Siri reading WhatsApp messages out loud Now!

Siri can now read your WhatsApp messages out loud on iOS

Siri has gained another string to its bow with WhatsApp’s new update for iOS. Apple’s assistant can now read text messages you receive via the service out loud, making life a bit easier for people with visual impairments, or for people who just want to use their phone without looking at the screen.

Users can activate the feature in WhatsApp’s settings menu, and request that Siri read the latest message with the usual “Hey Siri” command. Replying by voice is possible, too, since WhatsApp added the option last September. The 2.17.2 update is available now, but only works on devices running versions of iOS 10.3.

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Samsung Galaxy S8 in cheap price

The Galaxy S8 is cheaper than it should be, thanks to Samsung’s screw-up

Unless you’re Samsung, you should be happy the Galaxy Note 7 exploded last year. Not only was Samsung able to find some serious quality control issues and hopefully eliminate the risk of exploding batteries, but the brand new Galaxy S8 phone, available on Friday in stores, is probably a lot cheaper than it could have been.


Pricing starts at $720 for a phone that’s miles better than its predecessor, and most of its competitors made so far this year, even though the handset cost $40 more to make than the Galaxy S7. 


A new research note from IHS says the Galaxy S8 costs $307.50 to make, with $5.90 of that paying for basic manufacturing.


That’s almost half of what the phone costs in stores, which makes the Galaxy S8’s entry price even more impressive when you also factor in the freebies Samsung and its carrier partners are throwing in at launch.


IHS says the Galaxy S8 costs $43.34 more to make than the Galaxy S7 and $36.29 more than the Galaxy S7 edge. Yet Samsung did not pass these costs to buyers. Samsung will probably never explain how it came up with the final price points for its phones, but the Galaxy Note 7 must have been a major factor.


The Galaxy S8 is selling a lot better than anticipated, with some analysts already revising their estimates for the handset. It’s likely that even a more expensive Galaxy S8 would have been just as popular with buyers — again, considering the various freebies and special launch deals. But given the Galaxy Note 7’s sad fate, Samsung probably wanted to keep the Galaxy S8’s price as close to the Galaxy S7 and the iPhone 7 as possible.


In fact, the Galaxy S8 may end up being a lot more affordable than the iPhone 8 this year, and it may all be a side-effect of those exploding batteries inside the Galaxy Note 7.


IHS estimates the iPhone 8 and Galaxy S8 will have similar hardware. But Apple’s next best iPhone may cost as much as $1,000 when it launches, according to analysts.


“The higher total BOM costs for the Galaxy S8 seem to be part of a trend that reflects something of an arms race in features among Apple, Samsung and other phone manufacturers, as they all try to add new and distinguishing hardware features,” IHS’s senior director of cost benchmarking services Andrew Rassweller said. 


“While there are new non-hardware features in the Galaxy S8, such as a virtual assistant called Bixby, from a teardown perspective the hardware in the Galaxy S8 and that of the forthcoming new iPhone is expected to be very similar.”

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Why should you buy Galaxy S8 instead of iPhone 7?

 

5 ways the Galaxy S8 is better than the iPhone 7

 

 

Display Design

The screen is obviously one of the most important components in any smartphone since it’s still the primary means of displaying content and interacting with content. And in the case of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, the display is the star of the show in so many ways.
Beginning with the phone’s design, Samsung has managed to increase the screen-to-body ratio on its new phones to an impressive 83%. That compares with a screen-to-body ratio of just 66% on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Are these ratios really that important? You won’t be able to fully appreciate it until you experience it for yourself, but the answer is yes.
Apart from looking much better, the user experience on the Galaxy S8 is so much more immersive than it is on the iPhone 7. It feels like you’re holding content in your hand, not a phone. Apple’s upcoming new iPhone 8 is expected to adopt a similar design that is nearly all screen but until then, the Galaxy S8 has the upper hand in a big way.

Curved Edges

Samsung’s first curved smartphones was a total gimmick that should not have existed. The Note Edge was the company’s first smartphone with a curved screen (on one side only), and it was also a gimmick that was next to useless. The curves on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are far from useless, however. They’re awesome.
In terms of software features, the only benefit afforded by the curved screen on the S8 is an option that makes the exposed edges light up with incoming calls when the phone is face-down on a table or desk. Yeah, it’s not exactly Earth-shattering. The real benefit of the curved sides on the front and back of the phone is usability.
The Galaxy S8+ is about the same width as the iPhone 7 Plus, and it’s actually a bit thicker than the 7 Plus at its center. But with one hand, I can comfortably reach from one side of the S8+’s display to the other. And Samsung’s rounded sides on the front and back don’t just extend the user’s reach, hey help the S8 and S8+ sit comfortably in the hand. It’s an awesome design.

Display Quality

This won’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who has ever used a Samsung flagship phone before, but the Galaxy S8’s screen advantage extends well beyond design. In terms of display quality, the Galaxy S8 and S8+ have no equal.
Samsung’s Super AMOLED screens on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are simply stunning. They both have the same QHD+ resolution so the 5.8-inch screen on the smaller Galaxy S8 model actually has better pixel density than the larger 6.2-inch display on the Galaxy S8+. The difference is pretty big on paper — 570 ppi vs. 529 ppi — but I doubt even someone with 20/20 vision would be able to notice any difference at a normal viewing distance.
In terms of comparing these screens to the displays on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, it couldn’t be easier: Samsung’s screens are better in every way. Blacks are deeper, colors are more vivid, the resolution is better, the contrast is better, and the clarity is better. Samsung has absolutely hit yet another home run with its Galaxy S8 and S8+ screens.

Charging

Charging certainly isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you weigh the pros and cons of a smartphone. But if you stop for a moment and really think about it, this is a hugely important part of the user experience. We charge our phones each and every day, so the speed a phone can charge and the convenience with which it can be charged are actually a very big deal.
The Galaxy S8 supports multiple fast charging standards. The iPhone 7 does not. The Galaxy S8 supports wireless charging, and even fast wireless charging. The iPhone 7 does not. Long story short, Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ charge much faster than their iPhone counterparts, and they also have bigger batteries.

Google Assistant

Siri has come a long way since it was first introduced, and there’s no question that Apple’s virtual personal assistant is solely responsible for the recent explosion in similar solutions from rival companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Samsung. As an iPhone user, however, I really enjoyed the personal assistant on Samsung’s Galaxy S8+ while I was reviewing it.
No, not Bixby. Sure, Samsung’s own personal assistant solution shows promise, but its inability to support English-language voice commands at launch makes it a non-starter for the time being. I’m talking about Google Assistant, the latest evolution of Google’s assistant software.
These AI driven assistants are always evolving, but Google’s young Assistant solution has already surpassed Siri in many ways. I often find that Siri gets confused, has trouble with context, or just flat-out gets things wrong when I ask it a question or speak a command. Google Assistant, on the other hand, is far more consistent and accurate. This is a big check in the Galaxy S8’s box for me.

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Snapchat User Data Allegedly Leaked by Indian Hackers

Snapchat User Data Allegedly Leaked by Indian Hackers in Response to 'Poor Country' Remark

It seems there's no end to Snapchat's nightmare as anonymous Indian hackers have now reportedly claimed to have released 1.7 million Snapchat users' data on the deep Web. The move is said to be a repercussion of CEO Evan Spiegel's alleged India-related remarks.

The Independent reported the Snapchat user data claims by anonymous Indian hackers, but there no publicly visible claims made by any Indian hacking group so far taking responsibility. Snapchat has since denied the user data leak was done, the report adds.

After massive outrage, Snapchat has been denying that Spiegel said anything about India. According to a Variety report, CEO Evan Spiegel said the app was "only for rich people" and not for "poor countries like India and Spain". The Snapchat app has since received massive outrage on Twitter as hashtag "UninstallSnapchat" and "BoycottSnapchat" have been trending.

Variety report had cited a former Snapchat employee who claimed that CEO Evan Spiegel had no interest in expansion in different markets, and allegedly said that the "app [Snapchat] is only for rich people," adding that he didn't want to "expand into poor countries like India and Spain."

The remark claims has put a dent on Snapchat's App Store ratings which dropped to a single star. Notably, the single star rating for Snapchat's present version on the App Store was based on 6,099 ratings, while the rating for all versions of the app was 1.5 stars, based on 9,527 ratings. On Android, the rating for Snapchat on the Google Play was 4 star, based on 11,932,996 ratings.

If the leak claims are true, this won't be the first time that the popular mobile photo-sharing service data has been compromised. In 2014, details of 4.6 million users were leaked on the Internet.

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Samsung Galaxy S8 Battery Test!

The Galaxy S8’s battery might not catch fire even if something bad happens to it

The Galaxy S8 is out in a few days, and the phone has been selling like crazy, which means that Samsung fans have already forgotten all about the nasty Galaxy Note 7 explosions that effectively killed the most attractive Android handset of the second half of 2016. Samsung discontinued the phone and vowed to never let something like that happen again. The company introduced a new battery quality assurance procedure for its phones, to avoid experiencing future explosions, especially with the Galaxy S8.


That doesn’t mean bad things can’t still happen to the Galaxy S8’s battery. Smartphone batteries do fail, regardless of who makes them. But as long as instances, where a battery would malfunction and explode, are rare, users should have nothing to fear.

Will the Galaxy S8 blow up? A first test seems to indicate that Samsung has taken additional precautions with its batteries that might prevent fires even if the phone “explodes.”


A few days ago, YouTube channel <ahref=”“>TechRex     performed a first drop test for the Galaxy S8, which revealed the phone isn’t drop-proof — big surprise there, for a device made of glass. The functional handset was then sent to YouTube channel What’s Inside? which partnered up with JerryRigEverything to destroy the Galaxy S8.

The 9-minute video at the end of this post shows us a crude teardown of the phone, but what’s interesting is what happens when an electric saw punches through the battery.

The battery immediately swells up, driving everyone into a frenzy to take the phone outside before it catches fire. However, what happens next is unbelievable. The battery swells up, drips liquid, and gets pretty hot. There’s smoke and smell that suggest something’s wrong. But there’s no spark and no fire. Subsequent prodding with a metal object doesn’t initiate a fire either.

This is hardly a scientific test. After all, these guys used an electric saw on a functional device indoors, with virtually no protection. However, this unofficial test seems to indicate that the Galaxy S8’s battery will not explode. It might swell up for whatever reason, but a fire might be avoided.

There’s also one other interesting tidbit from the video. Apparently, the battery isn’t animal-friendly, so don’t let your dog chew on it.

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Swift Builds Android Apps

Swift University Teaches You How to Build Android Apps in Apple's Programming Language

Apple had open sourced its own programming language called 
Swift in December, 2015. Since then, Apple has been making
 efforts to make Swift more popular amongst programmers to 
develop apps for Android. Now, Apple's efforts finally look like
 coming to fruition as an Italy-based university has started 
a first-of-its-kind course to build Android apps using Swift
programming language. However, it's not meant
 for beginners but the programmers who already know Swift,
 Java, C#, Objective-C and other programming languages.

The Italian university, known as Swift University, is offering 
the intermediate level course for Android app development
 written specifically in Apple's Swift language. "By attending
 this course you will learn to program App for Android devices
 via the Android SDK but classic written in Swift language. 
Thanks to this innovative course can easily be ported your iOS
 projects on Android and / or develop multi-platform app 
without using a middleware," reads the course description
 on university's website.

This course will help coders develop Android apps using Swift,
 while presumably reducing the need of a cross-platform
 middleware 
like Xamarin, which comes with limitations. It is built using
 Integrated Development Environment (IDE) instead of 
a converter that will let the coders use Swift instead of Java 
while using the normal classes of Android SDK.

As we mentioned, the course is open to the developers who 
have some knowledge of any of the programming languages 
to object - Swift, Java, C#, and Objective-C. The course, as seen
 on the website, lasts about 3 days 8 hours for a total of 24
 hours of lessons, samples, projects, and private group
 post-course support. It is being offered at a price of EUR 599 
(roughly Rs. 41,000) in Milan, Italy.

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WhatsApp: You Might be Able to "Unsend" Chats Soon

WhatsApp Update: You Might be Able to 'Unsend' Chats Soon

Facebook-owned WhatsApp is reportedly testing a new feature which will allow users to “unsend” messages that they have sent to any of their contacts within a maximum time frame of five minutes. While there is no official confirmation, reports suggests that the new WhatsApp “message unsend” feature is being tested in a new beta version of WhatsApp Web.

In the beta version, WhatsApp has also made it easy for people to format text by providing options like Bold, Italic and Strikethrough. With this, you will no longer need to put asterisks, underscore or tildes to format chats. This update is expected to open to all very soon.

Recently, WhatsApp has announced a new update for its Android app which allow users to share multiple contacts in one go while chatting. Earlier, WhatsApp had allowed sharing of only one contact while chatting and users had to attach and send contacts on separate chats. With the new update, users can share as many contacts they want to share at once.

Also, WhatsApp is reportedly foraying into digital payment services in India. It is working to launch person-to-person payments in India in the next six months. The WhatsApp payment service will be supported by BHIM platform.

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