TecQ is our weekly round-up of the technology stories.
Reliance All Set to Rival Amazon & Flipkart With JioMart in India
After changing the dynamics of the Indian telecom sector, Reliance is all set to take on Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart with its own online shopping platform. Multiple reports on Tuesday confirm the development, and we’ve even spotted a test site running the Jio Mart banner earlier this week.
The Jio Mart platform is most likely to make its countrywide launch in the coming months, but for now, the company will be offering its service in Navi Mumbai, Kalyan, and Thane, as mentioned over here.
Read more about JioMart here.
TRAI Revises Tariff Plans, Get More Channels for Less Price Now
In a bid to protect consumer interests, TRAI on Wednesday made amendments to the new regulatory framework for cable and broadcasting services under which cable TV users will be able to access more channels at the lower subscription price.
Significantly, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) capped at Rs. 160 the amount consumers will have to pay monthly for all free to air channels.
TRAI, in a statement, said it has decided that in case of multi-TV homes where more than one TV connection is working in the name of one person, it will charge a maximum of 40 percent of declared Network Capacity Fee (NCF) for the second and additional TV connections.
Read more about the updated tariffs here.
ISRO’s NaVIC Chipset Will Soon Power Xiaomi Phones in India
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Chinese mobile manufacturer Xiaomi are in an advanced stage of talks on the provision of chipsets that can support NaVIC, the Indian version of Global Positioning System (GPS), an official said here on Wednesday.
The NavIC-friendly chipset, being manufactured by the US chip manufacturer Qualcomm, is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India. The chipset powered on phone will offer support for a region extending up to 1500 km from the country’s boundary, which is its primary service area, the ISRO has stated earlier.
Read the full story here.
No JioFiber in Your Area? Try These Internet Providers Instead
Reliance announced the commercial launch of JioFiber in the country a few months back, claiming to offer high-speed internet at pocket-friendly prices.
But unlike its mobile business, the JioFiber rollout hasn’t moved at a quick pace, forcing people to wait for their connections to be set up.
In that case, it’s worth knowing that JioFiber isn’t the only available internet provider in the country, offering decent internet speeds without costing a bomb. Here’s a list of such companies who’re worth looking at.
Read more about the JioFiber substitutes here.
Makers of TikTok to Launch Music Streaming App to Rival Spotify
As music consumption in India undergoes a gradual evolution, China-based Bytedance, which has tasted success with its short video-making app TikTok among the youth in the country, is now ready to take on players like Spotify, Gaana, Wynk, Apple Music and others with Resso.
Available in Beta and currently being tested in India and Indonesia, the music streaming service Resso has been downloaded by nearly 100,000 times, according to data from app analytics firm Sensor Tower.
Read the full story here.
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