iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C to Debut in 51 More Countries by Nov. 1

Apple announced that the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C will be available in 35 new countries on Oct. 25 and in another 16 countries on Nov. 1.

Here's a map of the countries, color-coded by release date:

The iPhone 5S and 5C will be available in the following countries on Oct. 25: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, French West Indies, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Reunion Island, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and Thailand.

Those models will be available in the following countries on Nov. 1: Albania, Armenia, Bahrain, Colombia, El Salvador, Guam, Guatemala, India, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and UAE.

Apple's latest smartphones are already available in the United States, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the UK. After Nov. 1, they will be available in a total of 62 countries. The iPhone 5, which launched in September 2012, was available in about 100 countries by the end of 2012.

Via Mashable

Samsung's curved smartphone is the Galaxy Round, launches in Korea tomorrow

Samsung's concave phone is very much real, and after being teased in leaks hours earlier, SK Telecom has announced it'll launch the Galaxy Round on its network as soon as tomorrow. The device's highlight is obviously the gently curved 1080p 5.7-inch OLED screen, and Samsung is also promising a melee of software tweaks for the smartphone, aimed at making the most of it. For example, tilting the phone to the side will offer up notifications, battery levels and more at a glance. Other specifications revealed so far include a 7.9mm profile and that it weighs less than the Note 3, at 154g.

Curiously, it looks pretty different to the curved-screen prototype smartphone that Samsung displayed at CES earlier this year -- if the Galaxy Round is facing down, there's no way to peek at notifications without flipping it over. The new phone will also pack the necessary LTE radios and a 2,800mAh battery, launching initially in a 'luxury brown' color option for just over 1 million won -- that's around $1,000. 

Via Engadget

Full 2013 VMAs Winners List: Justin Timberlake and 'N Sync Steal Show

Justin Timberlake broke the record for longest performance ever at the MTV Video Music Awards, roping in his 'N Sync pals for part of it. The Internet — and the celebrity guests — erupted into uncontrollable applause at the sight of the boy band, which split in 2002.

Here's a complete list of winners:

• Video Of The Year: Justin Timberlake – “Mirrors”
• Best Hip-Hop Video: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton – “Cant’ Hold Us”
• Best Male Video: Bruno Mars – “Locked Out of Heaven”
• Best Female Video: Taylor Swift – “I Knew You Were Trouble”
• Best Pop Video: Selena Gomez – “Come and Get It”
• Artist To Watch: Austin Mahone - “What About Love”
• Best Collaboration: P!nk feat. Nate Ruess – “Just Give Me A Reason”
• Best Video With A Social Message: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – “Same Love”
• Best Rock Video: Thirty Seconds To Mars – “Up In The Air”
• Best Art Direction: Janelle Monae feat. Erykah Badu – “Q.U.E.E.N.”
• Best Choreography: Bruno Mars – “Treasure”
• Best Cinematography: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton – “Cant’ Hold Us”
• Best Direction: Justin Timberlake feat. JAY Z – “Suit & Tie”
• Best Editing: Justin Timberlake – “Mirrors”
• Best Visual Effects: Capital Cities – “Safe and Sound”
• Song Of The Summer: One Direction – “Best Song Ever”
  Via Mashable

The dirty BIG secret of WhatsApp... the second check mark does NOT mean your message has been read!

As BlackBerry gets set to take its native BBM instant messaging service cross-platform to Android and iOS, there's no doubt the incumbent it wants to crush is WhatsApp. Over the last couple of years WhatsApp has grown to have a huge base of users across platforms and around the world. Jump into any phone app store, and WhatsApp will always be near the top of the list. 

WhatsApp has been successful because it gained critical mass in filling a void that BBM could have and arguably should have done years ago. Anybody who's used BBM and watched the rise of WhatsApp knows WhatsApp essentially ripped off BBM in form and function, and has been playing catch up to BBM on a feature by feature basis. Most people I know don't love WhatsApp - they simply tolerate it, as it gets the job done well enough for the most part. The thing is, it really doesn't.

One critical feature that WhatsApp is sorely missing that a lot of users simply do not realize is a notification that your message has been read by the recipient. On BBM and iMessage for that matter, D and R are used as notifications to the sender. The D represents that the message has been delivered to the phone. The R represents that the message has been read by the recipient. The value of the R is super critical, as it's what keeps you in the loop on the status of your conversation and that it's happening in real time.

Instead of a D and R, WhatsApp uses checkmarks to represent message status. Based on the precedent set by BBM and WhatsApp, I think a LOT of WhatsApp users out there mistakenly take this to mean that one checkmark means the message has reached the phone while the second checkmark means the message has been read. I have seen this happen in my life often - where people think I've read their WhatsApp message and ignored them in replying because they see two checkmarks on their end, yet in reality I haven't even read the message on my phone. This is often referred to as the "dirty R" when it comes to BBM, but the concept of the dirty R doesn't exist on WhatsApp as there is no read confirmation.

As stated in WhatsApps' official FAQ:

- (one check) message successfully delivered to the server.
- (two checks) message successfully delivered to the phone of your chat partner.

Note: this does not indicate that the message was read, just that it was delivered.
Also note that in a group chat you will only see one check mark indicating that the message was successfully delivered to the server.

It's in WhatsApp's FAQ that this is the case, so they're not hiding this lack of funtionality, but from my observations its definitely a BIG misunderstanding among WhatsApp users out there. And to me, the value of the read confirmation is EXTREMELY important. The read confirmation is what makes an IM client a reliable form of communication between individuals.

And thus, I think it's an important message for WhatsApp users to know. It's also another compelling reason why I believe BBM is a better service, and when it does become available on Android and iOS I want to see all my WhatsApp' using friends, colleagues and family members on Android and iOS switch to BBM immediately.

Spread the word. 

Via CrackBerry

7 Ways Mobile Apps Are Driving Revenue for Businesses (Part 2)

This is the 2nd part...

4. Dynamic Offers

When you tie in technologies like push notifications and geotargeting, magical things start to happen. Businesses can use data collected through geotracking and ad campaigns to deliver just-in-time offers. Groupon Now is just the tip of the iceberg. The power of mobile apps allows businesses to do all sorts of cool things to boost revenue.

For example, movie theaters and very time-sensitive inventory that goes to waste at a particular time and can’t be recovered. The theater could track and send a coupon to users who are nearby and looked up information about showtimes but didn’t make a purchase. A bar with a slow night could offer an impromptu extended happy hour to past patrons who are nearby.

5. Pushing Through the Funnel

Ever walked into a store, shopped around a bit, and then walked out without making a purchase? That’s called a "bounce." Online, users bounce for a variety of reasons and on mobile the reasons are even greater. Users might not have a credit card handy, typing in account information is considered too tedious or they simply get distracted and put their phone back in their pocket.

Fortunately, one way to combat transaction abandonment is through automatic address fill-in. Using a phone’s GPS, transactional apps can detect a user’s location and automatically fill in address data. Seamless, the leading online food delivery service, has been aggressively marketing its mobile apps that automatically detects a user’s location to fill in a delivery address and display restaurants able to deliver there.

6. Data Gathering

One of the really powerful tools available to online businesses is that they can easily track every move customers make from the moment a user lands on the site. What engaged users and what turned them off? Where, exactly, in the online store did a user go and what did they do when they got there? These are really easy questions for webmasters to answer, but good luck figuring that out in brick-and-mortar store. That is, unless you’re using the Wi-Fi signals emitted from smartphones in your customers pockets and purses. Tracking signals from mobile devices is opening a whole new world of analytics and data-gathering opportunities for retailers stuck in the physical world.

7. Compete Anywhere

Many brick-and-mortar retailers complain about showrooming, the practice whereby shoppers visit a physical store to inspect the goods in person all the while intending to ultimately make their purchase online, where prices are usually cheaper. While the traditional retailer might be on the losing end of that transaction, the customer and online retailer are winning. Price comparison tools are helping etailers drive additional traffic and sales. Amazon, for example, even went so far as to offer a $5 discount to shoppers who scanned items using their price comparison tool.

Mobile apps are helping businesses increase revenue largely by increasing efficiency. Instead of advertising to broad spectrum, users can be narrowly targeted. Businesses can lure back customers who haven’t been in a while but are nearby. Customers can shop during small pockets of time that would have have previously gone to waste. Businesses can precision-discount inventory in the last moments before it would have gone to waste. And all these little efficiencies are resulting in more revenue for businesses while, by and large, enhancing the overall experience for users.

Via Mashable

7 Ways Mobile Apps Are Driving Revenue for Businesses (Part 1)

Read this article recently on Mashable written by Ryan Matzner and thought it would do you good. But due to the length of the article I'll be posting it in two parts for easier reading.

From leveraging specific features like GPS all the way down to the mere fact that people are walking around with Internet-connected computers in their pockets, smartphones open a whole new world of opportunities for marketers at businesses from large and small. The following are some key ways businesses are getting an extra boost via mobile apps.

1. Geo-Targeted Push Notifications

Back in 2010, then-Google CEO Eric Schmidt talked about how the future of mobile would be autonomous and serendipitous. That is, mobile devices would present users with information about the world around them in an automatic way. In Schmidt’s example, as he walked around a particularly storied neighborhood of San Francisco, an app would passively display information about the history of places he passed. But the technology has become a reality, and a boon to business. Here are some ways businesses could use geo-targeted push notifications.

• A band on tour could notify fans in a particular city that tickets there are nearly sold out or remind concert-goers to show up early so they don’t miss the opening act
• A national chain could easily send city- or region-specific notifications about special offers based on what users in that area are interested in
• A restaurant could boost loyalty by sending a special offer to customers who had been in the past year but not in the last two months
• A store could announce a sale on umbrellas coupled with a weather alert to nearby users when it’s predicted to rain soon

2. Additional Sales Opportunities

One of the single biggest opportunities for businesses to leverage mobile apps is that smartphones have opened a whole new world of shopping and engagement opportunities. Interactions between customers and businesses have grown to become geo-agnostic. The morning commute, waiting in line for movie tickets and sitting in a doctor's office are all places people could be using their smartphones to shop your store or engage with your brand.

These pockets of free time that were previously biased toward reading, can now be used by consumers for so much more. A mobile app maximizes opportunities for reaching users in these new pockets of time. A push notification might remind users of a nearly abandoned shopping cart, bringing them back into the shopping experience. A more seamless experience of stored login and billing information means an easier path to transact.

3. Geo-Targeted Advertising

The classic targeted ad story goes something like this: A potential homeowner is stuck in traffic on his daily commute home and looks out his window to read a sign on a new housing development that says, “If you lived here, you’d be home by now.”

Now multiply that times a billion and you’ve got the power of modern, smartphone-powered targeted advertising. These smart ads can target users by their specific location, displaying ads that are geographic and contextually optimized. Businesses can make on-the-fly tweaks to campaigns based on what works in a particular geographic location. They can also display coupons to potential users nearby or help users find the business by advertising directly on a map.

Via Mashable

NCC Launches First Phase of Mobile Number Portability

Nigerian mobile phone subscribers have joined subscribers in other countries worldwide that port their numbers from one network operator to another with the inauguration of the first phase of the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) service by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)  yesterday in Lagos. The second phase would be inaugurated with the fixed wireless operators like Visafone and Capcom in due course, according to the commission.

Singapore was the first country to inaugurate MNP in 1997, followed by United Kingdom and The Netherlands in 1999 while Spain, Switzerland and Sweden inaugurated MNP between 2001 and 2002. United States inaugurated in 2003, South Africa in 2006 and Ghana in 2012 while Nigeria just joined the league.

Explaining how number portability works, the Chief Operating Officer of Interconnect Clearing House of Nigeria (ICHN), Mr. Uche Onwudiwe, said any subscriber, who wished to port their numbers would first have to visit the recipient service provider to make his intention known. “The subscriber is given a form to fill his personal details and would be asked to send 'Port' to a short code, 3232.

“When this is done, Interconnect Clearing House, the company with the hosting right to manage exchange of traffic for the MNP scheme, will then send a message to the telecoms operator, informing it of the intention of the subscriber to port from its network to another network. “The recipient network will then give the subscriber a new SIM card and a confirmation text is sent to the subscriber. “It takes 48 hours to complete the porting exercise,” Onwudiwe said.

"Mobile Number portability has been a huge success around the world, because it helps to level the playing field, giving all operators more opportunities to grow their subscriber bases and revenues. We therefore urge our service providers to make it successful," he said.     

All GSM operators were present at the inauguration where they expressed their readiness on the implementation of the service in Nigeria. Reeling some of the conditions for porting, Juwah said subscribers would be allowed to port to another network free of charge, once in every 90 days.

In technical parlance, Mobile Number Portability is a process that allows subscribers to migrate from one network to another, in search of better service quality, while still retaining the original phone number, irrespective of the network the subscriber chooses to migrate to.

Via ThisDay