Rural

Explore the impact of leveraging blockchain technology for empowering rural development In recent years, blockchain technology has gained significant attention for its potential to revolutionize various sectors. While often associated with cryptocurrencies, the underlying technology offers much more. One promising application lies in rural development, where blockchain can empower marginalized communities by enhancing transparency, efficiency, and trust. This article explores the transformative potential of blockchain…

Smartphone sales in rural areas have stagnated since mid-2021 due to affordability issues and consumers' affinity to feature phones, in sharp contrast to market trend in urban areas. This and more in today’s ETtech Top 5.Also in this letter: ■ BGMI relaunched in India after a year■ Infographic Insight: Gamers and their devices ■ A softer Q1 awaits the Indian IT services sectorRural users hang up on smartphone-buying plans Independent research has shown that spending weakness has resulted in a slowdown in smartphone…

Microsoft is launching an AI-based multilingual Chatbot called ‘Jugalbandi’ for rural India Microsoft has announced ‘Jugalbandi,’ a new generative AI-driven chatbot developed for farmers and other users in rural India. The chatbot is being created in partnership with Microsoft Research, the government-supported AI4Bharat – an open-source language AI institute located at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras – and OpenNyAI. According to a news release, the multilingual chatbot will use the WhatsApp messaging…

Rural public transit has important economic and social benefits. So why does Canada fail so badly on providing it to rural residents? Credit: Shutterstock Transportation within and between Canadian communities is frustrating at best. At worst it's impossible. BBC's "Race Across the World" shows contestants trying to make their way…

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Blocked from pursuing their careers and left without any source of income. Isolated from friends, coworkers and community. Low credit scores or resumé gaps that dog them for years after the abuse. A new study from Western researchers highlights the toll of economic abuse on rural women—and their…

You might politely describe this werewolf thriller set in the English countryside, in which the werewolf is kept off-camera, as a slow-burn. A devastating revelation awaits us at the end, but for the first two-ish-thirds of the movie we watch a man in a cottage – sometimes with his girlfriend, sometimes without – looking alarmed and perturbed, possibly having a psychotic breakdown. I have to confess it lost me around the 20-minute mark.The man is William (played by director Wayne David), who is in possession of a prize…

At its quarterly earnings call earlier today, Verizon announced plans to extend its C-band 5G coverage to more rural and suburban areas by the end of this year. While it's unclear which specific markets should expect to see a C-band upgrade, Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg did note that so far, C-band 5G coverage has been rolled out to 70 out of 406 available markets. That leaves 330 still waiting, and some of those will definitely get lucky before 2024 comes along. Unfortunately, Vestberg did not clarify how many of the…

Verizon plans to expand its faster 5G Ultra Wideband network to reach beyond urban and suburban centers later this year, helping to drive up performance for folks in rural areas and spearhead the growth of its fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband services. Verizon CEO Hans Vestburg touched on these details this week in the company’s quarterly earnings call, where he lauded the rapid expansion of the carrier’s C-band coverage to reach 200 million people in just over a year “since we lit up the first site.” Verizon…

Colorado has nearly 194,000 households and businesses that remain unconnected to internet services, and the Polis administration has made it a goal to get 99% of the state connected to reliable broadband by 2027. But filling the shortfall won’t be easy. Broadband coverage maps currently don’t reflect the reality on the ground, something both the state and federal agencies are trying to address. More infrastructure needs to be added in rural parts of the state to better connect communities, both in the last mile to reach…

Courtesy of Patricia V. DavisTara Nichol Caldwell in a scene from “Lyvia’s House,” a romantic thriller written by former Marin resident Patricia V. Davis and directed by her son, Greek filmmaker Niko Volonakis. (Courtesy of Patricia V. Davis) “Lyvia’s House” lead actress Tara Nichol Caldwell, from left, director Niko Volonakis, writer and producer Patricia V. Davis, and director of photography Cody Martin. (Courtesy of Joni Cuquet) Tara Nichol Caldwell and Joshua Malekos in a scene from “Lyvia’s House,” a film written by…