Popular mobile messaging service WhatsApp has announced that it is doing away with the $0.99 annual subscription fee which was applicable to some of those using the service after their first year. The announcement was made by WhatsApp in an official blog post.WhatsApp admitted that the approach of charging an annual subscription fee hasn't worked well for the company primarily because many of the service's users don't have a debit or credit card, which is required to pay the fee.So, what would be the company's revenue model now? Third party ads? Well, WhatsApp says NO. The company is instead planning to earn money by offering services aimed at connecting businesses with individuals. "Starting this year, we will test tools that allow you to use WhatsApp to communicate with businesses and organizations that you want to hear from," WhatsApp said."That could mean communicating with your bank about whether a recent transaction was fraudulent, or with an airline about a delayed flight. We all get these messages elsewhere today - through text messages and phone calls - so we want to test new tools to make this easier to do on WhatsApp, while still giving you an experience without third-party ads and...


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Sony MWC 2016 press event set for February 22
Sony will be holding its Mobile World Congress press event on Monday, February 22. Sadly, there's little info about what the company might be announcing. The invite is quite simple, compared to its previous ones, so we can't really get anything from it.Sony unveiled the Xperia Z5 models at IFA 2015 in September, meaning that it might be a tad early for a refresh. This leaves room for updates in the company's mid-range and wearable line-ups. Whatever it is we'll be on site, covering new announcements for...


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Samsung LED View Cover for Galaxy S7, S7 edge clears FCC
The US telecom governing body has certified a pair of accessory cases for what appear to be the Samsung Galaxy S7, and the S7 edge (though we're yet to find out for certain just how many S7's there will be and what kinds specifically).Dubbed LED View Cover, the new cases are the flip cover variety, but what exactly the LED part stands for remains to be seen. What we can deduct from their visiting FCC in the first place (and a brief look at the test report) is that they will communicate via NFC with the smartphones.How they will be different from the Clear View Covers of the current-gen Galaxy S6, and why they weren't part of the earlier accessories leak are another couple of questions that remain unanswered.Good thing then, that there's only about a month before it all gets revealed, when the smartphones go official around February 21.Source 1 Source 2 |...


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