IntellectBeat

Chrome OS has been with us for about six years now, and has not really caught on outside of a few niches. With Android rapidly evolving, there's been a lot of murmuring around the Web that perhaps Chrome OS will be killed off and its features will be integrated into Android, but this rumour was quashed when Hiroshi Lockheimer, SVP of Chrome OS, stated that the platform will live on. Instead, what we can expect is a much tighter synergy between mobile and desktop platforms, similar to what Apple is doing. So far, we've seen Chrome OS on laptops like the Xolo Chromebook and as a mini-PC like the Asus Chromebox CN60. Today, we'll be taking a look at a third type of computing platform which has garnered quite a bit of interest ever since Intel announced the Compute Stick last year. This "PC-on-a-stick" concept was also used by Android TV sticks couple of years ago, which were essentially devices a little larger than thumb drives that ran Android and plugged direc...

A day after  Facebook India managing director Kirthiga Reddy stepped down  saying that she would be relocating to the US in the next six to 12 months, a spokesperson of the social networking site on Saturday dissociated her from the controversial Free Basics services effort in the country. "As she had planned for some time, Kirthiga Reddy is moving back to the US to work with the teams in headquarters. We are extremely proud of the work she has done to grow our global sales business in India. During her time in India, Kirthiga was not involved in our Free Basic services efforts,” said a Facebook spokesperson. Reddy, who cited personal reasons for her relocation to the US, is working closely with William Easton, MD of emerging markets (Asia Pacific), and Dan Neary, vice president of Asia Pacific, to search for her successor in India. The move comes days after India introduced rules to prevent Internet service providers from having different pricing policies for access...

In order to provide a better engagement measurement to video creators and marketers, social networking giant Facebook's photo and video-sharing app Instagram has announced to launch a video view count feature. "Companies like Gold's Gym used Boomerang to make muscles flex, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment ran a Marquee ad showing three videos throughout the day promoting its release of 'Furious 7', and small business 'Out of Print' ran a stop motion video ad to drive holiday sales," said a blog post. The new feature, which will be rolled out in "the coming weeks", will give creators a tally of the impressions a video has received, whereas likes could be viewed as an engagement metric, VentureBeat reported. Instagram said that in the past six months, the amount of time people spent watching videos on the service has increased by more than 40 percent. With this feature, the users will be able to see the number of views and also how ma...

Internet is set to influence $ 11 billion worth of sales in beauty and hygiene products segment in the country by 2020, according to a report. This represents more than two-thirds of sales in the category, the joint report by Bain & Company and Google said. Projecting the growth of online shopping, the report estimated that 130 million Indians will shop online by 2020. Internet will be the prominent sales channel forming 20 per cent of total sales, it said. With online users in the county estimated to reach 650 million by 2020, more than 200 million will be women users and more than 250 million are likely to be rural users, it noted. "Adoption of highly consumed product categories in beauty and hygiene is 2x higher in digital households compared with non digital households. Even the penetration of emerging product categories is higher in digital households," said Vikas Agnihotri, industry director, Google India. "Beauty and hygiene related searches on Google ma...

In order to help passengers in medical emergency during train journey, a mobile application was launched to enable users to check the necessary medical facilities available in the vicinity. The app was launched by RailYatri.in, a tech start-up, here to provide vital information regarding medical facilities in the particular area. The RailYatri app will provide list of healthcare facilities at the upcoming stations, according to a release. The information provided through the app is not just limited to hospital names, but also provide direction from station, contact numbers of hospitals and ambulance services one might require during an emergency. The flow of the information regarding the healthcare facilities has been kept simple. Medical Emergency feature is available on the latest Android version of the RailYatri app.

Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat are becoming crucial tools for sending Valentine's wishes, especially for those without a partner. According to a SOASTA survey conducted by Harris Poll, 79 per cent of under 18s and 71 per cent of adults in the US will be wishing someone a happy Valentine's Day this year. And while married couples are most likely to opt for traditional methods such as buying and sending cards to each other, 40 per cent of single adults will be turning to social media to express their love. That's more than under 18s (37 per cent) and those with a husband or wife (28 per cent). SOASTA's study was conducted online and polled 2046 adults aged 18 or over and 1,158 youths aged from 8-18.

New Global-Web-Index research shows that those with an iPhone are happiest with their handsets and that those with the latest models are the happiest of all. At 64% (per-cent) no other make or model comes close to scoring as highly in the satisfaction stakes as an iPhone 6 or 6+. In a study that spans 33 countries, only 5 per cent of smartphone owners globally aged between 16-64 say that they are dissatisfied with their smartphone, regardless of its operating system or branding. When asked how satisfied they were with their phone, 47 per cent of HTC handset owners said 'very,' while 51 per cent of Sony phone owners feel the same. Though more popular globally, neither LG nor Samsung could score more than 50 per cent, placing them in joint fourth place behind both the aforementioned Sony and 'iPhone owners in general', 57 per cent of whom are very satisfied, putting older iPhones in second place behind the latest generation handsets.

Video-calling service Skype is adding Valentine's Day video cards to make it easier to tell someone you love them on February 14. Simply record a message and then add animated floating heart filters on top. Best of all, your Valentine doesn't have to be a Skype user. On iPhones and iPads, open Skype and tap on the heart to get started. On Android phones, tap the “+” button on the lower right, then select the heart. Once the message has been created, you can save it via smartphone or desktop to send via any other digital platform. "You can then share the video message over Skype, or other social networks such as Facebook, or email." Skype is pulling out all of the stops to make this Sunday special. The new video cards come just 48 hours after the service debuted a set of new love-themed 'Mojis' with music from none other than Sir Paul McCartney. (With inputs from AFP Relaxnews)

Google said it will be shuttering Picasa to shift its focus to the new Google Photos service launched less than a year ago. "We believe we can create a much better experience by focusing on one service that provides more functionality and works across mobile and desktop, rather than divide our efforts across two different products," Google Photos chief Anil Sabharwal said in a blog post. Pictures or videos in Picasa online albums will be automatically available in people's Google Photos accounts, according to Sabharwal. Those wishing not to shift to the new service will still be able to view, download or delete photos in Picasa albums, but the software won't be updated and adding images won't be an option. "One thing to make clear is that none of this is happening today - if you have a Picasa Web Album you can keep using it as normal. We'll start rolling out these changes on May 1, 2016," said Sabharwal. Also, as of March 15, 2016, Google will n...

Apple is on target to introduce its next iPhone and iPad models on March 15, and aims to start selling the devices in the same week, technology blog 9to5Mac reported, citing sources. Apple, which will introduce a new 4-inch iPhone, dubbed the "iPhone 5se", and a new iPad Air at a launch event, is unlikely to take pre-orders for the new devices, the blog reported. The technology giant has hit a trough in iPhone demand. The 0.4 per cent rise in shipments in the fiscal first quarter was the slowest-ever increase in iPhone sales since the phone was launched in 2007. The new 4-inch iPhone 5se is designed to spur iPhone hardware upgrades for customer seeking faster devices without upgrading to the far larger iPhone 6s and 6s Plus screen sizes. Apple could not be immediately reached for comment.

Global computer giant Oracle is planning to set up a campus in Bengaluru and start an initiative to help more than half a million students in India develop computer science skills. This was conveyed by Oracle’s Global CEO Safra Catz to Prime Minister Narendra Modi when she called on him today. ”She apprised the Prime Minister of Oracle’s plans for a state-of-the-art campus centered in Bengaluru and an initiative to help more than half a million students in India develop computer science skills through Oracle Academy,” a PMO statement said. Oracle is of the view that the plans are likely to boost Modi’s ‘Make in India‘ initiative, and strengthen India’s position as a world class design and manufacturing hub, the statement said. The Prime Minister appreciated these initiatives, it added. Headquartered in California, the Oracle Corporation is an American global computer technology corporation which primarily specializes in developing and ma...

A day after closing down its controversy-ridden Free Basics programme in India, Facebook India Managing Director Kirthiga Reddy stepped down from her current role and will relocate to the US. The social networking giant has started looking for a successor to Reddy, who would be moving to Facebook's headquarters in the US in the next 6-12 months. Reddy said she along with William Easton, Managing Director of Emerging Markets (APAC) and Dan Neary, VP Asia Pacific, have started looking for her successor in India. Facebook yesterday shut down Free Basics in India, days after telecom regulator Trai barred operators from charging discriminatory rates for Internet access based on content. "When my family relocated to India, we knew that we would move back to the US some day. It's a bittersweet moment to share that the return timeframe is coming up in the next 6-12 months," Reddy said in a post on the social networking site today. "It will be business as usual over ...