Chip-maker Intel to layoff nearly 340 employees at California campus in US

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 31, 2023 | Technology

Calling it “difficult decisions,’ chip-maker Intel is laying off nearly 340 employees at one of its campuses in the US.

Intel told state and local officials that it plans to lay off about 340 workers at its Folsom campus in California, reports KCRA 3. The Folsom campus has seven buildings.

The company cited a “challenging macro-economic environment”, saying it is “focused on identifying cost reductions and efficiency gains through multiple initiatives, including some business and function-specific workforce reductions in areas across the company”.

“These are difficult decisions, and we are committed to treating impacted employees with dignity and respect,” Intel said in a statement.

The company announced new layoffs in the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice.

The WARN Act requires employers to provide a 60-day notice to workers and state officials of mass layoffs.

The company first sent a WARN Act notice on December 2 that it planned to “lay off about 111 workers at its 1900 Prairie City Drive facility starting on January 31”.

On January 11, the company said in an update it had raised that number to 176.

On January 13, Intel announced another round of layoffs that affected 167 workers and that those are “expected to be permanent.”

“All impacted employees are being notified of separation with at least 60 days’ notice, with the first separations presently scheduled to occur during a 14-day period commencing on March 15, 2023,” the notice read.

Reports surfaced earlier this month that Intel is making deeper job cuts that will hit at least hundreds of employees in the Bay Area and nearby places in the US.

According to an official filing posted by the state Employment Development Department, the company had listed the elimination of about 201 jobs in Santa Clara by January 31.

In total, the chip giant plans to cut 500 jobs in California.

–IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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OPPO to launch Reno8 T 5G smartphone in India on February 3: Details here

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 31, 2023 | Technology

Chinese smartphone maker OPPO is gearing up to launch in India the Reno8 T 5G smartphone on February 3. The Reno8 T 5G smartphone will be available for purchase online on the OPPO online store and Flipkart, and offline at select retail outlets. The smartphone will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, according to the teaser posted by the company on social media platform.

OPPO Reno8 T 5G: Expected specification

The OPPO Reno8 T 5G would sport a 6.7-inch micro-curved AMOLED screen of a 120Hz refresh rate. The screen would feature a punch-hole camera in the centre and likely boast a screen-to-body ratio of 93 per cent. According to OPPO, the Reno8 T 5G would have a fullHD+ resolution screen of 10-bit colour depth, which is 64 per cent more than regular 8-bit screens.

Powering the smartphone would be the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G processor, paired with Adreno 619 GPU. It is likely to have a dual-camera set-up on the back, featuring a 108-megapixel primary camera sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. On the front, it would feature a 16MP camera sensor. The smartphone is likely to be offered in 8GB RAM + 128GB storage, 8GB RAM + 256GB storage, and 12GB RAM + 256GB storage variants.

It would be powered by a 4,800 mAh battery, supported by 67W wired charging. Other expected features include under the screen fingerprint scanner, microSD card slot for storage expansion, dual-SIM support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB-C port for charging and data transfer. The smartphone is likely to boot Android 13 operating system based ColorOS 13 interface. It is expected to come in black, blue and gold colours.

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WhatsApp rolling out longer group subjects, descriptions on Android beta

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 31, 2023 | Technology

Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp is reportedly rolling out longer group subjects and descriptions on Android beta.

These changes will help users to better describe groups, reports WABetainfo.

The characters of the group subject have been increased from 25 to 100 to provide group admins more freedom when naming their groups.

It will make it easier to identify the purpose of the group.

With the new change, the platform is also increasing the group description from 512 characters to 2048 characters.

This will provide more space for group admins to add important details and information about the group.

The ability to choose a longer group subject and description is available for users that install the latest WhatsApp beta for Android update from the Play Store, the report said.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, it was reported that the messaging platform was working on a new feature that will allow users to send photos in their original quality.

The platform is planning to integrate a new setting icon within the drawing tool header which will allow users to configure the quality of any photo, providing users more control over the quality of photos they are sending, especially when sending the photo in its original quality is necessary.

–IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Netflix rolls out ‘Kids Mystery Box’ feature to Android devices globally

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 31, 2023 | Technology

Streaming giant Netflix has rolled out its ‘Kids Mystery Box’ feature on Android devices globally, which provides a fun and safe space for kids to discover their next favourite series and films.

The company on Monday updated its previous announcement blogpost from May last year and mentioned, “This feature is now available on Android devices for all global members.”

“Kids, parents and caregivers can enjoy this feature” by logging in to a kids profile.

Find the kids ‘Favorites Row’ at the top of the homepage. This row is character-driven to help viewers instantly connect with the characters, shows and films they love when they turn on Netflix.

Then hover the pointer over the sparkling ‘mystery box’ to locate a title that is anew for you.

“We hope that kids will love the surprise and delight of revealing the next show or film recommended for them,” the streaming giant said.

In July 2021, the company had introduced ‘Kids Top 10 Row’ featuring the most popular children’s content in the viewers’ country and ‘Kids Recap emails’ to give parents a better understanding of their child’s preferences.

–IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Meta tests ‘members-only space’ in virtual reality platform Horizon Worlds

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 31, 2023 | Technology

Meta has announced that it is testing a new type of closed space — members-only worlds — in its social virtual reality (VR) platform ‘Horizon Worlds’.

The ‘members-only worlds’ will allow creators to build and cultivate a space where a community of people can come together to enjoy a curated experience, the company said in a Oculus blogpost on Monday.

During the test, each members-only world can have up to 150 world members and 25 concurrent visitors at any given time.

Creators will be able to provide exclusive access to VIP supporters, create a dedicated space to showcase their world design portfolio to the creator community, gather a gaming group, organise a support group, and much more — all without worrying about uninvited guests.

“Our goal is to put design in the creators’ hands so that they can fully craft the experience they want to offer others,” the company said.

Meta’s vision for the new space is to “empower creators to craft the culture of their communities.”

The company will also provide tools which will allow the creators of the new space to set the rules for their communities and maintain those rules for their closed spaces.

Moreover, creators will have the choice of whether or not to share their moderation responsibilities with other trusted group members and decide if they will allow members to visit the world without a creator or moderator present.

“Everyone will always have the ability to report worlds to Meta and report others for behaviour that violates our Code of Conduct for Virtual Experiences,” the company said.

“Members-only worlds will be just one building block available to our creator ecosystem, in addition to public worlds and more within the Meta Horizon Worlds platform,” it added.

–IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Quantum computing at the core of growth in India’s techade: Chandrasekhar

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 30, 2023 | Technology

Quantum computing will be at the centre of growth and expansion in India’s ‘techade’ and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision is to create a India-centric tech ecosystem with partners and players around the world, minister of state for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Monday.

While virtually inaugurating a two-day symposium on the Quantum Computing Ecosystem held at C-DAC in Pune, the minister spoke about the disruptive role of quantum computing and pointed out that it is going to be the next big idea that will disrupt technology in general and computing in particular, according to an official statement.

“It is PM Shri Narendra Modi’s vision to create an India centric quantum tech ecosystem with partners and players around the world. We are working together to build an ecosystem of innovation, along with startups, R&D laboratories, and higher education institutions. Quantum computing will be at the core of the growth and expansion in India’s techade,” Chandrasekhar said.

The term ‘techade’ is used to refer the decade of new technology.

The minister said that PM’s vision is to transition India from being a mere consumer of technology to being an architect and designer and producer of technology.

“We need to really work together to build a complete quantum ecosystem of innovation, startups, research labs, higher academic institutions, domestic companies, foreign companies, foreign academics for creating an India centric quantum ecosystem that works very well with other partners and players around the world,” Chandrasekhar said.

Emphasising that technologies such as quantum computing will be at the core of country’s economic expansion in the India decade, the minister said beside building capabilities in quantum and high performance computing, there is need to build consumer products, digital products, devices and solutions and allow more digital empowerment of the 1.2 billion Indians who will be connected to the internet by 2025-2026.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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