Amazon has written to India’s market regulator seeking the withdrawal of its conditional approval to the proposed buyout of retail assets of the Future Group by Reliance Industries NSE -0.94 %, as the American online retail giant intensifies its efforts to stall the highly contested deal.

In a letter to Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) on August 17, the Jeff Bezos-led company cited a recent order by the Supreme Court of India upholding the ruling by an international arbitration court in Singapore that had stayed the Future-RIL deal in October 2020.

ET has reviewed a duplicate of Amazon’s letter addressed to Sebi Chairman Ajay Tyagi. 

“In light of the directions contained in the enforcement judgment, and the EA (emergency arbitration) Order whose validity has been affirmed by the honourable Supreme Court, Amazon requests you to take all such action as is necessary to comply with the Supreme Court Judgment, and to further ensure that no communications subsist or emanate which are at variance with the Supreme Court Judgment,” the US-based retailer mentioned in its observe to Sebi.

“Accordingly, we request your good offices to direct the Indian Stock Exchanges to withdraw the Observation Letters with immediate effect,” the letter said.

The new Vivo phone is available with dual rear cameras as well as a water drop-style display notch. The handset arrived in India without any launch announcement. It includes a Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 SoC and 20:9 display. 

The Vivo Y12G competes against the likes of the Samsung Galaxy M12, Redmi 9 Power, and the Poco M2. The smartphone also appears to be identical to the Vivo Y12s that was launched in the Indian market in January. Smartphone has preloaded features such as Multi-Turbo 3.0 to customise the phone with its proprietary experience. 

Specifications of Vivo Y12G

The smartphone features a 6.51-inch HD+ IPS LCD display with 720 x 1600 pixels resolution and a 20:9 aspect ratio. The device features a side-mounted fingerprint scanner for security. The device is powered by an octa-core 1.95GHz Snapdragon 439 chipset coupled with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. There is also a dual rear camera setup that includes a 13-megapixel primary sensor with an f/2.2 lens and a 2-megapixel secondary sensor with an f/2.4 lens. 

The handset runs the FuntouchOS 11 based on Android 11 OS. For selfies and video chats, the Vivo Y12G comes with an 8-megapixel selfie camera sensor on the front, along with an f/1.8 lens. The smartphone is backed up by a 5,000mAh battery supporting 10W charging and 5W reverse charging. The battery claims to last for up to 16.3 hours of HD movie playback.

The smartphone measures 164.41×76.32×8.41mm and weighs 191 grams. It offers 32GB of onboard storage. The connectivity options include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS/ A-GPS, FM radio, Micro-USB, and 3.5mm headphone jack. It also carries Sensors on board including an accelerometer, ambient light, gyroscope, magnetometer and a proximity sensor.

Price and availability details of Vivo Y12G in India

Price in India for handset Vivo Y12G has been set at Rs. 10,990 for the lone 3GB RAM + 32GB storage variant. The phone is currently available for purchase in Glacier Blue and Phantom Black colours through the Vivo India website. Recently, there are no listings on e-commerce sites or sites of major retailers in India. However, Vivo India confirmed to Gadgets 360 that the Vivo Y12G will also be available on Amazon, Flipkart, Paytm, Tatacliq and all partner retail stores. The listing of Vivo Y12G was first reported by technology blog DroidAfrica.

The pricing of the Vivo Y12G is aligning with the current price of the Vivo Y12s that is available at Rs. 10,990 for the single 3GB RAM + 32GB storage model through Amazon as well as the Vivo India site. The handset was launched at Rs. 9,990.

On  Monday Intel Crop said its factories will start building Qualcomm Inc chips and laid out a roadmap to expand its new foundry business to catch rivals such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd by 2025. 

Intel for decades held the lead in technology for manufacturing the smallest, fastest computing chips. It has lost that lead to TSMC and Samsung, whose manufacturing services have helped Intel’s rivals Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Nvidia produce chips that outperform Intel’s. AMD and Nvidia design chips which then are made by the rival chip manufacturers, called foundries.

“We’re laying out a whole lot of details to The Street to hold us accountable,” Intel Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger told Reuters in an interview, referring to investors.

It will change its naming scheme for chipmaking technology, using names like “Intel 7” that align with how TSMC and Samsung market competing technologies-  Intel said.

In the chip world where smaller is better, Intel previously used names that alluded to the size of features in “nanometers”. But over time the names used by chipmakers became arbitrary marking terms, said Dan Hutcheson, chief executive of VLSIresearch, an independent semiconductor forecasting firm. This, he said, gave the mistaken impression that Intel was less competitive. 

The company’s first major customers will be Qualcomm and Amazon. Qualcomm, which dominates chips for mobile phones, will use what Intel is calling its 20A chipmaking process, which will use new transistor technology to help reduce how much power the chip consumes. 

Amazon, which is increasingly making its own data centre chips for its Amazon Web Services, is not yet using Intel’s chipmaking technology but will use Intel’s packaging technology, the process of assembling chips and “chiplets” or “tiles”, often stacking them up in so-called 3D formation. Intel excels in this packaging technology, analysts say.

“There have been many, many hours of deep and technical engagement with these first two customers, and many others,” Gelsinger said. He also said during an event announcing the news that the Qualcomm deal involved a “major mobile platform” and engaging in a “deep a strategic manner.” Qualcomm has a long track record of using multiple foundry partners, sometimes even for the same chip.

But Intel is being more cautious than in the past. The years of delays resulted in part from the “hubris” of tackling multiple technical problems in a single generation of technology- said David Kanter, an analyst with Real World Technologies.

“Intel is absolutely going to catch up, and be ahead in some dimensions, with TSMC over the next few years,” Kanter, the analyst, said. “Intel really does have people who spend all their time looking at how to deploy new materials and technology to juice their performance.”

Amazon is hiring a digital currency and blockchain product lead for its payments team. The company may allow users to pay in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin soon as the e-commerce giant

According to the latest job listing, Amazon’s Payments Acceptance & Experience team is “seeking an experienced product leader to develop Amazon’s Digital Currency and Blockchain strategy and product roadmap”.

“You will leverage your domain expertise in Blockchain, Distributed Ledger, Central Bank Digital Currencies and Cryptocurrency to develop the case for the capabilities which should be developed, drive the overall vision and product strategy, and gain leadership buy-in and investment for new capabilities,” the company posted.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos stepped down as CEO on Monday, handing over the reins as the company navigates the challenges of a world fighting to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.

Amazon’s cloud-computing business replaced Bezos who is replaced by Andy Jassy, this change the company announced in February.

Bezos, Amazon’s biggest shareholder with a stake worth about $180 billion, will still hold sway over the company he started out of his Seattle garage in 1995. He takes over the role of executive chair, with plans to focus on new products and initiatives.

The tech giant Amazon has launched two advanced Echo devices today in India. Echo show 10 and Echo show 5 both launched in India today. The all-new Echo devices are launched at a price of 24,999 and will be available on Amazon in the black colour option. 

Specification Features and Availability:- 

All-new Echo shows 10 supports a 10.1-inch display bearing HD resolution. The device features a 13MP wide-angle camera with pan and zoom functionality for hands-free video calling. The device also allows users Alexa Group Calling which allows users to create a group of eight people for video calling.

Now the users can monitor their homes on the Alexa app. Now users can also switch off the motion by adjusting settings on the device or Alexa app or just by saying ‘Alexa, turn off motion. It also carries an intelligent motion capability that rotates the screen automatically to face the user when they move. 

The device can stream music from Prime Music, Spotify, JioSaavn, Gaana and Apple Music along with on-screen lyrics. Users can also watch movies and TV shows on the Echo Show 10 on Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, or news briefs from NDTV or Aaj Tak. It also bundles dual front-firing speakers and a powerful woofer producing a sound output of 10W. Echo 10 comes along with multiple layers of privacy control including a mic off button and a built-in camera shutter to cover the camera.

Echo 10 can also control smart home devices including lights, plugs, AC, TV, and more that work with Alexa. It also has a built-in smart home hub that supports Zigbee smart home. The design and compact form factor come as its first generation offering. It also carries a Drop-In feature that lets users start an instant conversation like an intercom. The Echo Show 5 also comes with a mic off button and a camera shutter for privacy purposes. 

Price details of Echo Show 10 and Echo Show 5 in India

Echo Show 10 carries a price tag of Rs 24,999 and is available in Black colour. The Echo Show 5 is priced at Rs 8,999 but can be availed at a discounted price of Rs 6,999 for all customers. It is available to customers in Black, White and Blue colour variants. Users can purchase both devices on Amazon from today.

The government of India is planning to come up with stricter rules for e-commerce platforms like Flipkart, Amazon. The government may not permit e-commerce websites to hold flash sales of goods and services. The Department of Consumer Affairs has sought comments/suggestions to put forward amendments to Consumer Protection by July 6, 2021. Walmart-owned Flipkart, Amazon hold countless sales all over the year which seems to be hampering the small businesses, under the new law such sales would be prohibited

The government has said in its release that it has received countless complaints from consumers, traders and associations against widespread cheating and unfair trade practices being observed in the e-commerce ecosystem.

As a result of which, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs in its proposal has said that no e-commerce platform should be allowed to hold flash sales in India. Amazon, Flipkart hold flash sales especially around festivals like Diwali, Republic Day in India. While these sales must be highly beneficial for the e-commerce firms and the customers, the government may not let the sales anymore.

“Certain e-commerce entities are engaging in limiting consumer choice by indulging in ‘back to back’ or ‘flash’ sales wherein one seller selling on the platform does not carry any inventory or order fulfilment capability but merely places a flash or back to back order with another seller controlled by the platform. This prevents a level playing field and ultimately limits customer choice and increases prices,” the ministry said in a statement.

Online Streaming giant Netflix has launched its own online store called Netflix. shop, the company’s first owned-and-operated retail outlet to sell products directly.

As per Variety, the online store will sell exclusive, limited editions of “carefully selected, high-quality apparel and lifestyle products” tied to Netflix’s shows and brand on a regular basis.

Coming soon to the Netflix online store will be exclusive merch based on ”The Witcher” and ”Stranger Things”, two original series with rabid fandoms, as well as new Netflix logo-wear from Japanese fashion house BEAMS, according to Josh Simon, Netflix’s VP of consumer products.

Products are debuting this month on the online store are streetwear and action figures and dolls based on anime series ”Yasuke” and ”Eden” as well as limited-edition cool apparel and amazing decorative items inspired by the French thriller series ”Lupin” in collaboration with the Musee du Louvre.

At the launch of the store, Netflix is introducing a collection of anime-inspired collectables from three up-and-coming designers which are: Nathalie Nguyen, Kristopher Kites, and Jordan Bentley.

Netflix developed and launched the e-commerce website with Shopify. The shopping website will first be available in the US before expanding to other countries in the coming year.

The company already has licensing deals for hundreds of products based on its original programming, sold by Target, Walmart, Amazon, H&M, Sephora, and other retailers worldwide.