PAKISTAN NEWS:
IT industry revenues have reached $4.1 billion:
On the directions of Federal Minister for Information Technology & Telecommunication, Federal Secretary Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication Mr. Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui reviewed the performance of Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) on Wednesday to enhance software exports and expedite the completion of IT Parks in Pakistan.
Managing Director (MD) and senior management of PSEB briefed the Secretary IT and Telecommunication about the achievements of PSEB during the financial year 2018-19.
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PTA announces final price and terms for licenses:
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has rejected mobile operators’ apprehensions relating to the price of mobile license renewals and passed an order while fixing the fee for license renewal at $39.5 million per MHz for frequency spectrum of 900 MHz and $29.5 million per MHz for frequency spectrum of 1800 MHz.
PTA said that it passed the order in compliance of the court order dated 21-06-2019 passed by the Islamabad High Court (IHC), where PTA was asked to make a decision and announce terms for renewal of telecom licenses.
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PTA not auctioning 5G licenses:
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has clarified that it is not going to issue 5G licenses in November this year. In a rebuttal of erroneous media reports, the authority issued a clarification explaining that the public notice published in the newspapers was to invite applications for development and testing of the fifth-generation wireless network.
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Facebook fined $5 billion:
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a record-breaking fine to Facebook for violating user privacy.The social media giant will be paying a whopping $5 billion in damages as a result of a years-long investigation into the Cambridge Analytica scandal and other privacy breaches.
FTC claims that Facebook is guilty of violating the law by failing to protect user data from third parties and lying to its users that their facial recognition software was turned off by default. All of this illegally collected data was being used to serve ads through phone numbers provided for security.
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Nokia 105 and 220 4g launched:
Nokia has come out with a fresh new announcement, unveiling the Nokia 105 and the Nokia 220 4G, the most affordable feature phone in its category.Both of these devices are reboots of their previous versions.
The Nokia 105 was first introduced to the world in 2013, and the version we have right now is the fourth iteration. Nokia 220 made its first debut back in 2014, and it has now been refreshed with 4G support.
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Google opens lightweight gallery app:
At the recent ‘Google for Nigeria’ event, the search engine giant officially launched Gallery Go. It’s a lightweight photo gallery app that has many of the features from Google Photos in a slimmed-down package.
As Google Photos is a bit on the beefy side and needs a constant connection to the cloud, the Gallery Go remedies that with its small size and low-resource usage.Gallery Go comes in at just 10MBs and brings in all the features of Google Photos without the need of an internet connection.
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Huawei Mate 30 pro live images show off its ‘waterfall display’:
Huawei Mate 30 Pro is not expected to arrive until later this year, however, that won’t stop the leaks from coming.
The latest one shows the phone in live images next to a bunch of other smartphones.The new set of images for the device were posted by IceUniverse on Twitter (original source now removed) and they show off exactly what the device looks like.
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Samsung Galaxy note 10 set to be released:
Samsung’s upcoming stylus toting flagship, the Galaxy Note 10, will be launched next month. The Note series has always focused on innovation and new technologies.
However, this time we are not getting a lot of new features on the duo (Note 10 and Note 10 Plus), but the pair have been receiving the same hype and anticipation as every other Samsung flagship. Some features for the Note 10 were leaked by a famed leakster Evan Blass (@evleaks).
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Xiaomi patents a new slider phone with four rear cameras:
A new patent filed by Xiaomi suggests that the company is looking to make a slider smartphone with four cameras at the back.
The patent shows a device with a slider mechanism similar to the Mi Mix 3, but with a quad-camera setup at the back. The front is all screen, with the LED flash and front-facing camera located on the manual sliding mechanism.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
O2 to launch 5G network in UK:
O2 has announced it plans to turn on its 5G mobile network in October. It intends to launch the next-generation service in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London, Slough and Leeds and then expand to a total of 50 towns and cities by summer 2020.
It will be the last of the UK’s network coverage providers to roll out 5G.However, it will be the only one to do so without using equipment from the embattled Chinese telecoms equipment-maker Huawei.
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Samsung Galaxy fold ‘ready’ for launch after screen fix:
Samsung’s first foldable smartphone will go on sale in September after problems with the device delayed its initial release.The April launch of the Galaxy Fold was postponed after early reviewers reported broken screens.Samsung said it had made “improvements” to the nearly $2,000 (£1,603) device which would be sold in “select markets”.The firm has been racing to launch a folding smartphone before its rivals.
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Flyboard inventor fails in cross-channel bid:
A French inventor has failed in his attempt to cross the English Channel on a jet-powered flyboard. Franky Zapata, a former jet-ski champion, had been hoping to cross from northern France to southern England in just 20 minutes.
But the 40-year-old fell into the water halfway across as he tried to land on a boat to refuel.He took off from near Calais on Thursday morning and was heading for St Margaret’s Bay in Dover.
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Hyperloop track to be built in Saudi Arabia:
Virgin’s Hyperloop One company has signed a deal with the government of Saudi Arabia to build a test track for its futuristic transport concept. The hyperloop concept involves a pressurised pod with a vehicle carrying passengers or cargo up to 10 times faster than current rail.
A 35km track will be built, alongside a research and development facility and manufacturing plant, north of Jeddah. Some remain sceptical that hyperloop travel can become a reality.Virgin Hyperloop One said the technology could reduce a journey from Riyadh to Jeddah to 76 minutes, compared with more than 10 hours currently.
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Facebook uses AI to map Thailand’s roads:
Facebook has used artificial intelligence (AI) to map 300,000 miles of previously unmapped roads in Thailand and made the results available to the public.The project had been completed in 18 months, less than half the time it would have taken 100 mapping experts to do it manually, Facebook said. The maps could be used for disaster response and urban planning.Many parts of the world remain unmapped.
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Technology giants’ power to be probed in US:
The US Justice Department has announced an investigation into leading online platforms, examining whether they are unfairly restricting competition. The DoJ did not name any firms, but companies such as Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple are likely to be scrutinised in the wide-ranging probe. It was sparked by “widespread concerns” about “search, social media, and some retail services online,” the DoJ said.
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Facebook won’t rule out digital currency launch without us approval:
Facebook is facing immense pressure from US regulators over its plans to launch a digital currency, Libra, in association with more than 20 partners including Visa, MasterCard and Uber.
As well as co-creating the Libra currency, Facebook plans, on its own, to offer its own digital wallet, called Calibra. Like a physical wallet with cash, Calibra will store a users’ Libra, and make it possible to engage in transactions with other wallets.Libra has the potential, lawmakers say, to dramatically disrupt the global banking industry — a digital currency that can cross borders, without the wild price fluctuations and illegal connotations of Bitcoin and its ilk.
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Grand Theft Auto’s diamond casino lets cash be turned into chips:
Grand Theft Auto V has opened an in-game casino where real money can be spent on gambling chips — but they cannot be converted back into cash.
The new feature was launched as regulators grapple with whether in-game wagers should be treated as gambling. In GTA Online, players can buy in-game ‘dollars’ with real currency, and then convert their virtual dollars to gambling chips. The game is rated for ages 18 and over, but remains popular among young teens. The in-game currency can be used to acquire cars, weapons, and cosmetic items — and used to play slot machines, roulette, or poker.
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Netflix opens mobile only plan in India:
Netflix has developed a new plan to gain subscribers in India by making its service incredibly inexpensive.
The company is rolling out a lower-priced mobile tier for a monthly fee of Rs. 199 ($2.8).It is worth pointing out that this subscription model limits service usage to one mobile device (and one concurrent stream). Although, consumers can use this new plan on their tablets, various features such as the ability to cast (or mirror) the content to TV are restricted.