TecQ: Facebook & Google Trouble Again, New E-Commerce Rules & More

Here's a roundup of the top tech news this week.

Online shopping giants like Amazon and Walmart have some thinking to do. 

(Photo: iStockphoto)

1. Why Apple Blocked Some Facebook & Google Apps: The Full Story

Apple revoked the enterprise certificates of some Google and Facebook apps for violating privacy policies. Photo: The Quint

Companies like Apple value user privacy quite highly and hence, don’t allow easy access to data that can track user behaviour among iPhone users.

Apple recently found Facebook and Google using illegal enterprise certificates for some of their apps being distributed through third-party sources, coercing users to part with their private data. In late January 2019, when Apple found out about these apps, it pulled the plug on apps from Facebook and Google. But they are back now.

Read the full story here.

2. India’s New Online Shopping Policy Spells Bad News for Buyers

E-Commerce sector has grown at a compound annual growth rate of about 35-40 percent. (Photo: iStockphoto)

From 1 February, most of the stuff you buy from Amazon, including grocery will go off its online shelves. That’s not all, any product that you were getting in a day or two (with services like Amazon’s Prime), may now take more than a month to be delivered.

Amazon, in fact, had to take some of its popular products off its shelves and find ways to bring them back after changing sellers. That’s not all, the whole online shopping experience is likely to take a hit, with less discounts on offer, which is likely to work in favour of local offline sellers. The policy, as a whole is seen as a regressive step for e-commerce.

Read more about the policy here.

3. Looking for Cheaper TV Channel Packs? It’s Not That Simple

TV viewers can now pick and choose their channels individually.(Photo: iStock)

In addition to the changes in e-commerce policy, Indian consumers have been greeted with changes in prices of TV channels, thanks to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Reports have indicated that people opting for channels after the revised pricing will save money by reducing the number of channels they pay for. However, in reality, the process seems to be working the other way around.

Read all about new TV channel prices here.

4. GoPro Hero 7 Black Vs SJ Cam SJ5000X: The Best Action Cam for You?

GoPro Hero 7 Black (left) vs SJ Cam SJ5000X (right)(Photo: The Quint)

GoPro cameras have nearly become the last word when it comes to shooting action shots globally. However, they do cost quite a bit, especially when there are many other action cameras available for much less. However, can these cheaper cameras match up to the capabilities of GoPro cameras?

To see whether there’s really is a big difference in quality and aesthetics, we got hold of a GoPro Hero 7 Black that costs almost Rs 40,000 and a Chinese brand action camera, the SJ Cam SJ5000X, which costs near Rs 10,000 online. Here’s the comparison.

Watch how these action cameras compare with each other here.

Here Are Some New Features & Updates WhatsApp Is Getting in 2019

WhatsApp will be getting a few updates shortly. (Photo: iStockphoto)

WhatsApp users are going to get some extra features that the messaging platform is set to release in 2019. The assortment of new features and additions is going to transform how WhatsApp users will communicate with each other post the updates.

India currently has more than 1.5 billion users on WhatsApp and this user base is constantly growing with the penetration of smartphones in the rural markets and also a lighter version of WhatsApp being introduced for features phones like the one on JioPhone.

Take a look at the full list of new features coming here.