Thursday, March 2, 2023

Parliamentary Standing Committee Approved Revised Draft of Data Protection Law: IT Minister

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday said the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology has given a "thumbs up" for the revised draft of the data protection law.

Vaishnaw, a bureaucrat turned politician who presently handles the IT portfolio, said an advanced copy of the revised bill on data protection was shared with the committee.

"I would like to share some good news that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT and Communications... before this bill is taken to the Parliament, they have given a big thumbs up," Vaishnaw said while speaking at the annual NTLF here.

In 2021, the government withdrew an earlier version of the same bill after a slew of changes suggested by a Joint Parliamentary Committee and promised to come up with a new bill, which it did late last year.

Debjani Ghosh, the president of the IT industry lobby Nasscom, said the bill needs to be passed at the earliest and hoped that it sails through this year itself.

Vaishnaw said when it comes to tech regulations, the world is at a complex moment where every country is looking at the issue in a different way.

India's endevaour will be to keep her aspirations in mind while taking a call on the subject and navigate the environment accordingly, he said, adding that no country should copy the other while formulating its laws.

Vaishnaw, who had attended the World Economic Forum at Davos in January, said there is an increased trust in India at the global stage.

He said Indian companies will have to be careful and not over-promise as they integrate into the global supply chain with their products and services.

"Promise what we can do, never over-promise," the minister told delegates at the summit, asking industry to focus on innovation and people.


The iQoo Neo 7 packs a lot of power at an affordable price. But did the company cut the right corners to keep the price low? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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Reliance Jio Expects to Become Largest Player in 5G Sector in 2023, Says Company's President

India's biggest telecom operator Reliance Jio expects to become the world's largest player having a pure 5G network this year with promise to provide services at affordable rates to the masses, a senior official of the company said here.

Speaking to the PTI at the Mobile World Congress, Reliance Jio President Mathew Oommen said India needs inclusive growth and Jio will continue to support it.

"Jio will be the largest 5G SA (standalone) only network operator in the world in the second half of 2023, ensuring that all advanced services and capabilities are available affordably to the masses," Oommen said.

He was responding to questions around the company's 5G roll out plan and Jio's competitor Bharti Airtel pushing for an increase in mobile call and data services price. Jio has focussed on rolling out 5G SA while Bharti Airtel is rolling out 5G (NSA) non-standalone network which can provide a mix of 5G and 4G services.

"India needs inclusive growth. Jio will continue to support India's inclusive growth," Oommen said.

Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal earlier this week said mobile call and data rates will go up this year as the return on capital in the telecom business is very low.

Airtel had last month increased the price of its minimum recharge or the entry-level for the 28-day mobile phone service plan by about 57 percent to Rs. 155 in eight circles.

Oommen did not elaborate further on the statement.

Jio has rolled out its 5G network in over 300 cities while Airtel has network in over 140 cities. 


Samsung's Galaxy S23 series of smartphones was launched earlier this week and the South Korean firm's high-end handsets have seen a few upgrades across all three models. What about the increase in pricing? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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Reliance Jio Expects to Become Largest Player in 5G Sector in 2023, Says Company's President

India's biggest telecom operator Reliance Jio expects to become the world's largest player having a pure 5G network this year with promise to provide services at affordable rates to the masses, a senior official of the company said here.

Speaking to the PTI at the Mobile World Congress, Reliance Jio President Mathew Oommen said India needs inclusive growth and Jio will continue to support it.

"Jio will be the largest 5G SA (standalone) only network operator in the world in the second half of 2023, ensuring that all advanced services and capabilities are available affordably to the masses," Oommen said.

He was responding to questions around the company's 5G roll out plan and Jio's competitor Bharti Airtel pushing for an increase in mobile call and data services price. Jio has focussed on rolling out 5G SA while Bharti Airtel is rolling out 5G (NSA) non-standalone network which can provide a mix of 5G and 4G services.

"India needs inclusive growth. Jio will continue to support India's inclusive growth," Oommen said.

Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal earlier this week said mobile call and data rates will go up this year as the return on capital in the telecom business is very low.

Airtel had last month increased the price of its minimum recharge or the entry-level for the 28-day mobile phone service plan by about 57 percent to Rs. 155 in eight circles.

Oommen did not elaborate further on the statement.

Jio has rolled out its 5G network in over 300 cities while Airtel has network in over 140 cities. 


Samsung's Galaxy S23 series of smartphones was launched earlier this week and the South Korean firm's high-end handsets have seen a few upgrades across all three models. What about the increase in pricing? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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Wednesday, March 1, 2023

RRR’s ‘Naatu Naatu’ to Be Performed Live at the 2023 Oscars

RRR's energetic dance track ‘Naatu Naatu' will be performed live at the 2023 Oscars. In a tweet, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) confirmed that singers Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava will make their on-stage Oscars debut. Composed by M.M. Keeravaani, the track has been nominated in the Best Original Song category this year. The 95th Academy Awards will be held live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, US, on March 13, at 5:30am. For the US, this translates to March 12, at 5pm PT.

Speaking to Variety, composer Keeravani confirmed that the live performance would include singers from India, as well as dancers from LA, all working in unison. When questioned as to how he plans to scale down the theatrical dance piece for the Oscars stage, the nominated composer said: “We are doing a different version for the Oscar performance, of the original song. We are modifying the version and making it a little small.” While not explicitly mentioning any names, Keeravani affirmed that RRR stars will be joining in on the dance. “Without them, there is no song,” he added.

A few other nominees from the Best Original Song category will be performing live as well, starting with ‘This is a Life' from Everything Everywhere All at Once, the most-nominated film at the Oscars this year. Musician David Byrne, music trio Son Lux, and star Stephanie Hsu will perform a rendition of the song live. The latter is also nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of the rebellious Joy Wang/ Jobu Tupaki. Singer Sonia Carson and songwriter Dianne Warren will perform ‘Applause' from Tell It Like a Woman. Marking her 14th career Oscar nomination, she was honoured by the Academy last year.

After her stellar performance at the Super Bowl LVII, Rihanna will be performing ‘Lift Me Up' from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, on March 13. ‘Hold My Hand' from Top Gun: Maverick is the only original song yet to be confirmed for a live performance. The track was helmed by Lady Gaga and BloodPop.

Starting March 3, RRR is getting a nationwide re-release in the US, across 200 theatres in the original Telugu language. Distributor Variance Films confirmed the same on Twitter, claiming that more theatres will be added to the list, as long as there is enough demand for S.S. Rajamouli's Tollywood epic. The film, in a sense, explores a 'bromance' relationship between two revolutionists, who decide to rejoin forces and fight for freedom during British rule in the 1920s. From India, we've got two other nominations — Shaunak Sen's All That Breathes for Best Documentary Feature, and Kartiki Gonsalves' The Elephant Whisperers for Best Documentary Short. The latter is now available to stream on Netflix.

The 2023 Oscars ceremony is scheduled for March 13 at 5:30am IST/ March 12 at 5pm PT in the US.


The Chromecast with Google TV that runs on Android TV is here. When will Google learn how to name products? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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RRR’s ‘Naatu Naatu’ to Be Performed Live at the 2023 Oscars

RRR's energetic dance track ‘Naatu Naatu' will be performed live at the 2023 Oscars. In a tweet, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) confirmed that singers Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava will make their on-stage Oscars debut. Composed by M.M. Keeravaani, the track has been nominated in the Best Original Song category this year. The 95th Academy Awards will be held live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, US, on March 13, at 5:30am. For the US, this translates to March 12, at 5pm PT.

Speaking to Variety, composer Keeravani confirmed that the live performance would include singers from India, as well as dancers from LA, all working in unison. When questioned as to how he plans to scale down the theatrical dance piece for the Oscars stage, the nominated composer said: “We are doing a different version for the Oscar performance, of the original song. We are modifying the version and making it a little small.” While not explicitly mentioning any names, Keeravani affirmed that RRR stars will be joining in on the dance. “Without them, there is no song,” he added.

A few other nominees from the Best Original Song category will be performing live as well, starting with ‘This is a Life' from Everything Everywhere All at Once, the most-nominated film at the Oscars this year. Musician David Byrne, music trio Son Lux, and star Stephanie Hsu will perform a rendition of the song live. The latter is also nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of the rebellious Joy Wang/ Jobu Tupaki. Singer Sonia Carson and songwriter Dianne Warren will perform ‘Applause' from Tell It Like a Woman. Marking her 14th career Oscar nomination, she was honoured by the Academy last year.

After her stellar performance at the Super Bowl LVII, Rihanna will be performing ‘Lift Me Up' from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, on March 13. ‘Hold My Hand' from Top Gun: Maverick is the only original song yet to be confirmed for a live performance. The track was helmed by Lady Gaga and BloodPop.

Starting March 3, RRR is getting a nationwide re-release in the US, across 200 theatres in the original Telugu language. Distributor Variance Films confirmed the same on Twitter, claiming that more theatres will be added to the list, as long as there is enough demand for S.S. Rajamouli's Tollywood epic. The film, in a sense, explores a 'bromance' relationship between two revolutionists, who decide to rejoin forces and fight for freedom during British rule in the 1920s. From India, we've got two other nominations — Shaunak Sen's All That Breathes for Best Documentary Feature, and Kartiki Gonsalves' The Elephant Whisperers for Best Documentary Short. The latter is now available to stream on Netflix.

The 2023 Oscars ceremony is scheduled for March 13 at 5:30am IST/ March 12 at 5pm PT in the US.


The Chromecast with Google TV that runs on Android TV is here. When will Google learn how to name products? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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BAYC Parent Yuga Labs Announces New NFT Series ‘TwelveFold’: Details

Yuga Labs, the developer behind the exceptionally Bored Apes Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT series, has refreshed its offerings in the digital collectibles space. The platform, on Wednesday, March 1, announced the launch of its next NFT series titled ‘TwelveFold'. While the date of the launch of TwelveFold has not been disclosed, it is expected to be dropped for sale sometime this week. Yuga Labs will inform the NFT community about the exact time and date only 24 hours prior to this launch.

This series is being launched as a limited-edition collection. A total of 300 generative pieces have been included as part of this series TwelveFold.

“These pieces represent a complete art project and will not have other utility or interact with or be related to any previous, ongoing, or future Ethereum-based Yuga projects,” the official webpage for TwelveFold noted.

An art team used 3D modelling and algorithmic construction to generate these digital artifacts in-house for Yuga Labs.

A glimpse of these NFTs were posted by Yuga Labs on Twitter.

The NFTs of this series are built under the ‘Ordinals' category of NFT designing. When an NFT is inscribed on one Satoshi unit of the Bitcoin blockchain, it gets classified as an Ordinal NFT.

Satoshi, named after Bitcoin's anonymous creator, is the smallest denomination of Bitcoin. As per Crypto.com, one Satoshi token is trading at $0.0002347 (roughly Rs. 0.019).

In 2021, when Bitcoin completed its Taproot upgrade, it added programmability to the blockchain's Satoshi units.

NFTs that fall under the Ordinals category are individually called ‘digital artifacts'.

As per Dune Analytics, over 200,000 Ordinals have already been generated on Bitcoin's Satoshi unit.

The pieces of this series will be sold in an auction.

Last year, the NFT market witnessed a sharp decline. As per a Bloomberg report, the sales of NFTs recorded a 16-month low in December last year, sliding down by 97 percent.

Starting this January, however, the sales of the NFTs spiked significantly. Between January 1 and January 21, over 320,580 people reportedly purchased digital collectibles.


After facing headwinds in India last year, Xiaomi is all set to take on the competition in 2023. What are the company's plans for its wide product portfolio and its Make in India commitment in the country? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/GX7vrB9

BAYC Parent Yuga Labs Announces New NFT Series ‘TwelveFold’: Details

Yuga Labs, the developer behind the exceptionally Bored Apes Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT series, has refreshed its offerings in the digital collectibles space. The platform, on Wednesday, March 1, announced the launch of its next NFT series titled ‘TwelveFold'. While the date of the launch of TwelveFold has not been disclosed, it is expected to be dropped for sale sometime this week. Yuga Labs will inform the NFT community about the exact time and date only 24 hours prior to this launch.

This series is being launched as a limited-edition collection. A total of 300 generative pieces have been included as part of this series TwelveFold.

“These pieces represent a complete art project and will not have other utility or interact with or be related to any previous, ongoing, or future Ethereum-based Yuga projects,” the official webpage for TwelveFold noted.

An art team used 3D modelling and algorithmic construction to generate these digital artifacts in-house for Yuga Labs.

A glimpse of these NFTs were posted by Yuga Labs on Twitter.

The NFTs of this series are built under the ‘Ordinals' category of NFT designing. When an NFT is inscribed on one Satoshi unit of the Bitcoin blockchain, it gets classified as an Ordinal NFT.

Satoshi, named after Bitcoin's anonymous creator, is the smallest denomination of Bitcoin. As per Crypto.com, one Satoshi token is trading at $0.0002347 (roughly Rs. 0.019).

In 2021, when Bitcoin completed its Taproot upgrade, it added programmability to the blockchain's Satoshi units.

NFTs that fall under the Ordinals category are individually called ‘digital artifacts'.

As per Dune Analytics, over 200,000 Ordinals have already been generated on Bitcoin's Satoshi unit.

The pieces of this series will be sold in an auction.

Last year, the NFT market witnessed a sharp decline. As per a Bloomberg report, the sales of NFTs recorded a 16-month low in December last year, sliding down by 97 percent.

Starting this January, however, the sales of the NFTs spiked significantly. Between January 1 and January 21, over 320,580 people reportedly purchased digital collectibles.


After facing headwinds in India last year, Xiaomi is all set to take on the competition in 2023. What are the company's plans for its wide product portfolio and its Make in India commitment in the country? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.


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Fortnite Will Return to iOS in Europe as Apple Plans to Allow Third-Party App Stores on iPhone

Fortnite will be making a return to iOS in Europe, Epic Games announced on January 25. The development occurred as Apple is now forced to ...