Instagram introduces 'Close Friends on Live': What is it and how it works

Instagram introduces 'Close Friends on Live': What is it and how it works


Instagram is rolling out an option to let users on the platform live stream exclusively to close friends. Called “Close Friends on Live”, the feature was announced on June 20 and is being introduced globally. With this update, the users’ live stream will be visible only to those in their “Close Friends” list. The user can add or remove people from their close friends list. The live streaming can be joined by up to three other accounts.


Previously, live broadcasts hosted by Instagram users were visible to all their followers and if the user’s account was public then anyone could join and see the live streaming, but it is set to change with a new option that will allow users to have control over who will be able to see the live broadcast.


Meta owner social media platform Instagram has been trying to give users the option to make their presence and interactions on the platform more private and this feature is also a step in that direction.


In November last year, Instagram allowed users on the platform to mark posts on their content grid for their close friends. Instagram had earlier also given the option to add mute button for everyone except close friends with which users could opt for better safety settings. The feature was first rolled out only for creators but is now available to all users. “Notes” on Instagram is also a way to connect with followers and friends privately.


Instagram has also announced that it will let users add music to carousel posts including videos. Earlier, music could be added to the carousel with photos only.

First Published: Jun 21 2024 | 11:19 AM IST



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Back to School: Apple bundles AirPods with Macs, Pencil with iPads for free

Back to School: Apple bundles AirPods with Macs, Pencil with iPads for free



Apple has announced “Back to School” offers in which it is bundling for free the AirPods with Mac laptops and Pencil with iPads. Moreover, the US-based technology giant is offering its AppleCare+ plans with up to 20 per cent off. The offers are now live on Apple Education store and will be applicable until September 30. Apple is also launching new bookable sessions at Apple Stores to assist students choose a Mac laptop based on their preference, use and need. Here are the offers detail:


Apple Back to School: AirPods with Macs


During the offer period, students purchasing select Mac devices can get AirPods (third generation) with a “Lightning Charging case” at no additional cost. Alternatively, other AirPods are available at a discounted price.


AirPods (3rd generation) with MagSafe Charging Case


Price: Rs 20,900


Discounted price with Mac: Rs 1,000


AirPods Pro (2nd generation) with MagSafe Charging Case (USB??’C)


Price: Rs 24,900


Discounted price with Mac: Rs 5,000


AirPods Max


Price: Rs 59,900


Discounted price with Mac: Rs 40,000


The offers are available on the following Mac devices:


  • MacBook Air with M2

  • MacBook Air with M3

  • MacBook Pro 14-inch with M3

  • MacBooK Pro 16-inch with M3

  • iMac with M3

  • Mac mini with M2


Apple Back to School: Apple Pencil with iPads


During the offer period, students purchasing select iPad models can get the new Apple Pencil Pro or the Apple Pencil with USB-C at no additional cost.


Eligible iPad models


  • iPad Pro 13-inch (M4)

  • iPad Pro 11-inch (M4)

  • iPad Air 13-inch (M2)

  • iPad Air 11-inch (M2)


In addition to the offers, Apple is launching new bookable sessions at Apple stores to help students choose the right Mac laptop based on their personal college experience, customise features to fit their needs, and explore options to fit their budget.


On its online store, Apple has redesigned the education section to make it easy for students to take advantage of services like upgrading and trade-in, migrating to Mac or iOS, personalised shopping support, and more.

First Published: Jun 21 2024 | 10:40 AM IST



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Tech wrap Jun 20: Realme GT 6 pre-orders, Motorola Razr series launch, more

Tech wrap Jun 20: Realme GT 6 pre-orders, Motorola Razr series launch, more



Realme has launched the GT 6 smartphone in India. Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, the performance-focused smartphone is offered with a suite of artificial intelligence powered features related to imaging. Alongside the smartphone, the Chinese smartphone brand also launched the Buds Air6 Pro wireless earbuds.


Motorola has scheduled an event for June 25 where China’s Lenovo-owned smartphone brand is anticipated to unveil its next generation flip-style foldable devices in the Razr series. Ahead of the launch, 9to5Google has reported that the top-end model in the series, the Motorola Razr Plus, will offer significant improvements, especially in camera and durability, compared to the current generation model.


OnePlus on June 20 introduced a new battery technology called “Glacier Battery” in collaboration with Chinese battery manufacturer and technology company Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL). The Chinese smartphone maker announced on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, that the technology will allow the company to increase the battery capacity on smartphones while reducing the size of the battery. According to OnePlus, it has managed to incorporate a 6,100 mAh battery into its upcoming OnePlus Ace 3 Pro smartphone using this newly developed technology.


ASUS has launched in India the ROG Zephyrus G14. The gaming laptop from Taiwanese PC maker is powered by AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS processor, which features a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for handling artificial intelligence workloads. Additionally, the ROG Zephyrus G14 PC is offered with up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 graphic processing unit (GPU) for gaming as well as media editing.


Google is now rolling out a new simple toolbar option on Gmail, allowing users to view only essential options as part of the toolbar on the web version. First reported by 9To5Google, the simple toolbar shows limited options for quick actions atop the email, while the rest of the actions move to the drop down section. The feature is rolling out gradually, and is currently limited to select users.


Expanding its Y-series portfolio in India, Chinese smartphone maker Vivo on June 20 launched the Vivo Y58 5G. The mid-range smartphone boasts a segment leading 6,000 mAh battery. Moreover, it sports an artificial intelligence enhanced camera system. The smartphone is offered in Himalayan Blue and Sundarbans Green colours.


Snap-owned social media platform Snapchat has introduced a generative artificial intelligence suite, which is part of the new Lens Studio 5.0 release. This on-device AI model will power the augmented reality (AR) experience for users. Snapchat said it is previewing Snap’s real-time image model that “can instantly bring your imagination to life in AR”. Using AI, Snapchat will allow users to type in an idea for a transformation and generate vivid AR experiences in real time.


YouTube Music is testing an artificial intelligence-powered feature called “Ask for Music”, which will allow users to search for music through verbal prompts and voice commands. The user could also search by describing the music videos or asking for similar music to a song or from an artist. Compared to the existing search by voice command, the AI-powered feature will make search more conversational in nature. Moreover, it is anticipated that the new AI feature could replace the voice search feature currently in use.


Nvidia surged to the forefront of the tech world, becoming the most valuable publicly listed company on Tuesday, driven by the escalating demand for its artificial intelligence (AI) chips. This landmark achievement is reminiscent of the tech boom at the turn of the century, highlighting the transformative potential of AI, similar to the World Wide Web over two decades earlier.

First Published: Jun 20 2024 | 8:03 PM IST



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OpenAI founder sets up new AI company devoted to 'safe superintelligence'

OpenAI founder sets up new AI company devoted to 'safe superintelligence'


OpenAI (Photo: Bloomberg)


Ilya Sutskever, one of the founders of OpenAI who was involved in a failed effort to push out CEO Sam Altman, said he’s starting a safety-focused artificial intelligence company.


Sutskever, a respected AI researcher who left the ChatGPT maker last month, said in a social media post on Wednesday that he’s created Safe Superintelligence Inc. with two co-founders. The company’s only goal and focus is safely developing “superintelligence – a reference to AI systems that are smarter than humans.


The company vowed not to be distracted by management overhead or product cycles, and under its business model, work on safety and security would be insulated from short-term commercial pressures, Sutskever and his co-founders Daniel Gross and Daniel Levy said in a prepared statement.


The three said Safe Superintelligence is an American company with roots in Palo Alto, California, and Tel Aviv, where we have deep roots and the ability to recruit top technical talent.


Sutskever was part of a group that made an unsuccessful attempt last year to oust Altman. The boardroom shakeup, which Sutskever later said he regretted, also led to a period of internal turmoil centred on whether leaders at OpenAI were prioritising business opportunities over AI safety.


At OpenAI, Sutskever jointly led a team focused on safely developing better-than-human AI known as artificial general intelligence, or AGI. When he left OpenAI, he said that he had plans for a very personally meaningful project, but offered no details.


Sutskever said that it was his choice to leave OpenAI.


Days after his departure, his team co-leader Jan Leike also resigned and levelled criticism at OpenAI for letting safety take a backseat to shiny products. OpenAI later announced the formation of a safety and security committee, but it’s been filled mainly with company insiders.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Jun 20 2024 | 5:58 PM IST



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OnePlus introduces 'Glacier Battery' technology in collaboration with CATL

OnePlus introduces 'Glacier Battery' technology in collaboration with CATL



OnePlus on June 20 introduced a new battery technology called “Glacier Battery” in collaboration with Chinese battery manufacturer and technology company Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL). The Chinese smartphone maker announced on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, that the technology will allow the company to increase the battery capacity on smartphones while reducing the size of the battery. According to OnePlus, it has managed to incorporate a 6,100 mAh battery into its upcoming OnePlus Ace 3 Pro smartphone using this newly developed technology.


OnePlus Glacier Battery technology: What is it


OnePlus said that it has developed a “high-capacity bionic silicon-carbon material” which it then used to achieve 763Wh/L energy density for its new smartphone batteries. The company claimed that this is 23.1 per cent higher than the energy density of standard graphite batteries.


Additionally, the company said that despite its higher capacity, batteries developed using OnePlus Glacier Battery technology offer higher charging speed, longer life and stable voltage. The company claimed that the new 6100mAh Glacier batteries with 100W charging support takes only 36 minutes to go from 1 per cent charge to 100 per cent. Additionally, after four years of use the batteries will still retain more than 80 per cent of its original capacity.


OnePlus will be introducing the new battery technology with the OnePlus Ace 3 Pro smartphone. It is likely that OnePlus will incorporate Glacier batteries into its future flagship smartphones including the OnePlus 13 series smartphones that are expected to launch early next year.

First Published: Jun 20 2024 | 5:42 PM IST



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Motorola schedules Razr 2024 series launch for June 25: What to expect

Motorola schedules Razr 2024 series launch for June 25: What to expect


Representative image: Motorola Razr 40 Ultra


Motorola has scheduled an event for June 25 where the China’s Lenovo-owned smartphone brand is anticipated to unveil its next generation flip-style foldable devices in the Razr series. Ahead of the launch, 9to5Google has reported that the top-end model in the series, the Motorola Razr Plus, will offer significant improvements, especially in camera and durability, compared to the current generation model.


Motorola Razr series (2024): What to expect


The Motorola Razr 2024 series is expected to bring two models – Motorola Razr and Razr Plus. The Razr Plus is anticipated to launch globally as Motorola Razr Ultra. This top-end model is anticipated to bring major upgrades with regard to durability and cameras. While the smartphone is expected to retain the 12MP primary camera from its predecessor, the report stated that the smartphone may get a telephoto camera with zooming capabilities at the hardware level. However, it is unknown if the telephoto camera will be incorporated at the cost of the 13MP ultra-wide angle camera that currently rounds off the dual camera set up on the smartphone.


According to the report, the Motorola Razr Plus model might get better resistance against water ingress. Reportedly, the smartphone will get an IPX8 rating, instead of the IP52 rating that is applicable on the current generation model. This change, if true, might be useful to some users as although the smartphone loses out on resistance against dust, it will offer more protection against water.


On the base variant, the Motorola Razr, the company is reportedly planning to offer a full sized cover display similar to the plus model. For comparison, the current generation Motorola Razr only gets a 1.5-inch capsule like display alongside the camera.


In addition to the hardware changes the next generation Motorola Razr smartphones are expected to offer “Moto AI” artificial intelligence features as well. Although not much is known about the AI features on the smartphones, it is expected to be along the same line as the features on the recently launched Motorola Edge 50 Ultra. The AI features available on Edge 50 Ultra include AI Magic Canvas that allows users to generate images via text prompts. Motorola has also incorporated AI into the smartphone’s camera system for features like AI Action Shot which optimises shots for motion capturing, AI Adaptive Stabilization that uses AI to recognise movement while filming, and more.

First Published: Jun 20 2024 | 4:17 PM IST





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