Walmart-owned online fashion retailer Myntra, has announced the appointment of Nandita Sinha as Chief Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2020. Nandita will join Myntra from group company Flipkart, where, as vice president, Customer Growth and Marketing, she is currently leading the overall charter for marketing.

As a seasoned leader in the consumer internet space, Sinha has deep expertise in leading businesses, and driving tech-pivoted growth and innovation. During her nearly 8 year tenure at Flipkart, she has worked across multiple roles and categories, including beauty & personal care, books and general merchandise, home and furniture and has built a strong organisation, grooming several future leaders with her exemplary people skills.

She joined Flipkart in August 2013 after stints in Hindustan Unilever Ltd and Britannia Industries Ltd. Before joining Flipkart, she was the co-founder at MyBabyCart.com, an e-commerce site, where she was responsible for driving revenue and customer growth. Nandita brings together a unique combination of deep customer and category understanding, strong business acumen, technology thinking and people leadership. Like her predecessor, Amar Nagaram, who led Myntra as the CEO for nearly three years, in her new role, Sinha will be reporting to the Flipkart Group CEO, Kalyan Krishnamurthy.”

“Myntra is integral to the group as an organisation that leads the charter on fashion, beauty and lifestyle, solving the dynamic needs of the modern fashion-conscious consumer,” said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart Group. “As the forerunner of several innovations and unique consumer experiences, our aspirations continue to grow for Myntra as a separate company. I am certain that with her strong background in driving businesses and an acute focus on customer-centricity, Nandita (Sinha) will be instrumental in defining the next phase of Myntra’s evolution as its CEO.”

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Gaming smartphones have usually been on the higher side price-wise, but things are changing now.

It’s not too long ago that iQOO came up with Z3, its mid-range gaming smartphone for those who wanted powerful performance without spending too much on a phone.

Priced competitively at Rs 23,990, iQOO Z5 is neither too expensive nor too cheap for a gaming smartphone.

That said, one of the key highlights of this phone is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 778G processor, which makes the deal a bit lucrative.

The question is, can iQOO Z5 live up to the expectation of those looking for a smooth gaming experience? Let’s find out in this review.

iQOO Z5: Build quality and design

Looks can be deceptive, and in iQOO Z5’s they are. No doubt the phone looks pretty and premium, but iQOO has cut corners in quality. It doesn’t feel sturdy at all when you hold the device.

Though slippery, the finish on the rear panel keeps

smudges and fingerprints at bay. At 193 gm, it is not lightweight but doesn’t feel heavy either.

It is available in Mystic Space and Arctic Dawn.

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China’s biggest online shopping day, known as Singles’ Day on Nov. 11, is taking on a muted tone this year as regulators crack down on the technology industry and President Xi Jinping pushes for common prosperity.

The Singles’ Day shopping festival also known as Double 11 is a massive event for China’s e-commerce companies. Last year, consumers spent $74 billion on Alibaba’s online shopping platforms over the 11 days of the festival. Smaller rival JD.com reported $40 billion in sales during a similar time frame.

Alibaba China’s largest e-commerce firm usually holds a massive gala the night before Nov. 11.

Past galas have featured superstars such as Katy Perry and Taylor Swift and even acrobatic acts by the Cirque du Soleil.

A glitzy live counter starts ticking at midnight to tally in real time how much consumers have spent on Alibaba platforms like Taobao and Tmall. The festival is viewed as a barometer of consumption in the world’s most populous country.

This year, Alibaba has toned down the hype. The Singles’ Day online gala Thursday will be live-streamed due to COVID-19 outbreaks in parts of China. Alibaba says it is focusing on sustainability, supporting charities and inclusivity themes that align with Beijing’s climate goals and Xi’s calls for common prosperity that aims to curb inequality and excessive consumption.

This year’s muted festivities are a perfect storm of economic, competitive and regulatory pressures, said Michael Norris, research strategy manager at Shanghai-based consultancy AgencyChina.

In terms of regulation, e-commerce platforms are coming to grips with how to align consumption extravaganzas with common prosperity’ themes, he said.

Earlier this year, e-commerce platform Pinduoduo pledged to give $1.5 billion in profits to farmers to boost their incomes, while Alibaba has committed $15.5 billion to subsidies for small and medium-sized enterprises and supporting workers in the gig economy, such as delivery drivers, according to local news outlet Zhejiang News.

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South Korean tech giant Samsung has announced a new memory technology in the form of Low Power Double Data Rate 5X or LPDDR5X DRAM designed to drive further growth throughout the high-speed data service applications including 5G, artificial intelligence (AI) and the metaverse.

The LPDDR5X is a next-generation mobile DRAM designed to boost speed, capacity and power savings for future 5G applications. In 2018, Samsung delivered the industry’s first 8Gb LPDDR5 DRAM and now, the company is moving beyond mobile markets with the first 16Gb LPDDR5X DRAM.

“Our LPDDR5X will broaden the use of high-performance, low-power memory beyond smartphones and bring new capabilities to AI-based edge applications like servers and even automobiles,” SangJoon Hwang, Senior Vice President and Head of the DRAM Design Team at Samsung Electronics said in a statement.

It will offer data processing speeds of up to 8.5 gigabits per second (Gbps), which are over 1.3 times faster than LPDDR5’s 6.4Gbps.

Leveraging the industry’s most advanced 14nm DRAM process technology, it will also use around 20 per cent less power than LPDDR5 memory.

In addition, the 16Gb LPDDR5X chip will enable up to 64 gigabytes (GB) per memory package, accommodating increasing demand for higher-capacity mobile DRAM worldwide.

Later this year, Samsung will begin collaborating with global chipset manufacturers to establish a more viable framework for the expanding world of digital reality, with its LPDDR5X serving as a key part of that foundation.

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An upcoming Apple iOS update will allow parents to protect their children and help them learn to navigate online communication in Messages.

The second developer beta of iOS 15 (iOS 15.2) includes support for its new communication safety feature in Messages.

With this update, Apple Messages will be able to use on-device machine learning to analyse image attachments and determine if a photo being shared is sexually explicit, reports TechCrunch.

This technology does not require Apple to access or read the child’s private communications, as all the processing happens on the device.

“It’s a Family Sharing feature for parents to opt in,” the report noted.

If a sensitive photo is discovered in a message thread, the image will be blocked and a label will appear below the photo that states, “this may be sensitive” with a link to click to view the photo.

If a child chooses to view the photo, another screen will appear with more information about sensitive photos and videos.

The new Messages tool comes in the backdrop of child safety features that Apple has delayed following negative feedback.

The planned features included scanning users’ iCloud Photos libraries for Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), Communication Safety to warn children and their parents when receiving or sending sexually explicit photos and expanded CSAM guidance in Siri and Search.

Apple confirmed that feedback from customers, non-profit and advocacy groups, researchers and others about the plans have prompted the delay to give the company time to make improvements.

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Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus is gearing up to launch in India the Nord 2 5G Pac-Man Edition. Ahead of the launch, however, the smartphone’s India pricing has been revealed by Amazon on its product listing page. The OnePlus limited edition smartphone will be available at a premium of Rs 3,000 (Rs 37,999) over the standard model (Rs 34,999) of similar specifications.

Speaking of specifications, OnePlus has not confirmed the exact details about the Nord 2 5G Pac-Man Edition but this limited edition smartphone is expected to have the processor, storage and RAM configuration, display, and other specifications same as the top-tier model of the standard edition. The limited edition smartphone would, however, come with Pac-Man inspired skin. Besides, the phone is likely to boot a customised version of OnePlus OxygenOS with Pac-Man inspired themes, wallpapers, animations, and app icons. Additionally, the OnePlus Nord 2 5G Pac-Man Edition would come with the Pac-Man 256 pre-installed that would help user unlock several other Pac-Man related content by completing the in-game challenges – according to a news report in Android Central.

In retrospective, the OnePlus Nord 2 5G was launched in June this year.

This midrange premium smartphone from OnePlus boasts a 6.43-inch fullHD+ AMOLED screen of 90Hz refresh rate. Powered by MediaTek Dimensity 1200-AI system-on-chip, the Nord 2 5G comes in 6GB+128GB, 8GB+128GB and 12GB+256GB RAM and on-board storage configurations. The Pac-Man Edition is expected to come only in 12GB RAM and 256GB on-board storage configuration.

ALSO READ: OnePlus Nord 2 5G review: A motley mix, but a step in the right direction

Coming back to the standard Nord 2 5G, the smartphone is powered by 4,500 mAh battery. It ships with OnePlus Warp Charge 65 fast charger. Imaging is covered by a triple camera array on the back, featuring a 50-megapixel primary sensor with optical image stabilization (OIS), 8MP ultra-wide sensor, and a 2MP mono sensor. On the front, the phone sports a 32MP sensor.

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Akshay Kumar and Ranveer Singh’s Sooryavanshi has become the first big-budget Bollywood film to be released on the big screen since the coronavirus outbreak. Directed by Rohit Shetty, this action-drama was originally scheduled to arrive in cinema halls in March 2020. But it finally released on November 5th, a day after Diwali, after a delay of 19 months.The long wait, however, paid off for the makers of Sooryavanshi, as the movie released to a resounding response. It grossed Rs 50 crore in the two days of the Diwali weekend and is projected to garner Rs 125 crore in the first seven days. That will be enough for the producers to break even. The movie has also become the biggest opening for Akshay Kumar.The film has already recovered part of the cost by selling digital rights to Netflix and broadcasting rights to Zee Entertainment, apart from its music rights. According to industry estimates, these three rights have been sold for roughly Rs 200 crore.Meanwhile, Tamil superstar Rajinikanth’s Diwali release Annaathe is also breaking records.The film opened to negative reviews from critics but that has not stopped audiences from flocking to theatres to watch the superstar back in action. The film, which features a huge star cast, has collected Rs 50 crore in the first two days and is estimated to have already crossed Rs 100 crore in total earnings.The release of Hollywood film Eternals, the latest instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is adding variety to India’s big releases after Diwali.

The film experienced a strong weekend collection of about Rs 18 crore in India.But can this festival momentum sustain? Theatres are optimistic about more big releases, hoping they would put an end to their troubles. But some producers are still opting for direct OTT releases, leaving theatre owners displeased. In one such example, all five upcoming releases of Malayalam superstar Mohanlal are releasing on streaming platforms.

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Local language social pla­t­­form ShareChat is be­t­ting big on cricket as a sub-category, beginn­ing with the IPL and the Int­e­r­national Cricket Coun­cil Twenty20 World Cup season.

This will be aided by audio chatroom sessions with well-known players like Virender Sehwag, Ravichandran Ash­win, Gautam Gambhir, Shik­har Dhawan, Ajit Agarkar and Akash Chopra.

Shashank Shekhar, senior director for cont­ent strategy and operations, ShareChat and Moj, said interest in aud­io chatrooms was built through existing cricket-loving communities on ShareChat. “We saw use­rs creating chatrooms around the games during IPL, and they were discussing matches almost on a live basis. There was commentary on what is going right, what is going wrong, and it’s more like watching that match together. They were also analysing the match afterwards. So, this was something that started happening organically,” he said.

The recent CricChat sessions with Virender Sehwag, Shikhar Dha­wan, and Gautam Gam­bhir have witnessed an engagement of over 600,000 users together.

ShareChat built and helped its creators monetise a live audio product called Chat­rooms, which was launched in April 2020. It claimed to have over 1 billion minutes of streaming on the platform monthly, as of June.

Shekhar said the platform plans to encourage sports as a category, with cricket, in particular, driving conversations. Among categories popular among chatrooms are people celebrating birthdays together at midnight, running talent shows, and celebrities. These are also driving strong interest on the platform.

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Even as India’s leading fintech player Paytm’s IPO is off to a slow start, one of its largest investors, Japan’s Softbank, believes that the company can grow its value going forward.

Softbank chief Masayoshi Son when asked by an analyst, post its Q2 results, if Paytm’s valuation of $20 billion was lower than the firm’s expectation, said, “Valuation-wise, of course, it depends on market condition and investors’ appetite. And I believe that they can grow their value going forward.”

While Paytm is seeking a valuation of around $20 billion, it is much lower than the rumoured expectation of $25-30 billion.

Son added that the Paytm IPO should be a great event for Softbank. “I believe Paytm should grow significantly. I believe that valuation should be bigger than the cost that we spend when we make an investment. So for us, the IPO should be a great event.”

Son also said that monetisation, by either the IPO route or exit through its Vision Fund 2, has almost doubled. In the first six months of this year the company has seen 18 such events.

In India too, Softbank has seen several of its investments such as Policybazaar, Paytm, Delhivery and others, taking the IPO route.

“Not only Paytm, there are other businesses too from which we have high-expectations. So for the year-end and early next year, I’m looking forward to those possibilities. The number of IPOs has been growing. And some make a big hit,” he told analysts.

SoftBank reported a $3.5 billion (397 billion yen) loss for the July-September quarter, a harsh turn from a 628 billion yen profit a year ago in the same period, led by falling valuations in its technology portfolio.

When asked about the recent crackdown by the Chinese government on certain sectors in China, Son said that he is concerned about what’s happening in China, but then Softbank is investing in companies that are into AI. “AI revolution, AI technology related companies are coming up in China. And I hope that and I believe that those companies will grow. In that sense, we will continue to invest in those potential AI related companies in China. I hope that they’re going to grow even further in China.”

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Four astronauts in orbit since spring are headed back to Earth, aiming for a splashdown off the Florida coast.

The undocking of their SpaceX capsule from the International Space Station also paved the way for a launch of their four replacements as early as Wednesday night.

The newcomers were scheduled to launch first, but NASA switched the order because of bad weather and an astronaut’s undisclosed medical condition. The welcoming duties will now fall to the lone American and two Russians left behind at the space station.

NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Japan’s Akihiko Hoshide and France’s Thomas Pesquet should have been back Monday morning, but high wind in the recovery zone delayed their homecoming. Their late night splashdown was planned for the Gulf of Mexico off Pensacola.

“One more night with this magical view. Who could complain? I’ll miss our spaceship!” Pesquet tweeted alongside a brief video showing the space station illuminated against the blackness of space and the twinkling city lights on the nighttime side of Earth.

From the space station, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei — midway through a one-year flight — bid farewell to each of his departing friends, telling McArthur “I’ll miss hearing your laughter in adjacent modules.”

Before leaving the neighbourhood, the four took a spin around the space station to take pictures. This was the first time SpaceX attempted a flyaround like this; NASA’s shuttles used to do it all the time before their retirement a decade ago.

It wasn’t the most comfortable ride back. The toilet in their capsule was broken, and so the astronauts needed to rely on diapers for the eight-hour trip home. They shrugged it off late last week as just one more challenge in their mission.

The first issue arose shortly after their April liftoff; Mission Control warned a piece of space junk was threatening to collide with their capsule. It turned out to be a false alarm. Then in July, thrusters on a newly arrived Russian lab inadvertently fired and sent the station into a spin. The four astronauts took shelter in their docked SpaceX capsule, ready to make a hasty departure if necessary.

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