Reliance Jio plans to launch 5G services in the second-half of 2021 in India

Reliance Industries Chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani has called for urgent policy measures from the government as Jio plans to roll out its 5G network in the second half of 2021. Addressing the India Mobile Congress 2020, Ambani highlighted how Jio’s 4G network has helped people stay connected this year as more and more people stayed in their homes due to the Coronavirus pandemic. There has been a wider Internet adoption as working from home became the norm with many businesses transitioning to a digital front.

Having said that, India is still home to over 300 million 2G subscribers and Reliance aims to “ensure that these underprivileged people have an affordable smartphone”, Ambani said. There have been rumours of Reliance working on a 5G smartphone after Google invested Rs 33,737 crores into Jio Platforms in a collaboration that will see both companies develop Android-powered entry-level 5G smartphones.

“5G should be available and affordable- Jio makes that promise/ towards aatmanirbhar Bharat.” Shri Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries Limited at India Mobile Congress 2020 #IMC2020Virtual Mera Bharat Aatmanirbhar pic.twitter.com/pL77eIxFgW

— India Mobile Congress (@exploreIMC) December 8, 2020

Reliance has reportedly approached various domestic and global smartphone manufacturers such as Lava, Karbonn, Foxconn and Wistron to outsource the phone manufacturing and distribute it amongst two or three makers. Earlier reports have indicated that the company aims to produce over 200 million smartphones by 2022 but there is no official word on when the company plans to launch it especially when 5G services aren’t available in India currently.

Reliance Jio plans 5G rollout in 2021

Talking about the much-awaited 5G network rollout, Ambani suggested the government needs to actively look at policies that will accelerate 5G rollout in India while keeping it affordable. “I assure you that JIO will pioneer the 5G Revolution in India in the second half of 2021. It will be powered by indigenous-developed network, hardware and technology components. Jio’s 5G service will be a testimony to your inspiring vision of Atma-Nirbhar Bharat,” he added.

Reliance teased its home-grown 5G solutions at the AGM 2020 held earlier this year and announced that it will be ready for trials as and when 5G spectrum becomes available in India. Soon after, Jio announced that it has developed an indigenous 5G RAN (Radio Access Network) with assistance from Qualcomm that has achieved 1Gbps speeds in trials. 

Ambani also revealed that Jio Platforms along with 20 “start-up partners” are making headway into developing resources for Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Big Data, Machine Learning, Internet of Things, Blockchain and more.

“We are creating compelling home-grown solutions in Education, Healthcare, Agriculture, Infrastructure, Financial Services and New Commerce. Each of these solutions, once proven in India, will be offered to the rest of the world to address global challenges,” Ambani said.

Reliance Chairman also stated that India cannot rely on large scale imports when it comes to digital hardware and lauded the efforts of Ravi Shankar Prasad, Law & Justice, Communications, Electronics & Information Technology Minister of India after several global manufacturers have announced plans of setting up manufacturing facilities in the country. “I clearly foresee India becoming a major hub for the state-of-the-art semiconductor industry,” Ambani added.

In a separate session during the Indian Mobile Congress 2020, Bharti Airtel South Asia CEO Gopal Vittal urged Indian telcos to adopt the global 5G standard as indigenous solutions could be “an existential threat which could lock India out of the global ecosystem and slow down the pace of innovation.”

The 5G spectrum has not been auctioned for telecom operators yet but is expected to happen sometime in 2021. 

 

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Upcoming Xiaomi Mi QLED TV will be made in India

In conversation with the Financial Express, Category lead for smart TVs at Xiaomi India, Eshwar Nilakantan has shed some light on the upcoming QLED TV. One of the most important statements he makes is, “all the QLED TVs that we will sell in India, will be made in India. Going forward in 2021 we are looking to bring more of this technology to India.” While information circulating the internet suggests that the upcoming QLED TV would be a rebranded mode already available in China, Eshwar has put those comments to rest. 

He adds, “We could have launched a QLED TV nine months ago. Taking something that is available in China and launching here is something that we do not want to do because we want to spend that extra bit of time and energy to ensure we are able to do complete justice to the technology, so it works to its full potential.” This is very interesting as it shows that Xiaomi is working to make the product more local with features and specifications than rebranding existing TVs.

Xiaomi QLED TV specifications and Features

A few features of the upcoming Xiaomi QLED TV have been teased on Flipkart. The TV will support HDR 10+ and Dolby Vision and also come with HDMI eARC which is a feature of HDMI 2.1. Whether the TV brings with it any more HDMI 2.1 features remains to be seen. As for the size, it is suggested that the TV will be a 55-inch one but it remains to be seen whether the TV will be available in other screen sizes. It will be a 4K panel. 

When Xiaomi entered the TV market in India with the launch of the Mi TV 4 back in 2018, it shook the industry by offering a 4K HDR TV with a slim design for a very affordable price. With QLED TVs we’ve seen OnePlus attempt to sell a QLED TV at a flagship price and it didn’t do well for the company to the point that in 2020 OnePlus launched an affordable TV at the 50K price point with the U1 (review). TCL is one more company that launched QLED TVs in 2020, and we had a chance to review the TCL C715. 

We will have to wait till the 16th to know all the details about Xiaomi’s upcoming made in India QLED TV.

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Cyberpunk 2077 Review Round-Up: ‘Flawed and Fantastic’

Cyberpunk 2077 reviews are mighty positive right now, with both OpenCritic and Metacritic reporting a 91 out of 100 average score. Most critics are enjoying Cyberpunk 2077, despite the bugs. All Cyberpunk 2077 reviews are based on PC version, as PS4 and Xbox One versions are unavailable.

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Garena Free Fire O25 update: Vector Akimbo, advanced weapons and more

Free Fire is being updated to OB25 and as one might expect, there are a lot of new additions to the game, this includes a new weapon, weapon rebalancing, multiple HUD options and more. It also brings with it a new season of Clash Squad. Here’s a quick look at some of the major new additions to Garena Free Fire

New weapon: Vector Akimbo

The Vector Akimbo is the first weapon in Garena Free Fire to offer dual-wielding. This allows the user to dish out lots of damage. However, the weapon has a very short effective range, so it's ideal for short range situations like urban areas or inside buildings.

Weapon Balancing

Garena has also rebalanced certain weapons in order to make them fairer and more likely to be used in combat. This includes a drop rate adjustment for the M82B sniper rifle. Now the weapon will be a bit rarer to find and players will have to search more thoroughly in order to find the weapon. 

The M4A1 assault rifle has seen a buff in terms of damage, fire rate and range, making it a more competitive weapon. Alongside this, the P90 SMG also sees a buff in terms of weapon damage. 

Advanced Weapons

Garena has announced that it will be replacing Advanced Attachments with Advanced Weapons. Garena notes that this move was made as players found Advanced Attachments too much of a hassle. As the name would suggest, Advanced Weapons will offer users power weapons that will spawn in random locations in the map. 

Clash Squad Ranked 

Clash Squad Rank Season 4 will kick off from December 8 and those who manage to rank up to Gold III or above will get an exclusive weapon in the form of the Golden P90. Garena also notes that for Season 4, pre-made teams will be matched against each other instead of against randomly selected teams. This should ensure more balanced matches. 

Multiple HUD options

Players will now have the option to create and save up to two different HUD options for different game modes. This will allow players to have a specific set of elements arranged in a particular option for classic mode, and switch things around for Clash matches. 

This was just a quick look at the new features and additions in Garena Free Fire’s OB25 update. Aside from all this, Garena has also announced a partnership with professional footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo. He will now be available in-game as a brand-new character called Chrono. You can learn more about that here. You can also read up about this month's Elite Pass here.

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Amazon Prime Video Watch Party launched in India: Heres how to use it

Amazon Prime Video has introduced a new Watch Party feature on its OTT service that allows viewers to watch their favourite film or TV show with their friends. Moreover, there is a chat functionality built-in so that you and your friends can communicate while watching Prime Video. A watch party or viewing party essentially lets you watch a show or a film with others in a virtual environment.

With theatres being shut for months due to the Coronavirus pandemic, people have not been able to watch films on the big screen with friends. The Watch Party feature aims to ease that discomfort as you can host a virtual viewing party with upto 100 friends at a time. Though the feature does come with its caveats, it is interesting to see a group viewing option being added to the streaming service.

Earlier this year, Disney+ Hotstar introduced a similar Watch with your friends during the IPL season and Facebook has Watch Party feature for over two years now.

There are many third-party services available that allow users to create virtual viewing parties but it isn’t the best possible experience available. It doesn’t come close to a native watch party experience with seamless controls and syncing abilities. 

“There’s a fun new way to enjoy your favourite shows with your favourite people, wherever you are. With Watch Parties, you can chat with up to 100 friends while you watch movies and TV shows online together. It’s almost like watching side-by-side in real life- without having to share your popcorn,” says Amazon.

However, the Watch Party feature on Prime Video is available only supported by desktop browsers for now. Apart from that, mobile phones, tablets or Fire TV devices cannot access Watch Party feature yet as it is in Beta. Additionally, Amazon will only let you join a Watch Party if the host's region and participants region is the same. 

How to create a Watch Party on Amazon Prime Video?

To start a watch party on Prime Video you can start by finding the perfect film or TV show to watch with your friends. Amazon is offering its entire catalogue including Amazon Originals with the new feature providing a synchronized playback between 100 participants. Do note that all participants must have an active Prime Video subscription to join a viewing party.

After selecting a TV show or a movie, click on the Watch Party button on the screen. You will be asked to enter a name for the chat after which you can create a watch party and share the link with your friends. 

Here is a list of the best superhero films available on Prime Video that you can watch with your friends by creating a watch party.

 

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Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro leaked case design shows new camera module

Xiaomi’s new and upcoming flagship Mi 11 Pro has been swirling around the rumour mill since the announcement of the Snapdragon 888 SoC and is expected to launch next year. Recently the protective case for Mi 11 Pro leaked, showing the camera design of the new phone.

The authenticity of the leaker is not yet verified so it could be a fake or a fan-made case, but as we see the design of the case, it shows a quad-camera setup at the back of the phone. The leak shows a horizontal camera module placement. The rumoured camera specifications show that it could have a 50MP primary camera, 48MP ultra-wide camera, and a 12MP telephoto lens, while the fourth lens could be a depth sensor.

The previous leaks showed that the phone could feature a 120-Hz screen along with a 2K resolution display with a punch-hole camera for selfies. Xiaomi has already announced that it would be coming with the new Snapdragon 888 SoC flagship chipset and it is also being reported that the phone will also come with the new 120W fast charging technology that the company had revealed earlier this year. 

As reported by a tipster earlier, the phone could come with a 5,000mAh battery and could be released as early as January, next year. Xiaomi has not yet confirmed or announced any official launch date for the phone, but we can expect the date to be announced by the officials in the coming days as they have already committed to their choice of the chipset in the Snapdragon summit.  

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Garena Free Fire partners with Christiano Ronaldo who debuts as an all-new character called Chrono

If you’re a football fan as well as a Garena Free Fire player, then we’ve got some sweet news for you guys. Garena Free Fire unveiled Cristiano Ronaldo as its latest global brand ambassador today. The partnership marks one of the most significant tie-ups within the gaming industry in recent times, uniting one of the world’s most popular mobile games with a global sporting icon. Free Fire’s partnership with Cristiano Ronaldo aims to give players a chance to play as the football hero. This comes after Garena Free Fire released a new update today!

Speaking about the partnership, Harold Teo, Free Fire Producer said, ““This is a really significant partnership for Free Fire. Cristiano Ronaldo is a role model for many of us, and being able to collaborate with him and present him to hundreds of millions of people around the world is truly exciting. Our partnership with Cristiano Ronaldo offers even more ways for our communities all over the world to enjoy Free Fire.”. Ronaldo will debut as an all-new character called Chrono.

Ronaldo also added by saying, “It’s a great feeling having not only a character in Free Fire modelled after me, but also having the whole universe within the game changing along with it. The Garena team has worked into the game tons of new features and elements for Operation Chrono. I hope Free Fire players all over the world are just as excited as I am!”. 

It seems that Garena Free Fire is clearly filling the gap left by PUBG Mobile and well, that’s a good thing! In fact, Garena Free Fire’s next update will buff up M4A1 and P90, introduce akimbo Vector and more. You can read more about that here. Garena Free Fire’s Endless Oblivion Elite Pass is also now available for purchase. Click here for the details.

 

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