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Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Sale on Flipkart, Moto G5S & Moto G5S Plus Launched, iPhone 8 Feature Teased, and More: Your 360 Daily

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Sale on Flipkart, Moto G5S & Moto G5S Plus Launched, iPhone 8 Feature Teased, and More: Your 360 Daily

By Gadgets 360 Staff | Updated: 2 August 2017 22:03 IST

Highlights

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 available for as low as Rs. 999 in Flipkart Sale
Facebook is working on a video device for home use
New IRCTC feature will allow customers to buy without paying

Flipkart today held the 'Big Redmi Note 4 Sale', which started at 12pm IST, and as the name suggested, the handset is available at a reduced price. The Redmi Note 4, which is said to be the fastest selling smartphone in India, is up for grabs for as low as Rs. 999 in the sale, provided you exchange your old phone with up to Rs. 12,000 off. In addition to this, there’s an EMI facility and a buyback guarantee, as well as Rs. 500 discount on the Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 2. Xiaomi’s own site, Mi.com, also had a similar sale today, with a 12-month subscription to Hungama Music as well as 10 percent SuperCash for those using MobiKwik.

Moto G5S, Moto G5S Plus with Android 7.1, metal unibody design launched
After many leaks, the Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus were officially revealed. The ’S’ in the names refer to them being special editions, sporting substantial upgrades over the Moto G5 and G5S. The biggest change is in terms of camera. The Moto G5S Plus sports a dual camera setup at the back with two 13-megapixel sensors, an 8-megapixel front camera with wide-angle lens, and LED flash support. Meanwhile the Moto G5S has a 16-megapixel primary rear sensor with phase detection autofocus (PDAF) and a front-facing 5-megapixel camera with a wide-angle lens and LED flash support. Both sport all-metal unibody designs.

As for the Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus price, it will start from EUR 249 ((roughly Rs. 18,900) for the former and from EUR 299 (roughly Rs. 22,700) for the latter. The two smartphones will become available for purchase in various countries this month (and in the US this fall).

Airtel data roll over offer goes live: your leftover data now carries forward to next month
With the advent of Reliance Jio, Indian telcos have tried to retain their users with tantalising offers. The latest one, from Airtel allows postpaid subscribers to carry over leftover data from the previous billing cycle to the current one. It’s available for all postpaid consumers now, and the leftover data will be carried forward automatically when the new billing cycle starts. This offer has not been extended to Airtel prepaid or broadband users.

Apple CEO Tim Cook on India, autonomous systems, and removal of VPN apps in China
During Apple’s latest quarterly earnings call, CEO Tim Cook reaffirmed the company’s interest in India. He said Apple continues to be “very bullish and optimistic about India,” with continued investments in the country when asked by an analyst by the company’s progress in India. He reiterated similarities between India and China, suggesting the Indian market could be at its tipping point. Cook reminded analysts that it is assembling the iPhone SE in India, which could see the availability of lower-cost iPhone models in India.

In addition to this, Cook said Apple is making a big investment in autonomous systems. "From our point of view, autonomy is sort of the mother of all AI projects," Cook said. "And the autonomous systems can be used in a variety of ways, and a vehicle is only one, but there are many different areas of it. And I don't want to go any further with that.”

He also addressed the company’s decision to remove VPN apps from the App Store in China.

"We would obviously rather not remove the apps, but like we do in other countries we follow the law wherever we do business," Cook said. "We believe in engaging with governments even when we disagree. This particular case, we're hopeful that over time the restrictions we're seeing are lessened, because innovation really requires freedom to collaborate and communicate."

iPhone 8 forecast, strong iPhone sales help Apple stock soar to record high
In more Apple news, the company delivered a surprisingly strong fiscal third-quarter earnings on the back of stronger than expected iPhone sales, revenue, and earnings per share. It also stated the upcoming 10th-anniversary phone - an “iPhone 8” is on schedule. More importantly, Cook outlined Artificial Reality (AR) as one of the key features of the iPhone 8, telling analysts, "This is one of those huge things that we'll look back at and marvel on the start of it." AR was among the key iOS 11 features announced at WWDC 2017; the next version of the Apple mobile operating system is likely to release in September, alongside the next iPhone iterations.

New OnePlus 5 colour variant teased, mint gold expected
The OnePlus 5 is getting a new colour variant. Joining Slate Gray and Midnight Black could be Mint Gold. A teaser posted by the company’s Weibo account shows the two existing colours (Midnight Black, and Slate Gray) with a third, transparent version asking “Who Is Coming?”. Earlier, TheAndroidSoul pointed that a TENAA listing of the OnePlus 5 had previously indicated the presence of a Mint Gold variant of the smartphone, which was not launched alongside the other colour variants last month.

IBM develops tape cartridge that stores 330TB of uncompressed data in the palm of your hand
An astounding 330TB of uncompressed data can fit in the palm of your hand. Researchers at IBM have developed a magnetic tape drive in collaboration with Sony Storage Solutions to achieve increased areal recording densities and develop this magnetic tape.

If you are wondering about the recording density, the prototype comes with an unprecedented 201Gb per inch density. "Tape has traditionally been used for video archives, back-up files, replicas for disaster recovery and retention of information on premise, but the industry is also expanding to off-premise applications in the cloud," said IBM Research fellow Evangelos Eleftheriou in a statement.

LG V30 schematics leak, tip narrow bezel display and dual camera setup
In the run up to a possible LG V30 launch, the device’s schematics have been leaked, showing off similarities to the erstwhile LG V20. The LG V30 outline shows that the smartphone will have a dual camera setup at the back and the fingerprint scanner beneath the sensors. Interestingly, this new image suggests a design quite similar to the one seen in alleged render video of the LG V30, which was leaked last month.

Facebook said to be working on video chat device, standalone smart speaker
Facebook is working on a video chat device for the home - the first major hardware product from its experimental Building 8 lab. Featuring a laptop-sized touchscreen, the device represents a new product category and could be announced as soon as next spring's F8 developer conference, according to people familiar with the matter. They say the large screen and smart camera technology could help far flung people feel like they're in the same room, which aligns with Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg’s mission of bringing users closer together. The device is in the prototype phase but is already being tested in people's homes.

Chinese brands hold 48 percent smartphone market share globally: Counterpoint
While overall global smartphone shipments grew 3 percent Year-over-Year (YoY), reaching 365 million units in the second quarter of 2017, Chinese brands have emerged as the dominant force, making a dent in Apple's market share, Counterpoint Research said on Wednesday.

According to the market tracker, Chinese smartphone brands marked a record 48 percent market share worldwide with India, South Asia and Africa remaining as key focus geographies. Xiaomi (60 percent), Vivo (45 percent), Oppo (33 percent) and Huawei (20 percent) were the fastest growing brands with increasing overseas smartphones shipments (YoY).

Now, pay on delivery for Tatkal tickets on IRCTC
IRCTC users will be able to book Tatkal tickets and pay for them later, said Anduril Technologies, the pay-on-delivery payment provider for IRCTC. While booking tickets, IRCTC users can opt to have tickets delivered at their doorstep and pay via cash or a debit or credit card at that point. The service, which was available for general reservations until now, has been extended to Tatkal tickets with Wednesday’s announcement.

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Further reading: IRCTC, Facebook, Apple, Tim Cook, iPhone 7, iPhone 8, iPhone X, Apple AI, Moto G5S, Moto G5S Plus, OnePlus 5, OnePlus 5 Mint Gold, IBM, IBM 330TB Tape Cartridge, LG V30, Counterpoint Research, Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Android, iPhone