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Category: Tech

  • Do you know about the new pinch emoji?

    Do you know about the new pinch emoji?

    Sending emojis to convey a complete message without using a single word has emerged as a new trend in recent, millennial times. 

    Emoji 13.0 is the set of 117 new emojis that have been approved for release in 2020. Among them is the ‘pinch emoji’ gesture, designed to represent the Italian hand gesture ma che vuoi (or ‘finger purse’).

    The “What do you want?” pinched fingers emoji proposal was submitted by Y Adriano Farano, Jennifer 8. Lee and Theo Schear of Emojination to Unicode. The proposal explains the significance of this emoji. It is part of the Italian gestural expression which is now widespread in Mediterranean countries and according to research published by the New York Times, Italians use this gesture roughly 250 times a day.

    https://twitter.com/Giulio_Consult/status/1223014981668499457?s=20

    Not just Italians but many other cultures use the same pinched finger gesture to make a point, for example, one blogger mentions that this is an expression used for “just about everything”, and in Israel, it means “Wait a minute,” or “Hurry up” or “Relax.”

    The gesture is used by pinching your fingers against the thumb and moving your hand back and forth against your chest which translates to “What do you want?”

    Even Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi of Italy, in 2015 was seen flaunting this gesture to give an impactful speech in the Italian Parliament. Hence it is not just an emoji but represents the Italian culture and celebrates their tradition.

    The proposal was accepted and we will soon be seeing this emoji in 2020.

  • How to manage ‘annoying’ cellphone notifications

    How to manage ‘annoying’ cellphone notifications

    Apps and websites regularly push alerts to your devices. Though they are sometimes useful, in most cases they are annoying and unwanted. Here’s what you do to get rid of this once and for all.

    Early Decision

    The first time you open a newly downloaded app, it may ask for permission to send you notifications. You can say no. Alerts from apps like weather or local news media can be important but most e-commerce apps only send unnecessary coupon alerts in unlimited numbers. These notifications are not personalised and consequently, you feel like you’re running a grocery store.

    Opting out here does not mean you can never get those notifications. Later, if you decide you really want those alerts, you can always enable them in your system settings for notification alert. Here is how you can do it:

    Configure your smartphone settings

    For Android

    Some apps may have notification controls in their own settings, but you can also manage alerts in your device’s Settings section. Just look for “Notifications” or “Apps & Notifications.” In the Notification settings, look for a list of apps and select the one you want to change.

    In some situations, a user wants more personalization so in that case, you can tweak your apps by further digging into the settings as shown below.

    For IOS Apple

    In IOS 13 (mobile operating software for iPhone, tap the button at the top of an app’s settings screen to allow or disable notifications. If you decide to keep the notification on, you can adjust where and how it appears on your device. If you don’t want a banner alert popping up on the lock screen, you can downgrade it directly to the IOS Notification Center area so you can browse all your updates at once later on.

    By utilizing these settings, if not completely, then to a great extend your problem with notification bombardment would be curtailed.

  • Fitbit launches tracker for your cat

    Fitness trackers give you a way to find out patterns like how many steps you walk, how many calories you consume and how many hours you sleep. This type of information is important for your health. 

    PurrSong Pendant is a fitness tracker for cats. The idea of a cat fitness tracker might sound weird but it is very useful for pet owners. It tracks your cat’s activities and sleeping pattern. The idea is to get data about your pet’s normal routine and keep track of those time when they deviate from it. 

    When your furry friend starts to stray from the routine, it could be an indicator that there’s something wrong. 

    As anyone who has ever owned a cat will know that it can be tricky to find out if they are sick, especially cats try to hide when they are sick. 

    The pendant identifies an irregular pattern early so that you can seek veterinary care sooner. 

    The information from the tracker is shared over Bluetooth with an app on your phone that can alert you when there’s an abnormal pattern. For examples, if your cat isn’t being active as usual, you’ll be notified about that. 

    The PurrSong pendant is roughly the size of mentos candy, with IP56 (strongest) rating for water and dust resistance. It attaches to your cat’s collar and will last one month on a single charge. 

    The data from the PurrSong Pendant can give you a snapshot of your cat’s overall health — this reason is enough for a pet lover to go a buy one for your cat. 

  • WhatsApp will not operate on outdated smartphones, Here is why

    WhatsApp will not operate on outdated smartphones, Here is why

    Millions of Android and iPhone devices with an outdated operating system (Andriod or IOS) will no longer be able to run WhatsApp, the app owned by Facebook, BBC reported on Saturday. WhatsApp as saying the move is important to protect the security of its users. 

    Smartphones with Andriod version 2.3.7 and older, and iPhone IOS 8 and older, would be affected by the update, said the report. Most users would be able to update their operating systems in order to continue using the services of WhatsApp.

    “WhatsApp clearly had no option but to ensure its services remain secure; however it faces the difficult side-effect that the app is no longer compatible with older smartphones,” said CSS (tech research company) insight analyst Ben Wood.

    A spokesperson for the messaging platform said: “This was a tough decision for us to make, but the right one in order to give people better ways to keep in touch with friends, family, and loved ones using WhatsApp.”

    This is the latest in a series of moves after the app withdrew support for numerous devices in 2016, and then from all Windows phones on the last day of last year.

  • Apple is closing all offices and stores in China through February 9

    Apple is no longer closing just one store in China over coronavirus worries — Apple is closing them all. The company is shutting down all its corporate offices, stores, and contact centres in mainland China through February 9, according to a statement provided to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

    The deadly coronavirus outbreak that has killed over 200 people in China and infected nearly 10,000 worldwide, has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO). It has triggered the first mandatory CDC quarantine in the United States in 50 years and prompted a ban on foreign nationals returning from China. In addition, airlines have been forced to temporarily suspend all flights to the country. In these circumstances, it makes sense for Apple to shut down its stores and offices in China.

    However, Apple says its online store will remain open.

    Meanwhile, it’s not clear if Apple’s Chinese factories, run by Foxconn, will also be shutting down and more factory workers dismissed. Foxconn, on Tuesday, had said that it would be “operating on a holiday schedule and didn’t anticipate any impact in production”.

    Nintendo, which manufactures its consoles in China, has said that the coronavirus is already impacting the production of the Nintendo Switch game console.

  • Coronavirus causes fright for Indian phone, carmakers

    Coronavirus causes fright for Indian phone, carmakers

    Coronavirus outbreak in China could start to disrupt India’s production of smartphones. This spread can delay component shipments that are important for the production of smartphones, reports have said.

    India is the world’s biggest smartphone maker after China but is still largely dependent on China for supplies of parts such as cells, displays panels, camera modules and printed circuit boards.

    “Those disruptions were already planned but if it gets prolonged, for March and April, production will have serious trouble,” said S N Rai, the co-founder of homegrown smartphone maker Lava.

    China’s OnePlus said its Indian operations could manage, in the short term at least.

    “We are well covered because we have the entire production in India, we already have enough stock, and even going forward many of the components will anyway be coming directly from other markets,” said Vikas Agarwal, the India head of OnePlus.

    However, Beijing has expressed confidence in uprooting the “devil” virus that has been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO).

    Giants like Alphabet Inc’s Google and Sweden’s IKEA have closed operations in China.

    India’s Tata Motors, which counts China as a major market for its luxury Jaguar Land Rover cars, said on Thursday it was worried about the coronavirus and warned that the outbreak could impact productions and profits.

    For now, the industry just hopes the outbreak can be contained within the next two weeks. “If the problem persists beyond February 10, we have a real problem at hand,” said Pankaj Mohindroo, head of the India Cellular & Electronics Association, an industry lobby group.

  • How 5G will affect you

    How 5G will affect you

    Qualcomm, an American multinational telecommunication company makes the 5G chips and modems that every 5G phone in the US will rely on. However, Qualcomm isn’t the only major 5G player, of course — Huawei, Nokia and Ericsson are all leaders too. Nevertheless, Qualcomm’s investments in 5G research and development mean that it has a strong hand in getting more business. 

    Here how 5G wil affect our lives.

    Every high-end phone could be 5G in 2020

    In a confident statement by Qualcomm, “all premium phones will support 5G in 2020 such as Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G, LG V50, Oneplus 7 pro 5G. But there’s a little nuance here too. 4G only options are still valuable during the 5G transition because they come with a lower price tag. 

    5G laptops will appear in 2020

    Lenovo has already announced that it will introduce 5G connected PCs in early 2020. We may not see those laptops hit the market for a while, but you’d better believe that some laptop-makers will jump at the chance to be the first to bring 5G to computing — just as you see happening right now with phones, but Qualcomm bets that the hunger for 5G laptops will grow over time. 

    5G will replace wifi routers at home and office 

    5G hubs that work like Wi-Fi for your home are already here. One example of fixed 5G is the HTC 5G Hub, a device that plugs into your router to deliver home broadband. 

    Moreover, they’re designed to deliver the same dramatically high-speed internet, say between 500 (Mbps) to over one (GB) per second. 

    Self-driving cars that talk to each other 

    Qualcomm showed a self-driving car fitted with 5G sensors runs the same route as a car without 5G. The 5G powered sensors take in data from other connected vehicles, understanding when a car door is opening at the curb, if there’s an obstruction in the road and when pedestrians are finished crossing the streets. At the end of the demo, the 5G-connected car is better informed of obstructions and arrives at the destination much faster. 

    But the reality could be decades away. Before 5G autonomous cars become common, self-driving vehicles will be be the norm.

  • Pakistan’s FBR using ‘pirated’ US software

    The US has accused Pakistan’s Federal of Board of Revenue (FBR) of using ‘pirated’ version of its software. According to Business Recorder, the US has urged Pakistan to refrain from engaging in such practices. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells raised this piracy issue during her recent visit to Pakistan.

    According to sources, Wells maintained that FBR was using the pirated version of VMware illegally. Ms Wells urged Pakistan to buy the software instead of illegally using it. FBR denied these allegations and officials said this is simply not true. Shabbar Zaidi is currently serving as Chairman FBR.

    VMware, Inc. is a publicly traded software company listed on the NYSE under stock ticker VMW. Dell Technologies is a majority shareholder. VMware provides cloud computing and virtualisation software and services. VMware’s desktop software runs on Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS, while its enterprise software hypervisor is for servers.

  • Rights groups denounce PEMRA’s efforts to regulate web content

    Rights groups denounce PEMRA’s efforts to regulate web content

    Digital rights activists on Tuesday rejected the proposal of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to regulate digital content and Over the Top TV (OTT).

    According to the details, PEMRA on Tuesday released a document titled “Consultation on Regulating the Web TV & OTT Content Services” on its website, seeking comments on the matter by February 14, which drew strong reactions.

    The document proposes a number of regulatory guidelines, including licensing, inspection, content regulation and putting a complaint handling mechanism in place for web TV and OTT platforms.

    In response to the document, the participants were of the view that any such measures would cause regression in Pakistan’s digital growth. Furthermore, that the measures would curb freedom of expression, increase censorship and diminish digital rights for Pakistanis.

    A press release in this regard said that the draft regulations “are thinly disguised as draconian attempts to discourage new media journalism, including YouTube/website channels being run by Pakistani journalists who have been forced out from mainstream media over the past two years by the authorities to curtail their professional and/or entrepreneurial work or dozens of entrepreneurial and non-legacy current affairs news and current affairs websites that are filling the gaps in information from legacy media and providing useful local community information”.

  • How to track the spread of coronavirus in real-time

    How to track the spread of coronavirus in real-time

    The deadly coronavirus is spreading like a wildfire across the world. There is an online dashboard that can give you real-time news in the form of data. The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkinas has built a tool, integrating data from the World Health Organisation, as well as centres for disease control from across the world.

    The death toll has reached at least 81, and the virus has infected more than 2,800 people worldwide. As reports come in, the map keeps track of the total confirmed cases, total deaths, and total recoveries. Each red dot represents an outbreak, with the size corresponding to the relative size of the outbreak. 

    Source – John Hopkins

    Read more – Can you get coronavirus through your AliExpress order?

    So far, the virus has spread to 13 other countries, including the US, France, Australia, and Japan. Experts fear that the true number of people infected is much higher than the official total.

    Source – John Hopkins

    While Wuhan has been quarantined, at least 12 other cities have imposed travel restrictions, affecting an estimated 33 million people.