Germany's Rules Says Self-Driving Cars Can't Base Decision on Age

Protecting people rather than property or animals will be the priority under pioneering new German legal guidelines for the operation of driverless cars, the transport ministry said on Wednesday.

Germany is home to some of the world's largest car companies, including Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW, all of which are investing heavily in self-driving technology.

German regulators have been working on rules for how such vehicles should be programmed to deal with a dilemma, such as choosing between hitting a cyclist or accelerating beyond legal speeds to avoid an accident.

Under new ethical guidelines - drawn up by a government-appointed committee comprising experts in ethics, law and technology - the software that controls such cars must be programmed to avoid injury or death of people at all cost.

Popular Robots Are Dangerously Easy to Hack, Researchers Say

Some of the most popular industrial and consumer robots are dangerously easy to hack and could be turned into bugging devices or weapons, IOActive said.

The Seattle-based cyber-security firm found major security flaws in industrial models sold by Universal Robots, a division of US technology company Teradyne. It also cited issues with consumer robots Pepper and NAO, which are manufactured by Japan's Softbank Group, and the Alpha 1 and Alpha 2 made by China-based UBTech Robotics.

These vulnerabilities could allow the robots to be turned into surveillance devices, surreptitiously spying on their owners, or let them to be hijacked and used to physically harm people or damage property, the researchers wrote in a report released Tuesday.

Universal Robots's devices are designed to work directly alongside humans without being confined to a cage for safety, as with many other industrial models. But IOActive was able to remotely hack the software that controls the robot and disable key safety features. This could result in them being programmed to injure the humans around them.

Elon Musk Offers Sneak Peek of SpaceX Spacesuit on Instagram

Astronauts travelling aboard Elon Musk's Dragon Capsule will wear form-fitting white-and-black spacesuits that bear little resemblance to their NASA forebears, the SpaceX founder revealed Wednesday, a pivotal development in his quest to launch crewed missions to and from the International Space Station and beyond.

Although he offered few details in his sneak-peek Instagram post - "More in the days to follow," a brief message promises - the tech billionaire, who is also chief executive of automaker Tesla, indicated that his spacesuit is functional and tested to withstand pressure loss while travelling through space. And in a nod to the design, he noted how "incredibly hard" it was to marry aesthetics and survivability.

AI Robots Hunt New Drugs for ALS, the Crippling Nerve Disease

Artificial intelligence robots are turbo-charging the race to find new drugs for the crippling nerve disorder ALS, or motor neurone disease.

The condition, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, attacks and kills nerve cells controlling muscles, leading to weakness, paralysis and, ultimately, respiratory failure.

There are only two drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to slow the progression of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), one available since 1995 and the other approved just this year. About 140,000 new cases are diagnosed a year globally and there is no cure for the disease, famously suffered by cosmologist Stephen Hawking.

A Gentleman Movie Review

A Gentleman Movie Review

CRITIC'S RATING: 3.0/5

AVG READERS' RATING: 3.2/5

CAST: Sidharth Malhotra, Jacqueline Fernandez, Hussain Dalal, Darshan Kumar, Suniel Shetty

DIRECTION: Raj & DK

GENRE: Action Comedy

DURATION: 2 hours 12 minutes

A Gentleman is a lazy title for this action-comedy, which is an improvement on the leave-your-brains-at-home genre that we have been (just as) lazily lapping up.

Nikon D850 Full-Frame DSLR Launched With 45.7-Megapixel Sensor, 4K Video Support

Back in July, Nikon confirmed that it its next, full-frame flagship DSLR was in development and today, the company has unveiled the D850, the successor to the D810. The new D850 will compete with the likes of Canon’s EOS 5D Mark IV in the high-end DSLR space. The Nikon D850 will go on sale in September for a retail price of $3,299.95 (roughly Rs. 2,24,300).

The camera boasts of a 45.7-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor, without any optical low pass filter in order to preserve sharpness in photos. It uses Nikon’s EXPEED 5 image processor which enables full resolution 7fps burst shooting. Other features on the Nikon D850 include a wide ISO range of 64-25,600 (expandable down to ISO 32 and up to ISO 102,400); a 153-point autofocus system with 99 cross-type autofocus points; and the ability to shoot 4K video at 30fps and 1080p video at 120fps.

Can Your Car Power Your Home? Nissan Thinks So

When you think of the electric cars, Tesla is perhaps the name that first comes to your mind. For all its technical achievements, the Elon Musk-backed company has also done a great job of marketing and made itself synonymous with the electric cars industry. But as industry observers know, if there's one car that's come close to matching - and at times exceeding - Tesla's success, it's the Nissan Leaf.

The Nissan Leaf was the world's best selling electric car for a couple of years, and at other times was not too far behind Tesla's offerings. While Tesla is the upstart that has shaken up multiple industries, Nissan, of course, is among the incumbents in one of the biggest industries in the world. The automaker invited Gadgets 360 to its headquarters in Yokohama, Japan earlier this year, and we got an opportunity to pick the brains of some of the company executives to understand the company's vision for the future of mobility.

Uber, Ola Tie-Up With AAI, Make Booking a Cab at Airports Easier

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has entered into strategic alliances with Ola and Uber that will provide passengers the option to hire these cabs at select aerodromes.

As part of this strategic alliance, both Ola and Uber will fulfil commuting demand of passengers at the AAI-run Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, Lucknow and Bhubaneswar airports, a release said on Wednesday.

"This alliance with Ola and Uber shall also facilitate air passengers to book a cab through the booking kiosks located at the airport itself. This will reduce the hassle of waiting or moving out for such app-based cabs," the AAI said in the release.

UC Browser Maker Says It Won't Breach the Trust of Its Users After Data Leak Reports

Reacting to media reports of leaking mobile data of its Indian users to China, the Alibaba-owned browser UCWeb on Wednesday said it would never breach the trust of its users.

UCWeb said it takes security and privacy issues very seriously.

According to media reports, the government was looking into allegations that Alibaba's UC Browser leaked mobile data of its Indian users.

It was also reported that if found guilty, UCWeb might be banned in the country.

Aadhaar Card: How to Verify Your Phone Number Using UIDAI Website

Are you sure that the contact information registered with Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for your Aadhaar Card is correct? If not, we would advise you to head to the UIDAI website and check it out for yourself. Aadhaar card is increasingly becoming the most important proof of identification and considering that the government has made it mandatory to link your Aadhaar cards with PAN card for filing income tax returns, its importance has grown further. UIDAI has now provided an online tool for you to verify that the contact information provided in Aadhaar card is correct.

In order to verify whether your contact number is correct on the Aadhaar card, you need to head to the home page of the UIDAI website and choose the option Verify Email/Mobile Number under Aadhaar Services tab. In the new tab, you need to enter details like your Aadhaar number, email address, mobile number that you need to verify, and a security code. Notably, the UIDAI security code is case sensitive and users should keep in mind that letters in upper and lower case will be treated as different entities by the system.

Acer Swift 3 Review

When it comes to aggressive laptop pricing, it’s hard to beat Acer. The Taiwanese manufacturer has always offered cut-throat prices in India, especially when it comes to its premium offerings. The company’s new Swift 3 is yet another example of this. Acer sells a top-end variant of its new ultra-portable laptop for under Rs. 65,000, which is significantly lower than what similarly configured laptops from the competition cost.

The Swift 3 is essentially a Windows version of Apple’s MacBook Air but it also competes with other Windows offerings like HP’s Envy line, the Dell XPS 13 and Lenovo’s IdeaPad 500 series. This laptop comes across as a very good value offering for students and professionals looking for a thin and light laptop that doesn’t skimp on performance. So how has Acer managed to achieve this? And what sort of compromises has it made along the way? 

Google Pixel Leaked Renders Tip No Dual Cameras and 3.5mm Jack

Google Pixel's successor will expectedly be unveiled by the search giant later this year but the renders of the smartphone have now been leaked on the Internet. While the earlier leaked images suggested that Pixel XL will come with narrow bezels much like modern flagship Android smartphones, the new renders indicate that the regular variant of the smartphone will come with the same wide bezels as the last year's model. Sadly, the 3.5mm headphone jack might also not be making its way to this year's models of Google Pixel as well.

Venture Beat's Evan Blass has shared renders of Google Pixel's 2017 model, aka Google Pixel 2, which suggest that the smartphone will not come with several features that are usually associated with modern flagship Android smartphones. In the shared renders, we can see that apart from thick bezels, there is no dual camera setup.

More Than 1,300 Trains Could Get Infotainment Services as RailTel Floats Tender

Indian Railways wants to make your train rides more enjoyable. PSU RailTel has floated a tender to bring on-demand content services to over 1,300 long-distance trains across various routes in India, it told Gadgets 360.

The state-run ISP, which offers Internet facilities tapping the optic fibre cable that runs alongside railway tracks, is planning to offer infotainment services such as movies, songs, educational lectures, and documentaries to the passengers at low-cost plans. It is expecting the tender to close in a month or so and then it will begin negotiating with content players.

As part of the five-year project, which could be extended to include more trains, RailTel also aims to bring the on-demand content services to premium trains such as Rajdhani Express and Shatabdi Express, it said. It will begin the project with premium trains first.

Apple Watch Series 3 Said to Sport LTE Connectivity

Apple is planning to release a version of its smartwatch later this year that can connect directly to cellular networks, a move designed to reduce the device's reliance on the iPhone, people familiar with the matter said.

Currently, Apple requires its smartwatch to be connected wirelessly to an iPhone to stream music, download directions in maps, and send messages while on the go. Equipped with LTE chips, at least some new Apple Watch models, planned for release by the end of the year, will be able to conduct many tasks without an iPhone in range, the people said. For example, a user would be able to download new songs and use apps and leave their smartphone at home.

Intel will supply the LTE modems for the new Watch, according to another person familiar with the situation. That's a big win for the chipmaker, which has been trying for years to get its components into more Apple mobile devices. Qualcomm has been the main modem supplier for iPhones and other Apple mobile gadgets, but the two companies are embroiled in a bitter legal dispute. Apple added Intel as a modem supplier for some iPhones last year.

YouTube Nurtured Comedians In India. Now Its Rivals are Having the Last Laugh.

Whether it was the latest sketch from The Viral Fever (TVF) or a funny review of a movie by Biswa Kalyan Rath and Kanan Gill, when Indians wanted to watch their favourite comedians two years ago, there was only one place to find them online: YouTube.

For more than half a decade, Google's video platform has been providing a platform for all kinds of talents to showcase their skills. The company has actively worked with those creators to help them find the right audience and build a brand name.

Much of those efforts by YouTube are still in play today, but many of the talents it helped nurture in India are increasingly looking at other platforms. The reason? YouTube doesn't have the sort of financial infrastructure in India as some of its streaming rivals do, several comedians, stakeholders, and people in the industry told Gadgets 360.

iPhone SE Refresh to Launch in India First, Q1 2018 Release Expected: Report

iPhone SE, the 4-inch smartphone Apple released last year for emerging markets like India, may see a refresh early next year, according to a report that cites the company's supply chain. The report adds that India will be the first market to receive the new iPhone SE before it is made available more broadly, and it will be manufactured by Wistron. The new iPhone SE will reportedly start shipping in the first quarter of next year.

To recall, Wistron is the same supplier that started assembling current-gen iPhone SE units in the country earlier this year. The report, by Focus Taiwan, adds that the move to make a new iPhone SE is part of a bid by Apple to double its market share in India over the next five years. The iPhone SE hasn't seen an upgrade since its launch last year, excepting a product refresh in March this year that saw it doubling storage capacity.

Flipkart Sale Dates, Offers Announced: Deals and Discounts on Mobile Phones, TVs, and a Lot More

A few days after Amazon revealed the dates of its next sale, Flipkart too has announced it will host an Independence Day sale around the same time. Named The Big Freedom Sale, the Flipkart sale starts on August 9 and ends on August 11, and will see discounts on mobile phones, TVs, laptops, tablets, headphones, cameras, and accessories. Xiaomi fans can look forward to a Redmi Note 4 sale that will run for 72 hours. There will also be additional instant discounts for HDFC credit card holders.

Flipkart sale offers on mobile phones

While all the offers of the Flipkart sale have not been revealed yet, the e-commerce brand has unveiled several discounts on its website ahead of the The Big Freedom Sale . The Moto M and Moto G5 Plus, priced at Rs. 15,999 and Rs. 16,999, will be available for Rs. 12,999 and Rs. 14,999, respectively. Similarly, the Lenovo K5 Note (Rs. 12,499) can be purchased at Rs. 9,999, while K6 Power (Rs. 9,999) will have a Rs. 1,000 discount and will be up for grabs at Rs. 8,999. Google Pixel XL’s price will be slashed from the official Rs. 67,000 to Rs. 48,999 in the Flipkart sale. The company is teasing iPhone 6 will 32GB get a price cut too.

This Website Lets You Check Password Strength Against 320 Million Leaked Passwords

There have been plenty of data breach cases where a large amount of personal information including passwords, usernames, and email addresses have been compromised. The stolen data is often leaked online, resulting in an enormous stash of stolen credentials. But, a website that goes by Have I Been Pwned (HIBP) is coming to the rescue by making that data publicly available, so that the companies that require any sort of sign-in information from users can match the entered passwords with those in the collection, and thereupon warn users if they have been compromised before.

Troy Hunt, the mastermind behind HIBP, has revealed over 320 million passwords in his blog to help the companies secure their online network. These passwords have been aggregated from several data breaches that happened overtime, and are now available to everyone on HIBP website. However, Hunt says that the ‘pwned-passwords’ that are publicly available on his website do not disclose the email addresses and usernames that they were associated with. The website Have I Been Pwned, or HIBP, generally lets users see if their email addresses have been breached without revealing the passwords, but Hunt has created the inverse of the concept this time, in an effort to intimate Internet users and companies about passwords that can be easily hacked.

Samsung Hints at Upcoming Smartwatch-Fitness Tracker Hybrid

The nascent wearables market is seeing its ups and downs, and Samsung looks like it plans to stay in the business with a new kind of wearable device. The South Korean giant is sending out survey mails to some members asking them about the promotion strategy for their next product. The mentioned product hints at the company's next wearable that is going to be a fitness tracker cum smartwatch.

Samsung was previously reported to be working on a new wearable band with a model number SM-R365, which passed the FCC certification last month. Going by its design, the wearable looks more like a fitness tracker than a smartwatch, likely to be a successor to Gear Fit 2. That said, the survey mail sent by Samsung seeks opinion of the members of company's SmartLab Plus programme on the promotion 'tagline' for the new product, reports Sammobile.

Lenovo Yoga 3, 4K LED TVs, iPad Pro, and More Tech Deals

This week we have picked out the best deals on big-screen LED TVs and tablets. If you're looking for a giant 4K screen or a budget-friendly LED TV with all the smart features, we've got you covered. We've also picked out the best deals in tablets from Flipkart's Tablet Day sale.

Panasonic 49-inch 4K LED TV

Paytm is offering a massive cash back of Rs. 20,000 on Panasonic's 4K LED TV. The TV is currently priced at Rs. 116,882 from an authorised reseller of the brand. The cashback can help bring down the effective price to Rs. 96,882. That seems like a decent price for a 4K LED TV from a reputed brand. The TV comes with two in-built speakers with a 20W power output. There are three HDMI ports and two USB ports on the TV. You'll still need to pay for installation though, but considering the discounted price that shouldn't be worth worrying about. Use coupon code PAS20000 to get a cashback of Rs. 20,000 in your Paytm Wallet.

Price: Rs. 96,882 

Link: Paytm

Skype Gets 'Send Money' Feature, Powered by PayPal

Microsoft's chat and video calling service Skype underwent through an entire design revamp in June this year for which it also faced a lot of criticism. On Wednesday, Microsoft introduced payment services in Skype via PayPal. Skype users will now be able to send across money in chats using their PayPal accounts. The feature is available on the latest version of Skype on both Android and iOS platforms in 22 countries initially.

In order to initiate a money transfer on Skype, users will need to tap Find or swipe right to open the listed add-ins. Amongst the add-ins, tap on Send Money and select the country you live in, followed by the country of the contact you want to send money to. Then, enter the amount and hit Next upon which you'll be asked to sign into your PayPal account and link it with the Microsoft one. After this is completed, tap Send to complete your transfer, and return to the chat screen to check the transfer status.

Zoomcar Hop Launched, Its One-Way Intercity Self-Drive Service

Zoomcar, India's first 100 percent self-drive car rental company, announced the launch of "Hop," a one-way intercity self-drive service, in the city.

The new one-way intercity self-service facility allows a customer to travel from point A to point B which would enable customers to pick up a car from Zoomcar location from one city and drop it off at a Zoomcar location in another city, a company release said.

The launch of one-way inter-city service adds flexibility and options to people's travel plans, it said.

"Hop" service would be available across 24 cities including intra-state and eventually inter-state routes as well, the release said.

Raspberry Pi, Asus Tinker Board, BBC Microbit, Orange Pi Zero, Oudroid XU4

Raspberry Pi is a tiny, single-board computer that allows people to do things such as develop software, watch movies, mine cryptocurrency, and many other things. You’re probably thinking that your smartphone can do all that, but then your smartphone probably costs a lot more than $35 (roughly Rs. 2,300). The Raspberry Pi is an awesome computer for the price, but it is not the only single-board computer in the market.

There are six Raspberry Pi variants available as of now, with the Raspberry Pi Zero being the cheapest at $10 (roughly Rs. 650) and the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B being the most powerful at $35. You can also get the Raspberry Pi Zero W if all you need is a basic computer with Wi-Fi capability for slightly more than the Zero.

If you want more power, or something that costs even less, there are a lot of alternatives out there. We found alternatives that cost as much as $239 (roughly Rs. 15,500) but that’s probably too costly for those who want a Raspberry Pi. Here are five good single-board computers you might want to consider if Raspberry Pi isn’t available easily.

Jio Phone Effect: Intex Launches Turbo+ 4G, Its First 4G VoLTE Feature Phone

It seems like the introduction of the Jio Phone has made the budget segment - specifically the G VoLTE feature segment - more competitive in India. Intex Technologies on Tuesday launched its first feature phone with 4G VoLTE support - Intex Turbo+ 4G - as part of its Navratna series in the country. Apart from this particular model, the company also launched eight other feature phone models from different series, the prices for which range between Rs. 700 and Rs. 1500.

First talking about the specifications on the Intex Turbo+ 4G, the new feature phone runs on KaiOS software and sports with a 2.4-inch QVGA display. It is powered by a dual-core processor coupled with 512MB of RAM. In terms of optics, the Intex Turbo+ 4G comes with a 2-megapixel primary rear camera and a VGA camera at front for taking selfies.

The Intex Turbo+ 4G houses a 2000mAh battery and comes with 4GB built-in storage, which is expandable up to 32GB.

BlackBerry KEYone Review

Over the past three or four years, BlackBerry has tried multiple different strategies in the wild hope that something will work. We've seen candybars and sliders; touchscreens and keyboards; budget and ultra-premium; traditional and experimental; BlackBerry OS and Android. Every time the company seemed to be moving in one direction, it would reverse course. You can read about each of these missteps in great detail in our analysis of the BlackBerry Z3 (Review), Passport (Review), Classic (Review), Leap (Review), Priv (Review), and DTEK50 (Review). In tracing that journey, you can see how the company tried desperately to attract new users, then settled for clinging to its dwindling fanbase and then finally gave up all hope.

BlackBerry now licenses its name and its software to other companies. TCL - which holds the rights for most of the world excluding India, Indonesia, and a few other Asian markets where the brand is still popular - launched its first BlackBerry product, the KEYone, earlier this year. In India, the rights have been acquired by Optiemus Infracom, a name that might not immediately be familiar. However, this company has a lot of history in the Indian phone space. According to Optiemus, it sold India's first mobile phone back in 1995, and it now operates the Univercell retail chain and Zen brand of phones.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Render Image Leaked, Dual Camera Details Tipped

While Samsung has announced that it will officially unveil the Galaxy Note 8 on August 23, the render images of the smartphone are continuing to pop up on the Internet ahead of the event. The newly leaked image of the next Galaxy Note series flagship suggests a similar design to previous leaks but the possible details regarding the camera on the handset have also been revealed by the company.

First talking about the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 render, the image leaked by credible tipster Evan Blass aka @evleaks shows the alleged smartphone in Midnight Black colour. As Samsung said "Do bigger things" in its invite images, a slightly bigger 6.3-inch Infinity Display (narrow bezels and taller-than-usual frame) is expected on the smartphone. The leaked image show a similar design to Galaxy S8 on the front but suggests that the Galaxy Note 8 will have slightly squarish edges.

56 Percent Smartphone Users in India Have No Data Access at Least Once a Day: Survey

Despite the massive growth in mobile data usage in the past eight months in India, 56 percent of smartphone users have no access to Internet at least once a day, a new report said on Monday.

According to a report compiled by True Balance mobile app, the data connectivity environment is still poor, leading to devices being exposed to offline environment on large.

"We have found that across India, the connections are patchy and users often find gaps in network coverage depending on their location,"said Alex Suh, General Director of Data Analysis, True Balance, in a statement. "This is why despite the mobile data usage in the country increasing significantly, there is still prevalence of users found experiencing offline state in a day. While the data connectivity issue has improved considerably since last year, there is still scope to address the main issues behind poor connectivity and get these numbers further down."

Asus VivoBook Max X541UA Review

With the new school and college year under way, it’s time to focus on the new ‘back-to-school’ offerings in the laptop market. The mid-range and mainstream laptop segments these days offer a good mix of features and performance and you can find various form factors as well to suit your working style.

Today, we’ll be testing Asus’ newly launched VivoBook Max X541UA, which is a mainstream laptop targeted at students or anyone looking to buy a budget laptop for general work. With a large display and a full-sized keyboard at hand, let’s see if the new VivoBook Max makes for a worthy contender.

Asus VivoBook Max X541UA design and build quality

Given its mainstream target, the body of the X541UA is mostly plastic. The fit and finish are decent, but the quality could have been better. Take the lid for example, which flexes very easily and isn’t very thick. Despite this, we didn’t see any major warping when we applied pressure on the lid, but we did notice a slight ripple at the left edge of the display when we opened and tilted the lid, which isn't a very good sign.