Baidu unveils new self-driving taxi in China:
Chinese technology giant Baidu has unveiled the next vehicle to join its self-driving taxi service, Apollo Go. It says its new model, the Apollo RT6, has the the road skills of a driver with 20 years’ experience. Under Chinese regulation, the autonomous cars currently still require a safety driver’s presence. But one day, Baidu says, the RT6’s detachable steering wheel could be replaced by extra seats, vending machines, desks or games consoles.
Apple settles US butterfly-keyboard legal action for $50m:
Apple has agreed to pay $50m (£41.6m) to settle a legal action by claimants in the US, over its MacBook keyboards. Customers in seven states claimed the technology giant had sold the “butterfly” keyboards, on MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops, from 2015 to 2019, knowing they had unresponsive and sticky keys that could be damaged by dust or debris. Apple did not immediately respond to a BBC News request for comment. But the company denies any wrongdoing.
You Can Now Move WhatsApp Chats from Android to iOS:
WhatsApp is making it easier to switch from an Android phone to an iPhone. The chat messenger has finally released the chat transfer feature to the main app (not in beta anymore), letting you move all your chat history from Androids to iPhones. The feature was spotted earlier on WhatsApp Beta, but now it has been officially released for everyone. It works almost the same as moving from iPhones to Android. Both devices need to be connected to a power source and should be on the same Wi-Fi network, or the Android phone should be connected to the iPhone’s hotspot. You’ll need the Move to iOS app on your Android phone and the iPhone must be factory new or reset to factory settings to pair with the Move to iOS app.
PUBG MOBILE Launches Campus Challenge with Grand Prize of Rs 4 Million:
PUBG MOBILE, Pakistan’s No. 1 gaming platform, has collaborated with Jazz, Pakistan’s leading cellular company, to officially launch PUBG MOBILE Campus Challenge (PMCC) Pakistan for university-going students. Jazz GameNow will be the official partner for the event and has also launched a bundle dedicated to PUBGM users. With this strategic alliance, both parties aim to ensure work on youth development to further expand the esports industry in the country.
Dell G16 Gaming Laptop Launched with 12th Gen Intel Core i7 and RTX 3070 Ti:
Soon after launching the D15 AMD Edition gaming laptop in India, Dell is now launching the G16 model, which is one of the more affordable laptops in its lineup. As the name says, the Dell G16 has a 16-inch screen with a 2,560 x 1,600 pixels resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio. The aspect ratio makes it possible to fit a 16-inch screen into a chassis built for the 15-inch class. Thanks to this, the laptop is no bigger than before, but still has 11% more screen space. It is a smooth 165Hz panel with 300 nits peak brightness and G-Sync compatibility to keep your frames matched with the screen’s refresh rate. The bottom bezel has also shrunk significantly compared to the G15.
Netflix has Lost Almost 1 Million Subcribers in 3 Months:
Netflix has been expecting a huge decline in subscribers for Q2 2022 amid the growing number of users sharing passwords instead of paying for an account. The streaming service has just lost 970,000 memberships, and while it is not a small number at all, it’s much better than the projected 2 million loss. Despite losing 1 million customers, Netflix still managed to raise its revenue by 8.6% compared to last year, but the growth is slower than ever compared to the previous quarters.
PTA Gets Over 20,000 Complaints Against Telcos During June 2022:
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) received 20,191 complaints from telecom consumers against different telecom operators during June 2022. According to the Authority, it was able to get 19,847 complaints (98 percent) resolved. The complaints were received against against different telecom operators, including Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs), Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL), Long Distance International (LDI), Wireless Local Loop (WLL) operators, and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) as of June.
Qualcomm Confirms Launch Date for Its Next Flagship Android Chip:
Qualcomm has just announced new chipsets for wearable gadgets called the Snapdragon W5 and W5+. Alongside the new chips, the American chipmaker has also confirmed the date for its next Snapdragon Summit, which sets the scene for its flagship smartphone chip announcements. Snapdragon Summit always takes place in Hawaii and it’s no different this year. However, the usual December date has moved back to November 15 and the event will last until November 17. As mentioned earlier, Qualcomm always unveils its next-generation flagship chip for Android phones at the Snapdragon Summit, so we are expecting to see the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 at this event. There will also be other chip announcements at the venue, likely for laptops and other mobile devices.
3G/4G Users in Pakistan Cross 115 Million:
The number of 3G and 4G users in Pakistan increased by 1.86 million from 113.89 million at the end of May 2022 to 115.75 million by the end of June 2022, says the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). The number of cellular subscribers in Pakistan increased by 1.32 million to 194.58 million by end-June 2022, compared to 193.29 million by end-May 2022. Teledensity for cellular mobile increased from 87.8 percent by the end of May to 88.34 percent by the end of June. The total teledensity increased from 88.94 percent by the end of May to 89.53 percent by the end of June 2022.
Pakistan’s Mobile Imports Decline by 4% to $1.9 Billion in FY22:
Pakistan imported mobile phones worth $1.978 billion during the fiscal year 2021–22 compared to $2.065 billion during the same period last year, registering a negative growth of 4.19 percent, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The overall telecom imports into the country during the period under review, i.e., fiscal year 2021–22, increased by 3.52 percent by going up from $2.593 billion in June–July 2020–21 to $2.684 billion during the same period last year. On a month-on-month basis, imports of mobile phones into Pakistan decreased by 76.52 percent during June 2022 and stood at $32.221 million when compared to $137.213 million imported in May 2022, according to the PBS data.
Samsung May Have Canceled Galaxy S22 FE:
Samsung Galaxy S22 FE may never see the light of the day, claims a new report from a Korean news outlet The Elec. The report says that Samsung has terminated the development of the Galaxy S22 FE due to the chip shortage and growing demand for other phones. The Fan Edition phone was going to use the same chipset as the S22 Ultra, but the latter’s strong performance and S-Pen support made the phone maker rethink its strategy for 2022. Samsung is planning to make more than 10 million units of the S22 Ultra and needs to reallocate more resources to achieve that goal.
Vivo Launches the Most Affordable Flagship Phone of 2022:
Vivo has launched one of the most affordable flagship phones of 2022 alongside the world’s fastest charging smartphone. The iQOO 10 Pro has that crown now with 200W fast charging, which can fill up a battery to 100% in only 10 minutes. It comes alongside the vanilla iQOO that charges at “only” 120W. The two phones are not very different when it comes to design. The iQOO 10 has a flat 6.7-inch AMOLED display with 1080p resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. The peak brightness is 1500 nits and the fingerprint sensor resides underneath the display.
Pakistani Startups and Tech Sector Witnessing Exponential Growth: Masood Khan:
Urging Pakistani-American entrepreneurs based in the US to take advantage of the economic opportunities in Pakistan and the business-friendly policies of the government, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Masood Khan, said that the exponential growth of startups and the tech sector in Pakistan created significant economic opportunities and the country is mature for attracting investment. Ambassador Khan stated this while addressing a symposium on ‘Healthcare Entrepreneurship Landscape in Pakistan’ for the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America’s (APPNA) 45th Annual Summer Convention in Atlantic City.
Elon Musk’s Tesla sells most of its Bitcoin holdings:
Tesla, which made waves last year when it revealed a major investment in Bitcoin, has now sold off most of its holdings of the cryptocurrency. The electric car firm has offloaded 75% of its Bitcoin, which was worth about $2bn (£1.7bn) at the end of 2021. It is backing away as the value of the cryptocurrency has plunged, falling by more than 50% this year. Tesla said it bought traditional currency with the $936m (£782m) from its Bitcoin sales. Tesla boss Elon Musk has been among the most high profile champions of cryptocurrency, with his pronouncements on social media often driving significant trading activity.
Teens shun traditional news channels for TikTok and Instagram, Ofcom says:
More teenagers are turning away from traditional media outlets and getting their news from social media, new research from Ofcom has shown. The number of people consuming news content on TikTok has increased from 800,000 in 2020 to 3.9 million in 2022. For the first time, Instagram is the most popular news source among younger people – used by 29% of teens in 2022 – with TikTok and YouTube close behind. But print, TV and radio news outlets still dominate in older age groups. The growth in news consumed via TikTok is being driven mainly by younger age groups – half of users consuming news on the platform are aged 16-24. The number of people consuming news via the video sharing platform is now similar to the number using the Sky News website and app, Ofcom said.
Heatwave forced Google and Oracle to shut down computers
As record temperatures hit much of the UK on Tuesday, tech giants Google and Oracle suffered outages as cooling systems failed at London data centres. Data centres are large highly secure buildings that hold banks of computers and are the powerhouses behind many online services. But the concentrated computing power generates heat so powerful that cooling is essential. Both companies say the problems have now been resolved. Oracle a large American database software and technology business.
US seizes stolen funds from suspected North Korean hackers:
The US Department of Justice has seized $500,000 (£417,000) worth of Bitcoin from suspected North Korean hackers. The hackers attacked healthcare providers with a new strain of ransomware, extorting the funds from several organisations. US authorities say they have already returned ransom payments to two hospital groups.
The rare successful seizure comes as US authorities warn that North Korea is becoming a major ransomware threat. In a conference on Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco praised an unnamed Kansas hospital for alerting the FBI early about the ransomware attack.
Samsung did not break rules over woman running at 2am advert:
A Samsung ad criticised for showing a woman running alone at 02:00 has been cleared by the advertising watchdog. People complained that the smart watch campaign was irresponsible for encouraging unsafe behaviour. But the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the ads “did not encourage an unsafe practice and were not irresponsible”. Women’s Running magazine editor Esther Newman said the ruling “makes people think there’s nothing to worry about”.
Nóra Quoirin death: Parents settle lawsuit over Facebook posts:
The parents of a teenager found dead in Malaysia after vanishing during a family holiday have settled a case against Facebook. Nóra Quoirin, from south-west London, was found dead in August 2019, nine days after going missing.Sebastian and Maebh Quoirin had initiated proceedings over social media posts made in 2019 and 2020. Lawyers for Facebook read out an agreed statement in the High Court in Dublin on Wednesday. The action was taken against the social media giant, which trades as Meta, and retired solicitor Anne Brennan. Both proceedings were settled and Facebook has expressed its sympathies to the Quoirin family, who were in court on Wednesday.
Rogers outage: Why a network upgrade pushed millions in Canada offline:
In early July, a massive network outage at Rogers, a Canadian telecoms giant, forced more than 10 million customers – over a quarter of the country’s population – off their internet or wireless services. The firm is now under intense pressure from regulators to explain what happened. The consequences of the 19-hour nationwide outage ranged from the potentially dangerous, to the frustrating, to the ironic. Police services reported that 911 services were inaccessible on many mobile phones. Hospitals reported communications problems, and one Ontario hospital had to redirect cancer patients when emergency radiation treatments were affected by the outage. Banking services were disrupted, and many businesses could not accept debit payments or could only take cash.
PUBG MOBILE Successfully Launches #TravelWithPUBGM Campaign in Collaboration with SnackVideo:
PUBG MOBILE, Pakistan’s No. 1 gaming platform, has launched a campaign #TravelWithPUBGM this summer, in collaboration with SnackVideo, which attracted more than 700,000 Pakistani players and 150,000 short videos on the platform. From the fields of Sindh and Punjab to the mountains in Gilgit-Baltistan, PUBG MOBILE takes players on a virtual tour of natural landscapes and historic landmarks in Pakistan. To expand the following and spread further excitement, PUBG MOBILE has collaborated exclusively with SnackVideo to carry out the #TravelWithPUBGM campaign.