IntellectBeat

India's largest private sector lender ICICI BANK  launched a smartphone-based application which will allow users to pay for purchases by simply tapping their smartphones on a merchant terminal at a shop. The service, launched for the employees of the bank, will soon be made available for over 35 million debit and credit card holders of the lender, ICICI Bank's Executive Director Rajiv Sabahrwal told reporters on a concall. A near field communications (NFC) technology-enabled smartphone can be used to complete the transaction, he said, adding that 90 per cent of its 5 million active mobile banking customers use such phones that run on the Android operating system, on which the technology has been rolled out initially. As per RBI regulations governing NFC-based payments, people can pay up to a maximum of Rs 2,000 for a single transaction. "With India becoming the second largest market globally for mobile subscribers as well as smartphones, we expect this to be a big gam...

Thanks to government buying, the sale of tablet PCs in India rose marginally in 2015 with 4.4 million devices sold across the country - registering a growth of 13 percent over 2014, a report said on Wednesday. According to the "India Annual Tablet PC Market Review, CY 2015" by market research firm CyberMedia Research (CMR),Samsung, Datawind and Micromax took the top three leadership positions in the tablet PC market in 2015.  "The marginal rise in tablet performance could be attributed to a few government deals. However, with the rising demand for phablets/ smartphones, the challenge for the industry would be to make it more exciting and bring in features attracting consumer segment especially, which should be other than the screen size," said Tanvi Sharma, analyst for tablet devices at CMR, in a statement. The appetite for cellular access devices is increasing in India where three of the four devices sold in 2015 were supporting cellular internet access techno...

HTC has started pushing out Android 6.0 Marshmallow updates for its Desire Eye, One (E8), and One (M8 Eye) smartphones. The HTC Desire Eye users (via HTC Blog Italia) in Europe as well as users on AT&T will start receiving the over-the-air (OTA) update next week. The HTC One (E8) is currently only receiving the OTA Marshmallow update in China. The HTC One (M8 Eye) users in Europe and China are reporting about the new update for the handset. Unfortunately, there is no official changelog for the new Marshmallow updates for the HTC Desire Eye, HTC One (E8), and HTC One (M8 Eye) smartphones. For now, the update is available to limited regions but we can expect it to be available to wider users in coming weeks. Users can manually check for the update via Settings> About Phone> System Update. The Marshmallow update will bump the software as well as bring the new Sense 7 UI. To refresh, Android 6.0 Marshmallow (previously just Android M) br...

Hollywood studios, news outlets and consumer brands are all dabbling with virtual reality. Many everyday folks will soon join them using 360-degree cameras coming soon from Samsung and LG. But headsets to view VR video can cost more than $1,000 once you include a high-end personal computer with fast-enough graphics. And while smartphone makers are designing cheaper headsets — Samsung's Gear VR is $100 — you need a compatible phone. Replacing your current phone might cost you hundreds of dollars. Fortunately, there are plenty of free, or at least cheap, options that rely on your existing phone or PC. The experience isn't as smooth as what you'd get with Gear VR or upcoming headsets from LG, HTC, Sony and Facebook's Oculus business. But you won't go broke, either. 1. Google Cardboard It sounds like a joke, but it works. Google Cardboard is essentially a piece of cardboard folded into a box that's slightly shorter than a brick. You slip in an iPhone or Android ...

Tim Cook and Apple have summoned the press to another keynote on Monday, March 21, 2016. These Apple events see the American manufacturer unveil new products and innovations, with an entry-level iPhone and a new iPad expected at the upcoming edition. A new 4-inch iPhone ? The main announcement at the March keynote is expected to be a new iPhone with the codename "se." This is thought to be an entry-level handset, lined up to replace the iPhone 5s in Apple's current smartphone range. The "se" model will reportedly be keeping the 4-inch screen, but could be in line for the latest-gen A9 processor from the iPhone 6s. It could also inherit the top-of-the-range handset's 12-megapixel camera, 4k movie mode and "Live Photos" function, which makes moving images by capturing the moments just before and after a photo. This new compact, powerful smartphone is expected to launch right away, at a price comparable to that of the current 5s. The launch woul...

Instagram users could soon notice something different in their feeds: Instead of showing users the most recent posts first, the mobile photo-sharing app says it will give higher priority to posts that each user is likely to care about most. If that sounds familiar, it's because that's how Facebook decides what to show users of its online social network. Facebook, which owns Instagram, has long used a complex formula to emphasize items it hopes will be "relevant" to each user, based on factors like whether the post came from a close friend or how the user responded to similar posts. Instagram had previously acted more like rival Twitter, showing every post in reverse-chronological order. But as its audience has grown to more than 400 million users, Instagram says it's become harder for users to keep up with the gusher of photos and videos posted by friends and other accounts they follow. "This means you often don't see the posts you might care about th...

Xiaomi Mi 5 India Pricing Revealed: Specifications & Features During the launch of Redmi Note 3 smartphone in India, early this month, Xiaomi’s Vice President, Hugo Barra announced that its latest flagship smartphone- Xiaomi Mi 5 will be launched in India in a month. While Barra did not reveal the exact launch date or pricing of the device for the Indian market, company’s President Bin Lin has revealed the price range of its upcoming flagship smartphone. In an interview with ET, Bin Lin hinted that the Mi 5 will be priced between Rs 20,000 and Rs 27,000. There is no word on whether the company will launch all the three variants-32GB, 64GB and 128GB, of the smartphone in India or not. To recall, the Xiaomi Mi 5 was unveiled at MWC 2016 in Barcelona. The device is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 chipset paired with Adreno 530 GPU. It comes in three variants: Snapdragon 820 2.15 GHz + 4GB RAM + 128GB storage + 3D ceramic body Snapdr...

Sony plans to make virtual reality - long the stuff of films cast off into a distant future - mainstream with the October release of PlayStation VR headgear priced at $399. "Virtual reality represents a new frontier for gaming, one that will forever change the way users interact with games," Sony Computer Entertainment chief executive Andrew House said during a press event in San Francisco on Tuesday. Sony chose October for the launch of PlayStation VR to allow time for making enough units to meet anticipated demand and to let developers get games ready for the headsets, according to House. The headsets are designed to plug into PlayStation 4 (PS4) consoles. Sony touted PS4 as its fastest-selling console ever with more than 36 million of them bought since they hit the market in late 2013. But there is competition and Facebook-owned virtual reality start Oculus is set to begin shipping its Rift headsets later this month. Oculus has been taking orders for Rift at a price ...

Online shopping portal Infibeam Incorporation will hit the capital markets on March 21 to mop-up Rs 450 crore through an initial share plan, becoming the first e-commerce firm to tap the IPO route. The company has fixed the price band at Rs 360-432 per equity share for the IPO. The initial public offer (IPO) will conclude on March 23, as per the latest update available with capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). As per Draft Red Herring Prospectus, Gujarat-based Infibeam plans to come out with public issue of equity shares worth up to Rs 450 crore. Infibeam competes with Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal and others in the e-commerce space. The capital markets watchdog had already announced a new set of easier norms for listing of startups on a separate platform of stock exchanges. However, Infibeam has decided to go for listing on the main board. Started in 2007, Infibeam runs several e-commerce services like Infibeam.com, BuildaBazaar, Incept and Picsqu...

Sony India on Tuesday launched its new 'Extra Bass' Bluetooth headphones in the Indian market, the MDR-XB650BT, with a price tag of Rs. 7,990. The headphones are already available in Black, Blue and Red colour variants from Sony Center and major electronic stores across India. The Sony MDR-XB650BT Extra Bass Bluetooth headphones come with a 30mm driver, a bass booster structure and dedicated Extra Bass diaphragm. The wireless headphones also offer One-touch Bluetooth connection and music playback via NFC. It is compatible with AAC and aptX Bluetooth codecs as well. The headset can also deliver up to 30 hours of continuous music playback and can be recharged via USB connection. The MDR-XB650BT Extra Bass Bluetooth headphones feature a frequency response of 20Hz-20,000Hz, 24ohms impedance, 95dB/mW sensitivity, and weigh approximately 190 grams. "The headphones have been designed specifically to enhance the playback for deep bass. Fitting with an increased contact surfac...

Apple has already sent out invitations for its March 21 event where it is said to launch the much rumoured 4-inch iPhone model aka the iPhone SE. Although we've seen the unannounced smartphone in numerous leaked images and mock-ups, a video that's claimed to show the new smartphone has leaked out of China - and gives us an even clearer picture of the device. However, since the smartphone is not yet confirmed to be the actual 4-inch iPhone model, one should take the video with a spoonful of salt as the device shown can also be a dummy model or just a fake device. The video too gives a disclaimer that it may or may not be the handset Apple is supposed to launch on March 21. The roughly 2-minute long video (seen below) shows the alleged 4-inch iPhone SE in one if the retail shops in Huaqiangbei Shenzhen, China. Since the handset was seen switched off all the time, nothing can be said about the software or the specifications. However, the device is shown from all the angl...