PAKISTAN NEWS:
Govt to implement Cyber Crime Act and DIRBS on AJ&K, Gilgit Baltistan:
The government is all set to extend the implementation of Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA, 2016) and S.R.O 904(I)/2017 for Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS) to Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).According to documents available, Special Communication Organization (SCO) has submitted PC-1 of the “Implementation of PECA, 2016 and S.R.O 904(I)/2017 for DIRBS (Project No II/2017-2018) AJK and GB” to the Planning Commission for consideration of Central Development Working Party (CDWP).
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Adil Rashid appointed as CEO Wateen Telecom:
Wateen Telecom’s Board of Directors announced that Adil Rashid has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the company, effective April 22nd, replacing Rizwan Tiwana who has resigned for personal reasons. Adil Rashid brings over two decades of experience in driving sales, business development, strategy and market performance as a business and operations leader in the technology sector.
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Samsung will be the No.1 smartphone company for next 10 years:
Huawei and Samsung have been in the race for leading the smartphone industry over the last few years. Recently, Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s Consumer division, revealed their two dual-brand strategies in 2012, based on which they are working towards taking down their Korean rival, Samsung.Time and again, Huawei has given statements on how it considers Samsung their rival and wants to take it down in the near future. Even though Samsung was not bothered with the claims but for the first time, it has responded to them. Samsung’s CEO DJ Koh said the company is the leading manufacturer at the moment and plans on staying in the lead for the next 10 years.
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PTCL e-billing initiative engages customers for a greener Pakistan:
Pakistan, as a nation, is facing enormous environmental challenges. In 2018, Pakistan was declared as one of the top ten countries most affected by climate change in the Global Climate Risk Index released by the public policy group, German watch. Along with its adverse effects on the planet, climate change has a huge impact on health, agriculture and thus, the overall economy of the country.
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Xiaomi’s Amazfit Sports T-Shirt is designed for workouts:
Xiaomi never disappoints when it comes to unique products. This time around, its subsidiary Huami – the maker of Amazfit smartwatches and antelope sports shoes – has unveiled a short-sleeve T-shirt for sports-related activities. The Amazfit Sports Short Sleeve T-Shirt is available at a price tag of $19 or 129 Yuan.
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Samsung Galaxy A80 launched with world’s first 48MP rotating triple cameras:
The long awaited Samsung Galaxy A80 has been announced and it comes with a rotating triple sensor camera that doubles as selfie and rear camera.This phone and its rotating camera are true definitions of technological innovation. This premium midranger also debuts Samsung’s new infinity display that was announced last year.
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Govt will establish a regulatory authority on IT education:
The government has decided to establish a regulatory authority on information technology education aimed at ensuring quality and creating more employment opportunities for youth and spur economic growth.This was stated by Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications, Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui while talking to media.He said that Pakistan produces 25,000 IT graduates every year, but only a few thousand get a job in the market, due to the lack of required standards and certifications.
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Realme is all set to launch their newest smartphone in Pakistan:
Smartphone maker Realme is soon going to launch its latest and greatest phone. The device has been confirmed for a launch in the coming week (on April 15, 2019) in Lahore. Realme is a smartphone brand that specializes in providing high-quality smartphones for youth. Realme’s design and technology cater to the open, stylish and diverse lifestyles of the youth.
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Irfan Wahab talks to GSMA about digital and financial inclusion for women:
CEO of Telenor Pakistan, Irfan Wahab Khan, shed light on women’s digital and financial inclusion while speaking to GSMA’s prestigious Ministerial Program. The program brings together the most influential leaders in the telecom industry from across the world and provides a unique platform to expand knowledge, stimulate debate, and engage with the mobile industry’ leading experts. Irfan Wahab Khan spoke about the significance of female inclusion in the digital and financial mainstream along with its challenges and benefits. Talking about challenges, Irfan pointed to low levels of mobile internet penetration and even lower financial inclusion in Pakistan.
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Foldable phone prices expected to drop by 2021:
Until now, foldable smartphones were a fantasy but thanks to Samsung and Huawei’s persistence in the field, this is now becoming a reality. The two companies have both been working on releasing their foldable phones for years now. Samsung’s iteration, the Galaxy Fold, will be available for purchase in a month and Huawei Mate X will be available in the market around June.Even though this breakthrough technology is making news day and night, unfortunately, the phones come with a hefty price tag. Samsung Galaxy fold will cost $1980 and Huawei Mate X will cost $2580, putting both of these phones out of reach for the masses.
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SCO submits PC-1 for another optical fibre network along the CPEC routes:
The Special Communication Organization (SCO) has forwarded PC-1 of Phase-II of Pak-China Optical Fibre Cable project for the establishment of Cross Border Network (Khunjrab-Gwadar-Karachi) along the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) routes.Pakistan and China have agreed to extend cross border Optic Fiber network by laying 9600 km cable (Khunjrab-Gawadar-Karachi) along the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) routes with an estimated cost of $279.219 million.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
It’s Disney’s turn to launch a streaming service:
Can an almost century-old company learn from its glorious past and create itself a brave new future? Coming to a small screen near you… eventually.Disney has finally announced its long-anticipated streaming service, but it won’t be available until November in North America – and in some markets, it will take much longer.That’s due to several factors, but mostly because Disney is still in the process of clawing back the rights to its content, sold to other streaming platforms before it had platform aspirations of its own.
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Smart speaker recordings reviewed by humans:
Amazon, Apple and Google all employ staff who listen to customer voice recordings from their smart speakers and voice assistant apps.News site Bloomberg highlighted the topic after speaking to Amazon staff who “reviewed” Alexa recordings.All three companies say voice recordings are occasionally reviewed to improve speech recognition.
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Logan Paul ‘unwise’ to do Alex Jones YouTube interview:
Anti-racism campaigners have called YouTube star Logan Paul “irresponsible and unwise” for interviewing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on his channel. Mr Jones is currently banned from YouTube for violating the site’s policy on abusive behaviour. He is also banned from many other social platforms for breaking conditions governing such behaviour. The Hope Not Hate campaign said it was a mistake for Mr Paul to “give a platform to an extremist”.
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US lawmakers to probe algorithm bias:
Computer algorithms must show they are free of race, gender and other biases before they are deployed, US politicians have proposed.Lawmakers have drafted a bill that would require tech firms to test prototype algorithms for bias.Many organizations rely on coded instructions or algorithms for tasks such as showing users relevant ads, analyzingbehavior or sorting data.
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The Redditor who accidentally spent a year talking to himself:
But what separates Bowen from the rest of us is that he kept posting when faced with silence for an entire year – only to find out he’d been mistakenly “shadow banned” the entire time.After getting in touch with Reddit support about the problem, discovering the mistake, and then publicly posting about what has happened, Andy has become an overnight sensation with the most “liked” post on the website on Wednesday.More than 123,000 people have “upvoted” his post (Reddit’s version of “likes”), with many more paying to give him special rewards – which at the time of writing amount to roughly three and a half years of the website’s premium service.
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Xiaomi’s founder Lei Jun receives £735m bonus:
The founder of Xiaomi has been given a “reward” worth more than £735m by the Chinese smartphone-maker.The payment was confirmed in the firm’s 2018 annual report.The company had previously said it intended to make the share-based bonus to Lei Jun in recognition of his eight years of “devotion” to the company.Lei in turn has promised to donate the sum to “charitable purposes” once taxes have been deducted from the compensation package.
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Google Wing launches first home delivery drone service:
The first home delivery drone service has been launched in Australia, after years of test flights.Wing, owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, will deliver takeaway food, coffee and medicines by drone to about 100 homes in Canberra.It has been testing its drones in Australia since 2014 but many residents had complained about the noise.Wing said the feedback obtained during its trials had been “valuable” and it hoped to “continue the dialogue”.
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Facebook to use AI to respect the dead:
Facebook has said it is working on using artificial intelligence to prevent a common and upsetting problem: receiving notifications about deceased friends and loved ones.The company said it hoped to stop the “painful” experience of getting suggestions to invite dead people to events, or to wish them a happy birthday.On profiles, tributes to a person will now appear separately, keeping the deceased’s timeline as they left it.”We hope Facebook remains a place where the memory and spirit of our loved ones can be celebrated and live on,” said Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer.
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Stillbirth documentary firm fined for maternity unit filming:
A television company has been fined £120,000 for unlawfully filming expectant mothers in a maternity unit.True Vision Productions (TVP) set up CCTV-style cameras in the Rosie Birth Centre at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, for a Channel 4 documentary on stillbirths in 2017.Although notices were posted in the unit, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) concluded TVP “failed to adequately inform patients”.
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Sony creates colossal 16K screen in Japan:
The biggest 16K screen of its kind will shortly go on show in Japan.Sony’s display has four times as many horizontal pixels as a 4K television and eight times that of a regular 1080p high definition TV, meaning it can show images in far more detail than normal.This will let viewers stand close to the unit – which is longer than a bus – without its image looking blurred.One expert said it would likely take decades for 16K tech to filter down to consumer products.
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Flickr adds photo theft detection tools:
Photo-sharing website Flickr is to offer subscribers copy-protection tools that can detect if their images have been used without permission.Flickr Pro subscribers will be able to monitor up to 1,000 images and send automated copyright claims to people or companies that use their photos.”We want our photographers to feel comfortable sharing their work online,” said Flickr’s Andrew Stadlen.Flickr deleted thousands of photos in February after changing its pricing.
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Samsung A20e launched with Infinity-V Display and Dual Cameras:
A smaller and slightly downgraded version of Samsung A20 was unveiled at Samsung’s “A Galaxy event” in Milan, Italy and people are calling it “A20’s petite twin”. It was announced with 5 other handsets and has the smallest screen of the bunch. Where some features coincide with the A20, many features are downgraded to fit the small casing and the lower price tag. Samsung seems to be going all in with releasing more budget-friendly smartphones.