mysms SMS application seems to be very promising, brings many useful features over Whatsapp.

A few days ago I've presented you Whatsapp (here), a great messaging app available for a lot of mobile platforms which gives you the possibility to send free messages over the internet to all the users who have Whatsapp installed on their device. One of the disadvantages of Whatsapp is that you must be on your phone to send the messages, so you can't register on your phone and then send the messages from your computer or anything like that.

However, with mysms SMS application, it becomes possible to send messages from your computer to all of your friends from all the other platforms, using the mobile phone number you register with before. Moreover, mysms comes also as a standard SMS client, having the ability to handle all the SMS functionality of your phone's default SMS application. More specifically, you can send and receive standard SMS messages directly through mysms, without having to open the stock application separately (you'll have the option to send messages via mobile carrier or via mysms, in case your friends have it). I don't know whether this works or not on iOS because of Apple's restrictions, but on Android it works quite well.

One problem which I found is that I can't send messages through mysms from the browser (Chrome), maybe this functionality is currently unavailable, but it's still a great product. At 700 messages a month from my carrier contract, I think that it's still worth using it, considering that I don't even need to access my phone in order to view or send messages. And the ICS/JB design is a big plus over Whatsapp.

Visit the official website for more information http://www.mysms.com/, or search directly in App Store/ Google Play for "mysms".

XXLF1 radio for Galaxy Nexus, OK to install (works good).

Yesterday I installed the latest radio available for my GSM Galaxy Nexus, version XXLF1. It works without any problems, didn't occur any signal drops or anything like that. The WiFi signal seems to be the same, while the GSM signal is significantly improved (HSDPA). It's difficult to notice any battery change, but it seem to be slightly improved (30% at the end of the day).

Please note the the beginning "XX" means that this is a radio only for the European networks, so don't try to install it if you live somewhere outside the Europe. It works very good in Romania, didn't have any issues after installing (Vodafone). Tested on Jelly Bean.

Download from XDA: link (flashable zip, flash in CWM recovery). If the link becomes broken, please report in a comment and I will change it. 

Some reasons for which to use Whatsapp as your default messaging client.

I've been using Whatsapp messaging client on my phone intensively for about half a year now, and I've been really satisfied with it. Or at least, it's been working perfectly for me until now (Galaxy Nexus on Jelly Bean now), even though there are some who report serious issues with it. For those who did not use it until now, the main idea is that it is a lightweight messaging client which works over the internet (WiFi or mobile network).

I really recommend it because it is very popular (so there should be a lot of users to speak to), uses a very small amount of battery, it is very fast, and uses a ridiculously reduced amount of data. I've sent about 3700 messages since I installed Jelly Bean (very recently) and it used only 1.5 MB, which is really negligible, considering that I have a 750MB data plan and I am a lot of time in areas where WiFi is available free of charge.

But here is the most important feature: based on the mobile phone number, it detects whether the contacts from your address book have Whatsapp installed or not, and it will display those who have it. For this purpose, you'll have to give your phone number when you first run the application. And as you had probably figured out already, you are going to be in tho places, with two different accounts, in the case that you have two phones and you want it installed on both of them. For this reason (the necessity of having a mobile phone number), Whatsapp can't run and was not designed to be used on computers. So no, there's no PC/Mac version, and probably, there will never be one.

Whatsapp is available for the following platforms (click the links for download):

• Android (free for the first year);
• iOS ($0.99);
• BlackBerry
• Nokia phones (Nokia Series 40, Symbian and Windows Phone);

Update: Another virus hits Yahoo! Messenger.

A virus which is not new to Yahoo!'s network seems to be hitting it again. A Romanian website for security warns users of Yahoo! Messenger about its existence and offers help in fixing it. This virus sends various links, most of them referring to Facebook (so this creates confusion between users). Some of them are pasted here:

• http://ow.ly/2D4zB?=www.facebook.com/photo.php
• is this you on pic?  http://ow.ly/2cWs2?=www.facebook.com/photo.php
• foto :D http://ow.ly/2d3aB?=www.facebook.com/photo.php
• foto :D http://ow.ly/2cTes?=www.facebook.com/photo.php
• foto :D http://ow.ly/2bmMb?=www.facebook.com/photo.php
• foto :D http : //ow.ly/2b7Xp?=www.facebook.com/photo.php
• foto :D http://ow.ly/2aG6r?=www.facebook.com
• foto :D http://ow.ly/2arJj?=www.facebook.com
• foto :D http://ow.ly/2aHoc?=www.facebook.com

The virus asks user to download a file, which is, of course, the virus. Here are some examples of files containing the virus:

• 012457566896789-JPG-www.facebook.com.exe
• PIC348u6234-www.facebook.com.JPG.exe
• n719753102_09.JPG-www.facebook.exe
• n11975310_09.JPG-www.facebook.exe
• n11975310_09.JPG-www.facebosok.exe
• n777719102_09.JPG-www.facebook.exe
• 102_09.JPG-www.facebook.exe 
• 9.JPG-www.facebook

Normally, an antivirus program should detect the malware and remove it, but if it doesn't (or you don't have one), you may download Palevo Removal v2 from here. This program should automatically close the virus and remove it. All you need to do then is to reboot. 

Note: Windows 7 and Vista users must click "This program works correctly" when prompted. 


Thanks to the Romanian website called IT Security which made everything possible. (Google translated webpage here).


Update: The admin from IT Security warned me that the virus is downloading more and more files with strange names (it's quite impossible to keep up with it). He also told me that using Malwarebytes should help much (download here). Make sure to update after installation and then perform a full scan. 

Windows 7 SP1, coming on July.

Service Pack (SP) represents usually the most important update that a version of an OS can receive. Windows 7 SP1 has been tested by developers for more months, and it is coming for the end-users by the end of the next month. What this update will include are all bug-fixes and updates which were already delivered to the users through Windows Update, plus support for USB 3.0.

It seems that this new pack fixes about 150 vulnerabilities and has about 150MB. The installation process is probably going to be really easy, and even if it isn't necessary now, Microsoft probably wants to make a step forward and detach from what was a total fail, Windows Vista. There are lots of torrents which pretend to be the SP1 Windows 7, but as it is not yet released officially for end-users it is hard for me to believe that they are the real SP1 which will be released by MS.

If you think Windows 7 is boring, just be patient until the SP1 of Windows 7 arrives (I'll let you know when Microsoft launches it officially).

Android 2.2 FRF72 manual update is now available.

Google launched yesterday an update for Android 2.2, for those who received their Nexus One at Google's conference. It updates the build number on the Nexus from FRF50 to FRF72, and it is just an under 2 MB .zip archive. So, there shouldn't be any notable difference compared to previous version.

However, for me it seems that it makes the applications a little more responsive, and changes the way "pinch-to-zoom" works on pictures. The first sensation is a little inaccuracy, but after playing a little with it, I think that this is a new feature. If you move your both fingers in a direction while zooming (in or out), you will observe that the image moves that way. This is too natural (for the fingers) and too smooth (for the phone) to be a bug, in my opinion.

Please note that in order to update, you MUST have the previous built for Android 2.2 (FRF50) installed on your phone.

You can get the Android 2.2 built50 (previous built) with installation instructions from here.

For FRF72, follow the instructions from the link above, as they are the same.

Download Android 2.2 FRF72 from here. In case that Google removes the file, mirror download link is here.

You can expect for this file to hit the Nexus via an OTA update anytime.

Notes:

• You may have to try step 6 for several times (it might not work for the first time).
• Step 8 is necessary.
• This will NOT void your warranty, however, the update is on your own responsibility.

Manually update your Nexus One to Android 2.2 Froyo.

As you probably know, the new version of Android has been released for download for some users. More exactly, we are talking about those persons who got the device officially, from Google, for reviewing purposes (mass-media or press). So, for all other users, who got the device via Google's official website, there is no OTA (over-the-air) update yet.

However, the link from where Google was pushing the update to the targeted devices has been found, and everybody has the possibility to update. Unfortunately, the update file has been removed from that link by Google, but there isn't any problem, because some users uploaded that file to external sources.

Before starting anything, I must tell you that I assume NO responsibility in case that something goes wrong or you have any kind of problems after update. This update has not been officially released for your personal device by Google. You must have a NON-rooted device, with original rom (your build must be ERE27).

Here is all you have to do:

1. Download the update file from here (mirror download, it is not from Google's server so please confirm if it works or not!!! Yes, it works, just take a look at the comments).
2. Rename it as "update.zip" (make sure not to be update.zip.zip) and send it to the microSD card which is in your Nexus.
3. Shut down your device.
4. Keep pressed down the "Volume down" key while you press the power button.
5. When the screen appears, scroll down to "recovery" (with the "volume down" key), and then press the power button.
6. A new screen will appear containing a triangle with an exclamation point symbol inside. Now you have to press down the "Volume up" key and the power button at the same time.
7. A new menu will appear, in which you have to scroll (with the trackball) until the "Apply sdcard:update.zip" option has been highlighted, and then press down the trackball.
8. The device is now updating the software. After the update finishes ("Update from sdcard complete"), you may have to select "reboot system now" (I didn't have to do the last step, but it has been reported that it might be necessary for some users).

Note: the first boot after update may take longer. This is something normal, do not panic! It took me about 5 minutes. And I think I had 2 successive reboots, so stay calm, your device didn't go crazy (this was what I thought when I saw that).

Congratulations! You now have the Android 2.2 on your Nexus One.

Click here for a list with most of updates. What I observed is that my device worked normally only after the second reboot. Lookout (antivirus) crashes continuously (had to force close), and Seesmic can't connect at all (several users confirmed this).

But most important of all, the device runs much faster. You can find more details at phandroind.com by clicking here.

Please leave a comment telling us if your update succeeded or not (it is very useful for other users)!

Opera 10.51 for Ubuntu is available.

Opera claims to be the fastest browser on the earth, so do you want to know if this is true or not? You can now test this by yourself if you are using Linux, because an official build of Opera 10.51 is available for download. Please note that this is not a final release (on the official website only 10.10 is available for Linux), but it works pretty good.

More details can be found on WebUpd8, by clicking here, and the official download link is here.

Opera 10.50 Beta for Mac OS X is here.

Opera 10.50 Beta has been launched yesterday, and I must say that there is a big difference between this version and that one that was launched earlier, Alpha. You can read more about the Alpha here.

This last version (10.50 Beta) is very fast and most of the problems which were present on Alpha are now gone. Flash is displayed correctly, and posting from Blogger works perfectly(I'm blogging right now from Opera) NO. Posting from blogger is not working. The "Publish Post" button is not working at all. It runs very stable (compared to the previous version), and all the scripts are working correctly.

However, it is a Beta version, so use it on non-important purposes.

Download from here (Mac only): http://www.4shared.com/file/230898428/6b8f05ea/Opera_1050_b1_Setup_Intel.html.

Chrome 4.0 dev version for Mac.

Chrome 4.0 version for Windows has been recently launched, but there is no 4.0 version for Mac yet (officially). But I have Googled a little, and I found a dev version of 4.0 for Mac, which is very close to the official version. I've installed it, and the main changes are that it supports extensions (finally!!), and the webpages are loading promptly than before (before meaning 4.0 beta).

Screenshot:

Download link: http://www.4shared.com/file/208169285/4bdf0597/GoogleChrome.html

Firefox 3.6 launches tomorrow, 21 January.

The new version of Firefox, the browser developed by Mozilla, will be available for download tomorrow, January 21st, at 9:30 am Pacific Standard Time, says Mozilla. Currently, release candidate is the latest version available, which is generally about 90-95% of the final release.

A new feature is "Personas", which is nothing more than many themes for Firefox. Other feature implemented in Firefox 3.6 is a mechanism which will check for newer updates for your plug-ins, in order to keep you updated and make the navigation as safe as possible. Mozilla also claims that their browser is now 25% faster than the previous version, which makes it the fastest browser (any company says that when they launch a new version). But there is nothing surprising, that could attract me in order to leave Chrome...

If you want to see more (and video): http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/comingsoon/ (I don't know what is with that video, but it runs like the hell, even on Firefox 3.5.7)

Download link: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html

Update: Download link for 3.6 final version: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/firefox.html