Microsoft makes editing documents free on Office for iPhone, Android

Microsoft finally unveiled its suite of Office apps for iPad on Thursday, but the company also made an important change to its apps for iPhone and Android mobile devices.

With the latest update of Microsoft Office Mobile for iPhone and Android, editing Office files is now free for 'home use'. Earlier, users could only view Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files on their mobile devices, but editing them required a paid Microsoft Office 365 subscription.

It's worth pointing out that Microsoft rivals Google and Apple both offer their respective office suite for free. While Google's Quickoffice app is available for free for Android and iOS devices, Apple's iWork suite of apps is free with any iOS or Mac device purchased since September last year. Google and Apple also have free Web-based suite of productivity apps.

Though Microsoft says editing of documents via Office Mobile for iPhone and Android is free only for 'home use' and still expects enterprise users to purchase a subscription for Office 365, in the real world the company has no checks over where the app is being downloaded and used, so all users can benefit from this move.

Though Microsoft has been dismissive of its rivals in the past, a new chief at the helm after Steve Ballmer's departure seems to have prompted a change in the company's approach.

New Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella - in his first press briefing since landing the top job - laid out a vision of making the company the master of programs and services offered in the cloud for whatever gadgets people prefer.

"Today is the first step on a journey to make this a great innovation vector for all of Microsoft," Nadella said.

"We are committed to making our applications run cross-platform."

Nadella said he wants to provide full-feature versions of its widely used programs available for all types of devices as one aspect of Microsoft's overall strategy under his watch.

iPhone 6 to launch in two screen sizes in September: Nikkei

Apple is likely to release its newest iPhone globally in September with a higher resolution and bigger screens, Japan's leading Nikkei business daily reported Friday. The handset, expected to be called the iPhone 6, is expected to come in two versions with a 4.7- or 5.5-inch screen, up from the current four-inch panel, the report said, without citing sources.

US-based Apple is ordering its higher-resolution liquid crystal display screens from Japanese electronics giant Sharp, Japan Display and South Korea's LG Display, it added. Taiwan's Commercial Times reported earlier this month that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has started producing chips for Apple's next iPhone.

Apple released its current iPhone 5 in September 2012 and newer versions in the series (the iPhone 5s (Pictures) and iPhone 5c (Pictures)) last year. There was no immediate comment from Sharp.

Previous leaks have said the iPhone 6 will arrive with a much thinner body, a powerful processor and a higher pixel density screen. As for the processor, both Samsung and TSMC are rumoured to be making the new A-series 'Apple A8' chips for the iPhone 6, separately rumoured to be clocked at 2.6GHz.

The iPhone 6 is also speculated to ship with an Ultra-Retina display, with a pixel density of 389ppi. This round of rumoured features came courtesy Sonny Dickson, the Australian teen who rose to fame in the build up to the release of iPhone 5s with what turned out to be largely accurate leaks.

Dickson, in one of his four tweets on the subject, also said, "iPhone 6 will be 0.22 inches thick #JustSaying." Other expected features include a bezel-less display, and a larger 8-megapixel camera with aperture size of f/2.0, as compared to the iPhone 5's f/2.4 and iPhone 5s' f/2.2.

Facebook Messenger 4.0 app for iOS brings group chat, forwarding

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Facebook has started rolling out an update to its Messenger app for iOS. The update takes Facebook Messenger to version 4.0, with changes focused primarily on group chat options along with some message forwarding tweaks for the user's ease.

With Facebook Messenger 4.0 for iOS, users can now create groups for those friends they interact the most with. Groups such as roommates, family, colleagues, college and others can be created by users, renamed, and allotted an image. Users can simply tap on groups under 'contacts' section in the messenger app to create a group. For group chat options, all the contacts will have to be using the Facebook Messenger service.

This group messaging feature has been in several messaging services, including WhatsApp - the company Facebook has announced it is acquiring. The updated Facebook Messenger for iOS app is compatible with devices running iOS 6.0 or higher.

Facebook, as part of Messenger 4.0 for iOS, has also made forwarding of messages and photos easier. Users can now forward a message or a photo with a 'forward' button. "Forwarding: Want to send a message or photo to someone who isn't in the conversation? Just tap to forward it," states the Facebook Messenger app listing page.

With other improvements in the Messenger app regarding its speed and reliability, the latest 4.0 version is now available to download from the Apple iTunes Store for free.

The Facebook Messenger app for iOS is available for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch running iOS 6.0 or later.

Earlier this month, Facebook rolled-out the voice-calling feature for its Messenger app in India. The service, available for both Android and iOS, will let users call their Facebook contacts for free, using either mobile data or Wi-Fi, similar to other VoIP services. It has been additionally mentioned that users cannot ring up a Facebook friend who is logged in through the website, and mobile or landline numbers cannot be dialled.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier now available for Android and iOS

Gameloft has finally released its much talked-about mobile game, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, for Android and iOS via the Google Play store and Apple iTunes App Store. The game is not yet listed on the Windows Phone Store, though it had been announced for the platform.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier has arrived days before the release of its movie version. Last month, when the teaser video of the gaming app was revealed by Gameloft, we assumed it would arrive along with the film on 4 April.

The game lets users play as Captain America, who is supported by a small team of S.H.I.E.L.D to fight against a number of superpower villains - Taskmaster, King Cobra, Puff Adder, the Winter Soldier and others. The users can borrow some help from the Falcon or the Black Widow if they find themselves in a tough spot in the game when fighting against the villains and other enemies.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier game also includes an asynchronous multiplayer feature with which users can play against each other through different clans. One can compete on league leaderboards and can earn extra rewards in limited-time events.

Different fighting techniques and Captain America suits can be unlocked as users progress through the game. The mobile game's art and graphics are inspired by comic books.

Unfortunately, the 'demo version' on Android only lets users play two levels for free, after which users would have to go through some in-app purchases to continue. The iOS version of Captain America: The Winter Soldier however, is a paid $4.19 app, unlocked from the get-go.

The Captain America: The Winter Soldier is sized at 20MB (initial install) and requires Android 4.0 Ice cream Sandwich OS version to run. The application, as seen on the Google Play Store listing page, is getting some mixed reviews from the users who have downloaded the game.

On the iTunes App Store, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is listed at 93.6MB, and is compatible with devices running iOS 7.0 or higher.

Star Wars: Assault Team released for Android, iOS and Windows Phone

Star Wars: Assault Team, a mobile game by LucasArts, have reached three major mobile OS platforms on Friday - Android, iOS and Windows Phone.

The game lets the users create their dream team with any Star Wars character including Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Boba Fett, Chewbacca, Princess Leia and others and fight against enemies and other players.

Star Wars: Assault Team is a card-based game that comes under the strategy genre. The game's story is set between the Star Wars Episodes IV: A New Hope and Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. The combat-ridden missions make users travel to different plants like Tatooine, Kashyyyk, and more. Users can also train their Star Wars characters from the team and improve their special attacks.

The gaming app also includes some of the in-app purchases - Handful of Gems, Pile of Gems, Sack of Gems, Box of Gems, Crate of Gems and Pallet of Gems. According to LucasArts, the card-based Star Wars: Assault Team features 'cinematic' graphics, with full character and background animations during the PvP turn-based combat.

The app is a card-based game is seen receiving positive responses from the users from all the three OS app store listings for Star Wars: Assault Team. The game is currently available to download fromGoogle Play Store, Apple iTunes Store and Windows Phone Store.

The Windows Phone Store listing of Star Wars: Assault Team says the game is compatible with devices running either Windows Phone 8 or Windows Phone 8.1. This is notable as Windows Phone 8.1 has not yet been released by Microsoft.

Alongside the release of Star Wars: Assault Team, Gameloft has released Captain America: The Winter Soldier for Android and iOS days before its movie version release. The game is not yet listed on the Windows Phone Store, though it had been announced for the platform.

Unfortunately, the 'demo version' on Android only lets users play two levels for free, after which users would have to go through some in-app purchases to continue. The iOS version of Captain America: The Winter Soldier however, is a paid $4.19 app, unlocked from the get-go

BlackBerry Z10 back in stock in India at offer price of Rs. 17,990

Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry on Wednesday replenished stocks of its Z10 touchscreen model that was sold out in India after a 60 percent discount on the price.

"BlackBerry Z10 has now been restocked across BlackBerry's retail network across the country and on Flipkart.com," the company's director for distribution in India, Sameer Bhatia, said in a statement.

The device will be available for Rs. 17,990, according to the statement.

BlackBerry launched the Z10 about a year ago for Rs. 43,990. The price was dropped to Rs 29,990 in September.

On February 25, the company offered the phone at Rs. 17,990 for a limited period. The model sold out within a week, although it was available on some e-commerce sites at a 22-50 percent higher price.

Blackberry lowered handset prices in the face of losses due to declining sales and build-up of inventory across the globe. In December, the company offered incentives on handset sales, especially devices built on its latest platform BlackBerry 10.

BlackBerry posted a loss of $4.4 billion in its third quarter ended November 30, mainly due to unsold handsets.

The company recorded a primarily non-cash, pre-tax charge against inventory and supply commitments of approximately $1.6 billion in the quarter of fiscal 2014, which was primarily attributable to BlackBerry 10 devices.

During the quarter, BlackBerry sold about 4.3 million smartphones to customers, of which 3.2 million were BlackBerry 7 devices, including models such as the BlackBerry Curve, Bold and Torch

Apple considering Spotify-like service and iTunes app for Android: Report

Apple is reportedly considering new avenues for its online radio streaming service 'iTunes Radio' to rival popular on-demand streaming services like Spotify and Beats Music.

A report by Billboard states that sources familiar with the talks have also informed about the company's plans to add an iTunes App for Android phones.

According to report, the Cupertino based tech giant has opened exploratory talks with senior label executives to launch an on-demand music streaming service to regain its position in the online music industry, which has seen revenues from digital downloads fall recently. Also the company has now taken an acknowledgment of the faster growing Android market share, and is considering a range of efforts to support iTunes, report cited sources. Notably, Google Play Music, Google Books, and Google Play Movies & TV are available for the iOS platform.

The iTunes Radio service is free and ad-supported, although users who sign up for the paid iTunes Match (a $24.99 annual subscription) service do not receive ads. The free Internet radio service features over 200 stations.

According to a Nielsen report, the overall U.S. music sales in 2013 were 6.3 percent less than overall sales in 2012, while music-streaming services grew 32 percent since 2012. Services like Spotify and other similar music subscription services allow subscribers to listen to unlimited streaming music for a flat monthly fee.

Meanwhile Apple has reportedly been planning to associate with major record labels to offer what could be like an exclusive album-release windows. By which the digital versions of the albums would go on sale ahead of the CD release.

Billboard quoted one major label source, "They are feeling out some people at labels on thoughts about transitioning its customers from iTunes proper to a streaming service. So when you buy a song for $1.29, and you put it in your library, iTunes might send an e-mail pointing out that for a total of, say, $8 a month you can access that song plus all the music in the iTunes store. It's all in the 'what if' stage."

A report earlier this month also said that Apple may spin off iTunes Radio into a standalone app, which is an attempt by the company to increase visibility and usage of its free music streaming service and make it more competitive with similar apps