OnePlus 5T Price, Nokia 5 3GB RAM Variant, Airtel’s New Plans, and More: Your 360 Daily

OnePlus 5T launch event will be held in New York City, according to a teaser shared by the company via its Twitter account. However, the launch date has still not been revealed yet. CEO Pete Lau revealed that the upcoming smartphone will be priced under CNY 4,000 (roughly Rs. 39,000 or $600) while replying to a comment on a Weibo post; the final price may go north of Rs. 40,000 due to import duties and other levies.

The OnePlus 5T, which may look similar to Oppo R11s, had its specifications leaked once again, this time via a GFXBench listing that showed the 6-inch display with 18:9 aspect ratio. Interestingly, OnePlus also tweeted an image with OnePlus 5 placed atop its successor, suggesting that the new model will offer a bigger display in the same form factor courtesy the bezel-less display.

Let’s take a look at what else made news in the technology space today:

Nokia 5 variant with 3GB RAM launched in India
A new Nokia 5 variant with 3GB of RAM has been launched in India, an upgrade over the original model with 2GB of system memory. The smartphone is priced at Rs. 13,499 and will be available exclusively via Flipkart for a week, starting November 7. The e-tailer is offering up to 50GB of additional Jio 4G data with the phone, giving users 5GB complimentary data on each recharge of Rs. 309 or above; the offer runs out on August 31, 2018. After November 14, the Nokia 5 3GB RAM variant will be available for purchase via offline stores as well.

The Nokia handset will come in Tempered Blue and Matte Black colours, and its remaining features remain the same as that of the original, including the 5.2-inch HD screen, Android 7.1.1 Nougat software, Snapdragon 430 chipset, 16GB internal storage, dual-SIM functionality, 13-megapixel rear camera, 8-megapixel front camera, microSD card support up to 128GB, and 3000mAh battery.

Airtel updates Rs. 349 plan to offer 1.5GB data per day
Airtel has updated its Rs. 349 plan that offered 1GB of high-speed data per day to now give consumers 1.5GB data daily at the same price in an effort to beat Jio. Other details of the prepaid pack, such as the 28-day validity, bundled calls and SMS, remain the same as before. Airtel also launched a new Rs. 448 plan that offers 1GB of 3G/ 4G data per day, unlimited calls, 3,000 SMSes and free outgoing calls on roaming for 70 days. Of course, the ‘unlimited’ calls are actually capped at 250 minutes per day and 1,000 minutes per week, beyond which the user will be charged.

Idea also launched a plan with 1GB daily data allocation today, priced at Rs. 357. The plan comes with 100 SMSes, unlimited calls across the country, and validity of 28 days. The telco has also launched the Rs. 498 plan with 1GB data per day and unlimited calls in the Delhi-NCR circle.

Flipkart offers discounts on Samsung smartphones
The Samsung Mobiles Fest is back on Flipkart, with deals on smartphones by the South Korean brand for till Wednesday. The Samsung Galaxy On Max is available at Rs. 14,900 (Rs. 2,000 discount) in the sale, the Galaxy On5 at Rs. 6,490 (Rs. 2,500 off), Galaxy On7 at Rs. 6,990 (Rs. 1,500 off), and Galaxy On Nxt at Rs. 13,900 (flat Rs. 4,000 discount), among other deals.The Samsung Galaxy S7 is available at Rs. 29,990 after a steep discount of Rs. 16,010, while the current flagships Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ come with exchange offers of up to Rs. 20,000.

Nokia 2 goes on pre-orders in Russia
In other Nokia news, the recently unveiled Nokia 2 is now up for pre-orders in Russia at RUB 7,990 (approximately Rs. 8,800). This is the first market where the pre-bookings for the entry-level handset have gone live; it will go on sale globally around mid-November, the company had revealed at its launch event in India. Nokia 2 price in India as well as the pre-order and release dates remain a mystery as of now. The handset carries a global average price tag of EUR 99 (roughly Rs. 7,500), and has a 5-inch HD display, Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS, quad-core Snapdragon 212 chipset, 1GB of RAM, 8GB internal storage, microSD card support, 8-megapixel rear camera, 5-megapixel front camera and 4100mAh battery.

iPhone X screen can suffer from burn-in, Apple warns
Apple has created a dedicated support page for iPhone X buyers to detail the major visual changes they will experience with the new OLED panel. Among the issues related to OLED screens detailed on the page are burn-in and colour shift at certain viewing angles. However, the company says it has worked towards ensuring that the effects of OLED burn-in are minimised on its Super Retina display. Apple also recommends using auto-brightness settings to extend the viewing life of the iPhone X’s screen.

Xiaomi says 70 million smartphones shipped so far in 2017
Xiaomi CEO and founder Lei Jun has announced that the company has shipped 70 million smartphones so far this year. The company claims to have shipped 10 million units in both September and October. Not taking the eye off the ball, Xiaomi has set itself the target to ship 100 million smartphones in 2018. According to market research firm Counterpoint, Xiaomi has emerged the fastest-growing smartphone company in the world, with 81 percent year-on-year growth. The firm says the Chinese brand sold 28 million handsets across the world in the July-September quarter and has cornered 7 percent of the market.

Broadcom offers to buy Qualcomm for $103 billion
Chipmaker Broadcom says it has offered to purchase smartphone chipmaker Qualcomm for $70 per share or $130 billion in cash and stock. If Qualcomm accepts the offer, the deal would be the biggest in technology industry’s history. The $70 per share price represents a 27.6 percent premium over the company’s closing price of $54.84 on Thursday. Its shareholders would receive $60 in cash and $10 in Broadcom shares. Including Qualcomm’s debt, the deal would cost Broadcom $130 billion, the company says.

Reliance Communications to stop voice calls
Reliance Communications will stop offering voice call service from December 1, and has given customers time till December 31 to port out of its network. The company plans to offer only 4G data service to its consumers after December 1. Reliance Communications currently offers 2G and 4G services in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, UP East and West, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala circles. It will also upgrade the CDMA network of Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. (SSTL) to offer 4G in Delhi, Rajasthan, UP West, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, West Bengal, Gujarat and Kolkata.

Panasonic Eluga A4 with 5000mAh battery launched in India
Panasonic has launched the Eluga A4 smartphone with 5000mAh battery at Rs. 12,490 in order to take on the likes of Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 and Lenovo K8 Plus. The smartphone is already available for purchase via authorised Panasonic retailers in the country. The new Eluga A4 sports a 5.2-inch HD display with 2.5D curved glass design, and runs Android 7.0 Nougat software with the AI-based Arbo virtual assistant. It is powered by a 1.25GHz quad-core MediaTek chipset, backed by 3GB RAM, and comes with 32GB internal storage and microSD card support up to 128GB. On the back is a 13-megapixel front camera, while a 5-megapixel sensor sits in front.

India among top countries in ransomware risk, says Sophos
Networking and endpoint security company Sophos has ranked India among the top seven countries at high risk from ransomware attacks in a new report. The company says while ransomware primarily affected Windows users till last year, it noticed the attacks becoming more platform agnostic in 2017. Android has emerged as a new favourite of cyber criminals, though it should be pointed out that the ransomware is mainly discovered from non-Google Play marketplaces. But despite Google Play apps being largely safe from such attacks, ransomware on Android increased almost every month this year.