Airtel World Pass International Roaming Plans for Prepaid and Postpaid Users Launched

NEW DELHI, Dec 7: Airtel World Pass plans for prepaid and postpaid subscribers were recently launched by the telecom operator. The plan will offer seamless connectivity across 184 countries, and is claimed to cover all the roaming needs of prepaid as well as postpaid users.

The Airtel World Pass plans pricing starts Rs. 649 and offers unlimited data (up to 15GB high speed data), up to 3,000-minute calling (local/India) for both postpaid and prepaid options, with a validity of up to one year.

Airtel World Pass key features

The new Airtel World Pass plans were announced by the telecom operator via a press release. It offers services in 184 countries, with 24x7 call centre support for subscribers. International travellers can call a dedicated number 9910099100, which is also accessible via WhatsApp.

The plan comes with special Packs for long stays/ frequent travellers for up to 1 year validity. Additionally, the subscribers will get access to unlimited data available for emergency usage and messaging applications, according to Airtel.

Vi Offers 850GB Data, Unlimited Calling With Rs. 2,999 Yearly Prepaid Plan

Airtel World Pass prepaid recharge plans

For Airtel prepaid subscribers, there are 4 World pass plans priced at Rs. 649, Rs. 899, Rs. 2,998 and Rs. 2,997 with a validity of 1 day, 10 days, 30 days and 365 days respectively. They offer limited data access and limited calling minutes.

Rental Data Calling (Local/India) Validity (days)
Rs. 649 Unlimited Data (500MB High Speed) 100 min 1
Rs. 2,999 Unlimited Data (5GB High Speed) 100 min/day 10
Rs. 3,999 Unlimited Data (12GB High Speed) 100 min/day 30
Rs. 5,999 Unlimited Data (2GB High Speed) 900 min 90
Rs. 14,999 Unlimited Data (15GB High Speed) 3000 min 365

Airtel World Pass postpaid plans

There are as many as five Airtel World Pass plans for postpaid users priced at 649, 2,999, 3,999, 5,999 and 14,999. All these plans offer unlimited data for a validity period ranging from one day to 365 days. The Rs. 14,999 plan offers unlimited data (15GB of high-speed data) along with 3000 minutes of local/India calling for 365 days whereas Rs. 5,999 plan comes with 900 minute calling for 90 days of validity.

WhatsApp India Head And Meta India Public Policy Chief Resign

NEW DELHI, Nov 15: Two weeks after Meta India head Ajit Mohan resigned to take up another job at rival Snap, Meta's country lead for public policy Rajiv Aggarwal has also quit today, the social media giant confirmed. WhatsApp's India head Abhijit Bose has also resigned, Meta said in a statement.

Rajiv Aggarwal has decided to step down from his role at Meta to pursue another opportunity, the statement said, wishing him the best for future endeavours.

Will Cathcart, Head of WhatsApp, thanked Abhijit Bose for his "tremendous contributions" as the first Head of WhatsApp in India.

"His entrepreneurial drive helped our team deliver new services that have benefited millions of people and businesses. There is so much more WhatsApp can do for India, and we're excited to continue helping advance India's digital transformation," Mr Cathcart said.

The tech giant also announced the appointment of Shivnath Thukral, who was Director of WhatsApp Public Policy in India, as Director of Public Policy for Meta in India across all its platforms.

Mr Bose also announced his resignation on LinkedIn, saying he is "really excited" about his next job. "After a small break, I plan to rejoin the entrepreneurial world," he said, adding that his stepping down had been planned for a while, "but given the events last week" they wanted to hold this back to "focus on supporting those impacted last week".

Facebook's parent company Meta had announced massive layoffs in a blog post on Wednesday. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg had apologised for the same and took "accountability for these decisions and for how we got here."

Over 11,000 Meta employees were laid off in the first major round of lay-offs in the social media giant's history. Meta is the latest of tech giants to announce a downsizing.

Parag Agrawal 'Escorted Out' After Twitter Deal, Musk Tweets 'Bird Freed'

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 28: Elon Musk has taken ownership of Twitter Inc with brutal efficiency, firing top executives but providing little clarity over how he will achieve the ambitions he has outlined for the influential social media platform.

"The bird is freed," he tweeted after he completed his $44 billion acquisition on Thursday, referencing Twitter's bird logo in an apparent nod to his desire to see the company have fewer limits on content that can be posted.

The CEO of electric car maker Tesla Inc and self-described free speech absolutist has, however, also said he wants to prevent the platform from becoming an echo chamber for hate and division.

Other goals include wanting to "defeat" spam bots on Twitter and make the algorithms that determine how content is presented to its users publicly available.

Yet Musk has not offered details on how he will achieve all this and who will run the company. He has said he plans to cut jobs, leaving Twitter's 7,500 employees fretting about their future. He also said on Thursday he did not buy Twitter to make more money but "to try to help humanity, whom I love."

Less that 10% of 266 Twitter employees who participated in a poll on messaging app Blind expected to still have their jobs in three months. Blind allows employees to air grievances anonymously after they sign up with corporate emails.

Musk fired Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde, according to people familiar with the matter. He had accused them of misleading him and Twitter investors over the number of fake accounts on the platform.

Agrawal and Segal were in Twitter's San Francisco headquarters when the deal closed and were escorted out, the sources added.

Musk, who also runs rocket company SpaceX, plans to become Twitter's interim CEO according to a person familiar with the matter and following an earlier report by Reuters. Musk also plans to scrap permanent bans on users, Bloomberg said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Twitter, Musk and the executives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Before closing the deal, Musk walked into Twitter's headquarters on Wednesday with a big grin and a porcelain sink, subsequently tweeting "let that sink in." He changed his Twitter profile description to "Chief Twit."

Musk said in May he would reverse Twitter's ban on Donald Trump, who's account was removed after the attack on the U.S. Capitol. A representative for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the former U.S. president previously said he won't return to the platform and has instead launched his own social media app, Truth Social.

Musk tried to calm Twitter employee fears that major layoffs are coming and assured advertisers that his past criticism of Twitter's content moderation rules would not harm its appeal.

"Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!" Musk said in an open letter to advertisers on Thursday.

As news of the deal spread, some Twitter users were quick to flag their willingness to walk away.

"I will be happy to leave in a heartbeat if Musk, well, acts as we all expect him to," said a user with the @mustlovedogsxo account.

European regulators also reiterated past warnings that, under Musk's leadership, Twitter must still abide by the region's Digital Services Act, which levies hefty fines on companies if they do not control illegal content.

"In Europe, the bird will fly by our EU rules," EU industry chief Thierry Breton tweeted on Friday morning.

European Parliament lawmaker and civil rights proponent Patrick Breyer suggested people look for alternatives where privacy is a priority.

"Twitter already knows our personalities dangerously well due to its pervasive surveillance of our every click. Now this knowledge will be falling into Musk's hands."

Musk has indicated he sees Twitter as a foundation for creating a "super app" that offers everything from money transfers to shopping and ride-hailing.

But Twitter is struggling to engage its most active users who are vital to the business. These "heavy tweeters" account for less than 10% of monthly overall users but generate 90% of all tweets and half of global revenue.

Musk will face a challenge building revenue "given that the controversial opinions he appears to want to give more of a free rein to are often unpalatable to advertisers," said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter.

The deal's road to fruition was full of twists and turns that sowed doubt over whether it would happen at all. It began on April 4, when Musk disclosed a 9.2% Twitter stake, becoming the company's largest shareholder.

The world's richest person then agreed to join Twitter's board, only to balk at the last minute and offer to buy the company instead for $54.20 per share.

Over the course of just one weekend later in April, the two sides reached a deal without Musk carrying out any due diligence on the company's confidential information.

In the weeks that followed, Musk had second thoughts. He complained publicly about Twitter's spam accounts and his lawyers then accused Twitter of not complying with his requests for information on the subject.

The acrimony resulted in Musk telling Twitter on July 8 he was terminating the deal. Four days later, Twitter sued Musk to force him to complete the acquisition.

By then, the stock market had plunged on concerns about a potential recession. Twitter accused Musk of buyer's remorse, arguing he wanted out of the deal because he thought he overpaid. Most legal analysts thought Twitter would likely prevail in court.

On Oct. 4, Musk performed another U-turn, offering to complete the deal as promised. He managed to do that, just one day ahead of a deadline to avoid going to trial.

Twitter shares ended trade on Thursday up 0.3% at $53.86, just under the agreed price. The stock will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.

Hope Twitter Will Now Act Against Hate Speech: Rahul Gandhi On Takeover By Elon Musk

NEW DELHI, Oct 28: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi today hoped that Twitter would now act against hate speech, check facts more robustly and not stifle the voice of the opposition in India, soon after billionaire Elon Musk took over the social media giant and fired four of its top executives.

Gandhi's Twitter handle was temporarily locked after he shared a picture of a rape victim and received a notice from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). He had not used his account on the microblogging website for some time after that. The Congress leader has been using his Twitter handle to attack the Narendra Modi government often.

"Congrats @elonmusk. I hope @Twitter will now act against hate speech, fact check more robustly, and will no longer stifle the opposition's voice in India due to government pressure," Gandhi tweeted.

It highlighted how, between August 2021 and February 2022, the new followers of the Congress leader were suppressed. Gandhi claimed that he had made 20 appeals to Twitter, even as the social media giant denied any wrongdoing.

The graph also shows from January 2021, Gandhi's Twitter account saw the number of new followers growing and after February 2022, it started growing again.

Apple iPhone 14 has powerful cameras, satellite connectivity for SOS

CUPERTINO, Sept 7: The long wait for Apple iPhone 14 finally ended on Wednesday, with the tech giant's CEO Tim Cook announcing the launch of the latest version of its flagship smartphone series at Cupertino in California.

The technology giant unveiled three new models, the iPhone 14 iPhone 14 Plus and iPhone 14 Pro. The new phones include larger screens and a new version of the last year's chips.

The iPhone 14 Plus model will have a larger screen like Apple's iPhone Pro models but the same A15 processor chip as the previous iPhone 13.

iPhone 14 models gets satellite connectivity for emergency use. This iPhone can connect you to the help even in the absence of mobile network.

Satellite connectivity is included free for 2 years with iPhone 14 but it will not be currently available for Indian users and limited to U.S. and Canada markets

iPhone 14 is priced at $799 (₹63,639) while iPhone 14 Plus is priced at $899 (₹71,604). On the other hand, the iPhone 14 Pro starts at $999, with the Pro Max model costing $1,099.

The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus can be pre-ordered on September 7 and the dates of delivery are for iPhone 14 September 16 and October 7 for iPhone 14 Plus.

The other features include a new Action mode for video that helps stabilise action shots. The device has now embraced the eSIM standard which offers crash detection.

The bulk of the iPhone upgrades have been included in the Pro line. These smartphones include a 48-megapixel camera and a screen capable of always remaining in low-power mode just like the recent versions of the Apple Watch. The new phone will show the widgets with information like weather, calendar appointments and stock tickers.

The Pro devices also get the speedier new A16 processor, while the standard line runs a modestly souped-up version of the current A15. Apple describes the A16 as the fastest chip in a smartphone, 40% faster than the competition.

“We’re constantly challenging ourselves to raise the bar and make it better,” Bloomberg quoted Cook as saying during the event.

The iPhone is Apple's most important and highly successful product so far, and generates 50 per cent of the company's sales on its own.

Spatial audio, 2x more active noise cancellation: Apple launches AirPods Pro 2

CUPERTINO, Sept 7: Apple Inc late Wednesday launched the company's new model of wireless Bluetooth earphones- the AirPods Pro 2 during the annual event 'Far Out' in California's Cupertino. The new airpods have been priced at $299 (₹23,829) and will be available from September 23.

The AirPods Pro 2 comes with 2x more active noise cancellation, personalised spatial audio, 6 hours of listening time on a single charge, touch control, an in-case speaker, adaptive transparency and many other features.

The new wireless earphones also include an updated carrying case with speaker holes that can make a noise to help customers find the device.

The Indian price of the AirPods Pro 2 is yet to be revealed.

AirPods were first announced by Apple Inc back in September 2016 alongside the iPhone 7. In two years, they became the technological giant's most popular accessory.

AirPods are an increasingly critical part of Apple’s Wearables, Home and Accessories category, which brought in about $8 billion in revenue last quarter, according to a report by news agency Bloomberg.

Swimproof, crackproof Apple Watch 8 launched

CUPERTINO, Sept 7: Technology giant Apple on Wednesday launched its latest smartwatch series, what it calls it a product to make women's health better.

The Apple Watch 8 has been equipped with high end features including a new temperature sensor. The company says that similar to all Health data on Apple Watch, all cycle data is encrypted and stored only on your device, it’s not uploaded to Apple’s servers in any way.

Apple watch can contact emergency services automatically at time of car crash with its motion sensors.

The colour options available with the Apple watch 8 series are:

Four Aluminium colours: Midnight, Starlight, Silver, and Product Red.

Stainless steel: Silver, Gold and Graphite.

It can be pre booked starting from today and will be available by September 16 and is priced at $399 for GPS, $499 for cellular.

Along with this, Cupertino giant also announced fresh Apple Watch SE. It is priced at $249 whose orders start today and will be delivered by launches September 1.

It will come in silver, midnight, and starlight. It has the same chip as the SE, but it’s 20% faster than before. The back case is composed from nylon composite materials. It covers fall detection, crash detection, and other SE features.

The biggest revelation in the watch segment is Apple Watch Ultra specially designed for athletes. It comes in 49mm case and has the biggest battery ever came in any Apple Watch with upto 36 hours of battery on a single charge. The 60 hours version with a battery optimization setting will come later this fall.

It is composed of aerospace grade titanium, sapphire front crystal.

It has action button in orange, customizable which offers quick physical control. It flaunts larger digital control with protruding side button.

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