WhatsApp is working on feature to let users edit messages on iOS beta

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WhatsApp is working on feature to let users edit messages on iOS beta

Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp is reportedly still working on a feature that will allow users to edit messages on the platform, in iOS beta.

The new feature will give users up to 15 minutes to edit their messages to fix any mistake or include any additional information to the original message, reports WABetaInfo.

This feature is currently under development and is not ready to be released to beta testers.

The report further mentioned that the company might also bring a feature in a future update of the application, which will allow users to edit media captions.

In November last year, it was reported that the messaging platform was working on this feature, for iOS beta.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, WhatsApp was reportedly working on a feature that will allow users to send photos with high quality in iOS beta.

The new option will preserve the image dimensions, but light compression will still be applied to the picture.

95% WhatsApp users in India bombarded with pesky messages daily

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95% WhatsApp users in India bombarded with pesky messages daily

A massive 95 percent of WhatsApp users surveyed in India indicate that they get one or more pesky messages each day and 41 percent of those even get four or more such messages on a daily basis, a report showed on Thursday.

About 76 percent said they see such unsolicited messages on WhatsApp based on their conversations with WhatsApp business accounts and Facebook and Instagram activities.

WhatsApp users in India indicate most pesky messages come from someone selling financial services, real estate, offering jobs and earning opportunities, healthcare, and pathology services, according to the report by the online community platform LocalCircles.

In 2021, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) launched a probe into whether WhatsApp was in a position to compromise quality in terms of protection of individualized data.

WhatsApp users in India have been raising issues about unsolicited commercial communication on the platform for years.

The latest data shows that only 5 percent of those surveyed are spared this harassment, but 54 percent get 1-3 spam or promotional messages every day.

Experts assume that many WhatsApp users in India do not avail the options of blocking, muting or archiving users and chats or lack awareness.

“In some cases, spammers create groups of users and send pesky messages to them as it enables them to send such messages to a larger number of WhatsApp users at one go,” said the report.

With the new WhatsApp privacy policy, the users expected to see relevant advertising based on business chats on Facebook/Instagram but not exactly on WhatsApp, and that too in the form of pesky messages.

“This is something that WhatsApp must investigate and if this is a result of organized advertising or partnership with brands, the users must be informed,” said the report.

Amazon closes $3.9 bn acquisition of healthcare provider One Medical

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Amazon closes $3.9 bn acquisition of healthcare provider One Medical

Amazon has closed its $3.9 billion acquisition of primary healthcare organization One Medical, as the e-commerce giant steps up efforts to reinvent healthcare in the digital and virtual era. The acquisition was originally announced in July last year.

One Medical combines in-person care in inviting offices across the country with digital health and virtual care services, making it easier for patients to schedule appointments, renew prescriptions, access up-to-date health records, and advance health outcomes.

“For a limited time, One Medical is offering annual memberships at the discounted price of $144 for the first year (regularly $199 per year), the equivalent of $12 per month, to new customers,” Amazon said in a blog post.

One Medical went public in 2020 and was backed by Google and others as a startup.

“One Medical has set the bar for what a quality, convenient, and affordable primary care experience should be like. We’re inspired by their human-centered, technology-forward approach and excited to help them continue to grow and serve more patients,” said Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services.

Amazon acquired One Medical for $18 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $3.9 billion, including One Medical’s net debt.

“We now set our sights on delivering even further positive impacts for consumers, employers, care teams, and health networks, as we join Amazon with its long-term orientation, history of invention, and passion for reimagining a better future,” said Amir Dan Rubin, CEO of One Medical.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said that customers want and deserve better, and that’s what One Medical has been working and innovating on for more than a decade.

“Together, we believe we can make the health care experience easier, faster, more personal, and more convenient for everyone,” he said.

Google fixes Gmail sync issue affecting Outlook users

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Google fixes Gmail sync issue affecting Outlook users

Google on Thursday said that it has fixed the Gmail sync issue it was having with Microsoft servers when using Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), which most likely affected Outlook users.

“The Gmail sync issue with Microsoft servers when using IMAP is now resolved. Thank you for your patience while we resolved the problem,” the company said on its status page.

According to Google, because of the outage, that started on Wednesday, users were not able to sync new messages while accessing Outlook or Hotmail email accounts on the Gmail application across all device platforms.

On Wednesday, the company said that its engineering team was working in partnership with the Microsoft team to investigate the email sync issue via IMAP.

“Update: Microsoft team has acknowledged that other large mail providers beyond Gmail are also not able to sync with Microsoft’s IMAP server. They are working on the issue,” it added.

Taking to Twitter, several users reported the issue.

One user asked: “My outlook email has been down since the middle of the night last night. I have seen a few tweets regarding this but not many. Is anyone else having issues with no emails at all from Microsoft outlook???”

Another queried: “Is anyone else having problems with #gmail accounts and #Outlook?”

Instagram co-founders’ new AI-powered news app ‘Artifact’ now open to all

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Instagram co-founders’ new AI-powered news app ‘Artifact’ now open to all
Artifact, a new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered personalized news feed application by Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, is now available to everyone, along with new features.
Now, anyone can download and use the new application and no waitlist or phone number is required, the Artifact team wrote in a blog post on Wednesday. The application is available for both iOS and Android users.
With the new version of the application, users can connect their contacts and see articles that are popular in their network.
“By connecting your contacts, you’ll start seeing articles with a special badge when they’ve been read by at least several of your contacts,” the team said.
Moreover, the company also added another tool to help users visualize reading history.
After reading 10 articles, users will be able to see statistics on what they read the most from their profile.
Users will see a thumbs-down icon on every article page so that they can tell the company “why you don’t like an article or publisher and take action to see fewer articles like it or less from that publisher”.
Users can also add a phone number from their “Profile” which will save their preferences and history.
“Adding a phone number allows you to log in across devices or regain access if you get a new phone,” the team explained. The app’s waitlist was opened to the public last month.

India’s TWS shipments up 85% in 2022, boAt leads: Report

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India’s TWS shipments up 85% in 2022, boAt leads: Report

India’s TWS (True Wireless Stereo earbuds) shipments registered 85 percent (year-on-year) growth in 2022, with boAt leading the market for the third time in a row, a new report showed on Tuesday.

According to Counterpoint Research, boAt registered 89 percent (year-on-year) growth, contributing two-fifths of the total shipments. The Airdopes 131 remained the top-selling model for the second consecutive year with a 10 percent share of the total TWS market shipments.

Moreover, for the first time, the top five spots in the India TWS market were captured by local brands.

“Four-fifths of the total market was captured by Indian brands, their highest-ever share. For the first time, the top five spots were taken by local brands, which captured two-thirds of the total TWS shipments in India,” said Senior Research Analyst Anshika Jain.

“Chinese brands captured a 13 percent share in 2022 driven by the good performance of OnePlus’ feature-rich devices Nord Buds and Nord Buds CE. realme and OPPO also supported the growth of Chinese brands. Global brands took an 8 percent share led by Apple, Samsung, and JBL,” she added.

The noise rose to the second spot with 2x (year-on-year) growth, while, Boult Audio grabbed the third spot with a 7 percent share and 167 percent (year-on-year) growth.

Mivi grew 544 percent (year-on-year) this year and took the fourth position in the rankings for top-five brands for the first time, driven by its full-fledged made-in-India TWS portfolio, according to the report.

pTron again took the fifth spot with a 5 percent share of the total TWS shipments.

“Domestic manufacturing saw rapid growth, contributing 30 percent of the total shipments in 2022, compared to just 2 percent in 2021,” said Associate Director Liz Lee.

“Key homegrown brands boAt, Mivi, and pTron ramped up their local manufacturing capabilities to account for 73 percent of the domestic shipment volume in 2022. Other key players like Noise, Truke, Boult Audio, Wings, Gizmore and Play also manufactured made-in-India devices for the first time this year,” she added.

95th anniversary of ‘Raman Effect’, the flavour of weeklong National Science Day celebrations

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95th anniversary of ‘Raman Effect’, the flavour of weeklong National Science Day celebrations

The legendary Indian scientist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman will be commemorated on the National Science Day-2023 on February 28 — marking the 95th anniversary of his path-breaking discovery of scattering of light known as ‘Raman Effect’ — officials said here on Tuesday.

For this, the Tamil Nadu-born Sir Raman became the first Asian to get a Nobel Prize (1930) when he was just 42 years old, and later India conferred the Bharat Ratna on him in 1954.

Remembering Sir Raman’s outstanding scientific contributions, the Nehru Science Centre (NSC) here has kickstarted a week-long program involving renowned scientists, experts, teachers, and students with a host of events for the young minds, first time after the two-year gap owing to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.

Some of the stalwarts who will speak during the week include Dr. Joe P. Ninan of TIFR on ‘Exoplanets and Humanity’s Search for Other Worlds’, Dr. M. Sasikumar of CDAC on ‘Virtual Labs (Online Labs): Perspective, Need and Scope’, and launching of a new scientific demonstration, ‘Matter at Low Pressure’, said the NSC Library Officer S.M. Bani.

Students of various age groups will have a field day with a series of activities lined up during the week — street play contests on Science for Better Life, slogan writing on Science For All, painting competition on Nature Around Us, Science Tourism and Life on Earth by 2050, a quiz on Science & Technology for Human Welfare, among others.

There will be a Giant Bubble Show and an Astro-Voyage – Sky Observation Programme comprising Science on a Sphere show on Exoplanets and other subjects, in which thousands of students and other visitors are expected to join both online and offline, said Bani.

The National Science Day-2023 theme is ‘Global Science for Global Wellbeing’ emphasizing the importance of scientific research and innovation in addressing global challenges and promoting human well-being, and cooperation among various stakeholders for issues like climate change, sustainable development, and public health.

Apple expanding its ‘Communication Safety’ feature to 6 more countries

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Apple expanding its ‘Communication Safety’ feature to 6 more countries

Apple is expanding its “Communication Safety” feature for children to six more countries, the media reported.

In the coming weeks, the feature will be expanded to the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Japan, South Korea, and Brazil, reports MacRumors.

Communication Safety is an opt-in feature in the Messages application across Apple’s platforms, and is designed to alert children when they receive or send pictures that contain nudity.

According to the tech giant, when the feature is enabled, pictures containing nudity are blurred and the children will be warned and presented with helpful resources.

Moreover, children will also have the option to message someone they trust for help if they want.

Photos are only scanned on-device, keeping messages end-to-end encrypted and avoiding Apple from seeing any of the data.

In 2021, the US was the sole country where the Communication Safety feature was made available. However, a few months later, it was also made available in the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Also, it has recently grown further to include France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, the report said.

MakeMyTrip experimenting with ChatGPT to boost customer experiences

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MakeMyTrip experimenting with ChatGPT to boost customer experiences

Global travel service provider MakeMyTrip is experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT to see if its integration can make customer experiences and their vacation planning better on the platform, the company has said.

Sanjay Mohan, Group CTO at MakeMyTrip (MMT), told Media that the ChatGPT integration is at a very early stage and the company will decide to use it only if satisfied with the results.

“Our teams are currently testing ChatGPT for helping customers solve their travel queries and suggest add-on services as they plan holidays. We are working on seeing if the new tool can aid our existing AI-powered chatbots,” Mohan said.

With the use of its in-house AI-powered chatbots, customers on MMT already get suggestions and alerts of rail/flight bookings, baggage details, and car/bus/hotel bookings.

According to Mohan, ChatGPT can revolutionize the hospitality sector that has finally come out from the shadow of the three-year-long pandemic.

“Our goal is to make the MMT platform more seamless, while keeping it simple and user-friendly with smooth navigation. ChatGPT can surely help,” he added.

“We want to make MakeMyTrip a one-stop-shop for all the services that a traveler may need,” Mohan told Media.

The online travel aggregator recently reported a growth of 64.4 per cent on gross bookings (year-on-year) that reached $1.75 billion — its highest-ever — for the company’s fiscal third quarter that ended on December 31.

The company earned an adjusted operating profit of $19.7 million in Q3 FY23, as compared to $13.2 million in Q3 FY22, over the revenue of $170.5 million (versus $115 million in 3Q22).

Profit for the period was $0.2 million as compared to a loss of $9 million during the same quarter last year.

Demand for leisure travel and tourism improved on the back of peak seasonality, according to the company.

YouTube starts testing new tools for podcasts

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YouTube starts testing new tools for podcasts

YouTube which is a video-sharing app owned by Google, is launched its New “feature experiment” to analyze its tools for podcasts.

New tools capture the data from uploading, which is creators’ videos or images etc, to displaying. Youtube analyses all the customer’s data to launch podcasts on the platform. said 9To5Google.

Youtube users can see the option to post a podcast below the ‘create’ switch which is available for uploading videos, creating messages to post, and starting live videos, even for users in testing mode, as per the company.

Users may also be able to get access podcasts from the contest menu’s new “Podcasts tab.”

Already established playlists and videos are able to be set as podcasts using a new option in the three-dots menu.

The company mentioned that a “small number” of creators will see the changes, but only on desktop, the report said.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, the video streaming platform released the “Go Live Together” feature for creators to co-livestream and invite a guest on phone.

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