NASA lander hears first impact sounds of space rocks on Mars

Washington, Sep 20 (IANS) NASA's InSight lander has detected impact sounds from four space rocks that crashed on Mars in 2020 and 2021. It marks the first time seismic and acoustic waves from an impact have been detected on Mars.

A new paper published in Nature Geoscience details the impacts, which ranged between 85 and 290 kms from InSight's location, a region of Mars called Elysium Planitia.

The first of the four confirmed meteoroids made the most dramatic entrance: It entered Mars' atmosphere on September 5, 2021, exploding into at least three shards that each left a crater behind.

Then, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter flew over the estimated impact site to confirm the location.

After locating these spots, the orbiter's team used the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera, or HiRISE, to get a colour close-up of the craters.

"After three years of InSight waiting to detect an impact, those craters looked beautiful," said Ingrid Daubar of Brown University, a co-author of the paper.

After combing through earlier data, scientists confirmed three other impacts had occurred on May 27, 2020, February 18, 2021 and August 31, 2021.

InSight's seismometer has detected over 1,300 marsquakes.

Provided by France's space agency, the instrument is so sensitive that it can detect seismic waves from thousands of miles away.

"But the September 5, 2021, event marks the first time an impact was confirmed as the cause of such waves," said NASA.

The sound of a meteoroid striking Mars - created from data recorded by NASA's InSight lander - is like a "bloop" due to a peculiar atmospheric effect.

The four meteoroid impacts confirmed so far produced small quakes with a magnitude of no more than 2.0.

But the impacts will be critical to refining Mars' timeline.

"Impacts are the clocks of the solar system," said the paper's lead author Raphael Garcia. "We need to know the impact rate today to estimate the age of different surfaces."

Scientists can approximate the age of a planet's surface by counting its impact craters: The more they see, the older the surface.

(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

from Mobile Phones News https://ift.tt/KcZCngL

YouTube bringing new video page on mobile, web

San Francisco, Sep 20 (IANS) Google-owned streaming platform YouTube is rolling out a new video page that tweaks several elements and, most notably, unifies the design across Android, iOS, and the web.

According to 9To5Google, the highlight of this redesign is the use of pill-shaped buttons for key elements. For example, instead of being two distinct buttons, thumbs up/down and the like count are housed in one container.

Share, Create (Shorts), Download, and other things users frequently interact with get the same treatment, the report said.

Meanwhile, that carousel (on mobile) is now underneath channel details, with that information coming after the video title, view count, publish date, and hashtags.

This new design might also coincide with "Ambient Mode" that allows the bottom of a video to bleed into the description section and system status bar for a more immersive experience.

However, this can be optionally enabled/disabled from the overflow menu.

Another key change with this revamps places the top comment in a more prominent container that stands out on the screen. This technique might ultimately prove successful in getting people to engage more.

Things are slightly different on the desktop, with the video description getting the visual call out, something that Creators should benefit from, as per the report.

This revamp has been slowly appearing for more users in recent weeks but is not yet widely rolled out.

(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

from Apps News https://ift.tt/rzqBYEc

Twitter has now made it easier for visually impaired people to read images

New Delhi, Sep 20 (IANS) Twitter has rolled out a feature to help blind and visually-impaired people read images embedded with the tweets via its new image description reminder.

The new image description reminder will encourage more people on Twitter to add helpful descriptions to the images they tweet, the company said in a statement.

Alternative text, or alt text, is a written description of what's in an image that can be picked up by screen reader software used by the visually impaired.

Whenever you add a photo to a Tweet, you have the option to describe it using alt text, also known as a digital image description.

"Our new image description reminder is a feature that prompts you to make a good habit of adding alt text to every image you upload and share on Twitter," said the company.

Once enabled, the feature sends you a prompt on web and mobile reminding you to add alt text whenever you're about to Tweet an image.

"We're rolling out our new image description reminder globally, and most people on Twitter have access to it already (those who don't will have it very soon)," Twitter announced.

The descriptions are useful not only to people using screen readers, but to those in low-bandwidth areas, those with web phones, and anyone who wants to learn more about an image.

"Image descriptions help describe the image to people who aren't able to view it, so it's important to keep the text focused: capture what's important, be succinct, and be objective," informed Twitter.

Photos with descriptions will appear with an ALT badge in the lower left corner, making it clear that additional descriptive text is available for the image.

Twitter recently added an ALT badge, a Closed Captions toggle button, and captions for audio conversations on Spaces and Voice Tweets.

(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

from Apps News https://ift.tt/9FaCp7i

Apple to fix shaky footage issue for iPhone 14 Pro users

San Francisco, Sep 20 (IANS) After several iPhone 14 Pro users complained that it is producing blurry and shaking footage, tech giant Apple has confirmed that a fix is set to arrive next week for this issue.

The tech giant is aware of a bug that is causing the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max cameras to shake and vibrate, according to an Apple spokesperson that spoke to MacRumors.

Recently, several users discovered that the camera module was shaking when in use in apps, including Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.

The issue was causing video recorded using the camera within the apps to be unpublishable, due to the constant erratic movement.

Posts on social media, including Reddit claim there to be a lot of jitters, believed to be a shaking of the optical image stabilisation (OIS) system.

In the case of the iPhone 14 Pro, the 48MP Main camera has Apple's second-generation Sensor-Shift OIS, which physically moves the sensor, while the other uses an older and more conventional OIS system.

Some users claimed that they could see and hear the shaking and mechanical movement when they used the third-party app's camera features.

(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

from Apps News https://ift.tt/4sAocQ3

GTA 6 leak memes and reactions on Twitter from the video game industry and the public at large

Over this last weekend, a massive GTA 6 leak revealed about 90 videos of the forthcoming game’s characters, gameplay, Vice City location, and more. Rockstar Games has confirmed the leak already. And here’s how the Twitterati reacted to a leak unlike any other.

Beginning with the comments of video game industry folks —

GTA 6 leak reactions

Some serious

Leaks aren't cool, or funny. Game devs work hard to make the best possible experiences, and we want everyone to enjoy them as intended. Wishing the world class devs at Rockstar support, can't wait to play your next masterpiece. https://t.co/zJrFMeTYek

— Brian Horton (@BrianHortonArt) September 19, 2022

 

My thoughts are with the team at @RockstarGames It can be disheartening to have a project you've worked hard on to delight fans revealed and critiqued before it’s ready. I know they’re creating something special and can’t wait to experience GTA6 when it's officially unveiled.

— BondSarahBond (@BondSarah_Bond) September 18, 2022

 

Dread to think what the Rockstar team is going through right now. Years of work are now being shredded, torn apart, analized, misunderstood, taken out of context, and memed. A destructive cycle games industry knows way too well. Help to make it better and don't engage with leaks.

— Paweł Sasko (@PaweSasko) September 18, 2022

 

To my fellow devs out there affected by the latest leak, know that while it feels overwhelming right now, it’ll pass. One day we’ll be playing your game, appreciating your craft, and the leaks will be relegated to a footnote on a Wikipedia page. Keep pushing. Keep making art. 

— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) September 18, 2022

 

this GTA 6 leak might be the biggest leak in gaming history, holy shit. but it's important to keep in mind the artists from rockstar are the ones that hurt the most; their unfinished work is now public before they got a chance to share it when it's ready. that sucks big time

— Elise Favis (@elisefavis) September 18, 2022

 

I feel like all leak discourse’s problems could be solved if we didn’t have such secretive culture on things that are in development. When I see a movie set being shot by some dude with a phone camera, I don’t go “Wow I thought they were going to use REAL cameras”

— Imran Khan (@imranzomg) September 19, 2022

 

To those who asked: There are several reasons this is a nightmare for Rockstar. One is that it'll disrupt work for a while. Another is that it may lead management to limit work-from-home flexibility. The repercussions of this leak might not be clear for quite a while

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) September 18, 2022

 

The GTA 6 Leak proves that gamers have no idea about how game development works whatsoever  These homies are complaining that the game looks unfinished when it literally is…

— Lex (@MrTLexify) September 18, 2022

 

GTA 6 leak initially made me excited because I liked what I saw. Was dampened when people pointed out this steals the hype from the official trailer. Became just sad learning about the potential negative implications for the devs and game, especially with the source code leak

— DarkViperAU (@DarkViperAU) September 18, 2022

 

The GTA 6 leaks may very well be the worst leak in gaming history. If you think this is cause for celebration, understand that the hacker who perpetrated this has made the lives of developers a living nightmare and this incident will single handedly delay the long awaited game.

— YongYea (@YongYea) September 18, 2022

Some funny

Rockstar fans when they finally see leaks of GTA6 but then realise it may be delayed for another year or two#RockstarGames #GTA6 #GTAVI pic.twitter.com/Zabcp8LxQI

— SK (@StephKebab) September 18, 2022

 

The guy that Leaked GTA 6 gameplay@RockstarGames #RockstarGames #GTA6leak pic.twitter.com/bSBb4Iat0H

— Jordan Kadlecik (@JordanKadlecik) September 18, 2022

 

When you found 90 videos of #GTA6 dev footage #GTA6leak #gta6leaked #GTAVI pic.twitter.com/AnO8XvnZpJ

— aryaa (@thearyaa0) September 19, 2022

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in.

from Apps News https://ift.tt/CJOyHxh

Rockstar Games confirms GTA 6 leaked footage: Here is what the company has to say

Rockstar Games on Monday confirmed that it 'suffered a network intrusion' that resulted in the massive leak of 90 videos of Grand Theft Auto game 6, showcasing its engine, gameplay and more from an early development build.

The leak provided a glimpse into GTA 6 development, confirming prior reports of the series' first female protagonist and a Vice City setting.

"We recently suffered a network intrusion in which an unauthorised third party illegally accessed and downloaded confidential information from our systems, including early development footage for the next Grand Theft Auto," Rockstar Games said in a statement.

At this time, "we do not anticipate any disruption to our live game services no any long-term effect on the development of our ongoing projects".

The company said it was "extremely disappointed to have any details of our next game shared with you all in this way".

"Our work on the next Grand Theft Auto game will continue as planned and we remain as committed as ever to delivering an experience to you, our players, that truly exceeds your expectations," said the gaming company.

The title, informally known as GTA 6, will mark the first mainline game since 2013's GTA V, having racked up a record-breaking 170 million sales to date.

The company said it will update everyone again soon and will properly introduce them to the next game when it is ready.

The alleged GTA 6 footage comes via GTA Forums user "tepotuberhacker," posting various snippets of its open world in action from what appears to be an early development build.

The over 90 videos also provide an extended look at robberies, NPC interactions, vehicles, and more from its sprawling sandbox.

The footage appears to be from builds at least a couple of years old, suggesting development has been underway in tandem with recent years of GTA V content updates.

(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.

from Gaming News https://ift.tt/5opVxvW

This feature in iPhone 14 series is made by Qualcomm and no, we arent talking about 5G

Apple is reportedly using Qualcomm modem and its own technology to provide satellite communications Emergency SOS feature on new iPhone 14 series.

The Emergency SOS feature in iPhone 14 series uses multiple components utilising Qualcomm X65 modem processor, reports AppleInsider.

Qualcomm's X65 modem also provides 5G for regular cellular networks.

Qualcomm and Apple in 2019 announced an agreement to dismiss all ongoing litigations, including with Apple's contract manufacturers, between the two companies worldwide.

The companies reached a global patent license agreement and a chipset supply agreement. Apple and Qualcomm have fought over patent licensing practices since 2017.

The Emergency SOS via satellite combines custom components deeply integrated with software to allow antennas to connect directly to a satellite, enabling messaging with emergency services when outside of cellular or Wi-Fi coverage.

This breakthrough technology also allows users to manually share their location over satellite with Find My when there is no cellular or Wi-Fi connection, providing a sense of security when hiking or camping off the grid.

According to Apple, Emergency SOS via satellite will be available to users in the US and Canada in November, and the service will be free for two years.

(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.

from Mobile Phones News https://ift.tt/xCfpyEh