Stephen Hall

One of the service’s most-requested features, WhatsApp has today launched its web-based chat client. Rumors of it coming soon started appearing yesterday when screenshots of the latest WhatsApp app leaked showing an interface for logging into the web app, and now we have an idea of how that interface is used. With the quick scan of a QR code in-browser, you can start chatting with your WhatsApp friends from the desktop.
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WhatsApp yesterday started handing out 24 hour bans to users of third-party clients built for the service, but it wasn’t certain at the time what would happen to these apps or whether or not WhatsApp was going to allow them to continue operations as normal. Users being banned from WhatsApp for 24 hours was an obvious setback, but now it’s more clear what the Facebook-owned company has in mind. WhatsApp+, the most popular third-party WhatsApp client, has received a cease and desist letter.

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Amazon has closed its beta Mobile Wallet app today, marking a step away from the mobile payment space for the Seattle, Washington-based company. We first told you about the app, which served as a hub for gift and loyalty cards, in July of 2014. The app launched in beta and was sadly incapable compared to the app offerings of other companies like Google Wallet and PayPal, not even giving users the ability to load debit or credit cards.

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It’s definitely not unexpected by any stretch of the imagination, but Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S6 has been tipped to be introduced at the 2015 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain (via Chosunilbo). The smartphone is shaping up to be the most technically powerful smartphone Samsung has ever made, and it looks like it’s going to be fundamentally different in many ways than every other Galaxy S phone that has preceded it.

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WhatsApp is one of the most-used messaging apps in existence, and today countless users of the service have taken to Google+ and Twitter to report that they’re being banned from the service for 24 hours. The common denominator between those reporting the ban seems to be the use of third-party WhatsApp clients on Android, specifically a popular one called WhatsApp+.

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HP has today announced a couple of new Android tablets, most notably a big-screen device dubbed the Pro Slate 12 that the company hopes will help fill a void in the market. The device sets itself apart with a display just a bit bigger than 12 inches, as well as the notable inclusion of what the company calls its “Duet Pen” which doubles as a stylus and a regular writing utensil. It’s also the first tablet to be built with Gorilla Glass 4, which is said to be much stronger and offer better protection from every day drops.

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Following yesterday’s report from Bloomberg that HTC is indeed launching its next flagship smartphone in March, new photos have leaked today showing a handset that doesn’t look all too different from what the Taiwanese company currently offers. There’s not too much new information to be learned from these photos (via Nowhereelse.fr), and you should probably take them with a heaping pile of salt, but there’s always a chance that this could be a quick peek the next HTC flagship in the flesh.

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We saw in late December that Google had published download links for the Nexus 7 (2012) factory images, but now it appears OTA update links are finally making the rounds. While not much is known about the specifics of what this update brings, Google has been fast to push this minor Lollipop revision to Nexus 7 owners. Many have reported that Lollipop brought reductions in performance, so if you’re one of those people, it might be a good idea to try this out and see if it will help.

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Rumors have been swirling for a long time about what HTC might have planned for us this year, and while the Taiwanese company isn’t telling us just yet, they’re at least giving us some kind of idea of when exactly they’ll be making some big announcements. To no one’s surprise, HTC is today sending out invites for a press event being held at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this upcoming March.

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A little more than a year ago, Hyundai told the world that it was working on a Google Glass counterpart for its Blue Link platform. The app was supposed to launch with the 2015 Hyundai Genesis, but the car’s first availability came and went without any mention of Google’s head-worn computer. And while Hyundai did recently announce that it plans to release an app compatible with Android Wear devices very soon, it’s now official that the company’s Google Glass app won’t likely be getting the same treatment.

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Google has today relaunched its review program previously called City Experts as Local Guides, and hopes to engage the community and get more people involved through what looks to be some much more friendly branding and fun new features. While Google previously touted the “exclusive benefits” you could receive through the program and required “50 high-quality reviews” for entry, the new program instead suggests that you “help others and support businesses” and encourages you to “be yourself.”

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PwC—short for PricewaterhouseCoopers—is a large multinational professional services network, and the company announced in October of last year that it would begin working with Google to bring “a variety of new and innovative technologies to companies around the world.” Reading that sounds unspecific and, frankly, because Google is always working on new technology, these kinds of announcements don’t really catch the eye of the public.

Today, though, PwC has announced a specific venture that Google is joining, and this one intends to reimagine the military health system in the United States…

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The second developer conference for Google’s Project Ara is happening today, and the ATAP team took some time this morning to show the world the second iteration of the modular smartphone—dubbed Spiral 2. While the hardware for the updated prototype is said to be complete at this point, the firmware still needs a bit work, as mentioned on stage by ATAP’s Paul Eremenko. But that aside, this new version continues to usher in the Project Ara mentality that consumers should be free to use hardware (much like we use software) to build a phone based on their needs—not the needs a company has determined they likely have.

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Google has today announced at the second Project Ara developers conference that the “market pilot” pre-launch release of the modular smartphone will be coming to the island of Puerto Rico later this year.

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The second Project Ara Developers Conference is happening today, and while it’s definitely going to be an exciting event for those developing for Ara, not everyone can make it out to Mountain View for a one day event. Thankfully, Google has provided a live stream of the event, and you can watch it here…

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First announced in July of 2014, Google has this week launched—in partnership with Motiv and the city of Mountain View—a free shuttle service to help residents of the Santa Clara city get around town. Besides being completely free to the public, the service touts the fact that its first four shuttles are completely electric, can seat up to 16 passengers, have free WiFi for all riders, and have bike racks as well as wheelchair access.

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