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Breakthrough Quantum Computing Chip Sets New Standards for Supercomputing

In a monumental leap for the world of technology, a pioneering quantum computing chip has shattered performance barriers, paving the way for an era of computing power previously thought to be science fiction. Developed by a collaboration of leading tech companies and research institutions, this quantum computing breakthrough is set to redefine the landscape of computing, enabling unprecedented speeds and capabilities that could revolutionize industries across the board. Key Highlights of the Quantum Computing Breakthrough: Unprecedented Processing Power: Traditional computers use bits to process information, represented as 0s and 1s. Quantum computers, on the other hand, leverage quantum bits or qubits, which can exist in a superposition of both 0 and 1 states simultaneously. This inherent parallelism allows quantum computers to perform complex calculations at speeds that would be inconceivable for classical computers. Massive Quantum Supremacy: The newly developed quantum chip achie...

Microsoft to shut down Internet Explorer in August 2021.

Microsoft has confirmed that it will end support for Internet Explorer 11 across Microsoft 265 apps and services by next year. The company has said that it will end support for Internet Explorer from August 17, 2021, onwards. This means that after August 17, 2021, the browser will stop working on Microsoft products such as Office 365, Outlook, and others. The company has also said that before this, Internet Explorer will stop working on Teams From November 30, 2020. However, the devices running on Windows 10 will still have the Internet Explorer as the company has not yet revealed the timeline for its complete shutdown. In an official blog post, Microsoft said, “For degraded experiences, new Microsoft 365 features will not be available or certain features may cease to work when accessing the app or service via IE 11.” The company is also encouraging users to use the Microsoft Edge browser. The company also added that all the apps of Internet Explorer will also work on the ne...

Tired of Zoom calls? Company offers at-home hologram machines.

Looking for a new way to communicate during the pandemic? A Los Angeles company has created phone booth-sized machines to beam live holograms into your living room. The device made by PORTL Inc lets users talk in real time with a life-sized hologram of another person. The machines also can be equipped with technology to enable interaction with recorded holograms of historical figures or relatives who have passed away. Each PORTL device is seven feet (2.1m) tall, five feet (1.5m) wide and two feet (0.6m) deep, and can be plugged into a standard wall outlet. Anyone with a camera and a white background can send a hologram to the machine in what Chief Executive David Nussbaum calls "holoportation." "We say if you can't be there, you can beam there," said Nussbaum, who previously worked at a company that developed a hologram of Ronald Reagan for the former president's library and digitally resurrected rapper Tupac Shakur. "We are able to connect military...

WhatsApp may lose its flavour as Zuckerberg integrates apps.

WhatsApp has so far been a great experience for billions of users globally where there are no ads in-between chats, no distractions like promoted posts and in-app pop ups, but an integration with the rest of Facebook family of apps may mar the beauty of this end-to-end-encrypted mobile messaging platform. The world of social media is soon going to change as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg inches closer to fulfill its dream of integrating all his services into one cross-platform movement of personal data among Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp. Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014 for over $19 billion. Both WhatsApp co-founders -- Brian Acton and Jan Koum -- have quit a couple of years back over alleged difference of opinion with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over data privacy, encryption and issues line monetizing the platform, which they always wanted to remain free from distractions and work like a pure, independent chat experience. In an interview with Forbes, Acton e...

The product which Apple once 'killed' may be reality soon.

Apple’s AirPower mat is one of those rare products from the company that people saw, loved and yet could not get their hands on. The company first showcased it in 2017 with the special 10th anniversary edition iPhone X and was continuously delayed before Apple officially cancelled the project in 2019. However, a small ray of hope came earlier this year when YouTuber Jon Prosser claimed on Twitter that the iPhone maker is working on it again. Now, Prosser has again taken to Twitter and this time posted two images of the alleged AirPower mat in action where we can it charging an Apple Watch and a pair of AirPods Pro simultaneously. Suggesting that the AirPower mat comes with a codename C68, Prosser said that the company has now managed to fix the issue where the Mat was not able to charge Apple Watch. While Prosser has not given any information on the expected launch date, he did mention in replies to his tweets that the Air Power mat will offer a USB-C port instead and not a Lighti...

The Impact of Technology on the Stock Market

There was a time when boisterous traders at the New York Stock Exchange yelled out orders to each other, creating a raucous din. When a stock traded on the strength of a news story, traders gathered in the stock's trading area and started shouting matches that sounded like brawls. Today's high-tech trading goes on without the shouting, and offers investors efficient ways to research and purchase stocks. Research According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, investors have unprecedented access to information about companies and their stocks. The Internet provides current stock prices, company earnings reports, and breaking news about stocks and the companies issuing those stocks. Financial advisers can relay current developments to their clients, and companies can track the performance of their stock in real time. The result of this nearly instantaneous information is better-informed investors, traders and advisers. Execution of Trades Computer systems record buy and sell...

Zoom plans to roll out strong encryption for paying customers

Video conferencing provider Zoom plans to strengthen encryption of video calls hosted by paying clients and institutions such as schools, but not by users of its free consumer accounts, a company official said. The company, whose business has boomed with the coronavirus pandemic, discussed the move on a call with civil liberties groups and child-sex abuse fighters, and Zoom security consultant Alex Stamos confirmed earlier this week. In an interview, Stamos said the plan was subject to change and it was not yet clear which, if any, nonprofits or other users, such as political dissidents, might qualify for accounts allowing more secure video meetings. He added that a combination of technological, safety and business factors went into the plan, which drew mixed reactions from privacy advocates. Zoom has attracted millions of free and paying customers amid the pandemic, in part because users could join a meeting - something that now happens 300 million times a day - without registeri...

Even mask-wearers can be ID'd, says Chinese facial recognition firm.

A Chinese company says it has developed the country's first facial recognition technology that can identify people when they are wearing a mask, as most are these days because of the coronavirus, and help in the fight against the disease. China employs some of the world's most sophisticated systems of electronic surveillance, including facial recognition. But the coronavirus, which emerged in Hubei province late last year, has resulted in almost everyone wearing a surgical mask outdoors in the hope of warding off the virus - posing a particular problem for surveillance. Now Hanwang Technology Ltd, which also goes by the English name Hanvon, said it has come up technology that can successfully recognise people even when they are wearing masks. "If connected to a temperature sensor, it can measure body temperature while identifying the person's name, and then the system would process the result, say, if it detects a temperature over 38 degrees," Hanwang Vice ...

How to enable built-in ad blocker in Google Chrome.

Website ads are mostly the major source of income for web browsers. But at times, seeing too many ads on a single webpage degrades the overall experience for the website especially with popup ads or click ads where you click on some line and it opens an ad in another window. Thankfully, Google has built an ad blocker right into the browser that helps users block ads from a particular website. Though the built-in ad blocker is not as efficient as some of the ad blocker plugins but it can block video ads, malicious ads with malware, scams and cryptocurrency miners and stop advertisers from accessing your personal data. So, if you don’t want to download any random ad blocker on your Chrome browsers, here’s how you can enable or disable the built-in Chrome’s adblocker. Pre-requisites: The latest version of Google Chrome browser Working internet connectivity Windows PC, Mac, Android or iOS device Steps to enable built-in ad blocker on Google Chrome ...

Overheating smartphones won't be a problem anymore: New coating will release vapour, keep devices cool.

Inspired by the sweating mechanism in mammals, scientists have developed a new coating that can prevent smartphones and laptops from heating up by releasing water vapour. The new thermal management method, described in the journal Joule, could keep electronics cooler compared to existing strategies by dissipating excess heat. "The development of microelectronics puts great demands on efficient thermal management techniques, because all the components are tightly packed, and chips can get really hot," said Ruzhu Wang, from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China. "For example, without an effective cooling system, our phones could have a system breakdown, and burn our hands if we run them for a long time, or load a big application," Wang said in a statement. Larger devices such as computers use fans to regulate temperature, the researchers said. However, fans are bulky, noisy, and energy consuming, and thus unsuitable for smaller devices like mobile phones, the...

5 billion and counting: The number of WhatsApp downloads

WhatsApp is one of the most popular instant messaging apps. Now, the Facebook-owned app has managed to cross another milestone. WhatsApp is the second non-Google app that has crossed five billion downloads on the Google Play Store. Only a handful of Android apps have managed to cross the mark and most of them are from Google and they come pre-installed on smartphones. WhatsApp is the second app to reach this milestone. The first non-Google app which managed to cross the mark of five million downloads was Facebook. The app managed to do so with the help of its partnership with Samsung and other OEMs. Recently, a report by Sensor Tower also revealed that WhatsApp is the most downloaded app across the world. The app has crossed 850 million downloads across the world in 2019. The report suggests that WhatsApp has been the number one downloaded app since Q3, 2016. The instant messenger remained on top this quarter, leading four Facebook-owned apps in the top five. WhatsApp experienced ...

This Chinese tech giant is looking at India institutes for 'talent'.

Robin Li, the CEO of Chinese search engine Baidu, has made his first ever visit to India, at a time when rival Chinese technology giants Alibaba and Byte-Dance are making inroads in the country. Li is also seeking collaborations with Indian institutes as his company looks for local expertise in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI). India is home to the second largest Internet user base, accounting for 12% of the users globally. It is emerging as a battleground for the US, Chinese and Indian technology and Internet companies looking to capture the ‘next billion users’. Li delivered the keynote on AI at IIT Madras on Saturday. “Baidu has been monitoring India. Alibaba and Tencent have been aggressively investing in India,” said Santosh Pai, a partner at Link Legal, a law firm which advises Chinese companies investing in India. “It might be deciding to make up for the lost time in India with a new strategy. It may look at VC investments in India like Alibaba and Tencent did.” ...

Google reveals the biggest reason you should be using Maps

Google Maps, Earth and Street View are some of the popular mapping and navigation apps that majority smartphone users get help from everyday and every second. While the entire model is based on crowdsourced data, there’s hardly any piece of information that is not on these apps and services and for the first time Google has given some tid-bits on the amount of mapping data it has possessed over the years because of this. Revealed in a blog post by Thomas Escobar, senior product manager at Google Maps, the search giant has captured over 10 million miles of Street View imagery. The firm added that Google Earth has a total of 36 million square miles of satellite imagery available for millions of users. Also mentioned is that the search giant has mapped out around 98% of the world with very few areas that are yet to be accessed by the tech giant. Over the years, Google has not just used user data and it’s own cars to explore new streets, areas and geographic locations, it has also use...

Researchers showcase technology that charges phone up to 80% in 1 minute

Fast charging in smartphones is being looked at seriously by developers considering the need of professionals and casual users alike who are dependent a lot on their smartphones and keep facing issues of low battery. Currently, some smartphones that come with fast charging technology are Realme X2 Pro with 50W fast charging support and Oppo Reno Ace with 65W fast charging. But what if a smartphone can charge to 80 percent within a minute? Going by reports in Chinese media, Professor Huang Yunhui of the University of Science and Technology of China has been working at such technology. The professor showcased the technology at the Peking University Global Alumni Forum on December 1. The technology corresponds to “Construction and Synergy Mechanism of High-Performance Composite Electrode Materials for Energy Storage” project. As per report, it makes use of nitrogen-doped hard carbon anode material which currently has the highest capacity. Xiaomi and Vivo are also said to be working...

Here's why the Supreme Court wants to use artificial intelligence

Chief Justice of India (CJI) S A Bobde said on Tuesday that the Supreme Court has proposed to introduce a system of artificial intelligence (AI) which would aid in the administration of justice delivery. The CJI however made it clear that there should not be any impression that introduction of AI would ever substitute the judges. "We propose to introduce, if possible, a system of artificial intelligence. There are many things which we need to look at before we introduce. We do not want to give the impression that this is ever going to substitute the judges," Justice Bobde said at the Constitution Day function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA). He said the Indian Constitution, which is called the "People's Constitution", was drafted on this day in 1949 and this "sacrosanct document" represents the high watermark of consensus in the country' history. "It does more than merely establishing institutions for governance of I...

Brave 1.0 browser : Browse faster and safer while ticking off advertisers

The Brave browser is out of beta, meaning its users now have access to a full, stable release of the privacy-focused browser. The company also confirmed that it had reached nine million monthly active users. The war for browser users has been fought for more than a decade. What are Brave’s chances of beating out the competition? The nine million figure puts Brave in the position of being one of the most-used crypto-related projects. Of course, Brave isn’t a pure crypto or blockchain project. Anyone can download and use the Brave browser without needing to buy Basic Attention Token, the native currency of the platform. In that respect, Brave is competing for users with other browsers: Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and the rest. Let’s be clear — even with 9 million users, Brave has a long way to go before it can stand on even footing with the competition. For example, Firefox has around 4.3 percent of the market, which amounts to around 250 million monthly active deskt...

"Call-of-Duty" is the second-most successful game of all-time

Quite often we see certain games enchant people with their novelty and freshness factor but soon fade away from people’s memories. Call of Duty: Mobile, however, doesn’t seem to be suffering from any such issue. According to a new report released by Sensor Tower, Call of Duty: Mobile is now the second-most successful game of all-time. In just over a month it has seen as many 148 million downloads in the world. This whopping number has catapulted the game into the second spot of the most downloaded game list. In comparison, rivals like PUBG Mobile and Fortnite were downloaded 60.7 million and 35 million respectively in the first month. The only game that had seen more downloads in the first month of its launch was Niantic’s Pokemon Go. India has played a key part in the rise and rise of Call of Duty: Mobile. The game has been downloaded 16.2 million times in the country, which comprises of 11% of the total downloads. The US remains the country where Call of Duty: Mobile has been down...

Google Photos getting this new feature for Android users

Google is making a small yet important change to one of its most-used apps and services on the web, Google Photos. The firm is making a change in the ‘Albums’ section of the app. And this is limited to Android versions only for now. As mentioned by 9to5Google, the firm is now letting Android users tweak the arrangement of the albums. It is said that this feature is not a part of an OTA update but a server-side update. Although the app arranges album in reverse chronological order with the ‘Most recent photo’ being on top. Now, you get two additional options of “Last modified” and “Album title” in which you can arrange the albums. Once selected, the option will be seen in Blue besides the ‘Album’ section. Although a basic feature, this makes a difference when it comes to long scrolling to find an album. You can still find the album from the search bar but this is meant to improve the scrolling experience. Since this is a server-side update, not all the Android users will get this f...

You may soon be able to use your UPI ID across the world.

Indians travelling abroad may soon be able to use the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to pay for goods and services there, according to two bankers in the know of the matter. UPI is an inter-bank fund transfer mechanism run by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and enables instant fund settlement through a smartphone. NPCI is working to enable this feature within the next six months, starting with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Singapore.“These two countries already have opened up to RuPay cards; now the target is to enable UPI payments. This will be a big boost for Indians traveling in those countries and, just like their debit card or credit card, they can pay via UPI,” said a senior banker. This is NPCI’s attempt to create a global payment product that can expand the use case of UPI, the banker said. UPI has emerged as a major challenger to card payments, as more and more merchants accept UPI payments. UPI recorded close to 955 million transactions in Septem...

This internet browser is more secure than Google Chrome

Google Chrome internet browser is the most popular internet browser globally but the German Federal Office for Information Security feels that you should not use Chrome if you worried about privacy and security. The government agency of Germany has rated Mozilla Firefox as the most secure internet browser above Chrome, Edge and Internet Explorer. Having said that the agency did not compare it with Safari, Opera or other browsers. This agency advises government officials in Germany on cyber security risks and asked officials to use Firefox. The areas where Chrome, Edge and Internet Browsers failed is lack of support for a master password mechanism along with other issues like there is no built-in update system in Internet Explorer. In all the three browsers, there is no provision to block telemetry collection and lacks in organisational transparency. There is a detailed list of features that an internet browser must have to be termed as secure by the german agency and Firefox has t...