WhatsApp Starts Voice Messages for its 300 Million Active Users

 

WhatsApp today announced that it is adding voice messaging feature for its 300 million active users.

With this new feature, WhatsApp users will be able to send voice to their contacts from various platforms. WhatsApp said that its voice message feature is instantly available on all platforms, including iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone and Nokia.

WhatsApp said that sending a voice message is easy and all voice messages are downloaded automatically on receiver’s smartphone. Users can then play this message by just clicking the play button.

Just to mention, WhatsApp now has more than 300 million active users who send 11 billion messages and receive 20 billion messages per day (counted separately because some messages are sent to more than one recipient). Moreover, WhatsApp users share 325 million photos per day.

It maybe recalled that many Chat apps already offer Voice messaging feature. WhatsApp, however, believes that it has tried to making voice messaging simpler and easier with a single tap instead of multiple taps in other chat apps.

Moreover, WhatsApp also contends to have support for more platforms than all other chatting apps, and that’s where WhatsApp wins despite simpler and boring GUI.

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Warid Introduces International Prepaid Data Roaming Services

Warid telecom has launched International GPRS /data Roaming services for its Prepaid customers.

Starting with Saudi Arabia and UAE, this international data roaming for prepaid customers is claimed by Warid to be the industry first.

Warid has advised its customers – who carry smartphones – to disconnect Data Connection/Cellular Data option to prevent auto sync, which may result into over billing issues.

As our readers may know, data services while International roaming is not economical at all but this facility by Warid can be handy during the emergency hours. Otherwise, its better to stick with Wi-Fi internet while you are roaming.

How to Subscribe:

• While no security deposit is required to avail this offer but users will have to activate International Data Roaming Service by calling the Helpline 321.

Prices:

Country	Operator	Network Code	Uplink Charges	Downlink Charges	MMS Rates	Charging Interval	Helpline
Saudi Arabia	Etisalat	420-03	$0.002	$0.002	$0.57	10 KB	+96265828100
Saudi Arabia	Al Jawal	420-01	$0.023	$0.023	$6.96	10 KB	+96614555555
Saudi Arabia	Zain	420-04	$0.023	$0.023	$6.96	10 KB	NA
UAE	Du	420-03	$0.001	$0.001	$0.21	1 KB	+971555555177
UAE	Etisalat	420-02	$0.022	$0.022	$6.54	30 KB	+9714004101

Terms and Conditions:

• To get Prepaid International Roaming activated, please call 321.
• No security deposit required.
• Operator specific GPRS usage rates shall apply.
• All applicable taxes would be included in addition to the above rates.
• The tariffs are charged in Pak Rupees when billed. The US$ – Pak Rupee exchange rate applied for each calendar month shall be the open market exchange rate on 23rd day of the preceding month.
• GPRS charges have been calculated using prevailing exchange rates and are subject to change without prior notice.
• Above GPRS charges are shown in 1KB increments. For operator specific charging interval, please refer to the Charging Interval column above.
• For detailed tariffs/peak hour timings of a specific network, contact the Customer Service personnel and the helpline number of the respective operator.
• MMS charges are event based.

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Samsung Wants the Upcoming Tizen OS on Every Product

Samsung has made clear that it has big hopes with its upcoming Tizen OS. In an interview with CNET, Samsung Mobile division head J. K. Shin said that smartphones aren’t its target with Tizen. After splashing in that industry, they would like to see it in further markets including cars as well, describing the idea as “cross category”.

“There are many convergences not only among IT gadgets, including smartphones, tablets, PCs, and cameras”, Shin said, “but also among different industries like cars, bio, or banks. Cross-convergence is the one [area] Samsung can do best since we do have various parts and finished products.”

Samsung actually isn’t the only company trying out its luck in cars as Apple has already made some great strides in that business lately.

With Tizen, Samsung will try to shrug off its reliance on Android operating system where it is the undisputed leader, but nonetheless dependent upon Google when it comes to development, among other things including leadership rights.

Tizen has got some nice reception already but might see itself at the back of the crowd in the beginning.

Shin strongly believes that Tizen has the potential to become the third operating system for the company alongside Android and Windows Phone. He also said that a lot of interesting development is currently going on in the tablet division right now.

“There will be good news on the tablet soon,” he said. “Please wait and see.”

Samsung has already killed its Bada operating system (which wasn’t totally unsuccessful after all and got better sales than Windows Phone for quite a time) to dedicate more effort into Tizen, so it’s only natural that the company is very excited with it.

Credits to CNET for this story.

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Now Warid Live to Air Various Shows via IVR

Warid has announced this new infotainment platform for Warid users, with which they will be able to listen to countless shows on various topics via IVR.

The service will be similar to FM radio shows, using IVR as a transmission medium, and is charged at Rs 0.10+tax/min for IVR plus Rs. 1 per day as daily rental for prepaid users.

Show Categories:

• Expert Centres
• Educational
• Religion
• Celebrity
• Special Day Shows
• Music Corner
• Social Corner
• Quiz & Gaming
• Technology

Mechanics:

• Dial 3131 to subscribe and listen to the service
• Both Subscription and Un-Subscription can be done on IVR 3131

Charges:

• Rs. 1+tax / day rental (Prepaid)
• Rs. 30+tax / month rental (Postpaid)
• Rs 0.10+tax / min for IVR

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New Google Reveals the Motorola Moto X

Google’s acquisition of Motorola happened quite a lot of time ago and nothing serious had been achieved from the partnership yet, but the two companies have finally done something unique with the Moto X. The much-hyped smartphone is not the most high-end smartphone you’ll see but is undoubtedly the most customizable.

To start with, the Moto X comes with a 4.7 inch AMOLED display with 720p HD resolution. The reason why the flagship-norm 1080p wasn’t chosen was because “it would just suck the battery and nobody would know the difference”. That’s right to some extent, especially since anything more than 300ppi is useless. It is protected by a new breed of Gorilla Glass dubbed “Magic Glass” and is a bit curved on its edges.

Under the hood, the phone packs a Qualcomm SnapDragon S4 Pro SoC, dual-core 1.7Ghz Krait CPU and Adreno 320 GPU. Motorola’s new power-efficient X8 chip is also there. The amount of RAM in the phone is 2 GB and the storage capacity will be 16 or 32 gigs, non-expandable.

The back boasts a 10 megapixel camera with 1080p Full HD video at 30fps, LED Flash and HDR. A 2 megapixel Full HD camera is at the front too. Talking of fronts and backs, the phone is really customizable.

Firstly, the phone is made of high-quality plastic. The back is curved which makes the Moto X fairly usable with one hand. It’s 10.4mm at its thickest point and 5.4mm on the edges. It weighs 130g.

The phone’s front panel is either black or white but the back comes in a mind-blowing range of 18 colors. Three special versions made of wood will be available later. The further customizations are done via the Moto Maker site. You can also customize the accent colors and the color of the charger & NFC speaker there. Overall, 2000 customizations can be made with Moto Maker.

But wait, the software is also a beneficiary here. You’ll be able to choose the color of the phone’s wallpaper and add your Google ID via Moto Maker. Still, if you don’t like the end result much, Google will also replace your phone within 2 weeks. The service won’t be available until next year though.

Here are the specs of the Moto X:

• Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
• 4.7 inch AMOLED display with 720p resolution
• 5.4mm thick at its thinnest point and 10.4 on its thickest
• 130g heavy
• 1.7 Ghz dual-core Krait CPU with Qualcomm SnapDragon S4 Pro SoC
• Adreno 320 GPU
• 2 GB RAM with 16/32 GB non-expandable storage
• 10 megapixel camera with 1080p Full HD video
• 2 megapixel 1080p camera
• Bluetooth 4.0, dual-band Wifi, microUSB 2.0, GPS
• Mind boggling customizations via Moto Maker
• 2200 mAh battery

The phone will be available via a contract in late August. International availability will start from Canada later on. While this phone is lacking a bit of pace on the hardware side, the great customizations alone will find it customers. The Moto X makes even the Lumia series look dull.

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