Welcoming Parse to Facebook

 Last week, we hosted our first Mobile Developer Conference, where we launched several new products to help mobile developers integrate Facebook: Open Graph for mobile, better Facebook Login, and new developer tools. Today, we’re making it even easier to build mobile apps with Facebook Platform by announcing that we have entered into an agreement to acquire Parse, a cloud-based platform that provides scalable cross-platform services and tools for developers.
By making Parse a part of Facebook Platform, we want to enable developers to rapidly build apps that span mobile platforms and devices. Parse makes this possible by allowing developers to work with native objects that provide backend services for data storage, notifications, user management, and more. This removes the need to manage servers and a complex infrastructure, so you can simply focus on building great user experiences.
We’ve worked closely with the Parse team and have seen first-hand how important their products and community are to developers. We don’t intend to change this. We will continue offering their products and services, and we’re excited to expand what Facebook and Parse can provide together.
Resources: Facebook Developer Blog

 Word from Parse CEO:
Parse has come a long way. In just under two years, we’ve gone from a rough prototype to powering tens of thousands of apps for a very broad spectrum of customers.
Some of the world’s best brands trust us with their entire mobile presence, and a growing number of the world’s brightest independent developers trust us with their next big thing. We couldn’t be happier.
As stewards of a good thing, we’re always thinking about the next step in growing Parse to become a leading platform in this age of mobile apps.
These steps come in all sizes. Most are small and incremental. Some are larger.  Today we’re excited to announce a pretty big one.
Parse has agreed to be acquired by Facebook. We expect the transaction to close shortly. Rest assured, Parse is not going away. It’s going to get better.
We’ve worked with Facebook for some time, and together we will continue offering our products and services. Check out Facebook’s blog post for more on this.
Combining forces with a partner like Facebook makes a lot of sense. In a short amount of time, we’ve built up a core technology and a great community of developers. Bringing that to Facebook allows us to work with their incredible talent and resources to build the ideal platform for developers.
We think this is the right way to accomplish what we set out to do. We’re excited about the future of Parse!
 

Ilya Sukhar
CEO Parse Inc.

Resources: Parse Blog 

 

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-Article Revised By Pushpendra Kumar Tiwari

Microsoft making transition in their policies to make Android users to 'Switch to Windows Phone'

 

Microsoft exploring new ways to attract android users.  According to a report by NeoWin, the app will allow Android users to find Windows Phone equivalents of their commonly used apps in addition to third party substitutes for apps that are officially not present on Windows Phone. Microsoft has partnered with third-party developer Quixey, which is an app search engine, to deploy the service in the app. It essentially uses Microsoft's SkyDrive cloud storage service to store a record of the user's Android apps, while a Windows Phone version of the app uses the list to find similar apps on Windows Phone store, offering users app listings.

Portronics Handmate Pen adds touchscreen experience to any Windows 8 device

  It proPortronics Handmate Windows 8 Pen is one of those nifty little devices that seem too good to be true when you first read about them.mises to turn any Windows 8 laptop into a touchscreen device, letting you experience the joys of owning one of those 'hybrid' devices at fraction of the cost. But does it work? Let's find out.

Zynga relaunches gaming site, loosens Facebook ties

Online game publisher Zynga Inc relaunched its website on Thursday, allowing users to play its games without first signing on to Facebook, a significant step toward establishing its independence from Facebook Inc.

The relaunch of Zynga.com is the latest step in the slow dissolution of a special partnership that once bound two of the most influential players in the social Internet industry.

Tim Catlin, general manager of Zynga.com, told Reuters he believed Zynga's players wanted to create unique player names that were not tied to their Facebook accounts, which displays their real names.

Iron Man 3 - Games for iPhone, iPad and Android for free

Gameloft have made another debut with its new official Game "Iron Man 3". Game is now available for iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

 If it isn't clear from the name itself, the game is based on the much-anticipated movie, Iron Man 3.

After the events of Iron Man 3, Tony has become a peacekeeper, but new threats emerge regularly all around the globe - and Iron Man is the only one who can take care of them. The game lets you become billionaire Tony Stark aka Iron Man and promises a fast-paced, endless running adventure.

The game is now available as a free download with a host of in-app purchases for iPhone and iPad as well as Android.

Zynga Continuing effort to get over of loss

Zynga Inc.'s surprise profit in the first three months of the year got overshadowed by a revenue decline, a drop in the number of users and a lower-than-expected second-quarter forecast.

The online game maker's stock fell more than 10 percent in extended trading Wednesday after the first-quarter results came out.

Samsung Galaxy Camera vs Nikon Coolpix S800C

David Pogue, The New York Times, December 21, 2012

 

"Android camera." Wow, that has a weird ring, doesn't it? You just don't think of a camera as having an operating system. It's like saying "Windows toaster" or "Unix jump rope."

But yes, that's what it has come to. Ever since cellphone cameras got good enough for everyday snapshots, camera sales have been dropping. For millions of people, the ability to share a fresh photo wirelessly - Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, text message - is so tempting, they're willing to sacrifice a lot of real-camera goodness.

Weeks Super 30 Android Apps

Real Boxing is punching up a storm on Android

Real Boxing (£2.99)

Already a hit on iOS, punch 'em up Real Boxing has now mades its Android debut, initially as an exclusive for devices with Nvidia's Tegra 3 processor. It sees you battling through a 30-fight career mode against 20 beefy boxers, while training your fighter up in between matches.

MessageMe (Free)

Is 2013 too late for a new messaging app to cause a stir? Seemingly not. MessageMe is getting similar buzz this week to WhatsApp in its early days. The app is a combination of one-to-one and group messaging, but throws in simple sharing of YouTube videos, iTunes songs and digitally scribbled-on photos. Facebook is an option to find friends, but BBM-style private PINs are also supported.

Samsung emerges No. 1 phone seller

Samsung has overtaken Nokia to become the largest seller of mobile phones in the country's major markets.

KOLKATA: Samsung has overtaken Nokia to become the largest seller of mobile phones in the country's major markets, as consumers lap up its new feature phones and its smartphones continue to do brisk business.

According to market tracker GfK-Nielsen's data, Samsung's volume market share in urban areas in March rose to 31.4%, surpassing Nokia's 30.1%. GfK-Nielsen urban panel tracks sales in 793 cities and towns with a population of over 50,000, which account for more than 70% of India's total handset sales.

This is the first time the Korean company's volume market share has crossed that of Nokia's in the GfK-Nielsen survey. The all-India figures, which will include rural sales, will be released shortly.

Some months ago, Samsung's market share, measured in value terms, had exceeded that of Nokia's, and there is now a considerable gap between the two due to growing demand for the Korean firm's smartphones.

New models push sales
Last month, Samsung's value market share in urban markets stood at 42.2% compared with Nokia's 20.7%. Analysts say Samsung's gain in volume market share last month is led by the recent introduction of the Rex feature phone series and strong demand for smartphones such as Galaxy Grand and Note 2, the top-selling models at multi-brand retail outlets. Its newest premium smartphone, Galaxy S4, will be launched in India on Friday.
A Nokia India spokesperson said the company did not comment on country-specific market data, and added that it was executing its strategy with 'urgency and at a new clock speed'. The spokesperson said at the higher end of the price spectrum, the company had launched ten Nokia Lumia devices in the past 16 months and claimed that Asha 305 was the best-selling smartphone in India.

"We are competing at every price point with better mobile experience. Nokia will continue to deliver new and innovative solutions to consumers," she said.

Notwithstanding these initiatives, analysts and experts feel that Nokia's more than a decade-long leadership in the Indian handset market is under threat. The company, which once enjoyed a dominant 80% market share, has never completely recovered from its failure to anticipate and react to the dual-SIM handset boom a few years ago.

"It's truly unbelievable the way Nokia fell in India in the past six years. The brand failed to rejuvenate itself and fell prey to customer fatigue. Add to that the speed of execution - while Samsung was taking six months to launch a new model from the drawing board to retail store, Nokia was taking more than a year," said former BlackBerry India head Sunil Dutt, who was Nokia's head of sales till 2007. A Samsung India spokeswoman declined comment on the market share data. But Samsung India's Country Head (mobile phone & digital imaging) Vineet Taneja said the company has gained market share.

"Samsung has created new segments, such as the Note series or the Rex series, which was developed in India. We have developed a strong product portfolio straddling across entry-level smartphones till the premium segment," said Taneja. The Korean company has been the leader in the smartphones segment since end-2011, even as it trailed Nokia in the overall handset market.

 -Article Revised By Pushpendra Kumar Tiwari