#WeeklyRecap: Nobel Prizes, Pixel 4a, Galaxy S20 FE, and more
This week, the biggest news in science and technology was the announcement of Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, and Medicine. Beyond that, tech giants Google and Samsung made headlines throughout the week for their tempting new hardware, including the new Pixel 4a, Nest Audio smart speaker, and the Galaxy S20 FE. Let's take a quick look at everything.
First, a look at the Nobel Prize winners
The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel, Andrea Ghez for improving our understanding of black holes, while the Chemistry award went to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A Doudna for developing the CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing tool. In Medicine, the prestigious award was given to Harvey J Alter, Michael Houghton, and Charles M Rice for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus.
Major changes in Twitter and Instagram
Instagram celebrated its 10th birthday this week and received several new features, including a Story Map and the ability to automatically hide reported comments. Microblogging giant Twitter also pushed new changes, including a slightly different way to retweet, but its actions are temporary and particularly aimed at preventing abuse of the platform for election interference.
TikTok banned in Pakistan, YouTube exploring e-commerce features
Chinese short-form video platform TikTok suffered another setback as the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority banned it over "immoral" and "indecent" content. As this happened, a report in Bloomberg suggested that TikTok's rival YouTube is working on features that would eventually let viewers directly purchase content featuring in videos, be it a smartphone, a video game, or something else.
Google improved Assistant, launched Pixel 4a; Apple announced iPhone event
Google this week updated Assistant with a more natural voice and the ability to control actions within Android apps. It also launched Pixel 4a at an introductory price of Rs. 29,999 and Nest Audio smart speaker priced at Rs 6,999 in India. Apple, on its part, announced the "Hi, Speed" event where it is expected to unveil iPhone 12 series and new smart speakers.
Finally, there were some fancy smartphone launches
In the hardware department, other than Google products, a number of other devices were unveiled. They include Infinix Hot 10, Motorola's foldable RAZR 5G, POCO C3, Asus ROG Phone 3, Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, Galaxy F41, Galaxy A21s 6GB, Realme 7i, Realme 7 Pro, and TECNO Camon 16. Sony also made headlines by unveiling its costliest TV in India priced at Rs. 14 lakh.
