Secure messaging service Telegram reaches 100 million users

Encrypted messaging platform Telegram revealed that 100 million users are using its mobile app every month.

Co-founder Pavel Durov confirmed the numbers during a keynote presentation at the 2016 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, having launched his instant messenger in 2013.

The 100m number is up on a December 2014 disclosure that pegged Telegram at 50m active users, with TechCrunch comparing the tally to Facebook Messenger's 800m and the 1bn users of Facebook-owned WhatsApp.

In-house figures were confirmed via Telegram's website, with 350,000 new users said to be signing up each day, and some 15 billion messages sent every 24 hours.

Durov and elder brother Nikolai created VK, the Russian social network with upwards of 300m users, before leaving to start work on Telegram in 2013.

It's one of a number of social applications that are built on secure messaging protocols.

Telegram scored full marks on the Electronic Frontier Foundation's November 2015 Secure Messaging Scorecard, though only with its Secure Chats mode activated.

Also passing the EFF test with flying colors were Signal, CryptoCat, and ChatSecure coupled with Orbot; Threema and Wickr also scored highly.

Virtual reality set to transform filmmaking

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Here’s a list of phones which are first-of-their-kind. From feature phones to smartphones, flat screen to curved, fragile to shatterproof, mobile phones have evolved over the years. Although many industry analysts would like to call the current level of innovation reaching a stagnation point, there still are some manufacturers which have been able to surprise consumers by truly packing something different in their smartphones. We have compiled a list of phones which offer first-of-its-kind features, and they are not merely concepts. 1. Motorola X force - Shatterproof display Display today is the most vulnerable yet the most neglected element in modern smartphones. But Motorola finally paid heed to the fragile screen with the launch of the the Motorola X Force – the world’s first smartphone with a shatterproof display. The phone uses the Moto ShatterShield display technology, which is said to be an integrated system consisting of five layers designed from material...

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