Microsoft rumoured to be developing a Slack competitor

Microsoft isn’t resting on its laurels and is supposedly developing its own Slack-like messaging software. MSPowerUser reports the new effort will be called Skype Teams and will target the large teams and newsrooms that make use of Slack. The program will also leverage Skype’s core feature set and supposedly looks similar to Slack. It’ll have both channels and private messaging for groups, file-sharing, and the integration of fun features like emojis and GIFs. Skype Teams will also have a Threaded Conversations feature, which will let users respond directly to a comment, much like how Facebook’s comment threads work. Of course, there will also be able to start video chats within channels and in private messages.

Instagram kills off photo maps feature

You may or may not have been aware of the photo maps feature of Instagram. Now you don’t even have to think about it as Instagram is killing off the feature. According to a statement released by the social network, the feature wasn’t really widely used so Instagram has decided to just get rid of it and focus on other features. Photo maps, if you had it activated, shows a map you can zoom in on to see locations where you’ve geotagged photos. For now, you’ll be able to see your photo map but you won’t see those of others and Instagram has started to remove the feature for some users since last week.

This harks back to the roots of Instagram, where you used it much like a location-based app but you tagged photos instead of just tagging a location. Now, Instagram still has that spontaneity to it but it also now acts as a portfolio of sorts for some of its users, showing best parts of your life.

Source: Mashable

Sony offers even more gaming options with PlayStation 4 Slim

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) today announced that a new slimmer and lighter PlayStation®4 (PS4™) (CUH-2000 series) computer entertainment system with a 500GB HDD will become available in Japan, North America and in Europe starting from September 15, 2016, at manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $379.99 CAD.

The internal architecture of the new PS4 system has been revamped, reducing its volume by more than 30% compared to the previous models and reducing its weight by 25% and 16% compared to the first (CUH-1000 series) and current (CUH-1200 series) models respectively. Also, the new PS4 system is more energy efficient, as the power consumption has been cut by more than 34% and 28% compared to the very first and current models.

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Sony announces high resolution PlayStation 4 Pro

Sony Interactive Entertainment today announced that a new slimmer and lighter PlayStation4  computer entertainment system with a 500GB HDD will become available in Japan, North America and in Europe starting from September 15, 2016, at manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $379.99 CAD.

The internal architecture of the new PS4 system has been revamped, reducing its volume by more than 30% compared to the previous models and reducing its weight by 25% and 16% compared to the first (CUH-1000 series) and current (CUH-1200 series) models respectively. Also, the new PS4 system is more energy efficient, as the power consumption has been cut by more than 34% and 28% compared to the very first and current models.

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