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Showing posts from November, 2020

LG begins trials for indoor robot delivery service Cloi Servebot

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  LG Electronics  has started trials for its indoor robot called Cloi Servebot that can carry up to 15 kgs of items in its three drawers and deliver them efficiently and hygienically to its destination without remote control. The company said on Monday that LG Cloi Servebot will deliver products from convenience stores run by local store chain GS25 to the customers within LG Science Park, the company's headquarters in Seoul. The company earlier deployed the robot assistant at Seoul National University Hospital where it has been tasked with picking up and delivering equipment, blood samples, prescription drugs and other items, freeing up busy staff to concentrate on patients. The robots can get onto elevators on their own to move between nine floors above ground and a basement level to deliver lunch boxes, sandwiches, and drinks, LG said. Customers can order using their KakaoTalk chat app. After the order is made, convenience store employees will put the ordered goods into t

Moto G 5G with Snapdragon 750G SoC, 5000 mAh battery launched: Price, specs

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  Lenovo-owned smartphone brand  Motorola  on Monday launched in India the  Moto G  5G. Touted to be made in India, the smartphone is among the first to be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G system-on-chip. Priced at Rs 20,999 for its sole 6GB RAM and 128GB model, the phone will be available exclusively on Flipkart from December 7. As a part of its launch offer, the phone gets Rs 1,000 instant discount on HDFC Bank cards. In terms of specifications, the  Moto G  5G sports a 6.7-inch screen of 20:9 aspect ratio with HDR10 support. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G SoC, paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB on-board storage. The phone boots near-stock Android with no bloatware and ads. It is IP52 rated for protection from minor water spillages and dust. The phone is powered by a 5000 mAh battery, supported by TurboPower 20W fast-charging. Imaging is covered by triple camera set-up on the back, and a punch-hole display camera on the front. The rear camera array features a 48-megapi

Samsung working on devices with triple folds, rollable displays

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  Samsung  is reportedly working on new devices with a triple-folding screen and a rollable display. The South Korean tech giant has currently only revealed the designs as concepts on its display blog, reports GSMArena. The first drawing shows a tri-folding display Galaxy Fold. This new device would eliminate the Fold's need for an external display, as it could fold down to a third of its unfolded footprint. The other device that the company hinted at was a rollable display gadget. This product essentially has a long cylindrical body, which houses the flexible rolled up display. A recent patent for the tri-folding device was re-imagined by LetsGoDigital in the form of a few mock-up renders. This tri-folding device would feature a slide-out keyboard and could be used in different positions. The company earlier introduced Galaxy Z Fold2 that sports a 6.2-inch cover screen and a 7.6-inch main screen when unfolded. Read Complete Article

L&T shipyard completes order for 54 fast interceptor boats ahead of time

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  In an emphatic statement of warship building capability in the private sector, Larsen & Toubro’s Hazira shipyard handed over the last vessel in an order of 54 fast interceptor craft to the Coast Guard on Sunday — ahead of time and within the budget. With the four public sector shipyards — Mazagon Dock, Mumbai; Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers, Kolkata; Goa Shipyard; and Hindustan Shipyard, Visakhapatnam — invariably delivering warships years behind schedule and beyond budget, L&T has staked a powerful claim to be considered for future shipbuilding orders. The FICs delivered to the Coast Guard are 90-tonne vessels that can patrol the coastline at a scorching speed of 45 knots (83 kilometres per hour). L&T has built the 54 vessels for just under Rs 1,500 crore. L&T is now contending strongly for a number of naval contracts. The biggest of these, which will indicate how serious the defence ministry is about bringing in the private sector into defence pro

After a day's breather, benchmark indices reverse losses on F&O expiry

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  Equity indices resumed their ascent on Thursday after a day’s breather, buoyed by banking and financial stocks, as the November series derivative contracts expired amid largely positive cues from global  markets. After a volatile session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 431.64 points or 0.98 per cent higher at 44,259.74. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty surged 128.60 points or 1 per cent to 12,987. Tata Steel was the top performer among the Sensex components, surging 5.16 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Auto, HDFC, HCL Tech, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and Titan. However, Maruti, ONGC, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra and Infosys dipped up to 0.87 per cent. Global  markets  perched near lifetime highs as optimism surrounding the Covid-19 vaccines progress was tempered by rising coronavirus cases in multiple countries. Domestic equities witnessed sharp recovery led by sharp rebound in banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) stocks and metals, said Binod Modi, Head- St

Russia agrees to produce coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V in India

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  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's sovereign wealth fund and Indian pharmaceutical company Hetero have agreed to produce over 100 million doses per year in  India  of the Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, according to a statement on the Sputnik V Twitter account on Friday. Hetero and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which has been backing the vaccine and marketing it globally, plan to start production of Sputnik V in  India  at the beginning of 2021, the statement said. Phase II-III trials are ongoing in India, the statement said. Drugmaker Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd has said it expects late-stage trials to be completed by as early as March 2021. Read Complete Article

Ind vs Aus ODI: Protesters barge into SCG holding 'No $1B Adani Loan' signs

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  The first ODI between Australia and India on Friday suffered a brief disruption as a group of protesters invaded the pitch at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) holding placards saying 'No $1B Adani Loan'. Two people made their way into the centre fielding circle holding up cardboard signs before the start of the seventh over. It took a while before the security guards reacted and escorted the protesters out of the field as players and umpires stood around wondering what was happening. The invaders were protesters against  Adani Group  and held 'NO $1B ADANI LOAN' sign. The front of the protesters' T-shirt read "#StopAdani", while at the back, it said "Stop Coal. #StopAdani. Take Action." According to Fox Sports, a group named 'Stop Adani' on Friday issued a press release, urging the State Bank of India (SBI) not to approve a loan of $1 billion Australian dollars to Adani. "Well that was possibly the oddest pitch invasion I&

One child or youth under 20 infected with HIV every 100 seconds: UNICEF

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  Approximately once every minute and 40 seconds, a child or young person under the age of 20 was infected with  HIV  last year, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday. Prevention efforts and treatment for children remain some of the lowest amongst key affected populations, and in 2019, a little less than half of children worldwide did not have access to life-saving treatment,  UNICEF  said in a new report. Nearly 3,20,000 children and adolescents were newly infected with  HIV  and 1,10,000 children died of AIDS last year, the Xinhua news agency reported. "Children are still getting infected at alarming rates, and they are still dying from AIDS. This was even before Covid-19 interrupted vital  HIV  treatment and prevention services putting countless more lives at risk," said  UNICEF  Executive Director Henrietta Fore. According to UNICEF, the Covid-19 pandemic has worsened inequalities in access to life-saving HIV services for children, adolescents and

Amazon's cloud service AWS sees widespread outage affecting services

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  (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc's widely used cloud service,  Amazon Web Services  (AWS), is experiencing a large-scale outage, the company said on Wednesday, affecting users ranging from websites to software providers. It has also affected the ability to post updates to its service health dashboard, the company said. "Kinesis has been experiencing increased error rates this morning in our US-East-1 Region that's impacted some other AWS services. We are working toward resolution," an AWS spokesperson said in a statement. Amazon Kinesis, a part of its cloud offerings, collects, processes and analyzes real-time data and offers insights. Video-streaming device maker Roku Inc, Adobe's Spark platform, video-hosting website Flickr and the Baltimore Sun newspaper were among those hit by the outage, according to their recent posts on Twitter. Read Complete Article

Xiaomi announces Black Friday sale, offers discount on smartphones and more

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  Chinese electronics maker  Xiaomi  has announced its Black Friday sale in India. The sale starts from November 26 and will continue till November 29 on  Xiaomi  web portal, Amazon, Flipkart and offline stores. In the sale, the company is offering discounts on wide range of Mi and Redmi branded products, including smartphones, audio products, health and fitness products, and lifestyle products. Here are the details: Smartphones Xiaomi  is offering discounts on its budget and midrange line-up of Redmi branded smartphones. The Redmi 8A and Redmi Note 8 (4GB + 64GB) are available at a discounted price of Rs 6,999 and Rs 11,499, respectively. The Redmi 9i, Redmi 9 Prime and Redmi Note 9 Pro’s 4GB + 128GB variant are available at a discounted price of Rs 8,999, Rs 10,999 and Rs 14,999, respectively. Read Complete Article

Smartphone shipments to return to growth in holiday quarter: IDC

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  As consumer spending shifts from travel, dining out and general leisure to consumer electronics during the pandemic, the global smartphone market is expected to return to growth during the holiday quarter this year amid strong push towards 5G, according to a new IDC report. According to the IDC 'Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker',  smartphone shipments  are forecast to grow 2.4 per cent (on-year) in the fourth quarter of 2020, followed by 4.4 per cent growth in 2021. The market rebound will be fuelled by an impressively quick supply chain recovery as well as significant incentives from both original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and channels on new 5G products. "Despite concerns around weakness in 5G demand, smartphone volumes exceeded the forecast in 3Q20 and supply-side momentum headed into the holiday quarter and 2021 remains strong," said Ryan Reith, programme vice president with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. "Despite on-going

Microsoft plans to bring Xbox gaming app direct on your smart TVs

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  Microsoft is planning to bring its gaming console Xbox app on Smart TVs over the next year, which means people can stream Xbox games directly from their TVs soon. In an interview with The Verge, Microsoft Xbox head Phil Spencer revealed this plan. "I think you're going to see that in the next 12 months. I don't think anything is going to stop us from doing that," said Spencer when asked about turning the Xbox into a TV app. While Microsoft is pushing its xCloud gaming service, the company has no plans to abandon consoles or hardware. The Xbox Series X and Series S gaming consoles went on sale on November 10 internationally. Despite launching the middle of a global pandemic, Xbox has beaten all previous console launch records with its new systems, Spencer had said earlier. Microsoft announced the release of Xbox Series X and S as its biggest Xbox launch ever, though it did not provide any specific sales figures. Read Complete Article

Lenovo ThinkBook Plus review: Regular laptop with useful e-ink cover screen

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  The  Lenovo  ThinkBook Plus is a one-of-its-kind  notebook  with dual displays – a 13.3-inch primary screen complemented by a secondary 10.8-inch e-Ink screen. It may not be the only  notebook  with a dual-screen design, but it is indeed the only that lets you use the secondary screen without lifting the display lid. That is because the e-Ink display is available on the cover, and it is always active – unless the  notebook  runs out of battery. Therefore, you neither have to open the lid nor wake the laptop to use the secondary screen. Moreover, the e-Ink display is touch-enabled and supports Lenovo’s digital pen tool (an in-box accessory). The e-Ink display is supplementary, and so is its usage. Besides showing notifications, the e-Ink display can be used as an e-reader (through the Windows Kindle app) and PDF viewer with annotate and review functionality. Moreover, you can use it to sketch and take notes. Thankfully,  Lenovo  has integrated Microsoft OneNote – not something of its

400 new games set to arrive on Google Stadia game streaming service

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  Google  has announced that around 400 new games are on the way for its Stadia Cloud game streaming service. In an interview with MobileSyrup on Tuesday, Jack Buser, Stadia Director of Games, said most of these games would be arriving in 2021 and beyond. The number of games on Stadia's roadmap gives evidence that  Google  is intended to run the service for a long period of time. "We are looking many years out into the future. Gaming is one of the biggest businesses at Google, which is why you see us investing so much time and energy to support all these hundreds of developers building all these games. We have a very exciting year ahead of us. And, in fact, we have very exciting many years ahead of us," Buser was quoted as saying. Having 400 games from so many different developers on the Stadia roadmap shows both how much  Google  is pushing the platform. The company has made some big hires as part of its first-party development efforts, including ex-Ubisoft and

China opposes Indian bans of its 43 mobile apps over national security

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  BEIJING (Reuters) -  China  resolutely opposes India's measures to ban more Chinese mobile applications over national security concerns, its embassy in the South Asian nation said on Wednesday. India banned 43 of the apps on Tuesday, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's e-commerce app Aliexpress, in a new wave of web sanctions targeting  China  after the neighbours' months-long standoff on their Himalayan border.   Read Complete Article

Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro review: Great screen, cameras and efficacy, but bulky

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  Xiaomi  restricted itself to budget and mid-range  smartphones  in India’s price conscious market for a long time. This year, however, the Chinese electronics maker took the leap and launched its premier  smartphones  in India. Fresh in the line-up is the Mi 10T Pro, which epitomises the company’s efforts in display technology and imaging. Priced at Rs 39,999, the Mi 10T Pro is one of the  smartphones  that seems to offer sheer value-for-money, at least on paper. Is it as good in real life usage? Let’s find out: Mi 10T Pro: Design The Mi 10T Pro is huge, bulky and heavy. Look elsewhere if you need a compact smartphone because this one is a brick not meant for single hand operations. The smartphone boasts premium glass-metal construction with Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the front and back, and on the rear camera module. Though the phone has a premium built, its glossy rear profile makes it susceptible to accidental slips from hands. Moreover, the phone’s back cover attracts fing

WhatsApp OTP scam: What is it, how it works, other things you need to know

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  A new scam has surfaced and the target this time is the popular instant messaging app  WhatsApp.  Hackers are sending texts to people pretending to be a friend or relative and asking for immediate help stating some emergency. The  Whatsapp  OTP scam is similar to other recent scams where hackers target to gain access to one-time password (OTP). Here is how it works and why one must be careful:  What is this  WhatsApp  OTP scam? Hackers can contact you via SMS, pretending to be your friend or relative, and will ask for an one time password (OTP) they may have sent on your number by mistake.  If you share the OTP then hackers will get access to your account and all your personal messages and media. The hacker can then send messages to your friends/relatives and can also ask money from them. What to do if this happens? One should immediately reset WhatsApp and log in again. To avoid the scam, it's always advisable to not share any information without confirming if the mess

Google Stadia coming to Apple iPhone, iPad in 2021 through web app: Report

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  Google  has confirmed its cloud gaming service Stadia will be coming to Apple iPhone and iPad. However, it will not be a standalone app, instead a web app that will run on any mobile browser including Apple's own Safari, according to The Verge. Google  was not able to bring the service to iOS devices at the time of its launch because of restrictions imposed by Apple. In August, Apple eased restrictions after public criticism from Microsoft and others, but the App Store still requires companies to submit individual games for App Store review. These are not the only two services to come to iOS devices. The GeForce NOW Cloud gaming service is already up and running on iOS Safari in Beta. It is also expected to feature the widely popular game Fortnite, which has been banned from the App Store as a result of Epic Games bypassing Apple’s standard 30 per cent fees. Stadia is not yet available in India, but reports say  Google  is planning to introduce it in the country by 2021.

Worries of widespread 'tech addiction' may be overblown, says study

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  Parents, take it easy if your kids are spending more time on various screens. New research claims that parental restrictions on tech use have little lasting effect into adulthood and fears of widespread and long-lasting tech addiction may be overblown. The study is among the firsts to examine how digital  technology  use evolves from childhood to adulthood in the mobile Internet era. The data were gathered prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has resulted in dramatic increases in the use of  technology  as millions of students have been forced to attend school and socialise online. But the study authors said the findings should come as some comfort to parents worried about all that extra screen time. "Are lots of people getting addicted to tech as teenagers and staying addicted as young adults? The answer from our research is 'no'," said lead author Stefanie Mollborn, a professor of sociology at the Institute of Behavioral Science at University of Colorado

Samsung launching Galaxy Z Fold 3 with S Pen, Note to discontinue

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  Samsung will launch a new foldable phone called Galaxy Z Fold 3 with the S Pen support in June next year and the South Korean giant may discontinue the Galaxy Note lineup, the media reported on Monday. According to a report in the South Korean publication Aju News, Samsung Electronics has confirmed that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 foldable phone will arrive in June 2021. The report claimed that Samsung will discontinue the Galaxy Note series next year. "The Galaxy Z Fold 3 is developed as a premium smartphone that combines the latest technologies from Samsung Electronics, such as S Pen (electronic pen) and UDC (Under Display Camera)". UDC is a technology that allows to take pictures without a camera hole by placing a camera under the OLED screen. Samsung "confirmed that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 will be equipped with the S Pen, a feature of the existing Galaxy Note series," the report mentioned. As the S Pen stylus is applied to the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy S21 Ul

OPPO Enco W51 review: Good earbuds for music and calls, comfort is an issue

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  The  OPPO  Enco W51 is an affordable pair of true wireless stereo (TWS) earphones with noise cancellation feature. At Rs 4,999, the Enco 51 is one of the few TWS earphones with in-ear design for noise isolation, an array of six microphones for digital noise cancellation, and an ingress protection rating (IP54) for water and dust resistance. The earphones are touted to be as good for attending voice calls as it is for listening to music. Is it? Let’s find out: Design The  OPPO  Enco W51 looks similar to the  OPPO Enco W31 (review) , which is another budget in-ear TWS earphones, but without noise cancellation feature. The earphones look premium and have a touch of novelty. Being an in-ear earphones, the Enco W51 offers secure and snug fit besides good passive noise isolation. However, the earphones’ hard silicone tips and oval design make them unsuitable for extended usage as they cause discomfort to ears after some time. Like the earphones, the Enco W51’s charging-cum-storage ca

India carried out 'pinpoint strikes' on terror launchpads in PoK: Report

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India asks for record access to Facebook users' data in 2020 1st half

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  The requests by the Indian government to seek access to  Facebook  users' data further increased in the first six months of this year, second only to the US government, the social networking giant has revealed. In total, India requested  Facebook  to provide data in 35,560 cases in the January-June 2020 period -- significantly up from 26,698 queries about users' data in the second half of 2019. Facebook  provided data in 50 per cent of the requests, according to its latest biannual Transparency Report. "We have strict guidelines in place to deal with all government data requests," Facebook said in a statement late on Thursday. There were a total of 33,374 legal requests and 2,186 emergency requests from India. There was also an increase in the Indian government's request to preserve account information too, pending the receipt of formal legal process. In the January-June 2020 period, India asked for 4,100 accounts to be preserved, from 2,500 account

Netflix to host StreamFest in India; free viewing on December 5-6 weekend

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  US-based content streaming platform  Netflix  on Friday said it will host 'StreamFest' in India on December 5-6 that will allow non-subscribers to experience the service for free. The move is aimed at bringing new users to the platform that competes against players like Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar and Zee5 in the burgeoning OTT (over the top) market in India. "At Netflix, we want to bring the most amazing stories from across the world to all fans of entertainment in India. It's why we're hosting StreamFest: an entire weekend (December 5 12.01am-December 6 11.59pm) of free Netflix,"  Netflix  India Vice President (Content) Monika Shergill said in a blogpost. She added that non-users of  Netflix  can sign up with their name, email or phone number, and password and start streaming without any payment. "Anyone who signs in during StreamFest gets one stream in standard definition so, no one else can use the same login information to stream...

New WhatsApp feature to allow users to mute videos before sending

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  Instant messaging app  WhatsApp  is reportedly working on a new feature that would let users mute their videos before posting those to their friends and family members or putting them up as status. As spotted by WABetaInfo, a website that tracks WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned company is now developing a mute video feature and it has appeared on a beta update. In the screenshot shared by the  WhatsApp  features tracker, one can see the option of muting the video along with the trimming option. "After enabling Advanced Wallpaper features and Disappearing messages,  WhatsApp  is working on new features now. The next feature, available in a future update, will allow muting videos before sending to contact or your status updates," a report by WABetaInfo read. WhatsApp has also started rolling out advanced wallpaper features to more users. This feature lets users set a different wallpaper for each chat. You can choose to set one wallpaper for all chats on WhatsApp, or man