Facebook Messenger for Mobile updated with Voice messages, Voice calls are in testing

 Are You a Facebook user having a smartphone running iOS or Android then you have an update to your fb messenger app.
Facebook begin this year with two major upgrades to its Messenger app for Android and iOS.

One is, now you can send voice messages to your friends.

Users can tap the “+” button then hold the “record” button to record a message. Releasing the button immediately sends the message. Sliding your finger off the button cancels the message.

The second feature is VoIP (Voice over IP) calls.
VoIP calls feature is not available to all users at the moment as the company is still testing its functionality, It is available only to Canadian users with iOS devices.

As promised by Mark Zuckerberg (Killer Stuff in Mobile on the way), the company is focusing on mobile communications.

Recently Facebook opened up its messenger app to non-users using their name and phone number. This is all to stand the competition from other messaging services like WhatsApp.

Facebook also recently launched Poke, a SnapChat competitor that lets users send photos, videos or text messages that disappear after several seconds.

With this new VoIP calls feature Fb is going to challenge the mobile networks because calling is default action done through phones.Even Though internet data plans are largely dependent on Mobile Networks, This is going to have an affect in some part.

For a company like Facebook where communication is something that has to be worked on seriously, strategies have to be made to make interaction better.

Andriod Gingerbread Dominates

Boasting a mere 47.6% near that of a 50% Androids Gingerbread Still Dominates Android Distribution based a data from a 14 day period ending on December 3, 2012. Ice Cream Sandwich holds  a 29.1 mark putting it second place.

Unfortunately for developers who have to keep all these versions in mind, even the ancient Android 2.2. or Froyo is still very alive and present on 9% of devices, while Android 2.1 Eclair powers 2.4% of all Android devices.

What make of these Stats?
Check Out More at Android Developers.

Google+ Android app updated :Whats New

Google plus for Android updated to version 1.0.5

 

The new update includes some of the features that a lot of early adopters were requesting like leaving a 1 to 1 Huddle room, clickable link in the huddle conversations,

New Google Search UI for Tablets

a new and improved search interface

Google got new search interface on tablets as part of their Google design and experience, The new interface results are be simplified and the buttons are easier to tap and the image previews are larger and thumbnails will load faster with the great continuous scrolling feature.

Verizon to launch Samsung Galaxy Tab with 4G this week

Verizon Wireless will start selling a version of Samsung's Galaxy Tab running on the carrier's 4G network July 28.

The LTE-supported Tab will feature "download speeds of 5 to 12 Mbps and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps in 4G Mobile Broadband coverage areas," says Verizon in a statement.

Google acquired PittPatt for facial recognition in mobile

 

Google the Internet Gaint made another acqusition this month, now it is a face recognisation based company PittPatt.This month Google had a couple of acquisitions.Earlier to this it bought Fridge for their brand pages

Google released Android 3.2 Honeycomb SDK

The next in line version of Honeycomb

On the Android Developer forum  Google has oficialy anounced the next version Honeycomb.

As you all might know Android 3.0 is a great solution for Tablets. In the latest version Android 3.2 google brings a number of enhancements, and touts optimization across the system that aim to improve the performance of the OS on current Tablet devices using the OS.

 

 

Fixed size apps that are originally designed to run on smaller device will run better than before as the new OS will not try to optimise the application according to the screen resolution but it gives manual choice to the user to select whether the application needs to be stretched to fit the screen or a little zoom will make things better.

Along with the newer additions, the new operating system will also bring along media sync which will now be possible directly from the SD card as well as opposed to system memory earlier.

To make application much better in terms of experience, Google has given the control to the developers to maximize use of system resources like the display resolution with regards to the application and their display so that users get a better much easier view.

With Google working double time on the new Android Honeycomb 3.2, it is not very far from when we start hearing news about developers releasing the update patches for tablets and this could very well happen over the next few months itself.

Apple Wins Patent Case Against Android based HTC Phones :Google under attack

Apple wins initial ITC ruling on HTC phone

 This will be a bad news for google because Google android is most popular on HTC phones.

International Trade Commission has made an initial determination that HTC infringed two Apple patent. If this is final HTC may be banned for inporting smartphones to US.

 

AllThingsD posted those two patents relate to a

1 "system and method for performing an action on a structure in a computer"

and a 

2 "real-time signal processing                                   system for serially transmitted data"

Friday's ruling responds to one of two ITC complaints filed against HTC by Apple. HTC has also filed its own ITC complaint against Apple. 

HTC said it didn't have access yet to the full opinion, and it sought to downplay the decision.

"Apple filed suit on 10 of its patents against HTC, but based on the judge's initial decision today only prevailed on 2 of those patents. HTC will vigorously fight these two remaining patents through an appeal before the ITC Commissioners who make the final decision," Grace Lei, general counsel for HTC, said in a statement. 

"We are confident we have a strong case for the ITC appeals process and are fully prepared to defend ourselves using all means possible," she said. 

HTC also noted that the ITC has ruled that Apple infringed patents assigned to S3Graphics, a company HTC is in the process of acquiring, as part of a separate investigation.

Android is being attacked from other sources as well. Microsoft appears to have been approaching Android handset makers requesting that they license its technology, and HTC is one of the biggest vendors to have complied so far. Separately, Oracle is battling Google for allegedly infringing Oracle's Java patents and copyrights in Android. Apple has lodged complaints against other Android handset makers as well, including Samsung. 

Larry Page:550,000 Android devices activated every day

with the 4.4 percent weekly growth

 Yesterday Google CEO,Larry Page said 550,000 devices running Google’s mobile operating system Android are activated daily during the company’s Q2 earnings call today.

 

The number of daily activations is steadily increasing. Just over two weeks ago, Senior Vice President of Android Andy Rubin revealed via Twitter that there were 500,000 Android devices activated each day. He also said that the rate of growth was increasing by 4.4 percent each week, which matches up with the device activation number stated in the earnings call.

If Google can maintain that growth rate, it will reach over a million daily Android device activations by October. Yet, with the growing number of Android-enabled tablets entering the market and lower costs to consumers on both smartphones and tablets, daily activations could increase much faster.

To give some perspective of how big the current activation numbers are, Google was activating about 200,000 Android devices per day in August 2010 — meaning daily Android device activations have more than doubled in less than a year.

Motorola XOOM Honeycomb Tablet : first tablet PC on HoneyComb

World's first Tablet powered by Android 3.0 HoneyComb

Motorola has just outed its first Tablet Pc ever, which is carrying an impressive name, the Motorola XOOM. This slim looking tablet packs with a 10.1 inches capacitive touch screen having a high-resolution of 1280×800 pixels and running on ARM-based dual-core Tegra 2 processor. XOOM is the first tablet to run the Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet-based operating system.

Motorola XOOM is equipped with a 5 Megapixels rear camera with 720p HD video capture and a 2 Megapixels front-side camera for video calling. Motorola XOOM is also having 4G LTE compatibility with external modem attachment and it is having 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and 3G connectivity on Verizon Wireless networks and it gives full 1080p HD support with HDMI-out port and it also having Adobe Flash Player support, accelerometer, gyroscope features and it features Google Maps 5.0 with 3D interaction.

All the 3G XOOMs can be upgradeable to 4G LTE. Bluetooth keyboard and dock accessories will be available for the tablet. Its mobile hotspot capability provides an online connection for up to five other Wi-Fi-enabled devices and ofcourse, a healthy 32GB of onboard storage.

Price & Availability

The Motorola XOOM tablet will launch as a 3G/Wi-Fi-enabled device in first quarter of this year 2011, while 4G connectivity will be made available as an update in Q2. Pricing information has not yet been disclosed. Check out more images and an official promo of Android Honeycomb OS after the break.

UrbanSpoon for Android

Note:The "Download Now" link directs you to the product page in the online Android Market. The application can directly be downloaded and installed on the registered Android device from your PC, or you can download it from the Android Market on your Android device.

Publisher's Description

UrbanSpoon for Android is a kind of restaurant slot machine. Just shake the phone and the wheels will spin until they settle on a good nearby restaurant for you. You can also lock down the neighborhood, cuisine and price you are interested in. Keep spinning until you get a restaurant you want to try.

Note: Available for the US, Canada, and most major cities in the UK and Australia.

What's new in this version: Version 2.1 can browse photos of nearby restaurants, right from the home screen, share photos of your own favorite dishes with our new photo upload feature, change your location by clicking on the map, and includes various bug fixes.

Review

Urbanspoon is a location-aware mobile app that helps the indecisive among us figure out where to eat. Open it up, and the Home screen presents you with a number of ways to receive restaurant recommendations or to simply search for a restaurant in your vicinity. You can Browse via category, see what's Nearby, or look at your Friends' profiles. There's also a built-in tool for booking reservations. If you're more into visual stimulation, the bottom of the Home screen displays a virtually endless slide show of photos from restaurants nearby. Swipe through them, find one you like, and tap through to the restaurant's page, which lists all the vital information, plus user reviews, links to restaurant Web sites, and critic reviews (when available). If you still can't find that perfect spot to dine, you can, of course, try Urbanspoon's most touted feature, its slot machine.

Shake, essentially a restaurant slot machine, is easily our favorite of Urbanspoon's features. Its three reels correspond to neighborhood, restaurant type, and price range. If you can't seem to find the right restaurant, just shake your device to send the reels spinning until they eventually land on your recommendation. Still not right? Shake it again, but this time try locking any of the reels to provide constraints for your slot-pull.

Overall, we think Urbanspoon is a perfect tool for discovering new restaurants in your area. Yelp may be a more comprehensive database of restaurant information and customer reviews, but it sure doesn't have a built-in slot machine. If your mainly trying to find an app that will cure your indecisiveness and point you in the direction of a potentially scrumptious bite to eat, Urbanspoon is exactly that.