Techtonic

COVID-19 Impact: Global Smartphone Sales Declined 20% in Q1, 2020 By Techtonic group Global smartphone sales declined 20.2 percent in the first quarter of 2020 due to the  impact of COVID-19 , according to data from US-based research and advisory firm, Gartner. In a report published Monday, the company said that the global lockdowns combined with the economic uncertainty brought on by the coronavirus pandemic led to a major decline in demand for smartphones around the world as consumers stopped spending on nonessential products during the first quarter. Four out of the top-five smartphone vendors recorded a decline in sales during the Jan-Mar quarter, with the sole exception being  Xiaomi . As per the report, the Chinese tech major recorded a slim 1.4 percent growth during the period, propelled largely by strong sales of its budget Redmi devices in international markets.The company's  "aggressive online channel focus"  also enabled the company to achieve ...

Coronavirus Impact: Niantic is Taking the Pokemon Go Fest Online By Techtonic group The ongoing Coronavirus-led pandemic has  wreaked havoc for numerous events  of this year. Some events like  Facebook's annual F8  conference and the  MWC  have been completely canceled. However, some companies like  Apple  and  Microsoft  have plans to hold their events in a new virtual format. So, Niantic has joined the latter group and has announced to hold this year's Pokemon GO Fest as a global virtual event. The Pokemon Company,  Niantic, recently announced that they are bringing back the Pokemon GO Fest this year in a new virtual format . It is set to go live from 25-26 July as a global event and trainers from anywhere in the world can join in on the adventures of the event. Niantic held the first Pokemon GO Fest back in 2017 in Chicago to celebrate the game's one year anniversary . Since that time, the company expanded the event t...

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 ...

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 fo...

Switzerland Testing COVID-19 App that Uses Google and Apple's Exposure Notification API By Techtonic group Switzerland has become the first country to pilot a COVID-19 contact-tracing app that uses the  exposure notification API  jointly  developed by Apple and Google . Called " SwissCovid ", the app has been developed by the EPFL Institute in Lausanne, Switzerland. Announcing the pilot for the new app, Professor Edouard Bugnion, Vice-President for Information Systems at EPFL, said:  "This is the first time that the operating system updates from Google and Apple enable its deployment and testing on such a large scale" . The university said that its own employees, along with ETH Zurich, the Army and select hospitals and government agencies in the country will be testing the app before it's rolled out more broadly by mid-June. However, Switzerland will reportedly have to change its laws for the app to be rolled out for public consumption. EPFL ✔ @E...

Scientists Suggest a New Lockdown Format to Contain the Coronavirus Pandemic By Techtonic group As the Novel Coronavirus continues to rage around the world claiming more and more lives each day and crushing the global economy, scientists and researchers are trying to contain the pandemic by simulating various lockdown scenarios for different countries. In a similar scenario simulation for an EU-backed study, researchers have proposed a new lockdown format that might be the best shot we have surviving this bizarre and dangerous time. Now, for the aforementioned EU-backed study, researchers and scientists from 9 different countries came together to finalise the next step to attempt to contain the ongoing pandemic.  The group simulated different scenarios for various lockdown strategies taking 16 countries into account . In the first case, the scientists did not impose any lockdown measures or social distancing norms in the 16 countries.  This, obviously, resulted in ...

90% Startups in India Facing Revenue Loss Because of Pandemic: Nasscom Study By Techtonic group The  COVID-19 pandemic  has severely impacted Indian startup space. According to a new survey conducted by India's IT industry body, Nasscom,  9 out of 10 startups in the country are expecting lower revenues  because of the outbreak. Travel and transport startups were reportedly the worst affected. However, fintech, supply-chain management (SCM) and logistics startups are also seeing a drop in revenues. The survey further revealed that  30 to 40 percent of the startups had halted their operations either temporarily or permanently . Even among the ones that are operational, more than half are reportedly looking to invest in new business opportunities. Interestingly, the pandemic has negatively affected the businesses of companies both in rural and urban areas. As per the survey, nearly 63 percent of startups in metro cities are facing over 40 percent declin...

Coronavirus Impact: Brits Converted Their Parliament Into a Morder Video Conferencing Center By Techtonic group Since the Coronavirus-led pandemic started earlier this year, it has forced the world to  adopt new ways  to continue operations and businesses. Now, the pandemic has forced the Brits to give their traditional parliament a make-over to make it a modern video conferencing hub. Britain's House of Commons' debating chamber has been the same for a long time, more like for 600 years now. It has the same old wooden furniture and a traditional look. However, as the Coronavirus struck the country, claiming over 34,000 lives countrywide,  the government passed the verdict to convert the old interior of the room into a modern center for the officials to connect with each other virtually . A senior official from the parliament who helps manage proceedings in the House of Commons, Matthew Hamlyn said,  “It’s like a giant TV studio. Only, rather than having ...

People are Getting "Doomsday Bunkers" to Stay Safe from Coronavirus By Techtonic group While the Novel Coronavirus is taking over the world and killing hundreds of thousands of people, individuals and communities are preparing themselves for the worst. With the current situation of the world, it seems like the apocalypse is not further away anymore. This very idea is driving the sales of these "doomsday bunkers" and Vivos' xPoint is the new go-to "bunker city", as you may call it. Vivos is a company that makes underground bunkers that are built to withstand any kind of catastrophe, be it man-made like nuclear attacks and wars or any natural disasters. Founded and led by entrepreneur, Robert Vicino,  the company is currently making a lot of cash as the ongoing pandemic has increased the demand for these bunkers by many folds . The idea of building these bunkers came to Vicino almost four decades ago, back in 1980. However, the project was st...

This Flexible Band-Aid Like Device Will Check for COVID-19 Symptoms By Techtonic group Since the Novel Coronavirus hit the world back in January of this year, we have seen many companies and organisations  create ways to track COVID-19  -- the disease caused by Coronavirus. Now, there is a flexible band-aid-like device that can monitor for COV-19 symptoms by analysing coughs and breathing of a person. The  device , built by the Northweatern University of Chicago in collaboration with Shirley Ryan AbilityLab,  sits at the base of a person's throat and monitors his/her coughing and breathing to predict if that person is infected . Image: Northewestern University It was previously a device that was used to monitor speech and swallowing in stroke-hit patients in recovering stages. However,  the team tweaked the device to track the cough and breathing troubles  (primary for COV-19 patients) of a person. Now, the device does not use a microphone as it...