There are an estimated 400 million users of online gaming in India at present (Representational image)
Online gaming companies are concerned that potential repetitive taxes could act as a death knell for the industry, as it would make online gaming prohibitively expensive for consumers, according to a report in The Economic Times (ET). The firms are currently waiting for detailed notification from the law committee of the goods and services tax (GST) Council, which has announced a 28 per cent GST on the industry.
Industry executives were quoted as saying by ET that this could lead to a 50-60 per cent indirect tax burden on gamers as mostly they use their winning money to play another game, which would be taxed again, and so on.
Roland Landers, CEO of All India Gaming Federation said that levying GST on face value at each game will limit the engagement of the user with the platform. The move will make the cost per game-high and may cause unsuspecting users to move towards illegal offshore gambling websites.
Gaming firms have raised their concerns with government officials. A senior finance ministry official was quoted as saying that some of the industry representatives told officials that the move will make taxation for online gaming higher than casinos. Officials were aware of the concerns of the industry and will try to keep the process simple.
Last week, the GST Council said that a 28 per cent GST will be levied on the turnover of online gaming firms, casinos, and horse racing companies.
In the case of online gaming firms, every time a user enters a contest, the entry fee will add to the company’s turnover but in casinos, the tax will be on the entry ticket irrespective of how much users spend. An industry executive stated that repetitive taxation goes against the principle of GST, which is supposed to be a simplified indirect tax regime.
Google on Thursday announced the official launch of its Nearby Share app for Windows PCs. Nearby Share makes it simple to share files between phones, tablets, Chromebooks, and other devices. The app’s PC version has been in beta since March 2023 and is now officially available.
According to the tech giant, the beta version has been installed by over 1.7 million people, and over 50 million files have been transferred between PC and Android devices since its launch.
Google has updated the Nearby Share for Windows app with an official release today. The company has included the estimated time for file transfers to be completed, so you can see how quickly large files, such as videos, or entire folders, will be shared.
“To make sharing between Android devices and PCs even more seamless, we’re working with partners like HP to include the Nearby Share app on select Windows PCs, such as the HP Dragonfly Pro,” Google wrote in a blog post.
“We’ll continue to work on Nearby Share for Windows, adding new functionality and listening to your feedback,” it added.
To use Nearby Share for Windows, users must enable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on their PC. After you’ve configured the functionality, you’ll be able to drag a file into the app or right-click it and select the Nearby Share option to send it to a device nearby. Devices that you are transferring files between have to be within 16 feet of each other.
The Enco Air3 Pro is a new addition in OPPO’s line of wireless earphones in India. At Rs 4,999, these budget wireless earbuds boast premium features such as adaptive active noise cancellation, LDAC codec for Hi-Res wireless audio, spatial sound, and multipoint connectivity for simultaneous connection with two compatible devices. On paper, the OPPO Enco Air3 Pro seems to be a value proposition in the wireless earphones segment. Is it? Let us find out:
Design
The Enco Air3 Pro looks identical to its predecessor, the Enco Air2 Pro. However, these come in new colour themes, including green (review unit), which look refreshing. Other than the colours, however, the earbuds and case do not look any different from the last generation model. The buds come in a pebble-shaped case with elevated translucent covering on top of the lid. The case has OPPO engraved on the front side with golden texture, which adds a premium touch to the otherwise generic design. However, it gives away its budget roots because of plastic construction with glossy texture all across.
As for the buds, they have glossy finish with clear ‘R’ and ‘L’ marking on the right and left earbuds for easy identity. It is easy to take these out from the case, but need both hands for comfortable and safe handling since the glossy texture here is prone to accidental drops. The earbuds are lightweight and modestly sized for snug and secure fit in the ear canal. These do no come off accidently, thank to in-ear design with soft ear tips.
Features
The Enco Air3 Pro is a feature-packed pair of wireless earbuds. It boasts smart adaptive active noise cancellation, which auto adjusts the noise cancelling intensity based on ambient environment conditions. The earbuds are rated to cancel ambient noise at a depth of up to 49dB and these are TUV Rheinland certified for their noise cancellation performance. These claims by the company are true in real life experience, but there is a way to get to the right experience.
To get there, it is essential to install the earphones’ supplementary smartphone app, available on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store. In the app, take the fit test to ensure the right fit. If there is a leak, replace the ear tips with a size – big or small – that delivers best fit. Afterwards, enable the personalised noise cancellation feature, which runs a short test to generate a noise cancellation profile based on an ear canal test. Once done, you are likely to experience the best ANC experience.
OPPO has included its Golden Sound feature in the app for the Enco Air3 Pro. It essentially runs a test of about three minute to scan the ear canal structure and hearing characteristics. This lets the earphones deliver custom-tailored audio experience based on the user’s hearing profile.
Another notable addition in the app is the OPPO Alive Audio feature, which enables expansive sound sans head-tracking function. It works across devices and enables Dolby Atmos audio, if the main device supports it.
The most valuable feature, however, is the support for Hi-Res audio (LDAC codec).
The OPPO Enco Air3 Pro has a rich sound signature with balanced bass and treble in default settings, complemented by optimal loudness. The experience is lifted further by the pre-set sound profiles called Enco Master EQ – Original, Bass boost, and Natural inspiration. Important to note, the best audio is experienced across the listed sound profiles with Hi-Res (LDAC) enabled. The OPPO Alive Audio adds zing by widening the sound stage for multi-dimensional surround sound experience. However, it is not optimised for all audio libraries. For example, the experience is better with Apple Music since it natively supports Dolby Atmos and has supported tracks available for experience. Same audio track on other music streaming services such as Prime Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music may not sound as rich.
The OPPO Enco Air3 Pro is good for music, but not so for calls. Not that voice calls experience with the earbuds on is bad, but the microphones not always filter ambient noise and struggle to pick voice in loud ambient environments.
Battery
Rounding off the package is the impressive on-battery time of about five hours with ANC enabled. Together with the case, there is about 30 hours of battery and that is a good on-battery time figure for a feature-packed wireless earbuds in budget segment. Charging time is quick too, the earbuds and the case takes less than 40 minutes to charge.
Verdict
The OPPO Enco Air3 Pro is an impeccable pair of wireless earphones. At Rs 4,999, these are undersell since the earphones match the likes of premium earphones in terms of audio quality and features.
Netflix on Thursday said that it has ended password sharing in India. From now, only members of a household will be able to access one account. It is part of a global crackdown, announced in May, to improve the company’s revenue.
The company said that it has initiated the distribution of emails to customers who are sharing their Netflix passwords outside their households in India.
“We recognise that our members have many entertainment choices. It is why we continue to invest heavily in a wide variety of new films and TV shows – so whatever your taste, mood or language and whoever you are watching with, there is always something satisfying to watch on Netflix,” it said, according to a report by NDTV.
The company also said that after cracking down on password sharing, it added nearly 6 million new subscribers. In the last quarter, it recorded a profit of $1.5 billion with a total of 238 million subscribers.
According to a report by news agency Agence France-Presse, earlier this year the company complained that more than 100 million households were sharing accounts at the service.
“Let’s face it, the crackdown on passwords is working,” Navellier and Associates chief investment officer Louis Navellier was quoted as saying in the report. “I was ecstatic with the results; I think they hit the ball out of the park with subscriber growth.”
In its earning statement, the company said that the policy would expand to all its markets worldwide.
In some countries, Netflix has introduced “borrower” or “shared” accounts, in which subscribers can add extra viewers for a higher price or transfer viewing profiles to new accounts.
As companies put more effort towards securing their data networks, cyber-attacks are also becoming more sophisticated with time
With digital engagement and internet usage growing in the country, a significant number of companies and organisations have registered a rise in cyber attacks, which include ransomware attempts, The Times of India (ToI) has reported citing a US-based data security and cloud data management firm, Rubrik.
Talking about the growing instances of cyber attacks, the company said that Indian companies are increasingly facing internet-based attacks which have caused loss of data and business customers to these organisations.
Elaborating on the subject, co-founder and CEO of Rubrik told ToI, “In India, 26 per cent of respondents reported their organisations experienced more than 100 attempted cyber attacks within the last year alone and 51 per cent of companies suffered a loss of customers as a result of a cyber attack.”
Sinha added that as reliance on data-heavy technologies grows, the possibility of a cyber attack also multiplies. He said that rather than trying to completely eliminate the risk of a cyber attack, these companies should focus on minimising the impact of such an attack.
As companies put more effort towards protecting their data networks, cyber-attacks are also becoming more sophisticated with time. In such a situation, taking the risk of a ransomware attack to absolute zero is a near possible task. The ask of the situation is that organisations expect and prepare themselves for such an attack, Sinha told ToI.
Cyber attacks include a variety of mechanisms that intend to compromise the victim’s data. Different types of cyber attacks include malware, phishing, man-in-the-middle attack, denial-of-service attack, SQL injection, zero-day exploit, DNS tunnelling etc.
South Korean electronics maker Samsung on Thursday announced that its Wallet and Thermo Check apps are coming to the Galaxy Watch series. In addition, the WearOS based smartwatches in the line to get instant messaging app WhatsApp.
“A range of new apps for its Galaxy Watch series will bring more responsive, adaptable and multi-functional smartwatch experiences for Galaxy users. With Samsung Wallet, Thermo Check and WhatsApp, users can do more than ever straight from their wrist,” said Samsung.
Samsung had last year integrated its Pay and Pass services into one app, called Samsung Wallet, for its smartphones. The app is now coming to Galaxy Watch series. It will debut with the new Galaxy Watch series, which is set to arrive on July 26 at its Galaxy Unpacked Seoul. The Samsung Wallet app enables users to make payments, store identity documents, and more.
Samsung said, the Thermo Check app would allow users to measure the temperature of their surroundings, from meals they are about to eat to water they are about to swim in, all without any physical contact required. Like the Samsung Wallet app, the Thermo Check will be available first on the upcoming Galaxy Watch devices. It would later be available for the Galaxy Watch5 series.
As for WhatsApp, it is now available for the company’s WearOS-based smartwatches, the Galaxy Watch5 series and Galaxy Watch4 series. The app will let users continue conversations, reply to messages by voice and even answer calls, all without needing to take out their phones, said Samsung.
WhatsApp for smartwatches was announced on July 19. It is available only on devices running Wear OS 3 or later. The app has been rolled out worldwide. The WhatsApp Wear OS app was launched as beta during Google’s developer-focused I/O conference. Wear OS, is Google’s operating system for wearables.
