Highlights: Facebook has introduced updates to two tools to give users more power to control their News Feed. The “Why Am I Seeing This Post?” will give users an answer to the post displayed on Feed. The “Why am I seeing this ad?” will give additional details about the ads that are being displayed. Facebook has announced that it is bringing improvements to two of its tools related to the News Feed: “Why Am I Seeing This Post?” and “Why am I seeing this ad?.” The company says that the move will give users the ability to control the experience on the platform by further personalising what to see on their News Feed. The social media giant says that both of these updates are part of its ongoing investment in giving people more context and control on the platform. “News Feed is always personalized to you — and starting today you’ll have even more information and control over your experience. We’re introducing ‘Why am I seeing this post?’ to help you better understand and more easily control what you see from friends, Pages and Groups in your News Feed. This is the first time that we’ve built information on how ranking works directly into the app,” Product Manager Ramya Sethuraman said in a blogpost. With this update, users will be able to tap on posts and ads in News Feed, get context on why they’re appearing, and take action to further personalise what they see. “Why am I seeing this post?” can be found in the drop down menu (the three dots) on the top right corner of a post. Once you tap the option, you will be redirected to a page that will explain how your past interactions impact the ranking of posts in your News Feed. The possible reasons for it are: the post is from a friend, a Group you joined, or a Page you followed. Facebook also explains that the information displayed in a person’s News Feed generally has the biggest influence over the order of posts, “including: (a) how often you interact with posts from people, Pages or Groups; (b) how often you interact with a specific type of post, for example, videos, photos or links; and (c) the popularity of the posts shared by the people, Pages and Groups you follow." Facebook has also provided shortcuts to controls, such as See First, Unfollow, News Feed Preferences and Privacy Shortcuts, to help users personalise their News Feed. “During our research on ‘Why am I seeing this post?’, people told us that transparency into News Feed algorithms wasn’t enough without corresponding controls. People wanted to be able to take action, so we’ve made it easy to manage what you see in News Feed right from this feature,” Sethuraman added. When it comes to ads, the tool will include additional details about the ads that are being displayed on users' News Feeds as well as information on how an advertiser’s list matches their Facebook profiles. The tool was launched in 2014 and factors like basic demographic details, interests and website visits contributed to the ads in the users’ News Feed. “Businesses can reach their customers by uploading information they already have, such as emails or phone numbers. We then try to match the ad to the most relevant audience without revealing any identifiable information back to the business. ‘Why am I seeing this ad?’ will now provide details such as when the advertiser uploaded the information or if the advertiser worked with another marketing partner to run the ad,” Sethuraman noted. In February, Facebook introduced a new background location control to Android users giving users more choice over how the social media giant collects and stores their location information -- something which already works on the iOS app. At the time of rolling this out, the company had claimed that it neither made any changes to the choices that have been previously made nor was collecting any new information as a result of this update. Related Read: Facebook lobbied in India, US, UK and multiple other countries against data privacy laws: Report
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Highlights: Microsoft Surface Book 2 updated with latest Intel i5 processor. The 13.5-inch variant of the laptop now comes with the Intel Core i5-8350U processor. The laptop’s new variant is priced at $1,499 (Rs 1.03 lakh approx). Microsoft has refreshed the base variant of its Surface Book 2. The laptop will now be available with Intel’s latest 8th Gen quad-core i5 processor, alongside the standard 7th Gen Core i5 and the 8th Gen Core i7 processors. With the new addition, the company has also discounted the 7th Gen Core i5 variant, which is now listed at $1,299 (Rs 90,000 approx). The Surface Book 2 with the Core i5-8350U processor is priced at $1,499 (Rs 1.03 lakh approx) and is listed only with the 13.5-inch display model. The new variant of the laptop will be available only with 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage, while the 16GB RAM model of the 13.5-inch Surface Book 2 is only available with the 8th Gen Intel Core i7 processor. The new processor on the Surface Book 2 features quad-cores and is also clocked slightly higher for turbo frequency, at 3.60GHz. Additionally, the Core i5-8350U features 6MB of smart cache memory, while the Core i5-7300U comes with 3MB of smart cache. Other specs of the device remain the same. It sports a 13.5-inch Pixelsense display, with 3:2 aspect ratio and a 3000 x 2000p resolution. The laptop’s screen has 10-point multi-touch support and the company claims it can deliver up to 17 hours of battery life on a single full charge. The laptop comes with two USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) Type-A ports, and one USB Type-C port. It also sports a UHS-II SDXC card reader and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Microsoft has not updated its India website and it remains to be known whether the new Surface Book 2 variant will be made available in India. However, the 13.5-inch 7th Gen Intel Core i5-7300U, 13.5-inch 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8650U and the 15-inch 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8650 processor are listed on the company's India website. Related Reads: Microsoft launches Surface Book 2 and Surface Laptop in India: Price, configurations, availability, specs and more Microsoft Surface Book 2 First Impressions: There isn't another like this
Highlights: Google Camera update brings Dark Mode in the app. With the version 6.2, the app will also have new UI experiences. The update is being rolled out to all Pixel users in a phased manner. Google has been doing a lot with its camera and in a bid to enhance the whole camera experience, the search giant has started to roll out an update to the camera app that brings a Dark Mode as well as some enhancements to it. The update technically makes switching between modes more fluent in the app. Version 6.2 of the Google Camera app is being rolled out to all Pixel handsets. We are still to get an update, which suggests that it is a phased release. Dark Mode The update will bring a Dark Mode to the camera app, but the question is why? There are times when you need to go into ‘Settings’ to tinker with them. Even if you use the dark mode option(s) that are currently offered in Android 9, the ‘Settings’ menu has a bright white background, which is generally a problem when you are used to the dark UI. Reportedly, to remove that uneasiness, Google is including this feature in the app. Interestingly, the mode will only be activated in the Battery Saver mode. It is assumed that users could also get the ability to keep the Dark Mode ‘on’ at all times. Previous reports have suggested that Android Q may introduce a system-wide Dark Mode. Moreover, the Dark Mode seems to working in perfect sync with Android Q beta, but not with the stable Android 9 Pie. Changes in Modes Previous Google Camera updates brought a simpler UI to the app but there have been some visual jerks when switching between the camera, video, portrait, and panorama modes. For example, if you choose between camera and video, there is a black transition screen with the icon of the selected setting in the middle. With the update, this black display will not be seen and whatever the camera is pointing to will be shown on the display. There is also a zoom in and out effect during the transition from one mode to another. The previous update (Version 6.1) brought Selfie Flash when using the front-facing camera. Version 6.2 update brings a change to this as well. Instead of the black screen, users will now be able to see a flash icon. So if you have the selfie ‘flash on’, you will be able to notice that with the icon on the display and don’t have to reach out on the top right to toggle between the flash settings. Related Read: Android Q Beta 1 released for all Pixel smartphones: An indepth look at new features
Highlights: Amazon will sell Huawei P30 series of smartphones in India. The Notify Me button for the lineup is live on the online retailer’s website. There is currently no information on what price tag the phones will carry in India. Huawei recently announced its latest P30 series of smartphones - the Huawei P30 and P30 Pro. The company’s new lineup is now confirmed to launch in India as the handsets are being teased on Amazon.in, with the ‘Notify Me’ option live for interested customers. However, only teasers for the phone are up on the online retailer’s website and there’s no mention of the price, colour models or variants it will be made available in. The Huawei P30 was announced in one version with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. However, the P30 Pro comes in three variants: 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, 8GB RAM and 256GB storage and 8GB RAM and 512GB storage. Huawei P30 and P30 Pro specs Both the Huawei phones are powered by a 7nm Kirin 980 processor, which features Dual-NPU. Thermal management on the device includes a graphene film cooling system. In terms of display, both the phones feature a 19.5:9 aspect ratio with a waterdrop notch display design. The Huawei P30 is equipped with a 6.1-inch Full HD+ OLED panel (DCI-P3 HDR display) that offers a 2340x1080p resolution and the Huawei P30 Pro sports a 6.47-inch Full HD+ Curved OLED display (DCI-P3 HDR) with a 2340x1080 pixels resolution. The two phones come with an optical in-display fingerprint sensor, which the company claims is 30 percent faster than its predecessor. Coming to the optics, the Huawei P30 sports a Leica Triple camera system that includes a 40MP main camera with SuperSpectrum Sensor and f1.8 aperture lens. Then, there’s a 16MP ultra-wide angle camera with f2.2 aperture and an 8MP telephoto camera with f2.4 aperture. On the front is a 32MP sensor with AI HDR+ support. On the other hand, The Huawei P30 Pro features a Leica Quad camera setup. It sports a 40MP main sensor with f1.6 aperture lens, a 20MP ultra-wide angle camera with f2.2 aperture, an 8MP telephoto camera with 5X Telephoto lens and f3.4 aperture, and finally, a Time-of-Flight (TOF) sensor. On the front, it also features a 32MP camera with AI HDR+. Both the phones run on EMUI 9.1, which is layered upon Android 9 Pie. The P30 Pro is backed by a 4200mAh battery that supports reverse wireless charging. Its battery also supports 40W fast charging and 15W wireless charging. The P30, on the other hand, gets a smaller 3650mAh battery with 25W fast charging support, but no wireless charging support. The Pro variant of the phone has an IP68 rating, while the P30 comes with an IP53 rating. Huawei P30 and P30 Pro Price The Huawei P30 is priced at 799 euros (Rs 62,200 approx), while the Pro variant starts at 999 euros (Rs 78,000 approx) for the 128GB storage variant. The 256GB and 512GB storage variants of the phone are priced at 1099 euros (Rs 85,600 approx) and 1249 euros (Rs 97,000 approx). They are expected to be priced slightly lower in India, than what they cost in Europe. Related Reads: Huawei P30 Pro with Leica Quad camera system, P30 with three cameras launched Huawei P30 Pro first impressions: more zoom than ever before
Highlights: Xiaomi India is teasing a smart cooking device. This could be an April Fools' Day prank. It could also be the Xiaomi Smart Rice Cooker. Xiaomi is known for selling a lot of smart home products in its home country China. The company’s product portfolio includes washing machines, ACs, Water Purifiers, Rice Cookers and many other smart home-centric devices. Since all of these are still not available in India and the company has said in the past that it is looking to expand its product portfolio in the country, one can expect some popular Xiaomi home products to trickle down to Indian shores in the coming months. Xiaomi India is now teasing a Smart Cooking device on its Twitter handle. In its Twitter post, the company write - “Burgers, pizzas, pasta, biryani! Why does tasty food always end up being unhealthy & calorie heavy? Things are about to change. Can you guess what's coming?” If we have to venture a guess looking at the teaser, we would say that Xiaomi could be planning to launch its Smart Rice Cooker in India, since one of the devices shown in the company’s video teaser looks like it. However, it is April 1 and this could be Xiaomi’s April Fools’ Day prank. If it is a prank indeed, it’s not a very smart one because the company is teasing a product that actually exists. If Xiaomi is in fact launching the Smart Rice Cooker in India, we’re not sure if the country is a great market for such a product. While India is a major rice-eating nation, it’s difficult to imagine Indians buying a smart, smartphone-controlled device to cook it. However, this might not stop the company from releasing such a product in the market. Nevertheless, multiple Mi followers have responded to Xiaomi's teaser on Twitter. While some have tried to guess the product, some believe it to be a prank. Xiaomi India has also responded to many tweets either with a funny GIF or emoji. We bet this is a prank. What do you think? April Fools’ Day pranks have been going around in the tech community since last Friday. OnePlus is taking followers on a ride on its electric Warp Car on the occassion of April Fools’ Day. You can read all about it here. Burgers, pizzas, pasta, biryani! Why does tasty food always end up being unhealthy & calorie heavy? Things are about to change. Can you guess what's coming?
