Google’s Digital Wellbeing Tool Plans To Include ‘Cough And Snore Detection’ On Android Devices

Google is certainly thinking outside the box when it comes down to offering users the best features to better their health.

We’re hearing more news about how the search engine giant’s Digital Wellbeing is planning on taking things to the next level. And that entails targeting users in their sleep with cough and snore detection.

In recent times, Digital Wellbeing has really come out on top in this regard. It was first launched in Android’s 9 Pie and since then, people simply couldn’t get enough of this incredibly useful tool. After all, what better way to steer clear of unhealthy smartphone consumption than this?

All in all, the popularity grew with the masses and today, people are in love. Although we’re sure apps like TikTok and Instagram aren’t loving the news about a tool that forbids users from scrolling unnecessarily.

Now, the feature wishes to undergrow expansion on Android by targeting users in their sleep. They claim it’s a great way to track their health and well-being.

This year in May, we heard rumors about how Google might be attaching such features but we weren’t too sure. Now, it appears they’re doing just that, thanks to a new report by 9to5Google via the app.

They were able to decipher that the company’s latest beta proved how the tech giant started working on the snore with cough detection. The plan is to make it a part of their exclusive Bedtime Mode.

The tool would function by using the in-built microphone in the device for sound detection that is made while sleeping. This way, it would gauge how much you snore and cough while fast asleep.

Digital Wellbeing is said to function simultaneously with the current system for sleep tracking from Google Clock. The tool is already designed to gauge how much users sleep through the device’s gyroscope with light sensor technology. These combine to assess if the device is kept motionless throughout the night hours.

Interestingly, the feature is already a part of so many smartwatches. For instance, the Galaxy Watch 4 could deduce how much a user snores. Nevertheless, not too many people have smartwatches today.

Many also don’t have the second generation variant for Nest Hub as well. Both of these features entail modern features for sleep tracking. We think it’s great if your phone can be the one to tell you that you snore or cough a lot.

You never know what health conditions you may be suffering from after the detection of such symptoms.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Apple Dominates the Connected Device Market, Sees Fastest Growth

Tech devices are often part of an interconnected ecosystem because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up improving functionality considerably across the board. It is estimated that each US household contains an average of 20.2 connected devices. The numbers are marginally lower for Europe at 17.4 per household, whereas the Japanese come in with a conservative 10.3 smart devices per household with all things having been considered and taken into account.

The most popular products in the interconnected device ecosystem are smart TVs and phones along with tablets and PCs, but in spite of the fact that this is the case many other product classes have been showing significant growth as well. Smart speakers, lights and other appliances are also seeing a lot of growth.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that pretty much every single device in this ecosystem will consume a lot of data during its daily operations. US household data consumption rose by 15% year over year to reach a whopping 657 gigabytes of data per month. Conversely, Europeans and Japanese consumers seem to use a lot less data, with 227 GB and 200 GB per month respectively.

Amidst the growth of interconnected device usage, Apple has proven itself to be a powerful force in this market. 39% of households across the US, Europe and Japan had at least 10 Apple devices. The vast majority of households across these markets, or 92% to be precise, possess at least one Apple device.

This is considerably higher than any other company, with Samsung coming in at a distant second. Only about 5% of households in these markets used ten or more Samsung devices, and Amazon failed to cross the 3% mark.

Meanwhile, Google’s footprint in this sector is virtually non-existent when compared to Apple or even Samsung. A miniscule 1% of households reported owning at least 10 Google devices as part of their tech ecosystem, so Google is clearly falling far behind any of its peers while Apple soars ahead at full speed. Take a look at below infographics for more insights:

H/T: Plume IQ 1H 2022 smart home market report

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

YouTubers Unite Against ‘Unfair’ Copyright Strike System And Urge The App To Take Action

A number of creators on the YouTube app are no longer sitting still after receiving copyright strikes. The YouTubers claim the content they’re being slammed for is absolutely fair and the allegations against them are baseless.

Some highlighted how there is one male identity whose main goal is to target them by using the copyright system as his defense. This way, he can silence them and carry out doxing against them too.

Now, creators are urging the app to step in and take notice. Simultaneously, they’re requesting protection as the issue is concerning.

The news began when a creator by the name of Mrs. Fieldz reportedly began getting two copyright strikes across her channel recently. Therefore, to help fight against them and solve the matter, she was told to provide information in the form of personal details.

From her name and address to her complete contact details too, everything was requested and she gave them. But ever since then, we’re hearing more news from media outlet Insider about how she’s been getting plenty of phone calls that she feels are suspicious as they hail from unrecognizable numbers.

After picking them, all she receives are clips linked to explicit content in the background. Now she is sure the people behind such copyright strikes are doing everything in their power to attain personal details and use the information later on in time against them.

Quite often, she’s also being flagged for content that she’s baffled by because she finds nothing wrong or in violation of the app’s policies. In her case, it’s about a few scenes that she can be seen recapping and giving her commentary.

The man who is reportedly at the dead center of the matter is a YouTuber by the name of Nader Elshamy. He’s managed to gain some fame after dating another creator by the name of Foodie Beauty.

The issue arose when around five different creators of the app alleged that this man slammed their channels with complaints linked to copyright. They also added that it might be an attempt to prevent them from raising their voice against him. Many fear retaliation from him and aren’t revealing their real names for this very reason.

The people stuck in this whirlwind situation are given two options. Either they can delete his content or fight the copyright strikes. The latter means giving out personal details.

Just recently, Eishamy went about threatening Mrs. Fieldz and vowed to disclose her personal details in public. This was only submitted to fight the strike and she’s worried about his intentions in general.

YouTube’s policy forces people to disclose personal details including addresses if they wish to fight the case of infringement. In case that does not happen, the only other way out is to take on board the legal process. This entails hiring attorneys who can fight cases on the creator’s behalf.

The whole matter is quite baffling, as you can see. Recently, Elshamy reached out to media outlet Insider and was seen revealing how he had zero intentions of personal attacks or doxing. Shockingly, he’s accusing creators of carrying out an attack on them.

Therefore, the matter has reached a point where creators want YouTube to step in and provide protection for ‘fair use’. They want some exceptions to be made to copyright laws, emphasizing those offering criticism.

But IP experts have reviewed such cases and according to them, it’s all really foggy and not clear cut. Other experts believe it’s not easy for the court of law to figure out who’s copying. But YouTube needs to find a solution as creators are looking up to the app to do what’s right.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

US Consumer Tech Market Shrinks by 6% YoY

The pandemic wreaked havoc in most industries because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up slowing down economic activity by preventing buyers and workers from leaving their homes. In spite of the fact that this is the case, some sectors managed to see surprising growth during the pandemic, such as social media companies. Other tech niches such as that of consumer electronics saw a significant boom in unit sold in the aftermath of the pandemic.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that the post-pandemic boom appears to be over. According to recent NDP data, it appears that US consumers will be spending about 6% less on consumer electronics and tech than they did last year. Additionally, this data also suggests that the market will shrink further by 2023, with a 3% decline predicted for next year with all things having been considered and taken into account.

However, while the post pandemic surge of 2021 has proven to be short lived, consumer technology spending is still 11% higher than what it was in 2019. That means that the industry has now fully recovered, although its inability to continue this rate of growth might be a discouraging sign for some.

One possible contributing factor to this decline in purchasing is that the market has reached a saturation point. The rise of working from home encouraged consumers to buy various electronic items that they could use to optimize their home based work space. Additionally, widespread lockdowns spurred consumers to splurge on entertainment appliances among numerous other similar products.

Another contributing factor this trend might be inflation. People simply have less money than they did a year ago, and prices are also higher which is putting the squeeze on consumer spending. It will be interesting to see if the predictions hold out, since they would represent an erosion of much of the recovery that the industry has made so far. Continued decreases in sales could force manufacturers to make some hard choices that might impact consumers and workers.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

The History of Meme Culture in the 2010s

Memes have been a core component of internet culture for decades now, but they have also changed quite a bit since they first started getting used. The sources for memes have also changed somewhat, such as in the case of Tumblr falling from grace and being replaced by TikTok and Twitter with all things having been considered and taken into account. KnowYourMeme, a hub for all meme related information, recently tried to shed some light on this brand new method for communicating with one another.

One thing that this research attempted to demystify was the origin of memes, and with all of that having been said and now out of the way it is important to note that they mostly started out in the year 2010. That is the year when major social media platforms started to enter the fray and give memes their viral ability to cross boundaries and borders with all things having been considered and taken into account.

Back in 2010, just under 35% of memes or 34.9% to be precise came from YouTube. A further 28.2% came from the messaging board and forum hub 4Chan. These two platforms represent the majority of memes from that time period, but in spite of the fact that this is the case they both saw their shares declining. In 2011, both YouTube and 4Chan saw their meme output decrease as other platforms like Reddit and Tumblr began to see a rise in usage, and Facebook also became a more important source of memes as well.

Many of the memes during the early 2010s were simple rage comics or reaction memes that used comical pictures with some kind of text superimposed onto them. For example, 2011 was the year when the Scumbag Steve meme started to take root. This meme poked fun at an ostensibly unsavory character who was responsible for all manner of questionable and suspicious activities.

By 2013, Tumblr had supplanted YouTube as the biggest hub for memes with 22.7% of the memes from that year originating on this social media platform. Interestingly, Tumblr’s rapid rise was followed by an equally sudden decline by 2014, which is when Twitter took the top spot and Tumblr slipped into third place.

This was also the year when Vine entered the scene, and while this short form app did not get all that much time in the spotlight it had an enormous impact on meme culture in the brief period in which it was active. Indeed, many industry leaders cite Vine as the originator of the short form video craze which is now currently being dominated by TikTok.

Fast forwarding to 2022, TikTok is dominating the meme landscape with a massive 45.7% share. That is the highest degree of meme dominance that any social media platform has attained so far, and Twitter comes in with a healthy 30.1% to take second place. Interestingly, former meme powerhouse Tumblr is nowhere to be seen, and YouTube and 4Chan have seen their meme output drop to just 8.6% and 2.2% respectively.

Internet meme culture is undergoing a massive paradigm shift, and it will be interesting to see how things continue to change. TikTok’s influence will be seen for a really long time.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Twitter Finally Starts Making Money Again With 24% Revenue Boost in August

Twitter used to be a major heavyweight in the world of social media, but with all of that having been said and now out of the way it is important to note that the former social media superpower failed to capitalize on its initial popularity. Competitors like Facebook got the edge over Twitter, but in spite of the fact that this is the case Twitter continues to hold its own thanks to its hefty monthly active user count.

However, one area that Twitter has really been lagging behind in is in-app revenue. The social media platform has historically struggled to monetize its user base, but this year proved that the site still had some growth. While Twitter has had a rough summer so far, with in app revenue growth rates in June and July plummeting to 1% and 5% respectively, it appears that the platform is making a comeback with all things having been considered and taken into account.

Estimates for Twitter’s in-app revenue in August show an excellent 24% increase, which is the highest rate of growth that the platform has seen since January. That has brought its in-app revenue to over half a million for the first time in its history. 90% of the $574,000 that Twitter earned through in app revenue in August came from the App Store, which suggests that a majority of Twitter’s big earners are iOS users.

Twitter has managed to turn the ship around, but it still has a long way to go. The fact that this major company only crossed half a million dollars from in app revenue just last month is a testament to the sluggish rate of growth that this company has managed to acquire so far. Still, Twitter has pioneered in app revenue as a new way of earning money, and while competitors like Snapchat have fine tuned the concept by offering more features for a lower price, Twitter might be able to use this great month to invest in future growth. It will be interesting to see if Twitter’s stellar growth rate continues for the rest of the year.

H/T: AF

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

This New AI Might Increase EV Battery Lifespans, Here’s How

Electric mobility is a hot topic these days because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up allowing people to travel without burning harmful fossil fuels. In spite of the fact that this is the case, there is one major issue that is preventing EVs from dominating the transportation market. This issue is that the batteries EVs use to store energy tend to degrade rapidly over time which can be cost prohibitive to repair or replace.

Lithium ion batteries managed to provide a lot more battery life, but overall longevity continued to be an issue. Wear and tear that occurs even when the batteries are not being used can be a huge problem, but with all of that having been said and now out of the way it is important to note that a new AI might be the solution that could take EVs to the next level.

The EU’s funding program called Horizon used algorithms to predict how EV batteries would degrade in various conditions. This can be immensely useful since it can allow consumers to better predict how long their batteries might last than might have been the case otherwise. Additionally, manufacturers can use this information to forecast battery performance and make adjustments that can improve longevity.

The various AI used in this research had a high rate of accuracy, and this provides some hope to the still growing EV sector. There are many who consider electric vehicles the way of the future, but if batteries will degrade unpredictably and without warning this might make it difficult to convert new consumers since the lack of reliability would make them hesitant to take the plunge.

The information is now out there, and it will only be a matter of time before EV manufacturers start to act on it. The changes that this can bring about to the industry will be monumental, but it might stake a long time to gather enough data. Until then, consumers will need to contend with the realities of the industry which aren’t all that dire to begin with.




H/T: ORE

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World