Meta has now added several new features to WhatsApp status, which will let users post disappearing pictures and other media.
According to The Verge, an American technology news website, once the features roll out over the coming weeks, you’ll be able to react to people’s posts with an emoji, limit who can see your status, and post voice messages.
The announcement post read that the status emoji reactions work similarly to how they do on Instagram; when you swipe up on the post, you get the option to choose from one of eight emojis.
The feature lets you change who can see your statuses, with the option to show it to everyone, hide it from certain contacts, or only show it to specific people, reported The Verge.
According to Meta, the options you pick will be the default for the next status you post, but you’ll be able to change it without changing the visibility of past statuses.
Other features are small quality-of-life improvements. Statuses that include links will also be more visually appealing — Meta says there’ll now be previews for the site or page that the link will take you to.
WhatsApp is also trying to make it clearer when people post status by adding a ring around their profile picture in the chat lists, group participant lists, and contact info screens, as per The Verge.
(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.)
Chinese electronics maker Xiaomi on Wednesday announced that it will launch the Xiaomi 13 Pro smartphone in India on February 26. Xiaomi said the launch event will kick off at 9:30 pm and it will livestream on Xiaomi official website and its social media channel – Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter accounts.
Unveiled in China last year, the smartphone boasts a second-generation camera system co-engineered with Leica. The smartphone features optical and computational capabilities with Leica true colour imaging, Leica 75mm floating telephoto lens, Leica optics, and two Leica-tuned photographic styles. Below are the specifications of the China model:
Xiaomi 13 Pro: Specifications
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. It packs a 4,820 mAh battery, supported by 120W fast wired charging and 50W wireless charging. It has a 6.73-inch two-side curved AMOLED screen of 120Hz refresh rate and 1,900 nits of peak brightness level. It boots Android 13 operating system-based MIUI 14. It sports a triple-camera system on the back, featuring a 50-megapixel primary sensor, a 50MP ultra-wide-angle sensor, and a 50MP telephoto lens. On the front, the phone has a 32MP camera.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is IP68 rated for water and dust resistance. It is offered in 8GB + 128GB, 8GB + 256GB, 12GB + 256GB, and 12GB + 512GB configurations. It comes in ceramic white, ceramic black, flora green (ceramic) and mountain blue colours. It has a fingerprint scanner under the display, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi, NFC, and USB-C port.
Xiaomi-Leica partnership
The first imaging flagship smartphone co-engineered by the two companies, Xiaomi 12S Ultra, was officially launched in July last year in select countries. Recently, the company’s India arm hosted a joint session with the Leica team to share details on the innovations both the companies have managed to create in the field of smartphone imaging.
“Xiaomi and Leica’s strategic partnership aims to bring advanced camera capabilities to smartphones and push the limits of what is technologically possible in the smartphone camera module segment. Leica provides its expertise in optical engineering, design, imaging software, and consumer experience to the partnership to help Xiaomi achieve the best possible imaging results. With the rise of smartphone camera quality, the partnership opens up new revenue streams for users who are exploring or creating content for platforms like YouTube and social media. Xiaomi is closely monitoring the market to cater to the evolving needs of smartphone cameras and plans to integrate the best cameras into its upcoming phones,” the company said in a joint statement.
Apple announced that it is expanding its “Communication Safety” feature to more countries.
The feature for the Messages application provides warnings and resources on a child’s device if they receive or try to send photos containing nudity, the tech giant said in a blogpost on Tuesday.
Messages application detects and blurs the image and offers age-appropriate guidance, by using on-device machine learning.
“At Apple, our goal is to provide people with technology that not only improves and enriches their lives, but also helps them stay safe online,” said Erik Neuenschwander, director of User Privacy, Apple.
“We’re proud to be an official supporter of Safer Internet Day in Europe– and we’ll keep innovating every day to empower people to protect their families online.” he added.
The iPhone maker is also sharing free educational sessions online and in Apple Store locations, to help “parents, guardians, teachers and child safety advocates get the most out of the family-friendly safety tools across Apple devices”.
On the App Store, Apple will highlight applications that create even more ways to encourage child safety, privacy and parental controls.
“Apple is also offering a tailored session for members of the Apple Education Community– a professional learning hub designed for educators who use Apple technology. The course will provide useful insights into how teachers can protect and educate children on internet safety,” the tech giant added.
–IANS
aj/ksk/
(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.)
Microsoft has announced that the Teams free version, a legacy app for business, will no longer be available from April 12.
“After April 12, 2023, Microsoft Teams Free (classic), the legacy free Teams app for business, will no longer be available,” said Microsoft.
The company mentioned that users will need to upgrade to the Microsoft Teams Essentials by paying Rs 110 per user/month to preserve chats, meetings, channels and other key info.
“Upgrading to Microsoft Teams Essentials is the easiest way to continue using Teams and maintain access to all your chats, files, teams, and meetings. Teams Essentials also provides unlimited group meetings for up to 30 hours in length with up to 300 participants per meeting, and 10 GB of cloud storage per user — all for only Rs 110 per user/month,” it added.
Last month, Microsoft announced to move some ‘Microsoft Team’ features to its new more costly Premium edition like translated captions, custom Together Mode scenes and virtual appointment options.
The company revealed the changes in a licensing guide update late last month and mentioned that “some Teams features will move from Teams licenses to Teams Premium license” after the Premium edition launches fully in February.
–IANS
shs/ksk/
(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.)
Canon on Wednesday launched two new mirrorless cameras — EOS R8, and EOS R50 — for consumers in India.
These entry-level cameras come packed with many fun, creative tools and automated features, allowing users to create high-quality vlogs and images easily with minimal camera operation.
“While the youthful EOS R50 is tailor-made for social content creators and photography enthusiasts looking at sharing innovating and mesmerizing content, the dynamic EOS R8 is made for wedding professionals and serious amateurs looking at upgrades to the full-frame mirrorless segment,” Manabu Yamazaki, President & CEO, Canon India said in a statement.
The EOS R8 comes equipped with Movie Digital IS, which digitally performs tilt correction as well as 5-axis image stabilisation during video shooting.
Moreover, the EOS R’s newly developed 24.2-megapixel CMOS image sensor enables 6K data to be obtained from its entire width, producing high-quality cropless oversampled 4K UHD footage at up to 60p.
Besides normal 8-bit recording, the EOS R8 offers two options for recording 10-bit 4:2:2 high dynamic range video.
“For the youth of today, the EOS R50 is a light-weight entry-level camera launched to create quality content be it a fashion vlog or capturing a family vacation,” C. Sukumaran, Senior Director, Products & Communication, Canon India said in a statement.
With EOS R50, users can be assured of the high quality of the footage.
The EOS R50’s APS-C format image sensor is three times larger than the 1-inch sensor on the latest smartphones, meaning sharper, more detailed images and videos, and less noise (graininess) even in low light, said the company.
Further, with 24.2 megapixels, the EOS R50 is also capable of producing high-quality Uncrop 4K 30p video oversampled from 6K worth of data.
The EOS R50 comes with two different Movie IS (Image Stabilizer) levels (‘Enhanced’ and ‘On’) that digitally perform 5-axis camera shake correction, which is enhanced when used in conjunction with an RF lens with in-lens IS.
–IANS
shs/ksk/
(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.)
Chinese electronics maker OnePlus’ India line-up for 2023 includes a pair of wireless earphones – the OnePlus Buds Pro 2. These second-generation wireless earphones boast Spatial audio with support for head tracking feature, lossless Hi-Res audio, dual-audio drivers co-created by OnePlus in partnership with Dynaudio, adaptive noise cancellation, and wireless charging. Successor to the OnePlus Buds Pro, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 seems to be a step forward in the right direction. Is it? Let’s find out:
Design
The OnePlus Buds Pro 2 has a familiar design. It looks similar to the predecessor, but with Dynaudio branding on the case lid signaling its alliance with OnePlus for these wireless earbuds. More about the Dynaudio-OnePlus partnership later in the review, the Buds Pro 2 impresses with the construction quality despite being no different from the predecessor.
Starting with the case, it is in a rectangular unit made of plastic with tapered sides that make it feel thinner than it actually is while holding in your hands. The case has matte finish both inside and outside, except the earphones’ storage cavity, which is glossy for a reason – easy to clean accumulated dust and dirt. The case has a clamshell design with LED indicator on the front for battery life and charging status, and USB-C port on the back side for wired charging. The pairing and reset button is inside the case.
Like the case, the earphones have a design similar to the predecessor. These are in-ear earphones with tiny stems protruding from the earbuds. Made of plastic, these earbuds have a matte black finish (review unit) on the top half and metal-like finish on the bottom half. The matte finish makes the buds easy to handle and use. As for quality, the earbuds seem to have a durable and sturdy build. The Buds Pro 2 are IP55-rated for water and dust resistance and the case is IPX4 for splash resistance.
Software and features
The OnePlus Buds Pro 2 is compatible with devices supporting Bluetooth connectivity for audio services. Its supplementary app, called HeyMelody, is available for Android devices on Google Play Store and iOS devices on Apple App Store.
While most of its software features, including ANC settings, equalisers, and dual-connection are available with the HeyMelody app across Android and iOS smartphones, there are a few exclusives limited to the OnePlus 11 5G. Among these is the Spatial audio with head tracking feature and lossless Hi-Res streaming over wireless. The latter is enabled by LHDC codec that the earbuds support besides LDAC, AAC, and SBC.
Performance
Powered by Dolby Atmos, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 delivers a wide soundstage experience enabled by Spatial audio feature, which can be set either to fixed position or head-tracking. The Spatial audio feature works with audio streaming services such as Prime Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music. However, the best is experience through Apple Music because it is the only audio streaming platform available with native support for lossless and Dolby Atmos audio for Hi-Fi Spatial sound experience.
Nevertheless, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 impresses with a rich sound signature. Unlike the bass-rich output of the predecessor, the second-generation has a balanced output (not flat) with deep bass, fine trebles, and clear vocals. This is where the Dynaudio comes into the picture. The earphones’ dual audio drivers are co-created by OnePlus in partnership with Dynaudio. There are three custom graphic equalisers besides default that are also tuned by Dynaudio. The result is top-notch experience.
Lifting the experience is the press controls. Though a mix of press and gesture controls would have made for better experience, just the press controls are not bad either. These are precise and work as intended, with no question of accidental touch possible.
Verdict
At Rs 11,999, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 is a solid pair of wireless earphones best experienced with the OnePlus 11 5G. It is because the earphones core upgrades that put it a notch above others such as lossless Hi-Res audio over wireless and Spatial audio are restricted to the OnePlus 11 5G. The list of supported smartphones may grow over time, but these are placed in a walled garden for now. That said, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 is a no-brainer for people planning to upgrade to the OnePlus 11 5G and need wireless earphones too. Others may have to settle with something else, maybe the OPPO Enco X2 or Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro.
