TecQ is our weekly round-up of the top tech stories.
1. Reliance Jio Aiming at Introducing Smart Home in India
What if we told you that in the near future, your home broadband will let you answer a video call via the TV or a smartphone? That’s exactly what Reliance Jio wants to pull off with its Jio GigaFiber broadband service.
This, and also the promise of creating a wholesome smart solution ecosystem that ranges from internet-enabled television to smart switches. But how will all this work out?
At the Indian Mobile Congress, Jio gave us a glimpse of its latest technology. The internet at every registered household will be powered by the router. This device supports multiple LAN ports – including one port for the phone cable – and can connect up to 20 devices with Wi-Fi internet simultaneously.
Read the story here.
2. Amazon Brings Alexa to Regular TV via Smart Set-Top Box
Amazon is going all out to popularise its voice assistant Alexa in India. To make this happen, it is already selling the Echo range of speakers and a slew of headphones that support the feature.
But in a country like India, it didn’t seem likely to tap the mass market, which is why its recent product launch is intriguing. Technically, Amazon has joined hands with an India-based company called MyBox Technology that specialises in making and selling set-top boxes in the country.
With this, Amazon is launching a new form of the device that gets built-in support for Alexa, enabling regular television sets to be operated via voice. This device, priced at Rs 1,999, comes bundled with a voice-enabled remote and an accessory to connect to a Wi-Fi network and Bluetooth receiver.
Read the story here.
3. New PUBG Update Rolling Out With Night Mode, New Guns, Cars & More
Player Unknown’s Battleground or more commonly known as PUBG is an online multiplayer game that has become a rage among all PC, PS4 and especially mobile gamers in the world.
The maker of the game, Tencent, has announced that it will be rolling out an update on 25 October. This is update number 0.9.0 according to the game’s developers.
Apart from a new Halloween Mode, other additions are expected – like a night mode, night-vision goggles, new weapons and also new vehicles.
Wait... there’s more!
Read the story here.
4. Hunting for the Right Headphones? Here Are a Few You Can Try
You’re at home on the weekends getting your dose of alternative rock and heavy metal music on your Bluetooth speaker when suddenly dad yells from the other room to “turn it down a bit”.
It’s kind of like Macaulay Culkin’s (the Home Alone series child star) situation in the song Black or White by Michael Jackson. Watch the video here to see what I mean.
So, is there any way you can listen to what you want without waking the neighbours and also without compromising on the music experience?
Solution: Head out and get a new pair of headphones!
Read the story here to know more.
5. HTC Launches a Blockchain Smartphone – What Does it Offer?
HTC is back with a smartphone, people! No, this isn’t a joke, the Taiwan-based brand has announced its first-ever “blockchain” phone called Exodus 1 and revealed its actual specs.
The interesting bit about the phone is its price tag. It costs 0.15 bitcoins (that’s right, bitcoins – not dollars or rupees). You can only buy it (preorder for now) via cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether among others.
At its current value, the Exodus 1 is worth $960 (Rs 71,040 approx), which is close to what you’re paying for the iPhone XS in the US this year. HTC claims that the phone contains a wallet that is protected from interacting with the Android OS that’s running out of box on the device.
So, what exactly does a blockchain phone offer and is the Exodus 1 any different from a regular smartphone? That’s the bit everyone wants to know.
Read the story here.
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