Chinese smartphone maker Infinix has expanded its product portfolio with the launch of the new Zero 30 5G smartphone. The smartphone promises improved camera quality and performance. Infinix Zero 30 5G is the first smartphone to feature a 50MP front camera and sports a 144Hz AMOLED display. The smartphone also has a 108MP primary camera and is powered by a MediaTek chipset.Infinix Zero 30 5G is now available for pre-order while the company is also offering discounts and no-cost EMI with select bank cards.Infinix Zero 30 5G: Price, availability and offers The smartphone will be available in two different colour options — Rome Green and Golden Hour. Infinix is also offering instant discounts and 6-month no-cost EMI for Axis Bank card holders. The company is also offering a Rs 2,000 instant discount for Axis Bank card owners. Model FSP(Rs) Axis Bank Instant Discount(Rs) CC/DC & EMI NEP(after bank price) 6 Month Axis NCEMI Zero 30 5G (8/256) 23999 2000 21999 3667 Zero 30 5G( 12/256) 24999 2000 22999 3833 Infinix Zero 30 5G: Key specsInfinix Zero 30 5G sports a 6.78-inch Full HD+ 10-bit curved AMOLED display which is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The display supports a 144Hz variable refresh rate and 1080*2400 resolution. The latest smartphone also features an in-display fingerprint sensor.The smartphone is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 8020 6nm chipset which is backed by up to 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. For optics, the Infinix Zero 30 has a Samsung ISOCELL JN1 50MP sensor in the front for selfies and video calls. The selfie camera is assisted by a Dual LED flash setup and eye-tracking Auto Focus technology and can record 4K videos at 60FPS. The smartphone also houses a dual rear camera setup that includes — a Samsung ISOCELL HM6 108MP primary sensor which supports Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) a 13MP ultra-wide camera with a 120-degree field of view. The rear camera module also has a quad LED flash setup.This smartphone packs a 5000mAh battery that claims to charge 0-80% in 30 minutes. Infinix Zero 30 also ships with a 68W PD 3.0 Super Charger. For connectivity, the smartphone supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3.

Large-scale cloud adoption has accelerated India’s innovation drive, and organizations are significantly investing in their cloud offerings to sustain this momentum, says recent report from EY-FICCI. The EY-FICCI cloud report is titled ‘India’s cloud and data revolution: From adoption to enabling innovation’. According to the report, the current wave of cloud adoption goes beyond migration and emphasizes leveraging the cloud’s capabilities to optimize processes, enhance customer experiences, and unlock new revenue streams.Commenting on the findings of the report, Abhinav Johri, Partner, Technology Consulting, EY India, said, “Leadership in the age of the cloud is about more than just technology; it’s about unlocking the full potential of innovation, efficiency, and growth. With 80% of Indian organizations adopting the cloud to enable a range of business capabilities such as intelligent applications with Gen AI, native functional & data products, and highly intuitive orchestration platforms the imperative is clear: embrace the cloud not merely as a tool, but as an enabler of transformative change”India becoming a global cloud hubTalking about India’s role, the report says that the country is evolving into a hub for cloud-first companies, with major cloud regions located in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Pune. Indian GCCs (Global Capability Centers) have become cloud engineering hubs for global companies. India has become a potentially significant market for cloud service providers (CSPs). CSPs have rapidly established new cloud regions in India, expanding the array of cloud-native services available to Indian enterprises.GenAI success to be driven by cloud and dataIndia is currently experiencing a golden era of disruptive technologies in data and technology. Leading enterprises that were early adopters of cloud computing have shifted from using the cloud primarily for cost optimization and operational efficiency to leveraging cloud services for building their next-generation digital platforms. The broader objectives that companies aim to achieve through cloud adoption include data modernization, application modernization, agility, business growth, and innovation.The report adds that the success of Generative AI is closely tied to cloud computing, as it relies on large datasets and robust computing infrastructure, both of which are inherent features of cloud technology. The adoption of Generative AI is expected to lead to increased data usage and greater consumption of cloud resources. The advantages of using the cloud for Generative AI, include scalability, access to pre-trained models, and simplified integration into existing applications. However, it is imperative a strong framework for responsible Generative AI use, considering potential concerns such as data leakage and biased output. Striking the right balance between sector-agnostic guidelines and sector-specific considerations is crucial.Cloud to drive data infrastructure modernisationThe survey reveals that organizations are increasingly utilizing the cloud for data infrastructure modernization, deriving benefits from their data, and gaining new insights. Furthermore, organizations are looking at achieving business growth, fostering increased collaboration, enhancing workplace productivity, ensuring security, and safeguarding data privacy.The survey states that 49% of organizations adopt the cloud to modernize their data infrastructure, with larger organizations leading at 55%. Additionally, 78% of organizations are implementing cloud strategies for app modernization, and 40% of organizations are using the cloud for collaboration and workforce productivity.Cloud for data monetisation and innovationThe exponential growth in data footprints of organizations has necessitated the exploration of newer data monetization techniques. Shifting data workloads to the cloud offers various advantages, with primary motivators including data monetization (63%), developer productivity (51%), and innovation and incubation (43%). The survey results also indicate that cloud adoption helps enable data and analytics capabilities for 80% of organizations.

Jampp, a programmatic mobile marketing company that helps mobile app advertisers acquire and re-engage consumers has released an iOS SKAdNetwork 4.0 (StoreKit Ad Network) Guide to help APAC app marketers scale their business on Apple devices. The SKAdNetwork is Apple’s API-based, privacy-centric framework that provides ad measurement and insights to advertisers with no user level data. Version 4.0 was released in October 2022 for iOS 16.1 and later with features that gave stakeholders more control over granularity of insights, measure customer re-engagements for up to 35 days (referred to as postbacks), lock and finalise conversion values, an expanded 4-tier privacy threshold that will allow marketers to optimise their campaigns, and many more. The latest guide from Jampp is intended to empower advertisers across APAC markets with insights and strategies to fully leverage SKAdNetwork 4.0–for driving privacy-centric app growth for their Apple iOS apps.According to the industry average, in India, only 36% of users allow advertisers to track their IDFA (Identifier for Advertisements) – a random device identifier assigned by Apple to a user’s iOS device. Given this finding, Jampp feels that marketers who choose not to test SKAdNetwork are potentially failing to a reach over 60% of their iOS users. The company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Affle, has stated that those who have invested in SKAN campaigns are already seeing positive results, securing full coverage of their iOS audience and achieving enhanced campaign performance.Apple devices have been expanding their presence in APAC over the last few years and this year, India joined China and Japan as one of the countries in Apple’s top 5 iPhone markets, presenting app marketers with a wider demographic set to tap. However, effective advertising on iOS has become a challenge for app marketers after the introduction of Apple’s privacy-focused App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework in 2021. It limits user data tracking for mobile marketing, which makes it difficult to serve personalised ads and accurately measure campaign ROI.Apple later released SKAdNetwork, a solution for users who opt-out of being tracked by advertisers and Jampp’s latest guide will help advertisers navigate version 4.0 to get the most out of their iOS campaigns.

Ananth Technologies (ATL) has announced that it partnered with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in the country’s first-ever solar mission — Aditya-L1. India’s first solar mission, Aditya-L1 was successfully launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, at 11.50am on Saturday. Aditya is travelling on the ISRO-designed, 320-tonne PSLV XL rocket that has powered earlier launches to the Moon and Mars. Aditya-L1 is a satellite dedicated to the comprehensive study of the Sun. It has seven distinct payloads — five by Isro and two by academic institutions in collaboration with Isro — developed indigenously.In a release, the company sad that for Aditya-L1, it played a role by manufacturing numerous avionics packages. These packages encompass a wide array of components, including on-board computers, Star sensor, Modular EED systems, payload DC-DC converters, etc. For PSLV-C57 launch vehicle, ATL supplied 48 subsystems such as SARB, NGCP, Quad SBU, tracking transponder and various other interface units and did complete Assembly, Integrationand Testing (AIT). The PSLV-C57 is said to be the seventh launch vehicle successfully integrated by ATL team and five more launch vehicles are currently under integration.The company is a partner for ISRO in precision engineering and high reliability manufacturing for space applications.Dr Subba Rao Pavuluri CMD of ATL, expressed his enthusiasm about Aditya-L1 program. “We are thrilled to be a part of the Aditya-L1 Program. This partnership represents asignificant milestone for us, as we contribute our technical excellence and manufacturing to support India’s space exploration endeavours.” The partnership with the Aditya-L1 Program solidifies Ananth Technologies’ commitment to advancing India’s capabilities in space technology.”ATL is headquartered in Hyderabad, with dedicated facilities in Thiruvananthapuram for the fabrication, assembly, testing, and supply of advanced electronic packages, computer systems, and various sub-systems for launch vehicles, as well as integration of launch vehicles. In Bengaluru, ATL has established extensive facilities for satellite manufacturing.

Now, it’s about sales and distribution costs, and evaluating the performance of each channel in terms of revenue, Ramalingegowda said According to the Wakefit cofounder, marketing strategies across online and offline channels are progressively merging, making it challenging to calculate CAC differently for each channel He added that entering a new channel now requires a fundamental shift in how a brand approaches product development, packaging, pricing, supply chain, and measuring outcomes Today, India has more than 50K digital-first brands. Many of these emerging brands are now exploring offline strategies. However, Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, the director & cofounder of Wakefit, believes that in today’s landscape, it’s no longer feasible for D2C brands to have separate online and offline budgets for marketing, distribution or customer acquisition costs. “Now, it’s about sales and distribution costs, and evaluating the performance of each channel in terms of revenue,” he added. Ramalingegowda shared his insights during the fourth edition of Inc42’s D2C Summit 2023, as part of a panel discussion featuring Harsh Modi, the cofounder & CEO of Mulmul; Shreedha Singh, the CEO & cofounder of The Ayurveda Company; and Gaurav Khatri of Noise. The session was moderated by Dipanjan Basu, the cofounder & Partner at Fireside Ventures. The Bengaluru-based D2C furniture and mattress brand was founded in 2016 by Ankit Garg and Ramalingegowda. Initially, Wakefit focussed solely on mattresses until 2018 and then started expanding its product categories. Presently, Wakefit offers around 500 SKUs across 15-20 sub-categories. Approximately two-thirds of its sales are generated through its website, app, and offline stores, with the remainder coming from online marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart. In FY22, the company witnessed a substantial increase in total losses, which surged to INR 101.8 Cr compared to INR 37 Cr in FY21. However, its operating revenue jumped nearly 55% YoY to INR 632.8 Cr in FY22. In January 2023, the startup secured $40 Mn in a funding round led by Investcorp, with participation from existing investors Sequoia India, Verlinvest, and SIG. This brought Wakefit’s total funding raised to date to $145 Mn. Ramalingegowda reminisced about Wakefit’s journey to venturing offline, noting that they always believed in establishing themselves as a digital-first brand. They saw online as a means to achieve non-linear growth and greater control over the consumer experience. “We never had the conviction to go offline until we expanded into furniture. That’s when factors like the rent-to-revenue ratio and ROI period started making sense. When we noticed that at our pilot store, the average order value nearly doubled, and repeat customer behaviour was more prevalent, we realised that customers also craved this offline experience,” he added. Ramalingegowda emphasised that marketing strategies across online and offline channels are progressively merging, making it challenging to calculate customer acquisition costs (CAC) differently for each channel. This shift underscores the importance of how a brand manages its business across various channels. He also shared valuable insights and advice for D2C startups, emphasising that entering a new channel involves more than just launching products. It requires a fundamental shift in how a brand approaches product development, packaging, pricing, supply chain, and measuring outcomes. “It’s not merely about introducing a product; it’s a profound change in how we perceive our business when entering a new channel,” he added. Furthermore, Ramalingegowda stressed the importance of owning customer relationships and the complete customer experience. This entails engaging with customers who purchase products through various channels, ensuring their needs are met, and addressing any concerns. “In our philosophy and belief system, it’s about taking care of the customer, regardless of where they make their purchase,” he concluded.

Sources at TenderCuts told us the company has laid off more than 65% of its entire workforce and wound down operations in Bengaluru and Hyderabad The startup has been desperately trying to raise capital and has been exploring an exit through an acquisition for quite some time TenderCuts founder Nishanth Chandran is expected to quit the company after the Good To Go acquisition, as per sources In what seems to be a distressed sale, Delhi NCR-based omnichannel meat brand Good To Go is acquiring Chennai-based meat delivery startup TenderCuts.  Good To Go said the acquisition would also include Happy Chops, a seven-month-old tech platform launched by TenderCuts that claims to offer an online storefront and procurement support to local butcher shops. Happy Chops was launched by TenderCuts earlier this year. Good To Go didn’t disclose the financial details of the deal, but Inc42 has learnt more details about the downturn that has hit TenderCuts since its last fundraise during 2021’s peak funding season.  Cutbacks At TenderCuts  Inc42 has learnt from sources that TenderCuts shut its operations in several pockets in Chennai, the only city it currently operates in, over the last few months due to scarcity of funds. Multiple sources told Inc42 that the startup had a very high burn rate. Its failure to secure fresh funding resulted in it shutting its operations in Bengaluru and Hyderabad last year.  It also fired nearly 65% of its workforce after shutting its operations in the two cities.  Despite these struggles, TenderCuts launched Happy Chops earlier this year. However, the last three-four months were very difficult, sources added. Commenting on the state of the startup, a senior TenderCuts executive told Inc42, “Acquisition was the only way out as it (TenderCuts) was unable to secure a Series B funding round.”  Social media is filled with irate reviews from dissatisfied TenderCuts customers, pointing out that the Stride Ventures-backed startup had issues when it comes to deliveries and availability of products.  Having spoken to sources at TenderCuts, Inc42 contacted Nabard’s NABVENTURES yesterday (Friday, September 1), a key investor in the company, for a comment on the distressed situation at TenderCuts. Less than 24 hours after this communication, TenderCuts publicly announced the acquisition by Good To Go.  Stride Ventures declined to comment directly about the state of operations at TenderCuts despite multiple attempts to reach its founder Ishpreet Singh Gandhi.  The press statement on the acquisition is mum on whether investors at TenderCuts saw any returns from this transaction.  Stride Ventures was also in the news earlier this year for its investment in GoMechanic, which went through a distress sale earlier this year after its founders admitted to inflating revenues and sales.  If these troubles weren’t enough, TenderCuts has seen the exit of R Venkkatesan earlier this year. Venkkatesan is mulling entering the real estate sector for his next business, as per his LinkedIn profile.  Founded by Nishanth Chandran, the startup elevated three senior employees Sasikumar Kallanai, R Venkkatesan and Varun Prasad Chandran as cofounders in 2021. Sources indicate that Chandran is also likely to quit the startup after the acquisition, along with the other cofounders.  TenderCuts Deep In The Red Founded in 2016, TenderCuts offers freshly cut meat and seafood to customers through neighbourhood stores, which cater to both walk-in customers as well as online shoppers. Over the years, the startup expanded its product portfolio, adding eggs, spices, ready-to-cook products, among others.  The startup competes with unicorns such as FreshtoHome and Licious as well as marketplaces such as BigBasket and a host of other players selling through quick commerce apps.  TenderCuts claimed to have a network of 50 retail stores in Chennai and Bengaluru after raising over $19 Mn in funding. It raised $15 Mn in its Series A round led by Paragon Partners and NABVENTURES. In 2021, it raised $3.5 Mn in debt funding from Stride Ventures. Worryingly, the company saw a huge jump in loss in FY22. The total loss of INR 126.8 Cr was 4X higher than the INR 30.4 Cr in FY21, but revenue only grew by 1.6X to INR 130.9 Cr in FY22 as compared to INR 78.1 Cr in FY21. Overall expenses ballooned by over 2.4X YoY to INR 259 Cr in FY22. Most of these went towards purchase of stock, while advertising costs also ballooned in FY22.  The startup also roped in Prakash Raj as brand ambassador even as it struggled to boost the revenue and improve its unit economics.  The poor financial and operational state of TenderCuts mirrors the state of many other meat delivery startups, where Licious and Freshtohome are dominant forces. Licious has raised over $400 Mn, while FreshtoHome has secured over $256 Mn in funding since inception, highlighting the need for capital to scale up this segment.  Despite this, Licious and FreshtoHome continue to be loss-making as per their FY22 financials — INR 856 Cr and INR 480 Cr, respectively.  TenderCuts’ acquirer Good To Go reported INR 9 Cr in revenue in FY22, with a razor thin profit of INR 1.1 Lakh (Less than 0.01%).  The skewed competitive landscape means other startups such as Chennai-based meat retail brand Fipola have also shut down, while Bengaluru-based CaptainFresh has completely shifted its focus towards exports rather than selling to consumers.  It looks like TenderCuts is the latest casualty of this intense competition and opex burden for meat delivery. It’s not clear whether Good To Go would retain the brand identity that TenderCuts has invested in building over the past few years. The announcement, sent soon after Inc42’s questions about the downturn at TenderCuts, was thin on any details in this regard.

The most common method to take a photo from a video is to pause it and take a screenshot. However, this method is not useful as it may take low quality images. Now, Google is making it easier for users to capture images from videos on Chrome.“It’s easy to copy an image from a website in Chrome — but what if you want to capture an important frame from a recorded lecture for your notes? You could take a screenshot, but you’ll likely get a lower-quality image (with the video’s progress bar cut across it),” Google said in a post.‘Copy Video Frame‘ in Google ChromeGoogle has a solution. When using Chrome, or another Chromium-based browser, like Microsoft Edge, users can pause at any time during a video, right-click and select the new “Copy Video Frame” option from the pop-up menu.“Available starting today, you can pause anywhere in a video that’s playing in Chrome and get a clean copy of the exact frame you want. Just right-click in the video and select ‘Copy Video Frame’,” Google said.In this way, Chrome will capture what is currently being shown and users will have an option to paste the image in supported text fields within the browser, like Google Docs, and save the file for future references. According to a report by Engadget, the feature is limited to some streaming services, as many of them have restricted capturing content. It said that the feature works only with YouTube and it needs some fine-tuning. Chrome’s ‘Copy Video Frame’ is being rolled out for Windows, Mac, Linux and ChromeOS, however, the team members of Gadgets Now-Times of India haven’t received the feature at the time of writing this report.

The startup makes almost 10 Mn monthly deliveries to more than 5 Lakh subscribers spread across 15 cities in India Even though Country Delight’s revenue from operations rose 1.6X YoY to INR 542.6 Cr in FY22, its net loss jumped 6.5X YoY to INR 186.4 Cr during the period under review due to a sharp rise in expenses According to Gade, the core mission of the startup is to provide superior-quality products to customers, cultivate customer loyalty, and add value to people’s lives At a time when an increasing number of Indian startups are trying to be in the black, the cofounder of Country Delight, Chakradhar Gade, has said that the dairytech startup is also not far from reaching the profitability milestone. “We are currently an almost $200 Mn revenue company, and the business is growing at 5-7% month-on-month. We are on the clear path to profitability in the next 8-10 months,” Gade said while speaking at the fourth edition of Inc42’s D2C summit. Country Delight currently serves 15 cities in India. As shared by Gade, the startup makes almost 10 Mn monthly deliveries to more than 5 Lakh subscribers across the cities it operates in. During the session, Gade talked about his fascination with the traditional Indian milkman system. The initial hypothesis of Gade and his partner, Nitin Kaushal, centred around the concept of a full-stack business model, where they aimed to own the entire supply chain, from the farm to the customer. One of the intriguing aspects of their approach was viewing cattle as a non-depreciating asset, as they only multiply over time. This perspective meant they could potentially grow the business without external capital infusion. According to Gade, the core mission of the startup is to provide superior quality products to customers, cultivate customer loyalty, and add value to people’s lives. Country Delight began its journey as a bootstrapped venture and dedicated the first 5 to 6 years to laying the foundation. The cofounders focussed on critical elements such as building technology to digitally monitor quality at the source, establishing a reliable supply chain with real-time visibility, and creating a proprietary distribution network capable of scalable operations. Founded in 2013 by Chakradhar Gade and Nitin Kaushal, Country Delight follows a subscription-based model where it sources milk from farmers and delivers it to customers. It also supplies bread, ghee, other dairy products, and fruits and vegetables. Since its inception, the startup has raised more than $158 Mn and is currently valued at over $600 Mn. It counts Orios Venture Partners, Elevation Capital, and Temasek among its investors. Country Delight’s net loss increased 6.5X to INR 186.4 Cr in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) from INR 28.2 Cr in the previous fiscal year due to a sharp increase in its expenses. The Delhi NCR-based startup’s revenue from operations rose 1.6X to INR 542.6 Cr in FY22 from INR 320.7 Cr in FY21.

AI is everywhere, and now it has come for the bags on our backs. Microsoft is seemingly working on an AI-powered backpack. Yes, you heard it right – a smart backpack with artificial intelligence. Microsoft recently filed a patent for a smart backpack powered by AI technology and equipped with various sensors. The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has recently approved the application, filed back in May.The patent is for “AI-assisted wearables,” but the illustrations show a backpack. The proposed backpack would use speakers, a camera, GPS, and pressure sensors embedded in the straps to sense the surrounding environment. There is also a microphone to listen to the user’s commands. Microsoft says that it chose the form factor of a backpack to provide a completely hands-free experience. While mobile devices already have similar functionality, they require users to look at a screen and use at least one hand. The company also compares the backpack’s capabilities to home assistants like Apple’s HomePod, Amazon’s Echo Dot, and Google’s Nest home speakers, and the back offers an added advantage of being usable outdoors over them.What sensors will doAccording to Microsoft, the sensors would give the AI assistant a higher environmental awareness level than similar assistants in mobile phones and home-based In a scenario mentioned, the camera can scan a poster for an event, and users can ask the assistant to add the event to the calendar. The patent also describes a scenario where a customer is holding a banana in a grocery store while the assistant provides information on banana prices from nearby sellers. In another scenario, a skier can ask if they could go down a certain path, with the backpack using its sensors to relay information to the AI, which informs the skier which path to follow.These patents may not always come to fruition, as companies at times file patents to do research and development purposes. So, the chances of Microsoft actually making an AI backpack is dicey. However, Microsoft could choose to use the AI backpack’s ideas in other devices or not at all.

Schmooze is a meme-based dating app that comes from the alumni of Standford University and is backed by investors of Hinge, Snapchat and Giphy. The platform has also been featured on The Late Show hosted by Stephen Colbert. The app aims to enter the online dating market in India with a new approach that prioritises humour, authenticity and genuine connections. Schmooze is targeting the meme culture market segment by means of its social media interactions with the target audience.The app wants to provide Indian users with a better navigating experience in terms of fostering connections.Schmooze dating app: How it worksSchmooze wants Indian users to initiate conversations through swiping and sharing memes as icebreakers. Schmooze’s AI comprehends users’ personalities, preferences and traits based on their meme interactions. This understanding enables the app to predict user characteristics and subsequently offer compatible matches. Since its inception, the platform has facilitated over 3.5 million matches and engaged in 50 million meme swipes.The evolution of memesMemes have evolved from simple internet jokes to a universal language that transcends cultural and linguistic barriers. The app wants to capitalise on this phenomenon by using memes as a tool for fostering connections. Schmooze co-founded by Vidya Madhavan, Anurag and Abhinav, alumni of Stanford University and BITS Pilani, enters the race with the aim of redefining the Indian online dating market through the integration of memes. Commenting on the launch, Vidya Madhavan, Co-Founder of Schmooze, said, “Our journey began with a recognition – that the younger generation communicates its thoughts, emotions, and life experiences through the language of memes. So we harnessed AI to extract what the language of memes says about people’s preferences to help them laugh their way to love. Schmooze isn’t just about matching; it’s about providing a space where humour becomes the bridge to forging meaningful relationships.”