We want a billion Indians on WhatsApp by Jan Koum

At MWC2014, Jan Koum said that we want all smartphone users (in India) to be on WhatsApp.

WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum took time off from his hectic schedule at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, on what was his 38th birthday, to talk to ET about the $19 billion deal with Facebook and what advice he would give entrepreneurs. Edited excerpts:

It's said that you applied for a job at both Twitter and Facebook. I was interviewed for Facebook but nothing really worked out.

What made you start WhatsApp? How did you hit upon the idea? What did you do that was different from other messenger services?
I got an iPhone and I started to experiment trying to build an application for an iPhone. First, we focused on using your address book. Everybody else was using user names or pin codes, like BBM... Skype you had to get an approval... these were all complicated processes. We just wanted to simplify it. If you have somebody's phone number in your address book, you are on.

We were the first guys to do it, we were actually the first mover. Everybody else came in and tried to copy us, but they weren't successful. We were global from day one. We focused on translations, we added Italian, German, Spanish, Russian, into the applications from day one because we understood that it's the power of communication, that people want to communicate with people in other countries.

We hired really smart people, our first set of engineers was extremely talented and allowed us to build a foundation that enabled us to build everything on top of it.

What, if any, is the monetisation strategy of WhatsApp?
Today, it's a simple one - we are free for the first year of subscription and then it's a dollar a year. There are no plans to do anything else. We are pretty happy with this. For voice, we haven't finalized it internally yet but we might do something different in terms of implementation but fundamentally it will be very similar.

Some are skeptical about the quality of voice services that can be offered by you. Please comment.
We are going to make sure voice works just as well. I understand that there are bandwidth constraints, network constraints, but we will take the same approach to voice that we took to (messaging) five years ago, which is focus on quality, simplicity, performance so that it's the world standard for voice just as messaging it's the world standard.

Would you have done the deal at a lower value?
The important thing to talk about here is not the price. Mark asked me to be on the board of Facebook and I'm extremely flattered. We talked about this as a partnership and not as an acquisition. WhatsApp will continue to remain independent. There are no changes planned to the product. Nothing really changes from the user point of view. And, so when we were talking about this deal, we were not as interested in terms of the numbers but as a partnership between two great companies who share the same vision.

What will Facebook's contribution be to your voice service? Any more hiring?
Should be none. We are still an independent company and we will continue to be an independent company even after the deal closes. But we do plan to grow, absolutely. We are going to have to hire more people to support more users and build new things like voice.

What plans do you have with the money that you get?
I only have one idea, that is WhatsApp, and I am going to continue to focus on that. I have no plans to build any other ideas. The day the deal closes, it's going to be like any other day when we will go back to work.

How does it feel to have this success?
It's rewarding but again I don't spend any time thinking about it. A lot of my time, effort and focus is spent on WhatsApp. And that to me is more valuable and rewarding than to work on anything else.

Has the world changed for you post the Facebook deal?
None. Still the same. We still have a lot of work to do. We still have a lot of people who will get onto smartphones, we still have a lot of bugs to fix and improvements to make. Our mission is still not done.

Do you fear someone else could build a better message/photo sharing platform and make WhatsApp irrelevant. How will you sustain WhatsApp's competitive advantage?
We have always had people copy us. It's not shocking, if anything it's flattering. But what's important for us is to continue to get our product right. I spend more time worrying about ourselves, that we're doing the right thing.

Did you expect the success?
Probably not to this level. The size of this deal shows how important communication is in today's world. Communication is at the very core of our society. That's what makes us human.

How important is India as a market?
It's a very critical market for us. Ironically, I grew up watching Indian movies as a kid in Russia. I am quite familiar with Bollywood. I grew up watching Disco Dancer, I watched it some 20 times as a kid. India is important from a personal level too.

We want all smartphone users (in India) to be on WhatsApp. Then if that number is a billion, then it's a billion. Currently, over 40 million. So we still have some ways to go before we hit a billion.

When do you plan to visit India?
Hopefully soon. Are you inviting me? I wanted to for a long time. My schedule is a little busy but hopefully this year.

What are the three things that young entrepreneurs should focus on when launching a startup?
Focus is an important part of it. A lot of times people start out with a lot of good ideas, but then they don't execute. They lose the purity of their vision. You end up running around in circles.

Hiring smart people, smart engineers. Focus on users right from day one.

Would your new office have WhatsApp signage outside?
We haven't decided yet. We will think about it when we come back.

What next for Jan Koum?
I have work to do. I get on a plane and I go back and have to go back to the office and work.

Samsung Galaxy S5 launching on April 11th in 150 countries

Samsung has just announced that the Galaxy S5 will be available starting April 11th in 150 countries. Over here in the US, it'll be available on Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, MetroPCS and U.S. Cellular. Ma Bell is going one step further, offering up the Gear 2 and the Gear Fit smartwatches as well. If you'd rather go elsewhere for your mobile needs, retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, Costco, RadioShack, Sam's Club, Target and Walmart will have the GS5 plus all three of Samsung's newly announced wearables. As for our friends across the Atlantic, UK providers EE, Three and Vodafone UK have jumped aboard the GS5 bandwagon, as have retailers Phones4u and Carphone Warehouse. Though it hasn't been announced, we expect other carriers such as O2 will support the phone too. No word on pricing just yet, but we expect we'll find that out closer to the phone's April launch date.

Source: T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T

Phoneblocks

Everyday we throw away millions of electronic devices, because they get old and become worn out. But usually it's only one of the components that causes the problem. The rest of the device works fine but is needlessly thrown away. Simple because electronic devices are not designed to last. This makes electronic waste one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world. And our phone is one of the biggest causes.

So this is a new kind of phone. It's made of blocks. Detachable blocks. They're all connected to the base, and the base connects everything together. Electrical signals are transferred through the pins, and two small screws lock everything in place. So if for instance your phone is getting a little slow, you could just upgrade the block that affects the speed. Or if something breaks you can easily replace it with a new one, or update it with the newest version.

Another great thing about this is, that you can customize your phone. So lets say this is your phone and you do everything in the cloud. Why not replace your storage block for a bigger battery block. If you are like this guy and love to take pictures, why not upgrade your camera? Or if you don't care about any of this stuff you can keep it simple a get a bigger speaker. You can choose the blocks you want, support the brands you like, or even develop your own blocks. Phonebloks is built on a open platform by companies working together to create the best phone in the world.

To set up this platform we need to get the right companies and the right people involved. The will only get started if there is a lot interest in a phone worth keeping.
So this is the plan.
To show them there is a interest for this phone we need your voice. You can donate your social reach on the website. We gather as much people as possible. On the 29th of October we send out the blast. All at the same time. Spreading all your voices, to show the world, there is a need for a phone worth keeping. The more people involved, the bigger the impact.

Please visit Phonebloks.com to raise your voice and spread the word.

Phonebloks, a phone worth keeping"

Source: Thunderclap / Phonebloks

We support Phonebloks

Nokia announces the X and X+, its first Android phones

Nokia is officially launching its very first Android devices, known as the X and the X+, on stage at its annual Mobile World Congress press conference. We were all taken aback by the second (and third) device (since only one leaked), so it's incredible to see Nokia make such a huge foray into enemy territory. The X will have a 4-inch, 840 x 480 IPS screen, 512MB RAM, 4GB of storage expandable storage via microSD slot and 3-megapixel camera, while the X+ sports the same specs but more RAM (768 MB) and an included 4GB microSD card. You won't be getting Google's apps or Play store, however as both handsets will be based on the forked AOSP Android OS. Nokia says that'll have the advantages of the Android ecosystem, but with a "differentiated experience." So far, Here Maps, MixRadio, Skype and Outlook are being featured on the Nokia Store. You can access the Nokia and third party stores using the devices, but not Google Play, obviously. We've heard SwiftKey will be available on the Nokia X range (and for free, too), as will BBM, which is also coming to Windows Phone sometime "this summer."

The new devices are featuring a ported version of FastLane for Asha devices as a sort of skin, to give a similar experience as its other budget handsets. When you swipe across it, it'll bring up a sort of notification bar showing recently used apps, missed calls and texts and other activities. During the demo, Elop showed both the Nokia Store also Yandex, where he pulled down Aero Express, a Russian-flavored app. The X will be available immediately in growth markets (ie, not the US) and run 89 euros. The X+, meanwhile, will run 99 euros but won't arrive until sometime in Q2 this year.

CodeTeam Labs

CodeTeam have create a new web application. Its a cool new app to build your applications online using HTML/CSS/JS. You can code online with your team. You can create your account to have your private applications as well as you can fork on many other applications developed by different users. You can also use it for testing your scripts and sharing it with people on IRC, forums StackOverflow, etc. Checkout the new application CodeTeam Labs

http://www.labs.codeteam.in/

Easiest way to reach your customers

Now a days every business with a website requires a communication tool to communicate with its customer. CodeTeam provide a Free chat application which is no doubt faster than phone calls, emails and tickets. CodeTeam use Firebase as the backend service which is an incredible Realtime Application Platform.

FEATURES

• Free
• Easy Setup
• Customize Plugin look
• Mobile application
• No plugins / Flash / Applets to download
• Firebase as backend service

STEPS TO CONFIGURE

• Register of Firebase and create a firebase
• Register on LiveChat for free
• Enter your firebase URL
• Generate the plugin code
• Put the code in the header section of your website
• Enjoy chatting with your customers

LiveChat uses Firebase as the backend engine

Firebase is a realtime backend as a service that allows you to create incredible apps. Save, Store and Update Data in realtime directly from the browser or mobile client using only javascript or native iOS or Android code.

Firebase was built to make the real-time technology that powers Envolve's chat product broadly accessible to developers, so that they can build their own powerful applications. It incorporates years of learning about how to handle real-time data on the web and solves many of the hard problems so that developers don't have to solve them again.

Google unveils Project Tango smartphone prototype with revolutionary 3D sensor chip

Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) team today took the wraps off Project Tango, a smartphone prototype that packs a remarkable new chip that brings 3D motion tracking to a mobile device

The firm plans to send an initial batch of units to software developers in March to get them started on creating new experiences with the hardware. Suggested project topics include “indoor navigation/mapping, single/multiplayer games that use physical space, and new algorithms for processing sensor data.” Interested developers can head here to request a prototype kit.

The device utilizes the Myriad 1 vision processor chip from Movidius.TechCrunch has a behind-the-scenes look at the new chip, which combines unprecedented power efficiency with computer vision processing. With the help of Myriad 1, the Project Tango hardware is capable of making a quarter million 3D measurements per second, allowing it to create a map of its surroundings.

While Project Tango isn’t currently part of the Android platform, ATAP acknowledged that today’s launch is an initial step toward bringing the technology “out of research labs into the hands of millions of people.

Google spun the ATAP team out as a moonshot research lab prior to selling Motorola to Lenovo. You might also recognize ATAP from its work on Motorola’s Project Ara modular smartphone.

Reference: By JOSH ONG Article