Techtonic

FAA Allowing Drones to Deliver PPE Kits and Medical Supplies to US Hospitals By Techtonic group We have seen the use of drones for many significant tasks like  inspecting metro tunnels  and  disinfecting large areas . However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) did not allow operators to fly drones in areas that are out of their line of sight, until now. The FAA is now allowing drones to carry emergency medical supplies to healthcare institutions in light of the current crisis. Zipline, a drone firm, has been given green light by the FAA to fly their drones to deliver medical supplies and PPE kits.  This is the first time that the FAA is allowing drone operators to fly the machines in beyond-line-of-sight areas in the US . The firm, that has been negotiating with the FAA to use their drones for deliveries,  has to use one of the two specified routes to fly the drones . The drones will launch from a specified fulfillment center. They will then deliver a box of medical

Christopher Nolan Blow Up a Real Aeroplane Instead of Using VFX for ''Tenet'' By Techtonic group Christopher Nolan's next mind-bending movie, Tenet is set to release pretty soon this year. The second trailer of the film was recently released and premiered in Fortnite. Apart from knowing that the film is about World War III and time reversal, we do not know much as of now. However, according to recent reports, we came to know that the genius director blew up an airbus to shoot a scene for the movie! Nolan, in a recent interview, told that  to shoot a scene of the film involving an airplane, he had to throw a real 747 under the bus instead of using VFX . Actor Robert Pattinson, who plays one of the main characters of the film entitled this move by the director “ so bold to the point of ridiculousness” . Now, the first plan of the director was to use miniature planes and sets along with visual effects.  "I planned to do it using miniatures and set-piec

Razer's "Gigantus V2" Mouse Mat Takes Up an Entire Desk By Techtonic group Apart from manufacturing  high-end, modular gaming PCs , and  unique gaming peripherals , Razer is also known as one of the best manufacturers of mouse pads and mouse mats. Now, the gaming accessories-makers have come up with a ridiculously sized mouse mat that can probably also be used as a bedsheet (just kidding)! Razer recently announced the appropriately named "Gigantus V2" mouse mat for gamers. The new mouse mats come in four different sizes,  ranging from standard size of 360 x 275 x 3mm to a massive 1,200 x 550x 4mm 3XL size . It is so huge that it can easily cover up an entire desk and still hang from the edges. The mouse mats are specially designed for gamers and come with an  "upgraded surface with a higher thread count weave" . This enables gamers to attain those  "fluid swipes and pixel-precise aim" . Now, to get an idea of how big it actually i

Warrants Required to Check Even the Lock Screen of a Suspect's Phone By Techtonic group With the evolution of smartphones over the years, the tiny computers have become one big pot of data of the user. We store anything and everything in our smartphone nowadays. So, some times law enforcers might want to get their hands on these personal data in the name of investigation. Well, thanks to the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution, the police generally need an official warrant to search a device. Now, a judge has ruled that not only unlocking the device will require a warrant, even looking at the lock screen without a warrant will be termed as unlawful. The District Judge of the US District Court in Seattle  recently passed this new rule  in the light of a case involving an alleged robber and burglar. The man, Joseph Sam, was arrested back in May 2019 and was using an undisclosed Motorola device.  At the time of his arrest, an officer got his hands on the man's phon

JK Rowling Is Releasing a Whole New Book Onlin For Free By Techtonic group To ease the lockdown frustrations of the global population, Harry Potter writer, JK Rowling has come up with a whole new book for readers to indulge into. We saw the writer  come up with the "Harry Potter at Home" hub  for book lovers to lose themselves during the ongoing pandemic-led lockdown. Now, she is publishing this new book online for free. The new book, the Ickabog, already has  a dedicated website  where Rowling wrote about how the book came into being. According to her note,  she wrote the book a long time ago and used to read it to her two children chapter-by-chapter  while she was working on it. However, when she finished the book, instead of publishing it, the writer put the book in the attic for the time being. Now, as the Novel Coronavirus-led pandemic has locked down most of the countries, the writer brought down "the Ickabog" from the attic.  After making a few ch

Apple's 6K Pro Display XDR One of the "Best Displays of the Year" By Techtonic group Apple has always been a company to release high-end, professional products for the market. The company's Pro Display XDR was one of those expensive products that launched alongside the new Mac Pro and the infamous $999 monitor stand. Now, the Society for Information Display honored the Pro Display XDR with the title of "Display of the Year". The Society for Information Display is an organisation of top scientists, engineers, corporate researchers, and business entities from the display industry.  It came into being in the year 1962 to monitor display technology and honour the achievements of companies in the display industry . Every year the organisation announces the "Best Displays of the Year". This year, the list included Samsung's foldable display, BOE's 65" UHD BD Cell Display, Audi's Virtual Mirror System with the OLED display, an

The iOS 14 Concept of Home Screen Live Widgets Looks Dope By Techtonic group As Apple's  WWDC 2020 is approaching , iOS users (including myself) are eagerly for the first beta of iOS 14. The next version of iOS is  rumoured to bring an array of new features  to the iPhones, including a new UI for widgets. So, this concept video shows, which I think, is the most perfect implementation of the widgets on the home screen. The popular and credible leaker, Ben Geskin (@BenGeskin), recently shared the concept video  on Twitter .  Originally created by concept designer, Aleksey Bondarev, the video (below) exists on Dribbble  and has received numerous positive feedback from netizens because it is that good. https://cdn.dribbble.com/users/202820/screenshots/11587660/media/8161e502a4476bf8b6f7d36a85095620.mp4 Now, the concept shows how iOS users can easily convert an app icon on the home screen into a widget. In the video,  we can see the user haptic touching icons of apps like Ai

Niantic Brings "Reality Blending" in Pokemon Go By Techtonic group Since its launch back in 2016,  Pokemon Go became one of the most popular games in the market . As the game heavily uses AR tech to show the cute monsters in the real world, Niantic, the Pokemon Go developers,  acquired a computer vision and machine learning company, Matrix Hill  to develop the technology. Now, the company has released the result of that acquisition in the game recently that provides a more life-like experience to the players. The company is calling the feature "Reality Blending".  This essentially lets Pokemon detect and interact with real-world objects like trees, poles, or walls  that come between the user's camera and the Pokemon. So, now, players can expect a Pokemon to hide behind bushes or trees and jump out in front of the camera to reveal itself. According to Kjell Bronder, the Senior Product Manager at Niantic, the recent updates aim to create a more realist

GTA VI Might Be Finally Coming in 2023 By Techtonic group Back in 2018, we caught  rumours of the next game in the Grand Theft Auto series  releasing in 2022. Now, recent activity from Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of the GTA games developers, suggests that GTA VI will incept the market in 2023. Although GTA V continues to dominate the market, especially after  Epic Games gave it away for free recently , we simply cannot wait for GTA VI to release. Well,  it looks like we have to wait for another three years to play the next-gen GTA game . Now, Take-Two Interactive, each year, files a Form 10-K with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. In the filing, the company states how much it plans to spend on marketing over the next five years.  It usually spends around $10 million to $40 million each fiscal year on marketing . However,  the recent SEC filing  from the company points out that the game-makers are planning to spend an amount of over $89 million just for

Fitbit Working on the Algorithm to Detect Early Signs of COVID-19 By Techtonic group As the threat of the Coronavirus continues to rise, many companies are lending their resources to help fight the crisis. We have seen major companies like  Apple ,  Google , and  Facebook  come up with different ways to fight the pandemic. Now, popular fitness-tracker-maker, Fitbit has come up with a new study to find out whether their wearables can detect COVID-19 before symptoms arise. We saw earlier that the  Google-owned company  was  planning to make ventilators  to replenish the shortage of medical supplies. Now, the company recently  announced  that it is using its wearable devices in research studies by Stanford Healthcare Innovations Lab to find out  if they can develop an apt algorithm to detect the early onset of infectious diseases like COVID-19 or the flu . The "Fitbit COVID-19 Study" is integrated right in the Fitbit app for users living in the US and Canada. The com

Apple AirPods Commercial Wins Awards for Creativity in Advertising By Techtonic group We all know Apple makes some of the best advertisements to promote their products in the market. We have seen the company make creative ads like  the anime version of "Behind the Mac"  and  the 5-hour video  to showcase the iPhone's camera capabilities. Now, an AirPods commercial of the company took the honors in the 99th annual ADC award. The Art Director's Club award is an award given by " The One Club ", which is a non-profit organisation of creative individuals. The organisation exists to support and honor the success of global creative communities.  The ADC award is one of the highest honors for advertisements among the community of media houses . Apple's commercial (below), named "Bounce", recently won the "Best of Discipline" award from "The One Club".  The commercial also bagged two Gold Cube awards in the "Craft in

A One-Year Old Chef Has Taken Over Instagram and We Cannot Get Enough By Techtonic group Since its launch back in 2010, Instagram has become the holy grail for  social media influencers  over the years. The massive popularity of the Facebook-owned platform has led all kinds of influencers -- from cute dogs to major movie stars, to share their pictures and videos. Now, a one-year-old chef has taken over the platform and looks like Netizens cannot get enough of this cute food-maker. The Instagram handle, "Kobe Eats" ( @kobe_yn ), is an account of a very young chef who likes  "to cook, eat and explore in the kitchen" .  The videos include chef Kobe, who is just one year old, making delicious dishes and making cute faces while doing it . The account is, of course, handled by the parents of the baby who say that  they started filming videos of Kobe in the kitchen to share with family and friends . However, when the parents started uploading the videos on Inst

Realme 5 and Realme 5s Get Realme UI Based on Android 10 By Techtonic group Realme has started rolling out  Realme UI  based on Android 10 for the  Realme 5  and  Realme 5s . The update bears the version number RMX1911EX_11_C.39 for the Realme 5 and RMX1925EX_11_C.39 for the Realme 5s. You get all the new features introduced with Realme UI such as the new dark mode, focus mode, and personal information protection to name a few. Take a look at the entire changelog below. Realme UI Changelog for Realme 5 and 5s: Visuals Updated UI to realme UI Brand new Real Design makes visuals more attractive and operation more efficient. Smart Sidebar Optimized user interface and improved one-handed operation. Optimized Smart Sidebar: Replaced File Console with File Manager; removed OSIE Visual Effect and No Notification Alerts. Drag an app out of Smart Sidebar to open it in Split-screen Mode. Added two new features: “Assistive Ball Opacity” and “Hide Assistive Ball on Fullscreen App”. Opt

Gionee Launches 10,000mAh Wireless Power Bank in India, Priced at Rs 1,299 By Techtonic group Chinese smartphone company, Gionee, has launched a new  GBuddy 10,000mAh wireless  power bank  in India. The device comes with an advertised MRP of Rs. 3,999, but is currently available on Amazon for Rs. 1,299 as part of an introductory offer. It carries a 6-month warranty and is being offered in a Black color option. Gionee claims that the Gbuddy 10,000mAh power bank can charge wirelessly and through the USB port simultaneously. According to its listing page on Amazon,  the power bank can charge a 3,000mAh phone battery in around 90 minutes, and a 4,000mAh battery in about 2 hours . It takes around 5.5 hours to get juiced-up itself. The Gbuddy power bank supports up to 12W (5V x 2.4A) wired charging, while the wireless output is rated at 5W (5V x 1A). The device is made out of metal and weighs 270 grams. It measures 13.8cm in length, 6.8cm in width and 1.5cm in thickness. Gionee m

Samsung to Launch Galaxy M11 and Galaxy M01 on June 2 in India By Techtonic group Samsung is in the final round of preparations to launch the Galaxy M11 and the Galaxy M01 in India. The South Korean tech giant  will launch both of these handsets on the 2nd of June , as per Flipkart teasers. Samsung launched the  Galaxy M11  - the successor to the  Galaxy M10s  this March in UAE. Hence, we already know all the specifications of the handset. The Galaxy M11 features a  6.4-inch HD+ TFT LCD display  with a 20:9 aspect ratio and 1560 x 720 pixel resolution. The device features a 1.8GHz octa-core  Snapdragon 450  chipset. You get up to 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable internal storage. In terms of software, it runs Android 10-based OneUI 2.0. Coming to the camera, Galaxy M11 equips a  triple camera setup  consisting of a 13MP (f/1.8) primary camera, a 5MP (f/2.2) ultra-wide lens with a 115-degree FOV, and a 2MP (f/2.4) depth sensor. For selfies, Samsung has placed an 8MP (f/2.0)

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum: RIP and Digitise DVDs for Free By Techtonic group You might think that in 2020, no-one needs a DVD ripper application. But It's more important now than it was in the past. If you have dozens of movies on DVD, now is the time to create a digital copy of the movies and keep them backed-up and safe before all the laptops and desktop no longer support DVD drives. While there are many DVD ripping software on the market, not all of them are good. Today, we are sharing with you a DVD Ripper that lets you rip and digitize DVDs for free. It's called  WinX DVD Ripper Platinum , and in this article, we are going to take a quick look at all its features to see what it brings to the table. Key Features We will start this article by looking at some of the key features of WinX DVD Ripper Platinum. Then we will look at its UI and ease of use. And finally, we will discuss its availability and pricing to see if the product makes sense for you or not. With th

Activision Adds a Duos Battle Royale Mode to 'Call of Duty: Warzone' By Techtonic group Call of Duty: Warzone  has added a 'Duos' mode that enables players to team-up with a fellow gamer to take on rival pairs in Verdansk with Battle Royale rules. Players can either bring their own partner to the game or squad-up with a random partner. Once both the players drop into Verdansk safely, their mission is to outlast all the other rival pairs of operators. If your partner goes down, you can revive them before they bleed to death.  "Doing so will save them a trip to the Gulag, where they will fight in a 1v1 to earn their right back into the game.  If they die in the Gulag, or perish when they return from it, you can still buy them back at a Buy Station " , Activision said in an official blog post. Activision ✔ @Activision Mode Recon: # Warzone Battle Royale Duos Bring your partner into Verdansk and outlast dozens of other squad pairs in the latest game m

Temp Monitor: Take Control of Your Mac Overheating Problems By Techtonic group While Macs are good at many things, controlling system temperature is not one of them. First, there's no built-in temperature monitoring system that lets you monitor the system temperature. And second, there's no fan-speed control software that lets you crank up the fans to manage overheating issues. Add that to the fact that macOS by default keeps the fan speed at low to keep things quiet, and you have a combination that leads to high internal temperature under medium to heavy loads. Thankfully, there are third-party apps that let you mitigate these shortcomings. In this article, we are going to share one such app with you. It's called  Temp Monitor , and it will help you keep your Mac cool so you can get the best performance. Key Features In this section, we are going to discuss some of the key features of this app to give you an idea of what this app can do. We will then briefly di

Redmi Note 8, Redmi 8 and Redmi 8A Dual Get a Price Hike...Again! By Techtonic group Xiaomi first increased the prices across its smartphone portfolio when the  GST tax rate hike  went into effect at the start of April. It then  hiked the prices  of three of its budget phones, namely the Redmi Note 8 Redmi 8, and Redmi 8A Dual about a fortnight ago. And today, Xiaomi has once again hiked the price of these 3 smartphones by up to Rs. 500 in India. Yeah, Redmi Note 8, Redmi 8, and the  recently launched  Redmi 8A Dual have received a price hike for the third time in two months. While the Redmi Note 8 has received Rs. 500 hike on both the 4GB and 6GB models, the other two devices see a measly Rs. 200 increase over the last hike. Here are the old (before the hike) and new prices for all of the three devices: Redmi Note 8 (4GB+64GB) old price: Rs. 11,499 new price: Rs. 11,999 Redmi Note 8 (6GB+128GB) old price: Rs. 13,999 new price: Rs. 14,499 Redmi 8 old price: Rs. 9,299 new pr

Pixel Buds 2 Users Facing Audio Cutout Issues  By Techtonic group Google launched the long-awaited  Pixel Buds 2  last month at $179. Within a month's period, Google's support threads and a bunch of Reddit posts are getting filled up with  random audio drop issues  of the company's latest truly wireless earbuds. According to Pixel Buds 2 users, the  earbuds are suffering from audio cutouts while performing basic activities like walking around and jogging  - the use-cases companies pitch to get users on board the wireless freedom hype-train. Some users are allegedly facing Bluetooth pairing issues as well. "I noticed that if I touched the left earbud or moved my head too much, it would cut out. I tried running with them and they were unusable, the left bud cutting in and out the whole time (or going completely silent). When it did work, it was like a half second behind the right one. I tried holding the phone in my hand, next to the earbuds, in my pocket, no

Apple Slams Tile After Being Accused of Violating EU Antitrust Laws By Techtonic group In a move that could further compound Apple's regulatory problems in Europe, the company is now facing allegations of monopolistic trade practices from fellow Silicon Valley tech firm,  Tile . In a letter sent to European competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, this week, Tile said that Apple was making it difficult for users to use its product with iPhones. According to the complaint, the Cupertino giant is favoring its own 'FindMy' application in violation of the region's antitrust regulations by selectively disabling features of the Tile tracking app. Apple's actions, the complaint alleges, are aimed at preventing the Tile app from working seamlessly with iPhones and iPads. The allegations come at a time when Apple is expected to launch  its own Tile-like tracking devices , expected to be called  Apple Tags . According to Tile's lawyer, Kirsten Daru, the &

Sony Confirms PS5 Will Have Exclusive Games Unplayable on PlayStation 4 By Techtonic group Having  revealed the PlayStation 5 logo  at the  CES 2020  tech show in January, Sony is now all set to host its  next PS5 event on June 4th . The company has now also confirmed that the upcoming console will come with a number of exclusive games that won't be playable on older hardware. This was revealed by PlayStation boss, Jim Ryan, who said that buyers of the new console will get  "something new, something different, that can really only be enjoyed on PS5" . In an interview to  GamesIndustry , he said:  "We have always said that we believe in generations. We believe that when you go to all the trouble of creating a next-gen console, that it should include features and benefits that the previous generation does not include. And that, in our view, people should make games that can make the most of those features" . With a custom AMD 3.5GHz CPU based on the Ze

Facebook Releases Live Events Company App 'Venue' By Techtonic group After  group audio calling app CatchUp  and  music collaboration App Collab , Facebook's New Product Experimentation (NPE) team has released a companion app for live events named 'Venue' this week. The app provides passionate fans with a platform to share their excitement and to discuss live events as they happen.  Venue will debut in partnership with NASCAR in Supermarket Heroes 500 race tomorrow . "As NASCAR makes its return to action over the coming weeks, Venue will provide users with a unique and exciting way to connect with fellow race fans from around the globe – all from the safety and comfort of their own homes.  NASCAR was built on innovation, and we couldn’t be more excited to help a great partner like Facebook’s New Product Experimentation team innovate around new platforms.", said Tim Clark, SVP and Chief Digital Officer, NASCAR. Venue will feature expert commenta

SpaceX's Starship SN4 Prototype Explodes After Engine Test By Techtonic group SpaceX may be gearing up for  its first-ever crewed mission  later today, but it just can't seem to shake off its troubles with its Starship vehicles.  The SN4 Starship prototype on Friday exploded in a ball of fiery inferno  just after an engine test at the company's facilities in Boca Chica, Texas. According to  SPadre.com , the explosion occurred about a minute after a short test of the Starship's Raptor rocket engine, but it is unclear as to what exactly went wrong. There are no reports of any casualties from the incident. SpaceX had successfully test-fired the Starship SN4 vehicle on Thursday as part of its preparations for an upcoming launch test that could have carried the rocket about 150 meters into the sky. It was the latest in a series of prototype launch vehicles built by SpaceX to test the technologies required for an actual space launch. the eventual Starship rocket,

Samsung Quietly Lists the Exynos 850 SoC Aimed at Budget Mobile Devices By Techtonic group After  unveiling the Exynos 880  earlier this week, Samsung has now quietly revealed the detailed specifications of another mid-range SoC, the  Exynos 850 . The new chipset is now listed on the official Samsung website, and the company says it is designed for smartphones and tablets. According to Samsung, the chip will offer  "richer user experiences with superb processing power, efficiency and connectivity" . The Exynos 850 (part number S5E3830) is built on Samsung's 8nm LPP process, and comes with an  octa-core Cortex-A55 CPU  and  Mali-G52 GPU . Aimed at lower mid-range devices,  the Exynos 850 does not offer 5G connectivity , and instead, comes with an LTE modem with Cat.7 D/L and Cat.13 U/L speeds. It supports LPDDR4x memory and eMMC 5.1 storage. Some of its other specifications include support for FHD+ (2520x1080) displays and up to 21.7MP cameras (16MP + 5MP in ca

TikTok Clone Mitron is a Clone of Pakistani App TicTic: Report By Techtonic group Mitron  - a TikTok clone that masqueraded its way to Google Play's Top Charts with over 50 lakh installations for being an "Indian app", turns out to be a replica of a Pakistani app called 'TicTic' made by a company named Qboxus. As reported first by  CNN-News18 , the app's source code was purchased by an IIT Roorkee student named Shivank Agarwal for $34 (~Rs.2,600). In other words,  Mitron is a clone of TicTic, which is a clone of TikTok . While Irfan Sheikh - founder, and CEO of Qboxus doesn't have a problem with the app getting unprecedented attention due to the  YouTube vs TikTok chaos  going on in the country, he doesn't like the fact that Mitron is being promoted as an Indian app since Agarwal has apparently not done any major changes in the app's interface. "We expect our customers to use our code and build something on their own. But Mitron’s

Samsung Galaxy Book S Launched with Intel's Hybrid Processor, LTE By Techtonic group Samsung launched the  Galaxy Book S last year  with a Snapdragon processor, boasting amazing battery life and LTE connectivity. This year, the company is improving upon that laptop by switching to Intel chipsets instead. The 2020 Galaxy Book S comes with Intel's Lakefield processor and is the first laptop to use the new chip from Intel. The Lakefield generation of processors use a similar architecture as ARM chipsets. They  come with Atom and Core CPU cores in the same processor.  This is similar to the high-performance, high-efficiency setup seen on most ARM processors in smartphones. Samsung is claiming that this new processor manages workloads more efficiently and results in better battery life. Speaking of the battery, the Galaxy Book S comes with a 42Wh battery pack. The laptop has a  13.3-inch Full HD touch display, and comes with 8GB LPDDR4x RAM . It can also be configured wi