The Future Now

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Ellen Degeneres makes history at People’s Choice Awards 2017

By Chitwan Info Tech 5:31 AM No comments:

Actress and comedienne Ellen Degeneres made People’s Choice Awards history by becoming the most decorated celebrity in the TV ceremony’s 43 years.

The ‘Finding Dory’ star, who hosts her own top-rated daytime talk show in America, picked up her 20th, 21st and 22nd awards at the Microsoft Theater.

Singer-actor Justin Timberlake presented her with the favorite daytime TV host and favorite animated movie voice trophies, while her sketch romp around a shopping mall with Britney Spears, which aired on her show last year, earned her the favorite comedic collaboration prize.

Handing her another three honors, Timberlake called Ellen “one of my very good friends” and “one of the best people on this planet”.

“This is amazing. 20 is ... 17, I get it, 18, sure, 19, I can see it. But 20, this is outrageous. This is really something that means more to me because it comes from the people,” DeGeneres said while accepting the honor.

“And everybody keeps thanking the people and it’s redundant but you are the people who are responsible for me being up there so I say thank you people.”

DeGeneres’ ‘Finding Dory’ film was also named favorite movie and favorite family movie at the ceremony.

Timberlake was also a big winner at the awards bash, picking up favorite male artist and favorite song for ‘Can’t Stop The Feeling.’

Blake Shelton was another double winner, making history as the first country act ever to win a People’s Choice favorite album award and landing the favorite male country artist prize.

It was also a huge night for girl group Fifth Harmony, who performed for the first time as a four-piece.

The quartet wowed the audience and viewers at home by wearing revealing black leather outfits for a raunchy rendition of their ‘Work From Home’ hit.

The band, who also picked up the favorite group prize for a second successive year, were stunned by the departure of Camila Cabello last month.

Johnny Depp put his tough year behind him to win the award for favorite movie icon while Robert Downey Jr took home the favorite action movie actor gong.

Tyler Perry picked up the award for favorite humanitarian at the event, which was hosted by Joel McHale.

Other big winners from the worlds of movies, TV, music and social media included Tom Hanks (favorite dramatic movie actor), Kevin Hart (favorite comedic movie actor), Melissa McCarthy (favorite comedic movie actor) and Indian actress Priyanka Chopra (favorite dramatic TV actress).

Jennifer Lawrence (favorite movie actress), ‘The Big Bang Theory’ (favorite network TV comedy), Sofia Vergara (favorite comedic TV actress) and Jennifer Lopez (favorite TV crime drama actress) were also named winners.

The favorite premium series actor honor went to Dwayne ’The Rock’ Johnsonand the favorite premium series actress was Sarah Jessica Parker.

Matt LeBlanc and Kristen Bell won favorite actor in a new TV series male and female respectively.

Carrie Underwood (favorite country female artist), Niall Horan (favorite breakout artist) and Britney Spears (favorite female artist) were also among winners.

Yama Buddha’s body to be brought to Nepal

By Chitwan Info Tech 5:29 AM No comments:

Family members are yet to receive a formal postmortem report of the famous rapper Anil Adhikari, widely known as Yama Buddha, found dead last week.

Preparations are underway to take the dead body to Nepal fulfilling necessary legal process after the postmortem report is received.

“We are waiting for the report. Legal process should be fulfilled before taking the dead body to Nepal,” a family member told Republica Online.

Northwick Park Hospital in London had performed the postmortem on Monday and dispatched a report. However, the family members have not received the report till Thursday as formal documents are sent through post in London.

In an apparent suicide, famous rapper Adhikari, 29, was found hanging in his bathroom on January 14.

Egg price drops

By Chitwan Info Tech 5:28 AM No comments:

The price of chicken eggs has plunged, according to the Nepal Egg Producers Association.

As per the new rate, the price of a crate of big eggs is fixed at Rs 350 and medium at Rs 330 against Rs 365 for big eggs and Rs 350 for medium-sized eggs in the past.

The egg price, revised by making Chitwan district as a basis, is aimed at maintaining uniformity in the price of egg, said Association Chair Shiva Ram KC. The daily average production of eggs in the district stands at 900 thousand, informed KC. RSS

Fire destroys property worth Rs 600,000

By Chitwan Info Tech 5:27 AM No comments:

Fire has destroyed property worth around 600 thousand rupees at Biratnagar based Raghupati Jute Mills on Thursday, police said.

The cause behind the fire was short circuit occurred at the spinning section of the mill. The fire was doused by the mill workers themselves.

Patient dies at Talcha Airport due to lack of flight

By Chitwan Info Tech 5:26 AM No comments:

A patient bound for Nepalgunj for gastritis ulcer treatment died at Talcha Airport after the plane did not arrive on Thursday afternoon.

Chhiring Lama, 20, of Pulu VDC-3, a patient of stomach ulcer, had been referred to Nepalgunj by Mugu District Hospital after the pain did not wear down despite efforts.

To his misfortune, Lama succumbed to his ailment at Talcha Airport before reaching Nepalgunj after the scheduled flight was canceled due to bad weather.

Lama’s intestine had developed holes due to chronic gastritis he had been suffering from. Officiating Chief of Mugu District Hospital Nirak Sharma said that Lama had been referred to Nepalgunj for treatment even though his ailment was almost incurable.

Patient’s kin was preparing to take him to Nepalgunj via air after the road was obstructed due to snowfall.

Even though there had been a scheduled flight for Talcha Airport from Nepalgunj today, the flight was canceled due to dense fog in Nepalgunj, Bishal Pandey, Chief of Nepal Civil Aviation Office, Rara told.

Murdered Indians had ties with int’l criminal gang: Police

By Chitwan Info Tech 5:24 AM No comments:

It has been revealed that the two Indian youths found murdered in Karaiya of the district some three weeks ago had ties with an international criminal gang.

Security officials investigating the case said that four persons arrested on the charge of the murder are also members of the gang. According to the officials, they had murdered their accomplices following a dispute.

Police are investigating the case by arresting Brij Kishor Giri, Mojahir Ansari, Ashish Patel and Umesh Patel for their alleged involvement in the murder.

According to police, they murdered Deepak Ram and Arun Kumar Ram of Laxmipur Pokhariya, Charparan in the Indian State of Bihar on December 28.

Their connection with the international gang was proved based on documents recovered from them, DSP Rajendra Babu Regmi

Top teams register wins in volleyball

By Chitwan Info Tech 5:23 AM No comments:

Title contenders Reed Model, Armed Police Force (APF) and New Diamond Academy all registered wins in the Dhorpatan Double League Women's Volleyball Tournament on Wednesday.

In the match played at New Buspark, table topper Reed Model registered straight sets win of 25-6, 25-18, 25-9 over Nepal Police Club. Similarly, APF overcame the challenge of departmental rival Tribhuvan Army Club 25-10, 25-15, 25-23 while New Diamond defeated Western Region 25-20, 23-25, 25-15.

After producing the victories, both Reed Model and APF have extended their points tally to 33. Reed Model, however, has a match advantage over APF which has played 12 matches and the former holds superiority on the basis of head-to-head record.

Record five times champion Gyanu Baba Higher Secondary School of Pokhara is not competing in the current edition of the tournament. However, players of Gyanu Baba including captain Manju Gurung, Aruna Shahi and Manti Ale Magar are playing for Western Region this time.

APF, which has won the tournament four times, is looking forward to match Gyanu Baba's record lifting the title of the ongoing tournament. But Reed Model has emerged as a tough nut to crack for the departmental side and its captain Reshma Bhandari thinks both teams have equal chances to become champion.

“We are not weaker than Reed Model's Indian players. We are strong in spike while Reed Model holds superiority is other departments. We need to come up strongly in the upcoming matches to lift the trophy," said Reshma, who is also the spiker of the national team. Saraswati Chaudhary, Nebika Chaudhary are the other national team members who play in similar position to Reshma for APF.

In the ongoing tournament, Reed Model has not lost a single set while APF lost to Reed Model besides losing one set each in the matches against Western Region and Police.
Similarly, New Diamond, runner-up of the last four editions of the tournament, stands third in points table. New Diamond has added 27 points from 11 matches in the competition after losing the first leg matches to APF and Reed Model.

Meanwhile, one-time champion Police registered win in its second match of the day.

Police pulled straight sets win of 25-12, 25-17, 25-13 over host Dhorpatan Sports Training Center. Police has extended its points tally to 21 from 12 matches to remain in fourth place while Western Region with equal points is fifth on the basis of head-to-head record.

Another departmental side Army has 15 points from 12 matches to remain sixth and host Dhorpatan remains at the bottom with eight points.

Arsenal's Koscielny launches passionate defense of Wenger

By Chitwan Info Tech 5:22 AM No comments:

Arsene Wenger's recent record at Arsenal should not undermine the long-serving manager's ability to help his players develop and fulfil their potential, defender Laurent Koscielny has said.

Despite winning the FA Cup twice in the last three campaigns, Wenger has come under growing pressure for his failure to guide Arsenal to the Premier League title since 2004.

"You may say that we haven't won the title for a long time, but he has not just built players, he's built men too. Every player who has played for Arsenal has grown here and has become a man," Koscielny told the club's website.

"It's a big number (of players). For me and the others, it's a good opportunity to be with him and learn from him. He's passionate about football. He loves football and he loves to watch his team play well with the ball.

"That's why he's here again after 20 years. Along with a lot of people, he's helped this club grow with a new stadium, a new training ground, and he built the platform for us to compete for the Premier League and Champions League every year."

Arsenal, who are fourth in the table, eight points behind leaders Chelsea after 21 games, host 10th-placed Burnley on Sunday.

Man United soccer's top moneymaker, ending Spanish dominance

By Chitwan Info Tech 5:20 AM No comments:

Manchester United is a long way from winning the English Premier League again but is back on top of another table — as soccer's biggest moneymaker.

For the first time since 2005, Manchester United overtook Real Madrid in top spot in the soccer finance rankings compiled by accountancy firm Deloitte even as it sits sixth in the Premier League.

In 2015-16 when United won only the FA Cup and failed to qualify for the Champions League, the 20-time league champions generated 515.3 million pounds (689 million euros based on the annual average; now about $632 million).

Spanish champion Barcelona had 620.2 million euros in revenue and Real Madrid, which won an 11th Champions League title in May, dropped to third on 620.1 million euros in Deloitte's 20th annual rankings.

United's stay at the top could be short-lived with the pound weakening since Britain voted to leave the European Union in June and the failure to reach the Champions League.

Despite Jose Mourinho replacing Louis van Gaal as manager, United is struggling to break back into the top four Champions League qualification places let alone win the first Premier League title since Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013.

But United, owned by the Florida-based Glazer family and listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has maintained an ability to attract sponsors.

"Manchester United have had to wait 11 years to regain their position as the world's leading revenue-generating club and it has taken phenomenal commercial revenue growth to help them achieve this," said Dan Jones of the Deloitte sports division.

"In recent years, their ability to secure commercial partnerships with value in excess of that achievable by their peers has been the crucial factor in enabling the club to regain their place at the top of the Money League."

The top five is completed by German champion Bayern Munich and Manchester City.

The eight English clubs in the top 20 account for 45 percent of the accumulated revenue in the standings of 7.4 billion euros — up 13 percent from the previous year. Leicester, a first-time winner of the Premier League, makes the cut for the first time, squeezing into 20th place on 128.7 million pounds.

West Ham returns to the top 20 and should move up from 18th place (143.8 million pounds) following its move last summer to Olympic Stadium.

The other Premier League teams are: Arsenal (seventh at 350.4 million pounds), Chelsea (eight at 334.6 million pounds), Liverpool (ninth at 302 million pounds) and Tottenham (12th at 209.2 million pounds).

The weight of English clubs in the revenue rankings should increase next year with the rise in television revenue. Premier League clubs should each earn at least 100 million pounds a season as part of the rights deals worth more than 8.3 billion pounds over three years.

The only French team represented in the rankings is Paris Saint-Germain, which fell two places to sixth with revenue of 520.9 million euros. Zenit Saint-Petersburg is the only Russian team included, improving a place to 17th by generating 196.5 million euros.

Along with Bayern, German also provides Borussia Dortmund (11th at 283.9 million euros) and Schalke (14th at 224.5 million euros).

Juventus heads the list of four Italian teams, in 10th place on 224.5 million euros, followed by AS Roma (15th at 218.2 million euros), AC Milan (16th at 214.7 million euros) and Inter Milan (19th at 179.2 million euros).

Deloitte warns that the enhanced English broadcast deals could see at least one of the Milan teams fall out of the top 20 next year.

Joining Barcelona and Real Madrid in the rankings from Spain are Atletico Madrid in 13th place at 228.6 million euros.

Apple’s iPhone 8 to be water, dust resistant

By Chitwan Info Tech 5:16 AM No comments:

At the 10th-anniversary of iPhone, Apple is expected to launch iPhone 8 that will come with an IP68 rating — an upgrade over iPhone 7’s IP67 rating, Hindustan Times reported.

While Apple’s iPhone 7 IP67 rating means that it can take immersion up to 1 metre for about 30 minutes, the IP68 rating goes a little farther. A device market IP68 means that it can stand immersion up to 1.5 metre for about 30 minutes. However, several smartphones have moved much faster than Apple in this regard with Sony and other adapting IP69 and nearly 99% water-proofing.

Moreover, the 10th-anniversary edition of Apple iPhone 8 is expected to come in a stainless steel chasis and an all glass body.

Citing Taiwanese sources, a report from DigiTimes claims that Apple has bypassed usual supplier Foxconn and placed orders for forged stainless steel iPhone casings from manufacturing partner Jabil.

The iPhone-maker had last relied on stainless steel instead of aluminium on the iPhone 4S but had to switch to aluminium due to quality issues.

Apple is also expected to build bezel-less curved OLED displays for its iPhone 8. The rumour is in line with Sharp top executive remarks that Apple has to finally choose OLED displays to take the next step in innovating displays on its smartphones.

According to Barclays Research analysts, the 5-inch and 5.8-inch bezel-free iPhones with borderless design will allow for the new iPhones to be the same overall size as current 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models, MacRumors.com reported.

“Larger and bezel-less iPhone 8 design did not sound 100 per cent locked down but we believe the move is to a bezel-less design with screen sizes getting larger and curved edges in the original envelope,” the report quoted analysts as saying.

Of the two prospect releases, only the 5.8-inch model will use OLED display technology, “which can be sharper, brighter, and more energy efficient than LCD technology”.

Samsung and LG, joined by Foxconn-owned Sharp by 2018, are said to be Apple’s primary OLED suppliers. An analyst from KGI Securities Ming-Chi Kuo had in March said that Apple will launch a 5.8-inch iPhone with a curved OLED display and glass casing next year, the research note mentioned.

According to Japanese website Nikkei, the larger-screened iPhone will be a premium model, positioned alongside 4.7-inch and 5-inch iPhones with LCD displays.

There are reports that a bezel-free design by Apple will be achieved by removing the iconic Home button on the next iPhone. Barclays expects that the screen will extend vertically as well as horizontally.

Vogue Taking away client’s burden

By Chitwan Info Tech 5:15 AM No comments:

Vogue Advertisement and Event Management Company was set up in 1999. It started its event management venture with ‘Valentine’s Unplugged Night’ which was the first of its kind in Kathmandu where pop artists and bands gave unplugged performance, followed by dinner and DJ night.

Since its establishment Vogue has been able to create its own brand name in the advertisement and event management industry. The company, however, didn’t have a smooth beginning as people of Nepal were still new to the concept of event management during the 90s. It was hard for them to mange resources needed for event management; they even struggled to get a generator, as it was easily not available back then. The company had to call each number from yellow book to mange resources.

The company now focuses more on event management than advertisement and still works with the same vendor which helped them start their business in 1999.

What makes this event management company special is the attention it pays to details and client’s wishes. Bijaya Ghimire, the MD of Vogue Event and Advertisement Company, vividly remembers an event where the company had to set up an entire venue in white. As white colored carpets were not available in the market, they had to custom order the carpet and set up the venue over night. White flowers for the event were ordered from Bangkok and as the hotel walls couldn’t be painted white, they covered the walls with white colored curtains. It’s the effort and dedication the company puts into to creating an event which has made it stand out in the industry of event management and advertisement.

The company has faced many changes since its establishment. During the first few years, it struggled to find clients. Now clients come to them. Nepalis are still unaware about the hard work that goes on to create a successful event , the company has had to deal with people who show them pictures of events of international standard but are not willing to pay the budget required to create such an event.

Vogue takes away the burden of hard work required to create any type of event and the service required for an event, from security to catering. It has long track record of creating theme parties with suitable venue design, light, sound and music and also provides professional service as music consultant.

Vogue currently has team of eleven members who are willing and ready to take the burden of event management off of client’s shoulder.

After pound’s fall, Apple to hike British app store prices

By Chitwan Info Tech 5:13 AM No comments:

Tech giant Apple is set to raise the prices of its apps in Britain by around 25 percent after the steep drop in sterling following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.

Apps which currently cost British consumers 0.79 pounds ($0.97) will cost 0.99 pounds following the hike, which is set to take place over the next seven days. US consumers pay $0.99 for the same apps.

The move follows similar price rises in Apple hardware in September and October last year.

While the pound trades at around $1.23, British sales tax is included in Apple’s price lists.

Turkey and India will also see price rises after drops in the lira and the rupee respectively.

“Price tiers on the App Store are set internationally on the basis of several factors, including currency exchange rates, business practices, taxes, and the cost of doing business,” Apple said in a statement.

Facebook’s virtual-reality tech was not stolen, Zuckerberg testifies

By Chitwan Info Tech 5:12 AM No comments:

Facebook Inc CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the witness stand in Dallas federal court on Tuesday and denied an allegation by a rival company that the virtual-reality technology of Facebook’s Oculus unit was stolen.

Zuckerberg, wearing a dark suit and striped tie rather than his typical T-shirt and jeans, began testifying at 9 am local time (1500 GMT) and 2 1/2 hours later was still answering questions posed by a lawyer for videogame publisher ZeniMax Media Inc.

ZeniMax sued Oculus in 2014 as Facebook was in the process of buying the startup for $2 billion. The publisher said that Oculus unlawfully gained access to ZeniMax’s intellectual property while developing the virtual-reality system that includes the Rift headset. Zuckerberg told a jury in the crowded courtroom that those claims are false.

“Oculus products are based on Oculus technology,” he said.

Under questioning from ZeniMax lawyer Tony Sammi, the 32-year-old billionaire addressed how Facebook’s investment in virtual reality came together. Zuckerberg said the purchase of Oculus included not only the $2 billion price but also $700 million to retain employees and $300 million in payouts for reaching milestones.

Zuckerberg said the Oculus deal was done over a weekend in 2014, which Sammi said in court does not show due diligence. At the time, Zuckerberg testified, he was not aware of the claims against Oculus. “It’s pretty common when you announce a big deal that people just come out of the woodwork and claim they own some part of the deal,” Zuckerberg said.

The lawsuit, in the sixth day of a jury trial, relates in part to programmer John Carmack.

Well-known for helping to conceive games such as ‘Quake’ and ‘Doom’, Carmack worked for id Software LLC before that company was acquired by ZeniMax. He is now the chief technology officer at Oculus. Zuckerberg denied that Carmack has used computer code from his previous position to unfairly help Oculus. “There is no shared code in what we do,” he said.

Zuckerberg said he has been interested in virtual reality since he was a student, but thought it was decades away from happening before he encountered Oculus.

“We want to get closer to this kind of perfect representation, so you can capture a moment you had,” he said.

Facebook bets on Paris with start-up incubator
Facebook gave the French tech scene a vote of confidence on Tuesday by picking Paris as the location for its first start-ups incubator, a boost for the city as European capitals compete to attract firms post-Brexit.

The US social media group said it would set up the scheme at the Station F site on the Left Bank - an ambitious project backed by French billionaire Xavier Niel and set to become the world’s largest start-up campus when it opens in April.

“Paris has always been a city of new ideas where people come together to break new ground, to do new things,” Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg told reporters at the vast, listed former railway depot still under renovation.

The 34,000-square meter site, a stone’s throw away from the river Seine, plans to house 1,000 start-ups under its 1920s glass arcades, as well as 3D printing labs and bars and restaurants open 24 hours a day. Niel, who founded France’s Iliad telecom company, invested 250 million euros ($268 million) in the project and expects to break even within three years.

Facebook’s own project, dubbed a ‘startup garage’, will provide 80 desk and working spaces for up to 15 start-ups working on data mining, which will be coached by Facebook specialists for periods of six months. It is Facebook’s second major investment in Paris after it opened its only European artificial intelligence research lab in the city in 2015.

A vibrant French technology scene - with emerging global champions such as BlaBlaCar and Sigfox is one of the ruling Socialist government’s rare success stories on the economic front. A generous research and development tax credit, an active public investment bank and a large pool of engineers have helped boost the French tech sector, keeping Paris hot on the heels of other major European tech hubs such as London and Berlin.

French start-ups, however, have so far struggled to reach a critical size or remain independent.

Some such as online advertising firm Criteo have decided to list in the United States while others were snapped up by large multinationals, connected objects maker Withings’s acquisition by Nokia being the latest example.

China to develop prototype exascale, super computer in 2017

By Chitwan Info Tech 5:09 AM No comments:

China plans to develop a prototype exascale computer by the end of the year, state media said Tuesday, as it seeks to win a global race to be the first to build a machine capable of a billion, billion calculations per second.

If successful, the achievement would cement its place as a leading power in the world of supercomputing.

The Asian giant built the world’s fastest supercomputer, the Sunway TaihuLight machine, in June last year, which was twice as fast as the previous number one.

It used only locally made microchips, making it the first time a country has taken the top spot without using US technology.

Exascale computers are even more powerful, and can execute at least one quintillion (a billion) calculations per second.

Though a prototype was in the pipeline, a complete version of such a machine would take a few more years to complete; Xinhua news agency cited Zhang Ting, application engineer at the National Supercomputer Center in the port city of Tianjin, as saying.

“A complete computing system of the exascale supercomputer and its applications can only be expected in 2020, and will be 200 times more powerful than the country’s first petaflop computer Tianhe-1, recognized as the world’s fastest in 2010,” said Zhang.

The exascale computer could have applications in big data and cloud computing work, he added, noting that its prototype would lead the world in data transmission efficiency as well as calculation speed.

As of last June, China for the first time had more top-ranked supercomputers than the US, with 167 compared to 165, according to a survey by supercomputer tracking website Top500.org.

Of the top 10 fastest computers, two are in China and five in the US as of November, the ranking said. Others are in Japan and Switzerland.

China has poured money into big-ticket science and technology projects as it seeks to become a high-tech leader.

But despite some gains the country’s scientific output still lags behind, and its universities generally fare poorly in global rankings.

Facebook inbox on desktop gets revamped with Messenger

By Chitwan Info Tech 5:08 AM No comments:

Facebook is integrating the Messenger app into its desktop version, giving an all new messaging experience to the desktop users.

According to a report in TechCrunch on Wednesday, the change has been spotted by a number of users in multiple markets which hinted it was more than a small-scale ‘test’.

However, Facebook has not yet made any formal announcement about the change.

In the upgraded version, the previous inbox icon has been replaced with the Messenger icon in the blue navigation bar at the top of the screen. When clicked, you are taken to a revamped inbox that is similar to a Messenger.com.

“Here, the left side of the screen reads ‘Messenger’ above the list of those friends you had recently chatted with, while the centre of the now three-paned interface will display the content of the currently selected chat session,” the report noted.

On the right-hand side of the screen, the name of your friend is displayed in the selected chat, when they were recently active, and provides access to other Messenger features.

In the upgraded version, a user can search the conversation, edit nicknames, change the chat’s colour and so on.

“Facebook has long approached Messenger with a different strategy on mobile, than it has on the web. On mobile devices, it pushed users away from the web version of Messenger and to the dedicated mobile app,” the report added.

Facebook has seen a number of updates in recent months, like introduction of Group Video Chats, games and a platform for business.

4G service users hit 40,000 already

By Chitwan Info Tech 5:06 AM No comments:

Nepal Telecom (NT) is going to launch 4G service even for GSM prepaid mobiles from February 4.

The Telecom which launched 4G services for postpaid mobiles from January 1 is going to start the service even for GSM prepaid mobiles over the 1800 MHz band in Kathmandu and Pokhara.

Managing Director of Nepal Telecom, Kamini Rajbhandari said, ‘‘NT will expand 4G service for prepaid mobiles from February 4 on the occasion of Telecom’s anniversary.

The 4G services will be extended across the country within a year. ’’ Speaking at the Legislature-Parliament, Rajbhandari said the 4G services have become popular already with the number of subscribers hitting 41,000 within 15 days.

However, i-Phone-6 and i-Phone 7 do not support 4G service. i-Phone users were deprived of using 4G service as Apple did not support it. Rajbhandari said, ‘‘we have already asked the CEO of i-Phone to allow iOS devices to operate on the 4G network. We have expected to get a good response soon.’’

Telecom is planning to extend 4G service across the country within a year after completing all the procedures.

According to Rajbhandari, Telecom will re-start callers’ ring back tone as the service had been halted.

Google’s latest update will let users search offline

By Chitwan Info Tech 5:04 AM No comments:

The search engine giant, Google’s latest update for Android allows users to run a quick search even without access to the internet.

Using Google’s streamlined search results, the feature will not use extra data or drain your battery.

“Even if your search fails, Google will now deliver your results as soon as a connection is available—so you can keep searching with a single tap,” reads a statement on Google’s blog.

The offline feature would be especially useful for Pakistani users who often have to deal with slow, unreliable data connections.

“So the next time you lose service, feel free to queue up your searches, put your phone away and carry on with your day. The Google app will work behind-the-scenes to detect when a connection is available again and deliver your search results once completed,” the statement added.

This means that users don’t have to worry about constantly checking their phones for a stable connection to run the search again. The app will pick up data signals automatically and provide results as soon as a connection is available.

Shhh, your washing machine might overhear you

By Chitwan Info Tech 4:55 PM No comments:

Alexa, are you spying on me?

It's a fair question in light of attempts by authorities investigating the slaying of an Arkansas man to obtain voice recordings collected by an Amazon Echo speaker and its Alexa digital assistant.

Yet the popularity and capabilities of voice-enabled products such as the Echo continue to grow. At the CES gadget show in Las Vegas, which opened Thursday, Whirlpool, Samsung and other manufacturers are unveiling new ways to use voice services to control laundry machines, refrigerators and other home systems.

Consumers are apparently willing to trade a certain amount of privacy for convenience.

So what exactly is being collected, stored or shared?

To work, the Echo is always listening. Once it hears someone utter a keyword, such as "Alexa," it shares what it hears with Amazon's servers to process a response. Those conversations are then stored indefinitely. Google's Home speaker works in a similar fashion.

The Echo "has to listen to everything. That's kind of disturbing," said Ryan O'Leary, vice president of WhiteHat Security's threat research center. "It doesn't capture voice until it hears the keyword, but it could. You're trusting the devices to not do that, but it's entirely possible."

In the Arkansas case, authorities investigating the death of a man found floating face-up in a hot tub at a friend's home requested the contents of the home's Echo and Amazon's stored recordings in hopes they might contain evidence. The friend is charged with murder.

A judge has signed off on the search, but Amazon has balked. Amazon has declined to comment specifically on the case but said the company objects to "overbroad or otherwise inappropriate demands as a matter of course."

Some experts worry that allowing such a search would erode people's privacy.

"It's not necessarily a direct threat to the average person, but the same thing can be said with any kind of privacy concern," O'Leary said. "People say you shouldn't be concerned if you're not doing anything wrong, but that's a dangerous precedent to set."

Meanwhile, companies keep asking consumers to invite them into their homes.

Whirlpool is adding Alexa voice control to its smart-home appliances, including a washing machine, a stove, and a refrigerator. Someone can instruct the oven to pre-heat to 400 degrees by speaking a command to an Alexa-enabled device, such as the Echo.

Simplehuman has a voice-activated trash can, and GE Lighting has a table lamp using Alexa voice control.

For now, voice control is mainly an add-on feature rather than a core component of gadgets. It's there for those who want to use it, but it's not essential for the product to function.

Many manufacturers are opting to use Amazon's Alexa service for now, though some are embracing voice systems from Google, Apple or Samsung.

Nvidia's Shield TV streaming device, for instance, employs Google's Assistant service so viewers can control video playback or find out the weather with just a voice command.

Meanwhile, Samsung's new Family Hub lets people use their voice to add items to shopping lists and order groceries online.

CES chief economist Shawn DuBravac said as many as 700 companies could announce Alexa-integrated products during the gadget show, on top of more than 1,500 existing ones.

As the smart home becomes more entrenched, DuBravac said, voice control could change the way we interact with technology in much the way the mouse did in the 1980s.

"Connected microphones are starting to appear in everything from cars to children's toys," said James Plouffe, lead solutions architect at mobile-security company MobileIron. "Consumers should think carefully about how comfortable they are with the prospect of a live mic in common household items."

Because Amazon says it uses information gathered by the Echo to improve its voice technology, that information has the potential to "live forever" online, Plouffe said.

The issue first grabbed headlines a couple of years ago, after Samsung said sensitive conversations could be captured by its voice-controlled smart TVs.

Based on the flood of new voice-controlled gadgets headed to market, tech companies are betting that consumers will get over their fears.

Derrick Dicol, executive director of Comcast's Xfinity home, which uses voice controls in its home automation products, noted that people had to get used to sharing their banking information online.

"This is less invasive than that," he said. "It's just a different thing people have to feel comfortable with."