IntellectBeat

Google announced Wednesday an expansion of its program which delivers sped-up versions of news stories to smartphones and other devices. The Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) project, which aims to make Google a key hub for news and challenge rivals like Facebook and Twitter, was implemented in mobile search results earlier this year. On Wednesday, the program came to all Google platforms including its Google News apps for Apple and Android devices. "In the few months since AMP launched, thousands of publishers have embraced this new format and are regularly publishing AMP-versions of their content," said Maricia Scott, engineering director of Google News, in a blog post. Like Facebook's "Instant Articles," the Google project aims to bring a better experience to news readers by loading mobile pages faster than most news websites. "Our tests have shown that AMP documents load an average of four times faster and use 10 times less data than the equivalent ...

Here’s a list of phones which are first-of-their-kind. From feature phones to smartphones, flat screen to curved, fragile to shatterproof, mobile phones have evolved over the years. Although many industry analysts would like to call the current level of innovation reaching a stagnation point, there still are some manufacturers which have been able to surprise consumers by truly packing something different in their smartphones. We have compiled a list of phones which offer first-of-its-kind features, and they are not merely concepts. 1. Motorola X force - Shatterproof display Display today is the most vulnerable yet the most neglected element in modern smartphones. But Motorola finally paid heed to the fragile screen with the launch of the the Motorola X Force – the world’s first smartphone with a shatterproof display. The phone uses the Moto ShatterShield display technology, which is said to be an integrated system consisting of five layers designed from material...

Samsung has released Pink Gold editions of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge smartphone, thereby bringing the total of available colours for the devices to five. The phones in Pink Gold will first be available in Korea. They, however, will soon be available for customers in other markets. Pink Gold was chosen as it, like the other colors available for the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, is a natural colour that provides a sense of comfort. "These hues glitter and shimmer as if illuminated from inside their glass surfaces. In particular, the refined Pink Gold color scheme is intended to soothe and incorporate a touch of gentleness, radiance and sophistication to the smartphones' design." said Samsung. Other than Pink Gold, the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge are available in a choice of Black Onyx, Gold Platinum, White Pearl and Silver Titanium.

Microsoft Corp said on Wednesday it would stop production of its popular Xbox 360 video game console, which helped the company gain a firm foothold in the market. More than 80 million units of the console have been sold since it was launched in 2005. Xbox 360 also introduced Microsoft's Kinect motion-sensing game device. It was the company's primary gaming console, until it launched the Xbox One in 2013. The Xbox 360 launched with a number of popular video games including Activision Blizzard Inc's "Call of Duty 2" and Electronic Arts Inc's "Need for Speed: Most Wanted". Microsoft said in a blog post it would continue to sell existing inventory of the consoles, and that it would continue to provide customer support. The company's Xbox Live network, which allows online multi-player gaming, will continue to be available for the Xbox 360. Sales of older-generation consoles, such as the Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3, have been declinin...

Apple has officially announced the dates for its World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2016 which will kick start on June 13 in San Francisco. The 27th annual conference will run through June 17 and bring together Apple's developer community from across the world to learn more about the future of Apple's software. This year's WWDC will play host to multiple announcements which are likely to include an updated list of Apple software and a sneak peak into the tech giant's upcoming products. Here's what all one could expect from the  Apple WWDC 2016 : 1. Software updates In all likelihood, Apple will bring the next iteration of its closed software- iOS 10 - with a host of improvements. The iPhone, iPad software update is likely to be followed by next versions of El Captain, tvOS, and also the watchOS. There are also speculations that Apple will rename its Mac software- OS X- as MacOS along with a possible inclusion of Apple's digital assistant Siri. Apple h...

Every start-up hopes for a lucky break. Swedish company Neo Technology only found out it was getting one the day the Panama Papers made headlines around the world. Journalists with access to the vast trove of data used the firm's open-source database to make sense of 11.5 million documents, including emails, images and spreadsheets, leaked from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. Neo Technology's "graph database" literally connected the dots for them, helping find names of the rich and powerful and linking them to offshore accounts. "I was blown away," co-founder and CEO Emil Eifrem said of the moment he discovered, just hours before publication, that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) had been using his product for the Panama Papers. "It's such a sweet spot for our technology, that we have a very stark example," the 37-year-old Swede, who released his first free software project at just 16, told Reuters. ...