Apps

Twitter will now let you tweet with your voice

Now speak to your followers directly!

Published

June 18, 2020

Shivam Vahia

Twitter is a micro-blogging platform that’s essentially built on text-based content. These text-based posts are called tweets and currently have a character limit of 280. To make things more interesting, the social networking platform is rolling out a new feature that’ll let you tweet with your voice.

The company said it’s allowing a “limited group” of iOS users to create tweets with their voice. In the coming weeks, all iOS users should have access to voice tweets.

Voice notes can be added alongside regular tweets, to add context to them. Twitter hasn’t made any changes to retweets or replies on voice notes, which function as they always have.

In simpler terms, it’s a creative and different way of sharing your thoughts instead of just typing. Twitter explained, “We’re testing a new feature that will add a more human touch to the way we use Twitter — your very own voice.”

^-^ pic.twitter.com/aCaIA5lpUk

— ❀ ✿ (@momoringtiny) June 17, 2020

The new format of tweets can also be considered as an accessibility feature. Each tweet captures 140 seconds of audio and a new voice note will start if you cross that limit. A thread will be automatically made with a new tweet in connection if you exceed the maximum duration.

Twitter said it hopes voice tweets will add a “more human touch” to the platform and noted that sometimes 280 characters aren’t enough to convey a message. However, it remains to be seen how the platform is able to moderate these voice notes. Abusive language could find a safe haven in this new format and with wider usage, keeping a tab will be even more difficult.

Apps

How to get NBA League Pass with your telco provider

There are two package options

Published

September 23, 2020

Rodneil Quiteles

NBA action is in full swing. In fact, it has been since August when the season restarted following a shut down that was caused by the dreaded Coronavirus pandemic. As of writing, we’re in the thick of the Conference Finals series. If you want to catch all the action, here’s how you can get NBA League Pass through different telecomm providers in the Philippines.

It’s now easier than ever to get access to the games legally. All of Smart, PLDT, and Globe are offering the same price packages.

PhP 85 — Watch any three games of your choice
PhP 485 — 30-day pass for all games including live and on-demand

Here’s how to get the subscription for each provider.

Smart Postpaid and Prepaid
(Also works with TNT and SUN Postpaid)

Download the NBA app (iOS / Android /APKPure)
On the app, click on the icon at the top-right corner
Click sign-in
A banner on top of the page will appear for Smart, Sun and TNT subscribers
Click ‘Get Started’
Enter mobile number for verification and a one-time PIN which will be sent to your mobile number
Choose your provider: Smart, TNT or Sun.
Choose your NBA League Pass Package (3-game or 30-days) and enter mobile number
Confirm your payment by entering the one-time PIN sent to your mobile number
Click NBA logo and start watching

PLDT Home

Go to pldthome.com/nbaleaguepass
Select your preferred package
The amount will be added to your next bill
PLDT will give a voucher
Download and sign-in to the NBA app
Enter the voucher in the promotion code field
Click NBA logo and start watching

Globe

Open the GCash app
Go to Buy Load
Look for the PayTV tab
Choose your preferred package. (Note: The chosen package is valid for 90 days).
Confirm payment
Open the NBA app and enjoy!

As mentioned earlier, we’re no in the Conference Finals with four teams remaining. Dueling in the West are the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets. Meanwhile in the East, it’s a battle between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics.

A new NBA champion will likely be crowned in the next 30 days so now is the best time to subscribe!

Apps

Twitter is probing its AI’s racial bias in picture previews

They’re working on improving it

Published

September 21, 2020

Shivam Vahia

Twitter uses a neural network to show you relevant previews of all the pictures that are posted on the microblogging platform. If the image contains text, the area is prioritized for a preview. Similarly, human faces are also given preference.

The preview makes it easier for the viewer to get a gist of the tweet without the compulsion of opening the entire picture. Although, the feature isn’t up-to mark since a lot of users have complained about the AI’s racial bias.

Several users posted a picture that has both, a white man and a black man’s face. But the preview often shows the white man’s face only. Users noticed the difference after a similar anomaly was observed on Zoom, where the facial recognition technology failed to identify a black man’s face, but had no trouble when the skin tone was changed.

Trying a horrible experiment…

Which will the Twitter algorithm pick: Mitch McConnell or Barack Obama? pic.twitter.com/bR1GRyCkia

— Tony “Abolish (Pol)ICE” Arcieri 🦀 (@bascule) September 19, 2020

Liz Kelley from Twitter’s communication team said they had tested the neural system for bias, but didn’t come across gender or racial bias during testing. She also confirmed that they’ve got more analysis to do and shall be open-sourcing all the work for others to review and replicate.

Twitter’s Chief Design Officer Dantley Davis and Chief Technology Officer Parag Agrawal were quick to acknowledge the shortcoming and said they’re “investigating” the neural network.

Apps

TikTok and WeChat will be banned from app stores in the US

So, did the Oracle deal go through?

Published

September 18, 2020

Shivam Vahia

After months of escalating, the US Commerce Department has announced it’ll ban business transactions with TikTok and WeChat. The two apps are owned by Chinese giants ByteDance and Tencent, respectively.

Practically, you won’t be able to directly download the app via stores like Play Store and App Store. Furthermore, companies are also barred from hosting these apps in the US. Essentially, the user won’t be able to download the app from third-party websites that are hosted in the US.

It also blocks US companies from providing services through WeChat “for the purpose of transferring funds or processing payments within the U.S.”

However, it remains unclear whether the announcement means the Oracle-TikTok deal won’t be going through. The Trump administration wanted ByteDance to sell its local TikTok operations to an American company.

In the last few months, multiple American giants like Walmart, Twitter, and Microsoft were interested in getting their piece of TikTok. But things haven’t moved smoothly and the Chinese government isn’t keen on handing over TikTok’s algorithm to an American company.

While Oracle has been chosen for a deal with ByteDance, the latter continues to maintain that the ongoing process isn’t an acquisition and Oracle shall be a technology partner. This is in stark contrast to what President Trump envisions as a business takeover.

The app ban could be a tactic to pressure the Chinese, but we can’t be certain of that right now. Going by the latest statements, it’s clear that the administration wants to completely block user’s access to these apps and is willing to go the extra mile.