Queen of versatile style! Alicia Keys shows off new undercut and braided hairstyle as she steps out wearing leathers to shoot ad

Alicia Keys' hair has been long, short, buzzed, and braided.

But the mum-of-two has switched up her style once again to include her signature undercut along with flowing mermaid tresses.

The 34-year-old, who gave birth to her second son in December 2014, was shooting an advert in the Greenwich Village neighborhood New York City when she was seen picking up some children's books from an open market

She looked gorgeous in tight black jeans and leathers, going head to toe in black despite the springy conditions.

The brunette swung her loose tresses over one shoulder in a glamorous fashion and wore a braid beside her parting to add to the ethereal look.

Alicia, who has sons Genesis and Egypt, recently admitted that she's still not happy with her post-baby body, despite looking in sensational shape, five months on from the birth. 

Back to work: The singer was seen buying children's books from a street vendor as she shot a commercial

All-black ensemble: Alicia kept it simple in an all-black ensemble

On the set: The singer was filming a commercial in Washington Square Park

On her personal website, Alicia gave thanks for her body as she emphasised the importance of 'loving yourself' on a daily basis. 

She wrote in April: 'Thank you, uterus, for making me a woman and for supporting every part of the process. Thank you, breasts, for being a miracle and providing a source of nutrients for my son.

'And thank you STOMACH, yes! You, stomach, whose extra inches I grab between my fingers wondering when will it shed and be flat. 

'Thank you for expanding, protecting and bringing me my 2nd greatest joy… Another son!' 

All smiles: The brunette took the time for fans as she was spotted by admirers on the street

Good times: Alicia flashed her winning smile as a crowd gathered around her

Drums playing: A musician beat on drums during the commercial

Natural beauty: Alicia stood while an assistant worked on her hair

Alicia looks keen to get back to work now that she has expanded her family with partner Kasseem Dean, formally known as Swizz Beatz, who she married in 2010.

She was recently at the forefront of Jay Z's Tidal movement, when he launched his artist-owned streaming service with artists including Madonna, Beyonce and Rihanna.

Alicia was also recently announced to make a guest appearance on the second season of Empire, along with Chris Rock and Lenny Kravitz. 

Madonna, Nicki and Beyonce launch streaming service TIDAL

Busy bee: Alicia has been back to work for some time and recently helped launch Tidal with (from left) Rihanna, Madonna and Beyonce

MORENA BACCARIN ÁLLANDÓ SZEREPLŐKÉNT TÉR VISSZA A GOTHAM MÁSODIK ÉVADÁBAN

Morena Baccarin visszatér a Gotham második évadjára is, és ezúttal állandó szereplője lesz a sorozatnak.

A Dr. Leslie Thompkins szerepét játszó Baccarin, először januárban csatlakozott a Fox sorozatához. A TVLine szerint, a színésznő szerződése állandó szerepet ígér neki az ősszel érkező évadban.

Baccarin számára nem újdonság a képregényes közeg. A Homelandben, a Fireflyban, és a V, mint veszélyesben is feltűnő színésznő a Deadpool mozifilm Copycat nevű mutánsát fogja alakítani, a The Flesh-ben pedig Gideon hangját adja.

A Gotham második évada pedig, mint kiderült, a Minority Report sorozatbeli folytatásával egy napon kerül majd műsorra valamikor az év második felében.

Britney Spears, Iggy Azalea, Mariah Carey, And Rihanna: A Bad Week For Pop Stars

The pop music world is crumbling. Pop stars, such as Rihanna, who were once untouchable, are having a very hard time with current singles, albums, and even tours. This week’s biggest losers are Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea.

After their performance at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards, Britney Spears and Iggy’s “Pretty Girls” got a temporary boost on iTunes. It was expected to get a boost on Billboard’sHot 100 this past week. Unfortunately, the song dropped from No. 30 to No. 38, and it appears to have lost steam. “Pretty Girls” will likely take an even bigger dive next week and will likely delay Britney Spears’ next album.

Luckily, Britney Spears’ Vegas residency is still going strong, but the same can’t be said about Iggy Azalea and her tour. Rolling Stone recently broke the bad news.

“Iggy Azalea’s Great Escape Tour, originally scheduled to kick off this spring before it was postponed to the fall, has now been cancelled entirely. The trek was set to begin on September 18th in San Diego.”

Rolling Stone then goes on to quote Iggy apologizing to her fans and letting them know that she’ll be back out on the road when the next album is done. Many suspect that the real reason Iggy is canceling her tour is because she came down with a case of poor ticket sales.

Like Britney Spears, Mariah Carey is in the middle of a Las Vegas Residency that has received mixed, but mostly favorable reviews. When Mariah released her new album #1 To Infinity, most didn’t expect blockbuster sales since many of the songs have previously appeared on greatest hits albums in the past. However, nobody expected the album to debut as low as No. 29 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Don’t cry for Mariah; she is finally happy again and will do just fine.

Rihanna is having the same problems as Britney and Iggy in that her songs still chart, but they are far from being huge hits. This week, “B***h Better Have My Money” only moves up one spot to No. 24 and “American Oxygen” is completely absent from the charts. Perhaps this is why, after three single releases, the release of R8 still remains a mystery. Meanwhile, Rihanna should be happy about the fact her Christian Dior ads are getting favorable reviews.

Who’s next to fall in the world of pop icons? Some think Madonna is having a bad year, but she is still set to make at least $200 million with her upcoming Rebel Heart Tour. Let’s hope Britney Spears, Rihanna, and all the other fallen pop icons can make a comeback really soon.

B2C messaging on WhatsApp: A mobile marketer’s dream

Last week, David Wehner, Facebook’s chief financial officer, revealed the social network is exploringbusiness-to-consumer (B2C) interaction in WhatsApp, the mobile messaging service Facebook purchased for $22 billion in late 2014. His remarks re-ignited interest in the company’s plans for monetizing this popular app, which has shut out brands entirely up to this point and solely generates revenue from a small annual fee.

For Facebook, this move could open a substantial revenue stream as businesses line up to pay for permission to communicate with WhatsApp’s massive, global audience. For marketers, the potential opportunity to build and maintain mobile relationships with customers around the world is undeniably alluring. For consumers, they could stay as informed with the brands they love as they do with their friends and family.

Let’s dive more into the possible impact of what would be a landscape-altering decision.

Why is this shift possible for a service that was said to remain advertising-free?

The future of WhatsApp is being shaped by Facebook’s Businesses on Messenger initiative, which currently functions as a customer service tool to allow brands to inform consumers about order confirmations, shipping updates, and the like. Messenger and WhatsApp are both messaging services at their core and mirror each other in many ways, so it makes sense that B2C strategies being explored on Facebook’s homegrown app would be considered for its acquired app as well.

Like Messenger, WhatsApp would likely introduce permission-based functionality that prevents brands from sending messages without obtaining approval from the consumer. (Businesses using Messenger need consumers to sign up on their website during the checkout process.) As an “over-the-top” messaging service, WhatsApp would be expanding its peer-to-peer messaging model with this opt-in option.

If Messenger’s B2C messaging is any indication, there will continue to be no push (i.e. interruption) advertising in WhatsApp, allowing the app to preserve its “no ads, no games, no gimmicks” mantra. This is why the talk of Facebook backtracking on its claims to keep WhatsApp ad-free is misguided and fails to take into account the nuances of permission-based messaging. I would imagine that WhatsApp users who want to keep their experience brand-free will be able to do so. But the services Facebook could introduce into WhatsApp would add such value that many would opt in to B2C messaging.

What might this entail for marketers?

Although Facebook has yet to reveal the specific mechanics of the solution, we can imagine the company will create a frictionless experience for consumers to quickly and seamlessly opt-in for communications with their favorite brands. Think something similar to the “sign in with Facebook” button that appears on many websites.

One of the most obvious and advantageous opportunities for marketers is WhatsApp’s international user base. WhatsApp is among the primary messaging solutions for many people outside of the U.S., where unlimited messaging programs from the carriers are widely out of reach. And while SMS is a key marketing tool in the U.S., taking SMS internationally in a consistent manner is a complex undertaking. If Facebook opens up WhatsApp to marketers, companies can for the first time start to fully interact with consumers globally and seamlessly. If you are a global brand, or one moving in that direction, this would be an incredible opportunity.

Now, even with global access and less regulation than traditional SMS marketing, marketers should still think carefully about how they take advantage of this technology. The same longtime rules of SMS marketing are still in play. This would be a permission-based solution and should be treated as such. Marketers should be cautious about the timing, content, consistency, and relevancy of their messages.

What type of scenarios can consumers expect?

Wehner said that some of the business functions being tested in Messenger could be replicated in WhatsApp. These could include the customer support functions currently offered on the platform (e.g. requesting a different item, sending a notification when an item is back in stock), as well as collecting customer feedback about the shopping and product experience. Facebook has also introduced P2P payments in Messenger; using WhatsApp to send and receive payments could be very appealing, especially to friends and family living abroad. That functionality could extend to e-commerce and allow consumers to pay for items directly in the app.

Where WhatsApp differs from Messenger is that it is directly tied to your phone number. As such, Facebook may choose to borrow from SMS marketers’ playbooks to differentiate WhatsApp’s B2C messaging from Messenger. Brands could take advantage of proven SMS messaging tactics and create a sweepstakes or prize giveaway; send coupons, offers, and event dates; create text votes, polls, and surveys; and enable sign-ups for loyalty programs. Consumers who have opted in to receive text messages from brands would be accustomed to seeing these interactions, and Facebook could capitalize on that familiarity.

In his remarks last week, Wehner noted that bringing B2C messaging to WhatsApp is “more longer-term than the near-term.” Last month, WhatsApp announced it had 800 million monthly active users, so marketers are hoping that Facebook flips the B2C switch sooner rather than later.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that the company’s products — WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and so on — need to scale to 1 billion users before they can become meaningful businesses. While that might be true for Facebook, access to WhatsApp would become a meaningful business for mobile marketers immediately.

John Haro is CTO of Vibes, a mobile marketing company. John regularly covers tech trends shaping mobile messaging, mobile wallets, mobile payments, and mobile devices. You can follow him on Twitter at @JohnHaro.

Admin of WhatsApp group stabbed after removing 2 members

An owner of a garment shop has been left grievously injured after he was attacked with a knife, beaten up and punched by two men in Ulhasnagar. The duo was asked to carry out the assault by two of their friends who were removed from a WhatsApp group, the adminof which is the victim. Two of the accused have alleged that the group admin owed money to them. One of the perpetrators has been arrested – the son of an ex-corporator, who will be produced in court.

Bunty Kurseja (30), the owner of Mayaji Boutique, a garment shop in Ulhasnagar, had created a group titled 'Jai Ho' on instant messaging application WhatsApp. The group was created so that members could exchange info and updates of the garment industry in minimum time.

However, two of the group's members, Anil Mukhi and Naresh Rohra, would keep sharing pornographic content. This irked the others, who sent personal messages to Bunty, the administrator, asking him to remove the duo.

Bunty warned Anil and Naresh to refrain from sending such content, but the two men didn't pay heed. A few days later, Bunty removed the duo from the group.

The now ex-members asked two of their friends, Naresh Chavan aka Bablya, a history-sheeter, and 21-year-old Babu Suresh Gaikwad, the son of ex-corporator, to attack Bunty.

Pretending to be customers, Bablya and Babu entered Bunty's shop on May 27 and ended up arguing with him over the bill, after which they brandished a knife and attacked him.

Manoj Chouhan, investigating officer of Hill Line police said that when Bunty's statement was recorded, he mentioned that he had borrowed a sum of money from Anil and Naresh. "The loan of a few lakhs was borrowed a year ago due to some family problem. The duo would keep pressing Bunty to cough up the amount, but he was unable to do so," the officer added.

The duo's removal from the group was the final straw, which is when they asked Bablya and Babu to carry out the attack, said officer Chouhan, adding: "One of the accused, the son of a former corporator, has been caught and will be produced in court soon. We have got footage of the shop's CCTV, where it is clearly seen that the victim was attacked with a knife by the accused."

Satya Kumar, a resident of Ulhasnagar, said: "After the incident, owners of garment shops got angry and held a meeting to discuss the same. They kept whole lane in Ulhasnagar no 5 area shut, as a mark of protesting the attack."

The case was registered the very next day under IPC Sections 307 (Attempt to murder) and 507 (Criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication). Investigations are ongoing to locate the other three accused.

VIBER DOWNLOAD FOR CHROME OS – FREE TEXT, VOICE AND VIDEO CALLS

Viber is currently being used by more than 100 million people. This application allows users to send messages and initiate calls, free of charge of course. You can use this app on Windows Phone, Blackberry devices, Android ones and of course iOS handsets. In order to set the app in motion, you must have a Wi-Fi connection or a 3G one. Viber has been developing constantly offering users the best services and features. This is why we should start looking at Viber as a pretty strong adversary for other IM app.

The company owning Viber, Rakuten has currently unveiled Viber for Chrome OS. This new launch also includes the text, voice and video chat features. If you want to download Viber, head on to Chrome Web Store.

Initiating video or voice calls is free, especially if you call another Viber user. If you wish to initiate a call to any landline number, you will be required to pay extra. Start by adding your personal account, so you can have access to all of these features. Make sure that the Google operating system functions on Chromebook or Chromebox. Remember that in order to enjoy the HD voice calling features, you should have a 3G or a Wi-fi connection. You can also send all kinds of photos to your friends along with some funny stickers if you want to share your current mood. However, Viber has a top competitor to face, we are referring to Google Hangouts and Imo. And there is a catch: Viber does not function with the Chrome browser on other types of platforms, for now it has some limitations. It was designed for Chrome OS exclusively. Viber is a 28 MB application and it can be used in 54 languages. Users from all corners of the world can keep in touch with their family and friends.

GOOGLE PLAY STORE 5.6.6 APK FREE DOWNLOAD – IMPROVED FEATURES AND BUG FIXES

The Google Play Store is an application that comes installed on most of the Android devices, but every once in a while, it receives updates which help it run better. The app is the shortcut to Google’s Marketplace, from where the users can download and install other applications or games, directly to their devices. The new version of the Google Play Store is 5.6.6 and it comes only with realigned buttons. The last significant change was made in version 5.5.8, where Google introduced a circular animation in the TV shows section for Lollipop 5.1.

To manually install Google Play 5.6.6 you can use two options: by downloading it directly to your phone or using your computer.

The phone method

When installing APK files from other sources than the Google Play, you need to enable the Unknown Sources, which is found in Settings>Security, and the box in front of it must be checked. You can get the new APK file from websites such APK Mirror or XDA Developers forum, and after installing it, you must uncheck the box in front of the Unknown Sources, because you might get some nasty viruses from the internet, when downloading applications from dangerous websites. When the APK file is downloaded, tap on it, read the new permissions and then tap on Install.

The computer method

We recommend you to firstly download APK files to your computer, because this way you can save a lot of mobile data (when the installation files are too big). Also, if you don’t have a wireless network in your house, you can use your computer which is connected to the internet using an Ethernet cable. After downloading the file to your computer, use an USB cable to copy the APK to your smartphone, then follow the exact steps we mentioned above: enable the Unknown sources option, launch the APK, accept permissions, tap on Install, then disable Unknown Sources.

Troubleshooting

If you have problems with the Google Play Store app, it means that the Google Services Framework isn’t functioning properly – this service is an intermediary between the Android store and the applications from your device, allowing them to be automatically updated. When you experience inconveniences with this service, go to Settings>Apps and scroll down until you find the Google Play Store. After tapping on it, you will also tap on Clear Cache and this might fix your problem. The same method should work also for the Google Play Services.