This week saw India take the centre in the global tech arena by becoming the world’s second-largest market for 5G smartphones and having several contributors being recognized on Time’s list of influential AI figures. On the other hand, HDFC Bank paused its iPhone partnership with Apple, while TCS expanded its collaboration with Google Cloud and introduced new AI security products.The Adani Group also announced plans to build a $10 billion chip plant in India with Israel’s Tower Semiconductor. Other notable events included Wikipedia receiving a warning from the Delhi High Court and the latest Bluetooth technology version being released. All this and more in this week’s TOI-Gadgets Now weekly tech wrap

India beats US to become the world’s second-largest market for 5G smartphones; here’s what driving the growth

India has overtaken the United States to become the world’s second-largest market for 5G smartphones, according to a new report from Counterpoint Research. China maintains its position as the top market globally.
The report reveals that global 5G handset shipments grew 20% year-over-year in the first half of 2024, with 5G devices now accounting for over 50% of all smartphone shipments for the first time. India experienced the fastest growth among major markets, with 5G shipments surging 60% compared to the first half of 2023. Click here to read more

IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, Anil Kapoor and other Indians in Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in AI

Time Magazine has released its 2024 list of the most influential people in AI. The list highlights the most impactful figures in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Among the distinguished Indians featured on the list is Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology.
Highlighting Vaishwnaw’s role in driving India’s AI strategy, Time wrote “Under Vaishnaw’s leadership, the country hopes to become one of the top five nations for semiconductor manufacturing—a key component for modern AI systems—within the next five years. Construction has begun in several factories. Yet, Vaishnaw faces significant challenges in realizing these ambitions. India’s tech sector struggles with low private R&D investment and a lack of advanced manufacturing ecosystems. Its educational system is also catching up to produce the specialized workforce needed for cutting-edge AI and semiconductor development.” Read the full story here

HDFC Bank has taken ‘temporary break’ from its Apple iPhone partnership, bank says ‘you can judge the quality of relationship by …’

HDFC Bank has temporarily suspended its partnership with iPhone maker Apple, citing cost-to-income considerations. The move comes after a five-year collaboration that offered exclusive cashback and EMI benefits to HDFC Bank credit card holders on Apple products.
Parag Rao, Group Head of Payments, Consumer Finance, Marketing, and Liability Product Group at HDFC Bank, told Business Standard, “We have taken a temporary break from our partnership with Apple.” He explained that the bank regularly reviews its partnerships, and in this case, the cost-to-income measure no longer aligns with its objectives.
The partnership, which began in 2019, made HDFC Bank the sole banking partner for Apple’s promotional offers in India. With the suspension, Apple has now partnered with American Express, Axis Bank, and ICICI Bank to offer similar benefits, according to the company’s website. Click here to read more

TCS expands decade-long partnership with Google Cloud, launches new AI security products

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has announced an expansion of its partnership with Google Cloud to launch two new AI-powered cybersecurity solutions aimed at strengthening enterprise cyber resilience.
The new offerings include TCS Managed Detection and Response (MDR) and TCS Secure Cloud Foundation. Both solutions leverage Google Cloud’s security capabilities and TCS’s industry expertise to help businesses combat advanced threats and secure cloud environments.
The TCS MDR solution, powered by the Google Security Operations platform, enables security teams to detect and respond to threats more quickly. It provides continuous security monitoring and round-the-clock response capabilities. Read the full story here

Cognizant is selling the building that has been its headquarters for over 20 years

IT major Cognizant is selling its long-standing Indian headquarters in Chennai. The property, located on Chennai’s IT Corridor in Okkiyam Thoraipakkam, includes a 15-acre land parcel and 400,000 square feet of office space. As per real estate industry estimates, the property could fetch around Rs 750 crore to Rs 800 crore to the company.
The Thoraipakkam office has been Cognizant’s India headquarters for more than 20 years. It is where Cognizant co-founders – Lakshmi Narayanan and Chandrasekaran operated from. It is also the site of a landmark event where the company remotely rang the Nasdaq opening bell, marking a significant milestone in its growth. The campus also represents Cognizant’s first fully owned property in Chennai, a step up from its previous rented space in the CSI building near the US Consulate. Click here to read more

Employee union president to Infosys: ‘will not hesitate to organize a protest’..if joining date is breached

Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) president Harpreet Singh Saluja said that the Pune-based union will not hesitate to organize a protest in front of Infosys office if there is any breach in the joining date, reports Economic Times. According to the offer letter, the company has asked 1,000 freshers whose joining had been delayed for over two years to join on October 7, 2024. Read the full story here

Delhi High Court warns Wikipedia: “If you don’t like India…..”

The Delhi High Court recently issued a strict ultimatum to Wikipedia in India. The court warned that it will issue an order to block the online encyclopeadia in India. Justice Navin Chawla, presiding over the case, issued a contempt notice to Wikipedia and delivered a stern warning to the company.
Justice Chawla gave the warning during a hearing related to a defamation case filed by the news agency ANI against Wikipedia. The High Court has summoned an authorised representative from Wikipedia to appear in person at the next hearing in October. Click here to read more

Adani Group partners Israel’s Tower Semiconductor to build $10 billion chip plant in India: All details

India’s richest man Gautam Adani is joining the global semiconductor race. According to a report in Bloomberg, the Adani Group plans to build a semiconductor fabrication plant with Israeli company Tower Semiconductor. The move aims to bolster India’s chipmaking capabilities as semiconductors become a key geopolitical battleground globally. The deal also gives the Israeli chipmaker a foothold in one of the world’s key emerging markets. In the past few years, semiconductors have grown into a crucial resource amid an escalating tech rivalry between the US and China. This has made several nations review their dependency on imports and invest heavily in developing domestic capabilities.
Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced the same in a post on X, formerly Twitter. The unit is expected to have a production capacity of 40,000 wafers in the first phase, and 80,000 wafers in the second, Fadnavis said in the post. He further added that the plant will create 5000 jobs. He, however, did not share any timeline for the project, but the report quoting sources said that the plant will be built over three to five years. Read the full story here

Bluetooth version 6.0 is now available: What’s new in the next-gen specification

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has released the latest version of the Bluetooth Core Specification, version 6.0. Bluetooth’s last major update was in 2016 when version 5 was announced. Subsequent versions have also made debuts with incremental updates.
This latest Bluetooth version 6 brings a host of new features and improvements, aimed at enhancing the capabilities and performance of Bluetooth technology. The new features include a new centimetre-level tracking feature that can improve the Find My networks from companies like Apple and Google. Click here to read more

Bengaluru-based Dunzo lays off 75% employees, reduces workforce to 50

Reliance Retail-backed Dunzo has laid off 75% of its workforce, reports Financial Express. Citing unknown sources aware of the matter, the report said that the online delivery app now has 50 employees in its core supply and marketplace teams.
The job cuts, according to the report, is part of the company’s broader effort to curb costs and create cash flow to address mounting liabilities, including overdue salaries to current and former employees and outstanding vendor payments.
Layoffs.fyi – the online tracker show that the job cuts were made on August 31, 2024. Read the full story here

SAP CTO Juergen Mueller resigns over ‘inappropriate’ behaviour; read his statement

AP SE’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Juergen Mueller will leave the company by the end of September. Reason: Inappropriate conduct at a company event. SAP CEO Christian Klein will assume responsibility for most of the technology and innovation board area that Mueller currently leads. The company, as well as Mueller, didn’t say anything more about what exactly was the ‘inappropriate’ behaviour. Click here to read more

Intel is giving up on one of its biggest plans announced years ago, here’s why it means a major change

Intel is cancelling the development of its 20A process node, which was expected to be used for the production of upcoming Arrow Lake processors. Instead it plans to go with external manufacturers to produce the chips externally. Intel will now rely on outside foundries, likely TSMC, to produce all Arrow Lake components while Intel will handle final packaging.
The cancellation of 20A is particularly notable as Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger had positioned it as the start of the company’s “Angstrom era” when first announced in 2021. Now, the shift to external manufacturing for Arrow Lake is a significant departure from those plans, but it aligns with the company’s recent cost-cutting measures announced following concerning financial results last quarter. The company is undergoing major restructuring, including laying off 15,000 workers, amid financial challenges.
Intel first demonstrated the Arrow Lake chips on 20A wafers at its Innovation 2023 event. At the time, Intel targeted a 2024 release for Arrow Lake.
Intel CFO Dave Zinsner said the company would “skip over productizing” the 20A node to reduce capital expenditures. Resources previously allocated to 20A development will now be directed toward the more advanced 18A node, slated for 2025 launch. The company projects the change will save $500 million by avoiding costs associated with ramping up 20A production. Read the full story here

Ban on Elon Musk’s X in Brazil continues: Supreme Court panel backs the order

The Brazilian Supreme Court panel affirmed the decision of one of its judges to ban Elon Musk’s social media platform X nationwide, as stated on the court’s website.
Last week, Brazil’s Supreme Court imposed a ban on X (formerly known as Twitter). A Supreme Court Judge ordered the platform’s suspension after a months-long standoff over disinformation in South America’s largest nation.
The panel, which met virtually, consisted of five of the full bench’s 11 justices, including de Moraes, who mandated the platform’s suspension for failing to appoint a local legal representative as required by law. The platform will remain blocked until it adheres to his orders and pays the outstanding fines, which as of last week totalled over $3 million, according to his ruling. Click here to read more
HP Victus Special Edition laptops launched in India, price starts at Rs 65,999
HP has expanded its product lineup with the launch of its new Victus Special Edition laptops. Designed for students the PCs are equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050A 4GB Laptop GPUs. The company has also revealed that the PCs pack 12th Gen Intel Core processors. Read the full story here