Thanks Bitcoin, MicroStrategy stock is up 113% since being downgraded by Citigroup

MSTR stock has surged by roughly 113% since Dec. 8 when it was downgraded by a Citigroup analyst.

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Bitcoin ‘ascendant’ as GameStop saga unfolds, Bitfinex CTO says

The GameStop short squeeze and Bitcoin have a lot more in common than appears at the surface, according to Paolo Ardoino.

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Institutional demand for crypto isn’t subsiding, but impact will be gradual

As another $2-trillion stimulus package looms in the U.S., institutions will continue to look at BTC as a hedge against inflation.

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DeFi has to be improved by embracing its peer-to-peer aspect

The time has come to make decentralized finance more P2P-oriented than it has been so far.

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Is the weakness of Bitcoin after the 'Elon Musk pump' hinting at a bull trap?

Bitcoin is slowing down and weakening on-chain metrics are forcing traders to turn cautious in the short term.

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GameStop mayhem, Robinhood scandal, Musk tweets, DOGE explodes: Hodler’s Digest, Jan. 24–30

The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — one week on Cointelegraph in one link!

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Bitcoin price chart shows 'Elon Musk' pump was an outlier — So what happens now?

The price of Bitcoin has shown weakness after failing to clear $38,000

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BTC billionaire Tim Draper to Elon Musk: I'd buy the Tesla Cybertruck with Bitcoin

Tim Draper, the billionaire Bitcoin investor who is also an early investor in Tesla, reacted to Elon Musk's Bitcoin moment.

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Risk it for the Bitcoin: Has BTC matured to be a safe investment play?

Institutional investors have arrived at the cryptocurrency table, but does that mean that Bitcoin has now become a safe investment?

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Mi Band 5 review: A solid fitness band with all the best features but one

2020 was a dumpster fire of a year, but it made us realise the importance of a few things like masks, pants (while attending work Zoom calls), and fitness bands. While all of us may not have Instagram-worthy home gyms to motivate ourselves, we can make do with the nudge of a not-so-expensive fitness band. If you are still looking for one of those, Xiaomi’s new Mi Band 5 might just be the right fit for you. Just like the previous generations, Mi Band 5 also comes with a secret sauce of the latest features, average looks at a budget price.

Same old design

For me, a device that is strapped to my wrist for the most part of the day needs to look good. Unfortunately, this fitness band as just average looking. It comes with the same capsule-shaped design as its predecessors, and looks boring. I have to admit that Redmi Smart Band’s sharp-edged rectangular design looks way more trendy and stylish than the Mi Band 5’s repetitive design.

In terms of comfort, the band is extremely lightweight (11.9 gm) and quite comfortable to wear. The straps are not detachable, but unlike the Redmi Smart Band, the band is easy to put on. I wish Xiaomi had tweaked the design this time around and popping in the strap pin was not frustrating. The fitness band has a 1.1-inch AMOLED with a resolution of 126 x 294 pixels. It also offers upto 450 nits brightness that is adjustable.

Features

Xiaomi has aced the features, just as before. The Mi Band 5 comes with a continuous heart rate monitor, stress level monitor, sleep tracker, guided breathing exercises and more. The curated data was reliable, especially the sleep tracker that categorised the data into deep sleep,REM, light sleep and awake categories, and advised me to go to bed by 10, as staying up late leads to "weak immune system and speeds up aging". Thanks for the intel mom, I will go to bed now.

I was impressed that this time, the fitness band comes with a menstrual cycle tracker that not only shows the predicted menstrual period, but also provides details like fertile period and ovulation day. In my experience, I found this data quite helpful, and can't help but wonder why would the company omit such an important feature from its other wearable product – its first smartwatch!

The band comes with several workout modes including outdoor running, walking, indoor cycling and outdoor cycling, indoor running, indoor swim, free exercise, indoor riding, elliptical machine, rope skipping, yoga and rowing machine. It can also auto-detect running and walking. The “Personal Activity Intelligence” (PAI) also measures the overall fitness of the user based on their daily activity, age and gender. An interesting feature motivating the user to keep moving and achieve a better PAI score.

When it comes to watch faces, the band offers a huge palette to choose from. Since the display is pretty responsive, you can check the time, date, steps tracker, battery status and heart rate with just a single tap. You also get raise-to-wake, if you find it inconvenient to tap on the screen every time you want to check something. But this will impact battery life.

Everything looks good with this band, but the missing piece of the puzzle is the blood oxygen monitor. We are still amid a COVID-19 pandemic, and this feature could have really come in handy. This feature is already present in the Honor Band 5, OnePlus Band (Review), Realme Watch and more. Take notes, Xiaomi, because while not a deal breaker, this feature is expected from fitness bands in the COVID era.

The Mi Band 5 uses the Mi Fit app to connect with smartphones. In my opinion, the app really needs some work, as it has a confusing user interface. It took me at least ten minutes to find out how to set an alarm. The option was buried deep inside the settings. It did not take long to sync data from the band like the Xiaomi Wear app that I used for the Mi Revolve Watch, but the latter was definitely more user-friendly. The Mi Fit app presents details about different features including the heart rate monitor and stress level monitor quite nicely.

The new, no-hassle magnetic charging

The best new feature of the band is that it now comes with support for magnetic charging. It is now completely hassle-free to charge, unlike previous generations. The charger just sticks to the back of the band and voilà.

It fills up the dead battery in about two hours. The company claims that the battery can last up to 14 days in a single charge with "normal use", and it lived up to its promise. With my regular use and a couple of battery-eating features like raise-to-wake and sleep tracking, it lasted up to 11 days.

Plugging it for charging once a week or 10 days for a couple of hours will work just fine.

Verdict

Although, the Mi Band 4 is smaller, heavier and has less features, it doesn't make much sense to upgrade it to the Mi Band 5 unless you really want to use the latest one. Mi Band 5 is for those folks who are planning to buy their first fitness band. It has almost every current feature, looks decent and is affordable as well. If you are keen on getting a good basic fitness band, go for the Redmi Smart band that comes in at Rs 1,599.

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Analyst says Bitcoin price sell-off may occur as Chinese New Year approaches

Bitcoin is struggling to retake the $35,000 level as one analyst predicts miners will continue selling BTC ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday.

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Bitcoin soars by $5K in minutes — BTC hits $38K after Elon Musk's 'Dogecoin treatment'

BTC/USD was already tipped to gain from the knock-on effect of both Musk and crazy stock trading this week, but so far has only reached $38,000.

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Xiaomi unveils Mi Air Charge – its new tech that will allow users to charge devices without any cables or stands

Xiaomi unveils its new charging technology called the Mi Air Charge. This new technology allows users to charge devices wirelessly without any stands or cables. The new Mi Air Charge technology can charge multiple devices at a time. The Mi Air Charge is self-deployed by the company, via air-space charging technology. The new Mi Air Charge technology comes with a built-in 5-phase interface antenna that accurately detects the position of the devices to charge them.

According to the company, this new wireless charging technology can charge devices at a speed of 5W, even in the presence of physical obstacles that don't reduce charging efficiency. It comes with a phase control array composes of 144 antennas, which emits millimetre waves through beam-forming, creating electric energy via a rectifier circuit.

Xiaomi Global tweeted about this breakthrough technology, mentioning how the device can charge multiple devices simultaneously, even while users were walking around or playing games, with no strings attached.

We're excited to bring you the remote charging technology - Mi Air Charge Technology! Charge multiple devices simultaneously while you're gaming, walking around or even when something's in the way, no strings attached. Another giant leap forward in wireless charging technology! pic.twitter.com/wEoB10wOQ2

— Xiaomi (@Xiaomi) January 29, 2021

The company has also developed a miniaturized antenna array on the smartphone side, with a built-in “beacon antenna” that broadcasts position information with low power consumption, along with a “receiving antenna array” wherein the 14 antennas convert the millimetre-wave signal emitted by the charging pile into electric energy through the rectifier circuit, offering a sci-fi charging experience.

According to the company, Xiaomi’s self-developed space isolation charging technology in the future will work with all kinds of wearable devices including smartwatches and bracelets.

Soon, many products will be built upon a wireless power supply design that will be free from wires and cables, offering a truly wireless experience.

Nothing much is known about the release date. It is not even clear if it would make its way to the consumer market, but what's for sure is the fact that this fancy piece of technology is going to be very expensive.

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Stablecoin holdings on crypto exchanges hit a new all-time high

Stablecoins like Tether are flooding crypto exchanges again, potentially pointing at another upward move on crypto markets.

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Apple hits record revenue of $111.4 billion in Q1 2021, doubles market share in India

Apple on 27 January announced its financial results for the fiscal 2021 first quarter ended 26 December 2020. The company revealed in an official release that it has record revenue of $111.4 billion in the quarter, up 21 percent year over year, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $1.68, up 35 percent. Apple's international sales accounted for 64 percent of the quarter’s revenue. Meanwhile, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the company doubled its business in India in the December quarter. Cook attributes the success in India to its recently launched online store in the country.

Apple says it registered a market share of 4 percent during the festive quarter of 2020 and witnessed around 60 percent growth in the full year 2020.

"... If you take India as an example, we doubled our business last quarter compared to the year-ago quarter. But our absolute level of business there is still quite low relative to the size of the opportunity," Tim Cook said during an analyst call.

Apple launched the online store in India on 23 September, offering Apple's full range of products and customer support across the country, for the first time.

"India is one of those, where our share is quite low. It did improve from the year-ago quarter. Our business roughly doubled over that period of time. And so, we feel very good about the trajectory. We are doing a number of things in the area. We put the online store there, for example, and last quarter was the first full quarter of the online store," Tim Cook said.

Cool also revealed that in the December quarter the company hit a new high watermark for its installed base of active devices, with growth accelerating as it passed 1.65 billion devices worldwide.

“Our December quarter business performance was fuelled by double-digit growth in each product category, which drove all-time revenue records in each of our geographic segments and an all-time high for our installed base of active devices,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “These results helped us generate record operating cash flow of $38.8 billion. We also returned over $30 billion to shareholders during the quarter as we maintain our target of reaching a net cash neutral position over time.”

Apple’s Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $0.205 per share of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on 11 February 2021 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on 8 February 2021.

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PlayStation announces Concrete Genie, Control: Ultimate Edition, and Destruction AllStars as free games for February on PS Plus

Sony has announced free games for the month of February 2021. The games will be free for the PS Plus users, which will include games like Concrete Genie, Control: Ultimate Edition, and Destruction AllStars. Subscribers will be able to download the games play for free via PlayStation Plus games from 2 February. The PS Plus story has been listed on the PlayStation website.

PS Plus games for February 2021:

Concrete Genie

This is an action-packed game that has been developed by Pixelopus that happens to be a developer part of SIE Worldwide Studios, for the PlayStation 4. The story is around a young boy named Ash that takes place in a small town named Denska. In this, the player controls Ash to create landscapes in the town of wherein the genies user creates with the Living Paint that will help the player overcome the game's various puzzles to clean up the streets. The game was launched on 8 October 2019 and is available for PS4.

Control: Ultimate Edition

Control: Ultimate Edition is an action-packed adventure video game that has been developed by Remedy Entertainment. The game revolves around the titular Federal Bureau of Control (FBC), a clandestine US government agency that investigates supernatural Altered World Events (AWEs) that is played from a third-person perspective. The users will play as Jesse Faden who wields a unique weapon and has some unique abilities. The game is available for both PS4 and PS5.

Destruction AllStars

This happens to be a vehicular combat game that has been developed by Lucid Games. In the gameplay, the user assumes control of one of 16 AllStars. Each star has access to a unique hero vehicle that comes with distinctive features, wherein the user needs to find ways to destroy opponent vehicles. The game will be releasing on 2 February 2021 and has been released for PS5 only and won't be available for PS4 users.

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Airtel successfully demonstrates 5G network in Hyderabad across radio, core and transport

Bharti Airtel on Thursday said its network is 5G ready now as the telco successfully demonstrated live fifth-generation service – with ultra high speeds – over a commercial network in Hyderabad city. The move assumes significance as telcos are gearing up to leverage 5G as the next frontier for future growth to bolster revenues and provide a stronger customer experience. While the latest demonstration underscores the company's technology capabilities for rolling out of fifth-generation services in the future, Airtel said the actual impact of the 5G experience will be available to customers, "when the adequate spectrum is available and government approvals are received".

For the demo run, the company leveraged the existing liberalised spectrum in the 1800 MHz band.

"In many ways now, it is a flick of a button to turn on 5G. It is important that we get the right 5G experience for which adequate spectrum in the right bands needs to be made available.

"Today, we have conclusively demonstrated that as far as Airtel is concerned, we are 5G ready," Bharti Airtel MD and CEO Gopal Vittal said at a virtual conference.

The company said Airtel 5G is capable of delivering 10x speeds, 10x latency and 100x concurrency when compared to existing technologies. Specifically, in Hyderabad, users were able to download a full-length movie in a matter of seconds on a 5G phone.

Using dynamic spectrum sharing, Airtel seamlessly operated 5G and 4G concurrently within the same spectrum block.

The company said its demonstration has validated the 5G readiness of Airtel's network across all domains – radio, core and transport.

"Every single part of our network is now fully 5G ready...and can use any spectrum band to click on 5G experience in a matter of months," Vittal said.

Airtel said it is committed to position India as a global innovation hub that is at the forefront of tech revolution.

India has the potential to become a global hub for 5G innovation, Vittal said, adding this would require the coming together of the ecosystem – applications, devices and network innovation.

"We are more than ready to do our bit," he emphasised.

Airtel said it is the first operator to demonstrate this capability. The company had already demonstrated 5G capabilities in labs, where on a standalone mode it was able to deliver experiences of up to 3 Gbps.

"We are excited, as this has been demonstrated over a commercial network...The moment we receive Government approvals and we have the right spectrum bands in adequate quantities, we will be able to roll this out, immediately.

"Even on existing bands of spectrum, 5G can be turned on but the full power of the experience will be felt only when the adequate spectrum is available from the Government," Vittal said.

The company does not see any significant change in its capex cycle going forward.

Telecom companies are eagerly looking to tap the upcoming 5G opportunities in India, a lucrative market that has the second largest number of telephone connections in the world.

Reliance Jio has said it will continue to accelerate the rollout of its digital platforms and indigenously developed next-generation 5G stack.

The company had said it will make 5G affordable and available everywhere, adding that its 5G service would be a testimony to the vision of ''Atmanirbhar Bharat''.

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US detects first instance of COVID-19 disease from South African SARS-CoV-2 variant

A new variant of the coronavirus emerged Thursday in the United States, posing yet another public health challenge in a country already losing more than 3,000 people to COVID-19 every day. The mutated version of the virus, first identified in South Africa, was found in two cases in South Carolina. Public health officials said it’s almost certain that there are more infections that have not been identified yet. They are also concerned that this version spreads more easily and that vaccines could be less effective against it.

The two cases were discovered in adults in different regions of the state and do not appear to be connected. Neither of the people infected has traveled recently, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control said Thursday.

“That’s frightening,” because it means there could be more undetected cases within the state, said Dr Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious diseases physician at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. “It’s probably more widespread.”

The arrival of the variant shows that “the fight against this deadly virus is far from over,” Dr Brannon Traxler, South Carolina’s interim public health director, said in a statement. “While more COVID-19 vaccines are on the way, supplies are still limited. Every one of us must recommit to the fight by recognizing that we are all on the front lines now. We are all in this together.”

Viruses constantly mutate, and coronavirus variants are circulating around the globe, but scientists are primarily concerned with the emergence of three that researchers believe may spread more easily. Other variants first reported in the United Kingdom and Brazil were previously confirmed in the U.S.

As the variants bring a potential for greater infection risks in the U.S., pandemic-weary lawmakers in several states are pushing back against mask mandates, business closures and other protective restrictions ordered by governors.

States including Arizona, Michigan, Ohio, Maryland, Kentucky and Indiana are weighing proposals to limit their governors’ abilities to impose emergency restrictions. Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled Assembly had been expected to vote to repeal Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ mask mandate, but lawmakers abruptly called off the vote Thursday in the face of broad criticism and out of concern it would jeopardize more than $49 million in federal aid. Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering a constitutional amendment to strip the governor of many of his emergency powers.

Governors argue that they need authority to act swiftly in a crisis, and limitations could slow critical emergency responses.

Meanwhile, Nebraska health officials said the state could be days away from lifting restrictions on indoor gatherings, citing a low percentage of COVID-19 hospitalizations. Other states seeing declining infections are also loosening limitations on restaurants and other businesses, though experts have warned the public to stay vigilant about masks and social distancing or risk further surges.

In South Carolina, the state health agency said the variant was found in one person from the state’s coastal region and another in its northeastern corner. The state gave little other information, citing privacy concerns, though Traxler said neither of the people was contagious any longer.

“Both were tested very early in the month, and my understanding is that both are doing well,” Traxler said.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, loosened most of the state’s remaining pandemic restrictions in the fall. Spokesman Brian Symmes said McMaster does not plan to order new restrictions based on the discovery of the variant.

“This is important information for South Carolinians to have,” McMaster said in a tweet, “but it isn’t a reason for panic.”

Scientists last week reported preliminary signs that some of the recent mutations may modestly curb the effectiveness of two vaccines, although they stressed that the shots still protect against the disease. There are also signs that some of the new mutations may undermine tests for the virus and reduce the effectiveness of certain treatments.

The coronavirus has already sickened millions and killed roughly 4,30,000 people in the United States.

While the rollout of vaccines has been slow, President Joe Biden has pledged to deliver 100 million injections in his first 100 days in office — and suggested it’s possible the U.S. could reach 1.5 million shots a day.

While some European countries do extensive genetic testing to detect these variants, the U.S. has done little of this detective work. But scientists have been been quickly trying to do more, which has revealed the more contagious variants.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported at least 315 cases of the U.K.-discovered variant in the United States. Those reports have come from at least 28 states, and health officials believe it could become the dominant strain in the U.S. by March. That variant has been reported in at least 70 countries.

The first U.S. case of the variant found in Brazil was announced earlier this week by health officials in Minnesota. It was a person who recently traveled to that South American nation. That version of the virus has popped up in more than a half-dozen countries.

The variant first found in South Africa was detected in October. Since then, it has been found in at least 30 other countries.

Some tests suggest the South African and Brazilian variants may be less susceptible to antibody drugs or antibody-rich blood from COVID-19 survivors, both of which help people fight off the virus.

Health officials also worry that if the virus changes enough, people might get COVID-19 a second time.

Biden on Monday reinstated COVID-19 travel restrictions on most non-US. travelers from Brazil, the UK and South Africa. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that Americans avoid travel.

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Twitter acquires newsletter publishing platform Revue in an undisclosed deal

Microblogging platform Twitter on 26 January announced in a blog post that it has acquired Dutch startup Revue, which allows users to publish and monetise email newsletters. Twitter is making Revue's Pro features available for free to all accounts and will be lowering the cut it takes from paid newsletters to 5 percent. Essentially, users who are looking to generate revenue, Twitter says it's creating a durable incentive model through paid newsletters. With Revue coming to Twitter, the platform aims to help writers grow their paid subscribers while also incentivising them to produce engaging and relevant content.

“Our goal is to make it easy for them to connect with their subscribers, while also helping readers better discover writers and their content. We’re imagining a lot of ways to do this, from allowing people to sign up for newsletters from their favourite follows on Twitter, to new settings for writers to host conversations with their subscribers. It will all work seamlessly within Twitter,” Product Lead, Twitter and co-founder of Periscope Kayvon Beykpour and VP of Publisher Products Mike Park wrote in the official blog post.

Revue was founded in 2015 and has a band of customers comprising of Matt Navara, Chicago Sun Times, The Markup, MADSACK Mediengruppe and Vox Media.

"Revue will accelerate our work to help people stay informed about their interests while giving all types of writers a way to monetize their audience – whether it’s through the one they built at a publication, their website, on Twitter, or elsewhere," Beykpour and Park said in the blog.

"And for those looking to generate revenue, we’re creating a durable incentive model through paid newsletters. Bringing Revue to Twitter will supercharge this offering, helping writers grow their paid subscribers while also incentivizing them to produce engaging and relevant content that drives conversations on Twitter. You can expect audience-based monetization to be an area that we’ll continue to develop new ways to support, whether it’s helping broaden revenue streams or serving as a cornerstone of someone’s business," they added.

"We will continue to invest in Revue as a standalone service, and its team will remain focused on improving the ways writers create their newsletters, build their audience and get paid for their work," they stated.

(Also Read: Twitter to shut down its live video streaming mobile application Periscope by March 2021)

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Samsung Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 Plus, Galaxy S21 Ultra, Galaxy Buds Pro go on sale in India

Samsung launched Galaxy S21 series, that includes Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+ and Galaxy S21 Ultra, earlier this month. Starting today, the smartphones, along with the Galaxy Buds Pro TWS earbuds, will be available for purchase in India. The three Galaxy S-series smartphones come with 5G connectivity, Exynos 2100 chipset and six colour variants including Phantom Black, Phantom Silver, Phantom Violet, Phantom White, Phantom Grey and Phantom Pink. Notably, Samsung has announced that Galaxy S21 series will come with a USB cable but will ditch the adapter this time.

Galaxy S21 series pricing, availability, sale offers

The Galaxy S21 comes in two storage variants. The 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage variant is priced at Rs 69,999 and the 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage variant is priced a Rs 73,999. It comes in Phantom Violet, White, Pink and Grey colour variants.

The Galaxy S21+ also comes in two storage variants. The 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage variant is priced at Rs 81,999 and the 8 GB RAM +256 GB storage variant is priced at Rs 85,999. Galaxy S21+ comes in Phantom Violet, Sliver and Black colour variants.

Galaxy S21 Ultra 12 GB RAM +256 GB storage variant is priced at Rs 1,05,999 and the 16 GB RAM +512 GB storage variant is priced at Rs 1,16,999. It will be available in Phantom Black and Sliver colour variants.

Galaxy Buds Pro are priced at Rs 17,999 in India.

All the products are now available for purchase on Samsung.com, Samsung exclusive stores, leading online portals and leading retail outlets.

As for sale offers, buyers can get a cashback of Rs 10,000 on Galaxy S21 Ultra, Rs 7,000 on Galaxy S21+ and Rs 5,000 on Galaxy S21 on HDFC Bank credit and debit cards.

Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+ specifications

The Galaxy S21 features a 6.2-inch Flat FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity-O display that has a resolution of 2,400 x 1,080 pixels. The display also comes with an adaptive 120 Hz refresh rate. The two smartphones are powered by Exynos 2100 chipset and offer 8 GB RAM and up to 256 GB storage.

In terms of camera, both smartphones come with a 10 MP punch-hole front camera for selfies. On the rear, the smartphones feature a triple camera setup that houses a 12 MP ultra-wide lens, a 12 MP wide-angle lens and a 64 MP telephoto lens that supports 30X Space Zoom.

Galaxy S21 is equipped with a 4,000 mAh battery whereas Galaxy S21+ houses a 4,800 mAh battery. The Galaxy S21+ features a 6.7-inch Flat FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity-O display.

Galaxy S21 Ultra specifications

The smartphone comes with a 6.8-inch Edge QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity-O display that comes with a resolution of 3,200 x 1,440 pixels. According to Samsung, Galaxy S21 Ultra is powered by a 5nm 64-bit Octa-Core processor. It offers up to 16 GB RAM and up to 512 GB of internal storage.

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As for photography, it sports a 40 MP selfie camera on the front. On the back, it features a quad rear camera setup that includes ultra-wide, wide and dual Tele lenses including a 108 MP sensor. The 108 MP sensor can capture 12-bit HDR photos. It lets you shoot in 4K at 60 fps across all lenses including front and rear four lenses. It also offers a 12-bit RAW file option. The Galaxy S21 Ultra features 100x Space Zoom which is powered by Samsung’s Dual-tele lens system – one optical 3x and one optical 10x both equipped Dual Pixel(2PD) AF.

Galaxy S21 Ultra also features a Bright Night sensor for low-light photography.

The smartphone comes with a 5,000 mAh battery.

Galaxy Buds Pro specifications

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro features 'Intelligent Noise cancellation' technology that automatically detects when you talking and switches off the active noise cancellation. The buds use a two-way speaker system and come with a 360-degree audio feature so when you turn your head, the earphones can re-calibrate the music and adjust you in the centre of the scene.

The Auto Switch feature allows the device to automatically detect which device you are using and switch the audio to that device. It comes with an IPX7 rating that is, as per the company, the 'highest standard of water resistance' among all the Buds devices. It can offer up to 28 hours of battery-life given that the ANC is off.

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Russia's Dyatlov mountain mystery unraveled after many decades, unexplained deaths

The mysterious deaths of nine young hikers in the winter of 1959 at a remote pass in the Ural mountains has been an odd fascination for Russia for decades. In that time, it has spawned countless theories from aliens to a botched nuclear test. Now research published Thursday in the journal Communications Earth and Environment has added weight to a natural explanation for the deaths of the experienced mountaineers, whose frozen bodies were found scattered across the snowy landscape, some with terrible injuries.

With no survivors and several questions left unanswered, doubts over the "Dyatlov Pass Mystery" have lingered despite an official inquiry that last year ruled the students had died in an avalanche.

The new research suggests that a combination of factors – including a cut made into the snow when the trekkers pitched their tent and a build-up of snow by strong, icy winds – triggered a delayed avalanche that drove the students outside into temperatures of -25 degrees Celsius (-13 Fahrenheit).

"Several parts of the Dyatlov Pass Mystery will never be explained, because no one survived to tell the story," said co-author Johan Gaume, who heads the Snow Avalanche Simulation Laboratory at EPFL in Switzerland.

Conspiracy theories

On the night of 1 February 1959, hikers led by Igor Dyatlov set up camp on the slope of the Kholat Saykhl, "Dead Mountain". At some point after midnight something unexpected caused expedition members to cut their way out of the tent and escape towards a forest, more than a kilometre downslope, without appropriate clothes. Some of the bodies were found strangely discoloured or had missing eyeballs. Others had internal injuries but no outer signs of trauma. One man's body registered a high level of radiation, while one woman's tongue was missing.

A criminal case was opened and closed soon after. It remained classified until the 1970s.

The Dyatlov Pass incident became one of Russia's greatest mysteries, inspiring numerous books, documentaries and feature films dedicated to the tragedy.

Among the different theories circulated over the decades were an attack by a yeti-like creature, an explosion caused by a secret weapons test, falling rocket debris, or even some unknown psychological force that drove the hikers to kill each other.

Gaume said he was first made aware of the story in 2019, when he was contacted by a journalist about the decision to reopen the case.

"I got truly fascinated", he told AFP.

He teamed up with Alexander Puzrin, a professor at ETH Zurich, who had experience in forensic geotechnical investigations.

'Brutal force'

Prosecutors last year concluded that the group was killed by an avalanche and found that most had died of hypothermia. But questions remained.

These included how an avalanche could have happened on such a slight slope; how it could have been triggered hours after the tent was pitched; and why several of the group had traumatic injuries not normally seen in avalanches.

The researchers created an analytical model to look at slab avalanche release under the environmental conditions in which the mountaineers set up their tent.

Their analysis suggests the hikers could have unknowingly set up camp – hacking a ledge into the frozen ground for shelter – on a weak layer of snow.

During the night, winds may have deposited more snow in a slab above the tent and researchers estimate the avalanche could have been triggered between 9.5 and 13.5 hours after the hikers set up camp.

The study also used simulations of the injuries – taking into account that the hikers would have been lying down when the incident happened – and found they fitted with the autopsy reports.

Gaume said the study was "the most exciting case I ever worked on.

"We felt like detectives!"

He stressed however that the researchers do not claim to have solved the mystery.

"I think it is also a great story of courage and friendship in the face of a brutal force of nature," he said.

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Crypto in the Philippines: Necessity is the mother of adoption

"People are just like, 'Whoa, mind blown — this is going to save me half a day because I don't have to go all the way to the bank during business hours and take three journeys on public transport and then wait in line for an hour ... I could do this on my phone.’”

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Facebook Oversight Board overturns four content-removal rulings, says platforms rule on misinformation was 'inappropriately vague'

Facebook's newly-launched oversight board issued its first rulings on Thursday, overturning four of five decisions to remove controversial posts from the platform. The initial batch of rulings did not include Donald Trump's indefinite suspension from Facebook and Instagram after the storming of the US Capitol, but the board said last week it agreed to consider that case. The four overturned decisions included a post that asserted that France lacked a health care strategy and included claims that a cure for Covid-19 exists.

This post was initially removed on grounds that it contributed to "risk of imminent... physical harm." But the review board said Facebook's rule on misinformation and imminent harm was "inappropriately vague."

Another case involved nudity. An Instagram user in Brazil had posted pictures of women's nipples as part of a breast cancer awareness message.

It was removed, but the board said the photos should be allowed in light of Facebook's own policy exception for breast cancer awareness.

Also overturned was the removal of a post dramatically condemning treatment of Uyghur Muslims in China, according to the board.

(Also read: COVID-19 misinformation, hate speech, nudity among first cases picked by Facebook's oversight board)

"None of these cases had easy answers and deliberations revealed the enormous complexity of the issues involved," the board said in a post on its rulings.

"In one case, board members looked at whether, in the context of an armed conflict, Facebook was right to remove an otherwise-permissible post because it contained a hateful slur."

In several of the cases, members of the board questioned whether Facebook rules were clear enough for users to understand, according to the post.

- Prompting policy -
The board said that since it started accepting cases in October of last year, more than 150,000 cases have been appealed to the panel.

"As we cannot hear every appeal, we are prioritizing cases that have the potential to affect lots of users around the world, are of critical importance to public discourse or raise important questions about Facebook’s policies," the board said.

Facebook's oversight board is tasked with making final decisions on appeals regarding what is removed or allowed to remain on the world's biggest social network.

It is considering cases involving Nazi propaganda, hate speech, nudity, pandemic misinformation and dangerous individuals or organizations.

Launch of the panel came late last year amid rising concerns about misinformation and manipulation around the US presidential election.

The board was created at the urging of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg with the authority to overrule him and other top executives.

Facebook has agreed to be bound by decisions on appeals, but rulings will only apply to cases at issue and will not set precedents.

Rulings can, however, come with recommendations about changing Facebook policies.

"We believe that the board included some important suggestions that we will take to heart," Facebook content policy vice president Monika Bickert said, noting it could take more than a month to analyze the recommendations.

- Truly independent? -
An activist group that mockingly named itself The Real Facebook Oversight Board challenged the legitimacy of what has been referred to as the social network's "supreme court."

Members of the Facebook appeals panel come from various countries and include jurists, human rights activists, journalists, a Nobel peace laureate and a former Danish prime minister.

"A handful of hand-picked experts, paid six figures each, ruled on a limited set of harms in a non-transparent manner with no solutions for the core threats to democracy caused by Facebook's business," the activist group said in a release.

"While we respect all the individuals on the Oversight Board, the rulings by the board as a body do not meaningfully address the many, ongoing harms facilitated by Facebook."

No board can replace independent oversight anchored in the rule of law, Stanford University Cyber Policy Center international policy director Marietje Schaake said in a tweet.

However, the fact that the oversight panel reversed four of the five content removal decisions is a sign that it does "not intend to extend Facebook much deference" and will try to "force Facebook to clean up its content moderation act," Harvard Law School lecturer Evelyn Douek reasoned in an online post.

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SriShaktiSat: SIET students design, develop satellite for ISRO for RS 2.5 crores

Students of Sri Shakti Institute of Engineering and Technology, in Coimbatore, have designed and developed a satellite at a cost of ₹2.5 crores. It would be inaugurated by chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Dr R Sivan on 28 January. The formation of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre in June last by Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspired 12 students of the institute to collaborate with ISRO and develop 'SriShaktiSat', the institute chairman Dr Thangavel told reporters here on Wednesday.

After installing Sri Shakti Sat Ground Station in collaboration with Serbia-based Community for Space Programme Development, the institute became a member of the Satellite Networked Open Ground Station (SATNOGS) project, he said.

Thangavel said SATNOGS aimed at providing technologies for a distributed network of low earth orbit satellite ground stations. Srishaktisat would be weighing only 460 grams but can perform like any other nanosatellites weighing upto 10 kgs, he said. The satellite would be used as a technology demonstrator for the Internet of Things in space and for inter-satellite communication, he said. After the virtual inauguration, the satellite would be handed over to ISRO in February for its use, he added.

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Humanity is facing a climate emergency agrees 1.2 million people globally according to UN survey

Nearly two-thirds of 1.2 million people polled worldwide say humanity faces a climate emergency, according to a UN survey, the largest of its kind ever undertaken. Young and old, rich and poor, respondents in 50 nations home to more than half the global population also chose from a score of policy options to tackle the problem, researchers at the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the University of Oxford reported Wednesday. The findings suggest the grassroots global climate movement that surged onto the world stage in 2019 — led, in part, by a then 16-year Greta Thunberg of Sweden — is still gaining momentum, even if a raging pandemic has obscured its scope.

"Concern about the climate emergency is far more widespread than we knew before," Stephen Fisher, a sociologist at Oxford who helped design the survey and process the data, told AFP in an interview. "And the large majority of those who do recognise a climate emergency want urgent and comprehensive action."

In a clever innovation, the short survey popped up like an advertisement on cell phone game apps, giving researchers access to demographics that might not otherwise respond to a public opinion poll.

Gender gap

At the national level, some 80 percent of people in Britain, Italy and Japan expressed serious foreboding about the impact of climate change, which has — with a single degree of warming so far — measurably increased the intensity of heatwaves, drought and flood-inducing rainfall, as well as storms made more destructive by rising seas. France, Germany, South Africa and Canada were close behind, with more than three-quarters of those polled describing the threat as a "global emergency". In another dozen countries — including the United States, Russia, Vietnam and Brazil — two-thirds of respondents saw things the same way.

Nearly 75 percent of residents in small island states — some facing the prospect of losing their homelands to rising seas — perceived the climate threat as an emergency. They were followed by high-income countries (72 percent), middle-income countries (62 percent), and Least Developed Countries (58 percent). The distribution across age groups of those seeing an "emergency" was narrow, ranging from 69 percent among those under 18 to 66 percent in the 36-59 age bracket. Only for people 60 and older did the figure dip slightly below 60 percent.

Surprisingly, 11 and 12 percent more women than men expressed high alarm about global warming in the United States and Canada, respectively. Globally, that disparity shrank, on average, to four percent among the 50 nations polled.

"Urgent climate action has broad support amongst people around the globe —across nationalities, age, gender and education," noted UNDP chief Achim Steiner. "But more than that, the poll reveals how people want their policymakers to tackle the crisis."

The most popular solution among those offered was protecting forests and natural habitats, selected by 54 percent of respondents.

Virtuous 'tipping point'

Following closely were the development of solar, wind and other forms of renewable power; the use of "climate-friendly" farming techniques; and investing more in green businesses and jobs. At the bottom of the list, garnering support from only 30 percent, was the promotion of meat-free diets, and the provision of affordable insurance.

The survey results reinforce recent studies suggesting that some countries, and perhaps global society, could be approaching a virtuous "tipping point" in public opinion that would drive an accelerated transition to a carbon-neutral world.

"Achieving a rapid global decarbonisation to stabilise the climate critically depends on activating contagious and fast-spreading processes of social and technological change," researchers from the Potsdam Institute led by lona Otto and Hans Joachim Schellnhuber noted in the scientific journal PNAS last year.

Much like the spread of a contagious disease, positive social movements — whether to ban slavery or install democracy — "can be irreversible and difficult to stop" once they cross a certain threshold, they note.

"There is recent anecdotal evidence that protests — such as the #FridaysForFuture climate strikes, the Extinction Rebellion protests, and initiatives such as the Green New Deal in the US — might be indicators of this change in norms and values taking place right now."

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Grayscale is buying BTC 54% faster than it is mined so far in 2021

Grayscale is continuing its BTC accumulation spree, snapping up more than 40,000 BTC in just 16 days.

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New HPE-Cray EX supercomputer can perform 20 quadrillion calculations per second

A new supercomputer in Wyoming will rank among the world’s fastest and help study phenomena including climate change, severe weather, wildfires and solar flares. Houston-based Hewlett Packard Enterprise won a bid to provide the $35 million to $40 million machine for a supercomputing centre in Cheyenne, the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, announced Wednesday. The HPE-Cray EX supercomputer will theoretically be able to perform almost 20 quadrillion calculations per second — 3.5 times faster than the existing machine at the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center.

The new machine’s maximum speed per second will be roughly equivalent to each person on Earth completing a math equation every second for an entire month. That power will enable some of the most sophisticated simulations yet of large-scale natural and human-influenced events.

The supercomputer should rank among the world’s 25 fastest after it’s installed this year and goes into operation in early 2022, according to the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

It “will support basic research in ways that will lead to more detailed and useful predictions of the world around us, thereby helping to make our society more resilient to increasingly costly disasters and contributing to improved human health and well-being,” centre Director Everette Joseph said in a news release.

More than 4,000 people from hundreds of universities and other institutions worldwide have used the supercomputing centre since it opened in 2012.

The facility’s current supercomputer, named Cheyenne, is over three times faster than its predecessor, which was named Yellowstone. A contest among Wyoming schoolchildren will decide the new supercomputer’s name.

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Novavax COVID-19 vaccine is 89.3 percent effective, but less so against variants, shows UK trial

Novavax Inc. said Thursday that its COVID-19 vaccine appears 89% effective based on early findings from a British study and that it also seems to work — though not as well — against new mutated versions of the virus circulating in that country and South Africa.

The announcement comes amid worry about whether a variety of vaccines being rolled out around the world will be strong enough to protect against worrisome new variants – and as the world desperately needs new types of shots to boost scarce supplies.

The study of 15,000 people in Britain is still underway. But an interim analysis found 62 participants so far have been diagnosed with COVID-19 – only six of them in the group that got vaccine and the rest who received dummy shots.

The infections occurred at a time when Britain was experiencing a jump in COVID-19 caused by a more contagious variant. A preliminary analysis found over half of the trial participants who became infected had the mutated version. The numbers are very small, but Novavax said they suggest the vaccine is nearly 96% effective against the older coronavirus and nearly 86% effective against the new variant. The findings are based on cases that occurred at least a week after the second dose.

“Both those numbers are dramatic demonstrations of the ability of our vaccine to develop a very potent immune response,” Novavax CEO Stanley Erck said in a call with investors late Thursday.

Scientists have been even more worried about a variant first discovered in South Africa that carries different mutations. Results from a smaller Novavax study in that country suggests the vaccine does work but not nearly as well as it does against the variant from Britain.

The South African study included some volunteers with HIV. Among the HIV-negative volunteers, the vaccine appears 60% effective. Including volunteers with HIV, overall the protection was 49%, the company said. While genetic testing still is underway, so far about 90% of the COVID-19 illnesses found in the South African study appear due to the new mutant.

“These are good results. There is reason to be optimistic” about the 60% effectiveness, said Glenda Gray, head of the South African Medical Research Council. Even against the new variant that now causes more than 90% of new cases in that country, “we’re still seeing vaccine efficacy,” she said.

More concerning is what the study showed about a totally different question — the chances of people getting COVID-19 a second time, said the leader of the South African study, Shabir Madhi of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Tests suggested that nearly a third of study participants had been previously infected, yet rates of new infections in the placebo group were similar.

“Past infection with early variants of the virus in South Africa does not protect” against infection with the new one, he said. “There doesn’t seem to be any protection derived.”

Novavax said it needs some additional data before it can seek British authorization for the vaccine’s use, sometime in the next month or so. A larger study in the U.S. and Mexico has enrolled slightly over half of the needed 30,000 volunteers. Novavax said it’s not clear if the Food and Drug Administration will need data from that study, too, before deciding whether to allow U.S. use.

Meanwhile, it is starting to develop a version of the vaccine that could more specifically target the mutations found in South Africa, in case health authorities eventually decide that updated dosing is needed.

Vaccines against COVID-19 train the body to recognize the new coronavirus, mostly the spike protein that coats it. But the Novavax candidate is made differently than the first shots being used. Called a recombinant protein vaccine, the Maryland company uses genetic engineering to grow harmless copies of the coronavirus spike protein in insect cells. Scientists extract and purify the protein and then mix in an immune-boosting chemical.

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Majority of Whatsapp users said they will not use payment features, business chat if app shares info with Facebook, third parties: Survey

A majority of respondents in a survey said they will not use Whatsapp payment features and may discontinue business chat if the app shares information with Facebook and third parties, according to a survey. The survey – conducted around Whatsapp new proposed policy across the country covering over 17,000 respondents – found that five per cent users have deleted the app, while 22 per cent claimed to have reduced using the mobile messaging platform.

"Whatsapp and Facebook must reconsider this feedback and make changes to their policy if they are serious about Whatsapp Pay becoming a key player in the UPI payments space in India. Currently, Google Pay, Phone Pe and Paytm have a majority of the market share in this segment," the survey by online platform Localcirlces said.

Early this month, WhatsApp informed users of an update in its terms of service and privacy policy regarding how it processes user data and partners with Facebook to offer integrations across the social media giant''s products.

It also stated that users will have to agree to the new terms and policy by 8 February 2021, in order to continue using WhatsApp.

However, the mobile messaging app has deferred the update to May after it received flak over its new privacy policy and terms of service.

Around 92 per cent people in the survey said they will not use Whatsapp payment features if the app shares information with Facebook and third parties.

Around 79 per cent respondents said that they are not likely to use Whatsapp Business Accounts if the instant messaging app decides to implement the policy in May.

The survey found that while 55 per cent of citizens have downloaded alternative apps, 21 per cent are actively using it.

"Many users may have already had the Signal and Telegram apps on their phones before the new Whatsapp policy changes were proposed," the report said.

Another survey by market research and analysis firm BM Nxt, 82 per cent users expressed displeasure over the new policy of Whatsapp and 72 per cent respondents said they were open to switching to other messaging platforms.

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FAU-G becomes top free game; records more than 5 million downloads on Google Play Store

FAU-G had been creating a lot of buzz prior to its launch. FAU-G is a locally-developed game that has been made by Bangalore-based nCore games. The game was launched on 26 January and has managed to become a massive hit. It has become the most popular free game on Google Play Store and has managed more than 5 million downloads in a single day. More so, the game has received an average of 4.1 ratings on the Google Play Store.

Game developer nCore Games took to Twitter to announce the news, writing, "#MakeInIndia Wins @GooglePlay FAU-G is now the #1 Free Game. Thank you India! #JaiHind."

#MakeInIndia Wins ❤️ @GooglePlay
FAU-G is now the #1 Free Game. Thank you India! #JaiHind

Download now: https://t.co/4TXd1F7g7J#FAUG #atmanirbharbharat@vishalgondal @akshaykumar @dayanidhimg @BharatKeVeer pic.twitter.com/GUdyI22f5T

— nCORE Games (@nCore_games) January 27, 2021

The announcement of the game was made initially by the Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar via his Twitter handle. The game was expected to launch in October 2020 but managed to make its way in January 2021. For now, the game is available only on the Android platform and there is no news for its availability on iOS.

The parent company nCore Games has stated that FAUG is said to get a 5v5 Team Deathmatch, Battle Royale, and more modes that will be added soon. No news on the update has been announced so far.

FAUG comes with a single-person campaign mode and is based on the feud between Indian and Chinese soldiers, based in Galwan Valley. Unlike its counterpart, the game does not get Battle Royale Game Mode.

The gameplay of FAU-G portrays the life of an Indian Soldier and how the soldiers fight on the border. The gameplay resembles an Indian theme, portraying Galwan Valley.

[hq]How to download FAU-G[/hq]

[hans][hstep]Step 1: To download FAU-G, go to Google play store and type FAU-G in search[/hstep]

[hstep]Step 2: Open FAU-G and click on the install button[/hstep]

[hstep]Step 3: After clicking the install button, wait for the game to download[/hstep]

[hstep]Step 4: Once the download is finished, click on the game app and start playing[/hstep][/hans]

According to an earlier report, the game is 460 MB in size on the Play Store and while it has not yet released for iOS users, it is expected to roll out soon. For now, the game only has "Campaign- Tales of Galwan Valley" mode. It will eventually receive four more modes including "Team DeathMatch" and "Free for all- Every man for himself".

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Instagram rolls out new caraousel layout for Stories feature on desktop

Instagram has started rolling out a new layout for stories on the desktop. The new design allows users to view the stories in a convenient carousel way, making them easy for viewing on a desktop. The company had been testing the redesign last month, which appears to be rolling out for now. With the new design, users will be able to see the carousel stories as well as the clickable previews of the next and previous stories. The new Instagram Stories redesign looks more user-friendly for users to view on the desktop making it easier for users to keep track of where the users were in the Stories queue.

The update is being rolled out for both Mac and Windows users. The navigation for the Instagram Stories remains the same, wherein the users will now be able to see five Instagram Stories on your desktop, with one playing in the centre and the next story would appear as soon as the user has finished watching one or by clicking on the arrow button on the right and as the user moves forward, the carousel would keep changing.

The new redesign shows the volume mute buttons as well as the pause/ play button. Other than this, the new design also gets an option that allows users to reply directly to the stories, similar to that on the phone.

Instagram had been testing the new update on small groups of users in December and was expected to come earlier this month. The new update makes it easy for users to watch stories on the desktop now, in comparison to the outgoing design. The new update would be helpful for users that particularly use Instagram regularly on desktops.

So, far Instagram on the desktop was just a viewing-only platform, unlike the mobile app. The company has been adding new features on the desktop version, major Instagram features are limited just for the mobile app.

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Tata Altroz iTurbo review: High hopes, modest numbers

When we drove the Tata Altroz for the first time in December 2019, it was a refreshing change from the Tata Motors products we had seen previously, and felt like a deliberate start of something new. It was a competent, practical, good-looking car that checked the boxes and exceeded expectations. Back then, Tata was still making hotter JTP-branded Tiagos and Tigors, and we hoped that they’d put the turbocharged engines from the Nexon into the Altroz eventually, and make a JTP version.

A year on, JTP is gone, relegated to history as an interesting but short experiment. However, Tata Motors has finally put a turbocharged engine into the Altroz, and called it the iTurbo.

What’s changed?

We did a cool 360-degree video review of the original Altroz (click here) if you want the basics. Essentially, the Altroz remains a premium hatch with a refreshing design language. One year down, the design still holds up, and Tata is offering it in a striking blue colour that enhances the visage. My sense is that this design will age well.

The interior remains functionally identical, but Tata Motors listened to feedback and tweaked the interior a bit. With the new colour scheme, the dash looks much less bland than it did in the original car. Also new is Tata Motors’ new ‘IRA’ connected car system which allows for limited control and monitoring of your Altroz via a mobile app.

The turbo in ‘iTurbo’ is by way of the turbocharged 1.2l petrol motor that the hatch is now offered with. The numbers are modest – 110PS, 140Nm, but better than the outgoing car’s 87PS and 113Nm. There are a couple of new drive modes to go with the new motor – City and Sport, which do make a perceptible difference to the way the car behaves.

A word on tech

We didn’t have any connected features in the original Altroz, but the market has changed quite a bit since. Almost every new model in recent memory comes with some form of connected or app comparability, and the iTurbo hasn’t been left behind. Thankfully, Tata Motors have been conservative in their approach. The ‘IRA’ app works on iOS and Android devices, and doesn’t try to do too much. There’s no remote start/AC pre-cooling. There’s mostly some geofencing, security features, and remote lock/horn/lights and diagnostics. The app is reasonably clean and worked as advertised in urban areas. How it will behave when the mobile network doesn’t cooperate (as it often doesn’t), remains to be seen.

Navigation is enhanced by a clever system called ‘What3Words’, which essentially assigns three random (but easy to remember) words to specific locations, and allows you to set them for places. This makes navigation – particularly voice-activated navigation – rather easy to engage. What3Words is a service available in other vehicles and other apps and contexts as well, and is an interesting, practical innovation that we hope becomes standard for hands-free navigation.

The infotainment system remains the same as we’ve seen on recent Tatas such as the Nexon. The touchscreen is responsive and did not glitch on us during our time with the car. Unfortunately, the carmaker hasn’t quite figured out how to create an elegant-looking UI. Tell-tale icons tend to be tiny and inconspicuous, leaving me to wonder whether a specific mode was ‘on’ or ‘off’ until I found the obscure icon hidden on the screen somewhere. Menus are fine, but Tata needs to work on the passive info displays they’ve been putting in their recent cars.

Refreshed interior

There’s no big story here, but the dark/light tone of the interior with the new leatherette seats is a positive change. Back in 2019, we complained about the incongruous expanse of dull plastic on the dash that really let down the premium vibe of the rest of the vehicle. Thankfully, that is not the case with the iTurbo, and things look quite nice now. The rear accommodations continue to be comfortable, even for tall passengers, and the floorpan is nearly flat in case there are three abreast. The doors open nearly to 90 degrees, making ingress and egress easy.

One niggle that seemed to jump out this year is that the Altroz doesn’t have the best storage spaces in the centre console. Things just feel a little cramped if you need to put stuff down. The doors have plenty of room, however.

On the go

The turbocharged motor does liven things up compared to the old naturally-aspirated petrol motor. This is expected, though unfortunately, Tata Motors will find themselves victims of their own benchmarks. The original Altroz set the bar fairly high, and the iTurbo does not deliver the performance that I think most testers were expecting. It’s a reasonably light car for its 5-star NCAP rating, but the 140Nm of torque doesn’t really get it places very quickly.

‘Sport’ mode is the way to go if you want to feel that turbo earning its keep, but I find this motor to be a bit jerky on/off throttle, even in the Nexon. ‘City’ mode dulls this a little and is fine around town, but ‘Sport’ is where you may crack a slight smile. Turbo lag is minimal, but this car does not have point-and-squirt sort of torque that allows rapid overtakes and squeezing into every gap in traffic. The power is there, and triple-digit cruising speeds are achieved without drama, or the hairy feeling you get with a lesser motor that’s working very hard. While the three-cylinder motor is smooth, the refinement and noise levels remain a bugbear from the original car.

While suspension feels sophisticated, I did notice a rumble on uneven surfaces that I did not encounter in the old car – a distinctly German car feeling that I’m not a fan of. It’s not a deal-breaker, but a magic carpet, it is not.

A contender?

To this, we say, “why not?”. The “Harbour Blue” colour makes the already arresting Altroz all the more striking. The iTurbo starts at Rs 7.74 lac ex-showroom, which is in the ballpark of rivals. Unfortunately, the performance isn’t. It’s a perfectly good premium hatch, and arguably one of the best-looking on sale, but I wouldn’t make too much of the ‘turbo’ in the badge. It’s a better Altroz, and that is still an achievement.

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Robinhood, hedge funds and short squeezes: Key points to know about the GameStop insanity

The internet and stock market are aflame over GameStop, the video game retailer whose stock is suddenly the darling of day traders who are putting the squeeze on Wall Street’s big players.

The stakes are enormous: The surge in trading has driven GameStop’s value up by more than $10 billion as of Wednesday.

GameStop — that feature of malls and shopping centres across the USA — was worth about $2 billion in December. Now it is worth $24 billion, roughly the same as the meat giant Tyson and the fuel refiner Valero Energy. On paper, at least.

Exactly why has to do with a mix of traditional investing, rampant enthusiasm, stock-market mechanics and the belief that anyone with a Robinhood account can meme a fortune into existence.

What’s going on?

It’s called a short squeeze, and it involves investors betting on which way a stock will go — up or down. These bets are placed by buying the shares themselves, or stock options, which we’ll grossly oversimplify here.

Investors who bet against a stock are called “shorts.” In GameStop’s case, the shorts include at least two big hedge funds.

Shorting a stock essentially means borrowing shares from a broker and selling them, with the agreement you’ll return the shares later. When the price falls, you buy back the shares and pocket the difference. But shorting a stock is risky — if the price rises, you can lose big.

Sometimes you just make a bad bet. But you can also lose if someone tries to push up the price by buying lots of shares, even though the company isn’t doing anything different.

This is the squeeze.

Shorts have to close their position — that is, buy up the shares they owe their brokers and return them. This demand kicks the stock higher, and a short who acts too late could be ruined.

Usually, these kinds of standoffs involve sophisticated Wall Street investors, for example when Bill Ackman squared off against two other billionaires — Daniel Loeb and Carl Icahn — over the dietary supplement maker Herbalife.

Why did GameStop’s stock start rising?

The amateurs started driving up the price.

Over the past year, armchair traders have surged into the market. Some smelled opportunity after stocks tumbled last spring, some were trying to scratch a gambling itch after sports leagues shut down, and for some it’s just a game — trying to ring up dollars instead of points. All this has been made easier by the free trades available through platforms like Robinhood and E-Trade.

Some of these enthusiastic amateurs are buying shares of GameStop, but many are placing their own options bets, on the opposite side of the shorts.

These bets involve contracts that give them the option to buy a stock at a certain price in the future. If the price rises, the trader can buy the stock at a bargain and sell it for a profit. (In practice, lots of traders just sell the options contract itself for a profit or loss instead of actually buying the shares, but this description suffices for our purposes.)

The brokers that sell the options contracts have to provide the shares if the trader wants to exercise the option. To mitigate their risk, they buy some of the shares they’d need. Normally, this small amount of demand doesn’t do much to the price.

But if enough traders bet big, the demand can push the stock up. If it goes high enough, the brokers who would be on the hook have to buy more shares, lest they get stuck having to buy a lot of expensive shares all at once.

That increases demand, which increases the stock’s price. Which means the brokers have to buy more shares, which means… You get the idea.

Okay, but why GameStop?

You can put some of the blame on Reddit’s Wall Street Bets forum, one of the weirder places on the internet. Wall Street Bets, or WSB, is where armchair traders gather to share memes, commiserate over losses and share more memes. But they also trade tips and analysis that can go on for pages.

GameStop’s shares started to rise late last year, after the founder of the pet-supply site Chewy bought a stake in the company and got a spot on its board. Slowly, the company gained the attention of WSB and traders who frequent the gamer-friendly social media service Discord.

The traders’ motivations vary widely. Some reason that GameStop’s shares are a good value. Others are just riding the wave. And others want to squeeze Melvin Capital, a hedge fund that was shorting GameStop. They’re the ones quoting Heath Ledger’s Joker character from The Dark Knight: “It’s not about the money, it’s about sending a message.”

But the aggressive manoeuvres against the shorts aren’t necessarily limited to the amateurs. Wall Street’s big players know a good opportunity when they see it.

How does the GameStop squeeze end?

Nobody knows.

A spokesperson for Melvin Capital — which needed a $2.75 billion cash injection Monday because of the squeeze — said the firm had closed out of its short position. Andrew Left of Citron Research, another short, said he had covered the majority of his short position “at a loss, 100 percent.”

There’s a catch: GameStop, as a company, is not noticeably different from a month ago. By any conventional measure, its share price wildly inflated — and extremely risky for whoever owns its shares.

But this isn’t just about GameStop anymore. Enthusiastic amateurs are also bidding up the prices of other struggling stocks, like movie theater chain AMC and smartphone maker BlackBerry.

This weird little bubble doesn’t just affect the bettors, though. If big investors on the losing side of these trades have to raise money to cover their losses, it could mean dumping enough shares to hurt the prices of otherwise solid stocks.

If the sell-off is big enough, it could have a cascading effect that leads to broader losses for investors who have never bought or sold a share of GameStop.

Matt Phillips c.2021 The New York Times Company

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Altcoins soar after 10% Bitcoin price breakout flips $33K back to support

Altcoins soared higher as Bitcoin price reclaimed $33,000 as support just one day before a record $4 billion BTC futures expiry.

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Google announces $150 million investment to promote vaccine education, equitable access

Google CEO Sundar Pichai on 25 January in a blog post announced that the company will be providing $150 million to promote COVID-19 vaccine education and to make information related to vaccination more equitably accessible to the public. The company will expand Google Search and Maps to make it easier for people to find when and where to get the COVID-19 vaccine at a local level. Pichai added that Google will be opening up its select physical spaces to be used as COVID-19 vaccine sites.

“We recognize that getting vaccines to people is a complex problem to solve, and we’re committed to doing our part. Today we’re announcing that we’re providing more than $150 million to promote vaccine education and equitable distribution and making it easier to find locally relevant information, including when and where to get the vaccine. We’ll also be opening up Google spaces to serve as vaccination sites as needed,” stated Google in the official release.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, we’ve helped more than 100 government agencies and global non-governmental organizations run critical public service health announcements through our Ad Grants Crisis Relief program. Today, we’re announcing an additional $100 million in ad grants for the CDC Foundation, the World Health Organization, and nonprofits around the globe. We’ll invest another $50 million in partnership with public health agencies to reach underserved communities with vaccine-related content and information,” it added.

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CAIT seeks action against Amazon, Flipkart, Zomato, others for 'daylight robbery'

Traders' body CAIT has written to Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal accusing Amazon, Flipkart, Zomato, Swiggy, and various other e-commerce entities for allegedly flouting rules, and demanded immediate action against them. Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that Rule 10 of Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, provides that e-commerce entities have to display details of the manufacturer, 'country of origin' and common/generic name of the product, MRP, and dimensions of the commodity, among others.

"This rule was introduced in June 2017 and provided a transition period of six months, thereby its implementation from 1 January 2018, but even after a lapse of three years, the above rules are not being complied by e-commerce companies prominently by Amazon, Flipkart, etc," Khandelwal said.

He alleged that similar obligations were imposed on e-commerce food business operators (FBOs) vide guidelines issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) on 2 February 2017, but FBOs like Zomato and Swiggy are not complying with the above rules.

"It is a case of daylight robbery of e-commerce entities in India and, therefore, demands immediate action against the erring e-commerce portals and online mechanism providers," CAIT stated.

With inputs from PTI.

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Samsung Galaxy M02 with a 5,000 mAh battery set to launch in India on 2 February

Samsung, the tech giant is planning on launching new phones under its budget segment, starting with the Samsung Galaxy M02. The phone is set for launch on 2 February, which will be a successor to the Galaxy M01. According to a company statement, Galaxy M02, will be Samsung’s second smartphone in the sub-10K segment this year and has been positioned as ‘Mera M, Mera Entertainment’. The device is ideal for accelerated customer needs including online classes, video calls, gaming and content streaming.

The device will available via Amazon that has a landing page for the same, which highlights some of the specifications, along with the price. The launch is expected to be launched via Livestream at 1 pm on February 2.  The phone has been listed on the Samsung website.

Samsung Galaxy M02 expected specifications

As far as the specifications are concerned, the Samsung Galaxy M02 will come with a 6.5-inch HD+ Infinity-V Display and will be backed by a 5,000 mAh battery. As far as the processor is concerned, rumours suggest that the phone could come powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 SoC, backed with 3 GB RAM and 32 GB of inbuilt storage along with a 6 GB RAM and 128 GB variant.

It will run on the Samsung One UI based on Android 10 and in terms of camera, the phone is speculated to come with a dual-camera setup that would include a 13 MP primary camera. For selfies and video calling, the phone is said to get a 5 MP front-facing camera, while other connectivity options would include a USB Type-C port.

Samsung Galaxy expected M02 price

Samsung Galaxy M02 price in India is set to be under Rs 7,000. Considering the previous generation Samsung Galaxy M01, the phone was launched last year in June, which was launched at Rs 8,999 for the 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage variant.

Samsung was spotted in November on the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification website as well as the Wi-Fi Alliance website, with the model number SM-025F/DS. Samsung has also showcased the Samsung Galaxy M02 launch teaser on its regional support page.

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