Technophobia

Nokia's (or rather HMD Global's) first Android-based smartphone is called simply the Nokia 6, and it will be available for buying sometime in early 2017. There is a catch, however. The Nokia 6, announced by HMD Global on Sunday, will be initially available for buying for 1699 CNY (roughly Rs 16,739) in China only, with no word on global availability and pricing for now. But, the bigger point to note here is that Nokia is back. There was -- previously -- no estimated time frame around which Nokia would launch its smartphones. Although, reports had hinted that Android-based Nokia phones would be released some time in Q2 2017. The Nokia 6, it seems, would be hitting the market (albeit, just in China) sooner than one would have anticipated. Surprisingly, HMD Global did not take the global stage at CES to unveil Nokia's new smartphone. It, instead, decided to announce it rather silently which means global media is still to get their hands on a functional unit. The company has...

The helpline will address questions regarding various platforms, including the newly-launched Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), eWallets, Aadhaar-enabled payment system and USSD New Delhi: The government, in collaboration with telecom and IT industry, has launched a toll-free helpline – 14444 – to address consumer queries on digital payments. The helpline will address questions regarding various platforms, including the newly-launched Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), eWallets, Aadhaar-enabled payment system and USSD. “The helpline ‘14444’ is available in North as well as Eastern part of the country in English and Hindi and will soon be extended pan India, and in other languages,” Telecom Secretary J S Deepak told PTI. The helpline has been launched jointly by Department of Telecom in collaboration with software association Nasscom, telecom industry as well as the IT industry, officials said. All telecom companies are participating in the initiative and the helpli...

Airtel to offer 1 year free data for customers switching to 4G In a bid to let customers experience 4G network at affordable prices, Bharti Airtel on Tuesday said it will offer free data for 12 months, worth up to Rs 9,000, to customers who switch to Airtel 4G. “The 12 months offer is available to any customer with a 4G mobile handset that is currently not on the Airtel network. Any customer, including existing Airtel customers, upgrading to a new 4G handset can also avail this offer,” the company said in a statement. According to the company, the offer will be available to customers across the country starting Wednesday and will close on February 28. “We are seeing increasing penetration of 4G handsets across the country and believe that this attractive offer will provide an opportunity to more and more customers to enjoy high speed broadband on their devices with Airtel,” said Director of Market Operations at Bharti Airtel, Ajai Puri. The statement added that over an...

Activate a Windows 10 feature that tracks your stolen or lost device Hands up, how many Windows 10 users know of a feature to track the device if its stolen? Not many, one would guess. Microsoft has at last responded to fears of theft of Windows 10 devices with its operating system (OS), and came out with an update to solve the problem. The latest version packs features that help users to track their device, with no extra charge and no added software downloads. It still has to be enabled and this is how the Find Your Device feature is activated: Prerequisites Before we start, it is important for you have the following software updates and settings to have a safe recovery in case of theft. Ensure that you have the Windows 10 November Update installed on your device. Check the version of Windows 10 that is installed. Double check that it is Windows 10 version 1511 or higher. If it is, then you can proceed with the process. Users who already have upgraded to Windows 10 aft...

f you happen to use a Windows phone, and have been among the ones bashing the company for a lack of features, it looks like your cries have been heard. Earlier today, screenshots, and some of the new features off  Microsoft Corporation ’s new Windows 10 OS were reported to have been leaked, and it was all confirmed in merely no-time. As it seems, a Polish website, Windowsmania were involved in leaking the screenshots of the latest Windows 10, putting on show some of the newly added features; the word is that a number of significant changes have been made to the system, including new notification updates, and a handful of UI enhancements, giving it a significantly new look. Awaiting confirmations from Microsoft itself, the word coming in suggests that a number of applications would now be able to notify users using sounds, vibrations, banners, and most importantly, using LED notifications; you may think of it as nothing new to the world of smartphones, but it has generat...

Google CEO Sundar Pichai's IIT Kharagpur visit saw him answer questions from current students at the campus. The Tagore open air theatre at IIT Kharagpur was packed to its full capacity as 3500 IITians turned up to listen to their alumnus,  Google  CEO Sundar Pichai. For Pichai, it was an emotional homecoming, his first visit to his alma mater since he graduated from IIT Kharagpur in 1993. “The last time I was here, I was leaving for the railway station to catch my train. It was a sad journey leaving the institute. I have not been back since,’’ said Pichai. Twenty three years later, Pichai, now one of the most noted of IITians, addressed a gathering of students spanning different departments, who had queued up to listen to him since the morning, all wearing black Google baseball caps which they had earlier been given. “When I first came to Kharagpur, I didn’t know any Hindi as I had just arrived from Chennai. But over the weeks I picked up a spattering of the lang...

Xiaomi is reportedly working on a successor to the Redmi Note 4, dubbed the Redmi Note 4X. On Wednesday, some details on the Redmi Note 4X were leaked online courtesy Weibo and now the smartphone has been spotted on China’s telecommunications certification site TENAA, which means it could be unveiled soon enough. The Redmi Note 4X’s listing on TENAA (where it’s listed as the 2016050) falls in line with recent leak that suggests the smartphone will pack 4GB of RAM, though 2GB and 3GB RAM variants will also be offered. Inbuilt storage variants include 16GB, 32GB and 64GB with microSD storage expansion (up to 32GB). Apart from the bumped up RAM and storage, the rest of the specifications and design language according to TENAA look similar to the Redmi Note 4. The TENAA listing shows that Redmi Note 4X will feature a 5.5-inch full-HD display, be powered by a 2GHz deca-core CPU, thought to be the MediaTek Helio X20 SoC, and run Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The device will sport a 13-meg...