Friday, November 9, 2018

PUBG Mobile-publisher Tencent announces policies to curb gaming addiction among minors: Report

Tencent Holdings, the China-based company behind games like PUBG Mobile has announced a new policy to protect minors who play its games. According to a report by the South China Morning Post, the developer will take these steps regardless of its potential impact on revenue. “We take absolutely no account of game revenue in the protection of minors,” Ma Xiaoyi, Senior Vice-President of Tencent, said in an interview with Chinese media on Tuesday. Ma further added that minors only make up a small part of the total number of people playing Tencent’s games. The report also noted that the announcement comes amid a broad crackdown by the Chinese Government on the health effects prolonged gaming has on children.  The company notes that it would require players of its mobile and PC games to verify their identities against a police database from next year. Those identified as minors would be included in an anti-addiction system that would limit playtime for those under the age of 18. Players under the age of 12 will get to play for an hour every day, while those aged between 12 and 18 will get two hours of playtime.  The report notes that the company introduced playtime limited to its popular 'Honour of Kings' game a year ago, and the time spent by minors dropped to 52.3% as compared to its peak in 2017.  It is not yet known if the developer will introduce a similar system in order parts of the world. As mentioned before, Tencent is the company that has published the Mobile version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. The game has become quite popular to say least. Back in August this year, a 15-year-old-boy in India underwent treatment for PUBG addiction. As per reports, the boy would play till late night and started missing school. The problem worsened as the boy refused to recognise it as an issue.  The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recognised gaming as a disorder in the International Classification of Diseases. Symptoms include an increased priority to gaming over other activities, and continuation of gaming despite negative consequences. https://ift.tt/2QwMeUE

Realme 2 Pro to go on sale on Flipkart by noon today

In September, Realme launched the Realme 2 Pro (Review) in India. The device will go on sale today on Flipkart. The smartphone brings a waterdrop notch display and is the company’s second phone after it split from Oppo. The Realme 2 Pro is unveiled at a starting price of Rs 13,990 and the company is offering the handset at a special price, where buyers can get extra Rs 1,000 off. Those who make their first online payment via Mastercard will get a 10-percent instant discount. Axis Bank Buzz Credit Card users will get an extra 5 percent off. Regular EMI starts from as low as Rs 366 per month. Realme 2 Pro Price and Specifications The Realme 2 Pro sports a waterdrop notch on a 6.3-inch Full HD+ edge-to-edge display with a 90.8 percent screen-to-body ratio and an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC and is paired with Adreno 512 GPU. It ships in three variants: 4GB RAM + 64GB storage, 6GB RAM + 64GB storage and 8GB RAM + 128GB onboard storage. The 4GB variant is priced at Rs 13,990. The 6GB variant will cost users 15,990 and the 8GB variant will be available for Rs 17,990. At the launch, Realme claimed that the smartphone is the world’s first Dewdrop Fullscreen that starts at this price. The Realme 2 Pro features a dual-camera setup on the back panel with a 16MP Sony IMX398 primary 6P sensor with an f/1.7 aperture, which is complemented by a 2MP secondary lens. Realme says the camera has dual-pixel fast focussing and EIS video recording capabilities. The back panel also has a fingerprint sensor. On the front, the Realme 2 Pro comes with 16MP lens with an f/2.0 aperture. The phone comes with the new AI Shot feature that can apparently recognise 296 facial identification points and offer eight million personalised beautification solutions. The Realme 2 Pro runs ColorOS 5.2 OS atop Android 8.1 Oreo. This phone is available in three colour variants: Ice Lake, Black Sea, and Blue Ocean. https://ift.tt/2FbVmgf

Xiaomi launches refreshed Mi Notebook Air with 8th-gen Intel Core i3

Xiaomi launched a new base variant of the 13.3-inch Mi Notebook Air and the 15.6-inch Mi Notebook Lite on Wednesday, apart from the new 65-inch Mi TV 4 and the Mi AirDots Youth Edition wireless earbuds in China. The 13.3-inch Mi Notebook Air gets a price tag of 3,999 Yuan (Rs 41,800 approx) while the 15.6-inch Mi Notebook Lite sells for a cheaper 3,399 Yuan (Rs 35,500 approx). The new Mi Notebook Air is powered by an 8th-gen Intel Core i3 CPU and 8GB of RAM. Storage is taken care of by a 128GB PCIe solid-state drive. While the base variant sees a processor update only now, the other variants got theirs in January this year. The Mi Notebook Air’s display remains the same: it’s a 13.3-inch LCD panel with a Full HD resolution. The laptop claims to have a screen-to-body ratio of 80 percent. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and offers a claimed viewing angle of 170 degrees. The Mi Notebook Air, with its metal construction, weighs 1.3 kilogrammes. The laptop features a fingerprint scanner for faster sign-ins. The new Mi Notebook Air ships with a 40W charger and supports fast charging. Xiaomi claims the laptop can regain 50 percent charge in 30 minutes. It also claims that the battery on the Mi Notebook Air is good for up to 9.5 hours on a single charge. The Mi Notebook Air comes with support for Dolby Audio and AKG-tuned dual speakers. For connectivity, the laptop offers a USB Type-C port, USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI port, a microSD card slot, and a 3.5mm audio jack for headsets. The Bluetooth version offered on the laptop is 4.1. There’s no word at the moment on whether Xiaomi will bring the Mi Notebook Air to India anytime soon. The Chinese company recently showcased its Mi Home ecosystem in India, which included a cleaning robot, an air purifier, a rice cooker, a smart cooker, and other things. https://ift.tt/2QvfVp5

Google's Files Go gets a new name & design as it hits 30M users

Files Go being renamed as 'Files by Google', in a possible bid to broaden its appeal to all smartphone users irrespective of which phone they are using. https://ift.tt/2AUr6lX https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

The irresistible allure of Instagram, and how the travel industry is using it

In the world of Instagram travel, the skies are always sunny, the seas calm and the vistas epic, leading skeptics to charge the platform with publishing fiction. https://ift.tt/2DvtLVI https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Telcos inform DoT on proof of concept sites for alternate digital KYC process

DoT has also issued the details of the procedure and modalities to be followed by telecom operators for issuing new mobile connections using the alternate digital KYC process. https://ift.tt/2Pf5dGC https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Samsung opens up voice assistant Bixby to third party developers

Bixby started as a practical way to use voice to interact with the phone. Now, it is evolving into a scalable, open AI platform to support many devices, including fridge and TVs. https://ift.tt/2yXlA0w https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Ride-hailing firm Grab lands $50M from Thailand's Kasikornbank

Thailand's Kasikornbank has invested $50 million in Singapore's Grab, forming a partnership that will help launch the GrabPay electronic wallet in its sixth Southeast Asian market in 2019. https://ift.tt/2QypUdu https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

BSNL launches alternate digital KYC process for new connections across circles

State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has launched an alternate digital KYC process for issuing new connections across various circles, a top official has said. https://ift.tt/2D9oCBB https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Tencent cuts marketing budget for games amid China crackdown: Sources

Tencent and its peers have faced rising regulatory push back from Chinese authorities, which have not approved any new games since March. https://ift.tt/2Ovo9M7 https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

How AI is spreading everywhere with the rise of smart machines

Artificial intelligence is shifting from connected to embedded, benefitting almost all major industries.

10 signs you may not be cut out for a systems analyst position

The need for systems analysts is increasing, but not everyone is suited for the job. Check out this list of possible indications that you'd be happier pursuing a different career path.

How to create new templates in the free version of Google Docs

If you think the Google Apps Templates Gallery is a little lacking, never fear. Jack Wallen shows you how you can make use of your own templates.

Samsung Bixby 2.0: Cheat sheet

The digital assistant Bixby gets a makeover with its 2.0 release, as Samsung aims to create its own ecosystem. Should developers consider investing in yet another connected IoT platform?

3 ways to recover from a macOS installer corruption error

Don't let a macOS corrupt installer message spell doom for your installation task. Use these 3 solutions to correct the issue.

Y Combinator appears to have dropped Delve, removing the company's profile from its startup directory, following allegations of fake compliance certificates (The Economic Times)

The Economic Times : Y Combinator appears to have dropped Delve, removing the company's profile from its startup directory, following...