Here’s why Google Hangouts isn’t as popular as WhatsApp, WeChat or others

Google owns the world’s most widely used mobile operating system, but hasn’t been able to churn out an instant messaging app that everyone could rely on. If you remember, it tried buying WhatsApp for $10 billion. The deal didn’t materialise and it lost to Facebook who bought the most popular messaging app for a whopping $19 billion.

This has left Google with Hangouts, one of the most popular (rather the only) feature to emerge out Google+. Hangout is now a mix of messaging and calls, and everything in between. However, Hangouts hasn’t taken off that well. It hasn’t managed to woo the innumerous users who use Google services, each day.

Going by the most recent figures, as of January 2015, Whatsapp has 700 million active users. WeChat is inching closer with over 500 million users. Even the newbie Hike instantly managed to get 35 million users by last August and aims at 100 million by the end of 2015. Google hasn’t disclosed how many people specifically use Hangouts each month. Its G+ registered numbers aren’t the best way to gauge the number of users who possibly use Hangouts.

Google tried to bring everything – phone calls, sms, messaging and video conferencing – in one place. But that hasn’t worked. GTalk was suddenly replaced with Hangouts and most people started finding it very confusing.

Hangouts doesnt show who is online in your phone contacts list, and that is yet another drawback.  Users usually prefer to see people from their contacts list rather than their Gmail accounts.

However, that’s the differentiating factor when it comes to other messaging apps, here. There is no association with SIM, something most users are looking for in the age of smartphones.

Well, it doesn’t end here. As a product, rather Google product, it isn’t refined. For instance, even on the Play store, Google Hangouts has a rating of 3.9 equivalent to the not-so popular and comparatively new Facebook Messenger. Most messaging apps have a rating of above 4 – Whatsapp has 4.4, Line app shows 4.2 and Wechat has got 4.3 rating.

The Hangouts interface isn’t mobile friendly. It looks clunky and also appears laggy while chatting.

Late last year, the company announced a new messenger app specifically for SMS and MMS. The app UI was based on the new Material Design. Google hasn’t made any changes to Hangouts. We wonder why users need two Google Messenger apps now.

Interestingly, Google Hangout recently got a new update that pits it against arch rival Skype, especially considering Microsoft now owns Skype. However, with Windows 10, Microsoft has tightened its Skype-integration, something to watch out for Google.

Google Hangout is one of the best tools for group video conferencing and also has some cool features like GIF support and others. However, it appears as if no one has even noticed these features. One of its USPs was how it can be used on multiple devices. However, with WhatsApp for web, it’s no more a novelty feature for Google, rather another reason for the giant to worry.

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Microsoft’s Office 2016 desktop suite coming later this year

MS Office 2016

Microsoft made some big announcements earlier this week at the Windows 10 event, but there wasn’t much talk about its productivity suite.

At the Windows 10 preview, it spoke about the lightweight versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote on tablets and phones running Windows 10. They will also be available to download from the Windows Store for other Windows 10 devices. “But they’re really just lightweight versions of the familiar core Office applications and they won’t have all of the functionality of the traditional desktop versions, points out The Register.

In a blog post, the company later announced that it is also working on full Office suite. Following the usual nomenclature, it will be called Office 2016.

The blog post, written by Julia White, General Manager for the Office Product Management team, says, “We are hard at work on the next release of the Office desktop suite that will be called Office 2016. (Unexpected, I know!) We will have more to share on Office 2016 in the coming months, but this suite will remain the comprehensive Office experience you’re long familiar with, best suited for a PC with keyboard and mouse. We have compelling new experiences coming as part of this Office suite–stay tuned to the Office Blog for more details. We expect to make Office 2016 generally available in the second half of 2015.”

So, she hasn’t really disclosed how it will be different from the previous iteration. However, she does hint that it will be “best suited for a PC with keyboard and mouse.”

There is no word on the pricing for Office 2016. On asking, the company didn’t disclose the price if a user downloads them from the Windows Store, or if the Office 365 subscription would be required for full document editing experience, according to the report by The Register.

“A Microsoft spokesperson did say, however, that commercial and consumer Office 365 subscribers would be able to upgrade to the new Mac version at no additional cost, and that a perpetual-license version of Office for Mac would be available in the same timeframe,” adds the report.

Though there is no word on the exact launch, the new suite is expected to be available in the second half of 2015.

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Apple agrees to China’s security checks on iPhones

Apple Inc.

BEIJING: Apple has agreed to China's demand of carrying out security checks on its products, including iPhone, the country's cyber security regulator has announced. The decision makes Apple the first foreign company to accept its proposal on security checks, Cyberspace Administration of China, said.

The move is significant because other US companies including Google and Facebook have earlier refused to undergo security checks. "These firms have had to leave the Chinese market because of their refusals to comply," State media said.

The checks may include software, including the operating system and Safari web browser embedded in the products, informed sources said. Apple stands the chance of attracting disapproval about some aspects of its products or software, sources said.

Apple's decision comes amid sharp growth in iPhone sales in China, which has overtaken the US to become the largest iPhone market. iPhone holds the third position in the country's smartphone market after Xiaomi and Lenovo.

The cybersecurity regulator recently announced government's plans to enforce a new set of rules aimed at maintaining state security and protecting the public interest.

"We're always pushing the rule, hoping it will be published and become effective as soon as possible," Peng Bo, deputy director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, said.

The regulator said last year that it would launch a security review targeting IT products, services and suppliers preparing to enter the country's market. It said that companies that failed the vetting would not be allowed to sell their products in China.

The government wants to prevent Chinese computer systems from being controlled illegally, disturbed or shut down by problematical IT products and the services of some suppliers, as well as protecting users' privacy, it said.

It is not clear what kind of checks and controls are being sought by the cyber security regulator, and if it would involve significant compromises by Apple.

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Microsoft is working on a smartphone-controlled smart scarf

Adding to the most recent announcements about Windows 10 and the ambitious Hololens, some Microsoft researchers are now known to be working on yet another wearable. Interestingly, the researchers are developing a smart scarf.

According to Geek, the Project Swarm (Sensing Whether Affect Requires Mediation) was shown during a presentation at a conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction at Stanford University last week. “Researchers proposed new ideas for how people could physically interact with technology, and for the graduate student and intern researchers at Microsoft, that meant creating a device that reacts to biometric data like emotions,” adds the report.

The scarf prototype is built of hexagonal modules of felt  and copper taffeta. The scarf can be paired with the smartphone using Bluetooth. They’ve also developed the Swarm app that can be used to command the scarf to vibrate or heat up. The team is also working to add some cooling modules to the scarf.

“While the scarf form factor was chosen to make the technology more discreet, according to Michele Williams, co-author of the paper explaining the project, users can also slip it into a more stylish sleeve. But as appealing as this may sound, right now the smart scarf is mostly for academic purposes,” further adds the report.

The report further says that the team also wants to add a music player to it. However, it is still a prototype and one shouldn’t expect it to hit stores any time soon.

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WhatsApp Web — New WhatsApp Feature Allows You to Chat From Your Browser

The most popular smartphone messaging service WhatsApp is now able to communicate with friends from their PC. No Rumours at all !! Enjoy WhatsApp from your desktop from now on.

Last month, it was leaked that Whatsapp was working on a web client and finally from today they are introducing it to the public. The feature is called "WhatsApp Web," which gives its users the ability to read and send messages directly from their web browsers.

How to use WhatsApp on PC/Desktop

1. Interested WhatsApp users simply need to open Chrome and navigate to http://web.whatsapp.com
2. A QR code will appear on the web page, which must be scanned using WhatsApp mobile application to activate the service.
3. By scanning the QR code that appears, users will automatically have paired their mobile WhatsApp with the WhatsApp web client, as shown. 

WhatsApp Web requires that you install and run the latest Whatsapp version of the Android app on your phone. The feature currently works on Android, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry, but unfortunately, there's no web solution at this time for iOS users because of limitations of the platform.

"Today, for the first time, millions of you will have the ability to use WhatsApp on your web browser," WhatsApp wrote in a blog post. "Our web client is simply an extension of your phone: The web browser mirrors conversations and messages from your mobile device — this means all of your messages still live on your phone."

The web version supports desktop notifications so users are notified of new WhatsApp messages even when not checking the web page.

Not only this, the Facebook-owned company is also working on a voice calling feature that WhatsApp will soon launch.

Currently, WhatsApp has 700 million users sending 30 billion messages per day, and is bigger than most of its competitors, including Facebook Messenger, Line and WeChat. This new feature will definitely increase its market.

From 20th Jan, 2015, Whatsapp started banning users for 24-hours those using WhatsApp Plus or any other 3rd-Party client App on their smartphones.

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WINDOWS 10: The best hidden features, advantages and potential functionalities

Microsoft’s new OS would be Windows 10 after the giant’s decision to skip intermediate version 9 after Windows 8. The next version that is touted as much smarter and productivity driven has some definite dynamism over 7 and 8!

Some of the front-line features and boasting upgrades of Windows 10 are:

An enterprise centric OS: 

Windows 10 that is the single OS for all the devices (mobiles, tablets, laptops and desktops) has been hailed as having potential of delivering much to the businesses in the form of certain sought after features that range from data security to productivity.

The new OS has fluent compatibility with the enterprise’s management systems including the connected ICT infrastructures of the company. With seamless integration with the allied components and software, the new OS produces a robust platform for the enterprise’s team to operate.

Another major enterprise oriented benefit of the Windows 10 is the safety of enterprise data from being doled out of the ICT infrastructure of the company. This has always been a huge concern of the companies of all kinds and none wants to loose or share their confidential information with rivals. This has been ensured through the effective buffers between the corporate and personal (user) data of the company. Thus the crucial and confidential files remain under cover unless specifically made available.

Customization is yet another business centric feature that allows the companies to use the new smart OS as per their requirements and orientations by employing their selected business apps of choice. This also ensures overall efficiency for the enterprise in the form of high throughput at the nodes and interfaces of the company.

Objective on screen productivity and Multi-Tasking:

The user can launch multiple desktops that open up as mini windows at the bottom and tell about the apps in use in real time. Moreover, the newly introduced ‘Snap Assist’ user interface allows the user to toggle and share app from different desktops on the screen. This enhances the user competence to utilize apps of business relevance in close consonance.

Continuum Feature:

This is a unique feature introduced in Windows 10 that serves to add switching functionality for the user to opt for the input modes of touch or type. Through this feature this new OS has an advantage over the previous Windows 8 thus eliminating confusing touch/type dual orientation. Now user of device can opt for the mode of input and the duality is done away with user’s choice at the touch n type devices.

The active feedback through the Insider Program of Microsoft:

Microsoft has come up with its unique ‘Insider Program’ for receiving active feedback from its users and enthusiasts from around the world. The users are invited as ‘Insiders’ to share their views and concerns about the functionality and features of the new OS and ultimately will be provided a platform with Company’s engineers and interface team to help built an ultimate Windows 10. This is certainly unique and a deviation from the previous versions.

The high functionality Start Menu:

A well toned up and up scaled Start Menu is boasted by Windows 10 and this menu serves to deliver improved functionality to the user as compared to the previous versions. A good deal of user customization has been brought in where the user can resize the tiles of the Menu.

Besides, the search/navigation has been made easy including the web searches that can be directly worked from the Start Menu.

Improved command prompt:

This is a new addition in Windows 10 and is aimed at providing direct functionality to the techie users. Now there is no need to get to the context menu; instead get it done through Ctrl+V.This is a new addition in Windows 10 and is aimed at providing direct functionality to the techie users. Now there is no need to get to the context menu; instead get it done through Ctrl+V.

Home Tab of the Explorer:

The explorer has a Home Tab that has specialized alignments of folders, favorites and recent files (a files’ specialized version of the Windows Vista feature – Recent Places). Now get on to your destination directly and swiftly.

Recycle Bin on your taskbar:

You can customize Recycle Bin on to your taskbar and have the functionally customized as per your needs.

Additionally, this being a technical preview for the enterprises, the full OS is also likely to have features like Cortana and ‘Notification Tray’ which could potentially define the superiority of the new OS Microsoft.

The technical preview has got a good and welcoming response from the critics and users and is likely to be launched by the end of 2015.

Here’s What Windows 10 Looks and Feels Like

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It’s time for Microsoft to open source Internet Explorer

Being the only closed source mainstream browser isn't a good position.

In the world of mainstream Web browsers, Microsoft stands alone. Apple's Safari browser is a closed source shell wrapped around an open source rendering engine, WebKit. Google's Chrome browser is a closed source fork of an open source shell wrapped around an open source rendering engine, Blink. Opera, too, puts its own shell around the Blink engine. Mozilla's Firefox is entirely open source.

But Internet Explorer is closed from end to end. While the same kind of logical separation as is found in Safari and Chrome exists—the Internet Explorer shell is separate from the Trident rendering engine—both components are entirely proprietary.

This puts Internet Explorer at a disadvantage. While the Web community has a multitude of different priorities and agendas, and the different participants frequently do not see eye-to-eye, it nonetheless has a consistent attitude of openness. Web standards are developed in public, and except for Internet Explorer, Web browsers (or at least, the most important parts of browsers, their rendering engines) are likewise developed in public.

This enables open discussion of and experimentation with new features. The public bug trackers that go hand in hand with the open development lets interested third parties monitor the development of features they care about and even provide detailed feedback before the code has been finalized.

And while it's a minority interest, the availability of source enables the community to find bugs and even contribute fixes.

It's time for Microsoft to fit in with the rest of the browser industry and open up Trident.

One might argue that this argument could be made of any software, and that Microsoft should by this logic open source everything. But I think that the browser is special. The community that exists around Web standards does not exist in the same way around, say, desktop software development, or file system drivers, or user interfaces. Development in the open is integral to the Web in an almost unique way.

One could also argue that there is some precedent with Microsoft's decision to open source large parts of .NET. In open sourcing .NET, Microsoft has been able to solicit feedback from the community—including bug fixes—and improved the ability of .NET developers to detect and diagnose problems both in their own code and in the .NET code.

The community targeting the Web has development expertise, and developing Trident in the open would allow them to bring this expertise to bear on the browser's engine, just as it is doing so for .NET.

Opening Trident's development might have further advantages down the line. It's hard to imagine a world where Internet Explorer for OS X is ever a major concern again, but equally, it's not impossible that one day some industrious developers might make Trident work on that platform.

In so doing, they'd make it easier for designers and developers using OS X to test their projects in Trident, without having to use Windows virtual machines or other such heavyweight approaches. It's not going to revolutionize anything, but it could make Trident a little more relevant to a community that otherwise cares little for it.

Although Microsoft has endeavored to be more open about how it's developing its browser, and which features it is prioritizing, that development nonetheless takes place in private. Developing in the open, with a public bug tracker, source code repositories, and public discussion of the browser's future direction is the next logical step.

Speculation is currently rife that with Windows 10, Microsoft will in some ways put Internet Explorer out to pasture. The browser is believed to have a new name, a new shell, new extension capabilities, and a new, streamlined version of Trident, one that has much of its support for legacy Web pages removed.

This represents an ideal time for the company to make this kind of move. With a cleaned up engine representing a new baseline for future development and a range of new developer-oriented extension capabilities, the time is right for Microsoft to stop being the odd one out and open up Trident. Put it on GitHub, track its bugs and development branches in public, make it a peer to WebKit, Blink, and Gecko.

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