Twitter Inc is poised to agree a sale to Elon Musk for around $43 billion in cash, the price the chief executive of Tesla Inc has called his “best and final” offer for the social media company, people familiar with the matter said.

Twitter may announce the $54.20-per-share deal later on Monday once its board has met to recommend the transaction to Twitter shareholders, the sources said. It is always possible that the deal collapses at the last minute, the sources added.

Musk, the world’s richest person according to a tally by Forbes, is negotiating to buy Twitter in a personal capacity and Tesla is not involved in the deal.

Twitter has not been able to secure so far a ‘go-shop’ provision under its agreement with Musk that would allow it to solicit other bids once the deal is signed, the sources said.

Still, Twitter would be allowed to accept an offer from another party by paying Musk a break-up fee, the sources added.

The sources requested anonymity because the matter is confidential. Twitter and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Twitter shares were up 4.5% in pre-market trading in New York on Monday at $51.15.

Musk has said Twitter needs to be taken private to grow and become a genuine platform for free speech.

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Earlier, air travel and internet access were considered mutually exclusive. If you were taking a flight, you’d be logging out of the digital world.

Then, in March of 2020, the government permitted airlines operating in India to provide in-flight Wi-Fi services to passengers.Flying hasn’t been a pleasant experience amid Covid-19, to say the least. But, at least unlike before the pandemic, you don’t have to enter a bubble of internet silence because you are on a flight.

Now while being air-borne, you can call people, check your Facebook, watch YouTube videos, and answer office emails.

Online entertainment can be a lifesaver during a long flight, especially if the in-flight collection is stale.But, how is this made possible? Primarily, in-flight internet systems are based on two kinds of technology.The first is an air-to-ground system.

Here, an antenna on board the aircraft will pick up signals from the nearest tower on the ground.

Up to a certain altitude, the connection will remain seamless. This is of course unless the aircraft passes over an area without ground towers.

Basically, the ground towers project signals upwards. Also, the on-board antennas used in this case are fitted beneath the airplane.

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Variously described as ‘Pasha of Pop’, ‘Sardar of Swing’ and ‘The King of Bhangra-Pop’, Daler Mehndi recently acquired a new moniker–India’s first Metaverse man–after he bought a piece of property called Balle Balle Land (BBL). The asset is officially the first metaverse real estate purchase in India. Mehndi plans to host Bollywood films and music, and concerts by various artists across genres like Pop, Hip Hop, Rap, Sufi and Regional music. He was recently in New Delhi to perform on occasion of Baisakhi. Namrata Kohli caught up with him at Pacific D21 Mall, Dwarka to know more about his metaverse investment, his personal preferences in music and future plans:

You are the first Indian to buy real estate space in Metaverse. What prompted you to purchase this land?

I learnt about this when a few people approached me to do something in Metaverse. This included Gamitronics and then there was a team from the US, another one from Canada and yet another from Hong Kong. These four teams approached me and asked me to do a ‘metaverse thing’. Then I performed on January 26 and saw that all sites crashed on Amazon within 15 minutes. There were 20 million people across the world who had logged in to make this a big hit. I really liked that and realised that this is what the future demands me to do. It’s a new technique and a new way to entertain the audience. We smelt the opportunity first – in fact if you leave aside the US, we are the first to venture into this space.

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Chinese smartphone maker Realme forayed into India’s premium smartphone market with the launch of the Realme GT 2 Pro 5G. Priced at Rs 49,999 (base model), the smartphone boasts premium construction, top-notch specifications, flagship-grade camera system, big capacity battery with fast-charge support, and Android 12 operating system-based Realme UI 3.0. On paper, there is a lot to like about the Realme GT 2 Pro 5G. But how does it fare in comparison to segment’s bigwigs such as the Xiaomi 11T Pro (review), OnePlus 9RT (review), and Samsung Galaxy S21 FE (review)? Let’s find out:

Design

Realme likes to experiment with the design of its smartphones. While some of its designs are outright bizarre, few look novel and attract attention. Thankfully, the design of the Realme GT Pro 2 is of the latter type. Designed in collaboration with Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukusawa, the Realme GT 2 Pro boasts a paper-like back cover made of bio-based polymer material. It looks premium and feels good to touch. Besides, the phone boasts an aluminum frame and Gorilla Glass Victus protection on the display. Complementing the design is its thin and lightweight build, which is a trait uncommon to find in most premium smartphones. While the overall design is remarkable, the lack of any sort of ingress protection for water and dust resistance leaves one asking for more.

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Top-ranked Novak Djokovic dug deep for the second match in a row to reach the semifinals of the Serbia Open with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Miomir Kecmanovic.

Kecmanovic won the opening set without facing a break point, but Djokovic finally showed signs of getting back to his best in the second and then won the final four games of the decider in what was just his sixth match of the year.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion stretched his winning streak against compatriots to 10 matches going back to a loss to Janko Tipsarevic in Madrid in 2012.

Djokovic next plays third-seeded Karen Khachanov, who defeated Brazilian qualifier Thiago Monteiro 7-5, 6-4.

Djokovic also endured a tough game Wednesday when he rallied from a set down to beat compatriot Laslo Djere 2-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4).

He joked that he’s happy he would not have to face another Serb in the semifinals.

Djokovic opened his clay-court season with a surprising loss to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the Monte Carlo Masters last week, his first match since being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships in February.

Dubai was his first tournament of the year after he was barred from playing at the Australian Open because of his unvaccinated status, which also prevented him from playing tournaments in the United States last month.

Earlier Thursday, second-seeded Andrey Rublev defeated Jiri Lehecka 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-2 and Fabio Fognini enjoyed a 6-2, 6-3 win over Aljaz Bedene to reach the quarterfinals.

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Facing record levels of attrition, India’s second-largest software services firm Infosys is reportedly invoking the non-compete clause in the employment agreements to curb attrition.

A Pune-based IT union, The Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), has written to the Union Labour Ministry seeking the removal of the clause, calling it “arbitrary, unethical and illegal”.

While Infosys has had the clause for a long time, the union claimed that the company is now enforcing it and that it has received 65-70 complaints from employees.

The non-compete clause bars employees from accepting offers from any of the named rival companies for a period of six months after leaving Infosys, if the new job involves working with a client with whom the employee had worked during the last 12 months of their stint with Infosys.

For the said duration, the employee also cannot accept a job offer from any customer with whom they had worked in the 12 months immediately preceding the termination of their employment with Infosys.

According to reports, Infosys has named five competitors including TCS, Accenture, IBM, Cognizant, and Wipro for IT services employees and nine companies including Tech Mahindra, Genpact, WNS, TCS, Accenture, IBM, Cognizant, Wipro and HCL for business processing management (BPM) staff.

Non-compete clauses are not valid in India as per Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act, which states that any agreement that restrains anyone from practising a lawful profession, trade or business is to that extent void.

The courts have time and again trashed such clauses and held that post-termination non-compete clauses are not enforceable.

Infosys, on its part, said that it is a “standard business practice” for employment contracts to include “controls of reasonable scope and duration to protect the confidentiality of information, customer connection and other legitimate business interests”

It denied that the clause prevents employees from joining other organizations. The attrition rate at Infosys touched a record high of 27.7% in the March quarter on a last twelve months basis.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk has predicted that robots will soon be worth more than the car business and even the FSD (full-self-driving) programme.

At Tesla’s Texas gigafactory opening earlier this month, Musk had said that a new wave of products, like the Optimus robot, will be introduced in 2023.

Musk told analysts during the company’s Q1 2022 earnings call late on Wednesday that people did not realise the magnitude of the Optimus robot programme.

“The importance of Optimus will become apparent in coming years. Those who are insightful or listen carefully will understand that Optimus ultimately will be worth more than the car business, worth more than FSD,” he noted.

Tesla is working on a humanoid robot and the prototype that will arrive sometime in 2023. The Tesla robot will weigh 125 pounds and have a walking gait of 5 miles per hour.

The 5.8-inch bot would be used to handle automated machines at Tesla factories, as well as some of the hardware and software that powers the Autopilot driver assistance software.

The robot’s face will house a screen to display important information.

Musk also said that the company is working on a dedicated robotaxi.

“That’s highly optimised for autonomy, meaning it would not have steering wheel or pedals. And there are a number of other innovations around it that I think are quite exciting,” he announced.

Robotaxi may reach volume production in 2024.

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Switching from an iPhone to Android seems never an easy task, but Google has come up with its own ‘Switch to Android’ app for iOS users, enabling them to transfer data from iPhone ‘wirelessly’ using the Android handset as a hotspot.

While there have been a few ways to store your data like backing things up to Google Drive, or plugging in a cable, the new app from Google definitely makes the task much easier.

As per TechCrunch, Google is starting to rolla the app out to the public, but it may be a little while before we can actually use it. Google spokesperson Ivy Hunt confirmed to The Verge that “the rollout should be complete in a few weeks.” “What we’re waiting for is an update to Pixel devices that allows them to work with the app. Once the devices are all ready, then the app will be available in the markets where Pixel phones are sold.”

Although the ‘Switch to Android’ app is currently only working for Google Pixel, it is assumed that it should work with other devices soon.

The ‘Switch to Android’ app allows data transfer, including photos, videos, calendar events, and contacts that are stored locally.

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South Korean automaker major Kia is planning to foray into the electric vehicle segment in India with the launch of its high-end premium electric sedan EV6 later this year.

The company, which currently sells models like Seltos and Sonet in the country, will open the bookings for the electric model on May 26.

Only 100 units of the EV6 would be on sale in the country.

“We are embarking on the next level Kia experience in India. We are launching our most celebrated EV globally, the EV6 a true game-changer, designed from the ground up to make electric mobility fun, convenient, and accessible by combining a highly impressive real-world driving range, ultra-fast charging capabilities, a spacious high-tech interior,” Kia India MD and CEO Tae-Jin Park said at an event on Wednesday evening.

EV6 is the most hi-tech Kia ever made, he added.

“With EV6, we don’t just want to reach out to the customer who is in the market to buy an electric car, but we want to reach out to every potential customer who wants to own a premium car,” Park stated.

The EV6 is going to be an exclusive offering, with only a limited number of units that will go on sale in 2022, he noted.

“We will open the bookings for the EV6 on May 26 and launch it in India very soon,” Park noted.

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Former US President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s media company is reportedly ending its exclusive podcast deal with Swedish music streaming service Spotify.

According to a CNN report citing sources, Higher Ground, the production company run by the former President and First Lady, is seeking a multi-million deal elsewhere as their deal with Spotify expires this year.

Higher Ground is reportedly negotiating with Amazon’s Audible and iHeartMedia, the media reports said late on Wednesday.

The Obamas signed a deal with Spotify in 2019, streaming podcasts like “The Michelle Obama Podcast” and the Barack Obama-Bruce Springsteen programme “Renegades: Born in the USA”.

They also signed a deal with Netflix in 2018.

“The deal with Spotify is set to expire at the end of this year when the final series from Higher Ground is scheduled to be released,” the person familiar with the matter who spoke with CNN said.

Neither Spotify nor the Obamas have confirmed the development.

The Obamas are exiting Spotify after “being frustrated with the company’s exclusive terms”.

Their production company also reportedly disagreed with Spotify over how many of its shows would feature the former President and First Lady.

Higher Ground’s current deal with Spotify runs through October this year.

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