Current Final

Category: Tech

  • Sheryl Sandberg to step down from Facebook after 14 years

    Sheryl Sandberg to step down from Facebook after 14 years

    Facebook-parent Meta confirmed that Sheryl Sandberg is stepping down as its chief operating officer (COO) of the social media platform.

    However, Sandberg did not specify the reason for her departure from the company, which will happen in the fall, in a Facebook post. Sandberg revealed that she intends to concentrate on her charity efforts in the future.

    “The debate around social media has changed beyond recognition since those early days. To say it hasn’t always been easy is an understatement,” Sandberg wrote. “But it should be hard. The products we make have a huge impact, so we have the responsibility to build them in a way that protects privacy and keeps people safe”.

    Mark Zuckerberg clarified that Sandberg will remain on the board of directors of Meta, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a separate Facebook post. The company’s Chief Growth Officer, Javier Olivan, will take over as COO, although his work will be “distinct from what Sheryl has done” and “a more traditional COO function”.

    In a recent post, Zuckerberg said: “It’s unusual for a business partnership like ours to last so long. I think ours did because Sheryl is such an amazing person, leader, partner, and friend”.

    Sandberg established herself as a high-profile figure in the IT industry prior to joining Facebook, having previously served as Google’s vice president of global online sales and operations. Prior to joining Google, she worked for President Bill Clinton at the World Bank and the Treasury Department.

    She was often regarded as the adult supervisor for a firm led by a very young entrepreneur during her early years at Facebook.

    Sandberg closely worked with Zuckerberg to increase Facebook’s income from around $150 million in 2007 to over $3.7 billion in 2011, the year before the company went public.  She also rose to fame as one of the most powerful women in technology. Her notoriety was enhanced by her role in founding the Lean In movement, which outlined a strategy for women to succeed and achieve their objectives.

  • iPhone 14 may feature lock screen display and widgets

    iPhone 14 may feature lock screen display and widgets

    Several rumours are presently circulating the internet about the forthcoming iPhone’s traits and powers. According to some reports, Apple may forego the notch this time around in favour of a larger display.

    https://twitter.com/MajinBuOfficial/status/1531370902822215682

    As nothing has been confirmed so far, and most predictions are a little overstated, all such leaks should be taken with a pinch of salt.

    There have been no official reports about when the new iPhone will be released. We already know that Apple will host WWDC 2022 on June 6th. It is also expected to release iOS 16, the next major software version for the iPhone.

    It will most likely introduce iOS 16, iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, and macOS 13 at its upcoming event.

    The company hasn’t revealed a date for its fall event, which is usually when the next iPhone is unveiled. Apple usually holds its annual autumn iPhone event in September, with releases following soon after.

    On the first or second of September, Apple usually announces its new iPhones. Last year, the iPhone 13 series made its official premiere on Tuesday, September 14th, with preorders beginning on Friday, September 17th, and the phones going on sale on September 24th.

    Apple’s fall event for the iPhone 14 could take place on Tuesday, September 6, or Tuesday, September 13. Because iPhones normally go on sale for presale on Fridays of the same week.

    iPhones are normally released a week and a half after Apple makes an announcement. Specific model introduction dates are sometimes staggered, especially when introducing a new design or size. As a result, it’s feasible that the iPhone 14 lineup will have multiple release dates.

    For the time being, however, the additional features that these operating systems will bring are unknown. According to a source, Apple may include the ability to include lock screen widgets, support for always-on displays, and much more.

  • Musk sued for stock manipulation during Twitter takeover bid

    Musk sued for stock manipulation during Twitter takeover bid

    The most controversial billionaire Elon Musk has been sued by Twitter Inc shareholders, who claim he manipulated the company’s stock price downward, as the CEO of electric carmaker Tesla Inc mounts a $44 billion buyout offer for the social media platform.

    According to the investors, Musk saved $156 million by failing to disclose that he had acquired more than 5 per cent of Twitter by March 14. They requested class certification and an unknown amount of punitive and compensatory damages.

    They also named Twitter as a defendant, claiming the company owed them an investigation into Musk’s behaviour, though they are not seeking monetary damages from the company.

    As per the lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in San Francisco federal court, the investors claimed Musk continued to buy stock after that and eventually disclosed in early April that he owned 9.2 per cent of the company.

    “By delaying his disclosure of his Twitter stake, Musk engaged in market manipulation and purchased Twitter stock at an artificially low price,” the investors, led by Virginia resident William Heresniak, claimed. Requests for comment were not immediately returned by Musk or his lawyer.

    The recent drop in Tesla’s stock has put Musk’s ability to finance his acquisition of Twitter in “major jeopardy,” according to the investors, because he has pledged his shares as collateral to secure the loans he needs to buy the company.

    Tesla’s stock was trading around $713 per share on Thursday afternoon, down from over $1,000 in early April. According to the Wall Street Journal, the timing of Musk’s disclosure of his stake has already triggered an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

    The SEC demands any investor who purchases more than 5% of a company’s stock to disclose their assets within 10 days of crossing the limit.

    The investors also claimed that Musk’s public criticism of the company, such as a May 13 tweet stating that the buyout was “temporarily on hold” until Twitter proved that spam bots accounted for less than 5% of its users, amounted to an attempt to drive the share price even lower.

    Musk pledged an additional $6.25 billion in equity financing to fund his bid for Twitter on Wednesday, indicating that he is still working to close the deal.

    Earlier this month, the tech mogul was sued in Delaware Chancery Court by a Florida pension fund, which sought to halt the transaction on the grounds that some other large Twitter shareholders were supporting the buyout, which is a violation of Delaware law. The lawsuit filed by Heresniak does not seek to halt the takeover.

  • Samsung shows off its 200-megapixel camera sensor capabilities

    Samsung shows off its 200-megapixel camera sensor capabilities

    Samsung revealed its 200MP ISOCELL HP1 camera sensor in September of last year, however the tremendous sensor has yet to be utilised in a gadget. That could change in July with the release of a forthcoming Motorola handset, and Samsung has released a video highlighting the sensor’s prowess.

    The video’s intention is to demonstrate the level of clarity that the HP1 sensor can sustain. Whereas no mobile was utilised to indicate the new sensor, it was connected to a Frankenstein rig complete with a device, external display, and an additional lens, allowing a group of Samsung engineers to catch some detailed cat photographs.

    After that, the final 200 MP image was still reproduced on a commercial printer. A massive canvas composed of twelve separate 2.3-meter-long pieces stitched together and hung from a building. Of course, the photographers behind the scenes optimised and adjusted the actual photo. The main point to remember is that you can zoom and crop images without compromising details captured.

    Samsung’s HP1 sensor features an all-new pixel clustering technology identified as ChamelonCell, which can group up to sixteen pixels in a wide range of resolutions ranging from 12.5MP stills with a 2.56m pixel pitch to 50MP stills (1.28m pixels) or natively at 200MP (0.64m pixels) based on ones requirements.

  • Fact Check: Did the federal government shut down the internet?

    Fact Check: Did the federal government shut down the internet?

    Claim: Internet was shut down for people in various parts of Pakistan in order to suppress the coverage of Imran Khan’s PTI rallies

    Fact: The internet was not shut down but there is evidence of internet ‘throttling’ by internet service providers throughout the country

    On May 25, several social media users took to Twitter to condemn the government’s “draconian” decision to shut down the internet. Popular personalities came out on Twitter, with their verified accounts with millions of followers and announced that the federal government has decided to shut down the internet, in light of the escalating tensions in Islamabad and to avoid social media coverage of Imran Khan’s rally.

    Internet throttling is when your internet service providers limit the speed or bandwidth of your internet without taking your consent or informing you. In some cases, throttling also helps manage an unusual amount of traffic on the internet in order to equally distribute the bandwidth.

    However, this is false.

    Several people also tweeted that they had internet services available. However, everyone noted varying speeds at different times in the day. At The Current Check‘s office, we faced internet slowdowns throughout the day, but it was never shutdown.

    Hija Kamran, digital rights advocate working at Media Matters for Democracy, tweeted asking people in Pakistan to confirm whether their internet is working fine and several people reported operational internet in Karachi and Islamabad, others claimed that they were facing issues in internet speed.

    An internet observatory organization called Net Blocks released a report on the same day confirming “disruptions” in the internet across Pakistan. However, according to their report these disruptions only lasted for two hours within the whole day, which does not even come close to the claim that the internet was shut down.

    In their report, NetBlocks confirms that disruptions were faced by multiple internet service providers across Paksitan after 5pm on Wednesday, May 25. The service was restored within two hours, following the surge in complaints being posted on social media about the internet being throttled by ISPs across the country.

    NetBlocks used “diffscans”, a tool which allowed them to map the IP address space of Pakistan in real time and display corresponding internet connectivity levels and outages, which are represented in the graph attached in their tweet.

    Verdict: FALSE

  • Pakistan is finalising policy guidelines to launch 5G

    Pakistan is finalising policy guidelines to launch 5G

    The government intends to introduce 5G across the country, despite the fact that widespread 4G coverage is viewed as a major requirement before its launch. Also, 5G services can be offered in locations where 4G services are already available.

    Although all telcos in Pakistan have switched to 4G or LTE networks, a few companies are still unable to provide stable connectivity in a number of locations. Also, network providers frequently fail to deliver an acceptable, 4G standard connection speed despite hefty mobile data charges.

    To meet license requirements for the 5G network, cellular operators are forced to extend 4G coverage.

    According to Brecorder, the government of Pakistan is intending to introduce 5G in the country, according to official documents, and the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MOIT&T) is in the phase of finalising policies for 5G in consultation with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and relevant authorities.

    The former administration intended to offer 5G services in the country in the first quarter of 2023. Unfortunately, no consulting assistance has been utilised for this purpose thus far. The reports also revealed that the PTA spent no expenses as no consultancy services had been obtained for its deployment.

    The MOIT&T has analysed seven bands for the implementation of 5G services. As per official documents, the government is currently reviewing the possibilities available for the prompt deployment of 5G services in the ccountry.

    The following bands are being considered for 5G service adoption as low, mid and high bands:

    700 MHz; 2.3 GHz; 2.6 GHz; 3.5 GHz; MiIIimeter wavebands; C-Band (3.6-4.2) GHz; and Unlicensed Backhaul Frequency bands (P2P & P2MP).

    In light of these bands, the ministry has requested that the Frequency Allocation Board (FAB) share the present status and availability of all 5G spectrum in the above-mentioned frequency bands.

    Network providers are actively extending their infrastructures. Pakistan presently has 90 per cent teledensity and 89 per cent mobile penetration. The total number of cellphone consumers is 193.4 million. These figures are steadily rising. According to license terms, all CMOs are working to expand 4G coverage nationally.

    Approximately 60 per cent of the populace has access to 4G coverage. New rollout criteria have been imposed on operator licenses in order to accelerate 4G implementation in Pakistan.

    Furthermore, population-based rollout obligations are being implemented in order to give 4G coverage to the greatest number of Pakistanis.

  • WhatsApp is cutting support for two iPhones

    WhatsApp is cutting support for two iPhones

    The meta-owned messaging platform, WhatsApp announced that it will stop functioning on some outdated iPhones in its new update. The company announced that it would stop supporting iOS 10 and iOS 11 devices later this year.

    WhatsApp has begun notifying iPhone users running iOS 10 or iOS 11 that they must update their devices in order to continue using WhatsApp beyond October 24. The iPhone 5 and iPhone 5c are the only two devices in the series which will no longer support WhatsApp after October 24.

    “After October 24, 2022, WhatsApp will no longer support this version of iOS”. To get the newest iOS version, navigate to Settings > General > Software Update,” the notification says.

    WhatsApp will continue to work for iPhone 5s and iPhone 6 users for the time being, and they will be alerted if their iPhones cease running the Meta-owned instant messaging app.

    The app already states on its Help Center page that iPhone users must be running iOS 12 or above to continue using the application. WhatsApp requires Android 4.1 or newer for Android users.

    The tech giant, Apple is anticipated to unveil iOS 16 at WWDC 2022 next month, and it will be released later this year, possibly around the time the iPhone 14 series is released.

  • Pakistan manufactured 9.72 million mobile phones in four months: Report

    Pakistan manufactured 9.72 million mobile phones in four months: Report

    Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) revealed that domestic plants produced 9.72 million mobile devices in the first four months of 2022, contrasted to 0.86 million acquired internationally.

    In April 2022, local manufacturing plants developed 2.56 million mobile devices, compared to 0.25 million imported from other countries.

    According to Brecorder, 5.69 million 2G smartphones and 4.03 million 3G and 4G phones are among the 9.72 million mobile handsets developed or assembled locally. 53 per cent of mobile devices on the Pakistan network are 3G and 4G smartphones, while 47 per cent are 2G.

    Despite the growth in local mobile phone production, Pakistan acquired $1.810 billion worth of cellphones in the first ten months of 2021-22, contrasted to $1.684 billion in the same period the previous year, a 7.43 per cent increase, as per the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

    Total telecommunications imports into the country climbed by 14.05 per cent during the review period (July-April) 2021-22, rising from $2.116 billion in July-April 2020-21 to $2.413 billion in the same period last year.

    According to PTA data, the local manufacturing tendency indicates a favourable response to the PTA’s Mobile Device Manufacturing (MDM) Authorization regulatory system.

  • Most common women harassment platforms are WhatsApp, Facebook: Research

    Most common women harassment platforms are WhatsApp, Facebook: Research

    A Pakistani research-focused NGO, Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) revealed its annual report on the five-year cyber harassment helpline.

    According to the DRF, WhatsApp and Facebook were the most commonly utilised apps in Pakistan to harass women. Its helpline for combating online abuse and harassment will reach a five-year milestone this year.

    In the last five years, the online harassment helpline has received over 11,681 cases. In 2021, there were 4,441 cases received, with an average of 370 instances each month. The months of March and September saw a spike in reports, while the remainder of the year was quite constant.

    About 68 per cent of the calls were from women, 30 per cent were from males, and the remaining 2 per cent were from gender minorities. WhatsApp was the most widely mentioned platform for harassment, followed by Facebook.

    In 2021, 893 complaints were related to blackmail, and 727 incidents on the helpline involved the use of non-consensual photos, according to the research.

    Executive Director of DRF Nighat Dad stated that “the pace at which the cases of cyber harassment are increasing is alarming and must serve as a wake-up call for us to take appropriate action to make the internet a safe and equal space for everyone”.

    Pakistan’s first specialised helpline against cyber violence and harassment, the cyber-harassment helpline, was opened in December 2016. The toll-free number (0800-39393) is available Monday through Sunday, 9 AM to 5 PM, and includes email and social media help.

    Via: Geo

  • WhatsApp will soon let you exit groups secretly

    WhatsApp will soon let you exit groups secretly

    WABetainfo has unveiled a beta feature that allows participants to leave a group with only the admins being notified.

    ‘Only you and group admins will be notified that you left the group,’ says a beta popup when a group member opts out.

    Currently, when someone leaves a group chat, WhatsApp broadcasts their departure to the whole group, making their departure very public. Although leaving a group silently is not yet possible, WhatsApp appears to recognise that making one’s withdrawal less noticeable may be the safest default.

    Officially, WhatsApp allows up to 256 users to join a single group, however, this can lead to a lot of coming and departing notifications in a conversation, which can be distracting to other participants.

    WhatsApp is also testing rich link previews in Status updates in another beta development. Rich link previews would provide a preview of the website being linked to, giving users an indication of the content they may expect to see if they visit the webpage, whereas sharing a link in a Status update now only displays the URL.

    The meta-owned WhatsApp hasn’t said when these new features will be available for the normal users, as it usually does while testing them with its beta users.

    Greater file transfers, emoji reactions and larger groups were among the most recent major additions to the platform in the last month.