- Ankur Sachdev
Tech Updates Related To Ookla, BlueStacks X, And WhatsApp Payment
Let's start!
:::Ookla has reported that the percentage of fixed broadband connections to meet the minimum threshold speed limit of 2 Mbps is 97.5%.
The report published by Ookla comes in response to the proposal that was put forward by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). As per the proposal, TRAI had revised the minimum broadband speed to 2 Mbps. The minimum broadband speed was earlier 512 kbps.
TRAI divides the quality of broadband connections into four categories. These are Slow, Basic, Fast, and Super-Fast. Around 60% of the Indian population has been reported to receive the Basic broadband speed of 2-50 Mbps in the second quarter of 2021.
Ookla reported that nearly 2.4% received a Slow broadband connection of fewer than 2 Mbps and 36.7% received Fast broadband connection between 50 Mbps and 300 Mbps. The states that are reported to have offered Super-Fast broadband connections in the second quarter of 2021 are Rajasthan, Delhi, Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka.
:::The beta version of BlueStacks X is now available in the Indian market.
BlueStacks is a freely available online cloud-based game streaming platform. It currently hosts 200 games on its platform and aims to add new games every week. BlueStacks can be accessed through its BlueStacks App player users. It can also be accessed through Chrome OS, Android, Linux, iOS, Raspberry Pi, macOS, Windows 10, and Windows 11.
The cloud-based gaming platform hosts primarily two types of games. These are Role-Playing Games and Strategy Genres. A user can play 14 games on the platform namely Looney Tunes World of Mayhem, Dynasty Scrolls, and RAID: Shadow Legends, to name a few.
It is offering an attractive giveaway to the users who participate in the beta test. The giveaway is a Google Play Store credit worth ₹3,700/-, approximately. A user has to play a free game and share the screenshot to make him or her eligible for the giveaway.
:::WhatsApp has now made it easier for its users to make a UPI payment through its app.
The platform has introduced the Indian rupee symbol, ₹, at its chat composer window. This is expected to make it easier for the users to make a payment to the other person while using WhatsApp. The symbol appears right next to the camera icon. The camera icon can be used to scan a QR code at any of the 20 million stores in India.
Manesh Mahatme, India Director Payments at WhatsApp, said that the true inclusion of a user is when he or she does not have to navigate through the app to make a payment. He added that the update would initially be available to a few users and it would be scaled up in a phased manner. WhatsApp has already started rolling out the update.
WhatsApp received approval from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to go ahead with its payment service in November 2020. Since then the platform has aimed to create awareness about its payment services. While the update makes its way to users' devices, WhatsApp would continue focusing to drive awareness among its users.
That is all for this week.
If you have anything to contribute then kindly share it in the comment section. I would love to hear from you.