One Plus Promised 3 Years of Shelf Life of its Phones

One Plus 6 Red Edition

I tried my Android luck back in 2010, and one thing I understood that Google backed Android has huge potential. The first Android device in my house, was Samsung Galaxy 3, for my brother. 

However it's more than 8 years now, and Android devices have a strong presence in the market with 4G and 5G support. Indian market also saw huge change - from Nokia, Samsung, Micromax, Lava lost their top positions, and Chinese OEMs are now ruling the market. Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus are the new kings of the turf. 

Through out the period I understood that handset makers needs R&D (research and development) on both software and handware front. Without timely Android/software update a company can't create a good ecosystem. I wrote on this topic as Android Software Update: A Thing Many OEM Skip back in 2017, where I pointed out that only Xioami is not following trend, they are offering Android OTA update to its most of the smartphones at regular intervals. Sorry to add Google's name, as their phones both Nexus series and present Pixel line up, running on stock Android, are getting timely software updates. 

Read more Will RealMe Give Software Updates?

Actually slowest (or never) roll out of updates including critical security ones are one of the biggest complaints of Android users. These days Android/software update is a must, as most handset makers are using forked out Android, like Oxygen OS of OnePlus, ColorOS from Oppo, MIUI from Xiaomi, EMUI by Huawei, Flyme OS from Meizu, FunTouch OS from Vivo, Realme UI by Realme and others. 

And now, after so many years, companies seem interested in our points. By the end of June '18 One Plus announced its Software Maintenance Schedule on their forum. They promised to give regular software maintenance for 24 months (includes new features, Android version upgrades, Android security patch updates) bi-monthly, and software security maintenance for another 12 months in bi-monthly manner. 

Soon Huawei also announced similar schedule for some of its product line. I can see more similar announcements coming from other OEMs. 

Do Ads Helps Xiaomi to Launch Flagship Killers?

being EVIL ?

I was an early Xiaomi buyer, as I bought Redmi Note 3 in 2016. That time the hardware they packed inside it was good, and so is the software. From my point of view, Android device manufacturers should invest in software research and development, and Mi is doing this pretty fine till date on their home grown MIUI OS. 

However as I had upgrade to Redmi Note 4 and saw their rise in the Indian market with affordability and targeted smartphones to different users. 

They have so  many phones launched - Redmi for affordable phones, Redmi Note for bigger but affordable phones, Y series for selfie lovers, A series for mid range Android One program, Poco as flagship killer. Their top brand Mi and Mi Max did not get much success in India. Xiaomi has a different gaming phone brand too - Blackshark! 

However as I used my brother's newly bought Redmi K20 Pro, dubbed as another flagship killer with Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855 processor, I felt MIUI is more stable (than the POCO MIUI) but there is too many intrusive ads coming from the Xiaomi's apps. Bloatwares can be manageable, but adwares are not. So I looked inside the settings, and found that Xiaomi by default keeps all of ad-gates open, but yes you can block most of them. 

Reliance Piramal Deal in Near Future?

As Times Now reported few hours back, Piramal and Reliance Industries will start a joint venture along with SoftBank.

It is still not sure about RIL's presence in the JV, but stakes are high that new in-laws will tie a business knot.

Now big question remains, what will the focus of this yet to be formed JV between Piramal, Ambani and SoftBank. SoftBank is eyeing for a re-entry into India's e-commerce market, while RIL is still playing softly with AJio. Piramal has no existence in that market, as far as I know.

Piramal is a big name in Indian pharma industry, and Reliance can think to tap that market of healthcare in a country with more than 130 cr people.

I am betting on Indian healthcare sector to get a new player. As of now I don't have idea what they are gonna target? e-health ? Wait, first be Reliance confirmed in it!

Update: All hints indicated to fintech JV and SoftBank is already there. No confirmation of Reliance Jio's inclusion in that JV as of now. It should be noted that Jio Money is already afloat from the time of inception of Jio. 

BSNL WiFi 4G Plus - Data Offload from Cellular Networks !

Back in the era of pre Jio, a handful of service providers came with public WiFi Hotspot services, like Ozone WiFi, Tata Docomo WiFi. They were mostly available in shopping malls, restaurants, coffee shops etc. Their pricing model was use free for 30-60 min, and then pay for it. As Jio nearing to launch their 4G services commercially, Jio also launched its own WiFi services - JioNet. However​ Jionet is mostly defunc now.

As 4G mobility goes mass spread, people almost stopped using WiFi hotspots. But the thing came back strongly. Ozone, the leader in this market was lost in the transition but Google and Indian Railways' telecom arm Railtel created a massive WiFi hotspot network. Google Station, as it's named was a pilot by Google and its partner Railtel started in 2016 targeting the audience who are travelling by trains. This WiFi networks are located at major rail stations of India. Later Google was roped in by Pune Smart City Corporation for similar public WiFi offerings. 

Back in 2012-14 I was pushing for this thing for data offload from mobile network to WiFi. Thankfully with massive data users after 4G went mainstream, telecom operators are thinking in that direction. BSNL is one of first telecom company to offer public WiFi.