YouTube is letting creators take more control of the comments section

By tech2 News Staff /  04 Nov 2016 , 17:39

YouTube has rolled out new features for creators to engage better with the community. Creators can now hand pick great comments to pin to the top of the comments section. This serves the dual purpose of showing fans what kinds of comments creators appreciate, or highlight important aspects about the video. Any comment can be loved with a heart icon, which shows the creators appreciation for the comment without changing the order of appearance. Creators will have a special colour for easy identification, with a verified tick for verified creators.

A new beta feature automatically holds inappropriate comments in a moderation queue. This is an opt-in service. The identification of inappropriate comments gets better as and when creators make the choice to allow or remove a particular comment. The new features are in addition to existing community moderation features for creators. This includes the option to select moderators for the community itself and blacklist particular words and phrases.

YouTube recently made an attempt to moderate the YouTube community by launching Heroes, a program that gave YouTube users tiers of powers for increased moderation of community content on YouTube. The move was not received well by the YouYube community, with the announcement video gathering over 900,000 dislikes. The new set of tools giving the creators of channels more control of the conversation seems like a better attempt at community moderation.

Study says that online gaming is not as addictive as gambling in real life

Image: Abhilash Pavuluri

  04 Nov 2016 , 17:32

You can successfully quit out of your favourite online game with much ease as playing internet games has been found not as addictive as gambling, new research has suggested. The study is the first to measure the scale of gaming addiction in the general population using symptoms of ‘internet gaming disorder’, which included preoccupation with internet gaming, anxiety and other withdrawal symptoms (if the game was taken away), increasing amounts of time spent gaming, loss of control, reduced interests, social withdrawal, and losing opportunities as a result of gaming.

The findings showed that while many gamers may feel preoccupied and distracted from other responsibilities in a way akin to a sports fan whose team has reached the finals, they are not likely to have a pathological condition unless there are feelings of significant distress. “Internet games are currently one of the most popular leisure activities but we can’t leap to conclusions and assume that if 160 million people play them, one million of them might be addicted,” said lead author Andrew Przybylski, from the University of Oxford.

“Contrary to what was predicted, the study did not find a clear link between potential addiction and negative effects on health,” Przybylski added. For the study, researchers from the University of Oxford surveyed 19,000 men and women from the UK, the US, Canada and Germany. Over half of the sample said they had played internet games recently. Of these, between 2 per cent and 3 per cent reported they had experienced five or more of the symptoms on the list, with between 1 per cent and 0.5 per cent saying they also had feelings of ‘significant distress’ in being unable to curb their play.

Specific indicators like increasing playtime to increase excitement were reported three times more frequently than other indicators, such as risking social relationships, the researchers observed. However, the great majority of gamers — nearly three in four — reported no symptoms at all that we would link with addictive gaming behaviour, Przybylski said.

These rates are less than half those reported recently for gambling by the British Gambling Prevalence Survey, the researchers noted in the paper published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

IANS

Samsung W2017 flip-style flagship smartphone announced, could get a high price tag

By tech2 News Staff /  04 Nov 2016 , 14:16

If you thought flip phones were out of fashion, then think again. Samsung has announced a new high-end smartphone in China called the W2017 which offers a flip form factor. It is indeed the successor for the W2016 and has been leaked in the past.

Apart from the attractive golden clamshell design, the handset offers some impressive specifications. You get the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. There is a microSD card to expand the storage.

It features two 4.2-inch Super AMOLED touchscreens, one on the outside and one on the inside, both offering a full HD resolution. Camera duties are handled by a 12 MP f/1.9 unit with 4K video support, and a 5MP unit on the front to take selfies.

It also features a fingerprint scanner, Samsung’s Always On display and fast wireless charging. It runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. The dimensions are 127.8 x 61.4 x 15.8 mm, and it weighs 208g.

All of this sounds quite impressive, but you might not get to have your hands on this device as this is expected to be a China exclusive smartphone. This is similar to the last year’s model. Also, the pricing has not been confirmed but is is said to go as much as a whopping CNY 20,000 which almost Rs 2,00,000. Did anyone say luxury?

WhatsApp testing new ‘Status’ tab; lets you share photos like Instagram ‘Stories’ or Snapchat ‘Snaps’

By Rehan Hooda /  04 Nov 2016 , 11:39

WhatsApp is currently testing new interface with ‘Status’ updates tab to the interface after adding a ‘Camera’ tab to the interface along with Video Calling. ‘Status’ updates is not a new addition to WhatsApp and has long existed with the launch of WhatsApp in 2009. But this new addition will introduce sharing images with your contacts for a limited period, just like ‘Stories’ in Instagram and ‘Snaps’ in Snapchat.

The new hidden WhatsApp ‘Status’ feature in latest Android Beta

On checking the new user interface, the new ‘Status’ tab will co-exist with the old ‘Status’ section in the Settings Menu. Facebook, the owner of WhatsApp, seems to have introduced the ‘Snaps’ like functionality in all its products, right from Facebook Messenger’s ‘Messenger Day‘ to Instagram’s ‘Instagram Stories‘ to the new ‘Status’ tab in WhatsApp. Earlier the company introduced a Camera Tab to click photographs or record videos and send them to multiple people without leaving WhatsApp or going to individual chat and using the camera icon to the ‘Type a message’ area.

Camera Interface to add a new ‘new’ WhatsApp ‘Status’

Currently, the functionality is only available as a hidden feature in the latest WhatsApp public beta for Android and iOS. You will need a rooted Android or a Jailbroken iOS device to enable the hidden functionality. WhatsApp is testing the feature and feedback to implement the UI changes for a wider rollout down the line. One thing to note is that there is no direct way to delete the ‘Status’ images or videos shared in the ‘Status’ tab.

Status recipients and ‘Status’ Message info

There are no options to set the timing of the image or video except the app asks you to set ‘Status recipients’ at the beginning. After the initial setup, you can change the recipients of the status using the three dot menu on the top right corner of the app when in the ‘Status’ tab. You can add a new status using the add ‘New Status’ tab on the top right options in the ‘Status’ tab. After clicking the photo or recording the video, you will be presented with a preview screen where you can crop the video or add emoji’s, text overlays, and scribble using the pencil tool on the image or video.

WhatsApp New Status section along with the old (existing) status section

Facebook is pushing to counter the popularity of Snapchat by replicating the functionality of ‘Snapchats.’ In the limited testing of Instagram ‘Stories,’ the main issue with the implementation is the number of people that are sharing the images, depending in thousands on the number of people that you are following. There is no easy way to manage the long horizontal scroll list of ‘Stories.’

Google introduces new tools for increasing user engagement on the Play Store

By tech2 News Staff /  04 Nov 2016 , 12:19

In a bid to help developers better monetise their apps and increase user engagement, Google has announced plans to rework the Google Play Store model.

Speaking to Android developers at Google’s Playtime event in San Francisco, Google outlined the following changes:

Subscription promos

Subscriptions are apparently the “fastest growing business model” on the Play store and Google claims that spending on subscriptions has gone up 10-fold in 3 years. Keeping this in mind, Google would soon like to give developers the option of offering promotional subscription offers. Say, Netflix for $1 a month for 3 months and then full price later on.

Pre-registration and Early Access

Apple and Google have already tried this model with some apps (Allo and Super Mario Run spring to mind), but now all third-party developers might have this option at their disposal. Adding to this, Google intends to build on and enhance its existing Early Access program, which gives users a chance to experience pre-release apps and games while they’re still in a developmental phase.

The other changes that Google announced include an API that lets developers know which users requested a refund and a mention of Google’s intention to place a heavier spotlight on indie games.

Do head to the Android developers’ blog for detailed information on any of the above features.

Adobe reveals an app that lets you add words that were never spoken into an audio file

Image: Reuters

By tech2 News Staff /  04 Nov 2016 , 12:11

Technology has been mesmerising and slowly it is becoming incredibly unpredictable. Adobe is said to be working on software that will somewhat be like Photoshop but for audio. Codenamed Project VoCo, it will offer the ability to add words that are originally not in the audio file.

While it is still not confirmed whether or not it will release as a commercial product, an Adobe representative did confirm the existence of the project to The Verge. It was apparently , shown off as part of a sneak peak program at the MAX conference. It is said that the project is in development as part of a collaboration between members of Adobe Research and Princeton University.

Project VoCo is being touted as a high-end audio editing application where beyond standard speech editing and noise cancellation features it will have the ability generate new words using a person’s recorded voice. Basically the software will understand the makeup of a person’s voice and try to replicate it. However it does need about 20 minutes of speech recording.

An official Adobe statement says “When recording voiceovers, dialog, and narration, people would often like to change or insert a word or a few words due to either a mistake they made or simply because they would like to change part of the narrative. We have developed a technology called Project VoCo in which you can simply type in the word or words that you would like to change or insert into the voiceover. The algorithm does the rest and makes it sound like the original speaker said those words.”

If Adobe manages to pull this off, it’ll be one of the most important and crucial softwares of all times.

BMW’s first compact sedan is called the 1 Series but it will only sell in Chinese markets

Image: TopSpeed

By tech2 News Staff /  04 Nov 2016 , 09:42

Yes, BMW is building its first compact sedan. It will be called the 1-Series but there’s little reason to be excited about it as it will join the ranks of those special set of vehicles that will be launched only for the Chinese markets in the coming year.

As per Overdrive, there’s equal parts of Chinese and German engineering and input that go into this new segment. This is because the compact sedan has been developed by BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd that is a joint venture of the BMW Group and the Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd.

According to BMW, the 1-series has been built from the ground up, keeping the needs of Chinese customers in mind, which is why it will be produced solely for that particular market. The development and testing of the vehicle however, has been done in the BMW headquarters for which inputs came from Chinese engineers.

Image: Overdrive

The BMW 1-Series compact sedan is based on the UKL platform which also shares its underpinnings from the BMW X2 which was showcased at the Paris Motor Show. So far all that has been revealed is an image of the interior.

Coming to the stuff that matters, Overdrive states that BMW 1-series is expected to include the 118i, 120i and 125i. The 118i will feature a 1.5-litre engine that will churn out 136PS of power while the 125i engine variant at the top end will deliver 231PS of power. Let’s hope that BMW changes its mind and decides to bring this compact sedan to India.

The BMW 1-Series in all probability is the outcome of its BMW Concept Compact Sedan which was unveiled at the Guangzhou Motor Show back in 2015.