Amazon Turns to Anthropic's Claude for Alexa AI Revamp

Amazon's Alexa upgrade is said to predominantly use Anthropic's Claude AI models instead of its proprietary AI. The company is likely to offer its enhanced "Remarkable" Alexa version for a monthly fee, and it will offer advanced generative AI features. Customers will also be able to access the original version of Alexa on their devices at no cost, according to previou...

NCLT Approves Merger of Viacom 18, Star India After CCI Nod

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Friday approved a merger scheme that will allow Viacom 18 Media with Star India. The merger of Reliance Industries and The Walt Disney Co's media assets was approved earlier this week by the Competition Commission of India and will create the country's largest media empire.

Gmail Q&A Gemini-Powered AI Feature Rolled Out for Android

Gmail for Android is getting a new artificial intelligence (AI) feature that will allow users to search the inbox. On Thursday, Google announced the Gemini-powered feature, dubbed Gmail Q&A, for its Workspace users. With this, users can prompt Gemini in Gmail to look up a specific information from the emails in the inbox, and the AI will be able to find it.

Microsoft Phone Link Instant Hotspot Feature Rolling Out to More Android Smartphones: Report

Microsoft Phone Link app has been updated with support for an instant hotspot feature that was previously limited to Samsung smartphones. Users with Android smartphones from brands such as OnePlus and Oppo may be able to use their handsets as portable hotspots to quickly connect their PCs to their internet without needing to manually configure the details.

WhatsApp Developing Phone Contact Sync Toggle for Linked Devices: Report

WhatsApp for Android may be testing a new privacy-related feature for the management of synced contacts, according to claims by a feature tracker. It aims to add functionality to the multi-account feature which lets users use two WhatsApp accounts on the same device without using parallel apps. With this change, users may be given the choice of how they wish to sync t...

Disney+ Hotstar Will Stream Select Premier League Football Matches in 4K Resolution

Disney+ Hotstar, the homegrown over-the-top (OTT) platform, announced on Thursday that it will stream select Premier League matches in 4K resolution. The streaming giant also claimed that this is the first time Premier League matches will be streamed in 4K resolution in India. Notably, the highest tier of the English football league system began on August 17, and will...

Instagram Developing New Feature Which Enables Real-Time Sharing of Currently Playing Spotify Tracks

Instagram may be developing a new feature that will allow users to share their currently playing tracks on Spotify with others in real-time, as per claims by a tipster. The feature, dubbed Share from Spotify, is said to work via Instagram Notes – short text updates visible in direct messages (DMs) which users can share with their followers.

Airtel to Shut Down Wynk Music App, Absorb All Employees

Bharti Airtel will exit from music vertical and shut down its Wynk Music app. When contacted, the Airtel spokesperson confirmed the development. The company has entered into an agreement with Apple to provide access to Apple Music with special offers to its customers who use iPhone.

X Down? Several Users Report Outage Across the Globe, Including India

X (formerly Twitter) suffered an outage in India and globally during the early hours of Wednesday. The microblogging website, which is owned by billionaire Elon Musk, left users unable to access it or its features on both mobile and web platforms. Over 20,000 user reports were logged on a website which detects and monitors downtime activity.

WhatsApp for Android Reportedly Testing New Shortcut to Mark All Chats as ‘Read’ At Once

WhatsApp for Android may be testing a new feature that lets users mark all chats as read at once with a new shortcut, according to claims by a feature tracker. The functionality is said to be available in a beta version of the app but may not be available to users yet. It is speculated to work similarly to the ‘mark read’ feature on the iOS version of the app whic...

Snapchat Update Introduces Layout Optimised for iPad Display With Larger Canvas

Snapchat has rolled out a highly requested feature for iPad users, adding to the expansive list of updates brought out in 2024. Following its latest update, the social media app now works natively on the Apple device, instead of its iPhone app being optimised for the tablet. It builds upon several new features introduced this year, including editable chats and emoji r...

YouTube Premium Price Hike in India Announced for Individual, Family Subscription Plans

YouTube Premium price in India has been hiked by the company. With this change, all subscription plans, including individual, family and student, now cost more. While the hike is minor for some plans, others cost significantly more than what they did prior to the price revision. However, it is unknown if the streaming service will offer a grace period for existing sub...

Arc Search AI Mobile Browser Confirmed to Get an Android App Soon

Arc Search, the artificial intelligence (AI) mobile browser, is soon coming to Android, the company confirmed on Saturday. The browser made its debut at the beginning of this year and gained popularity due to its AI-powered features such as Browse for Me where the AI reads multiple web pages to show the relevant information, AI summarisation, and more.

WhatsApp for iOS Reportedly Testing AR Capabilities for Call Effects and Filters in Beta

WhatsApp for iOS is testing a new feature that leverages augmented reality (AR), according to claims by a feature tracker. The said feature is said to bring AR capabilities for video calls on the platform, enabling users to customise factors such as lighting conditions and surroundings.

Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Said to Be Arrested in France Over Alleged Offenses Related to Messaging App

Telegram founder Pavel Durov, who has dual French and United Arab Emirates citizenship, was arrested as part of a preliminary police investigation into allegedly allowing a wide range of crimes due to a lack of moderators on Telegram.

WhatsApp Spotted Working on Themes for iOS App; Username PIN Feature Surfaces on Android Beta

WhatsApp is working on two features that have been spotted in development on recently released beta versions of the app for iOS and Android smartphones. The first feature is a theme picker for WhatsApp on iOS that lets users pick from 10 wallpaper and chat bubble colour combinations, while the other is a Username PIN feature to prevent spam after creating a username o...

Perplexity AI Reportedly Planning to Show Ads on Its Platform Before the End of the Year

Perplexity AI, the artificial intelligence (AI) platform that can scour the Internet to find curated answers for user queries, is planning to run ads on its platform, as per a new report. The company, which built the AI-powered answer engine, has reportedly prepared a pitch deck for advertisers to showcase the popularity and engagement of its platform.

iPhone Users in the EU Will Be Allowed to Change Default Apps, Delete App Store

Apple announced on Thursday that it will soon allow iPhone and iPad users in the European Union (EU) region new options to change default apps, delete first-party apps, and more. The decision was made in compliance with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) which prohibits tech companies from practising anti-competitive policies.

Instagram Collaborates With Sabrina Carpenter to Launch New Feature That Lets You Add a Song on Profile

Instagram has announced a new feature that aims to enhance the customisation of user profiles. The feature is dubbed ‘profile song’. As the name suggests, it enables users to add a specific song to their profile that best describes their mood or other preferences. The social media platform has a comprehensive list of licensed songs which can be added.

Disney+ Hotstar Will Stream Select Premier League Football Matches in 4K Resolution

Disney+ Hotstar, the homegrown over-the-top (OTT) platform, announced on Thursday that it will stream select Premier League matches in 4K resolution. The streaming giant also claimed that this is the first time Premier League matches will be streamed in 4K resolution in India. Notably, the highest tier of the English football league system began on August 17, and will...

Zomato to Acquire Paytm's Entertainment Ticketing Business for $244.2 Million

As part of the agreement, Paytm's platforms would to continue to offer ticketing services for 12 months before transitioning entirely to Zomato's newly launched 'District' mobile application.

Google Working on Gemini AI-Powered 'Ask Photos' Feature on Android

Google is reportedly working on a new artificial intelligence (AI) feature for Android dubbed Ask Photos. The feature was first announced at the tech giant’s annual Google I/O event in May. It was described to be an extension for Google Photos which lets the on-device Gemini assistant access the stored images to answer queries about them.

Google Adds Gemini AI-Powered Polish Feature for Gmail, Can Generate Formal Emails from Rough Drafts

Google released a new feature for Gmail powered by its Gemini artificial intelligence (AI) model on Tuesday. Dubbed Polish, it is a new option in the Help me write feature for Gmail which can generate complete formal email drafts based on rough notes. The company said it will be available on the web as well as on mobile devices.

Microsoft Teams Unified App for Personal, Work and Education Accounts Released on Windows, Mac Devices

Microsoft Teams was updates to a unified app for personal, work and other usage for Windows and Mac devices on Tuesday. With its introduction, the need for having two separate Teams apps installed on PCs has been eliminated, says Microsoft. Users can also easily switch between different accounts when joining video conferencing calls.

Google Photos Gets a New Feature That Lets Users Block a Person’s Face From Memories

Google Photos is getting a new feature that lets users not just hide but block a person entirely from their media collection. As per the company, it can prove useful when users don’t want to see a person featured in their featured Memories tab. While a similar feature was previously available in Google Photos, it only allowed users to hide them from certain sections...

Apple Podcasts Web App Now Available on Desktop With Up Next, Saved Library and More Features

Apple Podcasts web app is now available to users on desktop browsers such as Safari, Chrome and Edge. Previously, the desktop experience was only available on macOS but with this change, iPhone users can also listen to their podcasts on Windows-based desktops too, with features such as Up Next queue, list of saved shows and more.

Microsoft Office, Teams Vulnerabilities Enable Hackers to Access Camera and Microphone on macOS: Report

Microsoft's apps for macOS are affected by eight security vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to access the camera and microphones of users without their consent, according to cybersecurity group Cisco Talos. The latest flaw detected across several Microsoft apps such as Microsoft Office, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Powerpoint, and...

WhatsApp Working on Feature to Block Messages from Unknown Senders; Tests Like Reactions for Status Updates

WhatsApp will soon help users protect their account and optimise device via a new 'Block unknown account messages' toggle that prevents certain messages from being delivered to users via unknown accounts. Meanwhile, the messaging app has started testing like reactions for WhatsApp status updates on the latest beta version of the app for Android smartphones.

Google to Fix Security Vulnerability on Pixel Phones That Could Allow Remote Access or Control: Report

Google Pixel phones shipped since 2017 included an application with a security vulnerability that could be used by attackers to inject malicious code or run spyware on Pixel phones, according to security firm. The Showcase app, which was found on Pixel smartphones sold globally, will soon be removed by the company in the coming days.

Google AI Overviews Gets New Experimental Features, Expands to India and Six Other Countries

Google announced that its AI Overviews is getting several new features and being expanded to new regions on Thursday. With this update, the Google Search-based snapshot feature will be available in India and six other countries. The expansion will also include local language support in each country. Notably, it was rolled out in May and was made available only in the ...

Grok-2 and Grok-2 Mini AI Models Launched in Beta, Said to Outperform GPT-4 Turbo

Grok-2 family of artificial intelligence (AI) models have finally been released in beta by xAI. The Elon Musk-owned AI firm launched Grok-2 and Grok-2 Mini on Tuesday and claimed newer capabilities and improvements in the large language models (LLMs). Both models are available to Premium and Premium+ X (formerly known as Twitter) users. Interestingly, the Grok-2 model...

Swiggy UPI Backed by NPCI Launched in India for Faster Payment Experience: Features

Swiggy UPI was launched in India on Wednesday. The on-demand food delivery services platform has collaborated with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to roll out its UPI plug-in solution that aims to improve the payment experience by reducing the number of steps it takes to complete a transaction and making the whole process quicker.

Google Rolls Out Gemini Live, a Two-Way Voice Feature That Can Take on ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode

Google launched several new Pixel devices at its Made By Google event on Tuesday. Alongside the hardware announcements, the tech giant also spent considerable time showcasing new artificial intelligence (AI) features for its Gemini chatbot. Among them, Gemini Live was the most significant upgrade of the evening which introduced voice capabilities to the chatbot. With ...

Elon Musk's X Hit by Complaint Accusing It of Using Austrian Users' Personal Data for AI Training

An advocacy group from Austria, NOYB, has expressed issues with Elon Musk's X for training its Artificial Intelligence (AI) bot Grok with the personal data of users without their consent. NOYB is led by privacy activist Max Schrems.

Polish Billionaire Plans to Sue Meta Over Fake Advertisements on Facebook, Instagram

Polish billionaire Rafal Brzoska and his wife plan to sue Meta over fake advertisements on Facebook and Instagram that feature his face and false information.

Telegram Becomes Launchpad for Dogs Coin, the Latest Memecoin Sensation

The ‘Dogs Coin’ is the latest memecoin to stir up a buzz in the crypto sector, with Telegram acting as its pre-list host. The Dogs Coin is part of a new game on the Mini Apps marketplace on Telegram, named Dogs. The game lets Telegram users play on the app and collect Dogs Coin. The ecosystem of this game and this memecoin went live on July 9.

YouTube Music Will Reportedly Soon Let Users Share Their ‘Personal Radio’

YouTube Music is reportedly getting a new feature that will allow users to share their personal radio with others. As per the report, the new feature will make the user’s personal radio sharable, and others can add it to their playlists. Notably, the personal radio feature has been a part of the app for quite some time, and it refreshes daily based on the played son...

Turkey Restores Access to Instagram after Nine-Day Block

Turkey has restored access to Instagram after the company agreed to cooperate with authorities to address the government's concerns. Instagram was blocked in Turkey on August 2 for not complying with the country's laws, rules, and public sensitivities.

Signal Private Messenger Blocked in Russia by Roskomnadzor: Report

Signal Private Messenger has been blocked in Russia by Roskomnadzor, the country's state communications watchdog, according to news agency Interfax. The app has reportedly been blocked in the country for violating laws linked to anti-terrorist operations, but Signal users in Russia have reported that the service is working normally when accessed via a VPN or used in t...

Instagram Carousel Feature Gets Increased Limit for Photo and Video Uploads

Instagram is rolling out a big change that potentially improves the sharing of multiple photos and videos on the social media platform. Users can now add more content in a single carousel than the previous limit which only allowed 10 uploads. As per the Meta-owned platform, this change makes it easier for users who wish to add their “end-of-summer “photo dumps”.

OpenAI Warns ChatGPT Voice Mode Users Might End Up Forming ‘Social Relationships’ With the AI

OpenAI warned on Thursday that the recently released Voice Mode feature for ChatGPT might result in users forming social relationships with the artificial intelligence (AI) model. The information was part of the company’s system card for GPT-4o, which is a detailed analysis about the potential risks and possible safeguards of the AI model that the company tested and...

Apple Changes App Store Policy in EU After Facing Probe for Breaching Tech Laws

Apple has decided to allow developers to communicate with their customers outside its App Store. The iPhone-maker said developers will now be able to communicate and promote offers that are available anywhere, not just on their own website, from within their app.

Apple, Google to Reportedly Fix a Major Security Flaw in Safari and Chrome Browsers

Apple, Google, and Mozilla’s browsers reportedly have a major security vulnerability which has existed for years. The zero-day vulnerability is related to the IP address 0.0.0.0 which is private to the user’s device. The exploit can allow bad actors to send queries through it to breach the system and steal data.

Pixel Weather App Available for Sideloading, May Reportedly Offer Precipitation Notifications and Other Features

Google Pixel 9 series has been speculated to get a new weather app in recent weeks, that would be introduced on other Pixel devices too. The said application is now available for download as an Android Package Kit (APK) on a hosting platform, albeit unofficially. It can be sideloaded on the current lineup of Pixel smartphones.

ByteDance Unveils Jimeng AI, a Text-to-Video Generation Platform That Could Rival OpenAI Sora

ByteDance, the Beijing-based technology giant known for TikTok, has released an artificial intelligence (AI) text-to-video platform. Dubbed Jimeng AI, the platform allows users to generate both images as well as videos from text prompts. The platform has been released on both Apple’s App Store and Android as mobile apps but is only available to users in China.

YouTube Testing a Gemini AI-Powered Video Outline Generation Tool to Help Creators

YouTube announced a new creator-focused artificial intelligence (AI) feature on Tuesday. Powered by Google’s in-house AI chatbot Gemini, this new tool will let video creators on the platform brainstorm video ideas. The Gemini AI tool can assist users with thumbnail ideas, video titles, as well as suggest an outline of the video.

Elon Musk's X Files Lawsuit Accusing Advertisers of Boycotting Platform

Elon Musk-owned X has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Texas against the World Federation of Advertisers, Unilever and Danish renewable energy company Orsted, in addition to Mars and CVS Health. The lawsuit has alleged that advertisers have collectively withheld billions of dollars in advertising revenue from X.

Reddit Announces Plans for Testing AI-Powered Summaries for Search Result Pages

Reddit will begin testing summaries generated using artificial intelligence (AI) for content, the company announced during its earnings call with investors on Tuesday. The AI-powered summaries will appear at the top of the search result pages. Courtesy of this feature, Reddit aims to help users “dive deeper” into the platform’s content, including games, communit...

X Tipped to Introduce Payments Service Soon, Realising Elon Musk’s ‘Everything App’ Vision

X (formerly Twitter) may introduce its in-house payments service soon, according to claims by an independent app researcher on social media. Since Elon Musk’s takeover, the microblogging platform has undergone a myriad of changes. Musk has highlighted his ambitions of making the platform into an “everything app”.

ChatGPT App for macOS Gets New Update, Enables Multitasking via Companion Window

ChatGPT app for macOS is getting a new update which will make it easier for users to multitask with the chatbot. The new update was rolled out for all supported macOS versions on Tuesday, and it adds a companion window that can be accessed side-by-side with another app. Users can open the smaller window by pressing the Option + Space buttons on the keyboard.

Google Pixel 9 Series to Reportedly Feature a New Weather App With Redesigned Cards

Google Pixel 9 series is set to launch on August 13 at a Made by Google event. As per a new report, they may arrive with a new weather app. This new weather app, which is said to be designed just for the upcoming series which is rumoured to comprise the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

Google Reportedly Stops Generating Fat APKs, Making Sideloading Android Apps More Tedious

Google introduced the Android App Bundle at the I/O 2018 event, enabling developers to build their apps as bundles. Following this change, Google Play Store only downloaded the specific portions it needed during app installation. However, this only applied to apps downloaded via the store, with sideloading apps still allowing fat APKs. A recent claim suggests that thi...

Gemini AI Olympics Ad Receives Backlash Online, Google Reportedly Takes It Down

Gemini AI ad that was recently aired in the US for the Paris Olympics 2024 has reportedly been taken down after receiving backlash online. Google is said to have issued a statement highlighting that it took public feedback to remove the ad from airing during the Olympics event, but also proceeded to defend the idea behind it.

OpenAI Reportedly Withholding ChatGPT Text Detection Tool Due to Fear of Backlash

OpenAI reportedly has built a tool that can detect when text has been generated using its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, but is unwilling to release it to the public. As per the report, the tool is ready to be launched for quite some time, but the AI firm is concerned that such a detection tool might make the chatbot unpopular among users.

Telegram Rolls Out Multi-Tab In-App Browser and Mini App Store With July Update

Telegram introduced a slew of new features that aimed at enhancing the overall user experience on Thursday. One of the key additions rolled out on the instant messaging platform is a new in-app browser with support for multiple tabs. It also highlighted that its 950 million monthly active users can now take advantage of the new option which enables them to gift Telegr...

Google Chrome Upgraded With Google Lens, Gemini AI-Powered Browser History and More

Google Chrome is getting three new artificial intelligence (AI) features, the company announced on Thursday. The Chrome browser was already infused with Google’s in-house AI model Gemini earlier this year, but those features are only available to paying Workspace subscribers. But now, the tech giant is adding AI features that all users will be able to use.

Reddit Acquires Generative AI Startup Memorable AI

Reddit is acquiring Memorable AI, a startup that uses generative artificial intelligence to help marketers create better ads, in its first acquisition since going public in March.

Spotify Brings Back Expanded Lyrics Feature for Free Users but With a Monthly Limit: Report

Spotify – the Swedish audio streaming service – is bringing back a highly requested feature months after it was put behind a paywall and removed from the free tier, according to a report. The lyrics feature is said to be now rolling out for users without a subscription to Spotify, albeit with a monthly limit.

Google Search Updates Content Removal and Ranking System to Combat Explicit Deepfakes

Google Search updated its removal processes and ranking systems on Wednesday to combat non-consensual fake explicit imagery, also known as deepfakes. The tech giant’s new strategy involves quickly removing explicit deepfakes and demoting websites that host such content so that this type of content does not appear high up in Search results.