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Google adds “Black-Owned” to business attributes for the search listing

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Sriram
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Image Credit: searchengineland.com

The black movement’s support has been getting strong these days, and Google has also jumped in to show the support. Last month, Google CEO Sundar Pichai mentioned that Google is creating new solutions and ideas for the Black Community’s long-term support. In the efforts, Google has added a new attribute “Black-Owned” for black-owned businesses in Maps’ search listing.

As per Google, there is a recent surge in search for black-owned businesses, due to which Google decided to add it as an attribute for listings. The feature has been made a life for all the business profiles which have already been verified. The feature is highlighted in Maps and Search, where it is represented by an image with three orange lines and a black heart in the middle.

The sign is added alongside the “Women-Led” and “LGBTQ-friendly” attributes. Google is also partnering with  U.S. Black Chambers, Inc., on specific training designed to raise presence by leveraging tools like My Business and Analytics. Google also revealed that they received many suggestions for the same as well, such as Google Assistant response to the “Black Lives Matter” term.

It does seem like Google is investing a lot of time and resources on the Black lives issue and will be coming up with more new ideas related to this issue. Google has been trying to raise a lot of awareness related to this matter and create new opportunities for black-owned businesses.

The new No’Me app allows the user to manage multiple launcher apps

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Sriram
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Image Credit: xda-developers.com

Android is one of the most used operating systems on smartphones, and what makes it more popular is the amount of customization allowed for the users. When it comes to Android customization, launchers are widely used among every user. They can provide a whole new look to the UI and help the user customize the arrangement of icons and apps.

However, since there is a large variety of launcher apps on the Google Play Store, it is almost impossible for the user to select the best one. The only option that the user has is to download and install each launcher and try it for themselves. Some users use multiple launchers as per the usage and switch between them whenever they want. 

However, this process is not only time consuming, but also eats up a lot of resources from your phone. It is why a new app has been launched, which is called “No’Me“”. The app allows the users to switch between multiple launchers with a single tap and manage different launchers form one app. This app does not charge any setting on the android operating system and makes launcher switching much easier.

The app has been made by XDA Senior Member Nx Biotic and is available on Play Store and XDA labs. The apps allow the user to access the launcher information in use, including details like permissions, providers, services, activities, receivers, build number, and version info. It also helps to build a shortcut for installed launchers and identify launchers compatible with quick switch.

Xiaomi working on Back Tap gestures

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Sriram
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Image Credit: xda-developers.com

Back Tap gesture is a new feature that has been discovered by both Google and Apple this year. The feature allows the user to tap on the back for a certain feature or function to be accessed. The feature is said to be a part of future Google and Apple phones, where double and triple tap would allow the users to call specific functions.

These functions can be toggling the flashlight, checking notification, screenshots, activating Google Assistant or Siri, etc. However, as per the new leaks and details, even Xiaomi is working on something very similar that can be a part of MIUI 12. The details we spotted by XDA tipster kacskrz spotted the code for this feature in the beta version of MIUI 12. 

  • MIUI 12 Back Tap Gesture 1
  • MIUI 12 Back Tap Gesture 2
  • MIUI 12 Back Tap Gesture 3

Although these settings do not work right now, it is expected that Xiaomi will be able to create these features by the launch of MIUI 12. Currently, the code only provides predefined five options to work with, but as the work is still in progress, many features are expected to be added. Not all devices that get the MIUI 12 update may get this feature.

Only devices like MI 10 and other future smartphones are expected to get this feature as if now. The source code for this function is currently visible in the Beta version of MIUI 12, but it is hidden and cannot be used. Once the feature is launched, it can be a great selling point for many smartphone manufacturers.

iPhone 11 production starts in Southern India

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Sriram
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Image Credit: 9to5mac.com

Apple iPhone is one of the most popular smartphones in India. However, the only drawback faced in the Indian market is the higher price tag due to the lack of a local production plant in India. Apple had been trying to set up a production plant in India for a long time as it would lower the price for the phone and increase the sales.

At last, the company has set up a production plant in southern India, where Foxconn is assembling iPhone 11 models. The step has also been taken to diversify the production of iPhones outside of China. Making iPhones in India would decrease the price of the handset by a lot and help Apple gain over 20% of import duties. 

The iPhone 11 models made in India have started hitting the retail store shelves, and the price of the iPhone is soon expected to drop in India due to it. Apple has also been considering the Indian made iPhone 11 models for export as the price of production in India is less. Although Foxconn has not released any details about the production volume for iPhone 11, we can expect that it will be increasing gradually over time, and we will see many more Apple production plants in the future.

There have also been rumors about Pegatron, who is the iPhone’s assembly partner, to open an Indian plant for manufacturing cost-effective iPhone SE. Apple is also working with local contractors and other industries to get more parts through local businesses.

A new Family safety app launched by Microsoft

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Sriram
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Image Credit: theverge.com

The Internet is the biggest world of information that one can access, and for a kid, it is a platform to search for answers related to their questions and curiosity. However, as a parent, you are always concerned about how much time your child will be spending on the mobile and what kind of things they will be searching on the Internet. Digital safety for kids is as important for kids as their physical safety; therefore, as parents, you need to have access and control over what your child can watch and how much time they should spend on it. 

You are providing a solution to Microsoft’s launching the Family Safety app, both on the Android and iOS platforms. It provides many different features through which you can control the time and content that your child watches or experiences on the smartphone.

As a parent, you can use this app to limit screen time for playing games and provide more screen time for the apps you think are educative and help your kids learn something. The best part about using this app is that you can block any adult content to never appear while your kid is using the smartphone. The feature also works with Microsoft Edge on Smartphones. 

The app also allows you to share the family members’ last known location on the map, and Microsoft claims that the data is not sold to any third party. The application will also receive two premium features called driving safety and location alerts, but they are only available in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.

The company will be adding a lot more features to the iPhone device and expect that Apple provides more freedom to developers to create and develop these features in the app, to provide device management for iOS devices with this app.

The user account may have been hacked on OkCupid

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Sriram
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Image Credit: pymnts.com

Dating sites and apps are very popular among the younger audience, and it is very normal for people to share their details on such a platform. These details help to find the perfect matching partner for the users. These dating sites have millions of users, which means that there is personal data of millions of customers stored on the company’s servers. With so much data on company servers, it is more prone to cyber-attacks and hackers; there have been many cyberattacks on dating websites.

A recent report from Checkpoint Research has announced that dating website OKCupid’s website and mobile app has severe security vulnerabilities which could allow a hacker to easily access the full profile details of the users, along with their message, address and other contact details. Using the profile details, hackers can even send messages to other users. 

Using these accounts, the hackers can send malicious links to other users, which, when clicked, will give full access to the system to the hacker and can lead them to hack the accounts. OKCupid’s users do not have to worry as their developers have resolved the issues in 48 hours after the security flaw was reported to them by CheckPoint. There has been no information on any account being hacked or the data being leaked.

Although any serious threat was avoided, it does bring a question of whether it is safe to provide personal information on any dating website. A single hack can leak all your personal information along with your photos and contact details. In a similar case, OkCupid was accused of sending user data on drug use, ethnicity, and political views. Whenever you share your personal information, make sure you know where the information will be shared and how it will be protected. 

Google is soon coming up with a phone backup tool for iOS

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Sriram
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Image Credit: Finance.yahoo.com

Google has been integrating a lot of cloud technology features into its android operating system. It is why they added automatic android backup to Google one last year. They also offered the membership program that included cloud storage on Google drive, family sharing, and many more features. By integrating these services with Android, the user got more reliability from Android phones as automatic backups would always keep their phone data safe. Google has now come up with a new announcement for both Android and iOS users. 

The iOS users will be getting the same set of Google backup services, and it will be completely free for both the Android and iOS users from now on. The free users will be getting 15GB of drive storage shared between different Google services like Gmail, Photos, and phone backups. For iOS users, they can download the Google One app and use it to back up their phone’s data. Although 15GB is less to take a device’s backup, you can always expand the storage by paying an extra amount. When it comes to iOS users, Apple also provides them with 5GB of free iCloud storage, and one has to pay more for any extra storage requirements. 

However, Google backup services and storage seem to come at a very cheap rate compared to Apple. A user can purchase Google one membership for $2 and get 100GB of space, shared with five family members. Additionally, you have customer support and various other features to try out. Having a second backup plan is always a good idea, and especially if you are getting it from a company like Google. Google expects a lot of iOS users to enroll for their services after it is made available for iOS users in the future.

Google wants to get rid of Samsung’s app store Bixby

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Sriram
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Image Credit: mobilesyrup.com

Samsung has been one of the major Android smartphone manufacturers for a long time and has been running an app store of its own, called Bixby, for a long time. Samsung often suggests its users download the application for Bixby’s smartphone, which might not be good news for Google. Therefore, Google wants Samsung to close Bixby and promote Google apps instead. Both Reuters and Bloomberg reported the correspondence between the two companies. Google has been trying to influence Samsung to promote its Play Store and Google Assistant, over Samsung’s Galaxy app store and Bixby assistant. 

To make this change, Google is offering Samsung a bit of money. Also, Google is sharing the revenue with phone manufacturers, that is coming from the Play Store and ad revenue. Based on the offer, Samsung is considering closing Bixby from the Galaxy store from their devices, as they will be paid a higher share than before.

Since the launch of Bixby in 2017, the company has been trying to promote it with similar services to offer, like Siri, Google Assistant, etc. However, it has not been as successful as the company expected. Since voice assistants are the primary interface for the search engine, Google is keen to occupy the market and take over any other types of voice assistants available in the market. 

Samsung has tried to launch smart speakers with Bixby’s assistant in 2018. However, the product did not taste success and is nowhere to be seen. As per Bloomberg, Samsung is going through losses and lack of revenue due to the pandemic, due to which they are looking for extra revenue that Google agrees to pay if they close Bixby. It seems that both the companies will come to terms and see the end of Bixby from there onwards. If it happens, we can see the upcoming launch changes on the Samsung Galaxy S20 series device.

How Chromecast reset button speaks of reliability

By
Sriram
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0
Image credit: theverge.com

Chromecast has been one of the first and most popular devices that are completely run on software. Therefore, every functionality that the device provides is coming from the software. The device does bring out a change in how hardware or device can be entirely dependent on the software to run and function. However, the device does come with a reset button, which is the only physical button.

The button allows the users to factory reset the device if the software settings are not allowing the user to cast the content on the screen. The presence of a reset button on Chromecast shows the importance of a hard physical button and its reliability over software solutions. One has to understand that there is no way of accessing or resetting the device without any physical buttons in case it does not work properly. 

It’s not that the presence of a rest button on Chromecast will lead to its regular usage. Any Chromecast user hardly uses it as the software on the device sets up everything during the first use, so that the setting works the same way in the future. However, this reset button’s presence is an assurance to the user that if everything fails, the reset button can be used to bring back factory settings and make the device work like new.

It does not matter which version of Chromecast you buy; it will always have the reset button. The button provides reliability as protective actions, and the users can be assured that no matter the software problem, this one-button will restore the device. It is why Google always has an emphasis on adding the physical button for its reliability.

PS5 reveals a new feature which can beat Xbox Series

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Sriram
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Image Credit: usglbnews.com

Playstation and Xbox have been the main competitors when it comes to gaming consoles, and both of them have a dedicated community of millions of users. There has always been a spec war between both to show that they have a better console, and both the companies leave no inch to add features to their gaming machine.

Recently, Sony launched its next-generation Playstation 5 console digitally, which provided better hardware and performance than the last generation. However, it was expected that the new Xbox console would be much more powerful than what Playstation is offering, giving them an advantage in the competition.

But it seems that Sony has many tricks up its sleeves and is revealing it slowly. One such detail given through a leak was the PS5  ability to let the jump to any part of the game, straight from the menu. Gematsucon leaked the feature on Twitter (via TechRadar), who cites a now-offline preview of WRC 9 by Gamereactor that mentions the feature.

As per the details, Playstation 5 allowed the users to enter race directly from the menu instead of entering the game and selecting the race. The console provides instant links to specific race tracks and even directly from the menu. The feature seems to be an extension of the instant resume feature on the Playstation 4. 

The PS5’s hardware is expected to bring out some new and unique features which have not been fully revealed yet. However, some features like the DualSense controller and 3D audio compatibility have already made people excited about the type of engagement value the console will provide. The Playstation 5 is expected to go on sale in November this year, which is the same time we will see the new Xbox console launch.

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