Opening thoughts. Microsoft Corp. has a new CEO for the Xbox division—someone called Asha Sharma, who has (just in case you’d suspected this) zero previous experience in the gaming industry.
Sharma started out in marketing at Microsoft, then moved to operations at the home services startup Porch Group. Next, she ran Facebook Messenger at Meta Platforms Inc., served as COO of Instacart Inc. (coinciding with the IPO), and then returned to Microsoft to lead the CoreAI product. Two years later, she’s CEO of an $18 billion gaming division.
She takes up the Xbox business when gaming revenue fell 9% last quarter, hardware sales fell 32%, Game Pass has flatlined after reaching the 34 million subscribers, and content+services revenue declined 5% over the holidays. This is perhaps her most challenging role yet, but it’s surely not off to a good start, as X users are up in arms claiming that she’s only started gaming this year using her publicly shared gamertag, and that her replies to X posts seem AI generated. Irrespective, nothing about Microsoft surprises me. Not one bit.
EDITOR’S CORNER
Cricket being the thing that keeps me sane on most days (at least till Formula 1 returns, then it’ll be that), I had to sit through UPI app Navi’s ads more than once, emphasising an essence of speed, perhaps in aspects of life where speed isn’t exactly a good fit. Anyway, that got me wondering about India’s UPI app landscape.
PhonePe leads with 9,809.97 million transactions valued at ₹13,61,309.94 crore, while Google Pay (7,496.48 million at ₹9,57,752.89 crore) and distant Paytm (1,654.69 million at ₹1,76,846.14 crore) make for the three most popular UPI apps in India.
I noticed Navi is just behind Paytm, clocking 678.28 million transactions valued at ₹35,928.62 crore. Month-on-month, that shows an upward trajectory in both volume and value. It must be noted that the trend is very much similar among the top players.
As a consumer, the UPI space is bursting at its seams with choice. There’s BHIM, CRED, Amazon Pay, Mobikwik, Tata Pay, Kiwi, and Airtel Payments Bank, to name a few. There are some challenges, and the answers will depend on when someone decides to tackle them.
Zero MDR, or Merchant Discount Rate: The policy of not charging transaction fees (on UPI via bank accounts, specifically) has accelerated adoption but stripped banks and fintechs of a sustainable revenue model. And speaking of high operational costs, maintaining a digital infrastructure for UPI costs banks an estimated ₹0.80 per transaction, which in a way disincentivises system upgrades for reliability.
Fintech fatigue: Major players such as PhonePe have often cautioned that without a stable monetisation structure, the fintech ecosystem’s ability to invest in innovation and fraud prevention may be limited beyond a point.
RuPay cards are unwelcome on UPI: In a stark contrast, the MDR on transactions made using RuPay credit cards on UPI, is between 1.1% and 1.9% per transaction above ₹2,000. This is supposed to be borne by the merchant, and that’s exactly why shopkeepers, businesses and establishments turn this off on their payment terminals. Having been used to a ‘free’ UPI, this change was always going to face resistance. RuPay’s challenge to Mastercard and Visa would stall if merchants don’t accept UPI payments from RuPay cards.
TECH SPOTLIGHT
UltraProlink DriveLink
As essential as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto seem to be for in-car infotainment, not every car gets wireless connectivity for either platform. A USB cable is the only way in most cars, but the problem with that is dual-pronged—constant charging of the phone as long as it remains plugged, and the inconvenience of wired. Over the past few months, wireless adapters have emerged as viable options.
Indian tech company UltraProlink (known for their impressive lineup of charging accessories, in particular), has launched its wireless adapter called DriveLink at ₹2,999. It joins something I already use—the Portronics Tune—as well as options from Ambrane, Lifelong, Zebronics and Ottocast.
The headline specs of the UltraProlink DriveLink are wireless CarPlay and Android Auto support, Bluetooth 5.4 and Wi-Fi 5.8 GHz. This is incredibly simple to set up, and the pairing process is a one-time task that takes less than a couple of minutes.
Importantly enough, every time you start the car, wireless CarPlay or Android Auto are connected in less than a minute. No video streaming support, though, and that’s a plus—we anyway have enough fools driving distracted, while watching YouTube videos or JioHotstar shows on their aftermarket music systems.
On the DriveLink, Music streaming quality betrays absolutely no loss in quality or fidelity, and crucially, there is absolutely no lag in operation or responsiveness within the CarPlay or Android Auto interfaces on the infotainment system’s touchscreen.
What worries me about leaving an adapter connected after I’m out of the car is how soon it powers down. Safer side—physically remove it from the USB port, before leaving the vehicle, particularly if it’s for a few days at a stretch.
Leaving the best for the last, the most impressive thing about the DriveLink is its really compact size—no wider than a fingernail. The Portronics Tune is much bigger, like a USB ‘pen drive’ from a few years ago. All in all, the UltraProlink DriveLink is a must-have accessory if your car has Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, but just wired by default. Looking at you, Hyundai, Kia and many others.
SECOND THOUGHTS
PhonePe’s update
A few months ago, the Reserve Bank of India and the National Payments Corporation of India enabled biometric authentication for UPI payments. That allows a user to authenticate UPI transactions using their phone’s fingerprint sensor or facial recognition, instead of having to punch in the pin every time. This week, this two-factor authentication (2FA) has been adopted by PhonePe.
“By integrating biometric authentication, we are taking a significant step toward a truly frictionless payment experience. This feature not only saves time but adds a hardware-grade layer of security that protects users in their everyday environments,” says Deep Agrawal, head of payments at PhonePe.
The fintech says UPI payments up to ₹5,000 can be authenticated using fingerprint or face authentication. For now, PhonePe’s Android app unlocks this feature, and the company says iOS functionality expected to launch shortly.
ʜᴏᴛ ᴛɪᴘ: ᴏᴘᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʜᴏɴᴇᴘᴇ ᴀᴘᴘ > ɢᴏ ᴛᴏ ᴘʀᴏꜰɪʟᴇ > ᴛᴀᴘ ᴏɴ ᴍᴀɴᴀɢᴇ ᴘᴀʏᴍᴇɴᴛꜱ > ᴛᴀᴘ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʙɪᴏᴍᴇᴛʀɪᴄ ᴘᴀʏ ɪᴄᴏɴ > ᴇɴᴀʙʟᴇ ʙɪᴏᴍᴇᴛʀɪᴄ ᴀᴜᴛʜᴇɴᴛɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ꜰᴏʀ ᴜᴘɪ ᴘᴀʏᴍᴇɴᴛꜱ ꜰᴏʀ ʙᴀɴᴋ ᴀᴄᴄᴏᴜɴᴛꜱ > ᴄᴏɴꜰɪʀᴍ ᴜꜱɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴜᴘɪ ᴘɪɴ ᴀɴᴅ ʙɪᴏᴍᴇᴛʀɪᴄ ꜰᴏʀ ᴀ ᴏɴᴇ-ᴛɪᴍᴇ ꜱᴇᴛᴜᴘ.
Currently, the rollout is primarily focused on Android phone with native fingerprint or facial-recognition hardware. The second layer of participation is from a user’s bank, which must enable biometric verification for that user’s account. And for now, this works for transactions up to ₹5,000—any more, and the UPI PIN is still needed.
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