Amazon’s online learning vertical, Academy to shut operations in India

by Hansraj Agrawal | Nov 24, 2022 | Technology

Amazon on Thursday said it is shuttering its edtech offering called Amazon Academy’s operations in India starting from August 2023, and will refund the full fee to those enrolled in the current academic batch.

The e-commerce behemoth officially launched Academy (previously called JEE Ready), last year.

“At Amazon, we think big, experiment, and invest in new ideas to delight customers. We also continually evaluate the progress and potential of our products and services to deliver customer value, and we regularly make adjustments based on those assessments,” a company spokesperson told IANS.

“Following an assessment we have made the decision to discontinue Amazon Academy. We are winding down this programme in a phased manner to take care of current customers,” the spokesperson added.

Amazon Academy’s operations will discontinue starting August 2023, when the existing batch completes its test preparation module.

Customers will have access to full course material online for extended period of an year, until October 2024.

The company said that it remains committed to its customers in the country and the decision will have no impact on its services.

In January last year during the pandemic, the company launched Amazon Academy to help students preparing for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for entrance to engineering colleges.

The online preparation offered practice routines required for the JEE, through curated learning material, live lectures and comprehensive assessments in Math, Physics and Chemistry.

The service enables active learning through live lessons, helping students to strengthen their JEE preparation efforts as they can engage with expert faculty, learn concepts, and clarify doubts in real-time.

Bringing further discipline and rigour to their study methodology, it will offer scheduled lessons, daily practice problems and regular tests, starting with a crash course for the upcoming JEE Main.

–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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Microsoft adds ‘portrait mode’ feature to PowerPoint for iPhones

by Hansraj Agrawal | Nov 24, 2022 | Technology

Microsoft has added a new feature — ‘Portrait mode’ in PowerPoint for iPhones and iPad users so that they can easily switch between portrait and landscape mode when creating new slides.

“With a shift towards mobile-first content creation, we have heard from many of you that you prefer to do so in Portrait mode. Based on your feedback, we have added the capability to switch (in) and out of Portrait mode when both creating and editing slides,” Microsoft said in a blogpost.

To use this feature on iPad, users need to open an existing presentation or create one, tap on the Design tab, then select Orientation, then select Portrait, and the slide will change to Portrait orientation.

Users of iPhones will need to open an existing presentation or create one, then on the Home tab, tap Design, then Orientation, and finally select Portrait, and the slide in focus will change to Portrait, according to the blogpost.

Earlier this month, Microsoft rolled out a new feature to Office Insiders that allow users to add pictures from their Android phone to the web-based Word and Powerpoint web.

To get started, users have to select Insert, Pictures, and Mobile Device.

To link the Android device to the system, scan the QR provided under Mobile Device’ and follow the onscreen instructions.

–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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Realme’s Dizo launches Watch R Talk Go smartwatch at Rs 3,999: Details here

by Hansraj Agrawal | Nov 24, 2022 | Technology

Expanding its smartwatch line-up, Chinese electronics maker Realme’s Dizo on Thursday launched the Watch R Talk Go. Priced at Rs 3,999, the smartwatch will be available on the e-commerce platform Flipkart from November 30 at 12pm. It will be available at select retail outlets soon, announced the brand. On Flipkart, it will be available at an introductory price of Rs 3,499 during the first sale.

DIZO Watch R Talk Go: Specifications

The Dizo Watch R Talk Go has a circular dial with two side-mounted buttons for navigation, one for ‘Home’ and the other for accessing ‘Sports’ modes. The screen is protected by 7H tempered glass and the case is made of aluminium. According to Dizo, the straps are made of soft and skin-friendly silicone. The smartwatch comes in classic black, silver grey and thunder blue colours. It features over 150+ customisable watch faces, which are refreshed on a regular basis, adding topical ones like Pride Month, Diwali, Raksha Bandhan, etc. – said the company in a statement.

Powered by a 300mAh battery, the smartwatch sports a 1.39-inch screen of 360×360 resolution and 550 nits of brightness level. It has over 110+ sports modes built-in, including indoor and outdoor walking, running, yoga, and gymnastics. It has sensors to monitor heart rate sensor and blood oxygen saturation. Besides, the watch tracks steps, women’s health, and sleep. It also maintains records and can give weekly, monthly, and annual insights to the users. It is IP68 rated for water protection.

Supported by the Dizo app, the smartwatch has a built-in GPS. Other features include phone camera control, music control, alarm, find phone, call and message notifications, and weather forecast. According to Dizo, the smartwatch can last up to 60 days on standby or 10 days on average usage

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Realme 10 Pro series phones set to launch in India on Dec 8: Details here

by Hansraj Agrawal | Nov 24, 2022 | Technology

Chinese smartphone maker Realme on Thursday announced the India launch of its Realme 10 Pro series. The launch event is scheduled for December 8 at 12:30 pm. The Realme 10 Pro series will have two smartphones, the Realme 10 Pro and Realme 10 Pro+. Both the smartphones support 5G connectivity. Below are more details of the smartphones:

Realme 10 Pro: Specifications

Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G processor, the Realme 10 Pro sports a 6.72-inch IPS LCD screen of 120Hz refresh rate and 680 nits of peak brightness level. It has a dual-camera set-up on the back, featuring a 100-megapixel primary camera sensor paired with a 2MP depth sensor. On the front, it has a 16MP camera sensor. It boots Android 13 operating system-based Realme UI 4.0.

The smartphone was unveiled in 8GB RAM and 12GB RAM variants, both with 256GB on-board storage. It is powered by a 5,000 mAh battery, supported by 33W wired charging. It has a geomagnetic sensor, light sensor, distance sensor, gyroscope, and acceleration sensor. Other features include a microSD card slot for storage expansion, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3.5mm audio jack, dual-SIM support, and USB-C port for charging and data transfers. The smartphone comes in starlight, night and ocean colours.

Realme 10 Pro+: Specifications

The Realme 10 Pro+ is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 1080 processor and a 5,000 mAh battery. The phone supports 67W fast wired charging. It has a 6.7-inch curved AMOLED screen of 120Hz refresh rate. It sports a triple-camera system on the back, featuring a 108-megapixel primary sensor, 8MP ultra-wide-angle sensor, and 2MP macro sensor. On the front, the phone has a 16MP camera.

The smartphone comes in 8GB + 128GB, 8GB + 256GB and 12GB + 256GB configurations. It boots Android 13 operating system-based Realme UI. It comes in starlight, night and ocean colours. It has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, dual speakers, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 for wireless connectivity, 3.5mm audio jack, and USB-C port for charging.

Besides the Realme 10 Pro and Realme 10 Pro Plus, the Chinese smartphone maker unveiled the Realme 10 in its Realme 10 series. Clearly, the latter is not launching on December 8. Nevertheless, it is expected that the company might launch the Realme 10 5G in a separate event in India. The MediaTek Dimensity 700 processor powers the smartphone. It sports a 6.6-inch IPS LCD screen of 90Hz refresh rate. The smartphone comes in 8GB + 128GB, and 8GB + 256GB configurations. It boots Android 12 operating system-based Realme UI. It has a triple-camera system on the back, featuring a 50-megapixel primary camera sensor, a 4MP macro camera, and an AI lens. On the front, the phone has an 8MP camera sensor. It is powered by a 5,000 mAh battery, supported by 33W fast wired charging.

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YouTube starts beta testing of quiz feature for community posts: Report

by Hansraj Agrawal | Nov 24, 2022 | Technology

YouTube has started testing a new feature which will allow creators to add quizzes to their community posts.

The new feature is in beta and only available to a small number of creators.

According to TechCrunch, the streaming platform shared the details in a new video on its Creator Insider channel, where it regularly shares updates with creators, answers questions, and shares its upcoming experiments and tests.

In the latest video, the company explained how creators could use the quiz feature to help their followers learn, especially educational channels.

YouTube’s quiz feature could be a great tool for creators who want to capture their followers’ attention and prompt them to engage in deeper discussions with posts, according to the report.

The company also stated that it is testing a photo editing tool, which will now be available in the YouTube app on iOS devices following earlier tests on Android.

The tool will allow creators to add filters, text, and stickers to images they share on community posts, the report added.

The company said that a small group of randomly selected creators will have access to the photo editing feature.

Recently, YouTube announced more new features for the creators’ community.

Last week, YouTube has started testing new shopping features on its short-video platform Shorts, along with affiliate marketing.

Moreover, the streaming platform also announced that short-term video creators will soon be allowed to feature up to one minute of copyrighted music in their Shorts.

–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 AirPods Pro earbuds capable to double up as hearing aids: Report

by Hansraj Agrawal | Nov 24, 2022 | Technology

Apple AirPods wireless earbuds can potentially act as hearing aids for adults with mild-to-moderate hearing loss, according to research published in the iScience journal. Conducted by researchers from the Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan, the research is conducted on a sample size of 21 people with a mean age of 42.9 years, having mild-to-moderate hearing loss. According to the research report, varieties of hearing aids were tested, including premium and basic hearing aids, besides Apple’s AirPods Pro and AirPods 2.

The AirPods were connected to Apple iPhones, with an environmental noise amplifier app called ‘Live Listen’ installed. With this feature enabled, the earbuds receive environmental sounds and transmit amplified sound into the ears, similar to hearing aids.

“These wireless earbuds are of course not perfect, but they would be a good starting point for many patients who don’t have access to professional hearing aids,” said Yen-Fu Cheng, Otolaryngologist, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan.

The researchers found that AirPods Pro performed similarly to basic hearing aids in a quiet environment. But, in a noisy environment, the AirPods Pro with active noise-cancelling technology performed slightly inferior to the premium hearing aids, when the noise came from the participant’s lateral direction. The AirPods Pro met four of the five standards for personal sound amplification products.

Whereas, the half in-ear design type AirPods 2 met only two of the standards and performed the worst but they were better than nothing at all. However, when the noises came from the front of the participants, both AirPods models failed to help participants hear well.

“Globally, the wireless earphone market is growing rapidly. Some companies are interested in exploring the possibility of designing earbuds with sound amplification features. Our study proves that the idea is plausible.” said Ying-Hui Lai, Bioengineer, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan.

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