Voice calls could be right around the corner for WhatsApp users

WhatsApp’s highly anticipated voice calling capabilities, which were hinted at by WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum at MWC earlier this year, could be going live any day now.

The latest translation requests for Hindi volunteers on WhatsApp’s official Translation Portal show entries for Hang up, Incoming call, and Outgoing call – indicating that the Facebook-owned company is just about ready to make voice services a reality for its app.


Although far from a sure thing, translation requests usually mark one of the final steps which a developer takes before outing a product, as that typically means the core functionality is finalized.
Furthermore, Jan Koum indicated at MWC would come to Android and iOS WhatsApp users this spring, so we could even see the anticipated release in the coming days. Stay tuned!

Confirmed: Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 powered by Exynos 3250

We’ve known about the Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 for a little while now, but the Korean tech manufacturer didn’t really reveal any juicy tidbits about the internal specs of the devices.

Well Samsung has spilled the beans and we now know that the Gear 2 will be powered by a new Exynos processor with a couple of interesting modifications.
The original Samsung Galaxy Gear used a dual-core Exynos CPU, but its chipset was scaled back a bit. This was to preserve battery life and help you get more use out of your smartwatch.
The Gear 2′s CPU runs at 1GHz and uses both of its dual-cores all the time without sacrificing juice. How is this possible? Samsung replaced Android with Tizen, which is a less hungry OS than Android and operates more efficiently on the new wearable.
What about the Gear Fit? Well its chipset is the simpler of the two: a Cortex M4 that hardly classifies as a real-deal processor. But then again, the Gear Fit isn’t even using a full-blown OS like Android or Tizen, just a real time OS that has been programmed to take care of a few specific tasks quickly. The downside to this is that user customization is pretty much out of the question, not making it the purchasing choice for tinkerers and people who may want to run additional, out-of-the-box applications on their smartwatch.
Check out the CPU of the Gear 2 below, courtesy of the folks at iFixit.

Do either of these devices tickle your fancy? Or does no Android mean no dice for you?

Samsung Galaxy S5 official TV commercial goes live

Samsung has launched a brand new Galaxy S5 commercial to celebrate the flagship’s global launch. Today the Galaxy S5 hits 125 markets worldwide.

The 30 seconds ad focuses on the Galaxy S5′s camera, fast networking capabilities and the water resistance.
Enjoy the video!

Cheaters in Britain use Samsung phones the most

Suspect that your significant other may be seeing someone behind your back?

Well you may want to check and see if they’re using a Samsung cell phone if you have your doubts about their fidelity.
AshleyMadison.com, for those of who you don’t know, is a site that connects people who are married but want to cheat on their spouses.
54% of all men and 48% of all women who frequented the site used Samsung devices to engage in their unscrupulous ways.
What about iPhone users? 24% of men who cheated used the Apple smartphone, with 28% of female iPhone users being cheaters as well.
European Communications Director for AshleyMadison, Christoph Kramer, had this to say about the trend:

‘We see the same pattern globally with Samsung the most popular and the iPhone second, especially for women…Samsung have upped their game and it’s paid off – except for our Finnish members, who still opt for Nokia.’

A large part of the communication that goes on between users of the site takes the form of sexting, even if they don’t meet up with their online crushes. Numbers indicate that women are more predisposed to sexting than men are: 42% vs 37%.
Men who were surveyed said that they primarily sext from work, and women, (way to reinforce this stereotype) from the supermarket.
Here are some additional statistics from the AshleyMadison survey:
•75% of men, 69% of women say they use their mobile to message their lover
•Only 7% of men and 7% of women use their computer
•17% of men and 24 % of women prefer a tablet
Anyone been cheated on by the heartless hands of a Samsung phone owner?

12 million iPads now have Office installed

It has only been a week since Microsoft launched its Office suite on the Apple iPad but it has already been downloaded more than 12 million times.
Microsoft seems really pleased by this so it went on Twitter to boast a little. Office offers free viewing Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. In order to edit and create, however, one would need to shell out $10 a month for Office 365 subscription. How many of those has Microsoft secured since the apps became available on the iPad isn’t disclosed.
The free release of its Office suite to the iPad has come as an answer to Apple making its Pages, Numbers and Keynote (among others) free for iOS 7 devices. Google also has its interests covered on the iPad thanks to Google Drive and Quickoffice.

More than 12 million downloads of Word, Excel, PPT & OneNote for #iPad from the @AppStore <3 #OfficeforiPad pic.twitter.com/iT2egNPDkj
— Office (@Office) April 3, 2014

Microsoft did allow editing on Office for Android smartphones even without Office 365 a day after it released its Office pack for iPad, which just shows the dedication of the software giant to extend its reach.

Watch the Duo Camera and Motion Launch gestures in action on the HTC One M8 GPe

Ever since HTC announced that they will be selling a Google Play edition of the HTC One M8 through the Play Store, there have been speculations on how HTC would handle the hardware and software specific features on this particular model, especially the Duo Camera feature.
Although the company clarified that the feature will work on the Google Play edition, we were still curious as to how it will actually work on the phone. Well, we can stop wondering now as Droid-Life has a video showing just how HTC has handled the new features on the GPe ROM.
As you will see in the video below, the Duo Camera hardware is still fully functional in the stock camera app, even though you may not get any immediate indication of it. Only when you take a picture and try to edit it, you get to choose between HTC’s editor and stock Android editor. It’s the HTC editor that will allow you to adjust the focus point and add effects the way you would on a standard HTC One M8.
HTC has also included Motion Launch gestures that let you wake up the phone by tapping on the screen, swipe to unlock and start the camera by turning the phone sideways and pressing the volume button. BoomSound is also included, but only available when you plug in the headphones (it’s always on when using the speakers).
You can watch all these features in action in the video below.

Fingerprint scanner battle: Galaxy S5 vs iPhone 5s

Apple didn’t introduce fingerprint-scanning technology in handhelds but it did make it hip again when it transformed the iconic iPhone home button into a Touch ID scanner in the iPhone 5s.

It must have generated the needed attention because other manufacturers were quick to add in their own fingerprint scanning tech. More recently, Samsung also made the leap with its Galaxy S5 flagship’s home button. But how do both technologies stack up?
It’s no secret that Apple opted for a different approach with its iPhone 5s compared to Samsung with its Galaxy S5. The iPhone requires you to place your finger on the Touch ID button, while Samsung asks that you swipe your finger, starting above the home button and moving almost directly through the center of it. And while Apple’s software suit takes into account unlocking via different angles, Samsung’s is sticking to the centered approach. This is shown in the video below, which directly compared both device’s unlock methods head on.
This results in an easier finger unlock of the iPhone and less so on the Galaxy S5. And adding the S5′s bigger size unlocking with one hand is a pretty tall task. Check out the video below.