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Category: Tech

  • Twitter is back after a 40-minute downtime

    Twitter is back after a 40-minute downtime

    Following a brief outage that was reported in Pakistan and around the world on Thursday, the microblogging website Twitter was once again operational.

    Around 8:05 AM ET, problems with the service began to surface. Many users reported receiving “over capacity” and even “this page is down” error messages. The problems impacted Twitter on the web, on mobile devices, and even in the TweetDeck app.

    Thousands of Twitter problems were reported by Downdetector, yet Twitter’s own status page stated that “all systems operational.” Many users were unable to log in or access tweets even when the main Twitter.com URL loaded.

    Around 8:40 AM ET, Twitter began to come back to life, and many users were able to tweet and access the service once more.

    During the outage, Twitter also tweeted that “Twitter and we’re working to get it back up and running for everyone.”

    https://twitter.com/TwitterSupport/status/1547569150725218310?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1547569150725218310%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theverge.com%2F2022%2F7%2F14%2F23215529%2Ftwitter-down-outage-error-capacity

    This is the first significant outage on Twitter since the social network began experiencing issues in February. In February, Twitter went offline twice in a single week, rendering users in certain US regions unable to use the service owing to a technical problem that was blocking timelines from loading and Tweets from posting.

  • Best Samsung phones available in Pakistan under Rs25,000

    Best Samsung phones available in Pakistan under Rs25,000

    Due to the ongoing depreciation of the local currency against the US dollar and high PTA approval fees, phone prices have increased significantly over the past three years, along with the prices of other gizmos.

    Even so, Samsung, a reputable phone manufacturer, offers a limited number of options on the market that you can take into consideration as Samsung smartphones are known for being more durable than those of other lesser-known brands.

    Here are some of the best cell phones available on the market at reasonable prices:

    Samsung A02 – Price: Rs16,699

    Display: IPS Capacitive Touchscreen

    Screen Size: 6.5 inches

    ROM and RAM: 32GB Built-in, 3GB RAM  

    Main Camera: Dual 13 MP, f/1.9, (wide), AF + 2 MP, f/2.4

    Front Camera: 5 MP

    Battery: 5,000 mAh 

    Samsung A03 Core – Price: Rs18,500

    Display: PLS TFT Capacitive touchscreen

    Screen Size: 6.5 inches

    ROM and RAM: 32GB Built-in, 2GB RAM  

    Main Camera: 8 MP, LED Flash 

    Front Camera: 5 MP

    Battery: 5,000 mAh 

    Samsung A03  –  Price: Rs21,999

    Display: PLS TFT Capacitive touchscreen

    Screen Size: 6.5 inches

    ROM and RAM: 32GB Built-in, 2GB RAM  

    Main Camera: Dual 48 MP, f/1.8, (wide), AF + 2 MP 

    Front Camera: 5 MP

    Battery: 5,000 mAh 

    Samsung A03s – Price: Rs22,499

    Display: PLS TFT Capacitive touchscreen

    Screen Size: 6.5 inches

    ROM and RAM: 32GB Built-in, 3GB RAM  

    Main Camera: Triple Camera: 13 MP, f/2.2, (wide), AF + 2 MP, f/2.4, (macro) + 2 MP, f/2.4, (depth)

    Front Camera: 5 MP

    Battery: 5,000 mAh 

    Samsung A03 4GB – Price: Rs23,999

    Display: PLS TFT Capacitive touchscreen

    Screen Size: 6.5 inches

    ROM and RAM: 64GB Built-in, 4GB RAM  

    Main Camera: Triple Camera: 13 MP, f/2.2, (wide), AF + 2 MP, f/2.4, (macro) + 2 MP, f/2.4, (depth)

    Front Camera: 5 MP

    Battery: 5,000 mAh 

    Samsung A12 – Price: Rs24,999

    Display: PLS TFT Capacitive touchscreen

    Screen Size: 6.5 inches

    ROM and RAM: 64GB Built-in, 4GB RAM  

    Main Camera: Quad Camera: 48 MP, f/2.0, 26mm (wide), AF + 5 MP, f/2.2, (ultrawide) + 2 MP, f/2.4, (macro) + 2 MP, f/2.4, (depth)

    Front Camera: 8 MP

    Battery: 5,000 mAh (15W fast charging)

  • Nikon may stop making SLRs to focus on mirrorless models

    Nikon may stop making SLRs to focus on mirrorless models

    Nikkei, a Japanese business journal, stated earlier today that Nikon is going to discontinue producing DSLR cameras and concentrate on mirrorless cameras. Naturally, this news spread throughout the camera community and was covered by numerous popular sites.

    Nikon Inc. posted a statement on its website clarifying that it would keep producing, marketing, and servicing its DSLR camera range.

    According to Nikkei’s initial report, the company has discovered that Nikon will withdraw from the single-lens reflex camera sector and pivot toward digital solutions under rising competition from smartphone cameras.

    To be more precise, Nikkei stated that Nikon “plans to focus resources on mirrorless cameras, which have become widespread items as a result of more advanced digital technologies.”

    Nikkei doesn’t go into further detail about how this information was gathered, and it just adds a brief history of Nikon, its history as a photographer, and the situation of the camera market now to the initial piece.

    It’s interesting to note that Nikkei ends the statement by stating that “Rival Canon likewise aims to follow Nikon and discontinue producing DSLRs within a few years,” but it doesn’t provide any further information on that assertion.

    Soon after, Nikon learned about the piece, but not before the photographic community picked up on Nikkei’s first revelation.

    Nikon Inc. posted the following comment on its website in reaction to the report from Nikkei and the articles from other publications:

    ‘There was a media article regarding Nikon’s withdrawal of SLR development. This media article is only speculation and Nikon has made no announcement in this regards. Nikon is continuing the production, sales and service of digital SLR. Nikon appreciate your continuous support.’

    The statement from Nikon Inc. is clear-cut, but Nikon doesn’t specifically refute the details in the Nikkei report. Nikon just states that “Nikon has not announced in these regards” rather than claiming the news is false.

    Nikon does claim that it will keep up “the manufacturing, sales, and service of digital SLR,” but that’s a somewhat nebulous claim that only applies to here and now.

  • Apple’s electric vehicle may lack steering wheel and brake pedal: Leaks

    Apple’s electric vehicle may lack steering wheel and brake pedal: Leaks

    For years, rumours have circulated that Apple is working on a self-driving electric car. The company’s troublesome “Project Titan” is described in-depth in a recent article, along with several intriguing facts about its design, such as the absence of a steering wheel.

    A comprehensive article about Apple’s multi-year effort to create a self-driving automobile was published by The Information.

    The majority of it records information that everyone following “Project Titan” already knows, however, the article also contains some fresh information about the car’s design and difficulties.

    Autonomous vehicles still need to be able to hand over control to people in order to be safe, and they have frequently done so in tests. The study lists numerous instances of this occurring with Titan.

    The most intriguing aspect is that Apple is attempting to obtain approval from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration so that it may release the car without a steering wheel or brake pedals, fully committing it to be a self-driving vehicle.

    Another unique element of the project is the seating arrangement concepts from Apple designers. The most recent design has four chairs that face inward, placing passengers face-to-face. Additionally, designers are considering allowing passengers to lie down and sleep.

    A level 5 Apple automobile has been in development for about ten years, but it won’t likely be released to the public for some time. Hyundai was a potential partner for Apple in the past, but discussions ceased in February of last year.

    Project manager Doug Field departed Apple in September of last year to work for Ford, which made the delays much worse.

  • Twitter to sue Elon Musk for backing out from $44 billion deal

    Twitter to sue Elon Musk for backing out from $44 billion deal

    Twitter has decided to sue Elon Musk after he wrote a letter to the company saying that he wants to cancel his $44 billion bid to purchase Twitter.

    In response to the letter by Musk’s lawyer, the chair of Twitter’s board, Bret Taylor, tweeted that the board is “committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon” with Musk and “plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement. We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery.”

    According to a letter by a lawyer on behalf of billionaire Elon Musk addressed to Twitter’s top legal officer on Friday, Musk notified the company that he wants to cancel his $44 billion bid to purchase Twitter.

    “Mr Musk is terminating the merger agreement because Twitter is in material breach of multiple provisions of that agreement, appears to have made false and misleading representations upon which Mr Musk relied when entering into the Merger Agreement, and is likely to suffer a Company Material Adverse Effect.”

    He also claimed Twitter breached its obligations under the agreement to get Musk’s consent before changing its ordinary course of business, pointing to recent layoffs at the company.

    Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, agreed to buy Twitter in April. Then in June, Twitter’s board of directors agreed on a $44 billion deal with Musk.

  • Twitter sues Indian government over content removal directives

    Twitter sues Indian government over content removal directives

    Twitter has sued the Indian government to challenge some of its takedown orders, a source familiar with the matter revealed, further escalating the tension between the American social giant and India.

    In its lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Karnataka High Court, Twitter alleges that New Delhi has abused its power by ordering it to remove several tweets from its platform.

    The lawsuit follows a rough year and a half for Twitter in India, a key overseas market for the firm, where it has been asked to take down hundreds of accounts and tweets, many of which critics argue were objected because they denounced the Indian government’s policies and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    Twitter partially complied with the requests but sought to fight back against many challenges. Under India’s new IT rules, which went into effect last year, Twitter has little to no room left to individually challenge the takedown orders.

    The tension between the two was apparent on May 24 last year, when Delhi police, controlled by India’s central government, visited two offices of Twitter — in the national capital state of Delhi and Gurgaon, in the neighboring state of Haryana — to seek more information about Twitter’s rationale to label one of the tweets by ruling partly BJP spokesperson as “manipulated media.”

    Delhi police said it had received a complaint about the classification of the spokesperson’s tweet and visited the offices to serve Twitter India’s head a notice of the inquiry. In a statement, the police said Twitter India’s managing director’s replies on the subject had been “very ambiguous.”

    Twitter at the time described the episode as “intimidation.”

    The company has “concerns with regards to the use of intimidation tactics by the police in response to enforcement of our global Terms of Service, as well as with core elements of the new IT Rules,” it said.

    Twitter India managing director resigned from the firm last year.

    Twitter is not the first tech giant to sue the Indian government. WhatsApp sued New Delhi last year, challenging new regulations that could allow authorities to make people’s private messages “traceable,” and conduct mass surveillance.

    It’s unclear if the new lawsuit will impact Twitter’s proposed acquisition by Elon Musk.

  • Meta, PTA launch educational series ‘Chai Chats’ to promote digital literacy

    Meta, PTA launch educational series ‘Chai Chats’ to promote digital literacy

    In order to raise awareness of digital literacy and social cohesion among young Facebook users in Pakistan, Meta has created the educational series “Chai Chats” in partnership with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

    According to DAWN, the series follows a close-knit group of college friends who face challenging online situations and overcome them with grace, friendship, and humour. Its goal is to encourage and persuade young people to adopt positive and responsible online behaviour.

    Through the web series and local community training, the programme hopes to reach millions of young Pakistanis online as well as 180 secondary school teachers and more than 1,000 secondary school students. It will also train educators in at-risk communities to address these issues with at-risk communities.

    The focus of the webisode series “Chai Chats” focuses on the daily online activities of five university buddies and how they support one another in navigating their online and offline lives while also taking into account their varied socio-cultural and behavioural tendencies.

    By connecting with the young audiences, the characters and their story should function as positive role models.

    Chairman PTA Maj. Gen (R) Amir Azeem Bajwa praised Meta’s efforts in a statement about the programme. “This effort will improve Pakistani youth’s capacity to utilise social media platforms in a beneficial, productive, and legal manner for both individual and group well-being.

    Through better digital experiences, Meta has been at the forefront of fostering digital literacy.

    The government of Pakistan is dedicated to using digital technology to hasten socio-economic development across the country, and I believe that this initiative will prove to be a significant first step in that direction, he continued.

    “The programme furthers Meta’s long-term commitment to developing digital literacy in Pakistan and assisting all users to harness the benefits of technology innovation for their growth and socioeconomic success,” stated Ruici Tio, Policy Program Manager, APAC- Meta.

    Its objective, according to him, was to improve the digital and critical thinking abilities of over 1,000 children and 180 teachers in these areas.

  • Pakistani mobile manufacturing businesses are laying off workers due to economic challenges

    Pakistani mobile manufacturing businesses are laying off workers due to economic challenges

    There has been significant upheaval in the economy as a result of the new tax structure, rising inflation, and the power shortage.

    The Samsung mobile factory, which is owned by Lucky Motors, experienced a similar situation when it had to lay off a number of employees because Pakistan was short on raw materials.

    In addition to Samsung, there have also been reports of firing close to 1,000 workers at the Vivo mobile factory.

    Lucky Motor Corporation was permitted by PTA to manufacture Samsung mobile devices in August 2021, which sounded like a great news in terms of job creation and GDP contribution, among other things.

    In various economic sectors, each economic measure can have numerous impacts. As per economic theory, a nation’s high rate of inflation discourages investment since it makes it less certain that those investments will be lucrative. Humongous unemployment is being caused by this, along with an import ban and a recently implemented “super tax” in Pakistan.

    Additionally, businesses like Careem and Airlift recently stopped operating in some sectors and let go of a number of employees.

    In the year 2020, Careem fired 31 per cent of its workforce due to a pandemic. A number of the staff members at SVWL, Airlift, and Careem Food were let go in 2022. limited their operations or nearly shut down.

  • WhatsApp will soon let you hide online status for more privacy

    WhatsApp will soon let you hide online status for more privacy

    The Last Seen time in WhatsApp can currently be hidden from the public, but your contacts can still see it when you’re back online.

    It appears that the most popular messenger will soon have the option to hide your online status, which has been long desired.

    You can hide your online status from everyone in WhatsApp’s most recent beta version, according to WABetaInfo. This is fantastic if you’re being chased on WhatsApp and don’t want your bothersome relatives or friends bugging you all the time.

    Over the past few months, the messaging service owned by meta has been testing a tonne of incredible new features.

    You will have two options to choose from with the new feature. You have the option of making your online status public if you want it to function like Last Seen. This means that you have the option of letting anyone see your online activity, just your contacts, just your contacts with a few exceptions, or nobody at all.

    Although the screenshot is of iOS, according to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is also working on bringing the feature to Android and WhatsApp Desktop.

    It is unknown when the feature will go live because it is still in development.

  • Instagram may convert post videos into Reels to compete with TikTok

    Instagram may convert post videos into Reels to compete with TikTok

    Instagram is testing a feature that converts video posts into Reels. According to the company, the modification is a part of Instagram’s plan to streamline video on the app and is currently being tested with a small number of users worldwide.

    With the most recent move made by the blogging platform, Instagram’s efforts to surpass TikTok are clearly growing.

    A representative from Meta stated, “We’re testing this feature as part of our efforts to simplify and improve the video experience on Instagram.”

    The social media consultant Matt Navarra shared a screenshot of an in-app message that reads, “Video posts are now shared as Reels,” on Twitter. Participants in the test will see this message.

    The message warns that anyone can find your Reel and use your original audio to make their own Reel if your account is public and you post a video that ends up being turned into one. Only your followers will be able to see your Reel if your account privacy setting is set to private.

    The message also mentions that if your account is public and you post a reel, anyone can remix it. In your account settings, you can, however, stop people from remixing your Reels.

    As Meta has placed significant wagers on Reels, the test is now. Reels now account for more than 20% of people’s Instagram usage, according to the company’s Q1 2022 earnings report.

    It is not surprising that Instagram wants to completely replace video posts in order to expand Reels. People may spend even more time watching Reels if the company ultimately decides to make this change permanent, which would be something to brag about.

    Instagram’s video components would be even more consolidated if it decides to convert all video uploads into Reels.

    When Mosseri outlined Instagram’s goals for 2022 last year, he said the company would increase its investment in video and concentrate on Reels.

    This change may have been intended all along, as he even made a hint that Instagram would center all of its video products around Reels and continue to expand the short-form product.