Qualcomm Snapdragon 700 Mobile Platform Series with multi-core Qualcomm AI Engine announced

Qualcomm at the MWC 2018 announced Snapdragon 700 Mobile Platform Series with on-device Artificial Intelligence with multi-core Qualcomm AI Engine offering 2x improvements compared to Snapdragon 600 Series. This will bring features and performance previously only available in the premium Snapdragon 800 Mobile Platform Series, says Qualcomm. In addition to AI, this also brings improved camera, device performance and power, supported by the heterogeneous compute power of premium features including the Qualcomm Spectra ISP, Qualcomm Kryo CPU, Qualcomm Hexagon Vector Processor and Qualcomm Adreno Visual Processing subsystem to offer up to 30% improvements in power efficiency, and better performance and battery life compared to Snapdragon 660 Mobile Platform. It will also offer ultra-fast LTE, carrier Wi-Fi features, as well as enhanced Bluetooth 5. The Snapdragon 700 Series Mobile Platforms is expected to be available for OEMs in the first half of 2018, so we can expected new 700 Series SoCs sometime in Q2 2018. Commenting on the new Snapdragon 700 series, Alex Katouzian, senior vice president and general manager, mobile, Qualcomm Technologies, said: The Snapdragon 700 Mobile Platform Series will bring premium tier technologies and features into more affordable devices, something our global OEM customers and consumers are demanding. From our cutting-edge Qualcomm AI Engine to superior camera, device performance ...

Reliance Jio extends partnership with Samsung to deploy cellular IoT network across India

Back in February last year at the MWC, Samsung and Jio announced I&G (Infill & Growth) Project for Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd in India for LTE services upgrade across India by expanding both the current network capacity as well as network coverage. Today the companies have extended the relationship to further boost LTE network coverage and capacity, and deploy a next-generation cellular IoT network. The companies said that the partnership will bring LTE coverage 99 percent of the Indian population and significantly improve network capacity across the country. The IoT network will support a variety of consumer and enterprise use cases such as vehicle tracking, smart appliances, smart metering, security, surveillance and more. The NB-IoT service utilizes existing Jio's spectrum and is enabled by a simple software upgrade of the already installed base stations. It also users new and dedicated Cellular IoT virtualized core. The commercial NB-IoT network has already been established by Jio and Samsung in Mumbai this month, and will roll out in other parts of the country soon. Commenting on the partnership, Jyotindra Thacker, President of Reliance Jio Infocomm, said: Making sure that everyone benefits from mobile broadband that is both available and affordable to all is our top priority. We will once ...

KaiOS 2.5 will run on feature phones with Qualcomm, Spreadtrum chipsets with just 256MB RAM

At the MWC event, KaiOS Technologies announced that it is partnering with Unigroup Spreadtrum & RDA, Airfind, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Doro, HMD Global, Micromax, NXP, Qualcomm to integrate with newest chipsets and offer advanced functionality on lite phones. Furthermore, KaiOS is already supported on high-performance LTE chipset platform Spreadtrum’s SC9820A which is now running on JioPhone. With this new partnership with various companies, Kai is planning on bringing tailored apps to KaiOS-powered devices and bundle the KaiOS on mobile brands including Micromax, new Doro feature phones, and a new Nokia feature phone powered by KaiOS. With its partnership with NXP, Kai is planning on adopting embedded Secure Element (eSE) and near field communication (NFC)-based mobile solutions in the JioPhone. KaiOS 2.5 will also be optimized and supported on Spreadtrum’s SC9820E and 3G device solution SC7731E chipsets later this quarter. This partnership is aimed at offering users a broader selection of lite phones that support advanced mobile functionality. The company says that emerging markets see a particular benefit from Spreadtrum’s technology as these new advanced chipsets give a competitive advantage in terms of  price and  efficiency. KaiOS will be powering affordable, lite phones and other connected  devices that use  limited memory while  still offering that offer rich user experience. In ...

Nokia 3 Android 8.0 Oreo beta update starts rolling out

After roll out stable Android Oreo update for Nokia 5 and Nokia 6 last month, HMD global has started rolling out Oreo beta update for the Nokia 3 (TA-1020 and TA-1032), as it had promised. The company’s Chief product officer; Juho Sarvikas has announced the same on Twitter. [HTML1] Android 8.0 Oreo brings range of features including Background limits, Picture-in-Picture (PIP), notification channels, Wide-gamut color for apps, Adaptive icons, Companion device pairing, Keyboard navigation, AAudio API for Pro Audio and more. The update will be available via Nokia phones beta labs and the beta testers will be the first ones to test the Android 8.0 followed by wide-roll out post the best testing phase. The update has version number 3.220. Stable update for the phone is expected soon, and the company already confirmed that  Nokia 2 will go straight to 8.1 and will include memory optimization features found in Android Oreo (Go Edition). To join the Nokia phones beta labs, you need to have a working Nokia 3 phone and need to create an account and validate your device by entering the IMEI number. Once you are with the whole process, you will be getting the beta software Over-The-Air (OTA) update which might take up to 12 hours post activation. ...

Xiaomi Mi Band 2 with heart rate sensor back in stock in India at a new price of Rs. 1799

Xiaomi launched the  Mi Band 2 in India back in September 2016, but it went out of stock after few months. It also launched the Mi Band HRX Edition in the country without heart rate sensor a year later. Today Xiaomi has announced that the Mi Band 2 is back in stock in the country at a new price of Rs. 1799. To remind you, the Mi Band 2 has a 0.42-inch OLED display that shows time, steps and also heart rate when you tap the button below the display. It has upgraded pedometer algorithm for more accurate heart rate tracking and gathering better fitness and sleep data. It has IP67 ratings for water resistance. Xiaomi Mi Band 2 specifications 0.42-inch OLED display with scratch-resistant glass, anti-fingerprint coating shows time, step and heart rate Photoplethysmography (PPG) / Heart rate sensor Monitors your fitness and tracks your sleep 7g ultra light body IP67 ratings for water resistance Bluetooth 4.0 LE 70mAh Li-po battery with up to 20 days of standby The Xiaomi Mi Band 2 is available for Rs. 1799 from mi.com. Check out our Mi Band 2 Review here, if you are planning to get it. Xiaomi also started selling Mi No. 1 Crewneck T-shirt on Mi.com at a discounted price of Rs. ...

Google Health cards get common symptom search in India in Hindi and English

Google with an aim to offer healthcare related information quickly in search results, rolled out the Health Cards with over 400 health conditions back in April 2016. Today it announced that it is adding information about commonly searched symptoms like common cold, acute bronchitis, flu, pneumonia, chest infection and Hindi language support. Google will now show an overview description along with information on self-treatment options and what might warrant a doctor’s visit. Google says that it is aiming to navigate and explore health conditions related to the symptoms and take you to a place where you can quickly talk to a health professional or do more in-depth research on the web. To make this information tailored to India, Google said that it is working closely with Apollo Hospitals. These results are intended for informational purposes only, and for any additional support, it is always recommended to consult a doctor for medical advice and treatment. This cards of information are to prepare you before you present your problem to a doctor and what questions you should be asking. The new symptom search experience will be available in Hindi and English on the Google App. Source

Google Tez now lets SBI bank users create SBI UPI IDs

Google today announced a strategic partnership with SBI to deeply integrate SBI bank on the company's digital payments app Google Tez. This partnership lets users create SBI UPI Id; @oksbi and get access to exclusive offers for SBI customers and enable wider adoption of digital payments and growing the digital payments ecosystem in India. Google now claims that since the launch of Tez in September 2017, has processed over 250 million transactions and has over 13.5 million monthly active users, across India, from the major cities to Kashmir and Kanyakumari. Currently, Tez supports over 70 UPI enabled banks. Google's Tez is built on the Indian government-supported Unified Payments Interface (UPI), allowing users make small or big payments straight from their bank accounts to the accounts of others from over 70 UPI enabled banks free of cost. Since the app was built for India, it is available in English and seven Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu. Commenting on the partnership, Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, SBI said: We are committed to create an enabling environment to promote digital payments for more Indians. We already have a multitude of services including e-commerce and m-commerce, and this partnership with Google Tez will drive innovation and deliver exciting new opportunities ...

Lava Z50 Android Oreo (Go edition) smartphone announced; Airtel and Google partner for Android Go

Lava today introduced Z50, the first Android Oreo (Go edition) smartphone in the country. Apart from the Android Go edition features for smooth performance, it has Bokeh mode and an LED flash for both front and rear cameras. It also offers search in 10 major Indian languages (including Hindi) besides enabling search for images, weather and also translate from search home screen. Airtel also announced that it has partnered with Google to bring low-cost smartphones powered by Android Oreo (Go edition) to the Indian market. In addition to Lava, Micromax will also introduce Micromax BHARAT GO smartphone powered by Android Oreo (Go edition) in partnership with Airtel. The phones will be launched under Airtel’s ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ program starting March, 2018. These will also come pre-loaded with compatible apps, including MyAirtel App, Airtel TV and Wynk Music. Lava Z50 specifications 4.5-inch (854 x 480 pixels) FWVGA 2.5D curved glass display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection 1.1GHz Quad-core MediaTek MT6737M with Adreno 304 GPU 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage, expandable memory up to 128GB with microSD Android 8.1 (Oreo) Go Edition Dual SIM 5 MP rear cameras with LED flash 5MP front-facing camera with LED flash 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS It will come in Black and Gold colors ...

HTC 10 Android 8.0 Oreo update with Jio VoLTE support starts rolling out in India

HTC confirmed Android 8.0 (Oreo) update for some of its devices back in August last year. The HTC U11 was the first phone to get the Oreo update in November starting from Taiwan, later the U11 Life got the update,  after a delay the HTC 10 got the update recently. Now the company has finally started rolling out Oreo update for Indian users that also brings VoLTE support for Reliance Jio users. [HTML1] Android Oreo comes with lots of new features and improvements including Background limits, Notification channels, snooze notifications, Autofill APIs, Picture in Picture (PIP) display, Adaptive icons and much more. The v3.18.400.2 for the HTC 10 is 1.43GB in size, but it still has Android security patch for December, 2017. Image via

YouTube Live streaming to get automatic captions, locations tags and more

YouTube is announcing few new features to its live stream function to improve the user experience and make it accessible to more people. This includes automatic English captions to live streams whenever professionally provided captions aren’t available. These automated captions provide creators a quick and inexpensive way to make live streams accessible to more people and YouTube is using its automatic speech recognition (LASR) technology for captions with error rates and latency approaching industry standards. This features will be rolled out in the coming weeks and will continue to improve accuracy and latency of automatic captions. Furthermore, creators can now add a location tag to their mobile live streams and video uploads and share all their favorite hot spots with viewers. Users, on the other hand, can explore other videos with the same location tag by simply clicking on it. You can also use the location filter on the search results page to find other videos from the same location. YouTube introduced the Super Chats to trigger real-life events last year and wow creators can set this up for their channels using IFTTT (If This, Then That) with over 600smart home devices like lights, pet feeders, and confetti cannons which can be connected to Super Chat which is already available on desktop and ...