Archives 2023

OnePlus is set to debut its next smartphone – Ace 3 – in China on January 4. The company has already given a look at the design of the Ace 3, and now it has teased more details about the upcoming smartphone, confirming the display specifications.
OnePlus has confirmed that the Ace 3 smartphone will come with a 1.5K BOE X1 1.5K AMOLED display screen with a peak brightness of 4,500 nits.According to the company, except for the resolution, the quality and experience of the screen on Ace 3 is identical to that of the OnePlus 12. The panel is officially named 8T LTPO and has a manual brightness of 800 nits and 1,600 nits in Auto mode. It is rated A+ from DisplayMate.
The display on the Ace 3 uses an industry-leading 8T LTPO circuit design, which reduces power consumption by up to 30% compared to LTPS. The company says that the technology offers smoother operations and a more efficient user experience. This phone screen has undergone a comprehensive improvement, making it an iterative upgrade.
The smartphone is said to be powered by Qualcomm’s last year’s top-tier Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset.
The Ace 3 will have a metal frame and a frosted glass panel on the back. The camera island looks similar to the previous two generations of OnePlus flagship phones. Additionally, a teaser has revealed that the alert slider will have three modes: silent, vibrate, and ring. The phone will be available in Black, Blue, and Bronze colours.
OnePlus’ Ace 3 is expected to make its international debut as the OnePlus 12R in India and North America. The smartphone will launch alongside the OnePlus 12 on January 23.

Google has introduced new features for Chrome to help users browse the web more easily and securely. There are some new additions to the Safety Check, a new Tab Groups feature, and smarter performance controls.
Previously, users had to manually run Safety Check by navigating to Settings > Privacy and Security. Now, this feature will run automatically in the background and alert users if it detects any of the issues mentioned above. Notifications will appear in the menu that pops up when you click the three-dot icon at the top-right corner of the app. This feature is rolling out this week for desktops.
Google earlier introduced the Tab Groups feature in Chrome, which helps users declutter the top bar and organise tabs. The feature will have a new option – Save Group. Once you enable it by right-clicking on a Tab Group, it will sync with the Google account. The same Tab Group will appear on all your devices that are logged in with your Google account.
The new option will make it easier for users to access a tab group across different devices, allowing users to seamlessly continue working on a project or task, like comparing hotels on different websites.
Google has announced that this new save Tab Groups will be rolled out over the next few weeks in Chrome on desktop.
Last year, Google added Memory Saver mode to Chrome on desktop to boost performance. The feature shows how much memory your tabs are using and how much memory can be saved when they go inactive. Users can also specify sites that should always remain active. To enable Memory Saver mode, go to Settings > Performance and toggle it on.

So far, there have been two iterations of HomePod, and the two have looked the same, featuring a backlit touch surface on top that illuminates, but that could be replaced with a touch screen display on the next one. Apple is said to be working on the next-generation HomePod, which could feature an LCD screen that is said to be touch-enabled.
A user with the username Kosutami posted some details about the next version of HomePod on X (formerly known as Twitter). According to the post, the upcoming HomePod with model number B720 is expected to feature the same panel size and design as the HomePod 2 but with a convex screen.
This user had earlier shared images that are believed to be from the upcoming version of HomePod, which showed an LCD screen placed on the top of the device.
The HomePod models currently available in the market do not feature an LCD screen. Instead, they use LEDs that can display different colours. However, the new versions of the HomePod will have a fully functional display. The new screen will be flat, but it will be covered by convex glass, as shown in the prototype image that was shared in October.
It is still not clear what the interface for the display will look like, but according to 9to5Mac, it will display basic information about the media being played in apps such as Apple Music and Apple Podcasts. In addition to this, the HomePod’s display may also show important notifications, such as phone calls and messages, enabling users to respond to them.
This is said to be one of the many HomePod prototypes Apple has been working on. There was one prototype of HomePod that had a display and resembled the Amazon Echo Show.
We suggest taking this with a pinch of salt, as these prototypes seem to be in a very early stage of development, so the company could decide to scrap the concept and move ahead with a different design altogether.

Cyber security company McAfee has identified about 25 malicious apps for Android smartphones. It has published a list of some apps that have more than 1,00,000 instals each. These apps have reportedly infected 338,300 devices via a previously unknown Android backdoor named ‘Xamalicious‘.
According to the McAfee Mobile Research Team, Android devices are infected in two stages.First, the app tries to gain accessibility privileges with social engineering and then communicates with the command-and-control server to evaluate whether or not to download a second-stage payload.
If the second payload is downloaded and installed, it takes full control of the device and potentially performs fraudulent, financially motivated actions such as clicking on ads without user consent, a report by the company said.
These apps used the Xamarin framework which allowed the malware authors to stay active and without detection for a long time. Along with it, they implemented different types of obfuscation techniques to exfiltrate data and communicate with the command-and-control server.
Countries that were hit the most
According to McAfee, most infections were installed on devices in the US, Germany, Spain, the UK, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. It also said that users have installed these apps since mid-2020.
List of apps on Google Play that were infected

The report also said that the apps that were on Google Play have been removed, and there is no information on the removal of other apps that were installed from unofficial third-party app stores.
Previous reports have suggested that despite checks in place, Google Play isn’t immune to malware uploads. The company has been working on multiple features to spot malicious apps. On their part, Android users should refrain from downloading apps from third-party sources, use only essential apps, read user reviews before installing the apps and conduct a background check on the app’s developer/publisher.

Taiwan has expanded the list of sanctioned goods for Russia and its ally Belarus to prevent the use of Taiwanese tech goods from being used for military purposes. The country’s economy ministry said that the decision has been taken in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to a report by news agency Reuters, Taiwan condemned Russia’s attack and ‘symbolically’ joined the sanctions imposed by various Western countries on Russia because there is not much direct trade between Taiwan and Russia.
The move was made “in order to fulfil international cooperation and prevent the export of our high-tech goods for military purposes”, said Taiwan’s economy ministry.
“The Ministry of Economic Affairs continues to hold discussions with trade unions and manufacturers to communicate on the expansion of export controls, and has given manufacturers a 30-day buffer period to prepare for the situation,” it said.
What goods are included in the expanded list
The ‘new’ list includes 45 goods and equipment for making semiconductors as well as certain chemicals and medicines. Taiwan is a world leader in chip making and the new products add to the list of goods which have already targeted the chip industry.
The ministry also said that the new sanctions are consistent with those already announced by the European Union (EU), the US and other countries.
The report also noted that the EU, the US and others have collected weapon debris from Ukrainian battlefields and come up with a “common high priority list” of electronic and mechanical parts and equipment.
These parts are widely used in commercial applications and can be used to make weapons, the ministry noted, adding that export licence applications will “in principle” not be approved.
Taiwan has been monitoring exports of goods from Taiwanese producers to Russia and Belarus since March 2022, under the Wassenaar Arrangement. Last year, Taiwan widened the scope of export restrictions to 57 products, including computer information, sensors, lasers and aerospace products.

Telecom giant Reliance Jio is reportedly working on generative AI and plans to launch a ‘Bharat GPT’ programme along the lines of large language model-based AI chatbots like ChatGPT. The company has reportedly partnered up with Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay to develop an India-first AI programme. Jio, which now offers products and services across the digital sector, including steaming apps and Internet services, is also said to be working on an operating system for televisions.

According to a report by the Press Trust of India, Reliance Jio Infocomm chairman Akash Ambani said Wednesday that the company would bring a ‘Bharat GPT’ programme to market in collaboration with IIT-B. Ambani, however, did not specify a launch timeline for its AI endeavour.

Speaking at IIT Bombay’s annual techfest, Ambani said that the coming years would be defined by generative AI applications. The Jio chairman said that AI would be integrated across the company’s various products and offerings. “We are working very hard to launch AI not only as a vertical inside our organisation, but also horizontally across all our sectors,” the report quoted him as saying.

Additionally, Jio also plans to introduce an operating system for televisions and has been working on the same for a while. A TV OS would be in line with Jio’s set-top box and television apps services. “We have been working on our own OS for a while now for the TVs and we are comprehensively thinking about how to launch it,” Ambani was quoted as saying in the report.

Back in September, Reliance and chip giant Nvidia announced a partnership to build language models, generative AI apps and cloud infrastructure platform for AI development in the South Asian region. “Reliance will create AI applications and services for their 450 million Jio (telecom) customers and provide energy-efficient AI infrastructure to scientists, developers and startups across India,” Nvidia had reportedly said at the time.

Earlier this year, Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani had said that the company intended to develop India-specific AI models and AI-powered solutions across domains. Calling artificial intelligence the most exciting frontier of growth for Jio, Ambani had promised “AI to everyone, everywhere.”

In the past year, AI chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot have exploded in popularity, leading to a glut of AI-driven applications and and investment rush in the sector. Several Indian startups and firms have since worked to develop their own India-focussed AI apps and services.

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