Deepika: Being an athlete played a big role in shaping my personality

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Deepika: Being an athlete played a big role in shaping my personality

Deepika Padukone pridefully announces to the world her recent association with the 3-stripes family. She exultantly feels that this alliance helps her connect back with the athlete and fitness enthusiast in her.

Adidas joined forces with the global star as her modern and fierce feminist spirit, grit, resilience and active lifestyle choices resonates closely with the brand’s core message – ‘Impossible is Nothing’.

This high-watt partnership between the icon and iconic aims to break down barriers, set new standards, explore limitless possibilities, and empower women all across the globe, both physically and emotionally.

Sports has always been an integral part of Padukone’s life, who took to social media to share, “Being an athlete and playing sport has played a tremendous role in shaping my personality and helping me become the person I am today. It has taught me values that no other life experience could have.

“Today, fitness, both physical and emotional, are an integral part of my lifestyle. I am absolutely honoured and delighted to be partnering with one of the world’s most iconic brands – Adidas,” she added.

With this, Padukone joins the league of exemplary women athletes and personalities from around the globe, who have always made an effort to voice women’s hopes, aspirations and passions, backing their free spirit and rebellious streak. For Adidas, Deepika made the most fitting choice because she embodies vitality, resilience, and compassion. Besides, the brand admired her zeal and positive energy, which anchored her during her incredulously transformational personal journey. It makes her one of the most accessible and relatable icons across the globe, sharing how inner strength and fitness helped her to cope with life’s tough moments.

Expressing her excitement over this recent partnership, she commented on her Instagram post, “When I was planning my wedding about three years ago, we kept it a secret for a while. Even that wasn’t as difficult as keeping this announcement a secret! Now, I feel relieved that this news is finally out!”

Taking forward the brand’s message, Padukone’s presence takes it forward, which is strongly focused on democratising and diversifying sports for women through inspiring personalities. With these shared values, the star-brand duo is set to create a synergy that inspires both current and future generations to follow their passion uninhibitedly.

“As a global youth icon and someone who champions mental well-being and personal betterment, Deepika fits in beautifully with the brand’s ambition of creating positive change through sports and movement. We are thrilled to have Deepika join the Adidas family and together, we hope to inspire more women to see and realise their possibilities,” said Sunil Gupta, Senior Director, Brand Adidas, India.

Krafton to launch ‘PUBG: New State’ globally on Nov 11

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Krafton to launch ‘PUBG: New State’ globally on Nov 11

South Korean game developer Krafton on Friday announced that its upcoming game ‘PUBG: New State’ will officially launch on iOS and Android in more than 200 countries on November 11.

Developed by PUBG Studios, the same company that created the highly successful PUBG: Battlegrounds battle royale video game for PC and consoles, ‘PUBG: New State’ will launch as a free-to-play next-generation mobile game in 17 different languages.

“PUBG: New State inherits the core of the PUBG IP and will have a competitiveness in and of itself on the global market.

“Krafton will continue to produce games that will be enjoyed by players across the world. We’re committed to offering an expanded experience based on the belief that games will become the most powerful type of media,” CH Kim, CEO Krafton said in a statement.

The company earlier announced that PUBG: New State has surpassed more than 50 million pre-registrations on iOS and Android as of the online showcase. Pre-registrations originally opened in February 2021 when Krafton formally revealed the game.

Krafton said the game recreates PUBG: Battleground’s original Battle Royale experience, making it the most realistic battle royale game on mobile.

The company also mentioned that it has been investing heavily in the development of Indian gaming, e-sports and IT entertainment industries with the establishment of its Indian office.

The company recently announced that after making it available for Android users, its Battlegrounds Mobile India is now available for iOS users.

Apple to launch iPhone SE 3 in Q1 2022 with LCD display

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Apple to launch iPhone SE 3 in Q1 2022 with LCD display

Cupertino-based tech giant Apple is reportedly planning to launch a new iPhone SE model with an LCD display, upgraded connectivity and internals in 2022.

The new phone will have the new chipset — the 5nm A15 Bionic, adding support for 5G networks. Price-wise, the phone is expected to cost the same as the iPhone SE (2020) in China and around the world — CNY3, $299 or $399, reports GSMArena.

Despite expectations for a small form factor, the new device will most likely be based on the iPhone XR design.

The Apple iPhone SE 3 will feature 5G connectivity instead of 4G seen in the iPhone SE 2020. The smartphone is also expected to come with improved performance with upgraded internals.

The upcoming iPhone is expected to feature a 4.7-inch LCD with bottom and top bezels, Touch-ID sensor/home button in the same aluminum body.

The production for the SE 3 should start around December 2021.

The iPhone SE (2020) is powered by Apple’s A13 Bionic chipset with a third-generation neural engine. It houses two cameras, one on the back and the other one at the front.

Am sure Indian T20 team has lots of respect for Pakistan: Rahane

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Am sure Indian T20 team has lots of respect for Pakistan: Rahane

Ahead of the clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan in the ICC T20 World Cup on October 24 at the Dubai International Stadium, India cricketer Ajinkya Rahane has said that Virat Kohli’s side should not take Babar Azam’s team lightly, adding that “past records don’t matter” in the shortest format.

India have won all their World Cup matches against Pakistan be it the One-day Internationals (7-0) or the T20 Internationals (5-0). Though Pakistan are short on match practice after New Zealand and England recently cancelled their white-ball series, they have more than made it by playing the National T20 Cup.

Besides, Pakistan have played most of their international cricket for the last several years in the UAE, which became their home ground after team’s stopped touring the country in the wake of the terror attack on the Sri Lankan team in 2009. Knowing the conditions well makes the Babar Azam-led side one of the favourites.

“Whenever we play against any team, the past records don’t matter. We always focus on the present, our strategies, strengths, how the conditions are going to be etc. Media creates a bit of the hype whereas the dressing room remains quiet. Focus is always on how well we can do as a team on that particular day,” Rahane said on Salaam Cricket in Dubai on Friday.

“I’m sure India against Pakistan match will be a good one. I’m obviously backing India to win the match but personally, I believe no team should be taken lightly. And I’m sure the Indian T20 team has as much respect for Pakistan as it has for any other team,” Rahane added.

Rahane said that the conditions in the UAE were almost similar to that in India, and having played the IPL there, the 2007 World T20 champions will quickly adjust to the settings.

“Pakistan players have played quite a bit of cricket here in the UAE so they have an idea. But we also know how to adapt to these conditions as they aren’t much different from India. Those who have played the IPL 2021 have an advantage here in the T20 World Cup,” he added.

Twitter acquires group chat app Sphere

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Twitter acquires group chat app Sphere

In a bid to strengthen its Communities, micro-blogging site Twitter has acquired a chat app called Sphere, which was co-founded by British serial entrepreneur Nick D’Aloisio.

Incorporated in 2016, Sphere started out as a real-time question and answer app that involved micropayments before it pivoted to become more of a group chat app, CNBC reported.

Between 2017 and 2019, it raised around $30 million from investors including Index Ventures, Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky, Tinder co-founder Sean Rad and Sequoia venture capitalist Mike Moritz.

“It’s really important and necessary in order to achieve impact to partner with the right companies at the right time that have similar visions and ideas,” D’Aloisio told CNBC.

Roughly 500,000 people used the first version of the app, D’Aloisio said, but he declined to comment on the latest user numbers.

The terms of the deal, which was announced on Wednesday and will see approximately 20 Sphere employees join Twitter, have not been disclosed. But D’Aloisio claimed “everyone is happy”.

Sphere said in a blogpost that it will be “winding down” its standalone product in November as a result of the acquisition.

“Obviously Sphere was our own thing and that’s no longer relevant to what Twitter is trying to achieve,” D’Aloisio said.

The entrepreneur added that he and his team will work alongside Twitter employees to try to take the “vision” they had at Sphere and “integrate that into various parts” of Twitter.

Nick Caldwell, vice president of engineering at Twitter, announced the acquisition of Sphere via his company’s social network.

“The Sphere team’s expertise and leadership’s passion for finding ways to help people connect will help accelerate our Communities, DM and Creators roadmaps,” he said.

Google Play commission cut still a ‘Lagaan’ on developers: ADIF

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Google Play commission cut still a ‘Lagaan’ on developers: ADIF

The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF), an industry body for more than 440 digital startups, on Friday hit out at Google, calling its Play Store commission cut a deflect and distract tactic — nothing but a reduced ‘Lagaan’.

The search engine giant Google has announced that it will cut the service fee for all subscriptions on Play Store to 15 per cent from 30 per cent for app developers starting January 1, 2022.

In a statement, Sijo Kuruvilla George, Executive Director, ADIF, said that the fact that Google is able to unilaterally declare and dictate prices, as is evident from this announcement as well, lies at the heart of the issue.

“What developers are asking for is fairness and not benevolence in the form of ‘reduced’ commission percentages. It has never been about the percentages. Price discovery should be left to the market forces,” he argued.

“As long as Google gets to unilaterally dictate prices and people don’t have choices, it’s still a ‘Lagaan’ – be it 30, 15 or even 2, the percentages do not matter,” George added.

In a blog post late on Thursday, Google had said that to help support the specific needs of developers offering subscriptions, starting on January 1, 2022, “we’re decreasing the service fee for all subscriptions on Google Play from 30 per cent to 15 per cent starting from day one”.

In addition, Google announced that ebook and music streaming apps would be eligible for a service fee as low as 10 per cent.

Apple already offers reduced 15 per cent subscription fees, but that’s limited to developers who are part of its App Store Small Business Programme, which is available to those who earn up to but don’t exceed $1 million in a calendar year.

In India, start-ups have been claiming that Google abuses its monopoly, enforcing the billing system. Google had said this wasn’t new and its payments policy has always required this.

George further said that “deflect and distract” seems to be what’s in play here.

“The portrayal and grandstanding, as a measure that fully acknowledges and addresses the concerns of developers, is misleading and objectionable,” he added.

The announcement might come as a source of happiness for the subset of developers who are already on the Google billing system. The cut will improve their margins – should they fall into the “right” categories that the company deemed fit for Google’s relaxation in margins.

“The announcement does nothing to address the issues and challenges of scores of developers who stand to be affected by the earlier announcement by Google of forced adoption of their billing system by March 2022,” the ADIF stressed.

Moreover, apart from the additional work they would have to undertake, both with integration and re-onboarding of customers, almost all of them would see their margins get thinner owing to migrating to a much higher commission rate (30 per cent/15 per cent) from the present rates (1 per cent-2 per cent) being levied by their existing payment providers, the industry body elaborated.

“The differential pricing system that Google is attempting to implement with this announcement is also unfair and arbitrary,” it said.

The ADIF urged Google to pay heed to the concerns of all developers, and not just the ones already on their billing system.

Bring on Virat Kohli & Babar Azam, says Scotland’s Mark Watt

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Bring on Virat Kohli & Babar Azam, says Scotland’s Mark Watt

Scotland are going to be brutal and will go for “a few upsets” when they begin the ‘Super 12’ campaign in the ICC T20 World Cup on October 27, asserted their left-arm spinner Mark Watt after their emphatic eight-wicket win against Oman with three overs to spare.

Debutants Scotland have been on a roll in the First Round Group B matches, steamrolling their opponents and winning all three games in the preliminary round to qualify for the ‘Super 12s’ as leaders of the pool.

On Thursday (October 21), Scotland first restricted co-hosts Oman to 122 and then smashed the required runs for the loss of two wickets and with three overs to spare.

Talking about his side’s prospects in ‘Super 12s’, Watt said with confidence that, “I think we are going to make a few upsets. I don’t see why not. We’ve done it before. We’ve beaten the best ODI team in the world; we’ve beaten Bangladesh just there. I think we’re on a really good run of form.”

He warned the big teams in ‘Super 12s’ to beware Scotland’s potential.

“Yeah, I think teams won’t take us lightly. Yeah, they should be worried about Scotland. We’re in a great run of form and we’ve got a lot of momentum going forward, so yeah,” added Watt.

Watt said that his side will not be overawed by powerful teams such as Virat Kohli’s India or Babar Azam’s Pakistan, adding that he wants to challenge them.

“I mean, that’s why you play the game, isn’t it, to play against big stars (Virat Kohli, Babar Azam and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson). You want to challenge yourself with the best, and they certainly are the best in the world. All the guys are just absolutely buzzing to showcase their skills against the whole world. That’s why you want to get into the World Cup is to play against the best teams and the best players in the whole world to challenge yourself,” added Watt.

Watt said the strategy of the side in ‘Super 12s’ would remain the same as in the Group games, adding that Scotland doesn’t need to do “anything else differently”.

“I don’t think we need to do anything else differently. We’ve won three out of three, beaten a top-six nation in Bangladesh, so I don’t think we need to change anything. If anything, Bangladesh need to change a few things because they’ve struggled in this group like we knew they would. Associate cricket is tough, and yeah, I think we just need to keep doing what we’re doing,” he added.

Snap’s stock nosedives 22% as Apple privacy changes hit ad biz

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Snap’s stock nosedives 22% as Apple privacy changes hit ad biz

Snap Inc, the parent company of Snapchat, saw its stock tumbling 22 per cent after missing revenue expectations for its third-quarter (Q3) earnings. However, daily active users on Snapchat rose 23 per cent (year-over-year) to 306 million.

The shares fell as Apple’s iPhone privacy changes disrupted Snap’s advertising business.

In an earnings call late on Thursday, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said that the company missed the lower end of its guidance due to a few key factors, including changes to advertising tracking on iOS and macroeconomic factors that have impacted our advertising partners.

“Our advertising business was disrupted by changes to iOS and tracking that were broadly rolled out by Apple in June and July. While we anticipated some degree of business disruption, the new Apple provided measurement solution did not scale as we had expected, making it more difficult for our advertising partners to measure and manage their ad campaigns for iOS,” he elaborated.

He admitted that the impact was compounded by the ongoing macroeconomic effects of the global pandemic, with its advertising partners facing a variety of supply chain interruptions and labour shortages.

“The ongoing magnitude and duration of these global supply and labor disruptions are inherently unpredictable and in the meantime, we are focused on supporting our partners in this uncertain environment,” the Snap CEO said.

The company generated total revenue of $1.067 billion in Q3, an increase of 57 per cent year-over-year.

Despite the challenges, Snap crossed $1 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time.

For the fourth quarter of 2021, the company expects revenue to be $1.16-1.20 billion.

Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer ‘Anek’ to release on March 31, 2022

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Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer ‘Anek’ to release on March 31, 2022

Actor Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer ‘Anek’, directed by Anubhav Sinha, has been locked for March 31, 2022 release.

Ayushmann said: “It’s only once in a while that an actor comes across a story that makes him jump out of his comfort zone. While I have always backed novel stories, ‘Anek’ pushed me to perform with a renewed zest. It’s the kind of script that drives a person to give it your all. I am so proud that we’ve made a film like this and even more fortunate that I got the chance to headline it.”

Ayushmann said that ‘Anek’ is the kind of new age cinema that he believes in.

He added: “I am thankful to Anubhav Sir for choosing me to tell this special story and Bhushan Sir to be the support system we needed in our journey. Seeing our passion project go out to the world is so heartening.”

The film is touted to be a slick spy thriller, set against the geo-political backdrop of Northeast India.

Talking about the release date, Sinha said: “It was a challenging film to write and a difficult one to make. We shot it in rough terrain but what makes it special is that the takeaway was so gratifying. It was a delight to work with Ayushmann again who with his depiction of Joshua breathed life into the story.

‘Anek’ is jointly produced by Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series and Anubhav Sinha’s Benaras Mediaworks.

Producer Bhushan Kumar added: “It takes a true visionary to make a film like ‘Anek’. It’s a project I am incredibly proud to be a part of. Filmmaking is truly a celebration of diverse, spirited voices and I am glad we found a story like Anek to tell which will set a new benchmark.”

Talking about Ayushmann, Bhushan Kumar added: “Ayushmann is the ideal choice to play the lead because of his unmatched acting calibre. With a National Award under his belt, he has also proved to be an immensely bankable star and we are thrilled that he is part of an ambitious project like ‘Anek’.”

Twitter now lets anyone host a Space

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Twitter now lets anyone host a Space

Micro-blogging site Twitter has announced that its audio chatroom Spaces is now open to anyone who wants to host.

The Spaces team in a tweet said that the users on both Android and iOS will now be able to host Spaces.

“The time has arrived — we’re now rolling out the ability for everyone on iOS and Android to host a Space,” the firm said in a tweet.

Earlier this year, the company had limited access to hosting Spaces to accounts with at least 600 followers, saying that it found these accounts would be more likely to have a good experience due to the existing audience.

Twitter recently announced a new accelerator programme for creators on its audio conversation platform Spaces, to “discover and reward” around 150 creators with technical, financial and marketing support.

The ‘Twitter Spaces Spark’ programme is a three-month accelerator initiative.

Those selected will get a stipend of $2,500 per month, $500 in monthly ad credits to spend promoting their Spaces on Twitter and early access to new Twitter features.

They will also get support from Twitter’s official social media handles, and “opportunities for prioritised in-app discoverability for well-performing Spaces”.

Twitter has also announced plans to roll out paid Ticketed Spaces for iOS users where some hosts on its live audio feature can now sell access to Ticketed Spaces.

Twitter had previously said that it will take a 3 per cent cut of creators’ earnings from Ticketed Spaces.

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