Elon Musk-Twitter deal in jeopardy, Musk may not be able to finance his deal because of Tesla

Elon Musk may not be able to fund his deal with Twitter, putting the Elon Musk-Twitter deal in jeopardy. Although Musk and his team would have people believe that the takeover bid will fall through because of Twitter not showing its data on fake and spam accounts on the platform, people closely involved with the deal have revealed that a lot of it boils down to the fact that Musk has been shaken a little given Tesla’s drop in valuation. 

Musk's team also thinks it won't be able to confirm data about the number of fake and spam accounts on Twitter and has stopped certain talks around funding the acquisition, the report said.

Musk reached a deal to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share, a 38% premium to Twitter's closing stock price on April 1, when the billionaire revealed he owns more than 9% of Twitter. Musk, who also leads Tesla and SpaceX, says Twitter isn't adhering to principles of free speech and he thinks it would best if the company became private. 

After Twitter's stock started to fall, Musk said the deal couldn't move forward until Twitter handed over more information about the number of spam and fake accounts on the platform. Musk said that understanding the number of fake accounts is part of evaluating Twitter's business, which makes most of its money from ad sales. Even though Musk said a lower sales price isn't out of the question, Twitter has said it doesn't intend to lower the price. The company also reportedly provided Musk with a trove of data.

Elon Musk had initially planned to leverage a portion of his shares of Tesla’s stock to finance his bid to buy Twitter. However, given how Tesla’s new plants in Germany and Texas have turned out to be “money furnaces”, requiring billions of dollars to set up and operate, Musk and his team have stopped engaging in funding discussions for the $44 billion deal. 

However, there is a chance that Musk may indeed go through with the acquisition at a much lower valuation. Each time news erupts that the Musk-Twitter deal may be off, Twitter’s stock price drops significantly. This time around, when news broke that the deal is in serious jeopardy, Twitter’s stock fell by four per cent.

Daniel Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, said in a note Thursday that his firm believes there's a 60 per cent chance that the deal will happen with a renegotiated price in the range of $42 to $45 per share. There’s also a 35 per cent chance that Musk will still walk away from the deal, pay the breakup fee and likely battle it out in court with Twitter's board.

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Infinix Note 12 5G series to launch in India with 108MP Camera, check other specs and price

Infinix will be unveiling the Infinix Note 12 5G series in India today. Infinix has already launched a couple of phones under their 12 series lineup. However, the devices did not support 5G.

With this upcoming lineup, Infinix is not only bringing 5G support to its devices but will also add a phone with a 108MP primary camera, a powerful processor and more. 

The Infinix Note 12 5G series will feature AMOLED displays and will have some powerful specifications, at least on paper. The Infinix Note 12 5G and the Note 12 PRO 5G, the two devices that are likely to be launched today, will be quite affordable, despite the specifications. The smartphones will be launched in India today at 12:00PM and will be sold exclusively on Flipkart.

Infinix recently launched its Note 12 series in India, but they were without support for 5G. The launched series include the Note 12 and Note 12 Turbo smartphones.

As for the specifications, the Infinix Note 12 5G is said to feature a 6.5-inch FHD+ AMOLED display. Under the hood, the device will likely be powered by a mid-range MediaTek Dimensity 5G chipset, which will likely be paired with at least 8GB RAM and at least 128GB internal storage. 

As for the software, the device will most likely rely upon Android 12 out of the box. In terms of photography, the Infinix Note 12 5G will feature a 108MP main camera, which will reportedly be accompanied by an 8MP ultrawide angle camera and a 2MP macro camera. 

At the front, the device is said to feature a 16MP selfie shooter. The Infinix Note 12 5G is tipped to feature a 5,000mAh battery with support for 33W fast charging.

Infinix has confirmed that the brand will launch a flagship smartphone with a whopping 180W fast charging support later this year. 

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iQOO 9T to launch in India by July-end, check out the specifications, and possible pricing

iQOO is reportedly working on the launch of its upcoming smartphone iQOO 9T. The company has also revealed the launch timeline that it will be following. The IQOO 9T is most likely to be launched in India, by the end of July.

The device will be powered by the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, which is said to boost performance by 10 per cent and increase power efficiency by 30 per cent. It will come with a segment-first 120Hz E5 AMOLED display and support 120W charging. It will also have the V1+ chip onboard.

Although there is very limited information regarding the specifications of the device, there have been a few leaks which have piqued the interest of tech enthusiasts. Because iQOO is positioning the 9T as a gaming phone, users can expect that it will have some of the best hardware, at least on paper.

iQOO 9T: Possible spec sheet
The iQOO 9T is likely to be launched with a 6.78-inch E5 AMOLED display, which will support a refresh rate of 120Hz. It will also support HDR10 and have a peak brightness of 1000 nits. The display will also have an under-display optical fingerprint scanner.

The iQOO 9T will be powered by the 4nm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC, which is an octacore processor. It will also feature the Adreno 730 GPU. For RAM, the device is likely to carry up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM for the top variant. As for storage, the iQOO 9T will have 256GB of UFS 3.1 ROM.

There will be a triple camera setup at the rear, with the main shooter being a 50MP sensor with an f1.8 wide lens, and OIS. The secondary camera is a 12MP sensor with a telephoto lens which will have 2X optical zoom. The third camera is likely to be a 12MP sensor with an ultrawide lens. As for the front-facing camera, it will be a 16MP sensor with an f2.5 wide lens.

The iQOO 9T will have a 4700mAh lithium polymer battery, that will support 120W fast charging, through a USB-C 2.0 port.

iQOO 9T: Price in India
Rumours suggest that iQOO will be pricing the device similar to the iQOO 9 Pro, so people looking forward to the launch of the device can expect it to be priced around Rs 65,000, for the base variant, which, in all likelihood, will be an 8GB + 256GB unit. 

Do note that since most of the information floating around the iQOO 9T’s specifications and pricing are based on rumours and leaks, it will be better if they are taken with a grain of salt.

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Nothing Phone 1 will come with a display that supports 120Hz refresh rate, set to launch next week

The launch of Nothing’s first mobile device, the Nothing Phone 1 is just a week away. The London-based smartphone brand has been very successful in creating massive hype around the launch of the device.

From an “exclusive invite only” system, to NFTs, Nothing has gone all out in marketing the Nothing Phone 1. The specs too have created a buzz around the device.

Now we learn that the Nothing Phone 1 will come with an FHD+ display that supports 120Hz refresh rate. The phone manufacturer took to a popular video-sharing site that is banned in India and shared a clip, where they show the device has a “Smooth display” option in the settings menu. Enabling this option ensures, that the phone will be able to automatically toggle between 60Hz and 120Hz for some content.

We also know for sure that the Nothing Phone 1 will come equipped with the Snapdragon 778G+ SoC. Nothing says the Snapdragon 778G+ is "custom tuned" for the Phone 1. What's interesting is that apparently the "+" in "Snapdragon 778G+" comes from the support for wireless charging and reverse wireless charging.

Nothing says Qualcomm added those features to the SoC just for the phone (1), which is hard to believe but not impossible - so far there are no other devices using the Snapdragon 778G or 778G+ to feature functions that the Nothing Phone 1 has been shown to offer.

While Nothing Phone 1’s price will officially be revealed on the day of its launch, there are a number of rumours that the tech startup will enter the mid-range smartphone market with a price of nearly Rs 30,000 for the phone.

Nothing will be selling their devices online in India through Flipkart, and they have already started selling the pre-order pass or the “invites.” On the retail side of things, Nothing Phone 1 will be sold via Reliance Digital.

As for the rest of the specifications, The Nothing Phone 1 is expected to sport a 6.55-inch FullHD+ AMOLED display with a punch-hole on the top. There could be up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. 

The Phone 1 will have a 4500mAh battery with 45W fast charging with a USB-C port, but there could also be support for 5W wireless charging. On the back, the phone could have a 50MP camera system, while the selfie snapper could use a 16MP sensor.

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CERN’s Large Hadron Collider fired up after three years and here’s what it found

Ten years after the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) enabled scientists to find the elusive ‘God particle’ or Higgs Boson, it was fired up once again, a third time, on 5 July, enabling the discovery of three ‘exotic particles’.

The world’s largest and most powerful particle collider at CERN, the European particle physics laboratory in Geneva, led to physicists finding a “pentaquark” and the first-ever pair of “tetraquarks”.

The LHC, re-ignited after three years in April, was cranked up to unprecedented levels of energy on 5 July, and has begun smashing together protons at almost the speed of light, which could throw up “new” physics beyond the Standard Model.

The current round of testing will run through 2026.

As the science world celebrates this discovery, we take a closer look at the run, what has been found so far and what does the discovery mean.

About the LHC

Before we dive deep into the discoveries, here’s a quick understanding of the LHC itself and who runs it.

CERN — Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire— explains the Large Hadron Collider as a 27-kilometre ring of superconducting magnets with a number of accelerating structures that boost the energy of the particles along the way.

The LHC took around 10 years to build and the overall cost of the creation is said to have been around $4.75 billion.

CERN member countries fund the program, with just over 70 per cent of the annual budget given by Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Spain. Other contributors include the governments of the United States, India, and Russia, as well as various universities and other large organisations.

What did the new tests discover?

After over three years of upgrade and maintenance work, scientists at CERN fired up the LHC in July and on 5 July they identified “a new kind of “pentaquark” and the first-ever pair of “tetraquarks”, which includes a new type of tetraquark.

The #LHCRun3 @CERN has officially started! 🚀
The CMS experiment is on its way to explore new undiscovered territories of particle physics.⚛️
Find more: https://t.co/DvUAVDCXb4 #CERN #CMSExperiment #LHC #Particlephysics pic.twitter.com/KG0BRsTS56

— CMS Experiment CERN (@CMSExperiment) July 6, 2022

What’s are quarks, tetraquarks and pentaquarks?

Simply put, quarks are fundamental building blocks of matter. They are most commonly found inside protons and neutrons, the particles that make up the core of each atom in the universe.

Protons and neutrons mainly contain two types of quarks. These are called up and down quarks. The heavier copies of the up quark are called charm and top quarks; the copies of the down quark are named strange and bottom quarks.

Quarks usually combine together in groups of twos and threes to form hadrons such as the protons and neutrons that make up atomic nuclei.

But they can also combine into four-quark and five-quark particles, called tetraquarks and pentaquarks.

Newest discoveries

The LHC's new discoveries are: a pentagon that contains a charm quark, a charm antiquark with an up and down quark, and the strange quark. It is the first one to include a strange quark.

This is vital with CERN scientists saying it holds statistical significance of the 15 standard deviations apart from the five standard deviations needed to claim the observation in particle physics.

The second type, as per a CERN release, is a doubly electrically charged tetraquark. It is an open-charm tetraquark composed of a charm quark, a strange antiquark, and an up quark and a down antiquark.

What does the discovery mean?

Chris Parks, the LHC spokesman, said, “Finding new types of tetraquarks and pentaquarks and measuring their properties will help theorists to develop a unified model of exotic hadrons, the exact nature of which is largely unknown,” before adding, “It will also help to better understand conventional hadrons.”

With inputs from agencies

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Best phones under Rs 10,000 (July 2022): Motorola G22, Poco C31 to Redmi 9 Activ

We recently published our list of premium flagship phones, and now it is time to go back to the roots and look for the best smartphones available under Rs 10,000 this month. To be brutally honest, the options under 10K aren’t as good as what you would get six to nine months ago. But if you are on a tight budget, this is the best of what’s available currently. 

As always, we have five options for you that meet our minimum criteria of 4 GB RAM, 64 GB internal storage, good display, decent processing power and at least Android 10 if not newer. And there’s one smartphone in this list that should surprise many in this budget. So let’s take a look.

Best phones to buy under Rs 10,000 in India

Micromax IN Note 1
The Micromax IN Note 1 is a little hard to find these days at certain locations but it is still a very good option in this budget. It is one of the very few phones under 10K that flaunts a Full HD+ display. The 6.67-inch screen here has a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels, and a tiny punch hole on top hosts a 16MP selfie camera. This phone is powered by a Mediatek Helio G85 chip, which is fairly powerful for the segment, and you get 4 GB RAM and 64 GB of internal storage that can be expanded further with a microSD card.

The X-shaped pattern at the back of the phone looks stylish. The Micromax IN Note 1 has four rear cameras comprising a 48MP primary camera, 5MP ultrawide shooter, 2MP macro camera and a 2MP depth sensor. A 5000 mAh battery keeps the phone powered for over a day and a half of moderate use, and also supports 18W fast charging. The phone runs Android 10. 

Micromax IN Note 1 price in India: Rs 9,999 for 4 GB RAM/ 64 GB storage

Infinix Hot 11
The Infinix Hot 11 is another phone in this list with a Full HD+ screen, and it is readily available across locations. It sports a  6.6-inch Full HD+ IPS display. This phone is powered by a Mediatek Helio G70 SoC, which is not a bad option at all in this budget. This phone too offers you 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage that can be expanded further using a microSD card. 

The rear camera department isn’t as flashy as that of the Micromax. You get a 13MP primary camera that is assisted by a depth sensing module. The 8MP front camera is decent enough at handling selfies and video calls. This phone has a 5200 mAh battery that keeps it running for close to two days of moderate use. The Infinix Hot 11 runs XOS 7.6 based on Android 11.

You do get a 2022 variant of this phone for the exact price that offers a slightly larger 6.7-inch screen and a Unisoc T610 processor. The battery capacity is marginally lower at 5000 mAh. Rest of the specifications are the same as its previous iteration. All things considered, we would recommend the older variant itself while it is still available.

Infinix Hot 11 price in India: Rs 9,999 for 4 GB RAM/ 64 GB storage

Motorola G22
The Motorola G22 is quite an interesting addition in this budget. Some of its features are almost impossible to find in this budget, let alone all of them together. For starters, it has a 50MP primary camera, accompanied by an 8MP ultra-wide snapper, a 2MP macro camera and a 2MP depth sensor. The 16MP front camera is bound to please the selfie enthusiasts. The phone has a 6.5-inch HD+ IPS LCD display with a 90 Hz refresh rate. Yes, we are still talking about a phone priced under 10K.

The Motorola G22 is powered by a Mediatek Helio G37 chip, and you get 4 GB RAM and 64 GB internal storage that can be expanded further up to 1 TB with a microSD card. This phone has a 5000 mAh battery that keeps it running for close to two days of standard use, and even better, it supports 20W fast charging. The phone runs the latest Android 12, and like all Motorola phones, you get a near-stock Android user interface to go with it. In many ways, this is the best all-round phone under Rs 10,000 this month.

Motorola G22 price in India: Rs 9,999 for 4 GB RAM/ 64 GB storage

Poco C31
The Poco C31 is another good budget smartphone that holds on to its place in this list. It has a 6.53-inch HD+ display with a resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels and a modest Mediatek G35 SoC. You get 4 GB RAM here too along with 64 GB of internal storage that can be expanded further. This phone too has a 5000 mAh battery that powers it for close to two days of moderate use. The C31 comes with a fingerprint sensor at the back which was missing in the Poco C3.

You get three rear cameras with a combination of 13MP primary camera, 2MP macro camera and a 2MP depth sensor. A 5MP selfie camera is located in a drop notch at the top of the screen. The Poco C31 runs Android 10 with a layer of Xiaomi’s MIUI 12 on top. It is a simple phone with the right set of features that can handle the usual day to day tasks with ease, and offers good value for money. 

Poco C31 price in India: Rs 9,499 for 4 GB RAM/ 64 GB storage

Redmi 9 Activ
The Redmi 9 Activ is pretty much the Poco C31 without the macro camera and a few cosmetic changes. And it sells for Rs 500 less on Amazon India. This too has a 6.53-inch HD+ display with a resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels and is powered by a Mediatek G35 chip. You get 4 GB RAM, 64 GB of internal expandable storage, rear mounted fingerprint scanner and a 5000 mAh battery with similar battery backup. 

You get two cameras at the back consisting of a 13MP primary camera and a 2MP depth sensor. A 5MP selfie camera takes care of selfies and video calls. The Redmi 9 Activ runs Android 10 with MIUI 12 on top. Given that it sells for a little less than the Poco C31, it might be a better buy, unless you have high regards for a 2MP macro camera. 

Redmi 9 Activ price in India: Rs 8,999 for 4 GB RAM/ 64 GB storage

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Apple is working on a Lockdown Mode for iPhones, iPads and Macs to protect against spyware

Apple often claims that its products are the best in terms of privacy and safety. This is something that most Apple users also believe in. However, the recent developments around Pegasus and Hermit spyware have seriously dented Apple’s image of being one of the most secure and privacy-friendly ecosystems.

To counter that, Apple announced on Wednesday that it plans to release a new feature for its iPhones, iPads and Macs, called Lockdown Mode. This new feature is aimed to add a new layer of protection for human rights advocates, political dissidents and other general users against sophisticated hacking attacks.

Earlier this year, two Israeli cybersecurity firms exploited Apple’s software to remotely break into iPhones without the target needing to click or tap anything. One of these firms was the NSO Group, the people behind the Pegasus spyware. Apple has actually sued the NSO Group had had successfully lobbied the US government to place them on a trade blacklist.

“Lockdown mode,” is initially being offered as a test version so that security researchers can help Apple identify any bugs or weaknesses. Apple usually releases its major updates to its device operating systems in late September.

Apple also announced that anyone who can find vulnerabilities within the new feature set will be awarded $2 Million as per Apple Security Research Device Program.

Unlike the plethora of other security features that Apple builds into its software, the lockdown mode is meant to serve as an emergency button that Apple expects will only be needed by a small number of its users.

Apple hopes to release this new feature when they announce the iPhone 14 series, at their fall launch event, when they also announce the new iOS 16. 

When activated, the new Lockdown Mode will block most attachments sent to the iPhone's Messages app, as well as other instant messaging apps. Only images will be allowed.

Furthermore, certain incoming invitations and service requests, including FaceTime calls, are blocked if the user has not previously sent the initiator a call or request. Also, all wired connections with a computer or accessory are blocked when iPhone is locked.

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Explained: What is ARYABHAT-1, Developed-In-India chipsets that help AI apps run better and faster

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have been niche subjects with very limited implementations in mainstreaming computing and usage. That is mainly because users would need powerful computing systems to use them. 

All that is likely to change thanks to the next generation of analogue computing chipsets which are set to become much more efficient and fast in terms of performance. 

Thanks to a new design framework that a group of researchers has developed at the Indian Institute of Science, or IISc, we now have an analogue chipset called ARYABHAT-1, that will allow Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning apps to perform much better and faster.

ARYABHAT-1 or the Analog Reconfigurable Technology and Bias-scalable Hardware for AI Tasks is especially helpful for AI-based applications which deal with object or speech recognition systems, like Alexa or Siri. They are also very useful in operations that require massive parallel computing at high speeds.

Most computing devices, be it your cellphones, laptops or desktop computers, use digital chips because the design process is simple and easily scalable. However, as Chetak Singh Thakur, an Assistant Professor at the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering (DESE), IISc explains, “The advantage of analogue is huge. You will get orders of magnitude improvement in power and size. In applications that don't require precise calculations, analogue computing has the potential to outperform digital computing as the former is more energy-efficient.”.

Different machine learning architectures can be programmed on ARYABHAT and like most digital processors, it can operate robustly across a wide range of temperatures, the researchers say. 

They add that the architecture is also "bias-scalable" that is, its performance remains the same when the operating conditions like voltage or current are modified. This means that the same chipset can be configured for either ultra-energy-efficient Internet of Things (IoT) applications or for high-speed tasks like object detection.

The design framework was developed as part of IISc student Pratik Kumar's PhD work, and in collaboration with ShantanuChakrabartty, Professor at the McKelvey School of Engineering, Washington University in St Louis Washington University, US, who also serves as the university’s McDonnell Academy ambassador to IISc. 

The researchers have outlined their findings in two pre-print studies that are currently under peer review. They have also filed patents and are planning to work with industry partners to commercialise the technology.

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IIT Madras researchers successfully develop and deploy an AI-based tool to diagnose cancer

A group of researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras have developed an Artificial Intelligence-based tool that can predict cancer-causing genes in an individual. This paves the way for helping doctors better diagnose patients and to devise personalised treatment strategies.

The tool, which has been named PIVOT, is designed to predict which cancer-causing genes are present in a given sample, based on a model that utilises information on mutations, expression of genes, and a number of variations in genes and perturbations in the biological network due to an altered gene expression.

“Cancer, being a complex disease, cannot be dealt with in a one-treatment-fits-all fashion. As cancer treatment increasingly shifts towards personalised medicine, such models that build toward pinpointing differences between patients can be very useful,” said Dr Karthik Raman, Core Member, RBCDSAI, IIT Madras, in a statement.

The tool, described in a peer-reviewed journal Frontier in Genetics, is based on a machine learning model that classifies genes as tumour suppressor genes, oncogenes or neutral genes.

According to the World Health Organization, cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and accounted for nearly one in six deaths in 2020. This figure stands true, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Present cancer treatments- like chemotherapy or radiation therapy are known to be detrimental to the overall health of the patient. Knowledge of the genes responsible for the initiation and progression of cancer in patients can help determine the combination of drugs and therapy most suitable for a patient’s recovery.

The new tool was able to successfully predict both the existing oncogenes and tumour-suppressor genes like TP53, and PIK3CA, among others, and new cancer-related genes such as PRKCA, SOX9 and PSMD4.

The researchers built AI prediction models for three different types of cancer including breast invasive carcinoma, colon adenocarcinoma and lung adenocarcinoma.

“The research area of precision medicine is still at a nascent stage. PIVOT helps push these boundaries and presents prospects for experimental research based on the genes identified,” said Malvika Sudhakar, Research Scholar, IIT Madras.

The researchers built AI prediction models for three different types of cancer including breast invasive carcinoma, colon adenocarcinoma and lung adenocarcinoma.

“The research area of precision medicine is still at a nascent stage. PIVOT helps push these boundaries and presents prospects for experimental research based on the genes identified,” said Malvika Sudhakar, Research Scholar, IIT Madras.

The team is planning to extend PIVOT further to many more cancer types. The team is also working on a list of personalised cancer-causing genes that can help in identifying the suitable drug for patients based on their cancer profile.

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Explained: What is the Toll Fraud malware, how it attacks digital wallets and how to protect yourself

Microsoft recently published a blog post that warned Android users of a new malicious malware that is going around, called the Toll Fraud malware. The concern that Microsoft raises about this malware, is the fact that it can drain the payment wallets in infected devices, and, can also empty your bank accounts.

Microsoft researchers Dimitrios Valsamaras and Sang Shin Jung detailed the continuing evolution of “toll fraud malware” and the ways in which it attacks Android devices.

The malware falls under the subcategory of billing fraud “in which malicious applications subscribe users to premium services without their knowledge or consent” and "is one of the most prevalent types of Android malware.”

According to a Google transparency report, most of the installations of this malware are in India, Russia, Mexico, Indonesia, and Turkey.

How does the Toll Fraud Malware work?
What this malware does, is that it disconnects your device from WiFi, and allows the device to only operate on the cellular network. It then takes over the WAP or the Wireless Application Protocol.

WAPs, normally allow consumers to subscribe to paid content and add the charge to their phone bill. Once it hijacks the WAP, the malware starts subscribing to premium services while also intercepting one-time passwords (OTP) that a legit service provider may have sent you to verify your identity.

These SMSs are then forwarded to a database, which malicious hackers and actors can use to hack into various accounts that you own, even your bank accounts.

The Toll Fraud malware is one of the oldest malware in existence and has been going around since the time of dial-up internet. However, over the decades, it has evolved into something very sophisticated.

The current version of the malware is able to evade detection and can achieve a high number of installations before a single variant can be removed. It uses dynamic code loading, which makes it difficult for genuine mobile security solutions and antiviruses to detect threats.

It also suppresses SMS notifications and app notifications from wallets and dedicated banks. This way, by the time a user gets to know that their device has been infected, it is very late.

How do Android devices get infected by the Toll Fraud malware?
Not all apps on the Play Store are legit. Most of the free antiviruses, file managers, beauty filters and wallpaper apps have some sort of malware embedded in them.

The biggest red flag that such apps throw up is asking for bizarre permissions. For example, a camera app, asking permission to send or read SMSs make no sense. Or, a wallpaper app, asking for permissions to read notifications and monitor them again makes no sense. People often ignore what sort of permissions certain apps ask for. 

How to protect yourself from Toll Fraud malware?
Users need to be very careful of the apps they download, even if they are doing it through the Play Store. Also, avoid sideloading apps.

Avoid installing apps that ask for excessive permissions for programs that don't require such privileges. Also, avoid apps which have similar UIs or icons to that of legitimate proper apps.

Keep an eye on the developer profiles that look fake or have poor grammar, and if the app has a slew of bad reviews.

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Asus ROG Phone 6, ROG Phone 6 Pro launched in India, check out the price, specs and availability

Asus launched two new smartphones under its ROG Phone series, the ROG Phone 6 and the ROG Phone 6 Pro in India as well as the rest of the world.  Powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset these devices come with some seriously insane specs. As far as performance and hardware are concerned, no other mobile device comes close. 

From a 165Hz display to an 18GB RAM, the ROG 6 series packs a serious punch. Here’s everything need to know about the Asus ROG Phone 6 series. Ever since the first ROG smartphone appeared on the market in 2018, the Taiwanese company has consistently upgraded the lineup with newer models almost every year and has consistently been the king of smartphones at least in terms of specs.

 In all of its previous iterations, the ROG Phone had just one task in mind - to be the best gaming smartphone on the market. This time around, Asus wants the ROG Phone 6 to be one of the best smartphones overall that people would love to daily drive.

We take a look at the Asus ROG Phone 6 and the ROG Phone 6 Pro, their specifications, price in India, and their availability.

Asus ROG Phone 6: Specifications, price and availability

The Asus ROG Phone 6 comes with a 6.78-inch FHD+ AMOLED display that supports a refresh rate of 165Hz screen refresh rate and comes with HDR10+ certification. The phone also has 720Hz touch sampling rate and 23ms touch latency making it one of the most responsive devices on the market, at least on paper. 

Powering the device is the new Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset with Adreno 730 GPU. Internationally, the device comes with up to 16GB RAM and 512GB UFS 3.1 storage, but in India, only the 12GB+256GB variant will be sold. Asus has also equipped the device with a dedicated Pixelworks i6 display processor that will add additional frames in on-screen content to make the viewing experience smoother.

The Asus ROG Phone 6 gets a 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor for the primary camera, along with a 13MP sensor for the ultrawide camera and an unspecified macro camera. It also comes with a 12MP front-facing camera.

The Asus ROG Phone packs a 6,000mAh battery, with two USB Type-C ports for charging, one on the bottom and another on the side. You get 65W fast charging and 10W reverse charging, but because of the secondary display, you don’t get wireless charging. It also comes with a 3.5mm headphone port, NFC, a tri-microphone array, stereo speakers and 12 5G bands.

The ROG Phone 6 is available in a number of configurations but in India, only one variant will be made available. The 12GB+256GB variant has been priced at Rs 71,999 and will be available in both, the white and the black colourways.

Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro: Specifications, price and availability - 89,999

The ROG Phone 6 Pro is identical to the vanilla ROG Phone 6 in most ways. It gets the same 6.78-inch display, the same Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC, as well as the same array of cameras, as well as the same battery and fast charging support. 

What sets the ROG Phone 6 Pro apart from the regular ROG Phone 6, is the fact that you get 18GB LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage. On the back panel, instead of the illuminated RGB ‘ROG’ logo, the device gets a ROG Vision colour PMOLED secondary display panel, which can show notifications and other elements.

Globally, the ROG Phone 6 Pro comes with 18GB RAM and 512GB storage is priced at Rs 89,999 in India and will be available in a single white colour variant.

As for the availability in India, the devices will soon be available in India probably by the end of the month. In all likelihood, it will be sold through Flipkart, where Asus will be announcing a couple of discounts and benefits for early adopters.

from Firstpost Tech Latest News https://ift.tt/XeAkg4n