Ignite Participates in 21st ITCN Asia with 14 Exciting Start-ups:
Continuing with its tradition of supporting Pakistan’s startup ecosystem, Ignite National Technology Fund, a public sector company with the Ministry of IT & Telecom, participated in this year’s ITCN Asia with fourteen exciting startups from different National Incubation Centers. The 21st ITCN Asia Information Technology & Telecom Show is being held at Expo Center Karachi from 24th to 26th August.
GameBird’s House of Blood Becomes First Pakistani Team to Win an International Esports Title:
GameBird’s official team, House of Blood, becomes the first Pakistani team to win the Free Fire international esports title at the Free Fire Invitational Showdown 2022 against Nepal. The Free Fire Invitational is a recurring series of international esports competitions that take place annually between two finalist countries. This year’s competition was held between Pakistan and Nepal from 12-14 August, 2022.
GoZayaan: Making Travel Fun, Secure and Hassle-Free – One Trip at a Time:
Pakistan is home to some of the world’s most diverse landscapes; from magnificent valleys and mountain ranges to majestic deserts and beautiful coastlines, it truly is a tourist’s dream destination. This diversity isn’t only limited to the topography. The country is also home to diverse cuisines, numerous languages, and some of the world’s oldest civilizations and cultures.
Google’s Tech Valley to Revamp School Education in Karachi:
The Sindh government and Tech Valley Pakistan, a country partner of Google for Education, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to digitize schools in Karachi. Secretary of Sindh Education and Literacy Department (SELD), Ghulam Akbar Laghari, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tech Valley, Umar Farooq, signed the MoU on Thursday.
PTA Received Over 200,000 Complaints During the Last Year:
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) received over 200,000 complaints from telecom consumers during the last year. According to documents available to ProPakistani, the authority, from July 2021 to June 2022, received 218,621 complaints from telecom consumers. Out of the 218,621 complaints, 83,641 complaints have been resolved, 65,780 complaints were disposed of, and 20,984 complaints remained partially resolved.
Data and Mobile Services Impacted Throughout Balochistan:
Regarding the recent news of the loss of internet connectivity and mobile coverage across Balochistan, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has issued a statement. The statement reads, “Due to torrential rains & flash floods in Balochistan and damage to optical fiber cable, voice, and data services have been impacted in Quetta, Ziarat, Khuzdar, Loralai, Pashin, Chaman, Panjgor, Zhob, Qila Saifullah, and Qila Abdullah. Efforts are being made to resolve this unprecedented situation. PTA is monitoring the situation and further updates will be shared.”
Meta Apprises Pakistani Journalists Regarding its Approach to Data Privacy:
Meta – the parent company of Facebook and Instagram – organized a media briefing session on its approach to privacy for Pakistani journalists at a local hotel in Islamabad. Arianne Jimenez, Privacy Policy Manager at Meta in Asia Pacific, briefed the journalists around the social media company’s policies to protect user data and information safety on its platforms. Meta representative told reporters that protecting people’s information is central to Meta’s vision of being a privacy-focused communications platform.
Sony Increases PlayStation 5’s Price:
Sony’s PlayStation 5 (PS5) is already hard to find in Pakistan and is becoming more expensive by the day. The next-gen console (digital edition) currently costs around Rs 180,000 in the country, a mile apart from Rs 90,000 around a year ago. Unfortunately for gamers, this is not the end of it. Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO, Jim Ryan, has announced through a blog post that the company is raising the official price for PS5 in select markets due to “challenging economic conditions”. He said that the company had to make a difficult decision in the face of global inflation rates as well as currency fluctuations. American customers, however, will remain unaffected.
‘Staggering of License Payments Over 10 Annual Instalments Rather than 5 Critical to Ensure Industry’s Survival’:
Pakistan’s telecom sector is currently undergoing its toughest times due to exponential increase in the cost of doing business, constantly increasing USD spectrum pegged instalments being one of the key contributing factors, said Mudassar Hussain, VP, Public Policy & Regulatory Affairs, Jazz at Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s Consumer Conference 2022. The government’s decision to link the spectrum price to the U.S. dollar instead of the rupee, he said, was a pressing concern for local cellular mobile operators and the financial health of the sector, as it had remained unaddressed in all spectrum auction policies and license renewals. The untenable scenario has now pushed the country into a digital emergency.
TikTok Unveils the True Colors of Summer with #AyeMausam:
TikTok has emerged as a platform that fosters user creativity and provides them with a chance to showcase their skills to the world. The #AyeMausam challenge was launched by TikTok with the intention of inspiring its users to express their creativity and celebrate this summer by learning about new communities, trying out new recipes, taking up an artistic hobby, travelling to new places, or simply showing off their best summer look.
Paul Allen: Largest art auction ever to sell Microsoft co-founder’s $1bn collection:
An estimated $1bn (£847m) worth of art belonging to the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen will be sold at the largest art auction in history. Christie’s auction house said proceeds of the November sale would be given to charity, as Mr Allen wished. The collection includes masterpieces by Botticelli, Renoir, David Hockney and Roy Lichtenstein. Mr Allen, who co-founded Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend Bill Gates, died in 2018 aged 65.
Gamescom: The Ukrainian video game makers who kept working in a war zone:
Like many colleagues in the video game industry, Iryna Bilous and Nika Avayan recently arrived at the world’s largest gaming conference, Gamescom in Germany, to show off their latest title to fans. But for these two Ukrainians, the road to the trade fair has been anything but a normal journey. After Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, Ms Avayan, chief operating officer of the Frogwares studio, decided to leave her small village near the city of Bucha.
Nato investigates hacker sale of missile firm data:
Nato is assessing the impact of a data breach of classified military documents being sold by a hacker group online. The data includes blueprints of weapons being used by Nato allies in the Ukraine conflict. Criminal hackers are selling the dossiers after stealing data linked to a major European weapons maker. MBDA Missile Systems admitted its data was among the stash but claimed none of the classified files belong to the firm.
Gamers face price rise on PS5 but not Switch:
Gamers looking to buy a new console face a price rise if they want a Sony PlayStation 5, but not if they choose a Nintendo Switch. PS5s will cost an extra £30 in the UK, with EU consoles going up by €50 (£42) and Canadian consoles by CAD $20 (£13). Sony is increasing its console prices because of inflation, it says, but Nintendo says that despite rising costs, its prices will stay the same.
Google ‘airbrushes’ out emissions from flying, Media reveals:
The way Google calculates the climate impact of your flights has changed, the Media has discovered. Flights now appear to have much less impact on the environment than before. That’s because the world’s biggest search engine has taken a key driver of global warming out of its online carbon flight calculator. “Google has airbrushed a huge chunk of the aviation industry’s climate impacts from its pages” says Dr Doug Parr, chief scientist of Greenpeace. With Google hosting nine out of every 10 online searches, this could have wide repercussions for people’s travel decisions. The company said it made the change following consultations with its “industry partners”.
Google to run ads educating users about fake news:
Google plans to show ads that educate people about disinformation techniques, following a successful experiment by Cambridge University. Google Jigsaw, which tackles online security dangers, will run adverts on YouTube, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook. Researchers found the videos improved people’s ability to recognise manipulative content. They will be shown in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland to combat fake news about Ukrainian refugees. Google said the “exciting” findings showed how social media can actively pre-empt the spread of disinformation.
AI rapper FN Meka dropped by Capitol over racial stereotyping:
A record label has cut ties with an AI rapper after criticism it contained racial stereotypes, including repeated use of the N-word. FN Meka is an artificial intelligence musician given the appearance of a black male cyborg. But Capitol Music Group (CMG) faced a backlash for signing the rapper. In a statement announcing they had severed ties, CMG offered its “deepest apologies to the black community for our insensitivity”.
Facebook feeds flooded with celebrity spam:
Thousands of Facebook users around the world reported issues with their news feeds on Wednesday as a glitch appeared to boost posts to celebrity fan pages and groups to the top of timelines. On Downdetector, an outage tracking website, users posted reports of problems between 07:00 and 09:00 BST. Many reacted to the glitch with memes mocking Facebook. Meta, Facebook’s parent company, apologised “for any inconvenience” and said the issue was resolved.
Aitch on his rise to fame: ‘I’ve still got goals to achieve’:
“You don’t even want to see the mess in here, to be honest.” Manchester rapper Aitch is on Zoom from his tour bus in Leeds, diligently angling the camera away from the floor, the night after a launch party for his debut album, Close To Home. The 22-year-old has grown used to life on the road, ever since he broke out with his tongue-twisting freestyle Straight Rhymez in 2018. That track, intended as a throwaway placeholder for his YouTube channel, racked up millions of streams and brought him to the attention of Stormzy, AJ Tracey and Ed Sheeran – who all invited the baby-faced rapper to guest on their tracks.
Twitter whistleblower raises security concerns:
A former security chief for Twitter has turned whistleblower and testified that the company misled users and US regulators about gaps in its security. Peiter Zatko also claimed that Twitter underestimated how many fake and spam accounts are on its platform. The accusations could affect a legal battle between Twitter and billionaire Elon Musk, who is trying to cancel his $44bn (£37bn) deal to buy the company. Twitter says Mr Zatko’s allegations are inaccurate and inconsistent. It says he was sacked in January for ineffective leadership and poor performance.