Education on technology

Over 40 notable Indian video game and e-sport companies have joined together to request the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to create a clear regulatory distinction between video games and real money gaming apps. The group seeks a formal meeting with the ministry to suggest the laying out of rules, and share their opinions and insights to help better understand the medium before it adversely affects the Indian video games industry as a whole. A representation letter, signed by key figures from the industry, has been sent to the Indian government, which currently groups video games (played solely for entertainment) and online games played for stakes (real-money wagering) under the same regulatory purview. The representation was organised by Chennai-based Outlier Games, which recently developed the space survival indie title This Means Warp. “As India's gamers grow in numbers and evolve in terms of preference, it's crucial that the rules evolve as well...

China has acquired minority stakes with special rights in two domestic units of tech giant Alibaba Group Holding Limited, business registration records showed, as Beijing extends a campaign to strengthen control over online content. Beijing has been taking 'golden shares' in private online media and content companies for more than five years, and in recent years expanding such arrangements to companies with vast troves of data. The stakes taken over the last four months in the Alibaba units are the first ones to come to light for the e-commerce firm. Alibaba has been one of the most prominent targets of China's two-year-long regulatory crackdown on tech giants. These golden shares, typically equal to about 1 percent of a firm, are bought by government-backed funds or companies which gain board representation and/or veto rights for key business decisions. Public business registration records showed that in September last year an investment vehicle of state-owned Zhejian...

Microsoft on Monday said it is widening access to hugely popular software from OpenAI, a startup it is backing whose futuristic ChatGPT chatbot has captivated Silicon Valley. Microsoft said the startup's tech, which it so far has previewed to its cloud-computing customers in a programme it called the Azure OpenAI Service, was now generally available, a distinction that's expected to bring a flood of new usage. The news comes as Microsoft has looked at adding to the $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,200 crore) stake in OpenAI it announced in 2019, two people familiar with the matter previously told Reuters. The news site Semafor reported earlier this month that Microsoft might invest $10 billion (roughly Rs. 81,807 crore); Microsoft declined to comment on any potential deal. Public interest in OpenAI surged following its November release of ChatGPT , a text-based chatbot that can draft prose, poetry or even computer code on command. ChatGPT is powered by generative artificial intell...

The Supreme Court on Monday asked tech giant Google whether it will put in place the same regime in India as it has in Europe with respect to the pre-installed apps in Android-based mobile phones. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala posted the matter for hearing on January 18. The inquiry of the Supreme Court came after Additional Solicitor General of India N Venkataraman, appearing for CCI , told the Supreme Court that Google was taking different standards in Europe and India and the search engine company had complied with a similar order passed by European Commission. ASG told the bench, "We are going to show some shocking data. Their grievance that they are unable to comply with the order within 90 days doesn't stand because they're fully complying with the order passed in 2016 in the European Union. Euro 4 billion fully paid by them. All these directions have been totally complied within Europe for the past five years. ...

The 2023 CES exhibition has come to an end. After two years of cancellations and downsizing thanks to the pandemic, CES was almost normal this year, barring a few absent companies and downsized exhibits. Thankfully, Gadgets 360 was on site in Las Vegas and we were able to see plenty of brand new tech as well as concepts and demonstrations of ideas that give us a peek into the future. Of course there were plenty of TVs, laptops and wearables, but in this article, we're bringing you some of the more experimental tech, and the exhibits with stories behind them. Do leave us a comment and tell us which of these you'd like to own this year. LG Styler ShoeCase and ShoeCare LG held one of the first press conferences of CES 2023 and it was jam packed with products, not all of which were aimed at the mass market or could even be considered practical. The LG Styler ShoeCase is a whimsical niche offering aimed at sneakerheads who want to store, clean, and show off their collection. Eac...