Airtel goes for high data benefits on Rs 558 plan

NEW DELHI, Oct 22: Airtel has taken a lead and is offering data benefit for a longer validity than Jio. Airtel is leaving no stone unturned to keep its user base intact. The company understands that data is the ultimate key to customer loyalty which is why it has been focussing a lot on data-centric plans lately. The company in June launched a Rs 558 prepaid plan which not many users know about. Data lovers can go for this plan as it offers 3GB daily data with a validity period of 82 days which is a lot.

Benefits of Airtel Rs 558 prepaid plan: Airtel offers unlimited voice calling without any FUP limit, 100 SMS per day, and 3GB daily data with Rs 558 recharge plan. The plan ships with 82 days validity which takes the total data benefit to 246GB. There is an extra data benefit for users who recharge their number via My Airtel app. They will get 3.4GB data a day instead of 3GB. To recall, Airtel had a similar prepaid plan of Rs 549 which was removed after the new Rs 558 plan was launched. The Rs 549 offered similar benefits but for only 28 days.

Airtel's Rs 558 plan also competes with Jio's Rs 509 plan. Jio offers 4GB daily data, unlimited voice calls to Jio network and 100 SMSes per day for just 28 days. Calls to networks other than Jio will be charged separately. Airtel takes a lead here as it offers data benefit for a longer validity than Jio.

Airtel last month also launched Rs 599 premium plan that comes with data and calling benefits. Along with these, there is also a life insurance cover worth Rs 4 lakhs. The plan comes with a validity of 84 days. The telecom company has joined hands with as tied up with Bharti AXA Life for the insurance benefit. The insurance claim with this plan offers a cover of Rs 4 lakhs. To avail the insurance coverage, user simply has to enroll through an SMS or Airtel app after the plan is active. The insurance will be available to all customers aged from 18 to 54 years. There is no paperwork or medical examination required and the certificate of insurance will be delivered instantly. Airtel is the only telecom company until now that has come up with this insurance cover freebie.

Vodafone Rs 399 postpaid plan offers big data benefit to new customers: Report

NEW DELHI, Oct 14: Vodafone is reportedly offering 150 GB additional data to new Rs 399 postpaid Red customers. The validity of the offer is six months.

Vodafone currently offers six Red postpaid plans with Rs 399 one being the cheapest. Under this plan, Vodafone Red customers get 40GB monthly data along with 200 GB data as rollover. The 150 GB data scheme is in addition to the existing offer on the Rs 399 plan. Vodafone customer support confirmed that the 150 GB additional data is available to new users.

Vodafone is also bundling benefits worth Rs 2,497 with the Rs 399 plan. Users get Vodafone Play subscription for 1 year worth Rs 499, complimentary mobile insurance worth Rs 999, and Zee5 subscription worth Rs 999. All Vodafone Red plans come with unlimited local and STD calling, and national roaming. The plans are also bundled with 100 local and STD SMSes.

Airtel’s Rs 499 postpaid plan offers 75GB of mobile data, unlimited local/STD and roaming calls, Netflix subscription for three months, and Amazon Prime one year subscription. Airtel customers also get Airtel Xstream and Zee5 access.

Reliance Jio is offering a Rs 199 postpaid plan under which it gives 25 GB of monthly data, unlimited SMSes (100 per day), complimentary subscription to Jio’s premium apps, and free voice calls.

Isro now has just a week to establish contact with moon lander Vikram

BENGALURU, Sept 13: Hopes to salvage the lander-rover, part of India’s Chandrayaan-2 mission, are fading with the window of opportunity to restore link with ‘Vikram’ closing in about a week’s time.

Lander Vikram, with rover Pragyan housed inside it, lost communication with ground-station early on September seven during its final descent, just 2.1 kms above the lunar surface, minutes before the planned touch-down on the Moon.

Efforts to reestablish the link has been going on since then.

On September 8, Isro said the lander was spotted on the lunar surface by camera on-board of the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter. Vikram had a hard-landing.

The lander, designed to execute a soft-landing on the lunar surface, and rover have a msion life of one Lunar day, which equivalent to 14 earth days -- that means Isro now has just over a week to spring Vikram back to life

“Progressively, you can imagine that it becomes that much more difficult, with each passing hour, the available power on the battery gets drained out, and there won’t be anything left for it to power and operate”, said an Isro official.

“With every passing minute, the situation becomes worse only...less and less probable (to establish contact with Vikram)”, he said.

“It looks more and more remote only”, the official said when asked if there was a slender chance of re-establishing the link.

A team at Isro Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network here has been desperately trying to restore the link with the lander.

“With the right orientation, it can still generate power and recharge batteries with solar panels. But it looks less and less probable, progressively,” the official said.

Another top Isro official said “hard-landing” of Vikram on the Lunar surface has made the task of linking again with it that much difficult as it may not have the “right orientation (to receive signals)”.

“Impact shock may have caused damage to the lander,” he claimed.

Isro has not commented on the condition of the 1,471-kg lander of Chandrayaan-2 -- first Indian mission to explore the lunar terrain with home-grown technology -- and named after Dr Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian space programme.

Chandrayaan-2’s 27-kg rover Pragyan, which translates to ‘wisdom’ in Sanskrit, a six-wheeled robotic vehicle.

The lander carried three scientific payloads to conduct surface and subsurface science experiments, while the rover carried two payloads to enhance our understanding of the lunar surface, according to Isro.

Apple iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max launched

CUPERTINO, Sept 10: The Cupertino-headquartered firm today unveiled new smartphones -- iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max -- at its Special Event here in California.

The three smartphones, upgrades over the last year’s iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max, will ship with the iOS 13, the latest mobile operating system from Apple, faster and more capable processor and perhaps more importantly, much-improved camera capabilities.

Apple iPhone 11 price starts at $699 (Rs 50,244). Apple iPhone 11 Pro starts at $999 while iPhone 11 Pro Max starts at $1,099. Apple iPhone XR price has been reduced to $599 (for the base model).

Apple’s latest lineup retains most of the look and feel but come with some glaring changes. The square camera module on the back panel on the iPhone 11 Pro model is a major design change in the iPhone’s evolution. The module is there to accommodate an additional camera sensor. It needs to be pointed out, however, that many Android smartphone vendors have offered three or more cameras and managed to cram them up in a slimmer vertical stack. Interestingly enough, Google Pixel 4, the upcoming Android smartphone from Google, is also confirmed to have the controversial camera module on the back.

Other than the camera module, Apple’s iPhone 11 series has refined front and overall form factor.

Apple iPhone 11 comes with a 6.1-inch LCD display. The smartphone runs on iOS 13 and is powered by an upgraded A13 Bionic processor. It also has spatial audio and Dolby Atmos support. The iPhone XR successor offers dual 12-megapixel rear cameras, upgrade over single rear sensor on the older model. The secondary sensor is an ultra-wide angle. The camera also comes with a dedicated Night Mode. The camera is also capable of shooting 4K videos. Apple claims iPhone 11 has higher battery life than the iPhone XR. The smartphone also comes with Wi-Fi 6 standard and enhanced FaceID. Apple iPhone 11 price starts at $699 (Rs 50,244).

Apple iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max also run on iOS 13 and are powered by the latest A13 Bionic processor. Apple iPhone 11 Pro comes with a 5.8-inch OLED display whereas the iPhone 11 Pro Max features a 6.5-inch OLED display. Both the smartphones offer Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.The two smartphones also come with triple rear cameras. The third sensor is a 12-megapixel wide-angel sensor. The setup also includes 12-megapixel telephoto sensor and 12-megapixel ultra-wide angel sensor.

Apple iPhone 11 Pro is said to deliver four hours longer battery life than iPhone XS whereas iPhone 11 Pro Max is claimed to deliver five hours longer battery life than iPhone XS Max. Apple is bundling an 18W fast charger in the box.

Conspicuously missing from the current the features set of new iPhone is 5G. A handful of smartphones in recent quarters have launched with support for 5G, but Apple is known to not jump the gun on futuristic technologies that are not ready. You see, first of all, most telecom operators are currently not offering 5G, rendering support of such technology on your phone useless. But also, supporting 5G would have meant a significant dent on the battery life of iPhones. And it is clear that Apple believes that time is not right for 5G yet.

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