Redmi India, a sub-brand of Mi India, on Thursday unveiled Redmi Note 10S along with its first-ever Redmi Watch in the Indian market.

The smartphone comes in two storage variants — 6GB+64GB and 6GB+128GB — at Rs 14,999 and Rs 15,999, respectively. It will be available across online channels from May 18.

Redmi Note 10S comes with a sleek design, stunning cameras, savage performance and smooth display. It will be the first device to come with MIUI 12.5 (interim) out-of-the-box, which is the cleanest MIUI experience ever, the company said in a statement.

The smartphone that sports a 6.43-inch full HD+ super AMOLED display comes with a quad-camera setup that features a 64MP primary camera, 8MP Ultra-wide lens, 2MP Macro camera with 2x zoom capabilities and a 2MP depth sensor.

There is a 13MP front in-display camera for quality selfies.

Redmi Note 10S is powered by a MediaTek Helios G95 chipset that is designed for the ultimate gaming experience, the company said.

Priced at Rs 3,999, the Redmi Watch allows users to accurately track their trajectory, speed, distance and calories burnt during workouts. It simultaneously also keeps a check on heart rate to provide a clear and detailed status for workout sessions.

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Consumer technology giant Apple registered record business in the January-March quarter, backed by an unprecedented surge in its all key product categories. The US major clocked the highest ever shipment in personal computers, regained top spot in the premium smartphones market, and grew its iPad business rapidly as consumers in India invested in electronic devices.

Apple was a fringe player in all key categories like smartphones, notebooks, and tablets till recently. But with the last quarter’s record-breaking performance, the brand has established itself in the country’s price-sensitive consumer electronics market.

According to the market research firm IDC data, in January-March Apple recorded its biggest quarter for personal computer (PC) shipment in India and captured fifth spot for the first time, matching the long-standing Chinese brand Asus.

As the shipment of Macs grew by a staggering 336 per cent year-on-year (YoY), the brand captured 5.4 per cent of the local PC market.

During the period, some 167,000 Macs were shipped against 38,000 in the corresponding quarter last year. In the consumer PC segment, Apple stood fourth, after HP, Lenovo, and Dell.

While leading players like Dell and Acer registered a decline in shipment over the previous quarter (October-December), Apple grew 45.3 per cent QoQ. Even though the PC market grew by 73 per cent, Apple’s growth rate was nearly five times of that.

Macs are the largest category for Apple after iPhones.

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India’s one of the oldest and largest music labels Tips Music on Thursday announced a music licensing deal with Google for the latter’s newly introduced short-video platform YouTube “Shorts”. As part of this deal, Tips will license its large catalogue to YouTube platform allowing the huge Indian diaspora across the world to create content inspired its ever popular and superhit music library in diverse Indian languages like Hindi, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Haryanvi, Marathi, Gujarati, amongst many others.

“The deal will allow our community of fans to create fresh new content alongside their favourite music from Tips music library.

This partnership will open possibilities for creators and users to explore their creativity which may give us our next future star. What better way to celebrate our new generation of talent,” said Kumar Taurani, founder, Tips Music.

YouTube Shorts is a short-video service offering by Google which allows users, creators and artists to create short video content right on YouTube app. It lets YouTube channel owners to connect with new audiences with just a smartphone.

Tips is of one India’s oldest music label and holds the richest catalogue spanning across genres like film / non- film songs, devotional music, ghazals & indipop.

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Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus ex-founder Carl Pei’s technology start-up ‘Nothing’ is set to launch its first product in June this year. Named Ear 1, it is a pair of true wireless earbuds that will debut the brand in global consumer technology market. The earphones are also touted as the beginning of a long and exciting journey that will eventually expand in other product categories, including smart electronics that are expected to arrive later this year.

“Our mission is to remove barriers between people and technology to create a seamless digital future that looks, lives, and feels like nothing…

It (Ear 1) is the starting point that will define the artistry, confidence, and craftsmanship that will carry our products and services for years to come,” Carl Pei, Chief Executive Officer, and Co-founder of Nothing said in a blogpost.

Pei, in the blog, explained the reason for choosing earbuds as the first product in Nothing’s portfolio. “…we believe the earphones market was begging for differentiation, space where we can elevate design and deliver value from day one. Additionally, as an area of hyper-growth, the earphones market will provide a fertile backdrop as we strengthen our capabilities and prepare to enter new product categories,” he added.

Nothing has raised $22 million from a clutch of investors, including GV (formerly Google Ventures), Casey Neistat (YouTube personality and Beme co-founder), Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin and Reddit Chief Executive Officer Steve Huffman. India’s entrepreneur Kunal Shah, Founder, CRED, also invested in Nothing, although the amount has not been disclosed.

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Asian cities face the greatest risk from environmental issues including air pollution and natural disasters, according to a report by research firm Verisk Maplecroft.

Of the 100 most vulnerable cities, 99 are in Asia, according to the report released on Thursday. Of those, 37 are in China and 43 are in India, the world’s first and third biggest emitters of greenhouse gases respectively. Globally, 1.5 billion people live in 414 cities that are at high risk from pollution, water shortages, extreme heat, natural hazards and the physical impacts of climate change.

Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, topped the list of combined risk based on all nine factors analyzed by Verisk Maplecroft. India is home to 13 of the 20 riskiest cities in the world, a result of its extreme levels of air and water pollution. China’s flood-prone Guangzhou and Dongguan topped the list of cities facing threats from natural hazards, followed by Japan’s Osaka and Tokyo for being vulnerable to earthquakes and typhoons. Lima is the only city outside Asia among the top 100 most at-risk cities overall.

A significant danger for many cities is how climate change will amplify weather-related risks, said Will Nichols, Verisk Maplecroft’s Head of Environment and Climate Change. “Higher temperatures and the increasing severity and frequency of extreme events will change the quality of living and economic growth prospects of many cities across the globe,” he said.

African cities face some of the worst risks from climate change and have the least ability to mitigate those impacts. Glasgow was ranked the safest among the 576 cities examined for that factor.

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Swedish audio streaming platform Spotify recently announced that it is making it easier for users to share their favourite track or podcast episode with friends through social media.

According to Mashable, the new updates in social sharing have been rolled out globally by Spotify for both iOS and Android users.

The company announced the details of the new features on its blog post where it stated, “We’re constantly evolving the Spotify experience to meet listener needs and working to provide the best possible audio experience for listeners around the world. These three updates make sharing music and podcasts easier than ever.”

The first feature to be added is Podcast Timestamp that will let users share podcast episodes beginning at any particular moment that they want their friends to listen to. This way the user’s friends won’t have to listen to the whole podcast episode.

Using this feature is super easy, all that needs to be done is tap the “share” button while listening to the episode, then use the “switch to share” feature at the current playtime.

Another update is that Spotify’s Canvas feature turns static song pages into video-art showcases. This helps ramp up the overall music listening experience. Moreover, users can also share their favourite tracks with Canvas via Snapchat now in addition to Instagram.

Lastly, Spotify has also come out with an updated sharing menu on mobile with a clearer layout. It offers a clear preview to users around what they’re sharing along with an improved destination list.

As per Mashable, Spotify said this will help users better visualise how the canvas will be presented on their social media profiles.

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Google on Monday said it is testing a new feature in Maps that enables people to ask about and share local information on availability of beds and medical oxygen in select locations.

This is part of the tech giant’s efforts to support the relief efforts amid the deadly second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“…we’re testing a new feature using the Q&A function in Maps that enables people to ask about and share local information on availability of beds and medical oxygen in select locations. As this will be user generated content and not provided by authorised sources, it may be required to verify the accuracy and freshness of the information before utilizing it,” it said.

As India reels under the impact of the second wave, hospitals in several states are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds.

Social media timelines are filled with SOS calls with people looking for oxygen cylinders, hospital beds, plasma donors, and ventilators.

Google said its teams are focused on three priority areas – ensuring people can access the latest and most authoritative information; amplifying vital safety and vaccination messages; and providing financial backing for affected communities, health authorities and other organisations.

Searches on the COVID-19 vaccine displays key information around side effects, effectiveness, and registration details, while treatment-related queries surface guidance from ministry resources. On YouTube it is surfacing authoritative information in a set of playlists, about vaccines, preventing the spread of COVID-19, and facts from experts on COVID-19 care.

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Facebook Inc. is starting the first test of its Live Audio Rooms product with public figures and creators in Taiwan, part of an expansion of the company’s audio services that will over time include podcast hosting and creation tools.

The social-media giant announced a sweeping set of updates to its audio services in April, with Live Audio Rooms being the Clubhouse-like centerpiece, allowing users to partake in group voice conversations. It intends to expand the trial’s availability over time and the service will eventually be accessible in the Facebook and Messenger apps. Taiwan is one of Menlo Park, California-based Facebook’s most vibrant markets, where celebrities and politicians constantly debate important issues and freely interact with their audiences.

For the initial rollout, Facebook is limiting the test to what it says is a handful of public figures while planning to bring Live Audio Rooms to Facebook Groups as well. The company is integrating its Stars feature into the audio chat product, letting fans buy tokens to support their favorites, much like they do on livestreaming platform Twitch.

Facebook has in the past quickly rolled out new products similar to competitors’, from the Snap-like Instagram Stories to Reels, akin to TikTok. Clubhouse exploded in popularity during a pandemic-stricken 2020, when major events and gatherings were canceled and people looked for new social outlets online. Its informal, unrecorded format appealed to many and it was propelled to prominence by drop-ins from notable figures like Elon Musk and Facebook’s own founder, Mark Zuckerberg. Clubhouse, which has been available on iOS for a year, is now opening the app to Android smartphone users.

Podcasts are another significant addition to the main Facebook app planned for the coming months. Having noticed the rise in popularity of Facebook pages for well-known podcasts, it’s integrating playback directly into its app. The social app will recommend new shows based on users’ interests and they’ll have the ability to comment on and recommend podcasts to others.

Also coming to the Facebook app are Soundbites, brief clips of shareable audio for capturing jokes, anecdotes and other momentary things.

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Samsung Electronics will skip in-person exhibitions at the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2021 in Barcelona due to novel coronavirus concerns, the company said on Tuesday, although it plans to join the event online.

The world’s largest smartphone vendor will not showcase its products and technologies “offline” at the mobile technologies trade fair, to be held between June 28 and July 1 in Barcelona, Spain.

“The health and safety of our employees, partners and customers is our number one priority, so we have made the decision to withdraw from exhibiting in-person at this year’s MWC,” the company said in a statement. “We look forward to participating virtually and continuing to work with GSMA and industry partners to advance new mobile experiences.”

MWC is considered one of the top three tech events in the world, along with the Consumer Electronics Show in the United States and IFA in Germany. It has been held in Barcelona usually between end-February and early March each year, but the tech expo was canceled last year due to COVID-19, and this year, it was pushed back to June.

Major IT firms, including Sony, Nokia and Ericsson, have already announced their withdrawals from the event due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19, reports Yonhap news agency.

Among local firms, KT Corp last month decided not to take part in in-person exhibitions at the MWC 2021.

SK Telecom Co., the nation’s largest mobile carrier, has yet to confirm its participation but is expected to skip the offline exhibitions as well, according to industry sources.

LG Uplus Corp., the country’s No. 3 telecom firm, has been jointly exhibiting its products with LG Electronics Inc. at the MWC. But as LG Electronics recently decided to pull out from the smartphone business, it is unlikely that the mobile carrier will join the event, the sources said.

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Production of the Apple iPhone 12 at a Foxconn factory in India has slumped by more than 50% because workers infected with COVID-19 have had to leave their posts, two sources told Reuters.

The Foxconn facility in the southern state of Tamil Nadu produces iPhones specifically for India, the world’s No.2 smartphone market.

Tamil Nadu is one of the worst hit states in the second coronavirus wave engulfing India. Officials imposed a full lockdown in the state from Monday, closing public transport and shuttering shops, to try slow surging infections.

More than 100 Foxconn employees in the state have tested positive for COVID-19 and the company has enforced a no-entry ban at its factory in the capital of Chennai until late May, one of the sources said.

“Employees are only allowed to leave but not to enter the facility since yesterday,” the person said. “Only a small part of output is being kept.”

More than 50% of the plant’s capacity had been cut, both sources said, declining to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

They did not specify the plant’s capacity and it was unclear how many workers were at the facility, which provides dormitory accommodation for employees.

Taipei-based Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker and a major supplier to Apple, said a small number of employees at one of its facilities in India tested positive for COVID-19 and the company was providing them with support, including medical assistance.

“Foxconn places the health and safety of our employees as our highest priority and that is why we have been working closely with local government and public health authorities in India to address the challenges that we and all companies are facing in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis,” it said in a statement to Reuters.

Foxconn declined to comment on factory output or specific staffing levels. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

India has benefited from Apple’s move to shift some areas of production from China to other markets as it navigates a trade war between Washington and Beijing, with Apple announcing in March it had started the assembly of the iPhone 12 in India.

While Apple’s share of the budget phone-dominated India market is small, CEO Tim Cook said in January that India business doubled in the December quarter compared to the previous year, helped by an online store launch.

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