Monday, 25 November 2013

Do you need a smartphone with 1080p display?

11/25/2013 10:38:00 am TECHNOLOGY No comments

Do you need a smartphone with 1080p display?

A 1080p phone, on the other hand, has an insane amount of pixels in comparison.

If 1080p in a phone sounds like a lot, that's because it is. When the first iPhone with a "retina display" came out, it packed a 3.5" screen with a resolution of 960x640, giving it 326 pixelsper inch (or ppi). Notably, when Apple increased the physical size of the iPhone to 4", it also increased the resolution to 1136x640 which is still 326ppi. In most cases, 300ppi or so exceeds what the human eye is able to distinguish at a normal viewing distance (which is what Apple's "Retina" is supposed to refer to).

A 1080p phone, on the other hand, has an insane amount of pixels in comparison. In a 5" phone, a display of 1920x1080 has a whopping density of 440ppi. If you go down to, say a 4.7" phone like the HTC One, you reach 468ppi. That's a resolution that's about 50% higher than what most human eyes can readily distinguish under normal usage. You can probably see pixels if you squint really close, but is there any real benefit to going up this high?

High resolution displays use more battery power
It's impossible to add more pixels to a device without needing power to run them. Some types of panels like AMOLED only light up pixels as they're needed, which means you can conserve some power by using darker themes, but LCD displays will light them all up no matter what, which requires more juice. Not only to physically turn them on, but it also requires battery power to run the processor harder to account for the added complexity (which we'll come back to in a bit).

Just how much extra power does it take? Well, when Apple released the 3rd generation iPad with "retina" (here defined as 264ppi), it came with a whopping 11,666 mAh battery, which was 70% larger than the battery in the previous generation. However, it still only promised the same 10 hours of use. Why? Well, it would be oversimplifying to say it's solely because of the new display, but it's also correct to say that doubling the ppi over the previous tablet (132ppi for the iPad 2) would require a significant increase in power consumption.

You can somewhat see this reflected in Android phones as well. While Android phones vary wildly in battery size, the ones that last the longest are also typically the ones with the biggest batteries. LaptopMag rated the LG G2 as the Android phone with the best battery life around. It also carries a 3,000 mAh battery. Comparatively, the Moto X has a 720p display with 2,200 mAh battery. Both phones will run a full day (and the G2 can actually run longer than that), but larger batteries don't make phones more efficient. They're more akin to Hummers with large tanks than a fuel-efficient hybrid.

High resolution displays use more processing power
While powering all those pixels will have a direct effect on battery life, they'll have to go through some processing power on the way. How much is difficult to gauge since there are so many factors that affect performance and efficiency in software. However, as one independent game developer explained to us, increasing the number of pixels in a display will always tax the GPU more:

These higher res screens tax fragment shaders (which do the processing for each pixel) on the GPU more. That means you get worse battery life for the same GPU/battery because for all applications more pixels need to be processed. It also means that in anything that actually gets near the limits of the hardware you have (primarily games), you're going to hit those limits much more quickly. Especially because, in games, the fragment shaders are, the vast majority of the time, going to be the primary bottleneck.

In most cases, we accept this trade-off because things look nicer. However, since the human eye can't tell much of a difference between a 300+ppi display and a 400+ppi display, the extra processing power needed to run those pixels is mostly wasted. Ironically, having a higher resolution display can result in worse-looking graphics purely because the GPU is wasting time on rendering more raw pixels (that you probably can't see), instead of allowing developers to use those resources on adding more elements or details (like the advanced particle systems, lighting effects, and texture mapping you see in advanced AAA games).

High resolution displays are Good for CJK characters
There are, however, a few benefits to having a high resolution display-like CJK characters. If you haven't heard of CJK characters, then this benefit doesn't apply to you. CJK stands for Chinese, Japanese, or Korean characters. Unlike the Latin-based alphabet that consists of a small collection of a couple dozen or so distinct symbols that create words based on combinations, CJK symbols can be distinct words on their own and potentially bear striking similarities to different words.

The question of whether or not super high-resolution displays actually aid in reading CJK characters is, as with anything, highly subjective. However, text is one of the first things to become illegible at low-resolutions and CJK characters are considerably more complex than Latin ones.

Keep in mind that, while it's true in an overwhelming majority of cases that a ppi exceeding 300 is overkill, it depends heavily on how good your eyesight is and how far away you view your device. You probably don't normally look at your phone three inches away from your face, but if you do, 300ppi might not be enough.

If you have a need to read text using CJK characters, your best bet is to just look at a phone with a 1080p display yourself, hold it the way you normally hold your phone, and see how it feels for you. However, if you stick with latin-based characters, it's equally likely that trying to distinguish between two screens will just result in your brain playing tricks on you.

Ultimately, your phone choice is up to you and none of them are particularly bad. However, the higher up the ppi in phones get, the more questionable the benefit is. Even if you feel a tangible benefit to a 1080p display in a 5" phone, it won't stop there. LG, for example, recently showed off a 5.5" display with a mind-boggling 538ppi. Arguments about viewing distances, special characters, and "retina" definitions aside, there's an upper limit for phone displays and we're straddling that line now. Chances are for most consumers, worrying about battery life and performance should be a much higher priority
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'Samsung Galaxy S5' metal frame leaked

11/25/2013 10:37:00 am TECHNOLOGY No comments

'Samsung Galaxy S5' metal frame leaked

Images of a metal frame of Samsung Galaxy S5 have leaked online. Image courtesy: NoWhereElse

NEW DELHI: Samsung has long been derided for its range of top-end smartphones with plastic body, but speculation has been rife for the past few months that the upcoming Galaxy S5 will have a metal body. And now, images of a metal frame of the smartphone have leaked online.

French website NoWhereElse, which is behind several accurate leaks in the past, has released the images of a metal frame, allegedly of the upcoming Samsung device.

According to the report, the metal frame was provided by a Samsung sub-contractor, which has been asked to manufacture it without specifying the model. Since Galaxy S5 is said to be the first Samsung smartphone to have an all-metal body, it is expected that this frame will be used in the same device.

The frame is 143.83mm in length and 72.27mm in width, compared to the 136.6mm long and 69.8mm wide Galaxy S4. These dimensions suggest that the upcoming top Samsung phone will have a larger screen than 5-inch. It is rumoured that the Galaxy S5 will have 2K display resolution and 560ppi pixel density, the highest for any smartphone.

Samsung may reposition the camera and earphone jack in theSamsung Galaxy S5, going by the design of the frame. The cut-out for the camera module in the frame is located at the top-right corner.

Except for the first Galaxy S, the camera module has been positioned along the mid-line in all top Samsung smartphones. The earphone jack is placed at the bottom instead of the top, as has been the case with all smartphones by the South Korean company.

An earlier report had said that Samsung is preparing a new Galaxy F line of devices, which will be placed above the S and Note series. The repositioned camera and earphone jack have also given rise to speculation that this frame may belong to one of the smartphones in the rumoured Galaxy F range.
Samsung has said it will launch its first smartphones with bendable screens and 64-bit CPUs next year. It has also patented the design for a smartphone with metal body. It was recently reported that it will launch a handset with screens on the front as well as the left and right sides
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Vegetables you should avoid

11/25/2013 10:36:00 am HEALTH TIPS No comments

Vegetables you should avoid

Vegetables you should avoid (Thinkstock photos/Getty Images)

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While we recommend vegetables in every shape, colour and form, not all vegetables are healthy when consumed in certain unhealthy ways.

Most vegetables when eaten in their natural form, cooked at home, are great, but we don't always eat vegetables like that, do we? And what about the other stuff that we put in our gravies calling them vegetables just for namesake? Here are some of those so-called vegetables that you should stay away from...

1. Veggie chips: You skip potato chips because of the starch and the lack of nutrition. But are veggie chips any better? Not really, especially if they are store bought. If you read the label at the back of the packet of veggies chips, the first ingredient is potatoes and corn, which to be honest isn't any better than regular chips. You would be better off making your own veggie chips rather than buying veggie chips from the store.

2. Vegetable dips : When you go shopping for healthy dips, imagine your excitement when you see spinach dip or sundried tomato dip. But if you think that spinach is the main ingredient in spinach dip think again. Yes, it does contain healthy spinach, but it's also chock-full of heavy cream, mayo and cream cheese, and quite often topped with breadcrumbs or croutons.

3. Corn: Corn is not a vegetable, it's a grain. So while it is delicious and you love it, enjoy it by all means. Just don't count it in your veggie quota. If you are eating a corn 'vegetable' with your chapatti, then you are indeed just eating grains for your lunch and there's really no veggie in that lunch box. So corn is better avoided as a vegetable.

4. 'Gatta nu shaak' or gram flour dumplings: If this or any other so called 'vegetable' like this is part of your daily vegetable allowance, then it's time to change that. Though you know it's not really a vegetable, you should not even be associating it with the word - veggie. You would rather eat your rice with just daal if you don't have proper veggies to eat it with. But get out of the habit of calling dishes like this one a vegetable.

5. Canned vegetable soup: It's easy to think that the food manufacturers are doing you a favor by preparing a delicious, hearty - and frequently low-calorie - vegetable soup, but the reality is there are a multitude of evils hidden in that can. High sodium content aside, many of these soups also contain honey, sugar and other sweeteners - whether real or artificial - that can amount to as much as 15g of sugar per half-cup serving!

Eat your vegetables as they are, by trying to retain as much of their original colour and nutritionas possible. Cook them lightly, stir-fry, pan cook, flavour with as little masala that is palatable and learn to love the natural taste of healthy vegetables. Once you love these subtle flavours, you can enjoy then without trying to mask their taste in anyway.

Sebi to increase headcount; finalises 75 applicants for officer level job

11/25/2013 10:35:00 am EDUCATION No comments

Sebi to increase headcount; finalises 75 applicants for officer level job

Market regulator Sebi today finalised 75 applicants for the officer level job as part of its plan to beef up its headcount for faster and more effective execution of newly granted powers.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said that these “appointments are subject to satisfying the age limit, educational qualification along with minimum marks (as required) and other eligibility criteria.”

Sebi has embarked upon a major recruitment drive to carry out its newly granted powers and expanded role to regulate various segments of capital markets, while safeguarding the interest of investors from fraudsters and other manipulators

Earlier, Sebi has short-listed only 247 candidates for a personal interview from the several thousands of applicants that appeared for a written test held in September. However, only 75 got selected for the post.

The job call for 75 officers, who would be offered an annual pay package of about Rs 11 lakh, generated huge demand and nearly one lakh applications were received by Sebi from the interested candidates.

In the first phase of this hiring drive, Sebi plans to hire 75 officers, while the regulator plans to conduct more recruitment exercises going ahead.

Sebi is looking to increase its headcount from about 600 currently to close to 1,000.

The recruitment drive began soon after the government decided to grant greater execution powers and a larger oversight role against potential investment fraud that would require Sebi to have a much larger workforce.

Besides, the capital market regulator is opening local offices on a pan-India basis for enhanced investor awareness and services that require additional manpower.

An independent consultant recently suggested Sebi increase its workforce to about 1,000 employees in order to meet future manpower requirements to take full ownership of regulatory oversight of all investment schemes besides staff requirement in regional offices as well as local offices.

The staff strength also needs to be enhanced to meet its future role and functions, said the consultant which was hired to suggest ways for an overhaul of Sebi’s role, vision and functions.

TCS to give out campus offers to 25,000 people by February next year

11/25/2013 10:34:00 am EDUCATION No comments

TCS to give out campus offers to 25,000 people by February next year

The country’s largest software services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) today said it expects to give out offers to hire 25,000 people via campus hiring next year by February.

“As far as our trainee or campus hiring is concerned you are aware that we do it from seventh semester onwards, and we have started that exercise- we have said that we will be giving offers to 25,000 people/students,the process is already on,” TCS EVP & Global Head, Human Resources Ajoy Mukherjee told reporters here.

“We will be completing that exercise in January or early February, at this stage we are going to various institutes and doing our campus hiring,” he added.

It is expected that students will come on board by July. The TCS HR head said: “As far as this year is concerned- initially when we started with we said we will be doing with 45,000 as the total hiring which includes trainees…., then we revised and said that we will do 5,000 more- so totally we said that we will be 50,000, that’s what we did at the end of the last quarter.”

“As far as hiring target is concerned it is 50,000 and we are pretty much on track as far as that number goes and we will do the review again to see that we should increase it or not,” he added.

Stating that off campus placement would be primarily for freshers, Mukherjee said “….given the environment today where the number of organisations that are visiting various campuses have come down, and the offers are not too many- so can we look at a way where in if we are not visiting but there can be bright candidates who have not got an opportunity. That is what we are looking at.”

“….looking at current environment and everything else I think we will be doing part of our student recruitment through off campus,” he said, without divulging any further detail.

To a question on visibility in terms of on boarding and certainty as few companies had deferred campus hiring, he said “from TCS perspective we have never deferred anything, if an appointment is given they are for the financial year and they join in the financial year.”

Stating that salary levels for trainees joining would be Rs 3.15-3.25 lakh per annum, he said “there are others- if I do hiring for CTO labs, there the offer is much higher.”

To a question on salary for campus hires being stagnant, he said “probably for last four years it has remained there, it is something we are looking at but at the same time- it is at the bottom of the pyramid, the moment you touch it then we are changing the employee cost throughout the pyramid.”

“….at this stage I don’t see any pressure from any angle, but we have inflation- by looking at inflation and everything else it is becoming slightly more difficult for trainees at this point in time.

But that is something we are aware of. At this stage I’m not considering any hike or increase,” he said.

On attrition, Mukherjee said: “….attrition for us is now lower, in fact we have probably the highest retention as far as the industry is concerned, one of the reasons is ofcourse the whole market is subdued to certain extent, demand is low; there is slight increase in (attrition) from last quarter to this quarter but that is seasonal because this is the time when people go for higher studies,” he added.

5 most important factors all employers want to see in a good candidate

11/25/2013 10:30:00 am EDUCATION, GENERAL No comments

5 most important factors all employers want to see in a good candidate

Harish Parameswaran, HR director, UST Global, Thiruvananthapuram, shares five ways by which a job-seeker can effectively showcase their employability skills to a prospective employer.

More than skills and educational qualifications, employability is posing a bigger challenge to India Inc, today. During recent TimesJobs Conversations, (a series of industry-academia boardroom discussions) lack of employability quotient in the workforce has been pointed out as one of the key intimidating factors while hiring.

In the current competitive and dynamic business environment, job-seekers can get their dream job or be dismissed, basis the employability skills. While, you may have it in you, it’s high time to showcase that talent of yours, advices industry experts. Harish Parameswaran, HR director, UST Global, Thiruvananthapuram, shares the following five ways by which a job-seeker can effectively showcase their employability skills to a prospective employer:

Awareness and business acumen: The ability to ‘scan the environment’ and keeping yourself updated on trending topics is pertinent. It is definitely important to know how a business or industry works, and what makes a company tick. Showing that you have an understanding of what the organisation wants to achieve at the organisational level, and how it competes in its marketplace, is always a good start.

Communication: Communication skills include verbal/written communication and listening. Being clear, concise, focused and being able to tailor the message for the recruiters would make the exchange of thoughts much easier.

Teamwork and problem solving: Employers always look to hire a team player who has the ability to manage and delegate work to others and also take on responsibility. It’s about building positive working relationships that can help everyone to achieve positive goals and business objectives. Additionally, if you display an ability to take a logical and analytical approach to solving problems and resolving issues, nothing like that!

Leadership: You may not be a team lead straight away, but graduates need to show potential to motivate teams and other colleagues that may work for them. It’s about assigning and delegating tasks well, setting deadlines and leading by good example. There are numerous ways through which recruiters assess these skills, including the ability to set priorities, solve problems and build relations. All these are best assessed during group discussions and through various psychometric and behavioural tests.

Confidence: A good amount of confidence, yet making sure that you do not cross the line and move onto being arrogant, helps in effectively working with clients and colleagues. Confidence can be shown through the way one responds to the interview questions, directly and precisely without being arrogant. Having the right body language also speak volumes about the level of confidence one possesses.

In general, it is also a good practice to retrospect one self, and put oneself in the employer’s shoes and ask ‘If I were the employer, would I employ me?’

Sandyp Bhattacharya, Vice President and Global Head of HR, Mahindra Comviva

11/25/2013 10:28:00 am TECHNOLOGY No comments

Lessons from My First Job: Sandyp Bhattacharya, Vice President and Global Head of HR, Mahindra Comviva

Sandyp Bhattacharya of Mahindra Comviva shares his first job experience…

My first job was: I joined IPCL as an HR executive, which was a ‘Navaratna’ public sector petrochemicals giant, and has now integrated with Reliance. Given its legacy of systems and processes, along with the coveted name that IPCL carried, it was a great opportunity as an HR professional to contribute for such a powerhouse of talented technocrats.

My experience: It was a wonderful opportunity to learn and contribute. It was unlike my perception of what a state-run organisation could be. I met some of the best professionals and technocrats and learnt a lot from them. The place provided significant opportunities and lacked bureaucracy due to the fire-brand leadership style of some of the leaders. It was an informal and challenging place. It gave significant empowerment, and yet, we had the freedom to fail. All of these gave me immense opportunities to influence positive change; something that’s a personal passion.

Things I learnt: The place taught me how to build systems and processes; and think large scale. I also learnt to engage with the entire cross-section of people; from the unskilled levels to the CXO levels. I learnt to be on the shop floor, which over the years has made me appreciate business better. Secondly, the opportunities allowed me to think strategic, while not missing out on operational skills.

Skills I acquired:

· Trust people and connect with them at an individual level, not just at a group level

· Have courage and conviction

· Maintain integrity in intent, words and actions

My journey so far: The journey has been extremely hectic, challenging and yet fruitful. There are more achievements than failures. The most satisfying aspects are those where fundamental and long-term changes could be brought in. Of course, the best reward has been to see people you mentored, succeed in life.

Turning point in my career:

· My first job with IPCL, which groomed me to a large extent.

· My entry into IT industry when I joined Aricent Technologies. It gave me leadership exposure. I also gained the self-confidence to deal with a global environment.

· Joining my current organisation, Mahindra Comviva, as the HR head and leadership team member – It gave me a chance to work in an extremely fast paced business environment, while facilitating the transformational journey.

My most crucial steps/assignment: My current assignment of contributing to Comviva’s transformational journey. I got a chance to drive the people agenda for the company while aligning the HR team with business needs. It began with facilitation of the vision, values definition and percolation process, while also establishing people policies, processes and programs benchmarked with the best. We collectively drove at a frenetic pace, building a performance-oriented yet people-centric culture. We significantly differentiated ourselves from other players in this arena and created innovative people practices, comparable to the best. I think my CEO, business leaders and managers have been the critical success factors, apart from the fact that all Comvivians have one thing in common -“When it comes to people issues, we all have our heart in the ‘right’ place.”

My advice: Do adequate in-depth ground work. Do not miss the big picture, but get people on your side by delivering shorter term value as well. Have conviction and courage. Communicate better. That is the key to change management. Finally, if you fail, introspect and find what else could have been done. If you succeed, owe it to people around you.

Where I see myself 5 years from here: I see myself creating positive change within myself and for those around me; while being connected to people in some manner.

Sony Xperia Z1S price, launch date revealed

11/25/2013 10:27:00 am TECHNOLOGY No comments

Sony Xperia Z1S price, launch date revealed

Just a week after the Xperia Z1S's images and specifications hit the internet, its price and launch date have been revealed. Image courtesy: Digi-Wo.com

NEW DELHI: Just a week after the specifications and images of Sony's upcoming Xperia Z1S smartphone hit the internet, the handset's price and launch date have been revealed. Xperia Z1S is the Japanese company's smartphone with top-end specs, but a relatively smaller screen.

A user on a Chinese forum has posted new images of the Xperia Z1S along with its tentative launch period and price. The handset will reportedly cost 3,600 yuan (or $590). This is just a little less than the 3,820 yuan ($630) price tag of the current top model, Xperia Z1.

Sony is likely to launch the smartphone in the first quarter of next year, according to the report.

The Xperia Z1S is said to have a 4.3-inch 720p display, run on Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) and pack a 2,300mAh battery. It will share features like a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 chipset, 2GB RAM and 20.7MP camera with its bigger sibling Xperia Z1.

This smartphone will be the only handset in the market to have a top-end chipset and camera. Other smaller variants of top smartphones, such as Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini and HTC One Mini, do not share such specs with their bigger counterparts except branding.

SA tour: Gambhir, Zaheer on selectors' radar

11/25/2013 10:25:00 am CRICKET No comments

SA tour: Gambhir, Zaheer on selectors' radar

Gambhir's century in Delhi's Ranji win and Zaheer's experience of bowling to Graeme Smith & Co will be in focus.

VADODARA: The Indian team to tour South Africa from December 5 will be selected on Monday. Left-handed opener Gautam Gambhir's century in Delhi's Ranji win on Sunday and Zaheer Khan's experience of bowling to Graeme Smith & Co will be in focus.

India will play two Test matches and three one-day internationals in South Africa. The tour will start with the ODIs to be played at Johannesburg, Durban and Centurion. The Test matches will be played at the first two venues. The series will end on December 30.

"The selectors were supposed to meet at Vizag where the second one-day international between India and West Indies was scheduled on Sunday. But there was an alert for hurricane there so I had a word with the selectors," said BCCI secretary, Sanjay Patel.

With Sachin Tendulkar vacating the long-held Number Four Slot in the batting order, another Mumbai batsman Ajinkya Rahane -- who has been in the waiting for a while now -- may finally get the nod.

The selectors have been toying with the idea of promoting the in-form Kohli to Number Four already and therefore, if Rahane walks in, he could come in to bat at Number 5, the slot that Kohli had made his own.

India's bowling attack, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami at the helm of affairs and Umesh Yadav next in line, has faired well but lacks in experience. Zaheer's magic that he's worked on the South Africans in the past will remain on the selectors mind.

The decisions taken on Monday will have far-reaching effects on the careers of some of the senior cricketers who've been losing ground to the younger cricketers
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Facebook's Messenger app: Practical is the new sexy

10/30/2013 10:49:00 am TECHNOLOGY No comments

Facebook's Messenger app: Practical is the new sexy

The app's fundamental change is a philosophy christened "mobile-to-mobile," which is meant to signify that people using Messenger are immediately available to each other.

The conversation view in Facebook's new Messenger app for Android.

With the Tuesday release of a new Messenger application, Facebook is making a much stronger case to be your go-to smartphone app for instantly getting ahold of friends and address book contacts.
The new Facebook Messenger app constitutes a dramatic renovation over versions past and introduces enhancements in speed, function, and design. The app, available to a limited audience on Android to start, attempts to again make compelling a growing stale experience that simply mirrored the messaging experience inside Facebook's flagship mobile application.
Messenger's fundamental change is something Facebook calls "mobile-to-mobile," an apt catchphrase meant to signify that people using the app are immediately available to each other on their smartphones.
The philosophy is embodied in how Facebook Messenger displays contacts, delivers messages, processes notifications, and allows people to send over-the-top messages in lieu of text messages to their smartphone contacts who are not already their Facebook friends.
Contacts that also use Messenger, for instance, are denoted by a little blue lightning bolt badge. Everyone else gets a Facebook badge. And if a Messenger user doesn't have push notifications enabled than that person won't get the lightning bolt badge because they may not be able to be reached right away.

Facebook Messenger is all about visual cues. Lightning bolt badges, for instance, signify that a contact is also using the Messenger app and, therefore, likely to be reached instantly.

The idea is to give people visual cues as to which of their contacts will be potentially quicker to reach via Facebook message as opposed to say text, e-mail, Twitter direct message, or any other competing mobile messaging app.
"Other people didn't know who had Messenger and who didn't," Peter Martinazzi, product manager on the update, told CNET. With the new badges, however, Martinazzi said that he can see that his colleague Luke, for instance, is using Messenger. "That's really important if I'm going to trust this channel as the way to reach Luke in an emergency."
Messenger is also said to be much swifter in delivering updates, a technological improvement that should support badges as markers of accessibility and make the app feel significantly faster to users. Facebook declined to quantify just how much faster the new Messenger is over older versions, but Martinazzi said that the app loads faster and should feel snappier in overall performance.
"Every millisecond matters when you're messaging in a mobile-to-mobile world," he said.
In terms of functional improvements, Messenger now lets people Facebook message their address book contacts who they have not friended on the social network. The update means that, so long as you have a phone number, you can use start pinging a person who is also on Facebook but is not necessarily a person you want to formally befriend. Facebook simply matches a member's stored phone number to make the Messenger connection.
The social network has even designed a new logo and color scheme -- yes, there's a new kind of Facebook blue -- meant to distinguish the single-purpose Messenger from the more feature-rich Facebook app. The application's design is also linked to distinct conventions and user interface patterns on both Android and iPhone, which should make new elements immediately familiar to people on either operating system.

Altogether, the updates are meant to make Facebook Messenger a more practical rival to rising mobile messaging competitors such as WhatsApp, which has stolen a bit of the social network's thunder with youngsters and has amassed an audience of 300 million active users.
Facebook Messenger for Android is being released Tuesday to a limited audience. The company said it will make Messenger available to all members on Android and iPhone in the coming weeks.

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Monday, 25 November 2013