Page 14 - Metaverse

WhatsApp bans record of over 4.7 mn bad accounts in India in March

The IT Ministry last month notified to establish three GACs as required under the recently amended IT Rules, 2021

WhatsApp to do away with Google Drive dependence for backups, see details

Most WhatsApp users find it complex to transfer their data from their old phone to a new device since it involves backing up chat data to a Google Drive

Zuckerberg's net worth rises over $10 bn after results, 2 layoff rounds

Zuckerberg now has a net worth of $87.3 billion and is the 12th richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index

Facebook parent Meta posts solid Q1 results, revenue up 3%; stock soars

Facebook parent company Meta's first-quarter results surpassed Wall Street's modest expectations on both profit and revenue, sending its stock soaring in after-hours trading. Meta also reported that the monthly user base of its flagship platform Facebook inched close to 3 billion. Meta Platforms Inc. said Wednesday it earned $5.71 billion, or $2.20 per share, in the January-March period. That's down 19% from $7.47 billion, or $2.72 per share, a year earlier. Revenue climbed 3% to $28.65 billion from $27.91 billion. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $2.02 per share on revenue of $27.67 billion, according to a poll by FactSet. Meta said it has substantially completed layoffs it first announced in 2022. It announced a second round of layoffs in March. Shares of the Menlo Park, California-based company rose $18.97, or 9.1%, to $228.37 in after-hours trading.

70% businesses plan to integrate metaverse in co activities: PwC India

Almost 70 per cent of business executives in India plan to integrate the metaverse into their organisational activities, said a report by PwC India. Though the term metaverse spans a wide spectrum of definitions, it mainly denotes a digital environment with a virtual world that mimics reality through the use of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), low/no-code platforms, and blockchain. Additionally, 63 per cent of companies that are actively engaged with the metaverse say they will fully embed the metaverse in their organisational activities within a year, said the report titled 'Our Take - Embracing the Metaverse'. More than 60 per cent of the business leaders surveyed affirmed that they have a detailed or good understanding of the metaverse. The survey conducted early this year asked respondents nearly 150 in number across different regions of India for their title/role, age group, their gender, the sector their company represented, and their company ...

WhatsApp is now getting a feature Telegram has had for long. Details here

Telegram's 'Channels' feature has made it a useful tool for various individuals or organisations, and now Meta-owned WhatsApp is going to emulate it

Instagram adds feature to allow users to add up to 5 links to profile bios

With the new feature, users can now add links by editing their profile in the mobile app, where they can give them titles and reorder how they'll appear

Zee Music Company renews its licensing agreement with YouTube, Meta

Zee Music Company, a division of media firm Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), on Friday announced the renewal of its licensing agreement with YouTube and Meta, earlier known as Facebook. The deal with two of the world's largest digital content-streaming companies will allow them to access music content from Zee Music's catalogue of over 11,000 songs, said a statement. As part of the deal, users can continue to use Zee Music Company's entire catalogue to create multiple social experiences across YouTube as well as Meta platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, it added. "With an increasing number of audiences tuning in to Indian music from across the globe, the inclusion of the latest music libraries from India will allow users and YouTube Shorts creators to stay up to date with the latest music trends and styles," it noted. With its massive user base, YouTube is one of the largest digital content platforms, and the ongoing collaboration is set to elevate the music experien

Meta-owned Instagram introduces new features to its creator marketplace

Instagram launched its creator marketplace last year as a new destination for brands and creators to connect and form branded content partnerships

Meta pauses hirings after mass layoffs, no longer listing remote positions

After laying off 21,000 employees in two job cut rounds, Meta is further looking to cut costs, and has reportedly plans to lower bonus payouts for some workers in its 'Year of Efficiency'

WhatsApp rolling out new text editor for beta testers on Android beta

Beta users can change the text background colour, making it simpler for them to differentiate important text from the rest

In a bid to cut costs, Meta looking to trim employee bonus payouts

After laying off 21,000 employees in two job cut rounds, Meta (formerly Facebook) is further looking to cut costs, and has reportedly plans lower bonus payouts for some workers

Meta 'optimistic and excited' about India, says Sandhya Devanathan

Amid the grim global economic scenario, social media platform Facebook's parent firm Meta sees resilience in India although it will not be immune to international events and the company is optimistic about the prospects in the country, company country Head and Vice-President, Sandhya Devanathan said on Tuesday. The company will continue to develop India specific products and innovations to tap the huge opportunity provided by digitisation here, she said while speaking at the Times Network India Digital Fest here. "The news is grim, isn't it? Like anytime you see there's a bank failing, be it SVB or Credit Suisse, interest rates are rising that causes more turmoil in the market, capital markets (are) drying up, VC funding drying up... So, I think the macroeconomic situation suddenly certainly looks grim," she said. She was responding to a query on the impact of global economic downturn and the drying up of funds and investments in the start-up ecosystem and the Indian tech sector. "

Meta-owned WhatsApp releases update to fix expiration bug on Android beta

Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp has released a bug fix update to address an issue with the expiration of the application on Android beta

Meta-owned Whatspp's new features to give more power to group admins

These changes follow some updates made over the last few months, including making groups larger, and giving admins the ability to delete messages sent in the groups they manage

German group sues Facebook owner Meta over death threats on social network

A prominent German environmental group said Wednesday that it's suing Facebook's parent company Meta over persistent death threats posted on the social network against its staff. Environmental Action Germany, known by its German acronym DUH, says Meta has been unwilling to stop the threats of violence regularly directed at DUH director Juergen Resch and others in a Facebook group with more than 50,000 members. DUH has conducted high-profile campaigns demanding that German cities enforce air quality rules by banning certain heavily polluting vehicles. Meta didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. German lawmaker Renate Kuenast won a case against Facebook last year forcing the company to remove fake quotes attributed to her from its site and pay damages. Facebook is appealing the ruling.

HCLTech launches service to help companies use metaverse for customers

Platform will serve financial services, telecom, manufacturing healthcare and other sectors

WhatsApp developing a redesigned chat attachment menu for Android beta

Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp is reportedly working on a redesigned chat attachment menu for Android beta

Meta-owned WhatsApp widely rolling out voice status updates on iOS

Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp is widely rolling out the 'voice status updates' feature on iOS

WhatsApp says will leave UK market if forced to stop end-to-end protection

New measures in the law include tougher and quicker criminal sanctions for tech bosses and new criminal offences for falsifying and destroying data