Elon Musk's Twitter Begins Switch to X Branding With Site Logo, Profile Photo

SAN FRANCISCO, July 25: Elon Musk and Twitter Chief Executive Officer Linda Yaccarino unveiled a logo for the social media platform on Monday that featured a white X on a black background as a replacement for the familiar blue bird symbol.

"X is here! Let's do this," tweeted Yaccarino, who also posted a picture of the logo projected on the company's offices in San Francisco.

Both Yaccarino's and Musk's Twitter handles feature the X logo, although the Twitter blue bird is still visible across the platform.

"#GoodbyeTwitter" was trending on the platform with reference to the old logo as several users criticised the new one.

Musk said on a post on Sunday he wanted to change Twitter's logo and polled his millions of followers on whether they would favour changing the site's colour scheme from blue to black.

He posted a picture of a stylised X against a black outer space-themed background. He also referred to the "interim X logo," and tweeted that "soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds".

In response to a tweet asking what will tweets be called under "X", Musk replied "x's".

The original Twitter logo was designed in 2012 by a team of three. "The logo was designed to be simple, balanced, and legible at very small sizes, almost like a lowercase "e"," tweeted Martin Grasser, one of the designers.

Weeks before completing his Twitter acquisition last year Musk had said that buying the company would speed up his ambition to create an "everything app" called X by three to five years.

Musk bought x.com back from PayPal in 2017, saying it had "sentimental value". Musk had co-founded x.com as an online bank in 1999 which later transformed into PayPal.

While Twitter's official page on the platform has been renamed as "X", the domain x.com is not active.

"X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centred in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities," Yaccarino tweeted on Sunday.

Yaccarino, the former advertising chief at NBCUniversal who started as Twitter CEO on June 5, has taken over when the social media platform is trying to reverse a plunge in advertising revenue.

Since the takeover of Twitter, the company has faced tumultuous times with layoffs, a sharp drop in advertisers and the meteoric rise of Threads, Meta's response to Twitter.

ISRO successfully performs fourth orbit-raising manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft

SRIHARIKOTA, July 20: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday successfully performed the fourth orbit-raising manoeuvre (Earth-bound perigee firing) of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft from the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) here.

The next firing is planned for July 25 between 2 pm and 3 pm, the national space agency headquartered here said.

India celebrates the International Moon Day 2023 by propelling Chandrayaan-3 a step closer to the Moon, it said.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission to the Moon was launched on July 14.

"...craft is on way to the Moon. In another few days it will go (the lander will soft-land on the Lunar surface)," ISRO Chairman Somanath S said earlier in the day while delivering the inaugural address to the Space Science Technology & AwaReness Training (START) programme 2023.

"I am sure that you will find something very substantial through this (Chandrayaan-3) mission as far as science is concerned," he said.

Chandrayaan-3's 'Health Normal': ISRO After Key Orbit-Raising Move

CHENNAI, July 15: Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation have performed the first orbit raising manoeuvre of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on Saturday, the space agency said.

The health of the spacecraft was "normal", ISRO said in a social media post.

Chandrayaan-3 is now in an orbit, which when closest to Earth is at 173 km and farthest from Earth is at 41,762 km, the space agency said.

"Chandrayaan-3 Mission update: The spacecraft's health is normal. The first orbit raising manoeuvre (Earthbound firing-1) was successfully performed at ISTRAC/ISRO, Bengaluru. Spacecraft is now in 41762kms x 173kms orbit," ISRO said.

ISRO on July 14 successfully launched the third edition of its Moon exploration programme from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, aimed at making a soft landing on the unexplored south pole of the Moon that would make India achieve a rare feat.

Only three countries, the United States, China and Russia, have managed to land on the lunar surface so far.

India launches historic Chandrayaan-3 moon mission

SRIHARIKOTA, July 14: India is bidding to become only the fourth country to execute a controlled landing on the moon with the successful launch Friday of its Chandrayaan-3 mission.

Chandrayaan, which means “moon vehicle” in Sanskrit, blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota in southern Andhra Pradesh state at just after 2:30 p.m. local time.

Crowds gathered at the space center to watch the history-making launch and more than 1 million people tuned in to watch on YouTube.

The Indian Space Research Organization confirmed on Twitter later Friday that Chandrayaan-3 is in “precise orbit” and has “begun its journey to the moon.”

It added that the health of the spacecraft is “normal.”

In response, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “Chandrayaan-3 scripts a new chapter in India’s space odyssey. It soars high, elevating the dreams and ambitions of a every Indian. This momentous achievement is a testament to our scientists’ relentless dedication. I salute their spirit and ingenuity!”

The craft is expected to land on the moon on August 23.

It’s India’s second attempt at a soft landing, after its previous effort with the Chandrayaan-2 in 2019 failed. Its first lunar probe, the Chandrayaan-1, orbited the moon and was then deliberately crash-landed onto the lunar surface in 2008.

India’s maiden lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1, discovered water molecules on the moon’s surface. Eleven years later, the Chandrayaan-2 successfully entered lunar orbit but its rover crash-landed on the moon’s surface. It too was supposed to explore the moon’s South Pole.

In 2014, India became the first Asian nation to reach Mars, when it put the Mangalyaan probe into orbit around the Red Planet, for $74 million – less than the $100 million Hollywood spent making space thriller “Gravity.”

Three years later, India launched a record 104 satellites in one mission.

India has since spent about $75 million on its Chandrayaan-3 mission.

OnePlus Nord 3 arrives with 80W fast charging and promise of three major Android updates

NEW DELHI, July 5: OnePlus has today announced the OnePlus Nord 3, the latest entry in its midrange Nord lineup and successor to last year’s capable OnePlus Nord 2T. One notable improvement compared to last year’s phone is the length of support that OnePlus is promising: namely, three major Android updates and four years of security updates. That’s a year’s increase for both over the Nord 2T, though it falls short of the up to five years of support the company promises for its top-of-the-line OnePlus 11.

The OnePlus Nord 3 is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 processor and can be configured with up to 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It has a 120Hz refresh rate screen this time around, rather than the 90Hz panel found on its predecessor, and the 6.74-inch flat display has a resolution of 2772 x 1240.

Like the Nord 2T, the Nord 3’s maximum fast-charging speed is 80W, which OnePlus claims will charge the phone’s 5,000mAh battery from 1 to 60 percent in 15 minutes, and there’s a physical alert slider included for good measure (a signature OnePlus inclusion). It’ll be available in a choice of green or gray and runs the Android 13-based OxygenOS 13.1.

In terms of cameras, the OnePlus Nord 3 is equipped with a 50-megapixel main sensor with optical image stabilization. It’s the same sensor OnePlus used in its recent flagship OnePlus 11, which had a good if not exactly class-leading camera system. Secondary lenses include an 8-megapixel ultrawide, 2-megapixel macro, and 16-megapixel selfie camera.

Preorders for the OnePlus Nord 3 open today, and the phone will go on open sale on July 12th. It’ll retail for €449 (around $490) for a model with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage and €549 (around $598) for a model with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The phone will be available in 16 European markets, a OnePlus spokesperson previously confirmed, as well as other global markets including India. There’s no sign of a US release for the handset, which isn’t surprising given OnePlus maintains a separate lineup of Nord devices stateside. More surprising is that the Nord 3 isn’t getting a release in the UK, at least for now.

“Nord 3 is not scheduled to go on sale in the UK at all, but it’s possible that changes in the future,” a OnePlus spokesperson recently told Tech Advisor. The spokesperson cited “logistical challenges around customs” as being to blame for the absence of a UK launch and said the company had “temporarily put the sales of our smartphones on hold via OnePlus.com.” As of this writing, all of OnePlus’ phones are listed as being out of stock via the company’s UK store, though it lists the Nord 3 as “coming soon” at a price of £499 for the 16GB RAM variant.

Alongside the OnePlus Nord 3, the company also announced a more affordable OnePlus Nord CE3 for the Indian market that’s coming in August.

Cabinet Approves ₹ 89,047 Crore For 4G, 5G Spectrum Allocation To BSNL

NEW DELHI, June 7: The Union Cabinet today approved the third revival package for BSNL with a total outlay of ₹ 89,047 crore.

The package includes allotment of 4G and 5G spectrum for BSNL through equity infusion, an official statement said.

Also, the authorized capital of BSNL will be increased from ₹ 1,50,000 crore to ₹ 2,10,000 crore.

The package comprises allotment of premium wireless frequencies 700 MHz band spectrum worth ₹ 46,338.6 crore; 70 MHz of frequencies in 3300 MHz band worth ₹ 26,184.2 crore; frequencies in 26 GHz band worth ₹ 6,564.93 crore; in 2500 MHz band worth ₹ 9,428.2 crore and ₹ 531.89 crore for miscellaneous items.

The spectrum allocation will enable BSNL to roll out pan-India 4G and 5G services, 4G coverage in rural and uncovered villages under various connectivity projects, provide Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) services for high-speed internet and provide services/spectrum for Captive Non-Public Network (CNPN).

The government had provided first revival package worth ₹ 69,000 crore for BSNL and MTNL in 2019.The second package worth ₹ 1.64 lakh crore was announced in 2022.

It provided financial support for capex, viability gap funding for rural landlines, financial support for de-stressing the balance sheet, and settlement of AGR dues, merger of BBNL with BSNL, etc. As a result of these two packages, the total debt of BSNL has reduced from ₹ 32,944 crore to ₹ 22,289 crore.

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