Facebook acquires Whatsapp

Facebook is now the legal owner of WhatsApp, following a filing made with the SEC today. This is the final step in a process begun when Facebook announced its intent to acquire the messaging company in February of this year. The Facebook deal passed its final regulatory hurdle when it received EU approval to go ahead with the acquisition of WhatsApp last week.

In the filing, the company details the awarding of 177,760,669 shares of Facebook’s Class A common stock and $4.59 billion to WhatsApp stakeholders, plus 45,941,775 in restricted stock to WhatsApp employees to complete the deal. Koum will join Facebook’s board, and will also match Zuckerberg’s annual base salary of $1, without eligibility for the company’s bonus plan, though he does get a signing bonus of 24,853,468 restricted stock units as incentive for joining. Per the filing, Koum is joining Facebook with no fixed term of employment as part of the arrangement, but all indicators are that he wants to stick around to continue to build WhatsApp as a separate brand under the growing Facebook umbrella.

Will FB and Whatsapp make a combined messenger to take down the to be released Google IM? Let's see. 

The death of Nokia near? :-(

Nokia on Tuesday said that it will shut down its Chennai plant from November 1 as Microsoft has terminated mobile purchase agreement from the the factory and it is left with no business.

Nokia started manufacturing in Chennai in January 2006 and exported to markets including in the Middle East and Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand from there.

"Microsoft has informed Nokia that it will be terminating the manufacturing services defined in the agreement with effect from 1 November 2014. In absence of further orders from Microsoft, Nokia will suspend handset production at the Sriperumbudur facility from 1st November," Nokia said in a statement.

Is the demise of one of the most iconic mobile company near?

Online Attendance System for Government officials launched!

Announced just a few weeks ago, the Indian government's new online biometric attendance system is now online, with nearly 50,000 employees attendance across 147 government organisations (at the time of writing) including the Cabinet Secretariat, and other government bodies like the Central Vigilance Commission and the Planning Commission.

On the website the attendance of employees can be tracked online - this serves as a centralised management system for the government, but it should also increase transparency as anyone can access the site for a broad overview.

On the site, you can see the attendance activity over time, the number of registered employees and the number of employees present today. You can even see the number of active devices, and clicking on any of these tabs takes you to a spreadsheet where you can see a breakdown of the information.

In this way, for example, you can see that the Ministry of External Affairs has 195 devices, and at the time of writing, 159 are active. You can see that eight out of 34 biometric terminals are currently inactive, and that 1,358 MEA employees have marked their attendance today. Click the detail button on the right, and you can see the breakup between the Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan, South Block and Patiala House offices of the MEA. Clicking detail on this page shows you the device ID, the type of device (tablet or desktop) and even which gate the employee entered the building from.

Further details include the name of the employee, designation, division and the exact time the employee arrived for duty. You can even use the search function on the dashboard to find an individual employee - and his or her email id. That's an incredibly detailed system, and you can use the export button to download the data on your screen to an Excel sheet as well.

The website shows a dashboard you can track this information, but this goes beyond just transparency. Government employees will be able to mark their attendance at any Central Office, which is also useful for tracking movement. This is done using biometric reading devices in the offices, and uses the Aadhaar to verify the data. Each government organisation has to enrol itself for the system to work, and on the dashboard, you can see that of the 49,141 employees registered so far, 32,487 have been verified.

As noted in the FAQ section of the website, the system relies on network connectivity at all times, and for this reason, the government will be ensuring Wi-Fi connectivity on NICNET, and SIM-based connectivity for employees using tablets.

Windows 10 feature glances

Microsoft recently unveiled their new operating system Windows 10 claiming "great advantages in technology" to make up for the misplaced Windows 9.
Here are some glances at the new features of this OS-

• The Start menu returns!

Microsoft has been demonstrating the new Start menu for quite some time, but the company has finally made it official with Windows 10.

The menu features a search bar and customisable space for pinning app shortcuts and live tiles. It looks very similar to the traditional Start menu that Microsoft discontinued with the Windows 8. On non-touch devices, it will replace the Start screen.

• All apps open in windows. Finally!

Modern UI apps from the Windows Store now also open in the same format that desktop apps do and can be resized and moved around.

• Quadrant Layout- 

Users can now have up to four apps snapped on the same screen with what Microsoft calls a new quadrant layout.
Windows 10 will also show other apps and programmes running for additional snapping and will make smart suggestions on filling available screen space with other open apps.

• Multiple desktops natively-

With Windows 10, users can create virtual desktops for different purposes and projects and switch between desktops and pick up where they left on each desktop, similar to OS X's Spaces.
There is a new task view that displays all open windows and desktops. This is also very similar to the Expose feature of Apple's OS X.

• One Windows version across devices (Finally)-

Freedom from Windows RT versions and whatnot, Windows finally runs on all devices across form factors, including phones, tablets, 2-in-1s and PCs. 

The OS will come with a feature called Continuum which will detect when you remove a keyboard from a 2-in-1 and switch to a touch-optimized UI with big tiles. It will also have a universal app marketplace.

• Universal search-

The new version of Windows has a search feature akin to Spotlight and now searches web pages along with the usual apps, settings and files.

• New command prompt-

Windows command prompt finally supports Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V, nuff said.

That's all for now folks! Do comment and ask questions :-)

The iPhone 6 is out to eat your hair!

A 9to5Mac community post reveals that iPhone 6 customers are complaining on social media that their new phones keep ripping out chunks of their hair when they hold the phone up to their ear to take a call.

Twitter users claim that the seam between the glass screen and aluminium back of the iPhone 6 is to blame, and it's that gap that their hair is getting caught in.

Wonder if the Note with it's gap does the same.

Tesco enters the tablet market!

Tesco Hudl

A popular supermarket chain isn't the first place you'd expect to find an own-brand tablet, but with its low price and a prime spot next to the beans, Tesco's Hudl has sold over 750,000 units since launch. While plans to also enter the smartphone racket have been put on hold, today Tesco's spilled all the details on its second-gen slate: the Hudl2.

The first thing you'll notice is that Tesco has stayed with what works. The Hudl2 shares a similar design with its predecessor, but is a little bit bigger. However, the bezels are vastly smaller, giving it a more premium look. It comes with a toughened 8.3-inch Full HD touchscreen, and a thinner chassis that ships in a variety of eight different colours: black, blue, purple, red, aqua, pink, orange and white.

Tesco's Hudl2

Like the original tablet, Tesco's Hudl2 undercuts many of its rivals at £129, and you can also bring that cost down by trading in some of your Clubcard points. While the device is being unveiled today, you'll have to wait until October 9th to get your hands on it (although pre-orders will open the day before). Inside, there's a 1.83GHz Intel Atom quad-core processor (which Tesco says makes it three times faster than the original) and 2GB of RAM, stock Android 4.4 KitKat, 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 1.2-megapixel front facer, Dolby-optimised rear-facing speakers, dual-band Wi-Fi, 16GB of internal storage (with a microSD slot taking it up to 48GB) and according to Tesco, a battery that'll last around 8 hours on a full charge.

Recognizing that customers are buying Hudls for their children, Tesco has included a new range of child-safety tools. When they first turn on the tablet, parents will be asked to set up features that can block sensitive content or restrict the amount of time that a child plays on the Hudl 2, to the point where it'll turn itself off when it's time to go to sleep. App access can be locked down in up to seven profiles, protecting young eyes from the darker downloads on the Play Store.

Tesco is also ramping up the number of accessories it offers with its tablet. This year, Tesco is offering up to 64 tablet and case colour combinations for the Hudl2, including the wonderfully-named Perky Purple & Red and Dreamy White & Bluespotted cases, as well as coloured on-ear and in-ear headphones, screen protectors and stylii.

You'll be able to turn every £5 of Clubcard vouchers into £10 towards the hudl2 and its accessories, bringing the price down to just £65. That'll make it a much more attractive proposition when you're traversing the aisles during your weekly shop. Tesco will also continue to sell the original Hudl for £99, but the company says when stock is gone, it's gone.

Amazon India to start selling packaged food and beverages in India: Report

Coke Zero went up for preorders exclusively on Amazon India last month, but seems like the beverage was not a one off deal. The e-commerce site is now said to be planning on selling packaged food and beverages starting later this month, Economic Times reports.

The publication claims that Amazon India will start selling “about 100 gourmet products and will offer a wider assortment of products in the coming months.” Amazon is said to be already in talks with the likes of Kelloggs and Cornitos, and Olympia Industries, the Coke Zero seller, too has reportedly started stocking packaged foods in Amazon’s Manesar warehouse.

There is currently no word on if the e-commerce giant plans on selling fresh food like fruits and vegetables. But the publication cites a source who claims that the company could eventually introduce something on the lines of AmazonFresh in India.

Earlier this year, Amazon announced that it would be pooling in $2 billion into its Indian operations. The investment will be used to expand the operations and add more categories as well. Jeff Bezos, who is on a visit to India, revealed that Amazon India had sold $1 billion (Rs 6,100 crore) worth of products in a year.

LG G3 Stylus featuring 5.5-inch display, quad-core processor and Android KitKat available online in India for Rs 19,990

The most awaited variant of the LG G3, the LG G3 Stylus has been priced at Rs. 21500 on LG's official site. The phone has made it's way into Kerala prized at Rs 20000. Moments later it was prized for as low as 19,990 on online retailers like FlipKart.

As far as the specifications go, the G3 Stylus sports a 5.5-inch qHD (960×540 pixels) display and is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor paired with 1GB of RAM. The device also includes 8GB internal storage that can be extended up to 32GB via microSD. It also provides cloud storage up to 50GB. The G3 Stylus was launched in Black, Gold and White colour variants.

The G3 Stylus comes with a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, and 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. Connectivity options include 3G, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and NFC support. On the software front, the phone runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat. As the name suggests, LG has bundled a stylus with the smartphone, and has also preloaded apps like Gesture Shot, Knock Code, Smart keyboard, and Quick Memo+ among others.

As always we welcome your views and any questions on the device! Do you think it is worthy of competition with the Note 4?

Yotaphone Dual-Screen smartphone Set to Launch in India via Flipkart!

Good News fellow techies!

It seems Yota Devices, the Russian company popular for its dual-display YotaPhone, is all set to launch its first device in India, if a newsletter from Flipkart is to be believed.
As of now, there is no word about the exact launch day or pricing details about the YotaPhone expected to launch in India, or even which model. Yota Devices have launched two smartphones thus far. The first generation YotaPhone was unveiled at CES last year while started shipping only by December 2013. The company upgraded its original dual-screen smartphone at MWC with the next-generation YotaPhone.

The company at the launch had claimed that the new YotaPhone (2014) is more 'intuitive and interactive', with new hardware and software features, than its predecessor. One of the biggest upgrades in the new device is the full-touch control for its always-on E-ink display, something missing in previous generation device. The new YotaPhone will launch Europe in late 2014, and thereafter in 2015 make its way globally. For now, no pricing details have been given.

The YotaPhone (2014) comes with a quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor and features a 4.7-inch E-ink display. The smartphone is Android-based, and as for version, Yota Devices had only said 'latest' version at the time of launch. The front display, a 5-inch AMOLED offering, bears a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels, with a pixel density of 442ppi. The next-generation YotaPhone is powered by a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 MSM8974 processor with an Adreno 330 GPU, coupled with 2GB of RAM. It includes 32GB of built-in storage (no details about microSD card slot) and sports an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash alongside a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. The handset measures 8.9mm thin and weighs 140 grams. It supports nano-SIM, 2550mAh battery and comes with 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, USB 3.0, Bluetooth v4.0, GPS/ A-GPS and Glonass, and NFC connectivity options.

Google offers free unlimited Google drive storage for students!

Hello fellow techies!

Google on Tuesday announced a newer version of drive which will be made free for students! It includes unlimited storage with a 5TB per file size limit and access to Google apps vault for archived messages.

Google has announced free unlimited cloud storage to the 30 million students and teachers who already use Google Apps for Education. The internet giant is also offering the free storage to anyone whose school wants to sign up for it.

Google is creating a Drive for Education, which will be free to nonprofit educational institutions, and there are no ads. The company also plans to launch a Google Apps Vault by the end of the year that is a compliance-focused tool for administrators that will allow them to search through files within the school's domain. Google's archiving and discovery tool will also be made free for schools.

We really hope our school uses this! What about yours?