A lot happened in the world of technology today, from Aircel offering unlimited voice calling packs in response to Reliance Jio, to Yahoo revealing that over 1 billion user accounts had been hacked back, the launch of Nintendo’s first mobile game – Super Mario Run, and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick claiming that rival Ola was as foreign-owned as it. All this and more, in your 360 Daily.
Super Mario Run launched on iOS – Nintendo’s first mobile game
Nintendo on Thursday launched Super Mario Run for the iOS platform, the first game the company has developed for mobile. The game is now available to buy via the App Store for Rs. 620 ($10) and represents a risky bet for the venerable Japanese gaming company. Most mobile game publishers rely on a freemium model nowadays, with super-hits such as Pokemon Go, Candy Crush, Clash of Clans, and Angry Birds all being free to download but featuring in-app purchases. Super Mario Run is now available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, while the company will release an Android version only next year.
Aircel offers unlimited voice calling packs
Following Airtel, Vodafone, and Idea, now telecom operator Aircel is offering prepaid packs in India with unlimited voice calling. The move, thought to be part of the ripples caused by Reliance Jio’s big splash into the Indian telecom market, sees Aircel offering two packs with voice calling and data benefits. Both RC14 and RC249 offer unlimited local and STD voice calling across all networks in India, however, the former has a validity of 1 day while the latter has a validity of 28 days.Yahoo reveals over 1 billion user accounts were hacked
Beleaguered former Internet giant Yahoo has revealed that it has discovered it was the victim of yet another massive cyber-attack, this time back in August 2013, resulting in the data from over 1 user accounts being compromised. The company has already been in the news for all the wrong reasons this year, with an announcement in September revealing that over 500 million user accounts had been breached back in 2014 – the news had even prompted Verizon to say it may withdraw its bid to buy the company’s Internet business. It would not be hard to argue that these are some of the biggest user data breaches in history.
Uber and Ola are both foreign-owned, says CEO
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick at an event in New Delhi on Thursday said that with the amount of overseas funding the company’s biggest rival in India – Ola – had received, it was just as foreign-owned as Uber itself. Kalanick at the event also admitted that the company was currently losing money in India, but not enough that it would consider a merger with its competitor – something it had done with Didi Chuxing in China.
IMDb launches an India-specific website
Just a day after Amazon Prime Video was launched in India, the world’s most popular entertainment database website has unveiled a dedicated page for the country. Found at IMDb.com/india, the page focuses on regional content from across the country, as well as content that is trending in India. While IMDb previously listed Indian content on its site, the company now promises to the offer a larger catalogue alongside more detail and India-specific features.
AirPods battery service chargeable under warranty
After a long delay of roughly two months, Apple earlier this week finally launched the AirPods. Priced at $159 (Rs. 15,400 in India), the AirPods feature batteries both in each ear bud, as well as the charging case. Now, Apple has revealed that even if the AirPods are under warranty, customers will be charged for a battery service. For servicing the battery under warranty, each AirPod costs $49 (roughly Rs. 3,400) and the battery in the charging case will cost additional $49 (roughly Rs. 3,400).
Ringing Bells denies reports that it is shutting down
Ringing Bells, the Noida-based company best known for launching the Rs. 251 smartphone Freedom 251, on Thursday denied recent reports that it was shutting down. It said that the establishment of MDM Electronics was completely separate from Ringing Bells, and did not imply the latter had been shut down. The company instead said that it had already delivered 70,000 units of the smartphone in the country, and that it was working on delivering more.
Amazon completes its first drone delivery
Online retail giant Amazon on Wednesday completed its first drone delivery to a customer. The first delivery – an Amazon Fire TV box and a bag of popcorn – was to a customer in the UK. The company said that the box reached the customer’s house just 13 minutes after the order was placed. The US-based company has in the past complained that the regulatory environment for automated deliveries in its home country is cumbersome.