This week has been filled with mostly positive news!
Be it Sunita Williams taking command of the ISS (second time), NASA launching a mission to rescue her tomorrow, the people of Vanuatu doing less than 5 hours of work every day, Flipkart Big Billion and Amazon Great India sales are live, or the Sahara Desert turning Green.
But there was some negative news as well, like Hurricane Helene is in Florida and the most dangerous bird, Cassowary, is in danger!
And lest we forget, Earth’s second moon is about to make its first appearance on Sunday!
On that happy note, let us start our weekly roundup comprising of 11 news stories of the week!
This time we got stock advice from both Indian and foreign markets.
So, stay tuned!
India becomes the 3rd largest power in Asia, surpassing Japan
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting shared this year’s Asia Power Index results with great honour.
India has been able to leave Japan behind because of our;
- Dynamic Growth,
- Expanding Economy, and
- Youth Population.
The Lowy Institute launched the Asia Power Index in 2018 to evaluate 27 countries in the APAC, or Asia-Pacific region.
The Index uses eight core measuring aspects, including Military Capabilities, Economic Capabilities and Diplomatic Influence.
Surprisingly, the USA holds the first position, followed by China.
(Source)
Tokyo Electron Ltd. Planning an India Expansion
Tokyo Electron Ltd. is planning to expand in India by training chip engineers and hiring them!
They are poised to work along with Tata Electronics to meet the doubled-up global chip demand by 2030.
Tokyo Electron is targeting 10,000 new hires from the global talent pool within 5 years, while the exact number of hiring from India is unknown.
USA is trying to curtail any chipmaking exports from Japan to China and has signed a deal with India to setup a semiconductor fabrication plant during PM Shri Narendra Modi’s meeting with President Mr. Joe Biden in Delaware.
(source)
Orion, The AR Glasses from Meta are here!
The wait is over, and the most advanced AR glasses, Meta’s Orion, are here!
It was earlier called Project Nazare. Nazare is an Urdu word that means spectacle or a scene.
Orion looks just like your normal sunglasses, but its AR, or augmented reality, makes everything quite immersive!
It is currently given to,
- Meta Employees, and
- A few external audience.
Consumers will have to wait for the Consumer version of Orion.
Do you know any Meta Employees?
(Source)
AI News of the Week
The AI industry is achieving new strides every week, and this week the four major AI news are as follows:
- Meta’s Gen AI “Imagine” will now be available in Messenger, Facebook, and Instagram
It helps with the conversion of text prompts into images, and it will help the users develop images for their posts.
These images can be shared on Stories, Feed, and even Facebook profile pictures!
- Duolingo is making learning fun via AI-powered Calls and Adventures
During the Duocon 2024, they informed the world that now their app will feature AI powered Video calls and Adventures!
This is done to make learning fun for its users!
- Airtel is testing AI to curb Spam and Scam Calls
Airtel users have started seeing a notification called “Suspected Spam” when a dubious number calls them from September 26th, 2024.
No cost is being charged for this AI powered Spam and Scam detection, and it is available for Prepaid & Postpaid users!
We know how challenging it is to create apt ad creatives, one after the other!
Thus we share the list of the top 7 AI tools that help you craft amazing Ad Creatives,
- AdCreative.ai is best for data-driven marketing!
- Sivi.ai is best for WhatsApp and Amazon ad creatives!
- Quickads is best for small businesses.
- Creatopy is best to generate a Photoshop duplicate.
- Visme is best for those who love Canva!
- Visla is best for Video Ads!
- Creatify is best used for retail and ecommerce platforms.
Have fun!
Doesn’t this ease your apprehension regarding AI a little?
Google’s AI tech to help Indian Developers
Google has given yet another gift to Indian Developers after reducing the pricing of Google Maps by 70% for India!
This time they have promised to help 10,000 startups with AI under a partnership with the MeitY, or the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, India.
This announcement was made by Google in their I/O Connect that happened in Bengaluru this year.
AIs like Gemini, Gemma, and some new language tools for their DeepMind AI will be used for this purpose.
This offer not only serves Indian developers but also helps Google AI Studio build Gemini faster!
(source)
Google Search does not have the Cache feature anymore!
Do you remember the time when you couldn’t access a webpage and you would just open its cached version in Google?
Well, you won’t be able to do that anymore!
The Wayback Machine
The Wayback Machine will replace the cache in Google Search!
It saves all the webpages related to a particular source, and you can access them in the About section.
You can access the About section by clicking on the three dots (…) that comes along with each entry on the search result pages or SERPs.
To be honest, it is a better option!
Go ahead and give it a try…
(source)
Mozilla was tracking You, without consent!
Could you imagine someone tracking you without consent? Doesn’t feel like a Spy movie?
Well, Mozilla, which made Firefox browser, is doing the exact same thing via their latest feature called Privacy-Preserving Attribution (PPA).
This feature is enabled on Firefox version 128 without asking users’ permission.
It helps in collecting data for marketing in a Privacy First world, and here is how it is done:
- The browser saves your info and categorize users based upon their browsing habits.
- Advertisers can ask Mozilla to save their ads as an impression.
- As soon as a user clicks on that ad, the website can ask Mozilla to generate a report on it.
So, your exact data is not being shared, but you are being tracked (indirectly) without your permission.
(source)
WordPress just banned WP Engine!
Are you using WP Engine’s plugins or themes on your WordPress website?
You might face some issues with them, as WordPress just banned WP Engine.
This happened because infringement of trademarks by WP Engine and WordPress was demanding millions of dollars as compensation.
When WP Engine was unable to pay, such harsh actions were taken by WordPress!
Way to solve your WP Engine issues:
Do not reach out to WordPress for it; rather, visit this link and follow instructions to reinstall or update the same!
The issue is causing havoc amongst WordPress users and Contributors!
(source)
Meet Necro and TrickMo, the two new Trojans on Google Play!
Google Play is about to become much more secure with Google’s latest efforts to remove the Necro and TrickMo trojans.
Necro Trojan
- First detected in the CamScanner app in 2019
- Kaspersky has found its latest version in Spotify (not downloaded from Google Play), Wuta Camera and more
- The Trojan can buy subscriptions, interact with ads in a hidden window, run any JS code, and more.
TrickMo Torjan
- It is evolved from the TrickBot.
- It was also first detected in 2019.
- It can intercept OTPs, record screens & keylogging, take remote control, and more.
- It was distributed via the fraud Chrome version.
All you can do is,
- Download apps from the Google Play Store.
- Do not download any third party or untrustworthy apps.
We hope that the Google Play Store will get as secure as Apple’s App Store!
(source)
SaaS and Software prices to come down: Zoho CEO
Did you even in your wildest dreams think of paying less for Software and SaaS?
Well, due to the AI infusion in the software industry, it is going to be the case.
As per Zoho’s CEO, Mr. Sridhar Vembu, the slowdown caused by AI in the software industry will lead to a price correction of SaaS.
But he ensured that Zoho will not be impacted by it, as they have developed some AI-infused technologies themselves, and that has made their products affordable.
Maybe AI isn’t that bad; what say you?
(source)
Stocks to watch in India and Foreign Markets
The impact that Semiconductor rush, USA elections, USA’s federal rate cuts, Nuclear Energy switch, and wars are having on the domestic and foreign stock markets is immense.
Here are the stocks you can buy in:
- Indian Market
- TCS
- HCLTech
- Tech Mahindra
- RITES
- Railtel
- Infosys
- Cameco [CCJ]
- BWX Technologies [BWXT]
- NuScale Power [SMR]
- Vistra [VST]
Let’s not keep the share market waiting, shall we?
(source)
This brings our 21st edition of the weekly roundup to an end!
From the above news, we saw AI in a positive light, be it lowering prices, preventing spam calls, making Ad creatives, converting text to images, and much more.
Now the onus is on us, if we will learn to use it for the betterment of mankind or not!
Wildnet Technologies is a leading digital transformation company in India that uses the best possible tech, trends, and resources for its 4100+ clients!
If you missed our previous weekly roundup, here it is!
And do not miss out on our thought leadership’s POV on the latest news in the digital transformation industry every week via Wildnet’s Digital Yum!
Until next week, Tech Freaks!
