Rumours: Facebook Inc in talks to buy WhatsApp

Facebook Inc(NASDAQ:FB ) is in talks to acquire cross-platform mobile chat program, WhatsApp, TechCrunch reported citing sources.

WhatsApp was founded in 2009 and it provides the smartphone application across all operating systems such as Android, Blackberry, iOS and Windows. It works on phones that support text messages, transfer of images, audio and video messages. According to reports the application has about 100 million daily users, presence in about 250 countries on a variety of platforms.

The report in TechCrunch did not have any details about the likely size of the deal nor how far the talks had progressed between the two companies.

Last year in October WhatsApp had said in a blog post that it was transmitting 1 billion messages daily.

"Just how much is 1 billion messages? That is 41,666,667 messages an hour, 694,444 messages a minute, and 11,574 messages a second," it said.

It added that it was a "small step closer towards our goal: providing a great mobile messaging system for a global market, regardless of your handset."

For Facebook it’s a strategic acquisition since the social networking site is being accessed across platforms and having a platform-agnostic application would be a definite help specially as the company is getting aggressive on monetising its mobile subscriber base.

CNET, which followed up the story, said that WhatsApp's messenger application had come in for criticism "recently from security and mobile researchers who alleged security risks based on its authentication process."

The authentication process was pronounced to be a security nightmare by bloggers, who said that the application leaked data when the information collected for authentication purposes was sent to servers

Facebook Rollout of Mobile Photo Sync Background Uploads

Facebook Inc(NASDAQ:FB) is trying to re-establish itself as a storage locker. They can save images you don’t publish and the Photo Sync background uploads feature has already been rolled out to users on 30th November after it has been tested on Android for quite some time. If it can tackle upload friction, they will get loads of photos and will also pull in lots of juicy photo metadata to aid its ads business.

Users can activate the feature via a “Sync” button below the photos in their primary Facebook for iOS or Android app. Once turned on, it will automatically upload all images you take to a private folder. The Photos section can be selected from the navigation menu on the app and then the Synced section can be accessed or it can be done from the Synced From Phone section at the top of your photos on desktop to select which photos to share with friends. Currently, 2GB of photos can be stored free of cost.

When people use a 3G or 4G network, photos synced will be smaller in size, about 100K each and bigger versions will be available on Wi-Fi. There is an option in the Sync settings to deactivate cellular uploads so that you don’t use up your data plan or turn it off completely. When the battery of your device is low, there will be no sync-ing from Facebook.

The real issue when it comes to sharing mobile photos was the upload process where many seconds would be wasted in looking at the progress bar. People will be more open to share a number of photos now that the problem has been dealt with. Facebook will also access your geo-location data from your photos. This data will help them to show more relevant ads to you in your news feed.

But on the back-end, Facebook gets to chow down on a ton of extra data. Just because you don’t share them doesn’t mean Facebook doesn’t suck in the geo-location data from your photos that can help it refine your news feed and show you more relevant ads for nearby businesses.

Just imagine – Facebook detects a Coca-Cola beverage in your hand, and Pepsi tried to make sure you buy their product instead via ads in your feed.

November, a good month for Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

On the first day of trading in November Facebook‘s stock shot up from $21.08 a share to $28 a share at the end of the day Friday, which is its highest price since July. Zuckerberg, who owns about 504 million shares of Facebook stock, has therefore gained about $3.48 billion. Zuckerberg’s shares were worth $19.1 billion when Facebook first went public at $38 a share in May.

November has been one of the best months yet for the stock. This can be attributed to a strong earnings report in late October, which showed that Facebook has been making progress in monetizing mobile. Also, the second and largest lockup period for stocks held by employees finally expired in the middle of November, which was something investors had been concerned about for months and which appears to have held down the stock price.

As of Friday, Zuckerberg’s net worth was $14.1 billion and will probably grow more as Facebook continues to meet with success.

Text Message’s 20th Anniversary Sees Users Turning to Facebook

By Amy Thomson

Text messages turn 20 today and their use may rise 40 percent by 2016, even as mobile-phone owners increasingly rely on Facebook Inc. (FB) and WhatsApp to communicate.

The first SMS, or short message service, text was sent over Vodafone Group Plc (VOD)’s network on Dec. 3, 1992 with the message “Merry Christmas.” By 2016, users may send 9.4 trillion texts, generating $127 billion in revenue, up from 6.7 trillion forecast for this year, according to researcher Informa Plc.

SMS became a key source of income for carriers worldwide, initially costing users a few cents per text and eventually becoming wrapped into unlimited voice and data plans. As more customers have switched to smartphones, with better access to the Internet and more applications, people are increasingly using chat features on Facebook and other websites.

“The concern for mobile operators is that the malaise that SMS faces in countries such as the Netherlands, Spain, China, South Korea and the Philippines, where SMS traffic and revenues are in decline, will inevitably spread, as the penetration of smartphones and mobile broadband grows,” Informa said in a note.

Growth will come via emerging markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America where fewer users have smartphones and they rely on SMS for communication as well as services such as mobile banking, Informa said.

21.5 inch iMac available today

Apple Inc, much to the celebration of fanboys and holiday shoppers everywhere, has officially begun selling the 21.5-inch iMac today, both online and in its trademark stores and select retail partners. The company originally announced the sale date
on its website on Tuesday
, while mentioning that the "27-inch iMac will be available for order through the Apple Online Store and will begin shipping in December."

Interestingly, the Cupertino-based tech giant's online store did originally mention that the 27-inch iMac, which costs an average of $500 more than its smaller counterpart, would be available to ship in "2-3 weeks." As this time has already slipped one week later, to "3-4 weeks."

A quick check of the Apple Store confirms that this is the case, which may leave some holiday shoppers out in the cold, so to speak, for Christmas morning.