PUBG Mobiles 2gether We Look Back community contest gives players the chance to win 6000 UC

While its second-anniversary celebrations may be coming to a close, PUBG Mobile has got one last event up its sleeve. The developers behind the popular mobile game have just announced a new ‘2gether We Look Back’ community contest that gives selected participants the opportunity to win 6000 UC. The contest will go on till April 16.

In order to participate in the contest, players will have to find the oldest screenshot that they have of the game. They then have to post on their social media account with the hashtag, #2getherwelookback. Players can submit multiple screenshots, but if one of them is selected, then the remaining submissions will be disqualified. It should also be noted that posts on the official PUBG MOBILE platforms or groups will not be considered.

There will be 10 winners, who will be randomly selected at the end of the contest. Each of them will then receive 6000 UC, which can then be used to purchase in-game items. 

PUBG Mobile’s second-anniversary update was made available early last month and added an amusement park in the Erangel map. The park was only accessible in Classic mode and would spawn in one of three locations. It would contain interactive arcade games, as well as rides. The update also included a Colourblind Mode that is aimed at helping those with deuteranopia, protanopia, and tritanopia better see important visual elements like the map.

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/3aD6UEE

Google Duo uses machine learning algorithms to improve call quality

Google Duo has steadily been rising in popularity since its release. And, Google has not stopped updating and improving the app either. The company has been rolling out a steady flow of updates and features over the years. The newest and most interesting feature about the app is how Google uses machine learning algorithms to deal with the loss of packet data. Which is essentially when data is lost as it travels across the length and breadth of the internet. The technology is actually called WaveNetEQ. For example, every time you video call someone, the audio is sometimes garbled and even blanks out in some spots. It works by judging what the lost audio data could have been and replaces it. 

The algorithm already exists in other software but Google’s own algorithm works much better than most and can actually figure out and replicate a larger portion of the missing audio, as claimed by the company. The algorithm has been taught 48 different languages to try and cover the entirety of the globe. Google has also said that about 99 per cent of calls experience some kind of packet loss, with 10 per cent of all calls losing 8 per cent of audio data. 

With this kind of technology in play, it looks like Google wants to help improve the call quality of Duo, specifically in developed countries. The processing of the information is also done on the device used which essentially means that you don't have to worry about privacy as it is protected using Duo’s end-to-end encryption. 

In other Google news, the company is going to shut down its local community app, Neighbourly on May 12. You can read all about it, here. 

 

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/2w8WEEY

Google Doodle on coronavirus wants you to stay home, save lives

Friday’s Google Doodle is all about how you can help contain the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic. With an animated illustration, Google is encouraging users to follow the WHO guidelines in preventing COVID-19.

The doodle for the day is an animated series of letters that make up the word Google, as characters, and shows every alphabet engaged in some activity. One is reading a book while another is working out. One is playing the guitar whereas another is catching up with friends over their phones.

Clicking on the doodle takes you to a dedicated hub for Coronavirus tips and instructs to “Stay home. Save lives. As COVID-19 continues to impact communities around the world, help stop the spread by following these steps.”

The steps are —

Stay Home Keep a safe distance Wash hands often Cover your cough Sick? Call the helpline

These steps are also further explained with additions like washing hands regularly for 20 seconds with soap and water or alcohol-based hand rub, covering the nose and mouth with a disposable tissue or flexed elbow when sneezing or coughing. And the likes of that.

Other than these tips, the destination page from the doodle also shows statistics about the spread of the virus. A map shows the number of COVID-19 cases around the world, the number of recovered patients and the death toll.

The page also explains what the coronavirus really is and how it spreads.

Coronavirus cases touched a million in the world with over 50,000 dead. On a note of positivity though more than 200,000 have recovered from the virus.

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/2JAO8lf

Keeping up with corona: All COVID-19 trackers and apps in one place

We are in the midst of an unforeseen public health emergency. The Novel Coronavirus cases are spiking up in India as we speak and to tackle the situation, the Indian government has invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act and put the nation under a 21-day lockdown even as it ramps up hospital infrastructure and make test kits more widely available. But is the lockdown really working in flattening the curve? Amidst all the guidelines and directives that are coming from the government, there are also a few apps and websites that are keeping people informed about the latest updates and even if they have come in contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19. Let’s take a look —

India specific COVID-19 trackers

There are bunch of websites that are updating the rise in cases, recoveries and deaths and representing the situation in graphs, charts and more. Some are relying on official data from the government while some are making use crowd-sourced information to keep the public updated.

COVID19India.org

This tracker is now highly popular among the people. The admins keep it updated almost every hour with new information. It’s a volunteer driven initiative which uses state bulletins and official handles to update the numbers. The data is further validated by a group of volunteers and maintained in a publicly available spreadsheet and an API.

Furthermore, the tracker sometimes shows more cases than the official number. The reason for that, according to the FAQ on the website is that the MoHW numbers are updated at a specified time once a day.

An interesting and unique aspect of this tracker is its spread charts which shows how the virus is spreading from one person to the other.

Mygov.in/covid-19

This is an official COVID-19 tracker maintained by the Government of India. Like other trackers, this also provides real-time updates on COVID-19 cases in the country and breaks down the data into states and union territories. The website also provides helpful links for preventive measures along with details about the ongoing lockdown in the country.

This is also available as an app for Android and iOS users.

Coronatracker.in

Built by a few students in Goa last months, the unique aspect of this tracker is that shows the distance from the nearest COVID-19 confirmed case in India. Apart from that, this is an easy to use website to keep a track of new cases, recoveries and deaths. You can also see the rate at which infections are rising, as well as a state-wise division of active and confirmed cases.

COVID-19 apps

Trackers are a good way to keep yourself informed, but there are apps that will inform you if you have come in close range of a person who has tested tested positive for COVID-19, along with maintaining logs about yourself.

Aarogya Setu

The app has been developed by the National Informatics Center under MeitY and relies on your smartphone’s Bluetooth and location services to determine if you have come in contact with an infected person.

The app updates itself based on the level of risk you may be at. If there’s no risk, there’s option for self-assessment via a chatbot that lets you log any COVID-19 symptoms you may be experiencing. If you are at risk though, you have the option to call the helpline and schedule a test for COVID-19.

Apart from that, it also carries regular updates from MoHW and offers a bunch of helpful links.

CoBuddy

This is an app launched by a face recognition startup called FaceTagR which became popular among police forces trying to tackle Anti-CAA protests in the country. The app is basically for those who have been asked to quarantine themselves at home by the government. People with travel history, or who may have come in contact with infected persons. The app makes sure people quarantined are within their stipulated location, and can communicate directly with the authorities.

Testing and tracking apps from various state governments

Apart from this, many state governments have launched apps for residents in their respective states that help them report about possible cases and to find out if a COVID-19 positive patient is nearby. There are apps from state governments of Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Kerala and more.

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/3aGspUV

Read the digital version of April 2020 Digit, FastTrack, SKOAR and dmystify today

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has ceased life to exist the way we know it. Most of you reading this are under lockdown. Self-isolation really is the only way to flatten the curve. The Digit editorial team too has been working out of our respective homes, and with the press closed, this is the fruit of our labour. Presented in an all new digital format right on Digit Geek.

The cover story of the month is about surviving the lockdown, the geek’s way. Life may look to have come to a standstill but this can also be a good time to brush up on some new skills. Ensure you keep the mind’s windows open and keep learning new things. Keep your kids occupied with fun activities and learn how you can help the elderlies by ensuring access to beneficial services and apps.

These are difficult times, but  somethings remain like it was.

Our test center was abuzz with 5G smartphones, a comeback from Onida, and a bunch of audio gear. Meanwhile, the SKOAR! issue is about all the games you can play during lockdown, including the adrenaline pumping FPS, Doom Eternal. Now’s the best time to pick up the slack on that backlog of games you’ve been sitting on. Or just get into gaming in general. This month’s FastTrack is on becoming a command line ninja. We cover the basics, and then some more, while Digit dmystify deals with something that’s been on our minds recently. What happens when we reach the line end of the line?

We wouldn’t have left you without your dose of Digit, FastTrack, dmystify and SKOAR! in this lockdown now, would we?

Read the April issue of Digit online at https://ift.tt/2yqk7Ch. Simply head over to the site, clock on My-Account or the little human in the top-right corner. Once you are logged in, head over to https://ift.tt/2X4hkck and enjoy your April issue along with the e-DVD.

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/39B86XD

Huawei P40 Pro is the worlds best smartphone camera according to DxOMark

DxOMark has put the Huawei P40 Pro through its test labs and the phone has received an overall score of 128, the highest for a smartphone camera yet. This has been a trend for quite some time with Huawei smartphones, and while we did expect the P40 Pro to have an excellent camera stack, the impressive score does paint a very optimistic picture.

The final score of 128 is a combination of Photo and Video scores. The P40 Pro scores 140 and for video, it scores 128. Both the scores are the highest for a smartphone in their respective places. The Huawei P30 Pro, for context, scored 125 in Photos and 97 for Videos. The Huawei P40 Pro features the largest imaging sensor made by Huawei, on top of the fact that it's an RYYB sensor instead of RGGB. Huawei has used large-format sensors across the board, allowing it to achieve impressive photographic results. As noted by DxOMark, the P40 Pro exhibits its very wide dynamic range, along with good detail retention in medium to long zoom shots. However, despite the new multi-spectrum sensor for accurate colour sensing and white balance, DxOMark noted occasional instances of inaccurate colour reproduction and white balance. DxOMark also notes that the P40 Pro has excellent video recording capabilities, but the score does not account for the quality of the audio. One area where the phone excels in both photo and video modes is autofocus performance. DxOMark states that the camera has “excellent” AF tracking while shooting video.

DxOMark has had a questionable past, seeing how they also sell their tests to OEMs for tuning their cameras. A camera developed using DxOMark’s test setup is bound to score well, its sort of like taking an exam, when you’ve already had the question paper. However, in DxOMark’s defence, their tests are designed to be very stringent, so if a company can manage to meet even the bare minimum, it's still going to be an impressive camera stack. Of course, there have been multiple instances where we’ve disagreed with DxOMark’s findings, so while its good to know that the P40 Pro continues Huawei’s tradition of making great cameras in a smartphone. We are still going to test it for ourselves to see just how well the camera can do in the Indian test scenario, seeing how sometimes, algorithms are tuned using region-specific data.

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/2xI8uXf

Asus announces Strix Scar and Stric G series refresh

Asus has been making big announcements all around, given that both Intel and Nvidia introduced new gaming-specific hardware as well. After introducing the new Zephyrus lineup, Asus gas also announced major upgrades to its Strix series. For starters, Asus has confirmed that they are dropping the Strix Hero lineup entirely, now leaving us with the Strix Scar and Strix G series of laptops. In India, Asus positions the Strix G series as entry-level ROG gaming machines whereas the Scar series is the high-performance beast. This year, Asus has globally announced the availability of ROG Strix Scar 15, ROG Strix Scar 17, ROG Strix G15 and ROG Strix G17.

Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 and Scar 17

The Scar series comes in 15” and 17” flavours, both powered by Intel’s latest 10th generation processors. While the Scar 15 will top out at the Intel Core i7-10875H, an 8 core/16 thread processor, the 17-inch Scar 17 also offers the top-of-the-line Intel core i9-10980HK to users. The Strix Scar series is aimed at those gamers who are aspiring to get into esports or are already engaged in them. As such, you’re looking at machines with a 300Hz refresh rate and Nvidia’s top-of-the-line RTX 2080 Super GPUs. The Scar also offers the new Keystone II which when attached to the computer, can instantly boost performance and also give access to an internal “shadow drive.” The Scar series also offers three NVMe slots, two of which can be configured in RAID 0 for storage of up to 1TB and the third slot is there for just expansion.

Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 & Scar 17

 

Asus ROG Strix G15 and G17

The Scar G series globally will be available in a similarly spec’d performance package as the Scar series. That is, processor selection going up to i7-10875H, GPU selection going up to Nvidia RTX 2080 Super and display with refresh rates as high as 240Hz on the 15-inch model and 144Hz on the 17-inch models. With the Strix G15, Asus has also introduced an Electro Punk variant, inspired by cyberpunk elements such as neon colours. The Electro Punk variant is black coloured, with pink trim for a rather unique look.

Asus ROG Strix G15 Electro Punk

You can see the basic specs of all the Strix laptops in the chart below.

The above specifications are for the global product lineup, and from the past, we’ve learnt that Asus brings specific SKUs to India only, slotting their various gaming laptops into tiers. This makes sense since it would be weird to have a Scar 15, G15, Zephyrus S15, all with the same specs, but with variable pricing. As of now, there is no official word on when the new Scar and G series laptops will come to India and at what price points.

from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/2ynuZko