Education on technology

India's state minister for technology said on Sunday he will meet start-ups this week to assess the impact on them of Silicon Valley Bank's collapse, as concerns rise about the fallout for the Indian start-up sector. California banking regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) on Friday after a run on the lender, which had $209 billion (roughly Rs. 17 lakh crore) in assets at the end of 2022, with depositors pulling out as much as $42 billion (roughly Rs. 3.4 lakh crore) on a single day, rendering it insolvent. "Start-ups are an important part of the new India economy. I will meet with Indian Startups this week to understand impact on them and how the government can help during the crisis," Rajeev Chandrasekhar , the state minister for IT said on Twitter. India has one of the world's biggest start-up markets, with many clocking multi-billion-dollar valuations in recent years and getting the backing of foreign investors, who have made bold bets on digital a...

Apple's redesigned HomePod is likely to launch in the first half of 2024 coupled with a 7-inch touchscreen display, according to an analyst. The company launched the second-generation Apple HomePod earlier this year. Available with Siri, Apple's voice-based personal assistant, the smart speaker also features built-in sensors and an EQ microphone. The newest HomePod is powered by Apple's in-house S7 chipset. This latest smart speaker can also be used as an in-home intercom system. A newer version of the HomePod will likely have even more design and characteristics enhancements. According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Tianma will be the exclusive panel supplier for Apple's redesigned HomePod , which will feature a 7-inch panel, and is likely to be launched in the first half of 2024. Tianma may start receiving display orders for Apple iPads in the coming years, according to Kuo. Tianma Microelectronics is an electronic technology company that supplies displays to othe...

The government held its first public consultation meeting with various industry and policy stakeholders related to the proposed Digital India Act (DIA). The government intends to replace the IT Act 2000, which was created in the early days of the internet, with the newly proposed Digital India Act . Internet and information technology have empowered citizens but they have also created challenges in the form of user harm; security; women and child safety; organised information wars, radicalisation and circulation of hate speech; misinformation and fake news; unfair trade practices. The current Act according to a government presentation, has limitations such as a lack of comprehensive provisions on user rights, trust, and safety; limited recognition of new forms of cybercrimes; lack of regulatory approaches for harmful and illegal content; lack of adequate principles for data/privacy protection, among others. In his presentation made in Bengaluru, Union minister of state for informa...

At first glance it seems to be just a modern take on Johannes Vermeer's masterpiece "Girl with a Pearl Earring". But look more closely and things get a little strange. Firstly, there are two glowing earrings in the image hanging in the Mauritshuis museum in the Dutch city of The Hague. And aren't those freckles on her face actually... a slightly inhuman shade of red? That's because the work -- one of several fan recreations replacing 1665 original while it's on loan for a huge Vermeer show at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum -- was made using a rtificial intelligence (AI). Its presence has sparked a fierce debate, with questions over whether it belongs in the hallowed halls of the Mauritshuis -- and whether it should be classed as art at all. "It's controversial, so people are for it or against it," Mauritshuis press officer Boris de Munnick told AFP. "The people who selected this, they liked it, they knew that it was AI, but we liked the c...

iQoo Z7 5G will be launched in India on March 21, but ahead of its release, pricing and colour options of the phone have been tipped online. The upcoming iQoo 5G smartphone is said to come in two colour options and two RAM and storage configurations. The iQoo Z7 5G could offer up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage as standard. It is expected to be priced below Rs. 20,000. The iQoo Z7 5G is confirmed to feature MediaTek Dimensity 920 5G SoC under the hood. It is teased to run on FunTouch OS 13 and carry a 64-megapixel OIS camera system. It supports 44W flash charge as well. As per a report by 91Mobiles, iQoo Z7 5G will be launched in India in 6GB, and 8GB RAM options with 128GB storage as standard. The handset could be priced at Rs. 17,000 for the base 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant. It is said to be offered in Norway Blue and Pacific Night colour options. The iQoo Z7 5G is expected to succeed the iQoo Z6 . The predecessor was released in India in March last year with a starting p...

The Oppo Find X6 series, which reportedly includes the Oppo Find X6 and Oppo Find X6 Pro, is likely to be released in China as the newest members to the company's Find X series of smartphones. The Find X5 series' successor is expected to be released in China in the next few weeks. Also expected to launch soon is the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, a highly-anticipated smartphone from a competitor. While the latter is very likely to see a global release, the upcoming Oppo Find handset may not launch outside of China, as per a tipster Reliable tipster Ice Universe (@UniverseIce) tweeted recently that the upcoming Xiaomi 13 Ultra smartphone will be launched globally, but the yet-to-be-released Oppo Find X6 Pro will not be available for sale outside of China, where it is expected to launch later this month. A recent report suggested the display specifications of the Find X6 Pro, which is said to have a 6.8-inch E6 AMOLED display with 2K resolution, a refresh rate of 120 Hz, and 10-bit colour...

It's crunch time at Tesla where Elon Musk is looking to crack the code for making better, cheaper batteries. The electric-vehicle maker is recruiting Chinese and Korean materials suppliers to help lower the cost and boost the energy of its newest battery cells, even as the company struggles with battery-related performance and production issues that have helped delay the launch of its futuristic Cybertruck, according to people familiar with the plans. Tesla has tapped China's Ningbo Ronbay New Energy and Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing to help trim materials costs as it ramps up production of 4680 battery cells in the United States, according to the sources, who asked not to be named. The details of these arrangements have not previously been reported. If the Austin, Texas-based EV maker is able to work out the performance and process kinks and meet its ambitious production targets, the 4680 ultimately could be the linchpin - rather than choke point - in CEO Musk...