Tech

Microsoft will lay off nearly 4% of its workforce, the company said on Wednesday, in the latest job cuts as the tech giant looks to rein in costs amid hefty investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The company, which had about 228,000 employees worldwide as of June 2024, had announced layoffs in May, affecting around 6,000 workers. It was planning to cut thousands of jobs, particularly in sales, Bloomberg News reported last month.

The Windows maker had pledged $80 billion in capital spending for its fiscal year 2025. However, the soaring cost of scaling its AI infrastructure has weighed on its margins, with its June quarter cloud margin expected to shrink from last year.

Microsoft said on Wednesday it planned to reduce organizational layers with fewer managers and streamline its products, procedures and roles.

The Seattle Times first reported on the layoffs earlier on Wednesday. Separately, Bloomberg News reported Microsoft’s Barcelona-based King division, which makes the Candy Crush video game, is cutting 10% of its staff, or about 200 jobs.

Big Tech peers, which are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, have also announced job cuts.

Facebook parent Meta earlier this year said it would trim about 5% of its “lowest performers”, while Alphabet’s Google has also laid off hundreds of employees in the past year.

Amazon has also cut jobs across its business segments, most recently in its books division. The company had earlier laid off employees in its devices and services unit, and communications staff.

Economic uncertainties and rising costs have triggered layoffs across sectors in Corporate America, as companies rush to streamline operations and hedge against further cost pressures.

© Thomson Reuters 2025

Qualcomm announced its Snapdragon Auto Day event in India on Wednesday. This is the first time the chipmaker is hosting an automobile-focused event in the country. The event is being hosted in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and will take place on July 30 in New Delhi. During the event, the company plans to showcase in-vehicle technology, strategic partnerships, and cross-border learnings. Qualcomm said that the event will witness participants from the automotive ecosystem of OEMs, partners, media, and influencers.

Qualcomm to Host Snapdragon Auto Day Event in India

In a press release, the San Diego, California-based tech giant announced its first automotive ecosystem-focused event in India. The company’s Snapragon division is heavily invested in developing chipsets for in-vehicle connectivity systems as well as infotainment systems. The event appears to be Qualcomm’s way of bringing together original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) as well as ecosystem providers.

“At the heart of this landmark event is a bold vision: to make Indian roads safer and smarter, while showcasing the technologies, cross-border learning, and collaborations that will define the next decade of mobility,” the company said in the press release.

As per the company, the Snapdragon Auto Day will be a strategic platform where industry leaders, OEMs, suppliers and ecosystem partners from tier 1 cities will come together. Qualcomm will use this opportunity to showcase its connected, software-powered Snapdragon technologies for vehicles. The company also highlighted that these technologies will be built in India and will focus on India-specific challenges.

Notably, Qualcomm provides in-vehicle connectivity technology, as well as cloud integration of the same. These products and services are available under the Immersive Cockpit Solutions umbrella. The company claims to deliver “personalised context-aware in-vehicle experiences and cutting-edge 3D UI/UX design.”

The tech giant also offers the Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS), which is focused on developing a suite of tech to improve a vehicle’s safety and driving experience by assisting the driver with sensor and algorithm-based automation. Additionally, it also has Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) technology for real-time communication. Qualcomm says these offerings pave the way for a safer driving experience and fewer road accidents.

Rockstar Games has released a new update for Red Dead Online out of the blue, adding new missions, rewards and additional content to the game. The update, called “Strange Tales of the West”, includes four new Telegram missions, acquired at any post office or from the lockbox at the player’s camp, that each come with a specific theme — one very reminiscent of the Undead Nightmare expansions to Red Dead Redemption. The Strange Tales of the West update is now available to Red Dead Online players on PC and consoles.

Red Dead Online Gets New Update

The Red Dead Online update comes as a surprise to players as Rockstar had largely halted major updates to the game in 2022. Strange Tales of the West includes four new Telegram missions, all of which will require players to investigate unexplained and weird phenomena.

The first, titled “Strange Tales of the Plague”, brings back an Undead Nightmare-style zombie-themed mission to Red Dead Online. The mission is based around a strange plague spreading in Armadillo that turns people into undead creatures. “It’ll fall on you to retrieve several of these diseased corpses for scientific examination, if you can avoid infection and fend off attacks from a resurgent cell of nearby cultists,” Rockstar’s description reads in its newswire post about the update.

Then there’s science-fiction-themed “Strange Tales of Modern Science”, that takes players to Brathwaite Manor to take down a robotic enemy. “Strange Tales of the Bayou” has players investigating strange occurrences in and around the swamps of Lagras. And finally, “Strange Tales of the Wilderness” tasks players with tracking down a scientist gone missing in the Tall Trees region on the map.

The update also comes with several rewards, including additional gold, XP and RDO$ (in-game currency) for completing Telegram missions and other activities.

Additionally, players who jump into Red Dead Online this month will receive the Rebellion Poncho, among other rewards. The update also adds a new community-based outfit.

A major Red Dead Online update with new missions is rare considering Rockstar had stopped major updates for the title in 2022. The new update has thus sparked speculation around a reported Red Dead Redemption 2 next-gen patch.

Back in May, Gamereactor, citing sources close to Rockstar Games, reported that a Switch 2 port of Red Dead Redemption 2 could arrive later this year, and the game could finally get a next-gen patch on PS5 and Xbox Series S/X. Rockstar, of course, has not announced or even hinted at a next-gen update for Red Dead Redemption 2.

The game originally launched on PS4 and Xbox One in 2018 and arrived on PC a year later. Red Dead Redemption 2 does not yet have a native app on current-generation consoles and is locked to 30fps on PS5 and Xbox Series S/X.

Apple’s long-rumoured foldable iPhone is likely to become a reality soon. The Cupertino-based tech giant is yet to offer any hints about its launch, but a new report states that the foldable phone is in the early stages of development. The device is expected to complete prototype testing by late 2025 and move into the Engineering Verification Test (EVT) phase. The foldable iPhone could be unveiled in the second half of next year. 

Apple Reportedly Begins Prototyping Phase for Foldable iPhone

Digitimes, citing supply chain sources, reports that Apple’s foldable iPhone had reached the prototype (P1) stage in June. Apple is said to keep a standard development cycle for the foldable iPhone, and it could progress through P1 to P3 prototype stages before entering the EVT phase, followed by mass production. This could potentially pave the way for a launch in the second half of 2026. 

Each prototype stage of the foldable iPhone reportedly lasts about two months. During this time, Apple’s supply chain partners could carry out limited trial productions. Once those trials are complete, iPhone assemblers Foxconn and Pegatron will reportedly verify production yields and assess manufacturability before full-scale production begins.

Initial shipment estimates for Apple’s foldable iPhone are reportedly around 7 million units. This figure could change based on market response.

Further, the publication, citing sources with knowledge of the matter, states that Apple had been developing a foldable iPad alongside the foldable iPhone, but it has reportedly shelved this plan. Industry experts reportedly believe the pause is due to manufacturing challenges, high production costs, especially around flexible displays, and limited market demand for larger foldable devices.

Apple’s entry into the foldable segment is expected to heat up the competition. The foldable iPhone is likely to compete against Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold lineup, and Pixel’s Fold phones, and several other Chinese foldables.

The foldable iPhone is rumoured to cost around $2,300 (roughly Rs. 1,99,000) in the US. It is speculated to boast a liquid metal hinge. It is said to pack a 7.8-inch inner display and a 5.5-inch cover display. The upcoming model could measure 9.2mm in thickness when folded and 4.6mm when unfolded. It is said to offer a side-mounted Touch ID sensor.

Honor Magic V5 was launched in China on Wednesday. The book-style foldable comes with a 7.95-inch 2K resolution foldable inner display and a 6.45-inch LTPO OLED cover screen. It is powered by Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, paired with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of inbuilt storage. It offers up to a 6,100mAh battery with wired and wireless fast charging support. The phone is claimed to meet IP58 and IP59 dust and water resistance ratings. The Magic V5 has a 64-megapixel periscope telephoto camera at the back.

Honor Magic V5 Price, Colour Options

Honor Magic V5 price in China starts at CNY 8,999 (roughly Rs. 1,07,500) for the 12GB + 256GB option. Meanwhile, the 16GB + 512GB and 16GB + 1TB variants cost CNY 9,999 (roughly Rs. 1,19,500) and CNY 10,999 (roughly Rs. 1,31,400), respectively. It is sold in Dawn Gold, Silk Road Dunhuang, Velvet Black, and Warm White (translated) colour options. The handset is currently available for pre-order via the official Honor China site and will go on sale from July 4.

Honor Magic V5 Specifications, Features

The Honor Magic V5 sports a 7.95-inch inner flexible OLED display with a 2K resolution, up to 5,000 nits brightness level, and a 4,320Hz PWM dimming rate. It gets a 6.45-inch LTPO OLED outer screen. The phone is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC paired with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of onboard storage. It ships with Android 15-based MagicOS 9.1 and offers Deepseek-backed AI productivity features.

In the camera department, the Honor Magic V5 features a triple rear camera setup comprising a 50-megapixel primary sensor, a 50-megapixel ultrawide shooter, and a 64-megapixel periscope telephoto lens with optical image stabilisation (OIS) and up to 3x optical zoom. For selfies and video calls, it offers two 20-megapixel sensors, one on the inner screen and the other on the outer display.

The 16GB + 1TB variant of the Honor Magic V5 packs a 6,100mAh battery, while the other versions carry a 5,820mAh cell. All models support 66W wired fast charging and 50W wireless charging. The handset is claimed to meet IP58 and IP59 ratings for dust and water resistance. Connectivity options include dual nano SIM, 5G, 4G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, GPS, NFC and a USB Type-C port. It measures 8.8mm in thickness when folded and 4.1mm when unfolded while weighing about 217g.

WhatsApp Business users will soon get to use two new features, Meta announced on Tuesday. The company unveiled new features for businesses at its global Conversations conference in Miami. The first feature is aimed at larger businesses that will soon be able to receive and make voice calls to customers. The second feature brings an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot dubbed Business AI, which can automatically share product recommendations with customers to push sales. Notably, both features will be shipped in the coming weeks.

WhatsApp Business Is Getting Two New Features

In a newsroom post, the social media giant highlighted that it now intends to streamline how businesses create and manage marketing campaigns across all Meta platforms, including WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram. This can be accessed by businesses via Ads Manager.

WhatsApp Business is streamlining its platform by eliminating separate experiences for businesses of different sizes. All setup and workflows will now be unified in a single, centralised location within Ads Manager. The company said businesses can upload their subscriber list after being onboarded and either select marketing messages manually, as an additional placement, or use Advantage+, and Meta’s AI models will automatically optimise budgets for them to provide maximised performance.

Coming to the two new features, WhatsApp Business users will soon get to use a new chatbot dubbed Business AI. It can create personalised product recommendations to customers in an attempt to bolster sales. Additionally, it can also follow up with customers, answer their questions, or provide updates within the WhatsApp chat. This feature will first be rolled out to select businesses in Mexico.

Earlier, only smaller businesses had the option to receive voice calls from customers via WhatsApp’s Business console. Now, the feature is being expanded to larger businesses as well. They can both receive a call from customers when they indicate they want to speak to someone live, or call a customer directly after they have suggested that they would like to speak with a representative.

WhatsApp Business will also soon add support for voice messages and video calls for specific use cases (for instance, video calls will be available for telehealth appointments). Meta said the expansion of voice support will eventually pave the way for AI-enabled voice support. However, the company did not provide any timeline for the feature.

Alienware Area-51 and Aurora desktops with the latest Intel Core Ultra CPUS were launched in India on Wednesday. The gaming-focused desktops can be configured with up to Intel Core Ultra 9 K series CPUs and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs. Notably, the refreshed Area-51 desktop with the new CPUs and GPUs was unveiled earlier this year in January at CES 2025. The 2025 Alienware Area-51 16-inch and 18-inch laptops were also launched alongside.

Alienware Area-51 Desktop, Alienware Aurora Price in India, Availability

The Alienware Area-51 desktop’s price in India starts at Rs. 5,09,263.22, the company said in a press release. Meanwhile, the Alienware Aurora desktop will set you back about Rs. 1,92,526.44 for the entry-level configuration. They are available for purchase in the country via the official Dell website, Dell Exclusive Stores, and other retail partner stores like Croma, Reliance Retail and Vijay Sales. The gaming desktops are also sold through select multi-brand outlets and e-commerce sites.

Notably, the Alienware Area-51 desktop with the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K CPU coupled with a GeForce RTX 5080 GPU is listed at Rs. 5,20,199. On the other hand, the Alienware Aurora desktop with Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GPU is marked at Rs. 1,96,698.98. 

Alienware Area-51 Desktop Features

The latest Alienware Area-51 desktop comes with a redesigned look and upgraded hardware over the old models. It features the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K CPU, paired with up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 GPU with 16GB GDDR7 VRAM. It runs on Windows 11 Home and supports 32GB of DDR5 XMP RAM and a 2TB NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen5 SSD. 

Dell says that the new Alienware Area-51 desktop has a specially designed motherboard that helps keep the system cool with advanced heatsinks. The desktop includes a redesigned airflow system with larger-diameter fans and extensive liquid cooling options, which the company claims enables the processors to run up to 13 percent cooler and up to 45 percent quieter than previous Alienware desktops. 

The Alienware Area-51 desktop includes a total of three USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports and four USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports, two of which support PowerShare. It also gets four USB 2.0 Type-A ports, including one with Smart Power, and two Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports. For audio connectivity, it offers two 3.5mm jacks and an optical S/PDIF output. It also has a single 2.5G RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet port.

Alienware Aurora Features

The Alienware Aurora 2025 is powered by up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K CPU, coupled with up to 32GB of DDR5 RAM and up to 1TB of NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD storage. It can be configured with up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 GPU with 16GB GDDR7 VRAM. The chassis includes a 240mm liquid cooling system for the CPU, along with 120mm front and rear fans for improved thermal management. It supports similar connectivity options as the aforementioned Area-51 model. The 2025 Aurora is said to be 55 percent smaller in volume compared to the Alienware Area-51 desktop.

Amazon Prime Day 2025 will kick off next week in India. Ahead of the two-day sale, the online marketplace has teased some of the sale deals. The sale, which will be exclusive to Amazon Prime members, will provide up to 40 percent discount on smartphones and accessories. Customers will see price cuts on products across TVs, Appliances, Amazon devices, home and kitchen items, furniture, fashion and apparel. The e-commerce giant will also offer additional discounts on purchases made using ICICI and SBI Bank cards.

Amazon Prime Day 2025: Smartphone Offers 

The e-commerce website has started teasing the Amazon Prime Day 2025 sale offers. It published a microsite showcasing the upcoming deals and bank offers for the sale, which will begin on July 12 and conclude on July 14. As mentioned, the sale will bring up to 40 percent off on smartphones and accessories. The iPhone 15, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, OnePlus 13s, and iQOO Neo 10R are confirmed to see price cuts during the sale.

The 72-hour event will also see new products on sale from brands like Samsung, Oppo, OnePlus and Honor. The Samsung Galaxy M36 5G, OnePlus Nord 5, OnePlus Nord CE 5, iQOO Z10 Lite 5G, Realme Narzo 80 Lite 5G, Honor X9c, Oppo Reno 14 series, and Lava Storm Lite 5G will be available for purchase during the Prime Day 2025 sale.

Amazon is joining hands with ICICI and SBI Bank to provide up to 10 percent savings on payments made through their credit cards and EMI transactions. Purchases made using ICICI Bank debit cards are also eligible for discounts. Further, there will be no-cost EMI offers for up to 24 months, Amazon Pay-based discounts, and exchange offers. Meanwhile, Amazon Pay ICICI bank credit card users will get additional discounts.

Laptops are teased to get up to 40 percent off during the Amazon Prime Day sale. Tablets and speakers will be listed with up to 60 percent discount. Wearables, cameras and other accessories will be offered with up to 50 percent discount.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE will be sold for Rs. 28,999, instead of the original price of Rs. 44,999. The HP OmniBook 5, Asus Vivobook 15, and Acer Aspire Lite will also see price cuts.

The Amazon Prime Day 2025 sale will provide up to 65 percent on top TV brands like Sony, Samsung, LG, TCL and Xiaomi. Home appliances are also confirmed to receive up to 65 percent off.

The Samsung 43-inch Crystal 4K Vista Pro Ultra HD (UA43UE86AFULXL) will be available for Rs. 26,999, down from the original price of Rs. 46,900. The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro TWS earbuds are teased to go on sale at discounted prices during the sale.

Amazon products are also confirmed to receive price cuts during the Prime Day sale. There will be up to 50 percent off on Echo smart speakers, Fire TV devices, and Kindle.

Notably, the Amazon Prime Day 2025 is exclusive to Prime members. To access the deals, non-members can either purchase a membership or start a 30-day free trial to shop during the sale. The annual Prime membership costs Rs. 1,499 in India, whereas the Amazon Prime Shopping Edition costs Rs. 399 for a year.

Grammarly has announced its intentions to acquire Superhuman, an artificial intelligence (AI) email app. The AI-powered writing and proofreading assistant highlighted that the acquisition is aimed at creating a native productivity platform which will offer integrated AI experiences, led by AI agents. The company also stated that the decision to acquire an email app was taken as emails are Grammarly’s “number-one use case.” It also hinted at some of the AI features users can expect once the new platform is launched.

Grammarly Wants to Build an AI Productivity Platform

In a press release, the AI writing assistant announced that it is planning to acquire Superhuman. The AI-native email platform first arrived in 2017 as a web interface, and in 2023, the company released it as an Android app. The app offers features such as AI-generated email completions, automatically drafting follow-up emails, AI-powered categorisation, and more.

While Grammarly did not share the financial terms of the deal, it highlighted that the acquisition will open an avenue for the company to pursue its ambitions of creating an AI productivity platform. Choosing an email app as a starting point was also strategic, as the company said that “email is the number-one use case of Grammarly.” The AI assistant is claimed to review more than 50 million emails per week across over 20 email clients.

Grammarly, in the press release, pointed out that despite AI providers adding the technology to email platforms, there exists a gap. This is largely due to poor integration, which leads to a fragmented experience, the company said. With this acquisition, it now wants to solve these bottlenecks.

While Grammarly’s productivity app is not ready yet, it mentioned some of the features that could be available on its productivity platform. Some of them include using AI agents to sort emails, schedule a meeting, perform deep research of the user’s content, write full emails in the user’s voice, and more.

“This is the future we’ve been building toward since day one: AI that works where people work, not where companies want them to work[..]Email isn’t just another app; it’s where professionals spend significant portions of their day, and it’s the perfect staging ground for orchestrating multiple AI agents simultaneously,” said Shishir Mehrotra, CEO of Grammarly.