Viber Revamps iOS, BlackBerry Apps

The new BlackBerry app features Viber Out calling functionality and the Viber Sticker Market.

Instant messaging service Viber today fills up its mobile dance card with the rollout of a new BlackBerry app, alongside a revamped iOS offering.

Both apps are infused with new features that expand the functionality of the communications platform.

Notably, the iOS 7-inspired iPhone update comes with a minimalist aesthetic and new features, including the ability to send longer video messages.

Viber 4.2 for iPhone also allows users to send multiple photos and videos at the same time. It also comes with the "block list" feature, so you can keep track of unwanted numbers or contacts.

And in the vein of other text messaging services, this update shows the typing status of users on an Android tablet, Linux, Mac, PC, or Windows 8 device. It also promises the usual bug fixes.

"Viber has been redesigned from the start for simplicity and ease of use. For our iPhone release we took our cue from the clean, flat look of iOS 7," CEO Talmon Marco said in a statement. "We wanted Viber to feel like a completely seamless part of the device."

The new BlackBerry app, meanwhile, features Viber Out calling functionality and the Viber Sticker Market—exclusive ways to have fun while staying in touch with family and friends.

"Our BlackBerry 10 app is a beautiful twist on our design, delivering the most up-to-date experience for our users," Marco said.

It also boasts classic features like one-on-one and group conversations, free HD-quality phone calls, push notifications, support for the Viber Desktop Windows and Mac application, and the ability to share photos, videos, voice messages, locations, stickers, and emoticons.

International BlackBerry users can translate the app into 34 different languages, as well.

For more, see PCMag's review of Viber for iPhone and the slideshow above.

Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten acquired Viber in February, snatching up the messaging and VoIP service's 300 million registered users. The $900 million deal places Viber into a pile of 40 services that comprise Rakuten's Web ecosystem, including Buy.com and Kobo.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2456935,00.asp

Google involved in Samsung and Apple legal battle

Jeremiah Yap – Fourth Estate Cooperative Writer

San Francisco, CA, United States (4E) – Google could be dragged into the legal battle between Apple and Samsung. Several documents were presented in court showing emails between Google and Samsung from 2012 that revealed Google’s willingness to help Samsung fight through its patent battle with Apple.

Google was prepared to help Samsung by paying for defense fees and damages ordered to pay to Apple. The agreement was stated in a “Mobile Application Distribution Agreement” between the two companies.

In exchange for financial help, Samsung agreed to feature Google apps on its Galaxy smartphones. Google patent attorney James Maccoun verified the arrangement between the companies in a taped deposition and several outlined documents.

“The deposition did not disclose concrete financial, or strategic details of what kind of compensation Google would offer. Nor did it mention whether other patents in this case were a part of that agreement.

“Instead, Maccoun said simply that the agreement was created for Google to provide a number of its applications to Samsung, and provide backup in the event of a legal issue,” The Verge reported.

Apple wants $2 billion in damages from Samsung.

http://gantdaily.com/2014/04/23/google-involved-in-samsung-and-apple-legal-battle/

Samsung's Galaxy Tab 4 family set for May 1 debut

The Wi-Fi Galaxy tablets, which range between 7 and 10 inches, will hit the US across a variety of retailers. Multiple carriers are also expected to carry 4G LTE versions this summer.

Samsung's latest Galaxy tablets arrive in May.SamsungThe Samsung Galaxy Tab family is getting bigger.

Samsung said on Wednesday that the Wi-Fi versions of its Galaxy Tab 4 line will be offered across a variety of retailers and online stores on May 1. Among those expected to carry the Galaxy Tab 4 are Amazon, Best Buy, Office Depot, OfficeMax, and Samsung.com. Presales will be available for all three tablets starting April 24.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 line will be sold in both black and white color choices and in three size options. The Tab 4 7.0 will retail for $199 while the 8-inch and 10.1-inch versions will carry $269 and $349 price tags, respectively.

Looking ahead to summer, Sprint is expected to carry the 4G LTE version of the Tab 4 7.0. T-Mobile will offer the 4G LTE version of the Tab 4 8.0, and Verizon will sell the 4G LTE version of both the Tab 4 8.0 and the Tab 4 10.1. AT&T, for its part, will sell a 4G LTE version of the Tab 4 though it isn't immediately clear which size(s).

Samsung, which is the second-largest manufacturer of tablets behind Apple, is looking to continue gaining ground through its strategy of flooding the market with devices of multiple sizes.

http://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-outlines-u-s-debut-for-galaxy-tab-4-line/

Google Adds 'Time Travel' Feature to Street View

See how a location has changed over the past seven years using Google's new time capsule feature.

Google is turning back time with a new Street View feature that shows users how a place has changed over the years.

By adding historical imagery from past collections dating back to 2007, the search giant has created a digital time capsule of the world.

"Now with Street View, you can see a landmark's growth from the ground up, like the Freedom Tower in New York City or the 2014 World Cup Stadium in Fortaleza, Brazil," Street View product manager Vinay Shet wrote in a blog post.

The new feature also serves as a digital timeline of recent history, he said, pointing to the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Onagawa, Japan (pictured).

Look for a clock icon in the upper left corner of a Street View panorama, and you can move a slider to see how your neighborhood has changed over the last seven years. Skim through the timeline to find a particular moment in history, then click it to open a full-screen view.

VIEW ALL PHOTOS IN GALLERY

"You can even experience different seasons and see what it would be like to cruise Italian roadways in both summer and winter," Shet said.

The feature did not appear to be live for those of us here at PCMag, but the global rollout could take some time to reach everyone.

Alongside the time-travel feature, today's update boosts Street View to 12 million miles worth of interactive photos, according to the Wall Street Journal.

This time lapse function will offer two or three "time slices" in most Street View locations; major metro areas will include 20 or more, Google Maps Street View director of engineering Luc Vincent told the Journal.

Time travel is currently restricted only to the desktop version of Street View.

"Forget going 88 mph in a DeLorean—you can stay where you are and use Google Maps to virtually explore the world as it is—and as it was," Shet said. "Happy (time) traveling!"

It turns out Google's mapping technology, which recently added Cambodia's Angkor Wat, is good for more than an armchair holiday. Last week, researchers stumbled upon a flaw in CAPTCHA challenge-response tests which can be exploited using a new Street View algorithm.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2456988,00.asp

WhatsApp now has more than 48m active users a month in India

India appears to be one of the fastest growing market for the messaging app with over 4 million active users joining every month.

WhatsApp

The WhatsApp messaging service is doing really well in India. According to a report by BGR India, WhatsApp spokesperson Neeraj Arora told the site that the company now has more than 48 million active users a month.

There were 40 million monthly active users in India in February, which translates to about 4 million new users a month.

WhatsApp has grown pretty big -- a recent report says the company has reached half a billion users, with Brazil, India, Mexico and Russia listed as countries with the fastest growth.

The messaging service was recently acquired by Facebook for $19 billion, and if this growth is anything to go by, it looks like Facebook's money has been well spent.

http://www.cnet.com/news/whatsapp-now-has-more-than-48m-active-users-a-month-in-india/

Microsoft's Cortana mixes AI with human-added humour

7 hours ago

Earlier this month Microsoft unveiled its smart virtual assistant, which will work on Windows Phone smartphones, and eventually across other services too.

Cortana has been described as a cross between Apple's Siri and predictive assistant, Google Now. It is inspired by the digital guide in Microsoft's bestselling console game franchise Halo.

Microsoft hopes Cortana will prove compelling enough to tempt smartphone users away from Android and iOS to Windows Phone, which is currently a distant third in global smartphone sales.

The app can perform mundane tasks such as letting you know everything from the weather forecast, through to location-based reminders - for example nudging you to buy some milk when you get to a particular grocery store.

But it also has a vivacious personality, as the BBC's North America technology correspondent Richard Taylor found out over a brief encounter with the software and its "master chief" - Microsoft natural language guru, Larry Heck.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27121199

Google Inc extends reach into mobile apps with new ad feature

Google Inc will allow marketers to run online ads that send consumers to a page directly inside a mobile app, furthering the Internet company's effort to extend its multibillion-dollar advertising business to smartphones.

The new advertising feature helps Google bridge the gap between the traditional public Web pages that have long underpinned its search business and the increasing number of standalone, mobile apps popular with consumers. Mobile apps, which are dedicated to everything from restaurant reviews to online games, have typically been walled off and difficult for Google to integrate into its search engine results.

Last year Google began to offer so-called "deep linking" capabilities with a limited number of participating mobile apps. A smartphone user searching for Thai restaurants in San Francisco, for example, might see a link that opens up a page inside the OpenTable restaurant reservation app.

With Tuesday's move, marketers will be able to provide the same direct pathway into their apps from the search ads and display ads that they run on Google websites. That will help companies boost the amount of time that consumers spend using their mobile apps, Google said.

The new feature, which Google said will be available in the next few months, will initially appear only on smartphones that run on Google's Android software.

Google, the world's No. 1 Internet search engine, generates the vast majority of its revenue from advertising. But its ad rates, like those of other Internet companies, have been under pressure as more consumers access its online services on small-screened mobile devices, where advertising rates are lower than on PCs.

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/google-inc-extends-reach-into-mobile-apps-with-new-ad-feature/1243080