PAKISTAN NEWS:
Mobile connectivity of millions of users in pakistan at risk: GSMA:
The GSMA raised serious concerns over the unreasonable fees set by the government and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on operators renewing mobile spectrum licenses in Pakistan, which it believes pose a significant risk to the mobile connectivity of millions of citizens.
On 25 May, the licenses of two of the country’s largest mobile operators – Jazz and Telenor – are set to expire. Under the current conditions operators are being asked to pay $450m to renew their licenses (more than double the dollar price at which operators originally acquired licenses at auction in 2004), or discontinue operations, which would mean disconnecting millions of customers.
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Oneplus 7 pro camera update coming soon:
It’s only been a week since the phone came out and it’s already getting camera improvements. Despite improving on the camera front, OnePlus 7 Pro has received a lot of complaints on online forums for not being up to par compared to other flagships. Fans complained that the camera was underperforming until it came to a point where Product Manager, Jimmy Z, finally responded to the forums.
The camera team have been working all the time on analyzing and fixing issues. Every system update contains code from camera of improving the camera quality. I believe some of you receive an update when you got your OnePlus 7 Pro. That’s a significant update for camera and I think you don’t want to miss it. Moreover, we are working on the next update which is going to be rolled out in a week or so. This update contains improvement on the HDR effect and Nightscape mode, and more tweaks based on some feedbacks from you and reviewers. From our test, photos look substantially better.
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Arm will no longer allow Huawei to use its processor & chip designs:
Last week made it look like there was light at the end of the tunnel for Huawei. They had already devised plans and solutions for their OS problems, and it was clear that they would be just fine without Google. But with the recent development, it does not look too promising for the Chinese phone maker. The UK based firm, ARM, has just severed ties with Huawei. The firm reportedly sent memos to its employees to cease “all active contracts, support entitlements, and any pending engagements” with Huawei because of “US-origin technology” in ARM’s designs.
If you don’t already know how grim this is, ARM licenses all mobile processors you have in smartphones these days. Companies like Qualcomm, Huawei, and Samsung all use some version of ARM-licensed chips for their smartphones.
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Lenovo launches z6 youth edition with triple cameras for $174:
After the successful launch of its flagship Z6 Pro, Lenovo has decided to unveil a scaled-down version of the phone at a reasonable price called Lenovo Z6 youth, or Z6 Lite.
The handset is packed with a tall aspect ratio screen, a large battery, and a triple sensor rear camera. All this is available at a mere $174.Lenovo Z6 Youth Edition features a generic design. The construction is done using roll cage magnesium alloy which is also found on Lenovo’s ThinkPad Notebooks. On the back, the handset features a vertically arranged triple sensor camera next to a fingerprint sensor. It is available in two colors: Knight Black which has a textured finish and Stardust that has a gradient finish.
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Huawei is working with aptoide to replace the google play store:
Google cutting ties with Huawei has been in the news lately. The Chinese tech giant took a major hit after it was blacklisted by the US government, and was thus forced to suspend business with the Americans.
Nothing too upsetting for Huawei though, as they were already well-prepared for a fight. Huawei says that they had been preparing for a potential blacklisting for 6 years. The company has already developed their own OS, and is now working with Aptoide to replace the Google Play Store on Huawei devices.
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Here’s what’s new in windows 10 May update:
Microsoft is finally rolling out the May 2019 Windows 10 Update for users around the world. We got an early look on it back in April through an Insider build. It was originally meant to be called the April 2019 update but was later delayed to May for a more stable release.
With the new update, Windows will no longer force you to update your system every 6 months. You can now keep using your current version of the OS in peace and quiet without Windows routinely bothering you with reminders or automatically installing updates and restarting your PC. Now you will only see a notification for the update(s), and Windows will only update itself with your permission.
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Infinix announces special Ramazan discounts on its latest phones:
A month of high spirits, Ramadan has begun, and Infinix welcomes and celebrates it differently, by offering huge discounts on all its top smartphones. Since everyone loves to grab gifts for their friends and family for the upcoming Eid, this promotion gives them a chance to get their favorite smartphones at amazing discounted prices. Besides the considerable discount offered already, an additional PKR 500 will be deducted from the total amount if anyone wishes to purchase any model through Infinixmall website, an online selling platform by Infinix.
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Huawei launches the honor 20 and honor 20 pro flagships:
Huawei, in the face of its feud with the US government, is trying to dominate the over-crowded midrange market elsewhere using its subsidiary Honor. It has launched two new phones with some of the best specifications in the market. The duo brings efficient performance and high-end camera specifications all for a “below-flagship” price. Without further ado, let’s see what Huawei Honor 20 and 20 Pro have up their sleeves.
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Samsung is bringing 5x optical zoom to its phones soon:
With devices like Huawei P30 Pro and Oppo Reno 10x Zoom bringing optical zoom to their devices, Samsung is not going to stay behind the trend for long.
The latest update on the Korean tech giant suggests that they’re ready to bring optical zoom for their smartphones in the near future. Samsung is working on its own 5x optical zoom camera sensor. This new camera module is made by Samsung Electro-Mechanics and is capable of handling 5x optical zoom. Apparently, Samsung’s recent acquisition of Corephotonics, the same company that worked with Oppo Reno’s optical zoom, had something to do with the development of this new module as well.
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Redmi note 7s launched in India with an upgraded camera:
After selling 2 million units of Redmi Note 7, Xiaomi has decided to put an end to its short-lived market life (at least in India) and introduce a brand-new variant of the phone called Redmi Note 7S. The regular Redmi Note 7 had a 12MP rear camera unit in India instead of the 48MP sensor on the international version. The Note 7S comes with the mantra, ‘48MP for everyone’ and is pretty much the same as the regular Redmi Note 7 in other specifications except for the 48MP camera.
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Uber offers exciting opportunity for cricket fans:
Following its deal with the International Cricket Council (ICC) to sponsor the upcoming Cricket World Cup (CWC), Uber, the world’s largest personal mobility company, is providing Pakistani fans an opportunity to win big. Through its ride-to-win and drive-to-win competitions, Uber is providing its riders and driver partners the chance to make the most of the World Cup by earning rewards through the Uber app. The idea is to give back to those who follow the global game by gamifying the CWC.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
Amazon heads off facial recognition rebellion:
Shareholders seeking to halt Amazon’s sale of its facial recognition technology to US police forces have been defeated in two votes that sought to pressure the company into a rethink. Civil rights campaigners had said it was perhaps the most dangerous surveillance technology ever developed. But investors rejected the proposals at the company’s annual general meeting. That meant less than 50% voted for either of the measures. A breakdown of the results has yet to be disclosed.
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Would you pay $1m for a laptop full of malware?:
A laptop deliberately infected with six notorious strains of malware, including WannaCry and ILoveYou, is being auctioned in the US as an art project. At time of writing, the highest bid for the device was $1.1m (£800,000).The auction states that the Samsung laptop’s internet connectivity will be disabled when the device is shipped to the auction winner. The 11-year-old Notebook has been air-gapped – a security measure to isolate it from other networks. It is illegal in the US to sell malware for the purpose of causing damage. The terms and conditions of the auction state that the laptop must be purchased “as a piece of art or for academic reasons”.
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Apple to warn iphone users about update impact:
Apple has pledged to warn iPhone owners if an update is likely to significantly slow a device or affect battery life. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK had expressed concerns in 2017 that people had not realised an operating system update could affect the performance of the phone. It feared that iPhone owners had been repairing their devices or replacing the batteries unnecessarily. It can now take court action if Apple does not comply. The CMA added that by signing up to this commitment to greater transparency, Apple was bound by it.
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EA shows off its next-generation hair:
Gaming giant EA has been showing off its next-generation hair-rendering capability in a blog post. It said it had put together a team of developers to work on hair shading, scattering, smoothness and volume in its Frostbite gaming engine. The demo videos posted by EA show a faceless mannequin leaping around an empty room, whipping long, colourful hair from side to side. The Frostbite engine powers games such as racing title Need For Speed and football hit FIFA.
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Female-voice AI reinforces bias, says UN report:
AI-powered voice assistants with female voices are perpetuating harmful gender biases, according to a UN study. These female helpers are portrayed as “obliging and eager to please”, reinforcing the idea that women are “subservient”, it finds. Particularly worrying, it says, is how they often give “deflecting, lacklustre or apologetic responses” to insults. The report calls for technology firms to stop making voice assistants female by default.
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EE to launch UK’S first 5g service in May:
EE will switch on its 5G service in six UK cities on 30 May, the first mobile network in the UK to do so. People in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham and Manchester will be first to get faster services with plans for 10 more cities to be added this year.
Prices for 5G – which will require new handsets – will start at £54 per month for 10 gigabytes of data.EE confirmed that its range of 5G phones would not include Huawei.”We’re pausing the launch of the new Huawei 5G smartphones coming to market,” said a spokesman, adding that EE is working with both the Chinese firm and Google to “make sure we can carry out the right level of testing and quality assurance” for customers.
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Tesla ‘hires’ witty museum sheep tweeter:
What happens when you post a picture of “an absolute unit” of a sheep to your work Twitter account and it then gets picked up by Elon Musk – also known as the 25th most powerful person in the world? For Adam Koszary, the social media strategist behind The Museum of English Rural Life’s Twitter account, it appears to have been a great career move as he says he’s now been hired to be the social media manager for automotive company Tesla. The Tesla founder has history with the museum after temporarily changing his profile picture into a photo of an Exmoor Horn aged ram that @TheMERL owned and was a viral sensation a year previously.
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Bleach peddled as ‘miracle’ autism cure on youtube:
Hundreds of videos that promote bleach as a cure for autism have been discovered on YouTube. The substance, which is peddled as “Miracle Mineral Solution” (MMS), has reportedly caused dozens of injuries and two deaths in the US. According to an investigation by technology news site Business Insider some appeared in the top three search results for “autism cure”. YouTube removed most of them after they were reported by the publication.
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Huawei’s microchip vulnerability explained:
Google’s announcement that it was no longer able to work with Huawei is just one repercussion of the US decision to add the Chinese tech giant to its “entity list” of companies American firms cannot work with.
The true impact to Huawei may be enormous. While we often refer to the firm’s devices as simply “Chinese”, the reality is much more complicated – it sources parts and expertise from all over the world. The same can be said for the likes of Apple, of course, which relies at least in part on chips created by its rival, Samsung.
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Talktalk data breach customer details found online:
TalkTalk failed to inform 4,545 customers their personal information, including bank account details, were stolen as part of the 2015 data breach. Viewers contacted BBC Watchdog Live about concerns that their details had been breached by TalkTalk. But the company had told them that their details were not compromised.”The customer data referred to by BBC Watchdog relates to the historical October 2015 data breach. It is not a new incident,” the firm said. The BBC consumer show investigated and found the personal details of approximately 4,500 customers available online after a Google search. The details included full names, addresses, email addresses, dates of birth, TalkTalk customer numbers, mobile numbers and bank details for thousands of customers.
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Indian firm leaks data of 49m instagram influencers:
First Facebook, then Samsung and now Instagram? Yesterday, an Instagram database was found on Amazon web services without any security. The database consisted of 49 million records which included contact information, phone numbers, emails, etc. for Instagram influencers, celebrities, and brands.
Some of the records even had the net worth of influencer accounts and the location of the accounts. The data was just lying around on Amazon web services without any security until a researcher, Anurag Sen, found the database. Sen traced back the data to a company in India called ‘Chtrbox (Chatterbox Technologies Private Limited)’. The company collaborates with brands and influencers to help them grow via sponsorships. They pay influencers to shared sponsored content and also have business in content development. Thus, all the scraped data discovered on Amazon makes sense. It seemed like the database was a storage space for an ongoing scraping process since the records were growing by the hour.