United News of Bangladesh

Telecom Reporters' Network Bangladesh (TRNB) has got a new president and general secretary. Rashed Mehedi, special correspondent of Daily Samakal, and Samir Kumar Dey, senior reporter of Daily Ittefaq, have been picked for the posts. TRNB is a professional body of journalists who focus on telecommunications and information technology sectors in Bangladesh and South Asian countries. The new seven-member committee of TRNB was elected for 2021 at the organisation's annual general meeting at a Habiganj hotel on Thursday.

SpaceX chalked up another failed landing Tuesday for its futuristic, bullet-shaped Starship, as the prototype Mars rocket broke apart right before touchdown. A camera on the rocket froze not quite six minutes into the test flight, and dense fog in South Texas obscured views of the ruptured rocket. Other video showed debris raining down and explosions could be heard. "At least the crater is in the right place!" SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk tweeted. Musk said "something significant" happened shortly after the engine firings for landing: "Should know what it was once we can examine the bits later today." In addition, one of the three engines had trouble during the ascent, he noted. This was the fourth full-scale stainless steel model to launch since December to an altitude of more than 6 miles (10 kilometers). The previous three exploded at touchdown or shortly afterward. The prototype is 164 feet (50 meters) tall. "Another exciting test, as we say," SpaceX launch commentator John Insprucker said as he concluded the webcast. A newer version of the rocket has undergone hundreds of design changes, according to Musk. "Hopefully, one of those improvements covers this problem," he said. SpaceX plans to use Starship to send astronauts and cargo to the moon and, ultimately, Mars. Musk said earlier this month that SpaceX will be landing Starships on Mars "well before 2030." But he noted that "the really hard threshold is making Mars Base Alpha self-sustaining." Musk has named the launch and landing area at the southeastern tip of Texas, near the Mexico border, Starbase. A few hour after Tuesday's fiasco, he urged people to move to the area, saying on Twitter that he's looking to hire several thousand people over the next year or two — engineers, technicians, builders, workers of all sorts. He said he's also donating millions to the local school district and nearby city of Brownsville.

A billionaire's private SpaceX flight filled its two remaining seats Tuesday with a scientist-teacher and a data engineer whose college friend actually won a spot but gave him the prize. The new passengers: Sian Proctor, a community college educator in Tempe, Arizona, and Chris Sembroski, a former Air Force missileman from Everett, Washington. They will join flight sponsor Jared Isaacman and another passenger for three days in orbit this fall. Isaacman also revealed some details about his Inspiration4 mission, as the four gathered Tuesday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. He's head of Shift4 Payments, a credit card-processing company in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and is paying for what would be SpaceX's first private flight while raising money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Their SpaceX Dragon capsule will launch no earlier than mid-September, aiming for an altitude of 335 miles (540 kilometers). That's 75 miles (120 kilometers) higher than the International Space Station and on a level with the Hubble Space Telescope. Isaacman, 38, a pilot who will serve as spacecraft commander, still won't say how much he's paying. He's donating $100 million to St. Jude, while donors so far have contributed $13 million, primarily through the lottery that offered a chance to fly in space. Hayley Arceneaux, 29, was named to the crew a month ago. The St. Jude physician assistant was treated there as a child for bone cancer. That left two capsule seats open. Proctor, 51, beat out 200 businesses and nabbed the seat reserved for a customer of Isaacman's company. An independent panel of judges chose her space art website dubbed Space2inspire. "It was like when Harry Potter found out he was a wizard, a little bit of shock and awe," Proctor told The Associated Press last week. "It's like, 'I'm the winner?'" Sembroski, 41, donated and entered the lottery but wasn't picked in the random drawing earlier this month — his friend was. His friend declined to fly for personal reasons and offered the spot to Sembroski, who worked as a Space Camp counselor in college and volunteered for space advocacy groups. "Just finding out that I'm going to space was an incredible, strange, surreal event," he said. Proctor, who studied geology, applied three times to NASA's astronaut corps, coming close in 2009, and took part in simulated Mars missions in Hawaii. She was born in Guam, where her late father — a "Hidden Figure" in her mind — worked at NASA's tracking station for the Apollo moonshots, including Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's. She plans to teach from space and create art up there, too. "To me, everything that I've done ... has brought me to this moment."

Epic Games submitted a complaint Tuesday about Apple's alleged “monopolistic practices" to the U.K. competition watchdog, which is investigating the iPhone maker over concerns it has a dominant position in app distribution. The move by the maker of the popular video game Fortnite is the latest salvo in its bitter battle over Apple's App Store. Epic Games has also filed legal challenges in the United States and Australia, and an antitrust complaint in the European Union against Apple. The game-maker's complaint accuses Apple of anti-competitive behavior and setting strict rules on app distribution and payments in alleged violation of U.K. rules. Apple said it wasn't surprised by Epic’s U.K. complaint “as we have seen them use the same playbook around the world.” The Competition and Markets Authority confirmed it received the complaint and said it would be considered as part of its investigation opened last month into whether Apple's practices result in higher prices or less choice for consumers. The dispute stems from Apple taking a 30% cut from some purchases made through apps, which music streaming service Spotify and other apps have also taken issue with. Epic tried to bypass the App Store with a direct payment system, but Apple responded by dropping the Fortnite app from the platform. “By kneecapping the competition and exerting its monopoly power over app distribution and payments, Apple strips U.K. consumers of the right to choose how and where they get their apps, while locking developers into a single marketplace that lets Apple charge any commission rate they choose,” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said in a statement. “These harmful practices lead to artificially inflated costs for consumers, and stifle innovation among developers, many of whom are unable to compete in a digital ecosystem that is rigged against them,” Sweeney alleged. Epic said it's not seeking monetary damages but wants regulators to come up with fixes to prevent market distortion and manipulation. Apple said Epic Games became hugely successful thanks to the App Store and now "wants to operate under a different set of rules than the ones that apply to all other developers. The result would be weakened privacy and data security protections for our customers, and we think that’s wrong.”

  Robi has become the first operator to deploy 4.5G technology in all its network sites around the country.  The move clearly shows Robi’s intent on leading the fast-growing digital space with the best 4.5G service in the market, said a press release. All of Robi’s 13,400 network sites are now 4.5G compatible. Through innovative use of Spectrum, Robi is now providing the widest 4.5G coverage in the country.  Also read: Robi brings digital retailer liquidity management service As of February, 2021, 70% of Robi’s active base was using data service. With 50.6% 4.5G handset penetration in Robi’s network, its 4.5G service users are now consuming around 6GB 4.5G data per month.  Compared to 2019, Robi’s 4.5G subscribers, and 4.5G data consumption grew by 73% and 143% respectively, in 2020. While the data consumption keeps shooting up, Robi’s data price came down by 25% in 2020, compared to 2019. Hailing this as a key milestone achievement, Robi’s Managing Director and CEO, Mahtab Uddin Ahmed said: “This is a testament to our commitment to deliver new experiences in the lives of our customers through advanced 4.5G technology.  Also read: Robi set to make capital market debut Dec 24 It gives me immense pleasure to announce that Robi will throughout the course of the current year be adding another 2,500+ sites to the network. We are now fully prepared to deliver Innovative digital lifestyle solutions to people from all walks of life.” Robi exercised full benefit of Technology Neutrality by deploying 4.5G services in all available Spectrum bands namely 900Mhz, 1800Mhz and 2100Mhz to achieve the widest 4.5G coverage.  Also read: Robi gets strong growth momentum with Tk 155 cr profit Robi also operates largest Dynamic Spectrum Sharing network in the industry which helps the customer to enjoy faster internet and good voice quality in case of spectrum congestion.  To improve the data user experience in indoor, Robi increased indoor data population coverage by 20% through the largest deployment of state-of-the-art L900 technology in the 900Mhz band to complement its 4.5G services in 1800Mhz and 2100Mhz bands.

 

The Justice Department has charged a Swiss hacker with computer intrusion and identity theft, just over a week after the hacker took credit for helping to break into the online systems of a U.S. security-camera startup.

 

People in Oregon will be better prepared for earthquakes — particularly important in the Pacific Northwest because experts say “the big one" is coming — as an early warning system launched Thursday, the 10th anniversary of a devastating quake and tsunami in Japan.

Global smartphone brand vivo now has 380 million users worldwide despite passing a tough time last year.