Android Wear: Google’s Smartwatch Plans Come Into Focus:

Its new mobile operating system, Android Wear, is tailored for smartwatches and other wearable devices. The software focuses on notifications and quick responses to show you information as you need it while keeping interaction to a minimum

Google has announcedAndroid Wear, a version of its mobile operating system tailored for smartwatches and other wearable devices.

Instead of just adding phonelike features to your wrist, Android Wear will focus on notifications and quick responses. The idea is to show information as you need it while keeping interaction to a minimum. So while you’d still take out your phone to read through Facebook or write an email, you could use a smartwatch to check on a to-do list, view directions or scan your boarding pass at the airport.

Google Now, the search giant’s virtual-assistant software, will play a big role, serving up information on weather, flight times, incoming packages or upcoming reservations. Users will also be able to use voice search by saying “O.K. Google.”

But third-party apps and notifications will be just as important, which is presumably why Google is announcing Android Wear right now. Google wants Android developers to begin making their apps more wearable-friendly, though many app notifications will apparently work well without any changes. That’s a big advantage Google can wield over Samsung’s Tizen-based Galaxy Gear watches, which need to build up developer support from scratch.

Google isn’t ignoring the fitness angle either, as Android Wear devices will be able to detect speed and distance traveled.

The finer details of Android Wear’s interface are still unclear, but we can get a broad sense from Google’s developer site and design guidelines. Incoming messages will be truncated to fit on the screen, but users can tap on it to see the whole thing. Multiple messages from the same app will resemble a vertical stack of cards, which users can swipe through.

From there, users can swipe to the right to take action on a message or notification. For instance, a messaging app could offer up to five canned responses and a voice-command button for dictating a more detailed response. A calendar reminder could show meeting notes with one swipe and offer directions with another swipe.

As for hardware, Google says it’s working with devicemakers Asus, HTC, LG, Motorola and Samsung and chipmakers Broadcom, Imagination, Intel, MediaTek and Qualcomm. Fossil, a more traditional watchmaker, is also on board in some capacity.According to Engadget, LG is already teasing a “G Watch” that will be aimed at developers. Motorola has also teased a round smartwatch based on Android Wear called the Moto 360.

The announcement does leave some unanswered questions and concerns. We don’t really know what the first Android Wear devices will look like or whether they’ve gotten over any of the technology hurdles found in earlier smartwatches. We don’t know exactly what screen sizes and dimensions and form factors Android Wear will support, beyond the generally square and round wristwatch screens Google shows on its developer site. And we don’t know how devicemakers will differentiate their hardware or how much leeway they’ll have to modify the software.

But with today’s announcement, we do have a sense of Google’s vision for wearable devices. It’s not a major departure from the company’s efforts with Google Glass — and maybe that was Glass’s bigger goal all along — but it’s altogether less creepy and better thought out than any other wearable software we’ve seen yet.

iOS 7.1 Spotted in More Than a Quarter of iPhone and iPad App Traffic.

Four days after AppleAAPL +0.39% released an update to its mobile operating system,more than a quarter of app traffic is coming from iPhones and iPads running the latest software, according to data from analytics firm Mixpanel.

Apple released iOS 7.1—the first major update to its mobile software since its debut in September—on Monday. The update addressed some of the major complaintsusers had with the software including the tendency to crash and reboot often and the unreliability of its fingerprint sensor for its iPhone 5S. As of Friday, Mixpanel said 26.4% of app traffic is coming over devices running iOS 7.1, slightly less than the 31.5% usage rate for its previous version, iOS 7.0.6.

While this doesn’t mean that 26.4% of iOS devices have the update installed—people who use more apps more of the time may be earlier to adopt upgrades, after all—but it shows momentum, especially compared to the competition. About 6% of app traffic on Google’s Android operating system stems from “KitKat,” the latest version of the software released in October, Mixpanel said.

The data underscores one of Apple’s biggest advantages over Google Inc.’s Android operating system. Since Apple controls both the hardware and software, users of its mobile devices upgrade to the latest version of the iOS operating system quickly.

This makes life easier for developers because they can create apps knowing that a large percentage of iPhone users will be running the latest software. The phone manufacturers who use Android often customize the software to their own requirements, causing delays for users of those phones to have access to the latest updates from Google.

Google to Offer Android for Wearables::

Googles Android is the most popular operating system for smartphones. Now Google wants Android to power wearable devices.

Google executive Sundar Pichai told the South by Southwest conference Sunday that the company plans to release in two weeks a software development kit based on Android for makers of wearable devices, such as smartwatches.

Google plans to release its own smartwatch, which will be manufactured by LG Electronics But as with the Nexus line of smartphones that Google makes, the company wants to help lay out a “vision” for other developers to power their own wearable devices.

In making it easier for developers to use Android on wearable devices, Google looks set to follow a playbook similar to the one it used in mobile devices, where it makes Android available for free to phone and tablet makers. The software kit might give Google an opportunity to attract developers and bring users deeper into an ecosystem powered by its software.

Pichai is one of Google’s top executives, overseeing the company’s dominant mobile operating system, Android, its fast growing browser and computing platform Chrome, as well as apps like Gmail. He’s also in charge of much of Google’s growing hardware portfolio, including the Nexus smartphone and tablet, the cheap series of Internet-only computers called Chromebooks and other gadgets like Chromecast, which connects TVs to the Internet.

On Sunday, Pichai offered the first hint on Chromecast sales, saying they are “in the millions.” The device was first released in the United States, but Pichai said Sunday Google will soon make it available in more countries.

Pichai said that Google is releasing its Android software developer kit for wearable devices well before actual devices hit the market so that the company gets “plenty of feedback” first. Google plans to unveil its smartwatch at a Google developer event in June, CNET reported last month.

Smartwatches are among the first wearable computing devices, but Pichai said that Google hopes its software platform will help developers create many types of wearable devices. He threw out the possibility that one day, Google’s software would be used in a “smart jacket” with sensors.

Asked about the recent acquisition of smart thermostat maker Nest Labs, Pichai said Google is thinking about creating a “mesh layer” of software to make its various devices work better together.

Apple to Bring iPhone Software to Cars ::

Apple saAAPL -0.27%id it is bringing its mobile operating system to automobiles this year with a new CarPlay system that links its iPhone with the vehicle’s in-dash display to allow drivers to access the phone’s maps, music and messages.

Apple’s CarPlay

 

Apple

The company confirmed that Ferrari,Mercedes-BenzDAI.XE -2.49% and Volvo will demonstrate the new technology at this week’s Geneva Auto Show and it expects more than a dozen other major car manufacturers to bring the system to its automobiles in the future.

Apple said CarPlay will be available in certain cars later this year from its three European partners as well as Honda, Hyundai and Jaguar.

CarPlay, which will require an update to its current iOS 7 operating system and would only work with iPhone 5S, 5C, and 5, can be activated using a push-and-hold button on the steering wheel, Apple said. CarPlay takes advantage of Siri, the iPhone’s voice-activated digital assistant, which will respond to requests through voice commands, by reading drivers’ messages aloud and letting them dictate a reply or make a call.

The announcement is the latest sign of an intensifying fight between Apple andGoogleGOOG -0.29%’s Android operating system to control the connected cars of the future. It’s an extension of a rivalry rooted in hundreds of millions of smartphones and tablet computers.  With 80 million new cars and light trucks sold each year, automobiles represent a significant new opportunity for Internet-based software and services where Apple and Google are already competing.

In January, Google announced the formation of the Open Automotive Alliance, a group of automakers planning to bring Android to cars. The first cars from the alliance are expected to come out later this year. So far, car companies are playing the field working with both Google and Apple in their respective initiatives.

Apple’s push into the cars has been largely limited to making iPhones and iPods playable with an automobile’s audio system.  Honda has introduced new models that allow the driver to activate Siri, the iPhone’s voice-activated assistant, from a button on the steering wheel, and to talk to Siri using the car’s hands-free audio system.

That enables a driver to use the digital assistant to read out newly arrived email or text messages, check weather, set the navigation system or enter appointments on the iPhone’s calendar – all while keeping both hands on the wheel.

Last June, Apple unveiled the next step with its “iOS in the Car” initiative. The goal was to turn the iPhone into a kind of brain for operating dashboard electronics, using the car’s built-in display to interact with services such as maps and traffic information.

CarPlay is the realization of that vision by working with the car’s built-controls such as buttons, knobs and touch-screen monitors.

“CarPlay has been designed from the ground up to provide drivers with an incredible experience using their iPhone in the car,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of iPhone and iOS Product Marketing in a press release.

Apple started moving into automobiles with the iPod. When the digital music player started to replace compact disc players as the primary way to listen to music, drivers turned to makeshift accessories to bring the iPod into the car. In 2004, Apple teamed with BMWBMW.XE -1.77% in 2004 to introduce cars equipped with a cable to link an iPod with the car’s audio system.

Today, Apple says 95% of new cars have built in the ability to play and control music from an iOS device – any iPod, iPhone or iPad running its mobile operating system.

What’s on Tap for Mobile World Congress ::

BARCELONA–Thousands of telecom and tech CEOs, vendors, suppliers government officials, reporters and gadgets junkies are descending on Fira Gran Via exhibition center in Barcelona this weekend for the start of Mobile World Congress.

It may not have the cachet of the Consumer Electronics Show, held each January in Las Vegas. But MWC has over the years transformed itself–from largely a trade show for European telecom executives and telco suppliers, into a global showcase in its own right for gadgets and tech companies.

Much of the show’s new swagger comes thanks to the explosive intersection of computing and mobile devices in recent years. Underscoring its new position in the tech world, Facebook Inc.FB +3.19% CEO Mark Zuckerberg is giving one of the show’s keynotes.

Jan Koum, WhatsApp chief executive and the guy who just agreed to sell his company to Mr. Zuckerberg for $19 billion, is also addressing the congress, along with a stable of chiefs of the world’s biggest telecom companies.

And there will be plenty of old-tech CEOs, like Virginia Rometty at IBMIBM +0.36% and John Chambers from Cisco Systems.

Last year’s show attracted more than 72,000 attendees, including 4,300 CEOs from mobile operators, device manufacturers and technology firms. There were 1,700 exhibitor. Oh, and 3,400 journalists.

So what are the biggest things to watch?

– Samsung’s new flagship: Samsung hosts its “Unpacked” event on Monday evening, where the company is expected to unveil its next Galaxy S5 flagship smartphone.

–The future of Tizen: Samsung is also expected give its home-grown OS a leg up by offering its own Tizen-driven devices. They unveiled the first, a Tizen-powered smartwatch, just a few hours ago.

– Nokia’s first Android phone: Having lost its footing on the fast-growing sub-$100 smartphone market, the Finnish company is expected to introduce a low cost-smartphone, aimed for consumers in emerging markets that runs Android…without promoting Google’s services.

–Zuckerberg’s keynote: Faceook’s founder will make his first public appearance after his WhatsApp deal. The acquisition, as well as Mr. Zuckerberg’s presence at the mobile fair, highlights Facebook’s metamorphosis into a mobile company.

– Telco deals?: A long-expected wave of European telecom consolidation will also be on CEOs’ minds when they gather for closed-door meetings. Will AT&T’s Randall Stephenson and Vodafone Group’s Vittorio Colao end up in the same room together? AT&T has made no secret of its interest in buying big into the European market.

Facebook to Pay $19 Billion for WhatsApp::

Facebook Inc. FB +1.13% agreed to buy messaging company WhatsApp for $19 billion in cash and stock, a blockbuster transaction that dwarfs the already sky-high prices that other startups have been able to recently command.

The 55-employee company, which acts as a kind of replacement for text messaging, has seen its use more than double in the past nine months to 450 million monthly users. That makes its service more popular than Twitter Inc., TWTR -4.61% the widely used microblogging service which has about 240 million users and is currently valued at about $30 billion.

The transaction, which includes $3 billion in restricted stock units to be granted to WhatsApp's founders and employees over four years, ranks as the largest-ever purchase of a company backed by venture capital.

Besides making its founders billionaires, the deal marks an enormous windfall for Sequoia Capital, the only venture firm that backed WhatsApp. Sequoia invested about $60 million for a stake valued at up to $3 billion in the deal, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The deal price also easily outranks any acquisition of startups in recent years, including Facebook's purchase of photo-sharing app Instagram for more than $1 billion in 2012, and, a year earlier, Microsoft Corp.'s $8.5 billion buy of video-calling company Skype.

What isn't clear is how much revenue WhatsApp makes—the company declined to comment on its sales. It charges 99 cents a year after one year of free use and doesn't carry ads. On a conference call, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said he doesn't think ads are the right way to monetize messaging systems.

Beyond revenue, the deal could help shelter the social network against the shifting tastes of teen users, some of whom have grown cool to it, and bolster its position internationally. WhatsApp is particularly popular outside of the U.S.

The transaction comes in the wake of Facebook's failed attempt to purchase another messaging service popular with younger users, Snapchat, for roughly $3 billion last year.

WhatsApp has long been seen as a takeover target for Internet giants. Google Inc. had reached out to buy the company several years ago, two people familiar with the situation said, while two other people said deal talks between the two companies also took place recently. A Google spokesman declined to comment.

Even by the get-big-fast standards of Silicon Valley, WhatsApp's story is remarkable. The company, founded in 2009 by Ukrainian Jan Koum and American Brian Acton, reached 450 million users faster than any company in history, wrote Jim Goetz, a partner at investor Sequoia Capital.

Facebook had fewer than 150 million users after its fourth year, one third that of WhatsApp in the same time period.

WhatsApp processes 50 billion messages a day, Mr. Goetz wrote, yet has only 32 engineers and doesn't employ any marketing or public-relations people.

WhatsApp built its business on the idea of offering instant messaging without the fees that carriers often charge. The app lets uses send text, pictures and video to anyone with the software, free. Unlike Apple Inc.'s iMessage, it works on all the major mobile operating systems.

The company goes out of its way to remain private, offering little in the way of information to government agencies trying to track people. Once delivered, messages are deleted from the company's servers. Privacy was particularly important to Mr. Koum, who grew up in a communist country with a secret police.

"Jan's childhood made him appreciate communication that was not bugged or taped," Mr. Goetz wrote. "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."

The deal came together in less than two weeks, though Messrs. Zuckerberg and Koum first met nearly two years ago.

Mr. Zuckerberg first reached out to Mr. Koum via email in the spring of 2012, according to a person familiar with the matter. A month later, the two men met at a coffee shop in Los Altos in Silicon Valley. Following their initial meeting, Messrs. Zuckerberg and Koum talked regularly, sometimes at dinner and on hikes.

On Feb. 9, Mr. Zuckerberg gave Mr. Koum the hard pitch: "Let's go connect the world," he said.

Then, on Valentine's day, he visited Mr. Zuckerberg's home in Los Altos, and the two men came to an agreement. Following the meeting, Mr. Zuckerberg joked that Mr. Koum crashed his Valentine's dinner with Mr. Zuckerberg's wife, Priscilla.

Mr. Koum, who previously spent about a decade at Yahoo Inc. as an engineer, will join Facebook's board of directors.

The demographics of WhatsApp's users were likely a draw for Facebook, said Rebecca Lieb, analyst at Altimeter Group. "This is clearly also a play at securing their base of younger users who are married to text messaging," she said.

Equally enticing is the percentage of WhatsApp users who log onto the service at least once a day. That figure sits at 70%, even higher than Facebook's 61%.

Such "engagement" percentages are valuable because the more users interact with a service, the more ads or other products can be sold to them.

"Facebook's always working to find new reasons for people to come back," said Forrester Research analyst Nate Elliott. "Facebook is desperate to keep people coming back every day."

On a per-user basis, Facebook is paying around $40 apiece for WhatsApp, roughly in line with the amount that other social media companies that have been acquired in recent years.

WhatsApp, based in Mountain View, Calif., will stay in its headquarters and continue to operate independently of its new parent company, which is based nearby in Menlo Park.

Other figures disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing show metrics that made it particularly attractive to Facebook. WhatsApp users every day upload 600 million photos, for example, and send 100 million video messages every day.

On the conference call, Messrs. Zuckerberg and Koum said it was important the company operate separately and retain the mentality of a startup, a strategy Mr. Zuckerberg said has worked with Instagram.

Instagram founder Kevin Systrom, he said, has "gotten a huge amount of value on being able to use Facebook infrastructure," while remaining separate.

WhatsApp, despite its surging popularity in recent years, has been wary of raising capital and entertaining suitors. Mr. Koum told The Wall Street Journal last December that WhatsApp has "no plans to sell, IPO, exit," or get new funding.

Facebook was advised by Allen & Co. LLC and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP; and WhatsApp was advised by Morgan Stanley and Fenwick & West LLP.

Nokia to release its first Android phone this month::

Nokia is set to launch its first Android smartphone at Mobile World Congress later this month, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Nokia is getting ready to take the wraps off of its first Android-powered smartphone, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Finnish device maker is set to introduce the heavily rumored “Normandy” handset at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The timing of this announcement is interesting, as Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia’s device business is expected to close this quarter. That would make it seem like it’s high time for a big Windows Phone announcement, but according to the Verge, Nokia is likely to spend more time discussing its Android smartphone at its MWC press conference.

Neither report offers up any new details about the purported handset. The WSJ reaffirms that, while the device will be powered by Android, it will be running a modified version that doesn’t come with the Google Play app store. Instead, the UI will look similar to Windows Phone and come preloaded with a mix of apps from Microsoft and Nokia. This is similar to what Amazon does with its Kindle Fire tablets.

This approach could provide Nokia with a replacement for its low-cost Asha phone line, and provide users with an entry-level device that makes them more likely to upgrade to Windows Phone in the future.