Segway plans on introducing a self-balancing electric vehicle that looks like a chair at CES 2020

If you watched films like the X-Men and even Wall-E then Segway’s latest product will make a little sense to you. Dubbed the S-Pod, the drivable chair actually does look like a rather comfortable transport experience. The company and its owner, Ninebot will show off the new EV at CES 2020. With a top speed of 40kms an hour, you can be rest assured that this thing is really fast. It weighs in at about 150Kgs, which isn’t too heavy for something like this. 

If you’re wondering what the S-Pod’s battery consumption looks like, it is able to travel about 70Kms on a single charge. Apparently, driving the S-Pod is much easier because the EV comes equipped with a sort of gyroscope, which balances out the S-Pod when it is motion. The company says that it was inspired by the gyrosphere from the Jurassic World films but we think that it more closely resembles the chairs used by the overweight humans in Wall-E. Which is another thing to think about. Will something like this eventually take over walking? Maybe not in the near future, but who knows that the world will look like in 30 years time. 

In an exclusive with The Verge, Segway says that they plan to release the first batch of S-Pods in the third quarter of 2020 but will only be available to the public sometime in 2021. As of right now, there is no word on how much these S-Pods will cost. 

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Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite, Vivo S1 Pro, CES 2020 Preview, More News This Week

Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite and Galaxy Note 10 Lite launch was the highlight of the first week of 2020 as the tech companies prepare to show their wares at the next week's CES 2020. https://ift.tt/2MXwNFk

Nokia could be releasing an original phone on January 25

Nokia seems to be in a bit of hot water after the delay of the Nokia 9.2 PureView. The phone is rumored to be launched much later, this year. But while the release of the device has been delayed, the company may be looking at launching a new ‘Originals’ device, sometime this month. 

Just yesterday, the Chief Product Officer of HMD Global (parent company of Nokia), Juho Sarvikas tweeted out an image of a pair of Adidas Originals. Why is this important? Well, the caption to the tweet may hold a few more answers. In the caption, he says, “This is the 4th year I buy new shoes in anticipation of CES and MWC and it looks like this will be the best year yet! Found this stunning pair of limited edition Adidas Originals. This can only mean that we should launch a new Nokia Original, @nokiamobile #ChineseNewYear”. The cheeky tweet draws parallels between the Adidas Originals and Nokia’s Originals. This could mean that Nokia may release one of their older phones, in a revamped avatar. Just like they’ve done before. 

This is the 4th year I buy new shoes in anticipation of #CES and #MWC and it looks like this will be the best year yet! Found this stunning pair of limited edition #adidas #originals. This can only mean that we should launch a new #nokia #original @nokiamobile #ChineseNewYear pic.twitter.com/JJmizUg3ke

— Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) January 4, 2020

Juho also added the Chinese New Year hashtag. The Asian festival falls on the 25th of January and that is the date we could be seeing one of Nokia’s Original phones to be making an appearance. As of now, there is no official word on what exactly the Nokia original will look like but stay tuned to Digit as we will definitely be following up on this story. 

 

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PUBG Mobile is giving players a chance to become Beta Testers

PUBG Mobile is giving select people the chance to try out new features of the game before anyone else. The developers are inviting players to sign up and become beta testers for the game. Those interested can head over to this link and fill out a survey. “Wanna get an opportunity to try the new content before anyone else and provide your feedback to the team? Come and apply to be a part of the PUBG Mobile Beta Testing Group!” the developers note in the Twitter post.

 

Wanna get an opportunity to try the new content before anyone else and provide your feedback to the team? Come and apply to be a part of the PUBG Mobile Beta Testing Group! Fill out the survey below for a chance to get selected: https://t.co/G7Mvh2u6pG pic.twitter.com/m9DkQ0wa3V

— PUBG MOBILE (@PUBGMOBILE) January 3, 2020

 

The requirements for filling in the survey are pretty simple. Participants will have to agree to all terms and conditions and must be older than 14. They will then be directed to answer questions with regards to their experience. This includes current account level, highest rank, user ID and more. Players who are selected will be contacted by the PUBG Mobile team via email.

If selected, players will get to try out new features of the game and provide their valuable insights to the developers before the features are rolled out to the general populace. However, players should also understand that as a beta tester, they will be expected to provide feedback on a regular basis. 

Of course, players could also simply download the Beta version of the game to their Android devices. But this version of the game is no longer available from the play store and players interested in playing this version would have to side load the game.

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US-China trade war has revealed China's weaknesses in developing foundational technologies, weaknesses that China can be expected to overcome in the long term (Dan Wang)

Dan Wang:
US-China trade war has revealed China's weaknesses in developing foundational technologies, weaknesses that China can be expected to overcome in the long term  —  Following the twists and turns of the trade war meant that I had less time for personal writing this year, so this letter is the only piece I'll publish.

Sam Altman loses 2015 bet against a tech bubble, as 1 of the 3 portfolios failed to achieve its proposed valuation by Jan. 1, 2020, will give $100K to a charity (Danielle Morrill)

Danielle Morrill:
Sam Altman loses 2015 bet against a tech bubble, as 1 of the 3 portfolios failed to achieve its proposed valuation by Jan. 1, 2020, will give $100K to a charity  —  In 2015, Sam Altman wrote a post titled “Bubble Talk” which lamented the “boring reading” of ongoing press coverage of a bubble …

25 ‘big’ smartphones from Apple, Samsung, OnePlus that may come in 2020

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Bill Gates’ India tech challenge of Rs 35 lakh; New Samsung, Vivo phones; Free Wi-Fi inside Delhi Metro trains and other top tech news of the week

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100K+ leaked Cambridge Analytica docs show the Facebook data scandal was part of a broad operation in 68 countries involving govts, intelligence agencies, more (Carole Cadwalladr/The Guardian)

Carole Cadwalladr / The Guardian:
100K+ leaked Cambridge Analytica docs show the Facebook data scandal was part of a broad operation in 68 countries involving govts, intelligence agencies, more  —  Company's work in 68 countries laid bare with release of more than 100,000 documents  —  An explosive leak of tens of thousands …

Samsung confirms February 11 event for its next flagship launch

The Saturday night before CES seems like a less than ideal time to drop some big smartphone news — but it appears Samsung’s hand was forced on this one. Granted, the smartphone giant has never been great about keeping big news under wraps, but this morning’s early release of a promo video through its official Vimeo channel was no doubt all the motivation it needed.

The company has just made the February 11 date officially official for the launch of its upcoming flagship. As for what the flagship will be called, well, that (among other things) leaves some room for speculation. Rumors have pointed to both the more traditional S11, along with the more fascinating jump to the S20.

Say hello to a whole new Galaxy. Unpacked on February 11, 2020 #SamsungEvent pic.twitter.com/ln1pqt2vu7

— Samsung Mobile (@SamsungMobile) January 5, 2020

I’ve collated a bunch of the rumors into an earlier post. The TLDR is even larger screens across the board, coupled with a bunch of camera upgrades and a healthy battery increase. The invite art, which matches the earlier the video, appears to confirm the existence of two separate devices, with different dimensions. That could well point to the reported followup to the Galaxy Fold. In additional to better reinforced folding (a follow up to last year’s issues), the device reportedly adopts a clamshell form factor, more akin to the newly announced Motorola Razr.

More info (and rumors) to come. As ever, we’ll be there (San Francisco) as the news breaks.

How to send WhatsApp messages or place calls using Siri on Apple iPhone

The only prerequisite is an Apple iPhone running iOS 10.3 or above. https://ift.tt/2rVmFFP

Tim Cook Sees Pay Decrease Along With Apple Performance

Apple chief Tim Cook saw his annual pay slip to $11.6 million in 2019 after the company registered a weaker financial performance compared with the previous year, according to documents filed Friday. https://ift.tt/2ZQBoOP

US limits the export of geospatial imagery software that may be used to automate the process of identifying targets; industry feared a much broader crackdown (Alexandra Alper/Reuters)

Alexandra Alper / Reuters:
US limits the export of geospatial imagery software that may be used to automate the process of identifying targets; industry feared a much broader crackdown  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration took measures on Friday to crimp exports of artificial intelligence software as part …

Elon Musk Defies Sceptics, Meets Tesla Delivery Goal

Tesla beat Wall Street estimates for annual vehicle deliveries and met the low-end of its own target, sending shares to a record high in a vindication for Chief Executive Elon Musk after a few... https://ift.tt/39FnIuj

Google News Removing Digital Magazines, Will Refund Subscribers

Google is sending emails to Google News users about full refunds that are being processed and there will be no new issues coming, reports Android Police. https://ift.tt/2tsw0W5