thetechmedia1

[thetechmedia1]

Indian cryptocurrency startup Coinswitch Kuber raises $25Mn from Tiger Global

TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/new-crypto-pic-ethereum-bitcon-the-tech-portal-300×184.jpg 300w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/new-crypto-pic-ethereum-bitcon-the-tech-portal-768×472.jpg 768w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/new-crypto-pic-ethereum-bitcon-the-tech-portal-800×492.jpg 800w” sizes=”(max-width: 828px) 100vw, 828px”>

With the cryptocurrency market on fire right now, new startups are emerging in the sector and seeing meteoric rise in valuations fueled by the frenzy. One such Indian startup-Coinswitch Kuber, has raised $25Mn in a funding round led by Tiger Global, which valued the firm at $500 Mn.

Yes, with the Indian startup sector on fire right now, justifying a $500 million valuation has become an easy task. Over the last month, a flurry of unicorns have risen in the world’s second largest Internet market, and with Indians warming up to crypto more and more, I am not surprised that startups like Coinswitch Kuber are already half way there.

To put this ride to the stars in context, the current ride (which is its Series B), comes just three months after its Series A round, where it had raised $15Mn.

Coinswitch Kuber is a crypto investing platform dedicated towards serving young Indians, which is a ripe market right now, stoked by the sudden rise in Bitcoin value and the entire GameStop fiasco. The company allows customers to buy miniscule amounts of cryptos (for example, you can buy Bitcoin worth 100 INR from the platform), thus encouraging those with lighter pockets to also get in on the crypto hype.

The firm says that it has 4.5Mn users, more than half of which are aged 25 years or below.

However, this happens at a time where the future of cryptocurrencies in India remains uncertain. The government is possibly considering a ban on all private cryptocurrencies, which means that in the future, platforms like Coinswitch Kuber may become illegal in the country. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman did suggest that the government’s approach to cryptos will be calibrated, but as of right now, Coinswitch Kuber is a risky investment.

With the being said, cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology seem on the cusp of mainstream acceptance, especially with the most recent Coinbase IPO, which, according to me, is the biggest event in the world of cryptocurrencies so far.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/3tXFpyY via IFTTT

[thetechmedia1]

Another historic day as NASA’s ‘Moxie’, aboard Perseverance rover makes breathable oxygen on Mars

TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/nasa-perseverance-mars-rover-the-tech-portal-300×169.jpg 300w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/nasa-perseverance-mars-rover-the-tech-portal-768×432.jpg 768w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/nasa-perseverance-mars-rover-the-tech-portal-1536×864.jpg 1536w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/nasa-perseverance-mars-rover-the-tech-portal-800×450.jpg 800w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/nasa-perseverance-mars-rover-the-tech-portal-1160×653.jpg 1160w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/nasa-perseverance-mars-rover-the-tech-portal.jpg 1624w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>

Before its discovery in the 18th century, oxygen was an element virtually unknown. Fast forward nearly 250 years, and humanity is creating breathable oxygen on its neighboring planet. That’s right – NASA added yet another feather to its cap after an instrument on its Perseverance Mars rover created history by successfully pulling carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere and converting it into pure breathable oxygen.

This comes soon after NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter successfully flew on the Martian surface for the first time.

The toaster-sized instrument, called the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE for short), made 5 grams of oxygen, which is equivalent to roughly 10 minutes’ worth of breathing for an astronaut, NASA said. While this is just a baby step, it has created history by marking the first extraction of any natural resource from a planet other than our own, for human use.

Do you realize what this means? In the future, rockets need not be equipped with oxygen required for the crew to sustain themselves – more modified versions of MOXIE would do the trick. Pure oxygen can also be used as rocket propellant, reducing the need to haul huge amounts of oxygen from Earth.

“Moxie isn’t just the first instrument to produce oxygen on another world, it’s the first technology of its kind that will help future missions ‘live off the land, using elements of another world’s environment, also known as in-situ resource utilization,” said Trudy Kortes, director of technology demonstrations within Nasa’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.

“This is a critical first step at converting carbon dioxide to oxygen on Mars,” said Jim Reuter, associate administrator for NASA’s space technology mission directorate.

The toaster-sized MOXIE uses the concept of electrolysis, separating oxygen atoms from carbon dioxide molecules by heating the gas at approximately 1,470 degrees Fahrenheit and creating carbon monoxide as a by-product. Dubbed a “mechanical tree,” it has been built with heat-resistant materials like nickel alloy and designed to tolerate searing temperatures. A thin gold coating ensures it doesn’t radiate its heat and harm Perseverance. Carbon dioxide accounts for about 95% of the Martian atmosphere.

“It’s taking regolith, the substance you find on the ground, and putting it through a processing plant, making it into a large structure, or taking carbon dioxide – the bulk of the atmosphere – and converting it into oxygen,” NASA said. “This process allows us to convert these abundant materials into useable things: propellant, breathable air, or, combined with hydrogen, water.”

According to NASA, a rocket with four astronauts will require about 7 metric tons of rocket fuel and 25 metric tons of oxygen, and transporting such an amount of oxygen is cumbersome. With MOXIE and improved versions of it, that problem may thus be addressed.

“MOXIE has more work to do, but the results from this technology demonstration are full of promise as we move toward our goal of one-day seeing humans on Mars,” NASA said.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/3gyTb7q via IFTTT

[thetechmedia1]

Enterprise major R3 deploys $10Mn across 20 early-stage blockchain and advanced computing startups

The R3 Development Fund, the ambitious corporate venture of the global enterprise software firm R3, which focuses on funding early start-ups and businesses that have been built on the Corda (for enterprise blockchain) and Conclave (the new platform for confidential computing) platforms provided by R3, has just hit a new milestone, having spent a total of $10 million in terms of capital deployment.

This massive amount is spread over 30 investments that the company has made across more than 20 startups and early businesses, that offer innovation in blockchain and confidential computing industries.

The company was established in 2019 with the aim of providing support to early-stage firms that are looking to make a mark in the global commerce industry, by making use of blockchain. The other goal is to establish R3’s own foothold in the world of trade finance, financial services, digital assets, and insurance, among other sectors. As of now, the company claims that even after having invested $10 million in capital deployment, they still have enough funds to carry out investments activities during the current fiscal year, and even beyond that.

The company has so far received over 250 offers for inbound investments, ever since its conception. The introduction of the Conclave platform allowed the firm to venture into the new ground of supporting companies that are building on confidential computing.

Now, the company is focusing on expanding its reach and that of its two platforms, aiming to strengthen its grip in its core markets, while at the same time, seeking out opportunities to step into other non-core sectors as well, including media and digital advertising.

Revealing the news, CEO David E. Rutter said, “R3’s strength is derived from its community, which includes a diverse range of start-ups from a myriad of industries – from insurance to education, supply chain finance to payment messaging – building and deploying apps for customers across the globe. The R3 Development Fund is already known in these industries as an expert strategic investor with a strong track record in backing the most promising early-stage companies. As ever at R3, collaboration is a key pillar of the Fund’s work. Now, more so than ever before, we recognize the importance and value of partnership and work very closely with all of our portfolio companies to provide support across a multitude of aspects, from fundraising to product and business development. We are excited to see so many of them going from strength to strength.”

R3 prides itself in having helped its portfolio companies show significant growth, especially during the third and fourth quarters of the last fiscal year, which was a year full of financial turmoil. It claims that its portfolio companies managed to grow and enhance their valuation, by making use of equity and convertible loan note fundraisers. It currently boasts of the largest enterprise blockchain ecosystem in the world, and also provides significant human resources to its portfolio companies, to allow for Go-to-Market assistance and legal guidance, apart from providing a robust co-investor ecosystem and significant technical assistance.

Massive investments like this in the blockchain world are a sign that the technology might be going mainstream, which is a good news for crypto holders as well.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/3vbhtbO via IFTTT

[thetechmedia1]

Snap saw 66% rise in sales over Q1 2021, Snapchat shows strong growth outside US

TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/snapchat-draws-millions-of-users-everyday-photo-via-maurizio-pesce-wikimedia-commons_1488971-300×131.jpg 300w” sizes=”(max-width: 502px) 100vw, 502px”>

Snap Inc, the parent company of popular social media platform Snapchat, had a strong start to the year, which was confirmed when it announced the financial results for the first quarter of 2021. Not only did it exceed Wall Street’s estimates on earnings, user growth, and revenue, but its stock rose 3.5% in trading after the bell and 6% in after-hours trading.

In a statement, the Santa Monica-based camera and social media company said that sales had risen by 66% to $770 million in the period ended March 31, well ahead of the predicted $744 million.

Snap’s net loss narrowed 6% to $287 million, from a loss of $306 million a year ago.

Its app Snapchat, which has been of paramount importance to Snap’s growth, has garnered more popularity and more users. Additional factors are the overwhelming downloads of Snapchat during the pandemic and digital advertising campaigns by Snap.

Thus, Snapchat exceeded expectations as well, reporting 280 million daily active users in Q1 2021, more than the expected 275.4 million. Most of the user growth continued to come from outside North America, rising 57% from Q1 2020.

Snapchat has risen to new heights with its user base on Android exceeding those on iOS for the first time ever. While the platform has already been a hit in the US, it grew its presence overseas as well, thanks to new features like support for more languages and additional media content. In March, it had launched an original show called “Phone Swap India” on Snapchat’s “Discover” section, which provides original content and shows.

The company said it will pay out $1 million a day to creators of the top-performing posts as part of its program to promote popular videos. This strategy seems to be working for the company.

Moreover, it is expected that more investments in augmented reality, new advertiser tools, supporting high-quality creators, and recruiting users outside North America will lead to the growth of revenue of more than 50% for several years. Snap expects year-over-year revenue growth of 80% to 85% for the second quarter, said Snap CFO, Derek Andersen.

Augmented reality received a boost during the pandemic, and Snap hopes it will be the key to revenue growth in the future. The number of Snapchat users engaging daily with augmented reality lenses grew more than 40% year-over-year in the first quarter, Snap said. It has invested a lot in AR technology and had acquired shopping apparel-sizing firm Fit Analytics in March to expand e-commerce opportunities on Snapchat.

According to Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, there was a slow return to normalcy with the opening up of the economy and the growth of new social relationships. “We designed Snapchat to be a useful complement to real-life friendships, and are excited about these optimistic trends developing with our audience,” he said. Snap projected revenue in the current quarter of $820 million to $840 million compared with an estimate of $823.9 million.

“During the pandemic, advertisers accelerated their adoption of our augmented-reality products to enable product sampling and try-on when they were forced to find alternatives to traditional methods,” Chief Business Officer Jeremi Gorman said.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/32FPTXR via IFTTT

[thetechmedia1]

Know The Best Competitive Analysis Challenges For Website

All businesses face competition, and your business is no different in this regard. In recent years, the threat of competitors has augmented beyond belief. The digital arena has increased the ease of doing business considerably, and millions of entrepreneurs have dived into the corporate arena.  Trends like remote working and online retailing have created a …

The post Know The Best Competitive Analysis Challenges For Website appeared first on The Tech Media.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/3vcKALK via IFTTT

[thetechmedia1]

Zomato rolls out new feature for priority deliveries in COVID emergencies

TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ezgl9GzVUAUnNP6-271×300.jpg 271w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ezgl9GzVUAUnNP6-768×849.jpg 768w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ezgl9GzVUAUnNP6-800×885.jpg 800w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ezgl9GzVUAUnNP6.jpg 814w” sizes=”(max-width: 695px) 100vw, 695px”>

Trying to do its bit in helping people maintain social distancing amid the rising COVID cases due to the second wave of the pandemic, food ordering and delivery giant Zomato has announced that it will be rolling out a brand new feature for prioritizing deliveries for COVID-19 emergencies. The news was revealed by the company’s CEO Deepinder Goyal on Twitter.

In his tweet, Goyal shared:

Today, along with thousands of our restaurant partners, we just rolled out a “priority delivery for covid emergencies” feature on the Zomato app. This feature will allow our customers to mark *This order is related to a COVID-19 emergency* option during checkout. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/BxmBF02PnS

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) April 21, 2021

If this description has you scratching your heads, then the gist of it is that consumers will now have the choice of marking a new option, labelled “This order is related to a Covid-19 emergency” while they proceed to checkout. Orders where the option has been marked will be moved up in the queue for a faster delivery based on location and time. Even restaurants will be alerted in case the order received by them has the option checked, allowing them to process the order on a priority basis.

Additionally, in order to maintain the safety standards for both the consumers and the delivery personnel, the deliveries will be made completely contactless by default. The best part? This priority treatment and fast delivery will come at zero additional costs, and buyers will only be paying the conventional amount, that of the food they buy, along with the taxes and delivery charges applicable.

Goyal also thanked the “thousands of restaurants” who have agreed to be a part of the endeavor, by Tweeting, “A big thank you to the entire restaurant industry for joining hands to serve our customers who need us the most right now.”

With restrictions once again mounting on the food and delivery service owing to the record cases of COVID in the country, companies have been forced to look for new alternatives to keep businesses afloat. It may be worth noting however, that food delivery apps like Zomato and its contemporaries, have been granted exemptions from the lockdown guidelines imposed in Maharashtra from Wednesday. This might mean that delivery services will be in much higher demand, now that take-away and dine-in services have been partially or completely closed in many parts of the country.

Nevertheless, launching this new feature seems to be Zomato’s way of ensuring that people continue to order food through it, and the app has made a request to all customers to check the new option only if it is associated with an actual emergency. If people actually stick to this request, it could take away the burden on the company for having to carry out priority delivery of orders even if they are not really associated with any emergency.

Even the description about the check box reads, “Treat this as an ambulance and please don’t misuse it.” With COVID cases increasing at an alarming rate, restaurants and apps, home cooks and community led services, all have joined hands to get food delivered to people who might be stuck at home owing to COVID emergencies.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/3dEyFQR via IFTTT

[thetechmedia1]

Netflix witnesses fall in subscriber growth in Q1 2021, blames shortage of new content

TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/1280px-2019-08-04_-_Netflix-300×199.jpg 300w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/1280px-2019-08-04_-_Netflix-768×509.jpg 768w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/1280px-2019-08-04_-_Netflix-800×530.jpg 800w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/1280px-2019-08-04_-_Netflix-1160×769.jpg 1160w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/1280px-2019-08-04_-_Netflix.jpg 1280w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>

Staying home and watching your favorite films and shows with a bowl of popcorn on your lap while there is a pandemic outside – does that sound like how you spent most of your time in 2020? Well, you are not alone. With the pandemic raging across the globe and forcing people to stay at home, most turned to streaming platforms for their daily dose of entertainment,  titles with their close ones. And the king of streaming platforms-Netflix was a prime example of this phenomena. The company witnessed record growth in 2020, adding 15.8 million new users.

Now, with the production of new and existing titles halted for most of 2020, it has become a bane for Netflix, whose shares took a massive plunge after paid subscriptions came at a meagre 3.98 million from January to March, well below the 6.25 million average projection of analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. This is the weakest start of a year for Netflix since 2013. It ended the first quarter of the year with 207.64 million streaming subscribers across the world.

In a press release, executives blamed a big “COVID-19” pull forward in 2020, implying that the unprecedented growth last year was now slowing down. “It really boils down to Covid,” Spencer Neumann, the company’s chief financial officer, said.

“We had those 10 years where we were growing smooth as silk,” Executive Chairman and co-Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings said. “It’s a little wobbly right now.”

Another factor behind this fall was the lack of new shows and films since production was halted to stem the spread of the virus. While the screening of existing shows carried Netflix through the first half, the slump came since there was nothing new to watch this quarter. It is estimated that about another million streaming customers will be added by Netflix in the second quarter.

“These dynamics are also contributing to a lighter content slate in the first half of 2021, and hence, we believe slower membership growth,” Netflix said in its quarterly letter to shareholders. Since people are now emerging from their homes and resuming work/education, their time to watch films and shows is decreasing.

Netflix refused to consider the notion that competition by rival streaming services like HBO Max and Disney Plus had hindered its growth, saying that its competition had not changed materially in the quarter or impacted its new sign-ups “as the over-forecast was across all of our regions.”

Does this discourage Netflix? Not at all! It plans to increase its expenditure on programming (mainly outside the US) from $12.5 billion in 2020 to $17 billion. With the release of new seasons of existing shows like “The Witcher” and “You”, it expects its membership to grow. And so do we!

from WordPress https://ift.tt/3avF8vv via IFTTT

[thetechmedia1]

SpaceX delays Crew-2 mission launch by 24 hours due to bad weather

TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SpaceX-Falcon-9-100-200×300.jpg 200w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SpaceX-Falcon-9-100-768×1152.jpg 768w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SpaceX-Falcon-9-100-1024×1536.jpg 1024w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SpaceX-Falcon-9-100-1365×2048.jpg 1365w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SpaceX-Falcon-9-100-800×1200.jpg 800w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SpaceX-Falcon-9-100-1160×1740.jpg 1160w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SpaceX-Falcon-9-100-scaled-e1607323637503.jpg 1400w” sizes=”(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px”>

SpaceX is sparing no expenses in its conquest of space. Last week, it had raised $1.16 billion to continue its space programs, and a few days ago, it bagged a $2.9 billion deal that will enable it to send mankind to the moon. However, not all is sunshine and roses for Elon Musk’s company, as it hit a snag after unfavorable weather conditions forced the launch of the Crew-2 mission to be delayed by 24 hours.

Four astronauts aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket were scheduled to take to the skies today from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The goal was to reach the International Space Station – but poor weather conditions along the flight path forced a delay.

“I’m sure you heard that you probably heard we’re going to have to delay a day,” NASA’s Bob Cabana, Kennedy Space Center director, said in a morning briefing. “We are not going to be able to launch tomorrow morning.” He added, “Although the weather is probably going to look great here at the launch site, we’re worried about the downrange wind and wave heights in case of an abort.”

Should the launch happen without further delay, the passengers aboard the Crew Dragon – NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide – will be reunited with the crew members of the Crew-1 Mission, who will return home on April 28. The members of Crew-2 will remain six months aboard the ISS to conduct experiments and maintenance.

Apart from the obvious danger inclement weather poses during a rocket’s take-off, it would also blotch rescue attempts due to high seas and winds. Drone ships like “Of Course I Still Love You” require favorable conditions for recovering booster rockets released by the Falcon 9 rocket.

On Thursday, the weather around the Kennedy Space Centre cast odds of 80% in favor of liftoff, the forecast of inclement weather along the planned path of the flight made NASA and SpaceX’s teams play it safe for the time being.

However, Crew Dragon is able of taking care of itself in case of an emergency – it is equipped with SuperDraco rockets which will propel the crew to safety in case of an emergency during ascent. “We have to worry about the entire ascent trajectory because if something goes wrong, we want Dragon to be able to launch-escape off the rocket,” said Benji Reed, SpaceX’s director of human spaceflight. “That means they will have to be able to come down in the ocean at all points along that escape path.”

According to Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron, weather conditions were expected to improve to 90% in favor of liftoff. If all goes well, Falcon 9’s first stage will land just northeast of Florida and will be recovered by a drone ship. The rocket will then reach the International Space Station at 9:10 am GMT on Saturday.

A successful launch without further hitches – and a feather in Elon’s cap – might just be on the cards.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/3grI2Fz via IFTTT

[thetechmedia1]

Delhi HC dismisses Facebook’s plea to stop CCI investigation into controversial WhatsApp privacy policy

TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Whatsapp_mmmm-300×200.jpg 300w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Whatsapp_mmmm-768×512.jpg 768w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Whatsapp_mmmm-1536×1024.jpg 1536w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Whatsapp_mmmm-2048×1365.jpg 2048w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Whatsapp_mmmm-800×533.jpg 800w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Whatsapp_mmmm-1160×773.jpg 1160w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Whatsapp_mmmm-scaled-e1608104004607.jpg 2000w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>

WhatsApp, the biggest messaging platform on the planet and one of the many multibillion dollar companies that Facebook owns, has become a part of the cultural zeitgeist ever since it was first launched more than half a decade ago. However, in what might be the most tumultuous time for the messaging platform in its entire history, WhatsApp finds itself in deep trouble, ever since it announced the updated privacy policy that would allow parent platform Facebook to access user data from business chats. The problems keep mounting, and today, Delhi HC has denied Facebook and WhatsApp’s petition to stop a CCI probe into the new policy.

India’s judiciary has been on tail of this new controversial privacy policy ever since it was announced, with a case pending in the Delhi HC regarding the same. Moreover, the executive branch has also been wary of it, with the IT Ministry writing to Facebook soon after it was first announced.

As WhatsApp continues to face defeat after defeat in the country, more and more problems keep emerging for the platform, as CCI too decided to initiate a probe into the privacy policy.

WhatsApp and Facebook argued that this was premature, especially because there already is a case pending against it in Delhi HC. However, CCI argues that it is not investigating the threat to privacy that this update will cause, and rather shifting its attention to how it will suppress competition in the region.

Now, Delhi HC has sided with CCI, and said that while it should have waited for its decision, the probe is still justified and not unwarranted.

Moreover, it added that it sees no merit in Facebook and WhatsApp’s plea.

This means that WhatsApp will now face pressure from multiple sides in India. The company keeps reiterating that the privacy policy only concerns data that is shared with business accounts. However, the Indian government seems to have problem with the fact that WhatsApp is enforcing this policy rather than asking for consent, taking away the rights of those who do not wish to share their data across platforms.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/3ncfLny via IFTTT

[thetechmedia1]

Google Meet to become more immersive with roll out of new UI

TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Meet_16p_Call_2880x1200_white_BG-300×165.jpg 300w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Meet_16p_Call_2880x1200_white_BG-768×422.jpg 768w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Meet_16p_Call_2880x1200_white_BG-200×110.jpg 200w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Meet_16p_Call_2880x1200_white_BG-800×440.jpg 800w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Meet_16p_Call_2880x1200_white_BG-1160×638.jpg 1160w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Meet_16p_Call_2880x1200_white_BG.jpg 1390w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>

Google Meet, the video calling and conferencing app that has proven itself to be an indispensable tool ever since the pandemic began, is up for a revamp, as Google has just announced a couple of tweaks that it will be introducing into the app soon. Admittedly, the changes will be reserved for desktop users for now, and will be made available in the latest update of the app.

The tech giant has revealed that the new features will make it possible for users to pin multiple screens, so that they can interact with multiple feeds simultaneously. Also included in the update will be brand new tools for adjustment of the autozoom and lighting, which will be fully powered by an AI interface. One new perk which might be interesting for people relying on mobile data for accessing meetings on Google Meet will be the inclusion of a Data Saver tool, which will make it possible to save data if the network is poor, slow or unstable. This feature will be made available to users on both iOS and Android, making it easier for them to remain logged on to the meeting.

The reason for launching the new set of features is to make the meeting experience “more immersive, inclusive, and productive”, as announced by Google Workspace today.

The team also announced that the service will now be supported by a brand new user interface (UI), which is all set to be launched next month, and that the new AI-powered features too, will be made available as soon as possible.

The changes in the UI won’t be anything too extreme, but are intended at making life (and using the application) easier for everyone. The most important change will be that the controls for some of the most basic functionalities will now be placed at the bottom bar. This definitely comes as a sigh of relief for people who were frustrated at having to keep juggling between the different menus and pop-ups in the previous versions of the app.

The announcement read, “The bottom bar is always visible so you’ll never have to miss out on captions or guess whether you’re on mute. We’ve also moved the leave call button away from the camera and microphone buttons to prevent accidental hang-ups.”

Users will also have the option to not have to see themselves while they present, by either minimizing their video feed, or hiding it completely. They will also have the option to unpin their video feeds, and pin those of other participants, to gauge their reactions and interact with them better.

Another feature to be rolled out soon, and which appears to be one of the most interesting updates, will give users the ability to change their video backgrounds. This will be a major (and seemingly super fun) upgrade from the stills backgrounds feature that was available in the previous versions, and at launch, will feature three different types of video backgrounds to choose from- Forest, Party, and Classroom, with more options to be added in the coming months.

All these features seem to really be inching closer to making the experience of using Google Meet much more interactive, and much less boring, for users.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2QJWzBC via IFTTT

[thetechmedia1]

LinkedIn announces data analysis tool LSI to help Sales Ops target their audiences better

TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/LSI_overview_platform-screenshot-300×188.png 300w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/LSI_overview_platform-screenshot-768×480.png 768w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/LSI_overview_platform-screenshot-1536×960.png 1536w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/LSI_overview_platform-screenshot-2048×1280.png 2048w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/LSI_overview_platform-screenshot-800×500.png 800w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/LSI_overview_platform-screenshot-1160×725.png 1160w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/LSI_overview_platform-screenshot-e1618924892935.png 1200w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>

LinkedIn has been doing a great job at creating a social media platform for workers and employers alike, and now it is looking to help Sales personnel to better target audiences and accounts, increasing their chances of securing a lead. LinkedIn has launched a brand new data analytics tool, known as the LinkedIn Sales Insights (LSI), which is aimed at providing teams and clients engaged in Sales Operations, to make use of the extensive database provided by LinkedIn, while carrying out planning regarding their sales strategies. The platform has been as the latest addition to the suite provided by the LinkedIn Sales Solutions package, and is meant for helping people engaged in Sales Operations gather the best information about potential clients and, in turn, seize the best business opportunities.  

According to LinkedIn, the database will be powered by data arising from the accounts of the 740+ million users, and, much like its name, provide a decent insight into the changing sales and business sizes and prospective. This will in turn help the sales departments in channeling their resources towards targeting accounts and users which are more likely to provide them with a profitable market. 

The new platform, according to its parent company, is directed at helping Sales Ops gain more knowledge about what types of accounts will be more feasible for their business, and has been designed to make it easy for them to foray into new markets, by making the relevant information available at their fingertips. Real-time data regarding key regions and territories, with special focus on specific accounts will be made possible. Moreover, the company claims that since the data provided will be powered by account users themselves, it is bound to be much more reliable, and will provide much deeper insights into the workings of such accounts, making it feasible to prioritize markets and plan business strategy, while ensuring that their sales hit the bullseye. 

Announcing the news, the company also expressed its views on the new addition through the India Head of LinkedIn’s Sales Solutions, Abhai Singh, who said, “As virtual selling continues to overhaul the sales ecosystem, real-time data and insights are increasingly critical for sales planning today. With LinkedIn Sales Insights, our goal is to strengthen the buyer-seller relationship so businesses can shift their focus from ‘products they sell’ to the ‘problems they solve’. The platform will empower Sales Operations leaders with data and relationship intelligence to unlock lucrative leads and plan with ease and confidence in today’s ever-changing market.”

With the new Sales Insights platform, LinkedIn is aiming to bridge the growing gap that exists between businesses and their target audience, by helping the former take note of the accounts that are likely to be interested in their products, and allowing them to focus on them more. For achieving this, it relies on the complex network of companies, employees, employers, skills, jobs, and the like, that it has spent years to weave through its database. 

This is the first time that LinkedIn has made headlines ever since the massive data leak a few days ago, and this time, it’s definitely for a good reason. The new platform, which was introduced into the markets in other countries a few months back, is much anticipated, and it remains to be seen how helpful it proves to be. 

from WordPress https://ift.tt/3gygm1X via IFTTT

[thetechmedia1]

Chargebee gets $125Mn to power up its enterprise-focused billing and revenue management platform

The status of a unicorn has always been a coveted one, but for some reason, they are popping up like pinecones these days. The first four months have already seen many Indian start-ups become unicorns. On Tuesday, Chennai and San Francisco-based start-up Chargebee became the latest addition to this family raising $125 million in its Series G financing round led by Sapphire Ventures and existing investors Tiger Global and Insight Venture Partners.

Chargebee helps small and medium enterprises by managing their subscription billing, invoice and payments, revenue operations, and compliance. It also helps large enterprises move to a subscription model within 10 days. The latest funding round, which comes six months after it had raised $55 million in a Series F funding round, puts Chargebee’s valuation at $1.4 billion, an increase of more than 3 times from its valuation of $505 million in October.

Chargebee joins fintech firm CRED, digital payments platform Razorpay, e-pharmacy company PharmEasy, social commerce platform Meesho, investment platform Groww, and several other Indian start-ups to become a unicorn in April 2021.

According to Chargebee, the proceeds from the funds would be used to ramp up its global operations amidst a shift in the industry towards software-as-a-service subscription models. It will also be increasing its investment into global expansion and key partnerships. “Every business from streamed content to e-commerce to e-learning has become subscription-based, needs global pricing and recurring billing systems,” said Krish Subramanian, co-founder, and CEO of Chargebee.

Ten-year-old Chargebee has come a long way from its earliest days in an apartment in Chennai. Not only has it gone global, but it also has a customer base of about 3, 000 customers, like cloud software Okta, business software firm Freshworks, calendar invites manager Calendly, training platform Linux Academy, and Japanese tech giant Fujitsu. Chargebee supports over a hundred currencies, as well as digital payment options like PayPal and Stripe. With the doubling of revenue in the past 12 months and the increase of customer revenue by 125%, Chargebee has big plans for the future.

“We want to quickly scale to 30,000 clients in the coming years and drive innovation,” co-founder and chief operating officer Rajaraman Santhanam said. He added that there was always some part of a product that a company never wants to build from scratch, and a subscription billing model was one of them.

Subramanian said that a window of opportunity for the next five years has been created, to “build out this category beautifully and serve a lot of customers.”

from WordPress https://ift.tt/3nbcFQP via IFTTT

[thetechmedia1]

Full stack Healthcare startup Pristyn Care raises $53Mn, plans expansion in medical tech services

TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/1200px-Medical_Drugs_for_Pharmacy_Health_Shop_of_Medicine-300×225.png 300w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/1200px-Medical_Drugs_for_Pharmacy_Health_Shop_of_Medicine-768×579.png 768w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/1200px-Medical_Drugs_for_Pharmacy_Health_Shop_of_Medicine-800×603.png 800w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/1200px-Medical_Drugs_for_Pharmacy_Health_Shop_of_Medicine-1160×874.png 1160w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/1200px-Medical_Drugs_for_Pharmacy_Health_Shop_of_Medicine.png 1200w” sizes=”(max-width: 1019px) 100vw, 1019px”>

With COVID at large, the health care infrastructure of every country in the world is under attack. While this is a massive problem, it has created an opportunity for new companies to arise that can help tackle this massive issue and ease the pain on the health care industry. Enter Pristyn Care. The startup operates a very innovative health care platform, and thanks to its groundbreaking offering, it has managed to raise $53 million in its Series D funding round led by Tiger Global Management.

Others like Sequoia Capital, Hummingbird Ventures, and Epiq Capital, also participated in the round.

If you think that’s impressive, what till you hear this- according to the official statement, Pristyn Care has reached a valuation of over $550 million. This means that it is inching closer and closer to the coveted Unicorn status, and if things go well, we might see that happening very soon.

Pristyn Care is a healthcare platform focused on surgeries, while also providing other facilities. What it basically does is bring surgeries to your phone. Well, almost. Using Pristyn’s platform, users can schedule everything surgery related from their phone. This includes diagnostics support, complete health-insurance, claim processing, hospital admission paperwork and more. Moreover, on the day of the surgery, a cab will come to pick you up from your home. However, that’s not where the story ends. After the surgery, the platform also provides home delivery of medicines and post surgery consultation. The only thing it lacks is a doctor jumping through your phone to operate on you. Yet.

The healthcare startup offers about 50 different types of surgeries, including s piles, gynecology, phimosis, varicose veins, DVT, hernia, sinus, gallstones, and cataract among others using advanced medical technology such as Laser, Laparoscopy, Microdebriders.

“Our focus on scaling our surgery offerings and providing a seamless patient experience in India has enabled us to have helped treat more than half a million patients in the past 2.5 years,” said co founder  Harsimarbir  Singh said in a statement.

Currently, the startup runs over 100 clinics spread around 30 cities and towns in India, operates in more than 400 hospitals and has over 300 expert surgeons on-board.

Using this new funding, the company aims to “expand our surgery offerings in more cities and towns and attract international patients seeking treatment in India, treat new disease lines, and invest in brand building,” Singh added.

“By using technology to deliver differentiated experiences and outcomes, Pristyn Care has built the leading consumer-centric surgery provider in India. The market opportunity is huge, and we couldn’t be more excited to partner with Harsimarbir and his team,” said Scott Shleifer, Tiger Global Management.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/3grDDSZ via IFTTT

[thetechmedia1]

Instagram announces new tools to help users filter out offensive DMs

TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/instagram-the-tech-portal-300×200.jpg 300w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/instagram-the-tech-portal-768×512.jpg 768w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/instagram-the-tech-portal-800×533.jpg 800w” sizes=”(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px”>

In a welcome move, Instagram has introduced a new feature that might become helpful in the fight against (or at least act as speed breaker) cyber bullying. The social media giant has just announced today that is launching a brand new tool, which will act as a filter of sorts, and will be aimed at allowing users to automatically filter out requests for direct messages (DMs) if they contain any offensive or inappropriate language, words, or phrases, or even inappropriate emojis. While the new tool has mainly been designed to help out celebrities and social figures protect themselves from malicious content, and harmful DMs, it is bound to become a good inclusion for regular users of the app as well, especially given the rising cases of cyber bullying.

 The main idea behind the new feature is to promote Instagram’s endeavor to put an end to hate speech through its portal. It follows up on the move made by the company back in February, wherein it had announced that it will be putting an end to (or in other words, taking down or disabling) the accounts that sent multiple messages containing harassing or malicious content. At that time, it was announced that first time senders of such messages will be blocked from sending messages for undefined periods, but repetitive offences will lead to disabling of their accounts. Even back in 2018, the app had introduced a comments filter, which allowed users to automatically block comments attacking any person’s physical appearance. 

The new tool will be Toggle in function, and will be present in a new section of the app, known as “Hidden Words” (which will live in the Privacy section of the Settings Menu), allowing users to either toggle it on or off. This means that it will have to be turned on proactively, as and when needed by the users. Commenting on this, Instagram said, “We want to respect peoples’ privacy and give people control over their experiences in a way that works best for them,” hunting at wanting to give users the control to allow certain chats containing words which might fall in the keywords list, to remain active. Turning the tool on will lead to all messages containing offensive content being stored in a separate folder, where they will be concealed until they are clicked upon. Clicking on them will in turn allow users to delete or report messages as well.

 The tool will also be able to detect commonly used misspellings of the offensive keywords, which are sometimes used by bullies to evade detection. The list of keywords and emojis will be decided upon based on Facebook’s collaboration with certain unspecified anti-bullying organisations. This feature will first be made available in a handful of countries, including France, Ireland, UK, Germany, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, over the next few weeks, and will gradually be rolled out to other countries too, over the course of the next few months. 

During its announcement, Instagram also introduced another new feature, which will enable users to completely block out certain people from contacting them, even over new accounts. This feature will be made available within the next few weeks, in all parts of the country. 

The features are completely developed by Facebook itself, and have currently been announced only for Instagram, and not for contemporaries WhatsApp and Messenger, which fall under the same banner. Any reports made by users will be used by the company to build upon the database, to include more information and words. This feature will help make it safer for people to access both their inboxes, the primary one where only contacts are allowed to send messages, and the secondary one which is open to anyone and everyone. 

from WordPress https://ift.tt/32yosiH via IFTTT

[thetechmedia1]

In the face of mounting complaints, Tesla considers launching specially designed cars for China

TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/1200px-Tesla_Motors_Showroom_Stuttgart-300×225.jpg 300w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/1200px-Tesla_Motors_Showroom_Stuttgart-768×576.jpg 768w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/1200px-Tesla_Motors_Showroom_Stuttgart-800×600.jpg 800w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/1200px-Tesla_Motors_Showroom_Stuttgart-1160×870.jpg 1160w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/1200px-Tesla_Motors_Showroom_Stuttgart.jpg 1200w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>

Elon Musk really seems to be coming up with all sorts of ideas to suit customers with different tastes, and China is by no measure a small market. Thus, when there’s a chance to lose customers in the region, it’s no wonder that Tesla is prepared to go overboard. Car manufacturing giant Tesla Inc. is currently in the midst of creating cars which are tailored specifically for consumers in China, as a move to tackle the growing dissatisfaction and complaints by Chinese users about the quality of the electric vehicles produced by the company. The vehicles will be designed from the ground up to suit the needs of people in China, as revealed by one of the vice-presidents at Tesla, Grace Tao. The news was announced during the auto show that was held in Shanghai this week. International buyers don’t have to get disheartened, however, since global sale of the cars is also on the cards. 

What is interesting is that during the same auto show, a woman climbed atop a car model at Tesla’s booth, and began hurling allegation after allegation regarding the brakes produced by the company, and saying that they had caused her car to crash. The video is definitely making the rounds on social media, but Tesla later claimed on Weibo that the brakes were, in fact, not faulty, and that the crash had occurred because the woman was over speeding. Nevertheless, she has managed to gain significant amounts of sympathy from many fellow Tesla users, with an interesting hashtag, “Tesla stand turned into a stage for defending rights”, getting much attention. 

Tesla took its stand on the matter through a post via Weibo, saying, “We have since the start been willing to work with national and authoritative third-party organizations to thoroughly inspect the issues raised by the public. By doing this, we wish to win assurance and understanding from consumers. But we still haven’t fulfilled this wish, mainly because our ways of communicating with customers may be problematic. Secondly, we indeed can’t decide for our customers how they want to resolve these issues.”

Now it remains to be seen whether the design for the new car manages to strike a chord with the Chinese market, which is one of the most important sources of Tesla’s income, especially from the East. Last year alone, almost 500,000 pieces of Tesla vehicles were shipped to China by the company, backed by its Gigafactory set up at Shanghai, where it can produce cars at tax breaks, which are granted to it by the local government. This led to a contribution of around $6.66 Billion for the company in 2020. 

This however, cannot deny the fact that Tesla has been under heavy scrutiny by users in the country, especially for the past few days, even as it continues to face competition by ingenious manufacturers Nio, Xpeng, and Li Auto. Even tech companies like Huawei are stepping into the automobile market, by signing deals to help companies create vehicles that are more technologically advanced.

 This is further complicated by the fact that the Chinese government too, seems rather out of favor with the American company, which was caught up in a quality issue back in January, having received a summons by local regulatory bodies (which include the top cyperspace watchdog, market regulator, and transport authority). The summons was issued in response to consumer complaints about battery fires, irregularities in acceleration, and failures in upgrading software, among others. Back then, Tesla had claimed to “sincerely accept the government departments’ guidance”, and said that it will “strictly comply with Chinese laws,” through a Weibo post. A short while prior to this, the company had been forced to recall 20,428 imported pieces of the Model S vehicles, along with 15,698 units of the imported Model X vehicles. 

from WordPress https://ift.tt/3v8bRz3 via IFTTT

[thetechmedia1]

Apple announces new Podcasts Subscriptions, Apple Card Family at ‘Spring Loaded’ event

TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Untitled-300×169.jpg 300w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Untitled-768×434.jpg 768w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Untitled-800×452.jpg 800w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Untitled-1160×655.jpg 1160w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Untitled.jpg 1390w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>

Apple’s “Spring Loaded” event on Tuesday unveiled many surprises, including a bunch of new products, including Apple TV 4K, AirTags, iMac and the new iPad Pro. While all of these were on the hardware side, we also wanna talk about the software side as well. Big changes were announced to Apple Podcasts and Apple Card, which we will explain in this piece.

Apple Podcasts:

The company announced Apple Podcasts Subscriptions, a new paid subscription within Podcasts, to be available in over 170 countries and regions starting May 2021.The pricing for the new subscription service is yet to be announced.

Listeners will be able to subscribe to the content for benefits like no ads, and early and exclusive access to additional content. They can also enjoy premium subscriptions from creators like Tenderfoot TV, Pushkin Industries, Radiotopia from PRX, and QCODE, to leading media and entertainment brands, including NPR, the Los Angeles Times, The Athletic, Sony Music Entertainment, and many more.

Apple also announced a redesigned Podcasts app, which includes channels to help people discover new content. The channels include artwork, titles and descriptions unique to Apple Podcasts, and some might promote free content while others are paid. The redesign also includes a “Smart Play” button to allow listeners to automatically start new shows. Listeners can also save individual episodes. The redesigned Apple Podcasts app will be available for people who use iOS 14.5.

Eddy Cue, senior VP of Internet Software and Services, Apple, said, “Fifteen years ago, Apple took podcasts mainstream, offering creators a premier, open platform to inform, entertain, and inspire hundreds of millions of listeners around the world. Today, Apple Podcasts is the best place for listeners to discover and enjoy millions of great shows, and we are proud to lead the next chapter of podcasting with Apple Podcasts Subscriptions. We’re excited to introduce this powerful new platform to creators around the world, and we can’t wait to hear what they make with it.”

The podcast subscription option “enables you to unlock new content as well as additional benefits like ad-free listening, early access and much more — so now you can help your favourite podcasters build their business and fuel their creativity,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said.

Let us move on to see how the changes will benefit the creators. Creators can now decide the price of their shows – they will have the option to offer a freemium model (where you have to subscribe to get additional features like ad-free shows and early access to new content), or setting a price for all of their content. They can also create channels to curate their shows. Additionally, creators can access the Apple Podcasts Connect dashboard, which includes new features like the ability to edit metadata, schedule and manage show availability, organize shows into channels, manage multiple users and roles, and learn how listeners are engaging with their shows through new performance metrics and visualization tools. Creators can also enroll in the all-new Apple Podcasters Programme to gain access to tools they need to build premium subscriptions.

Apple Card:

That is not all, folks. The “Spring Loaded” event also announced a new feature – Apple Card Family, which will now allow you to share your Apple Card and build joint credit with up to five people in your Apple Family Sharing Group, as long as they are 13 years or older. Two people, both who are 18 years or older, can co-own the Apple Card and build credit history together.

“We designed Apple Card Family because we saw an opportunity to reinvent how spouses, partners, and the people you trust most share credit cards and build credit together. There’s been a lack of transparency and consumer understanding in the way credit scores are calculated when there are two users of the same credit card, since the primary account holder receives the benefit of building a strong credit history while the other does not,” said Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay. “Apple Card Family lets people build their credit history together equally.”

Designed to help the Family Sharing group achieve a healthier financial life by making it easy to track spending, all on iPhone and with a single monthly bill, Apple Card Family also helps teach people of spending independently and responsibly while giving co-owners transparency and features that provide insight into purchases and control over their purchase limit. Co-owners and participants will each receive Daily Cash for purchases made on their Apple Card.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2P6twYs via IFTTT

[thetechmedia1]

Apple launches new M1-powered, 5G iPad Pro and AirTags item tracker

TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/apple-ipad-pro-5g-m1-chip-new-the-tech-portal-e1618942712884.png 1024w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/apple-ipad-pro-5g-m1-chip-new-the-tech-portal-300×160.png 300w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/apple-ipad-pro-5g-m1-chip-new-the-tech-portal-768×413.png 768w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/apple-ipad-pro-5g-m1-chip-new-the-tech-portal-1536×827.png 1536w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/apple-ipad-pro-5g-m1-chip-new-the-tech-portal-2048×1102.png 2048w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/apple-ipad-pro-5g-m1-chip-new-the-tech-portal-260×140.png 260w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/apple-ipad-pro-5g-m1-chip-new-the-tech-portal-800×431.png 800w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/apple-ipad-pro-5g-m1-chip-new-the-tech-portal-560×300.png 560w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/apple-ipad-pro-5g-m1-chip-new-the-tech-portal-1160×624.png 1160w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>

Apple usually kicks off the year with its WWDC event, which is still some months down the road. Thus, I was completely surprised when the company announced an extra event, dubbed ‘Spring Loaded’ earlier this month. However, it turned out to be pleasant surprise, with some great new additions to the Apple family. Keep reading to learn more.

iPad Pro:

The company announced the new iPad Pro, which was exactly as anticipated, since the invitation to the event featured a doodle of the Apple logo which looked like it was drawn on an iPad.

The device was launched in two variants-the 12.9 inch version and the 11 inch version, both of which have been powered by same M1 chip (read more here) that’s available on Mac computers. This means that iPad users will now have as much computational power as a full blown Mac, something that seems crazy (good) to me. Moreover, it also features Thunderbolt connectivity, a feature that many users (including myself), have been asking for from a long time.

The 12.9 inch version of the iPad Pro features a liquid Retina mini LED display (a first for Apple), which means that the display on this device is powered by smaller LEDs. For this reason, the company was able to pack in more LEDs in the frame, which results in deep punchy blacks and extremely good contract levels (almost on par with an OLED display). Thanks to all this technology, the display offers upto 1,000 nits of brightness and vivid, crisp pictures.

However, the same love has not been shown to the 11inch iPad Pro, which makes sense, since the premium mini LED feature is reserved for the company’s most premium tablet.

That is not all, as the new iPad Pro will also feature 5G connectivity, which is a much awaited feature.

Moreover, the company is also launching these new devices with the Apple Pencil, which first surfaced with the original 12.9 inch iPad Pro. The pencil has a flat edge, and can be charged just as the Apple Pencil second generation, by attaching it to the edge panel of the iPad Pro.

The 12.9 inch version of the iPad Pro has been priced at $1099, while the more affordable 11 inch version will cost users $799.

AirTags:

However, if you think that’s all the Apple had in store for you today, you are mistaken. The company finally announced a feature that was rumored to be work in progress about 2 years ago-AirTags. These Airtags are Apple’s answer to Tile Trackers, and will allow users to locate precious items using their phone. Just place an AirTag on an item, and use your iPhone’s Find My app to locate it.

TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/apple-airtags-the-tech-portal-300×169.jpg 300w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/apple-airtags-the-tech-portal-768×432.jpg 768w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/apple-airtags-the-tech-portal-1536×864.jpg 1536w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/apple-airtags-the-tech-portal-800×450.jpg 800w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/apple-airtags-the-tech-portal-1160×652.jpg 1160w, https://TheTechMedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/apple-airtags-the-tech-portal.jpg 1960w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>

These bands use Bluetooth and Ultra-Wide band radios to broadcast unique IDs out into the ether, which can be picked up by any nearby iOS device or Mac. A built-in speaker plays sounds to help locate AirTag, while a removable cover makes it easy for users to replace the battery. AirTag features the same magical setup experience as AirPods — just bring AirTag close to iPhone and it will connect. Users can assign AirTag to an item and name it with a default like “Keys” or “Jacket,” or provide a custom name of their choosing.

While this sounds similar to most Bluetooth trackers, the edition of Ultra Wide band radios is definitely an improvement over the existing technology, and also helps in extending the range of the signal.

Moreover, the company also added privacy features to make sure that no one can see your location while using these AirTags, not even Apple. These include rotating identification numbers, among other features.

The AirTags start at $29/piece, and cost $99 for a pack of 4.  They will become available starting April 30th.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/3tD6jw7 via IFTTT