Author: Alvin Wanjala

Instagram has announced a slew of new features to ensure teens have a safe and positive experience on the photo and video sharing platform. Part of the new features includes a new artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to help determine a users’ real age, providing parents and teens with new resources about online safety, and making it hard for teens and adults to interact on the platform. New resources for Parents and Teens In partnership with safety experts, Instagram is rolling out a new Parents Guide detailing the latest safety tools and privacy settings, plus more tips on online…

Google has announced in sweeping changes to its Play Store policies that it will only deduct 15% off a developer’s first $1 million in annual revenue. In a blog post on the Android blog, the company says the new changes will go into effect from July 1st. Developers selling both digital goods and services will enjoy the new changes. With this change, 99% of developers globally that sell digital goods and services with Play will see a 50% reduction in fees. These funds, Google says, could be used for scaling up and more by developers. It applies to all developers…

Samsung might not launch the Galaxy Note flagship series this year. The company revealed the news at its annual shareholders’ meeting. According to the South Korean technology company’s mobile chief DJ Koh, “It could be a burden to unveil two flagship models in a year so it might be difficult to release [a] Note model in 2H.”(via Bloomberg) “The timing of [the] Note model launch can be changed but we seek to release a Note model next year.” Koh says skipping the Galaxy Note this year is more about streamlining its lineup. Samsung releases two flagship series phones each year…

Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has unveiled a plan on how the social media giant will be helping get more people vaccinated. Zuckerberg said they’ve helped connect over 2 billion people to authoritative COVID-19 information in a Facebook post. They are also expanding to help people get useful information about the vaccine as it continues to roll out in more countries. Facebook plans to help “bring 50 million people one step closer to getting vaccinated”. The platform will unveil a way for people to know where and when to get a COVID-19 vaccine starting in the U.S. Eventually, Facebook will roll…

Instagram Lite is making a comeback months after it was nixed by the platform, ahead of the re-launch. In preparation for the re-launch, Instagram notified Lite users to switch to the main Instagram app in 2020. Now, after months of working on the app, Instagram Lite is back. Facebook says the new lite app is just 2MB, a minute size compared to the full-size 30MB Instagram app. Instagram Lite maintains the same features – and design – found on the full-size app but is designed to work flawlessly on devices with entry-level specs, limited data, and under poor, unstable connectivity.…

Apple’s original smart speaker, the HomePod, launched in 2018, is going away – and for good. The company broke the news on Friday, adding that it will shift its focus to something else – the sequel to the original HomePod, the HomePod mini. The HomePod mini, launched last year, is more affordable, offered good sound for its size, and paid attention to other important features that define modern-day smart speakers. The first HomePod was not dirt cheap with its $329 tag at launch, later reduced to $229 over poor sales, and not to mention its so-so smart speaker features. The…

Mobile gaming is rapidly growing, even letting people play games for real money and ASUS has been one of those dedicated companies pushing out gaming smartphones through its  ROG (Republic of Gamers) branding. The new device in the series, the ASUS ROG Phone 5, is here and, oh boy, does it impress! And it doesn’t stop at the exterior – it packs significant power under the hood as well. The ASUS ROG Phone 5’s inclusion of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 flagship chipset, is just part of the basics. This phone rocks a 6.78-inch Full HD+ AMOLED panel with a high 144Hz…

Netflix has begun cracking down on password sharing, according to a notice sent to some of those using other’s login details. The crackdown affects those sharing passwords but not members of the same household. “If you don’t live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching,” reads a prompt sent to some of the affected users. The streaming service urges users sharing passwords outside the same household to either verify the account via email or text to continue watching. If that’s impossible, it advises users to signup for their free Netflix account. According to…

Good news to owners of the latest Macs with Apple’s new in-house M1 chip: Adobe Photoshop now runs natively. Straight off the bat, that hints at performance improvement. Adobe says native Photoshop support delivers “significant performance gains” leveraging the new ARM architecture. According to the company, on average, various features run 1.5x faster than on “similarly configured previous generation systems.” These internal tests were based on a variety of factors. For instance, opening and saving files, running filters, and compute-heavy operations like Content-Aware Fill and Select Subject. All of these pointed to one coherent conclusion: faster performance. Despite the already…

Disney Plus, first launched in the US in November 2019, has had massive success, acquiring a vast number of subscribers in a short time. Now, the platform has surpassed 100 million subscribers less than 16 months since launch. The numbers come from Disney CEO Bob Chapek, who broke the news during Disney’s annual shareholders’ meeting held on Tuesday. That is a slight increase from the company’s previous subscription numbers shared nearly a month ago on February 11, when it had 94.9 million subscribers. “The enormous success of Disney+… has inspired us to be even more ambitious and to significantly increase…