Category: Tech

Queensland, second largest state of the Australian province, is planning to issue a grant to a crypto start-up as part of their innovation funding. As per the government statement, the state government will grant over $8.3 million to TravelbyBit digital currency payments platform for the travel and tourism industry. It is part of their Advance Queensland Ignite Ideas funding, which supports entrepreneurs in Queensland in developing their businesses. “The role of the company will be to enhance the number of inbound tourists to Central Queensland through selling travel offers with cryptocurrencies and creating more jobs,” said Kate Jones, Innovation Minister. ... Read more

ixigo has plans to roll out ‘Tara’, a voice-enabled travel assistant, for its customers by the year end. “Among the 500 million user base which will come online in the next three years, we expect 100 million across India to be interacting using voice as a medium in the same duration. And this is one of the reasons we are planning to enter the segment,” said Aloke Bajpai, CEO and Co-founder, ixigo. Tara will be initially available in English and Hindi, and in regional languages later on. On getting the accent 100 per cent correct, the company is working on ... Read more

Sony has introduced world’s first 48MP sensor that will debut in September this year with a unit price of 3,000 yen ($27 or a little over Rs 1,800) each. The stacked CMOS image sensor “IMX586” features a pixel count of 48 effective megapixels and an ultra-compact pixel size of 0.8-micron pixels, the company said in a blog post. “These days, high-end smartphone models require even greater imaging quality from their cameras. The new Sony sensor features 48 effective megapixels — a pixel count which rivals that of high-performance SLR cameras, making it possible to capture beautiful, high-resolution images even with ... Read more

WhatsApp has said its users in India will not be allowed to forward more than five chats at once. It also said that the company will remove the quick forward button that appears next to media messages, as part of its efforts to reduce circulation of fake messages on the platform that have even incited mob lynching incidents. In a blog post, WhatsApp noted that its users in India “forward more messages, photos, and videos, than any other country in the world”. The Facebook-owned company has over one billion users globally, of which over 200 million are in India. “Today, ... Read more

Flipkart has announced the addition of two new tabs to its mobile application: Recharges and Travel – Flights. The online retailer has partnered with payments platform, PhonePe to enable customers to recharge their phones through its website, while for air ticket booking, it has partnered MakeMyTrip. Flipkart is offering a 25 per cent instant discount on phone recharges subject to a maximum discount of Rs 50 as an introductory offer. Customers can also avail a discount of up to Rs 1,500 on flight tickets booked using select debit/credit cards and via net banking. The offer on flights is applicable until July ... Read more

The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism has recently launched a digital TV channel on Instagram’s view-platform IGTV, with an aim to attract tourists to Egypt through online marketing. The channel, “Experience Egypt”, launched on Instagram’s view-platform IGTV, will be broadcast through the Egyptian General Authority for Tourism Promotion’s official page, and has been dubbed as the first of its kind in the Middle East. “The Ministry of Tourism is currently looking into launching more promotional campaigns across the most influential and focused platforms to spread its scope across wider populace,” said the ministry in a statement. “The ministry is focusing on important social ... Read more

Chinese online payment form Alipay and Singapore Tourism Board (STB), have launched a series of joint marketing initiatives aimed at raising destination awareness of Singapore and driving tourist spending among Chinese visitors. Alipay and STB signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in September 2017 to enhance Chinese tourists’ overall experience in Singapore. Under the MoU, both parties agreed, among other things, to explore co-investing in joint-marketing initiatives to encourage Chinese tourists to spend with Alipay while in Singapore. Since signing the MOU, Alipay has experienced double-digit growth in user spending. China has also become Singapore’s top market in 2017 for ... Read more

The two companies, leading the quest of space tourism revealed that they are just months away from their first space travel, carrying tourists; the date is yet to be confirmed. Virgin Galactic Spacecraft Virgin Galactic, founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, and Blue Origin, by Amazon creator Jeff Bezos – are striving to be the first to finish their tests. However, both the companies are using fundamentally different technology. Space tourism by both the companies does not mean to carry the passengers along the orbit of earth. Their weightless experience will last just minutes. The experience will be different from ... Read more

Marriott International has announced that they would be introducing facial recognition at the check-in desk, which is a first in the industry. Marriott has partnered with Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba to trial the technology at two two China properties – the Marriott Hangzhou and the Marriott Sanya. “We are excited to partner with the joint venture yet again to offer an innovative and convenient check-in alternative for Chinese travellers. Marriott International has a track record of embracing cutting-edge technology to create memorable experiences for guests. With technology, our hotel associates can work more efficiently to do what they do best ... Read more

Infinix, the Hong Kong-based smartphone company, has launched Infinix Hot 6 Pro, a new smartphone in India. Infinix Hot 6 Pro carries a price tag of Rs 7,999, and will be available starting exclusively via Flipkart. The Hot Pro 6 comes in Sandstone Black, Magic Gold, City Blue, and Bordeaux Red colour options. The device features a 5.99-inch HD+ 18:9 aspect ratio display, is powered by Snapdragon 425 with 3GB of RAM, runs Android 8.0 (Oreo) with XOS 3.2 on top, has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash along with a secondary 2-megapixel camera for portrait shots. It has a ... Read more

Uber Eats has launched its second service in Andhra Pradesh at Vijayawada on July 10. “Uber Eats service is launched in Vijayawada and consumers can order their favourite food by downloading the Uber Eats app on their mobile phones. Vijayawada marks the 18th city for Uber Eats since the launch in India in May 2017,” said Bhavik Rathod, Head of Uber Eats India. Uber Eats has partnered with restaurants such as Paradise, Cream Stone, Drunken Monkey, Seven Days, Southern Spice and many more. The service will be available for consumers across key neighborhoods in the city such as Labbipet, Governorpet, Auto ... Read more

Akash and Isha Ambani at the 41st AGM of Reliance Industries. After the mobile telephone market, Reliance Industries is about to disrupt the cable television and fixed-line broadband market with ‘JioGigaFiber’, their fixed-line broadband service. It will offer high-speed internet, ultra high definition entertainment on large screen TVs, multi-party video conferencing, voice-activated virtual assistance, virtual reality gaming and digital shopping as well as smart home solutions It will be launched in 1,100 cities. Registration will begin from August 15. Along with the launches ultra-high speed fibre-based broadband services Reliance Jio will offer a Set Top Box for TV, which is ... Read more

Around 300 million photos get uploaded on Facebook every day and every second, at least 26 Instagram uploads. This photography bug seemed to have catch hold of everyone. Thanks to mobile phones or smartphones, every other person you meet on the road, or on the cafe, or anywhere for that matter, seem to be capturing one or the other moment around them. Privacy has become a strange term once you are in public space. But, if you are in any chance anywhere in the UAE, don’t try to focus your camera on others. If you do, it will end you ... Read more

“Nissan’s arrival to Kerala is a big boost for us. Following Nissan, a few other top-level IT companies such as Microsoft and Tech Mahindra have also expressed their interest to come to Kerala. This will change the face of Kerala’s IT sector. It’s going to change Kerala’s image entirely,” said Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister of Kerala. He was talking to a spokesperson form the Delhi based daily ‘livemint’.

Goa Tourism Development Corporation’s (GTDC) taxi app ‘GOAMILES’ is all set to launch in July. The app is in final stages of testing in actual conditions. 2800 licensed taxi drivers in Goa have already expressed interest in using the app and the number is expected to grow further as passenger demands swell. The project is expected to bring relief to tourists looking for convenient modes of transportation. “The launch of the app- based taxi service in Goa is going to bring a revolutionary change in the transportation system for all stakeholders which includes taxi drivers, tourists and locals. I am ... Read more