Instagram Stories now lets you reply with photo, videos

When you view your friend's’ Instagram Stories and you want to send them a comment or a message, don’t you sometimes wish you could do more than just type words?


With today’s update, a camera icon now appears right beside the text box at the bottom of each story. After tapping it, Instagram’s camera will come up and let you craft a reply just like it were any other story entry, complete with face filters, stickers, hashtags, and so on. In a neat touch, a still of the story you’re replying to will appear on top of your photo, a
With today’s update, a camera icon now appears right beside the text box at the bottom of each story. After tapping it, Instagram’s camera will come up and let you craft a reply just like it were any other story entry, complete with face filters, stickers, hashtags, and so on. In a neat touch, a still of the story you’re replying to will appear on top of your photo, and you’ll be able to reposition it just like a sticker, sizing it up and down and spinning it around.

The update doesn’t present a huge new feature on its own, but it very much sounds like something that could kick off a whole lot more engagement with Instagram Stories. As Snapchat has shown, people love to send goofy photos back and forth, and this new feature helps to enable that. The update also shows Instagram pushing ahead with the format that Snapchat pioneered: while people can send snaps back and forth to one another, Snapchat Stories can only be replied to with text right now.

Facebook 'Find Wi-Fi' goes global

Facebook is rolling out a feature that should help you stay connected when you're on the go.

The feature, dubbed Find Wi-Fi, isn't technically new, but it will be new to most people. Facebook launched it in a handful of countries last year, and now the tool is going global. As its name suggests, Find Wi-Fi helps you locate available Wi-Fi hotspots nearby by displaying hotspots that businesses have shared with Facebook from their Page.

Facebook is now rolling out Find Wi-Fi everywhere on iPhone and Android. In a blog post, Facebook Engineering Director Alex Himel said users with access to the feature have found it helpful when traveling, and especially when they're in areas where cell data is scarce.

"Wherever you are, you can easily map the closest connections when your data connection is weak," Himel wrote.

Google Gives Up Scanning Personal Gmail

 Google yesterday announced the end of its policy of scanning user emails for targeted advertising purposes -- a controversial practice that riled privacy advocates and spurred legal challenges.

Gmail is the world's most widely used email provider, with more than 1.2 billion users.

Google attributed its decision to gains it has made in the enterprise. Its G Suite business over the past year has more than doubled in size to 3 million paying corporate customers, who are not subject to the scanning process.

"G Suite's Gmail is already not used as input for ads personalization, and Google has decided to follow suit later this year in our free consumer email service," said Diane Greene, senior vice president at Google Cloud. "This decision brings Gmail ads in line with how we personalize ads for other Google products."

Ads are based on user settings, and users can disable personalization, Greene noted.

G Suite will continue to be ad-free, she said.

"EPIC opposed Google scanning email from the start and won several significant battles, including the 2014 decision to end scanning of student emails," which raised problems under federal wiretap law and was the frequent target of lawsuits."

Enterprise Concerns

As Google makes further inroads into the cloud business, it recognizes that customers are going to be very wary of anything that threatens their privacy and security when compared against incumbent cloud services providers, noted Jeff Kaplan, managing director of ThinkStrategies.

"Google has always assumed that its users accept the implicit cost of using its free app," he told Afriteche, which is "that they will be targets of its ads and other search engine marketing mechanisms.

"However, as it tries to build its enterprise business, Google has recognized it must abandon this tactic to remain competitive with other enterprise and collaboration alternatives, such as Microsoft Office 365," Kaplan said.

It's not likely that the new privacy objective will harming Google's ability to generate revenue, said Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

Egypt Block VoIP services

Egypt has disrupted voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services this week for users who use messaging apps like Apple’s FaceTime, Viber, Skype, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
The key reason is ostensibly security concerns, but there’s also a suspicion there are economic incentives for local telcos who have complained to regulators about free calls via such apps.

The partial disruption comes on the back of a three-month nationwide state of emergency after terrorist attacks on Palm Sunday (April 9) killed 47 people in two churches. The regressive emergency law allows authorities sweeping powers including monitoring personal communications without judicial oversight and shuttering media outlets

Late last year, Egypt also blocked the highly encrypted app Signal forcing users to download a virtual private network (VPN) program as with this month’s partial block – messaging still works without a VPN.
A controversial cyber-security law has been on the books for a few months and the NTRA has signaled its tacit support for it. Earlier this month, an Alexandria lawyer was sentenced under a newly legislated counter-terrorism law to ten years in prison and a five-year ban from using the internet for Facebook posts deemed insulting to president Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

The economic argument that has been put forward by the regulator and other Egyptian telecommunications providers before maintains that customers’ calls should be charged and that users are ‘free-riding’ by using internet data.
“Our demands are simple: we want quicker and affordable internet without constant disruptions so we can be like other countries that respect freedom of expression” Abdel Naby said. “The government cannot keep on using terrorism as an excuse to disrupt apps”
The most populous Arab country has one of the slowest internet speeds worldwide ranking in the bottom five countries for broadband and 95th for mobile.
Egypt is the latest African country disrupting internet services in recent months following in the footsteps of Cameroon and Morocco.

Nigeria Ranked third in Africa for Affordable Internet Data

The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) has ranked Nigeria third in its Africa Affordability Drivers Index, out of 27 countries studied by the group.

The Africa Regional Coordinator of the group, Onica Makwakwa, made the disclosure at the unveiling of the Africa Affordability Report 2017 in Lagos on Tuesday.

The report is an annual publication of A4AI, examining the policy and regulatory framework that had allowed some countries to make internet more affordable, accessible and universal.

It suggested what other countries could do to catch up on internet affordability.

A detailed breakdown of the report showed that Mauritius topped the table with 61.70 per cent, followed by Morocco with 57.75 per cent.

Nigeria came third with 56.58 per cent, with Botswana on the fourth position with 55.37 per cent and Cote d'Ivoire scoring 53.25 per cent.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Rwanda is on the sixth position with 61.48 per cent, while South Africa scores 51.20 per cent and Ghana, 50.01 per cent.

Benin and Kenya post 48.95 per cent and 48.82 per cent, respectively.

According to the report, only five out of the 27 African countries have affordable internet- they are Mauritius, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Sudan.

"Affordable internet is one Gigabyte (1GB) of mobile pre-paid data for two per cent or less of average monthly income.

"However, 1GB of data costs an average citizen nearly 18 per cent of their monthly income.

"Overall, African countries score less than five out of 10 in all policy areas, indicating the crucial need for improvement."

The report cites the International Telecommunication Union as saying that only 25 per cent of the African population is online.

It said that the continent had 16 per cent of mobile broadband penetration and that there was 23 per cent internet use gender gap in Africa.

It's time to bid farewell to Twitter's ubiquitous default profile image -- the egg.

In the early days, new Twitter users were given an avatar that looked like a businessman walking along; later, it got changed to a bird, and since 2010 it's been an egg. Now Twitter is updating the default avatar again to something much more generic.

The social media site decided it was time for an upgrade. Now, for those people who haven't uploaded profile photos, instead of seeing a white oval inside a bright colored square, you'll see a generic silhouette of a dark gray head and shoulders against a light gray background.

"It's time for something new -- something that encourages people to upload their own photos for more personal expression," Twitter wrote in a blog post

Twitter gives three reasons for the change: to bring the default avatar into line with its recent rebranding efforts, to encourage users to actually get around to personalizing their profile, and to get away from the negative connotations that accounts with egg pictures have drawn in recent years. Originally chosen for being "playful, fun, and unique", the era of the egg avatar is over, Twitter says.

Instead of varied colorful eggs, Twitter said the new default profile image has these traits: generic, universal, serious, unbranded, temporary and inclusive.

Twitter has been tinkering with several of its features over the past few days. On Thursday it announced it was adding a little more room to its 140-character limit in reply tweets. On Wednesday Twitter said videos from Periscope could now play directly in Moments, which is the site's up-to-the-minute curated collection of tweets, videos and discussions.

TWITTER MAKE MORE ROOM FOR REPLIES

Twitter is giving its users a little more space.

The social network said Thursday that when people reply back to fellow users, usernames will no longer cut into the 140-character limit in tweets.

Usernames, such as @thecleanmachine, the Twitter handle for Sasank Reddy, a product manager at the social network, will now appear above the tweet's text, rather than within it.

"So you have more characters to have conversations," Reddy said in a blog post Thursday.

Users will now be able to tap on "Replying to..." to see and manage who's in their conversation, instead of seeing a bunch of usernames at the beginning of a tweet, Reddy added.

For example, when a user is replying to say, tweets from public figures like President Muhammadu Buhari‏ –
@MBuhari or the American president Donald Trump at either @realDonaldTrump or @POTUS, neither of Trump's Twitter handles will figure into the 140 characters. However, if you want to add or tag other people, you'll still have to type in their @username and that will factor into the character count.

Some Twitter users have pointed out the new reply feature lets you tag a seemingly unlimited number of people, raising concerns that it could be use to spam a large number users with a single tweet.

So, don't be that dude who tags 30 people in every tweet -- just don't.

The reply update comes after Twitter tweeted in September it will no longer count photos, videos, polls, quotes and GIFs toward its 140-character limit. The social network also told users and developers last spring changes were coming.

Thursday's new feature is the second Twitter-related update in as many days. On Wednesday, the social network said videos from Periscope can now play directly in Moments, Twitter's up-to-the-minute curated collection of tweets, videos and discussions.

Facebook Messenger now lets you share Live Location for an hour

Facebook Messenger wants to be an offline social gathering tool, not just an online chat app. Today it’s adding a new Live Location feature that lets you share your real-time location on a map for an hour within a private direct or group message thread. The recipients can then see an estimate of how long it would take you to reach them by car

“Live Location is super helpful when trying to coordinate with friends, telling people how close you are when you’re on your way to an appointment or even sharing where you are with your roommate when you’re on your way home at night” writes the feature’s product manager Selena Wang. It’s rolling out for all iOS and Android Messenger users today. Messenger could now challenge location apps like Foursquare Swarm and meetup apps like Down To Lunch.

Live Location is Facebook’s second big attempt at maps in Messenger after its first one blew up into a privacy scandal and was scrapped in 2015. Many users were sharing their momentary exact location with each message, which a Harvard student found could be scraped into a Marauder’s Map through a Chrome extension he built showing exactly where a friend had been. Facebook rescinded the student’s internship offer, made him take the extension down, and switched to only letting users send their one time current or future location.

That static location feature is still available, but now there’s Live Location too. This time, though, you can’t leave it on by default. Head of Messenger David Marcus posted that “Many of us make plans on Messenger that involve finding each other, or letting friends and loved ones know we’re on the way. Sharing your location will also help some of you feel safer on the way home.”

To use Live Location:

Inside a message thread, tap the Location button or find it in the More menu
On the map, tap the blue bar to start sharing your Live Location. The recipients will see your exact current location on a map for 60 minutes, and an ETA by car for you to reach them

A clock in the corner of the map counts down until your location sharing expires, and you can hit Stop Sharing at any time Of course, battery life is a big issue with location features since GPS can drain your device’s energy quickly. But Facebook seys it feels confident that Live Location uses a standard amount of battery, and Marcus writes “We put a lot of time and effort into . . . minimizing battery consumption to the point you wouldn’t even have to think about it.” Though it’s still worth keeping an eye on it.

Alongside the Active Now status indicators and Messenger Day’s “Who’s up for?” filters, Messenger is becoming a much more full-featured utility for getting together with friends. That could give it an advantage over strict chat products and dedicated visual communication apps.

Offline gathering is a still a largely unsolved problem. It’s tough to know who’s available to hang out and close enough for that to be convenient. To win in this space, a product needs social graph ubiquity, location sharing, to be a place users already check frequently, and to have a messaging component for planning. Swarm, Down To Lunch, and a graveyard of other apps have always missed a critical piece.

Messenger could succeed since it piggybacks on Facebook identity and is already where people are organizing meetups. For all our fancy apps, we still need a way to fight the loneliness and get face to face in person. Remember, though. Now if you say “on my way”, you better not be lying while still home in your pajamas.

HOW YOU CAN SHARE OR POST MULTIPLE PHOTO AND VIDEOS ON INSTAGRAM

The drudgery of uploading one photo at a time to Instagram has ended! Now you can add up to 10 photos and videos at once.

Don't worry about overwhelming your followers with a slew of photos, though. It's kind of like a Story. A bulk upload is consolidated into one post. The first image is displayed in your feed and blue dots at the bottom of the photo lets your followers know that they can swipe to see more images.

Adding multiple images and videos is super easy:

From the home screen, hit the + icon at the bottom of the screen.

1. Tap the first image you want to add.
2. Tap the Select multiple icon on the bottom right of the image.
3. Tap on the additional images you want to add and tap an image again to deselect it. If you don't like the order of your images, tap and hold on the image you want to move, then drag it to the right spot.
4. Tap Next at the top of the screen as usual to edit your photos. You have the option of editing each photo individually, or adding the same filter to all your images at once. If you want the same filter on all the images, just tap on your chosen filter without selecting a photo. If you want to edit photos individually, just tap on one, edit and tap Done. Rinse and repeat. When you're done editing, tap Next and add a caption. Unfortunately, all of your photos will just have one caption.
5. Tap Share when you're done. On your profile grid, your followers will see an icon in the upper right side of a photo to let them know it is a post with multiple images. They just need to tap and swipe on the photo to see more.

Does it work with Stories?
Uploading multiple images at once would be awesome for creating a Story, right? Unfortunately, this new trick doesn't work with the Story function, yet.

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT ANDROID O

Google on Tuesday unveiled a developer preview of the latest version of its mobile operating system, code named "Android O."

Google Gives Devs First Look at Android O

The new OS is designed to improve on battery life and interactive performance of devices, according to Dave Burke, vice president of engineering (Android) at Google.

The new release puts automatic limits on what applications do in the background in three areas: implicit broadcasts, background services and location updates.

Updated developer previews will become available in the coming months, and devs will get a more detailed look at the OS at Google I/O, to be held this May at the company's Mountain View, Calfornia, headquarters.

Background limits represent a significant change in how Android operates, so it's important to give developers time to get used to the new features, Burke said.

The release is still in its early stages, he cautioned, noting that there are additional features in the works, and plenty of stabilization and performance work to be completed.

"Background limits illustrates how Google is moving ahead to improve battery life on Android devices, and support for new/emerging WiFi functions and specs highlight

Another major new feature is picture-in-picture display for phones and tablets, which allows users to watch a video while they are separately engaged in a chat session or hailing a car ride, for example.

Sound Quality

The new OS includes major improvement in connectivity, with support for LDAC, which is Sony's new high-quality wireless audio via Bluetooth. Additional WiFi features include WiFi Aware, which allows WiFi access without an Internet access point, a service previously known as "Neighborhood Awareness Networking."

The new release gives developers "fine grained control" over various types of notifications, and let users individually block or change behaviors such as sound, vibration or level of importance.

Android O notification channels

Notification channels let users control an app's notification categories.
Google has seen a resurgence in keyboard navigation with the advent of Google Play apps on Chrome OS, Burke noted. The new OS therefore includes a feature that stabilizes arrow and tab navigation, both for developers and end users.

The O Developer Preview has an updated SDK with system images available so it can be previewed on the official Android Emulator and on Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus Player, Pixel, Pixel XL and Pixel C. An emulator is also available for wearables, including Android Wear 2.0 and Android O.

 Adaptive icons display in a variety of shapes across different device models.
The initial release is not available for consumer use, and is available only via manual download and flash, Google said.

As the final release date draws closer, Google will open up consumer enrollments through Android Beta.

10 BEST GOOGLE Adsense ALTERNATIVES

Google Adsense is very difficult to get this days and even if you have it pray you don't wake up to an email with this quote “Your Google Adsense account has been disabled or temporarily banned”. Well, consider you’re not alone. Everyday, hundreds or thousands of accounts are being banned from Google’s Adsense program. Why? I can’t tell you specifically. Either there’s something wrong with the web you’re putting you ads on, or you just simply missed one rule from Google’s TOS.

Belive me you not alone; Google ads have become so hard to get or to maintain this days mostly if you are in this part of my world where you need to wait for 6 months  before you can get aproval. And you failing in adnsnse don't mean you can't monetize your content. And there are plenty of alternatives out there to try. Google was just your first one, and you failed.

Here are some of the best Google Adsense Alternatives you can try to monetize your website without using Google Adsense, and I’ll tell you how they work and why you should consider them, so let’s start:

1. Media.net

Media.net is one of the best alternatives for AdSense. It is a contextual ad network, powered by Yahoo and Bing. It enables publishers to earn money from advertising revenue.Yahoo-bing-Ad-network-Media.net_ It offers customized ad units that fit with your site look. It also shows ads to the mobile phone and tablet users. Currently, this network is not opened for public sign up. But you can request for an invitation.

2. Yllix Media

Yllix is a network I have heard a lot in the last years that has a decent CPM and many monetization options. Their homepage might look simple but their dashboard is great and it’s easy to get started. Yllix has Pop under ads, mobile redirects, sliders, layer ads and full page ads so you can get a good CTR and make money with them. Definitely a good option for starters and their approval is fast.

3. Revenue Hits

Revenue Hits is a very strong network with several years in the industry. I’ve been working with them for 3months now and so far the results have been great. Revenue Hits is a Performance Ad network, which means they pay you for results (CPA, which is great for many niches). Revenue Hits has an advanced platform that learns from your Ads so if you give them a try make sure to keep their ads running for at least 3-4 days to get the best results. Another great thing is that they have different monetization channels available. You can create banner ads, sliders, pop -unders, buttons and more. Revenue Hits pays on a NET 30 basis and they issue payments via wire, Paypal and Payoneer!

4. Chitika

The reason I put Chitika on the number 4 of this list, is because Chitika is very similar to Adsense. they allow you to customize your ads, and it only serves contextual ads. One good thing is that you can use it along with Adsense and there are no problems at all. Chitika pays via Paypal ($10 USD minimum, which is good for starters) or via check ($50 minimum). If I were to recommend an ads service as an alternative to Adsense, Chitika would be my first choice, hands down. Chitika can pay you via paypal if you need.

5. Propeller Ads

Propeller Ads is a UK based Ad network. It’s a CPM ad network which pays for every 1000 impressions. If you have traffic from U.S., Canada, U.K.,Australia, it will work great for you.Propeller Ads Advertising Network It has different types of ad products like OnClick PopUnder Ads, Mobile Ads, Banner Ads, Layer Ads, Slider Ads, Video Ads etc. It pays through Wire Transfer, Payoneer, Webmoney and Prepaid Cards.

6. PopAds

PopAds is a performance network specialized in Pop Unders. They have good rates and they can monetize all countries. Something great about PopAds is that they can pay daily as long as you earn $5 or more per day. Their quality is good, and they also have pop ups, tab ups/unders and other monetization methods. Their approvals are easy and setting your ads takes just a few minutes. Sign up as a publisher here.

7. Bidvertiser

Bidvertiser is a pay per click advertising site that could be a great AdSense alternative if you didn’t get Adsense approval or got banned. The way it works is a little bit different from Adsense. While Adsense shows ads based on context or visitor’s interest, it creates a bidding system that allows the highest bidder to advertise on your blog. Initially, you won’t be able to earn much revenue as it takes some time to get your site found by Highest bidders. So stay longer.
Bidvertiser offers Text ads, Banner ads, Mobile Ads, Slider ads etc. You can also make money by promoting your customized toolbar. Minimum payment amount is $10 for PayPal/Payza and $50 for check. Read: How to Make Money With Bidvertiser

8. Adsterea

Adsterra is a premium ad network for publishers and advertisers. It offers highest CPM rates with global coverage. It has display banners, Popunders, direct links, sliders, push up ads etc. Publishers can receive their payments on time via Paypal, Bitcoin, Payoneer, WebMoney, Wire Transfer, Paxum, and Payza.
If you are getting a good amount of traffic on your blog, you can try Adsterra to maximize your revenue.

9. Adversal

Adversal is a great alternative of Adsense. They have good banners and the CTR and revenue adapts to get the best results for your website. I’ve seen the Ads on Adversal have a good CTR and they have good image ads too. This is probably the Ad network which seems to work better for those looking for a replacement of Google Adsense. It works decently with other languages too.  You account gets approved really fast and they also have Pop under /CPM ads as an option. Note: Adversal requires a website with a minimum of 50,000 page views per month, but they have proven to work really well. I earn over $500-1000 per month. They also pay via paypal.

10. Infolinks

Infolinks is a bit different from other advertising networks. It’s a in-text advertising program. It doesn’t take too many spaces of your site to show ads. It shows in text ads or pop-up ads. You can use it with AdSense safely. Infolinks offer 4 types of ads – InFold, InText, InTag, and InFrame. All of them are designed to overcome banner blindness. Minimum payment threshold of $50 for Paypal or $100 for Bank wire.

NIGERIANS SPENT $12.2 BILLION ON CALLS AND DATA

The new statistics shows that  Nigerians spent N3.66 trillion on telecommunications services in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

yesterday the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Umar Dambatta, dropped the hint at the flag-off of the NCC Year of Consumer at the Commission’s headquarters.

According to him, Nigerian subscribers spent $5.6 billion in 2015 and $6.6 billion in 2016, amounting to $12.2 billion (N3.6trn) on telecommunications services at an average exchange rate of N300 to $1

This analysis of the amount showed that the N3.66 trillion spent by Nigerians telecoms subscribers is more than half of the 2017 annual budget of N7.298 trillion we need to get out of the rescission.

He also added: “In 2015, Nigerian telecom consumers spent a whooping $5.6 billion on telecommunications services. And in 2016, they topped it up by another $1 billion to make it $6.6 billion.That is why today’s event is remarkable. More remarkable is that the year 2017 is dedicated to the Nigerian Telecom Consumers".

this statistics those not include the illegal dicdualtion Nigerians subscribes face in the hands of this telecommunication company's or number of drop calls we are charged for, but Dambatta noted that the Commission was rolling out new initiatives to achieve high quality of service by the service providers.

The Silicon Valley The World Know Nothing About.

Computer village ikaja is acclaimed west
Africa largest technology market and host some of the best brain you can find anywhere in the world.....from the entrance to the last small business owner you will see creativety and vibrant Africans ready to take Africa and the world if the right tools and appropriate environment is provided..

This technology market is located in the capital of lagos state Nigeria and host millions of people daily buying and selling all forms of technological tools and it also host some offices of the world biggest mobile phone brands...like Nokia, Samsung and tecno mobile, infinx and including Nigeria biggest mobile phone store Slot. this Nigeria silicon valley also have its own story.

Taking a walk through this over crowded tech market what came to my mind is silicon valley; but the difference here is in silicon vailly ideals get founded and here ideals get killed; don't ask me why I believe you know the obvious reasons.in all of this what i  keep asking my self is what make the difference.? why do technology get developed in silicon valley and it can be copied and decoded in computer village? why can't we get seed and startup founds,and what is the role of government in all this; this question keep coming to my mind and still unanswered.

After some hours in this west Africa technology powers house I began to wonder why as the government delepretly chose to ignore an industry like this that can empower over 1 million youth in a single unite  but opt to transfer technology that will enable Nigeria  produce toothpick by 2018 hmm funny you think but true, and it's not totally a bad ideal because it's a shame we still import toothpick in 2017.

I will be completely wrong to lay blame on the side of the government without talking about the pravate sector because in silicon valley government don't found ideals but pravate company and individuals do. the role of the government is to provide the enable environment which computer village dont have and allow investors and developer's to have a playing feed to grow on. it's more easer to get a telecommunications company to sponsor a musical show than to found app developer's or set aside start up in my country. this so called big four telecommunications company only sponsor entertainment show.

UNVEILING SONY XPERIA: XZ PREMIUM; The world’s first smartphone with a 4K HDR display

Sony Mobile has taken the wraps off a new smartphone it's calling the Xperia XZ Premium, which might possibly be the company's most cutting-edge flagship to date.

Starting off with the Xperia XZ Premium, the smartphone falls in the high-end branch and looks to take on the iPhone 7 Plus and Google Pixel XL. On first glance, the Xperia XZ Premium looks similar to last year's Xperia XZ. However, to give it a more expensive look, Sony has provided Gorilla Glass on the back as well that is highly reflective and will likely be prone to fingerprint and smudges.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium runs on Android 7.0 Nougat and is fitted with a 3230mAh battery. The device measures 156x77x7.9mm and weighs 195 grams, making it slightly thinner but heavier than the Xperia XZ.

SIM CAPABILITY
Single SIM, Dual SIM, Nano SIM
MEMORY AND STORAGE
4GB RAM, 64GB (Single SIM)/64GB (Dual SIM) UFS internal memory6
WEIGHT
195g
DIMENSIONS
156 x 77 x 7.9 mm
DISPLAY
5.5'' 4K HDR Display, TRILUMINOS™ Display for mobile, X-Reality™ for mobile, Dynamic Contrast Enhancer, sRGB 138%
CAMERA
19MP Motion Eye Camera, 1/2.3” Exmor RS™ for mobile memory stacked sensor, 960 fps Super slow motion videos, Predictive capture, Anti-distortion shutter, Triple image sensing technology

the phone is built to withstand splashes, spills and unexpected showers

This is thanks to the phone's super-fast Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, which is also capable of Cat 16 LTE download speeds of 1GB per second meaning you could fill up the ample 64GB internal storage in little over a minute of downloading. Alongside the Qualcomm CPU is 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage which can be upped with a MicroSD memory card.

NOKIA 3310: EVERYONE FIRST PHONE IS BACK; THE REVIWE

Enter the new Nokia 3310, a lovingly crafted homage to the iconic handset with a helping of modern-day upgrades. If you were a fan of the 3310, the likelihood is you’ll want to pick this up.

Nokia 3310 still remain one of the most popular mobiles of all time, remembered for its near-indestructible build, long-lasting battery and legendary Snake (well Snake II if we’re being accurate) game, and the team licensing the Nokia phone name has jumped at the chance to reignite the love for a phone which was once the leader in the mobile market.

New Nokia 3310 battery and camera

The original Nokia 3310 was also known for its long battery life, and there’s good news for those eyeing up the new 3310.

A removable 1,200mAh power pack is an instant upgrade over the 900mAh of the original, and thanks to the improvements in phone efficiency the new Nokia 3310 boasts 22 hours of talk time and up to 31 days of standby.

That’s a huge upgrade over the 2.5 hours of talktime and 260 hours (around 11 days) of standby on the original Nokia 3310. You can charge the new 3310 with a standard microUSB cable too, so you won’t need to trawl eBay for the old-school charger.

The first 3310 arrived before manufacturers started putting cameras in phones, but this is 2017 and it makes sense for the new Nokia 3310 to sport a snapper – even if it is rather understated.

What you get is a 2MP camera on the rear of the phone. There’s no flash, HDR, panorama mode or anything fancier than a simple point and shoot app with a digital zoom. It’s not going to dazzle you then, but we can see it being a handy feature on a secondary smartphone.

We snapped a few quick pics during our hands on time with the new 3310 and image quality is as acceptable as you'd expect from a low-res camera.

New Nokia 3310 price and release date

The Nokia 3310 price has been set at €49 (around $40, 12.900NGN), placing it perfectly as a secondary phone purchase and it’s one that will likely appeal to Nokia fans.

Some may balk at having to even pay that much for a ‘dumb phone’, but the spec sheet of the new 3310 does enough to justify the cost.

There’s no firm new Nokia 3310 release date just yet, with the firm only confirming that it will be available sometime in Q2 (April-June).
New Nokia 3310 design and display

Looking at the new Nokia 3310 front-on and there’s no mistaking the phone it is paying homage to.
You’ll be able to pick up the new Nokia 3310 in the traditional dark blue and grey of the original, but also in the new, psychedelic yellow and ‘warm red’. We managed to check out all four colors during our hands on time, and our favorite was the good old dark blue.

The design is solid, but we can't help but wish Nokia had stuck a little closer to the original 3310 look and feel. We could accept thicker device, and a rear which somewhat resembles the original would have been nice.

Meanwhile the display feels like a real blast from the past, but it’s a significant upgrade over the old 3310. The new Nokia 3310 has a 2.4-inch, 240 x 320 full color display which is bright, but hardly crisp.

Of course you’re paying very little for the phone so it’s not an issue, but don’t go trying to tap the menu items. Touchscreen this ain’t.

Text is perfectly readable though, and the new version of Snake is playable. They’re not blockbuster graphics, but if they were it would ruin the appeal of this phone.
The distinctive border around the screen and the layout of the 'num' keys give you the retro throwback, but Nokia has majorly slimmed down and modernized the design making the new 3310 supremely pocketable.

It tips the scales at just 79.6g, making it comfortably lighter than the 137g original, and once you slipped it into your pocket you’ll forget it’s even there.

The plastic construction feels solid, but only time will tell if it will withstand the kind of beatings the first generation Nokia 3310 survived time and again. 

DON JAZZY LAUNCHES A FREE WiFi CALLED FLOBYT

Don baba J, launched his latest business initiative, a free WiFi service -Flobyt in Lagos on Friday.

Collins Ajereh, better known as Don Jazzy, is a Nigerian record producer, singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur launched his new business initiative. the unveiling was held at Renaissance Hotel in Lagos. Don Jazzy partnered with founder of Tsaboin, Dele Odufuye, to make the dream come true.

The founders say Flobyt is a free WiFi service installed across partner locations in Lagos like eateries, parks, taxis, buses, restaurants, cafés and many other businesses.
The service is free for patrons of a business who wish to access the Internet while in the premises of the patron locations. The Internet router itself is a plug-and-play device that, according to the founders, does not require much technical know-how to operate.

Speaking at the occasion, Don Jazzy said investing in Flobyt has been a life-long dream of his.
He said, “I have always wanted to play big in the technology space and I looked for people who were sound and had a beautiful track record in the technology space. This is my first business investment in the technology space that is public while I remain a silent partner in others.

“I am really interested in driving Flobyts reach beyond Lagos. Our Wi-Fi is the fastest in town and those who stream our music and content as entertainers are from the US and the UK. We believe that if we improve our services the numbers can improve.”
In addition, Don Jazzy revealed that at specified locations, between 10-30 people can be connected to Flobyt at the same time while in locations with higher traffic, Flobyt Max can provide internet service to 10 – 80 concurrent users

Mr. Odufaye said, “You simply walk into any of our partner outlets and patronise them. While you are at that, you can log into Flobyt’s free WiFi service available. Join the “Flobyt FREE Wifi”. If your browser pops up for authentication, just visit www.mavinrecords.com or click on “Free Access” button shown to you.

“We are using state-of-the-art WiFi technology equipment that balances speed, quality of service, security and data consumption. This equipment is lightweight and easier to manage. These are the technological and business edges.”

He said, “If it benefits my own company its going to benefit every other entertainer. Now fellow artistes can now have more people accessing their music and if you are staging an event, they can invite Flobyt to activate the venue. That way, they can reach their core fans that are gathered at the event.

The Wifi service will be free and without restrictions for customers who wish to access the internet while in the vicinity of a Flobyt partner location. The service works by serving users a few ads during their session while granting unrestricted access. Flobyt is not the first free WiFi solution in Nigeria, there's currently GoSpot and and few others, but the cofounders are working to make it the lasting solution.

SEVEN MOST SECURED MESSAGING APP

few days ago the news of German's spying on Nigeria media and revelations about mass NSA surveillance, combined with the fact that the UK government is now requiring ISP's to record all internet traffic with the infamous snooper’s charter, has made privacy a very precious commodity. The truth is, we live in an age of internet surveillance and data logging, where companies do almost anything to get our personal information. Thankfully, there has been a rise in secure messaging apps, which focus on keeping our privacy intact through end-to-end encryption and other ways.

check out this 7 most secured messaging app to use to keep save online and add yours to the list

1. Threema

Threema is one of the most popular secure messaging apps available today and deservedly so. It does what it’s supposed to do, that is keeping data out of Governments, corporations and hackers hands.

 threema brings end-to-end encryptions of messages, group chats, media shared and even statuses.The developers have also made sure that your privacy remains intact no matter what, as it deletes any messages on the server once they are delivered while other details like groups & contacts are stored on device’s local storage. 

To use Threema, you don’t need an email id or phone number and the app provides you a unique Threema ID. Along with the security features, Threema is a comprehensive messaging app, thanks to some really unique features like poll, ability to send most file types (pdf, gif, doc, mp3, zip etc..) along with the usual features like sending texts, voice messages.

2.Signal

Signal Private Messenger was released earlier this year and it brought functionality from the two older Open Whisper Systems apps, TextSecure and RedPhone. Along with Threema, Signal is one of the most downloaded secure messaging apps and it too deserves all the attention.

The app is automatically in sync with your address book and this makes it really easy to encrypt your communication with all your contacts. In this way, you do not need unique login credentials for accessing the app and initializing its effectiveness. Among its features, you get cool archiving options for better organizing everything on your phone.

If you check their official website, you will see Edward Snowden and his testimonial: “Use anything by Open Whisper Systems” and this definitely shows something! It is also worth noting that there are no logs kept and the company does not have access to your communication.

3. WhatsApp

In April last year, WhatsApp enabled end-to-end encryption across all platforms, meaning conversations can't be read by anyone but you and the person you're messaging. Not only are your chats protected, but WhatsApp provides a security code so you can verify that someone isn't intercepting your messages and passing them on (this is called a ‘man-in-the-middle’ attack). 

At this point, you might recall earlier this month there was a warning about a vulnerability in WhatsApp’s secure messages, but this was later proven to be false.

WhatsApp is available for both Android and iOS – you'll need to have a verifiable mobile phone number to register initially (it’s also available for desktop computers).

4. Cyber Dust

Cyber Dust is a cool secure messaging app, which along with security & privacy brings features that are pretty sleek. It likes to call its messages Dust and broadcast messages Blast.

All the Dusts and Blasts are heavily encrypted and are never stored in a permanent storage. The app along with others on this list prevent screenshots as well. The messages disappear within 100 seconds or in 24 hours, if it remains unopened by the recipient. 

Every Cyber Dust message is encrypted with its own unique 128-bit AES encryption along with added security through RSA 2048-bit key. Cyber Dust is a social media platform as well as being a secure messaging app, as it lets you follow people.

5. Facebook Messenger

Like WhatsApp – unsurprisingly – Facebook uses the Signal protocol to employ end-to-end encryption with its optional ‘secret conversations’ feature in Messenger. Open Whisper Systems has confirmed this was all implemented correctly.

After starting a secret conversation you can send any content you would in a regular message such as text, a photo or video. Group messaging isn't supported.

You can set messages to disappear. However, if someone reports your conversation it'll be decrypted and sent to Facebook. Messenger is out for Android and iOS, but the source code isn't available so there's no way to check for vulnerabilities or intentionally installed backdoors.

6. Wickr Me

Wickr is available for both Android and iOS. Not only does it feature end-to-end encryption but it can strip out metadata such as the timestamp from conversations. Messages can also be programmed to self-destruct after a certain period of time has expired. The app includes a handy wipe feature to securely erase messages.

Although several security organisations have audited Wickr Me's code, it hasn't been released publicly so there's no way to check it for security bugs or deliberate backdoors. It’s also not very clear how effectively the app can delete data, so Android users should be sure to encrypt their device, too.

7. FrozenChat

Aside from its cool name and funky design, FrozenChat also offers end-to-end encryption with OTR (Off the Record) messaging. This means that not only are your messages protected and you can verify who you're speaking to, but you also have deniability – anyone can forge a message after the conversation is over. In other words, it's impossible to prove any message was sent by you. 

FrozenChat is open source and also supports the open XMPP protocol which is used on thousands of servers. These are run by volunteers so there's no one central server that can be seized or taken down. Sadly, FrozenChat is only available for Android.

GOOGLE ANNOUNCED NEW WAY TO TEXT ON ANDROID PHONES

Google has announced it's going forward with a new way to text on an Android phone, swapping out the default Messenger app for a new texting app called Android Messages.

This would allow Android Messages to work more on par with the likes of WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Apple's own Messages service (to an extent), which have quickly become the go-tos for mobile messaging due to a wider set of features,

 Several manufacturers, such as LG, Motorola, Sony and ZTE, have also said they'll embed the technology in their phones so it's preloaded on devices sold throughout the world. With the roll out announced today, more than 1 billion subscribers globally will be ready to access this new messaging technology, Amir Sarhangi, head of RCS at Google said.

"Last year, it was about getting alignment with different partners and working to get the technology pieces in place," Sarhangi said in an interview. "This year, it's about launching the service, so subscribers can start using the enhanced features."

The news is a big deal because it means Android phone users on these mobile carriers will see an automatic upgrade to their SMS messaging experience. It will give them the same kind of sophisticated functionality that's already offered on messaging apps, like Apple's iMessage, Facebook's Messenger or WhatsApp.
Sarhangi said there's nothing to announce yet, but he's optimistic. "We're working with everyone, including the folks in the US," he said.

Google also said it's launching an early access program for businesses so they can develop branding around the messages they send to customers. Millions of businesses already use SMS to communicate with customers. Banks use it to send fraud notices, doctor's offices remind patients of appointments and airlines even send links to boarding passes via text.
This is likely because, as noted by Android Police, these larger service providers have their own take on RCS messaging services that could be seen as stepping on Google's toes, or vice versa.

Additionally, concerns have arisen about how adding "smart" features to texting - especially on an platform like Android - could be seen as a possible security hazard, according to Recode.

It will take some time to see how Android Messages pans out for telecom companies and customers alike, though those running an Android phone from almost every major manufacturer - ranging from HTC to Motorola to LG to even Google's Pixel - will be capable of preloading the new app starting today.

WhatsApp adds a touch of Snapchat with 'Status' feature

The Facebook-owned app debuts a feature that lets you post photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. Sound familiar?

WhatsApp is making a radical update to its app, turning it for the first time into a platform for passively consuming content, similar to the way people scroll through their Facebook or Instagram newsfeeds - and it’s a move that could finally usher in a money-making system like advertising.
WhatsApp’s new Status feature, being rolled out on Monday, will let users share photos, GIFs or videos overlaid with drawings, emojis and a caption that will be visible to selected friends for 24 hours, before disappearing.
With the revamped feature, you can share photos, videos, and GIFs and punch them up with emojis, text and drawings. You'll be able to share them with all your contacts. WhatsApp also said the new feature is encrypted end-to-end.
Snapchat, which announced its filing for an IPO earlier this month, is manna for young people. Nearly 70 percent of all 18- to 24-year-olds in the US use the app, according to ComScore. Facebook has noticed.
Instagram's version of Stories has been popular. The feature has 150 million daily users, and last month Instagram said Stories would start showing ads.
WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum said in a blog post that the new version of Status is meant to coincide with the app's eighth birthday, on February 24. Facebook bought the app in 2014 for $19 billion.

How to turn any video into an animated GIF

Make a fun looping animation that's perfect for Facebook or Twitter

Animated GIFs are a great way to share short, funny clips on social media – they work in any app or web browser, on any device, and are easy for other people to save and reuse.

The format originally rose to prominence on short-form blogging site Tumblr, but is also ideal for Facebook and Twitter. The best examples can convey a huge amount of information in just a few silent seconds.

If you have a video clip that would make a good GIF, VideoPad Free Video Editor is the perfect tool for optimizing and converting it. Here's how to do it.

1. Import and trim your clip

Download and install VideoPad Video Editor, then start the program and select ‘Open project’. Choose the video you want to turn into an animated GIF and click ‘Open’. Drag the clip into the Timeline window at the bottom of the screen.

Scrub back and forth through the video by clicking and dragging the red marker on the timeline. Once you’ve found the part you want to convert, click on the beginning of the clip and drag it to the right to select the start point, then click and drag the end of the clip to the left to select the end point.

Click the Play button under the Sequence Preview to see how it looks, then adjust the start and end points if necessary. None of the changes you make are permanent at this point

2. Apply effects and optimize

If you like, you can add special effects to your clip before converting it. There’s an excellent selection of artistic and fun filters available under ‘Video effects’, so spend some time experimenting with these. The ‘Change clip speed’ option can also be useful for creating fun GIFs (you can ignore any settings related to audio).

Once you’re happy with your clip, select ‘Export > Video File’ and choose GIF from the drop-down list. Now pick a resolution; social media scheduling tool Buffer recommends 1200x628 pixels for Facebook and 1024x512 pixels for Twitter, so pick ‘Custom’ and enter the appropriate dimensions.

You also need to set a frame rate; 15 frame per second (fps) is usually suitable for a GIF, so select this and check ‘Constant frame rate’. Click ‘Encoder settings’ and select ‘Looping’ so your GIF doesn’t just play once and then stop.

3. Save and share

When you’re done, click ‘Create’. If you receive a warning that the preview and export aspect ratios don’t match, select ‘Crop edges’ – resizing the video to fit will distort it.

It’ll take a few moments for your video to be converted. Once it’s done, you can open it in Microsoft Photos to see how it looks, then share it on your preferred social media platform.

If you’d like to make a GIF using a section of a video from YouTube, check out our guide to the best free YouTube downloaders

Nokia 3310 to makes a comeback after 17years

Nokia will re-launch the 3310, perhaps the best-loved and most resilient phone in history

The phone, originally released in 2000 and in many ways beginning the modern age of mobiles, will be sold as a way of getting lots of battery life in a nearly indestructible body.

The new incarnation of the old 3310 will be sold for just €59, and so likely be pitched as a reliable second phone to people who fondly remember it the first time around. It will be revealed at Mobile World Congress later this month, according to leaker Evan Blass who first revealed the details.

It's still possible to buy the 3310 on Amazon, though only through its marketplace and not directly from the company itself. The Amazon listing describes a range of features, including a clock, calculator, the ability to store up to ten reminders and four games: Snake II, Pairs II, Space Impact, and Bantumi.

Snake was so well-loved that it's currently available for iPhone, Android and Windows phone users to download.

READ MORE

The Nokia 3310 is coming back: Here's how to play Snake right now
That collection of features has led to it being branded as perhaps the most resilient and long-lasting phone ever made. The reputation has let it become the star of hundreds of memes, and even led people to crush it in a hydraulic press.

Nokia struggled to bring its brand into the smartphone era and ended up being sold to Microsoft. But since then it has targeted success by making new versions of old phones, including the Nokia 215, which costs $29 and lasts for 29 days.

Phones made under the Nokia brand are now sold by HMD Global, a Finnish company that bought the rights to the name. HMD will reveal other new mobiles – the Nokia 3, 5 and 6 – at the same MWC event.

Those other new phones wll be more like smartphones, but will retain much of the same low price.

9 Powerful Time-Saving Tips to Help Grow Your Brand on Instagram

Instagram is the fastest growing social media platform and around half of its user base (more than 300 million people) use it every day.
Brands on Instagram are also seeing huge amounts of engagement on Instagram. According to Forrester Research,  per-follower interaction rate is 2.3 percent- way above Facebook (0.2%) and Twitter (0.02%).
That all sounds incredible, right? But how do you find time to dedicate to growing your brand on Instagram? From planning and editing to posting and engaging with your followers, there’s a lot on your plate when it comes to Instagram marketing.

1. Create Instagram posts on desktop instead of mobile

Thanks to the great amount of tools out there, social media management has become much easier than it was a few years ago. While Instagram still doesn’t allow publishing through its web application, there are many tools that allow you to create your Instagram posts on desktop first.

Creating Instagram posts on desktop can be a massive time saver. 

Here’s why:

1. Creating your graphics or editing your photos on your desktop can be much faster than doing so on your mobile.

2. Most Instagram scheduling tools save you from the hassle of transferring your graphics and photos from your desktop to your mobile.

With Buffer for Instagram.

2. Repost quickly with permission

A study by marketing startup, Crowdtap, and the global research company, Ipsos, found that user-generated content is 35 percent more memorable and 50 percent more trusted than traditional and non-user-generated media

A typical way of reposting an image after asking for permission looks something like this:
1. Take a screenshot on your mobile
2. Crop away everything apart from the image
3. Copy and paste or type out the caption
4. Add your own caption
5. Finally, publish the user-generated content

3. Plan the layout of your gallery

Instead of thinking about what you want to post every day on the day itself, a good approach might be to plan your posts with your overall social media strategy in mind.
Also, Instagram is becoming a curated platform where businesses and individuals only post their best photos according to specific themes instead of every photo they take. So, it’s important to have a well-curated and consistent profile gallery.
the themes we chose for our Instagram account are:
• User-generated content
• Digital nomad lifestyle
• Productivity and motivation
Knowing these in mind allows us to plan how we want our gallery to look like. Hope our gallery is giving off these vibes!

4. Use tools to separate content creation and engagement

One of the most common productivity advice is to do one thing at a time.

A research by New York University business professor, Sophie Leroy, discovered that there’s a cost to switching your attention from one task to another — even if the switch is brief. Whenever our brains switch to a new task, the old task leaves an “attention residue” that reduces our cognitive performance for a non-trivial amount of time.

Multitasking actually cause us to take a longer time to complete all the tasks because our brains have to constantly switch between those tasks.

5. Create a week’s worth of posts in one go

Batching is a popular time management technique that aims to maximize concentration and increase productivity. The idea is to do similar tasks that require similar resources together.

Cal Newport, a computer science professor at Georgetown University and author of Deep Work, experimented with a day when he forced himself to batch tasks

6. Schedule time to engage

Another task you can batch is responding and engaging with others on Instagram. By batching them and scheduling the time to do that, you gain control over your schedule instead of being dictated by notifications

Here’s what you can try:

• Turn off notifications for your Instagram account.

• Schedule 30 minutes to an hour on your calendar every day to reply to comments, like, and comment on your followers’ posts.

• You could also schedule up to a few sessions like this in a day if you want to have a faster response time on Instagram.

7. Prepare commonly used hashtags in an Evernote note

After analyzing over 65,000 social media posts for their study on hashtags

However, typing nine or more hashtags every time you want to publish a post can be very time-consuming. A solution is to create a few sets of commonly used hashtags for different themes in an Evernote note or your preferred note-taking app.

8. Use the same filter and/or edits

Here’s another trick to help you save time and create a consistent profile gallery: use the same filter and/or edits for most — or even all — your images.

A lot of the time spent on publishing an Instagram post is usually spent on editing the image. By using the same filter and/or edits for every image, you can drastically reduce the editing time. This not only saves you time but also helps to keep your Instagram posts consistent.

If you use a photo editing application on your desktop like Lightroom, you can save a filter and the edits as a custom template.

If you prefer to edit your photos on your mobile, apps like VSCO or Instagram itself allows you to rearrange the filters and toolkits so that the most commonly used options

9. Repurpose posts on other platforms for Instagram (and vice versa)

Your Instagram posts don’t have to exist on Instagram only, and that’s the same for your other social media content.

Instead of re-creating new content for each social media platform, you could repurpose your posts on other platforms for Instagram and vice versa. This increases the impact of your content and saves you time from creating new content.

Over to you

And that’s the nine time-saving Instagram marketing tips to help you achieve results for your business with less time and effort. As a recap, here are the nine tips:

1. Create Instagram posts on desktop instead of mobile

2. Repost quickly with permission

3. Plan how you want your gallery to look like

4. Use a tool to separate content creation and engagement

5. Create a week’s worth of posts at a go

6. Schedule time to engage

7. Prepare commonly used hashtags in an Evernote note

8. Use the same filter and edits

9. Repurpose posts on other platforms for Instagram (and vice versa)