Author: News Desk

New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) Consumer spending in India is soaring during the festive season, with people splurging on cars, smartphones, TVs and other items, boosting the country’s economic growth, media reports said.According to the reports, sales at e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart surged by almost a fifth in the first week of the festive season, compared to the same period last year. Digital payments made via Unified Payments Interface (UPI) also increased by 40 per cent in October from a year earlier.Economists see easing inflation and rising wages, especially in rural areas.Consumer confidence hit a four-year high in…

San Francisco, Nov 1 (IANS) French video game company Ubisoft has announced that it will shut down the online services for 10 of its older games on January 25, 2024.Among the games affected include several titles from the popular Assassin’s Creed franchise, as well as others such as Splinter Cell: Conviction, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, and Trials Evolution.The decision to stop the online services for these games was taken due to the old technology behind them, according to the company.”Decommissioning the online services for older games is something we do not take lightly, however, it is also a necessity as…

New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) Elon Musk has expressed his desire to soon make X into a top dating and job hiring platform, as he emphasises on more video live-streaming of sports and political events.In his recent all-hands meeting with employees along with X CEO Linda Yaccarino, Musk said that he would place more emphasis on what somebody has posted in the past on the X platform than anything else. “Have they posted interesting material? That would be probably the single biggest indicator for whether they are excellent and someone you’d want to hire,” he told employees. He said that…

New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) Google Registry has launched a new domain extension type “.ing” that will let brands and businesses build their website in a single word.Users can now register .ing domains as part of Google’s early access period, however they will have to pay “an additional one-time fee”.”This top-level domain is ready for whatever you’re interested in, whether it’s mak.ing a fun website, giv.ing to a good cause, design.ing something beautiful or edit.ing an existing document,” Google explained in a blogpost on Tuesday.Users can register for their unique domains through partner companies like GoDaddy and 101Domain.The early access…

New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) High-profile exits at Gaurav Munjal-run edtech company Unacademy continue and now, its chief financial officer (CFO) Subramanian Ramachandran has quit, according to reports.It’s the second senior exit at the edtech startup in recent months.“Ramachandran has put down his papers and is currently serving his notice period,” said a report by The Morning Context report, citing sources.In August, Unacademy’s chief operating officer Vivek Sinha had resigned.The company was yet to comment on the latest development, as the online edtech sector in the country is reeling under massive slowdown since last year.In November last year, Unacademy laid…

New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) Google-owned YouTube has doubled down on its effort to crack down on users with ad blockers on its platform globally. An increasing number of YouTube users are now seeing a warning, asking them to turn off ad blockers and watch ads or pay $14 for a YouTube Premium subscription, according to Android Authority.Over the past several weeks, more users with ad blockers installed have found themselves unable to watch YouTube videos.Now, the company has launched a global effort to encourage users to allow ads or try YouTube Premium (which includes YouTube Music).A company spokesperson told…

San Francisco, Nov 1 (IANS) Tech giant Google has reached a settlement with Match Group, the dating app provider behind Tinder, Hinge, and OkCupid, in the app store antitrust case. As part of the settlement agreement, Match Group will be able to implement “user choice billing” by March 31, 2024.This feature allows users to pay with other systems besides Google’s own. “We are pleased to reach a settlement agreement with Match Group. This ensures we can continue to provide our shared users the secure, seamless, and high-quality experience people expect from apps on Google Play while maintaining Google’s ability to…

San Francisco, Nov 1 (IANS) Nokia has sued Amazon and HP for patent infringement, saying the two companies illegally used Nokia’s video-related technologies in their services and devices, and has sought compensation.Arvin Patel, Chief Licensing Officer, New Segments at Nokia, said in a blog post that they have commenced legal action against Amazon for the unauthorised use of Nokia’s video-related technologies in its streaming services and devices.The cases against Amazon have been filed in the US, Germany, India, the UK and the European Unified Patent Court.“Amazon Prime Video and Amazon’s streaming devices infringe a mix of Nokia’s multimedia patents covering…

San Francisco, Nov 1 (IANS) Leading flexible workspace provider WeWork, once valued at $47 billion, is reportedly filing for bankruptcy as early as next week, a move that is likely to hit the co-working real estate market.According to a Wall Street Journal report, citing sources, the flexible-office-space provider is now preparing for chapter 11 protection in the state of New Jersey.The WSJ report said that WeWork, after defaulting on interest payments on October 2, is considering filing for bankruptcy.A company spokesperson reportedly called it “speculation”.The company’s stock plunged more than 42 per cent on Tuesday, trading at just $2.2, after…

New Delhi, Oct 31 (IANS) Global Mental HealthTech startups have seen a significant decline in funding in 2023, as the startup space saw only $713 million in funding this year, 52.5 per cent less than the $1.5 billion raised in the same period in 2022, and 79 per cent less than from $3.43 billion in 2021, a new report said on Tuesday. According to the leading market intelligence platform Tracxn, this drop in funding is primarily due to the ongoing economic slowdown and other macroeconomic factors affecting the cash flow globally.The global Mental HealthTech space witnessed a peak in funding…