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New Update of Slack Gives Users’ More Control Over Their Notifications

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Slack is a top-rated messaging application that organisations prefer due to its more professional design. A lot of companies and corporations use this messenger for internal communication. While it helps you stay connected to your employer, sometimes, the messenger intrudes your free time. Well, not anymore! Slack’s new update allows you to choose when you want to receive notifications, allowing you to free up your weekend. Here’s a quick look at how the update allows you full control over your weekends once again. 

Slack New Update

The new update allows users to set a per-day basis for their notification received, ensuring they can keep work at bay during the weekends. Most people have had to struggle with maintaining a work-life balance with the app keeping them hooked to their jobs even on the weekends. However, this new update allows you to separate your personal and work lives, by freeing up your weekend. In the past, Slack allowed users to set tags like Available and Busy to determine how they received notifications. However, these settings automatically extended to the weekends as well, meaning you received work emails and texts during your off-days. 

slack
Image Source- Slackhq.com

Weekend Fun

Users hated receiving important work texts while lazing around on the only free day they had, and the new update tries to solve this problem. It gives you back your Sundays by allowing you to set your preferences on a per-day option. That means users get to decide when they are comfortable receiving work-related messages. It will enable them to establish a no-notification policy for the weekends, or on days they have called in sick, to get some me-time for themselves.

DND Your Weekends

With the help of the new notifications settings, you can put your weekend in Slack’s Do-Not-Disturb mode. When the DND mode activates, your contacts will see a ‘z’ next to your name, indicating you do not wish to be disturbed. When you are in the DND mode, every group which mentions your name or a keyword related to you will have a red badge next to it. However, people can still ping you via Direct Message, which will lead to a notification on your device. Now that you know exactly what the new update does, here’s a look at how to fine-tune and customise the setting on your app.

Fine-Tuning Your Notifications

For the desktop app:

  1. Go to the Slack Homepage.
  2. Click on the arrow right next to the organisation’s name.
  3. Go to the Pause Notifications Tab and click on it to find a menu within it.
  4. From the menu, click on the Set a notification schedule option.
  5. On that tab, go to the Allow Notifications heading, and access the dropdown menu under it.
  6. From this menu, select the notifications setting you want – Daily, Weekdays, or Custom schedule.
  7. To fine-tune even further, you can opt for the time duration over which you want to receive notifications.

For the mobile app:

  • Go to the main toolbar on the app.
  • Click on the You Icon, and then the Notifications tab.
  • From the menu, click on Notification Schedule.
  • Next, click on Allow notifications, and then decide on the setting you want- Daily, Weekdays or Custom.

 If you want to enable push notifications, here’s how you do it.

  1. In the Slack Mobile App, go to Channel Settings, and then click on Notification Preferences.
  2. Doing so will open up the Desktop/Mobile Push Notifications tab.
  3. From the tab, select your preferred settings and click on Done.

Once you have saved your settings, it will automatically sync with your devices. Doing so will help you organise your life, and prevent work emails from getting across on the weekends. This new update allows you to stay updated on the matters that are the most important. It also helps you achieve a healthy work-life balance, and de-stress your weekends. Set up your Slack Notifications and free up your weekends for some much-needed me-time.

One web

UK government to invest $500 million on satellite company OneWeb

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Last Friday, the UK government announced that it will invest $500 million in OneWeb, a young satellite firm founded by Greg Wyler. The newly built company was facing finance troubled and hence filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US in March. UK government has responded to the company’s difficult times and demanded a significant equity share as well. Bharti Global, an Indian telecom company will also invest $500 million as a part of the same agreement.

OneWeb
Image Source: Forbs.com

Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

On 28th March 2020, the company released the news of using bankruptcy proceedings and shows an interest in the sale of the firm. With COVID-19 making a horrendous impact on every sector of the economy, OneWeb also became its victim. The company said that they were about to receive financing but the global pandemic is the reason it failed. So, they were left with no other choice than putting it up for sale.

OneWeb also started cutting off the workforce but didn’t mention any specific figure. The company needed to conclude at the earliest as one week before filing bankruptcy protection it launched 34 satellites from Kazakhstan. The company has big plans to provide high-speed internet from space for the usage of common people. So, it received a license from the Federal Communications Commission to launch a constellation of 650 low-lying satellites for the same purpose. One of its biggest plans is to provide internet coverage to the Arctic.

Internet coverage to the Arctic

Last year, the company declared that it is planning to provide “fiber-like internet” coverage at the Arctic region and high-speed internet to homes, boats, and even planes that are located above the 60th parallel north latitude. To achieve this goal, the company planned to launch a constellation of 650 satellites among which 74 are successfully launched. OneWeb also said that since the number of satellites is high, one satellite can cover a specific part of Earth 24/7.

The project of covering the maximum part of the Arctic is very challenging as its geographical strains make it harder for establishing conventional internet connectivity. But, OneWeb claims that it can provide high-speed internet coverage to 48% of the Arctic. And, this would further help in the overall development of the Arctic region. People in the Arctic appreciated the idea as it will open vast opportunities for them with growing connectivity. OneWeb launched their satellites on Soyuz rocket.

Future planning

Currently, with 74 satellites orbiting the Earth, OneWeb plans to move its satellite production from Florida in the US to the UK if the government supports. The UK was planning for a long time to make a big move in the aerospace sector, especially after the nation lost access to the European Union’s Galileo Satellite System in 2018. Since then, the plan of the UK has come to a halt especially for economic concerns. After the UK government agreed with OneWeb last Friday, it gives a 20 percent stake of the company. This deal will allow OneWeb to complete the construction of the planned satellite constellation.

Alok Sharma, UK Secretary of State for Business, said that this a big opportunity for the UK to set up a wide production base for spacecraft. If this mission becomes successful, the UK will become one of the global leaders in the aerospace business. OneWeb will be back in production at the earliest.

Criticism

But, OneWeb is not the only private company in the world trying to make global connectivity stronger. SpaceX is also a very big competitor of OneWeb given that OneWeb was only founded a couple of years ago. Moreover, the agreement between the UK government and OneWeb has caught the attention of many space policy experts.

Dr. Bleddyn Bowen from the University of Leicester said that for starters the UK has bought the wrong satellites. The idea that OneWeb is working on resembles the idea of Starlink by SpaceX. According to this space policy expert, OneWeb is trying to put together technology and a design that is not made for each other. So, there are high chances that the execution of this mega constellation will fail. Giles Throne, a research analyst at Jeffries also made the same accusation about the deal.

Amazon Prime Video

Amazon Prime Video App is now available for Windows 10 devices

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After a long wait, the Windows users can finally download their favorite videos from the Amazon Prime Video App. Yesterday, the company announced the launch of this prime video app exclusively for Windows 10 users. One can download the app on their desktop or any other Windows 10 devices from the Microsoft Store. The app went live yesterday and it is available now for the Indian customers as well.

Previously, before the app was launched, Windows users were still able to stream prime video content from browsers like Chrome. But, they still faced the disadvantage of not able to download and watch any video offline. So, this new Amazon Prime Video App will permit you to download the prime video content and watch it offline.

Watch Party feature for the US

Apart from launching a new app for the Windows customers, Amazon Prime Video also introduced a new feature called Watch Party last week. Currently, this new feature is only available for prime users in the US which will eventually expand its user base. The new Watch Party feature allows prime members to watch videos together with friends from a different location.

So, through this new feature Amazon prime video allows a maximum of 100 viewers in a group. But, each viewer must have a US-based Prime subscription otherwise they won’t get access to this feature. And, after joining a group, one can choose any TV show or movie both from licensed and original category. Watch Party doesn’t allow to stream TV shows or movies that are available either for rent or purchase. Moreover, this feature is only available for desktop users. The company didn’t make any announcement regarding a similar feature for smartphones.

Strong competition for Netflix and Hulu

Amazon Prime Video has always been a strong rival of Netflix and Hulu. But, with the service launching new features and getting new content might get things heated up. Amazon Prime video now has originals like Fleabag, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Jack Ryan, The Big Sick, The Boys, Homecoming, etc.

The demand for Amazon Prime Video is not going flat anytime soon especially after the introduction of the Watch Party feature. Apart from video streaming and watching it with friends and family, it also comes with a chat feature. So, anyone in the group can talk to all the other viewers in the group. To include viewers in the group the host needs to share a private link. So, the working process is similar to today’s video conferencing apps like Zoom, Cisco Webex, etc.

After Amazon Prime video launched the feature of Watch Party, Netflix along with Disney and WarnerMedia is trying to pull off something similar.

Payment for the new app

The Prime video is already free for the Amazon Prime subscribers as they pay $119 annually. For Windows users, they can download the Amazon Prime Video app for free from the Microsoft store. But, a monthly subscription fee of $8.99 is required for getting access to Amazon Prime Video.

Video quality

It is found that the new Prime Video app for the Windows 10 users doesn’t allow video streaming above 720p resolution. The same goes for the prime video app for the iPad as well. If the Windows users use browsers like Chrome, they can stream videos at 1080p.

But, the app claims to stream and download videos at a maximum of 1080p. When the user will try to download any video, he or she will be offered three quality choices, Good, Better, and Best. Higher quality will occupy more space and consume more data.

google pixel

Adieus to Google mid-range phones since the company confirmed the discontinuation of Pixel 3A and 3A XL

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Very disappointing news hit the tech market yesterday as Google confirmed that there won’t be any further production of Pixel 3A and 3A XL. Google provided a statement to the Android Police about the discontinuation of these mid-range Google smartphones. The company said that there will be no more stock available for these phones on the Google Store.

Where can you still get Pixel 3A and 3A XL?

Google has completed selling all its Pixel 3A and 3A XL through its inventory. But, some of the units might be still available and one can get them from third party retailers. Google said that though they are completed sold through its inventory some of its partners might still have 3A. So, anyone who is still interested in grabbing one of the last pieces of Pixel 3A, hurry up. If you are lucky enough you can still manage to find a retailer with a few last units of these amazing smartphones.

Before Google confirmed that it won’t produce any more units of 3A or 3A XL, the official Google Store marked the product 3A as “Out of Stock”. But, eventually, after the statement was released yesterday, the company changed the status to “Unavailable”.

And, if you are looking for any third party retailers, go and check up in Amazon as well. In Flipkart, it is still showing out of stock instead of unavailable. People who were eyeing 3A for a long time now must be heartbroken especially when this model became a big hit for its amazing camera at a comparatively lower price.

Pixel 3A was a big hit

When Pixel 3A was released, it went off the “mediocre” level and gave a strong competition to the expensive smartphones as well. The best thing that attracted most of the buyers was the Pixel 3A camera. For $399, Pixel 3A was giving away camera quality that could outrun even some of the most expensive smartphone’s camera. The outlook of Pixel 3A was also similar to the high-ranking Pixel 3 models.

The camera with a 12.2-megapixel sensor with f/1.8 aperture made Pixel 3A’s camera even better than the camera on iPhone XR. What can a user ask for when he or she is already getting a smartphone with a camera than can surpass iPhone’s camera in a lower budget?

The Pixel 3A phone came with an 8-megapixel front camera and many advanced features such as Night Sight, Dancing AR Cartoons, Time Lapse, etc. Apart from the general audience, this might be one of the best choices for any photography enthusiast out there. Because, whenever it’s not possible to carry that heavy big gear and other equipment, the phone can easily capture some great shots.

But, with Pixel 3A and 3A XL disappearing from the market, people will be talking more about Pixel 4. Also, words have been floating on the air about the successor of Pixel 3A, Pixel 4A might come anytime soon.

Is Pixel 4A coming anytime soon?

With Google’s phone becoming a big hit after the release of Pixel 3A and 3A XL, Google was about to launch the new Pixel 4A this year. But, many big plans have been altered after the pandemic has hit our world. And, due to the harsh consequences of COVID-19, many products launched are delayed which also includes the cancellation of Google I/O 2020. So, it has been a long time since Google made any official announcement about Pixel 4A.

Last month when the company Android 11, it didn’t make any statements about the release of Pixel 4A. But, even before a company makes an official announcement, some of the details get leaked over time. So far, the specifications we have come to know about Pixel 4A are a display of 5.81 inches with a Snapdragon 730 processor. Pixel 4A will have 6GB RAM with a questionable internal memory (64GB or 128GB). The video recording capabilities of 4A will be as same as Pixel 4 with the camera specifications of Pixel 3A.

Facebook to Release Dark Mode For Desktop Version

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Facebook has been in the news for a plethora of reasons in the last few weeks. What started as a reaction to claims of promoting hate speech, has now become news regarding a technology update. The social media platform has been receiving flak for its policies, advertisements, and views on freedom of speech. However, bucking the usual trend, the company has released a statement regarding a new update for the app. Here’s a look at what Facebook has been up to in the last few months.

Facebook Goes Dark

Facebook recently launched a dark mode version of its desktop application. The company also stated that it is working on a similar dark mode version for its mobile application. The testing for the same is underway, and the tech giant expects the update to be out soon. As reported by the SocialMedia Today, as of now, the dark mode capability has been opened to only very few users. Since the update is still in testing, the company is exposing few people to it, and adapting the interface as per their feedback. While the desktop-dark-mode came out last month, the mobile version does not have a timeline attached to it yet. The update came to help people cut down on glare, and help them view the website in low-light environments. 

Dark Mode
Image Source: DailyExpress

Slow to The Starting Line

However, fans were surprised that the tech giant took this long to come out with such an update. All of Facebook’s contemporaries have already come out with their versions much earlier. Notably, their own subsidiaries, Instagram and Whatsapp, went dark months ago, followed by the Facebook Messenger. Meanwhile, Facebook’s biggest adversary, Twitter has had a Night Version for both Android and iOS for quite some time. Google seemed to be the last to enter the arena, coming out with their dark mode, earlier this year. These updates, which allow users to change all background colors to black, have become quite popular with users. This setting makes things more comfortable for the eyes, is aesthetically pleasing, and consumes less power, allowing the battery to last longer. 

Difficult Times Ahead

However, as per photos put up by users with access to the feature, Facebook’s Dark Mode will not be pitch black. Instead, the functionality will have a grayscale design that uses white accents for icons and logos. Furthermore, along with introducing the Dark mode, Facebook also revamped its website design. The new navigation makes it easier to find videos and Groups, and help in faster page transitions. However, these updates come during troubling times for the technology giant. Over the past week, several major advertisement companies have stated they will not be working with Facebook any longer. This could lead to the company losing out on millions in the form of advertising revenue for the Zuckerberg-led company.

ford

Ford Unveils New 2021 F-150 Model with Advanced Features

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The last week has since several large automakers come out with updates on new releases and upgrades in technology. Following Daimler, Benz, and GM, Ford is the latest automaker to announce an upgrade in their vehicles. Yesterday, Ford unveiled its 2021 F-150 model, the newest entry in their uber-popular pickup truck. However, unlike previous iterations, the new truck will have a sleuth of new features, being very tech-savvy. Here’s a look at some of the features of this new model. 

Ford Presents the Future

Ford’s new pickup truck will feature a new hands-free driving mode, allowing users to enable several driver assistance options. It will also feature over-the-air updates, which will help users stay updated with their software. The new truck will also feature Apple’s wireless CarPlay and their much-loved Android Auto. Ford has also announced plans for a hybrid F-150 with high mileage, being able to travel over 700 miles on a single tank of fuel. 

Ford
Image Source: cnet.com

Driver Assistance Features

Ford’s hands-free option, called the Active Drive Assist, will also be seen in Mustang’s new launch for next year, the Mach-E electric SUV. This option will make the F-150 one of the few vehicles to have a fully functional driver assistance feature onboard. The other cars with a hands-free option will be GM’s Super Cruise model and Cadillac’s AND, both of which have already announced their specifications and features. However, the prospect of Active Drive Assist will only be available on a few divided highways as decided by Ford. Also, to be able to use this feature, users will have to purchase a hardware package designed for it, that enables the option. The hardware package also comes with a system that monitors the driver, which utilises an IR camera to ensure the driver is focusing on the road. Since it requires additional hardware, the Active Drive Assist will require extra payment from the user’s side. 

Other Features

Buyers who don’t opt for the Active Drive Assist will still be able to make use of the other F-150 features, such as Co-Pilot360. This is an older version of a driver assistance system that Ford had developed and marketed. Certain features of this package, such as automatic braking for emergencies, and pedestrian detection, will come complementary. This is a great deal for buyers as these systems are necessary due to the large size of the F-150 truck. However, additional features such as cruise control, collision braking, backup assist, and lane centering will have to be bought at an added cost.

Additional Specifications

Bigger F-150 models will have a 12-inch touchscreen placed in landscape mode on the dashboard. Such placement will serve as a different design outlay, as both theFiat Chrysler and Dodge Ram models have a vertical arrangement of the screen. The smaller F-150 will feature an eight-inch display, placed in the same manner. Both screens will run Ford’s acclaimed infotainment platform Sync 4. The new pickup truck is also one of the few vehicles that feature both CarPlay and Android Auto. In addition to this, it also features a wireless charging pad, USB-A, and USB-C ports, and a 12-inch instrument cluster.

As the system allows for over-the-air updating, buyers will be able to switch to the state-of-the-art technology, as soon as updates drop. Ford has also clarified that updates will help upgrade the whole car and not just the infotainment system. Planned upgrades include ones that support preventative maintenance, helping users reduce trips for repair and improve the overall quality of the vehicle.

Hybrid Model

Ford is also working on coming out with an electric F-150, which should hit the market in 2022. The company will launch a hybrid F-150, the way GM and Fiat Chrysler have in the past. Ford’s hybrid will be a fourth-generation pickup truck that utilises the newest technology. Technical specifications include a 47 horsepower motor powered by a 1.5kWh battery. When used together, it will allow the hybrid to travel over 700 miles on a full tank of 30.6 gallons of gas, giving it a mileage of 23 miles/gallon. Furthermore, the hybrid will have rear-wheel and all-wheel drive alternatives featuring a twin-turbocharged V6 engine. 

The new F-150 will usher in a new age for Ford, being their biggest jump in technology. It will be interesting to see how their experiment works out and how much value the new technology will add to one of the most popular vehicle divisions in the world.