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News Tech

Google Play Services (Android TV) 12.6.85 – Improved Stability and Performance

Android P is scheduled to come out during the upcoming months and even though Google is hard at work to make sure that its upcoming operating system runs perfectly, the Android parent keeps releasing updates to all its other software and services. In fact, Google Play Services for Android TV has just received a major update!

Google Play Services

Google Play Services is an important component in the Android operating system, but the funny thing about it is that most people have no idea what it does. There are hundreds of cases where people delete Google Play Services from their smartphones or TV sets and then they are left wondering to why nothing works as it used to.

This feature has many uses, but its most popular one is allowing other apps to update themselves automatically. Not just that, but Google Play Services is used for core functionalities such as authenticating to other Google services and synchronizing contact information.

Google Play Services (Android TV) 12.6.85 Update

As previously mentioned, there is a new update that changes Google Play Services version number to 12.6.85. The new update is available for Android TV at the moment and it contains a couple of important software changes.

Android TV users will not be able to see any graphical updates to their UI (user interface) or new features, but the software itself will be improved. The new update is packed with bug fixes which remove known issues and make sure that Google Play Services for Android TV runs as it is supposed to.

Android Package Kit

The update will start rolling out through OTA (over the air) channels to everyone in the upcoming days, but eager Android TV fans can get their hands on it by downloading the APK version. We should mention that APK updates need to be manually downloaded and installed.

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Crypto

Bitcoin (BTC): Win 1 BTC For Solving A Puzzle On Reddit – Are You Up For It?

Reddit users were surprised a few days ago with a new puzzle that will give away 1 Bitcoin (BTC) to whoever manages to solve it. The puzzle is contained in an image that features the Bitcoin (BTC) logo surrounded by words that allude to the technology that gave life to it. According to its author, the key to finding the solution is contained in Bitcoin’s white paper, written in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto.

The publication was made by an Internet user nicknamed Cryptogreetings, who accompanied the image with the phrase “A bitcoin is contained in this puzzle. Good luck!”

Additionally, in an update, the author added that the image contains, in logarithmic scale, the ideas that inspired Satoshi Nakamoto to create the distributed accounting technology:

This work is composed of the words from Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper, in logarithmic scale. The ideas that inspired Satoshi to create a solution that would revolutionize the modern economy and industry in a scattered manner. This paper reflects on the elements that gave life to this technology and challenges the underlying security model. Hidden in plain sight lies a treasure hunt. A BTC is hidden in this work.

Cryptogreetings, Reddit User

The last similar puzzle rewarded with Bitcoin (BTC) has been solved in 3 years

To verify that the reward announcement is legitimate, Cryptogreetings added a link to the address where the Bitcoin (BTC) was uploaded, which has received small transactions, as of May 19th, to make a total of 1,00152936 BTC, at this moment.

The addition of small sums to this address could be the result of testing by those interested in solving the riddle. The reward currently stands at $8,200 worth of bitcoin on the CoinMarketCap portal.

This announcement was quickly acclaimed by the community and the fact that the reward has increased some satoshis in just two days is reminiscent of the puzzle known as “The Legend of Satoshi Nakamoto”, which took three years to be deciphered and gradually increased its reward to a total of 5 BTC, to be finally solved in November last year.

A large number of comments have accompanied the Reddit thread in which the image was published, and in solidarity with the users, they have shared their findings to contribute to the construction of the solution.

If you want to give it a try, here is the 1 BTC-worth puzzle.

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Crypto

ETHLend CMO, Nolvia Serrano, Talked About The Future Of The Platform During The Blockchain Summit 2018

At the Blockchain Summit 2018 (Chile), Nolvia Serrano, the CMO of ETHLend, a blockchain-based cryptocurrency lending platform, talked about the project she represents, commented on its history and debated its future aspirations.

ETHLend is a decentralized financial market that has been built on Ethereum (ETH) blockchain network. This market allows for peer-to-peer, user-to-user loan agreements between lenders and borrowers around the world, using blockchain and smart contracts.

Nolvia Serrano, CMO of ETHLend

ETHLend ICO raised more than $17 million in just three days in December 2017

During her presentation at the Blockchain Summit Latam 2018, Nolvia Serrano described how a group of young people with no reputation in the blockchain ecosystem managed to create a global network and a great team to build a decentralized lending platform – ETHLend.

Believing in decentralization, they did not wait for investors and decided to bet on an initial currency offer (ICO), which by December 2017 managed to raise $17 million dollars in just three days, an important milestone, given the small budget they began with.

Nolvia also attributes the success of this cryptocurrency lending platform to the fact that it was not only a white paper project but also a prototype already built, which could be evaluated by the public, and therefore, has attracted the attention of media such as Bloomberg, Forbes and The Observer, as well as being finalists for the LendIt 2018 awards for the FinTech industry.

She also explained that the platform works to make peer-to-peer loan agreements with smart blockchain contracts. It is not the person but the code that is trusted because the smart contracts guarantee that if a debt is not paid, the amount of the guarantee will be given to the lender.

What’s next for ETHLend?

Among the future plans of the increasingly popular blockchain-based cryptocurrency lending platform, there is, at first, the desire to provide greater liquidity to people who invest in cryptocurrency

On the other hand, loans in various ERC-20 tokens and enabling investment in other projects will be improved in the future. Besides, ETHLend aims to get involved more in startups financing.

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News Tech

Choosing Between a Limited Company and an Umbrella Company – What’s the Wisest Choice?

If you’re considering ditching permanent employment and moving towards freelancing and or contracting there are a few things that are really worth taking into consideration. You have to analyze your options and usually, there are two main choices involved: setting your own limited company and working via an umbrella payroll service. As there are pros and cons to each of the solutions, it’s best to learn a thing or two about them in order to be able to make an informed decision to best suit your needs.

What’s an umbrella company?

An umbrella company is similar to an employer to agency contractors. It provides full employment rights to contractors, and these include holiday pay, sick pay and more.

Advantages of an umbrella company

  • You will be able to enhance your take-home pay by reducing income tax, and you can also claim your business expenses that result in maximum take-home pay.
  • Such an option allows more time for finishing the contract by handling all the admin work, and this means that you will be able to focus on your work without the hassle of dealing with taxes and invoices.
  • This is the ideal option for contractors who come under the IR35 tax. An umbrella company such as https://www.umbrellacompany.net/ will provide employment cover and this way it will help contractors under the tax mentioned above make the most of their status.

Downsides of an umbrella company

  • You will not be able to enjoy the independence that you would have if you had your very own limited company simply because you’re not the director.
  • Umbrella services provider will make you remain with them for a certain period of time.
  • They can also charge you a great deal of money for their services, and this means that you will end up paying more compared to a limited company.

What is a limited company?

A limited company makes you the only owner of that firm, and you will take full responsibility for financial matters. You can maintain the accounts by yourself, or you can hire an accountant. You’ll also have complete control over your money.

Advantages of a limited company

  • You will enjoy the full independence of making your own policies and save as much tax as you can.
  • You will save more tax compared to an umbrella company because you will have full control over the business policies and other affairs and you can opt for tax efficiency.
  • You will have full freedom over the financial matters, and you’ll get to enjoy increased income.
  • The risk of losing your money is null because you will get the payment directly.

Downsides of a limited company

  • If you decide to set up a limited company, you’ll need a lot of time and resources. There’s a procedure that you will have to follow for incorporating your company because it is a legal person. New rights will get created, and you’ll have lots of duties and liabilities as the director.
  • You’ll need extra time to finish the admin work, and you’ll have to deal with taxes and invoices among others.
  • If you come under the IR35 tax, you will not be able to take any advantages of setting a limited company, and you’ll have to pay more taxes compared to an umbrella company.
  • You will probably have to hire some people especially an accountant, and this will trigger even more costs that could even surpass the fee that you would have to give to an umbrella company.

Closing words

Keeping all these in mind, consider all advantages and cons for each option and choose what suits your needs best.

Categories
News Tech

Apple Gives Up the Actual Design – The Change Occurs Now

A new iPhone X variant for tech- lovers

The enigma regards the name of the new “baby-tech”. It is unclear whether what we are looking is the ‘iPhone SE2’ (expected to be called the iPhone SE, again) or the ‘iPhone X SE’ (unlikely to be its final name), which means is a more expensive model – though still extremely affordable by expansion of the iPhone X line.

Apple adopts a hybrid design. The phone will be added a glass back to enable wireless charging. Unfortunately, the new model will not keep the iPhone SE’s headphone jack. But the changes are not always bad, right?

All about its dimensions

It supposes a bezel-less front display and Face ID technology, but the size is the same a little bit smaller than iPhone SE. New iPhone’s dimensions as 121.04 x 55.82 mm (4.8 x 2.2-inches) – fractionally smaller than the 123.8 x 58.6 mm (4.87 x 2.31-inches) of the iPhone SE. So the display is approximately 5-inches, given the iPhone X a 5.8-inch display, bigger than the 4.7-inch of  iPhone 8.

Probably Apple will only produce a second generation iPhone X and larger iPhone X Plus later this year. Even the most trustful sources cannot predict what model will be. If you ask me, then I would like to see an ‘iPhone SE 2’. I will also like it to be cheaper, but I guess this new model may be an internal upgrade of the current SE, so the price will be set near iPhone X and iPhone X Plus.

Anyway, I am surprised by the fact that the bigger models are getting cheaper, so this new model, which will be smaller than the older ones, have a great potential of being set at a higher price.

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