YouTube Shorts will be a rival to TikTok: Report

Ever since TikTok rose to stardom, video viewership has somewhat migrated over to the short-video format from YouTube, and now according to a report by The Information, YouTube is working on its own TikTok rival.

Reportedly called ‘Shorts’, it will live inside the YouTube and will be a hub of short videos posted by users. The company hopes it will be able to entice users to make videos on its platform through its vast collection of licensed music as backing tracks for these videos.

Short-format videos took off courtesy of TikTok which launched in China in 2016 and over time has taken over the world. In India especially, it’s one of the most downloaded apps.

But TikTok is not free of controversies, either. An endless feed of short videos has been blamed for internet addiction among many Indians. The app was also banned for apparently being a threat to national security. YouTube here may have a chance of toppling it, even though the popular video-streaming app is not void of controversy either.

The report claims YouTube is planning to launch the feature by the end of 2020, although looking at the present situation where people are mostly stuck indoors, this could be the best time for YouTube to launch the short video format.

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JK Rowling launches Harry Potter at Home hub to help cast a spell on boredom

For all you Harry Potter fans at home, we’ve got some good news for you. J.K Rowling has just launched ‘Harry Potter at Home’ which is a digital hub for all things Harry Potter. According to a report from Variety, the hub includes various puzzles and videos which have been contributed by publishers like Bloomsbury and Scholastic. You also get a free audiobook of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone that you can listen to on Audible without a subscription. The tagline for the hub is ‘We’re casting a Banishing Charm on boredom’. If you have a passing interest or are a fan of Harry Potter, you should have a great time. 

Rowling tweeted out the announcement on Wednesday and said,” Parents, teachers and carers working to keep children amused and interested while we’re on lockdown might need a bit of magic, so I’m delighted to launch http://harrypotterathome.com.” A post on the hub also says, ”For over twenty years now, Hogwarts has been an escape for all -- for readers and fans, young and old. During the strange times we now find ourselves in, we want to welcome you back to Hogwarts, where you will find a friendly retreat for you, your family and those you are caring for.”

Parents, teachers and carers working to keep children amused and interested while we’re on lockdown might need a bit of magic, so I’m delighted to launch https://t.co/cPg0dZpexB pic.twitter.com/i0ZjTplVoU

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 1, 2020

With the Coronavirus outbreak bringing life around the world to a halt, this is an excellent step to keep people occupied during this trying time Rowling has also relaxed copyright permissions for Harry Potter as she allowed teachers to post videos of them reading the books for all their students online. 

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Sony launches WF-XB700 true wireless earbuds and WH-CH710N noise cancelling headphones: Price, features and more

Sony has announced two new headphones - one is a pair of truly wireless earbuds and the other, a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. Kicking things off with the truly wireless earbuds - the Sony WF-XB700 have an in-ear design and are a part of Sony’s Extra Bass series of audio products. They are sweat-resistant designs with an IPX4 rating. They, however, do not have a fin to help hold them securely in one's ears. How well they fit is something we will know when we get our hands on it. 

The Sony WF-XB700 does not support noise cancellation. They also do not have gesture support. Instead, they come with physical controls. They also have voice assistant support. Speaking of the battery life, the earbuds come with 9 hours of battery life and can be charged for another 9 hours via the charging case, bringing the total battery life up to 18 hours. Sony claims that charging the earbuds for 10 minutes can give up to 60 min of playback. 

The Sony WF-XB700 has a price tag of $130 (Rs 10,000 approx directly converted) and will be available in black or blue colour options. There is no information on when the headset will come to India.

Moving over to the headphones, the Sony WH-CH710N claims to feature improved noise cancellation when compared to its predecessor, the WH-CH700N. The improved noise cancellation comes with the help of dual microphones. The headset claims to have a battery life of 35 hours. The Sony WH-CH710N has a price tag of $200 (Rs 15,300 approx directly converted) and comes in black, white or blue colour options. The headset features 30mm drivers and also supports voice assistants. There is no information on when the two headsets will come to India.    In other headphone news, Sennheiser recently launched two headphones in India - the HD450BT and the HD350BT. The HD350BT is priced at Rs 7,490 while the HD450BT is priced at Rs 14,990. Both the headphones have the same specifications and design with the difference being that the HD450BT has active noise cancellation. You can read more about them here.

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Apple acquires weather app Dark Sky, removes Android and WearOS version

Dark Sky, one of the most popular weather apps on iOS and Android has been acquired by Apple. The app’s website now states that “Dark Sky by Apple,” and with this, marks the beginning of a number of changes.

For those who are iOS users, nothing changes. However, Android users of the app are going to be sorely disappointed. There is no longer a link to the Android version of the app and it is no longer listed in the app store either. The WearOS version of the app has been removed as well. For those Android users who already have the app, or find ways to get it through the APK, the app will cease to function on July 1, 2020. This, is again, only for the Android version of the app. For those who were embedding Dark Sky data on their own websites, that support will also end on July 1, 2020. For those who were signed up for Dark Sky’s APIs, you will be able to continue using them through to the end of 2021. Dark Sky is, however, no longer accepting any more registrations for the use of their APIs.

Apple’s weather app has not been the most feature or information-rich but has always been functional. With the acquisition, the question really becomes if Apple’s weather app is going to be spiritually be replaced by the Dark Sky app. It is also possible that Apple would cherry-pick aspects of Dark Sky to integrate back into its Weather app. Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference is scheduled to take place in June, although it will be in an all-new format due to the recent Coronavirus outbreak. It is possible that Apple may showcase the new features resulting from this acquisition during its reveal of iOS 14. The new version of Apple's mobile operating system is expected to bring a number of very lucrative features, such as being able to define default apps to non-Apple apps, along with being compatible with all devices that currently support iOS13.

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Mobile internet usage jumps 10 percent since lockdown

Over the last few weeks, as the Coronavirus puts parts of the world under lockdown, Europe was quickly starting to notice a major strain on its internet infrastructure. Then, India went into a 3-week lockdown and given that everyone is now home, it was assumed that we too would start taxing the ISPs with our incessant binge-watching. Turns out, that just isn’t the case, and that bandwidth consumption has only jumped up a mere 10 percent ever since the country went into lockdown.

Complete lockdown of the country has meant that the entire population is now indoors, sparking off speculation that this would result in a massive spike in internet usage, mostly via due to streaming. Many ignored some obvious facts, facts being that even though most of us are locked indoors, we’re still all working. Additionally, we forgot about all the bandwidth that was now NOT being used up in office premises. For the last few days, there has been a lot of talk about streaming services being asked to reduce the stream quality, with YouTube actually hard-limiting their app to 480p for mobile devices.

According to Economic Times, “Data consumption on mobile networks has increased by about 10-12% and in fact, in places like Delhi, it has inched by 3% while in some areas of the capital, it has actually fallen.” ET attributes the quote to a senior government official who had requested to remain anonymous. In conjunction with this, Rajan S Mathews, DG, COAI said that “Over the past few days, the industry, in concert with actions coordinated with the DoT, has seen a flattening of traffic demand on member’s networks. Some of these actions relate to streaming services reducing their content from HD to SD, local municipalities working with Operators to bring sealed towers back on line, some redistribution of traffic on the network, among other things. As a result, Operators believe there is no present need to request for any additional spectrum. Based on the present condition of Member networks, we believe there is no such present need and Operators remain confident the steps they have taken presently can maintain the relatability and quality of their networks and services.”

Essentially, the steps taken by the DoT, COAI and steaming services put together has prevented the networks from coming under strain, and hence, there is no need for any extra spectrum to be allotted.

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Apple hikes iPhone prices due to increase in GST rates, iPhone 11 starting now at Rs 68,300

Apple is now the latest smartphone maker to hike prices in India. Apple has raised the price of iPhones on account of the increased GST rate on mobile phones which has also led to Xiaomi, Realme and Oppo to raise prices. The revised prices are listed on Apple India website and will be applicable from April 1, 2020.

After the hike, the iPhone 11 Pro Max 64GB will start from Rs 1,17,100 up from Rs 1,11,200. Similarly, the iPhone 11 Pro 64GB will be priced at Rs 1,06,000, up from Rs 1,01,200. The iPhone 11 64GB also became more expensive at Rs 68,300, up from Rs 64,900.

Older iPhones including the iPhone XR saw price hiked to Rs 52,500, up from Rs 49,900. Similarly, the iPhone 7 32GB now starts from Rs 31,500, up from Rs 29,900.

The revised prices in on account of the hike in GST rates for mobile phones from 12 per cent to 18 per cent. This also happens to be the second time Apple had to raise prices of the latest iPhones this year. The previous one was due to an increase in basic customs duty that was announced in the union budget 2020, along with the withdrawal of an earlier exemption from customs duty under the Social Welfare Surcharge.

 

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Spotify and Warner Music Group renew partnership Indian users can now listen to Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Bruno Mars and Cardi B

Spotify, the music streaming company has renewed its partnership with Warner Music Group, opening up a much wider catalogue of music artists for Indian consumers on the service. The move comes after Spotify sealed the deal with Warner Chappell Music earlier this year. Warner Chappell Music is a division of Warner Music Group and only had a subset of the overall catalogue that Warner has. With this new partnership, Indian users of the service can enjoy music from Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Cardi B, Madonna, Led Zeppelin, Katy Perry and Bruno Mars. No, this is not an April Fool’s joke, we confirmed this with Spotify.

In a joint statement, Spotify and Warner Music Group had this to say, “Spotify and Warner Music Group are pleased to announce a renewed global licensing partnership. This expanded deal covers countries where Spotify is available today, as well as additional markets. The two companies look forward to collaborating on impactful global initiatives for Warner artists and songwriters, and working together to grow the music industry over the long term.”

Spotify competes with the likes of JioSaavn, Gaana, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Hungama and the recently launched Resso, in India. As per their Q4 2019 earnings, Spotify has 271 million active users worldwide of which 124 million were paid subscribers.

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