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Microsoft’s Your Phone app to get a new Settings page and dedicated Contact list page.

By
Ramana Rishi
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0
Image Credit: newsbreak.com

Microsoft is working on new features and improvement on its collaboration tools, as users have been using these tools extensively for work from home purposes. Due to this Microsoft wants users to keep using their tools by making them more interactive and feature-rich. The tech giant has now introduced a new feature to their Your Phone app, which would help the users to make calls, send messages, and run the Your Phone apps on Windows 10 PC. 

The two new features that we can possibly see in the near future will be a redesigned Settings Page with a dedicated page for contacts on your phone. The UI design for the Settings page will be completely changed, which will make it look more cleaner and organized. The change in the feature will also change the way you used the app to call a person. Earlier, Your phone app only allowed the user to call from the call history. However, with the new feature, the user will be able to call up anyone in their contact list. 

There is no confirmation on when the feature will be made available for the users as it is still in development and might take some time before the testing is complete. However, the user can install the Your Phone app on Android and Windows PC to check out all the other interesting features. Other than these features, we can expect Microsoft to launch many new features to the platform which can make collaborative tools more engaging.

Facebook sued a man selling fake likes on Instagram

By
Shanmugam
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0
Image Credit: techprevue.com

Facebook has always been strict about fake and false engagement on their platforms, which is not only wrong but also provides wrong data to the company regarding their business. Facebook has recently sued a person who was selling fake Instagram likes and comments on their Instagram platform. Facebook said that the issue has been filed under “fake engagement service“, against the service called Nakrutka. It used a network of bots and automation software to distribute fake likes, comments, views, and followers on Instagram. 

This is not the first time Facebook has filed such claims. In the past, the company has filed similar lawsuits against developers who misuse data or otherwise violate its terms of service. In the same year, the company sued a Spanish developer and a company in New Zealand in 2019 for selling fake likes on Instagram. Facebook claims that all the lawsuits are in accordance with the social network’s pledge and they will continue to take aggressive action against any such developer or company in the future as well. In a similar lawsuit, the company has also sued MobiBurn who used malicious software to collect Facebook data from users.

Facebook has made it clear that any third-party developer who is using Facebook or Instagram to collect users’ data for spamming or selling fake likes and comments will have to face very strict action. Users might see many ads where people claim to provide a number of subscribers and like using bots. Strict action will be taken against them and also people who are publicizing them.

Google Assistant will now prioritize your task as per the time of day.

By
Ramana Rishi
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0
Image credit: assistant.google.com

Google’s Assistant is one of the best AI assistants there is, and the company is consistently working on new features to make it even better than before. In the same attempt, the company has added a bunch of new features, which will make Google Assistant focus on the important task as per the time. The AI assistant will now be able to prioritize the list of your task, depending on the time of day. The most important task will be kept on the top while others will be kept below. 

You will be able to see all the changes in Google Assistant’s snapshot, where the task will keep changing the order based on the time of day. The AI will learn from your past routine and will try to change the priority of the task accordingly. It will represent your previous priority of the task and check on how you have previously interacted with the Assistant. You can also get information like news, to-dos, and weather. For example, if you use the smartphone to read the newspaper, Google Assistant will keep it on priority at the beginning of the day. 

You will also get a recommendation from the assistant, regarding the suggested podcast, recipes, restaurants, etc. The Snapshot feature will show any events like birthday much before then it should be on and on the day of the event, you get the chance to call, text, or even sing a birthday song. Just saying “Show me my day” will show the complete snapshot of the day, making it easier for you to manage things.

iOS 14 might hit Facebook’s business severely, and they are not happy about it.

By
Shanmugam
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0
Image Credit: fossbytes.com

Apple’s iOS 14 has been regarded as one of the most secure and best updates yet for Apple device users. The new version of iOS is more focused on users’ privacy and how their data and device are used by the different applications so that the user can be aware as to how their information is used. While the users are very happy with the new features, Facebook doesn’t seem to be happy about it. The new iOS 14 seems to be a problem for the business plan of Facebook and how it was planning to expand its base. 

Apple’s new feature will give users the choice to decide whether they can be tracked across apps using a unique identifier. The feature will provide a popup to the users, asking them to permit if they allow the app to track them. Since the decision remains in the hand of the user, the amount of data that Facebook collects is going to cut short by a lot. While the feature is meant to give users full control of the details an app can track, it will also affect the ad campaigns and effectiveness of ads for users. The same data was collected by the Social networking giant to make sure that relevant ads are placed for the user by tracking their location and other details. 

However, if a customer rejects the app from tracking, Facebook will not be able to do that. Facebook has already confirmed the fear of revenue reducing to 50% due to this feature for them and many app developers for Apple. A lot of experts have been appreciating the step taken by Apple, while the tech experts are looking out for more ways to make sure that the relevance of ads could be maintained.

Fortnite’s new season will not be available to iOS users.

By
Shanmugam
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0
image credit: forbes.com

After Apple removed the Fortnite app from the App Store, due to the use of a third-party payment platform and trying to avoid the 30% commission that Apple charges, there have been a lot of ups and downs for Epic developers. Although the district court stopped Apple from removing the developer account of Epic Games and affecting the pass that uses the UnReal engine, they have still allowed Fortnite to be reinstated on the App Store. 

Due to this, all Fortnite players on the iOS platform will not be able to play the new season of the game which was released on August 27. Since the iOS players were unable to get the game update, they were unable to proceed into the new season and get updates on new maps, weapons, and other features. Although, the same is not a problem for Android users as they can still download the game from Fortnite.com or Samsung Galaxy Store. Also, they will continue to receive the update for the game, making them able to participate in the new season. 

Players on iOS devices may still be able to play the season 3, which was updated to season 4 yesterday, but any further progression of the gameplay or the character will not be possible. The company has also confirmed that iOS players will not get the release for the new Chapter 2 – Season 4 update (v14.00). Until the court decides otherwise, it seems that Fortnite will not be a part of the App Store unless they agree to pay the commission.

Xiaomi’s in-display camera technology to go on mass-production next year.

By
Shanmugam
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0
Image Credit: theverge.com

Xiaomi has been keeping themselves really busy this year. First, they gave the customer, all-new Redmi K30, and Mi 10 Ultra, and now the company is working on a new camera tech, which could be a part of their future camera phone lineup and other phones as well. The company unveiled its third generation of under-display camera technology, which they claim will start mass-producing next year. The company displayed the first prototype of an in-display camera over a year ago and has further improved it to make it commercially available to users. 

The camera will replace the existing front camera on the phone, which is visible either as a dot or waterdrop notch. With the new technology, the camera will not be visible on the front screen. In fact, it will remain hidden beneath the front screen. It has a proprietary pixel arrangement that allows the screen to pass light through the gap area of subpixels. This lets each pixel on the display retain a complete RGB subpixel layout, without sacrificing pixel density. When the user turns on the front camera, it will be visible on the screen, but will automatically merge into the screen when disabled. 

The company claims that after the mass production begins for the same, other types of screen design will not be required and it will provide edge-to-edge viewing. The company will also be updating the algorithm to improve on brightness, contrast, and other elements. Although the technology is still under testing, it will be ready by the next year.

Apple might be working on a new search engine to compete with Google.

By
Sriram
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0
Image credit: fossbytes.com

When it comes to searching for anything on the internet, the first thing or name that comes to our mind is Google. Google search engine has been one of the most popular and accurate search engines in the world and there has been no competitor that has come close to dominating Google search. But it might not remain that way too long. It seems that Apple is building its own search engine to use on its devices. Apple has been paying billions of dollars to Google for making them the default search engine on their device. Apple is thinking about creating their own search engine and saving the money they have to spend every year.

The first hint towards this came through Coywolf’s John Henshaw, who mentioned that Apple has been hiring search engineers for the new tasks and Apple Maps. The company has also updated its web-crawler support page (Applebot), with new information on rank results. It means that Apple has started to increase the crawling of the sites recently. Currently, Google search has about 95% of the search engine market, but the recent antitrust issues that have been rising against the company seems to make things harder for Google and Apple is surely taking the right step to have their own search engine on their device.

If Apple is truly working on making a search engine competitor for Google, it could be really interesting for people to finally get an alternative for Google, through a company that is as big and has the resources to match Google’s search engine resources. Although, it is still not clear and would be speculative to talk about it as to how much work Apple has already done into the platform. However, the way Apple has been taking care of data and users’ privacy, it seems like tough competition for Google is about to enter the market.

OnePlus new budget smartphone can launch later this year.

By
Sriram
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0
Image Credit: techburner.com

A few days back, rumors started to come up regarding a new mid-range smartphone that OnePlus is reportedly working on. The handset could be the cheapest offering from OnePlus till now, which is around $200. As per the latest details on the handset, which has been code-named “Clover“, can be launched in the market later this year. The device was first spotted on the GeekBench score, and as per the latest information from Android Central, the phone will launch imminently in the Global market. 

The specs also reveal that the phone will have a 6.52 inch of screen, which will be an IPS LCD display, with a 720p resolution. The phone is also rumored to be powered by Snapdragon 460 Soc, which will be paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The phone is expected to come with more variants having higher RAM and storage. Apart from these specs, the phone will also have a 6,000 mAh battery and 18W fast charging support with a rear fingerprint sensor.

When it comes to cameras on this phone, the specs reveal that the phone will have a triple camera setup on the rear and a selfie camera on the front screen. When you see the specs combined, the overall package seems to be a great offering for low to mid-range phone categories. OnePlus will finally be able to enter the budget category of smartphones with this model and with a 6,000 mAh battery, which is the biggest of their offering, you can easily expect the phone to last for more than two days.

New Amazon’s Halo fitness tracker will detect human emotions through voice and create a 3D scan to measure body fat.

By
Sriram
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0
Image Credit: ommcomnews.com

Amazon has been known for innovating some great tech and integrating it into consumer products. The next big thing they are investing their resources into is a fitness tracker. The new fitness band from Amazon is going to bring a lot more features than what is already existing in the market. The details confirm that the fitness band from Amazon will have activity tracking, heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, and a lot more.

The fitness band is named Halo fitness tracker and it will also have the ability to listen to the human voice and track the emotional state of the user. Apart from this feature, it will also estimate the user’s body fat percentage by taking a three-dimensional render of the body. These features will make Amazon’s fitness band a lot more unique and appealing to the consumer. The fitness band will also have features like an accelerometer, temperature sensor, heart rate monitor, two microphones, and an LED indicator light.

Amazon has clarified that the in-built microphone will not be used to use Alexa, as it is not a feature in the device. Also, the microphone will only be used to track the emotional state of the user and can easily be turned off as per the choice of user. However, the wrist band will also lack a few features that are very common in other fitness bands like GPS, Wi-Fi, and a cellular radio. When it comes to the voice detection feature, it will pick the pitch, intensity, rhythm, and tempo of your voice, and then return insights into your emotional state.

It also has a feature called “notable moments” which will allow you to check your emotional state during a very specific moment, like talking to a person or having an interview, etc. The voice samples it collects is uploaded to Amazon’s server and it is sent to the phone via Bluetooth for analysis. Similarly, the 3D scan features will upload the details to the Amazon server for analysis using machine learning models and will immediately delete it after its done. However, the user needs to be more than 18 years old to use the feature.

The cost of the fitness band will be $99, at $3.99 per month for the services. The monthly subscription will have services like feature body composition, tone of voice analysis, sleep and activity tracking, and challenges designed to improve a wearer’s health. Also, the band will be offered for $64 as an introductory offer with six months of free service.

Google Chrome to add a bunch of new features for users.

By
Shanmugam
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0
Image Credit: express.co.uk

Google has been working on a lot of new features and improvements for the Google Chrome browser which will be launched very soon. The new list of features a lot offers a lot of new UI changes and makes the browser much faster than before. The new updates will make the tabs load 10% faster than before due to Profile Guided Optimization and tab throttling. The company will also be adding a new tab grouping feature which will allow the users to arrange and organize the tabs in a better way. It will also allow similar tabs to collapse in groups. It will allow the users to distinguish tabs by topic, task, and more and can even make them color-coded. 

Google Chrome will also bring a lot of changes on the tablet platform, by providing a larger tab for a touchscreen interface. The feature will be first rolled on to Google Chromebooks and then on the tablets running Android. The user will also be able to see the thumbnail preview of the tab as soon as they hover the mouse pointer over the tab. It will allow the user to quickly decide on which tab to open and which should they close. Chrome will also have a feature for using pdf files more efficiently. Chrome users will be able to fill out PDF forms and save them with their inputs, directly from Chrome, and the next time when they open the file, they will start from where they left. 

One of the most important features added to chrome is the sharing of URLs of the webpage with the help of QR codes. The feature was already mentioned in many leaks before and now it will finally be available to the users. These codes can be scanned, printed, or downloaded anytime. The feature will be available on the Android smartphone and desktop Chrome browser and can be accessed through a dedicated QR code button on the browser. 

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