GadgetByte Nepal

Nepali startups have started showing tremendous sparks, both in terms of creativity and utility. Khalti.com, a promising Nepali financial tech startup has won the Google Business Group’s (GBG) 2017 ‘Story Search’ Contest. The company not only won the contest but was declared the People’s Choice Winner.

Khalti is a digital wallet which allows instant, secure and hassle-free digital payment in Nepal. It envisions working to empower people in Nepal financially, by driving the nation towards a cashless digital economy.

Along with Khalti, three other startups from across the globe, namely, Café Yagam form the Philippines, Riliv from Indonesia, and Virtualahan from the Philippines were announced the winners of the very competition that was held in San Francisco, California.

The contestants were judged on three criteria namely, innovation quality, impact and innovative use of Google products. The entire process of winner selection happened within a time frame of six months in 2017.

“The winners who stood out will get the opportunity to travel to the Google headquarters in California and will get to meet with the tech thinkers, innovators, and business leaders. They’ll also be spotted in the videos that document their stories. “- Google

GBG, every year invites thousands of startups across the globe, to participate in the storytelling contest, in an attempt to tell everyone how the internet is facilitating business operations around the world.

Out of nine, three startups were selected from Nepal itself, which undoubtedly is something to acknowledge. The others, apart from Khalti.com who were successful in getting themselves out there, were, Khaalisisi and Eco cell Industries Nepal.

Back in 2014, Yellow Nepal, another start-up company had also added to Nepal’s pride by winning the GBG story search contest.

With entrepreneurship rising so prominently in Nepal, we hope to see other startups going for opportunities as such.

Video On Demand (VOD) services has been booming in the Nepali market. People want quick entertainment and what better source than the phone they carry with them. NTC recently launched the WoW Time TV app only for its users. Could Ncell just sit quiet and watch its competitor provide better service than them? Of course Not! Ncell teaming up with the Malaysian VOD provider iFlix has introduced iFlix Service for its users.

iFlix is currently providing its services in more than 23 countries including Nepal. The company has teamed up with more than 150 studios to provide their TV Shows and Series. It even has a dedicated kids section with cartoon shows and movies. Exploring the contents of the app, it has a broad range of some of the best movies and shows from the past to binge on. But  I couldn’t find some of my favorite movies and shows like Hobbit Series, James Bond, The Flash, or Game of Thrones. Still, whatever the app provides is reasonable.

How to use the iFlix app on Ncell:

• Download the iFlix App for Android or iOS.
• Register with your Name, email id, followed by your Ncell Number.
• Confirmation Code will be sent by SMS and You’re in the app!

Things to Know about the iFlix app:

• For Normal SIM users, using iFlix is free from 12 Midnight to 5 AM.
• For 4G Users, iFlix app is free from 5 AM to 5 PM.
• iFlix Services are free for 3months from the day of activation from your number.
• Besides Free hours or after 3 months users buy a 1hour pack for Rs. 50 by dialing *17137#

iFlix App Overview

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Services Offered by the iFlix app:

• TV Shows: Top 200, Anime, Comedy, Drama, Horror, Reality, Sports, Korean and more.
• Movies: Top 200, Action, Adventure, Crime, Documentary, Sci-Fi, Romance and more.
• Download any content for offline view with the desired resolution from the app.
• Connect up to 5 devices in your account.

Unlike NTC it doesn’t have LIVE channel support which is a bummer! Also, there is no Nepali content on the App. Everything is either English, Hindi, Korean or Japanese. So this app will not be everyone’s cup of tea. There might be Nepali content integration in the near future but that’s uncertain. The UI of the app is really intuitive and interactive compared to the WoW Time or NetTV. This is a really chill app for binge-watching movies and shows on weekends.

Note: You can use your registered email and password to login to a device with other Carriers and play contents using Wi-Fi.

Nepali customers have always wanted a plan-based SIM cards for themselves. While telecommunication companies are trying to impress their users by introducing different schemes and offers for calls and data packs, these services are far from what the consumers are actually looking forward to. Keeping this in mind, a new SIM meant solely for internet messaging has made its way into Nepal.

Chatsim is world’s first SIM that lets its users connect to data connection anywhere in the world and use it for sending unlimited texts on selected internet messaging apps. It is currently operating in more than 160 countries through over 250 operators.

How Chatsim works:

Chatsim basically lets you send texts on Whatsapp, Messenger, BBM, Hike, WeChat, Telegram, Line, QQI and Kakao. The SIM users receive a phone number from Jersey – a British island. After popping in the SIM, customers will have to register their SIM number via Chatsim’s website. After registering, the SIM gets activated. Chatsim basically uses Nepal Telecom’s and Ncell’s network back and forth to provide their users a better network experience here in Nepal. So, you will never have to worry about it not working at a specific area.

Chatsim works with data roaming turned on. But if a user tries to make normal calls via the SIM card, an operator just lets them know that calls are blocked. As for sending multimedia contents, buyers will have to purchase extra credits just to make calls or send videos and photos through it.

It is, however, a bummer that Chatsim doesn’t support Viber – one of the most popular messaging platform in Nepal. But officials at Chatsim have confirmed that support for Viber is on the way.

Future Networks and Technology P. Ltd., authorized distributor of Chatsim in Nepal, has priced Chatsim at Rs. 3,500. As for its purchase, interested buyers can make a call at +977 -9801159640 or just register their details here. And yes, they accept cash-on-delivery.

Nubia, the subsidiary brand of ZTE resurfaced in the smartphone market with two new prolific smartphones. Dubbed as Nubia Z17S and Nubia Z17 miniS, the newbies come with four cameras: dual camera both on the front and on the back. Nubia Z17S and Nubia Z17 miniS are the upgraded versions of the Nubia Z17 and Nubia Z17 mini, which were announced six months back. The newbies include some nifty enhancements like dual selfie camera, thinner bezels, beefed up RAM and elegant looks. But what more it has to offer? Let’s dig into it.

Also Read: Dual Camera on Smartphones – How it Works & Why Do You Need it?

Nubia Z17S

Nubia Z17S is the company’s first smartphone equipped with four cameras. The smartphone comes with 5.73-inch display framed by thinner bezels on the top and on the bottom. The display used is LTPS display with FULL HD+ resolution having a weird and unheard 17:9 aspect ratio. The device comes with Snapdragon 835 chipset. Despite the Android Oreo release, the smartphone is stuck with Android Nougat (v7.1.1) with Nubia UI 5.1 on the top.

In terms of camera, the dual camera on the back includes 12MP camera assisted by a secondary 23MP camera. The rear camera setup can opt for 2x optical zoom and Bokeh effects similar to that of Z17. On the front too, there is a dual camera setup with each camera equipped with 5MP sensors. The fingerprint sensor on the device rests on the back and is capable of unlocking the device in mere 0.1 seconds. The phone is fueled by a 3100mAh battery. The battery supports 26W fast charging because of which the battery charge surges up to 50% in a mere 25minutes charge.

Nubia Z17S Specs

• Display: 5.73-inch (1080 x 2040 pixels) Full HD+ LTPS display with Gorilla Glass protection
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
• CPU: 2.45GHz Octa-Core CPU
• GPU: Adreno 540 GPU
• RAM: 6/8GB LPDDR4x
• Internal Storage: 64/128GB
• OS: Android 7.1.1 (Nougat) with Nubia UI 5.1
• Rear Camera: Dual camera, 12MP Sony IMX362 Sensor, f/1.8, 1.4µm pixel size, 1/2.55” CMOS sensor (primary) + 23MP Sony IMX318 Sensor, f/2.0 aperture (Secondary) with dual tone flash
• Front camera: 5MP + 5MP dual-front facing cameras with f/2.2, 80-degree wide angle lens
• Connectivity: Dual SIM, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, NFC, USB Type-C
• Fingerprint sensor: Yes (Rear mounted), unlocks in 0.1second
• Battery: 3100mAh battery with fast charging
• Additional Feature: TAS2555 smart Amplifier, 7.1 channel DTS audio
• Price: $455 (approx.) for 6GB + 64GB, $607 (approx.) for 8GB + 128GB

Nubia Z17 MiniS

Companying the Z17S, Z17 miniS is another smartphone in the Nubia family to feature quad cameras. As an upgrade to Z17 miniS, the smartphone comes with increased battery size, an upgraded version of Android (Nougat) as additions. Furthermore, the fingerprint sensor resides on the home button giving perfect space for the glass panel on the back. The rest of the features on the device is cloned from the Nubia Z17 mini.

Nubia Z17 MiniS Specs

• Display: 5.2-inch (1080 x 1920 pixels) Full-HD IPS LCD display with Gorilla Glass 3 protection
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 653
• CPU: Octa-Core CPU: 4 x 1.95GHz Cortex A-72 + 4 x 1.4GHz Cortex A-53
• GPU: Adreno 510 GPU
• RAM: 6GB LPDDR4x
• Internal Storage: 64GB, expandable up to 256GB
• OS: Android 7.1.1 (Nougat) with Nubia UI 5.0
• Rear Camera: Dual 13MP camera, f/2.2 aperture, 1/3” sensor size, 1.12µm pixel size, PDAF and dual-tone flash
• Front camera: (16MP, f/2.0) + (5MP, f/2.2)
• Connectivity: Dual SIM, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, NFC, USB Type-C
• Fingerprint sensor: Yes (front-mounted)
• Battery: 3200mAh battery
• Additional Feature: DTS sound
• Price: $303 (approx.) for Black, Gold, Deep Blue color variants; $318 (approx.) for Aegean Blue Variant

The devices are available for pre-order and will go on sale starting from 19th October in China.