Coca-Cola India, Vodafone Idea business services and eBest IoT team up to introduce IoT enabled connected coolers

Coca-Cola India has collaborated with Vodafone Idea Business Services and eBest IoT, to introduce state-of-the-art Connected Coolers across the country. The IoT enabled fleet of Connected Coolers will enable Coca-Cola to understand consumer behavior.  Under the partnership, Connected Coolers will be powered by Vodafone SuperIoT – an industry-first solution that enables end-to-end management of device, application, connectivity, service platform, support and security. The technology will also equip Coca-Cola’s partners to manage inventory, sales tracking, monitor usage pattern, and track locations, thus enabling them to increase sales and enhance customer experience. To ensure that customers get the best taste, this IoT solution has turned static cabinets into intelligent assets through a sensor that detects temperature, humidity and door closing/opening and helps maintain the quality of the bottle of Coke delivered to the customer. The pilot for the Connected Coolers has been successfully completed and will be introduced in a phased manner across the country. Commenting on the collaboration, Sanjay Rawal, Chief Information Officer for Coca-Cola India and South-West Asia said: Coca-Cola’s portfolio is expanding, and we are harnessing the power of technology to get consumer insights which can help us engage better with our consumers and provide choices tailored to their location and behaviour. The connected ...

Panasonic Eluga Z1 and Z1 Pro with 6.19-inch display, Dual rear cameras, Dual 4G VoLTE launched in India for Rs. 14490 and Rs. 17490

Panasonic has launched Eluga Z1 and Z1 Pro, two new smartphones in the Eluga series. These have  6.19-inch HD+ notch display, powered by MediaTek Helio P22 SoC, comes with 13-megapixel rear camera along with a secondary 2-megapixel camera with AI features, 8-megapixel front camera with AI beautify, LED flash and face unlock. These come with dual SIM support, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, ARBO Hub, an AI powered hub which provides users access to multiple apps and services on a single platform and uses Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to make recommendations and packs a 4000mAh battery. Panasonic Eluga Z1 and Z1 Pro Specifications 6.19-inch (1500 x 720 pixels) HD+ 2.5D curved glass display 2GHz Octa-Core MediaTek Helio P22 (MT6762) 12nm processor with 650MHz IMG PowerVR GE8320 GPU Eluga Z1: 3GB RAM and 32GB storage, Eluga Z1 Pro: 4GB RAM and 64GB,  expandable memory up to 128GB with microSD Android 8.1 (Oreo) Dual SIM 13MP rear camera with LED flash, 5MP secondary camera 8MP front-facing camera with LED flash Fingerprint sensor Dimensions: 157.2x76.25x8.05mm 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5 LE, GPS/ A-GPS 4000mAh battery The Panasonic Eluga Z1 and Z1 Pro smartphones come in Black, Gold and Blue colors, are priced at Rs. 14,490 and Rs. 17,490 respectively and ...

Apple to introduce iPad Mini, iPad Pro, AirPods 2 with Hey-Siri, updated MacBooks and more on October 30th: Kuo

Apple has scheduled an event on October 30th but ahead of the launch, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo shared some details on what to expect from the event as well as information on other products that we might see from Apple in late 2018 or early 2019. According to Kuo, there will be an updated iPad Mini along with the regular Pro model.  As expected, there will be updated iPad Pro models with USB-C, improved displays, and an Apple Pencil with a new design. Furthermore, they will also come with Face ID, edge to edge screens, and no Home button. According to Kuo, there will be a new version of iPad Mini which has not seen an update in several years. It will feature an upgraded processor and a lower-cost panel. However, it is unclear if Apple would launch it at the October 30th event or sometime later this year. We can also expect several Mac updates with upgraded processors and other internal improvements. There will also be a low-cost Notebook and updates to the MacBook, iMac, and Mac mini. Apple is also rumored to launch new AirPods and the AirPower either late in the fourth quarter of 2018 or early in the first quarter of 2019. Apple, if it is planning ...

Samsung patent hints at a tablet with a flexible and bendable screen

Samsung Display has filed a patent for a tablet with a flexible and bendable screen. The patent was filed with WIPO in April 2018 for a 'Display Device' and was published on October 11, 2018. The patented tablet can be bent in two directions exactly in the middle The device lets you use it folded or unfolded; if you want to use a small display, you can bend the tablet in the opposite direction. The user interface will then be adjusted, compared to when you use the device in a fully open state. This Samsung tablet is expected to come with a flexible and bendable screen with a cover on both the left and right side of the display. The cover is made of a metallic material, such as aluminum foil and all the necessary components will also be included in the cover. The display itself is touch sensitive. With Samsung patenting so many technologies, it is unclear if the company would ever bring this foldable tablet into reality. Source | Via

HP introduces new Spectre x360 15 and x360 13 convertible laptops with Intel Core 8th gen processors

HP has introduced the redesigned the Spectre x360 13 and HP Spectre x360 15. These come with Bang & Olufsen audio and come with aluminum CNC machining. The dual chamfer design makes the lid easier to lift from three sides. There is also a privacy camera kill switch allows the user to electrically turn off the webcam when not in use. They come equipped with optional HP Sure View, an integrated privacy screen to help users avoid prying eyes in public areas. They are always-connected PC with gigabit-class LTE and come with long-lasting battery life, with up to 22.5 hours in the Spectre x360 13  which is a 37% higher than the previous model. Up to 17.5 hours in the Spectre x360 15. Both the Spectre x360 13 and Spectre x360 15 are designed for performance that matches each individual‘s needs. The Spectre x360 13 is powered by the latest Quad-Core 8th generation Intel Core processors. The Spectre x360 15 is a 15-inch convertible that features a new thermal design, powered by up to the latest six-core 8th Generation Intel Core processors, and the optional NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti with Max Q design. In addition, the Spectre x360 15 offers various display options which includes ...

Mozilla Firefox 63 brings Enhanced tracking protection to block third-party cookies, search shortcuts and more

Mozilla today has released Firefox v63 that is mainly aimed at “removing cross-site tracking” which the company is calling Enhanced Tracking Protection. It is also rolling things out off-by-default and starting with third-party cookies. Users will have the option to block cookies and storage access from third-party trackers. This is designed to effectively block the most common form of cross-site tracking. This new option is available in Firefox Options/Preferences; click on Privacy & Security. Under Content, Blocking click the checkbox next to “Third-Party Cookies” and select “Trackers (recommended).” Other additional features with this release include search shortcuts, it pins top two sites people use to search, Amazon and Google, to the New Tab page. Currently, this will only be available in the US. Firefox will now match the dark or light theme you’ve chosen in your Windows settings. Starting with today’s release, users can now open a new tab in Firefox using a voice command. The company says that this is the first of several shortcuts that will be added in the coming months. As for developers, it has added tools to help you in the latest release. Source

MediaTek Helio P70 Octa-Core 12nm processor with improved multi-core AI processing, Dual 4G VoLTE announced

MediaTek just introduced Helio P70 12nm TSMC FinFET technology, successor of the Helio P60 that was introduced at the MWC earlier this year.It  is built with TSMC’s 12nm FinFET technology, same as the predecessor, but this comes with multi-core APU operating at up to 525 MHz for fast and efficient edge-AI processing. The AI engine delivers a 10 to 30% AI processing boost compared to the Helio P60, says the company. It has a slightly over clocked ARM Cortex-A73 2.1 GHz CPUs and four ARM Cortex-A53 2.0 GHz CPUs in an Octa-core big.LITTLE configuration as the P60. It has ARM Mali-G72 MP3 GPU operating at up to 900 MHz, which promises a 13% performance improvement, compared to the Helio P60. "In popular games that frequently generate a heavy load across the SoC, the P70 provides 7% better DOU and up to 35% lower power versus the P60," says the company. It has support for 20:9 displays at Full HD+ resolution. MediaTek’s AI video encoder enhances video call quality even when connection bandwidth is limited. It can be used for video calls including Skype calls, Facebook video calls and Youtube live video streaming. It has improved deep-learning facial detection that promises up to 90% accuracy. It has Dual 4G VoLTE support ...

iOS 12.1 will improve selfie quality on the iPhone XS and XR

Ever since Apple launched the iPhone XS, it has been criticized for its front-camera for overly smoothening skin. Though Apple has always insisted it doesn’t use any beautification filters, whatever may be the case, the issue definitely exits. However, Apple acknowledged the criticism and said that it will fix this issue with iOS 12.1 update. The company will fix the bug in its smart HDR camera system that resulted in smoother-looking photos taken by the front camera on the iPhone XS and XR. Basically, the Smart HDR feature is choosing the wrong base for HDR processing when you take the selfie. Instead of choosing a frame with a short shutter speed to freeze motion and preserve detail, it would sometimes choose a frame with longer shutter speed. Since the front camera does not have optical image stabilization, it takes blurrier shots at the same shutter speed as the rear, stabilized camera. The result is a loss of detail in the image that looks like smoothing on the front camera. All these issues will be fixed in iOS 12.1 which will pick the sharpest base frame for the HDR merge when taking selfies. Source

Facebook Messenger 4 update with simplified navigation, customizable chat bubbles, dark mode and more rolling out

Facebook today announced that it is rolling out a new, simplified version of Messenger dubbed Messenger 4. The company in a survey found that 7 out of 10 users say simplicity is the top priority in a messaging app. The new Messenger will have three tabs instead of nine; your conversations, both one-to-one and groups. Messenger 4 will have visual communication features like Camera at the top so you can easily capture and share your selfies. Once you tap into Messenger 4’s People tab, you can find friends, catch up on people’s Stories, and see everyone who is active. There is a 'Discover tab', where you can connect with businesses to get the latest deals, play Instant Games, book your next vacation, follow the news and more. Messenger 4 has another way to personalize your conversations called color gradients. With this feature, you can now use multiple colors to customize your chat bubbles in conversations. You can see the colors change from red to blue, for example, as you scroll up and down a conversation. Color gradients can be changed any time to reflect your mood or topic of conversation. Facebook says that Messenger 4 in phases and the company is confirming that it will bring ...

Google acknowledges Android fraud that was stealing millions in fake ad revenue, has removed those apps and blacklisted sites

Owing to the new aspects of an ad fraud operation across apps and websites that were monetizing with numerous ad platforms, Google in the past week removed apps involved in the ad fraud scheme, so they can no longer monetize with Google. It also blacklisted additional apps and websites that are outside of its ad network, to ensure that advertisers using Display & Video 360 do not buy any of this traffic. Google says that it is continuing to monitor this operation and will continue to take action if it finds any additional invalid traffic. Google estimates that the dollar value impacted how much advertiser spends across the apps and websites involved in the operation and is under $10 million. The majority of impacted advertiser spend was from invalid traffic on inventory from non-Google, third-party ad networks. Google deploys comprehensive, state-of-the-art systems and procedures to combat ad fraud. The company's engineering and operations teams, across various organizations, are also taking systemic action to disrupt this threat, including the take down of command and control infrastructure that powers the associated botnet. In addition, Google has shared relevant technical information with trusted partners across the ecosystem, so that they can also harden their defenses and ...