Allahabad HC grants interim relief to Ringing Bells principals in cheating case

The case had been filed by BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code.

The Allahabad High Court today granted interim relief to Ringing Bells, the company that created the world’s cheapest smartphone. The Freedom 251 manufacturer has been under scrutiny ever since it first announced the device. Recently, BJP MP, Kirit Somaiya, had filed a case against the company, under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code. The company had then said that it would cooperate with all investigations. ““We remain committed to cooperate with any government agency that may need to inquire our organisation for any reason or suspicion. We have already done so with authorities/agencies that have so required,” said Managing Director, Mohit Goel.

Further, Goel, along with Ashok Chadha and Dharna Garg, the two other principals of Ringing Bells, had filed a Criminal Write Petition in order to quash the FIR filed by BJP MP Somaiya. The court today granted interim relief to the three, with a Division Bench of Hon’ble Justice B.K. Narayan and Justice Shashi Kant, ordering the State Government of Uttar Pradesh to furnish a status report (on urgent basis) by April 5. The court also directed that no coercive steps shall be taken against the three accused till that time.

Goel, Chadha and Garg have been directed to submit their passports to the SSP, Noida, within 24 hours. According to Advocate Abhishek Vikram, appearing on behalf of Ringing Bells, the three will fully comply with the orders of the court, and their passports will be provided to the investigation agency.

Mohit Goel, Director, Ringing Bells Private Limited, said, “We have nothing to hide. We are committed to affordable smartphones to people of this country and we shall achieve that. We will stick to fair practices and comply with regulations of our great country.”

Ringing Bells’ business has been under scrutiny by various bodies. The company though has always maintained that it has nothing to hide and will be delivering the smartphones at the original price tag of Rs. 251.

Instagram will soon let you upload 60 second videos

In addition, Instagram announced that it was bringing back the feature that let iOS users create videos by stitching together multiple clips from their camera roll

Instagram will soon let users upload videos that are up to a minute long. Previously, the maximum length of a video one could upload was 15 seconds. On its official blog, Instagram stated, “We want to bring you fun, flexible and creative ways to create and watch video on Instagram. As part of our continued commitment, you’ll soon have the flexibility to tell your story in up to 60 seconds of video. This is one step of many you’ll see this year.” The company also announced that it is bringing back the feature that allowed iOS users to create videos by stitching together multiple clips from their camera roll.

Instagram says in its post that the time people spend watching videos has increased by more than 40% in the last six months. As such, it hopes that longer videos will help people create “more diverse stories.” The update for longer videos is rolling out from today, and will be available for everyone in the coming months. The multi-clip video update for iOS users will be available this week, as a part of Instagram v7.19 for iOS.

Build 2016: Cortana to feature better integration across services

Cortana will be integrated into Outlook and Skype besides being more proactive with suggestions, and these features would be included with the Anniversary Update for Windows 10.

Microsoft has announced a number of new features for Cortana that would be included in the next major update to Windows 10 called the Anniversary Update. The new update will be available this summer and will see the incorporation of the personal assistant into Outlook. This will allow it to check emails and calendars in order to help the user keep track of their emails. It will be able to take information from emails and automatically create events. Cortana will also become more proactive and will suggest restaurants or arrange transportation. In addition, developers will have complete access to Cortana’s proactive intelligence and this will allow them to make their apps perform tasks based on user context. 

Cortana is also getting integrated with Skype and will soon allow users to book trips, shop, plan schedules and more using the service. It is similar to what Facebook to trying to do with its ‘M’ personal assistant. In addition,  Android phone users will now be able to receive and reply to text messages from their Windows 10 desktops. Furthermore, Cortana would be enabled on the lockscreen.