Technology
Apple to bring dual Bluetooth audio connections
Monitoring Desk CALIFORNIA: For better or worse, wireless audio is slowly becoming the norm for mobile phones and tablets. This has caused a lot of annoyance, but there are benefits, too. One is the ability to send audio signals to two separate Bluetooth devices simultaneously. Some Samsung phones can already do this, and according to…
Read MoreAsteroid with its own moon flies by Earth this weekend
Monitoring Desk WASHINGTON: Asteroid (66391) 1999 KW4 is a binary system – two asteroids orbiting each other. The larger is 1.5km across and resembles a spinning top or a muffin, and the smaller measures 500m. Because of its size, 1999 KW4 is classified as potentially hazardous by the Minor Planet Center. But it poses no…
Read MoreMoon landing: Apollo 10 commander’s unusual request revealed
Monitoring Desk CALIFORNIA: As Earth grew ever smaller below his spacecraft, Apollo 10 commander Tom Stafford made an unusual request to mission control. The year was 1969, and his vessel was the first to be equipped with a color camera, which was beaming live images to an awestruck global audience. “I was feeling real high,”…
Read MoreFacebook plans to launch ‘GlobalCoin’ currency in 2020
LONDON (BBC News): Facebook is finalising plans to launch its own crypto-currency next year. It is planning to set up a digital payments system in about a dozen countries by the first quarter of 2020. The social media giant wants to start testing its crypto-currency, which has been referred to internally as GlobalCoin, by the…
Read MoreGoogle’s duo launches video calls with up to 8 people
Monitoring Desk CALIFORNIA: Google’s Duo video call app today introduced group video calls for up to 8 people for iOS and Android users worldwide. At launch, Duo group video calls will not be available for Google Assistant smart displays, a company spokesperson told VentureBeat in an email. Google’s Nest Hub has no camera, but devices…
Read MoreMicrosoft introduces AR-based Minecraft game
Monitoring Desk CALIFORNIA: After a series of testing, Microsoft has officially revealed a beta version of one of the most influential survival games, Minecraft, in Augmented Reality (AR). Titled, Minecraft Earth, the game is free to play on iOS and Android. Gamers can explore the real world and go on adventures to find treasure chests…
Read MoreHuawei: ARM memo tells staff to stop working with China’s tech giant
LONDON (BBC News): UK-based chip designer ARM has told staff it must suspend business with Huawei, according to internal documents obtained by the BBC. ARM instructed employees to halt “all active contracts, support entitlements, and any pending engagements” with Huawei and its subsidiaries to comply with a recent US trade clampdown. ARM’s designs form the…
Read MoreGoogle complying with EU order in shopping case
BRUSSELS (Reuters): Google is complying with an EU order to boost competition in online shopping, Europe’s antitrust chief said on Wednesday, brushing aside complaints from rivals demanding more regulatory action. Hit with a 2.4-billion-euro ($2.7 billion) fine two years ago for unfairly promoting its own comparison shopping service, Google has since offered to allow competitors…
Read MoreScientists created a sound so loud it instantly boils water
Monitoring Desk CALIFORNIA: Researchers at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory based at Stanford University created an underwater sound so loud that it instantly vaporizes water and appears to set the threshold for how intense sound can be in water. The scientists used SLAC’s powerful X-ray laser to blast tiny jets of water with short pulses…
Read MoreGoogle’s AI-based tool to predict lung cancer
Monitoring Desk CALIFORNIA: Every year lung cancer takes more than 1.7 million lives, which is more than breast, prostate and colorectal cancer combined. The major problem is that the majority of cancers cannot be diagnosed at early stages. Google is now working to bring a change with its new AI-based tool, it hopes to make…
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