Google might anger a lot of Google Maps users with rumored upcoming change

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Google might anger a lot of Google Maps users with rumored upcoming change
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Google may take away the Google Maps Driving Mode, come 2024, per a new report.

Code tinkerers at 9to5Google decompiled the latest version of the Google app and discovered some code snippets that indicate Google will kill off the Driving Mode in February 2024.

When using Google Maps for navigation, a black bar appears at the bottom when you start driving, with an option for summoning the Assistant on the left and a dashboard on the right that lets you listen to podcasts, make calls, and send messages.

In short, it’s a quick way of doing other stuff while your driving. A string in the new version of the Google app says “This view is going away in February,” and “To call, message, or play media while navigating, tap the mic to use Assistant.” The changes are not live yet.
Previously, Google had shut down the Assistant Driving Mode in 2022, claiming that most people preferred using the Maps Driving Mode. That was a dashboard powered by the Assistant and provided quick access to navigation, audio controls, and calling and texting shortcuts. 

Now that the Maps Driving Mode is apparently being taken away, it’s possible that Google Maps users will be encouraged to use the Google Maps navigation mode. It’s a relatively new and faster voice input method with visual feedback.

In short, it appears that Google wants people to use their voice for issuing commands when they are driving, probably because the company thinks it’s safer to keep your eyes on the road at all times when you are driving instead of flicking your gaze to your phone’s screen.

Users who are more comfortable using the good old touch controls might not be happy with this change though.


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Apple’s iPhone Hack Attack Warnings Spark Political Firestorm in India

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Apple’s iPhone Hack Attack Warnings Spark Political Firestorm in India
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Apple warned Indian opposition figures and journalists of possible state-backed hacking last year, causing tension with the government questioning the claims and pressuring Apple to soften them.

In October 2023, Apple sent notifications to some Indian opposition politicians and journalists warning them that their iPhones might be targeted by state-sponsored attackers. This triggered a strong reaction from the Indian government, which accused Apple of interfering in the country’s internal affairs and questioned the accuracy of its warnings.

Now, Indian officials, as reported by the Washington Post, pressured Apple to soften the language of the notifications and even summoned a company security expert for a meeting in New Delhi. Apple, on the other hand, has maintained that its notifications are based on credible evidence and that it does not attribute hacking attempts to specific governments.

The individuals who received Apple’s hacking warnings and subsequently posted about them on social media shared a common characteristic: they were critical of Prime Minister Modi’s government.

An investigation into the phone of journalist Anand Mangnale, who was examining Modi ally Gautam Adani, revealed the presence of Pegasus spyware, developed by the Israeli company NSO Group. While Apple did not explicitly attribute the attacks to the Indian government, Pegasus is typically sold to governments and government agencies.

The report further reveals that India’s ruling political party has neither confirmed nor denied the use of Pegasus to spy on journalists and political opponents. However, instances of critics being infected with Pegasus spyware have been previously reported, with a 2021 investigation revealing the presence of the spyware on the phones of individuals with a history of opposing and criticizing Modi’s government.

It is worth noting that if and when Apple suspects a user’s iPhone is being targeted by malicious threat actors or by a state-backed cyber attack, the company has a multi-pronged approach to warn the user. This includes threat notifications, security recommendations, email and iMessage alerts.

1. Threat Notification:

  1. This is the most prominent method. A banner and alert appear on the user’s device when they sign in to appleid.apple.com.
  2. The alert clearly states that they “may be targeted by state-sponsored attackers trying to remotely compromise your iPhone.”
  3. It avoids specifying the attacker’s origin but offers general advice on security measures.
Apple's iPhone Hack Attack Warnings Spark Political Firestorm in India

2. Email and iMessage Notifications:

  1. Apple sends emails and iMessages to all email addresses and phone numbers associated with the user’s Apple ID.
  2. These notifications mirror the information in the web-based alert, reiterating the potential state-backed attack and suggesting security steps.

3. Security Recommendations:

  • Both the web-based and email/iMessage notifications provide general security advice, such as:
    • Updating devices to the latest software with security patches.
    • Enabling two-factor authentication for Apple ID and other critical accounts.
    • Reviewing iCloud settings and disabling access to non-essential apps.
    • Changing passwords for important accounts.

It is also important to note that Apple doesn’t share specific details about the attackers or the attack methods to protect their sources and investigations. These notifications are triggered by specific indicators observed by Apple, but not all targeted users may receive one. Receiving a notification doesn’t necessarily mean your iPhone is compromised, but it’s a cautionary flag to take serious security measures.

Hack alert vs. Apple lockdown mode

It is also important to differentiate that while threat notifications alert users of cyberattacks, Apple Lockdown mode goes one step further by providing extreme protection against sophisticated digital threats by restricting certain functionalities like FaceTime, web browsing, and message attachments.

The Lockdown mode is also Primarily for individuals facing confirmed or imminent high-level cyber threats, such as journalists, activists, or dissidents. Nevertheless, the alleged involvement of Indian authorities in pressuring Apple to downplay the political impact of its hacking warnings, particularly targeting individuals critical of the Modi government.

The use of Pegasus spyware, known for its association with governments and government agencies, also raises concerns about potential state-sponsored surveillance of journalists and political opponents in India and elsewhere.

  1. QuaDream: Israeli Cyber Mercenary Behind iPhone Hacks
  2. Android Version of Sophisticated Pegasus Spyware Discovered
  3. iPhones of 9 State Dept officials hijacked by NSO Pegasus spyware
  4. Did Saudi Crown Prince use Israeli spyware to hack Jeff Bezos’s iPhone?
  5. iPhones of 36 Al Jazeera journalists hacked with NSO’s zero-click spyware

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We have more leaked specs of the Nothing Phone (2a)

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We have more leaked specs of the Nothing Phone (2a)
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We’re all following rumors and leaks of the upcoming Nothing Phone (2a). So far, it looks like this is going to be a pretty neat device. After a pretty big leak just a few days ago, we have more leaked specs on this upcoming mid-range phone.

The Nothing Phone (2a) is expected to make an appearance at MWC 2024, which is only a few months away. This phone is going to be the less powerful counterpart to the Nothing Phone (2), but it looks like it’s still going to be a pretty capable device. Previous rumors point to this phone sporting a 6.7-inch FHD+ (1084 x 2412) OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate.

Under the hood, this phone could be using the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 SoC. That’s a mid-range SoC, but it still has some punch to it. If Nothing was able to make the Nothing Phone (1) run smoothly (it uses the Snapdragon 778G+), then you should expect good performance from the Dimensity 7200.

As for the camera package, it looks like this phone will use the same camera package found in the other Nothing Phones. So, it might have two 50MP cameras on the back with 4K video recording. As for the selfie camera, we’re looking at a 32MP shooter.

We have more leaked specs of the Nothing Phone (2a)

This next leak comes from leaker Roland Quandt, and it’s short and sweet. In a post on X, he says that the Nothing Phone (2a) will come in two RAM configurations, and those are 8GB and 12GB. That’s interesting, as there are much more expensive phones that don’t go as high as 12GB of RAM. As for the storage options, the 8GB variant could come with 128GB of storage. The 12GB version could have 256GB of storage. So, the latter will be the more premium model.

The leak also refers to the possible colors that this phone will come in, and they’re pretty boring. This phone could come in both white and black; that’s it.

Moving onto the price, the leak points to the phone being under $400. Previous leaks say that the Nothing Phone (2a) will start at $399.99. So, that could be the price for the 8GB/128GB variant. We don’t have information on the price for the more premium variant, but it’ll likely be between $449 and $499.


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Expect Bigger TVs at CES 2024, LG announces 98″ QNED Mini LED TV

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Expect Bigger TVs at CES 2024, LG announces 98″ QNED Mini LED TV
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LG is pre-announcing a lot of the new products that it will show off (and re-announce) at CES 2024 next month, including its new lineup of QNED TVs. One of the TVs that caught our eye was the new 98-inch QNED Mini LED TV. And it pretty much confirms the trend that we were expecting to see at CES in January – that is, even larger TVs becoming normal.

A few other TV makers already have TVs over 100-inches, but now we’re starting to see larger TVs with more premium panels like Mini LED.

LG isn’t saying a whole lot about this TV just yet; we’d expect to see more of that at CES in January. As always, LG’s press conference is first thing in the morning on press day – that’s 8 AM PT on January 8, 2024. But we do know that the entire QNED TV series for 2024 will be powered by the alpha 8 AI processor, which will improve on its predecessor with a 1.3-fold increase in AI performance, a 2.3-fold enhancement in graphic performance, and a processing speed that is 1.6 times faster.

In addition to the eye-catching 98-inch size, LG will also be offering QNED TVs in 43, 50, 55, 65, 75, and 86-inch screen sizes.

LG is promising five years of software updates

This isn’t something we normally talk about with TVs; it’s more of a hot-button topic for smartphones. But LG is going to update your TV for the next five years. It’s the new webOS Re:New program, which will not only offer upgrades to the latest version of the webOS Smart TV platform but also make your TV feel like it’s brand new all over again.

What makes this even more impressive is that this is not just for the 2024 QNED TV models. But it is also going to be available for the QNED Mini LED 8K TV models that were launched in 2022 – that’s the QNED99 and QNED95 series. It will also be extended to additional models in the QNED TV lineup worldwide in the future.

Now you’ll be able to buy an LG TV and not worry about it feeling sluggish or out of date in a year or two.


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Google Pixel 8 series cameras are more expensive to replace

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Google Pixel 8 series cameras are more expensive to replace
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As per teardown videos, the current-generation Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are quite difficult to repair. Google’s latest flagships come with seven years of Android OS updates. The search giant previously announced access to spare parts for the Pixel 8 duo for the same duration to align with the software policy commitment. Now, the pricing of the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro’s repair parts has been revealed with the camera components seeing a significant price hike.

Pixel 8 and 8 Pro cost of repair parts reveal costlier cameras than their predecessors

Google’s official repair partner iFixit has listed genuine spare parts on its official website for the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro phones. The list of parts includes the screen, back panel (in all three colors), battery, and cameras.

The Pixel 8 has 50MP wide and 12MP ultra-wide-angle cameras which is the same as last year’s model. The cost of a spare wide-angle sensor has received a significant hike of $53. Users will need to shell out $142.99 compared to $89.99 on the Pixel 7. The ultra-wide sensor costs $62.99 which is also expensive by $20.

Pixel 8 series camera repair parts prices
Pixel 8 camera repair parts prices

Meanwhile, the Pixel 8 Pro’s entire triple rear camera setup is priced at $199.99. That’s a $47 price increase from the Pixel 7’s spare camera unit which costs $152.99. The Pixel 8 Pro has a 50MP OIS-enabled wide sensor, a 48MP telephoto lens, and a 48MP ultra-wide-angle unit.

The cost of other spare parts

The price for the replacement screen on the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro has gone up by $20 and $17 respectively compared to their predecessors. It now costs $159.99 (from $139.99) on the standard variant and $229.99 ($212.99) on the pro model. The cost of spare battery remains the same on both smartphones. Additionally, the front camera is priced at $42.99 whereas the rear case on the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro retails at $142.99 and $172.99 respectively.


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OPPO Find X7 series could be the launch pad for OPPO’s AndesGPT

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OPPO Find X7 series could be the launch pad for OPPO’s AndesGPT
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As the smartphone industry gears up for a transformative year in 2024, the spotlight is on on-device generative AI, with major players like Samsung, OnePlus, Apple, and Google set to introduce innovative functionalities. Joining the ranks, OPPO has announced its AndesGPT, a large language model boasting a staggering 7 billion parameters. It will make its debut on the OPPO Find X7 series next month, promising an array of AI capabilities.

With features like Swapped Attention and solutions for challenges like first-word reasoning, AndesGPT is set to help the smartphone AI landscape move forward. Leveraging 4-bit quantized model compression, the model ensures efficient performance, offering users access to AI boost inference, engine optimizations, and collaborative deep optimization.

Notably, the AndesGPT stands out with its rapid 2.9-second response time, a remarkable 2.5 times faster than the industry standard. However, the ‘industry standard’ remains a bit vague with a plethora of models with a diverse set of capabilities present in the industry right now. Nonetheless, this generative AI model from OPPO showcases its prowess by generating abstracts of up to 14,000 words, hinting at an unparalleled user experience.

AndesGPT has undergone a two-year development process, building upon the success of OPPO’s earlier models like OBERT

AndesGPT, at its core, forms the upgraded Xiao Bu Assistant, developed by OPPO’s Andes Intelligent Cloud team. The model operates on a hybrid cloud architecture and has undergone a two-year development process, building upon the success of OPPO’s earlier models like OBERT. The OBERT models, ranging from one hundred million to one billion parameters, gained notable recognition, briefly ranking fifth in the Chinese language understanding benchmark CLUE1.1 and gaining the top spot in the large-scale knowledge graph question-answering KgCLUE1.0 grading.

Building on the foundation laid by OBERT, AndesGPT incorporates key technologies, including continuous learning from Chinese dialogue data, instruction fine-tuning, topping up learning with human feedback, and an improved knowledge base. This mixture of technologies positions AndesGPT as a big project, showing OPPO’s commitment to improving creative AI. Notably, AndesGPT claimed the fifth position in the C-Eval evaluation rankings in June, proving its contextual awareness and responsiveness.

The OPPO Find X7 series, slated for release next month, will serve as the launchpad for AndesGPT. While the international availability of this AI model remains unknown, its capabilities extend beyond textual interactions, offering users a fully functional, generative visual experience. As the smartphone landscape evolves with each company vying for AI supremacy, OPPO’s AndesGPT promises to push the boundaries of what’s possible in the realm of on-device generative AI.

AndesGPT to launch with Oppo Find X7 series
Credit: Oppo

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European prices for Galaxy S24 series leak, bringing mostly good news

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European prices for Galaxy S24 series leak, bringing mostly good news
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A couple of weeks back, the Korean media reported that there would be no price hike for Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series compared to the Galaxy S23. The report may have been specific to Korea but the company is expected to keep the prices unchanged in other markets too. Well, a new leak suggests the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ will be cheaper than their predecessors in Europe. The Ultra model, on the other hand, will be costlier in the region.

Leak reveals European prices for the Galaxy S24 series

According to the information obtained by the Dutch publication GalaxyClub, Samsung will price the 128GB Galaxy S24 at €899 in Europe. Its 256GB storage version will cost €959. At launch, the Galaxy S23 had a price tag of €949 and €1,009 for the two storage versions, respectively. So, we are looking at a €50 price cut for the 2024 model. The same goes for the Galaxy S24+. The publication quotes a starting price of €1,149 for the device (256GB version).

If you double the storage to 512GB, the price goes up to €1,269. A quick look at the Galaxy S23+ prices confirms a €50 drop across the board for this model too. However, the picture is completely different for the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The report says Samsung will charge €1,449 for the 256GB version of the new Ultra flagship, €50 more than what it charged for the Galaxy S23 Ultra with the same amount of storage (€1,399).

If you recall, the 2023 model has 8GB RAM while the upcoming Ultra gets 12GB RAM. This would have explained the price rise had the same applied to the Galaxy S24+. The latter is going from 8GB RAM to 12GB RAM as standard and still seeing a price drop. So, this is a bit confusing. Moreover, the 512GB and 1TB versions of the Galaxy S24 Ultra aren’t getting a price hike. They are said to cost €1,569 and €1,809, respectively—€10 less than the 2023 model.

Exynos 2400 could be allowing Samsung to cut prices

Local taxes may affect the Galaxy S24 prices in different European countries. But the gist is that the new Samsung flagships are getting cheaper in the region bar for the 256GB Ultra model. The only logical explanation we can think of now is the switch to the Exynos 2400 chip. The Galaxy S23 series used the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor in Europe. The in-house processor costs Samsung less and it might be passing the benefit to consumers.

The Ultra model still uses a Snapdragon chip, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, so no notable price cut for it. And the €50 bump for the 256GB version is because of more RAM. Of course, all of this is just our speculation. There are even rumors of the Galaxy S24+ getting the Snapdragon processor globally, including in Europe. Thankfully, an official announcement is just around the corner. The new Samsung flagships are expected to debut on January 17, 2024.


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Xiaomi details its first electric cars, and they seem promising

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Xiaomi details its first electric cars, and they seem promising
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Xiaomi detailed its very first electric cars during a long press conference in China (embedded below the article). The name of the series is the Xiaomi SU7, and it comes in two variants. The Xiaomi SU7 and SU7 Max got detailed.

Xiaomi detailed its very first electric cars, the Xiaomi SU7 & Xiaomi SU7 Max

This is not the first time we’re seeing these cars, or hearing about them. Xiaomi released some info in the past, along with their designs. The company did delve much deeper this time around, giving us some proper information.

First and foremost, do note that this car has been made in partnership with state-owned Beijing Automotive. To our eyes, it looks like a cross between an Aston Martin, a Porsche, and a Tesla, kind of.

The two cards look the same, but they’re different under the hood

The Xiaomi SU7 and SU7 Max look the same, but they’re different under the hood. They’re powered by the Xiaomi HyperEngine V6 and V6s motors with 21,000 rpm. Xiaomi also announced that the HyperEngine V8s is coming in 2025 with 27,200 rpm.

The Xiaomi SU7 cars come with Xiaomi’s new HyperOS pre-installed. They’re compatible with the company’s phones running the same software, of course. That’s Xiaomi’s whole thing now, make everything connected.

Xiaomi SU7 details 6

Here’s what’s different

Let’s talk about the differences between the two models, before we get to anything else. The Xiaomi SU7 can reach 100kmh in 5.28 seconds. It has a 73.6-degree iron lithium battery, and 668km of battery life. We’re looking at a 400V platform here. This car also includes a single Orion chip, and it’s powered by the Qualcomm 8295.

Xiaomi SU7 vs SU7 Max image 1

The Xiaomi SU7 Max, on the other hand, comes with a 101Kwh CATL integrated battery technology. You can pull out 800km of range from this car, and it also supports super-fast charging. It can reach 100kmh in 2.78 seconds, and has a 101-degree ternary lithium Kirin battery. There are two Orion chips included here, a lidar sensor, and the Qualcomm 8295. Air suspension is also included + CDC, not to mention an electric tail wing.

You’ll find a 16.1-inch touch screen on the inside, along with a 56-inch HUD

The Xiaomi SU7 series includes a 16.1-inch touch screen, a 56-inch HUD, and a 7.1-inch flip instrument screen. The central control screen also supports a keyboard expansion. There is a D-shaped steering wheel included in both cars.

You’ll find water drop-shaped headlings on these cards, and 2.48m halo-shaped tail lights. There is a 175-degree ripple curved surface, and G4 continuous curvature on the car outline. The door handles are semi-hidden, and so on. There are three different interior colors, Galaxy Gray, Obsidian Black, and Twilight Red.

There are 8 sets of air ducts included, and 17 air outlets

You will find 8 sets of air ducts, and 17 air outlets inside. The rear wing can provide 130 kilograms of downforce when traveling at the highest speed. The Xiaomi SU7 and SU7 Max include 25 speakers, and Dolby Atmos support.

When it comes to space, the vertical space in the front row reaches 1,012mm, and people up to 1.88 meters have plenty of headroom. The rear section exceeds that of the Tesla Model S and BMW 5 series, said Xiaomi. The front luggage space is 105 liters, and the trunk offers 517 liters of space.

Xiaomi also included 7 airbags, but the company did not provide us with price tags

The Xiaomi SU7 series utilizes an armored steel-aluminum hybrid body. It has a strength of 2,000MPa, and the highest vehicle torsional stiffness of 51,000 Nm/deg. You’ll find 7 airbags on the inside.

The Xiaomi SU7 cards come in Aqua Blue, Mineral Gray, and Verdant Green colors, as you can see below. We still don’t know the pricing of these cards, but Xiaomi did say they’re coming to the Chinese market in 2024.

 


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Galaxy S24+ could ship with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 globally; more specs leak

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Galaxy S24+ could ship with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 globally; more specs leak
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Samsung is less than three weeks away from unveiling its next-gen flagship smartphones. While it hasn’t officially announced the launch date, leaks have revealed that the Galaxy S24 series will break cover on January 17, 2024. Thanks to those leaks, we also already know pretty much everything about the new devices, or do we? A fresh leak says the Galaxy S24+ won’t have an Exynos 2400 version and will ship with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 globally.

Galaxy S24+ might come with the latest Snapdragon chip globally

After exclusively using a Snapdragon processor on the Galaxy S23 series this year, Samsung is returning to its in-house Exynos chips with the Galaxy S24. Leaks so far have hinted at a dual-chip strategy for the new flagships. The Ultra model is said to get an overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in all markets. The other two models would ship with the Snapdragon chip in the US and Canada and the Exynos 2400 in the rest of the world.

However, an alleged spec sheet for the Galaxy S24 lineup posted on X by @WigettaGaming says something else. It hints at the Snapdragon chip for both Plus and Ultra models globally. Only the vanilla Galaxy S24 will have a dual-ship strategy—Snapdragon in the US and Canada and Exynos everywhere else. If true, Samsung might have decided this at the last minute. There is no evidence of a Snapdragon-powered global version of the Galaxy S24+.

All benchmark listings so far have shown it with the Exynos chip. The same goes for the Galaxy S24 too. The Ultra models’ global version, meanwhile, has been spotted only with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. There have been a few rumors about the Plus model getting the Snapdragon globally but without any evidence. Considering this, we won’t vouch for the accuracy of the latest leak. Thankfully, the official launch isn’t far away now.

Galaxy S24 fresh spec sheet leak

Other known Galaxy S24 specs

Leaks have already revealed detailed specs of the Galaxy S24 lineup. The vanilla model sports a 6.2-inch display with an FHD+ resolution. The Plus and Ultra models have 6.7-inch and 6.8-inch displays with a QHD+ resolution. It’s an LTPO AMOLED panel for all three models with a 1-120Hz variable refresh rate and 2,600 nits brightness.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra has a 200MP primary camera paired with a 50MP 5x zoom camera, a 10MP 3x zoom camera, a 12MP ultrawide lens, and a 12MP selfie camera. The other two models lack the 5x zoom camera and feature a 50MP primary shooter instead of a 200MP unit. The remaining three cameras—3x zoom, ultrawide, and selfie—are unchanged. All three models support 8K video recording.

Coming to the batteries, Samsung has equipped the smallest Galaxy S24 with a 4,000mAh battery, Plus with a 4,900mAh battery, and Ultra with a 5,000mAh battery. The former supports 25W wired charging while the latter two go up to 45W charging. The wireless charging speed is capped at 15W for all models, while the reverse wireless charging speed is capped at 4.5W.

The entire lineup boasts LPDDR5X RAM technology but only the bigger two models get 12GB of memory. The vanilla Galaxy S24 has 8GB RAM. It also starts at 128GB of internal storage with UFS 3.1 tech. Its 256GB version has a UFS 4.0 solution, though. UFS 4.0 storage is the standard on the other two models, which start at 256GB storage. Samsung will offer several new AI features on the Galaxy S24 series. Stay tuned for the official launch.


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Redefining convenience, security and certainty

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Redefining convenience, security and certainty
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Blockchain, though seeing headlines in recent years for its use in cryptocurrencies, is not that young in today’s tech world’s perspective. For most of us, it’s only limited to its use in cryptocurrencies. But blockchain can go way beyond just cryptocurrencies in making life easier.
Blockchain is special and holds the key to redefining the way we live and do things. Things that are important and require too much of our attention and effort. In today’s article, we’ll take a look at why blockchain is something close to revolutionary, and how versatile it is in its potential use cases.

Blockchain Can Be Used in Endless Ways for Endless Purposes

So, now that we know blockchain technology to be the new and improved way of storing and transferring data, it’s time we understand how the secure, transparent, and decentralized nature of blockchain means that there is endless potential in the ways we can utilize it. Let’s look at some of the most promising use cases for blockchain.

Financial Transactions

This is the use case that brought blockchain to reality, and its potential to be a medium for fast, secure, and transparent transactions has already been proven through the boom of cryptocurrencies over the last several years.

Nowadays, cryptocurrencies are being used for various purposes. Business transactions, marketplace transactions, and other forms of transactions related to various services are using blockchain technology, for example in the online casino industry. Blockchain makes casino gaming safer, cheaper, faster, and more transparent, making crypto casinos more reliable and attractive to consumers. It’s no surprise that new crypto casino sites are springing up like mushrooms everywhere.

Identification and Data Management

We’ve entered a huge domain here. It’s possible to create personal identification systems that are reliable and confidential through blockchain. In many industries, it can be used to store the data of individuals over time.

For example, blockchain can be used to store medical records digitally and securely, making it easier to update and keep track of. This can help doctors ensure faster, more accurate, and more efficient care. For the education sector, it can be used to store records, performance analytics, and grades of individual students over time. This’ll make it easier for teachers to identify the strengths and weaknesses of every student, and ensure proper education. The potential is endless.

Digital Identity and Certification

Blockchain can create a digital identity for you that’s hard to fake or steal. Also, the fact that it can store data over time, means that you can use it to create certifications for certain facts. For example, if you connect your car’s odometer to the blockchain, you can prove to a potential buyer that the odometer reading hasn’t been tampered with. Pretty neat, right?

Supply Chain Management

By implementing blockchain into their supply chain, companies can keep track of individual product sales, inventories, as well as individual units of product. This can be quite handy for certain industries. For example, if a certain batch of food causes food poisoning in many people, the manufacturer can quickly track it down and remove that specific batch from the market.

The thing is, we can only talk about so many use cases in such a short article, when the potential is virtually endless. To sum it up in short, any process that requires a third party to be initiated and audited, from data management, credentials, finances, ownership certification, voting, etc can be decentralized by blockchain to ensure maximum security and transparency.

So, What Makes Blockchain So Secure?

The name of the tech is pretty self-explanatory. It consists of blocks that hold data in them, and they are linked like chains. More on this in a bit. Every block represents a certain value in a certain context. For example, in cryptocurrencies, when you make a transaction, a block holds the data of the sender, receiver, amount sent, etc.

Every block also consists of a unique hash and the hash of the block before it, and this is exactly what makes it so secure and transparent. Changing anything in a block changes its hash. So, even if you do tamper with the data in a block, the changes won’t fit. The previous hash written in the block won’t match anymore.

As the data of the whole chain is stored on countless computers around the world, it’s virtually impossible to tamper with the overwhelming number of blocks. And whatever change you try to make can be identified and pinpointed.

What Does the Future Hold?

Blockchain is a powerful tool that can transform various aspects of our lives, making them easier and safer by improving how we store and transfer data. And it’s already in its worst phase, meaning, it’s only going to get better from now on.

In the coming years, we may see a drastic shift in the sectors we talked about as the technology gets better and the world starts to adapt. Blockchain is here to stay.


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