Facebook Messenger app for Android gets updated; all it needs is your name and number

Facebook has announced a new update for its Messenger app for Android. This new update will enable users to use the messaging service without having a Facebook account or even an email address.

The new update for the Messenger app will be rolled out in countries like India, Indonesia, Venezuela and South Africa in its first phase, while it will later be rolled out to other countries. All the app will ask for is the users’ name and number to use this service.

Now this sounds very similar to the way WhatsApp functions and it will be the social networks first attempt to open its services to those who do not have a Facebook account. Facebook has also announced that it has partnered with all major carries and device manufacturers in India for the new Facebook Messenger.

Just recently did we hear that Facebook might be looking to buy WhatsApp, however it rather seems that the social network will now be competing with it. If so they have a long way to go as WhatsApp is already available on a bunch of platforms including S40 amongst other popular ones, while all Facebook has at the moment is Android.

WhatsApp today exists on almost all devices and a huge population is already using it as an affordable SMS and voice call replacement. It will be interesting to see how Facebook would compete with this globally popular instant messaging service.

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WishTel launch $50 Linux-based tablet

WishTel has released a 7-inch tablet for the education sector that will come preloaded with Linux, and a library of books and other media on several fields of study. The tablet is called PrithV, and it is built using an unspecified 800MHz processor and 512MB RAM as the standard configuration, with the option to get 1.2GHz processor with 1GB RAM. Additionally, it has 1GB of onboard storage, 2800mAh battery, USB 2.0, microSD card reader, and 0.3MP front-facing camera. For wireless communication, the PrithV has built-in Wi-Fi radio and 3G dongle support.

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Canalys: Top 25 US developers bank half of all app revenue

 Market analysts Canalys has have disclosed a gist of their finding during a 20-day App Interrogator survey of app purchasers in US. Based on data gathered, Canalys estimate that just 25 developers took half of all the revenue generated through iTunes store and Google Play store. These 25 developers earned $60 million from paid-for downloads and in-app purchases.

The distribution of these top 25 developers among various industries is even more lopsided. With the exception of music service provider Pandora, all other are game publishers. These include gaming industry giants such as Electronic Arts, Disney, Gameloft, and even Zynga. Canalys have inferred from the gathered data that these companies are able to dominate the charts and the share of total revenue by having multiple titles generating money. For instance, Zynga had 15 titles daily in the list of top 300 grossing iPhone apps on average, and nine titles on Google Play store. With the holiday season and the inevitable discounts and bundle offers, Canalys expect the divide to only widen.

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Nokia Lumia 510 now official, priced at Rs. 10,499

The Nokia Lumia 510 which is the most affordable Lumia smartphone is now officially available for purchase in the Indian market. The device has previously been up for pre-order however now it has been listed on Nokia India’s website with the price tag of Rs. 10,499.

Even though Nokia does not seem to have sent the press release to the media, this seems to be an official launch the website suggests that it is already up for purchase in the market.

In terms of the specifications the Lumia 510 is a device which runs Windows Phone 7.5 and will be updated to Windows Phone 7.8 when it is available in early 2013. It has a 4-inch display, 5 megapixel rear camera and it is powered by an 800 MHz Cortex A5 processor along with 256MB of RAM.

Apart from this the device has 4GB of built in storage, no expandable memory and it supports all the essential connectivity features like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 3G capabilities. The Lumia 510 includes a 1,300 mAh battery which is rated for up to 8.4 hours of talk time on 3G.

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Apple iTunes now available in India and 55 other countries

After a long a wait Apple has finally expanded the reach of its iTunes music and movies store throughout the globe. The iTunes music store is now available in 56 new countries and the iTunes movies store will be available in India, Russia, Turkey and Indonesia.

This sure is a huge move from Apple and there is now doubt that a huge amount of new content will now be available in the iTunes Store. The only thing missing from the iTunes Store are the Television shows and we are not sure whether it will be included at a later time.

In regards to the pricing, it appears that a single song/track will be priced between Rs. 12-15 while and album will range from Rs. 72-108. Movies will be priced between Rs. 290-490, however one will be able to rent a movie for Rs. 120. We browsed through the movies available on the store and it seems to have most of the new releases.

Additionally one will also be able to purchase ringtones which are priced between Rs. 12-15 just like the songs/tracks. iTunes Match will also be available in India, it is a service which replaces your music library with tracks from iTunes and these are also available in the cloud, this service will be available with an annual subscription fee of Rs. 1,200.

We are really happy to see the Apple iTunes finally making it to other regions and especially India, the tracks are competitively priced too. Do let us know what you will be downloading and playing on your iPod in the comments below.

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Nintendo Wii U struggles to meet 3.5 million units target in US

The new Nintendo Wii U has sold 400,000 units in its first week of sale in the US, adding pressure to the firm’s targets to reach 3.5 million unit sales by the end of the year, according to a report. The 299-pound gaming console launched in the UK on November 30, and features a touchscreen remote control and full-HD graphics.

Nintendo sold over 700,000 consoles during the last week, 400,000 of them Wii U units and the remaining 300,000 sales of the six year-old Wii, The Telegraph reports. According to the paper, the Wii U launched with 24 games to choose from, including Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros.

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has claimed that "Wii U redefines the structure of home entertainment by fundamentally changing how the TV, the game console and the Internet function and interact together,” the paper said. During an interview with Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime, it was reported that total US hardware sales reached more than 1.2 million units, including the Wii U, Wii, and handheld 3DS and DS consoles, the paper added. -ANI Photo: Reuters

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Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 delivers new capabilities and value to customers

Microsoft Monday launched Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 - a single, powerful enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that is purpose-built for five industries (manufacturing, distribution, retail, public sector and service industries) and includes rich capabilities to support administrative business processes.

"Dynamics AX 2012 is a highly adaptable and scalable product that delivers value by enabling enterprises to take advantage of business opportunities and reduces risk by easily modifying processes to cater to the new requirements of business," a company statement said.

"Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 will help provide faster business value, enable agility, help drive adoption, broaden usage and enable easier maintenance and upgrade through a continued emphasis on simplicity," the statement added.

Samik Roy, Director and Business Head, Microsoft Dynamics (Applications) Business, said: "We are excited to announce the launch of AX 2012 in India. The Microsoft Dynamics AX product community has grown to over 17,000 customers worldwide with an extensive partner ecosystem in more than 40 countries."

"This wave of innovation that we are delivering to the market demonstrates our core commitment to deliver real value to our customers through simple to use and easy to implement business solutions. Simple, Agile and Powerful are the 3 key words I would like to use to describe our new release," Roy added.

Noting that there has been a rapid growth in ERP adoption in India especially in the public sector, retail, distribution, services and manufacturing sectors, Roy said Dynamics AX 2012 "will bring customers a powerful, simple and agile business solution that will improve productivity and reduce TCO."

According to Somick Goswami, Director-Consulting, PwC India, "From a business integration and business consulting perspective there are some key business requirements which a solution should address effectively".

"These include the ease with which it aligns itself to an enterprise's business needs, enables better decision making, improves efficiency and productivity and is receptive to business nuances. The product / platform needs to be agile to meet the changing business requirements. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 responds effectively to all these indices of enterprise growth," Goswami added.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 "can unlock greater productivity, enable collaboration throughout the supply chain, and provide immediate insight with RoleTailored access to self-service business intelligence, contextual information, and processes", the statement said.

The natural interaction of ERP systems with Microsoft business productivity applications- Microsoft SharePoint, Windows, Azure, and Microsoft Lync and IT infrastructure technology; Dynamics AX 2012 "will help sharpen our competitive edge", the statement added. -IANS

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Yahoo set to permanently axe public-chat rooms feature

Embattled Internet firm Yahoo has said that it has planned to permanently axe the public chat rooms feature of its messaging tool. It said in a blog post it would replace the tool, along with other services being removed, with new features. The chat-rooms tool came under fire in 2005, with advertisers pulling ads after reports of illegal under-age sex-themed rooms, the BBC reports. The firm said the feature was closing because it was not "adding enough value" for users.

Along with public chat rooms, Pingbox and Windows Live Messenger interoperability are all scheduled to be removed on 14 December, and some other features will disappear at the end of January, the report said. According to the report, the firm said it would now focus on modernising its "core Yahoo products experiences". -ANI

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