Google kills 5 features, merges Insights with Trends

Google trimmed news "badges" and more as part of year-long house cleaning aimed at sweeping out unpopular, outdated or unneeded features at its online properties.

"It is really important to focus or we end up doing too much with too little impact," Google senior engineering director Yossi Matias said in a blog post.

"So today, we're winding down a bunch more features -- bringing the total to nearly 60 since we started our 'spring' clean last fall."

Features being eliminated included AdSense for Feeds, which let website publishers earn revenue by placing ads in RSS feeds, and Classic Plus, which allowed users to upload images to use as backgrounds at Google.com.

Google will consolidate online storage of data in Picasa and Drive, giving users five gigabytes of memory space for free overall for both services and options to pay for more capacity, according to Matias.

On October 15, the company will stop displaying "Badges" awarded for story-reading achievements at its online news pages and no longer show recommended sections.

Google Insights for Search was meshed into an improved Google Trends service that lets people compare search patterns in varying places, categories and time periods at google.com/trends.

An Android application that guided people to nearby places of interest was pulled from the Google Play online shop because the capabilities can be found in the version of Google Maps software for mobile devices.

"We want people to have a beautifully simple experience when using Google," Matias said.

"These changes will enable us to focus better so that we can do more to help improve the products that millions of people use multiple times a day."

Week-long cyber attacks cripple US banks

US banks have been buffeted by more than a week of powerful cyberattacks, but the mystery surrounding their perpetrators lingers.

One expert said on Friday that he was suspicious of claims of responsibility purportedly made by Islamists angry at an anti-Muslim movie made in the United States, explaining that the widely-circulated internet postings might have been an attempt to deflect attention from the true culprit.

"In the intelligence world, we call that a 'false flag,'" said Mike Smith, whose web security company Akamai has helped analyse some of the attacks.

The postings, published to the web earlier this month, suggested that an obscure Islamist group had taken revenge on American financial institutions for the " Innocence of Muslims," a low-budget US film that ridiculed Muhammad, revered by Muslims as the last of God's prophets.

Since then at least half a dozen banks - including the Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Citigroup - have witnessed traffic surges and disruptions. Not all have confirmed they were the victims of an online onslaught, but such surges are a hallmark of denial-of-service attacks, which work by drowning target websites with streams of junk data.

Such attacks are fairly common and generally don't compromise sensitive data or do any lasting damage. Still, they can be a huge headache for companies that rely on their websites to interact with customers.

Most say the recent spate of attacks has been unusually powerful. PNC bank, which was hit on Thursday, has never seen such a strong surge in traffic, spokesman Fred Solomon said in a telephone interview. Smith said he estimated the flow of data at 60 to 65 gigabits per second.

Smith said the profile and power of the attack made it an unlikely fit for the religious youth that the internet postings called upon to join in the anti-US campaign. He explained that politically-motivated hackers - often called hacktivists - usually flood the web with appeals for support and post links to software that can turn followers' personal computers into crude cyberweapons.

Twitter and online chat rooms then explode with activity, as casual supporters pile in to coordinate attacks.

"You're not seeing that with this particular set of attacks," Smith said. "At the same time... the attack traffic is fairly homogeneous. It's not this wide cornucopia of attacks that's coming at you that you see with a hacktivist attack."

So who is behind the campaign?

Cybercriminals often use denial-of-service attacks to shake down smaller websites, but major US banks make unlikely targets for a protection racket.

Could a state actor be at play? US Senator Joe Lieberman, without offering any proof, said he believed the assaults were carried out by Iran in retaliation for tightened economic sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies.

Smith demurred when asked who could be behind the campaign, although he said there were "only a handful of groups out there that have the technical ability or incentive" to carry it out.

In any case, the online attacks appeared to be easing. Solomon, the PNC bank spokesman, said while traffic remained heavy on Friday the flow was gradually returning to normal.

Doug Johnson, with the American Bankers Association, echoed that assessment.

"I believe it's tapering off," he said.

BlackBerry 10 smartphones pics leaked online

The images of Research In Motion's (RIM) upcoming smartphones, which will launch next year, have reportedly been revealed online. 

The pictures showed both the full touchscreen devices BlackBerry L Series and N series. 

They also showed a long-awaited BlackBerry 10 phone with a full qwerty keyboard, the Telegraph reports. 

According to the paper, briefly posted on video sharing site Vimeo, the film appears to be an internal pitch for marketing agencies, and was apparently posted by the editor. 

BlackBerry site Crackberry.com copied images before the film was removed. 

Meanwhile, the embattled Canadian mobile maker reported a narrower than expected quarterly loss, sending its shares up nearly 18 per cent.. 

RIM reported a net loss of 235 million dollars for the second quarter, ending September 1, compared with a profit of 329 million dollars for the period last year. 

The firm increased its cash to about 2.3 billion from 2.2 billion dollars.

Wi-Fi & routers: All you wanted to know

The modern home has broadband , tablets, smartphones, laptops and PCs. Naturally, Wi-Fi has become the new buzzword in connectivity. Not only does the technology let you break away from wires, but it also allows different users to share an internet connection. What's more, it has other purposes too, such as the ability to transfer files between devices, wirelessly print documents and more. 

So if you're wondering about how you can go wireless at home,

Wi-Fi or Wireless-LAN (WLAN) is a standard that allows devices to communicate with each other using a Wi-Fi router as the central hub. All devices with Wi-Fi connect to the router via which data exchange takes place. 

Depending on the router used and the surrounding conditions — such as walls, physical obstructions and other wireless networks in the vicinity — Wi-Fi networks can have a range of around 20-25 feet indoors.

Every wireless network (including cell towers, cordless phones) uses radio waves to communicate and transmit data. Devices that use radio waves are tuned to a particular frequency . This allows them to communicate freely with each other, without any kind of interference from another wireless device. 

The 2.4GHz sticker that you see on the router means that it transmits data at that frequency. Most gadgets use this 2.4GHz frequency to transmit, which leads to network congestion and interference. Due to this, newer Wi-Fi routers use the less-crowded 5GHz frequency band, which provides better transfers when compared to a 2.4GHz one. 

However, higher the frequency of a wireless signal, the shorter its range. So a 2.4GHz router may cover a larger area than a 5GHz device. Besides, 5GHz signals do not penetrate solid objects as well as 2.4GHz signals, thus limiting their reach.

While the technology was released to the public in 1997, with time, Wi-Fi has been updated with new standards to meet the increasing bandwidth demands of the latest devices. Wi-Fi standards 'a' and 'b' are now nearly non-existent . Both of these standards provide very low bandwidth to transfer data, making them quite impractical to use in today's world. 

Wi-Fi standard 'g' , which uses the 2.4GHz frequency to transmit data, is the most common standard in use currently. It has a theoretical maximum transfer rate of 54Mbps, and is more tolerant to signal interference than the previous standards. 

Wi-Fi 'n' is the latest standard that features a much higher theoretical speed of 300Mbps. The latest laptops, smartphones, and tablets support the 'n' standard. Wi-Fi 'n' can use either the 2.4GHz or the 5GHz frequency to transmit data. It also provides better signal strength due to improved signal intensity, but is more prone to signal interference.

There are three kinds of routers: Single band, dual band and simultaneous dual band. Single band routers operate at the 2.4GHz frequency, and do not support the 5GHz band at all. 

Dual band routers support both bands (2.4GHz and 5GHz), but can work with only one band at a time. If a router is working at the 5GHz 'n' mode, older devices that don't support 'n' won't be able to connect to it. The user will then have to set up another router at 2.4GHz, or change the setting of the router to use the 2.4GHz band. Simultaneous dual-band routers can work with both bands at the same time, thus providing for more flexibility and speed.

ADSL or DSL technology is used to provide broadband connections to many households. Commonly, a phone line wire is inserted into a DSL or ADSL modem , via which your broadband connection works. 

Wi-Fi routers with built-in ADSL or DSL modems can be purchased, thus eliminating the need for a separate modem and router. It is, however, recommended that you use a separate modem and Wi-Fi router, since it turns out to be cheaper and better. Most budget Wi-Fi routers with built-in modem lack several features, and can get unstable under heavy load due to the heat generated.

If left unprotected, your Wi-Fi connection can allow your neighbours to use your broadband for free, even without your knowledge. Besides, the Indian government has made it mandatory that every Wi-Fi network has to be password-protected so as to prevent terrorists from using it. 

A simple and effective way of protecting a Wi-Fi network is by hiding its name, known as SSID (Server Set Identifier) - that is, the router will not show up when someone seeks a connection . Because if no one can see it, they can't access it. However, this will require you to manually enter the Wi-Fi name every time you want to connect to it, which can be cumbersome. 

While a Wi-Fi router comes with tons of security modes to protect the network, the most common are the WEP, WPA, WPA2. Of this, WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2) is the most advanced, secure and common protocol out there, and is mandatory on all routers after 2005. 

WPA2 has two modes: PSK or Personal mode and Enterprise mode. The Personal mode is meant for home and small office users, where data is encrypted using a 256-bit key and then sent. It allows users to set any password ranging from 8 to 63 characters. 

If none is specified, the default one [00000000] is automatically used. The WPA2-Enterprise mode has advanced security standards and is not really recommended for home or small office use.

When stepping out to buy a router, there are certain things one must keep in mind. These include what purpose (video streaming, gaming) the Wi-Fi router will be used for, how many devices will be connected to it, what kind of range you would want, whether all the gadgets you use support Wi-Fi 'g' or 'n', and so on. 

Basic router 

If you just want a simple basic router, the Netgear WGR614 for 1,500 will get the job done. The cheapest ADSL2+ and Wi-Fi router combo is the TP-Link TD-W 8951ND for 1,800, which can fulfil your basic wireless needs if you need a built-in modem. 

Router with USB support for external hard drives/dongles 

If you extend your budget to 3,000, then you can get the ASUS RT-N 13U Wi-Fi router that comes with a USB port. Connect an external hard disk to the USB port of the router, and you will be able to access the contents of the HDD from any device that is connected to the same Wi-Fi network. 

The USB port of the router also supports wireless dongles from MTS, Tata, etc, making the router a portable Wi-Fi hotspot. 

The 'workhorse' router 

Connecting a lot of devices to the router — or streaming videos or music via wireless — is going to put quite a load on it. A basic router will simply restart or hang under heavy load like this. If you are looking to connect more than 10 devices to your network, you need to buy a dual-band router. If you will be streaming standard-definition quality videos, a decent 2.4GHz Wi-Fi router like the Netgear N300 for 2,000 should get the job done. Since streaming HD videos or gaming requires a lot of bandwidth and speed, you will need to buy a simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi router like the Linksys E2500 ( 8,000) or E3000 ( 10,000).

If you live in a building or your house is surrounded by Wi-Fi networks, buying a 2.4GHz router makes no sense due to the interference from surrounding networks. In such a case, buy a Wi-Fi router that supports the 5GHz frequency. 

This will make sure that there is no interference from other Wi-Fi networks, and ensures optimum performance. But do make sure that all your devices support the 5GHz band, before switching exclusively to it. The Linksys E2000 Advanced Wireless-N Router ( 7,000) is one of the cheapest 5GHz Wi-Fi router and provides the most bang for the buck.

New Lumia phones: Last chance for Nokia?

"The N95 was the last great phone Nokia made," says Dhruv Bhutani, a technology blogger and a Nokia enthusiast, as he recalls the Finnish company's glory days. 

Since he fell in love with N95 in 2007, Bhutani never used a non-Nokia device as his primary phone. That was until 2011, when he decided to give iPhone 4S a chance. He used it for several months and realized it was difficult to part ways with the Apple's phone. 

"Nokia made many smartphones after N95. Some good, some average and some marred by glitches. None of them came close to N95 in terms of polish, hardware and user experience," says Bhutani. "But there is one phone that is as great as N95. The one made by Apple. I find iPhone 4S a complete package, the way great Nokia phones used to be." 

Bhutani is not the only Nokia enthusiast to feel this way. As the company's phones took a beating from iPhone and Android devices, many Nokia loyalists — and India is full of them — have started doubting if the company can come back from the brink. 

"Nokia seems to be trying hard but its best always seem to fall short. The world has changed," says Bhutani. But just like thousands of other disappointed Nokia enthusiasts, Bhutani is looking forward to Lumia 920, the flagship smartphone that the company announced on September 5. Though he has found iPhones to be very good, he is ready to choose the new Lumia over iPhone 5, the greatest and latest from Apple. 

"Lumia 920 is a phone that can be the new N95. It can be perfect," he says. 

The last chance
For analysts there is no question of 'can' here. They say Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 that are powered by Windows Phone 8 'have' to be perfect. 

"If the new Lumia phones fail, it is going to be devastating for Nokia. It is really their last chance to get back into the game. If they blow this up or if it doesn't work out, it is going to be too late for them to come back convincingly," says Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst with Gartner. 

The problem for Nokia is that so far its attempts to turn things around have yielded little result. Patrick Moorhead, president and founder of research firm Moor Insights and Strategy, believes Nokia made two crucial mistakes in the past. 

"Nokia missed two major inflection points, apps and touch. While the Symbian OS had some of the first apps, Nokia didn't invest to make it a massive ecosystem with easy to use tools. It also ignored the touchscreen at a time when Apple and Google bet everything on a high quality, capacitive touch-first environment," says Moorhead. 

Nokia realized its mistake a few years ago but by that time iPhone and Android juggernauts were rolling and gathering pace. 

In the early 2011, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop wrote a candid memo to his employees. "Nokia, our platform is burning," he wrote, citing the example of a man who found his ship burning and had to jump in icy cold water. "The burning platform, upon which the man found himself, caused the man to shift his behaviour, and take a bold and brave step into an uncertain future... Now, we have a great opportunity to do the same." 

And true to the story, Nokia took a bold step. It decided to jump from 'Symbian the Burning Platform' and selected Microsoft's Windows Phone as the OS for its future phones in the early 2011. It was a jump in the icy cold water. 

The partnership bore its first fruit in October 2011 when Nokia announced Lumia 800 and Lumia 710. While the phones looked good on the paper, they were not very well received by buyers despite a marketing blitz that saw Nokia spending millions of dollars. Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 too look good on paper. But for now analysts are wary of terming them Nokia's saviours. 

Gupta believes that the new Lumia phones are flagship devices and they are going to change little for Nokia. "They will sell in limited quantities. High-end phones are one part of the story. Nokia also needs killer devices with a price of around $150 that can help it in markets like India and China," he says. 

Moorhead is optimistically cautious. "The new Lumia phones have many distinctive features that set them apart from iPhones and Android-based phones. These are features like very high-performing PureView cameras, NFC for simpler pairing with connected devices, ceramic exterior, and flashy colors. But most of Nokia's success is governed by the acceptance of Windows Phone 8. If Windows Phone is accepted, the higher likelihood Nokia will do well and vice-versa," he says. 

All eyes on Windows Phone 8
One of the reasons why the earlier Lumia phones failed to take off was Windows Phone 7.5, the OS that powered them. Bhutani believes that even though it is a beautiful OS with a fresh user interface, it lacks too many important features like Bluetooth file sharing or mass storage mode to be truly useful. 

Though Microsoft is yet to reveal details of Windows Phone 8, it seems that most of these issues have been taken care of in the new OS that powers Lumia 920 and Lumia 820. Peter Bright, who covers Microsoft for Arstechnica, a popular technology websites, believes Windows Phone 8 can match Android or iOS, which powers iPhone. 

"I think WP is a good platform with an ecosystem that is far stronger than its market share would imply. I think it will survive for at least as long as Microsoft feels threatened by the growth of the smartphone, but it may never prosper," says Bright. 

Gupta agrees. "As an OS Windows Phone is nice. There is nothing wrong with it. Gartner has predicted that it can be the second top mobile phone OS by 2016 so obviously we see lot of potential and merit in it," he says. 

The problem for Nokia is that even though it finally has a viable OS with which it can build its phones, the competition is very strong. "Nokia needs a way to punch through the clutter of the rest of the market. They do have some very distinguishing features but they need something groundbreaking and exclusive. The answer lies somewhere with a connection between Windows 8 for PC and tablets and Windows Phone 8," says Moorhead. 

So far, no one outside Nokia or Microsoft clearly know what sort of connection Windows devices are going to share. But the consensus on future seems clear. All depends on new Lumias. 

"If Nokia's new phones don't do well in the marketplace, they should start preparing themselves to be a much smaller company focused on lower priced phones. Alternatively, they could prepare themselves for a sale to either Microsoft who must be successful in phones, Sony who needs more innovation, or a Chinese brand like Huawei or ZTE who need a western brand and the highest quality phone," says Moorhead. 

In Elop's memo, the man who jumped from the ship survived and lived long enough to tell his tale. "He was able to tell his story," wrote Elop. Nearly 18 months after the company jumped from the burning platform, Nokia is still swimming in icy waters.

Samsung mocks Apple fanboys in new ad

 Samsung has released a new TV commercial targeting the Apple fanboys who are lining up outside the company's stores ahead of the launch of iPhone 5. The advertisement was released on the day that Apple seeded theiOS 6, the latest edition of its mobile operating system, for older devices, and just a couple of days before the iPhone 5 hits the shelves. 

The commercial shows Apple fanboys standing in a long line waiting for the iPhone 5 outside the manufacturer's retail stores in various cities. The fans are talking about the new features of the device, like the new headphone jack on the bottom and the "all-digital connector", making fun of the two new features of the iPhone 5. The advertisement shows a guy, a Samsung Galaxy S III user, saving a spot in the line for his parents, indicating that the iPhone 5 is meant for the older generation. 

Targeting those who say that iPhone 5 is a big step forward from the iPhone 4S, Samsung's ad has one fanboy saying, "This year, we're finally getting everything we didn't get last year." Such features include a 4-inch screen and 4G, which Samsung Galaxy S III "has had for a while" and its screen is bigger. 

The commercial also reminds viewers that the iPhone 5 lacks NFC, as two S III users share a playlist by touching their phones, while another explains add-ons like watching videos while sending emails, sharing videos instantly as one Apple fanboy says that Apple will introduce these features "maybe not this time but next time, right?" 

Towards the end, Samsung goes on to show that a few Apple fanboys like Galaxy S III. 

The ad is the latest released by Samsung targeting Apple iPhone 5. Last week too the company released a newspaper ad in the US showing how iPhone 5's features look pale when compared to the Galaxy S III. The ad was panned by Apple fanboys on the internet, with some modified advertisements calling the South Korean company's current flagship "cheap plastic." Last year, Samsung had released a similar advertisement targeting the iPhone 4S, comparing the device with its Galaxy S II.

Reality about Password Hacking softwares

You might have heard about some paid password hacking softwares which claim to hack a password on entering the email account .But in reality all those softwares are fake .If you believe what they say then you are just wasting your time and money. These all softwares are fake.If there exists such a software, will there be any security on web.  And all expert engineers at Google, Yahoo and other services are not mad. They are all engaged in ensuring security of their customers ie email account owners. So, no such software exists.
So stop wasting your time and money on these foolish softwares and services and learn real Ethical Hacking methods which hackers use to access email accounts.

Instagram has over 100 million registered users: Zuckerberg

At the TechCrunch Disrupt event in San Francisco, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Instagram already has over 100 million registered users.

"It just crossed 100 million users," Zuckerberg said on stage. "They're killing it." The immensely popular photo sharing app officially became a part of the Facebook family last week with the FTCgiving the go-ahead signal about three weeks ago.

The deal was valued at $1 billion when the companies agreed to it in April this year. But Facebook's stock price has lost half of its value since its IPO. The deal closed on August 31 , with Facebook trading at $18.06 with final valuation at $715.3 million, $300 million of it in cash and the rest in stock.

Zuckerberg further stated that he wanted the app to stay independent, just like Google did with YouTube. "We want to help it grow to hundreds of millions of users. We have no agenda into making them going into our infrastructure. We're going to do the things we would have done if they were an Open Graph partner, but we'll be able to prioritise them," he added.

Instagram crossed the 50 million users mark in May. Three months later, it surpassed 80 million users. That's an increase of 10 million users on average per month. Instagram also revealed that its users have shared almost 4 billion photos which seems nothing compared to Facebook's 300 million uploaded each day. But considering that the photo sharing app is only for the mobile platform, it's still a huge number. 

Regarding Instagram's future plans, rumours suggest that the photo sharing app may move to the web soon. Also, a Windows Phone app for the Facebook-acquired service is on the cards this October.

Instagram user milestone timeline
October 13, 2010: 100,000
October 20, 2010: 200,000
October 28, 2010: 300,000
December 21, 2010: 1 million
February 01, 2011: 1.75 million
February 15, 2011: 2 million
May 03, 2011: 3.6 million
May 26, 2011: 4.4 million
October 31, 2011: 12 million
December 5, 2011: 14 million
January 24, 2012: 15 million
March 11, 2012: 27 million
May 1, 2012: 50 million
July 26, 2012: 80 million
September 11, 2012 

Facebook Camera app review: Are you Instagram in disguise?

Thursday saw the release of Facebook Camera, a brand new iPhone app that lets users click pictures and share them on Facebook. We downloaded the app and gave it a spin. Let's dig right in.

The opening screen of the app asks you to login to Facebook (what else). If you have the Facebook app installed already it picks up the credentials of the user logged in - pretty handy! Post confirmation, you'll be greeted by a familiar prompt - the app works fine whether you grant access to your location or not.



The home screen of the app looks pretty slick. It's the Facebook news feed you're familiar with, except it shows, you guessed it, pictures only. No whinging from your friends how their Monday morning sucked, no links crowding your timeline, not even those annoying high score updates - only pictures of your friends making a fool of themselves in high-resolution goodness.

Of course there's an option to Like the photo or leave a comment - it wouldn't be Facebook without that! A neat overlay displays the number of likes/ comments. Multiple photos show side by side, and a simple swipe lets you jump from one photo to the next.



Let's talk about the big elephant in the room. Facebook Camera is strikingly similar to Instagram in functionality, if not quite in looks. Facebook famously bought the popular photo-sharing app/ social network for a billion dollars early April, so why release an app that mimics the functionality under a different name? Is Facebook Camera just a rebranded Instagram?

The answer to the latter is a simple no. Facebook's acquisition of Instagram is still pending regulatory approval, so there is no way that would be possible even if Facebook engineers, as talented as they are, could manage to accomplish that in such a short time. It is certain that Facebook was already working on this app when it acquired Instagram, and it's only logical from them to go ahead and ship what's ready. Facebook has excellent design talent on board from its earlier acquisitions like Push Pop Press and Sofa, and it's likely they played a part in the development of Facebook Camera.

Coming back to the app, the Instagram similarities are even more striking when you post a photo. There are filters that Instagram made famous, but they sport simpler names. So you have names like Cream and Coffee, instead of Sepia and X-pro II. The post option is really well implemented - you can crop, rotate or scale photos, attach multiple photos to a post, quickly jump from one photo to the other, add or remove location, choose the visibility of the post and of course add captions.


Facebook Camera (left) and Instagram (right).

It's the most comprehensive post photo dialog we've seen, implemented in a really intuitive way. The little number that indicates the number of photos you've attached to the current post and the check-box to toggle if you want to attach the current photo are really nice touches. There's an option to tag people in photos, with autocomplete of names, just like on the website. The app also lets you save posts as Drafts in case you change your mind midway.

Facebook Camera is a really nice app that will appeal to the Facebook faithful. The fact that it uses native iOS controls, instead of being a wrapper around a web view like the main Facebook app, adds that extra bit of polish and better integration with iOS.

The app offers the Instagram experience on top of everyone's favourite social network, which will address the complaint many had about Instagram about "there's no one I know to follow". However, Facebook Camera raises more questions than answers about Facebook's plans for Instagram; but that's for another day. Until then, enjoy this app, which is available in the App Store in select countries.

Messaging apps show mobile Internet's rise in Asia

A handful of smartphone apps that began as basic instant messaging services have amassed several 

A handful of smartphone apps that began as basic instant messaging services have amassed several hundred million users in Asia in just a couple of years, mounting a challenge to the popularity of online hangouts such as Facebook as they branch into games, e-commerce, celebrity news and other areas.

Among them is Line, which has grown to 60 million users, mostly in Asia including at least 29 million in Japan. Its developer estimates the number of users will reach 100 million by the end of this year. Also popular is Kakao Talk with 60 million users, more than half in South Korea where it originates. Other successful messengers are Nimbuzz made by an India-based firm which has amassed 100 million users including 31 million in Asia, and WeChat by China-based Tencent, which is nearing 200 million users.

The rapid growth of such applications underlines that people are increasingly going online using mobile phones and other wireless devices. It is a trend that has proved problematic for the world's most popular social networking site. Facebook has lost more than $50 billion of its market value since its initial public offering largely due to doubts about its ability to successfully insert advertising into the mobile version that a large and growing number of its 955 million users access from smartphones.

"Japan, Korea and to a lesser extent China are leading the way in terms of mobile messaging-centric apps that move into diverse and potentially very profitable new service areas like gaming, affiliate marketing, next-generation emoticons," said analyst Mark Ranson at research firm Ovum. "Offering a free, high quality messaging service is a good way of building a large and loyal user base which can later be introduced to more readily monetizeable services."

Instant messaging, also known as IM, was first popularized on desktop computers with applications such as Microsoft Messenger that evolved from text-based chatting and sharing files to the voice calls and video conferencing that Skype is known for. The advent of smartphones took IM back to basics with services such as WhatsApp and Blackberry Messenger that allowed for real-time chatting, swapping photos and not much else. The new instant messaging apps such as Line have evolved into online destinations in their own right.

"I use Line messenger every day, about every hour instead of text messages or emails," Supinda Toochinda, a 31-year-old interior designer in Bangkok, said in an email. She said Line was the only mobile application she'd spent money with, buying elaborate emoticons called stickers that can be sent to friends while chatting.

Part of the appeal of the applications is the ability to create an unlimited number of group chats and the ease with which connections can be made the apps automatically create a contacts list by harvesting the contacts list saved in the phone. At the same time, managing privacy is simpler than on a social networking site.

Analysts say these mobile messengers are showing more nimble and promising moves in the efforts to make such mobile services profitable without relying solely on advertising.

"Kakao Talk and Line are seeing opportunities as Facebook isn't making money from users of its mobile website and app," said Ryu Han-seok, director of the Technology, Labor and Culture Institute, a consulting company, in Seoul. "In the mobile markets in Asia, they are ahead of the game."

"It is probably tough to compete with Facebook in the U.S. or Europe. But in Japan, South Korea and other Asian countries, they have a good chance of beating Facebook," said Ryu.

While Line messenger is expanding to photo editing and sharing, social games and Twitter-like features that allow users to follow corporate brands or celebrities, its windfall came from sales of virtual goods. Sales of stickers a $1.99 bundle of cute pictures of cartoon characters or animals have been its biggest revenue generator. In August, users spent about $3 million to send the elaborate emoticons when they chat with friends.

Kakao Talk, which is only accessible on mobile devices, says it is trying to develop a business model that isn't dependent on advertising. Since its launch in 2010, it has added a free voice calling service, a gift shop to send Starbucks drink coupons to friends, and options for receiving weather and news, discount vouchers and music videos.

"We are not interested in displaying mobile banner ads just to make money," Kakao Inc. CEO Sirgoo Lee said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The app has been wildly popular in South Korea. Even a small disruption in service makes news and it has entered the local lexicon with the phrase "let's do ka talk." South Koreans are typically connected to multiple group chats on Kakao Talk, holding conversations in separate chat rooms with family, a group of close friends, co-workers and other circles.

According to Appsooni.com, which compiles data on Android applications, South Koreans used Kakao Talk for 62 minutes a day on average in August, compared with 17 minutes on Facebook's Android application.

In a move seen as bringing the three-year-old startup close to generating a profit, Kakao introduced mobile games to its users in July.

"Giving gifts or sending emoticons are business models that Facebook doesn't have. Facebook simply displays ads so its model is different from ours. (Facebook's) profit models are not tailored for mobile users," Lee said.

An app to buy gold, silver on your mobile

After enabling purchase of books and clothes among items, as well as internet banking and share market dealings, new mobile applications have been developed to allow consumers buy precious metals like gold and silver.With nearly 15 million mobile subscribers being added every month in the country, the mobile application market has emerged as a major growth area for developers and there are estimated to be about 2.5 lakh app developers in India alone.
Mobile apps are applications that allow the users to carry out various activities ranging from games to mobile commerce transactions on their phones.
The latest addition to the mobile app space is the one by the 125 year-old non-banking financial giant Muthoot group, which has launched 'Muthoot Group Apps' for Apple and Andriod phones and tablets.
The app will allow consumers to purchase gold and silver coins, besides giving investment reports among other things.
"In the present scenario 'convenience' is the most important criteria wherein the customer can book/buy from the comforts of his/her home and get over the delivery hassles/ billing counter.
"We believe that in the coming years, the sale of gold and silver coins via internet will become as popular as internet banking and online travel and tour booking," Muthoot Group
Managing Director George Alexander Muthoot told PTI. "Brick and mortar branches will always remain our main channel for extending our products and services to the customers. However, with the advent of new technologies, the number of consumers using mobile devices to browse and purchase have increased over a period of time and we, as a progressive organisation are always looking out for innovative means to provide greater customer convenience," he added.
According to a recent study released at Mobile Apps Summit 2012 in Bangalore, as many as 100 million applications are being downloaded in India every month. The global app market is set to grow to USD 17.5 billion by the end of 2012, from USD 4.1 billion in 2009.
"India's internet access capable mobile population has already touched 47 million users. A recent research said that smartphone users in India spend on an average 157 minutes on their smartphones in a single day," digital agency Magnon Solutions's Founder and Group CEO Vineet Bajpai said.
"While there are some usability restrictions on mobile devices due to smaller screen sizes, we expect internet/mobile banking in India to boom to unprecedented levels sooner than later," Bajpai added.
India is expected to have 237 million internet-activated mobile connections by 2015, as a result of which entrepreneurs are focusing more on mobile apps which are internet-dependent, rather than SMS-based.

The Dark Knight Rises Z+ is a must have app

The Dark Knight Rises seems to be getting all the attention it deserves. The epic conclusion to Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is in cinemas today. But that's not all. While Gameloft has released a mobile game drawing inspiration from the movie, the creators of the film have now designed an app that lets you delve into the world of The Dark Knight Rises in a way you've never experienced before.
The Dark Knight Rises Z+ app for iOS is more than just music to your ears. Once you put your headphones on, you actually feel you're in the dark alleys of Gotham City. It engulfs you with scores from the movie. Here's how it works.

The app picks up sounds from real environments blending them with the soundtrack of Hans Zimmer from the film. The result is a feel of Gotham City in a sonic version, which lasts for almost 2 hours. It offers a very unique and powerful listening experience by utilizing everyday sounds or actions and turning them into interesting audio pieces that add more depth to the listening experience. Munching on a biscuit was never the same as before!

The Dark Knight Rises Z+ follows the footsteps of the highly acclaimed augmented audio app for the movie 'Inception' which allowed listeners to experience a variety of sounds that were determined by the listener's location, time of the day and even the weather.

The Z+ app has two modes: AutoPilot and Manual. AutoPilot plays audio depending on the noise around you. So it's different when you're in a rather quiet place than one with more background noise. It also creates different soundscapes for quiet, still and action modes.

The Manual mode allows the listener to take control of the preferences. The app also triggers soundtracks depending on the time of day. There are a few in-app purchases and one that stands out is 'The Bat' which listeners can pilot with the actual movie sound effect simulator by Academy Award winning sound designer Richard King.

Apart from the personalized Gotham City soundtrack, the app also has audio clips of discussions and commentaries between Hans Zimmer and Christopher Nolan on the process of creating the musical score for the film.

Speaking on the app's creation, Hans Zimmer said, "I'm hoping to give fans of this beloved trilogy the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in the soundscapes and atmospheres of the world of the Dark Knight. This new app allows users to be part of the film in a way that goes beyond the movie screen-it's the difference between looking at a photo of a river, and being able to drop your hand over the side of the boat and feel the currents of the water tug as the river takes you on a journey."

While a CD can only play the same tracks over and over again, the Z+ app will definitely evolve each time you try it since it's purely based on sounds around you.

The Dark Knight Rises Z+ developed by RJDJ, is one app that is sure to blow you away. The best part is that it's available for free in the App Store. Enter the city of Gotham now!

Twitter unveils new design, iPad app; apps drop third-party image hosting

Twitter on Tuesday unveiled a series of design updates, a new app for the iPad and new versions of the application for other mobile devices that dropped support for third-party image hosting.

"Starting today you can make your presence on Twitter more meaningful with new Twitter profiles," the company blog said.

"Upload an all-new header photo on mobile apps for iPad, iPhone and Android or twitter.com, and the same image will appear whenever anyone views your profile on the web or these apps. You can upload your header photo, which appears above your Tweets, to express yourself instantly, anywhere."

Twitter's Jaikumar Ramanathan said one of the features is improved photo sharing.

"Photo streams for profiles display the images people have shared on Twitter," he wrote.

"Whenever you see a photo stream, swipe left or right through the thumbnails or tap to view photos in fullscreen mode. Android users can also get closer to photos with pinch-to-zoom."

As expected, Twitter apps for iOS and Android have removed the option to upload images to third-party sites like TwitPic. Uploading videos to third-party services is still supported.

Twitter, which allows its members to post brief comments, links or pictures, claims to have more than 140 million active users, with the largest number being in the United States.

A recent survey found one in seven Americans who go online use Twitter and eight percent do so every day.

Samsung Music Hub review

Samsung's new music service tries to combine four things into one: an all-you-can-listen plan like Spotify, a pay-per-song store like iTunes, an Internet music storage service like iTunes Match and a radio service like Pandora.That's a great premise at a great price: At $10 a month, Music Hub promises an affordable, ad-free listening experience.
In practice, though, Music Hub can make your head spin. There are some redundant and confusing features and not everything worked properly. After trying it out for a week, I was left wondering why this was any better or worse than a pure music subscription plan.
Also, Music Hub works only on Samsung's Galaxy S III phone, which is becoming one of the iPhone's biggest rivals. The music service could help the Galaxy stand out as Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. battle in court over how similar their devices look and feel. But I don't believe it's an incentive to switch.
The first problem is distinguishing Music Hub's app from others. Several apps on Android devices sound alike and do similar things. This issue is compounded because several Samsung apps are meant to replace Android versions. So you'll have to distinguish between Samsung's "Music Hub" (for music) and its "Media Hub" (for TV shows and movies), and avoid Android's "Music Player," ''Play Store" and "Play Music."
Assuming you get past this, you then face issues that keep Music Hub from being all it could be.
On paper, combining the four types of music services makes sense. It saves you from having to go back and forth between apps and gives you a consistent user interface. Your favorite song selections move across the different services so you can get better recommendations.
And if one service has a shortcoming, there's another to fill in the gap.
Subscription music plans such as Spotify and Rhapsody allow you to listen to almost any song or album you want as many times as you want for $10 a month. But it can take weeks or months for new albums to appear - notably Coldplay's "Mylo Xyloto" last year and Adele's "21" this year. Some artists, including "The Beatles," hold out completely. Plus, all your songs disappear when you stop paying the monthly fee.
Download stores such as iTunes have a wider selection of music. You pay once per song or album rather than monthly, and you own it forever. But you can run up a big tab if you buy a lot of music. You may also run out of space to store songs on your mobile device.
That's where online storage lockers come in. Prominent ones include iTunes Match and Amazon.com Inc.'s Cloud Player ($25 a year each, though Amazon has a free option for 250 songs). Songs you own are stored on remote servers operated by those companies, and your device pulls them over the Internet as you're ready to listen to them.
Meanwhile, radio services such as Pandora play songs they select along certain genres, artists or styles. They learn what you like if you give songs a "thumbs up." You can discover new music this way, but can't choose the specific song or album to listen to.
When Music Hub is playing songs, all is good. The sound quality and selection are as decent as other subscription streaming plans. It works fine over standard cellular connections because it's smartly retrieving ahead of time the next song on whatever list you happen to be listening to.
Music Hub does a pretty good job of letting you discover songs and save ones you like for playback, though some features seem redundant and confusing.
For instance, you can start playing music listed in its "Top Hits" section. They'll play back-to-back for uninterrupted listening. Song titles will go from grey to bright white to let you know they are now saved on the device for playback later.
But you also get a similar option when you tap on a little carrot next to a song title. One choice in the drop-down menu, "Add to My Music," adds the song in a folder called "My Music," but doesn't save it on the device unless you tell it to do so.
Now, if you open up the song player, you can see how much of the song is left and see some cover art. You can then "tag" the song. It puts it in a folder called "Tagged Songs." However, this is way too similar to the folder "My Music" and that "Add to My Music" option.
I can also "Add to playlist" to move a song into a group of songs that I've hand-picked. Conveniently, I can add songs to playlists I've already created and imported from iTunes.
But that makes it three different ways to essentially mark a song in a playlist. It's puzzling why there are so many overlapping ways to do so.
There's also a "Buy song" option, which is useful only if I'm not paying the $10 a month for premium service. Yet it still comes up if I have the subscription and the song has already been stored on the device. Furthermore, some songs go for $1.49, while the most you pay on iTunes is $1.29.
You can still use Music Hub without paying $10 a month, but it will limit songs you pick to 30-second previews and the virtual storage locker won't function. The free radio service and music store will work fine.
Here's the disturbing part.
In the paid version, Music Hub makes little distinction between subscription-only songs that you have put in "My Music" and songs you have actually purchased and put into your online locker, which is also stored in "My Music."
You lose access to subscription songs once you stop paying, but purchased songs are supposed to be yours forever.
If you buy songs from Music Hub, you'll see them in a "Purchases" section. But songs I bought elsewhere and uploaded into online storage are just jumbled together with songs that will disappear once I stop paying.
Not demarcating them clearly is unsettling.
That's like going to a keg party where everyone is given red plastic cups with their names on them. Music Hub is going around erasing those names, putting half-full cups of beer on a Lazy Susan and spinning it around. The beer will still be tasty, but it's kind of gross.
I have other niggling complaints. Music Hub's uploader program simply doesn't upload some songs. For instance, it failed to upload a two-disc album of Japanese band Southern All Stars. Apple's iTunes Match and Google Play had no problem with these songs.
Other issues are minor. Music Hub offers lyrics to songs, but the availability is patchy at best. And just like other streaming services, there are gaps in the artist portfolio (No songs from "The Beatles" or "They Might Be Giants," for example).
Overall, Music Hub is a fine addition to the raft of $10-a-month subscription services competing for your attention.
But its ambition to combine the best of all worlds came up short. If you want to combine your personal music library with an unlimited subscription plan, you'll still need to troubleshoot uploading issues or just switch between different apps.
It's the fuzziness around which Music Hub treats ownership of your songs that bothers me the most. Although I'm sure that you'll find the songs you bought somehow, the system suggests strongly that when you stop paying, that's when the music stops.

Revamped Facebook app for iOS: Review

Slow and steady wins the race is history. The need for speed is the need of the hour not just for techies, but users everywhere. Facebook has finally realised this fact and updated its iOS client to version 5, which has bid adieu to HTML 5 and says hello to Objective-C.The social networking app is now twice as fast with Photos, News Feed and the app itself launching quicker than ever. With this update, iPad users can now access the Timeline profile view.
The app has been built from scratch over the past nine months to bring a major performance improvement. We take a detailed look at what's new under the hood.
Now when you launch the app, it opens in the blink of an eye as opposed to earlier when you would continue to stare at the logo for a couple of seconds at least. It directly opens into the News Feed, which is more responsive and speedier than before. The navigation bar now slides out with a punch.
All the options in the sidebar like Messages, Events, Groups, App Center and others now load smoother and faster. Coming to News Feed, you can now scroll through stories in a breeze. The refresh rate is faster too. If you're in the midst of reading stories, new updates published by friends will appear in a banner on top of the screen as "New Stories". A "New Comments" bar will also show up immediately when you're browsing though individual posts.
Photos is another area where the app truly delivers. Apart from the fact that Photos now load faster, elements from Facebook's standalone Camera app are clearly visible when it comes to both form and function. The base shows options to like, comment and tag photos. For single-handed use, you can now simply swipe down to return to the previous screen.
Messages got a whole new look and its safe to say that it now functions just like Facebook Messenger. The interface and other features are a ditto version of the Messenger app including the ability to share photos and your location.
There's no doubt that the speedier app will be highly appreciated by millions of Facebook users. In case you've been neglecting the app for its painfully slow load times and crippled speed, we suggest you befriend Facebook in its all new faster native iOS avatar.