New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) Homegrown Indkal Technologies on Thursday announced its foray into the smartphone market under a trademark licencing agreement with the Taiwanese electronics company Acer, in which it will design, manufacture and distribute smartphones under the Acer brand in India.

“Our customers will experience exceptionally well-designed smartphones with high-end processors, top-notch camera technology and a host of premium features across the range,” Anand Dubey, CEO of Indkal Technologies, said in a statement.

Indkal Technologies will launch a wide range of smartphone models under the Acer brand in mid-2024, expecting to quickly build strong momentum and a significant market share.

“We are excited that Indkal Technologies will further this mission in India by providing a wide range of smartphones under the Acer brand that expand end-user choices and enrich their experience in the Indian market,” said Jade Zhou, VP of Global Strategic Alliances at Acer Incorporated.

This venture signifies the entry of a major computing brand into the Indian smartphone market, highlighting the segment’s immense growth potential.

With a focus on smartphones priced between Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000, this market will now see strong competition, the company said.

These devices will be available for purchase through both e-commerce platforms and offline retail stores across the country.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) The revenue growth for the Indian auto component industry is expected to moderate in FY2025, about 5 to 7 per cent, after a strong performance in FY2024, a new report showed on Thursday.

According to rating agency ICRA, operating margins are expected to improve year-on-year in FY25, driven by factors like better operating leverage and higher value addition.

“Demand from domestic original equipment manufacturers (OEM) constitutes over 50 per cent of sales for the Indian auto component industry and the pace of growth in the segment is expected to moderate in FY2025,” said Vinutaa Sriraman, VP and Sector Head – Corporate Ratings, ICRA Limited.

“Growth in replacement demand is pegged at 5-7 per cent, after two to three years of healthy growth, following a relatively weak Q1 in the current fiscal,” she added.

The sample for the report included 46 auto ancillaries with aggregate annual revenues of over Rs 3,00,000 crore in FY2024.

Further, the report projected that the industry to incur capex of Rs 20,000-25,000 crore in FY2025 towards capacity expansion and technological developments.

Capex is anticipated to hover around 8-10 per cent of operating income over the medium term, with the PLI scheme also contributing to accelerating capex towards advanced technology and EV components.

On the exports front, new vehicle registrations in Europe and the US are expected to remain tepid over the next few quarters, impacted by the weak global macroeconomic environment and geopolitical tensions.

The ageing of vehicles and increased sales of used vehicles in global markets are also expected to aid in the export of components for the replacement segment in overseas markets.

The report further mentioned that the electric vehicle (EV) linked opportunities, premiumisation of vehicles, focus on localisation, and changes in regulatory norms to support stable growth for auto component suppliers.

EVs to account for around 25 per cent of domestic two-wheeler sales and 15 per cent of passenger vehicle sales by 2030. This would translate into a strong market potential for EV components by 2030, the report said.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) The government on Thursday awarded seven new projects to startups under the Technology Development Fund scheme for various requirements of the Armed Forces and aerospace and defence sectors.

The move is aimed at nurturing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and startups in the defence and aerospace sectors, said the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO).

“The indigenous development of these technologies will strengthen the military-industrial ecosystem,” it added.

One such project aims to develop an indigenous toolkit for simulator training of pilots in realistic scenarios to help in full mission planning and large-force engagement. This project has been awarded to Noida-based startup Oxygen 2 Innovation.

Another project is for an underwater Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). It relates to versatile marine battlefield accessories which can be deployed in multiple combat roles.

“The objective is Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). The project has been awarded to Sagar Defence Engineering Pvt Ltd, Pune,” said the DRDO, which comes under the Ministry of Defence.

Under the project titled ‘Long-range Remotely Operated Vehicles for Detection & Neutralisation’, the task is to build dual-use systems that will enable the detection, classification, localisation and neutralisation of underwater objects while keeping the key assets away from the suspected operational area.

This project has been awarded to IROV Technologies Pvt Ltd in Kochi.

Another project, ‘Ice Detection Sensor for Aircraft’, aims to develop detecting icing condition inflight, caused by super-cooled water droplets that freeze after their impact against the aircraft’s external surfaces and are utilised by the aircraft for turning on the aircraft Anti-icing mechanism.

“It has been awarded to Craftlogic Labs Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru,” the DRDO informed.

The ‘Radar Signal Processor with Active Antenna Array Simulator’ will enable the deployment of multiple target systems for test and evaluation of multiple short-range aerial weapon systems.

“It serves as the basic building block for larger radar systems. The project has been sanctioned to Data Pattern (India) Limited, Chennai,” according to the government.

The ‘Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-based Timing Acquisition & Dissemination System’ project has been sanctioned to Accord Software & Systems in Bengaluru.

It aims to enable the indigenisation of timing acquisition and dissemination system, the use of Indian Constellation for acquiring time & development of a customised and flexible timing system as per range requirements.

Coimbatore-based startup Alohatech has been awarded the project to develop conductive yarn and fabric-making processes using graphene nanomaterials and conductive inks.

The outcome will be advanced E-textiles, utilising the inherent advantages for practical clothing applications, the DRDO said.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) Elon Musk-run X Corp has banned 194,053 accounts in India between May 26 and June 25, mostly for promoting child sexual exploitation and non-consensual nudity.

The microblogging platform, going through churning under Musk, also took down 1,991 accounts for promoting terrorism on its platform in the country.

In total, X banned 196,044 accounts in the reporting period.

The microblogging platform, in its monthly report in compliance with the new IT Rules, 2021, said that it received 12,570 complaints from users in India in the same time frame through its grievance redressal mechanisms.

In addition, the company processed 55 grievances which were appealing account suspensions.

“We overturned 4 of these account suspensions after reviewing the specifics of the situation. The remaining reported accounts remain suspended,” said the company.

“We received 61 requests related to general questions about accounts during this reporting period,” it added.

Most complaints from India were about ban evasion (5,289), followed by sensitive adult content (2,768), hateful conduct (2,196), and abuse/harassment (1,243).

Between April 26 and May 25, X banned 2,29,925 accounts in the country.

The microblogging platform also took down 967 accounts for promoting terrorism on its platform.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) Artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots like Amazon’s AI voice assistant Alexa, Snapchat’s My AI, and Microsoft’s Bing have frequently shown signs of an “empathy gap” that puts young users at risk of distress or harm, according to a study on Thursday that proposes the urgent need for “child-safe AI”.

The research from the University of Cambridge calls on developers and policymakers to prioritise approaches to AI design that take greater account of children’s needs.

Children are likely to treat chatbots “as lifelike, quasi-human confidantes” but when the technology fails to respond to their unique needs and vulnerabilities, it can affect the kids, showed the study, published in the journal Learning, Media and Technology.

This is evident from the cases where Alexa instructed a 10-year-old to touch a live electrical plug with a coin, and My AI gave adult researchers posing as a 13-year-old girl tips on how to lose her virginity to a 31-year-old.

In a separate reported interaction with the Bing chatbot, which was designed to be adolescent-friendly, the AI became aggressive and started gaslighting a user.

“Children are probably AI’s most overlooked stakeholders,” said academic Dr Nomisha Kurian from the University of Cambridge.

She noted that while making a human-like chatbot can provide many benefits, “for a child, it is very hard to draw a rigid, rational boundary between something that sounds human and reality”.

Kurian said that kids “may not be capable of forming a proper emotional bond.”

Further, she argued that it can be “confusing and distressing for children, who may trust a chatbot as they would a friend”

To make AI “an incredible ally for children”, it should be designed with kids’ needs in mind.

“The question is not about banning AI, but how to make it safe,” she said.

–IANS

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