YouTube pours in US$5 million into its ‘Creators for Change’

YouTube has been facing tons of backlash lately and hoping to counter that by investing a large sum of money into its Creators for Change program, which the company launched back in 2016. The streaming service partnered with 39 “inspiring creators” from around the world to help “amplify their voice to counter hate and promote tolerance.” The service announced it was putting in US$5 million investment during its annual Creators for Change Summit.

According to YouTube, the program has helped them educate over 15,000 young people in over 200 locations through things like workshops and school programs. With the new investment, YouTube wants to provide production and marketing support for these creators. They want to provide new tools and educate its younger audience on how to create change and “use their voices to encourage positive social messages.” YouTube plans to announce in the coming months the global recipients of the production grants.

Source: YouTube

Instagram will now let you add GIF stickers to your Stories

It seems like a long time coming, especially with the popularity of GIFs on the internet, but the wait is finally over. Instagram is rolling out to both Android and iOS users a new GIF button with the GIFs you can add provided by GIPHY. Just like how it’s done on other platforms, you can browse through trending GIF stickers or look for specific ones to add to your photo or video story.

Aside from that, Instagram users can expect in the near future the ability to upload photos and videos “of any size” into a story, similar to what you can do with Stories on Facebook. So instead of cutting off a part of an image or video, Stories will show the entire photo or clip in its original state. Any extra room will be filled by a color gradient to match the colors of the image or video.

Source: MacRumors

Upcoming iOS update will let you turn off apps that slow down your iPhone

Apple caused quite an uproar with customers when it was discovered that the company released software back in 2016 that slowed down older iPhones to prevent problems with the aging lithium ion batteries on these phones. Now, Apple is working to appease customers with an upcoming update coming to iOS. Version iOS 11.3 will get a recommendation or notice if the battery needs to be serviced. (Apple recently cut the price of replacing an iPhone battery from $99 to $35.) You will also see if the power management feature is on for your device and you’ll get the option to turn this off. iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus users will find this feature in the Battery section of the Settings menu. iOS 11.3 is set to arrive in the spring but the beta release will be coming soon. It must be noted that the new battery feature is coming at a later beta release.

Source: CNET

Samsung hints at camera improvements for the Galaxy S9 in event invite

Samsung has started to send out press invites for the launch of the Galaxy S9 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain and now we know when exactly the company is unveiling the device. The Samsung Unpacked event will happen a day before MWC kicks off on February 25 at 6PM CET and like usual will be live streamed on Samsung’s website.

One thing about the invite is Samsung included in the words “Camera, reimagined,” which means we can expect new camera technology to head our way. But as The Verge puts out, these brands do “reimagine” the camera every year so we’re not sure how groundbreaking Samsung’s announcement will be this year.