Uber Plus driver rewards program pilot launched in 3 cities across India

Uber has announced that is has started pilot phase of its driver rewards program Uber Plus in Delhi, Mumbai and Chandigarh, and is also live in Mexico. It was launched as Uber Pro in the U.S. last year, and expanded it nationwide later. The exclusive loyalty rewards program will enable driver partners to ensure more savings and access to exciting rewards, as they continue to drive with Uber. The program enables Uber’s driver partners to earn points as they drive on the platform. These points are earned over a fixed period of every three months and can be accumulated and used to unlock rewards and a series of tiers. The higher the tier unlocked by the driver, the better the rewards they can access. Tiers available to the driver partners during the pilot will be Blue, Gold, Platinum and Diamond. Rewards such as access to Free doctor’s consultation on call, Priority support, Discounted prices for educational modules, additional savings on maintenance cost, access to micro loans as well as faster pickups at select Airports are available to eligible drivers in participating cities from July 1. The Uber Plus program will currently be available to a sample group of driver partners, in these ...

Vivo Z1Pro Unboxing and First Impressions

Vivo today launched the Z1Pro smartphone in India with punch-hole screen that houses as 32-megapixel camera, Snapdragon 712 SoC and a huge 5000mAh battery starting at Rs. 14,990. Here we have the unboxing and first impressions of the phone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9N4UgZiIy4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c_BXhkz-As Box Contents Vivo Z1Pro 6GB RAM with 64GB storage version in Sonic Blue color 2-pin fast charger (5V-2A / 9V-2A) Micro USB Cable Earphones with microphone SIM Ejector tool Clear protective case User manual and warranty information The Z1Pro features a  6.53-inch Full HD+ screen with 90.77% screen-to-body ratio and 1.76mm narrow side bezels. Even though it's an LCD screen, the display is bright and the viewing angles are good as well. Powered by Snapdragon 712  SoC with up to 6GB of LPDDR4x RAM, the phone features Multi Turbo which features Net Turbo, Center Turbo, AI Turbo and Cooling Turbo functions for better network, gaming, AI experience and bring down the temperature for a seamless performance, even during intense gaming sessions. One of the main highlights of the phone is its 32-megapixel in-screen camera with 4.59mm small camera hole, and the company at launch said that is uses Super Black technology to blend the camera with the screen. It runs Funtouch OS 9 based on Android 9.0 (Pie). Even though the UI ...

Vivo Z1Pro with 6.53-inch FHD+ display, Snapdragon 712, 32MP in-display camera, 5000mAh battery launched in India starting at Rs. 14990

Vivo just launched the Z1Pro, the company's latest mid-range smartphone in India, as it had promised. It was introduced as Z5x  in China back in May, but this is powered by a faster Snapdragon 712  SoC instead of Snapdragon 710 and also has a better 32-megapixel in-screen camera with 4.59mm small camera hole and Super Black technology to blend the camera with the screen. Other specifications including 6.53-inch Full HD+ LCD with 90.77% screen-to-body ratio and 1.76mm narrow side bezels, Android Pie with Funtouch, has a 16-megapixel rear camera, 8-megapixel 120° ultra wide sensor and a 2-megapixel depth sensing camera are same. It offers 4D gaming experience with real-time recognition of the game scene and vibrates the phone accordingly.  It has a plastic back with gradient options in some color variants, has a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and packs a 5000mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging and also lets you charge other devices with OTG, but it uses micro USB port. Vivo Z1Pro specifications 6.53-inch (2340  × 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19.5:9 LCD screen Octa Core Snapdragon 712 10nm Mobile Platform (Dual 2.3GHz Kryo 360 + Hexa 1.7GHz Kryo 360 CPUs) with Adreno 616 GPU 4GB / 6GB LPPDDR4x RAM with 64GB storage, 6GB LPPDDR4x RAM with ...

Realme X with 6.53-inch FHD+ AMOLED display, up to 8GB RAM, in-display fingerprint sensor launching in India on July 15

After teasing the India launch of realme X for second half of the year, Realme has confirmed today that it will launch the smartphone on July 15th. It will also launch the Spider-Man: Far From Home Special Edition in India, as expected. It was introduced in China last week and comes with 8GB RAM, 128GB storage, includes custom Spider-Man theme with icons and a custom case in Red color. The company has also teased 1x999 price tag, so it will be less than Rs. 20,000. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJD3EtxIDxE Realme X specifications 6.53-inch (2340  × 1080 pixels) Full HD+ AMOLED display with 100% NTSC Color Gamut, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection Octa Core Snapdragon 710 10nm Mobile Platform (Dual 2.2GHz Kryo 360 + Hexa 1.7GHz Kryo 360 CPUs) with Adreno 616 GPU 4GB / 6GB (LPPDDR4x) RAM with 64GB storage / 8GB (LPPDDR4x) RAM with 128GB storage Dual SIM ColorOS 6.0 based on Android 9.0 (Pie) 48MP rear camera with 1/2.0″ Sony IMX586 sensor, f/1.7 aperture, 6P lens, LED flash, 5MP secondary rear camera 16MP front-facing camera with Sony IMX471 sensor, f/2.0 aperture In-display fingerprint sensor Dimensions:  161.2×76×9.4mm; Weight: 191g Dual 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz), Bluetooth 5, GPS + GLONASS, USB Type-C 3765mAh battery (typical) / 3680mAh ...

Samsung Galaxy M10 gets a price cut in India, now starts at Rs. 6990

Earlier this year, Samsung launched the Galaxy M10 smartphone with Infinity-V display alongside the Galaxy M20 starting at Rs. 7990. The smartphone also got Android Pie update earlier last month. After 5 months of launch, today, the Galaxy M10 has received a price cut in India. Samsung Galaxy M10 has received a Rs. 1000 price cut and now the 2GB RAM with 16GB storage variant is selling at Rs. 6990 against its original price of Rs. 7990 and the 3GB RAM with 32GB storage variant is selling at Rs. 7990 against its original selling price of Rs. 8990. The revised prices are live on Amazon.in and is expected to be available from Samsung India website too. Smartphone Old Price New Price Price cut Samsung Galaxy M10 Rs. 7990(2+16GB) Rs. 6990 (2+16GB) Rs. 1000 Rs. 8990(3+32GB) Rs. 7990(3+32GB) Rs. 1000 To recall, Samsung Galaxy M10 flaunts a 6.2-inch HD+ infinity-V display and is powered by Exynos 7870 14nm octa-core processor. It sports a 13-megapixel primary rear camera with f/1.9 aperture and a secondary rear camera has a 5-megapixel 120-degree ultra-wide lens. It features a dedicated dual SIM and microSD slots and Dual 4G VoLTE and comes with a 3430mAh battery. However, there is no fingerprint scanner on the Galaxy M10.

HONOR 8C gets a price cut in India again, now starts at Rs. 8999

HONOR launched 'HONOR 8C' smartphone last year with a 6.26-inch HD+  display with a notch, Snapdragon 632 SoC and more. It comes in two storage variants-4GB RAM with 32GB storage and 4GB RAM with 64GB storage starting at Rs. 11,999. Now, HONOR 8C has got a price cut again after a price cut last year, and now it starts at Rs. 8999 HONOR 8C 4GB RAM with 32GB storage has received a Rs.1000 price cut and now it is selling for Rs. 8,999 against its existing price of Rs. 9,999. There is no change in the price of 4GB RAM with 64GB storage variant and the revised price of 4+32GB is already live on Amazon.in. Smartphone Launch Price Old Price New Price Price cut HONOR 8C Rs. 11,999(4+32GB) Rs. 9,999 Rs. 8,999 Rs. 1000 To recall, HONOR 8C packs a 6.26-inch HD+ 19:9 aspect ratio display with a notch, Snapdragon 632 SoC with up to 4GB of RAM, 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash along with a secondary 2-megapixel camera for capturing depth information in portrait shots, AI scene recognition to recognize over 500 scenarios in 22 categories and an 8-megapixel camera on the front with AI beautify features. It has Dual 4G VoLTE support, dedicated Dual SIM and microSD slots, and packs a 4000mAh battery that ...

Samsung On-Device AI technology for AI Deep Learning announced

Earlier last month, Samsung expanded its proprietary NPU technology development and also delivered an update to the same. At the Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), the company introduced its On-Device AI lightweight algorithm and today, Samsung has announced an update to the same. Samsung has announced that the company has successfully developed On-Device AI lightweight technology that performs computations 8 times faster than the existing 32-bit deep learning data for servers. A core feature of On-Device AI technology is its ability to compute large amounts of data at a high speed without consuming excessive amounts of electricity. How On-Device AI lightweight technology works? The technology determines the intervals of the significant data that influence overall deep learning performance through learning and Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) is said to have run experiments that successfully demonstrated how the quantization of an in-server deep learning algorithm in 32 bit intervals provided higher accuracy than other existing solutions when computed into levels of less than 4 bits. The computation results using the QIL process can achieve the same results as existing processes can while using 1/40 to 1/120 fewer transistors when the data of a deep learning computation is presented in bit groups lower than 4 ...

Xiaomi Mi CC9 and CC9e with AMOLED display, triple rear cameras, 32MP front camera, in-display fingerprint sensor announced

Xiaomi just announced Mi CC9 and CC9e smartphone in the new CC series in China, as it had promised. Both the phones feature AMOLED display from Samsung, seventh gen in-display fingerprint scanner, 48-megapixel Sony IMX586 sensor with f/1.79 aperture, 8-megapixel 118° ultra-wide angle lens and a 2-megapixel depth sensor and a 32-megapixel front camera sensor from Samsung that merges four pixels to form large 1.6μm pixels for better low-light images and AI beautify mode. The Mi CC9 has a 6.39-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with screen-to-body ratio of 91% and is powered by Snapdragon 710 SoC with Game Turbo 2.0 and up to 6GB of RAM, while the Mi CC9e has a 6.088-inch HD+ AMOLED screen and is the first smartphone to be powered by Snapdragon 655 11nm SoC. The Mi CC9 series come in White Lover, Blue Planet and Dark Prince colors  which produce a 3D effect. "White Lover White resembles light glistening on the surface of snow, refracting holographic colors in various angles. Blue Planet has a unique "CC" pattern, which is enabled by an even more complex nano-technology manufacturing process, causing the phone’s surface to resemble moonlight shimmering on the ocean," said Xiaomi. The new series adopts a vertical logo and has a multi-color ...

e-SIM-based device shipments to reach nearly 2 billion units by 2025

e-SIM enabled smartphones are gaining momentum gradually and telecom operators in India like Airtel, Jio is also offering the same. In similar lines, today, Counterpoint Research Analysis has released a new report regarding the global shipments of e-SIM based devices and it also includes their findings of a potential rise in the adoption of integrated SIM-based solutions. According to the latest research from Counterpoint’s ETO (Emerging Technology Opportunities) Service, the shipments of e-SIM based devices is said to reach nearly 2 billion units by 2025 up from 364 million in 2018 and the main reason for it is said to be smartphones and enterprise IoT devices. The findings also reveal that a majority of eSIM-based devices will have a hardware chip based eSIM solution until 2025, and after that, there will be a rise in the adoption of integrated SIM-based solutions. The report also indicates that in terms of shipment volumes, smartphones and B2B IoT devices will lead. Major OEMs like Apple, Google are adopting eSIM on their smartphones and this is said to drive the major volume growth and as there is a smaller base of adoption of connected devices like mobile hotspots, routers, etc, it is said to grow at a higher Compound annual growth ...

Vivo iQOO Neo with 6.38-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display, up to 8GB RAM, in-display fingerprint scanner, 4500mAh battery announced

Vivo's iQOO just announced iQOO Neo, the company's latest mid-range smartphone, after the top-end iQOO smartphone earlier this year. This has a 6.39-inch Full HD+ water drop notch with 90.0% screen-to-body ratio, is powered by last year's Snapdragon 845 with liquid cooling, 8GB of RAM, runs Android Pie, has a 12-megapixel primary rear camera with Sony IMX363 sensor, 8-megapixel ultra-wide lens and a 2-megapixel sensor for portrait shots. There is also a 12-megapixel camera on the front. It has an in-display fingerprint scanner, comes in electro-optic violet color with a special microstructure texture with blue and purple gradients that offer lightning movement and the and the carbon black color uses carbon fiber texture under the glass. The phone has 4D gaming experience with real-time recognition of the game scene that vibrates the phone to intelligent match the scenes. It packs a 4500mAh battery compared to 4000mAh battery on the original iQOO phone, but this has 22.5W flash charge that can charge from 0 to 50% in 30 minutes. Vivo iQOO Neo specifications 6.39-inch ( 1080 × 2340 pixels) Full HD+ Super AMOLED 19.5:9 aspect ratio display, 105% NTSC color gamut Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform with Adreno 630 GPU 6GB LPDDR4x / 8GB RAM with 64GB / ...