How to use Twitter Moments feature to tell a story

Twitter has evolved a lot since it was launched as a micro blogging site in 2006. Twitter is still popular among its users due to its minimalistic UI and features that keeps the platform relevant. Twitter Moments is one such feature which provides users a dynamic way to tell stories.

How to make most of the Twitter Moments:

Create a Moment:

●        From the Moments tab, click the Create New Moment button and give a title and description to your Moment.

●        Add Tweets by selecting from your liked Tweets or your past Tweets. You can also search for Tweets that you’d like to add.

●        Reorder your Tweets by scrolling the top of the page and use the arrows to move up or down.

●        You can also choose to delete a Tweet from your Moment by clicking on the Delete button on the right side top and bottom of that Tweet.

●        Select a Cover for your Moment and crop it for web or mobile. Once you’ve set your cover image, the source will be credited below the image.

●        Once finalised, click on the ‘Publish’ button at the top of the page to make your Moment live and compose a Tweet to share it with your followers.

●        Additionally, you also have an option to save your Moment as a draft by clicking on ‘Finish later’ at the top of the web page.

Customise a Moment: Twitter allows you to further customise your Moment by adding a colour theme, sensitive labels, locations and private URLs. You can find these options at the top left corner of the page.

To Make a Moment Private: While creating a Moment via twitter.com, you can opt for sharing a Moment privately, which will make the Moment available to those who have the link to it. Similarly, if you would like to make previously published or shared Moments visible to only you, you can select ‘Unpublish Moment’ from the dropdown menu.

Please Note: Twitter Moments can only be created when logged in on Twitter.com and not from your Twitter for iOS or Android app. You can also choose to follow @MomentsIndia to catch up on the best of what’s happening on Twitter in an instant.

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Make your tweets more engaging with these tips to add content to your Tweets

Twitter is what’s happening in the world and what people are conversing about. Standing out in the crowd, means making conversations more interesting through the use of Twitter’s various tools and products. Want to jump on the Twitter pro bandwagon? Here are some tips you can adopt to make your Tweets stand out. You can thank us later (on Twitter of course).

• Add photos or GIFs to your Tweets

Take a cue from Virat Kohli (@imVkohli), click the photo icon from the Tweet compose box to upload a photo or GIF from your phone or computer. You can add up to four photos in your Tweet. 

If Tweeting from the Twitter app, you can enhance the pictures - apply a filter, crop an image and add stickers. Click the Tweet button to post to your profile. 

Rising up to every challenge. What a game! 💯 👊🇮🇳 #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/5kUSbD3P4m

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) January 31, 2020

• Share and watch videos on Twitter

There are two ways to share videos on Twitter: You can either record a video by simply tapping and holding down the capture icon, or you can  import/upload a video (less than 02:20 duration) saved on your phone or desktop. All the videos that you see, like and engage with on Twitter have been uploaded using either of these steps. On that note, this video from Anushka Sharma (@AnushkaSharma) will make your day:

Time for some internet positivity rn. ✨🌼 #HappyTweets #LoveAndLightProject pic.twitter.com/6ZUxXavrQT

— Anushka Sharma (@AnushkaSharma) August 21, 2019

• Add an interesting link to a Tweet (and don’t worry about the character count!)

You can paste a URL of any length into the Tweet compose box and it will automatically get shortened to a maximum of 23 characters.

After pasting the link, click the Tweet button to post the Tweet to your timeline. This is  what it will look like:

Learn from the best, here’s an example of how @SrBachchan does it:

T 3435 - Kaveri , daughter of Suchitra and Shekhar Kapur @suchitrak, @shekharkapur .. her new single .. her first International release under Swedish American label Snafu ..https://t.co/urBwb0StVh

All good wishes ..

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) February 8, 2020

• Go live with Twitter

The euphoria of attending a concert, the joy of witnessing your friend go down the aisle and the pride of winning an award – some things are best expressed in real time, right? With Twitter, you can have your followers be a part of your special moments. Just go live through video and show them what you’re up to, instead of describing it to them. All you need to do is, swipe left post opening the camera icon in the Tweet compose box. This will allow you to select the live mode. 

Just the way Comicstaan live streamed their #BlueCarpetScreening with our favourite internet celebs.

@imrohitkoli21 We are Live... join your favourite Internet celebs for a fun-filled LIVE streaming of @comcistaan #BlueCarpetScreening at https://t.co/5LglSsaIk3

— Comicstaan (@comicstaan) July 13, 2018

• Add fun captions on your photos 

While adding photos to your Tweets, you can choose to write a caption to describe the image for the visually impaired, while at the same time, making your Tweet more engaging. To insert a caption, click on ‘add description’ and type out  your description in the given space. If you do not get the option to set image descriptions automatically, you can follow these simple steps to turn them on in your settings. Go to the Settings option in your profile, tap on ‘Accessibility’ and then click to opt for ‘Compose Image Descriptions’.
A description can be added to each image in a Tweet but not videos and GIFs.
So be creative and win your followers with the coolest Tweets!

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ASUS Zenfone Live Review: Only suitable for frequent live broadcasters on social media

ASUS has been doing well with its Zenfone Series in market especially after the launch of Zenfone 2 Series with multiple models to cater (confuse as well) different needs of different type of customers. With Zenfone 3 the company has definitely upped its ante with doing away with the bulky plastic body and larger size phones to slim and beautiful metallic phones, though charged a bit higher the series still made a break through change in product design language and sturdiness. Apart from these phones ASUS has time to time also tried to cash on different features or requirements which are already popular or are required by the smartphone users. ASUS Zenfone Selfie, Zenfone Deluxe, Zenfone Max series phones are good examples for such criteria. These devices had performed good in market as well. A couple of months ago ASUS had launched another such 'required' phone named ASUS Zenfone Live , as the name suggests this phone is specially launched keeping in mind the increasing trend of broadcasting live videos on social media among the users. So is this the phone we really need or it is just another marketing gimmick? Let's find out.

ASUS Zenfone Live

Build and Design:

The first thing you notice when you pick the phone is that the phone is very light in weight at just 120 grams, second the phone is comfortable to hold and gives a good grip along the curved edges, though the color treatment makes it feel like a metallic body phone but it is actually plastic.On the front side there is 2.5D glass on top of the display which is generic across almost all models from ASUS, there are three capacitive navigation buttons on bottom which are back, home and multi tasking from left to right. On the top however you will notice a front camera along with LED flash apart from ALS and proximity sensor.

On the back the camera is on top left corner supported by an LED flash light. The ASUS branding goes in the center of the phone. On the right edge of the phone you will find volume rockers and power button. The feedback from all the buttons is tactile and we didn't faced any issue in our 2 weeks usage. On the left edge of the device you will see a SIM tray, on the top there is a headphone jack and bottom houses the speakers and micro USB port.

Specs and Features:

On the specifications part we are bit disappointed as at this price point you will get far superior hardware specification devices from other brands. The phone is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad core processor clocked at 1.4 GHz and Adreno 305 GPU. The device comes with 2 GB RAM and has 16 GB internal storage on board which can be further expanded via micro SD card if you don't use the hybrid second SIM slot.

On camera side, the front camera has a 5 MP resolution accompanied by an LED flash for clear selfies in low light , rear camera is of 13 MP resolution with LED Flash. The display is  5 inch IPS LCD with a resolution of 1280x720 pixel.

For connectivity the device offers 4G LTE, GPS, FM Radio, Wifi, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB 2.0.

On the software front the device runs on Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 with familiar ZenUI skin on top. One of the constant feedback ASUS keeps receiving is number of pre-installed apps which can not be un installed by user that amounts to a lot of bloatware in your phone. This can be a turnoff for people who like to see their phone clean of any non-used apps. The ZenUI however provides lots of customization options such as wallpapers, themes, icons, locking apps etc. 

There is a dedicated app named BeautyLive pre-installed on the phone which is basically a live beautify app. This app can help you post live videos on social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. The app also helps in reducing background noise so that the sound experience is better than what we see in regular live videos.

The camera of the phones are rather mediocre in performance, the rear camera shoots good images in bright settings however in low light it struggles to capture the details required from the shots. The camera app comes with familiar modes such as Auto, HDR, panorama, night mode, high resolution mode etc. The front camera is somewhat satisfactory and the beautification features (can be controlled on a scale of 1-10) enhances the overall image by fine tuning the skin tone and facial features.

Verdict:

ASUS Zenfone Live seems to have a single objective to help users broadcast themselves live on social media when it comes to 'smart phone' features. The hardware from processor to battery doesn't really stand in line with the price (INR 9.999/-) for two reasons first the hardware is not the latest and second competition is offering way too much for this price point. Having said that the phone can be a good buy for those who post a lot of live videos on Instagram or Facebook like Fashion bloggers or bloggers who do a lot of self-videos on YouTube.

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Reliance launches JIO digital services officially, All you need to know

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (“Jio”) today announced the launch of its digital services with Jio Welcome Offer which will be effective from 5 September, 2016. As part of the Jio Welcome Offer, users will have access to unlimited LTE data and national voice, video and messaging services along with the full bouquet of Jio applications  and content, free of cost up to 31 December 2016. The Company today filed its tariff plans  with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (“TRAI”).

10 Tariff Plans from JIO

The announcement was made by the Chairman of Reliance Industries Limited, Mukesh D. Ambani, at the Annual General Meeting of RIL today. Mr. Ambani emphasised the benefits of digitalisation and said in his speech that Jio is dedicated to realising the Prime Minister’s inspiring vision of “Digital India” for 1.2 billion Indians.Shri Ambani also announced that domestic voice calls to any network across the country would be free for Jio subscribers even beyond the Jio Welcome Offer. Domestic roaming services would also not be charged separately. Average data prices would be around Rs. 50/ GB, which would be amongst the lowest in the world.

Jio is rolling out a state-of-the-art pan India digital services business. In addition to fixed and wireless broadband connectivity offering superior voice and data services on an all-IP network, Jio will also offer end-to-end solutions that address the entire value chain across various digital services in key domains such as education, healthcare, security, communication, financial services, government-citizen interfaces and entertainment.

Shri Ambani spoke about the five fundamental pillars of the Jio ecosystem: (i) The best quality

broadband network with the highest capacity; (ii) A world of affordable, cutting-edge devices;

(iii) Compelling applications and content; (iv) Superior digital service experiences; and

(v) Affordable and simple tariffs.

Shri Ambani also said that the key brand values for Jio included affordable, high quality and abundant data; connected intelligence; smart, simple and secure services; and bringing people together. Shri Ambani also announced that Reliance Retail Ltd has introduced a line-up of superaffordable 4G LTE smartphones under the LYF brand, starting at Rs. 2,999. More feature-rich models will be available at progressively higher price-points like Rs. 3999, Rs. 4999 and so on.

Jio announced the setting-up of the Jio Digital India Start-up Fund. Jio will work on creating Jio Digital Entrepreneurship Hubs in key cities and towns of India. The Jio Digital India Startup Fund has set aside Rs. 5,000 crores to be invested over the next 5 years. Jio Welcome Offer The Jio Welcome Offer provides an opportunity to every Indian to learn, try, customise and experience high quality digital services, without paying for the services up to 31 December, 2016 after which the applicable tariffs will apply. The Company also proposes to use this time period to fine-tune its services as well as for resolution of interconnection and MNP related issues that it has faced with several other operators. Jio may extend the period of free services in case Jio subscribers are not able to get adequate experience of seamless connectivity across network due to POI congestion and MNP restrictions and the quality of service parameters are not as per the benchmarks desired by RJIL management. The other terms and conditions of these special benefits under the Jio Welcome Offer have been filed by the Company to TRAI as well as provided on its website ‘jio.com’.

The existing test users of the Company, who have enrolled for the Jio Preview Offer, will be transitioned to the Jio Welcome Offer under the terms thereof. Tariff Plans The Company filed its detailed tariff plans with TRAI today. Shri Ambani enumerated the following principles used for formulating the tariff plans:

i) Benefits of technology would be passed onto customers. All domestic voice calls for Jio

customers will be absolutely free, across India and at any time. Domestic roaming

charges will not apply in Jio tariffs.

ii) Data tariffs have been made highly affordable, with full transparency, without any

associated conditions. The Company is offering the lowest LTE data rates in the world.

Additionally it would offer unlimited night time LTE data.

iii) The Jio-Apps bouquet, which is worth Rs. 15,000 for an annual subscription, will be

available complimentary for all active Jio customers up to 31 December 2017. This has

been done to make Digital Life available to everyone.

iv) A special student discount offer, with 25% more data on the main tariff plans, would be

offered to all students.

v) Jio has introduced a simple tariff structure with only 10 main plans, designed to fit every

budget, as against the 22,000 tariff plans prevailing in the country today. These are

summarised here:

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WhatsApp updates its privacy policy for first time in 4 years, more focus on 'Business communications' in coming months

Arguably world's most popular messaging service WhatsApp today announced updates to its privacy policy for the first time in 4 years. The latest update includes details about features such as End to End encryption of messages, WhatsApp as a part of Facebook and how both can serve users better with users consent. The update also throws light on future plans for the messaging service as it shares the detail about testing of the service for business communications which means that in near future you might receive your Bank alerts, flight details etc on WhatsApp rather than as conventional text messages.

WhatsApp privacy policy update

Below is the full text of the blog from WhatsApp.

Today, we’re updating WhatsApp’s terms and privacy policy for the first time in four years, as part of our plans to test ways for people to communicate with businesses in the months ahead. The updated documents also reflect that we’ve joined Facebook and that we've recently rolled out many new features, like end-to-end encryption, WhatsApp Calling, and messaging tools like WhatsApp for web and desktop. You can read the full documents [https://www.whatsapp.com/legal].

People use our app every day to keep in touch with the friends and loved ones who matter to them, and this isn't changing. But as we announced earlier this year, we want to explore ways for you to communicate with *businesses* that matter to you too, while still giving you an experience without third-party banner ads and spam. Whether it's hearing from your bank about a potentially fraudulent transaction, or getting notified by an airline about a delayed flight, many of us get this information elsewhere, including in text messages and phone calls. We want to test these features in the next several months, but need to update our terms and privacy policy to do so.

WhasApp Privacy Policy update

We're also updating these documents to make clear that we've rolled out end-to-end encryption. When you and the people you message are using the latest version of WhatsApp, your messages are encrypted by default, which means you're the only people who can read them. Even as we coordinate more with Facebook in the months ahead, your encrypted messages stay private and no one else can read them. Not WhatsApp, not Facebook, nor anyone else. We won’t post or share your WhatsApp number with others, including on Facebook, and we still won't sell, share, or give your phone number to advertisers.

But by coordinating more with Facebook, we'll be able to do things like track basic metrics about how often people use our services and better fight spam on WhatsApp. And by connecting your phone number with Facebook's systems, Facebook can offer better friend suggestions and show you more relevant ads if you have an account with them. For example, you might see an ad from a company you already work with, rather than one from someone you've never heard of. You can learn more, including how to control the use of your data, [here](https://www.whatsapp.com/faq/general/28030012).

Our belief in the value of private communications is unshakeable, and we remain committed to giving you the fastest, simplest, and most reliable experience on WhatsApp. As always, we look forward to your feedback and thank you for using WhatsApp.

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5 Ways to promote an App

In today’s ultra- competitive environment it becomes crucial for companies of all shapes and sizes to be continuously visible to consumers. Regular promotion of the product or service is a brilliant technique that can powerfully help in this endeavor. This technique is universal amongst all industries and sectors, including app developers. Today, app developers beautifully craft layout designs, build engaging content and add relevant widgets but often overlook the need to promote the app. To be ahead in the race to success, it is important not just to understand the need but also to identify innovative ways to promote the app across channels. Listed below are a few such ways which will help you to promote the app and reach customers, like never before.

Social Media

Content plays a major role to spur visibility across platforms, something MakeMyWishes.com  is a great fan of.  Therefore, app developers should regularly build content including blogs and articles that directly or indirectly introduces the brand/ product to the consumer. Furtherance, such content pieces should be uploaded on company website and various social media sites including LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram to garner heightened visibility. Alongside, graphics can be created to convey the story to consumers who prefer watching instead of reading.

Bloggers

Bloggers have the potential and power to rapidly promote the product, through digital channels. They position the product closer to consumers with an encouraging and positive approach. They make up for an opportunity for engagement with niche audiences at a fraction of the cost of traditional media. So, one should identify bloggers who are brand champions or who write on niche that relates to the app, to simply have someone else say good things about the product.

Email

Despite all flashy technological innovations, email is the easiest, convenient and cost- effective solution. It empowers an app developer to reach out to large amount of consumers in a short span of time, locally and globally. So, all that needs to be done is; to craft an impressive subject line to attract customers and build crisp &creative content to ensure easy readability. Besides this, one can also customise the email according to consumer preference and market trends to ensure success in business. 

Traditional Media

There are many consumers who are not active on social platforms but regularly read newspapers. This is where traditional media holds more prominence. This may be the oldest way to promote products and services but it can still diligently and effectively spur visibility from micro to macro level. In a digital era, while majority of app developers harness the power of social media in a business plan to promote products, they should also consider the importance of traditional media in trade.

Advertisements

Digital display advertising can be relatively costly but it surely is a major driver of enhanced visibility at multiple platforms. With such wider reach, it swiftly initiates word of mouth and places the product at the Mecca of limelight. Today, app developers can advertise through various routes such as electronic posters, e- banners, information kiosks, online directory entries and more. 

About Author Anu Gupta:

Anu Gupta, CEO & Co-Founder MakeMyWishes.com

Anu is backed by a strong industry experience in Finance with a high proficiency in Sales, Channel Management, Operationsand People Management. Her versatile professional portfolio includes renowned names such as ICICI Retail, Deutsche Post Bank Home Finance, Jones Lang LaSalle, Dewan Housing Finance Corporation limited.

Anu has been instrumental in the success of numerous organizations, leading various projects on coaching, developing and running competency-based MDP’s and Leadership Academies. She has led many Change Management interventions covering more than 300 locations and has also implemented assignments for Leadership and Mid-Junior Management teams. These efficient and robust activities have enabled tangible shifts in individual and organizational performance, defining her professional capacities and leadership qualities.

Her core competencies are in areas such as Business Management, Learning and Development, Management of Change, Empowerment, Interdependence, Executive Coaching and Achievement Motivation among others.

She along with her partner and best friend, Sapna have weaved their dream together and are edging at making big to in the wish-list industry.

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How to share pictures from Facebook on Whatsapp without downloading

How many times you have come across some image or joke shared on Facebook which you think worth sharing to your friends group in Whatsapp? Chances are it happens many times every day if you are an avid user of Facebook on your smartphone. So how do you do it? Till today I knew one way of doing it and that is , download image from Facebook, go to gallery open image and then click on share button to get option to share that on Whatsapp or any other social media. Well the other method we are going to share has to be better than this traditional approach and I am sure you will start using it often once you know about it.

How to do it in a better way?

It's not a hack or something we have discovered, this novel feature is provided by Facebook itself, but a very few people know about it.

Step1: Open any image from your Facebook application which you want to share on Whatsapp.

Step2: On bottom you will see options for like and comment, on top right corner you will see option to expand menu , a touch on this icon will open up the further options as shown in below image.

Facebook Image options

Step3: Touch on third option from the menu , which says "Share external", this will open up list of applications available on your phone where you can share the image as shown in below image. As you can see you have multiple choices here including Google+, Whatsapp and Facebook itself.

Share Options

Step4: Click on WhatsApp from the available options list (or any other option wherever you want to share) , which will open up your WhatsApp contact list.

Step5: Select individual contact or a group and you are good to share desired image with your besties without having to download it.

How I got to know about this feature is another interesting story which I am saving for some other time. Mean while if you are feeling like saying thanks then do it by subscribing to our Facebook page.

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When someone 'Ping' while they shop you know they are Shop'Ping' on FlipKart

India's leading online retailer 'Flipkart' yesterday launched one of its kind service named 'Ping'. As the name suggest its an interactive feature that lets users to create their own shopping group within the Flipkart app to discuss among the group members about any product available on the store, the service has interesting use cases and is truly innovative idea converted into reality, the feature is developed solely and purely by Flipkart in India and that gives us another reason to fellow Indians to be proud of having Flipkart.

   "Shopping is primarily a social activity and going for it with friends and family has been the norm since time immemorial. Online shopping, on the other hand, has largely remained a solo experience. ‘Ping’ aims to transform online shopping by allowing users to talk to each other real time in order to make decisions and decide on what to buy!” said Flipkart’s Chief Product Officer, Punit Soni

Flipkart Chief Product Officer - Mr. Punit Soni

Since the time I was exposed to internet one of the best things that has happened to me is Flipkart, this Indian startup has done what no other company had done earlier. Flipkart made us comfortable doing online shopping and reached to millions of customers with services like Cash on Delivery and 30 Days return guarantee with no questions asked. Ecommerce industry in India we see today owes much to companies like Flipkart. Flipkart seems to keep up the expectation and is certainly a leader on its own.

The new service from the ecomm giant is no marketing gimmick it is pure technology and excellent use case solution. So far we see online shopping as a convenience where in we don't have to stand in queues, no going out, no walking from counter to counter , shop to shop but did we ourselves ever thought what we are missing doing all the stuff online? Perhaps most of us didn't and just enjoy the convenience it offers sacrificing the core happiness of shopping but Flipkart did thought about that is here with a real working solution that not only solves this problem but also gives you lot more than what you would have expected.

So what it is all about?

Let's start with an offline shopping scenario, what you do when you visit a shop or mall physically? First thing, you most probably go with a friend, relative or with a group; you look for various options available, you select something, you buy it ? No.. you ask for opinion from the people around you isn't that obvious, and after lots of discussions about your choice, their choice , item's price etc etc you finally decides to buy the product. Don't you miss this while shopping online, or how many times you have shared a link with your hubby to tell "hey this top is looking good on flipkart, should I buy it now?" and by end of the day you hear the same response "Oh! aaj to maine FB/Whatsapp dekha hi nahi" (Oh! today I didn't checked FB/Whatsapp). So now you know the problem lets head on to the solution now.

The 'Ping' is a new feature of the app which lets users to select members from their contact list to form a group and start a discussion about shopping. To be clear this is not a social messaging app it is just a feature built within the Flipkart app.  Now you can just long tap on a product and drag to already existing groups and start a discussion on the same. The beauty of the service is that when the member from other side clicks on the product from the 'Ping' it directly opens the same page without searching the product again. Or if you want to buy something for a friend just create a group selecting your other friends from your phonebook and brainstorm on the best possible gift and that will be a perfect place to hide from the friend who is going to receive the gift.

Flipkart Ping

The service doesn't just stop at discussions you can do a lot more with it you can add a product from you recent visited products or wishlist or cart, you can share your screen, share from your gallery or even use your camera to capture something on the fly and start discussing about that, isn't that cool.

Flipkart also launched its image search feature which allows users to take a photograph of the desired item and select category (not required always) and will get all matching products from Flipkart. You can then always narrow down your results based on color, size, price etc.

Something technical

Flipkart's Chief Product Officer Mr. Punit Soni, emphasized a lot on the technical aspects of the feature gave us an insight about what has gone behind the scenes in creating these world class features. For starter the Flipkart app consumes 1/6th of your data as it compresses the content that gets delivered on your phone which gives users who are still on 2G networks similar services as the users on advanced networks experience. The chat feature which involves a floating icon is actually built from scratch as the default apis provided by Android needs version 4.1 or higher to support that feature. When a company invests so much energy and time giving user experience as ultimate priority it really tells what kind of services you can expect from them.

How to get it?

Flipkart has already updated its application, however to use the 'Ping' feature you need an invite which will be released by Flipkart in different phases. Once you get the invite you can further invite 10 of your friends from your phone book and thus the organic growth is what Flipkart is seeking at this point of time.

Have any questions, comments, reviews of the features feel free to comment on the post and we will be happy to respond in our best capacity.

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We Chat introduces cool animated stickers to wish Independence Day

NEW DELHI, 13THAUGUST 2015: As the country makes plans to celebrate its 69th year of independence, WeChat has introduced special animated Independence Day stickers to honor the special day. Users can share their pride by wishing everyone through these stickers exclusively on WeChat. 

These stickers represent the diverse cultures and spirit of India through a distinctive way of animation and creativity. This characterization of original and local stickers depict India in various portrayals, the popular ones being a local boy running with Indian flag in the field, a soldier doing a proud salute, kids celebrating their love for India, and a Gandhi ji special sticker giving his Additionally, Indian users can wish their loved ones on the Independence Day using the feature of a broadcast message on WeChat, saving time and making it simple in one step. 

Bharat Mata ki jai

Mera Bharat Mahan

Proud to be Indian

I love My India

proud to be Indian

God Bless India

Jai Hind

WeChat regularly brings in new features and stickers for major festivals and which help users engage with each other through such emotions and expressions, a better option than simple text messages. Apart from these stickers, users can also make free WeChat to WeChat voice calls and video calls. To download the stickers, one just needs visit the WeChat Sticker Gallery on the WeChat app. WeChat envisions and innovates new ways for people to connect, communicate and share. A mobile social communication app designed for smartphone users, WeChat is one of the world's fastest growing social apps with hundreds of millions of users internationally. WeChat empowers users in fun and dynamic ways, by bringing together messaging, social communication and games in one seamless, interactive experience, with comprehensive privacy and security settings that can be tailored as needed. 

WeChat provides a central point of control for users to share voice, photos, videos, and text messages across their entire social eco-system. Through Official Accounts, WeChat allows brands to deliver rich and high-touch appealing content experiences to engage with and grow their communities. WeChat is available free to download on Android, iOS, Windows and BlackBerry operating system.

Learn more about WeChat and download the app at

Check out WeChat India Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/wechatindia

Dive into the world of WeChat through Chatterbox, WeChat’s blog: http://blog.wechat.com

Watch cool videos on WeChat’s official YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/WeChatIndia

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Security researchers hack 3 politicians over public WiFi to spread awareness

Are you one of those who breathe bits and bytes over the air all the time, then this article is a must read for you. Recently an investigation conducted in London has showcased how easy it is to get access of your email, finance , social networking and other details when you are using public WiFi in places such as Cafes, Hotels, Metro Stations etc. In Jan 2015, a similar experiment showcased how a 7 year old hacked public wifi.

The investigation was done jointly by Security and privacy software company F-Secure and penetration testing expert Mandalorian Security Services and Cyber Security Research Institute to conduct the test. The test was conducted on three politicians with their consent.

Image for illustration only

The politicians, deliberately selected from the most powerful chambers in UK politics, were Rt. Hon. David Davis MP, Mary Honeyball MEP and Lord Strasburger. The exercise was carried out with the permission of the politicians who, despite holding important positions within the different parliaments, admitted that they had received no formal training or information about the relative ease with which computers can be breached while using public Wi-Fi – a service they all admitted to using regularly.

Commenting on his email being accessed, Davis said: “Well, it’s pretty horrifying, to be honest. What you have extracted was a very tough password, tougher than most people use. It’s certainly not ‘Password’.” Alarmingly, the password would have been broken no matter how strong it was. Public Wi-Fi is inherently insecure - usernames and passwords are shown in plain text in the back of a Wi-Fi access point, making them simple for a hacker to steal.

To underline the risk, an email was drafted by ethical hackers Mandalorian and left in his drafts folder destined for the national press, announcing his defection to UKIP. His PayPal account was then compromised, as it used the same username and password as his Gmail – a common habit.

In the case of Lord Strasburger, a Voice over IP (VoIP) call he made from a hotel room was intercepted and recorded using technology freely available on the Internet, and relatively easy to master. Strasburger said, “That’s very worrying. This is very powerful equipment. The thought that a beginner could be up and running in a very few hours is really worrying. I think it proves that people (when they are using technology) need to know a lot more about it. In the end, they have to look after themselves, because it really is down to you, no one else is going to do it.”

Mary Honeyball MEP, who sits on the EU committee responsible for the ‘We Love Wi-Fi’ campaign, was browsing the Internet in a café when the ethical hacker sent her a message seemingly from Facebook which invited her to log back into her account, as it had timed out. This was how she unwittingly gave her login credentials to the hacker, who then accessed her Facebook account.

Honeyball, who was using a tablet issued to her only days before by the European Parliament’s technology officers, was particularly concerned about the lack of advice she had been given. “I think something should be done because we all think that passwords make the whole thing secure. I always thought that was the point of passwords. I am surprised and shocked,” she said.

Each hack not only demonstrated the simple steps a hacker can take to circumvent password protected services, but also how the personal data could be used for further attacks. “The average person will think that a hacker knowing which sports team I follow is a pretty useless piece of information,” said Steve Lord, director at Mandalorian. “But once he knows that, he can craft a phishing email specifically for you and your likes, knowing that you will be more likely to open it. Once you click on a link within that email or open an attachment, they have you – they will load malware onto your devices and then you will end up giving away all of your information. Not only that, but your company information too, if you use your devices to access the company network.”

Sean Sullivan, Security Advisor at F-Secure, has this advice for people using public Wi-Fi: “People shouldn’t be afraid to use public Wi-Fi – it’s a fantastic service. But they must understand that there are risks and it is their responsibility to protect themselves. This is simply done using a piece of software called a Virtual Private Network (or VPN). For phones and tablets, these are available as an app. Our Freedome VPN will encrypt all data travelling from the device to the network, meaning that the hacker will steal nothing of use. Simply turning it on gives you the best protection you can possibly have to stay safe over public Wi-Fi, so you can focus on what you’re doing instead of worrying about staying safe.”

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9Apps OnTV app allows users to create and share their own breaking news

9Apps, the world's leading third party Android app store, announced the launch of a fun and exciting app named 9Apps OnTV for its Indian consumers. The application gives user the option to create their own breaking news and share it on their social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. The app was launched by Indian Reality show television celebrity couple Upen Patel and Karishma Tanna.

Company will donate money on every download of application to Prayas, a social welfare society which is supported by Karishma and Upen. Prayas works for the betterment of women and children of economically weaker section of the society.

9Apps OnTV (Click to enlarge image)

Talking about the new app, Simon Shi, Head of 9Apps said, “Our aim is to make your mobile experience diverse and colourful. We always try and deliver entertaining, exciting and fun products to our customers. We have a deep understanding of what an Indian consumer likes. I am confident this app will delight many.”

Commenting on the move, Karishma Tanna said, “We played a prank on social media to draw people’s attention to our endeavor. We are grateful to 9Apps for their donations. 9Apps OnTV is not just fun but you also get to play a part in improving lives of millions of children and women. I request all my fans to download this app.”

Money donated by 9Apps will work towards imparting free education to poor and deprived girl children. Prayas will work with the two-fold objective of developing basic education for street children and of preventing children in difficulties from ending up on the streets.

Download link: http://www.9apps.com/fundraiser/

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ErosNow opens official account on WeChat, users can enjoy free music and movies.

As mobile internet users are growing day by day, every one is eager to tap the market. In same line ErosNow, the dedicated online entertainment service of Eros International, a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry has announced its Official account on WeChat. Through this Official account, WeChat users would be able to enjoy unlimited music, movies and get sneak peak into all action. Its a big forward leap in Indian entertainment industry through which Eros would be able to penetrate into youth market much deeper than ever as the social media app is among the top used applications used by youth in India.

EROSNOW on WeChat

Gone are the days when every one was busy making presence online, be it commerce industry, books, payment, hotels or anything else, now that evolution has already taken place and pretty much everything is available online. Now a days new trend is to make presence on mobiles, Myntra has already taken bold step to be available on app only platform shutting down its website channels. The future of internet is in mobile devices with internet available at lightning speeds of 4G it makes much more sense to be on mobile when more than half of internet users are on mobile and their share is still growing.

"At WeChat, we have constantly endeavored to bring to our users, content and associations which add value to their overall WeChat experience. Through WeChat’s Official Accounts, we have consistently evolved and innovated the kind of partnerships and associations we bring forth to our users. ErosNow is another step towards bringing engaging content and entertainment offerings for our users”, said Nilay Arora, Vice President – Marketing and Business Development for WeChat India.

WeChat users will also be able to share their favorite stuff from ErosNow official account on WeChat to friends through chats or Moments.

“ErosNow’s partnership with WeChat’s innovative technology and strong youth base will further enhance the user

Experience and help meet the demands of today’s mobile generation.” – Karan Bedi, COO, Eros Now

Techzone is the platform partner for ErosNow’s channel on WeChat.

To follow ErosNow Official Account (on Android/iOS), WeChat users need to search for “ErosNow” in the search bar or scan the QR code below. Then follow the instructions in the welcome message to get started!

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[Updated]-Mad about Ads ? Get Paid to watch ads on new Micromax Mad A94

As many of you would have seen Micromax TVCs for Mad about ads campaign. Micromax has materialized it with launch of new budget smartphone Micromax Mad A94. Micromax has also launched application Micromax Mad, a unique application that comes preloaded with A94 on which users will get paid for watching their favourite ads. Yes you read it right, users will have to Dial a number and then view Micromax Mad ad's to earn points. Micromax will then convert these points to equal amount of money and credit to your prepaid or postpaid account. It is independent of service providers for all opted-in subscribers.

You can also participate in online contest to get a chance to win A94, details are at end of this post.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Rahul Sharma, Co-founder, Micromax said “With the launch of Micromax MAd, we aim to create a powerful medium to interact, engage, entertain and connect with the consumers by lending them our ears to voice their areas of interest, preferences and incentivizing it for them through reward.  This service would provide a high engagement communication channel for the brands to break away from the clutter. It is also going to prove to be a game changer for operator eco-system who are looking at newer and innovative ways to help them improve their profitability from every user. This unique service would also prove to be very significant for mobile eco-systems by solving the problem of ARPU (Average revenue per user), and contributing to the overall profitability."

Coming to A94 specifications, A94 comes with 4.5'  touch screen, 5MP rear and front camera, powered by 1.2 GHz quad core processor with 1800 mAh strong battery. A94 runs on Androind 4.2 Jelly Bean but disappoints a bit on RAM front as it comes with only 512 MB RAM which can  be ignored looking at its low price of Rs 8490/-

Other than the unique MAd application, the phone packs lot of fun and new features like M!Live portal to download unlimited Games, Videos, Wallpapers & Music , BBM & Hike for Instant Messaging, Spuul to Watch Free Movies, Kingsoft Office to read, write and edit attachments On-the-Go, Opera Mini browser for optimal net surfing. The phone supports Bluetooth v4.0 and Wi-Fi, ensuring full time connectivity for the social media buffs.

You can participate in Mad Contest online as well to get a chance to win Micromax Mad A94. Visit http://www.micromaxmad.com/ , login to the site you can login with your facebook account also , watch videos and guess the right ad for the video and earn points. Wrong guess leads to negative points. You can earn additional 50 points by liking Micromax on Facebook, 100 points by uploading your own video, 10 points by guessing right answer to user uploaded video, 50 points to guess Micromax videos correctly. Negative points would be 20% of points rewarded for right answer.

If you are stuck at any Micromax video, I have a simple and superb trick to know the answer , comment on this post if you want to know the trick and lead the leader board. :) :)

Update:

To get answers of Micromax Uploaded ad, open http://www.micromaxmad.com/ in Chrome or Firefox browser.

Login to play contest.

Wait for the video to start, right click on video -> Select Inspect Element.

A console will open up with that particular video element as highlighted.

Expand this line.

You will be able to find the answer.

I have taken screenshots for first video.

Enjoy :) :)

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Micromax and MTS jointly brings Canvas Blaze - Smartphone for The Internet Generation

Strengthening its Canvas series Micromax  launched Canvas Blaze in collaboration with Sistema Shyam teleservices limited which is better known as its brand name MTS. Canva Blaze is a EVDO + GSM dual SIM smartphone and this combination makes it different from other dual sim smart phones present in market. EVDO (Evolution Voice data Optimized) was designed as an evolution of CDMA 2000 standard  that supports high data rates and could deploy alongside a wireless carrier's voice services.

Canvas Blaze is powered by a 1.2 GHz Dual Core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor and runs on Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean). Canvas Blaze boasts a 5" full touch TFT display with a screen resolution of 480*854, 8 MP autofocus rear camera with LED flash, 0.3 MP front camera for video chatting, 1850 mAH battery, 768 RAM, 4 GB internal memory, Expandable memory 32 GB thru SD card.

On sensors front this smartphone comes with gravity, proximity and light sensors to provide enhanced user capabilities.

Canvas Blaze is a good competitor in mid-range category. Along with impressive specs it comes with an attractive offer from MTS which includes free Data and Voice benefits for 6 months from the date of purchase details are as below.

With the offer as below and provided EVDO capabilities to deliver faster and smoother internet experience this device is perfect choice for social media buffs and all tech savvy people who wants to be connected anytime anywhere.

Price	Bundled Benefits	Validity
INR 10999	2 GB  Data 1000 minutes for MTS to MTS local calling 120 minutes for other local and STD calls.	Benefits applicable per month for 6 months from Date of purchase.

According to press release by Micromax, Micromax and MTS will introduce a range of co-developed smartphones that will deliver exceptional experience for the consumer, driving enhanced data experience for customers across the country.

With a MRP of Rs10,999 Canvas Blaze will be available across all over India from 18th Dec 2013. You can order Canvas Blaze online form Micromax's site.

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