Instagram users top 500 million

There are now half a billion active users on the photo-sharing app Instagram, the
company has said.More than 300 million people use it at least once a day, it added.
The service was bought by Facebook in 2012 for about $1bn (£677m), and has grown rapidly ever since.
According to the company, an average of 95 million photos and videos are posted each day. Co-founder Kevin Systrom told the BBC its success was the result of "a lot of hard work".
In its five and a half years, Instagram has rocketed past Twitter, thanks in part to its adoption by high-profile celebrities and sports stars.
Instagram's biggest competitor for youthful eyeballs, Snapchat, is understood to have surpassed 100 million users.
'Not about ads'
Instagram was launched in 2010, with 25,000 people downloading the app on its first day.
In growing to the 500 million milestone, the app has suffered its fair share of controversy. In 2012, changes to its terms of service had users worried it was looking to sell their pictures to advertisers. The changes were rolled back - the service insisted the furore was due to a failure of communication, rather than a nefarious monetisation plan. Still, users were unnerved.
Unease about how a Facebook-owned company would seek to bring in profits has

followed ever since.
One recent announcement - that photos would be ordered by an algorithm rather than shown in chronological order - was heavily criticised. There was speculation the move was made to cause more adverts to surface in people's feeds.
"I can say for a fact that's absolutely not what this is about," Mr Systrom told the

BBC.
"Nothing about ads or how many ads we show is affected by what happens with the algorithm. This is all about making sure that you see the best stuff."
Also irking users of late has been Instagram's logo change.

Out went the nostalgia-tinged old camera icon, and in its place, a simpler rainbow-coloured replacement. It didn't go down well. But then again, logo changes never do.
"Before we launched it, I knew that it would be a tough time for Instagram," Mr

Systrom disclosed.
"What separates companies that make transitions like that and they are successful and the ones that fail, are the ones that have resolve and do it for the right reasons.
"We wanted to create a mark that was universal. We did all these studies of

companies and how their marks have evolved over time.
"What you see is they go from complex to simpler and simpler and more iconic. We

skipped a few steps, and we went straight to iconic."
Self-obsession
If seflie culture is some kind of new religion, Instagram is a digital Mecca.
But thought-provoking posts from stars, detailing the excruciating effort that goes into the perfect selfie, have made some question the impact apps like Instagram are having on our views of body image and lifestyle.
Mr Systrom likens selfie culture to art works he studied at school.
"People like to think selfies are new. But if you look at the history of art, what's

one of the largest formats?" he asks.
"It's the portrait. Now everyone can be an artist.
"That sense of identity when you're growing up, remembering where you were and what you were doing, is nothing new. I think Instagram just makes it very easy.
"At the same time, we see lots of very impactful images being taken."
Those images range from users posting from within secretive North Korea, to small businesses using Instagram to get products and ideas moving.
But compared with Twitter and Facebook, it could be argued, Instagram lacks the same

reputation for social disruption.
"I don't think our job is to wish we are part of any movement more than it happens

organically," Mr Systrom said.
"[But] I actually think we are part of the global discourse around these moments, and I'm excited that takes place on Instagram."

Age concern
With Instagram celebrating its milestone, and a growth in revenue, it's hard to pick holes in its co-founder's strategy.
Fears that Instagram would lose its identity once Facebook stepped in have proved to be unfounded, as were concerns that bringing advertising into the platform would send people away. It hasn't - at least not yet. But in the dossier of impressive statistics dished out by Instagram ahead of Tuesday's announcement, there was little in there about the types of users they have. We know there are 500 million of them, and that 80% are outside the US.
But what Instagram is less open about is the profile of those users. The health and future potential of any social network rests with new users, and the perception of being a "cool" place to hang out in the digital world.
That makes it difficult to properly assess Instagram's standing against Snapchat and other rivals.
But Mr Systrom says he is not worried about running the coolest network.
"Of course, we have lots of people signing up who are coming of age and learning to use social media," he said.
"Our job is not to be the cool place to be, our job to is to be the most useful and interesting place to be."
Sources: BBC And Mark's Profile

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Youtube Introduces The New Chat Feature For Its Mobile App

As we all know that YouTube is a free video-sharing website that makes it easy to watch online videos. You can even create and upload your own videos to share with others, as it was created in 2005, hence, the YouTube is now one of the most popular sites on the Web, with visitors watching around 6 billion hours of video every month. Recently YouTube introduces a new instant messaging feature which will enable its mobile app users to share and present videos without shifting to the other ways to connect with their friends and family.

The free video sharing giant website YouTube is currently examining an instant messaging feature in its mobile app so that the user can share and present videos without shifting to the other ways to connect with their friends and family.
According to the reports the new feature is currently being offered only to a small group of the user who has the YouTube’s app installed on an Apple’s iPhone or device running on Google’s Android operating system. But, these users can invite their friends to try out the messaging feature. Friends can talk about the YouTube video right inside the YouTube mobile app, can reply with another video or via text, photos, and emojis. So, we can expect the new chat features in YouTube’s next app update, only if everything goes fine.

The director of the product management at YouTube, Shimrit Ben-Yair, says that the “feature was developed after her team hypothesized that a streamlined native way to share YouTube videos would result in more sharing—which is exactly what YouTube wants”.
Also added that “The average YouTube viewing session on a mobile device is 40 minutes which reaches more 18 to 49-year old than any cable network in the US—that’s counting YouTube mobile alone and it’s still by far the clear leader in the internet video, with billion-plus users consuming videos rapidly on the site. But the social media giant Facebook and Snapchat are chasing the YouTube’s audience aggressively and even Amazon also jumped into the fray”.
Hence, the new instant messaging feature will encourage its audience to spend even more time inside its popular video app, as the new instant messaging feature will allow the users to directly share videos and text messages within the app. Hence, the users need not to copy and paste the links of videos in any third party apps or instant messaging services to share with their friends and family.

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Facebook Use First Time Security Check In U.S

Facebook has previously employed its Safety Check feature after emergencies in France, Belgium, Pakistan, Nigeria, India and other countries.
Sunday's attack in Orlando, Florida, triggered its first activation in the United States.
The tool lets Facebook users in Orlando confirm that they're safe, unsafe or outside the affected area with the click of a button.

"We hope the people in the area find the tool a helpful way to let their friends and family know they are okay," Facebook said in a statement.

Safety Check received a lot of attention when it was turned on after a series of terrorist attacks in Paris, France last November.
The company has been scrutinized over when it chooses to turn on the tool and when it chooses not to.
Earlier this month, Facebook started testing a version of the Safety Check that allowed others to activate and share safety messages.
And that's how it started in Orlando on Sunday: "Following the community-generated Safety Check activation this morning in Orlando, we have now activated Facebook-initiated Safety Check," Facebook's statement said.

A spokeswoman confirmed that this is the first "Facebook-initiated Safety Check in the U.S."
Seeing the tool applied so close to home rattled some U.S. users of Facebook.

"I never thought I would have to mark myself "safe" on Facebook. Surreal morning," Orlando Magic Daily editor Philip Rossman-Reich tweeted.

"Phone starting to blow up [with] Facebook marked safe alerts & grateful for each & every one," leadership and development coach Julie Couret wrote.

Facebook and Twitter were also used by people at the scene of the attack at Pulse, a popular gay nightclub in Orlando.

Clubgoers traded messages as they searched for loved ones in the chaotic aftermath of the shootings.
Brandon Wolf, one local resident, tweeted right after the initial shooting, "Shooting at pulse. We hid in the bathroom. And we can't find our friends."
Four hours later, he said, "I still can't believe I got out. And we have not located Drew."
By the mid afternoon, he had still not accounted for his friend, according to his tweets.

Sources: CNN

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PlayStation VR Has Star Wars And Resident Evil

Sony has unveiled a raft of new games that will be playable in virtual reality on the PS4.

New Star Wars and Resident Evil games were among those revealed at the E3 video games trade show in Los Angeles.

Virtual reality clips for Batman and Final Fantasy games were also shown off.

The titles will require gamers to use the PlayStation VR headset, which will cost $399 (£280) when it is released on October 13.

"It's not for the faint of heart in terms of the type of game experiences they're going for, it's really that hardcore ethos," games industry analyst Lewis Ward at IDC told the BBC.

Mr Ward had just tried a demo of sci-fi space shooter Farpoint in PS VR following the press conference.

"It's very intense," he said. "I was sweating."

Mr Ward added that while the selection of titles was likely to attract gamers, the titles themselves might be a little overwhelming.

"The first wave of VR probably has to be careful with the amount of motion in games because of motion sickness," he explained.

In an interview with the Financial Times prior to E3, Sony confirmed that it was planning to release an upgraded PlayStation 4 called "Project Neo" that will be capable of outputting 4K graphics.

Besides the virtual reality titles, Sony also previewed several exclusives including long-awaited adventure game The Last Guardian, first announced in 2009.

The game's release date has been set as October 25, 2016.

However, highly anticipated space simulator No Man's Sky did not make an appearance.

Analysis: Dave Lee, North America technology reporter

Sony's virtual reality offer may not end up being the best, but it will be a first: the first affordable, high-end VR headset for the masses.

Sony made a point of saying its PS4 is already powerful enough to run VR - a dig at Microsoft, which had earlier announced a new console to offer that, in late 2017.

The truth is that PS VR is just less sophisticated than the Oculus Rift and HTC's Vive.

Resident Evil was an apt title to show off.

Back in the days of the first PlayStation, the game used to have these tense, creaky door moments. They would take 20 seconds or so to open, building the fear... but also allowing the console time to load the room ahead. Smart!

In PS VR Resident Evil, your view is lit by torchlight, a narrow and eerie field of vision - therefore much less intensive to render. With restriction comes creativity, I guess.

Many of the other PS VR experiences were not quite full games. Single missions rather than whole titles.

Exclusives showcase

Sony's press conference featured a live orchestra, which played throughout the event, on occasion providing accompaniment to live demos of some of the games.

After an extended overture from the musicians, Sony Interactive Entertainment executive Shawn Layden made reference to the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida which this weekend left 49 club-goers dead.

"On behalf of the PlayStation community, I just want to say that our thoughts are with the victims and the families and the community of Orlando," he said.

Mr Layden's remarks were followed first by a preview of an upcoming PS4 exclusive, God of War, featuring Kratos - a character from earlier games in the series.

Other exclusives showcased included Days Gone, a third-person zombie-filled title from the development team behind the Syphon Filter series.

And there was gameplay footage of Horizon: Zero Dawn, in which a female protagonist battles robotic dinosaur creatures in a lush natural landscape.

Superhero fans weren't left out either - a teaser trailer for a new Spiderman game was shown.

There was also a surprise appearance from critically acclaimed game designer Hideo Kojima.

"Hello everyone," he said, addressing the audience, "I'm back".

Mr Kojima unveiled a new game, Dead Stranding, with Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus in a lead role.

No gameplay footage was shown, however, and the title does not yet have a release date.

Sources: BBC

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Microsoft is buying LinkedIn

Microsoft is buying the professional networking website LinkedIn for just over $26 billion (£18 billion) in cash.

The software giant will pay $196 a share - a premium of almost 50% to Friday's closing share price.

The deal will help Microsoft boost sales of its business and email software.

Microsoft said that LinkedIn would retain its "distinct brand, culture and independence".

Ben Wood, head of research at CCS Insight, said the deal would give Microsoft access to the world's biggest professional social network with more than 430 million members worldwide.

"That's a valuable asset that can be deeply integrated with a number of Microsoft assets such as Office 365, Exchange and Outlook. That said, Microsoft has stated that the company will continue to operate as an independent business, so we'll have to see how deeply the integration occurs," Mr Wood said.

Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said: "The LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business centered on connecting the world's professionals. Together we can accelerate the growth of LinkedIn, as well as Microsoft Office 365 and Dynamics."

In an email to staff, he that the deal "is key to our bold ambition to reinvent productivity and business processes. Think about it: How people find jobs, build skills, sell, market and get work done and ultimately find success requires a connected professional world."


LinkedIn shares soared to $193.70 in morning trading in New York after the deal was announced.

Shares in the company, which floated in May 2011, have fallen by more than 40% this year.

The stock plunged by a quarter in February after the company issued a profit warning for the first quarter and reported an annual loss of $166m.

Ivan Feinseth, analyst at Tigress Financial Partners, said that LinkedIn was a great business "even though the company stubbed their toe back in February. It's a premium company and it deserves a premium valuation."

Shares in Microsoft fell 3% to $49.95, bringing the decline this year to 10%.

'Incredible opportunity'

Jeff Weiner will remain chief executive, reporting to Mr Nadella. He and Reid Hoffman - the chairman, co-founder and controlling shareholder of LinkedIn - both backed the deal.

"Today is a re-founding moment for LinkedIn," said Mr Hoffman. "I see incredible opportunity for our members and customers and look forward to supporting this new and combined business."

LinkedIn has been trying to expand by offering users more messaging options, mobile apps and a revamped "news feed" to help boost engagement.

Last year, the site pledged to send less frequent and "more relevant" messages after numerous user complaints.

The takeover is by far the biggest acquisition made by Microsoft, which paid $8.5 billion for Skype in 2011 and bought Nokia's mobile phone business for $7.2 billion in 2013.

The LinkedIn acquisition also eclipses the $19 billion that Facebook paid for WhatsApp in 2014.

Despite having a cash pile of about $92 billion, Microsoft said it would pay for LinkedIn mostly by issuing new debt.

It expects the deal, which must be approved by regulators in the US, EU, Canada and Brazil, to generate annual savings of $150 million by 2018.

News Source: BBC

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Drops and Spills Don't Faze Samsung Galaxy S7 Active

The water- and shatter-resistant Samsung Galaxy S7 Active on Friday became available exclusively from AT&T through its website or at its brick-and-mortar stores.

Consumers who have eligible service can get the Galaxy S7 Active for US$26.50 monthly for 30 months on AT&T Next, or $33.13 monthly for 24 months on AT&T Next Every Year.

With a new two-year wireless agreement, customers who opt for AT&T Next also can get a free Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch, with qualified wireless service provided for both devices. As an alternative to the smartwatch, consumers can opt to pay 99 cents for the Samsung Galaxy Tab E, with wireless service included for both devices.

Buying two Galaxy S7 Active devices on the AT&T Next plan also will get purchasers up to $695 in bill credits over 30 months.


"Getting the S7 Active is a pretty good get for AT&T, as the device is, essentially, Samsung's flagship Galaxy S7 in an integrated ruggedized case," noted Ken Hyers, a research director at Strategy Analytics.

The S7 Active "is a premium smartphone in a segment that's dominated by lower-end ruggedized smartphones like Kyocera's Hydro," he told TechNewsWorld. "Samsung pretty much has the high end of this segment to itself."

Notable S7 Active Features

The S7 Active is the first in Samsung's Active family to include a fingerprint scanner, which is embedded in its home button.

It has a 4,000 mAh battery that allows 32 hours of talk time, according to AT&T. The battery can charge fully in less than two hours.

The S7 Active's battery has Adaptive Fast Charging and Qi Wireless Charging, but as with the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, it reportedly lacks Quick Charge 3.0 support.

The S7 Active has a military grade body -- MIL STD-810G.

"The two standout aspects are the hardening and the huge battery," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

"Both of these should be reasonably well received if the phone doesn't turn out to be annoyingly heavy as a result," he told TechNewsWorld.

The added weight might be a limitation for customers who are very weight conscious, Enderle said, but, other than that, "this is arguably, on spec, one of the most durable phones in the market."

The S7 Active is shatter-resistant for drops onto a flat surface from five feet or less, AT&T said, and it has been rated at IP68 for water resistance in up to five feet of water for as long as 30 minutes.

The Virtues of Exclusivity

AT&T collaborated with Samsung on development of the S7 Active's design.

"Exclusivity enables a phone vendor to plan for a guaranteed demand," noted Mike Jude, a research program manager at Frost & Sullivan. "That reduces risk."

Exclusivity also reduces the OEM's marketing costs, because the carrier "will provide better product placement in advertisements and promotions, and better shelf placement," Strategy Analytics' Hyers noted.

Potential S7 Active Customers

Active millennials are a major target demographic, Jude told TechNewsWorld, because "the extra capacity and hardened structure lend themselves to an active outdoor lifestyle that enables lots of media capture -- pictures and video."

Toughness is increasingly important to consumers, he pointed out. "As carriers have done away with device subsidies, people tend to keep their devices longer, so durability has become an issue."

Ruggedized smartphones accounted for 3 percent of all smartphone sales in the United States in 2015, according to Strategy Analytics' Hyers, who noted that Samsung's Active line "made up a healthy proportion" of that.

"The performance of the Active line has been good," he said, "hence Samsung's decision to continue to introduce a new model each year."

Sources: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/83596.html

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Hackers selling 117 million LinkedIn passwords online

LinkedIn security was compromised four years ago and initially it was reported that 6.5 million passwords are leaked but actually turned out to compromisation of 117 million passwords.

On Wednesday, the professional social network company acknowledged that a massive batch of login credentials is being sold on the black market by hackers.

The worst part about it is that, because people tend to reuse their passwords, hackers are more likely to gain access to 117 million people’s email and bank accounts.

The advice for everyone who uses LinkedIn at this point is: Change your password and add something called two-factor authentication, which requires a text message every time you sign in from a new computer.

Because of the company’s old security policy, these passwords are easy for hackers to crack in a matter of days.

Companies normally protect their customer’s data with encryption and sometimes multi-layer encryption but at the time, LinkedIn was compromised back in 2012 when the company hadn’t added a pivotal layer of security which makes the jumbled text harder to decode.

LinkedIn is now scrambling to try to stop users from sharing stolen goods online, a very difficult task, and the company is invalidating all customers passwords which are not changed since they were compromised.

"LinkedIn said it’s reaching out to individual members affected by the breach. This particular hack affects a quarter of the company’s 433 million members." reported by CNN

Security experts are wondering what took LinkedIn to figureout what actually happened or to share the information with public

“If LinkedIn is only now discovering the scale of data that was exfiltrated from their systems, what went wrong with the forensic analysis that should have discovered this?” said Brad Taylor, CEO of cybersecurity firm Proficio.

Hackers are selling the stolen LinkedIn database on a black market online called "The Real Deal"

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