Deals on Tech: Flipkart Big Diwali Sale expected soon; possible iPad refresh, and other stories

Drifting deeper into Tech-tober, there's much that we're eagerly awaiting. Apple Retail India is bringing lucrative deals all thanks to Diwali. They're not the only one though, because Flipkart is banking on the festive season sales. Their own Big Diwali sale is expected to kick off, and is sure to have insane price-cuts akin to the Big Billion Days sale, which too saw a record breaking number of consumers. More phones means more network connections, and for that, Jio has a new high-tier plan. That's not all! There's lots that's making waves in the tech world, read about it all right here.

Like clockwork Flipkart graces us with it's Big Diwali sale each year, some time in October. After a successful run on their Big Billion Days sale, which saw a record 1.4 blillion customer visits, they're going to make this one count. The consumer headcount includes days of early access sales and the seven day run of the shopping fest. Tech savvy shoppers, keep your eyes peeled because it's a good time to get your gadgets. In any case, we're expecting them to bank on that, and very soon announce the dates for the highly anticipated Big Diwali sale.

Only available to WABeta testers on Android devices, this is a minor update to the current Whatsapp UI. In the updated UI, colours appear a bit darker, and the whole theme seems to be a lot more modern, with icons and a focus on enhanced usability. Not just that, the chat bubble also gets a minor update, and the corners appear to be a bit more rounded off. Incidentally, floating action buttons have also been given a fresh coat of paint. Overall, the focus seems to be to enhance the visual appeal of the app.

Apple retail and online stores in India have lined up a series of workshops to spark creativity of customers this festive season, along with up to Rs 10,000 instant savings on newly-launched products. Cash back for iPhone 15 series, Apple Watch Series 9 and others are available on purchase with a qualifying Credit Card till November 14. The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, and AirPods Pro (2nd generation) will have instant savings applicable till November 7.

On the event front, from October 19, Apple BKC is hosting “Light Up Mumbai”, a series of talks and workshops to spark creativity this festive season. With sessions running from October 19-November 14, customers can sign up and learn from leading artists from the worlds of music, film and design for tips on how to get creative with iPhone.

Reliance Jio has launched a new, high-tier, prepaid mobile data and network plan. This plan, priced at Rs. 3,662, is a pretty good bang for your buck. Apart from offering unlimited 5G data, they're also giving consumers 2.5GB of data each day for a year. This is packaged with various OTT services, meaning you don't have to pay extra, or separately for them. These include Sony LIV and ZEE5, which are pretty good to have around and look for something new to watch.

Disney+ Hostar has broken their own online streaming records, with 3.5 crore recorded viewers for the India vs Pakistan match held over the weekend. This figure has surpassed the existing record of 3.2 crores, noted earlier this year for the IPL 2023 finale between CSK and GT. With this, they've set an all new viewership benchmark. Disney+ Hostar will continue to stream live matches of the ICC world cup, offering a viewing haven to cricket lovers across India.

Apple is likely to announce updated versions of its iPad lineup this week with top-of-the-line silicon chips and other internal upgrades. The iPad Air, iPad mini and the base model iPad are expected to be refreshed. The iPad Air and the iPad mini will be bumped to M2 and A16 Bionic chips, respectively, according to the report. The next-gen iPad Pros are expected to feature OLED displays for the first time. According to earlier reports, new iPad mini will feature a new display controller. The base model iPad could stay the same.

India was one of the quickest countries to adopt 5G. Phones and gadgets ready for the tech were already out in the market, and upon the explosion of 5G in India in October of last year, everyone was ready to take a step into the future of network service. In the country, Jio True 5G is available in over 400 cities, while Airtel 5G spreads its web over 500 cities. This alone should put the scale and rapidity of the expansion into perspective. The number of 5G connected cities is increasing at a fast pace- in total, as of August 2023, there were a reported 300,000 5G sites.

Users are being enticed into using 5G as data plans now very commonly include free unlimited 5G data. Not just that, smartphones and gadgets are further making use of advanced antennas to tap into the 5G spectrum and keep devices truly connected.