Google is making it easier to discover local events in India

Google wants to help you plan your weekend.

Google is rolling out an update to its mobile search platform in India through which you can easily find popular events in your city. The search giant issued a similar update in the U.S. back in May, and in India the company is pulling information from the likes of BookMyShow, AllEvents, EventsHigh, 10times, and more.

For instance, if you type, “show me events in Hyderabad,” you’ll see a list of events listed for Hyderabad in the aforementioned sites. There’s also the option to tailor your results — the Events card comes with tabs that lets you filter events by dates. Clicking on a link will take you to that particular service to book the tickets.

If you’re just looking to see all the events in your locale, you can just enter, “events near me.” The update is now live on Android and iOS.

ASUS teaser hints at dual rear cameras for the ZenFone 4

ASUS is the latest manufacturer to jump on the dual camera bandwagon.

ASUS is set to unveil the ZenFone 4 sometime next month, and if a recent teaser on ASUS Taiwan’s Facebook page is any indication, the phone will sport dual cameras at the back.

We’ve seen several companies roll out devices with dual cameras at the back, notably the OnePlus 5 and Xiaomi’s Mi 6. It’ll be interesting to see the direction ASUS takes with its camera setup.

The images were first spotted by Android Pure, and the publication also notes that the ZenFone 4 series will be offered in five different variants. There’s little information to go by regarding the specs, but with the official unveil set to occur sometime in August, we should know more over the coming weeks.

Top Allo features you need to know

‘Allo Allo.

Allo is Google’s latest attempt at a messaging app that competes with the likes of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, both of which boast a userbase of over a billion users. The main differentiator for Allo is Google Assistant, a chatbot that provides answers to your queries by drawing on the search giant’s machine learning smarts. AI is at the core of Google’s strategy, with Assistant available on hundreds of millions of phones as well as the Google Home and Android TV.

These are the top Allo features you need to know. If you’re just installing the app, be sure to check out our setup guide.

Your replies are now smarter

When you’re chatting with your friends and family, Google Assistant offers a series of responses based on the context of the conversation. If you’re sharing a picture of your cat, for instance, your friends will see options to reply with “Cute!”, “Adorable!”, “How fun!”, and so on. For images that contain food, you’ll see suggestions for nearby restaurants.

That’s the good part. The not-so-great bit is where most canned responses are generic right now. I had an entire conversation with my colleague Russell Holly without typing a single word. That said, most of it went down like this (exclamation points courtesy of Google):

Google Assistant learns your messaging patterns over time, and it should hopefully offer more personalized suggestions.

When in doubt, emoji

When you don’t want to type, you can use Allo’s diverse set of emojis to get your message across. There’s an emoji for most emotions (which should say a lot, really), occasions, pets, and social activities, so you’re very well catered to in this regard.

Make Duo calls from within Allo

Allo is a text-only platform, but if you’re interested in making video calls, you can now start a Duo call from within the messaging app. You’ll see the icon for Duo in the conversation window, allowing you to jump into a video call without having to launch Duo.

Scribble away

You can jazz up images you’re sharing with friends by doodling on them, or adding text.

Emphasize your point with text

Allo has a nifty trick that lets you make your text larger or smaller. To achieve this effect, you have to press and hold the send button, and slide it up to enlarge text, and slide down to shrink it.

Use stickers for everything else

Google has worked with “independent artists and studios around the world” to launch 25 sticker packs for Allo. Messaging app Line pioneered the use of stickers in chats, and ever since most messaging platforms have gotten into the act.

Also, for some reason that I can’t really fathom, a lot of the sticker packs are aimed at an Indian audience. There’s even one about a “little Indian girl who loves her country and relishes any occasion to be patriotic.” No clue what’s going on there, but for the most part, stickers on Allo are just like on any other platform. Some will use it, but most users won’t care.

Create your own stickers with selfies

Allo now lets you create a custom sticker set using your own selfies. All you have to do is take a selfie, and Google leverages its machine learning skills to “analyze the pixels of an image and algorithmically determine attribute values by looking at pixel values for for color, shape, and texture” to build a sticker pack that’s based on your image.

The messaging app creates 22 stickers based on your likeness, but the downside is that you’ll only be able to use the stickers within Allo.

Go incognito

Allo offers an Incognito Mode that doesn’t store a record of your conversation. You can set a timer specifying the duration of the chat, following which it will be automatically deleted. All ephemeral chats are overlaid with a grey incognito icon.

Ask Google Assistant anything

If you’re feeling bored, Google Assistant offers a variety of ways to pass the time. You can have a conversation with the chatbot wherein you can ask it to tell jokes, recite poems, play games, serve up news headlines, sports scores, and much more. You can invoke the assistant directly from within a chat window by typing @google.

And yes, you can have an emoji party with the chatbot.

Restore your chats

Allo initially didn’t have the option to save your chats across devices, but that feature is now available. You can set Allo to automatically create a backup of your chat history, and you’ll be able to sync chats to a new device when setting up Allo again.

Room to grow

For all of its features, Allo can’t be used as the default SMS client on your phone. It uses an SMS relay to communicate with contacts that don’t have the service installed, but it won’t be taking over Android Messages.

What do you guys think of Allo? Do you regularly use the messaging service? Let us know in the comments.

Updated July 2017 with sections on Duo calls, ability to restore chats, and selfie stickers.

The Morning After: Friday, July 21st 2017

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Is it Friday already? We have big news from Comic-Con featuring Will Smith and Stargate. Also, a deep dive into the cautionary tale of LeEco and a date for the Galaxy Note 8 is revealed.

The next Note.Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 unveiling happens August 23rd

Last year, Samsung released the excellent Galaxy Note 7, which had just one tiny problem: a tendency to overheat and melt down. Now, after investigations and even a Fan Edition re-release, we’re close to seeing the company’s next attempt at a large-screened cellphone. It just sent out invites for a launch event August 23rd, where we’re expecting to find out everything about the Galaxy Note 8.

It may not last much longer.Inside LeEco’s spectacular fall from grace

LeEco’s fall from grace has been astonishing. Once hailed as the “Netflix of China,” the daring startup and its then-outspoken founder were bold enough to challenge Tesla and criticize Apple as “outdated.” But in recent months, the company has faced a series of setbacks and may be reaching its breaking point. Former employees told Engadget that LeEco shuffles funds between its subsidiaries to mask losses.

Worth a trip.Google Street View takes you aboard the ISS

Since there’s no gravity, the astronauts make use of surfaces in every direction, so the Street View in space truly spans 360 degrees. But that’s not all: Google included info nodes for the curious to learn more about the station’s technical machinery and points of interest.

Is Richard Dean Anderson busy?‘Stargate Origins’ will launch a new MGM streaming service

MGM is asking CBS All Access and Star Trek Discovery to hold its beer, announcing plans to launch an all-Stargate subscription streaming platform. Stargate Command will be the “official” destination not only for older content but also a brand new Stargate Origins show launching later this year.

But who?Elon Musk’s Hyperloop plan is verbally approved by someone somewhere

Elon Musk tweeted that he has “verbal govt approval for The Boring Company to build an underground NY-Phil-Balt-DC Hyperloop.” The only problem is that, apparently, no one has told the governments of those cities about it. There’s some indication he may be talking about the White House, but for now, we’re waiting for a more “formal” approval.

‘Bad Boys’ meets ‘D&D.’Netflix drops the full trailer for David Ayer’s ‘Bright’

This movie may have cost Netflix as much as $100 million, so hopefully it’s worth it. Bright stars Will Smith and Joel Edgerton are a pair of cops, but the twist here is that one of them is an orc. In this world, elves and magic are just part of the deal, which may entice viewers to check it out when the movie launches December 22nd.

A hat with speakers.Atari introduces the Speakerhat

And ‘Multiplayer mode.’

But wait, there’s more…

• Intel’s $79 USB stick plugs image-based AI processing power into your PC
• Microsoft’s Q4 earnings: Surface, LinkedIn, and cloud revenue are bright spots
• VFX company files injunction to block three Disney blockbusters
• Sears will sell appliances on Amazon as its retail stores dwindle

The Morning After is a new daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you’ll miss if you don’t subscribe.

Microsoft is waging a quiet war against elite Russian hackers

Microsoft has proven itself to be an unlikely vigilante in the ongoing international cyberespionage story. The company started out suing the hacking group Fancy Bear for using domain names that violated Microsoft’s trademarks, and in doing so unearthed an extensive network of command-and-control servers.

Via domains such as ‘livemicrosoft.net’ or ‘rsshotmail.com’, hackers are able to communicate with malware installed on targeted computers. But once the domains are back under Microsoft’s control they’re redirected back from Russian servers, giving the company a bird’s-eye view of Fancy Bear’s server network. Since August, Microsoft has taken over 70 different command-and-control points from Fancy Bear using this lawsuit.

Fancy Bear — also known as Pawn Strorm, Stronium and Sofacy — has been carrying out cyberespionage since at least 2007. Over the last decade it’s targeted multiple high-profile organisations including NATO, Obama’s White House, TV stations and military agencies throughout Europe. Its most notable intrusion came last year when it targeted the Clinton campaign, reportedly as part of Moscow’s bid to help Trump win the presidency. Russia hasn’t been named specifically in Microsoft’s lawsuit but US intelligence findings have identified Fancy Bear as a part of Russia’s intelligence activity.

Via: The Daily Beast

Firefox 8.0 for iOS Brings New Tab Experience, Night Mode, and QR Code Reader

Mozilla has released Firefox 8.0 for iOS with several notable new features including a Night Mode, a built-in QR code reader, and a redesigned tab experience.

Changes to the web browser’s tabs mean users now see recently visited sites whenever they open up a new one, combined with highlights from previous web visits. Mozilla says this change in particular will be rolled out to users gradually over the next few weeks.

As for the new Night Mode, this refers to a web page brightness dimming feature for easier reading in dark environments, rather than a darkened interface as such.

Version 8.0 of the browser also introduces Feature Recommendations, which are basically hints and time-saving tips to help users improve their Firefox experience. In addition, it’s also now possible to send a web page or tab to another Firefox-synced device, across both desktop and mobile devices.

Other smaller tweaks to the app include yMail as one of the supported email clients, the password manager now has improved login page detection, and when users copy a link Firefox will now prompt them to open it, rather than having to paste it in manually.

Firefox 8.0 web browser is a free download for iPhone and iPad available on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Tags: Firefox for iOS, Mozilla
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Samsung Pay launches on Gear S3 in the UK

Payment service comes to all Gear S3 owners whose watch is paired to an Android smartphone.

Samsung has announced that its mobile payments service has finally arrived on Gear S3 series smartwatches in the UK, following the rollout of Samsung Pay on phones in the country a couple of months ago. Just like in the U.S., British Gear S3 owners can use an app similar to the phone version of Samsung Pay, on a Gear S3 paired with any Android device running version 4.4 or up of the OS.

Contactless debit and credit cards from HSBC, First Direct, M&S Bank, MBNA, Nationwide, and Santander can be used with Samsung Pay, and it also works anywhere you’d use TfL Oyster card in London. Samsung says more payment providers, including American Express, will be getting onboard soon.

Wearable support in the UK is an important milestone for Samsung Pay, however the service continues to lag behind Android Pay and Apple Pay in the UK, both of which support almost all major high street banks.

LG Q8 is a smaller, waterproof V20

Major features of last year’s handset packaged into 5.2-inch chassis for new Q series device.

LG is building out its new mid-tier Q series of phones with a more pocketable take on last year’s flagship V20. The LG Q8 includes basically all the main features of the V20, only now in with a 5.2-inch Quad HD screen, and with the added bonus of IP67 water resistance, and a fixed internal battery. (Sorry, removable battery fans.)

From the wide angle camera to the Quad DAC and ticker display, almost all of the V20’s standout features are alive and well in the Q8.

The LG Q8 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, expandable via microSD. And around the back is a similar combination of 16-megapixel, f/1.8 main camera with OIS, along with 8-megapixel f/2.4 wide-angle shooter. The V20’s ticker display makes a return too, with a 160×1040 screen resolution — a curious addition, since it’s looking like the upcoming V30 will do away with this longstanding V-series feature. On the inside, a 3,000mAh fixed battery should provide enough juice for a full day’s use, considering the smaller display size. And the V20’s 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC rounds off the feature list.

On the software side, it appears we’re mostly dealing with the V20’s software, transposed down onto a smaller display. It’s based on Android 7.0 Nougat and LG UX 5.0. The display being a standard 16:9 panel, the software doesn’t seem to include the 2:1 display optimizations of the software from the LG G6 and Q6.

LG’s Italian promo site lists the Q8 as being available in July, though there’s no clear indication as to which other markets, if any, the phone will be arriving in.

LG V20

• LG V20 review: Built for power users
• LG V20 specs
• All LG V20 news
• LG V20 vs. Galaxy Note 7
• Discuss the V20 in the forums!

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‘Stargate’ revival will launch a new MGM streaming service

At Comic-Con MGM celebrated the 20th anniversary of Stargate by announcing a new TV show in the series: Stargate Origins. Other than a teaser trailer and news that it will serve as a prequel there isn’t much info about the show, but we know that to watch it, fans will be asked to subscribe to a new streaming service.

Today at #SDCC, @mgm announced Stargate Origins! Check it out on Stargate Command! https://t.co/MDlD2hBq0y https://t.co/W8oGJSqlN3

— Stargate Command (@stargatecommand) July 21, 2017

Dubbed Stargate Command, it’s launching this fall as “the official destination for all things Stargate.” It appears we can expect a platform for pretty much all of the franchise’s related content and fan community. There are apparently more than 380 episodes of Stargate TV shows, so there should be plenty to watch there. Still, even as CBS tries to use the Star Trek franchise to push its CBS All Access service it will be interesting to see how willing fans are to shell out for another subscription just to watch one new show.

Source: Stargate Command

Pokémon Go is getting Legendary monsters for its birthday

Niantic is going all out for Pokémon Go’s first anniversary. In addition to holding the Pokémon Go Fest in Chicago and tie-in events all over the globe, it’s also finally introducing Legendaries into the mobile game. You’ll be able to find Legendary eggs at gyms, but since the Pokémon type is incredibly rare and powerful, you likely won’t find one at every turn. Niantic is also using Legendaries as raid bosses, and if you and your team defeat one, you’ll get the chance to catch one of your own. You can’t use them to defend gyms, but hey, you’ll need to catch them if you want to catch ’em all.

The first Legendary might make an appearance at the Pokémon Go Fest at Grant Park on July 22nd. If the attendees and participants elsewhere catch enough monsters, Niantic will unleash the first Legendary Raid Boss. And if the attendees in Chicago can beat it, the boss will start popping up in Raid Battles all over the world after the festival.

Source: Pokémon Go