Technology

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s exports of information technology grew by 47.4 per cent to cross the $2 billion mark for the first time in the country’s history in the outgoing fiscal year. In absolute terms, the IT exports reached $2.12bn in 2020-21 as against $1.44bn in the preceding year, according to data released by Commerce Ministry on Monday. “I want to congratulate …

ISLAMABAD: Nearly 12 per cent of households in the country, according to a government survey, have reported having at least one facility such as computer, laptop and tablet, making it least penetration of information and communication technologies in the country. The Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) survey 2019-20, conducted by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), covered 176,790 …

Dastgyr, a B2B marketplace based out of Karachi connecting suppliers to mom-and-pop retailers, has raised a $3.5 million seed round led by SOSV. This takes the total capital secured so far to $4m, including the angel round in July 2020. With fresh capital in the kitty, the startup wants to mark its entry into the fintech space by offering products to …

LAHORE: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has finalised the digital policy for newspaper websites having given in to the long-held demands of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE). According to a CPNE press release issued on Saturday, the minister expressed his condolences over the death of the council’s president Arif Nizami while talking to members of …

PARIS: Electric cars — key to reducing emissions and meeting climate change goals — have boosted their market share in Europe, data showed on Friday, as the region prepares to abandon petrol and diesel. Battery electric vehicles more than doubled their share of new car sales in Europe in the second quarter, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) …

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has said that the Federal Board of Revenue should reduce sales tax on the import of Electric Vehicles (EVs) to 5 per cent to encourage the upcoming technology based on the cleanest fuel in Pakistan. Mr Chaudhry had been one of the key supporters of EVs in the country when he …

NEW YORK: CNN unveiled plans on Monday to launch a subscription streaming service next year in a stepped up effort to connect with viewers without cable or satellite television. The pioneering 24-hour news channel will be hiring hundreds of new employees for the service to be called CNN+ that will debut in early 2023. “CNN invented cable news in 1980, defined online news …

Governments around the world are facing bombshell allegations that they used Israeli-made malware to spy on the phones of activists, journalists, corporate executives and politicians. But how exactly does the Pegasus spyware work? How does it get onto people’s phones — and what can it do once it’s there? How does Pegasus sneak its way onto a phone? Researchers believe that early …

Jeff Bezos, the richest person in the world, is set to join the astronaut club Tuesday on the first crewed launch by Blue Origin, another key moment in a big month for the fledgling space tourism industry. The mission comes days after Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson crossed the final frontier, narrowly besting the Amazon magnate in their battle of …

Tesla Inc said on Saturday it has introduced an option for some customers to subscribe to its advanced driver assistance software, dubbed “Full Self-Driving capability”, for $199 per month, instead of paying $10,000 upfront. Tesla has previously said its subscription service would generate recurring revenue and expand the customer base for pricy features including lane changing on highways and parking …