Category: Tech

The Current’s tech news keeps you upto date with news of new gadgets, tech updates, information about tech startups and technology reviews.

  • PUBG mobile hits one billion downloads worldwide

    PUBG mobile hits one billion downloads worldwide

    PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) has hit one billion downloads worldwide since 2018, making it one of the most successful smartphone games.

    The latest download figures defeated other popular games like Kiloo, Subway Surfers and Candy Crush Saga.

    Unlike PUBG mobile, the other games were not as sophisticated and have vast appeal for audiences.

    PUBG Mobile publisher Tencent is currently one of the biggest game companies by revenue. The company said that it aims to gain half of its video game revenue from outside its home market of China.

    Several of its game studios like LightSpeed, Quantum and Timi have already started working in the United States (US) to create original content for the global audience.

    Last year, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had temporarily banned the game by stating that it is harmful to user’s health after some segments of society had claimed the same.

    Later on, after getting assurance from the company for a comprehensive control mechanism, PTA had unbanned the game.

  • Turkey trades over $6bn worth of cryptocurrency every day

    When President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan replaced the head of the central bank in March 2021, thousands of people rushed to convert the Turkish Lira into cryptocurrencies. 

    There are two largest crypto exchanges in the country, Paribu and BtcTurk, and they are trading over $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency every day. The 11 most popular crypto exchanges in the country have a $6 billion aggregate trade volume as per the local Turkish media.  

    The interest of Turkish people and specifically research centres has increased drastically. 

    “From the very beginning of Bitcoin, Turkish people have been eager for and interested in cryptocurrencies, so it is not a new thing like in Venezuela or Argentina”, said a lecturer at the Kadir Has University in Istanbul, Turkey.  

    In 2020, the Turkish Information Technologies and Communications Authority published a report stating that more than 2.4 million Turkish individuals trade-in cryptocurrency, making up 3% of Turkey’s population. 

    Note that the average daily registrations of Turkish users on the British cryptocurrency exchange CEX.IO since 14th March are 783% more than in February, according to the company’s managing director.

    Since Turkey has no regulations for traditional crypto exchanges, peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto trading platforms such as Binance and Coinbase have seen traffic increase since January 2021. 

    It is noteworthy to mention that between 2019 and 2020, new registrations on crypto exchanges rose 10%, while in February this year, they were 3x times higher than the average month in 2020, according to CoinDesk.

  • AstraZeneca may have provided incomplete efficacy data from the latest COVID-19 trials: US NIAID

    AstraZeneca may have provided incomplete efficacy data from the latest COVID-19 trials: US NIAID

    The US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has expressed concerns that British drugmaker may have provided incomplete data of vaccine’s efficiency.

    The speculations increased when several patients developed blood clots after jabs of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. There are rumours that AstraZeneca may have given outdated information from the trials, resulting in an inaccurate view of the efficacy of the vaccine.

    “We urge the company to work with the Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) to review the efficacy data and ensure accuracy by presenting updated as quickly as possible,” said the NIAID, in a statement.

    However, AstraZeneca defended the safety of the vaccine shots. The firm stated that the “safety of the vaccine has been extensively studied in Phase III of the clinical trials and peer-reviewed data confirms the vaccine has been generally well-tolerated.”

    Meanwhile, several European and Scandinavian states like Denmark, Norway and Iceland temporarily suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine after fears of developing post-jab blood clots. Later, they resumed AstraZeneca vaccinations after The European Medicines Agency (EMA) rebutted the assumption by stating that there “no chances of developing blood clots after using AstraZeneca vaccination.”

    In September 2020, AstraZeneca had suspended global trials of its experimental coronavirus vaccine after an unexplained illness in a participant in Britain.

    The vaccine had been described by the World Health Organization as probably the world’s leading candidate and the furthest developed.

  • Fake COVID-19 reports, vaccines being sold on darkweb

    Fake COVID-19 reports, vaccines being sold on darkweb

    Anonymous traders are selling fake COVID-19 negative test reports, vaccines and vaccine passports on the darkweb.

    According to reports, the price for vaccine shots ranges between $500 to $750 for AstraZeneca, Sputnik, Singopharm and Johson & Johson.

    The vaccines advertised include the Oxford-AstraZeneca at $500, Johnson & Johnson and Sputnik each at $600 and Sinopharm at $750.

    Moreover, fake vaccination certificates are being sold by traders on the for as little as $150.

    The vaccine-related advertisements have tripped after January. One seller offers next-day delivery, saying, “For overnight delivery/emergency leave us a message.”

    Another advert on a hacking forum is offering fake negative tests and reads, “We do negative COVID tests, for travellers abroad, for getting a job etc. Buy two negative tests and get the third for free!”

    Sellers of vaccines appear to be from the US, Spain, Germany, France and Russia. Multiple adverts in Russian Cyrillic text as well as in English were discovered.

    The mode of payment used for a transaction between buyers and sellers is through cryptocurrency.

  • Large asteroid to zip past Earth today

    Large asteroid to zip past Earth today

    The largest asteroid to pass by Earth this year is expected to swing closest on Monday, giving astronomers a rare chance for a good look at a space rock that formed at the dawn of our solar system.

    While in astronomical terms this marks a close encounter with the asteroid — called 2001 FO32 — Nasa says there is no threat of a collision with “our planet now or for centuries to come”.

    The nearest it will get will be two million kilometres away, according to the US space agency.

    That is roughly 5.25 times the distance of the Earth from the Moon, but still close enough for 2001 FO32 to be classified as a “potentially hazardous asteroid”.

    “We know the orbital path of 2001 FO32 around the Sun very accurately,” said Paul Chodas, director of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies.

    Nasa says 2001 FO32 would pass by at about 124,000 kilometres per hour, much faster than the speed at which most asteroids encounter Earth.

    The asteroid is estimated to be about 900 metres in diameter and was discovered 20 years ago.

    Astronomers are hoping to get a better understanding of the asteroid’s size and a rough idea of its composition by studying light reflecting off its surface.

  • Donald Trump plans comeback with ‘own platform,’ says advisor

    Former President of the United States (US) Donald Trump will reportedly be making a comeback on social media with “his own platform,” one of his senior advisors Jason Miller has said.

    Miller said that the platform “will be the hottest ticket in social media, and will completely redefine the game”.

    “This new platform is going to be big,” remarked Miller, predicting that Trump will draw “tens of millions of people”.

    Trump’s Facebook and Twitter account got suspended after deadly riots broke out at the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 6.

    While Miller refrained from sharing further details, he said that “everybody is going to be waiting and watching to see what exactly President Trump does”.

    In the meantime, Miller said that Trump will continue to endorse Republican candidates, hinting that one is expected to come on Monday.

    “There’s a big endorsement coming that’s going to shake things up in the political landscape in Georgia. It’s big, it’s coming tomorrow, and just be sure to tune in,” said Miller.

    The former president had nearly 90 million followers on the social platform.

  • Bangladesh bought phone hacking, intercepting devices from Israel

    Bangladesh bought phone hacking, intercepting devices from Israel

    Bangladesh government spent around $330,000 on phone-hacking equipment made by an Israeli company.

    The two countries have not recognised each other and have no diplomatic relations.

    In an exclusive investigative report by Al Jazeera, a product called UFED is manufactured by Cellebrite security firm in Israel, and Bangladesh has acquired devices from the firm.

    It can access and extract data from a wide range of mobile phones. Civil rights and campaigners are worried about its ability to hack encrypted phone data and breach the privacy of users.

    Bangladesh does not recognise the state of Israel, forbids trade with it and prevents its citizens from travelling there. The Muslim-majority country officially stands in solidarity with the Palestinians due to the denied civil rights and live under Israeli military occupation. It is unclear whether UFED was provided to Bangladesh directly by the Israeli company or any other channel was created for acquiring the devices.

    In February, Al Jazeera revealed how the Bangladesh military in 2018 signed a contract to acquire mobile phone interception equipment from Israeli firm Picsix Ltd. In February 2019, Bangladeshi officers received training by Israeli intelligence experts in the Hungarian capital, Budapest.

    The Ministry of Defence in Bangladesh said the equipment, a passive mobile phone monitoring system called P6 Intercept, was made in Hungary and was purchased on United Nations missions but the claim was rejected by the world body.

    According to the contract, the manufacturer of P6 Intercept as Picsix Ltd Hungary is made in Hungry, but no public record of any such company exists, and all Picsix equipment are manufactured in Isreal.

  • Microsoft hit by massive cyberattack

    Microsoft hit by massive cyberattack

    Microsoft’s Exchange Server used for email services is recently targeted by hackers. The company rolled out a security patch to secure the server. However, the company had been unable to locate the group of hackers.

    The Verge reported that the hackers are Chinese state-sponsored groups, and they managed to infiltrate nearly 30,000 United States (US) organizations using Microsoft’s Exchange Server.

    Big institutions like banks, police departments, hospitals, and local government department got affected due to the attack. The number of victims was reportedly over hundreds of thousands.

    The security patch has only fixed the vulnerabilities of the server and those whose systems have been compromised will still have to remove the backdoor channels from their systems.

    These backdoors were being used by the hacking group to plant “web shells” in their victims’ servers which would give them admin access and allow them to steal information.

    Security experts are now worried about these hackers planting additional backdoors while companies remove the ones already existing.

    Microsoft was reached out for comment on the matter and said that they are working with the US Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency and other agencies to provide their customers with additional investigation and mitigation guidance.

  • 8yo signs Rs5 million contract with esports team

    8yo signs Rs5 million contract with esports team

    Joseph Deen has become the youngest esports professional player as he signed up for Team 33, one of the best competitive teams for egames.

    The eight-years-old got a position and a $33,000 (approximately Rs5 million) sign-on bonus for his skills as a Fortnite player.

    The news has shocked many because of Deen’s age and the impressive amount of money he was offered for joining Team 33.

    Although Deen is the youngest asset of Team 33, he is not the only underage player to have joined a professional esports team.

    But Deen has signed the contract with Team 33 under different conditions. For example, Joseph Deen cannot participate in any Fortnite cup tournaments since he is not legally allowed to do so, and he will only be training for two to three hours a day.

    He has proven his outstanding skills in the Fortnite game. The co-founder of Team 33 Tyler Gallagher has mentioned that Deen got $33,000 sign-up because he had beaten another professional member of Team 33 in a Fortnite match.

    Deen himself has said that he has not been taken seriously before, and he hopes that the perception will change now after he became part of a professional esports team.