Technology news

Instagram, owned by Facebook now has over 500 million active users (Source: David Marcus/Facebook)
Instagram now boasts more than 500 million users, more than 80 percent of whom are outside the United States, the company said on Tuesday, in a sign of the photo-sharing app’s rapidly growing global reach.
The company owned by Facebook Inc had 400 million users last September. It has seen its user base more than double over the past two years. Instagram added that 300 million people used the

HP Spectre features a 13.3-inch Full HD display, setting a new benchmark for thinnest 13-inch notebooks out there
HP Spectre, the world’s thinnest laptop has been launched in India at Rs 1,19,900. The laptop will be available from June 25.
At just 10.4mm thickness, HP Spectre is slimmer than Asus’ Zenfone Max smartphone, which hits the scale at 10.6mm. The total weight of the notebook is just 1.11kg, and the display has Gorilla Glass 4 for protection. HP Spectre has Bang & Olufs

Twitter has been struggling to boost its user base, which has been stuck at around 300 million over the past few quarters, unable to expand past a core that includes politicians, celebrities and journalists.(Reuters) Twitter said today it was increasing the time limit for video tweets to 140 seconds, a move aimed at drawing in more users with visual content.
“Starting today, you’ll have more room to unleash your creativity on Twitter,” said product development chief Jeremy Ris

Launched at a price of Rs. 1,19,990, Spectre 13, is the world’s thinnest laptop– as thin as a AAA – battery at just 10.4 millimeter, weighing only 1.1 kg. HP Spectre 13 laptop launched today, priced at Rs 1,19,990. HP Spectre 13, is the world’s thinnest laptop– as thin as a AAA – battery at just 10.4 millimeter, weighing only 1.1 kg.
The new laptop is equipped with powerful IntelR CoreT i5 and i7 processors(3), 8GB RAM and hyperbaric cooling technology t

China’s mobile Internet users hit 619 million at the end of last year, accounting for a bit more than 90 per cent of the total netizens. (Reuters) High-speed network 4G has become immensely popular in China as the number of its users shot to 530 million in Q1 this year, exceeding the number of 4G users in the US and Europe put together, a senior official said today.
China has the world’s largest 4G network, covering all cities and major towns, Chen Zhaoxiong, vice minister of industr

Using RLT for improvement of networks is incorrect says, TRAI
Leading operators Aircel, Vodafone and Idea are using call drop masking technology or RLT incorrectly in Mumbai, telecom regulator TRAI said on Tuesday.
“Most of the operators have focused on network improvement. However, usage of RLT (ie time-out period for releasing the call ) by Aircel, Vodafone and Idea is incorrect and needs to be addressed immediately,” the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said in its Mumbai dr

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has started pre-consultation process on net neutrality in which it has sought views on calling from mobile applications as well. (Source: Website) A new mobile app, Nanu, has started offering free calling service, including on mobile numbers and landline connections — a facility on which private telecom operators have raised objection before sector regulator Trai and government.
“If you read the Indian Telegraph Act, you can interpret that e

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has started pre-consultation process on net neutrality in which it has sought views on calling from mobile applications as well. (Source: Website) A new mobile app, Nanu, has started offering free calling service, including on mobile numbers and landline connections — a facility on which private telecom operators have raised objection before sector regulator Trai and government.
“If you read the Indian Telegraph Act, you can interpret that e

According to the survey conducted by Fortis Healthcare, more than 74 per cent of students think that social media is the best platform for information, facts and latest happenings. (Reuters) More and more students are shunning newspapers, books and magazines and consider social media as the best platform to find latest happenings, trends and new information, says a survey.
According to the survey conducted by Fortis Healthcare, more than 74 per cent of students think that social media is the be

Instagram, owned by Facebook now has over 500 million active users (Source: David Marcus/Facebook)
Instagram now boasts more than 500 million users, more than 80 percent of whom are outside the United States, the company said on Tuesday, in a sign of the photo-sharing app’s rapidly growing global reach.
The company owned by Facebook Inc had 400 million users last September. It has seen its user base more than double over the past two years. Instagram added that 300 million people used the

Google Gboard keyboard app for iOS is now available in the app store in India as well. Here’s how to set up this third-party keyboard.
Google Gboard, which is a third-party keyboard for iOS, is now finally available on the App Store in India as well.
Google’s Gboard harnesses the power of the search engine, and lets users perform web searches, find GIFs, gives Emoji suggestions, and a lot more from the keyboard itself. The Google Gboard will let users paste directly search results in

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 will now be available on Flipkart, Snapdeal as well.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 will be available on Flipkart, Snapdeal, TataCliq.com in addition to Mi.com and Amazon India from tomorrow, which is June 22.
Xiaomi India head Manu Jain announced the availability of the phone on the new platforms, and said both the 2GB+16GB version and 3GB+32GB versions will be available on these sites from tomorrow. Xiaomi had restricted Redmi Note 3 to Amazon and its Mi.com website till now. However,

Tencent has agreed to buy Finnish game-maker Supercell from Japanese mobile giant SoftBank for $8.6 billion (Source: Reuters)
Chinese Internet giant Tencent today announced it had agreed to buy Finnish game-maker Supercell Oy, creator of “Clash of Clans”, from Japanese mobile giant SoftBank for USD 8.6 billion.
“The board is pleased to announce that on 21 June 2016, the consortium…has agreed to acquire a majority equity interest in Supercell,” a Tencent statement

HP Spectre features a 13.3-inch Full HD display, setting a new benchmark for thinnest 13-inch notebooks out there
HP Spectre, the world’s thinnest laptop has been launched in India at Rs 1,19,900. The laptop will be available from June 25, reports IANS.
At just 10.4mm thickness, HP Spectre is slimmer than Asus’ Zenfone Max, which hits the scale at 10.6mm. HP Spectre features a 13.3-inch Full HD display, setting a new benchmark for thinnest 13-inch notebooks out there.
HP Spectre&rsq

Google Gboard keyboard app for iOS is now available in the app store in India as well. Here’s how to set up this third-party keyboard.
Google Gboard, which is a third-party keyboard for iOS, is now finally available on the App Store in India as well.
Google’s Gboard harnesses the power of the search engine, and lets users perform web searches, find GIFs, gives Emoji suggestions, and a lot more from the keyboard itself. The Google Gboard will let users paste directly search results in

Microsoft Surface Book running Edge lasted 70 per cent longer than the Surface Book running Chrome (Source: Microsoft)
Microsoft has posted video showing how bad the Chrome browser performs in battery rundown test. Google has already accepted the fact that its Chrome browser consumes much more resources on a laptop than other browsers. The search giant even promised to fix the flaws with Chrome.
Microsoft has now posted a video attacking Google’s Chrome browser, to prove Chrome significan

Instagram has grown into one of the most popular social media apps worldwide and is expected to contribute significantly to Facebook’s revenue, with research firm eMarketer predicting the company will generate .5 billion in ad revenue this year. (Reuters) Instagram now boasts more than 500 million users, more than 80 percent of whom are outside the United States, the company said on Tuesday, in a sign of the photo-sharing app’s rapidly growing global reach.
The company owned by Face

The new method involves mixing the plastics with an organometallic catalyst, made from readily available molecules that were then doped with metal iridium. (Reuters) Scientists have found a way to use plastic trash to create a cleaner diesel-like fuel that could power vehicles, an advance that may turn landfills into potential energy sources in future.
The researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and University of California in the US hope to scale up the technique to allow for it to be

Google Prompt has been introduced by the company for its two-step verification.
Google has introduced Google Prompt, a new feature to make signing-in easier on Android and iOS via the two-step verification process.
Google Prompt is aimed at enterprises where employees are using Google apps, and thus need a Google account to access their work email, work docs, etc.
In a blogpost Google wrote, “There are multiple ways your end users can approve sign-in requests via 2SV—by tapping a Sec

‘The board is pleased to announce that on 21 June 2016, the consortium has agreed to acquire a majority equity interest in Supercell,’ says a Tencent statement. (Reuters) Chinese Internet giant Tencent today announced it had agreed to buy Finnish game-maker Supercell Oy, creator of “Clash of Clans”, from Japanese mobile giant SoftBank for $8.6 billion.
“The board is pleased to announce that on 21 June 2016, the consortium…has agreed to acquire a majority equ

Xiaomi has put out a post inviting registrations for the launch of its Mi Max phablet on June 30. The registration will close on June 23.
Xiaomi has unveiled its Mi Community in India. The website will allows users to register for the launch event of Xiaomi’s new products, participate in the company’s events and share their feedback. The forum has a news feed which informs users of Xiaomi product launches, new announcements; features smartphone reviews and more.
The Mi Community beta

With UE Boom 2’s Siri and Google Now integration, users can simply say it to play it (Source: Ultimate Ears)
Ultimate Ears’ UE Boom 2 speaker can now play along with your digital assistants like Siri and Google Now. Ultimate Ears has announced the integration of Siri and Google Now with its Boom 2 speaker.
With UE Boom 2’s Siri and Google Now integration, users can simply say it to play it. With the new feature, UE Boom 2 becomes more like Amazon’s Echo speaker with Alex

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd aims to become a global top-three player in 5G mobile networks by moving quickly in markets like the United States, said an executive.
Trailing its rivals after misplaced bets on wireless technology standards, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd aims to become a global top-three player in 5G mobile networks by moving quickly in markets like the United States, an executive said.
The world’s top smartphone maker ranks well behind peers such as Nokia Corp, Huawei Technologi

Obi Worldphone SF1 16GB variant is available at Rs 9,999 and the 32GB variant is priced at Rs 11,999 (Source: Paytm)
Obi Worldphone SF1, the smartphone from former Apple CEO John Sculley, is now also available on Paytm. The smartphone was launched exclusively on Gadgets360 in November 2015.
Obi Worldphone SF1 16GB variant is available for Rs 9,999 while 32GB model is priced at Rs 11,999. Paytm is offering cashback of up to Rs 1,200 on a minimum purchase of Rs 12,500 with this device. Share

Nextbit Robin was launched in India last month at Rs 19,999 and is Flipkart exclusive. It is is an entirely cloud-based Android smartphone.
Nextbit has announced a global price cut for its cloud based smartphone – Nextbit Robin – which will now be available at $299 (Rs 20,197 approx). Nextbit Robin was unveiled globally last year at $399, but was available at $299 in India and the US until now.
Nextbit, in a community post said, “We didn’t think it was fair that only fan

NASA: K2-33b, shown in this illustration, is one of the youngest exoplanets detected to date. It makes a complete orbit around its star in about five days. (Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Scientists, using NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, have discovered the youngest fully formed exoplanet ever detected – only 5 to 10 million years old -that may help better understand how planets form.
The planet, K2-33b, is slightly larger than Neptune and whips tightly around its star every five days. I

Stratolaunch Systems, a unit of Allen’s privately owned Vulcan Aerospace, last week gave a small group of reporters a first look at the nearly finished aircraft (Source: Reuters)
A space launch company bankrolled by Microsoft Corp co-founder Paul Allen intends to compete with space entrepreneurs and industry stalwarts by launching satellites into orbit from the world’s biggest airplane.
Stratolaunch Systems, a unit of Allen’s privately owned Vulcan Aerospace, last week gave a

Intex Aqua Sense 5.1 supports 2G, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPRS/ EDGE and GPS/ A-GPS.
Intex has unveiled Aqua Sense 5.1 in India at Rs 3,999. The dual-SIM smartphone is listed on the company’s website and will come in white, grey and champagne colour variants.
Intex Aqua Sense 5.1 features a 5-inch display with resolution of 480 X 854 pixels. It packs a 1.2 Ghz quad core Spreadtrum processor, coupled with 512MB RAM and 8GB internal storage. The smartphone supports expandable storage via a micr

HTC Desire 630 sports a 5-inch HD Super LCD display with a resolution of 720×1280 pixels.
HTC Desire 630 is now available for sale on the company’s online store for Rs 14,990. The smartphone was launched in India last month alongside five other smartphones, including company’s 2016 flagship – HTC 10.
HTC Desire 630 was first unveiled at MWC 2016. HTC Desire 630 is a dual SIM smartphone that supports two nano-SIM cards.
HTC Desire 630 sports a 5-inch HD Super LCD display

HP’s Elitebook Folio G1 is the latest sleek laptop to compete with Apple’s Macbook
Computers are slowly going the smartphone way with ‘thinner is better,’ being the design mantra. Two years back, you wouldn’t have cared if your laptop was bulky, but in 2016, the choices have changed.
With the Apple MacBook launch in 2015, Cupertino introduced a laptop that was only 13mm in thickness, dropping every port in favour of a single USB Type-C one. And now Windows OEMs are

Google Prompt has been introduced by the company for its two-step verification.
Google has introduced Google Prompt, a new feature to make signing-in easier on Android and iOS via the two-step verification process.
Google Prompt is aimed at enterprises where employees are using Google apps, and thus need a Google account to access their work email, work docs, etc.
In a blogpost Google wrote, “There are multiple ways your end users can approve sign-in requests via 2SV—by tapping a Sec

Google Gboard keyboard app for iOS is now available in the Indian app store.
Google Gboard, which is a third-party keyboard for iOS, is now finally available on the App Store in India as well.
Google’s Gboard harnesses the power of the search engine, and lets users perform web searches, find GIFs, gives Emoji suggestions, and a lot more from the keyboard itself. The Google Gboard will let users paste directly search results into any conversation without switching apps.
In order to set-up t

Firefox says each tab will have separate cookie management to separate personal and work space (Source: Firefox)
Mozilla is testing a new feature for its Firefox web browser that would allow users to set up separate online identities. With this feature, Mozilla aims to fix the privacy issues, especially with targeted ads.
Firefox’s new feature, called Containers, will allow users to open tabs in multiple contexts, which could mean personal, work, banking, shopping, etc. Firefox says each

Mark Zuckerberg said in Dec, 2015, that he intended to put 99 per cent of his Facebook shares into a new philanthropy project focusing on human potential and equality.
Facebook Inc shareholders approved a proposal to create a new class of non-voting shares, a move aimed at letting Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg give away his wealth without relinquishing control of the social media company he founded.
The company’s plan to issue two “Class C” shares for each Class A an

“Real-world signals are analogue, and converting them to digital signals is expensive in terms of energy,” said Robert LiKamWa, graduate student at Rice University. (Reuters) Scientists have developed an app that allows devices to have continuous vision and remember only specific things, an advance that may turn computers and smartphones into personal assistants to help people in their daily lives.
“The concept is to allow our computers to assist us by showing them what we see

Instead of scrolling to find? or ? , search for “doctor” and you will get a relevant emoji instantly. One can also search for the GIFs in Gboard. Google on Tuesday announced the  launch of its feature packed ‘Gboard’ keyboard for iPhone users in India. This app for iPhone that lets iPhone users search and send information, GIFs, emojis and more, right from their keyboard. Gboard allows users to beyond the Google search results.
Instead of scrolling to find? or

Such curbs are called out as a threat to the open internet in a report on internet governance set to be released today at an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development meeting in Cancun, Mexico. (Reuters) At least a dozen countries are considering or have enacted laws restricting online speech, a trend that is alarming policymakers and others who see the internet as a valuable medium for debate and expression.
Such curbs are called out as a threat to the open internet in a report on

RedEye is a new technology from Rice University’s Efficient Computing Group that could provide computers with continuous vision. (Reuters) Researchers from US-based Rice University have developed a technology that not only allows several devices to see what their owners see but also keep track of what they need to remember.
Unveiled at the International Symposium on Computer Architecture (ISCA 2016) conference in Seoul, South Korea, on Tuesday, RedEye is a new technology from Rice’s

Casio’s G’Mix GBA 400 watch features Bluetooth ‘SMART’ which helps you link it with your smartphone and the watch may act as a remote control of the phone’s music player. So, if you love music and like wearing fancy watches, then Casio ’Mix GBA 400 is a watch made for you and is priced at Rs 9,495. Casio’s G’Mix GBA 400 is designed to take your love and passion for music to a new paradigm.
Casio’s G’Mix GBA 400 watch fea

The rocket will blast off from the second launch pad with a total payload of 1,288 kg. (Reuters) The countdown for the launch of Cartosat-2 series and 19 other satellites on Wednesday morning is progressing smoothly, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.
The satellites’ health is being checked and the preparations for the filling of the fuel for the second rocket’s second stage/engine is under progress, the ISRO said on Tuesday.
“The countdown is progressing norm