Gadgets And Technology Daily News | 14 May 2023
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Binance Pulls Out of Canada Amid Tightened Crypto Regulations
Binance said on Friday it was withdrawing from Canada, weeks after the country issued a series of new guidelines for cryptocurrency exchanges including investor limits and mandatory registrations.
Canada has tightened regulations for crypto asset trading platforms in recent months, with the introduction of a pre-registration process. The companies that do not adhere to the rules will face potential enforcement action, according to the website of the Ontario Securities Commission.
"Unfortunately, (the) new guidance related to stablecoins and investor limits provided to crypto exchanges makes the Canada market no longer tenable for Binance at this time," crypto exchange Binance said in a tweet.
Binance said it does not agree with the latest guidance and hopes to engage with the Canadian regulators to create a comprehensive framework for crypto operations in the country.
"We are confident that we will someday return to the market when Canadian users once again have the freedom to access a broader suite of digital assets," said the crypto exchange, founded by Canadian national Changpeng Zhao.
The digital assets industry has been in the crosshairs of regulators around the world, especially since the collapse of Binance-rival FTX in November, which triggered a market rout in the prices of the biggest digital coins.
Following the onset of the crypto winter of 2022, which wiped out more than a trillion dollars from the industry's market value, lawmakers and securities regulators demanded tighter guidelines for disclosures on how the crypto companies operate and hold customer funds.
In March, Binance and its CEO Zhao were sued by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission for operating what the regulator alleged was an "illegal" exchange and a "sham" compliance program.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
Canon PowerShot V10 Compact Camera With Vertical Grip Launched in India: Price, Specifications
Canon PowerShot V10 was launched in India on Thursday. It is a compact camera with an emphasis on video recording capabilities and is designed for smartphone users. The camera comes with a retractable and tiltable stand that can be affixed to the body. The camera also includes an in-built microphone that minimises noise and records clean sound, which is useful for creating ASMR videos.
The compact camera, claimed to be a "content creation powerhouse", is available in a black and silver colour option. It is priced in India at Rs. 39,995. The device will be on sale starting in June.
The camera is marketed as a useful tool for vloggers and content creators. The Canon PowerShot V10 sports a DIGIC X image processor and is equipped with a 1-inch CMOS 13.1-megapixel sensor. It also has face tracking feature and a specified frame auto-focus. The camera arrives with a 19mm lens.
For still images, the Canon PowerShot V10 has an effective ISO range of 125 - 12800. On the other hand, for videos, the effective ISO ranges from 125 - 6400, with a maximum ISO of 3200 for 4K quality video recordings.
The camera comes with a maximum shutter speed of 1/2000 for still images and a maximum shutter speed of 1/4000 for video recordings. 4K UHD (3840 x 2160 pixels) is the maximum video recording quality supported by the camera. It also supports Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) video quality. Up to 1 hour of recording time is supported on the device.
The Canon PowerShot V10 features a singular microSD card slot, one HDMI micro (Type D) and a 3.5mm stereo mini jack. The camera is powered by an inbuilt rechargeable lithium-ion battery alongside a USB Power Adapter PD-E1 or adapter with an output capacity of 5 V/1.5 A or more.
The camera also supports WiFi and Bluetooth Low Energy Technology. It allows direct live streaming to YouTube and Facebook. Weighing a mere 211 grams, the camera measures about 63.4mm x 90.0mm x 34.3mm in size.
Data Breach in US Exposes Personal Information of 2,37,000 Federal Employees
The personal information of 237,000 current and former federal government employees has been exposed in a data breach at the US Transportation Department (USDOT), sources briefed on the matter said on Friday.
The breach hit systems for processing TRANServe transit benefits that reimburse government employees for some commuting costs. It was not clear if any of the personal information had been used for criminal purposes.
USDOT notified Congress Friday in an email seen by Reuters that its initial investigation of the data breach has "isolated the breach to certain systems at the department used for administrative functions, such as employee transit benefits processing."
USDOT said in a statement to Reuters the breach did not affect any transportation safety systems. It did not say who might be responsible for the hack.
The department is investigating the breach and has frozen access to the transit benefit system until it has been secured and restored, it said.
The maximum benefit allowance is $280 (roughly Rs. 23,000) per month for federal employee mass transit commuting costs. The breach impacted 114,000 current employees and 123,000 former employees.
Federal employees and agencies have been target of hackers in the past.
Two breaches at the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in 2014 and 2015 compromised sensitive data belonging to more than 22 million people, including 4.2 million current and federal employees along with fingerprint data of 5.6 million of those individuals.
Suspected Russian hackers who used SolarWinds and Microsoft software to burrow into US federal agencies breached unclassified Justice Department networks and read emails at the Treasury, Commerce and Homeland Security departments. Nine federal agencies were breached, Reuters reported in 2021.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
Google Agrees to Pay $8 Million to Settle Claims Against Deceptive Pixel 4 Ads
Google, a unit of Alphabet, has agreed to pay $8 million (roughly Rs. 65 million) to settle claims it used deceptive advertisements to promote the Pixel 4 smartphone, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Friday.
The search and advertising giant, which also makes Android smartphone software and owns YouTube, has been scrutinized for antitrust and consumer protection infractions by both the federal government and state attorneys general. The federal government has filed two antitrust lawsuits.
In this instance, Paxton's office alleged that Google hired radio announcers to give testimonials about the Pixel 4 even though the company had refused to allow them to use one of the phones.
"If Google is going to advertise in Texas, their statements better be true," Paxton said in a statement. "In this case, the company made statements that were blatantly false, and our settlement holds Google accountable for lying to Texans for financial gain."
Google said in a statement that it takes compliance with advertising laws seriously. "We are pleased to resolve this issue," said spokesperson Jose Castaneda.
Meanwhile, Google is also facing issues in India as the competition watchdog has begun an inquiry into the company after some companies alleged the service fee the US firm charges for in-app payments breaches an earlier antitrust directive, a regulatory order seen by Reuters showed on Friday.
Tinder-owner Match Group and Indian startups have asked the watchdog to investigate Google's new User Choice Billing (UCB) system, which they alleged was anti-competitive.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Friday issued an order stating "it is of the opinion that an inquiry needs to be made."
© Thomson Reuters 2023
Vivo S17 Pro Reportedly Spotted on 3C Website; Camera Specifications Tipped
Vivo S17 Pro is reportedly in the works. The Vivo S17 series is expected to succeed the Vivo 16 series — which included the Vivo S16, Vivo S16e and Vivo S16 Pro. Similarly, the S17 lineup is likely to include Vivo S17, Vivo S17e and Vivo S17 Pro models. The company has not confirmed any details or even announced the phone officially. Previously, there have been reports surrounding the Vivo S17 Pro which revealed some key specifications. A new leak now suggests camera specifications of the purported handset.
A Digital Chat Station post suggested that the Vivo S17 Pro is expected to sport a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766V primary sensor with optical image stabilisation (OIS), an 8-megapixel sensor with an ultra-wide lens and a 12-megapixel Sony IMX663 sensor for portraits, in its triple rear camera unit.
The phone was reportedly spotted on the 3C certification website with model number V2284A. A Gizmochina report suggested that the Vivo S17 Pro could launch on June 12. A previous leak suggested that the handset is expected to be powered by an octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 8200 SoC. It is also said to support 80W wired fast charging.
The upcoming smartphone is expected to succeed the Vivo S16 Pro, which was released in December 2022. The model is offered in Black and Yan Ruyu (translated) colour options. It is priced at CNY 3,299 (roughly Rs. 39,000) for the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage variant and CNY 3,599 (roughly Rs. 42,600) for the 12GB RAM + 512GB storage variant.
The Vivo S16 Pro is powered by an octa-core 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 8200 SoC paired with a Mali G610 GPU and LPDDR5 RAM. The triple rear camera unit of the phone sports a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766V primary sensor with OIS, along with an 8-megapixel wide-angle sensor and a 2-megapixel macro sensor. The phone is backed by a 4,600mAh battery with 66W fast charging support.
HTC U23 Pro Compatible With Viverse VR Confirmed to Launch on May 18: All Details
HTC U23 Pro is confirmed to launch globally next week. The Taiwanese smartphone maker recently launched the HTC Wildfire E2 Play, now available in select African markets. The company announced the news of the upcoming U23 model on Saturday. Live images of the smartphone were leaked on a Taiwanese message board earlier this week. The leaked images hinted at certain design elements of the handset. Some screenshots from the leaked live images also suggested key specifications and features of the smartphone.
The company officially announced in a tweet that the HTC U23 Pro will be unveiled on May 18. The teaser of the phone attached to the announcement does not reveal much about it. A mere partial silhouette of a bar smartphone is seen.
2023.5.18#HTC #VIVERSE #areUready pic.twitter.com/2Y9FIOQaGQ
The previously leaked live images showed that the HTC U23 Pro is seen in three colour options — silver, light green and purple. A quad rear camera unit is seen alongside an LED flash unit housed in a rectangular camera module placed on the top left corner of the back panel of the phone. A centre-aligned hole-punch slot is seen on top of the display to house the front camera.
The HTC U23 Pro is seen having narrow side bezels with a slightly wide chin and top bezel. The power button and the volume rocker are seen on the right edge of the handset. The bottom edge features the speaker grilles and the USB Type-C port.
The smartphone, as per the poster in the announcement, will be compatible with HTC's Viverse VR platform. Details on how the same would be implemented have not yet been revealed.
The screenshots of the live images of the HTC U23 Pro suggest that it will sport a 120Hz AMOLED display panel. The leak adds that the smartphone is expected to be powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC. The quad rear camera unit of the phone is likely to include a 108-megapixel primary sensor. As per the leak, the phone is also said to launch with Android 13 and be backed by a 4,600mAh battery unit.
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