Google, Facebook team up for direct undersea connection to Asia

Internet giants, Google and Facebook, have teamed up with Pacific Light Data Communication and TE SubCom- an undersea communication solution provider- to build the first direct submarine cable system between Los Angeles and Hong Kong.

The Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN) will have 12,800 km of fibre and an estimated cable capacity of 120 Tetrabit per second, making it the highest-capacity trans-Pacific route, a record currently held by another Google-backed cable system, FASTER.

Jio enrols 16 million customers in 26 days

Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) has created a world record by grossing 16 million subscribers in its first month of operations, a company statement said here on Sunday.

The company commercially launched its services on September 5.

"We are delighted and humbled by the overwhelming response across India to the Jio Welcome Offer. Jio is built to empower every Indian with the power of data," said Mukesh D. Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries Limited.

GSAT-18 launched successfully on board Ariane-5 from Kourou

Bengaluru, Oct 6 :India's latest communication satellite GSAT-18 was today successfully launched by a heavy duty rocket of Arianespace from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana.

The launch was originally scheduled for yesterday, but deferred by 24 hours owing to unfavourable weather conditions at Kourou, a French territory located in northeastern coast of South America.

GSAT-18, built by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), aims at providing telecommunications services for the country by strengthening ISRO's current fleet of 14 operational telecommunication satellites.

PM congratulates ISRO on successful launch of satellites

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today congratulated ISRO scientists on the successful launch of advanced weather satellite SCSAT-1 and 7 other satellites, saying their "innovative zeal" has made India proud worldwide.

"Moment of immense joy & pride for India.

Jio charges mobile association with bias, wants charter overhauled

NK Business, Mumbai,Reliance Jio on Sunday said the regulations of Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) are overwhelmingly biased and lopsided, framed to subserve the vested interests of the three incumbent dominant operators -- Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea. It has, accordingly, sought their complete overhaul.
In a letter to association Chairman Gopal Vittal and Director General Rajan S. Mathews, Jio said incumbent players command 68 per cent of the total votes in the association and that quorum in any executive council meeting is based on voting power, rather than number of members.

India to launch eight satellites in two different orbits on Sep 26

India on Sep 26 morning will launch its weather satellite SCATSAT-1 and seven other satellites - five foreign and two domestic - with its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket, said an official of Indian space agency on Thursday.

According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) the PSLV rocket with eight satellites is expected to blast off at 9.12 a.m. on Monday from its rocket port in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

Digital assistant Siri comes to Mac with all-new capabilities

macOS Sierra, the latest major release of the world's most advanced desktop operating system, is now available as a free update, Apple has announced, adding that macOS Sierra now brings Siri to the Mac systems.

Siri will come to Mac with intelligent and helpful features users know and love from iPhone and iPad, along with all-new capabilities designed specifically for use on the desktop, the company said in a statement late on Tuesday.

Lava launches X28 smartphone for Rs 7,349

Domestic mobile handset maker LAVA on Tuesday launched X28 smartphone at Rs 7,349 which is a 4G VoLTE-enabled device running on Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system.

The smartphone is powered by 1.3GHz quad-core processor coupled with 1GB of RAM and has 8GB internal memory.

Before iPhone 7 launch, Apple to reopen three stores in US

As Apple prepares to make iPhone 7 and iPhone7 Plus available for purchase at its stores on Friday, the Cupertino-based giant is set to reopen three big retail stores after months of renovation in the US.

The renovated stores are in Park Meadows in Colorado, Ridgedale in Minnsota and Fashion Mall in Indiana.

Now send messages using Siri on WhatsApp for iOS

Facebook-owned instant messaging platform WhatsApp in its latest update to its iOS app now allows users to use Apple's digital assistant Siri to send messages and make voice calls, a media report said.


To use the Siri-enabled voice controls, you need to have iOS 10 and latest version of WhatsApp installed on your device.

Stop using Samsung Galaxy Note 7: US agency

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has urged consumers who own Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones to "power them down and stop charging or using" the devices.

The warning on Friday was based on recent reports involving lithium-ion batteries in certain Note 7 devices that have resulted in fires, Xinhua news agency reported.

Apple iPhone 6s world's top selling smartphone: Report

Apple's iPhone 6s was the world's top-selling smartphone model in the second quarter of 2016, a report said on Wednesday, adding that the US giant currently accounts for two of the three top-selling smartphone models shipped worldwide.

Apple shipped 14.2 million units and accounted for four per cent share of all smartphones shipped worldwide in Q2 2016, said market research firm Strategy Analytics.

Second flash sale of LeEco's Super3 X55 TV is here

Chinese internet and technology conglomerate LeEco is ready with the second flash sale of its 'Super3 X55' Super TV on September 6.

The registration for the second flash sale which started on August 27 will end on September 6 at 11 a.m., the company said in a statement on Monday.


LeEco sold over 1,500 units of Super3 X55 TVs in just three minutes during its first flash sale on August 26.

Solar Tracking System launched by Ganges, US firm SunLink

Sunlink Corporation develops and engineers products and solutions for the solar industry projects across the Americas. The company offers tracker racking systems, fixed tilt ground mount systems, precision and modular roof mount systems, solar combiner boxes, and wire management tools for commercial and utility-scale PV projects. It also provides VERTEX,

Reliance Jio move set to boost digital marketing space: Lycos CEO

HYDERABAD: Reliance Jio's disruptive offer of free voice calls forever and data at just 5 paise per MB is expected to open up the digital marketing space in the country in a big way, a top expert has said

According to Suresh Reddy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lycos Internet Limited which is a pioneer in the digital marketing space, at $1 billion, the digital marketing in India currently accounts for a small pie of the global market pegged at $200 billion.
"With this shift, the Indian market can have a significant portion of the huge global market," Reddy, whose firm is into internet advertisement since 1998 and has global presence, told IANS.

Samsung announces swap for Galaxy Note 7 with Galaxy S7 variants

In a bid to repair the damage done by the global recall of its flagship premium device Galaxy Note 7 over battery faults, Samsung said they would start exchanging the smartphones as early as next week and customers could swap it with either the Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge.

Samsung late Friday issued an official statement on exchange of the Galaxy Note 7 devices for customers in the US.


"The US carriers have already halted sales and offered ways for customers who have already purchased the device to get refunds. Now Samsung has announced its own exchange programme, which will provide customers with a new device as soon as next week," The Verge reported on Saturday.

Xiaomi Mi Max: Phablet with long-lasting battery for heavy users

Phablets -- devices within the 5.5-7.0 inch display range -- have an altogether different user case scenario in the overcrowded Indian smartphone market. With 6.44-inch Mi Max, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has now unveiled a device for a longer immersive experience.

The Rs 14,999 device with 3GB RAM and 32GB onboard memory (or 4GB RAM/128GB memory at Rs 19,999) claims to be the start of a new era of big screen devices.


Let us see what works for the device.

Twitter to pay more to users for creating videos

In a bid to woo the kind of video creators YouTube has, the micro-blogging website Twitter has deciced to share the ad revenue with people making the video content.

The move is targeted at YouTube-style and approved creators who need to simply click a rev-share button when they upload their video and is open only for US users.

Jio Preview Offer now available on Intex 4G smartphones

Domestic smartphone-maker Intex technologies on Wednesday announced its partnership with RelianceJio for making the Jio Preview Offer available on its 4G smartphones.

With this, Intex users will be able to access an exclusive preview of the RelianceJio 4G services for a period of 90 days for free.

Reliance Communication's new offer for app-to-app calling

Aiming to address the issue of call drops, Reliance Communications on Tuesday introduced its 4G app-to-app calling for customers in Delhi NCR at an introductory price of Re 1 for 300 minutes of talk-time for 30 days.

The offer is named 'Call Drops Se Chutkaara' (freedom from call drops).