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Category: News

Whatsapp Update Finally Brings Long-Awaited Security Feature

Users of the well-acclaimed messaging app Whatsapp, have a new thing to boast of. The application recently released an update that brought with it a feature that users have been craving for since time immemorial; the ability to unlock the chatting application with fingerprint sensors.

Now, for IOS users, this is nothing new to them as they had received the release of the new feature earlier in 2019. Android users, however, had to wait a whole year before getting the new update. There were several rumours all through the better part of last year about the security patch.

Its being rolled off to the platform and a lot of counterfeit sites were created through which android users were supposedly supposed to acquire this new update. But to a lot of user’s disappointment, the application had this feature exclusively available to IOS only.

Screen Lock Security Feature

When enabled, you WhatsApp will automatically lock when the screen locks or as per the settings and preferences of the user, and can only be unlocked when the user puts their finger on the fingerprint scanner. Much like the usual screen unlocker for the phone.

For most phones, the application may be locked even after the user unlocks the screen of the phone. This might have been arguably time-wasting but then again, how long would it take you to simply rest your finger on the scanner and lift it off?

Face Unlock Feature

There were also rumours that there is a patch that allows face unlock or face verification to unlock. Well, unless you are talking about an IOS device then this rumour is sadly not true and I would like to assure you that this update mainly focused on the fingerprint scanner.

Facebook is yet to also mention anything on the face ID unlock for any android devices so for the moment there is no reason to get over-excited here. Let’s just enjoy the new minor update that has been released and hope that there are far much better things that are in store for the future.

The WhatsApp application has been widely used by a lot of people. There are a lot of instances through which the application itself has changed the game in terms of business and jobs. The app (much like its counterpart, Facebook), has come a long way since its debut in 2009 and has been making common updates ever since.

There are many enterprises and businesses that depend on these services to communicate with clients and customers. It’s regular updates such as the recent one that has gone a long way into making sure that the application is the giant it is today in the world of communication.

It is safe to say that WhatsApp has played a big role. It is changing how people virtually communicate. A lot of reputable applications took off from using this application’s original foundation and restructuring it.

Bottom Line

After this security feature update hype, users are now hoping to see is the new WhatsApp dark mode. Everyone is so eager to see this mode’s adaptation on WhatsApp. But I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what they do with this feature on a large scale.

January 23, 2020
Cyberpunk 2077 Release Date, Price, Trailers, Gameplay And News

Cyberpunk 2077’s teasers and trailers give us a peek into the gameplay. Looking at all that, it would be a miracle if we can wait until CD Projekt Red’s dystopian RPG is actually released. The game is expected to make its way to Xbox One, PC, and PS4. Cyberpunk 2077 is set to be a vast open-world game, rich in colour, vibrant with futuristic gadgets, and tons of branching storylines. The extended trailer let us get a peek into a metropolis of the future where body modification is the major trend. Players will have the role of an outlaw moving about in the sleazy parts of the city. Check out all that we know here about Cyberpunk 2077 including trailers, announcements, and more. The trailer comes ahead of its anticipated 2020 release.

Cyberpunk 2077 CD Projekt Red

Cyberpunk 2077

The release date of Cyberpunk 2077 has not yet been confirmed, but it is to be sometime soon. Interestingly, tabletop RPG called Cyberpunk 2020 by the company which is the base of the upcoming game was set in 2020! Developer CD Projekt Red is expected to give us more looks into the game as the arrival date rolls closer. Since the game will not be working on Sony or Microsoft’s new consoles, chances of a next-gen model are pretty negative.

With the new screenshots that make it our way, we do see that the game has some active combat, a stunning car for cruising along the Night City, and we have even had a sneak peek into the dialogue system. Cyberpunk 2077 is coming to Google Stadia. As of now, the release date for the game is set to be September 2017, 2020. Previously, the date was 16 April, but there a delay which pushed back the date.

Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 Multiplayer

While the multiplayer possibility is something that has not yet been confirmed, we can be sure that it is coming. The multiplayer was on and off depending Polish government grant applications and so on. In September last year, its status turned to “confirmed but not scheduled”. The developers mentioned that they do plan to add some multiplayer angle to the game, but it would only be after they have some DLC and other single-player content. While this means we will have to wait for some time, but at least, we do know that they are going to bring in multiplayer games.

The Gameplay

The game is played in the first person. Players would be in the role of a gun-for-hire roaming on the streets of the Night City. This is where you get introduced to the game’s fast-paced gunplay. Cyberpunk 2077 blends together different aspect of the game, such as dialogue, the backstory, and some hacking and engineering skills. At some places, you will notice the third-person aspect in some driving and in-between scenes. The dystopian future is shown in colourful, vibrant colours and detailed backgrounds. While the game promises hours of fun, do keep in mind that the release is several months away. This means that anything could change.

January 23, 2020
Google Pixelbook Go Review: Value Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

Not all Google products are received with equal popularity. Pixel Slate, released last year, features excellent hardware couple with really poor software. On the other hand, Pixelbook released in 2017, made a huge splash and it looks as if nothing could go wrong with it. The company is now working to release Google Pixelbook Go, a scaled-back Pixel Chromebook. Maybe this could establish a new mid-range value for Chrome OS laptops. In the Pixelbook box, you will see the device, a 45W charger, and USB-C cable, and some documentation.

Design and Display

The Google Pixelbook Go has a magnesium shell which gives the user a feeling of luxury as they handle the device. This black laptop features matte-paint-on-metal finish, making it elegant and sophisticated. The 13.3-inch display of the device makes it smaller than the Apple MacBook Pro. The Go has two USB-C ports. There are no memory card slot or reader and USB-A ports. The laptop features a full-sized keyboard, stereo speakers, and an oversized trackpad. The keyboard has a dedicated Google Assistant button. Google calls the Pixelbook Go’s keyboard Hush Keys. This means that there will be little to no noise as you tap away on the keyboard.

The Pixelbook Go has a 13.3-inch LCD with 1,920 x 1,080 Full HD and 16:9 aspect ratio. It can be used quite comfortably in both sunny and dim areas. The glossy finish of the Concore Glass is highly reflective, meaning you could have trouble with reflecting lights on the panel. The touchscreen is responsive and works accurately enough to keep everyone happy. There are rumours that a 4K variant will make it to the market sometime later in the year.

Google Pixelbook Go Review

Performance

The Pixelbook Go comes in 8GB or 16GB RAM variant with 64GB, 128GB, or 256GB storage. The original variant runs on Core i5 processor while the higher-end Core i7 CPU will be seen on the upcoming 4K model. The laptop works well, is highly responsive, and fast. Multi-tasking was no problem either. One time the Go slowed down was when dealing with physical media cards. The Go works smoothly and swiftly with browsers, games, editing software and more.

Battery

The Pixelbook Go’s battery lends the device all the power it needs to last a day. According to Google, the battery can last for about 12 hours of mixed-use, including standby time. The laptop features USB-C charging and charges rapidly. This is wonderful since it is almost double of what MacBook Pro offers its users. Charging for about 20 minutes will let you work on Pixelbook Go for about two hours.

Google Pixelbook Go

Software

The GO features Chrome OS 78 but was running on OS 77 when it first released. The automatic update is reassuring since it means security is updated and we know that Google is keeping an eye on it. To set up the machine, all you need to do is to sign in with your Google account. If you have used Chrome before, all your settings and bookmarks will make its way to this device as well.

Value For Money

Although Pixelbook Go offers a convertible design, pen support, and good enough specs, some feel it is priced a bit too high. Excellent battery life, good display, and the stunning design make it all worth it. However, it is not an easy job justifying the price, despite these advantages.

January 23, 2020
Huawei 5G Smartphones: Sold Over 6.9 Million In 2019

Huawei recently announced that it had managed to sell nearly 6.9 million 5G smartphones in the last year alone. This figure includes HONOR’s devices as well. In comparison with other OEMs, Huawei announced more 5G smartphones in 2019 than anyone else. For instance, some of them include Mate 30 5G, Mate 20 X 5G, Mate X 5G, Nova 6 5G, and of course, the HONOR V30 5G series. The Chinese manufacturing company shared information regarding this. It looks like a large percentage of the 5G devices manufactured by the company was sold within China itself.

Huawei Mate X 5G

Having control of about 25.8% of the market in China, Huawei and HONOR are leading the industry. Huawei, on its own, claims about 15.4% of the smartphone market. While HONOR has not yet quite caught up with Huawei, it does boast of a 10.5% market share. It is interesting to note this since HONOR is Huawei’s sub-brand, even if it working as a separate entity right now. With regard to the smartphone market, China has the largest one across the globe. While India’s smartphone market grew in leaps and bounds last year, it has still to catch up with China. While 2019 introduced 5G to the world, 2020 is the year of spreading this tech. Huawei plans to ship more 5G devices than the last year. As of now, Huawei sells six 5G phones under its name and two more under HONOR.

Sale of 6.9 million 5G handsets

It is stunning that Huawei managed to sell about 6.9 million 5G devices in 2019 alone, especially considering the fact that we have simply not seen that many 5G phones on the market. It looks like 2020 is heading a completely different direction more OEMs than ever are working to release 5G smartphones and more. While 5G has been introduced to the world successfully and it has been accepted equally enthusiastically by the users, the rollout is quite slow. This means that it will take about a couple of years for the entire world to truly run on 5G. On the other hand, 4G is the standard across the globe. While we are sure that 5G will phase out 4G when the time comes, when will it come?

Huawei 5G

Overall, Huawei sold about 240 million smartphones last year, of which only about 6.9 million were 5G devices. The impressive fact here is that the company managed to sell these many devices despite the US ban. For comparison, Huawei sold about 206 million smartphones in 2018. This means that with the US ban, the sells only increased for the Chinese giant. Although the US ban is still in place, Huawei is not backing off. IN fact, the company has been working on HMS or its own set of apps since Google’s services cannot be made available on its phones. Although the work has been going ahead perfectly, there is still time before this can be achieved. One of the major challenges faced by Huawei is to replace the Google Play Store. We are yet to see what Huawei is planning for this.

January 23, 2020
Google Duo Doesn’t Require A Phone Number Anymore

Google recently rolled out a significant change to its Duo video calling service. Now, you will no longer need a phone number to make calls. Users would be able to make and receive calls from the web. No need to link Duo to a phone number. Since the feature was rolled out silently, the exact date of the update is not known, but if you check the service out, you will notice that the feature is already live. However, it still needs more work since it doesn’t work with G Suite accounts. This makes receiving calls a bit difficult although you will be able to make calls easily.

Google Duo

If you make your way to duo.google.com on a non-G Suite account that is not linked with a phone number, you will see that you are directed to the main site instead of being asked to add and link a number to continue. At the main site, you will be able to search your Google contacts and place audio and video calls. There is no change in procedure for placing calls and the whole thing works just as it would have had you linked your number.

Email-only Duo Accounts

Without announcing the new change or feature, Google went right ahead. It is now possible to make calls on the web with Duo. There is no need whatsoever to link your phone number before you do. You will be able to make calls regardless of your email address. On the other hand, you will be able to receive calls only if a standard Google Duo account makes the call to a Duo-linked email address. One trouble here is that since these email-only Duo accounts don’t have corresponding phone numbers attached, there is no way you can search for them. You will only be able to make the call if they show up in your notifications if you called them recently or if they show up on your recent call history.

Google Duo Calling

Of course, if you are going the email-only way, you will have to make peace with the constant pop-ups that show up, asking you to add your phone number. If you do, your family and friends would be able to locate you more easily. If you use a G-Suite account, you will not be able to make use of this feature. You will only be able to enjoy the Duo service by using your phone number and continuing.

Mobile Version of Duo

Naturally, Google must have been planning this for quite some time. The fact that this feature was introduced with no promotion whatsoever is a surprise. As of now, the change can be seen on Google Duo on the web. However, the support pages have not yet been updated. They still mention that Duo can only be used when a phone number is associated with your account. So far, there has been no update of whether the mobile version of Duo will also receive the change. The update can only be seen on the website.

January 23, 2020
Xperia 5 Plus: Sony Will Announce New Xperia Smartphones At MWC 2020

The upcoming Mobile World Congress or MWC 2020 is scheduled to take place in Barcelona, Spain. The OEMs are all geared up to exhibit their latest flagship devices and more. There have been reports that Sony is planning to make an announcement here. Samsung has already unveiled its Galaxy S20 series and the Galaxy Z Flip foldable phone. It looks like Sony is planning to talk about its Xperia 5 Plus Android phone having a 21:9 display aspect ratio. Many believe that other manufacturers may be revealing their foldable or other design smartphones. At the CES2020, many thought Sony would reveal the Xperia smartphones. However, that did not happen. The company is either delaying the launch or it is simply not ready for the market yet.

Sony MWC Press Invite

According to a press invite, the Sony Press Conference will occur at the MWC Barcelona 2020. It will take place on February 24, 2020, Monday, 8:30 AM CET, at the Sony Booth, Hall 3, Fira Gran Via, Barcelona. For those who cannot attend, they can view the live streaming of the event. While not a lot of details have emerged, we do know that Sony is working on a new flagship phone. There have been speculations that it could be Xperia 5 Plus. Other reports mention that a mid-range smartphone powered by Snapdragon 765 processor could also be released. The Sony Xperia 5 is expected to be bezel-less with a punch-hole cam. Besides these, the Sony Xperia Compact may be launched sooner than we think as well.

Sony Xperia 5 Plus

The Xperia 5 Plus by Sony is part of a range of premium devices by the company. In November 2019, Sony talked about the various flagships and mid-rangers that is set to be released this year. While Sony has not been able to capture the smartphone market, it looks like things could change. The company is working on promoting their latest attempt at functional phones by sending out press invites for a press conference scheduled to happen before MWC 2020. If you look at Sony’s older schedules, you will notice that it prefers to hold its press conference at MWC on the opening day of the show. Regardless of its predictable timing, what the company plans to unveil will be a true surprise.

Sony Xperia 5 Plus

Chances of Sony’s 2020 flagship being the Xperia 5 Plus is very high. It is the larger variant of the Xperia 5 that was exhibited last year at the IFA. The smartphone will have a 6.6-inch display and run on Snapdragon 865. The phone could also have a quad-camera setup at the rear. It will have the usual range of sensors, including the main sensor, ultrawide, telephoto, and more. The selfie camera will have an 8-megapixel sensor. Despite the fact that the model has very little bezels, the smartphone will come with front-facing stereo speakers and have the 3.5mm headphone jack. The latter is quite natural considering the fact that Sony is a music accessory company as well. Besides the Xperia 5 Plus, the company is expected to launch Xperia 3 as well.

January 23, 2020
OneSearch: Yahoo Has A New Bing-Based Search Service

Yahoo was once the be-all of the internet. This was during the internet’s baby years, sometime before Google came. However, today, we see Yahoo is barely surviving as a subsidiary of Verizon. In terms of a search engine, it doesn’t have a powerful enough product to place in the market. That doesn’t mean that the company is sitting quietly. They are working on building one! The new OneSearch is now available on the web. It can even be accessed via an Android app. Basically, it is Bing with more added features and really sturdy security in place.

OneSearch Verizon

Currently, the OneSearch website is part search engine and part sales pitch! If you visit the website, you will notice that the search bar is located at the top followed by the reasons why OneSearch is an amazing option. Some of the benefits include no ad tracking, no cookies, and no retained search history. In fact, if you enable the “Advanced Privacy Mode”, it is designed to encrypt your search terms in transit. If you want to confirm that OneSearch is powered by Bing, you can see it towards the bottom of the page. While the results are the same, you will not be able to enjoy Microsoft service integration and other features on the Bing website. While there is no clue yet if this service is good enough, at least we know it exists.

OneSearch Search Engine Features

The latest privacy-first search engine in the market in the one Verizon recently introduced. It was launched just last Tuesday by Verizon Media. As with its competitors, it can be used on both your smartphones and laptops. However, the main area where it differs is regarding privacy. Where OneSearch is mindful of its user’s privacy, other brands in the market don’t seem to be. The search engine does not retarget, tracking cookies, or indulge in personal profiling. This means that companies will not be able to advertise you for targeting based on your search terms. In addition to this, Verizon has also mentioned that it will not share its users’ data with advertisers. It looks like someone is thinking about the users for once.

OneSearch

If you are talking about quality, Verizon mentioned that OneSearch is designed to offer completely unbiased and unfiltered search results. Another thing you might like to know is that the company will not store their customers’ search history. You can be at peace since the search engine will encrypt both the search and the results. Again, what link you click on the results page cannot be tracked, which in turn cannot be used for target advertising.

In the Advanced Privacy Mode, the search result links will automatically self-destruct, within the specified 60-minute limit. This allows addition protection to the users if more than one person is using the same device and in other similar cases. Although you will still see ads on OneSearch, it will not be based on your browsing history or cookies. In addition to Yahoo and TechCrunch, OneSearch is the latest by Verizon Media.

January 23, 2020
Spotify Swaps Like Button For Album Art In The Mini Player

Spotify loves making changes to its app. In a recent server-side test, they replaced the like button in the mini player with the song’s album art. While it looks amazing, there is a loss of function here with this change. While this may look like a tiny change with little to no consequences, it does cost us a bit. The recently changed interface by Spotify has not made the users very happy. The latest update is all about the change of the positions of some buttons. Since most of them were useful, it makes the layout more difficult to use.

Spotify Album Art

Out of all the streaming subscriptions out there, Spotify has become well known due to its ability to predict what you would like to play next. It does this by analysing the music for which you give likes. This means Spotify will find it much harder to understand what you want to play without the necessary heart songs. Of course, there are other ways to heart a song. For instance, using the full media player and hearting it from there. However, this means going around and doing more work on what could have easily been achieved then and there. In this era where companies are working to make devices as straightforward and usable as possible, users balk at the idea of complex workflows or long processes.

In Detail

In the last update, Spotify changed the places of “Repeat” and “Go to queue” buttons into the sub-menu. The sharing button has made its way into the now-vacant place. Before this happened, the more useful “Repeat” and “Go to queue” buttons were right there where we want them. Now, we would have to go to the three-dot menu located on a corner of the screen. Besides being at their old place, the share button can also be seen as part of the song’s “Now playing” screen and also in the sub-menu as well. Users believe that there is absolutely no reason for this UI change. It does not make a lot of sense. It invariably makes life harder. Many users have expressed their not-so-happy opinion on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit.

Spotify

Which UI?

Spotify is currently working on testing different versions of the mini player. While the album art is located on the left, the like button shows up near the pause/play button on the right. So far, it is still in the early stages and there is no word on which UI they are going to choose. The change might not become permanent or be rolled out widely. In the iOS version, this is how things have been for the last few months. Looking at the feedback of the users, maybe the developers would get things back to normal or maybe find a middle ground to keep everyone happy.

Users are doing their bit by requesting Spotify to go back to its original UI. Many mention that the extra step is annoying and totally insensible. Spotify has not spoken about this yet.

January 23, 2020
Xbox Live: Microsoft Expanding Multiplayer Service

Well, the acclaimed digital company Microsoft has announced that they are planning to expand their Xbox Live services to platforms such as Nintendo Switch and mobile platforms Android and IOS.

The move was announced amidst the description of an upcoming Game Developers Conference session. In that session, the company made sure that the service would be made available to more than two billion devices. The company went further to state that the new cross-platform XDK will enable game developers. It will connect players across multiple platforms and make multiplayer sessions more diverse.

The Software

The new software is reported to be combined with PlayFab gamin services. Also, it will allow developers to create games that will openly and freely integrate from one screen to another. This will allow players to watch, play and buy games across various screens. Hence, its termed to be the most reliable social and multiplayer network in the world.

Microsoft further documented that they have a long-term commitment to the console space. Also, they are hoping to sell the game console to over two billion people.

This new move is very fresh and openly now as Live’s cross-platform feature is currently only available exclusively to Minecraft.

It will be a bold move to finally find a way to reunite gaming consoles so that players can finally make gaming on any console equally as fun as the next.

Xbox Live is a great leading platform for multiplayer games. There are many Microsoft exclusive video games that are mainly released for the platform alone. The game has a lot of subscribers. Also, it has a lot of gaming companies and developers as partners. These companies are providing some really top-notch gaming experiences. The efforts ad changes are openly visible in most modern games that we see today.

Microsoft is well known for its involvement in the production of computers and a great deal of many of today’s gadgets. There are a lot of worries however concerning the company’s capability. So, if its gaming console will rise to reclaim the glory it once held during the debut of the Xbox 360.

During the past time, the gaming console has very few competitors. It was offering a variety of experiences most consoles were not offering. Its is also, being endorsed by a lot of superstars. Today the company has a lot of competitors with Sony’s PlayStation^. Also, these are ranking above the clouds with their Playstation 5, which is later this year.

Bottom Line

Most modern games make their debut through Sony’s Playstation before their release on the Xbox or on PC. That being said, it is safe to say that so far the Playstation is gaining an upper hand over the Xbox.

Fans can only anticipate what the future holds for such gaming companies. But one thing that is for sure is that there is a lot of news from the gaming sector this year.

January 21, 2020
YouTube TV guide now shows 7 days of upcoming programs instead of a few hours

Late last year was a time that tv and theatre came out to prove a lot of things to us. This was the period when Netflix released its much-awaited tv show, The Witcher. Google’s Youtube was not going to be left behind and even though they did not release a game spinoff series they decide to upgrade their TV guide system.

Previously, the Youtube TV Guide was only able to show a limited amount of shows that were present to be viewed. So in December, the developers released a new guide system that can show up to a great 7 days of viewing. This is a great advancement as considering there aren’t a lot of companies that offer this viewing in their guides.

Youtube TV has been making a compelling fortune off of delivering TV quality airing off of the net. This allows the system to work entirely without a decoder or antenna. This means that subscribers can freely view TV shows from the comfort of their smart TV without necessarily having to buy extra extensions.

Platforms like these have been in existence over a long time now with Netflix having gained its popularity through such. However, this new update is bound to give Youtube TV a step ahead in the game especially since it offers live TV over the internet and not just movies.

The Previous Version

Earlier, the guide on Youtube TV was only limited to hours which proved to be very frustrating. The users would have a hard time knowing when a show was to be aired unless they were lucky enough to see an advertisement.

This is the major flaw of the whole platform as it was assumed to have failed in being an application that offers live TV off of the internet. A lot of users were anticipating when they would be able to see some actual change in their viewing.

Sadly though, the new updates have been rolled off to the desktop version of the platform and as we all know that can prove to be a bit unideal for watching on a large scale with family and friends. Youtube is yet to confirm the plans that they have for the rest of the updates on other platforms such as the phone and tablet versions of the app.

For now, viewers will have to settle for having this update on their PC versions of the application. But there are rumors that the company is in the works to provide better services so all hope is not yet lost. We all just have to be a little more patient until a similar update is rolled off to our other mobile devices and possibly televisions.

Meanwhile, Youtube TV is available at a subscription fee of $49.99, which has a variety of channels that are well beyond 70 viewable channels minus any required cords nor DVRs.

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January 21, 2020