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  Alphabet unit  Google  on Tuesday said deals with  Android  phone makers that landed it a record 4.3-billion-euro ($5 billion) antitrust fine boosted competition and rejected EU charges they were a carrot-and-stick tactic that stifled rivals. Google  was addressing the second day of a week-long hearing as it tries to get Europe's second-highest court to annul the fine and a European Commission order to make it loosen its search engine grip on  Android  devices. Lawyers for  Google  and the EU competition executive clashed over the company's Mobile Application Distribution Agreements (MADAs) that require phone makers (OEMs) to pre-install the Google Search app and Chrome browser app in return for licensing Google Play for free. "This licensing model is what attracted OEMs to the  Android  platform, and what enabled those OEMs to offer a consistent and high-quality user experience at the lowest possible price," Google's l...

  Apple  is reportedly planning to start the mass production of an upcoming redesigned MacBook Air featuring powerful  Apple  silicon processor in the third quarter of 2022. The new MacBook Air will feature an entirely new design, including a mini-LED display and a more powerful  Apple  silicon processor, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, reports MacRumors. It will feature a "thinner and lighter" enclosure, two USB 4 ports, and a MagSafe charging connector. Rumours and leaks have proposed that the next MacBook Air could follow the 24-inch iMac in departing from the usual silver casing, in favour of a more colourful lineup. The report also points out that the rumour is about the 'M2' specifically, in that it is different from the 'M1X' that is "reserved for the Pro Mac devices". In February, it was claimed the 'M1X' would be an iteration of the M1, using 12 CPU cores instead of 8 and 16 GPU cores instead of 7 or 8, as well as a high...

  By Nivedita Balu and Jeffrey Dastin (Reuters) -  Amazon. com Inc on Tuesday announced a household, canine-like robot called Astro and a deal with Walt  Disney  Co to imbue its voice-controlled tech in resort hotels, striving to make its virtual aide Alexa a bigger part of consumers' lives. The home robot is designed to take up tasks such as home monitoring, setting up routines and reminders, and can play music and TV shows while rolling around the house. The device, which has digital eyes on a rotating screen mounted on wheels, is available at an introductory invite-only price of $999.99 and regular price of $1,449.99. Among other launches in its latest lineup were a smart thermostat, smart display Echo Show 15 and a new health-tracking band called Halo View. The Echo Show 15 can be mounted on a wall and is powered with AZ2 Neural Edge, a processor that helps users personalize the screen. In its push to appeal to the next generation of customers - kids ...

  Microsoft  Corp said on Tuesday it will allow Epic Games Inc,  Amazon. com Inc and other firms to integrate their app stores into the technology giant's marketplace, giving more options to third-party developers. The Redmond, Washington-based company also said it would not take a cut from app developers' revenue, when the apps manage their own in-app payment systems. " Microsoft  is again leading the industry forward with Windows, now an open platform with an open store," Epic Games Chief Executive Officer Tim Sweeney tweeted. The move comes as Epic Games and Apple Inc have been locked in a legal dispute since last year when the "Fortnite" creator tried to get around Apple's 30% fee on some in-app purchases on the  App Store  by launching its own in-app payment system. Developers have long criticized Apple's commissions of between 15% and 30% on many  App Store  purchases, what some developers see as an opaque and unpredictable app-vetti...

  Short video-making platform  TikTok  has crossed one billion monthly active users around the world. The video-sharing platform, owned by ByteDance, said it had about 55 million global users by January 2018. That number grew to more than 271 million by December 2018 and 507 million by December 2019. "On behalf of the  TikTok  team, I want to say thank you,"  TikTok  COO Vanessa Pappas said. "Wherever you are in the world, we definitely couldn't do this without you." Social media giant  Facebook  in comparison in the second quarter had 3.51 billion monthly users across its family of apps, up from 3.45 billion in the first quarter. Meanwhile,  Youtube  has over two billion monthly active users, having crossed the one billion mark in 2013, eight years after the company launched in 2005. TikTok said that its biggest markets are in the US, Europe, Brazil and Southeast Asia, even though its parent company  ByteDance  ...

  Food delivery  firm  Swiggy  (Bundl Technologies) said it has decided to change its daily grocery delivery service Supr Daily’s organisational structure to a Business Unit (BU) within Bundl. This will help Supr deal with with the unfair advantages that  Swiggy  has access to and accelerate its journey. Over the last 15 months,  Swiggy  CEO Sriharsha Majety said it has made some exciting progress on its  food delivery  business. “We’re now comfortably surpassing our pre-covid peak, while also being on the path to overall profitability,” said Majety in a blog post. While  food delivery  continues to be the firm’s flagship category, Swiggy also made some great progress in realising its larger vision of elevating the quality of life by delivering unparalleled convenience. “We’ve done this on the back of strong traction in the grocery delivery business,” said Majety. “This business is 10x the size of the food services indust...

  Instagram  has hit pause on a new app it is creating for kids, the photo-sharing service owned by  Facebook  Inc said on Monday, in a move that comes amid growing opposition for the project. Instagram  Kids had been touted as requiring parental permission to join, and was supposed to provide ad-free, age-appropriate content, but U.S. lawmakers and advocacy groups have urged the social media giant to drop its launch plans, citing safety concerns. "We won't stop pressuring  Facebook  until they permanently pull the plug," said Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, an advocacy group focused on kids. Instagram  said in a blog post that building Instagram Kids was the right thing to do, but that it was pausing the work and would continue building on its parental supervision tools. "The reality is that kids are already online, and we believe that developing age-appropriate experiences designed specifically for them is far better for pare...

  We are familiar with the wait for a document called  Form 16  in order to file income- tax  returns. Ever wondered what  Form 16  really is and what it tells about the taxpayer? Let's talk about the significance of one of the most important documents for taxpayers in India. First, let's first understand… What is  Form 16? A certificate detailing  tax  deducted at source by your employer Issued by an employer to its employee under Section 203 of the Income  Tax  Act Contains all the information you need in order to file your income tax return What does Form 16 contain? Salary details Tax already deducted Basically, it provides details about the salary you have earned during a financial year and the amount of tax that has been deducted by your employer and deposited with the I-T department. Is it mandatory for employers to issue Form 16? Yes, it is mandatory if any tax has been deducted at ...

  The  Centre  has informed the Delhi High Court that  Twitter  has appointed Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), Resident Grievance Officer (RGO), and Nodal Contact Person in compliance with the new IT Rules. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), in a short affidavit, said  Twitter  has acknowledged that the personnel (CCO, Nodal Contact Person, and RGO) are appointed as the company's employees and not as 'contingent workers'. Twitter  has provided the names of the said appointed personnel and their respective positions also. The said affidavit (of Twitter) mentions their employment start date as August 4, 2021. Twitter has further enclosed their employment contracts along with the said affidavit as proof of such appointments, the ministry said. The court had on August 10 directed the  Centre  to file a short affidavit in response to Twitter's affidavit in which the company had shown compliance with IT Rules....

  Telecom Department has approached TRAI seeking its recommendations on pricing, quantum and other modalities pertaining to radiowaves in multiple bands as it prepares the groundwork for holding  5G  spectrum auction in the coming months. The last round of spectrum auction, held in March this year, had raked-in winning bids of over Rs 77,800 crore for 855.6 MHz of spectrum. When contacted, TRAI Secretary V Raghunandan confirmed that TRAI has indeed received a reference from Department of Telecom (DoT) on  5G  spectrum but declined to divulge exact contents of the communication. The regulator is currently examining the reference made by DoT, he said. The reference is with regard to multiple bands and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will seek additional information, if needed. "We will try our best to meet the expectations," Raghunandan said when asked about the possible timelines for concluding the entire consultation process, including hol...

  Indian scientists have for the first time developed a thermally stable and cost-effective electronic polymer-based sensor for rapidly detecting nitro-aromatic  chemicals  used in high-energy explosives, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) said on Friday. The detection of  explosives  without destroying them is essential for protection, and criminal investigations, minefield remediation, military applications, ammunition remediation sites, security applications, and chemical sensors play a vital role in such cases, it said. Explosive poly-nitroaromatic compounds can be analysed usually by sophisticated instrumental techniques. But the requirements for quick decision making in criminology laboratories or reclaimed military sites or to detect  explosives  in possession of extremists often require simple, cheap, and selective field techniques, which will be non-destructive in nature, the DST said. Non-destructive sensing of nitroaromatic...

  The Indian Navy said on Sunday that it was closely monitoring the movement of  Cyclone  Gulab and kept naval ships and  aircraft  on standby for rescue and relief operations. Gulab is likely to cross between Gopalpur in Odisha's Ganjam district and Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh around midnight, the India Meteorological Department said. The Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam and naval officers in charge of Odisha have carried out preparatory activities to combat the effects of the cyclone, according to an official statement. The Navy is in constant liaison with the state administrations for rendering assistance as required and closely monitoring the movement of the cyclonic storm, it said. As part of the preparedness, flood relief teams and diving teams are prepositioned in Odisha and ready at Visakhapatnam to render immediate assistance, it added. Two naval ships are at sea with humanitarian assistance and disaster relief material, and medical ...

  Tech giant  Microsoft  has launched its second folding smartphone -- the Surface Duo 2 along with the next-generation Surface devices. Available in glacier or a new obsidian, Surface Duo 2 starts at $1499.99 and is available for pre-order in select markets. "Surface Duo 2 brings new and improved design to the Surface Duo line. Still emphasizing the ability to multitask, Surface Duo 2 features larger screens, increased durability, a dynamic triple-lens camera, lightning-fast 5G, and a spine that displays notifications when the device is closed," the company said in a statement. The OLED display, each, measures 5.8-inches in size, screen resolution of 1344 x 1892 pixels, is connected by a hinge and is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass. Both screens have a smooth 90Hz refresh rate and measure 8.3 inches diagonally when unfolded The new device features a triple-lens camera setup at the back with a 16MP ultra-wide lens, a 12MP wide angle lens and a 12MP telephot...

  Google  has filed a writ petition with the  Delhi High Court  against the Competition Commission of India (CCI) following the alleged leak of a confidential report that relates to the competition regulator’s ongoing investigation into the dominance of the search engine’s Android operating system. On September 18, a confidential interim fact-finding report submitted by the  CCI  director general’s office to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) relating to an ongoing investigation into Google’s Android smartphone agreements was leaked to the press, the technology giant has said. Google  has not yet received or reviewed this confidential report. The news story being referred to said the DG’s report found the American search and tech giant “guilty of adopting anti-competitive, unfair and restrictive trade practices in the mobile operating system and related markets”. On Thursday,  Google  filed the writ petition seeking redress in ...