WhatsApp Plans To Offer Free Voice Calls By Mid-Year

The introduction of free calls, revealed on the opening day of the four-day World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, Spain, would match rival application Viber's similar offering.

"We are going to introduce voice on WhatsApp in the second quarter of this year," WhatsApp founder Jan Koum said.

Facebook, whose 29-year-old billionaire creator Mark Zuckerberg was the star speaker on the opening day of the industry fair, announced a stock and cash purchase of WhatsApp on Wednesday.

"Five years ago we had no users, no product," said Koum.

"Today we have 465 million active users," he said, adding that the company still had no marketing, relying mostly on word of mouth to prosper.

WhatsApp has built a leading and rapidly growing real-time mobile messaging service, with:
Over 450 million people using the service each month;
70% of those people active on a given day;
Messaging volume approaching the entire global telecom SMS volume; and
Continued strong growth, currently adding more than one million new registered users per day.

WhatsApp had not planned any changes in the light of the Facebook takeover, Koum said.

"Mark really understands that for WhatsApp to stay successful it really needs to stay independent," he said.

Viber, one of WhatsApp's key rivals, offers free voice and messaging.

Japanese online shopping group Rakuten announced this month that it would buy Viber's Cyprus-based developer, Viber Media, for $900 million (R9 600 million).

Facebook Buys WhatsApp For $19 Billion

The mega-deal bolsters the world's biggest social network – which has more than 1.2 billion members – with the 450-million-strong WhatsApp, which will be operated independently with its own board.

It fits with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's focus on being at the center of lifestyles in which billions of people around the world share their thoughts using smartphones or tablets.

It is Facebook's biggest acquisition and comes less than two years after the California-based Internet star raised $16 billion in the richest tech sector public stock offering.

Zuckerberg said that WhatsApp was worth the steep price because its blistering growth around the globe has it on a clear path to hit a billion users and beyond.

"Services with a billion people using them are all incredibly valuable," Zuckerberg said while discussing the purchase price during a conference call with analysts.

The deal came from a chat Zuckerberg had with WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum, whom he described as a "valuable thought partner" and friend of many years.

"Last Sunday evening, about 11 days ago, I proposed if we joined together that would help us really connect the rest of the world," Zuckerberg said.

"He thought about it over the course of the week, came back and said he was interested."

Koum, who joins Facebook's board under the deal, said: "WhatsApp's extremely high user engagement and rapid growth are driven by the simple, powerful and instantaneous messaging capabilities we provide."

In a blog post, Koum added: "Almost five years ago we started WhatsApp with a simple mission: building a cool product used globally by everybody. Nothing else mattered to us."

The tie-up gives WhatsApp "the flexibility to grow and expand," Koum said.

Zuckerberg and Koum, who both took part in the conference call, did not discuss details about WhatsApp revenue, saying the focus for the foreseeable future would be on growth, not making money.

Roger Kay at Endpoint Technologies said the app has become one of the most popular mobile applications worldwide "because it allows you to message anybody anywhere for free."

Kay said the deal makes sense on one level because of Facebook's record stock run-up.

"When you have a stock like that which has run up quickly and created a lot of paper value, it's good to trade that for other value," he told AFP.

"It's not obvious how they can get $12 billion out of this but it's been clear for a while that WhatsApp is very interesting. It reminds me a little bit of Skype."

Cape Town Wave Pool

In an article in Australian Surfing Life about the announcement of a wave pool in Queesland set to open in September 2015, Greg Webber of Webber Wave Pools said:

"If this is successful, the next two pools will be in South Africa, near Cape Town, and in Florida. Both of those are pretty far along, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you start seeing announcements coming out soon."

For the Australian project, it has been reported that Webber signed a memorandum of understanding with surfing entrepreneur David Baird for the company’s first installation at a site in Southeast Queensland on a property owned by Baird

While one wonders at how popular a wave pool will be in Cape Town, which is not known as the Cape of Storms for nothing, there is the water park / fairground element that will open surfing to a whole new demographic of candy floss-touting, baseball cap wearing pundits.

The Webber wave design depicts a circular 'moat' that features endless breaking waves, or a rectangular shape also with continuous waves, but it's unclear what type of design has been mooted for Cape Town, and there has been no confirmation from our side about whether it's going ahead. The latest rectangular design (see video below) features four waves every 20 seconds, or 720 waves per hour. Watch this space.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMYf8uefveY

Source: Wavescape

Fails Of The Week - February Week 2

Dumb people doing dumb shit!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FTDAjGsGSc

May The Force Be With You Young Russian Skywalker

First of all, it goes without saying that you should not try this at home, and that the activity shown here is extremely dangerous and potentially fatal. I guess you could say that this should be left to certified professionals, but since I don’t know what might qualify someone as a professional in this instance, other than being certifiable, just use your head. With the qualifier out of the way, this is freaking awesome. I have always been fascinated with Russians and the latest trend out of Mother Russia has us salivating a bit and drooling over some amazing and equally dizzying photos stemming from the latest boredom killing pastime for those who are not in the slightest bit faint of heart. It’s called skywalking or sky hacking and calling it crazy is an understatement.

While teens in America are probing malls, their Russian peers are seeking out the highest buildings and fixed structures they can find, climbing to the top, and taking photographs of themselves standing on the edge of the precipice between life and death. Look mom, no hands, I’m on top of the world, or at least on top of the soviet era radio tower behind the apartment block… but the top of the world is all relative. The crazy part? All of this is done without safety equipment, so one can only imagine the adrenaline rush… and what happens if you screw up.

One teen is credited with starting this new craze, or at least posting the most photos of him engaging in it, and it easily puts stupid American fads like planking and Tebowing to shame. Marat Dupri is 19 and to him, the risk of getting caught sneaking past guards or worse is well worth the reward. Marat bought a camera a year or so ago and started taking landscape shots from the roof of his building, but quickly grew bored with that. So why not climb to the top of a 33-storey building and take photos from the edge? To Marat and his group of growing dare devil friends; “It was such a thrill; we couldn’t wait to do it again. When I am on the roof I have a feeling that the whole world is at my feet. All my problems and troubles are left somewhere down below. The height exhilarates me. I am enjoying my home town views. It gives me energy and fills me with enthusiasm to make new and great shots.” Personally, I am happy viewing the world through Marat’s lens from the comfort of solid ground. When my heart plummets into my stomach while looking at his amazing shots, I can only imagine the exhilaration he feels. Just be safe Marat, and may the force be with you and the other young Russian skywalkers out there.

Source: TWBR

Philip Seymour Hoffman Found Dead After Apparent Drug Overdose

The 46-year-old actor - who won an Oscar for his role in Capote in 2005 - was found dead in his New York apartment from an apparent drugs overdose

According to the New York Post newspaper, Philip was found by his assistant at around 11.30 this morning in the bathroom of his apartment in Greenwich Village with a hypodermic needle still in his arm.

The assistant called police who are currently at the scene investigating what happened. An official cause of death has yet to be established.
Philip had struggled with substance abuse in his early career, and first went to rehab after graduating from New York University in 1989

Speaking about his struggle he told The Guardian newspaper in 2011: "It was pretty bad, you know what I mean. And I know, deep down, I still look at the idea of drinking with the same ferocity that I did back then. It's still pretty tangible.

"I don't know, I was young, I drank too much, you know, so I stopped. ... It's not really complicated. I had no interest in drinking in moderation. And I still don't.

"Just because all that time's passed doesn't mean maybe it was just a phase. That's you know, that's who I am."
Philip managed to stay clean for 23 years but checked into rehab again in 2012 after using drugs again

The star had also been nominated for three Best Supporting Actor Oscars, for roles in The Master,Doubt, and Charlie Wilson's War.