Facebook Messenger Adds Live Location Sharing

Facebook on Monday has announced that it is rolling out a live location sharing feature for its own app - Messenger. The new feature allows the user to share the location with friends and family an hour at a time.

App Usage in India is growing at 43%, Music and Video Apps on Top: Flurry Analytics

Yahoo-owned analytics app, Flurry on Thursday unveiled the findings for ‘State of the App Nation in India’ - a study about app activity and usage, emerging app categories and device adoption trends in India. The study revealed an astonishing fact that India’s app usage is growing at a faster pace of 43% and app categories like music, video, and finance are whopping the app market.

Samsung unveils its Virtual Assistant - Bixby

Apple, Amazon, Google and Microsoft are known for its artificial intelligence powered personal assistant and now you can add ‘Samsung’ into the mix. The South Korean tech company has announced on Monday that it is developing a voice-powered digital assistant named ‘Bixby’ for Samsung powered smartphones, smart homes, and other devices.

Bixby is designed to interact with the devices in such a way that machine learns and adapts from the human interaction and not the other way around. “Samsung has employed artificial intelligence, reinforcing deep learning concepts to the core of our user interface designs. Bixby is the ongoing result of this effort,” said Jong Rhee, Executive Vice President of Samsung.

A new way to view your video attachment on Gmail

Great news for the Gmail users! No need to download the video the file to your desktop to view it. Just stream it!

Google on Thursday announced that they are improving the video file attachment for the desktop users and has added a new feature which allows you to stream the video attachment without downloading it to your device.

With this update, you can stream the video right inside the gmail without having to download it. The video will display a thumbnail from the clip, tapping on which, leads to the online streaming of the video. One of the great advantages of the streaming feature is that you don’t need a native app to play your files.

Take the Android Taste Test to find the perfect theme for your smartphone

Went over the entire Play Store with a fine-tooth comb to customize your phone for an amazing outlook? Tired of getting the perfect theme for your phone? Chill! Google has got your back.

Google has launched an online tool called ‘Android Taste Test’ to offer widgets, themes, and icons based on your preference. Though it gives the recommendation based on your preference, it doesn’t take matters completely in its hands, instead, allows you to choose the desired theme or icon.

All you need to do is to take the test. Simply answer the question and get the perfect theme for your phone. The rapid-fire questions are aimed at understanding your traits, based on which the online tool helps you find the right theme for your home screen. The online tool is available on the android website.

Facebook 360: The Social Network’s First-Ever Dedicated VR App

Facebook on Wednesday launched its first-ever dedicated virtual reality app - Facebook 360 to make sure its users find and enjoy 360-degree photos and videos. While the novelty of 360-degree images picking up its pace, it’s the Facebook which initiated exploring the changing landscape of VR more vibrantly. But one caveat is that the app is currently available only for the Samsung Gear VR headset powered by Oculus.

One major difference between the normal Facebook app and Facebook 360 app is that Facebook 360 won’t let you browse images and photos via news Feed. A dedicated feed of four different sections is created to help users browse across the content available on the social network. The four different feeds are Explore, Following, Saved, and Timeline. 

Amazon Prime Video signs exclusive deal with Lionsgate

The two e-commerce biggies-Amazon and Lionsgate on Friday announced an exclusive long-term deal which will make the Amazon Prime Video the subscription streaming home for all the projects undertaken by the hollywood studio.

The list encompasses Lionsgate’s top acclaimed films, television series, and upcoming new releases. And the deal encloses blockbuster like ‘La La Land’ which has won six Academy Awards and grossed $370 million at the international box office, along with the other event films including ‘The Divergent Series: Allegiant’ and ‘Deepwater Horizon’.

Line is teaming up with Sony and LG to take on Alexa in Asia

During the Mobile World Congress (MWC) on Wednesday, Line CEO Takeshi Idezawa announced that the company will partner with Sony and LG to develop its own voice-based assistant, named Clova.

Clova is being developed in partnership with the South Korea’s biggest internet portal Naver Corporation and will be available as a mobile application and a speaker named ‘Wave’ in South Korea and Japan in early summer. “The Clova platform allows Line’s existing services to interconnect, moving users post-touch, post-display, and even post-smart portal, into a new future. We are aiming to make Clova Asia’s leading cloud AI platform.” said Idezawa.

Paytm Crosses 200 Million Users and Launches Paytm Mall App

Paytm on Monday announced that they have a reached a milestone of 200 million users and launched a standalone app-Patym Mall. Within three years of launching the app, Paytm has achieved a great milestone and proved itself as the most preferred platform across the country.

"At Paytm, our goal is to help merchants and consumers transact digitally at zero extra cost. Reaching 200 million registered users and more than half a million users on a daily basis is a great showcase of the country's trust in our payment solution. It reaffirms our belief in the need for a quick and easy cashless payment method. Going forward, we would continue to drive strong consumer-focused innovation in the category to reach the widest set of merchants and consumers in India." said founder & CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma.