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Instagram's new feature to track users' time spent on the app

Facebook-owned photo-messaging app Instagram is now rolling out its own "Your Activity" feature that would track how much time users spend on the app.

Longer-lasting, faster-charging batteries in the offing

Scientists have developed a new approach which they say could lead to dramatically longer-lasting, faster-charging and safer lithium metal batteries. The researchers at Pennsylvania State University in the US developed a three-dimensional, cross-linked polymer sponge that attaches to the metal plating of a battery anode. "This project aims to develop the next generation of metal batteries," said Donghai Wang, principal investigator of the research published in the journal Nature Energy. "Lithium metal has been tried in batteries for decades, but there are some fundamental issues that inhibit their advancement," Wang said. Under additional strain, like in the fast-charging methods desired in electrical vehicles, lithium ion (Li) batteries are vulnerable to dendritic growth -- needle-like formations that can reduce cycle life and potentially cause safety issues -- including fires or explosions. "Our approach was to use a polymer on the interface of Li metal," Wang said. The material ...

Zuckerberg took Tim Cook's criticism so personally, he barred employees from using iPhone

Apple CEO Tim Cook would probably be more cautious when he says anything against Facebook. Following the CEO's remark on Facebook and its handling of user privacy, Mark Zuckerberg reportedly ordered his employees to stop using Apple products.The Facebook founder was reportedly so enraged by Tim Cook's remarks that he instructed executives to stop using iPhones in favour of Android devices, Mashable reported.In an interview with MSNBC, Cook had commented that Apple will not traffic its users' personal life and that privacy is a human right. The comments appear in response to the mega privacy breach Facebook users faced earlier this year owing to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

This startup wants to make futuristic AR contact lenses

Google Glass, Microsoft HoloLens, are all passe. A startup, Mojo Vision, is working on a technology which it calls 'invisible computing' that can shrink the capabilities of a full-fledged augmented reality glasses into a pair of contact lenses.According to Cnet, it is not clear as to what the product will be as the company is still working on the technology. The aim is to use the technology to serve information when a user needs it. It also lets you connect with others at a glance, anytime, anywhere.Unlike the current technologies which make use of dedicated, often bulky, pair of headsets, Mojo Vision aims to miniaturize the technology to make it a part of everyday life.

Google Maps now lets you chat with businesses

The next time you open Google Maps to look for the directions to a restaurant, you will also be able to chat with its executive and book a table on-the-go.Google announced the new feature through its blog, explaining that messages with the businesses users connect with via Business Profiles will be visible within the Google Maps app. The feature will be available on both Android and iOS version of the app.The catch, however, is that the local business listed on the Google Maps requires the company to have enabled messages. Those who have enabled, will have a 'message' button on Business Profiles on Google Search and Maps.

Firefox Monitor Launches in 26 Languages and Adds New Desktop Browser Feature

/ -- Since the launch of Firefox Monitor, a free service that notifies you when your email has been part of a breach, hundreds of thousands of people have signed up. In response to the excitement from our global audience, Firefox Monitor is now being made available in more than 26 languages. We're excited to bring Firefox Monitor to users in their native languages and make it easier for people to learn about data breaches and take action to protect themselves. When your personal information is possibly at risk in a data breach, reading news and information in the language you understand best helps you to feel more in control. Now, Firefox Monitor will be available in Albanian, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Czech, Dutch, English (Canadian), French, Frisian, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Malay, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish (Argentina, Mexico, and Spain), Swedish, Turkish, Ukranian and Welch. We couldn't have ...

Google to let users connect with businesses within Maps

Google is rolling out a capability on Maps that would let users connect with business profiles in the nearby locations, helping them with the opportunity to ask questions while looking for things to do and places to go or shop.

New feature on Pixel phones to improve low light photography

Google is launching a new feature to the front and rear cameras of all the three generations of their Pixel devices called -- "Night Sight" -- to produce better images when clicked in low-lighting.

4,916 children rehabilitated through 'Khoya Paya': WCD

The Women and Child Development Ministry on Wednesday said 4,916 children have been rehabilitated through the missing children track portal 'Khoya Paya' till November 8.

Talks on granting institute of national importance status to WII completed: Harsh Vardhan

Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday said talks at the inter-ministerial level have been completed over conferring the status of institute of national importance (INI) on the Wildlife Institute of India (WII). He said the matter related to granting INI status to WII would be put before the Union Cabinet for its nod and then before Parliament. "At the last meeting of the Wildlife Institute of India Society, we initiated the process for conferring the status of institute of national importance by an Act of Parliament," Vardhan said. "I am pleased to note that inter-ministerial consultations on the draft cabinet note along with the WII INI Bill have just been completed and we shall now take the proposal further for Union Cabinet's approval and then to Parliament," he added. According to reports, the institute-of-national-importance tag will put WII in the league of 92 institutions such as AIIMS, IITs and NITs. The INI status will grant WII autonomous power to design ...

'First unmanned space mission in Dec 2019'

The first of the two unmanned space mission as part of India's human space mission will happen in December 2019, said a top official of Indian space agency.

Google expands Safety Centre, to support 9 Indian languages

Google has expanded its 'Safety Centre' aimed at providing users with more control over the data they share with the tech giant across its various services. The newly expanded Safety Centre platform will also provide resources and information on topics like data security. It will be made available in nine Indian languages -- Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. While the company, over the years, has made available many tools to help users safeguard their data and privacy, Safety Centre will be like a one-stop shop for information and adjusting preferences on how users allow Google to use their data. "What we have done through the Safety Centre is demystified a lot of the myths - like Google selling user data - by giving the user the power to see the data we are accessing...we have said what is the data that Google is accessing, why is Google accessing that data and how is it utilising that data," Google India Director of Trust and Safety ...

Jio tops 4G chart with 22.3 Mbps download speed in October

Reliance Jio emerged as the fastest 4G operator with its average peak download speed in October at 22.3 Mbps while Idea Cellular clocked the highest upload speed in the month, according to a Trai report. Jio's national average of 4G download speed was more than double compared to its rival Bharti Airtel, which recorded a download speed of 9.5 megabits per second (Mbps) in October, according to the data published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on MySpeed Portal. A study by private entity OpenSignal released in first week of November for the period June 1-August 29, 2018, had rated Airtel as the fastest in terms of 4G download speed; but according to the result published on Trai portal, Jio has been ruling the chart even in June and August. Though Vodafone and Idea have merged their mobile services business as Vodafone Idea, the merged entity is still operating separately under brand name of Vodafone and Idea and Trai's analytics portal also carried their speed ...

WhatsApp working to add QR code for contact sharing

WhatsApp is aiming to make it easier for users to quickly share their contact details by introducing a QR code system with a simple scan.

Massive 'ghost' galaxy spotted hiding next to Milky Way

A massive but extremely faint galaxy has been discovered hiding near the Milky Way by scientists trawling through data from the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite. Despite its size, the galaxy has very few stars, challenging conventional theories of galaxy formation, said researchers from Imperial College London in the UK. The galaxy, named Antlia 2 (or Ant 2), has avoided detection until now thanks to its extremely low density as well as a perfectly chosen hiding place, behind the Milky Way's bright central disc. "This is a ghost of a galaxy. Objects as diffuse as Ant 2 have simply not been seen before. Our discovery was only possible thanks to the quality of the Gaia data," said Gabriel Torrealba from the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Academia Sinica in Taiwan. Ant 2 is known as a dwarf galaxy. As structures emerged in the early universe, dwarfs were the first galaxies to form, and so most of their stars are now old, relatively low in terms of their mass, and poor ..

IIT Mandi team decodes 'dark proteins' of Chikungunya virus

Researchers from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi have identified the 'dark' regions in the proteins of Chikungunya virus, an advance that could help design improved drugs to treat the disease. The dark proteome is defined as proteins with structures that can not be determined by conventional methods, such as X-ray crystallography and electron microscopy. Unlike conventional proteins, the dark proteome are unable to fold spontaneously into single, well-defined 3D structures, making it difficult for scientists to understand their properties. The researchers led by Rajanish Giri, assistant professor at IIT Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, is aimed at understanding the structure and action of the Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) through computational studies. Collaborating with Vladimir Uversky from University of South Florida, the research, published in the journal RSC Advances identified the molecular recognition features of the virus (MoRF). "The pathogenic mechanism of mosquito-borne .

Google marks Children's Day with doodle by Indian student

Search engine giant Google marked Children's Day on Wednesday with a doodle made by an Indian student. The artwork, titled 'Galaxy, space exploration', depicts a girl gazing into space through a telescope. The galaxies, planets and spacecrafts in the doodle are "carefully arranged to represent each letter in the Google logo". Children's Day, which is celebrated on different dates in different countries, is celebrated on November 14 in India to mark the birth anniversary of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru, fondly remembered as 'Chacha Nehru', was known for his love for children. Pingla Rahul More, a school student from Mumbai, had created the doodle as her entry to the Doodle 4 Google competition held earlier this year. The contest was themed: 'What inspires me?'. "I am inspired by space exploration as there is still so much more to know about our universe -- from planets to stars to galaxies and beyond. "It is inspiring to learn how small we are, and how small our

Clairco Brings 'Guaranteed Pure Air' to New Delhi, as Toxic Smog Engulfs the City

/ -- - To offer its Air Quality Monitoring & Purification Services to businesses in the National Capital Region - Clairco assures 'pure air' for starting Rs. 2/sft on a monthly subscription basis Clairco, India's only Clean air-as-a-service company which offers Air Quality Monitoring & Purification services, today announced its entry into the New Delhi market. At a time when air pollution in the Indian capital has risen to hazardous levels for citizens and businesses, they are looking for ways to breathe clean air and stay safe. Clairco helps businesses ensure clean air within indoor spaces at an affordable monthly fee. The air quality monitoring and purification market is flooded with expensive hardware that occupies space, has low value for money and lacks actionable intelligence. Clairco uses its patent-pending technology of connected devices to offer smart and affordable air quality monitoring and purification that upgrades existing air conditioning and ventilation units .

Teenaged boy ends life after mother takes away mobile phone

A 14-year-old boy addicted to video games allegedly committed suicide here in Maharashtra after his mother took away a mobile phone from him, police said on Wednesday. Krish Sunil Lunawat, who lived with his mother and elder sister in a rented house in Mahal area, used to be glued to the mobile phone and spend hours playing video games on it. He had also stopped attending school since a year, Kotwali police station's inspector Umesh Besarkar said. His mother and sister worked in private companies and most of the time, the boy used to stay alone at home, he said. The boy recently forced his mother to buy a new Playstation gaming device for playing video games, he said. On Monday, Krish's mother had to go to Mumbai and she asked him to give the mobile phone to her. When he refused, she forcibly took away the handset from him and left for Mumbai in the afternoon, he said. The boy was apparently disturbed over it and later allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using a bed

IIT Madras partners Japanese firms to set up research cell

The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) on Wednesday said it was going to establish a joint research cell in collaboration with two Japanese manufacturing firms.