Tech Bites

Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) was launched in the US on Tuesday. Motorola released the 4G version of the same phone earlier this month, named  Moto G Stylus (2023) . The 4G model is powered by a MediaTek Helio G85 SoC paired with 4GB of RAM, whereas the 5G version comes with a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset. The handset comes with an inbuilt stylus, which is claimed to help users with content creation, animated illustrations on messaging apps, drawing or editing photos, and playing games. Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) price, availability The newly-launched Motorola smartphone is available in the US in a single variant of 6GB + 256GB, that is priced at $399.99 (roughly Rs. 33,100). On June 2, the phone will be open for sale at Cricket and starting June 16, the phone will be available for purchase on Amazon.com, Best Buy, and Motorola.com websites. The Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) is offered in Cosmic Black and Rose Champagne colour options. Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) specifications, features Featuring

The crypto market has remained consistently volatile for some days now, pushing most cryptocurrencies under the sector current. Bitcoin on Wednesday, May 31, saw a loss of 0.62 percent to trade at $27,623 (roughly Rs. 22.8 lakh). This range-bound movement from Bitcoin has remained slow for the last two weeks at least, on both national as well as international exchanges. The value of Bitcoin dropped by $92 (roughly Rs. 7,607) over the last 24 hours. “BTC has displayed resilience by bouncing back from this important support level, indicating a restoration of its positive momentum. As long as Bitcoin maintains its position above $27,480 (roughly Rs. 22.7 lakh) level, there is a potential for further upward movement, with the next resistance level expected to be around $28,000 (roughly Rs. 23 lakh),” the CoinDCX team told Gadgets 360, commenting on Bitcoin's market movement. Ether dropped by 0.98 percent to trade at $1,878 (roughly Rs. 1.55 lakh), showed the crypto price tracker by

The Indian government is poised to deny crucial funding for Anil Agarwal's chip venture, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, a setback to the billionaire's ambition to build India's 'own Silicon Valley.' The authorities are likely to inform the venture between Vedanta and Taiwan's Foxconn that it won't get incentives to make 28-nanometer chips, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. The venture's application seeking billions in government assistance hasn't met the criteria set by the government, the report said. The project is still in search of a technology partner and a manufacturing-grade technology license for the construction of 28nm chips, it added. India's technology ministry, Vedanta and Foxconn did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. The setback comes at a time when Agarwal's metals and mining conglomerate is already grappling with reducing its significant debt load. Last year in Septembe

Delhi Metro commuters will now be able to travel on the Airport Line using a WhatsApp- based ticketing service launched on Tuesday. The system allows commuters to receive a QR code-based ticket directly on WhatsApp, officials said. "Further enhancing the travel experience for its commuters in an easy-to-navigate digital mode, Delhi Metro today introduced a WhatsApp-based ticketing service for travel on its Airport Express Line," the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said. The service was launched by DMRC Managing Director Vikas Kumar at the Metro Bhawan here in the presence of other senior officials. With the introduction of this facility, commuters on the Airport Line will now be able to use WhatsApp chatbot-generated QR code-based tickets from their smartphones. This facility will make commuting more efficient and seamless for commuters, especially national and international travellers heading to or coming from the airport, using the Airport Line, as they can now pu

The US has come to a decision regarding the imposition of excise taxes on Bitcoin miners operating from within the country. The US will not be adding any new tax layer upon the US' Bitcoin mining sector as the proposal extended earlier this month has officially been scrapped. The development was confirmed to the media by a regulator in the US. It is noteworthy, that this decision comes immediately after US President Joe Biden clearly refused to slash the existing taxes on crypto gains. It seems, not levying an excise tax on Bitcoin miners is the US' way to keep earning from crypto taxes while also not pressurising the industry from all sides. Earlier this month, the US' Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) floated a proposal to have Bitcoin miners pay a tax equal to 30 percent of the total energy cost that they consumed in the crypto mining process. The decision to pull the plug on this proposal could be part of a bunch of tax-related rebates introduced by the US administra

Global leaders should be working to reduce "the risk of extinction" from artificial intelligence technology, a group of industry chiefs and experts warned on Tuesday. A one-line statement signed by dozens of specialists, including Sam Altman whose firm OpenAI created the ChatGPT bot, said tackling the risks from AI should be "a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war". ChatGPT burst into the spotlight late last year, demonstrating an ability to generate essays, poems and conversations from the briefest of prompts. The program's wild success sparked a gold rush with billions of dollars of investment into the field, but critics and insiders have raised the alarm. Common worries include the possibility that chatbots could flood the web with disinformation, that biased algorithms will churn out racist material, or that AI-powered automation could lay waste to entire industries. Superintelligent machines The lat

Fast X has become the first Hollywood film in 2023 to break the 100-crore mark at the Indian box office. Universal Pictures has confirmed that the 10th main instalment in the globe-trotting action franchise has collected an impressive Rs. 105 crore (about $1.26 million) during its 11-day run since its theatrical release on May 19. From a global standpoint, Fast X has made $515.6 million (about Rs. 4,266 crore), securing its place as the third-biggest studio release of the year. It currently sits right behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 , the former of which joined the billion-dollar club in less than a month. The new Fast and Furious movie has made $402 million (about Rs. 3,327 crore) from areas outside the US and Canada, which includes the aforementioned $1.26 million from India. Despite the high numbers, a Deadline report notes that the figures saw a 58 percent drop across 84 markets. Fast X raked in another $113.5 million (about Rs. 939 crore

Scientists have developed a simple, low-cost clip that uses a smartphone's camera and flash to monitor blood pressure at the user's fingertip. The clip developed by researchers at the University of California (UC) San Diego, US, works with a custom smartphone app and currently costs about 80 cents (Rs. 5.6) to make. The researchers estimate that the cost could be as low as 10 cents (Rs. 0.7) apiece when manufactured at scale. The technology, described in the journal Scientific Reports, could help make regular blood pressure monitoring easy, affordable and accessible to people in resource-poor communities, they said. It could benefit older adults and pregnant women, for example, in managing conditions such as hypertension, according to the researchers. "We have created an inexpensive solution to lower the barrier to blood pressure monitoring,” said study first author Yinan Xuan, a Ph.D. student at UC San Diego. "Because of their low cost, these clips could be han

Xiaomi's Indian arm will start making wireless audio products in the country through a partnership with electronics manufacturer Optiemus in a push to further localise its operations, the company said on Monday. Xiaomi India will make its first local audio gadget at Optiemus Electronics' factory in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, the company said in a statement, reiterating that it was targeting a 50 percent increase in the production of components locally sourced by 2025. The push comes as the manufacturer of the Redmi brand of smartphones recently lost out to South Korean rival Samsung as India's top smartphones company. The company did not say what kind of audio product it will make in the Indian factory, but it is "committed to forging more such collaborations for a wider range of categories, across our product line-up." Xiaomi, which locally manufactures most of the smartphones and TVs it sells in India, did not say when it will start making the

Identifying counterfeit and fake products can be a difficult task and requires ample knowledge of the characteristics and appearance of the original objects. A new artificial intelligence-based app claims to identify whether a product is genuine based on a single photo clicked with a smartphone. The app uses optical AI to identify an object and does not rely on bar codes, holograms, markers, RFID technology, stickers, or engraved markings. However, it can only authenticate products that are already registered with the service. Developed by Washington-based Alitheon, the FeaturePrint app can be installed on a smartphone and used for "identification, authentication, or traceability" of a product. Without special scanners or cameras, a user can point their smartphone at a product and identify an authentic product for high value items like gold bars and luxury items, while tracing supply chains and detecting counterfeit items. According to Alitheon's website, the FeatureP

The Last of Us multiplayer game has reportedly hit a snag, with developer Naughty Dog scaling back the team working on the project. As per Bloomberg, publisher Sony has slowed down work on the long-gestating multiplayer experience, as a means to ‘reassess its quality and long-term viability.' The news comes briefly after the studio put out a tweet claiming that the game needs more time to cook, in addition to announcing an undisclosed brand-new single-player title. Fans were expecting updates about The Last of Us multiplayer game during the PlayStation Showcase event, held last week, but Naughty Dog was a no-show. In a blog post from January , Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann claimed that the studio was preparing to reveal more information on The Last of Us multiplayer game, sometime ‘later this year' — meaning, it probably wasn't eyeing a launch in 2023. The Bloomberg report notes that while the title has not been cancelled, several of its developers have been

BGMI was relaunched in India on Monday, and the popular battle royale game can now be played on iOS and Android smartphones, nearly a year after it was banned in the country. Developer Krafton says it has imposed restrictions on playing Battlegrounds Mobile India , with daily time limits. The latest update to the game — the first to arrive since June last year — brings a new map based on a small resort island located in a tropical zone, along with new in-game events, and updates to classic maps in the game. On Monday, Krafton announced the relaunch of BGMI in India, two days after it allowed Android users to preload the game in advance. Both iOS and Android users can now download BGMI via the App Store and Play Store respectively, but Krafton says that playability will be staggered and users will be able to login in phases within 48 hours.  According to Krafton, BGMI will restrict playtime for users in India based on their age. Minors playing the game will be limited to three hours

Tecno Camon 20, Camon 20 Pro 5G, and Camon 20 Premier 5G were launched by the company on Saturday. The new series of smartphones is equipped with chipsets from MediaTek and sport AMOLED displays. The Tecno Camon 20 and Tecno Camon 20 Pro feature similar specifications including a 64-megapixel primary camera, while the Tecno Camon 20 Premier 5G packs a 50-megapixel camera. All three handsets are equipped with 5,000mAh batteries. The company is yet to announce pricing and availability details of the more expensive Camon 20 Premier 5G. Tecno Camon 20, Camon 20 Pro 5G, and Camon 20 Premier 5G price in India and availability Tecno Camon 20 price in India is set at Rs. 14,999 and the handset goes on sale today in a single 8GB + 256GB RAM and storage option in Glacier Glow, Predawn Black, and Serenity Blue colour options. The Tecno Camon 20 Pro 5G , on the other hand, is priced at Rs. 19,999 for the 8GB + 128GB model, while the 8GB + 256GB variant is priced at Rs. 21,999. Both handsets wil

China will send its first civilian astronaut into space as part of a crewed mission to the Tiangong space station on Tuesday, its Manned Space Agency announced, as Beijing pushes ahead with its extra-terrestrial ambitions. The world's second-largest economy has invested billions of dollars into its military-run space programme, trying to catch up with the United States and Russia after years of belatedly matching their milestones. Until now, all Chinese astronauts sent into space have been part of the People's Liberation Army. "Payload expert Gui Haichao is a professor at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics," China Manned Space Agency Spokesperson Lin Xiqiang told reporters Monday. Gui will be "mainly responsible for the on-orbit operation of space science experimental payloads", Lin said. The commander is Jing Haipeng -- on his fourth mission into space, according to state media -- and the third crew member is engineer Zhu Yangzhu. The

WhatsApp is rolling out a screen sharing feature to testers on the latest beta version of the app for Android. Users who are on a video call will be able to tap a button to show the contents of their screen to other participants on the call. Screen sharing is a feature that is also offered on apps like Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Skype. Users who are running the stable version of WhatsApp can expect to see the feature roll out to their devices at a later date. Spotted by WhatsApp feature tracker WABetaInfo on version 2.23.11.19 of WhatsApp beta for Android, the screen sharing feature is denoted by an icon of an arrow atop a rectangular screen. Tapping it will display the standard Android recording/ casting popup asking you for consent, according to screenshots shared by the feature tracker. You will then see a message informing them that screen sharing has begun. Screen sharing on WhatsApp for Android Photo Credit: WABetaInfo   After tapping the Start now button d

Twitter has decided to leave the EU's disinformation code, a voluntary pact that groups together the major social platforms, but "its obligations remain," EU Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton tweeted Saturday. Launched in 2018, the EU's code of practice on disinformation counts nearly three dozen signatories including the giants in the sector such as Meta , Google , Twitter, Microsoft and TikTok . Twitter leaves EU voluntary Code of Practice against disinformation. But obligations remain. You can run but you can't hide. Beyond voluntary commitments, fighting disinformation will be legal obligation under #DSA as of August 25. Our teams will be ready for enforcement. — Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) May 26, 2023 It also covers smaller platforms, as well as advertisers and fact-checkers and non-governmental organisations. The code was written by the industry players themselves and contains over three dozen pledges such as better cooperation with

An Android malware called 'Daam' that infects mobile phones and hacks into sensitive data like call records, contacts, history and camera has been found to be spreading, the national cyber security agency has said in its latest advisory. The virus is also capable of "bypassing anti-virus programs and deploying ransomware on the targeted devices", the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team or CERT-In said. The agency is the federal technology arm to combat cyber attacks and guard the cyber space against phishing and hacking assaults and similar online attacks. The Android botnet gets distributed through third-party websites or applications downloaded from untrusted/unknown sources, the agency said. "Once it is placed in the device, the malware tries to bypass the security check of the device and after a successful attempt, it attempts to steal sensitive data, and permissions such as reading history and bookmarks, killing background processing, and reading c

Google has withdrawn a gaming app that allowed players to buy, sell and torture Black virtual "slaves" after a racism outcry in Brazil. Dubbed "Slavery Simulator," the Portuguese-language game saw players trade in slaves and strategise to prevent the abolition of slavery in order to amass virtual riches. The prosecutor's office said it had opened an investigation for "hate speech" related to the game downloaded by hundreds of people. The app itself had come with a disclaimer condemning "all types of slavery" and insisting the game was "solely for entertainment purposes." After withdrawing the app from its Play Store , Google said in a statement that "applications that promote violence or hated against groups of people or individuals because of their skin colour or ethnic origin" would not be allowed on its platform. The company invited users to report offensive content. Brazil's ministry of racial equality said

The government will ensure that consumers always have their platforms accountable to them in the digital space, and the rights of Indian consumers to have safe Internet will not be allowed to be compromised or diluted, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Friday. The Minister of State for Electronics and IT — who is spearheading an extensive and in-depth nationwide consultation on the new Digital India Bill that will replace two decades old the Information Technology Act — noted that for years, the big tech platforms masqueraded as innovation and misused market dominance necessitating overhaul of regulatory and legal frameworks. "...it is a commitment that we have to the people of India...1.2 billion Indians who are going to use the Indian Internet, that we will keep the Internet open for them. We will deliver safety and trust on the Internet for them. And we will make sure that regardless of whether you're a big tech or small tech, Indian or foreign that consumers w

A US judge on Thursday approved Apple's $50 million (roughly Rs. 412 crore) class-action settlement resolving consumer claims over certain defective MacBook keyboards, in a ruling that spurned challenges to the deal. US District Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California, federal court in his ruling called the settlement "fair, adequate and reasonable." Eleven consumers from New York, Florida, California, Michigan and several other states were the lead plaintiffs in the national class action alleging consumer protection and warranty claims. The lawsuit accused Apple of failing to provide sufficient repairs or troubleshooting help for certain MacBook "butterfly" keyboards made between 2015 and 2019. An Apple spokesperson on Friday did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. The plaintiffs' lawyers announced the deal a year ago. Apple denied any wrongdoing. Class members will receive $50 (roughly Rs. 400) up to $395 (roughly Rs. 32,600)