PAKISTAN NEWS:
App by Pakistani students ranked among top 10 google developer challenge winners:
WorthyWalk, an app available on Google Play since December 2019, was ranked among the top ten global winners from more than 400 submissions from around the globe by Google Developer Student Club (DSC) students from 69 countries.
The developers of WorthyWalk are students from FAST – National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences (NUCES) University, Islamabad. This winning team of developers used Google Cloud, Android, Firebase, Google-Analytics and Google-Maps API to develop their app.
The app is health focused, and helps individuals achieve goals by walking, running, or cycling. It rewards its users with ‘Knubs’ (inbuilt currency coins); to be redeemed as discount coupons from partner businesses, local shops and startups.
Google hosts a DSC challenge every year to nurture talent by inviting student developers from all over the world to use Google products or platforms to develop solutions for challenges faced by their local communities.
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PTA decides to continue PUBG ban for the time being:
No good news has emerged from Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) hearing as the regulatory body is still indecisive about the ban on PUBG. The ban on immensely popular battle royale game was announced on 1st July after PTA received complaints from different segments of the society and parents. A number of suicide cases and attempts to take their own lives by youngsters proved to be a decisive factor when the internet regulator decided to continue the temporary suspension of the game after the hearing on 9th July.
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Investors defer Bykea’s $13m funding due to ban on pillion riding:
Investors have decided to put the $13 million funding of Bykea on hold after the Sindh government extended the ban on pillion riding till 15 July amid the coronavirus outbreak.
In a press release, Bykea’s founder and CEO, Muneeb Maayr, expressed disappointment and said that pillion riding during the coronavirus pandemic is much safer than traveling on cars, buses, and rickshaws. The statement added that Bykea riders not only wear helmets but they also wear face masks and gloves that protect both the riders and the customers against the disease.
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Govt forms committee to tackle misinformation about COVID-19 on social media:
National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has notified the formation of a special committee to tackle the widespread misinformation and fake news linked with Coronavirus pandemic on social media platforms.
NCOC has taken this decision after the United Nations (UN) urged the world to undertake measures to curb the spread of misinformation and launched a worldwide campaign called ‘Pause.’ The UN claimed that misinformation about COVID-19 is spreading faster than the virus itself.
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Ministry of IT and Huawei to support Pakistan’s IT industry:
Federal Secretary Ministry of IT & Telecom Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui recently chaired a meeting between the Ministry of IT & Telecom and Huawei Technologies. The meeting was attended by Huawei Technologies Pakistan CEO Mark Meng along with participants from both sides and discussed a broad range of initiatives being taken by Huawei to increase the scope of information technology and telecom in Pakistan.
Huawei Pakistan is currently supporting Middle East clients from a Regional Competence Center in Pakistan and has employed more than 800 Pakistani engineers to support the Middle East. Huawei Technologies and MoIT will work on options to broader the spectrum of support by employing more Pakistani engineers.
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Huawei P40 pro plus review:
Huawei’s photography focused P40 series was launched in collaboration with Leica in March this year. The flagship series boasts high-end imaging capabilities, top-notch performance, and a stylish design. Unfortunately, it will not be launched in Pakistan anytime soon. Nevertheless, Propakistani is here with a hands-on review of the Huawei P40 Pro+, the maxed-out model in the series, to give you a better look at the device.
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Android 10 breaks records for having fastest ever adoption rate:
As layman awareness regarding hardware and software increases, more and more users are opting for smartphone OEMs that have a reputation of future software support. Hence, over the past few years, with the help of Google, smartphone manufacturers have rigorously worked on sending timely updates for both old and new models.
Google has also introduced new capabilities that enable OEMs to “deliver updates more uniformly, quickly, and efficiently.”As a result, Android 10’s adoption rate has been faster than any previous version of Android. Currently, the new OS is running on 100 million devices, five months post-launch. This is 28 percent faster than Android 9.0 Pie.
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VIVO IQOO Z1X 5G might be the best phone under $230:
Vivo has launched one of the cheapest 5G-ready Smartphones in China under the moniker Vivo iQOO Z1x 5G. The best part is, its aggressive pricing does not take away from the top-notch specification the iQOO lineup is known for. The 5G compatible mid-range smartphone follows the rectangular camera aisle trend that most Vivo Phones, including Vivo V17, Vivo V19, and Vivo Y30, follow.
The smartphone comes with a triple sensor rear camera vertically aligned on the top left. The fingerprint sensor is mounted on the right, and it is available in three colors: Sea Azure, Sharp Cool Black, and Water White.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
Whatsapp’s brand new feature makes it a whole lot more fun:
The Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp has finally got support for animated stickers for users on all the platforms, i.e., iOS, Android, and Desktop. Even though WhatsApp is the world’s leading IM application, it is always late when it comes to rolling out new features. One such update that users have been waiting for is animated stickers that other IM applications like Telegram got months, if not years ago.
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Tiktok halts Hong Kong access after security law:
Short-video app TikTok has halted operations in Hong Kong, according to a notice posted on its website. The company flagged the move earlier this week after China imposed a new security law on the city. The law has restricted freedoms in the semi-autonomous territory, raising concerns of official oversight of social media.
Other social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter are also reviewing operations in Hong Kong. TikTok has come under scrutiny from the US and other countries because of concerns it could share user data with Chinese authorities.
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UK faces mobile blackouts if Huawei 5g ban imposed by 2023:
BT and Vodafone have said their UK customers would face mobile phone signal blackouts if they are given three years or less to strip Huawei’s equipment out of their 5G networks. Executives from the network providers told MPs that they wanted at least five years, and ideally seven, if such an order is made. The government is expected to announce new curbs on the use of the Chinese firm’s kit within the next two weeks. Huawei has urged it to take more time. “There isn’t a burning bridge,” said Huawei’s UK vice president Jeremy Thompson, adding that it was too soon to determine what impact new US sanctions would have.
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Tiktok deleted 49 million ‘rule-breaking’ videos:
TikTok says it deleted more than 49 million videos which broke its rules, between July and December 2019.About a quarter of those videos were deleted for containing adult nudity or sexual activity, the business said, in its latest transparency report. The video-sharing app also revealed it had received about 500 requests for data from governments and police, and had complied with about 480 of them.
The US has suggested it is ‘looking at’ whether to ban the Chinese-owned app. On Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested that downloading TikTok would put citizens’ “private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party”.He added that the US government was considering whether to ban Chinese-owned apps: “We are taking this very seriously. We are certainly looking at it,” he quoted as saying.
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Elon Musk says full self-driving Tesla tech ‘very close’:
Tesla will be able to make its vehicles completely autonomous by the end of this year, founder Elon Musk has said. It was already “very close” to achieving the basic requirements of this “level-five” autonomy, which requires no driver input, he said.Tesla’s current, level-two Autopilot requires the driver to remain alert and ready to act, with hands on the wheel. But a future software update could activate level-five autonomy in the cars – with no new hardware, he said.
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Facebook bans ‘Roger Stone disinformation network’:
Facebook has removed a disinformation network it says was linked to “Roger Stone and his associates”. Mr Stone was a long-time political strategist and is an ally of US President Donald Trump. He was convicted of lying to Congress in 2019. He has denied involvement with the misinformation network.Facebook also said it had identified a network of fake accounts run by employees of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s government. The social network released details of four misinformation campaigns ahead of the July edition of its monthly report on co-ordinated inauthentic behaviour.
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Smartwatch hack could send fake pill reminders to patients:
Smartwatch software used to help elderly patients could easily be hacked and abused, security researchers say. Some of the watches are targeted mainly at dementia patients — and a hacker could even send a reminder to ‘take pills’ as often as they wanted to.
The researchers said they were concerned that “an overdose could easily result”. The security flaw has now been fixed after they notified the Chinese company behind it, they said. However, the app that connects to these types of watches has more than 10 million downloads, the researchers say – and there is no way of knowing if it had been exploited by someone else before being fixed.
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Ninja is streaming fortnite battles again:
Ninja has returned to streaming on Wednesday, but he’s now on YouTube. His channel has already reached around 24 million subscribers, with a high of 160,000 people watching him play Fortnite at one point during his first stream on the platform. He was playing against other famous gamers, DrLupo, TimTheTatman and Courage. It’s not clear yet if Ninja has signed a deal to play exclusively on YouTube, or if he’ll be popping up on places like Twitch too. He still has 14 million followers on Twitch despite having not played on the platform for almost a year.
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UK universities comply with China’s internet restrictions:
UK universities are testing a new online teaching link for students in China – which will require course materials to comply with Chinese restrictions on the internet. It enables students in China to keep studying UK degrees online, despite China’s limits on internet access. But it means students can only reach material on an “allowed” list. Universities UK said it was “not aware of any instances when course content has been altered” .And the universities’ body rejected that this was accepting “censorship” .A spokeswoman said the project would allow students in China to have better access to UK courses “while complying with local regulations”.
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Facebook civil-rights record hammered in own review:
Facebook’s “vexing and heartbreaking” decisions are causing significant setbacks for civil rights, an audit commissioned by the company says. The two-year-long review says its actions have left many activists “disheartened, frustrated and angry”. Facebook has already said it will make some — but not all — of the changes called for in the 100-page report. The official number of advertisers boycotting Facebook over its civil-rights policy is now at nearly 1,000.Facebook commissioned the review in May 2018, a month after founder Mark Zuckerberg faced intense questioning at a congressional hearing.
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Tiktok algorithm promoted anti-semitic death camp meme:
TikTok has deleted a collection of videos found by the BBC to be using a “sickening” anti-Semitic song that gained more than 6.5 million views.The song surfaced on the app on Sunday and includes the lyrics: “We’re going on a trip to a place called Auschwitz, it’s shower time.” The first video to use the song showed a giant robot scorpion with a swastika attacking and killing people. TikTok’s algorithm ensured that video alone got more than six million views. Other videos that made further use of the song accounted for the additional half a million views. Auschwitz was a Nazi death camp in a German-annexed part of Poland where more than a million people died during World War Two, many of them in gas chambers after being told they were going to take a communal shower.
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TCL 10 plus & 10 plus se launched with mid-range specs:
TCL has added two new models to its ever-expanding 10 series of smartphones, and although they do look a lot like the rest, they are not the same. Unlike TCL 10 Pro or 10 5G, the new TCL 10 Plus and TC .The TCL 10 Plus is almost identical to the TCL 10L that was launched a few months ago. The only major difference is that it features a notched display instead of a punch-hole cutout, and has a curved AMOLED panel instead. The screen size is 6.47-inches and the resolution is 1080p. It also has an in-display fingerprint sensor instead, which is a plus.L 10 SE are mid-rangers that have just gone on sale in Russia.