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Amazon on Wednesday launched its Businessmarketplace in India, as the company continues to work on expanding its e-commerce offering in the country. Amazon Business will help in the procurement needs of small and medium businesses in the country, the company said.

The new B2B marketplace, called Amazon Business, will feature additional "convenience and value offering" by providing business-only pricing, discounts on bulk quantity purchase, and GST invoices to SMB buyers to claim GST credit, the company said.

Arrival of Amazon Business comes nine months after the company launched a business marketplace targeting enterprises and large businesses in January this year. Both Flipkartand Snapdeal have little offering for business customers in India. Interestingly enough, former Flipkart CTO, Amod Malviya's new startup Udaan is also aimed at small enterprises.

The e-commerce giant says it will provide its business sellers with easy access to over 10 crore (100 million) products in a range of categories including laptops, network storage solutions, electronics, office supplies among others. But perhaps Amazon India handling the GST would appeal more to businesses, something that has been a pain point, ever since it was first introduced. SMBs can register for the business account at no charge.

"With this launch we now have a fully functional B2B marketplace alongside our thriving B2C marketplace to enable the same benefits for business buyers including a vast selection, value, convenience of door step delivery and more," Manish Tiwary, vice president category management at Amazon India said in a press statement.

The company says it has partnered with leading financial banks that will provide a business credit card with an interest free credit period of up to 45 days, to eligible customers. And Amazon Business will also offer reporting and analytics features, giving customers with insight on purchasing patterns.

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Jio Phone deliveries have supposedly begun, but receiving it might not be such welcome news for some due to the terms and conditions attached by the company to the phone. Jio has revealed that buyers may actually have to end up paying even if they want to return the device, and that it reserves the right to ask for the phone back if it is not being used. Moreover, to claim the refunded Rs. 1,500 security deposit, recharges worth Rs. 1,500 per year are mandatory. While this indeed comes as a surprise to many, there are many points that haven’t received as much attention but certainly deserve so. Here are 10 things we learnt about the Jio Phone by going through the newly updated terms and conditions on the Jio website:

  The charges applicable on returning the Jio Phone have already been discussed in detail, with the best way to get your money refunded being using the handset actively for 36 months. However, the company says users only have a 3-month window to handover their Jio Phone unit in order to claim the return. In the site’s T&C section, the company says the phone has to be returned by the recipient “on or after the expiry of thirty six months but before the expiry of thirty nine months from the date of first issue” of the Jio Phone.Jio Phone will be SIM-locked, meaning it is locked to the Jio network and assigned to a fixed number. This would not be a surprise to many, considering the company would want the buyers of its phone to remain on its network. However, the company mentions that it “may, solely at its discretion, allow the use of the JioPhone with any other compatible network from time to time.”If you do not return the handset to the company in this 3-month window after the 3-year period is over, the Rs. 1,500 refundable sum will be forfeited.Jio says the user should remove the SIM card from the handset before handing it over. However, it also says returning the device “does not cancel the Recipient’s service contract with the Authorised Carrier(s),” the carrier here being Jio.The Jio Phone warranty is 1 year from the date of delivery for the handset, and six months on the charger. The warranty will be voided if the handset’s seal, serial number code or date code has been removed, defaced or altered, or if it has been subjected to modifications like rooting, reverse engineering, unlocking, jail-breaking.Reliance Retail (RRL), which will sell Jio Phone, will have access to the device’s “precise geo-location and other information related to your location on a regular basis through Bluetooth and Wi-Fi signals, calendar entries and other technologies and data.” This information can be used to “provide location-related notifications or information you request,” the company says. The location settings on the phone must be turned on for this data collection, and “RRL or location service providers may request that you enable the location settings.” Other OEMs and software companies like Google also use similar terms, so this is pretty standard in that sense.The company and its affiliates “may collect and store recordings of your voice that RRL makes when you use voice commands to control a service.” These recordings can be shared with speech-to-text conversion services on Jio’s behalf to “receive and store certain voice commands.”Users cannot sell, lease, transfer or assign the Jio Phone unit purchased in their name to someone else, says the company. This would prevent grey market sales of the device. It is important to note this in case you plan to return the device after 36 months and claim the refund, or are asked by Jio to give back the device for some reason, since the company requires the recipient to hand over the phone, not anyone else.RRL, its licensees and agents can also collect location data anonymously and in a form that does identify the user. This information may be used by the company or its affiliates to “provide and improve location-based products and services.” User data collected via cookies will be treated as non-personal information, Jio says.Simply by using location-based services on the handset, the user gives the “consent to transmission, collection, maintenance, processing and use of your location data and queries to provide and improve such products and services.” Likewise, using a content app on the phone is a signal to the company that the user has agreed to share consumption data via “cookies, beacons, and other technologies in certain areas.”

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LG on Wednesday launched a new K-Series smartphone in India, as it had announced earlierthis week. While the LG K3 (2017) and LG K4 (2017) were expected to launch, the company has launched a brand new phone instead - the LG K7i. The biggest highlight of the smartphone is its 'Mosquito Away' technology. The LG K7i comes with an additional rear cover bundled in the box that can be placed on the phone when required - it features a speaker that produces ultrasonic frequencies said to drive mosquitoes away. The smartphone is otherwise a budget offering, and runs Android Marshmallow. The LG K7i was launched at the side-lines of Day 1 of the India Mobile Congress, being held in New Delhi.

LG K7i price in India

The LG K7i price in India is Rs. 7,990, and the smartphone will be available across retail outlets in the country. The company has not detailed any launch offers for the smartphone, which will be made available in its Brown colour variant in India. Commenting on the launch, Amit Gujral, Chief Marketing Officer, LG Electronics India, said "LG has always been at the forefront of unique innovations. With this launch, LG is bringing the mosquito away technology closer to the consumers in the form of a mobile device which can be an integral part of their daily lives."

LG K7i specifications, features

As we mentioned, the highlight feature of the LG K7i is its Mosquito Away technology, which uses 30KHz ultrasonic sound waves - said to be harmless to humans - to drive away mosquitoes. The company adds the smartphone has no "harmful chemicals", and neither were any used in developing it. The technology, which is enabled by the speaker on the additional rear cover, does not require any refills, LG adds. The smartphone can be placed on a stand when the mosquito repellent is activated, as seen below.

As for the LG K7i specifications, the dual-SIM smartphone runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It sports a 5-inch OnCell display, and is powered by an unspecified quad core processor coupled with 2GB of RAM.

The LG K7i has an 8-megapixel rear camera, and a 5-megapixel front camera. It comes with 16GB of inbuilt storage, expandable via microSD card. It features 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.1, Micro-USB, FM radio, and 3.5mm audio jack as connectivity options. It runs on a 2500mAh battery, measures 144.7x72.6x8.1mm, and weighs 138 grams

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Droid Life

Google is gradually inching towards the launch of its next generation Pixel smartphones on October 4, which are tipped to be known as Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. While there have been multiple leaks pointing out the hardware and software specifications for both the smartphones, we now have more details about the software part, thanks to two separate sources. It has been reported that the new Pixel smartphones will ship with a redesigned Pixel Launcher, in addition to three more features. The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are also said to sport dual stereo speakers on the front, a new Always Listening Music recognition feature, and a Portrait Mode for the camera.

Let us first talk about the new look of the Pixel Launcher, which is said to debut with Google's new devices next month. At the time of presentation at Google I/O developer conference this year, a Pixel smartphone was seen running a new Pixel Launcher with Search Bar below the dock and just above the navigation buttons. Artem Russakovskii, the enthusiast behind the Android Police and APKMirror websites, claims the upcoming Pixel smartphones will sport the redesigned Pixel Launcher. In line with this, XDA Developers, prolific tipster Evan Blass, and 9to5Google have also been able to corroborate the same development. Besides, the Google homepage on the Pixel smartphones would have a revamped look and design, Artem has noted.

Google is now looking forward to pack some brand new features, along with the new set of hardware. The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are now said to feature two stereo speakers - on the top and bottom ends. This has already been spotted in a couple of leaked images earlier, as the California-based giant is perhaps planning to ditch the 3.5mm audio jack on its Pixel phones. In addition to that, the aforementioned sources have also been able to dig out more information about the features that are expected to be in Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones.

Artem, on the basis of his experience with Verizon Pixel 2 for a brief time, and XDA Developers have learnt that the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL will be introduced with a brand new Always Listening Music feature. This feature is essentially a background activity that activates to show you any music on the screen that is being played nearby. It is satisfying on the part of Google Assistant, which still doesn't support music recognition. Those concerned about the privacy will have the option to disable this feature under Settings.

Next up is the anticipated Portrait Mode, which is surprising as the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL have been spotted sporting just a single camera on the rear side. While it's uncertain how Google is going to work around this kind of a feature, it might become really nifty for the people who have an eye for depth photography. This feature is said to be similar to the Portrait mode seen on iPhone 7 Plus. Among all of the features mentioned above, Artem also confirms the inclusion of 'Squeeze' feature that will launch Google Assistant on the new smartphones. This feature was earlier leaked in July. There will also be an Always-On Ambient Light Display, which is now a part of AOSP root package for Android Oreo and can be enabled on the devices running it.

While the previous leaks have also pointed outabout the tentative pricing of the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, these new insights give more details about these devices. The Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL will be launched on October 4 and we will be covering it live straight from California, so stay tuned.

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Asus on Wednesday launched its ultra-portable VivoBook S15 model in India at an event held in New Delhi. In addition, the Taiwanese company also introduced its ZenBook UX430 model in India. Both the laptops highlight Asus' NanoEdge display, which essentially is a narrow bezel-less display giving a screen-to-body ratio of about 80 percent. The laptops are also coupled with the latest Intel's eighth generation Core processors inside. The Asus VivoBook S15 and ZenBook UX430 belong the premium laptop segment at starting prices of Rs. 59,990 and Rs. 74,990 for the base variants, respectively.

Starting off, the most talked about feature of both the laptops is the bezel-less NanoEdge display as the company likes to call it. The VivoBook S15 comes with 15.6-inch full-HD (1920x1080 pixels) 178-degree wide view display that has a 7.8mm bezel - giving it a 80 percent screen-to-body ratio. The laptop has an aluminium chassis with metallic gold finish at just a 17.9mm thickness, and weighs just 1.7kg. It is powered by up to eighth-generation 2.1GHz Intel Core i7-8550U processor with up to 16GB DDR4 RAM and coupled with an Nvidia MX150 GPU. Note that these specifications are for the top end variant of VivoBook S15. The base variant however features an eighth-generation Intel Core i5i5-8250U processor, the same one available at a price of Rs. 59,990.

The Asus VivoBook S15 packs in both 1TB HDD storage and 128GB SSD storage onboard. For connectivity, you get a USB Type-C port, a USB 3.1 Type-A port, HDMI port, Bluetooth v4.2, and dual-band Wi-Fi (802.11ac). It measures 361x243.5x17.9mm, and weighs 1.7 kg. Asus claims that the battery packed inside the laptop can be charged up to 60 percent within 49 minutes via fast charging method, along with a battery life of up to 8 hours on normal usage. The laptop also comes with a fingerprint scanner with support for Windows Hello and a backlit keyboard for use during dark environments.

Coming to the ZenBook UX430, it also packs the same NanoEdge bezel-less Full-HD (1080p) display but with 14-inch in size. The display has a matte anti-glare surface and gives you a brightness of 300 nits with a 100 percent sRGB colour gamut. The ZenBook UX430 is powered by up to eighth-generation 2.1GHz Intel Core i7 processor with 16GB of DDR4 RAM and up to 512GB of SSD storage. It also features the same Nvidia MX150 GPU for gaming and other graphic needs. The laptop is just 15.9mm thick and weighs 1.25kg that's suitable for its portability. It has a sandblasted metal keyboard surface for a premium look and speakers powered by Harman Kardon, along with Asus' Smart Amp amplifying technology.

The Asus VivoBook S15 will start being available to purchase from October 1 on both offline and online channels at a starting price of Rs. 59,990, whereas the ZenBook UX430 is currently available to buy from both offline and online mediums at a starting price of Rs. 74,990.

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While Uber already allows users to see their ratings, bestowed upon them by drivers, the company is now introducing a new feature as part of its 180 Days of Change initiative in the US and Canada, mostly meant for the UberPOOL offering, which can further improve the feedback. The ride-hailing service will now allow drivers to choose the specific reason for giving a particular rider a poor rating when they give a 4-star or lower rating.

The latest update to the Uber app will ask the drivers "what went wrong" when they select a four-star rating or less and they can then proceed to choose from a list of reasons that include "attitude," "number of riders," "wait time," "patience," "wanted new route," or "other," as pointed out in a report by The Verge, citing details emailed to drivers. It doesn't stop here as if a particular rider gets the same option twice within a span of 30 days, they will get a notification that will inform them about the behaviour that has resulted in their rating downgrade.

Further, drivers will now be receiving an additional flat fare with each pickup during their UberPOOL trip, as per the company. The changes don't stop here as the company says that it will be rolling out a new feature that will provide directions to the drivers in a more effective manner. To be precise, earlier the drivers were directed by the app to take routes that were believed to be faster but now they will be directed to take routes that have 20 percent fewer turns, as per the report.

Finally, with dynamic drop-offs, UberPOOL riders will be dropped off at a nearby corner instead of the precise location as well. These changes seem to be mostly pro-drivers but might end up creating further inconvenience to the riders. While these changes are part of the 180 Days of Change initiative in the US and Canada, Uber says users can look out for updates in other areas as well.

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Chinese social media firm Weibo is looking to recruit citizen censors to help weed out sensitive content on its platform, rewarding those who report the highest numbers of offending posts with iPhones and tablets.

The platform posted a statement on Wednesday saying it was looking for an initial 1,000 "Weibo supervisors" as part of a programme overseen by the Beijing arm of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the country's top Internet watchdog

The CAC on Monday fined Weibo along with rival tech giants Tencent Holdings and Baidu for failing to properly censor illegal content on its site, including political articles and social commentary as well as violence, fake news and nudity.

Chinese authorities and tech firms are stepping up censorship controls before the 19th National Congress next month, a major leadership event held once every five years where President Xi Jinping is expected to consolidate power.

Successful applicants to Weibo's new programme must flag over 200 posts each month to receive a stipend of CNY 200 ($30.13). The 10 supervisors who report the most posts per month will receive prizes such as AppleiPhones it added.

Weibo, a microblogging service similar to Twitter, is China's second most popular social media platform after Tencent's messaging app WeChat, and has been singled out by authorities over illegal content several times this year.

The firm's US-listed stock dropped sharply in June when its video service was ordered by the CAC to briefly suspend services for "failing to promote core socialist values". The company said at the time it would work to promote more mainstream ideas as part of a comprehensive overhaul.

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Microsoft founder Bill Gates was all praises for the company's Indian-American CEO Satya Nadella, saying he has successfully charted a course for making the most of the opportunities created by technology and helped the IT giant to stand out in the computing industry.

In stepping out of the long shadow of former Microsoft leaders Gates and Steve Ballmer, Nadella has already accomplished what seemed impossible, increasing Microsoft's market share by $250 billion since taking control.

"It was no surprise to me that once Nadella became Microsoft's CEO, he immediately put his mark on the company. As the title of this book implies, he didn't completely break with the past when you hit refresh on your browser, some of what's on the page stays the same," Gates writes in his foreword to Nadella's Hit Refresh.

The book Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft's Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone, authored by 50-year-old Nadella, who is only the third-ever CEO of Microsoft, hit the stores this week.

Under Nadella's leadership, Microsoft has been able to transition away from a purely Windows-centric approach, Gates writes.

"He led the adoption of a bold new mission for the company. He is part of a constant conversation, reaching out to customers, top researchers and executives. And, most crucially, he is making big bets on a few key technologies, like artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing, where Microsoft will differentiate itself," he said.

It is a smart approach not just for Microsoft, but for any company that wants to succeed in the digital age, Gates observes.

Noting that the computing industry has never been more complex, he said that today lot of big companies besides Microsoft are doing innovative work - Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and others.

The computer is no longer the only computing device, or even the main one, that most users interact with, he said. "Despite all this rapid change in the computing industry, we are still at the beginning of the digital revolution. Take artificial intelligence (AI) as an example. Think of all the time we spend manually organising and performing mundane activities, from scheduling meetings to paying the bills," he wrote.

"In the future, an AI agent will know that you are at work and have ten minutes free and then help you accomplish something that is high on your to-do list. AI is on the verge of making our lives more productive and creative," Gates said. Innovation will improve many other areas of life too, he argued.

"It's the biggest piece of my work with the Gates Foundation, which is focused on reducing the world's worst inequities," he said, adding that digital tracking tools and genetic sequencing are helping get achingly close to eradicating polio, which would be just the second human disease ever wiped out.

Gates says Nadella has charted a course for making the most of the opportunities created by technology while also facing up to the hard questions.

"And he offers his own fascinating personal story, more literary quotations than you might expect, and even a few lessons from his beloved game of cricket. We should all be optimistic about what's to come. The world is getting better, and progress is coming faster than ever," Gates wrote.

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Billionaire Mukesh Ambani, who shook up the telecom sector with his free voice calling and data plans, on Wednesday said 4G telecom coverage in India will surpass that of 2G in a year.

Ambani is optimistic that India, riding on the back of digital revolution, will grow to a $7-trillion economy in the next 10 years, from $2.5 trillion, and rank among the top three economies in the world.

"Data is the oxygen of a digital economy. We cannot deprive Indians of this vital life-sustaining resource. We have to provide ubiquitous access to high-speed data at affordable prices," he emphasised.

The RIL chairman made the point that it has to be ensured every Indian has access to an affordable smartphone that connects him to limitless knowledge and the power of the Internet.

Reliance Jio, his telecom upstart that has captured more than 128 million users within a year of launch, will this week rollout a basic 4G phone that will be available to its users on making a refundable deposit of Rs. 1,500.

Indian mobile market, Ambani said, is now overflowing with data and a robust digital circulatory system has to be created to carry data to the 1.3 billion Indians.

"4G coverage in India will become larger than the 2G coverage within the next 12 months," he asserted.

India, Ambani said, has leapfrogged from a lowly 155th in mobile broadband penetration to being the world's largest mobile data consuming nation in just one year.

He put down this jump largely to launch of Reliance Jio which during the promotional phase offered unlimited free data and after that at dirt cheap price, saying the pace at which the Indian mobile industry has grown is unparallelled in the world.

Stating that Indian telecom and IT industry has to play a foundational role in creating the digital infrastructure, the RIL chief said the country had missed out on the first three global industrial revolutions of mechanisation, mass production and automation, but has the opportunity to lead in the fourth industrial revolution fuelled by connectivity, data and artificial intelligence.

"Mobile Internet and cloud computing are the foundational technologies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution," he said.

"Data is the new oil. India does not need to import it. We have it in super-abundance. It will be a new source of value and will create opportunities and prosperity for India and millions of Indians."

The country's richest man pressed for using new technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, Big Data analytics, 3-D printing, blockchain and nanotechnology to create jobs and a new wave of wealth.

Digital technologies, he said, can be a boon for achieving national priorities of energy, water and resource security.

"New sources of energy and new modes of transportation with unparallelled efficiencies have become possible, thanks to convergence of several technologies. India must embark on the task of connecting everything and everyone via the Super-Internet of Things. This will enable 130 crore Indians to collaborate directly with one another, democratising economic life like never before," he said.

Digitisation of education, training and human resource development in a comprehensive manner must be regarded as a pre-condition for the success of Digital India, he suggested.

"To accomplish all these tasks, the telecom and IT industry will have to partner with every sector of the economy and the government, every business and every institution, from the biggest to the smallest," Ambani added.

To realise the Digital India dream, investments have to be made in building next-generation technology assets, and inefficiencies across the digital ecosystem must be rooted out, he pointed out.

"We must break silos and forge partnerships. No corporate, nor the government, can do it alone. Together, we can achieve the unimaginable," he said.

Since its launch, Jio has been locked in a bitter market place battle with older telecom players led by Bharti Airtel. The older firms have accused it of using deep pockets to disrupt the market to create monopoly.

"Let's not forget - India provides a big enough opportunity for all of us to grow - and prosper - together. The opportunity to pave the path for our nation's progress and create a better quality of life for every Indian beckons us," Ambani said.

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Maxim Zmeyev / AFP

For Russians who fear that someone may be eavesdropping on their phone conversations, leading IT entrepreneur Natalya Kaspersky says she has a solution.

At a business forum in Moscow on Friday she presented "TaigaPhone", a brand new smartphone created by InfoWatch Group, her software development company, costing around RUB 15,000 ($260 or roughly Rs. 17,000).

The TaigaPhone is entirely green to represent the Russian northern forest after which it is named and has a five-inch touch screen.

"We have created it for the corporate market," said Kaspersky, president of InfoWatch Group and co-founder of Kaspersky Lab, Russia's leading antivirus software development company which some believe may have links to Russian intelligence.

Kaspersky Lab has over the past months been at the centre of controversy in the United States.

In July, the US government removed Kaspersky from its list of approved vendors, weeks after top US intelligence agency and law enforcement officials expressed concerns about the safety of its software.

But no evidence has been presented to back up vague assertions that it might be a tool of Moscow, offering Russian spies back-door entry into computers worldwide.

The company has repeatedly denied working with any government agency.

The TaigaPhone is not the first Russian-made smartphone. YotaPhone, which first appeared on the market in 2013, is back this year with a new device: the YotaPhone 3.

InfoWatch wants to sell TaigaPhone to Russian companies at a cost of between RUB 12,000 and 15,000, almost five times cheaper than the cost of an iPhone in Russia.

"Half of all data loss in Russia happens on mobile devices, we intend to fix that problem with the TaigaPhone," company representative Grigoriy Vasilyev told investors at the forum.

InfoWatch says the device can guarantee the confidentiality of all TaigaPhone users, track the location of each device and prevent information leakage.

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Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee on Thursday will begin an appeal of his five-year jail term for corruption, in a case highlighting South Korea's issues with the family-run conglomerates that dominate the economy.

A lower court last month convicted the 49-year-old Lee, heir to the Samsung Group and one of Asia's largest technology companies, of bribing former president Park Geun-hye to help strengthen Lee's control of the crown jewel in the conglomerate, Samsung Electronics. Park is also under trial over allegations of abuse of power and bribery.

At Thursday's hearing, the Seoul High Court will set the order of witnesses and evidence for the appeal trial, which is expected to begin in mid-October.

Since Lee filed for appeal late last month, the appellate court is likely to try to rule by next January, as under Korean law, he can only be kept in detention a maximum of four months while the court considers his appeal.

Whichever side loses is likely to appeal again to the Supreme Court.

Four other Samsung executives were also convicted in the lower court in the bribery case.

New lawyers Lee's legal team has added new lawyers for the appeal, including former Seoul Central District Court chief and new lead counsel Lee In-jae.

Earlier this month, the defence team laid out its strategy submitted in hundreds of pages of arguments to the High Court.

The defence is expected to question the lower court's logic that Lee expected Park's help in "succession operations," which the court defined as all actions Samsung affiliates took "to strengthen Lee's control of Samsung Electronics."

Lee's defence has argued there was no such thing as "succession operations" and actions such as a 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates was taken for the companies' own perceived profit.

The lower court ruled that while Lee never asked for Park's help directly, the fact that the merger did help cement Lee's control over Samsung Electronics "implied" he was asking for the president's help.

Bribe definition Another defence argument turns on whether there was in fact a bribe as defined under South Korean law, which says only civil servants come under the statute. Lee was found guilty of providing financial support for former president Park's close friend and confidante, who was not a civil servant.

The lower court found that Samsung provided financial support to entities backed by Park's friend Choi Soon-sil, including KRW 7.2 billion ($6.4 million) to sponsor the equestrian career of Choi's daughter.

The court said this was a straightforward case of bribery as "it can be considered the same as she (Park) herself receiving it." Lee's defense is expected to argue no evidence exists to back that assertion.

Lee's defense counsel at law firm Bae, Kim & Lee LLC declined comment.

Lee testified during the trial he had limited knowledge and authority over business decisions in affiliates except Samsung Electronics and related tech affiliates, which took up about 90 percent of his work.

His lower court trial began after Park was impeached, but before her successor, President Moon Jae-in, a liberal critic of the conglomerates known as chaebol, was elected in a special presidential vote in May.

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Bharti Airtel will invest up to Rs. 20,000 crores this year in digital infrastructure, the company's chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the India Mobile Congress, Mittal - who shared the dais with arch industry rival Mukesh Ambani (Reliance Industries chairman) - advocated a collaborative approach to overcome challenges and unleash the growth potential of the sector.

"India's time has come...each large tech honcho is looking at India," Mittal said terming the country as an emerging showcase for digital technology.

Seeking government's support in fast tracking the pace of growth and achieving India's vision, he urged states as well as municipalities to recognise the power of digital India and enable easy on-ground implementation of policies like the right of way.

Mittal said the telecom industry is offering "yeoman service" and infusing large amounts of money in strengthening infrastructure.

Airtel will invest Rs. 18,000 to Rs. 20,000 crores this year, he said, adding that the industry overall will be injecting Rs. 50-60,000 crores to build digital infrastructure.

He said Airtel is rolling out massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology and India will be "in step and head to head with what is happening globally".

Mittal said the technology of future will involve autonomous cars, flying cars, AI based doctors and bots, and hoped that the coming generations will reap the benefits of technological framework being laid out today.

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Facebook and the National Football Leagueannounced plans Tuesday to offer video highlights of NFL games to worldwide users of the leading social network.

"NFL Game Recaps" and highlights from all 256 regular season games as well as the playoffs and Super Bowl will be available to users globally on Facebook, according to a joint statement.

The statement added that NFL Media, the league's operated media division, will offer content from NFL Films on Facebook's Watch platform.

The deal is the latest to bring sports content to Internet platforms such as Facebook, Twitterand Amazon.

"We have millions of fans on Facebook, and they continue to demonstrate an incredible appetite for NFL content," said Hans Schroeder, chief operating officer of NFL Media.

"We're excited to bring a compelling set of highlights and shows from the NFL and our clubs to our fans on Facebook."

Dan Reed, Facebook's head of global sports partnerships, said the deal "will deliver comprehensive coverage while enabling the active NFL fan communities on Facebook to watch and debate the top storylines from each week."

The NFL earlier this year awarded streaming rights for Thursday night games to Amazon, after a similar deal with Twitter last year. Verizon, meanwhile, won streaming rights for the September 24 NFL game played in London.

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Taiwan-based semiconductor leader MediaTekon Wednesday launched its MT6739 SoC designed for mid- to entry-level 4G smartphone users at the ongoing India Mobile Congress 2017 in New Delhi. The high-speed quad-core system on chip (SoC) is built for the rapidly growing 4G market.

The MediaTek MT6739 SoC features an advanced WorldMode LTE Cat. 4 modem, dual-camera photography and 18:9 display support to bring the latest 4G LTE functions to users.

"Consumers expect smartphones to do more than ever before. That's why we designed the smartphone chipsets with features to let you share, do and capture more and at the same time plug in less," said Dr Finbarr Moynihan, General Manager, International Corporate Sales, MediaTek.

"Our latest offering in India allows OEMs and ODMs to create 4G-entry smartphones that deliver premium features that provide high-end value at affordable prices," Moynihan added.

The MediaTek MT6739 SoC is a quad-core 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 processor and operates up to 1.5GHz. In addition to MT6739, MediaTek is also introducing its Helio P23 chipset to India.

The MediaTek Helio P23 delivers performance and power efficiency, dual-camera photography, dual-SIM and dual 4G VoLTE capabilities.

MT6739 and Helio P23-enabled devices will be available in India and the global market by the end of this year, the company said.

MediaTek is a global fabless semiconductor company that enables 1.5 billion connected devices a year.

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The next version of Microsoft Office - Office 2019 - will be released in the second half of 2018 and its previews will start shipping mid-year.

The release will include perpetual versions of the Office apps including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook and servers including Exchange, SharePoint and Skype for Business, Microsoftsaid in statement late on Tuesday.

Office 2019 will add new capabilities for customers, including improved inking features like pressure sensitivity, tilt effects and ink replay.

"New formulas and charts will make data analysis for Excel more powerful. Visual animation features like Morph and Zoom will add polish to PowerPoint presentations," the company added.

The release will bring server enhancements, which will include updates to IT manageability, usability, voice and security.

Office 2016 - the current version - was launched two years ago.

Earlier this month, Microsoft rolled out a feature on its Teams service which will allow guest access to all Office 365 commercial and education customers.

The feature will allow Office 365 users to add people from outside their company to a team, so the guests can participate in chats, join meetings, collaborate on documents and more.

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Zopo Flash X1 (Left) and Zopo Flash X2 (Right)

Zopo on Wednesday launched its new Flash X1 and Flash X2 budget-segment smartphones with near bezel-less displays and taller-than-usual aspect ratio of 18:9 in India. The Zopo Flash X1 and Flash X2 have been priced by the company at Rs. 6,999 and Rs. 8,999 respectively and will be made available for purchase in October. However, the company is still looking for an exclusive tie-up with a partner to sell the new smartphones online in the country.

The highlight feature on both new Zopo smartphones is their "Infinity" display that comes with a near bezel-less design and an aspect ratio of 18:9. The Zopo Flash X1 and Flash X2 feature 83 percent screen-to-body ratio, which has been claimed to provide an immersive experience to the users. Notably, these features seem to be inspired from the latest flagships from Samsung. While the Zopo Flash X1 sports a 5.5-inch display with screen resolution of 640x1280 pixels, the Flash X2 packs a 5.99-inch display with 720x1440 pixels display.

Coming to the specifications of the Zopo Flash X1 first, the dual-SIM handset runs Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box. It is powered by a 64-bit quad-core MT6737 processor clocked at 1.3GHz and coupled with 2GB of RAM. In terms of optics, the Flash X1 comes with an 8-megapixel primary camera with Sony's IMX219 sensor and f/2.4 aperture. At front, there is a 5-megapixel camera with f/2.2 aperture.

In terms of storage, the Zopo Flash X1 comes with 16GB of built-in storage, which is further expandable up to 64GB via microSD card. The connectivity options offered with the handset include 4G LTE connectivity, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, GPS, and FM. The Zopo Flash X1 weighs 163 grams and houses a 2500mAh battery. The smartphone will be made available in Coral Blue, Alien Black, and Citrine Gold colours.

Moving on to the Zopo Flash X2, the dual-SIM smartphone also runs runs Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box. It is powered by a 64-bit quad-core MT6737T processor clocked at 1.5GHz coupled with 2GB of RAM. In terms of optics, the handset comes with same camera modules as the Flash X1. The handset houses a 3380mAh. Rest of the specifications, including the storage and connectivity options, are same as that on the Flash X1. It will be made available in Coral Blue, Alien Black, and Citrine Gold colours.

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Just days after being made available for purchase, the��iPhone 8 is giving trouble to some users. There are several users complaining about a crackling sound coming from the handset's earpiece that is causing a disturbance on phone calls. Thankfully, the Cupertino-based company has acknowledged that some customers are facing this issue and that it is already working on a fix that should be released soon.

In a statement made to The Verge, Apple said, "We are aware of the issue which is affecting customers in a small number of cases," an Apple spokesperson said. "Our team is at work on a fix, which will be included in an upcoming software release." The "crackling" or "static" sound that essentially disrupts the audio on the phone calls is being experienced by users across carriers and in different parts of the world, as pointed out in the report by The Verge.

Several users have posted the same complaint on the company's official forum and have even pointed out that the problem is intermittent and presents itself on some calls (regular as well as FaceTime) but not on others. Interestingly, the crackling sound cannot be heard when the earpiece is used as a loudspeaker.

Apple on Tuesday released the iOS 11.0.1 update, which brought about performance improvements and bug fixes - most notably one that affected Outlook.com or Exchange account users when trying to send an email through the Mail app.

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