Quick Tour Around The World

Gear 2 Is the Wearable Samsung Should Have Shipped the First Time

noreply@blogger.com (Roshdi) — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 09:16:00 +0200

by Lance Ulanoff

It’s not news that Samsung likes to throw a lot of products at the wall, and see what sticks. But when it came to the original Samsung Galaxy Gear wearable device, the strategy was even more aggressive: Rush the product to market, even if one or two of its design decisions made absolutely no sense.

Having seen and touched the elegant, new Samsung Gear 2, I am more convinced of this than ever. While not perfect, it is definitely the product Samsung should have released the first time around.

The Gear 2 is lighter, thinner, more powerful, offers a better screen, much, much better battery life, and a sharper, more elegant watch-like profile. Most importantly, there's a camera on the watch itself, rather than the wristband.

Why didn’t Samsung ship this version of the Gear in 2013? I blame Samsung’s Crazy Artist Syndrome.

Think of Samsung as a great, slightly manic sculptor who likes working out in the open: see the work-in-progress! He can’t help but rapidly deliver unfinished works to his patrons, one after the other. Each is slightly different and better than the last, but those who bought the early stuff grow increasingly frustrated as they see the later, far more polished results.

Instead of apologizing to the customers or advising them to postpone purchase, the artist simply delivers a revision many months later.

So Much Better

As I was playing with the Gear 2 and quizzing a couple of Samsung representatives about the new product at the New York City launch event on Monday, I joked that I was sad to see the camera move off the watch band. One laughed knowingly, but the other, who could not see the grin on my face, asked in all earnestness, “Really? Why?”

I told him I was kidding, and appreciated it the moment Samsung made the official announcement at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Moving the camera and wiring out of the band meant you can change or replace the band.

That exec at MWC said almost exactly what I had told Samsung’s PR people last year in private meetings. The company had to know this was a terrible idea when they were shipping the first Gear, and yet they went ahead with it anyway. When I told the Samsung rep that I always thought that putting the camera on the band was an incredibly bad idea, he replied: “but look how far we’ve come in five months.”

He’s right, of course. Samsung has made remarkable progress in a very short period of time. But if you know anything about product development cycles, you know that this edition — complete with a heart rate monitor (on the back), different operating system (Tizen) and a monumentally better second-gen super AMOLED screen — must have been underway even before Samsung released the first Gear.

Why didn’t Samsung wait? The reviews for the first product, especially from women, were not kind. Wouldn’t it have been better to avoid that kind of pain, retain its reputation, and deliver a product that could make even the forever-working-on-a-wearable Apple sit up and take notice?

Work Remains

I am not saying the Gear 2 is a perfect device. Though it is thinner and lighter than before, the Gear 2 had to share the stage with Samsung’s Gear Fit — which, to be honest, stole the show.

The Fit is, as you would guess, is a fitness band; it features the world’s first curved Super AMOLED screen on a wearable. It’s light, fun, sexy, and could be the breakout star of Mobile World Congress. It also highlights what Gear 2 is not: curved and jewelry-like.

Samsung also revealed yet another Gear: the Gear 2 Neo. It’s a camera-free version that lacks some of the Gear 2’s stylish lines; it is likely there to satisfy budget-conscious consumers. By the way, neither Gear 2 model offers much variety when it comes to band options. You get a couple of color choices, but all are rubber and have the same crosshatch texture.

Even with this Gear overhaul, one very big question remains: How much? With the Neo and Fit likely to get $199 and $149 price tags respectively, the full-featured Gear 2 will probably cost nearly $250. That may be about $50 too expensive for most consumers. But if Samsung offers an attractive Galaxy S5 bundle price, they still might have a wearable success on their hands. And on ours, for that matter.

But if you don’t like this Gear, wait five months — the Gear 3 is surely waiting in the wings.

Samsung Finally Reveals The Galaxy S5 – The New King Of Android Phones

noreply@blogger.com (Roshdi) — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 01:28:00 +0200

The wait is finally over as Samsung has unveiled the Samsung Galaxy S5 at the
Mobile WorldCongress 2014. Building up on the highly successful and wildly
sold Galaxy S4, the new Galaxy S5 is quite an improvement over its predecessor.

The phone hosts a 2.5 Ghz quad-core processor with 2GB of Ram. To support the
added firepower, the phone also boasts a bigger battery which samsung claims,
will last 20% longer than Galaxy S4 on a single charge. So when it comes to the
raw processing power,Samsung has once again ensured that its flagship phone
has the best hardware in the competition.
The S5 has a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED panel sporting the same 1920×1080 pixel
full HD resolution as before. Just like the S4, this offers superb visual quality,
though with a slightly lower 430ppi pixel density. The display offers great contrast
and brightness levels while color reproduction is pretty amazing.

The phone has a 16 Megapixel camera at the back that also supports 4K video
recording. The enhanced camera also offers real time HDR processing for
further enhancing the photo quality. Overall, the camera interface has been
improved and the picture quality is phenomenal.

For those of you wishing for something new in design, you’ll be disappointed
as the phone retains most of the design features of its predecessor. The
curves and the build is almost the same as the S4. However, the back has
been redesigned with a new soft dimple finish. The phone is being offered
in 4 colours, black, white, blue and gold. With the new finish, Samsung
has finally gotten away with the plastic, glossy finish seen in the Galaxy
line before.

So whats cool about the new Samsung Galaxy S5 other than increased processing
power and a larger screen? Well, the phone has a fingerprint scanner embedded
in the front home button. This fingerprint scanner will offer greater device security
and privacy. Furthermore, there is even a heart rate monitor at the back of the
phone that can be used to monitor your heart rate.

The phone runs on Android 4.3 Kitkat and hosts several Samsung specific apps
like before. There are also some trivial changes to the front interface which
distinguish it from the S4. The Phone will hit the market in April of this year with
the price tag still a secret. However, there is no doubt that the S5 will sell like a hot
cake like its predecessor because it offers great refinements and is undoubtedly
the best Android phone in the market right now.

Would you buy the new S5? Let us know in the comments section!

Nokia Finally Releases Its First Android Based SmartPhone. Here Is All About It

noreply@blogger.com (Roshdi) — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 01:18:00 +0200

BY UBER GEEK - FEBRUARY, 24TH 2014

For those of you who know the finer details of their smartphones, you’ll know that Nokia’s smartphones have been running different variants of Windows OS for mobile devices. But this year, the Finnish company took things in a completely different direction by unveiling their first series of Android smartphones at the 2014 Mobile World Congress.

The company has revealed it’s new Nokia X series of Android smartphones which will run Android OS, with a few modifications. This Nokia X is not only the name of the smartphone series but also the name of the operating system.

This “three way mashup” uses the Android 4.1 as a base and adds element of the Asha and Windows phone lineups creating an OS that can run Android apps, although with no access to the Play Store since Nokia will be curating the user’s app experience.

Currently, the range will have three phones spanned over three different price ranges. The lowest in the range is the Nokia X, a phone with a 4-inch screen and a dual core 1GHz Snapdragon processor. The next in line is the Nokia X+, which has a larger internal memory and a slot for a micro SD card. The phone at the high-end, the Nokia XL, is also the largest (as the name suggests) and a 5-inch screen, a 5 megapixel rear camera and a 2 megapixel front camera.

This new development by the world famous mobile company is certainly amazing, especially since Windows and Google have been competitors in the tech market for years now. But the X series of phones will give users a slightly different experience from what they would be expecting upon first hearing the phrase “Android Nokia”.

Samsung Announces The Galaxy Gear 2 Smart Watch With Better Battery And Tizen OS, Coming In April

noreply@blogger.com (Roshdi) — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 19:43:00 +0200

by John Biggs

Samsung has announced the availability of the Galaxy Gear 2 smart watch, a Tizen OS-powered wearable that will get up to three days of battery life and is promised to allow for a improved applications. There will be two models – the Galaxy Gear 2 with camera and the Gear 2 Neo without – and they will ship in April.

The Tizen OS, a new mobile operating system Samsung first tried to use in the NX300m camera, will allow for an “enriched application ecosystem.” The device has a 1.63-inch touchscreen, a 1GHz processor, and 4GB internal storage. Most important, however, the device will be compatible with more Samsung smartphones. Sorry iOS users.

Tizen is Samsung’s open source, multi-device OS that that the company hopes to take to ubiquity in multiple devices including in-car entertainment units and smart TVs. It uses web APIs to allow developers to build applications with a small footprint that can run on multiple screens – including watches.

No pricing yet but Samsung excepts to ship in April. You can read a bit more about the device at Engadget.

Twitter outrage as WhatsApp gone down for hours days after Facebook purchase

noreply@blogger.com (Roshdi) — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 00:55:00 +0200

By: Dion Dassanayake

twitter users first posted their frustration around 7pm this evening after opening the messaging service and seeing it fail to connect to servers.

Two days ago the app available for Apple iPhones, Blackberrys and Android devices was bought by Facebook for $19 billion (£11.4bn).

WhatsApp took to Twitter around 8.15pm to confirm that the service is experiencing problems and they are working to fix the issues.It is not clear if the problem is localised to certain regions or if it is affecting users worldwide.
the WhatsApp Status account tweeted: "Sorry we currently experiencing server issues. we hope to be back up and recovered shortly."

Tech website BGR India reported that a WhatsApp spokesperson they spoke to did not give them a timeframe for how long it would take to fix the hitch.

WhatsApp users came in droves to Twitter to tweet about not being able to access the service with many joking about how soon it came after the Facebook acquisition.

Twitter user The Craft posted: "Facebook buys WhatsApp. WhatsApp stops working. FAB."

Sophie Thompson tweeted: "Its like Facebook bought Whatsapp and purposely stopped it from working so everyone would resort back to group messages on Facebook instead".

Tweeter Liat added: "Facebook is in a relationship with WhatsApp and it's complicated".
On Thursday Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg hailed the acquisition of WhatsApp and said the service was on track for one billion users worldwide.
Speaking about WhatsApp, Mr Zuckerberg said: "No one in the history of the world has ever done something like this."

Facebook Will Make 'Look Back' Videos for Deceased Users

noreply@blogger.com (Roshdi) — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 12:02:00 +0200

by kurt wagner

Facebook is changing its policies regarding profiles of users who have passed away.

Facebook on Friday altered its privacy settings on memorialized profiles so that all fuctions operate as they did when the user was active on the platform. For example, if a user kept his profile public to anyone on Facebook, that is the way his profile will be even after his passing.

Previously, when Facebook memorialized a profile, it was only visible to friends of the deceased.

"This will allow people to see memorialized profiles in a manner consistent with the deceased person's expectations of privacy," members of Facebook's community operations team wrote in a blog post. "We are respecting the choices a person made in life while giving their extended community of family and friends ongoing visibility to the same content they could always see."

A second part of the policy change involves "Look Back" videos, which were unveiled as part of Facebook's 10th anniversary in early February. Users will now be able to request a "Look Back" video of a loved one who has passed away.

Facebook automatically generated these videos of the top moments, posts and images from each person's Facebook history, and multiple users asked the company for "Look Back" videos of their deceased loved ones, according to the post.

The "Look Back" videos were particularly popular to users, and nearly 100 million people shared their video with friends in the first week Facebook unveiled them.

Facebook Flip-Flops on Messenger After WhatsApp Acquisition

noreply@blogger.com (Roshdi) — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 18:04:00 +0200

by kurt wagner

it was just four months ago that Facebook updated its standalone messaging app, Messenger, with the goal of making the user experience more like texting.

That task appears to be easier said than done. Facebook's $19 billion acquisition of messaging app WhatsApp on Wednesday effectively confirmed that Messenger didn't live up to the task, at least not outside the U.S.

With the acquisition, Facebook has started preaching a very different strategy for Messenger than was outlined just four months ago.

With the Messenger update in October, Facebook opened messaging to all its users' mobile contacts, not just those on Messenger. Users needed only to add their phone numbers within the app. Messenger was redesigned to look like a standard text message inbox, and messages were delivered more quickly than before, according to Facebook product managers.

The app even had icons to alert users if they were sending a message to someone on mobile instead of their Facebook inbox. The update, in short, was intended to produce a real rival to SMS — not to mention WhatsApp.

"All of our changes around the new Messenger are about making it a mobile-to-mobile experience, so that I know I can dependably reach you instantly," Peter Martinazzi, Messenger product manager at Facebook, told Mashable last October. "If you're on Messenger, its going to go to your phone and you're going to treat it just like you would SMS, as a high priority mobile to mobile message."

Fast forward to Wednesday, when Mark Zuckerberg discussed WhatsApp with investors and mentioned Messenger frequently. Gone was the comparison to SMS. Messenger was suddenly an app for casual conversations between Facebook friends.

Messenger "evolved from Facebook chat, which was more instant messaging, not SMS," said Zuckerberg. "It's widely used today for chatting with your Facebook friends, and a lot of the messages people send are not real-time. Someone will send someone a message like a more informal email and then expect a reply later in the day."

So what happened? Facebook simply bought a better way to capture the global messaging audience, which WhatsApp reaches. In the 10 days leading up to Wednesday's acquisition, WhatsApp was the top social networking app on iOS every day but one in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy, according to App Annie.

"Facebook tends to be floppy," says Gartner analyst Brian Blau. "They try one thing, it doesn't work out, then they immediately try something else. It's how Facebook tries to innovate."

It would be hard to see Messenger disappearing anytime soon, Blau added. It seems likely that Facebook was simply hedging its bets — building an app to compete with WhatsApp while simultaneously pursuing it.

Regardless of the reason, it appears that Messenger has been relegated back to its original use case — casual conversations between Facebook friends. Because if you can't beat 'em, buy 'em.

Facebook to buy WhatsApp for $19 billion in deal shocker

noreply@blogger.com (Roshdi) — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 17:46:00 +0200

BY GERRY SHIH AND SARAH MCBRIDE

(Reuters) - Facebook Inc will buy fast-growing mobile-messaging startup WhatsApp for $19 billion in cash and stock in a landmark deal that places the world's largest social network closer to the heart of mobile communications and may bring younger users into the fold.

The transaction involves $4 billion in cash, $12 billion in stock and $3 billion in restricted stock that vests over several years. The WhatsApp deal is worth more than Facebook raised in its own IPO and underscores the social network's determination to win the market for messaging.

Founded by a Ukrainian immigrant who dropped out of college, Jan Koum, and a Stanford alumnus, Brian Acton, WhatsApp is a Silicon Valley startup fairy tale, rocketing to 450 million users in five years and adding another million daily.

"No one in the history of the world has ever done something like this," Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on a conference call on Wednesday.

Zuckerberg, who famously closed a $1 billion deal to buy photo-sharing service Instagram over a weekend in mid-2012, revealed on Wednesday that he proposed the tie-up over dinner with CEO Koum just 10 days earlier, on the night of February 9.

WhatsApp was the leader among a wave of smartphone-based messaging apps that are now sweeping across North America, Asia and Europe. Although WhatsApp has adhered strictly to its core functionality of mimicking texting, other apps, such as Line in Japan or Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat, offer games or even e-commerce on top of their popular messaging features.

The deal provides Facebook entree to new users, including teens who eschew the mainstream social networks but prefer WhatsApp and rivals, which have exploded in size as private messaging takes off.

"People are calling them 'Facebook Nevers,'" said Jeremy Liew, a partner at Lightspeed and an early investor in Snapchat.

How the service will pay for itself is not yet clear.

Zuckerberg and Koum on the conference call did not say how the company would make money beyond a $1 annual fee, which is not charged for the first year. "The right strategy is to continue to focus on growth and product," Zuckerberg said.

Zuckerberg and Koum said that WhatsApp will continue to operate independently, and promised to continue its policy of no advertising.

"Communication is the one thing that you have to use daily, and it has a strong network effect," said Jonathan Teo, an early investor in Snapchat, another red-hot messaging company that flirted year ago with a multibillion dollar acquisition offer from Facebook.

"Facebook is more about content and has not yet fully figured out communication."

PRICE TAG

Even so, many balked at the price tag.

Facebook is paying $42 per user with the deal, dwarfing its own $33 per user cost of acquiring Instagram. By comparison, Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten just bought messaging service Viber for $3 per user, in a $900 million deal.

Rick Summer, an analyst with Morningstar, warned that while investors may welcome the addition of such a high-growth asset, it may point to an inherent weakness in the social networking company that has seen growth slow in recent quarters.

"This is a tacit admission that Facebook can't do things that other networks are doing," he said, pointing to the fact that Facebook had photo-sharing and messaging before it bought Instagram and WhatsApp.

"They can't replicate what other companies are doing so they go out and buy them. That's not all together encouraging necessarily and I think deals like these won't be the last one and that is something for investors to consider."

Venture capitalist Sequoia Capital, which invested in WhatsApp in February 2011 and led three rounds of financing altogether, holds a stake worth roughly $3 billion of the $19 billion valuation, according to people familiar with the matter.

"Goodness gracious, it's a good deal for WhatsApp," said Teo, the early investor in Snapchat.

Facebook pledged a break-up fee of $1 billion in cash and $1 billion in stock if the deal falls through.

Facebook was advised by Allen & Co, while WhatsApp has enlisted Morgan Stanley for the deal.

Shares in Facebook slid 2.5 percent to $66.36 after hours, from a close of $68.06 on the Nasdaq.

"No matter how you look at it this is an expensive deal and a very big bet and very big bets either work out or they perform quite poorly," Summer said. "Given the relative size, the enterprise valuations this is a very significant deal and it may not be the last one."

(Reporting by Garry Shih and Sarah McBride in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Soham Chatterjee in Bangalore, writing by Edwin Chan, Editing by Savio D'Souza, Andrew Hay, Peter Henderson and Lisa Shumaker)

Will WhatsApp Reach 1 Billion Users Faster Than Facebook Did?

noreply@blogger.com (Roshdi) — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 09:29:00 +0200

by kurt wagner

it appears that the billion-user club is about to get a new member.

Facebook announced the acquisition of messaging app WhatsApp on Wednesday, a deal worth up to $19 billion in cash and stock that puts serious muscle behind Facebook's international reach.

In a call with investors to outline the acquisition, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum hinted multiple times that they expect WhatsApp to become a billion-user platform, a milestone that Facebook eclipsed less than 18 months ago.

"WhatsApp is the only widely used app we've ever seen that has more engagement and a higher percent of people using it daily than Facebook itself," Zuckerberg said on the acquisition call Wednesday, noting that WhatsApp has doubled in size over the past year. "Based on our experience of building global services with strong growth and engagement, we believe WhatsApp is on a path to reach over one billion people in the next few years."

WhatsApp has already over 450 million monthly active users (320 of which are daily active users), and the company claims it is adding more than one million new users per day. For comparison purposes, Twitter added nine million new users in the entire Q4 2013; Facebook did better, adding 40 million in the same three month period, but growth is slower for a company with a billion-plus users already under its belt.

Facebook reached one billion in October 2012, roughly eight and a half years after launch. Could WhatsApp hit one billion even faster?

Assuming the company continues to add one million users per day, then yes. Much faster, actually.

WhatsApp is on pace to reach one billion users in August of 2015, approximately a year and a half after being acquired by Facebook. At that time, WhatsApp will be a little more than 6 years old, achieving the billion user milestone more than two years faster than Facebook did.

Of course, WhatsApp's trajectory is likely to change over time. Just like other consumer services like Facebook and Twitter, growth may slow as the user base gets larger and new users are harder to find.

Regardless of the timing, Zuckerberg seems poised to own two separate billion-user brands in the near future, and he's understandably excited.

"Services in the world that have a billion people using them are incredibly valuable," he said.

For $19 billion, we'd certainly hope so.

Apple, Google cracking down on 'Flappy Bird' clones

noreply@blogger.com (Roshdi) — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 12:22:00 +0200

By Andrew Webster

In the wake of Flappy Bird's demise, an army of clones has risen up to take its place — but Apple and Google may now be preventing that from happening. Currently when you search "flappy" in Google Play or the App Store, you'll see game like Flappy Fish, Flappy Pig, or Splashy Fish pop up. However, several developers are reporting that both Apple and Google have since clamped down on obvious clones, disallowing games that are clearly built to cash in on Flappy Bird's sudden burst of popularity.

On Friday, Ken Carpenter, from studio Mind Juice Media, tweeted that his game Flappy Dragon was rejected by Apple, with the company telling him "we found your app name attempts to leverage a popular app." After that initial tweet, several developers responded saying that they had seen or received similar responses from both Apple and Google. In some cases, it's making developers consider changing or resubmitting games they've already made. Developer Paul Pridham from Mad Garden, for example, who previously worked on titles like Punch Quest, is debating whether to resubmit his cthulhu-themed clone Flapthulhu to the App Store with a new name. You can currently play the game on Windows.

An Apple spokesperson said that the company isn't simply rejecting games with "flappy" in the name, but instead titles that are clearly trying to trick customers, making them think their app is replacing or associated with the original. Google has yet to comment. According to Carpenter, when Flappy Dragon was pulled from Google Play, the company told him "do not use irrelevant, misleading, or excessive keywords in apps descriptions, titles, or metadata."

"I had included a sentence about Flappy Dragon being the best flappy game now thatFlappy Bird was dead," Carpenter tells The Verge. When he submitted a second time, with the description removed, the app was again rejected. He was finally able to get the game on Google Play by changing the name to Derpy Dragon, which is currently available to download.

It also appears that the decision to crack down on clones doesn't just impact new games submitted to the app store, as several current games appear to have changed their names. As Ouriel Ohayon points out, Flappy Bee, one of the early games to take advantage of the "flappy" name, is now known as Jumpy Bee. Whether or not the name was changed in response to a request from Apple is currently unclear, but it seems that both Apple and Google have simply been slow to react to the wave of "flappy" games hitting their stores. For those developers who were able to get in early, they managed to leach some success off of a very lucrative game. Everyone else looking to make a quick buck appears to be out of luck.

"It makes no sense to me," says Carpenter.

Look At These Big-Screen iPhone 6 Concept Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Roshdi) — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 10:54:00 +0200

by Jordan Crook

In 2012, after five generations of iPhone, Apple switched up the size of their flagship smartphone. Rather than sporting a 3.5-inch display, as it had for five years, the iPhone 5had a 4-inch display making it longer, thinner and lighter than any generation before it.

This year, it’s entirely possible that the same shift will occur, with reports suggesting that Apple is working on two separate models, a 4.7-inch version and an XL 5.5-inch version.

Wondering what that might look like?

So is designer Federico Ciccarese, who has put together these concept designs for larger screened iPhones with metal frames.

Take a look:

Of course, there’s no guarantee that Apple’s iPhones will look anything like this. They may very well keep the flat back design language of current models, rather than Ciccarese’s curve (which is likely in homage to the much-beloved iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS).

Plus, the edge-to-edge display is a bit of a stretch.

But rumor season for the iPhone has only begun — now is the time to dream big.

Microsoft Office on iPad: It's alive and coming sooner than most think

noreply@blogger.com (Roshdi) — Mon, 17 Feb 2014 08:45:00 +0200

By Mary Jo Foley

It must be a slow news day. I see a number of folks trying to parse recent statements by Microsoft's Executive Vice President of Marketing Tami Reller -- who described Microsoft's approach to balancing its Windows and cross-platform plans as "thoughtful" -- as meaning Microsoft plans to drag its feet on Office for iPad.

Here's a quick recap on what I've heard from Microsoft officials, as well as my own contacts, about Office for iPad.Office for iPad -- which I've recently heard is codenamed "Miramar" -- isn't dead. In fact, it's likely to make it to market ahead of Microsoft's touch-first version of Office (codenamed "Gemini") according to a couple of my sources.

Microsoft officials have acknowledged, in a somewhat roundabout way, that it exists and is coming. Last we heard, it sounded from ex-CEO Steve Ballmer that it was going to arrive some time after Microsoft's own touch-first, "Gemini" implementation of Office. Gemini is Microsoft's Metro-Style/Windows Store versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.

But I hear Ballmer and the senior leaders of the company may have had a change of heart towards the end of last year. According to one of my contacts, Ballmer OK'd the suggestion by the Office team that they'd bring Office for iPad to market as soon as it was ready, even though that would likely mean before the Windows 8 version. I'm hearing that new date for Office for iPad is some time in the first half of calendar 2014. (My sources last summer were hearing Office for iPad wouldn't debut until Fall 2014.)

I still haven't heard exactly how Microsoft will make Office for iPad available. I've heard it's likely to require some kind of Office 365 subscription (either corporate or Home Premium, depending on the use case). If I were a betting woman, I'd count on it saving files by default to OneDrive (the soon-to-be-renamed SkyDrive) or OneDrive for Business, with options to save locally. The Office 365 tie-in isn't hard to imagine, given Microsoft has made Office Mobile available for iPhones andAndroid phones, with an Office 365 subscription requirement.

As you might expect, Microsoft officials are declining to comment on anything having to do with Office on iPad. But don't believe the naysayers: Office for iPad is coming. And sooner than many think.

Google Adds 'Relationships' Option to Voice Search on Android

noreply@blogger.com (Roshdi) — Mon, 17 Feb 2014 00:43:00 +0200

by Adario Strange

Another piece of Google's voice search puzzle fell into place on Tuesday as the search giant announced that Android users will now be able to voice search on their smartphones by relationship terms in addition to name searches.

The update, as described by Google, will bring up any contact you've designated as having a particular familial connection to you in the "relationship" field in your contacts tool on Android. This additional functionality is meant to allow a user to now speak a phrase such as "call mom," or "text sister" to initiate those actions without the user needing to say the person's name as it's listed in their contacts.

In order to launch contacts on your Android handset via voice you first need to allow the Google search app to access your contacts and the profile information attached to each person or place.

However, during repeated testing of the update on a Moto G handset running Android 4.4.2, we were unable to get the relationship voice function to work automatically, despite a number of attempts using various listing configurations. Rather than simply recognizing the relationship assigned to the contact in the People contacts app, Google still asked "who is your brother?" prompting us to pick a contact to assign the designation of "brother."

Despite that, the system's "name" search by voice worked perfectly, which indicates that the update, which is being rolled out on Google's side, may be reaching some users sooner than others.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Android Apps May Be Coming to Windows

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 15 Feb 2014 01:39:00 +0200

by Karissa Bell

In an effort to boost interest in its desktop and mobile platform, Microsoft is reportedly considering opening up Windows to Android apps.

Citing "sources familiar with Microsoft's plans," The Verge says there are serious discussions within Microsoft over whether to open up the company's desktop and mobile platforms to Android apps. The idea would be to let consumers download the apps from a store run by a third-party "enabler" where Microsoft is still the gatekeeper.

According to the report, the discussions are in early stages and there is an ongoing internal debate over whether the plan should go ahead. While some Microsoft executives believe it would draw more users to Windows' platforms, others worry it would be Windows' undoing.

It wouldn't be the first time Android apps have appeared on Windows with a third-party enabler. Software maker BlueStacks already allows users to run Android apps on Windows devices, including Microsoft's Surface Pro.

The report comes on the heels of rumors that Nokia will be releasing its own Android handset at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month. The low-cost phone would be targeted toward emerging markets.

Nokia had earlier agreed to end its own software efforts and focus exclusively on Windows after being acquired by Microsoft.

Microsoft declined to comment.

Dong Nguyen: Flappy Bird Is 'Gone Forever

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 09:39:00 +0200

by Stan Schroeder

Flappy Bird lovers, we have a problem. Dong Nguyen, the creator of the notoriously addictive iOS game, told Forbes in an interview the game is "gone forever."

According to Nguyen, his intentions were to create a game you play when you're relaxed, but it turned out to be addictive.

"I think it has become a problem. To solve that problem, it’s best to take down Flappy Bird. It’s gone forever,” he said.

The story of Flappy Bird is an odd one indeed: the game sat in relative obscurity many months after its release, and then, seemingly out of nowhere, it quickly became one of the most popular iOS apps, at one point reportedly earning its creator as much as $50,000 per day. At the pinnacle of the game's success, Nguyen decided to remove it from the App Store.

Although removing the game from the App Store sounded like a brilliant marketing move, it now seems Nguyen really doesn't plan to bring the game back. He does plan to continue developing games. “After the success of Flappy Bird, I feel more confident, and I have freedom to do what I want to do," he said.

Google Buys Motorola for $12.5 Billion

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:00:00 +0300

by Sarah Kessler

Google announced Monday morning that it will acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion.

Motorola is one of 39 manufacturers of handsets that use Google’s Android operating system.

Buying a hardware company is an unusual move for Google. The acquisition, Google said in a statement, “will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem.”

Google CEO Larry Page expanded on what that might mean in a blog post.

In addition to citing Motorola’s home devices and video solutions business, Page references recent patent wars that Google believes to be anti-competitive.

“The U.S. Department of Justice had to intervene in the results of one recent patent auction to ‘protect competition and innovation in the open source software community’ and it is currently looking into the results of the Nortel auction,” Page writes. “Our acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google’s patent portfolio, which will enable us to better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies.”

Android will continue to be an open platform, and Motorola will continue to be run as a separate business, Page writes.

More to come…

Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS Revealed [PICS]

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 15:24:00 +0300

by Charlie White

The first pictures of the long-awaited “Ice Cream Sandwich” upgrade to the Android smartphone operating system were leaked to the world on Thursday. The new interface features a new launcher and app drawer, a revamped notification bar and color changes favoring a certain blue hue.

According to Android Police, other new features include a panorama mode for its camera, a new theme for Gmail that matches that blue hue, and the ability for many older devices to run the Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. And on the bottom right, it looks like there’s an app launcher that might work like the Windows 7 “Start Ball.” Missing so far as a version number (will it be Android 4.0?), which Google is still keeping a closely guarded secret.

The two sites that received the photos weren’t saying where they obtained the leaked information, far in advance of the rumored release date of Ice Cream Sandwich around Thanksgiving (or maybe as early as October, according to AndroidOS). See the gallery below for enlarged pictures of the upcoming OS, sent to us courtesy of Android Police and RootzWiki:

Facebook Fires Back at Google+ With New Gaming Features

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 15:20:00 +0300

by Ben Parr

Facebook has unveiled a slew of new features for Facebook games just hours after Google launched its gaming platform.

The first feature, the Game Ticker, transforms the right-hand Facebook Chat column into a newsfeed of friends’ game activity. The column displays what games your friends are playing as well as their achievements and high scores. It’s designed to be social, so clicking on a Game Ticker story takes you to that game so you can play with your friends. And just like Facebook News Feed, you can control which stories appear and don’t appear in the stream.

The world’s largest social network also introduced a new expanded-screen mode for games. Current players of social games will appreciate the added real estate for harvesting their crops or attacking their enemies. The final addition to Facebook’s gaming platform allows users to bookmark their favorite apps or games so they’re easily accessible from the News Feed.

The move is a counterattack to today’s launch of Google+ Games, which debuted Thursday with 16 games, including Angry Birds and Zynga Poker. It looks like the competition between the two Internet giants is getting even more intense.

Google+ Games Going Live

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 15:17:00 +0300

by Todd Wasserman

Google+ users may notice something new on top of their streams on Thursday — a small icon signifying that Google+ Games had gone live.

The social network began offering a range of games from publishers including Zynga, Rovio and Wooga, but minutes after Google announced the offering on its Official Blog, it disappeared. It’s likely to return very soon though. “Games will be gradually rolling out so you might not see it right away,” a Google rep says.

In the blog entry,Vic Gundotra, senior vice president of engineering for Google, stressed that the games, when they do eventually go live, won’t be appearing in everyone’s stream, an apparent veiled jab at Facebook, which lets game updates appear in its Top News and Most Recent streams.

“That means giving you control over when you see games, how you play them and with whom you share your experiences, Gundotra wrote on Thursday. “Games in Google+ are there when you want them and gone when you don’t.” Likewise, your scores will only be displayed to people in one of your circles when they themselves are interested in playing games too. “If you’re not interested in games, it’s easy to ignore them,” Gundotra writes. “Your stream will remain focused on conversations with the people you care about.”

The blog entry displays 16 game titles including Zynga Poker, Angry Birds and Sudoko.

The launch of games on Google+ is no surprise. Back in June, a reference to “Google+ Games” appeared in Google+ code. Google has been taking its time to make sure Google+ is fully functional before wide release and before it starts accepting branded profiles, but gaming is clearly a big step toward building a viable competitor to Facebook.

What do you think? Does Google’s strategy with games on Google+ make sense? What games would you like to see on the platform? Let us know in the comments.

Update: If you don’t have access to Google+ Games yet, check out the Google-produced video below for a look at what to expect.

Twitter Adds Subtle New Feature

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 15:12:00 +0300

by Charlie White

Twitter has rolled out a subtle but significant interface enhancement to its web app, prompting users to publicly reply to a user when they visit that person’s profile page.

You can see how it works in the example I’ve created here using my own Twitter profile, where the field that was formerly empty now reads “Tweet to @charlie_white”.

Perhaps Twitter was hoping the small change would be implemented without fanfare, but keen-eyed user Jeevan Gill (@jsammy17) tweeted to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, asking him if this was a new feature. Replied Dorsey, “@jSammy17 as of today!”

Even though Twitter just introduced its new Activity tab to its user interface yesterday, for some reason the company decided not to publicize this subtle tweak. Maybe the company didn’t want to get in the way of the social gaming war now underway between Google+ and Facebook.

Even so, any attempt to stimulate further social interaction on Twitter is probably a good idea, especially given the increased competition it’s facing from Google.

Facebook Advertisers Can Target Users by Zip Code

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 15:11:00 +0300

by Jennifer Van Grove

Advertisers wishing to target Facebook members in specific zip codes can now do so. The social network has made the new targeting option available to advertisers via Facebook’s Power Editor and Ads Manager self-service tools.

Facebook has confirmed that zip code targeting, which was spottedby Politico, is now available in the U.S.

“The zip code targeting launched yesterday and this change was made due to requests for such a change,” a Facebook spokesperson tells Mashable.

Advertisers, previously able to target members by country, state or province, can now direct ads and sponsored stories to users in more localized areas.

“Over the past few months Facebook has been showing sidebar modules asking users to confirm which of several zip codes they are closest to or live within,” Inside Facebook reports.

Now that advertisers have the potential to reach hyper-local audiences, what types of ads should Facebook users expect? Local merchants and small businesses are the most likely candidates to promote products and services by zip codes. Politico also theorizes that the addition of zip code targeting will factor into upcoming elections.

“In an election cycle when social networking is expected to play such a big role, Facebook’s new program signals its intention to be a major player in the sprawling, and lucrative, market of local campaigns,” the site contends.

Image courtesy of Inside Facebook

10 More Ways to Make the Most of Your Google + Account

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 14:41:00 +0300

by Amy-Mae Elliott

Take a look through the gallery and share in the comments any suggestions you have for improving the G+ experience.

1. Check Your "Added to Circle" Notifications

A good way to ensure you don't miss any important circle additions is to hit up the "People who've added you" view every once in while.

To see this on your profile, click on the circles tab and then select the option. Once you're in this view, you can click on the drop down menu to view "Not yet in circles."

This will bring you the people that have circled you, but that you haven't circled in return. It's an at-a-glance method to catch anyone that might have slipped through your circle net.

2. Filter Your Notifications

The main "notifications" view is useful but it can be a little cluttered to work through with all of those overlapping updates in one list

You can actually filter those notifications by clicking the "More" drop-down option at the top right of your page.

Being able to view mentions, photo tags, posts by you, posts by others and circle additions is a lot more useful than the default view.

3. Select the Correct Thumbnail

When you add a link to a post, Google+ doesn't always automatically select the correct thumbnail to go with the content.

Before you hit share, make sure the thumb is right. If it doesn't, click on the arrows that appear on the top left of the image to scroll through the options.

Alternatively, hitting the "X" removes the thumbnail from your post altogether.

4. Save Time With the Notifications Toolbar Icon

The handy notifications icon on your Google+ toolbar can save you tons of time.

Once you've hit the icon, you can see more notifications by using the left and right arrows to scroll. You can even save time by adding comments from the notification window.

5. Tag People in Photos

It's not immediately obvious how to tag people in your Google+ photos.

To tag people, you have to open your photo in the lightbox viewing mode. To do this, go to your photos tab, select the album, then click on the photo. This should load it up in lightbox view, at which point you'll see the option to "add tag."

An important note: If you tag someone in a G+ pic they will have access to view the entire album in which that photo appears.

6. Enable High-Res Video Chat

High resolution video chat is available in Google+ but you need to take some steps to enable it. Click on the chat's drop-down menu and select settings. Now, check the "Enable high-resolution video" box.

7. Lock Down the Dimensions of Your Profile Pic

Google+ profile photos are 200 pixels by 200 pixels. Rather than chop down a larger pic, or worse still, stretch a smaller one, we suggest resizing the image you want to use as a perfect 200 x 200 pixel square before you upload it. This means your image will appear exactly as you want it to.

8. Display Your +1's

The default setting on Google+ is that your +1'ed pages from around the web will not show up on your profile. However, you can change this to let people see what you've been liking.

Go to your profile tab, click "edit profile," then click on the +1's tab. You will now get the option to "Show this tab on your profile."

9. View Your "Nearby" Stream on a Computer

One of the most popular features of the Plus mobile app is the "Nearby" functionality that lets you view public posts in your vicinity.

Until this makes it to the web version, we have a workaround that lets you view the location-based stream on your computer.

The URL for the mobile version of Google+ is m.google.com/plus, however, entering this in your browser will just redirect you to an info landing page about Google mobile

Entering https://m.google.com/app/plus/, however, will load up the mobile version proper and let you tune into those local posts.

10. Send Invites Without an Email Address

Google+ makes it possible to send invitations to join the service without even needed an email address.

This is ideal for enticing friends and followers over from Facebook and Twitter respectively. The "Send invitations" option on the right of your Google+ screen now generates a link to invite up to 150 people.

BONUS: A Google+ Grammar Lesson

If you're unsure of the correct way to write "+1's" or "+1'd," Google is offering an explanation.

"It s... acceptable to use an apostrophe to add clarity and make sure people read words as intended for example, when your school teacher tells you to mind your p's and q's (as opposed to your ps and qs)."

Are you convinced?

Twitpic Founder Launches Twitter Clone

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 14:29:00 +0300

by Ben Parr

Revenge is a dish best served cloned. Twitpic founder Noah Everett has unveiled Heello, his feature-for-feature copy of Twitter. The move comes just a day after Twitter completed the rollout of its photo-sharing service — a direct competitor to Twitpic.

Heello looks and acts like Twitter in almost every way. Instead of tweeting, users send “pings” to their followers. Instead of retweeting, users “echo” other posts. And instead of following, friends “listen” to their friends. The only real difference is that updates appear in a user’s stream in real-time, which is quite annoying if you want to click on something in a friend’s tweet.

And if that weren’t enough, Heello boasts Twitter and Facebook integration, so your Heello posts can still go to your other social networks. It also includes a real-time feed of all public activity, which currently contains a number of fake accounts claiming to be CNN, Tumblr and Mark Zuckerberg.

The clone seems more of a publicity stunt than a real business. Twitter blindsided Everett when it launched a feature that was directly competitive to his company, and this may be payback. Nevertheless, Everett toldVentureBeat that Heello will soon support video, checkins, SMS integration, mobile apps and a “Channels” feature that works much like Twitter Lists.

Much as we love new social media services at Mashable, we’re not sure what to make of Heello. If Everett was looking for some attention, well, mission accomplished. But his service will have a tough time gaining traction against Twitter, and its 200 million registered users, without any truly innovative features.

Then again, if there’s one skill entrepreneurs have, it’s the ability to charge ahead with blind optimism, even when the numbers are against you.

iPhone App Simulates Teen Dating Abuse

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 14:27:00 +0300

by Zoe Fox

Parents may think they understand what it’s like to be a teenager today, but they’ve never experienced their teen’s technological life first hand. Until now.

The Love is Not Abuse iPhone app is giving parents a taste of digital relationship abuse. While mobile technology has become more widespread, it has also led to new forms of abuse especially for teens in bad relationships.

The app, launched by Liz Claibourne’s Love is Not Abuse campaign, places parents in the positions of their teenage children — texting, emailing and calling from a fictional abusive “boyfriend” or “girlfriend.” These fake messages pose situations common in digital abuse, like threatening to remove friends from social networks or to post illicit photos. While the app does not actually access the user’s Facebook account, parents get a taste of the controlling nature of a negative teen relationship.

Digital abuse is a rapidly growing trend. Nearly 24% of American teens have been a victim of technology abuse from a boyfriend or girlfriend and more than 50% know someone who’s been victimized, according to a Liz Claibourne Inc. and Futures Without Violence 2009 Teen Dating Abuse survey

The app trains parents to recognize characteristics of abusive relationships. Psychotherapist Dr. Jill Murray, a contributor to the app’s development, says most parents can’t properly identify the warning signs of dating abuse. “The main point of the app is to get parents talking to their teens. While most parents discuss drugs, alcohol and sex with their kids, only slightly more than half discuss dating abuse.”

Dr. Murray says teens, especially girls, misinterpret texts sent in the middle of the night as signs of affectionate attention. Oftentimes, this overbearing communication can be a sign of relationship abuse. “When a child is being abused, the first thing is they don’t know that they’re being abused,” Murray says.

Other warning signs include when a teen constantly checks his or her phone at the dinner table, becomes frantic at the thought of disconnecting for 15 minutes, has unexplained scratches or bruises, stops spending time with friends and family or starts making excuses for a significant other’s bad behavior.

The simulator is geared towards the specific characteristics of abusive males and females. The threatening messages come from a “boyfriend” and the excessive contact is from a “girlfriend.”

Dr. Murray encourages parents to check their children’s phone bills, doubting most parents realize their children may send up to 18,000 texts each month.”I’m a really big advocate that the cell phone belongs to the parent. If you are suspicious or concerned you absolutely can put up your hands and say “Give me your phone.”"

Before launching the app, the Love is Not Abuse campaign created school curricula and provided resources for parents on their website. The app is their first platform specifically targeting technology abuse.

Do you think this simulator can help parents understand how their teens communicate? Let us know in the

64% of Small Businesses Think Social Media Is Unnecessary [STUDY]

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 14:25:00 +0300

Small businesses don’t seem to be swept up in the social media revolution, according to a new study.

Hiscox, a small business insurance provider, polled 304 decision makers for U.S. businesses with between one and 249 employees in June. Of those polled, just 12% considered using social media a “must” for their business. However, 50% of respondents said they couldn’t do without word-of-mouth marketing. Just 4% said the same about social media marketing.

According to eMarketer, a whopping 64% of those polled said social media was either not necessary or not something they had an opinion about. Of those small businesses that were using social media for marketing,Facebook was the most common vehicle, followed by LinkedIn.

Nicole Perrin, senior editor at eMarketer, says she’s not surprised by the results. “We typically don’t see that they see this as the be-all, end-all,” she says, noting that small businesses often lack the resources to execute a social media marketing plan. “They’re still very focused on traditional word of mouth and very used to traditional marketing.”