Tuesday, 6 April 2021

 

Microsoft Bags $21.9 Billion Contract with the US Army to Supply Most Advanced Augmented Reality Headsets

Microsoft Corp has stated that it has won a deal to sell the US Army its most proficient augmented reality headsets based on its HoloLens product, and it is backed by Azure cloud computing services. The contract could be worth up to $21.88 billion and will be a 10 years contract. Over the past two years, Microsoft has worked with the US Army on the most crucial prototyping phase of what is known as the Integrated Visual Augmentation System or IVAS.

The firm has said that the Army had moved into the production phase of the project. The all-new headsets are designed to deliver enhanced situational awareness that will enable information sharing and decision-making in various scenarios. The headset will be manufactured in a Microsoft manufacturing unit locates in the United States itself.

Microsoft is also aiming to win the $10 billion worth JEDI cloud computing contract with the Pentagon. But the deal remains in dispute in a lawsuit filed by American Pentagon Officials. Meanwhile, the new augmented reality-based headsets will improve the prototyping and formatting using the latest cloud-based technology. This will be one of the most excellent additions to the US Army armory.

 

 

PayPal launches Cryptocurrency checkout services in the US for product purchase

In a recent announcement, PayPal has stated that it has started allowing US consumers to use their cryptocurrency holdings to pay its merchants globally through online transactions. This move will significantly boost the usage of digital assets in everyday commerce. Customers with different digital currencies like Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin in their Paypal digital wallet can convert their holdings into fiat currencies at checkouts to make purchases.

The firm has revealed that it was working on this from last year, and this move will be available to all 29 million PayPal merchants in the coming months. This will be the first time users can seamlessly use cryptocurrencies in the same way as a credit or debit card via PayPal wallet. This will allow the company's users to checkout with Crypto, to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrencies for payment purposes.

With this move, PayPal becomes one of the largest financial companies to open its network to cryptocurrencies that will fuel a rally in virtual coin prices. PayPal aims to settle the transaction in fiat currency so that merchants will not take on the volatility risk. The company has also stated that it will charge no transaction fee to checkout with Crypto, and merchants can use only one type of coin for each purse.


 

Tuesday, 30 March 2021

 

Lexus launches the teaser of its new concept car ahead of its launch

Lexus, the most renowned automaker Toyota's luxury vehicle division, has launched a new concept car teaser. The automaker has stated that it is a brand makeover, and it has decided to reveal its latest concept car way before its launch. The firm has also stated that it has not yet named its car but has launched its first-look. The car looks sleek with a high-riding sedan look.

Keeping its traditional look intact, Lexus' new car comes with a big grill, L badge, and ultra-based LED accent lights. The firm aims to bring the more futuristic approach to its unique concept car. Thereby it will have an auto-drive system incorporated with a horizontal light bar look. The brand badge is not seen. Instead, the company's name "Lexus" is spelled out on the new car's rear.

The company has not revealed anything about the interior features. But automobile experts have stated that it will be an all-electric vehicle with a futuristic Artificial Intelligence approach. The experts have also said that the car looks similar to the Polestar 2. The car embodies the Polestar 2 Sedan-as-crossover look pretty well. As per the recent reports, Lexus plans to reveal more details about the all-new concept car on March 30.

 

Russia approves to produce a new range of electric cars by the end of this year

Zetta, Russia's small private carmaker based in Tolyatti, has stated that it is designing a new electric car and has scheduled to launch production this year. The auto industry in Russia is seeing a surge in recent times. One of the largest exporters of oil and gas, to date, has no successful electric projects and many analysts state that there are slim prospects in the future, primarily as there is no suitable charging infrastructure to build new electric cars.

Russia's Industry and Trade minister has said that around 5,960 electric cars sold in Russia also included 687 new cars. The recent stats show that the entire fleet of electric cars in the country is over 10,000 only. To break these stats and make Russia a robust electric car market, Zetta is all set to produce the Soviet and Russian Lasa electric cars. The automaker also is planning to increase the manufacturing of urban cars and commercial cargo vehicles.

The firm on its official website has announced that the production will start before the end of this year. The project will also be given attention to bring in new experimental models. These cars will be all-electric and will be wholly manufactured in Russia. The Russian trade ministry has stated that the vehicles' launch date and the price will be announced by the end of this year.

 

Google’s former CEO gives $150 million to improve research standards in biology and artificial intelligence

Google's former CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife Wendy have given a whooping sum of $150 million to the research institute to establish an innovative "new era of biology" aimed at battling different diseases' variants by combining the right mixture of data and life sciences studies. It is said that the Massachusetts-based Broad institute MIT and Harvard will be using these funds to build an innovation center.

This innovation center will bring together academia and industry to merge the two disciplines to make people healthier and the world a better place. To date, these fields have developed in parallel. Their convergence will establish a new era of biology, which will yield a deep understanding of biological processes. Its ultimate aim and focus will be to improve human health through more powerful disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

Experts have stated that this initiative will set a precedent for building many research centers that mix science and technology. The innovation center will be named after the Schmidts, and the research center will collaborate with experts from numerous fields at companies' ranging from Google, Microsoft, and AstraZeneca. It will also partner with learning institutions that include Oxford University and the Mayo Clinic.