This discovery was made during lunar day 8 which started on 25 July (a lunar day is equal to 14 days on Earth). As per Space.com, on 28 July, the researchers were preparing to power Yutu-2's usual mid-day "nap" which is important to protect the rover from the high intensity of temperature and radiations fro the sun. While doing this, a small crater was spotted that contained some substance with a "colour" and "lustre" which was clearly different from the surrounding lunar surface.

(Also read: Chandrayaan 2: Detaching from orbiter, Vikram lander enters independent, pre-final orbit around the Moon)

There are still no details about the nature of the newly discovered 'gel-like' substance. Representational Image.

The Chang'e 4 team decided to explore more about this strange substance. As per the Yutu-2's "Drive Diary", the team instructed the rover to point its spectrometer, a device that can help in finding the composition of the material, towards the substance.

Up till now, there are still no details about the nature of the newly discovered substance. As per the report, an outside researcher has suggested that this substance is melt grass made from meteorites that keep on striking the Moon's surface.

As per the Research Director, Peter Richardson,  OS and security updates are something that does not get the required attention as only a few brands focus on these aspects. According to him, manufacturers do not pay much attention to it that is why consumer awareness is also very low.

Nokia has emerged as the top brand when it comes to updating smartphone software and issuing security patches. Image: tech2/ Omkar Godambe

He believes that many users judge the performance of a smartphone just by battery life, processor, camera and memory and OS is something that does not get much attention.

Software and Security Updates: The Missing Link for Smartphones. Image: Counterpoint Research.

The report also reveals that the average time that a user keeps a flagship smartphone is also increasing and in markets like China, Europe, and the US it has reached 30 months.

In this list, Nokia is followed by Samsung with 89 percent of its smartphones running on Android Pie or has got the Android Pie update. Third in line is the Chinese smartphone manufacturer, Xiaomi with 84 percent.

As per a report by SamMobile, the upcoming lineup is expected to come in four storage variants that will range from 128 GB storage to 1 TB of internal storage. The SM-G981 Galaxy S11 model will be available with 128 GB and 512 GB of internal storage. The SM-G986 will be offered in 128, 256 and 512 GB options while the SM-G988 will get all three options in addition to a 1 TB option.

The upcoming Samsung Galaxy S11 series is expected to include a foldable smartphone also. Image: tech2/ Omkar Patne

The report also suggests that the company might not launch the smartphones in the above-mentioned storage variants as Samsung is yet to finalise plans for the Galaxy S11 lineup. There is still no word as to the MicroSD slot. The microSD card was not present in its predecessor series Galaxy S10.

Other than this, it was previously reported that this series might also include at least three smartphones with 5G connectivity and one foldable smartphone.

Using WhatsApp stickers is quite simple. All you need to do is open your Play Store or App Store on your phone, search for terms like Ganapati WhatsApp stickers or Ganesh Chaturthi stickers for WhatsApp and so on. A list of apps will appear on your screen.

Ganesh Chaturthi themed WhatsApp stickers can be downloaded from the Play Store app. Image: Pixabay

Choose the preferred app and download it on your smartphone. As soon as it is installed, open it and choose from the list of different WhatsApp stickers. You need to add a "+" sign and it will ask you if you need to add it to your WhatsApp, tap on yes and voila! It is done.

You can now use these selected stickers by simply going to the chatbox of the person that you need to send it to, open the stickers options and all the stickers that you chose will be there for your use.

Some apps that you choose to download are Ganesh Chaturthi Stickers, Ganesh Sticker For Whatsapp and Ganesh Chaturthi Stickers 2019. 

An illustration of the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter and landing module's post-separation in their independent orbits around the moon. Image: ISRO/YouTube

On 1 September, the Chandrayaan 2 composite (the combined orbiter, lander and rover units) completed its final and fifth orbit-lowering manoeuvre, bringing it to an almost-circular orbit of 119 x 127 km around the moon. Now, the lander is orbiting at an identical 119 x 127 km elliptical orbit to the orbiter.

#ISRO
Vikram Lander Successfully separates from #Chandrayaan2 Orbiter today (September 02, 2019) at 1315 hrs IST.

For details please visit https://t.co/mSgp79R8YP pic.twitter.com/jP7kIwuZxH

— ISRO (@isro) September 2, 2019

With the successful separation, there are only two in-orbit adjustments to the lander's altitude that stand between the mission and the planned soft-landing of the lander and rover on the moon's surface. This is planned for 1.55 am IST on 7 September.

During the landing module's powered descent to the moon's surface, ISRO will oversee two deorbit (orbit-lowering) manoeuvres on 3 and 4 September respectively. This will be followed by a live stream from ISRO's control room leading up to the landing itself – something the Chairman of ISRO described as "15 minutes of terror" for the complexity and challenge of soft-landing (something ISRO is attempting for the first time).

Over the course of the next few days, the first maps of the landing site will be created (planned for 3 and 4 September) by the Vikram lander to ensure the landing site is safe, as previously thought, to make a soft-landing. This is a crucial step in the mission since ISRO's mission engineers won't be operating the spacecraft remotely from the control centre.

The orbiter will also be surveilling its year-long home for the first time, ensuring that no damage was caused to its instruments on the journey so far and conducting a thorough examination of the Vikram lander's landing site at the moon's South Polar region.

While subsequent events in the mission won't be streamed live, you can catch live updates on the mission on our dedicated Chandrayaan 2 domain, our Twitter page, ISRO's website, or Twitter page.

PUBG Mobile Lite.

As per the changelog, here's what all has been added to the game:

• New WP theme and rewards
• New outfits added
• Updated system settings
• Added customization guide
• Added emotes
• Improved UI & update pack size
• Improved graphics
• Battle parameters improve
• Increased accuracy of RPG-7
• Added bombing zones

The update gives the user new WP (Winner Pass) themes and rewards. Apart from that there were new emotes and outfits added which would make the game more similar to the main PUBG Mobile title. There was earlier no red zone in the game where the players had to run for cover due to bombs falling from the sky but with the new update, it has been added. Improved battle parameters would change bullet dynamics and the likes in the game which would make it more competitive.

As of right now the game only features a smaller version of the Erangel map but in future updates, we should see more maps added to the game.

Nokia 8.1 was launched in India at a price of Rs 26,999 for its 4 GB RAM + 64 GB storage variant. After the price cut, however, it is now selling at a price of Rs 15,999. This base variant also got a price cut in June this year after which it was selling at Rs 19,999. The higher variant is now priced at Rs 22,999 that was launched at a price of Rs 29,999.

Another Nokia phone that has got a price drop is the Nokia 8110 4G. This smartphone was initially announced at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018. The handset made its way to the India market in October last year and was priced at Rs 5,999. As of now, Nokia 8110 4G is selling at just Rs 2,999.

Nokia 8.1 Specifications

In terms of display, the device features a 6.18-inch FullHD+ "PureDisplay" with an 18.7:9 ratio. The screen is protected by Corning's 2.5D Gorilla Glass. The phone also comes with a microSD card slot which can be used to expand the memory of the device up to 400 GB.

The device features a dual camera set up at the back with a 12 MP camera unit featuring a 1/2.55-inch sensor and 1.4 um pixels, OIS, EIS, and interestingly, 2PD or dual photodiode.

The secondary sensor in the dual rear set-up is a 13 MP unit and the front camera includes a single 20 MP sensor.

Nokia 8.1 runs stock Android 9.0 Pie and is part of the Android One programme. Powering the device is a 3,500 mAh battery and there is a support for 18 W fast charging.

Nokia 8110 4G specs

The Nokia 8110 features intuitive tactile mechanics with slide to answer and end calls, as well as a helicopter-style spin on its axis. It supports VoLTE calling and features the Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform. It comes with 4G connectivity as well as apps including Google Assistant, Google Maps, Google Search, Facebook and Twitter.

The phone also comes with a revamped version of the iconic Snake game and is available in traditional Black and Banana Yellow colours.

As of now, 5G has been seen only on flagship devices. But this may change with the Galaxy A90.

This was first reported by reliable leakster Evan Blass, who obtained a deluge of videos and animations that appear to show the 'Galaxy A90 5G'.

We are unsure if Galaxy A90 will come with a standalone 5G variant or if Samsung will make that a standard for the new smartphone.

Representational Image. Samsung Galaxy A70. Image: tech2/Nandini Yadav

Design-wise, Blass says that the Galaxy A90 will have the usual A-series design with a teardrop display notch and triple rear cameras.

Besides Blass' leak, recently a purported Galaxy A90 retail box also leaked (via dcinside) online, which also suggests that the Galaxy A90 will come with 5G support. It also claims that the smartphone will feature a 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED display, an octa-core processor — possibly Snapdragon 855 — with 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage.

In terms of optics, the leaked retail box shows the device sporting a 32 MP selfie camera. At the back, there will reportedly be a triple camera setup with a 48 MP, a 5 MP and 8 MP sensors.

The smartphone is available in just one storage option — 4 GB RAM + 128 GB internal storage and two colour variants — Pearl White and Denim Blue.

Motorola One Action pricing, sale offers

Motorola One Action is now available on open sale on Flipkart at a price of Rs 13,999 for its 4 GB RAM and 128 GB storage variant.

Motorola One Action is available in powered by Exynos 9609 SoC along with 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage.

As for the sale offers, Jio users can get benefits of Rs 2,200 as io instant cashback and 125 GB of additional 4G data on the purchase of this smartphone. You can also opt for the no EMI option to buy the device. Flipkart is also giving a five percent cashback on Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card and 10 percent off on Axis Bank Buzz Credit card.

Moto One Action specs

The device has a 6.3-inch full-HD+ screen with a 21:9 aspect ratio as seen on the Moto One Vision smartphone. There is also a punch-hole cutout in the display for the camera. The phone is powered by an Exynos 9609 SoC along with 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. The Moto One Action is an Android One smartphone and runs on Android 9.0 Pie.

As far as optics go, the Moto One Action has a triple rear camera setup with a 16 MP action sensor which uses pixel binning to produce 4-in-1 4 MP shots. It is supported by a 12 MP primary sensor and a 5 MP depth sensor. On the front, the device has a 12 MP sensor with an f/2.0 aperture.

Connectivity options for the device include dual-SIM 4G VoLTE support, Wi-Fi 802.11, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS, NFC, USB Type-C, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The entire setup is powered by a 3,500 mAh battery which has 10 W charging. The phone measures1 60.1x71.2x9.15 mm and weighs 160 grams.

Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd which publishes Firstpost

This was first spotted by XDA Developers. UPI right now has 141 Indian banks onboard and users from those banks can use this mode to purchase apps from the Play Store.

Users can now purchase apps from Play Store via UPI payment. Image: Tech2

Until now, Play Store users had the option to pay via debit cards, credit cards, and net banking. Now, it's as simple as sharing your UPI ID and authenticating the transaction with a pin, to make purchases on the app.

The payment option is quite easy to use and that is why several digital wallets like Paytm, PhonePe, are also using it. As reported by ETtech back in June, Google Pay was the top UPI payment app, closely followed by Flipkart-owned PhonePe which saw 230 million transactions in May.

Another big thing that Google has introduced in its Play Store recently is Google Go search app. Google Go can be installed on every Android device running Android 5.0 Lollipop and above. Along with providing search results, the app can also remember your search results for later use.

If successful, the Vikram lander will then be put on a separate, circular path identical to the orbiter, passing over the lunar poles at a distance of roughly 100 km from the surface.

By attaining a near-circular orbit, there are only three more mission milestones before the Vikram lander attempts its planned soft-landing on the moon's surface on 7 September at 1.55 am IST. This includes two deorbit (orbit-lowering) manoeuvres on 3 and 4 September and its powered descent from an elliptical orbit of 36 x 110 km between 1.30-2.30 am on 7 September.

Chandrayaan 2 composite orbiting the moon before the lander's separation. Image: ISRO

Over the course of the next few days, the first maps of the landing site will be created (planned for 3 and 4 September) by the Vikram lander to ensure the landing site is safe, as previously thought, to make a soft-landing. This is a crucial step in the mission since ISRO's mission engineers won't be operating the spacecraft remotely from the control centre.

The orbiter will also be surveilling its year-long home for the first time, ensuring that no damage was caused to its instruments on the journey so far and conducting a thorough examination of the Vikram lander's landing site at the moon's South Polar region.

While subsequent events in the mission won't be streamed live, you can catch live updates on the mission on our dedicated Chandrayaan 2 domain, our Twitter page, ISRO's website, or Twitter page.

The Huawei Mate 20 Pro. Image: tech2/Omkar Patne

In line with a recent rumour, Huawei's latest tweet reveals that the Mate 30 series of phones will be officially unveiled on 19 September. Per the tweet, Huawei will be hosting the launch event in Munich, Germany and the tagline for the event is “Rethink Possibilities.” The company will be live streaming the event on its official website. In case you want to book mark the event, you can head to the company website and click on the 'Save The Date' button to be reminded ahead of the launch.

Did you get it right? The countdown to #HuaweiMate30 starts now!
We're going full circle in Munich on 19.09.2019.
Join us live: https://t.co/9ugi5gG9ci#RethinkPossibilitiespic.twitter.com/etRYjrBVEC

— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) September 1, 2019

Huawei Mate 30 series: What software will it run?

After Huawei's trade ban extension ended in August, Google announced last week that Huawei's upcoming Mate series will not be powered by Android operating system.

A Google spokesman said that the Mate 30 cannot be sold with licensed Google apps and services due to the US ban on sales to Huawei. A temporary reprieve that the US government announced last month does not apply to new products such as the Mate 30, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Huawei spokesman Joe Kelly said that "Huawei will continue to use the Android OS and ecosystem if the US government allows us to do so...Otherwise, we will continue to develop our own operating system and ecosystem."

This leaves no option for Huawei but to use its own operating system for the new Mate phones. Recently, the company senior vice president Vincent Yang said that Huawei would like to maintain its current Android ecosystem on smartphones and will only use Harmony OS as a plan B in the case sanctions are again imposed on it.

(Also Read: Hongmeng OS (Ark OS): Google's absence could create big problems for Huawei)

Harmony OS is reportedly a microkernel-based operating system that is similar to the Fuchsia OS that is being worked upon by Google. Over the next three years, Harmony OS will be optimised and gradually adopted across a broader range of smart devices, including wearables, Huawei Vision, and head units for your car.

Simultaneously, Huawei also made it clear that Harmony OS was not meant to replace Android on smartphones but is meant to work across various devices with a focus on security.

Huawei Mate 30 series: Expected specifications and features

The Mate 30 series is expected to be powered by Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 990 SoC. According to a report in GizChina, the Kirin 990 SoC is expected to be manufactured on the EUV 7 nm process by TSMC. The Mate 30 series would also come incorporated with a 5G modem, the HiSilicon Balong 5000 5G modem. We don't know yet whether all Huawei Mate 30 Pro phones will come with a 5G modem or there will be a special 5G variant of the Mate 30 series, just like with the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G.

The Mate 30 Pro is expected to come with a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a 90 Hz refresh rate. It is said to be sporting triple cameras on the back with 40 MP sensors, which will offer up to 5x optical zoom and 50x digital zoom. The setup is being speculated to be powered by a 4,200 mAh battery and will come with a 55 W fast-charging adapter.

According to a report by TechCrunch, the malicious websites were "part of a state-backed attack — likely China — designed to target the Uyghur community in the country’s Xinjiang state." Reportedly, these websites are a part of the Chinese government's latest effort to crack down on the minority Muslim community.

Google researchers revealed that there are a number of websites that have been at work attacking iPhones users that visited them. These websites had “thousands of visitors” per week for at least two years, Google said.

iPhone. Image: Reuters

Notably, soon after reporting their findings to Apple, the iPhone manufacturer patched the vulnerabilities earlier this year in iOS 12.1.4 update.

In May this year, another report revealed that the Chinese authorities are using a mobile app designed for mass surveillance to profile, investigate and detain Muslims in Xinjiang by labelling "completely lawful" behaviour as suspicious, a Human Rights Watch report said Thursday.

Beijing has come under international criticism over its policies in the northwest region of Xinjiang, where as many as one million Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim minorities are being held in internment camps, according to a group of experts cited by the UN.

However, the reason behind this major mass extinction of Earth, which always remained a mystery, has now been unravelled by researchers. They have found an answer to this event considered as one of the ten most dramatic extinctions in Earth's history.

Referred to by scientists as the Lau/Kozlowskii extinction, it was triggered by an all-too-familiar culprit: rapid and widespread depletion of oxygen in the global oceans.

The findings of the study were published in the journal — Geology and the study was conducted by researchers from Florida State University.

Representational Image.

Unlike other famous mass extinctions that can be tidily linked to discrete, apocalyptic calamities like meteor impacts or volcanic eruptions, there was no known, spectacularly destructive event responsible for the Lau/Kozlowskii extinction.

"This makes it one of the few extinction events that is comparable to the large-scale declines in biodiversity currently happening today, and a valuable window into future climate scenarios," said study co-author Seth Young, an assistant professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science.

Scientists have long been aware of the Lau/Kozlowskii extinction as well as a related disruption in Earth's carbon cycle during, which the burial of enormous amount of organic matter caused significant climate and environmental changes. But the link and timing between these two associated events -- the extinction preceded the carbon cycle disruption by more than a hundred thousand years -- remained stubbornly opaque.

"It has never been clearly understood how this timing of events could be linked to a climate perturbation, or whether there was direct evidence linking widespread low-oxygen conditions to the extinction," said Chelsie Bowman, FSU doctoral student, who led the study.

Researchers used advanced geochemical methods including thallium isotope, manganese concentration, and sulfur isotope measurements from important sites in Latvia and Sweden to reconstruct a timeline of ocean deoxygenation with relation to the Lau/Kozlowskii extinction and subsequent changes to the global carbon cycle.

The team's new and surprising findings confirmed their original hypothesis that the extinction record might be driven by a decline of ocean oxygenation.

Their multiproxy measurements established a clear connection between the steady creep of deoxygenated waters and the step-wise nature of the extinction event — its start in communities of deep-water organisms and eventual spread to shallow-water organisms.

The spacecraft's onboard propulsion system (popularly known as "thrusters" were fired for 52 seconds in the mission's fifth and final orbit-lowering manoeuvre in the moon's orbit.  ISRO has also announced that the landing module (the Vikram lander with the Pragyan rover inside it) is scheduled for separation on 2 September between 12.45 - 1.45 pm. If successful, Vikram lander will then be put on a separate, circular path identical to the orbiter, passing over the lunar poles at a distance of roughly 100 km from the surface.

Chandrayaan 2 composite orbiting the moon before the lander's separation. Image: ISRO

By attaining a near-circular orbit, there are only three more mission milestones before the Vikram lander attempts its planned soft-landing on the moon's surface on 7 September at 1.55 am IST. This includes two deorbit (orbit-lowering) manoeuvres on 3 and 4 September and its powered descent from an elliptical orbit of 36 x 110 km between 1.30-2.30 am on 7 September.

Over the course of the next few days, the first maps of the landing site will be created (planned for 3 and 4 September) by the Vikram lander to ensure the landing site is safe, as previously thought, to make a soft-landing. This is a crucial step in the mission since ISRO's mission engineers won't be operating the spacecraft remotely from the control centre.

The orbiter will also be surveilling its year-long home for the first time, ensuring that no damage was caused to its instruments on the journey so far and conducting a thorough examination of the Vikram lander's landing site at the moon's South Polar region.

While subsequent events in the mission won't be streamed live, you can catch live updates on the mission on our dedicated Chandrayaan 2 domain, our Twitter page, ISRO's website, or Twitter page.

Google has announced in its official blog, that it will soon be rolling out a new feature in its business suite that could warn users when someone they're sending an email to is away or on vacation.

The new Gmail feature will be enabled in G Suite automatically and will be rolled out over the next few weeks.

Currently, Gmail allows you to indicate if you are not available in the office using Out of Office (OOO) feature. Now, a new update will ensure those who send you emails also know that you are not around.

When you have an OOO entry on your calendar, a notice of that status will appear in Gmail and Hangouts Chat when people try to contact you, the official blog explains.

This is essentially aimed at alerting people before they send an email or try to contact over Hangouts Chat across G Suite. Users have the option to disable the notification across apps from the calendar settings.

Google says that the feature will be enabled in G Suite automatically and will be rolled out over the next few weeks.

With inputs from ANI.

According to sources privy to the development, Apple has conveyed to the government its plans to set up physical as well as an online store, in line with its 'global experience' centres for Apple-branded products.

The move comes at a time when global smartphone manufacturers have reiterated their commitment to the Indian market and are looking to significantly ramp up their manufacturing capabilities in the country.

Apple, which works with Taiwanese contract manufacturer Wistron in India, currently makes iPhone 6S and 7 here. One of the sources said Apple is looking at assembling more models in the country. Apple did not respond to a query on this issue.

Representational image. Image: Reuters

In a major push to single-brand retail, the government last week had relaxed FDI norms, offering players more flexibility on local sourcing norms. It also did away a provision that required companies to mandatorily set up a brick-and-mortar store before getting into online retail trading.

(Also read: Apple, Oppo and others committed to long-term investment in India after FDI relaxation)

Following the announcement, Apple had said it is keen on offering online and in-store experiences to Indian users that are at par with its global standards and aims to open its maiden retail store in India.

While the company has remained mum on the locations of its stores, reports suggest that Mumbai could become home to India's maiden Apple retail store.

India is looking to galvanise smartphone manufacturing and position itself as a global hub, dishing out incentives to sweeten the deal for international brands.

Amid growing concerns around US-China trade war, India now has an opportunity to woo companies that had so far concentrated their manufacturing operations in China.

The government has been engaged in a dialogue with key players to understand their concerns and requirements.

A recent report by industry body IAMAI had pointed out that India's mobile manufacturing lacks scale and depth despite its ambition to become global production hub, and the country needs to "think big" by manufacturing at scale, producing high-end phones, and incentivising exports.

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) report had also noted that the global handsets market is worth about $467 billion (about Rs 32 lakh crore), and this demand is being met almost entirely by China, Vietnam, South Korea and Taiwan.

The same report stated that in 2018-19, India exported mobile handsets worth $1.4 billion compared to $2.7 billion in 2012-13.

The production of mobile handsets had reached 225 million units in 2017-18 and India has the potential to manufacture one billion handsets annually, it had said.

JioFiber services will roll out on 5 September. Image: Jio

JioFiber service internet speeds and tariff plans

JioFiber services will offer internet services at speeds going from 100 Mbps all the way to 1 Gbps. The tariff plans would begin from Rs 700 and go up to Rs 10,000 per month depending on the plans you opt for.

Everything you wanted to know about @reliancejio's #JioFiber service. Plans to be announced on 5 September. pic.twitter.com/pUyIzAACDj

— Tech2 (@tech2eets) August 12, 2019

.@reliancejio #JioFiber is set to be made commercially available from 5th September’19 with a monthly starting price of Rs 700. Here are the major highlights from #RIL42ndAGM @nimsaw pic.twitter.com/hFx2RZm1xa

— Tech2 (@tech2eets) August 12, 2019

JioFiber service offers

As part of the JioFiber service, customers will be eligible to get a free 4K set-top box and a landline connection. This landline connection will let you make voice calls across India on other mobile phones as well as landline numbers. The set-top box will let you make video calls, provided you have a webcam attached to your TV, to other Jio users across platform using the JioCall app.

As part of the JioFiber Welcome Offer, users who opt for annual plans will be eligible for a free HD or 4K LED TVs.

JioFiber services will also come bundled with OTT applications so that you don’t have to pay separately to access these services. As of now, we do not know which OTT services are part of this plan.

The Jio First Day First Show offer will also let Premium JioFiber customers watch movies on their TVs on the same day as their theatrical release. This feature will be available from mid-2020 onwards.

Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.

In line with the rumours, the leak on MyDrivers suggests that Apple will be releasing three new iPhones this month, and none of the new iPhones will apparently feature Touch ID. And as per the leak, these iPhones will be called the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Max.

iPhone 11: Leaked specifications and pricing

Apple iPhone 11 is expected to be the successor of the existing iPhone XR. Per the leak, feature a 6.1-inch LCD display with a 1792 x 828 pixel resolution at 326 ppi. The smartphone will feature Face ID. The smartphone will reportedly be powered by an A13 chipset with 4 GB of RAM. The device will apparently be available in three storage variants — 64 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB.

For optics, it will sport a 12 MP front camera and a 12 MP dual-rear camera setup. Further, it will feature bilateral wireless charging and support for Wi-Fi 6. Fuelling the smartphone will be 3,110 mAh battery.

As for pricing, Apple iPhone 11 will be priced starting $749; that's about Rs 54,000 as per today's exchange rate.

Apple iPhone XR. Image: tech2/Omkar Patne

iPhone 11 Pro: Leaked specifications and pricing

Apple iPhone 11 Pro will reportedly be the successor of the iPhone XS. The iPhone will reportedly feature a 5.8-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2436 x 1125 pixel and 458 ppi. It will feature Face ID, will be powered by A13 chipset, and 6 GB RAM. The device will apparently be available in three storage variants — 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB.

For optics, it will feature a 12 MP selfie camera, and a 12 MP triple camera setup at the rear.

Additionally, it will come with bilateral wireless charging and support for Wi-Fi 6. The smartphone will apparently also support Apple Pencil.

Fuelling the iPhone 11 Pro is believed to be a 3,190+ mAh battery.

As for pricing, it will reportedly be available starting $999; that's about Rs 72,000 per today's exchange rate.

iPhone 11 Max: Leaked specifications and pricing

The iPhone 11 Max is believed to be the highest-priced variant of the lot. It will reportedly feature a 6.5-inch OLED display with 2,688 x 1,242 resolution and 458 ppi. The smartphone will apparently come with Face ID and Apple Pencil support.

Powering the iPhone 11 Max will be an A13 chip with 6 GB RAM, and this setup will come in three storage options — 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB.

In terms of optics, the iPhone 11 Max will sport a 12 MP camera for selfies, and a 12 MP triple camera setup at the rear. Fuelling the device will reportedly be a 3,500 mAh+ battery.

Pricing of the iPhone 11 Max is believed to start at $1,099, which is about Rs 79,000 per current exchange rate.

However, now, countering that claim, a study published in the New Zealand Medical Journal notes that any potentially harmful biological effects are more commonly seen in low-quality scientific studies, CNet reports.

The researchers argue that many of the studies indicating the effect of radiofrequency (RF) radiation going beyond heating of human tissue are of low quality but get published because they are interesting.

Representational image.

They further argue that these studies lack the consistency in terms of their result and anti-5G sentiment without scientific evidence would do more harm than good.

Earlier this week, Chicago Tribune did a study and found that iPhone 7, iPhone 8, iPhone X, and Samsung's Galaxy S8, Galaxy S9, and Galaxy J3 emit radiation that exceeded the set limits mentioned by FCC.

Talking about the harmful effects of these radiations, the lawsuit claimed that it can cause increased cancer risk, cellular stress, increase in harmful Free Radicals, genetic damages, structural and functional changes of the reproductive system, learning and memory deficits, neurological disorders, and negative impacts on general well-being in humans.

As Apple and Samsung had said in response, the new study by researchers in New Zealand Journal also suggests inaccuracy in testing.

With inputs from ANI.

The Chandrayaan 2 composite has carried out three successful in-orbit manoeuvres since it entered lunar orbit — all to lower its altitude for separation of the Vikram lander and the landing itself. If successful, the final manoeuvre today will put the spacecraft on a circular path that passes over the lunar poles at a distance of roughly 100 km from the surface. Entering this circular orbit is the mission's final milestone before the Vikram lander separates from the orbiter to make its planned soft-landing on the moon's surface on 7 September at 1.55 am IST.

Chandrayaan 2 composite orbiting the moon before the lander's separation. Image: ISRO

The 100 x 100 km circular orbit will be close enough for the Vikram lander, currently bound to the orbiter in a 'composite', to separate. The separation and landing sequences are planned for 2 September and 7 September at 1.40 am, respectively. Between these two key milestones, the first maps of the landing site will be created (planned for 3 and 4 September) by the Vikram lander to ensure the landing site is safe, as previously thought, to make a soft-landing.

This is a crucial step in the mission since ISRO's mission engineers won't be operating the spacecraft remotely from the control centre. The orbiter will also be surveilling its year-long home for the first time, ensuring that no damage was caused to its instruments on the journey so far and conducting a thorough examination of the Vikram lander's landing site at the moon's South Polar region.

Chandrayaan 2 is expected to make its long-awaited powered descent and landing on 7 September at 1.40 am IST in a landing sequence that the ISRO Chief describes as '15 minutes of terror'.

While subsequent events in the mission won't be streamed live, you can catch live updates on the mission on our dedicated Chandrayaan 2 domain, our Twitter page, ISRO's website, or Twitter page.

On 26 August, DGCA said that the laptop may cause security risk and should not be allowed on board. Now, in compliance to this advisory national carrier Air India on Saturday requested passengers not to carry "15-inch Apple Mac Book Pro (purchased between September 2015 - February 2017) as checked-in or hand baggage."

Issuing a public note on Twitter, Air India said, "In view of the advisory by DGCA regarding the transportation of affected lithium batteries by Air, we request our Passengers not to carry 15-inch Apple Mac Book Pro (purchased between September 2015 - February 2017) as checked-in or hand baggage."

2016 MacBook Pro with touchbar.

The DGCA had on 26 August asked passengers not to fly with older generation 15-inch MacBook Pro units which have been recalled by Apple, as they may pose a safety risk.

#FlyAI : In view of the advisory by DGCA regarding transportation of affected lithium batteries by Air, we request our Passengers not to carry 15-inch Apple Mac Book Pro (purchased between Sep 2015 – Feb 2017) as checked-in or hand baggage. pic.twitter.com/K0hCxlR43h

— Air India (@airindiain) August 31, 2019

"Consequent upon the recall of a limited number of older generation 15-inch MacBook Pro laptops by Apple Inc. (sold primarily between September 2015 and February 2017) due to fears that their batteries may overheat and pose a safety risk," the advisory stated.

Earlier on 20 June, Apple had announced a voluntary recall of the older generation 15-inch MacBook Pro units which contained a battery that may overheat and pose a fire safety risk.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) which has the power to regulate all civil aviation matters in the United States of America had banned all passengers from carrying the model on flights.

With inputs from ANI.

OnePlus 7 Pro.

Reputed tipster Ishan Agarwal, who has earlier been right about OnePlus leaks, has said that the 7T Pro will look exactly like the 7 Pro in terms of design and screen. However, the device will be packing in a Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset instead of the Snapdragon 855. The device is also said to come with Android 10 out-of-the-box.

The phone is also said to come with the Warp Charge 30T which could charge the device from 0-50 percent in about 20 minutes while a full charge from zero percent will take 65 minutes. Apart from that, the 7T Pro is said to have the same camera layout as the OnePlus 7 Pro however the device is going to come with Macro Mode, HEVC, and Hybrid Image Stabilisation.

Ishan Agarwal has previously tweeted out that OnePlus 7T (not the 7T Pro, mind you) will be coming with a 90 Hz refresh rate display with QHD+ resolution. We'll have to see how the leaks pan out when the devices are launched which is rumoured to be on 26 September.

A Facebook panel is seen during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, in Cannes, France. Reuters

An updated Homeland Security Department review of potential privacy issues dated July 2019 that was posted online on Friday essentially reversed a prior ban on officers creating fake profiles.

A USCIS statement explaining the change says fake accounts and identities will make it easier for investigators to search for potential evidence of fraud or security concerns as they decide whether to allow someone entry into the US.

The change in policy was preceded by other steps taken by the State Department, which began requiring applicants for US visas to submit their social media usernames this past June, a vast expansion of the Trump administration's enhanced screening of potential immigrants and visitors.

It's unclear exactly how the creation of fake social media accounts would work given policies of platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which both specifically state that impersonation — pretending to be someone other than yourself — violates their terms of use.

Twitter and Facebook recently shut down numerous accounts believed to be operated by the Chinese government using their platforms under false identities for information operations.

"It is against our policies to use fake personae and to use Twitter data for persistent surveillance of individuals. We look forward to understanding USCIS's proposed practices to determine whether they are consistent with our terms of service," according to a Twitter statement. Facebook did not immediately provide comment.

Such a review of social media would be conducted by officers in the agency's Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate on cases flagged as requiring more investigation. The privacy assessment notes that officers can only review publicly available social media available to all users on the platform — they cannot "friend" or "follow" an individual — and must undergo annual training.

The officers are also not allowed to interact with users on the social media sites and can only passively review information, according to the DHS document.

While lots of social media activity can be viewed without an account, many platforms limit access without one.

Dave Maass, senior investigative researcher for the civil liberties advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation, said such use of fake accounts "undermines our trust in social media companies and our ability to communicate and organize and stay in touch with people."

He added: "It can't be this double standard where police can do it, but members of the general public can't."

Mike German, a retired FBI agent and a fellow in the Brennan Center for Justice's Liberty and National Security program said it's important for strong guidelines to be in place and for lawmakers to ask lots of questions to ensure there are no abuses.

"It's easy to conjure up a use where the use is appropriate and entirely necessary, but also where it could be abused," German said. "It should only be used in cases where absolutely necessary."

In January 2017, former Homeland Security Department Secretary Jeh Johnson issued a privacy impact update giving authority to USCIS to "conduct law enforcement activities including but not limited to accessing internet and publicly available social media content using a fictitious account or identity."

But a privacy impact assessment was required to be completed first.

Reached by phone on Friday, Johnson declined to comment.

Bipartisan support for additional background checks involving social media was initially spurred by the fallout of the 2015 San Bernardino attack, which resulted in 14 people's deaths.

In that case, the shooter Syed Rizwan Farook's wife Tashfeen Malik gained entry to the US on a fiancée visa — a process that did not involve a social media check.

The day after the attack, Facebook found a post on a page maintained by Malik pledging her and Farook's allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State group. The page was under an alias. Authorities have said Malik and Farook exchanged messages about jihad and martyrdom online before they were married and while she was living in Pakistan.

The two ultimately died in a gun battle with police.

Now if you are wondering how to find them, we have just what you are looking for. It is quite simple, all you need to do is open your Play Store or App Store on your phone, search for terms like. Islamic New Year WhatsApp stickers or Islamic stickers for WhatsApp and so on. A list of apps will appear on your screen.

You can find apps for Islam themed WhatsApp stickers on Play Store. Image: Pixabay

Choose the preferred app and download it on your smartphone. As soon as it is installed, open it and choose from the list of different WhatsApp stickers. You need to add a "+" sign and it will ask you if you need to add it to your WhatsApp, tap on yes and voila! It is done.

You can now use these selected stickers by simply going to the chatbox of the person that you need to send it to, open the stickers options and all the stickers that you chose will be there for your use.

Some apps that you choose to download are Islamic Stickers (WAStickerApps), Islamic Stickers and Islamic Stickers For Whatsapp 2019. 

According to Apple's support page on the issue, "in very rare instances", aluminium models of the above Watches can develop cracks around on the curved edges of the glass, which can extend to all around the screen.

The program extends to three years from date of purchase or one year from the start of the program.

Affected devices can be brought into an Apple Store, to a certified professional, or you can contact Apple Support online.

If the device is eligible, Apple will replace the screen or Watch for free as needed.

The program is valid for three years since the date of first retail purchase or one year from the start of the replacement program, whichever is longer.

Apple has also provided guidelines on how to prepare the Watch before sending it in for repair or replacement.

This is not an extension of the warranty and only covers the screen if damaged in the manner described by Apple.

Cracks can apparently form on the curved edges of some Apple Watch Series 3 models.

Yes, Twitter CEO's Twitter account was hacked for a while. Dorsey has around 4.2 million followers.

Twitter's communications team confirmed that Dorsey's account was indeed compromised and they were investigating the matter.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Image: Reuters

A group going by the name Chuckle Squad was tweeting anti-Semitic and racist tweets, retweeting accounts and even asking for some handles to be unsuspended. The tweets were live for a good 20 mins (even more) before the Twitter security team got into action.

Looks like @twitter CEO @jack's account has been hacked pic.twitter.com/QfKx3n20w6

— Nimish (@nimsaw) August 30, 2019

The tweetstorm from the hacker began with a tweet which had a link to a Discord chat group. According to Buzzfeed, Discord took down the server which was hosting these chats.

.@Jack’s account has been hacked.

The Tweets are coming from a source called Cloudhopper. Cloudhopper was the name of the company Twitter acquired a long time ago to help bolster their SMS service.

Looks like the hackers are Tweeting via the old SMS service... pic.twitter.com/YcU3DTn9wS

— Sam (@Hooray) August 30, 2019

According to The Verge, the attackers seem to be the same group that recently attacked many YouTubers and influencers on Twitter. Some influencers who were attacked, claimed that their accounts were breached after a SIM swap that was done by AT&T.

Twitter keeps talking about the measures it is taking to contain abuse and hate on the platform. But it was rather ironic to see the platform's CEO's handle itself tweeting racist and anti-Semitic tweets. While things are under control now, it is certainly a huge embarrassment for Twitter. I mean, if the Twitter CEO himself can be hacked, that puts a big question mark on the company's security practices. The matter is still under investigation, and Twitter should put out an official statement of what exactly went down, as tomorrow it could be anyone's account.

Update 1: As expected, it appears that Dorsey was a victim of SIM swap fraud. Twitter has confirmed that a phone number associated with the account was compromised "due to a security oversight by a mobile provider." Twitter itself wasn't hacked and no data was stolen. The hacker sent tweets via SMS.

The phone number associated with the account was compromised due to a security oversight by the mobile provider. This allowed an unauthorized person to compose and send tweets via text message from the phone number. That issue is now resolved.

— Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) August 31, 2019

The story is developing. We will update the story as the updates come through.

Ather Dot.

The company will only be selling this product to its Ather 450 customers in Chennai & Bengaluru. Ather said that it has been making changes to its intelligent scooter Ather 450 and one of them is to take the charger off-board. The company said that this would help in weight distribution and improve vehicle dynamics as well.

The Ather Dot is equipped with surge protection and will work only with an Ather scooter. It comes with features such as auto cut-off and app integration to let charging continue overnight unattended. The Ather Dot is said to take 4 hours and 30 mins for up to 80 percent SOC while 0 percent to 100 percent will take 5 hours and 15 mins.

Ather will be providing a paid installation service of the Ather Dot for Rs 1,800, which is said to include standard installation, consumables, and labour charges. The Ather Dot can also be manually installed with the installation manual provided with the Ather Dot.

Ather Energy had launched its Ather 340 and Ather 450 smart electric scooters in India back in 2018. While the more powerful 450 has been priced at Rs 1.13 lakh on-road, the 340 is priced at Rs 1.02 lakh on-road.

Apple AirPods. Image: Apple

The report by Counterpoint has stated that the while globally there has been a lot of growth in the hearables market, China has more than doubled its growth thanks to the success of its 618 online shopping festival.

Liz Lee, Senior Analyst at Counterpoint Research, said, “The true wireless hearables market marked a steep growth in the second quarter. Given such a growth momentum in the first half of the year, we expect the annual size of the true wireless hearables market for 2019 to reach 120 million units. In addition to the continued growth of existing major markets, the consumer demand for budget true wireless hearables when purchasing a smartphone will become another growth engine, especially in China.”

Apple continued to be at the top of the market with the launch of its second-gen AirPods, however, it's market share has fallen from 60 percent to 53 percent in Q2 2019. Samsung comes in at second with an 8 percent market share thanks to the Galaxy Buds launched in early March.

Xiaomi and Beats have both been prominent members in Q2 with the launch of the Mi AirDots and the PowerBeats Pro respectively. Premium models which cost above $150 have still been ranked in the best seller's list while Huawei Freebuds Lite, JBL TUNE 120, and PowerBeats Pro also showed a solid performance.

The models recalled by BMW include the G 310 R roadster (2017-2020), the G 310 GS adventure tourer (2018-2020) and the 2019 C 400 X scooter.

BMW G 310 GS.

As per the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA), the brake issue is to do with exposure to environmental conditions that can lead to corrosion of the brake calliper piston bore. This would affect the clearance of the bore causing it to freeze up and in turn, prevent the brake pads from biting on to the brake disc or at times even releasing it, resulting in a lock-up, which can be quite dangerous and result in accidents.

As per BMW North America, owners of these motorcycles and scooters will be notified by the manufacturer and dealerships will replace the front and rear brake callipers at no extra cost.

BMW G 310 R. Image: BMW Motorrad

This is not the first time the India-made motorcycles have been recalled.

In July 2018, BMW recalled the two motorcycles (not the scooter) over an issue concerning the side stand and a part of the frame that is connected to the side stand. As per the NHTSA, prolonged use of the side stand might lead to breakage from the part of the frame holding it. As per a previous report, everything from the engine to the frame has been developed by BMW while TVS simply provided a cost-effective production base.

The BMW G 310 R is a naked roadster that was also launched in India in collaboration with TVS and is priced at Rs 2.99 lakh (ex-showroom). The BMW G 310 GS was also launched in India in 2018 at Rs 3.49 lakh (ex-showroom).

BMW India confirmed to Autocar India that none of the two-wheeler models sold in the country have been affected by the problem.

A bunch of security researchers working at Google’s Project Zero have revealed what in all probability is the biggest attack against iPhone users yet.

The researchers at Project Zero basically uncovered a series of hacked websites that have been attacking iPhones for years without anyone knowing.

Representational image.

As per the blog post, there are a number of websites that have been at work attacking iPhones users that visited them. Soon after reporting their findings to Apple, the iPhone manufacturer patched the vulnerabilities earlier this year.

How it worked

Simply put, a user visits the malicious website, using a vulnerable iPhone, and everything from personal files, to messages, and even real-time location data would become accessible to the hackers.

As per the post just visiting the hacked website was “enough for the exploit server to attack your device”. And once it was successful it would install a monitoring implant which would get access to an iPhone’s keychain.

"The implant is primarily focused on stealing files and uploading live location data. The implant requests commands from a command and control server every 60 seconds," wrote Beer in the post.

Some of the attacks made use of zero-day exploits, hacks that a smartphone manufacturer itself is not aware of (in this case Apple).

The attack itself was quite primitive and simply restarting the iPhone would disable the attack as the hack was not persistent.

Rebooting an iPhone would wipe the malware, but given the scale of the information that was acquired even in one go, it would be enough to give hackers access to other services like WhatsApp and iMessage.

How it was detected

Ian Beer from Google’s Project Zero wrote that they became aware of the problem when Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) discovered a small collection of hacked websites. Turned out that these hacked websites were being exploited and used in attacks against their visitors.

TAG was able to pick out five separate websites and unique iPhone exploit chains that covered every software version from iOS 10 all the way to iOS 12. The websites started picking on iPhones from around September of 2016 and were active all the way until January 2019 until Apple was notified and the long list of vulnerabilities were patched.

In all, there were about 14 vulnerabilities across five exploit chains.

The Project Zero team reported the issues to Apple after which the iPhone maker released an unusual iOS 12.1.4 software update to affected iPhones that ranged from the iPhone X to the iPhone 5S.

Perhaps what is most interesting about the hack was how indiscriminate it was in the sense that simply visiting an exploited website would be enough to get an iPhone hacked. There’s no need for a special link like in most cases where malware is implanted.

More importantly, it also shows how patient the hackers behind these attacks can be.

Indeed, the only way to protect yourself from these attacks is to update your iPhone to the latest software. Still, it’s hard to tell whether zero-day exploits even in your current iPhone have been plugged or not until they have discovered by security researchers.

OPPO Reno2

Camera

The OPPO Reno2 packs a quad-rear camera setup consisting of a 48MP + 8MP + 13MP + 2MP and the Reno2z packs 48MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP setup. The 48MP primary camera offers an aperture of F1.7, which should ensure brighter images in low light conditions. Further, the sensor makes use of pixel binning to combine four adjacent pixels into a single, larger pixel. This helps to improve the low light performance of the camera even further.

Reno2’s 8MP camera features a wide-angle lens that offers 116° field of view. This helps users to get more of the subject into a frame. This makes it ideal for taking pictures of landscapes or photos of large groups or if they are confined to a small space. This comes in pretty handy when trying to take videos from a cramped area.

The 13MP lens of Reno2 features a telephoto lens that uses a vertical structure and combined with the use of multiple cameras, it offers up to 5x Hybrid Zoom and 20x digital zoom. The 2MP mono lens offers an exclusive style filter while also help with portrait-style photos.

See More, See Clear with #OPPOReno2 #Quadcam with #20xZoom, #UltraSteadyMode and #UltraDarkMode. Pre-order now! First Sale on 6th September. Know more: https://t.co/k2Q7W98FD9 pic.twitter.com/mKbEH2s4WV

— OPPO India (@oppomobileindia) August 28, 2019

This is a unique proposition offered by smartphones in the price segment. Other key features that set the OPPO Reno 2 different from other devices is the Ultra Dark Mode and the Ultra Steady Video and image stabilization. The Ultra Dark Mode helps to improve images taken in low light settings even further. When entered in a single frame, the system uses the power of AI to brighten photos without producing any noise.

See More, See Clear with #OPPOReno2 #Quadcam with #20xZoom and elevate your smartphone experience with a 48MP Quadcam setup, #UltraDarkMode, #UltraSteadyVideo, Shark-fin Rising Camera, 8GB+256GB storage & more. Pre-order now! First Sale on 6th September. https://t.co/k2Q7W9qh1J pic.twitter.com/BXPAHMOxsC — OPPO India (@oppomobileindia) August 29, 2019

The Ultra Steady Video is a unique element which improves the stability of pictures and videos taken by users. Various motion scenarios like jogging, skiing, skateboarding or as simple as your children running around the house can now be captured through stable videos. The OPPO Reno2 can take up to videos in 60fps.

When it comes to portrait photos, OPPO Reno2 offers various portrait styles. The AI helps with a feature called smart skin tone extraction. This allows adjustment of the skin tone according to different lighting conditions. Further, skin tone extraction also works for group photos of up to four people. So it will work separately on each individual.

Design and build

OPPO has gone with a uni-body style design in which the entire phone looks like one piece of glass. To accomplish this, OPPO Reno2 packs Gorilla Glass 6 at the front and Gorilla Glass 5 at the back. This helps to protect the phone in case of accidental drops. The OPPO Reno2 is available in Ocean Blue and Luminous Black and OPPO Reno2z is Sky White and Luminous Black, so users can choose the ones that best meet their style.

OPPO Reno2

Adding to the design is the fact that the OPPO Reno2 sports Hidden Fingerprint Unlock 3.0. This means that the fingerprint sensor is hidden unless it is required. OPPO notes that the sensor offers better security by using more light fillers on the sensor. This, in turn, helps to distinguish true fingers from false ones.

The quad-camera setup at the back has an integrated design with no protrusions or gaps giving it a smooth and a bump-free look. With the width of the camera setup reduced by 1.5 mm and the position of the earpiece raised by 0.4mm, which improves the delicate feel of the device.

The Reno2 also adorns OPPO’s industry-first Shark Fin Rising Camera. The 16 MP front camera has been integrated with a front soft light, earpiece, and rear flash which all fit comfortably in the rising structure to hide effortlessly within the phone body.

Display

The OPPO Reno2 packs a large 6.55-inch Dynamic AMOLED display with a resolution of 2400x1080p and a screen-to-body ratio of 93.1% while the Reno2z has a 6.53-inch AMOLED screen.

The large display makes for better viewing experience when it comes to watching content. Further, the dynamic AMOLED display panel offers deeper blacks and more vibrant colours as compared to traditional LCDs and extends screen service life by 50% at the same brightness.

The high screen-to-body ratio is made possible by removing the notch from the top of the display. Instead, the 16 MP front camera in the Reno2 has a specially designed rising camera called ‘Shark Fin’. This lets users watch videos or play games without blocking the screen.

The display of the OPPO Reno series also comes with an Eye Protection Mode, certified by TUV Rhineland that helps in reducing harmful blue light from the screen thereby protecting your eyes and eases eye strain

Performance

OPPO Reno2

The OPPO Reno2 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G SoC, Octa-core processor that offers a maximum clock speed of 2.2GHz. This is further aided by 8GB RAM, with  256GB ROM,  so that the users can now enjoy fast-paced video viewing and multitasking. The OPPO Reno2z, on the other hand, is sitting on a MediaTek P90 chipset which enables a smooth and seamless user experience.

The Reno2 series packs a 4000mAh battery, with support for VOOC 3.0 fast charging. This system is said to improve the trickle charge rate by 100%, thereby cutting down the time needed to charge the last 10% of the battery.

For creating the ultimate gaming experience, the OPPO Reno2 features Link Boost, Game Boost and Frame Boost.  The newly upgraded Game Boost 3.0 includes updated Frame Boost 2.0 frame acceleration along with Touch Boost 2.0 touch acceleration for improved power consumption and touch performance during gaming sessions.

Here are some picture-perfect moments from the #OPPOReno2 Series Launch Event. Thank you all for taking it to another level!
But the excitement doesn’t end. Mark your calendars, first sale starts on 6th September 2019. See More, See Clear.https://t.co/k2Q7W9qh1J pic.twitter.com/3yh89mszjC

— OPPO India (@oppomobileindia) August 30, 2019

The OPPO Reno2 series made its global debut in India on August 28. The Reno2 is priced at ₹ 36,990 and the Reno2 Z is priced at ₹ 29,990 and will be available for purchase across Amazon, Flipkart and offline stores starting September 20^th and September 10^th.  With all the amazing features being offered we would give the device a 9 out of 10. The OPPO Reno2 series could be your perfect purchase this festive season.

This is a partnered post.

New Facebook feature under test.

Jane Manchun Wong, who has previously given reliable information on upcoming Instagram updates, was the first to spot the new feature. It would appear that you can select your Instagram posts on your Facebook app and then share it to Facebook stories.

Facebook is testing Stories Importing from Instagram

This cross-posting feature was only available on Instagram previously pic.twitter.com/1vHeciBKyg

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) August 30, 2019

There also looks to be a feature which will automatically share your future Instagram Stories to Facebook. Quite a few of these test features never make it to the main app so we will have to wait and see if and when this update comes to Facebook.

More recently, Facebook has been working on a new messaging app for Instagram called Threads. It will be a companion app for Instagram that will allow users to share personal details such as status, location, speed, battery life and more with their close friends.

The manoeuvre has moved Chandrayaan 2 from its current 179 x 1411 km (nearest x farthest distance) elliptical orbit to a near-circular orbit of 124 x 164 km and the duration of the manoeuvre was 1155 seconds (19.25 minutes). The next Lunar bound orbit manoeuvre is scheduled on September 01, 2019 between 6.00 pm - 7.00 pm IST.

The Chandrayaan 2 composite has carried out a total of four successful in-orbit manoeuvres since it entered lunar orbit — all in an attempt to lower its altitude in preparation for landing. The fourth manoeuvre today has placed the spacecraft on a circular path that passes over the lunar poles at a distance of about 100 km from the surface.

Entering this circular orbit is the mission's fourth milestone before the Vikram lander separates from the orbiter to make its planned soft-landing on the moon's surface on 7 September.

Chandrayaan 2 composite orbiting the moon before the lander's separation. Image: ISRO

The 124 x 164 km circular orbit that Chandrayaan 2 is in is close enough for the Vikram lander, currently bound to the orbiter in a 'composite', to separate and attempt a landing. Separation and landing sequences are planned for 2 September and 7 September at 1.40 am, respectively. Between these two important days, the first maps of the landing site will be created (on 3 and 4 September) to ensure the landing site is as safe as previously thought to make a soft-landing. This is a crucial step in the mission since ISRO's mission engineers won't be operating the spacecraft remotely.

The orbiter will also be surveilling its year-long home for the first time, ensuring that no damage was caused to its instruments on the journey thus far, and conducting a thorough examination of the Vikram lander's landing site at the moon's South Polar region. Chandrayaan 2 is expected to begin its long-awaited powered descent and landing on 7 September at 1.40 am IST in a landing sequence that the ISRO Chief describes as '15 minutes of terror'.

While subsequent events in the mission won't be streamed live, you can catch live updates on the mission on our dedicated Chandrayaan 2 domain, our Twitter page, ISRO's website, or Twitter page.

Asus Zephyrus G.

Asus Zephyrus G Specs

The Zephyrus G has a 15.6-inch FHD 120 Hz IPS display which is fitted onto a 14-inch frame with very tiny bezels on three sides and Asus claims that the laptop has an 81 percent screen-to-body ratio. Powering the laptop is an AMD Ryzen 7 3750H which the company claims will give gamers up to 8.8 hours of battery life. The laptop also has improved Asus Intelligent Cooling which again helps in the smooth performance of the device.

In terms of design, the ROG Zephyrus G has a 20 mm thickness and weighs about 2.1 kgs. It also has a backlit keyboard that makes the keys legible in dim lighting conditions. In terms of the GPU, the Zephyrus G is powered by an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GPU which can be clocked to 1,335 MHz at 60 W in Turbo mode with ROG Boost. For cooling purposes, the laptop uses a self-cleaning thermal module and anti-dust tunnel fans with 33 percent thinner blades that the company claims will deliver 17 percent improvement in airflow.

The laptop can be maxed out to 32 GB DDR4 RAM and has 512 GB of SSD storage, which is priced at Rs 2,99,990 on Flipkart. Connectivity options for the laptop include 1 x RJ-45 jack, 1 x USB 3.1 Type‑C, 3 x USB 3.1 Type‑A, 1 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x 3.5mm headphone jack and 1 x Kensington lock. The device is powered by a 76 Wh 4-cell Lithium-ion battery with a 180 W AC adapter.

While 5G devices have started entering the consumer market, they are still far from becoming mainstream. OnePlus India's Agarwal feels that it will still take around five years for 5G to become abundant, which is still a much faster rate of adoption than 2G or 3G or 4G he feels. MediaTek had announced its 5G SoC back at Computex earlier this year. This chip which will be based on the 7 nm manufacturing process will house the MediaTek Helio M70G 5G modem meant for supporting the first wave of 5G mobile devices. Smartphones sporting the MediaTek 5G SoC will start shipping in devices from early next year.

"OnePlus already has a 5G ready device, the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G, which was launched with a 5G network in the UK. We could reach speeds of 1.4 Gbps in real-world tests. We are testing the 5G capabilities in India and are prepared for when India makes the leap into 5G," said Agarwal.

5G India Leadership Summit. From L to R: Vikas Agarwal, OnePlus India; Anuj Sidharth, MediaTek India, Neil Shah, Counterpoint Research and Sanjay Kimbahune, TCS. Image: tech2

On being asked which areas Agarwal felt would be driving 5G adoption among consumers, he said, "Cloud gaming will be the first use case which will drive the growth. Google has already released a product along that line called Stadia, and considering the rise of mobile games, 5G cloud gaming which offers near zero-latency will really take off. The second area is content consumption. By that, I mean high-quality content such as 4K UHD. With 5G speeds, you will be able to download entire seasons of your favourite shows in minutes."

Agarwal said that it would be difficult to visualise that one killer application which would popularise 5G and real-world use cases will definitely evolve as we use 5G.

On being asked about the cost differentials when moving from 4G to 5G phones, Agarwal said that it wouldn't be much. "You have to take into consideration three things: the cost of the phone, the cost of the data connection and the cost of the cloud network. I feel the difference in the phone cost shouldn't be that high. Our 5G variant of OnePlus 7 Pro is around $200 more than an equivalent 4G variant of OnePlus 7 Pro. 5G has to be priced as rationally as we can. There is no point in keeping the prices high, as the whole point is to enable 5G for as many people as possible. That is how the use cases will also evolve," said Agarwal pointing out that we were already a year or two behind 5G which is already being deployed in Japan and South Korea.

MediaTek's Sidharth said that the Helio M70 5G should be seen on phones in 2020 and the company plans to target the sub 6 GHz frequency band for faster adoption. This band is ideal for urban environments as well as in rural areas.

- Regulation Policy has to be simplified
- In our drive towards $5 trillion economy, majority of it will come from enabling digitisation
- Fiber deployment needs to be speeded up
- Security is paramount in 5G and has to be inbuilt in networks#5GIndiaSummit

— Tech2 (@tech2eets) August 30, 2019

TCS Innovation Labs' Kimbahune had a radically different approach. According to him, use cases for 5G should also be thought of from the perspective of people living outside the cities.

"The perception around 5G has to change if we are to make it mainstream. Fields such as Precision Agriculture, checking water contamination and so on could get a huge boost with the promise of connectivity and speed of data analysis that 5G technology would bring to the table. It is important to leverage the internet of things (IoT) sensors in a meaningful way in a 5G ecosystem," said Kimbahune.

He will be joined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will watch it live from the Indian Space Research Organization’s control room in the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) facility, Bengaluru, along with the scientists.

He is a student in standard tenth in Ramakrishna Mission School, Sohra, Meghalaya. He is also a part of the National Cadet Corps (NCC).

Chandrayaan 2 composite orbiting the moon before the lander's separation. Image: ISRO

ISRO had conducted a ‘Space Quiz’ for students from the eighth to the tenth standard. The child with the most number of correct answers in 10 minutes would win. The Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry had written to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and other state boards to encourage children in schools to take part. This quiz was conducted to promote awareness among children about India’s space program.

He had taken part in this competition and came out victorious.

For those who missed Space Quiz earlier, here is one more opportunity for you to participate and get a chance to watch landing of #Chandrayaan2 live with PM.

Date of the quiz extended till August 25, 2019

For details visit https://t.co/CuwpQpFSge pic.twitter.com/uBy1zBuosi

— ISRO (@isro) August 21, 2019

The mission was launched on 22 July from the Sriharikota space station after being cancelled due to technical issues. The Chandrayaan 2 mission is made up of an orbiter that will orbit the moon for a mission life of one year. The lander Vikram is supposed to conduct a soft landing on the south side of the moon on 7 September. The rover Pragyan is tucked into the lander, which will then roll out if the landing is successful.

If everything goes off well, India will be the fourth country to land on the moon and will look into studying the water-ice on the moon.

Nubia Red Magic 3.

The Red Magic 3S will quite likely be a small incremental update over the powerhouse that is the Red Magic 3. The phone should get a processor upgrade to the Snapdragon 855 Plus but apart from that details about the device are quite sparse. As per Nubia's official Weibo post, the phone launch happens on 5 September so we should know more about the device then.

Nubia Red Magic 3 Specs

Red Magic 3 has a 6.65-inch FHD+ AMOLED panel that has a 90 Hz refresh rate. There is no notch on the device but we see thick bezels on the top and bottom, but they serve the purpose of housing a dual-speaker setup. There is also a 3.5 mm headphone jack which supports Dolby surround sound for an immersive gaming experience. Apart from that the phone also has two capacitive buttons on the right side which can double up as air triggers to give you more customisable control options when gaming.

Inside the phone is a Snapdragon 855 chipset, and 6, 8, or even 12 GB of RAM. In India, the company launched only the 8 GB RAM variant with internal storage up to 128 GB. There is also a rear-mounted fingerprint reader that sits beneath a single camera system. The Red Magic 3 was the first smartphone ever to feature an internal cooling fan to keep temperatures low and the CPU fast while gaming.

In terms of software, the phone runs on Android 9.0 Pie with a nearly stock-Android UI. The phone also has a toggle on the top right to go into 'Game Launcher' which takes you into a custom gaming UI wherein you can change the fan speed, get your games organised, setup 4D shock and more.

The Seven Seas set on PUBG Mobile.

The Seven Seas set will let the player dress like in the traditional sailor's outfit, much like the one worn by Commodore Norrington in Pirates of the Caribbean. Then there is the Black Thorne set which dresses the player like a pirate complete with a sword. The third one is called a Buccaneer set which gives the user a pirate outfit but is less flamboyant than the Black Thorne set.

Those who've ever aspired to be a Captain might like the Seven Seas set, while the more piratically inclined may prefer the Black Thorn Set. Prefer to draw less attention while you're getting your loot? The Buccaneer set is definitely for you! What's your swashbuckling style? pic.twitter.com/mEvjZSfeHw

— PUBG MOBILE (@PUBGMOBILE) August 29, 2019

In more news about PUBG Mobile, with Season 8 fast approaching to a close, people are eagerly waiting for Season 9 and the new updates that will come with it. If new leaks are to be believed, the new upcoming features are being ported directly from PUBG PC to the mobile version of the game.

Reliable tipster Mr Ghost, who has been previously correct about upcoming PUBG Mobile leaks has posted a new video which shows the new features that have come on the Chinese beta version of the game called the Game of Peace.

As per the video, PUBG Mobile beta version in China has received an option to increase the game frame rate to 90 fps and even 120 fps. This option to increase frame rate is seen in the settings where the general frame rate happens to be Low, Medium, High, Ultra and Extreme. According to what can be seen in the video, the Chinese beta gets additional options of 90 and 120 Hz. Obviously this mode will only be supported on devices which have a higher refresh rate display.

As per reputed tipster Ishan Agarwal, who has been right about previous OnePlus leaks, the OnePlus 7T (not the 7T Pro, mind you) will be coming with a 90 Hz refresh rate display with QHD+ resolution. That is the same display specs as seen on the OnePlus 7 Pro (Review).

OnePlus 7T. Twitter: Ishan Agarwal.

He also adds that the notch on the OnePlus 7T will be smaller than the one seen on the OnePlus 7 and that the front-facing camera which is going to be housed in the notch will be a 16 MP sensor. The tipster added that the OnePlus 7T and 7T Pro are likely to be announced on 26 September in India, which would be before the phone is announced globally.

The 7T is speculated to come with a Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset and will be available in two variants of 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage and 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage. The leak also details a triple-camera setup, which could be coming in a circular shape. The sensors present are said to be a 48 MP camera along with 16 MP and 12 MP cameras.

It would be interesting to see what the OnePlus 7 Pro has in store if these are the supposed leaks for the OnePlus 7T. In any case, we would advise you to take this information with that essential pinch of salt until OnePlus itself confirms these features. Knowing the company's history of leaking key details before announcing products, we might not have to wait too long.

Retaining the old features of LG Q60, the new smartphone also comes with a dedicated Google assistant.

LG Q70 features a triple rear camera setup with 32 MP as the primary sensor.

LG Q70 specifications

LG Q70 features a 6.4-inch Full HD+ display with a 2340 x 1080 pixel resolution and an aspect ratio of 18.5:9. It sports a punch-hole camera at the front. It features a fingerprint sensor at the back and a Google Assistant button on the side. The smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 octa-core processor with an Adreno 612 GPU.

On the camera front, the punch hole camera on the front comes with a 16 MP sensor. On the rear, the smartphone flaunts a triple camera setup with a 32 MP primary sensor, 13 MP ultra-wide-angle sensor, and 5 MP depth sensor.

The smartphone is packed with a 4,000 mAh battery that supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 technology. The LG Q70 runs on Android 9 and is available in one storage variant — 4 GB RAM and 64 GB of internal storage which is expandable up to 2 TB.

There is no confirmation on the India launch of the device.

OnePlus revealed the official logo of its smart TV. Image: OnePlus.

OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has announced that the TV is set to get at least three years of Android TV software updates. This would make OnePlus currently the only brand which has committed to such a long duration of support for its smartTV. Software upgrades in the Android TV world are very inconsistent and bugs are unresolved for a long time. This news from Pete Lau should appease the various Android TV users who have had a patchy experience with updates.

In an interview with India Today, OnePlus stated that while OnePlus TV will run on the Android TV platform, there will be some differences to the overall UI. He says that OnePlus will look to make the experience 'fast and smooth' and will add additional features to the TV.

Based on a leaked list, the OnePlus TV is powered by a MediaTek MT5670 chipset that packs a Mali G51 GPU. There’s 3 GB of RAM and it will be running on Android TV 9. It also mentions a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. However, the tweet clarified that Android TV allows 1080p for the TV menu and the OnePlus TV will have a 4K resolution display, as officially revealed by the company.

Representational image. Image: Reuters

Many smartphone giants such as OnePlus, Oppo, Apple and more underlined a long-term commitment to the Indian market thanks to the ease in FDI rules. For the uninitiated, single-brand retail companies that had more than 51 percent FDI in India had to locally source a minimum of 30 percent for total sales in the country.

With the Indian government now relaxing this limit, tech giants such as Apple can start selling a range of products in India through their own online store instead of depending on third-party vendors like Flipkart and Amazon.

Apple had said in a statement to CNBC that "appreciate support &hard work by PM Modi &his team to make this possible&we look forward to one day welcoming customers to India’s first Apple retail store. Will take us some time to get our plans underway &we’ll have more to announce at a future date." This could mean that Apple could soon unveil it's highly anticipated offline retail store in India.

It's just not Apple but also the companies which assemble iPhones such as Foxconn and Wistron Corp that are in a list of 'target companies' being encouraged to set up more operations in India.

Representational image. Image: Tech2/Sheldon Pinto

Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus has said that the new FDI rules would help the company scale up operations in India. "OnePlus is committed to deepening its local manufacturing operations and is looking to scale up its production facilities to support exports to global markets," OnePlus India General Manager Vikas Agarwal told PTI.

However, OnePlus is not ready to make any investments based on short-term opportunities. The company said in a statement to PTI, "We have a long term view for offline expansion and are already setting up offline stores across all major cities through our local partners. Given that regulations are still evolving and may change further in the near future, we will stick to our long term approach and avoid making any strategic investments based on short term opportunities."

Other Chinese giants such as Oppo and Vivo are emboldened by this new approach by the Indian government.

Nipun Marya, Director Brand Strategy at Vivo India, said the company is aligned with the Make In India' initiative. "With the easing of restrictions on SBRT, we look forward to giving our consumers top of the line retail experiences which can successfully showcase Vivo's innovation capabilities," Marya said.

A commuter using his mobile phone passes an advertisement for Chinese smartphone maker Oppo. Reuters

Sumit Walia, VP Product and Marketing at OPPO India, said the government's latest move will "accelerate growth by stimulating investments and create more employment opportunities".

"Consumers will stand to benefit with access to a wider variety of products, at both online and offline platforms which are of paramount importance to provide a holistic experience to consumers," Walia said.

Counterpoint Research Associate Director, Tarun Pathak says "The policy is well thought out, keeping in mind the complex industry practices and global sourcing strategies. It opens a broader window for foreign companies to now consider India as their global sourcing hub... Under new rules, the entire sourcing from India for global operations shall be considered towards local sourcing requirement."

India is among the world's largest smartphone markets and continues to grow at a strong pace — making it an attractive destination for global brands. In the April-June quarter this year, about 37 million smartphones were shipped, as per Counterpoint Research.

While the market was led by brands like Xiaomi and Samsung, Apple and OnePlus (that play in the premium category) had 1.2 percent and 2 percent share, respectively. Vivo had an 11 percent share of the shipment, while OPPO accounted for 8 percent share in the second quarter.

Industry body ICEA had also has said the relaxation in FDI norms for single-brand retail trade is expected to raise the domestic mobile handset retailing market to global standards as it paves the way for brands like Apple, OnePlus and Oppo to set up their directly-owned stores in the country.

The mobile handset industry in India, specially the smartphone segment, is expected to witness a surge in turnover during the next 4-5 years with the domestic market demand expected to soar from the current $25 billion to $80 billion by 2025, as per the National Policy on Electronics (NPE), 2019, India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) had said.

With inputs from agencies

As per a report by Galaxy Club, Samsung will launch its upcoming Galaxy A71 and Galaxy A91 with Android 10. The two smartphones will be launched next year in the Netherlands. The report also revealed that smartphones will also be launched in European markets like Belgium, Germany, France, England, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia, and more.

(Also read: Samsung Galaxy A10s with 4,000 mAh battery launched at a starting price of Rs 9,499)

Upcoming Samsung Galaxy A71 and Galaxy A91 are expected to come with Android 10. Representational Image: Samsung.

Another report by the same site revealed that Samsung Galaxy A71 will be powered by Exynos 9630 processor.

As for a higher variant of A-series, Galaxy A91, XDA Developers had previously spotted that the smartphone will come with Super Fast charging technology and will support 45 W fast charging. As per the Hungary Samsung website, this newly launched 45 W fast charger will also be supported in Samsung Galaxy Note 10+.

As reported by Sam Mobile, Galaxy A91 will feature a quad-camera setup at the back. This setup will include 108 MP primary sensor, 16 MP wide-angle lens and 12 MP telephoto lens with  5x optical zoom, and a ToF sensor.

The mission's primary goal is to determine if there has ever been life on Mars. Also on the agenda is a mission to better understand the history of water on the planet, the European Space Agency has said. ExoMars will look at locations of interest on Mars for its scientific tools and drill to pick up samples underground in its quest to solve these riddles.

ESA’s ExoMars rover (foreground) and Russia’s stationary surface science platform (background) are scheduled for launch in July 2020, arriving at Mars in March 2021. The Trace Gas Orbiter, which has been orbiting Mars since October 2016, will act as a relay station for the mission and will conduct its own science missions. Image credit: ESA

ExoMars, after 18 months of activities in Stevenage, has been sealed up and shipped off from the UK and is now on its way to Airbus Toulouse in France. Here, it is expected to undergo four months of intense testing to ensure it is fit for the mission and for survival in the harsh  Martian environment.

"Completing the build of the Rosalind Franklin rover under the strict cleanliness requirements, with all the science instruments onboard, is a major milestone of our ExoMars programme. It is thanks to the dedication of all the teams involved that we are able to celebrate this moment today," David Parker, ESA’s Director of Human and Robotic Exploration, said in a statement. "We’re looking forward to completing the final rounds of tests before the rover is declared flight-ready and closed inside the landing platform and descent module that will deliver it safely to the surface of Mars."

In tandem, the spacecraft composite — carrier module, descent module, science platform, replica rover and all — will undergo environmental testing to confirm it is ready to endure the harsh space environment on its 8-month journey to Mars. The ExoMars mission is pegged for launch in under a year from now (26 July–13 August 2020) aboard a Russian Proton-M launcher.

The rover is expected to arrive at Mars in March 2021.

As per a report by a Korean news agency, Yonhap, Samsung is in talks with Korean carriers with regards to the start the sale of the Galaxy Fold in the market from 6 September.

(Also read: Samsung announces that the redesigned Galaxy Fold will hit markets in September)

Samsung Galaxy Fold is expected to release globally by the end of September.

The IFA 2019 is also scheduled to take off on 6 September in Berlin so it is possible that Samsung could re-launch its Galaxy Fold on the same day to stay in the news.

It has been confirmed that the price of Galaxy Fold will be $ 1,980 (Rs 1,40,000 approx). Here are the changes that Samsung made to the design of the device.

• The top protective layer of the Infinity Flex Display has been extended beyond the bezel which means that users will not be able to remove it.
• Additional reinforcements have been provided, most likely to the hinge, to better protect the device from external particles.
• The top and bottom part of the hinge has been strengthened with newly added protection caps.
• Metal layers underneath the Infinity Flex Display have been included for protecting the screen.
• The space between the hinge and body of Galaxy Fold has been reduced.

Even before the Galaxy Fold has gone on sale, it has been reported that the company is already planning to launch another foldable smartphone in the first quarter of 2020 as a part of the Galaxy S11 series.

The first of the two asteroids, 2019 QR3, is currently moving at a speed of 41,100 kilometres per hour, according to NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS). 2019 QR3 is roughly 75 feet wide, as wide as two telephone poles stacked end-to-end. CNEOS predicted that the asteroid will enter Earth’s neighbourhood on 30 August at 1.47 pm IST (3.47 am EDT), remaining roughly 2.09 million kilometres away from the Earth's centre.

2019 QR3 was first observed on 27 August and isn't expected to return to Earth’s vicinity till 14 January 2060, according to CNEOS, when the asteroid is expected to zip past Earth from 60 million kilometres away.

The second asteroid in the pair, called 2019 QU4, is also an Apollo asteroid. Currently flying at speeds of 30,200 kilometres per hour, the asteroid is 210 feet wide, which is thrice the length of a cricket pitch. 2019 QU4 is on its way towards Earth and due to make its close encounter on Saturday, 31 August at 4.17 am (Friday, 30 August at 6.47 pm EDT).

Unlike 2019 QR3, 2019 QU4 will be twice as close, just 1.7 million kilometres away from Earth's centre at its closest. First observed on 28 August, the next near-Earth approach it is expected to make will be more than a decade from now, on 28 July 2031.

Much like other Apollo asteroids, 2019 QR3 and 2019 QU4, too, have very wide orbits around the Sun and Earth. Their paths intersect with Earth's own orbit around the Sun from time-to-time, leading to these close encounters.

(Also read: Neil deGrasse Tyson warns that America could sink from an asteroid impact in 2036)

(Also read: Elon Musk tweets yet another asteroid warning — NASA maintains that it's no threat)

Apple has spoken extensively about Dark Mode in the past, notably at its WWDC (Worldwide Developer Conference) earlier this year. Making a Dark Mode for an app or UI isn't just a matter of darkening bright elements, UI design also involves depth (shadows) and gradients. A properly designed UI requires some serious thought and effort.

Dark Mode is coming to iOS 13 and iPadOS. The release is slated for September. Image: Apple

When Dark Mode support is added, apps will automatically switch between normal and Dark modes when a user switches the same in the UI.

Developers can test their apps in the iOS 13 and iPadOS betas.

To make life a little easier for developers, Apple is, of course, offering support documents and videos.

Here's Apple's note to developers:

Dark Mode introduces a dramatic new look for iPhone and iPad that is seamlessly integrated throughout the system and simple to turn on from Control Center or Siri. With a dark appearance for all user interface elements, your app’s content becomes the focus.

When a user has Dark Mode turned on, all apps built with the iOS 13 SDK will run in Dark Mode. Learn how to optimize for Dark Mode, then test your apps on a device running the latest beta version of iOS 13 or iPadOS. If you need more time to make your apps look fantastic in Dark Mode, or if Dark Mode is not suited for your app, you can learn how to opt out.

This spider resides in the Eastern Ghats, in the deciduous forests near Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh. It is from the genus Poecilotheria and is commonly known as the Peacock Parachute spider or Gooty Tarantula.

The spider was spotted by a team of researchers from the Indigenous Biodiversity Foundation (IBF) in the Pakkamalai Reserve Forests. They were conducting fieldwork in the forests and spotted this spider in a cave. They later identified the type of spider by looking at photographs from the Zoo Outreach Organizations and Wildlife Information Liaison Development Society.

The blue peacock spider. image credit: IUCN

The spider has an intricate fractal pattern on its underbelly.

The spider has been declared as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). That is because they are only found in a small, 100-sq km region, an extremely specific area, in a reserve forest. However, due to deforestation and logging, their habitat is threatened. S. Vimalraj, a wildlife researcher, said that this spider has not been spotted in another part of India expect in its known habitat in Andhra Pradesh.

The female spiders usually live up to 12 years of age and sometimes even till 15 years. Males, however, live only for three to four years. In captivity, these spiders can live up to 10 years.

In an interview with The Hindu, Zeeshan A. Mirza, Researcher at National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru said, “This is an interesting find as this area has never been surveyed before. Species of this genus can be identified based on the banding patterns on the underside of the legs. Tarantulas are biological pest controllers and there is a huge demand for them by collectors in the pet trade. There is an urgent need to protect them.”

As per a post shared by Realme on Weibo, the Realme Q will have a quad-camera setup at the back with a 48 MP camera as the primary sensor. The image teased also confirms that the smartphone will be powered by Snapdragon 712 processor. This image also hints that the smartphone might have a three-digit price tag.

Realme Q will also feature a quad-camera setup at the back, the same as Realme 5 Pro. Image: Tech2.

In an attempt to be the first smartphone company to introduce a 64 MP quad-camera phone, @realmemobiles unveiled the #RealmeXT today. We do not know the launch date or the price yet, but we did get a chance to explore the phone's 64 MP quad-camera setup. Cheggit! @sneha_s96 pic.twitter.com/KSuQfqNno4

— Firstpost (@firstpost) August 29, 2019

Several leaked hands-on images have also come up on Weibo and they confirm that Realme Q is the same phone as Realme 5 Pro. The images leaked show the same waterdrop notch display, quad-camera setup and a fingerprint sensor at the back.

Realme Q will be unveiled on 5 September in China. Image: Weibo

Leaked hands-on images of Realme Q hint that the smartphone will come with a quad rear camera setup at the back. Image: Weibo

The camera setup at the back is expected to come with a 48 MP primary sensor. Image: Weibo.

Realme Q is expected to come with a waterdrop notch. Image: Weibo

Realme 5 Pro specs

The Realme 5 Pro has a quad-camera setup which is a first for its price segment. The phone's primary lens is a 48 MP Sony IMX586 sensor with f/1.8 aperture and a 1.25-micron pixel size. The wide-angle lens in the quad-camera setup has a 119-degree field of view and an 8 MP resolution. Apart from a regular and wide-angle lens, the other two lenses are super macro and portrait sensors both of which have 2 MP resolutions.

The device does not have an AMOLED display but instead settles for a 6.3-inch IPS LCD display with FHD+ resolution. Powering the Realme 5 Pro is a Snapdragon 712 chipset and the phone has a maximum RAM of 8 GB paired with up to 128 GB of internal storage which can be expanded to 256 GB using a microSD card.

In addition to that, the phone runs on Android 9 Pie with Oppo's proprietary ColorOS 6.0 and comes with a 4,035 mAh battery which supports VOOC 3.0 fast charging.

Often a pit-stop for tired travellers or an informal gathering place, these culturally-important open-air tree shrines or ‘kattes’ and temples, with their assemblage of native tree species, offer immense scope to enhance the green infrastructure within rapidly growing megacities, suggests a study.

Offering a glimpse into the city’s native trees, the study documents 121 such species thriving in 69 sacred sites in Bengaluru, spreading across 36 temples and 33 kattes, a sizeable amount for small green spaces that are no strangers to the march of urbanisation.

The study covered that covered 69 sacred sites in Bengaluru, spreading across 36 temples and 33 kattes, suggests that such spaces could enhance the green infrastructure in megacities. Image credit; Steevez Rodriguez/PEP Collective.

Overall, 69 percent of the species documented are native, indicating how cultural traditions have helped communities cling on to these heritage trees and plants.

Among the 121 species, the peepal (Ficus religiosa) and neem (Azadirachta indica) trees occurred frequently in the sacred sites followed by doob grass (Cynodon dactylon).

Native species dominate

“The prevalence of native species at our study sites can be explained by their cultural significance as sacred species,” said study author Divya Gopal of the Department of Ecology, Technische Universitat Berlin, Germany. For example, neem and peepal have deep socio-cultural connections and are entrenched in local folklore.

As recorded in the study, culturally significant species such as those with religious associations, medicinal uses and ornamental value (often with overlaps), collectively account for 89 percent of all species documented in the sacred sites.

121 species of plants were documented from 69 sacred sites including temples and kattes, contributing to the city’s biodiversity. Image credit: Steevez Rodriguez/PEP Collective.

The dominance of species with religious, medicinal and ornamental values in these unconventional green spaces is linked to the cultural ecosystem services provided by these sites. Associated spiritual and religious values could prompt community support and the willingness to participate as seen in non-urban sacred sites, researchers said.

Urban ecologist Harini Nagendra, who was not associated with the study, stressed how critical it is to protect these green patches.

“In Indian cities, trees are fast disappearing from public spaces. Sacred sites and the keystone Ficus trees they contain are very important in providing shelter and breeding and feeding habitat for a variety of urban wildlife, and in providing stepping stones that help connect the few remaining large urban green spaces, so that species can move between them,” Nagendra said.

69 percent of these species observed at the sacred sites were native. Peepal (Ficus religiosa) and neem (Azadirachta indica) trees occurred frequently in the sacred sites followed by doob grass (Cynodon dactylon). Image credit: Steevez Rodriguez/PEP Collective.

Nagendra said they are also sites of long-lived species and maintain continuity over time because of sacred practices of conservation – when one tree falls, it is replaced by planting of the same species. This makes them especially critical in Indian cities where trees are often felled and “compensatory” planting takes place in distant locations, leaving the wildlife that depended on these trees in specific locations especially vulnerable.

The green mix in kattes, temples and parks 

Trees dominate the species mix in these often over-looked sacred sites, making up about 38 percent of all species, followed by shrubs (28 percent), perennial herbs, (22 percent), annual herbs (nine percent) and perennial graminoids (two percent).

When compared to parks, sacred sites had a higher tree density and tree species richness that could be due to design and cultural preferences.

“Parks are designed to include both wooded areas as well as lawns. While lawns are often not a part of the landscape element of sacred sites. This could be one of the reasons for the higher tree density. Also, there is a general preference to grow certain sacred trees (such as neem, peepal, banyan, paarijata, tamarind, coconut) within sacred sites,” explained Gopal.

And most of these species are native to the Indian sub-continent, she added. While in parks, the focus is on ornamental species and shade-giving species. Most ornamental species are non-natives originating from Africa and South America, pointed out Gopal.

Though the plant biodiversity at sacred sites have been safeguarded by cultural practices, they and increasingly vulnerable to infrastructure projects in the megacity. Image credit: Steevez Rodriguez/PEP Collective.

Further, temple spaces harbour a greater diversity of non-native species than kattes. “This is because temples are more intensely managed than kattes. Temples are more formal establishments often with a gardener or a caretaker. Kattes are informal. Gardening practices such as growing ornamental plants were noticed in temples as opposed to kattes,” explained Gopal.

Spontaneous and cultivated species had a nearly equal presence in sacred sites. Underscoring the potential of urban sacred sites for spontaneous regeneration of plant species, Gopal said, the process is important for ecological restoration and recovery of urban ecosystems that go through a lot of stress from urbanisation and development. It helps in developing the natural vegetation and biodiversity of the region.

Despite the constant transformation of green spaces such as parks, open areas, avenue trees and lakes into different landforms in Bengaluru there is a core element of continuity in sacred sites in terms of their appearance and usage.

This structural constancy across the city (either as temples or as kattes), along with the cultural and religious significance of these sites, could explain the lack of influence of housing density and age of urban development on the diversity of trees in urban sacred sites.

121 species of plants were documented from 69 sacred sites including temples and kattes, contributing to the city’s biodiversity. Image credit: Steevez Rodriguez/PEP Collective.

As many as 23 sacred sites are located in old neighbourhoods, 24 in intermediate and 22 in new ones, the study reports.

“There is an assortment of species in sites in the new areas of Bengaluru compared to other parts of the city. Sacred sites located within low-density housing areas had more individuals (higher abundance) of cultivated species than sites embedded in more dense quarters of the city,” said Gopal.

Nagendra batted for heritage mapping of the sacred spaces in the city, followed by according them specific protected status as heritage trees.

In the absence of mapping, Nagendra said, they may slip through the cracks. They are “especially vulnerable” to city developmental activities, such as road widening, construction of transformers among others.

“I have seen a number of these trees disappear – not because residents cut them down (they protect them) but because civic authorities do. They need to be mapped and protected by the city as part of its cultural and biodiversity heritage,” Nagendra said.

Conservationists advocate heritage mapping of the sacred spaces in the city in order to protect the urban biodiversity. Image credit: Steevez Rodriguez/PEP Collective.

In one such effort-a collective endeavour of about 50 students, volunteers and research associates- 80 ashwath (peepal) kattes have been documented by the Everyday City Lab, a Bengaluru-based urban design and research collaborative.

“Our long-term objective is to explore how this understanding could influence public policy and if we could alter the thinking about how our cities might be planned, not so much as a geometric exercise anymore but more through a people-centric approach,” Kiran Keswani, architect and urban designer and co-founder of the lab, told Mongabay-India.

This mapping activity is an offshoot of a detailed study where Keswani and colleagues would like to show that the history of interactions between people who come to the katte helps them strengthen their social capital over time and that collective memory arises out of social capital accruing over generations.

“Therefore, the more the collective memory a katte holds, the more difficult it is for the government to deterritorialise it or even for a private developer to dislodge the tree-based community space from the urban fabric,” added Keswani.

The Indian Space Research Organisation has begun the process of short-listing probable candidates for its first manned mission and it should be completed by next month, he said.

Short-listed candidates will be sent to Russia for training after November. The first Gaganyaan flight scheduled for 2022 will carry three astronauts, who will be picked from among the test pilots in the armed forces.

"Most maiden missions undertaken by different countries in the past had test pilots. So we are sticking to that for our maiden mission. We are also looking at test pilots from the armed forces which don''t have woman as test pilots," the official said. "The civilians will be part of the project in future missions," he added.

Kailasavadivoo Sivan, Chairperson of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), arrives to attend a news conference at its headquarters in Bengaluru, India. Image: Reuters.

India has signed agreements with Russia and France for cooperation on the Gaganyaan mission. Last month, the Cabinet approved setting up a ISRO Technical Liaison Unit in Moscow for smoother cooperation, mainly for the Gaganyaan project. India's first man in space Rakesh Sharma, who flew aboard the Soyuz T-11, launched on 2 April 1984, was an Indian Air Force pilot. The ambitious Gaganyaan mission was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech in 2018.

"We have resolved that by 2022, when India celebrates 75 years of Independence or maybe even before that, certainly some of our young boys and girls will unfurl the tricolour in space. I feel proud to announce that very soon as part of our 'Manned Space' mission, we shall be sending an Indian into space. This will be done through the pursuit of our scientists, and we will proudly find ourselves as the fourth such nation to have launched a successful Manned Space Mission," PM Modi had said from the Red Fort.

The total fund requirement for the Gaganyaan Programme is nearly Rs. 10,000 crore and includes cost of technology development, flight hardware realisation and essential infrastructure elements.

The children – some of them babies – began growing hair all over their body after being given what was thought to be omeprazole, a drug that helps with gastric reflux.

After investigating, authorities discovered the treatment actually contained minoxidil, a medication used for the treatment of hair loss.

The health minister, Maria Luisa Carcedo, said on Wednesday they found that the bad batches came from a laboratory that had “put this medication (minoxidil) in a container that was marked omeprazole” and distributed it to pharmacies as such.

Spanish children develop werewolf syndrome and start growing hair all over their bodies due to a mix-up in medicines,

The children are now suffering from the rare condition known as hypertrichosis, which causes abnormal hair growth.

It is unclear how the laboratory FarmaQuimica Sur, a supplier of active ingredients and pharmaceuticals based in the southern city of Malaga, made the mistake, which emerged in June.

A health ministry spokesman said the 17 children affected so far were in the northern region of Cantabria, Andalusia in the south and Valencia in the east.

In a statement, the ministry said the condition was expected to reverse after the children stopped taking the drug, which has been withdrawn from the market.

Carcedo said the laboratory had been closed as a precaution.

A spokeswoman for Andalusia’s health department said the four affected children in the southern region – three babies and a seven-year-old – were doing well.

As per the company website, Vivo Z1X will be making its debut in India on 6 September at 12.00 pm. The smartphone is also expected to sell exclusively on Flipkart. The company also stated that the "Z1X is designed for consumers that are performance-oriented and love playing heavy density games on their handset."

According to a tweet by the company, the Vivo Z1X will come with an in-display fingerprint sensor and a triple rear camera setup at the back.

The successor of Vivo Z1 Pro, Vivo Z1X is expected to come with a triple rear camera setup. Representational image: Tech2.

Unlock fun, unlock brilliance. With Flash In-Display Fingerprint on the all-new and #FullyLoaded #vivoZ1x, unlock the world of extreme performance. Launching on 6th September at 12 PM. @Flipkart.
Know more: https://t.co/MJgLiC5kNo pic.twitter.com/djHE5R7IqS

— Vivo India (@Vivo_India) August 28, 2019

In terms of colour, the image teased on the company website shows off two variants that have a purple and blue colour.

.@Vivo_India is planning to launch another smartphone in its new Z-series — the #VivoZ1X. We are yet to know the price and availability of the smartphone, but we briefly tested out its camera and here are some of the image samples: pic.twitter.com/ZbgppME5RL

— Tech2 (@tech2eets) August 29, 2019

As always, several leaks have already popped up on the internet and we have some hints about the specs of the smartphone.

As per a report by GSMArena, Vivo Z1X will feature a 6.38 inch AMOLED display that might have a Full HD+ resolution. As for the processor, it is likely to be powered by the Snapdragon 712 SoC. It is expected to come in two storage variants — 64 GB and 128 GB and up to 6 GB of RAM. The smartphone might run on Android Pie.

On the camera front, the report reveals that the smartphone will sport a front camera of 32 MP and on the back, it might feature a 48 MP primary sensor based on the Sony IMX582. The other two sensors at the back are expected to be ultra-wide and depth sensors. Vivo Z1X is expected to house a 4,500 mAh battery that supports 22.5 W FlashCharge.

Google had initially launched the Google Play Security Rewards Program (GPSRP) as a way for hackers and security researchers to report vulnerabilities in eight top apps on the Play Store. The expanded scope now makes the program more useful for hunting out security vulnerabilities in apps.

As per the rules, researchers must first disclose the vulnerabilities to the app developer. They can then report it to Google, which will then evaluate and offer the additional bounty as it sees fit.

In partnership with HackerOne, a bug bounty platform started by hackers and security researchers, Google is also offering a Developer Data Protection Reward Program, reports Engadget.

The program will provide security researchers with an incentive (worth up to $50,000) for hunting down “data abuse issues” in Android apps, Chrome extensions, etc.

Google will pay researchers up to $20,000 for finding bugs in the top Play Store apps.

It's not clear whether the pea-sized brains are conscious: the team behind the breakthrough suspect they're not because the activity resembles that of preterm babies, but they cannot say for certain, opening up a new ethical dimension to this area of research.

So-called "cerebral organoids" derived from adult stem cells have been around for a decade or so but have never previously developed functional neural networks.

"If you had asked me five years ago 'Would you think that a brain organoid would ever have a sophisticated network able to generate a brain oscillation?' I would say no," Alysson Muotri, a biologist at the University of California San Diego, told AFP.

A paper published by Muotri and his colleagues in the journal Cell Press said that two factors were responsible for the breakthrough. The first was a better procedure to grow stem cells, including optimizing the culture medium formula.

The second was initially surprising, but also intuitive when the researchers thought about it: simply allowing the neurons adequate time to develop, just as babies' brains develop in the womb.

Many processes in the human brain remain a mystery to neuroscientists.

"The very early stages of human neurodevelopment are encoded in our genome," explained Muotri.

The team began to detect bursts of brain waves from organoids from about two months.

The signals were sparse at first and all at the same frequency, a pattern seen in very immature human brains. But as they grew, they produced waves at different frequencies, and the signals appeared more regularly, suggesting further development of their neural networks.

Researchers then compared the brain wave patterns with those of human brains in early development, by training a machine learning algorithm with the activity recorded from 39 prematurely born babies.

The program was successful in predicting how many weeks the organoids had been developing in their dishes, suggesting they shared a similar growth trajectory to brains in their natural setting.

The point at which newborn babies attain consciousness, and the definition of consciousness itself, are both contested among scientists.

A French study in 2013 that looked at the brain activity of babies found they began to think about images of faces they were shown from the age of five months, appearing to store the visuals in their temporary "working memory" — a faculty they linked to perceptual consciousness.

Representational image. Image courtesy: NCL UK

Applications and ethics

Earlier, less sophisticated organoids were used to model what happens when the brain is exposed to diseases like the Zika virus which causes physical malformations.

But there are also a host of neurological conditions such as autism, epilepsy, and even psychiatric conditions where problems arise from how the brain network is wired, not from malformations.

By creating brain organoids from the stem cells of individuals with these conditions, scientists could better model them and perhaps one day find cures.

They also hope to answer more fundamental questions. Muotri said the organoids development plateaued around nine to 10 months, for reasons that aren't yet clear.

"I'm curious about that. I wonder if it's because we don't have a vascularization system to allow the nutrients to get inside, or it could be that we are just lacking stimulation" in the form of sensory input.

He hopes to test both hypotheses.

About whether the brain organoids are conscious, Muotri said he suspects not because of its early stage of development.

"But if you ask me, 'How do you know?' I would say I have no evidence either way, because we don't even know how to detect consciousness in other systems," he said.

"As we get closer to the human brain, all of these ethical questions will appear," he admitted, proposing that the field be subject to agreed-upon limits and regulation.

A promo video of Vivo Nex 3 was also shared online a few days back.

Confirming a few key specs of the smartphone, a new unboxing video has popped online. As per this video, Nex 3 will come with a waterfall display with really thin bezels.

Vivo Nex 3 is expected to come with 5G connectivity and 64 MP camera. Image: Weibo

The video shows off a phone with a heavily curved display (at the edges), and buttonless design. A headphone jack is at the top. Since there was no notch on the front, it was being speculated that it might come with a pop-up selfie camera or an under-display camera, now that companies like Oppo are working on such tech. The video confirms that the phone comes with a pop-up selfie camera.

Instead of buttons, the sides feature a ribbed surface that gives haptic feedback when pressure is applied. Apparently, the feedback is so good it feels like a real button.

Looking at the back of the device, Nex 3 will feature a glass back with a circular camera module. As per previous leaks, the smartphone might come with a 64 MP camera at the back.

Vivo has also launched a 4,000 mAh battery that supports 120 W charging (Yes, as much as a laptop) and charges in barely 13 minutes. It is being speculated that Nex 3 might house this battery.

Such rapid charging must have a detrimental effect on battery life and it remains to be seen how Vivo has implemented the tech in the Nex 3.

The Chandrayaan 2 composite has carried out three successful in-orbit manoeuvres since it entered lunar orbit — all in an attempt to lower its altitude in preparation for landing. If successful, the final manoeuvre today will put the spacecraft on a circular path that passes over the lunar poles at a distance of about 100 km from the surface. Entering this circular orbit is the mission's final milestone before the Vikram lander separates from the orbiter to make its planned soft-landing on the moon's surface on 7 September.

Chandrayaan 2 composite orbiting the moon before the lander's separation. Image: ISRO

The approximately 100 x 100 km circular orbit is close enough for the Vikram lander, which is currently bound to the orbiter in a 'composite', to separate. The separation and landing sequences are planned for 2 September and 7 September at 1.40 am, respectively. Between these two important days, the first maps of the landing site will be created (planned for 3 and 4 September) to ensure the landing site is as safe as previously thought to make a soft-landing. This is a crucial step in the mission since ISRO's mission engineers won't be operating the spacecraft remotely. The orbiter will also be surveilling its year-long home for the first time, ensuring that no damage was caused to its instruments on the journey thus far, and conducting a thorough examination of the Vikram lander's landing site at the moon's South Polar region.

Chandrayaan 2 is expected to make its long-awaited powered descent and landing on 7 September at 1.40 am IST in a landing sequence that the ISRO Chief describes as '15 minutes of terror'.

While subsequent events in the mission won't be streamed live, you can catch live updates on the mission on our dedicated Chandrayaan 2 domain, our Twitter page, ISRO's website, or Twitter page.

The breakthrough comes a decade after American Timothy Brown, known as the "Berlin Patient," became the first person cured of HIV after a bone marrow transplant from a donor with a mutation of the CCR5 gene.

The newly-discovered mutation concerns the Transportin 3 gene (TNPO3) and is far more rare.  It was identified several years ago among members of a family in Spain who were suffering from type 1F limb-girdle muscular dystrophy.

Doctors studying the family learned that HIV researchers were interested in the same gene because it plays a role in transporting the virus inside cells.

Representational image

They then got in touch with geneticists in Madrid, who took blood samples from those family members and infected the blood with HIV — revealing a welcome surprise.

The lymphocytes — white blood cells that are an important part of the immune system — of people with the rare muscular illness were naturally resistant to HIV, it emerged.

"This helps us to understand much better the transport of the virus in the cell," Jose Alcami, a virologist at the Carlos III Health Institute and co-author of a paper published in US journal PLOS Pathogens on the subject, told AFP.

HIV is among the most studied viruses, he said, adding however that much remained to be learned, such as why five percent of patients who are infected do not develop AIDS. "There are mechanisms of resistance to infection that are very poorly understood," he said.

"New genome editing technologies hold great promise and hope for those who suffer from diseases we once thought untreatable," the World Health Organization's Director-General for told the body's genome editing oversight committee meeting in Geneva. "But some uses of these technologies also pose unique and unprecedented challenges — ethical, social, regulatory and technical,” he added.

Chinese scientist He Jiankui's announcement last November that he had altered the DNA of twins girls in southern China by using molecular scissors -- ostensibly to prevent them from contracting HIV.

Representational image.

He was then fired from his university, put under police investigation and ordered to halt his work.

But his announcement provoked a global backlash from scientists saying the untested procedure was unethical and potentially dangerous and in December the WHO set up an expert committee to look into the matter.

About 30 nations currently have legislation directly or indirectly barring all clinical use of germline editing.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasised that countries should not allow any further work on human germline genome editing "until the technical and ethical implications have been properly considered", the WHO said in a statement.

Accepting the recommendation of its 18-member expert committee, WHO announced plans for an initial phase of the registry to include both germline and somatic clinical trials

Somatic mutations occur in a single body cell and cannot be inherited while germline mutations can be passed onto offspring.