These days whenever high-stakes elections happen, all eyes turn towards various social media platforms as hate speeches and fake news begin to be circulated due to myriad vested interests at play.

And Facebook being the biggest social media platform has often faced criticism not doing enough to curb the spread of misleading and triggering content.

And as four major States go for polls in India, the Facebook is again under the scrutiny.

But this time, the social media giant has come up with steps to clamp down on malicious content on its platform.

"We believe Facebook has an important part to play in creating an informed community, and helping people access all the information they need to take part in the democratic process. We also remind people to exercise their democratic right to vote," it said.

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Misleading content will be axed

Facebook has said it would temporarily reduce the distribution of content from accounts that have recently and repeatedly violated the company's policies.

This content will be removed if determined to violate Facebook's policies, but its distribution will remain reduced until that determination is made.

"We recognise that there are certain types of content, such as hate speech, that could lead to imminent, offline harm...To decrease the risk of problematic content going viral in these states and potentially inciting violence ahead of or during the election, we will significantly reduce the distribution of content that our proactive detection technology identifies as likely hate speech or violence and incitement," Facebook said in a blogpost.

Facebook uses tech to weed out hate speech

Facebook said it is taking steps to enhance civic engagement, combat hate speech, limit misinformation and remove voter suppression amid elections across Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry.

"We also continue to closely partner with election authorities, including to set up a high priority channel to remove content that breaks our rules or is against local law after receiving valid legal orders," it said.

Facebook pointed out that under its existing Community Standards, it removes certain slurs that it determines to be hate speech.

Facebook also uses technology to identify new words and phrases associated with hate speech, and either remove posts with that language or reduce their distribution.

Facebook said its policies prohibit voter interference, defined as objectively verifiable statements such as misrepresentation of dates and methods for voting (for example text to vote). It also removes offers to buy or sell votes with cash or gifts.

Facebook fact-checks in 11 Indian languages

Facebook also works with third-party fact-checkers --- it has eight partners in India --- to provide people with additional context about the content they're seeing on Facebook.

In addition to English, these eight partners fact-check in 11 Indian languages including Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam and Assamese.

When a fact-checker rates a story as false, such content is labelled and shown lower in News Feed, significantly reducing its distribution.

For the record, Facebook has been taking such measures during national elections across many countries, including India.

During 2019 national election in India, Facebook had set up a high priority channel with the Election Commission of India (ECI) for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, to receive content-related escalations.

But this is probably the first suo motu announcement from Facebook for Indian State elections. 

Its announcement for State polls show how important India is to Facebook. India is among the biggest markets for Facebook and its group companies, WhatsApp and Instagram. India has 53 crore WhatsApp users, 41 crore Facebook users, and 21 crore users of Instagram.

Source

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PUBG Mobile India launch has been a roller coaster. It was supposed to be the game's new localized variant tailored for the Indian market -- but it never got to see the light of day. While many have given up their hopes, a new development states that it will be available in a few weeks.

In September of 2020, the Indian government’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology blocked 118 apps including PUBG Mobile with Chinese connections over mishandling of users’ data. To return to India, PUBG Corp. decoupled from Tencent for its Indian operations and announced the development of PUBG Mobile India --- a new variant of the game with servers located in India, lesser violence, new visuals and smaller download size. A PUBG India Pvt. Ltd. company was also incorporated.

However, these efforts are yet to bear fruits, as the Government is still to approve of PUBG Mobile India. In fact, subsequent reports even stated that it might never launch in India again.

In a development that will please many gamers, YouTuber GodNixon (Luv Sharma) claims that the required approvals are in place, citing sources close to the government, in a video title “PUBG Mobile India Update! Government Approved”. It needs to be noted that there is no official confirmation of the same, so take this with a pinch of salt.

At the same time, another streamer that goes by the name of Ghatak (Abhijeet Andhare) tweeted about PUBG Mobile India: “I wasn’t going to reveal this, couldn’t hold myself back due to the support from the community. The next two months will be very good for PUBG lovers with interesting news coming soon”, without mentioning a date. While PUBG is likely to involve popular personalities in the re-launch, the partners wouldn’t be allowed to just reveal such a major announcement ahead of time, making us question the authenticity of the tweet. 

Nahi batane wala tha par apne londo ka pyaar rok nahi paya next two months are very good for pubg lovers and so many interesting news coming soon for TSM lovers ❤️ please don’t ask for dateMarch 27, 2021

It’s been more than six months since PUBG Mobile was banned from India, with nary a positive announcement. These developments, even if positive, aren’t enough to get excited about its return to India. We will be keeping an eye for an official confirmation. 

Via: 91mobiles

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Before you can improve a workflow, you have to understand how work advances through a business, which is more complex than you might imagine inside a large enterprise. That’s where Celonis comes in. It uses software to identify how work moves through an organization and suggests more efficient ways of getting the same work done, also known as process mining

Today, the company announced a significant partnership with IBM where IBM Global Services will train 10,000 consultants worldwide on Celonis. The deal gives Celonis, a company with around 1200 employees access to the massive selling and consulting unit, while IBM gets a deep understanding of a piece of technology that is at the front end of the workflow automation trend.

Miguel Milano, chief revenue officer at Celonis says that digitizing processes has been a trend for several years. It has sped up due to COVID, and it’s partly why the two companies have decided to work together. “Intelligent workflows, or more broadly spoken workflows built to help companies execute better, are at the heart of this partnership and it’s at the heart of this trend now in the market,” Milano said.

The other part of this is that IBM now owns Red Hat, which it acquired in 2018 for $34 billion. The two companies believe that by combining the Celonis technology, which is cloud based, with Red Hat, which can span the hybrid world of on premises and cloud, the two together can provide a much more powerful solution to follow work wherever it happens.

“I do think that moving the [Celonis] software into the Red Hat OpenShift environment is hugely powerful because it does allow in what’s already a very powerful open solution to now operate across this hybrid cloud world, leveraging the power of OpenShift which can straddle the worlds of mainframe, private cloud and public cloud. And data straddle those worlds, and will continue to straddle those worlds,” Mark Foster, senior vice president at IBM Services explained.

Celonis pushes beyond process mining into automated workflow tooling

You might think that IBM, which acquired robotic process automation vendor, WDG Automation last summer, would simply attempt to buy Celonis, but Foster says the partnership is consistent with the company’s attempt to partner with a broader ecosystem.

“I think that this is very much part of an overarching focus of IBM with key ecosystem partners. Some of them are going to be bigger, some of them are going to be smaller, and […] I think this is one where we see the opportunity to connect with an organization that’s taking a leading position in its category, and the opportunity for that to take advantage of the IBM Red Hat technologies…” he said.

The companies had already been working together for some time prior to this formal announcement, and this partnership is the culmination of that. As this firmer commitment to one another goes into effect, the two companies will be working more closely to train thousands of IBM consultants on the technology, while moving the Celonis solution into Red Hat OpenShift in the coming months.

It’s clearly a big deal with the feel of an acquisition, but Milano says that this is about executing his company’s strategy to work with more systems integrators (SIs), and while IBM is a significant partner it’s not the only one.

“We are becoming an SI consulting-driven organization. So we put consulting companies like IBM at the forefront of our strategy, and this [deal] is a big cornerstone of our strategy,” he said.

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna wants to completely transform his organization

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Samsung is gearing up to expand its F series portfolio with the launch of two new phones early next week. The company will launch the Samsung Galaxy F12 and the Galaxy F02s on April 5 in India. 

The Samsung Galaxy F12 and Galaxy F02s will be launched at 12 noon on April 5 in a virtual event. Both phones were previously spotted on different certification sites and database, so we know a few details about these phones. Also, the Flipkart launch page has revealed several key specifications of the devices. 

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Samsung Galaxy F12 specs

(Image credit: Flipkart)

The Samsung Galaxy F12 will come with a quad rear camera setup with a 48MP primary ISOCELL GM2 sensor. It will feature a 6.5-inch HD+ Infinity-V display with a screen refresh rate of 90Hz, a first in the F series. Under the hood, the device will be powered by Exynos 850 SoC. These are the specs that the Flipkart page offers us. These specs are similar to the Galaxy M12 budget phone which was launched back in March. 

The Galaxy F series has always a rebranded version of the M series counterpart and with the Galaxy F12, the brand is rebranding the Galaxy M12 and will sell on Flipkart with some changes. One change we can notice is the back panel design of the F12 which comes with a stripe line design as compared to the plain one on the Galaxy M12. 

Other features expected include up to 128GB storage and 6GB of RAM, Android 11 OS out of the box, 6000mAh battery, and an 8MP selfie camera. 

Samsung Galaxy F02s specs

(Image credit: Flipkart)

The Galaxy F02s will be more affordable than the F12 and will be launched along with the F12 on April 5. The pricing of the same was leaked a few days back. The Galaxy F02s will feature a 6.5-inch HD+ display, a 5000mAh battery, a 13MP triple rear camera, and will be powered by Snapdragon 450 SoC. Again, these specs are similar to the Samsung Galaxy M02s launched back in January 2021. 

According to the leaked pricing, the Galaxy F02s will be priced at Rs 8,999 for the 3+32GB variant and the 4+64GB variant will be priced at Rs 9,999.

The Galaxy F12 and F02s will join the Samsung Galaxy F41 and Galaxy F62 in the series.

Launching on April 5

Check out Samsung Galaxy F12 on Flipkart

Check out Samsung Galaxy F02s on Flipkart

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Update(April 1): The Redmi Note 10 Pro Max will go on sale today at 12 noon via Amazon. Again, the base variant won't be available for today's sale.

The Redmi Note 10 Pro Max is Xiaomi’s best budget smartphone yet, bringing quite a few premium features to the mid-range. If you were in the market for one, you can buy it starting today.

Launched on March 4 in India, the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max is amongst the best smartphones under Rs 20,000 in India. It will go on sale for the first time on March 18 at 12 noon on Amazon.

Redmi Note 10 Pro Max price in India starts at Rs 18,999 for the base variant with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, but it will not be available for today's sale. However, the 6GB + 128GB variant priced at Rs 19,999 and the 8GB + 128GB variant priced at Rs 21,999 will be available. Colour options include Vintage Bronze, Glacial Blue and Dark Night. ICICI Bank credit and debit cardholders will be eligible for a Rs 1,500 discount on the phone. 

Sale at 12 noon on April 1

Check out the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max

6GB + 64GB: Rs 18,999 (available later)

6GB + 128GB: Rs 19,999

8GB + 128GB: Rs 21,999

• Redmi Note 10 review
• Redmi Note 10 Pro Max review

Redmi Note 10 Pro Max specs and features

(Image credit: Amazon)

The Redmi Note 10 Pro Max is currently the cheapest smartphone to offer a 108MP camera stack, consisting of a Samsung HM2 primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide lens, a 5MP tele-macro shooter and a 2MP depth sensor. On the front is a 16MP selfie camera in a punch-hole notch.

The Super AMOLED display spans 6.67-inches and has a refresh rate of 120Hz and a peak brightness of 1,200 nits. It is protected by Gorilla Glass 5 against scratches and cracks. The fingerprint scanner is embedded in the power button on the side, and also supports gestures.

On the inside, the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max is powered by the Snapdragon 732G chipset and the Adreno 618 GPU, along with UFS 2.2 storage and LPDDR4X RAM. There’s a large 5,020mAh battery inside, which supports 33W fast charging via the included USB Type-C charger. Other features include IP52 water-resistance, dual stereo speakers, Hi-Res audio certification, a 3.5mm headphone jack, an IR blaster, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner with support for gestures and more.

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If you have a Nvidia GPU, you'll now be able to use GeForce GPU Passthrough when running virtual machines on Windows.

While the feature has been used for a while now, the company didn't officially support the technology in the past but this has changed with the announcement that GeForce GPU Passthrough for Windows Virtual Machine is now in beta.

GeForce desktop graphics cards that are based on the Kepler, Maxwell or Pascal architectures or newer will be able to take advantage of GPU passthrough when running a virtual machine on Windows. Users that want to leverage GPU passthrough on a laptop though will need a GPU based on the Maxwell architecture or newer.

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By using GPU passthrough, developers can use virtual machines to test software and even games on different operating systems while only using one machine. Linux users on the other hand will be able to play Windows-based games using a virtual machine with GPU passthrough enabled.

GeForce GPU Passthrough

In order to start using GeForce GPU Passthrough on your system, you'll need to ensure that you have the R465 driver installed.

While GPU passthrough could be a godsend for developers that want to test code in both Windows and Linux on one machine, there are some limitations.

For instance, Nvidia's GeForce GPU Passthrough technology only allows for one virtual machine to access the host machine's GPU. If you need to run multiple virtual machines using a single GPU, the company's GeForce graphics cards won't suffice. Instead you'll need to upgrade to either a Tesla or Quadro graphics card.

Now that Nvidia officially supports GPU passthrough, we'll likely see further enhancements and features that leverage the technology in the future.

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Rian Johnson scored a big win with 2019's Knives Out, a star-studded 'whodunnit' that proved both a critical and commercial hit for the writer-director following his successful-yet-divisive Star Wars film, The Last Jedi.

Johnson announced plans for a Knives Out sequel shortly after the first film's release that would see Daniel Craig return as detective Benoit Blanc to solve an entirely new mystery.

Although news on the follow-up has been quiet since then, a major development has occurred today, with Variety reporting that Netflix has purchased the rights to not one, but two Knives Out sequels for the astonishing price of $450 million.

The deal will see Johnson return to write and helm the two sequels, alongside Craig who will reprise his role as the brilliant, Southern-fried investigator who must solve an especially complex murder mystery with numerous suspects.

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Why Knives Out is a good investment for Netflix

While $450 million may seem like an outrageous sum to pay for two mid-budget mystery films, the purchase does provide Netflix with a ready-made franchise which already has a built-in fanbase.

Netflix has amassed an enormous audience over the years, but has so far struggled to develop compelling film properties which have lasting appeal. 

Recently, the company has attempted to kick off a number of blockbuster-style franchises with the likes of The Old Guard, Project Power and Outside the Wire, but most (with the exception of the Chris Hemsworth's record-smashing actioner Extraction) have faded from memory rather quickly.

On top of this, Netflix now has to compete with Disney Plus and HBO Max, which have a number of enormous franchise films in the pipeline from the likes of Star Wars, Marvel and DC, so it makes sense for the streaming giant to aggressively build its own exclusive properties with legitimate franchise appeal.

The first Knives Out made an impressive $311 million at the global box office from a budget of just $40 million. The film also earned Johnson an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. At present, it's unknown whether Knives Out 2 and 3 will also be released theatrically. 

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The cloud services giant VMware aims to help customers unlock the power of multi-cloud and deliver modern applications at the speed of business with the launch of its new multi-cloud platform VMware Cloud.

VMware Cloud is a distributed, multi-cloud platform that enables organizations to accelerate app modernization across the data center, edge and any cloud. The new platform also provides distinctive advantages to both developers and IT operators who are often forced to make trade offs.

With VMware Cloud, developers can be more productive as it allows them to build and deploy applications to any cloud. At the same time though, the platform enables IT departments to modernize their infrastructure and operations with better economics and less risk.

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COO of products and cloud services at VMware Raghu Raghuram provided further insight on the advantages of VMware Cloud in a press release, saying:

“We are on the cusp of the next evolution of cloud and apps. Architectures are becoming distributed and increasingly multi-cloud, while modern applications will soon outnumber traditional apps. The challenge for any CIO is to take advantage of this new innovation without introducing more complexity and risk. VMware Cloud is the only cloud solution today that customers can use in the datacenter and on any cloud, accelerating their modernization journey with speed, simplicity, and better security. With VMware Cloud Universal, customers make a single purchase and gain the ability to deploy apps across any environment, then move them as business or application requirements change.” 

VMware Cloud

By using VMware Cloud, customers can deploy apps to VMware Cloud Foundation running in AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud and Oracle Cloud on VMware Cloud on Dell EMC and across hundreds of VMware Cloud Verified partners.

With the launch of VMware Cloud, the company is also announcing new offerings that bring a more integrated experience to customers including VMware Cloud Universal, VMware Cloud Console and VMware Cloud Navigator.

VMware Cloud Universal is a flexible subscription that simplifies the purchase and consumption of VMware multi-cloud infrastructure and management services. Once customers purchase credits they can apply them to deployments of VMware Cloud Foundation on premises, VMware Cloud on AWS, or VMware Cloud on Dell EMC. The subscription also includes built-in Kubernetes through VMware Tanzu Standard.

VMware Cloud Console supports this new subscription and delivers end-to-end visibility and control of all VMware Cloud infrastructure across on-premises, cloud and edge environments. This integrated portal allows customers to allocate, manage and better optimize all of their VMware Cloud resources.

Finally, organizations can use VMware App Navigator to prioritize app modernization initiatives and deliver results faster. The new offering uses automated tooling and hands-on experimentation to plan just enough to get started, then quickly scale app and cloud transformation initiatives.

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Helping startups succeed has been an integral part of AWS since its beginning which is why Amazon's cloud computing arm has announced the launch of its new accelerator for space-focused startups.

AWS Space Accelerator is a four-week business support program open to space startups that are seeking to use AWS to help solve the biggest challenges in the space industry. Through its new accelerator, AWS will provide technical, business and mentoring resources to space startups around the globe.

AWS is also collaborating with the investment group Seraphim which focuses exclusively on the space industry to provide business development and investment guidance. Together, the two companies will select a cohort of space startups to participate in their intensive, four-week program with AWS Cloud and technical training to help accelerate their research, development and growth using AWS.

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Director of aerospace and satellite at AWS Clint Crosier explained in a blog post how the new accelerator will help startups in the space industry succeed, saying:

“Startups provide a catalyst for bold new experimentation in the space industry. We are proud to announce the AWS Space Accelerator as part of our ongoing commitment to help startups succeed, and to shape the future of aerospace. We look forward to helping the first cohort of companies launch and grow through this new program.”

AWS Space Accelerator

AWS and Seraphim are now accepting applications from innovative startups at all stages of maturity working with space technology or space-derived data that have a clearly defined and unique mission. Some examples of qualifying missions include (but are not limited to) earth observation, electronics and robotics, spacecraft launch and delivery, spacecraft hardware and software, launch manufacturing and launch operations.

Applications will be judged on several factors such as the innovative and unique nature of the project, the overall value the solution will bring to the industry, creative application of AWS to solve problems and the team's ability to deliver on an identified opportunity.

AWS and Seraphim will select a total of 10 companies to participate in the AWS Space Accelerator that is scheduled to take place in June. Selected startups may receive up to $100k in AWS Activate credit as well as mentoring from space domain and technical subject matter experts with experience working on AWS.

Interested space-focused startups can apply now and their proposals will be due on April 21.

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iOS 14.5 is the next version of iOS, and while it won’t be as big an update as iOS 15, which isn’t expected to land in finished form until September, it’s still set to add a bunch of new features and improvements.

We know this because iOS 14.5 is already in beta, so developers and members of the public have turned up all sorts of interesting additions. Some of these are handy upgrades, like an alternative to Face ID that lets you unlock your iPhone by wearing an Apple Watch.

iOS 14.5 beta 6 has arrived with another promising feature – recalibrating your iPhone's battery life estimates to correct faulty readings. Unfortunately, that feature's only for the iPhone 11 range at first, though we can't imagine why it won't come to other Apple phones. 

Below, we’ve highlighted the four best things we’re expecting in iOS 14.5. It’s worth noting that there’s a chance some of these things won’t turn up, as occasionally features in beta don’t make it to the finished release, but we’d certainly expect most of them.

We’ve also included information on when iOS 14.5 is likely to land, so that those who don’t want to brave the beta will know how long they have to wait.

Latest news

The iOS 14.5 beta 6 for developers came out, and with it the capability to recalibrate battery life estimates. This takes time – up to several weeks – and only seems to be for the iPhone 11 range for now.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? The next upgrade for your iPhone
• When is it out? Possibly in March 2021
• How much will it cost? It will be free

iOS 14.5 release date and beta

There’s no news on exactly when iOS 14.5 might launch, but we have reason to believe it’s coming very soon.

There are a couple of reasons for that. Firstly, it’s already available in both public and developer betas, which suggests it would probably arrive soon. But secondly and more significantly, Apple has launched a new 14.x version every calendar month since the launch of iOS 14, and iOS 14.4 landed in January, so we could see iOS 14.5 this month (March).

That said, iOS 14.4 started rolling out at the end of January, and the actual gap between new versions is over a month on average, so it might be towards the end March by the time we get iOS 14.5.

Expect to hear an exact date for the rollout before it arrives on your phone, but it's likely to be a quick turnaround between us hearing the new software upgrade is out and it actually landing on your iPhone.

• How to get iOS 14.4 on your iPhone

Five things iOS 14.5 will bring to your iPhone

We’re expecting a bunch of updates as part of iOS 14.5, but below we’ve listed the five most interesting ones that we’ve heard about so far.

1. Mask support for Face ID

(Image credit: Future)

Face ID was great until we all started wearing masks, but with iOS 14.5 Apple is making it great again, at least for Apple Watch owners.

That’s because as long as your Apple Watch is unlocked, you’ll now be able to use it to authenticate your identity on your phone, meaning you can simply raise your phone as if to use Face ID, and it will unlock, with a buzz on your wrist to tell you your watch has done the heavy lifting.

However, while this will work for unlocking your iPhone, it doesn’t currently work for other things that rely on Face ID, such as authenticating purchases. Still, it's a handy workaround for users who have had facial recognition blocked when wearing face masks – and given the feature arrived in iOS 14.5 beta 2 for developers, we'd expect this to land in the full release.

2. A change to your music players

Previously, we'd thought this change meant that you'd be able to change your default music player in iOS 14.5. A new update from Apple has confirmed that it won't work in the exact way we had expected though.

A new feature will allow you to better use your own choice of music players rather than your iPhone defaulting to Apple Music, but it isn't a specific change you can make within a Settings menu.

Instead, Siri will use its learning of how you listen to music, audiobooks and podcasts. When you ask it to play a specific piece of audio, it'll then ask you where you want to listen to it. 

Then it'll gently integrate that into your future listening, and that likely means that in the future your iPhone will learn you listen to music on Spotify and podcasts on the Apple Podcasts app.

• iOS 14.5 update won't let you change your iPhone's default music player after all

3. App Tracking Transparency

(Image credit: Apple)

iOS 14.5 is also expected to include a big new privacy feature called App Tracking Transparency. This will require apps to get your permission before sharing your activity and data with websites and apps owned by other companies.

This sharing of data is often used for adverts, with Facebook for example making big use of it, but with App Tracking Transparency you’ll be able to opt out if you’d prefer, and Apple is insisting that users still have full access to apps even if they do opt out of this.

4. PS5 and Xbox Series X controller support

If you’re a gamer then you’ll probably appreciate the addition of support for PS5 and Xbox Series X controllers as part of iOS 14.5. The Verge reports that this feature has been found in the public beta, and it should be a handy upgrade for anyone who owns one of these consoles, especially those who also make use of Apple Arcade.

Arguably this would be even more useful for gaming on an Apple TV, and while the feature isn’t yet confirmed for tvOS, we’d expect it will soon be added to that too.

5. Crowdsourced alerts in Apple Maps

(Image credit: Apple / MacRumors)

Many of us aren’t really going anywhere at the moment, but for those who do have much use for Apple Maps, there’s a potentially handy new feature in the iOS 14.5 beta.

MacRumors reports that you can now report accidents, hazards, and speed checks on your journey, and presumably if enough people flag the same thing a warning about it will appear on Apple Maps – though with so many people staying at home and the feature still being in beta, it’s not getting enough use for that to have been confirmed as far as we can see.

• What we know so far about iPadOS 15

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Banking and credit card customers who have activated recurring auto-debit transactions to pay bills for phone, internet and online streaming services may see their payments fail from tomorrow (April 1) as the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) mandate to banks for putting in place a security measure called Additional Factor Authentication (AFA) is set to kick in.

Many banks have already put out messages to their customers that since they are working on meeting the requirements laid down by RBI on e-mandate on cards for recurring transactions, any standing instruction for recurring transactions will not be approved.

UPI transactions are not covered under the new rule, and hence they will be unaffected.

It must also be clarified here that the RBI guidelines are only for e-mandate on cards for recurring transactions, and will not affect the standing instruction given on net banking for utility payments.

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What is the new RBI rule?

Ahead of its notification, RBI said (in August 2019) that it had received requests "from industry stakeholders to allow processing of e-mandate on cards for recurring transactions with AFA during e-mandate registration and first transaction, and simple/automatic subsequent successive transactions." To ensure users' safety and convenience, the RBI said it had agreed to this proposal.

RBI notification said those opting for automatic transactions will have to go through Additional Factor of Authentication for the first transaction, as well as subsequent successive transactions, subject to certain conditions. 

It means such recurring transactions will have to be manually authenticated via a one-time password (OTP), at least when they are being set up.

What should the banks do?

Banks have to send a pre-debit notification to the credit card users 24 hours before an actual debit to the credit card. This can be either through SMS or email, as chosen by the customer. 

The pre-transaction notification must intimate the cardholder about the name of the merchant, transaction amount, date/time of debit.

During the registration process, cardholder can provide e-mandate for either a pre-specified fixed value of recurring transaction or for a variable value of the recurring transaction. In the event of the latter, the maximum value of recurring transactions has been capped at Rs 2,000.

Till such time that they adhere to the new RBI rules, banks cannot honour e-mandates.

How the customers stand to benefit?

The fresh guidelines are expected to offer transparency to customers, as they will now receive an intimation from the issuer on the recurring transaction debit 24 hours ahead of the debit. 

It also empowers the customer with the facility to cancel the e-mandate before the transaction goes ahead. Customers also have the choice to withdraw the e-mandate given.

Further, customers will have to specify the validity period for the e-mandate. In other words, e-mandate is not for perpetuity.

Further, banks will have to provide the cardholder online facility to withdraw any e-mandate at any point of time.

What are the problem areas?

The RBI has refused to extend the deadline to meet the new norms. So, as per rules, banks cannot process some standing e-mandates on OTT streaming, and telecom services. 

Rejection of payment can cause turmoil in the system, with reports suggesting that transactions worth around Rs 2,000 crore hanging in balance.

As of now, third-party payment processors are not likely to share customer information with banks due to contractual agreements and this will add to the confusion.

The industry body, the Internet And Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has said: "Industry consultations suggest that most major scheduled commercial banks do not have upgraded capacities to comply. Due to this, the other participants in the ecosystem like acquirers and card networks have not been able to follow the obligations under these circulars."

There are also technical challenges as there is now a need for integration between the issuing bank, the acquiring bank and online merchants to authenticate messages.

For the record, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI as well as some card operators have told their network partners that they will not be able to process automatic payments.

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A month ago, we had reported about the imminent arrival of the next Google Pixel Buds. Now, there are reports that the next Made by Google true wireless earbuds (TWS) could arrive some time this summer and in all probability be called the "Pixel Buds A". 

The company had launched the Google Pixel Buds (2020) last year when it removed the cable from what was originally called the neckbuds. A year later, Google is once again hitting the lucrative TWS market with another product, which would require considerable enhancements if they are to compete with the top of the line products such as the Apple AirPods Pro and the Sony WF-1000XM3. 

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For now, there is no confirmation on the specs. All that the report published on 9to5Google indicates is a choice of two colors, white and green. The white model would have an all-white case interior and an all-white bud design, as against the black colour ear-tips, wings and case interiors seen in the earlier model. 

The green variant of the Pixel Buds A would arrive with a darker forest green colour as against the Quite Mint shade of previous year's model. The color shading would encompass the gadget as well as the whole case. Maybe, Google is creating these two colors to match the offerings from the rumoured Pixel 5a. But, we cannot be sure of this, as the Pixel 5a is still in the rumour stages only. 

The Pixel Buds A would provide touch controls for media as well as access to Google Assistant, though there is no clarity yet about enhancements that the company may have brought about over its devices from last year and their first one in 2017.

On the pricing front, all that we can say now is that the additional "A" in the name could mean a more affordable pair of TWS. Recent FCC listings suggest that the new pair of earbuds could be launching during the mid-year window instead of the usual schedule of September-October when Google times its launches. 

We had come up with some suggestions for improvements that could make Google's next earbuds a better value for money. 

• Improve the audio performance of the Pixel Buds, which seem to have an aggressive, fatiguing sound, with a weak bass response.
• Implement some form of active noise-cancelling technology, which is fast becoming a standard for true wireless earbuds. 
• Enhance battery life beyond what the 2020 version offered in terms of 3 hours per charge and a further 21 hours from the charging case. 

• Best headphones available in India: Headphones for any budget 

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Australia's Parliament House and the country's Channel Nine television network both recently fell victim to cyberattacks and at this time it's still unclear as to whether or not the attacks were related.

As reported by Sky News, a cyberattack disrupted Channel Nine's live broadcasts from Sydney and at the same time, an attack led to Parliament House's email system being taken offline.

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While the nature of the attack against the television network has yet to be confirmed, Channel Nine has begun an investigation into the matter to determine if it was “criminal sabotage or the work of a foreign nation”.

Targeting Australia

In a statement to News.com.au, Australia's assistant minister for defense Andre Hastie explained that cybersecurity isn't something for Australians to take lightly, saying:

"This is a timely reminder that Australians cannot be complacent about their cyber security. Cyber security is a team effort and a shared responsibility. It is vital that Australian businesses and organisations are alert to this threat and take the necessary steps to ensure our digital sovereignty."

Hastie also explained to the news outlet that the government was forced to cut access to IT and email services at Parliament House in order to protect against a cyberattack related to an external provider. However, Hastie nor the Australian government have yet to say which external provider was targeted by attackers.

We'll likely found out more once Channel Nine and the Australian government conclude their respective investigations into the matter.

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Via Sky News

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A lot has changed since Monk’s Hill Ventures released its first report on tech compensation in Southeast Asia five years ago, with base salaries and competition for top talent jumping dramatically. But one thing has remained the same since 2016: startup compensation data, including information about base pay, bonuses and stock options, is still hard to find. To get more data for its latest Southeast Asia Tech Talent Compensation report, which covers startup hiring in Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam, Monk’s Hill Ventures teamed up with Glints, one of its portfolio companies.

Glints is a recruitment platform that claims 4 million users each month and is used by 30,000 organizations. The report analyzed more than 1,000 data points from Glints’ proprietary database, including job advertisements and placements made through 2020, and surveyed 175 employees in both technical and non-technical roles. It also includes interviews with more than 20 founders, including from Bot MD, Carousell, Horangi, the Asianparent and Ninja Van. The full report can be downloaded here.

The report focused on Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam because they are three of the fastest-growing markets in Southeast Asia. It found that startups are dealing with several major shifts at the same time. There are more Southeast Asian startups maturing into late stage, but at the same time, large American and Chinese tech companies are setting up regional operations, including TikTok, Tencent, Alibaba and Zoom. This means compensation packages are being driven up and startups face a talent crunch, especially in Singapore. Most of the founders interviewed by Monk’s Hill Ventures and Glints said that base salaries have at least doubled since 2016.

Going remote even before the pandemic

But the range of salaries and talent pool varies widely between Southeast Asian countries, and as a result, tech startups can build strong teams with a regionally distributed strategy. For example, this can look like an engineering team in Vietnam, data science team in Singapore and product management team in Indonesia. Vietnam had the highest salary differences between senior and junior roles, for both tech and non-tech talent, compared to Singapore and Indonesia, which the report said means there is “strong potential for upward salary growth within the Vietnamese tech sector.”

Oswald Yeo, co-founder and chief executive officer of Glints, told TechCrunch that many startups were building regionally distributed engineering hubs before COVID-19 because there was simply not enough talent in Singapore. Now even more founders have become open to remote teams because of the pandemic. But having teams in different countries doesn’t just address the talent crunch. It also lays the groundwork for regional expansion.

“Commercially in Southeast Asia, you can’t stay in a single market unless it’s maybe Indonesia,” said Yeo. “If you stay only in Singapore, Malaysia or even Vietnam, you will not be a large enough business and make the impact you want to make. A lot of startups have to venture out, so they end up having commercial teams in each market anyway and then it’s very normal for them to build product and tech teams in those markets.”

Competing for specialized skills

The report found that tech roles, including product, data science and engineering, earn 54% more than non-technical roles, like marketing, operations or finance. But the base salary between product and data science roles over non-technical roles was one to two times higher than for engineering, suggesting that “while engineering skills are becoming more common across the region, specialized product and data science skills remain hard to come by.”

Founders said that vice presidents of engineering in particular are seen as one of a startup’s most critical hires. Singapore-based startups at Series B and upward paid base monthly salaries ranging from $7,500 to $10,000, with equity compensation from 0.3% to 1.2%. In Indonesia, base salaries for engineering VPs ranged from $2,800 to $7,100 depending on the stage of company, and in Vietnam, early stage companies paid on average $1,000 to $5,000. That amount increased to $5,000 to $6,000 after raising Series A funding, and $8,000 to $10,000 for companies at Series B stage and above.

The competition for top tech talent is also reflected in C-level compensation. The report found that chief executive officers tend to hold more equity in their startups, but chief technology officers consistently have higher median base salaries, “suggesting that CEOs are often willing to take a pay cut in favor of their technical counterparts, who are typically highly valued and considered scarce assets to the company.”

Based on combined data from Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia, CEO’s median salary increased from $2,600 a month at the $0 to $10 million funding stage, to $6,000 a month at $5 million to $10 million in funding. In comparison, at the same funding stages, CTO’s median salary increased from $3,300 to $7,550 respectively. CEO at startups with funding up to $5 million owned between 15% to 100% of their company’s equity, while the average ownership of CTOs at that stage is 19%.

Cash versus equity

Another noteworthy finding is that less than 32% of tech talent surveyed by Monk’s Hill Ventures and Glints are being compensated in equity. Founders said employees, especially junior-to-mid level hires, still prefer cash. But this is changing as founders spend more time educating their teams about the benefits of equity, and some startups are now also offering annual wage supplements, bonuses, restricted stock units or employee stock ownership plans.

Some founders reported that executives who have worked in the American or Singaporean startup ecosystems are keener on equity options, but in general, there needs to be more startup exits in Southeast Asia for candidates to become open to equity.

Before co-founding Monk’s Hill Ventures, Peng Ong was a venture partner at GSR Ventures in China. “In 2010, in that time frame, there were the same issues there. People wanted cash. Fast forward to three years later, when the IPOs started to happen, all that changed. People wanted options,” Ong told TechCrunch. He said that the same shift is gradually starting to happen in Southeast Asia, thanks to Sea Group and Razer’s IPOs.

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The Realme GT Neo, which is launching in China today, could soon be arriving in India, with the device already appearing on the BIS website. While information on the device was being leaked over the past few days, with its appearance on TENAA now, there's hardly anything left to know. 

While teaser posters on Weibo revealed the design specs of the device with its dual-tone finish and rectangular camera module, additional images and specifications have now arrived on TENNA where the Realme GT Neo is identified with the model number RMX3031. The same is now available on the Indian IMEI database and has now appeared on the BIS certification website. 

• Realme GT price in India, specs, launch date and leaks

The TENAA listing reveals a corner punch-hole camera and a rear panel that we have already seen on the teasers. In addition, it also suggests that the Realme GT Neo will have a 6.43-inch screen and a 4,400mAH battery. The device itself measures 158.5 x 73.3 x 8.4 mm, indicating a reasonable fit within an average palm. 

The affordable gaming flagship phone will be powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 processor which could make it quite a welcome addition for gamers, given that the new chipset offers 22% faster CPU performance and 25% more power efficiency. 

We already know from the posters that the Realme GT Neo has a dedicated button that is being referred to as the GT Mode. It would offer performance boosts whereby all available resources in the device would be made available to the current task that the user wants it to run. 

This could be a boon for gamers who require sound processing and good screen speed during a gaming session. The Realme GT Neo offers lightning, 4D vibration, enhanced image quality, and full-on performance, as per the Weibo poster.

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New details have emerged regarding the SolarWinds hack following an Associated Press (AP) investigation in which it interviewed more than a dozen current and former US government officials.

The news outlet has learned that the Russian hackers believed to be responsible for the hack gained access to email accounts belonging to the Trump administration's head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Chad Wolf and members of the department's cybersecurity staff tasked with hunting for cyberthreats from foreign countries.

While the Biden administration has been keeping details of the hack close, an inquiry by the AP has discovered new information about the breach at DHS and other government agencies including the Energy Department. According to the current and former government officials the news outlet spoke with on the condition of anonymity, the hackers were able to access the schedules of several top Trump officials.

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These officials also revealed that Wolf and other top Homeland Security officials began using new phones that were wiped clean and had the popular encrypted messaging service Signal installed on them to communicate during the days following the attack.

Securing US government systems

Back in December of last year, officials discovered a cyberespionage effort conducted by foreign hackers that exploited vulnerabilities in SolarWinds software to hack at least nine federal agencies in addition to dozens of private-sector companies.

US authorities currently believe that Russian hackers are responsible and the leader of the Pentagon's cyber force, General Paul Nakasone,  said that the Biden administration is considering a “range of options” in response to the attack. In fact, a Russian government agency recently warned businesses to safeguard themselves against retaliatory cyberattacks.

While several congressional hearings have already been held regarding the SolarWinds hack, they have been short on details regarding how hackers were able to access the systems of US government agencies.

The Biden administration now appears to be taking steps to further secure US government systems and President Biden plans to issue an executive order in the near future which will address “Significant gaps in modernization and in technology of cybersecurity across the federal government”. The latest stimulus package also includes $650m in new funds for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to improve cyber defenses in the US.

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Via Associated Press

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Missing Game of Thrones since it ended? You're not alone. Luckily, it's incredibly easy to rewatch the entire series in Australia, with a number of on demand options readily available.

If you're not caught up yet, what have you been doing?! We can only assume you were in a country with a painfully early viewing time when it aired live. But don't worry, you can now watch the whole of Game of Thrones online. 

Whether you're just starting season 8, gearing up for the epic finale or even half-way through season 3 (come on, the shows been out for years!) we can tell you there is a lot of drama to come. 

Plus, with a Game of Thrones prequel on the way, it's still well worth revisiting all the major events from each of show's eight seasons. They may not mean much in regards to the prequel series, but there's every chance it will delve into story aspects that were previously touched on in original show. So keep reading as we tell you how to watch Game of Thrones from anywhere.

So if you’ve got everything ready for the new episode this weekend (Arya fan t-shirts and Wildling fur coats are essential) and just lack the streaming service and time, you can find everything you need to know about how to watch Game of Thrones online on this page.

Watch Game of Thrones online: stream outside your country

Are you an Aussie that's currently outside of Australia? You will likely find that watching Game of Thrones via your usual Australian services won't be an option thanks to geo-blocking, but with the handy help of a VPN, you can get around that without having to sign up to additional services.

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We've put all the major VPNs through their paces and we rate ExpressVPN as our top pick, thanks to its speed, ease of use and strong security features. It's also compatible with just about any streaming device out there, including Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Xbox and PlayStation, as well as Android and Apple mobiles.

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Watch Game of Thrones online in Australia

If you're trying to watch Game of Thrones in Australia, there are a number of options for you. By far the easiest option streaming option is Binge, which has all eight seasons of the show on offer. 

Following the service's 14-Day Free Trial period, prices start at AU$10 per month for two SD streams, moving up to AU$14 per month for two HD streams, and AU$18 per month for four HD streams. 

Additionally, the show is available on demand via Foxtel's cable service, as well as the or the company's streaming service, Foxtel Now, which starts at AU$25 per month. All episodes are now available to watch on Foxtel.

Like all of the streaming services above, you will have to pay to get a subscription and there are a host of different packages available, but Foxtel Now offers a free 10-day trial if you haven't already signed up.

Watch Game of Thrones: The Last Watch - a documentary on season 8 on Foxtel.

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With the quantum era just around the corner, interest in quantum computing has grown tremendously over the past few years which is why IBM has announced the world's first ever developer certification for programming a quantum computer.

According to a report from the market research firm P&S Intelligence, quantum computing could be a $65bn industry by 2030 and this will likely lead to an influx of new jobs in the field. 

With its new IBM Quantum Developer Certification, IBM Quantum is providing a path for people with all development backgrounds to earn a certification in programming with Qiskit.

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For those unfamiliar, Qiskit is an open source quantum software development kit supported by IBM. Since its launch in 2017, thousand of users have developed applications, maintained and improved code and have take part in hackathons using Qiskit.

IBM Quantum Developer Certification

As IBM makes progress on its quantum development roadmap, the company wants to build a diverse, global, cloud-based ecosystem of developers who can bring quantum computing skills to their industries and communities.

The IBM Quantum Developer Certification is a 60-question certification exam that will be offered on the Pearson VUE platform. Those who pass the exam will have demonstrated experience using Qiskit to create and execute quantum computing programs on both IBM's quantum computers and simulators. When it's released, the exam will be available worldwide and will be in English.

As IBM Quantum's hardware and software develop further, so too will the IBM Quantum Developer Certification in order to show that certified individuals are able to use state-of-the-art hardware and application modules.

In addition to its new certification, IBM Quantum is also working to ensure that educators have access to its tools through its Quantum Educators program and its Introduction to Quantum Computing and Quantum Hardware semester-long course. Interested users can apply for the IBM Quantum Developer Certification here.

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Around the world, it's become second nature for people to navigate their way through cities and streets via Google Maps, but now the tech giant has announced you'll soon be able to bring some of that power to indoor spaces as well.

The latest post on Google's blog lists a host of AI-powered updates that will be rolling out over the course of the year to Google Maps, and chief among them is an Indoor Live View.

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Google Maps has already implemented Live View for a while now – a feature which uses the company's wealth of Street View footage to determine specific directions and overlay them over live footage from your camera, creating an augmented reality (AR) directional tool.

Indoor Live View, as its name suggests, is the same feature but will also operate in a number of key indoor locations such as malls, airports, and other transit stations.

According to Google, this new feature "can help you find the nearest elevator and escalators, your gate, platform, baggage claim, check-in counters, ticket office, restrooms, ATMs and more," so it's clearly a granular tool.

As for availability, the feature is live now on both iOS and Android apps, but is currently only operating in "a number of malls in Chicago, Long Island, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle," with locations in Tokyo and Zurich rolling out in the coming months and other cities further down the track.

Google Maps and the environment

Along with this key feature, a number of other tools are finding their way to Google Maps, including map layers that provide information on current and forecast weather conditions for specific areas, as well as the air quality in an area (granted there's a nearby Air Quality Index [AQI] station).

The weather layer will roll out globally over the course of the year, and the AQI layer will be coming to the US, India and Australia.

(Image credit: Google)

For the environmentally-conscious Google Maps user, you'll soon be able to select a route based on lower fuel consumption and, as a result, lower carbon emissions. This will be calculated based on factors such as high density traffic and road incline.

In fact, Google Maps will default to choosing the more eco-friendly route when the alternatives "has approximately the same ETA," but you'll be given a prompt when it will take significantly longer. In either case, you'll be told how fewer emissions your trip will cause as a percentage.

This feature will land 'later this year' in the US on both Android and iOS, with other countries on the way.

From June, Google Maps will let you know if you'll be driving through low emission zones in global locations and cities that enforce them, and whether or not your vehicle is allowed in them. This feature will be coming to Germany, Netherlands, France, Spain and the UK, with more to follow.

Google is also making the choice between sustainable transport options easier to access with a singular screen within Maps that quickly summarizes all the different modes of transit to your destination and the time they'll take.

This feature will also learn from your habits and location to prioritize certain suitable options higher in the list – you can select your preferred methods manually, but biking options will be preferred if you cycle often, similarly with public transport. This feature is rolling out globally 'in the coming months'.

A number of other features will be coming to the iOS and Android app over the course of the year, including improvements to pickup and delivery details for participating grocery stores and service providers, as well as updates to Assistant Driving Mode.

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