Nokia today announced that WorldLink Communications, the largest broadband ISP in Nepal, has introduced Nokia WiFi Beacon 1.1 mesh access point to offer a seamless home Wi-Fi experience of its high-speed Photon services for subscribers in Nepal.
The internet service offers an unprecedented 300 MBPs speed for an enhanced broadband experience for Worldlink’s home and enterprise customers. With Beacon 1.1, WorldLink’s subscribers will be able to experience seamless internet connectivity inside their house to meet their work, study, and entertainment needs.
The number of connected devices on home Wi-Fi networks has increased as people increasingly operate from home for work, online-education, or access services online such as healthcare and retail. Indoor Wi-Fi coverage can be impacted in remote parts of the home or dead zones. The Beacon 1.1 uses Nokia’s WiFi Mesh technology to overcome barriers such as internal walls to deliver seamless and reliable internet connectivity for every device and improve the in-home Wi-Fi experience.
Also Read | Nokia reaches 4,000 5G essential patent families milestone
Manoj Agarwal, Executive Director, at Worldlink Communications Ltd., said, “After the outbreak of the pandemic last year, there is a growing dependency on high-speed broadband in our lives. With Nokia’s field-proven Beacon 1.1, our customers benefit from a reliable and fast indoor coverage. We will be able to further to delight our subscribers by launching new services like home surveillance and home automation.”
Vinish Bawa, Head of Emerging Business, India Market at Nokia, said, “We are excited to partner with WorldLink to use our industry-leading Nokia WiFi Beacon 1.1 router to offer Nepal’s best data plan to its customers. Our Wi-Fi mesh solution is helping WorldLink provide exceptional indoor coverage and speed while bringing down its expense on service. WorldLink is our longstanding partner and this initiative is helping us advance our relationship.”
Also Read: Want to hide images, videos by setting up Locked Folder? Know how
Are you looking for a way to hide your photos from others on your phone? If so, Google Photo’s new feature is for you.
Google Photos has been given a new feature – Locked Folder. It allows a person to store sensitive images and videos in a password protected space. In this, the content stored doesn’t appear in search on Google Photos, neither in any other folder on the device. The pictures stored in the locked folder can be taken out of it and deleted permanently. Also, it will not be transferred in USB to USB data transfer and will not be retained if the device undergoes a factory reset.
The feature was first announced this year in May at Google I/O event 2021 for Pixel phones. However, in late October, the search giant unveiled that the feature will be rolled out to all Android users. It will reach iOS users early next year.
How to set up a Locked Folder in Google Photos
If you wish to set up a Locked Folder and hide your images, it must be noted that this feature is currently only available on Google Pixels, from the Google Pixel 3 onwards. One must have the latest version of Google Photos installed on their device to set up a locked folder.
Step 1: Open Google Photos
Step 2: Go to Library > Utilities > Locked Folder
Step 3: Then, tap on Set up Locked Folder to proceed
Step 4: Set a password on the Locked Folder. You can use your device’s screen lock option, which can either be pattern, alphanumeric password, fingerprint unlock, or numeric PIN to set up the locked folder
Step 5: Now, select and add images to the Locked Folder which will not be visible in the gallery
Once the setup is done, you can move your existing photos and videos to the locked folder by tapping the Move items option. This will show you all the media content available on your device.
Also Read: OnePlus partners with Vikramaditya Motwane for feature film ‘2024’ shot on OnePlus 9 Pro 5G
OnePlus today announced its association with Vikramaditya Motwane’s Andolan Production as well as the Big Bad Wolf Studios and the Odd and Even Productions to produce a new feature film titled ‘2024’. The 60-minute action thriller is entirely shot on OnePlus, using the incredible camera capabilities of the OnePlus 9 Pro 5G.
Set in 2024, the film tells the endearing story of four youngsters who grew up together in an orphanage in Dharavi as they struggle to survive in a dystopian environment resulting from a mutating virus. The gripping tale of the film urges viewers to reflect on one’s learnings and takeaways from the recent pandemic experiences.
As a brand, OnePlus has pushed for the ultimate performance combined with the best user experience across all products. Made possible through the partnership with legendary professional camera manufacturer Hasselblad, the OnePlus 9 Pro 5G delivers the ultimate flagship camera experience of the OnePlus 9 Series, ensuring that it is ready to handle the most demanding tasks with ease. Keeping with the spirit of the brand, OnePlus is showcasing the exceptional potential of this device through a whole feature film shot entirely on the OnePlus 9 Pro 5G.
Navnit Nakra, India CEO and Head of India Region, OnePlus India, shared, “We at OnePlus are very excited to announce our partnership with Vikramaditya Motwane’s Andolan Production for the new feature film, “2024”. With the feature film being entirely shot on our flagship OnePlus 9 Pro 5G, we are delighted to showcase the exceptional camera quality of our flagship devices that offers more accurate colors and premium image quality to users. “Shot on OnePlus” has been one of the most successful photography and videography initiatives that we undertook. And it continues to hold a very special place in the hearts of our community. We are truly delighted to have partnered with Vikramaditya Motwane for this unique project. Mr Motwane’s creative vision and cinematic excellence not only garners immense industry recognition, but also serves as a source of inspiration for us at OnePlus and truly resonates with our brand’s Never Settle spirit. we hope this also inspires our community to push their own creative boundaries enabled by their OnePlus devices.”
Vikramaditya Motwane, Director, Andolan Films shared, “I am excited to associate with OnePlus and help me create the first Indian ‘Shot on OnePlus’ film. As a filmmaker, I have always been interested in using the latest technology and this film is a story where the use of the new OnePlus device fits beautifully. Our Director, Rohin Nair and the team are pretty enthusiastic to start this journey and we look forward to present the film soon to the audience.”
Featuring state-of-the-art hardware and meticulous software calibration from Hasselblad, the OnePlus 9 Pro 5G brings more perceptually accurate and natural-looking colors to the camera experience. The film is set to release on Tuesday, November 23 on Disney Hotstar India.
Also Read: HyperX announces Streamer Starter Pack for aspiring content creators
Gaming & esports brand HyperX today announced Streamer Starter Pack to the public. Exclusively available for sale at Amazon India, the pack includes HyperX Cloud Core gaming headset with DTS Headphone: X Spatial Audio and the HyperX SoloCast USB microphone for streamers and influencers looking for the great quality gear to start, enjoy, and grow their activities.
HyperX SoloCast USB microphone comes equipped with a standard plug-and-play audio recording setup, including a tap-to-mute sensor with an LED status indicator. Its design is based on a cardioid polar pattern that is ultra-sensitive to the sources of sound at its front, perfect for game voice chats, streaming, audio recordings for content creation, and so on. Keeping accessibility in mind, the microphone stand is built to fit a variety of setups, empowering users to make full use of it.
HyperX said, “We are delighted to bring our Streamer Starter Pack to the Indian market. At a competitive price of INR 11,490, our top-quality product will offer a well-built setup to casual/enthusiast gamers, online learning students, and WFH employees to pursue their passions.”
Also Read | HyperX offers up to 56% off for gaming peripherals on Amazon Prime Day
Apart from the SoloCast USB microphone, the Hyper Streamer Starter Pack comes bundled with a HyperX Cloud Core gaming headset stocked with 53mm drivers. One of its key features is DTS Headphone: X1 Spatial Audio two-year activation code that delivers lucid positional audio for a more realistic gaming experience. The headset is purposely built with soft leatherette, plush memory foam, and an aluminum frame to enhance durability and comfort. It also has a detachable noise-canceling mic and is compatible with PS5 and PS4.
Also Read: We provide single point for complete lifecycle for international financial transactions: SALT Co-founder
Travelling to a foreign country can be a rich and rewarding experience. However, one of the biggest hassles in international travel often ends up being figuring out how to pay for things abroad. What if you run out of cash or your card stop working? That’s how SALT came in presence.
SALT provides a one-stop shop to manage cross-border payments of Indian MSMEs which currently do international transactions worth $300Bn every year. The Fintech firm helps SMBs/ MSMEs with inward remittance products, helping these businesses receive money from over 50 countries and six currencies. It recently raised USD 500,000 (about Rs 3.7 crore) and is looking at strengthening its headcount to about 100 by the end of next year. Ankit Parasher, Co-founder, SALT, in an interview with Shweta Srivastava, talks about his business model and his plans to take SALT ahead of the curve. Excerpts:
How did the idea for SALT come about initially?
Udita and I have been friends for a long while and have professionally worked together. She often mentioned that as a consultant receiving payments from a foreign country has been an issue. Eventually, I got a first-hand experience myself while travelling internationally, and my card stopped working, as soon as I landed, and the relationship managers were equally helpless to resolve the issues for the entirety of the trip. We could only imagine how difficult it was for B2B companies to do global payments and after two years of research, 8 country travels, endless meetings, later we realised what we want to build and it was Salt, a cross border payment company.
Can you please elaborate your business model and the technology behind it?
We are providing single point for complete lifecycle for international financial transactions for our users. We would facilitate the payment and compliances with our partner network. For each transaction we charge a small fee.
How has been the response so far? Kindly share some success figures.
We have received hundreds of sign-ups; as a small team of six, which is rapidly growing, we are finding response overwhelming. We have closed over 50 clients in less than a week and currently are in the process of wrapping up the KYC of hundreds of people. We are actively hiring across multiple domains and are presently interviewing over 40 people a week for hiring purposes (both full-time and internship). Our WhatsApp community is growing, and our social media numbers are rising as we speak.
Since this business model is still at a growing stage in India, who all are your direct competitors?
Currently most of the users use existing banking channels for their transactions which comes with huge costs and hassles. For certain smaller B2B transactions, the problem has been partially solved by players like PayPal.
Tell us about the initial challenges you faced in terms of taking this product out in the market?
Users in this segment have been really helpful and forthcoming with their issues and have really helped us in building what’s ideal for them. Getting the right partnerships and navigating the regulatory framework in India to provide the experience they deserve has been the biggest challenge.
Also Read | “Getting a quality check done through AgriReach is as easy as taking an image”
How is SALT different from the rest of the players in this space? What’s your USP?
Till now the users have to run post to post to get each transaction done and work with multiple partners to complete every single transaction and still miss lot of things that would create issues. There is lot of friction that exists in the current banking system, especially for MSMEs. We provide them a one stop shop solution and with us they would be able to complete the whole transaction end to end with very few clicks.
Given how a rise in cybercrime cases have been a recent cause of concern, what are the safety measures taken by your platform to secure the data put up by the users?
Security and safety is paramount to us and we are employing the industry best practices and certifications for keeping each transaction and user data secure.
You have recently raised $500,000 in a pre-seed round, how are you planning to utilize these funds? What’s your expansion plan to make SALT large?
We will use this funding round to polish our product, hire senior talent, grow, and acquire more customers.
Currently, we are offering an inward remittance product; the aim is to expand to other use cases around outward remittances, compliances of global payments and support more currencies.
Brief us about your marketing plans?
We are a very community-driven company; during COVID, we helped many businesses set up their Social Media pages, Shopify accounts, Google Businesses, etc. As a result, their business community is actively in touch with us, onboarding them.
While online and offline marketing is a massive part of our business and helps with sales generation, we are more focused on assisting corporations to outside our product, build trust and execute on the go- goodwill and word of mouth are non- negotiable for us.
What is making you hopeful for 2022?
Post-COVID wave, we have seen an immense amount of businesses growing from our country. So the thesis of ‘built-in India; for the world’ is picking up, and we are leaving no stones unturned to represent the Indian company on a global scale and the experience it can provide.
2022 for us is about building SALT better. Although, currently, we are made for 52 and six currencies, hopefully, we will be growing out of this and representing a larger audience, having more customers and people with a better banking experience when it comes to global businesses.
Also Read: Google for India 2021: New translate features, YouTube Shorts, and more
Google hosted its 7th edition of annual ‘Google for India’ event today on November 18, 2021 where it announced new product updates focused on the Indian market. Like last year, this year also, the Google event was live streamed at its official YouTube channel.
This year, speakers at the event was Prabhakar Raghavan, Senior Vice President for Search at Google along with Google Fellow & Vice President Pandu Nayak. Google India Vice-President Sanjay Gupta was also a speaker on stage. In addition to this, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan too spoke at the event along with Union Minister of State at MeITY Rajeev Chandrashekhar.
“Look at how far we’ve come, together. And this time, we’re back with more product updates, more technology innovations and a growing commitment to India’s digital journey,” said Google India.
In this event, the tech giant introduced new features and services included in its portfolio. The company also made many new announcements in the event, which include new launches, updates and collaborations. Listed are all the latest updates related to the Google for India event.
Google Career certificates
Tech giant Google is working with Coursera in order to provide new courses for students to pick up skills for digital careers such as UX design, IT management, etc. The company plans to reach one million users with these courses and also offer scholarships.
Google Assistant allows to book vaccination slot in regional language
Google Search SVP Prabhakar Raghavan revealed the number of Indians using voice queries is 2X the global average. The Google Assistant will now support end-to-end vaccination appointments. The tech giant will now guide users to register an individual for Covid-19 vaccination through Google Assistant in their native language.
Google Search new feature
A new feature have been announced in Google Search. It will give users the option to access web pages that are originally written in other languages, and see them in their preferred language. Through this, users will be able to get their queries answered in their language.
Google Read Aloud feature in native language
Google will now read aloud search results in the user’s native language. The feature will work with Hindi language and will expand to more languages soon. As per the company, it will further work with any mobile browser.
Google Classroom gets new feature
In the made developments, the Google Classroom can now let users download class work with Internet. Google Search now also has Practice problem to get access to free learning content. Google is working to make this feature accessible with poor internet connectivity.
Google Look to Speak announced
Google announced a new app – Look to Speak – last year. It enable people living with speech and motor impairments to communicate through their phones. To choose pre-written phrases for their smartphone to speak out loud, users can use their eyes. The app will now support 5 more Indian languages.
Google to work on climate-related features
Product Manager, Crisis Response & Weather at Google Nofar Peled talked about Google’s commitment to being carbon-free by 2030. The company is working on a range of climate-related efforts in India. For severe weather events, an alert will show up on the Android smartphone. To show these results, Google is partnering with IMD.
Google Pay gets new feature
Google Pay users in India will soon be able to interact in Hinglish. It will be the first app at Google to have the Hinglish option. The tech giant said that the features will be rolled out to users in early 2022. Also, the app now supports the ability to split an expense using the Group feature that will come later. Google Pay is getting a My Shop feature where a small store merchant can showcase the entire inventory from the Google Pay app itself.
Google Coursera courses prices announced
The Coursera courses of Google will cost between Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000. It is also partnering with the Tech Mahindra and NASSCOM Foundation for scholarships.
YouTube Shorts launched
Short video platform YouTube Shorts has been launched in India by Google. Through this platform, users will be able to make videos of 60 or less seconds. Short videos can be made by clicking on the plus button of YouTube mobile.
Also Read: Tech NewsWrap: Microsoft Surface Go 3 launched in India
Microsoft Surface Go 3 two-in-one laptop that was announced globally in September, is now available to pre-order in India. As an upgrade to the Surface Go 2, the Surface Go 3 is rated to deliver 60 percent faster performance through the 10th-generation Intel Core i3 processor. The newly launched device is available in a Platinum finish, and pre-ordering customers will get a complimentary Surface Pen worth Rs 9,699.
Apple announces Self Service Repair program
Apple announced its Self Service Repair scheme on November 17, 2021. It will allow consumers to repair their iPhone, Mac on their own. The initial phase will include parts and components for iPhone 12, iPhone 13 handsets. The tech giant has confirmed that the Mac computers powered by its M1 chips will be eligible under the Self Service Repair program at a later stage. Customers who want to repair their iPhone 12, iPhone 13 on their own can order genuine parts via the Apple Self Service Repair Online Store.
Snapchat, during Snap Partner Summit, announced Layers, an upcoming feature set to offer personalized experience tied into the Snap Maps tab. Now, two of these features are rolling out for Snapchat users: Memories and a new Explore experience. While the Memories layer will show you old Snapchats that you sent from particular places, the Explore layer reimagines the heat map, which shows activity by relative volume on the Snap Map.
Ptron Bassbuds Duo True Wireless Earbuds launched in India
Ptron has launched its latest pair of affordable true wireless earbuds – Ptron Bassbuds Duo – in India. It comes with easy touch controls and inbuilt HD mics. The newly launched device sports a sweat and splash resistant design, and promise to offer a balanced sound experience. The new Ptron Bassbuds Duo TWS have been priced at Rs 2,200. However, as part of an introductory offer, the customers can purchase the earbuds at Rs 799.
Also Read: Smart technologies are going to pave the way for India @100: Union Minister Jitendra Singh
Did you ever imagine that you can give your kids pocket money digitally and instantly? What if you can choose how much they spend, and on what? At the same time, you can also teach them invaluable money lessons. Here comes Junio, a first-of-its-kind digital pocket money app for pre-teens and teens. With this, managing your child’s pocket is now just a click away. The app enables instant pocket money transfer from you to your little one for their online and offline expenses.
Getting started
Once you download the app, you must sign up by entering your mobile number. After entering the mobile number, the app shares an OTP, and you step into the following process. You are now required to set a four-digit Junio pin. Following this, you need to enter a few basic details such as name, gender and date of birth. Well, you also get lucky in receiving a referral code that you can use while applying for the Junio card. Junio app is available for Android and Apple users. With positive reviews from parents, the app has more than 100K downloads.
How it works
Junio ensures that your kid always has money to cope with any emergency or if you are not around. While Junio smart prepaid debit card lets children make physical purchases, the app allows them to shop online using digital pocket money. One of the app’s unique features is that you can set online expenditure and cash withdrawal limits from the ATM. And so, kids can only spend the amount loaded up on the card by you. The app also gives real-time notifications when your child uses the Junio card, and you can keep track of the spending. And you also have the flexibility to cancel the card at any moment using the app.
Junio promotes interactivity, desirable behavior, and financial understanding amongst the children. To make it exciting for your kids, you can create in-app tasks for them and give them a reward in the form of extra pocket money.
Also Read: Do Your Thng launches app in 3 more languages to support creator market in India
Conclusion
The app is a perfect solution for parents to nurture good financial habits among kids and teach them the value of money in the real world. Using Junio, your kid can learn how to earn, spend, and save while you keep a loving watch over their spending. All in all, Junio gives them the experience of earning and spending money wisely from a young age. It is acting as an instrument to empower them by promoting the concept of digital pocket money.
Technology-based ascent has already begun and smart technology is going to pave the way for India @100, said Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Science and Technology & Earth Sciences at an ASSOCHAM event in New Delhi.
Speaking at the curtain-raiser conference for the second edition of ‘The SMARTec Initiative India 2021’, the minister highlighted various initiatives taken by the government to promote science and technology for start-ups. SMARTec India 2021 in partnership with Department of Science & Technology, and Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, will be held from December 03 – 15, 2021.
“India is emerging as among world top leaders in the area of Science & Technology and recently it entered the list of top 50 innovative countries reaching to 46th position in the Global Innovation Index 2021. The power of collaboration with government, industry and stakeholders needs to be systematically harnessed for realizing the vision of a new resurgent India, Everything cannot be left to government and government should also not be hesitant to involve stake holders outside the government sector because that is not compatible with progressive advancement,” the minister said.
“India has consistently improved its business and innovation environment and is now ranked 63 among 190 economies in the ease of doing business, according to the latest World Bank annual ratings. There is very little correlation between formal and digital literacy, smart literacy which can be acquired without formal education and the government has brought the New Education Policy which has multiple entry/exit options to promote innovation and start-up culture,” he further added.
Katrin Kivi, Ambassador of Estonia to India said, “We are living in what is known as Asian century, where global outlooks are shifted towards a rapidly growing economies in Asia. Estonia is fully synchronised with this trend. For the last few years, Estonian exports to India have been growing considerably and given the ambitions and the strengths of India and Estonia, I believe that there is room for genuine partnership and true collaboration. India is a strategically important market attractive for Estonian entrepreneurs due to its large market opportunities and growing consumer base. We hope to foster a real collaboration that also advances Indian interest. Our strategic geographical presence, attractive ecosystem of innovation, beneficial tax structure, stable government and highly skilled personnel gives Estonia a distinguished advantage and provide a solid platform for up scaling and expanding business operations.”
Dr Sheetal Chopra, Chairperson, ASSOCHAM IPR Council, addressing the gathering, said, “What we used to dream of is a reality today and we cannot do without our smart phones and smart watches. Doctors are performing remote surgeries and there are connected cars that are saving us fuel and making our commute much safer. We must appreciate the work of global standardisation framework, where there are a handful of companies who over a period of years had taken lot of effort and spent billions of dollars in coming up with the best of technologies. A 90 minute movie takes 72 hours to download in 2G and with 5G the same can be downloaded in less than 90 seconds. More than 50k+ start-ups in all sectors including IOT, AI, and robotics are already registered and certified by The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade. For India to achieve that global economic scale, it is important that we facilitate these start-ups and they are able to take advantage of the already standardised technologies. Today we have sufficient eco system like start-up India hub, PLI scheme, National IPR policy, national manufacturing policy and other policies.”
Dr Lovneesh Channana, Chairperson, National Council IT, ITES & Digital Commerce, said, “We have moved from the stage of discussing the why of technology to what of technology and now moving into the how of technology. How we apply technology and how do we make technology application are becoming more important. We are getting adept at using technology to improve operational effectiveness. The time is coming where citizen experience data or consumer experience data will be differentiators due to the huge level of digitisation. Very soon we will be managing experiential data in addition to operational data. This revolution we are talking about in Smart tech is not one way, earlier we were creating products and giving it to users, today it’s a two way. For India, unless we cover the 63 million SMEs in the larger technology journey, we cannot achieve the desired impact. Awareness, access to low cost tech, creation of digital talent pool and getting global market access for Indian SMEs through technology are some of the areas we must address.”
“The SmartTec India 2021 is one of the initiative that can be partnered with International Trade Council (ITC) where sharing of new technologies and best practices can be of immense benefit to everyone around the world,” said Ranjini Rangan, Honorary Chair Person, International Trade Counsil (SEA) & Director, Olimea Advisory.
“The SMARTec India 2021 is a wonderful opportunity for our Australian companies, to engage with tech experts, industry leaders and advance collaborative efforts to build our technological partnership,” said Petula Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce.
The curtain-raiser event was also attended by dignitaries from partner countries like Finland, Estonia, Israel, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Japan. The focus areas for SMARTec India2021 include Aerospace & Defence, Financial Services, Healthcare, Enterprise AI & Automation, Industry 4.0, MSME & Start-ups, Smart Mobility.
To celebrate the spirit of innovation, awards for 10 top innovations from various sectors and fields or work will be handed out on 03rd December 2021. The curated confluence of smart technologies will experience a 13 days long virtual exhibition which will be attended by over 50 exhibitors from India and various leading countries, live demonstrations and product launches of exciting products and services, participation from progressive central & state governments.
Also Read: Nokia reaches 4,000 5G essential patent families milestone
Farmers can now check the quality of wheat and other agri-commodities with just a click through a mobile app, AgriReach, launched by agri-logistics firm Sohan Lal Commodity Management recently. The mobile quality check app allows the user to get on the spot assessment of the commodity’s sample for free within minutes without depending on a third party. Sandeep Sabharwal, CEO, SLCM, speaks more about this app and its likely impact on agri-warehousing and on the commodities market, in a conversation with Ramesh Kumar Raja. Excerpts:
How does AgriReach Mobile Quality Check App work?
Getting a quality check done through the AgriReach Mobile Quality Check App is as easy as taking an image. As it is currently being offered for wheat, just clicking the photograph of the commodity’s sample and submitting it through the app gets it analysed for multiple quality parameters. The user obtains a quality report with the photographic evidence evaluated for specifications like damaged, shrunken, shrivelled or immature grains, foreign matter and a host of other physical parameters like height, length, grid, colour and pattern of the commodity.
What led you to develop such an app? What is the rationale behind choosing the mobile platform?
The path-breaking app enables a 360-degree evaluation by a cross-section of stakeholders including processors, traders, exporters, importers, government agencies and financial institutions such as banks. The on-ground utilisation is expected to tremendously help to improve the fidelity quality checks for agricultural commodities and disseminate the instantly obtained QC results in a secure and transparent environment to drastically reduce the turnaround time and costs in comparison to the task being performed manually.
According to the figures made available by the research firm App Annie, in the second quarter of 2021-22, the average smartphone user in the country spent nearly 5 hours daily trying out various apps. However, long before these figures were announced, in 2018 itself we had proactively realised the potential for an app to provide an on-the-spot assessment of agricultural commodities. Its launch is, therefore, also part of our commitment to provide our customer base with agritech solutions embedded in the software as a service (SaaS) model.
Is the app available on both Android and iOS? What is the cost of development and how do you plan to monetise it?
The AgriReach Mobile Quality Check App can currently be downloaded from the Google Play Store on handheld devices like mobile phones and tablet PCs running on the Android OS. It will be progressively offered for iOS devices as well. Our commitment for the FY 22-23 for SaaS applications is about Rs 13 crores, whereas to date Rs 3 crores have been allocated to the QC portion of it. Presently, the beta version of the app is being offered for free downloads and user feedback.
“Our commitment for the FY 22-23 for SaaS applications is about Rs 13 crores, whereas to date Rs 3 crores have been allocated to the QC portion of it. Presently, the beta version of the app is being offered for free downloads and user feedback”
What is the technology behind this app, how accurate is the outcome and is it scalable?
The results are automatically compared with pre-fed data in the back-end system, which is regularly updated using a combination of AI and ML with Python programming language, on a real-time basis. We are looking at achieving up to 90% accuracy in the 6 months from the time of its official launch in October 2021. The process for the app’s ISO certification and certification by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) is also underway.
What is the likely impact of this mobile app on agri warehousing and on the commodities market?
The app’s capabilities will be progressively extended to include other important food grains and pulses like chana (chickpea), maize, rice, guar (cluster bean), moong and tur (pigeon pea). A global first for food grains, the app allows the user to get an on the spot assessment of the commodity’s sample within minutes, without having to use equipment like a sieve, weighing scale, etc., or to take it to a lab for testing. At a time when the Central Government has targeted to double the farm income, the app’s rollout is expected to give impetus to a large-scale behavioural and institutional change and influence the adoption of digital technology throughout the Indian farming ecosystem.
