Ola announces international foray, all set to launch in Australia

Ola; Indian cab sharing aggregator has announced its plans to foray into Australia. The company has begun onboarding driver-partners across Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and said that is aiming to expand soon and work with local communities for better reach. The move comes as a part of the international expansion through which Ola has begun on-boarding private hire vehicles (PHVs) and driver-partners in major cities in Australia. Ola Cabs was founded in 2011, and it currently serves over two million people every day in across 110+ cities in India and billion rides annually, through its platform on an aggregate basis. [HTML1] Currently, Ola is inviting private hire vehicle owners in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth to learn more about driving and can also register on Ola Drivers website to work with Ola. Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-Founder & CEO, Ola said: We are very excited about launching Ola in Australia and see immense potential for the ride-sharing ecosystem which embraces new technology and innovation. With a strong focus on driver-partners and the community at large, we aim to create a high-quality and affordable travel experience for citizens and look forward to contributing to a healthy mobility ecosystem in Australia. Source

Google completes acquisition of part of HTC’s smartphone division for $1.1 Billion

Back in September last year, Google officially confirmed that it has signed a deal with HTC to acquire team of HTC talent for US$1.1 billion in cash and said that transaction is expected to close by early 2018 after approvals. Today Google has confirmed that it has officially closed the deal. To remind you, the deal includes about 2000 engineers who have already been working on the Pixel smartphone line, as well as non-exclusive license for HTC intellectual property to support the Pixel smartphone family. The team will remain in Taiwan, and Taipei will be the largest Google engineering site in APAC. HTC already said that it will continue to make smartphones under its own brand name and continue to build the virtual reality ecosystem to grow its VIVE business, while investing in other next-generation technologies, including the Internet of Things, augmented reality and artificial intelligence. Regarding the deal, Rick Osterloh, Senior Vice President, Hardware, Google, in a blog post, said: As our hardware business enters its third year, we remain committed to building and investing for the long run. Today, we start digging in with our new teammates, guided by the mission to create radically helpful experiences for people around the world, by combining the best of Google’s ...

Microsoft acquires cloud-based gaming startup PlayFab

Microsoft today announced that it has acquired the cloud-based gaming startup PlayFab. It is a complete back-end platform provider of services to build, launch and grow cloud-connected games. The tool that PlayFab offers is designed to for developers to use across all platform including mobile, PC, console.  PlayFab was launched four years back with an aim to provide sophisticated server-based infrastructure to host and operate games. The company as of today powers more than 1,200 live games, and have served over 700 million players. The PlayFab software according to the company is said to be used by entertainment companies, including Disney, NBC Universal, Wizards of the Coast, Nickelodeon, Bandai Namco, Rovio, and Capcom, Fluffy Fairy, Nvizzio, and Hyper Hippo. The PlayFab platform is a natural complement to Azure for gaming which has its locations in 42 regions worldwide and provides world-class server infrastructure, allowing creators to focus on building great games with best-available global reach. With the acquisition, both the companies are aiming at offering intelligent cloud for the gaming industry, enabling game developers and delighting gamers around the world. Other details like the PlayFab's future and acquisition rates haven't been disclosed yet. Source

Asus Zenfone 3 Android 8.0 Oreo update starts rolling out

Asus has announced that it is rolling out the Android 8.0 Oreo update to the Zenfone 3 just as it had promised. The Zenfone 4 had received the Oreo update last month. The Oreo update for the Zenfone 3 brings the version number to 15.0410.1712.31. The update brings tons of new features to the Zen U.I and to the interface like swipe up to access installed apps, picture-in-Picture mode, new Settings app, launcher. The update said to have removed some pre-installed apps including MiniMovie, Photo Collage, and Do It Later.Though you can download these apps from PlayStore if you wish to. There is no word on treble support just yet, with Zenfone 4 Oreo update including the Treble support, it is likely that the Zenfone 3 might also get the support. Post the update, internal storage will decrease slightly. The company advices to reserve at least 1.5GB storage before starting the software update. More friendly setting UI design. Background limits – Android Oreo helps minimize background activity in the apps you use least Autofill – With your permission, Autofill remembers your logins to get you into your favorite apps at supersonic speed. Smart text selection – Android Oreo recognizes text when you tap or select, then ...

Facebook to update news feed with more local news

Facebook recently said that it is overhauling its new feed with more posts from friends and family, and today it announced starting this week it will focus on showing more news from the local news in news feed allowing you to see topics that have a direct impact on you and your community.  Facebook said that it will identify local publishers whose links are clicked by the readers in a tight geographic area. You can follow the publisher who posts news in your area and even if you don't follow, you can see the news in your news feed if your friends or family share the story from that outlet. Facebook said that this change will be effective first in the US, and then it plans to expand to more countries this year. You can always choose which news sources, including local or national publications, that you want to see at the top of your feed with the 'See First' feature. The company also said that it is prioritizing local news as a part of the emphasis on high-quality news, and with today’s update, stories from local news publishers may appear higher in News Feed for followers in publishers’ geographic areas. There is no restriction for ...

Apple iPhone SE 2 unlikely to feature wireless charging, Face ID and bezel-less design: KGI

Apple iPhone SE 2 has been in the new for quite some time and today we are hearing more about the phone as the KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo issued a research note today that casts doubt on the features of the iPhone SE 2. In the new research note, Kuo states that Apple doesn't have enough spare development resources to focus on launching another iPhone since the company is planning for 3 iPhones this year. If Apple indeed launches an iPhone SE 2, it is unlikely that it will have iPhone X features like wireless charging, 3D sensing features for Face ID and full-screen design. Rather it will pack same design language with faster processor, and a possible upgrade to iOS 12. Earlier rumors suggested that the iPhone SE might see a design change following the footsteps of the iPhone 8 with a glass back and would similarly support Qi charging. Few reports earlier stated that the iPhone SE 2 would be made by Wistron in India and sold globally. While it highly said that the next-gen iPhone SE might launch in the first-half of 2018, there seem to be no signs of that happening. The second generation iPhone SE is said to be powered by ...

Apple said to be working on three MacBooks with Apple co-processors, new iPad expected this fall

Apple is said to be working on three new MacBooks with company's homegrown co-processors similar to the T2 chip seen in the iMac Pro and the T1 chip on the 2016 MacBook Pro, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The report further claims that Apple is expected to launch new iPad towards the end of this year. However, the report doesn't explicitly mention which line-up of MacBooks will see an upgrade as Bloomberg just says that Apple is working on 'at least' three new models with Apple-designed silicon, including two laptops and a new desktop. It looks like a desktop in talks could be the Mac Pro since T2 chipset already exists for a Mac Pro model. But is very much possible that it could be a complete refresh model as well. Apple already mentioned that a new Mac Pro is in the development stage, but did not reveal if it would launch in 2018. Coming to Laptops, MacBook Pros are not due for a major update this year according to rumors, but the Retina model could see a refresh and likely to be one of the models. The T1 custom chip on the MacBook Pro models handle all the Touch Bar and Touch ID components, including ...

OnePlus launches OnePlus 5T Buyback program in India

OnePlus launched Lava Red edition of the OnePlus 5T smartphone in India earlier this month, which went on sale a couple of weeks back with several offers including Buyback Program. Now that the limited edition Lava Red version of the phone is sold out both the OnePlus Store and Amazon, the company has extended the OnePlus Buyback Program powered by Cashify to all the OnePlus 5T smartphones. This will allow you to get cash for your old device from Cashify, but the exchange is available on select smartphones and pin codes only. Currently there are 22 brands and the program is available in 31 cities across India. You can start the buyback program by get quote for your old device after selecting the city and product you want to exchange and then proceed with purchase of new OnePlus 5T smartphone.  Once payment for new order is successsfully completed,the new smartphone will be delivered to you first, then the Cashify team will get in touch with you to fix an appointment. After verification, Cash will be handed over to you in exchange for your old device at the time of pickup. There are no pick-up or service charges applicable. You can check out more details about the OnePlus 5T Buyback program here.

OPPO A83 Review

OPPO has built a large following for itself using a combination of extensive offline marketing, television ads and most importantly, devices that seemingly cater to exactly what the consumers want. Through focussed marketing and a slew of products, the company has been trying to take on Xiaomi and others, head on. The A83 competes with the likes of the Moto G5S and the Xiaomi Mi A1. With OPPO's big offline play, it is bound to get a lot of eyeballs from customers, but is it worth your consideration? Let's find out. OPPO A83 specifications 5.7-inch (1440 × 720 pixels) 18:9 HD+ full-screen 2.5D curved glass display 2.5GHz Octa-Core MediaTek Helio P23 16nm processor with 800MHz ARM Mali G71 MP2 GPU 3GB RAM, 32GB internal storage, expandable memory up to 128GB with microSD Android 7.1 (Nougat) with ColorOS 3.2 Dual SIM 13MP rear camera with LED flash, f/2.2 aperture 8MP front-facing camera, f/2.2 aperture Dimensions:150.5 × 73.1 × 7.7mm; Weight: 143g 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4GHz + 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS + GLONASS 3180mAh (typical) / 3090mAh (minimum) battery Design Minimalism is the key design element here. The front is absolutely clean and bereft of physical controls. The bezels are tiny ...

LG said to supply Flexible OLED displays for Sony smartphones

Sony has expanded its partnership with LG for OLED display panels from TVs to smartphones, according to latest reports and people familiar with LG Display's internal situations. LG is said to supply flexible OLED panels to Sony smartphones after supplying to Sony TVs. The move comes after Sony has seen big profits from large OLED TV model with LG Display. Sony has not just increased its earnings, but also made its presence felt in the premium segment. Sony's first half of 2017 net profit ran to 211.7 billion yen which is the company's the highest from the past 10 years. This made Sony more confident and made the company raise its annual TV sales target to 12.5 million units from 12 million units. However, the smartphone biz continuing its decline. However, it ranks second in Japan next to Apple. In the first half of 2017, Sony has captured a market share of 14.9%, beating Samsung Electronics (8.2%), Sharp (7.3%) and Fujitsu (8.9%). The company has been struggling to show the same level of success in the rest of the world. Observing the need for smartphones in advanced markets and the reach it has, Sony is not giving up on the smartphone business just yet. On the ...