WhatsApp gains hundred million active users in 4 months

 

This is a big milestone for WhatsApp, since the company had announced in January that it had the 700 million monthly active users. That means in a span of over 4 months, they’ve managed to add another 100 million monthly active users.WhatsApp, the social messaging app now owned by Facebook, continues to gain users at a steady pace and has hit the 800 million monthly active user mark. The numbers were put up on a Facebook post by Jan Koum, WhatsApp’s co-founder and CEO.

Koum wrote on Facebook, “WhatsApp – now serving 800,000,000 monthly active users. Reminder for the press out there: active and registered users are not the same thing.”

 

 

The difference between registered users and monthly active users that Koum has pointed out in his post is also an important one. What this means is that WhatsApp has 800 million users who are active on the platform each month. It means that the number of registered users, the ones who might have downloaded WhatsApp on an older number is probably much higher.

The difference between registered users, the ones who sign up but might not necessarily use the service, and monthly active users is an important one because it gives a sense of user engagement on that service. In WhatsApp’s case that’s 800 million currently, which is second only to its parent company Facebook, that boasts of more than 1 billion monthly active users.

WhatsApp is thus ahead of rivals like the Chinese app WeChat which has over 500 million monthly active users as of March 2015. WeChat is the most popular messaging app in China, where WhatsApp is still not available.

For WhatsApp, the spectacular growth hasn’t really meant a lot of profits. According to official results put out by Facebook, WhatsApp lost over $138 million last year. Facebook has so far said that it has no plans of exploring a business-model like say ads with WhatsApp.

Incase you do not have Whatsapp you can download here

Source: Reuters

World First self powered Video Camera

The world’s first self-powered video camera that runs without a battery and can produce an image each second has been developed by researchers led by an Indian-origin scientist. To develop the prototype camera, researchers designed a pixel that can not only measure incident light but also convert the incident light into electric power.
“We are in the middle of a digital imaging revolution,” said Shree K Nayar, TC Chang Professor of Computer Science at the Columbia University, who led the study.
He noted that in the last year alone, approximately two billion cameras of various types were sold worldwide. “I think we have just seen the tip of the iceberg. Digital imaging is expected to enable many emerging fields including wearable devices, sensor networks, smart environments, personalized medicine, and the Internet of Things.
“A camera that can function as an untethered device forever – without any external power supply – would be incredibly useful,” said Nayar.
Nayar realized that although digital cameras and solar panels have different purposes – one measures light while the other converts light to power – both are constructed from essentially the same components.
At the heart of any digital camera is an image sensor, a chip with millions of pixels. The key enabling device in a pixel is the photodiode, which produces an electric current when exposed to light.
This mechanism enables each pixel to measure the intensity of light falling on it. Nayar and colleagues used off-the-shelf components to fabricate an image sensor with 30×40 pixels. In his prototype camera, which is housed in a 3D printed body, each pixel’s photodiode is always operated in the photovoltaic mode. The pixel design is very simple, and uses just two transistors.
During each image capture cycle, the pixels are used first to record and read out the image and then to harvest energy and charge the sensor’s power supply – the image sensor continuously toggles between image capture and power harvesting modes.
When the camera is not used to capture images, it can be used to generate power for other devices, such as a phone or a watch.
Nayar notes that the image sensor could use a rechargeable battery and charge it via its harvesting capability. “A few different designs for image sensors that can harvest energy have been proposed in the past. However, our prototype is the first demonstration of a fully self-powered video camera,” Nayar added.

source: indian express

TOP ANDROID APPS 2015

Most of us enjoy android because of the beautiful graphical user interface (GUI) it offers and of course the "apps"... remember the slogan "you are what you eat". So, the apps you use on your android would go a long to determine how best you would enjoy it... therefore, we have decided to give you some of the best apps (new and old) that are making waves this 2015.

1).    Opera max (free): this is for you if you know you don't have unlimited data plan. This app practically reduces the amount of data your opera browser consumes by shrinking the sizes of pictures and videos? yes videos... it saves you about one-third or half of your data

2).    Pocket (Free) : have you seen an article online and you can't read it maybe because of time or your battery is low, Pocket allows you to save articles and videos, viewing them across any of your devices, Pocket is perfect for bookmarking the things you've missed. You don’t even need an internet connection, as it all works offline.

3). Google Play Music (Free)

Google launched this app last month, and performs a similar task to the Amazon music player it allows you send your music to the cloud at no cost. You can play back tracks using this app, or via any browser on a PC

4).  VLC Player (Free)

Name a video format that some video players cannot play please? are you done? This video player plays practically any video file you can throw at it, VLC Player for Android is indispensable.

It's easy to see why so many PC users have made it their media player of choice. And, thanks to its open-source development, updates are transparent and you always know what functionality your device can or can't support.

 5). Duolingo (Free)

Always said you’d learn a second language but just never got round to it? Perhaps it seemed to daunting to jump into learning German, or the thought of splashing out on lessons you might not even use wasn’t too appealing. Well, this is where Duolingo swoops in and saves the day.

Duolingo lets you learn Spanish, German, French, Italian and five other European languages, and uses the art of gamification to help motivate you to keep learning.

Through a mixture of photos, speech, audio, and typing, you’ll pick up the basics of any language rather quickly. And, thanks to the short lessons you never feel like you’re spending too much time on improving your linguistic skills.

You still have to persevere through tougher sections, but Duolingo helps you through with motivational reminders and the occasional prod to revisit past lessons.

The best part about Duolingo? It’s completely free.

 The apps above are from the observations of the blogger, mind you there are 5 more slots up for grabs for your most favorite app... comment below the name of your favorite app and let
us see if it can take a space in the other available slots....

All apps available on googleplay store

Guide to activate the whatsapp calling feature

okay i know you would have heard the rumours concerning the new Whatsapp voice call feature which allows you make calls using your data instead of airtime. The feature was available on facebook messenger but as we all know Zuckerberg(facebook owner) acquired Whatsapp and now he has integrated the calling feature on whatsapp but this time it is better and smarter. Therefore this is an easy guide for us so that we could activate this feature by ourseves and here are the simple easy steps to follow:

• First thing you need or "ALL" u might need is to get the new version of Whatsapp
• You might get the new calling feature on it but if not den proceed
• you would need someone to that already has to call you incase you don't have i suggest message this number on whatsapp +2348063165119 or +918123745234 you would get it activated.... Ciao

Acknowlegment: Rolly , the next digit

The new Blackberry Leap

At the Mobile World Congress on March 3rd Blackberry unleashed the latest product from their company, the BLACKBERRY LEAP. And this phone has given Blackberry users around the world reasons to leap for joy due to many factors:


 

• Smartphone design like the BB Z3 which means their is no visible keypad i.e on-screen keyboard
• 2800mAH battery which would guarantee you 25Hrs of heavy use
• 16Gb internal memory
• 8Mp rear camera
• supports both Blackberry Apps and Android Apps from the Amazon Store
• it was built with security in mind: it supports anti-malware and encryption features 
• finally, it cost just 180 pounds or 55000 Naira.. Cheap compared to previous models (Z-series)

BlackBerry also announced plans for several other handsets, including a Classic-style keyboard model as well as one with a curved display. I guess they are trying to wake up the Blackberry business once more... we would bring you more as it unfolds


source: Blackberry and tomguide