Apple iOS 8.3 Will Have 300 New Emojis, Including Racially Diverse Options

Emojis are small digital images that are accessible through virtual keyboards used for expressing emotions on smartphones, tablets and PCs. If you enjoy using emojis on your iPhone, then you may be happy to hear that 300 more have been added to the keyboard in iOS 8.3. The current set of emojis include an Asian man wearing a gua pi mao cap and an Indian man wearing a turban, but there are no black people represented. This will change when Appledevices are updated with iOS 8.3 because several of the tiny cartoon emojis will be available in six new skin tones.

New Android malware makes calls, steals photos

A new bug that is capable of making calls, sending messages and taking pictures while the phone appears to be off, is hitting Android phones at a fast rate, according to a report by AVG.

The malware, known as PowerOffHijack, was first discovered in China, and prompts a fake dialogue box when the user presses the power button. Once the user taps 'OK' in this dialogue box, the phone appears to be switching off with the regular procedure, and the screen goes dark.

RootMetrics’ Survey: Verizon Tops Best Wireless Carrier List

Verizon has secured the top spot for being the best wireless carrier in the United States, as indicated by RootMetrics report.

As per the report, the company demonstrated a remarkable performance in the 2nd half of this year in comparison to the other three leading adversaries.

The wireless carrier has also clinched the top position amid the first half of 2014 and performed surprisingly better in the 2nd half along with great ventures.

Pebble’s Smartwatch Now Officially Supports Android Wear Apps

Here’s good news for owners of the Pebble,the original smartwatch, who also have an Android device. Now your watch can take advantage of apps that support Google’s Android Wear platform, in addition to those within Pebble’s own app store.

Pebble first added this support back in December, but it was limited to beta testers at the time. Now anyone can take advantage of the tie-in. For example, TechCrunch’s Romain Dillet last year bemoaned the fact that his Pebble didn’t support the “nifty” Capitaine Train ticket booking app, but now it does thanks to today’s update.

Pebble’s integration actually supports a wider selection of Android devices than Android Wear itself — Android 4.0 versus Android 4.3 — but the company still faces a huge task to stay relevant in a rapidly competitive space. Indeed, a recent Canalys report noted that Android Wear utterly dominated the 720,000 smartwatches that were estimated to have shipped last year.

Take your pick: Two solid $199 Chromebooks from Acer

Chromebooks are laptops running Chrome OS that are good fits for many situations. The light OS doesn't require heavy hardware, and that makes them cheaper than many laptops. Those on a tight budget can find a couple of good Chromebooks from Acer for just $199.
Acer jumped into making Chromebooks early on, and is selling a lot of them. This is due to building solid units at a reasonable price. The Acer C720 and Chromebook 11 are similar laptops, each with a display of 11.6 inches (1366 x 768) and an Intel Celeron processor. The primary difference is in weight, with the Chromebook 11 lighter than the C720 (2.43 vs. 2.76 pounds).

Google and Mattel give the View-Master a virtual reality overhaul

Let's recall the iconic View-Master toy that first launched in 1939 — it used small colored film that brought images to 3D life. Now, it's getting a massive overhaul with the help of Google and its Cardboard VR (virtual reality) viewer.

Mattel’s new View-Master, which launched on Friday, will debut this fall for $29.99. The View-Master uses Google's virtual reality cardboard technology and it works with various smartphones; users must slide in their mobile device, and pair it with a corresponding app.

World’s first robot-staffed hotel to open in Japan

A robot-staffed hotel, said to be the world’s first, is set to open in Japan in July where guests checking into the futuristic facility will be greeted and served by remarkably human-like robots.

Huis Ten Bosch, a theme park in typical Dutch style in terms of its architecture in Nagasaki Prefecture has unveiled plans to open the modern hotel with robot staff and other advanced technologies to significantly reduce operating costs.

- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/world/asia/worlds-first-robot-staffed-hotel-to-open-in-japan/#sthash.Qp7uFFr6.dpuf

Twitter Says Apple Mobile Software Bug Caused It to Lose Millions of Users

Twitter Inc., which posted disappointing fourth-quarter user growth, gave a surprising reason for the slowdown: Apple Inc.’s new mobile software.

The San Francisco-based company said Apple’s September rollout of iOS 8, the iPhone maker’s new mobile operating system, cost it 4 million new users for integration-related reasons. There was an “unforeseen bug in the release of iOS 8 as it related to Twitter,” Chief Executive Officer Dick Costolo said on a conference call Thursday.

Canon Unveils 50-Megapixel 5DS And 5DS R

The megapixel race is back on. Today Canon announced not one, but two full frame EOS 5D models with a 50MP sensor,  making them the highest resolution 35mm-style DSLRs ever released. The long-rumored EOS 5DS and 5DS R are identical in every respect except that the latter captures slightly more detail by canceling the effect of the low-pass filter.

Thought of the day

Business is like a man rowing a boat upstream. He has no choice; he must go ahead or he will go back.

twitter signs deal with Google

Twitter has reportedly signed a deal with Google so its tweets are once again embedded in the advertising giant's search results.

Twitter has 284 million active monthly users, apparently, and claims to have 185 billion unique views of tweets outside its website. However, slower user growth has prompted the company to look for other means of expanding its advertising appeal.

Apple is making its first android app

Apple is reportedly working on its first Android app -- a streaming music service that will compete with Spotify, according to 9to5Mac's Mark Gurman.

Apple plans to use the streaming service it acquired from Beats Music several months ago, but the app itself will be designed by Apple, Gurman reports. The price could be around $7.99 per month, but it's not confirmed. This would make it cheaper than Spotify, which is $9.99 per month. 

Xiaomi to open up shop in India later this year

According to latest reports Xiaomi will start manufacturing phones in Chennai,India through Inventec.It is said that Xiaomi will manufacture phones in Q2 or Q3 later this year...

Google Now updated with support for third-party apps on Android

Google Now, launched in 2012, provides personalized search results — in the form of "cards" — automatically based on a user's previous actions. For example, as you leave work the app may surface a Google Now card alerting you to an accident on your way home and provide an alternate route via Google Maps.

But these cards largely relied on Google's own services: Maps, Calendar, Gmail, Search etc. The latest update changes that with integration with a few dozen third-party apps, including Lyft, eBay, Ford, Pandora and others.

Apple shares touch all time high

Apple shares touched all time high on Friday morning as analysts concluded the I phone maker overtook samsung to become the world's largest smartphone maker.Shares in the iPhone maker rose 0.9℅ in the morning trading in new York to $120 surpassing the previous intraday high of $119.40 reached last year.