Current Final

Category: Tech

  • Samsung to launch Galaxy S23 series in February 2023

    Samsung to launch Galaxy S23 series in February 2023

    Samsung is just a few months away from releasing the long-awaited Galaxy S23, according to a Korean media report.

    The upcoming flagship from the Korean phone maker is expected to be unveiled in the first week of February 2023 at an event.

    Since the pandemic, this will be the first Unpacked event held in person. The phones will go on sale worldwide later in February after the unveiling, which is anticipated to take place in San Francisco.

    This is not the first Korean report to state the Galaxy S23’s launch time and date. This might cast doubt on its veracity, but since a Samsung executive is cited, there is a good probability that it is accurate.

    According to rumours, a Galaxy announcement will be made in January during CES 2023. Samsung’s S Series announcements, which are typically saved for its own Unpacked events, are not suitable for this forum. We don’t anticipate this pattern changing in the upcoming year.

    Instead of the customary Exynos SoCs, all Galaxy S23 versions will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 CPU.

  • KP launches AI-based attendance system for schools

    KP launches AI-based attendance system for schools

    Due to an upsurge in complaints about teachers’ absences, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has deployed artificial intelligence (AI)-based video systems in schools to monitor students’ and teachers’ live attendance.

    According to Zarif-ul-Mani, MD of the Elementary Schools Education Foundation (ESEF), the AI-based attendance system in the foundation schools would uphold the standard of instruction and improve student performance.

    He also described how the School Management Information System (SMIS) works to guarantee quality, accountability, and a simple transfer of scholarship cash to partners.

    He also commended the ESEF’s e-governance division for reviving this project, which had been mismanaged in the past.

    Additionally, the project would reduce dropout rates while guaranteeing that professors are present and that classes start on schedule.

    Prior to that, the government of Sindh made the decision to take strong action against teachers who were getting their wages while staying at home and neglecting their jobs.

    The provincial education agency reportedly stopped more than 2,000 “ghost teachers” being paid across the province.

    According to Express Tribune, Akbar Laghari, the education secretary for Sindh, said in a statement on the choice that they have filed a letter to the AG for Sindh asking him to cease paying the wages of 2,019 ghost teachers.

    He added that the department would fire the “ghost teachers” and would do everything it took to ensure that teachers showed up for work.

  • Saad Rafique directs PIA to install mobile charging points in aircraft

    Saad Rafique directs PIA to install mobile charging points in aircraft

    Federal Aviation Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique on Saturday directed Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to install charging stations for electronic devices in their aircraft.

    The minister also instructed the national flag carrier to make seats more comfortable for the passengers. In addition, it was advised to install a flight entertainment system in the aircraft.

    Officials were directed to review its current branding as well.

    “Special arrangements should be made for cleaning the washrooms,” he added.

    The directions were issued after a meeting headed by Saad Rafique, which was attended by officials from the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA), the Airport Security Force (ASF), and the PIA.

    The aviation minister hopes that the upgrades will boost customer service standards.

  • Fact check: Google is not suspending Play Store in Pakistan but users won’t be able to buy apps with mobile balance

    Fact check: Google is not suspending Play Store in Pakistan but users won’t be able to buy apps with mobile balance

    Online rumours claiming that Pakistani Android users will be unable to use Google Play Store services are false and misleading, as users will be able to download and use free apps.

    The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) stopped paying $34 million to international tech companies in order to reduce the outflow of dollars, so Android users in Pakistan won’t be able to purchase paid apps through mobile carrier billing.

    Carrier payments, or a method by which mobile users pay for paid apps using their mobile credits, will no longer be available.

    According to details, the SBP has halted payments totaling $34 million to foreign service providers, which would prevent mobile customers in Pakistan from accessing paid services through the Google Play Store.

    Details indicate that the SBP terminated Direct Carrier Billing (DCB). As a result, the payment to foreign service providers, including Google, Amazon, and Meta, has been suspended. It is important to note that Pakistani customers may only pay for applications or paid services with credit or debit cards.

  • TikTok is willing to open offices in Pakistan: IT minister

    TikTok is willing to open offices in Pakistan: IT minister

    Federal Information Technology (IT) Minister Syed Aminul Haque stated on Wednesday that popular social media platform TikTok is interested in opening offices in Islamabad after discussions were successful. He also hinted that another significant social media platform was also open to coming to the country.

    On Wednesday, he made this statement while speaking at an event in Islamabad.

    He noted that the government wanted social media businesses to establish offices in the nation and stated that TikTok was one with which effective negotiations had taken place. The platform may soon establish headquarters in Islamabad, he added.

    TikTok does not belong to a group of regional social media sites that have resisted government attempts in recent years to exert more direct control over what is posted on the site.

    He made a suggestion that a significant social media site that is a part of the collective has stated a willingness to establish offices in Pakistan.

  • Twitter may introduce different colour checks for organisations and individuals

    Twitter may introduce different colour checks for organisations and individuals

    Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, announced on Monday that the social media platform is delaying the resumption of its blue check subscription service, deviating from his initial tentative timetable to do so.

    “Holding off relaunch of Blue Verified until there is high confidence of stopping impersonation,” Musk said in a tweet.

    “Will probably use different color check for organisations than individuals.”

    Earlier, only verified accounts of prominent figures including journalists, legislators, and well-known people could display the coveted blue check mark.

    But earlier this month, Twitter launched a membership option that is available to anybody willing to pay in order to increase income as Musk battles to keep advertisers.

    Due to the proliferation of bogus accounts, Twitter stopped the newly introduced $8 blue check membership service and indicated that it will resume on November 29.

    Musk noted in another tweet that the 1.6 million new users on Twitter during the last week were “another all-time high.”

    As they adjust to the new leader, Twitter advertisers, including major corporations like General Motors, Mondelez International, and Volkswagen AG, have suspended their campaigns.

    According to estimates, hundreds of Twitter employees left their jobs last week after Musk gave them until Thursday to sign up for “long hours at high intensity” or go.

  • Elon Musk restores Donald Trump’s Twitter account

    Elon Musk restores Donald Trump’s Twitter account

    Donald Trump’s Twitter account appeared to come back online after a narrow majority of votes were cast in Elon Musk’s Twitter poll in support of re-allowing the former US president, who was barred from the social media platform following the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.

    In the survey, little more than 15 million ballots were cast, with 51.8 per cent in favour of restoration.

    “The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated,” Musk tweeted. During the poll, Musk acknowledged the vote numbers were being affected by automated “bots”, which are not people, and suggested there was a need to “clean up” Twitter polls from being influenced by “bot and trolls armies”.

    Earlier in the day, Trump didn’t seem all that eager to go back on Twitter. The former president was asked about it by a panel at the annual leadership meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition, and he responded via video, “I don’t see any reason for it.”

    He declared that he would continue to use his brand-new platform Truth Social, an application created by his startup Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG).

    Following the assault on the US Capitol on January 6, Twitter made the remarkable decision to ban Trump, claiming that his postings were “very likely to incite and inspire individuals to mimic the criminal acts that took place at the US Capitol.”

    Trump announced his effort to win the presidency back in 2024 on Tuesday and hailed Musk, saying he had always admired him. Trump said that Twitter’s issues were “extraordinary” and that it was plagued by bots and false accounts.

    Musk’s self-described reputation as a “free speech absolutist” increased the potential that he might lift the restriction on users whose Twitter accounts had been permanently suspended from the network even as Musk was still finishing up his acquisition of Twitter. Experts on hate speech and disinformation have been preparing for the return of Trump, who accumulated more than 88 million followers during his first tenure on the network.

    Musk first stated in May that he intended to lift the ban on Trump, and many of Twitter’s advertisers were anxiously awaiting the timing of any comeback by the president.

    Musk hoped to convince consumers and advertisers that such a choice would be carefully considered by a content moderation committee made up of individuals with “widely different perspectives” and that no account reinstatements would take place before the panel convened.

    He said that unless there was a “clear process for doing so,” Twitter would not allow any banned users to reapply.

    And this week, Musk unexpectedly allowed comic Kathy Griffin to return after she had been suspended for violating his new policy against impersonation by changing her profile name to “Elon Musk” without making it clear that it was a parody account. Regarding the moderation council or the reinstatement procedure, nothing has changed.

  • Twitter offices close as hundreds of workers resign, #RIPTwitter trends

    Twitter offices close as hundreds of workers resign, #RIPTwitter trends

    Twitter has announced that its office buildings will be temporarily closed, effective immediately and that the offices will reopen on Monday, November 21.

    Twitter employees were informed regarding the closure in a letter, but the company withheld an explanation for this.

    The statement comes as there are rumours that several employees were leaving after the new owner, Elon Musk, told them to sign up for “long hours at high intensity” or quit.

    Mr Musk stated that those who didn’t sign up by Thursday, November 17 would receive three months’ worth of severance money.

    The corporation said earlier this month that it will be laying off almost 50 per cent of its workers.

    The news that Twitter had temporarily closed its offices today coincided with indications that several employees had already left in protest at Mr Musk’s new contract terms.

    To announce their departure from the company, employees have begun tweeting using the hashtag #LoveWhereYouWorked and a saluting emoji.

    One former Twitter employee who wished to remain anonymous told BBC: “I think when the dust clears today, there’s probably going to be less than 2,000 people left.”

    They added that everyone in their team had been terminated.

    “The manager of that team, his manager was terminated. And then that manager’s manager was terminated. The person above that was one of the execs terminated on the first day. So there’s nobody left in that chain of command.”

    Around 7,500 people worked for Twitter before Elon Musk took over. Thousands of contract workers were also reportedly employed by the company, the majority of whom are believed to have been let go.

    Another person claimed that despite being ready to put in long hours, they had quit their job.

    “I didn’t want to work for someone who threatened us over email multiple times about only ‘exceptional tweeps should work here’ when I was already working 60-70 hours weekly,” they said.

    The richest person in the world acquired Twitter last month in a $44 billion deal, becoming the company’s CEO in the process.

    In response to a query on worries that Twitter was set to shut down after the notification about the closure of Twitter’s offices was sent, Mr Musk tweeted: “The best people are staying, so I’m not super worried”.

  • City Traffic Police Lahore launches digital challan system to fine violators

    City Traffic Police Lahore launches digital challan system to fine violators

    To replace the decades-old manual system of fining traffic violators in Lahore, Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) Dr Assad Malhi officially launched the digital challan system on Tuesday.

    It started as a pilot initiative on The Mall, and after evaluating its success, it will be gradually expanded to the rest of the city.

    The busiest thoroughfare in the province capital, The Mall 1, The Mall 2, and The Mall 3, were the primary targets of the digital challans.

    CTO Lahore claimed that the use of digital challans would end complaints about fake and fraudulent challans and guarantee transparency.

    In this regard, he stated, a specially created App has been downloaded on the traffic wardens’ smartphones, and the general public will receive a challan message.

    All the information will be automatically filled in after inputting the ID card number or vehicle number into the app.

    He said that numerous government departments have been connected to or associated with the digital mobile phone app.

    They comprised the department of excise and taxation, the police crime record office, the anti-vehicle lifting squad, the route permit department, and the database management for fitness certificates.

    According to DAWN, the wardens will have access to the traffic offender’s criminal history after entering their CNIC number and will call the police right away to have the traffic offender arrested on the spot if he or she has a criminal history.

  • WhatsApp will soon let you use same number on separate phones

    WhatsApp will soon let you use same number on separate phones

    WhatsApp is actively testing ‘companion mode’ to let users use the same number on separate phones.

    According to reports, it will be possible for users to simultaneously connect up to four devices.

    Only tablet users were first given access to the companion mode as a test. For the time being, only WhatsApp beta users will be able to use the companion mode, which is exclusively accessible to select android users.

    Users who download WhatsApp will see an option to scan a QR code to link their phone number to another device. The menu may be accessed by tapping the three dots in the window’s top right corner.

    Prior to this, on November 3, the messaging behemoth WhatsApp formally unveiled its new communities and discussion groups feature.

    According to the information, this new function was trialled in the beginning of the current year. Organizations, clubs, and a variety of other groups will be able to connect in a better and more structured way thanks to the new discussion group function.

    WhatsApp has released a number of changes and announcements, including support for groups with up to 1,024 participants, 32-person video and audio conversations, emoji reactions, polls, greater file sharing, end-to-end encryption, and the option for admins to remove messages.