Philips TAS1209 Review: Why you must get this Bluetooth Speaker
/ Jul 18, 2025, 02:32PM IST
Forget weak phone audio! Get the Philips TAS1209 for bass, 12 hours of playtime, and splash resistance – all at Rs 1000. We break down its features, performance, and why it might be the perfect fit for you.
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News18
30 minutes ago
- News18
Pocket FM cuts production cost using AI, generates over 50,000 shows
Agency: PTI New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) Audio entertainment platform Pocket FM on Sunday said it has significantly reduced production costs through its proprietary artificial intelligence systems. The company has scaled its content operations significantly over the past year, producing over 50,000 AI-generated shows, a statement said. 'We are transforming Pocket FM into an AI-led entertainment company, with artificial intelligence now driving content creation, productivity, and global storytelling at scale," said Rohan Nayak, co-founder and CEO of Pocket FM. 'AI is helping us unlock high quality content faster and more efficiently than ever before. Our content costs have been significantly reduced, while creator efficiency has increased tenfold." Known for pioneering long form episodic audio storytelling, Pocket FM has built custom AI infrastructure that enables creators from scripting and voice generation to sound design and multi language localization. These capabilities have significantly enhanced speed to market while maintaining narrative depth and production quality, it stated. At the heart of this transformation is a seamless collaboration between human creativity and AI precision, enabling Pocket FM to produce great stories at scale without compromising on quality, the statement said. The company reported Rs 1,768 crore in revenue for FY25, a 68 per cent year-on-year increase, and is now profitable across core markets. Launched in 2018, Pocket FM is an AI-powered entertainment platform creating scalable storytelling experiences across audio, text, and visual formats. Operating in India, the US, and Europe, with ongoing Latin American expansion, it builds borderless IP ecosystems through Pocket Entertainment. Its content spans English, Hindi, Spanish, German, and French. A recent FICCI EY report projects India's audio entertainment sector to reach USD 2.5 billion by 2030, with AI first platforms like Pocket FM poised to lead this transformation. PTI KKS ANU ANU view comments First Published: July 20, 2025, 11:30 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Time of India
39 minutes ago
- Time of India
India tops global fast payments with UPI processing 18 billion transactions monthly
India has emerged as the global leader in fast payments, according to a recent note by the International Monetary Fund titled Growing Retail Digital Payments: The Value of Interoperability. At the heart of this transformation is the Unified Payments Interface , better known as UPI. Launched in 2016 by the National Payments Corporation of India, UPI has changed how people send and receive money in the country. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Select a Course Category Digital Marketing Management CXO Data Science others Finance Design Thinking Public Policy Degree Technology PGDM MBA Data Science Healthcare Product Management Cybersecurity Leadership Artificial Intelligence Data Analytics MCA Others healthcare Project Management Skills you'll gain: Digital Marketing Strategies Customer Journey Mapping Paid Advertising Campaign Management Emerging Technologies in Digital Marketing Duration: 12 Weeks Indian School of Business Digital Marketing and Analytics Starts on May 14, 2024 Get Details Skills you'll gain: Digital Marketing Strategy Search Engine Optimization (SEO) & Content Marketing Social Media Marketing & Advertising Data Analytics & Measurement Duration: 24 Weeks Indian School of Business Professional Certificate Programme in Digital Marketing Starts on Jun 26, 2024 Get Details It brings all your bank accounts together in one mobile app. One can transfer money instantly, pay merchants, or send funds to friends with just a few taps. Its appeal lies in its speed and ease of use. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Play War Thunder now for free War Thunder Play Now Undo Today, UPI processes over 18 billion transactions every month in India. "This shift has taken India away from cash and card-based payments and pushed it towards a digital-first economy. Millions of individuals and small businesses now rely on UPI for safe and low-cost transactions. By making payments quick and accessible, UPI has become a powerful tool for financial inclusion ," Press Information Bureau (PIB) said in its backgrounders series on Sunday. Live Events The scale of UPI today is remarkable. In June alone, it handled over Rs 24.03 lakh crore in payments. This was spread across 18.39 billion transactions. Compared to the same month last year, when there were 13.88 billion transactions, the growth is clear. There is an increase of about 32 per cent in just one year. The UPI system now serves 491 million individuals and 65 million merchants. It connects 675 banks on a single platform, allowing people to make payments easily without worrying about which bank they use. Today, UPI accounts for 85 per cent of all digital transactions in India. Its impact goes beyond national borders, powering nearly 50 per cent of global real-time digital payments . "These figures show more than just numbers. They reflect trust, convenience and speed. Every month, more individuals and businesses choose UPI for their payments. This growing use is a strong sign that India is moving steadily towards a cashless economy," the PIB report read. The success story does not stop at home. UPI is making its presence felt across borders. It is already live in seven countries, including the UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, France, and Mauritius. Its entry into France is a milestone because it is UPI's first step into Europe. This allows Indians travelling or living there to pay seamlessly without the usual hassles of foreign transactions. According to the PIB backgrounder, India is also pushing for UPI to become a standard within the BRICS group, which now has six new member nations. "If this happens, it will improve remittances, boost financial inclusion and raise India's profile as a global tech leader in digital payments," it said. UPI's rise as the world's leading real-time payment system was not an accident. It is the result of years of planning and investment in digital infrastructure. Financial inclusion was the first big step. The Jan Dhan scheme opened bank accounts for millions who had never used formal banking before. As of July 9, over 55.83 crore accounts have been created. These accounts give people direct access to government benefits and a safe place to save money.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
41st anniversary of The Times of India, Bengaluru: Engineering the future
In the most sought-after engineering college of Karnataka, a four-year computer science seat gets lapped up for a fee of Rs 70 lakh. And if you thought this was too steep a price to pay, consider this: Students from across the country queue at this college as early as December of the previous year. Karnataka, and, more specifically Bengaluru, has been one of the hotspots for engineering education since the 1970s and a pioneer in private technical education in the country. Of the 213 colleges affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), more than 80 are Bengaluru-based. You Can Also Check: Bengaluru AQI | Weather in Bengaluru | Bank Holidays in Bengaluru | Public Holidays in Bengaluru When Bharat Ratna Sir M Visvesvaraya established the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE) in 1917, it was the fifth engineering college in the country. If that was a humble beginning, then the picture started changing drastically from the late 1950s. That was when the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, in his clarion call for industrialisation, said, 'industrialise or perish'. In the years that followed, at least eight big-ticket public sector industrial units came to Bengaluru, including Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), and Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT). by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like An engineer reveals: One simple trick to get internet without a subscription Techno Mag Learn More Undo 'With an ever-growing demand for engineers in the country, engineering colleges started mushrooming,' recalled Seetharamu A S, former faculty at the Institute for Social and Economic Change. 'Basic sciences grew, too. Indian Institute of Science was paving the way for this. Meanwhile, there was a lot of interest in spectroscopy, with Nobel laureate C V Raman's work. All this led to an increased demand for engineering education in the state,' he said. Then came privatisation of professional colleges in Karnataka. In 1946, BMS College of Engineering (BMSCE) became the first private sector initiative in engineering education in India. Soon, several others followed. 'The ecosystem for science and engineering was already set in the city with the PSUs in 1960s. At a time when other states were just beginning to set up private engineering colleges, Karnataka already had 50-60 of those. However, Karnataka did not unscrupulously increase the number of colleges and maintained it at 213, thereby ensuring quality education,' said K N Subramanya, principal of R V College of Engineering. Karnataka was one of the first states to build an umbrella university VTU that brought all technical education under one roof. While many educationists were not in favour of the affiliation system, they agreed that formation of VTU brought in standardisation and quality in technical education. Karnataka was also one of the first states to bring in a Common Entrance Test (CET) in 1994 that ensured meritocracy in admissions, setting benchmarks in engineering education. As a result of these initiatives, in the 1990s, Bengaluru emerged the cradle of IT revolution in the country. The rest, as they say, is history! Bengaluru's story in engineering education is now about keeping up with the times. S Sadagopan, the founder director at International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore, said: 'While institutes like IITs provide quality education, they have not been able to scale up student intake to the extent required. However, many colleges in Bengaluru are now providing quality education with intake as high as 1,000 for some branches. They're able to offer quality education at scale. This is Karnataka's contribution to the nation,' he observed. In addition, there are private universities offering engineering education. Colleges from other states and cities are also venturing into Bengaluru to have a piece of the pie. With artificial intelligence (AI) taking the world by storm, colleges have also undergone makeovers to keep pace. Currently, there are 133 streams available, of which at least 105 are related to computer science and its allied programmes. 'Bengaluru's evolution into India's premier engineering education hub is deeply tied to its thriving tech ecosystem, the early establishment of top-tier institutions, and close industry-academia collaboration,' said Neeti Sharma, CEO, Teamlease Digital. 'Over the past two decades, top engineering colleges in the city have consistently attracted high-quality talent from across India due to robust placement records and proximity to leading tech companies,' she further said. 'With around 12,000 IT/software firms and more than 10,000 startups, Bengaluru offers unmatched industry exposure to engineering students. The city's colleges routinely see the highest number of companies visiting for campus placements,' Sharma added. 'The packages offered are also among the highest in the country. Institutions such as IIIT Bangalore and IISc report average packages of Rs 27-28 LPA, with top offers reaching Rs 65-86 LPA,' Sharma said. According to Sharma, core engineering domains, especially semiconductors, are seeing renewed interest. 'Bengaluru is home to a vast majority of India's chip design workforce, with firms such as AMD, Qualcomm, and Intel expanding their design operations,' she said. It's not just engineering, but colleges in other streams also have mushroomed in the state. According to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2021-22, Bengaluru Urban district has the highest density of colleges in the country, with 1,106 institutions. In comparison, Jaipur has 703, Hyderabad 491, Pune 475 and Prayagraj 398. What Bengaluru has always lacked is an IIT, but there are now colleges in the city that can boast of education on par with the best in the country.
