Skype calls without an account

Using Skype for a quick chat or video call just got a whole lot easier. Microsoft has announced that anyone can now use Skype as a guest user without the need of registering a new account. Guest users don’t even need to download the Skype application. The real purpose of the move is to increase new users and stay step ahead of other competitors.

Microsoft says “Today, we’re excited to announce that we’ve made it easier than ever for you to connect with anyone on Skype, without needing to register or even download it. By joining Skype as a Guest, you can quickly chat, voice or video call without any hassle. Perfect if you’re new to Skype and want to quickly chat with someone, anywhere in the world, for free.”

From now on, web-based guest interface that lets you make and receive calls. To make a call, all you need to do is go to skype.com and mention a temporary username (handle) for yourself. Once done, you get a link which can be shared with anyone and the guest user can start a voice call, video call, group chat or share files. In other words, guest users can allowed all actions a normal user with a desktop application can and all they need is a web browser.

The idea is actually not to different from what Google implemented with Hangouts. While Hangouts may be going through an existential crisis and might be phased out, Skype has taken a cue from its book. Hangouts users could be a part of the call by accessing a link. Skype upgrades it so that users can make calls with mere links. Conversations last for 24 hours, after that, these are wiped.

Microsoft might be a bit too late here as WhatsApp and others are already killing it and have nearly forced it out of the race. While Skype was the same old bulky and slow application, others made a move and gathered enough users to overtake Skype. Today, WhatsApp announced support for video calls, nearly matching Skype in basic features as far as smartphone apps go. The only route out for Skype and Microsoft is to somehow maintain its importance in the desktop realm once the competitors take on Skype in that battle.

Whatsapp to Share User Data with Facebook for ad Targeting

Its now official. WhatsApp just stated that they’re sharing user data with Facebook.

In a blogpost updated moments ago, Whatsapp noted:

And by connecting your phone number with Facebook‘s systems, Facebook can offer better friend suggestions and show you more relevant ads if you have an account with them.

In addition to this, Whatsapp has said that it won’t share Whatsapp conversations or content of messages with anyone. That’s something not everyone is going to trust, especially when you consider Facebook’s new ball game.

Let’s not forget that Facebook had bought Whatsapp for a whooping 19 billion dollars. Clearly they didn’t invest this amount of money for a service that doesn’t even generate more than 1$ per customer per year, or in some cases not even a single penny for a lifetime.

What Does This Mean For Us?

Whatsapp had more than a billion active users as of February 2016, which means one in every seven individuals on earth has a Whatsapp account. Resultantly, Facebook — through this acquisition — will have access to major part of communication that we do, and just if you don’t know: more information means more money.

What’s more alarming for some customers would be the fact that Whatsapp could also give access to your communication to governments world over, especially the notorious NSA.

While its still early to say more on how this shared data is going to impact our lives, given the track record, we can predict that its not going to be very beautiful.

Facebook uses Artificial Intelligence to Describe Facebook for Blind Users

Today the Internet has become dominated by images, and it’s the major feature that got Facebook to a Billion daily users.

We can not imagine Facebook without photos, but for Millions of blind and visually impaired people, Facebook without photos has been the reality since its launch.

But not now! Facebook has launched a system, dubbed Automatic Alternative Text, which describes the contents of pictures by telling blind and visually-impaired users what appears in them.

Blind and visually-impaired people use sophisticated navigation software known as screen readers to make their computers usable. The software turns the contents of the screen into speech, but it can't "read" pictures.

However, Facebook's Automatic Alternative Text or AAT uses object recognition technology that can decode and describe photos uploaded to the social network site using artificial intelligence and then provide them in a form that can be readable by a screen reader.

Video Demonstration

ATT tool, led by Facebook's 5-year-old accessibility team, has already made its way to iOS devices and would soon be available for Android and the Web as well.

Facebook says its AAT tool The more images it scans, the more sophisticated the software will become. While still in its early stages, the AAT technology can reliably identify objects and activities in categories including:

• Appearance - baby, eyeglasses, smiling, beard, jewellery, shoes and selfie
• Environment - outdoor, sky, grass, tree, mountain, snow, ocean, beach, water, wave, sun
• Food - pizza, ice cream, dessert, sushi, coffee
• Transport - aeroplane, train, bus, boat, car, motorcycle, bicycle, road
• Sports - tennis, basketball, baseball, golf, swimming, stadium

The move by the social network giant is a bigger step forward for blind and visually-impaired users, although it only works in English at the current.

So in order to see the AAT technology in action for yourself, iOS users using iOS’s built-in screen reader can Go to Settings → General → Accessibility, and activate VoiceOver.

The company will soon bring the new functionality to other mobile platforms as well as languages. You can see the video demonstration to know how AAT tool works for someone using a screen reader.