Facebook-owned WhatsApp on Wednesday announced a new feature that will allow users to take their WhatsApp chat history with them when they change mobile operating systems.

The company said it will be introducing the ability to move the entire WhatsApp chat history — including voice notes, photos and conversations — seamlessly and securely if users choose to switch mobile operating systems.

“We are excited for the first time to make it easy for people to securely transfer their WhatsApp history from one operating system to another,” Whatsapp Product Manager Sandeep Paruchuri said in a statement.

“This has been one of our most requested features from users for years and we worked together with operating systems and device manufacturers to solve it,” he added.

The feature will be available to users of both Android and iOS platforms, which means that people will be able to switch from both Android to iOS and vice versa.

The company said that it will start to roll out on Android initially, and on Samsung’s newest Galaxy smartphones unveiled on August 11.

To start, users will be able to take their WhatsApp history from iOS to an Android device and will subsequently be able to do the same on iOS devices.

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Smartphone maker OPPO on Thursday announced its partnership with music-streaming platform Spotify to bring personalised playlists for users that suit their moods and emotions.

The tie-up with Spotify is in keeping with OPPO Reno6 Series cameras that allow users to capture every emotion in portrait with Bokeh Flare Portrait Video in professional-grade quality, the company claimed.

“We are excited to associate with Spotify, the world’s largest music streaming app, to deepen our relationship with consumers by providing a personalised listening experience,” Damyant Singh Khanoria, Chief Marketing Officer, OPPO India, said in a statement.

“This partnership will allow users to capture their emotions in portrait and listen to their favourite music curated to their moods. Music transcends boundaries and speaks to your deepest emotions and that is what this personalised playlist is designed to do. By understanding how exactly you are feeling, it fetches music that truly resonates with you,” Khanoria added,

OPPO’s partnership with Spotify allows existing users to listen to their favourite songs, along with fresh selections, curated on the basis of moods and emotions.

New users are introduced to new playlists and songs that are gradually fine tuned to the listener’s tastes.

“We worked with OPPO to bring the power of our personalisation through a first of its kind digital experience to launch the Reno6, where users can get a playlist personalised to their current mood,” Arjun Ravi Kolady, Head of Sales, Spotify India.

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With the aim to offer a cinematic experience within the comfort of your home, Sony on Wednesday unveiled two new premium BRAVIA XR TVs for the Indian audience.

The new XR-77A80J is priced at Rs 549,990 and will be available from August 25, while KD-85X85J is priced at Rs 499,990 and is now available.

The new televisions come loaded with gaming capabilities, HDMI 2.1, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, IMAX enhanced along with ambient optimization and acoustic auto-calibration technology, the company said in a statement.

The new BRAVIA XR 77A80J OLED is powered by the new Cognitive Processor XR and the 85X85J television is powered by X1 4K HDR picture processor.

The company said it is designed to think like a human brain providing a revolutionary experience that completely immerses viewers in their favourite content.

Both the new large-screen televisions come loaded with gaming capabilities such as HDMI 2.1, 4K120, Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR). With BRAVIA XR 77A80J OLED and 85X85J, users can enjoy ultra-smooth gaming with reduced input lag less than 8.5 ms with 4K/120 fps and dedicated game mode.

With HDMI 2.1 compatibility, including 4K 120fps, VRR, ALLM and e-ARC in A80J, users will have the advantage in shooting sports and high-performance games with the instant on-screen action.

HDMI 2.1 has a higher speed which enables to realise more resolution, data handling and added features such as 4K 120Hz, VRR and ALLM.

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Samsung on Wednesday unveiled its third-gen foldable devices, the Galaxy Z Fold3 and Galaxy Z Flip3, at the Galaxy Unpacked event. Alongside, the South Korean electronics maker announced couple of smartwatches in the Galaxy Watch4 series and a pair of true wireless stereo earbuds named the Galaxy Buds2.

Starting with the upgrades the new foldable devices bring, both the Galaxy Z Fold3 and Galaxy Z Flip3 get the new aluminium armor construction with IPX8 rating for water resistance. Samsung recently announced that there will be no Galaxy Note device this time around and Note-centric features will be available in other Galaxy devices.

On that note, the Galaxy Z Fold3 becomes the company’s first foldable device with support for its digital stylus SPen.

As for the wearables, the Galaxy Watch4 series debuts the unified platform jointly built by Samsung and Google. Powered by the company’s in-house chip built on 5nm process, the Galaxy Watch4 series boasts enhanced performance, efficient battery, and class-leading display. Coming on to the Galaxy Buds2, the wireless earbuds feature active noise cancellation, ambient sound mode, and compact and comfortable design.

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ISRO’s Earth Observation satellite (EOS-03), scheduled for launch on Thursday morning, will help in quick monitoring of natural disasters like cyclones, cloudbursts, thunderstorm, Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday.

Singh said the EOS-03 is an excellent agile Earth Observatory which is being launched from the second launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota on Thursday.

“It will be placed in a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit by GSLV-F10. Subsequently, the satellite will reach geostationary orbit using its on-board propulsion system.

“It will provide real-time images of large area region of interest at frequent intervals. This will help in quick monitoring of natural disasters, episodic events as well as any short term events, he said.

Singh said the new satellite will be capable of obtaining vital information for application in different sectors including agriculture, forestry, water bodies as well as for disaster warning, cyclone monitoring, cloudburst or thunderstorm monitoring.

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Audi has unveiled the first of an upcoming trio of concept vehicles, the Audi Skysphere.

An all-electric roadster with carriage-style doors and oversized wheels, the Skysphere’s most notable characteristic is that it can shorten or elongate its wheelbase with the push of a button. Skysphere presages two other concept cars planned for debut this year: The Grandsphere concept, due out next month, and the Urbansphere concept, which will debut in 2022.

“This is the first piece in how we are foreseeing the future,” said Henrik Wenders, the head of brand for Audi AG, at a private preview of the vehicle August 9 at a studio in Hollywood. “The present is offering everything we need for the future … and we had better hurry up.”

News of the concept comes as Audi reports its best-ever first six months in the 52-year history of the modern iteration of the brand, with net cash flow between €4.5 billion ($5.27 billion) to €5.5 billion, up from €3.5 billion to €4.5 billion previously. In July, parent-company Volkswagen AG lifted its forecast operating return to as much as 7.5 per cent, thanks in part to big double-digit margins at Audi. Closer to home, Audi of America increased deliveries by 92 per cent in Q2 over the same period in 2020. Year to date sales in North America are up 60 per cent, Audi reported in July.

Meanwhile Audi has committed €15 billion to electrification across its entire fleet, said Hildegard Wortmann, the member of the board of management for sales and marketing for Audi AG. By 2025, Audi will offer 20 different electric cars across its global portfolio. Audi’s hybrids and EVs are already profitable and best-sellers in Europe, Wortmann said.

In the United States, 30 per cent of sales will come from electric vehicles by then, a spokesperson said. The hybrid Q5 already comprises 12 per cent of total Q5 sales. So the electric concept series fits right according to plan, she said. “We are not going to do this by half,” Wortmann said. “We want to go the full way. We want to be the leading sustainable premium brand.”

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As Apple is preparing to launch new iPhones, a new survey has revealed that nearly 44 per cent of current iPhone users intend to upgrade to an iPhone 13 model.

According to a new survey by SellCell, 43.7 per cent of iPhone users said they plan to switch to iPhone 13, up 2.7 per cent compared to iPhone 12 purchase intent from a survey last year. Whereas 56.3 per cent revealed they are not interested in the upcoming iPhone range.

The report mentioned that higher refresh rate display, under-display Touch ID, always-on display and smaller notch/notch-less design topped the list of most exciting rumoured features of iPhone 13 at 22 per cent, 18.2 per cent, 16 per cent, 10.9 per cent, respectively.

Like the predecessor iPhone 12, the iPhone 13 will also likely be available in four variants — 5.4-inch iPhone 13 Mini, 6.1-inch iPhone 13, 6.1-inch iPhone 13 Pro and 6.7-inch iPhone 13 Pro Max, despite rumours early on that Apple could ditch the ‘Mini’ model due to poor sales.

The standard iPhone 13 was the most popular pick at 38.2 per cent, followed by the iPhone 13 Pro Max at 30.8 per cent. 24 per cent said they would go for the iPhone 13 Pro model, whereas a mere 7 per cent are interested in the smallest iPhone 13 Mini.

Among the wearables, 27.3 per cent of iPhone owners said they would consider buying the Apple Watch Series 7 as it releases later this year.

On the other hand, only a mere 12.9 per cent expressed interest in buying the third iteration of Apple AirPods, despite rumours about a new design, noise cancellation feature, spatial audio support and more.

The online survey — conducted between July 28 to Aug 6, 2021 — involved more than 3,000 iPhone owners, aged 18 years or older, based in the US.

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Electric scooter maker Ather Energy on Tuesday said it will offer its proprietary fast-charging connector to other EV two-wheeler manufacturers as well for faster adoption of these vehicles.

This will pave the way for an interoperable two-wheeler fast charging platform in the country, it said.

The move would also help in reducing range anxiety by allowing all scooters to access Ather Energy’s over 200 fast chargers.

At the same time, it will allow more original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to build products on a common standard, thereby, lowering infrastructure investments, the company said in a release.

Designed by Ather, the connector has a combo AC and DC charging with the same connector. Its size has been designed to be suitable for integration into two-wheelers and three-wheelers with the ability of CAN 2.0 communication with control and proximity pilot, as per the company.

Moreover, the proprietary connector has been designed for production at low costs, which allows it to be used in mass segment vehicles, Ather said.

Ather Energy has invested in building a fast-charging network, Ather Grid, and has been providing normal speed charge options to all electric two-wheelers and four-wheelers free of cost.

A robust charging infrastructure is one of the major drivers in accelerating faster adoption of electric two-wheelers, it said, adding that in order to maximise usage and efficiency of charging infrastructure, there needs to be common connectors that can be used across products, the Bengaluru-based EV maker said.

According to Ather Energy, while there are global standards for electric four-wheelers like the CHADEMO, CCS, among others, there are no connector standards available customised for two-wheeler fast charging, except in China.

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By Stephen Nellis and Joseph Menn

(Reuters) – Apple Inc on Monday said that iPhone users’ entire photo libraries will be checked for known child abuse images if they are stored in the online iCloud service.

The disclosure came in a series of media briefings in which Apple is seeking to dispel alarm over its announcement last week that it will scan users’ phones, tablets and computers for millions of illegal pictures.

While Google, Microsoft and other technology platforms check uploaded photos or emailed attachments against a database of identifiers provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and other clearing houses, security experts faulted Apple’s plan as more invasive.

Some said they expected that governments would seek to force the iPhone maker to expand the system to peer into devices for other material.

In a posting to its website on Sunday, Apple said it would fight any such attempts, which can occur in secret courts.

“We have faced demands to build and deploy government-mandated changes that degrade the privacy of users before, and have steadfastly refused those demands,” Apple wrote. “We will continue to refuse them in the future.”

In the briefing on Monday, Apple officials said the company’s system, which will roll out this fall with the release of its iOS 15 operating system, will check existing files on a user’s device if users have those photos synched to the company’s storage servers.

Julie Cordua, chief executive of Thorn, a group that has developed technology to help law enforcement officials detect sex trafficking, said about half of child sexual abuse material is formatted as video.

Apple’s system does not check videos before they are uploaded to the company’s cloud, but the company said it plans to expand its system in unspecified ways in the future.

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Smartphone brand Vivo on Monday announced the launch of Y53s with 64MP rear camera and a 5,000mAh battery for Rs 19,490 in India.

Available in two colours — Deep Sea Blue and Fantastic Rainbow — the device can be purchased across online platforms and partner retail stores from August 9.

The 8GB+128GB storage (expandable upto 1TB) device offers 3GB extended RAM where users can download their favourite apps and run them all seamlessly.

“With this launch, we continue to add new devices to our portfolio across various price points to meet our customer’s expectations and provide them with unmatched immersive and premium experience,” said Nipun Marya, Director- Brand Strategy, Vivo India.

Y53s sports 16.71cm (6.58-inch) FHD+ display, a 64MP triple camera along with powerful 5000mAh battery. It also offers 18W fast charging capabilities.

The triple rear camera setup provides enhanced picture capabilities and is supported by a wide range of features that include Super Night Camera, Eye Auto Focus, Ultra Stable video and more.

The smartphone is powered by MediaTek Helio G80 processor and comes with the latest FunTouch OS 11.1 along with other innovative features.

The company claims that Y53s lasts more than 14.3 hours of online HD movie streaming and 7.05 hours of resource-intensive gameplay.

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