Facebook Buying Messaging App WhatsApp for $16 Billion
Facebook is buying the hugely popular WhatsApp for $16 billion according to a filing with the SEC. The purchase, $4 billion in cash plus $12 billion in Facebook shares and potential for an additional $3 billion in employee stock payouts, will see WhatsApp founder Jan Koum joining Facebook’s board of directors.
WhatsApp Messenger is a hugely popular cross-platform messaging app that allows users to chat with individuals or groups, as well as sending files and pictures back and forth.
Back in December, the service bragged that it had 400 million active users, with 100 million of those added in the last four months of 2013. Back in April of 2013, it was rumored that Google was close to acquiring the company for $1 billion — something WhatsApp denied. Today’s sale price reflects the company’s tremendous growth over the last several months.
The service is one of many messaging services available on iOS and other mobile platforms, including Apple’s own iMessage service integrated into iOS and OS X. Such services have become increasingly popular as users seek to avoid mobile carriers’ SMS charges and expand their conversations to include devices not directly connected to cellular service.
The company’s app is currently the 35th most popular on the App Store. WhatsApp Messenger is a free download on the App Store. [Direct Link]
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MasterCard and Visa users may soon flip the switch on KitKat NFC payments
With a consumer reception that could be described as lukewarm at best, mobile payments haven’t exactly been a raging success. Despite Google’s efforts, Wallet failed to take off, while Isis also continues to struggle, despite support from major US carriers. Now, MasterCard and Visa are readying yet another potential solution, this time tapping the new Host Card Emulation (HCE) support in Android 4.4. The service, which is only supported in NFC-enabled KitKat phones, stores credit card info remotely rather than on an embedded “secure element,” expanding compatibility beyond pre-approved apps.
With HCE, when you go to make a payment, your phone will transfer credit card data directly to the NFC terminal, without storing it in your handset. MasterCard and Visa are both working to finalize the specification, following various trials over the last few months. Ideally, a significant number of credit card holders will be able to take advantage of HCE-enabled payments beginning later in 2014, with more details to come in the first half of this year.
(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Filed under: Cellphones
Source: MasterCard, Visa
Google to hold its I/O 2014 conference on June 25th and 26th
Mark your calendars, everyone: Sundar Pichai has just announced that Google I/O 2014 will be held between June 25th and 26th at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Registration info and other details are coming next month. It’s too soon for any big clues as to what will be unveiled this year, although Google used its 2013 I/O presentations to announce All Access music streaming, its first Google Play Edition phone and the Glass Developer Kit. We’d expect similarly grandiose things this time around, especially when the search giant wants to sell Glass to the general public before the year is out.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wearables, Internet, Mobile, Google
Source: Sundar Pichai (Google+)
Engadget HD Podcast 386 – 2.19.14
Updates, apps and mergers are piling up as we head deeper into 2014, leaving little room for idle chatter as Ben and Richard get down to business. The Comcast and Time Warner Cable deal is still reverberating through the news and it’s dovetailing with yet another Apple TV rumor. Google’s giving Chromecast apps the green light following a period of Android device updates and AllCast has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Mountain View’s dongle. Showtime hits Roku, Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show gets companion apps and Netflix adds new seasons to its stable of shows. The Engadget HD Podcast is dropping some science this week, so be sure to tune in at the streaming links below.
Hosts: Richard Lawler, Ben Drawbaugh
Producer: Jon Turi
Hear the podcast:
00:05:21 – Comcast and Time Warner Cable’s $45 billion merger puts 30 million customers under one roof
00:13:43 – Netflix report suggests Comcast and Verizon FiOS speeds are slipping
00:30:49 – Report: A new Apple TV is on the way, pending a deal with Time Warner Cable
00:45:37 – Sony sold 5.3 million PS4s already, hits sales target with weeks to spare
00:47:12 – First Xbox One feature update goes live
00:55:12 – Xbox One Media Remote briefly surfaces, hints at March 4th release
01:01:39 – Google deems Android ready for more Chromecast apps, lets the floodgates open
01:02:40 – Chromecast’s Fireplace Visualizer hopes to set hearts aflame on Valentine’s Day
01:03:39 – AllCast creator demos Android screen mirroring through Chromecast
01:05:00 – Showtime’s Anytime app arrives on Roku
01:06:07 – The Tonight Show relaunches with Jimmy Fallon, and of course it has companion apps
01:08:25 – House of Cards season two is ready for viewing on Netflix
01:09:43 – Orange is the New Black season two hits Netflix on June 6th
01:10:29 – Must See HDTV for the week of February 17th: Winter Olympics, Daytona 500 and Strider
Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3).
[RSS – AAC] Enhanced feed, subscribe to this with iTunes.
[RSS – MP3] Add the Engadget HD Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator.
Contact the podcast:
Facebook to buy WhatsApp for $16 billion
The balance of power in the mobile messaging space is about to shift in a big way — Facebook has just announced plans to acquire WhatsApp for the equivalent of $16 billion in cash and stock. The deal will see WhatsApp run semi-independently, much like Instagram. The chat service will maintain its brand and existing offices, but it will take advantage of Facebook’s “expertise, resources and scale.” It’s safe to say that the combined entity will have a lot of clout should the deal close later this year. WhatsApp already has over 450 million active users every month; combine that with Facebook Messenger and competitors like Line suddenly appear tiny by comparison.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Facebook
Source: SEC, Facebook Newsroom, WhatsApp Blog
Google’s Russian rival offers free alternative apps and services on Android
Android is famed for being an open-source operating system. Well, kind of. Anyone can cruise and caress Android’s code thanks to the AOSP, but if you want a package complete with Google’s services — like the Play store, Mail, Maps and better-than-basic apps for messaging, imaging, etc. — then you have to pay the piper. Yandex is to Russia as Google is to most other places, in that it’s the country’s most popular search engine, has its own browser and provides email and cloud storage services, among others. And now, with the launch of Yandex.Kit, it also has an alternative to the bits of Android only a licence’ll get you.
Available to those making devices for the Russian market, Yandex.Kit comprises 15 apps from browser, mapping, store and email clients to a launcher and dialer. (There’s a slimmed-down version of the firmware for outside Russia, too). Most importantly, it’s totally free, and has already attracted the likes of Huawei and local manufacturer Explay. Chinese firm Xiaomi forgoes Google’s wares in its Android-based MIUI OS due to censorship issues. Here, however, Yandex is intentionally wedging itself between Android and Google to erode any reliance on the latter’s ecosystem in Russia. The fact it allies you to Yandex instead being pure coincidence, of course.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Google
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Yandex
Ustream starts a nonprofit program to back citizen journalists
Livestreaming is increasingly crucial to journalism — in some cases, it’s the only way to get around government censorship of TV broadcasts. With that in mind, Ustream is launching Ustream for Change. The nonprofit program helps citizen journalists and educators by supplying no-cost access to ad-free streaming, promotional efforts and tech support. The initiative is already supporting Splino.tv and UkrStream.tv as they cover anti-government protests in the Ukraine; groups wanting to make an impact through live video can apply to join the program today.
Filed under: Internet
Via: GigaOM
Source: Ustream
LinkedIn opens its blog publishing platform to everyone
A handful of big-shot professionals have long had the freedom to express themselves through LinkedIn’s blogging platform, but most careerists have had to sit on the sidelines. Starting today, though, just about everyone can have their voices heard — LinkedIn is opening its publishing platform to all members. Users will soon have the chance to write long-form posts and attract followers from beyond their immediate networks. Only a fortunate 25,000 have access as of this writing, but the company plans to expand publishing privileges to the entire user base in the weeks ahead.
Filed under: Internet
Source: LinkedIn Official Blog
Researchers are working on a lie detector to sniff out false tweets
Sure, some less-than-true statements on Twitter are innocuous, but the social media network’s vast audience means it has huge potential to spread inaccurate, even dangerous, information. Citing examples like the 2011 London riots and accusations of vote-rigging during Kenyan elections, researchers at the University of Sheffield have introduced the concept of a lie detector to analyze information shared on Twitter and other sites.
The EU-funded project, dubbed Pheme, will sort online rumors into four categories: speculation, controversy, misinformation and disinformation. Additionally, Pheme will evaluate sources to determine their authority; tweets from the BBC would hold more weight than an unverified user’s, for example. The system will also search for sources to confirm or deny information in a tweet, following social media conversations about a given topic to eventually determine what’s true and what’s false. Hypothetically, users would be able to view info about a rumor’s accuracy via a virtual dashboard.
To test out of the project, scientists will be running trials with the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation and the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London. Clearly, Pheme’s goal is to verify news on a national and even international scale — so your Twitter fibs about amazing weekend plans are safe, for now.
Filed under: Internet
Via: Sky News
Source: The University of Sheffield
Opera Max Beta available publicly in North America, Europe
Opera Max Beta, initially released exclusively to US-based beta testers in December of 2013, is now open to the public. Specifically, it’s a waiting list private beta for those living in North America and Europe.
Well, it seems like many of you like it, and now we want more testers. Starting today, we’re rolling out pre-registration of a public beta version of Opera Max to Android users in the United States and Western Europe. Eastern Europe will not be able to beta test Opera Max, for now. But we’re working to include this region soon.
Opera Max is designed to save data across your mobile apps. It functions by compressing videos, photos and text on most apps on your phones, allowing the file sizes to be smaller when downloaded. Opera has partnered with Skyfire for it’s ability to compress videos. Apps such as Google Drive, Instagram, Vine, and others will benefit from the compressed data.
Due to lack of space on Opera’s servers, the beta will only be available until the servers reach their capacity. What ware you waiting for? Download it now and get in line for the release!
The post Opera Max Beta available publicly in North America, Europe appeared first on AndroidGuys.
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