By Diane Bartz, Stephen Nellis and Paresh Dave

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A panel of U.S. senators questioned officials from Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google on Wednesday about the dominance of their mobile app stores and whether the companies abuse their power at the expense of smaller competitors.

Amy Klobuchar, the top Senate Democrat on antitrust issues, said Apple and Google can use their power to “exclude or suppress apps that compete with their own products” and “charge excessive fees that affect competition.”

App makers like music streaming service Spotify Technology SA and dating services giant Match Group, which owns the Tinder app, have long complained that mandatory revenue sharing for sales of digital goods and strict inclusion rules set by Apple’s App Store for iPhones and iPads, along with Google’s Play store for Android devices, amount to anticompetitive behavior.

Representatives for Apple and Google told senators the companies’ tight control over their stores and the associated revenue-sharing requirements are needed to enforce and pay for security measures to protect consumers from harmful apps and practices.

But when asked by Senator Josh Hawley, Apple’s Chief Compliance Officer Kyle Andeer would not commit to spending all of the mandatory fees on security.

Explanations from Andeer and Google’s Wilson White, senior director for government affairs, about why the companies’ fees do not apply to Uber Technologies Inc and apps that sell physical goods also failed to satisfy senators.

“I feel like unfrozen caveman lawyer,” Senator Mike Lee said. “I’m not grasping it.”

Senator Richard Blumenthal expressed concern about a call Match said it received late on Tuesday from its business counterpart at Google.

Match’s Chief Legal Officer Jared Sine said Google wanted to know why Sine’s planned testimony, which had just been released, deviated from previous comments the dating company had made.

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In the last few years, if strong headwinds kept Apple’s India business primarily confined to its smartphone portfolio, it has surely weathered the storm now. And for 2021, the Cupertino-headquartered firm has placed its India bet upfront.

With sales of its second largest selling product —Macs – on fire, the consumer tech giant has unveiled a new set of offerings to encash on consumers’ growing appetite for premium computers, tablets and over-the-top content.

In its first major announcement for the year, Apple Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tim Cook unveiled a range of products like iMac, iPad Pro, Apple TV 4K, AirTag and iPhone 12 in a new colour.

Unlike earlier, when Indian consumers would have to wait longer for Apple’s new flagships, this time, the firm is bringing the entire range to the local market simultaneously with 29 other lead­ing markets of the company.

The new iMac, two iPads and iPhone 12 and 12 Mini will be open for ordering starting April 30, just like in the US, the UK, China and Japan.Further, unlike the iPhone 12 range, this time Apple has kept its pricing tight. The 24-inch M1 iMac has been launched with a starting price of Rs 119,900 — close to its 512GB MacBook Air, while the prices of M1 iPads (11 and 12.9 inch) are the same as earlier — starting Rs 71,900 and Rs 99,900, respectively.

The early availability of these pro­ducts in India comes at a crucial juncture. With these new iMac and iPads, Apple has introduced its mu­ch­-appreciated M1 chipset into the two product ranges. Since it did aw­ay with Intel chips (in its 13-inch Ma­c­Book Air and Pro) last year, de­m­and for Macs has grown in the market that otherwise falte­red.

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Samsung defended its leading position in the global smartphone market in the first quarter of the year, shipping 77 million smartphones and capturing 23 per cent market share (a growth of over 32 per cent on-year), according to a new report.

Apple shipped 57 million units iPhones worldwide, capturing second place with a 17 per cent volume market share.

Xiaomi held third place in terms of volume of smartphones shipped for the second quarter in a row. It shipped 49 million smartphones globally and took a 15 per cent market share in Q1 2021, up from 10 per cent one year ago, according to latest research from Strategy Analytics.

The global smartphone shipments were 340 million units in Q1 2021, up over 24 per cent (on-year) representing the highest growth since 2015.

The smartphone market rebound was driven by the healthy demand of consumers with ageing devices and a phenomenal 5G push from Chinese vendors.

“Globally, the top five vendors combined took a 76 per cent market share in Q1 2021, up from 71 per cent one year ago. Chip shortages and supply side constraints did not have a significant impact in Q1 among the top 5 brands,” said Linda Sui, Senior Director, at Strategy Analytics.

Samsung’s newly launched more affordable A series 4G and 5G phones, and the earlier launched Galaxy S21 series combined drove solid performance in the quarter.

“The strong momentum behind the 5G iPhone 12 series continued across multiple markets,” said Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics.

Xiaomi maintained strong momentum in both India and China, and the expansion in Europe, Latin America and Africa region also started to bear fruit.

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Esports and skill gaming platform Mobile Premier League (MPL) said that it has acquired New Delhi-based Esports gaming platform GamingMonk. GamingMonk hosts Esports tournaments across multiple platforms including PC, Console and Mobile. It serves as a launchpad for publishers and a community for gamers creating an integrated ecosystem across Esports, live streaming, and content discovery.

“GamingMonk’s vision was to change the Esports scenario in India,” said Ashwin Haryani, Co-Founder, GamingMonk. “I strongly believe that our collaboration with MPL will not only help us accomplish our goal, but also transform the way every individual in our country views esports.”

The firms did not reveal the financial details of the transaction. As part of the transaction, MPL has absorbed the complete GamingMonk team. This acquisition will allow MPL to accelerate bringing to market key national, regional, and global tournament IPs. It would allow MPL to develop a full suite of Esports and broadcasting capabilities. This would be anchored by the GamingMonk team’s strong track record of leading online and offline eSports tournaments.

As of April 2021, GamingMonk had a registered user base of over 1.3 million users.

“In our mission to serve gamers in India, GamingMonk will augment our efforts in reaching our target audience and engage with our users effectively,” said Sai Srinivas, co-founder and CEO, MPL. “With the increased consumption of Esports in the last couple of years and it becoming as competitive as any other sport, it gives us immense pleasure to present our users with the best of games to play.”

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MediaTek on Tuesday launched a new chipset for flagship 5G smartphones, Dimensity 1200, in the India market.

The chipmaker also announced that Chinese smartphone brand realme is the first smartphone brand to feature the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 System-on-Chip (SoC) in India.

“The SoC will mark a new beginning for the smartphone segment in India with its flagship features that blend the best of all worlds — be its processor technology, camera, AI features, gaming or connectivity enhancements,” Anku Jain, Managing Director, MediaTek India, said in a statement.

“With flagship 5G chipset technology, MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC will take user experience to the next level be in terms of AI, camera, processor speed, gaming capabilities and much more,” Jain added.

The 6nm MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC features one of the fastest smartphone octa-core CPUs ever — with a clock speed of 3GHz with up to 22 per cent faster CPU performance while also being 25 per cent more power-efficient versus the previous generation.

Equipped with Arm Mali-G77 MC9 GPU and six-core MediaTek APU 3.0 with 12.5 per cent faster performance, the SoC delivers flagship-level premium performance with AI multimedia capabilities, incredible displays, faster refresh rates, gaming enhancements, and much more.

Powered by MediaTek HyperEngine 3.0 gaming technology, the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC enhances the smartphone gaming experience with a new generation of wireless audio and Ray Traced graphics capabilities.

The chipset packs in powerful imaging and AI processors for incredible camera experiences with up to 200MP camera support and is equipped with MediaTek MiraVision HDR video playback and AV1 video decoding, bringing cinema-grade visual experiences to the small screen.

The SoC is built with an integrated 5G modem featuring MediaTek’s 5G UltraSave technology for greater energy savings.

“We expect more OEMs to launch MediaTek Dimensity 1200 powered smartphones in the near future,” Jain said.

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Apple Inc announced on Tuesday a range of new computers, a paid podcasting service and devices for finding lost items, signaling the continued expansion of its once-simple product line into more and more corners of customers’ lives.

The new $30 AirTags, tiny devices that can be attached to items such as keys and wallets to locate them when they are lost, were applauded by analysts as a likely hot-seller that would also keep the company’s more than 1 billion customers locked into its products.

A new iPad Pro tablet, featuring the same Apple-designed processor that powers the company’s more recent Mac computers, has keyboard and trackpad options that help make it a full-blown alternative to traditional laptops and desktops.

And a refresh of the Mac desktop line boasts seven color options, harkening back to the famous candy-colored Macs that helped Steve Jobs revive the company in the 1990s.
 

ALSO READ: Apple will let Parler back on App Store following improvements: Report

The announcements show how the iPhone maker is accelerating the expansion of its product portfolio and working to keep customers committed to its family of devices even as government scrutiny of the power and reach of major technology firms intensifies.

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Flipkart said on Tuesday it has expanded its hyperlocal service to six new cities, seeking customers for doorstep delivery of daily essentials during the coronavirus pandemic.

Flipkart Quick is now available in Delhi, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Noida, Hyderabad and Pune and will go to other cities this year gradually, said the company.

“Hyperlocal capabilities are invaluable in enhancing the online shopping experience for consumers and boosting supply chain operations for e-commerce companies,” said Sandeep Karwa, vice-president, Flipkart. “It is important to explore ecosystem partnerships to strengthen such capabilities and accelerate faster, reliable deliveries to customers.”

He said Flipkart remains committed to creating solutions that will not only deliver greater value to the customers but also boost local farmers and suppliers apart from providing a fillip to entrepreneurship.

Flipkart Quick was launched in Bengaluru in 2020 to widen the accessibility of products and enable quick delivery for consumers who order products from Flipkart hubs in their location. The service offers an assortment of more than 3,000 products in categories such as fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, meat, grocery, mobiles, electronics and baby care.

Flipkart Quick leverages the company’s investment in Ninjacart and strategic partnerships with other local vendors to build an end-to-end ecosystem that enables customers to get the best quality fruits and vegetables at a great value. Shadowfax,

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Short video app Chingari said on Monday it has partnered with streaming platform Biiggbang Amusement, which focuses on content for users that matches well with their schedule.

“At Biiggbang Amusement, our constant endeavour is to present stories that can teleport the audience to another world and satisfy their need of entertainment regardless of the time crunch. Curating and getting content from around the world to add it to the Indian milieu is what we thrive on and I firmly believe, this collaboration with Chingari aligns perfectly with what we are trying to achieve. Also, we would like to take this opportunity to introduce our tagline – ‘Jab Bhi Kare Mann, Entertainment Dan Dana Dan’, as this exclusive partnership will help us achieve exactly that,” said Sudip Mukherjee, Founder and CEO, Biiggbang Amusement.

With carefully curated content from award winning directors to fresh stories, Biiggbang Amusement boasts of a prominent content library, including some of the most notable short films that have been screened at film festivals across the globe.

“At Chingari we have always strived to add more stickiness to the platform through our innovative offering and tie-up. We believe this new and exclusive collaboration with Biiggbang Amusement will be a great value add for our customers and will also help us in attracting new customers,” said Sumit Ghosh, co-founder, and CEO, Chingari app.

Chingari is one of the most popular short video apps in India. The content creators on the app are spoilt for choice and the company continues to add premium, engaging content to facilitate its users to keep making interesting content day after day. It is thus not surprising to note that the average engagement time on Chingari is better than many established platforms like SnapChat and Facebook.

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Infosys, Facebook, Genpact, Cognizant among others have reached out to employees and offered support in different ways as the second wave of Covid cases sees an exponential rise.

Companies are advising employees not to venture out of their homes and give prominence to the health and safety of the family. This is of significance as several IT and Tech firms were going to take a call of work-from-home scenario from June and had plans to allow some employees to come back to offices. But that seems to be now extended.

In an email to employees on Monday, titled “Stay Safe from the Covid-19 Second Wave,” Infosys chief operating officer U B Pravin Rao cited the enormous number of fresh cases being reported daily, and said, “I write today to request you all put your health and that of your family members above everything else. Do not leave your homes without wearing a protective mask, practice social distancing, and avoid crowds and closed spaces… We request you not to venture out unless its an emergency.”

ALSO READ: Monday Blues: Second Covid-19 wave stings indices as markets drop 1.8%

Infosys has also asked all staff to work from home unless they have to report to work as part of a business continuity plan team.

Facebook India has announced three company-wide paid holidays “to give people additional time to rest and recharge”.

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Apple said it has reached an agreement with the right-wing social app Parler that could lead to its reinstatement in the company’s app store.

Apple kicked out Parler in January over ties to the deadly January 6 siege on the US Capitol.

In a letter to two Republican lawmakers in Congress, Apple said it has been in substantial conversations with Parler over how the company plans to moderate content on its network.

Before its removal from the app store, Parler was a hotbed of hate speech, Nazi imagery, calls for violence (including violence against specific people) and conspiracy theories.

Apple declined to comment beyond the letter, which didn’t provide details on how Parler plans to moderate such content.

In the letter, Apple said Parlor’s proposed changes would lead to approval of the app.

Parler did not immediately respond to a message for comment. As of midday Monday, Parler was not yet available in the app store and Apple did not give a timeline for when it will be reinstated.

According to Apple’s letter, Parler proposed changes to its app and how it moderates content. Apple said the updated app incorporating those changes should be available as soon as Parler releases it.

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