Samsung Odyssey G7 240Hz WQHD Curved Gaming Monitor Launched Globally https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Odyssey-G7-website.jpg

Having been unveiled at CES 2020 back in January, Samsung’s Odyssey G7 curved gaming monitor has finally been launched globally. In an official blog post announcing the global launch, Samsung said that the “Odyssey lineup reimagines the gaming experience by combining the deepest, most immersive curved displays with best-in-class performance features”.

It’s worth noting that alongside the Odyssey G7, Samsung had also unveiled a larger, more high-end monitor called the Odyssey G9, and while Samsung hasn’t announced anything about its official availability yet, it is currently up for pre-order on Overclockers UK for £1,279.99 (around Rs. 1.19 lakh or $1,600) The company also last week announced an official sponsorship deal with global esports team and three-time League of Legends champion, T1 Entertainment & Sports (T1), to market the two monitors.

The Odyssey G7 comes in 27- and 32-inch options, and according to Samsung, is the world’s first 1000R gaming monitor, meaning it boasts a curvature radius of 1,000 millimeters. It also features a rapid 1ms response time with 240Hz refresh rate. The QLED monitors comes with WQHD resolution (2,560×1,440 pixels), 16:9 aspect ratio, 600 cd/m² peak brightness and Quantum dot technology. The G7 also comes with NVIDIA G-Sync compatibility and Adaptive Sync on DP1.4.

The monitor also comes with a color-changing rear core lighting system that can change colors based on the preferences of the gamer. The company has also added dynamic shapes and lighting effects to the front of the monitor. Samsung is yet to announce the pricing, but we’ll update the article once we get some info on that front. As for its official launch in India, there’s no announcement about that just yet.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/samsung-odyssey-g7-curved-monitor-launched/

India Launches National Artificial Intelligence Portal and Skilling Program https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/India-Launches-National-Artificial-Intelligence-Portal-and-Skilling-Program.jpg

The Indian government has launched a dedicated AI portal. The portal was launched by India’s Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology, Law & Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad over the weekend.

Dubbed IndiaAI, the portal has been jointly developed by the Ministry of Electronics and IT and IT Industry. “INDIAai is the central hub for everything AI in India and beyond. A joint initiative of MeitY, NeGD and NASSCOM, the website aims to be the trusted content powerhouse in the backdrop of India’s journey to global prominence in Artificial Intelligence,” reads the website.

The portal will serve as a platform for sharing AI-related resources such as articles, startups, investment funds in AI, resources, companies, and educational institutions related to AI in the country.

Alongside IndiaAI, Prasad also announced a national program called “Responsible AI for Youth”. The program aims to empower students with relevant AI skill-sets and AI-related tools.

According to the government, the program is open to students of classes 8 – 12 from central and state-run schools. In the first phase of the program, each state education department will nominate 10 teachers, who will be responsible to identify 25 – 50 students for the program.

After the selection process, eligible students will attend online training sessions on AI and will be encouraged to submit ideas through a 1-minute video explaining their potential AI project.

From the submitted videos, the government will shortlist 100 ideas. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend residential boot camps or online sessions. The top 50 project ideas will be further shortlisted for presentation and the top 20 in them will then be featured at relevant platforms.

“Responsible AI for Youth” program is made possible in collaboration with Intel India, National e-Governance Division, Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSE&L), and Ministry of Human Resource Development.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/india-launches-national-artificial-intelligence-portal-and-skilling-program/

Apple Closes US Retail Stores Because of Protests https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Apple-Retail-Store-shutterstock-website.jpg

Apple closed a large number of its retail stores in the US over the weekend following widespread arson and looting in many cities around the country. The company has now extended the closures at least through Monday as the situation continues to remain tense across the nation.

Apple had earlier announced that it was taking the decision to shut down some of its stores to ensure the safety of its employees. “With the health and safety of our teams in mind, we’ve made the decision to keep a number of our stores in the US closed on Sunday”, Apple originally said in a press release over the weekend. According to 9to5Mac‘s Michael Steeber, the company will assess the situation day-by-day to decide when it will be safe again to reopen the stores.

Unsurprisingly, many of Apple’s store closures today have been extended at least through tomorrow. They’ll definitely be assessing this situation day by day. It’s hard to imagine stores were boarded up that tight for just one night. pic.twitter.com/6QZj3Y36tW

— Michael Steeber (@MichaelSteeber) June 1, 2020

Apple had reopened some of its US retail stores just last week following the coronavirus lockdown. According to reports, only 140 out of the 271 Apple Stores in the US were reopened before the violence erupted last week over the brutal murder of George Floyd, an African American man, by a white police officer in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The agitation, which started peacefully, quickly devolved into rioting, with many troublemakers taking the opportunity to unleash large-scale looting and violence that have since spread to many of the country’s largest cities, including New York, Los Angeles and Washington DC. Reports also suggest that in downtown Los Angeles, rioters breached the construction site where Apple is renovating the Tower Theater. It is, however, unclear as to whether there was damage to the structure.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/apple-closes-us-retail-stores-because-of-protests/

How to Access Newly Added Free Fonts in macOS Catalina https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Howto.jpg

Very few things offer me as much pleasure as the sight of beautiful text crafted with nice-looking fonts. Though I’m not a designer, collecting a variety of fonts and using them on social networking sites like Instagram has long been my penchant. That’s the reason why I’m so happy to know that Apple recently introduced brand new macOS fonts which can be used system-wide on Mac. Apart from being in huge numbers, they are available from well-known sources such as Klim Type Foundry and Commercial Type. If you love to use them as well, head over to learn how you can access newly added free fonts in macOS Catalina on your Mac.

How to Access Newly Added Free Fonts on Mac

The recently added fonts are slightly under wraps as they aren’t downloaded by default. However, you can easily track them down and then download them on your Mac. Some of the new fonts that have called for my attention are Produkt (8 styles), Proxima Nova (12 styles), Domaine (6 styles), Founders Grotesk (17 styles), and Graphik (18 styles). They are beautifully-designed and can be used in many design projects. Enough talk? Let’s get going with quick steps!

1. To get started, launch the Font Book app on your Mac. If it’s not in your Dock, just search for it using Spotlight.

2. Now, click on All Fonts filter which is located in the sidebar.

3. Next, find the grayed-out fonts.

Note: Fonts that seem to be dimmed or grayed out in Font Book are either disabled or the additional ones from Apple.

4. Next up, after you have chosen a font, click on the Download button at the top right corner.

5. Up next, a popup will appear on the screen saying something like “The selection includes fonts which must be downloaded in order to be enabled. Do you wish to continue?“ Click on Download to confirm the action.

After you have successfully downloaded the recently added font on your Mac, go ahead and use it as usual.

Well that was all about the new fonts in the macOS operating system. Here are some other things you should learn about using fonts on macOS:

• If you don’t need any font, you can easily disable it on your Mac. Select any font in the Font Book and choose Edit menu at the top. Now, click on Disable (font name). The disabled font remains installed, however it doesn’t show up in the font menus of your apps.
• There is also a way to remove any font that you don’t need anymore. Select the font in Font Book and then click on the File menu. Then, click on Remove.
• macOS supports a variety of font types including Variable TrueType (.ttf), TrueType (.ttf), , TrueType Collection (.ttc), OpenType Collection (.ttc) fonts, and OpenType (.otf).

Download Newly Added Free Fonts on macOS

That’s the quick way to download the recently added free fonts on macOS Catalina. Now that you know how to unlock those cool fonts, make the most of them to create beautiful text or stunning design. If you are a pro, I would recommend you to check out our extensive roundup of the free monogram fonts as they could prove to be quite helpful for you.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/access-newly-added-free-fonts-macos-catalina/

Mi Band 5 to Launch on June 11 https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/mi-band-4.jpg

Xiaomi has been working on the Mi Band 5 for a while, and we have been hearing about it for some time. Now, a WeChat post by the Xiaomi Mall public account (via GizChina) confirms that the Mi Band 5 will launch on June 11 in China.

The post itself doesn’t give away much about the upcoming fitness tracker, but we have a lot of leaks and reports about the band. The Mi Band 5 is going to change the design of the tracker a bit. It seems Xiaomi is removing the slight indent on the front of the band and going for a simple, flat design this time.

Image courtesy: Gizchina

There are also reports that the Mi Band 5 will come with a new type of charger. GizChina says the band is going to come with a plug-in charger instead of a cradle with pogo pins on it.

On the feature front, the Mi Band 5 will likely add NFC to the global variant as well. There are also reports that the band will come with Google Pay support. That will likely be a pretty big addition to the band allowing users to make NFC payments with Google Pay.

We have also seen reports that the Mi Band 5 will come with new analog watch faces and 5 new sports modes. It remains to be seen how much of what we have heard from reports turns out to be true when Xiaomi releases the Mi Band 5 on June 11.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/mi-band-5-launch-june-11/

“Chernobylite” Lets You Explore the “Exclusion Zone” of Chernobyl https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Chernobylite-feat.-1.jpg

On Saturday, April 26, 1986, one of the most dangerous man-made disasters occurred when there was a nuclear blast in reactor number 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Powerplant. The accident released billions of radioactive materials in the air that made the place inhabitable for any form of life. Known as the “Exclusion Zone”, the powerplant location near the city of Pripyat in the north of Ukraine has become a ghost town. Now, although we cannot go to Chernobyl physically due to the radiation, we can explore the place and its mysteries through the eerie adventure game, Chernobylite.

Released back on October 16, 2019, Chernobylite is a horror-adventure game that lets you explore the “Exclusion Zone” in Chernobyl. The game puts you right smack in the middle of the eerie, abandoned town of Chernobyl as Igor, the protagonist.

Igor is a nerd kind of guy who is desperately looking for his girlfriend, Tatyana. She mysteriously disappeared during the Chernobyl disaster and Igor is looking for her since then. Now, another element of the game includes “Chernobylite”, from which the game derives its name. It is a mysterious component that lets you travel through time. However, this very same material also unleashes scary monsters that Igor has to fight his way through.

Now, the story of the game is quite enticing. However, the most captivating part of the game is exploring “The Zone”. Developers of Chernobylite, The Farm 51, used real 3D scanned images of the “Exclusion Zone” to create the game’s environment. And it is a job well done as it captures the eerie and creepy environment of the location perfectly.

The broken and abandoned buildings, the spooky rides in the parks, and the dense forest with overgrown trees make the perfect setting for a horror adventure. And the frequent encounters with the military and the ghostly monsters make the game even more challenging.

Now, the game is currently in the “Early Access” stage, which means that it is playable alright, however, there are some refinements that the developers need to smooth out still. So, they expect players like us to give them appropriate feedback to improve the game in the future.

You can get “Chernobylite” from Steam for a price of Rs 999 (~$13.20). However, as of writing this article, Steam is giving a promotional discount of 40% till June 1, which lowers the price to Rs 599 (~$7.99).

from Beebom https://beebom.com/chernobylite-explore-exclusion-zone-chernobyl/

Here is the First-Ever Video That Was Posted on YouTube https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/YouTube-first-video-feat..jpg

Fifteen years ago, on Valentines’ Day of 2005, the domain name “www.youtube.com” went live. The following months saw developments of the website and the first-ever video on the platform was posted on April 23, 2005. The YouTuber who shared the video was none other than one of the founding members, Jawed Karim.

The YouTube that we know now is a massive video streaming platform with innumerable audience members. However, it is fascinating to see from where the platform started its journey. So, in this article, I want to talk about the very first video that was uploaded on the platform, and surprisingly, it still exists.

So, the 240p, grainy video, titled “Me at the zoo”, shows a 25-year-old Jawed Karim, one of the founders of YouTube, standing in front of a group of elephants at the San Diego Zoo. The 18-second video went live on April 23, 2005, and it is still there with over 96 million views and 3.2 million likes.

In the video, Karim tells us about a rather basic fact about elephants and I found it quite funny, to be honest. He starts by saying, “All right, so here we are in front of the elephants,” and then went on to stammer his way to tell us that elephants have “really, really, really long trunks, and that’s, that’s cool”. He then ends the video by saying, “And that’s pretty much all there is to say”. You can check out the video down below.

Watching this video made me realize how far YouTube has come from that point. Not long after its public launch, the platform was acquired by Google for a whopping $1.65 billion. It was the largest acquisition by Google at that time and the company did not regret taking the video-platform under its wing.

Now, YouTube makes as much as $15 billion in revenues, has a dedicated music streaming platform, and produces original content. So, what started as a small-time video platform, has now become the video-streaming behemoth that we know as YouTube.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/the-first-ever-video-posted-on-youtube/

Google’s New “Scam Spotter” Website Aims to Help People Avoid Scams https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Google-Scam-Spotter-feat..jpg

There was a time before the internet when people used to con other people through physical contact. However, as the internet has made communication effectively contact-less, online scams have become much more popular in recent times. Now, for people like us who know the internet like the back of our hands, it is easy to spot the scammers. However, for a layman who receives an email out of the blue stating that he/she has won a lottery of Rs 50,000 would surely believe it. So, to help these people spot and avoid these types of scams, Google has come up with a new “Scam Spotter” website.

“Scam Spotter” is not actually a tool for the users, rather it is an educational website for the scam-spotting-noobs out there. The Mountain View-based tech giant has partnered with Cybercrime Support Network to build the website. This website provides information that will be help users to spot who a scammer is and who is in real need of money.

Now, when you go to the homepage of the website, you will encounter the “three golden rules” that should be kept in mind to spot a scammer.

Now, the site says that the first rule is to “slow it down” a little bit. According to the site, when a scammer calls or emails, he/she is always in a hurry to make money from the victims. So, the guide suggests the respondent remain calm and “avoid being rushed into a bad situation”.

The next rule, “Spot Check”, states that the victim, after the call or the chat conversation, should always do a background check of the organization, be it a bank or an agency.

The third and final rule, “Stop! Don’t Send”, suggests that scammers often demand you pay them through crypto-currency or buy them gift cards. So, if the agent asks you to send a gift card or transfer funds directly in a given bank account, just stop talking, hang up the call or exit the chat and send the contact details straight to the block list.

So, if you experience any of the above red flags in a conversation, then there is a high chance that the person on the other end is a scammer. However, if you still have your doubts, Google also has a built-in “quiz” that you can take to test your knowledge about scams.

Now, hackers and scammers are getting stronger and better than ever in this time of global crisis. We recently saw the CERT-In release a warning to Indians that suggested not falling prey to a new email scam. We also saw how a dating-service scam cost a Bengaluru man a massive amount of money.

Also, going by the website, it also states that hackers and scammers are now planning to steal over $2 billion in 2020 alone, using the Coronavirus as a stimulator. So, to stop these scams and protect the users’ money, Google has started this “Scam Spotter” to halt the efforts of these scammers.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/googles-scam-spotter-website/

Mac Users Can Now Convert Their DSLRs into Webcams https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Canons-New-Software-Turns-Your-DSLR-into-a-Webcam.jpg

The lockdowns due to the Coronavirus has suddenly increased the demand for video conferencing. However, as most of the laptops come equipped with an inferior 720p camera, users cannot get a high-res picture quality in video calls. In light of these issues, Canon released a new software late in April that lets Windows users use a compatible (you can check the compatibility from here) Canon EOS, Mirrorless, or Powershot camera as a webcam for video calls. Now, the company has extended the support to macOS users as well.

Most of Apple’s MacBooks and iMacs come with a mere 720p FaceTime camera. So, Canon now wants macOS users to enjoy what Windows users have been using for a month now. The “EOS Webcam Utility Beta” from Canon will now help macOS users to turn their grainy pictures into high-quality ones during a video call.

How to Convert Your Canon Camera into a Webcam

Now to use the software and set up your camera as a webcam, follow the steps below:

• First, download the EOS Webcam Utility Beta from Canon’s official page.
• After the installation of the software, give your iMac or MacBook a restart.
• Now, turn on your compatible Canon camera and set it to “movie” mode.
• Adjust the exposure to your preference.
• Then connect the USB cable to your camera and to your Mac.
• If the “EOS Utility” opens up automatically, close the program.
• Now, go to the web versions of Skype or Zoom and set the camera as “EOS Webcam Utility Beta”.

Now, as this software is still in its beta form, it does not have the support for Safari or FaceTime. And, you have to use web versions of apps (preferably using Chrome) like Skype or Zoom as the Mac apps for the platforms do not have the support till now. Also, currently, the software is only available for US users

So, if you wish to try it out, Canon also released a more in-depth step-by-step video on how to set up the camera and install the software. You can check it out below.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/mac-users-convert-dslrs-into-webcams/

This $420 “Anti-5G” USB Stick is Just Stupid https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/5G-bio-shield-feat..jpg

Although 5G technology is gaining momentum in the smartphone industry, there are also conspiracy theories that link the tech with the Novel Coronavirus. Well, if there are people who are naive enough to believe that 5G is the cause of inception for the Coronavirus, then surely there are customers for this completely “anti-5G” USB stick.

The 5GBioShield USB Key is apparently a device that “provides protection for your home and family”, according to the manufacturer’s website. On the other hand, it is nothing more than a mere 128MB USB drive that costs £339 (~$420).

“We consider it to be a scam,” said the Operations Director of London Trading Standards, Stephen Knight. He further went on to say that, “People who are vulnerable need protection from this kind of unscrupulous trading,”.

The manufacturers of the 5GBioShield USB Key, BioShield Distribution stated earlier that they developed the device with the help of their “research”. However, following the latest events, officials from the company have not responded.

Now, according to the manufacturers, the “holographic nano-layer catalyzer” is the technology behind the device. Apparently, this technology is to protect users from the “harmful effects of imbalanced electric radiation”.

However, Pen Test Partners, a company specializing in the teardown of electronic devices to find security vulnerabilities took apart the 5GBioShield to check for the said “quantum” technology.

“So what’s different between it and a virtually identical ‘crystal’ USB key available from various suppliers in Shenzhen, China, for around £5 per key?” asked Ken Munro, the chief of Pen Test Partners.

Well, inside the 5GBioShield, there was only a small circular sticker that is generally not present in standard USB sticks.

“Now, we’re not 5G quantum experts but said sticker looks remarkably like one available in sheets from stationery suppliers for less than a penny each,”, says Munro.

So, all these pieces of evidence and the expensive price of the device lead us to believe that this is surely a scam. It seems like BioShield Distribution is using conspiracy theories and heavily capitalizing on those to sell users useless devices like this “anti-5G” USB stick at high prices.

Steven Knight and his team are working with the Action Fraud Squad of the London Police to stop the sale of this device. They also appealed to the court and waiting for an order to take down the company’s website.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/420-anti-5g-usb-stick/

Google Introduces Anxiety Screening Tool in Google Search https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Google-search-anxiety-tool-feat..jpg

The Coronavirus-led pandemic has locked down most of the population of the world. Now, recent survey data reveals that the level of people suffering from clinical anxiety has increased by many folds. So, to help detect anxiety symptoms and deal with stress, Google has come up with a new tool integrated right in the Google Search for US citizens.

The Mountain View-based tech giant recently partnered with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to create a tool to help people facing questions about their mental health. Although it is not a replacement for a diagnosis by a professional mental health expert, it might help people self-assess for any symptoms of clinical anxiety.

Now, the tool created by Google works right in the search results in the US. Whenever anyone makes a search for anxiety-related queries, the tool will show up in the “knowledge panel” of the search results. This will contain a “clinically validated questionnaire” known as the GAD-7 (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7).

Now, the GAD-7 is a seven-question survey covering questions related to anxiety disorder in people. These questions are pretty similar to the questions a mental health expert might ask during a diagnosis. This form helps people to understand their current state of mental health as it compares the answers of the user with answers of other respondents to come up with a result.

Once the screening process is complete, the tool will also provide access to resources that are developed by NAMI to treat mental illness and seek help when needed.

We saw a similar move by Reddit a few months back. Adobe also came up with a free coloring book to help users deal with stress while locked down in their homes.

Now, this tool by Google and NAMI is currently available in the US only. There is no news if the company will introduce it to other countries. However, personally, I think it is a great tool, and Google should introduce it to other countries as well.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/google-anxiety-screening-tool-google-search/

Google Reveals How Countries Reacted to the Coronavirus Lockdowns https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Google-mobility-reports-feat..jpg

Since the rise of the Novel Coronavirus, a substantial part of the world was forced to go on lockdown and maintain strict social distancing. However, the questions remain: Did people do enough? Did they actually stay inside their homes during the lockdown period? If not, where did they go the most? Well, if it was during the pandemic of 1918, we might not be able to answer these important questions. But thanks to the technological advancements of the 21st century, scientists and researchers can get hold of relevant data to answer the questions. And Google has stepped up to provide this crucial data.

Google’s Android platform and its services have become kind of essentials in our daily lives. While people use these services for making their lives easier, Google uses these services as a massive pot of data. Now, the Mountain View-based tech giant has released a massive pool of “Community Mobility Reports” of hundreds of countries that suggests how these countries reacted to the lockdowns.

Google released this set of aggregated and anonymized insights from Google Maps to help public health officials make critical decisions to combat COVID-19. These reports contain movement data of users from most of the countries where the lockdown protocol was/is active. The company took a bulk of this data and put them in categories of locations. These categories include:

1. Retail and recreation,
2. Groceries and pharmacies,
3. Parks (National parks, local gardens, and beaches),
4. Transit stations,
5. Workplaces,
6. Residential.

After assigning the data in the above categories of locations, the company compared these with their “baseline days”. This was to show how visitors to categorized places change after lockdowns in place.

Now, a baseline day signifies a “normal value” for a day of the week. In this case, Google took the median value from the time period of January 3 to February 6 as the “baseline days” as no major events happened during this time.

According to Google, these data could help researchers, scientists, epidemiologists, and health officials in a crucial way. By analyzing the reports, they can come up with newer and better strategies to fight the pandemic. And we know that officials are already working on a new format of lockdown fearing a relapse of the disease in many countries.

So, if you are a research specialist or someone who can think can make use of the reports, you should grab the set of data soon. These data will not be available forever as the company states that “these reports will be available for a limited time, so long as public health officials find them useful in their work to stop the spread of COVID-19”.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/google-reveals-countries-reacted-to-coronavirus-lockdowns/

Nvidia’s New AI Recreated “Pac-Man” from Scratch https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/nvidia-pacman-feat.-1.jpg

We have witnessed the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) over the past few years. Now, it can guide the military on the battlefield, write songs, and even control an entire ship. However, this is certainly not the end of the possibilities that AI opens up. Nvidia has now proved that an AI can create a game just by watching gameplays of it.

The Santa-Clara based GPU company recently recreated the popular retro-classic arcade game “Pac-Man”, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the game, using an AI model. The company’s research team led by researcher Seung-Wook Kim took their own powerful new AI model, named GameGAN to create a fully functional copy of Pac-Man that can run without an underlying game engine.

The GameGAN is a first-of-its-kind neural network that can mimic a computer game by securing, what are called, generative adversarial networks a.k.a., GANs. It consists of two opposing neural networks, a generator and a discriminator. These help the AI to create a copy of any video game by watching the environment, elements, and characters of the game.

This is why the Nvidia researchers made the AI watch 50,000 episodes of Pac-Man gameplays. The researchers took the gameplays directly from the research division of Bandai Namco Entertainment, the original publisher of the game.

“This is the first research to emulate a game engine using GAN-based neural networks. We wanted to see whether the AI could learn the rules of an environment just by looking at the screenplay of an agent moving through the game. And it did.”, said Kim.

Now, the AI works by responding to the actions of an artificial agent which is playing a GAN-generated game. This enables the AI to create new frames of the game environment in real-time. Moreover, the GameGAN can also create new levels or versions of an existing game with multiple levels. 

According to Nvidia, this capability of the GameGAN could be used by game developers to generate layouts for new game levels. Additionally, AI researchers can also put the GameGAN to use in developing training simulator systems for autonomous vehicles.

If you are an interested AI enthusiast, you can check out the research project for in-depth knowledge of the GameGAN. Also, According to Nvidia, the research team will be putting the AI network to their AI Playground. This is where anyone can experience the demos of their research. 

from Beebom https://beebom.com/nvidia-new-ai-recreated-pac-man-from-scratch/

Apple Producing Next Martin Scorsese Film Starring DiCaprio and De Niro https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/apple-finance-scorcese-film-feat..jpg

Not very long after the launch of Apple TV+, Apple had to halt a few shows due to the ongoing Coronavirus. Now, recent reports suggest, the Cupertino-based tech giant is investing their earnings in the film industry.

According to the reports, Apple has joined Paramount Pictures to produce the next Martin Scorcese film starring legendary actors, Robert De Niro and Leonardo Di Caprio. The film will be an adaptation of the 2017 non-fiction book, “Killers of the Flower Moon” written by American journalist David Grann. It will be of the same name as the book.

So, if the film goes by the book, it will be set in the 1920s and show a major FBI investigation involving a series of mysterious murders. And moreover, this is directed by the same iconic director who brought us crime films like Shutter Island, Taxi Driver, The Irishman, and Goodfellas.

Now, it is not yet clear if this film will be added to Apple’s streaming service, the Apple TV+. However, a deal is set to be announced in the near future.

Also, it seems like Apple has been quite busy investing in movies lately. The report also suggests that Apple took over another movie this month to stream on the Apple TV+. This film is titled Greyhound, starring Tom Hanks, and is a World War II epic.

The “Killers of the Flower Moon” is set to release in the coming year and will be distributed by Apple’s partner in the project, Paramount Pictures.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/apple-producing-martin-scorsese-film-dicaprio-de-niro/

Coronavirus Impact: Niantic is Taking the Pokemon Go Fest Online https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/pokemon-go-fest-2020-feat..jpg

The ongoing Coronavirus-led pandemic has wreaked havoc for numerous events of this year. Some events like Facebook’s annual F8 conference and the MWC have been completely canceled. However, some companies like Apple and Microsoft have plans to hold their events in a new virtual format. So, Niantic has joined the latter group and has announced to hold this year’s Pokemon GO Fest as a global virtual event.

The Pokemon Company, Niantic, recently announced that they are bringing back the Pokemon GO Fest this year in a new virtual format. It is set to go live from 25-26 July as a global event and trainers from anywhere in the world can join in on the adventures of the event.

Niantic held the first Pokemon GO Fest back in 2017 in Chicago to celebrate the game’s one year anniversary. Since that time, the company expanded the event to cities like Dortmund and Yokohama and has brought almost 600,000 players together.

However, after the rise of the Coronavirus from early March, Niantic made the go-out-to-play game much more indoor-friendly with its updates. So, the company, according to the post, has designed this year’s Pokemon GO Fest “from the ground up to connect Trainers like never before”.

Now, one of the perks of going virtual is that Niantic will now allow the players to attend the event for both the days. Previously, the company allowed the players to attend only one day of the two-day event.

“Since the event is now global, we’re taking steps to make tickets available to as many Trainers as possible.”, wrote Michael Steranka, Director of Marketing and Global Live Events.

So, all the Pokemon GO Trainers, get ready for a two-day virtual adventure in the Pokemon GO Fest from 25 to 26 July, 2020.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/coronavirus-impact-niantic-taking-pokemon-go-fest-online/

FAA Allowing Drones to Deliver PPE Kits and Medical Supplies to US Hospitals https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Drones-carrying-medical-supplies-feat..jpg

We have seen the use of drones for many significant tasks like inspecting metro tunnels and disinfecting large areas. However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) did not allow operators to fly drones in areas that are out of their line of sight, until now. The FAA is now allowing drones to carry emergency medical supplies to healthcare institutions in light of the current crisis.

Zipline, a drone firm, has been given green light by the FAA to fly their drones to deliver medical supplies and PPE kits. This is the first time that the FAA is allowing drone operators to fly the machines in beyond-line-of-sight areas in the US.

The firm, that has been negotiating with the FAA to use their drones for deliveries, has to use one of the two specified routes to fly the drones. The drones will launch from a specified fulfillment center. They will then deliver a box of medical supplies to nearby hospitals in North Carolina. The box should drop by parachute at designated spots near the hospital compounds.

Now, the drones are can carry a cargo load of 4lbs (1.8 kgs) and can fly at speeds up to 80mph (~128 kmph). So delivering the medical supplies should be quick and safe as it does not involve humans coming in close contact.

Zipline chief, Keller Rinaudo said that he hopes that the North Carolina example will “provide the rest of the country with a blueprint” for future healthcare deliveries. The current route for the drones is short and the firm can deliver to only one hospital as of now. However, Zipline hopes to deliver medical supplies to other hospitals and eventually to homes in the future.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/faa-allowing-drones-deliver-ppe-kits-medical-supplies-us-hospitals/

Christopher Nolan Blew up a Real Aeroplane Instead of Using VFX for “Tenet” https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Nolan-airplane-feat..jpg

Christopher Nolan’s next mind-bending movie, Tenet is set to release pretty soon this year. The second trailer of the film was recently released and premiered in Fortnite. Apart from knowing that the film is about World War III and time reversal, we do not know much as of now. However, according to recent reports, we came to know that the genius director blew up an airbus to shoot a scene for the movie!

Nolan, in a recent interview, told that to shoot a scene of the film involving an airplane, he had to throw a real 747 under the bus instead of using VFX. Actor Robert Pattinson, who plays one of the main characters of the film entitled this move by the director “so bold to the point of ridiculousness”.

Now, the first plan of the director was to use miniature planes and sets along with visual effects. “I planned to do it using miniatures and set-piece builds and a combination of visual effects and all the rest,” said Christopher.

However, after the crew found a huge collection of old planes in Victorville, California, they started comparing the cost of using VFX and the cost of using a real 747 from that hangar. 

“We started to run the numbers… It became apparent that it would actually be more efficient to buy a real plane of the real size, and perform this sequence for real in camera, rather than build miniatures or go the CG route.”, added Nolan.

Well, if you are a Nolan fan (like myself), then you would not be surprised by this move by the director. He did a kind of a similar thing during the shot of the dream-within-a-dream film, Inception. Remember that hallway fight scene, where the actors defy gravity and fight while floating in the air?

So to shoot the above scene, the director recreated the entire hallway of the building inside a rotating tube with manual speed control for the rotation. So, we know to what lengths Nolan can go to perfect a scene of his film.

Tenet is tentatively releasing on July 17, 2020. Also, recently we came to know that Epic Games’ Fortnite will be screening one of the full-length feature films of Christopher Nolan this summer. So, apart from waiting for “Tenet”, we also cannot wait to know which “iconic” film of the director will Epic Games stream in the game.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/christopher-nolan-blew-up-real-aeroplane-tenet/

Razer’s “Gigantus V2” Mouse Mat Takes Up an Entire Desk https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Razer-Gigantus-V2-feat..jpg

Apart from manufacturing high-end, modular gaming PCs, and unique gaming peripherals, Razer is also known as one of the best manufacturers of mouse pads and mouse mats. Now, the gaming accessories-makers have come up with a ridiculously sized mouse mat that can probably also be used as a bedsheet (just kidding)!

Razer recently announced the appropriately named “Gigantus V2” mouse mat for gamers. The new mouse mats come in four different sizes, ranging from standard size of 360 x 275 x 3mm to a massive 1,200 x 550x 4mm 3XL size. It is so huge that it can easily cover up an entire desk and still hang from the edges.

The mouse mats are specially designed for gamers and come with an “upgraded surface with a higher thread count weave”. This enables gamers to attain those “fluid swipes and pixel-precise aim”.

Now, to get an idea of how big it actually is, check out the image below that features the 3XL size of the Gigantus V2. In the picture, we can see that only half of the Gigantus V2 3XL can contain one 15″ Surface Book 3, a Nikon DSLR, an Xbox Controller, and a Razer mouse. I repeat, these four items cover only one half of the mat!

Image Courtesy: Windows Central

The price of the Gigantus V2 starts at only $9.99 (~Rs 750) for the small size and goes up to $49.99 (~Rs 3,790) for the 3XL version. You can get the Gigantus V2 from the official website. Additionally, you also have the option to customise the mats with licensed images of popular game publishers or write your gamer tag on it. However, customisation will add an extra $10 (~Rs 750) to the actual price.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/razer-gigantus-v2-mouse-mat/

7 Best Chinese Apps Alternatives for Enhanced Privacy https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/7-Best-Chinese-Apps-Alternatives-for-Enhanced-Privacy.jpg

In the recent years, the app ecosystem in the Indian market has been taken over by Chinese apps. At present, most of the top-charting apps on the Play Store have Chinese roots. Many experts claim that Chinese apps collect user data and even some personally identifiable information. The recent case being Mi Browser collecting search queries even in incognito mode and sending the data back to China. Similarly, TikTok has been accused of sending draft videos to servers in China. There have been many such instances, and all of them have one common thread: user data are sent to Chinese servers disregarding user privacy. As we know, any data that is held in China is wide open to access by Chinese authorities, and that is a major concern. So in order to protect your data, here are the best Chinese apps alternatives that you should use on your smartphone.

Best Chinese Apps Alternatives in 2020

1. Triller (Alternative to TikTok / Likee / Kwai)

Among the many issues with TikTok, privacy has been a major concern for many users. Just recently, four US senators urged the FTC to investigate TikTok because it apparently failed to take down videos made by children under the age of 13 — a violation of their 2019 agreement. Besides, the advocacy group alleged that TikTok failed to protect the privacy of minors. Apart from that, many users are suspicious of apps that are based out of China because of obvious privacy reasons. TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance– a Beijing-based company — has been accused of sharing user data with China.

Experts are particularly alarmed by China’s National Intelligence Law (2017) that mandates companies to comply with intelligence-gathering operations, if and when asked by the Chinese government. There are many such issues with TikTok and you can read more about its privacy issues from the linked article. Talking about Likee and Kwai, both of the apps have Chinese roots and are known for hosting inappropriate content on their platform.

So if you want to remain on the safe side, you can move to Triller which is pretty similar to TikTok. It’s a social video platform and the company is based out of California. Just like TikTok, you can create professional-looking videos and share them in seconds. You can lip-sync, take up challenges, and create amazing music videos. The platform is pretty popular among celebrities which include Justin Bieber, Rita Ora, Kevin Hart, and more. In addition, Triller comes with more than 100 filters and has an AI-based video-editing algorithm to create unique videos in seconds.

What’s more, you get access to top trending tracks on Triller just like TikTok. And if you loved Duet on TikTok then you have group videos on Triller where you can collaborate with anyone on the internet. I would say Triller is a promising alternative to TikTok and you can give it a shot. Note that, despite similarities, I have not mentioned Dubsmash because it had a data breach in 2019 which compromised over 162 million accounts.

Install Triller: Android/iOS (Free, offers in-app purchases)

2. Google Chrome – UC Browser Alternative

UC Browser, owned by Alibaba Group of China, is the second most popular web browser across India and China, but it has had many security and privacy controversies in the past few years. In 2015, Citizen Lab published a detailed study that underlined glaring security vulnerabilities and privacy gaps within the app. The report concluded that personally identifiable information of users where sent to Umeng, an Alibaba analytics tool without any encryption. Further, precise location data were also transmitted to AMAP, an Alibaba mapping tool in China. UC Browser released a new build quickly to fix those issues, but after further evaluation, Citizen Lab stated that many of the issues were still not fixed. Other than that, UC Browser came under the Indian govt’s scanner for alleged data theft in 2017 after the University of Toronto flagged the DNS retention issue.

Not to mention, UC Browser was removed from the Play Store in 2017 for misleading promotions. So if you want to browse the internet without anyone monitoring your internet activity then you should move to a secure web browser. In this regard, Google Chrome is one of the best web browsers for both smartphones and desktops. Google takes security and privacy seriously and continuously updates Chrome to protect users from harmful websites and malware. Other than that, you can also check out Firefox Focus or Brave Privacy Browser for better privacy controls.

Install for Free: Google Chrome (Android/iOS), Brave (Android/iOS), Firefox Focus (Android/iOS)

3. ShareChat – Helo Alternative

Helo is another Chinese app that has had a huge success in the Indian market. It’s a social media platform for discovering viral content and sharing them with friends and communities. The catch behind Helo’s success is its highly curated content for regional audiences. The app offers its service in more than 14 Indian languages and it’s currently one of the top-ranking apps on the Play Store. However, a recent survey done by an Indian consulting group confirmed that Helo and other Chinese apps seek excessive personal information from users. Helo wants access to the camera and microphone even when such access is not required. It clearly poses a huge threat to user privacy and one must be vigilant about it.

So if you wish to enjoy regional content without compromising your privacy then you can give a shot at ShareChat. The app is based out of India and it offers content in 15 regional languages which is great. Further, the app has strict content policy so that inappropriate content remains at bay.

Install Sharechat: Android/iOS (Free)

4. Files by Google (Alternative to SHAREit, Xender)

ShareIt started as a file transfer application, but now it has pivoted to a content platform just like Helo and ShareChat. As a result, the app has moved from its primary goal and now mostly caters to content creators. In my brief usage, I found many inappropriate contents on its app and I would really not recommend it for anything, let alone file transfer. Similarly, Xender has been bloated with too many features like social media downloader and Game Center. Not to mention, the constant ads and popup make the experience worse.

Apart from that, ShareIt was found with two security vulnerabilities last year that allowed attackers to download content from a user’s device by evading the device authentication mechanism. Along with that, data like Facebook tokens and cookies were also transferred. So if you want an alternative to these Chinese apps like SHAREit then I have only one recommendation: Files by Google. It can act as your file manager too and you can seamlessly send and receive files without any ad or content notification. Files by Google is also quite fast and can go up to 150Mbps while transferring files. If your on iPhone, you should take a look at Send Anywhere (visit).

Install Files by Google: Android (Free)

5. Adobe Scan – CamScanner Alternative

CamScanner is s popular document scanner app and it’s run by INTSIG, a Chinese company based in Shanghai. Last year, it was removed from the Play Store after Kaspersky found a Trojan Horse module inside the CamScanner app. The researchers said that “Trojan downloader can download malicious modules depending on what its creators are up to at the moment”. Later the malicious code was removed and the app was back on Play Store. However, we have seen this pattern from many Chinese apps including ES File Explorer and shady publishers like CM and DU.

So if you want to stay away from such malicious incidents that go behind the scene then you can move to a more secure and better alternative. We have written a detailed article on the best CamScanner alternatives so you can go through that. But my personal favorite is Adobe Scan followed by Microsoft Office Lens (Android/iOS). You can pick any one of them and I am sure you won’t be disappointed. You get batch mode, crisp scanning just like CamScanner, OCR, Edge detection, and many more advanced features.

Install Adobe Scan: Anrdoid/iOS (Free, offers in-app purchases)

6. ProtonVPN – TurboVPN Alternative

TurboVPN is a free VPN app that has quickly garnered wide popularity because of no speed restriction and no data limit. It’s run by a company named Innovative Connecting which is based out of Singapore. However, if you look closely, the company has deep roots with China, as revealed by Security Affairs. On top of that, the privacy policy of TurboVPN is sketchy at best and I would not really trust it.

So if you want an alternative to this Chinese VPN app then I would recommend ProtonVPN. It’s a free VPN without any data limit and offers a good selection of VPN servers around the world. While there is some restriction in data speed, I have found that it performs quite well without much throttling. As the company is headquartered in Switzerland, you are protected by the EU’s strong privacy laws. Also, ProtonVPN recently open-sourced its VPN tool which makes it one of the most trusted VPNs out there. If you are looking for more VPN options then you can go through our dedicated article on the best free VPN services.

Install ProtonVPN: Android/iOS (Free, offers in-app purchases)

7. Norton App Lock – AppLock Alternative

AppLock is another popular Chinese app for locking apps behind a PIN, password, or fingerprint. It’s run by DoMobile and registered in Hong Kong, outside of mainland China. However, we can’t rule out privacy implications as its privacy policy states that “According to the needs of specific features, we may read (probably not save) your photos, media, and files, use the mobile camera and microphone”. You are basically allowing the app to read your internal storage and have access to the camera and microphone. For me, it seems too invasive for an app locker.

So if you want a secure alternative to AppLock then I would highly recommend Norton App Lock. It has been developed by the popular antivirus provider, Norton Labs which is run by Symantec, headquartered in Arizona, US. Similar to AppLock, you can set PIN, password, or fingerprint to lock your apps. However, the best part about Norton App Lock is that, unlike AppLock, it’s ad-free and offers a clean experience. If you want to learn more, you can head over to our article on the best App Lockers for Android.

Install Norton App Lock: Android (Free, offers in-app purchases)

Protect Your Privacy with Best Chinese Apps Alternatives

So those are the alternatives that we recommend in place of some popular Chinese apps. As we went through the article, we can notice that many Chinese apps have underlying security and privacy issues that are never fixed, intentionally, or otherwise. Not to mention, many apps have been thrown out of the Play Store for such violations in the past. So if you want to securely use your smartphone, you can utilize the Chinese apps alternatives that we have mentioned in this article. Anyway, that is all from us. If you found the article informative then do comment down below and let us know.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/best-chinese-app-alternatives/

Warrants Required to Check Even the Lock Screen of a Suspect’s Smartphone https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Police-with-smartphone-feat..jpg

With the evolution of smartphones over the years, the tiny computers have become one big pot of data of the user. We store anything and everything in our smartphone nowadays. So, some times law enforcers might want to get their hands on these personal data in the name of investigation. Well, thanks to the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution, the police generally need an official warrant to search a device. Now, a judge has ruled that not only unlocking the device will require a warrant, even looking at the lock screen without a warrant will be termed as unlawful.

The District Judge of the US District Court in Seattle recently passed this new rule in the light of a case involving an alleged robber and burglar. The man, Joseph Sam, was arrested back in May 2019 and was using an undisclosed Motorola device. At the time of his arrest, an officer got his hands on the man’s phone and turned it on to check the lock screen of the device.

In another instance, the FBI took the same man’s phone and turned it on to take a screenshot of the lock screen. The screenshot of the lock screen revealed only a name, “Streezy” that could have been evidence or a lead for the investigation.

However, Joseph’s lawyer filed for a motion that the evidence was collected from the device, without an official warrant. So, this needed to be suppressed.

District Judge John Coughenour of the US District Court in Seattle agreed with the lawyer. According to him, although the police can go through suspects’ phones without warrants in special circumstances, the FBI going through the lock screen without a warrant led Judge Coughenour to rule it as “unconstitutional”.

In simpler words, the Judge ruled that the FBI turning on even the lock screen of the device can be termed as a “search”. So, the law enforcers should have a warrant before pressing any button on a device of a suspect.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/warrants-required-check-even-lock-screen-suspect-smartphone/

JK Rowling is Releasing a Whole New Book Online for Free https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Ickabog-feat..jpg

To ease the lockdown frustrations of the global population, Harry Potter writer, JK Rowling has come up with a whole new book for readers to indulge into. We saw the writer come up with the “Harry Potter at Home” hub for book lovers to lose themselves during the ongoing pandemic-led lockdown. Now, she is publishing this new book online for free.

The new book, the Ickabog, already has a dedicated website where Rowling wrote about how the book came into being. According to her note, she wrote the book a long time ago and used to read it to her two children chapter-by-chapter while she was working on it. However, when she finished the book, instead of publishing it, the writer put the book in the attic for the time being.

Now, as the Novel Coronavirus-led pandemic has locked down most of the countries, the writer brought down “the Ickabog” from the attic. After making a few changes to the story by taking suggestions from her little ones, Rowling decided to publish it online on a chapter-by-chapter basis, just like how she used to read it to her children.

The book will be published on the dedicated website over the next seven weeks. The writer says that each week one, two, or even three chapters could come at a time and the first two chapters are already published.

Another fun fact is that there is an ongoing competition where participants can submit their illustrations of the book. These illustrations will be judged by publishers and will be included in the physical copy of the book when it comes out later this year.

Rowling also claims that when the book gets published in November, she will be donating all her royalties to help those who have been affected by the Coronavirus.

If you want to start reading “the Ickabog”, you can head here for the first two chapters.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/jk-rowling-releasing-new-book-online-free/

Apple’s 6K Pro Display XDR One of the “Best Displays of the Year” https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Apple-Pro-Display-XDR-special-cleaning-cloth.jpg

Apple has always been a company to release high-end, professional products for the market. The company’s Pro Display XDR was one of those expensive products that launched alongside the new Mac Pro and the infamous $999 monitor stand. Now, the Society for Information Display honored the Pro Display XDR with the title of “Display of the Year”.

The Society for Information Display is an organisation of top scientists, engineers, corporate researchers, and business entities from the display industry. It came into being in the year 1962 to monitor display technology and honour the achievements of companies in the display industry.

Every year the organisation announces the “Best Displays of the Year”. This year, the list included Samsung’s foldable display, BOE’s 65″ UHD BD Cell Display, Audi’s Virtual Mirror System with the OLED display, and of course Apple’s 32″ 6K Pro Display XDR.

The chairman of the organisation, Wei Chen, said some kind words about Apple’s monitor and highly praised the HDR capabilities of the display. 

He said, “With OLED’s rapid growth, the incumbent LCD technology continues to fight for footing by gaining new capabilities-as demonstrated by BOE’s ultra-high definition (UHD) BD Cell and Apple’s Pro Display XDR. Both have achieved high-dynamic-range (HDR) display performance in LCD, each with their own unique approach.”

Apple launched the 32″ 6K Pro Display XDR in two finishes — one with the glossy finish and another with the matte nano-texture glass. The glossy one came for a price of $4,999 and the high-end matte-finish one was given a price tag of $5,999. It even came with a special cloth to clean the display properly.

However, despite the expensive price tag, the SID went on to praise the monitor by saying, “With its massive 32-inch LCD panel, 6K Retina resolution, and over 20 million pixels, Apple Pro Display XDR sets a new bar for the capabilities of a professional display. Designed for pro users who rely on color accuracy and true-to-life image reproduction, such as photographers, video editors, 3D animators, and colorists, Pro Display XDR delivers the most comprehensive set of features ever offered on a display in its price range, paving the way for pros in every role across a workflow to unlock their creativity”.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/apple-6k-pro-display-xdr-best-displays-of-the-year/

This iOS 14 Concept of Home Screen Live Widgets Looks Dope https://beebom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/iOS-14-Widget-feat.-2.jpg

As Apple’s WWDC 2020 is approaching, iOS users (including myself) are eagerly for the first beta of iOS 14. The next version of iOS is rumoured to bring an array of new features to the iPhones, including a new UI for widgets. So, this concept video shows, which I think, is the most perfect implementation of the widgets on the home screen.

The popular and credible leaker, Ben Geskin (@BenGeskin), recently shared the concept video on Twitter. Originally created by concept designer, Aleksey Bondarev, the video (below) exists on Dribbble and has received numerous positive feedback from netizens because it is that good.

Now, the concept shows how iOS users can easily convert an app icon on the home screen into a widget. In the video, we can see the user haptic touching icons of apps like Airbnb, Weather, Instagram, Compass, and more and convert them into live widgets with a dynamic UI.

It also shows that the widgets can be of different shapes and sizes ranging from horizontal or vertical rectangles to the classic square. With the widgets on the home screen, the iPhone (in the video) looks like a whole new device as Apple hasn’t updated the home screen of iOS in a very long time.

Although this concept video is quite short, highlighting just this one feature, however, in previous concept videos, we have not seen this kind of implementation of the widgets.

Now, if Apple brings this feature with iOS 14, then it will surely change the mundane look of the home screen of the iPhones. So, we just have to wait and see what the Cupertino-based tech giant has planned for its upcoming iOS version.

from Beebom https://beebom.com/ios-14-concept-of-home-screen-live-widgets-looks-dope/