Facebook Myanmar Userbase

The American social network operator  has millions of users in Myanmar, which tells us about its popularity in the region..

Over the last few years, Facebook’s user growth in Myanmar has been impressive. During those years, the website worked as national news outlet and emergency relief coordinator – but through it the fangs of cyber bulling and privacy invasion has been injected into the region.

The website holds a large number of personal details, yet users might not be aware about the US social networking giant’s presence in the country, as the website doesn’t publicize its statistics regarding its Myanmar users.

The Myanmar Times got assistance from Yangoon based Amara Digital Marketing Agency –an organization which keeps the details of site obtained from Facebook’s business manager –to better understand the social network platform. The data received from the same firm declared the number of active monthly users of Myanmar to be over 9.7 million by mid of May. This indicates that close to 19% of the country’s population is using social networking site.

According to agency’s head of operations, Ma Chan Myae Khine, although the number of profiles has increased by thrice or four times however there are several accounts which are either locked or inactive. She added that within the time frame of less than 12 months, the site’s user base has grown by twice. Last year, by mid-July, the total monthly active users in Myanmar was totaled 4.7 million.

Almost 90% of Facebook users are located in country’s two major cities Mandalay and Yangoon, and their nearby regions. But in an upset Chan finds difficult to elaborate upon, Mandalay has eclipsed the commercial capital of the city, Yango, as far as Facebook users are concerned. Out of the cumulative 9.7 million active monthly users, around 41% are inside the40 km radius of Yangon compared to 47% around Mandalay.

Chan views a relationship between the nation’s latest telecom rollouts and grown Facebook usage. She states that, for example in the state of Kayah there’s an increase in users on the social networking website when a telecommunication service provider launches there. Ma stated that Facebook can prove to be unsafe for users who are not digital literate- particularly those from rural regions. But she also stated the website can boost income as well as knowledge.

Men surpass women on the platform by almost 2-to-1, the data demonstrated. While over 6.2 million men in Myanmar were active on the website, the number of women who had logged upon on the platform was less than 3.5 m. In the country, despite of making up the majority of the population, ladies are 30% less probably to have a cellular phone, as reported by The Myanmar Times.

Will Google Larry Page Introduce Flying Car?

The American search engine developer's co-founder is interested in  developing flying cars for diversifying his portfolio.

Just when the world thought that autonomous cars would be the greatest revolution of 21^st century, Alphabet Inc.’s CEO and Google’s co-founder Larry Page surprised the world by investing in two flying car startups.

The financing indicates technology executive’s aspiring efforts apart from internet search. Zee.Aero –a startup established almost three years ago and was eventually surrounded by the rumors that it belonged to Google. Later, it turned out that Mr. Larry is owner of Zee.Aero and personally funding the startup which now has approximately 150 workers who test airplane in rural California. Likewise, Page also owns a smaller sized startup dubbed Kitty Hawk that’s developing its own flying car design, according to source familiar with the matter.

Progress in battery and computing technology are making such products highly feasible, still they face major commercial, technical and regulatory obstacles before they start ferrying passengers.

Both organizations are based near Alphabet’s headquarters in the city of Mountain View in California. Previously, Bloomberg reported investments by Mr. Larry in the startups as well as their advancement up till now. The organizations are two out of around 12 companies trying to develop the so-called flying vehicles, which are effectively tiny automatic planes that can land as well as take-off vertically.

The aircraft organizations are personal projects of Mr. Larry and are not associated with Google’s parent Alphabet, another person stated. As per reports by Bloomberg, he has made an investment of more than $100 million in Zee Aero Alone.

His interest in personal planes indicates his wide-ranging ambitions to have an impact on industries outside internet, like Alphabet venture involving autonomous cars, life-extension technology and delivery drones.  The patents awarded to Zee.Aero in 2013 show many models for “private aircraft” that includes generally thin fuselages packed between wings on the back and front as well as topped with 8 rotors.

New York Post reported that Zero.Aero which has poached leading talent from organizations such as Boeing, NASA as well as SpaceX has a head office which covers a space of 30,000 sqft. The organization is also running  a production facility on a NASA research campus in Mountain View, reported Bloomberg. The other Page’s venture Kitty Hawk employing 12 engineers and has its head office at a distance of around half a mile from Zero.

According to business filings in the last year, President of Kitty Hawk was Sebastian Thrun, the search engine operator’s self-driving program creator and its research unit Google X founder, whose “moonshot” ventures have included robotics as well as artificial intelligence. In other news, as per reports by BBC the Indian government has refused to let the search company collect pictures for its service Street View in the nation after objections were raised by security agencies.

Ford Plans To Manufacture Few Models In China

The American automaker looks forward towards China for growth in the competitive world.

Ford Motor Company intends to turn China into its topmost Lincoln luxury vehicle market. The automaker is talking with its partner Changan Automobile Group regarding manufacturing the brand’s automobiles in Chongqing, revealed people aware of the issue.

In the Chinese city the American automaker is thinking to establish a major production presence that would cater to the demands of  the local market and turn into an Asia based export base, a person disclosed on the condition of anonymity. The production could start not before 2018 only if the automaker’s unit retains its strong growth in the country. Earlier in 2015, the unit has promising start in the region, the source reported.

No contract has been signed on important points like profit-sharing, and it might yet take up till 2020 or even later for the roll out of the first Lincoln in China, source close to the matter revealed.

The shares of Changan Auto declined by 2% in Shenzhen trading, the largest intraday decrease in 3 weeks. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.1%. CEO of Ford Mark Fields has stated the US could be replaced by China, as Lincoln’s biggest market by the end of 2020. The automaker is investing a sum of $2.5 billion to refit the worn out luxury line.

The car maker had ceased making the long-lasting business travel stalwart Town Car that had turned into Lincoln symbol. In late 2016, the automaker’s division will bring its Continental nameplate back on a broad-shouldered cruiser equipped with an opulent back seat targeted at wealthy Chinese consumers who are interested in being chauffeured.

During its first year in the country, Ford’s division delivered over 11,000 automobiles, which Mark has called the rapid beginning for a luxurious- automobile brand there “in recent history.” Production in the Chinese region would let the Michigan based organization save an import tax on 25%, increasing the competitiveness of its productions in a premium auto markets led by German automakers Mercedes- Benz, BMW as well as Audi.

Ford’s unit would join Nissan Motor Company’s Infiniti and General Motors’ Cadillac amongst luxurious number plates that are manufactured in the country. The possibility to manufacture Lincolns in the country is eased by the fact that the luxurious cars are developed upon the same mechanical foundations as Ford vehicles already manufactured, stated a person.

It is not clear which Lincoln automobiles the automaker is thinking to build in the country. As of now, the brand delivers four import models in the country, revealed its website. The MKZ vehicle is offered at a recommending starting price of $48,000 (315,800 yuan), or around the same as a China-manufactured Mercedes C-Class.

According to Ford, it plans on to increase the number of its store from 40 to 60. The company will be able to boost revenue and have strong growth if its project rolls out successfully.

Microsoft Debuts Word Flow Keyboard

Microsoft Surfaces the Word Flow Keyboard On iOS in US.

According to a recent report by Mac Rumors, it has been confirmed that Microsoft Corporation has come up with Word Flow Windows Phone Keyboard in the form of an iOS app.  This app can be bought from the US version of the App Store. Initially, the app was designed solely for the Windows Phone devices but now the app has surfaced to the iOS users in the United States.

The software has various core features such as the “next word prediction”. Along with that the keyboard also flaunts an “Arc mode” which is designed in a manner that makes typing from one hand easier. The mode in discussion allows the user to type on a curve, a minimally circular keyboard and then tilting the keys on the typing hand of the user. There are numerous settings for the keyboard which can be enabled such as letting users keep a note of their typing speeds.  This also helps in keeping tabs on the use and then continues to practice typing through an intriguing swipe to type mechanism.

Moreover users also get the option of customizing their keyboard. The Windows giant has given the option to put a user’s image as the background which will make the input device more personalized. Moreover, users can also choose from a broad range of themes as per their preference and then giving the Flow keyboard an extremely personal feel.

At this point of time, MSFT recent addition to the keyboard devices is just limited to the United States. However, it will soon surface in the European region as well. it needs to be taken into consideration that Garage division of the tech giant has succeeded in coming up with a successful product that belongs to the experimental development platform. it is also being assumed that there is high probability that MSFT may have purposely decided to just launch the product in the United States so that they can get a feedback on the product and then later it is surfaced across the globe.

When one traces the company’s acquisition of Swiftkey for $250 million back in February, it looks like the word prediction functionality is majorly inspired by the initial keyboard maker’s present capabilities. Microsoft also made a decision to integrate the technology of Swiftkeys in its own products, thus the company’s range of iOS keyboards will make the competition extremely stringent for competition. It is also said that they might just become direct rivals to Apple’s keyboard offerings.

Many analysts are of the view that the decision by Microsoft to come up with a modern keyboard for iOS is driven by the success of the initially experimented keyboard devices such as Hub to attract the Apple variants. Through this endeavor, the company might be able to tap on a larger consumer base by making sure that the Word Flow is suitable with other third party applications. The move is strategic and will help the company expand its consumer base in the long run.

Boeing Offers Buyouts Options To South Carolina Workers

Boeing is offering voluntary resignations to its engineering unit in South Carolina.

Boeing Corporation has made several job cuts this year to save extra costs and lower down the costs of its products in order to compete efficiently with its rivals in the market. The airplane maker is now offering voluntary layoff to its employees in the engineering unit in North Charleston. It even has plans to make almost 4,000 job cuts by the end of June this year.

The aerospace company plans to start the voluntary cuts from Thursday to at least 200 of it employees at its center in South Carolina that produces the 787 Dreamliner and even extra parts for the 737 MAX. A spokeswoman for the company, Elizabeth Merida confirmed these reports through an emailed statement but she did not give any details about the exact number of employees that will be laid off. The employees will be notified of the organizations plans according to the officials and will be given 30 days to make a decision and even a five-day buffer if they wish to change their decision.

Boeing Co. announced its plans of making 4000 job cuts in its commercial unit, thus this recent announcement does not come as surprise. The officials of the company are going to evaluate who needs to be cut off after the employees submit their own decisions. If lesser workers decide to quit voluntarily, the aerospace giant is planning to make the job cuts against the workers will as that is going to be its last option.

Workers should consider this offer as it is giving them a package of one week of payments for every year with the company till at least 26 weeks. This offer only stands for workers who have worked with Boeing for over a year. 

An official of the airplane maker said that the company is not happy about making these job cuts and it is a difficult decision, this option will allow it to make the job cuts easily its many units in order to continue with its business strategy. The voluntary layoff program is going to help the organization make the job cuts in a better manner rather than letting employees go against their will. 

Boeing's commercial airplanes are going to cost lesser once the company is able to achieve its goal of making 4,000 job cuts and save extra costs. The job cuts include manager and even executives, which indicates that employees of all position are being looked at the same and should look for other alternatives before it’s too late and they are unemployed. Boeing did not make any comments if more job cuts are going to be made in the same facility in the future or not.

Samsung Brings Safety Screen App For Children Who Use Phones Excessively

Kids can now use phones as much as they like without worrying about eyesight hazards thanks to Samsung's new app, Safety screen.

Samsung Electronics Corporation Limited has proved that it does not just bring the best smartphones and other gadgets in the market, but cares about the effect they put on people as well. The same cannot be said for all the companies out there. The smartphone maker has now launched a new application called Safety Screen that will protect children’s eyes when they are playing video games on their phones. 

The South Korean tech giant new application will help in stopping vision damage of any kind from prolong use of tablets and mobile phones. It comes as a surprise to many older people when they see the rising number of children wearing spectacles, which is a result of excessive use of electronic devices, such as smartphones and tablets. Parents are always concerned about the eyesight of their children when they see them using phones and tablets excessively. Samsung has come up with a solution for this via their new application. 

Safety screen works by using facial recognition, which helps it to verify the distance of the user's eyes from the phone or the tablet. If the application detects that the user’s eyes are dangerously close to the screen of the device, it will shut the device down automatically with a pop up of a tiny alien’s picture on it, informing the user that the device they are using is too close and that they should use it with proper distance. The application is going to run in the background throughout and will prevent teens and children from damaging their eyes. Since it is going to be in the background, none of the normal usage of the user will be affected by the application.

It does not stop here, if children try to disable the application, parents can even set a password and a username, which would prevent children from being able to stop the application from working. The Galaxy maker’s application is a handy tool for parents, who have been concerned for far too long, and can now be downloaded from Google Play Store. The app is only available for Android; sadly, the IOS users will have to stick to the old ways for now. The distance is going to be different for all the devices according to their shapes and sizes. The recommended safe distance is 25cm. 

Samsung clearly does not hesitate when it comes to giving its users the best possible application out there today. Samsung Pay App, after proving to be huge success, is now being launched in several other countries including Singapore.

Amazon Prime Video Rolls Out Monthly Subscription

Amazon finally separates its video streaming service from the annual bundled subscription.

Amazon Inc. is moving forward in speed and in recent years, it has surpassed all the traditional and online retailers to become one of the biggest retailers in the world. The primary reason of its immense success in the past three to four years is its loyalty program called Prime. Over the years, the company has brought in several changes in its plan and introduced numerous features and advantages for the customers. The company officials vowed initially that Prime would be worth every penny if a customer intends to spend on it.

Amazon Prime was a $99 per year subscription in which a customer could avail services such as free two-day shipping, lightning deals, amazing discounts, music, and video streaming service etc. The video streaming service known as Prime Video is in direct competition with the market leader Netflix. Both work on a different model. Netflix is a service based on monthly subscription where as Prime Video only comes with the Prime annual membership free. This might hold off the customers to get access to Prime Video even if they wanted to.

For that matter, Amazon has decided to go monthly starting from Sunday in order to take on the streaming giant Netflix. Previously, the subscription offer was for the bundled Prime service and it was subscription on annual basis. Now it is reported that Amazon will go monthly but only for its Prime Video division. For customers who only want the subscription for movies and TV shows will be thrilled. It is a fact that not all can afford to spend $99 at once even if they do not have to spend for the rest of the year. There might be another part of the customer base who would not want other services such as free shipping etc. but just the streaming service.

On previous occasions, Amazon never made Prime Video available to customers as a standalone product until now. Since the beginning, it remained part of the Prime membership. There might be a possibility that the online retailer might be monitoring the competition rising between Prime Video and other streaming services. This move came as a part of taking on its competitors Netflix and Hulu.

According to the director of multiplay and media at CCS Insight, Paolo Pescatore, said in a statement “This significant move underlines the company's commitment to video and we firmly believe that the next step is to launch the new service overseas. Its closest rival, Netflix, has done a phenomenal job of launching in many new markets within a short period of time and as a result, has a far greater reach and can benefit more from scale and of course early mover advantage.”

He adds that offering Prime Video separately in as this would further limit the online retailer to get its service out in the new markets.