Tech Bites

YouTube, the video streaming giant owned by Google, is set to combat the spread of fake news and disinformation in the lead-up to India’s general elections. A senior official from the company revealed plans to remove misleading content and provide users with access to high-quality news by collaborating with reputable news publishers and independent journalists. During a recent interaction with the press YouTube India Director Ishan Chatterjee emphasized the platform’s commitment to addressing misinformation. He explained that their policies dictate action against content that has been technologically manipulated to deceive users and poses a real-world harm risk. However, Chatterjee stressed that this is only one facet of their strategy. The second part of YouTube’s strategy focuses on ensuring users have access to reliable and high-quality news content produced by news organizations and independent journalists. Despite news not being a distinct category on YouTube, it remains a signi

Apple publicly released the iOS 17 update for the iPhone 15 lineup along with a few select older iPhone models a couple of months ago. Since then, the Cupertino-based tech giant has been seeding smaller updates to address some of the known bugs and patch actively exploited security vulnerabilities. Now, the company has released iOS 17.1.2 and macOS Sonoma 14.1.2 as the latest OS versions to address the minor issues on supported iPhone and Mac models. Apple is also working on iOS 17.2, which is expected to be released sometime next month. The update will bring the new Journal app ( Review ) and various notable improvements in the Music app. iOS 17.1.2 and macOS Sonoma 14.1.2 updates for eligible iPhone and Mac models is rolling out now. The latest update brings some security improvements and fixes to address some of the known problems of iOS and macOS. The updates will be available over the air and installed on all compatible iPhone and Mac models starting from the iPhone 11 and i

After facing numerous delays and obstacles over four years, the long-anticipated Tesla Cybertruck has finally hit the road. CEO Elon Musk showcased the electric truck’s impressive features, including towing capabilities, bulletproof doors, and remarkable straight-line speed, during a delivery event at the company’s Austin, Texas factory. Despite the excitement surrounding the launch and the presence of numerous attendees, the event did not unfold as smoothly as Tesla had envisioned. Production woes and delays Initially slated to commence production in late 2021, the Cybertruck faced setbacks due to supply chain shortages and manufacturing complications. The company, grappling with these challenges, is expected to roll out a limited number of units initially as production gradually scales up. The automaker, at the time of unveiling back in 2019 had said that the base variant of the truck would cost $39,900. Then came the pandemic, and more delays. As a result, we see the original p

India is set to handover the presidency of the G20 nations to Brazil in December, after one year of holding it. During India's G20 presidency , it worked with global financial institutions on formulating laws to govern the crypto sector on an international level. Prior to the weekend, Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman provided some insights into the status of this crypto roadmap adoption by G20 nations. While Sitharaman said that the G20 roadmap on crypto has been adopted, more clarity will be given by Brazil in the coming months. “When we move to the Brazilian presidency, given the momentum that the crypto assets issue has picked up in G20, if there is anything emerging, we will know at that time. At the moment, the content of the roadmap is what is before us to act on,” Sitharaman was quoted by Forbes as saying in a recent press briefing. This essentially means that all the countries that are part of the G20 group, can customise laws based on the decided crypto roadma

Xiaomi  is just two days away from unveiling the Redmi K70 series. The lineup will include Redmi K70, Redmi K70E, and Redmi K70 Pro models and the Chinese brand is actively teasing the specifications of the smartphones through its social media channel. Ahead of the official launch, a tipster has leaked the price and camera details of the Redmi K70, and Redmi K70 Pro. Both models are said to come with triple rear camera units and 5,000mAh batteries. The Redmi K70 Pro is confirmed to be powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC. Tipster Weimei Technology (translated from Chinese) suggested the price and specifications of Redmi K70 and Redmi K70 Pro on Weibo. As per the leak, the Redmi K70 Pro will have an initial price tag of CNY 3,299 (roughly Rs. 38,000). The regular Redmi K70's price, in contrast, is said to start from CNY 2,299 (roughly Rs. 27,000). Camera details of the phones have also leaked. The Redmi K70 Pro is tipped to feature a 50-megapixel OV50E primary

Despite appearing in several leaks, very little is known about the upcoming Oppo X7 Pro, a camera-centric flagship smartphone that is set to replace the Oppo Find X6 Pro. While the phone was recently expected to launch in China in November, a new launch timeline hints that it will be announced with several other products before the Spring Festival (which takes place early next year in the month of February). While earlier leaks have suggested interesting details about its rear camera's unique telephoto setup , there's now an alleged real-world image that shows the design of the camera itself. A post on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo, shows an image of what has been reported as the Oppo Find X7 Pro, being used in public transit. The phone is seen with a rounded silver metal frame, but seems to have a soft finish (or faux leather) real panel. What's unmissable is the colossal rear camera module that sees four cameras arranged into a hexagonal shaped layout. The came

Samsung's FE series has always been a fan favourite since the first Samsung Galaxy S20 FE was released with almost flagship-level specs and a price that sits right between the highest-end A Series smartphone and the entry-level S Series smartphone. This year, Samsung launched two FE devices, the refreshed S21 FE with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888 and the new Samsung Galaxy S23 FE with Exynos 2200 SoC and a lot of the features that might make the smartphone look like a flagship on paper. Does the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S23 FE deliver on the brand's promise when they introduced the first ‘Fan Edition' smartphone, and should you buy it at a starting price of Rs. 59,999? Let's find out in this detailed Samsung Galaxy S23 FE review. Samsung Galaxy S23 FE price in India I've been using the base variant for the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage in the Mint colour option, which is priced at Rs. 59,999. The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE is a

NASA is set to train an Indian astronaut for an upcoming mission to the International Space Station (ISS) by the close of 2024, as announced by Bill Nelson, the administrator of the US space agency, during his visit to Delhi. Emphasizing India’s potential as a “great future partner,” Nelson expressed the United States’ openness to cooperating on the development of an Indian Space Station. During a meeting with Indian Prime Minister [Prime Minister’s Name], the call for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists to establish an Indian Space Station by 2035 and to send an Indian astronaut to the moon by 2040 was reiterated. Nelson indicated that the US plans to de-orbit its space station in 2031 and anticipates the presence of commercial space stations by then. He affirmed the US’s willingness to provide counsel or collaboration if India seeks assistance. Nelson highlighted the NISAR satellite program as another significant outcome of the India-US collaboration, scheduled

Amazon.com on Tuesday announced a new artificial intelligence chip for its cloud computing service as competition with Microsoft to dominate the market for artificial intelligence heats up. At a conference in Las Vegas, Amazon Web Services (AWS) Chief Executive Adam Selipsky announced Trainium2, the second generation of chip designed for training AI systems. Selipsky said the new version is four times as fast as its predecessor while being twice as energy efficient. The AWS move comes weeks after Microsoft announced its own AI chip called Maia. The Trainium2 chip will also compete against AI chips from Alphabet 's Google , which has offered its Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) to its cloud computing customers since 2018. Selipsky said that AWS will start offering the new training chips next year. The proliferation of custom chips comes amid a scramble to find the computing power to develop technologies such as large language models that form the basis of services similar to Chat

In a groundbreaking move, Agnikul Cosmos, an aerospace startup based in Chennai specialising in the development of satellite launch vehicles, is set to launch its inaugural flight with the world’s first 3D-printed engine before the close of this year, according to a report by the Economic Times. The upcoming mission serves as a technological demonstrator, and is supposed to emulate Agnikul’s planned orbital launch — the first commercial launch anticipated in 2024 — but on a smaller scale. “We are looking to launch by the end of the year. One test is pending, which will be conducted on our campus at IIT-Madras. Once the final reviews with ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) are complete, we are good to go as the launch vehicle is already at the launch pad,” stated Chief Executive Srinath Ravichandran told reporters. “This isn’t a sounding rocket and is a complex machine, so we want to get it right in the first attempt.” Should the mission prove successful, the startup, incubate

OnePlus 12 is set to launch in China on December 5. The launch has moved ahead a bit, since initially the phone was scheduled to be unveiled on December 4 during the company's 10-year anniversary celebration event. The OnePlus 12 is said to succeed OnePlus's current flagship model, the OnePlus 11 5G , which was launched in February this year. The company has already confirmed some key specifications of the upcoming OnePlus 12. Its design and colour options have also been revealed. Now, OnePlus may have accidently confirmed the global and India launch of the phone. The official OnePlus sites in the UK , the US , and India have now the listed OnePlus 12. The listing does not confirm a launch date, but does promote a lottery to win the upcoming flagship phone for free. If you subscribe to the launch of the product using you email IDs, you will become eligible to win the phone through a lucky draw. Noted under the terms and conditions of this contest is the window for this cont

Pros: – Solid performance thanks to the CPU and GPU package – Solid performance for the price – No non-sense design – Improved cooling design – Bang & Olufsen speakers – Solid build quality – High refresh rate display – Pretty solid selection and positioning of ports Cons: – Battery life – Fans can get a little loud – Materials used are a fingerprint magnet – 1080P display could have used with more contrast – Can be a bit cumbersome to carry around – Missing an SD card reader Price: Rs 1,34,999/- Rating: 4/5 Many people tend to assume that gaming hardware always comes with a hefty price tag. HP’s Omen Lineup, however, defies this stereotype in a refreshing manner. The Omen series of gaming laptops, in essence, offers a solution that gets the job done without unnecessary frills and the typical drawbacks associated with traditional gaming laptops. Enter the HP Omen 16, a standout in the Omen lineup that embodies all the qualities one seeks in a budget-friendly ga

Google is placing some major bets on Indian startup CoRover, and believes it to be India’s answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. That is why, the tech giant is set to invest about $4 million in CoRover. CoRover is the Indian AI studio behind BharatGPT, an LLM-based AI solution that has proven to be much more capable than ChatGPT, and supports a number of Indic languages. Earlier this year, CoRover unveiled BharatGPT, a significant addition to a body of large language models or LLMs. This innovative language model supports more than 12 Indian languages and over 120 foreign languages, surpassing the language range of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which is limited to 95 languages and primarily operates in English. What sets BharatGPT apart is its versatility, as it can process diverse data formats, including images, audio, video, and maps, unlike ChatGPT, which predominantly handles text. CoRover emphasizes that BharatGPT boasts an impressive accuracy level of 90 per cent. Leveraging a vast repository of

Samsung's Galaxy S series of smartphones has been quite popular since its inception. The anticipation for this year's Galaxy S24 Ultra is high, with the Galaxy S23 Ultra being one of the best Android smartphones of 2023 ( Review ). Most recently, we got our first look at the Galaxy S24 Ultra through leaked renders. Now, alleged hands-on images have surfaced online that appear to show a silver colour variant of the Galaxy S24 Ultra. It looks exactly like its predecessor but with a flat screen and back. Tipster David Martin (@DavidMa05368498) posted alleged live images of the Galaxy S24 Ultra on X offering us a good look at what to expect from the flagship handset. It is seen with the flat back panel and a flat display. It appears to have a quad camera setup on the rear with all four cameras housed inside separate metal rings. The physical buttons are all located on the right-hand side of the handset, and there's also a center-hole punch selfie camera in the display. For t

Redmi 13C was launched globally earlier in November. The phone succeeds the Redmi 12C , which was unveiled in December 2022. The global variant of the Redmi 13C is powered by a 9nm MediaTek Helio G99 SoC. Xiaomi also packed a 5,000mAh battery with 18W wired fast charging support into the Redmi 13C. Now, a report has surfaced online that suggests that the phone may launch in India soon. Key specifications of the purported Indian variant of the handset have also leaked. According to a 91Mobiles report , Xiaomi will introduce the Redmi 13C phone to the Indian market as a budget offering in December. Citing industry sources, the report says that the Indian variant of the Redmi 13C will likely be powered by the MediaTek Helio G85 SoC, similar to its global variant. The report adds that the Indian model will also carry other similar features to its global counterpart. The Indian variant of the Redmi 13C could come with a 6.74-inch HD+ (1,080 x 2,460 pixels) LCD display, just like the glob

In a significant move, Tata Electronics, a part of the Tata Group, is set to amplify its iPhone-casing facility in Hosur, with intentions to double its current size, according to a report by the Economic Times, quoting sources familiar with the matter. The company, which recently acquired Wistron’s iPhone assembly plant in Karnataka, is strategically positioning itself to enhance its contract manufacturing capabilities for premium electronic devices and accessories. The existing Hosur unit, established with a substantial investment of Rs 5,000 crore, is spread across 500 acres and accommodates over 15,000 employees. The proposed expansion, anticipated to conclude within 12-18 months, could result in a workforce surge to approximately 25,000-28,000 individuals at the consolidated site. The report quotes a senior government official saying, “The company is looking to expand the unit to 1.5-2 times the current size and capacity.” While speculations suggest the new facility may primaril

Elon Musk -owned social media company X could lose as much as $75 million (nearly Rs. 625 crore) in advertising revenue by the end of the year as dozens of major brands pause their marketing campaigns, the New York Times reported on Friday. Musk backing an antisemitic post on the platform last week has led several companies including Walt Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery to pause their advertisements on the site formerly called Twitter .  X has struck back and sued media watchdog group Media Matters, alleging the organization defamed the platform with a report that said ads for major brands including Apple and Oracle had appeared next to posts touting Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party.  Internal documents viewed by The New York Times this week list more than 200 ad units of companies from the likes of Airbnb, Amazon , Coca-Cola and Microsoft , many of which have halted or are considering pausing their ads on the social network, the report said.  X said on Friday $11 million (n