Husain Sumra

WhatsApp business development head Neeraj Arora has told AllThingsD that an earlier report claiming Google was on the verge of acquiring the company for $1 billion is not true. WhatsApp is the company behind the popular iOS app WhatsApp Messenger.Neeraj Arora, WhatsApp’s business development head, told AllThingsDigital today that the company is not holding sales talks with Google.Arora declined...

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles has debuted (via TUAW) a new iPad program that allows mothers who are not able to visit with their newborn babies in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to connect with them via a video chat on multiple iPads, dubbed BabyTime. The program is available to mothers who undergo cesarean sections or other complications during pregnancy and will receive...

In a Branch chat, which at the time of this writing is still going on, Daring Fireball's John Gruber says, according to what he's heard, iOS 7 is running behind schedule and that it will bring a significant user interface (UI) refresh. What I've heard: iOS 7 is running behind, and engineers have been pulled from OS X 10.9 to work on it. (Let me know if you've heard this song before.)Gruber went...

The Next Web is reporting that a group of iOS developers has been targeted with a series of rapid-fire messages on iMessage, creating a sort of denial-of-service (DoS) attack that crashes the iMessage app.Grant Paul, one of the targeted iOS developers explains how the attack worked:“What’s happening is a simple flood: Apple doesn’t seem to limit how fast messages can be sent, so the...

Facebook today invited members of the press to an Android-related event on April 4, and TechCrunch reports that the event will likely see the debut of the long-rumored Facebook phone. According to reports, the device would be an HTC handset running a Facebook-modified version of Android. If true, the move would turn Facebook into an Amazon-style competitor in the smartphone market for Apple,...

Digitimes is reporting that Apple is set to cut shipments of iPad mini in the second quarter of 2013, according to its industry sources. The cut is said to be a 20% reduction for the month of April, with steeper cuts potentially following in the remainder of the quarter, although the report does not specify whether the cuts are relative to previous production plans or to current-quarter output....

Flipboard today upgraded its app to version 2.0, adding a Pinterest Pinboard-like "Magazine" feature, search, notifications, Etsy integration and more. In an interview with Mashable, Flipboard CTO Eric Feng said that the update was "the most ambitious thing the company has ever done." Previously, Flipboard allowed users to subscribe to certain news and social media feeds and acted as a...

This weekend at a PAX East panel, Firaxis announced that it is in the process of porting its critically acclaimed strategy game XCOM: Enemy Unknown to iOS and that it will be available sometime this summer. While speaking with Joystiq, XCOM: Enemy Unknown Lead Designer Jake Solomon said that gamers can expect a similar experience to the console and PC versions of the game. "It is a straight ...

At an Australian Parliament inquiry into high markups on technology goods and services today, Apple Australia Vice President Tony King blamed rights holders for international price disparities in the company's digital content, according to The Sydney Morning Herald."The pricing of this digital content is based on the wholesale prices which are set through negotiated contracts with the record...

The Financial Times is reporting that Google's Android unit is working on a smart watch. With Samsung confirming that it is working on a smart watch and rumors about Apple's "iWatch" continuing to circulate, it appears that the three companies are set to battle in a new mobile device segment. The report unsurprisingly suggests that Google views the smart watch as a more mainstream wearable...

The Cleveland Museum of Art has developed a new system that allows visitors to use iPads to give themselves personalized tours, share tours with other visitors, gain more information about exhibits and more, according to The New York Times. Image via Michael F. McElroy, New York TimesThe system starts at a 40-foot touchscreen that allows visitors to view all of the art at the museum in...

TechCrunch reports that WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum has revealed in an interview with Dutch journalist Alexander Klopping that WhatsApp Messenger for iPhone will be moving to a subscription model by the end of the year. The new subscription model would apply to new users, Koum said, and would likely follow the same pricing structure as its other apps, which are free for the first year and then cost...

Bloomberg reports that THX, the sound innovation company that traces its origins to George Lucas and Lucasfilm 30 years ago, has filed suit against Apple in U.S. District Court over alleged infringement of a speaker patent by the iMac, iPhone and iPad product lines.THX holds a 2008 patent for a speaker unit that can boost sound output and attach to computers or flat-screen televisions, according...

Paul Semenza, an analyst at market research firm DisplaySearch, tells CNET that an iPad mini with Retina display could debut in the third or fourth quarter of this year."We're seeing potential in the third quarter of panel production for a higher-resolution iPad Mini," DisplaySearch analyst Paul Semenza told CNET today. "When would the Mini be available? Could be third quarter or fourth...

Samsung tonight announced its flagship iPhone competitor, the Galaxy S 4, at an event at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The new smartphone is set to launch in April on all four major U.S. carriers. The new phone gets a slight screen size increase to 5" from 4.8", with a 1080p display at 441 pixels per inch (compared to iPhone 5's 326 ppi) that Samsung is calling "Full HD Super...

PayPal yesterday announced an iPad version of its iPhone point-of-sale solution app "PayPal Here", boasting larger screen real estate and additional features like connecting to a cash register. TechCrunch notes that the app marks yet another milestone in the expansion of the company's PayPal Here service, which debuted in the UK just two weeks ago and is now available in five countries. PayPal ...

A group of Russian car enthusiasts announced on their blog (translated via Red Hot Russia) that they have modified a car to be controlled remotely by an iPad. The group used an iPad 3 and created an app to control the car via a host of added electronic components to control the acceleration, steering, braking and gear shifting in addition to seeing the road from the perspective of the car. W...

GroupMe today updated their group chat app to version 4.1, adding a gallery view and a feature called Split, which allows users to split costs and collect money from their group. The company detailed potential uses for the feature on its blog:You can start a Split within any of your groups, just like you can attach a photo or a location. You bought concert tickets for everyone in the group?...

Path, the "personal social network," announced on its blog today that its iOS app has been updated to version 3.0.1, adding private messaging, "stickers" and a curated store for photo filters called The Shop. Within the new private messaging, users can send each other "stickers," text, voice notes, locations and more. Path detailed the new feature on its blog: One-to-one and group messaging...

As noted by Reuters, Nokia this week filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in support of Apple's bid to block the sale of certain Samsung products previously ruled to have infringed on Apple's patents. The brief, which is currently sealed but explained in a summary (via AppleInsider) by Nokia attorney Keith Broyles, argues that Judge Lucy Koh was wrong when she...