There have been a lot of leaks regarding the upcoming BlackBerry 10 devices, be it pictures or their specs. And now new pictures have been leaked of some BB10 phones, which include the BlackBerry X10, an N-series BB10 phone, and the BlackBerry Z10. According to GSMArena, the images were originally posted in the technology section - /g/ - of the image board, 4chan.
Of the two phones, the Z10 is the only one that is completely touchscreen. The other two phones have full QWERTY keyboards. The BlackBerry X10 has a striking resemblance to HTC’s full QWERTY phone – the HTC ChaCha. The reveal of these phones significantly increases the number of BB10 devices that may be announced during RIM’s BB10 event at the end of January. 
The phone on the left bears a striking resemblance to the HTC ChaCha
Earlier this month, a picture of the full QWERTY N-series was leaked. This handset is expected to be announced alongside the BlackBerry Z10, a touchscreen handset that runs on Research in Motion's new OS. While there have been countless leaks in the past with respect to the BlackBerry Z10, there have been no images of the QWERTY handset which might be launched under the X10 moniker. From the leaked images, we can see that this handset features a lot of the design traits of the older Bold series of handsets and looks pretty much similar to the BlackBerry Bold 9900, except for the fact that it features straight rows and not the curved layout of the older generations of BlackBerry devices. Another big difference is the lack of the navigation and menu buttons. Overall, Research in Motion appears to be sticking to a design and form factor its loyalists are used to and love. Earlier, an official image of the BlackBerry Z10 made an appearance. In the leaked press shot, we can see what was previously known as the BlackBerry 10 L-Series handset now being marketed as ‘The New BlackBerry Z10.’ The picture shows the handset in both colours it is expected to be launched in – black and white. This image also shows the app switching pane and a contact profile page. This feature is nothing new and Research in Motion had revealed details on these features in the past. A later report revealed some of the specifications of the BlackBerry Z10, and as it turns out, the specs are very similar to that of the developer alpha devices used by developers to make apps for BlackBerry 10. It was previously reported that Research In Motion is set to showcase its upcoming operating system—BlackBerry 10—in all its glory. The company has started sending out invitations for the launch events of the operating system, which will be held on January 30, 2013. The launch events will be held in cities around the world, including New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Johannesburg and Dubai.
http://tech2.in.com/news/smartphones/more-pictures-of-blackberry-10-devices-leaked/665122
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http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/26/google-extends-free-gmail-voice-calls-in-the-u-s-and-canada-through-2013/Many of you call phones from Gmail to easily connect with friends and family. If you’re in the US and Canada, you’ll continue to be able to make free domestic calls through 2013. Plus, in most countries, you can still call the rest of the world from Gmail at insanely low rates.
When Snapchat launched a video update last week, AllThingsDreported that Facebook was planning on releasing its own photo and video sharing app to compete with Snapchat. Facebook’s new standalone app, Facebook Poke, was released today, expanding on Facebook's original "poke" concept. 
(Credit: Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET)
So, Whatsapp is going to charge users for messages from 2013, but will spare those who send this message (see image below) to 10 people. Only this time, I know that it is fake!
Quite a number of users woke up this morning to a message that read, “UR1994 KB1212 RJ1708 Send this message to 10 people. As soon as all of them have read your message, you will get an SMS from Whatsapp, with an activation code. Once you enter the activation code, you will no longer have to pay to use Whatsapp, which is going to charge for messages from new year 2013."
The fake message doing rounds
If this reminds you of a recent instance, wherein similar messages did rounds of the popular chat service, then you’re not alone. Only last month, users came forth with complaints of being bombarded with messages - some telling them the service would soon be a paid one, and that if users wished to continue using it for free, they should forward this message to 18 contacts on their list. There were others that came in with a string of emoticons, asking the recipient to forward it to 11 of his contacts to activate a new version of Whatsapp.
Twitter is abuzz too, with quite a few users discussing the latest message.
Previously, the messages found their way to many, many inboxes, resulting in complete chaos.
One of the messages read -
“Hello everyone, it seems that all the warnings were real, the use of WhatsApp cost money from summer 2012. If you send this string to 18 different on your list, your icon will be blue and will be free for you. If you do not believe me see tomorrow at 6 pm ending WhatsApp and have to pay to open it, this is by law This message is to inform all of our users, our servers have recently been very congested, so we are asking your help to solve this problem. We require our active users forwarded this message to each of the people in your contact list to confirm our active users using WhatsApp, if you do not send this message to all your contacts WhatsApp, then your account will remain inactive with the consequence of losing all their contactsMessage from Jim Balsamic (CEO of WhatsApp) we have had an over usage of user names on whatsapp Messenger. We are requesting all users to forward this message to their entire contact list. If you do not forward this message, we will take it as your account is invalid and it will be deleted within the next 48 hours. Please DO NOT ignore this message or WhatsApp will no longer recognise your activation.
If you wish to re-activate your account after it has been deleted, a charge of 25.00 will be added to your monthly bill. We are also aware of the issue involving the pictures updates not showing. We are working diligently at fixing this problem and it will be up and running as soon as possible. Thank you for your cooperation from the Whatsapp team” WhatsApp is going to cost us money soon. The only way that it will stay free is if you are a frequent user i.e. you have at least 10 people you are chatting with. To become a frequent user send this message to 10 people who receive it (2 ticks) and your WhatsApp logo should turn Red to indicate a frequent user. Am sorry had no option! And check now the status of every individual contact is showing : Status : error."
At the time, irate users took to popular social networking sites expressing their irritation over being bombarded with these messages by their contacts, while those who have been spared the hoax messages are expressing relief. Another good reason to rubbish these messages as hoax is a blog post (which although came out way earlier, deals with the same message) on WhatsApp that clarifies all doubts.
http://tech2.in.com/news/services/another-fake-whatsapp-message-doing-the-rounds/655572
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There are quite a few among us who have at least once been through the hell of having a cracked, or worse, a shattered smartphone display. How about an unbreakable phone, then?
As per a listing on the US Patent and Trademark Office, Amazon Chief Jeff Bezos now officially holds a smartphone airbag system patent, the mechanism behind which is a built-in accelerometer adept at detecting whether the phone is falling too fast. Once it detects that, it will quickly deploy an airbag. In a brief outline of the patent in question, the USPTO site adds, “A system and method for protecting devices from impact damage is provided. Prior to impact between a surface and a device, a determination of a risk of damage to the device is made. If the risk of damage to the device exceeds a threshold, a protection system is activated to reduce or substantially eliminate damage to the device.”
For crack-free gadgetry (Image credit: Getty Images)
In an elaborate description of the patent, it has been explained that it is essentially a damage avoidance system that is activated once the risk of damage is detected, before impact with the surface. In this sense, a damage avoidance system comprises one or more protection elements working together to reduce or prevent damage to the 'portable device' on hitting the surface.
Using a mobile phone, one of the most commonly used gadgets as an example, the patent description explains that a damage avoidance system on a mobile phone would come with a safety monitoring system and a protection system. For instance, if a user accidentally drops his mobile phone, then the safety monitoring system, using several detection elements, will detect that the device is no longer in contact with the user. It then measures a distance from an approaching surface and decides the velocity toward the surface. The explanation elaborates,"Based on the collected information, the safety monitoring system determines whether the risk of damage to the cellular phone, that will be caused by the impending impact, exceeds an acceptable threshold. If the safety monitoring system determines that the risk of damage exceeds the acceptable threshold, the protection system is activated."
In this case, a protection system deploys an airbag before the device hits the surface. This way, the airbag meets the surface at impact. The airbag will absorb the impact and protect the device to reduce or eliminate damage.
The listing on the USPTO page bears the names of Gregory Hart and Jeffrey Bezos as the inventors. The patent application had been filed on February 11, 2010.
Interestingly, the listing makes note of the fact that at least as per one report, 1 out of 3 cellular phones are damaged or lost in the first year of buying them. "Damage may occur when a cellular phone experiences an uncontrolled impact with a hard surface or even become submerged in a liquid. With the number of cellular phones in use exceeding several billion and repairs typically exceeding $25, the costs of damage and loss of cellular phones amounts to billions of dollars per year," it points out.
http://tech2.in.com/news/smartphones/amazons-bezos-awarded-patent-for-smartphone-airbag-system/647242
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Not one to stay behind, Facebook is planning to introduce yet another feature to its kitty – the ‘self destructing’ chat message. The Snapchat-like app, which will destroy messages after having been received, is said to be in the testing stage, reports AllthingsD.
Snapchat became a much used app and became prominent because of its ability to destroy messages within 10 seconds of being sent. A user can send messages that destroy themselves from not only their phones, but the receiver’s phone as well. Snapchat even destroys matter from its own servers. The company even added video capabilities to the app. Clearly, this app became very popular with the youth who used it to exchange messages and photographs. Facebook too will be looking at implementing similar functions in its chat app, including the capability of deciding the amount of time the message or image remains visible. This move is a part of Facebook’s blitzkrieg addition of features to its apps including standalone ones like Messenger and Camera. 
Destroy your messages after the user receives it on Facebook!
There were rumours raging that Facebook was planning to acquire messaging service WhatsApp. However, it appears that the reports were merely speculative and multiple sources confirmed that they were unfounded. It was revealed that Facebook was actually implementingchanges to its Android app instead. Facebook has opened up its messenger service to people who aren't registered with the social network, and users can now use Facebook Messenger to chat using only their name and mobile number. Facebook updated its Android app earlier in December to embrace a wider audience base by removing the necessity of being a Facebook member to use the messenger service. It is supposed to help in enticing more non-members to use Facebook services while giving existing users a bonus by letting them chat with friends who are not on the social networking website. Covering bases of all that’s in vogue with users these days, Facebook had acquired photo editing and sharing app Instagram in September. The deal was valued at $1 billion when the companies agreed to it in April. But Facebook's stock price has lost half of its value since its IPO. With Facebook trading at $18.06 on Aug. 31 when the deal closed, it is worth about $715.3 million – $300 million of it in cash and the rest in stock. Facebook has steadily worked on making Instagram a bigger part of its family. Come January 16,Instagram's new Privacy Policy and Terms of Service will be effective, and in an official blog post, it has shared all that its users should expect. Sharing a few key updates, Instagram elaborates that nothing has changed pertaining to the ownership of a user's photos or bits about who can see them. Most importantly, Instagram shares that the updated privacy policy will help them function as a part of the social networking giant Facebook with ease by sharing information between the two of them. This way, it believes that they will be able to fight spam more effectively, detect system and reliability problems quicker and also build better features for users, by learning better how the platform is being used. The updated Terms of Service, Instagram shares, will help protect users and prevent spam and abuse. Facebook plans on releasing the Snapchat competitor app within a few weeks, aiming at releasing it before the end of the year. How Facebook will tighten the ropes around the kind of data and photos that are shared through its service, owing to its stringent Terms and Privacy Policies, remains to be seen.
http://tech2.in.com/news/apps/facebook-to-launch-snapchatlike-self-destructing-message-app/649912
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