Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Delhi to Implement Rs. 14,000-Crore AI-Based Traffic System by End of 2024 to Reduce Congestion: Official

The national capital will have an artificial intelligence-based traffic system by the end of next year to reduce congestion and facilitate faster and smarter vehicular movement, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Speaking at ASSOCHAM seventh road safety conference here, Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Surender Singh Yadav mentioned that the Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) would take another one or one-and-half-years to be fully implemented and is being done at the cost of around Rs. 1,400 crore.

Yadav, who is part of a special committee on road safety constituted by the Supreme Court, informed that they are working on technology initiatives to make the traffic much more smooth in the national capital.

"We are working on ways to see how technology can improve the commute at emergency corridors and emergency services. We are also looking at how we can improve upon our traffic control rooms and their communication with the ambulance networks," he said.

ITMS is a technology that employs AI to assess traffic in real time. When implemented, it is likely to change the traffic scenario in the city. Real time traffic information will be passed to commuters. The human interface in road management will be reduced and traffic signals will operate automatically during the day depending on traffic volume and average speed on the road, the statement said quoting Yadav.

He added that the government is putting a lot of emphasis on road safety due to the rising number of fatalities.

“Around 2,300 crashes were reported in Delhi which accounted for 40 per cent pedestrian mishappenings. With 3.5 lakh violations per month for red light and over speeding, responsible behaviour is crucial for all vehicle owners,” he said.

“A study is being carried out to ascertain the traffic volume, average speed on the road, number of pedestrians using the road, stoppage time and average travel time taken to cross the junction. The survey will also include the geographic information systems to predict likely traffic movement in real time depending on the area and topography in the national capital," Yadav said.

"Delhi has about 1.4 crore traffic challans pending, each month only red light jumping has 3.5 lakh challans in the capital. We are in touch with insurance companies to include pending traffic violation challans in the vehicle insurance policy at the time of renewal each year," he said.

Vinod Pandey, chairperson ASSOCHAM Global Value Chain Council, emphasised the safety of the vehicle which is a major influencer offering safer tools to avoid any fatality.

"With increasing digital transformation, there is a wide scope of umpteen opportunities like vehicle-to-vehicle communication, e-call, safety alerts, and anti-lock braking systems (ABS). Regular vehicle inspections and maintenance checks can help ensure that vehicles are roadworthy,” he added.


Google I/O 2023 saw the search giant repeatedly tell us that it cares about AI, alongside the launch of its first foldable phone and Pixel-branded tablet. This year, the company is going to supercharge its apps, services, and Android operating system with AI technology. We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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Vedanta-Foxconn, Other Chip Firms Expected to Re-Apply for Government Funding Under Revised Scheme

Some applicants including Vedanta Foxconn JV are expected to re-apply for government incentives under the modified semiconductor scheme opening from June 1, according to sources. Under the Modified Semicon India Programme, the government has increased the financial incentive of 50 percent of the project cost for companies, consortia, joint ventures for setting up semiconductor fabs in India of any node (wafer size).

In the old scheme, the incentives varied on the basis of wafer node size.

Similarly, a fiscal incentive of 50 percent of the project cost is available for setting up of display fabs of specified technologies in India, a statement said on Wednesday.

"Government has decided to invite new applications for setting up of Semiconductor Fabs and Display Fabs in India from June 01, 2023, under the Modified Semicon India Programme. The applications will be received by India Semiconductor Mission," the statement said.

Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the first window for more expensive 28 nanometer (nm) fabs was kept open for 45 days only in January 2022 and 3 applications were evaluated by India Semiconductor Mission and its advisory group.

"Strategy now is also encouraging mature nodes of over 40nm - current n new players may apply afresh in various nodes that they hv technology for. It is expected that some of the current applicants will reapply n new fresh investors will also apply," Chandrasekhar tweeted.

Sources said that Vedanta Foxconn JV is also expected to re-apply under the modified scheme.

An email query sent to Vedanta, who is leading the JV, did not elicit any reply.

The application window for “Modified Scheme for setting up of Compound Semiconductors, Silicon Photonics, Sensors Fab, Discrete Semiconductors Fab and Semiconductor ATMP, OSAT facilities in India” is open till December 2024, the statement said.

Leading storage semiconductor company Micron has also applied for setting up an OSAT unit.

"Application window of Design Linked Incentive Scheme is also open till December 2024. Till date 26 applications have been received under DLI Scheme and five applications have been granted approval," the statement said.

Semicon India Programme was approved by the cabinet in December 2021 with an outlay of Rs. 76,000 crore for the development of the semiconductors and display manufacturing ecosystem in India.


Samsung Galaxy A34 5G was recently launched by the company in India alongside the more expensive Galaxy A54 5G smartphone. How does this phone fare against the Nothing Phone 1 and the iQoo Neo 7? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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Xiaomi Partners With Dixon Technologies to Make Mobile Phones in India

Contract manufacturer Dixon Technologies (India) on Wednesday said it is partnering with Xiaomi's Indian arm to make and export phones for the Chinese firm.

The news, which boosted Dixon's shares by 4 percent, comes after Xiaomi India revealed plans to start making wireless audio products in the country by partnering with electronics manufacturer Optiemus.

India has been encouraging global companies to invest more in local manufacturing as a part of its efforts to become a powerhouse in the global electronics supply chain.

Earlier in March, Xiaomi India President Muralikrishnan B. told Reuters that the company will open more stores beyond its current network of 20,000 retail partners and boost local procurement of mobile phone parts, in an effort to reduce costs.

Earlier this week, Xiaomi India said that it will make its first local audio gadget at Optiemus Electronics' factory in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, the company said in a statement, reiterating that it was targeting a 50 percent increase in the production of components locally sourced by 2025.

The push comes as the manufacturer of the Redmi brand of smartphones recently lost out to South Korean rival Samsung as India's top smartphone company.

Xiaomi, which locally manufactures most of the smartphones and TVs it sells in India, did not say when it will start making the audio products. It sells speakers, earbuds, and wired and wireless headphones in India.

In March, Xiaomi was reported to be overhauling its India strategy after misjudging consumer tastes in mobile phones, a costly lapse that allowed Samsung Electronics to pip the Chinese company to the top spot in the world's second biggest market for the devices.

© Thomson Reuters 2023


Xiaomi launched its camera focussed flagship Xiaomi 13 Ultra smartphone, while Apple opened it's first stores in India this week. We discuss these developments, as well as other reports on smartphone-related rumours and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) With Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 SoC, 50-Megapixel Camera Launched: Price, Specifications

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) was launched in the US on Tuesday. Motorola released the 4G version of the same phone earlier this month, named Moto G Stylus (2023). The 4G model is powered by a MediaTek Helio G85 SoC paired with 4GB of RAM, whereas the 5G version comes with a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset. The handset comes with an inbuilt stylus, which is claimed to help users with content creation, animated illustrations on messaging apps, drawing or editing photos, and playing games.

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) price, availability

The newly-launched Motorola smartphone is available in the US in a single variant of 6GB + 256GB, that is priced at $399.99 (roughly Rs. 33,100). On June 2, the phone will be open for sale at Cricket and starting June 16, the phone will be available for purchase on Amazon.com, Best Buy, and Motorola.com websites.

The Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) is offered in Cosmic Black and Rose Champagne colour options.

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) specifications, features

Featuring a 6.6-inch full-HD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) LCD display, the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) comes with a refresh rate of 120Hz. The dual SIM-supported handset runs on Android 13 with My UX on top. It is powered by a 4nm octa-core Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 5G SoC paired with 6GB of RAM and 256GB of inbuilt storage.

In terms of cameras, the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) features a dual rear camera unit that includes a 50-megapixel primary sensor and an 8-megapixel sensor with an ultra-wide lens. The camera units are placed on a rectangular camera module alongside an LED flash unit in the top left corner of the back panel. The 16-megapixel front camera sensor is housed in a centre-aligned hole-punch slot at the top of the display.

The Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) packs a 5,000mAh battery with 20W wired fast charging support. For security, the phone is equipped with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor and a face unlock feature. The handset comes with a 3.5mm audio jack, a USB Type-C port, Dolby Atmos-supported stereo speakers, and up to 2TB of expandable memory via microSD card.

For connectivity, the phone supports NFC, GPS, 5G, WiFi 802.11 ac, and Bluetooth v5.1. The plastic body of the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) weighs 202 grams and measures 162.83mm x 73.77mm x 9.19mm in size.


Google I/O 2023 saw the search giant repeatedly tell us that it cares about AI, alongside the launch of its first foldable phone and Pixel-branded tablet. This year, the company is going to supercharge its apps, services, and Android operating system with AI technology. We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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Crypto Market Watch: Bitcoin, Ether See Minor Losses in Volatile Market; Stablecoins Stay Resilient

The crypto market has remained consistently volatile for some days now, pushing most cryptocurrencies under the sector current. Bitcoin on Wednesday, May 31, saw a loss of 0.62 percent to trade at $27,623 (roughly Rs. 22.8 lakh). This range-bound movement from Bitcoin has remained slow for the last two weeks at least, on both national as well as international exchanges. The value of Bitcoin dropped by $92 (roughly Rs. 7,607) over the last 24 hours.

“BTC has displayed resilience by bouncing back from this important support level, indicating a restoration of its positive momentum. As long as Bitcoin maintains its position above $27,480 (roughly Rs. 22.7 lakh) level, there is a potential for further upward movement, with the next resistance level expected to be around $28,000 (roughly Rs. 23 lakh),” the CoinDCX team told Gadgets 360, commenting on Bitcoin's market movement.

Ether dropped by 0.98 percent to trade at $1,878 (roughly Rs. 1.55 lakh), showed the crypto price tracker by Gadgets 360 on Wednesday. The second-most expensive cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, ETH has slipped price-wise by $17 (roughly Rs. 1,405).

“Ethereum held on exchanges has reached a low-point that it hadn't since July 2016, as more and more ETH is being staked. This decline in exchange balances coincides with a surge in staked Ether. Generally, lower exchange balances indicate a bullish market sentiment because it implies limited availability of ether for purchase, thus exerting upward pressure on prices,” the CoinDCX team noted.

With BTC and ETH, both trading in losses, a bunch of altcoins reflected price slips on the chart.

These include Binance Coin, Cardano, Dogecoin, Polygon, Polkadot, and Shiba Inu.

Minor price drops were also incurred by Avalanche, Chainlink, Leo, and Cosmos.

The valuation of the overall crypto sector dropped by 1.32 percent in the last 24 hours. At the time of writing, the crypto market cap stood at $1.14 trillion (roughly Rs. 94,26,754 crore), showed the data by CoinMarketCap.

Stablecoins managed to reflect greens on the price chart. These include Tether, USD Coin, and Ripple.

Solana, Tron, Litecoin, Uniswap, Stellar, EOS Coin, and Elrond also minted small gains.

“The prospective debt ceiling agreement fuelled these minor rallies. Asian regulations and Erdogan's re-election could further energise the market,” Rajagopal Menon, Vice President, WazirX, told Gadgets 360.


Samsung Galaxy A34 5G was recently launched by the company in India alongside the more expensive Galaxy A54 5G smartphone. How does this phone fare against the Nothing Phone 1 and the iQoo Neo 7? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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Government Set to Deny Funding for Vedanta-Foxconn Chip Venture: Report

The Indian government is poised to deny crucial funding for Anil Agarwal's chip venture, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, a setback to the billionaire's ambition to build India's 'own Silicon Valley.'

The authorities are likely to inform the venture between Vedanta and Taiwan's Foxconn that it won't get incentives to make 28-nanometer chips, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The venture's application seeking billions in government assistance hasn't met the criteria set by the government, the report said. The project is still in search of a technology partner and a manufacturing-grade technology license for the construction of 28nm chips, it added.

India's technology ministry, Vedanta and Foxconn did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

The setback comes at a time when Agarwal's metals and mining conglomerate is already grappling with reducing its significant debt load.

Last year in September, Vedanta and Foxconn – formally called Hon Hai Precision Industry – announced they would invest $19.5 billion (roughly Rs. 1.6 lakh crore) to set up semiconductor and display production plants in the state of Gujarat, creating more than 100,000 jobs.

"India's own Silicon Valley is a step closer now," Agarwal had said last year after the announcement.

Back in May last year, Agarwal had said Vedanta would finalise a location for its semiconductor and display plants in India by mid-June and will have the first chip product ready in two years. "You have to create another Taiwan in India," Agarwal said at the time, noting that India would have to focus on bringing the entire semiconductor ecosystem locally for it to be a global powerhouse.

In February 2022, Foxconn had announced that it would make semiconductors in India in partnership with Vedanta. In a statement, Foxconn had said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with oil-to-metals group Vedanta to make semiconductors, calling it "a significant boost to domestic manufacturing of electronics in India."

© Thomson Reuters 2023


Samsung Galaxy A34 5G was recently launched by the company in India alongside the more expensive Galaxy A54 5G smartphone. How does this phone fare against the Nothing Phone 1 and the iQoo Neo 7? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Delhi Metro Launches WhatsApp-Based Ticketing Service for Airport Line Commuters

Delhi Metro commuters will now be able to travel on the Airport Line using a WhatsApp-based ticketing service launched on Tuesday.

The system allows commuters to receive a QR code-based ticket directly on WhatsApp, officials said.

"Further enhancing the travel experience for its commuters in an easy-to-navigate digital mode, Delhi Metro today introduced a WhatsApp-based ticketing service for travel on its Airport Express Line," the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said.

The service was launched by DMRC Managing Director Vikas Kumar at the Metro Bhawan here in the presence of other senior officials.

With the introduction of this facility, commuters on the Airport Line will now be able to use WhatsApp chatbot-generated QR code-based tickets from their smartphones.

This facility will make commuting more efficient and seamless for commuters, especially national and international travellers heading to or coming from the airport, using the Airport Line, as they can now purchase and use tickets generated in their phone itself through a dedicated WhatsApp chatbot (available in English and Hindi language) as per their convenience, the DMRC said.

To initiate the service, commuters will have to add the DMRC's official WhatsApp number 9650855800 in their phone's contact list, it said.

For single and group journeys, a maximum six QR code-based tickets can be generated for each passenger, the officials said.

The tickets will be valid till the end of the business day. But once entry is done, passengers should exit within 65 mins from the destination station. For exit at the source (origin) station, passengers should leave within 30 minutes from the time of entry, they said.

The tickets cannot be booked after business hours. The service does not allow cancellation of tickets.

The DMRC will charge a nominal convenience fee for transactions done through credit or debit cards. No convenience fee will be charged for UPI-based transactions.

Earlier this month, the DMRC introduced QR code-based paper tickets for travel on all lines, describing the development as a move towards a more transparent and human intervention-free mechanism.


Samsung Galaxy A34 5G was recently launched by the company in India alongside the more expensive Galaxy A54 5G smartphone. How does this phone fare against the Nothing Phone 1 and the iQoo Neo 7? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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US Scraps Excise Tax Proposal on Bitcoin Mining After Biden Refuses to Slash Crypto Taxes

The US has come to a decision regarding the imposition of excise taxes on Bitcoin miners operating from within the country. The US will not be adding any new tax layer upon the US' Bitcoin mining sector as the proposal extended earlier this month has officially been scrapped. The development was confirmed to the media by a regulator in the US. It is noteworthy, that this decision comes immediately after US President Joe Biden clearly refused to slash the existing taxes on crypto gains. It seems, not levying an excise tax on Bitcoin miners is the US' way to keep earning from crypto taxes while also not pressurising the industry from all sides.

Earlier this month, the US' Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) floated a proposal to have Bitcoin miners pay a tax equal to 30 percent of the total energy cost that they consumed in the crypto mining process.

The decision to pull the plug on this proposal could be part of a bunch of tax-related rebates introduced by the US administration as it finalised to raise the inflation-ridden nation's debt ceiling by two years, a report by CryptoPotato said.

For now, however, Bitcoin mining businesses remain protected from any new taxes. Bitcoin mining is an energy intensive process, that requires miners to solve a series of complex algorithms on advanced computers, that need to be always connected to the power source. Miners solve these algorithms to validate transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain, and earn rewards in return.

Often, areas surrounding Bitcoin mining hotspots face a shortage in electricity supply, leading to frequent power outages and causing major inconvenience to neighbouring residents.

The US authorities, previously, have said that even if clean energy is used to facilitate crypto mining, it slashes the availability of clean energy for others, increasing their reliance on electricity produced by fossil fuels while also making that energy more expensive.

In the backdrop of these issues and the environmental deterioration caused by the BTC mining process are reasons that nudged the idea of having Bitcoin miners compensate financially.

Submitting the proposal to tax Bitcoin miners, the CEA had said that an estimated $3.5 billion (roughly Rs. 28,639 crore) could be added to the US Treasury in the next decade via this Digital Asset Mining Energy (DAME) excise tax.

Had it been passed; it would have made running a crypto mining business extra costly and that could have dented the US' current reputation of being a safe haven for crypto miners after China shut its doors to crypto activities.

As of July 2021, 35.4 percent of Bitcoin miners were operating out of the US, the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance had revealed last year. That's a 428 percent increase from September 2020, making US the biggest home for crypto miners.

American states of New York, Texas, Georgia, and Kentucky have emerged as popular hosts of crypto miners, CNBC had reported last year citing data from Foundry USA.


Samsung Galaxy A34 5G was recently launched by the company in India alongside the more expensive Galaxy A54 5G smartphone. How does this phone fare against the Nothing Phone 1 and the iQoo Neo 7? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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AI Poses ‘Risk of Extinction’, Should Be ‘Global Priority’ Alongside Pandemics, Wars: Experts

Global leaders should be working to reduce "the risk of extinction" from artificial intelligence technology, a group of industry chiefs and experts warned on Tuesday.

A one-line statement signed by dozens of specialists, including Sam Altman whose firm OpenAI created the ChatGPT bot, said tackling the risks from AI should be "a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war".

ChatGPT burst into the spotlight late last year, demonstrating an ability to generate essays, poems and conversations from the briefest of prompts.

The program's wild success sparked a gold rush with billions of dollars of investment into the field, but critics and insiders have raised the alarm.

Common worries include the possibility that chatbots could flood the web with disinformation, that biased algorithms will churn out racist material, or that AI-powered automation could lay waste to entire industries.

Superintelligent machines

The latest statement, housed on the website of US-based non-profit Center for AI Safety, gave no detail of the potential existential threat posed by AI.

The center said the "succinct statement" was meant to open up a discussion on the dangers of the technology.

Several of the signatories, including Geoffrey Hinton, who created some of the technology underlying AI systems and is known as one of the godfathers of the industry, have made similar warnings in the past.

Their biggest worry has been the rise of so-called artificial general intelligence (AGI) -- a loosely defined concept for a moment when machines become capable of performing wide-ranging functions and can develop their own programming.

The fear is that humans would no longer have control over superintelligent machines, which experts have warned could have disastrous consequences for the species and the planet.

Dozens of academics and specialists from companies including Google and Microsoft -- both leaders in the AI field -- signed the statement.

It comes two months after Tesla boss Elon Musk and hundreds of others issued an open letter calling for a pause in the development of such technology until it could be shown to be safe.

However, Musk's letter sparked widespread criticism that dire warnings of societal collapse were hugely exaggerated and often reflected the talking points of AI boosters.

US academic Emily Bender, who co-wrote an influential papers criticising AI, said the March letter, signed by hundreds of notable figures, was "dripping with AI hype".

'Surprisingly non-biased'

Bender and other critics have slammed AI firms for refusing to publish the sources of their data or reveal how it is processed -- the so-called "black box" problem.

Among the criticism is that the algorithms could be trained on racist, sexist or politically biased material.

Altman, who is currently touring the world in a bid to help shape the global conversation around AI, has hinted several times at the global threat posed by the technology his firm is developing.

"If something goes wrong with AI, no gas mask is going to help you," he told a small group of journalists in Paris last Friday.

But he defended his firm's refusal to publish the source data, saying critics really just wanted to know if the models were biased.

"How it does on a racial bias test is what matters there," he said, adding that the latest model was "surprisingly non-biased".


Samsung Galaxy A34 5G was recently launched by the company in India alongside the more expensive Galaxy A54 5G smartphone. How does this phone fare against the Nothing Phone 1 and the iQoo Neo 7? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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Fast X Becomes First Hollywood Movie of the Year to Break the 100-Crore Mark in India

Fast X has become the first Hollywood film in 2023 to break the 100-crore mark at the Indian box office. Universal Pictures has confirmed that the 10th main instalment in the globe-trotting action franchise has collected an impressive Rs. 105 crore (about $1.26 million) during its 11-day run since its theatrical release on May 19. From a global standpoint, Fast X has made $515.6 million (about Rs. 4,266 crore), securing its place as the third-biggest studio release of the year. It currently sits right behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the former of which joined the billion-dollar club in less than a month.

The new Fast and Furious movie has made $402 million (about Rs. 3,327 crore) from areas outside the US and Canada, which includes the aforementioned $1.26 million from India. Despite the high numbers, a Deadline report notes that the figures saw a 58 percent drop across 84 markets. Fast X raked in another $113.5 million (about Rs. 939 crore) from the North America regions.

The film is currently competing with Disney's The Little Mermaid, which has only made $185.8 million (about Rs. 1,537 crore) at the global box office since its release last Friday. That said, analysts were quick to point out that the aquatic adventure's debut did not represent the biggest opening weekend for a live-action remake. Those are still held by The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.

Fast X appears to be performing superbly well despite dinged reviews — even surpassing the set projections during its opening weekend. In it, Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) has a new formidable enemy in town — Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa), who plans to break down the Toretto family in a quest for vengeance for his father's murder. In classic F&F fashion, the film promises plenty of swooshing cars, familial settlement, and explosions, with Dante even setting a spherical bomb loose out in the streets of the Vatican.

John Cena returns as Jakob Toretto, of course, having reconciled with his siblings Dom and Mia (Jordana Brewster) in F9. Other returning cast members include Jason Statham as Deckard Shaw, Sung Kang as Han Lue, and Michelle Rodriguez as Letty. Meanwhile, Brie Larson and Daniela Melchior are new additions.

During the CinemaCon event in late April, lead Diesel confirmed that Fast X: Part 2 was eyeing a release sometime in 2025. For the uninitiated, the franchise's end is designed with a two-part finale — albeit, Diesel revealed in an interview that plans for a trilogy aren't out of the question. “Without giving away too much I can say this. Going into making this movie, the studio asked if this could be a two-parter,” he said. “And after the studio saw this part one, they said, 'Could you make Fast X the finale, a trilogy?'” Louis Leterrier will return as director for the sequel.

Fast X is now showing in theatres worldwide.


The Chromecast with Google TV that runs on Android TV is here. When will Google learn how to name products? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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New Low-Cost Smartphone Attachment, Custom App to Monitor Blood Pressure at User’s Fingertip

Scientists have developed a simple, low-cost clip that uses a smartphone's camera and flash to monitor blood pressure at the user's fingertip. The clip developed by researchers at the University of California (UC) San Diego, US, works with a custom smartphone app and currently costs about 80 cents (Rs. 5.6) to make.

The researchers estimate that the cost could be as low as 10 cents (Rs. 0.7) apiece when manufactured at scale.

The technology, described in the journal Scientific Reports, could help make regular blood pressure monitoring easy, affordable and accessible to people in resource-poor communities, they said.

It could benefit older adults and pregnant women, for example, in managing conditions such as hypertension, according to the researchers.

"We have created an inexpensive solution to lower the barrier to blood pressure monitoring,” said study first author Yinan Xuan, a Ph.D. student at UC San Diego.

"Because of their low cost, these clips could be handed out to anyone who needs them but cannot go to a clinic regularly," said study senior author Edward Wang, a professor at UC San Diego and director of the Digital Health Lab.

Another key advantage of the clip is that it does not need to be calibrated to a cuff, the researchers said.

"This is what distinguishes our device from other blood pressure monitors,” said Wang.

Other cuffless systems being developed for smartwatches and smartphones, he explained, require obtaining a separate set of measurements with a cuff so that their models can be tuned to fit these measurements.

"Our is a calibration-free system, meaning you can just use our device without touching another blood pressure monitor to get a trustworthy blood pressure reading," Wang said.

To measure blood pressure, the user simply presses on the clip with a fingertip. A custom smartphone app guides the user on how hard and long to press during the measurement.

The clip is a 3D-printed plastic attachment that fits over a smartphone's camera and flash. It features an optical design similar to that of a pinhole camera. When the user presses on the clip, the smartphone's flash lights up the fingertip.

That light is then projected through a pinhole-sized channel to the camera as an image of a red circle. A spring inside the clip allows the user to press with different levels of force.

The harder the user presses, the bigger the red circle appears on the camera.

The smartphone app extracts two main pieces of information from the red circle. By looking at the size of the circle, the app can measure the amount of pressure that the user's fingertip applies.

By looking at the brightness of the circle, the app can measure the volume of blood going in and out of the fingertip.

An algorithm converts this information into systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings.

The researchers tested the clip on 24 volunteers from the UC San Diego Medical Center. Results were comparable to those taken by a blood pressure cuff.

“Using a standard blood pressure cuff can be awkward to put on correctly, and this solution has the potential to make it easier for older adults to self-monitor blood pressure," said study co-author Alison Moore, from UC San Diego School of Medicine.


Samsung Galaxy A34 5G was recently launched by the company in India alongside the more expensive Galaxy A54 5G smartphone. How does this phone fare against the Nothing Phone 1 and the iQoo Neo 7? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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Monday, May 29, 2023

Xiaomi to Make Wireless Audio Products in India, Targets 50 Percent Jump in Production of Local Components

Xiaomi's Indian arm will start making wireless audio products in the country through a partnership with electronics manufacturer Optiemus in a push to further localise its operations, the company said on Monday.

Xiaomi India will make its first local audio gadget at Optiemus Electronics' factory in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, the company said in a statement, reiterating that it was targeting a 50 percent increase in the production of components locally sourced by 2025.

The push comes as the manufacturer of the Redmi brand of smartphones recently lost out to South Korean rival Samsung as India's top smartphones company.

The company did not say what kind of audio product it will make in the Indian factory, but it is "committed to forging more such collaborations for a wider range of categories, across our product line-up."

Xiaomi, which locally manufactures most of the smartphones and TVs it sells in India, did not say when it will start making the audio products. It sells speakers, ear-buds, wired and wireless headphones in India.

The Indian government has been pushing global companies to invest in local manufacturing as a part of its vision to make the country self-reliant.

Last week, Xiaomi reported an 18.9 percent drop in quarterly revenue as consumer demand for smartphones remained weak even as the economy recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.

After China lifted its stringent pandemic controls late last year, the country's economy has recovered but consumers are spending cautiously. China's smartphone sector saw no bounce back over the period at all. Total sales in China fell 11 percent in the first quarter of 2023, research firm Canalys reported in April. Xiaomi's sales over the period fell 20 percent

India, once Xiaomi's top market overseas, has also proved less lucrative for the smartphone maker. Total smartphone shipments fell 20 percent across all brands in the first quarter, and rivals such as Samsung have eaten away at Xiaomi's share of the shrinking market. The company has cut prices on several of its models in India and China in the hope of spurring demand.

In March, Xiaomi was reported to be overhauling its India strategy after misjudging consumer tastes in mobile phones, a costly lapse that allowed Samsung Electronics to pip the Chinese company to the top spot in the world's second biggest market for the devices.

While Xiaomi remained focused on selling mobile phones under Rs. 10,000, Indian consumers were willing to pay up for better looking models with richer features. South Korea's Samsung launched products to meet those aspirations and offered innovative financing schemes that made them affordable to most.

Those moves have helped Samsung wrest leadership of India's competitive mobile phones market from Xiaomi, with data from Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Research showing it had a 20 percent market share for the last quarter of 2022 compared to the Chinese company's 18 percent.

© Thomson Reuters 2023


Xiaomi launched its camera focussed flagship Xiaomi 13 Ultra smartphone, while Apple opened it's first stores in India this week. We discuss these developments, as well as other reports on smartphone-related rumours and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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FeaturePrint App Claimed to Identify Fake Products Using AI and a Smartphone Photo: How it Works

Identifying counterfeit and fake products can be a difficult task and requires ample knowledge of the characteristics and appearance of the original objects. A new artificial intelligence-based app claims to identify whether a product is genuine based on a single photo clicked with a smartphone. The app uses optical AI to identify an object and does not rely on bar codes, holograms, markers, RFID technology, stickers, or engraved markings. However, it can only authenticate products that are already registered with the service.

Developed by Washington-based Alitheon, the FeaturePrint app can be installed on a smartphone and used for "identification, authentication, or traceability" of a product. Without special scanners or cameras, a user can point their smartphone at a product and identify an authentic product for high value items like gold bars and luxury items, while tracing supply chains and detecting counterfeit items.

According to Alitheon's website, the FeaturePrint optical AI technology can recognise small surface details of any physical item and then convert them into a mathematical set of numbers. Instead of identifying a class of products like other services, this method allows the user to identify a specific object that has already been registered with the FeaturePrint system.

"Proxy" authentication systems like barcode labels, seals, or engraved markings are regularly used to mark products as genuine, but Alitheon point that these markings can be damaged or lost over time. They can also be manipulated and copied in order to commit fraud. In contrast, the company claims that its FeaturePrint service can identify even damaged or broken products, works even when the products are rotated or captured from a different orientation, and supports versioning for audit histories of individual products.

While the company's website has multiple videos showing the product in action, there are no details on how products are enrolled into the FeaturePrint system and how a user can identify an authentic product. Unfortunately, FeaturePrint isn't available to the public to download via the Google Play store or the App Store, while it appears that corporate clients can gain access the service.


Google I/O 2023 saw the search giant repeatedly tell us that it cares about AI, alongside the launch of its first foldable phone and Pixel-branded tablet. This year, the company is going to supercharge its apps, services, and Android operating system with AI technology. We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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The Last of Us Multiplayer Game Development Reportedly Scaled Back, New Single-Player Experience Coming

The Last of Us multiplayer game has reportedly hit a snag, with developer Naughty Dog scaling back the team working on the project. As per Bloomberg, publisher Sony has slowed down work on the long-gestating multiplayer experience, as a means to ‘reassess its quality and long-term viability.' The news comes briefly after the studio put out a tweet claiming that the game needs more time to cook, in addition to announcing an undisclosed brand-new single-player title. Fans were expecting updates about The Last of Us multiplayer game during the PlayStation Showcase event, held last week, but Naughty Dog was a no-show.

In a blog post from January, Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann claimed that the studio was preparing to reveal more information on The Last of Us multiplayer game, sometime ‘later this year' — meaning, it probably wasn't eyeing a launch in 2023. The Bloomberg report notes that while the title has not been cancelled, several of its developers have been reallocated to other projects. Since Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has heavily invested in live-service games — even acquiring Halo and Destiny 2 creator Bungie last year. It brought on the Seattle-based developer to evaluate the game. The report suggests that Bungie raised concerns about The Last of Us multiplayer project's ability to keep players engaged for long periods. Hence the developmental shake-up.

The Last of Us multiplayer game marks the first project in the post-apocalyptic franchise, where Druckmann isn't serving as a lead writer or director. “What the team has put together is so cool. It's very different from what I would do but that's part of the exciting thing about it, with other people playing in this world,” he said in an interview, back in March. Players will be thrown into a new post-apocalyptic region — presumably San Francisco — with a friend and be forced to experience its ‘brutality,' combined with a new cast of NPCs and story. It has been in development for at least four years, starting life as a complementary game mode to The Last of Us Part II, after which high ambitions led to its diversion into a standalone affair.

Back in March, Druckmann also confirmed that Naughty Dog had chosen its next game, which is probably the ‘new single-player experience' mentioned in the tweet. Currently, it's unclear whether this game is The Last of Us Part III, though a story outline for the same has been written, which Druckmann hopes sees the light of day. It's also unlikely for the next project to be an Uncharted game since Naughty Dog previously alluded to moving on from the franchise. One thing fans can expect, however, is some influences from Elden Ring — specifically its minimalist storytelling style, which the creator was heavily intrigued by. “To me, right now, that's some of the best joy I get out of games that trust their audience to figure things out,” Druckmann said in an interview in January. “Games that don't hold your hand, that's the stuff I'm really intrigued by going forward.”

Currently, there are no release details for The Last of Us multiplayer game.


From Elden Ring to BGMI's ban, 2022 gave us a lot in the gaming space. We discuss it all on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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BGMI Relaunched in India With Daily Time Limits for iOS and Android, New Nusa Map: Details

BGMI was relaunched in India on Monday, and the popular battle royale game can now be played on iOS and Android smartphones, nearly a year after it was banned in the country. Developer Krafton says it has imposed restrictions on playing Battlegrounds Mobile India, with daily time limits. The latest update to the game — the first to arrive since June last year — brings a new map based on a small resort island located in a tropical zone, along with new in-game events, and updates to classic maps in the game.

On Monday, Krafton announced the relaunch of BGMI in India, two days after it allowed Android users to preload the game in advance. Both iOS and Android users can now download BGMI via the App Store and Play Store respectively, but Krafton says that playability will be staggered and users will be able to login in phases within 48 hours. 

According to Krafton, BGMI will restrict playtime for users in India based on their age. Minors playing the game will be limited to three hours a day, while users above the age of 18 can play for up to six hours. The game will continue to limit daily spending for gamers under the age of 18 and parental verification will also remain in place, the publisher says.

The latest BGMI 2.5 update that is available to download via the Google Play store and App Store features Nusa, the smallest map in the game to date. It is set in a tropical environment and features ziplines, a Super Recall feature, a tactical crossbow, and a two-seater off-road all-terrain vehicle. Each match in Nusa will last eight minutes, according to Krafton.

BGMI has been granted a three-month "trial approval" by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) after Krafton addressed and complied with issues of server locations and data security. MoS IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar announced earlier this month that the government will monitor these issues, along with concerns related to gamer addition and user harm over the next three months during the "trial" period. 


From Elden Ring to BGMI's ban, 2022 gave us a lot in the gaming space. We discuss it all on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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Tecno Camon 20, Camon 20 Pro 5G, Camon 20 Premier 5G With MediaTek Chipsets, AMOLED Displays Launched in India

Tecno Camon 20, Camon 20 Pro 5G, and Camon 20 Premier 5G were launched by the company on Saturday. The new series of smartphones is equipped with chipsets from MediaTek and sport AMOLED displays. The Tecno Camon 20 and Tecno Camon 20 Pro feature similar specifications including a 64-megapixel primary camera, while the Tecno Camon 20 Premier 5G packs a 50-megapixel camera. All three handsets are equipped with 5,000mAh batteries. The company is yet to announce pricing and availability details of the more expensive Camon 20 Premier 5G.

Tecno Camon 20, Camon 20 Pro 5G, and Camon 20 Premier 5G price in India and availability

Tecno Camon 20 price in India is set at Rs. 14,999 and the handset goes on sale today in a single 8GB + 256GB RAM and storage option in Glacier Glow, Predawn Black, and Serenity Blue colour options. The Tecno Camon 20 Pro 5G, on the other hand, is priced at Rs. 19,999 for the 8GB + 128GB model, while the 8GB + 256GB variant is priced at Rs. 21,999. Both handsets will go on sale in India, in Dark Welkin and Serenity Blue colourways, in the second week of June.

The smartphone maker has revealed that the Tecno Camon 20 Premier 5G will go on sale in India at the end of June, but details related to pricing, availability, and colour options are yet to be announced.

Tecno Camon 20, Tecno Camon 20 Pro 5G specifications

Both the Tecno Camon 20 and Camon 20 Pro 5G feature similar specifications. They are dual-SIM (Nano) handsets that sport a 6.67-inch full-HD+ AMOLED screen. Unlike the lower-end Tecno Camon 20, the Pro model's screen has a refresh rate of 120Hz. Both phones run on Android 13-based HiOS 13.0 out-of-the-box.

Under the hood, the Tecno Camon 20 is powered by a 12nm MediaTek Helio G85 SoC with 8GB of RAM. Meanwhile, the Pro model is equipped with a 6nm MediaTek Dimensity 8050 chipset and also features 8GB of RAM. 

For photos and videos, the Tecno Camon 20 features a 64-megapixel RGBW primary camera, a 2-megapixel depth sensor, and a QVGA tertiary camera. On the other hand, the Tecno Camon 20 Pro 5G is equipped with a 64-megapixel RGBW primary camera, a 2-megapixel macro camera, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. On the front, these phones feature a 32-megapixel camera, for selfies and video chats.

Both phones are equipped with up to 256GB of onboard storage. Connectivity options include 4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5, GPS, and a USB Type-C port. The Tecno Camon 2 Pro 5G also offers support for 5G connectivity. Sensors on board include an accelerometer, e-compass, and an ambient light sensor.

Both the Tecno Camon 20 and Camon 20 Pro 5G pack 5,000mAh batteries with support for 33W wired charging. It is worth noting that the Tecno Camon 20 ships with an 18W charger. Both phones are equipped with an in-display fingerprint sensor for biometric authentication. The Tecno Camon 20 measures 162.71x75.89x7.82mm, while the Camon 20 Pro 5G measures 162.66x75.89x7.79mm.

Tecno Camon 20 Premier 5G specifications

The recently announced Tecno Camon 20 Premier 5G is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 8050 SoC and sports a 6.67-inch full-HD+ AMOLED screen with a refresh rate of 120Hz. The handset is equipped with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of inbuilt storage. 

For photos and videos, the handset features a dual rear camera setup comprising a 50-megapixel RGBW primary camera with sensor-shift optical image stabilisation, along with a 108-megapixel ultra-wide angle camera. Like the other two smartphones in the Tecno Camon 20 series, this handset has a 32-megapixel selfie camera. Besides, it packs a 5,000mAh battery with support for 45W wired charging.


Samsung Galaxy A34 5G was recently launched by the company in India alongside the more expensive Galaxy A54 5G smartphone. How does this phone fare against the Nothing Phone 1 and the iQoo Neo 7? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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Sunday, May 28, 2023

China to Send First Civilian Into Space on Tuesday as Part of Crewed Mission to Its Space Station

China will send its first civilian astronaut into space as part of a crewed mission to the Tiangong space station on Tuesday, its Manned Space Agency announced, as Beijing pushes ahead with its extra-terrestrial ambitions.

The world's second-largest economy has invested billions of dollars into its military-run space programme, trying to catch up with the United States and Russia after years of belatedly matching their milestones.

Until now, all Chinese astronauts sent into space have been part of the People's Liberation Army.

"Payload expert Gui Haichao is a professor at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics," China Manned Space Agency Spokesperson Lin Xiqiang told reporters Monday.

Gui will be "mainly responsible for the on-orbit operation of space science experimental payloads", Lin said.

The commander is Jing Haipeng -- on his fourth mission into space, according to state media -- and the third crew member is engineer Zhu Yangzhu.

They are set to take off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China on Tuesday at 9:31 am (0131 GMT), the Manned Space Agency said.

Gui's university, known as Beihang University in English, said he hailed from an "ordinary family" in western Yunnan province.

He "first felt the attraction of aerospace" listening to the news of China's first man in space, Yang Liwei, on campus radio in 2003, the university said in a post on social media.

'Space dream'

Under President Xi Jinping, plans for China's "space dream" have been put into overdrive.

China is planning to build a base on the Moon and the country's National Space Administration said it aims to launch a crewed lunar mission by 2029.

The final module of the T-shaped Tiangong -- whose name means "heavenly palace" -- successfully docked with the core structure last year.

The station carries a number of pieces of cutting-edge science equipment, state news agency Xinhua reported, including "the world's first space-based cold atomic clock system".

Once finished, Tiangong is expected to remain in low Earth orbit at between 400 and 450 kilometres (250 and 280 miles) above the planet for at least 10 years -- realising an ambition to maintain a long-term human presence in space.

It will be constantly crewed by rotating teams of three astronauts, who will conduct scientific experiments and help test new technologies.

While China does not plan to use Tiangong for global cooperation on the scale of the International Space Station, Beijing said it is open to foreign collaboration.

It is not yet clear how extensive that cooperation will be.

China has been effectively excluded from the International Space Station since 2011, when the United States banned NASA from engaging with the country.


Samsung Galaxy A34 5G was recently launched by the company in India alongside the more expensive Galaxy A54 5G smartphone. How does this phone fare against the Nothing Phone 1 and the iQoo Neo 7? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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Saturday, May 27, 2023

WhatsApp Begins Beta Testing Screen Sharing Feature for Video Calls: How It Works

WhatsApp is rolling out a screen sharing feature to testers on the latest beta version of the app for Android. Users who are on a video call will be able to tap a button to show the contents of their screen to other participants on the call. Screen sharing is a feature that is also offered on apps like Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Skype. Users who are running the stable version of WhatsApp can expect to see the feature roll out to their devices at a later date.

Spotted by WhatsApp feature tracker WABetaInfo on version 2.23.11.19 of WhatsApp beta for Android, the screen sharing feature is denoted by an icon of an arrow atop a rectangular screen. Tapping it will display the standard Android recording/ casting popup asking you for consent, according to screenshots shared by the feature tracker. You will then see a message informing them that screen sharing has begun.

whatsapp screen sharing android wabetainfo whatsapp screen sharing

Screen sharing on WhatsApp for Android
Photo Credit: WABetaInfo

 

After tapping the Start now button displayed by Google to warn you of the risks of sharing your screen, you can show the contents of your screen to another participant. This feature can come in handy in some situations — such as providing your relatives or friends with some technical assistance on their smartphone remotely. You can tap the red Stop sharing when the process is completed. 

Just like other communication apps that offer the ability to share your screen, it is worth noting that the contents of your screen are continuously transmitted over an encrypted connection to other users on the call. This means that passwords entered, any visible payment information, photos, notes, and other media that appears on the screen will also be visible (and audible) to other participants on the call.

Gadgets 360 was unable to activate the screen sharing feature despite installing the latest app release from the Play Store beta channel. According to WABetaInfo, the feature has rolled out to some users on the beta channel and could arrive on more smartphones soon. However, it may not work on older versions of Android, or in large group calls, according to the feature tracker. 


Google I/O 2023 saw the search giant repeatedly tell us that it cares about AI, alongside the launch of its first foldable phone and Pixel-branded tablet. This year, the company is going to supercharge its apps, services, and Android operating system with AI technology. We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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Twitter Exits Voluntary EU Disinformation Code but Obligations Remain, EU Commissioner Says

Twitter has decided to leave the EU's disinformation code, a voluntary pact that groups together the major social platforms, but "its obligations remain," EU Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton tweeted Saturday.

Launched in 2018, the EU's code of practice on disinformation counts nearly three dozen signatories including the giants in the sector such as Meta, Google, Twitter, Microsoft and TikTok.

It also covers smaller platforms, as well as advertisers and fact-checkers and non-governmental organisations.

The code was written by the industry players themselves and contains over three dozen pledges such as better cooperation with fact-checkers and not promoting actors distributing disinformation.

"You can run but you can't hide. Beyond voluntary commitments, fighting disinformation will be legal obligation under DSA (digital services law) as of August 25," he wrote.

"Our teams will be ready for enforcement," he warned.

Since buying the social network six months ago, billionaire Elon Musk has relaxed the moderation of problematic content, which appears to have amplified the voices of notorious propagators of disinformation on the platform.

"If (Elon Musk) doesn't take the code seriously, then it's better that he quits," a European Commission official had told AFP on Friday.


Samsung Galaxy A34 5G was recently launched by the company in India alongside the more expensive Galaxy A54 5G smartphone. How does this phone fare against the Nothing Phone 1 and the iQoo Neo 7? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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Daam Virus That Steals Call Logs, History and Accesses Cameras Spreading on Android Phones, CERT-in Warns

An Android malware called 'Daam' that infects mobile phones and hacks into sensitive data like call records, contacts, history and camera has been found to be spreading, the national cyber security agency has said in its latest advisory.

The virus is also capable of "bypassing anti-virus programs and deploying ransomware on the targeted devices", the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team or CERT-In said.

The agency is the federal technology arm to combat cyber attacks and guard the cyber space against phishing and hacking assaults and similar online attacks.

The Android botnet gets distributed through third-party websites or applications downloaded from untrusted/unknown sources, the agency said.

"Once it is placed in the device, the malware tries to bypass the security check of the device and after a successful attempt, it attempts to steal sensitive data, and permissions such as reading history and bookmarks, killing background processing, and reading call logs etc," the advisory said.

'Daam' is also capable of hacking phone call recordings, contacts, gaining access to camera, modifying device passwords, capturing screenshots, stealing SMSes, downloading/uploading files, etc. and transmitting to the C2 (command-and-control) server from the victim's (affected persons) device, the advisory said.

The malware, it said, utilises the AES (advanced encryption standard) encryption algorithm to code files in the victim's device.

Other files are then deleted from the local storage, leaving only the encrypted files with ".enc" extension and a ransom note that says "readme_now.txt", the advisory said.

The central agency suggested a number of do's and don'ts to avoid getting attacked by such viruses and malware.

The Cert-In advised against browsing "un-trusted websites" or clicking on "un-trusted links". Caution should be exercised while clicking on any link provided in unsolicited emails and SMSes, it said. Install and maintain updated anti-virus and anti-spyware software, it suggested.

It also suggested that users should be on the lookout for "suspicious numbers" that don't look like "real mobile phone numbers" as scammers often mask their identity by using email-to-text services to avoid revealing their actual phone number.

"Genuine SMS messages received from banks usually contain sender ID (consisting of bank's short name) instead of a phone number in the sender information field," it said.

It also asked users to exercise caution towards shortened URLs (uniform resource locators), such as those involving 'bitly' and 'tinyurl' hyperlinks like: "http://bit.ly/" "nbit.ly" and "tinyurl.com/".

Users are advised to hover their cursors over the shortened URLs to see the full website domain which they are visiting or use a URL checker that will allow the user to enter a short URL and view the full URL, the advisory suggested.


Samsung Galaxy A34 5G was recently launched by the company in India alongside the more expensive Galaxy A54 5G smartphone. How does this phone fare against the Nothing Phone 1 and the iQoo Neo 7? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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Google Removes 'Slavery Simulator' Game From Play Store After Racism Outcry in Brazil

Google has withdrawn a gaming app that allowed players to buy, sell and torture Black virtual "slaves" after a racism outcry in Brazil.

Dubbed "Slavery Simulator," the Portuguese-language game saw players trade in slaves and strategise to prevent the abolition of slavery in order to amass virtual riches.

The prosecutor's office said it had opened an investigation for "hate speech" related to the game downloaded by hundreds of people.

The app itself had come with a disclaimer condemning "all types of slavery" and insisting the game was "solely for entertainment purposes."

After withdrawing the app from its Play Store, Google said in a statement that "applications that promote violence or hated against groups of people or individuals because of their skin colour or ethnic origin" would not be allowed on its platform.

The company invited users to report offensive content.

Brazil's ministry of racial equality said it had asked Google to put in place measures "to filter out content containing hate speech, intolerance and racism" and "to prevent it from spreading so easily, without moderation."

Racism is still a problem in Brazil, the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery, in 1888. More than 56 percent of the population is Afro-Brazilian.

"Brazil is one of the countries with the most consumers on Google's platforms, and there one finds this app that recalls the era of slavery, with bonuses for those who torture the most," said Renata Souza, a leftist regional lawmaker in Rio de Janeiro.

"This is not only racism, but also fascism," she told AFP. "Here in Brazil, we have a neo-fascist movement that is not afraid to show itself... because of the lack of regulation on social networks."

Google has spoken out against a bill seeking to stem online disinformation in Brazil, saying it "seriously threatens free speech."

Supporters call the bill a badly-needed defense against disinformation and online extremism, but detractors say it amounts to censorship.

A Supreme Court judge ordered an investigation of Google and Telegram over what he called their "abusive campaign" against the bill.

Racism has been on the minds of Brazilians since "monkey" insults were hurled Sunday against their own Vinicius Junior, playing for Real Madrid in Spain.

The lights on the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro were turned off for an hour in solidarity with the player.


Google I/O 2023 saw the search giant repeatedly tell us that it cares about AI, alongside the launch of its first foldable phone and Pixel-branded tablet. This year, the company is going to supercharge its apps, services, and Android operating system with AI technology. We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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