Tech Bites

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon surged again over the past year, hitting a 12-year high, according to official figures released Monday that drew a chorus of condemnation of President Jair Bolsonaro's government. A total of 11,088 square kilometres (4,281 square miles) of the forest was destroyed in Brazil's share of the world's biggest rainforest in the 12 months to August, according to the Brazilian space agency's PRODES monitoring program, which analyzes satellite images to track deforestation. That is equivalent to an area larger than Jamaica and was a 9.5-percent increase from the previous year when deforestation also hit a more than decade-long high. "Because of such deforestation, Brazil is probably the only major greenhouse gas emitter that managed to increase its emissions in the year the coronavirus pandemic paralyzed the global economy," said the Brazilian Climate Observatory, a coalition of environmental groups. Forests such as the Amazon

Jabra has expanded its audio products line up in India by launching Elite 85t earphones that come with advanced active noise cancellation (ANC) technology and many other features. The device will have a very compact size to give users a light feel and a hear through mode to be mindful of things happening around you. It also features a long battery life. Jabra will be selling Elite 85t via e-commerce platform Amazon from today (1 December 2020) at Rs 18,999. The Jabra Elite 85t will be available in Titanium Black colour and the company has promised that more colour variants will be dropping in January, 2021. The company claims that the Jabra Elite 85t will offer “a level of noise-cancelling that goes one step further than Jabra’s standard ANC offerings”. The ANC function can be modulated as well according to the need of the user. The products come with a dual chipset in the earbuds to aid the noise cancellation capability and optimal sound processing. For clear sound and superior ba

Microsoft is going ahead with its plan of ending support for Internet Explorer 11 or IE 11. As per the roadmap, Microsoft Teams stopped working on the browser starting 30 November. In Microsoft’s attempt at moving users to the new Microsoft Edge from the old IE, the Microsoft Teams web app became the first app to support the browser. Microsoft had announced back in August this year that they are planning to end support for IE 11 by August 2021. With the transition set in motion, other Microsoft’s online services such as Office 365, OneDrive, and Outlook are also soon not going to work on Internet Explorer 11. The blog post by Microsoft stated that the next step on Microsoft's timeline for phasing out Internet Explorer 11 support was ending support for Microsoft Edge Legacy by 9 March 2021. The timeline announced on 17 August 2020 gave a full-year time period for users to make the jump to Edge as IE will put to bed forever on 17 August 2021. The browser’s death basically means

Some scientists spend their lives trying to pinpoint the shape of tiny proteins in the human body. Proteins are the microscopic mechanisms that drive the behaviour of viruses, bacteria, the human body and all living things. They begin as strings of chemical compounds before twisting and folding into three-dimensional shapes that define what they can do — and what they cannot. For biologists, identifying the precise shape of a protein often requires months, years or even decades of experimentation. It requires skill, intelligence and more than a little elbow grease. Sometimes they never succeed. Now, an artificial intelligence lab in London has built a computer system that can do the job in a few hours — perhaps even a few minutes. DeepMind, a lab owned by the same parent company as Google, said Monday that its system, called AlphaFold, had solved what is known as “the protein folding problem.” Given the string of amino acids that make up a protein, the system can rapidly and reliab

Redmi Note 9 4G China model is now reported to launch in the India market with the name Redmi 9 Power. Meanwhile, Xiaomi introduced the Poco M3 first in Europe and then re-introduced it as the Redmi... from NDTV Gadgets - Latest https://ift.tt/36n2SjO

Canada plans to impose a tax on corporations providing digital services from 2022 that will stay in place until major nations come up with a coordinated approach on taxation. from NDTV Gadgets - Latest https://ift.tt/36pgD1G

Facebook and Google are fast becoming "human rights-free zones" in Vietnam, Amnesty International warned, accusing the tech titans of helping censor peaceful dissent and political expression in the... from NDTV Gadgets - Latest https://ift.tt/3mqCviI

Since 2013, global efforts have been made to gain control over the AIDS epidemic by 2020 through UNAIDS’ 90-90-90 targets. The focus has been to have 90 percent of all people living with HIV know their status; and of those, 90percent initiated on antiretroviral therapy (ART); and of those, 90 percent reaching viral suppression through ART adherence. Viral suppression means that virus in their blood is undetectable and they cannot transmit HIV sexually. Much ground has been made towards achieving these goals. To date, 14 countries have reached the 90-90-90 targets. However, missed targets in other countries have allowed 3.5 million HIV infections and 820,000 AIDS-related deaths to occur since 2015. One of the countries missing the mark is South Africa, which carries 20 percent of the global HIV burden. By 2018, encouragingly 90 percent of all people with HIV in South Africa knew their status. However, only 68 percentwho knew their status were on ART; and of those, 87 percent were

Back in September, when the Indian government banned the PUBG Mobile game in India, Studio nCore Pvt Ltd announced a home-grown substitute of the game called FAUG , short for The Fearless and United Guards . The game is now live on Play Store and is open for pre-registration. If you pre-register for the game, you will receive a notification whenever the game is available for download. Details like official release date, size of the game, compatible devices are still under the wraps for now. Going by the description on Play Store , the battleground of the game will be "India's northern border" where a group is fighting to protect the nation's pride and sovereignty. The players will get the skin of a "patriotic soldier" and are expected to experience the "bravery, brotherhood, and sacrifice of the men guarding the country’s borders". In addition to this, the listing also reveals a couple of screenshots from the game, giving a glimpse of what the

Amazon and Apple have not signed up to a new French initiative to get global tech companies to publicly commit to principles including paying their fair share of taxes. from NDTV Gadgets - Latest https://ift.tt/3fURrmx

Facebook announced it is buying Kustomer, a startup specialising in helping businesses interact with customers online. from NDTV Gadgets - Latest https://ift.tt/2HTSTsU

Bitcoin soared to a record high against the dollar on Monday, boosted by increased demand from both institutional and retail investors that saw the virtual currency as a safe-haven and a hedge against... from NDTV Gadgets - Latest https://ift.tt/33yDiXv

World AIDS Day this year finds us still deep amid another pandemic – COVID-19 . The highly infectious novel coronavirus has swept across the world, devastating health systems and laying waste to economies as governments introduced drastic measures to contain the spread. Not since the HIV/AIDS pandemic of the 1990s have countries faced such a common health threat. This explains why UNAIDS has selected the theme “ Global Solidarity, Shared Responsibility ” for this year’s World AIDS Day. Infectious diseases such as these remain a major threat to human health and prosperity. Around 32.7 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses in the last 40 years. At the time of writing, 1.4 million people had already died from COVID-19 in just one year. These diseases take incredible expertise, collaboration and dedication from all levels of society to track, understand, treat and prevent. The HIV/AIDS response played out over a much longer trajectory than COVID-19. But it is, in som

Since the inception of the National AIDS Control Program in 1992, India has done a commendable job of raising awareness and of bringing down the number of HIV infections. Still, India has a long way to go in terms of achieving her set targets. Today, on World AIDS Day (1 December), is a good time to reflect on the progress India has made in AIDS prevention and control, and the way forward. Burden of HIV/AIDS in India India’s first AIDS case was detected in 1986 and since then the burden has grown to an estimated 23.49 lakh persons living with HIV (PLHIV) in 2019. According to the India HIV Estimates 2019 report, the prevalence of HIV among adults was estimated to be 0.22 percent. It may seem like a small proportion. However, given India’s population, it translates to 2.1 million people. The number of AIDS-related deaths was estimated to be 58,960. As per the statistics, it seems that after reaching a peak in the early 2000s, both the prevalence and mortality are showing a downward t

The Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) near here has received the prestigious ''IEEE Milestone'' status that honours significant technical achievements and excellence in unique products, services, seminal papers and patents for the benefit of humanity, authorities from National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) said on Friday. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology in all areas related to electrical and electronics engineering. As per the NCRA, this is only the third such IEEE Milestone recognition for an Indian contribution. "It is a very proud and special moment, not just for GMRT and NCRA (and the global astronomy community), but also for the science and technology fraternity in the country, to see a modern, made in India facility earn this international recognition," Professor Yashwant Gupta, NCRA centre director, said at a press confer

Anti-obesity Day is observed on 26 November to spread awareness about obesity. It is a condition where abnormal or excessive body fat has accumulated in the body and is affecting health negatively. As per a global report the number of adults (18 years and older) who are obese grew from 25.2 million in 2012 to 34.3 million in 2016, growing from 3.1 percent to 3.9 percent. Showing that the prevalence of obesity in India is increasing faster than the world average. With the recent lockdown and lifestyle changes due to the pandemic these numbers have been pushed further. Obesity can have extreme negative effects on the body and can increase the risk of conditions like diabetes and PCOS especially in women of reproductive age. Obesity is affecting people the world over; it is becoming a greater challenge for women who could be prone to PCOS and/or diabetes. As per research by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), one in four women suffers from PCOS and over one in 10 women

Amazon India Cyber Monday sale brings up to 50 percent off on international brands such as Ecovacs, Akaso, Tribit, Huion, Nibosi, Sojos, and more. There are other limited time offers as well. from NDTV Gadgets - Latest https://ift.tt/3llogu3

Moto G 5G was launched in Europe earlier this month, and it has now made its way to India. The phone is powered by the Snapdragon 750G SoC and packs a large 5,000mAh battery. It has a triple rear... from NDTV Gadgets - Latest https://ift.tt/2HW7eFq

Samsung Level U2 neckband earbuds have been launched. The new model comes over five years after the launch of the original Level U. The Samsung Level U2 are designed to deliver up to 18 hours of... from NDTV Gadgets - Latest https://ift.tt/3ltPmzv

If data is the new oil, automation is the force that drives enterprises forward. Implementing automation technology can streamline processes, enable faster decision making and even solve business problems, when used in conjunction with AI, machine learning and other digital technology. Effectively, it can completely change the face of businesses management by freeing up mental bandwidth of leaders, leaving them to innovate and strategize. Interestingly, the pandemic gave a boost to the use of RPA and offering enterprises a first-hand experience of the importance of automation. To discuss their insights on how intelligent automation is transforming the way India Inc. works, technology leaders from diverse sectors of India Inc came together for a virtual conversation, under the aegis of ‘Future Ready India’, an initiative hosted by Automation Anywhere in collaboration with CNBC TV-18 and Forbes India. The participants included Rajesh Uppal, Member Executive Board (HR, IT, Safety) Maru

Samsung could soon be coming out with a Galaxy Z Flip 3 foldable with a 120 Hz refresh rate display. The smartphone is going to feature a 6.9-inch foldable screen and with a refresh rate of 120 Hz, which is double of what is available in the current Galaxy Z Flip 5G. This has been reported by Vietnamese tipster @Chunvn8888 on Twitter. The tipster also added that the device will have a 2x - 3x outer display size (which means larger than the current devices) and a 3,900 mAh battery under the hole. The device will also have thinner bezels and a smaller hole punch. The new phone is also expected to be more durable thanks to a new ultra-thin glass that’s going to be used for the display. New UTG Much better durability Let's see if these can aged well but basically confirmed what I said before and yesterday Korean media report — Chun (@chunvn8888) November 25, 2020 According to a report by XDA Developers , a post on Weibo from renowned leaker Ice Universe too confirms the 12

Nokia 5.4 may be launched with a 6.4-inch hole-punch display and a faster SoC than its predecessor, a report has said. The smartphone's alleged 4GB RAM and 128GB storage variant has been seen on two... from NDTV Gadgets - Latest https://ift.tt/3oakzcK

The Mandalorian season 2, Mulan, His Dark Materials season 2, Pixar's Soul movie, holiday specials for Euphoria and High School Musical, Godmothered - the biggest TV shows and movies on Disney+... from NDTV Gadgets - Latest https://ift.tt/3oakx4C

Oppo Reno 5 Pro 5G has appeared on an HDR10+ certification site. Two variants of the upcoming Oppo Reno 5 Pro 5G, carrying model numbers PDSM00 and PDST00, were listed on the site. . The smartphones... from NDTV Gadgets - Latest https://ift.tt/39sR8OD

ZTE Blade V2021 5G will be released on December 2, according to its listing on Chinese e-retailer JD.com. The phone will come with 5G support and a triple rear camera setup. from NDTV Gadgets - Latest https://ift.tt/2KViO4R

Xiaomi Mi 11 series, comprising the Mi 11 and Mi 11 Pro, is speculated to debut as early as January. The Chinese company is likely to make a formal announcement about the Mi 11 series at Qualcomm... from NDTV Gadgets - Latest https://ift.tt/3qc8LYZ

Motorola will launch Moto G 5G in India today at 12 pm. The company, via a tweet, revealed all the specifications of the smartphone including a triple rear camera, a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and a punch-hole display. A Flipkart teaser also confirmed that the smartphone will be available for purchase on Flipkart. The highlight of the smartphone includes 5G connectivity, a 48 MP triple rear camera setup and a 5,000 mAh battery. The all-new #motog5G is up for grabs! Switch on your sixth sense & guess the price. Share your answers & stand a chance to win India’s most affordable 5G ready device launching tomorrow at 12 PM on @Flipkart . The contest ends on 30th Nov, 11 AM. T&C Apply: https://t.co/NED6M6QdW2 pic.twitter.com/Mz53FBQnmV — Motorola India (@motorolaindia) November 29, 2020 Moto G 5G expected specifications Moto G 5G will feature a 6.7-inch full-HD+ display that comes with a resolution of 1,080 x 2,400 pixels. It is expected to run on Android 10 and

A power-packed apex committee meeting of the new Science, Technology & Innovation Policy (STIP) 2020 discussed various suggestions for the upcoming policy, a statement said on Saturday. The draft STIP-2020 policy was presented in the meeting held on 26 November, it said. Secretaries of all science and several line ministries – Ministry of Earth Sciences secretary M Rajeevan; Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) secretary K N Vyas; Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) director general Shekhar Mande; Department of Biotechnology (DBT) secretary Renu Swarup; Department of Space secretary K Sivan; Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) secretary Sandeep Verma; Ministry of AYUSH secretary Vaidya Rajesh and Scientific Secretary at the office of the Principal Scientific Adviser Arabinda Mitra participated and shared their insights and expectations from the STIP 2020. Heads of several national-level S&T institutions like the IITs, Indian Institute of Sciences, and science

People with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, are most infectious about two days before symptoms begin and for five days afterwards, according to a new analysis of previous research. A few patients who are extremely ill or have impaired immune systems may expel — or “shed” — the virus for as long as 20 days, other studies have suggested. Even in mild cases, some patients may shed live virus for about a week, the new analysis found. The accumulating data presents a quandary: Should public health officials shorten the recommended isolation time if it means more infected people will cooperate? Or should officials opt for longer periods in order to prevent transmission in virtually all cases, even if doing so takes a harsher toll on the economy? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that infected people isolate for a minimum of 10 days from the beginning of their illness. The agency is considering shortening the recommended isolation period and may iss

Researchers have created the smallest memory device yet, an advance that may lead to faster, smaller, and more energy-efficient electronic chips for consumer electronics and brain-inspired computing. The scientists from the University of Texas at Austin in the US also found the physics that unlocks dense memory storage capabilities for these tiny devices. In the research, published recently in the journal Nature Nanotechnology , the scientists reduced the size of what was then the thinnest memory storage device, shrinking the cross-section area down to just a single square nanometre. According to the researchers, getting a handle on the physics that pack dense memory storage capability into these devices enabled them to make the device much smaller. They said ultrasmall holes in the material provide the key to unlocking the high-density memory storage capability. "When a single additional metal atom goes into that nanoscale hole and fills it, it confers some of its conductivi

Britain has ordered telecom firms to not install any new Huawei 5G kit after September 2021. They were already banned from buying new Huawei 5G kit after year's end. from NDTV Gadgets - Latest https://ift.tt/3qdfGkY

The Trump administration could add China's top chipmaker SMIC and national offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies, according to a document and... from NDTV Gadgets - Latest https://ift.tt/3qbQYBc

Price: Rs 19,990 Rating: 4/5 The sound quality of true wireless (TWS) earphones has improved in leaps and bounds over the past twelve months. They now aspire to do everything their wired counterparts can. Active noise cancellation (ANC) seems to be the next frontier for many brands to conquer this year. The Sony WF-1000XM3 TWS earphones claim to have cracked it. So let’s see how the claim pans out.   Sony WF-1000XM3 Noise Cancelling Earphones: Build, design and features (7.5/10) These Sony buds are quite chunky and sport an unusual design. When you put them on, they remind you of the bluetooth hands-free earpieces of yesteryear. Their build quality is solid, with a predominantly matte finish and a bit of gloss for the touch-enabled zones. You have hints of copper accents around the microphone vents, and a Sony logo in the same colour. The pre-installed mid-sized silicone tips go into the ear canals, and you get six more pairs of ear tips in three different sizes in the bundle –