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.

Explained: Camera Improvements in the New HTC 10

With the HTC 10, the Taiwanese company is promising to undo the past wrongs in the cameras of its previous flagship phones. The camera has long a weak point in HTC devices. At first, HTC sacrificed image resolution in the M8 and made the size of individual pixels larger to capture more light (what HTC called Ultrapixel). But the resulting 4 megapixel images were often fuzzy, especially when cropped or enlarged. To fix the issue, in its next flagship - the M9 - HTC went with smaller individual pixels in a 20-megapixel camera last year, but it still underperformed in extreme situations, such as indoors and close-ups. In the HTC 10, the company attempts to strike a balance with larger individual pixels (1.55µm), but not as large as before and a 12 megapixel sensor in its camera coupled with a ƒ/1.8 lens. HTC accepts that in the imaging performance in the M9 was not up to the kind of spec of what they really like to see in a flagship. HTC is giving a slight boost to the selfi...

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 ...

Samsung Galaxy J1 (2016) Leaked in Press Images

The anticipated successor to the popular Samsung Galaxy J1, tipped to be called the Galaxy J1 (2016), has once again been leaked in images on the Web. While in the previous leaks we have seen the unannounced smartphone in its Black colour variant, the new leaked image shows the handset in two additional colour variants. The image tweeted by @evleaks on Monday shows the Samsung Galaxy J1 (2016) smartphone in Gold and White colour variants. The design of the handset also fall in line with the models leaked in images previously. It is worth mentioning that the screen bezel seen in the image stay black in all the three colour variants. The smartphone is seen featuring a physical home button, along with a multi-window, and a back capacitive button on either side. At the back, the smartphone sports a camera at the centre with a LED flash and a speaker on either sides. Samsung is yet to announce the smartphone. The Samsung Galaxy J1 (2016)leaked in images last month as well...

IntellectBeat

Search This Blog