Vikas SN

TECHNOLOGY

Elon Musk's xAI rolls out Android app for Grok but some key features are missing

Grok's Android beta app lacks key features such as voice mode, which is currently garnering significant attention, as well as reasoning capabilities like the Think and DeepSearch features for now.

BUSINESS

UK-India FTA important, but not essential given robust bilateral trade: UK investment minister Poppy Gustafsson

The UK Minister for Investments, Poppy Gustafsson, said she hopes to see more young professionals traveling between the UK and India.

STARTUP

You need a credit score of over 750 to work at Kunal Shah's Cred

Cred, which caters to India's affluent consumers, currently allows only people with a credit score of 750 and above to sign up for its product.

TECHNOLOGY

Google restructures its government affairs & public policy team in India amid expansion push

India is Google's largest market in terms of user base for its products. The tech giant has also invested billions of dollars in the country to help bring hundreds of millions of people and local businesses online in recent years.

BUSINESS

Games24x7, A23, Junglee Games take Tamil Nadu to court over new real-money gaming rules

Earlier this month, Tamil Nadu had notified a set of state-specific regulations that introduced time and usage curbs on real-money gaming platforms.

TECHNOLOGY

Meta to build engineering teams in India with new Bengaluru office

India is the biggest user market for Meta with over a billion users across its family of products that include Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger.

STARTUP

Delta Corp to sell Adda52 parent firm to A23 owner Head Digital Works for Rs 491 crore

Following the completion of the merger, Delta Corp will own 5.7% stake in Head Digital Works, which has over 75 million users across its online rummy and poker platforms.

TECHNOLOGY

Google unveils new Bengaluru campus Ananta, one of its largest offices globally

With over a billion users, India is Google's largest market in terms of user base for its products. It is also a critical region for the future growth of the search giant, especially in its artificial intelligence efforts.

TECHNOLOGY

Elon Musk's X nearly doubles X Premium+ price in India after Grok 3 launch

X Premium+ is currently available in India for Rs 3,470 per month, a significant jump from Rs 1,750 per month earlier. Annual plan has also been increased from Rs 18,300 per year to Rs 34,340 per year.

STARTUP

Pocket FM parent firm expands into webcomics with Pocket Toons

Pocket Toons, an AI-first comics platform, marks Pocket Entertainment’s latest move toward its ambition of becoming a full-fledged entertainment company

TECHNOLOGY

Meta says its 50,000-km subsea cable project will accelerate India's digital infrastructure growth

Meta has announced a multi-billion, multi-year investment in Project Waterworth which aims to bring connectivity to India, the United States, Brazil, South Africa, and other key regions.

TECHNOLOGY

Reddit to open an office in Bengaluru, hire local teams amid India push

Sources said that Reddit is building out a team that can help deliver culturally relevant local experiences in the country, similar to a few other markets.

TECHNOLOGY

India tops Snapchat's AR lens charts; developer community up 50% in 2 years: Bobby Murphy

India is Snap's second-largest market for the AR developer community. A few developers are already building experiences for the Spectacles AR glasses that run on Snap OS.

BUSINESS

Tamil Nadu's new rules for real-money games: Blank hours, mandatory KYC norms, ban on minors, more

real-money gaming platforms have to impose 'blank hours' between midnight and 5 am, disabling login during these restricted five hours.

ENTERTAINMENT

Amazon MX Player bets on shoppable videos to drive growth in India as competition intensifies

Amazon MX Player is a key part of the online retail giant’s strategy to boost its digital advertising revenue in the country.

BUSINESS

Krafton partners Kuku FM to expand BGMI universe with audiobook

Krafton has announced an audiobook adaptation of BGMI, 'BGMI: Lone Survivor', one of the first adaptations of a video game IP into an audiobook in the country

TECHNOLOGY

Google parent to spend $75 billion in 2025 to accelerate its AI efforts

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai praised DeepSeek but emphasised that Gemini offers some of the most efficient models, including Gemini Flash 2.0 and Flash Thinking 2.0

BUSINESS

Snapchat parent elevates Ajit Mohan as chief business officer

Ajit Mohan will be responsible for growing Snap's advertising business across all regions and leading the social media company's revenue product and business operations organisations

TECHNOLOGY

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek: Confident India will be a substantial business in the long term

Spotify reported its first full year of profitability in 2024 since its launch in 2008. Daniel Ek stated that 2025 will be the year of 'accelerated execution,' with a focus on doubling down on music-related experiences.

BUSINESS

Netflix bets on high-profile shows, films to attract Indian consumers amid rising competition

Netflix has unveiled its 2025 lineup of movies and TV series for the Indian market, which is emerging as a crucial region for its future growth.

BUSINESS

Nazara Tech's Nodwin to acquire StarLadder for Rs 46.75 crore to ramp up esport events

Nazara Tech's esports subsidiary Nodwin Gaming has sought to expand its offerings in India and international markets through a series of acquisitions and investments over the past few years.

STARTUP

Ashneer Grover’s reality show, Titan Story to headline Amazon MX Player's 100 series lineup for 2025

Amazon MX Player unveiled its 2025 lineup of over 100 new shows, which will include 40 new Hindi originals and returning seasons of prominent TV series.

TECHNOLOGY

Meta's Threads now has over 320 million monthly active users, says Mark Zuckerberg

Threads has been adding new features to draw users from X while fending off competition from emerging social platforms such as Bluesky in recent months