#WeeklyRecap: 5-minute COVID-19 test, MyJio's screening, WhatsApp's rumor-checker, et al
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to sweep across different parts of the world, the tech industry is innovating to help the public in every way possible. This week, we saw some significant developments in this direction, including a 5-minute test to detect the infection and some reliable triage tools from companies like Reliance Jio. Let's look back at everything that happened this past week.
Several tools for COVID-19 risk assessment
Given the deadly impact of the coronavirus, a number of people with pneumonia-like symptoms have been wondering if they have contracted the infection. To allay these concerns, some reliable triage or preliminary screening tools have been introduced, including those from Apple, Amazon, Alphabet's Verily, Reliance Jio, and Airtel. Notably, Jio and Airtel's tools are available through their respective mobile apps for Indian users.
New, improved testing kits being prepped
Along with the screening platforms, a few companies have also launched testing kits for faster coronavirus detection. This includes a solution from Indian company MyLab that has cut down the current detection time of 7-8 hours by more than half. There's also a company in the US that has launched a kit capable of confirming infection in as little as five minutes.
Bugs affected products from Apple, Google, Microsoft
There were also cases of bugs in the products of three big tech giants - Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Apple's iPhones and iPads reportedly suffered from Personal Hotspot and connectivity glitches, Google's Messages app carried an issue that deleted texts automatically, while Microsoft warned about an "unpatched" vulnerability that was actively being exploited by hackers to compromise PCs.
Then, there were some interesting product updates too
In addition to the issues, the three companies also had some handy product updates on offer. Apple, for one, launched iOS 13.4 and iPadOS 13.4 with trackpad support and other handy features. Google was caught developing a way to offer ad-supported content in Play Movies, while Microsoft announced that it will halt optional, non-security updates for Windows and server products to focus on security.
Fact-checker being developed for WhatsApp
Among other things, WhatsApp was found working on a tool that would let you search the web with messages to immediately check if the information given in it is true or otherwise. The tool is in beta right now.
Some phones launched, some were postponed
In the hardware category, Royole FlexPai 2, the successor of the world's first foldable, debuted along with Samsung Galaxy A31 as well as Huawei's new P40 series, which comes with the company's all-new Celia smart assistant. However, there were also some disappointments, as this week's launch of Xiaomi Mi 10 and Realme Narzo 10 was postponed due to coronavirus.
