Facebook Messenger Gets To Non-FB Users

SMS just turned 20. Considering everything is getting a makeover in terms of technology and features, it seems quite a few are thinking it's(SMS) getting old. The other Messengers like WhatsApp have gained a lot on top of the short messaging feature. Now Facebook has started with a tweak on its messenger app on Android that lets non-Facebook users to use the Messenger app and interact with their contacts without the use to create(or use) a Facebook account. All you need is a name and a number and you are off.

The access to use the Messenger app without the need to provide a Facebook account details is the first of its kind for the social media giant. The strategy behind the move is unclear but may be due to a couple of facts leading to the realization that web users around the world should be forced to use their FB credentials to use the app which is pretty much a standalone till now and seems like will stay that ways. The second reason (with high chances) that the social media giant are now looking at a good pace towards the messaging system. Facebook is already trying to buy WhatsApp, arguably the leader currently in the messaging services. If the deal gets realized Facebook will more or less walk as the leader in the messaging domain. If however, given the chances the deal doesn't get to Facebook, the social media giant will have a way to stand as a competitor.

Did FB delayed the relaxation in the feature on their Messenger product? Considering what they did with their Camera app besides buying Instagram they still are a bit early by their standards. But yes, like many will think we agree that they made the change (people will love) a little late. The feature has started to be rolled out on a few countries including India. The target for sure is getting more users on board but with a free usage strategy, so the kick is very right and powerful.

Will you start using the Facebook Messenger now that it's not asking you for a FB account and is free to use? How about a WhatsApp vs Facebook Messanger, which one do you prefer ?

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The Best Features of Android 4.2

The newest version of Jelly Bean (Android 4.2) didn't go well initially with the critics. With people citing the issues like the "December Bug" and problems with Bluetooth connectivity, there was a lot more missed than expected in the launch of this flavor version of Android OS. But as always Google and its Android Team made amends (seems like), by fixing the so important December miss and in the process giving the systems running this new version (Android 4.2.1) a speed/performance boost. None the less, we do a review of the best features that 4.2 comes to offer to the few devices that its shipped with and the ones that have started to get the OTA for this version.

Multi-User Access (On Tablets only)
We heard about this for some time now but the feature makes its first presence on the tablets and not on smart-phones. The smart-phones for now have been kept aside as far as multiple users usage is concerned.
For tablet users especially if your tablet is a shared device, this should come to you as a very welcome feature. Tablets on 4.2 are now able to have separate logins for separate users. Which means each user will have their own customized home screen on the device. Cool isn't it? The capability to switch users without a login logout cycle is cool too.

MiraCast
With this feature you can now share your videos playing on the smart-phone with your HDTV. This gets accomplished via a Wi-Fi connection where "Android 4.2 allows devices to enable wireless display". All you need to do is to connect a wireless display adapter to the HDMI port of your TV.

DayDream
Your smart-phone shouldn't be lying somewhere in the corner of your room when not in use. With Daydream you can use the device to display an album or some delightful information when the device is idle or is docked. And by the way, the information could well be "latest news from Google Currents".

Google Now : The place to be
The 20% project at Google, name Google Now has already been a hit since its launch. It has now got more smarter and displays information before you need it. So rather than you asking the app of what info you need, the app smartly decides on the piece of info that you may need at a particular time. For example, it will display today's weather before you start your day, or let you know when the next train will come while you are waiting at the platform. Start you day in a smarter way now !!

Photo Sphere
A photo sphere in the Android 4.2 camera lets you click a picture that covers more than the normal camera on all directions. Android team defines the feature as: "Up, down and all around you, it’s like no camera you’ve ever seen. With Android 4.2, snap pictures in every direction that come together into incredible, immersive photo spheres that put you right inside the scene. View your photo spheres right on your phone, share them on Google+ with your friends and family, or even add them to Google Maps for the world to see."

Gesture Keyboard
Okay so from now on there won't be any need to download a keyboard app that lets you swipe instead of tap the buttons. Android 4.2 camera now lets you gesture with your swipe to give away on what you want to type. "just glide your finger over the letters you want to type, and lift after each word. You don’t have to worry about spaces because they’re added automatically for you".
Android dictionary also gets more powerful and predictive and with improvements in the speech-to-text feature creating messages gets a lot easier.

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Now Pinch-to-Zoom on Android Gmail

May be easy to have missed features but Google just updated the Gmail app for Android with a few very handy and useful features that we were surprised took to 4.2 version of Android to be rolled out. These features were shipped with the current Jelly Bean (Android 4.2) version but now the Gmail Android app has been updated so users with 4.0 (ICS) and above and also use the features on their respective devices.

The Gmail app for Android version-ed at 4.2.1 was released yesterday in the Play Store, making it easier for the users to zoom the mails, archive and/or delete them with just a swipe and (most useful maybe) attach pictures and videos right from within the app. The features(especially the pinch-to-zoom) are not enabled by default and you will need to go to the General Settings for the app (and not the specific settings for a account that you use on the app) to enable them.

Mail Archiving and Deletion
The settings for this are at: Settings > General settings > Swiping conversation list if you prefer to delete from the inbox
All you need is start swiping your fingers either left of right on a particular mail item and they get archived (default setting). Option to undo the action is also available.

Pinch-To-Zoom and Mail Re-size
The mail re-size option comes in handy, especially when the mail gets rusty on the edges or you have some images in the mail. The app now gets smarter and the mail gets re-sized as per your device's screen. The attachments or any pics in the mail are also displayed in larger sizes.
Even after this if you want to zoom in the mail, just pinch the screen while viewing the mail and zoom it like you do a normal pic.
Again, both these settings are not enabled by default, just head over to Settings > General Settings to enable them manually.

Attach Pics and Videos in the app itself
This is the best one. So while we used to choose the share option from any photo app to attach the pics in an email, the app now lets you attach your pics and videos right from within the compose window.

Apart from these for the pics that come to you as an attachment, just tap on the thumbnail to open it while you are in the view mode to open the pic in larger form and then you can swipe through the pics like you normally do while viewing them in a gallery.

Love the updates?Or got any problem with it, share with us in the comments.

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Facebook Rolls Out Photo Sync

If you are already using Android phones, chances are you are already aware of the instant upload feature of Google Plus. Via this feature you are able to upload the photos taken from your handset directly to a private album marked as "Instant Upload" on your Google Plus account. The process is seamless and happens in the background without any interference from your side. The album is totally private and cannot be viewed unless of course you are the owner of the account. Once on the web you could choose to delete or share the photos you like as per your convenience and choice. Facebook has started to roll out the same feature on their Android and iOS devices app.

The details about the app feature are on their site for you to read in case you have any queries. For suing the feature, you will first need to enable it manually on the app. Chances are by now you should have the feature on your Android (and iOS) smart-phone. But if you haven't got it yet, you should have it sooner. To enable it manually just head over to the photos part of your account from your Android or iOS device and you should see a 3rd tab labelled, "Synced".

You could take a look at the settings of the feature to make sure they are what you need. Especially since the feature has a upload-on-cellular-connection feature which may not be a good option for everybody. As you see here the feature is by default turned off and you will manually need to enable it. Our best option is to upload on WiFi connection.

There is a size limit on the total photos that you can upload. The initial limit has been set at 2Gb so make sure you delete the photos that you may not want in the private album. Will the size be increased? Not work as of now from Facebook. On the sync timing Facebook mentioned that they will try to sync your phone gallery with your private album as soon as you take the photo but they will also take on the factors like your battery level in to account. As of the difference in the way(WiFi or Cellular) you choose to sync your photos on, Facebook has made it clear that the uploaded photos will be smaller in size (around 100K each) while using cellular network while using WiFi larger versions of your photos will be uploaded.

Do you think this is a threat to the Instant Upload feature that Google plus is already providing its users with?

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Samsung Launches Android Camera

Using a smartphone camera has its benefits. At least you are not required to carry two devices when you can do with one. But there are occasions you would need to have a actual camera, isn't it? Although certain people may not agree with smartphone vs actual camera thing ;)

Coming back to the camera topic. An actual camera is for every occasion and when the camera is an Android camera, that's an all added advantage. So after Nokia came up with the first ever Android powered camera, Samsung has now started selling an Android powered camera. The camera was launched last week and is now available in India also oat a price of Rs. 29,900.

 Nokia' Coolpix S800c which was launched with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) was launched late August this year. Samsung has launched their piece on Jelly Bean, the latest version of Android flavor. The camera first launched in Berlin around August is now available in India and UK as well and as per Samsung it is to be called the Galaxy Camera which would allow users to take outstanding pictures and share them on social network at the same time.

The Galaxy Camera which has a 3G/4G and WiFi connectivity will let users share their photos without the need to connect the camera with any laptop or computer as such. The camera features a 4.8 LCD all touch screen and a 21x optical zoom. The Android Jelly Bean version used in the camera is 4.1 and it features around 30 editing tools to help your editing skills. It has a 308ppi pixel density and has a 1.4GHz quad core processor embedded inside.

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Google Profiles Inside Play Store Reviews

If you ever gave a review on any app inside Play Store, don't bother looking up your name or anything besides it. The reason is the info box shown above that shows up now when you try to review an app in the market. Any previews reviews that your provided will be shown by the name,  "A Google User".

That's not all you are now forced to link your Google account with the reviews that you put on the Play Store for any app. Good thing we say, people should be able to know who said what. So from now on when you put a review on the Play Store your Google account name will show up besides the review and you may need to defend what you say ;)

This is another attempt of the product integration on part of Google and this is visible too, for your name now points to the Google plus profile. Anyone reading your review will be able to see a quick view of your Google plus profile, like this:

 Looks good?

So what' next? May be publishing your reviews with your circles besides posting them on the play store. Makes sense? Let us know your thoughts on this.
 

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Android 4.2.1 Fixes December Bug

The December month miss bug on Jelly Bean' 4.2 version seems to have been fixed with the latest 4.2.1 OTA of Jelly Bean. This new update is being rolled out to Nexus 7 and 10 and includes the Galaxy Nexus (no news for HSPA devices though) devices as well. The update is only a small one with a size of 1.1Mb so no expectations of any other major fixes.

The OTA started rolling out from Tuesday on-wards and comes in just in time so people using the People app on their devices running 4.2 could now see the December month on the app. The bug however didn't affect the Calendar app in the first place. Although the other issues reported on 4.2 like the Bluetooth connectivity issue are also being heard to have been fixed with this new OTA, but some users are in fact seeing speed/performance enhancements as well, especially on the Nexus 7 devices. The Android Team after realizing the miss of the last month of this year said this in a post before the OTA was made available a couple days back:

"We discovered a bug in the Android 4.2 update, which makes it impossible to enter December events in optional fields of the People app (this bug did not affect Calendar). Rest assured, this will be fixed soon so that those of you with December birthdays and anniversaries won't be forgotten by your friends and family."

The OTA has just started do its OK if your devices(that are in the list to receive the update) haven't still got the system update pop up on the devices. You could either wait for the OTA to come to you (that should be very soon) or try a manual check in your settings area. For those interested in a manual update here are a few links that you may check out:
Download link for Android 4.2.1 for Nexus 7
Download link for Android 4.2.1 for Galaxy Nexus

Please be careful while you choose the manual updates. We don't guarantee a success and a wait is better than a brick ;)

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