#whatsapp!

                         WhatsApp

WhatsApp for Windows Phone (owner is Mark Zuckerberg from 19 Feb 2014)

 

Developer(s)	WhatsApp Inc.
Initial release	2009
Stable release	iOS: 2.11.7 Android: 2.11.181 Windows Phone: 2.11.356.0 BlackBerry: 2.11.240 Symbian: 2.11.363 Nokia S40 devices
Operating system	iOS Android BlackBerry OS BlackBerry 10 Nokia Series 40 Nokia Asha platform Symbian Windows Phone
Available in	Multilingual
Type	Instant messaging
License	Proprietary
Website	www.whatsapp.com

WhatsApp Messenger is a proprietary, cross-platforminstant messaging subscription service for smartphones. In addition to text messaging, users can send each other images, video, and audio media messages as well as their location using integrated mapping features. The client software is available for Google Android, BlackBerry OS, Apple iOS, selected Nokia Series 40, Symbian, selected Nokia Asha platform, Microsoft Windows Phoneand BlackBerry 10. WhatsApp Inc. was founded in 2009 by Americans Brian Actonand Jan Koum(also the CEO), both former employees of Yahoo!, and is based in Mountain View, CaliforniaThe company employs 55 people.

Competing with a number of Asian-based messaging services (like LINE, KakaoTalk, WeChat), WhatsApp handled ten billion messages per day in August 2012, growing from two billion in April 2012, and one billion the previous October. On June 13, 2013, WhatsApp announced that they had reached their new daily record by processing 27 billion messages. According to the Financial Times, WhatsApp "has done to SMSon mobile phones what Skypedid to international calling on landlines."

As of November 10, 2013, WhatsApp had over 190 million monthly active users, 400 million photos are shared each day, and the messaging system handles more than 10 billion messages each day. In a December 2013 blog post, WhatsApp claimed that 400 million active users use the service each month.

On February 19, 2014, Facebook Inc.announced it is acquiring WhatsApp Inc. for US$19 billion. Facebook will pay $4 billion in cash, $12 billion in Facebook shares and $3 billion in restricted stock units to be granted to WhatsApp founders and employees that will vest over four years.

In January 2009, Jan Koumbought an iPhoneand realized that the then seven-month-old App Store was about to spawn a whole new industry of apps. He visited his friend Alex Fischer to discuss creating a new app. Koum almost immediately chose the name WhatsApp because it sounded like “what’s up,” and a week later on his birthday, Feb. 24, 2009, he incorporated WhatsApp Inc. in California. Early WhatsApp, installed only by a handful of Koum's friends, kept crashing or getting stuck. The following month Koum admitted to Acton that he should start looking for a job. Acton persuaded him to continue with WhatsApp.^[13]

In June 2009, Apple launched push notifications, letting developers ping users when they were not using an app. Koum updated WhatsApp so that each time you changed your status it would ping everyone in the user's network. WhatsApp 2.0 was released with a messaging component and the active users suddenly swelled to 250,000. Koum visited Acton, who was still unemployed while managing the unsuccessful start up, and decided to join the company. In October Acton persuaded five ex-Yahoo friends to invest $250,000 in seed funding, and as a result was granted co-founder status and a stake. He officially joined on November 1. Koum then hired an old friend who lived in Los Angeles, Chris Peiffer, to make the BlackBerryversion of WhatsApp.

WhatsApp was switched from a free to paid service to avoid growing too fast, mainly because the primary cost was sending verification texts to users. In December 2009 WhatsApp for the iPhone was updated to send photos. By early 2011, WhatsApp was in the top 20 of all apps in the U.S. App Store.

The founders agreed to take $8 million from Sequoia Capitalon top of their $250,000 seed funding, after months of negotiation with Sequoia partner Jim Goetz.

By Feb. 2013, WhatsApp's user base had swelled to about 200 million active users and its staff to 50. Sequoia invested another $50 million, valuing WhatsApp at $1.5 billion.

On Feb. 19, 2014, Facebook acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion.

Wipro: Applying Thoughts

                                          Wipro

Wipro Limited (formerly Western India Products Limited) is an Indian multinational information technology (IT), consultingand outsourcingservice company headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka, India.As of September 2013, the company has 147,000 employees serving over 900 clients with a presence in 61 countries. Wipro is the third largest IT services companyin India. On 31 March 2013, its market capitalisation was 1.07 trillion ($19.8 billion), making it India's 13th largest publicly traded company. Azim Premjiis a major shareholder in Wipro with over 50% of shareholding.
To focus on core IT Business, it demerged its non-IT businesses into a separate company named Wipro Enterprises Limited with effect from 31 March 2013. The demerged company offers consumer care, lighting, healthcare and infrastructure engineering and contributed to approx. 10% of the revenues of Wipro Limited in previous financial year.

Early formative years

The company was incorporated on 29 December 1945, in Mumbai by Mohamed Hasham Premji as 'Western India Products Limited', later abbreviated to 'Wipro'. It was initially set up as a manufacturer of vegetable ghee, vanaspati, and refined oils in Amalner, district Jalgaon, Maharashtra, under the trade names of Kisan, Sunflower and Camel. The company logo still contains a sunflower to reflect products of the original business.

In 1966, after Mohamed Premji’s death, his son Azim Premjireturned home from Stanford University and took over Wipro as its chairman at the age of 21.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the company shifted its focus to new business opportunities in the IT and computing industry, which was at a nascent stage in India at the time. On 7 June 1977, the name of the company changed from Western India Vegetable Products Limited, to Wipro Products Limited.

The year 1980 marked the arrival of Wipro in the IT domain. In 1982, the name was changed from Wipro Products Limited to Wipro Limited. Meanwhile Wipro continued to expand in the consumer products domain with the launch of "Ralak" a tulsi-based family soap and "Wipro Jasmine", a toilet soap.

Wipro Enterprises Ltd.

• Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting

Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting (WCCLG), a business unit of Wipro Limited operates in the FMCG segment offering a wide range of consumable commodities. Established in 1945, the first product to be introduced by WCCLG was vegetable oil, later popularised under the brand name "Sunflower Vanaspati". It offers personal care products, such as Wipro Baby Soft and Wipro Safewash, toilet soaps like Santoor and Chandrika as well as international brands like Yardley. Its portfolio of lighting solutions includes products like Smartlite CFL, LED, emergency lights and more.
Through its customer-centric products and acquisitions, Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting has become a fast growing company in the FMCG segment.

• Wipro Infrastructure Engineering

Wipro Infrastructure Engineering is the hydraulics business division of Wipro Limited and has been in the business of manufacturing hydraulic cylinders, truck cylinders, and their components and solutions since 1976. This division delivers hydraulic cylinders to international OEMs and represents the Kawasaki, Sun Hydraulics and Teijin Seiki range of hydraulic products in India. It has entered into partnerships with companies like Kawasaki and aerospace giant EADS. The commitment to quality has made Wipro Infrastructure Engineering the second largest independent manufacturer of cylinders in the world. The company has recently ventured into water treatment systems and solutions to cater to the needs of various industries.

• Wipro GE Medical Systems Limited

Wipro GE Medical Systems Limited is Wipro’s joint venture with GE Healthcare South Asia. It is engaged in the research and development of advanced solutions to cater to patient and customer needs in healthcare. This partnership, which began in 1990, today includes offerings like gadgets and equipment for diagnostics, healthcare IT solutions and services to help healthcare professionals combat cancer, heart disease, and other ailments. There is complete adherence to Six Sigmaquality standards in all products.

Sustainability at Wipro

Wipro’s approach to sustainability is structured on enabling itself, as an organisation, and its customers to be more ecologically sustainable. It is driven by issues considered important to employees, India current and future generations, customers, investors, suppliers, and the community as a whole. Wipro has been ranked 1st in the 2010 Asian Sustainability Rating (ASR^TM) of Indian companies^[80] and is a member of the NASDAQGlobal Sustainability Index as well as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.
In November 2012 Guide to Greener Electronics, Greenpeace ranked Wipro first with a score of 7.1/10.

Listing and shareholding

Listing: Wipro's equity shares are listed on Bombay Stock Exchange where it is a constituent of the BSE SENSEX index and the National Stock Exchange of Indiawhere it is a constituent of the S&P CNX Nifty. The American Depositary Shares of the company are listed at the NYSE since October 2000.
Shareholding: On 30 September 2013, 73.51% of the equity shares of the company were owned by the promoters: Azim Premji, his family members, partnership firms in which he is a partner and Trusts formed by him/his family. The remaining 26.49% shares are owned by others.