Google Duo takes on WhatsApp, adds cool new features

Google Duo is recording over 10 million sign-ups every week owing to the Coronavirus pandemic that has forced people to work from home and that has led to a surge in video conferencing apps and services. With Zoom in the spotlight for security lapses, Google says that Duo is seeing 10x growth in call minutes in many countries and is releasing a bunch of new features to make the app more secure and accessible.

In a blog post, Google announced it’s adding new features to its popular video calling app. Google Duo is receiving an update that brings in a new video codec support, screenshot button and more. The company also revealed that users of it’s Duo video calling app are exchanging 180 percent more messages than ever, recording an 800 percent increase in regions strictly following social distancing.

Google Duo new features

Google is bringing in a new video codec support that aims to improve the video call quality even if you’re using a low bandwidth connection. Duo will soon be updated to support AV1 video codec that will ensure 30kbps video stream while on a call. This solution is already in use by Netflix and YouTube and offers up to 30% improvement for low bandwidth connections.

The company also reaffirmed its security measures saying, “Duo is end to end encrypted, and we’re constantly making optimizations to ensure your video calling experience is clear and uninterrupted.” Google Duo also leverages AI to improve audio quality with WaveNetEQ.

The app is also getting a new button that lets users take a photo of the screen and automatically arranges it side by side for you to save it. This feature is being rolled out on smartphones, tablets and Chromebooks and soon group calls will also support this functionality.

Google recently increased its participant limit on video calls to 12 users and now the company has revealed its plans to further increase the limit. In comparison, Facebook Messenger supports up to 50 people on a video call.

The app will automatically save your video and voice messages that previously expired after 24 hours. Google Duo is available on Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, ChromeOS and more.

 

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Motorola Edge, Edge+ to launch tonight: How to watch live stream and what to expect

Motorola is gearing up for an online event to launch its new flagship smartphone on Wednesday, April 22. Motorola sent out invites to an online-only event that is scheduled at 12PM ET (9:30 PM IST) where the Lenovo-owned phone maker is expected to unveil the Motorola Edge and Motorola Edge Plus, which have been doing the rumour rounds for quite some time now. The launch comes hot on the heels of Motorola launching two budget smartphones - The Moto G Stylus and Moto G Power in the US.

When is the Motorola Edge online event?

The Motorola Edge and Motorola Edge+ are expected to launch via an online-only event scheduled for 12PM ET which means in India, you can watch the stream from 9:30 PM IST onward.

Where can I watch the Motorola Edge launch event?

Motorola will be streaming the event on its social channels across YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. There’s also a link to the Motorola blog which will also host the live stream. You can get a calendar notification for the event by clicking here.

Motorola Edge, Motorola Edge+ rumoured specs, features and price

Motorola was supposed to launch its flagship smartphone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year. The company had sent out invites to publications heading to Spain to attend the conference but the COVID-19 outbreak led MWC to be scrapped. Since then, there has been a flood of leaks including hands-on photos and videos that gave us a good idea about what the flagships may offer.

The latest report states the Motorola Edge Plus will feature the Snapdragon 865 (that ticks off 5G support), a 5,000mAh battery with up to 12GB RAM. You can expect sharply curved edges going by the teaser video released by Motorola. The display itself is expected to be quite big at 6.7-inches. On the back, the Edge Plus is rumoured to pack a 108MP main camera along with wide-angle and telephoto lenses in tow.

Leakster Evan Blass also came out with leaked renders of the flagship smartphone that showed a punch-hole selfie camera and a headphone jack. The base variant named Motorola Edge is expected to be powered by the Snapdragon 765, the mid-range 5G SoC Qualcomm launched last year and could be offered in a 6GB RAM variant.

While all this is certainly exciting, it remains to be seen when these smartphones will be coming to India. After the Moto Z Force, the company stopped launching flagships in India. The Moto Razr that costs above a lakh can be an outlier.

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Installing Fortnite on Android just got a lot easier

After being available on Android for nearly 18 months, Epic Games has finally relented and allowed Fortnite to be available via the Google Play Store. To recall, the game was previously not available on the Play Store and Android users had to head over to the company website and download the APK file from there. 

At the time, Epic Games had said that this decision was made because Google had a 30% store tax and the remaining 70% was not enough to cover the cost of developing, operating, and supporting their games. However, it should be noted that the game was available on Apple’s App Store. 

However, while the game is available on the Play Store, Epic Games is still taking pot-shots at Google. In a statement to Polygon, the company said, “Google puts software downloadable outside of Google Play at a disadvantage, through technical and business measures such as scary, repetitive security pop-ups for downloaded and updated software, restrictive manufacturer and carrier agreements and dealings, Google public relations characterizing third-party software sources as malware, and new efforts such as Google Play Protect to outright block software obtained outside the Google Play store.” 

It also adds, “We hope that Google will revise its policies and business dealings in the near future, so that all developers are free to reach and engage in commerce with customers on Android and in the Play Store through open services, including payment services, that can compete on a level playing field.”

Fortnite, along with Minecraft, is one of the few games that offer cross-platform support across smartphones, PCs and consoles. While this may sound awesome, it should be noted that a touch screen is probably not the best way to go up against players who might be using a keyboard and mouse. As such, you might be better off investing in a controller to be more competitive.

 

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Fortnite Finally Available via Google Play Store for Android Users

Fortnite has finally made its way to the Google Play Store after 18 months. Epic Games, the developers behind the game, released a statement detailing why they finally decided to do so.

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Facebook invests 57 Billion in Reliance Jio Platforms, India one step closer to a super app

Social media giant Facebook has invested Rs 43,574 crores ($5.7 Billion) in Reliance Jio Platforms for a 9.99% equity stake, making it the largest investment in the Indian technology sector. Reliance Jio Platforms is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd that brings together Jio’s telecom prowess, its bouquet of app services and the company’s Jio Fiber FTTH service under one roof. This particular entity makes up Jio Platforms which is expected to be valued at Rs 4.62 lakh crore (pre-money enterprise value).

With this investment by Facebook into Jio Platforms, India inches one step closer in making its own WeChat-like super app by leveraging Facebook’s popular instant messaging platform, WhatsApp. As has been reported previously, Reliance and Facebook are in talks to create a multi-purpose app built off the back of WhatsApp that caters to over 400 million users and considers India as it’s the biggest market worldwide.

To this effect, Reliance Retail, Jio Platforms and WhatsApp are collaborating to build the company’s new commercial arm, JioMart. JioMart platform will use WhatsApp as a bridge to support small and medium businesses in India. While the app is still in development, Reliance has revealed that it’s partnering with “millions” of small businesses and Kirana store owners to help them reach a wider populace by providing them with products and services from JioMart. The company also says that the service will be used for a seamless transaction using WhatsApp.

“For instance, by bringing together JioMart, Jio’s small business initiative, with the power of WhatsApp, we can enable people to connect with businesses, shop and ultimately purchase products in a seamless mobile experience,” said David Fischer, Chief Revenue Officer, and Ajit Mohan, VP and Managing Director, India in a statement to the press.

As per our earlier report, Facebook and WhatsApp could be creating India’s super app that will let users shop for essential goods such as groceries and apparels, and pay the businesses via JioMoney, the company’s payments app that’s hinted to be integrated with the service in some form or the other. The partnership between Facebook and Jio Platforms aims to empower over 60 million micro and SMBs, 120 million farmers and 30 million small merchants to help them reach more customers and in turn boost their businesses.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook said, “We're making a financial investment, and more than that, we're committing to work together on some major projects that will open up commerce opportunities for people across India.”

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Ltd, said, “All of us at Reliance are therefore humbled by the opportunity to welcome Facebook as our long-term partner in continuing to grow and transform the digital ecosystem of India for the benefit of all Indians. The synergy between Jio and Facebook will help realise Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s ‘Digital India’ Mission with its two ambitious goals — ‘Ease of Living’ and ‘Ease of Doing Business’ – for every single category of Indian people without exception.”

The concept of an Indian super app is similar to China’s WeChat that has become a very important service, ingrained into the lifestyle of its citizens. Much like how WhatsApp is excessively popular in India. Having said that, WeChat fell prey to China’s totalitarian regime and its mass surveillance system as it’s now monitored by the government. In stark contrast, India being the world’s largest democracy is seeing its biggest conglomerate and the government play with an idea of a multi-purpose app that’s backed by the world’s most popular social media company, Facebook. And while this could have far-reaching implications on the economy, lifestyle and society in general, we’ll have to wait to find out just how this super app takes shape.

 

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Xiaomi could launch Redmi Pad 5G alongside Mi 10 Lite on April 27

Xiaomi Redmi Pad 5G could be announced alongside the Mi 10 Lite on April 27 in China. The company recently revealed that it’s going to announce Mi 10 Lite Youth Edition for the Chinese market with up to 50x zoom and MIUI 12 out-of-the-box. Now, a posted of the Redmi Pad 5G has popped-up on the internet giving us our first look at the upcoming tablet by Xiaomi.

The image was posted on Weibo and reveals some key specifications of the Redmi Pad 5G along with the price. However, we’ll advise our readers to take the following information with a pinch of salt.

Xiaomi Redmi Pad 5G leaked specifications

Xiaomi’s upcoming tablet, the Redmi Pad 5G is rumoured to feature a 90Hz refresh rate display with minimal bezels on the top and bottom. The device is said to be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chipset that is 5G-compatible with an octa-core CPU and supports for 30W fast charging.

There is an ultra-linear four-speaker array on the Redmi Pad and it comes with a 48MP primary camera. The device runs on MIUI 12 for Pad out-of-the-box which is why it’s highly likely to show-up alongside the Mi 10 Lite on April 27 as the company is unveiling its next update to MIUI as well.

The poster suggests a starting price of CNY1,999 which roughly translates to 21,000 INR ($282). However, at present, it's unknown whether the device will make it to the Indian market.

As for the Mi 10 Lite, it’s expected to be a slightly tweaked version of the Mi 10 Lite 5G that launched globally last month. The phone is expected to feature a new periscope camera and Xiaomi will also take wraps-off of its new MIUI 12 update which makes the moment more opportune for it to introduce the Redmi Pad 5G alongside.

Xiaomi Mi 10 is also expected to launch in India sometime after the nation-wide lockdown ends. Earlier, the company was slated to announce the Mi 10 on March 31 in India but due to the Coronavirus outbreak, the launches have all been delayed to a later date. Moreover, the Indian government doesn’t categorize mobile phones and consumer electronics goods as essential items and hence e-commerce companies are prohibited to deliver non-essential goods to consumers.

 

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Canon reveals details about 8K-capable EOS R5

Canon had officially announced the development of the much rumoured Canon EOS R5 back in February. The company has kept quiet since then about its cameras, but today, we finally get more official information about the EOS R5 and it is shaping up to be one impressive camera.

Canon has officially announced that Canon EOS R5 will sport in-body image stabilization, addressing one of the biggest criticisms of the EOS R and EOS RP. However, what’s bound to grab more eye-balls is the fact that the EOS R5 will be capable of recording 8K video. While that by itself is a major feat, the deal gets a lot sweeter. The EOS R5 will be able to shoot 8K video in-camera. If that wasn’t enough, you will also be able to capture 8K RAW video in-camera.

The fact that Canon has committed to in-camera video recording is extremely commendable. It all started with the Canon 1DX MarkIII which brought 5.5K RAW video recording, all in-camera. This allows film-makers to do away external recorders, which come with their own hassles. Besides offering internal 8K RAW recording, the EOS R5 is also going to be capable of shooting 4K at 120fps. As for colour spaces, you get 10-bit YCbCr 4:2:2 colour, for all resolutions and of course, supporting internal recording.

Enabling this level of internal recording Canon will incorporate dual memory card slots into the EOS R5, a CFExpress card slot and an SD Card slot. CFExpress card slots are capable of blazing-fast transfer speeds and are what enables the EOS R5 to record such heavy files internally.

Besides the above, there really is no more information available around the EOS R5. Canon has been rather silent about the timeline of release for the camera. While we wait for Canon to officially launch the now confirmed EOS R6 and the still rumoured EOS R6, what we’re getting in the meantime is Canon augmenting its RF-mount lens portfolio. Since the introduction of the EOS R system, Canon has launched 10 high-quality lenses for the RF mount, including a 28-70mm f/2.0L USM lens.

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