Make your tweets more engaging with these tips to add content to your Tweets

Twitter is what’s happening in the world and what people are conversing about. Standing out in the crowd, means making conversations more interesting through the use of Twitter’s various tools and products. Want to jump on the Twitter pro bandwagon? Here are some tips you can adopt to make your Tweets stand out. You can thank us later (on Twitter of course).

• Add photos or GIFs to your Tweets

Take a cue from Virat Kohli (@imVkohli), click the photo icon from the Tweet compose box to upload a photo or GIF from your phone or computer. You can add up to four photos in your Tweet. 

If Tweeting from the Twitter app, you can enhance the pictures - apply a filter, crop an image and add stickers. Click the Tweet button to post to your profile. 

Rising up to every challenge. What a game! 💯 👊🇮🇳 #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/5kUSbD3P4m

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) January 31, 2020

• Share and watch videos on Twitter

There are two ways to share videos on Twitter: You can either record a video by simply tapping and holding down the capture icon, or you can  import/upload a video (less than 02:20 duration) saved on your phone or desktop. All the videos that you see, like and engage with on Twitter have been uploaded using either of these steps. On that note, this video from Anushka Sharma (@AnushkaSharma) will make your day:

Time for some internet positivity rn. ✨🌼 #HappyTweets #LoveAndLightProject pic.twitter.com/6ZUxXavrQT

— Anushka Sharma (@AnushkaSharma) August 21, 2019

• Add an interesting link to a Tweet (and don’t worry about the character count!)

You can paste a URL of any length into the Tweet compose box and it will automatically get shortened to a maximum of 23 characters.

After pasting the link, click the Tweet button to post the Tweet to your timeline. This is  what it will look like:

Learn from the best, here’s an example of how @SrBachchan does it:

T 3435 - Kaveri , daughter of Suchitra and Shekhar Kapur @suchitrak, @shekharkapur .. her new single .. her first International release under Swedish American label Snafu ..https://t.co/urBwb0StVh

All good wishes ..

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) February 8, 2020

• Go live with Twitter

The euphoria of attending a concert, the joy of witnessing your friend go down the aisle and the pride of winning an award – some things are best expressed in real time, right? With Twitter, you can have your followers be a part of your special moments. Just go live through video and show them what you’re up to, instead of describing it to them. All you need to do is, swipe left post opening the camera icon in the Tweet compose box. This will allow you to select the live mode. 

Just the way Comicstaan live streamed their #BlueCarpetScreening with our favourite internet celebs.

@imrohitkoli21 We are Live... join your favourite Internet celebs for a fun-filled LIVE streaming of @comcistaan #BlueCarpetScreening at https://t.co/5LglSsaIk3

— Comicstaan (@comicstaan) July 13, 2018

• Add fun captions on your photos 

While adding photos to your Tweets, you can choose to write a caption to describe the image for the visually impaired, while at the same time, making your Tweet more engaging. To insert a caption, click on ‘add description’ and type out  your description in the given space. If you do not get the option to set image descriptions automatically, you can follow these simple steps to turn them on in your settings. Go to the Settings option in your profile, tap on ‘Accessibility’ and then click to opt for ‘Compose Image Descriptions’.
A description can be added to each image in a Tweet but not videos and GIFs.
So be creative and win your followers with the coolest Tweets!

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EC-Council Launches CEH Master Hacker Certification

EC-Council, the leading global information security certification body, has recently launched Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) Master credential to address the rising demand for performance-based training and certification for ethical hackers. 

“We are committed to using innovative and new approaches to train cyber experts to prevent cybercrime and to promote a safer and secure cyber environment. CEH Master uses a new methodology to prepare the students for real-world jobs. It will go a long way in sharpening the skills of the students who will be better prepared to address the challenge of preventing cybercrime,” says Mr Jay Bavisi, Founder and CEO of EC-Council Group.

CEH certification path

This new initiative is in keeping with EC Council’s commitment to align the curriculum with the demand of the industry. It is for this reason that CEH has emerged as a certification of choice in over 145 countries since 2003. With the launch of the CEH Master, EC Council continue to set standards in the ethical hacking certification and training sector. 

CEH Master credential is awarded to hackers that have both the CEH and the CEH (Practical) certification. It prepares the candidate for actual challenges by evaluating their capability against problems from the real-world. This unique approach is a departure from the regular both the multiple choice exams and simulation-based exams and allows the candidates to hone his/her skills and abilities by working on actual real world challenges. 

With the next exam, security professionals are required to demonstrate the understanding of attack vectors by performing network scanning to identify live and vulnerable machines in a network, performing operating system banner grabbing, system hacking, steganography, steganalysis attacks, enumeration and even cover tracks. They must also conduct a variety of web server and web application attacks including directory traversal, parameter tampering, XSS, perform SQL injection attacks and different types of cryptography attacks as part of a rigorous 6 hour online and proctored exam. This is truly revolutionary.

CEH Master is a badge of honour for any ethical hacker who wants to make a mark in this challenging field. To become a CEH Master, a candidate must successfully pass the  CEH  exam and demonstrate competency in managing real world hacking challenges via the CEH (Practical) Exam. This demands the prospective ethical hacker to discover and exploit real-time vulnerabilities while auditing the systems set up by EC-Council in the cloud, thus enhancing the challenge and better preparing him/her for the job.

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Microsoft Research AI Project helps Dehradun RTO in automating driver's license testing

Do you know a whopping 59% of respondents to survey conducted by SaveLIFE Foundation admitted that they did not give any test to obtain a driving license. The numbers seems to be correct, given I have personally seen people around me claiming the same.The challenges with this system range from the subjectivity of each evaluator to the burden of evaluation falling solely on human shoulders. A Microsoft Research team under HAMS (Harnessing AutoMobiles for Safety) project is currently enabling the Regional Transport Office (RTO), Dehradun, Uttarakhand to automate the same process.

“The main challenge in the traditional driver’s license test is the burden placed on the human evaluators and the resulting subjectivity that a candidate faces. Automation using HAMS technology can not only help relieve evaluators of the burden but also make the process objective and transparent for candidates,” says Venkat Padmanabhan, Deputy Managing Director, Microsoft Research India, who started the HAMS project in 2016. Padmanabhan developed HAMS along with Akshay Nambi, who joined the project as an intern and is now a Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research India, and Satish Sangameswaran, Principal Program Manager, Microsoft Research India, who helped the team bring HAMS out of the research lab and into the real world through external partnerships.

Microsoft Research’s HAMS project enables the driver’s license testing to be an objective and transparent process that helps grant licenses to well-tested drivers. The system doesn't require an invigilator to be present with the candidate in the car. The system is competent enough to get the final results on the basis of the driver's actions and conditions of the environment just in time. While it may sound like a very IoT kind of project where lot of sensors needs to be at work, the team at Microsoft has utilized a simple smartphone to achieve the goal.

HAMS in essence uses a mounted smartphone on car's windshield which uses rear camera to monitor real time road condition  as well as the driver's gaze using front camera of the phone. On top of it, the team has developed AI models for efficient and robust operation.

For driving tests, HAMS has been customized to include capabilities such as precise tracking of the vehicle’s trajectory during designated test manoeuvres, for instance, parallel parking or negotiating a roundabout. This tracking enables HAMS to determine precisely, for instance, whether the driver stopped in the middle of a manoeuvre for longer than is permitted or tried to course correct by rolling forward and backward alternately more times than allowed. Today, if you take the driver’s license test at the Dehradun RTO, you will be doing so in just the company of a smartphone affixed to your car’s windshield. HAMS, running on the smartphone and on an edge server onsite at the testing track, will do the rest and produce a detailed report shortly after you finish navigating through the test manoeuvres.

“The successful deployment of the HAMS-based driver license testing at the Dehradun RTO is a significant step towards the Transport Department’s goal of providing efficient, world-leading services to the citizens of Uttarakhand. We are proud to be among the pioneers of the application of AI to enhance road safety,” said Shri Shailesh Bagauli, IAS, Secretary, Government of Uttarakhand. “On an average, over 50 candidates take the HAMS-enabled automated license test every day at the Dehradun RTO. Due to the comprehensive nature of testing, just about 50 percent candidates pass the test, ensuring that only qualified drivers are given a driver’s license,” says Nambi.

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Stellar Research finds, 7 out of every 10 individuals are vulnerable to data breach & privacy RISK while disposing off their devices

Global data care expert Stellar has conducted & announced findings of world’s largest known study of residual data in used devices.

The study analysed a sample size of total 311 used devices comprising hard drives, memory cards, and mobile phones at Stellar’s central laboratory in India. The analysis revealed that a majority 71% of these devices contained personal data, Personally Identifiable Information (PII), and sensitive business information. In a larger perspective, the report establishes that 7 out of every 10 individuals are vulnerable to data breach & privacy risks while disposing their old storage devices.

The study was performed to ascertain the awareness levels amongst device owners, regarding usage of secure data wiping methods at the time of selling old storage devices. It also aims to create awareness about data privacy risks when file deletion or drive formatting are used with a faulty assumption as permanent data removal action.

The devices analysed in the study were procured from individuals, online portals & resellers across multiple locations. Majority of these devices were analysed using a publicly available DIY software - Stellar Data Recovery that discovered thousands of files containing personal data.

The residual data can easily fall into wrong hands, and can lead to identity thefts, financial frauds, personal security threats & user privacy issues. Businesses can be vulnerable to data theft & misuse of business-critical information like financial reports, trade agreements, intellectual property, business intelligence and trade secrets to name a few.

"This lack of awareness among customers at large can lead to an alarming rise in acts of cybercrime. It also underlines the acute importance of adoption of data sanitization procedures by individuals and organizations as a safeguard at time of disposal of old IT assets”, said Sunil Chandna, CEO, Stellar. “The Personal Data Bill 2018, when approved as a law could trigger development of a secure ecosystem leading to high awareness & risk mitigation actions by consumers & organizations,” said Chandna. 

The latest 2019 study is a second and a part of continued program of Stellar to measure the risk awareness using NAID Second-Hand Device Study Principles.

NAID (National Association for Information Destruction), an international watchdog for the secure data destruction industry with more than 2000 member companies globally, has commended Stellar for being the first organization to conduct this study by using NAID principles.

 “The Stellar Second-Hand Electronic Device Study and similar studies before and after, demonstrate the gravity of the problem to regulators, businesses and consumers,” said Bob Johnson, NAID founder and i-SIGMA CEO. “By employing NAID’s principles to conduct the study, STELLAR has assured the results are accurate and the personal information found in the process was fully protected at all times”, said Bob.

The detailed report is available for download using the link - https://www.stellarinfo.com/ResidualDataStudy.php

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Harness Partners with Google Cloud Platform to Bring Next-Generation Continuous Delivery to Kubernetes and Cloud-Native Applications

Harness, a Continuous Delivery-as-a-Service platform, today announced that it has partnered with the Google Cloud Platform and is now available for purchase in the GCP marketplace — giving Google Cloud customers the ability to automate the Continuous Delivery process and deliver artifacts to production quickly, securely, and repeatably.

As a Google Cloud partner, Harness empowers engineering teams to move fast and ship code without the fear of failed deployments. With its Smart Automation technology, Harness provides the first-ever solution to automate the entire continuous delivery process. By applying unsupervised machine learning to Continuous Delivery — a new technology called Continuous Verification — the platform understands a microservices baseline and can initiate automatic rollbacks when irregular activity is detected, avoiding business downtime or widespread failures. To date, Harness has helped customers such as McAfee, Home Depot, Nutanix, Bank  of Santander, and Soulcycle reduce errors in production deployments by up to 99%, while increasing overall engineering velocity by up to 8x. Key features include: Pipeline Builder. Instead of taking hours to build pipelines, DevOps teams can build and execute complete continuous delivery pipelines in minutes with serial or parallel workflows across their applications, services, and environments. Workflow Wizard. Complex pipelines become simple with out-of-the-box support for canary deployments and blue/green deployments using cloud technologies such as Kubernetes. Continuous Verification. Release teams finally know for sure that deployments succeeded or failed by leveraging unsupervised machine learning to automatically verify application deployments in production. They can detect errors quality and regressions from tools such as AppDynamics, New Relic, Splunk, Elastic and Sumo Logic, as well as use the Harness 24×7 Service Guard feature to monitor the performance of releases indefinitely. Automated Rollback. Instead of painful, manual rollbacks, Harness can automate rollbacks to the last working artifact version and run-time configuration with no required scripting or code. Continuous Security. Harness bakes in security into every step of the deployment process. Harness uses its SecretStore or deep HashiCorp Vault integration to seamlessly reference secrets across all deployment workflows and pipelines. Harness also keeps a full audit trail of every deployment, so teams know the who, what, where and when behind every action. Real-Time Delivery Analytics.DevOps and engineering team leads now have powerful insight into every application, environment, version, and deployment. Teams can debug deployments in seconds, and role-based access is baked into every part of the platform. "Vuclip gains tremendous advantages from the combination of Harness and Google Cloud," said Jishnu Kinwar, VP of Technical Operations at Vuclip, a leading global technology-driven media company delivering on-demand entertainment to emerging markets. "We use Harness to deploy our artifacts into GCP, relying on Harness machine learning to verify success and help automate rollbacks when required. The two solutions ensure that we're using the very latest Continuous Delivery technology to better serve our customers worldwide." "We're thrilled to partner with the Google Cloud Platform and help equip DevOps and engineering teams with the safe and seamless ability to deliver applications to the Google Cloud," said Jyoti Bansal, Harness co-founder & CEO. "We see a rapid migration of legacy and monolithic applications to microservices and Kubernetes environments hosted by Google Cloud, and Harness is here to help developers with a platform that accelerates microservices and cloud adoption and reduces the risk of application downtime — while giving engineering teams their weekends back." The Harness trial is free for two weeks and can be accessed here.

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Aptiv/Audi Receives Innovation Partnership Award for Automated Driving Satellite Compute Platform

Dublin, April 9, 2019 - Aptiv PLC (NYSE: APTV), a global technology company enabling the future of mobility, announced it was recognized by Automotive News as a 2019 Innovation Partnership Award winner for its work with Audi on the Aptiv Automated Driving Satellite Compute Platform.

Aptiv is democratizing active safety through the efficient and scalable Automated Driving Satellite Compute Platform. Most systems have the computing power integrated into the sensors, processing the information at the source, which makes each sensor expensive to build and to replace when damaged. Aptiv's Automated Driving Satellite Compute Platform takes processing and electronics out of individual sensors, instead sending the information to the central platform, allowing the sensors to be smaller, more cost efficient, lighter and easier to package in a vehicle. The reduced mass and volume also eliminates sensor heat dissipation concerns. In one application Aptiv's innovative technology reduced the camera footprint from the size of a deck of playing cards to the size of a pack of chewing gum.

"As a global technology company with a rich history of developing safer, greener and more connected solutions, we are honored to be recognized for our collaboration with Audi in development of the Automated Driving Satellite Compute Platform," said David Paja, Aptiv's senior vice president and president of Advanced Safety & User Experience. "This industry-first platform, developed with our strong Audi partnership, enables our customers to apply a simplified sensor footprint to scale features for advanced levels of safety automation. It truly is a game changer in the industry."  

From basic ADAS to Level 4 autonomous vehicles, this compute platform is scalable for increasing automated driving levels and complexity demands. The concept has had a revolutionary impact on Aptiv's customer's vehicle architecture.

The Automotive News PACE panel of judges recognized the Aptiv-Audi team working on the Automated Driving Satellite Compute Platform with an Innovation Partnership Award, for their "special levels" of supplier and OEM collaboration.

The judges found that Aptiv's systems integration capabilities and strong collaboration with Audi led to the development of a platform that  incorporates several different components into a single, affordable ECU controlling the advanced safety features. The judges cited Aptiv's Automated Driving Satellite Compute Platform as a great example of the new level of collaboration needed as the industry moves toward more autonomy.

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MassRobotics Builds Strategic Partnerships with Analog Devices, Honda, Husqvarna, FedEx, Lockheed Martin and More

Boston, April 9,2019 - Robotics is emerging as a key technology among companies large and small, and across myriad industries. As a result, MassRobotics, the global hub of robotics, has increased its strategic partnership relationships, bringing significant companies and organizations into the MassRobotics community. These corporate partners provide strategic guidance, help fund MassRobotics' programming, and fuel the organization's expansion, both for its upcoming expanded Boston co-working space and its growing international presence within the robotics industry.

"Corporate partnerships have been a core part of MassRobotics' unique startup escalation model and have helped attract and scale successful startups over the last few years," said Fady Saad, MassRobotics Co-founder and Director of Partnerships.

New partners represent a range of companies and industries pursuing innovative robotics solutions, and include:

• Analog Devices: This significant partnership includes the planning and execution of a major robotics technology challenge focused on Sensor Fusion and Context Awareness, where robotic systems combine multiple sensing technologies to gather information about the environment as it happens. The technology challenge is intended to encourage system solutions innovation with advanced automation, energy, sensing, communications, and power management technologies. The partnership also gives Analog Devices exclusive naming rights to MassRobotics' new electronics lab in its planned expansion facility.
• Lockheed Martin: MassRobotics' first strategic partner from the defense community will further support robotics innovation for challenging defense applications. In collaboration with LM's venture investment arm, MassRobotics will continue to build strong links between the robotics and AI startup community and the defense community. Lockheed Martin is especially interested in the pipeline of MassRobotics' cluster startups and excited to introduce companies to LM engineers for a variety of strategic and investment opportunities in aerospace and defense.
• FedEx: This key strategic relationship in the supply chain and logistics industry, coupled with the unparalleled concentration of logistics robotics companies in the region – Locus, 6Rivers, Vecna Robotics, XYZ and others – will introduce FedEx technologists to the cutting-edge technology in the MassRobotics ecosystem and open the doors to future strategic opportunities.
• Husqvarna Group: A key international partnership with this major Swedish outdoor power products manufacturer for green spaces and construction, Husqvarna Group is the world's largest outdoor robotics company with close to two million robotic lawn mowers sold. Their offering also includes chainsaws, trimmers, garden tractors, power cutters, floor grinders and demolition robots. Through MassRobotics, Husqvarna Group expands their exploration in robotics and creates opportunities for ecosystem startups active in this space. Husqvarna Group is already vested in the Boston'srobotics ecosystem through their participation in Franklin Robotics.
• Honda Xcelerator: This is MassRobotics' first strategic partnership with a large automotive player. Working with Honda Xcelerator, a program that offers funding for rapid prototyping, collaborative workspace and pairing with Honda mentors for innovators across all funding stages, MassRobotics and Honda will explore emerging technologies in manufacturing, robotics, and autonomous driving. The growing startup cluster in the region is a key magnet for many automotive companies to get engaged through MassRobotics.
• Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC): This is the first-of-its-kind collaboration between a leading clean energy organization and a robotics organization, and will motivate robotics startups with specific applications for the clean energy space (e.g. drones for inspecting solar panels and wind turbines, ground robotics to perform energy and leakage inspection in tight spaces). It will also help fuel studies about the impact of massive robot deployments like self-driving cars, drones, home robots and logistic robots on the current energy grid and the use of batteries. This collaboration will host startups at MassRobotics, provide non-diluting grants for high-performing startups, and engage large, clean energy corporates with MassRobotics' ecosystem.
• Additionally, longtime and/or founding partners, including Harmonic Drive, Panasonic, Locus, Autodesk, SMC, Solidworks and iRobot, have renewed or extended their partnerships.

MassRobotics' new, larger facility now being designed will be able to support close to 70 startups in the robotics space. The organization's unique "escalator" model allows entrepreneurs and startups to get established, grow and provide meaningful employment for the future workforce, and to provide ongoing value for partner organizations. MassRobotics is shaping the future of robotics and growing its global influence to expand its community to the world.

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Dhanbad and Ranchi only cities with over 95% 4G coverage in India, other cities pass 87% mark: OpenSignal Survey

The city of Dhanbad is known as the coal capital of India, and is headquarters of some of the country's biggest coking companies in the mineral-rich Jharkhand state. And now Dhanbad is on fire as Opensignal's hottest city for 4G Availability.

We looked at 50 of India's largest cities and analyzed them by their 4G Availability, based on a combined score for all operators that operate a 4G network in those metros. Dhanbad scored 95.3% in Opensignal’s measurements — one of only two cities to pass the 95% mark. The other was Ranchi, Dhanbad's neighbor and state capital of Jharkhand, which scored 95.0% in 4G Availability.

Opensignal’s 4G Availability metric is not a measure of coverage or the geographic extent of a network. It measures what proportion of time our users with a 4G device and subscription can get a network connection, in the places they most commonly visit. So when we say an operator has a 4G Availability score of 95%, that means our LTE users on that network were connected to 4G services 95% of the time. This important distinction is often missed by traditional coverage metrics. 4G Availability represents when users have an LTE connection, rather than where, providing a far more accurate reflection of the true mobile user experience. For more on Opensignal's metrics, please read about our methodology and Experience Charter.

In India 4G Availability, in a slightly unlikely third place we saw Srinagar, one of India's remotest cities, located in the mountain passes of Jammu and Kashmir. Srinagar was just shy of the 95% mark with a 4G Availability score of 94.9%. In fourth place we saw the much-larger metropolis of Raipur, which scored 94.8% in our measurements, followed by Patna with 94.5%. Patna won our comparison of 20 of India's largest cities by 4G Availability nearly a year ago, and has increased its score by close to 2 percentage points in that time.

Of India's largest cities, none were really stoking the fires in Opensignal's 4G Availability analysis. Delhi and Mumbai were in the lower half of the table, neck-and-neck with scores just shy of 90%, behind Hyderabad's 90.5%. Bangalore was mid-table on 92.3%, while Ahmedabad scored 92.7%. Nonetheless, all of the 50 Indian cities we measured scored over 87% 4G Availability — a feat that many much more developed mobile markets would be proud of.

Fanned by the flames of competition, India is really smoldering in 4G Availability. In Opensignal’s most recent India Mobile Network Experience report, we found Jio's national 4G Availability score was a remarkable 96.7% — over 20 percentage points ahead of its main rivals. The world's first "super-disruptor", Jio stunned the mobile world with its revolutionary free data offerings, amassing over 100 million subscribers in just 6 months. But its rivals have reacted. All of India's key operators continue to aggressively invest, while the merger of Vodafone and Idea is set to create India's largest operator, further disrupting the market.

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vivo Announces Partnership with PUBG MOBILE Club Open 2019

vivo recentlry announced a partnership with the top grossing mobile game - PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDSMobile (PUBG MOBILE) by Tencent Games and PUBG Corporation as the title sponsor of the upcoming PUBG MOBILE Club Open 2019, one of the biggest mobile gaming tournaments in the world.  vivo will provide the official smartphones for the PUBG MOBILE Club Open 2019, which players from ten regions across the globe will be leveraging to battle their way through the Spring & Fall Split, for the total prize pool of $2.5M USD. This global partnership reinforces vivo’s commitment to bringing an ultra-smooth gaming experience to connect with consumers through meaningful partnerships. 

vivo Title sponsor of PUBG Mobile Club Open 2019

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Sharing his thoughts on the partnership, Mr. Nipun Marya, Director-Brand Strategy, vivo India said, “vivo thrives to be at the forefront of the eSports industry to best serve its consumers. The partnership with PUBG MOBILE is a key milestone especially given that it is a leading mobile game developed by Tencent Games and PUBG Corporation that has millions of fans globally. PUBG MOBILE Club Open 2019 is a strong opportunity to showcase vivo’s vision of ‘enjoying the extraordinary’ by bringing global players a true gaming experience like no other. This global partnership will unfold and strengthen vivo’s position in being an innovative and stylish brand that always puts our consumer experience first”.

“We are excited to partner with vivo, as they have a strong reputation in being innovative and putting the consumer’s needs first. As an innovative brand ourselves, this partnership highlights our dedication to bring the best experience possible to our players and fans around the world. This partnership is just the beginning, we want to continue building a strong portfolio of partnerships with industry-leading companies, such as vivo, to provide the best mobile gaming experience possible,” said Vincent Wang, General Manager of Global Publishing Department, Tencent Games.

The PUBG MOBILE STAR CHALLENGE 2018 was watched by over 230 million viewers and drew in over 5,000 live attendees at the global finals in Dubai. The qualifying round of PUBG MOBILE Club Open 2019 will begin on March 22, 2019. The Spring Split Global Finals will be hosted in July this year, with the Fall Split Global Finals following in December.

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How AI and Machine learning helps in up skilling to better career opportunities

There are at least two clear trends that show a demand-supply mismatch in tech jobs in cutting-edge IT fields such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. One is via industry predictions that estimate growth in the AI market from USD 21.46 billion to USD 190.61 billion between 2018 and 2025. Year on year growth is projected to be an impressive 36.62% during the same period. The second trend is more subtle. Big Indian IT firms in the US are reportedly ‘hoarding’ employees in these 2 fields as they foresee a shortage in skilled experts. They also fear a corresponding rise in the cost of hiring employees for tech contracts they have bagged for the future.

How are AI & Machine Learning being used in Industry?

Unlike the exaggerated robots of the 2001 Steven Spielberg movie of the same name, Artificial Intelligence (AI) in reality is tamer. AI is understood to mean ways of making computers, computer-controlled robots or program think intelligently mimicking the manner in which humans think intelligently. A computer program with AI can use can solve generic problems it is programmed to instead of just specific ones. They can accommodate new modifications to input without breaking structure. Traditional programmers would have to sort, sift and debug thousands of lines of code to make modifications.

AI finds applications in strategy games such as chess or poker where advance moves are determined by heuristic logic, natural language processing, virtual assistant technology, image and speech recognition and automated robotics. General AI systems which can solve any given problem are rare. Insurance and banking organizations regularly use AI to monitor fraud. Marketers use AI every time you shop online to gather your browsing habits and predict what you are most likely to buy. They will then advertise those products through pop-ups and logos. Self-driving cars, auto-pilot modes and smart homes using sensors all rely on AI and affect daily lives of consumers.

There is also a difference between AI and Machine Learning (ML) although a number of articles on the web club them together or use them interchangeably. “ML is the study of computer algorithms that improve automatically through experience” according to Tom Mitchell of Carnegie Mellon University. It is simply one of the ways we use to achieve AI or something closer.

How can you acquire AI & ML skills?

By some estimates, AI will create nearly 2.3 million jobs by next year. It might also make 1.7 million jobs obsolete but those would need to be replaced by 0.5 million new jobs. Nearly all forms of enterprise software, factory automation, transport and other industries are increasingly using AI-based interfaces in their daily operation. In fact, by 2030, AI may end up offering USD 15.7 trillion to the global economy.

Mathematical and programming skills are central to acquiring competency in this field. However, for seasoned tech professionals, it is also quite important to develop excellent communication skills. An understanding of how business works and the common processes used in day-to-day operations will help you better utilize your core competencies to improve organizational workflows.

Core Competencies required in AI & ML

For complete beginners, programming using C++ is a mandatory requirement. Also necessary is an understanding of how algorithms are created and executed.

Typically, knowledge and expertise in Bayesian networks, neural networks, cognitive science theory, engineering, physics, robotics, undergraduate algebra, calculus, statistics and probability are very essential to hone your talents in ML.

Graduates in Computer Science need only supplement their knowledge of math and computing with a specialized course in AI & ML.

India Best Placed to exploit AI opportunities

Analysis of professional networking site Linkedin.com has shown that India is the third best-placed economy after the US and China to crack AI jobs and careers with high penetration of AI awareness. AI is a big part of investments into start-ups at an estimated by private players alone in 2016.

Among the more exciting opportunities one can expect in 2019 is the rising application of AI in healthcare to detect and diagnose health issues in individuals. Smart infrastructure to help balance rapid growth in urban centers in India is also an option being explored by the government. B. Tech programs now mandatorily have AI, IoT, Machine Learning and some other essential components of emerging technologies. However, constant changes in this dynamic field have made it mandatory for professionals to keep up skilling via a noted institution to remain relevant and job-worthy.

Authored by

Mr.Diwakar Chittora

CEO & Founder, Intellipaat 

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Gifting ideas for Valentines day for a spectrum of budget

Have you bought valentines gift for your special one yet? If yes then well you have won the battle and wish you have a great day today. Even if you have not got anything yet then remember its better late than never. We have a few options handy for you if you want to make use of whatever little time is left.

LG V40ThinQ smartphone is perfect for people who to capture and live in each moment. Being an an amalgamation of some unique features and blend of many industry-first offerings like 5 cameras, Artificial Intelligence, 6.4-inch FullVision TM OLED display, LG V40ThinQ will be the perfect gift for your partner to capture each moment of your life together. Price – INR 49,990

LG knows that music is a way of communicating your feelings towards your partner and LG XBOOM AI ThinQ is the perfect smart speaker to set the mood right. With the revamped technology and design, this speaker is a perfect blend of innovation and unmatched aesthetics. Couples will get to experience a new way of listening to music as well as to keep a tap on their daily work through Google assistance. Price – INR 27,990

If your partner is movie and music buff, a pair of headphones is one of the best things you can gift them on this Valentine’s Day. LG’s solution is Tone Active++ headset that sits comfortably on your neck. It weighs a mere 60 grams so they will hardly feel it there. A pair of speakers creates a surround sound for the ears without blocking other sounds. It also has IPx4 certification (sweat/water resistant), built in activity tracking (there’s an app) and dual mics for voice calls. For the times you need higher quality music or when you want a call to be more private, just pull out the retractable earbuds. Price - INR 12,000

The LG ‘Neo- Chef Microwave’ is a multi-faceted smart technology that can prepare healthy and hygienic food in a fast and convenient way. Through powerful and precise control, it provides faster, more even cooking performance. With precise temperature control, you can cook a variety of dishes that are not possible with other microwave ovens. The Smart Inverter Microwave can adapt to incoming power levels, and urges you to always count on your microwave to perform, even in unsupportive voltage and low power supply. MRP – Rs. 14745 onward

itel A44 Air

A44 Air is the latest launch from itel that is a smartphone with AI enabled dual camera at INR 4599 making it an industry-first in the sub 5k segment. Yes you read it right. So go ahead. Indulge yourself in an immersive full-screen display (5.45-inch), explore the beauty of AI enabled dual rear camera and feel secure with its speedy face unlock, priced at only INR 4599. It also supports dual SIM 4G VoLTE across all operator bands of India which enables better call connectivity and faster downloads at the same time. With a high screen-to-body of 81%, this smartphone has ultra-thin bezels thus enabling users to have a wider view. Running on Android™ 8.1 (Go edition) OS, the itel A44 Air is powered by 1.4 GHz processor for seamless multi-tasking functionality. The device has premium looking back panels with a chequered design for good grip in hands and is available in vibrant colours such as Blusher Gold, Elegant Blue and Slate Grey. itel A44 Air is equipped with 1GB RAM and 8GB internal storage along with a dedicated expandable memory up to 32GB

oraimo Tempo 2

If your partner is a health freak, then gifting the latest launch from oraimo could be the best option! The ultra-stylish Tempo 2 priced at INR 2999, boasts the bigger coloured screen in the segment; hence you need not worry about those tiny texts and numbers being stressful on the eyes.  In addition to the big screen, Tempo 2 continuously monitors your heart rate which is unique among other fit bands. The device gives you a count of the steps taken, distance covered and calories burnt in different training modules (including rope skipping, running and bicycling), which will let you remain on top of your health goals. Lifting the wrist is all it takes to directly view your mobile screen and WhatsApp messages on the screen via Bluetooth connectivity. On the power backup front, Tempo 2 supports advanced low energy consumption technology which helps the device to stay active up to 20 days. Tempo 2 is IP67 splash-resistant so you can rinse your hands without having to worry about water splash, durability, sweat, cosmetics, dust or anything else. Adding on to the exterior and convenience, the strap of the fit band comes with an in-built USB port thereby, ensuring ease of plugging and charging. It supports the 4.0 Bluetooth version. The build material of the band is ABS/PC/TPU and it measures 260*20*12mm

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Signify launches Interact IoT platform, will deliver insights, benefits and new services to customers

There is lot of exciting things happening this last week in tech space, thanks to CES 2019, however there is another less talked about development happened last week. First Philips Lighting will be now known as Signify (this was due to some legal reasons). Second, Signify also launched its IoT platform for connected lighting systems named as Interact.

Mr. Sumit Joshi, CEO Signify Innovations Limited

Interact will enable its professional customers to unlock the full potential of connected lighting for the IoT. The platform delivers new insights to help customers drive operational efficiencies and take more effective decisions. It also supports the company’s strategy to deliver new data-enabled services as value expands from lighting products and systems to services.

Signify has already installed 29 million connected light points worldwide and plans for every new LED product it produces to be connectable by 2020. This growing number of connected light points, sensors and devices, as well as systems, can collect large volumes of data for which Interact was designed to handle. The highly secure, scalable cloud-based Interact platform uses sophisticated and modern data management and data processing capabilities, including machine learning, to bring sense to all manner of data – creating data-enabled services for customers that will deliver benefits beyond illumination. It also offers a growing suite of licensed open application program interfaces (APIs) which will foster innovation from third-party developers, development partners and customers, enabling various data enabled services to be developed.

A typical example of such a service is occupancy data from different buildings, combined and analyzed to help managers to understand and predict how people use office space. Such insights can help deliver savings by optimizing the use of existing office space and support better designed, more efficient buildings.

In addition, data from authorized third-parties can also be analyzed by Interact. For example, for a municipal authority, news articles and social media posts, reacting to a new lighting installation on a bridge, can be analyzed and data sent to a social impact app dashboard that summarizes the public sentiment.

Launching the platform, Sumit Padmakar Joshi, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Signify Innovations India Limited (Previously known as Philips Lighting India Limited) said, “First, we led the way in energy efficient LED lighting, then in connecting lighting to deliver operational benefits for our customers. Now that light points are smart enough to collect data on their performance and the environment around them, we are tapping into that intelligence. By analyzing the data from our connected lights, devices and systems, our goal is to create safer cities, energy efficient buildings and industries and smarter retail stores in the country. We are confident that this platform will deliver immense value for our professional lighting customers in India”.

Interact connected lighting systems

These connected lighting systems, offering a unified user experience, feature applications that address industry-specific verticals. Available now are:

·       Interact Office – enables you to turn your office into a smart sustainable workspace with software that allows you to increase building efficiency and employee productivity.

·       Interact City – helps improve street lighting, safety, reduce energy consumption, improve efficiency and support your sustainability goals and beautify the urban landscape across roads.

·       Interact Retail - enables customers to group, zone and schedule connected lighting to create stopping power in stores. It also supports in-store location-based marketing services to increase shopper engagement and indoor navigation to improve staff productivity.

·       Interact Landmark – aids in managing and triggering light shows with dynamic architectural lighting to help increase tourism, regenerate downtown areas, and stimulate commerce.

·       Interact Pro - an intuitive cloud-based software for small and medium enterprises that automates lighting and allows management via the Interact Pro dashboard.

·       Interact Sports – aids in monitoring, managing and coordinating across all lighting infrastructure from a single dashboard from pitch lighting, entertainment light shows, hospitality areas and exterior architectural lighting.

Signify became the new company name of Philips Lighting as of May 16, 2018. The legal name of Signify has been adopted in India from 2^nd January, 2019.

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