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• Xiaomi Tipped to Sell Mi 11 Ultra 67W Fast Charger Separately in India
• Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Renders Leaked, May Go Into Production In July
• 5G Rollout in India Depends on Multiple Key Factors: Ind-Ra
• Realme C20A Retail Box Live Images Surfaced on Web Ahead of Launch
• How Is Satellite Internet Shaping the Future?
• Qualcomm Teams Up With LitePoint to Test 5G Small Cells Platform
• Reliance Jio Needs Tariff Hikes, Financials Weak Say Analysts
• Bharti Airtel Focuses Primarily on Quality, Not Quantity
• Asus ZenFone 8 Pro Spotted on BIS Certification Ahead of Official Launch
• Asianet Broadband Login and Customer Care Details
• 5G Spectrum Price Must Be Reconsidered by Government: COAI
• Xiaomi Needs to Make Changes for the Success of Its Flagships
• 5G mmWave 16 Times Faster Than Sub-6 GHz: Ookla
• What is 5G and How Does it Work?
• Tata Sky Binge Service, Should You Subscribe?
• 4G Postpaid Plans by Jio, Airtel and Vi to Work From Home

Xiaomi Tipped to Sell Mi 11 Ultra 67W Fast Charger Separately in India Posted: 05 May 2021 09:32 AM PDT Xiaomi launched the Mi 11 Ultra smartphone back in April in India and now it has been reported that the company is prepping to launch the 67W fast charger in the country as a separate accessory. Instead of bundling the accessory with the retail box the company has decided to launch it separately. Xiaomi announced that the Mi 11 Ultra will pack a 55W adapter in India due to certification constraints. The 55W adapter is capable of charging the handset from zero to 99 percent in an hour. However, the 67W charge claims to do the same job in 36-minutes which is quite impressive. According to a report from MSP, the company has confirmed the availability of the 67W fast charger in the country, but the new charger will not be bundled with the Mi 11 Ultra. The report suggests that the company is expected to sell the new charger separately as an accessory. This means that the retails box of Mi 11 Ultra will continue offering the 55W charger. Xiaomi is yet to reveal any information regarding the availability and pricing of the 67W fast charger. We can expect some more information about the charger in the upcoming days. Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra Specifications in India Just to recall, the Mi 11 Ultra flaunts a 6.81-inch WQHD+ E4 AMOLED display with a resolution of 1,440x3x200 pixels. The handset offers an aspect ratio of 20:9, 120Hz refresh rate, pixel density of 515ppi, and 480Hz of the touch sampling rate. The display houses a punch-hole cutout design along with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection. It also offers a secondary 1.1-inch display at the rear with a resolution of 126×294 pixels. Under the hood, the smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset, paired with Adreno 660 GPU. The Mi 11 Ultra is backed by 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. On the camera front, the smartphone sports a triple rear-camera setup with the combination of a 50MP primary sensor + 48MP ultra-wide-angle lens + 48MP telephoto lens with 120x digital zoom. Underneath the punch-hole cutout, the Mi 11 Ultra offers a 20MP camera sensor for selfies and video calls. The smartphone is fuelled by a massive 5,000mAh battery and runs on MIUI 12 based on Android 11.

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Renders Leaked, May Go Into Production In July Posted: 05 May 2021 09:00 AM PDT Samsung has been on a roll in recent years, with the company increasing its competitiveness within the flagship segment, beginning with the S10E and improving upon it using the FE series of devices. The S20 FE has become one of the most popular devices from the company, taking the fight to OnePlus and, at times, beating it at its own game. Now, the S21 FE is supposedly in the works, with a production date also having been tipped. What Do We Know About The Samsung S21 FE As per rumours, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is in the works, with a production period scheduled around July. This comes after the launch of the S20 FE 5G version in India, which sported a Qualcomm processor, opting to replace it instead of using the Exynos chipsets made by the company. This approach might be applied to the S21 FE, with the devices appearing in a staggered manner rather than at once. Popular analyst of DisplaySearch and DSCC Ross Young tweeted on Wednesday that the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE may start production in July, but he refrained from offering an exact timeline for the device. If one goes by the regular timeline from the company, the devices may be unveiled in September with a launch in October, much like the S20 FE that debuted in India in October, with the 5G variant coming in March of 2021. Furthermore, he also leaked the colour options that will be offered for the S21 FE, with the variants being Gray, Light Green, White and Light Purple. This is all we know about the device, but, one thing is for certain, the device will be a toned-down S21 meant to take the fight to the likes of Xiaomi, OnePlus and Apple's iPhone SE. We can also take a look at the renders of the S21 FE, which were leaked by popular leakster @Onleaks on the Voice app. With this render, we see that the main change is with the camera bump. The image reveals that the camera bump is protruding from the back panel rather than the metal frame, unlike other devices in the series. The body is also expected to be polycarbonate rather than glass.

5G Rollout in India Depends on Multiple Key Factors: Ind-Ra Posted: 05 May 2021 08:14 AM PDT 5G in India has been rumoured to launch for quite some time, with users getting more and more interested in the next biggest advancement in telecom. That being said, it is still far from being a reality. There have been advancements in 5G, with trials in India being recently announced and 13 applications being given approval for testing of 5G networks. It is expected that the proper rollout of 5G in India may occur around early 2022. In relation to this, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) made some statements discussing the factors that will impact the overall rollout of the 5G in India, with some of them being key to the advancement's success. High prices of 5G airwaves in India, Capital Expenditure Key Factors According to the ratings firm, high prices of the 5G airwaves in India, capital expenditure and the willingness of the user to migrate from 2G, 3G and 4G to 5G in India that telecom companies will be incurring in a bid to employ full-scale commercial 5G are some of the variables that need to be addressed. It is key to address them so as to ensure successful implementation of the next-generation technology. If these are overlooked, a proper 5G rollout will face multiple challenges and might not work out as well as one expects. Ind-Ra mentioned that the reserve price for the 5G spectrum is quite high. The reserve price is estimated to yield a return on capital employed of only 7% and the 5G auctions haven't even been announced yet. Furthermore, the number of users willing to switch to 5G from 4G or 2G and the ARPU (average revenue per user) that they will generate are also key factors that cannot be overlooked. With the current ARPU in India ranging from Rs 121-166 per user on a monthly basis and around 350 million subscribers making use of voice only or 2G services below the ARPU, the viability of 5G for telcos in India is one to worry about. As per another statement by Ind-Ra, despite the financial credit profile of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (IND AAA/Stable), Bharti Airtel Ltd seeming comfortable, the extent of capex that the telcos will incur over 5G for the coming years will also be essential to monitor. For those of you unaware, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on Tuesday allowed for telcos in India to commence 5G trials for a period of six months by making use of mid-band (3.2-3.67 GHz), millimetre wave band (24.25-28.5 GHz) and sub gigahertz band (700 GHz) combined with their existing spectrum in the following frequencies -800 MHz, 900 Mhz, 1,800 MHz and 2,500 MHz, for the trial phase. In relation to this, Ind-Ra has said that the move will also help determine the viability of the tech across the nation since telcos are mandated to conduct trials not only in semi-urban areas but also in rural areas.

Realme C20A Retail Box Live Images Surfaced on Web Ahead of Launch Posted: 05 May 2021 05:30 AM PDT Realme is gearing up to launch a new smartphone in the Indian market with the launch of the Realme C20A. We have already witnessed the handset in numerous leaks and rumours and it has also appeared on several certifications and benchmarking websites. Now in the latest development, the live images of the retail box has appeared ahead of the official launch. Popular tipster Abhishek Yadav has shared the image of the retail box of the upcoming Realme C20A smartphone on his official Twitter handle revealing some of the vital information about the phone. Let's have a closer look at the live image of the Realme C20A retail box. Realme C20A Retail Box Leaked Renders The leaked render shared by the tipster suggests that the Realme C20A will pack a massive 5,000mAh battery. The retail box leak also claims that the handset will be powered by the Mediatek Helio G35 processor, clubbed with 2GB RAM and 32GB storage. The smartphone is tipped to launch with a 6.5-inch LCD display with a waterdrop notch design to accommodate the front camera setup. The live image also confirmed that the Realme C20A will ship with model number RMX3063. On the software front, the smartphone is said to run on the Android operating system. Besides, the leaked render didn't reveal much about the smartphone. Going with the previous leaks, the smartphone is said to ship with a single 8MP camera sensor at the back along with an LED flash. Upfront it's expected to feature a 5MP camera sensor for selfies and video calls that sits underneath the waterdrop notch. Rumours suggest that the Realme C20A is going to launch in the Bangladesh region first and then it will make its move to other markets. Do note that the company is yet to reveal anything officially and all this information is based on leaks and rumours. It’s advisable to take this information with a grain of salt until the company makes any official announcement.

How Is Satellite Internet Shaping the Future? Posted: 05 May 2021 04:52 AM PDT Satellite Internet is one of the best internetconnectivity mediums in recent times. Since internet connectivity has been challenging in rural areas, the demand for satellite internet has increased drastically. In simple terms, satellite internet is the ability to transform and receive data from a relatively small dish on earth and communicate with an orbiting geostationary satellite above earth's equator. If you are not aware of how satellite internet works, follow the article to the end for a comprehensive and detailed guide. How Does Satellite Internet Works? Satellite Internet works by using radio waves to communicate with satellites orbiting the earth. The data is sent and received through a communication network that begins with your device and travels through the satellite dish out in space. The network is sent back to ground stations on earth, known as network operations centres (NOC). The entire working of satellite internet can be summed in five-party relay system which are: · Internet-ready service · Modem/router · Satellite dish · Satellite in space · Network Operations Centre (NOC) Important Aspects of Satellite Internet Data communication via satellite is almost similar to land-based data provider. Internet user gets high-speed internet connection from both the medium. There are some aspects that are associated with satellite internet. Some of them are: · Geostationary Satellite: There is a specific place in space where the satellite is placed for transmitting signals to ground stations for providing internet services. These satellites appear to be stationary. However, it revolves around the surface of the earth at the same speed. Geostationary satellites are only located 22,300 miles above the earth's equator and nowhere else. · Satellite Latency: In case you do not know, latency refers to the time period that a single piece of information takes to make a round trip back to the satellite connection. It is one of the common terms used in satellite internet connections. Normally, a satellite connection takes half a second to begin the file transfer, which is insignificant. · Satellite Look Angle: Any obstacle that is present between the installation location of the satellite dish and the orbiting satellite will reduce the internet speed significantly. However, by using a look angle calculator, you can set the satellite look angle to make the line-of-sight obstacle-free. · Contention Ratios: Contention ratios are nothing but the number of subscribers that can share the connection at a particular period. Contention ratios do not guarantee any speed as it is impossible to know if all other subscribers sharing the channel are downloading intensive data files. · Satellite Router: Satellite routers are the prime equipment for ground control services. The coax cables from the satellite dish inside a building are connected to the router for providing internet services. Starlink Receives 500,000 Preorders The founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk, revealed that the company had received more than 500,000 preorders for its Starlink, a satellite internet service provider. Elon Musk tweeted the only limitation related to the demand for Starlink satellite service. He stated that the only limitation is the high density of users in urban areas. The company plans to deploy 12,000 satellites in total and has marked that the Starlink constellation will cost roughly around $10 billion.

Qualcomm Teams Up With LitePoint to Test 5G Small Cells Platform Posted: 05 May 2021 04:10 AM PDT The American multinational company Qualcomm has signed a new deal with LitePoint, which is the leading provider of the wireless test situation. Under the new partnership, LitePoint will provide a 5G evaluation for the Qualcomm 5G RAN Platform for Small Cells (FSM100XX). In case you are not aware, Qualcomm's 5G RAN Platform for Small Cells is a software that allows partners to upgrade, monitor and manage future 5G mobile networks. Also, it is the first 5G NR solution for 5G small cells with its 10nm solution supporting both sub-6 GHz and mmWave spectrum bands. LitePoint is Delighted to Work with Qualcomm Rex Chen, the director of strategic business development at LitePoint marked that the 5G small cell engagement is built on the longstanding, trusted and successful cooperation between the entities for many years and strengthens their in-depth expertise to enable 5G small cells. He also marked that LitePoint is delighted to work with Qualcomm to support product design through manufacturing test for its 5G small cell solution. Partnership Will Accelerate 5G Deployments Across Indoor and Outdoor Locations The partnership of Qualcomm with LitePoint will accelerate the 5G network deployments across indoor and outdoor locations. Also, the 5G test solutions of LitePoint will provide comprehensive non-signalling test coverage of small cell base stations. Victor Abramsky, vice president of engineering at Qualcomm technologies expressed his opinions on the partnership and marked that Qualcomm is grateful to work with LitePoint to aid the rapidly growing 5G industry with enhanced smartphone broadband connectivity by improving capacity, performance, coverage and power efficiency of the network. He also stated that teaming up with industry leaders like LitePoint will help Qualcomm speed up the deployment of 5G small cells by offering customers advanced 5G technologies. As stated by LitePoint, its IQgig-5G is a fully integrated versatile multiband millimetre wave (mmWave) non-signalling test solution. The three major 5G technology options covered by the test solution are 5G 3GPP NR (Release15), 5G Small Cell, V5GTF (pre-5G). The LitePoint IQgig-5G is the first of its kind to support all 5G FR2 frequencies within a 23-56 GHz range. The one-box design of the test solution makes it easy to use and maintain.

Reliance Jio Needs Tariff Hikes, Financials Weak Say Analysts Posted: 05 May 2021 03:35 AM PDT Reliance Jio, the largest wireless operator in India needs tariff hikes as its financials are "weak," analysts said. Jio Platforms, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries recorded Rs 3508 crore as consolidated net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, translating to a 47.5% year-over-year (YoY) increase. The development was shared by Reliance Industries on Friday with the company also highlighting that Jio Platforms recorded Rs 18,278 crore as consolidated revenue in its fourth quarter of the previous financial year. Further, Reliance Jio, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Jio Platforms recorded 31 million gross subscriber additions in the fourth quarter of the previous financial year, Reliance Industries said on Friday. Analysts Say Reliance Jio Financials Weak Crucially, the largest wireless operator in India recorded average revenue per user (ARPU) of Rs 138.2 per month during the quarter. In the third quarter of the previous financial year, Reliance Jio recorded an ARPU of Rs 151, with the company highlighting that the dip in the fourth quarter is due to the Bill and Keep regime that the industry transitioned to, effective January 1, 2021. Dolat Capital on Friday said that the 1.4% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ)increase in net revenue reported by Reliance Jio in the fourth quarter was "one of the slowest," since the company started reporting financials. The financial firm engaged in the trading markets said that the ARPU reported by Reliance Jio was lower than its estimate of Rs 142, largely "due to negative impact" of interconnect usage charges (IUC) abolition. Similarly, ICICI Securities, a subsidiary of ICICI Bank on Sunday said that the fourth-quarter earnings reported by Reliance Jio had "multiple misses on the revenue front." The firm in a report also said that the revenue growth reported by the operator was its "slowest" with its mobile revenues, in particular, had only around 1% QoQ growth after adjusting the Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) performance. ICICI Securities said that Reliance Jio's net debt in FY21 including the deferred spectrum liability was at Rs 29,000 crores as compared to Rs 33,200 crores in the previous financial year. The firm highlighted that the operator bid for spectrum worth Rs 57,100 crores in the 2021 March auction and that the operator agreed to buy Rs 1500 crores worth of spectrum from Bharti Airtel. Crucially, it was highlighted that Reliance Jio's net debt would jump to Rs 72,600 crores if one takes into account the "entire committed spectrum payment." "We estimate network cost inflation to remain high even in the next two years at least, not considering 5G rollout," ICICI Securities said in its report. "In case of low revenue growth as in Q4FY21, we see Reliance Jio running a risk of significant earnings decline in FY22. We believe the company will also need tariff hikes to maintain earnings growth momentum, which we have built-in for H2FY22E." Reliance Jio Data, Voice Minutes Usage Growth "Healthy" Meanwhile, Prabhudas Lilladher, a research-based financial services organization on Saturday said that there is a "strong growth traction" in Jio Platforms as the company expects growth in digital business. "We expect sharp growth for digital services business, as and how data demand accelerates and new pricing intervention gathers pace," Prabhudas Lilladher said in a report. Motilal Oswal Financial Services, an Indian diversified financial services firm on Saturday said that it expects the operator to register an 11% revenue growth over the next two financial years. Crucially, the firm highlighted that tariff hikes along with "big device launches in the low-cost feature phone market" could "significantly improve" its estimates. The financial services firm said that the operator "continues to aggressively target" user additions "despite achieving" the largest user base in the "shortest time." "While the pace of subscriber additions has slowed (possibly in the Smartphone category) in the past few quarters, Reliance Jio targets feature phone subscribers with an addressable market of 300m users," Motilal Oswal Financial Services said in its report. The firm also highlighted that the operator has already revised its JioPhone bundle plans in March and is "working on multiple device options to accelerate the transition." "While this could restrict ARPU improvement (given the focus on subscriber-led growth), we believe the differentiated product in the Smartphone category could still offer scope for a tariff hike," Motilal Oswal said. Dolat Capital also said that the subscriber additions recorded by the operator in its fourth-quarter were "partly driven" by the revised JioPhone schemes. "Jio is well-poised to benefit from [the] improving industry scenario of increase in ARPU and/or shutdown of VIL," Dolat Capital said in its report. "In the short-term, in absence of tariff increase and due to modest subscriber additions due to covid; Reliance Jio (and thus RIL) may go through time-correction. That said, [the] medium-term story remains significantly healthy." The firm also said that the data and the minutes’ usage growth recorded by Reliance Jio in the fourth quarter were "healthy" as compared to the earlier quarters. It has to be noted that the operator in a release said that the total data traffic in the fourth quarter was at 1668 crore GB, translating to a 26.7% YoY growth. Further, the total voice traffic recorded by Reliance Jio in the fourth quarter was at 102,290 crore minutes, translating to a 17.9% YoY growth.

Bharti Airtel Focuses Primarily on Quality, Not Quantity Posted: 05 May 2021 02:33 AM PDT Bharti Airtel is one of the oldest telecom operators in the country. The telco has seen its fair share of highs and lows in the last decade but has stood firm despite everything. Before Reliance Jio's entry into the market, Airtel was regarded as the king of the industry. That changed rapidly with Jio's mind-blowing 4G offers. At the time of Jio's arrival, multiple operators vanished from the scene, but Airtel stood strong enough to survive the blow. The telco quickly adapted to the market expectations and came out with similar offerings as that of Reliance Jio. Airtel also started offering prepaid plans with unlimited voice calling and daily fair-usage-policy (FUP) data. After 4 years of competing with Jio, Airtel has finally been able to beat Jio in consecutive monthly and quarterly subscribers addition. Bharti Airtel is back on its feet financially with the help of all the capital that the telco raised in the last few years. Bharti Airtel's Network Quality the Reason Why It Added More Subscribers When the tariff plans offered by the telcos fall in the same range, the telco providing the best network services will automatically stay ahead of all the other operators. This is the primary reason why Bharti Airtel has been adding more subscribers than Jio in the last few months. Despite offering slightly cheaper plans, Jio has been behind Airtel in monthly and quarterly subscribers addition for quite some time now. Bharti Airtel focuses more on acquiring quality users who can pay more for getting seamless network services. At the same time, most of the old users of Reliance Jio might be opting out of the network or making it their secondary SIM because of the congested networks of the company. Reliance Jio has focused more on quantity than quality. Reliance Jio Might Upgrade Network Capacity Soon PAN-India Jio's overall network service quality compared to Bharti Airtel's services is slightly lower. This is because the Mukesh Ambani led telco had less spectrum resources to provide services to its 400 million subscribers. But with the recent spectrum purchases, Reliance Jio might soon upgrade its network capacity across the country, and Jio users might witness better services soon from the company. Jio said that with the newly added spectrum, it can serve another 300 million subscribers comfortably. Airtel's Bet on Quality Users Paid Off Despite offering little expensive plans, Airtel added more subscribers than Jio. This is proof that users today primarily want a better quality service and not just cheap plans. Airtel placed a bet on adding more quality users who were ready to pay a little more. The move paid off for the telco, which further impacted its average revenue per user (ARPU) positively. If Jio can soon upgrade its network capacity PAN-India and offer better network services. It will be back on track with adding the most number of users very soon.

Asus ZenFone 8 Pro Spotted on BIS Certification Ahead of Official Launch Posted: 05 May 2021 01:45 AM PDT Asus is all set to launch its ZenFone 8 series in the international market and the launch date is slated on May 12. The upcoming smartphone series is said to add three new phones in the series including the ZenFone 8 Mini, ZenFone 8, and the ZenFone 8 Pro. We have already witnessed a series of leaks and rumours about the handset and a confirmed launch date doesn't stop rumours to surface on the internet. In the latest development, an Asus smartphone has surfaced on the BIS certification site hinting towards an imminent launch. Asus ZenFone 8 Pro BIS Listing The mysterious smartphone has appeared on the BIS certification site with the model number ASUS_I007D. Besides, the listing didn't reveal much about the specifications of the upcoming Asus smartphone. It has been expected that the smartphone is Asus ZenFone 8 Pro which is slated to go live on May 12th. There is no certainty about the mysterious Asus smartphone and we recommend you take this information with a pinch of salt. Going with the speculations, the Asus ZenFone 8 Pro is expected to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor. The handset is tipped to arrive with a 120Hz refresh rate OLED display, and it is said to launch without the flip-camera setup which was available in the ZenFone 7 series. ASUS ZenFone 8 Mini Rumoured Specifications There is very little information about the upcoming ZenFone 8 Pro available on the internet but the ZenFone 8 Mini has surfaced on the web several times and revealed much about the smartphone. According to the rumours, the ZenFone 8 Mini is expected to ship with a 5.92-inch OLED FHD+ display with a 120Hz refresh rate and features a punch-hole cutout design to make some room for the selfie camera setup as there is no flip camera mechanism.  The handset is tipped to launch with a dual camera-rear camera setup with the combination of a 64MP Sony IMX686 primary sensor and a Sony IMX633 secondary camera, along with an LED flash. Under the hood, the ZenFone 8 Mini is speculated to be powered by the Snapdragon 888 chipset, clubbed with 16GB RAM and 256GB storage.

Asianet Broadband Login and Customer Care Details Posted: 05 May 2021 12:59 AM PDT Asianet Giga Fibernet is one of the largest broadband internet providers in Kerala and has been providing services for over 20 years now. The company offers everything an average customer would require from his/her broadband connection. The broadband plans start as low as Rs 399 per month and range up to Rs 1,000 per month. Users can choose between plans from 40 Mbps to 150 Mbps speeds and get the best out of their internet connection. If you are an existing customer of the company and are looking for the Asianet broadband login process or Asianet broadband customer care details, we are here to help. Asianet Broadband Login Process The Asianet broadband login process is quite simple to follow. If you are on your laptop/computer, just visit the company's website. Post that, find the 'My Account' tab on the top right of the screen and click on it. You will be taken to the 'User Login' page, wherein you will have to enter your 'User ID' and 'Password' to authenticate the login. If you are a new user and want to create a new account, you can choose the 'Need an account' option at the bottom of the login form. In case you have forgotten your password, click on the 'forgot password' option beside the 'Need an account' button. You can do the same thing when trying to log in through your phone. Asianet Broadband Customer Care Details If you want to contact the Asianet broadband customer care team, all you need to do is head to the company's website and select the 'Contact us' option at the top and then click on the 'Customer Support' button. The company's helpline number is – 90720-90721. If you want to get a new connection from the company, you can dial this number – 80860-11111. Further, you can also drop an email to the company at this address – helpdesk@asianetbroadband.in. Asianet Broadband Bill Payment Any customer can complete the Asianet broadband bill payment process online. All that the customer needs to do is go to the company's website and find the 'Pay Online' option at the bottom of the page. After clicking on the button, users will be redirected to a new page where they can decide which service of the company they want to pay for. Post choosing the 'Asianet Broadband' option, users will have to enter all the details on the concerned page and complete the online payment process. Asianet offers plenty of other services as well that you can check out by going to the company's website.

5G Spectrum Price Must Be Reconsidered by Government: COAI Posted: 05 May 2021 12:00 AM PDT Yesterday, the Indian government had approved the telcos to test 13 applications for 5G. For the same, the government will be providing operators with airwaves in the 700 MHz spectrum band for conducting trials. Commenting on the decision, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) chief, Dr SP Kochhar, said that the government must reconsider the pricing of the spectrum for the 5G rollout. COAI is an industry body that represents the private telcos of India along with other multinational telecom companies from around the globe. Kocchar lauded the government's decision for allowing the operators to start with the 5G trials so that an early rollout of the next-generation technology can be ensured. Further, Kocchar said that the 5G trials would empower the operators to validate 5G technologies and its related use cases, including Industry 4.0 applications and Internet-of-Things (IoT). He also said that the government must 'revisit' the 5G spectrum pricing. 700 MHz Spectrum Remained Unsold The telecom service providers (TSPs) of India have been provided with airwaves in the coveted 700 MHz spectrum for proceeding with 5G trials in the country. It is worth noting that none of the operators bid for spectrum in the 700 MHz band because of its unfairly high reserve price. Even though the 700 MHz band is considered very important for rolling out 5G in India, the telcos didn't spend anything on it because they want the government to understand that its price is too steep. The government had slashed the price of the airwaves by a huge margin before the spectrum auctions went live. Regardless, the telcos believe that the price is still very high and it needs to be brought down. Nokia Appreciates the Beginning of 5G Trials in India Looking at the development, a Nokia spokesperson said that that the Finnish tech giant is very happy with the government's decision of starting the 5G trials in the country. The spokesperson reiterated that Nokia is more than ready to help the operators in conducting 5G trials in both urban and rural areas and implementing their 5G strategy in the country. Nokia is already manufacturing 5G equipment in India at its Chennai facility, and the private operators, including Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea (Vi), have decided to take help from the company to conduct 5G trials.

Xiaomi Needs to Make Changes for the Success of Its Flagships Posted: 04 May 2021 11:19 PM PDT Xiaomi as a company has had a monumental rise in India, entering the market at a time when the likes of Lava, Micromax and Karbonn were the talk of the town. The company planned to do things differently and, it did just that, Rather than provide mediocre specifications with more emphasis on advertising, the company chose to let its products speak for themselves, as is evident by the inherent success that it now boasts of. At a time when most devices were plastic and offered poor specifications, the company dropped its Note series of devices, which caught on after the third generation, namely the Note 3. Then came the number series of devices and so on, to the point where the Redmi name is synonymous with the budget segment. Now, the company faces a mammoth task ahead of itself. It has already showcased its worth in the budget segment, but with an increased focus on Flagships and premium mid-range devices via the Mi series, it goes head to head with giants such as Samsung, OnePlus and Apple, stepping out of its comfort zone. To tackle this, the company decided to go all out on specifications, with an emphasis on hardware, but, in doing so, forgot that it needed to take care of the software as well. Now, before you jump on the MIUI hate train, wait because there is more to this than meets the eye. MIUI: A Bane Or Just A Misunderstanding? The word on the street would point an unknowing user towards the former since most techies, if not non-techies, feel that MIUI is not a desirable OS to use. From ads to privacy concerns, it is supposedly the haunted house of UIs. But, is the reality the same, or is there more to it than meets the eye. You will be surprised to find out that, in reality, MIUI as a whole has improved by leaps and bounds, with minimal ads, that too from the GetApps application. The explicit pop-ups under the browser are now gone and, privacy issues too have been addressed. This is the case for most devices priced above 10k in the company's portfolio. Having heard a lot about MIUI on flagships and having used the Mi 10, I can honestly say that the OS gets a bad rep and is actually decent. Yes, there are minor lags and frame drops from time to time in the budget devices, but they do not plague the more expensive devices. Furthermore, the dialer and messaging application, one that came under immense scrutiny, has now been replaced by Google's stock applications. Even the issue regarding updates has been addressed, with most devices getting timely updates that address any issue that may arise. What Issues Need To Be Tackled? For a flagship, though, anything short of perfect is not bearable, and, unlike its major competitors, for the leaders, even in the company's flagship portfolio, there are some issues, two in particular that really need to be addressed. 1. Lack Of Knowledge Regarding MIUI The first of these issues is not one that affects the company; rather, it affects the user base. The MIUI of the olden days is now gone, but its reputation remains the same. When this same approach is taken in the context of flagships by an uninformed user, this leads to issues. The UI used on flagships is a bit different than regular MIUI, and, in my view, the company should rebrand MIUI for flagships into something else so that the uninformed user gets a chance to try it out before making assumptions on old statements. This is a widespread issue, with many of my friends and relatives saying why would one invest in a device with poor UI above the Rs 20k barrier, whilst in reality, the situation is quite different. 2. A Design Refresh This point is purely varying based on the person, so one may disagree with the argument I make here. The second issue, to me, with MIUI, is the child-like appearance of the UI. Don't get me wrong; it's a breeze to use and, minor hiccups on budget devices aside, it's fun and intuitive even on budget segment devices, but it seems to be appealing to one's inner child. This is evident by the larger layout, the more animations in use and the overall colourfulness across the OS. Whilst this might be appealing to some, a user spending more money would like to use a device that offers a sense of uniqueness and panache rather than one that appeals to the artistic child within. Themes available in the wallpaper segment do help tackle this to some extent, but, at times, something better might be in need. Xiaomi could do something like ASUS, which offers a gaming skin and a regular skin, differentiating the two kinds of users that might use their device. Overall, MIUI is not bad skin; rather, it is one of the more intuitive ones out there, but, due to an overall lack of information, it deters the concerned buyer from making a decent purchase.

5G mmWave 16 Times Faster Than Sub-6 GHz: Ookla Posted: 04 May 2021 10:15 PM PDT 5G is one of the most hotly demanded technologies to have been released in recent times. It seems everyone wants to get onto the 5G bandwagon, be it companies with 5G devices or users who want better speeds. In relation to this, it has always been known that 5G is divided into two kinds, mmWave and sub-6 GHz 5G, with the former being faster than the latter. Recently, the reality of 5G has been demonstrated and the difference in speeds between these two are short of extraordinary. Whilst it has always been known that sub-6 GHz 5G will be the more common of the two kinds since the equipment required is far less when compared to mmWave, we now know that mmWave 5G is much more capable than sub-6 GHz 5G and the difference between the two is substantial, to say the least. Is mmWave 5G Faster Than sub-6? Yes, mmWave is indeed faster than sub-6, but, the difference is much more than expected. Qualcomm Technologies on Tuesday announced the real-world tests that demonstrated the 5G speeds on commercial devices using mmWave, which is 16 times faster than 5G operating in sub-6 GHz frequencies. This test was conducted using Ookla in the United States. For those of you unaware, mmWave 5G makes use of ultra-wide channels in a bid to deliver faster speeds and greater capacity in comparison to lower 4G or 5G bands. 5G mmWave is also pretty important, with the network being crucial in improving the performance and advancing the variety of experiences in various settings. It delivers massive bandwidth regardless of one's location, be it at school or at work or on the go. In case you forgot, the past year also saw another test by Qualcomm, showcasing the overall speed of mmWave based 5G, which was seen pushing over 5Gbps as part of a test. According to Qualcomm, who released this data, their new Snapdragon X65 Modem-RF System will further aid in extending the capabilities of 5G mmWave, for example, hitting peak speeds of 10 Gbps and mmWave and sub-6 GHz aggregation via dual connectivity. In a further test of mmWave 5G, Qualcomm also mentioned that it would be further showcasing how 5G mmWave delivers state of art user experiences during the Qualcomm 5G Summit, scheduled for May 19-20.

What is 5G and How Does it Work? Posted: 04 May 2021 09:30 PM PDT The tech space is one of the industries that is dynamic and flexible. Every year we see advancements in terms of either new technology or some enhanced and improved features of the existing technology. 5G is the latest and upcoming generation of cellular technology. It is a successor to the currently prevalent 4G network. 5G mainly focuses on improving the experience of wireless network that includes faster speed, minimal latency and increased flexibility. It empowers a new network that connects machines, objects and devices together virtually. Technology Behind 5G Networks Where earlier generations of mobile networks focused on connectivity, 5G takes it up a notch and delivers experiences connected from the cloud to clients. The 5G infrastructure will bring forth new upgrades to network architecture. 5G uses a new process of regulating one single digital signal onto different channels. The process is called orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing or OFDM. OFDM ensures a relatively reduced interference in the signal. 5G network will cover spectrums not used by 4G, and it will be capable of doing so by using the 5GNR (New Radio) air interfaces. It will also be using higher bandwidth technologies like mmWave and sub-6 GHz bands. 5G Vs 4G – Difference in Numbers In terms of speed, 5G will be significantly faster than 4G. Where 4G could provide a peak speed of 1 GBPS, 5G would be capable of delivering a speed of up to 20 GBPS. It can do so by using all kinds of available spectrums that include low-band, mid-band and high band that will not only provide high-speed connection but higher coverage as well. 5G is built to support 100 times more traffic than 4G networks without compromising efficiency. Talking about latency, 5G will have a significantly lower latency with a 10-fold decrease in latency, bringing it down to 1 ms. Real-World Use of 5G Networks On one side of the page, it may seem that 5G networks are just faster and more reliable networks compared to its predecessor 4G, but these improvements open up doors to a number of real-world uses for 5G. With the increase in internet consumption in urban and rural parts of the world, 5G networks will bridge the gap in capacity by improving connectivity. Driverless cars, remote healthcare, augmented and virtual reality, cloud gaming are different sectors that will be befitted with the adoption of 5G Networks. According to Qualcomm, 5G has already resulted in 13.1 trillion dollars of global economic output, creating 22.8 million jobs across the globe.

Tata Sky Binge Service, Should You Subscribe? Posted: 04 May 2021 08:07 PM PDT The craze for over-the-top (OTT) content has surged in the last year owing to multiple reasons including pandemic, stay at home culture, and ease in getting high-speed broadband connections for a reasonable price. A ton of users who had never subscribed to any OTT platform explored it during 2020 when the pandemic had just started. There are users who like to keep switching between different platforms to find fresh and unique content to satiate their entertainment needs. However, OTT platforms can become a huge cost if the user goes on to buy subscriptions of different platforms by paying for them individually. Thus to save users a ton of money and allow them to consume content from multiple OTT platforms, the Tata Sky Binge service was introduced by Tata Sky. For the unaware, the Tata Sky Binge service has been available in India for a long time now. Let's take a look at what it is and what users actually get with the service. Tata Sky Binge Service Explained Tata Sky Binge service is made available to the users through an Amazon Fire TV Stick – Tata Sky edition. Note that the company doesn't charge any additional cost for providing users with the Fire TV Stick – Tata Sky edition. Further, users are given the first 30 days of using the service for free as a trial so that they can test their experience with the device and the overall service in general. Post the free trial, users will be charged Rs 299 per month. The company doesn't offer any semi-annual or annual subscription packages so you will have to keep purchasing the service by paying Rs 299 every month. Initially, when the company had launched the service, it was available to the users for Rs 249 per month only. The Rs 50 hike came in August last year when the company announced its partnership with Viacom to offer content from Voot Select and Voot Kids on its platform. Users have the option to discontinue their free trial anytime they want by getting in touch with the Tata Sky customer care team. Tata Sky Binge Service OTT Platforms Users are offered content from multiple platforms when they sign up for the Tata Sky Binge service. These include ZEE5 Premium, Disney+ Hotstar VIP, SonyLIV, Hungama Play, ShemarooMe, SunNXT, Voot Kids, Voot Select, Eros Now, and CuriosityStream. Further, users also get a free subscription to Amazon Prime Video for the first three months. However, after the end of the three months, users will need to pay Rs 129 per month to keep streaming content from the platform. The total sum that a user would have to pay for getting a subscription to all of these platforms individually would easily be three times more than Rs 299 per month. Further, users can also watch any content of their favourite television channels they missed out on during the week without paying anything extra. Note that even a user owning a Tata Sky Binge+ STB can purchase the Tata Sky Binge service. The terms and conditions applicable will be the same for such users as well. To play the content at the highest quality possible, users will require a strong internet connection.

4G Postpaid Plans by Jio, Airtel and Vi to Work From Home Posted: 04 May 2021 06:35 PM PDT Some users don't want to opt for prepaid plans or a broadband connection for their data needs. Instead, they rely on postpaid offerings from Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel or Vodafone Idea for calling, data, and more. This article is for those people who are looking for a 4G postpaid plan to fulfil their work from home requirements. All the private operators mentioned above offer competitive postpaid plans to users with sufficient 4G data and more. We will cover one postpaid plan from each telco that offers users enough value to help them work from home. Reliance Jio 4G Postpaid Plan to Work From Home One postpaid plan from Reliance Jio that will enable users to work from home comes for Rs 799. This plan from Jio offers users a total of 150GB of data. The data is valid for 1 billing cycle. One billing cycle with Reliance Jio is 1 month. After consuming the 150GB data, the user will be charged Rs 10 for each gigabyte of data he/she consumes. Users also get the data rollover benefit of up to 200GB. There are up to 2 SIM cards offered additionally with the plan, which the primary subscriber can give to his/her family members. Users also get unlimited voice calling and 100 SMS/day with this plan. Further, this plan comes with the over-the-top (OTT) benefits of Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and Disney+ Hotstar VIP for 1 year. The users also get a complimentary subscription to all the Jio apps, including JioNews, JioTV, JioCloud, and JioSecurity. Bharti Airtel 4G Postpaid Plan to Work From Home Bharti Airtel's Rs 749 postpaid plan can be the perfect one for an average user looking to work from home. This plan comes with 125GB of data and offers 2 SIM cards to the users (1 primary + 1 add-on). Further, the plan comes with unlimited voice calling and 100 SMS/day. There are OTT benefits included with this plan as well. The plan also offers 200GB of data rollover benefit to the users. Users get a one-year subscription of Disney+ Hotstar VIP and Amazon Prime Video along with other complimentary Airtel Thanks benefits. Vodafone Idea 4G Postpaid Plan to Work From Home Vodafone Idea easily offers the best postpaid plan to the users if they want to work from their homes. The company offers its Rs 699 postpaid plan with truly unlimited data, voice calling, and 100 SMS/day. Since the plan comes with unlimited data, there's no requirement for the data rollover facility with this plan. Users also get OTT benefits of Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar VIP for one year with this plan. There is also a free subscription of the Vi Movies & TV app available for the users. This postpaid plan from Vi is not only cheaper than the Rs 799 and Rs 749 offering from Jio and Airtel but also offers users the convenience to consume way more data on their purchase. This plan would not only allow users to work from home but also entertain themselves by streaming content from OTT platforms without any worry of exhausting the data.

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