Latest Infos

WhatsApp stops supporting some smartphones starting 2020

2019-12-16T18:06:00.000+05:30

WhatsApp stops supporting some smartphones starting 2020

WhatsApp stops supporting some smartphones starting 2020; the social messaging app will stop working on several phones at the end of the year 2019.

More recently, WhatsApp announced that support for some older operating systems would be stopped, which means that some of those people using 10-year-old smartphones would no longer be able to chat with their contacts through WhatsApp.

Users with older models are being warned that they need to upgrade their handset to continue using WhatsApp.

Facebook-owned messaging app confirmed on its support page that anyone with a Windows Phone will lose access from December 31, 2019. And the app will also stop working on iPhones running anything older than iOS 7 and Android devices with versions 2.3.7 installed.

The social messaging app said in a blog post,

"As we look ahead to our next seven years, we want to focus our efforts on the mobile platforms the vast majority of people use.

While those mobile devices are a crucial part of our story, they don't offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app's features in the future.

This was a tricky call for North American nation to form, but the right one in order to give people better ways to keep in touch with friends, family, and loved ones using WhatsApp.

If you use one in every of those affected mobile phones, we recommend upgrading those devices to a newer Android, iPhone, or Windows Phone to continue using WhatsApp.

Because we no longer actively developing any support for those operating systems, so, as a result, some features would possibly stop performing at any time."

The Facebook-owned social messaging app has released a list of devices that will no longer be able to access WhatsApp starting 2020.

iOS 8 first released on September 17, 2014, and is found on iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5C, iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 plus. These devices according to WhatsApp will not be operational as of February 1, 2020.

Any device running on Android version 2.3.7 or older is among the devices which will not be able to access WhatsApp in 2020.

The WhatsApp support will be withdrawn from all devices that run on Microsoft 10 mobile operating systems starting December 31, 2019.

Older handsets users are being warned they need to rapidly upgrade if they want to continue to use the popular social networking app.

WhatsApp is one of the most widely used communication messaging platform, it is important to check where your device falls in.

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Twitter rolls out an exclusive feature for its iOS app

2019-12-13T20:11:00.000+05:30

Twitter

Twitter rolls out an exclusive feature for its iOS app

Twitter rolls out an exclusive feature for its iOS app that will let users upload live photos as GIFs.

The micro-blogging social site cleared that the ‘Live Photos’ feature in iOS can be uploaded as GIF on Twitter.

Earlier the iOS app users only had a choice to edit the image that they're tweeting, however, currently, they will convert it into a GIF.

Previously, iOS users could upload a GIF on twitter but only by using a third-party app.

From now, you can able to upload your iOS Live Photos as GIF, anywhere you upload photos on Twitter.

This new feature will also preserve the JPEG encoding on images up to 16 MP when uploaded via Twitter for Web so that the quality of the image is not degraded.

With this updated feature, you will be able to capture short videos and upload them like GIF via your iPhone or any other iOS device.

Twitter stated,

"Every day numerous iOS Live Photos go un-shared. They live in isolation, deep in forgotten albums. Today is a new day. Live Photos now have a home on Twitter."

The idea behind Live Photos was to share the moment with the ones who it's being sent to.

Twitter said,

“We will still enforce limits, thus pictures don't seem to be limitless in file size or resolution, however, those limits are terribly generous so just about any an 8-megapixel picture is going to be preserved and even up to 16 megapixels will be preserved (in sq. facet ratio).”

To access this feature, the users can simply select the Live Photo clicked from the iPhone and tap on the GIF button and post them with a text if required.

Until now, there is no word from the company if it will be rolled out for Android or not. Hope, that this feature will be rolled out for Android users too!

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Nokia now prepare to launch its first Smart TV in India

2019-12-04T14:19:00.000+05:30

Nokia Smart TV

Nokia now prepare to launch its first Smart TV in India

Now HMD Global owned Nokia has announced that it's joining Xiaomi, OnePlus, and Motorola into the smart TV market in India. The Nokia-branded TVs will be launched in India on December 5 in partnership with Walmart owned e-commerce platform Flipkart.

Flipkart, India’s leading e-commerce marketplace, has just obtained permission to use the Nokia brand on a smart TV and sell it in India.

The Flipkart Group is one of India’s leading digital commerce entities and includes a group of companies - Flipkart, Myntra, Jabong, and PhonePe. Launched in 2007, Flipkart has enabled millions of consumers, sellers, merchants and small businesses to be a part of India’s digital e-commerce revolution.

Recently, Flipkart confirmed that it would be entering a strategic partnership with Nokia to make smart TVs for the Indian market.

Vipul Mehrotra, Vice President of Nokia, said,

"We are delighted that Flipkart, the leading e-commerce company in the country, will bring the first-ever Nokia branded Smart TVs to India. Today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the Nokia brand in a new class. And where better to start than in India, where our brand has been trusted for quality, design, and reliability. Flipkart’s understanding of the needs and behaviors of Indian consumers and the power of its reach will help it make Nokia branded Smart TVs accessible and affordable to many."

Nokia will release TV in 50 inch-plus sizes. It may sport 4K ultra-HD panel. The LED TV is said to run on Android 9.0 operating system and support Google Play Store.

Adarsh Menon, Senior Vice President, and Head-Private Brands, Electronics and Furniture at Flipkart, said,

“Working with Nokia allows us to further expand the choice of high-quality, technologically advanced products for Indian consumers. Nokia is a globally popular technology brand and enjoys immense brand recall, so, we’re excited to start this journey with them to extend the brand into a fast-growing product segment. We are committed, as always, to bringing the best of brands and technology together as we work towards welcoming the next 200 million consumers on our platform.”

According to the reports, Nokia smart TV will come with Intelligent Dimming technology. The technology is said to result in better contrast and deep black levels.

Flipkart will handle the production, distribution, and promoting of those Nokia branded TVs. And JBL has been brought on board to bring its expertise in the audio segment.

JBL, by HARMAN, is known for its high-quality audio equipment, and this will be its first foray into the TV space in India.

Pradeep Chaudhry, Country Manager at HARMAN India, said,

“We are very proud of our partnership with Flipkart, providing a powerful sound improvement for the Nokia Smart TV. This is the perfect example of how, at HARMAN, we are dedicated to impacting the way consumers experience audio. JBL’s iconic sound is revered by millions of Indians and now we are thrilled to bring this captivating quality on a TV for the first time in the country. With our trajectory of having prior successful collaborations all over the world, we do not doubt that consumers will be able to enjoy a TV with sound that truly pulls them in with immersive experience. That is the JBL sound promise, and we are looking forward to seeing how this will impact the TV market with a strong feature differentiator.”

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Twitter might plan to delete inactive accounts starting December 2019

2019-11-29T18:48:00.000+05:30

Twitter

Twitter might plan to delete inactive accounts starting December 2019

Twitter now announced it would deactivate all accounts that had not signed in at any point during the past six months.

A spokesperson of Twitter said,

“As a part of our commitment to serving the overall public speech, we’re operating to wash up inactive accounts to present a lot of accurate, credible info folks will trust across Twitter. Part of this effort is encouraging folks to actively log-in and use Twitter once they register an account, as stated in our inactive accounts policy.”

Even, the usernames created with under five characters can also no longer be registered on Twitter. So, that’s another major point to consider when setting up the username you’ve always wanted. The company also takes action for accounts that do not have user activity even though it is open.

The company has already sent warning emails to its inactive users who haven't been using their accounts.

The emails from Twitter said,

"To continue using Twitter, you must accept the applicable Terms, Privacy Policy, and Cookie Use. This not only allows you to make the best decisions about the information you share with us but also allows you to continue using your Twitter account. However, you must first login before 11 December 2019 and follow the on-screen instructions, otherwise, your account will be removed from Twitter."

According to the Social site, this was a part of Twitter's newly invigorated effort to present clear and accurate information in the age of online manipulation. On the heels of CEO Jack Dorsey's announcement, this inactive account purge follows that Twitter would no longer take money for political promotions, for example.

For now, the social media site has put their plans on hold to delete inactive accounts, after a backlash from people pointing out that it would cull most dead people’s tweet archives. Because, if it would happen, that relatives of people who have died could see their accounts disappear. That is unless they need access thereto, and can log in and tweet from it.

So, on Wednesday, the company said it was suspending the plan until it could find a good way to memorialize dead people’s Twitter accounts.

The company tweeted,

“We’ve detected you on the impact that this could wear the accounts of the deceased. This was a miss on our part. So, we will not be removing any inactive accounts until we create a new way for people to memorize accounts.”

Inactive accounts wouldn't are instantly deleted below the policy. Instead of that, Twitter would try to contact account holders with inactive accounts to inform them that their account would be deleted if they don’t log in to it.

This was Twitter's second big platform announcement within a month. First was On Oct. 30, when the company revealed it would not allow political advertising anymore, with an official policy coming.

For now, the users will have to wait and observe which accounts open up after December and act swiftly to claim handles when they become available. This is expected to be a months-long, current method instead of an all-in-one purge.

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Facebook now designed a facial recognition app for its employees identification

2019-11-24T11:29:00.000+05:30

Facebook

Facebook now designed a facial recognition app for its employees identification

Now the social giant Facebook is testing a face recognition app that confined many controversies related to privacy. The company built an internal app that allowed its employees to identify their co-workers and friends by scanning them through their phone cameras.

Facebook workers now be able to identify their colleagues who work with them by pointing the smartphone camera towards their face. The app will literally recognize them and tell their names and other details.

According to the social networking platform, the app that has not been released to the public, because it has been under developing process. The company also cleared about its purpose that is used only to identify people. An AI tool of the app will help to recognize faces.

Business Insider was first reported that the app was being developed between 2015 and 2016 and its development was later stopped.

Spokespersons of the company said,

"As a way to understand the new technology, our teams regularly build apps for internal use. The app related to face recognition is designed and available only to Facebook employees. With this help, they can identify fellow employees and friends when face recognition is enabled."

The Social media platform already received criticism for using facial recognition in the past.

A paper reads explaining the company's approach, said,

"Face recognition can lead to loss of privacy and face replacement technology may be misused to create misleading videos.
Recent world events concerning advances in, and abuse of face recognition technology invoke the need to understand methods that deal with de-identification. Our contribution is the only one suitable for video, including live video, and presents a quality that far surpasses the literature methods."

Facebook has more than two billion users, most of them might be don't realize that the company can store their biometric data. And even though it has so far only used facial recognition for photo tagging, the idea of its tech being deployed more widely.

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Adobe now designed a new Photoshop Camera App with AI editing features for smartphone

2019-11-06T18:07:00.000+05:30

Adobe Photoshop Camera app

Adobe now designed a new Photoshop Camera App with AI editing features for smartphone

Adobe has just launched a new free AI-powered Photoshop Camera app and it available now to a selected group of users as a limited preview for iOS and Android devices.

Adobe, based in 1982, is among the best-performing software companies this decade. Its stock has accumulated virtually nine-fold since the start of 2012.

Now, the corporate is revamping major apps for mobile devices amid waning client enthusiasm for PCs. The new apps underscores Adobe’s have to be compelled to deliver package to shoppers no matter devices they use because it tries to fuel continuing growth.

In new Photoshop camera app, the camera uses Adobe’s AI-based (Artificial Intelligence) platform that helps to recognize the subject in photos - whether it’s a selfie, landscape, or food - and suggest automatically to which image filters to apply. Filters is used on the screen in real time, or applied to images taken from the camera roll. The app can feature filters from choose artists, and users within the restricted preview are going to be able to produce their own.

This AI-powered app, inside your camera with Photoshop, enables teams to work faster, iterate and explore more ideas and drive design continuity across entire product ecosystem.

Adobe also unveils a couple of new stuffs that knowing as piece of technology and the miracle of announcement that has to do with Photoshop 2020.

Adobe Inc. also announced a slew of products, led by a version of Illustrator for Apple Inc.’s iPad, that's leading provider of creative software. Design app illustrator can come back to the iPad in 2020, the San Jose, California-based company said Monday in a statement. Adobe conjointly formally launched Photoshop for iPad, a year after announcing the product. The company introduced the new offerings at its annual inventive conference, called Max, in Los Angeles.

Adobe is also attempting to expand the attractiveness of its photo-editing and illustration code to hobbyists. This may boost revenue growth for the Creative Cloud unit.

Scott Belsky, chief product officer of Adobe’s Creative Cloud division, aforementioned in a blog post,

“Launching a new version of creative Cloud for a replacement era of creativity.”

The company aforementioned it had been wanting to get feedback from illustrator users because it develops a mobile version of the software for the primary time.

Adobe said in a blog post,

“We’re still within the early stages, but fundamentally, we’re re-imagining the Illustrator experience from the ground up to take advantage of the unique capabilities a tablet offers in terms of touch and Apple pencil."

The company conjointly disclosed a replacement tool for its XD software interface design app that enables users to collaborate on an equivalent project in real time, referred to as Co-Editing. It’s currently in beta testing.

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MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint and other tools now in one single app for smartphones

2019-11-05T22:45:00.000+05:30

Microsoft Office App

Microsoft has just released a new Office beta app for Android that combines all the essential office tools. The software giant has officially announced this new combined Office app version at the Ignite conference in Florida. This includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. In fact, the app itself is called Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint & more.

It's an integrated experience of apps and services, designed to help you pursue your passion and grow your business. Get apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more, mostly updated with the latest features and security updates.

Use cloud-powered email to reach customers and coworkers wherever work takes you. Collaborate in Microsoft Teams, the new hub for teamwork where you can chat, organize meetings, and share files.

Save files to OneDrive with one terabyte of online storage, allowing access across devices and on the go. Run your business with the Business Apps, empowering you to manage customer scheduling, invoicing, referrals, and more, all from one place.

As you'd expect, the app will let you create, edit documents and manage documents on your Android phone or tablet. You can even collaborate on certain documents with friends and colleagues through the app. Something like Google's Sheets, Docs, etc.

Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365, said,

"With the new Actions pane, you can intuitively complete a variety of common on-the-go tasks, such as creating and signing PDFs and sharing files between devices."

With this new Office app, you can able to convert images to text; creating and signing PDFs; and sharing files between devices.

One standout feature is the ability to create PDF files from a photo or convert Word, Excel and PowerPoint files into PDF. Signing the letter with your finger and then sending is also possible. The new Office app even allows you to create a scanned image by enhancing the digital photos of whiteboards.

The company said,

"We know some users may only need to use one of the apps, and it is the consumer's choice to install the app that best fits their needs. However, if you use all of the core apps, we recommend using this new Office app, as it means you only need to install one app – and it will actually take up less space."

With new Office app, you have more time to build your business and achieve even more. Protect your data with 24/7 security and support backed by Microsoft.

This is a great idea as a single app for people to have available to them if helpful, especially if they're not heavy users of Office.

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Best features of Android Q

2019-11-04T22:33:00.000+05:30

Android Q

Best features of Android Q

Android 10 is here and it replaced the Android Q beta. With a renewed focus on privacy, security, and screen-time awareness, Android 10 is faster, better and smarter than ever before.

The tech giant released the first beta of Android 10 under the preliminary name "Android Q" on March 13, 2019, exclusively on their Pixel phones, including the first-generation Pixel and Pixel XL devices. And the beta program was expanded with the release of Beta 3 on May 7, 2019. But beta access was removed from the Huawei Mate 20 Pro on May 21, 2019 due to U.S. government sanctions, though it was later restored on May 31.

Finally, On August 22, 2019, it was announced that Android "Q" would officially be branded as Android 10, ending the practice of naming major versions after desserts.

So, in this article, let's find out what's new in Google's new mobile OS version Android 10.

Let's get started -

First of all, Google made major changes in Android 10 that focus on privacy protection. Additionally, users have a deeper level over privacy controls.
A new system-wide dark theme is available by going to 'Settings', and then 'Display'. This will improve battery life and offers several usage benefits.
Live Caption was announced on stage at Google I/O, and its name is very descriptive. Thanks to the new on-device machine learning capability and audio playback capture API, you'll get support for live captions of any media right on your phone, with no internet connection required.
Google is also making changes to location data. Usually apps only have two options when it comes to location: they either get it all of the time or not at all. In Android 10, the tech giant is finally adding an option for location access only when that particular app is in use.
In other location-related features, incognito mode is coming to Maps, so you can search and make journeys without your Google account recording the info.
With the help of mobile to get some kind of PC experience, Android 10 will have the desktop mode.
There’s a new “Privacy Manager” menu in settings where all the app privacy controls are simplified under one unified area.
In this new Android OS, Digital Wellbeing is getting a boost too. A new Focus mode allows you to select the apps your find distracting, and silence them whilst you get on with the task at hand.
New parental controls are coming too. Google's Family Link set of parental controls will be accessible through Settings on every handset that runs 10 and has the Digital Wellbeing suite.
In Android Q, if you pull down the settings at the top, the battery percentage icon will change to tell you how long it estimates the battery has left.

Well, now that Android 10 is official and on almost all Pixel devices, the next logical step is to improve the overall experience. Millions of people are running Android 10. And companies will send this new software to their customers. Google and phone makers will work together to make this the best version of Android yet.

That was a quick look at the best features of Android 10 or called Android Q.

So, which one? Let us know about your favorite Android 10 feature in the comments.

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Top easiest ways to charge phone without a charger

2019-11-03T18:48:00.000+05:30

Cellphone charge

Welcome to balance back life after prison life, after the fall life, after whatever they had curve-ball life. Just might throw you, why, because life is like that it's unpredictable. We don't know what five minutes is gonna bring. And none of us know what tomorrow is going to bring. But, one thing that knows for sure is that we all have one unique ability in life and that's to be able to bounce back from whatever curve-ball life just might throw you.

So check it out, here is something special for you that all today we gonna share with you a prison hack that can help you in all types of situations. A few examples of exactly how this prison hack can actually help you in life, let's just explore.

Today, in this article we explore some tricks that can help to charge your phone without a charger.

Things that just happen like your lights go out and you don't have any electricity. Maybe you didn't pay the bill or maybe they just have a power outage in the neighborhood and you can't charge your cellphone or let's just say that perhaps you break down on the side of the road because your battery in your car went dead, and guess what your cell phone's dead. You can't charge your cell phone. Or let's just say maybe you're camping out in the woods and your solar-powered battery that you've been charging your cell phone went dead. It doesn't work anymore. It took a crap on you or worse yet absolute worst-case scenario you find yourself in jail or prison and you can't charge your cell phone.

Why? Because you're not supposed to have a cell phone in prison or in jail and you surely aren't supposed to be plugging it into the wall in jail or prison. So, let's just say that any of these things happen or any situation arises where you don't have the power to charge your cell phone.

Here, we will apply some easy methods to charge your smartphone batteries. The top easiest ways to charge the phone without a charger. These simple techniques quickly charge your smartphones so as to mine.

So, let's explore the methods -

Technique no. 1

You're going to need to do this trick just you'll need your phone in tin foil and some compress the air so pretty much it's going to be like a balloon shipping like air container thing. And you'll need some tin foil. This is, nothing special about it.

So it doesn't have to be very much. Then the phone's off. Now just going to wrap it up. It has the batteries in the middle of the bones. We'll just have to cover the phone and take the phone outside, but under the sunshine safely. Leave it in the Sun about 30 seconds, that's pretty much all have to do.

Remember, it doesn't have to be a long period in the direct sunlight. We'll leave it like 15 seconds on one side. And make sure not to leave the phone in the Sun with the tin foil for too long because then it'll overheat and that's obviously bad to the phone. And then just flip it over for another 15 seconds. After a few seconds it warming up a little bit longer and that should be good. Now you want that this is actually super fast. Then, take the phone back. It speeds up the electrons and from like get electrons from the heat from the Sun with its in foil, plus a stasis the battery is fully charged. So just do this, put the phone in the tin foil let it sit in the Sun for a little bit let's give it the balloon and it's almost 100% charged. So that was all done without a charger. Nothing special, just simple house and household materials in the fully charged phone.

Technique no. 2

In this case, you just need household materials. You'll need a metal pen and just any strip of metal that can collect a little electricity which is it's pretty much any strip of metal. You find this can be really anything in the show that it can be anything just going to use as a little bulb. So anyway, you're gonna load up with the metal pen. Just put part of it, not touching the phone but part of it touching the phone. So just simply like this and you're going to take the little tip, and it shows you this little like thing around the charger point. Well, that's actually connected to the battery. You'll need to put this just touching that. And a final step is you need to shut off your phone because that's the only way it'll work.

Apple knows this will work. They don't want everyone doing it, because then you won't buy their Chargers.

You can do this before you put them out of stuff on or after. So, to charge the phone as it relates for each percent off, it takes a minute.

Technique no. 3

Now, you can charge a phone with a potato. Since there is a lot of rumors online. Actually, show you where it appeared to work, where you just plug.

To do this, you need so just a potato. In the local supermarket, you know easy to find it. A power converter that you plugin moves all the cord which you know you plug into the phone. For power from the potato, just going to plug this into the potato. Yes right, here should work okay. Be fully plugged in. Next, plug in the power cord. Then let's plug the phone. this is where all the power. So, just try it out.

Technique no. 4

All right so check it up real simple, these are the items that you're going to need in order to charge your cell phone without plugging it into any electrical outlet. You've got double-a batteries, you can use triple-a, just some type of batteries. You're going to need rubber bands, a razor, some fingernail clippers, some tape, and some type of little wooden sticks. Alright, now that we have all our material. What you're gonna want to do is move it all off of this paper, get it all up in here and set it off to the side.

The next thing you're gonna want to do is tear a couple of all the strips and a couple of little strips of this tape off. Probably, four though it's always good to have a little extra. The next thing that you want to do is fold the paper in half fold it. In half put a good crease in it. Let's fold it in half longways fold it. In half, one more time, so there you have it. It's folded twice get your piece of paper. So, now you're gonna take two of these double-a batteries.

Again you can use other size batteries, double-a or triple-a. Whatever so you're gonna want to take your two double-a batteries. You're gonna have a positive end and a negative end. You're gonna put the positive to the negative lay them right on the paper. Then, you're gonna roll the paper around the batteries.

Once you get the first two batteries, roll once in the paper. You're gonna take the second two batteries again you're gonna put it positive to negative touching each other, but you're gonna want to run it. So, if you have the positive running, you're gonna run the positive baleful away. So you put the next two batteries in again positive to negative and you just roll them all four up inside this paper. So, here positive to negative on this end if you flip it over, you have positive or negative on this end. Now once you get it all taped together the next thing that you're going to do is tear open this razor so right here on the edge of this razor on the front.

There are blades inside of here there's a little plastic cover right here on the front of this razor, and you're gonna tear this open. And these fingernail clippers actually come in handy and what you'll want to do is tear this cover off with fingernail clippers. So just like this, it starts to pop off. Be very careful doing this because you can't cut yourself probably a faster way to do this. You're gonna put it on this battery pack across the positive and the negative. Now once you get this on here we wanted to be laying evenly between the positive in the negative. And you're going to want to do is put the end pieces. The two wooden end pieces on the end of the battery pack.

So, the way to do that is you're gonna put the rubber bands. Once you get the two end pieces. You're gonna secure it with a rubber band.

Just keep in mind, this is an official battery pack so you're gonna have the end that you take the razor blade to and then the other end is gonna be open. Now that we got the battery pack built you have the positive and the negative connected. We got our end caps on we have a rubber band on we have a full battery pack. Here, this battery pack will run at a two gun charges cell phone. It has many uses but for today's it's just gonna be charging as a cell phone.

Hope this article may help you in critical situations to charge your cell phones to use these top easiest ways to charge the phone without a charger.

So, what do you think? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section and follow us to get the latest tech information.

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Twitter now tightened its policies and rules for political advertisements

2019-11-02T13:09:00.000+05:30

Twitter

Twitter now tightened its policies and rules for political advertisements. Political ads set to be prohibited on Twitter soon, CEO Jack Dorsey says on Wednesday. Now the company is banning political ads from its platform.

Twitter is very clear about this. Actually, that political ads including manipulated videos in the viral spread of misleading information presented challenges to civic discourse quote all at an increasing velocity sophistication and overwhelming scale.

Previously, Twitter has long allowed political ads. But, on Wednesday, Twitter's chief executive Jack Dorsey said the social media giant would ban them starting in late November.

Dorsey said,

"Political ads present entirely new challenges to civic discourse at increasing velocity, sophistication and overwhelming scale. The ads have significant ramifications that today's democratic infrastructure may not be prepared to handle."

Dorsey said that he thinks the reach of political messages should be - what he calls - earned, not bought. Therefore they will not be allowed no politician's ads, no issue based ads. So, it's a pretty wide ban on Twitter.

Internet advertising is an incredibly powerful and very effective tool for commercial advertisers. The power brings significant risk to politics where it can be used to influence votes that affect the lives of millions.

If politicians put up posts that are misleading, they're going to count on voters to look at those posts, those ads and say, OK, that's something that's not true, allow the public to make those decisions about truthfulness or not, not do the fact-tracking on the front end.

Twitter is helping to implement, helping to perpetuate your falsehoods. They're not going to play that role. The new policy will go into effect on November 22nd.

Facebook has received criticism of course in the past several weeks over its policy to neither fact-check nor remove political ads placed by politicians.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has publicly defended allowing paid political ads, including those with false claims, amid scrutiny of Facebook and other tech platforms.

Zuckerberg said,

"In a democracy, I don't think it's right for private companies to censor politicians or the news."

Jack Dorsey kind of hinted at this last week during an interview where he said he didn't necessarily agree with the stance that Mark Zuckerberg had been taking.

There's been this great deal of controversy around Facebook in recent weeks over their policy of not pulling down misleading posts that politicians put up.

It might apply some extra pressure to Facebook because now all of a sudden you have one of their chief rivals when it comes to not only advertising but just kind of these. These free speech debates coming out and taking a very different stance.

All of a sudden people might say well hey if Twitter is willing to do this or if it's going to work on Twitter, why can't it work on Facebook.

It's gonna be interesting to see what happens when elected officials and candidates are tweeting out their advertisements as well on their own pages.

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Uber now launches its newly designed food delivery drones for Ubereats

2019-10-29T14:52:00.000+05:30

Ubereats

Uber now launches its newly designed food delivery drones for Ubereats food delivery services. The company has designed a new look for its food delivery drones and reviewing up to test this new drone delivery service for Ubereats in San Diego in 2020.

The company plans for its drone which utilizes innovative rotating wings with six rotors to better enable the transition between vertical takeoff and forward flight.

Rotating wings is a feature more commonly seen in flying car prototypes and rarely in drones.

Better developments and the basic research in drones can really change and improve people's lives.

At any restaurant, there's seven people waiting to pick up food to drive it to somebody's house. It's a great convenience for people. But, if you could make more convenient with drones that cut they're even faster that's a phenomenal improvement for the region.

Uber explains that the rotors are positioned vertically for takeoff and landing, but can then rotate into the forward position. The company has designed it for increased speed and efficiency during cruise flight. The company started expanding their test operations.

The company can start with an order or originating through the ubereats app. Except that the orders load the food into a specially designed packaging, that packaging is attached to the drone. The drone then flies a simulated delivery mission and drops off the package at the location. And then the package is delivered by the couriers to the final destination.

The rotating wing is similar to the one designed by Mark Moore - a NASA veteran and VTOL expert for the company's air taxi prototype.

Both the drone and the air taxi project are part of Uber that elevate the firm's ambitious play to bring its ride and delivery service to the sky.

The company wants to perform test flights of the taxis in 2020 with the commercial launch in 2023.

The cargo capacity for the drone is a meal for two. Uber says adding that the drone has already passed its critical design review and is expected to take flight before the end of the year.

Earlier this year, the Federal Aviation Administration gave Uber the green light to begin testing drone delivery in San Diego.

The drone is designed to perform a maximum delivery leg in eight minutes including loading and unloading.

Its cruising altitude will be below 400 feet in order to comply with existing drone rules. It will have a total flight range of 18 miles without a delivery and 12 miles with one, and the drone can hover in wind speeds up to 30 miles per hour.

Drone delivery is moving from concept to reality with a spate of new trials.

Last week, Alphabet swing deployed its first delivery drones in Virginia - are the major companies like Amazon and UPS, are also in the early stages of experimentation.

Source

Facebook now testing a new tab for news called Facebook News

2019-10-28T19:35:00.000+05:30

Facebook News Tab

Facebook now testing a new tab for news called Facebook News. The new Facebook news tab is starting to roll out in the United States. The social media giant testing this new home for news in its mobile app. At initial stage, it will be released to a few hundred thousand users in the United States.

Mark Zuckerberg has long found himself under pressure by publishers for using their news content without paying for it. This is part of a broader push to address criticism that Facebook has enabled the spread of fake news while also growing an ad business that is stolen market share from publishers.

Now, the social media giant is going to do just that enter the news tab a dedicated place for news in the Facebook app. This tab will offer stories from a mix of publications including headlines from the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, BuzzFeed and Business Insider.

Facebook will start to test a news tab in the US a team of journalists will curate a select number of today's stories, plus there will be sections featuring articles on business, entertainment, health, sports, and science and tech, and also your subscriptions section. And to enable people to link to the content that users are already paying for.

Among others, we want to make sure that in the news tab we have as wide of a breadth of content as possible some stories that will be chosen by a team of journalists to catch you up on the day's news, while others will be based on what you read, share and follow.

Now Facebook's partners at launch will include the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, New York Post, BuzzFeed, and Business Insider.

Among others now Facebook is reportedly paying some of its partners as much as 3 million dollars a year for access to those stories and a Facebook users then click on a next article from participating publications that have a paywall. Then those Facebook users will be asked to subscribe to Facebook's head of news partnerships.

The company launching this in the US to start now, but they want to do something like this across the rest of the world as well.

Facebook will pay some publishers well into the millions of dollars a year for their work. It's a remarkable turnaround for Zuckerberg, who has long ignored calls from news executives like Rupert Murdoch that digital Giants should pay for access to journalism.

Facebook's choice to now elevate reporting comes at a time when the sprawling social network has been sharply criticized for its decisions on disinformation and speech which critics worry could have an outsized effect on the 2020 US presidential election.

So, you won't take down lies or you will take down lies in a hearing in Washington.

Facebook said in a blog post,

“People want and benefit from personalized experiences on Facebook, but we know there is reporting that transcends individual experience. We want to support both.”

"More control over the stories they see, and the ability to explore a wider range of their news interests, directly within the Facebook app. We want to do something like this across the world as well."

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to discuss this the new tab on stage with News Corporation CEO Robert Thompson at an event in New York City.

Earlier this week, Zuckerberg was grilled over Facebook's policy not to fact-check political ads when asked by Alexandria Ocasio Cortez if she too could run a fake Facebook ad. He did say was that it's not up to big tech companies to police political lies. Facebook has so far stayed out of the debate over fact in fiction.

When it comes to politics and it's news, the tab is another way the company is letting the news media and the citizens of the democracy work together to decipher what's true and what's false. One uses deeply reported and well sourced. It gives people information they can rely on. When it's not, we lose an essential tool for making good decisions.

Facebook said in a statement now some local news rooms that Facebook hasn't contacted say they're worried about being left behind. Now Facebook responding to that concern by saying it intends to include more publishers in the future.

For more on this story visit the news article link.

Source

Google now releases its new Digital Wellbeing experimental apps

2019-10-24T20:11:00.000+05:30

Google

Google now releases its new Digital Wellbeing experimental apps

Google now designed new apps to focused on improving its Digital Wellbeing to help you disconnect a bit or at least better manage everything you consume on your smartphone.

Each apps are designed in a pretty unique and fun way to help you to consider your phone for minimum use. It is also encouraging developers to play around with the open-source apps on GitHub to make them better.

The tech giant said,

“Today, in support of our efforts to extend our best practices to the community, we’re launching Digital Wellbeing Experiments - a platform to encourage designers and developers to build digital wellbeing into their products."

All the apps are really cool and already available on Android. Here’s the apps -

Paper phone - A lot of people feel like they spend too much time on their phones and miss out on the things that are right in front of their eyes. But it's hard to use our phones less, because we've come to depend on them. So, as an experiment, the company has created a simple way to help you have a digital detox it's called paper phone. Just all you need to do is choose the things which are important to you, and the app will print out your very own paper phone. The paper phone can do most of the things a smartphone can do. But, it doesn't distract you as much it replaces your phone for a day it helps you do things in a more focused way. Hope that this little experiment can give you a break from the digital world and help you focus on the things that matter the most to you.

Postbox - It's an experimental app which minimizes distractions by holding your notifications into the time that suits you simply choose how often you'd like your notifications to be delivered when they arrive. They'll be neatly organized for you to go through try the experiments and create your own on the Digital Wellbeing experiments platform.

Desert Island - This is an experimental app which helps you find focus by challenging you to go a day with a handful of essential apps. Simply, just pick the apps that are most important to you, then give it a go for 24 hours. See, how you did and maybe even go again with one less app. Try the experiments and create your own on the Digital Wellbeing experiments platform.

Morph - It's an experimental app which adapts your phone to what you're doing giving you just the right apps at just the right time. Think about how you divide your time and choose the apps that are most important to you in each mode. Then based on time or place, your phone will automatically adapt to what you're doing. Try the experiments and create your own on the Digital Wellbeing experiments platform.

We Flip - It's an experimental app which enables you to switch off from technology as a group to spend quality time together. Just simply wait for everyone to join. Then flip the switch together to begin your session. When someone in the group unlocks a session will end, and you'll be able to see how you did. Try the Digital Wellbeing experiments.

The tech giant said in its FAQ,

“We hope this platform will inspire developers and designers to create experiments and put Digital Wellbeing at the center of what they build in the future. These experiments are designed to help people consider their relationship with technology. They can be used for a day, a week, or however long is helpful.”

Google says that anyone is able to access the platform and share their ideas or tools to implement features and technologies. Soon, the Play Store will notify its users after downloading if their phones are compatible.

Source

Difference between blog and website

2019-10-23T21:50:00.000+05:30

Difference between blog and website

You may hear, a lot of people the journalists and whatnot they'll say things like go visit my blog or check out my website.

Today we're gonna be talking all about a blog and a website, and the differences between blog and website.

If you're new to blogging you'll find this information very interesting. If you're kind of confused about this as a whole then you are right in the same place that two years ago we honestly didn't know what the difference between a website or a blog was but despite our confusion we were eager to get started and we were eager to make money we saw that bloggers online we're making a lot of income, we were interested in quitting our jobs and making that kind of income and that's so a little bit update from us about the information of what actually is a blog and what's the difference between a blog and website.

So, let's get right into-

What is a Blog? How it works?

A blog is hosted on a website. Some websites are 100% blogs. while a blog comes from the longer term web log, it was first coined in the early 90s and originally a blog was like a forum. A blog is a diary or a journal where writers, thinkers, authors, professionals whatever the industry is that you're collect your thoughts and you provide informative information in a document, in a word file that's hosted on your website. So people can read it. They can click other links through it maybe you post a picture.

A lot of people do blogging, as like to consider a blog more of a marketing technology. A blog is sort of a regularly updated website page. By the way, if you don't know this is one of our blogs and that's where this articles post. It anyway a regular or updated page or website. The easier way to understand it is that this is a blog that creating a blog when you're reading any of the posts on this website and the written content - it is a blog. The blog itself is what holds the comments. The blog itself is what holds the content in the blog post what you're reading. And in our case in our blog is the part of the entire website as a whole this is why sometimes websites are referred to as blogs.

What is a website?

A website is a central location of various web pages that are all related and can be accessed by visiting the home page of the website using a browser. Websites are, without any doubt, the most important element of the internet. The term is often used inconsistently.

The differences between a blog and a website

We gonna clear kind of all of this up here and the next step because the question you're probably asking is okay, what's the difference between a blog and a website.

Well, more of a visual learner yourself so let us give you some examples there are three kinds of categories that websites fall under with blogging, and this is where the confusion comes up.

Let's separate those in the three categories.

The first is that the website is a blog.

The second is the website has a blog.

And the third is that the website is just a website.

It's easier to look at it from the framework of what the website is.

So, let's dive into a little more detail on each one and explain the differences.

The first is that the website is a blog. Right now following this then you are on a blog or you can also check out other blog.

It's a primary blog because it is created and centered around updated content and blog posts that's what refer to these websites as blogs because it's all centered around the content that we create. Some of the blogs that you could classify as websites as you could call it a blog. You can call it a website or you can call it an authority niche or website.

This is something that you probably won't have heard yet. If you're typing in what is a blog and finding this post but this is more of an internet marketing term that you will hear sort of later on other examples of websites that are primary content is a blog.

These are both examples of places that would mainly be considered a blog almost like a media outlet because it's the primary content that they post BuzzFeed as well while they might call themselves a business or are some other things they are technically a blog because blog posts remain their primary content.

Now, if they called themselves a website or a publisher, that's plenty fine to understand. But, they are still technically a blog.

All right so that's the case when the website is a blog, right; so these websites are a blog. It's their primary piece of content.

Here's another scenario, and that's the website has a blog. This is why so many people get confused about what is a blog and what isn't.

In some websites, there is a blog and uses it, but the primary contents are not blog posts. This is the case for most websites as a blog is a good way to drive traffic and potential customers to a website. But it's not the primary thing. The web site centered around an easy way to see this is the email marketing service that we use is convertkit and these guys are a good example.

Now this is their main website. This main website has a lot of different things. It's actually a software that you can purchase. It's for email marketing of that something for when you're further down your blogging.

Meaning that they do publish updated content from time to time. That being said the website has a blog with regularly updated posts and it's an important part of their business. But remember the blog section is not the primary. Contents are the primary purpose of the website.

So, it's understandable with all those similarities that you might be confused with what the difference is but there are some key differences between having an online business website and the blog, the main idea behind a business blog is to actually share your content at the forefront of the actual website itself. So, it's still a website. But nine times out of ten an online blog is more focused on the content, and delivering valuable information on an ongoing basis.

So, for instance, the home page may well house numerous blog so.

The second you get on the website you see lots of content so you have a stories and experiences, and different things in different aspects to the knowledge that you have about your chosen topic. And that essentially is what a blog is such a popular blog website.

If you wanted to see an example is BuzzFeed on their homepage they have lots and lots and lots of content that helps people interact with it, and it's a lot more engaging so they share kind of list posts and just general kind of information and knowledge. In this style, a blog post which takes a lot of interaction now in terms of a business website and usually you would not have a blog section on the home page. You have a dedicated home page that talks about your services that you offer and the business itself, and you'd have things like a phone number and you'd have things like how to get in contact with you via a contact form and you'd also have links to social media and things like that as well.

But predominantly the purpose of the business website is to actually share your services, and the services that offer.

Okay, so it is completely different from an online blog but there are a few similarities now does that mean that you should have one or the other does.

That means, you can either choose a business website or a blog. And once you've committed to it, you can go back not.

Necessarily the websites that perform the best in terms of search engine traffic and organic growth, are the websites - the business websites that integrate a blog within their website.

So, a recent study by HubSpot found out that there were over 60% more traffic going to websites that have a blog than websites without a blog. But just a static kind of online business card.

The major difference between a website and a blog is typically a blog is a featured room on a website. So, blogging which is short around 350 words that are talking about a given subject or a given topic or a given category. And some websites are 100 percent or 90 percent blogs and that would be like a blog site.

Conclusion

So, the suggestion is if you just wanted to dip your toe in the water and start sharing your online knowledge and information for quite cheap, then start with an online blog to get people interacting with the brand and the business and building relationships and building a community around your knowledge.

If you want to take it into a business and you weren't actually, so, if you're a plumber, for instance, you might want to start a business website but if you can marge up the two things that include a blog on the website then you'll be on to a real winner. So, that's up to you.

So hopefully, that helps you know clear up some of the difference. If you liked it then please leave a comment below.

Thank you!

TikTok now starts removing ISIS propaganda accounts

2019-10-22T19:27:00.001+05:30

TikTok

TikTok now starts removing ISIS propaganda accounts

Now, TikTok starts removing ISIS propaganda accounts. It removes two dozen accounts used for ISIS propaganda. Alongside high school dance videos and pranks, extremist propaganda has been lurking on TikTok.

TikTok has removed nearly two dozen accounts responsible for posting ISIS propaganda videos, as per first reported. The videos reportedly presented armed ISIS militants, corpses and women proclaiming to be jihadist and proud.

Reported in the verge, TikTok removes to does nice as propaganda accounts that Islamic state propagandists are reportedly trying to exploit social media optic stalkers are recruiting to.

The posts come on the heels of the U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria, a time when the so called Islamic State may look to bolster its strength in the region.

The Wall Street Journal says social media monitoring agency story ful recently identified around two does nice is related accounts.

All of which have since been removed the accounts posted videos aimed at recruiting followers and bolstering support for the terrorist group featuring Islamic state anthems and footage of corpses and ISIS fighters it's not clear how bigger presents ISIS has on TikTok.

Terrorist propaganda is a perennial issue for social media platforms companies like Facebook and Google share a database of known terrorist imagery that can be automatically removed when it's detected online. They've also faced and won several lawsuits for allowing it even temporarily on their platforms.

Facebook said in September that it removed more than 26 million pieces of global terrorist propaganda over the past two years.

Extremist content is the latest challenge facing TikTok, which made headlines last week after lawmakers and competitors accused the app, which is owned by Beijing based Bytedance, of censoring content on behalf of the Chinese government.

The app has exploded in popularity across the U.S. over the past few months, particularly among teens.

TikTok's parent company Byte Dance didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about how much terrorist content TikTok finds and takes down the accounts that story full identified also appear to be relatively small the journal identifies.

The presence of extremist content on the app may land TikTok in more hot water in Washington, D.C., where some lawmakers are already calling for investigation of the company over censorship concerns. While TikTok moved quickly to ban the extremist accounts after they were flagged to the company, one video as earning 68 likes and some accounts as having around 1,000 followers. Storyful didn't immediately confirm whether that's typical of the accounts popularity or whether these are the first accounts they've found on TikTok.

TikTok videos circulate largely thanks to TikTok's recommendation algorithm, and in this case, it's not clear that the algorithm is promoting ISIS content - just that this content exists on the hugely popular platform however as the journal notes.

A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement,

"Content promoting terrorist organizations has absolutely no place on TikTok. We permanently ban any such accounts and associated devices as soon as identified, and we continuously develop ever stronger controls to proactively detect suspicious activity.

This is an industry wide challenge complicated by bad actors who actively seek to circumvent protective measures, but we have a team dedicated to aggressively protecting against malicious behavior on TikTok."

TikTok and x27's rules explicitly prohibit criminal organizations from using the app, but the company says enforcement of such guidelines is a problem that all social media companies face.

A TikTok spokesperson said none of the videos had more than double digit views. Popular TikTok videos can rack up tens or hundreds of thousands of views.

TikTok has a young user base and is known for light-hearted joke. Why content sometimes to the point of alleged political censorship, so there's an added incongruity when it's used by terrorists.

For more on this story visit the news article link.

Source

Now Apple deals Microsoft Xbox Controller on its official website

2019-10-15T17:20:00.000+05:30

Microsoft Xbox Controller

Now Apple deals Microsoft Xbox Controller on its official website.

Apple starts offering Xbox controllers on its e-shop. The new iOS version also makes the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch compatible with Xbox and PlayStation controllers.

Apple also sells Office licenses to its customers, and Microsoft develops applications for iPhone and even offers to download iTunes on Windows.

This means, the presence of the Microsoft controller on the Apple e-shop is also based on the fact that the two companies are very close to each other.

The firm wants to assert its new position by offering its customers to acquire video game controllers directly from its website.

With this step, Apple is aiming to increase its user base on the gaming platform, Apple Arcade. Apple Arcade was recently rolled out on the company’s App Store.

The controllers can be paired to Apple’s devices over Bluetooth and then be used in any games that support them.

Xbox and PlayStation controllers are offered at a price of 59.99 € on the Apple website.

Apple says in the description of the controller in the Apple Store,

“Experience the enhanced comfort and feel of the new Xbox Wireless Controller, featuring a sleek, streamlined design and textured grip. Its Bluetooth connectivity lets you play your favorite games on an iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. The controller also offers up to twice the wireless range and the convenience of 3.5mm stereo headset jack for connecting any compatible headset.”

It would be interesting to see that if Apple manages to sell any of the Xbox Controllers from its Official site, as e-commerce websites such as Amazon and Flipkart both are already selling this product at comparatively lower rates.

Source

Facebook adds new Stories Filters and Stickers for Messenger

2019-10-15T14:11:00.000+05:30

Facebook Messenger

Now, Facebook is adding new dynamic stories filters and stickers for its Messenger. In honour of World Mental Health Day, the social media giant taken this initiative to promote conversation on the platform.

In addition, a new “Let’s Talk” Stories filter was developed with input from the World Health Organization (WHO). With this filter you can support for mental health initiatives via your Facebook or Messenger Story. You can also invite friends who might be struggling to reach out for support through Messenger.

Beside this a new 'Let's Talk' sticker pack is for use in your messages and Stories. You can also use these stickers in your Facebook post comments. You can use "Let’s Talk" filter as a frame on your Stories or choose from stickers like “feeling alone” and “talk to me” on Messenger.

To use these features, simply just you have to open the camera in Facebook or Messenger and tap on the filter at the bottom of the screen; snap a selfie or take a photo of your favorite furry friend, then share it with a person in need.

Facebook said,

"Private messaging can make it easier to talk about emotional or serious subjects, according to a survey Facebook conducted in the UK, US and Australia. Respondents said they could communicate more clearly and be more open when messaging versus in person. In fact, 80% of people surveyed said they felt they could be completely honest when messaging."

Facebook also says that it will also donate $1 to a group of mental health organizations each time a 'Let's Talk' sticker is sent, up to the value of $1 million USD. Behind this, the idea is less about engagement metrics, and more about expanding the message.

The idea is more about getting the conversation started, and showing that you are open to providing assistance for your connections. The social media giant found that most people who use messaging apps felt they could be completely honest when communicating via messaging.

Dévora Kestel, director of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Department at the WHO, explained,

"When people are struggling with their mental health, starting a conversation, in whichever way feels most comfortable, can be the first step to getting care."

The stickers and filter are currently available on both platforms Facebook and Messenger.

Source

Microsoft announces an Android smartphone

2019-10-14T21:52:00.000+05:30

Microsoft Surface Duo

Microsoft is making its own Android phone and that's running Google's operating system. The device called the Surface Duo.

This time, the software giant isn’t relying on its own mobile operating system; instead, it has chosen to bring Android, the most popular operating system globally.

The device comes with two side-by-side screens that are connected by a thin hinge and able to fold 180 degrees in either direction. The hardware and the core software experience remain outside of Microsoft's control.

Each display can also run two different apps at the same time. The Surface Duo can be turned into landscape mode and also allowing the second display to be used as a keyboard or game controller.

Microsoft said,

"Surface has always been about creating and redefining categories; this is another example of that. Sure, it makes phone calls, but it does much more than that. It’s a dual-screen Surface that fits in your pocket, bringing together the best of Microsoft productivity experiences, Android apps, and Surface hardware design into a single device you can take anywhere."

With Surface Duo, Microsoft will seek to seize a share of a massive global market for mobile phones that’s on the cusp of transitioning to new technology with the arrival of 5G networks.

This has been pretty much just a teaser pre-announcement of the Duo. The devices aren’t scheduled to come out. Expected, the device will launch in late 2020, in time for the holiday season. No pricing details were announced.

Source

Instagram now removes the “Following” tab

2019-10-13T20:55:00.000+05:30

Instagram

Instagram is now taking a bold step as it is removing the ‘Following’ tab itself from the ‘Activity’ tab. This was a tool quite popular among those who wanted to stalk their friends' profiles. This feature lets users to see the activity of the people they're following.

This tab has long been notorious for "exposing" unexpected behavior within your social network. The tab made seemingly innocuous social media behavior such as liking photos, making comments, following accounts, public record, tracking activity that occurred either seconds or a few days ago.

Instagram Product Head Vishal Shah did give a heads up about this.

Shah said,

"Today we're removing the 'Following' tab on Instagram, which was created to help people discover new posts and accounts their friends engage with. We're always trying to stay focused and keep Instagram simple, and so we celebrate launches and 'unshipping.

People didn’t always know that their activity is surfacing. So you have a case where it’s not serving the use case you built it for, but it’s also causing people to be surprised when their activity is showing up."

The 'Following' tab was an easy way to grow connections and likes when the app first launched. But, now the tab which allows users to explore content on Instagram, is rarely being used by the user. In fact, many may not even be aware that the tab exists.

The company said,

"We are removing it because only a small number of people use the Following tab regularly. Additionally, we've heard from people that they think the Following tab is a very hidden feature that they don't find to be very useful, especially when compared to a similar feature like Explore."

The main reason behind the removal of the tab feature is not to do with unnerving Instagramers the world around. It has to do with simplicity.

An Instagram spokesperson confirmed that the tab will be removed with an update that will begin rolling out on Monday. From a brand and marketing perspective, it does take away another surface for potential discovery.

Source

Steam will soon allow you play local-only multiplayer games

2019-10-13T19:32:00.000+05:30

Steam

Steam is now working on a way to take local multiplayer online. This option will allow users to play any kind of multiplayer game without the other person needing to be in the same room. This new feature named 'Remote Play Together'.

With the Steam Overlay, Remote Play works by one player inviting a friend to join their local multiplayer game. The host player handles all the processing, while their friends hooked in with their connection, controllers, and microphone. Steam will capture all the visuals, controller and keyboard inputs, and share it with all the players. By combining the data, Steam will basically let the system think that all the players are playing together.

Steam said,

“Your local multiplayer games will soon be improved with automatic support for Remote Play Together on Steam. All local multiplayer, local co-op, and split-screen games will be automatically included in the Remote Play Together beta, which we plan to launch the week of October 21.”

If your friend accepts the invitation to play, they’ll be joined to your system. The computer is responsible for running the game, but the experience is shared with a friend.

This way, even games that were originally designed as local multiplayer or couch co-op titles can function online without any additional software or patches.

According to Valve, this is just a beta feature. This means there could be bugs. Remote Play usually doesn't have problems with high-latency gameplay, but it does require a decently powerful computer, and Valve recommends a wired connection for Remote Play.

Some game genres tend to work better as local multiplayer titles due to latency issues, so it’ll be interesting to see how Remote Play Together handles high ping and slow networks.

If this feature works well, it could lead to renewed interest in local multiplayer as a feature, which would only be a good thing.

Remote Play Together will be available on Steam starting October 21st, as per reports said.

Source

Reliance Jio users now have to pay to make calls to other networks

2019-10-12T17:45:00.002+05:30

Reliance Jio

After provide more freebies offers to subscribers, telecom operators in India are now conflicting over Interconnect Usage Charge (IUC).

“So, for all recharges done by Jio customers starting today, calls made to other mobile operators will be charged at the prevailing IUC rate of 6 paise per minute through IUC top-up vouchers till such time that TRAI moves to Zero termination charge regime.”

- says Jio.

IUC only applies when a voice call is made between two different operators and it doesn’t matter whether the other person receives the call or misses or disconnects it, the IUC charges gets bills.

Actually, the charges are basically for the duration of time the phone is ringing when a number is dialled.

Recently, Airtel alleged that Reliance Jio has reduced its ring duration from 35-40 seconds to 25 seconds to pay lesser IUC. This meant Jio subscribers unknowingly were giving more missed calls to other network users due to shorter ring duration and lead to more return calls to Reliance Jio’s network, enabling Jio to earn IUC while reducing its costs.

This is what forced Reliance Jio to come up with an ‘IUC’ pack. This means that Jio users will have to make recharges for talktime balance like other network users.

Jio said,

“The amendment to the IUC Regulations in 2017 was after considerable deliberations and consultations…the (new) consultation paper has created regulatory uncertainty and therefore Jio has been compelled, most reluctantly and unavoidably, to recover this regulatory charge of 6 paise per minute for all off-net mobile voice calls so long as IUC charges exist.

The price differential of free voice on Jio network and exorbitantly high tariffs on 2G networks causes the 35 - 40 crore 2G customers of Airtel and Vodafone-Idea to give missed calls to Jio customers. Jio network receives 25 to 30 crore missed calls on a daily basis. This huge missed call phenomena converts the incoming calls to Jio into outgoing calls from Jio to other operators. The 25 to 30 crore missed calls per day should have resulted in 65 to 75 crore minutes of incoming traffic to Jio. Instead, the call back made by the Jio customers results in 65 to 75 crore minutes of outgoing traffic.”

Now basically, the Jio customer has to pay the 6 paise per minute IUC. The moment you call make a call to a user on another telecom operator, these minutes will get deducted. This translates to IUC of 6 paise per minute. IUC is paid by a telecom carrier to the one on whose network the call terminates.

For Jio prepaid customers, there are four Jio IUC packs at Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50 and Rs 100. The Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50 and Rs 100 offer 124 minutes, 249, 656 and 1362 minutes of free IUC respectively. These plans will offer talktime to subscribers for making calls to other networks. And these plans will also offer 1GB, 2GB, 5GB and 10GB of free data respectively.

And for post-paid customers, it will be billed at 6 paise per minute for off-net outgoing calls with increase in free data.

Besides this, all Jio-to-Jio, Jio to landline and incoming calls are free.

These tariffs would be discontinued once TRAI (telecom sector regulator) brings the IUC charges to zero, as Jio said.

Trai had earlier said this IUC regime will end by January 2020, but this plan is now placed on hold to review whether the regime timeline needs to be extended.

Source

Google rolls out dark mode for Gmail and Maps

2019-10-11T20:02:00.000+05:30

Google

Google has announced a dark mode theme on two of its flagship tools, but at the moment, not everyone is concerned. This new dark mode looks to go one step further in blacking out the night.

After Slack, Messenger or Instagram, recently, now it's time for Gmail and Google Maps to get started. The tech giant has begun rolling out an update that enables dark mode on both the apps.

Dark mode is clearly the trend and very demanding at this moment. This mode spreads through applications as a real scourge. This mode makes the background of your applications dark or dark among other things. It reduces eye fatigue and saves energy.

Google says, like many other companies before it, that your eyes and battery will thank you for going dark, but the company gives no indication of when we can try it ourselves.

Dark mode has begun to be deployed for iOS and Android users, but not yet for everyone. Other users still have to wait for this feature. If your phone is running Android 10 or iOS 11 (or newer versions), you should soon see an option in your settings that will activate dark mode.

Hi there. We’ve started rolling out dark mode for Gmail in the latest update. You should see an option to enable it if you have iOS 11+/Android 10+ soon. Also, you can submit feedback regarding the mark as read option: Gmail app > Help & feedback > Send Feedback? Appreciate it!

— Gmail (@gmail) 9th October 2019

This feature has not arrived at home yet, so if it is not yet your case, you will have to arm yourself with a little patience. So, do not get discouraged if you are one of these people.

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Twitter now apologizes for using user data for advertising purposes

2019-10-11T11:37:00.002+05:30

Twitter

Now this week, Twitter has admitted that it has been misusing user's personal data for advertisement targeting purposes.

The social app user's phone numbers and email addresses used for advertising purposes, even though the information was provided by users for two-factor authentication. The data had been used to match with more relevant ads.

It might be hard to believe, but people often share information with social media companies that they want to keep private.

The company claimed it mistakenly used ostensibly private data to assist with its ad system, specifically its Tailored Audiences and Partnered Audiences tools.

The company explained,

"Tailored Audiences is a version of an industry-standard product that allows advertisers to target ads to customers based on the advertiser's own marketing lists (e.g., email addresses or phone numbers they have compiled). Partner Audiences allows advertisers to use the same Tailored Audiences features to target ads to audiences provided by third-party partners. When an advertiser uploaded their marketing list, we may have matched people on Twitter to their list based on the email or phone number the Twitter account holder provided for safety and security purposes. This was an error and we apologize."

Twitter used that data as a matching tool to better correlate audiences for ads. The social media platform said that starting September 17, the issue that caused this and is "no longer using phone numbers or email addresses collected for safety or security purposes for advertising."

Twitter said,

“We’re very sorry this happened and are taking steps to make sure we don’t make a mistake like this again.”

The company also added at the time that no information was breached or misused.

At this point, for sure, it's clear that whether the reason for using the user's data, social media companies simply can't be trusted now, because they always promise to keep it private. So, apologizes doesn't change that.

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Microsoft uncovers a new malware that infecting thousands of computers

2019-09-30T14:31:00.000+05:30

Microsoft

Microsoft uncovered a new malware called "Nudersuk" that infecting thousands of computers across the world.

Numerous media reports have unveiled that this new gaming program can turn a computer into a zombie.

Microsoft has already issued a warning about this new malicious software - Nudersuk.

The attack begins when a user downloads and runs an HTML application (HTA) file named Player1566444384.hta.

The software giant explained that this software is running an application that contains a trick as the user of Windows operating system is in front of a new game. But, behind this, the software can control the entire computer system.

Until now, it has infected thousands of computers around the world.

The major issue is it turns the computer into a "zombie", where it becomes a platform for other cyber attacks on new devices also.

The Microsoft research team spotted that the majority of the targets were for corporate devices that includes sectors such as education, professional services, healthcare, finance and retail.

Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) Research team said,

"The majority of targets are consumers, but about 3 percent of encounters are observed in organisations in sectors like education, professional services, healthcare, finance, and retail."

The researchers said that the attacks use deceptive advanced techniques, because they rely on a network infrastructure that cannot be easily tracked.

The researchers said,

"The campaign is particularly interesting not only because it employs advanced fileless techniques, but also because it relies on an elusive network infrastructure that causes the attack to fly under the radar."

That's not a new tactic by any means. Cybercriminals have always employed various tools and tricks to make their attacks more difficult to disrupt - and to avoid being identified by law enforcement agencies.

Microsoft advice to its users of the operating system "Windows" not to download any programs or applications from unknown sources, so, as could not affect the systems - not to fall victim to those programs.

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Amazon and Flipkart platforms start hosting Festival sale 2019 in India

2019-09-20T22:05:00.000+05:30

E commerce platforms

Ahead of the festive season, e-commerce platforms Amazon and Flipkart have announced its Indian Festival Sale 2019. Both platforms are gearing up to host their respective festive sales of the year. While Amazon’s Great Indian Festival sale will take place, Flipkart will host its Big Billion Days sale. The sale is scheduled to start from September 29 and will continue till October 4 on both platforms.

The Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale 2019 will have plenty of discounts on a wide range of electronic products like smartphones, TVs, consumer electronics and other items. Amazon Prime members will get an early access to the sale on September 28, starting from noon.

And Flipkart is all set to host its The Big Billion Days sale in India from September 29. The e-commerce giant has teased some of the best deals on mobiles and revealed other offers that will be available during the sale.

The companies promise to bring the lowest prices for products in the sale.

The six day sale will see offers and discounts on products across all categories. Prime members will get exclusive early access starting 12 noon on September 28. Customers will get deals on a wide selection of smartphones, laptops, cameras, large appliances and TVs, home and kitchen products, and so on.

The e-commerce giants said there will be up to 40% discounts on smartphones from the top brands during sale. There will be a discount of up to 75% off on home appliances and TVs.

Some of the top smartphones that will be up for heavy discounts and offers.

Apart from the heavy discounts, there will be no-cost EMI offers.

There will be an extra cashback on online payment and a wide range of exchange offers.

Flipkart will offer attractive prices on best-sellers like Redmi Note 7S, iPhone X, Realme 5, Vivo Z1 Pro, Pixel 3a, Redmi K20 Pro. Motorola's recently launched One Vision will be up for grabs at Rs. 14,999, which is Rs. 8,000 down from its original marked price. Samsung's last year's flagship phone, the Galaxy S9 Plus, will be up for grabs at Rs. 34,999 (MRP: Rs. 70,000). The Realme 3 Pro will be available at Rs. 11,999 as against its regular price of Rs. 15,999.

Amazon says 4K TVs will start at ₹19,999 per month during the sale which will also see over 6,000 deals across 200 consumer electronics brands including HP, Canon, boAT and Lenovo. Up to Rs 40,000 off on top premium laptops; enjoy up to 12 months no-cost EMI on laptops from top brands. Minimum Rs 10,000 off DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. Up to 60% off on headphones and speakers.

For this Big Billion Days sale, Flipkart has tied up with Axis Bank and ICICI Bank to offer an instant discount to the banks' credit and debit card users.

On the other side, Amazon customer can avail an instant discount when using SBI debit and credit cards. There will be no-cost EMI options for debit card and Bajaj Finserv customers as well.

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