Google Meet users can now share access to presented content with attendees

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 30, 2023 | Technology

Google is rolling out a new feature to its video-communication service ‘Google Meet’ which will allow users to share access to the content they are presenting in a meeting with attendees, including everyone on the Calendar guest list.

While making the presentation, the users can share the file from the floating action menu or via the suggestion in the Meet Chat, the tech giant said in a Workspace Updates blogpost.

The new feature is helpful because by allowing sharing directly from Meet, users can easily share presented content without having to switch into another window to grant access.

“This makes it easier for meeting attendees to follow along with your presentation, find and reference your material later on, and continue working on action items from the meeting,” Google said.

Moreover, the company also announced that whenever users paste a link into the meeting chat, they will be “prompted with the file access dialogue.”

From there, users can adjust access as needed and choose to attach the file to the calendar event.

Earlier this month, the tech giant had announced that it is adding a new feature which will allow users to view their speaker notes within Google Meet, while presenting Google Slides.

Users just have to click the new speaker notes button in the Slides controls bar in Meet to display their speaker notes within the call.

–IANS

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(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.)

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Apple supplier in India begins making parts of AirPods for export

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 30, 2023 | Technology

A key Apple Inc supplier has begun making components for AirPods in India, marking a significant step in the US tech giant’s push to expand production in the country.

The Indian unit of Jabil Inc. has begun shipping AirPods enclosures, or plastic bodies, to China and Vietnam, where the wireless earphones are assembled, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named as the move isn’t public.

Apple is building out production in India to reduce its reliance on China, where US trade restrictions and Covid-related disruptions have made manufacturing more risky. Its India output has thus far been limited to the iPhone, making AirPods the second Apple product now partially manufactured in the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it a national priority to grow India’s manufacturing sector, providing financial incentives and government support for companies’ expansion projects. Apple has played a central role in that effort, with partners such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. producing more iPhones in the country for the latest generation than ever before.

US manufacturing services provider Jabil operates a 858,000 square foot (80,000 square meter) facility employing more than 2,500 workers in Pune, western India, according to its website.

Jabil representatives didn’t respond to a request for comment. Apple declined to comment.

Apple is the world’s biggest maker of so-called true wireless stereo devices, a category that includes wireless earphones and headphones. It shipped 23.8 million units in the third quarter for a 31% market share, according to research firm Canalys.

While India is still some time away from getting Apple to fully manufacture AirPods locally, New Delhi has given initial clearances to more than a dozen of its Chinese suppliers to ramp up via joint ventures with Indian partners. Luxshare Precision Industry Co Ltd., one of Apple’s Chinese suppliers which makes AirPods, is among the companies gaining that approval. Luxshare in 2020 agreed to take over a shuttered Motorola plant in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state, but is yet to begin manufacturing Apple products locally.

Apple’s latest India push comes as Modi’s government is drawing up plans to give financial incentives for local production of wireless earphones and smartwatches, one of the people said.

Cupertino, California-based Apple has a long way to go to diversify out of China, which makes nearly 98% of iPhones. Tensions between Washington and Beijing, and a Covid flareup at a major plant in the country exposed vulnerabilities in the company’s supply chain.

Still, the company has made progress with the effort. Partner Hon Hai last year began making iPhone 14 in India just weeks after the model’s global launch, and Apple exported more than $2.5 billion of its devices from the South Asian nation from April to December.

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Apple becomes No 2 smartphone firm in China despite 3% YoY loss during 2022

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 30, 2023 | Technology

Apple became the number two smartphone player in China for the first time in a whole year even after falling 3 per cent (year-on-year) in 2022, a new report has shown.

According to Counterpoint Research, Apple reached its highest-ever quarterly share, capturing 23.7 per cent of the sales in Q4 2022.

This was despite the shortages faced by the iPhone 14 Pro versions as well as the comparatively lower popularity of the iPhone 14 series’ non-Pro versions due to limited upgrades compared to the iPhone 13, the report mentioned.

Moreover, China’s smartphone sales declined 14 per cent (year-on-year) in 2022 to reach their lowest level in a decade, also in Q4 2022, China’s smartphone sales declined 15 per cent (year-on-year).

The report said that — the sudden relaxing of the Covid-19 norms in December resulted in a surge in cases and led the market to decline 5 per cent (quarter-on-quarter) to record its lowest quarterly sales in the year, instead of posting a typical seasonal increase.

Further, vivo retained the first spot with a 19.2 per cent market share in 2022.

HONOR was the only brand in 2022 to have a positive growth at 38 per cent (year-on-year).

vivo, OPPO and Xiaomi saw (year-on-year) declines of 23 per cent, 27 per cent, and 19 per cent respectively in 2022 as demand dropped amid economic uncertainty, according to the report.

–IANS

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(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.)

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Apple’s upcoming MR headset may feature health, wellness experiences

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 30, 2023 | Technology

Apple will reportedly bring health and wellness experiences in its upcoming augmented reality (AR)- mixed reality (MR) headset, media reports said.

The tech giant’s upcoming MR headset is expected to offer well-being features such as exercise and meditation, reports AppleInsider.

The iPhone maker has not yet announced its MR devices, but it is expected to launch the first one this year.

Meanwhile, it was reported that the tech giant was developing software that will give users an easier way to create their own AR applications on its upcoming MR headset.

Apple hopes that with the software tools, even people who don’t know computer code will be able to tell the headset to build an AR app, which will then be available for download on Apple’s App Store.

Earlier this month, another report mentioned that the MR headset will use motors to automatically adjust lenses for perfect images.

–IANS

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(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.)

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Apple may allow users to build AR apps for mixed-reality headset using Siri

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 30, 2023 | Technology

American tech giant Apple is apparently working on a way to let you make apps for its long-rumoured mixed reality headset using Siri.

The Verge, an American technology news website, has reported that this new update was shared in a new report from The Information.

Siri is known to routinely mess up basic requests or error out in frustrating ways. Now it will apparently be able to create entire augmented reality (AR) apps that you’ll be able to share with others on the App Store.

The technology behind this app-building tool comes from a 2017 acquisition of a startup named Fabric Software, which The Information reported, as per The Verge.

The outlet suggests that the development tool could “allow users to build an app with virtual animals moving around a room and over or around real-life objects without the need to design the animal from scratch, program its animations and calculate its movement in a 3D space with obstacles.”

Apple is also working on a way to scan real-world objects with the headset to help people create 3D models for apps.

That sounds somewhat similar to Epic’s free RealityScan app, which, in my limited and unscientific testing, had some trouble recreating objects I had around my house, but perhaps Apple’s headset will do a better job, 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.)

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YouTube Music adds mood filters in ‘activity bar’ for song choices on web

by Hansraj Agrawal | Jan 30, 2023 | Technology

Google-owned music streaming platform YouTube Music gets mood filters, i.e. “activity bar” with various moods to tune what appears in the Home feed on the web.

In the web version, it is left-aligned (as on tablets) and appears beneath the app bar, which can be used to switch between Home, Explore, Library, and Search, reports 9to5Google.

For a less Material You look, pill-shaped buttons are used instead of rectangles with rounded corners.

By selecting one of the options — Energise, Workout, Relax, Commute, and Focus — YouTube Music gets updated with a feed of songs, albums, and playlists that match the mood.

Moreover, the music streaming platform also updates the background image at the top.

To go back to the main feed, users will need to click the mood they selected again, said the report.

Meanwhile, YouTube Music is reportedly testing a feature called — “live lyrics” with a tweaked Casting user interface (UI).

Some users have already received the new feature.

A Reddit user noticed a new UI while casting YouTube Music from an Android phone to a Chromecast Ultra.

Instead of album artwork, song name and artist being centred on the screen, they were on the right with left-aligned text.

–IANS

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(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.)

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