Technology

Snapchat Parent Snap Inc Working on Drones

Mar 1, 2017 By

Snapchat has been a revolutionary force when it comes to the world of social media and technology. Last year, the company then known as Snapchat re-branded as Snap Inc, and separated the parent company’s identity from the app. Snap Inc is currently busy doing road shows for investors, and is raising money for their upcoming IPO, currently evaluated between $19 to $23 Billion. Meanwhile, Snap Inc has also been reported to be working on drones!

The drones made by Snap will be able to take aerial photos and videos. However, at the moment we are not sure if Snap does intend to release it on a larger scale and make it available for the users, or are they planning to take a B2B approach here, or is it something they are doing just for fun. The reports of Snap Inc building a drone comes to us via the New York Times, and it cites three insiders who are close to the matter but wish to remain anonymous.

Snap Inc has always worked on taking visual communication to the next level. While they began with Snapchat, which revolutionized the way users communicate, changing it from text-based to a more visual form of communication, last years’ Snap Specs took the game to a whole new direction too as the users can now share experiences the way they actually see things. With these drones now being reported, Snapchat can now bring forward another major revolution in the form of aerial photography and videos.

At this point of time it is in too early a stage to comment on the company’s plans. Snap Inc is producing some drones, and it is likely to be more of a B2B service over the long term, possibly tying up with events or broadcasters, or similar deals like these. Stay tuned for more updates on what the company’s plans are

Nokia Has Solid Reasons For The Nokia 3310 Reboot and It’s Not About Sales

Feb 28, 2017 By

Nokia recently shocked the world by launching the Nokia 3310 after 15 years, alongside 3 modern Android phones at the Mobile World Congress.

The Finnish giant, once known for the toughest and the best mobile phones in the world fell upon bad times when its deal with Microsoft went sour. After being literally kicked off the smartphone business and the average success of the Lumia range, Nokia has come back to the scene again. The company has been slowly rebuilding its stature quietly in the dark with very few people to really know that it was working with Foxconn and China Mobile. But now the brand is back with all pomp and show and as committed, has delivered new phones, like the Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6, which turned out to be the star of Nokia’s show.

However, the phone that really caused some people to raise eyebrows and caused others to be filled with joyous surprise was the Nokia 3310. Being comparatively ‘dumber’ compared to today’s smartphones, the Nokia 3310 has evoked many questions about its reboot. This phone can neither let you use 3G or 4G and allows you to use 2G only, nor can give you most of the amenities that a modern smartphone gives. Nevertheless it was launched by the brand, making this one of the biggest questions of this year’s MWC.

Most people have questioned Nokia’s logic behind launching this 45 Euro phone in the wake of high end technology. Granted, that the phone now has a colour screen and comes in some really bright colours, but it has nothing to make it stand out as compared to the rest in terms of technology. Or may be it does, because it is lacks everything a smartphone has. According to Nokia, the re-launch of the 3310 was a message of assurance to people that their trusted phone brand is now back in business, but it may prove to be a good sales stint, as those who have once loved the phone will be able to use it again.

Perks of using the Nokia 3310 include access to the once popular ‘snake game’ that came with every Nokia phone in the past and a feeling of Nostalgia.

Huawei Phones Will Now Come With Quik Video Editor, Thanks To GoPro Merger

Feb 27, 2017 By

In what appears to be one of the best things that has happened to Huawei phones, its recent joining with GoPro has opened new avenues of success for it. The company has been known to manufacture both budget and premium smartphones and now, with the addition of the Quik video editor, it just raised the bar. The GoPro merger has given the smartphone company an edge over others in the form of this Quik editor that is native to GoPro cameras only. With this association, the future flagships like the Huawei P10 and P10 Plus will be able to avail this feature.

Video editing has never been simpler before. With the Quik video editor, editing videos and getting the desired results is only a click away. Moreover, having it on your very own phone will make communication easier with each other. Now, Huawei phone owners will no longer have to use their computers or laptops to edit videos. The quik editor will be able to pick the best video minutes from the whole video and then complete it with the effects on its own. You may overridde the application anytime you feel like and make edits as per your choice. It all boils down to the simple idea of having a hassle free video editor that can cut, join, make videos properly with.

The Quik video editor has been integrated with the interface that GoPro video will work on the smartphone. This has been made possible by Huawei chipping in to make necessary changes, so that cellphone can do everything it is expected to do. This interface that has been based on Huawei’s EMUI 5.1 user interface. To make things better, the company is packing in even better camera lenses that will make photography a joy. Both the P10 and the P10 Plus have Leica powered dual camera lenses for better photography.

Fitbit Confesses Spending $23 Million For Acquiring Pebble:

Feb 23, 2017 By

One of the most notable acquisitions that were done in 2016 was that of Pebble getting acquired by Fitbit. The two wearable companies came together in December last year and since then has faced many queries regarding the intimates of the deal, but has never disclosed them before. However, the wearable company has now disclosed their earnings finally.

Fitbit declared that it had spent a mere 23 million US dollars in the acquisition of Pebble. This was an alarming amount. When the deal was finalised, the tech world had estimated purchase costs to be around $34 million and $40 million. This deal being so cheap had its own reasons. The two wearable makers had been at loggerheads for a long time and with Fitbit overpowering Pebble’s line of smartwatches, the competition at one point became really tense. But the second move advantage taken by Fitbit ultimately led Pebble to merge with its rival, and that too at a throw away price.

Apparently, putting an end to Pebble’s struggles in running the business did not do fitbit much good. The company has seen unsatisfactory sales figures in the last few months. The sale during the holiday season was particularly bad – the number of units sold was estimated to be just 6.5 million. The expectation was much higher because of this acquisition. a 19 percent fall was seen in the last quarter alone. However, experts have ascertained that over the year, the sales have increased by 17%, so the last quarter might not have hurt that bad. It nevertheless lost around $103 million in the full year, even though it adopted a good marketing strategy to boost sales. Perhaps giving discounts or even increasing prices did not do much good. Sales have since then been in the bad seas, but it is still trying its best to improve on the sales scores.

Apple Buys iCloud.net But Leaves No Clue As To What It Plans To Do with It:

Feb 22, 2017 By

Even if you do not believe this, it is true that iCloud.net was not owned by Apple earlier.

The iCloud.net domain was actually owned by a software developer, Tong Lei, who also happened to run a small social network through this site. The network had some features that matched Facebook and others that were similar to blogs on the internet, but all that will have to go, since Apple is now going to be in full charge. The price paid for the domain was closed to 4.5 million USD, which is lesser than the 5.2 million they paid to the Swedish company Xcerion in 2011. Questions have been raised on this move by Apple – why wait six years to buy something that they could have bought earlier? This is something best left for Apple to answer.

A message from site owner to users urging them to remove their accounts and say their goodbyes before the plug is pulled on 1st March, 2017.

The purchase, though very big, is not going to be the last one for sure. There is another domain, called iCloud.co.uk, that it has its eye on for this domain next.

Almost `170 domain names were given away to Apple in a attempt to help the company gain whatever domains clashed wit the iCloud name. These iCloud domains all belonged to separate companies and they were able to be taken over for.

iCloud.net had its own little group of users who were able to share photos and connect with each other. With this network gone, the users will have to move over to another new address and where the users will move is still not clear.

As for the owner Tong Lei, he mentioned intentions of having a couponing site for Chinese people. He is not interested in starting any more social networking sites. However, he will continue to have his bitcoin site along side, which is another major source of income for him.

Meanwhile, what Apple will do with iCloud.net is not clear yet, but surely, it will be connected to storage online.

Here’s Why The Yahoo Deal With Verizon Closed At A $350 Million Rebate

Feb 21, 2017 By

Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) has reportedly cut down heavily on the price of its internet business to facilitate a smooth sale to Verizon. Share prices at both ends have seen a minor rise, which is not a very bad news for either party.

The internet giant has recently been racked by data breaches, that caused almost 1.5 billion accounts to have been affected. This proved to be a massive blow to the already diminishing value of the company, further causing Verizon to rethink its plan of taking over.

With a wonderful deal slowly dropping cold, Yahoo made an intelligent move of lowering its selling price by a whopping 350 million USD. This jolted relations right back into place and both the companies openly announced the arrangement last Tuesday to public. The sale will now go through at the rate of $4.48 billion USD, which is a neat price considering the not so pink situation the company was in.

Yahoo is still in the throes of lawsuits and cases that have come upon it as a result of the data breach and this deal is no less than an oasis in a desert. The transaction, however would have gone through much earlier had Yahoo not faced these hacks. Both these incidents, dating back to 2013 and 2014 had caused almost 1.5 billion accounts to be compromised. A hacking in such colossal proportions was sure to create some ripples, which it did, further leaving no choice but to make a major price cut to have the failing internet business sold.

This change of ownership, however, will not make Verizon liable to cover costs that might be faced in carrying out the legal formalities in certain cases. All expenses incurred during the course of this investigation by Securities and Exchange Commission would have to be borne by Yahoo. In case of other government based investigations and litigation, Verizon has agreed to share the burden of expenses.