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voice-to-text for video

Telegram adds voice-to-text for video messages

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A new update to Telegram has been released, bringing some new functions for Premium customers as well as some universally accessible visual updates. The new feature of voice-to-text for video messages is now accessible to Telegram Premium users.

voice-to-text for video
Image Source: livemint.com

Pavel Durov, the CEO of Telegram, said last month that users may now use Fragment to purchase and trade usernames on the site. The most recent version of Telegram now includes a number of new features, including interactive emoticons and reactions, voice-to-text for video conversations, and more.

Prior to the recent upgrade, members could convert any voice message to text. With the update, users now can also transcribe a video message to text. If one routinely participates in video conferences and meetings or conducts interviews over video calls, the newly added function will be especially helpful to them. However, this new feature is only available for Premium users. 

Admins of Telegram groups can now enable “Topics in groups.” Users can create separate places for various topics using the new feature, which can be activated in groups with more than 200 members. Similar to individual conversations, the “Topics in groups” feature has its own multimedia and alert options.

Users will also be allowed to utilize bots, vote in polls, and pin remarks on the subject. For those in big groups, where it can be difficult to follow conversations, it is quite helpful. Group admins can turn on the feature in the “Group settings”. In “Permissions,” they can specify who is permitted to manage and create topics.

The new update gives Android users additional options to resize text via the Chat settings, including link previewing and reply headers. iOS users will notice that the Night Mode has been improved with more balanced colors and improved blur effect as users navigate through chats.

Collectible username, another intriguing new feature added in the update, makes it simple for others to get in touch with Telegram users or locate their public groups in channels. Users of Telegram can now give each individual account and public chats multiple unique usernames in addition to a standard one.

Additionally, users can sell them or buy them through the recently unveiled site Fragment, which is safeguarded by the TON network that Telegram built internally. These names cannot be more than 5 characters in length.

 The most recent update also includes 12 new emoji packs, some created especially for Halloween, that are only available to Premium subscribers. A fresh effect for swiping left to reply has also been implemented, along with some small design tweaks like flickering placeholder chat bubbles when conversations are loading.

Telegram apologized for the upgrade’s delayed release and noted that “Apple took two weeks to review the update.” Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, in a post, revealed, “Apple claims they review apps within 24 hours, but, in our experience, it takes at least 7-10 days for any meaningful product update to reach the App Store.”

Durov has previously accused Apple of delaying upgrades for weeks and blocking the option for iOS users to generate pay-to-view posts because of Apple’s strict App Store policies. This isn’t the first time Durov has publicly attacked Apple.

32-person video calling

Zuckerberg Announces 32-Person Video Calling Feature for Whatsapp

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On Thursday, Founder of Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed ‘Communities on WhatsApp,’ as well as several new features such as 32-person video calling, in-chat polls, and groups with up to 1,024 users, which will be useful for groups in addition to Communities.

32-person video calling
Image Source: freepressjournal.in

Mark Zuckerberg officially confirmed that ‘Communities on WhatsApp’ will begin rolling out to users globally over the next few months and will be available to everyone.

“Today we’re launching Communities on WhatsApp. It makes groups better by enabling sub-groups, multiple threads, announcement channels, and more. We’re also rolling out polls and 32-person video calling. All secured by end to end encryption so your messages stay private,” said the Meta CEO.

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

WhatsApp has been working on Communities, a significant update to how users will be able to interact on WhatsApp in groups that are important to them.

Communities such as neighbourhoods, school parents, and workplaces can now connect multiple groups under one umbrella to arrange group chats on WhatsApp.

To get started, Android phone users can click on the latest communities tab located at the top of their chats and iOS users can click on the bottom.

They will now be able to create new Communities from scratch or join existing ones.

Users can effortlessly switch among available groups once in a community to get the information they need, when they need it, and administrators can send important updates to all the members of the Community.

WhatsApp Communities aims to raise the bar for how organisations communicate by providing a level of security and privacy which is not found anywhere else.

Other features such as in-chat polls, 32-person video calling, and groups with up to 1,024 participants can be used in any group but will be especially useful in Communities.

The company has been collaborating with about 50 organizations in 15 countries to develop Communities to cater to their needs, and the feedback so far indicates that these software inventions are assisting groups like these in better organising and achieving their goals.

Joe Belfiore

Who is Joe Belfiore? The Face of the Windows Phone

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Joe Belfiore is an American corporate executive. He has served in a variety of positions at Microsoft, primarily in the area of user experience. He presently holds the position of Corporate Vice President for Microsoft’s Experiences and Devices division. Joe Belfiore is a prominent speaker who has attended numerous Microsoft conferences and frequently performs live demos for the company’s products.

Joe Belfiore
Image Source: mashable.com

Joe Belfiore will be leaving Microsoft after serving the company for over 32 years. His internal email to staff (via ZDNet) announcing his retirement plans was eventually made public on Twitter. Belifore is best known as the face of Windows Phone, From 2009 until 2013, under his co-leadership of that division, Microsoft acquired Nokia. After that, Belfiore oversaw the Windows 10 division for over five years.

“Today I shared with my team that after 32 fantastic years, I will be retiring from Microsoft. I’m staying on until summer to help with the transition, then focus on the two kids still at home and the 1 who just started college”, Belifore wrote in a tweet on Friday.

Belfiore began working on the Windows Phone in 2009 and oversaw the creation of the Metro user interface, for which the platform is most known and which eventually appeared in Windows 8. With Windows 10, Joe Belfiore shifted to overseeing platform development for all types of consumer devices, namely Windows 10 PCs, tablets, and Windows 10 Mobile.

One may easily recall Microsoft’s initial promises and eventual disappointments while discussing Windows Phone. The platform for Windows Phone has always been a little shaky. Belfiore initially promised that Windows Phone 7 handsets could be upgraded to Windows Phone 8, however, this fell short, disappointing many users at the time.

The bulk of Nokia Lumia devices was also left behind during the switch from Windows Phone 8.1 to Windows 10 Mobile, despite Microsoft having initially said that most or all of the current Windows Phone 8.1 devices will be supported. Microsoft originally owned Nokia’s Lumia mobile phone division, which it acquired in 2013 for $7.6 billion.

However, the experiment was a failure, which caused the corporation considerable embarrassment. Belfiore eventually acknowledged in 2016 that Windows 10 Mobile would only continue to receive security updates going forward, with no new features. Windows has since turned its attention mostly to desktops.

Belfiore, who was born in Florida, fell in love with computers as a young child after using a Timex Sinclair 1000 that belonged to the father of a neighboring kid. He completed his schooling in 1986 at Clearwater Central Catholic High School. Later, he enrolled at Stanford University, where he earned a bachelor’s in computer science in 1990.

Joe Belfiore’s career and method of product design have both been motivated by empathy. Products must be created with the actual user in mind if they are to truly affect people’s lives. At Microsoft, Belfiore promoted a useful story-based strategy that invites customers to engage in product design and testing which completely altered interface and product design operation.

amazon members

Amazon provides Prime Members access to 100 Million Songs and more features

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When Amazon Prime first came out, it was a service that offered customers cheaper or free access to options for faster shipping. As the Prime members increased, the company also began introducing new features like access to its streaming video and music services.

amazon members
Image Source: macrumors.com

Amazon revealed a new perk for its Prime members that may tempt some users away from competing services like Apple Music or Spotify.

There is good news for Amazon Prime members. Amazon will now provide 100 million songs in shuffle mode to Amazon Prime subscribers. Although Amazon Prime members do not have unlimited access to music on demand, shuffle mode does provide access to the whole collection.

Users can make playlists that are customized to their individual listening preferences and the songs are ad-free. Any artist, album, or playlist can be put on shuffle. This suggests that users must repeatedly skip through a huge number of tracks before finding the ones they want.

Amazon noted that “Prime members will now be able to stream more music than ever before. We’ve expanded the Amazon Music catalog for Prime members to include more than 100 million songs—up from 2 million—entirely ad-free.

Prime members can explore music and podcasts based on their likes; shuffle play any artist, album, or playlist in the catalog; and stream a collection of All-Access playlists tailored to personalized listening preferences on demand and available to download for offline listening.”

The company revealed that it will now provide Prime members with a complete music catalog with 100 million songs, as opposed to the earlier, more constrained selection of just 2 million songs, and will make the majority of the most popular podcasts on its site available without ads.

The move is a direct jab at rivals in the streaming music industry, particularly Spotify, which has been entering the podcast sector in an effort to increase revenue. However, despite paying for the service, Spotify’s paying subscribers are growing impatient with the fact that they still have to listen to podcast advertisements.

Amazon believes that the combination of a full music catalog and the promise of ad-free podcasts from Amazon Music will make it a strong substitute. Moreover, the Amazon Music app is getting a makeover, and a new “Podcast Previews” feature will enable users to listen to brief snippets in order to find new podcasts they might enjoy.

Recently, the company announced the availability of auto-generated, synced transcripts on a few podcasts for US users. For certain Amazon Originals podcast episodes, transcripts are available.

This is an excellent move by Amazon, given both Apple and Spotify indicated that they would look into raising the prices for its streaming services.

Amazon runs the online music store and streaming service known as Amazon Music. In January 2008, it became the first music store to offer music from numerous independent artists as well as the four major record labels (EMI, Universal, Warner, and Sony BMG) without digital rights management (DRM).

PlayStation VR2

Sony PlayStation VR2 set to be launched in February 2023

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Today, Sony‘s highly anticipated PlayStation VR2 headset received an official rollout date, price, and pre-order information.

PlayStation VR2
Image Source: gadgets360.com

The virtual reality partner to PlayStation 5 of Sony will go on sale officially on February 22, 2023.

It will be available in a variety of configurations, including a base model that includes the PS VR2 headset, two PS VR2 Sense controllers, and also two pieces of stereo headphones, as well as a bundle that includes all of the aforementioned items as well as a PlayStation Store discount coupon code for Horizon Call of the Mountain.

Pre-orders for the PlayStation VR2 will initiate on November 15 exclusively through the PlayStation online store for buyers in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

If you’re anxious to start the process yet, you can already pre-register to be alerted when pre-orders become available.

Buyers in areas not listed above must pre-order from authorized stores in their respective markets. Pre-orders with all these retailers will also start on November 15.

Gamers using the new PS VR2 headset will benefit from an updated 2000×2040 per eye display resolution with eye tracking, 120Hz refresh rates, and other features.

Sony also revealed a brand-new charging stand for the PS VR2 Sense controllers, in addition to pricing and release date information. Because of its stand-alone power supply, this $50 accessory can charge the controllers without using a USB port on the PlayStation 5 console.

Sony has also confirmed the launch titles for PlayStation VR2 when it arrives in stores. The debut lineup includes 11 new VR games, in addition to well-known launch titles such as Horizon Call of the Mountain and Resident Evil Village. Switchback VR, a physics-based and roguelike shooter, The Light Brigade, a VR port of the plainly-named city building sim Cities, rhythm-based shooter Pistol Whip, and several others stand out.

“We’ve created the PS VR2 headset with comfort in mind, in a slightly slimmer and lighter design compared to our previous headset,” the tech giant said in a blogpost.

“We’re expecting more than 20 titles at launch,” it added.

Source: businessinsider.in
free speech

Supporting Free Speech, Binance CEO invests $500 mn in Twitter

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Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao recently stated that his company had made an investment of $500 million in Twitter because he is “extremely supportive” of free speech.

free speech
Image Source: ibtimes.com

Changpeng stated that there were “very strong reasons” for investing in Twitter. With over 7 million follower count, Zhao is active on the social networking platform.

Zhao, aka CZ, revealed to a crowd at the Web Summit in Lisbon, “When we invest in a deal, we’re very comfortable if the deal goes through. We’re very comfortable if the deal doesn’t go through. We always want to get to a point where we’re in that position. Number one is that we want to be extremely supportive of free speech. Twitter is an important free speech platform.”

“I am a heavy Twitter user. I want to invest in products that are important for our industry”, said Zhao, adding that Binance intended to be a long-term investment in the company.

After months of twists and turns within and outside the courtroom, the deal to acquire Twitter was finally finalized on Thursday. After acquisition. Elon Musk fired the platform’s top executives. Zhao said that because Musk is “a pretty hard guy for me to predict,” he was “honestly” a “little bit surprised” when the deal finally closed.

Since Musk completely controls the board and decision-making in the now-private Twitter, it is unknown how actively involved minority investors like Binance might be. In the $44 billion acquisition, the majority of his co-investors include funds like Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Management, Andreessen Horowitz, and Brookfield.

In an effort to monetize the service and reduce Twitter’s reliance on advertisements, Musk announced on Tuesday that the social media network would charge $8 for its Blue service, which includes the highly desired “verified” badge. Zhao stated he agreed with the approach.

Musk appeared to have second thoughts about his dedication to cryptocurrencies as he put the Twitter deal together. The largest digital asset exchange in the world, Binance Holdings Ltd., contributed $500 million to Musk’s financing for the transaction in May and is reportedly putting together a team to investigate how cryptocurrency might benefit the social media giant.

In a string of text conversations made public as part of the dispute around the Twitter transaction, Musk initially suggested utilizing blockchain to support free expression and decrease spam on social media, only to respond later that “blockchain Twitter isn’t possible.”

Musk has a lot of issues with Twitter bots and spam, which led to a protracted court spat that placed his plans to buy the company at risk. The problem is especially crucial in the cryptocurrency industry, where spam accounts impersonate well-known individuals like Musk to spread the word about frauds involving bogus cryptocurrency giveaways.

However, some proponents of digital assets think that Twitter bots might be decreased by adopting blockchain. Musk’s desire to “authenticate all real humans” on Twitter may be promoted through an NFT passport or a blockchain-based identity verification tool.

When it comes to daily cryptocurrency trading volume, Binance is the largest crypto exchange in the world. It was established in 2017 by d developer Changpeng Zhao, who had previously built high-frequency trading software. After the Chinese government began to regulate cryptocurrencies more strictly, Binance eventually transferred its headquarters outside China.