Facebook is purchasing messaging giant WhatsApp for $16 billion in cash and stock, according to a regulatory filing. The deal is being cut for $12 billion in Facebook shares, $4 billion in cash and an additional $3 billion in RSUs for employee retention.

A termination fee is attached to the deal that would cost Facebook $1 billion in cash and $1 billion in shares if the deal fails to pass regulatory muster.

Facebook has posted on its blog, detailing the reasoning behind the acquisition, as well. The post notes that WhatsApp will continue to operate independently and retain its brand. In addition, WhatsApp co-founder and CEO Jan Koum will join Facebook’s board.

Facebook notes that WhatsApp has over 450 million MAUs, with 70 percent of those active each day. In a staggering comparison, Facebook also notes that the messaging volume of WhatsApp approaches the SMS volume of the entire global telecom industry — and that it’s adding 1 million users a day.

“WhatsApp is on a path to connect 1 billion people. The services that reach that milestone are all incredibly valuable,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO in a statement.

“WhatsApp had every option in the world,” Zuckerberg continued in a post to his Facebook page, “so I’m thrilled that they chose to work with us. I’m looking forward to what Facebook and WhatsApp can do together, and to developing great new mobile services that give people even more options for connecting. I’ve also known Jan for a long time, and I know that we both share the vision of making the world more open and connected. I’m particularly happy that Jan has agreed to join the Facebook board and partner with me to shape Facebook’s future as well as WhatsApp’s.”

WhatsApp message volume growth is still accelerating. Has probably now overtaken SMS. pic.twitter.com/KsR85Mplrt

— Benedict Evans (@BenedictEvans) January 20, 2014

Jan Koum, WhatsApp co-founder and CEO, said, “WhatsApp’s extremely high user engagement and rapid growth are driven by the simple, powerful and instantaneous messaging capabilities we provide.”

Facebook specifically calls out its deal with Instagram as a template for how it will deal with WhatsApp:

Facebook fosters an environment where independent-minded entrepreneurs can build companies, set their own direction and focus on growth while also benefiting from Facebook’s expertise, resources and scale. This approach is working well with Instagram, and WhatsApp will operate in this manner. WhatsApp’s brand will be maintained; its headquarters will remain in Mountain View, CA; Jan Koum will join Facebook’s Board of Directors; and WhatsApp’s core messaging product and Facebook’s existing Messenger app will continue to operate as standalone applications.

In a post on the WhatsApp blog, Koum elaborates on that:

Here’s what will change for you, our users: nothing.

WhatsApp will remain autonomous and operate independently. You can continue to enjoy the service for a nominal fee. You can continue to use WhatsApp no matter where in the world you are, or what smartphone you’re using. And you can still count on absolutely no ads interrupting your communication. There would have been no partnership between our two companies if we had to compromise on the core principles that will always define our company, our vision and our product.

The note about no advertising is interesting, as that’s obviously Facebook’s primary method of monetization on its main platform — and now Instagram. WhatsApp will also keep its subscription fees, which amount to $1 per user after the first year of use.

WhatsApp investor Sequoia has also posted some information about the acquisition, specifically its very large valuation. The company notes that it only has 32 engineers — making the ratio 1 engineer to every 14 million users. It processes 50 billion messages a day across seven platforms.

The image above is a note that Koum keeps on his desk, outlining the focus of the company on building a ‘focused messaging experience’. Sequioa’s Jim Goetz says that founder Koum’s time growing up in a communist country shaped how he developed WhatsApp.

“Jan’s childhood made him appreciate communication that was not bugged or taped. When he arrived in the U.S. as a 16-year-old immigrant living on food stamps, he had the extra incentive of wanting to stay in touch with his family in Russia and the Ukraine,” says Goetz. “All of this was top of mind for Jan when, after years of working together with his mentor Brian at Yahoo, he began to build WhatsApp.”

Goetz also calls out the 450M user number and the fact that it has spent exactly $0 on marketing and doesn’t even employ a PR person or marketer; its growth all coming from users.

WhatsApp only employs around 50 people total. At 32 engineers, that’s $500 million per engineer.

Facebook currently boasts 556 million mobile daily active users, and WhatsApp alone already has over half of that at 350 million. One particular reason Facebook could be purchasing WhatsApp is to bolster its International footprint — as exemplified by one very telling chart. TechCrunch had previously heard about some abortive acquisition talks between Facebook and WhatsApp in late 2012.

Facebook is currently down in after hours trading.

Source : http://techcrunch.com/

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Google Search is changing rapidly. Given the company’s love of small, rapid-fire updates, its sometimes hard to keep track of where the company is going, but earlier this month, at the LeWeb conference in Paris, Google Engineering Director Scott Huffman presented a pretty compelling overview of the direction Google is taking in search.

Here’s the gist of it: Google knows our expectations of what a search engine should be able to do is quickly changing. The old “ten blue links” search results page is quickly going away for something far smarter that, according to Huffman, will resemble a personal assistant more than the search tool Google that launched over fifteen years ago. Indeed, that’s what Huffman considers Google’s goal: creating the ultimate personal assistant. The next generation of search, he said, is all about making “all your tasks as you go through the day simpler and quicker.”

That also means that in a large number of cases, you will interact with Google on something that may not even have a screen. The car, he believes, is prime real estate for the Google Search of the future, where you simply interact with the search engine and then engage in a conversation with Google. The living room, too, he believes is a place where Google should just work. That may be on a large screen, but maybe also just through microphones and speakers that wait for your “ok Google” command.

That interaction with Google will be in the form of a back-and-forth conversation, something the company has been working on for a while now. Thanks to its Knowledge Graph, Google has become significantly better at understanding its users intends and it is already able to use voice recognition for at least a limited amount of conversation that is able to work with pronouns (and that’s really the first step in making conversations with computers seem natural). It’s not exactly the Star Trek computer, but it’s a clear first step in the direction Google is taking. Google Now currently handles 38 languages and knows about more than 18 billion facts and their connections. That – more than its search index alone – is what will create the Google of the future.

The ultimate assistant, however, needs to be able to do more than just carry on a conversation, though, Huffman stressed. It also needs to be proactive and that’s where Google Now comes in. By knowing about your habits, travel bookings, OpenTable reservations and everything else that can be found by sleuthing through your Gmail inbox, Google Now is already pretty useful. Looking ahead, I would expect Google to continue to build on top of this platform and open it up for developers. Huffman acknowledges that Google is working on this, but there are “lots of tricky questions” the team has to deal with first. How, for example, can Google make sure that notifications from a third-party service are really important? (I would argue that users can figure this out for themselves, but Google likely wants to take a more pro-active role).

Given all of this, the next generation of Google Search may be more about how third-party developers can get their information into the Knowledge Graph and less about tricking Google’s algorithms into ranking their pages a bit higher than their competitors’.

Source : http://techcrunch.com

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The Korean company announced today that it will showcase its 2014 Smart TV at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, which features improved voice interaction capability by focusing on the most frequently-used functions and taking usage patterns into consideration.

Users can change their TV channel in one step by just saying the channel number, unlike Samsung’s 2013 Smart TV which requires a two-step channel change. When using voice interaction to search for information, a pop-up window appears on the bottom of the TV with search results, and users can move to the app and see the details.

Samsung SmartTV 730×486 Samsung to showcase new smart TV in January with improved voice interaction and motion control

Other than voice interaction, Samsung’s 2014 Smart TV will see improved motion control via a new feature called the “finger gesture.” This means users can change the TV channel, adjust the volume, and search and pick what they want to watch just by using their fingers. They can also stop videos by simply moving their finger counterclockwise.

The voice interaction service, which understands natural languages, will also expand into 12 new markets next year. It is currently available in 11 countries.

Source  : http://thenextweb.com

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While the Nexus 5 is largely a success, not everything is perfect with the device. At launch, the device suffered from a dreadfully slow camera and many also complained about a low speaker volume. Thankfully, Google took care of the former with an update to Android 4.4.1, and the latter was initially conquered by XDA Senior Recognized Developer AdamOutler with great results.

Now thanks to XDA Forum Member shinral, we’ve learned that LG and Google have adjusted production on the device to fix the low speaker volume and loose button issues. The speaker volume fix comes in the form of larger holes in the speaker and microphone grilles, and the loose button fix comes from smaller and tighter-fitting button openings.

You can learn more about the differences over in the original thread. What are your thoughts on these production run adjustments? As an owner of a “first generation” Nexus 5, I must admit to feeling a little envious of new owners receiving updated units. However, even the original, flawed run produced an outstanding value.

Source : http://www.xda-developers.com/

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It has been quite the year for technology in 2013. Wearable tech became a regular topic of conversation after Google released its beta version of Glass. Meanwhile, Apple unveiled the iPhone 5S and 5C, as well as the iPad Air, but didn’t launch any new product categories. And Amazon may have sparked one of the biggest conversations of the holiday season after CEO Jeff Bezos announced Amazon Prime Air, a delivery system using drones.

There were countless other innovations and products that launched in 2013, so we hosted a MashTalk Hangout on Air to discuss some of this year’s biggest stories in tech, while also offering our big-picture predictions for 2014.

source : http://mashable.com/

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