The leaked images of the upcoming user interface shows that the app has been enabled with other language translations which will be displayed at the time a person receives a call via WhatsApp. Whatsapp has already included the translation feature in the latest version of its application. Acquisition by Facebook, is making frequent changes in its application to make it more user-friendly and appealing to users. The voice call feature can be their next move in the direction.

WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum said at MWC for a Q2 2014 -

“We are going to introduce voice in WhatsApp in the second quarter of this year. I think we have the best voice product out there. We use the least amount of bandwidth.”

The voice calling feature is all set to be released on WhatsApp, there is no update if there is going to be a similar feature on Facebook. Facebook-owned WhatsApp has witnessed a 15 percent rise in its traffic since the acquisition. WhatsApp has crossed 50 million active users in India alone.

Facebook went down for 20 minutes yesterday afternoon. Outage lasted from from about 12:08 p.m. to 12:27 p.m.. So for the 19 minutes no one could use it, Facebook just lost roughly $426,607. Being down for 30 minutes also has a financial cost, especially when that website has over 1 billion users.

While being down for 30 minutes doesn’t seem like a long time, it’s an eternity for those trying to see their status updates, share their latest pictures and like what their friends have been sharing.

The incident happened Thursday when users were met with the message, “Sorry, something went wrong. We’re working on getting this fixed as soon as we can.” It appears the problem arose when the company was updating the configuration of one of their software systems.

Facebook spokesperson said -

“Earlier this morning, we experienced an issue that prevented people from posting to Facebook for a brief period of time. We resolved the issue quickly, and we are now back to 100%. We’re sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday said his meeting with Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg was very fruitful as they discussed ways to use this platform for governance and better interaction between the people and governments.

Modi said on his facebook page -

“A platform such as Facebook can be used for governance and better interaction between the people and governments. I also talked about how Facebook can be used to bring more tourists to India.”

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said after meeting -

“He told us how he believes that direct communication with people all over the world is critical to effective governance and he plans to continue using Facebook and other social media to communicate with the people of India and the world.”

Modi said that there was an intent to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary year with a special focus on cleanliness and he spoke to Sandberg on how Facebook can assist in this endeavour.

During the meeting Sandberg expressed appreciation to Modi for making the education of girls and women a priority, as equal opportunity is essential for strengthening all economies and creating a just world.

Facebook has refreshed its iOS Messenger application, redesigned from the ground up last November, with a few new features.

Facebook Messenger 5.0, available free for the iPhone, with its newly added ability to exchange video messages from your library with other Messenger users.

You can also choose to take photos and send them from within Messenger, without needing to leave your current message. You can now also send videos from your camera roll over Messenger.

Update in the Messenger are -

• More ways to message: Everything’s front and center, so it’s easier to send photos, voice messages and more.
• Video: Send videos from your phone’s camera roll and when people send you videos, play them right in the app.
• Instant photo sharing: Take a photo and send it in just one tap, without leaving the conversation.
• Shortcuts to stickers: When someone sends you a sticker, press and hold down on it to get the pack.
• Improved search: Enter the names of people and groups to find them quickly.
• Other fixes, including to stickers and groups.

On Thursday, the social network announced the first significant feature Called Nearby Friends for its core product in over a year, it lets users see which of their Facebook friends are in physical proximity to them.

With Nearby Friends, Facebook is offering users a direct connection with each other that it has never offered before. The feature works on devices running both Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android operating systems.

Working :

If users enable it — found in the “more” section at the bottom right corner of the app — they can see what city and neighborhood a friend is in, how many miles away they are, and how long ago they were there. They then have the option to message or call the friend to make plans.

Facebook said it’s not using its new Nearby Friends feature to target ads yet, but after I asked why it’s tracking “Location History” it admitted it will eventually use the data for marketing purposes.

But the new Facebook “feature” is pretty dangerous. It is sending your location information on a continuing basis into a network run by Facebook. Among the problems: your GPS is always on if you use this APP, meaning you can be followed by hackers, intruders or government agencies more or less at will. And Facebook itself, which is not a secure system, also can be targeted by the same folks.

With over 100 million users as of March 31, India is now the only country where Facebook can aspire to have 1 billion users, thanks to a growing base of Internet users (currently around 200 million) and increasing proportion of mobile phone subscribers in its over 1.23 billion population.

Top 5 Facebook user countries :

• US
• India
• Brazil
• Indonesia
• Mexico

“Today, we have more than 100 million people who access Facebook actively in India each month,” Mr D’Souza was quoted in local media on Wednesday as saying.

“Now, we look forward to one billion in India – that’s a different focus and challenge,” Mr Javier Olivan, who looks after global growth in Facebook, told the Economic Times newspaper.

Facebook, which was set up in 2004, had 1.23 billion users across the world, as of December 31, 2013. “If Facebook continues its current growth trajectory, we can see it as a core communications tool for the world,” says Neha Dharia, analyst with UK-based research firm Ovum.

Facebook rolled out with voice calling feature to its Messenger users by offering a ‘Free Call’ option in the chat window’s menu button on Android and ‘I’ button on iPhone

Users have to simply select a conversation thread with a friend, and then tap on the 3-dot menu overflow icon on the upper right corner. You will find “Free Call” in the drop down menu, if your contact also has the ability to receive calls over data connection.

Facebook first introduced the feature for iOS users in US and Canada in January 2013. It was extended to Android users in April 2013. Facebook is looking to compete against other messenger apps like Line and Viber, which offer voice calling features

Users can download the latest version of Facebook Messenger for Android from the Google Play Store.

]]> https://telenews.in/2014/03/18/facebook-messenger-now-provides-voice-calling-option-in-the-chat-window-for-android-users-in-india/feed/ 0 https://telenews.in/2014/03/10/privacy-concerns-raised-over-facebook-whatsapp-deal/ https://telenews.in/2014/03/10/privacy-concerns-raised-over-facebook-whatsapp-deal/#comments Mon, 10 Mar 2014 06:37:52 +0000 https://telenews.in/?p=680

On March 6, a US-based privacy group asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to review, and if required block, the Facebook-WhatsApp deal to guard the privacy of over 450 million users who installed the app on their phones.

In its complaint to the FTC on March 6, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) says that Facebook regularly collects all data that it possibly can on its users and that exposes Whatsapp users to privacy risks.

Announcing the deal, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said “WhatsApp will continue to operate independently within Facebook”.

His words were echoed by Jan Koum, WhatsApp CEO and co-founder. “You can continue to enjoy the service for a nominal fee. And you can still count on absolutely no ads interrupting your communication. There would have been no partnership between our two companies if we had to compromise on the core principles that will always define our company, our vision and our product,” he wrote on the company’s official blog.

Facebook has acquired Instagram for nearly a billion dollars in cash and stock.

This is an important milestone for Facebook because it’s the first time they have ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don’t plan on doing many more of these, if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.

Main highlights of this deal are -

• The 13 employees of photo-sharing service Instagram are celebrating today after learning they are set to become multimillionaires following the company’s $1billion takeover by Facebook.
• The deal comes eight years after Mr Systrom turned down Mark Zuckerberg’s offer to join the Facebook team in 2004 – before it shot to success.
• Providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love ‘Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.

“Sorry we have a tendency to presently experiencing server problems. we have a tendency to hope to be keep a copy and recovered shortly,” WhatsApp aforesaid during a message on Twitter that was retweeted over 25,000 times in exactly a couple of hours and angry ridicule as a result of it comes thus shortly once Facebook’s hefty acquisition.

In the early hours of Sunday at regarding 1:30am IST, some WhatsApp users found they were unable to attach to the app, whereas others complained their messages weren’t inquiring.

WhatsApp didn’t say however long the outage lasted, however regarding a 2.5 hours later it tweeted once more to say: “WhatsApp service has been reconditioned. we have a tendency to compassionate the downtime”

Techcrunch instructed the matter may well be right down to “a surge of signups and usage that has overladen its servers” once the substance the app garnered following Facebook’s announcement on Wednesday.

Facebook is sporting large on mobile with the fulgurous cash-and-stock deal for WhatsApp, that was solely started 5 years past however has quickly mature as a free different to text messages.

It is Facebook’s biggest acquisition and comes but 2 years once the California-based web star raised $16 billion within the richest school sector public stock providing.

Neither WhatsApp nor Facebook were right away on the market for comment.