Bitcoin slips below $50,000 level; Flipkart introduces Voice Search feature
+ Truecaller launches Guardians app; Cognizant increases wages of 1.6 lakh employees
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Welcome to a fresh edition of NextBigWhat’s newsletter, which brings you all the important headlines from the tech and business space.
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#ShortNewsOverChai
Mastercard, Flipkart, Nabard and PayU together buy a 30% stake in Tata Group’s Ferbine
If it gets the RBI nod for a licence, Tata’s NUE Ferbine will build a payment network similar to UPI.
Redmi Note 10 releases in India; with some big changes includes Super AMOLED screen, faster processor
It is said that the cameras remain largely the same as Redmi Note 9.
RailTel launches up to 30-min free prepaid wi-fi services at 1 Mbps speed at 4,000 railway stations across the country
For a higher speed of up to 34 Mbps, users will have to pay a nominal fee.
Vodafone Idea’s modest purchase of spectrum could reflect ‘worse’ as rivals bought additional radiowaves: Report
In the auction, Vi acquired spectrum to cover minor gaps in five circles for ₹1,993.4 crores.
Self-regulatory bodies formed by digital news publishers and OTT platforms won’t have a member appointed by the Centre
I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar officially cleared this in the meeting with OTT players.
Cognizant increases wages of 1.6 lakh employees, promotes 24,000 staffers globally
The company employs about 2.8 lakh staffers, a majority in India.
For 43.7% of working women, work-life balance becomes worse during the pandemic: Survey
Also, 38.5% of working women surveyed were adversely affected by added housework, child and eldercare.
Indian wearable market saw a 144.3% YoY growth in 2020, continues to be the 3rd largest wearables market globally: IDC
The growth was driven by a rise in the use of earwear and watch devices.
Kaspersky report says 35% of Indian users were attacked by web-borne threats in 2020
The Kaspersky report detected and blocked 133,318,878 internet- borne threats last year.
TCS launches Covid-19 testing, vaccine management solutions
The Covid suite uses AI, robotics, blockchain, IoT, and TCS’s extensive network of technology partners.
Google’s decision on testing interest and browsing behaviour based user-targeting will improve advertising impact: Experts
Google said it will ensure user privacy and showcase relevant ads.
OTT & Video on Demand’s data traffic grew at 1,317%, while gaming rose to 1,007% during Covid: DE-CIX Report
It also shows that data traffic at social & online media grew by 210% during the same period.
Highlights:
UP will become India’s largest economy after BJP takes charge in 2022 - Yogi Adityanath
UP’s economy has become the country’s 2nd largest in the last 4 years.
“5G is now a key smartphone purchase consideration everywhere,” - Oppo India VP Tasleem Arif
Also said, “We need to ensure that demand generated from mainstream users moving to 5G is met”.
#Dhandha Corner
Paytm Money sets a target to achieve a 10 million user base and 75 million transactions in 2021-22
Currently, it has over 7 million users and Rs 5,000 crore in direct mutual fund investments.
Flipkart introduces Voice Search feature with Hindi, English support
Flipkart said its in-house tech enables natural language conversations.
ByteDance is working on a Clubhouse-like app for China; Still in the early stage
This announcement comes after Xiaomi reworks on its Mi Talk app, which is similar to Clubhouse.
Sony files a patent application that turns a banana into a PlayStation controller
This patent is a method that turns a “non-luminous passive object being held by a user” into a controller.
Wipro agrees to acquire London-based Capco for $1.45 billion
Capco employs 5,000 consultants and will help Wipro with banking, insurance and financial services clients.
Jack Dorsey’s Square to buy a majority of stake in Jay-Z’s music streaming platform “Tidal” for $297 million
The move is set to bring Jay-Z to Square’s board of directors.
Apple Watch shipments doubled in India in 2020; The smartwatch accounts for 51% of the market share in India
Strong demand for Apple Watch Series 3 and 6 drove the sales in India.
Report: PUB-G Mobile Team is planning to re-launch the Indian version of the game in the country
Changes in the game will be made catering to the Indian audience.
About The #TechGiants
WhatsApp adds voice and video calling to desktop for both Windows and Mac users
WhatsApp, in its statement, said that all voice and video calls will be end-to-end encrypted. Read receipts for voice messages can be disabled after a new WhatsApp update.
Amazon’s “GameOn” app (that lets users record short clips of gameplay) is now available for iOS users
GameOn lets you record your own Arcade games.
Apple introduces the “Apple for Kids” website that lets parents strike a limit on a child’s use of iPhone, iPad
The website helps parents guide their kids on how to use Apple devices.
Facebook to end the ban on political advertisements in the US
Facebook banned such ads as concern increased that cadres would try to use ads to mislead voters.
Truecaller launches Guardians app, specially designed for personal safety
Guardians app by Truecaller is geared towards women’s safety.
More #GlobalTechNews
Bitcoin slips below $50,000 level; cryptocurrency’s surge pauses
Other major cryptocurrencies such as ether and ripple were also trading in the red.
SpaceX launches reusable Falcon 9 rockets carrying another 60 internet satellites into the orbit
It was the 20th successful Starlink launch for SpaceX.
Disney to close 20% of its brick-and-mortar store locations by the end of 2021 to focus on e-commerce
Around 60 of its North American locations will be closed.
Cisco Webex adds the real-time translation to the platform from English to more than 100 languages
Users can create their own personalised Webex meeting experience by selecting languages of their choice.
#NationalNews
Digital news firms say the new OTT rules go against the fundamental principle of news and its role in a democracy
Media firms also say the new rules give “emergency” powers to the I&B ministry to remove any content.
Action Covid-19 Team seeks Rs 500 crore philanthropic fund to boost education, healthcare, and more
The Team was launched to work on solutions to control the pandemic.
Proactive tracking of words via automated tools, make suspects out of people: Petitioner of 66A SC judgment
Petitioner Shreya Singhal also adds, “If we track words on controversial topics, we have a crime already.”
Vacancies advertised from the UPSC has gone down from 796 to 712 in 2021
UPSC will conduct the CSE on June 27, and the admit cards are likely to release in May.