Rumour Roundup: Facebook Acquisitions, A Dirt Cheap Nexus And More | TechTree.com

Rumour Roundup: Facebook Acquisitions, A Dirt Cheap Nexus And More

WhatsApp acquisition rumour quelled; $99 Asus tablet might be on the cards; CarPad 7 aims to be the cheapest 5" phablet.

 

As much as we are all told to not encourage rumours, we sometimes just can't resist, can we?

WhatsApp Rumoured to be Acquired by Facebook
According to this report by TechCrunch, WhatsApp and Facebook were in talks to discuss how the social networking giant will acquire the popular mobile messaging app. In recent times, we've seen the multi-platform paid app becoming more and more popular. What makes WhatsApp a success is, it can be used on any mobile platform, and second, there are no annoying ads because it's a paid app. Facebook recently acquired Instagram, but WhatsApp is a different game altogether. Reacting to the report, WhatsApp connected with AllThingsD to give out this statement: “The TechCrunch article is a rumor and not factually accurate. We have no further information to share at the moment.”  But WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton, according to the TechCrunch report, "apparently has pitched to Facebook before." Perhaps we should keep watching this one.

Rumour Roundup: Facebook Acquisitions, A Dirt Cheap Nexus And More

 

Is an even cheaper ($99) Nexus on the cards, or is it something else from ASUS?
Here in India, we are bummed by the fact that the $199 (Rs. 11000 approx) 7-inch tablet from Google came at a whopping 20,000 rupees. So while searching for a cheaper alternative to the most “affordable” powerful tablet, this comes as music to our ears — even if the facts are shrouded in mystery. Earlier this year, we heard from Digitimes that Google might be teaming up with a Taiwanese manufacturer called Quanta to develop a less powerful, cheaper Nexus 7. The fellows at Hexus have discovered a GL Benchmark test of a device from ASUS named the ME172V. There's quite a bit that we can infer from the test results:

 

Rumour Roundup: Facebook Acquisitions, A Dirt Cheap Nexus And More

 

The device has a 1 GHz processor (unspecified cores) with a Mali 400 graphics chip, a rather impressive 1024x600 px display, and Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.1).  Internal storage remains unknown, but the device apparently comes with a microSD card slot. Considering that all previous Nexus devices — 4, 7 and 10 — rely on internal memory only, this one might not be a Nexus. So how will this device shape up in the market?

CarPad 7: The cheapest 5-inch phone yet?
Android Authority are just in amazement of this device, pictured below. We're amazed, too, at the tech specs — considering that it's supposed to cost $200 (Rs 11,000).

  • 149 mm x 77mm x 9.7 mm physical dimensions (it sure is large).
  • 5.3" screen with a pixel resolution of 960 x 540.
  • Dual-core processor with 1 GB of RAM.
  • 8 MP rear camera with LED flash.
  • Dual SIM, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth.
  • 2500 mAh battery.

Rumour Roundup: Facebook Acquisitions, A Dirt Cheap Nexus And More

 

Does the design look familiar? Yes, a copy of the Samsung Galaxy S3. Things come full circle, eh?


TAGS: Mobile Phones, Internet, Swagatam

 
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