Ritwick Jaiswal, Author at Exhibit Tech

Google Has Discontinued The Pixel 5 Smartphone

After the official launch of Pixel 5a, Google has discontinued the two already existing Pixel series; Google Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G. The two phones have been put to a halt barely 10 months after their official release.

Both the smartphones have been sold out in Google’s online store, and the remaining stock at other retailers won’t last long. A company spokesperson offered the following statement:

With our current forecasts, we expect Google Store in the U.S. to sell out of Pixel 4a (5G) and Pixel 5 in the coming weeks following the launch of Pixel 5a (5G). These products will continue to be available through some partners while supplies last.

Google Pixel 5A 5G is going to be a fairly direct successor to 4A 5G, but it is surprising to see the Pixel 5 has been discontinued well in advance of the Pixel 6’s arrival this fall.

Google Pixel 5a 5G offers many similar features as that of Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5, with the IP67 rating and metal body offering durability boosts over the 4a 5G and the larger battery adding staying power over the 5. However, the upcoming smartphone won’t be available in the International market, including India. Google has explicitly limited the Pixel 5a 5G to the U.S. and Japan.

The alleged reason for the Pixel 5a 5G launch is said to be the chip shortage affecting the Snapdragon 765, which powers both the older Pixels. If Google is unable to secure enough chips to launch the new 5a 5G widely, it certainly can’t secure enough to keep two older devices on the shelves.

The other reason why it has been discontinued is that Pixel 5 is more similar to the budget-oriented A-Series phones than what the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro appears to be. Google is all set to position the 6-Series as a true flagship competitor to Apple and Samsung’s heavy hitters.

Fortunately, the market won’t be falling short of cheap Android phones as evidenced by Samsung Galaxy Series, the OnePlus Nord 2, Xiaomi’s Mi 11 Lite 5G, among many others.

Twitter Launches New Process To Flag False Information

On Tuesday, Twitter reported that it will allow selected users in the US, South Korea, Australia to flag tweets for misinformation. It is safe to assume that the feature will eventually be expanded if successful.

The test basically adds another category under the ‘Report Tweet’ section. Click on those three dots in the top right corner of a tweet, select “Report Tweet,” and the option to flag it for being “misleading” is there right between the existing options “It’s abusive or harmful” and “It expresses intentions of self-harm or suicide.”

“We’re testing a feature for you to report Tweets that seem misleading—as you see them,” Twitter explained. “We’re assessing if this is an effective approach so we’re starting small.”

The newly added feature will allow users to report any tweet that they think is misleading or serves half-truth. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll see anything actually happen, a fact that Twitter fully acknowledges.

“Although we may not take action on this report or respond to you directly, we will use this report to develop new ways to reduce misleading info,” Twitter tells you when you go to report a misleading tweet. “This could include limiting its visibility, providing additional context, and creating new policies.”

You can flag the tweet in question under ‘Politics’, ‘Health’ or ‘Something else’, giving users more capacity to address misinformation on the platform. This might also become a new avenue for misuse, or for reporting tweets simply because they run counter to your opinion.

The idea, therefore, is not to stamp out specific tweets that each user reports. But if say 100 or 1000 people flag the same tweet, then it is likely to go under Twitter’s surveillance. It will help Twitter to take action against such tweets, hence improving the tweet process.

Companies like Facebook and Twitter and consistently working on improving their algorithms to avoid amplifying false information or misinformation.

TikTok Adds New Privacy Features For Teenagers

TikTok is the largest growing video platform. It has a large audience, primarily teenagers, who either uploads short creatives or consumes them as fans. TikTok has recently announced a new privacy feature for teens to protect them from exploitative DMs and harassment.

TikTok, through a blog post, said that the platform will now automatically switch off direct messaging for new users aged between 16 and 17. Teens can now easily switch their DMs on in the settings, but it will be their choice.

The app will also prompt the current users in the same age range to review and confirm their privacy settings when using DM for the first time. The new feature will be an automated one but draws more attention to privacy concerns.

TikTok has previously disabled direct messaging for all users under the age of 16. Users aged 16 to 17 will now get a popup when someone tries to download their videos, asking them to confirm that and warning them that their content could be shared on other platforms.

On the other hand, the download feature is already disabled for users under the age of 16. However, they will get an alert too. When children of this age group go to publish a video, TikTok will ask them to select what users will see their video: followers, followers that they follow back, or just themselves. Accounts under 16 are already private by default, meaning that they do not have the option to allow everyone to see their videos.

TikTok is also curbing nighttime push notifications since children need to get a good sleep.

“We want to help our younger users in particular develop positive digital habits early on, and we regularly consult with leading paediatric experts and youth well-being advocates,” TikTok wrote. “Accounts aged 13 to 15 will not receive push notifications from 9 p.m., and accounts aged 16 to 17 will have push notifications disabled starting at 10 p.m.”

Children under the age of 13 are not allowed to be on TikTok, and the company deleted over 7 million accounts that were suspected of falling under this range.

TikTok’s new feature will go global over the next few months.

JioPhone Next Specifications Leaked Before Sales

JioPhone Next, the Android smartphone designed by Reliance Jio in partnership with Google, was unveiled two months ago during the 44th Annual General Meeting in June. The phone is expected to go on sale in September.

Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Chairman and Managing Director, said that the JioPhone would be the most affordable smartphone globally but didn’t reveal any specifications during the announcement. However, the fresh leaks have hinted at some specifications of the upcoming smartphone.

The specifications were released by Mishaal Rahman, Editor-in-Chief at XDA Developers, on Twitter with the phone’s screenshot and boot screen, which says “JioPhone Next created with Google.” The JioPhone Next is said to run on Android 11 (Go Edition) and features a single rear camera and an HD+ display.

The smartphone will have a 1440 x 720 resolution display and Qualcomm’s entry-level 215 chipsets. It also comes packed with Google’s Camera Go and Duo Go apps pre-installed.

JioPhone Next is believed to have 2GB LPDDR3 RAM along with 32 GB of eMMC 4.5 storage. It will have a 13-megapixel OmniVision OV13B10 lens at the back that supports HDR, FHD+ video recording, and even a night mode. It has an 8-megapixel GC0834W front camera by GalaxyCore.

The JioPhone Next is the company’s attempt to make 4G handsets more accessible to those in rural India and those still reliant on 2G networks. The iTel A53 Pro, priced at Rs 4,999, is currently the cheapest 4G smartphone available in India. Since Ambani has said that his device will be the most affordable smartphone available, it is safe to say that the JioPhone Next will be priced below Rs 5,000.

Jio has not shared pricing as of yet.

Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man, disrupted the Indian telecom sector back in 2016, drastically bringing the prices of telecom services down.

Facebook Adds End-to-End Encryption For Voice And Video Calls In Messenger

Social media giants are consistently working on users’ privacy to earn the trust of their customers. Facebook is now adding end-to-end encryption for voice and video calls in Messenger. The company announced the changes alongside new controls for disappearing messages through a blog post.

Facebook rolled out end-to-end encryption for text messages in 2016. The social media giant says it is adding voice and video calls as Messenger now sees more than 150 million video calls a day.

Facebook says,

“Since 2016, we’ve offered the option to secure your one-on-one text chats with end-to-end encryption. In the past year, we’ve seen a surge in the use of audio and video calling, with more than 150 million video calls a day on Messenger. Now we’re introducing calling to this chat mode so you can secure your audio and video calls with this same technology if you choose.

The content of your messages and calls in an end-to-end encrypted conversation is protected from the moment it leaves your device to when it reaches the receiver’s device. This means that nobody else, including Facebook, can see or listen to what’s sent or said. Keep in mind; you can report an end-to-end encrypted message to us if something’s wrong.”

Facebook’s Whatsapp has already offered end-to-end encryption on call, preventing anyone but a sender and the receiver from seeing the data. Other video calling apps like Zoom, Signal, and Apple’s FaceTime also offer end-to-end encryption on their platforms.

Facebook says that E2EE is becoming the industry standard across messaging platforms. Rumours also suggested that Facebook might roll out a unified, end-to-end encrypted messaging system across Whatsapp, Messenger, and Instagram – but that didn’t happen.

A few days back, Whatsapp rolled out a ‘One Time’ view feature on its app, allowing users to send photos and videos disappearing content once the receiver has opened it.