1947 Tech — Week 3
Week 3, 2018
1. Voice assistants set to vacuum away chatbots in India
The number of voice bots users in the country is estimated to cross 135 million by the end of 2018, making India the hotspot for the new interface
Experts feel the adoption of voice assistants is a natural gravitation among consumers in a country that already tops voice searches — 28% — in the world
The main drivers for companies taking to the new technology are costs savings and quality of customer service — both of which were underserved by chatbots
2. India has a hole where its middle class should be
Companies would do better to “Indianise” their business by, for example, peddling wares using regional languages preferred by hundreds of millions of Indians. Pricing matters
Only 3% of Indians have ever been on an aeroplane; only one in 45 owns a car or lorry. If nearly 300m Indians count as “middle class”, as HSBC has proclaimed, some of them make around $3 a day.
Even for someone in the top 10% of Indian earners, an annual Netflix subscription can cost over a week’s income
3. What the Fourth Industrial Revolution means for India
For India, the Fourth Industrial Revolution brings tremendous opportunities to leapfrog many stages of development, hastening its journey towards becoming a developed economy. In many ways, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is a leveller.
4. Can India Become the Holy Grail of Cryptocurrency Mining?
The world of Bitcoin mining has seen some big changes throughout the years. Hardware has evolved, as has the software used to optimize this hardware for mining purposes. The regions where Bitcoin and altcoin mining have boomed are also about to change in the near future. A lot of mining operations currently reside in China, but the government is cracking down on this type of activity. As a result, we may see a lot of companies move to India in the near future.
5. The 10 interesting things happening in India’s mobile app universe
Social media and video-streaming apps are huge in India. Indians download a lot, but pay very little; Netflix leads consumer spending on apps.
India is now the world’s second largest app market, trailing only China. It has surpassed the US, both in terms of internet users, and app downloads. Explosive growth in India and other emerging markets in Southeast Asia is said to be propelling the global app economy.
App analytics provider App Annie, in a recent report, said that India now accounts for nearly 58 billion downloads of the world’s 175 billion.
6. Reliance Jio turns profitable, adds 27.8 million users in third quarter of 2017–18
Reliance Industries has consolidated its position as the third largest telecom services provider in India, and with the launch of JioPhone, it will lead to higher data consumption in the country.
7. Indian cryptocurrency investors get tax notices as trading hits $3.5 bn
India has sent tax notices to tens of thousands of people dealing in cryptocurrency after a nationwide survey showed more than $3.5 billion worth of transactions have been conducted over a 17-month period, the income tax department said.
An Indian finance ministry official said a committee was looking into the possibility of imposing restrictions on virtual currencies and that eventually parliament would have to legislate a regulatory regime.
Officials at Zebpay, India’s leading bitcoin exchange, said the industry was adding near 200,000 users every month with an estimated trade volume of about 20 billion Indian rupees ($315 million).
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Have a great week.
