Sci-tech / 24

Google unveils budget Pixel phone as pandemic curbs spending

August 04, 2020

The Pixel 4, by comparison, has a slightly smaller 5.7-inch screen that's framed by a thicker border, while the larger Pixel 4 XL comes in a 6.3-inch size. Google has stated that the Pixel 4A's launch had been somewhat delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, which likely caused delays in the supply chain, according to The Verge .

WhatsApp’s ‘Search the Web’ Feature Lets You Verify Forwarded Messages

August 04, 2020

WhatsApp has introduced a new "Search the Web" feature to fight misinformation on its platform. The new WhatsApp feature is providing a simple way to search messages that have been forwarded many times that may help people find news results or other sources of information about the content they have received.

Microsoft Confirms TikTok Purchase Talks Back On Table After Trump Call

August 04, 2020

On Monday, ByteDance said in a statement that it has always been committed to becoming a global company. The Republican president, who last week threatened to ban TikTok over national security concerns, said he had a great conversation with Microsoft's chief executive and that it might be easier if the company buys all of TikTok rather than 30 per cent.

Trump backs Microsoft TikTok purchase - but with a tight deadline

August 04, 2020

Trump told reporters at the White House that TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance , "will be out of business in the United States" without a sale to a "secure" USA company by the date in question. "[Microsoft] is committed to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury", the company said in the blog post.

Hong Kong reports 80 new coronavirus cases

August 04, 2020

According to the Herald, the adverts, which have been appearing regularly in the Christchurch Star, push the Chinese regime's stance on a range of issues including COVID-19 and the recent persecution of Uyghur Muslims in China's Xinjiang area.

Curfew in Kashmir ahead of autonomy revocation anniversary

August 04, 2020

Srinagar District Magistrate Shahid Iqbal Choudhary said in an order that the curfew will come into force with immediate effect and shall remain in effect on August 4 and August 5. Reports say there is tension in the region ahead of the anniversary and more troops have been deployed. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Defense Minister Pervaiz Khattak and Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on National Security Moed Yusuf visited Line of Control (LoC) at Chirikot sector on Monday ...

Google to buy stake in ADT security

August 04, 2020

Presumably, that means that Google's tech will replace ADT's own-branded cameras and doorbell, for example. "The goal is to give customers fewer false alarms, more ways to receive alarm events, and better detection of potential incidents inside and around the home", he wrote.

Microsoft to continue talks to buy TikTok from ByteDance after Trump call

August 04, 2020

Trump questioned who would get rights to the company's name if TikTok is owned by two different companies. The company also promised that the process will be subject to a complete security review, economic benefits will be provided to the United States including the United States Treasury, and all private data from TikTok's American users be transferred to and remain in America.

Remnants of Hurricane Isaias to gust through Quebec Wednesday and Thursday

August 04, 2020

Beachgoers pack Wrightsville Beach, N.C., Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020 as Tropical Storm Isaias moves along the Southeast Coast. While the brunt of Isaias on Monday is expected to be felt in the Carolinas, tropical storm warnings were issued for as far north as Rhode Island, and a tropical storm watch was issued in Maine.

This is the $350 Pixel 4a

August 04, 2020

The Pixel 4a is now available for pre-order from the Google Store ahead of its launch on August 20. So before we lose you to the lures of the OnePlus Nord or some other mid-range device we haven't thought to recall, let's get all these details out of the way.

Netflix Enables Faster/Slower Playback Speeds

August 04, 2020

Netflix has provided the option to shift watch videos at 0.5x, 0.75x, 1.25x, 1.5x speeds on Android devices. Netflix will now let all customers of its Android app play again video at completely different charges - starting from half-speed to 1.5 occasions sooner - a characteristic that elicited a strongly unfavourable response from some Hollywood creators when the streamer started testing it out final fall.

Google, ADT Partnering on Home Security Products

August 03, 2020

Google will buy 54.7 million newly created Class B shares of ADT for $8.22 each with no voting rights, the Boca Raton, Florida-based company said in a filing. The move will combine Google Nest's hardware with ADT's installation, service, and monitoring. ADT Chief Executive Officer Jim DeVries said "the combined solution will unlock access to new customers seeking premium technology, end-to-end smart-home services and trusted security".

Modern Warfare Season 5 trailer: Warzone map changes, new MP maps, more

August 03, 2020

It appears that the Call Of Duty Warzone stadium will be open in Season 5. This is said to be a major big update that is rolling out ahead of the Call of Duty season 5 which is set to kick off on Agust 5, 2020. The 6v6 maps are called Suldal Harbor and Petrov Oil Rig, the Gunfight one Livestock, while the Ground War map is Verdansk International Airport, themed after the massive location on the battle royale map.

Sony’s State of Play Returns This Week Focused on PS4 & PlayStation VR

August 03, 2020

Sony has announced a State of Play for Friday at 6am AEST, but it's looking like it won't feature any PS5 announcements. Some peripherals like headsets, the PSVR HMD, cameras, and legacy controllers can be used on PS5, but not all are compatible with next-gen games.

Google teases Pixel 4a’s launch for next week

August 03, 2020

It is expected to run on a Snapdragon 730 SoC with Adreno 618 GPU, and 6GB of RAM with 64GB and 128GB storage options. Lastly, the device is said to use a 3,080 mAh battery with 18W fast charging. In terms of specifications, the Pixel 4a is thought to have a 5.81-inch OLED display with a punch-hole camera, which earlier rumors claimed had a resolution of 2,340 by 1,080.

Apple will launch the iPhone 12 series in two stages

August 03, 2020

Users don't have to attach any accessory to their phones - all they need to do is input the transaction amount in the app and then tap a card or another smartphone onto the back of their device. It launched the Apple Card, its first credit card, last year. With this acquisition, Apple will be in more direct competition with Square Inc .

Renders of the OnePlus Aurora might have been spotted

August 03, 2020

Fortunately they were corrected via software update, which eliminated this major disappointment for most consumers and now that flaw has also reached the OnePlus Nord . As the Nord borrows a lot of the core features from the OnePlus 8, you ultimately get a device that delivers 90% of the same features at 60% of the cost.

Battletoads Xbox One and PC Game Will Debut in August 2020

August 03, 2020

The official reveal of Battletoads , however, didn't really resonate with players, especially long-time fans of the series who have been eagerly waiting for its revival. Battletoads is at long last ready to make its return after 26 years, as the latest game will be jumping to Xbox One this August, available day one for Xbox Game Pass .

Apple takes down 29,800 apps from China store, says report

August 03, 2020

The tech company did not give any immediate response when requested for a comment pon the issue. In July, Apple extended the deadline to July 31, at which point developers would be banned from continuing to operate on the Chinese App Store if they failed to submit such licenses.

Could Samsung launch the original Galaxy Fold in new colors soon?

August 03, 2020

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 renders leaked. Here's something interesting: Samsung might introduce two cancelled color options of the original Galaxy Fold . The smartphone is expected to have a storage capacity of 512 GB. The device is expected to feature a triple camera system that will comprise of an ultra-wide lens of 12MP, a wide-angle sensor of 12MP, and a 64MP telephoto sensor.

Halo Infinite Multiplayer Is Free to Play, 343 Confirms

August 03, 2020

Buy one $60 game, get both the campaign and multiplayer components. Based on what we know about the title so far, Halo Infinite is a full-fledged premium Xbox Series X outing and free-to-play mechanics could upset players who spent the full retail price on the game, especially if they upset multiplayer balance in any way.

CodeGuru, AWS's AI code reviewer and performance profiler, is now generally available

August 03, 2020

The tool is supported on serverless platforms such as AWS Lambda and AWS Fargate. With AWS Outposts customers can choose from a range of compute, storage, and graphics-optimized Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instances, both with and without local storage options, and Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) volume options.

The iPhone 12 is definitely delayed

August 03, 2020

Apple services went up to $13.2 billion, an increase of 15%. Though increases in digital transactions via Apple Pay or through the Apple Card were expected, considering the demand for online or contactless transactions from both merchants and consumers during the coronavirus pandemic, Cook focused instead on the uncertainty that comes into play with physical store closings during the pandemic.

NASA astronauts aboard SpaceX Crew Dragon set to return

August 03, 2020

Expect that splashdown to occur at roughly 2:48 p.m. ET. Recovery vessels are now working to lift the capsule out of the water. There the duo will undergo medical checks ahead of a flight to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Pandemic sales help Amazon post biggest profit in history -NK#134975

August 03, 2020

Amazon shares were trading up 4.4% at $3,187 at the time of publication in the after-hours session. The agreements have an average length of three years, the company said . "We're seeing migration plans accelerate", Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky told analysts. That push paid off as customers shifted from buying groceries and emergency supplies early in the pandemic to bigger orders with electronics and housewares to settle in at home for the long haul.

CD Projekt Red warns people of faked Cyberpunk beta invites

August 02, 2020

No matter how much we all want to access this game now (and to hang out with Keanu Reeves), it's very important that we all remember, Cyberpunk 2077 does not have a beta. A follow up tweet reads: " Same goes for content creators ". Should someone receive any actual information on a possible Cyberpunk 2077 beta, or news in general, it would come from an address that will end in @cdprojektred.com.

Microsoft Reportedly Backtracks on Buying TikTok Over Trump Opposition

August 02, 2020

Lindsey Graham says Microsoft should take over TikTok to "keep competition alive and data out of the hands of the Chinese government", after the sale of the app was reportedly put on hold when Trump announced he was shutting it down.

Hacker's 'malicious' cyber attack leads to Telstra outages

August 02, 2020

It blamed a a Denial of Service attack, saying Domain Name Servers were impacted. Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane were the main outage hotspots. Updates: We've identified the issue and working on it. "Sorry to mess with your Sunday plans", the company tweeted . "Your info isn't at risk", the company tweeted. The issue is now resolved, and the telco has backpedalled on the cyber attack claim.

Ubisoft Battle Royale Hyper Scape Coming to Consoles in August

August 02, 2020

When the season launches, new content will be available in the game, too - there's a new gun called the Dragonfly, which works well at mid-range, and a new hack called Magnet, which works as a kind of trap. Every week, a new Memory Shard will be hidden in the game world, for players to find and collect. Hyper Scape has been in open beta for a few weeks now and as we heard prior to the game's announcement, initial development is nearly wrapped up.

Battletoads 2020 is coming to Xbox Game Pass on August 20

August 02, 2020

Taking on the Dark Queen and her "abominable allies", you'll be able to play in couch co-op with up to three players, facing challenges and puzzles together. So to make the game accessible to all, Dlala is going to include various difficulty settings. The game will also be available on Steam. PC platform Steam just showed the game page for video game Battletoads and its official release date.

Apple affirms new iPhones won't show up in September

August 02, 2020

Apple also announced a four-for-one stock split that will take place at the end of the month, bringing the company's share price down to around $100 after it broke through the $400 mark following the earnings report. There were also minor updates to the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro, and new accessories like an iPad Pro keyboard with trackpad. However, we also know there will be new Intel Macs this year and probably beyond it.

The next Apple Watch could feature blood oxygen monitoring sensor

August 02, 2020

Take a look at the certifications of the new Apple Watch battery and find out what they have in store for us. Although Apple has, more or less, set the standard for health and wellness insights on smartwatches, it's been slower to release certain tools than its fitness-tracking counterparts.

Samsung UV Sterilizer launched with 10W wireless charging in India

August 02, 2020

One of the key highlights of this particular UV sterilizer is that it comes with wireless charging support. Samsung has announced the launch of a new UV Steriliser in India that will enable users to both sanitise their devices as well in less than 10 minutes.

Apple assembly partners to take part in India's $6.6B PLI scheme

August 02, 2020

Apple and Samsung account for almost 60 per cent of global sales revenue of mobile phones. Out of these, five worldwide players- Samsung, Foxconn - through two units, Wistron and Pegatron and five domestic players- Lava , Dixon, Micromax , Padget Electronics, Sojo and Optiemus will be aided by the government to develop their manufacturing ecosystem in India.

Hurricane Isaias lashes the Bahamas as it bears down on Florida

August 02, 2020

Right now it is just a tropical storm, but it should become a hurricane again. It recently barred travelers from the USA following a surge in cases after it reopened to global tourism. The authorities said that people living in the eastern end of Grand Bahama were also being moved. Officials reported that a man died in the Dominican Republic when he was electrocuted by a fallen electrical cable.

Netflix adds playback controls for speeding up or slowing down videos

August 02, 2020

Beginning this weekend, Android mobile users can choose between 0.5x or 0.75x speeds for slowed-down viewing and 1.25x or 1.5x speeds if they want to zip through their to-watch list. This feature was first announced previous year, and it took this long to launch because Netflix was working on features that ensure a smooth experience - such as automatically correcting the pitch in audio at faster and slower speeds so what you're hearing isn't going to be a distorted mess.

Initial Unemployment Claims Rise in Massachusetts Last Week

August 02, 2020

There were 6,764 filed from individuals who work and live in Iowa and 677 filed from those who work in Iowa but live in another state. For the week ending July 18, the department reported that 17,018,000 Americans were receiving unemployment compensation, up 867,000 from the previous week .

NASA astronauts aim for Florida coast to end SpaceX flight

August 02, 2020

Separation confirmed: The Dragon capsules performs four departure burns to move away from the ISS. There were seven possible landing sites along the Florida coast; three in the Atlantic Ocean were in the path of Tropical Storm Isaias. "It would be the first time in this particular vehicle if we do". Asked later what that "appropriate hardware" was, Hurley said it was bags like sickness bags on airliners, along with towels.

Microsoft shutting down Cortana app on iPhone and iPad in 2021

August 02, 2020

Cortana isn't going away, but Microsoft is tweaking the software to better compliment apps like Outlook and Teams. Microsoft is pulling the plug on the Cortana app for Android and iOS early next year for US users. "We look forward to continuing to innovate on ways Cortana can help you navigate the modern workplace so you can save time and focus on the things that matter most in your day", wrote Microsoft in the support article.

Hong Kong VPN providers accused of exposing user data

August 02, 2020

Details include the Personally identifiable information like email addresses, home addresses, clear text passwords, IP addresses etc. UFO VPN , which had over 10 million downloads, claimed it could not lock down the information due to the pandemic and the staff changes stemming from it.

We can't believe the editing on this powerful new Nike ad

August 02, 2020

Along with Rapinoe , other sports stars featured include Giannis Antetokounmpo , LeBron James, Colin Kaepernick , Eliud Kipchoge, Kylian Mbappé. With the National Basketball Association return here, Nike delivered its latest " You Can't Stop Us " short film aimed at celebrating how sports can inspire and serves as a reminder that a better future is possible.

Chrome adds biometric authentication for credit rating card details

August 02, 2020

Chrome's new credit card autofill feature builds on its support for WebAuthn , a biometric authentication standard. This is simple, but the company wants to simplify this step further by allowing you to provide that credit card confirmation through face recognition or fingerprint.

COVID Alert App now available

August 02, 2020

The governments of Canada and Ontario have sufficiently demonstrated that the application, although new and untested, is likely to be effective in reducing the spread of COVID-19, as part of a broader set of measures that includes manual contact tracing.

Apple's latest acquisition could turn iPhones into payment terminals

August 02, 2020

The Cupertino, California-headquartered tech giant reportedly paid around $100 million for the acquisition. And though Apple Fork out lets purchasers faucet their iPhones to shell out at a retail store, including Mobeewave could make it possible for any Apple iphone to accept payments without added hardware like a card reader.

Samsung, Apple to boost cellphone manufacturing in India

August 01, 2020

According to the estimates of India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), mobile phone companies will increase devices production in the country to around Rs 27.5 lakh crore on higher side under the PLI compared to government's announcement of Rs 11 lakh crore.

Boston Marathon bomber wins death penalty appeal

August 01, 2020

U.S. Circuit Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson wrote in the 182-page ruling that the trial judge "fell short" of ruling out biases in jurors during the selection process. One post after Tsarnaev's capture called him a 'piece of garbage'. Thompson said the pervasive news coverage of the bombings and their aftermath featured "bone-chilling" photos and videos of Tsarnaev and his brother carrying backpacks at the marathon and of those injured and killed near its finish line.

Battletoads release date has been confirmed for August

August 01, 2020

That includes bringing in some buddies for couch co-op, which allows up to three players to drop in and out at will, along with difficulty settings created to suit everyone from Tadpole to Battletoad. Battletoads is at long last ready to make its return after 26 years, as the latest game will be jumping to Xbox One this August, available day one for Xbox Game Pass .

Lamborghini Essenza SCV12 limited edition track-only vehicle breaks cover

August 01, 2020

The aerodynamics benefit from the Squadra Corse's GT racing experience, ensuring a certain efficiency and higher downforce levels than any GT3 auto. The power is handled by a new X-trac sequential six-speed gearbox as a structural element within the chassis, combined with a rear-wheel drive system.

OnePlus 8T could've been spotted at Geekbench

August 01, 2020

An OnePlus handset with model number KB2001 has recently appeared on the GeekBench benchmark website and while the site doesn't explicitly mention OnePlus 8T , it's widely believed that the handset is either OnePlus 8T or the 8T Pro .

Animal Crossing Players Are Creating Weird Things Out Of Fireworks

August 01, 2020

The fireworks show happens on Sunday night and villagers can view the spectacular display from their town plaza each week. They can also take with them copies of patterns from that dream island via a terminal located outside Resident Services.

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