Brands
Kohli is Puma’s face, for Rs 110 crore
MUMBAI: The global sportswear brand has announced the signing of Indian cricket captain and sports icon Virat Kohli as their global brand ambassador. Virat, who is among the best ever Indian cricketers, joins the the brand’s growing portfolio of world renowned athletes. The partnership between Virat and Puma is a landmark eight years long association, which will see them work towards transforming the sports and fitness ecosystem in India.
According to media reports, Kohli has signed the deal for Rs 110 crore.
As part of this exclusive association Virat will work closely with Puma in developing a line which will include cricket, fitness and Sports Style. The merchandise will include footwear, apparel and accessories. The collection will carve a niche for itself with Virat’s signature style amalgamated with his fashion sensibilities targeted to the Indian youth. This range would be launched in the autumn winter season this year.
Puma India MD Abhishek Ganguly said, “Virat has been credited with reshaping the role of a sportsman today; emphasizing the importance of fitness across all sports thus endorsing the ethos of the brand.”
Kohli said, “I am impressed by the way Puma has gained popularity and market leadership in India in a very short period of time.”
Brands
Apple bites back: the $599 MacBook Neo is the cheapest Mac ever made
The tech giant unveils a budget laptop that packs a punch — and a lot of cheek
CALIFORNIA: Apple has never been shy about charging a premium. So when Cupertino rolls out a MacBook at $599 (approx. Rs 55,000) , it’s worth sitting up straight.
The MacBook Neo, unveiled Tuesday, is Apple’s most affordable laptop to date — undercutting its own MacBook Air and taking a sharp swipe at the budget PC market in one fell swoop. It starts at $499 for students, which, for a machine with Apple silicon inside, is frankly a steal.
At the heart of the Neo is the A18 Pro chip — the same muscle that powers the latest iPhones. Apple claims it is up to 50 per cent faster for everyday tasks than a rival PC running Intel’s Core Ultra 5, and three times quicker on on-device AI workloads. Fanless and featherweight at 2.7 pounds, it runs silently and promises up to 16 hours of battery life. Try doing that on a Chromebook.
The 13-inch liquid retina display clocks in at 2408-by-1506 resolution with 500 nits of brightness and support for billion colours — sharper and brighter, Apple says, than most rivals in this price band. It comes dressed in four colours: blush, indigo, silver, and a zesty new citrus, with matching keyboard shades to boot.
Connectivity is modest — two USB-C ports, a headphone jack, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 6 — but this is a budget machine, not a pro workstation. The 1080p FaceTime camera, dual mics with directional beamforming, and Spatial Audio speakers round out a package that punches well above its weight class.
Apple senior vice-president of hardware engineering John Ternus alled it “a laptop only Apple could create.” That’s the kind of line that makes rivals wince — because, annoyingly, he might be right.
The Neo runs macOS Tahoe, with Apple Intelligence baked in for AI writing tools, live translation, and the sort of on-device smarts that keep user data away from the cloud. It also boasts 60 per cent recycled content — the highest of any Apple product — for those who like their bargains with a side of conscience.
For $599, Apple isn’t just selling a laptop. It’s selling an argument — that good design and real performance needn’t cost the earth. The PC industry had better have a decent comeback ready.
