Apps – Tech Raman https://techraman.com Simplified Tech Talk Fri, 24 Jul 2020 12:04:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 https://techraman.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/TR_logo-150x120.png Apps – Tech Raman https://techraman.com 32 32 How Indian users engaged with Alexa during lockdown – Here are the stats https://techraman.com/how-indian-users-engaged-with-alexa-during-lockdown-stats/ https://techraman.com/how-indian-users-engaged-with-alexa-during-lockdown-stats/#respond Fri, 24 Jul 2020 11:56:16 +0000 http://techraman.com/?p=18907 Amazon has shared some interesting trivia or insights on how Indian Alexa users have engaged with Alexa during the lockdown period between March 1 – May 31.

  • Alexa got thousands of requests every minute from customers during the lockdown!
  • Alexa reminded customers to drink water or take medication every 2 minutes
  • Requests for workout music increased 3X
  • Alexa got some extra love in Hindi during the lockdown than before. Customers were concerned about Alexa’s wellbeing with Alexa being asked “Alexa, kaisi ho?” at least thrice every minute.Nearly every minute, there was one customer asking, “Alexa, mujhse shaadi karogi?” or “Alexa, Ilove you”.
  • Alexa answered trivia questions like “Alexa, who is Jatayu’s brother?”, “Alexa who were the sons of Ravana”, even as Alexa skills like ‘Stories from Mahabharata’ and ‘Ramayan Katha’ gained popularity in March & April. With the newly launched Audible Suno skill in June, we can now listen to Mahabharata with Devdutt Pattanaik.
  • With kids attending school from home, Alexa’s education capabilities turned a delighter for customers.
  • One in 5 customers engaged with education skills on Alexa. Top education skills requested were: “Alexa, I want to learn English” via Pearson MyPedia as well as 1-2-3 Math, and Word of the day.
  • Nursery Rhymes, one of the most used kids skills during lockdown, saw a 3X spike in engagement. Other popular Kid Skills include ChuChu TV, Amazon Storytime, and Chhota Bheem Adventures also saw an uptake in engagement
  • Usage of foreign language learning skills increased by 15%, the most popular being French, Spanish and Japanese.

Most Played Games in Alexa during lockdown

Alexa got her game face to the table as there was a 4x increase in the usage of Alexa’s game skills. Most played games during the period:

  1. Impossible Bollywood Quiz
  2. Song Quiz
  3. Fact of Fib
  4. Snakes and Ladders Game
  5. Akinator
  6. Riddle of the Day
  7. Memory Game
  8. Simon Says
  9. Number Guessing Game
  10. Either Or

Alexa Playing Cupid

Alexa upped her ‘love quotient’ with Urdu Shayari. While Alexa might not fully understand the human emotion of love, but she got some experts to talk all about it, in the form of Urdu Shayaris. Starting from World Poetry Day (21 March), with the Rekhta skill, Alexa started serving Love Shayari and the works of Mirza Ghalib and many more. Customers requested for Shayari atleast once every 4 minutes

Most popular questions asked during the lockdown

○ “When is the next long weekend?”
○ “Who is the prime minister of India?”
○ “What is the capital of India?”
○ “Who is the president of India?”
○ “How tall is Mount everest?”
○ “When is sunset?”
○ “What’s the temperature of the sun?”
○ “What is the value of Pi?”
○ “What’s the meaning of _?”
○ “What is the population of India?”

Top 5 Covid related Questions people asked Alexa

○ “What is coronavirus?”
○ “What is covid-nineteen?”
○ “Tell me about coronavirus?”
○ “How many corona cases in India?”
○ “Do you have coronavirus?”
○ “How many cases of coronavirus in India?”

Top 10 Alexa skill categories that saw the highest engagement

○ Education
○ Novelty and Humor
○ Productivity
○ Games
○ Spirituality
○ Music and Radio
○ Trivia
○ Food and Drink
○ Kids
○ Local

Most played songs on Alexa during the period

○ Hanuman Chalisa
○ Gayatri Mantra
○ Baby Shark
○ Nursery rhymes,
○ Lakdi ki Kathi
○ Bala
○ Genda Phool
○ Muqabla
○ Wheels on the Bus
○ Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

]]> https://techraman.com/how-indian-users-engaged-with-alexa-during-lockdown-stats/feed/ 0 Don’t be a boring Twitter User: Tips to add content to your Tweets https://techraman.com/how-to-tips-to-add-content-to-your-tweets/ https://techraman.com/how-to-tips-to-add-content-to-your-tweets/#respond Tue, 03 Mar 2020 18:34:05 +0000 http://techraman.com/?p=18831 From Trump and Modi to yours truly, Twitter is a crowded place to be. It’s a buzzing platform and everyone has something to converse about. There are around 330 million monthly active users and 145 million daily active users on Twitter. So a normal simple tweet could go unnoticed most times, but adding content can bring more eyeballs to your tweets. So how do you go about it? Here is a how-to list of twitter tips to add content to your tweets and make them stand out. You can thank me later (on Twitter of course).

Add photos or GIFs to your Tweets

Adding photos or GIFs are an easy way to get noticed. Take a cue from Virat Kohli (@imVkohli), click the photo icon from the Tweet compose box to upload a photo or GIF from your phone or computer. You can add up to four photos in your Tweet.

If Tweeting from the Twitter app, you can enhance the pictures – apply a filter, crop an image and add stickers. Click the Tweet button to post to your profile.

Share and watch videos on Twitter

Do you feel photos don’t tell the complete picture? well, you can share videos on twitter. There are two ways to share videos on Twitter: You can either record a video by simply tapping and holding down the capture icon, or you can import/upload a video (less than 02:20 duration) saved on your phone or desktop. All the videos that you see, like and engage with on Twitter have been uploaded using either of these steps. On that note, this video from Anushka Sharma (@AnushkaSharma) will make your day:

Add an interesting link to a Tweet (and don’t worry about the character count!)

You can paste a URL of any length into the Tweet compose box and it will automatically get shortened to a maximum of 23 characters.

After pasting the link, click the Tweet button to post the Tweet to your timeline. This is  what it will look like:

 Learn from the best, here’s an example of how@SrBachchan does it:

Go live with Twitter

The euphoria of attending a concert, the joy of witnessing your friend go down the aisle and the pride of winning an award – some things are best expressed in real time, right? With Twitter, you can have your followers be a part of your special moments. Just go live through video and show them what you’re up to, instead of describing it to them. All you need to do is, swipe left post opening the camera icon in the Tweet compose box. This will allow you to select the live mode.

Just the way Comicstaan live streamed their #BlueCarpetScreening with our favourite internet celebs.

Add fun captions on your photos

While adding photos to your Tweets, you can choose to write a caption to describe the image for the visually impaired, while at the same time, making your Tweet more engaging. To insert a caption, click on ‘add description’ and type out  your description in the given space. If you do not get the option to set image descriptions automatically, you can follow these simple steps to turn them on in your settings. Go to the Settings option in your profile, tap on ‘Accessibility’ and then click to opt for ‘Compose Image Descriptions’.

A description can be added to each image in a Tweet but not videos and GIFs.

So be creative and win your followers with the coolest Tweets!

]]> https://techraman.com/how-to-tips-to-add-content-to-your-tweets/feed/ 0 Eight App Business Card Organizer Review – Not Just an ordinary card scanner app https://techraman.com/eight-app-business-card-organizer-review-not-just-ordinary-card-scanner-app/ https://techraman.com/eight-app-business-card-organizer-review-not-just-ordinary-card-scanner-app/#respond Mon, 11 Dec 2017 17:04:09 +0000 http://techraman.com/?p=12706 ]]>

Scan, Network and Interact:

For a starter, Eight is not just another business scanning app, via the app an user can instant message other users as well as share news and updates with your network, making it an effective tool for boosting your career and sales opportunities and information dissemination. Sounds a bit like LinkedIn? Why not, any interaction with your peers and contacts is good and if an app can keep the networking relevant it gets the extra brownie points.
Eight also happens to be a Linked-in sort of tight networking medium with interactive features and offers a news stream to push through your events, happenings, achievements that would be visible to your professional peers to take notice of.
Eight app is easy to use; you start with scanning your own business card first to create a profile. You can also customize your profile complete with a career summary listing your skills, experience, qualifications etc if need be, list your career history and other information. After all, you never know someone out there could be looking out for that one skill you are proud of and excel and it could lead to an interesting career turn and rewards ahead. You can add contact by scanning the business cards you have amassed and not just that unlike most other business apps, where Eight shines though is its ability to connect with other Eight users by company or by name, didn’t I tell you there is a LinkedIn like feature built-in in this app. There is also a wireless connect option which allows you to wirelessly add a nearby contact either with Bluetooth or QR reader. A Tag option helps to easily search or sort your contacts. Taking a cue from social networking platforms, there is a feed where the users can publicly post a message. Eight also comes with messaging system allowing you to directly ping a contact and take the conversation further. If you are concerned about privacy, Eight also offers a control over post visibility and you can either make it public, Eight users or your connected contacts.  The privacy setting gives a good control over who sees your data. Eight app is a good idea envisaged and executed, it is not a just another business card app but a wholesome professional networking and a cloud-based business card management service. While conceptually it is good, being a new platform in India, it would need time for the business community to lap it up and more users to get on-board for the platform to be more effective. Sansan Inc is betting high on Indian market and says would be partnering with co-working spaces, coffee shops where usually many business networking happens to make Eight, a must have app for the business community to be connected. Eight is running a #TogetherMade campaign stressing on the fact that everyone is #TogetherMade carrying influence, guidance or inspiration from different people they come across in life. Eight as an app helps in securing the contacts as well as keep them in contact through their networking and interactive features.  ]]>

]]> https://techraman.com/eight-app-business-card-organizer-review-not-just-ordinary-card-scanner-app/feed/ 0 SanDisk Dual Drive and SanDisk Memory Manager – Dual Drive, Multipurpose Daily Drives https://techraman.com/sandisk-dual-drive-and-sandisk-memory-manager-dual-drive-multipurpose-daily-drives/ https://techraman.com/sandisk-dual-drive-and-sandisk-memory-manager-dual-drive-multipurpose-daily-drives/#respond Sun, 22 Oct 2017 18:08:30 +0000 http://techraman.com/?p=12601 ]]> Yes, the Smartphone storage has got better now. Even budget mobiles with 32GB storage has become common these days, so some might even think do we still need the little pen drives still? Well, hell yes, it still has its place and let’s see why. It’s for no reason that the feature called OTG is enabled in most smartphones these days and is also one of the most deciding factor for many when they choose their smartphones. Not everything needs to end up in the phone storage, there are different needs and use cases.  Mini USB Pendrives are convenient for immediate backup,to move files between Smartphones, PCs and laptops. To carry your  favourite media files, when you are on travel, to take quick backup of the memories you shoot on camera and many more. While the storage has become beefier on the smartphones, so is the media contents stored, so still the Dual drives make sense to free up the space instantly and for safe backup too. And with Sandisk Dual drives having cross compatibility with Android, Mac , Windows it offers seamless transfer between various gadgets and qualifies it to be one of the most versatile little gadget to carry around. Western Digital owned Sandisk has wide range of mini drives which they call as Dual drives. The Sandisk Dual with USB 2.0 plug at one end and the more contemporary Sandisk Ultra Dual with a faster USB 3.0 plug. Then there are various storage options to choose from ranging from 16GB to 128GB. The Ultra dual with the USB 3.0 connector is backward compatible with USB 2.0 ports and can get speeds of upto 150 MB/s, so works well if you are a habitual big transferer of big media files. Apart from the drive itself what captured my attention was the Sandisk Memory Zone app available both on App store and Play store.  The app is a neatly done memory manager to manage on your phone, the card and in cloud.  And not just the memory management, the app can also has few more aces up its sleeves by doubling as file browser, backup, file compressor and also integrated media player. There are two utilities that stand out for me in this app, one is the automatic backup which I can schedule it on one particular day of a week and time and it makes sure my new contents on my phone be it the photos, videos or even files are automatically backed up into the drive. Neat, no manual work here. Secondly, It also allows to backup the images I put into the social media apps like Instagram, Twitter or Facebook which I might be posting from different devices and all gets backed up again here when I give the necessary permission to the app. Again, pretty neat and practical. It also allows to push the content to cloud directly via the app. https://youtu.be/1Zs3VU9A298 So now you might agree with me right? mini drives are not going to be history and SanDisk Dual Drives along with the Memory Zone app has made it a worthy addition to check in a gadget must have lists. Share your thoughts.]]>

]]> https://techraman.com/sandisk-dual-drive-and-sandisk-memory-manager-dual-drive-multipurpose-daily-drives/feed/ 0 Xploree Keyboard – Yet another keyboard or something different to it? https://techraman.com/xploree-keyboard-yet-another-keyboard-or-something-different-to-it/ https://techraman.com/xploree-keyboard-yet-another-keyboard-or-something-different-to-it/#respond Thu, 24 Nov 2016 18:09:33 +0000 http://techraman.com/?p=11804 ]]> When asked what is the most accessed app in a phone, almost everyone would skip keyboard but then isn’t keyboard the most frequently used app for any inputs? People would think keyboard as a natural extension of a smartphone than an app but then it is an app and people do dabble with different keyboard app if the default is not to their liking. There is no dearth for keyboard apps in Android play store – Google keyboard, Swiftkey, Swype, Fleksy and others. When I tested CoolPad device, it came with a different keyboard complete with green icons , back then I didn’t know about Xploree but it did pick my interest.

Prefer watching video instead? take a look at our video.

https://youtu.be/C7brGialvzE

It came as a surprise during a discussion that the very keyboard that was pre-installed in the CoolPad phone was the Xploree keyboard app and the bigger surprise was it was developed by an Indian company, KeyPoint Technology.

xploree_1

Amidst the crowd of keyboard apps, why would anyone want to use Xploree? The company says the key differentiator is its intent based and is powered by Natural language processing, machine learning and AI. We all know Artificial Intelligence is the future forward and KeyPoint Technology has made Xploree analyze instantly whats you key in and give suggestions based on your intent.

While keyboards like Swiftkey are great with its predictive powers at texts and language learning, the Xploree strives to predict what you might like or wish to based on the conversation made. So when you type a friend ‘shall we do a lunch?’ , it comes out with cards that can suggest some restaurants, worth trying. So the understanding of the conversation and looking into the intent is what makes Xploree stands out amidst other features. Of course you do get the usual bells and whistles features and predictive texts and other now standard features like auto correction, auto capitalization etc.

To add a bit of fun into the messaging, the Xploree also has good icon sets, text shortcuts can be added in native languages for easy keying and you can personalize the keyboard by feeding your own dictionary.

xploree_3

Where do people usually make their discovery? mostly on browsers, right? Xploree has added a discovery feature as its core identity. As you keep typing on the keyboard, it recognizes the intent and pushes the contextual discoveries side by side aided by Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing.

Then there is also a Presto, bubble floating around. It gathers all the discovery cards which you have not noticed and you can always fall back on this to take a look at the cards.

xploree_2

There are also many themes and India-specific themes too to add flavour to the keyboard.

Xploree retains the core aspects of the keyboard functionality consumers expect and along with that offers a unique medium of discovery based on intent which is its highlight. Of course, there are areas for improvement and make the discoveries more accurate but the concept looks promising and can only get better in future implementation.

https://youtu.be/CP3EnBb3xCo

In case you have not tried Xploree yet, go ahead download and let us know how you find it.

To download click HERE

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]]> https://techraman.com/xploree-keyboard-yet-another-keyboard-or-something-different-to-it/feed/ 0 Hindware Dreambath App makes you visualize your bathroom before you buy https://techraman.com/hindware-dreambath-app-makes-you-visualize-your-bathroom-before-you-buy/ https://techraman.com/hindware-dreambath-app-makes-you-visualize-your-bathroom-before-you-buy/#respond Fri, 04 Nov 2016 11:21:59 +0000 http://techraman.com/?p=11741 ]]> Hindware bathroom inspiration) , the app gives comprehensive information including the company’s bathroom product range, 24+ bathroom themes for you settle on your right décor for your private space, alongside features to change particular product fittings with another within the theme and get an instant quote. The highlight of the app for me is its powerful augmented reality feature which can give you an instant visual look and feel of how various fittings will look in your actual space.

Salient features of the Dreambath App:

Give your bathroom a makeover:

The app gives you access to more than 24 exotic international theme for you to reimagine your bathroom with Hindware fittings. Further an edit tool within the theme section allows you to change a particular product with a different design. Say, in a particular theme you didn’t like the particular washbasin design, you can place a different design and see how it looks in that theme. The app also gives an instant quote of the fittings that you added in the theme, which helps immensely especially for you to decide your pricing comfort zone. [gallery columns="6" link="file" ids="11747,11750,11751,11752,11753,11754"]  

The Powerful Augmented reality feature:

So, you have done the bathroom tiles and your space is ready, all you need is to see how the bathroom accessories merge in. The powerful augmented reality feature makes you place Hindware’s various products right in the space you want and get an idea of how it would actually be when installed.

Browse the products at leisure:

The Dreambath app is a catalogue of Hindware’s premium products and along with your family at your own comfort zone and time, you can browse the various products and decide which one suits your space best. Plus, it also gives you the price estimate in MRP for each design. [gallery columns="4" link="file" ids="11756,11757,11758,11759"]  

Locate the dealers.

The app also helps you connect with the nearest dealers in case you want to visit the showroom to take a look at the physical product and place an order. By combining digital technology to lifestyle Hindware Dreambath promises to smoothen your decision making when it comes to designing your bathroom spaces at your home. What do you think? Take a look at the app and let us know.]]>

]]> https://techraman.com/hindware-dreambath-app-makes-you-visualize-your-bathroom-before-you-buy/feed/ 0 Discover like minded people with Brigge App to social networking on your favourite activities https://techraman.com/discover-like-minded-people-with-brigge-app-to-social-networking-on-your-favourite-activities/ https://techraman.com/discover-like-minded-people-with-brigge-app-to-social-networking-on-your-favourite-activities/#respond Fri, 16 Sep 2016 17:37:20 +0000 http://techraman.com/?p=11719 ]]> ]]> https://techraman.com/discover-like-minded-people-with-brigge-app-to-social-networking-on-your-favourite-activities/feed/ 0 CM Locker gets updated with GPS tracker; gets more teeth to fight intruders https://techraman.com/cm-locker-gets-updated-with-gps-tracker/ https://techraman.com/cm-locker-gets-updated-with-gps-tracker/#respond Wed, 16 Dec 2015 17:10:48 +0000 http://techraman.com/?p=10419 ]]> For starters, Cheetah Mobile’s CM Locker is a popular lock screen app for Android Smartphones that has some cool customization options and nifty features like battery and phone booster. The app has got a new update that adds extra layers of security measures in case of the phone theft. The update brings a GPS tracker to help track down the stolen Smartphone. With this feature enabled, when the intruder attempts to access CM Locker protected phone, the device automatically sends an email of the phone location. This new feature along with the existent Selfie function could be a big boon in tracking the stolen phone as well as ward off potential intruders from accessing the phone. The Selfie feature which was updated in the app this September, automatically sends selfie of intruder after three failed attempts of accessing CM Locker protected phones. This measures could ward off pesky people whom you might know from getting óver enthusiastic’ to pry upon others phone contents. Apart from addressing the security concerns, the CM Locker also has other smart features like battery booster that automatically shuts down battery draining apps running in the background, phone booster for a one click optimization of the phone and other cool stuffs like wallpapers, themes for customization, weather forecast function and also has support for fingerprint. CM Locker can be downloaded here.      ]]>

]]> https://techraman.com/cm-locker-gets-updated-with-gps-tracker/feed/ 0 Opera Max now helps save upto 50% data from music streaming apps https://techraman.com/opera-max-now-helps-save-upto-50-data-from-music-streaming-apps/ https://techraman.com/opera-max-now-helps-save-upto-50-data-from-music-streaming-apps/#respond Mon, 23 Nov 2015 11:35:13 +0000 http://techraman.com/?p=10266 ]]> Smartphone is becoming the main choice of media consumption in India and while the Smartphones are becoming very affordable, spending on data is very calculated. When people plan their data spend, they look at optimizing the data wisely. It’s where Opera Max comes into picture. Opera Max is a  data-management and data-saving app for Android phones which can save data drastically as much as 50%. Opera Max is the first app in the world to optimize the video and music streaming apps and save the data. A month ago, the company had optimized the  Opera Max for video saving for YouTube and Netflix apps, the latest update to the apps takes care of the music streaming apps. Initially it works for six music apps that are Pandora, Slacker Radio, Gaana, Saavn, Mix Radio and YouTube Music, with more apps to be supported in the future. According to a recent study conducted by market research firm JuxtSmartMandate, streaming and listening music online is the third most preferred activity of urban Internet users in the country and it mentions 97.4 million people in urban areas listen to music online. With increasing adoption of Smartphones, this numbers are only going to increase but the music streaming apps also take a heavy toll on the data. “More and more people love listening to their favorite music with apps; however, these apps are among the major data hogs consuming users’ mobile data quickly,” says Sergey Lossev, Product Manager at Opera Software. “Now, we have added audio compression for these music apps so that people will feel free to stream music without having to look constantly for available, free Wi-Fi coverage. This is particularly helpful for users with limited data plans.” Opera Max uses Rocker Optimizer technology for the data compression of the streaming audio without the loss of audio quality. It supports both MP3 and MP4 formats and for better efficiency it can also convert the audio into AAC+ codec, thus delivering high audio quality over a low bitrate connection to any compatible device. Recently we have seen some of the Mobile companies using Opera Max technology by default in their devices to help users save data. Xiaomi’s MIUI 7 uses Opera Max baked inside for data compression and we also noted recently that Samsung’s new feature in Galaxy J2 is powered by Opera Max. Opera Max optimizes data both on mobile networks as well as on Wi-Fi. Apart from video and music streaming apps, it can compress and save data when you are browsing and also most other apps including popular apps like Instragram, where you access more images. Users can monitor the data spend both on mobile internet or Wi-Fi on a monthly or daily basis and control their usage accordingly.  ]]>

]]> https://techraman.com/opera-max-now-helps-save-upto-50-data-from-music-streaming-apps/feed/ 0 Opera Mini for Android now offers two different data compression modes https://techraman.com/opera-mini-for-android-now-offers-two-different-data-compression-modes/ https://techraman.com/opera-mini-for-android-now-offers-two-different-data-compression-modes/#respond Wed, 09 Sep 2015 08:40:55 +0000 http://techraman.com/?p=9622 ]]> ]]> https://techraman.com/opera-mini-for-android-now-offers-two-different-data-compression-modes/feed/ 0