Indian teams denied visas to PUBG Mobile tournament in Berlin

The PUBG Mobile Club Open Spring Split is set to begin in Berlin, Germany, starting July 20th this year. Unfortunately, the three Indian teams that qualified for the split via the Indian qualifiers will not be able to make it to the $400,000 LAN in Berlin. They will instead take part in the prelims, which begins July 20th, from the NODWIN office in Delhi.

TeamIND, Indian Tigers, and Team SouL have all had their visas rejected. While TeamIND and Indian Tigers will have to play their prelims on the 20th from Delhi itself, Team SouL placed first in the qualifiers and earned a direct slot in the main event. They have till the 26th of July, i.e., the beginning of the main event, to reapply for their visas.

 

Sc0utOP of TeamIND revealed the situation for his own team and himself, while MortaL revealed details for Team SouL. According to MortaL, as he explains in the video, the reason for the visas being rejected is because of India's lack of any governing body for esports. He mentions how it is easy for foreign players to come to India easily for tournaments because they have such governing bodies.

While Team SouL still have a chance to make it to the Berlin LAN, TeamIND and Indian Tigers will have to tough it out from India with a major disadvantage, high ping. The ping difference with the players in the EU could be the difference between winning and losing, and that's without taking into account that some of the best teams in the world will be participating in the spring split including Team Secret, Nova, Purple Mood and more.

 

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Smartphones with 108MP camera may launch next year: Report

Smartphone-makers are constantly working on camera technology to up the game and provide a solution to users’ who increasingly crave superior imaging on mobile devices. While companies like Google uses computational photography on its Pixel phones, tech giants such as Samsung and Nokia have come up with hardware like a 64MP sensor and a 5-camera system on the Nokia 9 PureView, respectively, to enhance smartphone photography. In the latest development, information circulating on the internet has suggested that next year, the industry would see phones with 108MP sensors and 10x optical zoom capabilities.

The information was outed by known tipster Ice Universe in a tweet. While, the image shared in the tweet looks a lot like the renders of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10, the tipster did not mention any particular company or handset to sport the tech. When it comes to zoom capabilities, currently we have phones like Huawei P30 Pro with 50x and Oppo Reno 10X Zoom with 10x zoom. However, these phones only offer hybrid zoom. The OnePlus 7 Pro, on the other hand, has an optical zoom technology. It claims that the phone offers 3x optical zoom. However, in our testing process, we found that the phone only offers 2.7x zoom.

By the way, next year you will see on your smartphone: a 10x optical zoom camera and a 108MP camera. pic.twitter.com/885cwXHPQe

— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) 16 July 2019

As far as the camera resolution is concerned, Qualcomm’s Senior Director of Product Management, Judd Heape, told Digit that camera sensor vendors are already working on higher megapixel sensors that are due to launch later this year. Heape said that Qualcomm is expecting camera sensors a little above 100-megapixels to hit the market later this year, with devices implementing the large-format sensors in 2020. Furthermore, he revealed that 2020 will see the megapixel count jump to the mid-100s. Qualcomm recently added support for snapshots in 192-megapixel resolution in a number of Snapdragon 6-series, 7-series and 8-series chipsets.

There’s a catch though. Heape pointed out that the high number is the upper limit of the ISP. Provided the OEM doesn’t want to use features like zero-shutter lag and multi-frame noise reduction, the ISP can output images of up to 192 megapixels. Given the latest info by tipster and the availability of the hardware support, smartphone cameras launching with 108MP resolution next year looks promising. Since there is no concrete information on it, we’ll have to take this development with a pinch of salt.

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Elon Musks Neuralink plans to build brain-reading implants

Earlier this week, Neuralink, the Elon Musk-led company developing brain-machine interfaces, revealed  that they are working on "threads” in a chip to help paralysed people control devices like phones or computers and empower people with brain disorders. The goal is to replace cumbersome devices currently used as brain-machine interfaces. According to a white paper credited to “Elon Musk & Neuralink,” these threads are created to transfer high volumes of data “as many as 3,072 electrodes per array distributed across 96 threads.” As a matter of fact, at 4 to 6μm, the threads are thinner than the thinnest of human hair. Moreover, the company has built a robot that automatically embeds these threads.

The module that sits outside the head wirelessly receives information from "threads" embedded in the brain. Controlled by an iPhone app, the chip is called "N1 sensor" and it has just a USB port coming out of the head.

"This has the potential to solve several brain-related diseases. The idea is to understand and treat brain disorders, preserve and enhance your own brain and create a well-aligned future," Musk told the audience at the event on Tuesday. The event wasn’t simply for the hype, “the main reason for doing this presentation is recruiting,” Musk said. He asked people to go apply to work there. Moreover, the president of Neuralink, Max Hodak said that he wasn’t originally sure “this technology was a good idea,” but that Musk convinced him it would be possible.

It is important to note that this development comes from a person (Elon Musk) who is a firm critic of Artificial Intelligence. However, Musk said that the long-term goal is to find a way to "achieve a sort of symbiosis with AI but that is not a mandatory thing. This is something you can choose to have if you want".

Hodak further said, “we didn't want any connectors or wires coming through the skin. It had to be something that would last for a longer period of time, not something that you'd have to take out after two-three years; it had to have practical bandwidth." Hence, the chip is built to be long-lasting.

For now, the machine has been tested on rats, and Musk revealed, “A monkey has been able to control a computer with its brain.” In an interview with The New York Times, Musk also said that Neuralink is hoping to have this in a human patient by the end of next year. However, they haven't got approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yet.

Neuralink is focused on building devices, which resemble like tiny sewing machines, and they can be implanted in the human brain - to improve memory or interface directly with computing devices. 

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Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 leaked renders hint at S-pen support, dual rear cameras

Samsung is gearing up to launch its Galaxy Note 10 series of devices during its Galaxy Unpacked event on August 7. However, the company is expected to announce a new tablet as well, which is rumoured to be called the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6. Android Headlines claims to have obtained official renders of the alleged tablet and the report also hints at some key specs of the tablet. As seen in the renders and as per the new report, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 could sport a vertically aligned dual-rear camera setup and it could also come equipped with an S-Pen. 

The Galaxy Tab S6 seems to feature a design similar to the recently launched Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e (review). However, there are some clear differences like a dual-camera setup on the back, which is said to feature a 13MP main camera and a 5MP secondary wide-angle sensor. Just below the camera is a groove to attach the S-Pen in place, which is speculated to be magnetic with Bluetooth support. It’s not confirmed whether the S-Pen could be wirelessly charged by the tablet but this feature is speculated to be present. In addition, the tablet might be equipped with four AKG-tuned speakers, two on both top and bottom. 

While the headphone jack is said to be absent on the device, the Galaxy Tab S6 might feature a USB Type-C port on the bottom. Samsung could introduce a keyboard accessory with the tablet, similar to the Galaxy Tab S5e and the Galaxy Tab S4. It could be announced in three new colour variants - Pink, Grey and Blue. 

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 is rumoured to be a flagship tablet by the company that runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC. It might feature a 10.5-inch display with possibly an in-display fingerprint sensor. The tablet is touted to come equipped with 6GB RAM + 128GB storage that can be upgraded to 256GB. 

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PUBG 4.1 Beta Update Kicks Off Season 4 With Epic Story Trailer, Brings Overhauled Erangel Map, and More

The PUBG 4.1 beta update is now live on the test server and it kicks off Season 4 with an epic story-driven trailer, overhauled Erangel map, and more.

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Asus ROG Phone 2 TENAA listing hints at in-display fingerprint sensor, revamped rear panel design

Asus is gearing up to launch its next gaming phone, the ROG Phone 2, at an event in China on July 23. While the company is not revealing any information about the upcoming handset, bits and pieces of information about it is surfacing online. We previously came across some leaked hands-on images of the device, which suggested how its front panel design could change and more. Now, the handset is listed on TENAA, along with its images. This was first spotted by Nashville Chatter but also we independently confirmed the listing. 

The images showcase the rear, front and sides of the ROG Phone 2. If the images are true, then the handset could feature some notable changes over its predecessor, at least in terms of design. Starting with the rear panel, the handset could come equipped with dual rear cameras, which is same as its predecessor but there are dual-LED flash modules. However, more notable is the absence of a fingerprint sensor, which means that the company might integrate an in-display fingerprint sensor on the device. The design of the rear panel is also quite different from the original ROG phone but the ROG logo is still seen and we presume it RGB enabled. 

Coming to the front panel, there’s nothing much to see here since we have already come across it in a previous leak. However, there seems to be a dual stereo speaker setup on the front, along with reduced bezels all around. The front camera is also seen on the upper right corner and it doesn’t seem like there’s a notch on the display. As for the sides, the right edge features volume rockers and the power button, while there’s a connector on the left edge, which will most likely enable usage of accessories Asus provided with the original ROG phone and maybe some new ones that could be in the pipeline. 

As mentioned earlier, the ROG Phone 2 was shown off in a couple of hands-on images. One of the images suggests that Asus might give users an option to select between three levels of screen refresh rates. One might get to choose between 60, 90 and 120Hz of refresh rate for the display. 

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FaceApp allegedly sending users images to Russia, company denies any wrongdoing

At a time when privacy is every user's main concern while using a variety of apps globally, FaceApp, which became the latest internet phenomenon, was bound to be mired in controversy. Just when people started using the app more often and posting their images on social media platforms, concerns regarding users’ privacy were raised immediately. The app uses a person’s photo to apply several predefined filters/make edits. The most common edit that people are using is the one that makes people look old.

To apply the filters, the user either has to click an image or load an image from the phone’s gallery. For the latter, the user needs to give permission to the app to access the images stored in the local storage. The app, which is available on Android and iOS, then takes a few seconds to produce the desired result. Reportedly, there were two controversies. First, it was alleged that FaceApp, a Russian startup, uploads users’ photos to the cloud and that too without making it clear to them that the processing is not done on the device.

The second issue was brought to the fore by iOS users who denied giving access to locally stored photos. They alleged that the iOS app was overriding settings because even they denied image access to the app, and they were still able to load the image from their galleries. A few people know that it is actually allowed in iOS. Users can deny access to images, but they can still choose to upload individual photos if they wish.

The company later confirmed that most of the processing needed to power the app’s effects are done in the cloud. It also claims that only the photos that have been selected for editing are uploaded to the cloud and not the whole gallery. It also clarified that it “might” store the photos (that users have chosen to upload) in the cloud for a short period, but they are deleted from the servers within 48 hours from the upload date. 

It also claims no user data is “transferred to Russia”, even though its R&D team is based in that country. The app Founder Yaroslav Goncharov told TechCrunch that it uses AWS and Google Cloud to process images. “We don’t sell or share any user data with any third parties,” it pointed out, adding that a majority of FaceApp users don’t log in so there is no link between photos and identities of the users.

“We are receiving a lot of inquiries regarding our privacy policy and therefore, would like to provide a few points that explain the basics. We might store an uploaded photo in the cloud. The main reason for that is performance and traffic: we want to make sure that the user doesn’t upload the photo repeatedly for every edit operation,” the company was quoted as saying.

“We accept requests from users for removing all their data from our servers. Our support team is currently overloaded, but these requests have our priority. For the fastest processing, we recommend sending the requests from the FaceApp mobile app using “Settings->Support->Report a bug” with the word “privacy” in the subject line. We are working on the better UI for that,” the statement added.

Additionally, it was reported that the FaceApp app was blocked in India. People took to Twitter to post updates about it. Some said that they could only use the app after using VPN apps on their phones. We couldn’t verify this because when we used the app, it worked fine for us. It could be possible that by the time the news about a probable ban broke out, the issue was fixed.

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