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How Easy Is to Make the First Million?

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The race of becoming the richest man and becoming a billionaire is now becoming faster than ever. Tech companies, influencers even teenagers and people in their early twenties are now becoming the head of fastest growing fortune five hundred countries. Formally, only CEOs of bigger companies were to become billionaires in their older age, however, with the advancement f technology, things have now transformed. With Kylie Jenner the celebrity baby becoming the youngest self-made billionaire, people are now wondering how to become a billionaire overnight. There is no doubt that over-night success is never through honest means and it is not long lasting either after explore how much time it took for an average billionaire to earn their first million results are surprisingly hopeful.

According to stats, on average it took eight years for the billionaires to earn their first million. This nearly makes an average of 36 years, which means that, with few exceptions, most of the billionaires didn’t earn their first million till the age of 36. This is a hopeful sign for everyone looking for a sign to become the next business tycoon. Another important misconception about the billionaires is that most of them earned their money either with the help of others or they were born with a silver spoon. This might be true to some extent but stats show that out of the top 100 billionaires globally, only 35 earned their money with the help of their family whereas, 65 of them are still self-made.

Most of the billionaires that we know today are in this position because of their grip over their profession, their foresightedness about the business and their skills that make them stand out. Among these impressive self-made billionaires are few of the most loved tech gurus including the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Alibaba Jack Ma and famous investor Wang Jianlin only took 5 years to make it to the double comma club whereas, others took quite a few years to make their first entry to the millionaires' list. This extreme difference clearly explains that with hard work and passion anything is achievable whereas, everything comes at its due time. What might take a few hours for some, might take a few years for others.

Apart from hard work, skills and passion relying on a good sector to invest the time and money is also important. According an infographic from Slotsia, telecom and tech are considered two of the fastest growing industries to make the first million. However, relying on personal skills and passion still remains a better option according to the most billionaires.


How The World's Billionaires Got So Rich - infographic
How Billionaires Get Rich: Which Industries Make The Most Mega-Fortunes
Read next: These are the low cost business ideas you can start as a solopreneur (infographic)

Scammers to Emoji Lovers: 6 of the most Common Types of Users on WhatsApp!

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It’s hard to imagine a life in which WhatsApp doesn’t take up a major chunk of our day. From getting in touch with friends and family to receiving exclusive updates, the Facebook-owned messaging service has been helping us out on more than one front since its inception. With WhatsApp being a highly used App, it is the home to several different types of users.

That being said, here are six of the most common types of users on WhatsApp.

#1 The Forwarding Enthusiasts


While the intent of such users is to keep their contacts up to date with ongoing developments across the world, they play a huge part in spreading misinformation. These people only have one goal i.e. forward messages rapidly without fact-checking them.

#2 The Spamming Crew


While they don’t play a part in spreading misinformation, they aren’t much different from the forwarders either. Such users make sure that we don’t go by long hours without receiving a message notification from WhatsApp. From Good Morning and Good Night messages to wishing us on every special day, spammers can’t afford to catch a break!

#3 The Voice Specialists


It’s easier to read a message than listen to a voice note. However, it’s considerably easy to record a voice note rather than typing a whole message. This is exactly what motivates the “Voice Specialists” to say as much as they want to without typing a single word.

#4 The Emoji Gurus


This one is a rising trend for sure. A REALLY GOOD portion of WhatsApp users can’t complete a message or sometimes, a sentence, without making sure that their message is loaded with sufficient emojis. Using emojis help people better express how they are feeling as well as adds color to a conversation.

#5 The Story Lovers


Stories, or as they are referred to on WhatsApp i.e. Statuses, help people update their contacts about the happenings in their lives. However, numerous “Story Lovers” take pride in adding updates regarding EVERY SINGLE thing that happens during the course of their day.

#6 WULUA: WhatsApp Users who Love Using Acronyms


This type is REALLY short on time and it reflects in their messages. They save time by using acronyms instead of full words. From LOL and JK to GM and GN, they have an acronym for EVERY WORD!

So, which of the above type(s) of WhatsApp user are you? Moreover, do you have all these types of users in your contact list? We are eager to find out!

Read next: Social Media Etiquette: Exploring the Code of Courtesy in the Digital Age - infographic

Featured illustration: Freepik / Pch-vector

Facebook Introduces "CatchUp" App For More Entertaining Voice Calls

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While there is no doubt in the fact that Facebook’s Product Experimentation team is on a roll, the company is out with another app called “CatchUp” that will remain dedicated for users to see who in their contact list is online for a voice call.

This is the sixth app coming out from the New Product Experimentation team and if a user wishes to connect with someone over a voice call then both of them will have to install the app on their mobile phones. Once installed, they will be able to enjoy one-on-one chats or even group voice calls, while tagging people along after two have started the call.

Furthermore, users will have the liberty to update their status from time to time to let users know if they are online to chat or not and there is also an auto-availability feature that automatically updates the status when the Bluetooth is connected of a user.

There is also a privacy setting build for users who want a limited number of people to be able to call them up or join for group calls.

At first, CatchUp seems to be sharing similarities with Facebook’s Messanger Rooms, but the app creates all the difference by putting its focus entirely on voice calls. Besides that, for now CatchUp does not also compete with Messanger Rooms which already can host 50 people in a group call.

Since the app is released by Facebook’s Product Experimentation team, therefore we don’t have any surety whether the app will stay for long or vanish, if unsuccessful. Nevertheless, the team is working hard to produce more consumer-focused apps.

iOS and Android users can download the CatchUp app for free from their respective app stores.



Read next: Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranks Mark Zuckerberg as the third richest person in the world amid the coronavirus pandemic

Twitter's Automated System Is Making Mistakes In Labeling Tweets Spreading COVID-19 Misinformation

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Twitter began labeling tweets spreading a conspiracy theory that 5G is the cause of the coronavirus on May 11, and its automated technology is making mistakes while reviewing content. According to authorities, some individuals started to set fires to cell towers who think that the false theory is true. Twitter will take down posts that spread coronavirus misinformation. However, if a tweet does not contain the same level of harmful information, it will be labeled with a link that redirects people to a trusted source of information.

The automated technology has made a lot of mistakes including labeling tweets that refute the fake theory and contain the correct information, and the technology has also labeled tweets sharing links to news stories from trusted sources such as BBC, Reuters, Voice of America, and Wired related to the conspiracy theory. According to experts, mislabeling may confuse people, particularly when a user does not tap the label. According to a computer science professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Hany Farid, mislabeling the tweets is doing more harm than not labeling the tweets at all.

The platform declined to show how many tweets containing 5G-coronavirus information Twitter has labeled and did not provide any estimated error rate. Twitter says that the Trust and Safety team is keeping track of the labeled tweets. Moreover, Twitter has not yet fixed those mislabeled tweets identified by CNET. Twitter stated that the company is improving its automated systems.

Twitter plans to tackle other hoaxes as well and the platform is facing massive moderation challenges with 166 million daily active users who are monetizable. Twitter states that its automated systems are helping the employees to efficiently review reports. The company’s approach to COVID-19 misinformation is similar to that of Facebook’s efforts to tackle misleading information. Although Facebook relies more on Human resources to review content and operates with over 60 third-party fact reviewers across the globe, Twitter is using automated systems to label content without a human reviewing the content first.

Farid was not surprised to see Twitter’s systems making errors and stated that the platform could take actions against users spreading misleading information. According to a study released by researchers at Oxford University during April, high-profile users shared around 20% of false claims and generated around 69% of the total social engagement. Some users are testing Twitter’s systems by using the words coronavirus and 5G in their tweets.

Ian Alexander, a YouTube content creator spotted that the systems automatically label tweets if a person types 5G, coronavirus, or COVID-19 in a tweet. MIT’s study discovered that users may believe unlabeled information even if those stories contained misleading information. A professor at MIT Sloan School of Management, David Rand states that one solution for social media companies is to ask their users to rate the content as accurate or inaccurate.


Photo: SOPA Images via Getty Images

Read next: Elon Musk realizes his mistake - Wants to take back some of the tweets made during COVID-19 lockdown

Facebook’s act of ignoring the reports of divisive algorithms suggest that there is ‘trouble in paradise’

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There has been quite a shocking news making rounds. According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, all is not well amongst the higher level of Facebook’s officials. There was an internal report that Facebook’s employees presented to the executives in 2018. That report suggested that Facebook’s recommendation engine algorithms are functioning in such a way that they are creating divisiveness and polarization amongst users, while mentally affecting them such that they are automatically coerced towards more dividing factors than being united!

When these reports were presented to Joel Kaplan, who is Facebook’s vice president of global public policy, and former chief of staff from President George W. Bush party, he rubbished them and royally ignored them.

Now Kaplan has gained a lot of influence on Facebook since 2016, so much so that he can sway Mark Zuckerberg easily too. And that is scary!

Facebook’s own employees think that these recommendation engine algorithms need to be fixed because they can have a very bad effect on society. To back their argument, they also present a report that suggests that almost 64% of people who joined extremist groups on Facebook only did so because those groups were recommended to them by Facebook!

They also claimed in their 2018 report that their algorithms can exploit the human brain’s innate attraction for divide, controversy, hate, and extreme polarization. If these algorithms are not fixed, they will continue to garner more user attention and time on the platform by serving them with more divisive content.

Despite continuous warnings, the higher officials led by Joel Kaplan continue to ignore because they believe that if they bring any changes, they might affect the conservatives and their user engagement will also take a fall.

Kaplan is quite a controversial figure, with his right-wing politics and his staunch stance on various issues within the company, which need to be resolved but could not because of Kaplan’s biased policies that are specially designed to appease the conservatives, without considering their effects on the overall society.

Kaplan is also partly responsible for the controversial ad policy that Facebook embroiled in, and this alone tells a lot about what kind of a person he is. He also disregarded the proposals that could bring changes in the platform by promoting social good and reducing the influence of overly aggressive partisan super shares. He did so just not to ‘hurt’ the right-wing pages, politicians, and the conservatives he cares about.

He also disbanded the team that was working on the Common Ground project, which was designed to promote neutral political content on the platform to bring people together in a harmonious environment of shared interests.

Why such a man is still serving a platform that is supposed to be completely unbiased and useful for its users is beyond comprehension.

Despite Facebook’s tall claims of their robust integrity and their efficient teams that work for the welfare of the community, it is still quite evident that they need to filter some people out now and review all their policies again. Because clearly, there is a lot of polarization and divisiveness within the company itself, owing to some of its controversial leadership!



Read next: Facebook Introduces "CatchUp" App For More Entertaining Voice Calls

More security for the users of Google Messages app with end-to-end encryption for the RCS chat system

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According to 9to5G, Google is trying to make the RCS messaging end-to-end encrypted.

This is wonderful news as it will make the Messaging system more secure and at par with iMessage and WhatsApp.

Every phone has a basic SMS system as its default messaging app. Google integrated the Rich Communication Services (RCS) to its Messages app for Android back at the end of 2019.

Now, this RCS messaging system for Google Messages had rolled out for the US, the UK, and some other regions. So, it can only be enabled in your device if your carrier supports it and if it is available in your country.

To use this feature, you have to enable Google Messages as your primary messaging app. Android One and Google’s Pixels enable it as the default app, but if it is not there in your device, then all you need to do is to first download the Messages app from the Play Store. Then go to the phone Settings, choose Apps and Notifications, and then click on Advanced. From there, you can click on Default Apps and then choose the SMS App. From there, the Messages app can be easily chosen as the default app for your device.

Once you start using Messages, you can enable the RCS messaging system, which basically converts normal text messages into a chat type system.

To enable the RCS messaging, you have to open the Messages app’s Settings by tapping in the three vertical dots in the upper-right corner. Then click on Chat Features and select Enable Chat Features. This will turn on the RCS messaging.

You can also explore different features that RCS enables by checking out its Settings and other options.

It requires a continuous Wi-Fi connection or mobile data connectivity to run through. If either of these connectivity systems is not available, then the device will turn back the normal SMS, MMS system as the default app.

However, the RCS system is more advanced and better in terms of actions that it allows during chat in comparison with the regular SMS. It makes the sharing of pictures and videos easier and in better quality, shows the read receipts and now Google Messages is hopefully going to bring some more changes to make it even better than before.

Especially this end-to-end encryption feature in the RCS system on Google Messages is going to be a welcome change.


Encryption basically hides the contents of your conversations and chats from the app developers, law enforcement agencies, and phone manufacturers too. So, it provides more security to the users and that is one of the reasons why this feature was integrated into WhatsApp and iMessage a long time back. In fact, Google Messages also should have taken this step earlier, as that would have made it more popular.

However, it is better late than never!

It is not clear that when this feature will roll out and when will it be available for the users all around the world? But there are mentions of the integration of RCS with Google Fi also, and with some more future improvements, Google Messages will be backed up in the cloud as well.



Read next: Google Voice Users Will Soon Be Able To Transfer Ongoing Calls

YouTube Is Testing To Integrate Google Search Results With Video Search In Its Mobile App

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We have seen that YouTube has been constantly testing and releasing out new features and tools for its Android app. Now, YouTube for Android is testing another feature that will integrate Google results with video search.

The new feature was first spotted by a Reddit user. According to a screenshot shared by TheMrIggs, the company is testing a new feature to bring Google Search results into the video search of YouTube for Android. Currently, searching for videos on YouTube on Android devices is simple and sleek. The mobile app only displays search results for the video content itself.

Sometimes, the app may also display an information panel related to a specific topic or regarding any sensitive subject. For instance, when you search for a sensitive subject such as ‘coronavirus,’ on YouTube, the app displays fact-checked data. The information panel is displayed at the top of the search results page and provides links to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

If you search for a specific channel on YouTube, it will display you different search results as well as a special view for that specific channel’s videos and playlists, and you will also see other related search results. However, with this new feature, YouTube's Android app is including something else to the search results for you. It is adding relevant search results from the web pulled from Google. According to the test of this feature spotted on Reddit, TheMrIggs performed a search for ‘open beer with a knife.’ YouTube displayed video search results related to the query. Along with the video search results, the app also displayed Google Search results related to the same query. Particularly, YouTube displays a snippet from a publisher related to the same topic.


The new feature will be very useful and users will not have to perform a search on some browser to achieve broad search results. The app will display both - video and Google Search results on the same page. While using the new feature, you will see some videos related to your query on top of the page, and YouTube will display search results from Google in the middle of video search results.

However, it does not seem that the latest test is very widespread among users. We can say that this development is probably another A/B test. The company is gathering insights from its users via this latest test. However, if YouTube rolls out the new feature, it will be a great addition and we will let you know.



Read next: YouTube Introduces A New Bedtime Reminder Tool To Help Users Set Specific Time To Log Off

Google Search Has Begun To Test Dark Mode For Chrome Mobile Web, Here's How You Can Try It

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At the start of this month, 9to5Google reported that the dark mode theme is being developed for Google Search web on Android via Google Chrome. At that time, it was not clear how this dark mode theme will operate and why this feature requires a flag in chrome://flags. Today, Google Search has started testing its dark mode theme for the smartphone website. Now, we will tell you how you can start using this new feature.

The company has put very little effort into the dark mode feature on the Google Chrome side of things. For this feature, Google Chrome for Android needs to slightly modify the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) for your searches you perform on the browser. The modification depends on whether a person has enabled the flag or they are using Chrome’s dark mode theme. Particularly, Chrome included ‘cs=1’ to the Google Search URLs. This modification had no impact until earlier this week, however, Google Search has now altered things on its server-side.

Following the new modifications, you will now see a darker color scheme on the Google Search results page on the Android version of Chrome. There are two ways that you can follow to enable the dark mode theme for Google Search on your Android device. Discussing the first method, you will have to download Chrome Dev or Chrome Canary from Play Store and then enable the flag "#enable-android-dark-SRP" on the chrome://flags page. After you have enabled the flag, the dark mode theme of Google Search will automatically be enabled when Chrome is also on the dark version.

Surprisingly, there is no need to use a specific pre-release web browser or you will not also have to alter settings to achieve a preview of the new dark mode theme for Google Search on the mobile web. Users only have to type the phrase ‘&cs=1’ at the end of any Google Search URL to get a preview of the new dark mode theme.

For example: https://www.google.com/search?q=digital%20media&cs=1

With that being said, the testing of the feature has shown that the new dark mode theme only appears when a person is browsing Google Search from the Android version of Chrome, even if you modify the Google Search URL. All other internet browsers such as Microsoft Edge for Android, Firefox for Android, Kiwi Browser for Android, and even iOS version of Chrome display the regular light mode theme. However, some users were still able to enable a part of the dark mode theme by making Firefox pretend to be Chrome. You can have Firefox pretend to be Chrome by using an extension.

It is yet not clear when the company plans to release dark mode for other smartphone browsers. However, we can say that Google is at least following the right direction.




Read next: This Simple Hack Will Let You Enable Dark Mode on Whatsapp Web (Without Any Third-Party Extension)

New consumer trends amid the quarantine life are pointing towards a ‘new normal’ for the world (infographic)

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Coronavirus pandemic has affected the world in so many ways that it is kind of unfathomable! With so many deaths and a complete crash of the economy, it seemed as if the world could never rise to its feet again. But our resilience and spirit to fight have made us stand tall again and try to adapt to the ‘new world’ as quickly as possible.

Three months down the life of quarantine, lockdowns, and social distancing measures, the world has entered the mid-coronavirus pandemic era. People are adapting to the new quarantine lifestyle and many countries have started lifting the curfew type lockdown. Slowly things are opening up, but some studies by Inmar Intelligence and a report on the rising retail trends by Google suggest that people have started accepting the new trends of staying at home and remote working and studying. So, the consumer choices are changing too, and the studies by Inmar Intelligence reveal some interesting insights.

A close look at the types of products these consumers are seeking give away the four categories they are mostly looking into:
  1. Comfort
  2. Creativity
  3. Productivity
  4. Practicality
For Comfort, 845% of consumers are indulging in cozy and comfortable loungewear!

817% of people are looking for Jar candles, while 73% of people are going for comfortable pajamas.

Among other household and personal utility items, 73% of them are searching for air purifiers, 66% for Facial Masks, and 50% for Slippers.

For enhancing the creative potentials, 85% of Camera drones are being searched, 67% of Gaming Laptops, 51% of Smart Television sets, 44% of Musical Instruments, 35% of Bluetooth speakers and 27% of recipes are being searched by people sitting at home during their quarantine lives.

On the Productivity front, 130% of video conferencing apps are in popular search. This is most probably because people have to carry on their works from home and students need these apps to carry on their online studies. Besides, due to the social distancing measures, people are resorting to video conferencing to stay in virtual touch with each other.

Amongst other productive item searches, 97% of them belong to Inkjet Cartridges, 85% of all-in-one Laptops, 83% of Office Desk Chairs, 65% of Graphics Tablets and 62% of Office chairs.

These trends do show that people are very seriously and very gracefully adapting to new possible remote working policies, suggested by some giant tech apps like Twitter, Facebook, Spotify, Shopify, and Coinbase.


All these apps have recently announced that they will let their employees continue working from home in the future also, post the coronavirus pandemic.

This also coincides with some studies that suggested that many employees are finding this remote-working facility more efficient and cost-effective than their former office routines in the pre-COVID era.

Maybe these are the reasons why on the Practicality front in the Inmar Intelligence’s report, the most popular search items are 196% of Cargo Shorts! Of course, no office means relaxed casual dressing.

194% of Lawn Mower blades are being searched, while 109% of single-serve coffee capsules and pods, 86% of other coffee-making accessories, 85% of Lawn Mowers, and 79% of pet fences and exercise pens are being searched.

A look at these trends will give great ideas of marketing to different companies that manufacture all these things, and other items in these four most popular categories for the future.

On the Road to a New Normal: How Two Months of Online Shopping Data Proves Consumers are adapting to quarantine

Read next: How Easy Is to Make the First Million?

Facebook's Artificial Intelligence Experts Claims They Have Developed A Better Way To Create 3D Images

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According to a group of artificial intelligence (AI) researchers from the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, Facebook, and Virginia Tech, they have developed a better way to create 3D images. The researchers state that their method is superior to Facebook's current 3D Photos feature and other already existing methods to generate 3D photos.

Facebook rolled out its 3D Photos back in 2018 for dual-camera mobiles such as iPhone X. Facebook 3D Photos uses TrueDepth camera to evaluate the depth in images. In the latest study, the researchers use several images captured with an iPhone to indicate how their approach eliminates the discontinuity and blur other existing 3D methods offer.

This new way may also make for better Facebook 3D Images, however, if the new method translates to other environments, it may also result in more real immersion in environments with 3D graphics.

This new way is able to create 3D images from RGB-D imagery and it also operates with regular 3D images by using a pre-trained depth evaluation system. The research work also claims superior performance than LLFF and Nvidia’s Xview. Researchers assessed the performance of some 3D models by using imagery from the RealEstate 10K data set. During the past few months, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Facebook have introduced technologies to create 3D objects from 2D photos. However, the new method uses inpainting, a process of artificial intelligence predicting missing pixels in photos, to generate 3D images.

The new cutting-edge 3D image approach was published in a paper on preprint arXiv. According to the authors, their approach is different as it relies heavily on inpainting for depth value as well as color predictions. Moreover, the new method does not also require pre-determining a specific number of layers for generating 3D photos.


The authors have validated their approach to a wide variety of photographs clicked in various distinct situations. The IEEE Conference on CVPR (Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition) accepted the research paper for publication. It will be published next month. The Artificial Intelligence Index 2019 report shows that CVPR is one of the most significant annual machine learning conferences for artificial intelligence research experts.



Read next: Facebook Introduces AI to Make eCommerce Easier

Viewing and replying to Instagram Stories directly through the Facebook app may become possible soon

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Facebook is working on a way to make viewing and replying to Instagram Stories directly through the Facebook app.

This news has surfaced through a tweet by Jane Manchun Wong, a famous Android reverse engineer who unearths various tools and features in different apps before their companies announce them or roll them out.

According to Jane’s tweet, viewing and replying to Instagram Stories through Instagram’s linked username on the Facebook app may become possible soon, as the social media giant is currently working on this feature.

After Jane’s tweet, there have been a lot of opinions coming from various users about this feature. Some of them believe that it is a much-needed feature and it is going to be really feasible to work on Instagram Stories directly through the Facebook app, probably these are the people who manage a lot of accounts simultaneously. While some users are raising their concerns and are questioning Facebook’s motive for doing so? Many people also believe that perhaps in the future, Facebook will completely merge with Instagram and become ‘Facegram!’

Some people think that this merger is imminent and it looks like Facebook is ‘shoving’ people towards Instagram, to make it more popular and indispensable for users all over the world.


Whereas some social media users are of the opinion that Instagram itself is so popular already, and many previous Facebook users have now shifted to Instagram, so maybe Facebook is looking for ways to keep itself latching to Instagram and make people realize that ‘there is not one without the other!’

So, currently, there are a lot of different talks going about it by different people having different mental approaches. But how functional this feature is going to be, or how it affects the game for Facebook and Instagram both; that can only be judged once and if it rolls out.

Till then, there are just speculations and good hopes!

Read next: Improve your social media presence by choosing the right image size on your profiles with this infographic guide

How to Resolve iPhone Black Screen and Ensure Complete iOS System Recovery with Dr. Fone?

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The “iPhone Black Screen” is an inconvenience that you can encounter no matter how hard you try to protect your smartphone. Not knowing when your phone would be back to normal, along with whether or not you will have access to your data once you get everything up and running again, is a feeling one wouldn’t even wish on their enemies!

Unfortunately, the “iPhone black screen of death” is a problem that hasn’t phased out with the new additions to the iPhone series. Even the most recent models such as the iPhone XR and XS are prone to the aforementioned problem.

So, in such cases, how do you ensure a successful iOS system recovery? Before pitching the solution, we’d like to state that the first and most important step in solving any problem is to identify it.

iPhone Black Screen: Nature of the Issue (Software)

When you find your Apple device in a dormant state, there can be a strong possibility of it being a target of a hack attack. Additionally, insufficient storage and/or incomplete system updates are some other software issues that can cause your iPhone to go dark.

Enter Dr. Fone, an all-in-one tool that strives to offer complete iOS system repair. Dr. Fone not only helps you find a reliable iPhone black screen fix but it also leaves several other iOS software recovery tools behind on more than one front. Let’s take a look at some salient features of Dr. Fone.
  • Up to 3x faster than various top-notch iPhone black screen programs
  • Stable and efficient
  • Doesn’t encourage data loss after fixing the gadget
  • Suitable for a wide range of iOS software problems such as recovery mode, black screen, frozen on reboot, etc.
  • Completely compatible with the latest iOS smartphones and other products such as iPad and iPod Touch.
  • Runs on both Windows and Mac
Another reason why Dr. Fone has become a fan-favorite over time: it is capable of fixing a ton of iPhone issues and saves you a tiring trip to a repair store. All you have to do is follow these 5 steps:

1. On your computer, install Dr. Fone. After that, open the application and opt for the “Start” option to initiate your iOS system repair.



2. With the help of a data cable, you must connect your iPhone to your computer. Dr. Fone will then identify the device and present you with an option to proceed.

3. Once you spot your iPhone and hit the “Download” button, the computer will take over and download the latest available firmware.



4. Once Dr. Fone has access to the right firmware, it will start the restoration process. During the entire process (which can last for several minutes), it is your responsibility to ensure that your iPhone remains connected to the computer.

5. If everything progresses smoothly, a message from Dr. Fone will pop up telling you that your iPhone or OS has undergone a successful recovery process. After that, simply detach the phone from the cable, reboot your device, and that should be it!


iTunes' Important Role in Resolving iPhone Crash Issues

Dr. Fone - iOS System Repair is quite an underrated method of restoring an iOS gadget back to its normal state. Even though Apple is strongly in favor of you trying to resolve your iPhone software problems by connecting your device to iTunes, it’s highly likely that you will end up losing all your data once the iOS System Recovery process is completed.

However, the iTunes program will show a “Warning - all data will be deleted. Continue?” message beforehand. So, if you decide to proceed with this effective method of resolving your phone’s issues, simply connect your iPhone to the computer, open the iTunes program. Once your phone is detected by the application in question, access “Summary” and select the “Restore” option. You will then be presented with the aforementioned warning message.

iPhone Black Screen: Nature of the Issue (Hardware)

Usually, it is possible that your iOS system recovery warrants the need for a hardware specialist. For example, if your phone stopped working after you dropped it on the floor, let water get spilled on it, or subjected it to any other similar scenario, there’s a high chance that the issue is a hardware one.

To be on the safe side, attempt a forced reboot, recharge the device, and ensure that the phone isn’t displaying any signal corresponding to insufficient battery-life. If all of these efforts don’t bear any fruit, simply visit an iPhone technician and get the problem identified and resolved.

How Dr. Fone can help get your iPhone out of DFU Recovery Mode without Data Loss?

DFU or Device Firmware Update is something most (if not all) iOS users should be aware of. It occurs when, during the course of a regular firmware update, your smart device enters a never-ending restart loop due to its data getting corrupted.

This inconvenience mostly results in a complete deletion of data because the iOS version of your iPhone gets adjusted as per the factory settings. Therefore, it is strongly advised that a full DFU restore should only be chosen if you have run out of all other options.

Thankfully, Dr. Fone offers a viable solution that will get your iPhone back to its normal working state without causing you to lose important data. By following the steps detailed above, ensure a complete iOS system recovery without having to resort to restoring your smartphone to default settings.

So, don’t worry the next time you run into any iOS issue. Whether it’s about repairing the iPhone black screen or fixing the crashes, Dr. Fone has fully got you covered.

In case you can’t find success in attaining 100% iOS system recovery despite having all the required programs and tools, it’s time you get a new iPhone. But what about the data? Worry not because with Dr. Fone - Switch by your side, never has it been easier to transfer data from one phone to another.

Facebook-owned Instagram To Finally Start Featuring Ads On IGTV, Plans To Share Revenue With Content Creators

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Facebook’s Instagram rolled out IGTV platform back in the year 2018. The company introduced this platform as Instagram’s way of ‘re-envisioning smartphone video’ through longer-form video content. Now, the IGTV app will gain advertisements for the first time in its history. It is also reported that the company will share a part of ads revenue with content creators. Additionally, Instagram also introduced ‘Badges’ to provide the audience with a way to donate to content creators in Instagram Live streams.

On Wednesday, the company announced this development in a blog post. Instagram stated that the company has always committed to support content creators on Instagram as those creators change their passion into their careers. According to Instagram, every content creator is unique in their own way, and offering a mix of monetization features to help content creators of all sizes is necessary.

Keeping in view the ongoing difficult circumstances, Instagram’s commitment to supporting content creators is more mandatory. Instagram stated in the blog post that the company is introducing new ways for content creators to earn via IGTV as well as Instagram Live.

Instagram will start rolling out this new change with limited advertising partners and content creators in the United States. The company will expand this change gradually as Instagram enhance the experience. Chief Operating Officer at Instagram, Justin Osofsky, informed a media outlet that the company will share 55% revenue cut with content creators which is the industry standard.

The IGTV advertisements will first appear when you tap to watch an IGTV video from the preview in your feed. The duration of these video ads will be 15 seconds and will be specifically built for smartphones. The company also plans to test different experiences within these IGTV ads like the ability to skip an IGTV ad. This will ensure that the end result will operate accurately for advertisers, content creators as well as people.

Content creators can also make more money via Badges. Fans have been supporting their favorite content creators with likes, comments, and donations during the coronavirus pandemic. The company is rolling out Badges to offer people another way to show their love for their favorite creators. You can purchase Badge during a live stream.

These Badges will appear next to your username throughout the live stream and you will also be able to unlock extra tools by using these Badges. Instagram is also expanding Live Shopping to extra content creators seeking to sell their merchandise. The access to ‘Brand Collabs Manager’ is also being expanded to allow content creators to find potential brand partners.



Read next: Viewing and replying to Instagram Stories directly through the Facebook app may become possible soon

Facebook’s cryptocurrency wallet project ‘Calibra’ has now been renamed as ‘Novi’

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Among different apps and platforms like Coinbase, Shopify, Uber, and some more, Facebook is also a member of the Libra Association, which is an organization that deals with global payments and provides a system with financial infrastructure to empower people all over the world.

After becoming a member of the Libra Association, Facebook started its subsidiary project called Calibra, which is meant to build a Libra-based cryptocurrency wallet integrated within Facebook-owned WhatsApp and Messenger.

However, a new development is that Facebook has renamed project Calibra as ‘Novi’. This term Novi is derived from two Latin words, ‘Novus (new)’ and ‘via(way).’

This is Facebook’s own, personal project which is headed by David Marcus. It is independent of the Libra blockchain.

Novi’s first project is going to be a crypto-currency wallet, in association with the Libra. The ideology behind this Novi wallet is that it will be a standalone app, which will be downloadable on the smartphones easily. It will be integrated into the WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. The good thing is that this Novi account can be created even if the user does not have a Facebook or WhatsApp account.

Once the Novi app is downloaded, users can choose the options from its menu to send and receive money through the Novi crypto-currency wallet.

To ensure the safety and security of all transactions and to avoid the instances of money laundering, Novi will ask for a photo of a government-issued ID card or document to sign in. Also, Novi promises to make the transaction instant and quick, without any hidden fees. The money cannot be sent or received anonymously too, due to the ID requirement during the sign-in process. So, it can be hoped that these transactions will be as transparent and smooth as they are promising them to be.

It is not known yet if the company will charge some fee transparently from the users or not? But Novi is pretty sure that there will be no hidden or surprise charges for the users at any point.

The Libra Association made some important changes in the cryptocurrency protocol, rules, and regulations recently. Their updated White Paper mentions these changes and states that the association is not building a stablecoin tied to fiat currencies, exchange-traded commodities, and securities on a worldwide level.


The Libra Association has also mentioned that once they launch, they will peg to several stablecoins that will be further backed by fiat currencies like USD, GBP, SGD, and EUR. All the members of the Libra Association, including Novi which is based on these Libra cryptocurrency protocols will be able to make transactions with these fiat currencies as LibraUSD, LibraEUR, LibraSGD or LibraGBP.

Novi will also be able to convert fiat money to crypto-assets so that users will be able to cash out their cryptocurrencies to the regular fiat currencies.

Sadly, Novi will only be available for several countries initially, and its launch will be after the launch of the Libra Association’s network. So, aside from waiting to enjoy this hassle-free transaction system, we cannot do anything else but to hope that it is actually as good as being promised.



Read next: Facebook-owned Instagram To Finally Start Featuring Ads On IGTV, Plans To Share Revenue With Content Creators

Google Is Introducing A New Quick Settings Menu For Gmail Web Users

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Google has been updating its several products and services and now it is adding a new Quick Settings to its email service, Gmail. The new Quick Settings menu will allow desktop users to alter the email interface conveniently such as changing inbox type, theme, or density, etc. PC Users had to visit Gmail settings to change the Gmail Inbox type until now while if a user wanted to change the Gmail interface theme or density, they need to tap on the Gear icon and choose the relevant option to change theme or density.

Now, the company announced in G Suite Updates blog post that they are introducing a new Quick Settings menu to make it convenient for users to make changes to web interface and will ease the pain of forth and back switching between Gmail settings. Google stated in the blog post that the company is including a Quick Settings menu that will help you to quickly find and use various settings, layouts, and themes to make the Gmail interface display and feel right for Gmail users.

The company also shared animation in the blog post displaying the new changes introduced. In the animation, we can see that Google has moved the gear icon from where it is located currently and has placed this icon between the Support icon and Google Apps launcher icon.

Now, when you will click on the Gear icon, it will display you a Quick Settings menu. This menu also provides a link to complete Settings on the top. Click on the option that says ‘See all Settings’ to access the full settings. The new Gmail’s Quick Settings menu will allow you to alter the Density from Default to compact or if you want to change it to comfortable, you can also do so. You can also choose a theme displayed by using this new Quick Settings menu.

If you want to choose the inbox type and adjust the Reading pane position while using Gmail, you can also do so by using the same menu. Lastly, the Quick Settings menu also allows you to enable or disable the conversational view. While using the new menu, whenever you will select an option, Gmail will automatically update the inbox to reflect the new changes immediately.

You will see these options alongside the real Gmail inbox. Then, if you choose an option, the inbox will automatically be updated to allow you to compare choices and you will be able to see how the new settings will work and look in real-time.

Google has started to release the new feature on May 26, and it may take up to fifteen days for the feature to be visible to all Gmail users.



Read next: More security for the users of Google Messages app with end-to-end encryption for the RCS chat system

Google Is Introducing A Range Of New Features To Help Local Businesses Affected By The Coronavirus Pandemic

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The tech giant Google is introducing a number of new updates focused on helping businesses to adapt to the coronavirus pandemic while continuing to serve their consumers across services such as Google Search and Google Maps. Since the coronavirus has started to spread across the globe, the company has made it possible for local businesses to connect to consumer things such as temporary closures, or revised working hours. Currently, Google is introducing and expanding a series of tools that will help businesses to support themselves, including those businesses that are focusing on fundraising, marketing their virtual services, or gift card sales.

These Google My Business features will also help restaurants to point to those delivery partners who they prefer, so people will be able to select to place their order via the third-party the business suggests. Previously, it was hard for restaurants to swallow large commission fees charged by food delivery applications, and now these apps are making huge profits from the restaurant industry’s collapse due to the coronavirus.

Obviously, the updates introduced by Google will not allow these restaurants to avoid the commission fee charged by food delivery apps, restaurants will surely be able to suggest their preferred delivery app to consumers. Businesses will surely suggest those apps charging the lowest commission fees. Google has also expanded its delivery partners across Germany, Australia, Canada, and the US to allow Google Map users to order delivery from over 250,000 new restaurants.

The company is also expanding a feature it recently released to allow businesses to sell gift cards to support themselves. Consumers can donate to their favorite business via Google Search in extra markets. The company initiated by letting merchants in the US, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, Canada, and Australia to include support links for gift cards and donations.

Now, the feature will be expanded to over 18 extra countries. Google has also made another change focused to address the wider way the coronavirus is affecting in-person businesses. Businesses verified via Google My Business will be able to send an alert notification to their consumers that they are working in a new capacity, in the coming few weeks. The company is now expanding its Reserve with Google appointment-setting initiative to help businesses to provide convenient online appointment bookings to their consumers.

The ability of Google to connect people with businesses has a huge impact and has surged traffic across Google Search and Google Maps. The search for interest such as ‘takeout near me’ has increased by around 260% since Feb of this year. However, despite the fact Google is introducing updates at a rapid pace, the company has seen more temporary as well as permanent business closures during March and April of this year as compared to Google saw in all of the previous year.

Other massive social platforms have also released new tools to help businesses sell their gift cards. Google is introducing updates in the coming weeks and months, it is more likely that businesses have found alternative ways to connect to their consumers and fundraise without the help of Google. Jen Fitzpatrick, SVP, Google Maps stated that around one in 3 businesses believe that their business may have closed without digital tools.



Read next: YouTube Is Testing To Integrate Google Search Results With Video Search In Its Mobile App

Twitter extends support to the #KeepItOn campaign to prevent the shutdown of the internet globally

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Twitter has recently announced its support for the #KeepItOn campaign and is coming up with a special emoji for the hashtag on its widely used platform. However, the point to be noted is that Twitter is not joining the campaign, rather supporting it with its influence and powerful approach.

#KeepItOn is a campaign which is being run by the coalition of different organizations like Access Now, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain, AfroLeadership, Association Francophone pour Les Droits de l’Homme, Bloggers Association of Kenya, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and more than 200 other organizations that fight for the global rights.

These organizations are fighting and openly opposing Internet shutdowns by governments all over the world.

As an extension of this cause, these organizations have written an open letter to the Indian government to restore the 4G internet service in the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir. This letter says that this request has already been made multiple times, but it is falling on deaf ears. With the restoration of the Internet in these heavily curfewed regions, at least COVID-19 related information and containment measures can take place, while some of their other needs can be fulfilled too. Besides, it is beyond barbaric to keep those people in complete isolation from the world for so many days!

With tech giants and widely popular apps like Twitter coming forward to extend support to this cause, there is hope that the notion of global internet shutdowns by the governments can be nipped in the bud. And maybe it will also affect the authorities to restore internet service in the Jammu and Kashmir too.


Usually, Twitter charges a fee for such branded hashtags and emojis, or it creates them only when there are some events of utmost importance that need to be highlighted.

This is a marketing strategy employed by many companies too. They pay Twitter to make special hashtags for their cause, products, or services, which can then get into trending. This marketing trick employs the “stopping power,” which means that these hashtags make the people stop and learn about them. This, without any doubt, helps in boosting the sales too, because, the attention that ads receive leaps by more than 10% when such branded emojis and hashtags are included in the ad!

Now, with Twitter using its stopping power for this important cause is actually commendable. And hopefully, this will have a larger impact than any other effort in the matter will.

Featured photo: AccessNow

A Critical Vulnerability Called StrandHogg 2.0 Could Affect Over Two Billion Android Devices

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A critical security threat was discovered at the start of May which could affect almost every Samsung Galaxy device the company sold from late 2014 onwards. It was a zero-click bug and was able to achieve 10 points on the vulnerability severity scale. Samsung patched this vulnerability in its security update for May 2020. Now researchers have discovered another Android security threat called StrandHogg 2.0.

This vulnerability exists in almost every Android version, and only Android 10 is not affected by this critical vulnerability. With that being said, it was discovered in April that Android 10 accounted for approximately 16.12 percent of users. According to Google, there at least 2.5 billion active Android devices across the globe. This means that more than 2 billion Android devices are potentially at risk.

If a hacker is able to exploit this vulnerability, they can get access to cameras, photos, login credentials, bank accounts, and messages, say the researchers who discovered it. A group of researchers at Promon, a Norwegian security company uncovered CVE-2020-0096, and they call it SyrandHogg 2.0. The researchers stated that StrandHogg 2.0 allows attackers to hack nearly any Android app, and it is much more challenging to detect this vulnerability as compared to the original StrandHogg. It uses a reflection process to hijack apps and remains hidden in the background.

According to researchers, hijackers do not need any external configuration to execute StrandHogg 2.0 and it is more complicated to detect it as compared to the previous StrandHogg vulnerability. TechCrunch first highlighted the StrandHogg 2.0 development and Google said that the company had not seen any evidence of StrandHogg 2.0 to date. Google appreciates the work of researchers who uncovered this vulnerability, and the company has also rolled out a patch for the issue they discovered.


Moreover, Google Play Protect identifies and removes malicious apps as well as those applications using this technique. Good news for users who are running Android 9 or older version, Google added a fix for CVE-2020-0096 in its Android Security update for May 2020.

According to the research director at Rapid7, Tod Beardsley, this fix is part of the core Android OS, manufacturers and service providers will have to distribute these security patches. Mobile manufacturers and service providers are usually slow at distributing security patches according to the Promon CTO and founder, Tom Lysemose Hansen, hackers could create a powerful tool by combining the original StrandHogg and StrandHogg 2.0 vulnerability. Android users need to be cautious while installing apps.



Read next: 4200+ Android Apps Responsible for Massive Data Leak

Microsoft Has Updated its Chromium-based Edge Browser With A New Game You Can Play When You Are Offline

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It seems that Microsoft is determined to one-up Google wherever possible with its Edge browser. This includes one of the most significant areas, the cute mini-game users could play when they are offline. Microsoft has now introduced a new mini-game to its chromium-based Edge browser and this game is more advanced as compared to jumping a dinosaur over cactus in Chrome.

Microsoft has been previewing this game for a few months, and the company has now finally updated its chromium-based Edge browser with a new Surf game. You can access the new Surf game at any time if you've latest Edge browser by typing ‘edge://surf’ into the address bar.

The new Surf game introduced by Microsoft got its inspiration from old SkiFree game from the past of Windows OS. This new Surf game is decidedly more sophisticated and advanced than the mini-game you can play on Chrome when you are offline. This game can keep you busy for a few minutes, and it will be fun to play when you are offline.

Discussing the new Surf game, it is basically an endless running game. You will have to surf around obstacles while playing this game and stay one step ahead of a kraken to keep scoring points. There are other modes available in the game too, such as zig-zag mode and objective-based time trial modes. As we said earlier that the game is advanced as compared to jumping a dinosaur over cactus in Chrome, users can also use a range of inputs while playing this game. You can use your keyboard, mouse, touch, or even a gamepad with haptic feedback while playing the new Surf game on Microsoft’s chromium-based Edge browser.

Discussing the difficulty levels of this game, the high visibility will help in this aspect. There are also low-speed modes available in the game that will help with the difficulty of the new Surf game. Microsoft also stated that the company promises a few secrets in the game. We expect that these few secrets will prove to be more fun for you while playing the new Surf game when you are offline.

Obviously, users will not download the Microsoft Edge browser only to play the new Surf game, but the release of this game clearly indicates that Microsoft is making efforts to update small details in its latest Edge browser. The new Surf game at least offers people a convenient and quick way to kill time while they are waiting for their modem to reboot.



Read next: Microsoft Is Adding More Features Including Extension Sync and Sidebar Search To Its Chromium-based Edge

Twitter is rolling out its new docked DM chat window for more web users

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Recently, social media apps reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong reported that Twitter is testing a new DM chat window, much like the Facebook Messenger, with picture-in-picture display for personal and direct messages for its platform on the web application.

These messages will be shown in a small sub-window near the bottom right corner of the screen. This type of DM chat window is not new as Messenger and LinkedIn already have a similar representation pattern for PC users.

This new format has been in works for a while now. There have been previous reports too that suggested that Twitter was working on this new style for the DM chat window. However, it seems that the work has sped up now, as more and more users are observing the roll out of this update, and probably soon, Twitter will introduce its improved messaging system for its all users.

There are differing opinions from users about this news. Many hard-core Facebook Messenger users are angry that Twitter has ‘stolen’ their format. While many Twitter users are happy because with this ‘window in a window’ format, they can easily communicate with people on their messenger, while also able to keep an eye on the Twitter feed at the same time.

In a way, it is a hassle-free choice, and it can lead to effective engagement with people on both fronts- DM chat window as well as through the feed. If you are talking to a friend in the DM window, you can simultaneously share a tweet from your timeline with your friend in the chat window, without having to open one window after another.

This will not only save a lot of time; it will also bring more productivity to the users while they are using Twitter.

Users will be able to deactivate it if they do not like it, but considering all the benefits that it can bring, it seems that it is going to be quite a functional option that many people will like once it rolls out.

It is not known that when it will be launched and whether it will be available for all countries or in specific regions initially? So, let us wait and see how it all plays out!


Screenshot: Twitter / Lostincosmo.

Read next: Twitter extends support to the #KeepItOn campaign to prevent the shutdown of the internet globally
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