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jeudi 20 janvier 2022

Flock could be Twitter’s answer to Instagram’s Close Friends feature

In July last year, Twitter showed off three concept features that aimed to give users greater flexibility and control over their tweets and profiles. One of these features aimed to help users make their tweets visible to only a small group of people, much like Instagram’s “Close Friends” feature. At the time, Twitter called this feature “Trusted Friends.” But it could soon make its way to users under a new name — Twitter Flock.

An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by the developers in a future build.

A teardown of Twitter for Android version 9.27.0-beta.2 has revealed new strings pointing towards the upcoming feature. The strings clearly state that the feature will let users limit the visibility of their tweets to a small group of people. Like Instagram’s Close Friends feature, Twitter will give users the option to add users to their “Twitter Flock” and only members of the Flock will be able to see and reply to the tweets.

<string name="trusted_friend_tab_label_inner_circle">Inner Circle</string>
<string name="trusted_friend_tab_label_recommended">Recommended</string>
<string name="trusted_friends_add_button_label">Add</string>
<string name="trusted_friends_appbar_back">Back</string>
<string name="trusted_friends_appbar_done">Done</string>
<string name="trusted_friends_focal_message">You can see and reply to this Tweet because %s has added you to their Twitter Flock</string>
<string name="trusted_friends_list_management_description">People won’t be notified when you edit your Twitter Flock.</string>
<string name="trusted_friends_list_management_description_label_link">How it works</string>
<string name="trusted_friends_remove_button_label">Remove</string>
<string name="trusted_friends_timeline_message">You can see this Tweet because %s has added you to their Twitter Flock</string>
<string name="trusted_friends_timeline_reply">Everyone in %s’s Twitter Flock can see this reply</string>
<string name="trusted_friends_timeline_title">You’re in the Twitter Flock</string>
<string name="trusted_friends_title">Twitter Flock</string>

Prolific app reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi has managed to enable the feature ahead of the rollout and shared the following screenshot. As you can see, the feature will let you add up to 150 people to your Twitter Flock and share tweets privately with them. Only members who are part of the Flock will be able to view and reply to these tweets. Users will also get the option to add or remove people from their Flock at any time, and people won’t be notified when removed from a Flock. However, as the aforementioned strings reveal, Twitter will notify people when users add them to a Flock.

The feature is currently a work in progress and it isn’t live in the latest Twitter release. Twitter hasn’t shared any official information about the rollout so far, but we’ll make sure to let you know as soon as it shows up in an upcoming beta update.

The post Flock could be Twitter’s answer to Instagram’s Close Friends feature appeared first on xda-developers.



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Samsung unpacks what to expect at Unpacked 2022

The Samsung Galaxy S22 series is just around the corner. While we’ve seen leak after leak reveal bits and pieces of the company’s newest flagship line of smartphones, there’s still so much more that we don’t know yet. The company’s Unpacked event has now been confirmed for February 2022 (with no specific date given), and at the event, we expect to see the Samsung Galaxy S22, Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus, and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.

As Samsung puts it, this is “the next evolution of Galaxy”. Dr. TM Roh, President & Head of Samsung Mobile Communications, said the following in a post on the Samsung Newsroom.

“At Unpacked in February 2022, we’ll introduce you to the most noteworthy S series device we’ve ever created. The next generation of Galaxy S is here, bringing together the greatest experiences of our Samsung Galaxy into one ultimate device,” he wrote.

“We know many of you were surprised when Samsung didn’t release a new Galaxy Note last year. You loved the unparalleled creativity and efficiency of the Galaxy Note series, which enabled you to switch from gaming nirvana to high-octane productivity in the blink of an eye. You raved about the lifelike S Pen, which many say rivals putting ink to paper. And we haven’t forgotten about these experiences you love.”

The usage of the word “noteworthy” in particular is also likely to be a hint for what’s to come. We’ve already seen how the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra will pack an S-Pen slot just like the Note series did, making it somewhat of a spiritual successor. Not only that, it’s said to feature a curved display similar to the Galaxy Note 20, a 5,000mAh battery, and a quad-camera setup consisting of a 108MP primary shooter along with a 12MP ultra-wide camera, a 10MP 10x telephoto camera, and another 10MP 3x telephoto camera.

The company also released a fifteen-second trailer, showing two silhouettes of different smartphones coming together and forming one device — which is like a nod to the S22 Ultra effectively being an S series device and a Galaxy Note rolled into one.

As already mentioned, Samsung’s 2022 flagship lineup will reportedly consist of three models; it’s not all about the Ultra. We also expect to see both the Galaxy S22 and the Galaxy S22 Plus launched at the event.

All three of these smartphones are expected to pack Samsung’s newest in-house Exynos 2200 SoC which interestingly suffered an unplanned delay in its own launch just last week. However, this SoC likely won’t be used in the US and India, as both regions are likely to get the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 instead. As far as the design is concerned, the standard Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22+ are believed to retain the last year’s design, as seen in leaked renders. Both phones will reportedly feature a 50MP GN5 primary shooter.

Samsung is specifically touting the camera prowess of these smartphones at night, saying that these phones will take “the best and brightest photos and videos you’ve ever captured with a phone”. We’re excited to see what the company has in store for us at its Unpacked event next month.

The post Samsung unpacks what to expect at Unpacked 2022 appeared first on xda-developers.



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Samsung unpacks what to expect at Unpacked 2022

The Samsung Galaxy S22 series is just around the corner. While we’ve seen leak after leak reveal bits and pieces of the company’s newest flagship line of smartphones, there’s still so much more that we don’t know yet. The company’s Unpacked event has now been confirmed for February 2022 (with no specific date given), and at the event, we expect to see the Samsung Galaxy S22, Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus, and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.

As Samsung puts it, this is “the next evolution of Galaxy”. Dr. TM Roh, President & Head of Samsung Mobile Communications, said the following in a post on the Samsung Newsroom.

“At Unpacked in February 2022, we’ll introduce you to the most noteworthy S series device we’ve ever created. The next generation of Galaxy S is here, bringing together the greatest experiences of our Samsung Galaxy into one ultimate device,” he wrote.

“We know many of you were surprised when Samsung didn’t release a new Galaxy Note last year. You loved the unparalleled creativity and efficiency of the Galaxy Note series, which enabled you to switch from gaming nirvana to high-octane productivity in the blink of an eye. You raved about the lifelike S Pen, which many say rivals putting ink to paper. And we haven’t forgotten about these experiences you love.”

The usage of the word “noteworthy” in particular is also likely to be a hint for what’s to come. We’ve already seen how the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra will pack an S-Pen slot just like the Note series did, making it somewhat of a spiritual successor. Not only that, it’s said to feature a curved display similar to the Galaxy Note 20, a 5,000mAh battery, and a quad-camera setup consisting of a 108MP primary shooter along with a 12MP ultra-wide camera, a 10MP 10x telephoto camera, and another 10MP 3x telephoto camera.

The company also released a fifteen-second trailer, showing two silhouettes of different smartphones coming together and forming one device — which is like a nod to the S22 Ultra effectively being an S series device and a Galaxy Note rolled into one.

As already mentioned, Samsung’s 2022 flagship lineup will reportedly consist of three models; it’s not all about the Ultra. We also expect to see both the Galaxy S22 and the Galaxy S22 Plus launched at the event.

All three of these smartphones are expected to pack Samsung’s newest in-house Exynos 2200 SoC which interestingly suffered an unplanned delay in its own launch just last week. However, this SoC likely won’t be used in the US and India, as both regions are likely to get the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 instead. As far as the design is concerned, the standard Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22+ are believed to retain the last year’s design, as seen in leaked renders. Both phones will reportedly feature a 50MP GN5 primary shooter.

Samsung is specifically touting the camera prowess of these smartphones at night, saying that these phones will take “the best and brightest photos and videos you’ve ever captured with a phone”. We’re excited to see what the company has in store for us at its Unpacked event next month.

The post Samsung unpacks what to expect at Unpacked 2022 appeared first on xda-developers.



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Call of Duty games in development won’t be Xbox exclusives after Microsoft’s Activision acquisition

Yesterday, Microsoft surprised almost everyone by announcing that it’s acquiring gaming studio Activision Blizzard for an incredible $68.7 billion. The company is behind loads of popular franchises, from Call of Duty and World of Warcraft to Candy Crush Saga. And now, those are all owned by Microsoft.

So of course, the natural conclusion that some people might be drawing is that everything made by Activision Blizzard is about to become an Xbox exclusive, as PlayStation owners are left shaking their fists in the air. Luckily, Microsoft’s Xbox chief Phil Spencer has confirmed that that’s not the case, at least not yet.

As always, Microsoft is careful with its wording. Spencer is only saying that it’s going to honor existing agreements. That pretty much means that if a game is already in development for other platforms, it’s going to be available for those platforms when it launches. This shouldn’t come as a surprise either. The Redmond firm doesn’t have a history of breaking these agreements when acquiring gaming studios.

Of course, when those existing agreements expire, everything is up in the air. Microsoft’s top priority in gaming is Game Pass, a subscription offering that lets you choose from a variety of games to play at any time. The amount of subscribers sits at 25 million, so this isn’t even a half a billion dollar a year business. It’s clear that Microsoft has ambitions well beyond that.

That also means that it has to reach beyond customers that have Xbox consoles. PC users are a piece of the puzzle too, but game streaming is the endgame. No matter what happens, you can assume that these games will end up on Game Pass. As for if they’ll be available for Sony’s PlayStation consoles beyond what’s already agreed upon, those negotiations will likely be ongoing.

The post Call of Duty games in development won’t be Xbox exclusives after Microsoft’s Activision acquisition appeared first on xda-developers.



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YouTube may soon let you loop video chapters

In May 2020, Google unveiled a new feature for YouTube called video chapters. As the name suggests, video chapters break down a YouTube video in chunks, making it easier to jump to specific sections of a given video without having to fiddle with the progress bar. The feature is immensely helpful when watching long videos as it allows you to quickly skim through irrelevant parts. And it’s set to become even more useful with a new repeat mode.

An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by the developers in a future build.

YouTube version 17.01.36 recently rolled out on the Google Play Store and within the APK, we have found new strings for a repeat mode for video chapters.

<string name="chapter_repeat_on">Chapter repeat is on</string>
<string name="chapter_repeat_turn_off">Turn Off</string>

While it’s long been possible to loop YouTube videos, there’s currently no way to loop just a specific portion of a video. This is where this chapter repeat mode comes into play as it will allow users to view a single video chapter on repeat without having to manually pull the slider or loop the whole video. The ability to repeat or loop a video chapter can come in handy if you’re watching a tutorial or DIY video and want to take notes or follow along with instructions.

Note that the ability to repeat YouTube video chapters is still a work-in-progress and hasn’t rolled to users yet. We’ll keep a close eye on the feature and let you know if we discover any new details.

The post YouTube may soon let you loop video chapters appeared first on xda-developers.



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YouTube may soon let you loop video chapters

In May 2020, Google unveiled a new feature for YouTube called video chapters. As the name suggests, video chapters break down a YouTube video in chunks, making it easier to jump to specific sections of a given video without having to fiddle with the progress bar. The feature is immensely helpful when watching long videos as it allows you to quickly skim through irrelevant parts. And it’s set to become even more useful with a new repeat mode.

An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by the developers in a future build.

YouTube version 17.01.36 recently rolled out on the Google Play Store and within the APK, we have found new strings for a repeat mode for video chapters.

<string name="chapter_repeat_on">Chapter repeat is on</string>
<string name="chapter_repeat_turn_off">Turn Off</string>

While it’s long been possible to loop YouTube videos, there’s currently no way to loop just a specific portion of a video. This is where this chapter repeat mode comes into play as it will allow users to view a single video chapter on repeat without having to manually pull the slider or loop the whole video. The ability to repeat or loop a video chapter can come in handy if you’re watching a tutorial or DIY video and want to take notes or follow along with instructions.

Note that the ability to repeat YouTube video chapters is still a work-in-progress and hasn’t rolled to users yet. We’ll keep a close eye on the feature and let you know if we discover any new details.

The post YouTube may soon let you loop video chapters appeared first on xda-developers.



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Garmin Venu 2 Plus launched in India with up to 9 days of battery life and advanced health tracking

At CES 2022 earlier this month, Garmin unveiled a new smartwatch called the Garmin Venu 2 Plus. An upgraded version of the Garmin Venu 2, the new smartwatch retains all the best features from the last year’s model while also adding a built-in microphone for calls, animated on-screen workouts, and an additional navigation button. While the Venu 2 Plus was initially limited to markets like the US, the company has now officially launched its latest smartphone in India.

The Garmin Venu 2 Plus comes in three colorways: Graphite Black, Cream Gold, and Powder Grey. It’s priced at ₹46,990 (~$632) in India and will be available from leading online retailers including Amazon India, Flipkart, Tata CLiQ, and synergizer.co.in. It’ll also be available from offline channels like Croma, Just in Time, Helios, and GBS stores.

    Garmin Venu 2 Plus
    The Garmin Venu 2 Plus offers a robust set of fitness tracking features and a sporty design.

The Garmin Venu 2 Plus has a 43mm watch case with stainless steel bezel and a 20mm quick-release silicone strap. It sports a 1.3-inch AMOLED display with Gorilla Glass 3 protection on top and Alway-on display support.

Garmin Venu 2 Plus in Cream Gold color Garmin Venu 2 Plus in Powder gray color Garmin Venu 2 Plus in black colorway

The smartwatch offers a robust set of fitness tracking features. It comes pre-loaded with 25+ indoor and GPS sports apps including walking, running, HIIT, cycling, pool swimming, Pilates, yoga, indoor climbing, hiking, advanced strength training with muscle map graphics, and more. In addition, the Venu 2 Plus also has more than 75 preset animated workouts for cardio, yoga, strength, and HIIT, demonstrating proper form and technique right on your wrist.

Another important highlight of the Venu 2 Plus is a built-in microphone that lets users make phone calls or summon voice assistants like Google Assistant and Siri right from their wrist.

The Garmin Venu 2 lets you download music playlists (up to 650 songs) from Spotify, Amazon Music, and Deezer4. It also supports PayTM contactless payments. The battery life is rated for up to 9 days in smartwatch mode, up to 24 hours in GPS mode, and up to 8 hours in GPS with Music mode.

The post Garmin Venu 2 Plus launched in India with up to 9 days of battery life and advanced health tracking appeared first on xda-developers.



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