Highlights: CBSE to introduce AI subject for classes VIII, IX and X. The course will be introduced from next academic session AI will be an elective (optional) subject While school-going children - especially the ones who are to appear for board exams in over a month’s time - are gearing up the final test of this academic year, the education governing body CBSE has already decided to include Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a subject for classes VIII, IX and X. According to a report, AI will be an elective subject, and will be introduced from the next academic session. “The decision to introduce artificial intelligence as a skill subject was taken at a recent meeting of the board’s governing body. It has been decided that the subject would be introduced in classes 8, 9 and 10 as a skill subject. If required, the board will also help in the capacity building of schools for the teaching-learning of the new subject from the next academic session,” The Hindustan Times quoted a member of the board’s governing body, as saying. Artificial Intelligence, which works along with machine learning, is the ability of a machine to think, learn and perform tasks that generally require human intelligence to complete. Tech giants including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, among others are leveraging this technology to give an edge to the products and services that they are offering. The most common use of AI technologies can be found in almost all mobile phones in today's day and age. The report also says that a senior CBSE official has confirmed the development saying that the subject would be one of the optional subjects on the vocational side. Citing the official, HT said that the idea of introducing AI as a school subject germinated from a session held at the NITI Aayog, following which the CBSE began exploring the concept. The CBSE has 20,299 schools under its purview in India and 220 schools in 25 other countries affiliated to it. “The board held consultations with stakeholders, including with a school that was already teaching the subject. Consequently, after comprehensive discussions, the board has decided to include artificial intelligence as an optional subject,” the CBSE official was quoted as saying. The schools generally re-open in April for the new academic session and as per the official, students of the above-mentioned classes should get a syllabi of the subject. Related Read: Demystifying smartphone AI
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Have you ever seen those cutouts where there is a hole in place of the face and you can put your own in its place. Well, PUBG Mobile is now letting you take Vikendi-themed photos like that. Is it silly? Yes it is. But it’s a nice little break from the barrage of updates and bug fixes that the game keeps getting. You can try the feature out for yourself if you want by clicking here. It should be noted that the link seems to work properly with smartphones. You will have an option to either upload an existing selfie, or take a new one. Once you take a selfie, you can choose between three existing in-game skins to impose your face on to. You can also move the selfie around in order make it look as realistic as possible. Good luck with making it look photo realistic though. Once this is done, you can generate cards which you can share with your friends. While it may not be the coolest new feature in PUBG Mobile, it’s a nice little way for players to have a bit of fun. If you are in the mood for something a bit for serious however, you might want to check out the links below. Recommended read PUBG Mobile beginner’s guide PUBG Mobile advanced guide 6 noob mistakes to avoid in PUBG Mobile
Highlights: PUBG has banned four professional players for three years This comes after an investigation of their accounts, which were suspended The four players and their respective teams have also been disqualified from National PUBG League There’s no doubt that Playerunknown's Battleground is one of the most popular battle royale games right now. However, this popularity attracts many players that use unfair means to win and PUBG has been taking action against such players that use aimbots, radar hacks or any other types of cheats to get a leg up against the competition. On December 19, four professional PUBG players were banned in-game for suspected use of unauthorised software and after an investigation, PUBG found that these players were indeed cheating. As a result, pro-PUBG players Christian “Cuhris” Narvaez, Liam “Liammm” Tran, Tyler “DevowR” Sti and Mark “Tefl0n” Formaro have been banned from participating in all official esports competitions for three years, starting December 31, 2018. The four players had qualified for the National PUBG League (NPL) pre-season. As per PUBG Esport’s tweet, they used unauthorised third-party software during public matches and also during the Online Qualifiers for NPL in early December and while the players have been banned from participating from all esports competition, their teams (Almost, Death Row, Reapers and Totality) have also been disqualified from the NPL pre-season. These teams will be replaced by the next four teams on the overall standings from the NPL Qualifier Round 3, which was hosted between December 15 and 16, 2018. It's not clear whether the players are banned from all e-sports competitions or just PUBG esport events. PUBG has also stated that in future, players who are banned in-game and after investigation are found using illegal software or means during professional esports competitions will be “banned from participating competitive play for a minimum of three years to a maximum of a lifetime starting on the date of completion of an official league investigation.” PUBG Esports will release complete guidelines for a global penalty system at a later date. PUBG recently implemented a new anti-cheat tool that banned over 30,000 PUBG players across PC, Xbox and PS4. Some professional players were also banned and some of them confessed to using cheats during the game. At the time, professional PUBG players for Sans Domicile Fixe have admitted to cheating, while 'Can Ozdemir' (gamer alias: TEXQS) from the Pittsburgh Knights is said to be under investigation for using the radar hack. Related Read: PUBG bans 30,000 players, 16 professional players after new anti-cheating measures take effect
Recently, the Sony has announced that the prices of its gaming consoles and accessories have been cut down in India after the announcement came from the GST council that they are going to reduces taxes on electronic items such as TV’s, monitors, gaming consoles and other electronics items. Both 1TB and 500GB gaming consoles of Sony will now come with new MRP. The PS4 related accessories also get price cut that includes PS VR, Dual-shock controller, PS4 wireless headset, stereo speaker and more. The PS4 Slim 1TB is now available for Rs 33,650 down from its earlier price of Rs 36,490. The PS4 500GB console is now available at a discounted price of Rs 28,580, while the PS4 1TB Pro, which was earlier available in India at a price of Rs 41,990 is now can be bought at Rs 38,710. PS VR version 2 is now appx Rs 2,500 cheaper as the price came down to Rs 28,590 from Rs 30,990. PS VR Megapack is priced at Rs 31,600 against its earlier price of Rs 34,290. Besides that, the PS4 accessories have also received the price cut down. The Dualshock 4 and PS4 Aim controller are now priced at Rs 5,050. PS4 Platinum wireless headset, stereo speaker are now available at Rs 13,810 and 7,363 respectively. The price cut down has definitely made Sony gaming consoles cheaper in India. However, even before the GST rate cut, there were some online retailers who were selling the PS4 500GB console for Rs 26,000 including discount over MRP. After the GST rate cut, people can expect further price slip during the sale on E-commerce websites or by Sony itself. 
Highlights: Google has won FCC’s approval for operating its radar-based Project Soli at a higher power level The tech could enable users to operate devices using hand gestures Google has received regulatory approval for continuing with its radar-based motion sensing device called Project Soli. As per a Reuters report, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that it would allow Google to use the Soli sensor at a higher power level than what’s was previously allowed and that it can be used onboard aircrafts as well. Project Soli was announced by Google back in 2015 and it is a gesture-recognition technology which enables one to use finger motion gestures to control devices. The sensor used for the gesture is based on radar and the project came into existence under Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects unit (ATAP). Instead of using a touch screen, Project Soli enables users to control a device using ‘Virtual Tool Gestures’. For example, one could mimic pressing a button by tapping their thumb and index finger together or use a Virtual Dial by rubbing thumb against the index finger. These gestures could prove useful for controlling a wide variety of devices like smart watches or Bluetooth speakers. While Google says that the Soli sensor is capable of tracking “sub-millimeter motion at high speeds with great accuracy,” The Verge reports that the project slumped as it was unable to correctly register gestures. Google is said to have attributed the issue to the low power levels a device needed to operate on due to the restrictions imposed on it by the FCC. As per the report, back in March, Google requested FCC to allow Project Soli to be operated in a higher, 57-64 GHz frequency band. However, Facebook is said to have raised a dispute on this saying that higher power level for the radar might cause problems for other existing technologies. The two companies then reached a decision and Reuter says that in September last year, they told FCC that Google will operate their sensor at a level higher than what was permissible but not at the levels proposed by Google. Related Read: Google I/O 2015 Day 2: ATAP projects galore
Highlights: Xiaomi and Redmi will be separate brands Xiaomi CEO says the move will shift focus on Mi brand Xiaomi now has three brands: Mi, Redmi, and Poco Tech industry has seen a few breakups that are still fresh in our memories. In the smartphone industry, OnePlus split from Oppo to form a new company and most recently, Realme parted ways from Oppo. Today morning, the rumours of Redmi splitting up from Xiaomi took everyone by surprise even as the company announced that it will launch a smartphone on January 10. While everyone was playing guessing games, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun confirmed the development. According to GizmoChina, the executive said that the decision of making the brand an independent entity is to focus on the Mi brand of phones to generate more business from that segment of the smartphone market. After this split, Xiaomi will have three different brands under it: Redmi for budget phones, Poco for ‘affordable premium’ phones and Mi for premium phones. The Redmi devices are primarily sold online platforms while Mi phones are offline-centric. According to market Research firm Counterpoint Research, Xiaomi held a whopping 65 percent share and was the most preferred brand for users for their next smartphone purchase in the Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 (Redmi devices) price segment owing to value-for-money and brand awareness. Its counterpart Huawei also has a sub-brand Honor whose phones are primary sold through e-commerce platforms. Honor devices are more popular because of their aggressive pricing. Earlier in the day, Xiaomi announced that it will launch a Redmi phone with a 48MP rear camera, which could come with a punch hole display on, January 10. There is no word on what phone will be launched but conflicting reports suggest it could either be the Xiaomi Redmi Pro 2 or the Redmi 7. A previous report said that the 48MP sensor could be a part of the triple camera setup on the back panel of the phone. Related Read: Xiaomi may launch a Redmi device with 48MP camera on January 10 Xiaomi most preferred smartphone brand in Rs 10K-15K price tier
