Author: Kasturi Chakraborty

Kia, Andhra Pradesh sign MoU to push electric mobility

• To collaborate on “Partnership for Future Eco Mobility”, South Korean carmaker Kia Motors has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Andhra Pradesh in the presence of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Kookhyun Shim, CEO of the automobile company.
• This has been done with an aim to develop a local EV infrastructure towards the commitment of embracing sustainable technologies through electric car culture in India.
• The brands as also installed a vehicle charging station in Vijayawada with two charging hubs for the convenience of representatives of regional government to charge their fleet.
• As per the agreement, Kia has donated the state with three different versions of its Niro crossover – Niro Hybrid, Niro Plug-in Hybrid and Niro EV. With these examples, both parties have agreed to commit to something that’s good for the environment.
• With EV technology making inroads into Indian space heralds the future of clean mobility. The Korean company is collaborating with the Andhra government to optimise resources to meet the needs of residents in the upcoming 14 smart cities in the state.

LinkedIn launches its own version of Stories

• Like Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram Stories, LinkedIn is testing its own dedicated Stories feature with some of its student users in the US. The company confirmed that the feature will put short video clips at feeds of the top users in the main app.
• This feature will show students about the activities of their classmates as and those at nearby schools. The clips are tappable and will only appear for a limited span.
• Though there is a lot of speculation about the process, the company has no plan in hand yet to expand this to schools in other countries.
• LinkedIn is definitely trying to pull in more young users to help them relate to the service better.
• LinkedIn has experimented with many features from here and there; not to mention LinkedIn also experimented with Snapchat-style location filters for its users to use at live events.

Facebook now supports 3D photos

• In a bid to give an upper hand to the whole 3D realistic photo experience, Facebook has just made the portrait image mode much more interesting. When the user posts a 3D photo, the social media network separates the subject from its background to give a layered look.
• This feature allows its users to get a lifelike experience as s/he scrolls the image in the desired direction. Not a first-of-its-kind definitely but according to Facebook, this works best when the picture in question has a high contrast background and foreground.
• This feature has become a reality because of the dual cameras of flagship smartphones.
• The user can also tilt his or her mobile phone to adjust the picture. With this, the newsfeed is going to be a lot more intriguing.
• This feature is supported by iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X and iPhone XS/XS Max as of now. But soon we can expect more from the tech giant towards more innovation.

Mi A2 users reporting severe battery drain issue

• Users of the recently-launched Xiaomi Mi A2 are reportedly undergoing some massive battery drain due to some unforeseen reasons. As you know, the Mi A2 is the second-gen Android One smartphone from Xiaomi and comes with a stock android experience.
• Though the reason is still unknown, some users have mentioned about a bug in the fingerprint sensor and several users even went to the extent of removing every registered fingerprint from the devices. Even this has not provided any respite to Mi A2 users.
• Some sources believe that the cause of battery drainage is running of CPU cores at maximum speed. Google Play store has come under strife for housing a bug for which the users have suggested for deletion of app data.
• Xiaomi is still in a dilemma in dealing with the situation as the issue is not faced by every user. Out of several mechanisms opted by the users, what most have tried is rebooting after every internal of two hours. But this is not feasible each time.
• With the problem gaining momentum, an official statement addressing the issue can be expected from Xiaomi soon.

Google Assistant can now book cabs

• Thanks to a new update, users of Android, iOS, Google Home or any Google Assistant-enabled smart speaker will now be able to book cab services like Ola, Uber, Lyft, Grab, among others. The entire list of ride-hailing operators has not been rolled out yet.
• Google Assistant is expected to show estimated wait times as well as prices of each operator to book your ride without accessing individual applications.
• For now, this feature will only roll out in selected countries, but later on, it will expand to other regions in a phased manner.
• This feature will be available only in English for now but it will soon roll out in other languages as well.
• Among rest of the updates, the Google Assistant has been redesigned for Android users. It now sports bigger visuals, new controls and sliders for using smart home gadgets, and an interactive messaging interface.

Realme C1 launched in India

• Alongside the Realme 2 Pro, the entry-level Realme C1 has also been unveiled, which at Rs 6,999, is targeted at Xiaomi’s Redmi 6 series.
• With a 6.2-inch HD+ display, the Realme C1 sports a notch at the top and a prominent chin below the display.
• Powered by Qualcomm octa-core Snapdragon 450 SoC clocked at 1.8GHz, Realme C1 is backed by 4,320mAh battery.
• In terms of photography, the phone has a 13MP + 2MP dual rear camera setup. It also has a 5MP camera with AI Face Unlock support at the front.
• Like any other Realme devices, the Realme C1 hasn’t changed its OS though – it’s Android Oreo 8.1 along with ColorOS 5.2 skin.
• As far as storage is concerned, the Realme C1 offers 2GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage. It also has a dedicated microSD card slot with support for up to 256GB cards.

WhatsApp appoints grievance officer for India

• In a drive to chain down the menace of fake news, WhatsApp has appointed a grievance officer for India. The company has updated their website that mentions that users can now flag concerns, including sinister messages.
• The Facebook-based company has appointed Komal Lahiri to the post. She is based out of the United States.
• The Settings option will give direct access to the support team and in case users want to escalate the issue, they can approach the Grievance Officer directly.
• The update came following the petition filed by the Supreme Court last month alleging that WhatsApp did not comply with tax and Indian laws.
• WhatsApp has also made a provision under the updated FAQs for law enforcement officials to reach out to the company. This comes in the wake of the apex court’s appeal to curb fake messages.

Samsung phone with 3 rear cameras leaked

• The purportedly leaked images of Samsung’s first triple rear camera phone have surfaced online. The device will allegedly be called the Galaxy A7 (2018).
• The images show the upcoming Galaxy A7’s vertically stacked triple rear cameras as well as it’s side-mounted fingerprint scanner. The latter debuted on the recently revealed Galaxy J6+. In typical Samsung fashion, the device will feature a slim bezel design without a display notch.
• The same smartphone was recently spotted on Geekbench, hinting that it may pack a 6-inch FHD+ screen, Exynos 7885 chipset, 6GB RAM and the infamous Bixby button.
• In addition to the Galaxy A7 (2018), Samsung is also believed to launch a quad rear camera Galaxy A9 Star Pro smartphone on October 11, 2018.
• Recent rumours also suggest that in order to counter the intense competition from new Chinese brands, Samsung will merge its Galaxy A and Galaxy J series to offer more competitive and better value mid-range smartphones.

Image Source

Twitter to revive chronological timelines

• Going back to its roots, Twitter has announced that it will allow its users to revert to the old reverse chronological timeline. This will allow users, who are away for a while, to access the tweets they care about and the rest will be displayed below in a reverse chronological order.
• By updating the “Show the best tweets first” setting, Twitter aims to strike a balance between the most recent Tweets with the best Tweets you’re likely to care about. When that’s turned off, it will display only tweets from people you follow.
• This comes after Twitter got a huge backlash for changing its algorithms in 2016 – highlight tweets it deemed most important to its users.
• This move will give more control to the users on their timelines.
• Twitter did not disclose when this new update will be making its debut. One thing is for sure, the company has been working a lot to freshen the look and functions of the 11-year-old service.

OnePlus 6T confirmed to have in-display fingerprint sensor

• The OnePlus 6T is officially coming soon with an in-display fingerprint scanner.
• OnePlus 6T will be 0.45 mm thicker than the OnePlus 6. This is due to the rearrangement process the mobile phone will undergo since there is no fingerprint sensor, giving it a more unibody look.
• OnePlus said that they had originally intended the technology for the OnePlus 5T, but since this technology was only maturing at that time and no smartphone had actually implemented it at that time, the in-display fingerprint scanner rollout was postponed.
• The sensor is placed below the screen and shines a light on your finger illuminating the ridges making a sort of 2D map of your finger.
• As of right now in India, the in-display technology is only limited to three Vivo phones – NEX, X21 and the recently launched V11 Pro.

Source