WhatsApp experiments with encrypted cloud backups on Android

Photo by Torsten Dettlaff from Pexels

WhatsApp offers end-to-end encryptions for your messages. But if you back up these messages on the cloud, authorities can use a search warrant to have Google Drive or iCloud hand over access to your data. Now, the Facebook-owned messaging service has enabled tech that allows it to independently encrypt your backups in the cloud in the recent beta update on Android (2.21.15.5).

The caveat is you shouldn't forget your passcode or lose your 64-digit recovery key because you'll be locked away permanently. WhatsApp can't help you get in. If you're willing to make that tradeoff, you can try to get in the beta test group or wait for the feature to roll out to everyone. WhatsApp is also testing a version of its software that works across different devices, so you get end-to-end encryption whether you use the app on the phone or not.

Source: The Verge

Xiaomi overtakes Apple in smartphone shipments during Q2 2021

For the first time, Chinese tech company Xiaomi has overtaken Apple in the global smartphone shipments ranking for the second quarter of 2021 with 17% of the market share. According to Canalys research, smartphone shipments grew 12% last quarter as COVID-19 vaccination programs are happening worldwide. 

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Valve's Steam Deck is a handheld gaming PC

Source: Valve

Valve's long-rumoured Switch-like handheld device is now official. But the Steam Deck is more a handheld PC gaming device than a direct competitor to Nintendo's handheld console. 

It runs on an AMD APU with a quad-core Zen 2 CPU with eight threads and eight compute units' worth of AMD RDNA 2 graphics. It has 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and three storage tiers: 64GB eMMC storage (USD 399), 256GB NVMe SSD (USD 529), and 512GB high-speed NVMe SSD (USD 649). You can also expand storage with a microSD card.

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Google Play Books gets custom shelves

A "top request from Play Books readers" finally comes to the Google Play Books app. You can now create custom shelves to arrange your library better. It gives you the option to organize your books into "themed collections." You can access this new feature via Library > Shelves. You can access it between the "Your books" and "Series" sections. At the bottom of the new Shelves tab, there's a "Create new" button where you can name your new shelf. After you long press on ay work, it will surface an "Add to shelf" button.

If you want alerts on discounted wishlist items, you have to make sure you've opted into receiving marketing emails from Google Play. Once you've done that, Google will email you if a title on your wishlist gets discounted.

Source: 9to5Google