Apple aiming for faster release of new iPhone in India—report; Meta rolls out metaverse accounts

Apple will make and release its latest smartphone, the iPhone 14, in India two months after it comes out in China, narrowing the gap between its main production facility and the small but growing one in India. Meta is rolling out its metaverse accounts and profiles. And Fidelity International has picked up a 5 percent stake in Zomato, the global investment firm told stock exchanges in Mumbai. Notes: Apple will make and release its latest smartphone, the iPhone 14, in India two months after it comes out in China, narrowing the gap between its main production facility and the small but growing one in India, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 23. In the past, the India release would be at least a quarter later, but in recent times, Apple has incrementally stepped up its efforts to make all its phones in India as geopolitical tensions between the US and China remain, and supply chain hurdles rose after the Covid pandemic. Analysts who track Apple closely, such as Ming-Chi Kuo, had predicted a simultaneous China-India release, but Apple, and its main iPhone contract manufacturer, Foxconn Technology Group, have concluded that that won’t be feasible this year, after a study, according to Bloomberg. Still, an ambitious target could be to release the new iPhone—slated for a US release on Sep. 7, according to Bloomberg—in time for India’s countrywide festival of lights, Diwali, which falls on Oct. 24. Facebook, now known as Meta, yesterday, began to roll out its metaverse accounts and profiles. Users of the company’s Oculus VR devices will now no longer be required to log in with a Facebook account, the company said in a post yesterday. New users of Meta VR devices can create an account using an email address, Facebook, or Instagram account. When they first put on their headsets, they’ll get a code to pair with the Oculus mobile app. From there, they can continue with Facebook or Instagram or use the email address to create a Meta account. Zomato shares rose yesterday, closing at Rs. 64.65 in Mumbai, after news that global investment firm Fidelity International had bought a stake in it. Funds under the management of Fidelity’s FMR LLC and its direct and indirect subsidiaries and FIL Ltd and its direct and indirect subsidiaries acquired more than 40 crore shares or a 5.06 percent stake in Zomato on August 18 from the open market, the investment firm said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange. Genpact, a global professional services provider, and Climate Vault, a non-profit organisation founded at the University of Chicago, yesterday, announced they are combining Genpact’s technology and digital transformation expertise with Climate Vault’s quantifiable, integrated approach to carbon reduction and removal. Climate Vault will embed Genpact’s digital technologies and process expertise to boost its carbon reduction and removal solution, according to a press release. Companies will gain wider access to carbon reduction from regulated carbon compliance markets with accurate, real-time pricing, with more access to independently verified carbon removal programmes, according to the release. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds: https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds