The National Payments Corporation of India will announce new functionalities for UPI during the Global Fintech Fest 2026, which is set to take place at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai between September 8 and 11, according to a report. The organisation is said to soon start allowing users to port UPI autopay mandates from one digital payments platform to another. This would eliminate the need for users to cancel their mandates from one app to shift to a different platform of their choice, whether it is for OTT subscriptions, SIP instalments, insurance premiums, or EMIs. On top of this, NPCI will reportedly also announce a new functionality that will enable merchants to shift their existing mandates from one payments gateway service provider to another based on their choice.

WhatsApp is reportedly rolling out the Scam Alert feature to a limited number of Android beta testers with version 2.26.34.1. This functionality runs an on-device machine learning model to alert users about potential scam messages. It is an optional feature, and when the model identifies a message as a likely scam attempt, the user sees a warning in the chat, which is not visible to the other person.

Several Instagram users are reporting an outage, and Downdetector, the website tracking real-time issues and outages, confirms it.

Google Maps might be working on an important accessibility feature, as per a report. The popular mapping platform is said to be working on a new feature that shows the entrances and exits of large buildings to help users navigate directions and park vehicles in more convenient locations. The feature reportedly showed up in the Google Pixel 7a.

A group representing Indian startups has asked the country's antitrust watchdog to order Alphabet's Google to reinstate apps it removed for policy violations, a letter seen by Reuters shows, escalating a showdown with the US giant in a key market.

Instagram has rolled out several new features for its Direct Messaging (DM) section which are likely to improve private conversations and make the experience more personalised. The new Instagram DM features include an option to edit messages, chat pinning, read receipts controls, and more. Meta’s newest social media platform Threads has also received new gesture-based controls for its app.

WhatsApp is gearing up to add support for third-party messages. A new report has revealed more details on how the feature will work and the amount of control users will have while giving access to other messaging apps. It appears that the Meta-owned platform will not only let users choose whether to turn on the feature or not, but it will also let them decide which apps to connect with.

Instagram, the social media platform, recently added a new feature to its iOS app that will make clicking and posting Stories faster than before. The app now comes with a new lock screen widget that will directly open the Story Camera and allow users to click a picture or shoot a video and post it as a Story.

Microsoft unveiled a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool called Copilot for Finance on Thursday, aiming to help financial professionals in easily navigating through everyday mundane tasks. The Copilot tool is not a new AI model, and instead builds on the existing Copilot for Microsoft 365 stack to bring new features specific to financial operations. It is currently available in public preview.

Flipkart launched the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) service in collaboration with Axis Bank. The Flipkart UPI will be initially available for Android users and can be used for online and offline payments. With the latest update, customers can now pay bills and make fund transfers directly from the Flipkart app.

Google's decision to remove some apps in India from its app store "cannot be permitted", Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday, amid an ongoing dispute over service fee payments to the US firm.

WhatsApp, the end-to-end encryption (E2EE) messaging platform, is expected to soon add support for third-party messages. Now, a leaked image has surfaced that shows a glimpse into how the new interface would look. The image reveals that the feature may only debut in Europe for now. Notably, the Meta-owned platform is required to add support for cross-platform messaging as per the European Union’s new Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Google, on Friday, March 1, said it would enforce action against a group of Indian app developers as they had not complied with the Play Store’s billing policies. The Alphabet-owned company claimed that ten Indian app developers, which include “many well-established” companies, have failed to pay the Play Store fee for availing its services, and now may get removed from the Android app marketplace as a result of it.

Brave browser, known for its privacy-focused features, is bringing its artificial intelligence (AI) assistant Leo to Android devices. The software firm first announced its AI chatbot in November 2023, when Leo was added to the desktop browser. The company’s chatbot can run on several large language models, which are available for both the free version (with rate limits) and the premium version.

Payments firm Paytm on Friday cut some ties with its payments bank unit, which India's banking regulator has ordered to be wound down, in its latest attempt to address compliance concerns that triggered a meltdown in its shares last month.

YouTube users in markets outside the US require a Premium subscription to access the PiP functionality. But this could change in the future as multiple posts on social media platforms indicate that non-premium users in Europe are currently getting access to YouTube's PiP functionality.

WhatsApp, Meta's popular messaging platform, has unveiled a new feature enhancing its search capabilities. The new ‘Search by Date’ feature allows users to choose a specific date to find the messages exchanged on those particular days. It is likely to help users retrieve specific information from past conversations more smoothly.

Reliance and Disney announced a strategic joint venture on Wednesday that will merge their digital streaming and television assets in India. The merger will result in Reliance combining the businesses of Viacom18 and Star India into a single unit called Star India Private Limited (SIPL) through a court-approved scheme of arrangement.

Google Chat has received a new feature that is aimed at helping users understand priority conversations without having to read the messages. The new feature makes it easy for users to know the participants in unread threads to gauge what is more relevant to them. Chat was developed by the tech giant to replace its older (and now defunct) text messaging and video calling platform Google Hangout.

Threads is getting a new feature that will allow users to bookmark their favourite posts. The feature, called Save, was first announced in early February and so far was in the testing phase. However, it is now being rolled out to a broader user base and more users should see the feature popping up on their app.

Instagram is reportedly working on a feature that will let users see the last active location of their friends on a map. The feature is said to be called Friend Map, and it appears to be similar to Snap Map. As per a leak, Instagram could soon add a world map-like interface where users will be able to see others all over the map based on the location shared by them.

ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot by OpenAI will reportedly get a home-screen widget for Android. The report comes at a time when generative AI tools are getting big releases. Google recently introduced the Gemini 1.5 version, while Copilot is reported to get default assistant capability on Android.

Deutsche Telekom on Monday showcased a futuristic smartphone concept that relies on artificial intelligence rather than applications (apps) to handle users' specific needs. Smartphones today typically use apps for everything from messaging and social media to video games and banking.

Truecaller launched its call recording and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered transcription feature in India on Monday, February 26. The feature was initially introduced in the US in June 2023, but after less than a year, the company is expanding it to more regions. Both Android and iOS users will be able to record incoming and outgoing calls and transcribe them using the help of AI.

Social media platform Reddit has struck a deal with Google to make its content available for training the search engine giant's artificial intelligence models, three people familiar with the matter said. The contract with Alphabet-owned Google is worth about $60 million (roughly Rs. 497 crore) per year, according to one of the sources.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has requested the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to examine a request from Paytm to become a third-party application provider, in order to allow UPI payments on Paytm to continue working after the central bank's wind down date for Paytm Payments Bank.

Gboard is getting a new Scan Text feature that will allow you to point your camera at text and quickly insert it into any app you are using. The optical character recognition feature is already available as part of Google Lens, but adding it to Gboard means that users can easily insert text without switching apps. The arrival of the feature on Android comes two years after Apple brought a similar feature to iOS 15.4, allowing users to point their phone at text to add it to the Notes app and text fields in other apps.

Google SoundPod is coming to merchants in India in the coming months, the company said on Thursday. After a year-long limited pilot, the company revealed that it is bringing its device for payment alerts to merchants in the country, along with cashback offers. Google's SoundPod will compete with soundboxes from rivals like PhonePe and Paytm.

Instagram Creator Marketplace is expanding to eight new regions including India, the company announced on Wednesday. Meta will invite creators from Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Japan, New Zealand, and the UK to join the portal that connects brands and content creators for branded content or partnership ads on the platform.

WhatsApp launched four new text formatting options globally on Wednesday. These new options join the existing bold, italic, strikethrough, and monospace options. The new range of formatting tools will allow users to send messages in bulleted points, and numbered lists, as well as two different styles for quotes. Alongside, it is also reportedly testing a new feature to protect users from malicious entities taking screenshots of profile pictures.

Apple is updating iMessage with a PQ3 new cryptographic protocol to protect users from sophisticated attacks using quantum computers. According to Apple, the new encryption protocol could protect users from scenarios where encrypted data has been stored, only to be decrypted using a quantum computer at a later date.

PhonePe launched its Android-based app marketplace Indus Appstore in India on Wednesday, February 21. The Walmart-owned fintech brand said it intended to solve the major pain point of the lack of regional language content in marketplaces. The Indus Appstore will be available in English and 12 Indian regional languages.

Adobe has announced generative artificial intelligence (AI)-powered features for its web client and desktop app of Acrobat. The software giant has added an AI Assistant that can do multiple tasks and help users easily understand and analyse large PDF files. One notable feature will summarise files and present it in a formatted and easy to follow text block.

Instagram is reportedly testing a new feature on iOS that will allow people who do not have the app to still watch Reels in the app’s native interface. This will be done through App Clips; a feature that was added to iPhone devices in 2021 with the iOS 14 update. Through App Clip, users can watch a Reel, scroll to see more popular videos, and even share them with others.

WhatsApp Web will soon get support for secret codes for locked chats, according to details shared by a feature tracker. While users can already lock specific chats on WhatsApp for iOS and Android that are hidden behind a secret code, the same functionality is expected to arrive on WhatsApp Web in the future.

Ubisoft has released a new Invincible mobile game, based on Robert Kirkman's popular comic book series and its hit TV show adaptation. The studio launched Invincible: Guarding the Globe, a free-to-play idle RPG, on Monday. The game is now playable on iOS and Android devices and is also available on the Amazon store. The Invincible mobile game will let players take part in squad-based battles and repel invading alien forces.

WhatsApp Helpline will soon be available to users in India as a tool to avoid AI-generated misinformation and deepfakes. Meta and the Misinformation Combat Alliance (MCA) announced on Monday that they will soon launch a chatbot through which users will be able to report all such instances. It will support English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu languages.

Prime Video has entered a distribution agreement with Sony Pictures Television (SPT), a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), to launch an add-on subscription on the streamer for viewers in India.

Apple will face a European Union fine close to EUR 500 million ($539 million or roughly Rs. 4,475 crore) over the regulator’s investigation into allegations it silenced music-streaming rivals, including Spotify Technology SA, on its platforms. 

The Reserve Bank of India does not plan to impose drastic measures on India's fintech sector after the recent action against Paytm Payments Bank, according to P Vasudevan, an executive director in charge of enforcement at the central bank. Paytm has been in the crosshairs of the regulator for some time, with multiple warnings over the past two years.

Meta is advising small businesses on how to advertise on Facebook and Instagram without paying fees imposed by Apple. Instead of buying ads on the iOS apps for Facebook and Instagram, Meta is advising the companies to buy ads through a web browser.

Google has made its Gemini app on Android and Gemini toggle on iOS available in India and more than 150 other countries. The Gemini app requires a smartphone with at least 4GB RAM which is running Android 12 or above. Similarly, the Gemini toggle is available to iPhone users running iOS 16 and up.

Microsoft is previewing two new features in Windows 11. The lightweight Notepad app is getting a new feature called ‘Explain with Copilot,’ which will help users understand the content in a file. The Snipping Tool is also getting the ability to add shapes, such as rectangles, ovals, lines, and arrows, to screenshots.

Apple Vision Pro went on sale in the US for the first time on February 2. With the company's stipulated 14-day return window drawing closer, there is a rising trend of early buyers returning the headset. A recent report claims that most people are returning due to major physical discomforts, while others are also experiencing productivity issues.

Instagram has rolled out Valentine’s Day special hidden features on its platform. These two hidden features can only be triggered with specific actions inside the Android or iOS app. One of the features can be found in the Notes section on the direct messages (DM) page. Another has been added to the Instagram Stories.

Apple Vision Pro was unveiled earlier this month on February 2 in the US with support for over 600 dedicated applications. It is the first mixed-reality headset from the Cupertino-based tech giant. A company executive has now announced that the AR/VR headset now supports more dedicated applications than it was launched with.

Nvidia released AI chatbot Chat with RTX, a demo app that is available to download for free. The AI assistant runs locally on Windows PCs that run on an RTX 30 or 40-series GPU with a minimum of 8GB VRAM. It feeds on the files and data of the user and allows them to run queries on the information shared.

Android Safe Browsing is coming to smartphones running on Google's smartphone operating system, according to details shared by Android expert Mishaal Rahman. The latest security feature from Google is aimed at keeping users safe while they are browsing in third-party apps, according to details spotted on a leaked screenshot.

OpenAI is testing a new memory feature for ChatGPT to help make conversations seamless and hassle-free. The feature will allow the artificial intelligence (AI)--powered chatbot to retain pieces of information beyond a specific conversation. The company says that users will have full control over what ChatGPT remembers and what it does not.

Apple and Microsoft have managed to dodge strict new European Union rules reining in Big Tech platforms for iMessage and Bing, respectively. Both firms would have been obliged to adapt their services to meet a swathe of new obligations and prohibitions in the EU.