DAILY NEWS

The study found high levels of the virus contamination on commonly used surfaces and in the air of rooms of COVID-19 patients. The study suggests that COVID-19 patients, even those who are only mildly ill, may create aerosols of virus and contaminate surfaces that may pose a risk for transmission. from Top Tech News- News18.com https://ift.tt/3dEIk8h

OnePlus has confirmed three key hardware features that we can expect on the upcoming OnePlus 8 series which will be launching on April 14. from Top Tech News- News18.com https://ift.tt/2ypLw7A

Fuelled by conferencing apps, business apps topped 62 million downloads across iOS and Google Play during the week of March 14-21, 2020 worldwide -- its biggest week ever. from Top Tech News- News18.com https://ift.tt/3azvCFJ

Fitness equipment and computers have seen 55 percent and 40 percent boosts in online sales respectively while online grocery shopping category has seen a 100 percent increase. from Top Tech News- News18.com https://ift.tt/2UyYats

The Beijing-headquartered electronic conglomerate's adjusted net profit was 11.5 billion Chinese Yuan, up 34.8 per cent Year-over-Year for the calendar year that ended December 31. from Top Tech News- News18.com https://ift.tt/2UvPHr4

The website will contain information such as key helpline numbers, content about symptoms, protective measures, known treatments, and the latest global and Indian statistics. from Top Tech News- News18.com https://ift.tt/2JuKadY

If you need to discuss sensitive matters with collegues, remember, conservations on Zoom are not end-to-end encrypted. from Top Tech News- News18.com https://ift.tt/2UTxToC

Disney+  has finally rescheduled its launch date in India. Earlier it was scheduled to roll out on 29 March, which the company then held back and has now revised the date to 3 April. Disney+  will be rolling out in collaboration with Hotstar and together will be rebranded as  Disney+ Hotstar . Disney+ Hotstar will stream content in eight Indian languages including Tamil, Telugu and others. You will be able to watch all the Marvel Cinematic movies on  Disney+ Hotstar . This is not a drill! The biggest Super Heroes, magical stories for everyone, exclusive Disney+ Originals and all that you've been waiting for are (finally) landing on Disney+ Hotstar. 3rd April. Really. #StayHomeStaySafe pic.twitter.com/zOKkuyrWEC — HotstarPremium (@HotstarPremium) March 31, 2020 Here are the two subscription plans that will be available in India. Subscription plans Disney Plus Hotstar VIP- Rs 399/year At a subscription cost of Rs 399 for a year, you will be ab...

The Dark Sky app, apart from radar maps and hyperlocal weather forecasting, also has animated forecast maps, minute-by-minute predictions, Apple Watch app and a time machine feature that details weather changes at a location and predictions for the future. from Top Tech News- News18.com https://ift.tt/2QY0k3t

As many as 25 percent of people infected with the coronavirus may not show symptoms, the director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention warns — a startlingly high number that complicates efforts to predict the pandemic’s course and strategies to mitigate its spread. In particular, the high level of symptom-free cases is leading the CDC to consider broadening its guidelines on who should wear masks. “This helps explain how rapidly this virus continues to spread across the country,” the director, Dr Robert Redfield, said in an interview broadcast on Tuesday. The agency has repeatedly said that ordinary citizens do not need to wear masks unless they are feeling sick. But with the new data on people who may be infected without ever feeling sick, or who are transmitting the virus for a couple of days before feeling ill, Redfield said that such guidance was “being critically re-reviewed.” Researchers do not know precisely how many people are infected without feeling ill or if...

If you’re not sick with the new coronavirus, should you wear a mask in public? Global health authorities say no. Amid a shortage of masks, the U.S. is sticking with that advice but Tuesday, President Donald Trump suggested people who are worried wear a scarf. That shortage is so severe that the  Joint Commission , which accredits U.S. hospitals, said Tuesday that if facilities can’t provide proper masks, health workers are allowed to bring their own from home. Front-line health workers have the greatest need for  masks . And when people are sick, wearing a mask helps lessen the chances of infecting others. In places where relatives care for the sick at home, the World Health Organization also has recommended they wear a mask. But “there is no specific evidence to suggest that the wearing of masks by the mass population has any particular benefit,” Dr Mike Ryan, the WHO’s epidemics chief, told reporters Monday. “In fact, there’s some evidence to suggest the opposite,” he ...

Some video conferencing apps are primed for the really serious professional tasks that could involve large teams. Then there are video calling apps which are ideal for personal use. And then there are those versatile in-betweens, that offer the best in both worlds. from Top Tech News- News18.com https://ift.tt/2USn6LD

The tech giant is also previewing new home features for Teams that are now part of Microsoft 365 subscriptions designed to let friends and family connect in a group chat or through video calls. from Top Tech News- News18.com https://ift.tt/33Y4M7L

An estimated 50 to 60 employees joined a walkout at an Amazon worker warehouse in the New York borough of Staten Island, demanding that the facility be shut down and cleaned after a worker tested positive for the coronavirus. from Top Tech News- News18.com https://ift.tt/2WUWPPe

In 2019, WHO had said gaming is a disorder and added it to their list of diseases. Now, as the world sits at home trying to stay safe from the Coronavirus, WHO says it is all good to play video games. from Top Tech News- News18.com https://ift.tt/2ymlJ01

The Brazil President has repeatedly downplayed the seriousness of the coronavirus, describing it as "a flu" and calling for schools and shops to re-open, with self-isolation necessary only for people over the age of 60. from Top Tech News- News18.com https://ift.tt/2UsJJXY

WhatsApp has reportedly tweaked its app on iOS 13. As per a report by 9to5Mac , the update is likely to put your WhatsApp contacts into the share sheet suggestions. This way you will be able to easily share the content to these WhatsApp contacts as they will pop up as suggestions across iOS, like on your iPhone or iPad. The report further reveals that this update will directly let you share data with these contacts. Earlier, you had to manually tap on the WhatsApp icon in the share sheet and then tap the contact that you want to share the message with. Now the contacts will automatically pop up in suggestions when you are sharing content from some other app. In short, making the user experience more seamless. (Also read: WhatsApp dark mode feature rolls out for both iOS and Android users globally )  WhatsApp has also recently capped the status video duration to 15 seconds. Apparently, this is done to lessen the burden on the servers since due to Coronavirus lockdown people...

The massive rise in the company's video calling system comes at a time, as more individuals stay home due to the coronavirus pandemic. Currently, Skype is being used by 44 million every day. from Top Tech News- News18.com https://ift.tt/39vO8gM

With the calendar for the 2020 Formula 1 season looking to be pushed forward indefinitely, teams and engineers are turning their considerable technical efforts to the coronavirus problem at hand, with Project Pitlane combining expertise. Apart from which, the Mercedes-AMG High-Performance Powertrains division, makers of the estimated 1,000PS hybrid powertrains that go into the team's F1 cars, has co-developed a breathing aid that could potentially save the lives of COVID-19 patients with breathing difficulties. Mercedes AMG High-Performance Powertrains division Other versions of the device, called a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), are already in use in hospitals worldwide and delivers oxygen to the lungs without the need for expensive and cumbersome ventilators, which also require intubation of the patient, and thus require professional administration and monitoring. The CPAP developed by Mercedes-AMG and University College London engineers can help keep patients...

Did you know that your nearest ATM machine offers the facility of recharging your Jio mobile number seamlessly? from Top Tech News- News18.com https://ift.tt/2JqDP35

A team of scientists from the US just reported in  Nature Communications  that there has been a  detectable increase in the rate of cyclone intensification . This is referred to as Rapid intensification or RI. RI not only leads to a devastating loss of life and property, but it also renders  cyclones hard to predict. The study is global but confidence levels are high only for the Atlantic hurricanes due to data availability. One cannot help but wonder whether RI is occurring in the Indian Ocean as well.   The official definition of RI is that a n increase of maximum sustained winds of a cyclone by at least 55 km/h occurs within 24 hours.   Activity in the world’s major ocean basins is visible in this map, which shows the historical tracks of storms between 1842 and 2017. image credit: NOAA The study focuses on the period covering 1982–2008 and uses data to identify cases where RI occurred. Data on the rate of intensification is obviously critical ...

The social networking giant said the investment will include $25 million in emergency grant funding for local news through the Facebook Journalism Project and an extra $75 million in marketing to get money to publishers around the world. from Top Tech News- News18.com https://ift.tt/2JwYdzv

For the study, demographic, laboratory, and radiological findings were collected from 53 patients as each tested positive in January for the SARS-CoV2 virus at the two Chinese hospitals. from Top Tech News- News18.com https://ift.tt/2Jtzex4

We expect the India pricing for Microsoft 365 to be similar to the Office 365 plans at this time—Office 365 Home for up to 6 people costs Rs 5,299 per year while Office 365 Personal for single user is priced at Rs 4,199 per year. from Top Tech News- News18.com https://ift.tt/3bEr4OG

The  Houseparty app you are hooked to may seem like the best thing right now, but think again! Ever since the lockdown around the world, video calling app,  Houseparty 's popularity has exploded. It lets you video call up to eight people simultaneously and turns the call into a party with games like Pictionary, Trivia quiz and others that you can play while on call. However, just days after the app became the most-talked-about app on the internet, some users have claimed that the app has been compromised. Houseparty app can help you video call up to eight people at a time. Many users online claim that they've had their Spotify , Netflix, Snapchat,  and  PayPal  accounts hacked after downloading the app. BEWARE! I know I’m not the only one with this problem! A few of my friends have been hacked by @houseparty if you look at the twitter feed! They log into your Spotify from Russia. Get your bank details and can hack it. It’s very simple once you cli...

OnePlus has officially announced that it will globally unveil its OnePlus 8 series on 14 April. In the tweet , it is also mentioned that the said event will begin at 4.30 pm IST. It is expected that this upcoming series will include OnePlus 8, 8 Pro and an affordable variant OnePlus 8 Lite. According to another tweet by the company, the smartphones of OnePlus 8 series will come with 5G connectivity and a 120 Hz refresh rate display. OnePlus 7T Pro launched at a price of Rs 53,999. Image: tech2/Abhijit Dey. Ready to #LeadwithSpeed ? — OnePlus (@oneplus) March 31, 2020 OnePlus 8, 8 Pro expected specifications According to previous reports , OnePlus 8 is expected to come in a new purplish-red gradient that is likely to be called Interstellar Glow. Both sources also suggest that it might also come in Glacier Green and Onyx Black colour variants. OnePlus 8 is likely to come with a punch-hole display that sits in the top left corner of the display. At the back, the renders ...

Airtel says they will also credit Rs 10 to the accounts of each of these 80 million users so that they can make calls and send messages. They say these measures will particularly benefit migrant workers and daily wage earners who may have been impacted due to the nationwide lockdown to combat COVID-19 from Top Tech News- News18.com https://ift.tt/2JuUm60

Air pollution has decreased in urban areas across Europe during lockdowns to combat the coronavirus, new satellite images showed on Monday, but campaigners warned city-dwellers were still more vulnerable to the epidemic. Cities including Brussels, Paris, Madrid, Milan and Frankfurt showed a reduction in average levels of noxious nitrogen dioxide over March 5-25, compared with the same period last year, according to the Sentinel-5 satellite images. That coincides with lockdowns in many European countries which have curbed road transport – the largest source of nitrogen oxides - and slowed output at gas-emitting factories. The new images, released by the European Space Agency (ESA) and analysed by the non-profit European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), show the changing density of nitrogen dioxide, which can cause respiratory problems and cancer, like heat maps. Daily weather events can influence atmospheric pollution, so the satellite pictures took a 20-day average and excluded r...

With the entire country is in lockdown to flatten the coronavirus curve, most people are working from home. To allow seamless work in these times, Reliance JioFiber has now come up with a new broadband plan that provides 10 Mbps broadband free for households. As per Reliance Jio, the initiative falls under their #JioTogether campaign. “We are committed to keep you connected through these trying times,” the telecom company posted on Facebook along with details about the plan. Keeping in mind the lockdown due to COVID-19, Jio wants to ensure everyone stays connected. “For this period Jio is providing basic JioFiber broadband connectivity (10 Mbps) for your home, wherever geographically feasible, without any service charges,” read the Facebook post. The benefit of the new plan is only until the lockdown is in effect in India. Once the lockdown is over, subscribers of the free plan will be moved to other existing plans. For subscribing to the free JioFiber 10Mbps plan, people will h...

Zoom, the videoconferencing app whose traffic has surged during the coronavirus pandemic, is under scrutiny by the office of New York’s attorney-general, Letitia James, for its data privacy and security practices. On Monday, the office sent Zoom a letter asking what, if any, new security measures the company has put in place to handle increased traffic on its network and to detect hackers, according to a copy reviewed by The New York Times . While the letter referred to Zoom as “an essential and valuable communications platform,” it outlined several concerns, noting that the company had been slow to address security flaws such as vulnerabilities “that could enable malicious third parties to, among other things, gain surreptitious access to consumer webcams.” Over the last few weeks, internet trolls have exploited a Zoom screen-sharing feature to hijack meetings and do things like interrupt educational sessions or post white supremacist messages to a webinar on anti-Semitism — a phe...

Older people remain most at risk of dying as the new coronavirus continues its rampage around the globe, but they’re far from the only ones vulnerable. One of many mysteries: Men seem to be faring worse than women. And as cases skyrocket in the U.S. and Europe, it’s becoming more clear that how healthy you were before the pandemic began plays a key role in how you fare regardless of how old you are. The majority of people who get COVID-19 have mild or moderate symptoms. But “majority” doesn’t mean “all,” and that raises an important question: Who should worry most that they’ll be among the seriously ill? While it will be months before scientists have enough data to say for sure who is most at risk and why preliminary numbers from early cases around the world are starting to offer hints. Not just the old get sick Senior citizens undoubtedly are the hardest hit by COVID-19. In China, 80 percent of deaths were among people in their 60s or older, and that general trend is playing ...

As the demand for ventilators rises with the number of coronavirus patients growing across the globe, a Texas-based university has developed an automatic, hand-held and inexpensive breathing unit that can soon be used to combat the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed over 37,500 people. A total of 782,365 COVID-19 cases have been reported across more than 175 countries and territories with 37,582 deaths reported so far, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Across the United States, hospitals are facing shortages of ventilators, some medical device makers, including Philips, have agreed to ramp up supplies. But because patients diagnosed with or suspected to have COVID-19 often require breathing support, there is widespread concern that these devices won't be developed and shipped quickly enough. Texas-based Rice University and Canadian global health design firm Metric Technologies have developed an automated bag valve mask ventilation unit that can be built for less than ...

India is adding more resources to tackle its increase in coronavirus cases by announcing that private hospitals may be requisitioned to help treat virus patients, and turning railway cars and a motor racing circuit into makeshift quarantine facilities. The steps were taken after a nationwide lockdown announced last week by Prime Minister Narendra Modi led to a mass exodus of migrant workers from cities to their villages, often on foot and without food and water, raising fears that the virus may have reached to the countryside, where health care facilities are limited. Indian health officials have confirmed more than 1,000 cases of the coronavirus, including 29 deaths. Experts say that local spreading is inevitable in a country where tens of millions of people live in dense urban areas with irregular access to clean water, and that the exodus of the migrants will burden the already strained health system. As India’s under-resourced health care system prepares to confront a wave of ...

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region's COVID-19 count reached 170 on Monday with 47 people testing positive for the novel coronavirus, officials said. While 29 of the new infections are in Mumbai, the rest 18 are from other parts of MMR, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation officials said. Also, an 80-year-old man, who suffered from acute respiratory distress, succumbed to COVID-19 at a private hospital here, taking the death toll in MMR to eight, including six in Mumbai, said the civic body's release. The number of cases found in Mumbai have increased due to contact tracing. Image credit: PTI He was a known case of hypertension and ischemic heart disease, and had tested positive for COVID-19 on March 29, the release added. The sprawling region consists of Mumbai city and parts of adjoining districts of Thane, Raigad and Palghar. The release said on Monday, 206 people were checked at OPDs in the metropolis and 61 people admitted for suspected exposure. One COVID-19 patient was...

Paytm has come up with a revamped user interface (UI) to streamline payment processes at a time when the country is under lockdown due to coronavirus. The company has simplified the payment process for services such as mobile and DTH recharges, water, electricity, credit card, and gas bills, and for the payment of insurance premiums. Paytm has improved the UI so that users can easily spot the essential payments icon. The company has also introduced an ‘Information and help centre’ to provide information on coronavirus verified by the government and health authorities. Under this section, the app offers self-assessment scanning powered by Apollo 24/7, a screening app created by Apollo Hospitals. This scanning feature is based on guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Union Health Ministry. However, users are asked to not take this scan as expert medical advice and to visit a doctor if they show symptoms of COVID-19. The scan only helps people know how likely the...

Hyundai Motor India's CSR arm has announced immediate order of COVID-19 Advanced Diagnostic Testing Kits from South Korea. These kits, Hyundai says, have a very high level of accuracy and can help serve over 25,000 People. Hyundai says that once the shipment of the kits is received, it will be distributed in consultation with Center and State Governments to the hospitals in affected areas. Additionally, last week, Hyundai also announced initiatives to support its customers. The company announced that its 24x7 roadside assistance will be available for customers to ensure help in case any demanding situation arises. (Also read:  Coronavirus Outbreak: Maruti Suzuki India will help scale up production of ventilators, masks, and protective clothing ) Also, customers who were unable to avail their vehicle’s warranty/extended warranty/free service due to health emergency or dealership shutdown in affected cities, HMIL will offer extended support of two months. Hyundai Motors In...

Overall Rating: 3.8/5 Price: Rs 31,999 I’ve tested a lot of Android TVs over the past few months, and official Android, along with Fire TV OS, seems to be the best platforms for smart TVs currently. A lot of premium TV brands are sticking with proprietary platforms like Samsung is with Tizen, LG with Web OS, etc. Similarly, Philips has its own Saphi OS for its smart TVs. Today, I’m taking a look at the Philips 50PUT6103S/94 model, a well-priced smart TV that looks to compete with some popular budget alternatives. Let’s see how it stacks up. Philips 50PUT6103S/94 4K Smart TV — Design and Connectivity: 7.5/10 The Philips 50PUT6103S/94 has a standard design with narrow bezels around a 50-inch screen. The small, transparent, trapezoid chin with the company logo under the bottom bezel looks cool. Strangely, it doesn’t host the IR receiver, and the same is placed near the right edge of the TV. The TV isn’t too bulky and can be wall-mounted or placed on a desk using the bundled stands....