The wait and anticipation for the next version of Android right from Google has been a long one. After initially expecting it to debut at Google I/O last month only to be denied any such details, we’re all left wondering what they have in store, and when. While Android 4.3 Jelly Bean is the next version we’ll see, likely this month, some truly amazing fan UI concepts have us craving that Key Lime Pie.

When we say fan-made UI concepts, we mean these aren’t real, official from Google, or anything of that sort. Instead this is one designers “conceptual design” and dream of what Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie could and should look like. And it’s freaking amazing. Google needs to hire this guy immediately. Before Apple or someone else does.

A talented designer by the name of Jinesh Shah posted these over on Google+, and it has many wondering what exactly Google has planned for Android 5.0 KLP. Because something like this would be refreshing. He posted a few last week, but yesterday revealed his Android 5.0 Concept part 2, and we’re getting a deeper look at what he imagines Android 5 to look like.

The design can only be described as beautiful, minimal, and exceptionally clean. He’s done a great job blending Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with the card-style we’ve been seeing from Google Now and other Mountain View apps. Everything is smooth, and detailed with enough to completely be a daily driver. The lockscreen has been overhauled with even more information than ever before, widgets have been improved, and the entire UI on the top is different too. With the clock and signal indicators coming from the top-down, which makes sense given how we usually interact with the pulldown bar.

Another idea that we’re a huge fan of is changing the contacts and People app, as that’s a mess currently. I’m really liking the simple and clean idea he’s came up with, as well as the groups. Lastly, the idea of having expandable widgets is genius. Just like how we enjoy expandable and more informative notifications in Jelly Bean, he’s making the widgets be expandable in a way you can gesture by sliding up to “hide” the widget. Why waste screen real-estate if you’re not using it. Genius! Someone bake this into a ROM like CyanogenMod ASAP please.

Again, this is just one graphic designers concept designs and dreams of what Android could be, and we figured you’d all love to take a look. While Jelly Bean should be getting updated soon, these give us even more hope and have us dreaming for the future with Android Key Lime Pie.

Source: androidcommunity

Facebook Inc said on Tuesday it now has 1 million active advertisers globally who used the platform in the last 28 days, a milestone for the company that is seeking to revive its revenue growth.

A vast majority of those advertisers are small business owners who have flocked to the world’s No. 1 social network.

Facebook executives are hoping to net even more small advertisers since 16 million local businesses, ranging from jewelry sellers to clothing stores, set up free pages on the network.

While pinpointing how much money small advertisers spend only online is difficult, in total they spent approximately $32 billion during 2012 in the United States, according to market research firm eMarketer.

“Most small business owners start off as Facebook users, then migrate to become page owners, and from there migrate to become advertisers,” said Dan Levy, Facebook director of small business.

He said that Facebook does not plan to start charging businesses to set up pages.

Advertising accounts for 85 percent of Facebook’s revenue – which also includes dollars from the world’s largest brands and advertising agencies. But the company is trying to spark its ad growth following a sharp slowdown last year.

Last quarter, Facebook reported first-quarter revenue of $1.46 billion. Advertising revenue rose 43 percent, the fastest growth rate since the end of 2011.

Facebook declined to break out how much ad revenue comes from small businesses and did not indicate how long it took to reach the 1 million milestone.

It has introduced several initiatives to help boost growth, including an overhaul of its newsfeed and changes to how advertisers buy ads on the network in order to simplify the process.

Small business owners are “critical” to Facebook’s success, said Brian Wieser, an analyst with Pivotal Research Group.

“Once they launched new ad products targeted to small businesses in the middle of last year, they were able to significantly accelerate their revenue growth,” he said.

Kim Caulfield, a small business owner in Orange County, California who sells custom jewelry made from horse tail hair, started using Facebook advertising to reach more customers for her company Tail Spin.

“You only can invite so many of your friends over and most of them don’t own horses,” she said.

She now spends approximately $25 a day with Facebook on advertisements directed to horse enthusiasts with the potential of reaching over 5 million people.

Facebook also reaches out to local businesses order to help them through the process. Dallas-area clothing boutique owner Lucy Huang said she was part of a Facebook incubator program to mentor businesses and walk them through the ad buying process.

Huang said she spends roughly $50 a month advertising Accents retail stores with Facebook, saying it is cheaper and more effective than print or online rivals like Yelp .

More than 50 percent of small business owners use Facebook pages to promote their products, but only 16 percent use Facebook ads, according to BIA Kelsey, a research firm specializing in local advertising.

Source: tech2

While VOIP (Voice over IP) applications facilitate over represent more than 34% of the total time spent on international calls worldwide, entrepreneurs in the MIddle East often rely on VOIP to stay in touch with employees and partners at their startups.

Especially in countries where telecom companies have a monopoly or oligopoly that pushes up the cost of international calls, it’s a cost effective solution; some studies have shown that companies could cut communication costs by up to 85% by shifting to VOIP.

And yet, the autonomy that customers have with VOIP does not always sit well with governments. In Saudi Arabia, the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) announced last week on June 5th that it would ban Viber, an application that helps users make free alls, send instant messages and share files over the internet.

The Saudi Commission clarified in a brief statement that Viber was banned because it failed to comply with communications rules and regulations of the kingdom.

This March, the Commission released a statement noting the possibility that it would ban a number of internet communication services, including Viber, Skype, and Whatsapp, if the companies failed to modify their products to comply with Saudi Communication laws.

While we haven’t been able to get clarification on the regulations that led to banning these services, the ban has raised questions about Viber’s funding sources. The applicatiion, which now has over 200 million users worldwide, was developed by a company based in Cyprus.

One of the ban’s biggest impacts could be altering life for an estimated 100,000 Saudi students living abroad, who use this application to communicate with their families in Saudi Arabia, says Mazen AlDarrab, the founder and CEO of E-Commerce SEA, a Saudi e-commerce solutions company. “Concerns about the encryption method used by Viber in messaging was raised by the Ministry of Interior. Now,” he says, “A lot of Saudis are concerned about which app will be banned next.”

Saudi Arabia is not the only country in the Arab world that intends to ban voice and message services between Internet users. Other countries have already instituted bans, while others plan to; in mid May, the UAE banned Skype.

A few days ago, Egypt’s National Telecoms Regulatory Authority (NTRA) said that it plans on blocking Viber and Whatsapp “due to economic and security concerns.” The head of NTRA, Amr Badawy, commented on this announcement, saying, “these applications allow subscribers to make free calls, send messages and share files, while their funding sources remain unknown.”

Available alternatives

While the future seems vague for those who mainly rely on VOIP to communicate with their employees and clients, other alternatives that yet aren’t blocked remain available. Google Hangouts, which offer video conference calls over the internet, are one major alternative; other paid services include Webex and Cisco; (see here for more alternatives).

Yet the hope remains that if VOIP services can comply with government regulations, they will be unblocked.

Source: wamda

We weren’t treated to a new version of Android at this year’s Google I/O conference, and that means Android 4.2 Jelly Bean (launched Nov. 2012) is still the most up-to-date version of Google’s smartphone and tablet operating system. Most Nexus phones and tablets already run, or can be modified to run, Android 4.2, as well as some very new phones like the Galaxy S4. An update will be coming soon for the HTC One, and rumors have spread of 4.2′s impending arrival on the HTC One X, Galaxy S3, Note 2, and other high-end, modern Android phones. In anticipation, here are five reasons why you should be counting the days until a notification from Software Update appears on your phone. Though it isn’t as hyped as Android 4.0, Android 4.2 adds some cool new features. Here are our favorites.

Gesture Typing
We’ll start with the cool new keyboard, which no longer needs you to tap out your words, but recognizes what you’re typing as you swipe your finger across the keyboard. At first, it’s disconcerting, and it does take a while to get used to, but once you’ve had a little practice, it’s a fast and convenient way to use a touchscreen keyboard.
There’s a chance you’ve used something similar in the past. The Swype keyboard is available through Google Play, and comes pre-installed on some phones. It works using the same method, but this is the first time Google has implemented the technology in its own standard keyboard.
Here’s a neat twist with this Android 4.2 feature. Google has released its keyboard in the Google Play Store, and it incorporates Gesture Typing, so provided your phone has Android 4.0 or later installed, you can enjoy this feature right now.

Photo Sphere
This is one of the most exciting features in Android 4.2. With the camera app you can take panorama photos to the next level. Android 4.2 can take 360 degree scenic shots instead. Taking a Photo Sphere is similar to taking a panorama shot. On-screen hints help you align your picture, but the difference is you can add in views from above and below your viewpoint.
It takes a short while for the app to render the final shot, but once it’s done, it’s viewable on your phone, or easily shareable on Google+ or on a specially created section of Google Maps. Take a moment to see some of the great examples that were posted there already.

Daydream Screensavers
A screensaver is a reason to be excited about Android 4.2? Yes, really. Daydream is activated through the Display settings page in the OS, and lets you choose an animated screensaver to show when your device is charging or placed into a dock. The standard options include a clock, your Google Currents feed, or a collage of images from your Gallery. But what makes Daydream interesting is it can be incorporated into third party apps. Flipboard is one of the first to incorporate this feature.
Also, don’t forget to activate the “Beanflinger Daydream Easter Egg” by repeatedly tapping the Android Version information under Settings, then tap and hold the giant Jelly Bean that should appear. Then, fling the beans on your new Daydream screensaver to your heart’s content.

Multiple accounts for tablet users
Tablets are often shared by several people, particularly by parents and their kids, so the introduction of multiple user accounts is most welcome. This feature is still a pain, as it’s hidden under Settings > Users and Other Users, but once you’re there, it’s simple to set it up. A total of eight different users can be added, and each one gets their own personal Android experience, right down to wallpaper, home screen setup, widgets, and installed apps.

Lock screen widgets
Widgets are an established part of the Android experience, so it’s great to see them extended for use on the lock screen and the home screen. There are five stock Android widgets ready to be added, including messages, Gmail, a clock, and one which provides instant access to the camera. Additionally, widgets used on the home screen now automatically resize themselves, or move other icons around, so they fit perfectly.
Version 4.2 isn’t the most extensive Android update we’ve seen, but there’s enough there to make it worthwhile, and you can find a complete rundown of its feature list here. When your phone will be graced with its presence, that’s another story entirely.

Source: digitaltrends

A recent survey by TCS has revealed that about 75% of India’s youth prefers social media over phone calls to communicate, with more students using the internet for school-related tasks. Titled ‘(TCS) Gen-Y survey 2012-13‘, the survey touts that smart devices and unprecedented levels of online access are making this generation the most connected yet. This is changing the way they communicate with each other and transforming both their academic and social live.

Conducted on 17,478 high-school students from age 12-18 years across 14 cities in India, the survey reveals that today’s youth are collaborating through social networking tools and building virtual communities aided by affordable bandwidth and smart devices. “India’s post-millennial generation, those people born in 1996 and afterwards, seem set to overtake the preceding millennial generation, taking communication over social networks like Facebook and Twitter and instant messaging modes like Whatsapp to newer extremes,” said the survey.

The survey further stated that 73% of students accessed internet for researching school work while 62% used it for chatting and staying in touch with friends. According to the survey, 92% of respondents prefer Facebook as a medium to connect with their peers. Twitter came in second where one in three reposondants used tweeting as a medium of communication.

Giving insights about mobile phone ownership, the survey highlighted that almost 70% of students own mobile phones and nearly 20 % use mobile phones to access the internet (compared to just 12 percent in 2009). Talking about tablets use, the survey said that 20% of students in Metro use a tablet compared to 17% of those is Mini Metros.

60% of youth today own not just a mobile but a smartphone. Surprisingly the difference in ownership patterns between metros (58.50%) and mini metros (59.36%) is not much, with the smaller cities scoring over the larger ones. Samsung continued dominance over Nokia and Apple once again in terms of brand popularity. 48% of the new generation preferred Samsung while Nokia came in second with 46% which was followed by Apple ( 39%) and HTC (36%).

The TCS Survey further stated that India’s urban Post-Millennial generation is turning to text and chat as alternatives to voice. 74% of those surveyed said they use Facebook the most to communicate, while 54% used SMS – both significantly higher than the number of students who said they used voice calls (44 %) for the same purpose.

The survey by TCS echos a recent IAMAI report which said that social media users in India with hit 6.6 Cr by June 2013. Also, some schools have started supporting students towards bringing in electronic gadgets like tablets, smartphones & even laptops to school. Some state governments are also distributing tablets in rural areas to incorporate technology. Hence, I believe era of digital education has dawned upon us and it will only expand in near future.

Source: watblog

BlackBerry has officially announced that its 10.2 OS update will bring support for Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean apps. This means that the current BlackBerry 10 devices will all be able to run apps compatible with Android Jelly Bean. The first BlackBerry device to bring support for Android apps was the PlayBook tablet, which could run apps developed for Android 2.3.3. These apps have to be specially packaged for the Canadian manufacturer’s platform, but its a lot easier for developers to repackage their apps rather than develop one from the ground up, since that takes a lot of time and resources. BlackBerry has released new versions of the SDK and Eclipse plugin, as well as 10.2 beta firmware version for developers to test their apps on. It was initially believed that support for Ice Cream Sandwich apps will be added in the next major OS update, some even though that BlackBerry would even totally phase out support for Android apps. Instead they’ve upped it to Jelly Bean. BlackBerry 10.2 OS Alpha was recently leaked, it is expected that the public release of this update is going to take place in the near future….

Source: ubergizmo