Facebook Watch starts rolling out globally

A year after the launch in the U.S, Facebook has announced the global roll-out of Facebook Watch, a video platform similar to YouTube and Netflix. As per the company, this feature allows the people to discover and engage more with the videos of their choice. In their official release, the company has also mentioned that Every month, more than 50 million people in the US come to watch videos for at least a minute in Watch — and total time spent watching videos in Watch has increased by 14X since the start of 2018. With Facebook Watch, users can find the latest video spanning over lots over a variety of genre including entertainment, sports, news and much more. In addition to it, there is an option to save the video, which can be watched later. The company is also working on giving users a new video experience giving them the ability to shape the direction of the content. Eventually, users will be able to find in Watch feed, like Watch Parties, Premieres, and videos focused on audience participation. We’re building new video experiences that put people at the center, giving them the ability to shape the direction of the content. Over time you’ll be ...

Samsung Q900R 8K QLED TV with 8K AI upscaling, Quantum Processor 8K announced

Samsung  has introduced Q900R QLED 8K TV range (65", 75", 82" and 85") with 8K AI Upscaling ahead of IFA 2018 this week. It has Real 8K Resolution, Q HDR 8K and Quantum Processor 8K for the best experience. It features Real 8K Resolution capable of 4,000 nit peak brightness that allows TV to produce four times more pixels than a 4K UHD TV and 16 times more pixels than a Full HD TV. Q HDR 8K powered by HDR (High Dynamic Range) 10+ technology optimizes the TV’s brightness levels and produces pristine colors and images is also incorporated to deliver pictures as intended by creators, says Samsung. It also has Samsung's proprietary 8K AI Upscaling technology based on artificial intelligence with picture and sound quality to a level compatible with 8K regardless of the original source quality or format. This can upscale content from streaming service, set-top box, HDMI, USB or even mobile mirroring, thanks to Quantum Processor 8K, it recognizes and upscales the content to appear in 8K quality. In addition, the Q900R features Direct Full Array Elite for enhanced contrast and precise backlighting control, and also 100% Color Volume that promises  the best color accuracy to-date. The TV recognizes and analyzes a ...

Apple acquires Akonia Holographics to strengthen AR portfolio

In a recent development, the Cupertino giant Apple has acquired Akonia Holographics LLC, a startup displays for augmented-reality glasses. This acquisition is a big sign of Apple's ambition towards the wearable device based on AR technology. Founded in 2012, Akonia uses a “HoloMirror” technology that is designed to project full-color images onto the transparent glass lenses of augmented-reality headsets. According to the company, it has a portfolio of more than 200 patents related to holographic systems and materials. Back in 2012, the company raised $11.6 million in seed funding and was looking for more as well. Having said that, it is not something new for Apple since the company has a history of small firms acquisition. In 2013, Apple acquired Israel-based PrimeSense company that made three-dimensional sensors. Previously, Bloomberg also reported about Apple developing AR glasses, but the company declined it. At present, there are very few Augmented Reality products like Microsoft HoloLense and startup Magic Leap’s Magic Leap One, which are intended for indoor use. Source

Casio PRO TREK Smart WSD F-30 rugged Wear OS outdoor watch with GPS announced

Ahead of IFA 2018, Casio has unveiled its third generation Outdoor Watch in the PRO TREK series dubbed as WSD-F30 with water resistance and is also built to military standard specifications (MIL-STD-810G) so that it can withstand a variety of rugged activities. It has a 1.2-inch (390×390 pixels) dual layer display with monochrome and color LCDs. It enables use of offline maps and GPS log recording for up to three consecutive days, says the company. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46BNVTWx_7E It comes with Extend Mode which enables use of offline color maps and GPS for up to three consecutive days on just a single charge. In Extend Mode, time and measurement data is continuously shown on the monochrome display, and a color map can be displayed with a push of button. Extend Mode also conserves energy by switching the operating system to energy-saving stand-by mode on a schedule set by the user. It also ensures optimal power management based on the activity plan, allowing the user to track his or her current location on an offline map and record tracks during activities longer than a single day. Casio WSD-F30 specifications 1.2-inch (390×390 pixels) dual layer (Color TFT LCD and monochrome LCD) display Wear OS by Google (compatible with smartphones running Android 4.4+ ...

YouTube starts testing New Explore tab on iOS [Update: Being tested on Android]

Update - August 30: A month after testing on iOS, YouTube has announced that the new Explore tab is now being tested on Android. It recently expanded to 2% of iOS users. The company might release it to everyone in the coming months based on the feedback from users since this is still an experimental feature. We're now testing out the Explore tab on more devices and platforms, including Android! This is still an experimental feature so if you see the update, let us know what you think by sending feedback → https://t.co/lJjBNUumCO https://t.co/4HbCPM4JHI — Team YouTube (@TeamYouTube) August 28, 2018 Earlier: With hundreds of videos getting uploaded on YouTube, it gets tough for videos to be found by users. To solve this, YouTube on iOS is now testing a new “Explore” tab, which will help you discover more videos, topics, and channels. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF3cG4Q0dkM The company clearly states that this is an experimental feature, so will only work for a small group of users who are using the YouTube app on iPhones. They will see the Explore tab in the bottom navigation. If you’re part of the test group. Users will see the content from Trending now exists in a section of Explore. The new Explorer section will recommend videos based on ...

POCO Launcher Beta for Xiaomi (MIUI) phones gets listed on the Play Store [APK Download]

Xiaomi’s sub-brand POCO launched the POCO F1 running on Android 8.1 (Oreo) with a skin on top, which company is referring to as MIUI For POCO. MIUI for POCO is regular MIUI with few new additions like POCO launcher, stock Android like quick setting tiles and others. During the launch, the company mentioned that the POCO Launcher (Beta version) will be available on the Play store starting 29th Aug and a beta version was leaked on the same day but it didn’t have all the features which were mentioned during the launch. [gallery link="file" columns="2" size="large" ids="262239,262240"] Today, the POCO Launcher went live on the Play Store with most of the features which were mentioned during the launch, as of now the launcher is under testing phase, so it is listed as an unreleased app. POCO launcher Play Store version also features an app drawer and a search bar at the bottom to search for a keyword, installed app and app in the app store (Mi App Store). Similar to Nova launcher and other third-party launchers, POCO Launcher also has support for third-party icon packs and shows quick shortcuts for the various actions on long press on an app icon, users can long ...

Facebook removes cross-posted Tweets after recent API change

Recently, some user reported that their cross-posted tweets disappeared from Facebook suddenly. However, it became clear after some that Facebook has removed all tweets that user posted through cross-posting from Twitter. This happened as a consequence of the recent API change, which took effect earlier this month. Having said that, it prevents the third-party app from publishing a post on users account, since Facebook is working to lock down its platform following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where 87 million Facebook users data has been shared. According to Axios, Twitter had initially asked Facebook for more time to see if there was a way for users to continue joint posting to both social networks, but Facebook said no. Since the Twitter app for the Facebook platform was made useless, Twitter decided to delete it from the Facebook. Having said that, Facebook informed its developers who used to API to use Facebook's Share dialogs for web, iOS, and Android instead. Source

Wear OS gets better notifications, health coaching, shows proactive, personalized info from Google Assistant

Ahead of rumored Pixel Watch release next month, Google today announced the much-needed Wear OS redesign in an aim to provide quicker access to information and notifications, more proactive help from the Google Assistant, and smarter health coaching. Now you can easily browse, dismiss or take action on your notifications with the new notification stream. You can swipe up to see all your notifications at once, use smart reply without even leaving your stream or Swipe down to get quicker access to handy features and shortcuts like Google Pay or ‘Find my phone’. Google Assistant now offers proactive and personalized help such as flight status or hotel reservation. You can use on smart suggestions like the weather at your destination or find a restaurant near your hotel. It can also remind you to bring an umbrella, show meetings for the day, or warn you if there is a delay on your commute. Google said that it will become more helpful over time as it gets to know you and as the company adds new features. Google recently introduced Heart Points and Move Minutes to Google Fit app in association with the American Heart Association and the World Health Organization to design these goals based on their physical activity ...

YouTube rolls out Digital Wellbeing tools to track time spent watching videos

A couple of months back, YouTube announced new tools at the Google I/O in order to help the user to understand their usage pattern. From now, users can find all the YouTube tools in one place, alongside your personal time watched profile. With this update, YouTube as built a profile that informs you how long you’ve watched YouTube videos today, yesterday and over the past 7 days. As per the officials, it is used to give a better understanding of how much a user spend on YouTube. Another tool helps the user to set up a reminder to take a break, in case if you spend too much time in the app. Users can do it by heading on to settings and set the amount of YouTube time. Once you’ve hit that limit, a friendly reminder will pop up on your screen. Third, is all about controlling the notification. If you hate getting notifications from YouTube now and then, you can control it, bundle all the YouTube push notifications into a single notification at a specific time. You can do this by going to settings choose when you’d like to receive your digest. Notification sounds and vibration may spoil your sleep since, we can't ...

POCO F1 first sale generated over Rs. 200 crore in less than 5 minutes

Xiaomi’s sub-brand POCO launched the F1, the company’s first smartphone in India last week, and has promised, it went on sale for the first time today at 12PM. The company has announced that it sold over Rs. 200 crore worth of smartphones in just 5 minutes. It said that this made it the biggest and fastest flagship sale ever. #POCOF1: thank you all for a fantastic response to the first sale! We're happy to announce that we generated ₹200+ cr in less than 5 minutes today, making this the BIGGEST & FASTEST flagship sale ever on @Flipkart! Thank you, Masters Of Speed. Next sale is on 5th September! pic.twitter.com/cydGtGjlb6 — POCO India (@IndiaPOCO) August 29, 2018 The company did not reveal the number of units sold. It offered Rs. 1000 off for HDFC Bank credit/debit card holders for the first sale. Next sale is scheduled for September 5th, next Wednesday. To remind you, the phone packs a 6.18-inch Full HD+ 2.5D curved glass display with a notch, is powered by Snapdragon 845 with up to 8GB RAM and LiquidCool Technology, runs Android 8.1 (Oreo) with MIUI on top with POCO launcher, has a 12-megapixel rear camera with LED flash along with a secondary 5-megapixel camera, 20-megapixel front camera with AI ...