Threads has crossed the 175 million user mark, a year after the platform was launched as an alternative to X (formerly known as Twitter). The microblogging service owned by Meta was launched on July 6 last year. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also revealed that India has emerged as one of its most active markets. In an blog post published on Thursday, the social networking giant shared that Indian users regularly use Threads to share their thoughts and opinions on a wide array of topics.While Meta announced on Thursday that Threads has onboarded over 175 million monthly active users, it did not share the number of its users from India or other country-specific user statistics. The service now has 50 million topic tags, according to the Facebook parent firm.Indians among most active users on ThreadsAccording to details shared by Meta on Thursday, Indian users were among the most active on Threads. The platform has also outlined popular topics of engagement and discussions on the microblogging platform.Topics around films, television, OTT content, and sports garnered most engagement from Indian users on Threads. In addition, conversations around celebrities also fetched attention from users in the country.Meta also notes that on Threads users from India are more likely to tag another account in their posts and add video clips to the content, compared to users from other countries.Meta added a distinct mention about the craze of cricket in India, which finds its way to social networking apps like Threads, in the backdrop of national and international matches, including the IPL, the T20 Cricket World Cup, IPL, and Women's Premier League 2024.Content creators from India are also exploring Threads, Meta claimed.“We've seen creators using Threads to post about a different interest area or niche,” its post said, pointing out that fashion, memes, and diary entry format of content is becoming popular on Threads from India.Threads marks one-year anniversaryMeta CEO Mark Zuckerberg launched Threads on July 6 last year and the platform was designed as a microblogging service, much like its competitor X, currently owned by Elon Musk.Zuckerberg had tied Threads to Instagram at launch, given that the latter reportedly has an estimated 2.4 billion active users. This helped the app gain a large number of users when it was launched.According to data on Google Play as of Thursday, Threads has been downloaded over 100 million times on Android devices. The app has a of 4.2-star rating (out of five stars), based on more than 500,000 reviews.The company has also been rolling out new features on a regular basis. In May, the platform was updated with multi-column feeds on the desktop version of Threads.Threads is also testing an automatic archiving feature for posts to help users hide previous posts.Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Oppo Reno 12 5G series will be launched by the company in India later this month. The lineup will include the standard Oppo Reno 12 5G and the Reno 12 Pro 5G. These phones were initially unveiled in China in May, followed by a global launch last month. Now the company has announced the India launch date of the handsets. It has also revealed the design of the Reno 12 series and confirmed the colour options and key features of both models. They will arrive as the successors to the Oppo Reno 11 5G lineup, which was introduced in the country in January.Oppo Reno 12 5G, Oppo Reno 12 Pro 5G India launch date, design, colour options confirmedThe upcoming Oppo Reno 12 5G and the Reno 12 Pro 5G will be launched in India on July 12 at 12pm IST. The company previously confirmed that the phones will be available in the country via Flipkart and the Oppo India website.The Indian variants of the Oppo Reno 12 5G series phones appear to have similar designs as their Chinese and global counterparts. The triple rear camera units are arranged vertically, housed in a slightly, raised rectangular module in the top left corner. The handsets are also seen with glossy finishes.The company has confirmed that the base Oppo Reno 12 5G will be offered in three colour options — Astro Silver, Matte Brown and Sunset Peach, while the Reno 12 Pro 5G will come in Space Brown and Sunset Gold shades.Oppo Reno 12 5G, Oppo Reno 12 Pro 5G featuresThe Indian variant of the Oppo Reno 12 5G series smartphones will sport 6.7-inch full-HD+ Flexible AMOLED screens with a 120Hz refresh rate and 1,200 nits of peak brightness. The base variant will have Gorilla Glass 7i, while the Pro version will get Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection.The Oppo Reno 12 5G and Reno 12 Pro 5G will arrive in India with a MediaTek Dimensity 7300-Energy chipset with support for artificial intelligence-backed features like the AI Clear Face, AI Writer, AI Recording Summary, and AI Eraser 2.0. They will each pack a 5,000mAh battery with support for 80W SuperVOOC charging.Both handsets in the Oppo Reno 12 5G series will feature a 50-megapixel primary sensor with optical image stabilisation (OIS) support alongside an 8-megapixel sensor with an ultra-wide lens. The vanilla model will have a 2-megapixel macro shooter as the third sensor, whereas the Pro variant will hold a 50-megapixel telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom and up to 20x digital zoom.The base model will have a 32-megapixel front camera, while the Pro version will feature a 50-megapixel selfie shooter. Both Oppo Reno 12 5G phones will support Oppo's AI LinkBoost technology and come with 1P65-rated builds for dust and splash resistance.Is the iQoo Neo 7 Pro the best smartphone you can buy under Rs. 40,000 in India? We discuss the company's recently launched handset and what it has to offer on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Photo by Sheena Vasani / The Verge An ongoing outage is preventing Amazon Kindle users from downloading both new and previously purchased books to their e-readers. According to moderators responding to users reporting the issue on Amazon’s support forums, the company is aware of the issue and is “currently working to resolve it.” Attempting other troubleshooting steps, like resetting the device, has not fixed the problems, so users may need to wait this one out for now.Good e-Reader reported the problem on Wednesday, noting a response from Amazon support saying it’s the result of “server issues” and that “it would be at least 48 hours before ebooks started downloading again, but it could be longer.”The Verge has contacted Amazon for details, and we will update this post... Continue reading…

Sunny. | Image: Apple Just like last year, the hot summer months of 2024 are turning out to be an excellent time for science fiction fans. There are a number of sci-fi series that either just wrapped up, are in the middle of a season, or are set to premiere soon. Perfect for ignoring the heat of the outdoors for the substantially cooler worlds of space and the future. And this is a lineup that could potentially grow even more, as Apple has been teasing the return of both Severance and Silo sometime soon. In the meantime, plan your next few months of streaming time accordingly with this list.Scavengers ReignStreaming on Max and NetflixThis animated series actually premiered on Max last year but made its way to Netflix on May 31st. It’s unlike anything else... Continue reading…

Lava Blaze X 5G will launch in India next week, the company announced via social media on Wednesday. The handset was first teased last month but no details regarding its specifications or the launch timeline were revealed. Lava's upcoming smartphone is speculated to feature a 64-megapixel camera and up to 16GB RAM, according to a teaser. A microsite dedicated to its launch has also been created on Amazon.Lava Blaze X 5G Specifications (Expected)In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Lava shared the release date of the Blaze X 5G along with a short teaser video, revealing a couple of its features. The smartphone will launch on July 10 at 12pm IST. Once launched, it will be available for purchase exclusively on Amazon during the Prime Day sale, which is scheduled to take place between July 20 and July 21.Lava Blaze X 5G is seen with a circular camera module at the back, housing dual cameras and an LED flash. It also appears to have a text engraved in the camera unit which says “64MP”, which could denote the primary sensor. Furthermore, the teaser suggests it may come with up to 16GB RAM, with 8GB physical RAM and an option to further add 8GB RAM virtually.Xhilarating. Xtreme.#BlazeX - Launching on 10.07.24, 12 PM#LavaMobiles #ProudlyIndian pic.twitter.com/Uflw1hMCi5— Lava Mobiles (@LavaMobile) July 3, 2024Although exact specifications remain unclear, the handset is seen sporting a curved display on the front with a hole-punch cutout for the front camera. The power and volume buttons appear to be on the right side of the smartphone, whereas the speaker grill, SIM tray and USB Type-C port may be at the bottom. The frame of the handset appears to have a metal build. As per the teaser images, it may be available in two colourways: grey and black/blue.As the name suggests, the smartphone will come with 5G connectivity. When launched, the Lava Blaze X 5G is expected to join other smartphones in the company's Blaze lineup such as Blaze Curve, Blaze 2 and the Blaze 2 Pro..embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Illustration by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge In March, Microsoft notified the US Department of Veterans Affairs that it was impacted by the security breach that enabled the Russian hacking group known as “Midnight Blizzard” to steal some of the company’s source code, reports Bloomberg. Already assigned blame for the earlier SolarWinds attack, the group has been accused of spying on email accounts of Microsoft’s senior leadership team and attempting to use the secrets obtained there to create additional security breaches.The VA department found that Midnight Blizzard used a single set of stolen credentials to access a Microsoft Cloud test environment around January. VA officials told Bloomberg that the account was accessed for just one second, presumably to see if the credentials... Continue reading…

Just don’t expect it to rival an iPad in terms of functionality. | Image: Amazon Let’s face it: Apple’s slates seem to get all the attention when talking tablets (and understandably so). However, you don’t necessarily need to spend $1,000 on an iPad Pro or even $350 on an entry-level model if all you need is a cheap entertainment device for watching The Boys, reading, or burning through your latest audiobook. Amazon’s latest Fire HD 10 tablet will get the job done for a lot less — especially since it’s currently on sale for Amazon Prime subscribers for an all-time low of $74.99 ($65 off) in its ad-supported base configuration.The 2023 Fire HD 10 isn’t going to blow you away with an OLED display or a laundry list of premium features, though it is a step up from some of Amazon’s low-end models. The inexpensive tablet... Continue reading…

It should be less of a farce to unlock the next generation of Google Pixel phones. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Google’s upcoming Pixel 9 lineup will reportedly feature a faster, more reliable ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, according to Android Authority. It would replace the optical under-display fingerprint sensor that Google introduced on the Pixel 6 with the newer technology that’s capable of reading even wet or oily fingerprints.The switch could also address some of the widespread issues that users have experienced when trying to unlock their Pixel devices, with some people saying that light levels and finger dryness can impact the reliability of the previous optical reader. Optical scanners are the oldest method of reading fingerprints. They work by flashing light against the user’s finger and then visually detecting patterns and ridges... Continue reading…

Google Photos has been updated with a small but notable change to tabs and tiles within the mobile app on iOS and Android smartphones. The position of the Locked Folder been changed within the app, which should make it more accessible to users. Google has made it easier for users to access the secure folder, which was buried deep within other tabs and sub-sections, prior to the latest update. The access to a few other folders and tabs has also been modified to accommodate the change on the Android and iOS versions of the app.Google Photos updates Locked Folder locationThe Locked Folder in Google Photos can now be accessed directly from the Library tab. It is listed alongside Favourites, Archive, and Trash to offer easier access. This folder is visible in place of where the Utilities folder used to appear.Google Photos Locked Folder position with new update Notably, previously, the Locked Folder would have to be navigated through the Utilities folder. It would need multiple clicks to access and offered considerably more privacy. That made the existence of such a folder less apparent. This reorganisation is rolling out to several users with the latest versions of the app for Android and iOS, and was initially spotted by 9to5Google. However, it is yet to be enabled on Gadgets 360 staff members' smartphones at the time of publishing. Other Google Photos options get reorganised The Google Photos update that changed the position of the Locked Folder also moved around a few other options within the application, according to the publication. Most of the sections and functionalities previously stored within the Utilities folder, can now be accessed through the plus button on the top bar.Within this section, users can access functions for creating new albums, collages, highlight videos, cinematic photos or animations. The Share with a partner and Import photos options can also be found under the same section, according to the report.Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Image: Kristen Radtke / The Verge Roku has made my TV unusable.On June 6th, my TCL TV’s Roku OS was updated to version 13.0.0. Ever since, on everything I watch, there is motion smoothing — a TV and film purists’ deepest nightmare. There is no way to turn it off.In the updated OS, Roku added a feature called Roku Smart Picture, which, according to its release notes, “automatically improves picture quality dynamically as users stream.” While Roku doesn’t explicitly mention motion smoothing, or what Roku calls “action smoothing,” the update has made it so that I and many others with Roku TVs see motion smoothing, regardless of whether the picture setting is Roku Smart Picture or not. My TV didn’t even support motion smoothing before this. Now, I can’t make it go away.If... Continue reading…

After August 6, Nike Adapt owners won’t be able to download the accompanying mobile app any longer. | Photo by Felicia Shivakumar / The Verge Despite the ongoing popularity of the Back to the Future trilogy that inspired the self-lacing tech found in the HyperAdapt 1.0 and Air Mags, Nike has announced that it’s “no longer creating new versions of Adapt shoes.” Now, the Adapt BB mobile app used to control the $350 third iteration of Nike’s self-lacing sneakers will disappear from Google Play and the iPhone App Store next month.Without the app, owners can use the physical buttons on the sneakers to power them on and off, check battery status, tighten or loosen the laces, and save a single preset, but there will be no way to adjust the shoe’s lighting.The power laces on the Nike Adapt BB basketball shoes, which were worn by athletes like Jayson Tatum and Luka Doncic, were... Continue reading…

iOS 18 was unveiled by Apple at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 last month. During the event, the Cupertino-based tech giant showcased several new features that will arrive with its next major update to the iPhone operating system. However, some features which were not mentioned at the event are now being discovered. A report has now spotted two new features in the Weather app. One of the features is said to provide a minor design tweak and bring the ‘Feels Like' temperature where users can easily spot it.iOS 18 Weather app improvements9to5Mac has identified two new updates to the Weather app on iOS 18 that could improve its usability. According to images shared by the publication, the ‘Feels Like' temperature will now be shown more prominently underneath the actual temperature on the top of the app's interface. This will be a marked improvement from its current positioning as users have to scroll down to see this metric. ‘Feels Like' will reportedly be shown in a different size and font style to make it easy to differentiate.New position of the 'Feels Like' temperature in the iOS 18 Weather appPhoto Credit: 9to5Mac ‘Feels Like' temperature is a measure of how hot or cold the weather actually feels, as opposed to the objective air temperature recorded by weather stations. This incorporates several factors such as the effect of relative humidity, wind speed, and air temperature to reveal what an individual would really perceive the temperature to be. With this upgrade to the Weather app, users can see both values at the same time.The publication states that the ‘Feels Like' temperature will only be visible when there is a significant difference between it and the real value of the air temperature. In case the difference is minor or none, users will only see the former.The second feature will reportedly allow users to check the weather in both their home and work locations. The iOS 18 update will allow the Weather app to integrate with Contacts and let it pull home and work addresses. In the app, users will see these as new locations to their list of tracked weather spots for convenience, as per the report. Earlier, users would have to manually add these locations to check their weather updates..embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }