Instagram Is Allowing Some Users To Make Reels And Stories Using The Same Camera

Instagram is updating its interface, adding a new feature via which people can make Reels using the platform's default Story camera.

Reels has evolved from a taking-off feature to being a fully self-stabilizing rocket that's frankly redefined Instagram's success in new ways. Reels, which is essentially just a TikTok ripoff, have been taking off massively across Instagram handles. Between massive creator programs that pay healthy sums of money depending on the views a Reel generates, and the younger generation's affinity for such short-form content, Instagram makes Reels come together effectively.

I genuinely never thought someone would be able to emulate even a quarter of TikTok's success; watching Instagram get pretty close despite itself evokes mixed feelings in me. Sure, there's the fact that TikTok has healthy marketplace competition now, but that competition comes from a platform owned by Meta, which is a company I truly despise. Oh, well, not much we can do but pet Zuckerberg earns billions.

Naturally, Reels lends itself rather effectively to short-form content. However, there's another Instagram feature that does the same: Stories are essentially just small snippets of day-to-day updates and activities, crammed into an easy-to-scroll-through interface. Making the jump from this to Reels is honestly not a bad decision to come to. Instagram noticed this as well and decided to bind the two features together. That's right: Instagram will now allow users to film Reels using the same camera used for Stories.

Off the bat, compartmentalizing the two features might make it easier for the average individual to make it through Instagram. However, adding Stories and Reels into the same camera makes for a much smoother, cohesive interface. It's the ultimate short-form, two-one combo; or at least I imagine that's how Instagram sees the feature. I'm relatively indifferent, honestly.

The feature, revealed by social media leaker Alessandra Paluuzzi, is currently being A/B tested and will be released to the general public soon after.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Smartphone Industry Sees 20% Decrease in Consumer Price Index, Here’s Why They’re Still Expensive

Inflation can be a tough concept to understand, but it is basically just the averaged out prices of a basket of goods and services that people tend to buy. All of these figures are put together to create the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and an increase in a product’s CPI means that it will cost more for people that want to purchase it in the market. Smartphones have actually managed to see a 20% decline in their CPI, but in spite of the fact that this is the case they are more expensive than ever.

Additionally, overall increases in the CPI have been at around 9%, so the gradually declining CPI of smartphones can leave some scratching their heads. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that the CPI is an imperfect metric since it fails to reconcile discounted prices among various other outliers that can inorganically make the CPI lower than it should be.

Indeed, while many smartphone brands have tried to be competitive with their pricing, in most cases they have been compelled to increase the normal retail price of their flagship devices with all things having been considered and taken into account. One contributing factor to the price increases is the use of more advanced components because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up costing more in the long run.

Additionally, the severe shortage of components which was caused by a complicated holdup in the global supply chain has further complicated matters and forced OEMs to increase their prices to cover basic costs and still manage to turn a profit.

A more accurate representation of smartphone prices can be seen in the USA Channel Share Tracker by Counterpoint, which revealed a 20% quarter on quarter increase in retail smartphone prices. Currency devaluation in countries like Japan are raising alarm bells since Apple and other smartphone retailers might increase prices further to mitigate and offset potential losses that might be incurred by rapidly depreciating currencies.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

PC Shipment Sees Its Largest Decline In The Q2 Of 2022, Ever Since Its Lowest Decline In Q2 Of 2013

According to Counterpoint data, PC shipment saw its largest decline in Q2 of 2022. They have fallen up to 11.1% YOY and that is such a lower percentage with the sales of 71.2 million, the lowest ever since Q2 of 2022. This decline was due to the lockdown imposed in China, Shangai, and Kunsan. It is also being said that this decline is not permanent, and the PC sales will start regulating after some time.

This turbulence is majorly affecting the world's consumption and PC shipments are the worst. There are a lot of reasons why this decline is happening. The main reasons reported are world conflicts and the insane inflammation in the whole world. Due to this, companies and enterprises are also putting off their new products with upgrades because if they do not sell out, they can have a great loss.

In China, the huge decline in PC shipment was due to the malfunctions in ODMs, Quanta, Compal, Wistron, etc. The most decline was seen in April and May when it reached 40% and 20% YOY for ODMs. Now the companies are trying to get back on track, starting from mid-May and some changes can be seen now with the sales.

Although all the top PC brands showed a decline in Q2, their ranking remained the same. Lenovo is at the top and contributes a share of 24.4% in the Global Market in Q2. The shipment of this brand fell up to 12.7% but it has remained at the top of all brands on a shipment basis.

HP was the one that suffered the most from this decline. Its decline rate is approximately 27% YOY. It was due to the low consumption rate. Dell observed the lowest decline difference. It was all due to its shipment performance. It works with a professional commercial/premium-focused strategy that attracts customers.

Acer saw a 14.1% decline but it has a relatively high base in Q2 of 2021. Despite its low sales, its mainstream-level laptops helped to put this brand in the fourth spot for the highest PC shipments. Apple saw a decline of 20%, all because of the supply chain disruption in China. As a result, the company has got off from its fourth position in Q2 of 2022.

Due to the commercial segment focus of Asus, its shipment decline was just 7.7%. It now holds the fifth position in PC shipment in Q2 of 2022.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Pandemic Helped European Marketers Improve Their Skills, New Study Shows

The pandemic caused widespread economic havoc around the world, but it also provided a net negative to marketers based in Europe with all things having been considered and taken into account. According to a new report released by WARC, Europe based marketers managed to use the pandemic as an opportunity to advance their skills, with 70% of marketers in that region who were surveyed saying that they learned new skills and improved the ones that they already have.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that 41% of marketers still seem to think that they don’t have enough skills to advance their careers. 39% of the marketers who participated in this survey also stated that measurement was an obstacle for them.

As for the strategies that these marketing specialists are implementing, 73% of them stated that they use insights that they obtain from consumer data to develop them. Also, 38% of marketers appear to be taking Web3 seriously, and 44% said that the metaverse was going to change how they market their products and brands moving forward.

Two forms of marketing, namely audio and gaming marketing, used to get ignored and they only got 4% and 3% of advertising budgets respectively. In spite of the fact that this is the case, marketers are expecting more budgets to be allocated to these marketing types because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up catering to customers that are taking more of an interest in them.

Marketers were also asked what they felt would impact their future marketing decisions to the greatest extent, and 53% stated that machine learning is likely going to have the biggest impact. Personalization can be made easier with these AI based processes, and that has resulted in the percentage increasing from 49% last year to 53% this year. It will be interesting to see how new and better forms of AI change marketing and allow marketing experts to reach a wider subset of the demographics that they are targeting.

Read next: Creators voice their concerns about being paid late, incorrectly, or not at all in a survey
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Twitter Is Incorporating New Tweaks On The App And Here’s What Users Can Expect

Twitter has no plans on holding on to the past and that’s why we’re seeing the app move ahead with some new updates for users of the app.

For starters, Twitter is modifying its content options for Notes and its associated long-form content. This feature has been rolled out for only a few selected users for now, but a possible expansion is up on the cards soon.

The feature was first unleashed last month for a selected few as a part of a test where writers were the definite target audience. In case you’re not quite familiar with the feature, Notes is more or less another name given to a tool used for blogging.

It can be found widely on the web, having the great ability to produce nearly 2,500 words. This would be easily embedded across the app for obvious purposes like sharing with others.

Hence, the biggest benefit involved means ridding the tiresome process linked to screenshotting huge text chunks and then clipping them onto a particular tweet so others can see it. Also, those who used to spend so much time sharing long threads on the app would now be able to do so with ease using Notes.

Twitter says the whole idea is to assist creators on the platform with an easy way out, instead of forcing them to resort to links. Previously, audiences used to go to various platforms to grab a hold of long-form content.

After users were seen making use of the new Notes update, we can well say that the app is definitely a valuable change for those that adore posting long threads.

Every note will have the app focusing on each author and we think that’s a great step toward both personal brand as well as engagement with different audiences. But there are also some reports about the app adding a separate section for quotes too.

While we do feel this tweak might be small, it definitely shows how much effort Twitter is putting into helping its writer community get better exposure.

Next up, the app has introduced a series of updates for iOS users, which is being looked upon as a strong push to get more users on board.

Twitter says users will soon be seeing a revamped bar that displays all of its chat rooms across the iOS app. This way, users would have more clarity in terms of deciphering who is actually hosting, not to mention a glance at Discussions, and also a strong emphasis on Spaces too.

this is now live on iOS! https://t.co/FTpwyasR5b

— Spaces (@TwitterSpaces) July 27, 2022

While the update was launched last month for users with Android devices, we’re finally seeing it make its way to iOS users now. These individuals would be allowed to access Twitter Spaces too, where they can witness various changes on every timeline’s top part.

Twitter is definitely on a roll because it has proven over time that it’s here to gather more in-app user engagement and for that, they’ll need to be making some changes.

The most noticeable one has to do with its audio chatrooms that once appeared very in line with Clubhouse but now, it’s proving to be tough competition.

So, what new features have Twitter Spaces introduced for fans? Well, firstly, hosts can now record and even playback recordings, moments after the Space comes to an end.

Next, users will be allowed to clip their favorite part of Spaces and share it with those that mean the most. And lastly, we can expect to see more people use Spaces as the startup process has been simplified further.

All in all, these are some pretty cool changes and some that we feel Twitter needed.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Google Makes Huge Changes In Its Play Store Policies To Try And Combat Growing Concerns In The App Landscape

The digital world is always changing and with each passing day comes a new series of challenges that can’t be overlooked. This includes the fluctuating social media app landscape that needs particular attention.

Therefore, it makes sense why Google is working toward changing its Play Store’s policies and while some amendments may be minor, others are worth a mention.

The company says that some of the changes would be seen rolling out soon while the rest would follow in the upcoming months. All in all, the tech giant seems confident that it can tackle the growing concerns of its stakeholders with these steps.

Effective 8/31/2022: Google Play won't "allow apps containing misleading health claims that contradict existing medical consensus, or can cause harm to users." Examples include: pic.twitter.com/S4MjZZdbPY

— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) July 27, 2022

Effective 9/30/2022: Unexpected interstitial ads are prohibited. These include full screen interstitial ads of all formats that show unexpectedly or that aren't closeable after 15s. Interstitials that don't interrupt the user or the user opted into can persist > 15s.

— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) July 27, 2022

Google added how some changes are public while others are limited to developers. There was also great stress put on app subscriptions being canceled as well.

In the same way, a special mention was put out for users having apps that might not align with such policies. For those cases, apps would be provided with respective grace periods of 30 days, at a minimum. This way, they can take the time to get well equipped with the new changes.

But what exactly do those policy changes include? Well, for starters, there’s one limited to developers. The whole idea is to target those working with API level number 32. Google says the apps here would now be forced to meet specific criteria such as it being limited to alarms or simply calendars.

Google spoke about how the change would come into play when permissions were revealed.

Another major policy change is restricted to the spread of misinformation linked to health. The idea is to put a limit on impersonation and any misleading claims linked to drugs, treatments, vaccines, and dangerous practices.

Anyone that tries to prove their identity as some that they’re not would also similarly be penalized.

Google’s new policy will also have zero tolerance for those that deal with interstitial ads. Hence, all developers would be limited in regards to their use across various apps. But how exactly can ads be displayed by developers now? Well, the firm has delineated a particular protocol linked to just that.

• Also read: Selfies, Blurry, and Poor Quality Images To be Removed From Google Maps In The Upcoming Days

Firstly, full-screen ads linked to different formats that appear out of nowhere and for no purpose wouldn’t be allowed. Similarly, ads popping up during the start of gameplay wouldn’t be allowed either. Lastly, ads that last for more than 15 seconds without having an option of being closed wouldn’t be allowed.

Google also hopes to make the cancellation of subscription processes an easier affair too by making them more visible across different apps.

The search engine giant has also decided to take action against apps that are designed to track people and while the situation might be a difficult one, others are loving the action by Google.

But this comes with the issues of many who feel they’re helpful as parenting tools, where kids can be tracked easily, in case they fail to tell their whereabouts to their own mom and dad.

Therefore, Google has changed the policy for such apps by enlisting an entire guideline that helps limit surveillance for malicious purposes.

There was much talk about ads making use of VPN services that Google has been forced to look into in the past as well when people citied reservations on the matter.

The firm says that now, it’s going to make sure apps linked to remote servers would only be functioning through effective VPN services. Obviously, this comes with exceptions like user tracking, parental control, browsing, and remote access too.

Lastly, Google has delineated how there is no room for any dodgy apps but we feel some good ones might be deemed guilty during the intense crossfire. Clearly, the change is plenty and we hope it’s all for the good.

Read next: Google Chrome is taking Passwords to the Next Level
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Apple May Soon Face Ban Over Its Default Apps But This Is How The Company Hopes To Respond

While there isn’t a whole lot of progress being made with the current American antitrust legislation, there is a constant threat looming on Apple's shoulders.

Apple does fear that if things don’t work out in its favor, it could soon be seeing default apps banned.

Hence, its fate actually lies in the Senate so we just need to wait and watch what happens next in terms of what bills are passed in this regard. But Apple isn’t waiting for the last moment. Yes, the tech giant already has a backup plan in store.

So worst-case scenario, the ban does happen to take place and that means Apple wouldn’t be able to install its own company’s stock applications. Therefore, the only way out is to offer customers a wide array of core applications.

Thanks to 9to5Mac, we get to witness a possible graphic illustration of what a possible way out could look like by Apple or in other words, what its immediate plan of response could be.

Users would witness a list of basic apps while they set up their iPhones initially. They can pick their favorites but obviously, Apple’s own apps would be at the top of the list.

US lawmakers have been noticing for a while how so many leading tech giants are exerting their dominance in the market, restricting others from getting a chance to survive and possibly excel. For this reason, the US Congress says it’s trying to do everything in its power to tackle the matter.

While the rest are under development, there are two that could soon be passed and that’s why Apple, among others, are losing sleep over the decision as one of them will be more threatening for the firm than the other.

It would enlist huge changes in the company’s App Store and overall systems, as well as causing a great deal of uprising among third-party derived app stores.

But the biggest worry again is linked to the company not being able to favor its own stock apps. How will users gain benefits from the classic iPhone systems when they remove it out of the box?

Bloomberg revealed that one way is to ask users to do their own setup by guiding them on how they’ll now need to select a browser, and other functionalities themselves.

Another way is to allow for third-party in-app purchases to become a norm which the company has been against for obvious reasons, since day one.

Hence, we might just be seeing the tech giant play a strategic move and establish warning messages against third-party apps, adding a level of fear to users so they stick solely to Apple’s apps.

Read next: Meta and Apple’s Race to Create the Metaverse First has Been Labeled as ‘Metaphorical’

by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World