Science and technology

ISLAMABAD: State Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, on Wednesday, called for the completion of all Information Technology projects within specified timelines. Presiding over a meeting, she directed the efficient utilization of funds for all projects. She pledged efforts to accelerate the promotion of the IT and Telecom sector and attract investments in the sector. The meeting was attended by IT Secretary Hassan Nasir Jamy, Additional Secretary Aisha Humera Moriani, and senior officials of the Ministry of IT. Various subsidiary departments of the Ministry of IT, including NTC, PTA, Universal Service Fund, and other government entities, were present in the meeting. During the session, detailed presentations were given on the workings of the Ministry of IT, the IT sector landscape, Telecom Ecosystem, and the Ministry’s projects. Officials from NTC, PTA, and Universal Service Fund also briefed the attendees about their respective projects...

Swedish music streaming company Spotify is rolling out full-length music videos in a limited beta launch for premium subscribers, venturing into an arena that YouTube has dominated for nearly two decades. Music videos will be available to premium users in the UK, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Colombia, Philippines, Indonesia, and Kenya, in beta starting on Wednesday, the company said, as it attempts to grow its user base. While it aims to reach 1 billion users by 2030, Spotify’s new plan faces competition from Apple Music and Alphabet’s YouTube, which allows users to watch music videos for free. Spotify’s roll-out will include a “limited catalog of music videos, including hits from global artists like Ed Sheeran … or local favorites like Aluna,” it said. In March last year, Spotify had introduced “clips”, under-30-second vertical videos that are uploaded directly to Spotify for artists. The company has also expanded its offerings to include podcasts and aud...

Bitcoin hit a record high on Monday above $72,000, as the biggest cryptocurrency’s surge showed no signs of slowing down. Bitcoin was last up 4.4% at $72,649 after reaching as high as $72,739. The world’s most valuable cryptocurrency has been boosted by a flood of cash into new spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds and hopes that the Federal Reserve will soon cut interest rates. “The recent surge in Bitcoin’s value … underscores the remarkable strength and resilience of the leading cryptocurrency. This achievement not only marks a significant milestone but also reflects the continued confidence and demand in the market,” Bitfinex analysts said in a research note. Flows of capital into the 10 largest U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds slowed to a two-week low in the week to March 8, but still reached almost $2 billion, LSEG data showed. “Bitcoin has started the week with a surge, dragging the rest of the cryptocurrency space higher with it,” DailyFX strategist Nick Cawley said. ...

WASHINGTON: US presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Monday TikTok was a national security threat but also said a ban on the popular app would hurt some kids and only strengthen Meta Platforms’ (META.O), opens new tab Facebook, which the Republican has harshly criticized. Trump reiterated his concerns as lawmakers weigh a bill this week that would give TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the short video app used by 170 million Americans. The US House of Representatives is set to vote on Wednesday under fast-track rules that require two-thirds of members to vote “yes” for the measure to win passage. TikTok told Congress late Monday in a letter seen by Reuters it is “not owned or controlled by the Chinese government” and argued if the company was sold another buyer would not continue TikTok’s $1.5 billion effort to protect US data. “Ironically, US user data could be less secure under a divestment scheme,” the company said. The FBI, Justice Department a...

Elon Musk said on Monday his artificial intelligence startup xAI would open-source its ChatGPT challenger “Grok” this week, days after he sued OpenAI for abandoning its original mission in favor of a for-profit model. The billionaire has warned on several occasions against the use of technology for profit by big technology companies such as Google. He filed the lawsuit against Microsoft-backed OpenAI, which he co-founded in 2015 but left three years later, earlier this month. In response, OpenAI publicized emails that showed the Tesla CEO supported a plan to create a for-profit entity and wanted a merger with the EV maker to make the combined company a “cash cow.” “This week, @xAI will open source Grok,” Musk said in a post on X, the social media firm he owns. The move could give the public free access to experiment with the code behind the technology and aligns xAI with firms such as Meta and France’s Mistral, both of which have open-source AI models. Google has also released an...

The meta-owned messaging application, WhatsApp, has been working to enhance its security for users by introducing new features and upgrades. Meta is rumored to roll out a new feature that will present that the user’s chats are encrypted. Chat encryption is an integral part of any messaging application to maintain user privacy and that the conversation stays protected. WhatsApp has already included chat encryption to the app, now it is working to increase its visibility and expand the feature for enhanced user privacy. Learn more about the potential introduction of a new encryption indicator feature in an upcoming WhatsApp update. WhatsApp encryption indicator feature As per the WABetalnfo report, WhatsApp is working on a feature that will increase the visibility of end-to-end encrypted chats. The new feature will render users with a sense of security that their conversations are secured and encrypted. The upcoming WhatsApp update is expected to include an encryption indicator ...

Under pressure from European regulators, Apple took a step back in its feud with Epic Games on Friday, clearing the way for Epic to put its own game store on iPhones and iPads in Europe. Earlier this week, Apple had taken steps to block Epic from starting up a store and bringing back the popular game Fortnite, which Apple removed from its App Store in 2020 after Epic broke the iPhone maker’s in-app payment rules in protest. Apple’s decision to open its door to Epic follows the European Union’s Thursday deadline for Big Tech companies to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a set of rules that bans Apple and Google from controlling which apps are distributed on devices with the iOS and Android operating systems. Thierry Breton, the EU’s industry chief, said regulators had warned Apple about the iPhone maker’s move earlier this week to block Epic’s potential return. “I take note with satisfaction that following our contacts Apple decided to backtrack its decision on Epic exclu...