Education on technology

Russia made its final preparations on Thursday for the launch of its first lunar landing spacecraft in 47 years as it races to be the first power to make a soft landing on the south pole of the moon which may hold significant deposits of water ice. For centuries, astronomers have wondered about water on the moon, which is 100 times drier than the Sahara. NASA maps in 2018 showed water ice in the shadowed parts of the moon and in 2020 NASA confirmed water exists on the sunlight areas. A Soyuz 2.1v rocket carrying the Luna-25 craft will blast off from the Vostochny cosmodrome, 3,450 miles (5,550 km) east of Moscow, on Friday at 02:11 Moscow time (04:41am IST) and is due to touch down on the moon on August 23, Russia's space agency said. The Russian lunar mission , the first since 1976, is racing against India which sent up its Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander last month and more broadly with the United States and China which both have advanced lunar exploration programmes.  "Th...

Reserve Bank of India on Thursday announced to increase the transaction payment limit from Rs. 200 to Rs. 500 for UPI Lite in offline mode. UPI Lite was first introduced in September 2022, allowing users to make transactions for a small amount limit in offline mode. Since then, the feature has been adopted by PhonePe, Paytm, and Google Pay as well. Meanwhile, a few other features including conversational payments and NFC support on UPI have also been proposed to make transactions more seamless. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das in a press conference today announced a couple of major changes coming to offline UPI payments and more. UPI Lite transactions limit has been proposed to be increased from Rs. 200 to Rs. 500 in offline mode. However, the overall wallet limit is retained at Rs. 2,000 only. The functionality was announced in September 2022, and it currently allows users to make offline payments of up to Rs. 200 only. Additionally, RBI also proposed to enable “Conversational Paymen...

Microsoft and blockchain developer Aptos Labs have come together to use their expertise in bridging the gap between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the blockchain technology. The buzz around combining Web3 and AI seems to be expanding all over the global tech industry. Nascent in existence, Web3 firms are looking to rely on comparatively more developed AI tech. The ambition is to tailor blockchain solutions related to banking, agriculture, health, and education. Both the firms will also work together to explore innovative solutions. Aptos, under this partnership, will utilise Microsoft's AI infrastructure to curate industry solutions with the goodness of both AI and blockchain. As for the software giant, this partnership could be one of its initial steps into deeper Web3 exploration. “By fusing Aptos Labs' technology with the Microsoft Azure Open AI Service capabilities, we aim to democratise the use of blockchain for innovators to develop new decentralised applications usin...

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday denied Epic Games' stringent App Store payment rules that prevent developers from introducing alternate payment methods for in-app purchases. The court declined to let a federal judge's injunction take effect that could force the iPhone maker to change payment practices in its lucrative App Store . The court's ruling lets Apple keep its strict App Store payment rules in place for now. The decision comes as a setback for Epic Games, publishers of popular Battle Royale video game Fortnite , and Web3 app developers who await changes in Apple's App Store policies. Apple only processes purchases and in-app transactions for App Store-listed apps via Apple Pay , which not only restricts users to make these purchases in fiat currencies, but also levies a 30 percent commission fee on overall transactions. Apple's AppStore policies have time and again been called out for supressing Web3 players. Since the digital assets sector carries al...

Realme 11 5G and Realme 11X 5G India launch has been confirmed by the company, according to a landing page on the company's website. The handsets were recently launched in global markets and are the latest addition to its 11 number series. Unveiled by the Chinese smartphone maker in Taiwan last month, the Realme 11 5G is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 6100+ SoC and features a 108-megapixel rear camera. These specifications — as well as the handset's design — are slightly different from the Realme 11 5G that was previously launched in China. A landing page on the Realme India website has teased the launch of the Realme 11 5G and Realme 11X 5G in India. One of the handsets is shown in two different colour options and Realme has revealed the series will feature the company's "Glory Halo Design". The page currently states that the smartphones are coming soon, and does not specify a launch date for the Realme 11 5G series. > Achieving excellence with every desi...

ZTE has launched the new Blade A73 5G smartphone in Malaysia. The phone sports a 6.52-inch HD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate. The ZTE handset is powered by a Unisoc T760 SoC, paired with 4GB of RAM and 128GB inbuilt storage. The newly launched ZTE Blade A73 5G also supports memory fusion technology to offer additional RAM of up to 4GB. The phone ships with a dual rear camera setup headlined by a 13-megapixel camera and a 5-megapixel front camera. ZTE Blade A73 5G price, availability The ZTE Blade A73 5G is priced at MYR 749 (roughly Rs. 13,500) in Malaysia. The smartphone is being offered in only one colour option — Gray. It is available for sale on the Shopee  website. ZTE Blade A73 5G specifications, features The newly launched dual SIM-capable ZTE Blade A73 5G comes preloaded with Android 13 out-of-the-box. It sports a 6.52-inch HD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate, and a water drop notch housing a selfie camera. The handset is powered by an octa-core Unisoc T760 SoC, pa...