Alipay and WeChat Pay now allow foreign visitors to link international credit cards to make mobile payments in mainland China — It has partnered up with Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover Global Network, and JCB to allow foreign visitors to link their credit cards to WeChat Pay.
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We live on the most comfortable of planets. It may not be too visible, but the Earth's magnetic field plays a critical role in maintaining that comfort. The remaining rocky planets in our Solar System have much weaker magnetic fields and, as a result, are subject to a constant bombardment of high-energy particles from the Sun. Yes, our biosphere owes a great deal to a pool of molten iron at the core of our planet.
Yet the core presents something of a puzzle to us. The extreme conditions make it very hard to understand: we cannot conduct experiments that fully replicate core conditions, and our measurements are indirect, since no one wants to visit the core. That leaves us with computer models. Until recently, these models were rather limited. However, ever-increasing computational power is starting to reveal that the core has an interesting story to tell.
Our planet, like all planets, is born of violence. The aggregation of mass during its growth came via large impacts and oceans of molten rock. Gravity provided a kind of filter: the heavy elements like iron were pulled to the core, while light elements like silicon and oxygen were left floating on the top.
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World of Warcraft: Shadowlands marks the eighth major expansion pack for the storied MMO. Judging from a half-hour playing it at BlizzCon this year, it seems like a natural evolution of modern WoW that will run alongside the very-different WoW Classic experience for the foreseeable future. That said, the biggest change wasn't part of my hands-on demo—but don't worry, that won't stop me from geeking out about it in extreme detail.
Let's be clear where I'm coming from, here: I've been playing World of Warcraft almost continuously for 15 years. (I lapsed for a big chunk of the Wrath of the Lich King era for IRL reasons.) While I understand the appeal of WoW Classic, I am very much a proponent of modern WoW; the game has evolved over time to be more accessible for me to play just a couple of hours a week, as real life now dictates. But I tend to play solo or just with one or two friends on a sporadic basis, which means I'm looking for something very different than the hardcore raiding or PvP crowd.
Within that framing, I feel WoW has gotten more and more fun over the years. There have been some missteps, sure (I'm looking at you, Warlords of Draenor) but I felt that the semi-recent Legion was the best expansion Blizzard has ever done. My hopes are high for Shadowlands.
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Enlarge / There is no shortage of plastic in your average science lab. (credit: © Daniel Stier at Twenty Twenty and Miren Marañón at East Photographic for Mosaic)
Lucy Gilliam has an infectious passion for environmental action. Today, she works in Brussels on environmental transport policy. But in the early 2000s, she was a molecular microbiologist in Hertfordshire. Like many in her field, Gilliam got through a lot of disposable plastics. It had become a normal part of 21st-century science, as everyday as coffee and overtime.
Gilliam was, in her words, a “super high user” of the sort of plastic, ultra-sterilized filter pipettes that could only be used once. Just as so many of us do in our domestic lives, she found she was working with what anti-pollution campaigners call a “produce, use, discard” model. The pipettes would pile up, and all that plastic waste just seemed wrong to her.
Science’s environmental impact had begun to worry her. It wasn’t just a matter of plastics. She also wanted to know why there weren’t solar panels on the roof of the new lab building, for example, and why flying to conferences was seen more as a perk than a problem. “I used to bitch about it over coffee all the time,” Gilliam tells me. “How can it be that we’re researching climate science, and people are flying all over the place? We should be a beacon.”
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A look at Tree Hole Rescue, which uses AI to detect suicidal messages on Weibo, and has rescued ~700 people who attempted suicide in China in the last 18 months — Li Fan, a 21-year-old student, attempted suicide after posting a brief message on the Chinese Twitter-like platform Weibo just after Valentine's Day.
Enlarge / A crescent moon rises in the pre-dawn sky over the skyline of lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center in New York City on October 25, 2019 as seen from Jersey City, New Jersey. (credit: Gary Hershorn | Getty Images)
Residents of Jersey City, New Jersey, voted overwhelmingly in favor of strict short-term rental regulations on Tuesday, putting an end to the high-profile feud between Airbnb and local officials that had engulfed the city in recent months. The move comes as a major blow to Airbnb, which spent more than $4.2 million blanketing Jersey City in television ads, handouts, and pro-Airbnb canvassers in a campaign to quash the restrictions, which will affect a popular destination for guests looking to visit Manhattan (which is just across the Hudson River and several minutes away on public transit) without running afoul of New York's tight rules on short-term rentals.
The new rules crack down on Jersey City’s booming short-term rental industry—which has grown by an order of magnitude since city officials effectively legalized the practice in 2015—by requiring that owners obtain permits and limiting who can rent out their spaces and for how long. Despite an aggressive opposition campaign, voters approved the regulations in a landslide, with current estimates suggesting nearly 70 percent voted in favor of the measure.
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MediaTek has been working hard on improving its market presence and compete more fiercely with the likes of Qualcomm and Huawei in the mobile chipset industry for Android devices. The Helio G90 series that the company announced earlier this year has proved the company can also design powerful SoCs meant for high-end gaming. With that out of the way, the company has been focusing its efforts in designing a 5G chipset for the high-end segment, but more surprisingly, it’s also bringing 5G connectivity to affordable mid-range segments.
MediaTek already has the Helio M70 5G modem that relies on the sub-6GHz frequency to deliver 5G connectivity. According to a company roadmap, the 5G modems are expected to hit the markets in Q1 2020. It seems the company’s plans are going as per schedule as MediaTek recently sent out invites to a November 26 event to unveil its first 5G chip at the MediaTek Summit.
MediaTek has also disclosed how the chip will look in promotions leading up to the event, as revelaed by GSMArena. But there’s little to no information available about the chip officially. Based on the promo, it’s clear the chip will have the model number MT6885Z. Now folks over at GSMArena cross-referenced the model number with previous reports and discovered the chip is based on a 7nm manufacturing process.
Speculatively, the MT6885Z SoC could use the latest ARM Cortex-A77 cores alongside the Mali-G77 GPU. The 5G modem will support sub-6GHz bands and there will be dedicated cores for AI processing. Camera support could go up to 80MP along with 4K at 60 FPS video recording. Apparently, the chipset is already gone into mass production and should be available to OEMs by Q1 2020.
But that’s the company’s plans for a flagship silicon. More interesting is MediaTek’s efforts to lead the way in the mid-range segment. The Taiwanese chip designer has always batted for the masses by introducing so-called high-end features for smartphones under Rs 10,000 in India. Take the Realme 3 for instance. The Helio P70 SoC has a lot in common with high-end Qualcomm chipsets.
In the mid-range segment, MediaTek is rumoured to bring a Helio M70-based 5G SoC sometime next year. It’s likely that the chip will be called MT6873 and based on previous reports, it will be manufactured on the 7nm process and rely on Cortex-A76 cores. However, the MT6783 is expected to enter mass production in the second quarter of 2020, so there is still a long waiting period for cheap 5G phones to become a reality.
Furthermore, there are reports that MediaTek is planning to move to TSMC’s upcoming 6nm manufacturing node. There are still some yield and cost issues left to be sorted out, but it certainly sounds like MediaTek is planning to move full steam ahead to challenge the competition.
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Profile of Disney's Kevin Mayer, head of the company's streaming strategy and the Disney+ launch, who managed acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Fox — The veteran deal maker is getting a very public test as the executive launching Disney+, the company's new streaming service.
Google Maps rolls out the ability for users to manage and edit their public profiles from within the app via the new “Your profile” tab — Google is rolling out the ability to edit and manage your public profile from Maps. Previously, all you could do was check up on your Local Guides points …
If you are a PC gamer looking forward to Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding, then know that the game will launch on Steam and the Epic Store simultaneously when the game hits the PC in 2020. There is no concrete launch date for the PC version of the game, but eager beaver can pre-order the game if they like.
The previous AAA game published by 505 Games was Remedy Entertainment’s Control and the game did upset fans by being an Epic Store Exclusive. Fans were worried that Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding would be an Epic Store exclusive too, but thankfully that isn't the case.
If you are wondering whether your PC can run Death Stranding or not, there is some bad news for you. The developers haven’t revealed the minimum system requirements for the game yet but hopefully, this information will be revealed in the coming months.
Calling Death Stranding one of the most anticipated games of the year would be an understatement. Ever since the first trailer of the game was revealed, fans have been perplexed as to what the game is about. Now that the game has been released, it has been met with mixed reviews from critics and gamers alike. Some absolutely love the isolated gameplay giving you a melancholic feeling while making delivered in a post-apocalyptic world whereas others have called it nothing more than a glorified walking simulator. We at digit enjoyed the game for its story, cinematics, and parts of gameplay which are fun. You can check out our review of Deat Stranding here.
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The Samsung Galaxy A30s and Galaxy A50s launched in India back in September 2019. Starting with the Samsung Galaxy A30s, the device features a 6.4-inch Infinity-V Super AMOLED HD+ display with a resolution of 720 x 1560 pixels. The device has an in-display fingerprint sensor. Under the hood, it is powered by a 14nm Exynos 7904 octa-core chipset coupled with 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage. When it comes to optics, the Galaxy A30s sports a triple rear camera setup - a 25MP primary sensor with an f/1.7 lens, a 5MP depth sensor and an 8MP ultrawide camera. The front camera is a 16MP selfie shooter.
The Samsung Galaxy A30s which launched at Rs 16,999 is now available for Rs 15,999.
Moving to the Samsung Galaxy A50s, the device sports a 6.4-inch Infinity-U Super AMOLED display with a 1080 x 2340 pixel resolution. Under the hood, it is powered by 10nm Octa-core Exynos 9610 processor, coupled with 4GB/6GB RAM and 128GB storage options. The smartphone also sports an in-display fingerprint scanner. For the camera, the Galaxy A50s sports a triple rear camera setup - a 48MP primary camera with an f/2.0 lens along with an 8MP ultrawide camera and a 5MP depth sensor. The front has a 32MP selfie shooter. The Samsung Galaxy A50s packs a 4000mAh battery with support for 15W fast charging.
The Samsung Galaxy A50s which launched at Rs 22,999 for the 4GB RAM + 128GB storage variant and Rs 24,999 for the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant is now available for Rs 19,999 and Rs 21,999 respectively.
Both the smartphones are available online via Samsung’s online store and Flipkart.
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Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch : Profiles of Teresa Ribera, Henna Virkkunen, and Ekaterina Zaharieva, the three incoming EU commissioners in ...
