‘New Apple modem on iPhone 16e a huge step forward’: Bob Borchers

Instagram may launch Reels as separate app

Instagram is reportedly considering launching a standalone app for Reels to compete with TikTok, taking advantage of its uncertain status in the U.S.

Instagram is considering the launch of a separate app for its short-form video feature, Reels, its chief Adam Mosseri told staff this week, The Information reported on Wednesday, citing a person who heard the remarks.

The Meta-owned company is looking to take advantage of TikTok’s uncertain status in the United States, aiming to provide a similar video-scrolling experience, the report added.

DeepSeek

DeepSeek cuts off-peak pricing for developers by up to 75%

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has introduced discounted off-peak pricing for developers using its AI models, cutting costs by up to 75% during specific hours.

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek on Wednesday introduced discounted off-peak pricing for developers looking to use its AI models to build their own products, its website showed, a move that could put pressure on rivals in China and overseas to cut prices.

DeepSeek’s low-cost AI models triggered a major sell-off in global equity markets last month, as investors worried that its arrival could threaten current AI market leaders.

Adobe

Adobe launches free Photoshop for iPhone, Android version coming soon

While Adobe is giving away the app for free, you might have to pay for some advanced features.

Adobe Photoshop, one of the most popular image editing tools of all time, just got a mobile app. Currently available on iPhones, Photoshop for mobile brings several design, editing and generative AI powered features available on the desktop version of the app.

Photoshop Express has been available on Android and iOS devices for well over a decade, but Adobe says the new app was designed from the ground up and is more powerful. While the two apps share some similarities like the ability to resize, mask, adjust contrast, remove objects and blemishes to name a few, the new Photoshop app offers a more desktop-like experience.

The new Photoshop app offers more of a desktop like experience.

The new free app also offers several Photoshop editing features like Spot Healing Brush, Tap Select, layers, selections, masks and compositing and blending images. You also get access to Adobe Stock assets and integration with Creative Cloud apps like Adobe Express, Lightroom and the AI powered Generative Fill and Generative Expand AI tools.

However, tools like Object Select, Content Aware Fill, Clone Stamp, Remove Tool and Magic Wand are locked behind a paywall for which you will have to shell out Rs 799 per month. The subscription also offers access to features like light/dark adjustment options, advanced blend modes, color effects, styles, and integration with Photoshop for web.

Adobe also says that users who have already subscribed to a paid Photoshop plan will be able to access all the premium features on mobile for free. And for those wondering, Adobe has confirmed that Photoshop will be coming to Android later this year.

Microsoft

Microsoft testing free version of Office: Here’s how you can access it

The free version of Microsoft Office misses out on some basic and advanced features as well.

Microsoft has reportedly started testing a new version of Microsoft Office that lets you create and edit documents without having to buy a Microsoft 365 subscription or a license key.

According to a recent report by Beebom, the free version of Microsoft Office for Windows comes with ads that appear when you open any document in Word, Excel and Powerpoint. While you can create and edit documents, they can only be saved on OneDrive and there is currently no way to save them locally on your computer.

The publication also noted that the Office app will automatically play a 15-second muted app every couple of hours and that the free tier misses out on some features like the ability to install add-ins, add watermark, analyse data and others are missing.

How to download and use Microsoft Office for free?

To use the free version of Microsoft Office, install it by downloading the setup from the official website.

When done, open any Office app and when it asks to sign-in, tap the “Skip for now” button that appears below.

Now, proceed to click on the “Continue for free” button and on the next screen, choose the “Save to OneDrive” option.

As it turns out, this free ad-supported version of Microsoft Office is only available to a handful of users. Also, in a statement to PCWorld, a Microsoft representative said that the company has been “conducting some limited testing” and that there are currently “no plans to launch a free, ad-supported version of Microsoft Office desktop apps.”

Apple

Apple investors reject proposal against diversity policies

Apple shareholders rejected a proposal challenging its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies at the annual meeting, marking a win for the tech giant amid growing opposition to corporate DEI initiatives in the U.S.

Data that was encrypted before Apple launched its protection service in late 2022, such as passwords and iMessage and FaceTime messaging services, will remain encrypted.

The U.S. Department of Justice could investigate whether they violate the law.

Apple shareholders rejected an outside investor proposal against its diversity, equity and inclusion policies at an annual meeting on Tuesday, handing a major victory to the tech giant as opposition against such efforts gains traction in the U.S.
The vote was a test of shareholder views about the value of DEI programs, which many companies added or beefed up starting in 2020 amid the Black Lives Matter movement.
A growing conservative backlash has pushed major U.S. companies, including Meta and Alphabet, to drop DEI initiatives ahead of and following Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency. Trump has criticized corporate diversity programs, sugges
Apple shareholders also voted against a proposal asking the company to prepare a report assessing the risks of its work with AI, while all management proposals were approved, a preliminary tally of the vote count showed.

Earlier this month, proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services recommended that investors back Apple’s DEI policies, saying the company already offers sufficient information about them and that there have been no controversies or signs of discrimination against employee groups.
Apple shareholders in the past have rejected proposals that would have required the company to disclose more about racial and gender pay gaps. On Tuesday, CEO Tim Cook said Apple has never had quotas or targets in its diversity programs.
“As the legal landscape around these issues evolves, we may need to make some changes to comply, but our North Star of dignity and respect for everyone and our work to that end will never waver,” Cook said.
The proposal against Apple’s diversity policies was submitted by the National Center for Public Policy Research, which describes itself as a free-market think-tank.
The same group had asked Costco Wholesale to report on the risks of maintaining its diversity and inclusion initiatives. The membership-only retailer’s shareholders voted strongly against the proposal at a meeting in January.

Bitcoin drops below $90,000 as global jitters combine with Bybit hack

Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency by market value, was last down 7.25% on the day at $87,169.76.

Bitcoin dropped below $90,000 to its lowest since November 18 on Tuesday, as market nerves over U.S. tariffs reinforced the blow to crypto investor confidence from last week’s $1.5 billion hack of ether from the Bybit exchange.

Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value, was last down 7.25% on the day at $87,169.76. Global investors have been jittery on signs the so-called exceptionalism of the U.S. economy might be fading, while President Donald Trump prepares to impose tariffs.

Trump indicated on Monday he still plans to slap a 25% levy on imports from Canada and Mexico from early March and, in a sign of unease, safe-haven U.S. Treasury prices have rallied sharply, sending yields to two-month lows.

“The macroeconomic situation has been the main reason for the price decline in the last few hours,” said Marcel Heinrichsmeier, crypto assets analyst at DZ Bank. “The Bybit hack and the memecoin turmoil of the past few weeks have contributed to a generally worse mood in the crypto market than at the beginning of the year.”

Joseph Edwards, head of research at Enigma Securities, said Tuesday’s selloff seemed to be “a bit of a delayed reaction from the Bybit hack.” “Markets held up peculiarly well in response to what was expected to be a significant destabilising event … but there tends to be a price to be paid further down the line… “We’ve seen the classic thing, where a slight contraction in risk has caused a small cascading selloff within crypto markets specifically.”

Part of the reason for the shift in sentiment is that policy changes in the U.S. have not lived up to expectations. A few months ago, optimism that the Trump administration would champion a strategic bitcoin fund and loosen regulation left investors primed for another jump in bitcoin, which topped $100,000 in December. But beyond a flurry of appointments of crypto-friendly officials when he took office, there has been little concrete news for investors.

In addition, investors have been pulling money out of bitcoin-backed exchange-traded funds. LSEG data shows the largest ETFs are set for a net monthly outflow of around $644 million, the largest since their launch back in January 2024.

Google

Google offers Gemini AI coding tool for free with ‘practically unlimited capacity’

The free version of Gemini Code Assistant has also been released for public preview on Microsoft-owned GitHub.

Google is rolling out a free version of its AI coding tool called Gemini Code Assistant to all users. “Developers worldwide now get free AI-assisted coding help with the highest usage limits available, as well as code review assistance,” the search giant said in a blog post published on Tuesday, February 25.

Google’s AI coding tool is powered by its Gemini 2.0. The foundational AI model has been fine-tuned to carry out coding-related tasks by analysing and validating a large number of real-world coding use cases. As a result, Gemini Code Assistant can be used to generate code in any programming language.

Google said that Gemini Code Assistant supports over 1,28,000 input tokens and uses natural language to generate, explain, or improve code.

“For example, a freelance website developer could quickly get code with a prompt like, ‘Build me a simple HTML form with fields for name, email, and message, and then add a ‘submit’ button.’ Or someone just looking to automate more routine tasks can ask Gemini to ‘Write a script that sends a daily email with the latest weather forecast,’ or “Explain what this Python code snippet does and find any errors’,” the blog post read.

Studies have found that there has been a decline in the quality of code generated using AI tools. Last year, a survey of 800 software developers using GitHub Copilot found that none of them saw any productivity gains. The survey respondents also reported experiencing a 41 per cent increase in bugs within pull requests while using the AI coding assistant to write code.

Hackers steal $1.5 billion

Hackers steal $1.5 billion from Bybit in record-breaking crypto heist: What we know so far

Bybit, a Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange, has said hackers stole digital assets worth over $1.5 billion in what is being seen as the largest crypto heist to date.

According to Bybit last Friday, hackers reportedly targeted its cold wallet of Ethereum, an offline system for secure storage of cryptocurrencies and encryption keys. Ethereum is the second most valuable cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. They stole tokens that were primarily in ether, transferred them to multiple wallets, and used various platforms to liquidate them.

Following the hack, the value of Ethereum dropped by 4 per cent to over $2,641.41 per coin, according to the BBC.

Founded in 2018, Bybit holds over $20 billion in assets and has more than 60 million users worldwide. US President Donald Trump and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel were reportedly among its early investors.

Who was behind Bybit heist?

According to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, the attack is linked to the Lazarus Group, a North Korean hacking collective that has become notorious for exploiting security vulnerabilities and siphoning billions of dollars in stolen crypto funds.

The state-sponsored hacking group reportedly uses sophisticated methods to obscure the flow of funds and launder the stolen loot, which is also used to finance North Korea’s dictatorship regime.

In 2017, the Lazarus Group reportedly hacked four South Korean crypto exchanges and stole $200 million worth of bitcoin.

Major crypto heists in the past

Despite the recent shift in cryptocurrency markets, large-scale thefts continue to be a fundamental risk associated with digital assets. In 2021, hackers stole $611 million worth of crypto from Poly Network. Around $570 million worth of Binance’s BNB token was stolen a year later.

Crypto exchange Mt Gox had to file for bankruptcy in 2014 after hackers exploited a security loophole to swipe $350 million worth of digital currency.

Google AI

Google’s AI previews erode the internet, US edtech company says in lawsuit

Chegg has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, accusing the search giant of using AI-generated overviews to erode demand for original content and undermine publishers' ability to compete.

Alphabet’s Google internet search engine is eroding demand for original content and undermining publishers’ ability to compete with its artificial intelligence-generated overviews, a U.S. educational technology company said in a lawsuit filed on Monday.

Chegg, an online education company that offers textbook rentals, homework help, and tutoring, said in the lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C., that Google is co-opting publishers’ content to keep users on its own site, erasing financial incentives to publish.

This will eventually lead to a “hollowed-out information ecosystem of little use and unworthy of trust,” the company said.

The Santa Clara, California-based company has said Google’s AI overviews have caused a drop in visitors and subscribers. The company is now considering a sale or take-private transaction as a result, the company’s CEO Nathan Schultz said on Monday.

Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda called the claims meritless.

“With AI Overviews, people find Search more helpful and use it more, creating new opportunities for content to be discovered. Every day, Google sends billions of clicks to sites across the web, and AI Overviews send traffic to a greater diversity of sites,” Castaneda said.

Chegg shares closed at $1.57 on Monday, down more than 98% from its peak price in 2021. The company announced it would lay off 21% of its staff in November.
Schultz said Google is profiting off the company’s content for free.

“Our lawsuit is about more than Chegg – it’s about the digital publishing industry, the future of internet search, and about students losing access to quality, step-by-step learning in favor of low-quality, unverified AI summaries,” he said.

Publishers allow Google to crawl their websites to generate search results, which Google monetizes through advertising. In exchange, the publishers receive search traffic to their sites when users click on the results, Chegg said.

But Google has started coercing publishers to let it use the information for AI overviews and other features that result in fewer site visitors, the company said.

Chegg argued the conduct violates a law against conditioning the sale of one product on the customer selling or giving its supplier another product.

The lawsuit is believed to be the first where a single company accuses Google of violating antitrust law through AI overviews. An Arkansas newspaper made similar claims against Google in a class action on behalf of the news industry in 2023.

Airtel With Apple

Airtel partners with Apple to offer complimentary Apple TV+ and Music for select users

Select Airtel users can access Apple TV+ and Apple Music for free of cost.

On Monday, Airtel announced a strategic partnership with Apple to offer Apple TV+ and Apple Music to select postpaid and Wi-Fi customers. Airtel Wi-Fi and postpaid users on plans starting at Rs 999 will receive complimentary access to Apple TV+ and a six-month subscription to Apple Music.

This offer applies to four different Wi-Fi and postpaid plans, allowing subscribers to enjoy premium content at no additional cost. Airtel postpaid users can access Apple Music, which is priced at Rs 119 per month, and Apple TV+, which costs Rs 99 per month, for free.

“This collaboration offers an extraordinary opportunity to millions of our Home Wi-Fi and Postpaid customers, giving them access to Apple’s premium content catalogue,” said Siddharth Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer and CEO – Connected Homes, Bharti Airtel, in a press release.

Airtel’s Rs 999 Wi-Fi plan, which provides unlimited data with download speeds of up to 200Mbps, is the most affordable plan that includes complimentary Apple TV+ and Apple Music subscriptions. Additionally, this plan grants access to over 23 OTT platforms, including ZEE5, Amazon Prime, and Jio Hotstar.

Similarly, Airtel’s Rs 999 postpaid plan, which offers 150GB of data and the option to add two additional SIM cards, provides similar benefits, including Apple Music, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, Jio Hotstar, and 20 other OTT platforms.

Internet Shutdowns

India saw 84 internet shutdowns in 2024, more than any other democracy: Report

India cut internet access 84 times last year, down from 116 in 2023 but still the most in any democratic country, according to digital rights organisation Access Now.

India recorded 84 internet shutdowns in 2024, the highest among democratic nations, surpassed only by Myanmar, which saw 85 such blackouts imposed by the military junta in the country, according to a report by digital rights organisation Access Now.

This is the first time in six years that India has not been named as the country which saw the most number of internet shutdowns in the world.

“Despite a modest decrease in shutdowns from 2023 [116 internet shutdowns], India still imposed 84 in 2024, the most disruptions ordered in a democracy that year,” the report published on Monday read.

Out of the 84 shutdowns, 41 were related to protests while 23 of them were triggered by communal violence, as per the report. Five internet shutdowns were imposed by authorities during government job placement examinations last year.

At least one internet shutdown was imposed in over 16 Indian states and Union Territories.

The state-wise data further revealed that the state government in Manipur imposed the most number of shutdowns (21) within the country, followed by Haryana (12), and Jammu & Kashmir (12).

“Shutdowns are incompatible with India’s global leadership ambitions, whether on AI, digital governance, or skilling. In no other democracy are people cut off from connectivity without oversight or accountability, year after year,” Namrata Maheshwari, senior policy counsel at Access Now, said in a statement.

Pointing to the lack of safeguards in the Telecommunications Act 2023 and the Telecom Suspension Rules 2024, Maheshwari urged authorities to “repeal rights-violating laws, and make 2025 a shutdown-free year for all people in India”.

Parts of the revamped telecom legislative framework went into effect last year. A key criticism of the Telecom Act is that it retains the colonial-era provisions of the Telegraph Act, 1885, for government-ordered internet shutdowns without adding safeguards such as an independent oversight mechanism to review shutdown orders.

Currently, the legal validity of shutdown orders are reviewed by a three-member committee comprising secretary-level officials at the Centre and in states.

Internet shutdowns across the globe

Last year saw over 296 government-imposed internet shutdowns in 54 countries, with 202 such disruptions recorded in 11 countries or territories in the Asia Pacific.

“Myanmar, India, and Pakistan together accounted for over 64 per cent of all recorded shutdowns in 2024,” Access Now said.

Authorities shut down the internet most during instances of violence and conflict, with over 103 conflict-related shutdowns in 11 countries, including India. Shutdowns during protests and instability, exams, elections, and to cover up grave human rights abuses were identified as other triggers in the report.

“Shutdowns destabilise societies, undermine digital progress, put entire communities at risk, and provide a cloak of impunity for human rights abuses. Authorities from Myanmar to Pakistan are isolating people from the rest of the world with impunity, reflecting the rising digital authoritarianism in Asia,” Raman Jit Singh Chima, Asia Pacific Policy director at Access Now, said.

Access to over 71 specific online platforms was blocked in 35 countries—an increase from 53 blocks in 25 countries in 2023. As per the report, Elon Musk-owned social media platform X was the most blocked platform (blocked 24 times in 14 countries) around the world in 2024, followed by TikTok (blocked 10 times in 10 countries) and secure messaging app Signal (10 times in nine countries).

Jio Hotstar

Jio unveils Rs 195 cricket data pack with Jio Hotstar subscription for 90 days

A value recharge plan to live-stream upcoming IPL 2025 on smartphones.

On Monday, Reliance Jio introduced a new data-only recharge plan with a complimentary three-month Jio Hotstar subscription for ₹195. This data-only recharge plan provides access to the entire Jio Hotstar catalogue, including live streaming of ongoing cricket tournaments such as WPL 2025 and the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, along with the upcoming IPL 2025.

This is an add-on plan that must be recharged on top of a regular plan. Jio calls it a “Cricket Data Pack,” offering 15GB of 4G/5G data for 90 days, along with a complimentary ad-supported Jio Hotstar mobile subscription for the entire period, which allows users to stream content with up to 720p resolution on smartphones and tablets and on one mobile at once.

Compared to purchasing Jio Hotstar as a standalone service, which costs Rs 149 for three months, for an additional Rs 46, users get an extra 15GB of data. This is particularly useful for live streaming matches, especially for those using a 4G smartphone or a data pack without unlimited 5G data.

This is the second recharge plan that includes a Jio Hotstar subscription. The first one is the Rs 949 plan, which is a regular recharge plan with 84 days of validity, 2GB of 4G data per day, unlimited calling, 5G data, and 100 SMS per day, along with a Jio Hotstar mobile subscription for 90 days.
If you don’t already have a base plan, Jio’s Rs 949 recharge plan offers more value. However, if you already have a recharge plan, the new Rs 195 recharge plan provides access to Jio Hotstar along with 15GB of additional data.