Category: Technology

The standalone ChatGPT app from OpenAI is now available for iOS users to download and use without any charges. It combines a few cool features and makes it simpler to communicate with the bot while on the road.

WASHINGTON – Twitter on Friday announced that it will wind down the legacy blue ticks given to the verified accounts before the takeover of the Elon Musk.

LAHORE – MET Pakistan is hosting a Twitter Space session on the topic “How can e-commerce help Pakistan solve its economic problems?” today.

The session will be held today (February 3) at 9pm. The speakers include Umar Shami, owner of Daily Pakistan and CEO at Euro Oils, Jabran Niaz, Amazon Top Seller and the Founder and CEO of Utopia Deals and Utopia Industries and Umar Mir, CEO at Sanalbul and Vice Chairman of AirSial.

https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1nAKErkBaEXGL?s=20

LAHORE – In a positive development, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday announced re-launching youth laptop scheme.

ABU DHABI – Microsoft for Startups Middle East, in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), today graduated the latest cohort of tech startups from its GrowthX Accelerator program.

The conclusion of the cohort was celebrated during a Demo Day event, hosted at Abu Dhabi’s financial centre, Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), with attendees including startup founders, government officials, investors, business leaders and stakeholders from the regional entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Run as part of a strategic partnership between ADIO and Microsoft for Startups, GrowthX is specifically designed to empower growth-stage B2B startups from Seed to Series A stages to grow and scale in Abu Dhabi. The program features weekly sessions from Microsoft experts and regional and global leaders in business and technology. The 12 startups in this cohort hail from across the Middle East, Turkey and Pakistan, and are developing solutions in E-commerce, EdTech, Fintech, HRtech, and Insurtech. The companies in this cohort are Fortyguard, Ilmversity, Klickit, MonSpark, Pisano, Poilabs, Raabtaa, Supercommerce, Vita Virtues, Xina AI, Edraak Systems, and Pay Caps.

Eng. Abdulla Abdul Aziz AlShamsi, Acting Director General at ADIO, said, “The rapid pace of digital transformation is an opportunity to find new technological solutions to global challenges continually. The GrowthX Accelerator is a proven platform to identify and empower innovative startups to achieve scale and impact. We congratulate all the graduates on completing this program and look forward to seeing how they leverage the tools gained to accelerate their growth and enhance the regional startup landscape.”

Naim Yazbeck, General Manager, Microsoft UAE, said, “It has been both inspiring and encouraging to witness the growth and development of each of the startups enrolled on this cohort. They’ve leveraged every opportunity to maximize the potential of their offerings, enhance their skillsets and embrace the support and resources available to empower them to grow and scale their businesses. Together with ADIO, we are proud to have empowered another incredible cohort of startups to showcase their innovative ideas and develop them into real-world solutions, that will strengthen the regional ecosystem and develop our digital economy.”

Investment in tech startups across the UAE and the Middle East continues to grow exponentially as demand for new, creative, and innovative products and solutions continue to rise. Over the past year, venture capital funding in MENA reached $2.6 billion, 138% more than in 2020, according to MAGNiTT. Startups in the UAE accounted for 26% of all deals closed across MENA and 45% of all funding raised across the region in 2021.

The GrowthX Accelerator helps startups develop their offerings and unlock new opportunities for success. The 10-week program offers a variety of group and one-on-one virtual sessions and training on enterprise sales, technical readiness, investor readiness, and customer engagement tactics. Participating startups also work closely with Microsoft to co-create technology solutions that address real challenges facing organizations in the region, and receive support from regional partners including legal assistance from Clara.

Following the conclusion of the program, the startups will also work closely with Masdar City, a GrowthX program partner, who will support the graduating cohort in obtaining business licences and establishing operations in Abu Dhabi. The Masdar City Free Zone hosts more than 1,000 companies that benefit from the city’s unique ecosystem of education, R&D, technology startups, incubators, and corporates.

Including the recently concluded cohort, the GrowthX Accelerator has graduated a total of 48 startups since its inception in 2021.

KARACHI – A court in Karachi issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Waqar Zaka, a television host and social media activist in the Rs86 million cryptocurrency scandal case.

A judicial magistrate issued the warrant while hearing the case filed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on a report of the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU). The warrants were issued after Zaka, who used to raise voice for making the virtual currencies legal in the country, failed to appear in court.

The FIA said that during the last three years the aggregated credits of Rs86.1 million and debt of Rs87.1 million were observed in his bank account, adding that several transactions were made from the abroad countries.

“Whereas, the multiple news, blogs, and videos were found on a public database which transpires involvement of accused Waqar Zaka into cryptocurrency/virtual assets”, the agency alleged him in the case.

“During the inquiry, Bitcoin/cryptocurrency-related posts were found on his Twitter account, the accused also promotes cryptocurrency like Bitcoin”, it further alleged.

The FIA said when the inquiry was launched against him, he started false propaganda against the institutions on the social media and provoked public against the government officials.

BEIJING – Chinese technology giant now helped consumers to pay amounts by using their palms as a card.

In its report, MIT Technology Review revealed that multinational conglomerate Tencent earlier conducted tests on the first of its type of touchless palm payment which let consumers pay for goods and services without carrying any typical card.

In the country of 1.4 billion, the tech giant’s social media app WeChat hits 1 billion users and is replacing traditional bills across several cities.

In one of the clips on the Chinese short video App TikTok, a consumer can be seen paying for a soda merely using his palm.

MIT Technology Review’s report further stated that the feature was rolled out some time back and had properly been released in Guangzhou, the leading financial center in China.

The touchless palm payment is capable to distinguish the palms of individuals. People can now make payment by waving their hands up to a few inches from the camera, with no facial or fingerprint recognition required.

Despite unforeseen technology advancements, payment by password, fingerprint, and facial recognition technology remain the most popular methods with top brands using them.

China’s rival US has been testing palm-scanning payment technology in Amazon’s Seattle store, per reports. Meanwhile, experts have warned of privacy concerns as such tech requires a large database of biometric information linked to users,

Tesla/SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is finally the owner of the microblogging site, Twitter, as $44 billion purchase deal was finalized on Thursday.

The 51-year-old business tycoon made the announcement on Twitter in an official statement.

In the statement, Elon explained his reasons for acquiring Twitter, saying, “There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide in our society.”

Dear Twitter Advertisers pic.twitter.com/GMwHmInPAS

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 27, 2022

“In the relentless pursuit of clicks, much of traditional media has fuelled and catered to those polarised extremes, as they believe that is what brings in the money, but, in doing so, the opportunity for dialogue is lost.”

He added, “That is why I bought Twitter. I didn’t do it because it would be easy. I didn’t do it to make more money. I did it to try to help humanity, whom I love. And I do so with humility, recognising that failure in pursuing this goal, despite our best efforts, is a very real possibility.”

The Twitter bio of the one of the world’s richest persons reads as “Chief Twit”.

Meanwhile, videos circulating on social media shows Elon roaming in Twitter headquarters.