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   The  Pension  Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has registered over 23 per cent jump in the subscriber base under its two flagship  pension  schemes at 4.27 crore by the end of April this year, data showed on Wednesday. The overall subscriber base under the two schemes --NPS and APY-- stood at 3.46 crore by April 2020. The number of subscribers in various schemes rose to 426.75 lakh by end-April 2021 from 346.01 lakh in April 2020 showing a year-on-year increase of 23.33 per cent, the  Pension  Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) said in a release. The number of subscribers under the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) increased by 33.23 per cent to 2.82 crore as of April 2021. The assets under management (AUM) of these two schemes jumped by more than 36 per cent to Rs 5.90 lakh crore by the end of first month of the current fiscal year 2021-22. Of this, the AUM of APY scheme moved up by 47.4 per cent to Rs 16,136 crore. The...

   Microsoft  has confirmed that it will not release a lightweight and simplified Windows 10X operating system. Billed as a competition to the Chrome OS, the 10X operating system was expected to come along with new dual-screen devices like the Surface Neo before the pandemic hit the world. "Instead of bringing a product called Windows 10X to market in 2021 like we originally intended, we are leveraging learnings from our journey thus far and accelerating the integration of key foundational 10X technology into other parts of Windows and products at the company," said John Cable, head of Windows servicing and delivery, in a blog post on Tuesday. Microsoft  said that its teams continue to invest in areas where the 10X technology will help meet its customer needs as well as evaluate technology experiences both in software and hardware that will be useful to its customers in the future. "This shift in thinking is an incredible example of the company's value of a growth mi...

   Apple  Inc. is preparing to release several new Mac laptops and desktops with faster processors, new designs and improved connectivity to external devices, accelerating the company’s effort to replace Intel Corp. chips and leapfrog rival PC makers. The overhaul encompasses a broad range of Macs, including Apple’s higher-end laptop, the MacBook Pro; the laptop aimed at the mass market, the MacBook Air; and its desktop computers, the Mac Pro, iMac and Mac mini, according to people familiar with the matter. Redesigned MacBook Pros are expected to debut as soon as early this summer, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss an internal matter, followed by a revamped MacBook Air, a new low-end MacBook Pro and an all-new Mac Pro workstation. The company is also working on a higher-end Mac mini desktop and larger iMac. The machines will feature processors designed in-house that will greatly outpace the performance and capabilities of the current M1 chips, the people...

   South Korean video game developer Krafton on Tuesday announced pre-registration for Battlegrounds Mobile India, a replacement for its now banned game  PUBG  Mobile. The pre-registration for the game is now live on Google’s Play Store in India for Android devices. Krafton says, players pre-registering for Battlegrounds Mobile India will get 4 amazing rewards -- the Recon Mask, the Recon Outfit, Celebration Expert Title, and 300 AG. These rewards are for people who pre-register. What is Battlegrounds Mobile India The Battlegrounds Mobile India is a battle royale game where multiple players employ strategies to fight and be the last man standing. The India-exclusive multiplayer game from the makers or popular gaming title  PUBG  Mobile is free-to-play and offers diverse game modes -- squad-based or one-on-one. The game features diverse maps with different terrains in a virtual setting. Based on Unreal Engine 4, the game is touted to bring alive fantastic wo...

   Google  I/O is an annual developer conference where the technology giant showcases its innovation competence with regard to products and services. This year, the company showcased some futuristic technologies besides detailing the upgrades coming to  Android  and Wear OS operating systems for smartphones and smartwatches, respectively. The  Google  I/O 2021 was full of surprises and interesting announcements. Here is a quick recap of everything announced at the  Google  I/O 2021: Android  12 Google has come a long way enhancing its  Android  operating system for smartphones. The next iteration of the OS is set to get major design changes, including a revamped look called ‘Material You’ that dynamically changes the user interface and its elements based on users activity, apps, time of day, weather, etc. In retrospective, OPPO experimented with something of similar sorts in its Android 11 based ColorOS11 custom skin. The Chine...

   The consumer internal SSD market shipments recorded 34 per cent growth (quarter on quarter) in the first quarter of 2021 while on an annual basis, the overall market registered remarkable 172 per cent growth in Q1, a new report showed on Tuesday. While PCIe/NVMe SSD shipments registered 433 per cent (YoY) growth on a small base, portable SSD market shipments were up 64 per cent in the first quarter of the year, according to market research firm CMR's 'India Hard Drive Market Review for Q1 CY2021'. In the overall consumer internal SSD market, WD captured 14 per cent market share followed by Adata capturing 13 per cent and Crucial at third position with 12 per cent share. "The internal SSD market growth is largely attributed to the increased relevance of PCs due to the extended work from home (WFH) and remote learning. Growing awareness about the supreme features of SSDs over traditional HDDs gave an additional boost," said Shipra Sinha, Analyst, Industry Intelli...

   Smartphone brand  realme  is finally foraying into its much-anticipated TechLife vertical with launching a new brand on May 25 that begins with the letter D. The brand name with 'D' letter was teased by Madhav Seth, Vice President,  realme  and CEO,  realme  India and Europe, during the 8 Pro smartphone launch last month. The new brand will have its own line of products, industry sources told IANS on Monday. The launch of the first brand in realme TechLife ecosystem will not be a big splash launch owing to the ongoing Covid situation in the country, they added. The TechLife ecosystem of the company will look for innovative partners globally to provide products with a new technology experience for users through independent R&D, joint custom development and product selection. The fast-growing smartphone brand realme earlier told IANS that TechLife will help other budding brands with similar dreams to make more versatile technology products in...