Tech wrap: Amazon Apple Days, CERT-IN issues warning, WhatsApp Sticker more

On July 18, 9 important things happened in the world of technology that grabbed attention. The list includes WhatsApp, Amazon, Apple, Google and others. The HT tech team brings the wrap of the day for you.

Amazon announces ‘Apple Days’, starts midnight

Starting at midnight today, that is July 19 (12am IST), Amazon will kick off its 'Apple Days'. This will include offers and deals on latest iPhones, MacBook, Watch and more and will go until July 25. As a part of this, users can avail flat discount of  ₹5,400 on iPhone 11, available at  ₹62,900; iPhone 8 Plus available at  ₹41,500. And besides this, customers can also get affordable finance options like no-cost EMI and additional discounts using HDFC Bank debit and credit cards.

PUBG 8.1 update with new Sanhok map rolling out on July 22

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is slated for a new season soon. The highlight of this season will be a revamped Sanhok map. The new PUBG 8.1 update has gone live on PUBG’s test servers and the stable version will roll out on July 22. The new Sanhok map has gone through a major revamp from the ground up. PUBG developers said the Sanhok makeover was designed to make the map “feel more like a forgotten, overgrown paradise while addressing some of the most glaring balance issues we’ve seen over the last couple of years.”

WhatsApp animated stickers to get a big update soon

looks like WhatsApp is working on bringing infinite loop play to its animated stickers. In a video shared by WABetaInfo, an animated sticker on WhatsApp is playing on loop. There’s no confirmation yet on when this update will arrive on WhatsApp. This may not seem like a major feature but it’s important as it deals with the whole purpose of sending an animated sticker.

CERT-In issues warning about a credit card skimming campaign that is targeting e-commerce websites

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has issued a public warning about a credit card skimming campaign that is targeting sports, health and e-commerce websites. CERT-In explained in an official post that hackers are targeting websites that are hosted on Microsoft’s IIS server that is running on the ASP.NET web application framework. The problem that these attackers are exploiting lies with version 4.0.30319 of ASP.NET which is no longer officially supported by Microsoft and contains a host of vulnerabilities which makes it easy for hackers to break in.

Some employees were manipulated by hackers, says Twitter speaking about the Bitcoin scam

Twitter has said that many of its employees were manipulated by hackers into providing credentials for internal platform systems. This lead to one of the largest hacks Twitter has ever seen and compromised verified accounts belonging to users like Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Joe Biden and others. 

RHA launches the TrueConnect 2 in India for  ₹12,999

These premium, truly wireless earbuds are going to compete with the likes of the more expensive Sony TWS and Samsung’s earphones. The successor to the RHA TrueConnect, the RHA TrueConnect 2 TWS comes in two colours - Carbon Black and Navy Blue and a soft-touch finish. The RHA TrueConnect 2 promises that buds can last you up to nine hours on a single charge and with the charging case it can last up to 35 hours.

Sony PS5's DualSense controller features highlighted in new video

Geoff Keighley, creator of The Game Awards, demoed the PS5’s DualSense controller in his latest stream. In comparison to the DualShock 4, the DualSense controller not only looks bigger but also feels slightly heavier, Keighley explained. He added the DualSense controller has more “heft to it” and is better structured as well. Keighley demoed the PS5 controller by playing Astro’s Playroom which will come pre-installed on the PS5 when it launches. 

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 latest leak gives a 360-degree view of its design

The Galaxy Note 20 is seen in a short but 360-degree video shared by Evan Blass on his Patreon. The Galaxy Note 20 has a flat display unlike the Note 20 Ultra which has a curved screen. There’s a punch-hole camera at the top-centre of the display. At the rear of the phone there’s a triple camera setup stacked vertically on the side. The camera module doesn’t look protruding like the one we’ve seen in Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

Google’s next big project is all about detecting the shakes and making the world a safer place

Google has been conducting experiments using subsea fiber optic cables and the results have shown that they might be useful in for earthquake and tsunami warning systems. In a blog post, Valley Kamalov and Mattia Cantono from Google’s Global Networking Team have detailed out Google’s plans of how it can detect earthquakes.