Uber launches ‘Gift Cards’ in India for Uber Eats and Uber rides
With the festive season coming up, Uber on Tuesday launched a new ‘Gift Card’ model for its customers. These Gift Cards that are being offered by the company can be redeemed for Uber Rides as well as Uber Eats. The value of Uber Gift Cards range from Rs 500 and goes up to Rs 10,000 and customers can purchase them via Paytm or Woohoo.
It has been revealed by the San Francisco based company that Qwikcilver is the official issuer of these Gift cards. As we mentioned earlier, these cards can be bought by Uber users for their contacts either on Paytm or on Woohoo. There are six denominations of Gift Cards that are available including Rs 500, Rs 1,000, Rs 2,000, Rs 3,000, Rs 5,000, and Rs 10,000.
Those who receive these Gift Cards can use them to order food via Uber Eats or simply for Uber rides. If you choose to get the Gift Cards from Paytm, you can use the promo code GIFT05 to get a cashback worth Rs 100.
And if you happen to receive a gift card, you can redeem it by going to the ‘Payments’ section in your Uber app and then select ‘Add Payment Method’. Once you do this, choose the option of Gift Card and then enter the code. Uber credits would then be added to your account.
Note that the validity of Uber Gift cards is 36 months from the date of when they are activated. If you have balance remaining even after 36 months are over, you will not be able to use it as it shall expire. But on the upside, there are no rigid rules about using the balance of a particular Gift Card partially or completely. However, you can only redeem them in Indian cities.
Speaking about the newly launched model, Madhu Kannan, Uber’s Chief Business Officer for India and Emerging Markets said, “The upcoming festive season gives us the perfect opportunity to launch the Uber Gift Card, a first-of-its-kind initiative combining fantastic offers across food and transportation at the tap of a button. Paytm has been a long-standing partner in bringing technology-enabled convenience to the Indian consumer, and we’re proud to take this partnership a step further with our first Uber Gift Card offering in India.”
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Samsung Galaxy Note 9 burst into flames in New York-based woman’s bag: Report
Last month, Samsung launched its latest flagship phablet Galaxy Note 9 with a massive 4,000mAh battery. And before anybody could recall the Galaxy Note 7 debacle that happened in 2016, CEO DJ Koh clarified that Samsung Galaxy Note 9’s battery is completely safe. He was quoted saying about the battery that engineers at Samsung had full confidence in its safety. He further said that users of Samsung Galaxy Note 9 did not have to worry about the battery at all.
But Samsung Galaxy Note 9’s battery seems to have gotten trouble for the company just a month after the phablet was launched. A woman has reportedly claimed that her Samsung Galaxy Note 9 caught fire inside her purse.
According to a report in New York Post, Diane Chung, resident of Long Island has filed a lawsuit against the technology giant that alleges that her Samsung Galaxy Note 9 burst into flames inside her purse while she was in an elevator of Bayside building.
After her phone became extremely hot while she was in the elevator, Chung stopped using it and kept it inside her bag. The report further states that she heard ‘whistling’ and ‘screeching’ sounds from her bag, which was followed by smoke coming out of it.
According to the lawsuit, when she tried to put her bag on the floor to empty it, she burnt her fingers and because the smoke was so thick, her visibility was also compromised.
She kicked the phone out of the elevator once it reached the lobby and the door opened. This ended when a ‘good Samaritan’ took note of the burning smartphone and put it in a bucket of water.
Chung has described the entire incident as ‘traumatic.’ She even went on to disclose that the fire that erupted spoiled everything else that was kept in her purse.
With her lawsuit, Chung is demanding unspecified damages and wants Samsung Galaxy Note 9 sales to be stopped.
New York Post also quoted Samsung speaking on the matter. The company reportedly said, “We have not received any reports of similar incidents involving a Galaxy Note 9 device and we are investigating the matter.”
Back in 2016, Samsung Galaxy Note 7 had to be recalled after a number of units exploded in different parts of the world. The reason behind these explosions was a fault in the battery of the phablet by Samsung.
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Sony Master Series A9F Bravia OLED TVs launched in India: Price, specs and more
One among the most popular products from Sony are its televisions from the BRAVIA series. And the company just took the lineup from the series to a new level by launching its Master Series A9F Bravia OLED TV range in India.
The television series come with a Netflix calibrated mode and have a built-in microphone that allows users to search using just their voice. This makes the search experience hands-free as users can simply say out loud to the TV to play TV shows, movies and more.
The new Sony OLED TVs run Android 8.0 Oreo and also have a TV center speaker mode that can work with home theater systems.
While the Bravia KD-55A9F comes with a 55-inch screen and is priced at Rs 3,99,000, the Bravia KD-65A9F sports a 65-inch display and costs Rs 5,59,990. Both the models of Sony televisions will be going on sale in India starting September 20.
According to the company, Sony Master Series A9F Bravia OLED TV range comes with X1 Ultimate image processor that is said to intelligently detect objects in the picture. It does so using the company’s new object based super resolution mechanism that is claimed to enhance accuracy. The new televisions also come equipped with pixel contrast booster. With these features onboard, the new range of televisions from Sony can deliver better 4K HDR picture quality and enhanced contrast.
The Sony Master Series A9F Bravia OLED TVs also come with Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology that accommodates multi-dimensional sound and according to the company, can create a rich sound field with three actuators and two subwoofers facing sideways.
The new range of televisions has multi-lingual support. They can support 11 Indian and 14 international languages.
The company’s new offerings sport a single slate design and have only one stand at the back.
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Samsung to launch a Galaxy device on October 11th
Right after we saw its latest phablet from the Note series, Samsung has sent out invitations hinting the launch of another device next month. The invite reads ‘4x the fun.’ and further mentions that it is ‘A Galaxy Event’ which will be held on October 11. There is no time or venue mentioned on the invite, but it does say that the event will be live-streamed on the company’s official website Samsung.com.
According to CNET, the invite says that “Samsung’s newest Galaxy device is bringing more ways to express yourself than ever before.”
However, there is no further indication about what Samsung plans to unveil on the said date.
There are a number of possible announcements that Samsung may have planned for October. We might get to see the launch of an updated detachable Galaxy Book, or the Samsung Chromebook that recently surfaced online.
Rumours of a foldable smartphone by Samsung have also been doing rounds, so we cannot rule out that too. But what probably fits the best is the smartphone with four cameras — considering that the invite reads ‘4x the fun.’ Reports about Samsung’s smartphone with four cameras first came out in July.
The smartphone is said to be a part of Samsung Galaxy A (2019) series and will come with triple rear cameras and an in-display fingerprint sensor. The report further claimed that among the three cameras of the smartphone one lens will come with variable aperture, one will be a super-wide angle lens, and the last one will be a telephoto lens.
However, as of now, it is only being guessed what the company has up its sleeve for its October 11 event as there is no official word from Samsung mobile about it. We cannot be sure until the event – which is scheduled exactly a month after Apple’s flagship event in which the Cupertino based technology giant unveiled its latest iPhones along with the Apple Watch Series 4.
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Price Drop: Apple iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 7 and iPhone 6s get price cut in India
There is good news for Apple fans. Keeping up with its tradition, the company has slashed the prices of its older iPhone variants right after launching its new flagship lineup. The pricing for older iPhones have gone down globally as well as in India. The devices to get a price cut include iPhone 6s, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X.
Note that iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone X have been discontinued in the US. However, in India, only the iPhone SE has been discontinued and the others are available to buy at reduced prices.
The iPhone lineup in India now starts with the base variant of iPhone 6S — which is priced at Rs 29,900. The price of the 128GB storage version of the device has been brought down to Rs 39,900. The bigger screen sibling of the device — iPhone 6S Plus — has also received a price cut and its 32GB variant is now available for Rs 34,900, whereas its 128GB storage version costs Rs 44,900.
Speaking of Apple‘s tenth anniversary smartphone — the 64GB storage variant is available for Rs 91,900 and the price of the 256GB version has been reduced to Rs 1,06,900. iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus — which were also launched last year — have received price cuts too. The 64GB and 256GB versions of iPhone 8 are now available for Rs 59,900 and Rs 74,900 respectively. Speaking of the bigger screen sibling, the 64GB storage version of iPhone 8 Plus is priced at Rs 69,900 and the 256GB storage variant costs Rs 84,900.
If you are somehow interested in buying the iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus, they are available at discounted prices too. iPhone 7’s 32GB storage version now costs Rs 39,900 and the 128GB storage model is priced at Rs 49,900. As for the iPhone 7 Plus smartphone, its base variant is now available for Rs 49,900, and its 128GB storage version costs Rs 59,900.
However, if you don’t want to settle for these and want to only buy either iPhone XS or iPhone XS Max, you would have to wait till September 28. And if you are intending to buy the iPhone Xr, then you have to wait a little longer as that will go on sale in India on October 26.
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Apple Watch Series 4 unveiled with a revamped design and built-in EKG scanner
Apple has unveiled its Apple Watch Series 4 at an event at Steve Jobs Theatre today. The smartwatch series has got its first ever design overhaul ever since it was first showcased by Apple over three years ago.
The smartwatch’s display is bigger than the previous versions as Apple Watch Series 4 sports thinner bezels. Described as an ‘intelligent guardian for your health,’ the Apple Watch Series 4 comes with an ECG functionality that has US FDA’s ‘De Novo’ classification.
That’s not all, Apple’s new smartwatch has a number of other features that — to put it in Apple’s words — make it the ultimate health and fitness watch.
Apple Watch Series 4 specifications
To begin with, Apple Watch Series 4 display is 30% larger than Apple Watch Series 3’s and comes in two casing options — 40mm and 44mm. Apple Watch Series 4 comes with a nearly edge-to-edge design and has a renewed placement of its microphone to reduce echo. The new smartwatch by Apple comes with three new watch faces based on fire, water, and vapour effects.
Apple Watch Series 4 runs the new Apple S4 SoC that comes with a 64-bit dual-core processor and a new GPU — promising a two times faster performance than Series 3. The new smartwatch by Apple comes with next-gen accelerometer and has a gyroscope with up to 32 g-forces and up to 2x dynamic range. The Apple Watch Series 4 is powered by latest watchOS 5 and has the UI which has been optimised for the smartwatch’s larger display.
There are changes in the Digital Crown of the watch too. Apple Watch Series 4’s Digital Crown comes with haptic feedback. This helps navigating various apps a lot easier.
The microphone of the Apple Watch Series 4 has been moved away from its speaker — and this, according to Apple, will reduce the amount of echo.
Apple Watch Series 4 can detect falls and once it does so, it immediately alerts concerned emergency services and SOS contacts. It will also notify users about low heart rate and atrial fibrillation. But the most revolutionary change that it has is the fact that it lets users carry out an electrocardiogram. This feature makes Apple Watch Series 4 the first ECG product offered over the counter directly to consumers. Users can save the ECG results in Health app of the iPhone and can further share them in the form of a PDF.
Price and availability
The non-cellular variant of Apple Watch Series 4 (GPS only) is priced at $399, whereas the GPS and cellular version is priced at $499. Apple Watch Series 4 will go on pre-orders starting September 14 and will first go on pre-orders in 26 markets starting September 21. Speaking of watchOS 5, it will be available starting September 17. Note that Apple Watch Series 3 has also received a price cut and is now available at $279.
Apart from Silver and Space Grey, Apple Watch Series 4 will also be available in Gold stainless finish.
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Apple iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR launched: India price, specifications and more
The wait is over for Apple fans! The technology giant has finally taken the wraps off its this year’s flagship smartphones. And as rumour suggested, the company has unveiled three new iPhones, namely – Apple iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR.
Although the design of the three newly launched iPhones is similar to the iPhone X, what sets them apart is the different features that they are packed with. It is also worth noticing that with its new line up, Apple has finally let go of its design that became so popular with iPhone 6 and continued to be a rage among smartphones till iPhone X was launched last year.
Apple iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max specifications
The first major highlight in the specifications if iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max that we want to talk about is the fact that the handsets are Dual SIM Dual Standby. Both the smartphones will support eSIM cards even from providers like Airtel and Reliance Jio.
Powered by Apple A12 Bionic processor, iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max sport OLED HDR Super Retina displays that are claimed by the company to be more saturated and battery efficient. While iPhone XS comes with 5.8-inch display, iPhone XS Max sports a 6.5-inch screen. With A12 Bionic processor onboard, the devices promise a better augmented reality experience and are said to launch apps 30% faster than 2017 iPhones.
For imaging duties, both iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max come with a dual rear camera setup – comprising of a 12MP wide-angle lens with f/1.8 aperture and a 12MP telephoto lens with f/2.4 aperture. For selfies and video calls, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max sport a 7MP TrueDepth camera with f/2.2 aperture. The front facing snapper of the iPhones promises more depth in portrait images. In fact, with iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, you can adjust the blur level of the background of the images even after they have been clicked.
Both the iPhones are available in three storage options — 64GB, 128GB, and 512GB and run the iOS 12 software. The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max come with IP68 water-resistance rating and come with Face ID unlock feature.
Speaking of battery life, iPhone XS is said to last 30 minutes longer and iPhone XS Max is claimed to last one and a half hours longer than iPhone X.
iPhone XR specifications
While most of the specifications of iPhone XR mobile are the same as that of iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, there are some key things that are different. Firstly unlike iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max which sport OLED screens, iPhone XR comes with a 6.1-inch LCD screen with 1,792×828-pixel resolution. It has an aluminium body and a glass back panel and comes with a single 12MP wide angle rear camera with Optical Image Stabilization.
It comes in three storage options — 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB. The smartphone comes with IP67 water resistance instead of IP68 like iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max and its battery life is said to be 1.5 hours more than that of iPhone 8 Plus.
Much like iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR is powered by A12 Bionic processor and runs iOS 12 software. The device can be bought in six colours including blue, coral, yellow, white, black, and Project Red.
Price
The iPhone XS comes with a price tag of $999 for the base variant, $1,149 for 256GB version and $1,349 for the highest 512GB model. In India, the price of iPhone XS begins at Rs 99,900. Speaking of iPhone XS Max, the base variant is priced at $1,099, the 256GB version bears a price tag of $1,249 and the 512GB storage model costs $1,449. iPhone XS Max’s 64GB storage model is priced at Rs 1,09,900.
Apple iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max will go on pre-orders on September 14, and will ship starting September 21. In India, they will be available starting September 28.
Speaking of iPhone XR, the 64GB variant is priced at $749, the 128GB storage model at $799 and the 256GB version at $899. In India, the price of iPhone XR begins at Rs 76,900. The pre-orders for iPhone XR will begin on October 19 and it will start shipping from October 26 in over 50 countries including India.
Price update:
Apple iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max will be available in 64GB, 256GB and 512GB capacity models in space grey, silver and a new gold finish starting at Rs 99,900 and Rs 109,900 MRP, respectively, through Apple Authorised Resellers.
Apple-designed accessories including leather and silicone cases in a range of colours will be available starting at Rs 3500, while the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max Leather Folio will be available for Rs 9,900.
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WhatsApp is now available on JioPhone: How to download
It was at its 41st Annual General Meeting that Reliance Industries announced that its JioPhone and JioPhone 2 will soon be getting support for apps like WhatsApp and YouTube. And obviously, the announcement did create a lot of stir. Though it was initially planned that JioPhone will be getting support for WhatsApp starting August 15, it has finally started rolling out today via JioStore. The app will be available to all JioPhone users by September 20.
JioPhone and JioPhone 2 users can now download WhatsApp for KaiOS by visiting the JioStore on the smartphone. Much like its Android and iOS versions, WhatsApp for KaiOS also has end-to-end encryption.
Using WhatsApp for KaiOS, users can hold one-to one conversations, make groups, and even record and send voice messages. However, unlike the Android and iOS versions, users cannot make payments via WhatsApp for KaiOS. The ability to make voice and video calls is also currently not present.
Here’s what you need to do if you have a JioPhone and wish to download WhatsApp for KaiOS on your device:
- Go to JioStore from the menu and look for WhatsAppin the list.
- Press install. Note that the app will only get installed on your device if your phone runs on the latest software update.
- Verify your mobile number on the app to get started.
US President Donald Trump tells Apple to manufacture products in US
US President Donald Trump has sent across a tweet to Apple indicating that it will be beneficial for the company to move its manufacturing plant to America. The tweet suggested that by doing this, the Cupertino based technology giant can avoid tariffs in the on-going trade dispute between United States and China. This comes right after reports of the price of Apple products going up surfaced.
The Trump administration in United States this summer started imposing a series of tariffs on goods that are made in China. However, till now, consumer electronics were not one among these items. This is set to change however, as there is a fair possibility that the latest proposed round of tariffs will include products from technology companies like FitBit, Apple and Sonos.
Last week, Apple had said in a statement that these tariffs would result in a 25% tax on its products that are shipped to the United States including Apple Watch, Apple Pencil, AirPods, HomePod, Mac Mini, etc. The company further said that this would mean an increase in the price of these products — as the cost will be passed to the customers.
It was right after this that the world woke up to US President Donald Trump’s tweet urging Apple to build new manufacturing plants in America. He further said that this could mean no tax and relocating would bring with itself other tax incentives.
It is notable that Apple assembles a number of its products in China. US President Donald Trump has been quoted saying earlier that Apple CEO Tim Cook has committed to building “three big plants, beautiful plants” in the United States. The company itself has also said that it will be investing hundreds of billions in domestic manufacturing will be hiring more workers for the same.
Moving manufacturing to United States may help Apple skip the tariffs, but the company’s products are not very likely to get any cheaper. The reason for this is that workforce in China is cheaper and plants producing individual components are situated closely to each other. So moving its manufacturing plant to US would only prove to be more costly for Apple.
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Moto G6 Plus launched in India: Price, specifications and more
The affordable segment of Indian smartphone market already has a number of key players competing. But that certainly did not stop Lenovo from launching its Moto G6 Plus in the said segment. The smartphone joins its siblings Moto G6 and Moto G6 Play, which were rolled out a few weeks back in June.
But there are certain factors that set it apart. It sports a bigger display, packs more RAM and is powered by a more powerful processor. It is notable that while the global variant of Moto G6 Plus comes with 4GB RAM, the one launched in India is backed by 6GB of RAM.
Moto G6 Plus Specifications
Speaking of the specifications of the device, Moto G6 Plus mobile features a 5.93-inch full HD+ display with an aspect ratio of 18:9. The Android 8.0 Oreo based smartphone is powered by 2.2GHz octa-core Snapdragon 630 processor clubbed with 6GB RAM and Adreno 508 GPU. The company has said that the smartphone will be receiving an update for Android Pie soon. The Moto G6 Plus smartphone has 64GB onboard storage and can hold a microSD card of up to 128GB.
For imaging duties, Moto G6 Plus comes with a dual rear camera setup with a 12MP primary sensor and a 5MP secondary sensor. While the primary sensor of the device comes with f/1.7 aperture, the secondary sensor has an f/2.2 aperture. On the front panel, there is an 8MP camera for selfies and video calls. The smartphone houses a 3,200mAh battery which comes with support of Motorola’s TurboPower adaptor – which is claimed to give a usage time of up to 7 hours with just 15 minutes of charging time.
Connectivity options of the smartphone include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C, NFC and 3.5mm audio jack. It has a standard set of sensors.
Moto G6 Plus Price
Moto G6 Plus mobile is available only storage variant in India, and will be priced at Rs 22,499. The smartphone will be available to buy on Amazon.in, Moto Hubs, and the company’s offline retail partners.
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