Jabra launches the world’s first shared headphones

Aadvika
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Jabra launches the world’s first shared headphones

Jabra has today announced that it has launched the world’s first shared headphones called Jabra Earbud(dy)TM. The company says that Jabra Earbud(dy)TM headphones have been made for shared music moments and come equipped with an ultra-light headband that can be extended “seamlessly to accommodate the perfect fit for every pair of buddies.”

The company has further added that the headphones will come with a Buddy mode that promises a shared music experience that can be personalised according to users’ preferences. The Buddy mode can be accessed via Jabra’s app and it will take care of both your and your friend’s music preferences. So if you like louder bass better, while your friend doesn’t the mode will make sure that Jabra Earbud(dy)TM headphones cater to you both. For doing this, the mode comes with an easy-to-use music equaliser.

Furthermore, the headphones can be connected to dual voice assistance apps. According to the company, this feature allows users to connect seamlessly to two smartphones at once, so you can still hear from your favourite voice command on your device while also sharing magical music moments with your buddy.

Jabra has also added that Earbud(dy)TM has a battery life that lasts up to 15 hours even with music sharing on. The company has promised 5 hours of listening time with just 20 minutes of quick charge.

We feel that Jabra Earbud(dy)TM is the perfect way to completely defeat the purpose of having a pair of headphones as you would never be able to enjoy music alone. Furthermore, you would only be able to listen to music with one ear, as the other earcup will be used by your music-buddy.

If the product sounds like a ridiculous one to you, we should remind you that its April Fools’ Day, and we think that this is Jabra’s way of pulling a prank on its fans. Nice try Jabra! But we don’t think that you are actually launching the Earbud(dy)TM headphones.

We should add that Jabra did everything to make the launch authentic. Claus Fonnesbech, Senior Director at Jabra said about the headphones, “Whether it’s lovers, family or friends, music has always brought people together and that was the feeling we wanted to capture with the Jabra Earbud(dy). Shared music experiences are magical and something that everyone relates to. The Jabra Earbud(dy) ensures a personalized experience every time so your music is tailored to your needs – even if it’s shared with someone. With summer just around the corner, there is no better time to buddy up and create wonderful music experiences with those that mean the most to you!”

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Google lists out the biggest security threats for the Android devices in India

Aman Singh
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Google lists out the biggest security threats for the Android devices in India

As we enter the fourth month of 2019, Google has released its fifth Annual Security & Privacy Year in Review report for 2018. This report addresses the state of the Android ecosystem and the vulnerabilities and threats faced by the platform. It also addresses how Google’s new features have affected the privacy and security for its users. Google said that it will publish regular such reports and it will become more transparent for the users. The key highlight of the report was Google Play Protect that addresses the risks, detection of harmful applications and updates on the company’s vulnerability rewards programme.

In 2019, the Google’s Android platform will turn 10 years old and on the platform’s tenth anniversary, the search giant has said that it has made massive investments its security and privacy policy. However, the biggest finding of the report is that only 0.08 percent of the devices on which apps were installed from sources other than Google Play Store were affected by the PHAs (potentially harmful applications).

The Google Play Protect of Android scans over 5,00,000 apps every day using Google’s machine learning techniques in the cloud. And now Google has enabled this process as default in all the new Android devices. The search giant said that India was ‘by far the biggest market’ for Android devices adding that the Indian market has become 35 percent cleaner the previous years. Google said that only 0.65 percent of Android devices are affected by the PHA issues in India.

According to the technology giant, India is one of the biggest targets for the Trojan with 22.4% risk, and it is followed by Germany with 6.5% risk. In 2018, around 0.007% of all the apps were infected with Trojans which was an increase from 2017. Google’s findings state that the most commonly used trojan is the Idle Coconut family which effects the devices by turning them into endpoints for commercial VPN providers. The users of the device don’t even know of this and it happens without their consent.

Some of the apps which forced the user to download other apps were also the cause of concern. In India, there were around 18.9% of such apps and threats occurring with the users of the Android devices. The downloaded third-party apps come with fake app stores which are designed to spread malware, and they lack the proper security. Similarly, SMS fraud is also one of the major concern field in terms of Android security as it comprises 0.003% of Google Play app installs and 6.8% of PHAs.

Google said that its Pixel devices had no security flaws in 2018 which makes it the safest of the devices. Google also rewards the security researchers and enthusiast (outsiders) who detect the security flaws and potential threats in platform. Once found, it removes the threat which in turn strengthens the security of its platform.

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Apple turns 43: Here are 12 little-known facts about it

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Apple turns 43: Here are 12 little-known facts about it

Cupertino-based technology giant Apple has turned 43 today. The company was first founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne on April 1 1976, and forty-three years later, it is probably the most popular and powerful technology giant in the world. Here, we have listed down 12 facts about Apple that you probably didn’t know. Take a look:

The iPhones, iPads and iMacs will always show the same time

New-iPad-air-and-iPad-mini-with-Apple-Pencil

 

In advertisements and official photos, the iPhones, iPads, iMacs and other iOS devices show the same time – 9:41. This is because it was 9:41 when Steve Jobs unveiled the first ever iPhone to the world.

It is the first trillion-dollar company

apple logo 2

In 2018, Apple became the first company in the world to be valued at $1 trillion. With this, the company beat giants like Microsoft and Amazon back in August last year. Amazon also managed to be valued at $1 trillion, but Apple will always remain the first company to cross that market valuation.

The company had a third co-founder

Ronald Wayne
Image courtesy: CNBC

We should remind you that Apple initially had three co-founders – Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. However, Wayne left the company within 12 days of its inception and sold his 10% share for $800. In addition to this, he got a pay-out of $1,500. We should point out that had he stayed, his shares would have been around $60 billion presently.

With Apple’s first IPO, 40 of its employees became millionaires

apple logo

The Cupertino-based technology company had its first IPO on December 12, 1980, and it was the largest since Ford Motors’ in 1956. Forty Apple employees instantly became millionaires as their shares rose by 32%.

A line of computers from Apple is buried under Utah

apple iOS products

The company used the capital that it made from its initial public offering for the development of the Macintosh and Lisa. While Macintosh was a hit, Lisa was not. It has been reported that Apple buried 2,700 of the devices in a landfill in Utah.

Here’ why Apple I sold for $666.66

Apple I
Image courtesy: Cult of Mac

A number of conspiracy theories surrounded the cost of Apple I, which sold at $666.66. However, unlike what many think, Apple was not worshipping the devil during the production of Apple I. Instead, the cost of the product had to be $667, but co-founder Steve Wozniak changed it to $666.66 because he liked repeating numbers.

Co-founder Steve Jobs drew a salary of $1 for 15 years

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Apple’s net worth was estimated at $7 billion even Steve Jobs was the CEO of the company. In spite of this, Jobs drew a salary of $1 for his last 15 years at Apple. Reports have also suggested that he did this to qualify for the company’s health benefits.

He was also fired from Apple

steve jobs

In spite of being a co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs was made to leave the company in 1985. Many say that this happened because Jobs was very difficult to work with. He then went on to create NeXT. Later, Apple decided that it needed Jobs and got him back as the CEO of the company.

Steve Jobs cried on reading The Time Magazine 1982 Man of The Year

Steve jobs 2

Steve Jobs was a candidate for Time Magazine’s Man of the Year for 1982. He was even interviewed for the same. However, he didn’t know that he was competing with the Personal Computer. Time ultimately decided to go for the Machine of the Year and the PC became the first non-human to get the award. But no one told this to Jobs. He was shocked to see a computer’s photo instead of his own and when he read the article about him, he started crying because apparently, it was so awful.

How does the company maintain its secrecy?

Apple logo 4

In order to maintain keep its secrets, Apple sometimes creates fake projects for employees and management. So, if and when the news is leaked, Apple knows exactly who the culprit is.

Why you shouldn’t smoke near an Apple computer

Apple’s video streaming service could launch in April

A number of reports say that Apple stores will not consider the warrant of a computer by the company if it is contaminated. By contaminated, they mean containing tar from smoking near it. Even if you have an AppleCare, you would not be entertained due to risks of second-hand smoke.

If Apple were a country…

apple logo

If the Cupertino-based technology giant was a country, it reportedly had enough employees to be the 27th largest in the world, between Venezuela and Belgium.

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Google has elaborately planned jokes for 2019 April Fools’ day: Here’s a look at all of them

Aman Singh
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Google has elaborately planned jokes for 2019 April Fools’ day: Here’s a look at all of them

On April Fool’s Day, Google has come up with new ways and ideas to celebrate the day through using its platforms. Google has always used some of its platforms to play pranks on its users on April Fools’ Day. Even though other companies like Microsoft are not participating in April Fools’ Day pranks this time, Google – as always –  has something up its sleeve for celebrations.

Similar to previous years, Google has used its platforms on April Fools’ Day to joke with its users. Here are some of the jokes Google has put up on its platforms this year:

To begin with, Google has added the iconic Snake game to its Maps application this year. The users can go to the Google Maps mobile app and use it to play the Snake. There are few cities to choose from — Cairo, London, San Francisco, São Paulo, Sydney and Tokyo. To play the game, the user needs to open the app in Android or iOS and tap the menu icon on the top left corner and hit ‘Play Snake’. Then they will be asked to choose a city and then the game will begin. The game will basically have a train posing as a snake and users will have to pick passengers to make it grow bigger. But the same rules as Snakes apply here as well so the players will have to avoid being collided with the wall and/or biting themselves. The game will be live on the app for a week.

Google Japan has made some additions to the Gboard app in its region. With the changes, Google has brought a Gboard spoon bending version of the app which is about the flexibility. The users can input the character by bending a spoon that has been made by Google. So, in order to do this, users will have to connect the spoon to their smartphone or PC, and then bend the spoon. On doing this, the letter as the spoon is bended will appear on the screen.

Google Home is also in the Google’s April Fools plan where the Google Home can talk to Tulips. ‘Hey Google, talk to my tulip’ is the command the user need to give to their Google Home and the device will start talking to Tulips. The device will also translate between the human language and the Tulipish so that it is able to tell when the Tulips need water, light or more space. Google Tulip was developed in the Netherlands which produces 12.5 billion flowers in a year. Google partnered with Wageningen University & Research built on Neural Machine Translation to map out the tulip signals to human language. After two years of development and testing, the feature is finally put on Google Home’s Interpreter Mode.

Lastly, Google Assistant is also a part of Google’s April Fools’ Day celebration. If the user asks something to the Google Assistant about April Fools’ on April 1, the Assistant will respond something cheesy and funny. One of the lines are “We can get through April Fool’s together. Here’s one thing to remember. If something seems too good to be true today, it probably is.” The users can listen other jokes if they say “April Fools” to Google Assistant.

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Facebook will now tell you why you see a particular post in your News Feed

Aadvika
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Facebook will now tell you why you see a particular post in your News Feed

Social media giant Facebook has announced a new feature called ‘Why am I seeing this post?’ The newly launched feature by Facebook enables users to see information about why a particular post has been made to appear on their News Feed. Users will be able to access this information from within the Facebook app. The company rolled out the new feature on its app on Sunday and it is basically an extension of an existing feature that Facebook already provides for advertisements.

It is also worth mentioning that with the new feature, users would not only be able to know why a particular post has shown up on their News Feed, but will also be able to decide if he wishes to see posts like it in future.

To access the new option, you can head to the drop-down menu on the top-right corner of the post. Once you click on it, you will be able to see Facebook’s explanation about why the social media platform thought that you may be interested in it. The answer may involve the number of times you have interacted with the post’s author or page in the past, the type of posts you often engage with, and the post’s overall popularity.

In addition to this, the newly rolled out feature will also able to show users shortcuts to tools that let you control whether or not you wish to see such posts in the future. Among these tools will the options of See First and Unfollow. There will also be an option of linking to your News Feed Preferences.

We should mention that Facebook is also upgrading it “Why am I seeing this ad” feature that is already available on the platform. With the feature, presently, Facebook gives users information about why it has targeted an advertisement towards you. So, on clicking on it you may be able to know that you are getting to see an ad because an advertiser has targeted people of your age, gender or who have interests like you. Going forward, the feature will also share details like whether the advertiser uploaded a mailing list that had the user’s email address in it.

The company has also added that the changes will begin rolling out starting this week and it intends to make them available to all its users by the middle of May.

Although these changes add more transparency to the way the social media platform works, it doesn’t go against the personalization tools that tend to show users only kind of viewpoint for any situation.

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Wolfenstein: Youngblood Deluxe Edition is up for pre-orders

Aman Singh
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Wolfenstein: Youngblood Deluxe Edition is up for pre-orders

The next instalment in the Wolfenstein series – Wolfenstein: Youngblood –  will be launching ‘sometime in 2019’. However, before the reveal of its launch date, the Wolfenstein: Youngblood’s Deluxe Edition is up for pre-order for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One at a price of Rs 2,499. Since the game is up for pre-orders from April, we might expect the Wolfenstein: Youngblood somewhere to be released sometime in coming weeks or months. Interested players can pre-order the game from e-commerce websites such as Flipkart and Amazon India or via offline retailers.

It was last week when Bethesda announced the Deluxe Edition of the Wolfenstein: Youngblood which allows the players to team up with a friend. The team up can be formed even if the friend of the player doesn’t own the game. The owners of the Deluxe Edition of the Wolfenstein: Youngblood will be able to provide an exclusive Buddy Pass to one friend at a time which allows the other player to download and play the Wolfenstein: Youngblood for free. But the free game will only work as long as they play with the owner of the Wolfenstein: Youngblood Deluxe Edition. The company has also given the option for players playing on the Buddy Pass to upgrade the Wolfenstein: Youngblood to a full game and play at any time of the day without any restrictions. Once they own the full game, they can also play it online with other players.

Furthermore, the Wolfenstein: Youngblood Deluxe Edition comes with multitude of new and rare cosmetic and added bonuses. The owners of the Deluxe Edition of the game will get the Cyborg Skin Pack, providing the sisters with sleek and intimidating titanium alloy versions of their Power Suit, guns, combat knives and hatchets. Other than that, players who order the Wolfenstein: Youngblood Deluxe Edition will also get the Wolfenstein: Youngblood Legacy Pack. The Legacy Pack of the game comes with some of the most iconic outfits and weapons from the game and the Wolfenstein franchise itself.

Some of the bonuses which will be included in the Wolfenstein: Youngblood Legacy Pack is the Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus Jacket Power Suit, B.J.’s US Army Power Suit, The Wolfenstein: Old Blood Pipe, The Wolfenstein: Old Blood Knife and a WW2 Weapon Skin Set for all ranged weapons.

The Wolfenstein series is a classic from the FPS genre and it is one of the few games which is based on a World War II scenarios. Its first game was released back in 1981 named Castle Wolfenstein. Since then it has been a fan favourite with its over the top action with the flame thrower or the mini-gun and gripping storyline with a dark setting.

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Game of Thrones’ Season 8 will be Simulcast on Hotstar in India: Here are the details you should know about

Aman Singh
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Game of Thrones’ Season 8 will be Simulcast on Hotstar in India: Here are the details you should know about

With just two weeks to go before the final season of the epic fantasy TV-series Game of Thrones gets releases, a good news for the show’s fans in India has surfaced online. The Season 8 of Game of Thrones will be simulcast in India on video-streaming platform Hotstar.

This means that Hotstar subscribers in India will be able to watch the eighth season of the Game of Thrones at the same time as the show is being telecast on HBO in the US. This was not the case earlier as Indian viewers had to wait for few hours before the show was telecast on Indian channels and platforms.

This time, the episodes of the Game of Thrones will start broadcasting on Sunday (April 14), 9pm ET on HBO in the US while the at the same time, the Indian viewers will also be able to see the show on Hotstar on Monday (April 15), 6:30am IST. The time difference between the ET and the IST is approximately 9 hours and 30 minutes, thus the difference in broadcast time between the two countries.

We are sure that scores of Game of Thrones fans in India will be delighted with the news as it basically also means no spoilers. Earlier as they had to wait for the show for some time, spoilers of the episodes used to flood Twitter and coming across them was very annoying for some. Hotstar has also revealed teasers and posters about the Game of Thrones before its official air date. As mentioned before, the earlier seasons were broadcast after they were finished being broadcasted on HBO in the US, so in India they were shown on 7:30am IST or later.

It should be noted that the Game of Thrones hasn’t been simulcast in India since the airing of Season 5 of the show. At that time, it was broadcasted on Star World at the same time as HBO in the US. But the Game of Thrones was being shown in a modified and censored version due to the Indian TV’s self-censorship laws. The reason behind censoring Game of Thrones was that the show contains a number of scenes involving nudity, sex, gore, mature language and extreme violence.

The final season of the Game of Thrones will premier from April 15 on Hotstar in India. It will also be available for viewers to watch on Star World on Monday nights.

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Samsung Galaxy S10 5G to go on sale in Korea starting April 5

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Samsung Galaxy S10 5G to go on sale in Korea starting April 5

Samsung Electronics has today announced that its Galaxy S10 5G will be available for purchase in Korea starting April 5, 2019. The company has been working closely with network operators, device manufacturers and software developers for a decade now to make 5G connectivity a reality. And now, consumers would finally be able to get the 5G experience with the South Korean technology giant’s Samsung Galaxy S10 5G.

Speaking on the making the device available for purchase, Samsung’s President and CEO of IT & Mobile Communications Division, DJ Koh, “We are at the beginning of a new era where the incredible speed and connectivity of 5G becomes a reality, bringing the world closer to Samsung’s vision of connected living. We are proud of the work we’ve accomplished to bring our first 5G smartphone to market and look forward to bringing it to everyone around the world in the coming year.”

This is the first 5G smartphone by the South Korean technology giant to hit the shelves. And Samsung has said that the introduction of Galaxy S10 5G is a key milestone in the company’s research and development and it comes with “breakthroughs like the world’s first-gigabit speed 5G transmission, the first 5G handover between multiple cells.”

The company has also promised that Samsung Galaxy S10 5G will come with speeds that are roughly up to 20 times faster than 4G networks and that consumers on 5G network will be able to download a full season of a TV barely in minutes. Furthermore, with 5G, people would be able to play graphics-rich cloud games, stream 4K video with no lags and enjoy enhanced VR and AR experiences.

Samsung has also said that its Galaxy S10 5G smartphone comes with new advanced features to take full advantage of the power of 5G. Here’s what Samsung Galaxy S10 5G is offering users, according to the company:

  • Large Viewing Experience: Samsung Galaxy S10 5G’s 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED display with edge-to-edge screen allows users to watch digital 5G content as it was intended. Samsung says that it has developed a visual display that fully immerses consumers in the high-quality HD content, games, augmented reality and video conferencing with 5G.
  • Pro–Grade Hexa Camera: Samsung Galaxy S10 5G comes with an upgraded smartphone camera with a neural processing unit (NPU) which enables users to take the perfect shot. Furthermore, much like the vanilla variant of Samsung Galaxy S10+, the 5G version has a total of six total cameras, which includes a 3D Depth sensor.
  • Ultimate Performance: Samsung Galaxy S10 5G houses a 4,500mAh battery that supports Super-Fast charging at 25W. This ensures that users can enjoy an uninterrupted experience on their smartphone.

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Google’s Gmail turns 15: What’s different 15 years after its launch?

Aman Singh
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Google’s Gmail turns 15: What’s different 15 years after its launch?

Google was initially founded in 1997 and it is because of the search giant that it is a cakewalk for us to explore the ever-increasing network of the Internet. Along its way, Google launched various platforms and services which continue to make our lives better, and Gmail in undeniably one among them. Gmail is Google’s email service and it has more than 1.5 billion monthly active users. Gmail was launched on April 1, 2004 and today the service has turned 15.

The email service was created by Paul Buchheit on April 1, 2004 and earlier Google had limited the initial storage to 1GB per user. And after 15 years of service, Gmail’s storage has been increased to 15GB of free storage per user. With age, Gmail has also matured as Google has added new and improved features such as improved security, a better UI and now the users are able to receive emails of up to 50MB in size including attachments.

It should be noted that in January Google released a new and improved user interface design for its Gmail app for mobile platforms which includes visual changes and it also comes with new features. A useful feature among the new additions of the Google Gmail app is the ability for users to quickly view attachments and photos without even opening the email itself. Google is also reportedly testing new inbox features such as pinned messages, reminder and category bundles for the new Gmail app.

Google’s services have been taking over the other market and industry leaders with its services. After the arrival of Gmail, the AOL Mail and Hotmail were displaced by Google’s Gmail. Although, Google’s Gmail is a free for all product but Gmail has now become a paid suite enterprise product. It now also includes an inbuilt presentation and word processing software like the MS Word.

We should mention that Gmail also has a tremendous popularity among iPhone and iPad users and keeps on adding new features for its iOS app too. After the company rolled out the material theme for Android, it made it available for iOS too. We should mention that the material theme which makes the UI of Gmail more aesthetic and simpler.

It is also worth mentioning that recently, Google started rolling out AMP support for Gmail, which is currently being tested. The AMP support in Gmail will allow the users to browse the image crowsels and RSVP to an event and even fill out forms from their inbox itseld. Google also said that the AMP support for Gmail will arrive faster on the web version of the Google’s email service. And in the coming months, the AMP feature will be rolled out to the users of the mobile app as well. With the AMP support, the Gmail pages will load faster and it will make the platform smoother, faster and easily accessible. With added AMP support, the users will be able to see Dynamic Emails on the platform.

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LG K12+ with AI camera capabilities launched in Brazil: Price and specifications

Aman Singh
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LG K12+ with AI camera capabilities launched in Brazil: Price and specifications

A new and refreshed variant of the LG K40 silently been launched by the South-Korean technology company in Brazil today. The new device is named the LG K12+ and it was unveiled by the company without any launch event or show. The LG K12+ comes with many features powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), and among them is an AI powered camera which is capable of adjusting the settings of the images clicked by the camera of the device. The AI camera is also able to recognize up to eight different scenes and objects including animals, people and food and it adjusts the settings accordingly to give the best image possible. Furthermore, the LG K12+ comes with an 8MP selfie camera with an LED flash and support for Portrait mode to blur the background and give a clear image.

LG K12+ price

In Brazil, the LG K12+ is priced at BRL 1,199 (approximately Rs 21,200) and it comes in three colour options — Moroccan Blue, Platinum Gray, and Black.

The LG K12+ has gone on sale in the Brazilian market. However, as of now, the company hasn’t announced any official launch date or the device’s availability in other markets including India.

LG K12+ specifications

The LG K12+ sports a 5.7-inch HD+ (720 x 1440 pixels) resolution display that comes with an aspect ratio of 18:9. The device is powered by an octa-core MediaTek P22 (MT6762) CPU paired with 3GB of RAM. It has dual-SIM (Nano) capability and it comes with 32GB of internal storage with support of microSD card of up to 2TB. The device runs on Android 8.1 Oreo and it packs a 3,000mAh battery.

On the camera front, the LG K12+ comes with a single 16MP camera at the back with an f/2.0 aperture and an LED flash. The back camera supports the HDR mode and has Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF). While on the front, there is an 8MP selfie camera with an f/2.0 aperture and LED flash. As mentioned earlier, the LG K12+ comes with AI camera capabilities which automatically adjusts the settings of the photos for eight different subjects after detecting them. It also comes with Google Lens Integration for image recognition.

Other features of the LG K12+ includes 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS/ A-GPS, and Micro-USB port. There is also a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner on back panel of the LG K12+. Other sensor on the LG K12+ includes an accelerometer, ambient light, and a proximity sensor.

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Motorola One Vision listed on Google’s developers’ portal, will support the company’s ARCore

Aman Singh
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Motorola One Vision listed on Google’s developers’ portal, will support the company’s ARCore

Motorola’s upcoming smartphone – Motorola One Vision – and it has been made official when it was accidentally confirmed by search giant Google. Till now, news about the Motorola One Vision was just rumoured with no solid proof, but Google has accidentally confirmed the smartphone when its name was found in a list of handsets which support Google’s ARCore on the company’s developers’ portal. The listing also gives the possibility that the Motorola One Vision may be launched soon.

According to some rumours, the device will be powered by the Exynos 9610 SoC and will pack up to 4GB of RAM. The Motorola One Vision might also be part of the Google’s Android One program like other Motorola smartphones such as Motorola One and Motorola One Power. Although the Motorola One Vision is listed on the devices supporting Google’s ARCore but other details and specifications about the smartphone are not mentioned.

Motorola One Vision specifications (rumoured)

Although not much is known about the official specifications of the Motorola One Vision but some recent leaks and renders reports that the device will be powered by the Samsung’s Exynos 9610 SoC paired with either 3GB or 4GB of RAM. Another variant of the device is speculated to be released in China which will be powered by the Snapdragon 675 SoC and it will be named the Motorola P40.

The Motorola One Vision holds a codename of ‘Robusta2’ and according to leaks, it will have an aspect ratio of 21:9. The device is expected to feature a Full HD+ (1080 x 2520 pixels) resolution display. A recent leaked render of the Motorola One Vision showcases a smartphone with hole-punch display design at the front and a dual-rear camera setup at the back. The device is also speculated to have a 48MP primary camera.

Motorola One Vision will reportedly be available in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB storage options and may come with Dolby audio support. The Motorola One Vision might speculatively come with features like the ‘Video 3D HDR’, and ‘Long Exposure’. Furthermore, although the smartphone will run Android 9.0 Pie out-of-the-box, it will be released under the Google Android One programme. Being a part of the Android One programme, the Motorola One Vision will receive timely Android updates and security patches.

The company hasn’t said anything about the release date or the official specifications of the device but we might see the launch of the Motorola One Vision in the coming months.

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PewDiePie is not taking being No.2 on YouTube well: Dissed T-Series and India

Gadget Bridge Bureau
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PewDiePie is not taking being No.2 on YouTube well: Dissed T-Series and India

Last week, the T-Series YouTube channel finally took over PewDiePie after months of battle between the two channels to be No.1 on the video sharing platform. T-Series YouTube channel has been ahead of PewDiePie in terms of number for a few days now, and while the gap between them is fluctuating, T-Series is comfortably maintaining its lead.

However, not everyone can accept being defeated with grace. And PewDiePie‘s owner Felix Kjellberg just showed us that he cannot take losing that well as he has just posted a sarcastic video on YouTube in which under the pretext of congratulating T-Series, he is actually just taking potshots at it.

The video, named Congratulations on Kjellberg’s YouTube channel reminds us a lot of Bitch Lasagna. In the video, Kjellberg can be seen saying that all it took to take him down was “a massive corporate entity with every song in Bollywood.” Much like Bitch Lasagna, Kjellberg has not been subtle in this video and has done a lot of trash-talking about T-Series.

He even made remarks about T-Series chairman Bhushan Kumar of certain misdoings, quoting a report of a popular Indian daily newspaper that says that Kumar alleged evaded huge tax and siphoned off “hundreds of crores to foreign countries to purchase properties in the names of his employees.” He has also mentioned in his video that T-Series sent him a cease and desist letter after he released the video ‘Bitch Lasagna’.

Furthermore, his video had some derogatory remarks for Indians in general like, “for serious Indian mafia, please don’t kill me, that’s a joke.” Kjellberg even sarcastically apologised to Indians for all the memes he has made on them. He went ahead and said, “India got YouTube figured out…How about next you figure how to fix the caste system… May be all those ads will solve your crippling poverty.”

However, we should point out here that all is not as it seems in the video. To begin with, Kjellberg makes it look like T-Series only managed to win because it is corporate, while he is not. But then, that is not the case. We aren’t denying that T-series is a corporate, but it is worth adding that PewDiePie has been associated with corporates too. For those unaware, Kjellberg’s income was reported to be $15 million in 2016, and it is not possible for a YouTuber who is not associated with a corporate to earn that much.

When PewDiePie’s subscriber base was less than 1 million, Kjellberg had a deal with Machinima. However, he did not stick to it for long and switched quickly to Maker Studios and their deal even survived the acquisition of the company by Disney. T-Series, on the other hand, was started by Gulshan Kumar in 1983, who previously used to sell fruit juice in New Delhi’s streets. After he was murdered in 1997, his son and younger brother started running T-Series.

Even though numbers are not required to know that Disney is far bigger than T-Series, the former’s annual revenue for 2018 was $59 billion, while the latter’s was less than $200 million. That is enough to prove who among the two is more corporate.

But then, we must point out that Kjellberg has not been associated with Disney since 2017, and the deal did not end by his choice. Disney did not want to continue to be associated with him because of anti-Semitic commentary and imagery in his videos that led to a controversy. Although his relationship with Disney ended, he still managed to make $12 million in 2017 and it is worth noticing that his videos still carry advertisements. Last year, he made $15.5 million.

Another thing we should mention here is that even though India has a population of 1.3 billion, not everyone has access to the internet. Only a quarter of the people in India own a smartphone and around reports suggest that 245 million among them use YouTube regularly. And this actually makes it a big deal for T-Series to overtake PewDiePie.

The two YouTube channels were neck-to-neck for months now and Kjellberg did everything he could to stay ahead of the record label. He launched a campaign called ‘Subscribe to PewDiePie’ which, we have to admit, went a little too far. His fans went a little overboard when they hacked printers so that they print out ‘Subscribe to PewDiePie’, some even drew a graffiti on a World War II memorial, bought billboards and TV spots, among other things. More recently, the attacker in New Zealand’s mosques also started his video saying ‘Subscribe to PewDiePie.’

Most users who support PewDiePie say that the channel reminds them of how internet initially was. And let’s face it, in the initial days of the internet, most people who used it was white English speaking males who had an interest in gaming. However, today the internet is way more diverse than that and people from all walks of life access it for content in their own language. Today, the internet is way more global than it was initially. So it was only a matter of time before another channel overtook PewDiePie. It was never a question of if it would happen. But the correct question was when it would happen. And now that it has happened for real, T-Series sits with the title of the No.1 YouTube channel.

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Vivo V15 with triple-rear camera and pop-up selfie camera goes on sale in India: Get all the details here

Aman Singh
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Vivo V15 with triple-rear camera and pop-up selfie camera goes on sale in India: Get all the details here

After the launch of the Vivo V15 Pro in February, the company unveiled a non-Pro and watered-down version of the device named Vivo V15 last month. The Vivo V15 Pro went on pre-orders in India started last week. And today onwards, the company has officially started its sale of the Vivo V15 smartphone in India. The smartphone will be available for purchase through online e-commerce sites like Flipkart and Amazon India and people can also buy it from offline retailers. Similar to the Vivo V15 Pro, the Vivo V15 sports a pop-up selfie camera and has a triple-rear camera setup.

Vivo V15 price and launch offers in India

The Vivo V15 bears a price tag of Rs 23,990 for the 6GB RAM and 64GB storage variant. It comes in three colour options — Frozen Black, Glamour Red and Royal Blue. We should mention that the last one is currently not on sale.

As mentioned above, the pre-orders of the Vivo V15 started last week on different platforms online. Starting today, interested buyers can purchase the smartphone via Tata CLiQ, Paytm Mall and other offline retail stores.

Launch offers of the Vivo V15 include a one-time free screen replacement and no-cost EMI options for up to 15 months. There is also an additional exchange value of Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,000 loyalty benefit over the experience value.

Other offers include benefits worth Rs 10,000 from Reliance Jio which is offering up to 3.3TB of data and the Jio Vivo Cricket Offer. There are also various offers on the purchase of Vivo V15 using major banks credit and debit cards. The customers will also get 5 cahsback on SBI cards and on EMI transactions.

Vivo V15 specifications

The Vivo V15 sports a 6.53-inch Full HD (1080 x 2340 pixels) InCell FullView display with an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. The screen of the device is protected by a Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The Vivo V15 is powered by an octa-core MediaTek Helio P70 SoC paired with 6GB of RAM. The device runs Android 9.0 Pie skinned with Funtouch OS 9 and it packs a 4,000mAh battery. The Vivo V15 can support dual-SIM (Nano) cards and it has 64GB of internal storage with support of a microSD card of up to 256GB.

On the camera front, the Vivo V15 features a triple rear camera setup which comprises of a 12MP (dual pixel) primary sensor with an f/1.78 aperture paired with an 8MP secondary sensor with an f/2.2 aperture along with a 5MP senor with an f/2.4 aperture. While the 32MP sensor on the front is housed in a pop-up selfie camera that comes with an f/2.0 aperture. The device also sports a fingerprint scanner at the back.

Other features of the device include 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth v5.0, Micro-USB (with OTG), GPS/ A-GPS, and 3.5mm headphone jack.

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Microsoft’s new Surface Book 2 model with Intel’s latest quad-core processor launched

Gadget Bridge Bureau
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Microsoft’s new Surface Book 2 model with Intel’s latest quad-core processor launched

Software giant Microsoft has quietly unveiled a refreshed version of its Surface Book 2 base model today. The company has introduced its 13-inch Surface Book 2 model with Intel’s latest 8th generation i5 processor. In addition to this, it is also keeping the existing model with a dual-core 7th generation model, which can now be picked up at a discounted price of $1,299. On the other hand, the newly launched model bears a price tag of $1,499.

It is worth noticing that Microsoft’s new Surface Book 2 model comes with an i5-8350U which, according to the company increases the processor’s boost clock speed up to 3.6GHz.

Furthermore, the newly launched device will come with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage. We should mention that the new processor that is being used in the device is the only prominent change in the device that will give a boost to its performance.

To recall, the performance of Surface Pro 6 models with quad-core processors was a massive improvement as compared to its previous models that come with dual-core chips. It is also worth adding that today’s announcement by the software giant doesn’t come as a surprise as there were prior reports that speculated that Microsoft is planning to launch a refreshed model of the Surface Book 2.

We should also mention that the company will be holding an event in New York City on April 17. At the event, it is being speculated that the software giant is all set to disclose the pricing and availability of the Surface Hub 2. It has also been reported that Microsoft’s work-focussed event will include Steelcase, which is the same company that the software giant had partnered with for Surface-powered office of the future.

Microsoft has already sent out invites for the event that read, “Microsoft & Steelcase invite you to experience new ways to work better, together.”

This also means that the company may be all set to launch its Surface Hub 2S at the event, or at least showcase a detailed plan about it.

Last year, Microsoft gave us a first look at the Surface Hub 2 and the company also promised to launch the next model of Surface Hub in Q2 2019. With the invite, we can conclude that the company is keeping its promise.

Till now, it has been reported that Microsoft’s 50-inch display will be able to work with removable hardware cartridges and it will enable users to keep their devices upgraded in future. Other than this, the software giant also plans to deliver a Surface Hub 2X cartridge next year. The cartridge will reportedly come with the ability to rotate the device.

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Facebook ‘Live Streaming’ feature may be restricted in the aftermath of New Zealand terror attack

Aman Singh
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Facebook ‘Live Streaming’ feature may be restricted in the aftermath of New Zealand terror attack

Social networking platform Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg has said that the company was looking to place a restriction on which users can go live on its platform. The restriction is being considered in the aftermath of the New Zealand Christchurch terrorist attack.

After the events of Christchurch attack where one gunman killed 50 people at two mosques in New Zealand while live streaming the horrendous incident, Facebook had taken down the video. But it was live streamed nonetheless and it was seen by many people and some among them even downloaded it. After taking down the video, Facebook identified more than 900 different videos on its platform showing parts and portions of the massacre.

In a blog post, Facebook said that it has used its platform’s existing Artificial Intelligence to identify and remove the videos and other content of the massacre. It also said that it was identifying and removing hate groups in Australia and New Zealand after the massacre. According to Facebook, the company will now monitor who can go live on Facebook, and users who want to go ‘Live’ would have to meet with a criteria set by the social networking platform. The criteria depends upon factors like prior community standard violations and various other regulations.

Last week, the company said that 24 hours after the massacre, it had removed more than 1.5 million videos on a global scale which had footage of the New Zealand terrorist attack. And it was this week when one of the main Muslim community representing groups in France, said that it was suing Facebook and YouTube. It accused the social platforms of inciting violence by allowing the video to stream on their respective platforms.

It is not the first time Facebook is facing challenges over privacy issues. Previously, Facebook was embroiled in multiple data breaches last year. Although the company has time and again claimed that it is doing its best to strengthen privacy on its platform, it has been found guilty repeatedly of doing the exact opposite. More recently, it was discovered that Facebook was violating the code of conduct by paying teenagers to let it spy on them. Right after that, it was reported that Facebook’s employees had passwords for more than 500 million user accounts worldwide.

Last week, Brian Acton, co-founder of WhatsApp urged people for the second time to delete their Facebook accounts saying that such companies are not equipped to make decisions but people give them the power, which is a bad thing.

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Huawei P30 Pro begins receiving its first software update: Here’s what is new

Gadget Bridge Bureau
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Huawei P30 Pro begins receiving its first software update: Here’s what is new

Huawei recently launched its P30 Pro smartphone that is touted to come with enhanced camera capabilities. And now, the company has rolled out an update to the newly launched Huawei P30 Pro smartphone, which is reportedly reaching the devices as an over-the-air (OTA) package.

With the latest update, the Huawei P30 Pro smartphone‘s Always on Display feature will be enabled to work with third-party app notifications. In addition to this, improvements for the camera, audio and the fingerprint sensor. It is worth noticing that the update has arrived on Huawei P30 Pro before the handset even became available in markets. As of now, the smartphone is only listed for pre-orders in select countries.

The news of Huawei P30 Pro getting the update were shared by a Twitter user called Paul O’Brien and going by the screenshots he has shared; the update gets EMUI version 9.1.0.124 with build number C431E4R2P2 to the handset.

With the update, the Always on Display feature of the Huawei P30 Pro smartphone will be able to support notifications from third-party apps even when the screen is off. We should mention that the feature is also available on other Huawei smartphones like the P20 Pro and Mate 20 Pro.

According to the changelog, the update also optimises the performance of the camera of the Huawei P30 Pro smartphone in “certain scenarios.” Furthermore, it has also fixed the audio issue that affected the playback experience of Instagram videos on the smartphone. In addition to this, the update also improves the performance of the fingerprint scanner of the handset and adds the March 2019 Android security patch. Besides this, there is a fix for the pre-installed SwiftKey keyboard too. We should add that the update is 404MB in size.

Huawei P30 Pro specifications

Huawei P30 Pro runs Android 9.0 Pie skinned with the company’s own EMUI 9.1 and is powered by Huawei’s Kirin 980 SoC clubbed with 8GB RAM. Huawei P30 Pro comes in 128GB/256GB/512GB storage options.

The handset sports a 6.47-inch full-HD+ (1080×2340 pixels) OLED display that comes with curved edges and a waterdrop-shaped notch. On the camera front, Huawei P30 Pro smartphone comes with a quad-camera setup on its back panel that comprises of a 40MP primary sensor with OIS, a 20MP sensor with OIS, an 8MP sensor with periscope style zoom system and lastly, a ToF sensor. The cameras of the smartphone are among the most-highlighted feature and they are touted to come with 5X optical zoom and 10X hybrid zoom and 50X digital zoom.

For selfies and video calls, Huawei P30 Pro smartphone houses a 32MP sensor that comes with support for AI HDR+. The device packs a 4200mAh battery and comes with reverse wireless charging.

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Is OnePlus planning to launch a car?

Avani Bagga
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Is OnePlus planning to launch a car?

Chinese smartphone brand OnePlus enjoys quote a fan following in India. The company is known to launch smartphones with premium specifications at a price that is relatively affordable compared to most other flagship handsets. OnePlus’ popularity in the country has surged to an extent that the company also surpassed Apple in the premium smartphone market in India, according to research firms IDC and Counterpoint.

And now OnePlus has hinted that it may be launching its own car soon. Yes, you read that right. The company took to its Twitter profile yesterday and posted a picture that has an outline of a car and says ‘Coming Soon’. Besides this, OnePlus has not said anything else about its ‘upcoming’ product.

You may be surprised about the company’s plans as till now, there have been no reports that suggest that OnePlus is planning to foray into the auto-business too. Also, when was the last time when OnePlus took to Twitter to announce about a product that is under development?

Since there are too many first times involved as far as this post by OnePlus goes, we should tell you what exactly we think the company has up its sleeve. Considering that the company tweeted this yesterday, it was the perfect time to be an April Fools’ Day prank on its users. Think from OnePlus‘ point of view: What can possibly be better than getting its customers excited about its new upcoming car, only to tell them three days later that it was just a prank on their part?

We have to say, it indeed is a very well thought out post by the company and there were many on Twitter who actually believed it too. Some even thought that the company is again partnering with McLaren, but to launch a car and not a smartphone this time.
However, some were smart enough to catch that the company is just bluffing since April Fools’ Day is right around the corner.

We should mention that a number of technology companies troll their users every year on April Fools’ Day. Google, Microsoft, Snap and Tesla among others are known for the pranks they play on their users on April 1 every year.

However, this year Microsoft has taken a stand against it and said that it would not be participating in any pranks this time on April 1. This is because previously, some of these pranks, which are actually meant just for fun, have caused problems to users. Google even had to apologise after it used Minions from Despicable Me in Gmail a few years back. We will have to wait to see if some other companies join Microsoft too. OnePlus clearly hasn’t.

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Facebook wanted to use tiny drones to enhance mobile internet speeds

Gadget Bridge Bureau
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Facebook wanted to use tiny drones to enhance mobile internet speeds

Social media giant Facebook has explored ways to improve mobile connectivity for years and the main purpose for doing this is obviously to get more number of people in developed countries online. It would indirectly lead to a growth of the platform’s user base too as nowadays it is highly unlikely for people who use internet regularly to not be Facebook. However, the company says that it is doing it for humanitarian reasons.

Among the most noticeable efforts by Facebook have been its Internet.Org initiative, and its Free Basics and Express Wi-Fi offerings that were launched for fast-growing smartphone markets. Another project that can be recalled is Aquila, that has now been discontinued. As a part of the Facebook’s Aquila project, the company wanted to fly large, solar-powered drones which could send internet connectivity down to people.

However, according to a report in Business Insider that quoted a Facebook spokesperson, the company has also secretly been working on another method in which it plans to use small, bird-sized fixed wing aircraft that can be used to boost performance smartphone data speeds. The project is called ‘Catalina’ and has been named after an island near the Southern California coast, which is popular because it earlier used a carrier pigeon network. Although this was discontinued a year ago, its existence shows that the company wanted connectivity via a variety of lenses.

According to the report, the drones that Facebook wanted to use were close to the size of a sparrow. Furthermore, with the project the company did not aim to beam down internet connectivity in remote areas, instead it wanted to augment existing, 2G-level connections so that smartphone users could carry “high-density solid state drives… that could then be used to ferry data.” From what it seems like, the drones would act like mesh network between a grounded connection and the user’s handset in order to facilitate between high-bandwidth data transfers.

However, the company eventually moved away from the idea and abandoned the Aquila project. But then, it still has Internet.org running in various countries across the globe.
The news about Aquila project first surfaced online in June 2018 and back then, the social media giant said that it was still working with Airbus in order to develop enhanced high-altitude platform stations. These are also known as HAPS and can be built into the aircraft in order to beam down high speed internet from low Earth orbit.

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Google finally removed this ‘controversial’ app from Play Store

Gadget Bridge Bureau
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Google finally removed this ‘controversial’ app from Play Store

Technology giant Google has removed a gay conversion therapy app from its Play Store. The app was made by a religious group called Living Hope Ministries and was removed after a wide range of groups started protesting against it.

According to a report by Axios, among those who were protesting against the app included thousands of internet users, New York State Senator Brad Hoylman and Human Rights Campaign. We should mention that the app has been removed just a day after the company was suspended from the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index. We should add here that the index rates workplaces on an overall LGBTQ equality and Google was removed due to refusing to remove the app earlier.

It is also worth noticing that Google is the last major technology company to remove the app and that Apple and Amazon had already removed it from their respective app stores in December last year. We should add that months after that, the app was live on Google’s Play Store even earlier this week.

During this time, the call for Google to remove the app grew louder. A petition was also filed on Change.org that requested the removal of the application and it reached over 1,42,000 signatures. We should add here that Apple‘s petition on the other hand, only got around 356 signatures and right after that the Cupertino based technology giant removed the app.

Google has spoken about its move in a statement saying, “After consulting with outside advocacy groups, reviewing our policies, and making sure we had a thorough understanding of the app and its relation to conversion therapy, we’ve decided to remove it from the Play Store, consistent with other app stores.”

We should also add here that the Conversion Therapy app claims that a person’s sexuality can be changed from gay to straight with a treatment. Needless to say, the app has garnered a lot of criticism and has also been banned in 15 states.

This is not the first time that the search giant has had to remove apps from its Play Store. In the last few months, there have been several instances when apps with adware and malware have been found on Google’s Play Store by researchers and security research firms. The technology giant has taken down such apps in multiple instances during the last six to eight months. While this particular app did not come with adware or malware, it received a lot of criticism from people for discriminating.

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WhatsApp beta update spotted with Consecutive Voice Messages support: Report

Aman Singh
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WhatsApp beta update spotted with Consecutive Voice Messages support: Report

Facebook-owned WhatsApp has launched a new beta update for its platform which brings a new feature called Consecutive Voice Messages. The beta update is for the Android only and it holds the version number 2.19.86. It has also been reported that WhatsApp is working on bringing improvements to the Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode. Although the PiP mode in WhatsApp is disabled in the current version of the app, but we will be able to see its addition in the next update after its proper development. The instant messaging platform is also reportedly working on few new features such as the fingerprint authentication that allows the user to lock/unlock the app using his fingerprint.

The new feature called the Consecutive Voice Message allows users to auto-play two or more voice messages sent one after other, meaning the voice messages will automatically be played consecutively. This feature was earlier spotted in November and at that time, it was still being worked upon. To use the new features that WhatsApp beta 2.19.86 brings, users will have to download the beta version of the app by becoming a part of the beta testers program. We should mention that the new WhatsApp update was first spotted by WABetaInfo.

Other than this, the beta update gets improvements in the PiP mode. The PiP mode in WhatsApp allows the users to watch videos from YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or any other video streaming app while using WhatsApp. Earlier, the users had to close the app to watch videos on any other app but now they can watch the videos and use WhatsApp simultaneously. The videos of the app will appear as a floating bubble on top of the WhatsApp window. The improved PiP mode will allow the users to watch the videos and use WhatsApp without any problems or lags.

Earlier we saw that WhatsApp was working on a number of features in its beta program. For instance, a search image feature was being tested by the messaging platform which would allow users to search anything related to an image he received in his chat. Then we saw that WhatsApp was working on an in-built browser through which the users could open any link they received in their app without opening any web browser like Chrome.

The PiP mode will be coming to users who own smartphones with Android 8.0 Oreo or above. But till now, there is no official comment made by WhatsApp about when it will bring the final version of the update for users. With the addition of so many new features to the platform, WhatsApp is giving more accessibility to its users.

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Hacker accesses Apple accounts of famous athletes and musicians, pleads guilty

Gadget Bridge Bureau
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Hacker accesses Apple accounts of famous athletes and musicians, pleads guilty

Apple is known to keep its users’ data secure and treat their privacy as the top priority. However, it seems like there aren’t any servers in the world that cannot be hacked. Earlier this week, reports about a man pleading guilty to accessing Microsoft and Nintendo’s servers surfaced online. And days later, a man from Georgia has pleaded guilty to hacking into Apple accounts of various famous athletes and musicians. Furthermore, he also spent thousands of dollars from the victims’ accounts.

According to the Justice Department, the 27-year old Kwamaine Jerell Ford obtained his login credentials that belong to a number of professional athletes including players from NBA and NFL and some famous rappers via a phishing scheme. He sent emails to these players and musicians pretending to be a representative from Apple Support. However, we should add here that it has not been disclosed by the Justice Department who exactly was hacked.

The Cupertino-based technology giant reportedly received hundreds of unauthorized logins from the accounts of the victims of the hack. Once he received the login credentials of the person he emailed, Ford tried taking control of his/her account by changing email addresses and passwords. After this, victims could not access their accounts without the help of an Apple employee.

Reports suggest that Ford spent thousands of dollars on things like furniture, money transfers and travel expenses.

Speaking on the matter, FBI special agent Chris Hacker said, “The high profile victims, in this case, are an example that no matter who you are, hackers like Ford are trying to get your personal information. This case demonstrates the need to be careful in protecting personal information and passwords, especially in response to suspicious e-mails. Hopefully, this is a lesson for everyone, not just the victims in this case.”

It is worth adding that last April, Ford was formally accused on six counts including wire fraud, computer fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identity fraud. However, this week he has only pleaded guilty to computer fraud and aggravated identity theft. He would be sentenced for his crimes later this summer.

We should mention that this is not the first time that celebrities have had their Apple accounts hacked due to phishing scams. It has happened earlier too. To recall, in 2014, a major iCloud hack happened when nude photos of a number of celebrities were leaked. The hack was more popularly known as Celebgate and hackers behind it were sentenced in August 2018.

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Gboard update v.2.0 for iOS brings Themes and New Customizations, Android beta app gets support for Deleting Searches

Aman Singh
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Gboard update v.2.0 for iOS brings Themes and New Customizations, Android beta app gets support for Deleting Searches

A new version of Google’s Gboard has been released for the iOS platform and can now be downloaded via Apple’s App Store. The new update of the Gboard brings new and revamped themes to the Google’s virtual keyboard. While the iOS version of Gboard was missing the customization option until now, the Android version of the app had it already. Along with update for its iOS app, Google has also rolled out a beta version of Gboard for Android. In the beta version of Gboard, a feature for Deleting Searches and a revamped overflow menu have been added.

The updated Gboard changelog was shared by Google on the Apple’s App Store. The Gboard update holds the version number v 2.0.0 and as mentioned earlier, it brings new customization support along with new themes to Google’s keyboard app. Google has said that now iOS users will be able to change the background colours of the Gboard, glide trail thickness, glide trail colour, key background colours and key boarder colours. Now, Gboard offers a total of 28 colours for the users to select from for various customizations including the gradient options. Earlier, the users were able to switch only between the light and dark modes on Gboard.

But it should be noted that not all of the new customizations will be brought to the Chinese and Japanese keyboard layouts.

Talking about the new beta update released by Google for the Android platform, the Gboard version 8.1 and it was first spotted by 9to5Google. In this beta update of Gboard some minor changes have been made such as changed overflow screen, and support for deleting the Gboard searches. The new Gboard overflow screen layout allows more icons and offers a better screen real estate than the earlier layout. The other feature is the deletion of Gboard searches which allows the users to long press on the search bar to enable the option of deleting searches. Once confirmed, the selected searches will be deleted.

A report by Android Police found out that the upcoming Gboard update for Android found mention of OCR and sharing. Google will most likely limit the sharing functionality to a whitelisted list of applications. Also, Google might add support of five new languages in its upcoming Gboard update including Buginese, Kurukh, Makassarese, Sasak, and Silt’e.

But till now, there is no word about the availability of the new update for the Gboard Android app.

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Android Q to bring more changes to the Digital Wellbeing integration: Report

Aman Singh
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Android Q to bring more changes to the Digital Wellbeing integration: Report

Google’s upcoming update for its Android OS platform is currently being called Android Q and it will bring a series of major changes over the current Android Pie Operating System. Earlier this month, Google had released a beta version of its upcoming Android OS, which showcased some of the features the next iteration of the Android will have. But there are many changes and features that are hidden from the users and those features haven’t been made public yet. But the recent discovery about the new Android update shows that Google is testing Digital Wellbeing integration with the Pixel Launcher in Android Q.

Digital Wellbeing is a feature, which helps the user monitor their app usage habits so they are able to see which app they are using the most and spending most of their time on. It was first introduced earlier in Android 9.0 Pie last year.

This feature in Android Q was first noticed by Quinny899, a member of XDA developer. Currently, in the beta version of the Android Q the Digital Wellbeing features is not enabled from the start as it has to be specially activated. But the feature is not easy to find in the beta build of the upcoming Android OS. With this feature turned on, the users will be able to ‘pause’ an app directly from the home screen. It means that the users can pause the working of an app directly from the home screen itself rather than setting up timers for the app.

The new feature of Android Q was able to work on a Pixel 2 XL. To use it, the users simply have to long-press an app from within the Pixel Launcher. The long-press will give a pop-up option in the contextual menu, which will read ‘pause the app’. Once the app is paused, its icon will turn grey. Although this might not be the final version of the Digital Wellbeing integration coming to the Android Q, but it will definitely give the users more access and control over their app and their smartphone usage habits.

Currently, the Digital Wellbeing feature gives the users access to set app timers from the Digital Wellbeing menu, the app timers functions as its name suggests. It stops or disables a particular app when the app usage reaches the set timer so the users don’t spend more time than they intend to.

More news about the Android Q is expected to be announced by the California-based tech firm, Google at its I/O 2019 event scheduled to start on May 7.

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[Video] Samsung Galaxy S10+ Review: Here is everything we found out

Gadget Bridge Bureau
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[Video] Samsung Galaxy S10+ Review: Here is everything we found out

Priced at Rs 79,300 for the 8GB RAM + 128GB version with Exynos chipset, we used the Samsung Galaxy S10+ for an extended period to understand what makes it tick and what makes it tock. This is our video review of the largest S series smartphone in the current generation, the Samsung Galaxy S10+.

For the latest gadget and tech news, and gadget reviews, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. For newest tech & gadget videos subscribe to our YouTube Channel. You can also stay up to date using the Gadget Bridge Android App.

Apple officially shuts down its AirPower wireless charger unit

Aman Singh
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Apple officially shuts down its AirPower wireless charger unit

Apple’s much-awaited AirPower wireless charging pad has officially been cancelled by the company on Friday. The announcement comes as a very rare news by the Cupertino-based company as Apple had earlier announced about the AirPower in 2017, where it said that it would start selling the product in 2019. But pulling the plug from one of its major products it not what the company is known for.

Earlier, the company even released some marketing photographs of the AirPower, but then it delayed the launch of the product. And now, in one final move, Apple cancelled its wireless charging platform – AirPower. According to Apple, the reason behind the cancellation of the device is that the AirPower is unable to meet the high standards set by the company about its products.

Dan Riccio, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering said, “After much effort, we’ve concluded AirPower will not achieve our high standards, and we have cancelled the project. We apologise to those customers who were looking forward to this launch.”

Rumours about the launch of the device was doing the rounds since last year. There were articles and videos coming of the product till last week showing how it would work and would revolutionise the Apple product’s charging. Earlier this week the company held a launch event where it unveiled some of its services like the Apple TV+, Apple News subscription service, Apple card etc.

The AirPower too was expected to launch at the same event. But the fans of Apple were disappointed that the product wasn’t even showcased. It was also expected to be in the markets this time around, but now it seems like it won’t be possible anymore.

The news about the cancellation comes as Apple is trying to diversify its revenue by expanding its product line-ups – hardware as well as software – and deliver more products to the users. It should be noted that Apple had been telling its customers about the wireless charging since the launch of iPhone 8, which came with the wireless charging capability.

Even the Apple Watch is able to charge wirelessly, and it was last week when the company released their new updated AirPods wireless earbuds capable of wireless charging. The Apple’s devices are able to charge wirelessly through third-party wireless chargers, too. But Apple’s cancellation of its own wireless charger, AirPower, which it had teased the fans for years comes as a very big surprise.

Dan Riccio also said that Apple might launch some sort of wireless charger in the future, he said that the company is “committed to push the wireless experience forward.”

So, a day might come in the future where we might get to see an Apple’s wireless charger, but that day is not today.

For the latest gadget and tech news, and gadget reviews, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. For newest tech & gadget videos subscribe to our YouTube Channel. You can also stay up to date using the Gadget Bridge Android App.

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