Microsoft Phone Link update brings iMessage support to Windows PCs

Screenshot: Microsoft

While Apple users don't typically use Windows devices, those users who do will get the option to use iMessage right from their PCs. But it'll be on a limited capacity, of course. A preview of this new feature is available to Windows Insiders now. You can use the Microsoft Phone Link app to send and receive messages through iMessage, make or receive calls, and see your notifications. 

Microsoft uses Bluetooth to link Windows devices to iPhones. As mentioned, there are limitations., including the inability to send pictures or join group messages. You won't be able to view the full message history, either. Only the messages sent or received through Phone Link will be visible. It might seem like the feature is too rudimentary, but this is the first time Microsoft supports calls and messages from iPhones, making it a step in the right direction. Microsoft has started testing the feature out with a small group of users, but it plans to increase this number over time.

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Snapchat launches a ChatGPT-powered My AI chatbot

Image: Snap

Snapchat gets an in-app chatbot powered by the latest version of OpenAI's ChatGPT. The My AI chatbot will be pinned to the app's chat tab above the conversations with friends. It's coming first to Snapchat Plus subscribers, with the eventual goal of bringing it to all of Snapchat's 750 million monthly users. It isn't designed to be a search engine. Instead, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel envisions it as another service you can chat with daily aside from your friends and family.

As The Verge noted, My AI seems like the fast mobile-friendly version of ChatGPT but inside Snapchat. But it is a more restricted version, with Snap training the chatbot to adhere to its trust and safety guidelines. It will not give responses that include swearing, sexually explicit content, violence, or opinions on hot-button topics like politics. It's also taken out the option to write academic essays. Snap plans to keep tuning My AI as more people use it.

Tecno Phantom V Fold debuts at MWC 2023

Image: Tecno

Tecno may not be a familiar brand on this side of the world, but it is the latest Chinese mobile device maker to release a competitively-priced foldable. The Tecno Phantom V Fold is coming to India first at INR 89,999 (around CAD 1,485) for the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage model and INR 99,999 (~CAD 1,650) for the 51GB storage variant. It's the first book-style foldable to run on the MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ processor, which powers devices like the OPPO Find N2 Flip. 

It has a wider body than Samsung's foldable, with a "virtually crease-free" 7.85-inch screen with a 2,296 x 2,000 resolution inside the fold and a 6.42-inch 2,550 x 1,080 outer display. Both screens are AMOLED panels with refresh rates of up to 120Hz. Tecno claims the Phantom V Fold can handle "200,000 folds," which is the same for the Galaxy Z Fold4.

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Canada bans TikTok use on government devices

Photo: Solen Feyissa/Unsplash

Canada is banning the use of TikTok from all government-issued devices starting Tuesday. This decision follows a review by Canada's chief information officer, saying the app "presents an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security." TikTok expressed disappointment over the decision and refuted that the ban happened "without citing any specific security concerns about TikTok or contacting us to discuss any concern prior to making this decision." The Canadian government's decision comes days after the European Commission imposed a similar ban. The app will be removed from government-issued phones this week. And it will be blocked from downloads in the future.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there was enough concern about security around the app to impose the change. "This may be the first step, this may be the only step we need to take," he said during a press conference on Monday near Toronto. Canadian privacy regulators are also investigating the video app over concerns about user data and how the company obtains "valid and meaningful" consent from users when collecting personal information. According to a recent survey by researchers at the Social Media Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University, around a quarter of Canadian adults use TikTok.

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