Technology

NASA’s latest Mars rover Perseverance is launches Thursday on an astrobiology mission to look for signs of ancient microbial life — and to fly a helicopter-drone on another world for the first time. Take-off is scheduled for 7:50 am (5:20 pm IST) from Cape Canaveral, Florida on board a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. If all goes to plan, Perseverance will reach the Red Planet on February 18, 2021, becoming the fifth rover to complete the voyage since 1997. All so far have been American. China launched its first Mars rover last week, which…

After the months of delays Google has finally confirmed the launch of Pixel 4a for August 3. Google did not specifically say that it’s the Pixel 4a but it’s most likely the mid-range phone. Google updated its Twitter and Facebook pages to tease the launch of its new phone. There’s a bit of work required though to figure out the Pixel 4a launch. First is the cover photo on Google’s Twitter and Facebook pages. It has a dot on the side indicating the punch-hole camera and “The Google Phone” written…

Before Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg signed a deal to acquire Instagram, he proposed the idea to the photo-sharing startup’s co-founder Kevin Systrom, who was not interested. “Will he go into destroy mode if I say no?” Systrom asked a board member. “Probably,” replied Matt Cohler, the venture capitalist and early Facebook employee. Then Cohler added that Facebook it would likely to go into destroy mode either way. The exchange was one of several potentially damning pieces of evidence in documents obtained by the US House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust,…

The main event has arrived. On Wednesday, and for the first time as a group, the CEOs of four of the biggest technology companies — Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. —  will go before a U.S. House subcommittee to address allegations of monopolistic practices and abusing the power of their platforms to crush or stifle competitors. Each of the giants is vulnerable in its own way. Apple, for instance, has come under an increasing scrutiny for the onerous terms of its App Store, which has become a…

Google is preparing for the  big update to its cloud-based gaming platform and it plans for optimise Stadia for mobile networks such as 4G and 5G. This essentially means users can now play Stadia games on-the-go without requiring a Wi-Fi connection. For now, the feature is still experimental. Interested users can be opt-in for the new Stadia Experiment. To do so, go to your Stadia app and then tap on your avatar on the top right corner. Choose Experiments and then select Use Mobile Data. Google’s cloud-based Stadia had launched in…

New Delhi: Believe it or not, a lot of firms as they are still reliant on dated tools for monitoring. For instance, CCTVs are pretty much common at factories, workplaces and other industries. You can easily visualise a big room with multiple monitors keeping a tab on things. And this has been around for years. The vast amount of this data generally goes unused and barely gives any leverage. Delhi-based Wobot.ai is trying to resolve this big gap with ‘smarter video analytics solutions’ that leverages cutting edge technologies such as…

Indian alternatives to Chinese apps are seeing a surge in downloads after the government that banned 59 from the neighbouring country following the Galwan standoff Sankalp R Nag felt it was his nationalistic duty to switch to Indian apps after the border face-off between India and China in Galwan Valley in June. The government’s announcement to ban 59 Chinese apps immediately after the standoff only the reinforced his belief. Nag, who runs a gems and jewels shop in Zaveri Bazar, South Mumbai, uninstalled TikTok, where he would occasionally upload videos,…