United News of Bangladesh

Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar on Tuesday directed telecom operator Grameenphone to ensure quality mobile service in order to reduce customer suffering. “As the quality of service increases, the call drop subsidy will decrease,” he said in a meeting with the Grameenphone delegation led by Executive Vice President and Head of Telenor Asia Jorgen C Arentz Rostrup at the secretariat. It will not be easy to survive the competition in the digital age without innovation and technology development, said Jabbar. The government is determined to do everything possible to improve the infrastructure to ensure the quality of mobile services, he said. “We have already allocated spectrum as per the demand.” He hoped that the mobile operators will be able to provide the desired mobile services to the customers by utilising this opportunity. Jabbar also urged Grameenphone to take a role in increasing the rate of smartphone usage to 100% to meet the challenges of the digital age, saying that it would be highly appreciated if Grameenphone took such an initiative so that ordinary customers can buy smartphones in installments. Regarding internet usage, the minister said the bandwidth used in the country was 1000 Gbps before Covid pandemic, but it has increased to 3840 Gbps during pandemic. He appreciated Grameenphone's role in speedily implementing his directive to provide 4G network to the remotest communities of the country during Covid pandemic.

Elon Musk has a penchant for the letter “X.” He calls his son with the singer Grimes, whose actual name is a collection of letters and symbols, “X.” He named the company he created to buy Twitter “X Holdings.” His rocket company is, naturally, SpaceX. Now he also apparently intends to morph Twitter into an “everything app” he calls X. For months, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO has expressed interest in creating his own version of China’s WeChat — a “super app” that does video chats, messaging, streaming and payments — for the rest of the world. At least, that is, once he’s done buying Twitter after months of legal infighting over the $44 billion purchase agreement he signed in April. There are just a few obstacles. First is that a Musk-owned Twitter wouldn’t be the only global company in pursuit of this goal, and in fact would probably be playing catch-up with its rivals. Next is the question of whether anyone really wants a Twitter-based everything app— or any other super app — to begin with. Start with the competition and consumer demand. Facebook parent Meta has spent years trying to make its flagship platform a destination for everything online, adding payments, games, shopping and even dating features to its social network. So far, it’s had little success; nearly all of its revenue still comes from advertising. Google, Snap, TikTok, Uber and others have also tried to jump on the super app bandwagon, expanding their offerings in an effort to become indispensable to people as they go about their day. None have set the world on fire so far, not least because people already have a number of apps at their disposal to handle shopping, communicating and payments. “Old habits are hard to break, and people in the U.S. are used to using different apps for different activities,” said Jasmine Enberg, principal analyst at Insider Intelligence. Enberg also notes that super apps would likely suck up more personal data at a time when trust in social platforms has deteriorated significantly. Musk kicked off the latest round of speculation on Oct. 4, the day he reversed his attempts to get out of the deal and announced that he wanted to acquire Twitter after all. “Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app,” he tweeted without further explanation. But he’s provided at least a little more detail in the past. During Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting in August, Musk told the crowd at a factory near Austin, Texas, that he thinks he’s “got a good sense of where to point the engineering team with Twitter to make it radically better.” And he’s dropped some strong hints that handling payments for goods and services would be a key part of the app. Musk said he has a “grander vision” for what X.com, an online bank he started early in his career that eventually became part of PayPal, could have been. “Obviously that could be started from scratch, but I think Twitter would help accelerate that by three to five years,” Musk said in August. “So it’s kind of something that I thought would be quite useful for a long time. I know what to do.” But it’s not clear that WeChat’s success in China means the same idea would translate for a U.S. or global audience. WeChat usage in almost universal in China, where most people never had a computer at home and skipped straight to going online by mobile phone. Operated by tech giant Tencent Holding Ltd., the platform has made itself a one-stop shop for payments and other services and is starting to compete in entertainment. It is also a platform for health code apps the public is required to use prevent the spread of the coronavirus. China has 1 billion internet users, and nearly all of them go online by mobile phone, according to the government-sanctioned China Internet Network Information Center. Only 33% use desktop computers at all — and mostly in addition to mobile phones. Tencent says WeChat had 1.3 billion users worldwide as of the end of June. Tencent and its main Chinese competitor, e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, aim to make apps that offer so many services that users can’t easily switch to another app. They’re not the only ones. WeChat has added video calls and other message features as well as shopping, entertainment and other features. Government agencies use it to send out health, traffic and other announcements. WeChat’s payment function, meanwhile, is so widely used that coffee shops, museums and some other businesses refuse cash and will take payment only through WeChat or the rival Ant app. There is no comparable app in the U.S., despite tech companies’ efforts. It’s worth remembering that Musk’s grand visions don’t always work out the way he appears to expect. Humans are nowhere near colonizing Mars and his promised fleet of robotaxis remains about as far from reality as the metaverse. Twitter’s user base is also tiny relative to those at its social-platform competitors. While Facebook, Instagram and TikTok all passed the 1 billion mark long ago, Twitter has about 240 million daily users. “Musk would not only have to overcome the hurdle of convincing consumers to change how they behave online, but also that Twitter is the place to do it,” Enberg said.  

Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Mustafa Jabbar wants inclusion of ‘Cyber Security’ in primary school curriculum of Bangladesh. Jabbar came up with the remarks while addressing, as chief guest, a discussion on ‘Youth workshop for safe internet-2022’ organised to create awareness on cyber security at the Conference Centre of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on Thursday (October 13, 2022). BTRC Chairman Shyam Sunder Sikdar presided over the programme where Cyber Crime Awareness Foundation President Kazi Mustafiz delivered welcome speech, Director General of BTRC’s System and Services Division Brigadier General Md Nasim Parvez presented the keynote speech.   Read: Workshop on digital literacy for cyber security held Urging the Home Ministry to underscore digital crimes, Jabbar said every police station should have a cyber or digital crime unit with trained officials. The BTRC chairman said they took an initiative to set up a cyber-observation lab to ensure security. He said the Education Ministry should take steps to initiate class on cyber security, one day a week, to generate awareness among students. Read Specific policy needed to ensure cyber security of power sector: Nasrul Hamid “Though none should refrain from using technology, we should be more careful and protect our families and society from digital crime,” the BTRC chairman observed. He said BTRC has already submitted an outline to bring owners of social media platforms under law to the ministry. Daffodil International University’s Computer Science and Engineering department Head Prof Dr Touhid Bhuiyan, Digital Security Agency Director Tarique M Barkatullah and Additional Commissioner of Cyber Security department of police Nazmul Islam, among others spoke at the discussion on ‘Youth workshop for safe internet-2022’.    Read Cybersecurity Career Guide: How to Become a Cybersecurity Expert?

Xiaomi has announced up to Tk20,000 discount on the purchase of certain smartphones during its "October Fest" campaign in October 2022.Xiaomi 12 Pro, which is equipped with 12GB RAM and 256GB ROM, can be bought at a discounted price of Tk89,999, down from the existing market price of Tk109,999. The current market price of the smartphone with 8GB RAM and 256GB ROM of the same model is Tk99,999, but it is now available at Tk79,999 with a discount of Tk20,000. Read Xiaomi 12T Pro Review: Is the hype real?The 4GB RAM and 64GB ROM variants of the Redmi Note 11 series are being offered at Tk19,599 after a discount of Tk1,000. The 4GB RAM and 128GB ROM variants of the same model are also being sold at Tk20,499 with a discount of Tk1,000. Redmi Note 11 has powerful hardware with an AMOLED display and a long-lasting 5000mAh battery. The 4GB RAM and 64 GB ROM variant of Redmi 10 (2022) is now priced at Tk17,499 after a discount of Tk1,000. The 6GB RAM and 128GB ROM variant of the same model is being sold at a discounted price of Tk20,499. The smartphone has a 50-megapixel high-resolution camera and an FHD+ resolution display with a 90 Hz refresh rate. Read Tecno Pova 4 Review: Gaming on a BudgetMeanwhile, in the "October Fest" campaign of Xiaomi in 2022, the entry-level phone Redmi 10A with 2GB and 32GB is available at Tk11,499 after a discount of Tk1,000, according to a media statement.

The Jashore University of Science and Technology (JUST) has partnered with global ICT infrastructure provider Huawei to set up an ICT academy. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between JUST and Huawei in Jashore Wednesday. This ICT academy is designed to equip students with advanced ICT knowledge and necessary skills for the future. Huawei will provide its enriched online learning platform with diversified courses to the students of JUST. Teachers of JUST will get the opportunity to become Huawei-certified trainers at this academy. The trained JUST teachers will provide training to the students afterwards.  Professor Md Anwar Hossain, vice-chancellor of JUST, said: "With the help of the ICT academy in partnership with Huawei, we want to equip our students with all the necessary ICT skills and prepare them for the future." Karl Yu Ying, head of the Public Affairs and Communications Department of Huawei Bangladesh, said, "Huawei ICT academy is moving forward to develop today's youth in the field of ICT, where they can learn from distinguished academicians and industry experts. Huawei ICT academy has witnessed impressive outcomes from BUET, KUET, and RUET. Right now, we expect the same from JUST." In April 2022, Huawei inaugurated the ICT academy in BUET (Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology). In August 2022, it signed an MoU to establish an ICT academy in KUET (Khulna University of Engineering and Technology). In September 2022, an MoU was signed to establish an ICT academy in RUET (Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology).    

Facebook parent Meta unveiled a high-end virtual reality headset Tuesday with the hope that people will soon be using it to work and play in the still-elusive place called the “metaverse.”   The $1,500 Meta Quest Pro headset sports high-resolution sensors that let people see mixed virtual and augmented reality in full color, as well as eye tracking and so-called “natural facial expressions” that mimic the wearer’s facial movements so their avatars appear natural when interacting with other avatars in virtual-reality environments. Formerly known as Facebook, Meta is in the midst of a corporate transformation that it says will take years to complete. It wants to evolve from a provider of social platforms to a dominant power in a nascent virtual-reality construct called the metaverse — sort of like the internet brought to life, or at least rendered in 3D. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has described the metaverse as an immersive virtual environment, a place people can virtually “enter” rather than just staring at it on a screen. The company is investing billions in its metaverse plans that will likely take years to pay off. VR headsets are already popular with some gamers, but Meta knows that won’t be enough to make the metaverse mainstream. As such, it’s setting office — and home office — workers in its sights. “Meta is positioning the new Meta Quest Pro headset as an alternative to using a laptop,” said to Rolf Illenberger, founder and managing director of VRdirect, which builds VR environments for businesses. But he added that for businesses, operating in the virtual worlds of the metaverse is still “quite a stretch.”   Meta also announced that its metaverse avatars will soon have legs — an important detail that’s been missing since the avatars made their debut last year.

Walton has launched four new models of its premium series refrigerators with aesthetic designs and advanced technologies. The features and technologies of the refrigerators include Syntho-Fresh and UV-C technology, intelligent germ terminator (IGT), smart control, ceramic-coated premium glass, and elegant door handle. Syntho-Fresh technology is used to keep fruits and vegetables fresh by mimicking the natural lights at specific wavelengths. Read Samsung launches new SpaceMax refrigerator line-up Also, the UV-C technology used in these new models protects refrigerated food from airborne viruses and bacteria. Intelligent germ terminator technology destroys airborne germs and eliminates unwanted odours. The 244 to 268-litre refrigerators will be available in the domestic market from October for Tk40,590 to Tk46,990, according to a media statement. Golam Murshed, managing director of Walton Hi-Tech Industries, unveiled the new models of Walton refrigerators in Dhaka on Sunday (October 11, 2022). Read Walton brings first Orbit series smartphone

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) in its latest crackdown on online gambling and betting has blocked 331 websites. On September 24, Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar said the government had permanently blocked 6,000 gambling sites. In a notice issued Monday, the telecom regulator BTRC said it also reported gambling and betting apps and links to Google, Facebook, and YouTube for blocking. Read BTRC: Compensation for call drops from Oct 1 "Google blocked 14 gambling-related apps in Bangladesh after receiving more than 150 complaints. The multinational technology company is taking steps to review the other complaints," the telecom watchdog said. The BTRC reported 27 links to Facebook and 69 to YouTube for gambling and betting lessons. The two social media giants blocked 17 links each and are reviewing the rest. Credit or debit cards are required to buy game chips. As it has become easier to get credit or debit cards in Bangladesh, many have turned to online gambling or betting. Taking advantage of this, criminal groups are siphoning off crores of taka from Bangladesh, the BTRC said. Read BTRC launches new unlimited data packages The country's laws do not allow gambling and betting in Bangladesh. However, completing registration through credit or debit cards or mobile financial services, many are getting involved in online gambling or betting through diverse apps or websites during domestic or international football, cricket, tennis, and other matches after.  Shutting down the gambling and betting websites in Bangladesh, BTRC aims to continue Bangladesh government's sucess in removing harmful contents from the virtual world.

News that Elon Musk has agreed after all to proceed with his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter may have felt like a stunning surprise from the brash billionaire who loves to shock. It sent shares of the social media platform soaring and stoked alarm among some media watchdogs and civil rights groups worried about what kind of free speech would flourish on Twitter under Musk’s vision. But it wasn’t surprising to observers of the monthslong rollercoaster of the Twitter vs. Musk legal battle, as Twitter tried to compel the world’s richest man to consummate the buyout he had tried to back out of. In the months since his initial offer to buy Twitter in April, Musk faced a huge legal challenge. A combination of gambles or missteps by Musk and potential advantages that didn’t pan out made his hand appear weak in the trial looming in less than two weeks in Chancery Court in Delaware. He is setting as a condition for completing the deal that the trial being put on hold. More immediately, Musk faced a deposition in the case by Twitter’s attorneys starting Thursday. What gambits, challenges and missed advantages came along the way? WHAT WAS MUSK’S MAIN ARGUMENT FOR BACKING OUT OF BUYING TWITTER? Musk grounded his argument largely on the allegation that Twitter vastly misrepresented how it measures the magnitude of “spam bot” accounts that are useless to advertisers. But Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, the court’s head judge, apparently wasn’t buying it. As the two sides presented evidence prior to the trial, the judge appeared to focus narrowly in line with the court’s mandate: on the merger agreement between Musk and Twitter, and whether anything had changed since it was signed in April that would justify terminating the deal. A former Twitter head of security, fired early this year and turned whistleblower, appeared to bolster Musk’s argument. Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, a respected cybersecurity expert, filed complaints in July with federal regulators and the Justice Department alleging that Twitter misled regulators about its efforts to control millions of spam accounts as well as its cyber defenses. But help to Musk from Zatko’s disclosures was a “longshot,” said Brian Quinn, a professor at Boston College Law School, and in the end, “it didn’t really change the (legal) landscape in any significant way.” DID MUSK’S APPROACH TO BUYING TWITTER HURT OR HELP HIS CASE? “He was fairly cavalier,” Quinn said. Recently released text messages between Musk and others show jubilation over Musk taking a large stake in Twitter and joining its board. It wasn’t until after he signed the merger agreement in late April that he undertook what’s called due diligence, close inspection, regarding the company and starting lodging complaints about bots, Quinn noted. That may not have impressed the judge as the right approach for someone buying a major company. WHY DID MUSK CHANGE HIS MIND NOW? In addition to the trial looming and his deposition scheduled for Thursday, Musk faced a ticking meter of potential rising interest costs. If he lost the trial, the judge could not only force him to close the deal but also could impose interest payments that would have increased its cost. Experts say the interest likely started piling up mid-September. But of course the deal isn’t done yet, and there are legal hoops yet to be jumped through. Given Musk’s track record and volatility, it would be a mistake to assume that it’s tied up in a bow.

The newest humanoid robot prototype – created by tech tycoon Elon Musk’s Tesla electric car firm – has been unveiled. At a Silicon Valley event, “Optimus”, the robot, made an appearance on stage and raised its knees while waving to the crowd, BBC reports. Musk stated that although the robot was still under development, it might be available for purchase in a few years. According to company experts, mass-market robots from Tesla will be evaluated by performing tasks in the auto factories. During the annual Tesla AI Day presentation, the prototype was brought onto the stage. A video showing Optimus doing straightforward duties, like watering plants, carrying boxes, and lifting metal bars, was displayed to the audience, the BBC report says. According to Musk, the robots would be mass produced in three to five years at less than $20,000. The head of Tesla predicted “a future of abundance.” He went on to say, “It really is a fundamental transformation of civilization as we know it.” AI researcher Filip Piekniewski, however, was not impressed by the demo and tweeted it was “next level cringeworthy” and a “complete and utter scam,” Associated press reported. Robotics expert Cynthia Yeung tweeted: “None of this is cutting edge.” “Hire some PhDs and go to some robotics conferences @Tesla.”