Voice Messaging in Facebook Messenger

January 5th, 2013 4 Comments

Voice Messaging in Facebook Messenger

voice chat on messenger

[img src: nbcnews.com]

Facebook is testing out a new feature in its messenger which will allow users to call each other over wifi or if they have a data connection. This update is not available to everyone yet. The calling feature is currently reported to be working only in Canada and that too only on iOS.  For those outside Canada, there will be an update which will allow them to send short voice clips to other messenger friends.

The iOS app store does have a line in the changelog which states :

– Call friends for free right from Messenger*

*Free calling uses your existing data plan, and will be rolling out over the next few weeks.

The Android Play Store hasn’t been updated to reflect this yet. Facebook is probably testing out with a small group of people before rolling it out to everyone world wide. This seems to be quite a significant feature as almost everyone has a Facebook account. Facebook recently let users sign up for messenger with only their phone numbers, you did not even require a Facebook account. The ability to call other Messenger users or Facebook friends all over the world will definitely boost the number of installs of this app, both on Android and iOS.

Lately Facebook has been launching many apps or updates which have been competing with other apps built specifically for those functions. First there was their “Poke”  app which competed with Snapchat, now this calling feature competes with other apps like Viber and Line. These apps have all but eliminated text messaging.

Are you looking forward to receiving this update and testing out Facebook Messengers new feature? Let us know your thoughts here.

Download Facebook Messenger from the iOS App Store.

Download Facebook Messenger from the Play Store.

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Ubuntu OS for Smartphones

January 3rd, 2013 4 Comments

Ubuntu OS for Smartphones

 Ubuntu Phone OS

Linux aficionados can rejoice as Ubuntu developer Canonical has announced the Ubuntu OS for smartphones. The new OS is designed to run on Android devices promising to make use of their full capabilities. Ubuntu phones will be unveiled by early 2014,but you will be able to download images of the OS for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus over the next few weeks. Check out how the OS looks in the video below.

The interface is very fresh and different as compared to current smartphone operating systems like Android and iOS. The Ubuntu phone OS depends heavily on swipe gestures from all four edges of the screen. As you might have noticed in the video above, swiping from left to right pulls up your open apps while a short swipe in the same direction reveals an app dock along the left edge of the screen. You can scroll through these apps and open any app as required. Swiping in the other direction from right to left opens the app that you used last. Swiping from the top to bottom shows your notifications. You can scroll through the icons at the top and access their settings too. The bottom edge brings up the settings or menu for that app.

Ubuntu phone apps

The whole screen is used to run the app and menus or notifications are only shown when you make the appropriate swipe so there is no wastage of screen space. Similar to Ubuntu on your computer,the Ubuntu phone OS will run native apps as well as web apps. If you have noticed in the video above, there are already a lot of major apps like Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Gmail, Spotify etc with more being promised. Other features include a universal search which searches for content on your phone as well as on the web. Voice and text commands are promised too.  If you are a user of Ubuntu One, the cloud storage service, then all your content will be accessible from your phone as well.

Ubuntu phone OS

All in all, this OS shows a lot of promise. If Ubuntu can tie up with some major hardware manufacturers to produce some quality handsets, they might be able to carve a place for themselves in the smartphone market. But they need to do it fast as they are a little late to the party, Android and iOS are gobbling up most of the market share.

Know more about Ubuntu for Phones.

Are you excited about this new open source OS for smartphones? What do you expect to see in the Ubuntu phone OS? Share your thoughts with us here.

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