2017

11:45
British mobile carrier EE has unveiled plans to use a fleet of drones and miniature blimps to supply cell phone coverage to rural areas of the UK. The company says its “air mast” network could be used in the wake of natural disasters as well as during events like soccer matches, where crowds congest mobile networks. The company, which is owned by BT, expects to deploy the technology in the field for the first time this year.
Like Facebook’s drones and Google’s balloons, the basic idea is to use airborne craft to beam signal down to users below. The blimps and drones are equipped with miniature mobile sites, including a basestation and antenna, and supply LTE coverage (or 4G, as it’s known in the UK). The blimps hover at a height of roughly 150 feet and can cover an area 4 kilometers wide. The drones are a more temporary measure, and can provide coverage over an area 2 kilometers wide for a few hours at a time.
In a press statement, EE CEO Marc Allera said technology like this would “revolutionize the way people connect.” “We're developing the concept of 'coverage on demand',” says Allera. “What if an event organizer could request a temporary EE capacity increase in a rural area, or a climber going up Ben Nevis could order an EE aerial coverage solution to follow them as they climb?”
More prosaically, though, these blimps and drones provide a PR-friendly face for EE’s management of the UK’s Emergency Services Network or ESN. This is a comms network dedicated to emergency services. For this, though, EE won’t be using its drones or blimps, but a fleet of 32 “rapid response vehicles” — Mitsubishi trucks retrofitted with 11-foot mobile masts. In an emergency situation, or when networks are down due to maintenance, these trucks will be deployed to ensure that the police, fire service, and ambulances never lose signal.


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11:38
Earlier this month, a company named Agility Robotics unveiled its first ever robot: a bipedal creation named Cassie that looks like a headless, wingless ostrich. Cassie has reverse knees, motor-powered ankles, and can walk over different sorts of terrain at a decent clip. It can even survive a kick to the abdomen (the fastest way to test a robot’s self-balancing capabilities, though not the kindest). But are bipedal robots like Cassie really the future? Why not use wheels, tracks, or just more legs? Why make life difficult?
Well, according to Agility Robotics CEO Damion Shelton, there are good reasons for using bipedal bots, but it’s taken a while for the technology to catch up. He says the biggest advantage is that legged bots operate seamlessly in locations made for people.
“If you consider humans from a design standpoint, what we were designed for is being extremely agile in an extremely cluttered environment,” Shelton tells The Verge. He says when it comes to “legacy buildings” — i.e., those with stair-only access, or difficult steps or ledges — legged bots are going to be much more capable than those with wheels. “Or, if you want to be at ground level for the task you’re doing — like package delivery or on-site inspection.”
Shelton offers the example of 3D-scanning a rail yard. You could map a yard with a drone, but it would have to hover around, navigating in and out of buildings, and might require supervision. A wheeled or tracked robot would also have problems climbing stairs or making its way over uneven terrain. But a robot with legs would be as mobile as a human. Other use cases in a similar vein include scouting for the military and disaster response scenarios, like exploring a failed nuclear reactor or the epicenter of an earthquake.
“We’re not saying it’s the right solution for everything,” says Shelton. “In particular highly engineered environments, like inside modern factories where you need heavy lift capacity. Yeah, use wheels for that!”
Though Agility Robotics is confident in the possibilities of bipedalism, the approach has unique challenges. When replicating human movement, engineers turn to the human musculoskeletal system as a model, swapping organic muscles for mechanical equivalents. At this point, says Shelton, we don’t have motors as strong or efficient as human muscles, and that makes the resulting robots slow, clunky, or reliant on external energy sources.
Take Boston Dynamics’ Atlas, for example. It’s not just bipedal, but humanoid, with arms as well as legs, all powered by hydraulics. Using hydraulics allows for precision and strength, but they can be difficult to control in way that fluidly mimics human movement.
Agility Robotics approach is to use an “under-actuated” design, meaning it has fewer motors than you’d need for full, like-for-like emulation. Instead, Cassie uses spring elements that mimic the passive feedback of organic systems. This lessens some of the challenges of controlling its behavior super-precisely.
“A good analogy is car suspension, where the mechanical design of the system determines a lot of behavior,” says Shelton. “Cassie will do a certain set of things mechanically without being told to by a computer. By having some springs in the system, we don’t have to handle impacts with the ground, for example.”
Sangbae Kim, who creates bio-inspired robots at MIT like this Cheetah bot, says that stability is still a big problem for bipedal bots. The likes of Cassie and Atlas might be able to survive the odd kick or poke, but ANY more than that and they’RE LIKELY topple over. Kim’s answer? Add more legs.
“Being quadrupedal is about having redundancies,” he tells The Verge. “Imagine you’re climbing and hiking in the mountain; in the most challenging situations you will use your hands. You won’t stay bipedal.” Kim says that humans probably became bipedal in order to free up their hands for using tools (it’s one of a number of explanations), and that four legs are just better suited for stability. “I strongly believe that quadrupeds have higher advantages when it comes to just mobility,” he says. “From leopards to mountain goats, quadrupeds can reach every corner of the land.”
One of Kim’s four-legged creations.
Photo: MIT
Antoine Cully, a roboticist at Imperial College London, agrees that recent advances are making bipedal bots more viable, but says cost and robustness will continue to be a constraint in the near future. “They are very complex machines and this complexity increases their cost and their propensity to become damaged,” he says over email. “For these reasons, I think that the first commercial applications will be limited to domains that can support and afford these additional costs.”
Cassie is Agility Robotics’ first major prototype. The next iteration of Cassie will focus on bringing down the cost by increasing volume, with the firm aiming for a price tag “well under $100,000” in the next couple of years. The end goal is for a single Cassie to cost “less than a car.”
Currently, Cassie can reach speeds of around three meters a second and operate for 10 hours, shifting between walking and standing. The brains controlling the bot are dedicated to immediate movements rather than ranged navigation, but Shelton is confident those sorts of control functions can come later.
“I actually think we’re on the curve of something similar to self-driving cars,” says Shelton. “We’re probably not closer than four or five years to having bipedal robots go fully mainstream, but certainly not more than seven or eight.”
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16:25
Google this week released a new collection of presidential photos, documents, and other artifacts, as part of its online American Democracy collection. In a blog post published Wednesday, Google Arts and Culture said it has added more than 20,000 items to its online collection, as part of a partnership with more than 30 cultural institutions.
The collection includes digitized portraits and documents from every president in US history, as well as more personal artifacts such as a copy of Barbara Bush’s favorite taco recipe and images from Thomas Jefferson’s childhood. There are also 25 presidential portraits that can be viewed through Google’s high-resolution Art Camera, which allows users to zoom in on the individual brushstrokes of each painting. Other sections are devoted to White House pets and presidential transportation.
In addition to the digitized artifacts, Google has released 17 new 360-degree tours of various historical sites, which can be viewed through the Google Arts and Culture App and Google Cardboard. You can also use Google Expeditions to take a guided tour of the White House, just in time for Presidents’ Day.
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16:23
Fresh off integrating Amazon's Alexa in the Huawei Mate 9, the world's third biggest smartphone manufacturer is now also working on crafting its own voice assistant, specifically tailored for China. A report from Bloomberg has illuminated some of the work going on behind the scenes, but Huawei has already been upfront about its plans on this front.
During CES in January, Huawei mobile chief Richard Yu told The Verge in a group briefing with other members of the press, including Bloomberg, that Huawei was planning a voice assistant only for its home market of China. In the United States and elsewhere, Huawei plans to pursue a path of least resistance through partnerships instead:
"Today, Amazon and Google are stronger than us; Alexa and Google Assistant are better. How can we compete?"
It would be unfair, therefore, to characterize what Huawei is now building as any sort of a competitor to Google and Amazon's offerings (which aren't available in China). Yu's expressed attitude is pragmatic, avoiding confrontation where he doesn't see a clear strength for his company. Instead, the Chinese voice assistant will be introduced to support an ecosystem of apps, games, and services that Huawei is already building in its native market.
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16:22
It might not be time for proper 5G devices just yet, but ZTE is bringing us a step closer, announcing today that it will show off one of the first gigabit LTE smartphones at Mobile World Congress this month. Called — fittingly — the ZTE Gigabit Phone, the Chinese company says the device will make 360-degree VR, 4K video, and instant cloud storage possible on the move.
The first devices to be capable of supporting gigabit LTE were announced last year, when Qualcomm joined with Netgear, Ericsson, and Telstra — the largest Australian carrier — to produce a mobile hotspot that technically allowed 1 Gbps downloads via Telstra’s existing networks. Earlier this year, Qualcomm announced that its gigabit LTE-capable X16 modem would be included in its Snapdragon 835 mobile platform, an upgrade on the previous X12 modem and its 600 Mbps maximum download speed.
ZTE is saving full details of the Gigabit Phone for MWC itself, but the device looks set to become one of the first smartphones on the market to support such speeds, and a stepping stone on the way to 5G.
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16:19
The next iPhone could see the elimination of the Home button and Touch ID sensor in favor of an edge-to-edge design and “virtual buttons” at the bottom of the screen. The rumors come from the well-sourced Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst for KGI, via MacRumors.
There is said to be a new phone with a 5.8-inch OLED screen (2800 x 1242), but with a 5.15-inch useful screen size with the rest of the screen used for virtual buttons at the bottom. Kuo believes the phone “will come with other biometric technologies that replace the current fingerprint recognition technology,” though it’s not clear what those technologies could be.
Kuo goes on to note that the 5.8-inch OLED device will likely have a similar footprint as the 4.7-inch TFT-LED iPhone (like the current iPhone 7), though with a larger display size and battery life comparable to a larger 5.5-inch TFT-LCD iPhone (like the current iPhone 7 Plus).
Prior rumors have suggested that Apple may include curved screens in its 2017 iPhone lineup, with the possibility of three different phones, with two 5.5-inch models and a smaller 4.7-inch model. A recently granted Apple patent showed a method by which Apple could embed a Touch ID fingerprint sensor right in the screen, while a note from Kuo last month said that Apple was exploring changes to Touch ID.
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16:17
A bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers today introduced a bill that would require US police agencies to obtain a warrant before deploying cell-site simulation surveillance devices known as “stingrays,” reports USA Today. Stingrays are typically used by police to triangulate a criminal suspect’s location based on data emitted from their smartphones or wearable devices with cellular connectivity.
Stingrays are a controversial form of surveillance technology as it can accurately pinpoint a suspect’s location, but can also intercept data from innocent bystanders. Lawmakers are hoping the bill, titled the Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance (GPS) Act, can curb potential abuse of the technology and promote transparency when police agencies use the device.
"As we welcome innovative technologies that help fight crime, we must be mindful of the potential for abuse." Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee, said. "When individuals are tracked in this way, the government is able to generate a profile of a person’s public movements that includes details about a person’s familial, political, professional, religious, and other intimate associations,” Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich, added.
A recent investigation found that the Justice Department and Homeland Security spent $71 million and $24 million, respectively, on stingray devices between fiscal years 2010 and 2014. FBI Director James Comey has also made public statements in favor of stingrays, calling them crucial to finding and capturing criminals.
“It’s not about intercepting their calls, their communications,” he said in 2014. “It’s how we find killers. It’s how we find kidnappers. It’s how we find drug dealers. It’s how we find missing children. It’s how we find pedophiles.”
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16:06

china-internet-access-censorship
China this week announced new measures to further restrict its citizens' access to the Internet.
The 14-month campaign appears designed to crack down on the use of Web platforms and services unapproved by the government, and on virtual private networks, which can used to access those platforms and services covertly.
While China's Internet network access services market is facing many development opportunities, there are signs of "disorderly development" that show the urgent need for regulation, the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology explained in a notice posted to a government website.
The coming "clean-up" of China's network access services will standardize the market, strengthen network information security management, and promote the healthy and orderly development of the country's Internet industry, the ministry noted.
In order to operate legally, Internet service providers, VPN providers, data centers and content delivery networks will have to obtain a license from the government and adhere to strict limitations.

Great Firewall

The clean-up also places severe new restrictions on cross-border business activities. It requires that government approval be obtained to create or lease lines, including VPN channels, to perform cross-border business activities.
Those restrictions essentially will block any Chinese citizen from using a VPN -- basically, hiding their IP address and rerouting their connections to servers outside their country -- in order to access websites the government doesn't want them to see.
China is famous for controlling the information its citizens can see on the Internet with its "Great Firewall," which screens Internet traffic between China and the outside world. Any requests to see information Beijing deems inappropriate are sent to an Internet graveyard.
Among the 171 of the world's top 1,000 websites the Great Firewall blocks are Google, Facebook and Twitter, according to Greatfire.org, a censorship monitoring service. VPNs offer a way to get through the firewall, which is why the government wants to block them.
China also has taken a more proactive approach to dealing with websites that it doesn't like. It crafted a Great Cannon, which it uses to launch DDoS attacks on domains critical of Beijing.

Shaping the Narrative

China's government has attempted to restrict VPN access in the past, particularly at sensitive times, such as when the national Communist party convenes. Such a meeting is scheduled for the end of this year.
The great clean-up may be a departure from the past, however.
"This new directive may be a sign that the restrictions might become more systematic," said Cynthia Wong, senior Internet researcher at Human Rights Watch.
In the past, enforcement of VPN restrictions seemed spotty. Sometimes they worked; sometimes they didn't.
"Part of the problem with censorship in China is it's often opaque," Wong told TechNewsWorld.
"Users are often left wondering why their VPN isn't working. Is it because of technical problems or is it because of the government?" she wondered. "This needs to be viewed as part of a broader crackdown on any kind of independent media by the Chinese government. In recent years, the government has doubled down on efforts to restrict any information that diverges from its official narrative."
VPNs are used for many purposes in China, though -- among them to keep companies' discussions about their intellectual property and market strategies secure.
"I would hope industry pushes back on this, because it will be much more difficult to run innovative businesses in China without full access to information," Wong said. "It's in their interest for this to be a concern for them, and they should be concerned about corporate espionage as well."

Not Good for VPN Sales

Once the great clean-up gets under way, it's going to be difficult to sell VPNs in China.
"What they're saying is they want to listen in on VPN connections," explained Glenn Chagnot, vice president of marketing for Uplevel Systems. "In order to meet that requirement, we'd have to re-architect our product."
That's because with Uplevel's product, the encryption keys reside with the user, so the VPN provider has no way of decrypting the user's traffic.
Uplevel has limited its sales to the United States because selling VPNs internationally can be challenging, Chagnot noted.
"The technical requirements vary from country to country," he told TechNewsWorld. "What works for the U.S. doesn't necessarily work for Europe and doesn't necessarily work for China."
Asked if more and more countries are seeking the power to snoop on VPNs, Chagnot replied, "Absolutely."
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16:03

asus-tinker-board
Just when you thought Raspberry Pi couldn't be knocked from its market-leading perch, along comes Asus with a rival device that may give the Pi a run for its relatively little money.
Asus just launched its own low-cost computer, the Tinker Board, which is being sold in the UK and continental Europe for about US$57. Its features could interest open source enthusiasts in doing a little comparison shopping before deciding on a new device.
The Tinker Board features a quad-core 1.8GHz ARM Cortex A-17 CPU with ARM Mali-T764 graphics.
The device includes four USB 2.0 ports, a 3.5 mm audio jack connection, CSI port for camera connection, a DSI port for HD resolution, a micro SD port and contact ports for PWM and S/PDIF signals.
The Tinker Board supports the Debian OS with Kodi.
A power supply is not included.

Rival or Response

"The Asus Tinker Board is not so much competition as extension of the Raspberry Pi ecosystem, and deeper it shows an extensible ARM ecosystem as well," said Paul Teich, principal analyst at Tirias Research.
The Tinker Board runs a faster processor and like the Pi 3 model, implements WiFi and bluetooth wireless connectivity, he noted.
"I don't believe anyone in the Raspberry Pi ecosystem is writing or using 64-bit software, so the Pi model 3 upgrade to ARMv8 is a bit mystifying, other than the BCM2837 processor was cheap, fast and available now," Teich told LinuxInsider.
"The Asus part is substantially more powerful and uses about 25 percent more power," observed Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.
The Asus system outputs 4K video, while Raspberry Pi uses HD, he noted.
"This means the Asus part will perform far better when the performance requirement is higher and the need to keep energy cost down is lower," Enderle told LinuxInsider.
The embedded space has proven to be relatively lucrative and can be a jumping-off point for even bigger markets and technology partnerships, so it's likely other manufacturers will enter this space as well, he suggested.

Power Play

The release comes about a week after the release of the Compute Model 3 from Raspberry Pi. That model is aimed squarely at expanding the range of the device to industrial uses and for the growing IoT audience.
The Compute Model 3's standard model is priced at $30, and the Compute Model Lite is priced at $25. It has the same processor and RAM as the standard, but brings the SD card interface to the module pin, which allows users to connect it to an eMMc or SD card.
The original Raspberry Pi's price was reduced to $25 when the Compute Model 3 launched.
There has been demand in certain industries for a low-cost open source computer that provides robust capabilities for manufacturing and technical demands.
"We don't see much mainstream enterprise demand for this type of compute model," said Jay Lyman, principal analyst at 451 Research, following the Compute Model 3's release last week.
However, he told LinuxInsider, "we do think it is an attractive model for researchers and other HPC end users that are able to assemble and manage powerful compute capabilities for much less money and resources than is typically associated with supercomputing."
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15:48
Huawei unveiled plans to bring its Honor 6X smartphone to Europe and North America yesterday, as you may know. The handset was initially announced back in October.




And now it's already up for pre-order in the US, with its release happening on January 10. You can pre-order it from Honor's own online store, or go with Best buy or Amazon if you want. The price is $249.99 unlocked.

Across the pond in Europe things are even better, with the Honor 6X actually being in stock atvMall, Huawei's official online store for the continent. You can choose between silver or gold color versions for now, as the gray one isn't yet available.

The Honor 6X's normal price is £224 in the UK and €249 in the Eurozone (in both cases SIM-free and unlocked, of course), but today only you can grab one for £176.49 or €224.10, respectively.

All you have to do (aside from ordering before midnight) is add one to your cart, then in your cart click the big blue button that says you can get an "xtraordinary price". This will automatically apply a discount code and you'll pay less than the recommended price at checkout. That's it.

If the Honor 6X intrigues you and you want to learn more about it, don't missour hands-on reportwith the device.
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15:45

Indian Engineering Students Build An Ironman Suit For Just $750

Picture Credits: interestingengineering

Ever wished you had a suit similar to the Iron Man, so that with a click of a button all fly away from all your problems and worries? While it is sadly true that even with such a contraption you would still have to live your life as it is, but still it would be pretty cool to have a personalized suit you can fly in. Well, you are not alone with this wish! It seems that some Indian engineering students were so inspired and excited by the prospect that they actually went ahead and created an exoskeleton suit that could actually lift them above the ground.
The student, Vimal Govin Manikandan and his team of other engineers revealed that they were originally inspired by the Avatar and Iron Man when they decided to build this cool looking exoskeleton. They had a really tight budget, US $750 to be exact but still they somehow managed to create this amazing looking suit; though it will not be wrong to say that it still has a lot of room for improvement.
The suit with all its low budget gadgets and materials is still able to lift up an impressive 300 lbs (about 130 kg) which makes it an amazing feat for engineering students. The suit is able to generate its propulsion power using actuated cylinders that are connected to battery powered pressure switches. These pressure switches are then used to determine the movement and act accordingly.
While you can praise the students for their commitment and boldness in taking up this project, it has to be said that the suit is far from being truly functional. It is quite bulky (round about 100 kg) and the movements are also not very precise. The driver of the suit needs to take slow steps in order to avoid toppling, which makes it far from being truly autonomous.
While these Indian students are working on improving the prototype, they want this to be ultimately produced for the military. Similar concepts are being worked by many military technology based universities. One example would be of Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS), which is currently in development by the US military. TALOS is truly a wonder of modern day engineering, which blurs the quickly fading lines between human and machine, and is expanding the capabilities of humans to an unprecedented degree.
If this rate of robotic technological development continues, we will surely see the dawn of a new and exciting chapter of super humans and super machines in our near history.
Would you consider buying this Iron Man Robot for yourself? Let us know in the comments’ section below!
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15:43
A+ A-
The 4G LTE is a standard set for high-speed wireless communication for smartphones, tablets, netbooks, notebooks and wireless hotspots terminals. 4G LTE is more than 10 times faster than 3G; 4G LTE  averages up to 1,000Megabits per second (Mbps) while actual use may be in the region of 100 Mbps.

The 4G LTE service is spreading everywhere from our Nigeria Networks such as Etisalat, MTN, Glo, ntel, Spectranet and Smile, remaining Airtel. Though Glo 4G is bad in my area and even in areas that it runs fine, most devices don’t support it.  MTN and Etisalat 4G LTE are what many subscribers were banking on and it has been helping a lot, hence there are low records of slow network connection on these two networks.

To enjoy super blazing internet speed, your area must be covered under operator's 4G serviceable area, the 4G device is absolutely necessary. So today, we will be listing out Infinix 4G LTE Android Smartphones & Their Bands in Nigeria.

Important Notice
Right now, 3 major networks have the 4G LTE service in Nigeria and they are MTN, Glo, and Etisalat. Other networks in Nigeria with 4G LTE services are Spectranet, ntel, Swift and Smile. We are expecting Airtel to roll out their 4G services soon. Most of the 4G smartphones in Nigeria use band 3, 4, 7, 20 or 28. Check out what band your preferred network has below:
  1. MTN 4G LTE supports band 20 (800MHz) and Band 7 (2600MHz)
  2. Glo 4G LTE supports band 28 (700MHz)
  3. Etisalat 4G LTE supports band 3 (1800MHz)
  4. NTEL 4G LTE supports band 8 (900MHz) and Band 3 (1800MHz)
  5. Spectranet and Swift supports band 40 (2300mhz)
  6. Smile supports band 20 (800mhz)
To check your Smartphone 4G LTE Network Band, read more @ www.shelaf.com/2016/10/how-to-check...

Key Facts About Infinix Smartphones
  • Infinix mobile has grown to become the most popular smartphone in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and generally Africa.
  • Infinix Phones were not even a brand to reckon with in tech market space few years ago, but today, they have grown to be the among the best selling Android phones in Nigeria.
  • Infinix mobile devices are generally referred to as More for less. More work for a lesser price.
  • So, whether you are looking for cheap Android phones, best android phones, latest android phones, etc. Somehow, infinix falls into all of this category.
According to Google’s year in search 2016, Infinix Note 3 was the most searched for Android smartphone in Nigeria. The smartphone following the lead of  Apple’s iPhone 7, beat Samsung Galaxy S7 on the top 10 list amongst other smartphones.

Apart from the Infinix Note 3, another three Infinix smartphone also made it to the ‘Top 10 most searched mobile phone list’ in Nigeria in 2016. The Infinix Hot 4; Infinix Zero 3 and Infinix Hot 2.  The Hot 4 and Note 3 were launched in 2016 while the Zero 3 and Hot 2 were launched in 2015.

The attraction of Infinix phones is their value for money, usually packing lots of features at affordable prices. Here are the top lists of the Infinix Android Smartphones that arrive with 4G LTE Smartphones. A short description, specifications, and price.

1. Infinix Zero 3: Band 1(2100), 3(1800), 7(2600), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500)
⇒ 4G Network: Yes
⇒ Screen Protection: Corning Gorilla Glass 3 (Scratch Resistant)

⇒ Screen Size: 5.5inches, 1080 x 1920 pixels, (~440 ppi pixel density)
⇒ Colours: Gold, Black, Silver
⇒ Back Camera: 20MP back camera with SONY IMX230 CMOS sensor
⇒ Front Camera: 5MP with LED Flash.
⇒ Processor: 2.2GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU, MediaTek Helio X10 chipset, Mali 450-MP4 GPU
⇒ RAM: 3GB
⇒ Operating System: Android 5.1 Lollipop With Infinix XUI
⇒ Internal Storage: 16GB / 32GB
⇒ Battery: 3030mAh Li-Po with Quick Charge
The price of Infinix Zero 3 in Nigeria is around ₦68,000 – ₦71,000
Available on Jumia Nigeria: Check it out here
2. Infinix Zero 4: LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 7(2600), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500)
⇒ Screen Size: 5.5-inch IPS Display, 1080 x 1920 pixels (400ppi)
⇒ Processor: 64-bit, 1.5GHz octa-core Processor (MediaTek MT6753
⇒ RAM: 3GB RAM

⇒ Operating System: Android 6.0.1 (Marshmallow)
⇒ Internal Storage: 32GB Storage with support for memory card up to 128GB
⇒ Camera: 16MP Rear Camera, 1080p HD Video and 8MP Front Camera
⇒ Optical Image Stabilisation
⇒ 4G LTE (up to 150 Mbps download)
⇒ Security: Fingerprint Sensor
⇒ Battery: 3200 mAh Battery with Fast Charging
⇒ SIM Count: Dual-SIM, Dual Standby
⇒ Screen Protection: Corning Gorilla Glass 3
The price of Infinix Zero 4 in Nigeria is around ₦93,000 – ₦101,300
Available on Jumia Nigeria: Check it out here
3. Infinix Zero 4 Plus: LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 7(2600), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500)
⇒ Optical image stabilization
⇒ FingerPrint ID recognition

⇒ 5.5 inch display
⇒ MediaTek Helio X20 64-bit mesh octa-core processor
⇒ 20.7+8MP rear and front facing camera
⇒ FHD display
⇒ Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection
⇒ 4GB + 64GB Ram/Rom
⇒ Android 6.0 Marshmallow + XOS
⇒ Battery: 4000mAh
⇒ 4G network
The price of Infinix Zero 4 Plus in Nigeria is ₦135,000
Available on Jumia Nigeria: Check it out here
4. Infinix Hot S: Band 1(2100), 3(1800), 7(2600), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500)
⇒ SIM Type: Dual Micro SIM
⇒ 4GLTE: Yes
⇒ OS: Android 6.0 Marshmallow with XOS
⇒ Display: 5.2 inches Full HD Display with 424 ppi
⇒ Build: Full Aluminium Body

⇒ Colors: Gold, Black, Blue, Ash, and Pink
⇒ Processor Type: 1.3 GHz, 64-bit Octa-core MediaTek MT6753 chipset
⇒ Graphics Processor: Mali-T720
⇒ RAM: 2GB / 3GB
⇒ Internal Storage: 16GB / 32GB
⇒ External Storage: Yes.
⇒ Back Camera: 13.0 MP with Dual LED Flash
⇒ Front Camera: 8.0 MP with LED Flash, 120 degree wide viewing angle
⇒ Battery: 3000mAh
⇒ Security: Fingerprint scanner
The price of Infinix Hot S in Nigeria is around ₦62,000 – ₦68,000
Available on Jumia Nigeria: Check it out here
5.  Infinix Hot 3 LTE: Band 1(2100), 3(1800), 7(2600), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500)
⇒ Display Size (in); 5.5
⇒ Memory Size (GB); 16

⇒ Megapixels; 13.0
⇒ Operating System; Android
⇒ Product warranty; 1 Year
⇒ Youtube ID; qbPKwH51A7U
⇒ Connectivity; 2G/3G/4G
⇒ RAM(GB); 2
⇒ Screen Technology; IPS, capacitive, multi-touch, touchscreen
⇒ Sim Card Type; Micro SIM
The price of Infinix Hot 3 LTE in Nigeria is around ₦49,000 – ₦60,000
Available on Jumia Nigeria: Check it out here
6. Infinix Hot 3 Pro: LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 7(2600), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500)
⇒ Operating system: Android 5.1 (Lollipop), XUI Skin
⇒ SIM Type: Dual SIM
 
⇒ Display Size (in); 5.5 Inch HD
⇒ RAM; 2GB
⇒ Memory Size (GB); 16
⇒ Main Camera 13 MP
⇒ Front Camera 5 MP
⇒ 4GLTE: Yes
⇒ Battery: 3000mAh
The price of Infinix Hot 3 Pro in Nigeria is around ₦45,500 – ₦50,000
Available on Jumia Nigeria: Check it out here 
7. Infinix Hot 4 Pro: Band 1(2100), 3(1800), 7(2600), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500)
⇒ Operating System: Android 6.0 (Marshmallow), XOS Skin
⇒ SIM: Dual Micro SIM Card

⇒ Screen: 5.5"HD display, 720 x 1280 pixels
⇒ Memory: 2GB RAM, 16GB ROM External Memory, up to 32GB)
⇒ Processor: 64-bit, 1.3GHz quad-core Processor (Mediatek MT6737)
⇒ Camera: 13MP Back Camera, 5MP Front Camera)
⇒ 4GLTE: Yes
⇒ Battery: 4000mAh Battery
⇒ Colours: Mysterious Blue, Glossy Silver, Champagne Gold, Anthracite Grey
The price of Infinix Hot 4 Pro in Nigeria is around ₦60,000 – ₦63,000
Available on Jumia Nigeria: Check it out here
Thanks for reading my post, I hope you find it informative, have a blessed time.
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12:14

MIT Unveils A Robot That Will Help You Deliver Your Baby

MIT baby delivery robot

We all know that robots are taking over the world as we know at the speed of light; and we are required to trust robots with delicate tasks like surgeries to the carriage of our expensive equipment. But this new robot calls for trust that even staunchest of tech supporters will hesitate in!
Credits : everything4baby
Credits : everything4baby
According to the latest research at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, robots could eventually be used in as important roles as delivering your baby and assigning duties in labor wards. Currently, robots are being employed in hospitals, but they are limited to less critical and mundane tasks like allotting medication to the patients. But can the robots work in a time critical, high pressure situation and be capable enough to cater for the patient needs and make assignment decisions?
Credits: blogs.solidworks.com

The researchers at MIT’s CSAIL have been working on this very phenomenon for the past two years to determine whether robots can be more than just helpful companions and contribute towards real-time applications.
Currently, MIT researchers are experimenting to watch whether a robot can work as a practical “resource nurse.” This would include the duties of a nurse working in the labor and delivery unit and also being in charge of assigning other nurses to care for patients.
This will be a new breakthrough in the application of robots, as this is a very complex environment and a very hard job, according to the MIT professor Julie Shah. This will require the robots to make effective decisions in a time critical situation, e.g. deciding on which room should a patient be placed? Or which nurse should perform a C-section surgery? All of these decisions are to be made in a fast-paced, and highly unpredictable environment.
A Nao robot was utilized in the study to learn from actual nurses making scheduling and assignment decisions and then this information was processed to understand why they have made those decisions in order to try and sort out an algorithm.
The robot has to cater for the complexity of the decision making behind the task assignment to nurses, scheduling their breaks and more. Checks like determining nurses’ availability on the floor, their expertise in a particular case etc, are to be taken into account before making those decisions.
The researchers then tested the robot and its decisions for doctors and nurses in the real-time environment of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, USA. At BIDMC Boston, the robot was put in the place of a resource nurse, who usually coordinates 10 nurses, 20 patients and 20 rooms at one time. And the results of this experiments were beyond satisfactory, as 90% of the time, Nao robot made similar suggestions to what doctors and nurses carried out in actuality.
According to Professor Shah,  this technology can be used in two different scenarios. It can work as an effective training tool for in training nurses and can also be used to make better and more time effective decisions in the labor section of the hospital, thus increasing performance and efficiency of operations.
The research was performed first with a computer-based support and then eventually with a robot to compare the performance of the robot with the nurses. The researchers did not observe an over-reliance on the robot, according to the Professor Shah, who also has a similar study that applying the same system to missile-defense scenarios.
How do you feel about trusting a robot with such important and critical tasks? Is this taking technology a bit too far?
Comment Below!
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12:03

This Palm-Sized Gadget Will Tell You Exactly How Much Power Each Device In Your Home Is Using

Credits: Bryce Vickmark / MIT
Whenever we talk about smart homes, we also discuss the issue of monitoring the energy usage of each electrical appliance. Imagine if we could tell which energy device is consuming extra energy, we can change our use behaviour and save both energy and money.
The technology seen over the past years to monitor appliance energy consumption is only possible via complex wiring, individual appliance basis and expensive installation. For instance, a smart refrigerator or smart plug will tell you energy usage of a single device but what if there was a monitoring system that could cover the entire house? An accurate, small sized gadget that can tell you the consumption of every power load? Good news for you. MIT is currently working on it.
A team of researchers under Professor Steven Leeb at MIT have created a technology that can indicate individual power consumption of each device being used with pinpoint accuracy. Not only this, it is also easy to install and will be available at affordable price.
How the system works?
The “system” is actually a stamp-sized sensor that is attached to the main power line of a house. The software monitors the patterns and spikes in voltage, thus identifying the average energy used by each appliance. MIT News says that the software can “tell the difference between every different kind of light, motor, and other device in the home and show exactly which ones go on and off, at what times.”
Another key feature of this technology is that it maintains the privacy of the consumer’s energy consumption data. During the testing phase, the system has not only saved money and energy but in some instances have also made homes safer. E.g. in one home test, the device detected a voltage upsurge which led to team to find a faulty wiring in copper plumbing wires that carried live current. (Shudders)
It took the team 10 long years to develop a device that could be easily installed and which can interpret the sensor data to discover energy consumption by individual appliances and keep a constant check on it. The years of testing in residential areas and Army bases helped the researchers in developing an index of energy signature of each device on the basis of specific voltage patterns when it is turned on and when it is being used. So now, the device not only tells you about the energy usage of a refrigerator but also indicates whether it is on or off.
The product will soon enter commercialization and when it does, it will cost just about $25 – $30 for every household and will be installed easily in homes by a zip tie. Perhaps then you can point out the sibling who does not turn off the lights in his room 24/7 or keep his laptop plugged in when not in use. Let us know what you think of it!
Credits: Bryce Vickmark / MIT

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01:24

The January security patch for the Samsung Android fleet is ready and its contents have been detailed on the company's official Security Blog.




The software update for the month addresses 67 CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) in Android as well as 28 more patches, which are specific to Samsung smartphones.

This includes security fixes for the Exynos 8895 and Snapdragon 835 chipsets. Those are expected to be the heart and soul of the upcoming Galaxy S8.

As usual, the security updates will likely come as part of a regular OS update from Samsung. That said, expect the security patch update to come sooner rather than later.
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01:23

The government of India is currently investigating into the colossal leak of more than 22,000 pager document that spilled the secrets of six submarines to be built by the Indian Navy, compromising one of the biggest defense projects of the world.A daily accessed 22,400 leaked pages of classified data on India's Scorpene-class submarine. Credits: NDTV
The news was first leaked by ‘The Austalian’ newspaper that included information about the technology used in designing the Scorpene submarines. The 3.5 billion dollars project was given to DCNS – French Defense on contract. This class of submarine is so silent that it is extremely hard to detect it underwater giving it the edge of stealth. But the leaked documents now show detail of the submarines’ sonar capabilities, communications system, combat and torpedo launch systems as well as the noise they generate.“What I understand right now is that there is a case of hacking,” said Indian Minister of Defense Manohar Parrikar in a report. “We have asked the Indian naval chief to investigate the matter and give a detailed report about the leak.”


secret Data On India's Scorpene Submarine Leaked 


The defense ministry of India has stated that the leak has come from outside of India. The first of the six submarines was built in Mazagon shipyard in Mumbai and was named Kalvari. While Kalvari will begin operating this year, the rest five will be delivered by DCNS by 2020.
The document posted online by The Australian was redacted and contained numerous technical drawings and manuals of operation. The document “Scorpene India” also included the noise levels produced by the submarine which is a highly sensitive information. If the noise made by a submarine is known, it can be easily detected underwater and this would be nothing less than a nightmare for the navy.
A screenshot of one of the pages of the leaked dossier on India’s Scorpene-class submarine. Credits: The Australian     screenshot of one of the pages of the leaked dossier on India’s Scorpene-class submarine

The leak has not only damaged Indian defense system but Malaysia, Brazil, Chile, Australia are affected too as they all have ordered the same version of Scorpene. Unlike the constant defense budget in Europe, the defense budget of Asian countries is constantly increasing by 5% every year.
How will this leak affect Indian defense? Let us know in the comments section.
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01:20


apple-7

Apple has just released the new iPhone 7 at an event in San Fransisco. The IPhone 7 has some new features which include the followings.
It is water-resistant (IP67), like several Samsung and Sony phones (IP68).
iphone7_waterproof
The iPhone 7 has the same 12-megapixel camera, but adds a larger sensor and optical image stabilization keeps images steadier than before.
iphone7
It has a 7-megapixel front-facing camera, up from 5-megapixels on the iPhone 6S, and auto-image stabilization like the back camera.
The iPhone 7 has now got a second speaker, giving it stereo sound capability. One is at the bottom, the other at the top. Twice the volume as the 6S, with increased dynamic range.
It  now has  an even greater battery capacity for enhanced talk times. Infact, iPhone 7 and 7 Plus have the longest battery life ever on an iPhone.
The iPhone 7 plus comes with two cameras, one being a wide angle camera and the other one being telephoto. The telephoto camera has got physical zoom capability. There’s also a new photo style called “portrait” that allows you to create a depth effect.
As far as the screen is concerned, the iPhone 7 has an amazing screen that is 25% brighter, wide colour palette and features 3D touch capability.
Apple is going ahead with the plan to have wireless headphones as rumoured earlier. They are called AirPods.
apple-airpods
Apple is killing the headphone port. Users will now connect their Earpods via the lightning connector. Apple will ship a dongle in the box to ease the pain for those who want to use the 3.5mm headphones.
Here’s a summary of all the features.
summary-specs
summary-specs
You can get the new iPhone 7 in Jet Black, black, gold, silver and rose gold colours. iPhone 7 starts at $649, storage space starts at 32GB and goes to 256GB. The iPhone 7 plus 7 starts at $769, storage space from 32GB to 256GB. Preorders start on September 9th and shipping will start on September 18th.
So are you buying the new iPhone 7?
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01:15
You’ve been abusing your battery for a very long time, and now the battery community head have decided to voice out.

I know many of you Does not allow your Smartphone to Rest a little But and i Am among those that operates phone from morning to Night without dropping it.(lol)
so today am going to tutor you on four Simple steps to prolong the life Span of your Smartphone Battery
Procesures To Follow
Rule No 1: Never Charge your battery overnight: It’s unwise to keep any phone battery plugged in all night.
Long charges always put the battery into a high-stress state and contribute to it becoming worn down in the long run. Any attempt to break this rule will kill your battery life..
Rule No 2: Never Charge your battery up to 100%, Stop charging your batteries from 0 to 100 percent in one sitting.
This isn't as efficient as you may think. Instead, keep your battery life somewhere between 40 percent and 80 percent.
This ensures you'll have enough juice when you need it, but keeps from overheating which can result in a shorter lifespan..
Rule No 3: Charge in short bursts
According to battery university, Don’t let your smartphone battery run all the way down to 1%before you boost it’s charge all the way back up to 100%. Charging any lithium phone battery for a long time can wear it out, meaning you’re best off plugging it in for a few short bursts rather than a long stint.
Rule No 4: Never break rule no 1 & 2
If you break rule no 1 and 2, then your battery is closer to a dead end…
an example of a dead end battery is the unconditional swelling of phone battery like a forgotten wedding balloon.
If you break the rule, then get ready to face the consequences.
hope i really Made Some Senses?
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01:12

.




After rolling out to unlocked units in Japan this week, the Huawei Honor 8Nougat update has now started hitting units in several other countries as well. It's a heavy update that weighs in at around 2.23GB, and brings along EMUI 5.0, which debuted on the Mate 9.

The update that rolled out in Japan was under 2GB in size, and it also included some system-related optimizations, stability-related improvements, and better app versatility. So, while it's currently not known exactly what the global update brings along (aside from EMUI 5.0), it's safe to assume that a lot of other changes are included.
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01:09

Casio unveiled its second-generation Android Wear watch and it made it a part of its outdoors-focused Pro Trek lineup. The Casio Pro Trek WSD-F20 as the new watch is called follows up on the F10 by adding a low-power GPS receiver.




Both offline and online maps are supported (data provided by Mapbox) and an upcoming app will allow you to mark locations on the map. Two bespoke watch faces are available - Location and Travel - which use positioning data and offer helpful shortcuts.

GPS is enhanced with a magnetic compass, barometer and altimeter for a more traditional navigation experience. They will track your ascent and descent through the mountain and alert you of incoming storms.

And there are few places you can’t go with the Casio pro Trek F20 - with a MIL-STD-810G military rating and 50m waterproofing, it’s much tougher than most Android watches and phones (IP68 hovers around the 1.5m mark!).

The dual-layer display is back - it offers a monochrome mode (high visibility, low power use) and color (for the advanced Android Wear features). Anti-fouling coating should keep the display free of fingerprints.

The Casio Pro Trek WSD-F20 will launch with Android Wear 2.0 and it will go on sale on April 21 in Black and Orange colors. Pricing is unknown but the previous model cost $500.
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01:03



















Drone industry has thrived rapidly in the last couple of years. However, contrary to the popular belief, drones are nothing new. You will be surprised to know that the unmanned, remote-controlled vehicles have been around far longer than you think.

The First Drones Ever Were Used in WWI To Drop Bombs_Image 1The earliest known drone aircraft was developed during the WorldWar1. Named the Kettering ‘Bug’, the unmanned biplane was a bomb carrier that could drop bombs on its target by flying on a pre-determined route.

The First Drones Ever Were Used in WWI To Drop Bombs_Image 2
The Kettering Bug was on its own once the Autopilot was activated. The prototypes of the Bug were successfully developed and tested. But by that time, WorldWar1 had come to an end. Though, Kettering Bug is considered to be a forerunner of the modern cruise missile.
In spite of its state-of-the-art design and high-tech autopilot used for the development of the UAV during the late 1920s, the Kettering ‘Bug’ had one major flaw; each operation assigned to the Bug resulted in the loss of a drone and some valuable machinery. Also, there was no way to alter the course of the unmanned aerial bomb-carrier once it took off. Thus, the overall cost of drone warfare was deemed too expensive for practical use.

The First Drones Ever Were Used in WWI To Drop Bombs_Image 3
Around the same time, the military rocket technology had achieved new degrees of perfection. However, the unpredictability of the rocket use remained a big problem. The solution was to launch dozens or even hundreds of rockets at a time, in hopes that at least some would wind up on the right target.

The First Drones Ever Were Used in WWI To Drop Bombs_Image 4
In 1909, Dr. Henry W. Walden, a Massachusetts dentist, was the first person to build and fly a monoplane in the US. Walden came up with the idea of a rocket that could be controlled and directed by the pilot once it was launched.
Dr. Walden visualized a radio-controlled rocket that could be steered by the mother aircraft. The pilot could activate the control (servo-motors to activate the steering vanes on the tail of the rocket) by sending the radio signals.

The First Drones Ever Were Used in WWI To Drop Bombs_Image 5Dr. Walden was granted the patent for his radio-controlled missiles, but it never became official because he never paid the fee owing to the evident lack of interest of the US government.
In 1957, Dr. Walden donated the model of his rocket to the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum. It has never been put on display.
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