Nokia X Android smartphone India launch slated for March 10; price Rs 8,500

Nokia’s Android smartphone, the Nokia X will be available in India on 15 March and is priced at Rs 8,500. The smartphone is already listed online on The Mobile Store’s website . Currently the date and the price of the smartphone have been removed from the online site. The listing was first spotted by Maktechblog.com, which showed the date as 15 March and the price as Rs 8,500. While the phone will officially be available from 15 March, Nokia is hosting a media event to launch the device on 10 March where it will officially announce all the prices. 

Nokia had announced three Android smartphones as part of the X series at the Mobile World Congress last month. The devices will be known as the X, X+ and XL and Nokia had said at the time of the launch that the smartphones would be available ‘very soon’ in India. Nokia also said that the Nokia X would start retailing for 89 euros (approx Rs 7,600), the X+ for 99 euros (approx Rs 8,400) and would hit stores in Q2 this year. 

Nokia X and X+ have four-inch screens, while the Nokia XL has a 5-inch phone. The Nokia X and X+ feature 4-inch displays with a 800×480 pixel resolution. Nokia did not announce the chipsets on stage, but both phones have a Snapdragon S4 SoC with a dual-core processor clocked at 1GHz. 

There’s 512MB of RAM on the Nokia X, while the X+ gets 768MB of RAM. Both have 4GB internal storage and the ability to take in micro SD cards up to 32GB in capacity. 

The camera however, is a disappointing 3-megapixel on the rear and there’s no front-facing camera. Both phones have a 1500 mAh battery, rated for around 13 hours of talk time on 2G and 17 days standby time. In terms of connectivity, the X and X+ have dual SIM slots, 3G cellular data, Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0.   The Nokia X is available in its Black, Green, Cyan, Yellow, Red, and White colour variants.

Finally! You Can Now Hide 'Last Seen' on Whatsapp Messenger

It has been the bane of many and a universally cursed feature. The whatsapp 'last seen' option has been one of the most detested features. And despite many wishes, whatsapp did not do away with the feature. But looks like there's something good that will come of the Whatsapp-Facebook deal.

There have been many ways and tricks often employed to do away with the feature and everything from changing the phone time to setting the phone on Airplane mode/switching off the mobile net before every ping has been employed. But looks like the task will just get a lot more easy.

iOS users have been luckier than their Android counterparts as they had the option of hiding their last seen updates on the app. And finally, Whatsapp is all set to roll out the feature across platforms.

The feature is still in beta stage though it can already be downloaded and activated on Android devices. Whatsapp plans to roll out the upgrade soon toall Android devices. However, presently the feature is only available to devices running Android Jelly Bean version 2.1 and above. And it does not work on tablets.

The 'last seen' option can be disabled from your Whatsapp settings. Once you have the upgraded the app, you just need to go to your Settings in Whatsapp. Under Account Settings you will now see the option to hide your timestamp. You can choose to hide your ‘Last Seen’ only from a select few in your friend-list, from all or from no one. However, you choosing to hide your ‘Last seen’ means you will not be able to chck their time-stamps too!Apart from the ‘last seen’ option, Whatsapp is also working on letting users hide their profile pics and status from a select friends or from all. The privacy settings will soon be completely ramped up and the update rolled out.

If you cannot wait till the official roll-out, you can head directly to the Whatsapp site and download the official APK file. You first need to download the file to your computer and then transfer to your SD card. Take care that your 'Installation of Apps (APKs)' option from Unknown Sources is turned on in Settings. Once you have downloaded the file, go to your file manager and search for the APK file. Tap the file to begin installation. Your Whatsapp will be updated.

There’s no need to fear about the security as it is an official update provided by Whatsapp. There might be a few initial bugs but once the official update rolls out, the glitches will be ironed out.

Whatsapp faced their longest ever outage in years this Saturday and the social media sites were awash with jokes regarding the messenger. While Mark Zuckerberg probably became the most hated person on earth for the period of the outage, Whatsapp apologies using Twitter. Looks like Priscilla Chan will now have to hunt for new ways to keep tabs on her hubby dearest, eh?
 

Hands-on with Nokia Mobile In Android X and XL devices

If Android is the gateway to a Windows Phone, Nokia has made sure to keep the Android experience on its new X devices one that makes Windows Phone shine.

Announced today, Nokia's new line of Android-based handsets — the Nokia X, X+ and XL — are destined for the sub-$200 smartphone market, and at that price consumers can't be too dissatisfied with the low-end specs they come with: don't expect a top end camera or loads of memory, but there's a Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor under the hood.

Hike messenger reaches 15 million users mark globally

Hike messenger, India's very own free messaging app from BSB, has crossed the 15 Million user milestone, tripling its user base within just 9 months. hike is one of the fastest growing mobile applications to be born out of India.

Commenting on the feat, Kavin Bharti Mittal, Creator, Hike messenger, said, “We're super proud to announce our first 15 million. We are seeing great traction for hike amongst the youth and what's amazing is that over 80% of our user base is under 25. Despite the proliferation of instant messaging apps in India, hike is growing faster than ever. We’ve observed that the youth, today, want to move away from mass platforms to a place where they can express more, within a closer set of friends. Hike is that destination".

To cater to the youth market, hike offers a unique feature - Last Seen Privacy where one can choose to share their ‘Last Seen’ and ‘Status Updates’ with a chosen set of friends, while continuing to message others and even those that don’t have a smartphone or data connection.

The app also makes messaging a whole lot more expressive by adding localized sticker packs such as ‘Things Indians Say’ and a playful Bollywood pack. Hike Offline is another India-centric feature that lets users send free messages to their friends who’re offline. With a number of users in India hopping in and out of wi-fi and data networks; this feature is a boon to keep messaging seamless.

Speaking of the future plans, Kavin adds, “We're completely focused on the youth and we've got some really cool and innovative ideas we're working on in the pipeline for that segment”.

Why Facebook is buying WhatsApp for a whopping $19bn

Facebook is betting huge on mobile with an eye-popping cash-and-stock deal worth up to $19 billion for Internet Age smartphone messaging service WhatsApp.

The surprise, mega-deal announced on Wednesday bolsters the world's biggest social network -- which has more than 1.2 billion members -- with the 450-million-strong WhatsApp, which will be operated independently with its own board.

It fits with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's focus on being at the center of lifestyles in which billions of people around the world share whatever they wish over the internet using smartphones or tablets.

It is Facebook's biggest acquisition and comes less than two years after the California-based internet star raised $16 billion in the richest tech sector public stock offering.

Zuckerberg said that WhatsApp -- a cross-platform mobile app which allows users to exchange messages without having to pay telecom charges -- was worth the steep price because its blistering growth around the globe has it on a clear path to hit a billion users and beyond.

"Services with a billion people using them are all incredibly valuable," Zuckerberg said while discussing the purchase price during a conference call with analysts.

The deal came from a chat Zuckerberg had with WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum, whom he described as a "valuable thought partner" and friend of many years.

"Last Sunday evening, about 11 days ago, I proposed if we joined together that would help us really connect the rest of the world," Zuckerberg said.

"He thought about it over the course of the week, came back and said he was interested."

The purchase includes $12 billion in Facebook shares and $4 billion cash. It calls for an additional $3 billion in restricted stock units to be granted to WhatsApp founders and employees that will vest over four years.

Facebook reportedly sought to acquire another hot messaging firm, Snapchat, for $3 billion last year. In 2012 Facebook closed its deal for Instagram, worth some $1 billion at the time based on stock value.

'Powerful capabilities'
Koum, who joins Facebook's board under the deal, said: "WhatsApp's extremely high user engagement and rapid growth are driven by the simple, powerful and instantaneous messaging capabilities we provide."

In a blog post, Koum added: "Almost five years ago we started WhatsApp with a simple mission: building a cool product used globally by everybody. Nothing else mattered to us."

The tie-up gives WhatsApp "the flexibility to grow and expand," Koum said.

Zuckerberg and Koum, who both took part in the conference call, did not discuss details about WhatsApp revenue, saying the focus for the foreseeable future would be on growth, not making money.

WhatsApp software is available free, but after a year, users are asked to pay annual subscriptions of 99 cents each.

Bubble fears
The acquisition represents likely the biggest-ever price for a tech startup, trumping the $8.5 billion paid for Skype -- which allows users to make voice and video calls over the Internet -- byMicrosoft in 2011.

"The size of this deal is really massive and it will get people talking about a bubble," Greg Sterling at Opus Research told AFP.

Sterling said the deal is a risk for Facebook because "in social media you have a flavor of the month, and next year we might have another app with extremely rapid growth."

"I think (the high price tag) comes from the frustration of not being able to buy Snapchat, and then there is the youth factor," Sterling added.

"Facebook really needs to have vehicles to attract younger users, and Instagram is not going to do that by itself."

With this strategy, Sterling said Facebook "is becoming a kind of holding company for different social media properties that appeal to different groups."

Sterling said Facebook may have some ability to "monetize" WhatsApp by delivering ads over the messaging service.

Roger Kay at Endpoint Technologies said WhatsApp has become one of the most popular mobile applications worldwide "because it allows you to message anybody anywhere for free."

Kay said the deal makes sense on one level because of Facebook's record stock run-up.

"When you have a stock like that which has run up quickly and created a lot of paper value, it's good to trade that for other value," he told AFP.

"It's not obvious how they can get $12 billion out of this but it's been clear for a while that WhatsApp is very interesting. It reminds me a little bit of Skype."

Google to put new Android versions in all upcoming phones

One of the big problems for Android is fragmentation, with some low-end smartphones hitting the market with the five-generation-old Android 4.0 installed. Apple has harped on this point quite a few times, the latest while unveiling the new iPads in October last year.

But things may be about to change, according to a new Google memo sent to a smartphone manufacturer. As per the memo leaked by technology website Mobile Bloom, the internet search titan will stop approving manufacturers' requests for Google Mobile Services (GMS) for older Android versions nine months after a new iteration of the platform is introduced.

Google Mobile Services include popular products like Gmail, Hangouts, Maps, Chrome, Now, Plus etc. Though a few manufacturers like Amazon do not use these services in their devices, most of the popular companies (Samsung, LG, HTC etc) put them in their products.

This practice will come into effect from February 2014, meaning that new smartphones will come preloaded with at least Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean), which was rolled out in July 2013.

The memo states, "Starting February 2014, Google will no longer approve GMS distribution on new Android products that ship older platform releases. Each platform release will have a 'GMS approval window' that typically closes nine months after the next Android platform release is publicly available. (In other words, we all have nine months to get new products on the latest platform after its public release.) The policy could only mean good things, especially for the smartphone user."

This policy would put a stop to manufacturers pushing low-end smartphones with older Android versions in the market just because of the high hardware requirements of newer operating systems.

The latest version of Android, named KitKat, has been optimized by Google to ensure devices with low configuration (mainly 512MB RAM) run smoothly.

According to data by Google, all three versions of Android Jelly Bean combined (4.1, 4.2 and 4.3) currently power 60.7% of all devices running on the OS. Gingerbread, launched in December 2010, has the second biggest share at 20%. Third comes Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) with 16.1%, while KitKat is on just 1.8% of the devices. The May 2010 version of Google's operating system, Android 2.2 (Froyo), still powers 1.3% of the devices currently in use.

A software to track how far emails have 'travelled'

LONDON: A new system that uses Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to calculate the number of miles an email has 'travelled' before reaching an inbox has been developed. 

The system known as Email Miles, uses GPS and internet tracking to determine where a message was sent and where it was received.  

It then calculates the total distance between the two and displays it on the screen alongside a map.

Inventor Jonah Brucker-Cohen, a design lecturer, said he hoped that it would remind people how quickly they can communicate in a digital world, The Times reported.  

The system also shows how indirect the route of many emails can be.

An email sent from New York to Dakar, in Senegal demonstrates how the system works. It first travelled 790 miles (1,271 km) to a server in Chicago, Illinois, and then went 2,163 miles (3,481 km) to Mountain View, California; 1,699 miles (2,734 km) to Dallas, Texas; 4,745 miles (7,636 km) to London; and finally 2,718 miles (4,374 km) to its destination -- some 12,115 miles (19,497 km) in all.  

Brucker-Cohen said the system does all of its time and distance calculations using the internet and a coordinate mapping system.  

"When all of the mileage amounts are tallied, it adds them all and provides the user with a map, the countries, continents and miles the email travelled," Brucker-Cohen said.