A few months ago, Google unveiled Android 8.0 Oreo and few OEMs have already started rolling it out under beta tests. While different OEMs have their own user interface layered on the Android OS, Pixel and Nexus smartphones carry pure Android UI, which is simple and clutter-free.

Motorola and Nokia too use stock Android but that is not as vanilla as the ones found in Pixel and Nexus devices. If you are using one of the smartphones from the OEMs and you want to experience how Android Oreo feels like in your device, follow these steps. It's really easy.

Step 1 - Go to 'Settings'

Step 2 - Search for 'Unknown Sources' and allow the device to download apps from unknown sources.

Step 3 - Go to GitHub page - https://github.com/amirzaidi/Launcher3/releases from the smartphone.

Step 4 - Search for 'Rootless Pixel Launcher 2.1' and tap on 'Launcher3-aosp-debug.apk'

Step 5 - Download the apk file.

Step 6 - Once downloaded, tap on the home button to reach the home screen.

Step 7 - Tap on 'Always' when a prompt is shown for the Launcher3 app.

Step 8 - Generally you'll be done here. However, in some cases you would manually need to enter the settings page, search for the launcher and change it to Launcher3.

Once done, you will see the same translucent app dock that can be scrolled up to access the drawer. The pill-shaped Google search button is also present at the top corner and swiping from left to right will open the personalised Google Now cards, similar to what we have seen in stock Android devices.

Furthermore, you can also see the app shortcuts and notification dots seen, features that come as a part of Android 8.0 Oreo.

Facebook, back in September, was spotted testing a new feature called 'Snooze'. Now, the social media giant has made the feature official by detailing it on their newsroom website. The feature aims to give users better control over their newsfeed and notifications alerts.

Shruthi Muraleedharan, product manager at Facebook said in the post that the 'Snooze' feature will be arriving over the next week. The feature lets users to temporarily unfollow a person, page or a group for 30 days. For now, the option only includes muting the content for 30 days.

We assume Facebook may bring more time options in future. According to TechCrunch's report from September, the option that was being tested came with 24 hours and 7 days as additional snooze time options. These may go live in future.

"With Snooze, you don't have to unfollow or unfriend permanently, rather just stop seeing someone's posts for a short period of time. The people, Pages, and groups you snooze will not be notified. You will be notified before the Snooze period is about to end and the setting can also be reversed at any time," explains Muraleedharan.

You can make use of this Snooze feature in two simple steps.

Step 1: If you want to mute a post, click on the top-right drop-down menu of that post.

Step 2: In the drop-down menu, simply select 'Snooze (name of the page, person for group) for 30 days' options. That's it.

Talking about Facebook testing different features, recently it was spotted testing 'Greetings', which is based on a similar decade-old idea of 'Poke'. Spotted by The Next Web's social media director Matt Navarra, Greetings are just like Poke. It consists of four new options in addition to 'Poke'. These are Wave, Hug, Wink and High-Five. These icons are spotted right below the profile picture of the user.

WhatsApp is testing new features for its over one billion users that include tap to unblock and private replies in groups, among others.

In the latest WhatsApp Android Beta version, spotted by the popular fan website WABetaInfo, "when you want to select a contact from the Contact List, you can easily chat to blocked contacts simply unblocking them using the new action: tap and hold the cell to unblock and send a message".

The Private Replies feature will let users reply privately to a person within a group. With this feature, you need not leave the group to reply someone.

A new WhatsApp update rolled out for iOS will let users play YouTube videos right within the instant messaging app. The update will also let users navigate to another chat while you are watching the video.

The information regarding the new WhatsApp update Version 2.17.81 was published on AppStore and first spotted by WABetaInfo, a website that tracks WhatsApp Beta programmes, on Tuesday.

"When you receive a link to a YouTube video, you can now play it right within WhatsApp. With picture-in-picture, you can also keep watching the video while you navigate to another chat," the new update read on AppStore.

Earlier, when users clicked on the link, the YouTube video would open in YouTube app installed on the smartphones.

Google has just finished rolling out Gboard 6.5 to its users that includes support for 40 additional languages. But the beta testers have already started receiving the Gboard 6.8. The new beta app versions biggest highlight is that it now includes another app inside of it - Handwriting Input.

For those unaware, Google's Handwriting Input app has been there as a standalone app in the Google Play Store for quite some time now. However, it has now been integrated right into the Gboard 6.8 beta. The app lets users to handwrite text on the device. The keyboard app supports up to 97 languages, cursive writing and even voice messages.

Facebook-owned WhatsApp has finally rolled out its much-awaited delete for everyone feature. Last week, the feature was made available to beta-testers but now the company has rolled it out for everyone. With this new feature, users will be able to delete any message they have sent by mistake. You just have to follow the simple steps in order to delete a message.

In case you have sent a wrong message to someone and wish to delete it. Then you just have to select the message and then the top bar will appear on your chat window which consists of the various options such as reply, mark star, copy, forward and information. Along with these options, there is also an option to delete.

When you will click on delete icon, it will show you the option to delete the message you have sent. You can either delete it for everyone or can just delete it for yourself. So, in order to delete a message, you just have to type on the option. Once the message is deleted the receiver will see a message 'This message was deleted' and your screen will show a message 'You deleted this message'.

However, the sender will only have the window of seven minutes in order to delete a message. The feature is available for both Android and iOS users.

So, now you don't have to worry about any message sent in the wrong group or chat as you can delete them with ease and also save yourself some embarrassment.

1. Words are slowly being replaced by emoticons. Why type “this is so funny” when you can use a “smiley” emoticon, right? Emoticons, however, aren’t being replaced by stickers though they might be feeling the pressure from stickers. Stickers have become an essential part of most messaging apps available. It does come as a surprise that this feature remains missing from arguably one of the most popular app – Whatsapp.

2. It’s not “breaking news” that selfies are quite the rage. So much so that smartphones are being sold on the selfie proposition. Google, in fact, went one step ahead and introduced a GIF selfie feature in its messaging app Allo. WhatsApp so far hasn’t caught on to the selfie GIF bug.

3. Of course, there are a few chats or conversations which you would like to keep private – from one and all. Perhaps a reason why several messaging apps come with Incognito or Private chat mode.

4. Do people still “poke each other”? Apparently, they do as most other popular messaging apps seem to have the feature. This feature is used to draw the attention of people you are chatting with. All one needs to do is double tap on the chat area and their friends’ phone would vibrate and a hand icon would appear in the chat area.

5. WhatsApp is still in the planning phase with its in-app wallet, but Hike Messenger has already introduced the same last month. The wallet service launched by Hike is based on government-backed unified payments interface (UPI). The wallet can be used to do free and instant bank-to-bank transfers to other mobile users, including even those who are not on Hike messenger.

6. Live filters became immensely popular with Snapchat and later Facebook-owned Instagram too introduced this feature in May.

7. The auto reply feature really comes in handy when you are in a rush and have no time to type complete sentences. The feature present in apps such as Facebook Messenger, Google Allo, is liked by many.

8. While an app like Line lets you share over 1GB of data, WhatsApp in its latest update lets you share 100MB of data on Android and 120MB data on iOS device.

Reliance Jio has extended the deadline for its Prime membership to April 15.

Along with this, the company has also waived off monthly charges for the next three months under its 'Summer Surprise' offer.

1. Reliance Jio's 'Summer Surprise' offer will give users three more months of free data and other benefits.
2. To avail 'Summer Surprise' offer, users need to enroll for Reliance Jio's Prime membership plan by paying membership fee of Rs 99 along with their first purchase of the telco’s Rs 303 or other plans of higher amount. "Every Jio Prime member, when they make their first paid recharge prior to April 15 using Jio's Rs 303 plan (or any higher value plan) will get services for the initial 3 months on a complimentary basis," the company said in a statement.
3. Since the 'Summer Surprise' offer is valid only for Reliance Jio Prime customers, it means that to avail the 'Summer Surprise' offer too the users need to sign in by April 15, 2017.
4. Those subscribers who have already registered for Jio Prime membership would be automatically shifted to 'Summer Surprise' offer.
5. In a letter to Reliance Jio customers, the company's chairman Mukesh Ambani termed the 'Summer Surprise' offer as Shagun. "In India, we have the fine tradition of shagun -- offering gifts on auspicious occasions," he said. "For us, your first recharge is an auspicious moment. Therefore, we want to offer a token of our appreciation -- the Jio Summer Surprise," added Ambani.
6. So far, there is no official word on Jio's 'Buy One Get One Offer', which gives users up to 120GB of 4G data free.
7. The paid tariff plan will be applied starting July, after the expiry of the 3-month complimentary service.

A Judge in North Carolina has ordered a woman to pay $500,000 for writing a Facebook post falsely accusing her former friend of killing her son.

According to a report in Telegraph.co.uk, Jacquelyn Hammond from Asheville wrote on Facebook , in 2015, of Davyne Dial: "I didn't get drunk and kill my kid."

But Dial who claimed to have nothing to do with her son's death sued Hammond for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Dial and Hammond's friendship had broken down after the failed attempt to work together on the radio station.

WhatsApp could be getting a new Snapchat-like feature that will improve Status functionality. The feature is reportedly being tested in the Beta version of WhatsApp for iOS.

According to WABetaInfo, a twitter profile that tracks WhatsApp Beta changelogs, a new feature will be introduced on the instant messaging platform that will allow users to temporary upload a picture or video on their profile which will disappear after 24 hours, similar to feature on Snapchat called ‘Stories.’ The post also suggests that the new feature will come with privacy settings.

Researchers, including one of Indian-origin, have developed a robotic arm that can drastically cut down the cost of performing complex, minimally invasive procedures, also known as laparoscopic surgery.

Minimally invasive procedures could lead to less trauma for patients and shorter recovery times after surgery.

The hand-held instrument developed at the University of Michigan in the US provides the same sorts of benefits as robot-assisted surgery, such as greater precision and functionality, but at a lower cost compared to existing robotic surgical systems, the creators said.

The new $500 surgical instrument could take the place of a $2 million robot for certain minimally invasive procedures, according to a university statement on Tuesday.

The lower cost could result in new capabilities for rural hospitals and other medical centres that cannot afford more expensive systems.

The technology gives surgeons a higher degree of dexterity and intuitive control than traditional laparoscopic instruments, said Shorya Awtar, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at University of Michigan in the US.

The technology is based on US National Science Foundation-funded engineering research and is being commercialised by FlexDex Surgical.

Awtar, an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology - Kanpur, co-founded FlexDex with his University of Michigan colleague and surgery professor, James Geiger, and entrepreneur Greg Bowles.

Surgeons in Michigan began using the new instrument in January, according to the team.

From February 13, 2017 millions of Gmail users across the world will not be able to send '.js' files as attachments. The search giant Google announced this on its G Suite Updates blog. According to the company, '.js' files are increasingly being used to spread malware.

"Gmail currently restricts certain file attachments (e.g. .exe, .msc, and .bat etc..) for security reasons, and starting on February 13, 2017, we will not allow .js file attachments as well. Similar to other restricted file attachments, you will not be able to attach a .js file and an in-product warning will appear...," said the company in the blog post.

Accordingly, .js file will be addtion to the Gmail current restriction of file formats .ade, .adp, .bat, .chm, .cmd, .com, .cpl, .exe, .hta, .ins, .isp, .jar, .jse, .lib, .lnk, .mde, .msc, .msp, .mst, .pif, .scr, .sct, .shb, .sys, .vb, .vbe, .vbs, .vxd, .wsc, .wsf and .wsh.

The blog post also mentions that for inbound mails, the senders will be receiving a bounce message explaining them why the mail was blocked and was not sent.

Facebook-owned WhatsApp seems set to get another nifty feature -- real-time tracking (though some may frown too upon it). The new feature will reportedly let WhatsApp users track the group members in real time and vice versa.

Some of the leaked images showing the new 'tracking feature' in WhatsApp groups have been posted on Twitter by @WABetaInfo, a Twitter account that tracks new features and changes in WhatsApp's beta builds.

As per the information shared in the tweets claim, that the feature is already available for Apple iOS users as a part of WhatsApp beta v2.17.3.28 and on Android as part of WhatsApp beta v2.16.399. It's also claims that the feature is disabled by default and needs to be activated manually.

It is worth noting that activating the feature will show the user's live location to other group members as well. It is visible under the 'Show my Friends' option and can be seen in the group settings. The 'Show my Friends' option can be turned on for every group member for different time durations -- 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes or indefinitely.

Recently, WhatsApp for iOS received the ability to let users 'send' WhatsApp messages in areas of poor or no internet connectivity. The feature, which has already been there in Android smartphones for sometime now, recently made its way to Apple's iOS operating system.

Facebook-owned WhatsApp has finally started rolling out GIF search support to its beta app on Android. After the update, users will be able to search for different types of GIFs right within the app itself. The same feature was rolled out to iOS users back in November 2016. Notably, the maximum limit of media files that can be sent in one go has been increase from 10 to 30.

Post update, users will see a GIF icon placed next to the emoticon icon when they tap on the emoji button. They can then search for GIFs and insert them directly from the app. It's also possible to search GIPHY for a keyword suitable for chat conversations.

Prior to the update, users were only allowed to send 10 media files on WhatsApp at a time and now they can share 30 files at a time. The new features are presently available for Android users using WhatsApp's beta version 2.17.6. They are expected to be rolled out to all users soon.

WhatsApp recently started rolling out video-calling functionality across all platforms - Android, iOS and Windows. However, it may take some time before the functionality reaches all users.

The number of digital financial transactions made through Unified Payments Interface and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data mode has grown exponentially by 3,574% and 10,603%, respectively, till January 18, Union Minister P.P. Chaudhary said here on Friday.

"As on January 19, 2017, over 3.8 lakh customers and 21,000 merchants have been rewarded under Lucky Grahak Yojana and DigiDhan Vyapar Yojana," Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for Law and Justice and Electronics and Information Technology, said while addressing an Assocham summit 'Growing cashless & digital economy'.

He also said that common service centres (CSCs) are functioning as ground level soldiers for spreading awareness about less-cash economy in the country.

"Since the beginning of the month of December 2016, a total of 1.97 crore citizens and 6.15 lakh merchants have been trained by CSC workers as on January 19, 2017," he said.

Chaudhary said various other societies and organisations within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology like National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology and National Informatics Center have also started undertaking initiatives for awareness building and training on digital payments.

He said the Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) app has witnessed several million downloads in the country in a span of just few days.

The Government of India's mobile payment app is here. Dubbed BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money), the app was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Digi Dhan Mela event in Talkatora stadium in New Delhi earlier today.

1. The app is a rebranded version of UPI (Unified Payment Interface) and USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data). As UPI is built on top of Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), this means transactions that you will do on BHIM app will take only seconds.
2. The app has been developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
3. BHIM app is about 2MB in size.
4. As for limits, users can transfer as low as Re 1 and a maximum of Rs 20,000 per day. However, there's a cap of Rs 10,000 for a single transaction.
5. BHIM app is currently only available for Android (version 4.1.1 and above). However, the official website claims that the app will be made available on other mobile platforms (including iOS) soon.
6. Currently, BHIM supports linking of one bank account only. At the time of account set-up, you can link your preferred bank account as the default account. In case you want to link another bank account, you can go to Main menu, choose bank accounts and select your default account. Any money that is transferred to you using your mobile number or payment address will be credited into your default account.
7. Once downloaded, users need to register his/her bank account details and set up a UPI Pin. The user’s mobile number becomes the payment address. Once registered, you are all set to get going. To set UPI PIN, go to Main Menu -Bank Accounts -Set UPI-PIN for the selected account. You will be prompted to enter the last 6 digits of your Debit/ATM card along with the expiry date. You will then receive an OTP which you will enter and set your UPI PIN.
8. At the time of registration you will be providing us with the debit card details and with the use your mobile number registered to your bank account, we will pre-fetch the details from your bank. Government claims that all the information exchange happens over secure banking networks and no information whatsoever is stored.
9. The app helps eliminate the fee payments to service providers like card companies such as Mastercard or Visa, which has been a big stumbling block in adoption of cashless paymemts by merchants.
10. PM Modi said that BHIM app will become the world's biggest wonder in times to come. "The day is not far when all transactions will run through the BHIM app," he added.