Facebook vs Apple Feud Continues!
It’s always something happening in the Big Tech Giants’ world! Whether it’s new features rolling out for Messenger, Instagram or WhatsApp. Or the Antitrust lawsuit on Facebook! I am not trying to paint a bigger picture here, or maybe I am… Just sharing the fact that something is “always” up in the tech world.
Well, quarrels happen too! As Facebook has publicly criticized Apple’s IOS privacy changes with a full page newspaper ad today with, “We’re standing up to Apple for small businesses everywhere,” reads the headline on an ad inside the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal today. Bloomberg News reports that the ads are related to Apple’s iOS 14 privacy changes that will make it more difficult for companies like Facebook to target users with ads.
Apple’s Privacy Policies Against Facebook
Apple had recently planned to implement changes like the developer will ask for permission to gather data and track them across mobile apps (including Facebook and other websites) for iPhones and iPads with iOS 14 in September, but delayed rolling it out until early next year. These changes will impact Facebook’s ad business, and in particular its ad network for developers and businesses, as end users are more likely to opt out of tracking prompts.
Facebook’s Claim Against Apple
Facebook claims Apple’s changes will be “devastating to small businesses” that rely on its ad network to generate sales. The newspaper ads direct small businesses to Facebook’s “speak up for small business” site, where a series of business owners speak out about Apple’s changes. “Small businesses deserve to be heard,” Facebook writes. “We hear your concerns, and we stand with you.”
Notably it was also revealed how Facebook tracks the users with iOS app!
After the public spat from Facebook, Apple has emerged with a defensive statement against the ‘one pager ad,’ Apple responded to Facebook critiques saying that they are “standing up for our users”
Apple’s Defence Against Facebook Ad!
Apple’s statement says, “We believe that this is a simple matter of standing up for our users. Users should know when their data is being collected and shared across other apps and websites and they should have the choice to allow that or not. App Tracking Transparency in iOS 14 does not require Facebook to change its approach to tracking users and creating targeted advertising, it simply requires they give users a choice.”
Apple in the recent past also made good for their users when they promised to provide more transparency around iOS app data collection with the launch of their privacy labels on the App Store. The “Nutrition privacy labels,” include the accuracy from every time a developer submits a new update to the user. Apple has broken down data collection into three categories: “data used to track you,” “data linked to you,” and “data not linked to you.”
Tracking in this context means the app developer is linking data from the app which includes personal information, location data collected from your device. Other data from other companies’ apps, or websites for the purpose of targeted advertising. Apple says it’s also using the term tracking here to mean sharing user or device information with companies that sell it, like data brokers.
The quarrel between the two companies is supposed to be a big one in the tech world, how Apple will implement these changes for the users is the bigger question.
Tech Tuesday StartUp Of The Day: WonderTree
Pakistan has been blessed with variety of people making their marks in the Tech World and one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia. Be it any invention by any student on a basic level or any promising start-up, like the app-based transportation provider “Airlift” for safe commute, the on-demand transport and logistics startup “Cheetay,” the biggest nation-wide property “buy, sell or rent” start-up “Zameen” or the most well-funded FinTech startup in Pakistan, Inov8 is a B2B payment solutions provider specializing in e-commerce, mobile banking, and branchless banking. Inov8. These all start-ups are collectively very well-funded but they are taking the Tech level in Pakistan up a notch.
But despite the over-all low amount of venture capital invested in the startup ecosystem, one of these visionary start-ups in Pakistan got global recognition and praise. That’s not all, that startup has also been selected by UNICEF Innovative Fund 2020. It is “WonderTree!”
WonderTree is a brain child of Muhammad Usman and Muhammad Waqas. Wondertree which creates Augmented Reality (AR) games to accelerate learning and development of motor and cognitive skills for children with special needs.
The idea was conceived by Muhammad Usman, WonderTree’s Chief Technical Officer, whose older brother was diagnosed with Down syndrome and he enjoyed learning through games. The startup began with just three team members and founders Muhammad Usman and Muhammad Waqas, they hope to make quality education and physiotherapy both accessible and easily affordable, WonderTree came into being!
WonderTree recognition from Google
WonderTree is fortunately among the eleven businesses from around the globe who are the successful applicants of the Google’s Accelerator program on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). All these startups address a comprehensive range of social and environmental challenges, and are working toward at least one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals outlined by the United Nations. WonderTree excels to meet three UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which includes,
-SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
-SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
-SDG 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries.
The program all over received applications after its call entries from close to 1,200 startups from Middle East, Europe and Africa. Among the entries from all around the world, WonderTree became the only start up from Pakistan to win the title. They have been working for education of children with special needs. Setting up in 5 cities across Pakistan, WonderTree captivates 4000+ active users in more than 40+ schools. WonderTree is the only company using technology to meet the special needs of the marginalized population of Pakistan. Currently, WonderTree is working towards spreading its operations in Middle East, South East Asia and Africa.
WonderGames by WonderTree
WonderTree’s flagship project “WonderGames, uses artificial intelligence, machine learning and human pose estimation to make interactive and immersive games for children between the ages 4-14 years, with mild to moderate disabilities.
WonderTree games key features include fully customizable settings, immersive experiences for different target populations and real time clinically backed reporting. WonderTree games are designed to develop physical, cognitive, language and social skills in children with special needs. Their target users are children on various spectrum of motor and cognitive disability which include autism, down syndrome, cerebral palsy, learning disability. WonderTree further aims to make WonderGames a part of mainstream special education curriculum in Pakistan.
The start-up has surfaced as a hope for kids who are disabled but are differently abled. And can take part in every activity like a normal human being does. They are just in need for help and a little support from the government and people who are striving and working hard every day to provide them a better future.
RECOMMENDED STARTUPS
Read more about Tech Tuesday and If you like this review you can also check these
– TECHTUESDAY: The Disrupt Labs
If you want your startup to get featured, contact us.
Here Is What You Need to Know About The Antitrust Lawsuit Against Facebook
If we go through the list of most used apps in the US, Facebook tops the list. But it’s just not Facebook that Mark Zuckerberg owns, its Messenger, Instagram and Whatsapp. But when you combine those companies up, Facebook dominance is clear, because they buy the rival companies!
In the past Facebook had been involved in many lawsuits, but the most famous one is when in 2019, California State attorney general Xavier Becerra sued Mark Zuckerberg in the Californian Superior Court and said that over an 18-month period, Facebook had resisted and ignored dozens of requests for documents and internal correspondence about the company’s handling of personal data.
And now Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg faces the biggest legal battle where more than 40 states and the US government have sued Facebook for illegally crushing competitors, buying the rival companies, and demanded the company under the “buy and bury” strategy to undo its accession of Instagram and WhatsApp.
What’s the argument from the US government and from Facebook?
The Federal Trade Commission alleges Facebook, which was found in 2004, has maintained a monopoly in the US by accessing companies that presented a clear threat in the tech market. The lawsuit explains that “After identifying two significant competitive threats to its dominant position Instagram and WhatsApp, Facebook moved to squeeze those threats by buying the companies,” reflecting Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg’s view, expressed in a 2008 email, that “it is better to buy than compete.” There is a legal reason Instagram and WhatsApp are the heart of the State and Federal lawsuits. Facebook did what comes under an explicit violation of USA’s antitrust laws, buying the threat!
New York attorney general Letitia James claimed that Facebook has involved in a systematic strategy to eliminate threats to its monopoly. This includes purchase of photo-sharing app Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 and messaging app WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014. The tricky thing is it was the State Government who has given the permission to buy the both companies. Facebook argues that it is extremely unfair and that Facebook made both the applications better than they ever were.
Read: TWITTER NOW EXPANDS HATE SPEECH RULES!
Will this lawsuit affect users experience?
Lawsuits usually take years to resolve. And this is considered to be the biggest legal battle Facebook has to face. So it is going to take time. Already Facebook is working on features in multiple apps and blending them together to make it cohesive and a nicer experience for the users. But this could be very hard to break the relationship off from each other. It’s also possible that Facebook might hold off on new possessions or change features in development to avoid hurting the company’s legal arguments. The user experience in general would not get affected by this. There might be some subtle changes that could happen due to half of the attention over the court cases!
The CEO Mark Zuckerberg reassured Facebook employees that nothing major will immediately change in his internal memo. He said the company planned to fight the allegations in court and that he didn’t “anticipate any impact on individual teams or roles” in the short run. He also added “Today’s news is one step in a process which could take years to play out in its entirety.”
Is this lawsuit going to affect Facebook?
Anything will happen with the lawsuit; the recent extra attention on everything they do will change them forever. Bill Gates in an interview last year shared that if Microsoft had not been “distracted” by government antitrust lawsuits that started in 1998, his company’s Windows — and not Google’s Android — could have been the world’s most popular smartphone system. Gates was reflecting a common view among company executives of the time that the lawsuits made Microsoft more cautious and as a result the company missed chances to go in new directions.
It maybe is a revisionist history, but is it possible that Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple or even Microsoft again could alter their behaviour because they’re embrangled by court cases or worried about looking like bullies.
What is the main motive behind this lawsuit against Facebook?
Some of the government officials seem to have tough verdicts against Facebook. But while all this tough handling they missed out on two important elements. They are charging Facebook after years of failures to restrain its power and to hide behind a political motive now. And FTC being the same state agency that was criticised last year for extracting manageable fine from Facebook and demanded policy changes at the company with benefits for those of us who use the company’s apps. And it was the same company that approved the obtainment of Instagram and WhatsApp.
The antitrust cases, even if they’re successful, won’t necessarily address all the various and sometimes inconsistent grievances many people have with ownership of two companies or Big Tech in general. This does not certainly mean these lawsuits won’t be changing anything. They can! They Tech market should always have a sound competition.
ALSO READ: YOUTUBE AND GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE DOWN INCLUDING GMAIL AND DRIVE!
YouTube and Google Search Engine Down Including Gmail and Drive
The users of YouTube and Google Search are facing immense frustration from an hour with the application along with the search engine currently down and not working. The problem appeared to have started around 4pm appeared in India first. And now thousands of users are now unable to use this service.
The online platform that provides users with realtime information about the status of various websites DownDetector reported a huge amount of complains by the users.
Also Read:FACEBOOK, MESSENGER AND INSTAGRAM DOWN!
People using Gmail are also complaining their service being down. Twitter is filled with complaints and memers have taken over the media apps that are currently working!
People have been reporting Google Drive being down including Gmail all its services.
Memers have gone frenzy over Twitter – tweeting and trolling other apps!
Some people believe that the “end is here”
Some believe that we have entered into the “Prehistoric Life”
So what are your plans for tonight when everything else has gone into a complete blackout?
Book Review: A Thousand Splendid Suns By KhalEd Hosseini
Khalid Hosseini has the quality that can pull any heart’s strings. His first novel “The Kite Runner” satisfied the readers and makes them fall in love with his writing. It is not too hard to understand why “The Kite Runner” (2003) became such a huge best seller. The Novel initially got its popularity in book reading groups and writing conventions. The novel gave an deep-seated sight at Afghanistan and the difficulties of life in there, but it also reflects the author’s writing style in a very “old-fashioned” way. The art of storytelling is sharply drawn with melodramatic plotlines and characters which will instantly transfer you on the streets of Afghanistan.
The Story Line
“A Thousand Splendid Suns” is set in Afghanistan in between the early 1960s to the early 2000s. The storyline revolves around a young girl Mariam in the 1960s, grows up outside Herat, a small city in Afghanistan. Mariam seem to have complicated and difficulties understanding her parents, with a spiteful and egoistic mother, Nana. Her father Jalil is a successful businessman often visits her daughter, Mariam – his only illegitimate child – once a week. Mariam desires to live with her father, his other three wives and half-sibilings in Herat. She makes her wishes and asks Jalil to take her to see Pinocchio for her 15th Birthday. Jalil unwillingly agrees, but never shows up. Mariam walks to Jalil’s house, but he doesn’t let her in. She then sleeps on the street. The next morning Jalil’s driver drives Mariam home just to find out her mother has committed suicide.
As a devastated child, Mariam becomes alone. Over the years, she was constantly reminded by her mother that she was not supposed to be born, she was a mistake. Mariam’s confusions grew as a kid. She kept on dreaming about going to school. She wants to be accepted but she never learnt to stand up for herself or fight for her freedom.
The Tragedies
After her mother’s tragic death Mariam is taken to Jalil’s home after her mother’s funeral. The other wives of Jalil want nothing from Jalil’s daughter, so they forcefully marry her to Rasheed, a widowed shoemaker of Kabul. Mariam becomes a victim of abuse, both physical and verbal. After several miscarriages it becomes quite clear that Rasheed is only using Mariam to replace the son he lost years ago.
The Strong-Headed Laila
Then comes Laila, another major character of the story. She is portrayed as a strong-headed girl. Her father was a modern man. He encourages her to get an education and always stand up for herself. He calls Laila the kind of woman Afghanistan will need, because she is brave and kind. Laila’s story also touches a lot of taboos such as ‘premarital sex’ and ‘indifference towards the girl child in the family.’ The story beautifully amalgamates in war and its effects through the characters.
The Afghani war against the Soviets disrupts Laila’s teenage and both her brothers leave for the war. Laila seeks comfort from her best friend, Tariq, a boy older than her. Just before Laila reaches adolescence, her parents’ receive news that both of their sons have been killed. A few years later, war reaches Kabul and bombing on the city becomes regular. By now, Tariq and Laila are teenagers and in love. As Tariq tells Laila that he and his family are fleeing to Pakistan, the couple makes love for the first time. A few days later, Laila’s parents decide to leave Afghanistan as well, but as they are packing a rocket hits their house, killing Laila’s parents and wounding her.
Rasheed and Mariam helps Laila recover from her wounds, where a stranger Abdul Sharif comes and informes her that Tariq has died. Laila also finds out that she is pregnant with Tariq’s child. Laila agrees to marry Rasheed. Mariam gets deeply hurt and threatened by Laila’s presence and during this period, Laila gives birth to Aziza, her daughter and then a son, Zalmai after a few years of abuse and sadness. Tariq suddenly returns back, adding a shock to Laila.
Mariam and Laila realize that it was Rasheed who hired the stranger Abdul Sharif – who informed about the death of Tariq – to tell about the untrue and untimely death of Tariq, so she would not run away. When Rasheed finds out that Tariq has returned, he abuses Laila, and Mariam kills Rasheed with a shovel. Mariam then turns herself over to the Taliban in an effort to clear the way for Laila to find sanctuary for herself and her children in Pakistan with Tariq.
The Ending
In Pakistan, Tariq and Laila marry and finally begin the life they dreamed of so many years ago. The couple enjoyed a happy life, but following the US invasion their dreams overshadowed. Following the events, when the conditions improve, Laila insists to move back to Kabul so they can help rebuild their city. They stop by Herat and find out about Mariam’s execution in grief! In Kabul, Laila serves as a school teacher at an orphanage. When Laila becomes pregnant, she decides that if she has a girl, she’ll name her “Mariam.”
The strong plot gave out a grand feel to this whole novel. The events after events, where Mariam’s mother commits suicide, her father’s turns cold towards her, being married off too quickly and enduring pain of back to back miscarriages and abuse. The story depicts pain and each and every character was deeply resonated within the readers. It explores teh relationship between two women and their courage to stay strong in an abusive, unfair world. And to have faith that miracles do happen! Khalid Hosseini cleverly portrayed the “Strong women” narrative within the lines of “Cultural impairment” gave this whole novel a lively feeling!
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
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– BOOK REVIEW: The Alchemist By Paolo Coelho
App of the Week: DC Comics App
Ever been a fan of Batman, Superman or Wonderwoman? If yes, then comic books must have been an essential part of your childhood. Spending almost all of your pocket money into comics was a goal. What if we tell you that you can now do that read your comics online through an app? Well we got you covered!
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Facebook, Messenger and Instagram Down!
The users of Facebook are facing an evident frustration since the morning with the Messenger and Instagram apps currently down and not working. The problem appeared to have started around 10am with Messenger being affected first in the morning. And now thousands of users are now unable to use this service.
An independent website DownDetector, which tracks the server status of Online services of Social media reported, that 3000 above people complained about the issue, that they are unable to access their app, every minute in the UK. At its peak, some 2,400 Facebook Messenger were complaining every minute about being unable to login, send texts, or receive calls to the popular messaging app.
Reports have been coming that Instagram is also down and not working after being reloaded several times. A huge group of people have started turning towards Twitter to find out more about the news and showing frustrations and concerns over the issue.
Read More: What did Twitter do to Curb Social Hate?
Cyberpunk 2077 – A Peek Into The Future of Sci-fi?
The most anticipated part of a decade is here, Cyberpunk 2077 is finally out, and it’s as irrepressibly detailed as the trailers suggest.
Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077 is an action role-playing video game developed and published by CD Projekt. It was developed using the REDengine 4 by a team of around 500, exceeding the number that worked on the studio’s previous game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015). CD Projekt launched a new division in Wroclaw, Poland, partnered with Digital Scapes, Nvidia, QLOC, and Jali Research to aid the production.
Cyberpunk 2077 Release Date and Price
The game is released for Microsoft Windows, Stadia, Playstation 4, Playstation 5 and Xbox One. It is released on December 10, 2020. And the price of the standard edition is £49.99.
Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay
Cyberpunk 2077 is played in a first-person perspective of a customisable mercenary as V. The story takes place in Night City, an open world set in the Cyberpunk universe in the year 2077. Players presume the first-person perspective and can acquire skills in hacking and machinery with options for melee and ranged combat.
The game itself feels huge and expensive. The anxiousness will get evident in the first few hours of Cyberpunk 2077 majorly because of the content and endings which is divided into three parts with no clarity in the map.
The story majorly starts with a duo character V and Jackie Welles who are set to steal an important piece of technology from the Araska Corporation, also known as the chip of immorality by fixer Dexter Deshawn. The duo steal the device but the plan goes wrong and Jackie appears to die. After being betrayed by Dexter and left to die, but manages to survive and returns as an immortal-digital-ghost, “Johnny Silverhand.”
Stars of Cyberpunk 2077
The actor Keanu Reeves has a starring role in the game, as the character “Johnny Silverhand.” The original score was led by Marcin Przybyłowicz, featuring the contributions of several licensed artists including Michael-Leon Wooley as “V,” Michael Gregory as “Victor Vector” Jacek Rozenek as Geralt of Rivia.
System Requirements for Cyberpunk2077
The minimum PC requirement for Cyberpunk 2077 is 1080p Low, with Core i5-3570K or FX-8310. 8GB RAM, 3GB VRAM and 70GB storage, GTX 780 3GB (or RX 470 4GB) Windows 7 or Windows 10 64-bit. The game is both graphics- and processor-intensive, so it is important to meet or exceed the minimum requirements.
The future is pretty much revised with Cyberpunk2077 as it is offering so much more. The fun factor is the replayability and value for money, and the limited market of FPS RPGs with immersive sim gameplay systems make Cyberpunk 2077 an easy sell. The package is well worth a look, so take advantage of your next-gen graphics card and play on.
Also read: CUSTOMERS RECEIVED CAT FOOD INSTEAD OF GAMING CONSOLES
The Pakistan-China Friendship Prevails: New Research Centre to Enter the Nation
Another milestone for Pakistani nation as a Chinese company named “Shenyang Biotech and Biomedicine Group” in collaboration with a Pakistani partner is going to market its products in the country and is going to establish a gene and cell research and transformation center in Pakistan.
The Commercial Consular of Pakistan Embassy Beijing, Badar Uz Zaman addressed the cloud signing ceremony for the project held simultaneously in China and Pakistan said, “Initially, Shenyang Biotech and Biomedicine Group will be marketing its products in Pakistan through Dynamic Engineering Automation Group, and later on they will establish a research laboratory which will ultimately be transformed into a university.”
Badar also added, “The collaboration between the two companies will be materialized very quickly and we will see the results very soon”.
He also expressed that Pakistan has a room for improvement in the medical technology. “China has made important contributions to the world’s fight against the pandemic, we both sides are optimistic about the prospects for cooperation in the field of health care,” he added.
He informed the participants of the ceremony that Pakistan currently has a strong pharmaceutical industry, He added that, “750 pharmaceutical companies were working in Pakistan but they are mostly busy manufacturing allopathic medicines.”
For the pharmaceutical world, this will be a huge turnover for Pakistan, further strengthening the relationship between both the nations.
Also Read: What you need to know about Coronvirus Reinfection
Volkswagen to Start Manufacturing Cars in Pakistan in 2022
Seems like we are going to witness sports cars in Pakistan more frequently now! This is because Volkswagen will officially start producing vehicles in Pakistan in 2022. Volkswagen with several renowned brands under its umbrella includes Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, and Audi… The German automotive giant is the largest car manufacturer in the world.
According to a Volkswagen Premier Motors representative, the company will start off by introducing “Amarok,” a pickup truck that comprises single and double cabins akin to those featured in the Toyota Hilus Revo.
Volkswagen was all set to establish its manufacturing plant in Hub Pakistan, but the initial plans got delayed by eight months because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Other offering by VW will include “Transporter,” a van which is similar to Suzuki APV.
Volkswagen is entering the Pakistani market in partnership with ‘Premier Motors,’ which was established two years ago as a subsidiary of Premier Systems and has been selling Audi cars in Pakistan for the last 15 years.