Technology

In November, Google introduced Datally, a data-saving app largely aimed at emerging markets where users often rely on prepaid SIM cards, and don&t have access to all-you-can-eat unlimited data plans. The app lets users granularly control which apps can use data, which resulted in a 30% savings on data usage during pilot testing and now saves users 21%, on average. Today, Google is giving Datally an upgrade with several new features that will help users cut data usage even further.

One key feature is the introduction of daily limits, which allow you to control your data usage on a per-day basis. This one is more about creating better habits around data consumption, so you don&t accidentally burn through too much data in a day, then end up without any data left before the month ends.

This also ties into to Googlelarger push to give users more insights into their own behavior when using mobile devices, and more tools to combat the addictive nature of smartphones.

The company in May announced new time management features for Android users, as well as new features to help users silence their phones and wind down at bedtime. It also has software for parents to limit screen time for their children.

While the Datally feature is primarily about conserving data, it acknowledges that itoften easy to get sucked into your smartphone and lose track of how much time & and then, consequently, how much mobile data & you want to spend.

Another new Datally feature lets you enable a guest mode where you control how much data someone borrowing your phone can use & helpful in those situations where phones are shared among family members.

The &Unused Apps& feature, meanwhile, highlights those apps you&ve stopped using but could still be leaking data. Google notes that, for many people, 20 percent of mobile data is from apps using data in the background that haven&t been opened for over a month. Unused Apps will find those culprits so you can uninstall them, it says.

And finally, a new Wi-Fi Map shows all the nearby Wi-Fi networks so you can find those with a good signal and stop using your mobile data.

Though Datally is aimed at helping the &Next Billion Users& come online, itnot limited to emerging markets. Anyone concerned with data usage can give it a shot.

The new additions are rolling out to Datally today, says Google.

The Android app, which has been downloaded over 10 million times, isfreeon Google Play.

The largest payment app in South Korea, Toss, has pulled in $40 million in fresh investment from Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and Sequoia China.

The deal for Viva Republica, Tossparent company, comes just over a year after it raised $48 million from payment giant PayPaland others. Thereno valuation for this newest round, but we do know that it is a ‘bridge& intended to bring new investors in and help accelerate the business for a large raise further down the line. (It is also the first Korean investment for bothGIC and Sequoia China.)

Not that the business seems to need much more impetus for acceleration, growth is already strong. Viva Republica says that Tossregistered user base has doubled over the past year to each eight million consumers, while it claims the app is processing $10 billion in transaction volume per month. The company forecasts that its annual transaction run rate will surpass $18 billion.

Back in 2016 when we reported on the PayPal -backed round, founder and CEOSG Lee — a dentist until he saw the potential for a mobile payment service — told us that Toss had begun to introduce additional services beyond peer-to-peer payments. Thatincluded consumer financing products, like loans,micro-insurance and cross-border payments.

Toss doesn&t have Korea to itself, its main rival is Kakao, the countrymost popular messaging app. In recent times Kakao, a $7 billion company, had opened business units in a range of industries including ride-hailing, content and payment. Its Kakao Pay business is backed by Alibaba, and it plugs into Kakao the chat app to allow peer-to-peer transfers with other consumer finance services.

Lee, the Viva Republica CEO, previously said he doesn&t fear Kakao since in his mind it is creating a b2b business while Toss is focused wholly on the consumer experience. Now it has a couple more seasoned backers in its corner too, courtesy of this new investment.

Apple this morning announced a new feature in iOS 12 which will automatically share your location with first responders when U.S. users dial 911 using their iPhone. The move is meant to address the problems with dialing emergency services from a cell phone, where outdated infrastructure has made it difficult to obtain a mobile callerlocation quickly and accurately, Apple says.

Approximately 80 percent of 911 calls come from cell phones, however, which is why itcritical to fix this system.

In 2015, Apple launchedHELO (Hybridized Emergency Location), which would estimate a callerlocation using GPS and Wi-Fi Access points. Today, Apple said it will additionally use RapidSOSInternet Protocol-based data pipeline to securely share this HELO location data with 911 centers, to improve the response times even further.

RapidSOStechnology integrates with existing software installed at many 911 centers, which is how they&ll receive the data.

Apple also noted the FCC is requiring mobile operators to locate callers within 50 meters at least 80 percent of the time by 2021. Its location services exceed this requirement today, and now 911 centers will have access to the same accuracy.

In typical Apple fashion, the company stressed the new featuredata privacy. User location data cannot be shared for non-emergency purposes, and only the 911 center will have access to the location during the call itself.

The 911 support was not announced during Applesoftware-heavy WWDC keynote earlier this month, where a number of other privacy, security and A.I.-powered features were introduced as coming later this year in iOS 12. Typically, the new version of Applemobile operating system is release to the public during September, and that should hold true for iOS 12 as well.

&Communities rely on 911 centers in an emergency, and we believe they should have the best available technology at their disposal,& said Tim Cook, AppleCEO, in a statement about the new feature. &When every moment counts, these tools will help first responders reach our customers when they most need assistance.&