Technology

Amazon Prime has reached a new milestone. Amazon Prime is an online video-on-demand service. It has reached a user base of 200 million worldwide. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said that the platform saw a massive jump in users during the pandemic, almost a rise of 50 million. Several OTT platforms saw new users subscribing to their subscriptions during the pandemic. Bezos made the revelation in his final annual letter to the company shareholders. Bezos’s letter comes days ahead of him stepping down from the post. He will now serve as executive chairman after leaving the CEO’s chair. He will be replaced by Andy Jassy. Jassy’s current role is at Amazon Web Series where he serves as the CEO.

As an executive chairman, Bezos will work on the company’s side projects. According to Bezos’ letter, the company hired 500,000 employees last year. Amazon currently provides direct employment to 1.3 million people globally. He added that Amazon Prime has now more than 200 million subscribers. He said that Web Services has millions of customers. The year 2020 ended with over USD 50 billion annualized run rate. As many as 1.9 million businesses sell their products in the Amazon store. These small and medium businesses comprise approximately 60 percent of Amazon’s total retail sales. More than 100 million customers have connected smart devices to its virtual assistant service Alexa.

Bezos in the latter underlined that he has created a wealth of USD 1.6 trillion for those who own Amazon’s share. He is the biggest shareholder of Amazon. He founded Amazon 27 years ago as an online bookstore. He later expanded its reach by making building it into a shopping and entertainment behemoth. Bezos is holding the CEO’s chair since he founded the company. Bezos said as he vacates the CEO’s office, he will continue to have a broad influence over the company’s businesses and functioning. Bezos also owns Blue Origin which is a space exploration firm. The company is bidding for NASA’s vehicle that will take humans to Moon. Besides, Bezos has a handsome stake in Washington Post.

Cellphone number of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg got leaked in the data breach, suggest reports. This is the same data breach that leaked information of around 500 million Facebook users. Personal information like location, date of birth, marriage information, and Facebook user ID of Zuckerberg was stolen and made available on a hacker forum. The report about the leak has been confirmed by cyber researcher Dave Walker. Walker said that the personal information of Facebook Inc co-founders Chris Hughes and Dustin Moskovitz too were leaked.

“Regarding the Facebook leak that involved information of around 533 million users, the iron is that details of Mark Zuckerberg is regrettably included as well,” Walker tweeted. When asked to comment on the development, a Facebook spokesperson said that it was old data. “The data we are talking about is old. We got to know about the issue and fixed it in August 2019,” the Facebook spokesperson was quoted as saying by a report. But Facebook has not made any comment on information related to Facebook CEO getting leaked.

The information was being first distributed by a bot. But now the entire dataset has been made available free on the hacking forum. The first Facebook data leak includes the much-talked-about Cambridge Analytica saga. At that time, personal information of around 87 million was accessed by the political data analytics firm. Following the reports about the leak, the social media giant was hit a huge fine. The Federal Trade Commission had imposed a fine of USD 5 billion on Facebook. It was the part of settlement claims that Facebook mishandled the data of its users. The social media giant has vowed to take all measures to clamp down on data breaches. Facebook in a post had said that it will take appropriate actions against potential past abuse. The company also promised to put stronger security measures in place to prevent such measures in the future.

NASA has announced that it will fly its helicopter on Mars in the first week of April. The agency said that all modalities are in place for the flight. This will be the first time when a helicopter will fly on the Red Planet. According to the agency, engineers will attempt to fly Ingenuity on April 8. Ingenuity is a mini-helicopter that is attached to Perseverance. The helicopter weighs 1.8 kg. It will be a controlled flight and the first since the rover landed on the planet in February 2020. NASA said that the successful flight will see engineers achieving a series of daunting milestones. It will also pave the way for planning similar flights on Moon and other celestial objects.

NASA said that scientists want to demonstrate how this helicopter flight will redefine the approach towards Mars. It said that the scientific approach for Mars was changed in 1977. It was in 1977 when the Sojourner rover arrived at the Red Planet. It proved that roving Mars was possible. The future missions were then redefined accordingly. Data obtained during the upcoming helicopter flight will tell scientists about the expansion of research horizons on Mars. The agency is confident that technology used in Ingenuity will give expected results. Besides, it will broaden the scope of the planet’s exploration. Perseverance has already deployed the shield that protected Ingenuity at the time of landing. The rover is in transit to the airfield where the mini-helicopter will attempt the powered and controlled flight.

A controlled flight on Mars is much more difficult than a similar flight on Earth. The planet’s gravity and atmosphere are different from Earth’s. According to NASA, Ingenuity will have 30 days after deployment for the flight. It will take almost six days to complete the deployment process. Mars’ surface during the daytime receives nearly 50 percent of the solar energy that reaches Earth’s surface. The night temperatures drop as low as -90 degrees Celsius. These extreme weather conditions can damage electrical components. To survive the Martian nights, the helicopter needs to have enough power to keep its internal heaters active.

The dark mode theme is becoming very popular. Search engine giant Google is also adding support for the dark mode to its apps and services. The company has announced that the theme is now available for Google Maps on Android. It said that a full-fledged dark mode feature is being rolled out for users worldwide. Google started testing the dark mode in September last year. The company tested the feature with a limited number of users to iron out the issues. Google introduced dark mode theme for Maps on iOS in February but it was delayed for Android.

Google said that the dark mode has numerous benefits. It gives a soothing view because of the low contrast. The theme also saves battery and enhances its performance. Google said downloading the latest update of the app on Android devices is necessary to get access to the feature. The latest version that is available for download is 10.61.2. The company has added the dark mode support in this version. Users are given options to turn on and off the feature. One has to go to the profile option in Google Maps and then look for theme settings. Now search for the configuration and enable the dark mode.

As the name suggests, the dark mode theme will convert the display into a dark color. It will make it easier for users to read texts. Google first launched the dark mode theme in 2018 on Google Maps. But it was restricted for navigation purposes. The company delayed the feature’s expansion on the app. Additionally, Google has added a new tool for Android devices. It is called Password Checkup. The company said that the feature is integrated into smartphones. Devices running Android 9 and above version will get the feature in-built. Using Password Checkup will ensure the security of users’ passwords. Google will warn users in case of a compromised password. The feature will curb incidents of breaches. Users can manually review saved passwords and perform a checkup.

Those who often search Angie’s List will now have to change their searcher going forward as the company has rebranded itself as Angi Inc. The company has not just officially changed its name but also revamped its websites. With the aim to have deeper penetration in the home services industry, the company has even launched a new app. The company says that with the new name it simply wants to highlight that it will offer consumers a single platform where they can connect contractors for all work related to their home. The changes are justified as CEO Oisin Hanrahan has said that there is an opportunity to address a market of USD 500 billion.

“This is a very huge market and we have built a reputation for ourselves. Angie is a trusted and well-known name. People understand that what the company stands for. The change is to highlight that we have much more to offer to our customers. They have been so confined by the literal meaning of the name. It was a much-needed step to tap the market,” Hanrahan was quoted as saying in news reports. The portfolio of services offered by the company includes Fixd Repair, HomeStars, HomeAdvisor, and Handy. The company said that it has also made some functional changes to the technology in its app to give customers a better experience.

The company said that now its customers can have access to the entire home repair process. “From booking to payment, everything is available under one umbrella. The new app will let out customers make payments through the app. Moreover, financing options to have been included in it.” According to the company, the platform has 250,000 businesses for hire and they were used by more than 18 million households in the United States last year. The best thing for the company was that it registered double-digit growth even during the pandemic. Angi reported around USD 1.47 billion in revenue in the year 2020. This is was up by around 10.7 percent from the previous year.

Tech giant Apple has decided to discontinue the HomePod speaker. The full-size speaker will soon be out of the market. The product is famous among music lovers. It is touted as the perfect speaker for music enthusiasts. It allowed music lovers to explore a variety of aural entertainment. The HomePod was announced by Apple in 2017. The company will not focus on promoting the HomePod mini. The device has garnered public attention and has been a huge success in the market. Apple in a statement said that the full-size speaker will be available till its supplies last. The gadget will be available via Apple Retail Stores, Apple Online Store till the supply ends. It will also be available through Apple’s authorized resellers.

The company will provide software updates, technical support, and hardware services to HomePod customers via Apple Care. The decision to discontinue the original HomePod comes in the backdrop of a fall in the sales of the gadget. The HomePod mini was launched late last year. According to Apple, the HomePod mini has been a hit since its launch. The device comes in two colors white and grey. Apple said that it works effortlessly with iPhone and other company devices. The company said that it also workers perfectly with Apply TV. It elevates the sound and plays music from a Mac and more. The HomePod mini uses a full-range driver. The speaker deepens bass and offers high frequencies.

According to Apple’s website, the HomePod mini comes with a three-microphone array. It enhances the experience of music lovers by offering quality and impressive sound and services. It has smart home capabilities. The company said that it has built-in privacy and security. It works smoothly with Apple products. Besides listening to music, the smart speaker makes it easy to answer calls. The device has innovative technologies and advanced software. It comes with a new Intercom feature. This lets users in a home connect with each other. Apple said that the HomePod mini takes the sound to the next level.

Popular instant messaging app WhatsApp is working on a new encryption feature. The new password protection feature is aimed at protecting users’ chat backups in Cloud. The password feature will guard the data from hackers. To encode the data, one must enter a password. Once the entry is matched in the Cloud users will be able to access the chat backups. The company said that no one else other than the users can encrypt the backups. WhatsApp chats are end-to-end encrypted. However, there is no mechanism available to lock chat backups in Cloud. The protection doesn’t apply to such online backups. The backups are stored on Apple iCloud and Google Drive.

The feature will check unauthorized access to the backups. The password to protect backups will be private. It will not be sent to WhatsApp. Users will be given an option to set a password in a future build for both Android and iOS. WhatsApp is believed to be testing the feature with limited users. The feature was spotted last year as well. Users will need the password when they restore the chat from the backup. WhatsApp didn’t reveal the launch date of the feature. It is predicted that the feature could become live in May alongside the company’s controversial privacy policy. The new feature comes amidst reports of feat among users over the privacy of their data.

WhatsApp is currently facing a barrage of criticism for its new privacy policy. The new policy was set to come into effect from February 8. But the company deferred it by three months. The company delayed the implementation to buy time to tell users about the policy. The company had said that accounts not accepting the new terms and conditions will be suspended or deleted. But WhatsApp postponed the privacy policy following a massive backlash. The company alleged that the new policy will compromise with users’ data and vowed to allay the fears related to the update. WhatsApp said it is committed to the privacy of users and that conversations are end-to-end encrypted.

Volvo has decided to be part of the trend followed by other competitors to respond to the growing concern about climate. The Chinese-owned vehicle manufacturer has announced its plan to go all-electric by the end of this decade. The company also said that it will sell electric vehicles only online. As part of its plan, the Swedish brand will stop selling vehicles powered only by diesel or gasoline by 2025. The company has set the target that 50 percent of total sales of vehicles will be electric and the remaining 50 percent will be of hybrid cars in the next four years.

The targets look pretty aggressive considering the fact that it so far had only one fully electric vehicle till recently. XC40 Recharge was the only fully electric vehicle that the company has been offering so far. However, the company has now revealed its second fully electric small SUV C40. It is almost identical to its predecessor XC40. However, changes at the front headlights and more tapered roofline are pretty obvious. The new vehicle has 150kW fast charging capability and the company is confident that it will allow customers to tap into the growing networks of fast-charging stations.

Volvo said that there is hardly a future with an internal combustion engine. “The company has decided to go through a transition. The decision to sell only electric cars will help the company to meet the expectations of our customers. Most importantly, we will be part of the solution to drastic climate change,” said Volvo chief technology officer Henrik Green. Volvo emphasized that it will focus on online sales as part of the transition and has plans to invest heavily in it. The announcement by Volvo comes days after Geely, owner of Volvo, scrapped the plans to merge two car companies. It must be noted that the strategy announced by the Volvo has already been adopted by carmakers like Tesla. The electric car market leader is already selling vehicles online.

Tech giant Apple has said that iOS 14 installation has increased significantly in the last few years. The company said that over 86 percent of the iPhones launched in the last four years have iOS 14 installed. iOS 14 is a mobile operating system. It is Apple’s fourteenth operating system for its devices. The operating system was released in September 2020. According to Apple’s Developer webpage, 80 percent of all devices use iOS 14. Around 12 percent are running iOS 13. The remaining 8 percent are still using iOS 12 or an earlier version. As many as 70 percent of the iPads are using iPadOS 14. Nearly 14 percent are running iPadOS 13 and the remaining 16 percent are using an older version.

Apple launched iOS 14 with exciting features and new improvements. The company introduced the new OS as a free software update to iPhone 6s and later. The company redesigned the widgets, picture-in-picture video and also improved Maps. The redesigned widgets display timely information at a glance. The picture-in-picture support allows users to watch a video. Users can also take a FaceTime call as they use another app. Other features also saw major improvements in iOS 14 including new options for third-party apps. Users can even pin conversations in iOS 14 to the top of the messages list. Apple has made the Maps application easier than ever to explore and navigate.

Apple said that it will soon release another iOS update. Apple said that it will provide support to set a default music streaming service with 14.5 while using Siri to play music. This means that users can select a third-party music service to play songs while using Siri. Apple has already released the update to developers. Public beta testers are also able to use iOS 14.5. Apple promised that iOS 14.5 will offer several exciting features to users. Meanwhile, Apple has claimed that its base of iPhone users has reached a new high. There are more than 1 billion iPhones currently active on Earth.

Tech giant Apple is working on the next-generation AirPods. Wireless earbuds are among hugely popular devices offered by Apple. Apple claims that AirPods delivers an unparalleled listening experience to users. The third-generation AirPods will come with some major changes. The iPhone maker has slightly changed its design. It will feature a flat edge. Apple has also changed the placement of the devices’ sensors. It will have the H1 chip at the core. It will be fixed in a SiP enclosure. A South Korean supplier of AirPods is developing the new SiP. It is said to be in a square shape. The AirPods Pro SiP previously came in a round-shape.

Apple has more to offer with the new AirPods. It will add features that are currently available in the Pro version. The company is unlikely to offer upgrades in sound quality but it will be providing support for Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). It is a popular method that reduces unwanted sound to deliver the best quality sound. The technique involves adding a second sound that is designed especially to cancel the first. Apple will offer the new AirPods at a much cheaper rate than the previous ones. It will be priced at least 20 percent cheaper. If all goes as per the plan, Apple could launch the device in the first half of 2021.

The charging case of the new device will be similar to the Pro variant. It will, however, be smaller in size. The company will add a charging indicator on the front. It will support wireless charging. The case will be rectangular instead of square in shape. The new device will also feature pressure-relieving technology. Apple offered this feature previously on the AirPods Pro. The technology is very helpful as it removes the discomfort when someone uses it for long. It equalizes the pressure within the ears of listeners. The overall new design of the new device will be an amalgamation of AirPods2 and AirPods Pro.

Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi is planning to venture into the automobile sector. The company is believed to working on building its own smart car. It is developing a new concept for a smart car. The development is seen as a strategic decision by the company. It has so far not revealed specific details related to the smart car. The Beijing-based firm is yet to determine the path to take the concept forward. Its CEO Lei Jun will directly head the project. Jun co-founded Xiaomi in 2010. Xiaomi is today one of the largest electronics companies in the world. It manufactures smartphones and consumer electronics. Jun took the company to new heights and his leadership will be crucial in materializing the new project.

Jun visited the United States twice in 2013. He had met Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Tesla is today’s world’s largest electric automaker. Jun’s meetings with Musk have finally yielded some results. He has grown interests in a smart car. The timing of Xiaomi’s entry into the auto sector is significant. The electric vehicle market is gaining popularity worldwide. Electric vehicles are projected as an alternative to vehicles that run on fossil fuels. They are greener than conventional vehicles. The fast adoption of electric vehicles will cut the dependency on fossil fuels and also check the rising levels of air pollution. Xiaomi’s diversification is likely to be influenced by the stagnation of the smartphone market.

Xiaomi is not the only electronics company that is planning to build a smart car. Another Chinese multinational Huawei has already announced to develop a smart car. The company has said that it is partnering with Hicar & BAIC for the project. The Chinese market has seen a demand for smart vehicles in the last few years. The government offers incentives to companies involved in the manufacturing of electric vehicles. Tesla has already set up a manufacturing plant in Shanghai. In another related development, iPhone maker Apple is also working on an electric car concept. The project is currently undergoing research and development.

Instant messaging app Telegram is gaining popularity. It has just achieved a new milestone in downloads. Telegram has now become the most downloaded app in the world. Data showed that Telegram in January 2021 was downloaded more than 63 million times. This is the highest number in the non-gaming category. This translates into 3.8 times of the apps total downloads in the corresponding period a year ago. The massive surge was mainly driven by Indian users. Indians contributed around 24 percent to the 63 million downloads. This means India saw the largest number of Telegram installs. No country was close to even half of the total downloads in India. The second country on the list was Indonesia with 10 percent.

On the Play Store, Telegram was at the ninth spot in December last year in the overall downloads in the non-gaming category. On the App Store, Telegram entered the list of top 10 most downloaded in the non-gaming category. It has grabbed the fourth spot. Telegram’s popularity increased dramatically after a massive row over WhatsApp. WhatsApp brought a new privacy policy for which it faced a backlash. It was sending notifications to users in India asking them to accept the new policy. The company said that accounts not accepting the new policy will be deleted from the platform. The policy was slated to come into effect from February 8. But WhatsApp delayed the implementation by three months.

Telegram saw people shifting from WhatsApp to the platform in the wake of the controversy. The messages on the platform are encrypted. In another related development, Telegram said that it will allow the users to bring chat history to the platform from WhatsApp and other apps. The facility is for both individuals and groups. Users can import messages, photos, and videos. The moved messages and media will not occupy extra space. Telegram was launched in 2013. Telegram chats and calls are end-to-end encrypted. Telegram was ranked the eighth most downloaded app in 2020 in the world. Telegram founder Pavel Durov has promised to launch new capabilities in the coming days to enhance user experience. It recently launched multiple pinned messages feature among others.

The US space agency NASA has said that the International Space Station is now upgraded to the lithium-ion battery. It took more than 10 years to upgrade the ISS’ primary power system. Thirteen astronauts conducted 14 spacewalks to replace the old batteries. NASA said that the ISS used the nickel-hydrogen batteries since its launch. The task to upgrade the system started in 2009. A study was conducted to know the risk. The findings said that lithium-ion batteries can be used at the ISS. The program to develop the new battery was approved in 2011. The production started in 2014. In December 2016, the work commenced replacing the power storage system at the research facility.

NASA said that the upgrades will boost the space station’s capability. It will ensure uninterrupted support to astronauts for doing research and develop space technology for future missions. The lithium-ion battery is an advanced technology battery. It only uses lithium ions. It is popular for aerospace applications. The battery is mostly used for portable gadgets. It is also used extensively by car making companies in electric vehicles. It can deliver large amounts of power. The maintenance cost is very low. There is no need for scheduled cycling to maintain life. Their life is very long. Commercial production started in 1991.

Meanwhile, the ISS is now open for business activities. The ISS was launched in 1998. It serves as a base for space agencies to conduct experiments in low-Earth orbit. The latest achievement will help NASA to prepare for future long-duration missions including the Artemis program and then the Mars. NASA said that the new lithium-ion batteries were provided by Boeing. To install one lithium-ion battery and adapter plate at the ISS, astronauts replaced two nickel-hydrogen batteries. ISS orbits 400 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. It is the largest man-made body in low Earth orbit. The facility is so huge that humans can see it with the naked eye from Earth. Astronauts from 19 countries have visited the ISS since it began operations.

The US space agency NASA has completed a key rocket test for the upcoming Artemis mission. Under this mission, the agency is aiming to send humans to the Moon. According to the agency, it conducted a hot fire of the core stage for the SLS. SLS is a launch system. It is a super heavy-lift rocket. It was announced by NASA in 2011. The SLS is still under the development phase. The SLS will be used by the agency for its Artemis mission. The engines were ignited for nearly eight minutes. It is exactly the same amount of time the rocket will take for a space launch. NASA said that engines were shut down a little more than eight minutes.

NASA said that the engines were not ignited for the full duration. But the team involved in the task gained valuable data that is enough to make the mission’s path forward. The test is an important step towards ensuring that SLS’s core stage is all set for launch. The rocket will be used by NASA for the Artemis 1 mission. It is first in the series of the mission which involves landing humans on the lunar surface for exploration. The mission is proposed to lift off in November 2021. It will be an uncrewed mission. It will be used to certify an Orion spacecraft that will take humans to the surface of Earth’s only natural satellite.

This was the first time when all four engines of the SLS were fired during the core stage. The team ensured the core stage’s structural integrity and recorded the required data to evaluate the system’s performance. NASA under the Artemis mission is aiming to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon’s surface. It is working to send humans to Moon in 2024. The Artemis 2 mission will be launched in August 2023. It will be the first crewed mission of Orion spacecraft. The Orion spacecraft will perform a lunar flyby test before returning to Earth. The third and final Artemis 3 mission will be launched in 2024. The SLS and the Orion spacecraft will carry astronauts to the Moon. NASA wants to set up a base on the Moon and use it for deep exploration of space and Mars.

The outgoing Trump Administration has blacklisted the smartphone maker Xiaomi for ties with the Chinese military. Xiaomi is among 9 companies that have been added to the list of Chinese military companies of the Defense Department. It must be noted that Xiaomi surpassed Apple in terms of smartphone sales in the third quarter. With this, these companies will be banned from American investment. Also, American investors will not be able to buy shares of all these companies. As a result of a recent order signed by the outgoing president, investors owning any shares of these companies are required to sell them before November 11, 2021.

While announcing the update list, the Defence Department said that it is committed to counter the Military-Civil Fusion development strategy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The Defence Department said that it help the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to have access to advanced technologies. “This is done by means of companies and universities who conduct programs that look to civilian.” However, Xiaomi has time and again denied these connections. The smartphone maker reiterated that it will take all necessary steps to safeguard the company and its shareholders. “Xiaomi reiterates that it provides services to civilians and gives products for commercial use. The company would like to assure you that it is neither owned nor controlled by the Chinese military.”

Chinese foreign ministry has firmly opposed the new sanctions and said that the move is against the international economic trade rules. “It is totally against the trend of the times.” Later, China’s Ministry of Commerce said that the United States was using all means to suppress Chinese companies. The Ministry also urged America to correct its wrongdoings. The announcement comes close on the heels of the decision to ban 60 Chinese companies. The decision is likely to increase tensions between the two countries. The will become one of the major challenges for the incoming Biden administration which has so far not reacted to the development.

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. is in talks with Apple reportedly over working together on developing an electric vehicle. The discussions are in a very early stage and nothing has been finalized yet. Without mention what the talks are about, Hyundai Motor said the tech giant is in talks with various automakers across the globe and Hyundai Motor is one of them. “Nothing has been decided,” the company said. The statement comes after local media reported that Apple has put forward the terms of the tie-up and Hyundai Motor is reviewing it. As per the report, the proposal includes both development of batteries as well as the production of electric vehicles. “The electric vehicle could be launched in 2027,” the report said.

While Hyundai Motor issued a statement on the report, Apple has refused to comment. “We have been getting a lot of queries regarding cooperation for autonomous driving electric vehicles. Discussions are going on but no decisions have been made as they are in a very early stage,” the company said. The development comes days after reports emerged that Apple has been working on developing an electric car under Project Titan. The report quoted sources familiar with the matter as saying that the iPhone maker has set the target of launching its electric car by 2024.

The reports sent shares of Hyundai soaring but prominent Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo feels that the hype is merely speculation. Kuo said that these companies may provide some part for the electric vehicle of Apple. Talking about the launch date, Kuo said that he would not be surprised if Apple fails to launch the vehicle until 2028 or later. He said that this would be a possibility only if Apple starts full-fledged development of the vehicle immediately. Kuo even said that all the specifications of the electric vehicle being developed by the tech giant will be known only by 2022. He also opined that despite having an edge, it is not important that Apple will succeed in new business.

At a time when self-driving cars are considered to be the future of transpiration, Alphabet-owned Waymo has decided to drop the term ‘self-driving.’ The firm said that it has decided to drop the phrase because few automakers are using it erroneously. Waymo said that it will now use the term ‘fully autonomous’ to describe its vehicles. It said that there is a minor difference in language but it means a lot. The company hopes that the change will differentiate it from other competitors. “The change may look very small but it is a very important one. Precision in language matters and could be life-saving as well,” the company said in a blog post.

While Waymo refrained from taking any specific automaker’s name, it is apparent that the move is a dig at rival Tesla. Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle maker is offering a feature for USD 10,000 that purports to offer ‘full self-driving capability.’ The company is facing heat over it as experts claim that it not only oversells the ability of the technology but also has the potential to create safety issues. Tesla claims that it has all the required hardware and the necessary software for the feature will come later. Experts define a “full self-driving” car as a vehicle wherein the person behind the wheel could safely fall asleep.

Tesla is yet to roll out the “full self-driving” feature for the public but it launched a beta version to some owners in October 2020. Those who have tested the feature are of the view that a lot of work is needed before that requirement of an attentive driver behind the wheel can be removed. Even Tesla has warned drivers to keep their hands on the wheel and pay extra attention to the road. But Tesla CEO continues to grandiose the feature and had claimed that the company will launch self-driving robotaxis in 2020, which didn’t materialize.

Google is actively working on a new model of the Pixel series. It will be called Pixel 6. The search-engine giant will launch Pixel 6 in 2021. According to a patent filed by the company, Pixel 6 will feature an under-display selfie camera. The patent didn’t go into any detail about the handset. It remains unclear how Google will achieve this. The patent only stated that the camera will be underneath the smartphone’s display. The patent revealed other details about the device. The smartphone will have a basic design. The patent said that the smartphone’s primary camera design and location will remain the same as seen on Pixel 5. The module will come with two sensors. There will an LED flash.

Pixel 6 will be the successor of Pixel 5. Google is planning to launch the smartphone in the second half of 2021. The new device will sport a 6.0-inch display. The display will be a full HD+ OLED screen. The aspect ratio will be 19.5:9. The smartphone will run on Android 11. The handset will be powered by an octa-core Snapdragon processor. The device will come with a storage capacity of 128GB. It will have 8GB RAM. Google is likely to offer a 4,080mAh battery with the device. Besides, Google is also mulling to provide fast-charging support with Pixel 6. Meanwhile, Google said that it is also working on a Pixel 5 Pro. It will probably be launched before Pixel 6 is made available to the public.

Notably, Google is the first company that is working on a smartphone with an under-display selfie camera. Earlier, ZTE had released a smartphone that featured an under-screen camera. Xiaomi and OPPO have also exhibited their prototypes. Samsung is also working on bringing the technology into its products. The South Korean giant is likely to release Galaxy Z Fold 3 with a camera fitted behind the screen. The smartphone is likely to hit the shelves in the second half of 2021.

It has been a fantastic year for video conferencing platform Zoom and it witnessed a 500 rise in stock price during the coronavirus-induced lockdown. The lockdown brought the trend of work from home or remote work and people started using Zoom to connect with each other over a video call. But now the company has decided to foray into new territories, specifically calendar services and email. The company is looking to expand further than the video chat app and has already worked on the email product. According to reports, the company may begin testing as early a web email service Zoom as early as next year. Things are yet not clear about the calendar app and it is not known whether the company has even started working on it.

This seems to be a calculated move by the company and both avenues have good scope to grow. Especially when people will start going to offices and reliance on Zoom will start declining. Use of videoconferencing apps is set to decline with vaccination drive expected to pick up from next year. Zoom has so far not commented on the development. But it is important to understand that most of its biggest competitors have bundled several things. Microsoft and Google are considered to be its biggest rivals. Initially both the companies entered into Zoom’s territory by incorporating features like breakout room. Now Zoom has decided to challenge these tech titans with its own version of email service.

Both Google and Microsoft offer platforms like calendar and email services making Zoom more of a single-purpose platform. The information available suggests that the company is looking to build a full enterprise app suite. It will have features like job postings, an option for chatting, and integration with email. However, some experts believe that the company might opt for a wait and watch strategy and decide anything after analyzing how things change with the shift back to office work. Zoom became extremely popular because of the ease with which each people can use the videoconferencing platform. It became popular among students and teachers after it removed the restriction of 40 minutes time limit on free basic accounts.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has rejected an undertaking by Google regarding the proposed acquisition of Fitbit. ACCC chair Rod Sim said that the watchdog would like to investigate for some more time and will announce its final decision on March 25. Under the undertaking given by Google, the company had promised that it will not use any data collected through the wrist-worn fitness tracking devices and Google wearables for advertisement purposes for at least 10 years. It even proposed that ACCC can extend the duration further by 10 years if it deemed it to be right. The company also said that access to only certain user data will be provided to third parties for 10 years. Along with it, the company also promised to maintain levels of interoperability between Android smartphones and third-party wearables for 10 years as part of the undertaking.

But the watchdog rejected the undertaking. It said the deal is likely to further increase the dominance of Google in online advertising. The ACCC said that even with long term undertaking, the company will continue to have access to user data that will become valuable with time. “The watchdog is concerned that the deal will squeeze out other wearables from the market. This will help Fitbit reduce its competition as other such products are totally dependent on the Android system and other services of Google to make their devices work effectively,”

Acknowledging that a similar undertaking was accepted by the European Commission last week, the ACCC said that further scrutiny was required. It said that such a long-term behavioral undertaking is very difficult to be monitored. Google said that it is extremely disappointed by the decision of the ACCC and will continue to work with it in order to assuage their fear. “We will engage with the watchdog and will respond to all their questions. Google is committed to protecting the privacy of the Fitbit users and the deal was not about data but devices,” a spokesperson of the company said.