Twitch will start selling games on its website in Spring

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Steam is getting yet another competitor in the digital games marketplace as Twitch has announced that it will begin selling digital games directly to viewers starting in Spring.

Beginning sometime in Spring, Twitch will begin implementing a “Buy Now” button located directly below the video of the stream. Said “Buy Now” button will be updated according to the game that is being played at the moment, so if a streamer is currently streaming Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands for example, clicking on the button will lead you to a storefront for said game.

Twitch will also be making it so that streamers who opt to participate in this system will earn a 5% cut of the revenue from every viewer that purchased the game from their stream. 70% of the revenue from this system would go to the developers, while Twitch collects the remaining 25%. For those who purchase games through Twitch, purchases above USD4.99 will earn them a Twitch Crate, a digital loot box that contains a game-specific emote, a chat badge, and perhaps even some Bits.

Purchases on Twitch can then be redeemed via Twitch Launcher or through other digital games clients like UPlay. The transaction system will be handled by Twitch’s parent company Amazon, and all transactions will be done via US Dollars with other currencies being added as time goes on.

Source:
Twitch

amazon
digitalgames
sales
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Twitch’s Squad Stream lets up to four players stream together in one window

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Twitch just introduced a new Squad Stream feature, allowing up to four Twitch users to go live and stream together in a single window.

It is undeniable that there are many multi-player and co-op games now, and gamers often spend time playing with other players. With Squad Stream, streamers will be able to collaborate with other streamers and go live together to bring entertainment to their viewers.

Image credit: Twitch

“It’s perfect for showing off every awesome moment in a battle royale match, saving a virtual seat at the table for tabletop streams, catching every second of speedrunning head-to-heads, and so much more that we can’t wait for all of you to show us,” wrote Hubert Thieblot in Twitch’s blog post.

The ability to stream together will offer the audience more viewing angles — especially when it comes to battle royale matches — and viewers from different communities will also be able to interact with each other.

The new feature will first be available to Twitch Partners before it’s available to Affiliates and other streamers. Viewers can watch Squad Streams on mobile, and there will be ads when they’re watching a Squad Stream.

Squad Stream
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Twitter accidentally gave user security info to third party companies and apologized for it

361

Ahh social media and their never-ending need to make money – honestly, we don’t fault them for wanting to monetize the service; it’s the way they go about doing is the thing that’s up for debate.

Here’s where things get hairy – Twitter was recently caught using users’ phone numbers and e-mail addresses, which are uploaded for security reasons, to push targeted ads to us. Social media gathers information from our profiles as well as clicking habits to push targeted ads to us – we know that, but this takes things way too far.

According to Bloomberg, Twitter allows advertisers to upload a customer list which the company will use to pair with their personal contact information – but Twitter accidentally provided information that was supposed to be used for security and authentication reasons, to these companies via the Tailored Audiences system. Tailored Audiences supposedly only matches email addresses and Twitter usernames, not phone numbers.

The Twitter has since
apologized
 for the error, however didn’t disclose how many users were affected. It seems like the error was an honest mistake, but you never know with social media brands these days. Plus, there’s really no way to protect yourself from errors like these if you choose to use that social media platform anyway.

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Twitter urges Android users to update the app immediately due to security concerns

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Twitter users who use Android phones need to update their app now as Twitter confirmed that your nonpublic account information can be accessed by hackers and they’ll be able to control your account to send Direct Messages or publish Tweets.

Twitter is urging all its Android users to update their app and took an extra step to directly inform those who could’ve been exposed to the vulnerability. The company believes that the hackers have inserted “malicious code into restricted storage areas of the Twitter app”, despite having no evidence to support their speculations.

Image credit: MissionBox

There are specific versions of the app that might be affected by the vulnerability, but just update your app to the latest version if you’re worried. Thankfully, iOS users aren’t affected so you can keep on scrolling through tweets if you’re using an iPhone.

Twitter apologized for the current situation and also offered a
form
 that can be used to get more information on your account data protection.

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Twitter apologises and offers a fix for the auto-scrolling bug for iOS users

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Some Twitter users have been facing issues on timeline auto-scrolling but thankfully Twitter has addressed the issue and is rolling out a fix for the bug.

iOS users have found their Twitter timelines update and random moments, causing last published tweets to pop up while they’re scrolling through their timelines. This means that at any time when an iOS user is reading a tweet, a thread or just watching videos posted by other Twitter users, the app will just automatically refresh itself and bring users back to the top.

A fix for the auto-scrolling bug is rolling out now! Thanks for your patience while we worked on this. Please update your iOS app to version 8.1.5 when it becomes available for you.

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport)
November 6, 2019

Twitter has acknowledged the problem and asked its users to update their iOS app to version 8.1.5 but since it’s rolling out, you may have to wait another few days for the update to arrive at your region.

Twitter users also took the chance to reply to Twitter’s fix announcement by revealing more problems faced. Some complained about freezing when getting notifications or typing tweets, while others are saying that the desktop version is also facing similar auto-scrolling issues.

ios
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Twitter bans account that falsely accused the coronavirus as China’s bioweapon

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With the recent increase in Coronavirus cases, it is easy for Internet users to read and believe whatever is posted online. A conspiracy promoter named Zero Hedge took advantage of the situation on Twitter by sharing an unverified story, leading the social media to ban the account.

“Something tells us, if anyone wants to find out what really caused the coronavirus pandemic that has infected thousands of people in China and around the globe, they should probably pay [the scientist] a visit,” said the site. The author even revealed the scientist’s name, photo, email and phone number in the article.

In the article, the author talked about how the scientist is working at Wuhan Institute of Virology and has been studying the relationship between bats and their immunity towards coronavirus. The scientist had also been genetically engineering different immune pathways that can lead to the creation of a highly resistant mutant superbug which cannot be resistant to any natural immune pathway — even the bats’.

While the author is obviously trying to accuse that China is trying to use the coronavirus as a bioweapon, Brandon J. Brown, an associate professor at the University of California, Riverside told BuzzFeed News that it’s logical for the Wuhan Institute of Virology to be doing research about the coronavirus in bats.

Brown pointed out that the immune research can actually be useful in preventing the spread of the virus, in addition to the fact that the fatality rate of the virus is only 200/10,000 — a rating that doesn’t suffice for a “good” bioweapon.

Zero Hedge’s Twitter account was suspended soon after the publication of the scientist’s information, under the violation of platform manipulation policy.

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Twitter CEO's Twitter account suspended

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Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey, who started up Twitter approximately ten years ago in 2006 had his own Twitter account suspended. The situation caused both Twitter and Jack Dorsey to be the laughing stock for nearly 3 million Twitter users. The account was allegedly suspended for a good 15 minutes before Twitter unbanned Dorsey’s account.

Despite the situation making Twitter a possible candidate for the joke of the year, Twitter has recovered its CEO’s suspended account in a short period of time. What are the odds of the maker of Twitter having his own account banned by his creation? We’re not certain as to whether any Twitter employees were fired in the process, but Jack Dorsey is officially back online again on Twitter.

Upon the reactivation of his account, Dorsey posted a tweet stating, “just setting up my twttr…again (account suspension was an internal mistake)”, but did not state the specific cause of his account being suspended. Whether or not it is just an accident or an internal bug, we do hope that the people involved in the situation are still keeping their jobs because Jack Dorsey definitely looks like a cool person. What would you do if you were in his shoes?

Source:
Twitter
  Via:
The Register

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Twitter is revamping its desktop version with Explore, Bookmarks and a new Dark Mode

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Twitter has been undergoing some changes recently and now the social media platform has decided to introduce a new version of itself with improved appearance, navigation and usability.

Just like Instagram’s Explore tab, Twitter will be getting its own Explore page that will include personalised live videos and moments for users no matter what they are. In addition, Twitter is introducing Bookmarks, meaning Twitter users will be able to bookmark tweets that they’d want to save for reading later.

Woah, what’s this? A shiny new
https://t.co/q4wnE46fGs
 for desktop? Yup. IT’S HERE.
pic.twitter.com/8y4TMzqBGa

— Twitter (@Twitter)
July 15, 2019

Twitter already has its own Dark Mode, but apparently, it wasn’t as dark as its users wanted it to be. The current Dark Mode uses dark blue colours instead of black, but Twitter’s about to change that. The social media platform will soon bring in black and grey colours for its Dark Mode, making it the ultimate dark theme that its users have been looking for.

Other highlights include easier access to Direct Messages that expands so you can send messages while being able to look at other conversations, and also easier methods of switching accounts.

Bookmarks
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Twitter desktop


Twitter DMs never deleted – they just don’t appear to users

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According to TechCrunch via Digital Trends, security researcher Karan Saini divulged his findings of Twitter’s odd kink of not actually erasing user-deleted private messages, but rather just prevent them from appearing on their website and app.

Saini had even found direct messages linked to old accounts which were deleted. According to TechCrunch, Saini was able to access said messages via a bug that exploits deprecated APIs. These messages we’re retrievable even though they were deleted by both the sender and receiver.

Folks are having some trouble understanding this, so here is a short summary:
 DMs are never “deleted”—rather only withheld from appearing in the UI. The archive feature lets you view these DMs, as well as any others with now suspended, or deactivated users
https://t.co/IXRdT6G9i6

— Karan Saini (@iasni)
February 16, 2019

According to Digital Trends, Twitter lets you recover a deleted account within 30 days of the action; upon exceeding the 30-day limit, Twitter, by right, should completely wipe all data linked to the account, including messages. This discovery has suggested that this is untrue.

Saini believes that this is a bug rather than a security flaw. But regardless of what it is, people’s privacies are at stake – whether Twitter are keeping messages deliberately or not, it begs the question if data is being kept and sold. Given the popularity, you’re talking about personal data belonging to millions of individuals being kept by one organization; now that’s sketchy.

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Users are now given the option to emoji-react to their DMs on Twitter

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Twitter is adding emoji reactions to its DMs, just like how you can react with different emojis on Facebook. Twitter users can now react to their friends’ messages — be it texts or attachments.

The new feature is already out and available for both iOS and Android users, in addition to those who are using the web version. However, if you’re using the older version that comes with out the new feature, then the reactions given will be seen as text-based messages.

Say more with new emoji reactions for Direct Messages!

To add a reaction, click the ❤➕ icon that appears when you hover over the message on web or double tap the message on mobile and select an emoji from the pop-up.

For more about DM reactions:
https://t.co/sdMumGDBYl

https://t.co/QxMVmGt8eY

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport)
January 22, 2020

Unlike Facebook, Twitter does have a few different emojis. For instance, the face with heart-eyes and angry face emojis on Facebook are replaced as a normal heart and fire emoji on Twitter. Sadly, there’s still no feature that lets you use emoji to react to tweets.

Despite Twitter announcing the new feature, there seemed to more complaints than praises. Twitter users are asking for other features and one particular user voiced out saying, “We didn’t ask for this.” The most-requested feature is still the edit option will not be happening any time soon. In fact, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said, “We’ll probably never do it.”

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Scammers hacked high-profile Twitter accounts to post bitcoin scam

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A recent Twitter hack has taken advantage of many important figures and companies to participate unknowingly in a
Bitcoin scam
.

High-profile accounts involved in the Twitter hack

Compromised accounts included the former U.S President Barack Obama, Kanya West, Elon Musk, Mike Bloomberg, Warren Buffett, Apple and more. These accounts posted similar tweets that promise to double the return to whoever who makes payment to the BTC address that was included in the tweet.

Crypto accounts were also affected

TechCrunch
 reported that the initial wave of scam posts was targeted at crypto accounts with the message, “We have partnered with CryptoForHealth and are giving back 5000 BTC to the community.” A website link was also included, but it was deactivated as soon as reports surfaced.

Tough day for us at Twitter. We all feel terrible this happened.

We’re diagnosing and will share everything we can when we have a more complete understanding of exactly what happened.

💙 to our teammates working hard to make this right.

— jack (@jack)
July 16, 2020

According to
The Verge
, over $118,000 were sent in the first hour. CEO Jack Dorsey also acknowledged the incident and promised to provide an explanation when things are sorted out. Meanwhile, the malicious tweets were all removed, but affected accounts are also unable to change their passwords and post new tweets as Twitter review the incident.

An insider’s job?

Speculations are suggesting that it could be an insider’s job or hackers may have gained access to an internal Twitter tool. The latest tweet from
Twitter’s support team
 at the time of writing says many accounts can start tweeting again, but the functionality may be affected during the fix.

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hack
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Twitter introduces new camera feature that is slightly similar to Instagram Stories

329

While Twitter is busy making changes in its public beta app twttr, the company also continues to make changes in its official app. Twitter is now redesigning its camera feature, allowing users to easily access to camera to tweet pictures and videos through the app.

Similar to Instagram Stories, you just need to swipe to open your camera. However, rest assured that the pictures and/or videos will still be a Twitter post instead of stories, so Twitter is actually not straying too far from their original concept.

Image credit: Engadget

According to Engadget, the camera gives you two options called Capture and Live. You can then take picture with a tap of a finger or take a video by holding the shutter button. On the other hand, the Live button will let you post a live stream through Twitter’s video-streaming service called Periscope.

Your pictures and videos can also be layered with texts, hashtags, location and these will appear at the bottom of your pictures/videos. This is one of the differences between Twitter’s camera features and Instagram Stories, since the latter allows you to place your texts and words anywhere across your images.

Image credit: Engadget

This new feature is going to be one of the biggest changes Twitter has done to its app, and it is said to be rolling out already. That being said, I’ve yet to received the update so I can only wait in line for my turn to test out the new feature.

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twitter


Twitter invests USD 70 million into SoundCloud

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SoundCloud has just landed itself a USD 70 million investment and said investment comes from a company that they are familiar with: Twitter.

According to Recode, Twitter has invested roughly USD 70 million into the music service. While Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is keeping mum as to the specifics of the investmennt, he did confirm on Twitter that it now owns a stake in SoundCloud. “Earlier this year, we made an investment in SoundCloud through Twitter Ventures to help support some of our efforts with creators. They’ve been great partners of ours over the years and their community-supported approach mirrors ours in many ways,” says Dorsey.

“We can confirm that Twitter has made an investment in SoundCloud. Both comapnies facilitate and inspire contemporary culture to happen in real time while reaching milions of people around the world. This investment will enable SoundCloud to remain focused on building calue for creators and listeners alike, and to continue the global rollout of many company initiatives such as our recently launched subscription service, SoundCloud Go,” says a SoundCloud spokesman.

This wouldn’t be the first time Twitter has flirted with SoundCloud of course. Two years ago, Twitter was considering buying the audio streaming site, but decided to pull out from it.

Source:
Recode

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Twitter is introducing a profile preview feature for iOS users

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Twitter is now testing a new feature for its iOS users by letting them check out other Twitter profiles without having to be redirected to another page.

This new feature shows you someone’s profile when you click on their Twitter handle, so you get a preview of their profile including their display picture, their profile description and number of followers and followings. You can also follow them without having to visit their full profile page.

We’re testing an easier way to check out profiles on iOS without leaving your timeline! Simply tap any @ handle in a Tweet, take a peek, follow, and get right back to it. Let us know what you think!
pic.twitter.com/dIUFxI2r4C

— Twitter (@Twitter)
February 13, 2019

Twitter decided to use this feature because it’ll be quicker and more convenient for Twitter users to gain information on other users as they can follow/mute each account and easily differentiate whether the account is a bot account or a real account.

We want you to know who is behind the accounts that appear on your timeline. With this experiment, we’re working to make it easier to learn who is behind an account. It’s also easier to follow or mute an account now.
https://t.co/zH41w7pdom

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety)
February 13, 2019

The new feature is not available for Android users yet, and though it is said to be available for iOS users, I still get redirected when I click on a Twitter handle on my iPhone at the time of writing. Meanwhile, many users are requesting for an Edit button so that they can edit their Tweets even after they’ve posted to amend typos and whatnot.

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Twitter is labelling user replies with ‘Author’, ‘Mentioned’ and ‘Following’

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Twitter has been trying to bring in lots of changes as of recent months, and the newest update discovered is the addition of labels to replies.

According to Twitter, the new update is to ensure that users can easily “follow and join conversations on Twitter”. The new update is also only available to a certain number of users, hence you shouldn’t worry if your Twitter account doesn’t support the feature yet.

We want it to be easy to follow and join conversations on Twitter. We’re testing out labels on replies: author, mentioned, and following. If you see them, let us know what you think!
pic.twitter.com/L228sMbh75

— Twitter (@Twitter)
April 4, 2019

The labels are easily seen as they will appear below the user’s username, and currently Twitter came up with three labels — Author, Mentioned and Following. Author refers to the original individual who posted the tweet, Mentioned refers to the individual who is mentioned in the tweet, and Following refers to the Twitter individual that follows the author.

Twitter also mentioned that they’re welcoming feedbacks for those who get the new feature, so do let them know what you think if you’re one of the lucky few!

twitter


Twitter is testing out a system that would flag certain profiles as 'sensitive'

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Twitter’s continued efforts to stamp out trolls from its service may have lead to the creation of a tool that would block certain profiles from being viewed as such a system was spotted by Mashable.

@jpwarren
 did you know Twitter has marked your account as maybe containing sensitive content? Appears like this for a colleague, not for me
pic.twitter.com/ToQyhotydL

— Ariel Bogle (@arielbogle)
March 9, 2017

According to Mashable, it appears that Twitter has rolled out a feature that would gray out a user’s profile and all its tweets. On top of that, Twitter would display a warning that states the account in question “may include potentially sensitive content”. In order to continue viewing the tweets of said profile, the user must first click on the “Yes, view profile” button located just below the warning.

A Twitter spokesperson has since clarified that the system in question is currently being tested out as part of the company’s efforts to make the site feel safer. While it is encouraging to see Twitter take the issue of online trolls seriously, the wording on “potentially sensitive content” is vague enough that we don’t quite know what that entails. Whatever the case, seeing as the system is still in its trial stages, Twitter still has time to work out the kinks.

Source:
Mashable
,
TechCrunch

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Twitter limits bulk following to 400 accounts a day to fight off spammers

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In efforts to reduce the number of spammers, Twitter has decided to reduce the amount of accounts users can follow per day to 400.

Twitter previously allows its users to follow up to 1,000 accounts a day, but this has led to spammers easily following and unfollowing others. Of course, this new update will definitely be affecting spammers only, since it’s very unlikely for most users to follow so many Twitter users at once.

Even then, Twitter’s new limit still befuddles some of the Twitter users, as they expressed that 400 is still a huge number, while others suggested even smaller numbers.

Who TF needs to follow 400 accounts a day?

— Stephanie Fysh (@stephaniefysh)
April 8, 2019

Make it 20-50

— Peddodagod (@Peddo_v)
April 8, 2019

Who was following 1,000 people a day? who has that kind of time? I’m lucky to follow 2. And they don’t even follow me back, so there’s that.

— Opinion8ed (@Live2teachLives)
April 8, 2019

Some Twitter users also believe that the new limit will also prevent certain accounts from trying to gain followers through software programs which will automatically follow a huge amount of Twitter users in hopes that they will follow back.

The new update will definitely help Twitter move towards a healthier and spam-free community, but on the other hand, users are still looking forward to an Edit button from the social media site.

twitter


Twitter Lite currently in testing for developing countries

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Social media apps are often addictive, but are also known to be quite data consuming as well. Not only that, these apps require a decently fast network speed for their content to load. Facebook has a Lite version for its app and also the Messenger app, whereas Twitter will be rolling out a lightweight version of its app too.

According to TechCrunch, a Twitter spokesperson has claimed that the company is currently testing Twitter Lite in the Philippines, in hopes to increase the availability of Twitter in the country. The spokesperson further claimed that the Philippines has slow mobile network and expensive data plans, hence Twitter Lite will help to overcome the barriers regarding the usage of Twitter.

It has been proven that lightweight versions of apps can cater to markets in developing countries where 3G and LTE networks aren’t plentiful. Twitter Lite users have an option to switch to a media-free mode, which will consume less data than usual.

Twitter Lite is currently only available in the Philippines, but we’re almost certain that the app will be rolling out to other similar countries in the future.

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Twitter may put Vine up for sale after all

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When Twitter first announced that they would shut down Vine last month, many were wondering why couldn’t Twitter just sell of the company instead. Today, sources have told TechCrunch that Vine may not be going gently into that quiet goodnight after all, as it appears that Twitter has received a huge number of bids from various tech comapnies for the short-video app.

According to the report, these bids comes from companies around the world, including Asia. While nothing was confirmed just yet, it is rumoured that Japanese messaging company LINE is one of the companies interested in acquiring Vine. While selling Vine may ease the strain placed on Twitter’s accounts, the bids that are rolling in for Vine are reportedly at the USD10 million range. For reference, Twitter bought the short video service for an estimated USD30 million. However the deal goes, Twitter would still be losing money over its acquisition of the service.

Despite that, should Twitter manage to sell of Vine, it would allow the short video service to (hopefully) live on instead of being relegated to just a video archive. As of the time of writing, TechCrunch has reported that Twitter has shortlisted five companies that are interested in buying Vine. Here’s hoping that Vine is able to sell itself off to another company instead of languishing under Twitter.

Source:
TechCrunch

line
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Twitter might be releasing a Snooze feature so you can mute your notifications

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Jane Manchun Wong is at it again! According to the tech blogger who loves to use reverse engineering to discover new features, Twitter is found to be testing out a Snooze feature.

With this Snooze button, Twitter users will be able to silent their notifications for a while to prevent distractions. Users will be given three time periods — 1 hour, 3 hours and 12 hours. However, the notifications will still appear in their Notifications tab so there’s no need to worry that the notifications will disappear.

Twitter is testing Snooze feature, allowing users to pause notifications for 1 hour, 3 hours or 12 hours!

I wrote a blog for the first look of this unreleased feature
https://t.co/EoNYaRHraQ

Tip
@Techmeme

pic.twitter.com/qm3aMM2Q00

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane)
August 6, 2019

The Snooze button sports a slashed bell icon and appears at the top right of the app next to the settings button. Twitter users can also choose to un-Snooze their notifications by clicking the bell button again.

There’s no definite certainty as to whether Twitter will officially launch this feature, but we don’t see why anyone will come to dislike this feature.

snooze
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Twitter now allows you to mute non-followers

306

Twitter has come a long way now in improving on its user experience, but the company has also been working on the app’s privacy and security features to make sure all is covered and that all needs are met, and Twitter has continued to do that with new advanced filter settings.

Twitter users can now further filter tweets and content on their feed via new options in its advanced filter settings. From now on, you can disable notifications from non-followers, which include users who do not follow you or users who you don’t follow.

To enable those settings, just head on into the notifications tab, hit the gear icon on the top right hand corner and tap on advanced filters. After that, you’ll see options to mute notifications from people, which include “You don’t follow”, “Who don’t follow you”, “With a new account”, and so on.

This is part of Twitter efforts in ensuring user security, and of course giving users more control over what they see on their Twitter feed. How useful would this feature be to you?

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Twitter now supports live video streaming via Periscope

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In the light of live video streaming being made available to social media giants such as Facebook and Instagram, Periscope, one of the first known apps which focuses on live video broadcasts, isn’t dead just yet. The Twitter owned company has made an announcement whereby Twitter users can now broadcast videos live through Tweets.

Along with the #GoLive hashtag, you can now start broadcasts directly from the Twitter app. This new addition comes after Twitter and Periscope added the ability for the Twitter community to watch Periscope broadcasts live via the Twitter app earlier this year. When composing a Tweet, users now have a “LIVE” option aside from “Photo” and “Video”. By selecting the “LIVE” button, a broadcast screen will be brought up, and you will be able to stream live to your friends on Twitter.

Apart from that, when you are viewing a Periscope broadcast on Twitter, you can join the audience to get the full on Periscope experience by just tapping in. It will then feel all familiar if you happen to be a frequent user of the Periscope app. These new features allow users to access the Periscope world via both the Twitter and Periscope app. Perhaps, this is one of the few tactics to bring Periscope back to life. The update is said to be rolling out to both iOS and Android platforms over the next couple of days. Till then, stay tuned!

Source:
Periscope

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Twitter now won't count usernames in the 140 character Tweet limit

344

Twitter has been working hard to introduce new features to its social media platform and to enhance the user experience. A while back, Twitter integrated streaming platform Periscope into its app, after acquiring the company behind it. Now Twitter has welcomed a new take on its 140 character limit to Tweets that will change the way you Tweet from today onwards.

From now on, when you reply to someone, the person’s username won’t be counted within Twitter’s 140 character limit. This means that you will have a little extra character space whenever you reply someone via a Tweet. Conversations have also been simplified in a couple of ways. Since usernames won’t be counted in Tweets anymore, they will appear above the Tweet instead of in it, meaning that the person you’re replying to will appear above. Moreover, you can tap on the “Replying to…” button to control who’s part of your conversation.

That’s basically it, but these new updates will certainly ease up on the communication process on Twitter. Being able to squeeze in a few more words will definitely make a big difference for Twitter users in the long run. What do you think?

Source:
Twitter

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Twitter omits photos, videos and quotes as part of its 140-character limit

412

Good news Twitter users, starting from today, you can attach as many pictures or quotes into your tweets as Twitter has made it so that photos, videos, GIFs and quotes will no longer be counted towards the 140-character limit.

This feature was first
teased
 way back in May of this year. Today, this feature has finally gone live, although it appears that links are still counted in the 140-character limit. Starting from today, you’ll be able to attach any photo or video, and even retweet and quote Tweets without having it eat into your 140-character limit.

Replying to other Twitter users will also not be counted into the Tweet limit. That said, mentions of other Twitter users will still be counted as part of the character limit. One thing to note is that this particular feature has only been rolled out to a small group of users, so you’re going to have to wait a while longer for that to go live.

Source:
The Verge

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gifs
photos
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Twitter opens up applications for 'Verified Account' status

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Those who use Twitter would be aware of verified accounts. These accounts are accompanied by a blue checkmark that indicates that the account is indeed handled by the actual owner of said account instead of an imposter. Since Twitter stopped allowing users to apply for verified status, verification has been done manually at Twitter’s discretion. This is no longer the case as Twitter will be opening applications to those interested to verify their Twitter accounts.

If you’re interested in obtaining that illusive blue checkmark, you can apply for it at
here
. However, do note that there are some prerequisites that needs to be fulfilled before your Twitter account gets verified. First off, your account must contain a verified phone number, e-mail address, bio, profile picture, birthday and website. Twitter will also ask you why you should be verified, and in some cases, they may even ask for a government-issued ID to confirm your identity.

Should your application be accepted, the blue checkmark would then appear on your Twitter account. Should the application fail, you can try to apply for verification again 30 days after you first received the ‘verification denied’ e-mail. Those who managed to acquire verified status will be able to access special features such as a verified-only notification feed. Other than that though, the Twitter experience remains fundamentally unchanged.

Source:
Twitter

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Twitter plans a second round of job cuts

268

Twitter’s attempt to sell itself has not gone smoothly as many of its potential buyers have pulled out throughout the last few weeks. With the social media service losing money and sales growth slows down, Twitter may be planning job cuts in the very near future.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Twitter is reportedly planning to cut about eight percent of its workforce, which is around 300 people. Of course, the job cutting plan s still in its planning stages, so it is possible that the number of employees being laid off could be more that just 300 people.

With Twitter about to release its third-quarter earnings on Thursday, the announcement about job reductions may come before the company releases its earnings. However, Twitter respresentatives declined to comment on these rumours, so it is only a matter of time until Twitter themselves confirm the planned layoffs.

Source:
Bloomberg

earnings
layoffs
twitter


Twitter will roll out a reddit-like conversation tree feature in 2020

1.1K

Twitter threads have always been fun to read, but it can be quite complicated to keep up with when there’s tons of replies. However, reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong has discovered that Twitter is testing out a new conversation tree feature that will launch in 2020.

The new feature has been tested on twttr — Twitter’s beta testing app — but now it’s being tested on the main website. The conversation tree will include nested replies so that it’s easier to keep track of conversations while also allowing users to focus on tweets by providing different urls when they click on different replies.

Twitter continues working on Conversation Tree

now with the ability to focus a specific tweet, even from a permalink
pic.twitter.com/CVadSqbFDP

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane)
November 26, 2019

While Wong’s discovery was solely based on her own reverse engineering skills instead of being one of the alpha or beta testers, the company has indeed confirmed that this feature will be part of a bigger plan to introduce some of twttr’s features to Twitter.

Meanwhile, commenters to Wong’s tweet are saying that the feature is very much like reddit’s current conversation thread layout.

reddit
twitter
twttr


Twitter adds new tweet functions on web app

447

Twitter finally allows
tweet-scheduling
 directly from its Tweet composer — users no longer have to depend on
TweetDeck
 or any other third-party apps.

Scheduling tweets are especially important when it comes to those who want to schedule multiple tweets at different timings. Not only can you schedule your tweets, but you can also save unsent tweets as drafts. However, unsent tweets will only be accessible on other desktop/mobile web and not on the mobile app itself. This means that whatever tweet draft that you save on the web
will not be synced to your mobile app
.

Not quite ready to send that Tweet? Now on
https://t.co/fuPJa36kt0
 you can save it as a draft or schedule it to send at a specific time –– all from the Tweet composer!
pic.twitter.com/d89ESgVZal

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport)
May 28, 2020

When you click on the Tweet composer, you’ll see the “Unsent Tweets” section on the top right; clicking on that will redirect you to your drafts and scheduled tweets. You can either select those tweets to edit them or click on the edit button on the top right to delete unwanted tweets.

These new features were tested back in November 2019, but not everyone had access to it then. Still, the inability to sync your unsent tweets on the mobile app and web app is a bit of a disappointment; perhaps Twitter might do something about that in the future.

drafts
schedule
twitter
Twitter web
unsent tweets
web app


Twitter to join in on the trend of Reactions

3.4K

Remember when we said
WhatsApp

is working on reactions for messages? Well, Twitter is supposedly joining in on the trend to provides its users with the ability to react to tweets with emojis as well. According to reverse engineer
Nima Owji

who does research on Twitter’s app code, these features are not available to us
yet
but can be seen in the software.

This feature should work similarly to Facebook reactions or Instagram DM’s Emoji Reactions
–
 allowing you to choose which emoji you want and other users being able to see what you reacted with.

Apart from reactions, the company will also introduce the downvotes feature where users can downvote certain tweets and this data will be used to filter out spammy and abusive replies.

There is no set date when these features will start rolling out but since its already in the code, we probably won’t have to wait long.

Source

reactions
tweet
twitter
Twitter Reaction


Twitter to roll out additional tools to help combat abusive messages

346

Twitter has always had a problem with trolls and cyberbullying, although the company has since began taking steps to curb both issues. Today, the company has published a blogpost that reveals that it will be rolling out additional tools in order to stem the flow of abusive messages that one could potentially receive.

The first method that the company will employ in its fight against cyberbullying is to identify and stop users who have been permanently suspended from the service from creating new accounts. While Twitter believes that doing so would stop a user from creating multiple accounts that can be used to abuse and harass other users, Twitter did not expand on how exactly the company would perform the identification needed to verify if the user has been suspended from Twitter before.

‘Safe Search’ will be the second method that Twitter implements in order to cut down on online harassment. With this system in place, users will no longer see potentially sensitive content on their search results. Additionally, tweets from accounts that have been blocked or muted will not appear in the search results as well. One important thing to note about this system is that it is not a filter. As such, if someone were to go out of their way to search for said sensitive content, they’ll still be able to see it in their search results.

Finally, Twitter will work on identifying potentially abusive and low-quality tweets. Once the tweets are identified, they would be made collapsable so that the user can opt to ignore them if they so wish.

Source:
Twitter

abuse
cyberbullying
security
tools
twitter


Twitter to warn users about state-sponsored attacks on user accounts

347

We received a warning from
@twitter
 today stating we may be “targeted by state-sponsored actors”
pic.twitter.com/oZm83eVFC5

— coldhak (@coldhakca)
December 11, 2015

It seems that Twitter has recently began implementing a feature that would warn users that they “may have been targeted” by a state sponsored cyberattack.

According to

these tweets
, Twitter has begun sending e-mails to users whose accounts were suspected to be targeted by state-sanctioned cyberattacks aimed at acquiring the user’s e-mail address, network connections and phone numbers. The keyword here is suspected, as it is completely possible that this is merely a false alarm.

Besides giving a warning, the e-mail would also include advice on how to protect your identity online, such as using the Tor browser.

Twitter isn’t the only one alerting their users if they’ve been targeted by actors suspected of working for the government’s behalf as
Google
 and
Facebook
 have implemented this security feature not too long ago.

Currently, it is not known how Twitter detects these attacks and if it will apply to user accounts outside of the United States. Whatever the case, it is still a good move to warn users about it despite the possibility of this move raising unnecessary paranoia.

Judging by the way Malaysian politics is shaping out these days, you may probably see more of these notifications sometime in the near future.

security
twitter


Stay updated on topics you’re interested in with Twitter’s new ‘Topics’ feature

569

Instead of just following Twitter users, you can now follow topics that interest you on Twitter.

Twitter tweeted about the new feature, introducing the Topic feature that is now available to Twitter’s desktop version and Twitter app on iOS and Android. Users will be able to follow topics that they find interesting, so they’ll get to see the top tweets of the topic, regardless of whether they follow the Twitter accounts or not.

Hot takes? Always. Hot topics? Brand new.

Now you can follow specific topics to discover the Tweets you care about.
pic.twitter.com/3tVBRFuTYd

— Twitter (@Twitter)
November 11, 2019

You can also check the topics you’ve followed on the profile icon menu and unfollow whichever topics you’ve lost interest in. According to Twitter’s help page, they’ll prompt you to follow topics they think you’re interested in; you can also search for a topic in the search bar.

This feature will be rolling out today so it might take you a few days before you get the Topics feature. Others will be able to see the topics you follow when they check out your profile and Twitter said that the maximum visible topics shown will be 100. However, you can access Your Twitter data for more information and to deselect any Interest you’re not interested in so that Twitter does a better job at suggesting topics for you to follow.

android
ios
Topics
twitter


Twitter updates conduct rules relating to harassment

278

It seems that Twitter is no longer taking online harassment on its platform lightly as the company has just recently updated their service terms in order to further combat malicious trolls.

The Abusive Behaviour section of Twitter’s support page has received an update, bringing with it a clearer definition as to what they consider to be harassment. New to the section is hateful conduct which Twitter defines as “promoting violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease”.

Should Twitter receive reports about a user committing such actions, the user’s account may be temporarily locked and may even be permanently suspended.

Twitter has also found that implementing mandatory actions for suspected abusive behavior is an effective method of combating online abuse. These mandatory actions include an e-mail and phone verfication system as well as a forcing the user to delete Tweets that violates the terms of service.

onlineharassment
twitter


Twitter starts testing new upvote/downvote feature on iOS

1.9K

Twitter recently announced on its support account that some iOS users will get to try out the new upvote/downvote system — reddit users may be familiar with this.

It’s just a Twitter experiment…for now

According to
Twitter
, the new feature is only an experiment for research. This means that we won’t be getting this feature any time soon, and it may not even be released. The downvote button is also not a dislike button and will only appear to the users themselves. This means that even if someone downvotes your post, you won’t know. This is also not Twitter’s first attempt to
copy
 a reddit feature.

On the other hand, upvotes will be shown publicly and will appear as likes. Another difference between Twitter’s experimental feature and reddit’s existing one is the change in order of replies. On reddit, a reply with enough downvotes will be hidden; this is not the case with Twitter.

The upvote/downvote feature is not meant to harm users

In past research, we’ve learned which types of replies are considered best when reading conversations:

•Informative
•Supportive
•Positive
•Funny

— Cody Elam (@codyelam)
July 21, 2021

That being said, many users are concerned and voiced out that this feature can encourage bullies and trolls to act out against their victims. However, user researcher Cody Elam explains that the experiment is to learn about the qualities of replies, not to shame the users. “This gives people the power to privately voice their opinion on the quality of replies without publicly shaming others while also giving us more nuanced feedback.”

What do you think? Will you want an upvote/downvote button on Twitter?

twitter


Twitter user found Instagram testing direct message on its web/desktop version

347

A girl named Jane Manchun Wong with the Twitter handle @wongmjane recently discovered that Instagram is testing Direct on Web, a feature that lets Instagram users direct message others when they’re on their desktops or signed-in via web.

The current web version Instagram only doesn’t allow users to send messages, post on Stories and also post pictures and videos, but users still get to view Stories and posts from others and comment on posts. Still, it would be a great addition if Direct on Web is a confirmed feature.

Instagram’s Direct on Web will also be available on desktop
pic.twitter.com/Y3iTIdDwKV

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane)
February 12, 2019

As of now, the Direct on Web feature has been disabled, probably because it’s not fully developed and meant to be discovered by public yet. It’ll be even better if Instagram at least enable users to post images and videos to their newsfeed via web/desktop.

There were also rumours previously reporting that Mark Zuckerberg has plans on merging Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram’s direct message feature but personally I believe many will disagree on this. Meanwhile, let’s just hope Direct on Web comes back soon so we get to try it out.

Direct Message
Direct on Web
instagram


Twitter is using machine learning to show better picture previews

383

Twitter is harnessing the power of machine learning to offer a subtle improvement to the user experience when users tweet photos. By using neural networks, Twitter is able to automatically crop picture previews to show the most interesting parts as a preview.

They have been working on this feature for quite a while now, prior to this, they trained the system using facial recognition to crop the images but found there is a problem. The tool did not work very well when it comes to pictures of scenery, objects and animals. The second solution was to use “cropping using saliency, which means the program will crop the image to show what is the most interesting part of the phot. This is done by using data based on eye-tracking which records what people look at first in a picture. Based on that data, it was used to train the neural network to predict what people might look at.

Top: before machine learning implementation
Bottom: after machine learning implementation

The outcome is ten times faster than its original design and allows them to perform saliency detection on all the images as soon as it gets uploaded. The feature is being rolled out on desktop, iOS and Android in the next couple of days.

crop
learning
machine
pictures
preview
twitter


Twitter will be omitting links and photos from its 140-character limit

329

Website links and photos will no longer eat into your 140-character Tweet limits as Twitter will be rolling out an update to its service that would cost photos and links to not be counted in the character limit.

According to an anonymous source from Bloomberg, this update is expected to be rolled out within two weeks time, allowing users to fully utilise the 140-character limit even with links being included into the Tweet. While links and photos will no longer take up character space, usernames will still be counted.

Twitter has been busy trying to shore up its user base as the company has been struggling to make a profit for quite a while now. Not so long ago, Twitter has added a feature that would allow the service to determine the best Tweets on your timeline and bump it to the top. This new feature is one that many have been asking for, but only time will tell if this update will boost Twitter’s userbase.

Source:
Bloomberg

characterlimit
twitter


Twitter will discontinue the Vine mobile app within the next few months

646

We have some bad news for those of you who make short videos on Vine. Twitter has announced today that it would be discontinuing the service’s mobile app within the coming months, which means you can no longer create video clips with it.

No specific timeframe was given as to when the Vine mobile app will be pulled from the various app stores, but Twitter has promised that it will alert users before making any changes to the app or website. While the Vine app will no longer be available, the website will continue to exist to showcase all footage that has been uploaded on the site. However, seeing as no new Vines can be made once the app goes offline, the Vine website will very much be an internet archive.

The discontinuation of the Vine app will pretty much spell the end of Vine itself. Twitter’s call to discontinue the short video service isn’t all that surprising as the service has been bleeding users to competitors like Instagram and Snapchat. Couple that with Twitter’s own revenue issues and its failure to sell itself to other potential buyers, it is no surprise that Twitter is killing of Vine to shore up its finances.

Source:
Engadget
,
Vine Medium

app
discontinue
twitter
vine


Twitter users will soon be able to follow topics; edit button is still in the long run

308

Twitter will now let its users follow topics of interest just like how they can follow other Twitter users. This feature is currently being tested out on Android devices, but no doubt it’ll soon be available on iOS devices too.

Rob Bishop, Twitter’s Product Manager says that the only topic that can be followed for now is sports-related interests. However, rest assured that once the feature is live, Twitter users will be able to follow various other topics such as television shows, celebrities and more.

This could solve an issue of Twitter where users aren’t sure who to follow to get the content they want on the site. In addition, following an individual isn’t enough for them to have their Twitter feed filled with the content they’re interested in. With the new ability to follow topics of interest, users will be able to get all the content they want without having to seek and follow various Twitter accounts.

In addition, users are also allowed to mute topics so that it will temporarily be hidden from their feed. According to the example given by The Verge, it’ll be useful for those who haven’t seen the latest episode from a TV show and wants to avoid spoilers.

That’s not all that Twitter has to offer though; the company revealed that it is working on a few other features like search for DMs, re-order photos in a tweet before posting and support for Apple’s Live Photos. There’s also news on the long-awaited edit button but apparently, it’s “not anywhere near the top of our priorities,” said Twitter’s Product Lead Kayvon Beykpour.

twitter


Twitter will soon have automatic night mode

386

Night modes in apps are saviours for folks who constantly browse through their smartphones in the dark. In app night modes work differently from the ones in a smartphone’s software. Instead of incorporating a blue light filter, the app will use a dark background instead of a bright colored one. For instance, Twitter which orginally has a white background has a grey background for night mode. Speaking of which, the app will soon introduce an automatic form of night mode.

This new feature is said to currently be tested in the app’s beta channel. The option will be available in Settings under Night mode, the same exact place for users to activate night mode in Twitter. Instead of having only an “on” and “off” option, it now has an “automatic” option. Selecting that option will trigger night mode when its night and goes off during the day. It wasn’t specified whether or not users will be able to set specifc times for night mode to go on, but that will definitely come in handy.

Regardless, the new feature will likely roll out to the official versions of the Twitter app in the near future. This new option comes after night mode was added into the app in July last year. What do you think?

Source:
Android Police

automatic
beta
day
mode
night
twitter


Twitter will temporarily restrict abusive accounts

306

Twitter has taken yet another step in its fight against online harassment and trolling recently as the company has implemented a new vetting system that will temporarily restrict the tweets of users who are deemed abusive.

Once Twitter identifies an account that it deems abusive, Twitter would proceed to restrict that account for an unspecified amount of time. When restricted, Tweets that come out from said account will not appear on the timeline of people who do not follow the account in question. Additionally, retweets and mentions will be limited as well as only people that follow that account are able to do so.

Seeing as Twitter did not specify what exactly would cause one’s accounts to be restricted, there are reports that users are getting suspended from the service due to poor usage of words. Twitter has since stated that the service would look through the account’s behavior history before restricting people, so a single use of an offensive word won’t result in your account being muted from the general public. Whatever the case, Twitter’s intentions with this system is clear: play nice, or else.

Source:
Engadget

harassment
restriction
twitter


Twitter’s new beta app comes with threaded replies and hidden engagement counts

594

Twitter has launched its public beta app a few days back called twttr and reports are already seen on the web discussing the prototype app. Currently, this prototype program is only available for iOS users.

Image credit: The Verge

One of the few changes discovered is the threaded replies that are more organised. Replies to the original tweet now come with coloured edges. Blue-edge replies indicate replies from people the you follow and black-edge replies indicate the original Twitter user’s replies. Aside from that, additional replies will also be indented so that the conversations look better visually.

Another update that is seen in twttr is the absence of engagement counts. Users will no longer see the likes and retweets of a tweet by default; instead, they’ll have to tap on the tweet to see the likes and retweets. There is also a “show more” to prevent too many replies showing up at the thread, including some replies that can be offensive or spam-like.

Notice our new prototype?
@jack
 and I named and designed it based on old times. It’s called, “twttr.” The bird flew away from the app icon representing: Simplicity. Blue sky thinking. We’re re-working. Not there yet; hence, no logo. Bold and a little weird.
#LetsHaveAConvo

pic.twitter.com/WaNR2mOXO9

— Biz Stone (@biz)
March 11, 2019

Co-founder of Twitter Biz Stone also tweeted a picture of the twttr app’s icon that is just a blue box without its iconic bird. However, in his other tweet, Stone explained that the app is just a prototype and the iconic bird will not be disappearing from Twitter’s icon.

twitter
twttr


Twitter’s new beta app determines future Twitter functionality and design

370

Twitter was under a lot of criticism last year, and due to that the social media site has decided to implement a beta app to further improve the app.

Twitter plans to create its own beta app that needs to be downloaded separately. The beta app will feature upcoming updates, so users can try them out and provide feedbacks.

The main point of the standalone beta app is so that the company can gauge users’ response and feedback towards whatever changes and updates the app has to offer. The company will then decide whether to put the new features in its stable app or not; if there are positive responses, the feature will go into the stable app.

That aside, the beta app will not be like the Experiments Program because it will only be available to selected participants and these participants will not be under NDA. This indicates that participants of the new beta app are free to discuss it in public and share screenshots and thoughts online.

Sara Haider, Twitter’s director of product management said, “Unlike a traditional beta that is the last step before launch, we’re bringing people in super early,” meaning that users now will have more say in what they want in the Twitter app.

Image credit: TechCrunch

Some of the features that will appear in the beta app include colour-coded replies, algorithmically sorted responses and also the removal of hearts and other engagement icons.

The colour-coded replies will cause different posts to be coloured differently, depending on the type of responses such as an original tweet, a reply from a follower or a reply from a non-follower. From what Haider showed TechCrunch, replies from people she follows were green whereas her own replies and replies from non-followers were blue.

Next, there’s the responses sorted out by algorithm, meaning that replies on Twitter will show in a ranked order, and important replies such as from those you follow will appear first before replies from unknown. This will help users’ keep track of tweets and replies from closer ones instead of just scrolling endlessly.

Image credit: TechCrunch

Twitter also plans on removing engagement icons in its beta app, though not completely. What the company meant is that users will no longer see the engagement icons in the tweets on their feed, but if they’d like to retweet, reply or like a post, they’ll have to first click into the post.

It seems like a wise move for the company to start the beta app because they can find out what users like or dislike from an earlier stage, which will help them in creating a more favourable Twitter community.

beta
twitter


Twitter’s new “Lights out” option is its true dark mode

339

Twitter already had a dark mode for its users, but today the company decided to make it even darker with its new “Lights out” function.

Currently, your Twitter should have only come with a night mode toggle when you go to the Display and sound tab under Settings and privacy. However, once the update reaches you, you’ll also get a “Lights out” option, which will further darken your dark mode.

It was dark. You asked for darker! Swipe right to check out our new dark mode. Rolling out today.
pic.twitter.com/6MEACKRK9K

— Twitter (@Twitter)
March 28, 2019

The current dark mode that is offered to Twitter users comes with a dark blue background, but with “Lights out”, you’ll get a completely black background. The dark blue color palette will then be renamed as the “Dim” dark mode.

The new “Lights out” function is also said to be battery-saving because phones with OLED displays will only light up non-black pixels. In addition, Twitter also added an Automatic Dark Mode feature, which probably lets the app switch on the dark mode according to its timezone.

dark mode
Lights out
twitter


Twitter’s own ‘Stories’ feature called Fleets is for sharing one’s own thoughts

369

Like it or not the stories feature, popularized by Snapchat and made accessible by Facebook and Instagram, are increasingly the go-to option for social media postings – the main reason being that Stories are temporary and don’t need the same kind of effort put into it like a regular post.

Stories can also be a medium to share your thoughts as they arrive – and Twitter’s own foray into the feature serves to cater those who like sharing text-based stories.

Fleets are a way to share fleeting thoughts. Unlike Tweets, Fleets disappear after 24 hours and don’t get Retweets, Likes, or public replies– people can only react to your Fleets with DMs. Instead of showing up in people’s timelines, Fleets are viewed by tapping on your avatar.
pic.twitter.com/sWwsExRLcJ

— Kayvon Beykpour (@kayvz)
March 4, 2020

Aptly dubbed Fleets, Twitter’s own take on Stories lets users post their thoughts through this upcoming feature and receive reactions and replies from followers, which will be sent to their Twitter DMs.

Your Fleets will also appear across the top of your followers’ feed like on Facebook and Instagram, but the icon is shaped like a thought bubble – driving home the ‘fleeting thought’ theme. We are unsure if you can post images using Fleets, but we’ll know in a few months time when it starts olling out to the public.

facebook
fleets
instagram
social media
stories
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twitter


Two children in America has sued Google for collecting their biometric data without consent

358

Two school children in Illinois, USA have filed a class-action lawsuit against big-gun Google for apparently collecting their biometric data without consent.

Google provides school districts across the US with Chromebooks, along with free access to G Suite which allows them to use tools like Gmail, Calendar, and Google Docs – in the lawsuit, the two children claim that Google is using the very same tools provided to create biometric face templates and voiceprints of children without consent.

Google is being sued for allegedly violating the Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act – the former regulates technology for collecting biometric data, while the latter aims to protect children 13 or younger who go online and requires websites to obtain parental consent before collecting personal information.

The lawsuit is seeking compensation for damages of USD1,000 for every member of the children’s class for every violation unknowingly
committed
, and USD5,000 for every offence
committed
 intentionally. The report claims that Google has yet to respond, so it’ll be interesting to see how this pans out.


Two Facebook engineers developed an AI to open closed eyes in selfies

376

Ever took a selfie and realized that you had your eyes closed? Well, Facebook is using AI to help you out with that problem by literally opening your eyes for you.

Two Facebook engineers are using machine learning to retouch eyes that are closed in a photo. They are using a method called Generative Adversarial Network which is trained for generating images and it has already created fake celebrities, changing the weather and designing clothing. However, the AI still needs to know how you look like with your eyes open before it can open them for you. The AI will record the eye shape and colour, with this information it will just fill in the eyes to make it look open. There are some flaws with the program, it has issues when manipulating faces that are wearing glasses, long fringes and faces with extream angles.

Although this AI was developed by two Facebook engineers, there is no confirmation if this software will be part of Facebook. Although, we dont see it as a problem if data privacy is an issue after all, Facebook probably already has more than enough of your photos to make this AI work on launch.

ai
blinking
eyes
facebook
fix


Two Mara Digital malls to open in Selangor

256

Many of you would have heard of Mara Digital, also known as “Low Yat 2”. Now, you can expect two more of its kind to pop up as Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) has confirmed that it intends to open at least two more of the all-bumiputera mall in Selangor within the year.

According to federal minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri, Mara has identified two locations where Mara Digitals would be established. The first would be in Anggerik Mall in Shah Alam, while the other would be to-be-disclosed location at Kota Damansara. The Anggerik Mall branch is expected to be operational by June and the Kota Damansara branch is scheduled to operate by the year’s end.

The opening of new branches of Mara Digital has always been on the works as Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri has voiced his intentions when the first Mara Digital was opened at the Medan Mara building. When asked by reporters if the expansion plans are done too hastily, the minister replied “from what the staff here told me, they have done quite well and sales have gone up”.

Seeing as Mara Digital is barely a month old, it is hard to gauge if Mara Digital would remain popular after a year’s time. Regardless, it seems that Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri has every intention of striking the iron while its hot, so you can expect the other two branches to be opened this year, even if it seems like a short-sighted decision to do so.

Source :
The Malay Mail Online

lowyat
maradigital
racism


Two mystery Snapdragon 855 smartphones with pop-up cameras in the works for Xiaomi

286

Just a few weeks after releasing the Xiaomi Mi 9, one of the first flagships to sport the latest Snapdragon 855 chipset, Xiaomi may be hot on their heels again as reports claim that the Chinese company are planning to fit the chipset in two new devices soon.

XDA Developers report their findings on two codenamed devices Raphael and DaVinci – two smartphones that apparently will come with a pop-up selfie camera. We know that the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 comes with a sliding module, but the reports suggest that the two unreleased phones will be more in line with the likes of the OPPO F11 Pro or the Vivo V15 Pro, both of which have pop-up lenses.

It begs the question if Xiaomi can do it any better than OPPO and Vivo – perhaps all they can is it a better lens or add more to the module; but we think the sliding panel in the Mi Mix 3 was unique and worked well. If the reports are true, it could be a sign that the general smartphone market that’s geared towards Chinese brands are veering towards pop-up cameras, and the two mysterious devices are simply Xiaomi’s avenue to hop on the bandwagon.

Regardless of its design, we can always expect Xiaomi to produce products of decent quality at affordable prices. The report claims that Rafael and DaVinci would not only be fitted with a Snapdragon 855 but with other flagship-level components too.

codename
leak
mi mix 3
pop up selfie camera
sliding module
xiaomi


Two new Nexus devices from HTC rumored to be released this year

269

HTC might sound a little quiet after announcing the HTC 10, but rumors of the Taiwanese handset company making Google’s Nexus device isn’t dying down, as reported by Android Police, there will be two HTC made Nexus devices codnamed Sailfish and Marlin, while details of these two handsets are still incomplete, reports have confirmed that the codenamed ‘Sailfish’ handset could be the successor to the current Nexus 5X. The ‘Sailfish’ model is reported to come with a 5-inch 1080p display, an unknown quad-core 2.0GHz processor with 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage with the possibility of more storage options, a 12-megapixel main camera which we assume to be the one on the HTC 10, and a 2770mAh battery.

Furthermore, the design of HTC’s Nexus devices might retain similar characteristics of the current Nexus devices, such as having a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, USB Type-C port and speakers at the bottom, hence we shouldn’t be expecting a recent HTC smartphone design on these new Nexus devices, but we are keeping our fingers crossed that HTC might build a beautiful metal chassis for these phones. Till then, lets hope that one of the HTC made Nexus devices will look like the picture above.

SOURCE:
Android Police
, Image Credit: Pocketlint

google
htc
htc10
nexus


Two-step verification is now available for all WhatsApp users

288

WhatsApp users can now add on an additional layer of security to the service as WhatsApp has enabled the two-step verification feature for all users.

Previously only available for those who have the beta version of WhatsApp, this two-step verification step will require users to register a six-digit passcode. Once registered, WhatsApp would automatically prompt for this passcode whenever you register your phone number with WhatsApp.

In addition to the passcode, WhatsApp will also require you to input a separate e-mail address. This e-mail address will be used in the event that you’ve forgotten the passcode or if you wish to disable two-step verification in the event of an emergency.

Those who want to enable the feature ASAP can do so by opening the WhatsApp app, accessing the Settings screen and tapping on the Accounts tab. After that, tap on the two-step verification option and follow the instructions on screen to enable the feature.

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Two unknown Xiaomi phones rumored to set launch by next year

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It has been a fruitful year for smartphone companies as the year of 2018 has brought us a lot of new and amazing phones. While some companies are done launching their products for the year of 2018, some are already focused on whats next for the year of 2019.

On a recent news by GizmoChina,  it has been reported that Xiaomi is on plan to launch two new and unknown smartphones that will be released by next year. The two unknown Xiaomi devices have received certifications at the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology with their model numbers revealed they are scheduled to arrive next year.

It is said that all Xiaomi smartphones that has been released this year have model numbers that starts with M18, whereas the new unknown Xiaomi devices have their model numbers start with M19 which indicates that it will be release by the year of 2019. However there is no confirmation of which or what model they are except for the fact that the phone last alphabet is different, which means they are probably network variants of the same model.

“There are rumors that they might be variants of the Mi 9 series, not necessarily the main flagships since the Snapdragon 8150 hasn’t been officially released yet, but maybe less powerful versions. There are also speculations that they might be the Chinese variants of the Redmi Note 6 Pro. This is more plausible as Xiaomi hasn’t yet released a successor to the Redmi Note 5 (Pro) in its home country,” stated GizmoChina.

We shall wait for more details to surface when Xiaomi appears on TENAA.

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TYREPLUS wants to provide better road safety to Malaysians

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TYREPLUS already has a global presence from China, Thailand, Australia, India, the Middle-East to America by providing services ranging from tyre replacement and repairs, oil change, batteries, break pads and other regular car maintenance services with the support of brands such as Michelin, Bosh, Mobil 1, Total and Tech. By rebranding the company, they hope it would spread the awareness to Malaysians that safety should not be compromised and if safety is what they are looking for then TYREPLUS can deliver.

Pascal Nouvellon, Michelin Malaysia’s Managing Director, stated that the reason why people should put their trust in the company is because they can expect to find top quality products and service delivered by well trained professionals and to keep up with the safety needs of the citizens, they are constantly pushing and expanding the brand to cater every corner of Malaysia. He goes on to add that the company will keep growing in the coming years to meet the expectations of Malaysian car owners, the company constantly has promotions guaranteeing a good deal especially during this coming Raya festive season.

From May 28 to June 30, customers shopping at TYREPLUS will have the change to get Michelin cooler bags, TYREPLUS branded petrol cards and complementary Tech tyre repair services with the purchase of Michelin Tyres and free anti-slip mat with the purchase of Mobil 1 lubricants.

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U Feel and U Feel Lite: Home on the (mid)range

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Does the Malaysian market need yet another company to enter the affordable smartphone market? While I do not have the answer to that question, I can tell you that French-phone manufacturer Wiko is looking to carve a name for themselves in said market as the company has released the U Feel and the U Feel Lite. Barring some performance difference, both phones are, technically speaking, identical. As such, I’ll be doing a dual review for both of them.

Design

Smartphones these days don’t tend to have highly original designs, and the U Feel and U Feel Lite is no different. At first glance, it is made abundantly clear that the front of the U Feel was…uh…inspired by a certain Korean company’s flagship smartphone line. From the screen, to the button that doubles as the fingerprint scanner, there is no doubt that Wiko has borrowed a few design elements from the Galaxy when the company was designing the U Feel.

As far as phone builds go though, both the U Feel and U Feel Lite sport a metal frame that comes with the required micro-USB jack, headphone jack, volume rocker and power/lock button.

The rear cover of the U Feel and U Feel Lite is where the first difference is found. On the U Feel Lite, the rear cover is made of metal, giving it a smooth surface that feels good to the touch. As for the U Feel, Wiko has opted to outfit this particular phone with a sandstone back cover. While this does make the U Feel slightly rougher, it comes with the perk of increasing your grip on the phone, ensuring it won’t slide out of your hands.

One interesting thing to note is that Wiko has decided to go old-school when it comes to SIM card placement. Unlike modern smartphones these days where the SIM cards are slotted to the side of the phone, the U Feels’ micro-SIM card slots are located at the rear of the phone. This means that you’re going to need to pry off the back cover to slot in your SIM cards.

Performance

As the name may have clued you in, the U Feel is the tad bit more powerful variant out of the two phones. In terms of hardware, the U Feel sports a 1.3GHz Quad-Core MediaTek 6735 processor, 3GB of RAM and 16GB of storage space that is upgradable to 64GB with a microSD card.

On the other hand, the U Feel Lite is a step down from the U Feel. Much like the U Feel, the Lite comes with a 1.3GHz Quad-Core MediaTek 6735 processor and 16GB of onboard storage space. However, the memory on the phone has been lowered to 2GB.

Both phones sport a 5” HD display and is powered by a 2,500 mAh Li-Po battery. Both phones run on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, although you need to update the phone’s software first.

Features

One of the main attractions of the U Feel and U Feel Lite is its fingerprint scanner. Apart from the standard security features that come with a fingerprint scanner, Wiko has made it so that you’re able to do a lot more than just unlock your screen with it. For one, the fingerprint sensor works with the phone’s onboard File Lock and App Lock features. This allows you to lock off all files and apps from other people without needing a password. The other thing you can do with the fingerprint scanner is that you’ll be able to launch apps with it from the lock screen. You can set up to five fingerprints at any one time, which directly translates to five different apps.

Benchmarks

U Feel

U Feel Lite

Usability

As far as pure performance goes, the U Feel and U Feel Lite performs just as well as you expect a mid-range phone to be. For the most part, both phones are able to run smoothly without any noticeable stutter under normal conditions. However, when you start multitasking, the U Feel Lite begins to choke while the U Feel is still able to function without too much problems. As for intensive tasks such as gaming, both devices will show signs of strain on the hardware after an extended duration.

Battery life on both the U Feel and U Feel Lite is pretty much par for the course, able to last up to two days on standby, a day and a half under normal usage, and a day at most under heavy usage.

For the UI, both the U Feel and the U Feel Lite runs Android Marshmallow with Wiko’s own Wiko UI. Under standard use, the UI runs smoothly and without a hitch. While there are some custom software installed on the phone, it thankfully doesn’t have too many of them a la ZenUI and earlier versions of TouchWiz.

For the most part, the fingerprint scanner and its features are pretty handy, allowing you to unlock the phone without much of a fuss. However, Wiko’s decision to place the fingerprint scanner at the front of the phone isn’t exactly a wise decision. For the record, I find that the positioning of the fingerprint sensor on the Galaxy awkward, and the same holds true with the U Feels’ sensor. Not helping matters is the fact that enrolling and using five different sets of fingerprints is needlessly cumbersome with the sensor’s position.

Camera

Much like the hardware specifications, the U Feel and U Feel Lite sport different front and rear cameras.

For the U Feel, the device comes with a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera with a selfie flash. For the U Feel Lite, the camera on this phone is a step down from the U Feel, sporting an 8MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera with selfie flash. Both cameras are capable of taking 1080P videos at 30FPS.

In terms of use, the U Feel and U Feel Lite cameras are simple and easy to use. If you’re expecting either of the phones cameras to perform or sport professional features like say the Galaxy S7, I’d say that you’re expecting a little too much out of the phones. As an everyday shooter, both the U Feel and U Feel Lite is sufficient for those who aren’t particularly demanding of their smartphone cameras.

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U Mobile 50MB Free Data Roaming Review: Works as Advertised

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Reviewing a telco service isn’t easy as we have to use the service for work and keep track at the same time to ensure everything works fine. Recently, I was required to travel for work and I thought this would be a great opportunity to put U Mobile’s data roaming service to the test.

When U Mobile invited the team over to its event unveiling the service early last year, I exclaimed with disgust when I heard about the 50MB data allowance and started wondering who will actually use the service when they are abroad, given that travelers SIM are always more affordable than roaming services. However, considering the fact that sometimes you just want to skip that long queue at the airport, you would rather be off paying the flat data roaming charges.

In the past two months, I have travelled to Thailand and more recently to Singapore if you have read our
Synology
 event coverage, these trips lasted less than 48 hours and there is totally no point in getting a local traveler’s SIM and most folks would’ve just happily activated data roaming, then pay as much as RM38/day. To get started, I installed a data usage tracker and locked my phone’s network on to U Mobile’s roaming partner upon reaching the country, which in this
case
 – TRUE in Thailand and StarHub in Singapore.

I was careful, but careless at the same time

Its difficult to switch from your casual browsing behavior knowing that the first thing you want to do upon reaching your travelling country is to check in using Facebook or Swarm and probably upload your selfie to inform the world you have safely reached your destination. As a matter of fact, I do have the habit of checking in to places on Facebook, and that doesn’t use more than a megabyte of data, there are times when I checked my Instagram posts and those busy WhatsApp group messages, multimedia files are sometimes downloaded and I accidentally consumed a few short video clips, I then reminded myself that I was on data roaming, and stopped streaming the clips immediately, disable the autoplay and auto download features in the app. I was careful, but careless at the same time.

U Mobile has been pretty smart at the same time, while most other telcos offered 4G data roaming, the company has decided to stay back on HSPA+, speeds are also some how to limited to not more than 8 Mbps so I am still getting some good browsing speeds. If you want to stay within the free 50MB limit, you simply have to stop yourself from using the YouTube app or any other data heavy applications.

At the end of the day, I have enjoyed the service thoroughly despite being given 50MB of free roaming data allowance, though I doubt myself if I have used at least 80% of it, but after checking my unbilled usage, there was no extra charges to my bill and I know I’m safe from the telco’s daily roaming charge, which will cost me RM30 daily.

With that experience on U Mobile’s roaming service, I have to commend on what the telco has done and kept its promise on offering that limited but sufficient quota, while I secretly hope that the telco would at least offer 150MB of free roaming data in its next upgrade, because for that amount you will be able to do much more and be less conservative in how you use data roaming.

Therefore, here are some tips I am sharing based on my experience using the service:

Download a data tracker to keep track of your mobile data, reset the counter upon reaching the country you travel

Be sure to check out WiFi hotspots all the time, because that could help you save some data from syncing your phone’s background tasks

Limit background data on your phone, disable apps such as Facebook, Foursquare and weather apps as they always consume data as you move along.

Make sure your e-mail clients do not have your attachments automatically downloaded

Avoid making VoIP calls, or try cutting the conversation short.

DISCLAIMER:
 This review is done with personal intentions and has received no guidance or payment from U Mobile. The free data roaming service is tested using the author’s personal U Mobile P70 postpaid plan with roaming activated.

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U Mobile and Huawei sign LoI to prep for 5G roll out in Malaysia next year

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U Mobile and Huawei Malaysia have signed a Letter of Intent to bring forward 5G technology in the country – ironically, the signing took place in Dongguan China, at Huawei’s HQ. But I digress.

According to a press release sent by the telco, the collaboration will see the two entities will work together to prep for the roll out of 5G networks next year. There will also be live trials conducted in the country – however, more details haven’t been shared yet.

CEO of Huawei Malaysia Michael Yuan said that U Mobile will leverage on Huawei 5G’s technology which includes Gigabit speeds, low latencies as well as the existing vast communication networks in the country.

This could be a big deal as Huawei will aim to regain some footing in Malaysia after losing out on access to GMS. With their 5G experiential zone already set up in Pavilion KL, Huawei looks set to be the pioneers of the networking tech in the country. U Mobile also looks to gain from the collaboration – surveys by OpenSignal have consistently shown the telco to offer poor network speeds and experience, however they offer some of the cheapest data plans in Malaysia.

With this, one can hope that U Mobile will be one of the early adopters of 5G connectivity and perhaps continue to offer affordable products when 5G rolls out to the masses eventually.

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U Mobile claims Frost and Sullivan awards for 4 Bests

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Four may not be a lucky number for some or it could remind you the main character in the Divergent movie, however to U Mobile, the number means something to the hardworking folks, the innovative Malaysian telco that offers the best and competitive phone plan packages out there has managed to win 4 ‘Best’ awards from analyst firm Frost and Sullivan – Best Overall Experience, Best Contact Centre Experience, Best Mobile Experience, and Best Net Promoter Score.

A random sample of 1300 participants were being selected in Frost and Sullivan’s survey on preferred telecommunications brand and 65% of them preferred the orange-theme telco. U Mobile’s Net Promoter Score is also pretty impressive at 54% which is used to measure customers’ loyalty towards the brand.

Jasmine Lee, CMO of U Mobile Sdn Bhd was there to receive the award and we have seen the recent
iPhone 6
 plans introduced by the company has caused a positive impact in the market even when GST kicks in as you’ll still be able to purchase the phone as low as RM98/month with no contract commitment. We therefore have to commend Team U on this as the team has identified what consumers truly need in a telco’s service with its affordable call + data plans. For more information on U Mobile’s promotions, head on to
www.u.com.my
.

Last but not the least, we at KLGadgetGuy always love Jasmine’s colorful hairdo.


U Mobile Collaborates with TM to use TM Next Generation BackHaul (NGBH)

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U Mobile and Telekom Malaysia had signed a collaborative deal for U Mobile to use TM’s Next-Gen Backhaul (NGBH) services. With this collaborative deal, TM will be providing fibre mobile backhaul connectivity via its TM Next-Gen Backhaul service of up to 1Gbps per site that cover most main city in Malaysia.

The deals will last 9 years from 27 May 2015, and by using the TM NGBH there will be connectivity network that is specifically optimized to support 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) rollout in providing high speed internet experience, excellent voice and video quality through its high bandwidth capacity and reliable low latency.

With the help of TM, U Mobile subscribers will experience better LTE coverage and much more reliable connection speeds on the go in time to come. After achieving its 2 million subscriber milestone last year and offering the lowest
iPhone 6
 plans to the market this year, it seems that the Orange telco is in for a good time this year and to be honest with you folks, we’ve experienced extremely good data speeds in our office with U Mobile’s LTE connection and we can only hope Team U to get better.


[UPDATE] U Mobile cut ties with Maxis on their network sharing deal

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U Mobile and Maxis has a long running network sharing and alliance agreement which was signed back in 2011. Last Friday, Maxis announced that Maxis Broadband received a letter from U Mobile stating that they would like to end the agreement, although the agreement was supposed to run for 10 years, the contract had a termination for convenience option which was granted to U Mobile.

This separation has affected the financial results of Maxis for the ending of the year which they commented that they did not expect this to happen. They also said that the termination would take place in stages over 18 months and is expected to complete on 27 December 2018. The agreement not only covered RAN but LTE when the spectrum becomes available and the technology rolls out which could benefit customers.

So what could this mean for U Mobile? There could be a high chance they would want to look for a different partner or build their own stations providing direct service to its customers. As a U Mobile user, I am really opting for the latter, mainly because of the unpredictable signal strength that plagues U Mobile customers.

We have received an official statement from U Mobile as below:

With our growing subscriber base, U Mobile has decided that it will be more appropriate to focus on expanding our own network, especially with the additional spectrum of 2x15MHz of 1800MHz bands and 2x5MHz of 900MHz bands that were awarded by the government last year. The additional 1800MHz was made available on 1 April 2017 whilst the 900MHz will be made available on 1 July 2017. We are currently upgrading our owned networks progressively to support these new spectrum bands so that our customers can enjoy an enhanced network experience when the spectrum bands are turned on and the upgrade is complete.

This notice to terminate the RAN share agreement is not expected to impact our customers’ network experience or our service quality to our customers. We expect to be able to replace the RAN share sites within the stipulated timeline as we continue with our planned network investment program. U Mobile customers can look forward to an enhanced network experience and coverage once the exercise is complete.

What do you think?

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U Mobile doubles data quota for U Postpaid 38 and unlocks hotspot quota

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U Mobile has upgraded the U Postpaid 38 postpaid plan with 60GB of data quota and unlimited calls to all networks, which effectively makes this the best valued 5G-enabled postpaid plan in the market.

The plan originally comes with 30GB of data with a separate hotspot quota of 5GB, and what makes it even more exciting is that U Mobile has removed the separate hotspot quota with the Ultra Hotspot 5G promotion, which users can tether their 4G/5G connection to other devices using their subscribed data quota.

The Ultra Hotspot 5G promotion is also extended to U Postpaid 68 and 98 new subscribers, U Mobile says that the enhancement will be available to existing subscribers soon, so don’t be surprised if you haven’t seen that separate hotspot quota missing from the MYUMobile App.

Despite being a limited time ‘promotion’, U Mobile has mentioned it its T&C that the Ultra Hotspot 5G will last till the time you decided to terminate the service or change to a different plan, there’s no FUP mentioned on either the FAQ or T&C page but do note that your data will be managed once it has been exhausted.

For more details on U Mobile’s postpaid plans, do visit their
website
.

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U Mobile expands Video-Onz service to include Netflix, Facebook Live and Twitter Video

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U Mobile’s Video-Onz service appears to be a huge hit, so much so that the telco is expanding Video-Onz to include video streaming services such as Netflix, Facebook Live and Twitter.

Available to customers who are on U Mobile’s Hero P98, i130, Ultimate Device Plan 130 and MB128 Plans, Video-Onz allows these customers to enjoy unlimited free data to stream video. While the addition of Netflix is a huge boon to U Mobile customers, the inclusion of Facebook Live and Twitter means that U Mobile users can stream, upload and livestream on the go without expending their data quota. The addition of these three services also means that U Mobile’s Video-Onz partners have increased to 21.

To those who are currently on the plans mentioned above, as well as U Mobile users whose plans have a data quota allocated to the Video-Onz service, you are able to enjoy Netflix, Facebook Live and Twitter via Video-Onz starting from today!

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U Mobile Giler Unlimited: GX30 and GX38 plans upgraded with higher speeds

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Today’s telco plans are all about unlimited internet and the same goes for
U Mobile
; the telco company recently improved its Giler Unlimited GX30 and GX38 prepaid plans to come with more internet quota and higher speeds.

Giler Unlimited GX30 & GX38: 2x internet speed, 2x hotspot quota

These upgrades will be effective from June 12 onwards with no additional charges. U Mobile doubled the amount of internet speed for the GX30 plan — the speed limit is now capped at 6Mbps. On the other hand, the GX38 plan will be reduced to RM35/month and offers unlimited calls to all networks. U Mobile also bumped up the hotspot quota from 3GB to 6GB for both plans.

U Mobile vs Hotlink vs Celcom Xpax

The only reason why one plan is pricier than the other is that it offers unlimited calls. If you’re someone who often makes phone calls, then the GX38 is the prepaid plan to go for. Compared to the
Hotlink Prepaid Unlimited
 and
Celcom Xpax Truly Unlimited
 prepaid plans that were released recently, U Mobile’s GX30 and GX38 plans offer higher internet speed capped at 6Mbps.
Hotlink
 does have another prepaid plan that offers 6Mbps internet speed, but it will cost you RM45/month.

Data Booster 5

If the U Mobile prepaid plans aren’t enough, you can also add on Data Booster 5 to get 10GB of high-speed data at RM5 — this is valid for two weeks. In addition to that, U Mobile is giving out
GoInsure 3
 — Personal Accident insurance that covers COVID-19 — for free to all eligible prepaid and postpaid U Mobile users who are either Malaysians or Permanent Residents.

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U Mobile gives out 1GB of data for being the fastest mobile network in the nation

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If you have been watching The Telco Challenge weekly videos, you might actually realize that U Mobile has been rather fast in our Speedtest.net and YouTube loading test department. In this case, the agressive orange telco has been awarded by Speedtest.net as the fastest mobile network in the country. U Mobile has been putting its efforts a lot on expanding its 3G and 4G LTE sites across the nation this year, the telco has also launched the nation’s unbeatable Hero Postpaid plan that offers 7GB of data with unlimited calls and its Power Prepaid plan has been one of the most exciting prepaid service ever that offers monthly 1GB high-speed data for life.

Due to the successful achievement, U Mobile has decided to offer its current Postpaid and Prepaid customers 1GB of additional free data throughout December, which is the most generous initiative in the local telco history. While it is safe to say that U Mobile claims itself as a strong data player in the market for its generous data quota offering, the telco’s 4G LTE coverage is still very limited in rural areas and falls back to its domestic roaming partner Maxis when 3G coverage isn’t available. In addition, the telco’s smaller subscriber base could also be the cause of the positive speed test results, hence we would hope that U Mobile could maintain its optimum network bandwidth in future as it entices new customers.

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U Mobile gives you free data quota usage on Waze

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It seems that we can start expecting something new every week from U Mobile from now on, CMO Jasmine Lee has just announced on Facebook that the growing orange telco will offer users free data usage on Waze, the community social GPS app is very actively used among drivers here to get to their destinations safely on time with its real-time traffic feature. While Waze generally doesn’t use up a lot of data, it is good that U Mobile has come out with this initiative help users save that few megabytes of data, which continues to show the telco’s commitment in offering competitive data services.

There’s no activation required, all you need to do is to be a U Mobile subscriber with an active data plan (you should be technically!), fire up Waze and starting routing to your destination. For more info, head on to
www.u.com.my
. If you haven’t been aware, the telco has also recently announced an unlimited data roaming plan in 12 countries for postpaid users, read about it
here
.

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U Mobile goes bonkers with Giler Unlimited plans

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If there’s any telco that could disrupt the industry when it come to postpaid offerings, U Mobile would be the champ on doing that, as the company has unveiled its new Giler Unlimited plan for both postpaid and prepaid users, the plans are known as the Postpaid GX50 and Prepaid GX30, both plans will offer unlimited data on all apps at RM50 and RM30 monthly respectively, making this the most affordable unlimited data plan in Malaysia’s telco history.

Of course, there is obviously a catch.

For the Postpaid GX50 plan, users are limited to 5 Mbps of speed for the unlimited data, while you still get unlimited voice calls to all network and 5GB of free hotspot data. As for the Prepaid GX30 plan, the data speed is further lowered to 3 Mbps, hotspot data is also limited to 3GB and you will need to pay for voice calls after exceeding the daily 50 minutes all-net call quota. Furthermore, what you will be missing from the Unlimited Hero Postpaid plans is free roaming data and signing up for share member lines.

Both the Giler Unlimited Postpaid GX50 and Prepaid GX30 are currently available for sign up at all U Mobile stores nationwide, the Prepaid GX30 starter pack price is also unchanged at RM8.50 and comes with RM5 of credit. For more info, head on over to U Mobile’s website.

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