Brazil Finally Allows WhatsApp Pay

Technology-Portfolio.Net - WhatsApp has re-launched the WhatsApp Pay payment service in Brazil. The payment service WhatsApp Pay was suspended by Brazil's Central Bank in June 2020, just days after its launch.

Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced the return of this payment service in a video that was shown in Brazil.

In the video, Mark Zuckerberg talks about how payment information added to WhatsApp will work on Facebook and Instagram.

According to the Head of Facebook Financial, David Marcus, "the payment service WhatsApp Pay being rolled back in Brazil will be part of a phased rollout effort."

It seems that Facebook is serious about returning the WhatsApp Pay service to Brazil, one of which can be seen from the video uploaded to promote the payment service.

Not only that, Facebook also published a page stating that the Facebook Pay payment system that underlies WhatsApp Pay has been authorized by the Central Bank.

When the WhatsApp Pay service was first launched in Brazil, the country's central bank suspended operations. The reason is, there are concerns about competition among payment systems.

Brazil's Central Bank said it plans to evaluate whether the Facebook-owned service complies with regulations.

At the time, Facebook said it had been in contact with authorities before the WhatsApp Pay service was launched.

In late March 2021, Reuters reported, Brazil's Central Bank had approved the service, after Facebook obtained official approval to run the payments service.

In a Facebook press release, WhatsApp users will be able to connect debit, prepaid, or combo cards from several banks that work together to process their payments.

Previously on June 15, 2020, the WhatsApp Pay service officially operated in Brazil. This was conveyed by Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg through his personal page. Brazil became the first country where WhatsApp Pay was widely launched.

"Brazil became the first country in the world where we launched a payment service on WhatsApp," Zuckerberg said.

He said that with the presence of the payment service WhatsApp Pay in Brazil, users could send and receive money as easily as sending photos.

WhatsApp Pay, according to Zuckerberg, is also claimed to make it easier for small businesses to make financial transactions through the messaging application.

"To enable transactions, we developed Facebook Pay which provides a secure and consistent way to transact across our app platforms," ​​Zuckerberg said.

For your information, Zuckerberg also said, WhatsApp Pay can run thanks to collaboration with a number of local bank partners. They include Banco do Brasil, Nubank, Sicredi, and Cielo, merchant payment processors in Brazil.

Google Restricts Applications To Access User Information

Technology-Portfolio.Net - Google will be more selective with applications on the Google Play Store that can see what applications are already installed on the user's smartphone.

Although it seems harmless, the list of applications installed on the user's smartphone can inform the developer of the user's information. For example, dating preferences to political affiliations.

Starting May 5, 2021, the developer must provide reasons to Google regarding why the application accesses application installation information on the user's smartphone.

Android 11 applications currently requesting the "QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES" permission can view the complete list of applications installed on the user's device. However, Google recently updated its Developer Program Policies.

Where, now the application information installed on the user's smartphone is classified as sensitive personal data of the user.

Restrict Permission Access to the Application

Accordingly, Google will limit which applications are allowed to obtain information regarding the complete list of applications installed on the user's smartphone.

When these changes take effect in May, applications can only obtain permissions, if their core functions require wide visibility into the applications installed on the user's smartphone.

Examples are file manager applications, browsers, and antivirus applications that require data for interoperability purposes. "Banking applications, digital wallet applications, and other applications that involve financial transaction functionality will be licensed for security purposes," said Google.

Naughty Developers Can Be Kicked from Google Play

Apps that don't function properly but request visibility permission access could run the risk of being removed from the Google Play Store.

For this reason, all developers who wish to retain permission access in their applications need to complete a declaration form that guarantees its use in accordance with its function.

If you're concerned that users may still abuse permissions, Google's documentation clearly states that this will impact the app.

Google may suspend apps and may terminate developer accounts if they commit violations.

Google Assistant Now Can Say Difficult Names

Technology-Portfolio.Net - The use of Google Assistant is increasingly being used by users, because there are more and more things that can be done, such as playing music or calling contacts.

However, it is not uncommon for obstacles to arise in the pronunciation of difficult names to contact. As a result, Google Assistant doesn't recognize him or mispronounces his name.

In response to that problem, now Google Assistant has added the latest update for the pronunciation of names that are difficult or require special pronunciation.

"We want Google Assistant to recognize and pronounce people's names as accurately as possible, especially the less common ones," the company wrote in a blog post.

This feature will later allow users to provide examples of the pronunciation of names that the Google Assistant system will accept. That way, the system will be better able to recognize names that are quite difficult to pronounce.

This feature will be released in the next few days, with the temporary support language is English.

"We hope to expand into more languages soon," he said.

Smart Speaker

The next update regarding Google Assistant is the capability in Google's Smart Speaker.

This smart speaker is recorded as the most frequently commanded to set an alarm. Then, the user sometimes assigns multiple tasks in one command. This is what sometimes becomes a problem and the alarms are not loaded properly.

With the updates currently included, Google Assistant will be able to better understand the context that what its users are speaking. For example, after activating two alarms, the user wants to turn off one of them. The system will understand when the user orders even with sentences that are not exactly the same.

"Please turn off the second alarm," for example.

With this capability, Google Assistant is predicted to be 100 percent accurate in understanding the context of the alarm command.

BERT Technology

Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) machine learning capabilities are behind the development of the feature.

To complement it, the company redesigned the NLU Assistant model to better understand context. That is, this model can find out empirically what the user commands mean.

BERT was first discovered in 2018 and is used in Search which allows the processing of various but related words.

Thus, the BERT capability will make the conversation between Google Assistant and its users appear more natural. The system is able to understand what the user is doing when opening the smartphone.

11 Hidden Features in Android 11

Photo: Blog Google

Technology-Portfolio.net - Google recently launched Android 11, which was not exclusively released for Google Pixel devices.

Android 11 can also be downloaded for OnePlus, Oppo X2, and Reno 3 smartphones through their respective open beta programs.

This latest release focuses on making it easier for you to do important things on your phone, such as managing conversations, connected devices, privacy, and more. To introduce you to it, here are 11 new capabilities that are coming with Android 11.

Google informs that Android 11 will roll out to more partner vendors and smartphones in the next few months. But unfortunately, the technology giant did not reveal the exact date when Android 11 will slide more widely globally.

This latest release focuses on making it easier for users to do various important things on smartphones, such as managing conversations, connected devices, privacy, and more.

For more details, here are 11 hidden Android 11 features that you must know.

The advantages of Android 11

1. Many of us have to frequently switch applications when communicating using text messages. In Android 11, the conversations from the various messaging apps that you have will be provided in a special room in the notification section, so you can manage the conversation more easily. You can also prioritize the conversations of the people who matter most so you don't miss their messages.

2. The balloon feature allows you to seamlessly perform multiple activities at once on your device. Now you can respond to important conversations without having to switch back and forth between the applications you are currently open, including the messaging application.

3. The default setting for screen recording is finally available. Now you can record and share what's happening on your smartphone. Record with the included sound from the microphone, device, or both (no extra app required).

4. You can now access all your smart devices in one place, simply by pressing and holding the power button. Control connected devices such as smart TVs and smart speakers with one tap without having to open multiple applications.

5. The media control design has been updated and now makes it much easier. You can also switch media-playing devices, so you can transfer music from headphones to speakers without missing a single note.

6. Android Auto now works wirelessly for all phones running Android 11, provided you have a compatible vehicle. This way, you can continue to use the best features of your phone without annoying cables while driving, such as activating directions with one tap, having your smartphone send text messages via voice commands, playing your favorite media, and getting help from the Google Assistant.

7. The one-time permission feature allows you to grant one-time access to the device's most sensitive sensor features such as: microphone, camera and location. If in the future you need access to the device sensors again, an app must re-ask you for permission.

8. When it has not been used for a long time, we recommend that an application is not allowed to continue to access data. Now, Android will "auto reset" permissions for long-unused apps and notify you about this. You can always give the app permission again when you want to use it.

9. With the additional Google Play system update module, there will be more security and privacy fixes that can be delivered to your phone immediately from Google Play, in the same way as the app updating process. Once a fix is ​​available, you'll get it without waiting for a full OS update.

10. For Android Enterprise users, Android 11 provides the company-owned devices you use with the privacy protections typically available on personal devices. IT departments can use a set of tools to manage your devices through your work profile, without monitoring any data or activity that you do on your personal profile.

11. If you're using the Pixel 2 or later, you'll get a number of additional tools for organizing and managing your phone, such as app suggestions based on your daily routine. Also new actions that let you select text or an image, or take a screenshot of an app, and so on.

Google Releases Android 11 Go, A Powerful OS For Small RAM Smartphones

Photo: Google

Technology-Portfolio.net - After announcing a few days ago the stable version of the latest Android 11, Google again announced the Android 11 Go Edition, which is intended for devices with 2GB RAM or less.

This new version of Android for entry level devices brings several performance improvements and the latest privacy features.

Google says that Android 11 Go Edition can increase app launch times by 20 percent compared to Android 10 Go Edition.

Not only that, Gi's Android device will also get the same security and privacy features as those available on regular Android 11 devices. It includes one-time permissions, and auto-reset for apps that haven't been used for a long time.

Android 11 Go Edition also includes support for gesture navigation. This makes sense considering that the Android Go device is getting bigger and bigger.

In addition, there is also a conversations application that allows you to reply to messages directly from the notification.

Google itself has upgraded Android 11 Go support to devices with up to 2GB RAM, from the previous limit of 1.5GB. Additional RAM is said to provide up to 900MB of space, and also an additional 270MB of free memory. This will allow users to run more applications without lag, even for playing games.

Android 11 Go Edition will be available starting next month. It is confirmed that if your device is a Nokia made by HMD Global, the update will be available immediately.

In addition, smartphones with Android 11 Go Edition will also appear on the market as soon as possible.

Samsung Patents Smartphone Camera 6 Lens and Can Move

Photo: Youtube.com

Technology-Portfolio.net - Samsung has just patented a technology that features a configuration of six camera lenses.

Not only that, each camera lens sensor that is believed to be embedded in the Samsung Galaxy S30, can move and tilt separately.

This capability is based on a patent entitled "Apparatus and methods for operating multiple cameras for digital photography".

Based on the rendering design made by LetsGoDigital, there are five wide-angle lenses and one telephoto paired with an LED flash.

But it is not the number of Galaxy S30 lenses that are of concern, but the ability of the mobile camera sensor to move / tilt.

Can Focus in Different Directions

This means that each camera on the Galaxy S30 can look in a different direction from the others, or where the user directs the focus of his smartphone.

Not only that, the camera capability on the Galaxy S30 is also predicted to have a number of improvements in various ways compared to the Galaxy S series that are already on the market today.

Some believe, the lens of the Galaxy S30 camera will have a higher focal length, the ability to take low light photos better, HDR is more enhanced, and the ability to add bokeh effects to panoramic photos.