While it already offers several ways for users to make video calls over various platforms, Google today launched a new phone-based app called Duo that’s designed for simplicity. Available for both Android and iOS smartphones, Google Duo doesn’t require anything more than a phone number to launch once the app is downloaded. Unlike Google’s Hangouts messaging, voice and video calling tool, people don’t even need Google accounts […]
Now, all you need is a phone number to start a video call with any contact who uses an Android- or iOS-based smartphone. Google on Tuesday launched Google Duo, pitting it directly against Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) FaceTime, which allows video calls only between Apple devices. Duo will also compete with Microsoft Corp’s (MSFT.O) video-calling app Skype, Facebook Inc’s (FB.O) Messenger and even its own Hangout app. Duo […]
With the clock ticking toward Apple’s scheduled fall release of the iPhone 7, iOS 10, macOS Sierra and more, the rumor mill about new products and changes by the company is switching into high gear. Several outlets are reporting leaked images purporting to show the iPhone 7 Plus in new colors, including black and rose gold. There are also reports that Apple is in talks that could […]
Users like the convenience of Google’s Drive suite of applications, but the Docs, Sheets and Slides apps haven’t received high ratings from mobile users, especially when it comes to using them to make tables and charts. However, an update to the Docs, Sheets and Slides apps for Android released this week aims to make them easier to use than ever. For instance, when users copy a body […]
Despite recently weakening consumer sales for both the iPhone and iPad, Apple devices and software have enjoyed a growing presence in business enterprises. Out of net sales of nearly $234 billion in 2015, some $25 billion came through sales to large business customers, according to Apple’s most recent annual report, released in October. While those sales were just a small fraction of the company’s overall revenues, they […]
LAS VEGAS Apple Inc (AAPL.O) said it plans to offer rewards of up to $200,000 (£152,433) to researchers who find critical security bugs in its products, joining dozens of firms that already offer payments for help uncovering flaws in their products. The maker of iPhones and iPads provided Reuters with details of the plan, which includes some of the biggest bounties offered to date, ahead of unveiling […]
The logo of Samsung Electronics is seen at its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, July 28, 2016. Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji/Files SEOUL Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Wednesday unveiled a new Galaxy Note smartphone with a curved screen and iris-recognition technology, seeking to build on the sales momentum that has helped it roar back to surging profit growth. Samsung, the world’s top smartphone maker, saw its January-June mobile profit […]
Jack Ma, founder and Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group speaks during the inaugural ”Xin” Philanthropy Conference in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, July 9, 2016. China Daily/via Reuters A Chinese consortium that includes game developer Shanghai Giant Network Technology Co Ltd and e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd founder Jack Ma has agreed to acquire Caesars Interactive Entertainment Inc’s online games unit for $4.4 billion in cash, the […]
A worker climbs outside an Apple store in Hong Kong April 10, 2013. Reuters/Bobby Yip/File Photo HONG KONG Apple Inc found itself on the receiving end of a small, short-lived anti-U.S. protest this week in China, the tech firm’s biggest overseas market and a country where foreign firms have suffered damaging boycotts following international spats. A handful of unofficial Apple stores were picketed and social media users […]
The good news is that most of the people who buy the Apple Watch like the product. The bad news is that not as many are buying the device as last year. Although the Apple Watch is still the leader in the new world of smart watches, holding a 47 percent market share in 2016, that figure is down from the 72 percent share it held in […]
A federal judge sentenced a man to six months in federal prison Thursday for hacking into hundreds of Apple and Google accounts and stealing scores of personal photos, including some belonging to celebrities. U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt also issued a $3,000 fine to Andrew Helton, who pleaded guilty to a federal hacking charge in February, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles. Helton, […]
Data centers are notorious for how much energy they require. Now, however, Google thinks it has found a way to mitigate that problem. Over the last few months, the tech giant has been using an artificial intelligence (AI) system built by DeepMind to control certain parts of its data centers to make its vast server farms more environmentally friendly. DeepMind is the British AI company that Google […]
By transitioning Skype from a peer-to-peer architecture to a cloud-based one, Microsoft aims to enable the messaging and file-sharing service to better keep up with changing technologies and user habits. While the move hasn’t been completed yet, changes made so far have already helped support a number of new features on Skype, including mobile group video calling, near-real-time translations of conversations and bots for automated, artificial intelligence-powered […]
Seldom does a week go by without news, rumors and speculation about new phones, but the past week was especially busy with smartphone chatter. Apple, Motorola and Samsung have all been in the headlines over the past several days regarding phones they have in the works. Apple iPhone 7 Leaks A few days after photos appeared of the upcoming iPhone 7, a video emerged that seemed to […]
The author of ‘Apple Tree Yard’ on the Indonesian roots of her new novel ‘Black Water’ — and why she’s glad to see the back of ‘chicklit’ Louise Doughty was born in the East Midlands in 1963. She took an MA in creative writing at the University of East Anglia and has written eight novels, including her latest, “Black Water”, which was published by Faber last month. […]
The logo of Facebook is seen at the Cannes Lions Festival in Cannes, France, June 23, 2016. Reuters/Eric Gaillard Facebook Inc on Friday said it began testing end-to-end encryption on its popular Messenger application to prevent snooping on digital conversations. The limited testing on Messenger, which has more than 900 million users, comes three months after Facebook rolled out end-to-end encryption to its more popular WhatsApp, a […]
A Nintendo video game logo is seen at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, in Los Angeles, California, United States, June 17, 2015. Reuters/Lucy Nicholson TOKYO Shares in Japan’s Nintendo Co surged on Friday as consumers flocked to try out its new Pokemon GO smartphone game, raising hopes that the company’s long-awaited shift into mobile gaming will pay off. Seeking to protect its console business, the Japanese […]
iPhone and Mac fans who want to test out Apple’s latest operating systems can now download the public beta versions of both iOS 10 and macOS Sierra. Both were released today, a few months before the final versions are launched in the fall. Apple has described iOS 10 as the “biggest release ever” of its mobile operating system. New features arriving with this update include expanded capabilities […]
|By Matein Khalid| The merger of Abu Dhabi banks First Gulf Bank and NBAD creates the largest bank in the Middle East, a regional colossus with $170 billion in assets, competitive funding cost in the global interbank/capital markets and a market value greater than Credit Suisse, Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) and Deutsche Bank. This is the biggest game changer event in UAE banking and finance since the […]
Backed by the wide-scale social influence of Facebook, WhatsApp appears poised to have an even greater impact on the global communications market, including voice calling as well as text messaging services. Yesterday, the Facebook-owned mobile messaging service announced it is now supporting more than 100 million voice calls every day, a service it began offering just 18 months ago. WhatsApp also rolled out a desktop version of […]
Beijing’s patent regulator has ordered Apple to stop selling its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the city because their design too closely resembles that of a Chinese phone. Apple is appealing the ruling, which marks the latest challenge to the tech company in its second-largest market. The two iPhone models violated design patents held by Chinese device maker Shenzhen Baili because of similarities in external […]
Adobe’s Flash browser plug-in has been suffering a slow death by a thousand cuts, and today it learned of yet another. A blog post by a member of Apple’s Safari development team has revealed that the version of Safari due out this fall — Safari 10, set to ship with macOS Sierra — will arrive on users’ Macs with Flash deactivated by default. The aging and vulnerable […]
Reuters/Kacper Pempel/files SAN FRANCISCO Amazon.com Inc is preparing to launch a standalone music streaming subscription service, placing it squarely in competition with rival offerings from Apple Inc and Spotify, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The service will be offered at $9.99 per month, in line with major rivals, and it will offer a competitive catalog of songs, the sources said. Amazon […]
