Tech

The origin of domestic cats has been a prominent topic amongst researchers. Their emergence has been linked to the Neolithic period, where they accompanied the farmers while spreading across Europe, along with the agricultural adaptation. However, further investigations have been conducted wherein the significance puzzled the archaeologists. Recently, two large-scale investigations were conducted by the University of Rome Tor Vergata and 42 institutions, and another by the University of Exeter and contributors from 37 institutions, pointing out that Tunisia could be the place of the origin of the domestic cat.

The Tor Vergata Study on Cats

The expert team of researchers from the University of Rome Tor Vergata conducted paleo-genomic analyses, where they analyzed the specimens of cats from 97 archaeological sites across Europe and Anatolia. Likewise, they also took samples from North Africa, Bulgaria, and Italy.

According to the study published on bioRxiv titled “The dispersal of domestic cats from Northern Africa and their introduction to Europe over the last two millennia”, the researchers analysed a total of 70 low-coverage ancient genomes, 37 radiocarbon-dated cat remains, and 17 modern and museum genomes.

The Tor Vergata Study Results

The Tor Vergata Team, as a result of the nuclear DNA analyses, identified felines embedded by domestic ancestry that appeared from the first century CE onwards in Europe. The team also identified two introductory waves — one from the second century BCE, where wildcats were brought from Northwest Africa to Sardinia, raising the current island population, whereas the other wave belonged to the Roman Imperial period, where the cats genetically sounded similar to domestic cats in Europe. Here, Tunisia was observed as the base for early domestication.

The University of Exeter Study

According to a reprint titled, “Redefining the timing and circumstances of cat domestication, their dispersal trajectories, and the extirpation of European Wildcats,” the collaborative study by the University of Exeter shed light on a distinct timeline. They analysed 2,416 archeological field bones around 206 sites and cross-referenced morphological data, accompanied by genetic findings.

The key findings of this collaborative study defined that domestic cats first appeared in the early first millennium BCE in Europe. Their existence occurred before Roman expansion.

The Egyptian Connection

According to mythological theories, the emergence of domestication of cats was related to religious and cultural dimensions. In Egypt, the cats were considered holy. Also, in Greek culture, these creatures became religious symbols of Artemis and Diana — a multifaceted divinity.

Although the two studies offer different understandings, the results indicate that cats appeared in Europe after moving from North Africa as a result of cultural practices, religious reverence, and trade networks.

Honor GT Pro will launch in China next week. The Chinese smartphone brand, through its Weibo handle, announced the launch date of its new GT series smartphone. It will be unveiled alongside the new Honor Tablet GT. The company has also shared official images revealing the design and colour options of the Honor GT Pro. It is teased to come in three colour options. The Honor GT Pro is confirmed to feature 144Hz refresh rate display and a metal middle frame. It is expected to run on the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. 

Honor GT Pro Gets a Launch Date 

The Honor GT Pro will be unveiled in China on April 23. The launch event will begin at 2:30pm local time (12pm IST). The handset will be launched alongside the Honor Tablet GT.

Honor has started accepting pre-reservations for the GT Pro through its official store in China. The listing shows three colour options — Burning Speed Gold, Ice Crystal, and Phantom Black (translated from Chinese). The official renders show the phone with a square rear camera module housing four camera sensors, an LED flash unit, and GT branding. It has a flat display and a centrally located hole punch cutout to house the selfie shooter. 

The Honor GT Pro is confirmed to be positioned above the Honor GT in the market. It will have a 144Hz refresh rate display, 3D ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, LPDDR5X RAM, and UFS 4.1 storage. It is teased to pack an Oasis polarised eye protection gaming screen with rhino glass protection. The handset will have a metal middle frame, and will include dual speakers.

Honor GT Pro is rumoured to run on the Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC. It is speculated to feature a 6.78-inch display with 1.5K resolution and a 50-megapixel main camera. The battery capacity of the phone is likely to be more than 6,000mAh with support for 100W wired charging. 

Honor GT Price, Specifications

The upcoming Honor GT Pro will debut as a higher sibling of the standard Honor GT, which was announced in December last year in China at a starting price tag of CNY 2,199 (roughly Rs. 25,000) for the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage model. The GT has a 6.7-inch full-HD+ (1,200×2,664 pixels) AMOLED display and is equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC. It boasts a dual rear camera setup led by a 50-megapixel primary sensor and packs a 5,300mAh battery with 100W fast charging support.

Vivo T4 5G will be unveiled in India soon. Ahead of its launch in the country, the company has revealed the battery and charging details of the upcoming handset. The thickness and weight of the smartphone have been confirmed as well. It is teased to sport a quad-curved display and carry a Snapdragon chipset. Notably, several key specifications, as well as the phone’s expected price details, have surfaced online previously. The Vivo T4 5G is expected to join the Vivo T4x 5G, which was announced in India in March.

Vivo T4 5G Features Revealed Ahead of April 22 Launch

The Vivo T4 5G will be equipped with a 7,300mAh battery, the company confirmed in an X post. It revealed in a press release that the phone will use BlueVolt battery anode materials and third-generation silicon, which is said to improve energy density by 15.7 percent over its predecessor. The company further claimed that the battery on the phone will use Carbon Nanotube conduction, Electrode Reshaping, and Nano Cage Structure technologies, which are said to help maintain battery health over time.

Vivo T4 5G will support 90W wired FlashCharge as well as reverse and bypass charging, the Flipkart microsite for the handset revealed. Bypass charging will enable the phone to bypass the battery and use power directly from the charger. 

As per Vivo, the phone will be the slimmest smartphone with a 7,300mAh battery in the country. The Emerald Blaze edition of the Vivo T4 5G will measure 7.89mm in thickness and weigh 199g. The phone is expected to arrive in a Phantom Grey shade as well.

The Vivo T4 5G will likely get a 6.67-inch full-HD+ AMOLED quad-curved display with a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 5,000 nits of local peak brightness. The handset may come with a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 SoC, an in-display fingerprint sensor and an IR blaster. It may ship with Android 15-based Funtouch OS 15. It is expected to come with a 50-megapixel Sony IMX882 main sensor with OIS alongside a 2-megapixel sensor at the back, and a 32-megapixel front camera sensor.

Recent leaks suggested that the Vivo T4 5G will likely come in RAM and storage configurations of 8GB + 128GB, 8GB + 256GB, and 12GB + 256GB. It is expected to be priced between Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 25,000. 

Gboard, the virtual keyboard app developed by Google, is adding new voice typing features on Pixel smartphones and select other devices. Users can now take advantage of voice commands which enable them to add emojis, edit text, turn off the microphone, or send the message. Although Gboard has provided voice typing capabilities for years now, these capabilities potentially improve the experience, making it easier to type on the device in situations where the hands are occupied.

New Voice Typing Features on Pixel

Until now, hitting the microphone icon on the Gboard enabled voice typing while the keyboard remained on the screen for editing in real-time. However, the latest change tweaks this. First spotted by 9to5Google, Pixel users can now access a new toolbar which provides more real-estate on the screen for the user to type with voice.

When voice typing is activated, the toolbar is minimised and appears pill-shaped at the bottom of the screen. There’s also a hamburger menu on the left side of the toolbar which presents tools for dictation. This includes an option dubbed Show voice commands.

This feature displays the voice commands which can be spoken by the user. For example, saying “Send” sends the message, while the “Stop” command turns off the microphone. “Delete” removes the last word or the highlighted word, “Clear” removes the last sentence, “Clear All” removes all of the text, and the “Undo” voice command does as the name suggests. Users can also speak out to emoji descriptions to add them in the text.

Lastly, “next” and “previous” voice commands enable them to move up and down the entries.

Meanwhile, it also has options like Show clipboard, Show emoji, and Show translate. Gboard also provides an option to switch to a vertically-placed toolbar through the same hamburger menu which potentially provides more space to work on by changing its orientation. Alternatively, users can also choose to bring back the full-sized keyboard with a dedicated option.

According to 9to5Google, the new voice typing features are available on Google Pixel phones and allegedly select Samsung smartphones. Gadgets 360 users were able to confirm the presence of this feature on a Pixel 9.