Making things

The holiday gift giving season is upon us once again, and tech gifts are all the rage. But there are some gadgets that I strongly recommend you stay away from.  Here's my top 5 gadgets you should avoid this holiday season.  Must read: 10 cool and useful gadgets that make great last-minute gifts, and all are under $50 #1: Disposable power banks These things are an environmental abomination. Not only are they needlessly wasteful - you end up throwing away a battery and a bunch of electronics when it's done - but most of these disposable power banks actually contain a rechargeable lithium battery, just without the charging circuit.  Such a terrible idea. Get someone a rechargeable power bank that they can use and reuse hundreds of times. Best iPhone charging accessories (April 2019... SEE FULL GALLERY 1 - 5 of 13 NEXT PREV #2: "Tempered glass" screen protectors These are all the rage, but the testing I've done suggest they … [Read more...] about 5 gadgets you shouldn’t waste your money on

NEW DELHI: This year has been a special one for Acer. The Taiwan-based based PC maker has launched several laptops catering to different audience, and even broke some world records. While its Predator 21X is the world’s first laptop to sport a curved display, the Swift 7 now holds the distinction of being the ‘new’ slimmest laptop in the world. Until now, that title belonged to HP’s Spectre. But a difference of 0.42mm flipped the course of the game in Acer’s favour. The company launched Swift 7 at IFA 2016 back in September and recently, brought it to India. With price starting at Rs 99,999, the Acer Swift 7 is clearly targeted at customers who want powerful specs and portability, and don’t mind paying the premium for it. It’s definitely not like any regular laptop that you can get at around Rs 45,000. The Swift 7 appears to be a really well-executed product and comes with an impressive spec sheet too. But does it deserve a place in your … [Read more...] about Acer Swift 7 Review: Svelte meets power

SHENZHEN: For decades, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei stayed out of sight as his company grew to become the biggest maker of network gear for phone carriers and surpassed Apple as the No. 2 smartphone brand. Now, Ren is shedding that anonymity as Huawei Technologies Ltd. mobilizes against the latest threat to its success: U.S. sanctions and warnings that it is a security risk. The billionaire entrepreneur embroiled in the Trump administration's fight with China over technology is a 75-year-old former army engineer who worked his way out of childhood poverty. He has survived competition that drove Western rivals out of the market, brushes with financial disaster and job stress so severe he contemplated suicide. He sees American pressure as just the latest in a string of tests that have hardened him and his company. "For three decades, Huawei has been suffering and no joy," Ren said in an interview. "The pain of each episode is different." There is a personal dimension to the … [Read more...] about US sanctions not his toughest crisis, says founder Ren Zhengfei

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu will unveil a policy for safe and ethical use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), a top state government official said, in what is arguably a first-of-its-kind move in the country. “While there is a lot of talk around AI, to condense it in the form of policy has not been done before, to be best of my knowledge," Santhosh Mishra, Chief Executive Officer of Tamil Nadu e-Governance agency, said. The agency executes cost-effective governance projects using frontier technologies such machine learning, drones, augmented reality, among others. The government will also bring out a rule book for state agencies and vendors who use AI for governance services, to help handle private individual data in a sensitive manner. The policy will be released along with the blockchain and electronics hardware policy in about three weeks, according to another top government official. “Government departments will begin to use AI progressively. We have created a matrix which … [Read more...] about Tamil Nadu working on safe & ethical AI policy, says top government official