Cab-hailing and ridesharing app Uber is getting a major redesign, the first time since 2012. The new app on iOS and Android, with a lot of personalisation features, is being rolled out across the globe. It will be a few weeks before everyone gets the new version.
A major focus of the redesign is "destination", and that's what users would enter first when they open the app. The new app learns from riders’ routines. So frequent riders will see “shortcuts” that predict where they could be headed.
Another feature is calendar integration. Once connected, the riders’ meetings and appointments will automatically appear as “shortcuts”, saving them the hassle of digging through another app to find the right address.
The new app will also have an option that will be of great help for users who are heading out to meet someone. Instead of going a particular place and trying to find out of the location of the person you are planning to meet, riders would be able to "reach the person" directly. Riders will have to sync contacts, and request the person, whom they are planning to meet, to share the location. Once it’s done, that’s entered as the destination, and the rider can get going.
Microsoft unveils new workspace platform
Microsoft has unveiled a new chat-based workspace that further enhances the collaboration capabilities in Microsoft Office 365, the cloud-based productivity platform.
The new product, Microsoft Teams brings together people, conversations, content and the tools teams need to collaborate.
It provides persistent, threaded chat in which the conversations are visible to the entire team by default, and the experience also offers private chat capabilities. A library of emojis, GIFs, custom stickers and memes gives people a fun way to express personality within their digital workspace.
Participants can initiate voice and video meetings, as well as work with Microsoft Office documents, directly within the Microsoft Teams experience. The Microsoft Graph enables intelligence to help with information relevance, discovery and sharing.
Team members can create channels to organize conversations by topic. They can customize channels with a feature called Tabs, which provide quick access to frequently used documents and applications.
ARRIS opens Bengaluru centre
ARRIS International, a world leader in entertainment and communications technology, has opened its largest Research and Development, and operations centre outside of the US, in Bengaluru. It promotes collaboration and the efficient development of advanced broadband and video solutions for the next generation of services, including Gigabit broadband, 4K TV, and Wi-Fi.
“Our world-class Bengaluru facility is at the center of ARRIS’s global initiative to innovate and scale the technology that will transform how people around the world watch video and connect to the Internet,” said Bob Stanzione, Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Directors.
With cutting-edge lab infrastructure, advanced test facilities, and round-the-clock support for installation activities at customer premises globally, the centre provides leading design, development, and quality assurance programs across the vast majority of ARRIS global solutions.
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