Skyroot Aerospace, whichis

into building privatespace launch vehicles,on Thursday said it raised USD 11 million Series A funding from investors led by Greenko Group founders Anil Chalamalasetty and Mahesh Kolli.

According to a press release issued by the city-based startup, the funding also saw participation from public listed entity Solar Group, a major Space and Defence supplier, Former-Whatsapp CBO Neeraj Arora, existing investor Mukesh Bansal (founder of Myntra and CureFit), Worldquant Ventures, Graph Ventures, Sutton Capital, Vedanshu Investments, and few angels.

Naga Bharath Daka, Co-Founder and COO of Skyroot, said the firm started bookings for launches starting from mid next year and is actively engaging global customers.

“We intend to raise USD 40 million more to fund our aggressive growth plans over the next few years,” Daka said.

This is so far the largest investment in the Indian Space Startup Scene after the Indian cabinet approved private sector participation in Space activities, the release said.

Pawan Kumar Chandana, Co-Founder and CEO of Skyroot, said, “We are proud to be backed by visionary Entrepreneurs who built industry leading businesses and share our passion for democratising access to Space. We are excited to work with them in building Skyroot into a leading Space player globally.”

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China postponed a supply mission to its new space station Thursday for unspecified technical reasons.

The Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft was expected to have been launched early Thursday morning. China Manned Space announced the delay on its website but didn’t say when the rescheduled launch may occur.

It would be the first mission to head to the main Tianhe module of the space station that was launched on April 29. Another 10 launches are planned to deliver the station’s other two modules, various components and supplies, and a three-person crew.

The launch of Tianhe, or Heavenly Harmony, was considered a success although China was criticized for allowing the uncontrolled reentry of part of the rocket that carried it into space.

Usually, discarded rocket stages reenter the atmosphere soon after liftoff, normally over water, and don’t go into orbit.

NASA Administrator Sen. Bill Nelson said at the time that China had failed to meet responsible standards regarding space debris.

China’s space program has suffered relatively few setbacks since it first put an astronaut into orbit in 2003, although the space station launch was delayed by the failure of an earlier version of the massive Long March 5B rocket.

Earlier this month, China also landed a probe and its accompanying rover on Mars and has begun sending back pictures from the surface of the red planet.

Only the United States has successfully landed and operated a spacecraft on Mars nine times, beginning with the twin Vikings in 1976 and, most recently, with the Perseverance rover in February.

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Apple Inc.’s top software engineer criticized the security of his own Mac operating system in a bid to explain why the company shouldn’t be forced by a judge to loosen its hold over iPhone and iPad app distribution, as Epic Games Inc. is demanding.

Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, testified Wednesday at a trial in federal court in Oakland, California, that his experience with imported malware on the macOS system shows how security would be eroded if the company allowed iPhone and iPad users to install software from the web or other stores, as it does on the Mac.

“Today we have a level of malware on the Mac that we don’t find acceptable,” primarily because the system allows users to install software that isn’t vetted by Apple, Federighi said. That makes it less secure than iOS and iPadOS, the operating systems that power the iPhone and iPad, he said.

Allowing apps from other stores or places on the iPhone would create a “very, very bad situation for our customers,” including “a huge decrease in their safety,” Federighi said.

He also said iPhones and iPads have security protections, including the App Store review process, to keep the products free from malware.

Later in his testimony, Federighi said that despite its malware problems, the Mac is the safest choice among personal computers and is more secure than those running Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system.

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The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has registered over 23 per cent jump in the subscriber base under its two flagship pension schemes at 4.27 crore by the end of April this year, data showed on Wednesday.

The overall subscriber base under the two schemes –NPS and APY– stood at 3.46 crore by April 2020.

The number of subscribers in various schemes rose to 426.75 lakh by end-April 2021 from 346.01 lakh in April 2020 showing a year-on-year increase of 23.33 per cent, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) said in a release.

The number of subscribers under the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) increased by 33.23 per cent to 2.82 crore as of April 2021.

The assets under management (AUM) of these two schemes jumped by more than 36 per cent to Rs 5.90 lakh crore by the end of first month of the current fiscal year 2021-22. Of this, the AUM of APY scheme moved up by 47.4 per cent to Rs 16,136 crore.

The National Pension System (NPS) mainly caters to the employees in the organised sector, including all government staff in the centre and states, while the APY is mainly targeted to fulfil the pension needs of those employed in the unorganised sector in the country.

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Microsoft has confirmed that it will not release a lightweight and simplified Windows 10X operating system.

Billed as a competition to the Chrome OS, the 10X operating system was expected to come along with new dual-screen devices like the Surface Neo before the pandemic hit the world.

“Instead of bringing a product called Windows 10X to market in 2021 like we originally intended, we are leveraging learnings from our journey thus far and accelerating the integration of key foundational 10X technology into other parts of Windows and products at the company,” said John Cable, head of Windows servicing and delivery, in a blog post on Tuesday.

Microsoft said that its teams continue to invest in areas where the 10X technology will help meet its customer needs as well as evaluate technology experiences both in software and hardware that will be useful to its customers in the future.

“This shift in thinking is an incredible example of the company’s value of a growth mindset at work and exemplifies our customer-first focus,” Cable said.

Microsoft said that in the current environment, people continue to rely on PCs more than ever.

“As a result, we are initially taking a measured seeker-based approach to the rollout of the May 2021 Update. We are throttling availability up over the coming weeks to ensure a reliable download experience for all, so the update may not be offered to you right away,” Cable informed.

The May 2021 Update is available initially to select devices running Windows 10, version 2004 or later who are interested in experiencing the latest feature updates and are ready to install this release on their device.

As a first half (H1) of the calendar year release, all editions of the May 2021 Update (version 21H1) will receive 18 months of servicing and support, beginning from Tuesday, the company said.

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Apple Inc. is preparing to release several new Mac laptops and desktops with faster processors, new designs and improved connectivity to external devices, accelerating the company’s effort to replace Intel Corp. chips and leapfrog rival PC makers.

The overhaul encompasses a broad range of Macs, including Apple’s higher-end laptop, the MacBook Pro; the laptop aimed at the mass market, the MacBook Air; and its desktop computers, the Mac Pro, iMac and Mac mini, according to people familiar with the matter.

Redesigned MacBook Pros are expected to debut as soon as early this summer, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss an internal matter, followed by a revamped MacBook Air, a new low-end MacBook Pro and an all-new Mac Pro workstation. The company is also working on a higher-end Mac mini desktop and larger iMac. The machines will feature processors designed in-house that will greatly outpace the performance and capabilities of the current M1 chips, the people said.

Apple plans to launch the redesigned MacBook Pros in 14-inch (code name J314) and 16-inch screen (J316) sizes. They’ll have a redesigned chassis, magnetic MagSafe charger and more ports for connecting external drives and devices. Apple is also bringing back the HDMI port and SD card slot, which it nixed in previous versions, sparking criticism from photographers and the like.

Apple on Tuesday said the new 24-inch iMac will be available in stores on May 21. The shares were mostly unchanged.

PC shipments jumped 32% in the first quarter, Gartner Inc. said last month, the fastest year-over-year growth since the firm began tracking the market in 2000. Apple was the fourth-leading seller with 15% of the U. S. market, an increase from 12% in the quarter a year earlier, and 8% globally.

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South Korean video game developer Krafton on Tuesday announced pre-registration for Battlegrounds Mobile India, a replacement for its now banned game PUBG Mobile. The pre-registration for the game is now live on Google’s Play Store in India for Android devices.

Krafton says, players pre-registering for Battlegrounds Mobile India will get 4 amazing rewards — the Recon Mask, the Recon Outfit, Celebration Expert Title, and 300 AG. These rewards are for people who pre-register.What is Battlegrounds Mobile India

The Battlegrounds Mobile India is a battle royale game where multiple players employ strategies to fight and be the last man standing.

The India-exclusive multiplayer game from the makers or popular gaming title PUBG Mobile is free-to-play and offers diverse game modes — squad-based or one-on-one.

The game features diverse maps with different terrains in a virtual setting. Based on Unreal Engine 4, the game is touted to bring alive fantastic worlds augmented by 3D sound for immersive experience.

The game requires devices based on Android 5.1.1 operating system with at least 2GB RAM.How to pre-register for Battlegrounds Mobile India

To pre-register for the Battlegrounds Mobile India game, go to Google Play Store and search for Battlegrounds Mobile India. Alternatively, click here to visit the game landing page. On the landing page, click on the “Pre-Register” button, and your rewards will automatically be available to claim on game launch.

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Google I/O is an annual developer conference where the technology giant showcases its innovation competence with regard to products and services. This year, the company showcased some futuristic technologies besides detailing the upgrades coming to Android and Wear OS operating systems for smartphones and smartwatches, respectively. The Google I/O 2021 was full of surprises and interesting announcements. Here is a quick recap of everything announced at the Google I/O 2021:Android 12

Google has come a long way enhancing its Android operating system for smartphones. The next iteration of the OS is set to get major design changes, including a revamped look called ‘Material You’ that dynamically changes the user interface and its elements based on users activity, apps, time of day, weather, etc. In retrospective, OPPO experimented with something of similar sorts in its Android 11 based ColorOS11 custom skin. The Chinese smartphone maker integrated tons of UI customisation options within the user interface to give the OS a new look. In Android 12, however, the changes are dynamic and not require user intervention.WearOS

Google’s operating system for smartwatches is set to get a revamp both in terms of design and utility features. In retrospective, the company earlier acquired wearables maker Fitbit. Now, the latter’s health and fitness centric features and tools are coming to WearOS, along with new apps integrations. Besides, the WearOS is set to get new capabilities for Google apps — like turn-by-turn navigation in Google Maps, or downloading songs from YouTube Music for offline listening. This is not it, Google also announced a unified smartwatch platform in partnership with Samsung, which has so far been excelling at making smartwatches powered by Tizen operating system. The unified platform will allow developers to make apps that work on both Tizen and Wear OS. In all likelihood, the WearOS is going to be the OS of next generation Samsung Galaxy Watch.Smart Canvas

For business users, Google announced ‘Smart Canvas’. It is a single window integrated with Google productivity and collaboration tools, including the most commonly used ones like Docs, Meets, GDrive. Google said it is experimenting with new features as a part of its efforts to improve the Smart Canvas user experience. The Smart Canvas update is rolling out and it will be updated in the months to come with new features and tools.

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The consumer internal SSD market shipments recorded 34 per cent growth (quarter on quarter) in the first quarter of 2021 while on an annual basis, the overall market registered remarkable 172 per cent growth in Q1, a new report showed on Tuesday.

While PCIe/NVMe SSD shipments registered 433 per cent (YoY) growth on a small base, portable SSD market shipments were up 64 per cent in the first quarter of the year, according to market research firm CMR’s ‘India Hard Drive Market Review for Q1 CY2021’.

In the overall consumer internal SSD market, WD captured 14 per cent market share followed by Adata capturing 13 per cent and Crucial at third position with 12 per cent share.

“The internal SSD market growth is largely attributed to the increased relevance of PCs due to the extended work from home (WFH) and remote learning. Growing awareness about the supreme features of SSDs over traditional HDDs gave an additional boost,” said Shipra Sinha, Analyst, Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR.

“Consumers inclination towards SSDs was clearly visible giving ample growth opportunity. A significant contribution was observed by the lesser-known brands thus increasing the overall internal SSD base,” Sinha added.

In the external SSD market, Samsung stood at the top spot with 51 per cent market share followed by WD at 41 per cent.

WD shipments increased by 32 per cent YoY, while Samsung shipments went up by 109 per cent YoY.

Seagate captured the third position with 6 per cent market share, the CMR report said.

CMR anticipates the internal SSD market to grow 25-30 per cent (YoY) by the end of CY2021 on back of increased SSD adoption and penetration, making it a mainstream product.

Portable SSDs are also expected to grow 50 per cent YoY on a small base.

“Unabated growth in data and increasing complexity in data management will drive portable SSDs future growth,” Sinha said.

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Smartphone brand realme is finally foraying into its much-anticipated TechLife vertical with launching a new brand on May 25 that begins with the letter D.

The brand name with ‘D’ letter was teased by Madhav Seth, Vice President, realme and CEO, realme India and Europe, during the 8 Pro smartphone launch last month.

The new brand will have its own line of products, industry sources told IANS on Monday.

The launch of the first brand in realme TechLife ecosystem will not be a big splash launch owing to the ongoing Covid situation in the country, they added.

The TechLife ecosystem of the company will look for innovative partners globally to provide products with a new technology experience for users through independent R&D, joint custom development and product selection.

The fast-growing smartphone brand realme earlier told IANS that TechLife will help other budding brands with similar dreams to make more versatile technology products in the country.

“We will be supporting our partners who have joined the ‘realme TechLife’ platform with our product, R&D, supply and quality assurance. We leave options to onboard brands to choose their original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partners freely,” Sheth had said.

“Some brands also own their own factories. In case any brands need support of a local OEM, realme will provide all the support in figuring out local OEM partners for them, who could help them manufacture their products and give the best quality assurance,” Sheth elaborated.

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