Heena Sharma Blog

Microsoft on Wednesday lowered its revenue estimates for the current quarter, saying it will feel the impact of the coronavirus epidemic with lower sales of Windows software and Surface devices. The US tech giant became the latest global firm to warn of a financial hit from the global outbreak of the disease which has killed thousands worldwide. "Although we see strong Windows demand in line with our expectations, the supply chain is returning to normal operations at a slower pace than anticipated," Microsoft said in a statement. As a result, Microsoft said that in the current fiscal quarter its revenues will fall short of earlier forecasts, with Windows and Surface "more negatively impacted than previously anticipated. Read More

Chinese handset maker Oppo's customised operating system (OS) ColorOS 7 , which is based on Android 10 and brings in localised features like DocVault -- the government-approved DigiLocker integration, was unveiled here on Tuesday. Oppo's new ColorOS 7 is faster and increases application response time by 30 per cent with multiple apps running in the background, according to the company. "We strive to make ColorOS broader yet more localised, creating a truly global system that users in different markets can experience and enjoy. This means we will continue to expand our localisation efforts to ensure that ColorOS is highly adapted to local user needs," Manoj Kumar, Senior Principal Engineer, Oppo ColorOS, said in a statement. The new customised OS has adopted a lightweight visual approach that simplifies it helping users focus more on the content. Read More

Google has rolled out a new Android feature that makes your smartphone useful even while it is charging. The new ' ambient mode ' lets you set an alarm, check for upcoming meetings, control smart lights, and even browse a photo slideshow in fewer taps and clicks, the company notes in an official tweet. The aim behind the ambient mode is to make your device use move from app-based to intent-based using Google Assistant. The feature is supported on Android 8 and above. Read More

Google has started combining G Suite users' Gmail photos with their Google account profile photos. "We are combining the Gmail photo with the Google account profile photo for G Suite users. Now, when you go to change this setting in Gmail, you'll be directed to the 'About me' section of your Google profile settings to set your profile picture," the company said in a statement on Monday. Currently, profile pictures set in Gmail are only displayed in Gmail. This means a profile picture in Gmail may be different than the Google account profile photo, which can make it difficult to know which picture will be displayed where. This new change simplifies things by allowing a user to set a single profile picture in one place and then displaying that single photo across all Google apps. "When you visit Settings > General > My Picture in Gmail on the web, you will be directed to change your picture in the 'About me' section of your Goog...

Facebook and Instagram users lost access to the social network's applications in parts of the world Wednesday as a result of an outage of undetermined origin The California giant which has more than two billion users acknowledged the outage after users noted on Twitter they could not access Facebook or had limited functionality. "We're aware that some people are currently having trouble accessing the Facebook family of apps. We're working to resolve the issue as soon as possible," a Facebook statement said on Twitter. A short time later, Facebook indicated the outage was not related to an attack aimed at overwhelming the network. "We're focused on working to resolve the issue as soon as possible, but can confirm that the issue is not related to a DDoS attack," Facebook said, referring to what is known as a distributed denial of service cyber strike. According to the website downdetector.com, outages were heaviest in North America an...

Google-owned video sharing platform YouTube has announced that it will no longer recommend videos that "come close to" violating its community guidelines, such as conspiracy or medically inaccurate videos. The video sharing platform will no longer recommend videos "claiming the earth is flat, or making blatantly false claims about historic events like 9/11", NBC News reported on Monday. The original blog post from YouTube, published on January 25, said videos the site recommends, usually after a user has viewed one, would no longer lead to similar videos and instead would "pull in recommendations from a wider set of topics". YouTube said in the post that the action is meant to "reduce the spread of content that comes close to - but doesn't quite cross the line of - violating" its community policies. The change will not affect the videos' availability. And if users have subscribed to a channel that, for instance, produces c...

Excessive use of social media platforms like Facebook can make its users take decisions as bad as drug addicts tend to do, a new study suggests. "Around one-third of humans on the planet are using social media, and some of these people are displaying maladaptive, excessive use of these sites," said lead author of the study Dar Meshi, Assistant Professor at Michigan State University in the US. "I believe that social media has tremendous benefits for individuals, but there's also a dark side when people can't pull themselves away. We need to better understand this drive so we can determine if excessive social media use should be considered an addiction," Meshi added. For the study, published in the Journal of Behavior Addictions, the researchers had 71 participants take a survey that measured their psychological dependence on Facebook, similar to addiction. Questions on the survey asked about users' preoccupation with the platform, thei...

Chinese technology player Xiaomi on Friday announced Black Friday sale on "Redmi Note 6 Pro" -- just one day after its launch in India. The smartphone has been launched for Rs 13,999 for the 4GB+64GB and Rs 15,999 for the 6GB+64GB variants. As part of the sale, the device is available for Rs 12,999 for the 4GB + 64GB variant and Rs 14,999 for the 6GB + 64GB variant -- with a sale price drop of Rs 1,000 respectively -- only today, the company said in a statement. The sale is valid on Flipkart , Mi Homes and Xiaomi 's official website. Launched on Thursday, "Redmi Note 6 Pro" comes with a 6.26-inch FHD+ IPS display, 20MP+2MP AI dual camera on the front and a 12MP+5MP AI dual camera setup on the rear. The smartphone is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 octa-core processor and fuelled by a 4000mAh battery with support for Qualcomm "Quick Charge" 3.0. Read Complete Article Business Standard

Chinese electronics major Xiaomi on Tuesday announced it has opened a record 500 retail stores in rural parts of India. Called Mi Stores and opened on October 29, these are similar to the bigger " Mi Home " stores currently operational in metro cities. "The company created a Guinness record for opening the maximum number of stores in one single day. Xiaomi plans to open 5,000 Mi Stores by the end of 2019 that will create nearly 15,000 jobs," Manu Kumar Jain, Vice President, Xiaomi Global and Managing Director, Xiaomi India, told reporters here. "This new business will forever change rural retail in India," he added. Started with the online-only strategy, Xiaomi is fast expanding its presence in offline retail as well. In September, the company launched its fourth flagship "Mi Home" experience store in the country, in Bengaluru, along with a new office. With the purpose of strengthening its offline network further, Xiao...

Chinese tech giant Alibaba has introduced a new smart screen for the visually impaired users to help them shop without much of an assistance. The smart screen is a result of the company's two years and $25 billion R&D initiative. As TechCrunch reports, the screen, called Smart Touch, is like a silicone layer which can be added to the top of a smartphone screen. Each film costs about 3.6 cents to produce. It has three mini buttons on each side which are sensory-enabled. By pressing these buttons, certain commands are triggered, such as 'go back' and 'confirm', making online shopping a smoother process. Smart Touch is also useful while answering calls, listening to texts, and so on. Read our full coverage on alibaba Business Standard

Apple and Zimmer Biomet, a global leader in musculo-skeletal healthcare, have launched a major clinical study where an app on Apple Watch and iPhone will guide knee and hip replacement patients through pre- and post-operation care. The "mymobility" app that uses Apple Watch to facilitate a new level of connection between patients and their surgical care teams, which can immediately impact the journey patients experience when they undergo these procedures, Zimmer Biomet said in a statement on Monday. Zimmer Biomet is also commencing the "mymobility" clinical study, designed to study the app's impact on patient outcomes and overall costs for joint replacement patients. During this research, patients will use "mymobility" app with Apple Watch as they progress through their hip or knee replacement journey. Researchers will combine patient-reported feedback with continuous health and activity data from Apple Watch. Read Complete Article...

Facebook has launched in the US free online education programme CodeFWDTo to increase the numbers of underrepresented and female students interested in pursuing computer programming. "We're working on a number of initiatives like CodeFWD to widen the pipeline of diverse talent studying computer science so the next generation of tech innovators reflects and incorporates diverse perspectives, building a future that benefits us all," Lauryn Ogbechie, Education Partnerships Director at Facebook, said in a statement on Tuesday. Created in partnership with connected toys maker Sphero, CodeFWD by Facebook, has been designed for both English and Spanish speakers. It is a three-step programme where educators and organisations introduce computer programming to 4th to 8th grade students. With the first module "I do", CodeFWD prepares educators to introduce the basics of computer programming to their students, even as they may be discovering the concept...

The IT ministry is mulling sending a third notice to WhatsApp asserting that it bring in 'traceability' of messages on its platform, even as the American firm has maintained that doing so will impact end-to-end encryption and violate privacy of users. According to government sources, an internal discussion was held on the issue and a third letter could now be sent to WhatsApp in the next 7-10 days. The IT ministry feels that technical solutions can be found to trace the originator of a message, without actually compromising end-to-end encryption, said a government official, who did not wish to be named. Citing examples of potential technical solutions that could be brought to the table, the official said traceability can be brought in for a message that has been forwarded to, say, a high number of users within a short span of time. Read More Article Source >> Business Standard

It goes on to declare that no one at Google reads the emails, except in cases where the user had granted the consent or when it is required as a security measure Technology News : After it was discovered that third-party apps for Gmail were allegedly accessing users' private emails, Google has responded to the backlash. The company has clarified through its blog post that it does not scan emails to target ads, and the third-party apps are mandated to accurately represent themselves to request relevant data, Cnet reported. It goes on to declare that no one at Google reads the emails, except in cases where the user had granted the consent or when it is required as a security measure. Read our full coverage on Google