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Apple Presents iOS 15: Now Your iPhone Will Have New Redesigned Notifications, Better FaceTime And Much More

ios 15

Apple took advantage of WWDC 2021 to introduce iOS 15, the next generation of its operating system for the iPhone. The new iPhone operating system adds improvement in almost everything, including FaceTime, messages, notifications, search, photos, Apple Wallet, weather and Apple Maps.

New notifications

The main change users will see in iOS 15 includes notifications. Apple has added a function called Notifications Summary, a kind of notification centre similar to the one we have seen previously on Android. Apple’s idea is that these notifications will be organized depending on their relevance and the attention they require.

ios 15 notofications

With this new notification centre, we will be able to better distinguish what types of notifications, and we will be able to organize them and give priority to the ones we want the most. We can schedule this summary of notifications to appear by grouping the notifications we want depending on the time, either in the morning or at night.

In the context of notifications, Apple also adds what is known as the Focus mode. This will allow us to focus on specific tasks, whether personal, work or sleeping — options that we can also edit, and through which the system will take care of the rest.

ios 15 focus mode

For example, if we focus on work, we will only receive notifications from work applications. The same with the personnel field; We will only receive notifications from our friends and family, and we can choose which friends and family have priority in Focus.

Facetime

Apple explains that they have worked to make FaceTime video calls more natural. In the first place, they will offer support for Spatial Audio in such a way that it will be like talking to people in person. In addition, they rely on artificial intelligence to block ambient sound, thus achieving focus only on voices.

Another feature that debuts in the service is the Grid View. That is, a mosaic view quite similar to the one offered by platforms such as Zoom. Clearly, Apple’s idea is for FaceTime to become a serious alternative to the aforementioned service.

Additionally, Apple has added the possibility of creating specific links to join FaceTime calls that, in addition to being able to share, will allow us to access these video calls even from a browser through Android or Windows.

Apple has also announced SharePlay, a feature for sharing all kinds of content in a FaceTime call. With this function, the members of the call can listen to music in sync with Apple Music and even watch series and movies via streaming. Again, everything synchronized at the moment, regardless of the chosen devices or the Internet connection.

ios 15 shareplay

All of this can be controlled through new controls at the top of the screen. SharePlay is interactive; the members of the call will be able to modify the reproduction queue or interact with the streaming video that is being reproduced. In addition, it is compatible with Picture-in-Picture for viewing on a small screen and with AirPlay. We can send the video to our Apple TV without ending the call. Streaming platforms such as Disney+ and HBO Max have already announced compatibility.

iMessage

The iMessage application also receives improvements. Now, iMessage will group all the content received in a small collection dedicated to a separate section so that we can consult it at all times. Focus and Do Not Disturb mode will appear directly in our iMessage status. That is, if someone wants to send us a message and we have any of these modes activated, the system will notify the group or contact so that they are aware of it.

ios 15 iMessage

Photos

iOS 15 does not leave behind Photos, as Memories can now add background music to enhance your experiences while watching them. iOS 15 integrates smart features like Live Text. This allows us to capture text from a photo and use your information. A function very similar to what we see in other apps like CamScanner, but integrated directly into the camera.

In addition, at the same moment in which we take the photo, we can both resize the photo so that it shows us only the surface of the text as well as select it directly from the photo.

ios 15 live text

This includes copying the text, pasting it to other sites, and so on. Also, Live Text will detect information from this text. If it has a phone number, we can call directly to that number that appears in the photo without having to copy the phone number. Live Text works on all platforms, even with web photos or screenshots.

Live Text picks up what the Google Lens see and applies machine learning to recognize elements within these photos and give us information about them. Additionally, images will now appear in Spotlight searches, a feature that many users have been requesting for years.

Safari redesigns

Apple has revamped the Safari browser interface so that it can be controlled with one hand. The tab bar is now floating and is located at the bottom of the screen. The groups of tabs also make their debut, which you can access from your iPhone, Mac or iPad thanks to the synchronization between devices.

Changes in more apps

As we say, iOS has mainly focused on improving its applications. Very important applications of the ecosystem are improved, such as Wallet, Weather or Maps. The Wallet will allow us to carry our keys on the iPhone. We can take the keys to our car, or even our house. The compatibility of these keys with Wallet will depend mainly on third-party manufacturers, and BMW will be one of the first to have this feature in iOS 15. Now, spatial audio is available on Mac, FaceTime, and Apple TV. AirPods get better too.

The health app also has numerous new functions. Apple calculates the risk of falling while walking with the help of the sensors integrated in the iPhone and Apple Watch and compares the values ​​with other users. If the walk becomes too unsafe, the app warns the user.

New privacy

Apple once again emphasizes privacy, one of its most important keys. Now, we can hide our IP, our location, and we can also hide which emails we open. In addition, a small space will be included in iOS where we can review all the activity related to our applications and how they behave both with the system and with other third-party applications.

We may review third-party apps that have activity with our apps. In addition, we can check when these applications interact with our smartphone and can even check the exact time it was done.

Supported devices

iOS will also offer the choice between two software update versions in the Settings app in the future. Users can update to iOS 15 or stay with iOS 14 and still import important security updates. So far, most security updates have only been available for the latest iOS version.

The developer version of iOS 15 is now available. The public beta test is scheduled to start in July 2021. Surprisingly, iOS 15 is compatible with all iPhone and iPod Touch models currently running iOS 14.

These iPhone and iPod Touch models are supported by iOS 15:

  • iPhone 6S and 6S Plus
  • iPhone SE (1st generation)
  • iPhone 7 and 7 Plus
  • iPhone 8 and 8 Plus
  • iPhone X
  • iPhone XS and XS Max
  • iPhone 11
  • iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max
  • iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 12
  • iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max
  • iPhone SE (2nd generation)
  • iPod Touch (7th generation)

The Best Practices for Cloud Data Security

why need Cloud Migration

The cloud adoption, which had been growing steadily, was driven by the reality of the pandemic that forced companies to carry out remote work almost 100%.

Yet, many IT departments are concerned about the security of data migrating to the cloud. While traditional approaches can offer some assurance, businesses are now looking towards advanced solutions like cloud managed security appliances from rhinonetworks for an added layer of protection.

Applications and databases are moving to IaaS and PaaS environments, but efforts are still being made to maintain the flexibility and control of these applications. IT departments are concerned about moving their most sensitive servers and data to the cloud without relying on the hosting service they are taking it to. These concerns make them want to improve their Cloud Data Security and seek professional Cloud Engineers for this purpose.

It does not matter which service to choose: Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Compute Engine, IBM Cloud, or any other service; the fundamental thing is to guarantee the security of the company’s information assets.

The journey to the cloud

CIOs base their concerns on having company information in the cloud; leaving their sensitive data in the hands of third parties can increase and complicate the risk landscape with which companies operate daily. However, these fears are often unfounded, and it is crucial to understand the content and context of that data as it moves up to the cloud.

Understanding the environment you are transitioning into plays an essential role in data security. These three issues must be taken into account:

  1. The data location, as different geographic locations, could mean various regulations, laws, and standards. These factors must be evaluated when making the final decision about who will be the chosen hosting provider.
  2. Data security, since not all providers of IaaS/PaaS, offer the same security capabilities. Thus, it is necessary to know who has administrative access to the data, what physical and security infrastructure of the network exists, or if there is the possibility of authorizing or preventing granular access to different data resources and databases.
  3. Software as a Service (Saas): Having multi-tenant services can have problems since they are shared by several clients, so as far as possible, a Virtual Private Network should be requested. Amazon AWS offers this type of service known as VPC (Virtual Private Cloud), an instance in which we have complete control, and we can even connect that cloud with our corporate network to have more control. Consider software like Tentacle co.

Additionally, when migrating data, the following four premises or fundamental aspects must be considered to gain an understanding of this new environment:

  1. It is true that, in general, cloud computing can increase the number of risks and attack vectors to which it is vulnerable.
  2. One of the most effective ways to prevent information breaches is to update the risk management plan.
  3. Not all data is associated with the same level of risk, so each type of data has different challenges.
  4. The migration to a cloud environment must account for regulatory compliance since significant constraints may vary in other countries for certain kinds of information. 

Security best practices for the cloud

It is essential to know who has access to the data and the keys. The answer to these questions will make it possible to improve the risk management plan to increase the level of information protection.

Access to data

Knowing who has access to the data and for what purposes it is vital to understand all security issues and, therefore, you must act while being aware that:

  1. It is about direct user interaction, and any administrative management that involves contact with the data must be considered. The goal is to ensure that granular access controls are maintained past the cloud threshold.
  2. It is important to note that new control measures may be required if an application uses external data sources, such as dynamic data encryption or data integrity validation.
  3. It is also necessary to consider using tools such as those for monitoring database activity, facilitating a better view of the accesses thanks to their mapping.

Keys to a security strategy

When the conditions of the providers are understood, and access to mapping has been guaranteed that allows monitoring the interactions with the data in the cloud, it is necessary to plan the security controls. For it:

  1. Understand who is responsible for protecting infrastructure components, something that may vary depending on whether it is IaaS or PaaS.
  2. Take your responsibility for dynamic data encryption, such as SSL or VPN.
  3. Protect access to the administration console, as it is one of the most vulnerable points of attack.
  4. Install security software and follow the database vendor’s security guidelines (except when working with PaaS, as this is usually the vendor’s responsibility).
  5. Don’t forget to consider app security.

Cloud Data Security is a hot topic for many companies nowadays. Various companies proved that data exposure would cost a way much more than monthly spending on improving their security. Hope, the knowledge in this article prevents you from data breaches.

Google To Bring iOS’s Most Controversial Privacy Feature To Android

Google Privacy like ios

A few months ago, Apple launched an ordeal to the Big Data industry — with the new privacy option in iOS 14.5, Apple allowed users to prevent their apps from requesting to be tracked outside of them. This feature called App Tracking Transparency requires developers to receive explicit permission from users to access all or part of their information.

It looks like Google would work on a similar feature for Android. As explained by a support page of Google itself, a user can decide if they want to prevent their apps from tracking their activity in other apps to receive personalized advertising. The option will be available later this year, and it will make it more difficult for applications that make use of our advertising ID.

The advertising ID of the users who have decided to activate this option will be deleted the moment you activate it. With it, applications will not be able to track the user beyond the app itself, which will prevent personalized advertising and ID tracking. It’s a feature that clearly limits the ability to collect information to create profiles and produce personalized ads, something Facebook has complained about.

In the case of iOS 14.5, this function allows you to choose if there are certain apps that you do not want to collect that information since a window appears when you open it. Google is going to bet on a different system because they will introduce a switch with which we can stop this monitoring or collection completely.

No pop-ups will be shown for each application individually when we open one on our Android mobile. Nor can this option be managed with each individual app, but we can only deactivate the tracking completely on the phone.

This new function would be launched at the end of this year in an update of the Google Play services. We can access it in the settings of our mobile, in the ‘Google’ section.

This announcement comes shortly after Google’s obligation to Android developers to explain to the user what specific data their applications collect and how they share it. The question now remains about how this will affect the operation of Android applications and developers, and more importantly: what impact will this have on other technology industries.

Anonymous Threatens Elon Musk Over Cryptocurrency Tweets

Anonymous Threatens Elon Musk

The decentralised international hacktivist group, Anonymous, has threatened Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a video for “constantly trolling” cryptocurrency markets.

The group says he destroyed dreams and “destroyed lives” with his tweets about cryptocurrencies. In the past few months, Musk had repeatedly driven up the price of Dogecoin with joking tweets.

In February 2021, Tesla even bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoins, which helped the price soar. The company also started accepting Bitcoin as a means of payment. Musk reversed this step with reference to Bitcoin’s poor environmental record. Tesla had previously warned of the risks of buying with Bitcoin. Since then, the Bitcoin price has dropped significantly.

In the Anonymous video, Musk is personally attacked: “Millions of small investors really counted on their crypto profits to make their lives better. This is something you will never understand because you were born into the stolen wealth of a South African apartheid emerald mine, and none Knowing what the struggle is like for most working people in the world.”

The person from the video that claims to be part of the Anonymous collective claimed that Musks statements cryptocurrencies “a clear disregard for the average working person show“. By his comments on cryptocurrencies, Musk destroyed the dreams of hardworking people and made fun of them.

In the video, Musk is named as the only CEO who has achieved cult status through shit posting and trolling on social media. The vast majority of Tesla’s profits come not from the sale of cars but from the sale of carbon tax credits. It is more than likely that bitcoins were bought with money from these government subsidies.

The video ends with the statement: “You may think you are the smartest person in the room, but now you have met your match. We are Anonymous! We are Legion! Expect us.”

How top brands are utilizing TikTok for marketing in 2021

India bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok and UC Browser

TikTok has been one of the fastest-growing social media platforms. In just a few years of its existence, TikTok has risen to a whopping 2 billion downloads. The platform has popularity among youngsters. Brands that cater to such an audience have started leveraging TikTok brand marketing to expand their reach. Top brands such as Amazon, Samsung, and Apple have made a significant brand presence in the dynamic world of TikTok.

A look at the TikTok marketing report reveals that videos by tech, gaming, and food brands have the highest reach. The five most popular brands on TikTok include Samsung, Chevrolet, So Satisfying, TikTok, and Flighthouse. In this article, we will look at how top brands are using this platform. That way, you will learn how you can be a part of this marketing revolution.

Create Original TikTok Content

Most brands want to optimize their video creation efforts by coming with content that can be used on multiple platforms. However, you need to understand that TikTok is different from most other video-sharing platforms. Here, the condition of video creation is that the content must be restricted to 15 seconds. Only when certain specific conditions are met, TikTok allows you to create 1-minute-long videos.

A look at the videos of the most successful branded videos on YouTube will reveal that they do not go beyond 15 seconds. Such brands understand that TikTok is based on viral content and create appropriate fun and light-hearted content. Here’s how you can create original marketing content on TikTok.

  • Step 1: On the bottom of your TikTok screen, you will find the Discovery option. Tap on it to identify the latest trends and hashtags. Spend time selecting the ones that you can use to market your brand.
  • Step 2: After you are clear on the trend, create a video on it. While it is acceptable to make subtle references to your product or service, make sure that the focus of the video is on quirky and silly content. The more humorous is the content, the higher are the chances of it getting viral. You can also create tips, how-to, and DIY videos for TikTok.
  • Step 3: Depending on the options offered by your video editing tool, choose the relevant filters and color correct the video. Then, upload the video on TikTok and make sure that you add appropriate hashtags. The choice of hashtags will play an instrumental role in deciding whether the video will go viral.

Leverage User-Generated Content

The biggest reason driving the phenomenal growth of TikTok is that it allows viewers to become content creators.35% of TikTok users have participated in hashtag challenges and created their videos. Organizations have been quick to realize this trend, and brands like GUESS and Chipotle have gained TikTok popularity with their In My Denim and Lid Flip Challenge, respectively.

You need to realize that 16% of all TikTok videos come from hashtag challenges. If you can create an appropriate hashtag challenge, you can expect thousands of responses and millions of views.

Such a challenge gives a voice to your followers to express their thoughts and emotions. This forms a connection between you and the follower, and that helps to sell your product. Further, you must realize that every video that is uploaded with your hashtag triggers a chain reaction and improves your digital visibility.

Collaborate with Suitable Influencers

Influencers are people who have a considerable fan following on TikTok. When such a person promotes your brand, it will amplify your brand’s reach and have a significant impact on the target group. However, you need to understand that TikTok is packed with influencers and take proactive measures to ensure that you connect with someone whose followers are your target audience.

To help you in your search, TikTok has a Creator Marketplace feature that lets you filter influencers based on followers, audience demographics, topics, location, and other parameters. Spend time on this section to identify potential collaborators who fit your brand’s goals, marketing campaign, and budget.

Calvin Klein has made the most of TikTok by collaborating with fashion influencers in their #MyCalvins campaign. Kendall Jenner, Shawn Mendes, and ASAP Rocky were some of the fashion influencers who participated in this video challenge and gave the Calvin Klein products a wider reach.

The #ThousandDollarCrocs is another example of a successful influencer collaboration. In this challenge, popular influencer Post Malone asked users to create videos where they wear Crocs and pretended that the footwear was worth $1000. In less than ten days, the campaign got Crocs an 18% increase in their TikTok followers.

Use TikTok Ads for Brand Promotion

While TikTok seems to be the ideal place for viral content, you need to understand that creating viral content is easier said than done. There is an element of luck involved, and you cannot guarantee successful videos.

Moreover, time may not favor you in the viral content, and the video idea may not be trending anymore by the time it reaches some of your audience. To tackle such uncertainties and do away with the delay, TikTok has introduced an advertising platform. TikTok ads are especially useful for smaller brands that are keen on rapid success.

  • Step 1: Set up a TikTok ad account. Go to the dashboard and choose the option to start a new ad campaign. You will then be asked to set the primary goal of your campaign. For example, some brands may be looking at higher app installations while others focus on driving web traffic or boosting conversions.
  • Step 2: Post the goal selection, you need to set the budget for your advertising campaign. Then, decide on the ad placement and enter the website URL. You can add up to 20 relevant keywords here.
  • Step 3: Enter the relevant details about your target audience. Parameters such as age, location, gender, language, and interests help in ensuring that the ad reaches the people it is intended for. Post such data collection, you can design your advertisement.

TikTok is a versatile medium and allows ads of different formats and layouts. You can create hashtag challenges, in-feed ads, and brand takeovers. The TikTok Video Creation Kit allows hundreds of image and video templates, music files, and other customizations that allow you to create ads to your taste. Guess, Spikeball, Chipolte, and The Washington Post are some organizations that used TikTok Ads to build their online brand image.

Thus, you see that TikTok fits in the video marketing strategies of brands that cater to a younger demographic. Boosting customer engagement, videos on TikTok help such brands connect with their audience and get higher conversion rates.

Magic Leap’s Next AR Solution Relies On AMD’s Semi-Custom SoC

Magic Leap and AMD

AMD and Magic Leap are collaborating on a soc for an unannounced augmented reality device. AMD will provide a custom processor. It is not yet known when the finished product will be released on the market.

Magic Leap and AMD say they are working together on technology that ‘visualizes virtual content and information’ and the soc is part of this.

It’s a very interesting announcement because AMD has actually nothing in this direction so far. We’re talking about absolute low-power solutions that can be found in VR/AR glasses — there is no AMD chip below 10, 12 watts. Some embedded designs from AMD go in this direction, but in the end, they are actually just large chips whose voltage has been lowered, but the clock rate also drops significantly. 

With the current products, it is rather unlikely that something like this will ultimately be sufficient for an AR solution and, above all, appropriate. 

Magic Leap is currently still working with Nvidia for the Magic Leap One, among others. Those AR glasses are powered by a Parker SoC, a chipset that, according to Nvidia, is mainly intended for autonomously driving vehicles. The processor is equipped with two Denver cores and four Arm Cortex A57 cores. An Nvidia Pascal GPU with 256 CUDA cores provides the graphics processing power.

How Can Business Save Money?

Business meeting 2

Businesses all over have one major thing in mind. The thing that I am talking about is making more money. On a basic level, there are basically two things to focus on boosting profits. You can either boost revenue or cut your expenses to end up making more money, and this post is going to focus on the saving money and cutting expenses side of things.

Outsourcing

The first way that a business can boost profits by cutting expenses is by outsourcing work. Outsourcing is something that has been around forever and it seems like most businesses have started to take advantage of outsourcing and its benefits.

For certain industries and tasks, it makes a lot of sense because it can eliminate mundane tasks and save money. It can especially save you a lot of money if you are outsourcing a job that has a high labor rate, and you can find people with a much lower labor rate. If there is no lack of quality, then it’s a real bargain. There are even staffing agencies that can help you with this. For instance, an IT staffing agency is a popular choice.

Focus on Star Products/Services

Another way that a business can save a lot of money is if it focuses on its bread and butter. If you have never heard that type of lingo before, then it is time that you learn. Every business that offers many different types of products and services usually has a bread and butter product that does better than most.

If a business can cut out its products and services that are losing money and only focus on the winners, then they will be pretty likely to boost profits. The added profits will be able to be reinvested into the company and could pay off big time in the future. Any successful company out there has doubled down on its winning products and it has paid off big time!

Cut Advertising Budget

The final major way that I will mention is to focus on organic advertising instead of paid advertising. If you can bring in new business without paying for it, then that is great as long as it’s sustainable. Some ways to get organic growth is to focus on SEO, referrals, and even social media.

By focusing on organic growth, it will allow you to possibly reduce your ad spend in the future and start a steady stream of new customers and clients for your business. If you look at most successful companies, they have found a way to get organic growth and a steady flow of new leads in the pipeline.

Hopefully after reading all three of those methods you were able to find something that you could put to use with your company. When you can implement a way to save money, it will pay off in a big way down the line!

If you found this post helpful in any way, then please go ahead and share this post with someone that could benefit from this!

Using a Third Party to Help Your Company Grow

Outsourcing Software Development

Outsourcing some of your company’s work to a third party can seem like a very scary thing to do. You are taking a part of your company and handed it over to someone you really do not know. While you may be able to keep track of what that third party is working on, the fact is that you will not be able to supervise the day-to-day operations that are going on with the part of your company that you outsourced. The thing you are going to have to remember when you make the decision to outsource some of your company’s work to a third party.

Make Sure They Know the Scope of the Work

The first thing you need to do before you start reaching out to third parties is to make sure you know the full scope of what you need to be done. It is your job to know what your company needs to get done. Something you will need to understand is that outsourcing is an approach used for a specific effect. 

There is not a single person who knows your business better than you. So if you do not do the prep work, the third party will not know what your company is all about. The last thing you want to be in this scenario is to be very vague about what you expect for the outsourced work. The big thing is that if you want the best work done, you need to be very specific about what you and your company desire. Communication is a very big key thing you will need at this time.

Reputation is a Big Thing to Remember

Your business does not have to compromise when it comes to quantity. Once you figure out the amount of work that you need to do for your business, you need to do your research on the businesses you are considering outsourcing to. In today’s world and the internet access available, there are bound to be online reviews about all the companies you are considering. Whether you are considering using marketing, human resources, amazon web services consulting, or payroll processing, you will be able to go online and find out what other people who have used their services say about their experience with them.

If the company you are thinking about using has mostly bad reviews, it is probably not a good idea to go with them. That does not mean if the company that has all good reviews is one you should just go with immediately. The fit has to be right for both you and your company.

In the end, when deciding to outsource some of your company’s work, there are a couple of steps you need to complete before you make your final decision. 

Like any decision you make, this is something that can affect the path your company is heading down. It is not a decision you have to rush into. Take your time, find out what you need to be done, do your research, and weigh your options. Once you are able to find a company you like and trust, you can help take your company to the next level, both financially and credibility-wise.