Reliance Jio clocks over 72 million Prime members, deadline extended till Apr 15, Rs. 303 recharge offers free services till June

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries today announced that Reliance Jio now has over 72 million, and still counting in a month of starting Prime enrollment. He said that this is the largest migration from free to paid services in history in such a short period of time.

Reliance Jio is also extending the deadline for purchasing enrollment of Jio Prime as well as its recharge of Rs 303 to enjoy benefits of the Happy New Year offer, including full bouquet of Jio’s media services and other plans till 15th April.

Jio also announced new Jio Summer Surprise for its Jio Prime members. Every Jio Prime member, when they make their first paid recharge prior to 15th April using Jio’s Rs 303 plan or any higher value plan will get services for the initial 3 months on a complimentary basis.

The paid tariff plan will be applied only in July, after the expiry of the complimentary service. Jio also said that users who do not recharge by the
extended date of 15th April will experience degradation and/or discontinuation of services.

Mukesh Ambani believes that the complimentary period will help to familiarize Jio customers with Jio’s fully digital, self-service process of using the MyJio app to perform recharges and to set up digital
payment methods for further purchases.

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LeEco's On Again, Off Again Vizio Acquisition May Be Off For Good

After being sidelined by cash flow problems and a privacy invasion lawsuit, LeEco's $2 billion acquisition of Vizio may be permanently scuttled, this time by China's restrictions on cross-border movement of capital.

"LeEco's US$2 billion acquisition of American consumer electronics developer Vizio Inc. may have to be aborted due to China's capital control rules, according to Chinese media citing insiders. LeEco agreed to acquire Vizio last July after two years of negotiations."

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Google Maps Tool Lets Users Share Their Location with Friends

An update to Google Maps contains a handy tool that lets users share their location with friends. No more need to let someone know that you are going to be late.
Using the new Google Maps update “Share Your Location,” friends can track your route and know when you will arrive.
What share your location does
When you share your location using Google Maps, your friends can follow where you are in real time. Your location on the map will change as you move.
Users can share their location for a limited period of time that they choose. Or they can set it to share their location until it is turned off. The Google Maps app will let you know when you are sharing your location so you do not forget to turn it off.
This tool works with iPhone and Android, and also on computers. Even if you have an iPhone and your friends have Android phones, you can share your location with them using Google Maps.
You can even send your location to people who do not have a smart phone. If they use a computer, they can see where you are on the Google Maps website - provided you have shared your location with them.
You can send your location to anyone in your list of Google contacts. You can also share your location with someone who is not in your contact list. Just send them a link.
You can share your location with as many people as you want.
Sharing your route
If you are using Google Maps to navigate, you can send your route in addition to your location. That way your friends will know the way you are going and see when you are expected to arrive.

How to use share your location in Google Maps
After the app has been updated you can begin to share your location with others using Google Maps.
You must have the Google Maps app to use this feature. This app comes standard on Android phones. If you have an iPhone, you can download the Google Maps app for free at the iTunes App Store.
After you have downloaded the app, log into your Google account.
Open the app and tap the blue dot that shows where you are. A menu will show. Tap "Share Location" then choose which of your contacts you would like to share your location with and for how long.

Next, tap "Share" to begin sharing your location. An icon will appear as long as your location is being shared.

Google Maps Sharing Location

How to share your route
When you are using Google Maps on your phone to navigate, tap the "More" button at the bottom of the screen. Then tap "Share trip" and choose which people to share your trip with and for how long.
You can choose to share your route for a specific time period or until you arrive at your destination.
What else you need to know
You can turn off sharing your location at any time. Even if you have set a time period for sharing your location, you can cancel it whenever you want.
Google has not given a date for this update to be available. The announcement simply said it is "coming soon."

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Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ Goes Official With Bezel-Less Displays and Snapdragon 835 SoC

After being in the news for a long time, Samsung announced their first flagship series of 2017 and the eighth Galaxy S series smartphones- the Galaxy S8 and S8+. In line with all the rumours and leaks, the smartphones have the bezel-less display and feature an entirely new design when compared to their predecessors.

The all new Galaxy S8 and S8+ come with the same glass back as seen in the previous two iterations of Galaxy S series of phones. However, this time around, Samsung has gone with the onscreen navigation keys instead of hardware capacitive keys to make the phones more compact. Coming to the display part, both the Galaxy S8 and S8+ features Super AMOLED QHD+ screen, same as the LG G6. The Galaxy S8 has a smaller 5.8-inch display, and the S8+ inherits a 6.2-inch display.
Even though boasting bigger screens, both the phones feel compact in hands, thanks to the new 18:9 aspect ratio. Both the phones feature top-notch hardware as well. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 powers both the phones along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. If you stay in some European and Asian regions, you will be greeted with the Exynos 8895 variant of the phone.
The Galaxy S8 and S8+ comes with the IRIS scanner, same as the one seen on the discontinued Galaxy Note 7. They are IP68 certified and can submerge under water for 30 minutes. Samsung decided to not move from the 3.5mm headphone jack, and the new flagships now come with USB Type-C port, which has become a norm in modern day smartphones.
Connectivity wise, the S8 and S8+ features Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v5.0, and 4G LTE. The phone can deliver insane data speeds on LTE with the help of new Snapdragon 835 chipset. The fingerprint sensor, on both the phones, is now placed awkwardly beside the rear camera module.


As usual, Samsung is incorporating the best camera setup on both the phones. The Galaxy S8 and S8+ features a 12MP sensor at the rear of a larger f/1.7 lens clubbed with Optical Image Stabilisation, and dual tone LED flash. Up front, there is an 8MP front-facing camera with the screen flash feature. The sensor in the phones features the latest Dual Pixel technology, which means that they can focus much faster. With the larger f/1.7 lens, the camera can capture more light even under low-light conditions.
The latest iteration of Galaxy S series runs Android Nougat based on Samsung’s TouchWiz UI. The company has come up with the rival for Google Assistant and Siri in the form of ‘Bixby,’ which is an Artificial Intelligence Assistant. Also, Samsung has added a dedicated Bixby hardware button to use the new engine quickly. Having said that, Bixby performs basic operations such as calling a person, letting you know the weather, time, and other essential stuff.

Coming to the most anticipated aspect of the phones, the Galaxy S8 is priced at 809 Euro (approx. Rs. 57,200), whereas the S8+ retails for 909 Euro (approx. Rs. 64,200). Both the phones will be available in five colour options: black, silver, blue, maple gold, and orchid shade. The phone will be available to purchase in the US from April 21. Currently, there are no details regarding the Indian launch of both the phones.

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Samsung Galaxy S8 vs Galaxy S8+ – What’s Different

Samsung has just unveiled their new flagships for 2017 and they both are high end device that bring a host of improvements over the previous generation models. However before we examine the difference between them and their predecessors, it is good to take a look at whats different between the two apart from their names.

This time around, there is no flat screen version hence the S8 and S8+ are both curved display smartphones like the S7 edge and the Note7 of last year.

	Samsung Galaxy S8	Samsung Galaxy S8+
Size	148.9 x 68.1 x 8 mm	159.5 x 73.4 x 8.1 mm
Weight	155 grams	173 grams
Display	5.8″ Curved Super AMOLED Infinity Display with 2960×1440 Pixels Resolution, 18.5:9 Aspect Ratio, 83.6% Screen to Body Ratio, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and 3D Touch (Home Button)	6.2″ Curved Super AMOLED Infinity Display with 2960×1440 Pixels Resolution, 18.5:9 Aspect Ratio, 84% Screen to Body Ratio, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and 3D Touch (Home Button)
Software	Android 7.0 with Grace UX	Android 7.0 with Grace UX
Processor	10nm Octa-Core Exynos 8895 (Majority of Markets) / Snapdragon 835 (Select Markets including USA)	10nm Octa-Core Exynos 8895 (Majority of Markets) / Snapdragon 835 (Select Markets including USA)
RAM	LPDDR4 4GB / 6GB (Select Markets such as China)	LPDDR4 4GB / 6GB (Select Markets such as China)
Storage	UFS 2.1 64GB / 128GB (Select Markets such as China)	UFS 2.1 64GB / 128GB (Select Markets such as China)
Connectivity	nanoSIM (Single SIM or Hybrid Dual SIM i.e nano + nano/microSD – Market Dependant), Bluetooth 5.0, Dual-Band WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, USB Type-C 3.1	nanoSIM (Single SIM or Hybrid Dual SIM i.e nano + nano/microSD – Market Dependant), Bluetooth 5.0, Dual-Band WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, USB Type-C 3.1
Camera (Rear)	12 Megapixels, 26mm Focal Length, f1.7, 1/2.5″ Sensor Size, OIS, LED Flash, PDAF and 1.4 micron Pixel Size	12 Megapixels, 26mm Focal Length, f1.7, 1/2.5″ Sensor Size, OIS, LED Flash, PDAF and 1.4 micron Pixel Size
Camera (Front)	8 Megapixels, f1.7, Autofocus	8 Megapixels, f1.7, Autofocus
Battery	3000 mAh Non-Removable (QuickCharge 2.0 Equivalent)	3500 mAh Non-Removable (QuickCharge 2.0 Equivalent)
Colours	Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Arctic Silver, Coral Blue, Maple Gold	Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Arctic Silver, Coral Blue, Maple Gold
Others	IP68 Rating (Dustproof and Waterproof)	IP68 Rating (Dustproof and Waterproof)
	Wireless Fast Charging (Qi and PMA Standards)	Wireless Fast Charging (Qi and PMA Standards)
	Samsung Pay	Samsung Pay
	Upto 4K 60fps and 1080p 120fps Video Recording	Upto 4K 60fps and 1080p 120fps Video Recording
	Rear Mounted Fingerprint Scanner, Iris Scanner Up Front, No Home Button	Rear Mounted Fingerprint Scanner, Iris Scanner Up Front, No Home Button
	LTE Cat.16 (1024 Mbps/1 Gbps)	LTE Cat.16 (1024 Mbps/1 Gbps)
	Bixby Virtual Assistant	Bixby Virtual Assistant
	Gorilla Glass 5 Back	Gorilla Glass 5 Back
	HDR 10 Compliant Display	HDR 10 Compliant Display
	AKG Earphones (Bundled in Package)	AKG Earphones (Bundled in Package)

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Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ U.S. price revealed, free Gear VR headset with Controller for pre-orders

Samsung just announced its flagship Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones at its New York event. It also confirmed that both the phones will be available from AT&T, Cricket Wireless, Sprint, Straight Talk Wireless, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, and Verizon Wireless starting April 21 with pre-orders starting 12:01 EDT on March 30, 2017. These phones will also be available at Best Buy stores as well as BestBuy.com, ShopSamsung app, Target and Walmart.
Samsung said that consumers who pre-order a Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+ will receive a free Gear VR headset with Controller worth $129.99 and Oculus content. A limited edition premium bundle also includes Samsung 256GB MicroSD EVO+ card worth $249.99 and Harman AKG Y50BT Bluetooth headphones worth $179.95.
AT&T

• Customers who pre-order the Galaxy S8 or S8+ via AT&T Next  get Up to $750 in credits towards another Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8+, Samsung Gear S3 for $49 with a 2-year service agreement, only 99-cents for Samsung Tab E and/or a Samsung Gear S2 when you activate 2-year service agreements.
• Galaxy S8 at $25 for 30 months
• Galaxy S8+ at $28.34 for 30 months

T-Mobile

• Galaxy S8 – $30/month on Installment Plan ($30 down, FRP: $750 (Rs. 48,660 approx.))
• Galaxy S8+ – $30/month on Installment Plan($130 down, FRP: $850 (Rs. 55,140 approx.))

Verizon Wireless

• Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+ – $15 a month for 24 months when you trade in an eligible device and sign up for the new Verizon Unlimited Plan
• Galaxy S8 without trade-in – $30 per month for 24 months; 0% APR ($720 (Rs. 46,660 approx.) retail price)
• Galaxy S8+ without trade-in – $35 per month for 24 months; 0% APR ($840 (Rs. 54,430 approx.) retail price)

Other U.S. operators should also announce their pricing soon.

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Your browsing history may be up for sale soon. Here's what you need to know

A US House committee is set to vote today on whether to kill privacy rules that would prevent internet service providers (ISPs) from selling users’ web browsing histories and app usage histories to advertisers. Planned protections, proposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that would have forced ISPs to get people’s consent before hawking their data – are now at risk. Here’s why it matters.

What kind of personal data do internet service providers want to use?

Your web browsing patterns contain a treasure trove of data, including your health concerns, shopping habits and visits to porn sites. ISPs can find out where you bank, your political views and sexual orientation simply based on the websites you visit. The fact that you’re looking at a website at all can also reveal when you’re at home and when you’re not.
If you ask the ISPs, it’s about showing the user more relevant advertising. They argue that web browsing history and app usage should not count as “sensitive” information.

What’s changed?

The FCC has privacy rules for phones and cable television, but they didn’t apply to internet service providers. In October 2016 the agency introduced broad new privacy rules that prevent companies such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon from collecting and selling digital information about individuals including the websites they visited and the apps they used.
The new rules – dubbed the Broadband Consumer Privacy Proposal – would require broadband providers to get permission from subscribers before collecting and selling this data. Currently broadband providers can track users unless individuals opt out. The new rules were due to come into play as early as December 2017.
“Getting these rules was probably the biggest win in consumer privacy in years. If the repeal succeeds it would be pretty bad,” said Jeremy Gillula, from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

How could ISPs use my personal data?

They sell it to advertisers. Having all the data relating to your browsing behavior allows them to offer highly personalized targeted advertising at a premium to big brands, which are injected into your browsing experience. AT&T already tried such a program but killed it just before the FCC introduced the new privacy rules.
Meanwhile, Verizon attempted to insert undetectable “supercookies” into all of its mobile customers’ traffic, which allowed them to track all their browsing behavior – even if a web user was browsing in incognito mode or clearing their cookies and history. The company was sued for $1.35m by the FCC for not getting customer permission to track them.

Do all ISPs want to harvest our data?

No, not all ISPs want to abolish the privacy protections. A list of several smaller providers – including Monkeybrains.net, Cruzio Internet and Credo Mobile – have written to representatives to oppose the decision. “One of the cornerstones of our businesses is respecting the privacy of our customers,” they said.

How does this differ from the way Google and Facebook use our data?

It’s much harder to prevent ISPs from tracking your data. You can choose not to use Facebook or Google’s search engine, and there are lots of tools you can use to block their tracking on other parts of the web, for example EFF’s Privacy Badger.
Consumers are generally much more limited for choice of ISP, in some cases only having one option in a given geographical area. This means they can’t choose one of the ISPs pledging to protect user data.

Are any rules keeping ISPs in check?

In January the major ISPs signed a voluntary set of privacy principles, pledging to insist on opt-in consent before sharing “sensitive” information such as social security numbers and opt-out choice for “non-sensitive” customer information. Unfortunately, browsing history was included as “non-sensitive”.
These principles are based on rules created by the Federal Trade Commission, which used to be able to punish ISPs for violating customers’ privacy but is prohibited from regulating common carriers.

So how can users protect their browsing history?

You need to encrypt all your internet traffic. Some websites (like the Guardian) are already encrypted – marked out with HTTPS at the beginning of the URL – but ISPs would still be able to see which websites you have visited, just not the individual pages.
To mask all of your browsing behavior you can use a VPN service (which incurs a subscription cost) or try using Tor.
“Both make everyday browsing more complicated,” Gillula said.

KOLKATA: Home grown smartphone and smart devices maker, Smartron has hired over 40 mid-to-senior research and development (R&D) executives from LeEco’s India R&D facility at a time when the Chinese smartphone maker is shrinking its local operations.

Smartron, which boasts of investors like cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar and ex-Motorola honcho Sanjay Jha, has hired these product engineers for strengthening capabilities in internet of things (IoT), the Android platform, proc ..

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/57875005.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

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