Popular messaging app WhatsApp is back in news. The Facebook-owned messaging platform has just received a new beta update for Android that brings with itself new features for photos that are exchanged on the app.
As a part of WhatsApp’s beta update version 2.19.18, the app has got support for a new ‘Show in chat’ shortcut and a new ‘Rotate’ feature. While the former allows users to quickly see media directly in the chat, the latter – as the name suggests – enables users to rotate images without leaving WhatsApp.
To access the two features, you need to click on the image you received on WhatsApp within the app, and then press on the three dot icon on the top right.
Here, you will see that ‘Show in chat’ is the second option and ‘Rotate’ is the sixth option. We should mention that ‘Show in chat’ shortcut was already available for iOS and ‘Rotate’ was earlier available as ‘Rotate left’ and ‘Rotate right’. However, it has now been clubbed into one.
Another new thing that we noticed on WhatsApp’s beta version 2.19.18 is a forward icon next to images on chat. So instead of clicking on the image, then pressing on the three dot icon to select the option of ‘Forward’ as we did earlier, you can just directly press on the shortcut in chat next to the image.
It is worth noticing that on pressing the three dot icon, you no longer see the ‘Forward’ option, which basically means that WhatsApp has started placing it next to the images in chat to make it easier for users to share their photos with multiple contacts via the app.
In unrelated news, The Facebook-owned messaging app broke down this week affecting almost 1.5 billion users across the world. Reports that followed the breakdown suggested that both Android and iOS users were affected and were not able to access the app on that day. It is worth noticing that this happened right after WhatsApp announced that it is rolling out the limit to forwarding messages to just 5 chats across the globe. The limit to forwarding messages was first released in India back in July 2018 in order to curb the spread of fake news in the country.
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WhatsApp had introduced a separate app meant for business customers, known as the WhatsApp Business. Now, its being provided for desktop and web use by porting many of its popular features that were until now, only available on smartphones. WhatsApp Business app has spread to 5 million users currently. The features that WhatsApp has included for desktop and web apps include tools to organise and filter chats, as well as to quickly reply to customer inquiries. This feature is popularly known as Quick Replies.
It enables businesses to respond to common questions from customers in the form of pre-written replies. This is reminiscent of a Facebook feature called Saved Replies. This method also cateres to Businessmen that allows them to reply to customers with canned messages. The quick replies in WhatsApp can be activated with the use of “/” button. The Quick Replies feature joins other customer service features, such as automated greeting messages that are triggered when a customer calls a business account.
The automated greeting messages feature can also be used to get rid of messages that can be scheduled for situations in which you are unable to send immediate reply to customer inquiries. Now, these features are rolling out to desktop users and web app users along with labels and chat list filters (CLF). Labels helps you organise contacts and CLF helps users filter chat list by categories which may include unread messages, groups or broadcast slants. These features however, are not new to smartphones. As the company puts it, this move has been made so that business owners can easily execute their activities.
With this, it will be very convenient for them to send invoices, schedule appointments, and respond to customer inquiries. Now, they don’t have to resort to their smartphones in order to execute these tasks everytime. The introduction of WhatsApp Business account to desktop and web apps was done yesterday.
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Realme is all set to launch a new budget smartphone in the Indian market. And in all probability, it may happen very soon because a dedicated landing page for an upcoming Realme smartphone has gone live on Flipkart. Right after the landing page went live on Flipkart, media reports surfaced online suggesting that the company may be planning to launch the Realme A1 smartphone.
It is worth noticing that the page on Flipkart says ‘Entertainment ka Boss’, which can only mean that the upcoming device by Realme will be focussed on entertainment. Although no features or specifications have mentioned on the e-commerce website, the landing page does suggest that the upcoming device will have a very high onboard storage space and will feature a display with a wide notch on top.
We should mention that Realme U1 and Realme 2 Pro smartphones come with a smaller waterdrop-style notch, the smartphone that has been listed is likely to be priced below the two devices. And if this is true, the company may be looking to launch a smartphone priced around Rs 10,000 in India. And needless to say, the smartphone will be exclusively available via Flipkart. The company also tied up with the e-commerce major when it launched the Realme 2, Realme 2 Pro, and Realme C1 smartphones.
A number of speculative reports have surfaced online that claim that Oppo‘s sub-brand plans to launch the Realme A1 mobile in the country and that is the smartphone the landing page on Flipkart is referring to. Speaking about Realme A1, a prior report in DroidShout claimed that the smartphone will be available in Black and Yellow colours. Although there is no word on the specifications of the upcoming device, they shouldn’t be as impressive as the ones we saw on Realme U1.
But considering that the handset will be focussing on entertainment, we expect to see a large display with Full HD+ resolution. It is also being speculated that the Realme A1 smartphone will be powered by MediaTek Helio P60 or P70 chipset. On the camera front, the device is speculated to come with dual rear cameras with AI enhancements. However, we should mention that all of this is just speculations right now, and we should take this information with a pinch of salt. We’ll update you when we will get to know more about the smartphone.
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Cab-hailing app Uber has revamped its Fleet app in India. The app now comes with a feature to allow fleet owners to connect with new drivers and add them to their network. The Uber Fleet app has been rolled out to a number of new cities in India over the last few months.
And according to Uber‘s Head of Driver Product, Daniel Danker, the app is now being rolled out across the country. Danker also said that the Fleet app now comes with an enhanced experience with greater usability. The revamped app also has features that will help fleet owners manage their vehicles and drivers in a better manner, Danker added.
Speaking about the Driver matching feature, Danker said that it allows fleet owners to connect with even those drivers on Uber platforms who don’t own a vehicle. These driver-partners will come onboard only after Uber does a verification and fleet owners will be able to see the details of these candidates before they connect with them via the app.
Danker was quoted by PTI saying, “There is an opportunity for people, who didn’t approach us as they didn’t own a vehicle, to now come on board as a partner. We expect this (number) to be significant.”
He further added that besides India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Latin America also have a large number of fleet owners with a number of cars and there is potential to launch the Fleet app in these regions as well.
The ride-hailing app is locked in an intense battle with Ola in India as well as Australia and it reportedly has around three lakh driver-partners in India. Uber saw its revenue from India grow to Rs 21.5 crore, while its net profit was Rs 19.6 lakh in the fiscal year that ended in March 2018. The company has stated earlier that India is one among its top markets and it will remain committed to investing in the country.
According to Danker, once it launched the Fleet app, Uber found an increase in the operational efficiency of the fleet owners and a reduction in the vehicle downtime. It also observed that driver-partners on its network were completing more number of trips.
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Twitter has been spotted testing a dedicated tag to highlight the original source of a thread. This tag, that is dubbed as “Original Tweeter” is visible to a small number of users. This is being executed on pretext for highlighting relevant replies in discussions and create a distinction between respondents and the original source of a thread. Previously, Twitter revealed its plans to bring engaging conversations on its platform. It also announced that it will start off with a beta programme to test its upcoming features.
The Original Tweeter tag is going to roll out for a handful users belonging to both Android and iOS platforms. Regarding this, it gave a confirmation to TechCrunch, “Twitter’s purpose is to serve the public conversation. As part of this work, we’re exploring adding more context to discussions by highlighting relevant replies – like those from the original Tweeter.” The latest development of this tag is probably going to help users distinguish the original source of a thread from multiple respondents. This, however, will be available to the masses later.
This move is done in order to eradicate fake accounts that spread misinformation on Twitter. The Original Tweeter Tag will help identify who has started with a thread. Even profile information such as photos, name if changed, won’t be an obstacle for users to identify the original tweeter of a thread. Similarly on Reddit, there is an original poster icon that one can see right after the username of the original Redditor of a thread. As mentioned, twitter announced that it is working in order to launch a new beta version for its upcoming features.
The ones who are enrolled in the beta testing for Twitter’s new features will initially be able to test colour-coded replies to distinguish multiple users. Also, there is going to be an algorithmic testing for emphasising important replies.
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It seems like Vivo has decided to launch smartphones that look more and more futuristic and pack some really cool features. First, we saw the Vivo NEX last year that came with a pop-up selfie camera and an in-display fingerprint scanner. Then we saw its successor Vivo NEX Dual Display that, as the name suggests, comes with two displays and no selfie camera as the second screen on the device’s back panel can be used while clicking selfies with the triple rear camera setup. We loved the design of both of these smartphones. And now, the Chinese smartphone brand has unveiled its Vivo Apex 2019 concept phone that has some really cool features.
To begin with, Vivo Apex 2019 concept phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC clubbed with 12GB of RAM and is available in 256GB and 512GB storage options. Since it has the latest chipset by Qualcomm, the device has support for 5G and comes with a MagPort, which is a magnetic connector on the smartphone’s back panel that can be used for charging and data transfer.
Vivo Apex 2019 features a 6.39-inch AMOLED display that comes with the piezoelectric transducer to emit sound. So, much like Vivo NEX, the smartphone‘s screen doubles as a speaker too. It is worth noticing that no selfie camera is visible on the front panel of the newly unveil concept phone.
However, there is a key highlight we must mention: Vivo Apex 2019 concept phone has Full-Display Fingerprint Scanning. This means that you can touch anywhere on the smartphone’s display and it will unlock. We should mention that no other company has done this so far and this makes Vivo Apex 2019 concept phone’s fingerprint sensor the most advanced one yet.
The Vivo Apex 2019 concept phone has a combination of capacitive touch and pressure-sensing that replaces the physical power and volume rocker buttons placed on the side edges of the smartphone. The device sports a 12MP+13MP dual rear cameras coupled with an LED flash. As of now, there is no word on the selfie camera of the device, so we will have to wait until we find out more about it. We would also have to wait to know about the device’s IP rating and if it has support for wireless charging.
We should also mention that since this is a concept phone, certain changes may be made to it before it is launched commercially. We are looking forward to learning more about the Vivo Apex 2019 concept phone at the MWC 2019, that is scheduled to begin on February 25.
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Chinese smartphone brand Meizu has been in news since yesterday for announcing the world’s first holeless phone – Meizu Zero. However, that’s not all that the company announced yesterday. The smartphone maker’s founder Huang Zhang confirmed that Meizu M9 Note will be getting launched in mid-February. Like all other smartphones from Meizu, we expect it to be first unveiled in China and then make its way to India.
Meizu M9 Note smartphone will sport a 48MP primary camera coupled with a 5MP depth sensing sensor at the back. The main lens used on Meizu M9 Note will be Samsung GM1 (1/2″) sensor that will come with 0.8µm pixels and have an f/1.8 aperture. With this aperture, the camera lens will have a wide-viewing angle and coupled with the massive number of megapixels, we can expect it to click some great photos.
It was also revealed at the announcement that the smartphone will have a powerful configuration. It is being said that the device will run Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 675 chipset, which has the 11mm process technology and comes with Kryo 460 processor architecture. We should mention that in Antutu benchmark test, the smartphone has scored around 1,70,000.
Other than this, it has also been revealed that the Meizu M9 Note mobile will house a 4,000mAh Li-ion battery and that its price will start at CNY 1,000.
Image courtesy: Weibo
Speaking of Meizu Zero, it is the first ever smartphone to come without any ports, holes, buttons or even a SIM tray. The device supports wireless charging and customers will have to opt for an e-SIM in order to use it. It has an in-display fingerprint sensor and uses haptic feedback system to offer virtual buttons in place of physical power and volume buttons. While some key aspects about the functioning about the smartphone have been announced, we expect more details to surface around the time of Mobile World Congress that is scheduled for next month.
To recall, Meizu had made its comeback in India in December last year with the launch of three Android smartphones – M16th, M6T and C9. While the Meizu M16th is priced at Rs 39,999 and competes with the likes of OnePlus 6T, Meizu M6T and C9 cost Rs 7,999 and Rs 5,999 respectively.
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HP has introduced the Jet Fusion series of 3D printers today. This printers have been designed with latest 3D printing technology so that manufacturers can produce engineering-grade, function, parts in either black or white. The Jet Fusion 300/500 series is going to allow small-to medium-sized product development teams and design businesses, entrepreneurs, and universities to access HP’s industry leading Multi Jet printing technology. The series complements HP’s Jet Fusion 4200/4210 3D solution that is made of industry leading technology, too.
The Jet Fusion 4200/4210 3D solution is known for providing lowest cost per part and designed for manufacturing environments. The HP Jet Fusion 3D 4200 Printing Solution provides end-to-end process that delivers both functional prototypes and final parts. HP’s proprietary printing technology helps to increase its breakthrough speed 10 times faster. Other features include accurate thermal control, in-printer quality checks, HP SmartStream 3D Build Manager and Command center. Automated materials mixing and loading systems increases effectiveness and efficiency in workflow.
Rob Mesaros, Head of 3D Printing and Digital Manufacturing of HP Asia-Pacific and Japan said, “HP is committed to transforming Asia’s $6 trillion manufacturing industry, with its diverse collection of global brands and contract manufacturers. We are making the most advanced 3D printing technology accessible to the widest possible audience with the industry’s first low-cost full-color 3D platform that can produce functional parts – no matter your industry or design complexity.”
Commenting upon HP’s capability in 3D printing, Sumeer Chandra, Managing Director of HP, India said, “HP believes 3D Printing has the potential to disrupt and transform the manufacturing sector. With our cutting-edge 3D Printing technology, designers and engineers can completely reimagine products, leverage new materials, escape the limitations of traditional manufacturing, and produce new products more quickly and efficiently.”
The Jet Fusion 300/500 series supports three leading colour file formats—OBJ, VRML and 3MF. This helps designers to easily produce parts without carrying out the burden of file conversion or data corruption. The HP jet Fusion 300/500 series includes HP Jet Fusion 340/380, HP Jet Fusion 540 (monochrome) and 580 (colour) and HP Jet Fusion 540 (monochrome) and 580 (colour). The price is TBA.
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Xiaomi India head, Manu Kumar Jain teased the launch of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7. From this, we know that the smartphone will launch in India soon enough. The smartphone has already launched in China this month. On Thursday, Manu Jain tweeted an image along with Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun where he was holding the device. The tweet also posted about the upside-down text and with this we can say that the Redmi Note 7 is going to come with a 48MP camera. It was launched in China at a price of CNY 999 that is roughly Rs 10,500 in India.
When the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 was unveiled in China, that time the Redmi Note 7 Pro was teased. From that we know that it is going to come with a 48MP Sony IMX586 primary sensor at the back, too. The smartphone will reportedly launch during the Chinese New Year and will be categorised under Redmi by Xiaomi sub-brand. The Redmi Note 7 Pro is rumoured to be powered by Snapdragon 675 SoC and will come at a price tag of CNY 1,499 (roughly Rs 15,700). Since the device is expected to launch during the Chinese New year that is happening in the next month, it is safe to assume that it will launch in India soon after.
To recall, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 sports an IPS LCD 6.3-inch capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 1,080×2,340 pixels and an aspect ratio 19.5:9. This device runs on Android 9.0 Pie skinned with MIUI 10. It is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 660 octa-core CPU. The handset measures 159.2×75.2×8.1mm and weighs 186 grams. There are three RAM variants—namely 3GB, 4GB and 6GB. The first one brings a 32GB onboard storage while the other two bring a 64GB onboard storage.
There is a dual rear camera setup that consists of a 5MP and 48MP sensor while the front camera meant for taking selfies has a single sensor of 13MP. Connectivity options include WiFi 802.11, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, Infrared port, FM Radio and USB 2.0. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 packs a large 4,000mAh battery.
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While most smartphone companies are trying to make their devices as bezel-less as possible, Chinese technology company Meizu has announced the world’s first portless, ‘holeless’ smartphone – Meizu Zero. But then we have to admit one thing: There were a number of signs that should have had us prepared for this. Firstly, the 3.5mm headphone jack is close to becoming extinct. Secondly, wireless charging is increasingly becoming popular and is even preferred by a number of people. Another very prominent sign was that buttons on most mobile phones have been replaced with software UI. Meizu Zero takes this trend to a new level by being completely holeless. Read on and find out everything that you should know about the Meizu Zero smartphone:
In This Article
Why is it called holeless?
Meizu Zero is being marketed at the ‘world’s first holeless phone’ as it comes without ports, speaker holes, buttons. The device doesn’t even have a SIM-card slot. Meizu Zero’s body is basically a slab made of ceramic that is nearly seamless. We call it nearly seamless because the smartphone has a camera bump on its back panel that is slightly protruding. We should also mention that Meizu Zero has microphone holes on its bottom edge.
Its display may remind you of Samsung Galaxy S9
One thing about Meizu Zero that we found to be very similar to Samsung Galaxy S9 is its display. The smartphone has a 5.99-inch AMOLED display that has a chin that looks a lot like the one we saw on Samsung’s flagship device. It also has a bezel on the top instead of the notch, much like Galaxy S9. We should point out that Meizu Zero has a fingerprint scanner embedded on its display.
How does it manage the sound?
The display of Meizu Zero comes with the company’s ‘mSound 2.0’ technology that is supposed to enable it to function as a speaker. This reminds us of the linear vibrator technology that we saw on Vivo NEX last year. For those unaware, in Vivo NEX, the sound was transmitted through the phone and relayed via the screen.
What about charging?
Needless to say, Meizu Zero can only be charged wirelessly. However, it is worth noticing that the smartphone has support for a speed of up to 18W through its ‘Super mCharge Wireless’ technology. This surpasses Apple’s 7.5W and Samsung’s 9W speeds.
How do you turn the phone on or adjust the volume without buttons?
Meizu Zero uses the haptic feedback system to offer virtual buttons on the side edge that replace the physical power and volume rocker keys. These can be used to turn the smartphone on or off and to adjust the volume of the device.
You would have to use e-SIM technology in Meizu Zero
As we mentioned earlier, Meizu Zero does not have a SIM card slot at all. So, users will have to use an e-SIM instead of a physical SIM card if they are interested in buying the smartphone.
Other key specifications
The Chinese smartphone brand has not shed much light on the specifications of the upcoming device. However, it did reveal that Meizu Zero will be powered by last year’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor.
What about the IP rating?
If you are an interested buyer, you would be happy to know that Meizu Zero will come with an IP68 rating. This means that Meizu Zero will be waterproof and dustproof.
When can we expect other details?
Although as of now, there is no word on the rest of the specifications or the pricing of the smartphone, we can expect to hear more about it at Mobile World Congress that is scheduled to begin on February 25.
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Here, you will see that ‘Show in chat’ is the second option and ‘Rotate’ is the sixth option. We should mention that ‘Show in chat’ shortcut was already available for iOS and ‘Rotate’ was earlier available as ‘Rotate left’ and ‘Rotate right’. However, it has now been clubbed into one.
Another new thing that we noticed on WhatsApp’s beta version 2.19.18 is a forward icon next to images on chat. So instead of clicking on the image, then pressing on the three dot icon to select the option of ‘Forward’ as we did earlier, you can just directly press on the shortcut in chat next to the image.
It is worth noticing that on pressing the three dot icon, you no longer see the ‘Forward’ option, which basically means that WhatsApp has started placing it next to the images in chat to make it easier for users to share their photos with multiple contacts via the app.
In unrelated news, The Facebook-owned messaging app broke down this week affecting almost 1.5 billion users across the world. Reports that followed the breakdown suggested that both Android and iOS users were affected and were not able to access the app on that day. It is worth noticing that this happened right after WhatsApp announced that it is rolling out the limit to forwarding messages to just 5 chats across the globe. The limit to forwarding messages was first released in India back in July 2018 in order to curb the spread of fake news in the country.
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. 
The Vivo Apex 2019 concept phone has a combination of capacitive touch and pressure-sensing that replaces the physical power and volume rocker buttons placed on the side edges of the smartphone. The device sports a 12MP+13MP dual rear 
Meizu Zero is being marketed at the ‘world’s first holeless phone’ as it comes without ports, speaker holes, buttons. The device doesn’t even have a SIM-card slot. Meizu Zero’s body is basically a slab made of ceramic that is nearly seamless. We call it nearly seamless because the smartphone has a camera bump on its back panel that is slightly protruding. We should also mention that Meizu Zero has microphone holes on its bottom edge.
One thing about Meizu Zero that we found to be very similar to Samsung Galaxy S9 is its display. The smartphone has a 5.99-inch AMOLED display that has a chin that looks a lot like the one we saw on Samsung’s flagship device. It also has a bezel on the top instead of the notch, much like Galaxy S9. We should point out that Meizu Zero has a fingerprint scanner embedded on its display.
The display of Meizu Zero comes with the company’s ‘mSound 2.0’ technology that is supposed to enable it to function as a speaker. This reminds us of the linear vibrator technology that we saw on Vivo NEX last year. For those unaware, in Vivo NEX, the sound was transmitted through the phone and relayed via the screen.
Needless to say, Meizu Zero can only be charged wirelessly. However, it is worth noticing that the smartphone has support for a speed of up to 18W through its ‘Super mCharge Wireless’ technology. This surpasses Apple’s 7.5W and Samsung’s 9W speeds.
Meizu Zero uses the haptic feedback system to offer virtual buttons on the side edge that replace the physical power and volume rocker keys. These can be used to turn the smartphone on or off and to adjust the volume of the device.
As we mentioned earlier, Meizu Zero does not have a SIM card slot at all. So, users will have to use an e-SIM instead of a physical SIM card if they are interested in buying the smartphone.
The Chinese smartphone brand has not shed much light on the specifications of the upcoming device. However, it did reveal that Meizu Zero will be powered by last year’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor.
If you are an interested buyer, you would be happy to know that Meizu Zero will come with an IP68 rating. This means that Meizu Zero will be waterproof and dustproof.
Although as of now, there is no word on the rest of the specifications or the pricing of the smartphone, we can expect to hear more about it at Mobile World Congress that is scheduled to begin on February 25.
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