New Delhi: More than half of smartphones shipped in 2028 are projected to be GenAI capable, as broader use cases continue to emerge and availability expands across price segments, according to a new report.  The global smartphone market has reached maturity, and shipments are expected to remain stable in the coming years. Growth will likely be driven by emerging markets like India, MEA and Southeast Asia. “We expect smartphone revenues to continue to grow through 2028 as the premiumisation trend continues across markets. New technologies like GenAI and foldables are also likely to drive average selling price (ASP) growth as adoption rates rise,” said Counterpoint Research Director Tarun Pathak. While the smartphone market has enjoyed strong YoY growth over the last few quarters, it is mainly due to a recovery in macroeconomic conditions and consumer demand. While shipment growth may have slowed in recent quarters, global smartphone revenue growth accelerated in Q3 2024, recording 10 per cent YoY growth to reach the highest-ever levels for a third quarter. Apple led the market in smartphone revenues capturing a 43 per cent share and recording its highest-ever Q3 revenues, shipments, and ASPs. A slightly earlier launch of the iPhone 16 series, a product mix increasingly favouring Pro versions and continued expansion in non-core markets drove Apple’s success in Q3, said Research Director Jeff Fieldhack. With most major brands recording strong revenue growth, the $400 and above segment gained a net 2% per cent share YoY in Q3 2024. The ongoing premiumisation wave, observed across regions, has incentivised OEMs to rethink their premium portfolio and device financing strategies. The report expects the premiumisation trend to continue in the coming years and project global smartphone ASPs to rise at a CAGR of 3 per cent from 2023 through 2028.

Whatsapp Bans Indian Accounts: In a significant move, Meta-owned WhatsApp has imposed bans on numerous accounts in India, aiming to enhance user safety and combat the misuse of its platform. This action comes amidst rising concerns over privacy and security, prompting the messaging giant to take a firm stand against abusive practices. To avoid such malicious actions, the instant messaging platform banned more than 8.5 million “bad” accounts in India in September for violating its policies. Between September 1 and September 30, the company banned 8,584,000 accounts, of which 1,658,000 were proactively banned before any reports from users, according to the social media platform’s monthly compliance report under the new IT Rules 2021. The popular mobile messaging platform, which has more than 600 million users in India, received 8,161 grievances from the country, and the records “actioned” were 97. The term “actioned” refers to complaints where WhatsApp took remedial action. WhatsApp also received two orders from the Grievance Appellate Committee in the country and complied with both, according to its monthly compliance report. “We will continue with transparency to our work and include information about our efforts in future reports,” said the company. It employs a team of engineers, data scientists, analysts, researchers, and experts in law enforcement, online safety, and technology developments to oversee these efforts. “We enable users to block contacts and to report problematic content and contacts to us from inside the app. We pay close attention to user feedback and engage with specialists in stemming misinformation, promoting cybersecurity, and preserving election integrity,” said WhatsApp. The abuse detection operates at three stages of an account’s lifestyle: at registration, during messaging, and in response to negative feedback, which we receive in the form of user reports and blocks. A team of analysts them augments these systems to evaluate edge cases and help improve our effectiveness over time. Between August 1, 2024 and August 31, 2024, 8,458,000 WhatsApp accounts were banned, 1,661,000 of these accounts were proactively banned, before any reports from users. It also received 10,707 grievances from the country in August, and the records “actioned” were 93. (With IANS Inputs)

NSE Mobile App: The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) introduced its official mobile app, NSEIndia, and expanded its corporate website, www.nseindia.com, to support 12 regional languages. This launch celebrates NSE’s 30th anniversary, a remarkable milestone in its history. The NSE has made this advancement with an aim to empower investors with user-friendly tools, near real-time insights, and the ability to access market information in their preferred language. Adding further, NSE recently celebrated another achievement in October, as the total number of client accounts on the exchange crossed 20 crore, showcasing impressive growth over just eight months. The NSEIndia App is here! It’s fast, efficient and accessible! Get all updates, real-time data and insights on the market with just a swipe. Download the App now.#NSE #NSEIndia #AppLaunch #DownloadNow @ashishchauhan pic.twitter.com/eAdw9UaLgi — NSE India (@NSEIndia) November 1, 2024 According to NSE, this dual launch reflects NSE’s dedication to democratising financial information, making it easier for investors across the nation to engage with India’s capital markets.  With this latest initiative, NSE’s website now offers content in a total of twelve languages, adding Assamese, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu to the previously available English, Hindi, Marathi, and Gujarati. NSE Mobile App Availability:  This linguistic expansion will reach investors across linguistic and regional barriers, fostering increased engagement and inclusivity. The newly launched NSEIndia mobile app, now available on both the Apple App Store and Android Play Store, promises an intuitive and secure experience for investors on the go. NSE Mobile App Features:  The app’s initial release offers easy-to-use features, including an overview of key market indices, snapshots, trends, and turnover. Users can quickly check the top gainers, losers, and most active stocks on Nifty 50, search for any stock and create a personalised watchlist.  There is also a dedicated section for options trading data, showing active calls, puts, and open interest, helping investors make more informed decisions. (With ANI Inputs)

New Delhi: WhatsApp is constantly evolving to keep up with users’ needs, rolling out new features that make staying connected easier and more engaging. In 2024, it introduced some exciting updates, including multiple account support, pinned messages, screen sharing, and even the ability to reply from the lock screen. One standout feature is multi-device support, which lets you use WhatsApp on several devices at once. Previously, WhatsApp required users to have separate numbers for each phone if they wanted to use the app on more than one device. However, in 2024, WhatsApp introduced a new feature that changed this. Now, with multi-device support, or “companion mode,” you can use the same WhatsApp account on multiple phones simultaneously. This update allows you to link up to four devices to your primary phone, and you can keep using them indefinitely—as long as you log in on your main device at least once every 14 days to maintain the connection. Whether you decide to link your phone to four other phones or to four computers, WhatsApp now makes it easy to do both. However, the steps to link additional phones and desktop devices differ slightly. Linking WhatsApp on Web – Open web.whatsapp.com on your laptop. – Use your phone to scan the QR code on the screen. – Once scanned, your chats will instantly load on your laptop. – The same steps work for the WhatsApp app on Windows. Linking WhatsApp on Smartphones – Install WhatsApp on your second phone. – Agree to the privacy policies. – On the screen where it asks for your phone number, tap the three dots in the upper-right corner. – From the drop-down menu, select the option to link this phone as a companion device. – A QR code scanner will open — use it to scan the QR code from your primary phone. – Once scanned, your WhatsApp account will link to the second phone. Limitations of Companion Mode The companion mode has a few limitations. Features like live location and status updates aren’t available on companion devices. Plus, if you don’t use your primary phone for more than 14 days, your companion devices will automatically log out.

New Delhi: Google smartphones, including the popular Pixel series will no longer be available for sale in Indonesia due to new regulations mandating that at least 40 per cent of a device’s parts be locally sourced. This move follows a similar decision by Apple, which has halted the sale of the iPhone 16 for the same reason. As a result, consumers in Indonesia will miss out on these devices until manufacturers can meet the country’s production requirements. “We are pushing these rules so that there’s fairness for all investors in Indonesia,” said Febri Hendri Antoni Arief, spokesperson for the industry ministry, on Thursday. “Google’s products have not adhered to the scheme we set, so they can’t be sold here.” He noted that consumers can still purchase Google Pixel phones from abroad, provided they pay the required taxes. He further mentioned that the country may consider deactivating phones that are sold illegally. Febri stated that consumers can still purchase Google Pixel phones from other countries as long as they pay the required taxes. He also mentioned that the government may consider deactivating phones that are sold illegally. This ban follows Indonesia’s recent decision to restrict iPhone 16 sales in the country due to similar violations of local content regulations. Companies have various options to comply with the ruling. For instance, different smartphone manufacturers established production facilities in Indonesia at different times: Samsung and Xiaomi invested in assembly plants, while Apple has focused on developer academies to enhance local expertise. These proactive steps enable them to meet local content requirements and maintain a presence in Indonesia’s smartphone market. Local content regulations are part of a wider industrial policy aimed at leveraging Indonesia’s large consumer market to boost domestic economic growth. Violating these regulations can result in significant sales restrictions, making it difficult for local companies to compete effectively against foreign giants like Google and Apple.

New Delhi: Meta-owned WhatsApp on Thursday made it easier to organise messages filling up users’ inbox, which will help them keep track of conversations with family members, work colleagues, college friends and more.  Earlier this year, the popular messaging platform introduced chat filters as a way to find messages faster. “We’ve had great feedback that they help you keep track of your chats, and we’re excited to have quickly evolved them into Lists,” said the social media company. How To Filter Chats With Customised Lists On WhatsApp With Lists, you can now filter your chats with custom categories of your choice. Whether that’s a list for family, work or your local neighbourhood, Lists help you focus on the conversations that are most important, when you need them. “You can create and edit your lists easily by tapping the + in the filter bar at the top of your Chats tab, or edit by long-pressing a list,” said WhatsApp. Similar to your ‘favourites’, you can add both groups and one-on-one chats to a list, and any list you create will appear in the filter bar. “We’re rolling Lists out to users today, and will be available to everyone in the coming weeks. We look forward to expanding the functionality of Lists to help you focus on the people and conversations that matter most,” the company informed. By default, WhatsApp will still open to the “All” category, which displays all messages in chronological order. Notably, WhatsApp already had a way to look at unread messages through a filter in the search bar. But with the new filter bubbles on top of the chat screen, the option is easily available. Gmail users might find these filter bubbles familiar as the Google-owned email service introduced a similar feature in 2020 to make search simpler.

Seoul: Samsung Electronics on Thursday hinted at the possibility of supplying its advanced high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips to the US AI giant Nvidia in the near future.  The South Korean tech giant has been struggling to have its HBM3E chips pass Nvidia’s quality tests, while its local chip making rival SK hynix recently began mass-producing industry-leading 12-layer HBM3E chips, Yonhap news agency reported. “We are currently mass-producing both eight-layer and 12-layer HBM3E products,” said Kim Jae-june, vice president for memory business at Samsung Electronics, during a conference call following the release of its third-quarter earnings report. Kim noted that the company has achieved “meaningful progress” in meeting quality testing requirements for a “major customer,” expected to be Nvidia, whose GPUs are essential for AI computing. “We expect to expand sales in the fourth quarter,” he added, addressing previous concerns that Samsung Electronics had fallen behind in supplying HBM products to Nvidia. Samsung Electronics reported that its third-quarter HBM sales rose more than 70 per cent from the previous quarter, with the fifth-generation HBM3E chips expected to contribute 50 per cent of total HBM sales in the fourth quarter. “We are expanding sales of our eight- and 12-layer HBM3E chips to multiple customers,” the company said. “We are working on improving our HBM3E in line with the next-generation GPU plans of a major customer.” Samsung Electronics said it is developing sixth-generation HBM4 products and aims to begin mass production in the second half of next year. In its third-quarter earnings report, Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor division posted a 3.86 trillion won ($2.8 billion) operating profit, missing the market expectation of 4.2 trillion won. Shares of Samsung Electronics rose 0.17 per cent to close at 59,200 won on the Seoul main bourse, outperforming the KOSPI’s 1.45 per cent drop.