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Micromax, smartphone sales stalled, eyes a steer into electric vehicles

Micromax Informatics once had a firm grip on the local mobile phone market in India, for a time passing stalwarts like Samsung, icons like Apple and many more to be the biggest handset maker of them all. But a mix of stronger (and cheaper) competition, coupled with the rapid pace of technology development and the ongoing market slowdown, have left it spinning.

While some believe that it still has some life in it yet as a mobile brand, sources and filings point to something else: it’s eyeing up to step into mobility, specifically into the area of electric vehicles.

But that change in gears is also coming with a lot of bumps. TechCrunch understands that the New Delhi-based company has axed dozens of jobs both at its headquarters in Gurugram as well as branch offices across the country, cutting into its ranks in sales, product, testing, R&D and logistics, and the rest of the business. Several top executives including the company’s chief business officer and chief product officer have also resigned in the last some months. Its most recent smartphone model launched as far back April 2022.

Micromax declined to comment about the job cuts and other details of this story.

To the public, for now, the company remains a mobile phone company, although many cracks are showing. Reports on social media show the company’s reluctance to handle consumer complaints. Distributors and retailers are having a hard time with their inventory because there is little demand for Micromax phones from consumers. And basic searches on the Micromax brand on Google from 2008 — its first year in mobile — lay bare the general decline in chatter about the company. There have also been reports about how the company is gearing up, among other similarly struggling older brands, to redouble its efforts to recover.

“[The] market is very competitive now, focused around the top five or six brands,” said Navkendar Singh, associate vice president at market research firm IDC. Micromax, having dropped from its position at the top of that list, is as good as forgotten.

The EV move would come in the form of a new brand and focus, at least initially, on two-wheel electric vehicles, according to three individuals who recently left the company.

A shift to urban mobility from mobile phones would not be the first time that Micromax reinvented itself.

Founded in 2000 by Vikas Jain, Rahul Sharma, Sumit Kumar Arora and Rajesh Agarwal, Micromax first started life as a small IT firm, making its first move into phones only in 2008.

The initial journey of the company relied on low-cost feature phones. Affordable Android smartphones and tablets entered the frame some time after, dovetailing with a rising consumer class in India that wanted the latest gadgets, but didn’t have the money to buy a Samsung, Nokia or BlackBerry device — let alone an iPhone.

The company chose a price disruption strategy to swiftly dethrone Samsung from its leadership position in the Indian smartphone market, making it one of the trailblazers in the first wave of cheap, sub-$200 smartphones. Utilizing its supply chain in China, Micromax launched a range of inexpensive smartphones and tablets that attracted the masses, tapping directly into their aspirational inclinations: some models directly mimicked Apple’s iconic iPhone designs.

In 2014, Micromax poached Samsung’s country head for mobile and digital imaging Vineet Taneja and appointed him the CEO. By 2015, it was selling millions of mobile phones a month and generating around a couple of billions of dollars in revenues in a year. The growth in its business helped the company partner with big tech companies like Google and Microsoft to launch smartphones based on their respective mobile operating systems.

The first market problems started in 2014, when Xiaomi and other Chinese vendors started to get considerably more focused on India, disrupting Micromax in the same way that Micromax had disrupted Samsung before it: with highly affordable, Chinese-made models across different price segments.

Having been a trailblazer by manufacturing some of its models in India, Micromax also worked closely with Chinese suppliers like Tinno Mobile to bring newer lines of low-cost smartphones to the market.

It wasn’t enough, though, and by 2016, Taneja was out.

“China-based vendors managed to get quality devices, high specifications and the latest technology at affordable prices with huge marketing and channel spends,” Singh said. “Indian vendors were just not able to compete in any of these levers — product, marketing, channel, etc. As a result, they lost the market to brands like Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo and Samsung.”

Micromax was challenged also due to a state-level move. The Indian government, in September 2014, introduced its flagship ‘Make in India’ program, schemes to incentivize global manufacturers to localize production in the country. Newer market entrants, taking the domestic manufacturing route with its tax breaks and other incentives, started to roll out even cheaper handsets.

The third big blow came in September 2016, when billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries introduced Jio, its 4G network. Testing on the network was closed to a select group of brands. And Micromax — with no 4G-ready handsets given its focus on the low end of the market — was not one of them.

“Micromax didn’t anticipate the movement from 3G to 4G so quickly,” said Ajay Sharma, former business head at Micromax. Other Indian vendors were also impacted, he added.

The troubles with sales also started to flare up tensions between founders and executives, which in turn impacted Micromax’s attempts to raise capital.

According to the data available on PitchBook, the company raised a total of $98.02 million. The most recent post-money valuation is noted as $745.57 million, although that dates from 2010. Former investors include Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India & SEA), Sandstone Capital and TA Associates. The last audit report filed with the Indian regulator shows that Wagner, an affiliate of TA Associates, sold its entire remaining equity stake to Placid Holdings in January 2020, and that the company bought those shares back from Placid Holdings in March 2022.

The company had been in talks to raise a whopping $1.2 billion from Alibaba. But the deal never closed reportedly due to disagreements between Micromax and Alibaba over future strategy for the business.

All of this was being played out amid the ambitions of Micromax’s founders and management. The company may have gained its popularity as an Indian vendor, but it did not want to remain limited to India.

The company entered Russia, South Africa and the Middle East: it hired former India sales director of Research in Motion (BlackBerry) Amit Mathur as the head of its international business and created a separate supply line to cater to the demand in the global markets. The company also tapped Australian actor Hugh Jackman as its brand ambassador.

Micromax roped Australian actor Hugh Jackman as its brand ambassador Image Credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg via Getty Images

In Russia, where the company became the third largest handset vendor a couple of years after debuting in 2014, Micromax followed in the footsteps of Fly Mobiles, which was also operating in the Russian market, according to a former company executive. Fly Mobiles was originally based in the U.K., but a majority stake in its India and SAARC business was acquired by Indian company SAR Group in 2011.

Within one year of kicking off its global operations, Micromax started creating separate supply lines dedicated to its overseas markets. This helped the company control its volume and offer different models catering to the demand for specific markets. Micromax also started generating profits from its global operations.

However, Micromax’s global market presence began to decline after its business in India experienced a downturn.

“The profits were not to the extent that we could sustain and move to the next level as far as the branding is concerned. We were doing it obviously, but we needed support from India,” the former executive said.

With margins shrinking at the company, in February 2017, Mathur left and was not replaced. Micromax eventually sunset its global business operations.

Some former executives believe that Micromax’s founders could have handled the situation better if they had given a free hand to others coming on board.

That was despite the fact that the founders were working on separate businesses simultaneously. Sharma co-founded an EV startup called Revolt Motors in 2019 (sold to New Delhi-based RattanIndia Enterprises in January). Jain also has accessories-focused startup Play Design Labs, which produces wearables and audio devices.

An angel investor and two-time startup founder who works closely with Micromax said the founders’ decision to run Micromax alongside other businesses suggests a lack of trust and confidence in their own venture.

“I personally felt that when all your energy and fire are there with one particular brand and then every day you want it to grow, then nobody can stop it,” echoed a top-level executive who left the company earlier this year. “If you are not being able to devote that time, how will an organization survive?”

The four founders are said to have different qualities that helped the company compete against global brands in India and international markets. While Jain is good at building relationships, Sharma is stronger at brand building and marketing, Arora at handling the technical side, and Agarwal at managing finance, say sources.

“The good part is they [complement] each other,” a former executive who worked closely with the founders for over four years said.

Micromax co-founder Rahul Sharma Image Credit: Pradeep Gaur/Mint

Home team fumble

In 2020, Micromax attempted a comeback in smartphones in India. But instead of launching new features, it focused on stoking anti-China sentiment, in the wake of a skirmish between Indian and Chinese army soldiers in June.

It ploughed $61 million into the plan with a mantra of “more R&D” to take on Chinese smartphone vendors. Micromax launched two new smartphone models in 2020 under its ‘In’ series to mark its return in the market. To compete directly with Chinese models, both phones were priced in the sub-$150 segment. The company later expanded the lineup to five models.

But the whole endeavor was a flop. And a former Micromax executive said that even if anti-China sentiment was part of the strategy, the timing was all wrong: the launch happened in early November — over four months after the skirmish.

“By that time, the iron had become cold. It, in fact, had a negative impact because the Chinese vendors started saying, ‘we are more Indian than Indians,’” the executive said, referring to Xiaomi’s claim that it made 99.5% of its phones in India.

Then in 2021, Micromax finally teased the launch of its first 5G smartphone. Two years on, that phone has yet to materialize.

Further afield, Micromax was also looking to partner with some carriers in the U.S. to enter North America, according to a person familiar with the plans. That, too, never happened.

Instead, it continued to see revenues decline. Micromax’s total revenue dropped drastically to a mere $94.26 million in 2022, compared to $1.33 billion in 2016. Smartphone shipments fared no better, dropping to just 370,000 in 2022 from 9.65 million in 2016, according to IDC data.

Micromax was not alone in its struggles to compete against Chinese vendors in India. Lava International, Karbonn Mobiles and Spice Mobility also all threw their hats into the ring. Lava, with a focus on 5G, has seen some growth in recent months; but Karbonn Mobiles and Spice Mobility, the two companies that worked with Google — alongside Micromax — to launch its first Android One program in India, have left the smartphone market.

Micromax and Lava smartphone shipments, according to IDC Image Credit: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

Some have fared better. Data shared by market analyst firm Counterpoint also shows that while Micromax saw an 80% year-on-year decline in its overall shipments in 2022, Lava’s smartphone shipments grew 85% year-on-year. The company also recently launched its mid-range 5G phone called Agni 2 to take on similar options from Xiaomi and Samsung. Micromax, in contrast, has had no new models in the pipeline, according to people who worked at top positions in the company until March.

Shuffles and layoffs

While attempting a turnaround, Micromax has also cycled through a number of other executive moves in the last several months, including hiring and then losing both Luke Prakash Andrew as its chief business officer and chief product officer Sunil Loon.

Co-founder Rahul Sharma, who had been the key face of the company for the last several years, resigned from his managing director’s position in April 2021. The board appointed Vikas Jain, one of the other co-founders, as the new managing director, a three-year role that would expire April 2024. Sharma stayed on as a non-executive director, per regulatory filings.

Vikas Jain, co-founder of Micromax Informatics Image Credit: Billy H.C. Kwok/Bloomberg via Getty Images

People familiar with the matter said Sharma stepped down because of the botched comeback plan.

“Somewhere down the line, [the founders] realized that they didn’t have any new things obviously to build up the scale or Micromax again,” a source told TechCrunch.

Sharma was also behind the 2014 ill-fated launch of YU Televentures, a joint venture between now-discontinued operating system maker Cyanogen and Micromax that aimed to take on Xiaomi and its sub-brand Redmi in the country.

And the company has also inevitably had wider layoffs.

Earlier this year, Micromax’s executives contacted some of its employees and asked them to look for new jobs as their existing roles were no longer required. Close to 100 jobs — particularly in the sales and services teams — were reduced as a part of the cost-cutting measures, an executive who also left the company in March told TechCrunch.

The company also started winding down its sales team in various states in the last few months, remaining only in a few states where it had some distributors, the executive said.

The cut in the sales team has made it difficult to shift stock to retailers, which has in turn led Micromax to use the more limited, lower margin cash-and-carry channel, where retailers do not get an option to return any stock left. (Typically, vendors give retailers a time frame to return the inventory they cannot sell.) This has in turn also soured relationships between the brand and its retail channel. Micromax’s existing auditor — SR Batliboi and Associates — also resigned in June, after nearly nine years of working with the company, over not getting their demanded fee, per a recent regulatory filing.

Moving ahead?

The reduction in workers and switching to a new auditor may reduce costs, but it also begs the question of how Micromax will manage its next venture.

Two sources said that Micromax has started renovating one of its offices in Gurugram to kick off its work on the new project exploring the EV market, but few employees remain at Micromax to staff the business transition.

But the transition has already been months in the making. In February this year, Micromax founders Jain, Rajesh Agarwal and Sumeet Kumar incorporated a company named Micromax Mobility, per regulatory filings.

Although Sharma also had a small stint in the EV market with Revolt Motors, his name is not attached to the new venture’s filings.

A source said that Micromax directors started discussions and prepared documentation for the mobility business earlier this year. The company did not brief most of its top-level management about the move.

Jain declined an interview, and he also declined to answer a list of questions shared over email related to recent the job cuts, plans with the EV venture and future of the company in the smartphone market.

TechCrunch also attempted to contact Micromax’s media relations multiple times, with no success.

Micromax’s failure in the smartphone market sends a stark warning to other handset makers that want to compete on price alone. Even if it can draw a line under its own misadventures, it remains to be seen if the company can make the shift to the EV market, which is already crowded.

So as Micromax moves out of the frying pan that is India’s mobile phone market, that doesn’t keep it out of the fire. Those that might pose a threat include Ola Electric, Ather Energy, and traditional automobile players such as Bajaj and Hero Electric.

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The Garage Essential That Makes For Easy Rust Removal

While WD-40’s primary function is as a lubricant, it’s also excellent for removing stubborn rust from a metallic surface — and keeping it from coming back. After all, rust is formed primarily by moisture, and do you know what the “WD” in WD-40 stands for? “Water-displacement.” A liberal spritz of this stuff will send all of that pesky moisture packing, halting the progress of rust and allowing you to scrub it right off. Just follow these simple steps:

Open a can of WD-40 Multi Use and attach the straw.

Spray the rusty spots with the WD-40 until they’re completely coated.

Allow the spray sit for 10 minutes as it takes effect.

Gently scrape away the rust with a firm yet pliable tool, like a scourer.

If rust is still present, repeat steps 2-4.

Once the rust is removed, rinse the affected area with clean water and dry completely with a clean cloth.

This cleaning method works on any solid metal surfaces or objects like girders or cars, though you may want to try something else on more sensitive surfaces or objects with softer components. In the case of cars, you can also apply a bit of extra WD-40 after drying to create a protective anti-moisture layer.

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Prince Harry’s ‘His Royal Highness’ title removed from royal family’s website

Prince Harry’s “His Royal Highness” title was removed from his profile page on the royal family’s website, more than three years after he and his wife Meghan Markle stepped down from their roles as working royals.

As part of the agreement made between the couple and the royal family in January 2020, Harry, 38, and Markle, 41, would no longer use their “HRH” titles after stepping back from their official positions. HRH titles, which refers to “his/her royal highness,” are spoken and written in front of the names of princes and princesses, as well as their spouses.

Two references to Harry were changed from “HRH” to his title of “the Duke of Sussex” or “the Duke” Tuesday following a report on the oversight that was published by the British outlet Express last Friday.

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Prince Harry’s “His Royal Highness” title was removed from the royal family’s website three years after he and Meghan Markle stepped down as working royals. ( Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

The outlet reported that the royal family’s website had not been updated completely following the death of Queen Elizabeth II last September and the coronation of King Charles III in May. 

According to the outlet, Charles and his wife Queen Camilla were referred to by their former titles of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall while Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton were designated the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.  

William and Kate still retain those titles, which were given to them by Queen Elizabeth on their wedding day in 2011, but they were also named the Prince and Princess of Wales by Charles following his ascension to the throne.

MEGHAN MARKLE, PRINCE HARRY BUY FILM RIGHTS TO ROMANCE NOVEL IN NEXT HOLLYWOOD MOVE

The outlet also noted instances in which Elizabeth was still referred to as the reigning monarch instead of Charles as well as other errors. As of Tuesday, all the outdated references on the website that were pointed out by the outlet had been corrected. 

“The Royal Family website contains over five thousand pages of information about the life and work of the Royal Family. Following the death of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, content has been revisited and updated periodically. Some content may be out of date until this process is complete,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement to the outlet.

The website had not been updated completely since the death of Queen Elizabeth II and ascension of King Charles III.  (Getty Images)

Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

According to the publication, Harry’s profile had also been moved lower on the website’s landing page. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’ profiles can now be found beneath those of the working royal family members. 

The profile page for Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, is listed last on the landing page. Andrew lost the use of his “HRH” title, his military roles and his royal patronages in January 2022 following allegations of sexual abuse, which he strongly denied.

In February 2022, Andrew settled a lawsuit with his accuser Virginia Giuffre, an American woman who alleged that the royal raped her when she was a teenager at the home of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

Prince William and Kate Middleton were given the titles of Prince and Princess of Wales by Charles after he ascended to the throne. (HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)

Both instances in which “His Royal Highness” was used to refer to Harry on his profile page concerned his work to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and end the stigma around the disease. 

In January 2020, following the couple’s announcement that they were stepping back as senior members of the British royal family, Buckingham Palace announced in a statement they would no longer use the “HRH” title.

Harry remains fifth in line to the throne behind William and his children, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.

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The royal family’s website was updated in March to reflect changes to the titles of Harry and Markle’s children. 

The couple’s son Archie, 4, and Lilibet, 2, were named the Prince and Princess of Sussex on the website’s line of succession page after they were previously designated “Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor” and “Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.” The two are sixth and seventh in line to the throne behind their father.

After stepping down as working royals in 2020, Harry and Meghan Markle lost their HRH titles. (Chris Jackson)

The website was updated one day after Harry and Markle used the title of Princess for the first time when announcing Lilibet’s christening.

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The changes were in keeping with a 1917 decree issued by King George V that the children and grandchildren of a reigning sovereign have the automatic right to the titles prince or princess and HRH (His/Her Royal Highness). 

After Charles ascended to the throne in September, his grandchildren Archie and Lilibet became eligible to receive royal titles. As monarch, Charles could have revoked their titles but opted not to when Harry and Markle decided to use them. 

“The children’s titles have been a birthright since their grandfather became monarch,” Harry and Markle’s spokesperson told People magazine at the time. “This matter has been settled for some time in alignment with Buckingham Palace.”

Ashley Hume is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to ashley.hume@fox.com and on Twitter: @ashleyhume

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James Gray on William Friedkin: “Beneath the Unsentimental Toughness, a Wellspring of Soul and Sensitivity”

I remember clearly the first time I became aware of the name William Friedkin. I was 12 years old. 

I used to wander around Manhattan a lot by myself in those days. I loved bookstores and hobby shops, and in particular I loved dingy places that sold strange collectibles. One Saturday, I entered such a spot — in this case, a movie memorabilia joint on Bleecker Street — and saw an enormous poster meant for display in subway stations. The image slapped me across the face: a truck in the pouring rain, leaning impossibly to the right on a rickety rope bridge ready for collapse. It said merely: “a William Friedkin Film, SORCERER.”

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What a mysterious and wonderful piece of art! I bought it (10 dollars, all I had on me) and posted it on my wall. 

Soon after, I learned that this very same director had made a film showing at the Hollywood Twin, a Times Square porn theater newly converted into a revival house. The movie was called The French Connection, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Nothing about it resembled anything I’d seen before. The picture looked like one of those raw documentaries one might catch on PBS. The cop seemed like a bastard, a crude racist who relished the worst aspects of the job and screwed up a lot. He said things that made no sense (“Ever pick your feet in Poughkeepsie?”) and lived in a pigsty. Was I supposed to root for him? I did anyway. The movie felt cold yet combustible, and there was that lunatic car chase.  

And what did it say about New York, the city in which I was raised, the city that meant everything and nothing to me? It was a vision from hell, the Big Apple imagined as an enormous garbage dump — violent and unforgiving and beyond hope. I loved it for capturing the city’s danger and soul so vividly and truthfully. Later, I came to admire the film for its brilliant acting and its deft examination of social class. But at the time, I was simply overwhelmed by the power of its imagery.

The other pictures followed. The Exorcist and Cruising and To Live and Die in L.A. and finally Sorcerer itself (caught in a rights battle, it had been unavailable for years). Each one of them shocked and thrilled me and subverted my expectations. Sometimes I found myself confounded or provoked or angered. Thank heavens for that. The movies were downright electric. I became an unregenerate Friedkinophile and hunted down every interview and fact I could about the filmmaker and his work.

His personal history is well-documented now, and his autobiography, the vastly entertaining The Friedkin Connection, serves as a fine recounting of his extraordinary life. First, it was Chicago and a hardscrabble childhood redeemed by a mother who loved him dearly. He found work at the local television station and soon fell into making documentaries (one of them, The People vs. Paul Crump, literally saved its subject from the electric chair). California came calling, but neither of his first two pictures — the Sonny and Cher vehicle Good Times and the musical comedy The Night They Raided Minsky’s — reflected the hard-hitting sensibility of the young man who made them.  

Yet more ambitious work soon followed: Pinter’s The Birthday Party, then The Boys in the Band, and then his breakthrough with The French Connection. With The Exorcist, his place in the firmament was secured, and Billy used his status to take risks.

It’s often been repeated that the New Hollywood bestowed upon directors a tremendous amount of freedom, but the simple fact is that the pictures we revere now were made by seriously courageous filmmakers who had to fight like hell: Coppola with The Godfather; later, Scorsese with Taxi Driver; and Spielberg with Jaws, among others. Certainly Billy with his work, each movie a testament not only to a moment but to the artist who made it. At the time, he paid a price for the chances he took. He became, in industry parlance, “legendary,” though after he met and married his soulmate, the glorious Sherry Lansing, his life appeared to settle into a calmer rhythm. 

Later on, I became fortunate enough to make my own films, and even more fortunate to get to know William Friedkin a little. He immediately became “Billy” to me (his request), and I was always surprised by his kindness. I wasn’t as close to him as I should have been; he was so warm and welcoming, always inviting me to reach out. But I confess to being intimidated by his intellect, afraid at times to call. Billy was an autodidact, and it seemed there was no subject, artist, detail with which he was not familiar. His opinions were his, and he loved to stir things up. No position, however controversial, was unworthy of examination. He relished big discourse, and his honesty — something in retrospect I deeply treasure — could be too much for some.

Indeed, he had a reputation for ferocity — “Hurricane Billy” was the nickname — but I didn’t see that side of him. I knew only an intellectually curious man who gave extensively of his time. When I went off to Paris to mount an opera, my first call was to Billy (who, in addition to his spectacular movie career, had become a brilliant opera director). He was enormously helpful and specific, and we began an ongoing dialogue as I found my way through the production. I often worried that I might have tortured him with my panicked calls and questions, but he never betrayed the slightest hint of annoyance. Rather, he inspired and encouraged me beyond measure.

As the years passed, he spoke of his mortality with greater frequency yet without a trace of self-pity. He seemed at peace, and his view of time’s relentless melt had the air of acceptance about it. He was famously confident — many said arrogant — but with me, he often seemed willing to discount his own contributions, calling his work a “quick lunch” compared with the “gourmet dinner” of the directors he admired. He tended to dismiss himself as a mere craftsman, but maybe that’s why he was an artist. 

The last time I saw him was a few months ago for dinner, at his and Sherry’s beautiful home. It was a characteristically lovely evening. But maybe I sensed unconsciously that I might not see him again. At some point during dessert, I blurted out an embarrassingly direct “I love you.” He looked at me for a moment, and I thought I might get a sarcastic joke in response. Instead, he touched my hand and replied, “I love you too, James.”

I was moved to tears. All of the humor and unsentimental toughness and darkness was part of him, yes. But it wasn’t the whole picture and beneath it all was a tremendous wellspring of soul and sensitivity. Of course it had to be — it’s there, in the work. It was the man. William Friedkin was genuine, sui generis, vital. He was a giant.

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Mars is spinning faster, its days getting shorter — one theory why

There’s a mystery on Mars.

If you think time is whizzing by on planet Earth, try spending some time on the Red Planet.

Mars is spinning faster and gradually shortening each day slightly, scientists have found — and it has left them puzzled.

The findings, which were published in Nature, used data from NASA’s InSight Mars lander, which operated for four years before it ran out of power during a mission in December 2022.

“To track the planet’s spin rate, the study’s authors relied on one of InSight’s instruments: a radio transponder and antennas collectively called the Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment, or RISE,” according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

They found that Mars’ rotation is accelerating by about 4 milliarcseconds per year — making the length of a Martian day shorter by a fraction of a millisecond per year.

The authors theorized that the acceleration in Mars’ rotation could be ice accumulating on the polar caps — also known as post-glacial rebound — resulting in a rise of land mass from being buried by ice.

They described the shift in mass as being similar to when an ice skater spins with their arms stretched out, then pulls them in, reported Sky News.

“What we’re looking for are variations that are just a few tens of centimeters over the course of a Martian year,” said lead author and RISE’s principal investigator Sebastien Le Maistre at the Royal Observatory of Belgium.

The days are a bit shorter on Mars, scientists have found.AP

Scientists used data from NASA’s InSight lander.NASA/JPL-Caltech/SWNS

“It takes a very long time and a lot of data to accumulate before we can even see these variations,” he added.

Scientists examined data from InSight’s first 900 days on Mars that was collected by RISE, which tracked Mars’ spin rate.

The researchers would beam a radio signal to the lander using the Deep Space Network, and RISE would then reflect the signal back.

Once the signal was received, scientists looked for tiny changes in frequency caused by the Doppler shift, which is the change in observed wavelength or frequency.

Measuring the data helped scientists to determine how fast the planet rotates.

An artist’s rendering of the InSight lander.Future Publishing via Getty Images

Le Maistre called RISE a “historic experiment.”

“We have spent a lot of time and energy preparing for the experiment and anticipating these discoveries,” he said. “But despite this, we were still surprised along the way — and it’s not over, since RISE still has a lot to reveal about Mars.”

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I thought I had the stomach flu — I gave birth to premature twins

A UK woman thought she was suffering from a stomach bug last month — it turns out she was pregnant with twins. 

Lucy Shaw, 34, from Staffordshire, unexpectedly gave birth to twin boys on July 5, a British hospital system announced this week.

Shaw had what is called a cryptic or invisible pregnancy, which can occur if a woman has a hidden baby bump, a lack of pregnancy symptoms, hormonal issues, a contraceptive failure or a false negative test, according to Parents.com.

Shaw was only 30 weeks pregnant when she gave birth to sons Jacob and Jaxon James, who weighed 3 pounds, 9 ounces and 3 pounds, 8 ounces, respectively.

They were said to be recovering in the neonatal unit of Royal Stoke University Hospital, where Shaw was treated for blood loss.

Lucy Shaw, 34, of the UK, unexpectedly gave birth to twin boys on July 5 after believing she suffered from the stomach flu.University Hospitals of North Midlands

Shaw said she knew something was amiss when she woke up with severe stomach pain, though she never guessed she was pregnant.

“I woke up in the early hours feeling unwell and thought I had a tummy bug,” she said in a statement. “A few hours later I called my mom because by then, I was in a lot of pain.”

Shaw’s mom arrived at her daughter’s home and called an ambulance — she could tell immediately stomach flu was not the issue.

“Whilst mom was on the phone to the operator, they asked if she could see anything, and it then dawned on me to check, and I could feel a head,” Shaw said.

Sure enough, Shaw felt one of her babies’ heads coming out between her legs. 

The operator reportedly told Shaw to avoid pushing the baby out if she could.

“Jacob was born at 6 a.m., with my mom delivering him just as the paramedics arrived to then deliver Jaxon at 6:15 a.m.,” Shaw said.University Hospitals of North Midlands

“I kept trying not to push and was saying they can’t come yet as it’s too soon, but the operator told me I must push if I felt like I needed to,” she explained.  

Shaw couldn’t wait. Her mom delivered Jacob and when the paramedics came, they delivered Jaxon.

“Jacob was born at 6 a.m., with my mom delivering him just as the paramedics arrived to then deliver Jaxon at 6:15 a.m.,” she recalled.

It’s been four weeks since their births, and the twins should be going home soon — after surviving various challenges, including being put on ventilators.

Dr. Lee Abbott, clinical lead of neonatology at the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, called the boys “miracle babies.

“On arrival, they were so cold that they had unrecordable body temperatures, they both had blood acid levels that were not consistent with survival and they also had low blood pressures,” Abbott said. 

He added, “They have both pulled through, are doing incredibly well and are expected to be able to go home with minimal special care.”

Shaw said she’s looking forward to caring for her boys.

“I am looking forward to getting them home when they are ready. We really can’t wait,” Shaw said. 

Cryptic pregnancies are more common than some might think. Just last year, a 22-year-old flight attendant thought she had to use the toilet, where she unexpectedly gave birth to a girl.

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One thing to never do on a date — in case you need to escape

Planning a first date? Make sure you have an escape route.

More than four in five Americans believe dinner dates are the hardest to get away from, especially if it isn’t going well.

A survey examined the experiences of 2,000 actively dating Americans over the age of 21 and revealed that while more than half (56%) tend to go for dinner and a movie as a first date, other top choices are more flee-friendly.

Half of respondents prefer casual drinks, followed by coffee (43%) or going to a market or picnic (34%).

On average, a first date should last a little less than three hours (2.72), and it takes respondents about four dates to feel comfortable with that person.

Almost one-third (31%) of respondents feel the least comfortable part about going on a first date is the nerves. To do away with those first date jitters, daters are sipping on a favorite drink (57%), wearing their favorite outfit or accessories (54%) and choosing a familiar location (44%).

Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Canada Dry, results showed that although having a drink in hand may soothe some anxieties, there is always a limit — almost half (46%) of respondents find drinking too much on a first date to be a turn-off.

A survey of 2,000 Americans over 21 years old revealed that 56% default to dinner and a movie for a first date.Getty Images

If their date drank too much, 32% of respondents would speak up and address it during the date, while 28% would simply end the date and leave and 15% would write off a second date entirely.

Nevertheless, more than three-quarters (76%) of respondents are likely to base a love connection on whether their date has the same drink preferences.

Key indicators that a first date went well include a text or call immediately following the date (63%), a goodnight kiss (56%) and even extending the date past the expected time (51%).

But on the flip side, top signs of a sour first date include being “ghosted” afterward (65%), making an excuse to leave the date early (65%) and awkward moments of silence (48%).

The absence of a goodnight hug or kiss (39%), still feeling nervous after the date ends (35%) and splitting the bill (21%) also hint that a first date didn’t go so well.

Respondents agreed that a first date should last slightly less than three hours.Getty Images

“First dates are nerve-wracking — will you hit it off? Will this be the worst date ever? With so many questions swirling around, it’s no surprise that daters are looking for ways to make themselves more comfortable,” shared Lindsey Metselaar, host of the popular millennial dating podcast, We Met at Acme. “By keeping your favorite drink in hand and focusing on the positive ‘what ifs,’ daters can keep the nerves down and the comfort high.”

Only 16% of respondents haven’t been on a first date gone wrong. Though daters have been slightly more likely to blame a date for ruining a first date than themselves (30% vs 24%), 31% admit they’ve been on both sides.

Of the respondents who claim they botched a first date, most (63%) felt they were too nervous.

Only 16% of respondents say that they haven’t been on an ill-fated first date.Getty Images

Some felt they shattered their chances by spending too much time on their phone (48%), drinking too much alcohol (41%) and even making too many jokes (31%).

On the other hand, those who claim their date was to blame encountered people who didn’t look like their photos (58%) and inappropriate comments (57%).

Other first date offenses include arriving late (54%) or leaving early (41%), as well as drinking too much alcohol (35%), spending too much time on their phone (28%) and even talking about themselves the whole date (17%).

Nine in 10 respondents are familiar with the term “situationship,” though only 44% have experienced one.

44% of respondents are apt to choose a familiar location to ameliorate some of the first-date jitters.Getty Images

Another 84% of respondents recognize the term “rizz”, someone’s ability to flirt and charm, and 44% of respondents have either “ghosted” someone or fallen victim to it.

In fact, the average person will hold onto hope for a little more than four days (4.36) before accepting the fact that they’ve been ghosted.

Survey methodology: This random double-opt-in survey of 2,000 21+ Americans who are actively dating was commissioned by Canada Dry between June 20 and June 28, 2023. It was conducted by market research company OnePoll, whose team members are members of the Market Research Society and have corporate membership to the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR).

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Seoul-based proptech Dongnae acquires co-living platform Dears

Proptech startup Dongnae said Tuesday it plans to acquire Stevens, a South Korean company that operates co-living business Dears.

The two companies did not disclose the acquisition price, but Dongnae said it will purchase Stevens with a mix of cash and equity. The Seoul-based proptech outfit previously raised a total of $34 million, including a $21 million Series A round it announced last year. Dongnae expects to close the transaction by the end of September. The company’s investors include the likes of NFX, Daol Investment, Hana Financial, MetaProp, Maple VC and WeWork co-founder Miguel McKelvey.

Dongnae’s primary product, Dongnae FLEX, offers a furnished apartment rental on its platform with flexible lease terms for as short a period as four weeks and lower rental deposits.

The addition of Dears will allow the company to upgrade the Dongnae FLEX service, manage properties “with a collective AUM of over $400 million,” and span 90 apartment complexes across Seoul and Pangyo, where a host of tech firms, including Kakao and Naver, are located. Dears Pangyo has more than 520 studio flat units in Pangyo.

The outfit also will co-manage the Dears Myeongdong building in Seoul alongside Xi S&D. Dongnae will manage commercial spaces of Dears Myeongdong, consisting of B1, 14F and the rooftop, co-founder and CEO Matthew Shampine said, adding that Xi S&D will operate Dears Myungdong’s 112 units that offer both short- and long-term stays.

Dongnae says this is its first acquisition. The current leadership team at Stevens will join Dongnae to support expansion and continue to build on their progress to date, Shampine told TechCrunch.

“We are in active discussions with a number of landlords and land developers to open more buildings to be operated as and through Dongnae,” Shampine said.

Former WeWork executives Shampine and Insong Kim co-founded Dongnae in 2020 to digitize South Korea’s fragmented real estate market. In South Korea, people have to work with dozens of brokers to find a new home, and there are two options to pay rent in the country: paying a monthly fee (just like in many parts of the world) and paying everything in advance, called Jeonse.

By providing Dongnae’s signature lower rental deposits on a flexible, short-term basis, the co-founders want to tackle Jeonse, the country’s unique residential rental system. This system allows tenants to rent an apartment with a large lump sum deposit, which is about 70% of the house valuation, without paying monthly rental fees.

“Since our Series A in March of 2022, we have been focused on growing our real estate portfolio, getting customer feedback, and building the necessary front- and back-end technology to truly create a better way to rent homes in Korea,” Shampine said.

The company has invested “heavily” in enhancing the customer experience since last year. The outfit says it has digitized the entire procedure instead of the typical long, paper-filed leasing process and launched its own digital real estate consultant Suzie by integrating artificial intelligence into its platform. Like a chatbot, Suzie answers prospective residents’ questions about housing or Dongnae’s units in any spoken language.

“From Adam Neumann’s Flow and companies such as Mint House, Zeus Living, and Blueground in America to Asian and European startups like Cove and Habyt — there has been great innovation in the residential rental market around the world over the past few years,” Shampine said in a statement. “Our team is committed to bringing about a better way to rent here in Korea.”

Dongnae’s application is now available for download on Android and iOS.

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Prince William, Kate Middleton ‘work incredibly hard’ as future king, queen dedicated to duty: duke’s daughter

Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton are doing a “remarkable” job in preserving royal traditions and giving a glimpse into the monarchy’s future, according to a U.K. podcast producer.

The Prince and Princess of Wales have assumed an increasingly central role in the royal family after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September. William’s father, King Charles III, ascended to the throne upon his mother’s death.

“We’re so lucky to have such an extraordinary family,” Lady Violent Manners, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Rutland and podcast executive producer, told Fox News Digital about the British royals.

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Prince William, with wife Princess Kate Middleton, is heir to the British throne. (Samir Hussein/WireImage)

“The Princess of Wales is a real hero of mine,” the 29-year-old said. “I think the work that she and the Prince of Wales do for all the charities that they are involved with is extraordinary. We’re very lucky to have them in this country. I think they’re remarkable in truth. They work incredibly hard for the charities and organizations that they are involved with. There’s a serenity with the work that they do that’s so admirable. I remember my boss saying to me [in my first job], ‘You’ve got to always be a swan on top but like a duck underneath, just sort of paddling away.”

Princess Kate Middleton, shown here with King Charles, supports several charities that focus on early childhood development. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

“I think they embody that,” Manners said. “They have … three wonderful children, so it must be a lot to juggle. They’ve got a wonderful team around them. But I think the work that they do and the charities that they’re involved with are exactly what you would hope for the future king and queen of this country to be shining a light on.”

William, 41, the eldest son of the king, has made protecting the environment for future generations one of his key priorities. In 2020, the prince launched the Earthshot Prize, which aims to discover groundbreaking solutions to “repair and regenerate” the planet. He is also an advocate to end homelessness and has taken on several charities that address at-risk youth. In June, he launched Homewards, a locally led program that aims to prevent and end homelessness.

Lady Violet Manners says Princess Kate Middleton, above, would be a “dream” guest on “Duchess The Podcast.” (Chris Jackson/WPA Pool/Getty Images)

As for the Princess of Wales, she has devoted her time to supporting several charities that center around early childhood experiences. In 2017, Kate championed Heads Together, a mental health campaign. She has also raised awareness of the importance of physical health and the transformative effects of sports, among others.

Manners, who said Kate, 41, would be her “dream” podcast guest, is executive producer and creative director of “Duchess The Podcast,” which explores the historic homes of the U.K. and the women who run them.

The Prince and Princess of Wales are parents to three children, from left, Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte. (Jonathan Brady/Pool/Getty Images)

“There’s such a wonderful continuity that’s been handed down from generation to generation,” she said. “I think they’ll be extraordinary when they do become king and queen.”

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Manners’ father became the 11th Duke of Rutland In 2001 and inherited Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire, England.

Belvoir Castle was a stand-in for Windsor Castle in Netflix’s “The Crown.” (Neil Squires/PA Images via Getty Images)

“I spent the first 10 years of my life in a village just below Belvoir,” Manners said. “And then my grandfather died, which is a very sad and somber moment for everyone. And the next thing we knew, within a year we were told that we were moving into the castle. And I remember thinking, ‘That can’t be real.’”

Emma, Duchess of Rutland, was the host of “Duchess The Podcast.” She is the chief executive of Belvoir Castle. (Helen Cathcart/Belvoir Castle)

Manners said the idea for a podcast came in 2019 while she was studying business and finance at UCLA. She was inspired by America’s fascination with British heritage and wanted to offer an insider’s view into the realities of life as an aristocrat in the 21st century.

WATCH: LADY VIOLET MANNERS OF ‘DUCHESS’ DETAILS LIFE AT BELVOIR CASTLE

There was also the “Bridgerton Effect” following the hit Netflix show based on the Regency-era book series by Julia Quinn.

“So many historic homes … [have] all seen the impact of ‘Bridgerton’ in their numbers,” Manners said.

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“Bridgerton” launched on Christmas Day 2020. (Netflix)

Belvoir, located in the English countryside, has more than 365 rooms and came with 12 million pounds (almost $15.5 million) of inheritance taxes, the New York Times reported. Manners’ mother, Emma, Duchess of Rutland, told the outlet that the castle also had “battalions of rats and staff who clearly preferred the former incumbents to us.”

Manners said that the mother of five “was always keen” that her children wouldn’t be sitting pretty behind grand doors. She recalled working as a tour guide during the summers and sharing her home with curious tourists from around the globe.

Belvoir Castle came with rats, ghosts, dead pigeons and hefty inheritance taxes. (Maureen Evans/Belvoir Castle)

“From the age of 10, I was working in the cafe with the amazing team that was there at the time,” Manners said. “Wendy, someone who works at Belvoir still nearly 30 years later, remembers all of us in the cafe not being particularly good behind the till because we would accidentally give people back the wrong change. But mum was always determined that we very much understood from the very beginning just how much work it takes to run places like this.”

Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire is open to visitors. According to its official website, it is the ancestral home of the Duke of Rutland “where the family have lived in an unbroken line for almost a thousand years.” (Simon Sykes/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Manners recalled having to pull out dead birds that would cause flooding during wintry nights. She was 12.

“Belvoir’s beautiful – all of these places are beautiful,” she said. “But it’s funny, they’ve all got flat roofs, which is a nightmare because it means that the piping is very awkward and difficult. And it means that you’re often getting dead pigeons stuck in the roof, which means that you have … flooding.”

“I just remember mum saying, ‘Girls, get your wellies on, we’re going to the roof,’” Manners continued. “It was chucking it down with rain, but we had found all these floods happening throughout the castle. … I just remember mum taking us up to the roof. We were having to put our hands – because we had the smallest hands – into the gutter and pull out the dead pigeons.”

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During the summers, Lady Violet Manners worked as a tour guide in Belvoir Castle. (Helen Cathcart/Belvoir Castle)

The duchess has insisted that Belvoir is inhabited by ghosts. The castle’s history dates to the 11th century. According to the property’s website, the land at Belvoir was a gift from William the Conqueror to the family’s first recorded ancestor, Robert de Todeni.

“Listen, a lot of people don’t believe [in ghosts] and I can understand why,” Manners chuckled. “But there’s definitely some energy rocking around these kinds of places. And if you listen to the podcast, you’ll find out that’s a consistent theme across these homes. Visitors have seen them, guides have seen time. But they’re all very friendly, really.”

Belvoir Castle, privately owned, is located in the English countryside. (Maureen Evans/Belvoir Castle)

According to the New York Times, about one-third of historic homes in the U.K. are in the care of conservation charities like the National Trust and English Heritage. But some properties like Belvoir are in private hands. Ben Cowell, the director general of Historic Houses, told the outlet that some homes were knocked down after World War II because owners couldn’t financially maintain them.

Lady Violet Manners says friendly ghosts live in Belvoir Castle. (Maureen Evans/Belvoir Castle)

The Duke and Duchess of Rutland are legally separated and have lived in different wings since 2012, the outlet reported. The home costs about 1 million pounds [$1,276,731 million] to run, it noted.

“I wanted to change the narrative around historic homes,” Manners said. “I think the wonderful period dramas that we all love to watch … paint a picture of living in heritage that’s set in a very different time. The reality is it’s a lot of work. And there is no government support or funding, and nor should there be. So, it does require an enormous amount of upkeep and innovation.”

The former Prince Charles is seen here dancing with Charlotte Manners, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Rutland, at a charity ball held at their home, Belvoir Castle, in Leicestershire. (© Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

“Any money that the government is choosing to spend on the cost-of-living crisis and the housing crisis [in the U.K.] is not taken away by these estates,” Manners said. “But, of course, we’ve received criticism and, frankly, I get it. It’s an unusual predicament to be born into something like this. But I have to say the humility that exists within the community of these families that own these places is enormous. And no one is under any illusion that they [aren’t] in an extraordinary position. But equally, they play a vital role, in my view, as custodians of these extraordinary estates across the country. Because at the end of the day, heritage tourism is … a huge part of the U.K.’s economic climate and a huge incentive for people to come to this country.”

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The Duke and Duchess of Rutland have lived in different wings of Belvoir Castle since 2012. (Maureen Evans/Belvoir Castle)

“I fully understand the criticism that many others like me in this country have received,” she continued. “But I ultimately think the roles these families are taking on are incredible. They’re looking after land that would otherwise be in disrepute. … Everyone plays their part in taking care of the landscapes we all get to enjoy.”

Emma Manners, Duchess of Rutland, is shown during the launch event for a Royal Afternoon Tea inspired by Netflix’s “The Crown” at Belvoir Castle. (Danny Lawson/PA Images via Getty Images)

Belvoir has gone on to serve as a stand-in for Windsor Castle in “The Crown.” It has also been featured in films like “The Da Vinci Code” and “The Young Victoria.” The podcast’s new series, launching on Aug. 17, will highlight custodians presenting individual episodes. The first guest is the Countess of Derby.

The Countess of Derby will be featured in a new episode of “Duchess.” (Belvoir Castle)

“I’ve had an incredible life,” said Manners. “I now want to shine a spotlight on the many people who have dedicated their lives to working in these places.”

Stephanie Nolasco covers entertainment at Foxnews.com.

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Apple Music will help you find new songs and artists with Discovery Station

Apple has quietly launched a new feature for its music streaming service that could help you expand your playlists and find new artists to listen to. It’s a personalized radio station called “Discovery Station,” which picks the songs it thinks you’d be into from Apple Music’s catalog. As Apple Insider notes, the tech giant’s music service hasn’t gone all in on algorithmic recommendations like Spotify, which has several playlists that can generate mixes based on your listening habits. 

An Apple spokesperson told us that Discovery Station will only play music you haven’t played on the service before from both familiar artists and potentially unfamiliar ones it thinks you might like. And since its main purpose is to help you discover new music, it will never play the same song twice and will play continuously until you stop it. Like other playlists that use algorithms to recommend tracks, Discovery Station also bases its suggestions on your activity and will keep changing as your taste evolves. 

The feature is now live around the world. If you’re an existing subscriber, you can access it by going to your Listen Now page and checking out the Stations for You section. If you don’t have a subscription, it will cost you at least $5 a month in the US for an audio-only plan or at least $11 a month if you want access to Apple Music’s video programming and other features, such as lossless audio and Dolby Atmos. 

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