Asphalt 9: Legends pre-registrations now open, lets you unlock rewards

Gameloft has been testing Asphalt 9: Legends in a few countries for the few months. Ahead of global launch of the game, the company has started pre-registration  AsphaltLegends.com with your email address, and agree to Terms of Use.  This will let you unlock amazing rewards to give you a head start over your fellow racers when the game releases, says the company. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_2EIOvFNtY During each week of the pre-registration period, new rewards will unlock. These gifts can then be earned if enough racers register and share on their Twitter and Facebook feeds. The first week’s rewards are now live and will give all registered players a gift of Credits to help them purchase Packs in-game when Asphalt 9: Legends comes to iOS, Android, and Windows later this Summer. Asphalt 9: Legends will boast stunning visuals, physics that create greater immersion, and intense racing action. You can race in 49 sports cars from the world’s most iconic automotive manufacturers that include Lamborghini, Ferrari, and more. There are more than 70 tracks with each location stuffed with events. When you have mastered the tracks in single-player, test your mettle against other real-world racers in intense, real-time 8-player races. Asphalt 9: Legends (Free with in-app purchases) - Android | iOS (Rolling ...

Samsung Galaxy A6+ gets a price cut in India

Samsung launched the Galaxy A6+ smartphone in India in May for Rs. 25,990, along with the Galaxy A6. Now the smartphone has received a Rs. 2000 price cut in just over a month of launch, and is available for Rs. 23,990. This comes after the price cut of Galaxy A6 variants in the country last month. Samsung Galaxy A6+ specifications 6-inch (1080 x 2220 pixels) FHD+ Super AMOLED 18.5: 9 Infinity 2.5D curved glass display 1.8GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 450 14nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 506 GPU 4GB RAM, 64GB internal storage, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD Dual SIM Android 8.0 (Oreo) 16MP rear camera with LED flash, f/1.7 aperture,LED flash, 5MP secondary rear camera with f/1.9 aperture 24MP front-facing camera with f/1.9 aperture, LED flash Dimensions:  160.2 x 75.7 x 7.9 mm; Weight: 191g Fingerprint sensor Samsung Pay Mini 3.5mm audio jack, Dolby Atmos 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n (2.4/5GHz), HT40, Bluetooth 4.2 LE, GPS 3500mAh battery The Samsung Galaxy A6+ is expected to be available at new rate of Rs. 23,990 on Amazon.in and Samsung online Shop soon. Source

Vodafone offers Amazon Prime membership for select prepaid customers for Rs. 499

Vodafone has launched new  ‘Youth Offer on Amazon Prime’, which gives Vodafone’s prepaid customers between the ages of 18-24 years a 50% discount on the annual membership of Amazon Prime. Vodafone’s youth customers can now enjoy all Prime benefits for Rs. 499. Amazon Prime offers members free & fast delivery, unlimited Indian & international video content, unlimited ad-free music in several languages, exclusive deals and much more. Amazon Prime Day on July 16th (12 noon on July 16 to midnight on July 17) has exclusive launches, blockbuster deals, entertainment premiers and more. To avail the offer, eligible Vodafone customers can sign up using the MyVodafone App and pay Rs. 499 using Vodafone’s secure payment modes. Thereafter, they can sign in to Amazon.in and activate their one-year Prime membership to start enjoying the benefits on the Amazon.in app or website. Commenting on this partnership, Avneesh Khosla, Associate Director, Consumer Business, Vodafone India, said: In today’s hyper-connected and digital world, youngsters are looking forward to new experiences. To facilitate these experiences we had launched Vodafone U, the digital only platform exclusively for our youth customers that enables them to maximize life with limited resources. In line with the Vodafone U philosophy of doing more with less ...

Nokia, Tencent sign agreement to accelerate 5G webscale research and applications

At the Mobile World Congress Shanghai, Nokia and Tencent have signed an agreement to combinedly research and development to explore the potential of 5G for the provision of new applications, including those for a variety of vertical markets. Both the companies will establish an end-to-end 5G test environment in Shenzhen. Thanks to the 1.04 billion WeChat and QQ active users monthly, Tencent aims to leverage the massive connectivity, increase speeds, capacity and reliability and lower latency enabled by 5G to enhance these services. They will leverage the artificial intelligence and automation management capabilities enabled by 5G to promote international standards and an open-source ecosystem. This will also expand the development of new services in the future. The companies will use technologies like Edge Computing, to conduct 5G applications research and benefit a number of vertical markets, including transportation, finance, energy, intelligent manufacturing, and entertainment. This will open up new possibilities in the introduction of applications such as Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X). Other key elements that are a part of the agreement include establishing a joint laboratory equipped with leading 5G technologies, products, and solutions, centralized and decentralized split architecture using Nokia Airscale Radio Access Network, 5G Core, MEC framework. Both the companies will conduct verification on service key performance indicators and develop new 5G and ...

Reliance Jio introduces JioGigaFiber connected home solution that includes up to 1GBps fiber broadband, GigaTV Set-top box and more

Reliance Jio at the annual AGM also introduced JioGigaFiber, its connected home solution that offers ultra-high speed fiber connection of up to 1Gbps with the GigaRouter and the GigaTV Set-top box to watch Live TV using JioTV app as well as access to Jio apps like JioCinema, JioTV Video calling, which is multi-party video conferencing and more. It also comes with Jio Remote with full set of keys like a normal remote and also includes voice control. It will also offer Smart Home solutions that connects to smart home accessories such as smart plugs, smart speakers, and more. Jio will also sell accessories such as smart home door bells, smoke sensor, water and gas leak sensor and more. The Jio Smart Home app will let you control all the smart home IoT products such as lights, appliances and sensors easily. Jio says that the whole JioGigaFiber setup including fiber, GigaTV and Smart Home appliances in just 1 hour. Reliance Jio is currently running beta trials for JioGigaFiber in tens of thousands of homes. Starting this Independence Day, August 15th you can start registering your interest for JioGigaFiber through both MyJio and Jio.com, and the company will prioritize JioGigaFiber rollout to those localities from where it receive the ...

JioPhone Monsoon Hungama exchange offer – JioPhone available at an effective price of Rs. 501; WhatsApp, YouTube coming on August 15

At the annual AGM Reliance Jio introduced new JioPhone offer dubbed as "Monsoon Hungama". Under this offers feature phone users can exchange their phone for a new JioPhone at an effective price of Rs. 501 instead of paying the full amount of Rs. 1500. This offer will be available from July 21st. We should know more details about the offer soon. JioPhone got Facebook app back in February this year, and today the company has confirmed that YouTube, WhatsApp and an improved Facebook app are coming to JioPhone from 15th August. These apps have been built specially for Jio KaiOS, a web based operating system designed for JioPhone, so that its users get the best experience. Reliance Jio also introduced the JioPhone 2 with a QWERTY keyboard on August 15th at an introductory price of Rs. 2999. The company today said that it has sold over 25 million JioPhone units, and aims to reach 100 million soon.

WhatsApp files Cease & Desist orders against app that don’t use its APIs

WhatsApp seems to be very aggressive in protecting its intellectual property and now the company has filed Cease & Desist orders against at least two apps that use native Android APIs to push messages through WhatsApp. The Lawyers team of WhatsApp has sent notices to the developers behind Can’t Talk and DirectChat.  Interestingly, both the notices interact with WhatsApp in an indirect manner, without the mention of any APIs. However, the details are vague at this moment and don't specify which parts of the app actually violate the WhatsApp API terms. The company wants that both the apps remove any functionality that connects themselves to WhatsApp. Then again, neither of these applications uses any code that relates to the WhatsApp service. As said above, nearly every claim in the letter is faulty to address how the apps violate these terms. This also brings up the fact that none of the developers behind the said apps agreed to any Terms of Services from WhatsApp. The developers of the app have seven days to comply or might face a lawsuit. Can't Talk has been removed from PlayStore, while DirectChat is still available, but may be altered to remove access to the WhatsApp integration. Source 1, 2 | Via 

JioPhone 2 with QWERTY keyboard, Dual SIM support launched for Rs. 2999, available starting August 15

Reliance Jio at the annual AGM today introduced the JioPhone 2, the successor of  last year's JioPhone. It has a new design that includes a full QWERTY hardware keyboard along with a 2.4-inch QVGA screen, and it also comes with Dual SIM support, unlike the first generation model that only comes with single SIM. It has cat.4 LTE support with download speeds of up to 150Mbps with support both LTE (Band 3,5,40) and 2G (900/1800). It still runs KAI OS, and has the same cameras, battery capacity, RAM, storage and connectivity features as the first-gen JioPhone. The company is not stopping the sales of the JioPhone, and both the phones will be available for purchase even after the JioPhone 2 releases. JioPhone 2 specifications 2.4-inch (320 x 240 pixels) QVGA display QWERTY hardware keyboard and 4-way nav bar 512 MB RAM, 4GB internal storage, expandable memory with microSD KAI OS Dual SIM 2MP rear camera 0.3MP (VGA) front camera 3.5mm audio jack,FM 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1 LE, NFC, USB 2.0 2000mAh battery The JioPhone 2 will be available at an introductory price of Rs. 2999 and will be available starting from August 15th. It is not clear if this uses the same Snapdragon ...

Reliance Jio now has over 215 millions users, more than 25 million JioPhone users

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries at the company’s 41st annual AGM announced that Reliance Jio has crossed 215 million customers in 22 months of launch, compared to 125 million in July last year. Earlier this year when announcing the financial results, the company said that it had over 186 million customers. He also said that there are over 25 million JioPhone users in India. He said that Jio users consistently make more than 240 crore minutes of voice and video calls every single day and Jio customers alone are consuming over 240 crore GB of data a month, including 340 crore hours video every month, almost double compared to last year. Jio 4G now cover 99% of population in India, as it has promised. He said that the company over the past 12 months have more than doubled the network capacity. Even after serving the needs of its 215+ milion customers, the capacity utilization of the Jio network is less than 20%. Which means, the company can multiply its customer base without additional investment.  The company said that it is working tirelessly to satisfy the 1% of population which is left out.

Facebook confirms the acquisition of Bloomsbury AI

Facebook today has announced that the London-based team at Bloomsbury AI will be joining the company. Facebook says that the Bloomsbury team's leading expertise in machine reading and understanding unstructured documents in natural language will strengthen Facebook’s efforts in natural language processing research. This will further help Facebook in understanding natural language and its applications. The Bloomsbury AI team will help in growing Facebook's AI efforts in London, joining a roster of strong engineering talent. The financial terms were not disclosed, but reports suggest that it might be between $23 and $30 million. Bloomsbury AI was backed by Fly.VC, Seedcamp, IQ Capital, UCL Technology Fund and the U.K. taxpayer-funded London Co-investment Fund. Facebook's post doesn't clearly state that its intentions to bring out new AI-based tools, but says that its expertise will help Facebook’s efforts in natural language processing research. It is also possible that the said applications could include detecting misinformation and any sorts of problematic content. Source | Via