Wireless carrier Bharti Airtel announced its plan to raise ₹210 B via a share sale, as part of the preparation to launch 5G in India. Priced at ₹535 each, shares will be about 10% cheaper than the current stock price of Airtel shares of ₹595.15. Shareholders will be able to buy one share for every 14 shares they hold of the Gurgaon-based Airtel. Sunil Bharti Mittal and other founders will also participate in the purchase.
Source: DealStreet Asia
Google has been working on a new accessibility feature, reports ANI. The new feature will be similar to the “Voice Access” feature in earlier Android versions which let users access the phone through voice. The accessibility feature will depend on just the face, gaze, and facial expressions. Gestures such as smiling, looking up, down, sideways, will be used to control the screen and phone. Titled “Camera Switches”, it is still in the Beta phase.
Source: Hindustan Times
The US Department of Energy will make a deal with Nvidia and AMD to purchase a supercomputer named “Polaris”. The news comes while Argonne National Lab still waits for Intel’s Aurora supercomputer, which will be the country’s fastest computer when launched. “Polaris”, on the other hand, will come online soon, and will be used to test and ready the software for Aurora. However, Polaris is not a replacement for Polaris.
Source: Infotechlead
Indigenously preparing the materials needed, Indian scientists were able to repair aero-engine components for the first time. The 3D printing technique, “Directed Energy Deposition” will significantly reduce repair time and cost. It will repair Ni-based superalloy components, which are used in aero-engines. The repaired components were free from distortion and exhibited good performance.
Source: Hindu Business Line
Telum, a chip with Artificial Intelligence inferencing acceleration was revealed by Big Blue, IBM. The new chip, containing eight cores, will be able to perform high-level tasks such as fraud detection, while a transaction is in progress. It has a clock frequency of over 5GHz, scalability up to 32 Telum chips, and with 32Mb cache per core. The first system with the chip will be produced in the first half of 2022.
Source: Zdnet
A test of a new virtual reality (VR) app titled “Horizon Workroom” was launched by Facebook, on Thursday. The app enables users to hold meetings as virtual avatars of themselves using Oculus Quest 2 headsets. Facebook has invested significantly in VR and AR, aiming to capture the market. The app supports up to 16 people in a VR meeting, with a total of 50 including video conferencing participants.
Source: CNBC
In a move that could value the firm at $25 bn, GlobalFoundries has confidentially filed for a US IPO. This is a clear sign that the firm is not eager to accept the potential tie-up with Intel Corp. Sources, however, said the chipmaker’s plans were subject to market conditions and may change. GlobalFoundries manufactures chips for 5G, automotive, and other industries, acting as a supplier for Intel who has outsourced part of its manufacturing.
Chinese tech giant Baidu announced the mass production of 2nd-gen Kunlun AI chips. Using 7 nm technology, they are two-thirds faster than the older 1st-gen chips, which entered production in 2020. With China planning to reduce dependence on foreign producers, Chinese tech giants, like Baidu are considering expansion and consolidating their position in the chip-manufacturing industry.
Source: NDTV
Qualcomm has unveiled the first-ever 5G AI-enabled drone platform. Named Qualcomm Flight RB5, it will speed up the development of industrial and enterprise drones, and open up new possibilities for all industries looking to use drones. Running on the QRB5165 processor, it has 5G and WiFi 6 capabilities enhancing critical flying abilities beyond visual line-of-sight. The RB5 development kit is expected to be available in Q4 2021.
Source: Qualcomm
