Jio might have been the fastest telecom operator to reach a subscriber base of more than 100 million in just six months, but this surge in users has come at a cost. According to a report by London-based OpenSignal, Reliance Jio currently has the slowest average 4G LTE speed of 3.9Mbps while its average peak speed was actually quite good, which stands at 50Mbps. For its test, OpenSignal told Gadgets 360 it collected data from 93,464 users in the three months between December and February. Airtel was recorded to have the best average speed, followed by Vodafone and Idea.
The company also made its foray into the feature phone world with
the announcement of Jio Phone, which has now been confirmed
to be a single SIM phone that will be locked to the Jio network. Meanwhile,
in the ongoing
debate about dropping IUC charges, Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal has
urged the Indian telecom regulator to reject the 'Bill and Keep' (BAK)
method and said it should continue with the interconnection usage charge (IUC)
regime. Mittal wrote to TRAI chairman
R.S. Sharma, saying, “BAK should be rejected and India should not be subjected
to a regime which is alien to the mobile industry the world over."
Redmi
Note 4 blast video 'fake', says Xiaomi
The other day, a video
claiming a Redmi Note 4 unit caught fire in Bengaluru spontaneously in
Bengaluru went viral but Xiaomi has now responded by
saying, the video
was actually fake. While the company did acknowledge that the
customer’s Redmi
Note 4 (Reivew)
did catch fire (as seen in the pictures), the video circulating the web of the
incident was actually fake. Xiaomi also condemned the blog that circulated the
video of the exploding handset, calling its behaviour "irresponsible and
disturbing." It added it is "currently evaluating legal action
against this publication." Speaking to Gadgets 360, the owner of the blog
said the video came from the customer himself.
Nokia 8 and
Lenovo K7 Note expected to launch soon
HMD Global’s upcoming flagship has recently been tipped to be the Nokia 8. Now that the Finnish manufacturer has reportedly sent media invites for a launch event in London on August 16, it is expected the Nokia 8 launch is not too far. According to earlier leaked renders, the phone is supposed to feature a dual rear camera setup with Carl Zeiss optics and be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC. It will also most likely have a home button with a possible fingerprint sensor integrated inside and two capacitive buttons. From the images, it also looks like HMD Global is sticking to the 3.5mm headphone socket.
Lenovo is
also getting ready
to announce a new smartphone in India. Based on a video teaser on the
company’s social media channel, we get a glimpse of a phone with the
hashtag ‘KillerNote’, which suggests the K7 Note launch is imminent.
Driverless
cars won’t be allowed in India
While other countries are embracing the future, it seems like India has some major reservations when it comes to automating public transport. Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has said driverless cars will not be allowed in India as it will lead to joblessness. He further said that instead the government will focus on training drivers as adequate driving skills can provide employment to about 50 lakh people through a cab aggregator platform. While he is against driverless cars, he did say that the government welcomes electric vehicles.
Meanwhile, Uber is
trying to improve its tap-and-ride cab experience for commuters by rolling out
a Driver
Profiles feature in India. This will give you more information about
the driver and also let you see complements and feedback left by previous
commuters for that driver.
Moto Z2
Force live images leak
Lenovo is all set to launch a host of new smartphones at an event on July 25 and new live images suggest the Moto Z2 Force will be part of this ensemble. Notably, the newly leaked images suggest a design similar to earlier leaks about the upcoming Moto smartphone. Tuesday’s event will also see the launch of the Moto Z2, Moto X4, Moto G5S, and Moto G5S Plus. The Moto Z2 Force is expected to run on Android 7.1.1 Nougat, a 5.5-inch Quad HD display and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC.
iPhone 8
renders reveal key design details and price
As we inch closer to Apple’s next big event, the floodgates are starting to open for the company’s new iPhone. The latest render hints that the iPhone 8 will sport a 5.8-inch OLED display with reduced bezels up to 4mm thin on all sides. It claims that the top bar will only show the connectivity and battery status, and the notifications will be moved to the bottom ‘Function Area’ for a more clean and non-jarring iOS 11 interface experience. As for pricing, the report notes that the iPhone 8 is expected to be priced starting at $1,100 to $1,200 (roughly Rs. 70,800 to Rs. 77,200).
Yu Yunique
2 with Truecaller integration launched in
India
Yu Televentures, a Micromax subsidiary, has launched a revamped version of its Yunique smartphone, the Yunique 2 with Truecaller integration for caller ID and spam protection features. Other highlights include Corning Gorilla Glass 3, 4G VoLTE support, Android 7.0 Nougat, a 13-megapixel rear camera, and a budget price of Rs. 5.999. The Yu Yunique 2 will go on sale from Thursday exclusively via Flipkart.
Gionee A1
Plus ‘selfie-centric’ smartphone launched in
India
Gionee has launched the A1 Plus in India at a price of Rs. 26,999, whose main highlights are its big 4550mAh battery and a 20-megapixel front camera. The dual-SIM phone runs Amigo 4 OS based on Android 7.0 Nougat and sports a 6-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) IPS display. The smartphone is powered by a MediaTek Helio P25 octa-core SoC clocked at up to 2.6GHz, coupled with 4GB of RAM.
Android O
Developer Preview 4 and MIUI 9 preview are
out
Google has started rolling out Android O Developer Preview 4 for compatible devices. These include Pixel, Pixel XL, Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Pixel C, Nexus Player, and Android Emulator users enrolled in the Android Beta Program. The Developer Preview 4 is a release candidate build with the latest bug fixes, making it up-to-date for app testing by developers. It is the final preview build before the stable release later this year.
Xiaomi too
will launch the Xiaomi
Mi 5X smartphone tomorrow, and it will be the first phone to run on
MIUI 9 out of the box. MIUI 9 will be launched alongside, and will
include new themes, new design elements and shortcuts on lock screen, split
screen feature, and much more.
Elon Musk
says Mark Zuckerberg's understanding of AI
is limited
A day after Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Musk's doomsday prediction of AI is "irresponsible." The Tesla, SpaceX, and SolarCity founder returned the favour by calling Zuckerberg's understanding of AI "limited." Responding to a tweet Tuesday, which talked about Zuckerberg's remarks on the matter, Musk said he has spoken to the Facebook CEO about it, and reached the conclusion that his "understanding of the subject is limited."
