2019. The information is inaccurate and unfair, and deviates from our actual performance in terms of shipment of smartphones,” he added.

“In order to protect investors from any misleading information, the Company hereby announces that based on our management accounts, our shipment of smartphones in the first quarter of 2019 exceeded 27.5 million,” the top executive said. However, Xiaomi says that these figures are not final and it will give the exact numbers in its quarterly announcement, which is expected to be made soon.

“The information contained in this announcement has not been discussed with the Company’s auditor. The ultimate number of smartphone sales to be recorded in the financial statements of the Company may be different from the number as shown in this announcement taking into account the applicable accounting rules for revenue recognition,” he noted.

Recently, several market research firms released their findings in which they talked about the smartphone market share as well as the number of phones shipped globally (in millions) in the first quarter of 2019. Xiaomi was placed among the top five brands in all of them. Counterpoint Research and Canalys Research reported that Xiaomi shipped 27.8 million phone in the quarter, while International Data Corporation (IDC) pegged the figures at 25 million. (See below) 

As evident, Counterpoint’s and Canalys’ numbers are close to what Xiaomi is claiming, but IDC’s figures are around 2.7 million less than what the Chinese company claims. IDC said that while Xiaomi experienced a decline in volumes of 25.0 million, down 10.2 percent YoY, the brand remains strong in China, India, and Indonesia. While IDC hasn’t released any official statement on this, Counterpoint and Canalys have.

“We have been meticulous in tracking quarterly data for all brands and provide you with accurate shipments in confidence. We can do this as we arrive at our estimates by tracking 55+ countries quarterly, conducting regular OEM/distributor/supply chain surveys and secondary research. We are unique in tracking both shipment (Sell-in) and monthly sales (Sell-through) that gives us the ability to accurately estimate inventory and demand every quarter, making our data robust. We do not just rely on public company documents. We use supply chain numbers, monthly distributor and retail checks (sample size 20% of the total market), also most of our senior analysts come from the industry: Nokia, Samsung, LG, Philips, Intel, TSMC etc,” Counterpoint Research said in an email.

“Canalys has become the go-to-source of mobility industry research. We don’t issue preliminary numbers, instead we publish the best quality data once our process is complete. That is why we are in the privileged position of serving so many industry leaders and financial institutions with high-quality information,” Rita Chaher, Executive Vice President at Canalys, said in a statement.

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Xiaomi Hercules flagship phone to reportedly ship with Snapdragon 855, triple rear cameras, wireless charging and more

While Xiomi has been announcing new devices under its Redmi sub-brand, it’s been some time since a Mi branded phone was launched in the Indian market. Multiple reports about the company’s upcoming flagship device suggest that the brand might soon launch a Snapdragon 855-powered handset. A tweet from XDA-Developers' Mishaal Rahman suggests the same and reveals some key information about the alleged handset. As per the tweet, the new Xiaomi flagship could be called “Hercules,” which is most likely its internal codename. The handset is tipped to run on the latest Snapdragon 855 SoC and come equipped with triple rear cameras. 

The smartphone might feature an in-display fingerprint sensor and a single camera setup on the front. It is touted to support NFC and come with wireless charging as well. While the handset’s name is not officially confirmed, another tipster claims that it will be the Mi Mix 4 or the Mi Mix 3S. However, we suggest you take all this info with a pinch of salt since Rahman says it’s all early information based on source code. Rahman previously said that the company was also looking to add a new experimental GPU overclocking feature on its Snapdragon 855 powered phones called “GPU maxfreq.” This feature could be similar to the GPU Turbo tech Honor phones employ. 

If Xiaomi sticks to its smartphone release schedule, then it might release the Mi Mix 3S with the aforementioned specs. While the company is said to be working on a new device under the Mi brand, it might also announce a Redmi phone running on Snapdragon 855 SoC. A company executive also confirmed that abundant stocks of the phone are being prepared in advance and that the upcoming handset would be competitively priced. This new flagship Redmi device is teased to come equipped with a pop-up front camera as well. 

 

from Latest Technology News http://bit.ly/2VR45eK

Mozilla releases hotfix for bug that disabled Firefox add-ons

Mozilla has released a hotfix for a bug in the Firefox web browser that disabled active add-ons and/or blocked the installation of new extensions. The company said that the issue happened because of a certificate expiration, and it is now working on a permanent fix of the issue. It also noted that the fix would be automatically applied in the background, and urged users to not to take any actions, like delete and/or re-install any add-ons to resolve the issue.

The whole bug reporting-fix releasing situation started on May 3 when Mozilla became aware of the issue with Firefox. It rolled-out a temporary fix for all Firefox Desktop users on Release, Beta and Nightly. “The fix will be automatically applied in the background within 24 hours. No active steps need to be taken to make add-ons work again,” the company said in a blog post. “Please do not delete and/or re-install any add-ons as an attempt to fix the issue. Deleting an add-on removes any data associated with it, where disabling and re-enabling does not,” it added.

The first fix did not apply to Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR) or Firefox for Android, but soon the company released a patch for both of them. “A Firefox release has been pushed — version 66.0.4 on Desktop and Android, and version 60.6.2 for ESR. This release repairs the certificate chain to re-enable web extensions, themes, search engines, and language packs that had been disabled (Bug 1549061),” it noted.

Mozilla notes that there are some remaining issues that need fixing and it is “actively working” to resolve them. “We wanted to get this fix out before Monday to lessen the impact of disabled add-ons before the start of the week,” it added. Mozilla also stressed that users shouldn’t attempt any workarounds that are being discussed in the community because they may conflict with fixes that the company is deploying.

According to Statista, Firefox enjoyed only 9.58 percent of web-browser market share in March 2019.

from Latest Technology News http://bit.ly/2DPst6s

Amazon Summer Sale: Best deals on budget laptops

If you’ve been saving up to get yourself a new entry-level laptop, now’s an ideal time to act. Amazon.in is hosting its Summer Sale until tomorrow (between May 4 and 7). The online retailer is giving a discount as steep as 43 percent off the market retail price of some budget laptops. In our opinion, here are the models with the best deals. Please note that these models are listed in decreasing order of discount rate.

Lenovo Ideapad 330S

The IdeaPad 330S has been around for a while now and is ideal for basic computing activities. The variant in question has an AMD A6 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive. Windows 10 Home is bundled with the device. The top cover of the laptop is made of polished aluminium and the body weighs 1.6 kilogrammes. The HD display measures 14 inches diagonally and has a matte finish. After a 43-percent discount, the Lenovo IdeaPad 330S is currently selling for Rs 21,990 on Amazon.in.

Lenovo IdeaPad 330

The IdeaPad 330 was launched in the Indian market around the same time as its S counterpart. This particular variant is powered by an Intel 7th Gen Core i3 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive. The laptop does not come bundled with Windows or Linux OS but does have an optical disc drive. It has a 15.6-inch display with HD resolution. The body of the laptop weighs 2.2 kilogrammes. After a 41-percent discount, the Lenovo IdeaPad 330 is currently selling for Rs 25,490 on Amazon.in.

Lenovo IdeaPad 330

You can’t go wrong with the 15.6-inch Lenovo IdeaPad 330 if all you’re expecting to do on your new laptop is basic tasks, like checking email, editing documents, and browsing the web lightly. This particular variant comes powered by an Intel 8th Gen Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 2TB hard drive. Graphics is rendered by an AMD Radeon 530 GPU with 2GB of vRAM. First-time users should note that there’s no Windows or Linux OS bundled with the laptop. After a 37-percent discount, the Lenovo IdeaPad 330 is currently selling for Rs 41,990 on Amazon.in.

Asus VivoBook X407

The VivoBook X407 is for those seeking something thin and light. This particular VivoBook comes with an Intel 7th Gen Core i3 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive. Windows 10 Home comes bundled with the laptop. The HD display measures 14 inches diagonally and the body of the laptop weighs 1.55 kilogrammes. According to Asus, the laptop will charge up to 60 percent charge in 49 minutes. After a 29-percent discount, the Asus VivoBook X407 is currently selling for Rs 26,990 on Amazon.in.

HP 15

The HP 15 has been around for quite a while in the market now and is a trusted model amongst HP users. The variant on sale comes with an AMD E2-9000e dual-core processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive. The laptop runs Windows 10 Home out of the box. The display is a 15.6-inch unit with HD resolution. The laptop uses internal graphics courtesy of an AMD Radeon R2 chip. The body of the laptop weighs 2.04 kilogrammes. After a 26-percent discount, the HP 15 is currently selling for Rs 19,990 on Amazon.in.

Dell Vostro 3478

Vostro has represented Dell’s entry-level range of laptops for many years now. The Dell Vostro on sale on Amazon.in is a 14-inch laptop with an Intel 8th Gen Core i3 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive. Windows 10 Home comes included with the laptop. The laptop weighs 2.25 kilogrammes and is equipped with an optical disc drive. After a 24-percent discount, the Dell Vostro 3478 is currently selling for Rs 28,990 on Amazon.in.

HP 15

Power users have the option of stepping up the ladder with their HP 15 choice. This particular variant on sale comes powered by an Intel 7th Gen Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive. Windows 10 Home comes bundled with the laptop. The display measures 15.6 inches diagonally and has a Full HD resolution. The body of the laptop weighs 2.2 kilogrammes. After a 11-percent discount, the HP 15 is currently selling for Rs40,990 on Amazon.in.

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