Microsoft Surface Go Starts Shipping in India, Starts at Rs. 38,599

Microsoft Surface Go, the Redmond giant's smallest and most affordable Surface device yet, started shipping in India on Monday exclusively through Flipkart. http://bit.ly/2CHRgsU

Apple iPhone XS Max explodes in mans pocket

Highlights: iPhone XS Max catches fire in an Ohio man’s trouser pocket The phone dissipated heat and coloured smoke The victim is “contemplating legal action”   Apple is going through a difficult time. Its products have been banned for import and sale in China and Germany. It is at loggerheads with chipmaker Qualcomm and is reportedly struggling and their recent update apparently left iPhone users in a lull after several of them reported that they were no longer able to use LTE on their new iPhones. Now, an iPhone XS Max has reportedly exploded in a man’s trousers in the US, putting too much in Apple’s plate to finish. According to a report by PhoneArena, an Ohio man escaped an unfortunate incident when his three-week-old iPhone XS Max (unidentified variant) exploded while it was in his pocket. Josh Hillard says that his phone was in his rear trouser pocket when it randomly began to dissipate “a large amount of heat” as well as green and yellow coloured smoke. By the time Hillard went to a private spot to check it, the phone had caught fire.   The fire left the owner unhappy as he inhaled a lot of smoke “from the time of first noticing the fire and between removal of the pants and taking the phone out of my pocket and placing it outside.” The psychological trauma forced him to contact Apple customer service and safety department specialists, both in person and by phone. Reportedly, he has been offered a new phone as reimbursement. The report said that the victim doesn’t consider this to be an acceptable way of settling this unfortunate affair, and is said to be “contemplating legal action” for this. This is not the first time that iPhones have faced such demise. In November, a user complained that his iPhone X spewed smoke while he was charging and updating the device to iOS 12.1. In January, a man was injured when the battery of an iPhone exploded at an Apple Store in Zurich. The Apple iPhone XS Max was launched in September at a starting price of $1099 (or Rs 1,09,900 in India) and goes up to $1449 (or Rs 1,44,900 in India) for the top-end model. It comes with A12 Bionic processor and a massive 6.5-inch AMOLED display, which is the biggest display that Apple has ever offered. It has a dual 12MP+12MP (Wide Angle + Telephoto) sensors at the back and a True Depth 7MP camera on the front.   Related Read: People evacuated as iPad battery explodes in Amsterdam Apple Store Apple iPhone XS Max: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly http://bit.ly/2Aq62D9

Samsung reportedly working on smaller, more affordable smart speaker

Key Highlights: Even though the recently announced Galaxy Home speaker is yet to become available, Samsung is reportedly working on a second smart speaker The model number revealed indicates the speaker will be smaller and more affordable than the present one.   The weirdly shaped Samsung Galaxy Home speaker powered by Bixby was announced alongside the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 back in August. Yet, five months after its announcement, the speaker’s status is still “coming soon” on the Samsung website. Meanwhile, another smart speaker is reportedly being developed by Samsung. All that is known so far is that the new Galaxy Home speaker will be offered in a black colour finish and will carry the model number SM-V310. Compared with the present Galaxy Speaker’s model number, SM-V510, it seems like the one under development will be a smaller speaker. It could also be more affordable than one announced so far, although the price is still not disclosed. The Galaxy Home speaker that Samsung announced earlier has a combination of AKG-tuned speakers, 8-piece far-field microphones, and Bixby AI. Perhaps the smaller speaker will have a smaller microphone array minus the AKG branding, but everything at this point is conjecture at best. Samsung does have something lined up for CES, which is due to begin on 8th January in Las Vegas. Perhaps that’s when the company will reveal more about the speaker. At CES, Samsung is expected to announce new TVs and displays along with other smart home appliances. The flagship Galaxy S10 series, however, is expected to launch on February 20th, five days before MWC commences in Barcelona. The smart speaker market is currently dominated by Amazon’s Alexa-powered devices and Google Home speakers. Both companies offer products across a broad price range. Microsoft too announced a Cortana-powered smart speaker while HomePod is Apple’s offering in the smart speaker space. The market for smart speakers, according to IDC is expected to grow in double-digits and by 2022. Over 1.3 billion smart home products are expected to be sold.   Related Links: Samsung working on a Bixby-powered speaker codenamed 'Vega': WSJ http://bit.ly/2SvG4VY

Der Spiegel: Volkswagen is planning to write off over $300M it invested in Gett, as the Israeli startup struggles to compete with Uber, Lyft, Didi, and others (Globes Online)

Globes Online:
Der Spiegel: Volkswagen is planning to write off over $300M it invested in Gett, as the Israeli startup struggles to compete with Uber, Lyft, Didi, and others  —  “Der Spiegel” reported that Volkswagen would write off its over $300 million investment in the Israeli taxi hailing company.

Facebook Says Not Moderating Content Based on 'Inaccurate' Information

Facebook said on Saturday said the debate on content moderation should be based on facts not mischaracterisations. http://bit.ly/2QbRDzC

Huawei Share in Global Premium Smartphone Market Rises: Counterpoint

Apple led the global premium smartphone segment capturing 47 percent share of the segment, followed by Samsung (22 percent), and Huawei (12 percent). http://bit.ly/2CGRAs1

Essential PH-1 discontinued, company reportedly working on its next mobile product

Key Highlights: The Essential Phone is now out of stock across multiple retail locations A company spokesperson said the phone will not be restocked, indicating it is now discontinued Essential is now working hard on its next mobile product and will continue to support the PH-1 with regular updates and accessories   The Essential Phone (or PH-1) may have seen the last light of the day. The “modular” smartphone created by Android co-founder Andy Rubin is now out of stock on its website, and according to the company, it won’t be restocked. The PH-1 came with flagship hardware, regular updates and was the first phone to sport a notch. However, it often found itself painted negatively in the news what with delayed availability, job cuts and more. Eventually, it had to be heavily discounted to ensure the inventories are cleared.   It was noticed earlier that the PH-1 was out of stock across multiple retail locations including the company’s own website. There was also a recent Fire Sale where the 128GB storage variant of the phone was offered at $340, a sharp $160 fall from its regular $500 price. Many presumed this was done to clear remaining inventories. Now, the company has confirmed the phone will not be restocked. Instead, Essential will be working on the “next mobile product”. However, the PH-1 will continue to be supported by regular updates and accessories. “We are sold out of Essential Phone on essential.com and won’t be adding any new inventory. We are now hard at work on our next mobile product and will continue to sell accessories and provide speedy software updates and customer support to our existing community,” an Essential spokesperson told 9to5Google. The fact that the Essential phone is being retired shouldn’t come as much of a shock. The phone which failed to come to India in its lifetime, was shrouded in controversies. Many complained it’s minimalist take on Android wasn’t enough. The phone was also mired with a lot of bugs. However, the company did continue to support the phone with regular updates with the PH-1 becoming one of the first phones to receive the update to Android 9 Pie. It’s also unclear as to what the “next mobile product” will be from Essential. There have been some rumours about an AI-phone from the company. The company recently acquired CloudMagic, which might allow the upcoming phone to intelligently respond to texts and emails on behalf of the user.   Related Links: Essential PH-1 successor to come with an improved camera Essential Phone against competition: What's Andy Rubin's phone about? Essential Phone could soon launch in India as an Amazon exclusive smartphone at Rs 24,999: Report   http://bit.ly/2St0tLh

Apples discounted battery replacement program for iPhones ends today

Highlights: Apple’s battery replacement program ends today The company is offering battery replacement at reduced prices  Apple will charge as low as Rs 2,000 for installing fresh batteries on your old iPhones last year, Apple announced its battery replacement program after it admitted throttling the performance on older iPhones whose batteries were degraded. The company is charging Rs 2,000 instead of the usual Rs 8,200 for replacing the batteries. Under this program, the iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, iPhone SE, iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus smartphones are eligible for getting the battery replaced at a lowered price.  The offer also extends to the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X, however, with iOS 12.1, the company introduced a new ‘Battery Health’ option that enables one to find out the maximum capacity of an iPhone's battery. Do note that the discounted pricing is valid only till December 31 and today is the last day to avail benefit of the discounted pricing.  This is probably the final call for affected users to get their iPhone battery replaced at a discounted price. Do note that battery service at the reduced pricing may be limited to one repair per iPhone and in case your device needs some other repairs done before replacement of the battery, the user might be charged for the other repairs as well. To recall, in December last year, the smartphone manufacturer had to bear the brunt of its disgruntled customers when they found out about that Apple slowed down older iPhones. “We've been hearing feedback from our customers about the way we handle performance for iPhones with older batteries and how we have communicated that process. We know that some of you feel Apple has let you down. We apologize,” the company stated on its website. As mentioned above, Apple introduced Performance Management feature with its iOS 12.1 update. The feature is integrated with the software and enables one to lower their device’s performance in case the battery has deteriorated beyond a point. This option enables users, who have iPhones with degraded batteries, to not have their phones switch off unexpectedly. Apple said that future iPhones don’t need this feature, but it since the Performance Management feature was rolled out to iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X, it seems that the company does not want to take any chances. Related Reads: Apple issues formal apology for slowing down iPhones    http://bit.ly/2Aq2IIb

Can we live without passwords?

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Fitbit Charge 3 With 7-Day Battery Life Goes on Sale in India Tomorrow

The Fitbit Charge 3 features an elevated, premium swim-proof design with a touchscreen display, over 15 goal-based exercise modes, up to 7 days of battery life, http://bit.ly/2ApgHOk

Flipkart Qualcomm Days Sale Offers Discounts on These Smartphones

Flipkart's 'Qualcomm Days' sale brings offers on popular Snapdragon-powered smartphones on Flipkart. http://bit.ly/2R3nY0P

Star Trek, Kimmy Schmidt, The Punisher, and More on Netflix in January

Star Trek: Discovery season 2, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt season 4 part 2, The Punisher season 2, Titans season 1, Comedians of the World, and Indian original movie Soni - all that and more coming to... http://bit.ly/2EYSqSh

Popular Android Apps Found to Share Data With Facebook Without Permission

A bunch of popular apps on Android could be putting your privacy at risk, according to a study conducted by Privacy International. http://bit.ly/2LN4AiR

Delhi High Court Recruitment 2019 – Apply Online for 60 Jr Judicial Asst Posts

Delhi High Court recruits 60 Jr Judicial Asst Posts. Candidates with Degree, PG can apply online from 04 to 23-01-2019.

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APSC Recruitment 2019 – 222 AE, Agri Development Officer & Research Asst Posts

Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) recruits 157 AE, Agri Development Officer & Research Asst Posts. Candidates with Degree can apply on or before 08-02-2019. .

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