Author: Alvin Wanjala

WhatsApp has allowed users to make video and audio calls since around five years ago, but that functionality had not made it to the desktop or web version of the app. Audio calls arrived on WhatsApp in 2015 and 2016 was the year the mobile app added the ability to make video calls. But now WhatsApp has started rolling out the audio and video calls to its desktop client. According to WABetaInfo, the functionality is only rolling out to select users. The video and audio call feature is also still in beta. It’s not surprising, therefore, that WhatsApp has applied…

Google recently added Apple Music to Google Assistant displays and smart speakers and it seems the good rapport between the two doesn’t end there. The company has also announced that Apple’s TV app will be available on the latest Chromecast devices with Google TV. Apple TV app will be available on Chromecast devices with Google TV starting early next year, the company says. In the future, Google will also bring the app on more Android TV OS devices. Apple’s streaming service, Apple TV Plus, was launched in November last year and is currently available in over 100 countries around the…

Apple made a paradigm shift by deciding to switch from Intel-based processors to its own Silicon. The dramatic change has seen massive improvements on the new 13-inch MacBook Air, Pro, and Mac mini in both battery life and performance — that reviewers unanimously praised. To ensure better app compatibility since the underlining architecture was changed, the company unveiled Universal apps and included Rosetta 2 package, ensuring backward compatibility. Although apps meant for Intel-based macs can still run on M1-powered Macs, native support means that apps can utilize all the new power available on the new chip. Google Chrome was the…

Back in October, Twitter made some changes on its platform around sharing tweets that confused and irked some of the platform’s users. Ahead of the US elections, the company decided to amplify quote tweets over retweets. At the time, the company said the move was to encourage users to consider “why they are amplifying a Tweet and brings more thoughts, reactions & perspectives to the conversation.” In a recent update, the company is reverting to the old functionality after seeing the unexpected. According to the company, “The use of Quote Tweets increased, but 45% of them included single-word affirmations, and…

Yesterday Microsoft announced that it is adding support for iCloud accounts in the new Outlook for Mac. The new Outlook will be landing in the coming weeks enabling Mac users to organize work and personal emails, contacts, and calendars together in a single app. The redesigned Outlook embodies Microsoft’s Fluent UI design system, its primary aesthetic design language across its services and apps. Microsoft says it also says the redesigned Outlook matches macOS Big Sur’s new look and has been built with simplicity and ease of use in mind. The same applies to other Office apps for Mac, including Word, Excel,…

Google is adding a new feature in its photo-storage service to help you relieve those memories. In a blog post, the company introduced Cinematic Photos, a new feature that will relive your past images shown in the Memories section in Google Photos. “Cinematic photos help you relive your memories in a way that feels more vivid and realistic—so you feel like you’re transported back to that moment,” the company said. The feature leverages machine learning to predict any image’s depth even if the original photo doesn’t include image depth data. The result is a 3D representation of the scene, which…

According to multiple separate reports, Samsung is planning to launch the Galaxy S21 series earlier than usual next year. Now infamous leaker Evan Blass, aka Evleaks, has provided more details about the upcoming S21 trio. The series will be available in three models; a regular S21, S21 Plus, and upper-end S21 Ultra and here’s what you should expect to see. Galaxy S21 Series Processor The three phones will be powered by Qualcomm’s high-end Snapdragon 888 processor with an integrated 5G modem in the US. Elsewhere, expect the trio to have the company’s in-house 5nm Exynos 1080 processor. Galaxy S21 Series…

2020 has been a wild ride, all thanks to covid-19. The year presented a massive growth opportunity for mobile apps as everyone leaned on apps to learn, work, play, and connect with colleagues, family, and friends. According to the latest report by App Annie, the pandemic has accelerated mobile adoption growth by 2 to 3 years. The firm predicts the year’s total app downloads to stand at 130 billion, and consumer mobile app spend to hit $112 billion by year-end. Google Play Downloads dwarf those in Apple’s App Store as usual, and this year is by 160%. However, both Google…

Nokia, the Finnish company that deals with telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics, is one of the oldest technology firms available on the market today. The company has surprisingly expanded its consumer electronics offerings into a new category – laptops. Its first laptop, Nokia PureBook X14, is a 14-inch FHD laptop powered by Intel’s latest 10th generation i5 processor paired with 8GB DDR4 RAM and 512GB of fast NVMe-based SSD storage. The processor is Intel’s i5-10210U which tops out at 4.2GHz on turbo-boost. The laptop was first launched in India retailing at about 815 USD ~ Ksh 91,000. It has…

Facebook has been keen with eCommerce this year to meet the rising demand and has been working to ensure that its portfolio of apps, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp are up to standard. WhatsApp has majorly been a challenge as the company tries to monetize the instant messaging platform it acquired in February 2014 for $16 billion. The company is now adding a shopping cart in WhatsApp to make it easier for users to buy multiple goods from businesses. The feature comes before the holiday season when the world goes into a shopping frenzy online and offline. Facebook has also added…