Google Maps has a Dedicated Tab For Ride -Sharing Now

The users will be able to compare fares and choose the best suitable option to commute - tough luck for Uber, as other companies will also be shown on the app.

Seems Uber is in for some tough competition as Alphabet Inc.’s Google is planning on introducing an update to Google Maps which will allows users to view more options for ride services in a specific cab/ride service tab – customers will get a chance to compare fares of the various services provided under the tab as well.

The latest update by the search engine giant will be considered a competition for Uber because it just introduced disruptive technology for it. Initially, Google Maps was only integrated with the Uber service however now it will also post options from other ride-sharing service providers as well. According to the company, the service will roll out on the android operating system initially but will be made available on the iOS soon enough.

According to the search engine organization, there will be five ride-sharing providers alongside Uber across five countries. And along with bicycling, driving and walking, there will be a specifically dedicated tab for ride-sharing as well now. The ride-sharing companies that are currently on board with Google include Ola Cab in India, myTaxi in Germany, Hailo in the United Kingdom and Spain, 99Taxis in Brazil and finally Gett in the UK.

With the help of this new option on a single platform, customers will be able to compare the cost as well as the arrival time to a specific destination and then take whichever according to them is giving the best offer. Users will be able to do all this on a single application instead of going back and forth to two, three different applications.

As easy as might sound, it should be mentioned that even though they will be able to compare fares, the users might face data storage issues on their smartphone as they will need to have the app for the specific ride-sharing service installed on their device. As soon as the user will app on one of the services it will take him to the service’s application where he can easily compare the prices.

The software engineer, Holger Flier, in a company blog post stated that when a user is viewing directions on Google maps, they will also make the ride-sharing tab available, if it makes sense, for each provider. This simply means that if a user is using Uber it will also show UberX, UberXL and UberBlack as an option as well.

Presently, Alphabet Inc.’s stock is being traded in the market for $728.33 at a drop of 0.30%. The highest share price at which it was seen at during the trading session was $732.29 and the lowest at which it was seen at was $724.77 while the current market capitalization of the search engine organization is at $513.48 billion.

Qualcomm Launches VR SDK

chipmaker, qualcomm inc., qualcomm virtual reality, qualcomm software development kit, virtual reality market

On Monday, the mobile chip giant introduced its software development kit (SDK) for smartphones powered by the Snapdragon 820 along with virtual reality headsets. With the introduction of its SDK, the chipmaker has made it easier for developers to create apps and games that would run on snapdragon based hardware.

According to tech advisor, Digicaptial, the VR and augmented reality market will be worth $ 120 billion by the year 2020. The latest VR SDK is integrated by the chipmaker’s Symphony System Manager. This manager of the company handles the CPU, GPU and also takes care of the performance management division. The chip designer, to this, stated that as it is integrated with the SSM, it will get better power management as well as will be able to maintain stable rates.

The latest SDK provides developers to gain access to advanced VR features; furthermore it will be provided to the developers for free via the Qualcomm Developer Network during the second quarter of 2016. The advanced features on the SDK allow developers to simplify development and attain most efficient performance along with power via the Snapdragon 820.

Furthermore, it’s a more efficient way for the developers to spread a processing workload on various processing cores. THE VR SDK is expected to have features like digital signal processing sensor fusion, which with the help of the 820’s sensor core can combine data from gyroscopes and accelerometers. This further allows in faster transformation of 3D images along with better power performance.

Qualcomm is aiming at unleashing the true potential of high end mobile devices with the help of its Software development kit – as it would allow developers to start building apps and games for the optimum customer experience. However the VR experience won’t be as intense as it will be on Oculus Rift headset but it will be quite close to it.

The social media network’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that VR would be the next biggest social platform in the industry. Many other technology companies have been involved in this, for instance HP is using the latest technology for 3D printing while various others are aiming to use it for medical, engineering purposes. Most of these companies are expected to start shipping the products later this year, which makes it evident that Qualcomm has lacked behind a bit in that race – but better late than never.

Court Runs In Favor Of Samsung Rather Than Apple

Samsung has won a $120 million patent dispute with its major rival, Apple.

Samsung Electronics has finally managed to get the court on its side. The South Korean tech giant made an appeal to the court regarding a jury verdict where it had to pay almost $120 million to Apple, but this was overruled by the court.

The Galaxy maker received the good news on Friday that it no longer had to pay its biggest rival in the market with $120 million for a patent dispute as the court called them invalid. Samsung even posted an online statement, which said the iPhone maker’s patents should have never been issued; it informed the public of its victory.

The competition between these two tech companies famous for the best smartphones in the market is now going to be where it belongs with the power in the hands of the consumers. Apple and Samsung are not strangers to one another in the courtroom and this is not the first time they are together in yet another battle regarding patents.

The iPhone maker filed this recent lawsuit in 2012, where it alleged that the South Korean tech business had infringed its patents related to smartphones. Initially, many patents were involved, but the court cut down the list to three of Apple’s and two of Samsung’s patents on Friday. The court concluded that the tech company did not infringe the ‘quick links’ patent and the ‘slide to unlock’, nor even auto correct checker.

Previously, Samsung was ordered to pay $119.6 million to Apple according to a ruling by the federal court in California, San Jose, due to copying patents without any rights and authorization, but that is no longer the case. Now, the tables have turned and Apple has to pay $158,500 to Samsung for infringing one of its patents instead.

In December, the South Korean organization paid $548 million in another lawsuit battle with the same competitor, but it made an appeal to the Supreme Court, which Apple thinks is not worthy of the time of the Supreme Court. These two companies have been at war for quite a while now and have been known to participate in lawsuit in various countries, not just the US, for the patent disputes.

Both companies should be well aware by now that patent disputes are not worth wasting time and the real battle belongs to the market for the best products, not courtrooms. This cost them in several other ways as well. 

Green Signal To Invest In Johnson & Johnson Stock

The diversified business of the company has made it stronger in all types of economic conditions.

The beginning of 2016 has not been much good to the healthcare sector. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index plummeted down by 22% year to date, which made Market Vectors Pharmaceutical ETF to tumble down by 10% through February 18. However, Johnson & Johnson is still the better option of investment for investors.

The inception of the business dates back to almost 130 years ago. Ever since its commencement of business, Johnson & Johnson has introduced so many products to its customers, which are being used by the consumers for a long time now. The products have allowed the organization to have a strong lineup of consumers, who have also built up emotional attachment with the products because of their long existence, and naturally, the revenue of the company cannot be compromised in the long run.

Not many people know about the company’s colossal 250 subsidiaries that make the parent ‘Johnson & Johnson’ a titan in the industry. Although dynamics get complicated with a large number of subsidiaries, the diversity of the company prevents it from being so much affected by the unfavorable economic conditions. The buying and selling of the assets can be conveniently carried out.

J&J’s extensive research and development is pivotal in the company performance. According to Fortune, the $290 billion organization had spent around 11.5% of its revenue; $8.2 billion, on research and development in 2013. These humungous investments in R&D are generating exactly according to the organization’s intentions. It allows it to bring innovative products in the market.

J&J’s medical device unit has a long way of boosting its revenues as the products pertaining to this specific device can grab major chunk of market share. Another brownie point for the business is its inelastic products. The healthcare titan manufactures such products that have stable growth. With a little exception of elective surgical procedures, the overall demand for the biotech company will remain high and strong.

The medical giant also has around dozen of organizations dubbed as Dividend Aristocrats which, for their shareholders, have been raising the annual dividend payment for around 25 consecutive years. Johnson & Johnson, exclusively, has been raising the dividend payout for 53 straight years. Its significant 3% yield is higher than the S&P 500 current average yield of 2.4%.

One of the greatest credits that the New Jersey firm has to its name is the prestigious AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor’s. For the past 10 years, it has been producing around free cash flow worth $11.4 billion. It has been lucky enough to get the best of the leaders to take on the reins of the company. The current CEO Alex Gorsky has been associated with the company for 24 years and is likely to contribute more efficiently for it.  

At the market close down on Tuesday, Johnson & Johnson stock price stood at a hefty price of $104.74. The 52-week range of the stock is $81.79 to $105.49. Since January 1970, the share price has raised by 9,400% while about 1,000% has increased since January 1994. The New Jersey based healthcare giant has a P/E of 18.6 and forward P/E of 14.8 in comparison with the S&P 500 P/E of 20.6 and forward P/E of 15.3.   

Google To Combat Jihadi Ideology

Google will come up with counter narratives when Jihadist terms are searched.

Alphabet Inc. the parent company of Google is all set to embrace a massive change by devising ways that will help combat jihadist ideology via its search engine platform.

All those people who support the Jihadist mindset and type words that support this agenda on Google will be linked to anti-radicalization links. This will be as part of their pilot scheme as announced by the company.
The new technology derived by the company actually means that those individuals who are at the verge of being radicalized will be provided with Internet links that are completely polar to what they are actually searching for.

A senior executive at Google,  Dr. Anthony House, has unveiled the pilot project to the MPs where he critically analyzed the role of Internet giants whilst dealing with terrorism.

 “We are working on counter-narratives around the world. This year one of the things we’re looking at is we are running two pilot programmes,” claimed Dr. House. He further added, "When people put potentially damaging search terms into our search engine they (will) also find these counter narratives"

The idea which Dr. House advocated is relatively simple and might bring a huge change. The company wishes to ensure that the positive agenda is approachable by the masses. Apart from that, they also wish to make sure that when other individuals come up with search terms that are relatively damaging then they will have to sift through counter narratives. It is similar to make them go through a different perspective that might help them change their mind.

Most governmental institutions have actually realized that counter narratives play a great role in eliminating terrorism. For instance, the videos produced by the Levant and the Islamic State of Iraq generally referred to as Isis- the idea will promote Muslims and other radical individuals to stand united against terrorist mindset.

The Commons were acknowledged by Dr. House regarding the select committee where the search engine removed 14 million videos from its video streaming platform, YouTube for a variety of reasons such as terror provoking content along with breaking other rules.

The company primarily got 100,000 flags from the members of the masses regarding content which they find inappropriate.

The Twitter executive, Nick Pickles claimed that the micro-blogging platform has been successful in removing thousands of extremist accounts in a time span of 12 months. The platform which presently has 320 million active users has hired above 100 individuals that have been divided in teams to cater to inappropriate use of the social media platform.

This is a great way to combat terrorism since a little can make a huge difference in the long run. The damage has already been done but tech giants can now play an active role in minimizing the damage. Google and Twitter need to be appreciated for their endeavors and other tech giants need to come up with similar plans.

Delta Airlines Made Unscheduled Landing Due To Flight Attendants Fight

Delta had to make an unplanned landing at Slat Lake City, when two female flight attendants got into a physical fight.

Delta Airlines reported an unplanned landing of its flight, which was going from Los Angeles to Minneapolis. The captain took the decision to land in Salt Lake City due to violence during the flight oddly between two female flight attendants who got into a fistfight. The giant air traveling company’s flight attendants got into physical arguments over a disagreement that had been going on between them from 22 January regarding work issues.

Delta Airlines unscheduled landing was due to a physical fight between two flight attendants that started over work issues of its flight 2598. When the quarrel begun between the two, a third woman, who was on board, made efforts to break in, but unfortunately she also ended up being punched.

The 2598 flight was in Boeing 757, which was going from Los Angeles to Minneapolis. The jet reached south of Salt Lake City and made landing there. The air traveling company later sent out a letter of apology to all passengers who witnessed the incident and were on board. The letter said that ‘some of our team members did not display best behavior.’ The crew is expected to be professional and show good manner, which was not the case on this flight sadly for the company. The air travel provider apologized to its passengers for delivering what the business promises on this flight.

The air carrier has not witnessed a fight for the first time during flight. It is not mainly between flight attendants but the passengers instead. Delta has not made any comment regarding the news so far.

In other news regarding the company, it has made reports of making huge profit, thanks to the low oil and gas prices, which also comprises of jets fuel for the business. Delta is not the only airline that is getting the benefits of low jet fuel prices, as other airline are profiting from this too, such as American Airlines and many others.

Delta’s profit is expected to be huge in amount, as the airfare has not been changed since 2014, while jet fuel prices have. Passengers pay the same price for tickets as they used to but the company does not pay the same price for the fuel to travel, which leads to it getting more profit than ever. The incident was embarrassing for the management for which is expressed regret.

Delta stock closed at $44.26, going green by 2.45% on January 29, Friday. 

Galaxy S7 To Be Revealed At MWC Conference 2016

The Samsung Press Conference is scheduled next month, where all the rumors and speculations will finally come to an end as the company plans to unveil Galaxy S7 that will have spectacular video-making performance.

Samsung’s upcoming smartphone has been the victim of numerous rumors speculations regarding its design and specs, mainly because the fans of Galaxy S7 are growing impatient to know what they will get. The South Korean tech giant might reveal its upcoming mobile phone, Galaxy S7, next month at the MWC Samsung press conference, putting all the rumors finally to an end. It can be expected, the upcoming smartphone might have better than expected video making options.

The Galaxy maker will confirm Galaxy S7 at the MWC, according to a tweet made by EVLEAKS, which apparently seemed like an invite for the press conference on February 21. The invites were not official ones but they seem to indicate that the company might send out official invites very soon.

Three versions are expected to be released; Galaxy S7 primarily, following it will be released, Galaxy S7 Edge and Edge Plus. These versions will vary in sizes and display screens. There have been rumors that upcoming phone series will be identical in terms of specs with curved displays. This upcoming conference will be held in Barcelona, where the company will not only display Galaxy S7, but other upcoming technology too. Another series of the Gear VR might be showcased at the MWC and even Gear watches, making another addition in its wearable portfolio.

Samsung Galaxy S7 might give an amazing experience to customers who like taking pictures and making videos. It will have the capacity of 17-hours video playback consecutively. This upcoming mobile phone will be a spectacular video producer, providing the customers with more options and a larger battery to keep making videos.

Eldar Murtazin, who is famous for his predictions regarding the features and specs of upcoming smartphones, speculated the efficient video capabilities, but it is not known how Eldar was able to collect this information about the smartphone video capabilities. However, it has to be taken seriously because most of the speculations made by Eldar turn out to be factual.

The previous series of Galaxy by the company such as the famous Galaxy S6 provided 13 hour of video playback and Note 5 with 15 hours of video playback respectively. Now it might give users 17 hours of video playback on full brightness in Galaxy S7. The video capability of S7 means that a larger battery time will also be packed in this phone to meet the demand of a longer video playback.