Samsung launched its Galaxy A9 Pro phablet in India last year, at a price of Rs 32,490. Now, the company has given the smartphone a price cut, bringing down its price down to Rs 29,900. The new price will be effective from March 3 and the smartphone can be purchased from Flipchart. Samsung will also be offering EMI and exchange offers with the handset.
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MWC 2017: 9 hottest smartphones launched
MWC 2017: 9 hottest smartphones launched Nokia 6 Nokia 3310 Huawei P10 Plus LG G6 Moto G5 Plus Sony Xperia XZ Premium Sony Xperia XZs BlackBerry KEYone ZTE Gigabit Phone
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MWC 2017: 9 hottest smartphones launched
The world's biggest mobile industry conference Mobile World Congress (MWC) is underway in Barcelona Spain. Every year, companies launch their flagship smartphones, across categories and price brackets, at the event. MWC 2017 is no different. Some of the world's biggest smartphone brands LG, Huawei, Lenovo, Nokia, Blackberry, Sony and ZTE launched their upcoming smartphones on the sidelines of the event. Here are nine hottest smartphones launched at the event.
Nokia 6
HMD Global announced the global availability of its Nokia 6 smartphone, which was earlier launched in China. In addition, the company launched two more Android-based smartphones - Nokia 5 and Nokia 3. The Nokia 6 will be available in Q2 this year. Some of its key hardware specifications of the handset include a 5.5-inch Full HD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage. For imaging duties, there’s a 16MP rear camera and an 8MP front-facing shooter. Backed by a 3,000mAh battery, the Nokia 6 has a starting price of EUR 229 (roughly Rs 16,100).
Nokia 3310
Apart from three new Android-based smartphones, HMD Global also launched a modern version of Nokia’s iconic 3310 feature phone, which originally came out in 2000. The feature phone, which will be made available in Q2 this year, is priced at EUR 49 (approximately Rs 3,400). In terms of specifications, the new Nokia 3310 features a 2.4-inch QVGA display, 2MP rear camera and microSD card support. It’s claimed to have 22 hours of talktime and one month standby time. The reimagined classic phone even comes with a new, colorized version of the hugely popular game Snake.
Huawei P10 Plus
Huawei launched its duo of P10 and P10 Plus flagship smartphones at MWC 2017. Out of the two, the P10 Plus is the more powerful and is also the company’s first smartphone to support 4.5G LTE connectivity. It has a 5.5-inch Quad HD resolution display and is powered by Huawei’s own octa-core Kirin 960 SoC paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. There’s also another version that comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of on-board storage. For imaging duties, the smartphone has a dual-camera setup developed in collaboration with Leica. It includes a 20MP module and a 12MP module. There’s also an 8MP selfie-shooter with f/1.9 aperture. Huawei P10 Plus has a starting price of EUR 699 (roughly Rs 49,200).
LG G6
South Korean tech giant LG launched its newest flagship smartphone - G6, at a pre-MWC 2017 event. The handset sports a 5.7-inch 'FullVision' Quad HD+ display of 1440x2880 pixel resolution. It’s powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 821 SoC paired with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage and comes with a dual camera setup at the back, comprised of two 13MP modules. There’s also a 5MP front-facing shooter for the selfie lovers out there. LG claims that the G6 is the world’s first smartphone to come with Dolby Vision technology. The premium handset is backed by a 3,300mAh battery.
Moto G5 Plus
Lenovo-owned Motorola unveiled its long-rumoured Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus smartphones at the ongoing MWC 2017. Of the two, the more powerful Moto G5 Plus packs in a 5.2-inch Full HD resolution display and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC paired with 2GB/3GB/4GB of RAM. There’s also 32GB/64GB of internal storage, 12MP rear camera, 5MP front-facing snapper and a 3,000mAh battery rounding off the spec sheet. As for the pricing the smartphone is priced at EUR 299 (roughly Rs 21,100).
Sony Xperia XZ Premium
Sony launched the successor to its Xperia XZ smartphone - Xperia XZ Premium, at MWC 2017. The smartphone sports a 5.5-inch 4K resolution display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage. For imaging, the smartphone comes with a 19MP rear camera and a 13MP front-facing snapper, with a 3,230mAh battery rounding off the spec sheet. Sony Xperia XZ Premium includes stereo speakers for an enhanced audio experience. That said, the price and availability of the handset have not been announced.
Sony Xperia XZs
Besides the high-end Xperia XZ Premium, the company also launched the compact Xperia XZs. The smartphone has a 5.2-inch Full HD resolution display, a 19MP 1/2.3" primary camera with 'Motion Eye' technology, a 13MP front-shooter, 32GB of internal storage and a 2,900mAh battery. Just like the XZ Premium, the price and availability of the XZs have not been announced either.
BlackBerry KEYone
BlackBerry took the wraps off its new Android smartphone - KEYone, the first handset to be launched after the company collaborated with China-based TCL to manufacture smartphones. The handset will be made available in the US and other selected regions at a price of $549 (roughly Rs 36,500). Some of the key specifications of the smartphone include 4.5-inch Full HD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage (with microSD card support), 12MP rear camera, 8MP front-facing snapper and a 3,505mAh battery.
ZTE Gigabit Phone
As expected, ZTE launched what it claims to be the first smartphone in the world to come with 5G mobile internet support. Dubbed Gigabit Phone, the smartphone is powered by Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon 835 chipset and supports download speeds of up to 1Gbps. It can also record 360-degree panoramic VR videos and supports ultra fast downloads of Hi-Fi music and videos.
MWC 2017: 9 hottest smartphones launchedNokia 6Nokia 3310Huawei P10 PlusLG G6Moto G5 PlusSony Xperia XZ PremiumSony Xperia XZsBlackBerry KEYoneZTE Gigabit Phone
The key highlight of the Galaxy A9 Pro is its large 5,000mAh battery. The smartphone also sports fast charging technology, which it claims can charge the battery from 0% to 100% in just two hours. A 30-minute top-up is claimed to be enough to charge the battery up to 32% can charge the battery from 0% to 100% in just 2 hours. A 30-minute charge can recharge the battery up to 32%.
For those unaware, Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow out-of-the-box and features a 6-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display of 1080x1920 pixel resolution. It is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor clubbed with 4GB RAM. There's also 32GB of in-built storage which can be further expanded up to 256GB via microSD cards.
For imaging duties, Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro comes with a 16MP autofocus rear camera and an 8MP front-facing snapper. Additional features include fingerprint scanner, Samsung Knox, S-Voice and screen mirroring. Connectivity options include 4G, LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB 2.0 and NFC.
Earlier this year, Samsung launched its Galaxy C9 Pro smartphone in India. Priced at Rs 39,900, the Galaxy C9 Pro is the first Samsung Galaxy smartphone to come with 6GB of RAM. It's powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 653 SoC.
The Galaxy C9 Pro a 6-inch Full HD display of 1080x1920 pixel resolution and weighs 189g. For imaging duties, the handset has a 16MP rear camera with f/1.9 aperture, phase detection autofocus and dual-tone LED flash. There's a 16MP module on the front as well.
India Post is expected to open the financial bids for the contract in the next few days and pick a winner after these two firms qualified in the technical rounds, they said.
According to an official aware of the development, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has bid along with Indian IT major Infosys, which has in-house core banking software Finacle. Fidelity Information Services (FIS) has bid with its own banking software, the person said.
India Post Bank is likely to tap World War-era tech to garner business
Digital payment and e-commerce player Paytm has already opted for Infosys' Finacle to power its upcoming payment bank. India Post's contract is the latest in a number of large technology contracts following the Reserve Bank of India's decision to give payment bank licenses to 11 firms.
ET had reported in October that the posts department, which is racing against time to ready India Post Payments Bank, has had to re-tender its technology contract after its first tender received only one bid, from Polaris India.
This prompted India Post to tweak some of the regressive clauses in the tender concerning intellectual property rights, cash flow and payment terms, and come out with a fresh tender.
"After India Post tweaked the contract, it made business sense because of which companies were willing to participate," said the official cited earlier.
Besides HPE and Fidelity, Tata Consultancy Services too was said to be in the race for the India Post project. FIS did not comment on ET's query. In an emailed statement, HPE said it does not comment on rumour or speculation in the market.
India Post Payments Bank will follow a bottoms-up approach, targeting around 500 million people who have feature phones and around 350 million who have no mobile at all, its chief executive AP Singh had told ET earlier.
Telecom minister and Finance minister launch India Post Payment Bank
The bank has already started pilots in Ranchi and Raipur, and the idea is to have a office in every district of the country. Singh had said that by September, he hoped to start operations in at least 650 districts of the country.
"Something that others are not doing but might emerge as our USP is door-todoor banking with the help of the postman. Plus, simplified payment solutions for the masses is what we will be targeting," he had said.
India Post also plans to make the 12-digit Aadhaar number as a single point payment address. It proposes that over 112 crore Indians who have an Aadhaar number till now will be able to transact -send and receive money - only on the basis of the unique identification number, irrespective of the fact whether it is linked to a bank account or not.
The $500 million fundraising would value the ride-hailing service between $6 billion and $7 billion, the source said.
A Lyft spokeswoman declined to comment.
Lyft's fundraising efforts have been ongoing for months, and the company retained Qatalyst Partners in part to assist them in raising a fresh round of cash, according to other sources with knowledge of the matter.
Larger ride-hailing competitors, Uber and Didi, have raised so much money that Lyft's options of finding new investors who can write big checks are quite limited.
Uber is valued at about $70 billion and Didi's valuation is about $35 billion after its merger with Uber's China operations in August.
(Reporting by Heather Somerville in San Francisco and Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)
An investor committee that advises the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will next week review if Snap Inc's decision to deny shareholders voting rights might also reduce the social media company's public disclosures on executive pay and other governance matters, the head of that committee told Reuters on Wednesday.
Snap, the parent of the popular messaging app Snapchat, priced its eagerly awaited initial public offering at $17 per share on Wednesday, above the expected range, giving the company a value of close to $24 billion, the richest in a U.S. tech IPO since Facebook Inc in 2012.
The IPO shares will give investors no voting rights, an unprecedented feature that has raised concerns among corporate governance leaders that other high-valuation companies may follow suit and leave investors with little say over company operations.
Snap insiders and early investors hold shares with voting rights, giving them control of the company.
For Snap, "The question becomes, since there are no common shareholders' proxy votes to do, what does that do to the level of disclosures it will have to do for annual meetings and annual reports," Kurt Schacht said in a telephone interview.
Schacht is chairman of the SEC's Investor Advisory Committee, which makes recommendations to the regulator and was set up by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reforms. The SEC does not have to follow its suggestions. Schacht is managing director of the CFA Institute, which accredits investment professionals.
The committee has a meeting scheduled for March 9 that will include a discussion on "unequal voting rights of common shares," according to a published agenda for the session.
RACE TO BOTTOM?
Schacht said a concern was that Snap's non-voting shares could inspire other unicorns - the unofficial name for privately held technology companies with valuations of over $1 billion - to follow suit.
"We feel it's worth asking the question of, is this a one-off novelty pump-and-dump IPO, or is this a new trend with these unicorns?" he said. If so, he said that would "a troubling race to the bottom."
A Snap representative declined to comment.
In a Feb. 27 securities filing, Venice, California-based Snap said it will invite its new non-voting shareholders to its annual meetings and to submit questions. It also said it will provide them "the same proxy statements, information statements, annual reports, and other information" it delivers to those who hold its other classes of stock, including Chief Executive Evan Spiegel.
But the company may disclose some information to investors up to four days after a material event has occurred, the filing states. In the filing, Snap also calls itself an "emerging growth company" under U.S. law, leaving it free to exempt itself from some reporting requirements.
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The scheduled review is only the latest test of transparency for Snap, which has gained a reputation for secrecy befitting its disappearing-message app, even as it has rebranded itself as a "camera" company making video recording glasses and tools.
Snap's IPO also is seen as a test for big mutual fund firms, traditionally some of the largest buyers of tech IPOs. The companies lately have made shareholder rights a rallying cry and some governance specialists have called for funds to avoid the IPO because of the unusual voting situation.
Schacht said Snap declined an invitation to appear at the March 9 meeting. He said the discussion will also explore the company's viewpoint on governance and the argument its voting structure could be cheaper than for a company with traditional voting rights.
"We'll try to explore both sides. Is this is a slap in the face of corporate governance, or is this the market efficiency of the future?," he said.
(Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston; Additional reporting by Lauren Hirsch in New York; Editing by Bill Rigby)
On Wednesday, in response to a letter by a fifth grade student, the founder and chief executive of Tesla made another announcement on the social media platform - the company will hold a contest for homemade advertisements.
Bria, daughter of Twitter user Steven, suggested that Musk should run a competition to find the best homemade commercial for Tesla, which has been averse to commercials.
"Thank you for the lovely letter. That sounds like a great idea. We'll do it!" Musk responded to the letter in a tweet. bit.ly/2mN9X3N
Bria, who aspires to be a politician, wrote in the letter that Tesla cars were the "best thing" she had ever seen and that she hoped to drive a Tesla car in the future.
"You could give the winners a year of free Supercharging or a Model 3 Easter Egg or something," Bria suggested in the letter, which was written for a school project.
"The cool part is that you still won't be taking the time and money to advertise for yourself," she wrote, adding "it would be so cool if you could hook me up with a Tesla t-shirt."
She also expressed her disappointment over Tesla cars not being sold in Michigan.
Steven, who shared the letter, is a journalist and a professor at Art Institute of Michigan, his Twitter account showed.
Snap Inc's in-demand shares are set to start trading in New York on Thursday after the owner of the popular Snapchat messaging app raised $3.4 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday, above its price expectations.
Snap's IPO was oversubscribed by more than ten-times, indicating a hunger for the shares that might produce a pop on the first day of trading.
The New York Stock Exchange carried out a trial run last week to make sure the third-biggest ever technology IPO goes smoothly.
Facebook Inc's eagerly awaited market debut in 2012 was marred by a technical glitch at rival exchange Nasdaq.
After pricing its IPO at $17 a share, the owner of the popular disappearing-message app has a market value of roughly $24 billion, more than double the size of rival Twitter Inc and the richest valuation in a U.S. tech IPO since Facebook five years ago.
The share sale was the first test of investor appetite for a social-media app that is beloved by teenagers and people under 30 for applying bunny faces and vomiting rainbows onto selfies, but has yet to convert "cool" into cash.
Despite a nearly seven-fold increase in revenue, the Los Angeles-based company's net loss widened 38 percent last year. It faces intense competition from larger rivals such as Facebook's Instagram as it grapples with decelerating user growth.
Snap priced 200 million shares on Wednesday at $17 each, above its expected range of $14 to $16 dollars a share.
The sale was well timed, as investors look for fresh opportunities after 2016 marked the slowest year for IPOs since 2008. The launch could encourage debuts by other so-called unicorns, tech startups with private valuations of $1 billion or more.
Investors bought the shares despite them having no voting power, an unprecedented feature for an IPO at odds with rising concerns about corporate governance over the past few years from fund managers looking to gain influence over executives.
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Although Snap is going public at a much earlier stage in its development than Twitter or Facebook, the five-year-old company is valuing itself at nearly 60 times revenue, more than double the 27 times revenue mark Facebook fetched in its IPO.
To justify its relatively high valuation and fend off concerns about slowing user growth, Snap has emphasized how important Snapchat is to its users, how long they spend on the app and the revenue potential of the emerging trend for young people to communicate with video rather than text.
Snap is set to begin trading on Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SNAP.
(Reporting by Lauren Hirsch in New York; Editing by Bill Rigby)
The university announced the plan last July as a way to save $30 million over five years. The University of California system, which includes health care and research-focused UCSF, has been struggling to raise revenue and cut expenses.
Globalisation and outsourcing have become hot-button political issues in the United States, as more employers cut costs by farming out work to low-cost workers in far-flung parts of the world. President Donald Trump campaigned on promises to restore lost US jobs and to penalise companies that move factories overseas.
LAYOFFS DUE TO RISING COSTS OF TECHNOLOGY
This was the University of California's first outsourcing, said a spokeswoman who added that the layoffs were necessary due to rising costs of technology. In addition to the 49 staff layoffs, another 48 positions that were vacant or filled by contractors were eliminated.
California Senator Dianne Feinstein last year said the university had a responsibility to keep jobs in the United States and pledged to seek reforms to stop domestic jobs being outsourced.
Kurt Ho, 58, a laid off systems administrator, carried a box of his personal items with an American flag draped over it, and said the university's decision will hurt service for a medical staff that relies on a smoothly running and secure computer network.
"It's a downgrading of services and a slap in the face for the customers," said Ho, who has worked in IT in the Bay Area for 25 years. He said he plans to look for a job but worries that outsourcing of IT services is a growing trend.
Last year UCSF entered into a $50 million contract over five years with India-based HCL Technologies Ltd to do the work.
The President fervently rehearsing his speech in his limo.
"I have never seen this before. A President on the way to giving his, well, almost State of the Union and actually practicing it on television," remarked an MSNBC anchor.
Four officials say the administration's decision follows pressure from the Pentagon and State Department. They had urged the White House to reconsider Iraq's inclusion given its key role in fighting the Islamic State group.
Trump is expected to sign the new order Wednesday. It is designed to replace an earlier Trump order that was blocked by federal courts.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the order before it is signed.
They said six countries - Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen -- will remain on the travel ban list.
साउन, काठमाडौं । गोरखाबाट विरामी लिएर काठमाडौं आउँदै गरेको फिस्टेल एयरको हेलिकोप्टर सोमबार नुवाकोटमा दुर्घटना हुँदा ७ जनाको मृत्यु भएको छ ।
गोर्खाको सिर्दिवास गाविस-८ फिलिम भन्ने स्थानबाट विरामीहरु लिएर काठमाडौंका लागि उडेको नाइन एन एकेए कलसाइन भएको हेलिकोप्टर नुवाकोटको मदानपुर गाविस-९ को बेतिनी जंगलको भीरमा दुर्घटना भएको हो ।
दुर्घटनामा क्याप्टेन रन्जन लिम्बुसहित कितमान लिम्बु, अज्ञानी गुरुङ, लक्ष्मी गुरुङ, निशा तामाङ, प्रति गुरुङ र उनका पाँच दिनको छोराको मृत्यु भएको प्रहरीले जनाएको छ ।
नुवाकोटका प्रमुख जिल्ला अधिकारी विष्णुप्रसाद पोख्रेलले भने, ‘सात जनाको मृत्यु भएको छ । लाशहरु टुक्रा-टुक्रा छन् ।’
हेलिकोप्टर गोर्खाको फिलिमबाट दिउँसो १२ बजेर १० मिनेटमा काठमाडौंका लागि उडेको थियो । सो हेलिकोप्टर १२ बजेर ३२ मिनेट जाँदा सम्पर्कविहीन भएपछि खोजी सुरु गरिएको थियो ।
दिउँसो करिव १ बजे स्थानीयले जंगलमा आगलागी भएको सूचना दिएपछि घटनाबारे आफूले जानकारी पाएको नुवाकोटका प्रमुख जिल्ला अधिकारी पोख्रेलले बताए । त्यसलगत्तै नुवाकोट सदरमुकाम विदुरबाट प्रमुख जिल्ला अधिकारी पोख्रेलसहित नेपाली सेना र प्रहरीको टोली घटनास्थल गएको थियो ।
घटनास्थलबाट शव संकलन गरी काठमाडौं ल्याउँदै गरेको नुवाकोटका एसपी देवबहादुर बोहोराले अनलाइनखबरलाई जानकारी दिए ।
घटनास्थल राजधानी काठमाडौं र नुवाकोट सदरमुकाम विदुरको मध्य भागमा पर्दछ । पैंतिस किलोबाट कुमरी गाविस जाने सडक पटि्टको जंगलमा पारीबाट हेलिकोप्टर जलेको देखेको प्रत्यक्षदर्शीहरुले बताएका छन् ।
(नुवाकोटबाट कपिलदेव खनालको सहयोगमा)