Category: Smart Tech

Amazon to open fashion store where algorithms suggest what to try on

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Amazon.com Inc’s recipe for the department store of the future includes algorithmic recommendations and what one corporate director called “a magic closet” in the fitting room.

The online retailer is making another push to grow its fashion business, announcing on Thursday it will open its first-ever apparel store this year, with a tech twist. “We wouldn’t do anything in physical retail unless we felt we could significantly improve the customer experience,” said Simoina Vasen, a managing director.

At 30,000 square feet (2,787 sq meters), the planned “Amazon Style” shop near Los Angeles is smaller than the typical department store. Model items are on the racks, and customers scan a code using Amazon’s mobile app to select the colour and size they would like. To try on the clothes, which are stored in the back, shoppers enter a virtual queue for a fitting room that they unlock with their smartphone when it is ready.

Inside, the dressing room is “a personal space for you to continue shopping without ever having to leave,” Vasen said. Each has a touchscreen letting shoppers request more items that staff deliver to a secure, two-sided closet “within minutes,” she said.

“It’s like a magic closet with seemingly endless selection,” Vasen said.

Also Read | Explained: Sense and Sustainability; how fashion is trying to become greener

The touchscreens suggest items to shoppers too. Amazon keeps a record of every good a customer scans so its algorithms personalize clothing recommendations. Shoppers can fill out a style survey as well. By the time they arrive in a fitting room, employees have already deposited customers’ requested items and others that Amazon has picked.

Shoppers can opt out with a concierge’s help, Amazon said.

Amazon has unveiled tech to help customers choose outfits before. The company has surpassed Walmart Inc as the most-shopped clothing retailer in the United States, according to analyst research.

But it still has room to expand and compete with the likes of Macy’s Inc and Nordstrom Inc, which have opened smaller-format stores. Amazon’s lineup of physical grocery and convenience shops have yet to upend brick-and-mortar retail.

The company’s new store aims to attract a broad range of shoppers with hundreds of brands, Vasen said, declining to name examples.

It has hundreds of associates, and no cashier-less checkout like some Amazon stores, Vasen said. Still, using a biometric system known as Amazon One, customers can pay with a swipe of their palm.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Bridging the chasm: How technology promises to shape the future

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The year was 1962, and television audiences had a glimpse into an aspirational look into the future. The American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) aired a show about a family that lives in a futuristic megacity, with flying cars, smart homes, an automated workforce, virtual reality, and a wide range of intelligent living solutions. Fast forward 60 years, the life of The Jetsons seems fairly normal. Technology has not only proliferated our daily lives but has become an inherent part of every decision that is being made. And here’s how.

The age of The Jetsons is here

Technology is not just constructing the future from a blueprint; it is orchestrating it. In 2019, nearly 57 percent of homes in Britain and 69 percent of US households contained at least one smart home device. The consumer-centric adoption of technology is scaling rampantly, with predictions estimating that there will be nearly 478.2 million smart homes in the world by 2025.

Also Read | Explained: How TikTok algorithm is designed to get young users addicted

Imagine a scenario where a person has had a fall. Their smartwatch notifies the nearest ambulance of the mishap. As the patient is being wheeled into the ambulance, medical teams are alerted within a nearby health system and are able to prepare standby teams to begin care delivery. The ambulance is able to communicate with the city grid, instantly providing them green light clearance across all traffic systems. As the patient is being wheeled into the hospital, NFC or RFID is able to help the hospital retrieve all patient data across their EHR systems and obtain necessary payer authorisations. The patient needs immediate surgery; however, a standby surgeon is unavailable. Remote tools allow a surgeon from another hospital or city to perform the precision surgery. While the patient regains mobility, he is still able to remotely go to work and attend all meetings, providing a semblance of normalcy with minimal disruption to his lifestyle.

We are not far from this reality. In fact, we are much closer to this possibility than we were 36 months ago. With the integration of smart technology in our homes, workplaces, infrastructure, healthcare, and other industries, there is a great likelihood that an average person could interact with a smart device every 10 seconds.

Also Read | Dangerous liaisons? How dating apps use/misuse your data

It is what the new world looks like. But many ask, what is the new world?

Navigating the “NEW” world

Our future is a combination of three worlds. The new normal, where COVID and other factors have forced people to circumnavigate the conventions of how everyday engagements take place. New physical worlds are gaining mass interest with the predominance of SPACE X, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic that promise setting up life in outer space or Mars. Or new virtual worlds, such as Facebook’s Metaverse and NVIDIA’s Omniverse, are challenging the boundaries of physical interaction, providing virtual spaces for engagement and collaboration.

The intersection of these new worlds is ushering in megatrends that will reshape the course of how technology and society will engage with each other. If you look at them broadly, the megatrends can be categorised into three categories, the fabric of which will impact every aspect of our daily touchpoints:

Human lives: Across education, healthcare, lifestyle, or wellbeing, intelligent devices are collecting a vast amount of information to play a pivotal role in preventive safety and the wellbeing of human lives. Today, a simple search on YouTube will deliver hundreds of videos that showcase how Tesla has pioneered their crash prevention technology. Similarly, at a more personal level, Apple’s in-built ECG and fall detection are already demonstrating examples of proactive intervention and saving people’s lives. Improving human lives will also transcend into their everyday work by finding the balance between virtual and physical work. Earlier this year, Nvidia launched Clara™ Holoscan, an AI computing platform for medical devices that enables medical device developers to create and take to market the next generation of AI-enabled medical devices. Facebook and Microsoft glasses like Oculus and HoloLens are already being used in key medical technology applications, from the design of medical tools to surgical procedures. Well-being digital twin (WDT) is now a partial reality and will become an essential tool for personnel health very soon once we have enough and more data from wearables and health records.

Human work: The way we work will change. Whether it is the humanoid robots by Boston Dynamics, Amazon’s freight robots, or the delivery drones by Dominos, the need for humans to engage in physical labour will soon be mitigated, allowing us to focus on outcomes that truly matter. At the software end of the spectrum, RPA and AI are evolving in order to not just perform rule-based workflows but also take prescriptive actions that deliver favourable outcomes. Organisations like NXP Semiconductors and their OPTIMUM project have made huge strides in smart manufacturing with intelligent material handling and context awareness to optimise manufacturing processes and increase their efficiency. A month ago, Nvidia revealed its plan to build Earth 2, a supercomputer tasked with creating a global 3D metaverse simulation of the Earth to see our future.

Human transportation: Sustainability will be key in the future of movement. Electric cars gaining market dominance is a matter of the past. Sustainability will soon transcend in aquatics and aerospace as well. Driverless vehicles will form a mesh, communicating with each other, traffic signals, and centralised control systems, resulting in the overall management of traffic and decongestion. Physical Travel will become faster and efficient. However, virtual transportation will start gaining importance as a proactive means of reducing carbon footprint and saving time. Double Robotics provides the ability to be on the floors of factories or manufacturing units and yet move around using mobile telepresence, minimizing the need for physical transport. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and Autonomous Aerial Vehicles (AAV) have steadily gathered predominance in the market but are expected to play a much larger role in the near future. The metaverse, the digital world’s next big evolution, could be the virtual world where animated avatars of our physical selves will be able to virtually do all sorts of interactivities with no travel at all — someday, that is not very far. Facebook renamed itself Meta earlier this year to focus on innovations around its metaverse. Similarly, Microsoft won a contract that is estimated to be above $21 billion to build HoloLens augmented reality headsets. These headsets may help defense personnel to reach places virtually through its robotic avatars or drones.

Orchestrating the future, a symphony of technology

When you go back to think about The Jetsons, it wasn’t one gadget or device that piqued the interest of the audience. The city (or megacity) was connected, and every element within it was able to communicate with each other. The underlying technologies are the building blocks that are shaping this future. Data Modernisation and Analytics are opening huge opportunities that pave the way for intelligent solutions. EDGE and Fog computing is pushing the threshold of innovation that AI delivers to create a truly intelligent ecosystem. The triage of MEMS and sensors, along with modern network connectivity such as 5G, LTE, and the underlying layer of software, firmware, or middleware as the fabric, is what puts intelligent technology at the forefront of building smart cities.

Also Read | Smart future: These strips with sensors can revolutionise healthcare, and even car care

Finding the right technology mix is not a single-handed feat. It requires partnerships between governments, non-profits, and the people. Most importantly, it demands implementation partners who have a shared vision as well as the scale and ability to bring these projects to life. The market today has an abundance of other partners who are committed to delivering vertical-specific technology, such as smart manufacturing, smart healthcare, smart mobility or smart and connected lifestyles. Companies such as Cyient have focussed practices that are tailored to help bring mega innovations to life, and innovation frameworks like CyientfIQ enable faster go-to-market for such products.

Considering we all know where the future is headed, it begs the question: how quickly do we want to get there? Are we all in the same shared vision of designing tomorrow together?

(The author is Rajaneesh R Kini, SVP, and Chief Technology Officer, Cyient)

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

AT&T, Verizon to delay new 5G service for two weeks

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

AT&T and Verizon said Monday they will delay activating new 5G wireless service for two weeks following a request by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who cited the airline industry’s concern that the service could interfere with systems on planes.

In a statement Monday night, AT&T also repeated its promise to further reduce power of the networks around airports for six months to give regulators more time to study potential interference with air traffic.

AT&T and Verizon had planned to launch the new 5G service on Wednesday in many U.S. cities, but a trade group for the airline industry filed an emergency request asking regulators to temporarily block the move.

Also Read: Apple becomes first company to hit $3 trillion market value, then slips

At Secretary Buttigiegs request, we have voluntarily agreed to one additional two-week delay of our deployment of C-Band 5G services, an AT&T spokeswoman said in a statement. We know aviation safety and 5G can co-exist and we are confident further collaboration and technical assessment will allay any issues.

Also Read: US stock markets closing: How S&P 500, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Russell 2000 fared on Monday

On Friday, Buttigieg and Stephen Dickson, head of the Federal Aviation Administration, asked the companies to delay their C-band 5G rollout for up to two weeks. They warned that without a delay, there would be unacceptable disruption to aviation because flights would be canceled or diverted to other cities to avoid potential risks to air safety.

Also Read: Asian stock markets trade higher despite worries of Omicron spread

The officials’ warning followed a request by a major airline trade group to delay the 5G rollout. Airlines for America told the Federal Communications Commission that using C-band 5G near dozens of airports could interfere with electronics that pilots rely on. The group said it had raised the issue before but was given little attention by the FCC.

The conflict between telecommunications companies and airlines and between the FCC and the FAA involves a type of 5G service that relies on chunks of radio spectrum called C-Band, which wireless carriers spent billions of dollars to buy up last year.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Explained: How TikTok algorithm is designed to get young users addicted

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

TikTok was recently crowned as the world’s most popular website in 2021. The video-focused social networking app hosts several short-form videos across a variety of genres. The app beat out internet big names like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Netflix and Amazon. A report by domo.com said around 167 million TikTok videos get streamed each minute every day. In comparison, Google, which handles about 90 percent of all internet searches, conducts 5.7 million searches every minute.

Much of the most-visited app’s success hinges on its secretive algorithm. The company’s algorithm aims to create “user value,” “long-term user value,” “creator value,” and “platform value” as translated from Mandarin, reported the NYT.

Also read: Russia fines Twitter, Facebook owner Meta and TikTok over banned content

The goals were found on a document titled ‘TikTok Algo 101,’ which NYT managed to review. The app is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, which also owns the Chinese sister app to TikTok, called ByteDance.

As per previous reports by The Wall Street Journal, the key to assessing a user’s interest in the app is by calculating the length of time he or she spends looking at the video content. Re-watching the content also makes a difference in TikTok’s scoring.

According to the NYT, the document lays out clearly that the company’s “ultimate goal” is to add daily viewers by increasing “retention” and “time spent.” TikTok wants its users, mostly teens and young kids, to spend as long as possible on the platform and keep coming back as often as possible.

“This system means that watch time is key. The algorithm tries to get people addicted rather than giving them what they really want,” Guillaume Chaslot, the Founder of Algo Transparency, told NYT after reviewing the TikTok documents.

Also read: TikTok to be in US Congressional hotseat over school-trashing content

“Each video a kid watches, TikTok gains a piece of information on him,” he added.

The app’s sophisticated algorithm ensures that every user gets recommended more videos that would make them stay on the platform for longer. And the longer a user spends on the app, and the more videos they watch, the better the algorithm gets at recommending more videos to them.

While the app has recently come under fire for possibly sharing the data of its users with the Chinese government, something for which the app was wholly banned in India, perhaps the real risk that apps like TikTok have are the threat that they possess for addiction of teenagers and young children.

Also read: Complete list of 59 Chinese apps banned by Indian government

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Ed-tech sector set to bring out self-regulation code; government issues advisory against misselling

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The ed-tech industry, which is under fire, with the government issuing an advisory to warn customers against misselling and other practices by some ed-tech platters, is working to bring out a self-regulation code, sources told CNBC TV 18.

Industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has been working with members, which include the leading ed-tech players, to bring out some form of self-regulation that will protect the interests of the customer.

The government has taken note of rising complaints against some ed-tech companies of misleading consumers and put out a stern advisory on December 23, in which it has warned citizens to “carefully evaluate” offer of free services promised by ed-tech companies and also alerted that “some ed-tech companies are luring parents in the garb of offering free services and getting the Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) mandate signed or activating the Auto-debit feature, especially targeting the vulnerable families.”

The education Ministry has put out a list of Dos and donts, which include warning customers to “avoid Automatic debit option for payment of subscription fee,” and “Avoid credit/debit cards registration on apps for subscriptions,” and to “not trust the “Success stories” shared by ed-tech companies without proper checks.”

The ministry has also asked ed-tech companies to comply with the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 and the Advertising Standards Council of India’s Code for Self-Regulation and to ensure transparency in advertisements.

There have been multiple Social media posts and reports about ed-tech company Byju’s that cite instances of misleading and misselling, which has led to a concern with the ed-tech sector.

Byju’s did not respond to CNBCTV18’s queries on the advisory and customer complaints.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US SEC rejects Apple bid to block shareholder proposal on forced labour

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has declined an effort by Apple Inc to skip a shareholder proposal asking the iPhone maker to provide greater transparency in its efforts to keep forced labour out of its supply chain.

A group of shareholders earlier this year asked Apple’s board to prepare a report on how the company protects workers in its supply chain from forced labour. The request for information covered the extent to which Apple has identified suppliers and sub-suppliers that are a risk for forced labour, and how many suppliers Apple has taken action against.

In a letter from the SEC reviewed by Reuters on Wednesday, regulators denied Apple’s move to block the proposal, saying that “it does not appear that the essential objectives of the proposal have been implemented” so far.

The letter means that Apple will have to face a vote on the proposal at its annual shareholder meeting next year, barring a deal with the shareholders who made it.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

American lawmakers last week passed a bill banning imports from China’s Xinjiang region over concerns about forced labour.

“There’s rightfully growing concern at all levels of government about the concentration camp-like conditions for Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims living under Chinese government rule,” Vicky Wyatt, campaign director for SumOfUs, a group supporting the shareholder proposal, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Apple routinely asks the SEC to skip shareholder proposals, and the requests are granted about half the time.

The SEC also denied Apple’s request to skip a shareholder proposal that would give investors more information about the company’s use of non-disclosure agreements.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Smart Homes: Cost, infrastructure, culture gap pose challenges in India 

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) has shown immense potential for creating a connected home ecosystem. A smart home is a technology-enabled house, equipped with devices that can send information and take commands.

Users are increasingly adopting home automation systems like IP-enabled cameras, object motion sensors, security alarms, window blinds, doorbells and connected door locks that are providing enhanced home safety and security in addition to energy efficiency.

Also read: View: Why smart, connected devices will become the norm in an age of Intelligent Connectivity

Smart home market

In India, the home automation market is being driven by the growth of the urban middle class and the rise in disposable incomes. According to a Statista report, the Indian smart home market is expected to increase two-fold from $3 billion estimated in 2020, to around $6 billion by 2022. Globally, the smart home market is set to grow to $53.45 billion by 2022.

Also read: All you need to know about Astro, Amazon’s new home robot

Reasons for growth

A number of factors are driving the concept of smart homes in India. Affordable access to internet connectivity and smartphone penetration across India are two primary reasons contributing to the overall growth in the IoT market. Indian government initiatives like Make in India and Digital India campaigns are also influencing the adoption of smart devices at homes. Besides this, the younger demographic and aspirational households are also driving home automation.

A number of brands are providing wire-free solutions that integrate seamlessly into the existing infrastructure and help the customer transform old appliances into smart ones at a small price.

Yet, some prominent challenges remain in the domain of home automation.

Also read: Smart future: These strips with sensors can revolutionise healthcare, and even car care

Infrastructure

One of the biggest challenges for smart home automation is replacing traditional building structures. Apart from the internet, smart home automation requires supporting infrastructures like smart power grids, smart building management systems, smart drainage and sanitation and smart water supply.

Also read: Technology, performance and design – three building blocks for the IOT era

Also, internet connectivity and reliability are unpredictable in many places in India. In cities, the connectivity is often insufficient to propel smart devices.

High price

Home automation takes a backseat due to high cost of products. Most Indian consumers are very selective in investing in convenience and technology. With less emphasis on the requirement or necessity of home automation, people with lesser incomes are unable to relate to smart technology powering one’s home. The price difference between smart devices and traditional devices makes them less popular even though it can save up to 1-15 percent energy.

A thing of luxury

Home automation is still considered a domain of the uber rich in the Indian market. The huge costs also make it difficult for an average earning individual to invest in. Although people in rural areas of India are acquainted with the internet, introducing them to complexities of a smart home will take time.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

WhatsApp to allow multiple durations for ‘Disappearing Messages’; here’s how to enable it

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

WhatsApp has announced two updates to its existing ‘Disappearing Messages’ feature. The instant messaging app will now allow users to increase the time of disappearing messages to 90 days, and additionally, can be turned on by default for its users now. The updates are aimed at increasing the security and privacy of the Meta-owned app.

“We are excited to provide our users with more options to control their messages and how long they stick around, with default disappearing messages and multiple durations,” WhatsApp said in a blog post.

WhatsApp had first introduced the disappearing messages feature last year, where messages would automatically be deleted seven days after they had been sent. But now users will be able to set the cut-off date for disappearing messages to 24 hours and 90 days, as well as the previous option of seven days.

“Deciding how long a message lasts should be in your hands. We’ve become accustomed to leaving a digital copy of just about everything we type without even thinking about it. It’s become the equivalent of a note-taker following us around making a permanent record of everything we’’ve said. This is why we introduced disappearing messages last year, and more recently for photos and videos to immediately disappear after being viewed once,” the company added in its blog.

To enable the feature, users can tap on any chat and select Disappearing Messages before selecting their chosen timer. Users can also navigate to their privacy settings within the app and turn on default disappearing messages as well. Users will now be able to enable disappearing messages for group chats as well.

“For people who choose to switch on default disappearing messages, we will display a message in your chats that tells people this is the default you’ve chosen,” added the company.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

iPhone: Apple gears up to release iOS 15.2; here is what’s new in the coming update

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Apple Inc. this week released the fourth developer beta of iOS 15.2 for all eligible iPhones — 6s and later. According to Apple’s release notes, the latest beta fixes issues with the App Store, where in the app crashes at times, and problems with streaming through Apple Music, which reportedly causes high CPU usage, which in turn drains the battery faster.

The beta also has a couple of other fixes under the hood.

Apple is expected to release a final candidate (or release candidate, as the iPhone maker calls it) later this week, followed by a public release, which  typically happens on a Tuesday.

The last public iOS update was on November 17, when Apple pushed out iOS 15.1.1 for the iPhone 12 and 13 series. The update was aimed at fixing call drop issues in these two generations of iPhone.

While iPhone 13 series has iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 12 has iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max in its lineup.

iPhone 13 users had been complaining about sluggish performance in some aspects. The most frequent complaints have been related to slow performance when it comes to loading, opening, and downloading apps and using the mailbox. Users have noted that earlier actions wouldn’t be registered when the mailbox app was open, such as when marking, deleting or moving emails from one folder to another.

Some of the other issues that have been noted are the slowdown when trying to use the photo gallery on the Apple iPhone as well as slow processing when trying to edit images using the phones’ program.

Users will be able to download the latest available update by navigating to the Settings option, where it will be located at the top. Users can also download the update by navigating to Settings then General, then tap Software Update. They can then select and download the update that they want, before installing it as well.

iPhone 12 series crossed 100 million units sold in April, according to Counterpoint Research’s mobile handset Market Pulse Service.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Dangerous liaisons? How dating apps use/misuse your data

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Dating apps have become popular platform with the younger set to meet potential romantic partners. Apps like Tinder, Bumble, Happn, OkCupid and more are a big hit with the smartphone generation. Their popularity further increased during the pandemic but many users are not aware of how their data is being used by these dating apps.

What data do the apps collect?

The apps collect all the information that users share on their profiles. The user’s age, location, sexual orientation, religion and other personal information that are add to their profile can be stored by the dating apps. Additionally, location data, mobile numbers, uploaded pictures, and even the conversations that users may have had with other users of the app may be stored.

But that’s not the only data that these apps are storing. By linking them with your other social media accounts, they can also collect and store data that is linked with various social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Journalist Judith Duportail had found that Tinder had collected over 800 pages of information on her profile, reported The Guardian.

Also read: Explained: App permissions, updated passwords to browsing in private mode, here’s how to ensure digital privacy

What can companies do with the data?

Ostensibly, the apps and platforms use the data to help users find better ‘matches’ through their algorithms and also increase the chances of a prospective match liking a particular profile. While these companies are not willing to share how exactly their algorithms use all the collected data, most of them use machine learning to show the profiles of users who are likely to match with each other based on previous matches.

But apart from doing what they claim they are using the data for, dating platforms also share the data with third-party services for various reasons. These can include sharing a user’s sexual orientation, location, political affiliation and more.

Also read: Bug in dating app Bumble reveals users’ location data

While the dating apps and platforms are quick to clarify that the data is not being sold to third parties, security concerns still are a concern. With these vulnerable platforms storing highly sensitive data, hackers can easily swoop down on highly sensitive data.

Hackers have recently used apps like Grindr, Tinder, Bumble and more to make victims install fake cryptocurrency apps on their mobile devices.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow