Reliance Jio-Google Phone Rumours, Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 India Sales, Airtel 30GB Free Data, and More: Your 360 Daily

As part of the ‘Airtel Surprise’ offer, the country’s leading telecom operator is giving postpaid customers up to 30GB of data free of cost. The data is provided over a period of three months, with monthly cap of 10GB. This data will be in addition to the data bundled with their regular plan. To claim the free data, Airtel postpaid customers need the MyAirtel app; users have till March 31 to claim the offer.

With that offer covered, here's what else you need to know about the biggest tech news of the day:

Reliance Jio, Google said to be working on affordable 4G phone
Telecom upstart Reliance Jio and search giant Google have reportedly tied up to develop an affordable Android smartphone that will work only on the Jio network. This comes after Google CEO Sundar Pichai had said in January this year that there is a need for $30 (approximately Rs. 2,000) smartphones in the country. The report says that the low-cost Jio-Google Android phone will be launched by year-end, and will come with preloaded Jio apps. It adds that the move will help Google reach out to a larger audience, while the Google branding will help Jio sell the phone better. 

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 India sales cross 1 million
Xiaomi has claimed that its Redmi Note 4 smartphone is the fastest to reach the 1 million sales mark in the country. The company says the handset achieved the feat within 45 of going on sale, adding that the sales within this time period imply one unit was sold every 4 seconds. Xiaomi had previously said that it sold 250,000 units of Redmi Note 4 in 10 minutes on the day of its first flash sale on January 23. Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 comes in three storage/RAM variants and four colour options, and is sold on Flipkart and Mi.com.

Apple reportedly launching new products next week
In line with an earlier report that Apple will launch new iPhone and iPad models in March, a report – citing unnamed supply chain analysts – claims that the company will unveil new products between March 20 and March 24. However, the press invites for the event are yet to be sent, which is not in line with Apple’s usual practice of sending media invites at least 10 days ahead of launch. For this, the report says that the Cupertino-based manufacturer may send the invites soon or may unveil products without a media event. Devices expected at the launch include a new red colour variant of iPhone 7, an iPhone SE model with 128GB storage, and new iPad Pro models.

Idea to provide free incoming calls on roaming from April 1
Idea Cellular has announced that it will make incoming calls on roaming within India free starting April 1. With this move, Idea joins Airtel and Reliance Jio in abolishing charges on incoming calls while roaming. Apart from this, Idea also launched international roaming packs with unlimited incoming calls, and bundled outgoing calls, SMS, and data plans. The roaming calls start at Rs. 1,199 with 10 validity and go up to Rs. 5,999 for 30 day validity.

Google’s Android Taste Test will give you the best of Android
Google has launched a new online tool called Android Taste Test that will recommend launchers, widgets, and icons to users as per their personalities. The tool asks users a series of questions, such as whether you prefer a ‘Warm’ tone or ‘Cool’, and suggests a series of Android apps and launchers from Google Play to spruce up your device. The tool can be found on the Android website. 

Intel to buy Mobileye for $15 billion
Intel has agreed to buy Israel-based car tech firm Mobileye for $15 billion (roughly Rs. 99,348 crores), a move that is being seen as the chipmaker’s commitment towards technology behind self-driving cars. The two companies, which had worked together in the past with BMW on self-driving cars, said, together, they could provide autonomous driving technology at a lower cost. Intel’s acquisition of Mobileye is expected to close in the next nine months.

Luxury brand Vertu sold to Turkish businessman for GBP 50 million
Luxury phone brand Vertu has been sold to Baferton, the investment company of Turkish businessman Hakan Uzan. The brand has been sold for GBP 50 million (roughly Rs. 402.65 crores). Uzan is the latest in a series of Vertu owners, the previous being Godin Holdings and EQT. In a statement, the Turkish businessman said that he looks forward to working with the Vertu team and providing investment to help the brand realise its full potential.