Tech Nuggets with the Technology

Friday, November 22, 2019

India's Cheap Data, Voice Telecom Plans May Be Over

The precarious financial health of Indian telecom players came into sharp focus last week when two cellular providers announced disastrous quarterly results. https://ift.tt/2Oe2tHF

Amazon files lawsuit contesting Pentagon's $10 billion cloud contract to Microsoft

The complaint and supplemental motion for discovery were filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims under seal, according to a spokesman for Amazon Web Services, a division of the online retail giant founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos. https://ift.tt/2XEpo1L

Google pulls plug on Cloud Print, advises users to use native printing

If you've printed web pages and emails from Google Chrome, then there's a good chance you've come across the name Cloud Print. It's Google's cloud-based printing solution that has come bundled with Chrome for nearly a decade now. According to a recent support document published by Google, the California-based technology firm intends to kill support for Cloud Print by December 31, 2020. Google wants its users to find a different or native printing solution by then.

Cloud Print, which has so far been the default printing solution for Chromebook users on Chrome OS, was launched in 2010 in beta. Like the popular Hangouts-predecessor Google Talk, it never left beta, and soon, it will be phased out from Chrome without a stable release. “We recommend that over the next year, you identify an alternative solution and execute a migration strategy,” notes Google. This means users on Windows and Mac will have to start using the native print dialogue to print pages from Chrome.

What about printing on Chrome OS then? Well, Google has already implemented a UNIX-based native printing solution called CUPS, which also does duty on Chrome Enterprise. Before the end of the current year, it will add more enhancements to the same on Chrome OS. This native printing solution is “enabled through the Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS). CUPS uses an Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) that allows printing directly to a printer over the local network.” This will also work with printers connected via USB.

If you feel up to moving away from Cloud Print and towards native printing on your Chromebook—which you should start doing from now anyway—you can begin here. Google has a step-by-step guide to help you connect your printer to your Chromebook without using Cloud Print. Additionally, you can disable Cloud Print by following these steps. And if you're in the market for a new entry-level Chromebook, you can read our review of the recently launched HP Chromebook 14 here. It currently costs Rs 22,980 on Amazon.in.

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Bitcoin Dives to a Six-Month Low on China Crackdown

Bitcoin slumped to a six-month low on Friday after China's central bank launched a fresh crackdown on cryptocurrencies, warning of the risks entailed in issuing or trading them. https://ift.tt/37x72nO

Amazon Sues Pentagon Over $10 Billion Contract Awarded to Microsoft

Amazon is suing the Pentagon over a $10 billion cloud-computing contract awarded to Microsoft. Amazon said it filed a legal complaint Friday with the US Court of Federal Claims seeking to challenge... https://ift.tt/2sb2QtR

Exclusive: This is what the Nokia TV launching as Flipkart Unique looks like

If you are looking to invest in a new smart TV, then we’d say hold your horses. Flipkart has confirmed to us that Nokia is launching its smart TV running on Android as a Flipkart Unique product, and the sound for the upcoming TV will be powered by JBL Audio. From the picture above, you have a glimpse of what the TV will look like. We can see the sound output from the TV will be handled by JBL sound system speakers. From the image, it is also clear that the TV will have front-firing speakers.

One of the weakest elements in TVs these days is the audio output. Through the partnership with JBL, customers can expect acoustics engineered by JBL along with sound tuning as per JBL standards on the upcoming Nokia TV. Flipkart has confirmed to Digit that the TV will come with features like Clear Vocal Tones and Minimal Harmonic Distortion. JBL speakers are known for superior sound fidelity and hence we expect the Nokia TV to deliver on the promise. In addition to speakers from JBL, the TV also brings with it Dolby Audio & DTS TruSurround Sound which is said to enhance your TV viewing experience. With Dolby Audio & DTS TruSurround, the TV will be able to decode high fidelity audio and play it back for you from the TVs JBL powered speakers. With DTS TruSurround the TV will be able to decode 5.1 surround sound and play it back to you via the TVs JBL speakers as well.

Moving to other specifications of the Nokia TV, it is a 55-inch TV with a 4K resolution. In an earlier story we reported, Mr Vipul Mehrotra, Vice President, Nokia Brand Partnerships said, “We are delighted that Flipkart, the leading e-commerce company in the country, will bring the first-ever Nokia branded Smart TVs to India. Today marks the start of an exciting new chapter for the Nokia brand in a new category.”

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How a number of initiatives are breaking the language barrier in teaching science

A group of nonprofit initiatives is using Indic languages to help science and tech reach millions of Indians not adept in English https://ift.tt/2QLFdCb https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Realme X2 Pro vs OnePlus 7T vs Asus ROG II vs Nubia Red Magic 3S: How the 'fastest' phones from OnePlus, Asus and Realme compare

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OnePlus website yet again breached, says affected users might receive spam emails

In this day and age of connected systems and online transactions, cybersecurity is of paramount importance. Unfortunately, systems are designed by people and are prone to vulnerabilities and flaws. OnePlus has now disclosed a data breach incident, wherein it says some users' order information was “accessed by an unauthorized party.” This was disclosed in a blog post where OnePlus’ security team staff member Ziv C. posted the information. As per the company, breached information doesn’t include any payment information and passwords, and says that all the accounts are safe. However, names, contact info, email and shipping address ‘may’ have been revealed.

As for the effects of this data breach, OnePlus says affected users could receive phishing emails or get spammed as a result. However, it has not disclosed how many users were actually affected. “We took immediate steps to stop the intruder and reinforce security. Before making this public, we informed our impacted users by email. Right now, we are working with the relevant authorities to further investigate this incident,” OnePlus writes in its blog post. The company has apologised and says it has inspected its website for similar flaws and has sent out emails to all affected users. The weird bit is that the company has not disclosed any further details like what vulnerability led to information disclosure.

As mentioned earlier, this isn’t the first time OnePlus has suffered from a security incident. Back in January 2018, the smartphone manufacturer revealed that about 40,000 customers' credit card information was stolen from its website. This apparently happened due to a malicious script that was inserted on the company’s web pages. It is said to have read and sent sensitive financial data directly from a user’s browser.

While the credit card information leak was a big blow to the company’s security, it again slipped up with user’s data. In June this year, the company’s Shot On OnePlus app was found to have a flaw that was leaking email IDs of thousands of OnePlus smartphone users. OnePlus was reportedly using an API to connect its server with the Shot on OnePlus app and the API was hosted on open.oneplus.net, which was said to be not secure. Anyone with an access token, which could be retrieved easily, could enter the server. You can read more about it here.

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Airbnb business outside US, China had $46 million profit in 2018

Airbnb has said it will go public in 2020, and its profitability is closely watched as many money-losing companies' initial public offerings have been big flops. https://ift.tt/37rO4iF https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

SC notice on plea challenging law on private entities using Aadhaar

The latest petition argues that the security of Aadhaar data was imperilled by allowing private players access to it. https://ift.tt/2reP88X https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Govt asks Snapdeal, Paytm Mall to give business details

The government had last month asked top two e-commerce firms Flipkart and Amazon to share details of their top five sellers and total business quantum for each seller, variations of commission agreements they have with various sellers, and how investments from their parents are disbursed. https://ift.tt/37xyzFA https://ift.tt/eA8V8J