Rich Text Formatting on Whatsapp

Rich text formatting (RTF) like feature has been rolled out on the latest version of WhatsApp for android. The version we tried was v2.16.57. Rich text formatting was never expected but in the end, it happens to be a nice surprise by WhatsApp. Those wondering - How to make bold, italics and strikethrough on WhatsApp? Look no further.

As of now, only bold, italics and strikethrough are supported. It is even possible to use a combination.

Make sure you have the updated version of WhatsApp and try out the following things:

1. Bold:

In order to make text bold, enclose it between Asterisk (*) symbol. Eg. *xyz*

2. Italics

In order to make text italics, enclose it between Underscore (_) symbol. Eg. _xyz_

3. Strikethrough 

In order to Strikethrough text, enclose it between Tilt (~) symbol. Eg. ~xyz~

It is possible to use a combination of bold, italics and strikethrough together.

Nest a symbol pair with another symbol pair. Eg: ~_*xyz*_~

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Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are now available

A month after Samsung announced it's flagship devices Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, they have now hit the market. Priced approximately at $810 (USD), prices vary marginally from market to market. While both the devices are identical specifications wise, the Galaxy S7 edge has a larger display, bigger battery and an edge display just like its predecessor Galaxy S6 edge primarily for notifications.

This time, the flagship devices are water resistant with IP68 certification and also have a microSD card slot. The camera seems to be a major improvement packing a 12 MP Dual Pixel camera with support for Motion Panorama, Action Autofocus, Hyperlapse, etc.

Key Specs of both the devices:

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge:

• Curved 5.5 inch Super AMOLED display -1440p resolution; 534ppi
• Gorilla Glass 4 front and rear panels
• IP68 certified 
• USA model: Snapdragon 820 chipset - quad-core Kryo processor (2x 2.15GHz and 2x 1.6GHz cores); Adreno 530 GPU; 4GB of RAM
• Global model: Exynos 8890 chipset - octa-core processor with four 2.6GHz Mongoose and four 1.6GHz Cortex-A53 cores; Mali-T880 MP12 GPU; 4GB of RAM
• 12MP f/1.7 dual pixel camera
• 5MP f/1.7 front-facing camera, 1440p video recording at 30fps
• 32/64GB of built-in storage; microSD slot up to 200GB
• Cat9 4G LTE (450Mbps); Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.2, ANT+, NFC; GPS
• Wireless charging (Qi/PMA)
• 3,600 mAh battery, quick charge

Samsung Galaxy S7:

• 5.1" Super AMOLED display - QHD ,577ppi, 
• Corning Gorilla Glass 4
• Global Model - Exynos 8890 chipset: quad-core 2.6 GHz Mongoose + quad-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A53, Mali-T880 MP12 GPU (our review unit)
• USA Model - Snapdragon 820 chipset: dual-core 2.15 GHz Kryo & dual-core 1.6 GHz Kryo, Adreno 530 GPU
• 4GB of RAM; 32GB/64GB of built-in storage, microSD up to 200GB
• Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
• 12MP camera, dual pixel
• 5MP front-facing camera, f/1.7 aperture, QHD video, HDR
• Fingerprint scanner
• Cat9 4G LTE (450Mbps); , Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, GPS/GLONASS/Beidou, NFC, IR port, Bluetooth 4.2, ANT+
• 3,000mAh battery
• Wireless Charging
• Quick charging 

Both the devices sport a power pack configuration. Hope they can live up to the expectation and take on the monster flagships from Sony, HTC, etc.

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AMD FirePro S-Series offers Hardware based GPU Virtualization

AMD has unveiled the new FirePro S-Series graphics cards. This series is the first one to have GPU Virtualization. AMD calls it the Multi-User GPU (MxGPU) technology.

To simplify further, these cards can be installed on a server to cater to the graphics needs of several PCs simultaneously. Remote computers can connect to the server which has FirePro S-Series cards installed and make use of the unmatched graphics processing capabilities.

The new cards come in two versions - FirePro S7150 and S7150 X2. While the S7150 can support 16 simultaneous users, the S7150 X2 can support up to 32 simultaneous users.

These cards will offer support  for OpenGL, OpenCL and DirectX.

Other than single server support, this series can be installed in a data center to perform heavy duty computations.

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Sony announced the flashy new Xperia Z5 line

Sony has unveiled the latest Xperia Z series - Sony Xperia Z5. This line will include 3 different phones - Xperia Z5 compact, Xperia Z5 and Xperia Z5 Premium. All phones will be available for purchase starting October 2015.

One of the striking features of the flagship Xperia line is the camera and this time is no different. This series will be shipped with a 23MP 1/2.3-inch Exmor RS rear camera sensor with F2.0 G Lens. Snapdragon 810 will be powering these phones with Android Lollipop 5.1.1. Technical specifications wise all 3 phones are similar except for the display. The Z5 compact will have a 4.6 inch display, the Z5 will have a 5.2 inch display and the Z5 premium will have a 5.5 inch screen and a 4K display achieving an astonishing 806 ppi. The power button will now serve as a finger print scanner.

As usual, this flagship series is dust and water resistant with IP68 certification.

Following are some of the press images by Sony.

Xperia Z5 Compact

Xperia Z5

Xperia Z5 Premium

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The flip phones are back in town

Samsung and LG have decided to bring back the flip phones - Samsung Galaxy Folder and LG Gentle; and this time, they come with Android. Both Korean electronic giants announced the launch of their flip phones this month. An android flip phone is something else! We cannot wait to get our hands on one of these phones.

Samsung Galaxy Folder

Key features of Samsung Galaxy Folder:

• 3.8 inches TFT capacitive touch screen
• 480x800 resolution
• 8 GB internal storage with 1.5 GB RAM
• Micro SD slot
• 8 MP rear camera and 2 MP front camera
• Wifi, Bluetooth, GPS
• Android 5.1 Lollipop 
• Quad Core 1.2 GHz processor

While Samsung Galaxy Folder will be available for the global market, it seems as though LG Gentle will be limited to South Korea.

LG Gentle

Key features of LG Gentle:

• 3.2 inches HVGA touch screen
• 1 GB RAM
• 4 GB internal storage 
• Micro SD card slot
• 3 MP front camera
• Android 5.1 Lollipop
• Quad Core 1.1 GHz processor 

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Teclast X98 Air 3G - A dual OS tablet

Teclast X98 AIR 3G is a dual OS tablet that support Android and Windows 8.1; Not Windows 8.1 RT, but the desktop version of Windows. Wondering how is it done? Here is the answer - powered by Intel Bay Trail -T Z3736F processor, a x86 based 64 bit processor which makes it possible to run both Windows and Android on the same hardware architecture.

Intel Bay Trail -T Z3736F is a quad core processor with a clock speed of 2.16 GHz which makes the tablet super fast. With a retina screen and support for 4K video playback, you can enjoy your favorite movies with stunning clarity.

During booting, the boot loader gives you an option to boot either into Windows or into Android. The boot process is seamless.

Some of the key features of this tablet are:

• Intel Bay Trail -T Z3736F 64 bit, 2.16 GHz processor
• 3G support (SIM Slot)
• 2048 x 1536 screen resolution
• 2GB DDR3L RAM
• 32 GB eMMC (Internal Storage)
• GPS with upgraded satellite antenna 
• Bluetooth 4.0
• Windows 8.1 and Android 4.4

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Combine bandwidth of two or more internet connections

How many times have you felt the need for additional bandwidth? How many times did you wish that you had more broadband speed? Well, all you need is two or more internet connections and a magical device called - bandwidth aggregation router or load balancing router which combines bandwidth of two or more internet connections. These routers have more than two WAN ports and at least one LAN port.

I have used TP-Link TL-R470T, which has 4 WAN ports. Speeds from 4 different internet connections can be combined. P2P fans will take this router as a blessing. Any application that opens multiple sockets performs excellently with this router as the bandwidth aggregation is just sublime.

It is possible to combine DSL connections, 3G connections (with the 3G sharing device), etc. 

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Sony launches Xperia Z4 tablet

Sony announced the launch of Xperia Z4 Tablet at MWC 2015 in Barcelona. Although Sony delayed the launch it's flagship device Xperia Z4, we are not all too disappointed as we can't wait to get our hands on this 10.1 inch tablet. As usual, this is going to be a waterproof tablet.

Some of the key features of this tablet are:

• GSM/HSPA/LTE Support
• 10.1 inches IPS LCD Capacitive touchscreen
• Multi-touch support
• Scratch-resistant glass
• Android v5.0 Lollipop
• Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810 Chipset
• Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & Quad-core 2 GHz Cortex-A57 CPU
• microSD, up to 128 GB
• 32 GB Internal storage and 3 GB RAM
• 8.1 MP Primary camera and 5.1 MP secondary camera
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac support

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