Tech Bites

Alibaba Group is planning to split into six units and explore fundraisings or listings for most of them, it said on Tuesday, in a major revamp as China vows to ease a sweeping regulatory crackdown and support its private enterprises. The US-listed shares of the Chinese e-commerce conglomerate, which have lost nearly 70 percent of their value since the curbs were imposed in late 2020, rose more than 10 percent. Alibaba said the biggest restructuring in its 24-year history would see it split into six units - Cloud Intelligence Group, Taobao Tmall Commerce Group, Local Services Group, Cainiao Smart Logistics Group, Global Digital Commerce Group and Digital Media and Entertainment Group. The revamp comes a day after Alibaba founder Jack Ma returned home from a year-long stay abroad, a move that dovetailed with Beijing's effort to spur growth in the private sector after two years of crackdown. Analysts said the breakup could ease scrutiny over the tech giant whose sprawling busine...

Lava, the homegrown brand, is reportedly planning to launch the Lava Blaze 2 in India in April. The company has been tight-lipped about the purported phone, however, rumours and speculations have already hit the Web suggesting the expected features of the phone. The smartphone has now reportedly been spotted on Geekbench suggesting the processor and a few other key details. The upcoming smartphone is tipped to come with UNISOC T616 SoC paired with up to 6GB RAM. According to a report by Passionate Geekz, the upcoming Lava Blaze 2 has been spotted on the Geekbench certification site with model number LZX409. The listing reportedly suggests that the handset will be powered by a UNISOC T616 SoC coupled with up to 6GB RAM. The listing also hints that the Octa-core chip comes with a frequency of 1.82GHz and a clock speed of 1.95GHz. Additionally, the Lava Blaze 2 is said to come pre-installed with Android 12, as per the alleged listing. Furthermore, the listing suggests that the phone h...

OnePlus Nord Buds 2 are set to launch in India on April 4 alongside the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite. The company has already confirmed the launch date on its official India website and on Twitter. Though the earbuds are still a few days away from their debut, a reliable tipster has leaked the detailed list of specifications for the upcoming Nord Buds 2. They will be launched as a successor to OnePlus Nord Buds which debuted last year in India. Tipster Mukul Sharma (Twitter: @ Stufflistings) has leaked the purported specifications of the upcoming OnePlus Nord Buds 2. The earbuds are tipped to come with fast charging support and offer up to 36 hours of playback time along with the case. He also tipped that the earbuds will feature up to 25dB active noise cancellation and 12.4mm dynamic titanium drivers. The other leaked features are a 4-mic design and IP55-rated water and dust resistance. Additionally, the colour variants of the upcoming OnePlus Nord Buds 2 have also been leaked. The earbu...

Telecom service providers have been advised to take various measures, including establishing safety and buffer zones, while placing 5G towers in the vicinity of airports to minimise interference of 5G services in aircraft operations, the government said on Monday. Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh told the Rajya Sabha that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has not conducted any study on the potential effect of 5G signals on safe civil aircraft operations. "However, DGCA has, reviewed the studies/action undertaken by various countries during the launch of 5G on the potential interference of 5G C-band signals on radio altimeters installed on the aircraft and risk involved in air travel. "The review has shown that there may be a likelihood of interference in the functioning of Radio Altimeter installed on aircraft due to C-band 5G signals which may affect vital aircraft systems and can lead to unsafe aircraft operations," he said in a writte...

MSI not only makes some of the most powerful and capable gaming laptops around, but also some of the balanced, value-for-money designs as well. Their Sword, Katana, and Cyborg lines in particular stand out for offering an exceptional combination of high performance at affordable price points. These laptops are perfect for mainstream gamers and students alike. Without exception, all of these laptops feature high-refresh rate screens, fast CPUs and GPUs, exceptional cooling, and plenty of connectivity options. They’re also very well designed and pack in some of the most powerful laptop hardware around. MSI Sword 15 This one’s powered by an Intel Core i7-13620H and RTX 4060 graphics. Thanks to a MUX switch, the GPU’s full potential is delivered to your display. Thanks to MSI’s CoolerBoost 5 with Shared-Pipe Design tech, both the CPU and GPU can better balance their output based on your needs. The design is also very nice, with a pleasant colour featuring a white body and blue backlig...

Twitter CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday announced that only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations and also revealed the reason behind it. Musk's tweet stated, "Starting April 15th, only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations. The is the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over. It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle. Voting in polls will require verification for same reason." Starting April 15th, only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations. The is the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over. It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle. Voting in polls will require verification for same reason. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 27, 2023 According to him, this is the only realistic way to advance AI bot swarms taking over. And for the same reason, voting in polls requires verifications. This new plan will start from April 15 onwards. Re...

Telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday said the country's first quantum computing-based telecom network link is now operational in the national capital. While speaking at the first international quantum enclave, Vaishnaw said that the quantum communication link is now operational between Sanchar Bhawan and National Informatics Centre office located in CGO Complex in the national capital. "The first quantum secure communication link between Sanchar Bhawan and NIC, CGO complex is now operational," Vaishnaw said and announced a Rs 10 lakh prize money for ethical hackers who can break the encryption of the system. "We are also launching a hackathon, a challenge round, for anybody who breaks this system and system developed by C-DoT, we will be giving Rs 10 lakh per break," Vaishnaw said. The minister inaugurated a small exhibition of quantum computing firms and invited them to run pilot projects for communications networks and Indian Railways. Last week, ...