Burnbook App encourages cyberbullying in students, causes concern to schools and parents

In the hit movie “Mean Girls”, BurnBook was a rage and now the Burnbook mobile app has gone viral amongst school students causing concern all around. Burnbook is a free app that allows users to find school communities near them and anonymously post comments or pics about anyone or anything. They don’t have to sign in or create a username. They can just pick a name and open anonymous judgment. Other users can like, comment, up-vote or down-vote it.

Although the Burnbook app is for users above 17 and the website’s “terms of service” page clearly states that users “May not use the service to transmit content that is hateful, abusive or otherwise objectionable by Burnbook’s users”, it doesn’t stop students from cyberbullying or threatening others. The controversial app has made headlines for encouraging cyberbullying and violence threats among high school students. The app can be downloaded on Android and iOS phones.

A recent student threat via the app about bringing a gun to the San Diego’s Del Norte High School prompted the CEO and developer of the Burnbook app to announce that they would make changes in the app. However, the changes won’t be applied to ordinary everyday cyberbyllying.

The current top review for the Burnbook app on iTunes states, “This app was created to increase cyberbullying. There’s no other reason.” The reviewer further adds, “The app has become popular at my school and is specifically targeting a small group of people. I wish I could repeat the evil things that were posted so I could get my point across, but I cannot bring myself to spread those gruesome things even further.“

Following are some of the reactions on Twitter:

It makes me sick that somebody was horrible enough to create the Burn Book app.

— Ryan Harmon (@harmlander) April 2, 2015

Cyberbullying and any form of bullying is never ok!!! If you have the Burnbook app delete it IMMEDIATELY.

— Christa Boone (@B_O_O_N_E) April 2, 2015

The burn book is such a stupid idea. Y’all need to grow up and stop being so horrible to each other, especially through an anonymous app.

— Rylee Walter (@r_y_l_e_e_) April 2, 2015

 

Some parents and students are posting positive messages too:  

Controversial social app Burnbook prompts action from North Texas parents: http://t.co/Gp2PB2h3lV pic.twitter.com/UEa2lJ50zX

— NBC DFW (@NBCDFW) March 21, 2015

DID U SEE?! Forest City students are fighting the Burn Book App by making a chain reaction of ONLY positive posts! pic.twitter.com/CM71zuHQuh

— 98.5 KRZ (@985wkrz) March 23, 2015

Parents could talk to their children, ask them in a friendly manner if they use the Burnbook app at school and warn them about the dangers of cyberbullying. They could also contact the school authorities to find out if the school was aware about how its students were using the app during school time or if they have set any rules about using it in school.

Some schools are already taking action and warning their students that the school would take action if they posted anything inappropriate or threatening. “After School”, a similar app, has recently been banned from the App Store after it was found that the users used it to threaten shootings in school.

Burnbook App encourages cyberbullying in students, causes concern to schools and parents

AppleCare+ Prices For Apple Watch Models Leaked Before Pre-Order Starts!

Apple Watch will be available to pre-order starting from April 10^th while the official launch date will be on April 24^th. Apple Watch will be available in three categories, Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport as well as Apple Watch Edition. All the three types of Apple Watch are eligible for being covered by AppleCare+ program. However, there are no official words from Apple as of now.

Based on an article from 9to5Mac, there is possibility that all the three categories will be priced differently. AppleCare+ for aluminium built, entry level Apple Watch sport will be priced at $59 which includes the extended two years warranty period starting from the time of purchase. AppleCare+for the mid-tier stainless steel Apple Watch with the sport band will be priced at $79 which also includes extended two years warranty from the time of purchase. Notice that the screenshot mentions the strap too, however, it is unclear whether different strap will have different pricing of AppleCare+ or not.

The gold plated Apple Watch Edition will be priced at $999 which includes the extended three years warranty period started from the time of purchase. Note that this pricing is for the watch with a midnight blue leather band only. Apple Watch Edition itself costs as high as $17,000.

There is no further information on the accidental repairs will cost after the Apple Watch is launched officially. The AppleCare+ program will only cover limited to two visits only. Like iPhone, AppleCare+ program for Apple Watch will be available both online and in-store. AppleCare+ will be eligible to purchase within 60 days from the date of purchase, similar to iPhone too.

AppleCare+ Prices For Apple Watch Models Leaked Before Pre-Order Starts!

Apple Watch Pre-Order Starts on 10 April, Mark Your Calendar Now!

It’s good news for all Apple fans out there. The long awaited Apple Watch which was announced last year will be available to pre-order starting on April 10^th. Apart from being able to pre-order, the consumers also will be able to do try-on sessions from the date until the official Apple Watch launch date on April 24^th.

There are a few speculations on Apple Watch even before the product was released to the market. Apple Watch sales are expected to hit the high sales figure as the other Apple products such as iPhone and iPad. On top of that by allowing consumers to try the device before purchasing shows that Apple has high confidence that Apple Watch will be able to fit to the consumers’ expectation. However, nothing can be confirmed as of now.

Android Wear on the other hand, had a rocky start when it was released last year even though there is some support from big brands such as Samsung or LG. Apple Watch comes with three categories, Apple Watch Sport, Apple Watch and the Apple Watch Edition.  If you are interested in pre-ordering it, you can do so by going to the Apple website.

Apple Watch Pre-Order Starts on 10 April, Mark Your Calendar Now!

Renders of the Huawei P8 Lite leaked

Since past month, there have been quite a lot of rumors regarding the upcoming Huawei P8 which is likely to break covers at the 15^th of this month at an special event in London. Now further, a tweet from one of the tipster @rquandt has confirmed the existence of this device called as Huawei P8 Lite by showing some of the renders for the device. However, the tipster has said that these are the official renders from the European distributor.

Earlier we has seen the design drawings of the handset getting leaked showing up the dimensions for the device. We would here take back a look at what the device has to offer. The Huawei P8 is likely to have a 5-inch display with 720 x 1280 pixel resolution. Under the hood, there would be powerful Kirin 620 chipset clocked at 1.2GHz. The device would be having a 2GB of RAM memory with 16GB of native internal storage. To its back, the device would be hosting a 13MP of primary camera and the front would be having a 5MP of secondary camera. The handset is said to be just 7.7mm thin and would be weighing 131 grams.

For the time being, enjoy the renders of the handset below.

source: @rquandt

Renders of the Huawei P8 Lite leaked

LG G4 to be unveiled on 28th of April

Korean tech giant LG has recently sent out invitations for an event on the 28^th of April when it is expected to unveil its this year’s premium flagship the LG G4. The invitation says “Save the Date” while the front side of the invitation reads See The Great, Feel The Great. This event would be held in different places of New York, London, Paris, Seoul, Singapore and Istanbul.

In addition to the LG G4, the company is also rumored to announce a premium phablet the LG G4 Note in the second half of this year that would have a all-metal design with some premium specs and is expected to feature the LG G Pen Stylus. This sounds very much similar to the S Pen for Galaxy Note and is no doubt that LG would be pitching its phablet against the much famous Note series of Samsung.

Here is a quick look to some of the expected features for the handset. Just like its predecessor, the LG G4 would be hosting a display with QHD resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels. Under the hood instead of the Snapdragon 810, the device is supposed to host a Snapdragon 808 which is a hexa-core chipset with 64-bit architecture. This would comprise of four ARM Cortex-A53 cores and two ARM Cortex-A57 cores and a Adreno 418 GPU for graphics control.

We would get you with all the official details once they arrive our way on the 28^th of April.

source: AndroidHeadlines

LG G4 to be unveiled on 28th of April

Cyanogen garners enough funds to “take Android away from Google”

CyanogenMod is the most popular flavor of Android and the company Cyanogen Inc. was formed to commercialize it. According to Cyanogen, its OS has been installed over 12 million times till now.

Although Cyanogen developers have benefitted much from Android, Cyanogen is not happy with Google’s control over Android and its licensing terms. The company’s CEO Kirt McMaster recently said, “We’re attempting to take Android away from Google” and what’s more, Cyanogen has raised enough funds to make it possible.

In a span of only 18 months, Cyanogen Inc. has received more than $110 million in funds. It has collected as much as $80 million in the last round of funding received from big companies such as Twitter Ventures, Telefonica Ventures, Qualcomm, Rupert Murdoch and others. The funds will be utilized to develop another open source operating system platform that will be even better then Android.

Cyanogen hopes to build a mobile OS platform that is independent of Google and the investors feel that CyanogenMod has a good chance of becoming the 3rd biggest platform after Android and iOS.

All Google’s services like Gmail, GooglePlay Google Calender etc. are integrated in Android which is currently the world’s most popular operating system especially in the western world. However in the eastern regions such as Mainland China, Google services aren’t used much because Google has left China due to issues with the government. So, Chinese devices mostly run Android versions based on Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and offer non-Google services. Xiaomi’s MIUI is one such OS. Cyanogen wants to target this market and expand its spread. Of course, Google is also trying to make inroads into China with its Google Play but it is difficult due to other companies such as Tencent, Baidu and Qihoo already in the field.

Another reason why OEMs and mobile carriers are so much interested in promoting Cyanogen is control. When Android was new, Google allowed OEMs and mobile carriers to make changes to the mobile OS as they wanted, but slowly over time, this has led to fragmentation, making it difficult for Google to push OS updates across so many different kinds of devices. Firstly, OEMs and carriers have to agree for the updates and secondly, customizations made by other companies such as Samsung and HTC have also to be added to them. What’s more, Google has also pulled out more and more parts out of the AOSP into its own domain.

“App and chip vendors are very worried about Google controlling the entire experience,” Peter Levine, partner at Andreessen Horowitz, a Cyanogen investor, told Forbes. Particularly, the firms that are competing with Google or Apple welcome Cyanogen as a third option to avoid monopoly by these two giants.

Also, Google’s vision about Android may not always be acceptable to its other partners and using a non-Google version of Android allows the manufacturers to use their own versions of UI skins, security patches and bundling of app stores and services. But as customizing the OS by themselves is not possible and affordable for all device makers, they are looking for something like Cyanogen to help them out. Cyanogen has ample Android experience and can customize the OS to run on different kinds of devices.

Micromax, an Indian company, has signed a deal with Cyanogen for pre-installing Cyanogen OS on its premium high-end devices including its new Yureka smartphone. Other companies are expected to join in. Now with new funds, the company can invest in hiring experts to speed up the development process and soon provide a third alternative to Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS.

Cyanogen garners enough funds to “take Android away from Google”

Facebook Shown Drone Prototype which Wingspan Greater than Boeing 737

In the annual F8 Developer Conference in San Fransisco, Facebook showed the photos of its own drone prototype which operates on solar power. The drone prototype is part of a bigger project which purpose is to bring web connectivity to billions of people worldwide without the internet.  Currently, the project which is led by Facebook, Internet.org, has already bringing in free internet data to four African countries, Colombia and India.

The final design of the drone will be a V-shaped with a wingspan greater than Boeing 737 and a mass greater than a small car. On top of that it will be powered by solar panel and has the capabilities to stay at the altitudes of more than 60,000 feet for moths at a time. It will be an unmanned device. The drone has completed its first test flight in United Kingdom. When the drone flew by a location, it will beams internet access to the people on the ground.

The drone prototype goes by codename “Aquila” which is named after Greek mythology who carried Jupiter’s thunderbolts. About a year ago, Facebook announced that the company was building drones, satellites and lasers in the attempt to bring internet to everyone. On separate note, Facebook also announce that Oculus Rift, which is also owned by the company, is working on a project which could inject virtual reality gaming into the mainstream.

We cannot wait to see the end result.

Facebook Shown Drone Prototype which Wingspan Greater than Boeing 737