Hangouts 1.3 Will Reportedly Add SMS, Giving Android Its Own iMessage Equivalent

Google is said to be prepping an update
to its Hangouts instant messaging/video
chat Android app that would allow it to
integrate with SMS, making it possible
to get all text and MMS messages right
in the same inbox. That would fulfill a
promise made a long time ago, near
when Hangouts was first announced, by
Hangouts and Chat community manager
Dori Storbeck.

The new info comes from Android Police,
which says it had heard that Google
would be building SMS integration into
Hangouts in a version releasing soon, a
report which was then corroborated by
screenshots from an anonymous tipster.
In the screenshots, Hangouts is depicted
as showing messages clearly sent “via
SMS,” as well as being able to “Send an
SMS message” in the existing compose
screen. There’s also a screenshot of the
settings where SMS can be toggled on
and off.

The update would also offer up video
sharing via Hangouts, the report claims,
but the biggest news for both Google
and for other third-party messaging
platforms would be the SMS integration.
It would consolidate one more service/
app offering into Hangouts for Google,
which has already subsumed Google Talk
and Google+ Messenger. It would be
easy to see it taking the next logical
step from there and offering VoIP
services, too, providing a complete over-
the-top service.
It would also be potentially bad news
for competitors like WhatsApp and
Facebook Messenger. FB’s messaging app
already offers SMS integration, but
Google’s Hangouts version would ship on
devices pre-installed, and could
conceivably replace the Messaging app
altogether, making it the default option
for Android users. It could also eat
away at more carrier business, as
combining the two and favoring Google
+ based messaging first would have a
similar effect to iMessage, where
carriers eventually derive less revenue
from shuttling SMS content back and
forth.
SMS has long been in the cards for
Hangouts, and hopefully it’s arriving
soon. There’s no timeline attached to
the report, apart from some speculation
it could arrive with Android KitKat, but
in all likelihood this functionality will be
generally available to Hangouts users
regardless of their OS version.

LG's curved display smartphoneconfirmed for November launch

LG Electronics Inc's display unit said on Monday it will start mass production of curved smartphone displays as the South Korean phone maker plans to launch a smartphone with the new screens next month to catch bigger rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. 

Samsung said last month it would introduce a smartphone with a curved display in October as the world's top handset maker seeks to set the pace of hardware innovation amid slowing growth in the high-end smartphone market. 

Curved displays are in the early stages of development and allow bendable or foldable designs that could eventually allow mobile and wearable gadgets to take new forms that could radically change the high-end smartphone market.

LG Display Co Ltd said on Monday it has started production of a six-inch display curved top to bottom. LG Electronics plans to launch a smartphone with the curved display in November, a source familiar with the matter said. By contrast, Samsung's phone will have a display curved side to side, another source who has direct knowledge of the matter said. In January Samsung, which has taken over from Apple Inc as the global smartphone leader, showed off prototype products with a flexible screen and a display that extends from the side of a device. 

Technology firms have yet to figure out how to mass produce the parts cheaply and come up with display panels that can be thin and heat resistant. 

Curved displays are already commercially available in large-screen televisions. 
Samsung and LG Electronics started selling curved OLED TV sets this year priced at about $9,000.

Apple Beats Coca-Cola, Google To Become World’s Most Valuable Brand

Apple is now the world's most valuable
brand, according to a report by
Interbrand. Reuters
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has surpassed
Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) and Google
(NASDAQ:GOOG) to become the world’s
most valuable brand among 100
competitors, according to the “Best
Global Brands” report for 2013
released by Interbrand, a New York-
based corporate identity and brand-
consulting company.
According to the report, while Apple
claimed the top position this year,
Google secured the second spot and
Coca-Cola, the brand that held the
No. 1 position for 13 consecutive years,
fell to third place.
“Every so often, a company changes
our lives—not just with its products,
but with its ethos. This is why,
following Coca-Cola’s 13-year run at
the top of Best Global Brands, Apple
now ranks #1,” Jez Frampton, global
chief executive at Interbrand, said in a
statement. “Tim Cook has assembled a
solid leadership team and has kept
Steve Jobs’ vision intact – a vision that
has allowed Apple to deliver on its
promise of innovation time and time
again.”

Apple, which was ranked thirty-sixth
when Interbrand’s Best Global Brands
began grading brands back in 2000, is
now valued at $98.3 billion, at almost
15 times its brand value 13 years ago.
Last year, the Cupertino, Calif.-based
technology giant was in second place
after more than doubling its valuation
from 2011.
Here is an excerpt from the report:
“Few brands have enabled so many
people to do so much so easily, which is
why Apple has legions of adoring fans,
as evidenced by the record-breaking
launch of the iPhone 5c/5s… From our
perspective, Apple’s internal brand
strength has remained steady. CEO Tim
Cook has assembled a solid team that is
aligned around the Apple vision, which
has allowed them to deliver against the
promise time and time again. There’s
been a lot of change at the top in the
last 12 months, but the alignment of
both hardware and software design
under Jonathan Ive is a major step
toward maintaining focus.”
According to the report, Apple proved
to be resilient and managed to climb up
the list despite having its reputation
somewhat tarnished by patent spats
with Samsung (KRX:005935) and a
scandal at its supplier, Foxconn, over
unsuitable labor conditions, and
emerged as the leader in the Best
Global Brands 2013 list.
Google, in second place, managed to
reach a brand valuation of $93.3
billion, while Coca-Cola got a valuation
of $79.2 billion, followed by IBM
(NYSE:IBM) with $78.8 billion.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) rounded up
the top 5 with a valuation of $59.5
billion.
The other companies that made it to
the top 10 list include General
Electronics (NYSE:GE) with $46.9
billion, McDonalds (NYSE:MCD) with $
41.9 billion, Samsung (KRX:005935) with
$39.6 billion, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)
with $37.2 billion and Toyota
(NYSE:TM) with $35.3 billion.
Interbrand said that while determining
the top 100 most valuable global
brands, it examines three key aspects
that contribute to a brand’s value --
the financial performance of the
branded products or service, the role
the brand plays in influencing
consumer choice and, the brand's
ability to command a premium price or
secure earnings for the company.
In addition, each of the companies are
also required to generate 30 percent of
total revenues from outside their
domestic markets and have a presence
on at least three major continents as
well as coverage in emerging markets.
This year, the total value of the 100
Best Global Brands was $1.5 trillion --
an 8.4 percent record increase over the
total value of the 100 Best Global
Brands in 2012, the report said.

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