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Hongmeng OS is not Designed to Replace Android : Huawei

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The past few months have been quite challenging for the Chinese tech company Huawei. It has faced partial ban in one of the biggest smartphone markets of the US and Australis and has been the centre of criticism for having ties with China.

Amid all there issues, the company is trying to improve its grip on the smartphone industry, and reportedly, had plans to replace Google’s Android OS with its homegrown Hongmeng operating system. But the company now has completely denied the reports and has claimed that Android will remain the OS for its smartphones.

Huawei’s senior vice president Catherine Chen told the reporters in Brussels that Hongmeng is not a smartphone OS, and the company has no plans to use a self-developed OS for its smartphones as well as the other mobile devices.

Hongmeng OS
Image Source: techradar.com

According to Chen, the OS has been developed for the industrial usage, and its development started even before the company started facing the issues with the U.S. The company chairman Liang Hua also gave a statement stating that the very operating system is designed for internet-of-things (IoT) devices.

But if we go back to June, the statement given by Huawei VP, Andrew Williamson, was a bit different. He had told the Reuters, “Huawei is in the process of potentially launching a replacement. It’d be ready in months in the event of an Android blacklisting. It’s not something Huawei wants. We’re very happy being part of the Android family, but Hongmeng is being tested, mostly in China.”

In fact, after the blacklisting of Huawei by most of the U.S. companies, the Huawei CEO Richard Yu had also said that Huawei would be ready to use its alternatives. He had also mentioned that the upcoming OS will be used in a variety of devices like routers, network switches, tablets, computers and data centres, etc.

Based on the past reports, Huawei even was conducting tests for the OS on smartphones, and according to a few testers, Hongmeng is based on open-source Android and offers 60 per cent faster performance than Android.

But now, it seems that the company no more wants to replace the OS. This change in the decision can be due to Trump’s announcement that permitted the U.S. companies to come back in business with Huawei. So now Huawei can regain its access to the Android OS and does not need another OS to embed into its smartphones.

Waiting for the Whatsapp Dark Mode? Get it on Android, iOS Smartphones Before the Release

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The dark mode on Whatsapp has been in a buzz for at least a year now, and there have also been a few leaks about the features that the dark mode from Whatsapp will possess. The Whatsapp’s owner company Facebook has already provided the dark mode or the night mode for Facebook Messenger, and soon it will be available for all the Whatsapp users too.

Whatsapp dark mode
Image Source: cnbctv18.com

Though the dark mode for Whatsapp has still not been launched officially, the company has provided a way to get the beta version of dark mode, before it will be released for the general public.

The first condition to get the Whatsapp’s dark mode on an Android smartphone or the iPhone is to get the latest Android Q on an Android phone and iOS11 or the latest version of iOS on the iPhone. So, this is clear that a lot of people will not be able to enjoy the new dark mode at least for some more time.

Android Q is still in beta which is also available for only a few Android smartphones, including Google Pixel 2, 2 XL, Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL, OnePlus 6T, Huawei Mate 20 Pro, LG G8, Nokia 8.1, Oppo Reno, Realme 3 Pro, Sony Xperia XZ3, Vivo X27, Vivo Nex S, Nex A, Xiaomi Mi 9, Mi Mix 3 5G, Essential Phone, Asus 6Z.

So who are among the owners of mentioned phones or the ones who can get the Android Q on their Android phones, can follow the steps below to get the dark mode on their Whatsapp:

  • Go to the Settings of the phone and select Display from the list.
  • In the Display settings, select the Theme option and then Dark.
  • Again you need to go to the Settings under which you need to select About Phone option.
  • Now tap on the Build Number seven times in order to activate Developer Mode.
  • As the Developer Mode has been activated, go to the Developer Option and then tap on Override Force Dark.

Now the dark mode will be activated on every single app on your phone. Though after enabling the dark mode, you will need to change the background wallpaper of your Whatsapp to make the dark mode completely enabled.

To get the dark mode for the Whatsapp on the iPhones, you need to take the following steps:

  • Go to the Setting and select General.
  • Under the General settings, select Accessibility and then Display Accommodations.
  • Here you will find the Invert Colours option, under which you need to select Smart Invert.

This way, you will get the dark mode for the Whatsapp on iPhone. Though you still need to change the wallpaper in order to get the dark mode completely.

The sparkling AMOLED displays in smartphones are clearer but brighter. There are only a few people who reduce the brightness of their phone while using it. Getting dark mode on the phones will help people with their vision, that is at risk because of their increased screen time. In fact, Apple has also included a dark mode in its latest iOS13.

Tencent Replaces PUBG with a Less Popular But Patriotic Alternative for Chinese Players

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One of the top games in the world, PUBG, has been pulled out from its homeland China, following the new rules the China government introduced last month for the video games. Though it will no longer be available for the Chinese consumers, the company is providing them with less-popular, but a politically acceptable option, i.e. Heping Jingying or Elite Force for Peace.

pubg china
Image Source: mensxp.com

The company had to take the decision as the new rules from the government was restricting the company from securing the license for the game, that would allow it to collect the revenue from it. In fact, after a month-long freeze on approvals, the Chinese government restricted the title from making any money ever in the country. Until now, the company was running the game under testing, but finally, it has pulled out the plug for the game as it failed to monetize the game in the Chinese market.

Tencent brought the title Elite Force for Peace as soon as it circulated a message about it ending the testing period for PUBG on Wednesday. The title belongs to the same Hunger Games-style genre and resembles the widely-famous PUBG. The game is a tribute to the Chinese military and the Chinese Air Force. In fact, the company developed the game by taking advice from the recruitment department of the Chinese military.

The game has been developed by the similar Korea-based publishers as of PUBG, ie. Krafton (earlier known as BlueHole). Including the graphics of the game, there are a few other similarities to PUBG, except its missions targets on vanishing the terrorists in the game. Many of the players have also claimed that their achievements and the progress in PUBG has even transferred to the Peace game.

The game allows the players to add money to their accounts, enabling Tencent to monetise the game. PUBG had to suffer financially due to the Chinese license freeze last year, and this is the time for the company to buckle up to get back on the track. Force for Peace is a game which can be played by the players of age above 16 and is only available for the android users only.

Third-party Developers can Now Develop Apps for Google’s Android Automotive OS

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Google is all prepping up for its upcoming I/O 2019, it is going to host on 7 May in California, U.S., and it has already started on giving hints on few of its new launches it is going to announce at the event. According to one of its early pushed out news, it is going to open its Automotive OS for the third-party developers, so that they would be able to develop functionalities and entertainment apps for the vehicle infotainment systems.

Google Android Automotive
Image Source: venturebeat.com

Google introduced the Android Automotive OS, an OS specially designed to work with vehicle infotainment systems, in 2017. Do not confuse Android Automotive with Google’s other product having a similar name, i.e. Android Auto, which is a mobile app. Whereas, Android Automotive is a full-fledged operating system developed for vehicles. Both the platforms are using the same underlying framework, and having the same framework, Android Automotive also supports compatibility with different screen sizes, OEM customizations, and regional driver safety guidelines.

Android Automotive OS is based on Google’s Linux supported, open-source mobile operating system. But it runs on the vehicles, instead of smartphones and tablets.

The company has hinted that it is already working with Volvo’s all-electric Polestar 2, powering its infotainment system with the Android Automotive. The Polestar 2’s infotainment system will have all the major services from Google including Google Assistant, Google Maps and the Google Play Store.

Google is also working with companies like Spotify and others, through which it will be able to bring entertainment apps to the Android Automotive OS. With the help of third-party developers, the Android Automotive will also be able to add support for the features like navigation, communication, and beyond to the OS.

Google will be discussing on how to develop the apps for its Android Automotive OS for cars, in the event, and if the developers won’t be attending the event, they can find more information on the same through the Google Groups community. The developers can also ask questions regarding the development using the tag android-automotive tag on StackOverflow.

Whatsapp Testing a Standalone App for iPad and Working on a New Feature to Restrict Fake News

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According to a report from WABetaInfo, Whatsapp is testing its latest version for the iPad users. Noticeably, Whatsapp has been the most favourite messaging app for both iPhone and Android users, but it has always lagged behind for its iPad users, who could only use the web version of Whatsapp by connecting it with their iPhones.

Whats App for iPad
Image Source: iphonehacks.com

The company is about to update its Whats App version to v2.19.40, which now may also be available for the iPad as a standalone App. The users now will be able to use Whatsapp directly on their iPads by signing in to the app through their registered phone number. This is great news for the iPad users as now they will have access to their WhatsApp account on a bigger screen, and even by splitting the screen, it will provide better visibility.

Also, amid the elections, the company has also revealed a few new features, among which there is a new option for Android users, where the group admins will be able to stop the frequently forwarded messages such that to help stop the spread of fake news. The feature will only be available for the group admins and will appear on the sub-section of the group settings. It will be enabled by default, and the group admin can disable it from the settings.

Though the company has mentioned that the feature is still in its development phase, this is one of the most desired features for every Whats App user, especially in India.

On one hand, the iPad is about to get its own standalone Whatsapp ‘app’, which will include all the features like chatting, video calls, etc., and all the bug fixes. On the other hand, people will be able to ignore the fake news and stop them from further spreading.

The company has not revealed any launch dates for the both as both are still under the development and testing phase.

Google is Working on Apple-Inspired Face ID Authentication & Privacy Protections

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Android Pie is still not available on all the Android Smartphones, and Google is all set to launch its another mobile operating system, i.e. Android Q. There have been various guesses about the release date and the features of this new Android OS, and last week the XDA Developers, also, published its findings through the leaked AOSP build of Android Q.

Android Q
Image Source: YouTube

The code obtained by the XDA developers includes various methods, classes and strings that reveals that the new OS may have the facial recognition. Even being late for the fingerprint technology on the iPhones, Apple was the first who introduced the face recognition technology on them. Now, along with the other guesses, this piece of code clearly shows that Google is all set to catch up with its rival company on the face recognition technique.

Although Android already has got a 2D-based “Trusted Face” face scanning-based authentication support, Android doesn’t offer any native hardware support. The new feature will be a secure biometric authentication feature similar to Apple’s Face ID.

Apple uses a depth sensing system, that projects a structured light from a dot project in order to recognise the user’s face. An array of 30,000 dots projected through True Depth, in a known pattern using a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) module, is processed and compared with the resulting image against secure reference data.

Mishaal Rahman, specially indicated towards the code it found related to facial identification on the XDA-Developers Portal site, writing, “dozens of strings and multiple methods, classes and fields related to facial recognition in the framework, SystemUI and Settings APKs”.

The Smartphone companies including Huawei and Xiaomi, already have incorporated the suitable hardware for such technology, but as they are using the Android OS on them, they were not able to make use of the hardware, until now.

The findings also indicated towards the new Android Q having better privacy for users, especially, involving the clipboard permissions. Usually, the apps can access a user’s clipboard, even having the most sensitive information on them, but now, the OEM may prevent the apps to access the information on the clipboard without permission.