Archives February 2023

Snapchat is a popular instant messaging service. The company claims that nearly 250 million users engage with augmented reality regularly. Snap’s AR Lens technology combined with Sounds not only claims to deliver an improved experience to engage with friends but is also an important distribution tool for creators to share their music with fans. Since launching Sounds, videos created with music from Sounds on Snapchat have collectively resulted in over 2.7 billion videos created and over 183 billion views, the company adds. Snapchat has now announced new Sounds creative tools — Sounds Recommendations for Lenses and Sounds Sync for Camera Roll which is expected to make it even easier for users to create and share.
Sounds Recommendations for Lenses
This is a new way for Snapchatters to find the perfect sound to complement a Lens. When applying a Lens to a photo or video, users will receive a one-tap option to add a relevant sound from the Sounds library. Available in India and rolling out globally on iOS and Android, the recommendation model will also include sound recommendations from languages such as Hindi and Tamil.
Sounds Sync for Camera Roll photos and video
The Sound Sync tool will allow Snapchat users to create montage videos that will automatically be in rhythm to the beat of audio tracks from the Sounds library. Users can select between 4-20 photos/videos from their camera roll. Available in India and rolling out globally on iOS and coming to Android in March.

Manny Adler, Head of Music Strategy at Snap said, “By expanding the Sounds experience, Snapchat is making it easier and faster for Snapchatters to discover and share the music they love with friends. Snapchat has also created a unique opportunity for artists to reach a valuable and engaged audience, while then also leading fans to listen to the full song on streaming services.”

Netflix is a popular streaming service that is used across the globe. The company offers various subscription plans that differ in prices, features and the number of supported devices. Recently, the streaming giant reduced its subscription costs in a few countries in the Middle East. Now, the latest report claims that Netflix may lower its subscription prices in several countries. However, these countries won’t include major markets like the US, Canada, and a large chunk of European countries. According to a report by WSJ, the price reductions will likely affect specific Netflix tiers. Meanwhile, in some cases, the company will cut the price of the subscription in half.
Netflix lowers the prices of its subscriptions: Affected countries
As per the report, Netflix spokesperson Kumiko Hidaka has confirmed that the company is “updating” the pricing of its plans in “certain countries.” However, Hidaka didn’t specify the countries that will be affected.
The countries where the prices will reportedly come down include — Kenya, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. The latest report also suggests that the price cuts may also apply to nations like — Bosnia, Herzegovina, Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, and Slovakia.
Apart from this, the countries where Netflix has already lowered its prices include — Yemen, Iraq, Tunisia, Jordan, Palestine, Libya, Algeria, Lebanon, Iran, and Sudan. The report didn’t mention whether Netflix’s plan prices will be reduced in India as well.
Why Netflix is lowering the prices of its subscriptions
Netflix’s price reduction move comes a few weeks after the company announced its plans to churn more revenue from ‘password-sharing’ customers in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain. The new rule will force subscribers to pay extra if other users living outside of their “primary” household are accessing their Netflix account.
In January, during the company’s earnings call, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters hinted at these potential price changes.

Peters said, “We seek to serve more members around the world in trying to deliver appropriate value at those different price points, and we’re doing a good job expanding that range. There’s a bunch of people around the world in countries where we’re not deeply penetrated, and we have more opportunities to go attract them.”
Netflix has offered its streaming service for 16 years now, yet the company has rarely lowered its plan prices. In January 2022, the streaming giant introduced a price hike for subscribers in the US and Canada. Later, in November 2022, the company added a cheaper $6.99 per month plan with ads. Other streaming platforms available in the US like — HBO Max, Disney Plus and Hulu have also opted to increase their prices in 2022.

Apple has taken another small step towards developing a breakthrough blood glucose monitoring feature for the Apple Watch, according to rumors – but the feature is still years away.

A new report from Bloomberg (opens in new tab) claims that Apple has hit a “major milestone” in bringing non-invasive, continuous blood glucose monitoring to the Apple Watch, with the project now considered to be at the “proof-of-concept” stage. The key change appears to be the technology is now viable, but “needs to be shrunk down to a more practical size”.

Fast AI image generation is now possible on an Android phone. In a recent demo video, Qualcomm was able to generate a 512 x 512-pixel image of a cat wearing armor using AI-image-generator Stable Diffusion version 1.5 on an Android phone. And the kicker is it finished in less than 14.42 seconds, making it pretty close to what PCs can do with the tech. 

To achieve this, company engineers used a process called “quantization”. Without getting too deep in the weeds here, they basically took the desktop version of Stable Diffusion, shrunk it down, and optimized it for mobile devices. According to Qualcomm, the process “increases performance [while] also [saving] power by allowing the model” to run more efficiently thereby “[consuming] less memory bandwidth.” 

It’s unknown exactly what mobile device was used in the demonstration. However, we do know it was powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform, the exact same chipset found on the Samsung Galaxy S23. It is worth noting that other developers have managed to put Stable Diffusion on the Sony Xperia 5 II, but generating images on that phone took around an hour because of the weaker hardware. The main takeaway from Qualcomm’s achievement is its speed and what it could mean for users down the line.

Future of generative AI

The United States will likely limit the level of advanced semiconductors made by South Korean companies in China, a senior US official said.
In October, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the world’s top memory chip makers, received an one-year reprieve from US export restrictions aimed at thwarting Beijing’s technological ambitions and blocking its military advances.
“What will likely be is a cap on the levels that they can grow to in China,” said Alan Estevez, the US Commerce Department’s under secretary for industry and security, when asked what would happen after the waiver ended.
Estevez who oversees restrictions on tech exports to China made the comments during a forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.
“If you’re at whatever layer of NAND, we will stop it somewhere in that range,” Estevez said, referring to a flash memory product manufactured by Samsung and SK. He added that the US government was in deep dialogue with the South Korean chipmakers.

“We work with them to ensure that we aren’t going to harm our allies’ companies. At the same time, we’re going to impede the Chinese capability of building capabilities that are going to threaten us collectively,” he said.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix were not immediately available for comment.
Samsung and SK Hynix, which control about half of the global NAND flash memory chip market, have invested heavily in China in recent decades to produce chips that are vital to customers including tech giants Apple, and Amazon.
Earlier, an American official acknowledged the existence of a deal with Japan and the Netherlands for those countries to impose new restrictions on exports of chipmaking tools to China.

LG Electronics has unveiled a new range of soundbars in India — the 2023 LG Soundbar series. The latest series features models designed to enhance the home entertainment experience. The new range boasts immersive sound, user-friendly features, and sleek, eco-friendly designs that will impress.
LG’s 2023 lineup includes a flagship model, the S95QR, which is an all-in-one solution perfect for home cinema enthusiasts.
With an output of 810W, 9.1.5 channels, and centre up-firing speakers, this top-of-the-line soundbar is a complete package. The S95QR features five up-firing channels, three on the soundbar itself and two in the wireless rear speakers, that promises to create an expansive and dynamic soundscape enveloping the audience.
The S95QR, a premium soundbar model in LG’s 2023 lineup, has upgraded wireless rear speakers that now have six channels, an improvement over its predecessors’ four channels. In addition, the S95QR’s rear speakers feature triple up-firing drivers and four front/side drivers, allowing for even sound distribution across a wide 135-degree angle.
The S95QR has a sensitive receiver allowing greater distances between the soundbar, subwoofer, and rear speakers without affecting audio quality.
Meanwhile, the other models also have improved wireless connection stability, which prevents audio dropouts and lag, ensuring uninterrupted viewing and listening pleasure. Additionally, the Music Mode, featuring Meridian Audio‘s Horizon technology, can up-mix two-channel audio to 9.1.5 channels for more realistic acoustic surround sound.
The newest high-end models from LG support IMAX Enhanced, Dolby Atmos, and DTS: X2, enabling movie enthusiasts to enjoy authentic cinematic experiences from their living rooms or private theatres. LG’s soundbars now also offer MERIDIAN support.
Along with support for variable refresh rate (VRR) and auto low latency mode (ALLM) that perfectly sync the sound with on-screen gameplay, the soundbar is also equipped with 4K/120Hz pass-through.
Additionally, the 2023 soundbars feature AI Room Calibration, which intelligently adjusts low-frequency performance to optimise sound delivery based on the room’s dimensions. The frequency band has also been expanded from 200Hz to 400Hz to improve the balance and loudness of voices.

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), which represents the interests of the online and mobile value-added services industry, has slammed the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) for its ‘revenue sharing’ demand saying it is “a covert attempt to dilute net neutrality in India”.
The telecom industry advocacy group had previously sought a framework which includes carriage fees payment to telcos by OTTs. However, IAMAI said that the sending party network pays (SPNP) model would allow telecom service providers to exploit internet businesses by formalising rent-seeking.
“Calls for a SPNP mechanism have re-emerged even though the demand for telecom services is entirely dependent on the ability of OTT services to attract users. Levying additional cost on OTTs, without providing any additional services, would be akin to exacting tribute,” IAMAI said in a statement.

“The SPNP model would be a death knell for the digital economy and the creative ecosystem which it sustains,” it added.
Revenue sharing may deter OTT development
The association claims that a revenue share regime may deter entrepreneurs from developing OTT services.
“Over-the-top service providers have flourished in India’s current regulatory regime as they were empowered to distribute high quality content for little to no cost to users,” the association said, adding that the established framework has led to increased “internet adoption, economic activity, and added value to the data package products sold by telecom service providers”.

SPNP model to raise data cost
As per IAMAI, an SPNP model will effectively, though indirectly, raise costs for users and have the same impact as raising the cost of data itself.
“A higher cost associated with internet usage would lower overall revenues of internet businesses and may even reduce the amount of data consumers would use. This would result in a scenario where there may be no meaningful growth in the revenue of TSP, despite the massive price paid by the digital economy,” the IAMAI claimed.

YouTube has seen an uptick in usage in recent years and this can be attributed, in part, to a number of features it added over the years. India, with its over 465 million users (as per Statista), has contributed a lot to that growth. Last year, in its 8th edition of the Google for India event, the company showcased a feature, called Aloud, that allows content creators to quickly dub their videos into multiple languages.
Reports on the internet suggest that Google has started to roll out the feature to multiple content creators so that their videos are accessible to a broader audience.
What is Aloud
Google introduced the Aloud feature in March last year but showcased it at the Google For India event last year. A product from Area 120, Google’s in-house incubator for experimental projects, Aloud enables creators to quickly and easily dub their videos into multiple languages, using artificial intelligence (AI).
The AI-powered solution can help creators save time and effort when transcribing and translating videos into multiple Indian languages. The feature is aimed at content creators so that they can reach a wider audience with their videos.

At that time, Google said that it was working closely with Apollo Hospitals to test a new feature where a single video is available with multiple audio tracks in different languages.
The company showcased a video wherein a video from Apollo Hospitals had an option for viewers to seamlessly switch between other languages at the click of a button. This technology deploys machine learning to dub content into other languages, in very little time and at zero cost.
Aloud rolling out widely
It seems that the Aloud feature is rolling out to more people. In a video posted by popular YouTuber MrBeast, namely, “I Survived 50 Hours In Antarctica”, users can click on the gear icon to 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, reports The Verge.

Aloud test results
The company found in its early tests that, as of January, it has “already seen over 3,500 multi-language videos uploaded in over 40 languages,” the report cited YouTube as saying.
It also said that multi-language dubbed videos see increased watch time, with 15% coming from “views in the video’s non-primary language” in January. Furthermore, content creators now don’t have to create multiple channels to host videos in other languages.

Valve has permanently banned more than 40,000 Dota 2 accounts over the last few weeks. These account holders were banned for using third-party software to cheat the game. Valve has also updated its blog post and shared a tweet to announce the latest ban. In the blog post, the company revealed that it had recently patched an issue used by third-party software to cheat in Dota. Moreover, this fix also laid down a trap in the game that helped the developer to catch players using the exploit.

How did the software help unethical players in Dota 2
The company explained that the cheating software allows players to take unfair advantage in the game. Using this software, players can access information used internally by the Dota client. This data ideally shouldn’t be visible during gameplay. However, after an investigation conducted by Valve, it discovered how this hack worked. So, the developer decided to identify and remove the “bad actors” from the active Dota player base.
Valve said, “We released a patch as soon as we understood the method these cheats were using. This patch created a honeypot: a section of data inside the game client that would never be read during normal gameplay, but that could be read by these exploits.” The company also claimed that all 40,000 of the banned accounts were allowed to access this hidden section of data and that it had “extremely high confidence that every ban was well-deserved.”

How Valve is fighting against the cheaters
The company also highlighted that the number of accounts that were banned was mostly from a particular family of cheating clients. Valve also describes this action taken as a step forward for its ongoing campaign to tackle players who are abusing the popular MOBA game.
Valve has also issued a warning that said, “While the battle against cheaters and cheat developers often takes place in the shadows, we wanted to make this example visible, and use it to make our position clear: If you are running any application that reads data from the Dota client as you’re playing games, your account can be permanently banned from playing Dota.”

Google’s free-to-use email service, Gmail allows users to sync accounts from other email services like Outlook and Hotmail. This allows users to access their Hotmail or Outlook accounts from their Gmail app. However, due to an outage, users are unable to access other email services from the Gmail app. The tech giant has also confirmed that it is investigating an issue it’s facing with syncing to Microsoft’s servers.
As per Google’s status page, the company has claimed that is working to figure out the issue. The company has also mentioned that it is working with Microsoft on the problem. It is important to note that Outlook has a separate app. However, the Gmail app is the default email client for multiple Android users. Moreover, this app also asks users to add email addresses from other services. So, Outlook users can still check their messages by accessing the service from the mobile app or web browsers.
How is this outage affecting users
According to a report by The Verge, users who are trying to access their Outlook or Hotmail inbox in the Gmail app are either seeing old emails or an error message. The error message says that there is a problem syncing the folder and is also asking users to try again later. Google has claimed that the issue is affecting “all device platforms.”

What is causing this issue
Google has claimed that this issue is being caused by Microsoft’s IMAP servers. The company has also mentioned that Microsoft has acknowledged that its service is also not syncing with “other large mail providers” as well. However, the Outlook Twitter account has reportedly contradicted this claims by responding to customer complaints saying “we’re not tracking any issues on our end.”
The company’s status page didn’t mention any issues with Microsoft’s email service for businesses Exchange. Users are also able to sync Exchange emails using the Gmail app.