Flipkart introduces subscription for smartphone servicing; Xiaomi launches content streaming services

Friday May 04, 2018 , 3 min Read

Flipkart has launched a subscription service for smartphone customers for all service requirements at an introductory pricing of Rs 49 a year. This is apart from the warranty provided by brands. The programme was launched along with Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1, which went on sale at 12 noon on Thursday, and was sold out in minutes. Flipkart intends to integrate this programme with all the smartphone brands it sells in under three months, well in time for 2018's Big Billion Days sales.

Ayyappan R, Senior Director (Head of Mobiles and IoT), Flipkart

Lifestyle brand boAt, which offers fashionable consumer electronics products such as earphones, headphones, speakers, travel chargers, waterproof Bluetooth speakers or ‘Bassheads’, and premium rugged cables, raised Rs 6 crore in funding from Fireside Ventures. The funding, led by Fireside's Kanwaljit Singh is the company's first round. With a strong focus on high-quality audio and innovative design, boAt products claim to have consumer needs and desires at the core of their design.

Kanwaljit Singh (centre) with boAt co-founders Sameer Mehta and Aman Gupta

Digital storage solutions provider Seagate has conducted a survey on Artificial Intelligence (AI) titled Data Pulse: Creating Space for Artificial Intelligence across the Asia-Pacific Region. The study identified that 89 percent of organisations plan to implement AI technologies in the next 12 months, in areas including IT, supply chain logistics, product innovation, R&D, as well as finance and customer support.

After emerging as the most dominant player in the domestic smartphone market over the last two quarters, Xiaomi is now rolling out value-added services to woo Indian consumers. At the recently held Mi Pop event in Mumbai, Xiaomi unveiled its Mi Music and Mi Video apps that will allow users to stream music and videos over the web. Unlike other content streaming services, however, Mi Music and Mi Video are restricted to Xiaomi handset users only.

Cambridge Analytica, the British data collection and analysis firm at the heart of the recent crisis engulfing Facebook, has announced that it is shutting all operations worldwide, with immediate effect. In a statement about the decision, the company said that “the siege of media coverage has driven away virtually all of the Company’s customers and suppliers” and hence “it is no longer viable to continue operating the business”.

Tesla published its quarterly earnings report on Wednesday, March 2, revealing record revenue as well as record losses. The company registered a 16 percent year-on-year increase in revenue, hitting a total figure of $3.4 billion; however, it also registered its highest loss ever in a quarter, at $784.6 million. Founder and CEO Elon Musk continues to bank on the flagship Model 3 sedan to turn around the company’s fortunes in the future.