Bonnes journées, folks!
We are back with our weekly fill of news to keep you up to date with local and global events. This week was full of ups and downs in the Olympics which affected us all!
We are still stirred by the trauma that Vinesh Phogat went through, the struggle of the Indian Hockey Team, the happiness of Israel’s sailing Gold win after 20 years, and lastly, the gratitude of the silver medal won by Neeraj Chopra.
Sports apart this week had a few, seven, to be exact, interesting tech news that we have curated for your comfort! It also includes a stock market update regarding AI stocks!
So, stay tuned and keep reading!
Wish to win USD 1 million? Just find a bug in Samsung’s software
Samsung just launched an open offer to find bugs in their software and win USD 1 million!
They have launched this bug bounty program in collaboration with their Mobile Security Program.
Bugs should be found in,
- Arbitrary Code Execution i.e., installation or bypass of device security,
- Device unlocking,
- Data Extraction and more.
The rewards are as follows,
- Knox Vault -> USD 1 million (remote hack)
- Teegris OS -> USD 4,00,000 (remote hack)
- Rich OS -> USD 3,00,000 (remote hack)
Target devices: Galaxy S and Z series
What are you waiting for? Start hacking!
(Source)
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore’s space vacay can extend until 2025
The two astronauts, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, whose space journey was supposed to be 8 days, can now stretch up to 8 months!
Their transport back home, the Boeing Starliner, is not safe and is facing imminent thruster failure, helium leaks, and a history of software failures as well.
The Starliner is still acting as a lifeboat in case of emergencies.
If NASA switches to SpaceX’s Dragon module, the astronauts will have to wait until February 2025.
NASA will release their final word soon! Let us pray for safe travels!
(Source)
Android users are under yet another risk, as per India’s CERT
The Indian agency for digital security, the Cyber Emergency Response Team, or CERT, issued a warning for Android 12, 12L, 13, and 14.
The devices can be hacked remotely and taken over via the vulnerabilities in the aforementioned Android versions.
Devices using Qualcomm and MediaTek chips are also under threat.
Users should,
- Update their hand held devices to the latest Android version
- Download apps only from reliable sources
- Enable auto-updates for OS and apps
We hope that you don’t get hacked!
(Source)
Apple users may have to pay USD 20 for AI usage
Apple users were pretty delighted the last few weeks with the launch of free AI features!
But Apple just hinted at making it paid and joining it with Apple One, which is charged at USD 19.95 monthly!
On Apple One, you get Apple TV, Apple Arcade, and Apple Music, among other things.
The charged AI version may have better AI functionality too!
There is also news of the launch of the AI features for Mac users in Europe via iOS 18. But they will remain inaccessible for iPads and iPhones.
Apple, being one of the few companies that charges on the basis of their value-added services, could very well open a new domain (AI) of paid services for handheld devices.
(Source)
A Few Foreign-approved drugs may get cheaper in India
Revolutionary drugs from the USA, Japan, UK, Australia, Canada, and EU will now face lesser restrictions in India!
Drugs tackling,
- Alzheimer’s
- Cancer
- Weight Loss
- Cellular Therapy
- Pandemic Situation
- Special Defence purposes
- Parkinson and more dreaded issues will be covered under this leverage.
Such drugs have already passed clinical trials in the aforementioned countries, so they will not have to undergo trials in India!
This order was passed by the DGCI, or Drug Controller General of India, this week.
Drugs like,
- Semaglutide & Tirzapatide (weight loss and diabetes),
- Donanemab (Alzheimer’s),
- Tarlatamab (lung cancer),
- Tovorafenib (brian tumor), and more will be made easily available to Indians.
These drugs will get cheaper as the companies will not have to undertake clinical trials and get them approved by Indian authorities.
(Source)
Indian Gen Z likes to work in big Businesses rather than Start-ups
Could you imagine that a country with such a large youth demographic dividend is choosing big businesses over startups?
Well, the latest global report by iQOO in 2024 informed that,
– Only 9% of Gen Z (12 to 27 years old) like to work in startups!
– 19% want leadership roles in organizations.
The report surveyed 6700 Gen Zs across 7 countries. This trend is shocking since India has 110 unicorns and 125,000 startups.
The global ambition ratings across Gen Z are as follows,
- India 9.1 (highest)
- Malaysia 8.7
- Thailand & USA 8.2
- Indonesia 8.1
- UK 8
- Brazil 7.8
One more important finding of this report stated that only 43% of Indian Gen Zs are ready to sacrifice their Work-Life balance for better success in careers, compared to 46% globally!
(Source)
Which AI stocks to buy during a Market sell-off?
AI stocks were being released in a great market sell-off along with other stocks as investors prepared for the USA elections.
This is giving retail investors a golden opportunity to buy their way into AI stocks.
These stocks are,
a) AI Hardware Stocks
- Camtek [CAMT]
- Micron [MU]
- Dell [DELL]
- Applied Materials [AMAT]
- Qualcomm [QCOM]
b) AI Software Stocks
- ServiceNow [NOW]
- Adobe [ADBE]
- Atlassian [TEAM]
- Axon [AXON]
If you were waiting for the right moment to buy AI stocks, it has arrived! Invest diversely!
(Source)
This brings our 14th news edition to an end!
We realised that the world is turning towards India, be it for manufacturing, operations, sales, purchasing, and more. Thus, it is up to India to use this attention and garner mutually beneficial relationships!
Because growth happens together, not alone or by monopolising the market!
Wildnet Technologies believes in growing together and we have been doing that for 17 years now!
If you missed our previous weekly roundup, here it is!
And, do not miss our thought leadership’s POV released weekly under the name Wildnet’s Digital Yum!
Until next week, Tech Freaks!
