Instagram Hits 200 Million Users

It's a testament to Instagram's success that when Mark Zuckerberg revealed the photo-sharing service had crossed the 200-million-user milestone, it barely rated a mention.

The statistic arrived in the middle of an investor-relations phone call explaining why he had just purchased Oculus VR for $2 billion — or more than twice the price of Instagram. Zuckerberg's rationale: Facebook said it would be happy if Instagram hit 100 million users, and now they're at twice that. In other words, you can't always predict where these technologies are going.

Zuckerberg dropped the news a little early to make a point, it seems. Instagram's Tumblr made it official about an hour after the call, and added a few juicy details, including the fact that 20 billion photos (and counting) have been uploaded to the service.

More importantly, 50 million of those users signed up in the last six months, which means Instagram grew by roughly 100% in the last year. The 200-million figure is for monthly active users, Instagram said.

Given such strong growth, and the early appearance of ads on the service, it seems that Facebook got a much better deal than anyone knew at the time — especially as the final stock-based sale price closed at $735 million, rather than the $1 billion most of us remember.

Intel buys fitness tracker maker Basis

Chipmaker Intel says it has bought Basis, the startup behind the popular fitness tracker by the same name, for an undisclosed sum.

The deal, announced Tuesday by Santa Clara, California-based Intel Corp., comes as the still-nascent market for wearable gadgets is heating up. So far, a lot of these gadgets are fitness and wellness trackers. This includes the Basis band, which tracks users' activity level, heart rate, sleep patterns and other data.

 

 Just last week, Google released a version of its Android software tailored for high-tech watches and other wearable devices.

Intel says Basis Science Inc. CEO Jef Holove will now be general manager at Intel's new devices group. The Basis band will continue to be sold and the company's employees will work on ``future wearable initiatives.''

Facebook to buy virtual reality goggles maker Oculus for $2 billion

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook Inc will acquire two-year-old Oculus VR Inc, a maker of virtual-reality glasses for gaming, for $2 billion, buying its way into the fast-growing wearable devices arena with its first-ever hardware deal.

The acquisition, which comes hot on the heels of its $19 billion deal for messaging service WhatsApp, marks a big bet by Facebook to anticipate the next shift in an evolving technology industry, at a time when consumers are increasingly abandoning their PCs for smartphones.

The world's largest social network was deemed late to recognize the shift to mobile devices and the company's revenue has only recently begun to recover from the late start.

Many in the industry believe that wearable devices could represent the next big platform shift. Google Inc has been testing Google Glass, a stamp-sized electronic screen mounted to a pair of eyeglasses for several years. Last week, it introduced an effort to develop computerized wristwatches.

On Tuesday, Facebook said virtual-reality technology could emerge as the next social and communications platform.

"The history of our industry is that every 10 or 15 years there's a new major computing platform, whether it's the PC, the Web or now mobile," Facebook co-founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a conference call with analysts and media on Tuesday to discuss the acquisition.

"We're making a long-term bet that immersive, virtual and augmented reality will become a part of people's daily life," the 29-year-old Zuckerberg said, noting that wearing the Oculus goggles was "different than anything I've ever experienced in my life."

Zuckerberg said Facebook was not interested in becoming a hardware company and did not intend to try to make a profit from sales of the devices over the long term. Instead, he said Facebook's software and services would continue to serve as the company's underlying business, potentially generating revenue on Oculus devices through everything from advertising to sales of virtual goods.

While Oculus will operate as an independent company, Zuckerberg stressed that Facebook's plans for Oculus extended well beyond games.

"Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face - just by putting on goggles in your home," he said.

In addition to game makers, Oculus has garnered some interest from developers keen on creating apps in areas like architecture, automobiles, marketing and education, the company has said.

Shares of Facebook, which have risen 25 percent in the past six months, were down nearly 1 percent at $64.36 in late trading on Tuesday.

Facebook's recent spate of acquisitions is somewhat concerning, RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney wrote in a note to investors on Tuesday. But he said that for a company of Facebook's size, the deal did not seem "irrational."

"The question this time is whether Facebook is too early or simply betting on the wrong platform. This won't be known for some time. But if it gets the platform right, we're relatively confident that Facebook will develop an effective monetization strategy for it, thus boosting its overall financial growth," Mahaney said. 

8 Ways the HTC One Beats the iPhone 5s

8 Ways the HTC One Beats the iPhone 5s is a post by Xavier Lanier from Gotta Be Mobile.

The new HTC One (M8) has several features that will make iPhone 5s users green with envy. While I love my iPhone 5s for several reasons, I wish Apple would borrow some ideas from HTC for its upcoming iPhone 6.  Some of the differences are due to the HTC one simply being a Google – powered android phone, but many others are thanks to HTC’s smart design decisions.

The iPhone 5s is nearly identical to the iPhone 5, which launched way back in September 2012. Fast forward 18 months and the iPhone 5s is starting to show its age while the competition is heating up. Here is a list of eight ways the new HTC One beats the iPhone 5s. Are they reason enough for you to make the switch from iOS to Android?

HTC One’s Big Screen

The HTC One Display is Substantially Larger than the iPhone 5s Display

The HTC One features a 5″ display that delivers full 1080p resolution (1920 x1080 pixels). The HTC One’s display is an inch bigger than the iPhone 5s and is simply better suited for everything from reading news to watching movies.

It’s not that the iPhone 5s’s display is bad, it’s just that it’s stuck somewhere between 2010 and 2012. Apple introduced the Retina Display back in 2010 with the iPhone 4, kept it the same in 2011 with the iPhone 4s and stretched it out a bit in 2012 with the iPhone 5. Nothing changed for the iPhone 5s display in 2013 and now we’re stuck in in 2014 with an iPhone 5s with a display that’s too small for getting the most out of our 4G LTE networks and more powerful apps.

HTC One microSD Card 

The iPhone 5S comes with just 16 GB of storage space for $199.   An extra hundred dollars will bump that up to 32 GB and an extra $200 gets you a 64GB GB iPhone 5s. But what if an iPhone user needs more than 64GB? Unfortunately they’re out of luck since the iPhone 5s doesn’t have a memory slot.

The HTC One M8 Can Stow a microSD Card to Boost Storage

The HTC One M8 comes with 32GB of internal storage plus a memory slot that accommodates microSD cards ranging up to 128 GB.  That means HTC One M8 users can haul around up to 150GB of data, more than double the capacity of the most expensive iPhone 5S and nearly 10 times the capacity of the comparably priced 16GB iPhone 5s. Yes, HTC One M8 users will have to pay for the microSD card of their choice, but I’d much rather pay $39 for a 64GB microSD card when the time comes than running out of storage space. The HTC One M8 camera app can automatically store photos on the microSD card. Android 4.4.2 limits access to copying files to and from an SD card in some apps, but the ability to add storage is still a plus.

Apple really needs to up the next iPhone’s storage capacities to help manage all the HD content available in the App Store and the larger photo and video files the iPhone produces. Apple hasn’t moved the storage needle since it introduced the 16 GB iPhone 3GS four years ago. In fact, Apple’s reverting to smaller storage options by offering a 8GB iPhone 5c in some countries.

 HTC One Camera App and Highlights

The HTC One’s camera isn’t as good as the iPhone 5s’s camera when it comes to pure picture quality, but the HTC One’s camera app offers a lot of flexibility and extras.

One of my favorite things about the HTC One M8  is its Zoe camera mode. Tapping on the shutter button records continuous still photos and video simultaneously. This might not sound like too big of a deal, but it’s a godsend when trying to capture my active toddler and his friend’s antics. The resulting photos and videos are automatically remixed into multimedia videos thanks to the phone’s Highlights feature. I’ve spent way too many hours of my life editing and sharing photos using various editing  and sharing tools. None of them are as easy and satisfying as uploading a Highlight to Facebook, tagging a few friends and calling it a day.

Another feature that the HTC One has that the iPhone 5s does not is Duo Camera. With a couple of taps the HTC One can focus on a subject and blur out distracting backgrounds with the Ufocus effect. The back of the HTC One has an extra camera sensor that collects extra information. This allows users to refocus on different subjects. This creates a bokeh effect that mimics a look usually reserved for big expensive cameras.   Take a look at the example photo below before and after applying the Ufocus effect.

Everything is in focus in the original photo (above) of this fountain in San Francisco. The tourists in the background and the storefront are distracting.

With the Ufocus effect enabled the shot is tightly focused on the bronze mermaid and animals. Everything in the background is blurred to a point where you can’t see any details.

Better Google Integration

Google services and apps generally run better and are more refined on Android devices than the iPhone. That shouldn’t come as a surprise since user’s Google accounts are the core of the Android experience.

While Google does offer plenty of apps for the iPhone, many of Google’s best apps aren’t truly integrated into the iPhone. For example, holding down the iPhone’s home screen launches Siri, Apple’s voice assistant, even if the iPhone is locked. If you want to use Google’s voice search you have to unlock the iPhone using your PIN or fingerprint, launch the Google app, then speak. That means it’s usually easier to just use Siri than relying on Google Now when I’m using my iPhone 5s.

The HTC One offers nearly instant access to the Google App by simply tapping on the Google Search widget on the home screen or tapping on the home icon and swiping up from within any app. Instant access to Google voice search and Google Now makes life on Android just a little easier.

As a Google Glass user, the MyGlass app is important to me. Unfortunately, the iOS version isn’t fully integrated with Google Glass and that means I can’t send or receive messages on it like I can when I’m using an Android device.

HTC One has Better Speakers

The HTC One M8 has a pair of BoomSound speakers facing forward. They’re loud and produce stereo sound that’s far superior to the mono sound piped out of the iPhone 5s’s single speaker. It’s easier to hear movie dialogue on the HTC One than the iPhone 5s. Games and movies have more depth to them on the HTC One than the iPhone 5s because sound is actually split into left and right channels, just like when listening through headphones.

I can’t emphasize enough how much sense it makes to have the speakers facing forward. I don’t have to worry about covering up the HTC One’s speakers with my palms as I hold the device like I do when using the iPhone 5s to watch videos.

HTC One: Google Wallet and NFC

The HTC One supports both Google Wallet and the Isis Mobile payment solution. This means users can pay with their phones rather than credit cards at many retailers by simply tapping the HTC One when checking out. That might sound trivial to some, but it’s always nice to have alternative ways to pay.

Apple does offer Passbook, but it requires retailers to have a Passbook-enabled app and scan barcodes using a laser. Starbucks is where you’re most likely to see Passbook payments in action. While that’s a good start, Passbook simply doesn’t have the same reach as Google Wallet and Isis. Apple isn’t expected to support NFC any time soon. Google does offer an extremely crippled Wallet app for iPhones, but it really doesn’t do much of note. 

HTC One is More Affordable

The HTC One is already available from Verizon Wireless for just $199 with a contract. That’s $100 less than the 32GB iPhone 5s, but that’s just the beginning. Verizon’s already offering a free HTC One with the purchase of an HTC One, effectively hopping the price down to $100 each. If HTC and its partners are offering these kinds of deals right off the bat, imagine what we’ll see in a few months. Verizon has a bit of a head start selling the HTC One and we expect it to get more aggressive with its HTC One pricing once the competition starts selling the device on April 10.

HTC One Wakes Up Happy

The HTC one has a few gesture controls that make it easier to get to where you need to go from a black screen. A swipe up brings you back to the last app or action you were in so you continue where you left off.  Swiping right on the display launches Blinkfeed so you can quickly read an article or two when you have a couple of minutes to spare. Swiping left on the display when it’s turned off will bring up the first page of widgets and apps after Blinkfeed. Holding the phone when off in landscape mode and holding down the volume-down button launches the camera app.

The iPhone 5s goes to the last screen used when it wakes up. Alternatively you can launch Siri by holding down the iPhone’s home button when it’s asleep. Users can get into the iPhone’s camera app by waking the device and swiping up on the camera icon in the lock screen, but it isn’t as convenient as HTC’s method of simply holding down the volume button.

Experimental Gmail Feature For Promotional Emails Might Be Good For Marketers

The new Gmail has not been that kind to email marketers. Firstly, the service introduced an inbox classification which clearly labelled promotional mails as such, thus drastically reducing the open rates for promotional emails being sent by marketers and brands. Users now have a choice to ignore these mails and just look at the inboxes which are necessary. Earlier all mails used to be come through just one inbox and many users would open it. Now, that is not the case when it comes to Gmail users.

Secondly, Gmail now loads images in promotional emails from its own servers as opposed to images hosted on a marketer’s server. This makes it difficult for email marketers to track analytics.  Now, in order to balance their product for marketers, the service is experimenting with a new feature for the promotional email inbox.

According to a blog post put out by Gmail’s product manager, the company is asking users to sign up for a field trial which lets users switch between traditional view and a new visual view of the their promotional inbox.

Here’s a gif showing the experimental feature.

As you can see, users can toggle between the traditional inbox view and visual view by clicking on the views button on the top right hand corner.

This could be an advantage for marketers if they could provide a good visual impetus for their users to check out their communication and ultimately click through to the actual link. Pictures are way more effective than a piece of text and since the traditional inbox an additional step to reach the visual content compared to the visual one, there might be an increase in the number of user engagement with promotional mails.

Line Messenger Offers Free Talk Time of Rs 50 To Indian Users Only

In a bid to compete with WhatsApp and other mobile messaging platform LINE Messenger has launched a new scheme for Indian users. The Japanese mobile messenger is offering its users in India free talk time of Rs. 50.

In order to receive the free talktime, users will have to download the LINE characters in the Love sticker pack and then send these stickers to at least 5 other users in their contact list. Once you do that, you will receive a link to redeem talktime worth Rs 50. Do note that taxes are involved, so the actual talktime you’ll get might be less than Rs 50.

Both prepaid and post-paid customers on platforms such as iOS, Android and BlackBerry, can avail this service by following the above steps. The offer which is available for only India can be availed by users whose mobile number is registered on LINE. Valid valid from 24 March to 6 April, the offer can be claimed only once.

Last month LINE had tied up with Groupon to offer exclusive deals under Groupon Freebies. The Japanese messenger had entered India in July last year and soon crossed 5 million users, three weeks after the download. In October last year, the app 10 million users in India in October last year and over300 million global users in November. It is still way behind Facebook owned WhatsApp which has 35 million users in India and over 465 million users globally.

LINE Messenger is not the first instant messaging service that introduces such an offer in India and we expect more to follow. Hike messenger from BSB  ran a similar promotion last year. Indian customers were offered free talk time rewards in exchange for new signup and invites. The move from Line can be seen as a desperate action to attract users to shift to its platform at a time when the instant messaging market is becoming crowded with established and new players.

Facebook hits 1 billion mobile monthly active users

Not only is Facebook forking over around $2 billion (about £1.2b, AU$2.1b) for the company that makes Oculus Rift, it's also stepping out with some pretty heady numbers for its longer-standing properties.

First up, Facebook's first true love: mobile. Zuckerberg revealed Facebook now has 1 billion active users on its mobile apps. The company repeated its December 2013 figure of 945 million monthly users just last week, but clearly it was time for an update.

Furthermore, Zuckerberg said that looking at all mobile phone usage, more than 20% of peoples' time is spent on Facebook.

The company has made much of its "mobile first" approach, and it appears to be paying off.

Insta-success

As for Instagram, Facebook's first big payout, the photo sharing service revealed today that it has over 200 million users, with over 50 million of those joining in the last six months.

Users sat at 100 million when Facebook purchased the then-tiny team in 2012.

During a call with analysts to discuss the Oculus purchase, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Instagram is "already ahead of where we want it to be."

He assured Facebook won't make multi-billion dollar purchases every few months a regular thing, but with Instagram growing, WhatsApp expected to reach 1 billion people and Oculus Rift's potential as the future of computing, there's certainly some things Zuck is wiling to spend his bucks on.

Bank of India Allows Card-less Withdrawals At Its ATMs

Bank of India (BoI) has adopted a new methodology that allows people to withdraw cash at an ATM without needing a Debit / Credit card.

This week BoI unveiled an interesting and convenient approach to banking by allowing its customers the freedom to send money to other people and then allow the receivers to withdraw the same from their nearest Automated Teller Machines (ATM) without needing a Debit / Credit card. Though this system appears to be quite risky, the Bank has adopted multiple check–points to ensure deposit and withdrawal are secured and authenticated.

How does the transfer and withdrawal work? Under this facility, a Bank of India customer can send money to anyone using regular Bank of India ATMs or through Internet Banking. The primary interconnecting medium will be the receiver’s mobile number.

The sender has to provide the receiver’s Mobile Number, a special sender code as well as the amount to be transferred. The bank has allowed these details to be either transmitted via a simple SMS or via Internet Banking. The beneficiary will then be communicated about the transfer by the bank. The person then has to merely approach any Bank of India ATM, submit the sender code & collect the cash.

Currently, not all BoI ATMs are supported. The receiver will have to approach a BoI ATM that has the Instant Money Transfer (IMT) Facility enabled. However, the bank has confirmed that the facility will cover its entire ATM base currently numbering 4100 within 20 days.

BoI is doing this to enhance the ‘Financial Inclusion’ of the country’s unbanked population. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently allowed card-less cash withdrawal specifically to facilitate financial inclusion in the country. Interestingly, BoI also has the NRI community in its sights. Presently these people employ expensive Money Transfer facilities, but BoI technique will nearly eliminate the high ‘Processing Fees’.

Though not immediately clear, from a security view–point, BoI should mandate receivers to provide proof of identity as well. The facility isn’t restricted only for BoI customers. Being card–less, the IMT facility is extended to ordinary citizens who don’t have any bank accounts.

US to accept H-1B applications from April 1

WASHINGTON: Aspirants for the much coveted H-1B visa could start submitting their applications from April 1, a federal US agency has announced. 

As in the previous years, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) can issue a maximum of 65,000 H-1B visas, which is most popular among IT professionals and companies in IT services. 

With the American economy recovering and much emphasis on information technology sector both by Obama Administration and the private sector, the demand for H-1B visas is expected to be met in the first few days of April 1, experts note. 

"Due to the high level of premium processing receipts anticipated, combined with the possibility that the H-1B cap will be met in the first five business days of the filing season, USCIS has temporarily adjusted its current premium processing practice," USCIS said. 

To facilitate the prioritized intake of cap-subject petitions requesting premium processing, USCIS will begin premium processing for H-1B cap cases no later than April 28, 2014. 

Releasing guidelines for this year's filing process,USCIS said cases will be considered accepted on the date that it receives a properly filed petition with the correct fee. 

USCIS will not rely on the date that the petition is postmarked, it asserted. 

The congressionally mandated cap on H-1B visas for fiscal year beginning October this year is 65,000. 

The first 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of individuals with a US master's degree or higher are exempt from the 65,000 cap. 

"USCIS anticipates receiving more than enough petitions to reach both caps by April 7. 

The agency is prepared to use a random selection process to meet the numerical limit. 

Non-duplicate petitions that are not selected will be rejected and returned with the filing fees," it said. 

3 Survival Tips For Women In IT

After reading the latest horror story of “woman’s STEM career gone bad,” I was particularly surprised by one of the reactions to the sordid account of former GitHub employee, Julie Horvath. When I posted the news report to one of my social media accounts, the only negative response came from another woman, a highly educated former classmate, who conveyed skepticism and her belief that Horvath might have attracted the harassment. I replied that unfortunately I didn’t find this story surprising at all, just depressing.

What I didn’t say was how disappointed I felt by the lack of empathy in her response; it felt like one more expression of personal scorn. I was accustomed to receiving this type of response in the male-dominated tech community. But I expected compassion, not suspicion, from my accomplished female acquaintance.

The worst thing about being a STEM woman is the professional loneliness I experience most days. It’s alienating to look out over a sea of male faces, never seeing myself mirrored back. At some jobs, it has been common for me to go entire days without ever interacting with another woman, unless working with administrative staff.

While there seems to be a few more women in IT, they still haven’t managed to permeate some of the more testosterone-laced domains, such as networking. And when I finally do manage to secure a spot on a technical team with another female, we don’t really know how to relate to each other.