No one else can read your WhatsApp chat as WhatsApp gets end-to-end encryption.

Completely everything on WhatsApp is now encrypted end-to-end irrespective of the operating system you are using. The implication of this now is that even the engineers handling WhatsApp can’t even read your messages neither can they generally have a view of videos sent by its users. And they can’t even provide any data from your chat even if a courts orders them to.

No one else can read your WhatsApp chat as WhatsApp gets end-to-end encryption.

“WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption ensures only you and the person you’re communicating with can read what is sent, and nobody in between, not even WhatsApp,” going by the explanatory details published WhatsApp’s website.

The user base of WhatsApp now runs into over a billion users therefore enthroning it firmly as the world’s most famous chat app. This end-to-end encryption move was not entirely a bolt from the blue, WhatsApp has been gradually pushing it on board as some hundreds of millions were already having a little taste of this encryption on Android since November 2014; only that the encryption wasn’t covering every message like photos, group chats and videos. Moreover there was no encryption for other systems like Windows Phone or Apple’s iOS.

“Now every message, photo, video, file, and voice message you sends , is end-to-end encrypted by default if you and the people you message use the latest version of our app. Even your group chats and voice calls are encrypted,” WhatsApp co-founder JanKoum explained via means of a Facebook post on Tuesday.

Some signs informing the users that encryption has taken centre stage. There is now the appearance at the top of every new chat a text bubble which confirms that calls as much as calls are currently covered with end-to-end encryption. As a user, you can now also make verifications manually as to the encryption of a chat by making comparison of a 60-unit string of codes which is generated for each and every chat. Another way to know is via making a scan of very distinct QR code.

How To Set Password For Whatsapp On Blackberry Z10

If you would like to set password for whatsapp messages on Blackberry z10, you will have to download a mobile application that will allow you to lock apps on your blackberry z10 smartphone. An example of such apps is the “App Lock Pro” which you can download from the Blackberry app world.

It is not free though but the price is not up to what you can spend on drinks on a Friday evening..lol. Besides locking your whatsapp on a Blackberry 10 phone, it can also lock contacts, SMS, email, gallery, calls or any app on your BB10 phone.

With this app, you don’t have to worry about your private chats on your whatsapp to be exposed to other people. You can chat with peace of mind!

You can also search the Blackberry app store for other “app lock” applications.

Alternatively, you can download Vault apk and install on your BB z10. It is an android app that locks applications and I believe if you install the apk on your BBz10, you will be able to set password for whatsapp on the z10.

We have no plans to regulate WhatsApp, other OTT services – NCC

ITPulse reports that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) did admit that network operators are complaining that OTT services offered by Whatsapp, Facebook, Skype, Viber, among others are eating into their traditional revenue, “the regulatory agency has no plans now or in the immediate future to regulate such services”.

According to ITPulse, a public report by the Policy, Competition and Economic Analysis Department of the NCC has recommended “that the Commission should encourage network providers in Nigeria to innovate and explore more efficient business models that would enable them compete favourably with OTT service providers”.

NCC to start checking the likes of WhatsApp, BBM, Facebook etc. How possible is this?

The debate has been raging on and on for a while now. Social media and IM apps have so eaten the cheese of mobile networks, so much that,they feel they need to be regulated. Can this be ever achieved? More and more people are switching to these platforms daily, as it gets easier and cheaper to use. We wonder, if it can ever be possible to put a check on these guys. That’s exactly what NCC is trying to do.

Going by reports from Guardian, The Regulatory body is seriously considering setting up a licensing regime through a regulatory framework for operations of Over-The-Top (OTT) player's in the Nigerian telecommunications market. You may wonder, “Who are OTT players”?

OTT players are platforms that deliver audio, video, and other media over the Internet without the involvement of a multiple-system operator in the control or distribution of the content. These include Facebook, Skype, WhatsApp, Viber, Blackberry Messenger (BBM), etc. and are prime targets for the impending regulation.

NCC feel they are a threat, and there’s the possibility or “the risk of eroding revenues and profitability,” for telecom operators. The later feel they are entitled to some kind of fees since they are the ones offering data services, which customers use to access the OTT platforms.

Maybe this can spur mobile network to start exploring more innovative and cost effective ways of competing with these OTT service providers.

Trying out new 256-user limit for WhatsApp Group Chat

A post over at XDA Developers claims that the WhatsApp Group Chat user limit has been bumped up from 100 to 256. The post says that this increased limit is visible on WhatsApp version v2.12.367. I have WhatsApp version 2.12.367 on my device but when I tried to add more than 100 users to a group chat, I got a message saying that I had reached the group capacity.

I am not sure what the issue is, but you can give this a tryat your end. Ensure that you have version v2.12.367 installed and then try to add more than 100 contacts to a Group. Do share your results using the comments box below.

SMS has been extortion on subscribers; WhatsApp will not be regulated

Apparently, the fear of WhatsApp is a big thing among mobile operators here and there. CCTV reports that some south African mobile operators are calling on the government to regulate Over-The-Top (OTT)content services such as WhatsApp and Skype in the country. Elsewhere,operators have threatened to block WhatsApp and similar services recently. Operators in Nigeria too have groaned about OTT services stealing revenue from their SMS, as well as voice, services.

While the networks complain that OTT services steal revenue from them, that isn’t completely true. OTT services use data, which the networks bill for. The ugly truth is that SMS has been overpriced all the while. SMS runs on excess capacity that a network has, and uses up an infinitesimally small amount of data, yet subscribers are charged heavy rates for it. What WhatsApp, BBM and Skype have done is level the playing ground, tariff wise. That tiny amount of data that a basic text WhatsApp message uses is more like what an SMS uses. The operators have been raking in tons of easy money through SMS.

Sending an SMS costs a mobile network next to nothing, yet subscribers are extorted for it. The operators can groan, complain and wish all they like, but we are certain that subscribers will win this battle. WhatsApp and similar services will not be regulated. At least, one can hope that no government will be that stupid as to let it happen.