Tag: Mobile

Apple Music on Android catches up with iOS

Apple’s subscription streaming service, Apple Music, rolled out a major (ver. 2.0) release to Android users today, introducing a new design that largely brings the app to parity with its iOS counterpart. The update includes a visual makeover, which organizes content into a few main sections – Library, For You, Browse, and Radio – as on iOS. However, it’s clear that Apple Music for Android is not a priority for Apple, despite its seeming intentions to compete with rival services like Spotify or the now on-demand Pandora, for instance. In…

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Nokia Owns The Alcatel Brand Till 2024

Dianne Jacobs

Ever since Nokia acquired Alcatel-Lucent back in 2015, the situation about the “Alcatel” brand remained unclear, at least for the end users. Back in 2004, Alcatel and Chinese electronics manufacturer TCL Communication created a joint venture for the production of Alcatel-branded mobile phones. In less than a year after founding, TCL Communication purchased Alcatel’s stake and became the sole owner of the newly founded company, But what happened with the Alcatel brand? Who actually owns it? The Alcatel brand was licensed by Alcatel-Lucent to TCL for mobile phones and devices and this license expires at the…

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Apple’s 10th anniversary iPhone could cost over $1,000

Dianne Jacobs
Apple

Apple is expected to debut an ultra high-end version of the iPhone alongside its next scheduled update to mark its 10 years of metal and glass slabs. According to a report from Fast Company, Tim Cook and company will likely roll out three new phones this year: the incremental iPhone 7S in the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch sizes, as well as a slightly larger, even more expensive 5.8-inch iPhone 8 with an edgeless OLED display and a few completely new features. To really play up the 10th anniversary bit, Apple may…

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Facebook ’s New Feature; Discover People, Helps users get social

Dianne Jacobs
facebook

Facebook has always made it easy to find friends you already have in real life who are on the social network. To enable users connect with new users, Facebook is rolling out a new feature called “Discover People,” which  aims to leverage local events to connect like-minded strangers in person. Before using the feature, Facebook prompts users to update their profiles, but doesn’t change your privacy settings, so you’re still apt to get only a limited snapshot of potential pals as you scroll through Facebook’s lists. The company confirmed to…

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Samsung Pay to launch in India in first half of 2017

Dianne Jacobs
samsung

Samsung plans to launch its Samsung Pay mobile payment solution in India in the first half of 2017, according to a person familiar with the matter Mashable Reports. For bringing Samsung Pay in India, the company has partnered with American Express (Amex), said the person, adding that the company may be exploring opportunities with giants such as Visa and MasterCard as well. American Express has been one of the partners of Samsung for the epayment solutions in several other regions including the USA, South Korea and Australia. Elsewhere, Samsung has…

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Viber now lets users set photos and videos to disappear after they’re viewed

Viber

Viber, one of the most popular encrypted chat apps,rolled out what it calls “secret messages,” to give users even more control over their communications. The feature lets users designate which photos or videos stay in the archives of a chat before they hit “send.”Viber  already let users delete a conversation from both their own phone, and that of recipients’ phones. Tech Crunch reports that the new, secret messaging feature lets users set a timer for images they want to share, but that they don’t want to be included in the archives,…

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Samsung Unveils new ‘Galaxy A series’

Dianne Jacobs
samsung

Samsung has introduced its latest smartphone model, the Galaxy A series. The electronics giant on Monday introduced its updated Galaxy A series phones: the 5.7-inch A7, 5.2-inch A5 and 4.7-inch A3. The 2017 versions of these phones come with a handful of upgrades, like IP68 water and dust resistance and improved 16-megapixel front- and rear-facing cameras. The phone which comes with a sleek look coupled with beautiful design, powerful performance and ultimate convenience is set to hit the Ghanaian market after its recent global launch. Samsung’s Galaxy A range of…

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Google starts testing Instant Apps

Dianne Jacobs
Instant App

Android Instant Apps are now one step closer to reality after Google started their pilot testing. These new kinds of apps are meant to help bridge the gap between web apps and native apps. The idea is to break native apps into very small packets that, because they are so small, can run almost instantly — and without having to go to an app store — when you tap on a URL. According to Tech Crunch, Google says that it has been working with a small number of developers to test the…

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Twitter is shutting down its business app, Twitter Dashboard

Twitter

Twitter Dashboard, the app aimed at business users, is shutting down on February 3 — just over seven months since it was launched. However, its demise may not be so bad for the larger Twitter community. Twitter released the new app called Dashboard which was designed to help businesses make the most of their Twitter presence without having to refer to third-party options. Dashboard was described as a “a powerful tool designed to help businesses connect with their customers and community.” Among its features is a customized feed, tweet scheduling, personalized notifications, and tweet recommendations. In a…

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Facebook artificial intelligence technology lets blind people ‘see’ photos

Dianne Jacobs
Facebook End-to-end encryption

As the internet becomes dominated by images, Facebook is launching a system which can “read” photos and tell visually impaired people what appears in them using the Artificial Intelligence technology. Using artificial intelligence (AI), Facebook’s  servers can now decode and describe images uploaded to the site and provide them in a form that can be read out by a screen reader. The new accessibility technology is intended to allow blind and visually-impaired people to share and take part in photos on Facebook. As the internet is changing from a medium based…

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