Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a new mantra for the Indian IT industry:Design in India‘Design for the World’ slogan during India’s 78th Independence Day celebrations this week. Modi highlighted the country’s growing prowess in design and urged Indian IT professionals to emulate global standards. Apple has achieved a major milestone in India, with its business operations estimated to exceed 2 lakh crore (US$23.5 billion) for the financial year 2024, representing a significant increase due to the increased iPhone production and domestic sales.In the hardware sector Google reveals several Pixel devicesincluding a second-generation foldable phone with several new AI features. All that and more in this week’s TOI-Gadgets Now weekly tech wrap.

‘Design in India, design for the world’: What Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘new slogan’ means for the tech industry on Independence Day

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a special ‘Make in India’ offer for the Indian IT industry today on Independence Day. Addressing the nation from the Red Fort on India’s 78th Independence Day, he said: Prime Minister Modi coined a new slogan: “Design in India, Design for the World.” Prime Minister Modi praised the indigenous design capabilities of the Indian technology industry and urged Indian IT professionals to develop products that serve both the domestic and international markets.
Speaking at the 78th Independence Day celebrations, he said, “India is known for its best quality. Now we have to focus on design and try to make Indian standard the global standard.”
“We have talent… in the field of design, we can make a huge contribution to the world. We need to move forward with the vision of ‘Design in India, Design for the World’,” he added. Click here to read more

Apple’s India business exceeds Rs 2 billion, driven by growth in iPhone production

According to a report by the Economic Times, Apple’s operations in India reached a value of over Rs 2 trillion ($23.5 billion) in fiscal 2024, a significant increase from Rs 1.15 trillion in the previous year. The growth is due to increased iPhone production and domestic sales of MacBooks, iMacs, iPads, watches and AirPods.
The report quoted a senior official as saying that Apple has “probably recorded the fastest growth in manufacturing and exports of any company in India over the past 50 years, making the Cupertino-based tech giant the largest global value chain (GVC) in the country.” Read the full story here

Everything announced at Google’s Made by Google hardware showcase: Three new Pixel 9 phones, a new Pixel Fold, two Pixel Watches and more

Despite being two months ahead of its usual schedule, Google hit the jackpot with its hardware unveiling. From the starring Gemini to a ton of new hardware, Google pulled out all the stops at its “Made by Google” presentation. We saw not one, not two, but four new Pixel phones, including a second-generation foldable phone with a weird name. And did I mention AI? It’s everywhere, folks. Click here to read more

Realme introduces 320W SuperSonic Charge and promises to charge smartphones in 4 minutes and 30 seconds

Realme has unveiled its 320W SuperSonic Charge technology at the company’s 828 Fan Festival in China. The company claims that 320W is by far the fastest charging technology in the world.
The Chinese smartphone is said to be able to fully charge in just 4 minutes and 30 seconds using the 320W fast charging technology. “In just one minute, the 320W charger can charge a device to 26% of its capacity, and it takes less than two minutes to charge a phone to over 50%,” the company claims.
In addition to the world’s first fast charging technology, Realme also unveiled a 4,420mAh folded battery. Each cell is less than 3mm thick but offers 10% higher capacity than conventional designs. This is the world’s first quad-cell smartphone battery. Read the full story here

Lenovo launches Legion Tab gaming tablet with Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 in India

Lenovo has launched its latest gaming tablet, the Lenovo Legion Tab, in India. The Legion Tab will be available from August 15 on Lenovo.com and Flipkart at a price of Rs 39,999.
The Legion Tab features an 8.8-inch QHD+ Lenovo PureSight gaming display with a 144Hz refresh rate and 500 nits brightness. The tablet weighs 350 grams and is 7.6 mm thick.
The Legion Tab is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 4nm processor, 12GB of LPDDR5X memory, and 256GB of onboard storage (expandable up to 1TB). The tablet uses the Legion ColdFront vapor cooling solution for efficient cooling and offers three performance modes: Beast, Balanced, and Energy Saving.
The tablet is powered by a 6550mAh battery with 45W fast charging support and features a USB Type-C port with DisplayPort 1.4 compatibility. Click here to read more

Noise Buds N1 Pro with 60 hours battery life launched in India: Price, specifications and more

Domestic wearable brand Noise has expanded its product portfolio with the launch of Noise Buds N1 Pro TWS earbuds. These new earbuds are the successors to Noise Buds N1, which were one of the company’s best-selling products. Noise Buds N1 Pro features advanced active noise cancellation (ANC), filters out background noise, and has a chrome and metallic finish.
The Noise Buds N1 Pro are available in four colours Chrome Black, Chrome Green, Chrome Purple and Chrome Beige and are priced at an introductory price of Rs 1,499. Noise Buds N1 Pro are available exclusively on Amazon until the end of the month and will also be available on gonoise.com in the next few days. Read the full story here.

Over 20,000 job cuts at Dell: Employee describes layoffs as “a kind of garbage can fire”

Earlier this month, Dell announced restructuring measures focused on the integration of artificial intelligence (AI). Starting this week, jobs will be cut in various departments, which some employees believe could trigger the largest wave of layoffs in the company’s history.
“Through a reorganization of our go-to-market teams and a number of ongoing actions, we are becoming a leaner company,” a Dell spokesperson told Business Insider. The layoffs are expected to last throughout the quarter and affect multiple departments within the company. Click here to read more

Cisco lays off 6,000 employees, CEO says: “We are now returning…”

Networking giant Cisco Systems recently announced plans to lay off about 7% of its global workforce as the company shifts its focus to high-growth areas such as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. This is Cisco’s second major round of layoffs in 2024.
Cisco did not disclose the exact number of jobs to be cut, but the 7 percent job cuts could potentially affect around 6,000 employees, based on the reported workforce of 84,900 employees in July 2023. The company had already laid off 4,000 employees in February.
The layoffs come after Cisco reported a 10% year-over-year decline in quarterly revenue to $13.64 billion, but that still beat market expectations of $13.54 billion. Read the full story here

Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone to TRAI: It’s time to regulate Google, WhatsApp, Telegram and others

Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to issue new rules for messaging apps like WhatsApp, Google’s RCS and Telegram. According to a report in Economic Times, they have asked TRAI to issue licenses or approvals for these over-the-top (OTT) communication apps as they offer similar services to the mobile operators. OTT players are apps and services that work over the internet. Click here for more details

Ola Cabs has been renamed Ola Consumer and now includes Ola Credit, Ola Pay and more

Ola Group has rebranded its ride-hailing platform Ola Cabs as Ola Consumer. Under the new brand, the company will offer services such as fully automated warehousing solutions, Ola Credit, Ola Pay, electric logistics and more.
With Ola Consumer, the company aims to launch AI Shopping Co-Pilot – an AI-powered conversational tool that will provide a personalized and interactive shopping experience. It will help users seamlessly connect with social media and other apps, creating a unified and integrated shopping experience across all platforms.
Ola Consumer is also bringing 100% electric logistics. In a press release, the company said that “this will be the future of work, a multi-work platform and choice of jobs for gig workers, resulting in lower costs, with plans to increase the number of jobs by 2.5 lakh additional jobs by March 2025 using this platform.” Click here to read more

World’s largest crypto exchange leases Indian market after paying Rs 18.82 crore penalty

The world’s largest crypto exchange Binance is ready to re-enter the Indian market. In a press release, the company announced that it has registered as a reporting agent with India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), complying with the country’s “highest regulatory standards.”
“Registration with the FIU underscores Binance’s commitment to complying with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) standards in India as well as in all other countries where the company operates. This step is a testament to Binance’s commitment to fostering a secure, transparent and efficient ecosystem that meets the company’s global standards,” the company said in a press release. Read the full story here

Swiggy UPI comes as an app: How to set it up as a payment method, a step-by-step guide

Swiggy UPI is now integrated into the Swiggy app and users ordering food can use this method to pay quickly without having to rely on third-party apps, the company said, adding that this move simplifies and speeds up the user experience. Last year, Zomato introduced a similar service.
This means that users can now complete UPI transactions without leaving the Swiggy app. The app is powered by Juspay’s HyperUPI plugin.
The online food delivery platform said that by integrating National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) digital payment solution, the transaction time for payments will be reduced from over 15 seconds to 5 seconds. Click here to read more