Amazon Great Indian Festival sale 2022 is now live for Prime members, 24 hours ahead of going live for everyone in India. Amazon’s annual shopping extravaganza the Great Indian Festival sale marks the beginning of the Indian festive season and will go on until October. The Amazon Great Indian Festival sale also coincides with rival Flipkart’s Big Billion Day Sale 2022 which also aims to lure customers with deals and offers across categories. As always, the Amazon Great Indian Festival sale 2022 begins 24 hours early exclusively for Amazon Prime subscribers. So if you were saving up for the festive season, now is the time to go on a shopping spree and here are the best deals and offers you should check out during the Amazon Great Indian Festival sale.
How to get early access to Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale 2022?
Well, there’s just really one way. You need the Amazon Prime subscription to get early access to the Great Indian Festival sale 2022. If you don’t have an Amazon Prime subscription, here are the prices of the Amazon Prime plan:
₹179/month
₹459/quarterly
₹1,499/annual
Amazon Great Indian Festival sale 2022: Bank Offers
Amazon has partnered with SBI Bank for the Great Indian Festival sale 2022 where it is offering a 10% instant discount on SBI credit and debit cards.
In addition, Amazon is also offering No Cost EMI on select Credit and Debit cards.
Amazon Great Indian Festival sale 2022: Best deals and offers on mobiles
Redmi A1 at ₹5,850
Click here to know more about Redmi A1
Apple iPhone 12 (64GB) at ₹39,999
Read our iPhone 12 review here
Samsung Galaxy S22 at ₹52,999
Read our Samsung Galaxy S22 review here
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G at ₹26,999
Click here to read our Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G review
OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G at ₹16,999
Click here to read our review of the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite
Redmi 9 Activ at ₹7,649
Read more about Redmi 9 Activ here
Samsung Galaxy M13 at ₹8,499
Read more about Samsung Galaxy M13 here
Samsung Galaxy M53 5G at ₹19,999
Click here to read our review of the Galaxy M53 5G
Samsung Galaxy M33 5G at ₹11,999
Read more about Galaxy M33 5G here
Samsung Galaxy M32 at ₹10,499
Click here to read our review of the Samsung Galaxy M32
iQOO Z6 Lite at ₹11,499
Read more about iQOO Z6 Lite here
iQOO 9 5G at ₹33,990
Click here to know more about iQOO 9 5G
iQOO 9T at ₹46,999
Read more about iQOO 9T 5G here
Redmi Note 11 at ₹10,799
Read more about Redmi Note 11 here
Redmi Note 11 Pro+ at ₹16,999
Read our review of the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ here
Xiaomi 11 Lite NE at ₹19,749
Click here to read our review of the Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G
Xiaomi 11T Pro at ₹28,999
Click here to read our review of the Xiaomi 11T Pro
San Francisco, Sep 21 (IANS) Meta-owned Facebook has confirmed that it is now bringing new Pages features to help creators connect with their followers.
The platform said that creators can spotlight each other with a Creator Endorsement by inviting their followers to follow another creator that they admire.
"We are introducing new features that help creators who use Pages get discovered and connect with their fans," the company wrote on Twitter.
The platform mentioned that its new Rising Creator Labels allow people to discover up-and-coming creators who are the best at building engaging communities on Facebook.
Meanwhile, the company also said that Creators on iOS can access a composer selector in their navigation bar to easily gain entry to make a Story, Reel, or to go Live.
This month, the platform had also announced a new feature called Community Chats that will soon allow users to connect with their communities in real time on both Facebook and Messenger via text, audio and video.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had said that the company is building Community Chats as a new way to connect with people who share interests.
Community Chats will only be accessible to members of a group. Members of Community Chats can also report messages to group admins or Meta, block users or leave a chat at any time.
(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in
Tokyo, Sep 21 (IANS) Japanese tech giant Sony is reportedly working on a PlayStation 5 (PS5) model with Detachable Disc Drive.
According to GizmoChina, like the Microsoft Xbox Series X and Series S, the PlayStation 5 from Sony does not offer its latest generation of gaming consoles with different specs.
Although, it does offer one that lacks a physical disc drive. And now, a new report suggests that a third variant is on the way, the report said.
The Japanese tech giant has already been making minor changes to its latest generation of PS5 consoles. However, it seems like a new change might bring a drastic change in the new consoles' design.
The news arrives from Insider Gamingas Tom Henderson who revealed that Sony could be looking to refresh the physical design of the PlayStation 5. Apparently, the upcoming versions of PS5 might feature a detachable disc drive.
As per the report, the brand plans on releasing the PS5 with a detachable disc drive that will be connected to the console through a USB Type C port that is housed at the back.
The company usually launches new variants of its console every 3 to 4 years. So, it won't be surprising if the new PS5 model launches sometime within the next two years, the report noted.
But unlike a Slim or Pro variant, it seems that this time around the brand plans on bringing a detachable disc drive. This could also bring down the manufacturing cost for the PlayStation 5 and make it more affordable for buyers, it added.
(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in
San Francisco, Sep 20 (IANS) Google has finally launched a new pilot programme to keep political campaign emails out of spam folders for Gmail users.
Gmail users could start seeing more campaign fundraising emails in their inboxes in the next couple of days, reports Axios.
Announced in June, the programme allows candidates, political party committees and leadership political action committees to apply for spam folder exemptions.
The move is "partly a result of Google bowing to pressure from conservatives who claimed the company marked Republican emails as spam more often than others".
The US Federal Election Commission had approved the Google programme in August.
"Google has come under fire that its algorithms unfairly target conservative content across its services, and that its Gmail service filters more Republican fundraising and campaign emails to spam," the report mentioned.
"We expect to begin the pilot with a small number of campaigns from both parties and will test whether these changes improve the user experience, and provide more certainty for senders during this election period," a Google spokesperson was quoted as saying.
"We will continue to listen and respond to feedback as the pilot progresses," the spokesperson added.
Google will now allow candidates and political party committees to apply for its programme that would make their messages exempt from Gmail's spam detection systems.
Former US President Donald Trump's campaigns were criticised for using spammy tactics in its fundraising emails.
(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in
In order to meet the criteria for performance-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, 'Make in India' smartphone shipments grew 16 per cent year-on-year to reach 44 million units in the first quarter of this financial year, according to a new report.
The Indian government's push with multiple PLI schemes has been showing a positive impact and "we saw increased local manufacturing share in product segments like smartwatch, TWS, neckband and tablet", said Counterpoint Research.
OPPO led the 'Make in India' smartphone shipments with a 24 per cent share, followed by Samsung and Vivo.
Lava led the feature phone shipments with 21 per cent share.
"OPPO recently announced the Vihaan initiative under which it plans to invest $60 million in the next five years to empower the local supply chain. Samsung also increased its manufacturing with the premium segment smartphones, especially the Galaxy S series," said senior research analyst Prachir Singh.
In the smartphone segment, in-house manufacturing contributed to almost 66 per cent of the total 'Make in India' shipments in the June quarter, while the rest of the 34 per cent shipments came from third-party EMS (electronics manufacturing services) players.
Among the third-party EMS players, Bharat FIH, Dixon and DBG were the leading players during the quarter.
Padget Electronics (396 per cent YoY), Wistron (137 per cent YoY) and Lava (110 per cent YoY) were the fastest growing smartphone manufacturers during the quarter in terms of shipments.
"Also, we may see disbursement of PLI incentives during Q3 2022, which will further boost the local manufacturing sentiments," said the report.
Optiemus leads the Made in India shipments for smartwatches with more than 75 per cent share.
In the wearable segment, TWS led in terms of domestic manufacturing with a 16 per cent contribution, followed by neckbands and smartwatches.
In TWS, Optiemus, Bharat FIH and Padget are the top three manufacturers.
In the neckband category, VVDN and Mivi have a 90 per cent share in the 'Make in India' shipments.
In the tablet category, Wingtech, Samsung and Dixon are the top players while in the TV category, Dixon, Radiant, Samsung and LG have a 50 per cent share.
"The government aims to make India an electronics manufacturing hub in the next four to five years. To help drive more initiatives under the themes of 'Make in India' and 'Digital India', the government, in its last budget, pushed the total allocation to $936.2 million," said research analyst Priya Joseph.
(Except for the headline and cover image, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in.
San Francisco, Sep 16 (IANS) Tech giant Apple is reportedly researching how a future iPhone can save power by automatically pausing playback when you're not paying attention to the media.
Just about every Apple device bar the Apple Pencil can play music or some kind of audio, and most of them have microphones, reports AppleInsider.
The tech giant wants to use those microphones, and very many other sensors, to determine whether you are paying attention.
Newly-revealed patent application, "Proactive Actions Based on Audio and Body Movement," could be applied to any Apple device, but it is specifically about stopping audio.
And that's specifically about stopping it in order to conserve battery power instead of wasting it on something you are no longer interested in, the report said.
There are other possibilities, such as displaying information about an artist when you are detected as being interested.
But as with most patent applications, this one is focused most on determining your lack of attention and less on precisely what actions could follow.
Apple even said "various actions may be performed proactively based on the identifying the interest in the content" of the music or other audio being played.
(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in
New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) Twitter is set to roll out its much-awaited Edit Tweet feature on September 21, which will be available first for its Blue subscribers who pay $4.99 per month.
The Edit Tweet feature lets people make changes to their tweet after it's been published.
Edited Tweets will appear with an icon, timestamp, and label so it's clear to readers that the original Tweet has been modified.
Tapping the label will take viewers to the Tweet's Edit History, which includes past versions of the Tweet.
Casey Newton of Platformer said in a tweet on Friday that the feature is likely to be rolled out to the public starting next week.
"Twitter is planning to begin the public test of editing tweets on Wednesday 9/21, per internal documents shared with me," he posted.
Twitter users have been asking for an edit button for years to fix typos and grammatical errors.
Earlier this month, Twitter announced a small test for the Edit Tweet feature with an internal team first, before it rolls out the feature to the public.
"Think of it as a short period of time to do things like fix typos, add missed tags, and more," said Twitter.
Twitter said it is intentionally testing Edit Tweet with a smaller group to also know how people might misuse the feature.
The test will be localised to a single country at first and expand as "we learn and observe how people use Edit Tweet".
"We'll also be paying close attention to how the feature impacts the way people read, write, and engage with Tweets," according to the company.
(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in
New Delhi, Sep 14 (IANS) Apple has fixed fresh vulnerabilities in iOS and macOS, including a zero-day flaw being actively exploited by hackers.
The zero-day flaw, known as CVE-2022-32917, allows a malicious app to run arbitrary code on an affected device with kernel privileges, Apple said in a security update.
Apple fixed the bug in updates for iOS 15.7 and iPadOS 15.7, macOS Monterey 12.6 and macOS Big Sur 11.7.
Apple warned that it is aware that this flaw "may have been actively exploited".
According to TechCrunch, this is the eighth zero-day vulnerability fixed by Apple this year.
In addition to these fixes, Apple also released a fix for a Safari browser flaw that could lead to address bar spoofing.
The security fixes were released along with iOS 16, which brings several security and privacy features, including support for Apple Passkeys and Lockdown Mode.
"Keeping your software up to date is one of the most important things you can do to maintain your Apple product's security," said the company.
After a software update is installed for iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, and watchOS, it cannot be downgraded to the previous version.
Last month, Apple released new software updates for iPhones, iPads and Macs to fix two security vulnerabilities known by the tech giant to be actively exploited by attackers.
The two vulnerabilities were found in WebKit, the browser engine that powers Safari and other apps, and the kernel, essentially the operating system's core.
The tech giant had said the WebKit bug could be exploited if a vulnerable device accessed or processed "maliciously crafted web content (that) may lead to arbitrary code execution".
(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in
Tech giant Apple is likely to bring out a monthly iPhone subscription bundle, with a package combining hardware and services like Apple One this year.
The hardware subscription, which would allow customers to acquire iPhones and other items from Apple for a monthly fee, has floated around in rumours for a while, but has yet to become a reality, reports AppleInsider.
While the tech giant had an opportunity to introduce such a service during its iPhone 14 event, it may still make an appearance in the coming weeks, the report said.
Apple is supposedly thought to be "actively testing" the service, according to Mark Gurman's "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg. While being tested, Gurman said he still expects it "to launch either later this year or next year."
The proposed subscription was not announced or mentioned during the iPhone event to "reduce launch day complexity," since it would be an "entirely new way to buy an iPhone".
Given the expectation of an October event for iPad and Mac launches, there could be a high chance Apple could use that presentation as a venue for a subscription launch, as per the report.
Apple already offers several direct ways customers can get the latest flagships, including the iPhone Upgrade Program and installment programs, like Apple Card.
However, the subscription would differ as customers would not just pay a portion of the hardware cost, but also for a suite of services on top, the report noted.
(Except for the headline and cover image, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in.
German audio-visual brand Blaupunkt on Monday introduced three premium yet affordable QLED TV models with in-built Google TV in India.
The TVs will be available in 50-inch (Rs 36,999), 55-inch (Rs 44,999), and 65-inch (Rs 62,999) during the upcoming Flipkart Big Billion Days (BBD) festive sale, Super Plastronics Pvt Ltd (SPPL), an exclusive brand licensee of Blaupunkt TV in the country, said in a statement.
Featuring 60W speakers with Dolby Atmos support, the Blaupunkt Google TV housing Far Field Voice Control with Google Assistant provides 360-degree surround sound for a theatre-like experience at home.
Blaupunkt TVs were re-launched in India in July 2021 and saw good response over the past year, according to the company.
"We are India's first manufacturing brand to launch QLED with Google TV, even before the Chinese smartphone brands. We are expecting a GMV growth of 100 per cent in Blaupunkt TVs this year and the major contribution will be QLED TV," Avneet Singh Marwah, CEO of SPPL, told IANS.
"Blaupunkt is ranked amongst best rated and reviews tvs in india with 4.6 out of 5 on Flipkart. We are launching QLED at the same price point of 4K TVs to capture maximum market share," Marwah added.
Each TV unit has a QLED 4K display with 1.1 billion colours, HDR 10+, a 60-watt Dolby stereo box speaker with four installed speakers, and DTS 'TruSurround' sound technology with Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and Dolby Digital Plus.
All the models come with bezelless and Airslim design, Bluetooth 5.0 and Dual Band Wifi.
These models also come with 2GB RAM, 16GB ROM, digital noise filter, QLED Panel, dedicated shortcut remote keys of Netflix, Prime, Youtube, Google Play and have an access to more than 10,000 apps and games, with more than 500,000 TV shows.
(Except for the headline and cover image, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in.
One of the most exciting topics of discussion of late in the world of tech has been of quantum computing. Adding to that was the recent announcement made by IIT Madras that the premier engineering and research institute of India is joining hands with IBM to gain access to their quantum computing tech and take research and development to the next level.
This announcement was made on Monday when the top brass of both institutions got together to make this announcement, much to everyone’s excitement. The collaboration between IBM and IIT Madras is aimed at “accelerating the research, adoption, skilling and application of quantum computing to address business and societal challenges in India.”
Opening new doors to new possibilities
It would help jumpstart the quantum computing ecosystem. Quantum computing is a fundamentally new technology that is seeing a rise in popularity in a world where tech is maturing at a rapid pace. So, this collaboration would open the doors to the professors, students, and researchers at the university to lay their hands on this era-defining technology and make important developments by harnessing the computational prowess of quantum computers.
The question that might come to everyone’s mind at this time would be, why not set up a system at the institute itself? Answering this question was Amith Singhee, Senior Technical Staff Member and Manager, Cognitive Operations and Environmental Analytics
India Research Laboratory, Bangalore, who remarked, “…it allows an instant start to the work.” The deployment of a quantum computing system requires a lot of time and resources. So, it makes sense for the institute to collaborate rather than spend time and resources setting up a system on such a large scale.
IBM’s Qiskit Runtime overview
The collaboration aims to accelerate the discovery of problems and solutions in different areas of our daily lives. Things like drug discovery and research relating to the discovery of new materials for electric vehicles are currently hindered due to the limited capabilities of the computers that we have right now. The solution to this problem lies in quantum computing.
According to the experts who were a part of the panel discussing the possibilities that quantum computing would open in India, the country is right at the top of the charts when it comes to countries using quantum tech. The stakeholders, both at the industry level and the academic level are self-educating, providing a vital push to the quantum computing ecosystem in the country. In the long run, this would lead to the convergence of academia and the industry, fostering an environment where research would see significant boost and improvements.
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in.
San Francisco, Sep 10 (IANS) Apple is delaying the launch of iCloud Shared Photo Library feature for a later iOS 16 release.
Apple webpage now lists the feature as "coming later this year."
Furthermore, it has also removed it from the latest iOS 16 betas, reports AppleInsider.
Apple announced iCloud Shared Photo Library as part of iOS 16 to release on September 12.
When it is launched, the feature will let you and up to five other people automatically share a collection of photos.
The feature is different from Shared Albums in iCloud which is still available. Shared Albums works with or without iCloud Photos.
According to the report, the feature may likely be launched with new iPads later this fall.
With the currently available Shared Albums in the Photos app, you can share photos and videos with just the people you pick.
They can also add their own photos, videos, and comments. Shared Albums works with or without iCloud Photos and My Photo Stream, according to Apple.
iOS 15 was also launched without SharePlay, Universal Control, and better Find My support for AirPods and those features were rolled out over the next few months.
(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in
On September 7, during their “Far Out” event, along with the new Apple Watch Series and the new AirPods Pro, Apple announced their latest iPhone 14 line of phones. There had been a lot of rumours doing rounds on the internet about the speculated specifications of these newly launched phones.
All of them were put to rest when the official announcements were made. Some of these were underwhelming. However, there were some announcements that took many by surprise. Let’s look at what’s new in Apple’s latest and best-ever iPhones.
Apple iPhone 14 – New display
There were two sides to the coin to look at when it came to the changes to the display of the new iPhones. While the lower-end, non-Pro iPhones, the iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14 Plus, retained the old and infamous notch from the iPhone 13 and before, the Pro models, the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone Pro Max, were presented with refreshed displays.
As speculated, Apple went and ditched the notch on the Pro iPhones this year in favour of a new pill-shaped cut-out, which we at the Digit office are calling, the Morse Code notch. While this new design does free up some real estate, the star of the show here was Dynamic Island.
iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max
We have covered it extensively in our article, so go check that out here. Basically, it is a mini-command centre that will morph into small widgets, if needed, giving you information about incoming calls, battery percentage, some music controls, etc.
The iPhone 14 Pro and the Pro Max also saw an improvement in the panel that they will be sporting. The new display panels on these iPhones will have 1600 nits of peak HDR brightness and 2000 nits of peak outdoor brightness.
Additionally, there was also the introduction of the always-on display on the Pro iPhones, which Apple executives spent a lot of time talking about. In its essence, it works the same as all other phones, with the only difference being the better battery optimisation by Apple, and selective screen dimming, allowing better reproduction of human skin tones if they are present on the lock screen wallpaper. The cherry on top is ProMotion, which also saw a few improvements. However, much to the dismay of the fans, there was not much added to the displays of the non-Pro iPhones.
Apple iPhone 14 – Same old tech for the non-Pros
When it came to the processors, there was again a divide clearly visible in the treatment given to the Pro and the non-Pro iPhones. The iPhone 14 Pro and the Pro Max, as announced during the event, would come equipped with Apple’s latest and greatest, A16 Bionic chip.
The new A16 Bionic chip sports a 6‑core CPU with 2 performance and 4 efficiency cores, a 5‑core GPU, and a 16‑core Neural Engine. These specs look impressive on paper, and if Apple’s claims are anything to go by, this is the “fastest chip ever in a smartphone”.
As for the non-Pro iPhones, they retained the last-gen A15 Bionic chip. This is a very interesting move by Apple. Because without a processor upgrade, there’s very little for the prospective iPhone 14 buyer to look forward to. If coming from the iPhone 13, then we don’t see any point for users to upgrade.
iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus
Apple iPhone 14 – Better photos?
Apple’s iPhones are known for their cameras, and the folks are Cupertino understand this very well. That’s why they introduced new and improved camera tech on both the Pro and the non-Pro models of the iPhone 14. However, there was much more to talk about when it came to the Pro iPhones compared to their non-Pro brethren.
Both the phones saw the introduction of a new Photonic Engine, which Apple claims will provide a significant improvement in the quality of pictures you take using your iPhones. The front camera also saw improvements in both models, with the introduction of the new TrudeDepth camera. It is a 12MP sensor with f/1.9 aperture and is capable of clicking photos in Apple ProRAW, and 4K video recording at 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps or 60 fps, along with Cinematic mode up to 4K HDR at 30 fps.
When coming to the upgrades to the camera system in the Pro models, we saw the introduction of a new mammoth 48MP main camera. The camera system on the Pro iPhones now comes with 4 zoom options. These were – 0.5x, 1x, 2x, and 3x zoom. There was also the introduction of the Action mode, which would provide users with better stabilisation when shooting videos.
Apple iPhone 14 – All day battery
One of the biggest talking points for Apple across both the iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14 Pro models was the improved battery life. The executives on stage left no chance to mention that the new phones would have a better battery that would last users all day. Both phones get better battery tech inside, ensuring that their battery life is better than what we have seen before.
Apple iPhone 14 – Drop messages from the middle of nowhere
When the Apple executives were presenting the iPhones, no one expected that the Pro models would include satellite communication technology. It was announced that the new iPhones, both the Pro and the non-Pro variants, would sport “Emergency SOS via satellite”.
This new feature would allow iPhone 14 users to connect to a satellite in an emergency and establish contact with the first responders. The emergency communications service works using Apple’s own messaging protocol, which would compress messages to allow for better communication over the limited bandwidth of the connection to satellites.
To ensure that maximum required information is transferred in the shortest time, Apple has made a set of pre-configured questions that would help the responders to gauge the severity of the situation in the best way possible, in the least amount of time. This would ensure better connectivity for iPhone users in remote areas, should they ever face an adverse situation.
Staying on the topic of connectivity, Apple also revealed that the latest iPhones would come without a sim card slot in the US. This move can be viewed from several different perspectives, with one of them dubbing this the last step before Apple’s iPhones go completely port-less. Apple’s already been making improvements to MagSafe. And, with the EU’s USB-C regulation looming and the lightning port being the last remaining slot on the iPhone, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Apple introducing a port-less iPhone next year.
There was also the introduction of crash detection tech in the new iPhones. This feature would be triggered in the event of an iPhone user being involved in a car crash or a similarly adverse situation. It would prompt the device to contact the authorities – if needed.
Meet iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14, Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch Ultra, and AirPods Pro. All that and more from the #AppleEvent
— Apple (@Apple) September 7, 2022 Apple iPhone 14 – What’s the price?
In India, as per the listings on Apple’s web store, the base iPhone 14 will start at ₹79,900. If you are looking to go for the Pro models, then the base phone would set you back by ₹1,29,900.
During the one-and-a-half-hour-long keynote, Apple's executives took half the time talking about iPhones, and a lot more things were discussed. All of those, along with the features that we covered in this article, would be put to the test if and when the iPhones drop into the Digit Test Center.
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in
Seoul, Sep 3 (IANS) The South Korean government's YouTube channel was hacked on Saturday, apparently to broadcast a cryptocurrency-related video including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, but has been restored, according to sources.
At 3.30 a.m., the government's official channel on the video-sharing platform appeared to have been hacked as its name changed to "SpaceX Invest" and showed a live broadcast on cryptocurrency that included an interview with American billionaire and SpaceX founder Musk.
An official at the culture and tourism ministry, which manages the YouTube account, said they had become aware of the situation at 6 a.m., took security measures and restored the account at 7:20 a.m.
The official said the account's ID and password were suspected to have been stolen.
Google, YouTube's parent company, confirmed that the channel had been hacked, reports Yonhap news agency.
An official at Google Korea said that it was currently looking into the cause of the incident.
The attack follows a hack of a YouTube channel operated by the Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO), under the tourism ministry, earlier this week.
According to KTO, the channel, which has around 509,000 subscribers, was initially targeted on Thursday and again the next day. The channel is currently unavailable.
A KTO official said that Google automatically blocks access to the account if it spots abnormal connections.
(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in
New Delhi, Aug 31 (IANS) Google has launched a new bug bounty programme where it will award up to $31,337 (nearly Rs 25 lakh) to researchers who spot vulnerabilities in the company's Open Source projects.
Depending on the severity of the vulnerability and the project's importance, rewards will range from $100 to $31,337.
The larger amounts will also go to unusual or particularly interesting vulnerabilities, "so creativity is encouraged," said Google while launching its Open Source Software Vulnerability Rewards Programme (OSS VRP).
As the maintainer of major projects such as Golang, Angular, and Fuchsia, Google is among the largest contributors and users of open source in the world.
Last year, Google saw a 650 per cent year-over-year increase in attacks targeting the open source supply chain.
With the addition of Google's own vulnerability reward programme (VRP), researchers can now be rewarded for finding bugs that could potentially impact the entire open source ecosystem.
The original VRP programme was one of the first in the world and is now approaching its 12th anniversary.
"Over time, our VRP lineup has expanded to include programmes focused on Chrome, Android, and other areas. Collectively, these programs have rewarded more than 13,000 submissions, totalling over $38 million paid," Google said in a statement late on Tuesday.
Google said its OSS VRP is part of "our $10 billion commitment to improving cybersecurity, including securing the supply chain against these types of attacks for both Google's users and open source consumers worldwide".
(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in
New Delhi, Aug 25 (IANS) Google on Thursday launched several initiatives, including new investment and collaboration with the IT Ministry, to safeguard people in India from online harm.
The company launched a cybersecurity up-skilling programme for nearly 100,000 developers, IT, and start-up professionals across the country, at its 'Safer With Google' event.
Google.org also granted $2 million (Rs 16 crore) to non-profit organisations, including Collective Good Foundation, Point Of View and HelpAge India, to empower high-risk groups such as women, micro-entrepreneurs, seniors and the LGBTQ community.
The tech giant said it is also starting a multilingual user awareness campaign supported by the MeitY and Digital India Corporation to encourage millions of internet users to adopt better practices for safer digital transactions.
"As India progresses towards becoming a truly digitally-enabled economy, it is critical that the opportunity of connectivity not come at the price of online safety, and we all come together to build a safer internet for millions of Indians," said Sanjay Gupta, VP and Country Head, Google India.
Google said it will flag off a multi-city, mixed format cybersecurity Roadshow to reach approximately 100,000 developers, IT and start-up professionals with unique tools, detailed guidance, and best practices on building safer apps by embedding security in all phases of development and adopting modern IT services.
"As more and more citizens become included into the digital economy and derive the benefit of direct access to payments and transfer which are crucial to their progress and prosperity, we have been consciously creating infrastructure, capabilities, and programs that protect our citizens and our country from cyber threats," said Abhishek Singh, President and CEO, NeGD and MyGov, MD and CEO, Digital India Corporation.
(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in
Fitbit has introduced its fall lineup including Sense 2, Versa 4, and Inspire 3. The former two are smartwatches while the Inspire 3 is the brand’s new fitness band. The key highlights of the devices include new software albeit no Wear OS 3, physical buttons on both watches, and Sense 2’s new exercise activities, upgraded stress tracker, and animal-based sleep profiles. Here are the full details:
Fitbit Sense 2 Specs and Features
Fitbit Sense 2 is equipped with a continuous electrodermal activity (cEDA) sensor used for all-day stress tracking. This is followed by high-stress alerts and recommendations such as mood logging, breathing guidance, and mindfulness sessions.
It sports new activity modes (up to 40 in total), and Fitbit Premium sleep profiles that present your sleep animal as the watch face. The device will be featuring passive heart rhythm monitoring for atrial fibrillation (heart health).
Although WearOS 3 isn’t here, you get to see the effects of Google parenting on Fitbit OS in the way of the new Tiles interface, turn-by-turn Google Maps navigation, and impending support for Google Wallet.
Sense 2 claims to run up to six days between charges, and 12 minutes of charging is said to offer 12 minutes of battery life.
Fitbit Versa 4 Specs and Features
It appears to be a lot like Sense 2 and that extends to features like a physical button, better stress tracking, around 40 activity modes, the aforementioned software features, up to 6 days of endurance, fast charging support, and a sleep animal clock face. It also boasts 10 sleep metrics to help analyze and aid sleep quality.
Fitbit Inspire 3 Specs and Features
Inspire 3 is a fitness band that supports automatic step counting, distance covered, activity zones, calories burned, and heart rate.
It also brings trackers for sleep patterns, Sleep Score, Sleep Stages, heart variability rate, SpO2, breathing rate, and skin temperature. It is advertised to long for 10 days on a single charge.
Price and Availability
Fitbit has made the new wearable available in select markets currently at $299.95 (~₹23,934) for the Sense 2, $229.95 (~₹18348) for the Versa 4, and $99.95 (~₹7975) for the Inspire 3.
(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in.
The Ministry of Finance made it clear that the Indian government has no plans to charge for UPI services. On August 21, the Finance Ministry responded to reports alleging that UPI payments would be charged extra. It clarified that the government would not charge extra for UPI payments because it is a digital public service that helps the economy run better and makes transactions easier for the public.
The ministry also explained that incentives were given to payment service providers last year, and this year, more incentives have been announced to help the country switch to digital. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked for suggestions on charging for digital transactions on August 17.
When asked about the Return on Investment (RoI) for service providers, the Finance Ministry said that they (service providers) will have to come up with other ways to make money.
However, "there will be no charge for UPI transactions," said the Finance Ministry.
The Ministry said that in 2021, concessions were given to the service providers in the digital payment ecosystem, and in 2022, they got even more help. "The government helped fund the #DigitalPayment ecosystem last year and has said it will do the same this year to encourage more people to use #DigitalPayments and promote cheap and easy-to-use payment platforms," the Finance Ministry said.
What's RBI's take on this?
On Wednesday, August 17, the RBI asked people what they thought about fees for digital payment systems. The financial regulator also said that the fees should be fair and competitive for the users if they want to be used by more people. But RBI said again that they haven't decided anything in this regard yet.
The RBI said that the people who run the payment systems should make enough money to keep them running and to invest in new technologies, processes, and systems.
Although there are several other payment methods like IMPS, NEFT, and debit cards, UPI has gained 26 crore unique users and five crore merchants within a short span of 6 years.
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in.
North Korea-based notorious Lazarus hacking group is back in action, targeting Apple Mac users with fake job emails that contain malicious files. Researchers at cyber-security firm ESET posted a screenshot on Twitter that showed fake job listings from leading crypto exchange Coinbase by Lazarus, famous for spreading the WannaCry ransomware globally in 2017. The fake job listing was for an engineering manager, product security, at Coinbase. "A signed Mac executable disguised as a job description for Coinbase was uploaded to VirusTotal from Brazil. This is an instance of Operation by Lazarus for Mac," the ESET researchers posted in a tweet. The fake job emails have an attachment containing malicious files that can compromise both Intel and Apple chip-powered Mac computers. "Malware is compiled for both Intel and Apple Silicon. It drops three files: a decoy PDF document, a bundle and a downloader," warned researchers. The Mac malware campaign is new and not part of previous Lazarus campaigns. This time, "the bundle is signed July 21 (according to the timestamp) using a certificate issued in February 2022 to a developer named Shankey Nohria. The application is not notarised and Apple has revoked the certificate on August 12," the researchers noted. Last month, cyber-security researchers linked Lazarus with stealing $100 million worth digital tokens from Harmony, the crypto startup behind Horizon Blockchain Bridge. The Lazarus Group has perpetrated several large cryptocurrency thefts totalling over $2 billion, and has recently turned its attention to Decentralised Finance (DeFi) services such as cross-chain bridges, according to London-based blockchain analysis provider Elliptic. The same group is believed to be behind the $540 million hack of Ronin Bridge.
(Except for the headline and cover image, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in.
