When WhatsApp launched a desktop version of its messaging service last month, it worked only with Google Chrome. But that’s not the case anymore, as the company has announced that the client is now also compatible with Firefox and Opera.

The sign up process remains the same, which means Firefox and Opera users will also have to scan a QR code from within WhatsApp on their handset, something which can be done through a new Menu option, labeled WhatsApp Web. Read more »

The much leaked Web interface for WhatsApp is now live. As you may have imagined, this allows you to use your computer to send and receive WhatsApp messages. But, true to this app’s very obvious “mobile first” mantra, the Web client is acting simply as an extension of your phone.

Thus, all the messages still actually live on your handset, they’re just shown to you on the Web as well. So your phone needs to be connected to the Internet while you’re using WhatsApp Web on your computer, keep that in mind. Read more »

It was apparently time for Angry Birds Seasons to get yet another update. This time, Rovio added 24 new levels to its insanely popular game. These take you on a trip to South HAMerica, where your mission is, as always, to stop those pesky pigs.

There are even three bonus levels inside, and everything is packed with relics, artifacts, ancient statues, and rope bridges – all making for a pretty exotic twist to the game. Read more »

The latest State of Mobile Advertising coming from browser-maker Opera shows that while Android leads iOS in terms of browsing on smartphones 36% to 29% and when factoring in tablets, where Apple’s iPad is dominant the numbers are 38% for Android and 43% for Apple. Android is bringing in 32% of Opera revenues, while iOS churns in a massive 56%.

The numbers show that mobile ads are much more valuable on iOS devices. The numbers come from Opera’s Mediaworks, which serves over 60 billion monthly page impressions to some 425 million users. Read more »

The just-announced Nokia Asha 500, Asha 502, and Asha 503 have made their way to YouTube, with the latest video ads showing up by the boatload.

The new phones were unveiled at Nokia World today in Abu Dhabi, and unlike their Asha 501 predecessor, feature new “ice shell” exteriors that complement the characteristic flashy Nokia colors. Take a look! Read more »

WhatsApp has started rolling out a new update across the various platforms that prioritizes the voice messaging feature of the service. This move probably comes after other messaging services have started incorporating and promoting their voice messaging feature.

To be clear, this is not a new feature even for WhatsApp as the functionality was always available. The only difference is that now it is prominently placed in the UI with the latest update. Now, you’ll see a microphone button instead of the Send button when no message is being typed in the message field. Press and hold this button and your message starts getting recorded. Slide left any time to cancel the recording. Read more »

WhatsApp, the hugely popular cross-platform instant messaging app that lets you message other users for free over the internet, is starting to charge an annual fee for its service.

It will now cost $0.99 per year for you to be able to message your friends on WhatsApp. Read more »

Yesterday, Nokia finally went through with its long-coming plan to disallow unauthorized users to download from their online repository for firmware updates, Navifirm+.

It has since been revealed that users who retained their Navifirm+ caches are still able to download updates from the repository. Read more »

Over at the AllThingsD Dive Into Mobile conference WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum took to the stage to discuss the app’s position, users and drop a bomb that his app is “bigger than Twitter” when looking at the active monthly users.

Although the two platforms differ in the way the work – Twitter being more of a social network where your tweets are public and WhatsApp being a peer-to-peer messaging service – Jan Koum said WhatsApp has more than 200 million active users a month, thus besting Twitter. Read more »

The security issues of smartphones have caused quite a lot of concern lately. Recently, bypassing the lock screens of the smartphone has become a child’s play and one of our readers has found out a way to achieve this on a Nokia N950 without the use of any codes or patterns.

The passcode of the Nokia N950 can be bypassed without breaking a sweat and the process involves crashing the lock screen by pressing random buttons and numbers, which makes the lock screen unresponsive and closing the app allows you to access the entire smartphone. Read more »

WhatsApp, one of the most popular instant-messaging services, breaches international privacy laws over phone numbers according to the Canadian and Dutch data protection authorities.

The application forces you to provide access to your entire address book and this policy has been criticized time and time again. Read more »

Nokia has updated its Nokia Transport (known as Transit in North America) for Windows Phone 8 with a revamped interface. The company is also working on apps for Windows Phone 7 and even Symbian, but those are in beta right now.

One of the changes is that the route is segmented and you can look at each segment more closely with a single tap or swipe. Read more »

Nokia City Lens is one of the “most well received new applications” from the Finnish company (they also used it to generate buzz for the WP8 Lumias before unveiling them). The Symbian and MeeGo users weren’t left out – they got to participate in the beta trials, which are now over.

There’s some bad news though – City Lens is becoming Lumia-exclusive. Read more »

Viber keeps expanding its reach and is about to welcome three new mobile platforms on board. Until recently the service was only available on Android, Apple iOS, Windows Phone and BlackBerry.

Now though we hear that three new platforms will be getting support for Viber – Nokia’s Symbian OS and the Series 40, as well as the Samsung’s Bada OS. Granted all three of those are almost dead, but there are still plenty of people out there using devices powered by them so kudos to Viber for taking care of them. Read more »

To say that the currently raging trial between Apple and Samsung has been a revelation would be a massive understatement. As the evidence piles up in the case, we get to find out more and more about the internal dealings in both companies.

The latest bit of juicy information got submitted as evidence yesterday, revealing that Apple offered Samsung the rights to license its patent portfolio for the amount of $30 per smartphone and $40 per tablet back in October, 2010. Read more »