TecQ: Mobile Data Prices, Smartphone Sales, VPN Data Theft & More
TecQ is our weekly round-up of the technology stories.
TecQ is our weekly round-up of the technology stories
Mobile Data Prices in India Could Soon Become 10x More Expensive
Indian mobile users have enjoyed the cheapest mobile data rates in the world for a few years now, but that could soon come to an end.
Currently, mobile subscribers in India get access to 4G data at a price as low as Rs 3.5 per GB. But, if the floor price (minimum rates) is fixed as demanded by telecom operators, the mobile internet prices will rise 5-10 times from the current level.
Debt-ridden Vodafone Idea has proposed that the minimum price of data should be fixed at Rs 35 per GB, Bharti Airtel has proposed minimum price of Rs 30 per GB for low data users and Reliance Jio wants it to be priced gradually to Rs 20 per GB.
Here’s more on this story.
Coronavirus, Economic Slowdown Hit Sales of Smartphones
As if the general slowdown in the economy hasn’t been bad enough, the ongoing coronavirus outbreak is all set to take its toll on sales of mobile phones in the country. A recent report by Lumos from Phonecurry, a phone-buying advice platform, highlights the sales trends in the first two months of this year and predicts the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on sales in the next quarter.
The report states that the total online sales volume in January and February 2020 is about 30 percent lower than the sales seen in November and December 2019.
Here more from the report.
Top 5 Affordable Flagship Phones You Can Buy For Under Rs 40,000
The year 2020 is expected to pack a lot of high-end hardware and specifications when it comes to smartphones. But apart from the uber spec-heavy smartphone experience, manufacturers are also looking to offer a lot of utility which you find mostly in flagships.
We picked out the top 5 phones that offer you the flagship experience within a budget. Read more about the top 5 phones under Rs 40,000 here.
New Redmi Note 9 Series Launched in India Starting at Rs 12,999
Xiaomi’s sub-brand Redmi has added two more smartphones to the Redmi lineup in India, namely, the Redmi 9 Pro and the Redmi 9 Pro Max.
The Redmi 9 Pro starts at Rs 12,999 for the 4GB+64GB variant and also comes in a 6GB+128GB variant that comes in at Rs 15,999. The Redmi 9 Pro Max, on the other hand, comes in three variants: 6GB + 64GB, 6GB + 128GB and 8GB + 128GB priced at Rs 14,999, Rs 16,999 and Rs 18,999 respectively.
Here’s more on the phones in this report.
Poco X2 vs Realme 6 Pro: Which Mid-Range Phone Worth Buying?
Xiaomi and Realme have been fighting it out in the mid-range as well as the affordable flagship mobile segment in India for some time now. But the competition gets fiercer with the introduction of Poco, which has recently launched the Poco X2 device for under Rs 20,000.
Realme 6 Pro is competing with this device in the segment and we decided to take a closer look at both these phones and tell you which of these offer you better value for the money.
Full comparison in this story.
Beware! These Free VPN Mobile Apps Have Been Collecting Your Data
Virtual Private Network or VPN apps and extensions are supposed to protect a person’s identity when they are trying to access platforms which aren’t available through legal channels.
But a new report from Buzzfeed News this week claims many of the popular VPN apps on Android and iOS which have over 35 million downloads, were used for tracking and collecting data from user’s device. That’s not all, the report points out all the VPN apps were developed by one company which is Sensor Tower.
Read more about the apps in question here.
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