Technology news

Google has introduced a new feature to Search called animal sounds.
Google will soon introduce a new feature to Search called animal sounds.  Users can use the feature by either talking to Google app on smartphones or typing questions like, “What sound does the duck make?”.
Also Read: Will ensure that every new feature works well on 2G: Facebook CPO Chris Cox
The feature has a total of 19 animal sounds — Ape, Cat, Cow, Dog, Duck, Elephant, Horse, Lion, Moose, Owl, Pig

Parents globally spend 1.3 times more on Facebook than non-parents, keeping tabs on teens and sharing their kids’ key milestones, a new study has found.
Facebook IQ, the social networking site’s consumer research programme, embarked on a multi-phased research study of 25 to 65-year-old parents of infants, toddlers, adolescents and teens around the world.
It analysed Facebook and Instagram data across eight markets and gathered feedback from 8,300 parents and five parenting experts.
&

Google has introduced a new feature to Search called animal sounds.
Google has introduced a new feature to Search called animal sounds.  Animal sounds go live on January 13. Users can use the feature by either talking to Google app on smartphones or typing questions like, “What sound does the duck make?”.
Also Read: Will ensure that every new feature works well on 2G: Facebook CPO Chris Cox
The feature has a total of 19 animal sounds — Ape, Cat, Cow, Dog, Duck, Elephant, H

Facebook is attempting to solve the problem of access to the Internet globally, claims Facebook product chief Chris Cox.
Chris Cox, the Chief Product Officer of Facebook, on Tuesday said they would have done Free Basics differently if they could go back in time. “We have been a little surprised how difficult it’s been, but we are going to keep working on it,” he told IndianExpress.com, adding that they are learning how to communicate better.
“We want Free Basics to work

Chris Cox is Facebook’s Chief Product Officer. (Source: Vikram Buragohain)
Chris Cox, the Chief Product Officer of Facebook, is holding his first set of business meetings for 2016 in New Delhi and that shows how important a market India is for the social network. Over 138 million Indians use Facebook on a monthly basis and the expectation is that a third of the next billion people to come on the Internet will be from India.
Cox says the company’s “understanding of how to make

Indians want more payment options when it comes to digital subscription services.
Indian consumers are signing up for digital services but want flexibility when it comes to payment options, says a new report by Worldpay Research. WorldPay is a payment processing company based in UK, US and other countries.
Worldpay surveyed 7,069 consumers across UK, Germany, USA, China, India, Brazil and Japan with Morar Consulting for its study.
According to the study, Indian consumers tend to go for services

IGL will function on both online and offline platforms in India. (Image: Gamepad Pro)
A professional gaming league called Indian Gaming League is slated to launch in India in January, 2016. The IGL will consist of games like Fifa, Counterstrike, Halo, Dota 2 and more. Sony & Major Gaming Leagues are the key partners of the gaming platform.
IGL has been founded by two entrepreneurs – Yash Pariani, 23 and Krish Galani, 20. While Yash is a DJ and owns ‘One World Productions’

Fujifilm has unveiled the ‘instax mini HELLO KITTY’ instant camera to mark the 40th anniversary of the Hello Kitty character.
Fujifilm has unveiled the ‘instax mini HELLO KITTY’ instant camera to mark the 40th anniversary of the Hello Kitty character. The camera is priced at Rs 8,999 and is designed in the shape of Hello Kitty’s face. It comes in pink colour.
Read: Lenovo executive: Google Play services definitely coming to China this year
It comes with a limited e

Hike’s platform, which has 70 million users, facilitates over 30 billion messages per month. It competes with the likes of WhatsApp, LINE and Viber in India. (Source: Website) Home-grown Hike Messenger today said it has raised an undisclosed funding from Silicon Valley veterans like Quora founder and CEO Adam D’Angelo, Dropbox’s Vice President Aditya Agarwal and WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg.
Ruchi Sanghvi, former Vice President Operations Dropbox, has also invested in H

Reliance Jio’s Jionet Wi-Fi has been rolled out in Vijayawada.
Reliance Industries’ subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm today rolled its high-speed Wi-Fi services, called Jionet, for users at MG Road in Vijayawada.
The service was launched by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on the occasion of Jio Amaravati Marathon, the company said in a release.
K S Venugopal Regional Head-South Reliance Jio said, “The people of Andhra Pradesh will be able to experience the dig

Hike Messenger has announced that some of the world’s tech veterans have invested in the company and are playing advisors to it.
Hike Messenger today announced latest investments from Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, WordPress Co-founder Matt Mullenweg along with Aditya Agarwal and Ruchi Sanghvi of Dropbox.
“It’s great to have the world’s top brains in tech share Hike’s vision; and not just entrust us with their investment, but more importantly, also advise

The Sony Xperia Z5 was launched at a price of Rs 52,990.
Sony Xperia Z5 will now come in a ‘warm, sophisticated pink’ variant, the company said in a blog post. While the frosted glass back and metal frame will remain same, Sony has hinted at an improved camera for this one. Sony Xperia Z5 was launched in October in three colour variants- Gold, Green and Black.
Also Read: Lenovo executive: Google Play services definitely coming to China this year
The pink colour version of the smartp

Apple’s iPhone 7 will have no headphone jack and will be thinner, says a new report.
Apple’s iPhone 7 will no longer have a 3.5 mm headphone jack, says another report, adding to the list of rumours surrounding the next smartphone from Apple.
The report comes from Fast Company and says that the new iPhone will use the Lightning cable port for sound output and “will be noticeably thinner.” The report quotes a source with knowledge of the company’s plans and says that

Social media platform Twitter is said to be developing a way to give brands an access to mentions about their products in everyday users’ tweets that they could use into promotional campaigns. (Reuters) Social media platform Twitter is said to be developing a way to give brands an access to mentions about their products in everyday users’ tweets that they could use into promotional campaigns.
According to a Monday report from Digiday, participating advertisers would be able to cut t

Gionee Marathon M5 Lite is a dual-SIM smartphone that supports 4G LTE and weighs lighter than Marathon M5. (Source: IE) Gionee Marathon M5 Lite priced in India at Rs 12,999 launched on Monday. Users can buy the device from Gionee’s India website. Gionee Marathon M5 Lite was initially launched in China with a smaller 4000 mAh battery and a 5-inch screen last month at Yuan 999.
The bigger Gionee Marathon M5 has a 6020 mAh battery. The USP of the Gionee Marathon M5 Lite is its massive 4,000m

As an autonomous body, Tifac is a think tank under the science and technology department of the central government. Racing against time to realise the ‘Vision 2020’ former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam conceived in 1996, India has embarked on a similar exercise for 2035, betting on emerging technologies to overcome major challenges it faces in ensuring inclusive growth and improving quality of life in the country.
“Technology is a key driver to empower individuals, societies an

Peach, a new messaging app, lets you find your friends and upload GIFs, photos and status updates in your news feed using “magic words”.
Available on Apple store, the app looks like Twitter, Slack, and Instagram, and is created by founder of Vine – a short-form video sharing service – Tech Crunch reported on Saturday.
“Peach is a refreshingly fun and simple way to keep up with friends and be yourself. Share tiny updates as you go through your day. Posting is as

Seven-inch tablet computers, the stars of the tablet world in the last few years, are witnessing a shrinking percentage in global shipments due to severe competition from emerging big-screen phones or phablets, says a research firm.
Seven-inch tablets monopolised 64.1 percent of global tablet shipments in 2014, but the ratio fell to 57.7 percent last year, according to a US market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC).
With the emergence of big 5.5-inch-plus screen phones such as iP

The news portal said it has obtained photographic evidence and an eyewitness report that Facebook employees are working on Facebook Messenger For Mac. (Reuters photo) Facebook is building an as-yet-unreleased Facebook Messenger app for Mac desktop that would help Apple users to instantly access it straight from the dock, a media report said.
Instead of getting buried in one of many web browser tabs that users have to switch to so they can text friends, the dedicated Messenger desktop app would

Jio is the title sponsor of the ‘Amaravati Marathon’ and hoardings of LYF have been put up.
Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of Reliance Industries, unveiled its low-cost mobile handset offering under the ‘LYF’ brand through first hoardings here.
Jio is the title sponsor of the ‘Amaravati Marathon’ and hoardings of LYF have been put up. LYF sets are dual SIM and support Jio SIM as well as third-party network.
Watch our video: 
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Reliance Jio’s Jionet Wi-Fi has been rolled out in Vijayawada.
Reliance Industries’ subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm today rolled its high-speed Wi-Fi services, called Jionet, for users at MG Road in Vijayawada.
The service was launched by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on the occasion of Jio Amaravati Marathon, the company said in a release.
K S Venugopal Regional Head-South Reliance Jio said, “The people of Andhra Pradesh will be able to experience the dig

Facebook is supporting differential data pricing in its comments to TRAI.
Amid a debate over net neutrality principles, Facebook has become the only Internet firm to side with telecom operators over the issue of differential pricing of data services.
The social media giant has favoured allowing differential pricing of data services — a key issue under net neutrality principles, in India specially zero rating platforms like its own controversy-ridden Free Basics.
“The short answer is

Google Play services are definitely coming to China this year, according to Lenovo Executive Chen Xudong.
Google Play services will definitely come to China this year, according to comments by Lenovo executive Chen Xudong. Chen is the president for Lenovo China and Asia Pacific Emerging Markets region.
In a report on TechSina (via 9to5Google) Chen said in an interview that “Google service will definitely re-enter the Chinese market this year, will come back anyway.”
Also read:

The Build The Shield contest provides students a hands-on hacking experience, wherein the participating teams defend themselves.
Microsoft has announced call for entries for its 2016 ‘Build The Shield’ contest in India. Graduates or undergraduates pursuing major in Computer Science, Information Technology or Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) are eligible for the contest. The registration dates are open till January 25. The winners will receive pre-placement offers from

Gionee Marathon M5 Lite has been launched in India at a price of Rs 12,999.
Gionee Marathon M5 Lite with a smaller 4000 mAh battery and a 5-inch screen, which was launched China at Yuan 999, is now listed on the company’s India e-store as well. Gionee has priced the phone at Rs 12,999 in India and users can buy the device from Gionee’s India website here.
The bigger Gionee Marathon M5 has a 6020 mAh battery, while the M5 Lite comes with a 4000 mAh battery with a standby time of 39 d

Apple’s iPhone 7 will have no headphone jack and will be thinner, says a new report.
Apple’s iPhone 7 will no longer have a 3.5 mm headphone jack, says another report, adding to the list of rumours surrounding the next smartphone from Apple.
The report comes from Fast Company and says that the new iPhone will use the Lightning cable port for sound output and “will be noticeably thinner.” The report quotes a source with knowledge of the company’s plans and says that

Chinese internet conglomerate Letv said on Saturday it would soon launch a series of world’s first smartphones powered by the Snapdragon 820 processor from Qualcomm Technologies.
The company’s Le Max Pro would be the first smartphone to pack the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor that offers better user-experience as well as the display quality than other processors.
“Letv has already established itself as one of the world’s top innovators and our decision to inc

Letv Le Max Pro would be the first smartphone to pack the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor that offers better user-experience as well as the display quality than other processors. (Source: LeTV twitter) Chinese internet conglomerate Letv said on Saturday it would soon launch a series of world’s first smartphones powered by the Snapdragon 820 processor from Qualcomm Technologies. Letv Le Max Pro would be the first smartphone to pack the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor tha

Chinese internet and technology conglomerate Letv on Saturday concluded its second round of fan meetups where its recently-launched 3D helmet and bluetooth headphones were displayed.
A large number of superfans, bloggers and tech aficionados turned up to gain hands-on experience of the Letv devices – the innovative Le 3D helmet, LeMe bluetooth headphones and LeMax “superphone”.
“We are truly overwhelmed by the response we received to our two Le meetups in Delhi.

If you’re used to thinking of drones as a passing fad, last week’s CES gadget show should give you second thoughts.
Tiny, self-piloted copters promise to buzzily follow you around like something out of a Neal Stephenson cyberpunk novel. New drones that could find lost wilderness adventurers or help them see out above treetops; others purport to carry a human passenger at the touch of a button.
None of this, of course, will be happening overnight. Limited battery life means that many

Facebook is supporting differential data pricing in its comments to TRAI.
Amid a debate over net neutrality principles, Facebook has become the only Internet firm to side with telecom operators over the issue of differential pricing of data services.
The social media giant has favoured allowing differential pricing of data services — a key issue under net neutrality principles, in India specially zero rating platforms like its own controversy-ridden Free Basics.
“The short answer is

Mark Zuckerberg’s post of taking his daughter for a vaccine has sparked a new debate online.
Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has dropped himself into the riotous social media debate over childhood vaccines after posting photos of himself taking his newborn daughter to get immunisation shots at the doctor’s office.
His Facebook post on Friday shows a photo of Zuckerberg holding his daughter, Max, alongside the caption “Doctor’s visit – time for

Apple’s iPhone 7 will have no headphone jack and will be thinner, says a new report.
Apple’s iPhone 7 will no longer have a 3.5 mm headphone jack, says another report, adding to the list of rumours surrounding the next smartphone from Apple.
The report comes from Fast Company and says that the new iPhone will use the Lightning cable port for sound output and “will be noticeably thinner.” The report quotes a source with knowledge of the company’s plans and says that

Europe’s largest software company, SAP on Tuesday reported a 7 percent rise in operating profits, driven both by year-end software license renewals and customers converting to newer cloud-based software.
Fourth-quarter operating profit, excluding special items, rose to 2.28 billion euros ($2.47 billion) from 2.13 billion euros in the same period a year earlier.
SAP said its results were helped by renewals from existing customers of higher-margin, licensed software plus faster growing, albe

IT firm Persistent Systems today said it will acquire Citrix Systems’ CloudPlatform and CloudPortal Business Manager product lines for an undisclosed sum.
“Persistent Systems Ltd, through its US subsidiary has signed an agreement with Citrix Systems International GMBH, a Swiss subsidiary of Citrix Systems, Inc., to acquire the Citrix CloudPlatform and CloudPortal Business Manager product lines in an asset purchase transaction,” the company said in a BSE filing.
It further said:

The day has finally arrived as today on January 12 Microsoft will end the technical support and security updates for the older versions of its Internet Explorer browser.
The software giant posted a post on their website that read, “Beginning January 12, 2016, only the most current version of Internet Explorer available for a supported operating system will receive technical supports and security updates,” reports News.com.au.
The post further read, “Internet Explorer 11 is the

Google doodle features scenes from Charles Perrault stories, as well as two of his famous fables, Mother Goose and Puss in Boots. Google doodle today pays tribute to French author Charles Perrault on his 388th birthday. Charles Perrault is the author of Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.
The Google doodle features scenes from both stories, as well as two of Charles Perrault famous fables, Mother Goose and Puss in Boots.
Charles Perrault is credited with layin

Flipkart’s Sachin Bansal (Left) and Binny Bansal (right). Binny Bansal will now be the CEO, while Sachin will be exec chairman.
E-commerce major Flipkart has announced that Sachin Bansal, CEO and Co-founder of Flipkart, will now be the Executive Chairman of the company and Binny Bansal, COO and Co-founder of Flipkart, will be its Chief Executive Officer.
“In his role as Executive Chairman of Flipkart, Sachin will provide strategic direction for Flipkart, mentor the senior leadership