The messaging platform WhatsApp is ready to implement unique usernames, a long-awaited development for users to finally free themselves from the requirement to provide their phone number to be contacted.

The change, “confirmed in the latest beta version for Android (v2.25.28.12), represents the end of the exclusive reliance on the phone number as the sole form of identification and contact on the platform.”

The implementation of usernames on WhatsApp is an important step in terms of privacy. As is known, currently it is necessary to share your personal number to contact someone. But this is sensitive information, especially for those who use the app in work or public contexts.

By removing this requirement, the number is released, as WhatsApp users “can be found and added without having to share their phone number, thus protecting their personal information.”

Furthermore, the unique identifier is activated, through which “each user can choose their own alias, just like on social networks like Instagram or rival apps like Telegram.”

To prevent the most coveted aliases from being monopolized, the platform is developing a pre-registration mechanism for usernames. It also “plans to include a username password system” that will allow users to control who can start conversations, even if they know your alias, adding an extra layer of security.”

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Source: fayerwayer

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Meta promises announced news in WhatsApp video calls. Users will be able to share screen and video, as well as add more participants and highlight the caller, among others.

According to the parent company of the instant messaging application, the new features will apply to the calling section on computers and cell phones. The company highlighted that “there are several modifications and that one of these improvements is focused on integrating all users into a call with the screen sharing option with audio, which allows users to watch videos simultaneously and share the audio when the screen is shared.”

In the announcement, Meta noted that users can make a call with up to 32 participants, “in which the keynote speaker role was added,” so that participants identify who is speaking.

The security issue for WhatsApp has also been improved, according to Meta spokespersons, for greater peace of mind for users.

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Source: ambito

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WhatsApp has begun to implement a function in the beta versions of Android and iOS that allows you to hide the IP address of devices during calls as a security and privacy measure, so that other users cannot track the location of the device from which they are calling. make the call.

The Internet Protocol (IP) address is a unique label made up of a set of numbers that identifies a device on the Internet or on a local network and is used to allow the sending of information between devices on a network. However, it also contains information about the location of the device, so it can be used to accurately track the location of the user who is using the device.

WhatsApp continues to implement functions to improve the security and privacy of users and, on this occasion, has begun to introduce an option that allows you to hide the IP address during calls, in the beta version of the ‘app’ for iOS and Android.

With this option, users can add another layer of security to their calls and prevent malicious actors from locating their address. To access this function, as WaBetaInfo has learned, the instant messaging platform has introduced a new ‘Advanced’ tab, within the ‘Privacy Settings’ screen.

In this new tab, users will be able to activate the ‘Protect the IP address in calls’ function and thus prevent their location from being known, especially in calls with unknown users, since the data transmission is carried out securely. through WhatsApp servers.

However, according to screenshots shared by this portal, the platform warns that if the option to hide the IP address is activated, it may reduce the quality of the call, due to the encryption processes.

With all this, the new IP protection feature has been released for some testers who have the Android beta version 2.23.21.12 and the iOS beta version 23.21.1.70.

Source: dpa

(Referential image source: WhatsApp, Europa Press / dpa)

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Starlink’s satellite service for mobile phones, Direct to Cell, will begin rolling out in 2024 for sending text messages (SMS) and in 2025 for making voice calls, using Internet data and connecting IoT devices with common LTE standards.

Starlink is a division of SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, designed to create an interconnected network of orbital satellites with which it hopes to provide the internet to all areas of the world and that even those with less coverage can connect to the network.

With the Direct to Cell service the company plans to offer mobile connectivity, with “seamless access to text messages, voice and data for LTE phones worldwide” without having to change the ‘hardware’ or ‘firmware’ of these devices, as specified on their website.

In this, the company has established the scheduled deadlines for the launch of its mobile coverage service, which will begin in 2024 with the possibility of sending text messages. A year later, in 2025, it will add support for voice calls, data, and IoT devices.

SpaceX has also commented that Direct to Cell capable satellites feature an eNodeB modem that acts as a cell tower in space, “enabling network integration similar to that of a standard roaming partner.”

Thus, it has been announced that Direct to Cell will reach the telephone providers T-Mobile, Rodgers, both in the United States, KDDI (Japan), Opto (Australia), One NZ (New Zealand) and Sal (Switzerland).

The technology firm has also indicated that it is taking advantage of its experience in manufacturing and launching the “most advanced rockets and spacecraft in the world” to carry out this satellite connectivity project at scale.

The Direct to Cell satellites will initially launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and then on Starship. Once in orbit, they will immediately connect to the Starlink constellation to provide global connectivity.

Source: dpa

(Referential image source: Starlink, dpa)

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Twitter is developing new formats of interaction between users, including encrypted voice and video calls, as reported to company employees at a meeting organized by its owner, Elon Musk.

Since the arrival of the founder of Tesla to the Board of Directors of Twitter, the information related to the new features that he has proposed has not ceased. Among them, the encryption of direct messages.

Reverse engineering expert Jane Manchun Wong noticed signs of the development of this feature recently in the platform’s code, which would have resumed encrypted messages after abandoning the development of Secret Conversation, the predecessor of this option, and which did not go beyond a few tests carried out in 2018.

This feature is being developed within the framework of Twitter 2.0, a project that Musk presented this week at the social network’s headquarters in San Francisco (United States) and which also integrates the ability to make encrypted voice and video calls.

“We want to allow users to communicate without worrying about their privacy, without worrying about a Twitter data breach causing all their direct messages to hit the web or thinking that maybe someone on Twitter might be spying on their messages,” Musk commented in this meeting.

The billionaire also suggested that this exposure of confidential information “has happened several times before” and, according to this medium, would have taken place in 2018, when the company acknowledged that certain users had accessed an undetermined number of conversations between companies and clients.

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Source: dpa

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OnePlus announced this Monday the official launch in India of its new smartwatch with a special Harry Potter edition, which includes new finishes, personalized and exclusive dials, as well as a vegan leather strap inspired by the saga created by J.K. Rowling.

In this special edition, created by the Chinese company in collaboration with Warner Bros., the technical specifications that OnePlus Watch has are maintained: its 1.39-inch AMOLED screen, integrated GPS and blood oxygen sensor, according to OnePlus in its Web page.

Among the novelties included in this model is the customization of its appearance, specifically of its dials, as well as its finishes and the box that contains it. To see the clock, you need to open this box in half, as if it were a wall.

With this detail, OnePlus refers to one of the scenes from the first movie of this wizarding saga, when two of its characters, Rubeus Hagrid and Harry Potter, enter Diagon Alley through a door with bricks that move from the patio of the Leaky Cauldron.

In relation to its finishes, the one that the technological house has chosen for this edition stands out, in gold and with a dark brown strap, in reference to the uniform worn by the Quidditch teams and the Snitch ball. The recognizable logo of the series, with an “H” inside a small shield, is engraved on the strap.

Another of the novelties highlighted by OnePlus Watch is the new range of unique spheres in this edition and customizable with the animated shields of the four houses that make up Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

In addition, it has a battery life of up to 14 days on a single charge, hands-free calling, remote camera and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity. This special edition also monitors heart rate, stress, and blood oxygen levels.

This smartwatch has been launched in India and it has not been specified if it will be marketed in other countries. At the moment, it is known that its price is 16,999 rupees (the equivalent of 195 euros in Spain), while the normal edition OnePlus does not exceed 14,999 rupees (171 euros).

Source: dpa

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