Coronavirus effect: Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea looking at contactless SIM card sales

It looks like Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea are looking at a “contactless digital customer acquisition process” to boost their SIM card sales numbers. Due to the spread of the coronavirus, the number of SIM card sales has reduced as people are staying at home, stores are closed and there is no way for a customer to get a SIM card without visiting a shop. According to the Economic Times, the three telcos added a mere 500,000 new customers in March 2020. In any other month, the number of SIM cards sold to customers by the three telcos ranges between 2.5- 3 million. 

To combat this, it looks like the three telecom giants are looking at approvals from the department of telecom (DoT) and the home ministry to implement a process where e-KYC (electronic Know Your Customer) is implemented and a safe way can be implemented for courier delivery of the SIM card. 

"Operators are aware people need mobile connections but are facing hardship in getting them amid the nationwide lockdown, which is why, they are collectively working on a secure technology solution that can make SIMs available when people need it the most, and also boost customer adds," said Rajan Mathews, director-general of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) that represents the three telcos to ET.

Another thing to note is that before the country went into lockdown, only a third of the overall recharges were digital. But it looks like all the recharges taking place now are digital through the network provider’s app or website or third-party apps like PayTM and others. 

A Vodafone Idea spokesperson told ET that the company is “developing a fully-automated, digital customer acquisition process, allowing customers to join its network from the comfort of their homes.” 

If someone has a prepaid number, it is obvious that he/she may not be able to recharge their number once the validity or data pack ends. In such cases, some telcos have enabled the ability to recharge their numbers via ATMs. You can learn how to recharge via an ATM here. In other telecom news, BSNL has launched a Rs 693 and Rs 1,212 prepaid plans with up to 500GB data and 365 days validity. You can read more about it here.

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Uber India and Flipkart set to deliver essential supplies during Coronavirus lockdown

Amidst the ongoing Coronavirus lockdown in India that’s in effect till April 14, Uber India has inked a deal with e-commerce giant Flipkart to deliver essential goods to people. Just last week, the ride-sharing service got into a partnership with BigBasket and Spencer’s Retail to facilitate last-mile delivery options for customers in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Noida. It also launched a dedicated service for medical workers called UberMedic.

The latest deal with Flipkart allows the delivery of essential supplies and groceries across Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Moreover, Uber will not be charging any commission for these deliveries and all the order delivery fees go straight to the drivers. On regular days, these drivers have to forgo around 20-25% of their earnings in commissions, however, the outbreak of the pandemic might have offered them some respite in these regular deductions.

Commenting on the partnership, Rajneesh Kumar, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Flipkart, said, “This partnership is to help move essential supplies from our sellers/vendors to customers in the shortest possible span of time. Flipkart remains committed to supporting our customers and we are mobilizing all possible options to ensure that in this national fight against COVID 19, we can support the governments, by delivering essential supplies to people who are staying indoors.’’

Uber India has deployed its fleet of vehicles like UberGo, UberXL and Uber Moto to provide regular flowing access of essential supplies from Flipkart and other such retailers in different parts of the country.

While the nation-wide lockdown announced by the Indian government led to a complete standstill of on-demand cab services like Uber and Ola, using the same to deliver essential goods, medicines and groceries are permissible. Having said that, this partnership depends a lot on the extension of the lockdown period, which may or may not be likely.

 

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Disney+ Hotstar rolls out support for Dolby 51 surround sound but only for The Mandalorian

After its recent debut in India, Disney+ Hotstar is now streaming its popular TV show The Mandalorian with Dolby 5.1 surround sound. It is the only title available on the platform that supports high-quality audio playback hinting at an imminent widespread rollout.

In response to a user’s query on Twitter, Disney+ Hotstar tweeted the following:

Yes, You can enjoy The Mandalorian with 5.1 sound on our latest apps on Fire TV, Android TV and Apple TV. We will be bringing 5.1 sound to more content soon. Appreciate your support.

— Disney+HS_helps (@hotstar_helps) April 3, 2020

Just about a year back, the erstwhile Hotstar had revealed that high-quality audio support was “a part of the road map” and it was in pretty early stages. Looks like with the launch of Disney+ Hotstar, the company is now prepping to introduce Dolby 5.1 surround sound support to other shows and movies as well.

There’s a possibility that 4K UHD support with HDR is also in development but we could be reading too much in between the lines. However, 4K support is something that a premier OTT service can’t live without in 2020.

With the roll-out of Dolby 5.1 support for a single show, it’s not yet clear if and when we will be able to see more content with high-quality audio. For now, subscribers are having to do with stereo sound and up to Full HD (1080p) playback quality.

The other two big OTT platforms, Netflix and Prime Video, both offer Dolby Digital Plus or Dolby Atmos supported content and up to 4K UHD playback quality. This definitely gives them an edge over newly minted Disney+ Hotstar. Interestingly, while Disney+ supports streaming in 4K globally, due to its partnership with Hotstar we are now having to make do with 1080p as the highest quality.

Disney+ Hotstar offers over 7,000 episodes worth of TV shows with 500+ movies from the house of Disney, Pixar, Marvel Studio, Star Wars and National Geographic. There are two new annual subscription plans-- Disney+ Hotstar VIP and Disney+ Hotstar Premium. The VIP plan costs Rs 399 while the Premium tier subscription offers Disney+ original content and is priced at Rs 1,499.

 

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iOS14 may bring new wallpaper settings and widgets to the iPhone

Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference, WWDC, is still a comfortable two months away, but we’re already getting early leaks of iOS 14. It is interesting to see the potential features Apple may be working on to bring to their next version of the mobile operating system. An early leak of iOS 14 code reveals that Apple may bring some interesting customization options to iPhone users with the next version of iOS.

Twitter user DongleBookPro has shared screenshots from iOS14’s wallpaper settings page. The screenshots show the better organization of the images based on their nature, such as flowers, Earth and Moon etc instead of all the images just being grouped as one. The screenshot also shows a setting called “Home Screen Appearance,” which is just like the one on the Apple Watch. Through this feature, users will be able to define a single dynamic wallpaper for the lock screen and when they unlock the phone, a version of it will appear on the home screen.  The screenshots show a solid gradient, a blurry version and a dark variant of the dynamic wallpaper. This will allow the transition from the lock screen to the home screen to be more fluid and natural.

Other leaks hint at the presence of widgets on the home screen, just like the one on iPadOS. However, unlike the widget of iPadOS which are fixed, the ones coming in iOS 14 will be movable. 9to5Mac notes that all of this is revealed through an early code leak of iOS 14, and features may be delayed or dropped entirely from the final version of mobile OS.

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Zoom improves security by implementing passwords for meetings

The Coronavirus has put much of the world under lockdown, but that hasn’t stopped the employed strata of society from conducting their duties. This allowed Zoom to gain mass popularity extremely quick, also exposing the privacy nightmare the app was. As the company moves towards damage control, one of the measures announced has been to implement the use of passwords for future Zoom calls.

Starting April 5, Zoom has implemented the password-system for calls made on its platform. This was done to prevent people from “video-bombing” Zoom calls, where an unwanted individual would enter the call and start playing loud music or put up obscene pictures etc. Zoom is preventing this by requiring users to enter a password to enter calls via Meeting ID. Additionally, Zoom will also make virtual waiting room on by default allowing the host to manually approve attendees.

Zoom communicated a number of changes to its users via email. The email reads “For meetings scheduled moving forward, the meeting password can be found in the invitation. For instant meetings, the password will be displayed in the Zoom client. The password can also be found in the meeting join URL.”

Zoom has been at the very centre of privacy-related concerns, with the number of lapses numbering into far too many. From vulnerabilities that allowed hackers to hijack webcams to leaking user email IDs. There were also recent reports of a large number of recordings of video conferences being available online. This falls in line with earlier reports that Zoom calls are not end-to-end encrypted. The domino that started this entire privacy nightmare was the initial report of Zoom sharing data with Facebook. Who would have thought that sharing data with Facebook would be the least of users’ concerns? Recently, Zoom CEO Eric S Yuan did mention that the company would halt development on new features, in light of fixing the current privacy concerns with the app. This is a good first step.

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Telegram reinforces its messaging app with new verification tools to help curb misinformation around Coronavirus

Popular message broadcasting service Telegram has added a bunch of new tools and features in an attempt to curb the spread of misinformation around the Coronavirus. With more health ministries and media publications using Telegram to connect with people to broadcast the latest news, announcements and tips, the company believes that these new features will help users separate trustworthy sources from those peddling fake news.

The Indian government, amongst many others, is a part of a growing list of countries offering a Telegram channel with live news updates and other relevant information around the Coronavirus outbreak. The government also has a WhatsApp bot for information around the virus that was announced just weeks back and a Coronavirus Tracker called Aarogya Setu.

Telegram Verification Process

Telegram has kicked-off its verification process that will help users make out reliable news sources for real-time information on the Coronavirus outbreak. To this effect, the company has prepped a verification bot (@VerifyBot) that will award you a verification badge for a particular channel or group. 

Interestingly, if you already have a verified account on any of the social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, the bot will automatically award the badge to your channel.

“Information is the most powerful weapon in the fight for global health – at least until we get a vaccine. To do our part, we've been sending notifications to all users in countries that have official channels with updates about the virus, offering them to join,” the company said in a blogpost.

Coronavirus Info channel

To help it’s users stay up to date with the latest information on the fight against the Coronavirus, the company has an official Coronavirus Info channel on Telegram with a list of Health Ministry channels of various countries.

Coronavirus Stickers

Telegram has also added a bunch of new Coronavirus stickers to its app to “raise awareness” and “maintain digital hygiene”. From fashionably designed masks to COVID-19 virus cells, there are a lot of new stickers for users to apply on any pictures using the app’s photo editor, if you're into such things.

 

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PUBG Mobile 7 Days of StayHome challenge and more: Everything you need to know

PUBG Mobile has introduced a bunch of new events and contests. This includes the ‘7 Days of 'StayHome’ Challenge in India, in-game events and special discounts for the community. The events should start soon and players should keep an eye out on the official social media accounts to know more. 

7 Days of StayHome

The ‘7 Days of StayHome’ challenge will be held on the game’s Indian social media platforms and it will cover a number of in-game activities including topical quizzes, trivia challenges, art-based contest and in-game battles. These activities will give participants a chance to win UC, rare outfits, classic coupons, Bonus Challenge coupons and more. This challenge will also include a community match where participants get a chance to fight it out for 17000UC.

2GetherWePlay prizes

PUBG Mobile is also giving its community to win rewards as part of its second-anniversary celebrations. Players are invited to compete in classic mode daily missions to acquire controllers, which in turn can be redeemed for in-game prizes. On top of this, once redeemed, players will have the possibility to receive rewards such as RP S12 Mission Card, Snowboard Set, Supply Crate Coupon and more.

Discounts on UC 

Till April 12, players will get additional UC from Lucky Crates for the purchase of any amount of UC. This means that anyone who purchases any amount of UC will get one Lucky Crate that contains guaranteed 10UC extra. Further, those who purchase at least 60UC will get two Lucky Crates containing guaranteed 60UC extra and up to 150UC extra. 

Discounts on in-game outfits 

The game will also offer discounts on outfits from April 10, to April 19. The first purchase will have a 30% discount, while the 2nd purchase gets 50% off. The third purchase will have a 70% discount.

PUBG Mobile is also hosting another community event called '2Gether We Look Back'. You can learn more about that here. 

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