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Monday, 25 August 2014
Top Smart Watches 2014
Tuesday, 8 October 2013
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.
Sunday, 28 July 2013
Rumor: Samsung smartwatch shows up online as the SM-V700
Samsung has been rumored for a while
to launch its own smartwatch device
and new reports now reveal that such
a product (model number SM-V700)
has been spotted in inventory systems.
Samsung-Updates has spotted the
product on Zauba, a logistics company
from India that we have seen in
another Samsung-related report the
other day – according to Zauba
shipment tracking, Samsung may be
testing three different Galaxy Note 3
versions (with screen sizes from 5.5-
inch to 6.0-inch)
.
Now the same Zauba lists a SM-
VL700WATCH device that, like the
Galaxy Note 3 units, is to be used for
“R&D purposes.” There’s only one
listing on the website for the device,
which says that three units have been
shipped on July 24.
A commercial product name has not
been mentioned for the device,
although previous reports did say it
could be called Samsung Gear. Images
of the Samsung smartwatch are not
available at this time either, but we
wouldn’t be surprised to see more leaks
coming out way assuming the product is
real.
Sam Mobile reports that its sources can
confirm that Samsung Germany “has
received a Samsung SmartWatch
Prototype and has also begun testing
firmwares for the device.” The
publication says that no other Samsung
division in Europe has the
smartwatches, suggesting that the
fact that Samsung Germany got it
may indicate an IFA 2013 launch.
Sony has recently announced its second
smartwatch model – the SmartWatch 2
– that will launch in September and
other companies including Google, Apple
and Microsoft are rumored to release
similar smart devices in the future.