The Week In Tech: There Is Good News For Snapchat Users – Livemint

Tiny Matters, an interesting new science podcast launched earlier this year, released its latest episode on 23 February. On the gadgets front, OnePlus’ mid-range offering – the Nord CE 2 5G – went on sale in India earlier this week. Here’s a look at what else made news in the world of tech

Choose your NFT

Earlier this week, author Anirudh Suri launched The Great Tech Game NFT Collection Series—the first book with limited-edition NFT collectible cards. Each card in the series is unique memorabilia digitally hand-signed and numbered by Suri, the creator of the NFTs and author of the recently published The Great Tech Game: Shaping Geopolitics And The Destinies Of Nations (HarperCollins India). In the book, Suri—a venture capitalist and technology entrepreneur—presents an insightful account of the numerous and surprising ways in which technology and geopolitics interact to shape our world. A part of the profits from the NFT sales will be given to charities promoting tech education for girls and women, and used to donate books and digital items to public libraries and community centres across India.

Also read: Is too much data overwhelming us?

Why all things small matter

Tiny Matters is a new science podcast about all the small things in life which make a big impact. Every other Wednesday, hosts Sam Jones and Deboki Chakravarti unpack the little things that make various big things in our world possible. Along the way, they will find answers to questions like “how does our brain form memories?” and “why don’t we have an HIV vaccine yet?” Or, how, for instance, dinosaur fossils are helping scientists predict our planet’s future. The most recent episode, released on 23 February, looks at whether probiotics can save coral reefs affected by pollution and climate change. You can listen to Tiny Matters on all leading podcast platforms, from Spotify to Google Podcasts.

What’s in a name? A lot

It’s interesting and astonishing that despite being more than a decade old, the social media app Snapchat was missing the key feature of letting users change usernames. As of 23 February, all that is history for iOS and Android Snapchat users around the world. According to a TechCrunch report, users cannot select usernames that have already been used. Once they decide on a change, the app will prompt them with a reminder that they can only change usernames once a year. The report adds that according to Snap, username-change was one of the most highly requested features.

OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G is up for grabs

The OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G went on sale earlier this week. Targeted at the mid-range consumer, the Nord series has garnered mixed reviews so far. The Nord CE 2 5G features a MediaTek Dimensity 900 chipset with a 90Hz refresh rate and comes in two variants: 6GB and 8GB, coupled with 128GB internal storage. Users can expand this up to 1TB with a microSD card. The phone comes with a 3.5mm jack (a rarity these days) and boasts of super-fast charging, thanks to a 65W SUPERVOOC power adapter. Prices for the Nord CE 2 5G start from ₹22,499.

Also read: The week in tech: From Dyson to Samsung’s new S22 series