Reliance Jio unveiled new prepaid and postpaid plans for its network on Tuesday, which tweak the amount of data offered and validity periods. The new Jio plans start from Rs. 19 for 200MB data for one day, and go all the way up to Rs. 9,999 for 780GB data for 390 days. Most plans from the Summer Surprise offer have been carried over, with new additions at Rs. 349 and Rs. 399. Among the total of 12 prepaid plans now listed on Reliance Jio’s website, the telco offers two disparate choices: those with a daily FUP, and others that allow you to consume data at your own rate. The former either has 1GB or 2GB data caps, with the latter restricting you to 128kbps once you cross the allotted amount. Postpaid Jio users have five plans to choose from, with three in the FUP category and the rest two offering all at once. You can check out all Reliance Jio plans on offer right now.
Meanwhile, the company accidentally leaked its JioFiber preview offer through its website early Tuesday morning, before taking down the page. Apparently, Reliance aims to offer 100Mbps speeds for 100GB data per month, and will be available for no charge for the first three months, albeit with a refundable security deposit of Rs. 4,500. First spotted by Reddit users, Jio’s home broadband service will be initially available in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Surat, Vadodara, and Visakhapatnam.
Meanwhile, a person alleged to behind the Jio user data leak has been arrested by the police.
Amazon Prime Day sales in India and the US
Amazon’s Prime Day festivities began on Monday thanks to the protracted 30-hour schedule, but Tuesday saw even more deals and offers across the board. The iPhone 7 32GB dropped further down to Rs. 42,999 as part of the discounts, alongside Google Pixel 32GB for Rs. 38,999. There were discounts offered on iPhone 6/6s, iPhone SE, LG G6, Lenovo Z2 Plus, Honor 6X in smartphones; LG, Samsung, Sanyo, and TCL in TVs; Bose and Ultimate Ears in audio gear; and Amazon’s own products: Fire TV Stick, and Kindle models.
Prime Day also kicked off in the US at 6PM ET on Monday (early Tuesday morning here in India), with 50 percent off on Amazon Echo. Beyond that, there are offers on Samsung Galaxy S8, Moto G5 Plus, Surface Pro 4, PS4 Slim, and Netgear among others. More deals will be revealed by Amazon as Tuesday dawns in the US, so stay tuned for the selection. Prime Day goes on till 11:59pm local time on Tuesday in eligible regions.
Nokia 5 and Nokia 6 will be available next month in India
Nokia’s mid-range Android phones – the Nokia 5 and the Nokia 6 – won’t be available for purchase until mid-August, HMD Global has said. The company is currently focused on ramping up production of Nokia 3 to meet demand, and will shift focus to the two other models later this week. Sales of Nokia 5 and Nokia 6 will begin around August 15, Independence Day. Meanwhile, registrations for Nokia 6’s flash sale begin July 14 on Amazon India.
While those phones have been launched, we’re still awaiting an unveil of the company’s high-end Android competitor, the Nokia 9. A new leaked case render gives us an idea of the phone’s externals, including a vertical dual rear camera setup, and a headphone jack at the top.
WhatsApp will have UPI support soon – Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Uber as well?
WhatsApp is in the process of integrating UPI digital payments infrastructure for its massive 200-million Indian user base, a source familiar with the matter told Gadgets 360. The company is in talks with umbrella organisation NPCI, and wants to implement the feature before the current year is up. India-made Hike Messenger already support UPI payments, but its user base is much smaller.
Meanwhile, Google has completed its own UPI testing with Android Pay, according to NPCI. The organisation’s MD and CEO A.P. Hota confirmed that WhatsApp and Facebook were in talks as well, and all three will be “operational” soon. Hota added that Amazon and Uber too would soon integrate UPI.
Xiaomi’s new sub-brand and Bluetooth receiver; Mi Max 2 India launch date
Xiaomi is reportedly set to launch a third sub-brand as part of its offerings, according to a Chinese website, alongside Mi and Redmi. It will focus more on the offline market unlike the aforementioned two, since Xiaomi has taken a beating in its home market from Oppo and Vivo. Though we don’t have a name yet, a new phone render has been leaked, which is expected to launch later this month.
Xiaomi has launched a Bluetooth audio receiver in China on Tuesday at CNY 99 (roughly Rs. 900), which helps users connect their favourite wired headphones to phones that don’t have a headphone jack. It hasn’t licensed Apple’s MFi program, so any integrated buttons won’t function if you connect it with an iPhone.
Meanwhile, the company has sent out invites for the India launch of its budget battery-powerhouse (5,300mAh) Mi Max 2, scheduled for July 18. We already know all about the phone thanks to its China launch, so it’s down to what the pricing mark-up will be – it’s CNY 1,699 (roughly Rs. 16,100) in China.
LG announces three Q-series phones with taller displays
LG unveiled three phones in its new Q-series – the LG Q6, LG Q6+, and LG Q6a – on Tuesday, which aim to offer some of LG’s premium features at a less expensive price. The new phones include the taller FullVision display introduced on the LG G6 earlier this year, along with quad-HD displays and Android 7.1.1. Weirdly enough, LG didn’t reveal price of a single model. In terms of specifications, you get a 5.5-inch screen and Snapdragon 635 chip on all three, albeit with varying amounts of RAM and internal storage.
Microsoft 365 bundles Windows 10 and Office 365 for businesses
At its partner conference in Washington, Microsoft introduced a new offering for businesses, bundling Windows 10 and Office 365 (along with other services) as part of a new service called Microsoft 365. It’s meant to make it easier for businesses to get their organisation members and employees aboard the latest and greatest Microsoft has to offer, and possibly streamline things in the process. Two variants – Enterprise and Business – will be available. The first arrives August 1 with pricing dependent on specific plan. The second enters public preview on August 2, and will cost $20 (about Rs. 1,290) per user per month.
Lava A93 launched at Rs. 7,999 without 4G support
Lava has launched a new budget Android phone – the Lava A93 – on Tuesday at Rs. 7,999. It’s meant to compete with the likes of Xiaomi Redmi 4 and Moto C Plus, but it’s missing 4G support let alone VoLTE. The A93 runs Android 6.0 on a 5.5-inch HD display, powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, with 2GB of RAM, 16GB internal storage (expandable up to 32GB), and 3,000mAh battery. In terms of cameras, you get an 8-megapixel rear sensor, and a 2-megapixel front sensor. Both cameras have their own flash.
Twitter allows to mute notifications from accounts you don’t follow
Twitter has introduced new features to curb abuse on its platform, including the option to disable notifications from accounts you don’t follow and those that don’t follow you. This comes on the back of giving users more control over the content they see, and make Twitter less of a toxic experience for some users.
Oculus Rift and Touch price drops to $399
Oculus has discounted its Rift VR headset and Touch controller bundle by $200 in certain regions, pushing it to $399 (about Rs. 25,700) combined for six weeks. That puts it on par with PS VR, which works with Sony’s PS4. Oculus Rift is the only VR headset not available in India; PS VR retails around the Rs. 40,000-mark and the HTC Vive is currently down to Rs. 79,990 as part of Amazon’s Prime Day sale.
China moves against VPNs
The Chinese government has instructed state-run telecommunication firms to block access to VPNs in the country, which is heavily used by a select bunch of users and foreign companies to bypass the ‘Great Firewall’. China has always heavily regulated and censored web traffic, and the latest move will push both VPN operators, and companies that rely on corporate VPNs to consider shutting shop in the 1.5-billion strong nation.