Education on technology

Apple will reportedly feature M3 Pro and ‌M3‌ Max chips built on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC) 3-nanometer process in its 2024 MacBook Pro lineup. According to an Apple analyst, MacBook Pro models powered by the M3 Pro and M3 Max chips will be mass-produced during the first half of 2024. In late December, the Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer started mass production of next-generation 3-nanometer chips. When compared to existing chips produced on a 5-nanometer process, using 3nm technology should provide improved performance and power efficiency. In a series of tweets , TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the new MacBook Pro models will use M3 Pro or M3 Max processors made by 3nm chips, likely TSMC's N3P or N3S, and are expected to go into production in the first half of 2024. “I expect the next new MacBook Pro models, which will adopt M3 Pro/M3 Max processors made by 3nm (likely TSMC's N3P or N3S), will go to mass production in 1H24,” t...

Microsoft is set to lay off thousands of employees today. Citing Sky News, Reuters reported that thousands of roles would be cut, with the software giant looking to cut around 5 percent of its workforce or about 11,000 roles. Thousands of job cuts are expected in human resources and engineering divisions on Wednesday. The layoffs would be the latest in the US technology sector, where companies including Amazon  and Meta  have announced retrenchment exercises in response to slowing demand and a worsening global economic outlook. The company had 221,000 full-time employees, including 122,000 in the US and 99,000 internationally, as of June 30, according to filings. Microsoft is under pressure to maintain growth rates at its cloud unit Azure , after several quarters of the downturn in the personal computer market hurt Windows and devices sales, reported Reuters. It had said in July last year that a small number of roles had been eliminated. In October, news site Axios repor...

Samsung has established a monopoly over the foldable smartphone market in India over the years. There has been little to no competition from companies like Motorola, Vivo, and Oppo that have released foldable handsets in other parts of the globe. However, all this might change in 2023 with the improvements in foldable display technology and increasing demand for foldables. An increase in competition should benefit consumers with a reduction in the prices of foldable smartphones. Rumour has it that Google might also be throwing its hat in the ring with the launch of a foldable Pixel smartphone in the near future. On this week's episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast, host Akhil Arora — in his final episode as host — discusses the possible future of the foldable smartphone segment in India with deputy editor Roydon Cerejo and senior reviewer Sheldon Pinto . Samsung has enjoyed a monopoly over the foldable smartphone market in India. However, things could change in 2023 and ...

Industry experts from the World Economic Forum (WEF) have bet big on the metaverse sector. An important element of the Web3, metaverse tech is expected to see a widescale industrial adoption before individual consumers begin to come onboard the virtual universe ecosystem. More companies and industrial players are expected to adopt the metaverse tech in order to give a fresh, new-age twist to their advertising, task monitoring, and web-designing methods. Built on blockchain networks, metaverse allows people to exist as avatars in parallel digital realities. Two parts of the metaverse tech — Digital Twinning and Extended Reality (XR) — have been named by the WEF as the elements with the most promise to finetune the sector. While Digital Twinning revolves around collecting data and digitising the physical environment around us, XR is an umbrella term that encapsulates Augmented Reality (AR) , Mixed Reality (MR) , and Virtual Reality (VR) . “We are witnessing the rapid emergence of a m...

Samsung introduced the new ISOCELL HP2 200-megapixel image sensor for smartphones on Tuesday. This image sensor comes with Tetra pixel binning technology that is said to simulate "different pixel sizes to accommodate varying lighting levels." It utilises the same 1/1.3-inch optical format that has been commonly used in the 108-megapixel cameras on previous flagship smartphones. It is most likely that the new ISOCELL HP2 sensor could debut with the upcoming Galaxy S23 Ultra. The South Korean tech giant is set to host Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event on February 1 where it is expected to unveil the Galaxy S23 series. Samsung announced that the new ISOCELL HP2 image sensor comes with improved pixel technology. It utilises Samsung's advanced Tetra pixel binning technology to simulate different pixel sizes according to different lighting levels. Samsung claims that its 1/1.3-inch optical format will allow the latest high-end smartphones to offer high-resolution cameras without an...

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...