United News of Bangladesh

The country's largest carnival of tech devices, Smartphone and Tab Expo, will return Thursday after a two-year break due to the pandemic. The three-day expo will take place at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital's Agargaon to showcase innovations in smartphones and tablet computers. Visitors will get free access to the event from 10am to 8pm every day after getting their body temperature checked. Wearing a face mask is mandatory for them. Also read: UCC offers big discounts on Smartphone and Tab Expo closing day They will get a chance to experience the latest innovations in smartphones and tabs at the expo. Smartphones of Samsung, Oppo, realme, Xiaomi, Tecno, vivo, Walton, One Plus and other brands will be available at the event, with attractive prices and gift items, said the organisers. Visitors will be able to experience the most modern connectivity at the "5G Experience Zone" facilitated by mobile operator Teletalk with the technical support of Huawei Technologies Bangladesh. Also read: Top 10 Best Upcoming Smartphones in Bangladesh in January 2022 Teletalk Assistant Manager Md Abu Hasan Masud said: "5G is still in the testing stage in the country. Teletalk has launched only 6 BTS with 5G features, at a very limited level. Through this fair, more people will get to experience 5G." Fazlul Musawir Choudhury, head of product planning at Samsung Mobile, said: "We will unveil a new device at the expo, and the visitors will get a chance to experience 5G on Samsung phones."

Oppo, in collaboration with Buro Bangladesh, has picked three real-life heroes through the "Stories of Heroic People" campaign. The initiative was taken to find out the stories of the struggle and success of real-life heroes of contemporary Bangladesh. The campaign ran from December 12-18. During this period, people shared the stories of the heroes they know, with photos, on Oppo official Facebook page. Read Winners of Oppo fan festival announced Lubaba Tul Jannat, Simanto Mondol, Nipa Bepari were selected as the winners of this year's campaign for sharing the heroes' stories. The real-life heroes are Dulal Sir, Rabindranath Biswas and Sajedul Islam. Dulal is a teacher who was subjected to inhuman torture during the Bangladesh Liberation War. However, after the war, he dedicated his life to the betterment of his area by creating educational opportunities for the students. He established several educational institutes in his area and built mosques as well. The 65-year-old Dulal is still teaching in his school Anirban. Read Shakib Al Hasan becomes brand ambassador of Oppo Rabindranath, from village Bararia of Khulna's Batiaghata upazila, is a 70-year old freedom fighter and a village doctor who treats people with medicinal plants. He used to treat sick and injured freedom fighters in 1971 and provide them food. From 1971 onwards, he is providing free treatment to the villagers. Although his name is not on the official list of freedom fighters, Rabindranath does not feel frustrated because he believes in helping people under any circumstances. Sajedul is a volunteer, who is involved in various social activities. He regularly donates blood himself and encourages others to do so. During the pandemic, he provided free oxygen cylinders in collaboration with Gopalganj Bondhu Mahal and worked to raise awareness about health issues. Read Oppo Find N Review: What’s special about it? These stories will be stored in Oppo Gallery, a virtual online art collection where everyone can create their own stories with a simple hashtag. The heroes chosen from the #StoriesOfHeroicPeople campaign will be rewarded and supported by Oppo and Buro. Also, the participants will be rewarded with Oppo Reno6 and IoT products. Read Oppo launches quiz contest on Shakib Al Hasan

Mobile financial service Nagad launched the initiative "Abar Ashibo Firey" on Christmas Day Saturday. The initiative was taken to preserve the memory, practices and principles of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by distributing the graphic novel series "Mujib" to children through postcards. During the daylong Christmas event at InterContinental Dhaka, Dhaka Regency Hotel and Resort, Sheraton Dhaka, Radisson Blu Water Garden and The Westin Dhaka, the campaign was implemented. Read Mobile payments: Introduction of advanced technologies helped Nagad draw 5.75 crore users In these events, children chose between four different postcards and put one in a mailbox. Depending on their choices, Nagad will send them "Mujib," which follows the journey of Bangladesh's founding father from childhood to political awakening. The postcards have pictures of tea gardens in Sylhet, beaches in Cox's Bazar, Ahsan Manzil in Dhaka and the Sundarbans to encourage people to travel. Read 50 years of independence: Nagad offers 50% discount on Chorki subscription Nagad Managing Director Tanvir A Mishuk said: "Bangladesh is a country of religious harmony. For children, joy is more important than religion. So Nagad took the initiative 'Abar Ashibo Firey' to increase the happiness of children."

Global smart device brand Oppo recently announced new prices for its two smartphones during the ongoing "Oppo Fans Festival." Oppo F19 Pro has been priced at Tk24,990 – Tk2,000 less than the original price and A16 (4GB) is available at Tk14,990 – Tk1,000 less than the original price. READ: Oppo campaign launched to honour heroic people of 1971, heroes of our time F19Pro comes with dual-view video and AI colour portrait video, dynamic bokeh, 6.8mm slim body, 30W VOOC flash charge and minimalist design features. Like all other Oppo phones, it has a powerful camera segment consisting of a quad-camera set-up. The most interesting aspect of the dual-view video is that it allows the users to capture videos from both sides simultaneously. Read Oppo A95 Review: Budget Flagship Killer or a Mid-range Camera Phone? F19 Pro's front-facing and rear cameras work together, and its colour portrait video keeps the natural colours of the subjects intact while showing the background in a monogram. Equipped with a MediaTek Helio P-95 processor, F19Pro comes with 8GB RAM and 128GB ROM. It also features a 4310mAh battery that allows the users to talk for 3.3 hours with only five minutes of charge. Read Oppo Find N Review: What’s special about it? OPPO A16(4GB) has many features including, AI Triple Camera, Ag frosted matte texture design, IPX4 water and dust resistance, 5000mAh long-lasting battery, side-mounted fingerprint sensor, and a 6.52'' eye care display. Also, the phone has a 13MP rear camera along with two other cameras, each with 2MP. Both front and rear cameras support smart beautification features. Read OPPO recognizes unsung heroes of Bangladesh

Youth-favourite brand realme has recently announced three world premiere technologies at the special event of the realme GT 2 series. Realme’s first and most premium flagship phone, the GT 2 series, features three ‘world’s-first’ technologies -- a back cover made of bio-polymer material, a 150 degrees ultra-wide camera, and Realme’s Innovation Forward Communication, it said in a statement on Monday. Relentless technological and design innovations have always been the cornerstones of Realme’s rapid growth. And it has taken technological advancements to the next level by incorporating three new innovative technologies into the GT 2 series. Read Xiaomi Civi Review: Does it offer value for money? realme GT 2 Pro features a minimalist, sustainability-focussed design inspired by paper. Created by renowned Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa, the ‘Paper Tech Master Design’ makes Realme GT 2 Pro the world’s first smartphone designed with bio-based materials. Additionally, the back cover of GT 2 Pro uses a bio-polymer material that serves as an eco-friendly alternative. The SABIC bio-based material has passed not only the ISCC International Sustainability and Carbon Certification but also various environmental regulation standards, such as REACH, RoHS, and EPEAT. On top of that, realme’s new box design has reduced the overall plastic ratio from 21.7% in the previous generation to 0.3% for this model. An ultra-wide-angle lens is often used in landscape photography, as it allows the camera to capture a wider perspective. realme GT 2 Pro is the first smartphone to offer a 150 degrees ultra-wide camera that expands the phone’s field of view by 278% compared to the primary camera’s 84 degrees. Read NOKIA 8V 5G UW Review: 60K worth Phone is now available at 20K Moreover, realme has developed the world’s first ‘fisheye mode’ for smartphones through its GT 2 Pro. This mode can produce a strong perspective or ultra-long depth of field effect. With a large field of view, the overall picture becomes even more visually appealing. Furthermore, realme GT 2 Pro is equipped with an Antenna Array Matrix System consisting of three technologies -- the world’s first ultra-wide-band antenna switching technology (HyperSmart), a Wi-Fi Enhancer, and a 360 degrees near-field communication (NFC) technology. realme’s HyperSmart antenna switching technology is designed with 12 wrap-around antennas that cover all sides of the phone and support mainstream bands in almost all directions, all with the same signal strength. Read Motorola Moto G51 5G Review: Know the Pros and Cons Besides, the symmetrical Wi-Fi antenna is designed to ensure more balanced signal strength around the phone. realme GT 2 Pro also integrates the top two cellular antennas with an NFC signal transceiver function, increasing the sensing area by 500% and the sensing distance by 20%.

Liu Feng, Executive Marketing Director of OPPO Bangladesh, in an interview, shared different aspects of OPPO Bangladesh. During the interview,Liu said quality along with innovation and exploration is at the heart of OPPO’s DNA, according to a press release issued on Sunday. Liu Feng said, “Our mission is to let our extraordinary users enjoy the beauty of technology. We strive to be a sustainable company that contributes to a better world by leveraging life through technological amenities and innovations.”  Read Oppo Find N Review: What’s special about it? OPPO’s core four values - Benfen, User-led, aiming perfection and Goal Oriented - always remind to accept future challenges and contribute to make a better world. “These values inspire us to long for uniqueness and strive for quality products,” he said All OPPO employees, starting from research and development to supply chain and production process, think very seriously about the quality issues. This is the reason how OPPO maintains the quality, Liu Feng added. About Series’ product positioning, Liu Feng said OPPO A series aims to make innovative technology more accessible, offering users a smartphone that keeps up with their active social lives and makes life more fun compared to other OPPO product series.  Read Oppo launches quiz contest on Shakib Al Hasan The recently-launched OPPO A95 balances high performance with stylish design, empowering users to get more out of life and live each day in style, he added. When asked about maintaining the quality of the smartphones, Liu Feng said, “We strive to deliver the best experience for our customers, no matter wherever they are in the world. We dedicated our heart and soul into developing smartphones. All of our smartphones have been tested for durability by putting it through a series of strict tests.”  “For instance, our newly launched A95 has been through Charging Safety Test that uses software to automatically stop charging when the battery reaches its temperature limit.”  Read Oppo Reno7 SE 5G Review: Can it rule the upper mid-range segment? With this combined hardware-software solution, users are protected from potential danger caused by their battery overheating, he added.

Singer has brought Instant Water Heater to the Bangladesh market. The water heater comes with a stepless electronic power control. The appliance is restriction of hazardous substances (RoHS)-compliant. It comes with triple safety protection, consisting of a built-in auto flow switch to prevent overheating. Read 50 years of Bangladesh's independence: Singer offers 50% discount on special edition refrigerators Also, the water heater possesses a built-in lightning surge protector, 15mA earth-leakage circuit breaker, residual current device, which cuts off power in the event of power leakage. All these features are catered towards the safety of the users. Singer Instant Water Heater is available for Tk11,990 with a 1-year warranty. Read Singer Washing Machines: Caring for our clothes right

Mobile financial services (MFS) provider Nagad has introduced state-of-the-art technologies in mobile payments which eased the account opening process and boosted the financial inclusion of the country. Since its inception in 2019, Nagad has been using advanced technologies which helped it draw 5.75 crore users. The MFS has revolutionised the distribution of allowances of the government's social safety net programme. Read bKash relaunches digital payroll solution for RMG workers Through the use of advanced technology, Nagad is successfully distributing student stipends and financial assistance. In the fiscal year 2020-21, Nagad distributed about 8 crore government financial assistance among 3 crore beneficiaries. The MFS has played an important role in increasing financial inclusion by inventing an innovative method of setting PIN by dialling *167#. The number of customers and transactions in Nagad has increased rapidly, as a result. Read Nagad hands Tk 3.32 Cr to postal department as revenue share in fiscal 2020-21 The average daily turnover of Nagad is now around Tk750 crore, according to the MFS. Nagad Managing Director Tanvir A Mishuk said: "Government grants such as education stipend; old age, widow allowances are being sent to the beneficiaries through mobile." "The use of advanced technologies and skills is one of the reasons behind the success of Nagad." Read 10 Minute School courses: bKash offers 20% cashback on payment

A critical vulnerability in a widely used software tool — one quickly exploited in the online game Minecraft — is rapidly emerging as a major threat to organizations around the world. "The internet's on fire right now," said Adam Meyers, senior vice president of intelligence at the cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike. "People are scrambling to patch," he said, "and all kinds of people scrambling to exploit it." He said Friday morning that in the 12 hours since the bug's existence was disclosed that it had been "fully weaponized," meaning malefactors had developed and distributed tools to exploit it. The flaw may be the worst computer vulnerability discovered in years. It was uncovered in a utility that's ubiquitous in cloud servers and enterprise software used across industry and government. Unless it is fixed, it grants criminals, spies and programming novices alike easy access to internal networks where they can loot valuable data, plant malware, erase crucial information and much more. "I'd be hard-pressed to think of a company that's not at risk," said Joe Sullivan, chief security officer for Cloudflare, whose online infrastructure protects websites from malicious actors. Untold millions of servers have it installed, and experts said the fallout would not be known for several days. Amit Yoran, CEO of the cybersecurity firm Tenable, called it "the single biggest, most critical vulnerability of the last decade" — and possibly the biggest in the history of modern computing. The vulnerability, dubbed 'Log4Shell,' was rated 10 on a scale of one to 10 the Apache Software Foundation, which oversees development of the software. Anyone with the exploit can obtain full access to an unpatched computer that uses the software, Experts said the extreme ease with which the vulnerability lets an attacker access a web server — no password required — is what makes it so dangerous. New Zealand's computer emergency response team was among the first to report that the flaw was being "actively exploited in the wild" just hours after it was publicly reported Thursday and a patch released. The vulnerability, located in open-source Apache software used to run websites and other web services, was reported to the foundation on Nov. 24 by the Chinese tech giant Alibaba, it said. It took two weeks to develop and release a fix. But patching systems around the world could be a complicated task. While most organizations and cloud providers such as Amazon should be able to update their web servers easily, the same Apache software is also often embedded in third-party programs, which often can only be updated by their owners. Yoran, of Tenable, said organizations need to presume they've been compromised and act quickly. The first obvious signs of the flaw's exploitation appeared in Minecraft, an online game hugely popular with kids and owned by Microsoft. Meyers and security expert Marcus Hutchins said Minecraft users were already using it to execute programs on the computers of other users by pasting a short message in a chat box. Microsoft said it had issued a software update for Minecraft users. "Customers who apply the fix are protected," it said. Researchers reported finding evidence the vulnerability could be exploited in servers run by companies such as Apple, Amazon, Twitter and Cloudflare. Cloudflare's Sullivan said there we no indication his company's servers had been compromised. Apple, Amazon and Twitter did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

State-owned telecom operator Teletalk has tied up with Chinese telecom giant Huawei to roll out 5G in Bangladesh. Huawei Bangladesh will provide infrastructure and technical support to Teletalk for deploying 5G networks – to be launched on December 12. A signing ceremony between Teletalk and Huawei was held in the capital a few months back. Read: Malaysian PM inaugurates Huawei customer solution innovation center Under this contract, Huawei will provide the industry-leading and globally-acclaimed technology to Teletalk for ensuring a seamless 5G experience.