Friday, February 23, 2018

Autodraw, external camera/speaker support and more with the latest Jamboard release

As we continue to add new features to the overall Jamboard experience, the latest Jamboard release brings several new features―to both devices and the Jamboard app―to help people more easily and efficiently get their ideas out. We’re also adding a new feature to help admins to manage the ownership of Jams within their domain.

Autodraw
As we announced earlier this month, we’ve added Autodraw to Jamboard. AutoDraw is a new drawing tool in Jamboard that auto-detects sketches you make and pairs them with images. This gives teams the ability to make their ideas even more visual—whether you’re a creative designer working with clients or even a teacher working with students.



Ownership sharing configuration for unclaimed Jams
To ensure that Jams get assigned to the correct owner, we’re adding an email confirmation step to claim an unclaimed Jam. Once an admin has enabled this option, when working with an unclaimed Jam, users will need to confirm ownership via email before they are added as an owner. Users can enter multiple in-domain email addresses to confirm ownership, directly from the Jam. Those user(s) will receive an email asking if they’d like to claim the document and the first user to confirm becomes the owner.

This feature prevents sharing of content before an owner is assigned.

Admins can configure this setting (which is off by default) for the domain in the Jamboard Admin console.



Animated frame changes with page numbers
Whenever you change a frame on your Jamboard device, we now will show a distinct frame-change animation along with the page number.



USB camera support
Users can connect a USB camera and select which camera feed they want to use (either USB camera or internal camera) in the settings panel of the Jamboard kiosk.

S/PDIF audio support
Users can attach external speakers to the board via S/PDIF (a rear port on the back of the device for optical audio). For a full list of new features and improvements from this month’s release, check out the What’s New in Jamboard page in the Help Center.

Sunday, February 11, 2018

WhatsApp Payments UPI-based feature now live in India: How to send your first payment on WhatsApp

WhatsApp, the most widely used messaging service across globe, has started rolling out the UPI-based Payments feature in India which will mean that you will be able to send money to your friends and family right from WhatsApp. WhatsApp is already popular with Indian users across different age groups who love to send "good morning" texts to kick start the day and adding the Payments feature just makes more sense for the messaging app.

The rollout of WhatsApp Payments has started from Indiawhich means that the company is looking to end the dominance of apps like Paytm, Google Tez, and other digital wallet app that have been around for a long time. Also read: 10 secret WhatsApp tricks you (probably) didn't know about

With over 200 million monthly active users in India, WhatsApp shouldn't face any trouble bringing its large user base to get a taste of Payments feature. Facebook's move to bring Payments feature to India first on WhatsApp clearly seems a way to cash in on the digital payment in its early days. The WhatsApp Payments feature was being tested as a beta feature with select users but now more users have started receiving the feature. Also read: WhatsApp UPI-based payments feature rolling out in India

It was no secret as WhatsApp was reportedly in talks with top Indian banks for months to integrate Unified Payments Interface (UPI). Unlike previously believed, the WhatsApp Payments feature is being rolled out to both Android as well as iOS users simultaneously. 

How to send money using WhatsApp payments

The WhatsApp Payments will be limited to peer-to-peer payment and does not offer merchant payment, as of now. 

Before getting started with WhatsApp Payments, users will have to note few things like: 

For WhatsApp Payments to work, both sender and receiver should be running the latest WhatsApp version as well as have WhatsApp Payments option enabled. 

Another important fact is WhatsApp number should be same as your mobile number linked to your bank account with UPI option support as well. 


WhatsApp users who have already received the feature can head to Settings > Payments to start setting up the Payments option. As of now, WhatsApp Payments is working on an invite basis which means those who have received the Payments feature can activate for others by choosing the option from chat.

On tapping the option, users will be welcomed by a new message saying "Send and receive money securely with UPI" and users need to tap on "Accept and Continue" to start accepting the WhatsApp Payments. The users will be also offered the Terms and Privacy policy and the payment provider's terms and privacy policy which they can read or just skip to the next option.

Users then will have to verify their phone numbers by choosing "Verify via SMS" and that can be done by tapping on the green coloured send button on the next screen to send a verification SMS from your phone. It's worth noting that the SMS charges will be applicable.

Once the WhatsApp number has been configured then add your bank from a vast list of over 70 banks. WhatsApp has managed to get all major banks for its new WhatsApp Payments feature on-board which include Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Yes Bank, Airtel Payments Bank, Allahabad Bank, Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda, and more.

If you already have UPI option enabled with your bank then you will need to verify with SMS.

New users need not to worry as WhatsApp Payments offers an option to create a UPI account with a pin (much like your ATM pin) for authenticating the payments. This can be done in less than 10 minutes by just following the instructions.

Users need to remember that the WhatsApp number and the mobile number registered with your bank should be same or else you need to get it linked with your bank before proceeding with WhatsApp Payments.

Now, how to send money to a friend using Payments feature on WhatsApp. To start sending money, tap on menu in any chat to access Payment option apart from other options like send photo, video, file, contact, or location. 

Choose a WhatsApp contact you want to send your first payment, select the bank account and amount > Enter the UPI Pin > Money sent. One of the biggest highlight of the WhatsApp Payment is it uses UPI to send money in no time.

Once the transaction is complete, WhatsApp also notifies the user about the money sent to a contact. You can also keep a track of Payments from within the app, by using the Payment history option in WhatsApp. 

Try the methods above and let us know in the comments section whether the payment went through or not. 

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