China's prowess in AI is making US nervous; can it win from tech cold war?

Current Affairs

China’s growing technological prowess in areas such as artificial intelligence is making Washington very nervous. US efforts to fight back, though, could make the problem worse.

In US policy circles, suspicion of China is starting to resemble a new Red Scare. Universities are heightening scrutiny of research proposals from China and, in some cases, restricting collaboration. Chinese scientists’ visas are being delayed for conferences and exchanges. Visas for Chinese graduate students studying topics such as robotics or advanced manufacturing have been shortened to one year from five.

Last week, the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston kicked out three senior researchers of Chinese ethnicity after the US National Institutes of Health said they had potentially violated disclosure and confidentiality rules. Workers at various technology companies have been charged with stealing trade secrets in recent months.

More formal rules are coming. After President Donald Trump signed the Export Control Reform Act last year, the US put in place new policies to restrict Chinese investment in American high-tech companies. It also began a process of reexamining export controls on sensitive “emerging and foundational” technologies. That process is nearly complete: The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security is holding seminars over the next few months to help companies understand how to comply with the tighter restrictions.


 While the details are still murky, one thing is clear about the new rules: Like the old ones, they’ll apply not just to hardware shipped overseas, or even software and algorithms. They will cover individuals and ideas as well.The disclosure of proprietary information or controlled information to a foreign national, even within the US, triggers the need for an export review process...Read More

$2000 Galaxy Fold's screen broke after few days of use for some reviewers

Technology News

Samsung's new Galaxy Fold, a splashy $1,980 phone that opens into a tablet, is malfunctioning for some journalist reviewers after only a day or two of use, according to posts on social media on Wednesday.

The problem seems to be related to the unit's screen either cracking or flickering, according to Twitter posts by technology journalists from Bloomberg, The Verge and CNBC who received the phone this week for review purposes. The Galaxy Fold officially goes on sale on April 26 in the United States.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd did not respond to several requests for comment.

The South Korean company's Galaxy Fold resembles a conventional smartphone but opens like a book to reveal a second display the size of a small tablet at 7.3 inches (18.5 cm).

Although Galaxy Fold and Huawei's Mate X foldable phones are not expected to be big sellers, the new designs were hailed as framing the future of smartphones this year in a field that has seen few surprises since Apple Inc introduced the screen slab iPhone in 2007.

The problems with the new phone drew comparisons to Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 phone in 2016. Battery and design flaws in the Note 7 led to some units catching fire or exploding, forcing Samsung to recall and cancel sales of the phone. The recall wiped out nearly all of the profits in Samsung's mobile division in the third quarter of 2016.


 Reviewers of the new Galaxy Fold said they did not know what the problem was and Samsung did not provide answers.Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman tweeted: "The screen on my Galaxy Fold review unit is completely broken and unusable just two days in...Read More

Crackdown on hate speech: Facebook to curb white nationalism, separatism

Technology News

Facebook announced Wednesday it will ban praise or support for white nationalism and white separatism as part of a stepped-up crackdown on hate speech.
The ban will be enforced starting next week at the leading online social network and its image-centric messaging service Instagram.
"It's clear that these concepts are deeply linked to organized hate groups and have no place on our services," the social network said in a statement.
Facebook policies already banned posts endorsing white supremacy as part of its prohibition against spewing hate at people based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity or religion.
The ban had not applied to some postings because it was reasoned they were expressions of broader concepts of nationalism or political independence, according to the social network.
Facebook said that conversations with academics and "members of civil society" in recent months led it to view white nationalism and separatism as linked to organized hate groups.
"Going forward, while people will still be able to demonstrate pride in their ethnic heritage, we will not tolerate praise or support for white nationalism and separatism," Facebook said.

 People who enter search terms associated with white supremacy will get results referring them to resources such as Life After Hate which focus on helping people turn their backs on such groups, according to the social network.

Huawei P30 Pro unveiled: Key things to know about 'best camera smartphone'

Technology News

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei on March 26 announced the P30-series smartphones in a global unveiling event from Paris. The series includes two devices – the Huawei P30 Pro and the Huawei P30 – both boasting OLED screen, triple camera module on the back (excluding time-of-flight 3D sensor in the P30 Pro), and in-display fingerprint sensor. Taking forward the imaging capabilities that the P-series stands for, the premium P30 Pro has been rated the best camera smartphone with an overall score of 112 by camera benchmark company DxOMark.

Huawei P30 Pro camera specifications and features

The P30 Pro is Huawei’s first to boast a periscope telephoto lens capable of 5x optical zoom, 10x hybrid zoom and up to 50x digital zoom. The phone boasts a 40-megapixel primary sensor of f/1.6 aperture on the back, mated with a 20MP ultra-wide angle lens, 8MP telephoto lens, and a ToF sensor for 3D mapping. The phone’s primary sensor and the telephoto lens are backed by optical image stabilisation and the rear camera module supports artificial intelligence-based stabilisation for shake- free photography and videography. On the front, the phone has a 32MP selfie camera of f/2.0 aperture.

Called the Huawei SuperSpectrum sensor, the primary 40MP sensor on the P30 Pro has a new RYYB (red-yellow-yellow-blue) pixel matrix, instead of the traditional RGGB (red-green-green-blue) bayer filter. This allows the sensor to capture more light and achieve higher ISO speed of up to 4,09,600, resulting in better hand-held low-light imaging.


 Interestingly, the Huawei P30 Pro is capable of using all camera lenses while recording a video. Besides using the primary 40MP lens for improved low-light video recording, the phone also uses its 8MP periscope telephoto lens for quick close-up zoom.

Apple has News: Launches $10 monthly magazine, subscription service

Technology News
Apple Inc. presented its long-anticipated magazine subscription service on Monday, bundling access to selected glossy titles, websites, and newspapers for $10 a month.

The new service, called Apple News+, will be incorporated into the existing Apple News app that comes pre-installed on iPhones, iPads, and Macs, Roger Rosner, vice president of applications, said Monday at an event at Apple’s Cupertino, California, headquarters.

More than 300 magazines will be part of the service, he said. It will also include The Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times, but not The Washington Post or The New York Times. Bloomberg Businessweek will be part of the magazine section. A demonstration showed that some magazines, like National Geographic, have dynamic, moving covers.

The service launches today for $9.99 a month, with the first month free. It will be available in the U.S. and Canada, with the U.K. and Australia coming later in the year.

The News+ service will be its own tab in the existing News app and won’t interrupt the free section, the demo showed. Magazines can be downloaded automatically for offline reading. The News+ tab features access to magazine cover stories, new issues, and individual articles. Magazine creators are tweaking their issues depending on whether the story is read on an iPhone or the bigger iPad screen.
The magazine bundle is part of a collection of new services Apple is rolling out as it seeks to boost revenue from sources other than the iPhone.


 The magazine service is based on an application called Texture, which Apple acquired about a year ago. Texture had agreements with more than 200 magazines...Read More

Honor View 20 review: A trendsetter that is also an all-round performer

Technology News:

Honor View 20, from the stable of Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei, is the first smartphone in India to feature a punch-hole screen. It is also the first Honor-branded smartphone powered by Huawei’s flagship Kirin 980 system-on-chip (SoC) -- a mobile process that powers Huawei’s premium flagship, the Mate 20 Pro (review) -- and a 48-megapixel primary camera sensor. For a midrange flagship, the Honor View 20 seems to be a feature-rich proposition. But is it? Let’s find out:


Design

The Honor View 20 has a glossy glass body and a metallic frame. The glass body has a V-shaped gradient line design on the back. These lines reflect when looked at from different angles, making the phone stand out from its glass-bodied peers. Unfortunately, the gradient lines are prominent only in the sky blue colour, and not so much in other variants, such as the black unit that we reviewed.
Honor View 20 At a time when in-display fingerprint sensors are becoming mainstream in smartphones, the Honor View 20 has gone with a conventional fingerprint sensor at the back. It obstructs the phone’s unibody design, but its utility makes up for whatever little damage it does to the phone’s overall design language.


 The phone’s punch-hole display looks refreshing and is a step forward, compared to notch screens. However, like other notch screen-based smartphones, it also has a visible bezel at the bottom that obstructs its otherwise bezel-less profile...Read More

All new Maruti Baleno launched with sporty front grill: Check price, specs

Companies News:

The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India launched an updated version of its popular premium hatchback Baleno, priced between Rs 5.4 lakh and Rs 8.77 lakh.The updated Baleno features a new sporty front grill with wider stance, apart from having precision cut smoked two-tone 16-inch alloy wheels, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said in a statement.

Besides, it also has a new infotainment system with rear parking camera integration, navigation with live traffic and vehicle information, and alerts on the screen further add to the driving convenience, it added.

Commenting on the launch, MSI Senior Executive Director, Marketing and Sales R S Kalsi said, "Keeping our customer-centric philosophy at the core of product conceptualization, this new Baleno will further enhance the brand's appeal".He said the Baleno has been a resounding success for Maruti Suzuki in the highly competitive premium hatchback segment.


"Recently, it has achieved another landmark in its journey by achieving a milestone of 5 lakh sales within a record time of 38 months," Kalsi added.The Baleno continues to be available in both 1.2 litre petrol and 1.3 litre diesel engines options...Read More

Asus F570ZD review: Great entry-level gaming laptop but misses out on SSD

Technology Reviews:
Asus, the Taiwanese manufacturer of computer peripherals, recently launched Asus F570ZD, a laptop for entry- level gamers and for those on the lookout for a dedicated performance laptop to enhance their daily workflow. While the innards present in the laptop make it an exciting purchace, I took a deeper look to find out that is it still a valuable product when it comes to casual gaming and everyday computing.

Asus F570ZD review:
Asus F570ZD is compact with the typical ASUS built. The sea green accent on the Asus logo and the sea green borders give a quirky finish to the laptop. The back has a shiny-metal black finish that gives a premium feel to the device. Apart from that, there is little else that stands out in this laptop's design. The bezels are thick but not huge and we wonder why thin bezels are not yet brought to mid-level laptops.

Asus F570ZD review As far as performance is concerned, the F570ZD is a great performer but with minor flaws. The AMD Ryzen 5 processor works great, but somehow the absence of a SSD mars the performance to a large extent. The laptop take a bit of time to start up as well as load high-end games like FIFA 2019 or Metro Last Light Redux.


  The 8GB RAM works in tandem with the processor to belt out decent performance and the NVIDIA GTX 1050 graphics also work perfectly but the absence of SSD (solid state drive) is felt throughout. The boot up time is plain annoying, with about a minute of time wasted before the laptop actually boots. While the innards work in tandem to enhance the performance, the heat management issue crops up after a few hours of extensive use. The fans become noisy after extensive use but the noise is bearable and wont cause much problem...Read More

Samsung to launch online-exclusive Galaxy M-series with V-shape notch today

Technology News:
South Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung is gearing up to unveil the Galaxy M-series today (January 28). Aimed at millennials, the Galaxy M-series is expected to have at least two variants – the Galaxy M20 and the Galaxy M10. These India-first smartphones will also be the company’s first to sport a V-shaped notch screen, similar to the dewdrop or waterdrop notch screens seen in Oppo, Vivo and Realme devices. Both these smartphones will be Amazon-exclusive and will be available on the e-commerce platform and Samsung online store

Samsung Galaxy M20 In terms of specifications and features, the Samsung Galaxy M20 is expected to be a power-packed unit in the M-series. It is expected to be powered by Samsung’s recently announced Exynos 7-series 7904 system-on-chip, paired with either 3GB or 4GB of RAM.

Though the M-series is expected to feature a triple-camera module in at least one of the devices, the M20 would have a dual-camera set-up on the back – as seen in promotional material and social media campaigns. The phone is also expected to be powered by a 5,000 mAh battery, a first in Samsung smartphones.

Samsung Galaxy M10 The Galaxy M10, on the other hand, is expected to be a feature-rich offering with a design similar to the M20. It is also expected to be powered by the Samsung Exynos processor.

 However, exact model and SoC specifications are still unknown. This phone would also have a dual-camera module on the back. The phone might notget the 5,000 mAh battery, unlike the M20...Read More

Ahead of polls, Google promises a new search for political advertisements

Google signage is seen at Google headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S.,

Technology News:

As the country braces for the general elections this year, technology giant Google on it is bringing more openness to election advertising online and is enabling voters to get the election-related information they need.

To bring more transparency to the online election ads, Google is introducing an India-specific ‘Political Advertising Transparency Report’ and searchable ‘Political Ads Library.’

Through these initiatives, which will go live in March this year, the company is looking at providing comprehensive information about who is purchasing election ads on Google platforms and how much money is being spent. This year, over 850 million Indians are expected to cast their votes to elect the country’s next government.


 “We’re thinking hard about elections and how we continue to support democratic processes in India and around the world,” said Chetan Krishnaswamy, director, public policy, Google India, adding, “We are bringing more transparency to election advertising online, and surfacing relevant information to help people better navigate the electoral process...Read More