Digital Indian Gov

Microsoft Launcher is a formidable option when it comes to Android Launchers. Microsoft first tried their hands with the arrow launcher and then they shifted to the feature-rich launcher. The company has now added yet another utility feature to the Microsoft Launcher. Microsoft has baked in a feature that allows parents to track their kids. The new feature was announced as part of a Microsoft event which focussed on features related to children.
Other features include the feature to block certain sites on Microsoft Edge on Android and also a news site dedicated to the kids. As of now, Microsoft’s Family Group settings already allowed the parents to set certain restrictions for the kids and also track their activity on Windows 10 and Xbox One devices. Now, Microsoft has bundled the new tracking tool with the Android Launcher. The feature works by fetching the latest location of your kids within the personalized news feed.
In order for this to work you need to set a family group after installing the Microsoft Launcher on your Android. As explained earlier, parents will also be able to view the recent activities across all devices including Xbox One and Windows 10 PC. It is impressive how Microsoft is diluting the boundaries between platforms and is slowly turning itself into a company that is platform agnostic. Apart from the slew of apps for Android and iOS, now Microsoft is also offering a site blocking feature on Microsoft Edge.
With this in place, the Microsoft Launcher will shape up as a hub to track your kids’ activities across all devices. In the recent past, GPS devices to track your kids have not only been accessible but affordable as well. That being said, child rights and privacy campaigners are worried that this will hinder the kid’s growth and will not allow them to be independent. If such trackers become mainstream, the mankind will run the risk of having an entire generation that is raised on the idea of accepting surveillance.

The first 5G mobile devices should finally arrive next year, which means that smartphone manufacturers are hammering out the details right now. Unlike a lot of other component improvements that smartphones have seen over the last decade, like better cameras, faster processors, and brighter screens, 5G radios are going to demand some design compromises that will look decidedly backwards — at least for consumers that are used to thinner and sleeker devices coming out like clockwork. The problem, as Lightreading points out, is that 5G will rely on much higher-frequency spectrum than our current mobile networks use.
The higher frequencies enable those multi-gigabit speeds that the networks have been hyping so much, but at the cost of penetration. Higher frequency radio waves travel less distance than mid-band or low-band signals, and most importantly, they don’t penetrate through objects well. Why does this matter for smartphone design? Well, because if the hand holding the phone is sitting over the antenna or obstructing the line-of-sight to the cell station, then your connection may be impaired or lost.
At the very least, that means smartphone manufacturers are going to have to design in multiple antennas, which could change what materials devices are made from, as well as their shape and size. Metal backs are likely to vanish altogether, and even the metal sides that are a staple of modern flagship smartphones could be designed out. For the initial round of 5G devices, we could also see a return to the incredibly ugly antenna nubs that were a staple of earlier cellphones. Motorola’s recently-unveiled 5G Moto Mod, for example, has a nub that wouldn’t look out of place on a 2003 flip phone. The other consequence of 5G’s design limitations could be that it takes even longer for 5G smartphones to become mainstream.
Even if the first 5G networks and devices are released early next year, it’ll be years until 5G networks are more common. Rolling out 5G across a broad swathe of spectrums will take even more work than upgrading networks from 3G to 4G, as the wireless carriers will have to build hundreds of small-cell sites in every city. While that work is going on, smartphone makers might not want to make their flagship smartphones uglier and more expensive in order to include a feature that 90% of customers won’t be able to access. Apple, in particular, has never been in a rush to include the latest cellular technologies in its iPhones, especially if it comes at the cost of design compromises.

Google, as expected, announced some new features in its most used products – Google Photos, Gmail, News and more at the Google IO 2018 conference. These products now have deeper integration of AI. You can now compose emails quicker and edit images with ‘one-tap’ actions in Photos.
Gmail In Gmail, Google has introduced a new feature called ‘Smart Compose’ wherein the AI will draft emails for the user. This includes everything from greeting to your closing and even suggesting complete sentences in your emails. “Because it operates in the background, you can write an email like you normally would, and Smart Compose will offer suggestions as you type. When you see a suggestion that you like, click the “tab” button to use it,” says the blog post. This new feature will be rolling out to all the users in the next few weeks. It will also be made available for G Suite customers in the workplace in the coming months.
Google Photos In Google Photos, the search giant has introduced ‘One-Tap actions’ where users can easily edit images by brightening, sharing, rotating and arching them. “These suggested actions are powered by machine learning, which means you only see them on relevant photos. You can easily tap the suggestions to complete the action,” adds the blog post. The new photo creation tool plays with pops of color. It uses AI to detect the images’ subject and leave them in colour with the background in black and white. “You'll see these AI-powered creations in the Assistant tab of Google Photos,” says Google. The company has even introduced Google Photos partner program that gives developers the tools to support Google Photos in their apps.
Google Assistant Google Assistant also gets a bunch of updates that make it more naturally conversational, visually assistive and more helpful in general. One of the key announcements was that the Assistant now supports six different voices, which is possible using Google’s WaveNet technology from DeepMind. Furthermore, the new ‘Continued Conversation’ feature lets you talk to Google Assistant without giving ‘Hey Google’ voice commands over and again. It can carry out multiple actions as well. The search giant also introduced ‘Smart Displays’ that lets you quickly glance at responses provided by the Google Assistant. It will give users a quick snapshot of how their day looks like along with helpful suggestions based on the time of the day, users’ location and other parameters. Assistant is also coming to Google Maps navigation with a low visual profile to give you more information while you keep your hands on the steering wheel.
Google News Google has updated its News app with deeper AI integration. The ‘new’ app uses a different set of AI techniques “to take a constant flow of information as it hits the web, analyze it in real time and organize it into storylines,” says Trystan Upstill, Google News Engineer and product lead. The app now comes with a ‘For You’ section wherein users can stay updated with all the topics of their interest. “We start with a briefing of five stories that Google News has organized for you—a mix of the most important headlines, local news and the latest developments on the topics you’re interested in,” adds Upstill. The ‘Full Coverage’ feature shows a news story from different sources. This will let you see top headlines from different sources, videos, local news reports, FAQs, social commentary, and a timeline for stories. Furthermore, the Newsstand tab lets you easily search for a source and follow the news coming from that source. The updated app starts rolling today.

By Debashis Sarkar National Telecom Policy draft is out. Under the proposed guidelines, licensed telecom service providers like Airtel, Idea, Reliance Jio, Vodafone and others will now be able to provide app-based voice calling services over Wi-Fi. These voice calls will be treated similar to the regular voice calls that we make and operators will have to follow the guidelines set by telecom regulator Trai. Wondering how it will work? Here's a brief explainer: For example, if you are using a Vodafone number and you are not able to get proper connectivity in your region or is tired of call drops then you can use an app to connect through your home or office Wi-Fi to make calls.
The telephony app can also be of a different service provider. If you are primarily using a Vodafone SIM to make calls and wish to use the telephony app of a different service provider, then you will be required to download that company's app. In this case, you will be issued a new 10-digit mobile number. However, if you are already on Vodafone and want to use Vodafone telephony app to make calls via Wi-Fi then you will not need a new number. Also, note that a new SIM card is not required in either of the cases. Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) is traditionally seen as a means to lower cost of voice-calls across the globe. But India had missed on VOIP earlier as the telecom infrastructure based on circuit switch had little scope to accommodate VOIP natively. Now, the government has cleared the proposal to introduce internet telephony in the country to address call drops. “VOIP is not native to our infrastructure which is basically circuit switch and VOIP did not take-off in India previously.
Now, the regulator is saying that they will allow these VOIP calls and it is okay for operators to be able to receive those under the appropriate regulatory conditions,” said Rajan S Mathews, Director While call drop rates have been a major concern for the government for quite some time, internet telephony is been seen as a way to deal with the situation. There is little scope to focus on the cost advantage as voice calls in India are almost free now for the majority of the population. “Internet telephony was always there. So, it is a question of how it complies with the regulatory framework which was put in place previously. Now, the regulation has changed to allow certain type of VOIP calls to continue to be used. So, the consumer does not really have a major impact because the costs has already come down,” added Mathews.

Calling and texting from aircraft will soon become a reality as the Telecom Commission on Tuesday has approved in-flight connectivity, facilitating both voice and data calls and data surfing in Indian airspace, Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said. "Almost all recommendations by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on this have been accepted. We are expediting the process (to start) and within 3-4 months it should be ready. We will be operationalising this decision immediately," she told reporters after the meeting on Tuesday.
She said there were only two exception to TRAI's recommendations. The sector regulator said that foreign satellites and foreign gateways should also be permitted, "but there had been an earlier committee of secretaries meeting that decided that it should be an Indian satellite or a Department of Space approved satellite and the gateway should be in India." Sundararajan said: "We have to create a separate category of licensee, called In-Flight Connectivity Provider. This will also be applicable for ships. Re 1 will be the token licence fee. It is applicable above 3,000 metres." She also said that the matter need not go to the Cabinet for approval. In addition, keeping in view that grievance redressal in the telecom sector, which has been a long pending demand, the panel approved the proposal of forming a Telecom Ombudsman. "We get 10 million grievances per quarter. A three tier mechanism has been proposed. First will be within the telecom service providers the first level of complaints can be lodged. Then if the consumer is not satisfied with the response, each TSP will set up an appellate mechanism within itself to which the person can complaint. After that if it does not work they can move to consumer grievance redressal forums," Sundararajan said. "On top will be a Telecom Ombudsman created by TRAI.
The TRAI has said they do not have the powers to create, therefore, it has now been proposed to give them powers to create an ombudsman mechanism. The idea is they can have one ombudsman per TSP, or one ombudsman per region or as many ombudsman as they feel are necessary. This will bring in much better and more satisfactory grievance redressal into the telecom sector. This will be done in priority basis. It will require amendment of TRAI Act," she added. Among other important decisions, the panel also approved the decision on Internet telephony. "It will be operationalising it immediately. We expect that this will give a fillip to VoIP telephony through the data networks," the telecom secretary said. It also approved 12 major recommendations of TRAI on ease of doing business.
She said proliferation of broadband through public Wi-Fi network, has also been accepted. "Except that we have asked TRAI to work out an operational framework and all the members of the Telecom Commission felt that this is an extremely important recommendation because it will give a big fillip to the growth of public Wi-Fi hotspots in India and will create a new category of service providers through the public data office aggregators (PDOA)," Sundararajan said. "The PDOs will be a significant job creation opportunity because right now we do not have many Wi-Fi hotspots and the idea is to proliferate this in a very large scale. So this was seen as a huge catalyst in that direction.
We will be working with TRAI to operationalise it with immediate effect," she added. The panel also approved two items related to Universal Service Obligation Fund and eight state detailed project reports on BharatNet project were approved. "The setting up of the Ombudsman for the Telecom sector is a great milestone but how it will be implemented is a big challenge considering 100 crores plus users. The approval for Ease of Doing Business too reflect the DoT's strong resolve the revolutionize and streamline the Telecommunication services in India. However data pricing through Wi-Fi is likely to reduce tariffs but the good news that the Wi-Fi will be chargeable can be very good opportunity to increase revenues," said Hemant Joshi, Partner Deloitte India.

Microsoft on Monday announced the rollout of new features for Office 365, the company's suite of applications available for mobile and desktop platforms. These new functional features include ink analysis and ink gestures on Microsoft PowerPoint and Word. There have been certain AI improvements for Word on Mac, new features for Outlook on iOS, Outlook calendar enhancements on Windows, and the Office 2019 preview is now available. In a blog post, the Redmond, Washington giant announced several new features for its Office 365 suite of apps.
Microsoft PowerPoint now gets enhanced shape and text recognition on Windows Ink, which can be used to convert handwritten words on their slides into texts and draw certain shapes. As for Word, new ink gestures allow users to add handwritten text to documents and manage existing content using a pen. Additionally, "Microsoft 365 subscribers can quickly split paragraphs into multiple lines, insert words into existing sentences, and join separated words, all using natural pen-based gestures," said Kirk Koenigsbauer, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365. Office 365 on Mac adds AI enhancements to Microsoft Word. With the update, Mac users can translate documents written in more than 60 languages, using neural machine translation to offer accurate contextual results.
The new Resume Assistant helps create resumes with "personalised insights" with the backing of Microsoft's professional social platform - LinkedIn. Full versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote on iOS and Android will soon be available for Office 365 Business Essentials, Office 365 F1, and Office 365 E1 subscribers. The versions will offer the ability to create, edit, and share documents on the go. Preview of Office 2019 for commercial customers on Windows 10 is now live. Office 2019 for Mac, Exchange 2019, SharePoint 2019, Project Server 2019, and Skype for Business 2019, will also launch previews in the following months. Lastly, on the consumer front, Outlook for Windows gets the ability to prevent forwarding calendar invitations to non-relevant recipients - helping protect user privacy and preserving meeting information.
The update also brings certain new features to Microsoft 365 Business such as the inclusion of Advanced Threat Protection (ATP), capabilities like data loss prevention and information protection to prevent unintentional leaks, and new technologies to improve enterprise-level security. As for IT management, the update brings enhancements to cloud-based device management, addition of Kiosk browser in Windows 10, and an integrated admin interface on Microsoft 365. Microsoft Outlook While Microsoft Office 365 got a ton of the above mentioned features, Outlook, specifically, got several features on all platforms. Things like bill pay reminders, suggested event locations and meeting rooms, meeting RSVP tracking and forwarding, and managing multiple time zones are all new features available on Outlook Calendar across Windows, Mac, web, and mobile. As for Outlook Mail, it gets three new features - namely, organisation directory details to manage employee lists better, added support for SOCKS proxies to protect company data (available on Outlook for iOS and Android), and a new Bcc warning to alert users when they are blind copied on an email (available on Outlook for Windows). On iOS, Microsoft Outlook will finally get Draft Sync that will let users continue their unsent drafts on mobile and desktop platforms alike. This feature will roll out in the near future.
A new Organization view is coming to iOS that will show a hierarchical chart of all employees in the company with details like manager, direct reports, and coworkers for the selected user. AI will help Outlook surface relevant contacts from outside the organisation structure as well. Coming soon to the Outlook app on Android is Office Lens technology that allows users to trim down and embed images of documents, presentations, or of text written on a whiteboard. It's coming to Android in May 2018. Also coming to Android in the same timeline, and later this summer to Outlook for Mac, Quick Reply will offer contextual replies similar to Google's Smart Reply. Quick reply is available in Outlook for iOS. Finally, the ability to tag favourite contacts (Android and iOS in June), enhanced group tracking (iOS in June), blocking external content tracking (Android in May), and the ability to enforce company policies on email data sharing (iOS and Android in June) are some new features coming to Outlook mobile soon.

Microsoft is rolling out its semi-annual Windows update to Windows 10 PCs and tablets from Monday. This is the fifth such feature update since the first public launch of Windows 10 in 2015. The update was earlier called Microsoft Spring Creators Update, but it seems Microsoft wanted to simplify the name this time around. Furthermore, the new update that brings Windows 10 to version 1803 is focused on productivity and task management with some new, nifty features. While the update is called April 2018 update, it is arriving a bit late. It was scheduled to roll out a couple of weeks ago, but Microsoft took some time to even out a few bugs that were found at the last minute by beta testers. The easiest way to get the new update is to wait for the notifications. Windows Update will automatically inform users that a new feature update is ready to install. However, you can manually check for updates from the Settings app or get the latest version directly from Microsoft store. With the release of the new update, the Windows 10 Anniversary Update that released in 2016 is no longer supported. It will not receive bug fixes and security updates any more while the April 2017 Creators Update will no longer be supported from October 9 from this year. Users are hence recommended to update to the latest version soon as they receive it.
Microsoft has made the update process more streamlined so that users don’t have to spend hours waiting for the update to finish. Features will download in the background once the initial changes are done after a Windows restart. The new update brings to the table some much anticipated features that is likely going to change the way users have used Windows. This includes the new Timeline feature while Microsoft’s new Fluent design language has spread to more places. You’ll see more hover effects in places like the Start Menu and the Notification Center apart from the Settings app while the taskbar can now be blurred. Here are the five best features of the Windows April 2018 update:
Timeline The major new feature in the new update is the Timeline. The feature sits in place of the Task View button beside the Cortana seach bar on the Task Bar. The feature lets you see all the apps and activities of the past 30 days so that you can pick up right where you left off. The apps and activities sync across various machines including Android and iOS devices running Microsoft Edge various, in which case, the entire browsing history on smartphones will be available on Windows. The Timeline can also be accessed by pressing Windows Key + Tab or swipe up with four fingers on the trackpad. The Timeline still shows the active apps but a scroll bar on the right allows you to access apps, documents, Office programs, web pages opened using Microsoft Edge. If you are privacy freak, however, the feature can be turned off by heading to Settings —> Privacy — > Activity History where you’ll find two check boxes to either turn off activity history for current PC or disable the feature altogether.
Focus Assist What’s Do-not-Disturb for Android is Focus Assist on Windows. The update brings the feature that allows users to be more productive by muting notifications. Earlier, the feature was known as Quiet Hours but now Focus Assist will automatically mute notifications when you’re playing a game or projecting a presentation. You can allow some apps to show notifications though, by tweaking the settings. Focus Assists sits in the Activity Center in the Task Bar.
Nearby Share Once again, the feature is lifted from MacOS devices that allow file sharing between nearby machines. Nearby Share will allow users to share photos, videos, documents, web pages across nearby Windows 10 machines. The receiving party needs to have the update installed to use it and it works over Bluetooth much like Apple’s AirDrop. The feature is disabled by default but you can turn it on by going to Settings —>System — > Shared Experiences. There are options to either share with only your devices or share with everyone nearby. The feature does not support sharing via contacts though, which we hope Microsoft will soon add to it.
Quick Bluetooth Pairing Pairing Bluetooth devices have always been a long process, but with the new update, that’s about to change. Windows will now send an automatic prompt to quickly connect to a Bluetooth device nearby and pair with it. It isn’t supported by all Bluetooth devices though and device makers will need to add support for the feature to quickly pair them with the PC.
Microsoft Edge Tab Mute and PWA support Microsoft’s Edge browser will finally have the ability to mute tabs to prevent unwanted sounds from playing from a tab. The feature already exists in rival browsers like Chrome and Firefox. After the update, you can mute websites by right clicking on the tab and selecting ‘Mute’. Additionally, the browser also supports Progressive Web Apps that are essentially apps that are made for the web and is compatible across iOS, Android and Windows devices uniformly.
Dictation Windows’ ability to allow dictation is not new. There have been multiple tools for dictation on Windows over the years, but users had to rummage for it. With the new update, Windows is making it easier for users to dictate speech to the PC to convert to text. Dictation mode can be turned on by simply pressing the Windows Key + H shortcut which will use the available microphones to understand what you’re saying. The feature works quite all right if you have a clear accent and good mics.
Switch between GPUs Most high-end Windows laptops come with the option to switch between on-board and dedicated GPUs and Windows will offer users the make the switch on a per-app basis. So, you can choose lightweight apps like Chrome and Paint to run on the on-board graphics to save power, but Photoshop and games can be set to run on dedicated graphics to improve the performance. Previously, this was done automatically which was also quite efficient, but with the new update, Windows is giving the power in your hands. There are dozens of other new additions to Windows that ultimately help in making the platform more streamlined. Windows is now the most popular PC operating system with over 1.25 billion PCs active over the world and with every update, Microsoft is making Windows more useful and more streamlined. The new features add to an already existing suite of productivity-centric features that will only make the experience better. Let us know what you think about the features.

Microsoft announced this past Friday that its hotly anticipated new update, now known simply as the Windows 10 April 2018 Update, would be released on Monday. Today, the company delivered on that promise. The Windows 10 April 2018 Update comes a bit later than expected considering today is the last day of the month, but it’ll be no less appreciated by Windows 10 users who gain access to a number of important new features. The update, which Microsoft had previously called the Spring Creators Update, is all about increasing focus and promoting productivity. “With Windows 10, we’ve focused on delivering the most modern and most secure operating system.
Since its initial launch, we delivered two updates with features designed to enable the creator in each of us,” the company said in its announcement. “With our latest major release – the Windows 10 April 2018 Update – we want to give you back some of your greatest currency, your time. Our hope is that you’ll have more time to do what matters most to you – create, play, work or simply do what you love.” We’ve already told you about all of the best new features in the Windows 10 April 2018 Update, and you should go back and read that post if you plan to install the Windows 10 April 2018 Update today. Once you’ve gone over all the biggest new additions to Windows 10 though, take a look through this post to learn about our five favorite hidden features in the new Windows 10 April 2018 Update.
Bye bye blur Remember when 1080p resolution was a big deal? Well those days are long gone and it seems like even lower-cost Windows laptops and mid-range PC monitors support higher resolutions. Heck, you can get a really good 27-inch 4K monitor on Amazon these days for just over $200! Of course, not all software scales well on these super high-resolution displays, which is why Windows 10 has a scaling option. This way, users can quickly and easily scale up things like fonts so that they’re larger and easier to see on monitors with very high resolution. The problem, of course, is that scaling up certain apps make them look horrible and blurry. Good news! There’s now a new feature that comes courtesy of the Windows 10 April 2018 Update to let you fix these blurry apps. Just go to Settings > System > Display > Advanced scaling settings and toggle the option “Let Windows try to fix apps so they’re not blurry” to on.
Faster updates If you configure Windows 10 to automatically update overnight, it doesn’t really matter how long your PC is offline. Of course if you’re an early adopter that’s not the case, because the Windows 10 April 2018 Update isn’t yet available as an automatic update. If you want it now you’re going to have to update manually, and that means you’re going to have to spend some time offline while major update components are installed. Last year’s Creators Update left PCs offline for a whopping 82 minutes, and the subsequent Fall Creators Update left you twiddling your thumbs for 51 minutes. Impressively, the Windows 10 April 2018 Update will only leave you offline for about 30 minutes.
Cortana is more helpful Cortana doesn’t get anywhere near as much hype as Amazon’s Alexa assistant. Heck, even Siri is talked about far more than Cortana, though most conversations surrounding Siri are negative these days. But people who use Windows 10 to its fullest know how helpful the Cortana assistant can be, and a few nifty tweaks in the Windows 10 April 2018 Update make it even better. Our favorite Cortana tweak is the new “Organizer” tab on Cortana’s Notebook page. This tab places lists and reminders front and center, which is obviously a good thing since those are the most important features of the Notebook in Cortana. Everything else has been dumped into a second tab labeled “Manage Skills.”
Stop updates from slowing down your PC It’s great that Windows 10 can download updates in the background while you continue working. But the worst thing about Windows updates — even ones that happen in the background — is that they tend to slow down your machine while they’re being downloaded. Honestly, it would probably be less frustrating to just take the PC out of commission while updates are being downloaded than to have your machine slow down. Once you install the Windows 10 April 2018 Update, you’ll be able to prevent future slowdowns. Go to Settings > Update & Security > Advanced Options. On the next screen, click on Delivery Optimization > Advanced Options. Now, check the boxes next to “limit how much bandwidth is used for downloading updates in the background” and “limit how much bandwidth is used for downloading updates in the foreground.” Then just use the sliders to adjust the maximum amount of bandwidth updates can use.
Privacy improvements Last but certainly not least, the Windows 10 April 2018 Update includes some lesser-known privacy improvements that will be much appreciated by users who value their personal data. This is obviously a very hot topic right now in light of the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal. In the new Windows 10 April 2018 Update, there are four key privacy enhancements that most people don’t know about. First, privacy settings pertaining to camera hardware will now impact all software, including Win32 programs. Second, there’s a new option to automatically block all permission requests for Account Info, Calendar, Call History, Contacts, Documents, Email, Messaging, Pictures, Tasks and/or Videos. Third, the Activity History page (Settings > Privacy) now includes an option to enable or disable “Let Windows collect my activities.” And finally, “Diagnostics & Feedback” now lets users view the data Windows 10 has collected, and it can quickly and easily be deleted.

Chinese smartphone maker Huawei Technologies is working on its own proprietary mobile operating system (OS) since 2012 after a US investigation into the company, the media reported. The company, which is also the world's biggest telecommunications equipment manufacturer, would ditch Google's Android platform amid reports that it is under investigation by the US for breaching sanctions against Iran, the South China Morning Post reported on Sunday. "The company started building its own OS after a US investigation into Huawei and ZTE in 2012. Huawei also has its own OS for tablets and personal computers," the report added.
According to media report, the US House Intelligence Committee found after a year-long investigation that the Chinese businesses, Huawei Technologies and ZTE Inc, were a "national security threat because of their attempts to extract sensitive information from American companies and their loyalties to the Chinese government". Google's Android OS and Apple's proprietary iOS have a stronghold on smartphone OS, accounting for 99.9 percent of the global market, according to Gartner. "The plan to build a proprietary OS was started by Huawei's founder, Ren Zhengfei, and the company has never given up on it as it is seen as a strategic investment to prepare for 'worst-case scenarios'," the report added. Huawei's alternative to Android has not been released as it is not "as good" as Android and the system does not have many third-party apps developed for it.
The company is currently under investigation. If the the US Department of Justice finds it guilty of violating sanctions, it could impose criminal penalties on the smartphone maker. Another Chinese player, ZTE, paid $892 million in fines for exporting US tech to Iran last year. The US Department of Commerce has activated a denial of export privileges against ZTE for alleged violations of the US Export Administration Regulations. ZTE is currently taking steps to comply with the US denial order.
Huawei, the Chinese tech company that is better known for its smartphone devices, is said to be working on its own operating system that might emerge as an Android alternative. Although the company’s handsets, including those from its sub-brand Honor, run on Google’s Android, the new OS version still seems far from seeing the light of the day. As reported by South China Morning Post, Huawei started working on its own operating system ever since it was under investigation by the US in 2012. The company is also said to have its own OS for tablets and personal computers. The project was reportedly started under Huawei’s founder Ren Zhengfei and is a preparation for ‘worst-case scenario’. The OS for now doesn’t seem to be ready for public rollout as it is not as capable as Android. In addition, the OS lacks third-party apps from developers as well.

We are yet to see the latest flagship smartphones from a couple of brands. Both OnePlus and LG have already confirmed to launch their 2018 flagship smartphone in the month of May. Apart from flagship smartphones, we will also see quite a few budget-centric launches in India. Most of these newly launching smartphones will also be sold in the Indian market.
OnePlus 6 OnePlus 6 will be officially unveiled on May 16th in London and the India launch is scheduled for May 17th. The first look and key specifications are already revealed in the numerous leaks. With the OnePlus 6, the company is opting for the glass back body. Based on the leaks, we might also see a special variant with the ceramic body. The device will be coming notch display and Snapdragon 845 octa-core processor. It offers up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. The company might also unveil the Dash Charge V2 which should improve the already faster charging speeds offered with current gen Dash Charge. It runs on the latest Oxygen OS based on Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box. The Alert Slider will be now placed on the right edge instead of the left edge. The company is also retaining the 3.5mm audio jack.
Honor 10 Honor launched the Honor 10 smartphone last week in China and the global launch for the same device is scheduled for May 15th. Just like its predecessors, the new Honor 10 also continues to come with the glass sandwich design. The new Honor 10 sports the notch display with Full HD+ resolution and 19:9 aspect ratio. Under the hood is the HiSilicon Kirin 970 octa-core processor with a dedicated NPU for processing the AI tasks. It comes with 6GB of RAM and will be available in different storage options. Talking about the cameras, there are 24MP and 16MP dual rear cameras on the rear with f/1.8 aperture and a single 24MP camera on the front with f/2.0 aperture. It comes with Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box with the customized EMUI 8.1 laid on top. The Honor 10 is backed by a 3,400mAh battery and supports up to 5V/4.5A (22.5W) super fast charging.
Xiaomi Mi A2 Xiaomi is rumored the launch the Mi 6X as Mi A2 in the international markets. While the Mi 6X is already on sale in China, there is no official confirmation about the Mi A2 launch by the company. The design of the Mi 6X looks similar to that of Redmi Note 5 Pro. Even the upcoming Redmi S2 also comes with the similar design. However, the Mi A2 will be missing the 3.5mm audio jack for connecting regular earphones. It sports a 5.99-inch Full HD+ (2160 x 1080 pixels) display and is backed by a Snapdragon 660 octa-core processor. The dual rear cameras on the rear use the 20MP Sony IMX376 and 12MP Sony IMX486 sensors with f/1.8 aperture. On the front is a 20MP Sony IMX376 sensor for capturing selfies. It is backed by a 3,010mAh non-removable battery that also supports Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging.
LG G7 ThinQ LG has already confirmed launching the LG G7 ThinQ smartphone on May 2nd in New York. It will be first LG smartphone to come with notch display. Just like the LG V30 ThinQ smartphones, the new LG G7 ThinQ will also offer AI-based camera features. There will be no rear facing power button and also features a new button dedicated to trigger Google Assistant. It is mentioned to come with a 6.1-inch display that will be offering Quad HD+ resolution and 19:9 aspect ratio. The LG G7 ThinQ is also the first smartphone to offer Super Bright Display with up to 1000 nits brightness. Even with 1000 nits brightness, the Super Bright Display is also said to be power efficient than other displays with same screen size and resolution. Under the hood, it will come powered by 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform. It will also bring new AI features like Voice AI and Vision AI.
Xiaomi Redmi S2 Xiaomi will be soon launching a new budget Redmi smartphone with dual rear cameras and 18:9 displays. As per leaks, the device will be named as Redmi S2 and comes with a 6-inch HD+ (1440 x 720 pixels) display and Snapdragon 625 octa-core processor. The device will be available with different RAM and storage options. On the rear, the Redmi S2 will be offering dual cameras featuring 12MP & 5MP sensors with EIS and LED flash. For selfies, there will be a 16MP front-facing camera with portrait mode. It will be running on the latest Android 8.1 Oreo-based MIUI 9.5 out of the box. Along with the fingerprint sensor, the Redmi S2 will also offer Face Unlock. It will be backed by a 3,080mAh battery and might offers 10W fast charging. It measures 160.7 x 77.3 x 8.1 mm and weighs 170 grams. The device will be made available in Indian and China in the coming weeks.
Nokia X At an event held in China, HMD Global showcased the all-new Nokia X smartphone. The device will be officially launched on May 16th, the same day as the OnePlus 6 global launch. Initially, the Nokia X availability might be limited to the Chinese market. The Nokia X is first Nokia branded smartphone to embrace the notch. As seen on many other Android smartphones with notch display, there is also bottom chin which holds the Nokia logo. On the rear, the device sports dual rear cameras and a fingerprint sensor. Unlike other newly launched Nokia smartphones, there is no ZEISS branding on the Nokia X. The device is expected to be launched in two different variants. While the Snapdragon 636 powered variant packs 6GB RAM and 128GB storage, the Helio P60 powered variant will be offering 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. It will be running on the latest Android Oreo out of the box.
Honor 7A & Honor 7C After launching the Honor 7A and Honor 7C in China, the company recently introduced them in Europe. Now in May, both these devices are expected to be made available in India. Both these devices come with an affordable price tag and offer 18:9 displays. While the Honor 7C sports metal unibody design, the Honor 7A comes with a polycarbonate shell. In terms of design, both these devices look almost similar. There are 13MP + 2MP dual rear cameras and an 8MP single front camera. While the Honor 7C packs Snapdragon 450 octa-core processor, the Honor 7A comes with Snapdragon 430 processor. Honor is also offering fingerprint sensor and face unlock to securely unlock these devices. The devices will be running on Android 8.0 Oreo-based EMUI 8.0 out of the box. Till date, the company launched the budget 18:9 smartphones only with Kirin 659 processor.
Moto G6, Moto G6 Plus, & Moto G6 Play Motorola has officially launched the Moto G6, Moto G6 Plus, and Moto G6 Play smartphones. As of now, the company is selling the new Moto G6 smartphones only in Brazil. All these smartphones feature 18:9 displays and Snapdragon processors. They run on the Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box. While the Moto G6 and G6 Plus comes with 12MP + 5MP dual rear cameras, the Moto G6 Play sports only a single 13MP rear camera. Both the front and rear cameras on these devices come accompanied by a LED flash. While the Moto G6 and G6 Plus come with a front facing fingerprint sensor, the fingerprint sensor on the Moto G6 Play is embedded into the Moto dimple on the rear. The devices also support Turbo Power fast charging technology. Unlike the US and European pricing, we expect the company to launch these devices with a bit more aggressive price tag in India.

Apple is in the news for all the unwanted stuff these days. The Apple iPhone X isn’t particularly doing well across the world including India, and the company is rumoured to launch a refreshed MacBook Air this year at the WWDC 2018. However, for some unknown reasons, Apple has now informed its supply chain partners a change in the production of the upcoming MacBook Air. That said, Apple did not inform the reason behind the change in schedule to the supply partners, but now it’s unlikely that Apple will unveil the notebook at its Developers Conference in June.
Earlier, it was said that Apple is planning to introduce a MacBook Air refresh in the third quarter of 2018 (at its September event) and this report of pushing back the production falls in-line with the same. “Apple has informed supply chain partners that mass production of its new notebook model for 2018 will not kick off until the second half of the year, yet without explaining the rescheduling move. Some partners speculated that the postponement might be caused by problems with some key components such as processors,” a DigiTimes report stated.
Earlier this month, it was rumoured that Apple would introduce a 2018 version of the MacBook Air at the WWDC 2018 event which is set to kickstart on June 4. The planned MacBook Air 2018 is said to be the first Air model to feature a Retina display that will be produced by South Korean electronics company LG. The new MacBook Air will keep the same form factor and said to arrive with upgraded internals. One of the key highlights of the upcoming MacBook Air will be its price. In the United States, Apple was rumoured to launch the new model at around $899 or even $799 to counter the strong sales of Chromebooks. But this information was given by market observers.
In the past couple of years, the sales of Apple MacBooks have come down drastically, and the cheaper price is expected to boost the sales of MacBooks by over 10% in 2018. The DigiTimes report further claimed that the production of new iPhones would also kick off in the third quarter. Apple might force its EMS plants in China with the additional workforce to meet the sufficient product of 2018 iPhones and MacBook Air devices. During the upcoming Developers Conference event in June, Apple might announce the much-awaited iPhone SE 2 or iPhone SE (2018) with upgraded internals and design compared to the 2016 iPhone SE. The Cupertino-based company will also announce the iOS 12 Beta version at the event.

There’s a captivating race on in the word of technology at the moment. Google and Amazon are going all out to get customers in becoming ‘smart’ by purchasing their Google Home and Amazon Echo smart speakers respectively. While Amazon has had an edge in terms of first mover advantage, Google is playing catch up. We used the Amazon Echo and Google Home smart speakers to see how they stack up against each other. Here’s the comparison between the two smart speakers
Setting up process: Both are equally good A steady Wi-Fi connection and a smartphone are the pre-requisites for using either of the devices. Without either of the two both the Amazon Echo and Google Home are worthless. For Google Home, you need to download the Home app whereas for Amazon Echo, you need to download the Alexa app. The setup process is nearly the same: connect the phone to the Echo or Home through Wi-Fi. You will then need to follow the simple steps to setup the device. Both devices are easy to set up but in our experience the Echo took considerably longer to set up than the Google Home.
Surprisingly, we did try the Amazon Echo Spot – the newest speaker by Amazon – and it connected in a jiffy compared to the Echo. Some points to remember: for Google Home, you need to be within four feet of the Wi-Fi router to get it up and running. No such thing is required for the Amazon Echo. The Google Home works only when you use two wakeup commands, “Ok, Google” and “Hey, Google”. For the Echo, you can say Alexa, Amazon, Echo and even Computer to get it going.
Design and controls: Amazon Echo is better In terms of design, both devices have gone minimalistic and kept thing simple. While the Google Home has a peculiar shape and comes in white colour – though the bottom fabric can be changed – the Echo has a cylindrical shape. The Google Home has capacitive touch buttons with LED lights in ‘Google’ colours – looks classy for sure. The Amazon Echo is more ‘flashy’ as it has LED lights that are powered every time you wake the device. On top of the Echo, there are the volume buttons, microphone button and another button for other commands. Google has kept it simpler – and better – as there are no buttons on the top of the device. Just tap the surface of the Google Home to increase or decrease volume.
There’s a button switch off the microphone which is on the rear side of the Google Home. The Echo is definitely heavier than the Google Home but that’s moot point as neither of the devices work without being connected to a power socket. So, portability isn’t an option with these smart speakers. Both Amazon Echo and Google Home can be connected to other speakers through Bluetooth. The Amazon Echo gives you an additional option of connecting another device through a 3.5-mm port which is lacking in Google Home.
Sound quality and audio performance: Google Home is better In terms of sound quality and audio performance is hands, the Echo has a slight edge over Google Home as it is certainly louder. Even when it comes to voice recognition, the Echo is better equipped as it has seven far-field microphones inside it for better recognition. The Google Home’s audio performance is much better. The voice texture is good as is the bass response when compared to the Echo. The Echo is certainly louder but lacks the finesse and almost every song you play sounds pretty same as it doesn’t manage instrument separation very well. As far as playing music is concerned, both devices support third-party apps such as Gaana and Saavn. While Amazon has a treasure trove of music on its Amazon Music, Google has the option of Google Play Music.
Smart assistants: Google Home has a slight edge It’s a bit tricky to judge these devices on the performance of their AI-based voice assistants. We asked the same questions to Amazon Echo and Google Home and got a mixed bag of responses. For example, we asked the Amazon Echo “Alexa, remind me to watch the Manchester United match at 9pm”. At 8.56, there was a reminder that buzzed on the Echo. With Google Home, we gave the same command and got a notification reminder on the smartphone also. Both devices are equally capable of setting alarms and answering basic questions, telling jokes (they aren’t funny ones)play music on command. Having said that, the Echo does a better job of playing regional music as it understands other languages better than Google Home – as of now.
Google Home has a big advantage that it has the backing of Google’s powerful ecosystem, so its Assistant is certainly smarter. Having said that, if you are deep into Amazon’s shopping, music and Prime – then the Echo has the edge. Google Home also has the added advantage of Chromecast as you can ask it to play videos on YouTube or stream content from Netflix. The Echo, surprisingly, doesn’t have support for its Fire Stick at the moment.
Amazon Echo vs Google Home: Both are good We tried certain smart devices – like the Philips Hue bulb --with the Echo and Home and both worked smoothly. It’s fun to ask the speakers to dim the light or brighten it. While the ecosystem of smart products is still very limited, do keep in mind that these devices cost a lot. Their functionality is not in doubt and both the Echo and Home do a fine job of managing it.
Which is the better choice? Depends on what you prefer Like most devices, both the Amazon Echo and Google Home have their share of pros and cons. Google Home has an edge over Echo in terms of its bigger and powerful ecosystem. Not to forget, that one is more invested in Google than one is Amazon – at least at the moment. If you’re an online shopper and Amazon is your go to website, then the Echo is the perfect buy as it really eases the whole process. As standalone music devices, the Amazon Echo is louder than the Google Home.
Amazon Echo’s voice recognition is also better than the Google Home but in terms of overall audio performance, the latter offer a superior experience. At the moment, Amazon might have had a head start on Google but simply for the fact that one is more reliant on the search giant, gives the Home a slight edge. Having said that, the Echo is a powerful device that won’t let you down either. In the end, the choice will come down to what appeals most as both devices are reliable and powerful.

Microsoft has rolled out a preview of Office 2019 to commercial customers, with features that are usually seen in the company's Office 365 subscription. Microsoft is making test versions of several Office apps available for x86-based Windows systems in the Office 2019 preview programme. Office 2019, which Microsoft calls its 'perpetual' Office release, will be released in the second half of 2018 and it will include client apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, Access, Project, and Visio, as well as server apps like Exchange, SharePoint, Project Server, and Skype for Business Server.
The Office 2019 is the successor to Office 2016. The company is targetting the Windows version of Office 2019 towards enterprises that are not running Office 365. In a support page, Microsoft had detailed how to participate in the Office 2019 Commercial Preview programme. Notably, Office 2019 will only run on Windows 10 and in the case of the server apps, Windows Server 2019, Microsoft explains in a blog post. Also, the Mac Commercial Preview program for Office 2019 also will go live "in the next few months." Do note that users and companies must be registered with the Microsoft Collaborate portal to join the Preview programme. "Updates include new and improved inking features across the apps, like the roaming pencil case, pressure sensitivity, and tilt effects; more powerful data analysis in Excel, like new formulas, new charts, and Power BI integration; and sophisticated presentation features in PowerPoint, like Morph and Zoom," explains Microsoft's Jared Spataro.
It is worth noting that these features are already included in Office 365 ProPlus. Coming to the latest changes in Office desktop apps in Office 2019, PowerPoint 2019 comes with the ability to manage icons, SVG, and 3D images, and more, while Word 2019 adds learning tools captions and audio descriptions, and other features. With Excel 2019, Microsoft promises better data analysis and with Outlook 2019, users can "manage email more efficiently." Microsoft also is shortening the duration of support for the latest version of Office. Earlier, it users to provide five years of mainstream and five years of extended support, but with Office 2019, Microsoft is going to provide five years of mainstream support and two years of extended support.

Apple every year releases a new iOS update with new features and enhancements in almost every section for millions of iPhone and iPad users. Last year it released iOS 11 and this year it is widely expected to bring iOS 12. While the iOS version is introduced at WWDC 2018 in June, Apple starts rolling it out in September or October to end users.
However, there is a way using which anybody can get access to upcoming iOS versions before they actually hit iPhones and iPads at the end of each year. It is by enrolling in the company’s Apple Beta Software Program. Those enrolled in this program get access to iOS public beta versions a bit early than the rest of the crowd and can use the new features as well. Although these versions are not the final version, they do give you a fair idea of what the end product will look like. Here are some steps on how to become a member. Apple usually keeps such programs in order to get a feedback from users of any bugs or any other issues. While today we’re only talking about iOS beta program, similar programs are there for macOS and tvOS as well.
Step 1: Visit https://beta.apple.com/sp/betaprogram/welcome and sign in to your account.
Step 2: Before installing the beta software, backup the data so that you don’t lose content in case things don’t go as planned.
Step 3: From the iOS device (iPhone or iPad), visit beta.apple.com/profile website to download the configuration profile.
Step 4: Once downloaded, the iOS device will prompt automatically to install it. Follow the instructions on the screen.
Step 5: After this the device will get an OTA update for the beta version of the latest iOS. You can tap to Settings > General > Software Update. And voila!
Apple is expected to introduce iOS 12 in June this year during the WWDC 2018 conference. The conference meant for developers will be taking place from June 4 through June 8. Apple will be holding the event at the McEnery Convention Center, San Jose, US.

After a brief delay (though Microsoft won’t confirm or deny this), Microsoft today announced that the Windows 10 April 2018 Update will be available as a free download to users worldwide on Monday, April 30, with the broader rollout starting May 8. As with every Windows release, there’s plenty of new features, cosmetic tweaks and bugfixes here. But since Microsoft now tests all of these through its Windows Insider program ahead of the wider launch, there are no real surprises here (except for maybe the name, which is obviously not “Spring Creators Update”) . As Microsoft’s general manager for Windows product marketing Aaron Woodman told me ahead of today’s launch, the company sees this update as a continuation of the overall Windows 10 journey. According to Woodman, the overall idea behind this release was to ensure that “people can do their best work on Windows.”
“When you think about the release, there is a theme being pulled through,” he told me. “How do we help customers really get things complete and save time and be more efficient on Windows than on any other operating system.” Indeed, after having used the update for a while now, it very much feels like Microsoft’s overall vision for Windows 10 is really coming together. The most obvious manifestation of that is the new Timeline feature, which is the highlight of the release. It was actually supposed to be in the Fall Creators Update from October 2017, but it simply wasn’t ready for a wider rollout then. The overall idea here is simple: users now jump between desktop and mobile all day long, but it’s hard to pick up where you left off when you go back and forth between devices, even if you’re just talking about a desktop and a laptop. With Timeline, Windows 10 users get a view of their recent activity from the last 30 days, no matter whether that’s in Edge on Android or Office 365 on another Windows machine.
Timeline is built right into the existing task switcher and ideally it’ll allow you to, for example, jump right back into a document you were working on in the office when you get to your laptop at home. This feature has a lot of promise, but I haven’t actually found it all that useful yet, mainly because most developers have yet to support it. While Edge is a perfectly fine browser, I mostly use Firefox and Chrome, and those don’t appear in timeline yet. If you’re a heavy Office 365 user, though, this feature is likely a godsend. In Woodman’s view, Timeline is a good example for where Windows is going, though. “One of the big changes you see with Windows Timeline is that it embraces the end customer over the individual machine,” he told me. Another major new feature Microsoft is highlighting is Focus Assist, which basically mutes notifications for you. You can set it to automatically mute notifications at specific times or turn it on at will.
You can also choose to still receive calls and emails from specific people even when you are in focus mode. While this isn’t going to “wow” most people, it’s surely useful, especially if your company has adopted Slack or a similar tool that’s meant to make communications easier but mostly just leads to constant distractions. When you turn your notifications back on, Focus Assist will present you with a summary of what you’ve missed. Also new is support for system-wide dictation. Microsoft isn’t putting this front and center with this release — and you’ll have to use the Windows Key+H shortcut to actually start it — but if that’s something you’ve always wanted, your time has come.
Dictation will work in any text field. Unsurprisingly, Microsoft is also launching an updated version of its Edge browser with this release. You can read more about that here, but the highlights of the updated Edge are full-screen support for books, PDFs and Reading View pages, as well as support for a new grammar tool that can analyze sentences for you. Also new is the ability to save your address and payment preferences to make filling out payment forms easier (something Chrome and others have long done), as well as the ability to print clutter-free versions of articles you are reading on the web. Oh, and you can now finally mute noisy tabs, too! In addition to these consumer-centric features, the company is also announcing a number of features for Windows 10 business and enterprise users today. For the most part, these will make the life of IT admins easier. You can read more about those new features here. As you can see, this isn’t a major overhaul of Windows 10 — and with the semi-annual updates, that’s no real surprise. As I noted above, it’s starting to feel like Microsoft’s overall vision for Windows 10 is coming into focus. Not everybody is going to love an operating system that increasingly relies on cloud services for some of its more advanced features (like Timeline), but that’s pretty much the way Microsoft is going here and that’s also where there is some obvious room for innovations.

There’s a flurry of activity in the smart speaker market in India. Google recently marked its presence in the segment armed with two new devices, Google Home and Google Home Mini. On the other hand, Amazon has been active in the segment with its Echo range of smart speakers. Yet, there are more questions than answers – ironical as smart speakers have all the responses – about how to make the best use of them. Or is it actually worth buying a smart speaker and if you do then how does it make life better? Buying a smart speaker is just the beginning and if you really want to be ‘smart’ then there’s a host of things you need to consider. Here we list out some of those things:
1. There can be language and accent issues : While it’s all well and good to seek information and ask questions to smart speakers, there is a language barrier. Don’t go expecting the smart devices to understand the local accent to talk to you in your native language.
2. You need strong Wi-Fi connectivity : No Wi-Fi? Don’t even bother thinking about a smart speaker then as they’re completely useless without them. So keep in mind that a good, secure and fast Wi-Fi connection is the first step in going smart.
3. It is overall an expensive proposition (so far) : If you’re looking to buy a smart speaker just for music, then it’s fine. However, if you really want to make optimum utilization of a smart speaker then be prepared to shell out some serious bucks as IoT-powered devices cost a lot. For example, a smart bulb from Phillips which works well both with Google Home and Amazon Alexa costs Rs 2,500. And this is just one bulb so you can gauge the cost of equipping the entire house with smart devices.
4. The ecosystem is still a work-in-progress : Fascinating as they might be, smart speakers are still not a completely developed product category. There aren’t enough products available in the market that will be compatible with smart speakers. Companies across the spectrum are still in the early stage of adoption, so waiting for a while might be a better option for some buyers.
5. You need apps to make it all work : For any smart device to run, you will in all probability need an app. At times, using apps can get a bit overbearing. Smart speakers don’t run without an app and neither do smart lights or other devices. So if you have an aversion to apps, then going smart might not be the best option.
6. There are privacy concerns : All companies with smart speakers assure you about data safety but we live in an era where your personal data is the most valuable currency for tech giants. One can’t be sure if Alexa or Google are snooping in without you knowing. Think twice before buying one as you will have to forego a lot of privacy while using a smart speaker.
7. Be prepared to share personal data : Do remember that every time you use a smart home device or a speaker you are giving away personal data. For instance, if you tell Google Home where your work place is then that’s information that is just ‘out there’. Of course, there’s a great convenience value attached to it but at what cost? The more information you share with a smart device, the smarter it becomes.

On Thursday TCL unveiled its new smart TV line-up which is going to give competition in the market to Xiaomi’s Mi LED Smart TVs. The two new TVs which were launched by the company includes the iFFALCON 55K2A and the iFFALCON F2. Both the TVs are powered by Android Nougat 7.0 and make use of its features to bring the smart features to life. The iFFALCON 55KA is a 4K UHD TV with a display measuring 55-inch. On the other hand, the iFFALCON F2 TV comes in two configurations – one with a 40-inch display which is named as the iFFALCON 40F2 and other with a 32-inch display named as the iFFALCON 32F2.
These three models will go on sale starting May 7 and will be available on Flipkart iFFALCON brand store. To bring up more and more entertaining content to their smart TVs, TCL has also partnered up with brands like Jio Digital, Netflix, Google Play Movies & TV, YouTube, ErosNow and Voot. Speaking about the pricing of the TVs which are competently priced near the Xiaomi’s Smart LED TVs the iFFALCON 55K2A will start selling at Rs 45,999, while iFFALCON 40F2 and iFFALCON 32F2 will retail at Rs 19,999 and Rs 13,499 respectively.
Specifications Firstly, the flagship model by TCL the iFFALCON 55K2A comes powered by a quad-core processor and a dual-core GPU. This chipset is accompanied by 2.56GB of RAM and 16GB inbuilt storage. The 55-inch display with Full HD (3840 x 2160 pixels) resolution delivers an audio-visual experience of 4K UHD quality. The 55-inch flagship TV by TCL encompasses Micro Dimming technology and white LED HD backlight that takes the colour gamut up a notch and has been claimed to provide more dynamic colour contrast. The TV also packs solid performance based audio hardware with Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound and comes equipped with advanced DTS post-processing technology. There is also a smart Volume feature that automatically adjusts the volume to eliminate sudden sound fluctuations. Coming on to the smart features of the device, the TV offers functionalities like task switching, picture-in-picture, and inbuilt Google Chromecast. There is also the option of installing apps from other devices via a multiple platform sync feature.
Users can also use voice inputs in the TV to control their device as the remote of the TV ships with a dedicated voice input button to receive voice commands. The second model in the line-up, which is the TCL iFFALCON F2 also makes use of the technologies like Micro-Dimming and ships with Full HD capabilities. The TV besides coming pre-installed with Netflix also comes with wide options downloadable content from more than 500 applications. Like the iFFALCON 55K2A, this model also comes with a LED HD backlight that enhances the colour gamut and aids in delivering an audio-visual experience with dynamic contrast. Besides these, The TV comes with Dolby decoder and supports a variety of audio and video formats.
Users can also decide to operate their TV using an integrated feature called the T-Cast. The TV also boasts of some safety features like lightning protection, fast heat ventilation, and wide voltage range. The company has also claimed that the TV consumes significantly lower power and is moisture-proof.

H-1B visa approvals for Indian IT companies drop by 43% between 2015-17, claims a report from US think tank National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP). Wonder which were the companies that had maximum number of approved H-1B visa petitions during the fiscal year 2017? US Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS) website lists companies on the basis of 'total number of approved petitions'. The data also shows average salary offered by these companies. This average salary is based on data reported by the petitioner in the petition and may include part-time employment. Here are the 40 companies with highest number of approved H-1B visa petitions during the fiscal year 2017.
1. Cognizant Technology Solutions U.S. Corporation: Total number of approved petitions stood at 28,908; average salary: $85,429
2. Tata Consultancy Services Limited: Total number of approved petitions stood at 14,697; average salary: $73,505
3. Infosys Limited: Total number of approved petitions stood at 13,408; average salary: $85,717
4. Wipro Limited: Total number of approved petitions stood at 6,529; average salary: $75,082
5. Deloitte Consulting LLP: Total number of approved petitions stood at 6,027; average salary: $106,797
6. Accenture LLP: Total number of approved petitions stood at 5,070; average salary: $83,573
7. Tech Mahindra (Americas), Inc: Total number of approved petitions stood at 4,931; average salary: $78,443
8. Amazon.com Corporate LLC: Total number of approved petitions stood at 4,767; average salary: $118,637
9. HCL Technologies Limited: Total number of approved petitions stood at 4,392; average salary: $87,978
10. Microsoft Corporation: Total number of approved petitions stood at 4,069; average salary: $130,259
11. Capgemini America, Inc: Total number of approved petitions stood at 3,580; average salary: $84,667
12. IBM India Private Limited: Total number of approved petitions stood at 3,000; average salary: $79,916
13. Google Inc: Total number of approved petitions stood at 2,986; average salary: $134,419
14. Intel Corporation: Total number of approved petitions stood at 2,625; average salary: $104,691
15. Syntel Consulting Inc: Total number of approved petitions stood at 2,119; average salary: $70,258
16. Apple Inc: Total number of approved petitions stood at 2,055; average salary: $142,974
17. Larsen & Toubro Infotech Limited: Total number of approved petitions stood at 1,864; average salary: $78,737
18. Cisco Systems, Inc: Total number of approved petitions stood at 1,587; average salary: $128,389
19. Facebook, Inc: Total number of approved petitions stood at 1,566; average salary: $144,812
20. Oracle America, Inc: Total number of approved petitions stood at 1,546; average salary: $123,049
21. L&T Technology Services Ltd: Total number of approved petitions stood at 1,481; average salary: $68,437
22. Deloitte & Touche LLP: Total number of approved petitions stood at 1,410; average salary: $87,820
23. Mphasis Corporation: Total number of approved petitions stood at 1,410; average salary: $84,081
24. UST Global Inc: Total number of approved petitions stood at 1,059; average salary: $71,332
25. IBM Corporation: Total number of approved petitions stood at 1,051; average salary: $120,308
26. Mindtree Limited: Total number of approved petitions stood at 967; average salary: $75,677
27. Hexaware Technologies Limited: Total number of approved petitions stood at 955; average salary: $78,938
28. Qualcomm Technologies Inc: Total number of approved petitions stood at 921; average salary: $117,872
29. NTT Data Inc: Total number of approved petitions stood at 806; average salary: $90,213
30. Synechron Inc: Total number of approved petitions stood at 761; average salary: $86,764
31. Virtusa Corporation: Total number of approved petitions stood at 736 ; average salary: $99,525
32. Capital One Services, LLC: Total number of approved petitions stood at 690; average salary: $109,860
33. Cummins Inc: Total number of approved petitions stood at 686; average salary: $87,998
34. Salesforce.com: Total number of approved petitions stood at 650; average salary: $141,444
35. eBay Inc: Total number of approved petitions stood at 588; average salary: $146,400
36. eBay Inc: Total number of approved petitions stood at 588; average salary: $146,400
37. VMware Inc: Total number of approved petitions stood at 565; average salary: $134,205
38. VMware Inc: Total number of approved petitions stood at 565; average salary: $134,205
39. LinkedIn Corporation: Total number of approved petitions stood at 516; average salary: $150,406
40. PayPal Inc: Total number of approved petitions stood at 512; average salary: $138,286

San Francisco: Alphabet Inc.’s Google unveiled on Wednesday its first Gmail redesign since 2013, capping what the company says was an expensive overhaul two years in the making to adopt security and offline functionality and better resemble Microsoft Outlook. It is Google’s most extensive update to software in its G Suite workplace bundle since accelerating efforts to steal business from Microsoft Corp.’s dominant Office workplace software suite. Previously, G Suite added instant-messaging and spreadsheet features.
With Gmail, Google said it restructured email storage databases, unified three duelling systems for syncing messages across devices and upgraded computers underpinning the service. That shift to Google’s self-developed Tensor processing chips enables smart-assistant features such as “suggested replies” to messages and “nudges” to respond to forgotten emails. “This is an entire rewrite of our flagship, most-used product,” said Jacob Bank, product manager lead for Gmail, which 1.4 billion people use each month.
Unreliable offline access to email has long discouraged would-be customers, while recent high-profile corporate data breaches have increased their desire to lock down email. Analysts estimate G Suite generated about $2 billion in revenue last year, 10 times behind Office. Google declined to specify costs associated with the redesign. But parent Alphabet reported Monday that first-quarter capital expenditures nearly tripled year-over-year to $7.3 billion.
Chief financial officer Ruth Porat told analysts that half of the spending resulted from hardware purchases to support expanding use of machine learning, which describes automated programs that can, among other things, identify spam and predict which emails users would find most important.

There's no denying that Gmail is one of the – if not the – most popular email services used by people around the world. After a long gap, Google’s mail service is getting a major overhaul which is now being rolled out to users. The search giant confirmed that the update is being released and will bring a host of new features to the service. The new features deal with security, confidentiality, better usability among other things. The rollout has begun today and will be phased over the next few months. The ‘regular’ Gmail users can try the new features under the Settings menu where an option of ‘Try new Gmail’ will be available. However, this too will be phased so if you don’t find it immediately do not panic. Here are 14 features that Gmail is getting for a better user experience:
1. Integrated rights management : Block recipients from forwarding, downloading or printing your mail : This is meant more for business users as it gives users an option to block the forwarding, copying, downloading or even printing of particular messages.
2. Confidential mode: Set expiry dates to your mails : As the name suggests, this gives users an option to set an expiration date to an email or they can completely revoke it. What Gmail does is in the confidential mode is that it doesn’t send the content of the mail. Rather, a link to the content is sent which on opening displays as a regular email in a Gmail client.
3. Two-factor authentication comes to mails : In the confidential mode, Gmail is also offering 2FA or two-factor authentication protection. A recipient of a mail in confidential mode will have to enter a SMS passcode to read the message.
4. Snooze feature: Schedule important mails : This will come in handy for those who often forget to reply to important mails. A new snooze feature will now allow users to schedule important mails to pin at the top of the inbox at a later stage.
5. Offline support: Access your mails even when you don't have internet data : Now Gmail will have an ‘offline’ version where users can work on in case there’s no connectivity. The messages will be synced and downloaded as soon as one is connected to the Internet.
6. Nudging feature: Get reminders for important mails you may have missed : What Nudges will do is that it will bring up emails older than two days to the top of the inbox. It’s not a random bump of old mails as Google is using machine learning to identify which mails are ‘important’. If an email has a direct question and hasn’t been replied to, that email will also be flagged up.
7. Access attachment option without opening the mail : Attachments with emails will now be visible in the inbox. There will be an icon below the message which people can access without opening the mail.
8. High-priority push notifications : A new feature called High Priority notifications is being introduced which will filter out the number of notifications. Notifications will mainly be sent for mails which are considered important or urgent. Google says that almost 97% per cent of push notifications will be reduced.
9. Assistive unsubscribe: One-click option to get rid of pesky mailing lists : Now a one-click option will be available to users from unsubscribing from pesky mailing lists. These messages aren’t really read by most users or fall in the Spam folder.
10. Smart reply feature comes to web : The Smart reply feature will be available on the Web client of Gmail. It’s already there on the mobile version and basically gives three short replies to email. The replies can be edited or immediately sent, depending on what a user wants to do.
11. New side panel : A new side panel will now be available on the right side of the screen and will list the most-used Google apps. It will include Calendar, Tasks among others. The idea behind this, according to Google, is that users don’t have to leave Gmail to access other apps.
12. New interface: Gets a 'less cluttered' look : The user interface will be more attractive and have a less cluttered look. This feature, however, will only be for the Web version of Gmail.
13. Google Tasks app for Android and iOS : A new Google Tasks app for G Suite users on Android and iOS is also being released. The app will allow G Suite users to keep their tasks up-to-date on their smartphones. The changes will show in the Google Tasks on the desktop as well.
14. Phishing warning gets better : While phishing warnings aren’t new but the new update of Gmail makes it better. Google will flag all potential phishing mails with banners which will be coloured – red, yellow or grey – depending on the risk factor.