iGyaan Network

Category: Apps and Software

Games, Apps, Softwares, Operating Systems and Software Hacks

  • Facebook Will Notify Users if Someone Else Uploads Their Photo

    Facebook Will Notify Users if Someone Else Uploads Their Photo

    Facial recognition is a software that Facebook uses to some extent. Now, the social networking company is taking facial recognition to another level with its new feature. Using facial recognition, Facebook will notify a user if someone else uploads of that user.

    According to Facebook’s blog post, the idea behind Photo Review is to give users more control over their online identity by giving them more privacy settings to work with. For the time being, those settings are the only means to work around facial recognition, with users being asked to grant Facebook permission to use facial recognition across the service.

    Powered by the same technology we’ve used to suggest friends you may want to tag in photos or videos, these new features help you find photos that you’re not tagged in and help you detect when others might be attempting to use your image as their profile picture.

    This would allow Facebook to implement more features that use facial recognition, such as account recovery. Facebook has conceded that there will be an easier on-off switch if you find facial recognition to be more trouble than it’s worth.

    Photo Review is powered by the same AI technology that suggests friends you might want to tag in your pictures. The good news here is that the user does not have to be friends with someone for Photo Review to work, as long as the user has friends in common, they will be notified. When you are notified, you then have the choice to add your tag to the photo, leave yourself untagged, or report the photo as inappropriate.

    Facebook says Photo Review is rolling out to most regions, though users in Canada and the EU will not get to use it due to data laws that restrict the use of facial recognition.

     

  • Still Use BBM? You Can Now Book An Uber From BBM

    Still Use BBM? You Can Now Book An Uber From BBM

    BBM was all the rage back in the day when iOS and Android were just starting out. Although the BlackBerry OS appealed to the professionals more because of the security features but, BBM gained popularity thanks to its iMessaging-like exclusivity. This was also before WhatsApp and other IM services gained popularity.

    However, over the past few years, BBM and BalckBerry OS are virtually dead in most of the western market. However, there are some parts of the world where people have clung on to BBM. Now run by Indonesian telco Emtek, BBM still maintains a decent following in Indonesia, other parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

    In association with BBM, Uber will now users to book a ride from inside the chat app within the ‘discover’ menu. The feature will go live in selected countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and the Middle East.

    BBM will do a one-up over WhatsApp since it doesn’t have a feature like this to compete with BBM. However, with its ever-growing popularity, WhatsApp doesn’t appear to be competing with the dwindling by-gone messaging service BBM. This move is more to do with Uber targeting Indonesia than BBM coming up with a feature to resurrect itself in the world of instant messaging.

    Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country and Uber will try to gain impetus in the Southeast Asian country. The ride-hailing business in Indonesia has grown to US $1.5 billion in 2017 and a higher growth is projected in the coming years.

    The BBM partnership makes use of Uber’s web-based app, ‘m.uber’ which offers features you’d find in a regular app but comes suited to poor quality connections and lower-end devices.

    [poll id=”57″]

  • “Hey Google” Can Now Wake Up Your Device

    “Hey Google” Can Now Wake Up Your Device

    The Google Assistant was introduced with Android 7 Nougat and with it, came the ability talk to your AI assistant. There has been the ability to search for anything on the Google app via voice commands but, a new feature is rolling out to devices that have Google Assistant which is different than just a voice search. Using the hotword “Hey Google” or “OK Google,” people can launch the Google Assistant and invoke a search.

    This feature was introduced back in October but, it was only available on a handful of devices. Now, a larger rollout of this feature has begun for devices that have Google Assistant support. Google also recently started seeding out Google Assistant support for Android 5 Lollipop users.

    A notification asking people to re-setup the voice model (which is required for the new command to work) has appeared on many devices. If a user has not received any notification of this kind, they can head over to Settings > Google > Voice and re-setup the voice model.

    Once you re-setup the voice model, you can use either “OK Google” or “Hey Google” to open Google Search/Assistant. Just like with the old phrase, it even works when your screen is off, on some devices.

  • Google’s Tango Will Shut Down On March 1

    Google’s Tango Will Shut Down On March 1

    As smartphone makers and other tech giants move towards virtual and augmented reality, Google has announced that its first foray into AR, Tango will be shut down come 2018.

    Tango, originally Project Tango, was launched in 2014 and used special sensors and cameras on devices to display virtual objects. ATAP, Google’s advanced technology and projects lab, developed Tango but it was soon succeeded by ARCore.

    With ARCore now progressing quickly, Google feels that it doesn’t make sense to carry on supporting Tango. Google announced today that it will end the project on March 1, 2018.

    https://twitter.com/projecttango/status/941730801791549440

    Back in 2014, Project Tango was a new and exciting prospect as it enabled devices to utilise cameras and IR sensors to track and place objects, and was one of the first mobile options to do so. But, Tango soon started falling off the radar due to speed and accuracy issues. Also, the phones that supported project Tango were pricey due to the required hardware.

    As of right now, ARCore only works on Pixel devices and the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. But, Google already has a host of other companies on board like LG, Huawei, ASUS and more.

    Google believes ARCore is the future of AR and VR for the company thanks to its implementation. Even though ARCore can’t see in 3D, it works with the hardware already found on phones. That means that unlike Tango, no special sensors or cameras are required to make use of the software. Machine learning, something that Google showed off in the new Pixel 2 devices, is used to accomplish the same tracking that Tango required hardware for, which gives ARCore a leg up.

    Even Apple’s ARKit focuses on the future of AR and VR, and other company’s decision to support ARCore means that more smartphone makers want to make use of the technology in its upcoming phones.

  • Google Chrome Will Now Let Users Mute Auto-Playing Videos

    Google Chrome Will Now Let Users Mute Auto-Playing Videos

    People who use Chrome on a daily basis for web browsing must be aware of how annoying auto-playing videos can be. Although there are a few tricks you can try and use to disable auto-playing videos, but disabling the wrong thing can completely break a website you actually wanted to use.

    Google has rolled out a beta version of Chrome which will enable users to mute websites which auto-play videos.

    You can download the beta version by heading to this link to get the beta version of Chrome on your machine, for Linux, Windows, or macOS. Since this is the beta version, it is worth noting that it is more likely to be buggy, consume system resources or crash, so it’s better to do this on a machine you don’t rely on for daily important work.

    Once you have the beta installed, it’s a simple process to permanently mute a website that has auto-playing videos. Click on the lock icon next to the website’s name, which normally is an indication it’s using HTTPS to encrypt its website. There should be an option to Allow or Not Allow sound from the website. If you access websites that regularly auto-play websites, just set the sound to Not Allow by default, and you won’t have any more problems with auto-playing videos making noise in the background.

  • Siri Might Soon Start Whispering To You In Public

    Siri Might Soon Start Whispering To You In Public

    It is no secret that a lot of companies believe that machine learning and AI is future of smartphones. Big tech companies like Apple, Google and Samsung have already invested big in Artificial Intelligence and have their own AI assistant in their smartphones. One such assistant is Apple’s own Siri. Siri, just like many other assistants can play music, set reminders and make a shopping list according to your text or voice commands.

    But, it can get a bit embarrassing if you’re in a public transport talking to your phone and this robot is responding to you in full volume. And no matter how much you whisper, Siri responds in the default volume. This new patent from Apple might solve this issue, and make Siri smart enough to understand when you’re whispering.

    First spotted by Gizmodo, the patent details a feature that would enable Siri to discern when a user is whispering to it and, in turn, offer up a response in a silent whisper. Alex Rudnicky, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Language Technologies Institute, told Gizmodo:

    The technology could come out any time because the component technologies are pretty straightforward. The ways that they’re doing this is kind of textbook speech processing but, working up an algorithm to decide when to go into “whisper mode” would be more complicated. I can’t really say why nobody’s come up with this solution. But once you hear it, it sounds really reasonable. Why not?

    This feature won’t make someone start using Siri every day and neither will this feature make it into an ad for the next iPhone but, it will surely make other companies strive to make their AI assistants smarter.

  • You Can Now Experience Google Assistant On Devices Running Android 5 Lollipop

    You Can Now Experience Google Assistant On Devices Running Android 5 Lollipop

    Google Assistant, the AI assistant that is omnipresent on all Android devices running Android 6 Marshmallow or higher is finally available for devices that are still on Android 5 Lollipop. The update has started seeding which will enable Android tablets and smartphones running Android 5 Lollipop to experience the smart assistant. On tablets, Assistant will be limited to Android 7 Nougat and Android 6 Marshmallow OS versions for now.

    At the time of its introduction, Google Assistant was only available for Android devices running Android 7 Nougat. Due to the highly fragmented Android smartphone market, it was quintessential on Google’s part to release the AI assistant to the previous version of the OS as well. One of the main reasons for a vast roll-out of Google Assistant is the staggering numbers that show that old Android OS versions are still prevalent in the market. Old devices running older versions of the operating system are still available in the market in abundance.

    Android 8.0 Oreo is currently available on only 0.3% Android phones, while iOS 11, which was launched in September is present in over 50% of iOS devices. For further context, here is the Android OS and the percentage of Android phones running it:

    • Android KitKat (13.8%) – 2013,
    • Lollipop (27.2%) – 2014,
    • Marshmallow (30.9%) – 2015
    • Nougat (20.6%) – 2016

    Google definitely feels that AI is the future and is trying its best to spread the Google Assistant to as many phones as possible. It recently announced that the JioPhone will also support Google Assistant. This could mean that other feature phones could also be Google Assitant compatible in the future.

    Google Assistant on Android 5.0 Lollipop has started to roll out to users with the language set to English in the US, UK, India, Australia, Canada and Singapore, as well as in Spanish in the US, Mexico and Spain. Google is also rolling out to the Assistant to users in Italy, Japan, Germany, Brazil and Korea.

    Google Assistant is a smart AI assistant that can carry out tasks on the basis of your voice commands. It can set reminders, make a shopping list and tell the weather.

  • Xiaomi Mi A1 Oreo Update Is Coming Soon

    Xiaomi Mi A1 Oreo Update Is Coming Soon

    Last week, it was reported that Xiaomi was looking for beta testers for Android 8.0 Oreo on the Xiaomi Mi A1. Now, the Android 8.0 Oreo beta update has started seeding to the beta testers and should be available to everyone by the end of 2017, as promised by the company.

    The update is 1104.1 MB in size and right now is only available for beta testers. During the launch of the Xiaomi Mi A1, the company promised an update to Android 8.0 Oreo by the end of 2017, and it appears that the company might deliver on the promise.

    The Xiaomi Mi A1 recently received a permanent price cut and is now available for Rs. 13999 on Flipkart and mi.com.

    The smartphone has a 5.5 inch 1920 x 1080 px LTPS display with Corning Gorilla Glass on top for protection along with an aluminium unibody build.

    The Xiaomi Mi A1 has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset, 8x ARM Cortex A53 2.0GHz 64-bit processor, 4GB RAM and 64GB of onboard storage which is expandable via microSD card. Handling the graphics under the hood is the Adreno 505 GPU. The pyrolytic graphite sheet will help in heat management as well, Xiaomi claims. The Xiaomi Mi A1 has an IR blaster to control appliances in your home or office. The fingerprint sensor sits at the back of the device below the camera. Xiaomi has also included a dedicated headphone amplifier for better music listening experience.

    Powering the device is a 3080 mAh battery and 2A charging through the Type C port.

    Even though the phone has stock Android 7.1.2 Nougat, Xiaomi has retained a few apps, such as the Mi camera app since the Google Camera app doesn’t support dual-camera functions right now.

    The smartphone features dual sensors at the back, a 12MP telephoto lens with an f/2.2 aperture (26mm) and 12MP wide-angle lens with an f/2.6 aperture (50mm) setup with 1.25-micron pixel size. The telephoto lens allows the user to take bokeh effect shots with blurred background and a 2X optical lossless zoom. For landscape shots, Xiaomi has introduced a wide angle lens while on the front is a 5MP camera.

    Watch our full review of the Xiaomi Mi A1-

     

  • This App Lets You Use iMessage On Android

    This App Lets You Use iMessage On Android

    There are plenty of instant messaging apps for both Android and iOS platforms like WhatsApp. However, iMessage is an instant messaging app which is for iOS devices only. A new app called weMessage however, lets Android users get the experience of iMessage as well.

    In-app screenshots

    weMessage is an app and server combination that was created by 16-year-old developer Roman Scott. He posted about the new messaging solution on Reddit, and it received a lot of attention:

    My name is Roman, and I am a 16 year-old app developer. I have recently published my first app to the Play Store, called weMessage. weMessage is an app that allows you to use iMessage on your Android phones or tablets.

    I created weMessage due to the inability of people on Android to use iMessage’s ecosystem. Although it is allows you to use iMessage on your Android device, I cannot close the gap between Android and Apple completely because weMessage is reliant on an Apple computer, which I will explain below.

    weMessage is composed of two pieces of software: the Android app itself and a messaging server that I called the weServer. In order to use weMessage, you need to install the weServer on a Mac computer. The weServer acts as a “bridge” between the Mac computer and your Android device.

    It is worth noting that cross-platform iMessaging solutions have been published on the internet before. The reality is that developers who have done this in the past have seen their solutions blocked by software updates from Apple. Until Apple takes the app down, you can download weMessage here. You can also log on to the weMessage website to learn more about the app and how to download and install the solution.

  • Google Assistant Is Coming To The JioPhone

    Google Assistant Is Coming To The JioPhone

    Google has announced that the JioPhone will be the first feature phone which will have Google Assistant support.

    JioPhone

    The Indian market has over 500 million feature phones and Google plans to reach out to many of such feature phone owners through its AI assistant. It isn’t clear yet if JioPhone is the only feature phone in Google’s roadmap or is it the first of many.

    JioPhone is a 4G feature phone that runs KaiOS, a custom operating system based on Firefox OS. The JioPhon, launched earlier this year is available for free (with a deposit) and even has its own voice assistant, HelloJio.

    Google is bringing a customised version of the Google Assistant with Hindi voice support, that is adapted to the device’s 2.4-inch QVGA colour screen. While the interface will be much different than the one found on Android and iOS devices, the core functionalities of the Google Assitant are expected to be the same.

    Google might end up working with Nokia well to bring Google Assistant to its line of feature phones as well but, that is not confirmed yet.

     

  • Indian Government Lists 42 Chinese Apps That Are Dangerous To National Security

    Indian Government Lists 42 Chinese Apps That Are Dangerous To National Security

    The Indian government has continued its effort in curbing the danger that some apps on the internet might possess. The Indian intelligence agencies have listed about 42 mobile applications that have the potential to carry out a cyber-attack against the country. The agencies have reportedly issued a warning to the Indian Army and paramilitary against their usage.

    As per reliable inputs, a number of Android/IOS apps developed by Chinese developers or having Chinese links are reportedly either spyware or other malicious ware. Use of these apps by our force personnel can be detrimental to data security having implications on the force and national security.

    Army personnel have been asked to immediately uninstall the 42 mobile apps as well as format their smartphones. This is not the first time that the government has issued warnings against Chinese apps. Recently, UC Browser came under the scanner as well.

    Xiaomi in a statement has said:

    At Xiaomi, we take security and privacy very seriously. Our global e-commerce platforms and user data for all international users is located on Amazon AWS data centers in California and Singapore.

    We are currently investigating the advisory and would like to assure Mi Fans that we are fully committed to storing and transferring our users’ data securely at all times

    Following is the list of all the apps that have been deemed unsafe by the advisory:

    Weibo, WeChat, SHAREit, Truecaller, UC News, UC Browser, BeautyPlus, NewsDog, VivaVideo- QU Video Inc, Parallel Space, APUS Browser, Perfect Corp, Virus Cleaner (Hi Security Lab), CM Browser, Mi Community, DU recorder, Vault-Hide, YouCam Makeup, Mi Store, CacheClear DU apps studio, DU Battery Saver, DU Cleaner, DU Privacy, 360 Security, DU Browser, Clean Master – Cheetah Mobile, Baidu Translate, Baidu Map, Wonder Camera, ES File Explorer, Photo Wonder, QQ International, QQ Music, QQ Mail, QQ Player, QQ NewsFeed, WeSync, QQ Security Centre, SelfieCity, Mail Master, Mi Video call-Xiaomi, and QQ Launcher.

    Truecaller has responded to the allegations:

    In response to certain reports, we would like to clarify that we are a Sweden based company. We are not sure why the app is on this list, but we’re investigating. Truecaller is not a malware, and all our features are permission based and are disabled by default.

    This is not the first time that Chinese apps have come under the scanner. The fact that even Xiaomi’s apps, one of the most successful brands in India, have come under the scanner is shocking as well as alarming. Xiaomi was previously accused of sharing personal data of Indian users with the Chinese.

  • Here’s Something Important You Should Know About Face ID

    Here’s Something Important You Should Know About Face ID

    The Apple iPhone X launched towards the end of the year and grabbed all the attention that iPhones have historically done. With a huge design departure from the previous generations, Apple took an important decision and removed the trusted Touch ID and replaced it with Face ID.

    If you own an iPhone X, you’d have your own experience with Face ID and differing opinions about whether it was the right decision or not. But, the fact is that Touch ID is gone, and by the looks of it, it isn’t coming back. One of the many great things about Touch ID was multiple fingerprint support which allowed users to give access to people they trusted.

    You may also like – I Spent A Day With The iPhone X And I Am Done With The Home Button

    With Face ID, that options isn’t there yet and if you thought that future software updates will allow that to happen, then you might be wrong in thinking so. According to Craig Federighi, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering has conceded that multiple ‘face’ support for Face ID is not a part of Apple’s plans for Face ID.

    Someone who missed that Touch ID feature emailed Craig Federighi regarding the same and got this response:

    Currently we’re focusing Face ID on a single user authentication. Even TouchID’s multi-finger support was really intended to enable a single iPhone owner to unlock the device with a finger and thumb on both hands, not to enable multi-user authentication.

    We’ll certainly keep your feedback in mind as we consider our plans to evolve Face ID in the future.

    Now, it might be possible that as Apple continues to make Face ID better, it may reach that point where multiple faces can be recognised but, as of now that seems uncertain.

  • Google Knows When A Stranger Is Looking At Your Phone

    Google Knows When A Stranger Is Looking At Your Phone

    A lot of experts are touting machine learning and AI as the 2018 flagship smartphone feature, similar to what thin bezels and tall displays was for 2017. Google has kickstarted the trend of AI with its tight integration of Google Assistant and machine learning in the Pixel 2 smartphones.

    Implementing machine learning in day-to-day seemingly trivial situations will be important. That’s where this new software from Google comes into play. If you travel in public transport a lot, you’d be aware of that annoying feeling when you know someone is staring at your phone while you are watching a video or having a private conversation.

    This new software can recognise when a stranger is staring at your phone and will quickly prompt you about it. The software was first spotted by Quartz and is called “e-screen protector”, and is currently in the research stage. It uses your front-facing camera in combination with some face- and gaze-detection algorithms to identify if anyone else is looking at your display.

    As you can see in the demo video, it reacts almost instantaneously to a stranger’s glance on your screen. It then uses a Snapchat-like rainbow filter to tag the stranger and prompt him/her that they’ve been caught. The creators of the software, Google researchers Hee Jung Ryu and Florian Schroff, say the system works in all sorts of different lighting conditions, and has a reaction time of just two milliseconds.

    Considering Google’s ambitions of making machine learning an integral part of its smartphone ecosystem, this feature might make its way to future Pixel phones when Google is confident about its performance.

  • Huawei Claims Its Facial Recognition Technology Is Ten Times Better Than Apple’s Face ID

    Huawei Claims Its Facial Recognition Technology Is Ten Times Better Than Apple’s Face ID

    Apple may note be the first one to implement a certain technology in its products but, it does set a trend whenever it does innovate. Facial recognition and its renditions have been prevalent in the smartphone industry long before Apple launched the iPhone X and introduced its Face ID feature.

    Apple iPhone X has definitely set the standards in terms of design and the technology that is stuffed inside the body of the iPhone X. Following the reports that OPPO will launch an iPhone X clone, Huawei has announced that it is working on facial recognition technology which is “ten times better” than Apple’s Face ID.

    Huawei Facial Recognition Technology

    Huawei’s facial recognition technology uses a combination of infrared and a projector to create a 3D map of the user’s face. Why Huawei has claimed that its technology is ten times better than Apple’s is because its 3D sensor captures 300,000 data points which is ten times more than what iPhone X’s FaceID captures.

    iPhone X Face ID

    Huawei claims that its facial recognition technology is not only secure enough for payments but, is also extremely fast. Huawei claims that once perfected, it will take just 400 milliseconds to unlock the phone. Huawei has not announced which phone will be the first one to take advantage of this technology and there is also no definite timeline for the technology.

    Apple’s Face ID technology has another very famous implementation, Animojis. And Huawei took the time to boast about its rendition of 3D animojis as well. Huawei claims that its animojis are more advanced than Apple’s Animojis because apart from mimicking facial expressions, it can even track the movement of your tongue.

    Which smartphone from Huawei will get its rendition of Face ID is yet to be seen and whether Huawei will also drop the fingerprint sensor just like Apple did.

  • WhatsApp Will Soon Play YouTube Videos Within The App

    WhatsApp Will Soon Play YouTube Videos Within The App

    WhatsApp has been the most successful instant messaging app and right now, it barely has any competition. But, an app needs to keep on evolving and adding new features incentivises  users to come back to your app rather than switching to some other new one.

    Keeping that in mind, WhatsApp has recently updated its iOS app to add a new functionality which will enable WhatsApp to play YouTube videos within the app.

    The new update comes with WhatsApp version 2.17.81, which is currently available to download via the App Store. However, the PiP mode is currently not working and the YouTube link in the conversations still takes you to the YouTube app.

    According to WABetaInfo, the YouTube playback feature is not yet enabled from a server side switch, the WhatsApp server. After the update, the app is capable of running PiP mode and it will be functional as soon as WhatsApp enables the switch from its server end.

    For Android users, there is no word on this update yet but, the next app update should bring this feature to Android devices as well.

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