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Use Whatsapp for free next time you travel

GeneralEdward Kiledjian

Since Apple has decided to keep Apple Messages (iMessage) locked up to its platform, users the world over have chosen Whatsapp as the most common cross platform instant messaging platform. It allows you to send files and pictures. IT allows you to make Voice Over IP calls and is just an overall well designed easy to use tool.

 Whatsapp requires a data connection (3G/LTE) to work. This means using Whatsapp while travelling requires you to buy a local SIM Card (when you travel) or buy an expensive data pack from your home carrier. Until now.

I first wrote about KnowRoaming in 2013 and explained how it can save money when travelling by switching you to a cheaper local plan travelling simply by using the company's intelligent SIM sticker.

Today KnowRoaming announced that their customers will be able to use WhatsApp for free when travelling. You don't even need to buy a data plan and no data charges are levied. As long as you have an active account with some money in it and switch to their service when you travel (which is automatic when you travel), you get free Whatsapp in any country they work in (100+ countries).

This offer is available to on any of their services (Global SIM Card, Global SIM Sticker and Global Hotspot). I use the Global Sticker Option, anytime I land in a new country, their app detects it and switches me to their service.

Diversity coming to Unicode

technologyEdward Kiledjian

Tech companies are working with the Unicode Consortium to implement a new skin tone control for character emoji to allow users to more accurately express themselves (and their identity). 

We now learn how these companies propose Unicode implement this change using a skin tone modifier. The technique being proposed is simple enough to be implementable and usable on a phone. Additionally this technique is backward compatible with devices that don't yet support the skin tone modifier (i.e. the emoji would fall back to the original non skin tone adjusted version). 

The Unicode consortium hasn't accepted this new proposal just yet but it would be hard pressed to turn it down (considering most tech users today are members of a visible ethnic group).

I'm all for diversity and think this is a positive step. Hopefully this becomes a new standard soon.

You can read the proposal here (link).

Whatsapp reaches 430M Users

technologyEdward Kiledjian
2014-01-20_13-47-39.jpg

A Whatsapp cofounder came clean and praised Android for its openness. He further explained how much easier it is to add new features to its Android version compared to IOS. And to top it all off, he confirmed that Whatsapp has more Android users than IOS.

They have managed to collect 430M users (up almost 30 million since December). The company has 50 employees of which half work on localization and translation. 

Whatsapp is a lean organization which keeps costs low and has a steady revenue stream of $0,99 per account per year. Rumours have swirled that competitors like Facebook have offered up to $4B, the company has a strong desire to stay independent.

TechCrunch (link)

Microsoft Messenger is dead... long live Skype

technologyEdward Kiledjian
We have know for some time now that Microsoft (Skype's owner) had the intention of killing off its own Messenger product and use Skype as its younger more hip replacement. The Next Web is now reporting that MS notified it's users that March 15 2013 is the day. You are already able to log into Skype with your MS account and your messenger contacts can be migrated to Skype.