Month: February 2023

Are you subscribed to any newsletter? WhatsApp would be working on a newsletter feature with which you could subscribe to your favorite content creators without leaving the app. According to Wabetainfo, the code of the latest beta version of WhatsApp for Android, the 2.23.5.3, includes references to a not yet implemented “Newsletters” feature, which would be developed at present.

Although the title as such could be a codename referring to another type of function, not necessarily a newsletter one, some references in the app’s code would indicate that this tool would be used for that purpose and that it would be found in WhatsApp’s Status tab, thus being away from both chats and groups.

According to data found by Wabetainfo, the Newsletters feature would give users full control over what they see and allow them to view the content they subscribe to in chronological order. At the moment, there does not appear to be any way to introduce ads or that algorithm-based recommendations will be implemented, although users’ names could be searched directly to join their newsletters.

As is obvious, the feature is still in the early stages of development, and it is not even known when it will be available to users who are part of WhatsApp’s beta testing program. A feature that reminds us of the still latent interest of users in newsletters, despite the fact that both Twitter and Facebook have abandoned these functions on their respective platforms.

WhatsApp would thus continue to add more features to its messaging app. Recently, WhastApp for iOS users received a picture in picture feature that allows them to open another application while on a video call. In addition, since last month, the app now allows uploading images without losing quality and includes new shortcuts to more easily block users.

In view of the upcoming Stream On, an event where the famous streaming company will announce new features for its platform (among them, a redesign of the main interface), we already have a major update.

Spotify has announced the launch of a new feature based on artificial intelligence called “DJ”. This personalized radio station will serve to recommend music that we might like. As if that were not enough, this “radio” will be accompanied by a computer-generated speaker who, as described by Spotify, has an “incredibly realistic voice”.

As Spotify itself explains, the idea is that the platform gets to know users so well that the DJ can choose what to play for you at the touch of a button.

More generally, this “DJ” has the potential to make Spotify a more relaxed experience, especially for those times when you don’t want to think about what to listen to.

Although Spotify has already launched its OpenAI-powered DJ, it is still in the testing phase. At the moment, it is only available in English for Spotify Premium subscribers in the United States and Canada.

For years, Spotify has led the streaming market thanks to its personalization technology. In fact, one of its milestones was marked by the launch of Discover Weekly in 2015, its famous playlist.

This was followed by other lists, exclusively designed to cater to users’ preferences, such as Release Radar, Daily Mixes, Your Time Capsule, Blend and those aimed at specific activities, such as going to work or exercising, among others. In recent years, Spotify has also been a trend-setter thanks to its customized annual review, Spotify Wrapped, which has since been imitated by rivals such as Apple Music.

Artificial intelligence conquers everything in its path, including music

Now, the tech industry is focused on harnessing advances in artificial intelligence to improve its own products. In light of this, it was only a matter of time before Spotify came up with its own version of how AI could be used to refine its personalization experience.

In this case, the company claims that its new DJ feature is a combination of its existing personalization technology, a computer-generated voice from its 2022 acquisition of Sonantic, and OpenAI’s technology. In addition, Spotify confirmed that it had a business relationship with OpenAI, but without referring to them as partners.

Shakira has already released her new vendetta song. After dropping dozens of jabs at Gerard Piqué, the founder of the Kings League and her ex-boyfriend, in the Session with Bizarrap and the songs Monotonía and Te Felicito, Shakira has released a new hit together with Karol G.

Te Quedó Grande (TQG) is the new song in which the two artists are both against Piqué and Anuel AA, Karol G’s ex-boyfriend. And their music video has lived up to the lyrics of their song, empowering the two artists, who come out dancing and singing with fire behind them, and also referencing a movie that talks a lot about their story: The Truman Show.

“My life is a lie” The movie

Almost everyone knows The Truman Show. Peter Weir’s film starring Jim Carrey is one of the biggest cinematic phenomena of the 1990s. Released in 1998, the film reflects on reality TV by telling a harrowing story.

As the synopsis says, Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) is the protagonist of a television show that is based on telling his whole life through the screen. Since he was born, his life is televised and broadcasted all over the world. Everything in his life, therefore, is a lie, and the worst thing is that he does not know anything about what is going on.

At the end of the film, after suspecting over and over again what is happening because of certain overlapping evidence, Truman discovers what is happening and ends up leaving by the stairs at the back of the set: a supposed “sky” that is nothing more than a painted wall. Carrey ends up saying goodbye to everyone for the show he has starred in and leaving by the stairs, ending the program.

How Karol G and Shakira referenced the movie

Like the end of the film, the end of the videoclip features the two artists leaving by the same stairs of Truman. In this way, they launch an obvious metaphor: their life has been a lie up to that moment, but from now on they are the ones who take the lead.

Despite being a much more veiled puya than the ones Shakira released to Piqué in the Session with Bizarrap, it is a very elegant and effective way to send a message to both the president of the Kings League and Anuel AA, Karol G’s ex-boyfriend.

Although the iPhone is an incredible device in many areas, it also has a major weakness: its battery. Although the newer models (such as the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max) have considerably increased their autonomy, for many this is still not enough. Therefore, today we bring you several tricks that will make your iPhone battery last a little longer.

Remove widgets from your lock screen

Widgets were one of the iOS innovations most acclaimed by bitten apple users. However, placing widgets on the screen will force those applications to run in the background (such as weather information). As you can imagine, this process consumes much of our device’s battery.

If you want to save that extra work for the apps, the best thing to do is simply not to put widgets, neither on your lock screen nor on the main screen. In case you have iOS 16 and widgets on your lock screen, you just need to keep your finger pressed on it and switch to a different screen.

If you want to remove existing widgets from your current lock screen, tap on the lock screen and select Customize. Then tap on the widget and select the “-” symbol.

Disables haptic feedback from the keyboard

Unlike Android, the iPhone keyboard has never been able to vibrate as we typed until the release of iOS 16. Apple called it “haptic feedback”, as each key generates a vibration through haptic feedback.

Apple’s own page makes it clear that haptic feedback “may affect your iPhone’s battery life”. Nowhere does it specify exactly how much battery this feature consumes, but it’s best to keep it turned off in case you don’t care.

To remove it, go to Settings > Sounds & Vibration > Keyboard Feedback. Once inside, disable Vibration.

Activate battery saving mode

This is one of the most popular options to stretch the autonomy of our iPhone as much as possible. Under the name Low Power Mode, it can be found in Settings > Battery. You will know that it is activated because the battery will turn yellow (the icon you will see at the top right of your iPhone).

Low Power Mode disables email push notifications, background downloads, 5G (if you have it enabled) and the iPhone will turn off its screen after 30 seconds. It is not the most effective method but it will give you a few more minutes of use.

There is also a way to quickly access Low Power Mode. To do this, go to Settings > Control Center and there, add Low Power Mode. Now, you will be able to activate and deactivate it as you wish directly from the Control Center.

Use dark mode

If your iPhone is upgraded from iOS 13 onwards, you will have the ability to use dark mode. This will turn the white menus so characteristic of Apple completely black. This is an option to consider for all those who own an iPhone with OLED screen.

In OLED panels, the black color is represented by turning off the on-screen pixel. In this way, the darker areas would not consume power, as they are completely turned off.

Turn off data and Wi-Fi if you do not need them

Another aspect that drains the battery of our iPhone is connectivity. In this case, having data and Wi-Fi enabled at the same time can cause considerable battery drain. If you are not going to need them or you are only going to use one of the two, simply deactivate them. You can do this from the Settings or directly from the Control Center.

Do not be obsessed with battery percentage and use it responsibly

While it is true that we depend on our iPhone for many tasks, we should not become overly obsessed with the amount of battery we have. All batteries lose capacity over time, so eventually, they will eventually suffer whether you want them to or not.

The best thing you can do to extend battery life is to simply follow these tips and use your iPhone responsibly, adapted to the circumstances in which you find yourself.

Meta is going through a complex stage in its life, but that doesn’t stop it from continuing to develop new features for its social networks. In addition to testing a subscription model that would allow users to get the famed blue check on Facebook and Instagram for $12 a month (an imitation of what Twitter did a few months ago), the company is also developing a new feature called “Roll Call”.

App analyst Mat Navarra recently posted a series of screenshots on Twitter showing Meta’s new Roll Call feature. The feature would allow you to “see what everyone is doing in a group chat” by using the front and rear cameras.

Roll Call is clearly inspired by BeReal, the app in which, once a day, you are notified that you can take a photo of whatever you are doing (both front and back), without allowing you to upload a previously taken photo or put filters. You can also comment on the photos of other users with “emoticons” represented by your own photos.

At the moment, the feature is “an internal prototype, and is not being tested externally,” according to Meta spokesperson Liz Sweeney, but it would give us a sense of how the feature would work in Messenger, Instagram or other Meta apps, should it eventually be implemented.

Navarre details in its thread that users in a group chat would have a maximum of five minutes to respond with a roll call, sending their own photos. Whoever initiates the roll call will be able to specify what types of photos should be uploaded, such as photos of food or pets, for example. In addition, users will only be able to see each other’s photos once they upload their own, in the same way as in BeReal.

One company seems to be following the opposite path to the rest of the tech companies. Until recently, we were talking about the great wave of layoffs that was taking place in the technology industry. Companies like Google, Meta, Microsoft, Twitter, Spotify, ByteDance or IBM laid off hundreds or thousands of their employees in order to reduce costs and balance the bottom line (a financial theory with little basis).

In light of this situation, OpenAI, the company behind the popular ChatGPT, has been hiring many former Meta and Google employees in order to bolster the staff that will be responsible for creating an artificial intelligence chatbot.

As echoed by Business Insider, data compiled by LeadGenius and Punks & Pinstripes shows that, of the 200 total employees currently making up OpenAI, 59 are former employees of Alphabet, the parent company of Google and AI lab Deepmind, and another 34 are former employees of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. In addition, the company would also include several former Amazon and Apple employees, according to the data.

Greg Larkin, the CEO of Punks & Pinstripes, a community of 100 executives from the world’s largest companies, told Business Insider that the data collected should serve as a “wake-up call” to big tech companies.

“If nothing else, OpenAI is a sign that Big Tech, especially Google, is not optimizing its investment in its employees. A lot of specialized AI talent has been working on secondary products at innovation labs like Alphabet X. For many, this means they rarely see their work having a significant impact on the company’s core products or profits,” said Larkin.

In fact, OpenAI’s own management team is largely made up of former employees of large technology companies such as Apple, Google and Meta, all of which have departments responsible for researching and developing artificial intelligences.