TecQ: Amazon Alexa FM Radio, Swiggy Grocery Delivery & More
Here’s a look at the top technology news of the week.
TecQ is our weekly round-up of technology stories.
Amazon’s Alexa Can Play FM Stations in India – Here’s How it Works
Amazon has set its base for Echo range of speakers in India, now it’s busy localising content and offering services that will lure consumers to its ecosystem.
We’re talking about radio FM stations and while smartphones have lost the connect with its value, Amazon’s smart speaker is ready to help them out. Well, that’s how the company is putting it, claiming, you can access over 350 stations via its Echo range of smart speakers, or any device which supports its Alexa voice assistant in India, even your smartphones!
Read the full story here.
As YouTube Turns 14, Here’s What Its Founders Are up to These Days
It was on 14 February 2005 that three former PayPal employees launched a video streaming website that the world today knows as YouTube.
The website which is considered to be the second largest search engine, celebrates its fourteenth anniversary on this day. YouTube has been the go-to platform for anyone who wants to watch video content on the internet.
The men who founded YouTube, Steve Chen, Jawed Karim and Chad Hurley sold YouTube to Google for a sum of $1.65 billion (Rs 1.16 lakh crores approximately) in 2006. Post that, the three have been away from the spotlight, investing and experimenting with different business ventures.
Read the full story here.
Android Q Feature Round-Up – Dark Mode, Face ID, Privacy & More
The next version of Android will be Q and even though it’s yet to be given a name, leaks and developer inputs have already told us about what it will offer.
Ever since Android Pie came out in 2018, we’ve seen a drastic shift towards privacy and user permissions becoming vital to Google for its users.
Android Q is expected to move in the same direction, enhance the existing security features and add a host of new features that will appeal to millions of Android phone users across the globe. Here’s a look at the features and changes we expect to see with Android Q in 2019 from Google.
Read more about Android Q here.
Swiggy Now Delivers Groceries With ‘Stores’, to Rival Dunzo
Swiggy, online food ordering and delivery app, on Tuesday launched Stores, which can be used to order groceries, health supplements, meat and other day-to-day essentials right at your doorstep.
The company has claimed Stores would connect people to every store, retailer or brand – both online and offline – and deliver goods within an hour. The platform, made available within the main Swiggy app, has also been designed to act as a directory of popular stores and lists bestsellers, the company said in a post.
Read more about the story here.
Instagram Under Fire for Profusion of Profiles ‘Selling Sex’
Social media platforms are running into all kinds of unforeseen problems in India, and after Twitter and Facebook, now it’s time for Instagram to come under the spotlight.
According to an extensive report by The Economic Times, the photo-sharing platform has seen a proliferation of accounts which offer sexual favours in return for money.
All this is happening on the virtual platform and it still isn’t clear whether the profiles created on Instagram are genuine, or whether they are people using stolen profiles to create these accounts for quick money – if it’s the latter, that’s a scary digital racket worth looking into.
Read the full story here.
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