iPhone 8 specs and key features leak, this iPhone will be truly different

The iPhone 8 is a very important smartphone for Apple. It not only marks the tenth anniversary of the historic smartphone, but is set to be the most radical update to the iPhone since its inception. Moreover, the iPhone 8 has a lot riding on its shoulders after the relative disappointment that was the iPhone 7 has built up a lot of pent up demand amongst iPhone loyalists.

The iPhone 8 has been one of the most leaked iPhones ever with rumours and reports flying all over the internet over the past few months. There have been a lot of confusion over a few features. The biggest debate has been regarding whether or not Apple will embed the fingerprint sensor underneath the iPhone 8's display. There have been so many disparaging many regarding this issue that it has become a little silly by now.

In addition to the Touch ID controversy, there have been widespread reports regarding wireless charging, an OLED display, face unlock and so on. A new leak has seemingly confirmed the fact that the iPhone 8 will not come with an in-screen fingerprint senor. This leak has also brought to light almost everything there is to know about the upcoming tenth anniversary iPhone.

Almost everything there is to know about the iPhone 8 has been found hidden amongst the HomePod firmware

What sets this leak apart from the rest is the fact that it is the most dependable leak yet. The information does not comes from some strange corner in Weibo or some shady website, it has been painstakingly dug out by developers Guilhermo Rambo and Steve Troughton-Smith from Apple HomePod's firmware. Apple accidentally pushed the firmware for their smart speakers and developers have been having a field day with it.

The firmware has turned out to be an absolute treasure trove for iPhone 8 information. Almost everything there is to know about the iPhone 8 has been found hidden amongst the millions of lines of code. Here is what the iPhone 8 will bring to the table:

1. The biggest and most divisive piece of information to come out of the HomePod firmware is the fact that the iPhone 8 will not come with the Touch ID sensor embedded underneath the display. The developers found nothing in the code to suggest an in-screen fingerprint sensor.
2. What the developers did find was several references to the term "BKFaceDetect" in which BK most probably stands for Biometric Kit (taking Apple's love for the work 'Kit' into account - ARKit, HomeKit and so on). This seemingly confirms a report by Bloomberg which said that the iPhone 8 will come with 3D face unlocking which will allow users to log-in, launch secure applications and authenticate payments. They also found references to an infrared camera which would most probably be used by the iPhone 8 to detect a person's face in the dark.
3. Giving more credence to the fact that the iPhone will come with face detection is the fact that iOS developer @r_idn has found references to "pearl.field-detect" and "pearl.pre-arm" among other payment verification data in the iOS 11 beta. It is widely known that Pearl is the Face ID source code. Rumours claim that Apple's 3D face recognition technologyactually captures more data than a fingerprint scan and is more secure than Touch ID.
4. The HomePod firmware contains an image that confirms that the iPhone 8 will have a bezel-less design and an edge-to-edge display. The image also confirms that the smartphone will have a 'notch' at the top just like the one found on Andy Rubin's Essential phone which will house the sensors and the front facing camera.
5. When the Essential PH1 smartphone was unveiled, many people found the 'notch' at the top of the device ugly. It seems that Apple has added a feature in the iPhone 8's software in order to alleviate such concerns. The icons for battery, Wi-Fi, mobile data and so on will be displayed on either side of the 'notch' at the top in order to make it look more seamless and integrated.
6. The HomePod firmware also reveals that the iPhone 8 will come with a Motorola and Nokia like tap to wake feature which will allow users to unlock the smartphone with a single or double tap of the finger. As the iPhone 8 will not come with a physical home key, it is set to come with a virtual home button which will be called the 'home indicator'.
7. The firmware reveals that Apple will finally increase the resolution of the iPhone display with the iPhone 8. Currently, the iPhone 7 has a 750p display, while the iPhone 7 Plus has a 1080p display. The iPhone 8 on the other hand is set to come with a higher res 1125x2436 display.
8. While the iPhone 8 display will be 5.8-inches in size, only 5.15-inches out of those will be usable for content. The rest will be dedicated to a function area that will occupy the bottom of the display at all times. Like the TouchBar found in the new MacBook Pros, the function area will change dynamically based on which apps are being used and will offer shortcuts and other functions.
9. The HomePod firmware has also revealed that the iPhone 8 will be the first iPhone to come with quick charging and wireless charging. The smartphone will use the 'Qi' wireless charging standard which is already used by Samsung and several other Android smartphone manufacturers.
10. Apart from the information gleaned by the HomePod firmware, the iPhone 8 is rumoured to come with an updated 3D touch module, IP68 waterproofing, updated rear dual cameras with AR and depth of field features, a TrueTone OLED display, rear facing laser technology for AR apps and more. It will be powered by a more power efficient and powerful A11 processor and run Apple's newest iOS 11 operating system.
11. When will the iPhone 8 release? There have been many reports claiming that the iPhone 8 is facing issues and will be delayed by weeks, if not months. Recently a report claimed that Apple was going to launch at least one iPhone (out of the iPhone 7s, iPhone 7s Plus and iPhone 8) in September. Now @Onleaks has claimed on Twitter that the iPhone 8 has gone into mass production which points towards the fact that the iPhone 8 might not be delayed after all.

Reliance JioPhone might get WhatsApp

India’s fastest growing telecom network Reliance Jio and the world’s largest instant messaging service WhatsApp are in early talks to create a version of the messaging service that will work on millions of 4G phones that the former plans to sell.

The two companies have been talking about launching WhatsApp on JioPhone, the 4G enabled phone launched by the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio earlier this month, according to two sources.

“There have been a few meetings between Reliance Jio officials and WhatsApp officials… but the discussions are preliminary,” said one source. The second source, close to Reliance Jio said, “The talks are on. We already have a relationship with Facebook… There are technical challenges. A version (of Whatsapp) is needed that will work optimally on the JioPhone.”

At the annual general meeting of Reliance Industries last month, Ambani, India’s richest man, unveiled the 4G enabled feature phone to a cheering crowd. The phone, priced at Rs 0 (with a 3-year refundable deposit of Rs 1500) comes loaded with a bunch of Jio Apps and dirt cheap data plans. It supports Facebook and YouTube as well. However, WhatsApp, which is a big draw for Indian phone users, does not have a version that works on the phone, which reportedly runs on KaiOS, a forked version of the Firefox operating system.

Why Reliance Jio is the next shot in the arm Indian internet needed

Even though Jio, with nearly 125 million subscribers, has its own messaging service called JioChat, WhatsApp is too big to ignore. “Jio does not want to miss on the critical mass effect of Whatsapp,” said the first source. Nearly 200 million Indians use WhatsApp. WeChat, Imo.me, Messenger and Allo are the other popular instant messengers in India.

“…let us not forget that in this 78 crore, there are more than 50 crore feature phone users who have been left out of the digital revolution.… Even an entry-level smartphone costs between Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,500 making it unaffordable for feature phone users to upgrade to a smartphone,” Ambani,60, said in his speech at the 40th annual general meeting of RIL.

Facebook understands Jio’s importance. Its chief financial officer David Wehner in February said that free data plans (referring to Reliance Jio) grew Facebook usage in India and Asia Pacific.The free offers have led to a rise in data consumption — something that is critical for Facebook, which makes most of its money from selling digital ads.

Reliance Jio’s free services are unfair competition: Sunil Mittal

According to a Crisil report published in July, data usage per subscriber has risen over 20-fold in the past five years, especially after the roll out of free services by Reliance Jio. Peak data usage on Reliance Jio was five to six GB compared, 1.25 GB for the overall industry.

“Having a specialized version of Whatsapp will be a unique selling point for Jio handsets, and will help them to grow in the market as well,” said Neha Dharia, senior analyst with Ovum, a London-based consultancy firm.

Whatsapp, helmed by CEO Jan Koum (in lead picture of this story), declined to comment on the story, and so did Reliance Jio.

Whatsapp’s India connect

Whatsapp is deeply entrenched in India. “In villages, people might not have water to drink, but they use Whatsapp,” said Jasminder Gulati, co-founder, and chief traffic officer, NowFloats — the company that collects digital user and commerce data by traveling by road throughout the country.

In May 2015, when NowFloats launched its first DigitalDesh report, Gulati said that only 10 people of the 210 people they met used Whatsapp. “A year later in May 80% of the country was using Whatsapp, and in December there were more people on the platform,” he said.

He points out that people sell, buy and advertise within communities using Whatsapp. We had reported earlier that Whatsapp is being used in India’s hinterland by farmers to change their lives.

Gulati also pointed out that it might be peer pressure that Whatsapp is looking at a strategic partnership. Paytm is launching chat. “Paytm is building the WeChat of India, so Whatsapp might want to go to Reliance Jio,” said Gulati. But, still, there has to be a big enough reason.

A New Whatsapp, exclusive to JioPhone?

“Unless Whatsapp is launching deep vernacular capabilities, with shades of WeChat with built-in commerce and payments into it for Jio users, it doesn’t make sense,” Gulati said. That is because Whatsapp is also the simplest application out there with sophisticated code that allows it to be used on a wide range of phones. It is efficient in data consumption, is intelligent to optimise and compress files while sending.

Gulati points out Whatsapp for Reliance Jio might be a pilot of sorts for Whatsapp to see how integration with Facebook and Instagram works. Those have not been tested yet.

Meanwhile, Whatsapp has received a UPI license, which allows it to start payments — a space where both Ambani and Whatsapp has interests in.

Whatsapp’s co-founder Brian Acton had told this reporter in February that the company is looking to launch Whatsapp for Business in an attempt to monetise the platform, by connecting small and medium businesses in a meaningful way to improve their business.

Whatsapp’s partnership with Reliance Jio can be a move in that direction if it allows more features exclusively for Jio users, at least in the beginning.

“It will help them really scale, given that Jio will be able to get mainstream users online via their handsets. It will also be beneficial for WhatsApp if they move beyond voice and messaging and incorporate payments and other services on the platform,” said Dharia.

Such deals, however, are protracted. For instance, Google and telecom networks negotiated for many months before the search giant could swing deals to enable carrier billing on telecom networks like Airtel and Idea.

The first source said, “Reliance Jio has definitely changed the digital landscape of the country, but Facebook and Whatsapp put together has a sizable presence… Facebook will look at exclusive deals if it comes out with a special version of Whatsapp.”

By exclusive, the source meant special partnerships to boost Facebook’s Express WiFi, which gives cheap internet access at hotspots, or getting brands onto the platform jointly. Only time will tell how this partnership will evolve.

Funny Short Stories | Must Read Stories

The child and his mother:

A curious child asked his mother: “Mommy, why are some of your hairs turning grey?”

The mother tried to use this occasion to teach her child: “It is because of you, dear. Every bad action of yours will turn one of my hairs grey!”

The child replied innocently: “Now I know why grandmother has only grey hairs on her head.”     

Wrong email address:

A couple going on vacation but his wife was on a business trip so he went to the destination first and his wife would meet him the next day.

When he reached his hotel, he decided to send his wife a quick email.

Unfortunately, when typing her address, he mistyped a letter and his note was directed instead to an elderly preacher’s wife whose husband had passed away only the day before.

When the grieving widow checked her email, she took one look at the monitor, let out a piercing scream, and fell to the floor in a dead faint.

At the sound, her family rushed into the room and saw this note on the screen:

Dearest Wife,
Just got checked in. Everything prepared for your arrival tomorrow.

Will’s experience at the airport:

After his return from Rome, Will couldn’t find his luggage in the airport baggage area. He went to the lost luggage office and told the woman there that his bags hadn’t shown up on the carousel.

She smiled and told him not to worry because they were trained professionals and he was in good hands.

Then she asked Will, “Has your plane arrived yet?”

Clever kids:

A police officer found a perfect hiding place for watching for speeding motorists.

One day, the officer was amazed when everyone was under the speed limit, so he investigated and found the problem.

A 10 years old boy was standing on the side of the road with a huge hand painted sign which said “Radar Trap Ahead.”

A little more investigative work led the officer to the boy’s accomplice: another boy about 100 yards beyond the radar trap with a sign reading “TIPS” and a bucket at his feet full of change.

Mouthology:

A Professor was traveling by boat. On his way he asked the sailor:

“Do you know Biology, Ecology, Zoology, Geography, physiology?

The sailor said no to all his questions.

Professor: What the hell do you know on earth. You will die of illiteracy.

After a while the boat started sinking. The Sailor asked the Professor, do you know swiminology & escapology from sharkology?

The professor said no.

Sailor: “Well, sharkology & crocodilogy will eat your assology, headology & you will dieology because of your mouthology.

Captain:

A navy captain is alerted by his First Mate that there is a pirate ship coming towards his position. He asks a sailor to get him his red shirt.

The captain was asked, “Why do you need a red shirt?”

The Captain replies, “So that when I bleed, you guys don’t notice and aren’s discouraged.” They fight off the pirates eventually.

The very next day, the Captain is alerted that 50 pirate ships are coming towards their boat. He yells, “Get me my brown pants!”

:D

Elephant:

The class teacher asks students to name an animal that begins with an “E”. One boy says, “Elephant.”

Then the teacher asks for an animal that begins with a “T”. The same boy says, “Two elephants.”

The teacher sends the boy out of the class for bad behavior. After that she asks for an animal beginning with “M”.

The boy shouts from the other side of the wall: “Maybe an elephant!”

8 college students from Belgaum, Karnataka drown in sea at Maharashtra

MUMBAI: Eight students of an engineering college from Karnataka, out on a picnic, drowned in the Arabian sea off the Vayri coast in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district on Saturday, the police said.

Around 30 students from Maratha Engineering College in Belgaum had gone to the sea for swimming, the police said adding three students were rescued from the sea while others swam to safety.




"Three students have been rescued and are under medical observation," police said.

The incident occurred around the noon at Vayri, a coastal hamlet near Malvan town in the Konkan region of the state.

"It was the time of high tide and some students had ventured into the deep water. After some of them began drowning, others in the group rushed to save them, but it was late," police said.

Eight bodies, including those of three girls, were recovered.

"Three students were brought to shore by the police in an unconscious state. Two of them are admitted in a Malvan hospital and one girl, who is in a serious condition, is being treated at the state-run hospital in Oros," Amogh Goankar, Superintendent of Police, Sindhudurg told PTI.

As of now no one is missing as around 19 students swam to shore with the help of locals and police, Goankar said.

In a similar tragedy, 13 students from a Pune college, who were on a picnic, drowned off the Murud beach near Mumbai in February last year.

.

How to Get Jio Summer Surprise Offer Now Jio Prime Recharge | Not on Reliance Jio Website

• Reliance Jio has agreed to suspend Jio Summer Surprise offer

• Jio Prime membership recharge is not available on official Jio site now

• You can still get Jio Prime and Jio summer offer from JioMoney app

• 
  

Reliance Jio Summer Surprise offer has been suspended, putting an end to the company’s free services – notably, the telco has agreed to roll back the offer “as soon as operationally feasible,” but there is no concrete date for the same yet. Essentially, the operator is still allowing users to buy the Rs. 99 Jio Prime membership and a recharge of Rs. 303 or more value – thus signing them up for Jio Summer Surprise offer. However, Jio customers who are yet to become Prime members will not be able to buy the requisite recharges from the official Jio.com website or MyJio app anymore.

Reliance Jio Summer Surprise offer from JioMoney app

On the Jio.com website and MyJio app, you will be able to buy Booster Packs and other recharges, but not Prime membership. Instead, customers need to head to the JioMoney app to avail the benefits of Jio Summer Surprise offer. In the JioMoney app, you need to simply open the Browse Plans menu, and check out the Jio Prime tab. You will see two recharge options – Rs. 402 (Rs. 99 Jio Prime subscription + Rs. 303 recharge value), and Rs. 598 (Rs. 99 Jio Prime membership + Rs. 499 pack).  Just choose the plan that suits your needs, and you will get the free services for three months as part of the Jio Summer Surprise offer. With the JioMoney recharge, you get cashback of Rs. 50 as well.

Jio Summer Surprise offer from third-party sites

If you do not use JioMoney app, you can choose options such as Paytm, Freecharge, and MobiKwik.
When you type in your number on the Paytm website or app, you will see the Rs. 303 and Rs. 499 recharge packs (if you are already a Jio Prime subscriber), along with the Rs. 402 and Rs. 598 bundles for non-Jio Prime members. On FreeCharge, you will find the plans with Jio Prime subscriptions under the Spl/Rate Cutter tab. On MobiKwik, the plans will be listed out when you hit the Browse Plans button.Notably, Reliance Jio customers who want to become Jio Prime users now do not have the option to purchase the Rs. 99 membership on the above-mentioned platforms. Instead, they have to buy it as a bundled pack with the Rs. 303 and Rs. 499 recharge in order to avail the Jio Summer Surprise offer. On the other hand, those who were already Jio Prime users but did not buy a recharge pack can choose among the recharge values between Rs. 303 and Rs. 9,999 on Paytm, MobiKwik, and FreeCharge.
Jio Summer Surprise offer details and benefitsAs was announced on March 31, users have until April 15 to become Jio Prime members to avail the benefits the operator will provide to its subscribers over the next year. Moreover, Jio Summer Surprise subscriptions are on their way out, and can end at any time. The offer provides customers with three months of free services from the date of recharge - the recharge you buy now will come into effect in July.Any Reliance Jio customer who buys the Rs. 99 Jio Prime recharge and recharge of Rs. 303 or higher value will be automatically be signed up for the Jio summer offer. However, Reliance Jio has agreed to end the offer after a TRAI order saying it does not comply with existing regulatory framework.

Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan Offer Launched: Reliance Jio Revives Summer Surprise Offer

HIGHLIGHTS

• Reliance Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan offer provides 3 months of free services

• Tariffs for the new Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan offer are Rs. 309 and Rs. 509

• Non-Jio Prime users can also avail the benefits of the new offer

Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan offer

After cancelling the Jio Summer Surprise offer due to a TRAI order, Reliance Jio has launched the Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan offer that provides free services to new and existing customers. With the new promotional offer, Jio users will be able to avail free services – including unlimited data, free SMSs, and Jio apps subscription – for three recharge cycles of 28 days. Under the Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan offer, the Rs. 309 and Rs. 509 recharge packs will provide 1GB and 2GB of 4G data per day, respectively.

The Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan offer is aimed at customers who were unable to avail the Jio Summer Surprise offer benefits before it was pulled officially, as well as new customers. In order to get the benefits of the new offer, users need to subscribe to Jio Prime membership plan and buy the Rs. 309 or Rs. 509 recharge by April 15 in order to "to avoid degradation and/or discontinuation of services." Those who are already part of the Jio Summer Surprise promotion will not get the benefits of Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan offer.

Jio Prime users will be able to get the free Reliance Jio services for three months with the Rs. 309 and Rs. 509 recharges. Customers who are yet to sign up for Jio Prime or who are new users will have to buy the Rs. 408 (Rs. 99 Jio Prime subscription + Rs. 309 pack) or Rs. 608 (Rs. 99 + Rs. 509) recharge in order to get the free services for three cycles of 28 days. Once you buy the recharge, you get the free Reliance Jio services for 84 days (3 x 28 days). The tariffs are only marginally more expensive than the original recharge values of Rs. 303 and Rs. 499 for the 1GB and 2GB data benefits, respectively.

The Jio.com website and MyJio app show that the actual tariffs for the Rs. 309 and Rs. 509 recharge are Rs. 349 and Rs. 549, but the operator is giving a Rs. 40 discount at present.

One major difference between the Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan offer and the summer offer is that customers had the option to buy recharges of Rs. 999 or higher values - which provided no daily FUP - with the latter, but there is no such option with the former.

In a statement, Reliance Jio said, "With this [offer], Jio extends the benefits of a superior and advanced technology to take India to global digital leadership. The announcement also marks another step in Jio’s commitment to continuously delight its customers and enable them to live a fully digital life."

Reliance Jio promised to withdraw the Jio Summer Surprise offer after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said that it should be pulled as it does not comply with the existing regulatory framework. The country's youngest telco on Thursday agreed to cancel the offer, but continue enrollments till four days later. However, with the Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan offer, customers will be able to continue enjoying the free services till June, the same as users of Jio Summer Surprise offer users.

BJP’s Raja Singh booked for his threat to behead those opposing Ram temple

A video of BJP’s Raja Singh, saying “traitors” who oppose construction of Ram temple will be beheaded, is circulating on the internet.

In the video, the MLA purportedly says the day is not far.. ‘the dream of every Hindu of building a Ram temple in Ayodhya will be fulfilled’.(Screengrab)
Hyderabad Police have booked controversial Bharatiya Janata Party legislator T Raja Singh for allegedly threatening to behead those who attempt to stop the construction of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh and also making inflammatory and humiliating comments against Muslims.
Following a complaint by Mohammad Amjadullah Khan, spokesperson of a local political outfit Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT), police filed a case against the BJP MLA, who represents the Goshamahal constituency in Hyderabad, late on Sunday night.
Singh was booked under Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs).
“We have filed the case against the MLA after taking a legal opinion,” Dabeerpura inspector D Venkanna Naik said.
In his complaint, Khan alleged that Singh made provocative speeches during Sri Ram Shobha Yatra at Jumeraat Bazar area on April 5 targeting the Muslim community several times on the pretext of the construction of Ram Temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.
Khan alleged that Singh had openly taunted the Muslims saying, “Tum hamare pair pakadloo, kahi na kahi hum tumhare Babar ki masjid banadenge (Come and touch our feet, we shall construct Babur’s mosque at some place or the other)”.
He also pointed out at another comment made by Singh in the speech that they were ready to use lathis and bullets to achieve their goal of constructing the Ram temple.
“It clearly shows he is openly challenging the law,” Khan said.
The MBT leader said Singh’s statements were in contempt of the Supreme Court at a time when the dispute over the issue was pending in the top court and another case relating to the conspiracy charge against 12 BJP leaders, including LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, was being heard by it.
The BJP MLA, however, defended his statement.
“My statement was aimed at those who said they would create a ruckus if the Ram temple would be constructed in Ayodhya. For the construction of the temple, we can sacrifice our lives and even kill others, this is my warning to those who want to create hindrance in the construction of the temple,” he said in an interview to a news agency on Sunday.
This is not the first time Singh has made a controversial statement. In December 2015, supported the lynching of a Muslim man on suspicion that he had stored beef in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh. He even warned that there would be a similar incident in Telangana if cows were killed for beef.
In July 2016, Singh justified the thrashing of Dalits by cow vigilante groups at Una in Gujarat. He also condemned the media and political leaders who criticised the assault on Dalits.
More recently, he warned the CPI(M) leaders of dire consequences, if Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan addressed a public meeting at Nizam College grounds which falls under his constituency. He vowed to stop Vijayan’s entry.
Singh alleged that the Kerala CM was a murderer of Hindus and responsible for attacks on the BJP and RSS activists in the southern state. Following his threat, the police were forced to shift the CPI(M) meeting venue to Saroornagar stadium on the city’s outskirts.
‘Ugliest form of politics’The Congress hit out at the BJP amid the row, saying its “mask” has fallen off and that minorities were being “intimidated” by the Narendra Modi government.
The BJP, however, sought to douse the controversy, saying the Ram Temple can be built only with consensus. Party leader Shaina NC said Modi has made it clear that there is no space for people who choose to be the so-called moral custodians in a free and elected democratic society.
“We are a disciplined cadre, and if we feel there is need to pull up somebody, I am sure the person concerned will have to bear the brunt,” she said hinting that action could be taken against the MLA if required.
However, the Congress was unimpressed and its spokesperson Sanjay Jha said the BJP cannot wash off its hands by calling those making inflammatory statements fringe elements.
“The truth is that there is no fringe anymore. These are mainstream elected BJP leaders either in Parliament or the assembly ... This is a political strategy. This is a manifestation of the ugliest form of politics,” Jha said.
“What is happening in Alwar? What happened in Dadri? You can see the kind of reactions happening all over the place where the BJP is currently in government, there is intimidation of the minorities” he added.
“I think this is the crudest form of majoritarian politics, and let me assure you, the PM will not say a word, not even condemn it,” he added.

The Supreme Court, which is hearing the Ayodhya case, recently said that the issue should be resolved through talks.

Bengaluru is the best place in India to begin and end your career

The weather isn’t the only thing that is great about Bengaluru.

Companies in India’s Silicon Valley pay more money than those in any other city in the country, with IT professionals receiving the biggest pay-cheques, a new survey by HR consulting firm Randstad shows. In the Randstad Salary Trends Study 2017, Bengaluru, with an average annual cost to company (CTC) of Rs14.6 lakh, beat India’s financial hub, Mumbai, with Rs14.2 lakh. Hyderabad and the National Capital Region (which includes Delhi, Gurugram, and Noida) ranked third and fourth respectively.

Moreover, both senior-level and junior-level employees in Bengaluru out-earn their counterparts in other cities. Randstad analysed 100,000 jobs across 15 functions and 20 industries.

No wonder then that Bengaluru manages to attract the highest number of educated migrants from across the country, many of whom work in the sprawling campuses of some of India’s biggest technology companies such as Infosys and Wipro and at the back-end technology offices of multinational firms. The proliferation of startups like Flipkart and Ola has also helped step up salaries, with e-commerce companies handing out fat pay-cheques over the years to attract talent.

For individuals with 6-10 years of experience, the tech sector is likely to remain the most lucrative in 2017, Randstad says. Core Java-trained professionals, digitial marketing experts, and testing automation engineers will be in high demand across the country, drawing average annual CTC packages of Rs18.06 lakh, Rs17.09 lakh, and Rs14.67 lakh, respectively, the survey shows.

Reliance Jio stops 3-month complimentary Summer Surprise offer: 5 things to know

Advised by the telecom regulator, Reliance Jio on Thursday said it will withdraw the three months complimentary benefits of Jio Summer Surprise, “as soon as operationally feasible, over the next few days”.
“Today, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has advised Jio to withdraw the three months’ complimentary benefits of Jio Summer Surprise,” the company statement said.
“Jio accepts this decision. Jio is in the process of fully complying with the regulator’s advice, and will be withdrawing the three months complimentary benefits of Jio Summer Surprise as soon as operationally feasible, over the next few days,” the statement added.
Here are five things you need to know about Reliance Jio and its offer:


1) What is the offer?
On March 31, Jio announced its Jio Summer Surprise offer. Under this offer all Jio Prime members making their first recharge payment of Rs 303 (or higher) plans got three months’ complimentary services in addition to the benefits of their purchased plan.

Read more

The company on March 31 in a statement said: “Every Jio Prime member, when they make their first paid recharge prior to April 15 using Jio’s Rs 303 plan (or any higher value plan), will get services for the initial three months on a complimentary basis. The paid tariff plan will be applied only in July, after the expiry of the complimentary service.”
Looking at the unprecedented rush of subscription, the company had also extended the deadline to buy Jio’s Rs 303 (and other) plans till April 15.


2) Those who have offer already won’t be hit
All customers who have subscribed to the aforementioned offer prior to its discontinuation will remain eligible for the offer. Trai had previously found nothing wrong with its extended promotional offers of free data and voice that had helped Jio clock 100 million customers.
3) 72 million signed up for Jio Prime in one month

Reliance Jio had announced that in “just one month, over 72 million Jio customers have signed up for Jio Prime, making it one of the most successful customer privilege programmes anywhere in the world.”

Read more

With 72 million subscribers enrolling for prime membership till March 31, Reliance Jio will remain disruptive given its aspirations, investment banking firm Jefferies said in its recent report.
The newcomer in the industry has over 100 million customers.


4) Where it all began
The newcomer, Reliance Jio, had launched a free voice and data plan in September 2016 and had extended it till March 31, 2017.
Reliance Jio had launched the Welcome Offer on September 5, 2016, which was valid for 90 days with extended benefit till December 31, 2016. In December, Jio extended the freebies till March 31, 2017, much to the ire of other operators who alleged that such freebies not only hit their profitability and disrupted the market but were also against the regulations.


5) Trai says new quality norms for cellular services soon
Telecom regulator Trai has said it will bring out in the next few weeks its order on the revised quality of service norms for mobile services, including benchmarks for newer technologies like VoLTE.
“On quality of service norms and parameters, on how to redefine them, what should be the values, the granularity... should the call quality be measured at the level of service area, or towers, or district... on all those issues, we had held consultations and we will take a decision in a few weeks,” Trai chairman RS Sharma said.
Sharma, who was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a Ficci event, said the decision will come in the form of a regulation or order by Trai.

Computer hack sets off 156 emergency sirens across US city

A computer hack set off all the emergency sirens in Dallas for about 90 minutes overnight in one of the largest known breaches of a siren warning system, officials in the Texas city said on Saturday.
Dallas' 156 sirens, normally used to warn of tornadoes and other dangerous weather, were triggered at 11:42 p.m. CDT on Friday. The wailing did not end until 1:17 a.m. CDT on Saturday when engineers manually shut down the sirens' radio system and repeaters, city Emergency Management Director Rocky Vaz said.
"At this point, we can tell you with a good deal of confidence that this was somebody outside of our system that got in there and activated our sirens," he told reporters.
The breach in the city of 1.6 million people was believed to have originated in the area, city spokeswoman 

Vaz cited industry experts as saying the hack was among the largest ever to affect emergency sirens, with most breaches triggering one or two. "This is a very, very rare event," he said.


Engineers are working to restart the system and should have it restored by late on Sunday, he said. Until the sirens are running, Dallas will rely on local media, emergency 911 phone calls, and a federal radio alert system, Vaz said.
The hack is being investigated by system engineers and the Federal Communications Commission has been contacted, but police have not been 
nvolved, he said.

The sirens went through 15 cycles of a 90-second activation before they were shut down, he said.

The wailing sirens triggered a firestorm of speculation and reaction on Twitter, with Garrett S. Bacak at @theinsidiousone tweeting, "Go home dallas, you're drunk."