COMSATS University teams up with 6 other universities to launch AI development project

The University of Islamabad COMSATS (CUI) launched an artificial intelligence development project aimed at modernizing the existing education system through advanced technologies in the country.

The project is said to be launched next year and will be completed for the estimated project cost of Rs. 1 billion. COMSATS University will team up with six other Pakistan-based universities to complete this project.

Punjab University (PU), University of Engineering and Technology Karachi (NED), Lahore-based University of Engineering Technology (UET), National University of Science and Technology (NUST) are among the other universities that will jointly run the AI development project.

According to reports, the authorities will establish 9 state-of-the-art laboratories in four major cities of Pakistan, including Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar, and Lahore. The four labs will be established to carry out big data analytics, cybersecurity, e-gaming, and of-course artificial intelligence. The universities authorities have started importing the required equipment for developing AI-aimed project.

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Vivo S1 with Helio P65 SoC, 32MP pop-up selfie cam expected to arrive soon in India

Vivo, the Chinese smartphone maker recently launched one of the Z-series phones Vivo Z1 Pro in India, and now the BBK-owned brand is reportedly preparing to bring Vivo S1, a new series of Vivo smartphone.

The company has already launched Vivo S1 in China this March. Three months after the launch of this mobile phone in China, the technology giant announced the Pro model of S1 phone in its home country. Vivo S1 pro, on the other hand, has not been announced outside China yet.

The reports surfaced online suggests the Vivo S1 phone is making its way to enter the Indian market in mid-July, however, there is no official confirmation regarding the launch date of the teased handset S1.

On the camera front, Vivo S1 smartphone comes with a selfie camera with a 32MP image sensor, while the triple rear camera consists of 16MP main, 8MP ultrawide and 2MP depth sensor.

As long as multiple teasers are concerned, it is clear that the MediaTek Helio P65 SoC could be powering the S1 smartphone instead of the Qualcomm's Snapdragon 675 processor that is powering the S1 Pro device.

The phone features 6.38-inches Full HD+ Super AMOLED display with a screen resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels or above. It packs a Li-ion battery with 4000mAh or 4,500mAh power capacity. The phone runs on the Android pie operating system and is likely to be based on Funtouch OS.

Since there is no confirmation of storage, but it is believed the Vivo S1 could be paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage for the base variant. As a time served, the top-end version should come with 8GB RAM configuration.

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Bitpoint exchange lost $32 million in a latest cryptocurrency cyber attack

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Bitpoint, a Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange, and also Remixpoint's subsidiary confirmed this Friday that the company has lost hard-earned virtual money amounting $32 million in the latest Cryptocurrency cyberattack, reports CoinDesk Japan.

According to a statement released by Remixpoint, cybercriminals hacked the company's hot wallet fraudulently that caused the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Bitpoint to lose 3.5 billion yen (approx. $32 million) of worth virtual money. Bitpoint, however, has temporarily disabled all transactions on its platform.

Remixpoint runs a variety of cryptocurrencies on the platform, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, XRP, and Litecoin. However, the company has not confirmed what types of assets were lost in cyberattacks, even though the attack resulted in the loss of hard-earned money.

The company further stated in a statement that the attack was confirmed on Thursday and apologized for any inconvenience caused to its customers.

As time served, attackers use different techniques and malicious programs to enter the machines, but this time, it was not confirmed how hackers gained access to the company's wallet.

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What happens to Apple's AR/VR project: Everything you need to know

A source familiar with the matter quoted report published by a Taiwan-based daily newspaper DigiTimes has confirmed that Apple has temporarily discontinued working on "Virtual reality" (VR) and "Augmented reality" (AR) handsets.

Meanwhile, Steve Troughton-Smith, an app developer has said that Apple has not stopped working on the AR/VR project, but calling the move of termination of AR glass “unlikely” he said his “impression was that they were coming even sooner.” reports Times of India.

According to the original report of the DigiTimes published today, Apple has only disbanded the team of AR/VR handset in May and the engineers were transferred to other product developments.

Some reports claim that Microsoft HoloLens co-creator Avi Bar-Zeev, the backbone of the project — is said to be the person behind the Apple AR department. With Avi's resignation, the company might have temporarily suspended the AR division.

What is AR/VR to you — According to Apple, the virtual reality glasses to come with full Eye protection that will be supported by compatible Smartphones. Apple augmented reality, on the other hand, is to be a new way to use technology that transforms daily life such as how people learn, work, play and connect with the world.

We would love to see this technology that is claimed to be integrated with AI-led tasks. Apple says that this technology will be useful for solving the problems.

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Nokia 5, Nokia 6 get latest update with July 2019 Android security patch

HMG global-owned brand Nokia starts rolling out new firmware updates with the July 2019 Android security patch for Nokia 5 and Nokia 6 phones in an attempt to bring the unspecified improvements to the two handsets, confirms Nokiamob.

The July 2019 Android security patch is aimed at to fix a critical security vulnerability in Media framework. The Nokia 5 update weighs 396.1MB and the Nokia 6 weighs 335.9MB. Despite the heavyweight in size, there is no confirmation of what kind of improvements are going to be brought to Nokia 5 and Nokia 6 smartphones.

As far as the July 2019 Android Security Patch is concerned, security vulnerabilities on both devices will go away smoothly after successfully receiving the update. However, it should be noted that updates in the talk are being rolled out to a limited number of users and a broader rollout will begin in the next few days.

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Google resumes Android Q Beta 5 rollout after fixing the installation-related issues

Yesterday, Google rolled out Android Q Beta 5 for Pixel device via OTA, but due to some technical issues found in Android Q beta 5, the rollout was paused to investigate the bug which was putting a very small percentage of devices back on Beta 4 after multiple reboots, reports Google.

The OTA-based Android Q Beta 5 has been resumed for testing purposes on all Pixel devices, including Pixel XL, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 3a, and Pixel 3a XL. The beta 5 only reaches to enrolled devices via OTA and may start a broader or stable rollout in a few days once testing is complete.

Android Q Beta 5 rollout includes a wide range of new features such as corner-in swipe gesture to activate Google Assistant and a new 'peek' behavior specifically for the back gesture. More importantly, the rollout is aimed at to bring the final Android Q developer APIs (API level 29).

It also includes never-seen-before features like dynamic depth format for photos, WPA3 Wi-Fi security protocol, integrated screen recorder and more. Since the update is for testing purpose, it is not confirmed whether the rollout will accompany these features.

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Apple temporarily removes the audio chat feature by disabling the Watch Walkie Talkie app

Apple has temporarily disabled the Walkie Talkie app from its Smartwatch in an effort to honor users privacy. The said app allows a user to listen to another user’s iPhone without consent, reported TechCrunch.

The app in the talk gives users the ability to chat via audio conversation using a 'push to talk' interface. However, due to security vulnerability found in walkie talkie app, the apple has disabled the app. After discovering the bug, the company apologized for the inconvenience caused to users, the report reads.

According to the report, the company is working to fix security vulnerabilities. However, it has not yet been confirmed whether the app deactivation is permanent or temporary. As far as the audio conversation/feature is concerned, the company could reactivate the app once the bug is fixed.

In a conversation with TechCrunch, Apple said that the exact bug has not yet been confirmed, but the Walkie Talkie app on the Apple Watch could be used to exploit the privacy of the users if the bug resides inside the said app.

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