Hackers affiliated with ISIS claimed to have hacked Google, but ended up attacking another website with a similar name. According to a report by Vocativ, on Monday a group calling itself the Cyber Caliphate Army had vowed to hack Google and later declared, “We promised to hack Google. Keep the promise inshallah, expect us today.” A few hours later, the website, addgoogleonline.com, was defaced. The website reportedly belongs to an Indian tech firm.
After the website was hacked, the website played an ISIS song in French along with a sign saying “Hacked By: CCA.” However, the website was later hacked by another group called ‘n3far1ous’ with the message “Eat this, ISIS” and rock music playing in the background.
As per the report, the hacker group also posted a list of 35 British websites that were attacked by them. The websites were a seemingly random collection of websites belonging to small businesses and included a salon, an instructor offering Japanese dance classes, and businesses selling bedroom furniture. These hacks were reportedly in retaliation for the killing of British-born hacker, Junaid Hussain.
Xiaomi fans and owners have more reason to be happy about, as the company has begun rolling out MiUI 7.2. The stable build of the new software update has started rolling out in China, and the latest forum post confirms that a global stable build is coming soon. The latest update will be available for the following devices — Xiaomi Mi 5, Mi 4S, Mi Note Pro, Mi 4c, Mi Pad 1, Redmi Note 4G (Single SIM), Redmi 1S, Xiaomi Mi Note, Mi 3, Mi 4, Mi 4i, Mi 2/2S, Mi Pad 2, Redmi 3, Redmi Note 3, Redmi Note 2, Redmi Note 4G (Dual SIM), Redmi Note 3G, Redmi 2A and Redmi 2.
Out of all these devices, only a few are available in India. Xiaomi has recently added the Redmi Note 3 to the list, and the company has already confirmed that its flagship Mi 5 will also be joining the Indian portfolio in the next month. MiUI 7.2 brings updates to the Mi Mover, which will enable users to move files, photos and apps to their new phone while upgrading. The company claims ‘Find device’ functionality has been improved, and now users can locate, lock and erase their phones remotely. Besides these, Xiaomi has also done minor changes and optimisations in MiUI. If you would like to give the updated UI a try, you can manually flash your phone. You can download the respective ROMs from here. Mind you, these ROMs are meant for the Chinese variants.
However, Xiaomi hasn’t confirmed whether the new update is based on Android Marshmallow or the older Android Lollipop. The recently-launched Xiaomi Mi 5 is the only phone from Xiaomi which is available with Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The phone, which is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC, features 3GB of RAM and will be available in 32GB and 64GB storage options. The Mi 5 Pro will come with 128GB of storage and 4GB of DDR4 RAM. All the three variants will feature a 16MP rear sensor, and a 4MP UltraPixel camera.
Instagram has disabled links to Telegram and Snapchat, and users will no longer be able to post ‘add me’ or ‘follow me’ links to either of the two services on their Instagram profile page. The people at Telegram wasn’t too pleased with the development, and tweeted via the company’s official account, “Another @Facebook tentacle closes on users’ ability to share a link to their Telegram profile. #hypocrisy.” However, Instagram is still allowing other links like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube on its platform.
A spokesperson for Instagram told TechCrunch, “We've removed the ability to include 'add me' links on Instagram profile pages. This was a rare use-case, and not the way our platform was intended to be used. Other types of links are still allowed.” Instagram’s decision to block Telegram and Snapchat raises a few eyebrows as another Facebook-owned company, WhatsApp, started blocking links to Telegram web addresses last year. Telegram recently hit 100 million monthly active users, and is one of WhatsApp's biggest competitors, while Snapchat is one of the fastest growing photo-sharing platforms in the world. Telegram has even updated its app to include photo editing features.
Like sharing photos on Instagram? Maybe you could take a break from your regular surroundings and go to Europe or the Middle-East? No? How about if you get paid $2000 per week for it? That’s exactly what Netflix is doing, with its Grammasters program. The premier video streaming service is teaming up with Instagram, hiring Instagrammers to travel to Europe and Middle East to click pictures of popular sites. The eligibility criteria covers anyone who is over 21 years old and has a mobile phone or other wireless or electronic device supporting Instagram and having the digital camera feature. Wonder if the Freedom 251 qualifies, right?
Any way, Netflix will cover your travel arrangements and pay you $4000 for two weeks that you will spend in the above mentioned places. To apply, users must follow @Netflix on Instagram and tag three of the best pictures that you have taken, along with the hashtag #grammesters3, by March 6. According to Netflix’ job description, the company is looking for TV and movie fans who are talented for taking pictures. You can check the contest terms and conditions here.
The upcoming Nexus phones made by HTC may come with 3D Touch display panels. An insider told GizmoChina that not only HTC, but several other manufacturers like Xiaomi, Meizu, Oppo, and Vivo are also working on devices with pressure sensitive displays. It also states that Meizu’s upcoming flagship phone, the MX6, will come with this feature.
In addition, GizmoChina states that Google may be planning to incorporate 3D Touch as a native feature in Android N. A few days ago, Android’s official developer site posted a screenshot of an unreleased version of the operating system, possibly Android N. The screenshot shows a hamburger menu located on the top left corner of the Bluetooth settings page, which isn’t there in Android Marshmallow. This hints at the possibility that the new OS may come with a side drawer that lists all sections of the Settings menu, which will allow users to jump to another option in Settings without the need to go back. Android N will most likely be launched alongside new Nexus devices, and rumours suggest that HTC will be making two devices for Google this year.
A browser extension for Chrome and Firefox allows users to swap emojis for Pokemon and Donald Trump. The extension, called Reaction Packs, allows users to choose the reaction pack they want for Facebook, and replace the default emojis used on the website. Of course, while the image changes, the reactions can’t be extended beyond Facebook’s default Like, Love, HaHa, Sad, Angry and Wow. There’s also a set of emoji packs themed on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It's worth noting that while the emojis on Facebook Reactions will change, your friends will still see the default emojis that have been chosen by Facebook. To use the extension, you need to install it, then choose a emoji pack from the Reaction Packs website. You then need to referesh your Facebook page and when you hover over the Like button, you will gain access to the new emojis.
Facebook Reactions was launched recently, adding to the social network’s ‘Like’ feature. It allows users to respond with more than just a ‘like’, adding the emotions mentioned above. Facebook chose a bunch of default emojis to represent the various emotions. The extension to the Like feature had been in the works for a while, with Facebook Founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, saying, back in September, that the company may introduce a dislike button.
Facebook has also said that it will use the Reactions feature to track user behaviour in order to aid the social network in ad delivery. “We will initially use any Reaction similar to a Like to infer that you want to see more of that type of content,” stated Facebook in a blog post.
Remember BBM, the messenger we were all hooked on to before WhatsApp came along and literally took everyone's attention away? Well, for those of you who are still loyal BB users, there may be some good news on the horizon.
BlackBerry has announced, via a blog post, that the company is planning to revamp the once popular messaging platform BBM. The news comes in light of a decision by WhatsApp to withdraw support from BlackBerry, Nokia, Android 2.1 & 2.2 and Windows Phone 7.1.
With the revamp, BlackBerry aims to make BBM "more convenient and fun". The company also reiterated its commitment to the BB10 platform and said that its is working with developers to "bring apps to consumers and enterprise fans." The company also states that it is “actively exploring alternatives for BlackBerry users once support of WhatsApp Messenger for BBOS and BlackBerry 10 ends in late 2016.” The company has clarified that those using the Android powered BlackBerry Priv will not be impacted by the WhatsApp withrawal.
As far as new BBM features are concerned, the company stated, "We’re evolving group and multi-person chats. We’re making BBM Protected an even better messaging solution for security-conscious organisations. We’re giving you ever more privacy and security by allowing you to control previews. We’re also working to make BBM more convenient and more fun."
Microsoft has announced that it is bringing its relational database product, SQL Server, to Linux. It is currently available as a preview with only core relational database capabilities, and a full launch is planned for mid-2017. Till now, SQL Server was only available on Windows. Paul Cormier, President of Products and Technologies at Red Hat said, “SQL Server’s proven enterprise experience and capabilities offer a valuable asset to enterprise Linux customers around the world. We believe our customers will welcome this news and are happy to see Microsoft further increasing its investment in Linux. As we build upon our deep hybrid cloud partnership, spanning not only Linux, but also middleware, and PaaS, we’re excited to now extend that collaboration to SQL Server on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, bringing enterprise customers increased database choice.”
This announcement comes a few days before Microsoft’s Data Driven event in New York where the company plans to announce the features of SQL Server 2016. This includes new security encryption capabilities, in-memory database support, improved Data Warehousing performance, and more. Microsoft says that the SQL Server on Linux will provide customers with more flexibility in their data solutions. The company also says that bringing the server to Linux is a way of making its products accessible to a wider range of users.
Researchers at Michigan State University have found a way to unlock a smartphone protected by a fingerprint, by using an inkjet printer. The researchers, Kai Cao and Anil K. Jain, used a special conductive ink and paper made by a company called AgIC. They also noted that the fingerprint of the user has to be scanned at a resolution of 300dpi or higher. Before printing, though, the image of the scanned fingerprint needs to be reversed.
The researchers used Samsung Galaxy S6 and Huawei Honor 7 smartphones for testing, and managed to unlock both of them by using this technique. Although, Cao and Jain have noted in their paper, that the Honor 7 was slightly more difficult to hack than the Galaxy S6. The two researchers say that this technique is faster than the earlier method of creating a fingerprint ‘spoof’. The earlier method required the use of latex milk or wood glue. The quality of this spoof depended on the experience of the hacker, and the fingerprint itself took about 20 to 30 minutes to dry.
A Samsung tablet with model name SM-TM585 has been spotted on GFXBench. As per the listing, the device has a 10-inch display with a resolution of 1920x1200 pixels, and might be powered by Samsung’s Exynos 7870 SoC with 2GB of RAM. At the back, it may have an 8MP primary camera, along with a 2MP front-facing camera. The listing also shows that the tablet might come with 16GB of onboard storage and may run on Android Marshmallow v6.0.1 out of the box. The tablet comes with a usual suite of connectivity options, except for NFC.
The Exynos 7870 chipset was officially announced last month and uses the 14nm FinFet process that is also used on the Exynos 7420 and 8890 chipsets. It uses a 1.7GHz octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU with Mali-T830 GPU. The same SoC was earlier spotted on the Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016), whose specifications were leaked on GFXBench and GeekBench.
Google has updated its Photos app for iOS to version 1.8.0 and it now supports Live Photos and Split View. This version also comes with performance enhancements, improved menu navigation, support for the iPad Pro, and reduced cache use in the event the device is low on storage space. In addition, those using the iPhone 6s or 6s Plus can now backup and view Live Photos on the app.
Live Photos was introduced with the Apple iPhone 6s and 6s Plus and captures a few seconds of video before and after taking a picture. Split view mode will allow iPad users to use Google’s Photos app alongside other apps. The service was unveiled at the Google I/O developer conference last year and offers unlimited free storage for photos and videos. The service allows users to store images of up to 16MP at full resolution, while videos up to 1080p can be stored for free. It also allows users to create movies, animations, collages, quickly.
With the rising popularity of media streamers, competition in the streaming market is heating up and Google's Chromecast is hitting the high notes. Research and data by Strategy Analytics reveals that 35% of media streamers sold in 2015 were the Chromecasts. Launched by Google in 2013, this little dongle rose to fame with its ability to mirror content from Android devices to any TV with an HDMI port.
As per this data, Chromecast is now in the league of top streaming devices. Other big players in the streaming category include Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and more. The Chromecast though, is an attractive buy because of its affordable price tag. The first generation Google Chromecast is available for purchase in India and is priced at Rs. 2,999. The device recieved an update last year, but the second gen Chromecast has not yet made its way to the Indian shores.
With the Chromecast plugged into a TV, users can mirror multiple video streaming services such as YouTube and Netflix from their smartphones on to their televisions. The Chromecast 2 supports 802.11ac and 5Ghz, so it is compatible with all modern WiFi routers, enabling faster and smoother streaming. On the inside, the Chromecast 2 has three bespoke antennas ensuring smooth and optimal streaming, Google also said that the Chromecast team worked with Google's OnHub team to ensure better streaming.
Recent rumours around Google's Nexus program suggest that HTC may manufacture two Nexus phones for this year. In addition, it is suggested that Google may have partnered with HTC for more than just one year, and we might see HTC-branded Nexus phones for the next two years to follow. However, this speculation does not include the possibility of HTC Nexus tablets. HTC might already be working on a successor to its Nexus 9 tablet from 2014.
Google’s Nexus program has been under a lot of speculation regarding its future. It was reported that Google is planning to scrap the Nexus program altogether, while news of a project titled Android Silver also broke. However, here have been no concrete follow-ups. As for HTC, a previous report had suggested that two HTC Nexus phones are expected to be announced this year, and will feature 5-inch and 5.5-inch displays. Google will be bucking the trend of offering a larger display with each year, if this comes into fruition.
Looking beyond Nexus devices, HTC is gearing up to announce its next flagship smartphone, the One M10. The phone is expected to be launch on April 11, in London. It is widely expected to be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 SoC along with 4GB of RAM, and feature a refined metal unibody build. The HTC One M10 may house a 5.1-inch QHD AMOLED display with a resolution of 2560x1440 pixels, while the rear camera may either be 13MP or 20MP. A USB-C port and a fingerprint sensor are expected to be standard inclusions here.
NEC has announced a new biometric identification technology that uses the ear canal to verify identity. This is done through the resonance of sound, determined by the shape of a person's ear cavity. The company says that the shape and size of the ear canal is unique for each person, and hence, its acoustic signature can be used to identify individuals. The company claims that this technique only takes about one second to measure the acoustic characteristic of the ear, and offers an accuracy greater than 99%. The technology uses an earphone with a built-in microphone to collect sound that resonates in the ear cavity.
Shigeki Yamagaya, General Manager, Information and Media Processing Laboratories at NEC Corporation said, “Since the new technology does not require particular actions such as scanning a part of the body over an authentication device, it enables a natural way of conducting continuous authentication, even during movement and while performing work, simply by wearing an earphone with a built-in microphone to listen to the sounds within ears.” The company plans to introduce the technology in the market by 2018, and says that it can be utilized in a number of operations related to safety and security. One of these applications was ensuring the identity of a person during telephone calls.
Google has updated its Android distribution statistics, and as per its report, only 2.3% of Android devices are currently running Android Marshmallow v6.0. For now, Android Lollipop (v5.0 and v5.1) is the most popular version of Google’s mobile operating system with a combined share of 36.1%. This is followed by Android Kitkat v4.4 with a share of 34.3%.
The three builds of Android Jellybean (v4.1, v4.2, and v4.3) were present on a total of 22.3% devices, while Ice Cream Sandwich v4.0.3 and v4.0.4 had a share of 2.3%. Android Gingerbread v2.3 and Froyo v2.2 are still active with a share of 2.6% and 0.1% respectively. As per Google’s report, this data was collected through a seven-day period ending on March 7, and reflected devices that were running the latest Google Play Store app.
The share of Android Marshmallow devices should grow over the coming months as more manufacturers launch smartphones running the operating system out of the box. Older devices running Android Lollipop are also being upgraded to Marshmallow, which should increase the operating system’s overall share.
Apple reportedly expects a year-on-year decline in sales this quarter, for the first time in the history of iPhones. CEO Tim Cook, recently said, “We do think iPhone units will decline in the quarter. We don’t think that they will decline to the levels you’ll talk about.” Pacific Crest Securities analyst Andy Hargreaves, though, has cut his estimate of Apple’s earnings this quarter, expecting sales closer to the low end of Apple’s range.
That said, leaks and rumours of an upcoming smaller iPhone have been doing the rounds, which may have affected Apple’s current sales. The iPhone 5se, expected soon, is supposedly going to have a smaller 4 inch display and will run on the Apple A9 SoC. The device will of course be followed by the iPhone 7 later in the year, however, a concrete launch date for any of these is unavailable as of now.
According to reports, 60% of iPhone 6 owners haven’t upgraded to an iPhone 6S, which means Apple still stands a chance to make a killing with the iPhone 7. There have been rumours of big changes coming to the newest iPhone, giving it an AMOLED display and of course, faster processor and possibly even more RAM.
Telecom operators may not be wholly responsible for the rising rate of calls being dropped, as a recent report claims that mid-range smartphones may be guilty as well. According to analytics firm RedMango, smartphones priced under Rs. 20,000 face up to 67% more call drops as compared to phones priced over Rs. 30,000. In addition, the firm found that the type and version of the operating system also significantly impacts call quality in smartphones. Umang Shah, Co-Founder and Head of Innovation and Marketing at RedMango Analytics said , “Since awareness of this is low among users in India, mobile operators must compensate for this by designing their networks for the lowest performing smartphones that is available in the market.”
According to Redmango’s report, the key reasons contributing to dropped calls were poor connectivity, quality and network failures. The report noted that in 2015, only 4% of the total calls dropped were due to poor coverage, while 59.1% were a result of poor connection quality. About 36.9% of all calls that were dropped were due to network faults.
A new research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab and Harvard University has developed a tool that will reportedly allow webpages to load up to 34% faster. Named ‘Polaris’, the tool creates a virtual map of all elements that are required to load on a webpage, including all fonts, javascripts and page formatting. This then allows for simultaneous downloading of similar content, thereby saving the browser time spent on mapping the objects and downloading them without a specific structure, often leading to redundancy. Polaris, the developers claim, is built in Javascript and can run on almost any functional browser.
The idea is to create a simplified route for browsers to load pages based on systematic priority. For instance, this is similar to creating a travel route based on shortest travel times, thereby cutting down on repeated routes. The researchers are looking to further work on Polaris to fine tune its operations, but are enthusiastic about opening it to the public for wider opinions. As of now, they have stated that Polaris shows its best results when tried out on websites with very heavy traffic. We wait to see how it really performs in everyday usage, and how much of a difference does it really make.
Apple might be working on a new iPhone with a 5.8-inch display, according to a report published by Digitimes. Rumours suggest that the phone might be called Apple iPhone Pro, and may not become a reality till 2017 or 2018. This is being interpreted as Apple’s approach to employ a curved display on an iPhone. It should be mentioned that Apple was granted a patent regarding the curved displays earlier in September 2015.
Speaking to MacRumours, DisplayMate’s founder Ray Soneira suggested that future Apple products can have a folded display and may used a flexible OLED display. This will allow Apple to implement special buttons or gestures that could be called upon from a side swipe on the display. Currently, only Samsung employs curved displays on its Edge smartphone lineup. Soneira adds that Apple’s implementation of the curved display will be different from that of Samsung.
Soneira further added, "Because of their very flexible power management capabilities, OLEDs are not only more power efficient than LCDs for most image content, but they now deliver much higher peak Brightness than LCDs because of this. However, for mostly all white screen content LCDs are likely to remain brighter and more power efficient for a while. OLED displays can also be manufactured on flexible substrates, which allows the screens to be curved and rounded like on Samsung's Galaxy Edge and Galaxy Round displays. Right now the curved flexible OLED displays are protected under rigid glass, but in the near future OLED products will be foldable and flexible."
Apple's patent concerning the curved display suggests that the edge display will work as an extension to the main display, and offer virtual buttons and switches. It will also offer additional information to the main data displayed on the display. In a different patent, Apple has outlined three different shapes in which the curved display can be implemented. It could be a simple wraparound, or be squared, or even cylindrical.
Google has released its first developer preview of the upcoming Android N mobile operating system. The company usually introduces developer previews at its annual I/O conference, which is scheduled to be held from May 18 to May 20. The developer preview for Android N is only available on select devices such as Nexus 6, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, Nexus Player and the Pixel C tablet.
One of the major new features in Android N is the inclusion of multi-window support. This feature is available on phones and tablets, and allows users to run two apps side-by-side or one above the other, in splitscreen mode. Users can also resize apps by dragging the divider between the two. The feature will also be available on Android TV, via a picture-in-picture mode. In addition, Google has added new features to the notification system. Users will now be able to reply to SMS or text messages from within the notification interface, and see messages grouped together by the OS. Another new feature is the Data Savermode, that will allow users reduce the data used by apps running in the background, and even limit data used by apps in the foreground. Android N also improves upon the Doze feature that was introduced in Android Marshmallow. The feature will now save more battery by making background apps run more efficiently, and reducing the operating system’s use of memory.
Google also announced the Android Beta Program that allows users to try out the beta version of Android N. Users will just have to enroll with the program and not worry about flashing their devices. However, the company has warned that those part of this program will receive unstable pre-release versions that may contain errors, which may affect devices. Google hasn’t yet revealed what ‘N’ stands for yet, but in a separate blog post, Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google’s SVP for Android said, “So, the burning question that’s on everyone’s mind: what will the N release be named? We’re nut tellin’ you yet.” Safe to assume that it'll be Nutella?
Earlier today, Google’s Go-playing AI algorithm, AlphaGo, defeated celebrated Go world champion Lee Se-Dol for the second consecutive time. The second victory was an even more definitive moment in the history of artificial intelligence’s progress, with AlphaGo performing beyond expectations in a game that has been primarily focussed around human intuitions, learning and momentary improvisations. Since yesterday, we have been talking about how AlphaGo’s victory over Lee Se-Dol, revered as a legendary 9-Dan Go player and one of the most celebrated figures in the history of the game, is a crucial moment, and will go down in history as one of the most defining achievements ever. Why, though?
Go, a nearly 3,000-year-old board game, is one of the trickiest games ever. Placed on a board with 19x19 grid are black and white stones belonging to the two players, whose objective is to uniquely strategise their rounds to capture the larger amount of area on the board, and hence, winning. Go has an incredibly simple way of gaming, along with much relaxed set of rules. This combination, however, makes it one of the trickiest and most advanced board games, as it relies on human instincts and sense of instantaneous judgement as part of its gaming strategies.
"It is reasonably easy for machines to apply brute force"
It is this very aspect that makes Go a tricky test for the intelligent algorithms developed by our ingenious minds. it is reasonably easy for machines to apply brute force, evaluate all options and make the best possible move in a game that has a fixed number of possible options. For instance, this was the same strategy that IBM’s Deep Blue algorithm adopted to beat world chess champion, Grandmaster Gary Kasparov. AlphaGo here is a lot less algorithm-like, and more human-like. It is built around deep neural networks and machine learning capabilities, thereby lending it the capability to “learn” and grow its “experience”.
In October 2015, AlphaGo beat European Go Championship winner Fan Hui, 5-0. This was a definite moment that exhibited the amount of advancement that AlphaGo has undergone, since its inception. DeepMind’s founder, Demis Hassabis, stated contrary to expectations that in between beating Fan Hui and its present triumph over Lee Se-Dol, AlphaGo has not undergone a drastic period of improvement. This, actually, is one of the major reasons why this series is such a big deal in the history of artificial intelligence. AlphaGo learns how to behave like a human being, playing innumerable rounds of Go against slightly tweaked versions of itself. This is the technical substitution of natural “practice”, exposing AlphaGo to hours of play time and millions of moves that it gradually learnt. While its victory against Fan Hui was a brilliant feat, it did not contribute drastically to AlphaGo’s knowledge base when it comes to playing Go.
Go is a test of human adaptability and experience
That series, however, did contribute in one particular way. It tested the skill of artificial intelligence against one of the best human minds in the same game. With that victory, AlphaGo’s set of moves and practices were affirmed as useful, and the program learnt strategies that could prove to be beneficial. This can, in a sense, be perceived as the substitute to human ‘confidence’. And playing it out in a game of Go is equally ingenious, as intuition and experience forms the two main skills required to excel in this game, and AlphaGo has aced both, until now.
DeepMind wants to apply machine learning on a scale similar to AlphaGo to smartphones, healthcare and robots, and already has a deal signed with the National Health Service of the United Kingdom. With smartphones becoming more powerful and modular by the day, machine learning can help device grow in efficiency and power by ‘reading’ a user’s daily habits and pre-conditioning itself to the required resources, thus saving on battery power and processor stress. In healthcare, machine learning and neural networks can help in more efficient diagnosis, and innovate to provide technology that will adapt to personal medical scales. As for robotics, the prospect of machine learning’s future is endless.
Match No. 2, with AlphaGo triumphing again over Lee Se-Dol
The rest of the matches in the present DeepMind Challenge series will be played on Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday, Seoul Time. Lee Se-Dol, until now, has expressed his astonishment in losing to AlphaGo, and Hassabis has expressed an equal scale of pleasant astonishment to AlphaGo’s progress. This is the first time an artificial intelligence has defeated the human mind in Go, and that too consecutively. Even if AlphaGo loses the rest of the matches, this moment will reverberate in the history of artificial intelligence. Forever.
Google has announced that it is joining Facebook’s Open Compute Project and is working with the social media giant on new open source hardware for data centers. Google will be contributing new server rack specifications that improve power efficiency. The new rack delivers about four times more electrical power and increases voltage from 12 to 48.
Urs Hölzle, the head of Google’s cloud platform business has indicated that the new rack standard that Facebook and Google are working on could utilize a GPU-based system to drive the neural network. While GPUs were originally designed for graphic-intensive applications, they are also well suited for running deep neural networks. He told Wired, “ Power density is going up. GPUs are something that accelerate this - or amplifies it.” The Open Compute Project was started by Facebook in 2011 and allows companies to share designs of their data center products. Companies like Microsoft, Apple, and Intel are already a part of the project. Seagate recently unveiled the world’s fastest NVMe SSD that meets with the specifications of the Open Compute Project. The drive has a transfer rate of 10GBps and the company says that it is ideal for hyperscale data centers.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will reportedly test a small aeroplane-shaped vehicle for space missions. It will be a part of ISRO’s plans to develop a reusable space launch vehicle. K. Sivan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre told IANS, “We will test a small aeroplane-shaped vehicle -- reusable launch vehicle technology demonstrator -- weighing around 1.7 tonnes soon. The vehicle will travel up to 70 km and will return.” The current cost of placing an object weighing 1kg in orbit is about Rs. 3 lakh. ISRO’s scientists are hoping to bring the cost down to about Rs. 30,000.
In addition, Sivan said that ISRO is also planning to launch its heaviest rocket, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III). The rocket is powered by an indigenously-developed cryogenic engine. According to Sivan, the rocket will have a carrying capacity between 3.2 to 3.4 tonnes, and will carry the GSAT 19 communication satellite. Yesterday, ISRO launched the sixth navigational satellite (IRNSS-1F) from the PSLV-C32 rocket. ISRO also has a number of other launches lined up for this year. According to R. Kunhikrishnan, Director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India’s seventh navigational satellite (IRNSS-1G) will be launched next month. In May, it will launch India’s cartography satellite, Cartosat, along with a couple of small satellites. The INSAT-3DR communication satellite will be launched in August.
Batman Vs Superman, the much awaited blockbuster where the two superheroes are slated to take the screen for an ultimate battle, will release on March 25. The movie will be screening in New York’s first ever 4DX theaters, armed with in-seat environmental effects. Theater audiences will be treated to effects such as motion-activated seats, wind, lightning, vibrations, snow and even scents.
The superhero flick starring Ben Affleck as Batman and Henry Cavill as Superman, will also be the first to air at the 4DX theater in Manhattan’s Union Square, which will open its doors only on March 25. 4DX technology will also create an enhanced visual experience of this action blockbuster adding visual, olfactory, aural and tactile dimensions to the film.
Commenting on the announcement, Byung-hwan Choi, CEO of CJ 4DPLEX said, “We are extremely excited to bring this immersive cinematic experience to New Yorkers. Launching in New York City is a milestone in 4DX’s expansion within the United States. From the success we’ve seen at the box office and from the overwhelmingly positive response we’ve received from audiences at L.A. Live, we have no doubt that these two new 4DX theaters will soon become two of the hottest entertainment spots in the city.”
We just have one thing to say - Manhattan, we are so jealous!
Apple has finally sent out invitations for its March 21 event. The invite does not give out much and has the words "Lets us loop you in" splashed across it. The 'Loop' here could refer to a new strap for the Apple Watch. For a while now, it has been expected that Apple will launch a smaller 4-inch iPhone and the new iteration of the iPad at the March event. The event is scheduled to take place at Apple's Cupertino headquarters and is scheduled to beging at 10 AM PT (11:30 PM India Time) on March 21.
Previous reports had suggested that the company would be holding an event on March 15, but a recent report by South Korean website, UnderKG, projected the event to take place on March 22. Turns out their report was off by just one day. As far as Apple's announcements are concerned, most rumours doing the rounds expect the company to launch a 4-inch iPhone 5SE and the iPad Air 3. However, a contrasting report by 9to5 Mac also suggests that Apple will not be launching the iPad Air 3, but instead, a 9.7-inch version of the iPad Pro that would be compatible with the Apple Pen. The report also indicated that the device would come with a smaller detachable keyboard that would connect to a Smart Connector. The 'Loop' in Apple's invite could also refer to a looped design for the smart connector. It is also possible that iPad Air line would be discontinued.
Last month, another leak by Engadget showed what seemed like dimensional drawings of the Apple iPad Air 3. As per the leak, the upcoming tablet may come with a quad speaker setup, similar to the one found on the Apple iPad Pro. A smart connector is also projected for the iPad Air 3.
Interestingly, Apple's announcement will come a day before it is supposed to appear in court to defend against the FBI's request to unlock an iPhone 5cinvolved in the San Bernardino case. The date for this hearing has been set for a while now, which makes Apple's choice seem all the more deliberate, perhaps to gain marketing momentum for the device.
The iPhone 5se marks yet another attempt by Apple to widen its iPhone's reach in the market. The company is expected to suffer lesser than expected sales of the iPhone 6S this quarter, and has been called a 'one-product company' in the past.
Of course, while the iPhone 5se isn't really a new product, it still gives Apple a shot at earning new customers. It would also help if the company chose a lower than usual price point as well.
An image alleged to show the case of the Apple iPhone 7 has been leaked by French blog NowhereElse. The image shows that the antenna lines have been redesigned and are not present on the back of the phone and the 3.5mm audio jack has been removed as well. In addition, the camera lens seems to have a slight bulge that is smaller than the protruding lens in the current iPhone.
The report also mentions that the casing for the iPhone 7 is slightly thinner than the one used in the iPhone 6s. Lending further credence to the image is the fact that the image seems to have been taken at Catcher technologies, which is a case supplier for Apple. Additionally, an artist also posted a render of what the new iPhone may look like based on this leak.
A few days ago, images alleged to be of the case of the iPhone 7 were leaked. The case did not have a slot for the 3.5mm audio jack and suggests that Apple may indeed remove it from the future iPhones. The case also had three cutouts at the bottom, one for the Lightning port with two other slots for the speaker on either side, hinting at a stereo speaker setup.
Sony has formed a new R&D facility called the Future Lab, and is showcasing some cool new prototypes at SXSW (South by Southwest) conference in the USA. Out of the various ideas that the company is showcasing at the event, two products are catching a lot of attention. One is a prototype projector that can make any tabletop into a touch-sensitive surface for augmented reality, and the second is a new neckband that can play audio unidirectionally upward to increase incident audio towards the ear.
The prototype projector, aka "Interactive Tabletop", uses multiple motion tracking and depth-gauging sensors to catch user input, and let the user interact with objects kept on the table by using augmented projection. This prototype is somewhat similar to Sony's Xperia Projector concept that was unveiled at MWC 2016, and also Lenovo's similar prototype shown some time back. Unlike the other two, this prototype can interact with physical objects kept within the projection area. As reported by The Verge, Sony demonstrated the projector with Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, where illustrations from the book were projected on to the table's surface through gesture commands. This concept technology can have a range of applications, from education to product designing. Sony has not revealed any details about when this concept will go into production.
The other prototype technology is the new neckband, codenamed "Concept N". It features small, built-in speakers that fire upwards and unidirectionally, so that the user can hear audio better, but nearby people need not. This is bundled with a pair of open-ear headphones that use bone conduction technology, the same that Google used in Google Glass. The Bluetooth-enabled neckband can respond to voice commands and fetch information from Sony's partners such as Yelp, Accuweather and Strava. It also has built-in GPS and an 8MP camera hidden on the right, which only reveals itself when given the command, "Listen up Arc, take a picture".
A new mobile app called ‘Vahan Samanvaya’ was launched by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary. The app has complete data on stolen vehicle from around the country and is aimed at helping the police and the public trace stolen vehicles from a database. The app was launched at an event to celebrate the 31st inception day of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). A web portal called Fake Indian Currency Note (FICN) compilation system was also launched at the event. The website aims to help the NCRB get data from all states and other agencies so that it has a better understanding about the circulation of fake currency notes.
The NCRB is tasked with empowering the police in the country with information and technology and is responsible for collecting and analyzing crime data in India. The Home Ministry has also entrusted the NCRB to implement the ‘Crime & Criminal Tracking Network System’ (CCTNS) by March 31, 2017. This system aims to connect all police stations in the country via the internet.
A British teenager has won $250,000 (approx. Rs. 1.67 crores) for finishing first in the inaugural World Drone Prix hosted in Dubai. 15-year-old Luke Bannister’s team, Tornado X-Blades Banni-UK defeated Dubai Dronetek and 150 other teams to win the prize. Drone racing has become quite popular in recent years and the World Drone Prix is one of the biggest events in the sport with a prize pool of $1 million. The drones were raced along an outdoor track with a camera mounted on the front. The racers used headsets to look through the camera for a first-person viewpoint and fly through a series of illuminated hoops.
A few days ago, YouTube user Tollymaster, literally took drone flying to new heights after he flew his DJI Phantom 2 drone up to 11,000 feet and posted a video to YouTube. However, unlike Luke Bannister, Tollymaster may be looking at a fine instead of a prize as his feat was illegal. Many countries have restrictions when it comes to the maximum height a drone can fly. The Phantom 2 drone is usually programmed to restrict itself within 1,500 feet and the hobbyist may have altered the firmware of the drone to make it reach that altitude.
Xiaomi plans to set up two manufacturing plants in India. According to a report by Economic Times, Xiaomi co-founder and President Bin Lin said, “We talked to Foxconn about opening two new factories, they're in discussions with some of the provinces (states).” Meanwhile, Xiaomi’s India Head, Manu Jain has said that the company is trying to get “at least one of them up and running within this year.” Xiaomi is currently manufacturing in India out of Foxconn’s plant in Andhra Pradesh.
Lin also told Economic Times that the company will be focusing more on India and plans to manufacture mobile peripherals and components in the country. He believes that China’s market will be “flat” this year and may even decline, while the Indian market may rise. In addition, he said that Xiaomi’s new flagship smartphone, the Mi 5 will not be made in India initially and that the price of the device could be between Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 27,000 based on the prices in China. During the launch of the Redmi Note 3 earlier this month, Xiaomi Vice President, Hugo Barra had said that the Mi 5 will be available in India from April.
The Meizu Pro 6 might have a variant with 6GB of RAM. According to a report by Chinese website, My Drivers, the phone may be available in two variants, one with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage and another with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. However, the screen will still have a resolution of 1080p and the phone may be launched in August this year.
As per the report, the phone might be powered by Samsung’s Exynos 8890 SoC, which is currently used by the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge smartphones. It may also come with other features like Hi-Fi 3.0 support, fast charging, and Flyme 6.0 OS. Earlier this month Meizu’s VP, Yang Tan shared a screenshot on his Weibo account which hinted that the company may be developing a 3D Touch display for use in the Pro 6. The screenshot suggests that the company implement the system in a manner similar to what Apple does in the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.
If Meizu does launch a smartphone with 6GB of RAM, it won’t be the first to do so. Earlier this month, the Vivo Xplay 5 Elite became the first phone to come with 6GB of RAM. Besides the RAM, the phone also comes with a 5.43-inch QHD display and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor.
