Microsoft makes SnapChat competitor; Samsung preps for Galaxy Mega 2 launch

Quick news from around the Web.

> Microsoft has built a SnapChat competitor called Windup.  Post

> Intel and 50 Cent's company SMS Audio are teaming to launch a pair of heart-rate monitoring headphones.  Article

> Facebook's Vice President of Product Management Samuel Lessin is leaving the company. Article

> Samsung is getting ready to launch the Galaxy Mega 2, a smartphone with a 5.9-inch display.  Article

> Apple has started storing its users' data in China on state-controlled China Telecom's Internet-based storage. Article

> The U.S. International Trade Commission has decided that Nokia and ZTE did not infringe on InterDigital's patents. Article

> The BlackBerry Z30 won a 2014 Best in Biz Awards 2014 for consumer product of the year.  Release

> Huawei leaked some screenshots of its new EmotionUI, the interface that is going to be used on the company's new smartphones.  Article

European Wireless News

> EE faces a customer backlash after introducing a service that lets subscribers pay to skip to the front of the queue when calling customer service centres.  Article

> Telekom Austria shareholders approved plans to raise the operator's share capital by €1 billion ($1.34 billion), with 98.1 per cent of the votes cast in favour of the move. Article

> The total number of subscribers for LTE and LTE Advanced grow to nearly 411 million and 22 million respectively by year-end 2014, according to latest estimates by ABI Research.  Article

Telecom News

> Frontier Communications is seeing a growing demand to provide Wi-Fi services to local businesses.  Article

> SaskTel is continuing to make progress with its rural Saskatchewan broadband expansion effort, announcing that it will bring two of its basic DSL tiers to Paddockwood, Domremy and Loreburn.  Article

Cable News

> Broadcast and media player Grupo Televisa acquired cable TV operator Cablecom. Article

> Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has taken a stake in Charter Communications and cut its holdings in DirecTV. Article

And finally… Microsoft considered renaming Internet Explorer because of its checkered past. Article