Pakistan News:
IT ministry approves projects worth Rs4.8 billion:
The Departmental Development Working Party (DDWP) of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication approved seven projects worth around Rs. 4.8 billion. Federal Secretary Ministry of IT and Telecommunication Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui chaired the DDWP meeting where development projects were reviewed and modified. After thorough deliberations, the body granted approval to these projects for different departments of the Ministry.
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5G non-standalone better for universal service for Pakistan: wb:
Pakistan, where current 4G coverage is much lower, it is more attractive to deploy 5G NSA (Non-standalone) as the means of reaching universal service, says the World Bank. The World Bank, in its latest report, ‘Policy choices can help keep 4G and 5G Universal Broadband Affordable,’ stated that the cost of meeting UN Broadband Commission targets across the developing world is estimated at $1.6 to 1.7 trillion over the next decade, approximately 0.5 percent to 0.6 percent of annual gross domestic product for the developing world over the next decade.
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Careem engineering offers remote global opportunities for Pakistanis:
Careem Engineering, reiterating its commitment to make Pakistan an epicenter of technology, is further expanding its engineering landscape by hiring additional fresh graduates across the country. The talent will have the opportunity to work alongside experts at Careem who possess a wealth of experience from global tech companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Agoda Flipkart, and Expedia, etc. Careem has accelerated plans to build on its engineering capacity in the region. With the company going remote-first, the graduates will get opportunities to work with engineering teams in Karachi, Lahore, Dubai, and Berlin. With Pakistan on its journey to become a technology epicenter for the region, Careem will be one step closer to its mission of simplifying and improving the lives of people in the region.
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Foodpanda rewards its top performing home chefs:
Foodpanda, Pakistan’s leading food delivery app, has introduced its first-ever Homechef Reward Program. The initiative aims to celebrate hundreds and thousands of home-based vendor partners on the platform across the country.Like the rest of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic had also affected the livelihoods of many in Pakistan. Under such circumstances, Foodpanda took on a new responsibility to help local businesses grow and provide an alternative economic opportunity for home-based vendors while keeping them motivated to do more with their reward program.
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Galaxy Xcover 5 available:
Samsung is readying yet another handset for its rugged smartphone lineup. The upcoming smartphone, called the Galaxy Xcover 5, has appeared in various certifications over the past few months. It is expected to become official this month and is rumored to retail for euro 289 to euro 299 in Europe. According to a recent leak, the Xcover 5 will be available in one color only, called the Graphite Black. The color and the design of the smartphone are visible in the renders below.
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Google finally ‘stop tracking’ chrome users:
Search engine giant, Google, is infamous for collecting excessive data from its users, but that may change soon after a recent development. The company has announced that it will no longer create alternative means of tracking its users as they browse the web as soon as Google Chrome’s third-party cookies are phased out. The news comes after Google announced to stop tracking users through cookies last year as it was building a Privacy Sandbox. This would allow advertisers to show ads to consumers but aggregate the collected information so that the identity of users is not revealed.
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Mediatek latest chipset improve 4k picture quality in tvs:
MediaTek, known for its smartphone processors, has launched its latest chipset, the MT9638, for 4K smart TVs. It is a quad-core chipset with an ARM Cortex-A55 CPU running at up to 1.5GHz. In addition to this, it also comes with a dedicated AI processing unit (APU) topped with a Mali-G52 MC1 GPU. This combination allows it to do real-time content and scene recognition by adjusting the saturation, brightness, sharpness, and noise reduction on the fly.
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Netflix launches its own tiktok rival:
It seems that every other social media app is out to grab a share of TikTok’s success. Instagram released Reels a few months back and YouTube introduced Shorts this week. Now it appears that it’s Netflix’s turn to join the fray.Netflix is also out to copy TikTok now and has unveiled a new feature called Fast Laughs which was first spotted last year. This will let you swap through comedic short clips on the streaming platform.
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Realme 8 and 8 pro set to get attention:
Realme 8 and 8 Pro have been in the works for a while now. However, not many leaks regarding the handsets have surfaced during this time. Whatever information we have, has been revealed by the company executives. Recently, the brand’s CEO MadhavSheth posted a photo of the phone and its retail box on Twitter, essentially revealing all major specifications and features.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
Facebook rainforest ads: inquiry ordered into amazon land sales:
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ordered an inquiry into the sale of protected areas of the Amazon rainforest via Facebook. It follows a BBC investigation, which revealed plots as large as 1,000 football pitches listed among the platform’s marketplace classified ads. The court is asking the government to “take the appropriate civil and criminal measures”. Facebook has said it is “ready to work with local authorities”. But the tech firm has indicated it will not take independent action of its own to halt the trade.
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Youtube to lift Trump ban if violence threat falls:
YouTube’s chief executive has said the platform may lift Donald Trump’s suspension, if the threat of “real-world violence” decreases. Susan Wojcicki of YouTube said the company will look at government warnings and violent rhetoric to determine when it’s safe to lift the suspension. Following the Capitol Hill riot on 6 January that left five dead, Mr Trump’s account was suspended.
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Reddit chief: i was late to spot gamestop stock mania:
Reddit boss Steve Huffman has told BBC News he supported the aims of controversial sub-RedditWallStreetBets. A long-time fan of the group, he said he had been slow in spotting its effect on GameStop’s huge share-price spike in January. “I was actually a little late to the party, because I didn’t realise that Reddit had leaked into the real world again”, he said. GameStop’s share price ended up reaching nearly $500 (£350) before falling.
WallStreetBets had been hyping up the computer-game retailer’s shares.
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Amazon fresh till-less grocery store opens in London:
Amazon has opened a till-less grocery store in London — its first ‘just walk out’ shop outside the US. Visitors to Amazon Fresh scan a smartphone app when entering and are automatically billed as they leave. The store stocks hundreds of own-brand items as well as third-party products, and also serves as a place to collect and return goods bought online. Campaigners have raised privacy concerns but one retail expert said the opening marked a ‘watershed moment’.
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Alec Baldwin deactivates twitter account over ‘switching accents’ joke:
Alec Baldwin has deactivated his Twitter account following reaction to a joke he made about “switching accents”. The 30 Rock actor’s wife, Hilaria, sparked controversy in December after she was accused of faking her Spanish accent and heritage. Earlier this week, Baldwin commented on US actress Gillian Anderson’s Golden Globes win for portraying British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
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Call of duty patch brings ‘biggest download day on record’:
Virgin Media says it recorded the “biggest download day on record” on the same day as the latest Call of Duty update. The average user downloaded more than 20GB (gigabytes) on 25 February. Call of Duty: Warzone is known in the industry for its huge download sizes, and the update in question clocked in at up to 26.5 GB for some users. BT also said that day was immensely busy, but not quite a record on its network. Unlike Virgin, BT’s provided data about the network as a whole rather than the average used by individual customers. It said the surge it saw, driven by both the Call of Duty patch and the live streaming of four European football games, hit a peak network traffic of 20.86 Tbps (terabits per second). It had seen Christmas peaks of above 21 Tbps.
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Apple investigated in UK over ‘unfair’ app store claims:
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has launched an investigation into whether Apple’s terms for app developers are anti-competitive. It follows a series of complaints, including a high-profile one from Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite. Some developers are unhappy that they are forced to distribute apps to iPhones and iPads via the App Store, and the commission Apple takes. Apple said its terms were “fair and equal”. The investigation will consider whether Apple has a dominant position in the distribution of apps on its devices and look at whether it imposes unfair terms on developers.
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Google promises to drop personalised ad tracking:
Google has promised not to develop any new way of tracking individual users for adverts once it phases out its current method. The tech giant is one of the world’s largest advertising sellers and also owns the world’s most popular web browser, Chrome. But it is following other browser providers by eliminating third-party tracking cookies. That move is already being looked at by the UK’s competition authority.
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Deliveroo unveils plans for ‘$7bn’ London listing:
Deliveroo is to list its shares in London in a move that could reportedly value it at about $7bn (£5bn). The food delivery firm has seen demand soar in the pandemic, as restaurants forced to close to dine-in customers have signed up to its platform. Deliveroo, which operators in 12 markets, said it was committed to making the UK its “long-term home”. It comes after the government proposed new stock market rules that would benefit start-up technology firms. These would create two different classes of shares with differential voting rights, giving founders more say in key decisions.
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Spacex’s starship rocket lands but then explodes:
The SpaceXcompany has managed to land one of its Starship prototypes at the end of a high-altitude test flight. Serial Number 10 (SN10) touched down in Boca Chica, Texas — in contrast to its predecessors SN8 and SN9, which crashed into the ground. But that wasn’t the end of the story. The next-generation space vehicle put down heavily on its extended legs. A fire then developed around its base and eight minutes later SN10 blew itself apart on the landing pad.