Telecom operator Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) on Friday said it has achieved around 4 gigabit per second speed during the ongoing 5G trials.

The speed was achieved in the 26 gigahertz spectrum band, or the millimeter band, which is proposed to be put for sale in the future auction.

“We have been able to achieve up to 4.2 Gbps speed in millimeter band during the trial,” VIL chief technology officer Jagbir Singh said here.

The company has been running 5G trial in Gandhinagar with Nokia and in Pune with Ericsson.

Singh said the government has extended 5G trials by six months, and it will go on till May 2022 or till spectrum auction result, whichever is earlier.

Chief regulatory and corporate officer P Balaji said the trial has been extended till May but the government has not shared any timeline for spectrum auction yet.

VIL demonstrated 5G use case of remote medical diagnostics, cloud gaming, public safety, emergency services using drones etc.

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Music streaming platform Spotify on Friday said its long-term goal in India is to build a robust ecosystem with audio creators, listeners, and partners.

“Our long term goal in India is to build a robust ecosystem with audio creators, listeners and partners alike, invest in top-notch creators, including independent creators who are making the mark in podcasting, continue to enable next line of creators were training and educating aspiring podcasters,” Spotify Managing Director India Amarjit Singh Batra said.

Spotify also aims to showcase creators across India in different languages and genres locally and globally, he added.

While speaking at Spotify Podcasters’ Day, Batra said last year was phenomenal for India’s audio streaming industry and for podcasts.

“Last year has been phenomenal for India’s audio streaming industry in general, and for podcasts in particular. We have seen dramatic growth in podcast creators and business,” he added.

He added that the platform now has podcasts available in major languages in the country.

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A proposed legislation does not prioritise the rights of Indians over their data in the public and has instead expanded to areas beyond its ambit and without sufficient consultation, senior executives at digital rights organisation Access Now have said.

The Personal Data Protection (PDP) legislation–in the making since 2018—will be tabled in Parliament’s Winter Session beginning Monday. Reports and dissent notes filed by the members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) deliberating the Bill suggest several changes from its initial draft in 2019. Social media seems to have been included in the legislation.

“Based on the reports so far and the details shared by MPs involved in the process, it is clear that this is not currently the Privacy and Data Protection law that India needs. The current draft does not adequately protect people’s right to privacy and autonomy or enable strict accountability, particularly from the government,” said Raman Jit Singh Chima, Asia Pacific Policy Director and Senior International Counsel, and Namrata Maheshwari, Asia Pacific Policy Counsel, at Access Now.

“…Parliament will have to amend the draft to incorporate safeguards in line with the Supreme Court’s rulings on privacy and international human rights standards,” they said.

As data breaches and financial frauds increase, India needs a sound legislation for data protection. The JPC adopted the Bill last week, amid criticism from some MPs that the government had given itself a wide berth on a host of issues.

“The recent public furore and parliamentary, judicial discussion around the NSO Pegasus revelations also demonstrate that India’s surveillance law framework is outmoded and needs urgent overhaul to better regulate and oversee how government agencies can access our personal data. Further, the government has a strong grip over the composition and functioning of the proposed Data Protection Authority which severely undermines its independence, authority and ability to safeguard privacy,” said Cheema and Maheshwari, referring to the Israeli spyware.

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Australia will introduce legislation to make social media giants provide details of users who post defamatory comments, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday.

The government has been looking at the extent of the responsibility of platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, for defamatory material published on their sites and comes after the country’s highest court ruled that publishers can be held liable for public comments on online forums.

The ruling caused some news companies like CNN to deny Australians access to their Facebook pages.

“The online world should not be a wild west where bots and bigots and trolls and others are anonymously going around and can harm people,” Morrison said at a televised press briefing.

“That is not what can happen in the real world, and there is no case for it to be able to be happening in the digital world.” The new legislation will introduce a complaints mechanism, so that if somebody thinks they are being defamed, bullied or attacked on social media, they will be able to require the platform to take the material down.

If the content is not withdrawn, a court process could force a social media platform to provide details of the commenter.

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Global artificial intelligence (AI) software revenue is forecast to reach $62.5 billion in 2022, an increase of 21.3 per cent from 2021, according to Gartner.

The top five use cases for AI software spending in 2022 will be knowledge management, virtual assistants, autonomous vehicles, digital workplace and crowdsourced data.

“The AI software market is picking up speed, but its long-term trajectory will depend on enterprises advancing their AI maturity,” said Alys Woodward, senior research director at Gartner.

The AI software market encompasses applications with AI embedded in them, such as computer vision software, as well as software that is used to build AI systems.

“Successful AI business outcomes will depend on the careful selection of use cases,” said Woodward.

“Use cases that deliver significant business value, yet can be scaled to reduce risk, are critical to demonstrate the impact of AI investment to business stakeholders,” he added.

Demand for AI technologies and associated market growth is closely tied to organisational AI maturity levels.

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Swedish caller identification app Truecaller on Thursday rolled out its latest version 12 with a new Video Caller ID feature addition, call recording for free users, and a redesigned user interface (UI).

A total of five features have been announced as part of the Truecaller Version 12 update.

“Truecaller is a vital part of communication for over 22 crore Indians, for both their professional and personal needs. We are humbled by the level of trust people have shown in us but we are also driven by the goal of transforming communication,” Rishit Jhunjhunwala, Chief Product Officer and Managing Director, Truecaller India said in a statement.

Video Caller ID feature allows users to set a short video that plays automatically when they call friends and family. Users can choose from one of the built-in video templates or record their own video.

Another feature is Call Announce. Once enabled, the new optional feature will speak the caller ID for incoming phone calls out loud. This works for saved contacts as well as for numbers identified by Truecaller on both normal voice calls or Truecaller HD Voice calls.

Truecaller has further made available the Call Recording feature to its free users which will come in handy during professional scenarios for taking notes. One can listen to or delete recordings within Truecaller or by using a file browser. Recordings can also be shared easily using email, Bluetooth or any messaging service.

The update bring Ghost Call, with this Truecaller will let users set any name, number and photo to make it appear as if they are getting a call from that person. Users will also be able to choose a contact from their phonebook for the ghost call.

In addition, the updated Truecaller app also brings a streamlined interface where you will have separate tabs for calls and SMS messages. With separate tabs, one can now get to all of your SMS, Truecaller Group Chats and individual chats with just one tap.

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Swedish music streaming giant Spotify is testing a new feature in its mobile app that basically adds a vertical feed of music videos like TikTok that users can scroll through to find something they like.

Several apps like Instagram and YouTube are replicating the TikTok style with a vertical short video feed.

The feature was spotted in the beta version of Spotify for iOS, which is available on TestFlight. A new icon in the tab bar of the app takes users to a new vertical video experience where they can swipe up or down to watch short video clips, reports 9To5Google.

As per the report, Spotify declined to provide further details about the vertical feed of music videos.However, the company confirmed in a statement that it has been exploring the idea of a vertical video feed.

The feature may be taking advantage of Spotify’s existing Canvas format.

Introduced broadly in 2019, Canvas allows artists to create videos that accompany their music on the Spotify app.

Spotify recently announced that it is collaborating with Netflix to launch a dedicated hub within the OTT platform.

The hub will serve as a one-stop shop for all Netflix-related media, some of which is exclusive to Spotify.

This hub can be accessed from the mobile as well as the web version of the service.

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Shazam, the music recognition platform acquired by Apple for reportedly $400 million in 2018, has been updated to version 15.0, with the app now able to spend more time listening to tougher-to-determine songs.

Available as an update via the App Store, Shazam version 15.0’s update notes explain that the milestone update adds in a change to the way the feature functions. Now, the app can spend more time listening to a particular song, reports AppleInsider.

“Shazam now finds more songs by trying harder, for longer,” advise the notes.

“Tap to Shazam to give it a go!” it added.

Typically, Shazam will recognise a track within a few seconds, but will listen for longer periods if it cannot quite hear or make out the song that’s being played.

After a preset period of time, the app will give up on trying to listen to the song, an act that typically makes users re-attempt recognition, along with moving their iPhone closer to the speaker.

It is highly likely that by increasing the amount of time Shazam can potentially listen to a track, there will be more audio for Shazam’s service to access, giving more chance of turning up a result, the report said.

The app is free to download from the App Store, is compatible with all iPhones and iPads running iOS 13.0 and iPadOS 13.0 or later and weighs in at 34.2MB in size.

In June, the platform surpassed 1 billion Shazams per month worldwide and 50 billion tags since its inception.

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Apple is reportedly planning to partner with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. for the production of its own 5G modems for future iPhones.

According to The Verge, Apple is said to be planning to use TSMC’s 4nm process node, which hasn’t yet been deployed for any commercial product; the modem is apparently being designed and tested at 5nm before moving to mass production in 2023 at 4nm.

Apple’s switch to modems of its own design is widely expected to happen in 2023, and TSMC is the natural manufacturing partner.

Qualcomm, which is the dominant player in the industry and produces modem components for the entire iPhone 13 lineup, recently said that it expects to account for just 20 per cent of iPhone modem orders in two years’ time.

Apple bought Intel’s 5G modem division in 2019, foreshadowing the eventual switch. Earlier that year Qualcomm and Apple agreed to end a costly modem technology patent dispute, with Qualcomm receiving more than USD 4 billion as part of the settlement.

TSMC is the manufacturer of all iPhone A-series processors and M1 systems-on-chip for Mac computers.

As per The Verge, there are hundreds of TSMC engineers based in Cupertino to work with Apple’s chip development team.

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Meta owned instant messaging platform WhatsApp has introduced a new tool for web and desktop users to make their own custom stickers.

One can access the sticker maker from any chat > Attach (paperclip icon) > Sticker and upload a photo to create custom sticker.

A user can outline and crop a photo into a sticker and add emojis or words to it.

“To use Sticker Maker, download the latest version of WhatsApp for Web or Desktop, from a chat window select the attachments icon, then the Sticker icon, and from there, you can upload a photo and make your own magic,” the firm said in a statement.

WhatsApp recently introduced two new safety features ‘Flash Calls’ and ‘Message Level Reporting’ for users in India.

The Flash Calls and Message Level Reporting features will allow people better security and control over their usage of the messaging app.

With Flash Calls new Android users or the ones who change their devices frequently, one can choose to verify their phone numbers via an automated call instead of an SMS.

The Message Level Reporting feature allows users to report a particular message received on WhatsApp. This can be done by simply long pressing a particular message to either report or block a user.

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