WhatsApp for Android Update Brings Revamped Settings Page

WhatsApp seems to be on a roll these days. The instant messaging application, after bringing pdf file sharing support, showing end-to-end encryption notification, and more, has this time tweaked the user Settings page for Android with a new layout, slightly better icons, and smoother animations.

The new user Settings page on WhatsApp comes as a part of the version 2.12.506, which is yet to be rolled out to Google Play or the WhatsApp website, but can be downloaded as an apk file from APK Mirror website (via Android Police). You can also be a part of Google Play beta programme to get the new version.

Besides the aforementioned design changes, the new WhatsApp version brings some changes in the placement of the options inside Settings page as well. The Profile settings option, which was until now seen placed at second position from top, has moved to the top and features the user's profile pic. It however, bears the same functions - letting users change their profile image, status, name, and more. Slight modifications such as round profile picture instead of square, a floating action button on the profile pic to change the image, displaying phone number along with the status, and icon colour change from grey to green can be seen. The option is followed by Accounts, Chats, Notifications, Data Usage, About and help, and Contacts.

Data Usage is also new in the list. Tapping on the option gives you a page where you can take control as to what kind of media files WhatsApp will download when on Wi-Fi, on mobile data, or when in Roaming. Also, the 'Chats and calls' has now become just 'Chats' as the call settings now fall under the Data Usage option. Payment information page has been removed, which makes sense, as the app is now completely free. Outside the Settings page nothing seems to have changed.

Although it might take users some time to be familiarised with the update, it lets them access options in lesser taps than before. The app version will probably see a rollout over the air soon via Google Play.

Flexible Camera Developed That Can Be Wrapped Around Objects

A team led by an Indian-origin professor at Columbia University has created a novel sheet camera that can be wrapped around everyday objects to capture images that cannot be taken with one or more conventional cameras. "Cameras today capture the world from essentially a single point in space. While the camera industry has made remarkable progress in shrinking the camera to a tiny device with ever increasing imaging quality, we are exploring a radically different approach to imaging," said Shree K Nayar, computer science professor at Columbia University. "We believe there are numerous applications for cameras that are large in format but very thin and highly flexible," added Nayar who graduated from the Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, in 1984. Nayar's team designed and fabricated a flexible lens array that adapts its optical properties when the sheet camera is bent. This optical adaptation enables the device to produce high quality images over a wide ...

Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, Yahoo back Apple in its fight over encryption with FBI

The nation's leading tech companies joined security experts, independent programmers and civil liberties advocates who filed court papers backing Apple in its fight with the FBI over an encrypted iPhone used by an extremist killer. Several law enforcement groups, meanwhile, filed briefs in support of federal authorities who are seeking Apple's help in hacking an encrypted iPhone used by Syed Farook, one of the San Bernardino mass shooters. These "friend of the court" briefs come in advance of a March 22 hearing in which Apple is asking U.S. Magistrate Sheri Pym to reverse an order requiring Apple to create a software program that overrides iPhone security features. That program would let authorities try to unlock Farook's phone by guessing its passcode; Apple says it would make all other iPhones more vulnerable to future attacks. Relatives of five people who were killed, along with one survivor of the December 2 attack, also filed a brief saying the FBI's ...

Samsung Galaxy S7: 5 Features That Stand Out

Klutzes of the world should rejoice Friday, as Samsung officially starts sales of its new water-resistant Samsung Galaxy S7 and Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. The phones, which the company first unveiled last month, are now widely available in all their dunkable glory. The latest two Samsung's high-end smartphones are supposed to be able to withstand submersion up to five feet for as long as 30 minutes. So you're in luck if you drop your phone in the drink - as long as you fish it out reasonably fast. Samsung provided me with a review unit of the Galaxy S7, a 5.1-inch smartphone. Once I opened the box, I duly dropped the high-performance, expensive phone into my sink while doing the dishes. Apart from the mild palpitations I gave myself, there was no damage at all. The phone's touchscreen didn't work under water, but it continued on without a hiccup and was unharmed and still working perfectly when I pulled it out. It was just as impressively zippy as ever and no worse for ...

IntellectBeat

Search This Blog