Technology News

The 41 Most Anticipated Games of 2023 What are the biggest games in 2023 on PC, Android, iPhone, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X? Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile, Dead Space, Hogwarts Legacy, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Tekken 8, Street Fighter 6, Diablo IV, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Final Fantasy XVI, Sk...

Twitter to Soon Allow Users to Side Sweep Through Tweets, Trends, Topics, More Elon Musk has announced that a new side sweep feature will be rolled out on Twitter in January. It will allow users easy access to recommended and followed tweets, trends, topics, and lists.

Google Chrome to Bring the Ability to Block Suspicious HTTP Downloads: Report Google is working on new security features for Chrome that will protect users from downloading potentially dangerous HTTP content. The browser will block downloads from any insecure website. The browser already has a couple of security features like mixed elements and the “Always use secure connections” toggle in security settings.

Steam Replay 2022: PC Gamers Get a Recap, With Statistics on Their Past Year Valve’s new Steam Replay feature is out now, offering insight into your personal PC gaming experiences in 2022. Akin to Spotify Wrapped, the feature details a range of statistics, ranging from most played games, total achievements unlocked, a monthly breakdown, and more. Your accomplishments can be shared with friends as well, and simply browsing through it unlocks ...

PlayStation Plus January 2023 Free Games: Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order, Fallout 76, and Axiom Verge 2 PlayStation Plus monthly free games for the new year have been revealed. Starting January 3, PS Plus Essential, Extra, Premium, and Deluxe subscribers can add Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Fallout 76, and Axiom Verge 2 to their game library. Access ends on February 6, 2023, after which players will need to hold onto their subscriptions to keep playing.

Avatar: The Way of Water Box Office Hits $1 Billion, Joins the Club in Just 2 Weeks In just 14 days since its theatrical debut, Avatar: The Way of Water has now crossed $1 billion (about Rs. 8,280 crore) in worldwide ticket sales. The James Cameron-directed sequel has become the fastest to cross the threshold this year, after Spider-Man: No Way Home’s record in 2021. Avatar 2 has collected $712.7 million (about Rs. 5,900 crore) from markets outside...

Paytm 2022 Recap Calls Delhi-NCR as India's Digital Payments Capital Paytm parent One97 Communications on Wednesday announced the release of Paytm 2022 Recap, highlighting the interesting trends of transactions made through Paytm in the last year. Users can also check their individual payments journey with Paytm in 2022 through paytm.com/recap.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Becomes Sixth-Biggest Movie Debut for Netflix, With 82.1 Million Hours Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery has become the sixth-biggest movie debut for Netflix, racking up 82.1 million viewed hours. This puts the Rian Johnson-directed sequel right behind Sandra Bullock’s The Unforgiveable, which amassed 85.86 million viewed hours upon debut. Netflix calculated Glass Onion’s numbers over the period of December 19–25, which saw the fil...

Avatar: The Way of Water Box Office Nears $1 Billion Mark in Global Ticket Sales Well into its second week, Avatar: The Way of Water is close to hitting the $1 billion (about Rs. 8,285 crore) mark at the global box office. Through late Tuesday, the James Cameron-directed sequel has collected an outstanding $955 million (about Rs. 7,909 crore) — tied for third place in 2022, against Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Roughly $661.9 mill...

Google's Anti-Competitive Activities Harm Indian Consumers, Economy: MapMyIndia CEO Google's anti-competitive activities are harming Indian consumers and the economy by stifling "swadeshi" (indigenous) competitors, a top official of home-grown navigation firm MapMyIndia said. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in October slapped a steep penalty of Rs. 1,337.76 crore on internet giant Google for abusing its dominant position in multiple markets...

Ola, Uber, Dunzo, PharmEasy, Amazon Flex Others Provide Poor Working Conditions for Gig Workers: Report Five digital platforms -- cab aggregators Ola and Uber, grocery delivery app Dunzo, pharmacy platform PharmEasy and Amazon Flex -- have reportedly received the lowest scores in a rating of digital platforms on the basis of providing fair working conditions for gig workers. The Fairwork India Ratings 2022 reportedly evaluated 12 platforms, including Amazon Flex, bigbas...

Right to Repair Online Portal, NTH Mobile App, More Announced by Piyush Goyal Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday launched a host of new initiatives, including the right to repair portal and an NTH mobile app and opened new premises of National Consumer Helpline centre in the national capital.

Twitter Hack: Private Data of 40 Crore Users Up for Sale; Hacker Extorting CEO Elon Musk: Report Private data of over 40 crore Twitter users has reportedly been hacked and put up for sale. According to a report, the data breach includes phone numbers and emails of prominent Twitter users like American politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and a number of celebrities. The hacker is also reportedly attempting to extort Twitter CEO Elon Musk...

Netflix January 2023 Releases: Mission Majnu, Fauda, Vikings: Valhalla, and More What are the biggest Netflix originals in January 2023? Mission Majnu, Fauda season 4, Vikings: Valhalla season 2, Christian Bale in The Pale Blue Eye, Pamela Anderson in Pamela, a love story, Trial by Fire series, Mumbai Mafia: Police vs The Underworld, Break Point, Copenhagen Cowboy, and That ‘90s Show lead Netflix January 2023 releases.

Google's Anti-Competitive Activities Harm Indian Consumers, Economy: MapMyIndia CEO Google's anti-competitive activities are harming Indian consumers and the economy by stifling "swadeshi" (indigenous) competitors, a top official of home-grown navigation firm MapMyIndia said. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in October slapped a steep penalty of Rs. 1,337.76 crore on internet giant Google for abusing its dominant position in multiple markets...

Google May Make Android's Root Store Updatable Via Play Services On Android 14: Report Google is reportedly working on introducing root certificates to be synced via Google Play Services on Android 14 instead of the current mechanism that requires full system updates to be made for root certificates to be updated. The development was spotted by Mishaal Rehman and suggested that the move could have been triggered by Google's fallout with TrustCor.

Google Challenges CCI Order on Android Devices, Calls It Setback for Indian Users Google has challenged a CCI order accusing the tech giant of abusing its dominant position in multiple markets in the Android mobile device ecosystem. The Competition Commission had slapped a penalty of Rs 1,337.76 crore on Google for anti-competitive practices in relation to Android mobile devices in October.

New Avatar Animated Series Reportedly in the Works, Focusing on an Earth Avatar A new Avatar animated series, focused on an earthbender, is reportedly in the works at Avatar Studios. As per independent source Avatar News, the series is set in the future after The Legend of Korra and follows the next earth Avatar in the cycle. The report suggests that the series is eyeing a 2025 release window, and will be available to stream on Paramount+. Meanwh...

Avatar 3, Avatar 4 Scenes Already Shot to Avoid ‘Stranger Things Effect,’ James Cameron Reveals Scenes for Avatar 3 and Avatar 4 have already been filmed to avoid what director James Cameron calls “the Stranger Things effect.” Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the director confirmed that footage for the upcoming sequels was filmed alongside The Way of Water, so as to avoid child actors from inevitably growing out of the parts they auditioned for. Jack Champi...

Best Games of 2022: Gadgets 360’s Favourite PC, PS4, PS5, Mobile, and Xbox Games The best games of 2022: Gadgets 360’s favourite games on PC, PS4, PS5, Android, iPhone, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X this year include Cult of the Lamb, Elden Ring, Genshin Impact, God of War Ragnarök, A Plague Tale: Requiem, PowerWash Simulator, and Stray.

Steam Winter Sale 2022 Best Deals: Elden Ring, God of War, FIFA 23, and More Steam Winter Sale 2022 is here, bringing steep discounts on PC games, up to 80 percent off. Steam Winter Sale 2022 is scheduled to end on January 5, 2023 at 11:30pm IST, and offers discounts on popular titles such as Elden Ring, God of War, FIFA 23, Red Dead Redemption 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Disco Elysium, and more.

Flipkart Officials Questioned by Delhi Police Over Sale of Acid on Platform Despite Supreme Court Ban Flipkart officials were questioned by Delhi Police officials, after the company responded to a notice by the Delhi Police, stating that the acid used in an attack on a girl from Dwarka was sold by an Agra-based firm. The police said that the officials were questioned on Wednesday, and that they were not satisfised with the responses provided by the e-commerce company.

Digital Competition Act Recommended by Parliamentary Panel to Regulate Big Tech Firms A parliamentary panel on Thursday mooted a digital competition act aimed at reining in anti-competitive practices of Big Tech firms in India. Companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple have faced scrutiny in the past and the government has been working to tighten regulation of these Big Tech firms.

Microsoft Fined EUR 60 Million by French Privacy Watchdog Over Advertising Cookies on Bing Website Microsoft was fined EUR 60 million (roughly Rs. 530 crore) by the National Commission for Technology and Freedoms (CNIL) for forcing advertising cookies on users on its Bing website. The French regulator said Microsoft's search engine Bing did not allow users to refuse cookies as simply as accepting them.

Meta Took Down 2.29 Crore Posts on Facebook, Instagram in November; Many Users Complained of Hacked Accounts Meta said in a report released on Thursday that it had taken down more than 2.29 crore pieces of content created by Indian users on Facebook and Instagram in November. The company said it removed over 1.95 crore pieces of content on Facebook and 33.9 lakh pieces of content on Instagram.

Netflix, Nike Training Club Partner on Fitness Content, Launching December 30 Netflix is partnering with Nike Training Club to bring fitness content to its platform. The streaming company announced that it will offer 30 hours of Nike exercise classes, starting next week on December 30. The sessions will be released in two batches, with the second half dropping sometime in 2023. The initiative will be available across all Netflix plans, with the...

RRR’s Naatu Naatu, Chhello Show, All That Breathes Shortlisted for Oscars 2023: Details Three entries from India have been shortlisted for the 95th Academy Awards. RRR's energetic dance song “Naatu Naatu” has earned a place in the Original Song category. Pan Nalin’s Chhello Show / The Last Film Show has been shortlisted for the Best International Feature segment, competing against 15 other entries. In the Documentary Feature Film department, All Th...

Intel Splits Graphics Chip Unit Into Two, Consumer Graphics Division to Join Client Computing Group Intel said on Wednesday that the company was splitting its graphics chips unit into two, as the chipmaker doubles down on accelerated computing, a growing segment dominated by Nvidia as AI use surges. According to the firm, the consumer graphics unit will be combined with Intel's client computing group, while the teams working on accelerated computing will join Intel'...

Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma Declares End of Cash Burn Ahead of Firm's Plans to Turn Cash Flow Positive Paytm on Wednesday announced that the company would turn off its cash burn, while the company's founder revealed that the payments firm was "far ahead" on re-setting its strategy. Softbank-backed Paytm said last month that it plans to become free cash flow positive in the next 12-18 months.

Germany Drops Antitrust Investigation Into Google News Showcase After 'Important Adjustments' Germany's Federal Cartel Office said on Wednesday that it had dropped a probe into Google's News Showcase service. Google earlier this year made a major concession by offering to exclude "Google News Showcase" content from its general search results. The antitrust regulator said Google made "important adjustments" to ease concerns about competition.

Lionel Messi's FIFA World Cup Celebration Post Surpasses Image of Egg to Become Most Liked Post on Instagram Lionel Messi posted on Instagram after Argentina won the FIFA World Cup 2022 on Sunday, and the carousel of images posted by the football player has now surpassed an image of an egg to become the most liked post on the platform. Meanwhile, The Argentinian football legend's photo also became the quickest to 50 million likes on social media according to the Olympics web...

Assassin’s Creed Mobile 'Jade' Gameplay Footage Leaked From Alleged Alpha Test Assassin’s Creed Mobile Jade gameplay footage has seemingly leaked online. The series of recordings allegedly originate from an alpha test for the mobile game — the sign-ups for which have since been shut down by Ubisoft. Being the first game in the Assassin’s Creed franchise to allow character creation, the footage offers a look at the various customisation opt...

More Than 270 Indian OTT Originals Released in 2022. Here Are All of Them Indian OTT platforms released over 270 originals in 2022. They came from Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video, Amazon miniTV, SonyLIV, Zee5, MX Player, Voot Select, Discovery+, Lionsgate Play, Hoichoi, ShemarooMe, manoramaMAX, Hungama Play, Watcho, Ullu, and Atrangii.

Citadel India: Varun Dhawan to Lead Indian Instalment of Russo Brothers’ Amazon Prime Video Franchise Varun Dhawan is attached to lead the Indian instalment of the global spy series Citadel, for Amazon Prime Video. In a tweet, the Russo Brothers — Anthony and Joe Russo — confirmed the news, adding that filming on the project commences in January 2023. Creators of The Family Man, Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K. (Raj & DK) are attached as showrunners, writers, and dir...

Black Adam 2 No Longer Moving Forward, as James Gunn Restructures DC Universe Black Adam 2 is no longer moving forward at DC Studios, lead Dwayne Johnson has confirmed. In a tweet, the 50-year-old actor referred to an internal meeting with new DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn, which came upon the decision that “Black Adam will not be in the first chapter of storytelling.” The studio and Johnson will continue exploring ways to utilise the charac...

Instagram Introduces 2022 Recap Reel Template With Narration by Bad Bunny, Badshah, DJ Khaled: All Details Instagram has introduced a new 2022 Recap Reel template letting you choose 14 of your best moments to share with your followers and friends. These can also feature audio narrated by popular celebrities like Badshah, DJ Khaled, and Bad Bunny.

Amazon Avoids Massive Fine, Reaches Settlement With European Union Over Use of Seller Data Amazon on Tuesday reached a settlement with the EU in two antitrust investigations that probed the company's use of seller data and treatment of sellers while ranking offers for the "buy" box on its website. Under EU law, the US-based e-commerce giant could have faced a fine of up to 10 percent of its global annual turnover.

Six Lakh Complaints Registered on Cyber Crime Portal Since Its Inception in 2019, MoS Home Ajay Mishra Says Six lakh complaints of cybercrime were registered between August 30, 2019 and December 12, 2022 according to Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra. The minister said a financial amount of over Rs. 188 crore was saved from more than 1.11 lakh complaints received by the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System that was established in 2019.

Amazon Prime Gaming Now Live in India With Free PC Games, In-Game Content for Prime Members Amazon Prime Gaming has been launched in India. The subscription service offers access to multiple free PC games and in-game content to Amazon Prime members every month. The company is offering free games like The Amazing American Circus, Doors: Paradox and more via Amazon Prime Gaming.

Google for India 2022: Bilingual Search Results Announced, Project Relate to Cover Over 100 Indian Languages Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Monday announced that the company was extending its multimodal AI model to cover 100+ Indian languages, along with bilingual search results pages powered by machine learning. The company also announced other features such as access for Digilocker documents on the Files by Google app, and the rollout of YouTube Courses in India to enable new...

Fortnite Maker Epic Games Hit With $520 Million Penalty Over Alleged Violation of Children's Privacy Epic Games, creator of the popular battle royale game Fortnite, will pay a record $520 million penalty to settle accusations of violating children's privacy and tricking users into making purchases, according to the US Federal Trade Commission. The Fortnite maker said it had eliminated pay-to-win and pay-to-progress mechanics, along with random loot boxes on 2019, and...

Airtel Announces Rollout of 5G Network Services in Shimla: All Details Airtel on Monday announced the rollout of 5G services in Shimla, as part of the company's efforts to bring 5G services to the city. The telecom operator's customers with 5G-enabled smartphones in the city will get access to the company's next generation network in a phased manner, Airtel said on Monday. The rollout of 5G services in Shimla comes days after Airtel anno...

The Archies Movie by Zoya Akhtar Has Wrapped Up Filming, Netflix Confirms Netflix’s The Archies, the upcoming musical drama from director Zoya Akhtar (Gully Boy), has wrapped up filming. Set in the 1960s, the Indian adaptation follows the iconic comic book characters at the fictional hill station town of Riverdale, as they explore “youth, rebellion, friendships, first loves,” and more. Akhtar cleared in an earlier interview that The A...

Avatar: The Way of Water Box Office Soars to $435 Million in Its Opening Weekend Avatar: The Way of Water has collected an impressive $435 million (about Rs. 3,598 crore) at the global box office in its opening weekend. The hotly-anticipated sequel from James Cameron earned roughly $301 million (about Rs. 2,490 crore) from markets outside the US, including China. Avatar 2 had a reported budget of $400 million (about Rs. 3,310 crore), and its perfo...

Twitter Backtracks on Policy to Remove Accounts Linking to Rival Social Media Services Twitter on Monday backtracked from its new policy to ban accounts that linked to other social media platforms, such as Instagram, Mastodon, and Facebook, after some notable accounts were suspended under the new policy, including tech investor Paul Graham. The company's support handle has deleted its tweets announcing the new policy, which has also been taken down from...

Oppenheimer Trailer: Cillian Murphy Muses on the Destructive Power of the First Atomic Bomb Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer just got a full-length trailer, showcasing a tense Cillian Murphy murmuring about the trials and tribulations of creating the first atomic bomb. In it, he plays the titular theoretical physicist Robert J. Oppenheimer, leading the development at the Manhattan Project, set during World War II. The film also stars Robert Downey Jr., Matt...

Elon Musk Restores Journalists' Suspended Accounts After Twitter Poll, But Concerns Remain Elon Musk has restored the Twitter accounts of several journalists who were suspended from the microblogging platform for a day, after they published public data about the private jet of the company's CEO. A Twitter poll that Elon Musk conducted had showed that a majority of the respondents wanted the accounts restored immediately. Musk had accused the journalists of ...

K.G.F: Chapter 2 Is the Highest-Selling, Most-Watched Movie in 2022, According to BookMyShow K.G.F: Chapter 2 was among the highest-sold and most-watched films this year, as per BookMyShow’s year-ender report. The Prashanth Neel-directed sequel surpassed Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’s five-year-long record, to emerge as the best-selling film on the platform, with a whopping 17.7 million tickets sold. On its April 14 theatrical release day, K.G.F: Chapter 2...

Can Sending Fewer Emails or Emptying Your Inbox Really Help Fight Climate Change? Reducing the number of emails that are sent and deleting them is claimed to reduce an individual's carbon footprint, an idea that has also been propagated in various news stories. However, quantifying the carbon footprint of sending emails, or any other digital service, is not an easy task. Here's everything you need to know about whether sending fewer emails or empty...

Hogwarts Legacy For PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Delayed: All You Need to Know Hogwarts Legacy, the upcoming open-world Harry Potter RPG to be published by Warner Bros. Games and developed by Avalanche Software, has seemed to hit another delay in release, but only for certain platforms. The game will only make its way to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles by April 4, 2023, while the Nintendo Switch version of the game will arrive by July 25, 20...

Spotify Rolls Out Support for Redesigned Media Player on Android 13 Lock Screen, Notification Area Spotify has rolled out support for Android 13's redesigned media player through a stable channel update on the Google Play Store. The newly designed media player sports a taller frame design with a rectangular album art preview cut out rather than the square cut-out seen on the Android 12 version. Meanwhile, other icon redesigns and re-positionings have been made to m...

Microsoft Activision Deal: Firm Offered to Agree to FTC Consent Decree on Call of Duty Games for Rivals Microsoft President Brad Smith on Tuesday revealed that the US firm, which is seeking approval for its takeover of Activision Blizzard that was announced earlier this year, offered to agree to a consent decree with the US FTC to provide its Call of Duty games to Sony and other rivals, like Nintendo. The company's acquisition deal is also facing scrutiny outside the US...

Redmi Note 12 Pro 4G Spotted on NBTC Certification Site, May Debut as Redmi Note 11 Pro (2023) in Other Regions Redmi Note 12 Pro 4G is reportedly in the works. Ahead of the official confirmation, the handset has been spotted on Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) website with model number 2209116AG. The listing indicates that Redmi will likely launch the Redmi Note 12 Pro 4G in markets in different monikers.

Elon Musk Sells Tesla Stock Worth $3.85 Billion, US SEC Filing Shows Elon Musk has sold Tesla shares worth $3.58 billion, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Twitter's new CEO has sold nearly $23 billion worth of Tesla stock since April, with much of the money likely going to help fund his $44 billion acquisition of the microblogging platform.

TikTok Algorithms Promote Videos About Self-Harm, Eating Disorders: Report TikTok algorithms boost posts related to self-harm and eating disorders, which are shown to vulnerable teenagers, a new report claims. Researchers created TikTok accounts for fictional teen personas in the US, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, and liked videos about self-harm and eating disorders and saw that the algorithm recommended similar content within minute...

Mission Majnu Trailer: Sidharth Malhotra Netflix Movie to Unveil Teaser on December 16 Sidharth Malhotra-led Mission Majnu is getting a teaser tomorrow, Netflix has confirmed. Directed by debutant Shantanu Bagchi, the film explores a thrilling covert mission, “which transformed the politics between India and its neighbouring nation in the 1970s.” It also stars Rashmika Mandanna, Kumud Mishra, Parmeet Sethi, Sharib Hashmi, Mir Sarwar, and Zakir Hussa...

Vivo S16, Vivo S16e Specifications Tipped Ahead of Launch; Vivo S16 Could be Powered by Snapdragon 870 SoC Specifications for the upcoming Vivo S16 and Vivo S16e have been tipped ahead of their December 22 launch. The two handsets are expected to run on Snapdragon 870 SoC and Exynos 1080, respectively. Both variants will also feature a 4,600mAh battery, with support for 66W fast charging.

Far Cry, Yakuza Lead PlayStation Plus Extra, Deluxe Games for December 2022 Sony has revealed the list of games coming to the PlayStation Plus Extra and Deluxe catalogue in December. Key highlights include Far Cry 6, Far Cry Primal, Far Cry New Dawn, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. The games will be available on PS Plus’s higher-tier plans, starting December 20. WWE 2K22 is also part of the list, though it will be ava...

Apple, Microsoft Accused of Not Doing Enough to Stop Child Exploitation by Australian Regulator Australia's e-Safety Commissioner, the country's regulator set up to protect Internet users, has accused Microsoft and Apple of not doing enough to protect children from online abuse. In a report, the regulator said that Apple and Microsoft did not proactively screen for child abuse material on iCloud and OneDrive, and did not use any technology to detect live-streami...

Hogwarts Legacy For PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Delayed: All You Need to Know Hogwarts Legacy, the upcoming open-world Harry Potter RPG to be published by Warner Bros. Games and developed by Avalanche Software, has seemed to hit another delay in release, but only for certain platforms. The game will only make its way to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles by April 4, 2023, while the Nintendo Switch version of the game will arrive by July 25, 20...

Qualcomm Unveils Wi-Fi 7 Platform With Multi-Link Mesh Networking: All You Need To Know Qualcomm unveiled its Wi-Fi 7 Immersive Home Platform, specifically designed and optimised to meet home mesh networking needs. The platform includes two new processors that utilise 5GHz and 6GHz frequency bands while supporting 240MHz and 320MHz channels, respectively. The company claims that its Multi-Link Mesh feature could reduce real-time latency by 75 percent in ...

Elon Musk is Changing What You See on Your Twitter Feed: All You Need to Know Elon Musk has brought several changes to Twitter, weeks after he took over the microblogging platform. The company's new CEO has dissolved the Trust and Safety Council, which was made up of dozens of independent civil, human rights and other organisations. He has also given selected journalists access to some of the company's internal communications.

China's SMIC Ramps Up Production of Decade-Old 28nm Chips, US Lawmakers Raise Concerns China's SMIC, the country's largest chipmaker is ramping up its production of decade-old 28nm chips, as US lawmakers raise concerns that the country could flood the market with chips still widely used in automotive, weapons and Internet of things (IoT) devices.

Apple Said to Prepare to Allow Third-Party App Stores on iPhone, iPad to Comply With EU Law Apple is said to be working on allowing third party app stores on its iPhone and iPad models to comply with EU laws. The company's project is said to be developed for the European Union (EU), but could be enabled in other regions if similar legislation is passed on other countries.

Avatar: The Way of Water Release Date, Budget, Cast, Advance Booking, Trailer, and More Avatar: The Way of Water releases Friday, December 16, in theatres worldwide. In India, James Cameron’s much-anticipated sequel will be out in English, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu. Avatar 2 is set 15 years after the original 2009 film and sees Jake Sully leading his family against a new group of threats as the “sky people” return to harvest reso...

Apple Expands Emergency SOS via Satellite Feature to iPhone 14 Users in France, Germany, Ireland, UK Apple's Emergency SOS via satellite service feature that allows users to send an SOS even when they are disconnected from the Internet is now available in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Ireland, the company announced on Tuesday.

Spotify Rolls Out Rewards Program in India, Offers Premium Mini Subscription for as Low as Rs. 2 Spotify has launched a new Rewards Program in India. The new initiative is available only for Premium Mini subscribers and rewards users for various challenges. Spotify’s product manager Szymon Kopeć announced the feature on Twitter. The rollout started with India before gradually reaching other Asian countries.

Uber Probing Hack of Third-Party Vendor After Employee Data, Source Code Leaked Uber on Monday said it was probing the data breach of a third-party vendor after it was reported that the data of 77,000 employees was leaked along with source code for the Uber and Uber Eats mobile device management platforms. The company's vendor, Teqtivity, said it doesn’t collect or store sensitive information such as bank account details or government identific...

Strange World Disney+ Hotstar Release Date Set for December 23 Strange World will release on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar on December 23. This marks a new low for the Disney animated film, which comes to streaming merely 29 days after its theatrical release on November 25. Despite getting favourable reviews, Strange World performed poorly at the global box office, collecting $53.5 million (about Rs. 442 crore), against a reported ...

Elon Musk Relaunches Review-Backed Twitter Blue Verified Subscription Service After Fake Account Fiasco Elon Musk on Monday relaunched Twitter Blue, the company's subscription service that gives users a blue verification check mark. The relaunch of the service comes weeks after the first attempt to introduce the service saw several fake accounts impersonate celebrities and brands on the platform. Twitter will now verify users' identities before a blue check mark is enab...

Governments, Internet Forums Lagging Behind in Regulating Big Tech Firms, MoS IT Says Governments and Internet forums have lagged behind in setting up rules for Big Tech, according to Minister of State for Electronics and IT Raneev Chandrasekhar. The minister stated that safety and trust are core issues for the government to address because 1.2 billion Indians are going to use the Internet, adding that the government is slowly and systematically buildi...

Dutch Greenhouse Growing Tulips Using Solar Powered Bitcoin Mining to Cut Down on Gas Prices A greenhouse near Amsterdam is using solar energy to mine Bitcoin, while using the heat generated from the miners to grow tulips. The system helps cut the reliance on gas, as prices increased after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The greenhouse is also selling tulips online for bitcoin via a business called Bitcoinbloem.

Did a Robot Write This? We Need Watermarks to Spot AI ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence and machine learning powered text-generation system from OpenAI can effortlessly write essays, screenplays and limericks within seconds. However, the better the artificial intelligence gets, the harder it will be to distinguish between human and machine-made text, which means that OpenAI needs to work on labelling the work of its m...

China's Rules on 'Deepfakes' to Come Into Force From January 10, Cyberspace Regulator Says The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) on Sunday said that its new rules for content providers that alter facial and voice data will take effect from January 10. The regulations are designed to protect people from being impersonated by deepfakes without their consent, according to the regulator.

Twitter Blue to Relaunch With 1080p Video Uploads, Blue Checkmark; Apple Users to Pay $11 Twitter Blue will be relaunched on December 12, the company announced on Saturday. The company's subscription service will let users edit tweets, upload 1080p video, while showing a blue checkmark against their name. However, accounts will be verified manually, according to the company, and Apple users will pay $11 (roughly Rs. 900) which is higher than the $8 (roughl...

The Game Awards 2022 India Time, How to Watch, Nominees, and More The Game Awards 2022 date and time is December 8 at 4:30pm PT (6am IST on December 9). Hosted by Geoff Keighley, the event will be available to stream for free on YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook Live, and more. A total of 108 titles, individuals, and teams will compete across 31 categories to come out on top.

Disney+ Hotstar December 2022: Govinda Naam Mera, Amsterdam, The Banshees of Inisherin, and More Freddy, Govinda Naam Mera, Christian Bale-led Amsterdam, The Banshees of Inisherin with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, Mohanlal-led Monster, Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again, National Treasure: Edge of History, and Choi Min-sik’s Big Bet — these are the biggest films, TV shows, web series, and originals gracing Disney+ Hotstar in December 2022.

Foxconn Ends Months-Long 'Closed Loop' at Largest iPhone Assembly Plant in China Foxconn has ended a month's long "closed loop" at its biggest iPhone assembly plant in central China. The decision of the Taiwanese tech firm comes after the country loosened its stringent COVID-19 regulations. The company's facility in central Zhengzhou was in effective lockdown for 56 days after cases were detected in October.

Elon Musk Faces Multiple Lawsuits From Ex-Twitter Workers Over Terms of Mass Layoffs Elon Musk is facing multiple lawsuits from former Twitter workers who have alleged that the social media company is not providing the severance and compensation promised to them prior to Musk's takeover. The city of San Francisco has received a complaint that Elon Musk has illegally converted office space into bedrooms so that workers can sleep on site.

Twitter Set to Introduce New Controls for Ad Placements to Lure Advertisers Back After Elon Musk Takeover Twitter is set to roll out new controls for companies to control where their ads appear on Twitter, according to an email sent to advertisers. The company earns 90 percent of its revenue through advertising, and new CEO Elon Musk has blamed civil rights organisations that have pressured brands to pause their Twitter ads for a "massive drop in revenue".

The Game Awards 2022 India Time, How to Watch, Nominees, and More The Game Awards 2022 date and time is December 8 at 4:30pm PT (6am IST on December 9). Hosted by Geoff Keighley, the event will be available to stream for free on YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook Live, and more. A total of 108 titles, individuals, and teams will compete across 31 categories to come out on top.

China-Based APT41 Hacker Group Stole $20 Million Worth of US COVID-19 Relief Funds: Report Chinese hackers stole at least $20 million (roughly Rs. 165 crore) worth of COVID-19 relief money according to a report. The funds that were stolen were taken by a group linked to the Chinese government, a Chengdu-based collective known as APT41.

Foxconn Reports Fall in Sales After Disruption Over Protests at China iPhone Plant Foxconn said that its sales for November were down 11.4 percent from the year before, as the company's shipments were affected by a COVID-19 outbreak at the firm's biggest China plant. The company's iPhone plant in Zhengzhou was rocked by violent protests last month, leading to an exodus of workers from the factory.

Google Must Take Down 'Manifestly Inaccurate' Search Results if Proven by Users, EU Top Court Says Google will have to remove data from online search results once users are able to prove that the information is inaccurate, according to a ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The judges said such proof would not need to come from a judicial decision against the publisher of a website, while users would only have to provide evidence that could ...

Biden Administration Tells US Supreme Court Section 230 of Communications Decency Act Has Limits The Biden administration on Wednesday argued that Section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act that protects social media firms from liability has limits. The legislation protects firms like Google and Meta, and states that these firms can't be treated as the publisher or speaker of information posted by users.

PlayStation to Host a Free Online Multiplayer Weekend From December 10 to 11 PlayStation is holding a free online multiplayer weekend, the company confirmed in a tweet. From December 10 to December 11, players will be able to access online multiplayer modes on PS4 and PS5 games, without having to pay for a PS Plus subscription. The lowest tier (Essential) PS Plus subscription costs Rs. 499, and offers free multiplayer access in addition to a m...

Central Bank Digital Currency Transactions to Remain Anonymous 'To a Certain Degree': RBI Central bank digital currencies (CBDC) transactions would remain anonymous to a certain degree, Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar said on Wednesday. The IT department allows cash transactions up to a certain limit to be carried out without government ID proof, but the RBI is yet to clarified the degree to which CBDC transactions will be anonymous.

Uber Fined AUD 21 Million in Australia Over Misleading Advertisements About Fares, Cancellation Fees Uber was fined AUD 21 million (roughly Rs. 115 crore) by an Australian court on Wednesday, for misleading customers over fares, and threatening cancellation fees that it never charged users. Uber apologised to Australian users on its website, and said it had made changes to its platform based on concerns that were raised with the ride-hailing firm.

ChatGPT Could Soon Be the Better Way to Google ChatGPT, the popular new chatbot from OpenAI that allows users on the Internet to generate poems, screenplays, essay answers, marked the first time that OpenAI brought its powerful GPT3 language-generating system to the general public. Here's how ChatGPT could soon be a better way for users to search for information on the Internet.

Airtel World Pass International Roaming Plans for Prepaid and Postpaid Users Launched Airtel has announced new ‘World Pass’ plans for prepaid and postpaid users that works seamlessly across 184 countries. The plans start at a price of Rs. 649 and offers unlimited data (500MB high speed) with 100-minute calling (local/India) for both postpaid and prepaid options for a validity of one day.

iPod Co-Creator Tony Fadell Launches Ledger Stax Offline Cryptocurrency Wallet: All You Need to Know Tony Fadell, the co-creator of the iPod, has launched the Ledger Stax, a hardware wallet used to store cryptocurrency offline. The Ledger Stax is a credit-card sized device featuring a curved spine and e-ink display, and is priced at $279 (roughly Rs. 23,000).

Apple Music Sing Karaoke Mode With Real-Time Lyrics, Duet View Announced: All Details Apple Music Sing, a new karaoke mode for Apple's music streaming service, was announced by the company on Tuesday. Users can access real-time lyrics that are synced to the rhythm of the vocals and Apple will offer users over 50 dedicated "companion playlists" with karaoke-ready songs to pick from. The feature will be available to all users globally, on compatible devi...

ChatGPT Temporarily Banned on Stack Overflow as Chatbot Was Giving Incorrect Answers Stack Overflow, the coding and programming question-and-answer site has temporarily banned AI-powered ChatGPT chatbot. The AI has been posting wrong answers and it could be “substantially harmful” to the site and its users. ChatGPT produces a high rate of incorrect answers that seem to be good and correct, but on close examination, they appear incorrect.

Mickey 17: Bong Joon-Ho and Robert Pattinson Sci-Fi Movie Gets March 2024 Release Date Mickey 17, the upcoming collaboration between Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho and actor Robert Pattinson, just got a release date. Warner Bros. unveiled a first-look teaser with a theatrical release date of March 29, 2024. Based on the Edward Ashton novel, Mickey 7, the film follows an expendable clone, who refuses to let the new iteration replace him. Mickey 17 a...

Amazon Prime Gaming Service Launch Teased in India, Will Offer Free PC Games Every Month to Subscribers The Amazon India website recently teased the launch of Prime Gaming in the country, promising free monthly PC games and more. The service, which comes bundled with a Prime membership, is currently unsupported in India and provides mobile gaming offers only, in addition to other Prime benefits.

Yashoda Starring Samantha Ruth Prabhu to Stream December 9 on Amazon Prime Video Samantha Ruth Prabhu-led Yashoda is headed to Amazon Prime Video on December 9. The Telugu-language survival thriller follows the eponymous woman, who joins a surrogate program, out of desperation, to find her missing sister. Things go awry when some major revelations about the facility come to light. Yashoda will be available to stream in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and M...

Apple Faces Antitrust Complaints in Brazil, Mexico Over 'Anti-Competitive Practices' Apple faces antitrust complaints from MercadoLibre in Brazil and Mexico. The e-commerce giant has accused Apple of indulging in anti-competitive practices and said the iPhone maker has abused its monopoly in the distribution of digital goods and in-app purchases.

Facebook Dating Will Allow Users to Verify Their Age Using AI Face Scanning, Meta Says Meta has announced that it was prompting users on Facebook Dating to verify that they're over 18 if the platform suspects a user is underage. According to the US social media giant, it has partnered with a firm called Yoti, which uses facial cues to determine a user's age without identifying them.

Samsung’s Multi-Fingerprint Sensor Will Be 2.5 Billion Times More Secure, May Release by 2025: ISORG CEO Samsung’s fingerprint ID could become 2.5 billion times more secure with multi-fingerprint scanning technology. The tech giant has revealed plans of an All-in-One OLED 2.0 panel that would turn the phone’s entire display into one giant sensor capable of scanning multiple fingerprints at the same time.

Microsoft Offers Sony 10-Year Contract for Upcoming Call of Duty Titles on PlayStation: Report Microsoft has reportedly offered Sony a 10-year contract for upcoming Call of Duty releases on PlayStation. The company is facing a full-scale EU probe into its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and previously offered a 3-year deal to Sony after the current agreement expires, which the latter termed inadequate.

WhatsApp Beta Update Adds ‘Picture-in-Picture' Support During Video Calls for iOS Testers: Report WhatsApp has rolled out a ‘picture-in-picture' feature during video calls as part of its new beta update 22.24.0.79 on iOS. The feature is currently only available on iOS 16.1 to select beta testers and is expected to reach more users in the coming days. Those who have received the update can try multitasking during an ongoing video call on the messaging app.

Gen V Trailer: The Boys Spin-Off Series Promises Bloody College Hallways Amazon Prime Video dropped a first-look trailer for Gen V, a college spin-off series based on The Boys. Set at Godolkin University, the series follows a group of students, including Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair), who partake in a Hunger Games-like contest to come out on top. The series brings a few returning actors including A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), Ashley Barrett (Co...

Gamers Who Spend Money on 'Loot Boxes' Twice as Likely to Gamble, Research Shows Gamers who pay for "loot boxes" in games are twice as inclined to bet, according to research findings based on 1,600 adults in Canada published in the peer-reviewed journal Addiction Research & Theory. The findings call into question the hypothesis that psychological factors cause the link between gambling and loot boxes, according to the researchers.

The Last of Us Trailer: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey Journey Into the Post-Apocalyptic, Hostile West HBO has dropped a trailer for The Last of Us TV series, ahead of its debut in January. A bit chattier than the previous reveals, this new trailer focuses on hardened survivor Joel (Pedro Pascal) and teenage girl Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) journey to the hostile west coast. We get glimpses at their original voice actors Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson’s characters, along...

Government Said to Plan Regulation of All Real-Money Online Games, to Include Games of Skill and Chance The government is said to be planning to regulate all real-money games, including both games of skill and games of chance. The Prime Minister's Office is said to have overruled a proposal that would only allow the regulation of games of skill.

Apple, Amazon Resume Advertising on Twitter After Elon Musk Takeover: Reports Amazon and Apple have resumed advertising on Twitter, according to reports. The social media firm acquired by Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent emails to advertising agencies, offering what it called the "biggest advertiser incentive ever on Twitter", allowing US advertisers to have their ad spending matched with a "100 percent value add," up to a $1 million (roughly Rs. 8 cro...

Google CEO Sundar Pichai Pays Tribute to Indian Roots on Being Honoured With Padma Bhushan Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said, “India is a part of me”, as he received the prestigious Padma Bhushan award. The tech mogul also noted that he is looking forward to future partnerships between India and Google.

Digital Personal Data Protection Bill Likely to Be Introduced in Budget 2023 Session The Digital Data Protection Bill, which the Central government is working on, is likely to be introduced in the upcoming Budget Session of 2023-24. The bill is currently in its draft stage and has been placed in the public domain for consultation. The bill is based on the following principles around the Data Economy.

Xbox Game Pass December 2022: Lego Star Wars The Skywalker Saga, High on Life, and More Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is coming to Xbox Game Pass in December, alongside Justin Roiland’s High on Life, which is a day-one release. Metal: Hellsinger is finally headed to Xbox One, while the stealth-horror sequel Hello Neighbor 2 drops on PC, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Trailer Sees Optimus Prime Teaming Up With the Animalistic Optimus Primal Paramount Pictures has dropped a trailer for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which sees the Autobots teaming up with the animalistic Maximals. Set in the ‘90s, the seventh film in the franchise takes you on a globe-trotting adventure that introduces characters from the Beast Wars storyline, who instead of turning into cars, take the form of animals. Steven Caple J...

WhatsApp Begins Beta Testing Android Tablet Support, iOS Testers Get 'Search by Date' Feature WhatsApp has begun testing support for Android tablets on its latest beta version. Until now, users couldn't link their primary WhatsApp account with the messaging app on Android tablets and multi-platform support was limited to computers and iPads. A recent update, now out for beta testers, will let select users access their existing account on an Android tablet.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Trailer Reveals Will Poulter’s Adam Warlock, Rocket Raccoon Backstory, More Marvel studios dropped the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, during the CCXP. Still reeling from the Blip event, our intergalactic outlaws are now headed to a new space adventure, as they face threats from Chukwudi Iwuji's The High Evolutionary and Will Poulter as Adam Warlock. The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 trailer also teases an origin story for Rocket...

Elon Musk Suspends Kanye West's Twitter Account Again; West Drops Plan to Acquire Parler Elon Musk said on Friday that Twitter had suspended rapper Kanye West's account for the second time, after he posted a picture of a swastika merged with the Star of David. “I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended,” Musk tweeted on Friday morning.

Twitter Users May Witness Dip in Followers as Elon Musk Has New Plans for Spams Twitter's new boss Elon Musk is working on "purging a lot" of spam/scam accounts. On Thursday, Musk took to his Twitter account and shared the particular update with everyone. Elon Musk is also planning to up Twitter's character limit from 280 to 1000.

Medibank Data Breach: Hackers Upload More Customer Data, Say 'Case Closed' on World Cybersecurity Day Medibank data involving several customers was released by hackers on Thursday. The hackers claimed that they had added a "full folder" of the data, and said "case closed". The insurer, which has refused to pay a ransom to the hackers, said on Thursday that there were currently no signs that banking data had been stolen.

TSMC Plans Advanced 4nm Chip Production at Arizona Plant on Apple Demand: Report TSMC will offer advanced 4nm chips at its upcoming plant in the US that will open in 2024, according to a report. The chip manufacturer was set to make 20,000 wafers per month at the upcoming Arizona facility, but reportedly plans to increase production from the original plans.

Mark Zuckerberg Calls Apple's App Store Moderation Rules a 'Conflict of Interest' Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook parent Meta, on Wednesday said that Apple's App Store was a conflict of interest, joining Twitter's new CEO Elon Musk in his criticism of the platform. The social networking giant's chief executive said the Cupertino company's content moderation rules for apps were a “conflict of interest” since they are often pointed at rivals...