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  The Delhi High Court Friday said it will hear on August 27 the pleas by Facebook and WhatsApp challenging the new IT rules for social media intermediaries, requiring the messaging app to trace chats and make provisions to identify the first originator of information, on the ground that they violate the right to privacy and are unconstitutional. A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh listed the matter for August 27 after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, said he was in some difficulty and urged the court to adjourn the hearing. The request was not opposed by senior advocates Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for WhatsApp and Facebook respectively. Click Here

  Chinese smartphone brand POCO is gearing up to launch its POCO X3 GT smartphone globally on July 28, Wednesday. In terms of specifications, the new X series smartphone will have 67W fast-charging capability, a MediaTek Dimensity 1100 chipset, 5,000mAh battery and 64MP triple-rear camera. With a price tag of around Rs 27,000, the POCO X3 GT will be available in three different colours; black, blue and white. Poco X3 GT is likely to arrive in international markets after its official launch in Malaysia. The connectivity features include dual-band Wi-Fi, 5G and 4G LTE, Bluetooth, GPS, NFC, and USB Type-C port for charging and data sync. The handset will come with 128/256GB UFS 3.1 storage and 6/8GB dual-channel UFS 3.1 RAM. According to media reports, POCO X3 GT features a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, JBL-powered dual stereo speakers, 6.6-inch IPS LCD screen with Full HD+ resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate and a 240Hz touch sampling rate. Click Here

  Chinese smartphone maker OPPO has been consistent in upgrading its Reno line of smartphones, but the changes that successive editions have brought are mostly incremental. Take for example the recently launched Reno6 Pro 5G. A successor to the Reno 5 Pro 5G (review), this smartphone brings a slightly more powerful processor (MediaTek Dimensity 1200) and OPPO’s new camera-centric innovations. Priced at Rs 39,990, the Reno6 Pro 5G is about Rs 13,000 more expensive than the Realme X7 Max (review), the only other MediaTek Dimensity 1200 system-on-chip-powered smartphone currently available in India. So, should you pay for the Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G more than you would pay for its peers in the same league just for its camera innovations? Or is there more to it that makes it a worthy package? Let us find out: Design OPPO keeps experimenting with the back cover design in its Reno smartphones. There is some of that here, too. Though the smartphone looks similar to its predecessor, it has a

  YouTube on Wednesday said it has added a new 'Super Thanks' that will offer a new monetisation mechanism for creators on the platform. Fans watching YouTube videos can now purchase 'Super Thanks' to express their gratitude and show support, a statement said. "They will see an animated GIF and, as an added bonus, get a distinct, colourful comment to highlight their purchase, which creators can respond to. Super Thanks is currently available at four price points between USD 2 and USD 50 (or local currency equivalent)," it added. The feature was in beta testing and will now be available to thousands of monetising creators. Click Here

  Instagram said Wednesday it is testing a new feature called ‘Collab’, which will let people collaborate on Feed Posts and Reels. The feature is being rolled out in India and the United Kingdom. Instagram Reels With ‘Collab’, one user can now invite another as a collaborator on the post or reel. If the invitee accepts, both accounts will appear in the post or reel header, and the content will be shared with the followers of both users. Reels is Instagram's short-video format, and has been very popular with creators on the platform. "Collaborating is a huge part of how people connect on Instagram. With ‘Collab’, you can invite a collaborator to your Feed Post and Reels, so they can share the content with their followers. Read More

  Chinese technology company Xiaomi on Tuesday launched in India its first 5G smartphone under the Redmi branding. Named the Redmi Note 10T 5G , the smartphone will be available online on Mi online store and Amazon, and offline at the Mi Home and Mi Studio stores from July 26. The smartphone will also be available at retail stores soon. The Redmi Note 10T 5G will be available in 4GB+64GB and 6GB+128GB variants priced at Rs 13,999 and Rs 15,999, respectively. As for the specifications, the Redmi Note 10T 5G sports a 6.5-inch screen of 90Hz refresh rate. The smartphone boasts a smart 360-degree light sensor, which helps the screen in automatically adjusting the brightness based on ambient light conditions. Part of the Redmi Note 10 series, the Redmi Note 10T 5G features the Xiaomi’s Evol design language with Gorilla Glass Protection on the screen. Read Full Article Here

  Organisers of the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday confirmed that a foreign athlete has tested positive for Covid-19 at the Games Athletes' Village. As per Kyodo News, eight more people related to the Tokyo Olympics 2021 have also tested positive for the coronavirus. Earlier, a female gymnast from the United States tested positive for COVID-19 at her pre-Tokyo Olympic training camp. The athlete was training in the city of Inzai, Chiba Prefecture ahead of the opening of the Tokyo Olympics, as per Kyodo News. The name of the athlete has not been revealed as of now but it is being reported that the female gymnast is a teenager. Earlier on Monday, the Czech Republic's beach volleyball player Ondrej Perusic came out COVID-19 positive ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Ondrej is currently asymptomatic and is in isolation according to the rules. Click Here

  Hyundai Motor India on Monday said it has received over 11,000 bookings for its recently launched model Alcazar . Launched less than a month ago, the premium SUV has already garnered over 11 000 bookings, the auto major said in a statement. "This superlative response showcases our customer's affinity towards a high value, versatile and premium package that Hyundai Alcazar epitomizes perfectly," Hyundai Motor India Director (Sales, Marketing and Service) Tarun Garg said. The company has already delivered over 5,600 units of the model in the market, he added. "With the addition of this 6 and 7-seater SUV to our line up, we are now offering our valued Indian customers a stellar range of multiple SUVs which will help us to further fortify our SUV leadership in India," Garg noted. Click Here

  Samsung Electronics is expected to unveil its latest Samsung foldable smartphones next month with lower price tags compared with its predecessors, industry sources said on Saturday. The South Korean tech giant is expected to start sales of the Galaxy Z Fold3 at around 1.99 million won ($1,744), which is 17 percent lower than the 2.39 million won set for the previous model, according to the sources. The price of the Galaxy Z Flip3 is also expected to be around 22 percent lower than the predecessor at 1.28 million won, reports Yonhap news agency. The latest strategy apparently comes in line with Samsung's effort to boost sales of its foldable smartphones and gain advantages in terms of the price as its archrival Apple Inc. is also set to unveil new models later this year. Read More

  Google Cloud India announced the launch of its new cloud region in Delhi NCR to further serve customers and the public sector in India and across Asia-Pacific. Designed to enable both Indian and global companies alike to build highly accessible applications for their customers, the Delhi NCR region is the second Google Cloud region in India and 10th in the Asia Pacific. “Our commitment to India is for India, by India,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud. “Because of this, we are not only seeing success in America, Europe but also Asia-pacific and we are seeing growth in the number of leading companies around the world,” he said. With this new region, Google Cloud customers operating in India will benefit from low latency and high performance of their cloud-based workloads and data. Designed for high availability, the region opens with three availability zones to protect against service disruptions, and offers a portfolio of key products. These include Compute Engine, App Engi

  In a bid to help businesses of all sizes boost productivity in the hybrid work scenario, Microsoft on Wednesday announced a new Cloud service called Windows 365 that will run in Microsoft Cloud and allow customers to set up a Cloud PC with ease. Microsoft Windows 365 is not a new operating system but a new way to experience either Windows 10 or Windows 11 in a virtual environment, that streams the full Windows experience to any device. Essentially, Windows 365 allows customers to fuse together the best of the cloud and the device itself. Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella said that with Windows 365, the company is creating a new category: the Cloud PC. "Just like applications were brought to the cloud with SaaS, we are now bringing the operating system to the cloud, providing organisations with greater flexibility and a secure way to empower their workforce to be more productive and connected, regardless of location," Nadella said during the 'Microsoft Insp

  A single dose of the Sputnik V vaccine may be enough to elicit strong antibody response against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in already infected people, according to a study. Previous studies have found that two doses of Sputnik V, a vector vaccine produced using a combination of two adenoviruses, results in 92 per cent efficacy against COVID-19 infection. Adenoviruses are common viruses that cause a range of illness with cold-like symptoms such as fever and sore throat. The new study, published on Tuesday in the journal Cell Reports Medicine, examined whether a single dose would achieve greater public health benefit than two doses by allowing protection of a larger population more quickly. Click Here

  England completed a 3-0 sweep of Pakistan in their one-day international series after James Vince's century led the hosts to a three-wicket victory on Tuesday. Vince's first international hundred led England as they chased down 332 at Edgbaston and overcame a 158 by Pakistan captain Babar Azam. England vs Pakistan 2021 Vince's 102 from 95 balls led a makeshift side after England's entire first-choice ODI squad had to isolate after a COVID-19 outbreak just over a week ago following the Sri Lanka series. "I hadn't given up on this moment, but this time last week I didn't expect it at all," Vince said. "I wasn't sure it was going to come. There was probably a realization I wasn't going to be in the squad or be high up in the pecking order so I was delighted I got another opportunity." The 30-year-old Vince said scoring a hundred for his country was one of my dreams growing up. Read More

  SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk , who claims to be living in a modest $50,000, 37-square-metre prefab guest house in Boca Chica, Texas, has bought a $250,000 ticket to space from fellow billionaire Richard Branson 's Virgin Galactic. The Wall Street Journal reports that Musk had bought a ticket for his space ride before Branson touched the edge of space on Sunday. "It is unclear how far up the waiting list Musk is for a seat. Virgin Galactic said its tickets have sold for $250,000 each, and the company has collected $80 million in sales and deposits," the report said on Monday. In an interview with Sunday Times, Branson said: "Elon's a friend and maybe I'll travel on one of his ships one day. Musk and Branson are good friends. Read Full Article Here

  Samsung Electronics is considering launching the upcoming budget model of the Galaxy S21 smartphone in the US and Europe only, industry sources said on Friday, due to global semiconductor shortages. Samsung is reviewing a plan to release the Galaxy S21 Fan Edition (FE) in the US and Europe after skipping the domestic market and other countries following the tight supply of mobile application processors, according to the sources. The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE will be reportedly powered by the Snapdragon 888 processor from Qualcomm Inc. But due to supply issues, the South Korean tech giant may also use in-house Exynos chips, the sources said, according to Yonhap news agency. Industry insiders also predicted that Samsung may push back the launch of the Galaxy S21 FE from its planned schedule. Click Here

  Microsoft is giving all its employees a $1,500 (over Rs 1.12 lakh) pandemic bonus, in recognition of a challenging fiscal year that the tech giant just completed. According to The Verge which has seen an internal memo, Microsoft is gifting the bonus to all staff below corporate vice president level that started on or before March 31, 2021. Microsoft bonus payouts It will also include part-time workers and those on hourly rates. "Microsoft's chief people officer, Kathleen Hogan, announced the gift to employees today, and it will apply to all eligible employees in both the US and internationally," the report said on Thursday. Microsoft has 175,508 employees worldwide. Read More

  German audio tech company Blaupunkt on Thursday launched in India its range of smart LED TVs in partnership with the home-grown contract manufacturer Super Plastronics Pvt Ltd (SPPL). The Blaupunkt smart televisions will be available in 32-inch, 42-inch, 43-inch and 55-inch screen variants, exclusively on Flipkart. The TVs will go on sale starting July 10. “We are extremely delighted to onboard a well-loved and well-recognized Germany based consumer electronics giant Blaupunkt. With Blaupunkt’s footprint and launch of the Android TV models in India, we would continue being committed to embracing our ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ or Self-reliant India momentum. Our existing partnership with Flipkart will play a key role in taking the new generation of smart TVs to millions of its customers across the country. With this launch, we expect to gain our market share by 15% in the next 3 years,” Avneet Singh Marwah, CEO, Super Plastronics PVT LTD (SPPL) said. Read Full Article Here

  South Korean tech giant is all set to launch its upcoming smartphone --Galaxy Z Fold3 and Galaxy Z Flip3 -- on August 11, media report says. The new report claims that at the next Samsung Unpacked event the company will unveil the new smartphones along with a watch. The event will start at 10 a.m. ET and will be streamed on YouTube. Notably, Samsung has not publicly confirmed these details just yet, citing DigitalDailyNews, 9To5Google reported. A recent report said that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 will feature an under-display camera and support the S-Pen stylus. Its next clamshell foldable Galaxy Z Flip3 is expected to have a bigger outer display. The Galaxy Z Flip3 is expected to feature a larger external display of 1.83 inches. It has a dual-camera system, which reportedly includes a 12MP main snapper and a 12MP ultrawide snapper. Read More

  Homegrown earwear and wearables brand boAt on Wednesday launched an affordable smartwatch called Xtend that offers seven-day battery life, over 50 Watch faces, heart rate, SPO2 and sleep monitoring. The boAt Xtend is available at an introductory price of Rs 2,999 with a one-year warranty on Amazon and boAt website, the company said in a statement. Boat Smartwatch The smartwatch comes with built-in Alexa voice assistant. "We are thrilled to introduce a smartwatch with built-in Alexa which adds a whole new dimension and capabilities to the smartwatch category as whole," said Aman Gupta, Co-Founder, boAt. Click Here

  As smartphone maker OPPO gears up to launch its most anticipated Reno6 smartphone series in the country on July 14, a top executive on Monday said that the upcoming series will prove to be another milestone and a game changer in the premium segment. According to Tasleem Arif, Vice President and Head, R&D OPPO India, with Reno6 series devices, the company aims at attaining leadership in the premium device category. OPPO Reno6 Smartphone "With Reno6 series adopting the latest technology to build upon the series' unique strengths in superior imaging capabilities and eye-catching design, we are confident that the most-awaited Reno6 series will be a hit with consumers thanks to its fresh, next-gen experience," Arif told IANS. Equipped with MediaTek 5G UltraSave power-saving enhancements, the Reno6 series devices are said to be designed with the power-efficient and fully integrated 5G modems that empower users with incredible 5G experiences. Read More

  WhatsApp has started testing a new feature that lets users share videos in high quality. The name of the feature is 'Video Upload Quality' and it's currently under development, hence it's not available for the public. According to The Verge, the feature will be available for users in a future update. This new feature has been currently released as part of WhatsApp Android Beta version 2.21.14.6. In a future update, users will be able to choose the video upload quality by picking one of 3 options, namely, Auto (recommended), Best Quality, and data saver. In the case of auto, WhatsApp will detect the best compression algorithm for that specific video. Then another feature is the best quality one that lets WhatsApp always send the video using the best quality available. Click Here

  In the first half of this year, smartphone makers have launched more midrange smartphones than premium and budget ones put together. So, it will not be wrong to say the midrange segment is the new battlefield for smartphone brands in India’s price-conscious mobile phone market. Fresh in the segment is the Nord CE (Core Edition) by OnePlus. In retrospect, this Chinese smartphone brand brought the midrange smartphones back in trend in 2020 with the launch of the OnePlus Nord (review). The brand enjoyed the first-mover advantage and the Nord received a healthy reception despite its shortcomings. That was the background. Now let us dig right into the OnePlus Nord CE review to know if it fits the bill, especially when there are so many good options available now in the midrange segment: The OnePlus Nord CE is positioned not as a successor but the core edition based on the original Nord. The smartphone seems to have cut corners on some parameters to help OnePlus price it lower than th

  NASA's newest six-wheeled robot on Mars, the Perseverance rover, is beginning an epic journey across a crater floor seeking signs of ancient life, the US space agency announced on Thursday. A NASA release said the rover team is deeply engaged with planning navigation routes, drafting instructions to be beamed up, even donning special 3D glasses to help map their course. Nasa's self-driving But increasingly, the rover will take charge of the drive-by itself, using a powerful auto-navigation system. Called AutoNav, this enhanced system makes 3D maps of the terrain ahead, identifies hazards, and plans a route around any obstacles without additional direction from controllers back on Earth. "We have a capability called 'thinking while driving,'" said Vandi Verma, a senior engineer, rover planner, and driver at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. "The rover is thinking about the autonomous drive while its wheels are turning.&

  Tech billionaire Elon Musk's space company Spacex has launched 88 satellites, as part of the firm's second in-house "ride-share" mission from Florida, bringing the total number of orbital objects this year to nearly 900, the media reported. The company launched the satellites on Wednesday on a reused Falcon 9 rocket for the "Transporter-2" mission, including the first five for a new Pentagon agency and dozens more for various companies, countries, and schools, the Verge reported. SpaceX satellites launch On Wednesday, June 30 at 3:31 p.m. EDT, Falcon 9 launched the Transporter-2, SpaceX's second dedicated SmallSat Rideshare Programme mission, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, the company said. The mission also marked SpaceX's second launch to a polar orbit from Florida. This marked the company's 20th launch this year and the eighth flight for the rocket's first stage booster. That booster

  Realme’s sub-brand Dizo on Thursday made its debut in India with the launch of the GoPods D wireless earbuds and the wireless neckband earphones. Priced at Rs 1,599, the Dizo GoPods D will be available in the black and white colours from July 14. The Dizo wireless neckband earphones are priced at Rs 1,499. The earphone will be available in orange, black, blue and green colours from July 07. Both the GoPods D wireless earbuds and neckband wireless earphones will be available online on Flipkart and offline at select retail stores. Dizo GoPods D: Features Dizo said the earbuds have been designed according to the ergonomics of the human ear and each earbud weighs 4.1g, making it lighter than most earbuds available in the market. The GoPods D features a 10mm audio driver supported by Realme Bass Boost+ algorithm. The audio driver boasts TPU + PEEK polymer composite diaphragm, for deeper bass and clearer stereo output. Read More