Science and Tech Yearly Wrap

A weekly round-up of science and technology stories.

Hyderabad: Science and Tech stories of the week.

2020: Technological Innovations

Some of the best essential innovations in the year 2020 include; Exposure Notifications System by Apple and Google, ThinkPad X1 Fold by Lenovo, CleanseBot( World’s First Bacteria Killing Robot), 2021 TLX Passenger Air Bag by Acura, NANO 1 – World’s Smallest Astronomy Camera, OraSure OMNIgene Oral,Embodied Moxie, etc. Read More.

2020:Best Smart Speakers

Smart speakers have emerged are important for this modern era to make lifestyle easier. This latest technology of voice assistant is extremely helpful, thanks to its multifunctional features. For e.g. Amazon Echo Show 5 has a 5.5-inch HD display with a 1MP camera that manages 720p HD video recording. With its other features, it leads the chart of the best five speakers. Other best smart speakers include; Apple HomePod Mini, Google Nest Audio, Mi Smart Speaker, Sony SRS XB402M.Read More

Science and Technology Challenges in 2021

As we enter 2021, a lot of challenges need to be addressed in the field of science and technology. If we talk of COVID-19 vaccines, issues like storage, distribution, etc need to be addressed. The field of digital education has issues with the basic tech set up needed in the classroom, etc. Even 5G, telemedicine, cybersecurity, and some of the other tech issues need to be addressed. Read More.

Do not panic about the latest Coronavirus mutations, say drug companies

Earlier this month a mutated variant of the coronavirus was detected in the UK, setting off alarms across Europe and causing some countries to ban travelers from Britain.But it’s still not clear that the new variant is much more easily transmitted, as some scientists have warned. Companies with authorized vaccines or therapeutic drugs for COVID-19 doing tests to show that their treatments should work against the new form of Coronavirus. Read More.

Enter 2021 with 5 affordable true wireless earbuds

The Truly Wireless Stereo (TWS) headphones category has exploded in the last couple of years and in India, the TWS market soared 723 per cent (on-year) in the third quarter of this year as work-from-home and study-from-home due to the pandemic led to the surge. If you are planning to buy a true wireless earbuds in a budget, some cool ones perfect for workaholics as well as bass-heavy music listeners include; OnePlus Buds, Boat Airdopes 461 TWS, etc.Read More.

Cybersecurity trends of 2021 are explained by Col. Inderjeet Singh

Cybersecurity Trends that the industry will embrace in 2021 are explained by Col. Inderjeet Singh, Cyber Security Expert, Director General, Cyber Security Association of India. Some of these include; Ransomware will grow bigger and worse, cloud security will become the first-choice security strategy, AI-based attacks, etc. Read More.

2020: Affordable Gaming Laptops

With fantastic graphics, gorgeous displays, and great audio, gaming laptops provided immersive entertainment. The top 5 gaming laptops from Dell, Lenovo, Acer, Asus, and HP became the hot sellers of 2020. In India, the top 5 laptop brands HP, Lenovo, Dell, Acer, and Asus command 88.2 percent of the total laptop market share, and the other brands contributed about 11.8 percent share.Read More

New 'QNED Mini LED' TVs unveiled by LG Electronics

LG Electronics has unveiled LG QNED TV, ahead of CES 2021. The liquid crystal display (LCD) TV uses ultra-small LEDs as the backlight. The 8K, the 86-inch model of LG QNED TV packs 30,000 LEDs as the backlight. LG employs quantum dot and NanoCell technology the first time that's been combined in a TV.Read More.

2020 - The Year of Ransomware

Col. Inderjeet Singh, Cyber Security Expert, Director General, Cyber Security Association of India is talking about how the year of 2020 emerged as the year of Ransomware attacks.Read More

Features and specifications of Xiaomi Mi 11, launched in China

Xiaomi launched Mi 11 with Snapdragon 888 5G mobile on December 28. Some of the features include; a 6.81” AMOLED quad curved DotDisplay panel, 108MP 8K main camera, 20MP front camera, full-day battery life, etc. Read More.

2020: Google Cloud Features

Google Cloud built a few features to help the users to work smoothly despite challenges. For e.g, it made Google Meet free, introduced AppSheet, an application development platform that helps people create and extend applications without professional coding skills and more. Read More

Caviar unveiled AirPod Max plated with "pure gold"

Russian luxury goods brand Caviar, known for making luxury variants of popular gadgets, has unveiled custom-made, over-ear headphones AirPods Max plated with "pure gold" for the high price of $108,000, which roughly translate to nearly Rs 80 lakh. The earcups of the headphones are made from pure gold, replacing the current aluminum that Apple makes the earcups out of. Read More

2020: Journey of Coronavirus

A year that shook the world. As one of the most extraordinary years of modern times draws to a close, New Scientist looks back at the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the possibility of life on Venus, and more. Read More

Features and specifications of Vivo Y20 and Y20A

Vivo Y20(2021) has been unveiled by Vivo. Some of the features are; triple rear camera setup, MediaTek Helio P35 processor, 6.51-inch IPS LCD screen, the rear camera has an LED flash and has a large 5,000mAh battery. Features of Y20A smartphone are; a 6.51-inch Halo iView display, a triple-camera setup with a 13MP primary camera, etc.Read More.

2020: Indian Space Sector

Even though the year 2020 would be known as COVID-19 year, it could also be termed as the defining year for the Indian space sector to put it in a different orbit with the private sector as a co-traveller of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Read More

NASA: 20 Earth images from 2020

Astronauts on the @Space_Station take thousands of photos of our home planet each year, recording how Earth is changing over time. Enjoy the View. Read More.

2020: The top five smart home (IoT) products in India

From smart home speakers to floor cleaning robots, the Internet of Things (IoT) product categories has increased significantly for the consumers. Led by Amazon Echo devices, the shipments of smart home speakers are expected to cross 7.5 lakh units in India by the end of this year, which is an all-time high, according to the data provided by market research firm techARC.Read More

2020: Favorite memes on Instagram

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the lifestyles completely changed. The work from home scenario led to an increase in being online. Our social lives moved to video chats and live streams in our living rooms, there are one thing that brought us together even if we couldn't be together physically…memes. On Instagram, over 1 million posts mentioning ''meme'' are shared. Read More

Features and specifications of OPPO Reno5 4G

OPPO launched another Reno5 series, OPPO Reno5 4G in Vietnam. Some of the features include; a 6.4-inch AMOLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G chipset, a 4310mAh battery, 128GB of internal storage, the latest Android 11, etc. Read More.

2020: Facebook Top Moments

When we sit back and ponder, we will definitely agree 2020 will forever be known as the year that changed us all. Now, we are all gearing up to enter 2021, hoping the new year will bring newness in everyone's life. Though 2020 made us apart from each other, Facebook and other digital platforms helped you connected. Facebook's top moments of 2020 are sorted into six themes such as icons, social awakening, COVID-19, etc. Read More

2020: Top Smartphone Brands in India

According to Counterpoint Research in Q3, 2020, the following are the Top Brands in India; Samsung, Xiaomi, Vivo, Realme, Oppo. Samsung led the Indian smartphone market with a 24% shipment share for the first time since Q3 Xiaomi followed closely with a 23% share and remained the top online brand. Apple led the premium segment (>INR 30,000) surpassing OnePlus even before its flagship launch, driven by strong demand for its iPhone SE 2020 and the iPhone 11. Read More