 "Top news this week: Twitter IPO, Apple to expand in India, Adobe hacked and a lot more")
We understand that it has been a busy week and it is tough to keep up with all the tech news that goes around. Take a quick look at all the top news that came our way this week, which includes Twitter’s IPO, the voice of Siri, a whole lot of software tweaks and few surprises!
Line now has 10 million Indian users, adds video calling, ‘Snap Movie’ featuresLine, the cross-platform messaging app has now managed to get 10 million registered Indian users. The company revealed a few new features for the app too with video calling, “Snap Movie” being the highlights.
Ads start appearing on Gmail for Android
The inevitable has happened and ads are now a part of your Gmail inbox on Android. Some users have already started seeing ads in the Promotions folder of Gmail for Android.
Meet Susan Bennett, the voice of Siri!
Ever wondered whose voice is behind Siri? You aren’t alone. While Apple has never revealed the voice behind its digital assistant, the mystery may have been solved now. Susan Bennett is a voiceover actor who recorded clips for a client eight years ago, and claims she is Siri.
The voice behind Siri may now have been revealed
Nokia HERE to work with local experts for its mapping system in India
Nokia’s mapping platform HERE is bringing a community programme to India. The programme will be combining industry data along with crowd sourced data. HERE plans to pick a team of 1000 people from over a dozen select universities across the nation. The aim of this initiative is to interact with local experts to share their knowledge about the areas.
Apple eyeing expansion into Tier-II and Tier-III Indian cities
Looks like Apple may finally be ready to take the Indian market seriously. According to a new report, the company is planning to expand its marketing and sales reach to Tier-II and Tier-III Indian cities in a bid to grab more customers. While the company is yet to formally launch its new iPhone handsets here, it looks like India does figure in Apple’s plans after all.
Google and ASI to put 360-degree views of Indian monuments online
You will soon be able to visit famous Indian landmarks and monuments, right from your desk. The Archeological Survey of India(ASI) in association with the Ministry of Culture and Google is creating 360-degree online imagery of around 100 Indian monuments including the usual suspects, the Taj Mahal, Qutub Minar, Khajuraho, as well as the Ajanta and Ellora Caves.
Google, ASI have now put 360 degree views of Indian monuments online
New iPhone 5s motion sensor complaints add to Apple’s woes
Apple recently began rolling out its top-of-the-line iPhone 5s to consumers. And quite a few users have reported the device’s motion sensors not being calibrated properly.
Cautious Instagram to slowly introduce ads in the next couple of months
Instagram has officially announced that ads are coming to your feeds on the app “in the next couple of months”. The ads will be limited only to Instagram users in the US initially.
Adobe hacked, 2.9 million users’ data compromised
Adobe has revealed that its network had been compromised and details of a staggering 2.9 million customers were affected due to it. While the company did not reveal when the breach occurred, the investigation revealed that the attackers accessed customer IDs and encrypted passwords from the system.
Microsoft wants HTC to add Windows Phone to its Android devices
Microsoft reportedly wooing HTC to put Windows Phone on its Android devicesMicrosoft is working very hard to promote its Windows Phone mobile platform. A new report suggests that the company may have asked Taiwanese manufacturer HTC to install Windows Phone as a “separate option on Android handsets”.
Twitter reveals $1 billion IPO plan
Twitter has made its plans for raising $1 billion in its IPO public for the first time. The company’s filing went live at the SEC this week, revealing Twitter’s figures to potential buyers. Twitter also admitted that it is generating revenue fast but is also losing money at the same time.
Not just Samsung, almost all Android manufacturers fudge benchmarksBenchmark scores have traditionally been one of the key factors that help users understand the performance of devices. A new report shows that almost every Android-based manufacturer artificially inflates the performances of their devices to reflect a higher score in these tests.
Android Jelly Bean rules the roost, accounts for 49 percent of ‘active’ usersAndroid Jelly Bean is used by almost half the total number of active Android devices worldwide, according to data released by the company. Jelly Bean amounts to a massive 48.6 percent, which includes Android 4.1.x, Android 4.2.x and the latest Android 4.3 version.
Hot launches: Smartphones of September 2013September was easily the busiest month for smartphone companies in India with a slew of high-end handsets making it to India just before the advent of the holiday season. But the budget-conscious also have a bunch of new options to pick from. Here’s a roundup of the phones launched and announced last month.
Yahoo! revises vulnerability reporting policy, will dish out cash rewards up to $15,000Offering cash rewards for vulnerability reports has become something of a norm when it comes to big tech companies these days. It comes as a bit of a surprise then that Yahoo! did not have a cash-reward policy to award for white-hats. The company unveiled a new programme to reward reporters who shed light on bugs and vulnerabilities classified as new, unique and/or high risk issues.
Apple’s A7 processor could be a marketing gimmick (Image credit: imore.com)
Apple’s 64-bit A7 processor a ‘marketing gimmick’, says Qualcomm executiveOne of the biggest selling points of Apple’s recently launched iPhone 5s is the 64-bit A7 processor under the hood. The feature, though, may be more of a marketing stunt and might not amount to any immediate benefits for smartphone users, a Qualcomm executive said.
BlackBerry resumes closed beta testing of BBM for Android
BlackBerry has resumed the closed beta testing of the application on Android again. Members of the closed beta group are reporting that the Canadian company seems to be testing the application all over again.
Tom Clancy, co-founder of Rainbow Six Studio, passes away
Tom Clancy, the author behind a number of military thrillers, movies and video games, is no more. He passed away on Tuesday in Baltimore at the age of 66.
Silk Road was a thriving marketplace for drugs (Image credit: Getty Images)
Underground online drug market Silk Road shut by FBI, alleged owner arrested
US law enforcement authorities have seized and shut down Silk Road, an underground marketplace where one could allegedly purchase drugs freely. The agency also announced that it had arrested the alleged owner of Silk Road, Ross William Ulbritch.
New iMessage bug latest in growing list of minor issues in iOS 7Apple’s new iOS 7 seems to run up against another technical snag. An iMessage bug reportedly causes messages to be unsent, unreceived or sent as a text on a variety of iPhones models running iOS 7.
India’s mobile Internet dominated by Google and Facebook users
New data shows that there are over 2.4 billion Internet users in the world, of which 1.5 billion access the Internet through their mobile devices. India has more than 160 million Internet users which is quite a meagre number compared to the world figures. However, more than 50 percent of overall users in India access the Internet via mobile.
LinkedIn working on a ‘block’ feature to thwart stalkingLinkedIn is all set to make privacy advocates happy very soon. The professional social network, under fire these days for being a platform used by stalkers, will soon be introducing a “block” feature that can be used in dire situations.
LinkedIn working on a block feature
New leaked image shows Nexus 5 vividly
Leaks surrounding the much-awaited Nexus 5 keep popping up. A new image shows a slate-gray device and gives us the first clear look at the upcoming hone.
Apple jumps over Coca-Cola to become world’s most valuable brandApple has now overtaken global heavyweight Coca-Cola to become the world’s most valuable brand in the world, according to the annual Best Global Brands report compiled by Interbrand. This is the first time in 13 years that the latter has not featured in the top spot of the list.
India made 321 user data requests from Microsoft in the first half of 2013According to Microsoft, India made 321 requests for user data reports for its services including Skype. The total number of accounts and users specified within this request by Indian agencies stood at 515.
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