Tech

Dubai’s Department of Finance (DOF) plans to use cryptocurrencies to process payments for government services in the emirate. In the days to come, residents of Dubai will be able to pay for government services using cryptocurrencies. On Tuesday, May 13, the DOF announced a partnership with Crypto.com, onboarding it as the crypto payment facilitator. Dubai authorities see the move as a significant step towards advancing its digital finance capabilities.

Senior members from the DOF were present during the signing of the MoU with Crypto.com. The development was announced at the sidelines of the ongoing Dubai FinTech Summit. In its announcement, the DOF said Dubai was transitioning into a fully digital economy. The regulators there view cryptocurrencies as a secure and efficient way to complete financial settlements.

“Collaboration between the public and private sectors plays a vital role. Through strategic partnerships, we remain dedicated to establishing a sustainable financial model that empowers individuals and businesses, cementing Dubai’s leadership in financial technology,” said Ahmad Ali Meftah, executive director of the Central Accounts Sector at DOF.

The move aligns with the Dubai Cashless Strategy announced last year, wherein Dubai aims to digitise 90 percent of all transactions. The initiative is expected to add at least AED eight billion (roughly Rs. 18,582 crore) to the economy annually.

“The emirate is strengthening its position by deploying the latest secure financial technology solutions that support its cashless strategy, streamline government transactions, and foster innovation in financial services,” said Abdulla Mohammed Al Basti, secretary general of the executive council of Dubai.

Dubai established a regulatory body, called the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), to oversee the Web3 industry back in March 2022. Owing to the legal clarity around Web3 in Dubai, several crypto firms have flocked to the region to expand their businesses.

Crypto.com, the Singapore-headquartered crypto exchange, for instance, announced its Dubai office in 2022. Now, as part of its deal with the DOF, the exchange plans to deliver the “first comprehensive and holistic government-wide implementation of payment digitisation”.

“We are proud to be selected to support Dubai’s Department of Finance as part of this initiative,” said Eric Anziani, president and COO of Crypto.com.

This, however, is not the first initiative in the UAE that aims to bridge the gap between Web3 and traditional finance.

In February, UAE’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure (MoEI) signed an MoU with Shiba Inu to deploy the ShibOS operating system for government activities across the UAE.

Dubai also plans to continue exploring contactless technologies like cryptocurrencies, as well as AI-based solutions.

MediaTek Helio G200 was launched by the chipmaker on Monday as the latest midrange chipset for mobile devices. The Taiwan-based firm says its new processor is aimed at powerful gaming smartphones, with a particular emphasis on social and messaging apps enhancement. It is claimed to deliver more than a 40 percent improvement against competitor alternative platforms when it comes to single-core performance. Despite the change in name, the chip’s specifications remain largely unchanged from the Helio G100 or even its predecessor, the Helio G99, except for higher GPU clock speed, better HDR video quality, and other minor changes.

According to MediaTek, the Helio G200 chipset features a 6nm octa-core architecture with heterogeneous multi-processing. The SoC comprises two Arm Cortex-A76 cores operating at 2.2GHz and six Arm Cortex-A55 cores with a 2.0GHz clock speed. It is complemented by LPDDR4X RAM with a 4266Mbps maximum frequency and UFS 2.2 storage. Although the chipset has the same Arm Mali-G57 MC2 GPU as its processor, it comes with a higher 1.1GHz clock speed.

MediaTek claims that the Helio G200 delivers up to 40 percent better single-core performance and up to 20 percent multi-core performance. It is said to also have 35 percent faster performance on AnTuTu benchmarks. The GPU’s higher clock speed allows it to perform 75 percent faster compared to competitor alternative platforms, while the chip is up to 30 percent more power efficient when gaming.

The processor has been equipped with MediaTek HyperEngine which manages the CPU, GPU, and memory based on power, thermal conditions, and gameplay demands to deliver a smooth gameplay while maintaining power efficiency. The company says it ensures stable framerate and fast network performance by switching between wireless antennas for the best signal. The chip leverages connection concurrency to keep the game online even when a call is received.

Smartphones equipped with the MediaTek Helio G200 chip will be able to support up to 200-megapixel camera sensors, leveraging the built-in triple-core Image Signal Processor (ISP). It supports video capture in up to 2K resolution at 30 frames per second (fps). Its new 12-bit DCG supports higher-quality video HDR capture, while there are also features like hardware dual-camera support and lossless in-sensor zoom, and combined with portrait lenses. MediaTek says it has worked with camera app developers to reduce power consumption by up to 20 percent.

The chip supports on-device displays with a maximum Full HD+ resolution with up to 120Hz refresh rate without requiring additional DSC hardware. Its Display Sync technology is said to boost power efficiency by dynamically adjusting the refresh rate based on usage, resulting in up to 20 percent gains.

For connectivity, the Helio G200 SoC brings a Cat-13 DL modem with support for dual 4G VoLTE, 4X4 MIMO, 256QAM, Bluetooth 5.2, and Wi-Fi 5. It supports satellite systems such as QZSS, Galileo, Beidou, GLONASS, NavIC, and GPS.

X-ray is a very common method that almost every individual is well aware of. However, ever wondered what an X-ray of the Milky Way would look like? Or is that even possible? Well, yes, it is. Recently, NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory has carried out an image of a recent scan, which revealed a fractured bone. As specified in Space.com, the bone-like structure, which was witnessed in the X-ray image, was derived from the radio data obtained by the MeerKAT Radio Array in South Africa and the National Science Foundation’s Very Large Array in New Mexico.

About the Cause of Fracture

According to the data obtained from Chandra’s X-ray, the fracture, also known as the galactic center filament, was caused by the impact from a pulsar. A pulsar is a spinning neutron star that emits radiation constantly at regular intervals. Revealed in Space.com, the scientists are highly skeptical about the speed of the pulsar, during slamming, would have been between one to two million miles per hour.

What is a Galactic Center Filament

Milky Way, undoubtedly, does not consist of bone. However, what looks like a real bone is a Galactic Center Filament, which is an amalgamation of structures crafted by the radio waves interwoven with the magnetic fields, right at the center of the Milky Way.

What did scientists discover?

As conveyed to Space.com, this is one of the brightest and longest galactic center filaments that have been detected so far. The distances of these filaments are 26,000 light-years and 230 light-years long. The bone has been named as G359.13142-0.20005.

The Scientist’s Verdict

Narrated to Space.com, the scientists suggest that the collision with the neutron stars would have dismantled the filament’s magnetic field, which further resulted in the fracture. The scientists are hopeful that the fracture will heal itself.

Doom: The Dark Ages, the upcoming first-person shooter from Bethesda, seems to have leaked early ahead of its release date, revealing spoiler-filled details about menu UI, map, weapons, enemies and more. The leak comes days before the game launches on May 15 across PC, PS5 and Xbox Series S/X. Users who pre-ordered the Premium Edition will be able to access the game from May 13.

Doom: The Dark Ages Leaks

The leak appeared on the Gaming Leaks and Rumours subreddit (spotted by Eurogamer) on May 10, where a user claimed to have received the Collector’s Edition of the game early on May 8.

The reddit user said they finished the game and proceeded to post spoiler-filled images and details from it, including menus and interface, demons and weapons, characters and cutscenes. The leaked screenshots and details contain heavy spoilers for Doom: The Dark Ages.

The leak provides details on collectibles present in the game, crucial plot points, the Bestiary, HUD, difficulty modes and a lot more.

Doom: The Dark Ages Pre-Load, Early Access Times

Around the same time, Bethesda posted a new launch trailer for Doom: The Dark Ages and shared details about the game’s global pre-load and early access times. The game will be available for preloading starting May 11 at midnight UTC. Users who own the Doom: The Dark Ages Premium Edition get early access to the game up to two days before launch starting midnight UTC on May 13.

Meanwhile, reviews of Doom: The Dark Ages are also out, with the game getting positive reception across the board and earning average scores of 86 and 85 on OpenCritic and Metacritic, respectively.

Doom: The Dark Ages serves as a prequel to Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal and drops the iconic Doom Slayer in the middle of medieval war against hell, blending fantasy and sci-fi with the visceral action the series is known for. The game will be released on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series S/X on May 15. The Bethesda title will also be available on Game Pass day one.

OnePlus Pad 2 Pro is set to launch in China next week. While the company has yet to announce any plans to launch a new high-end tablet, a new model called the OnePlus Pad 2 Pro has been listed on Oppo’s store in China. The listing reveals the RAM and storage configurations of the upcoming tablet. It will be available in two colourways in China. It could be powered by a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and could be equipped with a 12,140mAh battery.

OnePlus Pad 2 Pro RAM, Storage and Colourways (Expected)

The listing for the OnePlus Pad 2 Pro (via GSMArena) is currently listed on Oppo’s online store in China. It will be available in four RAM and storage configurations — 8GB+256GB, 12GB+256GB, 12GB+512GB, and a top-of-the-line 16GB+512GB. 

The upcoming OnePlus Pad 2 Pro will be available in Deep Sea Blue and Ice Silver colour options (translated from Chinese). The listing gives us a good look at the tablet, which bears a striking resemblance to the Oppo Pad 4 Pro, which was recently launched in China.

If the OnePlus Pad 2 Pro is indeed a rebranded version of the Oppo Pad 4 Pro, it could run on an octa core Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, paired with up to 16GB of RAM. The company could also equip the handset with a 12,140mAh with support for 67W SuperVOOC charging.

Like the Oppo Pad 4 Pro, the upcoming OnePlus Pad 2 Pro is likely to sport a 13.2-inch (2,400×3,392 pixels) LCD screen that refreshes at 144Hz. It could feature a single 13-megapixel rear camera, and an 8-megapixel camera on the front for selfies and video chats.

The listing on Oppo’s website suggests that the OnePlus Pad 2 Pro will be launched in China on May 15. Pricing and availability for the tablet will be announced on the same day. There’s currently no word on whether the tablet will be launched in India and other markets.

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