WhatsApp Video Calling in India       

15 November 2016
Share on FacebookStarting today, WhatsApp, the most popular messaging app in India, will let you make video calls; just like FaceTime and Skype, the calls will be free, though if you aren't on Wi-Fi you may have of course to pay for cellular data usage, depending on your plan. WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum said in an interview to Reuters that video calls will be rolled out to 180 countries within hours after the feature is introduced at the event in India.

WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, also announced that it has over 160 monthly 

millionactive users in India, making the country its biggest market. WhatsApp says the new 

video calling service is optimised to work in regions like India, where users often struggle 

with poor Internet connectivity. "[...] we want to make these features available to everyone, 

not just those who can afford the most expensive new phones or live in countries with the 

best cellular networks," WhatsApp added.

"We’re obsessed with making sure that voice and video work well even on low-end phones," Koum said.

Just like WhatsApp messages and voice calls, video calls will be fully encrypted end-to-end, making it technically impossible for the company or government authorities to read messages or listen to calls. The new video calling service will thus provide another means for people to communicate without fear of eavesdropping though WhatsApp does retain other data such as an individual's list of contacts.

The feature is being gradually rolled out to all WhatsApp users worldwide on iPhone, Android, 

and Windows phones. WhatsApp had rolled out the video-calling feature to select users via 

the WhatsApp beta app on Android and Windows last month, when some users in India and 

other countries got access.The video feature will work just like WhatsApp voice calls - when 

you press the little phone button on a person's profile, WhatsApp will ask you if you want to 

make a voice call or a video call. WhatsApp video-calling will be available to all users running 

the latest version of the app, and if you are running a previous version, you are advised to 

update to the latest one. If you don't see the WhatsApp video calling feature, you can get 

access by following these steps.

With the addition of video calling, WhatsApp will compete with the likes of Apple's FaceTime,

 Microsoft-owned Skype, and Google's newly launched Duo - among others - for a share of 

the video calling market. WhatsApp started as a text messaging service, and as its popularity 

grew, it has added features like voice calling - introduced in March last year - and now it has

 added video calling.

Apple

You'll just LOVE Apple's latest called 'Air'

As expected, Apple refreshed its iPad lineup on Tuesday morning. Unexpectedly, it renamed its top-of-the-line 9.7-inch tablet to the iPad Air.
Seeing as how the MacBook Air has been one of Apple's most successful products in recent years, it's perhaps no surprise that Cook & Co.'s marketing folks decided to borrow some of that branding mojo for their latest iteration of the iPad.

The new Cupertinian fondleslab is smaller and lighter than its predecessor, with a reduced bezel size – 43 per cent thinner than the bezel on the previous version. It now weighs in at just 1 pound, down from the 1.4 pounds of the model it replaces. In addition, it's now 7.5 millimeters thick, down from 9.4 millimeters – a reduction of 20 per cent.
"To make an iPad this thin took a huge amount of work over years," Apple marketing headman Phil Schiller said during today's rollout event in San Francisco.
"The team has just been remarkable in finding every tenth and every hundredth of a millimeter from every level of the system, from the bezel to the multitouch surface to the display and battery and enclosure," he added, calling the slab the lightest full-size tablet in the world.

A fraction of a millimeter here, a fraction of a millimeter there – it all adds up (click to enlarge)

The iPad Air is powered by the same 64-bit A7 application processor that's in the iPhone 5s announced in September, and it also includes the battery-saving M7 motion processor that's in the top-of-the-line iPhone, offloading sensor-monitoring and processing duties from the A7.
Wi-Fi has been upgraded to a dual-antenna MIMO implementation of Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n – not 802.11ac – which Schiller promised will provide "up to twice as fast" 802.11n performance; Apple
If you were hoping for greatly improved cameras, however, the iPad Air will disappoint. It still has a 5-megapixel ƒ/2.4 rear-facing iSight camera and a 1.2-megapixel front-facing FaceTime HD camera, as did its predecessor. The iPhone 5s, by comparison, has an 8-megapixel, ƒ/2.2 iSight camera. Schiller did claim, however, that the low-light performance of the iPad Air's FaceTime camera has been improved.
Despite rumors that a gold iPad was in the offing, the iPad Air will only be available in "silver and white" and "space grey and black" – that much gold bling, in our opinion, would have been too much for even the most "look at me" fanboi.
Schiller emphasized the processor and graphics performance improvements of the iPad Air over previous Apple tablets, saying that CPU performance is up to eight times greater than that of the original iPad, and GPU performance as much as 72 times greater.

The original iPad was known for it's 'tap and wait' performance lag; the iPad Air promises improvements

The iPad Air's Imagination Technologies GPU cores promise to provide a hefty graphics boost

The iPad Air will be available in 41 countries – and Schiller was quick to point out that one of those "wave one" countries will be China – when it goes on sale on November 1. Pricing for the Wi-Fi–only versions starts at $499 for the 16GB model, with $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB, and $799 for 128GB. The "Wi-Fi + Cellular" versions will run to $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB, $829 for 64GB, and $929 for 128GB.

Latvians, Liechtensteiners, Lithuanians, and Luxembourgers take note: you have not been forgotten

The iPad 2 will remain in Apple's product line, and will be available for $399 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and $529 for the 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G model from both AT&T and Verizon in the US.
"This is probably out biggest leap forweard in a full-sized iPad," Schiller opined. Whether or not the market agrees will be discovered in the coming months, but from where we sit the improvements are far from Earth-shattering though welcome, especially the weight reduction and improved performance.
As for the camera? We've always thought that taking photos or videos with an iPad was, well, more than a wee bit silly. ®

Lenovo

Lenovo announces A10 Android laptop amid slumping PC sales

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After unintentionally leaking its existence, Lenovo has today officially announced the A10 Android laptop. It's the first laptop from the world's top PC vendor to ship with Android 4.2 on board. As we learned before the A10 features a 10.1-inch HD display, 1.6GHz process, up to 32GB of storage, and a max 2GB of memory. That quad-core Cortex-A9 processor allows the laptop the reach nine hours of video playback, according to Lenovo's estimates.

Lenovo builds a file manager into Android

The A10's "laptop mode" brings Lenovo's customized Android user interface to the forefront, including an app launcher, task bar and status bar for "quick, intuitive access to the app library and desktop." The company has also built file manager software into the A10, which it claims "makes it easy to locate and manage a library of documents, videos and music." Laptop mode also nets users a full-size keyboard, though the A10 also accepts input via its multitouch display. But the A10 can also be flipped around into a "stand mode," which Lenovo says has been optimized for touch-enabled apps and entertainment. Stereo speakers are there for your Spotify and Netflix streaming, though don't expect to be taking many keepers with the integrated 0.3-megapixel webcam.

Lenovo's Android laptop leaked earlier this month when service manuals for the device appeared on the company's website. A spokesperson would later confirm its existence, though it's unclear how aggressively Lenovo plans to market the A10 — or why interested customers won't opt instead for a Chromebook. But with Windows PC sales slowing recently, we can't fault Lenovo for trying something new. We've reached out to the company for pricing and availability information.

Update: Lenovo tells us that the A10 won't be made available within the US (or North America as a whole). Instead, it will be sold in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific countries.  It's definitely a budget offering, with pricing set to start around $249 USD equivalent.

Blackberry

Blackberry's premium smartphone Z30 may release in India on October 24

BlackBerry Z30, also known as the A10 or A-Series under the codename 'aristo', was unveiled at an event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last mont
Blackberry is expected to launch their recently launched premium smartphone in India on October 24. The phone maybe priced around Rs45,000. 

Blackberry sent out a media invite stating that 'they would be unveiling latest offering built to keep you moving'.
It is heavily rumored that the Z30 would be unveiled among other important announcements on October 24 as it is the latest offering by Blackberry in their smartphone kitty.
BlackBerry Z30, also known as the A10 or A-Series under the codename 'aristo', was unveiled at an event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last month.
Specs
The smartphone comes with a 5-inch Super AMOLED display and is powered by a 1.7 GHz processor with quad-core graphics.
It is equipped with 8MP rear camera and 2MP front camera.
This smartphone also has a 2880 mAh battery, the largest battery ever built into a BlackBerry smartphone. BlackBerry claims that this battery will last up to 25 hours of mixed use.
The Z30 has 2GB RAM and 16 GB of internal storage and comes with micro SD memory card slot for expanding its internal storage.
The phone runs on the company's latest operating system.
The event on October 24 could hopefully also shed more light on the ever-so-long stall of BBM for Android and iPhone users.
BlackBerry some weeks earlier also unveiled a 4.7 billion dollar dealwith billionaire Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Financial, who is touted to be Canada’s Warren Buffet. The preliminary deal, subject to a six-week period of due diligence, is expected to be completed by November 4, valued the sinking smartphone manufacturer’s at 9 dollar-a-share.
Blackberry's new addition could give direct competition to the November 1 release of iPhone 5S. Samsung. LG and HTC's flagship phones will all now have one more warrior to face in the game.

Sony

Sony launches Galaxy Grand rival Xperia C at Rs 21,490

 Sony India has launched its Xperia C phablet in India, bringing yet another rival of the popular Samsung Galaxy Grand in the market. This device has a 5-inch screen, Android 4.2, dual-sim functionality and a quad-core processor and has been priced at Rs 21,490.

Xperia C will compete against the likes of Samsung Galaxy Grand, Micromax Canvas 4 and the upcoming LG Optimus G Pro Lite.

The new Xperia C has a TFT display with 960x540p resolution and has the Omnibalance design that Sony uses in its top-end smartphones. This phone comes with 4GB internal storage, microSD support up to 32GB, 1GB RAM and runs on a 1.2GHz quad-core Mediatek processor.

On the back, Xperia C sports an 8MP camera with LED flash, while a VGA unit is used in front. Connectivity options in the phablet include 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and microUSB 2.0. Powered by a 2,390mAh battery, this device is available in white, black and purple colours.

Sony is offering headphones worth Rs 1,490 with the Xperia C for free. It is also offering six months of accidental damage protection with the handset. The company has tied up with Airtel to offer 1GB of free data usage for two months for this device.

The Xperia C has been retailing at e-commerce websites in the country for around Rs 20,000. It was unveiled globally in June this year at Mobile Asia Expo.

Acer C720 Chromebook

Acer C720 Chromebook Available In India Now

The much-awaited Haswell-based Acer C720 Chromebook, which was launched last week by Acer, is now available exclusively at select Croma and Reliance Digital outlets in Mumbai and Delhi. This would also be available on Flipkart online e-store. Chromebooks are laptops powered by Google’s Chrome OS operating system.

The new Acer C720 is slim and sleek, and  features a  29.5 cms (11.6 inches) ComfyView HD  display with a 1366×768 resolution, and   includes a full-sized keyboard.  The device weighs only 1.25 kg, making it easily portable and can be easily fit  in a backpack or bag. This device has over 8.5 hours of battery life.
The Acer C720 connects to popular consumer electronics devices such as camcorders, digital cameras and smart phones via its fast USB 3.0 port as well as a USB 2.0 port. It also has an HDMI port for pushing video and content to external displays and HDTVs.The Acer C720’s integrated HD webcam delivers sharp and detailed images and rich color saturation.
In addition, consumers can easily access their content at home or on the go – with 100 GB of free storage on Google Drive for two years. By visiting the Chrome Web Store users can customize their Acer C720 Chromebook with applications for work or play.  Other media and files can also be accessed through the SD card reader.
The Acer C720 has been launched with 2GB of memory and a 16GB SSD at a retail price of only Rs. 22,999 in India.
Acer has introduced some unique offerings for the benefit of consumers. This device is available with easy financing schemes from Bajaj Finance at nominal processing fee. Users can also enjoy high speed wireless connectivity on their Acer C720 through exciting data bundle plans by Airtel and Tikona, the service is only available in selected locations depending on the service provider. At just Rs. 2499, consumers can opt for a free Airtel 4G dongle worth Rs 1500 with monthly 10 GB data for 2 months, or choose a free Airtel 3G dongle worth Rs. 1299 along with monthly 6 GB data for 3 months. Consumers desiring broadband connectivity at home can get a free 4 mbps speed Tikona home broadband connection of 8GB data with a validity of 45 days or 100 GB data with a validity of 20 months at just Rs. 3499. Consumers can also receive a free Wi-Fi router along with 100 GB data with a validity of 20 months at just Rs. 4999.

Angry Birds

Angry Birds Playground Coming To India – Learning Will Be Fun And Creative!

In just a couple years from now, your kid could be taking his first steps towards life and education in an Angry Birds school. Finnish game-app developer Rovio Entertainment has collaborated with suitable partners in India to launch its fun learning project in the country. Henri Holm, Rovio Entertainment’s Senior Vice President (Asia) stated about this venture- “Angry Birds Playground is Finnish education packaged into a fun way of learning. The first product will be for pre-school, children aged five and six.” He added that there’s a great demand in Indian market for fun and creative learning, so they know they’ve an audience who would want to connect with this brand. Rovio is seeking Indian partners in several areas to make this connection possible.

Angry Birds Playground is mostly based “but not limited to” the Finnish National Curriculum for Kindergarten. Sanna Lukander, Vice President Learning and Book Publishing at Rovio, stated in her blog post that the concept was scientifically analyzed and proven in cooperation with the University of Helsinki’s Cicero Learning Network. The key here is to inspire children in various life skills such as language, interaction, math, music, arts, craft and both physical and social education. Rovio has partnered with some Chines organizations to debut Angry Birds Playground in Shanghai.

Angry Birds revolutionized the mobile gaming ecosystem, enjoying over 2 billion downloads across platforms and all its games. The success of the Angry Birds brand has prompted Rovio Entertainment to develop a revenue model which skips the virtual world, which means that apart from the games and video delivery channel which have been embedded in the newer version of Rovio’s games, you’ll even have options in merchandises and activity parks where you’ll get to physically interact with the bad green pigs and the vengeance seeking birds across the world, even in India. Holm may be right when he says that it’s the world’s fastest growing franchise.

The new game from Rovio Entertainment- Angry Birds Go!- is scheduled to launch December 11, 2013.