Hangouts for Android may lose SMS and MMS capability in the future
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For the longest time, people were crying out for the Hangouts app to have SMS and MMS functionality added to it, and after some waiting, Google granted our wish. It was buggy at first, but after some improvements, it was what we’d always dreamed of. Unfortunately, it seems times have changed and Hangouts for Android may lose SMS and MMS capability at some point in the future – whether it’s because nobody actually uses it or Google just really wants people to use its purpose-built Messenger app, we may never know. To be perfectly honest, the Messenger app is unsurprisingly a better app for SMS and MMS purposes, but obviously it is a separate app.
This news comes to us from a source speaking with Phandroid, who is apparently close to the matter at hand – whether it’s a few weeks, or months, we don’t really know, but it’s best to expect the change pretty soon. What’s not clear is if this change does occur, whether it would affect other features like Google Voice and Project Fi, but they don’t exactly seem that closely related.
What do you think about losing SMS and MMS capability in Hangouts for Android? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Phandroid
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Facebook’s Instant Articles arrive on Android
Android users can now access Facebook’s Instant Articles service, which offers thousands of fast-loading stories a day to millions of readers around the world.
Up until recently, Instant Articles were only accessible on iOS, but this latest change means the content, which is hosted on Facebook’s own servers, is available for everybody to take a look at.
Even though the social media giant is hosting the content itself, a cut of Facebook’s revenue will be offered to publishers. Publishers currently signed up to Facebook’s Instant Articles service include the New York Times, MTV, the Guardian, Al Jazeera and NBC News.
Speaking about the news, Product Manager Michael Reckhow said:
“More than 350 publications around the world have already joined the Instant Articles program to date, and more than 100 are already publishing daily — with more joining each day.
We’re thrilled to collaborate with our partners in each of these regions, and we will continue to advance the product based on their feedback.”
This latest move from Facebook is bound to please folk in developing countries, where internet speeds are lacking. Users have reported ‘virtually no delay’ between tapping on an Instant Article and having the post load up on their smartphone.
Around two months after Instant Articles arrived on the iPhone, Android owners can finally enjoy a browsing experience ’10 times faster’ than standard links on the mobile web.
Source: Facebook
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Skype for Business on Android offers handy conferencing tools
Skype for Business is now available from the Play Store, bringing a redesigned dashboard and a host of tools aimed at improving productivity.
Key features of the app, which replaces Lync 2013, include the option to initiate a group IM or video conversation, along with a tool that lets chatters share video during a conference call. According to Microsoft, Lync users will be automatically updated to the new service.
Skype for Business Android users can look at and manage upcoming meetings, also benefiting from ‘enhanced security’ changes. Group call hosts can mute or remove attendees and tablet owners will notice additional Windows-inspired visual changes.
Speaking about improved mobile security, Praveen Maloo, Product Marketing Manager for the Skype for Business team, said:
“The Skype for Business Android app now supports modern authentication, which is utilized by other Office clients and allows for a consistent authentication experience for your users”.
Moreover, since modern authentication is based on access tokens, users’ credentials are not stored on their device.”
A new contacts bar will allow you to search by name, phone number or email, and larger call-control buttons look to make the user experience easier than ever before.
Regular updates are planned for the future, with Skype hoping to remain firmly in place living inside your Android gadgets.
Source: Microsoft
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Qualcomm renamed two Snapdragon chips to show their superiority
Qualcomm names all of their Snapdragon chips just numbers, but they are usually hard to tell apart. The only way to distinguish between them is the first number, 400, 600, and so on means a different series. However, two Snapdragon chips will now be renamed to make them “easier” to tell apart.
The Snapdragon 618 will be changed to 650, and the 620 will now be known as the 652. The reason for this change is to separate these two chips from lower-end ones in the same line.
Since the announcement of the Snapdragon 620 earlier this year, we’ve added a number of processors to the 600 tier including the 615, 616 and 617. The Snapdragon 620 and 618 processors stood out however, with their use of our advanced X8 LTE modem technology with Cat 6 support and carrier aggregation plus the advanced ARM-A72 CPU and next generation Qualcomm Adreno 510 GPU.
The 650 and 652 feature 4K Ultra HD video capture, advanced X8 LTE modems with carrier aggregation support, and Cortex-A72 CPU cores. For these reasons, Qualcomm felt it was necessary to push them far ahead of the others in the 600 tier.
Currently, neither chip is being used in any smartphones or tablets, but Qualcomm says they will be soon.
Source: Qualcomm
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FilmoraGo is a new video editor with tons of features, functions, and social integration
Google’s Play Store offers a ton of fantastic apps for just about everything you can imagine, but one area where it’s sorely lacking is solid video editors. That’s a tough use case to crack for most developers, considering the processing power required for decent video editing and the fact that most people aren’t going to want to edit home movies on a smaller screen, and that doesn’t even touch on the fact that these apps have to compete against the pretty good preloaded video editing software on most high-end phones. That hasn’t stopped Wondershare from releasing a brand new mobile video editor onto the Play Store, however, that’s based on their currently available desktop video editing suite.
FilmoraGo is a completely loaded app with more features than you can shake a stick at. At its core, it’s really just a great video editor, but it’s got a ton of extra functionality to give your videos that extra creative flair. There are several pre-baked themes that you can automatically apply to your videos, but if you want to dig in you’ll find filters and effects, the ability to title and caption things, and even a way to add a custom soundtrack to your movies.
The app supports bringing in your videos from several popular social media sites, and of course supports exporting those created videos back out to many sites.
If there was ever a thing as a professional video editing tool for Android, this is it. And best of all, it’s completely free.
Come comment on this article: FilmoraGo is a new video editor with tons of features, functions, and social integration
Huawei will unveil a women’s Huawei Watch at CES
Huawei makes one of the nicest looking Android Wear watches to date, however, just like most smartwatches, it’s probably a little big for your wrist if you are a women. For that reason, Huawei is rumoured to unveil a women’s version at CES 2016.
The women’s watches will feature similar functionality to the standard version, with only visual changes. Featuring more feminine-looking bands, and stylized watch cases. We would assume Huawei will also be making some new watch faces to match the new watch designs.
Also, it is said Huawei is already working on a second generation normal Huawei Watch, with plans to launch it in the second half of next year. Some other rumours we are hearing is it may feature cellular capabilities.
Source: 9to5Google
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Shaw Communications acquires Canada’s largest non-incumbent wireless provider
Shaw Communications announced last week that it will acquire WIND Mobile — Canada’s largest non-incumbent wireless provider — for about $1.6 billion.
Shaw Communications CEO Brad Shaw said the following about the acquisition:
“The time has come to offer even more mobility to our customers. By acquiring WIND, we now have immediate scale, spectrum, retail distribution and a network with a clear path to LTE that complements our existing fibre and WiFi infrastructure.”
WIND Mobile serves approximately 940,000 subscribers across Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta.
Shaw Communications Inc. to acquire WIND Mobile Corp.
- Enhances Shaw’s product offering by expanding mobile service capabilities and enabling development of a best-in-class converged wireline and wireless network
- Unique opportunity to acquire rapidly growing wireless business together with 50 MHz of spectrum in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia
- Acquisition of WIND represents the most efficient operating and financial entry point into the Canadian wireless landscape
- Time to market and integration will be greatly enhanced via an established operating business and experienced management team
Calgary, Alberta (December 16, 2015) — Shaw Communications Inc. (“Shaw”) (TSX:SJR.B) (NYSE:SJR) announced today that it has agreed to acquire a 100% interest in Mid-Bowline Group Corp. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, WIND Mobile Corp. (“WIND” or the “Company”) for an enterprise value of approximately $1.6 billion (the “Transaction”).
“The global telecom landscape is quickly evolving towards ‘mobile-first’ product offerings as consumers demand ubiquitous connectivity from their service providers. The acquisition of WIND provides Shaw with a unique platform in the wireless sector which will allow us to offer a converged network solution to our customers that leverages our full portfolio of best-in-class telecom services, including fibre, cable, WiFi, and now wireless,” said Chief Executive Officer, Brad Shaw. “This transaction represents a transformational step in the history of Shaw and we are excited about our future growth prospects in mobile. This growth will be accelerated by combining Shaw’s existing customer relationships, trusted brand and wireline and WiFi infrastructure with WIND’s impressive asset base, including its existing spectrum position and mobile network.”
WIND is Canada’s largest non-incumbent wireless services provider, serving approximately 940,000 subscribers across Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta with 50MHz of spectrum in each of these regions. Led by a management team with demonstrated telecom expertise, the Company has achieved impressive growth as evidenced by a 47% increase in its subscriber base over the past two years which has translated into strong growth in revenue and EBITDA. In calendar year 2015, WIND is expected to generate $485 million in revenue and $65 million in EBITDA. As WIND continues to reinvest in its network and service offering, including a scheduled upgrade to 4G LTE services by 2017, the Company expects that its unique customer value proposition will result in continued strong growth in the future.
WIND’s current management team is led by Chief Executive Officer Alek Krstajic, who has over 20 years of telecom experience. Mr. Krstajic and his team will remain with the Company and will continue to drive the wireless opportunity. “We believe the combination of Shaw and WIND creates a wireless leader with immediate benefits for our customers and employees, giving them more choice, capabilities and opportunities to stay connected,” said Mr. Krstajic. “With Shaw’s long-term commitment, customer focus and breadth of product offering, this transaction enables us to enter into a new phase of growth.”
In 2011, Shaw announced the launch of a carrier-grade WiFi network, Shaw GO WiFi, which has since expanded to over 75,000 hotspots, increasing the value proposition of broadband outside of the home. “The time has come to offer even more mobility to our customers,” said Mr. Shaw. “By acquiring WIND, we now have immediate scale, spectrum, retail distribution and a network with a clear path to LTE that complements our existing fibre and WiFi infrastructure.”
Transaction Terms & Financing
Under the terms of the Transaction, Shaw will acquire 100% of the shares of WIND‟s parent company, Mid-Bowline Group Corp., by plan of arrangement, for an enterprise value of approximately $1.6 billion based on quarterly financial statements as of September 30, 2015. Shaw has executed a fully-committed bridge financing facility with the Toronto Dominion Bank and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Shaw is committed to a financing plan that maintains its investment grade status and accordingly will optimize the significant flexibility available to it, including potential debt issuance, asset sales, the issuance of preferred or common equity or any combination thereof. Additional details regarding the longer term financing of the Transaction will be provided prior to close.
The Transaction is subject to the receipt of certain approvals, including those from the Competition Bureau and the Ministry of Innovation, Science & Economic Development (formerly Industry Canada) and court approval of the plan of arrangement. Shareholders of Mid-Bowline Group Corp. have approved the transaction and closing is expected to occur during the third quarter of fiscal 2016.
CIBC World Markets Inc. and TD Securities Inc. acted as financial advisors to Shaw in connection with the Transaction and Dentons Canada LLP provided legal advice.
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Hangouts may lose capabilities with a future update, rumor says
According to recent rumors, a future Hangouts update will remove one of the features people take for granted. We’re talking about the ability to send and receive SMS and MMS messages.
For those of you who use Hangouts as your proprietary messaging app, you might have to consider a new app moving forward. Based on a new rumor from those at Phandroid, Google will be moving in a new direction with the next update to its Hangouts application. Google might be suggesting its Messenger application, which launched back in 2014. Google employees have already begun the testing process for the updated version of Hangouts, meaning the public release isn’t that far off.
On the good side, the newest version of Hangouts will bring some new and improved enhancements by popular demand. First off is a quick reply feature that allows users to reply to messages directly from the notification pop-up without the need to open the full-scaled app. This feature is already present on Google’s Messenger application. Additionally, a new shortcut to recently used contacts can now be accessed on your homescreen. However, we’ll have to wait until the public release before we confirm anything.
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Get this look: CandyCons – Icon Pack
From the young developer Vukasin Andelkovic comes a quality Material Design inspired icon pack full of designs that should cover most of your app collection. I’ve been using this icon pack for a couple weeks now and haven’t thought about switching to anything else. Despite how young the app is, it provides a very large number of icons with the promise of many more. People change their icons because their bored of the current look and want something new. With CandyCons, you aren’t stuck with one look for one icon, this pack provides many different options for a single icon.
CandyCons
Why we love this look
Like I mentioned above, I love how I’m not stuck with one color or look for something like the Chrome app or my messaging app. Chrome alone has eleven different looks in this icon pack. Hangouts has ten different colors to choose from. Your stock messaging app? There’s twenty two colors for that. The fact that I can have most of the apps on my homepage stay in a uniform color is a really cool feature, and makes my phone all the more appealing.
CandyCons’s app interface is also a pleasure to use, and sticks with the fresh look of Material Design. From the icons section, you can see all the included icons in one column and the new icons from the latest update in the next. The latest update gave the users free Christmas icons to place on their homescreens, which I found to be very thoughtful. The app also includes a wallpapers section including only Google Earth images similar to the ones included in stock Android 6.0. Hit the link below for the free download from Google Play
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Google drops Nexus 5X and 6P prices by $50 for the holidays
Google announced on Wednesday that it has reduced the price for its flagship Nexus 6P and 5X handsets by $50. That means you can pick up a 6P or a 5X for as little as $450 and $330, respectively (and depending on how much onboard memory you spring for). What’s more, the company is offering free overnight shipping throughout the holiday season. The discount promotion runs through December 22nd while free shipping lasts until December 30th. These deals are only available to customers in the US and Japan, mind you. So if you’re in the market for one of these phones and don’t want to go through your carrier to get it, now is the time to act.
Starts today: 🎉 free overnight shipping 🎉 for US orders from @GoogleStore https://t.co/Wn1Bi1Rsay pic.twitter.com/BVN8f3LLhi
— Nexus (@googlenexus) December 16, 2015
Source: Google (Twitter)
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