TecQ is our weekly round-up of technology stories.
1. Zomato Logout: Why Are Restaurants Protesting Against Discounts?
Who doesn’t like happy hours or one-plus-one or two-plus-two offers on drinks and food? Well, that’s exactly what Zomato was offering with Zomato Gold for Rs 1,199 per year, a service which started in November 2017.
It had signed up a list of 10,000 restaurant partners and had over 1 million active subscribers as of March 2019. Why, then, are restaurants logging out of Zomato, Dineout, Eazydiner and other apps?
Read the explainer here to know the answer.
2. No More Dessert Names for Android As Google Switches to Numbers
The next Android version will not have a dessert name for users across the globe. That’s right, Google is doing away with names of fancy treats for Android versions. Instead, Android Q version will be called Android 10 and future versions will have other numbers that follow.
Google has stated that this is the ‘next evolution of Android’ and it’s likely that the Pixel 4 series launching in a few months will be the first to get the Android 10 operating system straight out of the box.
This also means the yearly ritual of speculating names of Android flavours is over. Indian users will feel heartbroken that none of the names they suggested, ranging from Malpua to Rabri, will ever be used.
Read the story here.
3. Can Reliance Jio Change How Indians Watch Movies on the First Day?
When Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries, on 12 August, announced that its JioFiber users will get a chance to watch first-day, first-show movies from their living rooms, a lot of eyebrows were raised.
And before we realised, movie multiplex giants like PVR were sending out press releases looking to calm a bunch of anxious people. It was fairly clear that Jio had caught everyone by surprise.
But now that the dust has settled, it’s time to revisit the prospect of having new movies streamed on your TV screens. This will not only save you the time of going to a movie hall, but also the money spent on travelling to the theatre and buying food and beverages.
However, the question we’re asking is: Can Jio turn all of this into reality?
Read the story here.
4. Just Like Cars & Parle-G, Will Indians Stop Buying Smartphones?
With the economic slowdown starting to show its impact, several industries in India are feeling its strain. This brings us to the key question: Will Indian consumers put off buying smartphones, and therefore hit the market altogether?
It’s interesting to see differing opinions, but with the festive period closing in, most brands are optimistic of continuing the trend of growth in the mobile phone market.
Xiaomi, the leading brand in the country, has been vocal about how the market is unlikely to slow down anytime soon.
We spoke to industry experts here to know their outlook on the sector in the months to come.
5. Can Flipkart’s Free Video Service Rival Hotstar & Amazon in India?
Flipkart’s video-streaming service is now live on Android devices, and surprisingly, it works for anybody with the latest version 6.17.
According to a Reuters report a few weeks ago, Flipkart plans on offering the content through licensed deals with various production houses on the shopping app itself.
With over 160 million users on board with the e-commerce giant, people are expected to consume content on-the-go, something that has become a trend with falling data prices in the country.
We got a first look at the new streaming service on Flipkart and read here to know what the users are getting for free with it.
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