Md Waquar Haider
Senior Sub Editor at TECHLUSIVE India. You can reach out to me at Twitter - @waquarhaider10
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Vivo V27 series to launch in India on March 1: Check expected price, specifications and more
Vivo has finally confirmed that its upcoming Vivo V27 series is set to launch on March 1 in India. The lineup is expected to include three models: the Vivo V27, Vivo V27 Pro and Vivo V27e. As per reports on the Internet, Vivo V27 will be priced at around Rs 30,000. On the other hand,
AUTHOR: MD WAQUAR HAIDER| Posted January 19, 2026
Paytm wins regulator extension for payment aggregator licence application
Indian financial technology company Paytm Payments Services Ltd has received an extension from the country's banking regulator to apply for a payment aggregator licence and aims to reapply in about 15 days, the company said on Sunday. Paytm Payments Services, in the meantime, can continue with the online payment aggregation business for its existing partners,
AUTHOR: MD WAQUAR HAIDER| Posted January 19, 2026
UPI LITE is not an alternative, but an add-on to UPI: Paytm executive
Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) recently launched UPI LITE, a new feature enabled by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) that uses UPI's platform to facilitate multiple low-value transactions quickly and without a PIN. While some might see it as a competitor to the conventional UPI transactions, Paytm thinks otherwise. During our conversation, the
AUTHOR: MD WAQUAR HAIDER| Posted January 19, 2026
WhatsApp working on new 'audio chats' feature on Android
Meta-owned WhatsApp is reportedly working on a new feature called "audio chats", which will be available within conversations in a future update of the application on Android. According to WABetaInfo, a new waveforms icon will be added to the chat header, allowing users to initiate audio chats, plus users will see a red button for
AUTHOR: MD WAQUAR HAIDER| Posted January 19, 2026
Applications open for seventh batch of Google startups accelerator India
Tech giant Google on Monday announced to invite applications for the seventh batch of its startup accelerator programme in India that aims to nurture startups looking to leverage the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). Google for Startups Accelerator (GFSA) is a three-month, equity-free accelerator programme for Seed to Series A tech
AUTHOR: MD WAQUAR HAIDER| Posted January 19, 2026
Realme C55 with Helio G88 SoC goes on sale in India: Check price, specs and more
The Realme C55 will be available for purchase for the first time today in the country exclusively through Realme Store and Flipkart. The most noteworthy feature of the phone is its iPhone 14 Pro's notch-like mini-capsule with dynamic light. This mini capsule shows a variety of information such as daily steps, battery levels, charging levels,
AUTHOR: MD WAQUAR HAIDER| Posted January 19, 2026
Galaxy A54 5G, Galaxy A34 5G first sale in India starts today: All you need to know
Galaxy A54 5G and Galaxy A34 5G, Samsung's latest Galaxy A series smartphones are all set to go on sale in India starting today. Potential customers will be able to get their hands on the devices via Flipkart, Samsung's own e-store, and major retail outlets. The Samsung Galaxy A54 sports a larger 6.6-inch SuperAMOLED panel
AUTHOR: MD WAQUAR HAIDER| Posted January 19, 2026
Apple releases iOS 16.4 update with voice isolation for calls and more
Apple has released its new iOS 16.4 update which includes new features such as a new set of emojis, web push notifications, voice isolation for cellular calls, and much more. Users can update to the latest version by navigating to Settings, General and then the Software Update, reports TechCrunch. With the new iOS 16.4 update,
AUTHOR: MD WAQUAR HAIDER| Posted January 19, 2026
Microsoft lays off 559 employees as Seattle-area job cuts top 2,700
Microsoft has laid off 559 employees from its Bellevue and Redmond in Washington state in the US, bringing the company's total to over 2,700 job cuts in the area. The layoffs, announced by the Washington State Employment Security Department, hit Microsoft's security operations, reports The Seattle Times. The company in February announced a prior round
AUTHOR: MD WAQUAR HAIDER| Posted January 19, 2026
Samsung to soon unveil tri-foldable smartphone: Report
Samsung is reportedly working on a new tri folding Galaxy smartphone. According to LetsGoDigital, Samsung has filed an extensive patent with the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) that details its new foldable smartphone. The handset is expected to feature three separate screens that can unfold out to become one large and seamless display. The device
AUTHOR: MD WAQUAR HAIDER| Posted January 19, 2026
Microsoft brings ads to its Bing chat
Microsoft has announced that it is bringing ads to its AI-powered Bing chat, its new search agent powered by OpenAI's GPT-4. Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft corporate vice president, in a blogpost said, the company is "exploring placing ads in the chat experience to share the ad revenue with partners whose content contributed to the chat response".
AUTHOR: MD WAQUAR HAIDER| Posted January 19, 2026
Realme C55 Review: An exceptionally well-rounded budget smartphone
India's smartphone shipments declined nine percent year-on-year (YoY) to reach over 152 million units in 2022. According to the latest research from Counterpoint's Market Monitor service, the YoY decline, which is the second ever in India's smartphone market, can be attributed to the decline in entry-level and budget segments that faced supply constraints at the
AUTHOR: MD WAQUAR HAIDER| Posted January 19, 2026
Twitter makes most of its recommendation algorithms open source
Twitter has finally made most of its recommendation algorithm open source which is now available for independent third parties and users. According to Twitter CEO Elon Musk, many embarrassing issues will be discovered, but we "will fix them fast"."Acid test is that independent third parties should be able to determine, with reasonable accuracy, what will
AUTHOR: MD WAQUAR HAIDER| Posted January 19, 2026
Samsung to launch Galaxy S23 FE with Exynos chip: Report
Tech giant Samsung will reportedly launch the Fan Edition of the S23 series which will feature the Exynos chip, in the fourth quarter of this year. As reported by SamMobile, the upcoming Galaxy S23 FE will be powered by Exynos 2200 chip in all markets, including the US. The Exynos 2200 was the tech giant's
AUTHOR: MD WAQUAR HAIDER| Posted January 19, 2026
YouTube expands 'Analytics for Artists' tool to help artists measure their performance
Google-owned YouTube has announced that it is expanding its "Analytics for Artists" tool by adding YouTube Shorts-related data to the Total Reach metric, providing artists with an overview of how their music is reaching audiences across all formats on YouTube. "As of this month, 'Analytics for Artists' Total Reach metrics from YouTube include fan-uploaded Shorts.
AUTHOR: MD WAQUAR HAIDER| Posted January 19, 2026
WhatsApp improves readability of messages in community announcement groups
Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp is rolling out a new full-width messaging interface for community announcement groups to some best testers on iOS beta, which will improve the readability of conversations. Now, when beta testers open a community announcement group, message bubbles will cover the full width of the screen and the profile icon will be
AUTHOR: MD WAQUAR HAIDER| Posted January 19, 2026
Google CEO Sundar Pichai promises more capable Bard AI chatbot soon
After facing criticism about his ChatGPT rival called Bard, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said that the company will soon release more capable AI models. Bard was released for the public on March 21 but failed to garner the attention won by OpenAI's ChatGPT and Microsoft's Bing chatbot. "We clearly have more capable
AUTHOR: MD WAQUAR HAIDER| Posted January 19, 2026
WhatsApp bans record over 4.5 million bad accounts in India in February
Meta-owned WhatsApp banned a record over 45 lakh bad accounts in India in February, in compliance with the new IT Rules 2021, the company informed. Between February 1 and February 28, "4,597,400 WhatsApp accounts were banned and 1,298,000 of these accounts were proactively banned, before any reports from users", WhatsApp said in its monthly compliance
AUTHOR: MD WAQUAR HAIDER| Posted January 19, 2026
Twitter bans record over 6.8 lakh accounts in India amid major overhaul
Struggling to become profitable under Elon Musk as it takes drastic decisions which have infuriated users, Twitter banned a record 682,420 accounts promoting child sexual exploitation and non-consensual nudity in India between January 26 and February 25. The micro-blogging platform, going through a churning under Musk, also took down 1,548 accounts for promoting terrorism on
AUTHOR: MD WAQUAR HAIDER| Posted January 19, 2026
Twitter may give $1,000 checkmark free to 10K most-followed firms
Elon Musk-run Twitter is reportedly planning to give a $1,000 checkmark free to the top 10,000 organisations by follower count. The top 500 advertisers on the microblogging platform will also allegedly not have to pay $1000 a month for the privilege of retaining their verified status and checkmarks, reports The Verge. The decision comes as
AUTHOR: MD WAQUAR HAIDER| Posted January 19, 2026
