PAKISTAN NEWS:
PTCL is Taking Its Digital Presence to the Next Level:
In today’s connected world, digital has become one of the most significant mediums through which the brands connect with its customers. When compared to traditional marketing methods, Digital is considered cost-effective and has a wider reach that is not limited geographically. Thus, many brands including startups and small enterprises with low budgets prefer it to conventional methods. Nevertheless, major brands and large enterprises have also joined the digital race, realizing its importance and seeing how it can bring them closer to their customers.
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HomeShopping Joins Hands with IHIG and Happily to Offer Free Hotel Stays:
HomeShopping, one of Pakistan’s leading e-commerce stores, has partnered with International Hospitality Investment Group (IHIG) and Happily to improve customer experience. IHIG Pakistan is a chapter of a London-based firm with expertise in investment and hospitality. Happily is a service in Pakistan that promises to make vacationing unforgettable and convenient where you can choose from an extensive list of high-end resorts in Pakistan and across the globe.
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Telenor Pakistan Launches 4G in Gilgit Baltistan:
Telenor Pakistan is spearheading another leap towards empowering the Pakistani society through the rollout of its 4G services in Gilgit Baltistan. To bring the benefits of digital communications to the people of Gilgit Baltistan, Telenor Pakistan has used state-of-the-art satellite solution by refarming its network sites in Gilgit and Skardu. Gilgit Baltistan is home to one of the world’s highest mountain ranges where deployment of fiber optic is challenging due to its geographical terrain and extreme weather. To provide telecom services, Gilgit Baltistan was mainly served with Legacy VSAT satellite network. As a smart alternative, Telenor Pakistan is now using O3b satellite network to provide 4G services which is a constellation of numerous satellites that orbit only 8,000kms away from Earth. This low altitude reduces latency by up to four times while bringing it at par with long haul fiber transmission.
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You Can Now Get the Mi A3 At a Discounted Price for a Limited Time:
Mi Pakistan brings its Mi Fans a special surprise with an offer they can’t refuse! Mi A3 is available at an exclusive discount for Mi Fans on Mistore.pk. The offer goes live on Mistore.pk today on September 27 at 8 PM with a special Promo Code. Mi A3, also known as a phone with Android One, enables you to capture unlimited photos. It is one of the popular launches of 2019, with its Snapdragon™ 665 and 4030mAh battery. It also supports Quick Charge™ 3.0 Technology and 18W Fast Charge and has in-screen fingerprint unlock, face unlock and more. Mi A3 comes in three colors: Kind of Grey, Not Just Blue and More Than White.
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Google Removes 46 Apps From The PlayStore by Chinese Developer:
According to news reports on Thursday, Google silently removed 46 apps from its Play Store last week, all of which belonged to iHandy, a Chinese mobile developer. The apps removed had already been downloaded millions of times before being removed and they include selfie, security, antivirus, keyboard, horoscope, emoji, and health apps. But, oddly enough, eight of iHandy’s apps are still available on the Google Play store.
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Xiaomi Working on a Phone With 8K Video Recording at 30 FPS:
At a recent launch event, Xiaomi unveiled two of its most awaited smartphones, the Mi Mix Alpha and the Mi 9 Pro 5G. Alongside these, the company also unveiled the new version of its Android-based MIUI. The MIUI 11 has several interesting features but the one that caught our eye was the updated camera app. The beta version of the MIUI is currently being rolled out by the company and the folks at XDA-Developers took the time to perform an APK teardown which revealed that an upcoming Xiaomi phone will come with support for 8K (7680×4320) video recording at 30 FPS. Currently, no other smartphones have this feature, it does hint at how impressive the upcoming Xiaomi flagship could be.
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OnePlus TVs Launched With 55-Inch 4K QLED Displays:
Along with its flagship killer, OnePlus 7T, OnePlus also launched its long-awaited 4K QLED Android Television series. The Q1 television series marks the company’s first step into the TV industry. Currently, the company has launched two televisions in its Q1 series, the OnePlus TV Q1 and TV Q1 Pro. Both TVs look like compelling devices and come with a plethora of interesting features. OnePlus has put in extra effort to make the televisions aesthetically pleasing. They have a sleek design and a screen to body ratio of 95.7%. And according to OnePlus, both devices are equally pretty from the back as they do from the front. The remote looks a lot like the Apple TV remote and comes with a USB Type-C port for charging.
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Xiaomi Launches Hey Plus 1S Smartband & Affordable Electric Moped:
After the huge success the Xiaomi’s crowdfunded Hey+ smart band achieved last year, the company has just launched an upgraded version of the smart band dubbed as the Hey+ 1s. Along with the watch, the Chinese company has also launched its crowdfunded Himo C16 electric power-assisted bicycle. Hey+ 1SThe watch, as compared to its predecessor, features a rectangular 0.95-inch AMOLED panel as compared to the elliptical display we saw in Hey+ smart band. Hey+ 1S’s display has a high 282 PPI density and also supports 24-bit true color.
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Foldable Huawei Mate X2 to Come With a Stylus:
Huawei’s first foldable phone, the Mate X, has been in limbo since the start of this year. Finally, after a long wait, the company is readying the phone for launch in October in China while the rest of the world will see the phone in November. Just as the company is working to launch the Mate X, its Research and Development department is apparently busy working on Mate X’s successor.
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OnePlus 7T Launched With 90 Hz Display, SD855+ & Other Major Changes:
After a lot of teasers, leaks, and promos, OnePlus has finally unveiled its upgrade to the OnePlus 7, the OnePlus 7T. The smartphone brings one of the largest updates for a T series device and takes the sweet spot between the OP7 and the OP7 Pro. This is, however, smaller than the Pro model and according to some analysts is easier to use thanks to its sleek design and lesser curved edges. OnePlus 7T is the second smartphone by the company to feature a fluid display.
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This Disturbing AR Film Shows How Your Face Can Be Exploited By Tech Companies:
Last week, I forgot my phone while going out to shop for a new pair of shoes. The lesson isn’t that I’m forgetful. It’s what I learned when I forgot to do the three-tap (keys-wallet-phone) while heading out. You see, I didn’t actually end up buying the shoes I liked. They were a bit on the expensive side and I wanted to mull over it since I’m trying to curb my spending (thanks inflation!). What is weird is that as soon as I logged into Facebook, I saw an ad for the shoe shop I went to and what’s more, the exact pair of shoes I was going to buy. How did Facebook know what I was going to buy? Especially since I didn’t even take my phone? The answer is disturbing: the machines know us far better than they let on.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
Can AR goggles make swimming more fun?:
Augmented reality goggles that can help swimmers track their swim time and distance have been put to the test by BBC Click’s Chris Fox. The Form swim goggles were developed by former competitive swimmer Dan Eisenhardt, while UK firm Swim AR is working on a similar device that can clip on to any pair of goggles.
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Spoofing emails: The trickery costing businesses billions:
The email came in like any other, from the company chief executive to his finance officer.“Hey, the deal is done. Please wire $8m to this account to finalise the acquisition ASAP. Needs to be done before the end of the day. Thanks.” The employee thought nothing of it and sent the funds over, ticking it off his list of jobs before heading home. But alarm bells started to ring when the company that was being acquired called to ask why it had not received the money. An investigation began – $8m was most definitely sent, but where to? We will never know. Some of the money was clawed back by the banks, but most was lost to hackers who may have cashed out using an elaborate money-laundering network or simply moved on to the next victim.
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US uses google translate to vet refugees:
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have been criticised for using online translation tools to vet immigrants’ social media posts. A staff manual said pasting text into tools such as Google Translate and Bing was “the most efficient approach”. News site ProPublica said online tools often mistranslated sentences and misinterpreted nuance and slang. But the USCIS told the news site that checking social media posts was a “common-sense measure”. The agency said “information collected from social media, by itself, will not be a basis to deny refugee resettlement”.
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Facebook to create VR world called Horizon:
Facebook is creating an immersive environment called Horizon to tempt people into spending more time in virtual reality. The VR app will be a mix of social places where users can mingle and chat, and other areas where they can play games against each other. People will inhabit and explore the virtual spaces via a cartoon avatar. The app will be made available and tested in early 2020, by a small group of Facebook users.
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Mystery of the disappearing ‘Cryptoqueen’ Ruja Ignatova:
If ever an industry needed a PR makeover, it’s the world of cryptocurrencies. It seems every week brings evidence of scams and fraud, from the hacking of exchanges to Initial Coin Offerings where the founder disappears with the money. Just on Monday, America’s Securities and Exchange Commission charged the founder of an online adult entertainment marketplace with running a fraudulent ICO (Initial Coin Offering). But that case involved tens of thousands of dollars – a mere bagatelle compared to the monster cryptocurrency scam whose story is being told in an enthralling BBC podcast.
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Heads up – why tech is in a race for your face:
If there’s one thing technology companies learned during the smartphone boom, it’s that getting people locked in early is the difference between success and failure. Customers are simply unwilling, at least in any significant number, to leave whatever ecosystem they’ve invested in – whether it’s Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android. And so when there’s a chance to break ground on a new ecosystem, a fresh opportunity to get people locked in for years to come, you can expect a scramble. For “voice”, widely considered the next big platform in tech, the scramble is on, and it’s being seen most aggressively in one distinct area: your face.
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Google makes deepfakes to fight deepfakes:
Google has released a database of 3,000 deepfakes – videos that use artificial intelligence to alter faces or to make people say things they never did. The videos are of actors and use a variety of publicly available tools to alter their faces. The search giant hopes it will help researchers build the tools needed to take down “harmful” fake videos. There are fears such videos could be used to promote false conspiracy theories and propaganda.
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Amazon Alexa gets Samuel L Jackson and other celebrity voices:
Amazon has announced that its virtual assistant Alexa will soon be able to mimic the voice of the actor Samuel L Jackson among other celebrities. The firm intends to charge a fee for the feature, with each voice costing $0.99 (80p). The company has also refreshed its range of Echo speakers, adding a larger high-end version with Dolby Atmos for “3D sound”. Amazon is the world’s best-selling smart speaker brand.
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Peloton: ‘It’s borderline addiction’:
Joanna Sim is a self-confessed member of the Peloton cult. She gets up at 05:00 for the company’s classes. She writes about them on her blog for working parents.She doesn’t just like Peloton, she says, she loves it. “It’s almost borderline addiction at this point,” she says. Now she’s planning to invest. The company, which sells tech-enhanced exercise equipment tied to streaming fitness classes, raised about $1.16bn as it sold its first shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange on Thursday. The shares priced at $29 apiece, valuing the firm at more than $8bn (£6.5bn) – a hefty figure in a notoriously fickle fitness industry.
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Boston Dynamics robot dog Spot goes on sale:
A robotics company whose creations have amassed millions of views on YouTube, is renting out one of its stars, Spot.Anyone wishing to lease the quadruped dog-like robot could do so for “less than the price of a car,” Boston Dynamics told IEEE Spectrum. It suggested Spot could be useful in construction, the oil and gas industry and for those working in public safety. One expert said its appeal may be limited by its price, which will be determined by demand.