Technology

India-based messaging app Hike adds voice-calling feature to Android app

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India-based messaging app Hike has added a free voice-calling feature to its Android app.

The move comes just three weeks after the company acquired Zip Phone.

According to Tech Crunch, when Hike bought Y Combinator-backed Zip Phone, which allows users to make Wi-Fi-enabled phone calls, CEO Kavin Bharti Mittal said that it would allow the company to add free voice-calling, one of its most requested features from users, much more quickly.

The addition of a voice-calling feature gives Hike advantage over Facebook-owned Whatsapp, which does not have a voice calling service as of yet.

New change, not third party attack caused Facebook, Instagram to go offline

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It was not the result of a third party attack but a change that affected Facebook and Instagram’s configuration systems, resulting in both the social networking websites being taken offline on Tuesday, according to a spokesperson.

A Facebook spokesperson revealed that both the social networking websites were offline on Tuesday because they introduced a change that affected their configuration systems, and claimed that it was not the result of a third party attack.

New species of 160m yr old long-necked dinosaur discovered in China

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Paleontologists have discovered new species of a skeleton of a long-necked dinosaur in China, which lived 160 million years ago.

The species found by scientists from the University of Alberta paleontologists including PhD student Tetsuto Miyashita, former MSc student Lida Xing and professor Philip Currie, called Qijianglong (pronounced ‘CHI-jyang-lon’) is about 15 metres in length and lived in the Late Jurassic.

Simulated Mars mission gutted in fire

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A simulated Mars mission held in the Utah desert in the US came to an abrupt end, when the research station was gutted in fire, media reported on Wednesday.

According to a Daily Mail report, the mission involved four “astronauts” living in isolation for two weeks in the hope of recreating the psychological effects of life on Mars.

Instead, they had to deal with a real life emergency when a devastating fire, with 10 feet (3 metres)-high flames destroyed the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS).

The crew members attempted to battle the flames on their own for over an hour.

Mideast skull find sheds light on humans’ trek

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A 55,000-year-old partial skull found in the Middle East gives clues to when our ancestors left their African homeland, and strengthens theories that they co-habited with Neanderthals, scientists said today.

Found in Manot Cave in western Galilee, north Israel, the cranium has the characteristics of an early Homo sapiens, as anatomically modern humans are called, they said.

Manot is just a few dozen kilometres (miles) to the north and northwest of two other sites — the Kebara and Amud caves — where Neanderthal remains had been found.

Who will head BHAVINI: Suspense continues

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Suspense continues as to who will be named chairman and managing director (CMD) of India’s fast breeder reactor power company Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd (BHAVINI), officials said Wednesday.

“The suspense still continues as to the person who would be chosen as the CMD of BHAVINI. However the suspense is expected to end in a day or two,” atomic power sector officials told IANS.

The central government in October last year had appointed Rajani Sankaran as the officiating CMD for three months. She succeeded Prabhat Kumar, BHAVINI’s first CMD, and her term comes to an end Jan 31.

Cabinet approves Rs.3,705 crore per MHz reserve price for 3G

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The Cabinet Wednesday approved a reserve price of Rs.3,705 crore per megahertz (MHz) for third generation (3G) spectrum auction due March 4 next, Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

“In 2010 3G auction, the government fixed Rs.700 crore per MHz reserve price and in the auction the then government earned Rs.3,350 crore per MHz, almost 8 times of the reserve price,” he told reporters after a meeting here of the union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

New change, not third party attack caused Facebook, Instagram to go offline

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It was not the result of a third party attack but a change that affected Facebook and Instagram’s configuration systems, resulting in both the social networking websites being taken offline on Tuesday, according to a spokesperson.

A Facebook spokesperson revealed that both the social networking websites were offline on Tuesday because they introduced a change that affected their configuration systems, and claimed that it was not the result of a third party attack.

Now, post videos and host group chats on Twitter

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The long wait for posting group messages and videos is over for Twitter users, as the social networking website on Tuesday revealed that users can now use the features from the iOS and Android apps.

Twitter revealed the features on Tuesday which now allows users to post 30-second video clips to their account and direct messages have expanded to let a user post messages to groups of up to 20 people, creating a place for more private conversations on the site.

Microsoft may introduce enhanced features in upcoming Internet Explorer browser

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Microsoft has reportedly announced plans to introduce features that would support extensions in its next Internet Explorer browser, a report said.

Microsoft’s browser development team broke the news on Twitter by saying, “we’re working on a plan for extensions for a future update to Project Spartan,” reported The Verge. Currently codenamed Spartan, the new browser is expected to be released as part of Windows 10 across PCs, phones, and tablets.

Hike Messenger introduces free voice calling

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Home-grown chat application firm Hike Messenger has rolled out free voice-calling Hike Calls, a company statement said Wednesday.

The introduction of this feature will allow its users to call each other for free, over 2G, 3G and Wi-Fi and across the globe in over 200 countries. The introduction of such calls has come within a month of its first acquisition of a free calling app – Zip Phone.

Snakes may have first appeared 167m years ago

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Newly discovered snake fossils have recently revealed that snakes may have first appeared 167 million years ago, which pushes back its origins by nearly 70 million years.

Fossilized remains of four ancient snakes have been dated between 140 and 167 million years old, nearly 70 million years older than the previous record of ancient snake fossils.

The oldest known snake, from Southern England, near Kirtlington, Eophis underwoodi, is known only from very fragmentary remains and was a small individual, though it is hard to say how old it was at the time it died.

Snapchat introduces new feature that will allow users to ‘Discover’ fresh content from CNN, ESPN, others

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Snapchat has reportedly launched a new feature, Discover, that will allow users to see content from brands like ESPN, CNN, Vice and Warner Music.

According to the blog post and the video released by the company, the new feature will enable users to watch stories compiled by artists, publishers, and even Snapchat’s own editorial staff, reported Tech Crunch.

The blog post said that the stories will have “full screen photos and videos, awesome long form layouts, and gorgeous advertising.”

Researchers study surface composition of ‘mountain-sized’ asteroid that flew past earth

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Researchers studied the surface composition of mountain-sized asteroid 2004 BL86 that flew past earth recently.

Remotely operating the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (NASA IRTF) on Mauna Kea, Hawai’i, Planetary Science Institute researchers Vishnu Reddy and Driss Takir studied infrared sunlight reflected off the asteroid to determine its composition. They were part of a team of astronomers from around the world studying this object.

‘Twitter accounts for only 17% of Indian social network users’: report

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As Twitter in India clocks a double digit growth rate, the micro-blogging site accounts for only 17% of the total social network users in one of the world’s largest Internet market.

According to a report by market research firm eMarketer, Japan will boast of the largest Twitter population in Asia Pacific at 26 million followed by India at 22.2 million users.

Last year, the research firm had forecast that India will have 18.1 million Twitter users by 2014.

Ancient Star With Five Earth-Size Planets Discovered

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After analysing over four years of data from NASA’s Kepler spacecraft, a team of astronomers has discovered a star that is 11.2 billion years old and has at least five Earth-size planets.

“The findings show that Earth-size planets have formed throughout most of the universe’s 13.8-billion-year history, leaving open the possibility for the existence of ancient life in the galaxy,” said Tiago Campante, research fellow at the University of Birmingham who led the research project.

Stomach hormone that increases ‘sex drive’ found

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According to a new Swedish study, an appetite hormone released from the stomach has been shown to increase sexual drive in mice.

Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy showed that when mice receive a supplement of ghrelin, they increase their sexual activity and their efforts to find a partner. The effect is confirmed in a follow-up experiment, where mice that received a ghrelin inhibitor instead decreased their sexual activity.

‘Miniature’ electronic devices come closer to reality

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A new study has recently revealed that it may be possible to develop electronic circuits with reconfigurable pathways that will allow miniaturizing the electronic devices.

A recent discovery by a team at EPFL suggests as much. The researchers have demonstrated that it is possible to create conductive pathways several atoms wide in a material, to move them around at will and even to make them disappear.

Adaptable electronics is generating significant interest in the scientific community because of the many applications.

These ‘bulletproof batteries’ with Kevlar will enable safer recharge

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Researchers have come up with new technology of batteries that consists of Kelvar, the tough material in bulletproof vests, so that it doesn’t catch fire.

The research done by University Of Michigan explains that these batteries are made up of nano fibers extracted from Kevlar, and the material stifles the growth of metal tendrils that can become unwanted pathways for electrical current, as well as it leads to safer batteries as the membrane stands a better chance of surviving a fire than the other membranes.

Canned soup ‘doesn’t lead’ to higher than expected levels of BPA in blood

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A new research has revealed that coating the mouth with BPA-containing food, like soup, does not lead to higher than expected levels of BPA in blood.

BPA, also known as bisphenol A, is used to make some plastics and to seal canned food containers against bacterial contamination and food, which picks up trace amounts of BPA from packaging, is the major source of human exposure.

Scientists use stem cells to generate new hair

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in a new study, scientists have used human pluripotent stem cells to grow new hair.

The study by researchers of Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) represents the first step toward the development of a cell-based treatment for people with hair loss.

Wipro to Co-Develop Software for Smart Devices

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Indian IT bellwether Wipro Ltd will jointly develop software for smart and connected devices with German firm Software AG.

“The software solution will enable enterprises to understand how customers use their products in real-time and through streaming analytics,” the company said in a statement here Tuesday.

The joint platform will also provide real-time actionable intelligence for the Internet of Things (IoT) market.

Samsung to expand Noida facility, invests Rs 517 crore

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Tech giant Samsung today said it has invested Rs 517 crore on manufacturing facility at Noida to ramp up capacity and strengthen its position in one of the world’s fastest growing smartphone markets.

Samsung India Electronics, which has been present in India for 20 years, has three research labs and two manufacturing plants here with a total of 45,000 employees.

“Samsung has invested Rs 517 crore for the expansion of the Noida plant under the UP Mega Policy, reaffirming Samsung’s commitment and contribution towards India’s manufacturing sector,” it said in a statement.

Swarm of microprobes could help unlock secrets of Jupiter’s atmosphere

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Swarm of microprobes with different sensors could be fired into the clouds of Jupiter, which will help unlock secrets of planet’s atmosphere.

The probes would last an estimated 15 minutes according to planetary scientists. Transmitting 20 megabits of data over fifteen minutes would be sufficient to allow scientists to get a picture of a large part of the atmosphere of the planet.

Facebook blocks pages insulting Prophet Mohammed in wake of Turkish court ruling

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Facebook has reportedly blocked several pages that seem to insult the Prophet Mohammed following orders by a Turkish court.

According to the Verge, the court had ordered Facebook to close the offending pages in a ruling handed down Sunday, threatening to block access to the social network if it failed to comply.

The move comes amid this month’s attack on the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo , believed to have been carried out in response to cartoons of Prophet Mohammed published by the magazine on its cover page.