Gadgets And Technology Daily News | 10 Jun 2023
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Xiaomi India Officials, 3 Banks Served ED Notice for FEMA Violation
Xiaomi India CFO Sameer Rao, former MD Manu Jain and three banks are said to have received show-cause notice from the Enforcement Directorate (ED). According to an official, the ED has served show-cause notice for FEMA violation of over Rs. 5,551 crore.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday confirmed in a tweet that it has issued show-cause notices to Chinese mobile manufacturer Xiaomi, its chief financial officer and director Sameer Rao, former MD Manu Jain and three foreign banks for alleged foreign exchange violation of more than Rs. 5,551 crore.
The Adjudicating Authority has issued SCN to Xiaomi Technology India Private Limited, its officials and 3 banks under FEMA on the basis of complaint filed by the ED with respect to illegal remittances made by the company to the tune of Rs.5551.27 Crore.
The adjudicating authority under the Foreign Exchange Management Act has issued show-cause notices to Xiaomi Technology India Private Limited, the two executives, CITI Bank, HSBC Bank and Deutsche Bank AG, the agency said in a statement.
The federal probe agency had seized Rs. 5,551.27 crore worth of funds of Xiaomi Technology India Private Limited lying in its bank accounts under the FEMA for "unauthorised" remittance of this amount in guise of royalty abroad.
"The competent authority, appointed under Section 37A of the FEMA, has confirmed the said seizure order.
"The authority while confirming the seizure held that ED is right in holding that foreign exchange equivalent to Rs. 5,551.27 crore has been transferred out of India by Xiaomi India in an unauthorised manner and is held outside India on behalf of the group entity in contravention of section 4 of FEMA, 1999 and the same is liable to be seized in terms of provisions of Section 37A of the FEMA," it said.
Under the FEMA, a show-cause notice is issued after the completion of the ED investigation and once it is settled, an accused is required to pay penalty.
Netflix Sees Jump in Daily Sign-Ups in US After Password-Sharing Crackdown, Says Data
Daily US sign-ups for Netflix have jumped in the first few days after the streaming giant's password-sharing crackdown came into effect on May 23, data from research firm Antenna showed.
The news sent shares of the company up 2.3 percent to $418.92 (nearly. Rs. 35,000) in early trading.
Looking for new ways to make money in a saturating market and a tough economy, Netflix moved to regulate the sharing of account passwords with friends and family — a drastic turnaround for a company that had once tweeted "Love is sharing a password".
Netflix had estimated that more than a 100 million households had supplied their log-in credentials to people outside their homes. Under the new rules, US users can add a member outside of their homes for an additional fee of $8 (nearly. Rs. 650) per month.
Its calculations seem to have paid off as the company recorded nearly 1,00,000 daily sign-ups on both May 26 and May 27, according to Antenna.
Netflix, which has expanded its crackdown to more than 100 other countries, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The streaming video pioneer saw its four largest days of US user acquisition after the change came into effect in the 4-1/2 years that Antenna has been covering the company.
The recent spike also exceeded levels seen during the initial US COVID-19 lockdowns in March and April 2020, according to Antenna, which sources data from third-party data collectors that track online purchase receipts, credit, debit and banking data details with permissions.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
Disney+ Hotstar to Stream ICC Cricket Tournaments for Free on Mobile Devices in India
Walt Disney Co's Hotstar will offer free streaming of cricket tournaments in India on mobile devices, following rival JioCinema's success in garnering millions of viewers with a similar strategy in the cricket-crazy nation. Hotstar said on Friday it would offer the Asia Cup and ICC Men's Cricket World Cup tournaments at no cost to users. JioCinema had offered free telecast of the Indian Premier League (IPL), one of the world's most lucrative annual sporting properties, after it bagged the internet rights from Hotstar.
The broadcasting joint venture of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries said it had clocked a record 13 billion digital views in the first five weeks of the tournament, with each viewer spending an hour on average per match. Research firm CLSA has estimated Hotstar's subscriber base shrank by nearly 5 million users after it lost the IPL rights.
While JioCinema is preparing to start charging users for content, its executives have said IPL streaming will continue to be offered at no cost. Cricket is the most popular game in the world's top populous nation, where the bulk of digital consumption is driven by smartphones with an estimated 700 million users.
"If continued over the longer term, free cricket offerings may magnify losses for streaming platforms or lead to consolidation, as many platforms may not be able to survive with lower revenue per user," Elara Capital analyst Karan Taurani said. With hefty content costs and strong competition in digital ads, freemium - a blended revenue model that relies on both subscription fees and ad sales - is the best way to go for steaming platforms in India, Taurani added.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
Sony Xperia Pro-I II Leaked Images Hint at Two 1-Inch Rear Camera Sensors
Sony Xperia Pro-I II is expected to launch soon as the successor to the Sony Xperia Pro-I which arrived in October 2021. The upcoming smartphone is likely to sport two 1-inch rear camera sensors. This will be an upgrade from the preceding model which was equipped with a 12-megapixel 1-inch type Exmor RS primary sensor. The older model is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC paired with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of inbuilt storage. The phone is backed by a 4,500mAh battery with 30W fast charging support. Now, a new leak has hinted at the rear camera design of the purported Sony Xperia Pro-I II.
Weibo user Jason2025 posted a line drawing of the Sony Xperia Pro-I II. The images suggest that the phone will likely feature two 1-inch rear camera sensors. The authenticity of the leak, however, is questionable. The account that originally shared the line drawing is leak-based but only has about 2,700 followers and is not known for leaking details of unreleased technology products.
Sony Xperia Pro-I II line drawingPhoto Credit: Weibo/ Jason2025
A YouTube channel called Multi Tech Media shared a 3D image rendering which showed two centre-aligned Zeiss and Tessar branded 1-inch primary rear camera sensors. It is currently unclear whether the 3D rendering gave way to the line drawing or the line drawing was the basis for the 3D image rendering.
Sony Xperia Pro-I II image renderPhoto Credit: YouTube/ Multi Tech Media
The Sony Xperia Pro-I is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC and packs a 4,500mAh battery with 30W fast charging support. The triple rear camera unit of the phone is equipped with a 12-megapixel 1-inch type Exmor RS sensor, a 12-megapixel 1/2.9-inch Exmor RS sensor and a 12-megapixel 1/2.5-inch Exmor RS sensor. The 8-megapixel 1/4-inch front camera sensor is housed in a left-aligned punch-hole slot at the top of the display.
The handset was launched at $1,799.99 (roughly Rs. 1.35 lakh) and was available in a 12GB + 512GB RAM and storage configuration. It was offered in a single Frosted Black colour option.
Apple Vision Pro Display Refresh Rate Revealed: All Details
Apple Vision Pro was unveiled by Apple at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference as the first mixed reality headset from the company. During the keynote event, Apple announced that the new headset sports two high-resolution micro-OLED displays housed in a curved aluminium and glass body. While the company hadn't revealed detailed specifications, new details about the displays on the Apple Vision Pro emerged during one of Apple's WWDC 2023 sessions. The headset will be available in the US in early 2024, according to the company.
During a developer session on optimising app power and performance for visionOS, the company revealed that the Apple Vision Pro display refreshes at 90 frames a second. This means that the new headset has a refresh rate of 90Hz, similar to competitors such as the Meta Quest 2 and HP Reverb G2 — although some VR headsets like the HTC Vive Pro 2 and Valve Index offer much higher 120Hz and 144Hz refresh rates, respectively.
However, it is worth noting that the Apple Vision Pro is equipped with displays that offer a higher resolution than any other VR or mixed reality headset. The company announced during the WWDC 2023 developer session that the headset's refresh rate can be ramped up when it is performing certain tasks, such as watching a movie at 24fps — as part of Apple's attempts to reduce jitter.
Earlier this week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman estimated that the Zeiss prescription lenses for the Apple Vision Pro would cost "at least" $300 (roughly Rs. 24,700) to $600 (roughly Rs. 49,500) a pair, hinting at a higher price tag for the company's headset for customers who wear spectacles. Pricing for the Apple Vision Pro is set at $3,499 (roughly Rs. 2,88,600).
The recently unveiled Apple Vision Pro is equipped with two high-resolution micro-OLED displays that are part of an aluminium and glass body with a fabric headband and strap. These displays are callable of visualising a large 100-foot "virtual" display, according to Apple. The headset is powered by an external battery pack that can be slipped into a wearer's pocket, according to Apple.
Itel S23 Budget Phone With 5,000mAh Battery, Unisoc T606 SoC Launched in India: Price, Specifications
Itel S23 was launched in India on Friday as a budget-friendly offering from the Chinese smartphone manufacturer. The latest Itel S series handset comes in two distinct colour options and the phone's display has a waterdrop-style notch. It is powered by a Unisoc T606 chipset, coupled with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of inbuilt storage. With the Memory Fusion technology, the onboard memory of the handset can be virtually expanded up to 16GB utilising unused additional storage. It is backed by a 5,000mAh battery that is said to deliver up to 15 hours of playback time with a single charge.
Itel S23 price in India is set at Rs. 8,799 for the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant and it will go on sale exclusively via Amazon starting June 14. The pricing of the 4GB + 128GB variant is yet to be revealed by the company, and the handset is confirmed to be available for purchase via retail outlets.
The newly launched Itel S23 is offered in Mystery White and Starry Black colour options.
The dual-SIM (Nano) Itel S23 runs on Android 12 and sports a 6.6-inch HD+ (720 x 1,612 pixels) IPS display with a 90Hz refresh rate and 180Hz touch sampling rate. The display comes with a waterdrop-style notch that houses the selfie camera. The new smartphone has a colour-changing panel that will change the white shade of the exterior to pink while exposed to sunlight or UV light.
Under the hood, it is powered by an octa-core 12nm Unisoc T606 SoC, paired with up to 8GB of RAM. The Itel S23 features the company's Memory Fusion technology to utilise unused storage as virtual RAM. With this feature, the onboard memory can be expanded up to 16GB.
For photos and videos, the Itel S23 sports an dual rear camera setup with LED flash that includes a 50-megapixel sensor. For selfies and video calls, it has an 8-megapixel sensor. Further, the handset is equipped with 128GB of UFS 2.2 onboard storage, that supports expansion up to 1TB. It has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for authentication. The smartphone is also claimed to offer a facial recognition feature.
The Itel S23 packs a 5,000mAh battery with support for 10W wired charging and it is claimed to deliver up to 15 hours of battery life on a single charge.
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