Startups, E-comm cos flood campuses with offers

Flush with funds, new-age firms look out for managerial talent with a technical background to drive the next phase of growth https://ift.tt/2Ce1YGS https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

BookMyShow to sell IPL tickets exclusively for four franchises

Ticketing platform gets CSK, KKR, Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals on board. https://ift.tt/2NQcuIW https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

On Women's day, Google CEO Sundar Pichai visits India

Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who advocates greater participation of women in development of technology products, reached Mumbai to celebrate International Women's Day on Friday. https://ift.tt/2H6hCbt https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Reliance plans major expansion of its fashion stores & integrate them with its online business

Reliance's plans to diversify into e-commerce and expand in fashion come on the heels of India's new foreign investment curbs that have dealt at least a temporary blow to Amazon and Flipkart. https://ift.tt/2HaFr1U https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

E-commerce, consumer internet firms raised over $7B in PE & VC capital in 2018: EY

Deals that stood out include - Walmart's acquisition of Flipkart at $16 billion, Alibaba's investment in BigBasket and Paytm, Tencent's investment in Dream11, and Naspers investment in Byju's and Swiggy. https://ift.tt/2VNC8kB https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Amazon's influence machine flooding Washington with money and muscle

As Amazon looks to build a bigger book of business in Washington, one major irritant has arisen: President Donald Trump. https://ift.tt/2SQlO0D https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Microsoft-backed Affle acquires Singapore based online-to-offline platform Shoffr

Shoffr helps convert online engagements of consumers into in-store walk-ins and transactions. https://ift.tt/2XH40st https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Facebook's vision of future? Looks like Chinese app WeChat

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is taking the social media company in a new direction by focusing on messaging.Chinese tech giant Tencent got there years ago with its app WeChat. https://ift.tt/2tXHGwO https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Airbnb buys HotelTonight in deeper expansion into hotel-booking business

The acquisition expands the company's inventory by adding a number of listings from hotels, long viewed as the arch enemy of Airbnb https://ift.tt/2tRVZTM https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Flipkart appoints intermediaries to work around new FDI norms

Flipkart has appointed half-a-dozen companies as intermediaries between its wholesale unit and some preferred sellers on its platform to get around the 25% cap on direct purchases from entities related to marketplaces https://ift.tt/2HmeEyQ https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Android Q beta will be available to even more phones this year: Google

Highlights: Devices outside Google's Pixel series were included in Android Pie's beta programme last year. Even more smartphones are expected to be included in the programme this year. Googler Iliyan Malchev thanks Project Treble for this increase in expected participants.   For the better part of Android’s development history, only Google Nexus/Pixel smartphones have been eligible for beta builds of an upcoming version. Thanks to the implementation of Project Treble last year, Google was able to include more than just its Pixel devices when it was testing Android 9 Pie. At last year’s I/O keynote, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that the beta would be available to devices like the OnePlus 6, Sony Xperia XZ2, Nokia 7 Plus, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2, Vivo X21, and Oppo R15 Pro. The good news from last year gets better this year. According to an Android Developers Backstage podcast episode, even more devices will be eligible for the beta releases of Android Q when it’s announced later this year. “The number [of companies participating in the beta] is bigger for the upcoming Android release,” comments Android Developer Iliyan Malchev in an episode titled “It's all about the Treble”. That said, we still have no idea exactly how many devices will be eligible for the Android Q beta releases or how many manufacturers will participate. Googler Malchev explains in the podcast that he owes the predicted increase in the number of Android beta participants to Project Treble, a new system architecture redesign baked into Android by Google. Introduced as part of Android 8.0 Oreo, Project Treble helps OEMs roll out Android updates more quickly to their devices. With Project Treble, smartphone vendors (like Xiaomi and OnePlus) would need to make fewer modifications to their bundled software (like MIUI and OxygenOS) before rolling it out to their devices. Android 9 Pie rolled out first to Google’s Pixel devices in August last year before making it to other devices like the OnePlus 6. As promised, Android One smartphones like the Nokia 7 Plus and the Xiaomi Mi A2 also received the update eventually. Android 9 Pie came with a refreshed user interface and a list of new features like Adaptive Battery, Native Notch Support, and Digital Wellbeing. Like the versions before it, Android Q is expected to be announced in August at a Google I/O event. Until then, we can try and guess what new features it will come with.   Related Read: Google I/O 2018: Android P Public Beta now available on Google Pixel devices, Nokia 7 Plus, OnePlus 6 and more https://ift.tt/2XOC9GM

Samsung One Hand Operation + is now available on the Google Play Store

Highlights: The Samsung One Hand Operation + app is now available on the Google Play Store. The app will work with Samsung devices only. The app gives users a glimpse into the world of gesture navigation.   Samsung has released its One Hand Operation + app on the Google Play Store. The app officially works on Samsung devices only. As the name suggests, the app makes it easy to navigate one's Samsung smartphone with just one hand. Users can perform various swipe gestures from the edge of the display to perform certain actions.  These swipe gestures can be for functions like going back, going to the home screen, going to the recent app, navigating to the menu, going forward in a web browser, opening the notifications panel, opening the quick panel, opening the assistant, taking a screenshot, pulling the screen down, going into one handed mode and more. You can check out the full list of functions along with download the app from the Google Play Store here. The gestures can be to the left or the right of the screen based on whether you are a right handed user or a left handed user.  The way we navigate our smartphones has come a long way. The first Android devices had hardware buttons below the display. After that we started seeing on screen buttons and now we have gestures. Gestures aren't new, but they are baked into Android Pie making them easier to implement on smartphones. Samsung has been notorious for its Tizen UI on smartphones for the past decade, but it looks like the South Korean smartphone maker has its act together with the One UI. It has gotten rid of everything that made Tizen cumbersome and has given the software a clean UI. Since Samsung’s phones are quite big, one handed operation is baked into the phones running on One UI. It is easier to navigate a big Samsung smartphone today than it was before with one hand.  Samsung’s One UI is available on devices as old as the S8 and Note 8 family of devices. However, the Samsung One Hand Operation + is a nice way of giving Samsung’s other device users an experience of gesture based navigation. Even though the app is for Samsung devices only, Android Police says, “In case you're wondering, the app is exclusive to Samsung devices, but thanks to Edge Gestures, a paid application available on the Play Store, I've been able to do the same on my phone for a while.” Also Read: Samsung Galaxy A40 with 5.7-inch display gets FCC certified OnePlus 7 listed with image, specs by Chinese online retailer After Galaxy Fold, Samsung developing two more foldable phones: Report https://ift.tt/2Tvk5CP

Google patent reveals possible controller design for Project Stream game streaming service

Highlights: Google’s game controller possibly revealed in a patent. The illustrations suggest there could be a dedicated Google Assistant button on the controller.  Google is expected to make some announcements about its gaming service at the upcoming GDC. Google is already working on its “Project Stream” online game streaming service, which enables users to play games via the Chrome browser on the desktop. Google's game streaming service is currently under testing, but there have also been reports that the company is working on dedicated hardware that will enable streaming games. Now, a new patent, via The Verge, shows off the possible controller that the service might make use of. While the patent shows off some drawings of the alleged controller, it was apparently filed to demonstrate a system that notifies users when a new game or an invitation has arrived, or when there’s a chat request from another player. The controller's design was disovered within this patent for a notification system.  Drawings of the alleged game controller from Google give a pretty decent idea of how it would look like. Yanko Design has also released some renders of the controller based on patent illustrations, which you can see below. As the images suggest, the controller’s design could be nothing too radical as there are the standard d-pads and gameplay buttons, along with slightly shorter analog sticks that what we are used to. There is also a button with the mic logo on it, suggesting that it could be used to call up the Google Assistant. However, there is a good chance that the controller’s design might change before it is officially unveiled.  As mentioned earlier, Google is working on Project Stream, a game streaming service, which debuted with a test run of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. A handful of players got to participate in the tests, which enabled them to play the game via Google Chrome. The public testing of this gaming service concluded last month and the company is expected to make some announcements about it at the upcoming Game Developers Conference (GDC).  Google isn't the only company working on a game streaming service. Amazon is also reportedly building a cloud-based game streaming service that could be announced by 2020. Microsoft too wants to get into the game streaming space with its Project xCloud service, which is slated to enter public testing this year. While there’s no information on what Amazon is working on, Microsoft’s game streaming service is said to enable gamers to play on the device of their choice, like PCs, tablets and smartphones, without being restricted to a particular device. Related Reads: Google gets into game streaming with Project Stream, partners with Ubisoft for testing Assassins Creed Odyssey on the service Microsoft Project xCloud will let gamers stream Xbox games on mobiles, tablets and PCs Amazon reportedly working on a cloud-based game streaming service https://ift.tt/2EPO9z3

Oppo Reno smartphone series announced, to officially launch on April 10

Highlights: Oppo announces new phone series Reno for Chinese market. The series will officially launch on April 10. A landing page of the new lineup is already live.   With an aim to expand its device portfolio, Oppo has announced a new ‘Reno’ series of phones for the Chinese market. This series, that will be an addition to the already available smartphone lineups from Oppo like the R- and the F-Series, will officially launch on April 10 and a landing page is already live. However, the page does not have any information about the phones under the new lineup, but it is asking people to register to get updates via SMS about the upcoming phones. According to the official China website, the new lineup gets a colourful ‘Reno’ logo to apparently target younger buyers. The announcement comes almost a week after the company launched the Oppo F11 and the F11 Pro smartphones at an event in Mumbai. Not only that, the company has confirmed that next month it will launch a phone that will have its latest technology the 10x Lossless Zoom. The Chinese tech company has already confirmed this upcoming phone with 10x zoom will be powered by the Snapdragon 855 SoC, however, there is no word on whether it will also come with 5G support. It could support 5G if the company decides to use an X50 modem. It is also confirmed to come equipped with a 4065mAh battery. It is possible that this device could be the Oppo Find X successor called the Find Z. The flagship Oppo Find X came with a motorised mechanism that housed the selfie camera to give a near-edge-to-edge display. The rumoured Oppo Find Z could follow the footsteps of the Find X to give maximum display area and some tech enhancements, like inclusion on the 10x Lossless Zoom. A phone was recently spotted on the European Union Intellectual Property Office, and it could well be the flagship Find Z. The new Reno lineup from Oppo can be seen as a strategic move by Oppo's parent company BBK Electronics, which owns Vivo and OnePlus as well, to exapnd business opportunities and grab a larger share of the smartphone market in order to remain competitive. Recently, Vivo also announced a new sub-brand called iQOO. Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus are doing well in the Indian market as well as other markets. Globally, Vivo and Oppo were in the top 10 list of smartphone vendors and shipped maximum number phones in the fourth quarter of 2018 as well as in the whole calendar year. IDC says Oppo and Vivo were in top five brands to ship maximum units of its smartphones. Meanwhile, OnePlus emerged as the best selling smartphone brand in 2018 in India, and has captured 36 percent of the total premium smartphone market share in the fourth quarter of last year, according to Counterpoint Research. Oppo and Vivo were among the    Related Read: Oppo F11 First Impressions https://ift.tt/2TJd40D

We wanted Cortana to be funny but not shame people: Microsoft

Virtual assistants can give a reply to almost any question. But can it draw a line when required? https://ift.tt/2Hc0XDt https://ift.tt/eA8V8J