Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Software : BlackBerry Messenger is now coming pre-installed on new LG phones

Software : BlackBerry Messenger is now coming pre-installed on new LG phones

BlackBerry Messenger is now coming pre-installed on new LG phones

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BlackBerry Messenger is now coming pre-installed on new LG phones

BlackBerry Messenger is a success, which means it's time to start installing it on phones whether or not their users actually want it.

LG and BlackBerry announced today that the BBM app will come pre-loaded onto LG phones out of the box, starting with the LG G Pro Lite.

BlackBerry Messenger launched in full for iOS and Android in October, and BlackBerry said it was downloaded more than 10 million times in the first 24 hours.

Apparently people like the messenger app; this announcement with LG also noted that it's extremely popular in the Middle East, Africa and Indonesia.

Global messaging

"People across the globe are using BBM to connect with each other and the enthusiasm has been phenomenal," BlackBerry Executive Vice President for BBM Andrew Bocking said in the announcement.

BlackBerry announced in November that BBM would begin to come pre-loaded onto smartphones in Africa, India, Indonesia, Latin America and the Middle East, though only on regional OEMs initially.

LG is the first major OEM to give BBM the same treatment, and it's likely more will follow.

BBM voice and video are coming

BBM arrives pre-loaded first on the LG G Pro Lite, though other LG phones will definitely follow.

The 5.5-inch, dual SIM LG phone provides "an optimized BBM experience," this announcement said, thanks to its high-quality display and included stylus.

The existing BBM app features one-on-one and group messaging, plus photo, file and voice note sharing.

BlackBerry promised that its Messenger app will "continue to evolve for Android and iPhone users" and re-iterated that BBM voice and video calling will arrive "in the coming months."

The same goes for BBM Channels, a new service that "intimately" connects BBM users to communities with shared interests. BBM Channels is already available on BlackBerry 10 devices, and should arrive on Android and iOS soon.

Developer StackMob joins PayPal

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Developer StackMob joins PayPal

StackMob, a development team that created a platform for companies to easily create mobile applications, has been picked up by PayPal's payments unit.

The StackMob website claims that the San Francisco-based team has been "fundamentally changing the way developers build mobile applications". The developer will join PayPal's core engineering team to help refresh its platforms, ready for future development of apps and services.

Announcing the news on the company's blog, PayPal chief technology officer James Barrese said, "We are thrilled to have the StackMob team put those same skills and expertise toward enhancing PayPal's technology stack."

PayPal did not disclose the terms of the deal between the two. Due to rumours of low asking prices and rejection of the company by other online firms such as Yahoo, however, it may not be a blockbuster fee.

Battle for m-commerce

StackMob CEO Ty Amell said the reason he sold the four-year old startup was because monetisation and payments remained a constant challenge for them. It isn't clear whether PayPal will support StackMob clients, which Amell wrote would be communicated "very soon".

PayPal processed $4 billion ($2.44 billion, AU$4.4 billion) in mobile payments in 2011, nearly $14 billion (£8.5 billion, AU$15.7 billion) in 2012 and predicts it will process over $20 billion (£12 billion, AU$22 billion) in mobile payments in 2013. It has been a cash-machine for parent company eBay, accounting for 42 per cent of its revenue last quarter. A large part of this is down to exponential increases in mobile retailing. Scooping up mobile developers, PayPal is arming itself in the looming battle over who is king of m-commerce.

In 2011 PayPal acquired WHERE, a Boston startup that focused on location technology and data for mobile advertising. In September this year the company picked up mobile payments company Braintree, whose app Venmo enables fast and easy mobile payment, for $800 million (£489 million, AU$898 million).

Google Glass software update to bring MyGlass to iOS

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Google Glass software update to bring MyGlass to iOS

The search giant has released a new software update for Google Glass, and with it will come the MyGlass app for iOS.

Google says that the iOS app will have all the features that's already available for Android, including integration with Glassware apps like Google Search, Gmail and Google Plus, and also with the ability to mirror what you're seeing through Glass on your iDevice.

Optimised for iOS, the Glass companion app will be up for free in Apple's App Store by the end of the week.

Wink, wink XE12

Besides MyGlass for iOS, the XE12 update, which is being rolled out for both the new Glass hardware as well as the older iteration, sure does bring a lot of new features, while doing away with a few.

First up, there's no longer a need to say "OK, Glass, take a picture". With what Google is calling an "exploratory" feature, you'll be able to snap pictures with just a wink - which may worry non-Glass owners and may make Glass owners look a little more creepier.

On the other hand, your Glass will be a little safer with a screen lock, which activates when it powers down or you remove the Glass, though it isn't clear yet how you will be able to unlock the device.

Google has also removed the "Guest Mode" feature, which will likely make sharing and showing off the device even more difficult.

New wares

Speaking of features removed, XE12 will also no longer attach a "Sent through Glass" tag to SMS messages, but there's no sign of being able to deactivate the signature on emails yet.

Google Search cards, YouTube and Google Music Glassware functionality have all been beefed up as well, while Google has also added a "Glass must cool down" warning for when the hardware starts to overheat.

But in terms of all new Glassware apps, Hangouts is finally making its debut on XE12, which is sure to make keeping in touch with people easier.

Apple seeks to stamp out Mac OS X Gmail woes with Mavericks update

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Apple seeks to stamp out Mac OS X Gmail woes with Mavericks update

Apple has rolled out its first significant update for the Mac OS X Mavericks software, which it hopes will stamp out lingering issues Gmail users are experiencing.

The Mavericks 10.9.1 update promises to resolve reliability for Google's email client within the Mail app, while also pledges to improve the stability of Smart Mailboxes and Search in Mail.

Beyond email boosts, the software bump also seeks to dispose of a problem with VoiceOver which prevented the Mac speaking sentences that contain emoji.

Safari has also been upgraded to v.7.0.1 to wipe out problems with autofill and filling out forms on some websites, while there's also a fix for an issue that prevented iWork and iLife updates on non-English Macs.

Patch for a patch

The update arrives following the launch of a Mail for Mavericks patch last month, which Apple pledged would take care of the issues for Gmail users. Obviously, that fix didn't go far enough.

Also, Mavericks 10.9.1 arrives after a long wait. It was seeded to Apple developers back in November. Thankfully, for those experiencing the issues, it can be downloaded now from the Mac App Store.
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