Apple added the racially diverse emoji with iOS 8.3 and OS X 10.10.3 update. Since then, they have been part of the OS and available to all apps on both platforms. However, if you were to send anything but the default yellow face to anyone not on these platforms, they’d see the standard white face only.

Android does not have the new emoji set yet, but WhatsApp has gone ahead and added support for it within its app. WhatsApp has always been using Apple’s emoji set, so it probably wasn’t a lot of work for them to implement it in their Android app. As on iOS, emojis that support multi-color options can be pressed and held to show additional options. It will automatically do that the first time you click on a face and whichever color you choose becomes your default until you manually change it. Read more »

Amazon’s revolutionary one-hour delivery service has finally landed in Europe. But, before you rush over to order new socks and make Amazon race your washing machine, there are quite a few notes to be made. Prime Now did indeed launch in the UK, but with a rather modest start. Not only is the service limited to London only, but also to just a few areas within the city. More are sure to come soon, but currently you need to check whether your post code is covered.

And even if you are among the select few who get to experience online shopping within the hour, outside the US, there are still some restrictions. Naturally, the service is only available to Amazon Prime users and is not a free service. Deliveries will set you back £6.99, but if that is too steep for you, the “sluggish” two-hour or same-day shipping option is free with a Prime account. Read more »

The official Android 5.1.1 Lollipop update for the LTE variant of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 8.0 has started rolling out.

Dated June 20, the update weighs in at around 925MB, and carries a build number of T335XXU1BOF8. It is currently rolling out in Switzerland, available both over-the-air (OTA) as well as via the company’s desktop PC companion app Kies. Read more »

Project Spartan was the work-in-progress name for the upcoming Microsoft web browser, which should replace the old-school Internet Explorer in Windows 10. The company has already revealed its official name – Edge – a while back.

As of the latest Windows 10 Preview build released a few hours ago, Project Spartan app is finally renamed to Edge and brings a plethora of improvements. Read more »

The Google Hangouts iOS app has received an update, bumping it to version 4.0. The update brings a new design that the company claims makes it faster to start new conversations, and add stickers, emoji, and photos.

The updated app features a new Dialer UI for better phone calling experience, as well as a new quick compose button that allows you to quickly find contacts with whom you chat most frequently. Read more »

LG Chem has developed a hexagonal battery for smartwatches. The solution improves the capacity by 25% in comparison to the currently available rectangular batteries.

The Korean manufacturer has reportedly started offering the new battery to hardware manufacturers worldwide. Read more »

Last year there was a big rise in the number of rail crossing accidents in the US, and the authorities are working with Google to try and do something about it. Namely, you will soon find all of the railroad crossings in the US inside Google Maps.

We’re talking about around 215,000 crossings in total, of which 130,000 are public and 85,000 are private. Not only will you be able to see each railroad crossing placed on the map inside Google’s app, but you’ll also be notified when one’s approaching if you’re in navigation mode. Read more »

Just less than a month after Facebook announced Lite, a lightweight Android app aimed at emerging markets, the company officially launched it in India and Philippines.

The app uses less data and hence works well even when your bandwidth is at a minimum, the social networking company claims. It is less than 1MB in size (430 KB to be precise), which makes it quick to download and load. Read more »

Truedialer is a dialler app for Android by the people who made Truecaller. The app goes through your call history and replaced numbers without contact information with proper names and photos from the Truecaller database.

The app has now received an update, which brings with it the new Material Design along with a dark theme. There is now also a dedicated search box where you can enter a number to get the name from the database. The app is also now faster than before. Read more »

Facebook has released its latest employee diversity report, revealing that there has been little progress in the area since it reported the numbers last time.

As per the report, 91% of the company’s employees are white or Asian. These include 94% of the tech employees, 86% of the non-tech employees, and 94% of the senior leadership. Read more »

Back in January last year, Google announced that it has developed a smart contact lens prototype containing a glucose sensor. While the company had earlier said the lens won’t be available to the general public for at-least next five years, it now looks like the wearable device may hit the market before 2019.

This was revealed in a recently uncovered patent application that showed off potential designs for how the search giant could package a smart contact lens. When reached for comment, a Google representative said that product releases can’t be deduced from patent applications. Read more »

Facebook is currently testing a new iOS photo uploader which will allow users to put Snapchat-like filters, text, and stickers on their pictures, according to a TechCrunch report.

Facebook emulating Snapchat’s features shouldn’t really come as a surprise given that the world’s largest social network in 2013 tried to acquire the latter for $3 billion but the offer was turned down. Facebook’s Slingshot app is also widely perceived to be a Snapchat clone. Read more »

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active features a massive 3,500mAh battery. The rest of the rugged device’s internals are identical to those found in the regular Samsung Galaxy S6, so we were quite curious to put it through our battery test.

The 2,550mAh battery of the SM-G920 was sufficient enough to propel it to a stellar endurance rating of 73 hours. With roughly 40% more battery capacity than its non-rugged sibling, Samsung Galaxy S6 Active commands seriously high expectations. Read on to find out if the device delivers! Read more »

These are some of the best apps and games that came out this week. Read more »

A while ago, we asked for your opinion on a few upcoming OS releases in the mobile realm. You’ve had some time to think and to evaluate the contenders and now it’s time to see what you think of Android M, iOS 9 and Watch OS 2.0. Results are in and, for the better part, they are conclusive, but we do suspect some Apple “bashing” might have occurred as well.

Let’s take it from the top. Read more »