Facebook Launches Lifestage App for School Teens

With a purpose in mind of targeting high-school goers, Facebook, the social media giant has launched a new iOS app known as Lifestage which requests the user to fill in their biographical details which is then turned into a virtual profile video and is shared immediately with their school networks.

Lifestage which is a standalone iOS app for individual under 21, requests users for their happy face, sad face, likes, dislike, best friends, best book and much more. The users however, instead of filling the biography test with script tend to shoot videos, which later on Lifestage tends to turn into video profile where others in their school network can view.

The app enables users to find video profiles that have been generated by other users in their school enabling them to know more about their classmates, their shared interests and much more, as conveyed by Facebook in a recent blog post. The post also mentioned that each time someone tends to update their page; it would show up in a feed prompting the others to check on it. Since all the posts are public, there is no choice of restricting viewing the same. The purpose, according to its inventor, was to connect members of the same school.

Privacy – A Matter of Concern

An expert had informed BBC that the lack of privacy was a matter of concern. School members could view each other’s profiles once the individual school had reached a registration of 20 members and above. Users above the age of 21 were only capable of viewing their own profiles according to the Tech Crunch website. But the app has cautioned that it cannot guarantee if all its users seem to be sincere. It states that they cannot confirm that people who tend to claim to go to a certain school really go to that school and all videos uploaded to your profile tend to be fully public content.

There is no messaging functionality forLifestage, though users could display their contact details from the other sites like Snapchat and Instagram. Presently on the iTunes store, the app has a 2.5 star rating with comments which describe it as `kinda sorta creepy’ and `confusing’. Around 8% of Facebooks’ US users seem to be between the ages of 13 to 19, according to the statistics website Statista which had been designed by a 19 year old, Facebook product manager, Michael Sayman.

Being Open Could Get in the Way of Getting Connected 

He had mentioned in a Facebook post that the app had been based on the original social network of early days. Way back in 2004, Facebook had been about `who I am’ where his relationship status could be posted and share about his favourite music. It was a way of expressing himself. Presently since Facebook has progressed so much more, there are chances of exploring that concept of `who I am’ once again, though for Generation Z in 2016. Dr Bernie Hogan from Oxford Internet Institute had informed BBC that the absence of privacy settings could tend to be unpopular.

He commented that the `lack of privacy settings on the app in its present condition is symbolic of Facebook ideology which is to stay open and connected as much as possible’.He further added that from their point of view it is a great idea though at times being open could get in the way of getting connected. This is already a known fact, since people tend to be reluctant in sharing things online if they have to share it with all. It also seems that they are attempting in pushing the boundaries of what is thought to be appropriate to share online and then walk back when faced with public criticism.

Samsung App Helps Premature Babies Hear Their Mothers

Samsung’s App – Voices of Life

Babies when they are born premature, do not get to spend much time in the womb, developing as they should which means that when they are born there are risks and dangers to their development. One of the ways to deal with that is for the baby to hear the voice of their mother.

Research has found that when this is done, it helps their brain to develop properly, but when they are placed in an incubator, it is hard to do the same. Hence Samsung has come up with the app which would be helpful for the premature baby.According to Engadget reports, Samsung has been working on an app which has the potential of sending recordings straight from parents to premature babies still in the hospitals.

Samsung has been working a new way of connecting parents and the preemies through the healing power of sound. The app known as `Voices of Life’ enables parents to record stories and lullabies and then gets rid of any high-frequency sounds, not present in the womb, which would tend to be uncomfortable for the baby to hear. It is then sent to the incubator at NICU. This has shown to be helpful for parents to bond with babies as well as enables babies in receiving the maternal sounds they need for healthy brain development.

Exposure to Mother’s Voice/Heartbeat Helpful in Brain Development

Samsung had released a video regarding the app portraying a small speaker set within the incubator of the baby apparently linked to the app. Samsung has been pushing the notion of replicating a womb and tends to describe how a mother could utilise Voices of Life though it seems likely that the fathers could also be capable of using it. It is not known about the level of completion of the app or when it could be publicly made available.

A baby tends to hear sounds in utero around twenty four weeks, though for the 15 million premature babies that are born each year, the nurturing sound of the womb seems to be lost. According to research, the exposure to a mother’s voice and the heartbeat could help in the brain development and growth of the premature baby. Launching People, a global campaign by Samsung Electronics Co., has designed to help clients to set free their capabilities in creating meaningful change through the use of Samsung technology and introduced this pilot program.

Recordings Sent Wirelessly to Speaker in Incubator

The app utilises the heart-rate sensor of the smartphone to record the heartbeat of the mother or it could utilise the phone’s microphone to record sounds, stories and lullabies, with the choice of collection recordings together with playlists eliminating certain higher frequencies which could be uncomfortable for the babies. The recordings are then sent wirelessly to a speaker set inside the incubator.

Samsung is not the first company in developing an app in helping parents of premature babies. The Premature Baby Journal helps in keeping track of a baby medical progress in a log book, while the MyPreemie app tends to provide a simple pocket guide for some of the major questions which expectant mothers may tend to have. Presently, Voices of Life does not have a public release date.

Facebook Developing Camera App Similar to Snapchat

Facebook to come up with Stand-Alone Camera App

According to online source report, quoting people familiar with the matter, Facebook is coming up with a stand-alone camera app which will be like the disappearing photo app Snapchat, to upsurge user engagement and will encourage its 1.6 billion users to create and share photos and videos.The app which is being developed by the friend-sharing team of Facebook in London is said to be in its initial stage and may not come to completion, as per the report.

 Moreover, the newspaper has reported that the company is also said to be scheduling a feature which would enable user to record video through the app to start live streaming. The same had caused apprehension within Facebook, over increasingly passive behaviour on the social network of the user. Several of the users tend to check Facebook often or multiple times a day though few tend to share photos, video and update of status regarding their own lives.

Withdrawing the trend seems to be a growing priority within the company. Facebook spokeswoman had refrained from commenting on the product plans. She had mentioned that the overall level of sharing on Facebook had been strong and alike to levels in prior years. People familiar with the matter had stated that the camera-first format is focused in motivating users to create photos and videos.

Open to Personalized Feed/Articles

The flagship mobile app, in comparison, tends to open to a personalized feed or articles, status, updates and ads, which encourages users to use content, though not necessarily create it. The approach also tends to differ from Instagram image-sharing network of Facebook that had gained reputation as a place to post the best, most well-photographed pictures.

 Instagram tends to compel users to go through numerous steps before posting an image, inclusive of filters and it is not the first time that Facebook has built an app encouraging sharing. It had launched Slingshot, in June 2014, a Snapchat like app which enabled users to trade photos and videos, which disappeared after 24 hours.

It had earlier launched a photo-editing as well as sharing app known as Camera and none gained much traction among users which was later on dropped. The latest app would have a bit different features like the live-streaming mode. In the past year, the decline in sharing on Facebook has developed as a problem.

New Feature - `On This Day’

Technology news website – The Information had reported earlier this month that the original broadcast sharing on Facebook had dropped by 21% as of mid-2015 when compared with the earlier year.During the first quarter of 2016, 33% of Facebook users surveyed by market researcher GlobalWebIndex had informed that they had updated their profile status in the past month and 37% stated that they had uploaded or shared their own photos.

A year back, 44% had informed that they had updated their profile status in the past month and 46% stated that they had uploaded or shared their photos. The camera app just seems to be one way that Facebook intends tackling the issue.

 Facebook has also tried to re-engage users with a new feature known as `On This Day’ that permits users relive and share past posts. According to GlobalWebIndes, this together with similar features could have prompted more users to `like’ Facebook post. It also said that that in the first quarter of 2016, 82% of Facebook users had clicked `like’ at least once in the previous month up from 73% at the same period, a year earlier.

How remove samsung safe mode?

HOW TO START IN SAFE MODE ON SAMSUNG GALAXY ACE

When you first have your device you may have installed a lot of the apps to test them out and see which one you like and which one you don't. On occassion you may face a bad app that has bug in it and it can cause your phone's operating system to misbehave it self. If you phone is not working properly you could go into safe mode and remove those offending app. Here's how:

1. Switch off the phone by pressing on the Power button.

2. Then turn the phone back on, while it is turning on press and hold the Menu button.

3. Now continue to hold the Menu button until you see the Home screen. On the home screen you see it say Safe Mode on the left hand corner.

4. Now that you are in Safe Mode you can go and remove any buggy apps that you don't want to keep.

When you are done in Safe Mode, you can get out of it by pulling out the battery, wait for one minute and the put it back in. Boot your phone up normally and you will be in the standard usable mode.


HOW TO EXIT SAFE MODE ON SAMSUNG GALAXY ACE

When your mobile device is having trouble sometimes it can force itself into safe mode so that you could continue to run your phone and fix the problem app that the cause the phone to crash. But when you are done how do you get out of Safe Mode? Here's how:

1. Turn off the phone by pressing the Power button.

2. Then pull out the battery. Wait for 30 seconds.

3. Now put the battery back in.

4. Start up the device and see if the Safe Mode on the left hand corner has disappear. If it's not there then you have successfully started your phone in the standard mode.

Microsoft releases 'Guardian' for Windows Phone 8, a service similar to Track my iPhone and Android Device Manager for India

Microsoft today released a nifty App for its Windows Phone 8 devices.  Called the Guardian, this is a one button security App and has specifically been released for India.  Guardians features are quite similar to the iOS Track my iPhone and Android Android Device Manager where you can remotely track your Lumia 520, Lumia 620, Lumia 720 and other Windows Phone 8 run devices. Guardian like the above apps, lets you control your Windows Phone Devices remotely and in addition has a special SOS button to take your care in a dire emergent situation which makes it a whole new ballpark App.

The Guardian uses Microsoft Windows Azure cloud solution and the Bing Maps API to let anyone you wish track your movements for which you have to enable the 'Track Me' feature.  This way, you can enable the Track Me feature in the smart phone of  your loved ones, childrens or elderly and get to know the precise location they are at.  Additionally you can also place a call with a build in one touch SOS button.  You can use this to connect a host of emergency services like the Police, Hospitals, Ambulance and other help.  

The Guardian App has been developed by the Microsoft India Employees in the Microsoft Garage.  The Microsoft Garage is an initiative within the company on a global level and allows employees to explore ideas and do ideations out of the box.  

You can add multiple contacts to the SOS list.  The SOS button will contact them in case of emergency situations.  The fine thing about the App is that the contact can opt out of the SOS service if he/she desires.  Another additional feature is that the SOS messages will be beamed continuously even if something untoward happens to your or your phone is destroyed.  The SOS button will also send emails and post on your private Facebook Groups so that your SOS gets maximum priority.  

And in case you are in some sort of crime scene or being attacked, the Guardian turns on the one touch video recording button which records everything in the camera range and can be used as evidence later either by you or by the authorities.  

You can download this must have App for your Windows Phone 8 run devices like Lumia 520, Lumia 620, Lumia 720 etc and use it for protecting yourself and your costly device.  To download the App visit the Windows Phone Store here.

Really a plus one for the Microsoft guys for convegring the mobile safety and your safety together into a single App.  Apple and Google now have something to think on their own hands.