Facebook Dating: Secret Crush feature show you your admirers

Most of us use Facebook to not only connect to friends, but also to know about what’s going on in the lives of ‘special friends’, or crushes. Last year, the company announced Facebook Dating for those users who are looking for meaningful, long-term relationships rather than hookups. However, the process of getting the engagement took some time. To make the process of showing affection to people you "like-like", Facebook has rolled out a Secret Crush feature. It will let users of Facebook Dating silently express their feelings for a friend without letting him/her know unless they reciprocate.

Secret Crush follows the same basic formula of other dating apps like Tinder, however, it gives an easier way to start conversations. Instead of swiping mindlessly, a user can choose up to 9 friends they like, and if the those have opted into Facebook Dating, they will get notified that a friend has a crush on them. If they add you as a Secret Crush, both the parties are notified and “It’s a match”. After the match, both of them can talk on Messenger.

Most important aspect of the feature is that a user will be able to keep all the interactions private, which is basically what company CEO Mark Zuckerberg stressed on-stage. "People will be able to create a dating profile that is separate from their Facebook profile — and potential matches will be recommended based on dating preferences, things in common, and mutual friends. They’ll have the option to discover others with similar interests through their Groups or Events. However, what people do within the dating feature will not be shown to their friends," the company said. 

The other important feature is the mitigation of spamming. It is a given that some people might use the service to constantly add and remove crushes until they meet their match. To check this, Facebook has introduced a limitation that will let users substitue only one person per day after they reach the limit of 9 crushes.

Further, Facebook announced that the service will come to the US by the end of 2019, and 14 other countries soon. These include Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Suriname. This will take the number to a total of 19 countries, because Facebook Dating is already available in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Canada and Thailand.

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Huawei P30 Pro, Mate 20 Pro customers can now avail VIP customer service in India

In a bid to entice and woo customers, Huawei has announced some new VIP services for customers of its P30 Pro and Mate 20 Pro smartphones in India. Those who purchase or have already bought any of the two phones can avail a free pick and drop service across India without any distance limitations. Additionally, these phones will be repaired on priority as the company promises faster turnaround repair time on the Huawei P30 Pro and the Mate 20 Pro. Buyers of the two phones will also not need to use the token system at the company’s service centers and receive priority service by center managers at exclusive Huawei service points, as an added perk of VIP customer service. 

Huawei P30 Pro and Mate 20 Pro customers will also get access to a dedicated toll-free IVR line. They can also book an appointment via the Huawei website or through the Hi Care App. “Customer delight and satisfaction forms the core of our very DNA, be it in terms of product innovation or service delivery. The VIP service is yet another step on our part to provide the best-in-class service to our esteemed consumers across India,” says Tornado Pan, Country Manager (Huawei Brand), Consumer Business Group, Huawei India. “The offer is applicable for all variants of the Huawei P30 Pro devices, irrespective of the purchase method, online or retail. Also, as long as the customers have purchased the specific device model, they are eligible to avail the VIP services within the specified warranty period.”

Every Huawei exclusive service center will provide VIP service to Huawei P30 Pro and Mate 20 Pro customers. There will also be dedicated support agents, who are said to carry out the VIP service process. The Huawei P30 Pro is priced at Rs 71,990 in India. It sports 6.47-inch OLED FHD+ display and is powered by the HiSilicon Kirin 980 SoC, which is paired with 8GB RAM and 256GB of internal storage. The smartphone is equipped with a quad-camera setup, which consists of a 40MP primary SuperSpectrum sensor with a wide-angle f1.6 aperture lens, a 20MP ultra-wide-angle camera with f/2.2 aperture, an 8MP telephoto camera with f/3.4 aperture lens, and a time-of-flight (ToF) sensor. On the front is a 32MP camera as well. You can read our review of the Huawei P30 Pro here. 

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Facebook F8 2019: All Oculus VR and AR announcements in one place

Facebook made a slew of announcements at its F8 2019 Developers Conference keynote. Multiple new developments have surfaced in the Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR and AR) offerings from Facebook. The Oculus Quest and the Oculus Rift S VR headsets are now up for pre-orders in the US and will ship from May 21. Additionally, the company announced its new Oculus for Business enterprise solution and new methods of bringing immersive web content into VR. In the AR space, Facebook announced Windows support for the Spark AR Studio software.

Oculus Quest and Rift S announcements

Facebook will finally start shipping its Oculus Quest and Rift S VR headsets. They are currently up for pre-orders in the US and are priced starting at $399 (Rs 27,903 approx). The Oculus Quest is company’s first standalone VR headset that is completely devoid of wires and doesn’t need to be connected to a computer, while the Rift S is the successor to the company’s 2016 Oculus Rift VR headset. Oculus Quest doesn’t employ external environment tracking via cameras and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC. The new Rift S features upgraded tracking cameras with more accurate inside-out tracking and gets a higher resolution display. 

Both the new VR headsets make use of Oculus Insight, Facebook’s computer vision technology, which enables inside-out tracking with the help of sensors built into the headset. “By mapping the world around you and your position in it, Oculus Insight lets you navigate virtual and physical spaces—all in real time,” says Facebook. There is also a passthrough mode in Oculus Insight for both the VR headsets that is said to help users be safe in VR by showing users a glimpse of their current environment while wearing the headset. 

The Oculus Quest is being launched with support for about 50 titles. Highlights include games like Beat Saber, Moss, first person indie shooter Superhot, and Tilt Brush, along with the new games Dance Central and Vader Immortal.

Spark AR Studio Updates

Facebook’s own AR software suite called Spark AR Studio has received some new updates. The AR platform will finally be available on Windows and Mac. Additionally, a new feature called Blocks are being introduced, which will enable developers to break down their projects in small resizable chunks. These Blocks are said to help developers be more organised and have a head start when working on a new project. 

Spark AR Studio features a Patch Editor that enables developers to add complex interactions in their AR effects. Fcaebook says that it has completely revamped the Patch Editor with a new UI and “a foundation that will allow us to make it even more powerful with features such as Blocks and control over audio effects.” One of the major announcements was opening of Spark AR beta for Instagram, which was in closed beta since late 2018. “Since last year's F8, over one billion people have used AR experiences powered by Spark AR. Hundreds of millions of people use these experiences monthly across Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and Portal.“

Additional VR announcements 

Facebook announced a refreshed new tab in the Oculus Browser, which is said to make it easier to discover VR content. Linking Oculus Go or Gear VR headset to Facebook will render a new look to the new tab by highlighting 360 photos and videos, along with 3D photos from the user’s friends and the Pages they follow. Additionally, the revamped Facebook app will also feature a “Save to VR” option so that users can save such content and find them in VR later. The company is now inviting developers to submit their WebXR (API to create AR and VR experiences) projects. Projects that are selected will be showcased in the Oculus Browser. 

At its F8 2019 event, Facebook also announced a redesigned Facebook 5, new features for Instagram, integration of Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp, and more. Read more about the developments here.

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Google Pixel 3a, Pixel 3a XL Notify Me page goes live on Flipkart teasing May 8 availability

All eyes are on Google as its annual developer conference, Google I/O 2019, nears opening. The Mountain View-based technology giant will be making announcements about its new Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL smartphones, Android Q, Stadia and a lot more at the event. A week before the new, more affordable Pixel phones are unveiled, Google has started teasing their launch in India through Flipkart.

The e-commerce platform will be hosting the sale of the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL and has put up a ‘Notify Me’ page on its mobile app for those who are interested in buying the devices after their announcement at Google I/O 2019. The Flipkart page teases, "Something Big is coming to the Pixel universe. Know more on May 8." It's possible that Flipkart will open pre-orders for Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL starting May 8. 

While I/O starts on May 7, In India, it will be May 8 by the time the new Pixel phones are officially revealed. The keynote address starts at 10AM PDT or 10:30PM IST on May 7. The phones are expected to be unveiled during this keynote.

Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a Specs

Both the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL recently received Bluetooth certification, confirming the names of the smartphones. Renders of both devices have also leaked in the past and unfortunately, just like Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, Google has had a difficult time keeping details about the phones under wraps. However, specs leaked so far are subject to change and the leaks have not been very reliable.

The Google Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL are expected to come equipped with a 5.6-inch and 6.3-inch OLED displays, respectively. Under the hood, they are expected to be powered by the Snapdragon 670 platform coupled with 4GB RAM. The Pixel 3a could be backed by a 3000mAh battery. Both the phones are expected to be announced running on Android 9 Pie and would be the first to receive the Android Q update when it gets rolled out eventually. Google could also bring back the headphone jack, which it killed off with the Google Pixel 3 smartphones. Rumours also suggest that the phones will feature Google’s Pixel Visual Core chip for image processing.

Canadian prices of the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL were leaked online recently. As per the report, the Google Pixel 3a might cost CAD $649 (Rs 34,000 approx), while the bigger Pixel 3a XL could be priced at CAD $799 (Rs 41,500 approx).

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OnePlus 7 Pro camera samples shows ultra-wide and zoom lenses in action, Bullets Wireless 2, Warp 30 car charger retail packaging leaks

It’s peak hype season for OnePlus as the company gears up to launch not one but two flagship phones in May — The OnePlus 7 Pro and the regular OnePlus 7. While we still await what exactly separates the two, OnePlus is being evidently clear that the OnePlus 7 Pro will come with a triple-camera setup. After teasing the rear camera stack by releasing the phone’s schematics via a newspaper ad, OnePlus posted three camera samples seemingly of the same scene, taken using three different lenses.

 

Get closer to the action! Shot on OnePlus 7 Pro.#OnePlus7Series Launching May 14. https://t.co/Q0eAKsxnw4 pic.twitter.com/53KWiM6olE

— OnePlus (@oneplus) April 30, 2019

 

The three samples posted on Twitter have their EXIF data stripped, so we’re not sure of the camera configuration used to take the photos. But it’s clear from what can be seen that one photo is taken is with an ultra wide-angle lens, one with a regular wide-angle lens and another with a telephoto lens. OnePlus has already confirmed the OnePlus 7 Pro will come with 3X zoom. Also, the samples shared have the watermark “Shot on OnePlus Powered by Triple Camera”, further confirming the presence of three cameras on the back.

Samples shared on social media aren’t ideal for nitpicking as the compression algorithms usually eats away the details. It’ll require full-res samples and a colour-calibrated monitors to determine the photo quality of the upcoming flagship. However, this certainly looks impressive. We can only hope that the regular OnePlus 7’s camera won’t be drastically different.

In other news, OnePlus 7 Pro’s official retail packaging has leaked giving a glimpse into some of the accessories OnePlus is planning to announce alongside the smartphones. They include the Bullets Wireless 2 and a Warp Charge 30 in-car charger, both of which can be seen included in the packaging.

The company introduced the first Bullets Wireless exactly a year back at the launch of the OnePlus 6, so it’s highly likely that OnePlus will follow it up with a successor. So far, nothing other than the retail box of the headset have come out. More interestingly, the Warp 30 car charger will be highly welcome by the device owners and with 30W fast charging, it could very well become the fastest car charger available.

The packaging was leaked via a tweet from Linus Tech Tips which was later deleted. However, fans were quick to share it further. Tipset Ishan Agarwal also tweeted the outer packaging of the devices. However, except for the “Go Beyond Speed” strapline, nothing else can be seen.

We’re likely to get more details about the upcoming flagship devices from OnePlus as the launch date inches closer. The OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus 7 Pro will be announced on May 14 in a simultaneous launch event in Bengaluru, New York and London.

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AMD Radeon 'Navi' Gaming GPUs, Epyc 'Rome' Server CPUs to Launch in Q3 2019

AMD will begin rolling out its next-gen 'Navi' consumer GPUs in Q3 2019 to compete with Nvidia's high-end GeForce RTX 20-series and mid-range GeForce GTX 16-series.

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Facebook F8: CEO Mark Zuckerberg stresses on private social platform, announces redesign across apps and services

Facebook seems to have learnt from its mistakes. After a stressful year, which was plagued with several controversies, the social media giant looks to work upon the privacy and safety of the people that it serves. At the annual F8 conference, company CEO Mark Zuckerberg reiterated his previous stance stressing on privacy-focussed social platform. The event saw the announcement of several features that will let users “interact privately.”

“I believe the future is private. I know that we don't exactly have the strongest reputation on privacy right now, to put it lightly. At the end of the day, this isn't just about building some new products. It's a major shift in how we run this company,” Zuckerberg said as he set the tone for new new announcements regarding Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. The conference saw updates in areas that have already been talked about previously, like privacy, integration of three platforms into one, among others.

“For the last 15 years, we've built Facebook and Instagram into digital equivalents of the town square, where you can interact with lots of people at once. Now we're focused on building the digital equivalent of the living room, where you can interact in all the ways you'd want privately -- from messaging and stories to secure payments and more,” Zuckerberg said. To bring this “vision to life,” the company announced several design and feature changes, like making end-to-end encryption the default into its platforms.

Facebook and Messenger

Zuckerberg said that the company is committed to protect private conversations “for billions of people around the world,” but by introducing tools to to do, the platform may also provide a haven for criminals and those who want to spread hate. “A few years ago, we probably would have just rolled this out and then tried to adjust and address issues as they came up. Now we're going out and consulting with experts and trying to make sure that we get this balance right,” he said. Zuckerberg also announced that both the app and the desktop version would receive a major redesign called FB5, with Groups and Events at the centre of it all. The mobile redesign will have an interactive logo that ditches the old blue colour scheme.

WhatsApp and Instagram

The first major overhaul that WhatsApp may get is the default end-to-end encryption into the platform. Facebook also announced WhatsApp support on its video-calling device Portal, and said the calls on the platform would also be encrypted. Further, Facebook is also testing a payment product on WhatsApp in India, which could expand to other countries this year. Meanwhile, on Instagram, Facebook has launched a shopping channel that will give users a way to shop from the creators and influencers from the app itself. There is a new camera mode and a donation feature.

Most importantly, Facebook is going to make its messaging services interoperable, which means that Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp will be interconnected. According to Asha Sharma, Messenger's Head of Consumer Product, in the future, users will soon be able to send messages across the three different messaging platforms, and all the messages will be end-to-end encrypted. The company hasn’t given a specific timeline for the roll-out of this integration, but Zuckerberg said it could take quite some time.

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