Archives February 2023

Google is finally making one of the Pixel’s exclusive photo editing features available to all Google Photos users. Google Photos comes with a Magic Eraser feature that allows users to remove unwanted person, subjects from an image. 9to5Google has reported that the feature will be available for other users as well.
But, there’s a catch. According to the report, the Magic Eraser feature will be a part of Google One subscription. What this means is that to use the feature, users will need to have subscribed to Google One membership.
Magic Eraser feature is a part of Googe Photos app and users need to navigate to Tools tab and look for the Magic Eraser option.
Magic Eraser and what it can do
As mentioned, the Magic Eraser feature is designed to remove background objects and photo bombs. Google Photo relies on AI-based identification to recognise unwanted distractions in a photo like photobombers, electric cables and more and removes it automatically. Alternatively, users also have the option to manually outline the distraction to remove them from a photo.
This can help preserve the overall essence of a photo which was ruined due to unwanted distractions. Users can use the feature to make them appear clean, clutter and distraction free.
Google One membership details
Google One membership is required for non-Pixel users to use the Magic Eraser feature. The Google One membership in India starts at Rs 130 per month for 100GB additional storage. Apart from this, there’s a Rs 210 monthly plan that offers 200GB and the most expensive plan costs Rs 650 per month with 2TB storage.
Common features of Google One subscription include additional photo editing features, ability to share storage with up to 5 members, Google Play Store credit worth Rs 300 and more.

Zebronics has launched the ZEB-PixaPlay 18, a Smart LED Projector designed in a vertical format to deliver a complete home cinema experience to users. The projector claims to provide a big-screen entertainment setup for consumers who enjoy movies, streaming shows, live sports, and even gaming. The ZEB-PixaPlay 18 comes with built-in speakers for a better listening experience.
Availability and Pricing
The ZEB-PixaPlay 18 Projector is available at an introductory price of Rs. 21,999 and will be exclusively available on Flipkart.
Specifications
The ZEB-PixaPlay 18 is capable of projecting a screen size of up to 508cms, providing a complete theatre experience right at home. The smart projector comes with a powerful processor and internal 8GB storage. It supports downloading various apps from the store, enabling consumers to enjoy content from OTT and other platforms.
With a brightness of 3800 lumens, the ZEB-PixaPlay 18 claims to deliver crisp contrast, vivid colours and detailed output. The projector also features electronic focus using the remote control. The built-in speaker can be further enhanced with a wide range of Soundbars to transform any room into a theatre or gaming arena.
The ZEB-PixaPlay 18 is a smart projector that comes with dual-band Wi-Fi and wireless Bluetooth. It supports multiple input options like dual HDMI and dual USB, as well as an aux output port for audio. The projector features a long-lasting lamp with a lifespan of 30,000 hours. The projector can also be ceiling-mounted and comes with a remote control.
Mr. Pradeep Doshi, Co-Founder & Director of Zebronics, commented on the launch, saying, “Zebronics is committed to elevating the home entertainment segment for the populace, and the introduction of the new ZEB-PixaPlay 18 fits right into the picture. The range of premium LED Projectors paired with our Soundbars gives a fantastic combination for Home Theatre enthusiasts. The ZEB-PixaPlay 18 is an ideal & holistic gizmo that provides a BIG-SCREEN Entertainment setup at the comfort of your home. We are committed to enrich this spectrum to provide our customers with an astounding experience that won’t burn a hole in their pockets, replace their bulky TV setups and also align with our vision to provide ‘Premium for Masses.’”

ChatGPT, the chatbot developed by OpenAI, has been all over the news of late. Its popularity can be gauged by the fact that it took only 5 days for an AI chatbot to reach a million users. However, it seems that this recognition has made ChatGPT a hotspot for hackers and exploit it for their gains.
As per Kaspersky researchers, hackers are running a new malware campaign that capitalises on the increasing popularity of the ChatGPT AI chatbot. They claim that cybercriminals are distributing the malware via Facebook communities by offering a fake desktop version of ChatGPT.
This fake version is nothing but Fobo, a Trojan horse malware that misleads users of its true intent. Fobo is stealing sensitive information and the attackers are targeting users in Africa, Asia, Europe, and America.

How hackers are targeting users
Kaspersky researchers claim that hackers create groups on social networks that convincingly mimic official OpenAI accounts or at least appear to be communities of ChatGPT enthusiasts.
Then these fraudulent groups share posts, such as the news about the service, that seem to have come from official sources. They promote a program posing as a desktop client for ChatGPT. The potential victims, after believing that the community is legitimate, click on the link from the post and are directed to a well-crafted website that looks almost identical to the official ChatGPT website.
“The site prompts the user to download a purported ChatGPT version for Windows which is in fact an archive with an executable file. The installation process begins but stops abruptly with an error message stating that the program could not be installed. Users may think the program simply was not able to install and forget about it,” Kaspersky said.

While the message on the front end says that the installation has stopped, the program proceeds to install without the users’ knowledge in the background and Fobo Trojan is placed on the user’s computer.
What data is being stolen
The Fobo Trojan is designed to steal information from saved accounts from various browsers, including Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Brave, among others. The Trojan steals login credentials from Facebook, TikTok, and Google accounts, especially those related to businesses.
It also attempts to obtain additional information, like the amount of money spent on advertising and the current balance of business accounts.
“This campaign targeting ChatGPT is a prime example of how attackers are leveraging social engineering techniques to exploit the trust that users place in popular brands and services. It is important for users to understand that, just because a service appears to be legitimate, it doesn’t mean that it is,” said Darya Ivanova, security expert at Kaspersky.
How to stay protected
Users are advised being cautious when downloading software from the internet, especially if it’s from a third-party website. Software must be downloaded from the official website of the company.
Look for the website’s URL. If it starts with “https://”, it means that the website is secure. Use strong, unique passwords and enable two-factor authentication.

YouTube has announced that its AI-enabled feature, which allows creators to quickly and easily dub their videos into multiple languages, is now available to a wider group. The feature is aimed at content creators so that they can reach a broader audience with their videos.
“Starting today, we’re excited to expand the availability of this feature to thousands more creators,” Google said in a blog post.
What does it mean for users and creators
Google says that the feature will benefit both viewers and content creators. Multi-language audio means viewers can watch videos dubbed in their primary language, essentially introducing them to even more content that they otherwise may not have seen.

When it comes to content creators, the feature will help them expand their global reach and find a new audience for their channel. Furthermore, content creators now don’t have to create multiple channels to host videos in other languages and likely reduce costs, time and effort in dubbing videos in several languages.
“We found that creators testing multi-language dubbed videos saw over 15% of their watch time coming from views in the video’s non-primary language. And, on average, viewers watched over 2 million hours of dubbed video daily this past January (2023) alone,” YouTube said.
It is to be noted that the feature has already been under testing for some time now. “In our early tests with just a handful of creators, we’ve already seen over 3,500 multi-language videos uploaded in over 40 languages,” the Google-owned platform noted.

Where to find the feature
Users can click on the gear icon on any YouTube video, such as the one posted by popular YouTuber MrBeast, namely, “I Survived 50 Hours In Antarctica”. They can find a new option “audio track.” Upon clicking it, users will be able to see the different language options, including Hindi. Videos will also default to a user’s preferred language.
Google’s Aloud AI solution
In March last year, Google introduced this feature and called it “Aloud”. At its 8th edition of the Google for India event in December, the company shared that it had been testing the feature with Apollo Hospitals. Aloud is a product from Area 120, Google’s in-house incubator for experimental projects.

The Oversight Board is an independent body which includes experts, academics, civic leaders and lawyers who analyse appeals and decisions made by Meta. The Board has raised concerns about Facebook’s penalty system for a long time now and has called it “disproportionate and opaque.” The social media platform has also been advised to be more transparent regarding its decisions with users. The Oversight Board even pushed the company to allow users to explain the context of their violating posts while appealing for a decision made by Meta. Facebook users refer to the company’s system for determining policy violations as “Facebook jail”. Meta has now announced that it is reforming the penalty system based on Oversight Board’s recommendations.
How Facebook will reform its penalty system
As per Meta, the reformed system will focus less on penalising end users by restricting their ability to post. Instead, the social media platform will concentrate more on explaining the reason behind removing content. Facebook has also claimed that its policies will not only be fairer but will also be more effective in moderating content on the platform.
The company has also confirmed that the new system won’t enforce strict penalties like the 30-day timeouts from posting (mostly until the seventh violation).
In a newsroom announcement related to the changes, Monika Bickert, Meta’s VP of Content Policy said, “We’re making this change in part because we know we don’t always get it right. So rather than potentially over-penalizing people with a lower number of strikes from low-severity violations and limiting their ability to express themselves, this new approach will lead to faster and more impactful actions for those that continuously violate our policies.”
However, the company has mentioned that its decision-making process for removing content will remain intact. To increase its transparency around its decisions, the company will explain its policies to users when a post violates the social media platform’s policies.
Meta said that users often found themselves in the “Facebook jail,” without even understanding where they went wrong. Some users also don’t know when they have been penalised and suddenly find out that they are unable to post.

How ‘Facebook jail’ sentences affected users
Meta has acknowledged that the previous system caused some real harm. Users who were banned from posting on Facebook not only lost their ability to express themselves and connect with their local communities but were also unable to run their businesses on the platform while being in the “Facebook jail.”
The company also accepted that these “timeouts” were lengthy as well. In case of a violation, the previous system blocked users from posting for 30 days. The period seemed even more frustrating for users when the mistake was a minor one or if the platform didn’t consider the context.
However, the system also didn’t address the larger issue of cyber criminals. Facebook— allowed them to stay on the platform for a longer time as they bypassed Meta from discovering larger violation trends, the company notes.
How Meta is planning to increase transparency
To address these issues, Meta is increasing transparency related to the violations. However, the company will continue penalising repeat violations. This way, the system will be more effective in managing issues with cyber criminals.
Meta has also analysed its penalty system and found that nearly 80% of users with a low number of strikes usually didn’t violate its policies in the next 60 days. This proved most users’ attitudes towards these warnings and explanations. Meanwhile, Facebook forced more severe penalties when a user committed the seventh violation, which gave “well-intentioned people the guidance they need while still removing bad actors.”

However, the company assured that serious violations will not be allowed on the platform. Meta said posts that include “terrorism, child exploitation, human trafficking, suicide promotion, sexual exploitation, the sale of non-medical drugs or the promotion of dangerous individuals and organizations,” will continue to see immediate consequences, including account removals at times.
In some cases, Facebook may also restrict users from posting in Facebook Groups at lower thresholds than the seventh violation. The company did not elaborate on this part.

For quite some time, Apple has been speculated to announce its Augmented Reality/Mixed Reality (AR/MR) headset. While that announcement hasn’t come yet, there are already rumours floating in about the second-gen model of the rumoured headset. As per a Medium post by popular tipster Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple may offer four variants – including two low-end variants – in 2025.
In his post, Kuo wrote “Apple’s second-generation AR/MR headset has two high-end and low-end models. The high-end and low-end will be developed and produced by Luxcaseict and Foxconn, respectively. The current launch schedule for both models will likely be in 2025.”
Change in manufacturer key may help develop a cheaper second-gen AR/MR headset
As per the source, the second-gen AR/MR headset will be cheaper to produce due to the change in manufacturer. While Pegatron is handling the production of the first-gen headset, it may pass on the baton to LuxShare ICT-owned Luxcaseict. The change in manufacturer may end up reducing the cost of production for the headsets.
About Apple moving production, Kuo stated, “It’s expected that Pegatron will likely transfer the AR/MR development team and production resources to Luxcaseict (a joint venture between Luxshare ICT and Pegatron), led by Luxshare ICT, in 1H23. It essentially means that Luxshare ICT will take over this product’s subsequent design and production. Such changes will lead to the subsequent acceleration of reducing the cost of the headset, which is what Apple expects.”
First-gen AR/MR headset may be on the cards for a 2023 launch
The AR/MR headset is expected to be announced at some point this year. As per previously reported rumours, Apple plans to allow users to create AR apps for the headset, without any coding knowledge. The headset may also bring health and wellness features for meditation and exercise.

Facebook comes with a couple of built-in tools that allow users to transfer and backup their photos, posts and notes to Google Photos and Docs respectively.
So, if you are looking to leave Facebook and want to delete your account permanently, backing up all the data that Facebook has on you is a good choice. It can also help prevent all the posts and notes from getting deleted after the deletion of the account.
Wondering how to transfer all your posts and notes from Facebook to Google Docs? Follow our step-by-step guide:
Pre-requisites

How to transfer Facebook posts and notes to Google Docs

Once the transfer process is complete, all your posts and notes will be moved to Google Docs. You can access them from docs.google.com and by logging in using the same Google account.
Conclusion
The transfer of data allows users to back up their Facebook data on some other platform like Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. This feature comes in handy when you want to take a break from Facebook or looking to permanently delete your Facebook account.

Samsung is expected to announce its flagship tablet — Galaxy Tab S9 series — later this year. The upcoming flagship tablets from the company are expected to offer top-of-the-line internals such as Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, improved display, camera and other features. However, a new report from SamMobile suggests that the Galaxy Tab S8 lineup may also come with an IP67 water and dust resistance rating.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 series to offer water and dust resistance rating
The upcoming Tab S9 series won’t be the first tablet from the company to offer an IP67 water and dust resistance rating. The company already has an ‘Active’ tablet lineup that offers rugged design and IP rating. However, none of the flagship tablets of today has this feature.
If the rumour here stands true, the Galaxy Tab S9 series will be the first flagship lineup from the company with an IP rating. Also, the report does not clarify whether all the tablets in the series will offer IP67 water and dust resistance rating or only the top-of-the-line variant.
The report also mentions that it is not yet confirmed if the upcoming tablets will after all offer water and dust resistance ratings. That being said, everything will be clarified once Samsung launches these tablets officially in the second half of the year.
Samsung flagship devices offer an IP67 rating
The irony is that except for the tablet lineup, the entire flagship range of devices including Galaxy S series and Galaxy Z series offer water and dust resistance ratings. The Galaxy Z series devices are just water resistant, but they have a far more complex design.
For those unaware, Samsung has recently started rolling out the One UI 5.1 update for older Galaxy devices across its lineup. Premium devices like the Galaxy S22 series, Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip have already started receiving the update.

Lenovo-owned smartphone maker Motorola is expected to launch its next-generation clamshell foldable phones soon. The Motorola Razr 2023 series is expected to include two new foldable smartphones which the company is reportedly developing under the codename Juno and Venus, respectively. According to a report by Android Authority, a tipster named Evan Blass shared renders of the Juno smartphone. Now, the leaker has revealed the expected launch date of the upcoming Moto Razr 2023 lineup.
Moto Razr 2023: Expected launch date
As per the report, the Motorola Razr 2023 foldable smartphone series is expected to launch on June 1. On this date, the company is expected to just announce the phones and may bring them to the market at a later date. This smartphone will compete with Samsung’s upcoming clamshell foldable phone which is expected to release in August. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is rumoured to launch at the company’s second Unpacked event. However, the Moto Razr 2023 may not launch globally even after the Samsu ng launch. To recall, Moto Razr 2022 started shipping to select European countries nearly three months after its China release in October 2022.
Moto Razr 2023: Expected design
The upcoming Motorola smartphone is rumoured to sport a larger cover display that might cover the entire outer panel. However, the new phone might also feature the same flattened clamshell design as its predecessor. The latest image shared by the tipster also reveals the Moto Razr 2023’s outer display will boast a redesigned UI. The report hasn’t shared any info about its alleged second foldable phone, which is codenamed, Venus.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5: Expected specs
Samsung’s foldable smartphone lineup series is rumoured to support UFS 4.0 storage of up to 512GB and may come powered by Qualcomm’s latest flagship mobile platform, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. This smartphone is also expected to come with a cover display which may be bigger than 3.26 inches. To compare, Galaxy Z Flip 4 arrived with a smaller 1.9-inch display.

Samsung announced its flagship smartphones — Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+ and Galaxy S23 Ultra — at the Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event earlier this month. The entire lineup has gone on sale today and interested buyers can now purchase the smartphones via the company’s official website — Samsung.com and select retail outlets from today onwards.
Samsung Galaxy S23 series comes in four colour options — Phantom Black, Cream, Green and Lavender. In addition to these, Samsung has also introduced online-exclusive colour options that include Graphite, Lime, Sky Blue and Red for Galaxy S23 Ultra and Graphite and Lime for Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+.
Samsung Galaxy S23 series: Pricing

Samsung Galaxy S23 series: Offers and discounts
Samsung is offering the option to pay for the Galaxy S23 smartphones in instalments. Further, there are different discounts and offers on the Galaxy S23 series.
Standard EMI – You can also choose Standard EMI on the product, starting from Rs 6750.98/month. EMI options are available on debit cards too.
Referral Advantage Program – You can use a referral code to get up to Rs 5,000 discount.
Bundle Offer – Customers can get a Galaxy Watch4 Classic 4G and Buds2 at Rs 4,999 on the purchase of any Galaxy S23 series smartphone.
Instant Bank Discount – You can get Rs 8,000 instant discounts on SBI Bank Credit Card EMI and Full Swipe, HDFC and ICICI Bank Credit/Debit Cards EMI, and Full Swipe.
Exchange Bonus – Up to Rs 8,000 additional value on exchange of your old phone.
Smart Club Loyalty Program – You can redeem your existing points and earn up to 2% Smart Club points on this purchase.
Welcome Benefit – Customers can redeem up to Rs 2000 discount coupon on the Galaxy S23 series product on Samsung Shop App.
Samsung Galaxy S23 series: Specifications
Samsung Galaxy S23 series is powered by a custom version of Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset clocked at 3.26GHz. The Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with a new 200MP primary sensor paired with two 10MP telephoto sensors with 3X and 10X optical zoom. Apart from that, the handset also comes with a 12MP ultra-wide sensor.
The Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+, on the other hand, come with a 50MP primary shooter, 10MP 3X telephoto and a 12MP ultra-wide sensor.
The Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ are backed by a 3900mAh and 4500mAh battery. The Galaxy S23 Ultra is backed by a 5000mAh battery with 45W fast charging support.
In terms of display, the Galaxy S23 Ultra features the biggest display at a 6.8-inch Edge Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with QHD+ resolution. The Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ come with 6.1-inch and 6.6-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X displays respectively.