The number of users who opt to use e-signatures to benefit from different electronic services provided by the government is on the rise in Turkey.

According to the Information and Communications Technologies Authority (ICTA), in the second quarter of 2017, the number of e-signatures reached 2.5 million while the number of mobile signatures stood at just 458,726. At the same time, 2.9 million electronic certificates were created.

The spread of e-signature and mobile signature in different areas have also pushed the number of users upwards. E-signature is currently used in everything from including ID authentication, banking, e-government, trade, education, and health.

It has brought time and cost advantages. For instance, using e-signatures, notifications for changing home or work address can easily be obtained now.

Low-growth in mobile signature usage

According to the ICTA, the number of e-signature certificates, which stood at 2.4 million in the first quarter of 2017, rose to 2.5 million in the second quarter with an increase of 4.8 percent.

Usage of mobile signature certificates, on the other hand, grew only 1.9 percent during the same period, reaching 458,726 from 450,038 in the first quarter.

The unimpressive growth was due to the fact that the development of e-government services for individual users has been slow.

Regulations and needs digitize signatures

E-GÜVEN General Manager Can Orhun said that e-signatures can make multifaceted contributions to the economy through savings and efficiency.

"More institutions are moving their systems to the electronic environment and individual users are also aware of that fact now."

"The fields for electronic and mobile signatures usage are also expanding every day. These three factors have accelerated the transition process for a switch to digital signatures," Orhun said.

"Using the latest technology, jobs and transactions can easily be done without even stepping inside an office. Businesses are aiming to streamline operations and keep employee productivity at a maximum level."

Localized keyboards grow smarter

With the TAMBU virtual keyboard, emoji usage and spelling habits of the younger generations are set to become even more personalized and localized.

The removal of physical keys on smartphones was an important revolution. Today we can observe see the effects of smart keyboards, localized emojis and cultural change.

Even though word predictions for Turkish on Apple's iOS and Google's Android are constantly improving both still have a long way to go. I am sure we have all come across ridiculous suggestions like to change "yok" (no) to "YÖK" (Council of Higher Education).

A number of Turkish companies are also trying to solve this problem. One of them is the TAMBU keyboard. Developed by a Türk Telekom-initiative Argela, it is rich in cultural expressions and characters and features a design that can be easily personalized using different colors and themes.

The keyboard is available on both Android and iOS.

Safety of personal data

I got an opportunity to try the TAMBU keyboard for the first time on a Samsung Galaxy S8 device. The virtual keyboard does not take up much space despite the number of personalization tools it offers. During installation, the app expresses with complete clarity that it is paying utmost attention to the safety of personal data.

It also allows the user to choose between different themes and colors and comes with Turkish F support.

It also boasts a very high rate for autocorrect and automatic word suggestions. As you continue typing, it helps you pick up the pace by recognizing your often-used words.

Beautifying live streams

With selfies becoming a part of our everyday lives all the latest smartphones pay great attention to the onboard cameras. The quality of the cameras on a smartphone can seriously influence buyers not just in Turkey but around the world.

Tech giant Asus's newest flagship device ZenFone 4 looks to address just that. It offers real-time beauty effects in selfies, videos and even on social media live broadcasts.

Using its SelfieMaster application it can instantly beautify images during social media live broadcasts, in video footage and in selfies.

The ZenFone Live 5.5 inch, on the other hand, which will also be launched in Turkey soon, offers professional quality photography with settings and features like beauty mode, skin softening, and facial feature compensation.

We Love Photo

Asus picked "We Love Photo" as the slogan for its striking new ZenFone series. Unfortunately, the devices are not yet available in Turkey. ZenFone Live 5.5, ZenFone 4 Max and ZenFone 4 will enter the Turkish market in October and November.

However, ZenFone 4 Pro, ZenFone Selfie, and ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro will not be available in Turkey. Both ZenFone Selfie and ZenFone Selfie Pro use high-resolution dual cameras on the front. The cameras can also capture more thanks to their 120-degree wide-angle lenses.