Science and technology

As the cyber attackers are using “increasingly sophisticated techniques” to breach cellphones and devices, the experts have issued a warning to Android users about the applications they download. A particularly concerning type of malware, called Rafel RAT, operates stealthily on devices, providing malicious actors with a powerful toolkit for remote administration and control. The latest warning comes from Antonis Terefos and Bohdan Melnykov of cyber threat intelligence company Check Point Research. They explain that Rafel RAT enables a range of malicious activities, from data theft to device manipulation, and can even hack two-factor authentication. “Rafel’s features and capabilities — such as remote access, surveillance, data exfiltration, and persistence mechanisms — make it a potent tool for conducting covert operations and infiltrating high-value targets,” said Terefos and Melnykov. The malware disguises itself as legitimate applications, including Instagram, WhatsApp, various

As fans eagerly wait for the arrival of Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 6, Rockstar Games co-founder opened up on the potential of turning the popular game into a movie or a series. GTA is one of the most popular games and there have been talks of adapting the video game for a movie or a series. Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser has now revealed in an interview why there has not been a movie or series made on GTA. “After a few awkward dates, we’d ask [the executives], why would we do this?” he said. “Their response [was], ‘because you get to make a movie.’” According to Houser, the studio declined the offers as it did not want to take up a project which they had no control on. Additionally, Rockstar Games also considered others games that were adapted for a movie and their business at the box office. Read more: GTA 6 launch window officially confirmed Dan Houser said that the quality of the movies was also poor during their discussion with the executives for a movie based on GTA. “T

Minister of State for Information Technology & Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja has assured to extend full facilitation to the IT companies for investments in Pakistan. Addressing a delegation of Swedish companies in Islamabad today, she mentioned that Special Investment Facilitation Council is facilitating investment in diverse sectors. The Minister of State said digitization of economy is top priority of the present government. She said we have kicked off with the digitization of the Federal Board of Revenue. She said approval has been given for the establishment of national digitization commission to be headed by the prime minister and represented by the four provinces. Read more: Pakistan earns $2.5 billion from IT services’ export Pakistan earned US $2.593 billion by providing different Information Technology (IT) services to various countries during the first ten months of the current fiscal year 2023-24. This shows a growth of 20.41 per cent as compared with the

SEOUL: A city council in South Korea said Wednesday their first administrative officer robot was defunct after throwing itself down some stairs, with local media mourning the country’s first robot suicide. South Korea’s Gumi City Council announced the robot was found unresponsive after having apparently fallen down a two-meter (six-and-a-half foot) staircase last week. Witnesses saw the robot officer “circling in one spot as if something was there” before the accident occurred, but the exact cause of the fall is still being investigated, a city council official told AFP. “Pieces have been collected and will be analysed by the company,” the official said, adding that the robot had “helped with daily document deliveries, city promotion, and delivered information” to local residents. “It was officially a part of the city hall, one of us,” another official said. “It worked diligently.” Headlines in local media questioned the apparent robot suicide, saying: “Why did the diligent civil

WhatsApp, the world’s most popular messaging app, has announced that it will no longer support 35 mobile devices running older versions of Google and Apple operating systems. The decision comes as the company strives to maintain compatibility with a wide range of smartphones, including Android, iOS, and feature phones running alternative OS. The list of affected devices includes models from prominent manufacturers such as Samsung, Motorola, Huawei, Sony, LG, and Apple. READ:  WhatsApp rolls out new status feature While some of these devices may be old, others still have decent hardware or are unable to upgrade, making it surprising that users are still relying on them to access WhatsApp. To continue using WhatsApp safely, the company recommends that users have a device with Android 5.0 (or later) or an iPhone with iOS 12 (or later). This means that devices running older operating systems will no longer receive updates, leaving them vulnerable to security risks. The complete list

Amid the anticipation for Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 6, fans continue to speculate about the map, characters of the game along with the file size of the upcoming title. Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games, has announced that the much-awaited game Grand Theft Auto VI will be released in fall of 2025. The company has since then gone silent on the matter, leaving GTA 6 fans speculating about the specifications and features of the game. One such aspect is the file size of the upcoming title with several coming up their own number. GTA 6 fans were left concerned after an X user going by the name of GTAVInewz suggested that the game’s file size could be 750GB. However, others considered the claim unrealistic given it will exceed the storage capacity of PS5 and Xbox series consoles. Read more: GTA 6: Latest update regarding second trailer, release date Another X user going by the name GTAVIbestleaks predicted that the file size of the game will exceed

China’s Chang’e-6 lunar probe landed on Tuesday in the northern Chinese region of Inner Mongolia, making the country the first to bring back samples from the moon’s far side. The reentry capsule touched down at 2:07 p.m. Beijing time (0607 GMT), according to state broadcaster CCTV, carrying lunar soil collected earlier in the month by the probe after a successful landing on the moon’s South Pole-Aitken Basin, an impact crater on the side of the Moon that always faces away from Earth. Soon after the capsule landed, Zhang Kejian, head of the China National Space Administration, announced the successful completion of the Chang’e-6 lunar mission. Chinese President Xi Jinping said the mission’s completion was a “landmark achievement” in China’s quest to become a space and scientific powerhouse. The Chang’e-6 probe was launched on May 3 on a Long March 5 rocket from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on the southern island of Hainan. The samples will be transported by air to Beijing fo

Apple is talking to major rival Meta about integrating the Facebook parent company’s generative AI into its products, as it tries to catch up with rivals on artificial intelligence, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. The report comes after Apple also struck a deal with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, to help equip its Apple Intelligence suite of new AI features for its coveted products. For months, pressure has been on Apple to persuade doubters on its AI strategy, after Microsoft and Google rolled out products in rapid-fire succession. It has developed its own, smaller artificial intelligence but said that it will turn to others such as OpenAI to boost its in-house offering. According to the Journal, which cited sources close to the matter, Meta has held discussions with Apple over integrating its own generative AI model into Apple Intelligence. Apple senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi said in early June that Apple also wanted to integrate capabi

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan earned US $2.593 billion by providing different Information Technology (IT) services to various countries during the first ten months of the current fiscal year 2023-24. This shows a growth of 20.41 per cent as compared with the US $2.135 billion earned through the provision of services during the corresponding months of the last fiscal year 2022-23, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported. During the months under review, the export grew by 24.55 per cent as it surged from US $1.729 billion last year to US $2.153 billion during July-April 2023-24. Among the computer services, the exports of software consultancy services witnessed an increase of 10.80 per cent, from US$ 633.107 million to US$ 701.456 million this year while the export of hardware consultancy services also surged by 19.24 per cent, from US$ 4.793 million to US$ 5.715 million. The export of repair and maintenance services however decreased by 45.69 per cent from US $2.762 million to US $1

With the increasing concern about climate change and the environment, many have been searching for alternative fuel sources to power their vehicles. One notion that has gained significant attention is the idea of cars running on water. However, despite numerous claims and experiments, the concept remains a myth. In this article, we will explore the reasons why cars cannot run on water. The Laws of Thermodynamics The fundamental laws of thermodynamics dictate that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted from one form to another. In the case of a car engine, chemical energy from fuel is converted into mechanical energy to power the vehicle. Water, however, does not contain the necessary chemical energy to power an engine. The Internal Combustion Engine Modern cars use internal combustion engines, which rely on the combustion of fuel (gasoline or diesel) to generate power. Water does not have the necessary properties to ignite and sustain combustion, making it impossibl

WhatsApp, the popular instant messaging app, has recently introduced several new features to enhance the user experience. These updates aim to improve the quality of photos and videos shared on the app, as well as enhance group calls and video chats. One of the most significant updates is the ability to send photos in high-definition (HD) by default. This feature is available for both iOS and Android users and can be found under the “Storage and Data” menu in WhatsApp’s settings. WhatsApp has also introduced new features designed to enhance group calls and video chats. One major update includes expanding video calls to accommodate up to 32 participants, a feature previously limited to voice chats. READ:  WhatsApp rolls out new status feature To manage the potential chaos of large video calls, WhatsApp has added a speaker spotlight feature that highlights the current speaker’s profile at the top of the screen. This feature ensures that users can easily identify who is speaking dur

Pakistan’s information technology (IT) exports climbed 41 per cent year-on-year to a record $332 million in May, an astounding increase of 40.7% in comparison to US$ 236 million last year. ICT export remittances have surged to US$ 2.925 billion during July 2023 to May 2024 of FY2023-24 in comparison to US$ 2.371 billion reported for the same period last year, the date showed. It may be noted that in comparison to previous month of April 2024, ICT services export remittances have increased by US$ 22 million (7.1% growth) in May 2024. Trade surplus of US$ 2.571 billion, highest in all Services (87.9% of total ICT export remittances) has been realized by the IT & ITeS Industry during July 2023 to May 2024 of FY2023-24, an increase of 22.31% as compared to trade surplus of US$ 2.102 billion during the same period last year. ICT sector exports of US$ 2.925 billion are the highest among all Services (41.02% of total export of services) with ‘Other Business Services’ trailing at US$

Apple on Friday said it would delay the rollout of its recently announced AI features in Europe because of “regulatory uncertainties” linked to the EU’s new landmark legislation to curb the power of big tech. Citing the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), a spokesperson for the iPhone-making juggernaut said “we do not believe that we will be able to roll out these features to our EU users this year.” Apple earlier this month unveiled “Apple Intelligence,” its suite of AI features for its coveted devices as it looks to reassure users that it is not falling behind on the AI frenzy. The announcement included a partnership with OpenAI that would make ChatGPT available to iPhone users on request. Apple said the feature, as well as its iPhone Mirroring and SharePlay Screen Sharing enhancements, were put on hold over concern “that the interoperability requirements of the DMA could force us to compromise the integrity of our products in ways that risk user privacy and data securit

The Biden administration on Thursday will announce plans to bar the sale of Kaspersky Lab’s antivirus software in the United States, a person familiar with the matter said, citing the firm’s large US customers including critical infrastructure providers and state and local governments. The company’s close ties to the Russian government were found to pose a critical risk, the person said, adding that the software’s privileged access to a computer’s systems could allow it to steal sensitive information from American computers, install malware or withhold critical updates. The sweeping new rule, using broad powers created by the Trump administration, will be coupled with another move to add the company to a trade restriction list, according to two other people familiar with the matter, dealing a blow to the firm’s reputation that could hammer its overseas sales. The plan to add the cybersecurity company to the entity list, which effectively bars a company’s U.S. suppliers from selling

US electric carmaker Fisker said it filed for bankruptcy Monday, citing inflation woes and production problems. Fisker is in “advanced discussions with financial stakeholders” over the sale of its assets, according to a company statement announcing the bankruptcy proceedings published overnight into Tuesday. “Like other companies in the electric vehicle industry, we have faced various market and macroeconomic headwinds that have impacted our ability to operate efficiently,” it added. Fisker has been in financial difficulty for months and had already halted the production of its Ocean model, which was launched in 2022. The company was valued at $2.9 billion when it went public in 2020, through a merger with a subsidiary of investment firm Apollo. In February, founder Henrik Fisker reflected on a challenging 2023 with delays for parts, labor issues, and high inflation hitting demand. US carmakers are facing tough competition from producers in China, with top American firm Tesla an

ISLAMABAD: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made significant advancements in enhancing the pilgrims’ experience during this Hajj 2024 season by employing data and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. These innovations are being implemented with a commitment to responsible AI practices and applications. This year, the Route to Makkah initiative has seen these advanced technologies deployed across 11 airports in seven countries and at 14 entry points for pilgrims arriving in the Kingdom. Each entry point is equipped with 1,092 workstations featuring the latest biometric capture and registration devices, managed by a dedicated team of national technical staff working around the clock to ensure uninterrupted service. President of the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA), Dr. Abdullah bin Sharaf Al Ghamdi highlighted that the use of AI systems has significantly enhanced the management of Hajj operations, improving productivity, efficiency, and security. This collaboration with var

The US health regulator has changed its strain recommendation for the 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccines, as it asked manufacturers to update the new shots to target the KP.2 variant, if feasible, instead of the JN.1 lineage it sought to target earlier. The Food and Drug Administration’s change in recommendation, in an update dated Thursday, comes even as Moderna and Novavax — makers of two of the three COVID vaccines — submitted their applications to the agency for updating the fall 2024 season shots with the JN.1 strain. Novavax had said its manufacturing is underway for a JN.1 vaccine and it cannot have a shot this fall for another strain. The company applied for authorization on Friday and said its shot showed broad cross-neutralizing antibodies against multiple variants, including KP.2 and KP.3. It said it can be ready with its JN.1 shot by mid-July. Novavax was not immediately available for comment on the FDA’s preference for a KP.2 shot. The FDA’s new advisory differs from recommen

The meta-owned instant messeging app WhatsApp has rolled out two new feature including 32-person video call and chat transfer feature WhatsApp has announced significant upgrades to its video calling features, enabling users to watch videos together during calls and increasing the maximum number of participants to 32 across all devices. Additionally, a new speaker spotlight feature highlights the person speaking in a video call. The platform’s parent company, Meta, has introduced the Meta Low Bitrate (MLow) codec, which improves call reliability and offers twice the audio quality with reduced computing complexity. This technology is already used on Instagram and Messenger calls and will be available on WhatsApp in the coming weeks. Furthermore, WhatsApp is developing a feature to transfer chat history between devices without relying on Google Drive backups, promising a smoother and more user-friendly experience for users. These updates demonstrate WhatsApp’s commitment to enhancing

LinkedIn – a business and employment-focused social media platform that works through websites and mobile apps – is rolling out several new artificial intelligence (AI) features that will assist users in job search and personalised learning on the platform. The latest AI-powered features of LinkedIn include a jobseeker coach that can assist the professional to hunt the right job by using a text prompt. This AI-powered feature is equipped with a tool to review resumes and applications, a chatbot that can interactively assist in creating cover letters, and help in seeking professional advice. However, only Premium users around the world can use this feature currently. Earlier, the LinkedIn announced a new feature that is grouped under the platform’s AI-powered job experience. Currently, it is only available in English, but the company said that in the future it will add more enhancements based on user feedback. LinkedIn has introduced new AI-driven features aimed at enhancing the

A senior Ubisoft official slammed Tesla owner Elon Musk for his criticism of the African samurai character in the upcoming title Assassin’s Creed Shadows. In a post on X, Musk wrote, “DEI [Diversity, equity and inclusion] kills art,” as he was responding to a user complaining about the inclusion of Yasuke, an African samurai, as a playable character in the game. Reacting to Elon Musk’s comment, Assassin’s Creed franchise executive producer Marc-Alexis Cote claimed that the former was feeding hatred with his statements. “That tweet generated emotions that… the first thing I wanted to do was go back on X – that I had deleted – and just tweet back. And I just took a step back. I have a mindfulness app on my phone. And I did a bit of mindfulness to try to explore the emotions that this tweet created. For me, Elon, it’s sad, he’s just feeding hatred. I had a lot of three word replies that came to mind,” he said. “What Elon says is not the game that we’re building. People will have to p

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 developer Treyarch has cleared the air regarding a rumoured mission related to the 9/11 attack on the United States. Rumours had it that the upcoming title will address the attack on the World Trade Centre in the US on September 11, 2001, a gaming website reported. Following the speculations, several asked if it was appropriate for a game to tackle such issue that has US citizens emotionally attached to it. However, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 developer Treyarch has now refuted the claims and labelled such reports as just rumours. “No. That’s a rumour,” Treyarch director of production Yale Miller said in an interview with PC Gamer when asked about the potential 9/11 mission in the game. Read more: Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 official release date announced “Black Ops 6, like every other Black Ops game, is purely fictional. In true Black Ops fashion, it’s not what’s happening up here – ‘the stock market’s going crazy and everything’s great’ – because we actu

Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab will not roll out “Recall”, an AI-powered feature that tracks computer usage, with its new computers next week and will instead preview it with a smaller group later, the tech giant said on Thursday, amid concerns of privacy risks. The Recall feature tracks web browsing to voice chats, creating a history stored on the computer that the user can search when they need to remember something they did, even months later. Recall will now be available only for a preview on its Windows Insider Program (WIP) in the coming weeks instead of being broadly available for Copilot+ PC users on June 18, Microsoft said in a blog post. The decision is “rooted in our commitment to providing a trusted, secure and robust experience for all customers and to seek additional feedback prior to making the feature available to all Copilot+ PC users,” the Redmond, Washington-based company said. Copilot+ PCs are a category of personal computers with artificial intelligence (AI

Workers fired by SpaceX filed a lawsuit Wednesday accusing Elon Musk of fostering a sexist “Dark Ages” culture at the company he founded. The civil complaint filed in a California court in Los Angeles contends Musk had the workers terminated after they published an open letter detailing their concerns and calling on the American aerospace firm’s board to distance itself from the SpaceX chief executive. “Elon Musk trumpets SpaceX as the leader to a brave new world of space travel,” the court filing says. “But (he) runs his company in the Dark Ages — treating women as sexual objects to be evaluated on their bra size, bombarding the workplace with lewd sexual banter, and offering the reprise to those who challenge the ‘Animal House’ environment that if they don’t like it they can seek employment elsewhere.” The suit charges Musk and SpaceX with sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination. “Musk thinks he’s above the law,” plaintiffs’ attorney Laurie Burg

After facing the harrowing prospects of nuclear catastrophe, the globe is now grappling intensive climate change. The concerns in this respect are genuine though the constraints of states about the costs to pay for adopting radical policies are also visible. Altering the current reliance on fossil fuels entails substantial financial and logistical concessions and the leading global economies are understandably worried about doing so. Despite the limitations it is now manifest that global efforts to mitigate climate change are reaching greater scales of activities. It is reported that governments are pledging to slash greenhouse emissions to zero by 2050, investments into renewable energy now account for 70% of funding for new electricity generation, economies are being restructured around the taxation and trading of carbon emissions, climate tech accounts for 6% of early-stage VC funding, and geo-engineering projects may modify the atmosphere to reflect solar radiation or change the

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has seen a surge in the number of registered Information Technology (IT) companies, with the total reaching 20,000, ARY News reported on Tuesday. According to a recent Economic Survey Report, Pakistan witnessed substantial growth in exports of the IT sector, amounting to $2.283 billion. This surge in exports highlighted the growing demand for Pakistani IT services worldwide and the sector’s contribution to the national economy. The report further recorded the remittances from IT freelancers at $35 million, showcasing the role of freelancers in the IT sector. The survey report also reveals a substantial increase in broadband and telecom users across the country with the broadband users reached at 135 million while the telecom users has grown to 194 million. Earlier this week, the federal government has proposed a significant increase of 357 percent in the budget 2024-25 for the IT sector. According to sources, the Ministry of IT has been allocated Rs 27.43 bi

Apple’s developer conference on Monday was about more than infusing its software with the latest artificial intelligence (AI) technology, including from ChatGPT. It was also about selling more iPhones. Facing choppy consumer spending and resurgent tech rivals, Apple has looked to AI as a way to invigorate its loyal fan base of more than 1 billion customers and to reverse a sales decline for its biggest-selling product. The software, which requires at least an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max to operate, may encourage a cascade of new purchases, several analysts said. Some predicted the biggest upgrade cycle come autumn since Apple’s release of the iPhone 12 in 2020, which drew consumers in part through 5G connectivity. “What we saw today was more compelling than anything we’ve seen since,” analyst Gil Luria of D.A. Davidson said. Tejas Dessai of Global X added, “Investors clearly want a more comprehensive and ambitious strategy from Apple when it comes to AI.” The company’s stock fell 2%

Billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday he would ban Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab devices at his companies if the iPhone maker integrates OpenAI at the operating system level. “That is an unacceptable security violation,” Elon Musk, who is the CEO of electric-vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab and rocket maker SpaceX and owner of social media company X, said in a post on X. “And visitors will have to check their Apple devices at the door, where they will be stored in a Faraday cage,” he said. Apple and OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Earlier in the day, Apple announced a slew of AI features across its apps and operating platforms and a partnership with OpenAI to bring the ChatGPT technology to its devices. Apple said it had built AI with privacy “at the core” and it would use a combination of on-device processing and cloud computing to power those features. “It’s patently absurd that Apple isn’t smart enough to make their own AI, yet is

Apple introduced several features including customizable home screen and Apple Intelligence to its iPhone in the latest iOS 18 update. The tech giant also announced its upgraded version of Siri and access to OpenAI’s GPT-4o for its iPhone, iPad, and Mac products during the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday. The latest update iOS 18 will also allow users customise the iPhone in new ways including moving apps around more easily on the home screen and the ability to change their colours. Apple also announced a new feature called Lock An App, which requires users to use Face ID to unlock and access certain apps. iPhone users will now be able to schedule text messages, send animated words and emojis. Read more: iOS 18 to debut Apple Passwords app Apple is also bringing Rich Communication Services (RCS) to its Messages app in iOS 18 that will allow iPhone users to send media and encrypted texts to Android users. The major announcement was the platform, called Appl

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has witnessed an increase of sixty-two point three percent in IT exports during April this year as compared to same period last year, ARY News reported. According to a fresh report of BBC, the increase in IT exports is a result of policy reforms and business-friendly policies introduced by Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC). The report further said the stability of local currency and allowing freelancers to deposit foreign earnings into local bank accounts is the main factor of this surge in the IT exports. The relaxation in retention limit for IT companies from thirty-five to fifty percent by the State Bank of Pakistan is also a factor of this increase. The IT sector is one of the priority sectors of Special Investment Facilitation Council and all the stakeholders were taken into confidence in this connection. READ: Budget 2024-25: 357% increase ‘proposed’ for IT sector Another significant reason for this increase in IT exports is over twenty-five

New York state lawmakers on Friday passed legislation to bar social media platforms from exposing “addictive” algorithmic content to users under age 18 without parental consent, becoming the latest of several states moving to limit online risks to children. A companion bill to restrict online sites from collecting and selling the personal data of underage users also gained final legislative approval in the New York Assembly on Friday, a day after both measures cleared the state Senate. Governor Kathy Hochul is expected to sign both into law. She hailed the two measures as a “historic step forward in our efforts to address the youth mental health crisis and create a safer digital environment for young people.” Social media companies such as Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab, whose platforms include Facebook and Instagram, could take a hit to their revenues. Supporters of the legislation pointed to a recent Harvard University study that found the six largest social media platf