Author: Henry R. Lares

Henry Lares is still early into his career as tech reporter but has already had his work published in many major publications including Tech Crunch and the Huffington Post.  In regards to academics, Henry earned an engineering degree from Apex Technical School. Henry has a passion for emerging technology and covers upcoming products and breakthroughs in science and tech.

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News Tech

Android Users Receive WhatsApp Picture-in-Picture Mode

WhatsApp’s latest update came with the picture-in-picture mode. This feature is only available for Android users, as iOS users have already received it more than a year ago. For those who don’t know, the PiP mode allows users to watch videos from third-party sources within the WhatsApp application. This is a lot more convenient. For example, if a friend sends you a link, you won’t have to leave the chat in order to watch it. And when you are done you can reply right away.

Some Android users were able to test this mode since October, as PiP became available in the beta version of WhatsApp for Android. Since the feature worked smoothly, it was finally time to add it to the app. If this feature is not available yet for you, go to Google Play Store and download the latest WhatsApp version.

Watching videos in the app

The update allows you to watch videos from various websites while still in the WhatsApp application. You can watch videos from Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and others. When tapping the video you won’t be directed to the external page. Each video will have a blurred thumbnail, as well as the logo of the platform.

Once you start playing a video it will cover the top half of the window chat. If you wish to, you can make it play on the entire screen. The video bar will also be available, which means that you will be able to scroll to the videos if you want to skip certain parts.

WhatsApp version 2.18.380 is the version that comes with the Picture-in-Picture mode. Make sure that you update your app in order to use it. PiP works for all compatible Android devices, and it works in both group chats and individual ones.

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News Tech

The Cydia Store for Jailbroken iOS Devices is Being Shut Down

The latest tendencies from the mobile industry led to some changes. It looks like in 2018 people were not as fond on jailbreaking an iOS device as they used to be considering few believe jailbreaking is safe anymore. This low interest caused the Cydia store for jailbroken devices to reach the end of its era.

Jay Freeman, also known as “Saurik”, the founder of Cydia, announced that the associated store is being shut down through a post on Reddit. He added that his intention was to complete this process until the end of 2018, but now he will wait for the final report.

The main reasoning behind Freeman’s choice is that the Cydia store costs him a lot of money and it’s not worth it. The store was necessary for completing some jailbreaks, but now things have gone too far. Saurik said that most of his costs won’t be covered even if he shuts the Cydia store down. He still needs many terabytes of bandwidth every month for hosting the repositories he just archived, but it will be his responsibility to keep covering for these costs.

What will happen to those who have made purchases from the Cydia store?

In what these people are concerned, Freeman says that he is planning to maintain the possibility of downloading already existing packages. He is keeping this feature because it is a lot easier for him to monitor the accounting and the way backend execution works.

The Cydia store was very useful for jailbroken iOS devices, because it allowed them to purchase and download tweaks and items for customizing their operating systems. Customization of iOS is a process promoted by Apple for years, but in this case jailbreaking becomes useless. Apple fans are curious to see what will happen to the jailbreaking community after the Cydia store is being shut down.

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News Tech

SHAREit New Version Available to Download with High Speed Improvements

As the name suggests SHAREit is one of the most well-known sharing app that are currently available. The app allows users to intuitively share a variety of files in a quick and secure manner.

One of the drawbacks of a smartphone is that data transfer between two or more devices takes a long amount of time before it is completed. Transferring files via Bluetooth often seems to be the most accessible method but in reality you may end up waiting several minutes in order to transfer a single PDF document form one device to another.

The process can be speed up by using a PC and a USB cable but in most cases it is inconvenient since the process is boring and you have to first copy the file on the PC and then paste it on the device, effectively waiting twice for what should be a single task.

SHAREit is an innovative app that allows users to quickly send important files to the other devices in a matter of minutes. The service uses the local Wi-Fi connection on order to transfer the data at blazing speeds while also keeping it safe from any potential danger.

Here are just a few features that make SHAREit a great app:

The app is very fast, supporting a maximum transfer speed of up to 20 MB/s, allowing users to transfer large files like app data and high-quality video content.

A built-in streaming platform allows users to browse and view a variety of HD videos ranging from funny vines to interesting documentaries that can help you learn new and valuable information.

Users can transfer a rich variety of files including music, photos, videos, whole apps and app data, eBooks, PDFS and many more.

Personalize your devices with a selection of beautiful wallpapers and stickers that complement your style.

In the latest update app performance has been improved. Files can now be transferred faster while videos are easier to stream.

Interested users can find the app on the Play Store. It is also available for other platforms.

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Crypto

A Simplified Guide to Understanding Cryptocurrency Trading Pairs

Cryptocurrencies are inherently difficult to understand; you’ll need to first understand the complexities of the underlying blockchain technology, and then, you’ll need to learn the basics of technical and fundamental analysis. The worst part is that you’ll still need to deal with the incredibly volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market because of its high degree of speculation.

Thankfully, tons of resources, online and offline, have been devoted to demystifying the cryptocurrency trading process. However, of the core tenets of cryptocurrency trading; the cryptocurrency trading pair has not received much attention. This piece provides a simplified overview of cryptocurrency trading pairs for people who don’t have prior experience in trading stocks, forex, or other financial instruments.

Fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies

Fiat currencies are the common government-minted currencies such as the USD, GBP, Euro, and Yen. Cryptocurrencies are decentralized currencies that are not subject to the monetary policies of governments or their agents. To start trading cryptocurrencies, you’ll need to first convert your fiat currency into a cryptocurrency. There are more than 2,000 cryptocurrencies in the market but only a handful of them can be bought directly with a fiat currency.

The “conversion” of fiat currencies to cryptocurrencies is typically done on cryptocurrency exchanges. You should be able to convert fiat to crypto if you start trading on eToro, or other exchanges. In most instance, you’ll only be able to buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash with your fiat currency.

Base cryptocurrencies and altcoins

A base cryptocurrency is the cryptocurrency against which all other altcoins are quoted on an exchange. The most popular base cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Litecoin (LTC). Most of the exchanges where you can buy altcoins typically won’t allow you to buy them directly with fiat currencies. After you must have bought BTC or ETH with fiat, you can use the BTC or ETH to buy the other altcoins that you may want to trade.

The price of base cryptocurrencies is usually quoted against the price of your home/domestic currency.  In the chart below, the price of Bitcoin is quoted against the USD, and this is true for other base cryptocurrencies on other exchanges.

In contrast, the price of other altcoins is usually quoted against BTC, ETH, or other base cryptocurrencies as seen in the chart below. The price of Ripple (XRP) is 0.00008895BTC, the price of Stellar (XLM) is 0.00002996BTC, and the price of EOS is 0.00059530BTC.

The simplest way to understand the price of altcoins when quoted in a base cryptocurrency is to think of the quoted price as a ratio. The USD value of BTC is about $3,280 and the USD price of Ripple is about $0.29, which gives us a ratio of about 1: 0.00008895. In the chart above, it will cost 0.00008895BTC to buy 1 XRP.

Calculating the value of your cryptocurrency gains/losses

The first way to calculate the value of your cryptocurrency gains/losses is to use a tool that shows you the relative value of the coins in USD or your native currency. Coin Market Cap shows the price of all listed cryptocurrencies, their 24-hour volume, their market cap, and their price charts, and their ranking among other cryptocurrencies.

The second way to calculate the value of your cryptocurrency gains or losses is watch the movement in value of your altcoins relative to the value of the base currency. When for instance, if you bought 1 BCH at 0.025TC, if 1BCH now becomes 0.050BTC, it means that the value of your BCH has jumped 50% against Bitcoin and selling your BCH now will net you 0.050BTC as opposed to the 0.025BTC you had when you originally spent to buy 1 BCH.

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News Tech

LINE: Everything You Need to Know About The 8.19.1 Version

LINE has got to re-form correspondence around the world, enabling you to appreciate messaging as well as free voice and video calls wherever you get yourself around the globe.

LINE’s most recent highlights

Intimate discussions or vast round tables can happen anyplace with group video calls

Talk with up to 200 companions in your group at the same time. You get to enjoy face to face video chats and personal video talks with your companions, too.

You can use polls to observe what your companions think about a certain topic rapidly. Also, stay away from protracted discussions and settle on choices effectively by making a poll.

LINE’s fundamental highlights

Free voice and video calls anyplace, whenever

You get to enjoy extraordinary quality calls at free of charge, regardless of where you are. Indeed, even global calls with up to 200 individuals in the meantime are totally free. Use effects and filters for considerably increasingly fun amid video calls. However, you need to keep in mind that this component may not be accessible on specific gadgets.

Convenient talks where the sky is the limit. You can share messages, photographs, stickers, voice messages, and locations effectively with your companions.

It’s fun and simple to utilize the app. You can share with your companions on your timeline everything you do, with messages, videos and location.

Find the most prevalent characters at the Sticker Shop

There are hundreds of free stickers from which you can choose from, and they’re all about everyone’s favorite characters. Browse an assortment of LINE sticker sets to liven up your messages in your own interesting way.

Auto-sync up your gadget and PC

Regardless of whether you’re all in with the mobile version or you’re connected with the desktop version utilizing your PC or Mac, your LINE talks are dependably updated and adjusted naturally over all variants.

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