Apple Supplier Foxconn Said to Invest $500 Million to Build Component Factories in India

Apple's main supplier, Foxconn Technology Group, plans to increase its investments to more than $1.2 billion (roughly Rs. 9,877 crore) in southern India's Karnataka state and add two component factories there, expanding a steady diversification from China to mitigate the risks of US economic and technology sanctions.

At least one of the factories that the Taiwanese company plans to construct in Karnataka will produce Apple parts, including for iPhones, people familiar with the matter said. A formal announcement is expected as early as this week, the people said, declining to be named as the matter isn't public. The second plant will also be in Karnataka, but their exact location has yet to be decided.

Foxconn is spending $500 million (roughly Rs. 4,115 crore) on these two complexes on top of a $700 million (roughly Rs. 5,760 crore) facility it aims to build on a 300-acre site close to the airport in Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka, Bloomberg News previously reported. That plant is likely to assemble iPhones and expected to create about 1,00,000 jobs.

The additional sites will bring the Apple partner's envisioned new spending for India north of $1.2 billion, a big outlay for a Taiwanese company that traditionally assembles the vast majority of devices for Apple and other US brands from central and southern China.

Foxconn's moves in India highlight how the South Asian nation has fast become a popular destination for manufacturers scouting for an alternative to China amid growing tensions between Washington and Beijing. It's also the result of a shift in the global supply chain that accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine, and could reshape the way electronics are made.

© 2022 Bloomberg LP

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Apple unveiled its first mixed reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro, at its annual developer conference, along with new Mac models and upcoming software updates. We discuss all the most important announcements made by the company at WWDC 2023 on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Elon Musk Takes Product and Engineering Chief Role at X, Yaccarino to Lead All Other Divisions

X owner Elon Musk and Chief Executive Linda Yaccarino will both oversee the trust and safety team at the company formerly known as Twitter, the social media concern said on Monday.

X's product and engineering team will report to Musk, while Yaccarino will oversee all other divisions, including human resources, legal, finance, sales and operations, X said.

The trust and safety team, which is responsible for content moderation, has been the focus of some criticism of the platform after Musk acquired the company last October. Researchers have accused X of relaxing content guard rails, leading to a spike in harmful posts. The company has said the majority of content views are of "healthy" posts.

In an email to X employees on Monday, which was shared with Reuters, Yaccarino said the company is searching for a new leader for brand safety and suitability.

The previous head of brand safety, A.J. Brown, who worked on efforts to prevent advertisements from appearing next to unsuitable content, left the company last month.

Yaccarino said in the email that three X leaders will oversee different responsibilities within trust and safety, including law enforcement operations and threat disruptions.

The changes to trust and safety come after Ella Irwin resigned as head of the team in June.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company's new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Elon Musk Takes Product and Engineering Chief Role at X, Yaccarino to Lead All Other Divisions

X owner Elon Musk and Chief Executive Linda Yaccarino will both oversee the trust and safety team at the company formerly known as Twitter, the social media concern said on Monday.

X's product and engineering team will report to Musk, while Yaccarino will oversee all other divisions, including human resources, legal, finance, sales and operations, X said.

The trust and safety team, which is responsible for content moderation, has been the focus of some criticism of the platform after Musk acquired the company last October. Researchers have accused X of relaxing content guard rails, leading to a spike in harmful posts. The company has said the majority of content views are of "healthy" posts.

In an email to X employees on Monday, which was shared with Reuters, Yaccarino said the company is searching for a new leader for brand safety and suitability.

The previous head of brand safety, A.J. Brown, who worked on efforts to prevent advertisements from appearing next to unsuitable content, left the company last month.

Yaccarino said in the email that three X leaders will oversee different responsibilities within trust and safety, including law enforcement operations and threat disruptions.

The changes to trust and safety come after Ella Irwin resigned as head of the team in June.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company's new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/khZSr81

Walmart Buys Out Tiger Global’s Stake in Flipkart for $1.4 Billion: Report

Walmart has paid $1.4 billion (roughly Rs. 11,520 crore) to buy out hedge fund Tiger Global's investment in e-commerce firm Flipkart, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing a letter by the hedge-fund to its investors.

A Walmart spokesperson confirmed the transaction in an emailed response to Reuters but did not comment on financial details of the deal.

The transaction will value the e-commerce firm at $35 billion (roughly Rs. 2,88,010 crore), the WSJ report said.

"We remain confident in the future of Flipkart and are even more positive about the opportunity in India today than when we first invested," the Walmart spokesperson said.

Tiger Global did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

Earlier this year, the Economics Times reported that private equity firms Accel and Tiger Global, two early backers of Flipkart, were in talks to sell their remaining stake in the company to Walmart.

Tiger Global held about 4 percent of the company, according to the ET report.

Walmart acquired a majority stake of 77 percent in Flipkart for about $16 billion (roughly Rs. 1,31,662 crore) in 2018, and later that year said it could take the company public in four years.

In April last year, Reuters reported that Flipkart had internally raised its IPO valuation target by around a third to $60 billion (roughly Rs. 4,90,000 crore) - $70 billion (roughly Rs. 5,70,00 crore), and plans a US listing in 2023.

Earlier this year, Walmart confirmed that it had already paid the Indian government most of the nearly $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,300 crore) in tax owed after digital payments company PhonePe, which the US retailer owns through Flipkart, shifted its headquarters from Singapore to India.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company's new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs Galaxy S23 Ultra: Price in India, Specifications Compared

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 was launched at the company's Galaxy Unpacked held in July. The smartphone, successor to last year's Galaxy Z Flip 4, is powered by a custom Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC. It is backed by a 3,700mAh battery. The South Korean tech giant hosted another Galaxy Unpacked event in February this year, where it announced the launch of the Galaxy S23 series. The lineup included Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphones. The top-of-the-line Galaxy S23 Ultra is also equipped with a customised version of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC.

Both smartphones comes with some similarities and differences, in terms of their price and specifications. Here, we have compared the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Price in India

The recently launched Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes in two variants. The base 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant is priced at Rs. 99,999, whereas the 8GB RAM + 512GB storage model costs Rs. 1,09,999. The smartphone is offered in several colour variants including Blue, Cream, Graphite, Gray, Green, Lavender, Mint, and Yellow shades.

On the other hand, the Galaxy S23 Ultra's pricing, at the time of launch, began at Rs. 1,24,999 for the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage variant. The 12GB RAM + 512GB storage model costed Rs. 1,34,999 and the 12GB RAM + 1TB storage variant was priced at Rs. 1,54,999. The smartphone was launched in Phantom Black, Cream, Green, Lavender, Red, Graphite, Lime, and Sky Blue colour variants.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Specifications

With a the 6.7-inch full-HD+ (1,080x2,640 pixels) Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity Flex primary screen, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 sports a 3.4-inch Super AMOLED folder-shaped cover display. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S23 Ultra gets a 6.8-inch Edge QHD+ (3,088 x 1,440 pixels) Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display. Both smartphones are powered by a custom octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC.

The Galaxy S23 runs Android 13 with One UI 5.1, while Galaxy Z Flip 5 runs Android 13-based OneUI 5.1.1 out-of-the-box.

On camera specifications, Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with a quad rear camera setup, headlined by a 200-megapixel primary wide camera. Other sensors include a 2-megapixel ultra-wide lens, a 10-megapixel telephoto camera and a10-megapixel telephoto shooter. For selfies, the smartphone sports a 12-megapixel shooter. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 carries two 12-megapixel rear camera sensors and a 10-megapixel selfie sensor.

In the battery department, the Galaxy S23 Ultra packs a 5,000mAh battery, and supports 45W wired charging and 15W Fast Wireless Charging. The Galaxy Z Flip 5, on the other hand, is backed by a 3,700mAh battery with 25W wired charging support and Fast Wireless Charging 2.0.

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Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company's new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/foOU7GN

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs Galaxy S23 Ultra: Price in India, Specifications Compared

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 was launched at the company's Galaxy Unpacked held in July. The smartphone, successor to last year's Galaxy Z Flip 4, is powered by a custom Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC. It is backed by a 3,700mAh battery. The South Korean tech giant hosted another Galaxy Unpacked event in February this year, where it announced the launch of the Galaxy S23 series. The lineup included Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphones. The top-of-the-line Galaxy S23 Ultra is also equipped with a customised version of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC.

Both smartphones comes with some similarities and differences, in terms of their price and specifications. Here, we have compared the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Price in India

The recently launched Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes in two variants. The base 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant is priced at Rs. 99,999, whereas the 8GB RAM + 512GB storage model costs Rs. 1,09,999. The smartphone is offered in several colour variants including Blue, Cream, Graphite, Gray, Green, Lavender, Mint, and Yellow shades.

On the other hand, the Galaxy S23 Ultra's pricing, at the time of launch, began at Rs. 1,24,999 for the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage variant. The 12GB RAM + 512GB storage model costed Rs. 1,34,999 and the 12GB RAM + 1TB storage variant was priced at Rs. 1,54,999. The smartphone was launched in Phantom Black, Cream, Green, Lavender, Red, Graphite, Lime, and Sky Blue colour variants.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Specifications

With a the 6.7-inch full-HD+ (1,080x2,640 pixels) Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity Flex primary screen, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 sports a 3.4-inch Super AMOLED folder-shaped cover display. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S23 Ultra gets a 6.8-inch Edge QHD+ (3,088 x 1,440 pixels) Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display. Both smartphones are powered by a custom octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC.

The Galaxy S23 runs Android 13 with One UI 5.1, while Galaxy Z Flip 5 runs Android 13-based OneUI 5.1.1 out-of-the-box.

On camera specifications, Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with a quad rear camera setup, headlined by a 200-megapixel primary wide camera. Other sensors include a 2-megapixel ultra-wide lens, a 10-megapixel telephoto camera and a10-megapixel telephoto shooter. For selfies, the smartphone sports a 12-megapixel shooter. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 carries two 12-megapixel rear camera sensors and a 10-megapixel selfie sensor.

In the battery department, the Galaxy S23 Ultra packs a 5,000mAh battery, and supports 45W wired charging and 15W Fast Wireless Charging. The Galaxy Z Flip 5, on the other hand, is backed by a 3,700mAh battery with 25W wired charging support and Fast Wireless Charging 2.0.

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Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company's new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/foOU7GN
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ITR Filing: How to Check IT Return Status Online

The deadline to file ITR (Income Tax Return) without any late fee is approaching closer. The last date to file ITR for assessment year 2023-24 is July 31. So far, the Income Tax Department has not announced any extension in the last date for filing ITR. One can easily file ITR online using a few simple steps. Once the ITR is filed, all taxpayers await the tax returns to be credited into their bank accounts. If you have already filed ITR, but are awaiting the amount to be refunded, we are providing here some simple steps to check the ITR status online. 

The Income Tax Department has announced July 31 to be last date to file ITR. Once the process is done, and e-verification, taxpayers will receive the refund that they are eligible for in their bank accounts. To check the status of refund status, the Income Tax Department provides on online tracking facility. To check ITR refund status for individuals, one needs PAN number and the Assessment Year.

Generally, it takes around 7 to 120 days for the refund to be credited in to the account after the e-verification on the return. However, the process has become faster now, with return being returned as soon as within 2 days of the e-verification of your ITR. 

How to check ITR refund status online

1. Visit the Income Tax e-filing portal.
2. Login in to user account using ID, password, date of birth and captcha.
3. Visit My Account section.
4. Here, tap on Refund/Demand status.
5. The screen will display assessment year, status of refund, and the mode of payment.

The Income Tax Department issues the refund either through direct credit in your provided bank account, or through a ‘Refund Cheque'. If you filed to received refund in your bank account, make sure to provide correct bank account number and IFSC code with complete address details, including the PIN code. 

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Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company's new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/wBsF6CY

ITR Filing: How to Check IT Return Status Online

The deadline to file ITR (Income Tax Return) without any late fee is approaching closer. The last date to file ITR for assessment year 2023-24 is July 31. So far, the Income Tax Department has not announced any extension in the last date for filing ITR. One can easily file ITR online using a few simple steps. Once the ITR is filed, all taxpayers await the tax returns to be credited into their bank accounts. If you have already filed ITR, but are awaiting the amount to be refunded, we are providing here some simple steps to check the ITR status online. 

The Income Tax Department has announced July 31 to be last date to file ITR. Once the process is done, and e-verification, taxpayers will receive the refund that they are eligible for in their bank accounts. To check the status of refund status, the Income Tax Department provides on online tracking facility. To check ITR refund status for individuals, one needs PAN number and the Assessment Year.

Generally, it takes around 7 to 120 days for the refund to be credited in to the account after the e-verification on the return. However, the process has become faster now, with return being returned as soon as within 2 days of the e-verification of your ITR. 

How to check ITR refund status online

1. Visit the Income Tax e-filing portal.
2. Login in to user account using ID, password, date of birth and captcha.
3. Visit My Account section.
4. Here, tap on Refund/Demand status.
5. The screen will display assessment year, status of refund, and the mode of payment.

The Income Tax Department issues the refund either through direct credit in your provided bank account, or through a ‘Refund Cheque'. If you filed to received refund in your bank account, make sure to provide correct bank account number and IFSC code with complete address details, including the PIN code. 

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Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company's new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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US President Said to to Sign New Order to Limit US Tech Investments in China by Mid-August

US President Joe Biden is planning to sign an executive order to limit critical US technology investments in China by mid-August, according to people familiar with the internal deliberations.

The order focuses on semiconductors, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. It won't affect any existing investments and will only prohibit certain transactions. Other deals will have to be disclosed to the government.

The timing for the order, slated for the second week of August, has slipped many times before, and there is no guarantee it won't be delayed again. But internal discussions have already shifted from the substance of the measures to rolling out the order and accompanying rule, said the people familiar who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The restrictions won't take effect until next year, and their scope will be laid out in a rulemaking process, involving a comment period so stakeholders can weigh in on the final version.

A spokeswoman for the National Security Council declined to comment.

The investment controls are part of a broader White House effort to limit China's capabilities to develop the next-generation technologies expected to dominate national and economic security. The effort has complicated the Biden administration's already fraught relations with China, which sees the restrictions as an effort to contain and isolate the country.

China's envoy in Washington said earlier this month that Beijing would retaliate if the US imposes new limits on technology or capital flows but didn't detail what actions the country could take.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has sought to calm Chinese anger over the curbs, saying they wouldn't significantly damage the ability to attract US investment and were narrowly tailored.

“These would not be broad controls that would affect US investment broadly in China, or in my opinion, have a fundamental impact on affecting the investment climate for China,” Yellen said in an interview with Bloomberg Television earlier in July.

Yellen emphasized the restrictions as well as existing export controls were not in retaliation for any specific actions from China or intended to curtail the country's growth.

During her visit to China earlier this month, Yellen reiterated that stance in a meeting in Beijing with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan first publicly discussed the concept in July 2021. China hawks in the US are eager for tougher and faster action. Lawmakers from both parties have also shown interest in legislating on the matte,r although a bill has not yet made it to Biden's desk.

The Senate this week passed an amendment to the national defense policy bill that would require firms to notify the government about certain investments in China and other countries of concern, although they wouldn't be subject to review or possible prohibition.

© 2023 Bloomberg LP

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Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company's new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Elon Musk Says X, Formerly Twitter, Reaches ‘New High’ With Over 540 Million Monthly Users

Elon Musk said on Friday that monthly users of social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, reached a "new high" and shared a graph that showed the latest count as over 540 million.

Musk's post on X about the user figures comes as the company goes through organisational changes and looks to boost advertising revenue which has dropped in the recent month.

It is also the latest in a series of comments from X's executives claiming strong traction in usage, after Meta Platforms launched a direct competing platform called Threads on July 5.

Twitter had 229 million monthly active users in May 2022, according to a statement made before Musk's purchase of the firm in October. Musk posted in November that X had 259.4 million daily active users.

Since taking over, Musk has swiftly moved through a number of product and organizational changes. The company rolled out the verified blue tick as a paid service and has started sharing a cut of the ad sales with select content creators on the platform.

In May, Musk named former NBCUniversal advertising chief Linda Yaccarino as CEO of X, signalling that ad sales were a priority even as the platform worked to increase the subscription revenue.

Musk said earlier this month that X's cash flow was negative because of a nearly 50 percent drop in advertising revenue and a heavy debt load, without offering details.

Meanwhile, Musk's decision to rebrand Twitter as X could be complicated legally: companies including Meta and Microsoft already have intellectual property rights to the same letter.

X is so widely used and cited in trademarks that it is a candidate for legal challenges - and the company formerly known as Twitter could face its own issues defending its X brand in the future.

"There's a 100 percent chance that Twitter is going to get sued over this by somebody," said trademark attorney Josh Gerben, who said he counted nearly 900 active U.S. trademark registrations that already cover the letter X in a wide range of industries.

Owners of trademarks - which protect things like brand names, logos and slogans that identify sources of goods - can claim infringement if other branding would cause consumer confusion. Remedies range from monetary damages to blocking use.

Microsoft since 2003 has owned an X trademark related to communications about its Xbox video-game system. Meta Platforms - whose Threads platform is a new Twitter rival - owns a federal trademark registered in 2019 covering a blue-and-white letter "X" for fields including software and social media.

Meta and Microsoft likely would not sue unless they feel threatened that Twitter's X encroaches on brand equity they built in the letter, Gerben said.

The three companies did not respond to requests for comment.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company's new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/BpPZLkr

Elon Musk Says X, Formerly Twitter, Reaches ‘New High’ With Over 540 Million Monthly Users

Elon Musk said on Friday that monthly users of social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, reached a "new high" and shared a graph that showed the latest count as over 540 million.

Musk's post on X about the user figures comes as the company goes through organisational changes and looks to boost advertising revenue which has dropped in the recent month.

It is also the latest in a series of comments from X's executives claiming strong traction in usage, after Meta Platforms launched a direct competing platform called Threads on July 5.

Twitter had 229 million monthly active users in May 2022, according to a statement made before Musk's purchase of the firm in October. Musk posted in November that X had 259.4 million daily active users.

Since taking over, Musk has swiftly moved through a number of product and organizational changes. The company rolled out the verified blue tick as a paid service and has started sharing a cut of the ad sales with select content creators on the platform.

In May, Musk named former NBCUniversal advertising chief Linda Yaccarino as CEO of X, signalling that ad sales were a priority even as the platform worked to increase the subscription revenue.

Musk said earlier this month that X's cash flow was negative because of a nearly 50 percent drop in advertising revenue and a heavy debt load, without offering details.

Meanwhile, Musk's decision to rebrand Twitter as X could be complicated legally: companies including Meta and Microsoft already have intellectual property rights to the same letter.

X is so widely used and cited in trademarks that it is a candidate for legal challenges - and the company formerly known as Twitter could face its own issues defending its X brand in the future.

"There's a 100 percent chance that Twitter is going to get sued over this by somebody," said trademark attorney Josh Gerben, who said he counted nearly 900 active U.S. trademark registrations that already cover the letter X in a wide range of industries.

Owners of trademarks - which protect things like brand names, logos and slogans that identify sources of goods - can claim infringement if other branding would cause consumer confusion. Remedies range from monetary damages to blocking use.

Microsoft since 2003 has owned an X trademark related to communications about its Xbox video-game system. Meta Platforms - whose Threads platform is a new Twitter rival - owns a federal trademark registered in 2019 covering a blue-and-white letter "X" for fields including software and social media.

Meta and Microsoft likely would not sue unless they feel threatened that Twitter's X encroaches on brand equity they built in the letter, Gerben said.

The three companies did not respond to requests for comment.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company's new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/BpPZLkr
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Kia Seltos (2023): Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) Features Explained

Kia recently launched the 2023 facelift of the Seltos, one of its most popular cars in India. The mid-sized SUV offers an impressive balance of power and comfort, making it just as well suited to the city as on the highway for longer drives. Apart from a refreshed look, the Kia Seltos (2023) also comes with a new set of Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) Level 2 features, meant to make the driving experience a lot safer and less stressful for the driver and other passengers.

I had a chance to drive the new Kia Seltos (2023), and also checked out the different ADAS features on offer. While some of these were demonstrated by trained drivers from Kia in safe environments, some of the other more subtle assistance features could be seen in action even when driving along in the city and on the highway.

What is ADAS Level 2?

An Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) is a set of technologies designed to assist drivers of vehicles in various driving and parking functions, with a view to enhancing safety and ease of driving. Depending on the level of features, ADAS can automate certain functions and take partial control of the vehicle in order to improve road safety and avoid collisions and other accidents.

ADAS features are typically standardised into different levels ranging from 1 to 5, where level 1 offers some hands-on, shared control between the driver and vehicle, and level 5 is fully autonomous in driving. The Kia Seltos (2023) has ADAS Level 2 features, which suggests that certain autonomous functionality is ‘hands-off' and will kick in even without driver intervention. Other functionality serves either to alert the driver to risks, or provides gentle physical feedback to ensure that the driver is attentive towards areas that need it.

The ADAS features on the Kia Seltos (2023) can be turned on or off from within the car itself, as needed

 

ADAS Level 2 functions on the Kia Seltos (2023)

The Kia Seltos (2023) features 17 ADAS functions with varying degrees of autonomy and functionality, ranging from warnings to full interventions by the vehicle. Fortunately, these can be toggled on or off as needed, which might be necessary as some of these can be a bit daunting and somewhat trigger-happy in unpredictable Indian road conditions, or even annoying for more experienced drivers. The more subtle features are the ones you'll find yourself at ease with.

Among the 17 ADAS Level 2 functions on the Kia Seltos (2023) are collision warning systems for the front and the blind spots — these will alert the driver if the car senses an impending collision at the front, or at the side of the car. An example of the latter was demonstrated by Kia, where opening one of the doors while a vehicle was approaching close along the side triggered a loud warning alert in the Kia Seltos.

There are also collision avoid assist functions as part of the feature set. When these are active, the Kia Seltos (2023) is able to autonomously exercise control over the vehicle's operation in specific scenarios. This includes applying the brakes if a stationary obstacle is detected ahead, or halting the car when an obstacle or vehicle is detected in the driver's blind spots, such as when reversing, exiting a parking space into active traffic, or turning at a junction. You can, of course, choose where you prefer warnings over active assistance.

Other milder autonomous interventions on the Kia Seltos (2023) include Lane Keep Assist and Lane Following Assist which adjust the steering autonomously to maintain lane driving on the highway, smart cruise control where the speed of the car varies according to the vehicle ahead (when following), leading vehicle departure alert (when the car you're following is exiting a highway or carriageway), high beam assist, and driver attention warning (perhaps the most annoying and least ‘smart' of the features).

Apart from the ADAS features, the Kia Seltos has some other premium features that add to the overall safety and driving experience as well. These include rain sensing wipers (operating automatically depending on rain intensity), automatic headlights (turn on or off depending on lighting conditions), and tire pressure monitoring, where the car displays the current tire pressure and alerts the driver of any anomalies such as reduced pressure in any tires.

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Apple unveiled its first mixed reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro, at its annual developer conference, along with new Mac models and upcoming software updates. We discuss all the most important announcements made by the company at WWDC 2023 on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/UiBZEus

Kia Seltos (2023) First Impressions: Tech Makes This Car Safer, Smarter, More Fun

The Kia Seltos has been among the most popular cars in its category in India, since its launch in 2019. The mid-sized urban SUV is just as well suited to city driving as on the highway, but what has truly worked for the car in India is its feature-heavy approach to the market. Various features such as Kia Connect (previously known as UVO) and autonomous safety tricks built into the car have helped set the Kia Seltos apart from the strong competition in the segment.

Kia has now unveiled the 2023 facelift for the Kia Seltos, which comes with further improvements to the already rich feature set of the car, along with a new premium ‘X-line' trim, and improved engine and transmission options across variants. I had a chance to drive the new Kia Seltos and check out the features during a drive from Nagpur to the Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, and here are some of the key highlights of Kia's new mid-sized Seltos.

The Kia Seltos (2023) X-line comes in a new Matte Graphite colour and finish

 

Kia Seltos (2023) price in India, variants

The Kia Seltos (2023) is priced from Rs. 10.90 lakh to Rs. 19.99 lakh rupees (ex-showroom) in India, depending on the variant. The price depends on the engine, transmission, and trim options, with variants ranging from the entry-level HTE trim to the new top X-line, which is the only one available in the new Matte Graphite colour. Other colour options include the new Pewter Olive, along with various other glossy metallic colours.

Available in Petrol, Diesel, and Turbo Petrol variants across trims, you can also choose between different transmission options, including manual, iMT (clutchless manual), and three automatic variants such as CVT, torque converter, and DCT. Some variants also have manual override through paddle shifters. For my drive, I had the Kia Seltos (2023) GT-line with the Turbo Petrol engine in Pewter Olive, which comes with all major safety and tech-related features.

Kia Seltos (2023): Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) wants to take care of you

With a renewed focus on safety, the Kia Seltos puts its ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) at the forefront of its feature offerings, apart from having six airbags and disc brakes on all four wheels as standard across all variants. ADAS is available in various cars at different levels ranging from 0 (no automation) to 5 (full automation), and the Kia Seltos slots in at ADAS Level 2, which is able to offer some level of hands-off automation and control.

This being the first time I drove a car with any level of automation, I found the experience a little bit scary at first, with the ADAS functionality somewhat controlling the car for me in certain situations, which was a bit eerie. There are 17 functions that utilise ADAS on the Kia Seltos (2023), most of which you'll hope to never have to see put to use, such as forward collision warning and forward collision assistance.

Other ADAS features were showcased in safe test environments during the drive, while some of the smaller inclusions could be constantly seen at work during the few hours I drove the Seltos. All of this is backed by a 360-degree camera system, which provides clear views all around the car, functioning while driving as well as in slow-moving situations such as when parking.

In the safe testing environments, trained Kia drivers demonstrated how the car would autonomously apply brakes, issue loud audio warnings, or autonomously counter-steer in situations where a collision was imminent, either with another car or even in situations where a door was opened while a vehicle was approaching along the side.

There are two 10.25-inch displays in the Kia Seltos - one for the infotainment system, and the second for the digital instrument cluster

 

I personally was able to see features such as lane-keep assist, blind-spot collision assist, and smart cruise control in action myself while driving. On multi-lane highways with well marked lanes, the Kia Seltos (2023) managed to maintain its lane much of the time, occasionally prompting me with physical feedback to make minor steering corrections. The fully-digital instrument cluster displayed the blind-spot clearly when indicating left or right, while the cruise control managed to vary its speed based on that of the car ahead of me when needed.

As mentioned earlier, it was a bit nerve-wracking when these features first started working for me, since I haven't typically been used to my car acting on its own, even if it's for my safety. That said, I got used to most of it soon enough, and to be fair, I continued to have primary control over the car at all times, with it only providing faint feedback through the wheel. That said, the Driver Attention Warning chimes every 15 minutes telling you to stop for coffee which got tiring very quickly.

Kia Seltos (2023): Kia Connect, voice commands, and big screens

Kia Connect is something I've tested previously on the Kia Sonet when it was still called Kia UVO, and things have improved a fair bit since then. This is mainly because of the large 10.25-inch touch infotainment system lining up next to the equal-sized digital instrument cluster. These two together give the Kia Seltos quite the futuristic look and feel, apart from putting a whole lot of information about the car within easy view.

While you have the option to connect your smartphone via USB for Apple CarPlay or Android Auto UI and functionality, you can just as easily rely on the Kia Connect system. The car has a fully connected system, relying on its own data connection to work with functions such as voice commands, detailed mapping for navigation, and more. I was able to navigate to major points of interest and give voice commands reliably, even in relatively remote areas such as the Pench tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh.

For music, you can connect various devices either through wired or wireless connections, with the Kia Seltos (2023) sporting a Bose speaker system on the variant I was driving. Sound quality was expectedly decent even over a Bluetooth connection, and there were also some interesting ambient soundtracks preloaded onto the Kia connect system for quiet, peaceful listening.

The Kia Seltos (2023) now comes with a 1.5L turbo petrol engine option, offering 158bhp and 253Nm of torque, and mated to an optional DCT automatic gearbox

 

The Kia Connect app also lets you view data about the car such as fuel range, status, and location, apart from remotely staring and stopping the car even when you aren't sitting in it. Other tech-focused features include full diagnostics for the car and the ADAS features which can be controlled through the screens, navigation set up through the smartphone with instructions sent to the car, remote climate control, and a handy air purifier built into the car to ensure you're breathing clean air when in the Seltos.

The voice commands work to control most car functions, such as opening the panoramic sunroof, navigating to specific locations and points of interest, turning on or off the air conditioning, and opening or closing the windows, among other things. There were occasions where I had to repeat myself, but the voice commands usually got it right. Notably, these work not only in English, but also in bilingual (Hindi with English), with commands such as ‘sunroof kholo' or ‘AC band karo' working reliably.

Kia Seltos (2023): How is it to drive?

The Kia Seltos (2023) is available in three different engine variants, with different transmission options linked to specific variants. I had the new turbo petrol variant for my test drive, which is the most capable in terms of brake horsepower and torque output, making it the most powerful of the three variants. This was mated to an automatic seven-speed dual-clutch transmission (DCT), with paddle shifters offering a manual override for the occasions where I wanted to take some control.

The car is fairly capable and responsive in both city and highway conditions, thanks to the smooth and easy shifts from the DCT gearbox. It was also fairly responsive to throttle variations, and managed to set itself up well even on inclines such as hilly roads, where automatic transmissions sometimes feel sluggish and out of sorts. The manual override was a nice option to have, but even when overtaking on the highway, I rarely ever felt the need to invoke it; simply putting my foot down sent the message, and the Kia Seltos managed to deliver enough power both in the city and on the highway.

All of this is handled smoothly, with the Kia Seltos (2023) feeling almost sedan-like in the ride it offers. When cruising at around 70-80 kmph on the highway in seventh gear, the Seltos was at its absolute best, offering a smooth ride with the low revs ensuring good fuel efficiency. The DCT gearbox is nimble enough to quickly switch up as needed, setting me up quickly for lane changes and overtaking as needed.

Final thoughts

Car safety is an increasingly important factor in purchase decisions for buyers in India, and the Kia Seltos (2023) promises a lot more of that thanks to its ADAS Level-2 feature set. Apart from protecting you from potentially serious accidents, the Seltos is also well set up to prevent even small and typically avoidable incidents, thanks to its impressive 360-degree camera setup and various assistance features such as lane keep assist and blind-spot assistance. Some ADAS features such as Driver Attention Warning were a bit bothersome, but you can disable the various ADAS features as per your preferences.

Technologically, this is among the best cars in its price segment right now, representing the future of connected driving and giving drivers a taste of the future in the form of minor automation aimed at making the overall driving experience safer and easier. Features such as voice controls for car functions and navigation, as well as the Kia Connect app and interface for vehicle diagnostics, make the experience a lot better.

All of this is backed up by a great driving experience on the whole. That said, with such a wide price range across variants of the Kia Seltos, you'll have to make sure you pick the variant that actually has everything you need. The well-equipped variants cost considerably more than the basic ones; the top-end X-line variants cost nearly twice as much as the entry-level variant.

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Apple unveiled its first mixed reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro, at its annual developer conference, along with new Mac models and upcoming software updates. We discuss all the most important announcements made by the company at WWDC 2023 on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Chipmakers Hint at Ease of Chip Supply Glut but Demand Recovery Still Slow

From Intel to Samsung, global chipmakers are celebrating the beginning of the end of a semiconductor supply glut, but the outlook for demand from customers outside the artificial intelligence (AI) industry remains gloomy.

All the major markets for chips — smartphones, PCs and data centres — have shrunk this year, as both corporate customers and consumers scale back spending amid a weak global economy, high inflation and rising interest rates.

This has created an unprecedented oversupply of commodity chips, causing a record combined KRW 15.2 trillion (nearly Rs. 98,650 crore) first-half operating loss for the world's two largest memory chipmakers, Samsung and SK Hynix. 

This glut, however, has started to ease largely due to production cuts and as a decline in PC shipments eased to 11 percent in the June quarter compared to a 30 percent slump in each of the previous two quarters, data from tech analysts Canalys showed.

The smartphone market is also improving, with cellphone shipments falling 8 percent in the June quarter, versus 14 percent in the first quarter, according to research firm Counterpoint.

"Demand is recovering very gradually," Woohyun Kim, chief financial officer at SK Hynix, said on an earnings call this week.

"The recent improvement in PC shipments has been mainly led by promotions and low-end models, meaning it provided limited impact on chip demand recovery," he said, adding that shipment forecasts for PCs and smartphones this year have been downgraded from earlier predictions.

While demand for chips to support generative AI has rapidly increased since OpenAI's ChatGPT was launched late last year, the sector still accounts for a small fraction of overall chip demand and is crimping corporate spending on servers, as some companies prioritize investment in AI.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said on Thursday an inventory glut in server central processing units (CPUs) will persist until the second half of the year and that data centre chip sales will decline modestly in the third quarter before recovering in the fourth quarter. Intel shares rose 6.4 percent Friday after stronger than expected results.

A sluggish recovery in China, the world's biggest chip buyer, is also dampening the overall outlook.

Both Samsung and SK Hynix said China's reopening failed to live up to expectations that it would revive the smartphone market, and that they were extending production cuts of NAND memory chips, widely used in smartphones to store digital data.

Analog chipmaker Texas Instruments, which has heavy exposure to China, forecast third-quarter revenue and profit below Wall Street targets on Tuesday, bogged down by a sluggish recovery in end-market demand that has forced clients to cancel orders. Shares were up 1.5 percent Friday.

"China was roughly half of sales at the end of fiscal 2022, so China has the largest impact on TI's business," said Logan Purk, analyst at investment firm Edward Jones. 

AI winners

Manufacturers of the equipment used to make chips such as KLA Corp and Lam Research are early winners of the AI boom. Both companies forecast quarterly revenue above Wall Street estimates this week. Shares were up 4.9 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively, on Friday.

"Advanced AI servers have significantly higher leading-edge logic, memory and storage content versus traditional servers, and every incremental 1 percent penetration of AI servers and data centres is expected to drive $1 billion (nearly Rs. 8,200 crore) to $1.5 billion (nearly Rs. 12, 330 crore) of additional (chip equipment) investment," Lam CEO Tim Archer said on a conference call with analysts.

Chipmakers are also increasing production of the high-end chips used to support AI related chips.

SK Hynix said demand for AI server memory had more than doubled in the second quarter compared to the first quarter. Its DRAM chips, which hold information from applications while the system is in use, sold for a higher price in the second quarter versus the first, on average.

The company leads the market in high bandwidth memory (HBM) DRAM used in generative AI. It had a 50 percent market share in HBM as of 2022, followed by Samsung's 40 percent and Micron's 10 percent, according to TrendForce.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company's new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Chipmakers Hint at Ease of Chip Supply Glut but Demand Recovery Still Slow

From Intel to Samsung, global chipmakers are celebrating the beginning of the end of a semiconductor supply glut, but the outlook for demand from customers outside the artificial intelligence (AI) industry remains gloomy.

All the major markets for chips — smartphones, PCs and data centres — have shrunk this year, as both corporate customers and consumers scale back spending amid a weak global economy, high inflation and rising interest rates.

This has created an unprecedented oversupply of commodity chips, causing a record combined KRW 15.2 trillion (nearly Rs. 98,650 crore) first-half operating loss for the world's two largest memory chipmakers, Samsung and SK Hynix. 

This glut, however, has started to ease largely due to production cuts and as a decline in PC shipments eased to 11 percent in the June quarter compared to a 30 percent slump in each of the previous two quarters, data from tech analysts Canalys showed.

The smartphone market is also improving, with cellphone shipments falling 8 percent in the June quarter, versus 14 percent in the first quarter, according to research firm Counterpoint.

"Demand is recovering very gradually," Woohyun Kim, chief financial officer at SK Hynix, said on an earnings call this week.

"The recent improvement in PC shipments has been mainly led by promotions and low-end models, meaning it provided limited impact on chip demand recovery," he said, adding that shipment forecasts for PCs and smartphones this year have been downgraded from earlier predictions.

While demand for chips to support generative AI has rapidly increased since OpenAI's ChatGPT was launched late last year, the sector still accounts for a small fraction of overall chip demand and is crimping corporate spending on servers, as some companies prioritize investment in AI.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said on Thursday an inventory glut in server central processing units (CPUs) will persist until the second half of the year and that data centre chip sales will decline modestly in the third quarter before recovering in the fourth quarter. Intel shares rose 6.4 percent Friday after stronger than expected results.

A sluggish recovery in China, the world's biggest chip buyer, is also dampening the overall outlook.

Both Samsung and SK Hynix said China's reopening failed to live up to expectations that it would revive the smartphone market, and that they were extending production cuts of NAND memory chips, widely used in smartphones to store digital data.

Analog chipmaker Texas Instruments, which has heavy exposure to China, forecast third-quarter revenue and profit below Wall Street targets on Tuesday, bogged down by a sluggish recovery in end-market demand that has forced clients to cancel orders. Shares were up 1.5 percent Friday.

"China was roughly half of sales at the end of fiscal 2022, so China has the largest impact on TI's business," said Logan Purk, analyst at investment firm Edward Jones. 

AI winners

Manufacturers of the equipment used to make chips such as KLA Corp and Lam Research are early winners of the AI boom. Both companies forecast quarterly revenue above Wall Street estimates this week. Shares were up 4.9 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively, on Friday.

"Advanced AI servers have significantly higher leading-edge logic, memory and storage content versus traditional servers, and every incremental 1 percent penetration of AI servers and data centres is expected to drive $1 billion (nearly Rs. 8,200 crore) to $1.5 billion (nearly Rs. 12, 330 crore) of additional (chip equipment) investment," Lam CEO Tim Archer said on a conference call with analysts.

Chipmakers are also increasing production of the high-end chips used to support AI related chips.

SK Hynix said demand for AI server memory had more than doubled in the second quarter compared to the first quarter. Its DRAM chips, which hold information from applications while the system is in use, sold for a higher price in the second quarter versus the first, on average.

The company leads the market in high bandwidth memory (HBM) DRAM used in generative AI. It had a 50 percent market share in HBM as of 2022, followed by Samsung's 40 percent and Micron's 10 percent, according to TrendForce.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company's new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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iPhone 15 Pro Models May Cost Up to $200 More Than iPhone 14 Pro Variants: Report

iPhone 15 family— including the vanilla iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max — could be unveiled sometime in September. This year, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models are anticipated to be more expensive than the previous Pro models, and a new claim by a Barclays analyst corroborates this rumour. The vanilla iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will have the same price tag as the outgoing models. The iPhone 15 Pro is said to get new cameras and a faster chipset compared to the non-Pro models. 

As reported by MacRumors, Barclays analyst Tim Long mentioned in an investor note that iPhone 15 Pro models will come with a higher price tag than the ongoing iPhone 14 Pro models this year. The iPhone 15 Pro will reportedly cost up to $100 (roughly Rs. 8,000) more than the iPhone 14 Pro, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro Max could see a price hike of $100 to $200 (roughly Rs. 16,000) more than the iPhone 14 Pro Max. The analyst states that the pricing would remain similar for the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus models.

In the US, the iPhone 14 Pro was launched at $999 (roughly Rs. 79,555), while the iPhone 14 Pro Max, currently the most expensive iPhone model on the market, was priced at $1,099 (roughly Rs. 87,530). Based on Tim Long's estimate, the iPhone 15 Pro would start at $1,099, while iPhone 15 Pro Max is expected to have an initial price tag of $1,199 (roughly Rs. 98,000) or even $1,299 (roughly Rs. 1,06,864).

The vanilla iPhone 14 was announced with a starting price tag of $799 (roughly Rs. 63,700) and the iPhone 14 Plus starts at $899 (roughly Rs. 71,600).

Analyst Jeff Pu earlier in July claimed that the iPhone 15 Pro Max model will be priced higher than the existing iPhone 14 Pro Max. The increased cost can be attributed to several rumoured hardware upgrades including a fresh periscope lens, titanium frames, solid-state buttons with haptic feedback, USB Type-C charging ports, a brand-new A17 Bionic chip, and increased RAM.

A Bloomberg report earlier this week also reiterated that the iPhone 15 could have a higher price tag than the ongoing models. Apple is allegedly planning to hike the price of 2023 iPhone models to increase revenue. The company has reportedly set a target to produce around 85 million iPhone 15 units this year.

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Apple unveiled its first mixed reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro, at its annual developer conference, along with new Mac models and upcoming software updates. We discuss all the most important announcements made by the company at WWDC 2023 on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Meta’s Reels Revenue Gets AI Boost to Close in on TikTok, Set to Jump to $10 Billion This Year

Reels, Meta Platforms' answer to viral short-form video app TikTok, elicited eyerolls when it launched in 2020 and was regarded as yet another example of Meta copying a popular rival.

But on Wednesday, Meta revealed numbers that show Reels videos are growing rapidly among both users and advertisers and are quickly catching up to the ByteDance-owned TikTok app that is beloved by young users and has reshaped the social media landscape.

Meta says the rags-to-riches growth of Reels, which are viewable on both Facebook and Instagram, speaks in part to the company's improving recommendation software, long the Chinese-owned rival's strong point.

"We can show Reels that we think you're interested in based on our discovery engines," Justin Osofsky, Meta's head of online sales, operations and partnerships, said in an interview on Thursday.

The number of Reels video plays on Facebook and Instagram now top 200 billion per day, up from 140 billion last fall. TikTok did not respond immediately to a request to provide its daily figures.

The growth of Reels "creates a base that you have the opportunity to further monetize," Osofsky said.

Though Meta has invested in artificial intelligence for years, it is now moving to the forefront of its business to improve content recommendations and ads across the company's services, he added.

Reels' annual revenue run rate has jumped to $10 billion (roughly Rs. 82,287 crore), up from around $3 billion (roughly Rs. 24,688 crore) as of last fall and $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,229 crore) last summer, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during a conference call with analysts following its second quarter results.

That means Reels is about the size of TikTok's business as of last year, when it pulled in $9.9 billion (roughly Rs. 81,472 crore) in worldwide ad revenue, according to estimates from research firm Insider Intelligence, which forecast $13.2 billion (roughly Rs. 1,08,630 crore) in global ad revenue this year.

One reason for Reels' growth is that Meta's ad platform makes it seamless for advertisers to place their promotions on the feature, said Debra Aho Williamson, a principal analyst at Insider Intelligence.

"It's as easy as checking a box," she said.

More than three-quarters of Meta's advertisers are placing ads on Reels, said Susan Li, Meta's chief financial officer.

Throughout 2022, Meta executives fielded questions from investors about whether fast-growing Reels consumption was actually hurting ad sales by taking users' time away from higher-earning areas of its apps, like the News Feed.

There were relatively few ads in Reels at that point, but Zuckerberg said he expected advertisers to embrace the format over time, as they had with previous transitions from desktop to mobile and from Feed to Stories, Meta's Snapchat-like format.

On the earnings call on Wednesday, Li said the company expected Reels would continue earning less money than the ads Meta generates from its Stories and Feed features, "since people scroll more slowly through video content."

TikTok and its famous content recommendation algorithm remains the leader when it comes to time spent on social media apps. The average US user spends 53.8 minutes per day on TikTok, versus 48.7 minutes on YouTube, 33.1 minutes on Instagram and 30.9 minutes on Facebook, according to Insider Intelligence estimates.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company's new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Meta’s Reels Revenue Gets AI Boost to Close in on TikTok, Set to Jump to $10 Billion This Year

Reels, Meta Platforms' answer to viral short-form video app TikTok, elicited eyerolls when it launched in 2020 and was regarded as yet another example of Meta copying a popular rival.

But on Wednesday, Meta revealed numbers that show Reels videos are growing rapidly among both users and advertisers and are quickly catching up to the ByteDance-owned TikTok app that is beloved by young users and has reshaped the social media landscape.

Meta says the rags-to-riches growth of Reels, which are viewable on both Facebook and Instagram, speaks in part to the company's improving recommendation software, long the Chinese-owned rival's strong point.

"We can show Reels that we think you're interested in based on our discovery engines," Justin Osofsky, Meta's head of online sales, operations and partnerships, said in an interview on Thursday.

The number of Reels video plays on Facebook and Instagram now top 200 billion per day, up from 140 billion last fall. TikTok did not respond immediately to a request to provide its daily figures.

The growth of Reels "creates a base that you have the opportunity to further monetize," Osofsky said.

Though Meta has invested in artificial intelligence for years, it is now moving to the forefront of its business to improve content recommendations and ads across the company's services, he added.

Reels' annual revenue run rate has jumped to $10 billion (roughly Rs. 82,287 crore), up from around $3 billion (roughly Rs. 24,688 crore) as of last fall and $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,229 crore) last summer, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during a conference call with analysts following its second quarter results.

That means Reels is about the size of TikTok's business as of last year, when it pulled in $9.9 billion (roughly Rs. 81,472 crore) in worldwide ad revenue, according to estimates from research firm Insider Intelligence, which forecast $13.2 billion (roughly Rs. 1,08,630 crore) in global ad revenue this year.

One reason for Reels' growth is that Meta's ad platform makes it seamless for advertisers to place their promotions on the feature, said Debra Aho Williamson, a principal analyst at Insider Intelligence.

"It's as easy as checking a box," she said.

More than three-quarters of Meta's advertisers are placing ads on Reels, said Susan Li, Meta's chief financial officer.

Throughout 2022, Meta executives fielded questions from investors about whether fast-growing Reels consumption was actually hurting ad sales by taking users' time away from higher-earning areas of its apps, like the News Feed.

There were relatively few ads in Reels at that point, but Zuckerberg said he expected advertisers to embrace the format over time, as they had with previous transitions from desktop to mobile and from Feed to Stories, Meta's Snapchat-like format.

On the earnings call on Wednesday, Li said the company expected Reels would continue earning less money than the ads Meta generates from its Stories and Feed features, "since people scroll more slowly through video content."

TikTok and its famous content recommendation algorithm remains the leader when it comes to time spent on social media apps. The average US user spends 53.8 minutes per day on TikTok, versus 48.7 minutes on YouTube, 33.1 minutes on Instagram and 30.9 minutes on Facebook, according to Insider Intelligence estimates.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company's new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Amazon India Opens First-Ever Floating IHS Store on Dal Lake in Srinagar

Amazon India on Thursday announced its first-ever floating store on Dal Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir, as part of its last-mile delivery programme "I Have Space". 

Murtaza Khan Kashi, owner of houseboat Selec Town, will deliver packages every day to customers at the doorstep of their houseboats as part of the onboarding.

Amazon Logistics, India, Director Karuna Shankar Pande said this will provide faster and reliable deliveries to customers across Srinagar, opportunities for small businesses and strengthen Amazon's delivery network.

Launched in 2015, the 'I Have Space' programme has 28,000 neighbourhood and kirana partners in about 420 towns and cities in India. It partners with local stores and small businesses for delivering products within a 2 to 4 kilometres radius.

Amazon's flagship programme ‘I Have Space' facilitates the delivery of parcels and couriers. Once enrolled, the IHS partner receives packages on store location, which they need to deliver to the customer. The IHS partner receives payment from Amazon, based on the number of packages delivered. 

Amazon claims to have more than 28,000 IHS partners on over 350 cities across India. It doesn't require any investments from the local partners, and anyone can be part of the programme. All they need to do is collect and deliver parcels to nearby locations. On an average, an Amazon IHS store partners can deliver between 20 and 30 packages a day, while earning a fixed amount per delivery in return.

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Is the Xiaomi Pad 6 the best Android tablet you can buy under Rs. 30,000 in India? We discuss the company's latest mid-range tablet on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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