New WhatsApp setting to hide ‘online now’ and quietly leave group conversations – August 9, 2022
WhatsApp gets a number of adjustments that gives users more control over what they want to show of themselves. The first is the online status that is now visible to everyone under a username if it is indeed online. This also happens when people choose not to show when they were last online. With the update, if desired, this last trace of transparency will also disappear.
Another adjustment has to do with group conversations. Now if someone chooses to leave that annoying and attention-demanding birthday gift group, all participants will see it explicitly. Soon this may be happening quietly. The latest adjustment is a feature known from Snapchat. It concerns the long-standing possibility to have images automatically removed once they have been viewed. It was still possible to take screenshots, which is also not possible with the update. The first two changes will be available this month. (Laurens Verhagen)
Instagram rolls back controversial changes after criticism – July 29, 2022
After a week of growing criticism, Instagram has decided to roll back a number of controversial changes. Instagram boss Adam Mosseri said in an interview with the American on Thursday platformer that the changes, which made the social medium more like TikTok, have been discontinued for the time being. According to Mosseri, Instagram should ‘take a big step back’.
The Meta Platforms social media outlet announced earlier this month that the main timeline is changing, allowing users to see more videos and photos that they can algorithmically like. Those images may come from accounts that may or may not be followed by the user.
However, many users did not like the changes and an online appeal “not to turn Instagram into TikTok” quickly went viral. Very popular users like Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, each with over 300 million followers, joined the criticism. “We just want to see cute pictures of our friends,” the message read.
Mosseri responded to that criticism earlier this week by stating that it was just “a test” that would be slowly rolled out. In the interview with platformer however, he comes back to that and states that most of the changes will be undone.
‘I am satisfied with the risk we have taken’, says Mosseri, who emphasizes that ‘it is important to fail every now and then’. However, the platform boss recognizes that “users were frustrated by the changes,” something Mosseri says is also evident from the user data. The social medium has learned a lot from that, he says. “Now we have to figure out how to proceed and come back with a new idea.”
This week it became clear that the revenue of Meta Platforms, the parent company of Instagram, fell in the second quarter. That was the first time for the American social media company, which is struggling with competition from TikTok. (ANP)
Apple needs streaming services for record revenue
Tech company Apple has booked more turnover in the third quarter of its broken fiscal year. This was not due to more product sales, but to the services branch with, for example, streaming platforms Apple Music and Apple TV+, but also payment service Apple Pay. Apple also kept less profit.
In total, Apple had revenue of $83 billion (€81.4 billion) in April, May and June, a record for the quarter. Product sales fell by about $600 million, mainly due to lower sales of Mac computers and things like headphones, smart speakers and Apple Watch smartwatches.
Apple had already warned that delivery problems would take a bite of $4 to $8 billion from its results for the quarter. Analysts believe that the decline has mainly hit the Mac and the iPad. Factories where Apple allows those devices to be assembled in regions in China where prolonged lockdowns caused problems due to corona.
Services
Revenues from the services branch did grow, by more than $2.1 billion to $19.6 billion. This makes it the second source of income for Apple after the iPhone, which also generated more money. Apple now has 860 million customers who have at least one subscription, compared to 825 million last quarter.
Apple, meanwhile, spent significantly more on research and development, as well as on things like wages and advertising. As a result, profit in the quarter fell to $ 19.4 billion, compared to a profit of $ 21.7 billion a year ago.
According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, sales will also increase in the current quarter. The supply problems in China have become much less severe, allowing the tech group to better meet customer demand again. Apple does speak of ‘difficult economic conditions’.
For example, the Chinese economy is growing much less rapidly, partly due to the lockdowns, while Apple achieves almost 18 percent of its turnover in Greater China. In China, the tech group recently announced discounts, something Apple rarely does. (ANP)
Apple to protect users from advanced cyber-attacks – July 7, 2022
This fall (with the launch of iOS 16, iPadOS 16 and macOS 13) owners of iPhones, iPads and Macs will have the opportunity to (better) protect themselves against the most advanced cyber attacks, Apple has announced. announced. These are emphatically not home-and-kitchen hacks, but country-sponsored spyware attacks developed by private companies.
The best-known example, also mentioned by Apple, is the Israeli NSO Group with its Pegasus spyware. Recently Revealed de Volkskrant It is also worth noting that the AIVD used this controversial hacking software to hack Ridouan T.’s phone in 2019. Other countries also use the services of the NSO Group, against which Apple is still pending.
In so-called lockdown mode, which users can optionally turn on if they fear being a target, Apple limits some functionalities that could pose a risk. For example, the software blocks incoming calls in Facetime from unknown numbers and all attachments except photos are shielded in the messaging app. Apple emphasizes that it concerns a very small group of users who need this ‘extreme’ security. (Laurens Verhagen)
Meta top woman Sandberg takes a step back after fourteen years – June 2, 2022
Sheryl Sandberg (52), director of operations at Facebook parent company Meta Platforms, has announced that she is taking a step back.
Sandberg was the number two at the company for 14 years; she was hired when Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was just 23 years old. She guided Meta through a number of controversies and scandals in recent years, including elections in which fake news was given a lot of space on Facebook and a fuss about the way the platform, which also includes Instagram and Whatsapp, handles user data. Sandberg has always defended Meta’s protocols and procedures and mainly aimed for profit, which regularly came under criticism.
Commenting on her departure, Zuckerberg points out that it was Sandberg who taught him how to run a business. Sandberg says she wants to free up more time for work for her philanthropic foundation. She holds a seat on Meta’s board.
Her successor will be Javier Olivan. Despite the fact that Sandberg’s successor is no stranger and already works for Meta, investors were shocked on Wednesday by the impending changing of the guard. Meta Platforms lost almost 3 percent in market value on Wall Street after the announcement. (Editorial)
Google is pumping up Maps with ‘immersive view’ – May 12, 2022
Google View will soon be getting a major makeover, as Google announced at its annual developer conference I/O. Some major cities (starting with Los Angeles, London, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo) will receive a so-called map app in the popular map app. immersive view. Google showed the center of London as an example, showing the city from a bird’s eye view. More cities will follow later.
Other announcements from Google included new Pixel phones, earphones, watches and tablets. Furthermore, the tech company showed a concept of a augmented reality glasses see where the wearer sees translations and transcripts of conversations on the glasses in real time. (Laurens Verhagen)
Speaker manufacturer Sonos comes with its own voice assistant – May 12, 2022
Several Sonos speakers have been working with existing voice assistants from Google or Amazon for some time, but the American manufacturer is now launching its own variant: Voice Control. It processes commands on the device; no audio recordings or transcripts are sent to the cloud. Initially works Voice Control not yet together with Spotify, but with Sonos Radio, Apple Music, Deezer and Pandora. More services and markets will follow in due course, Sonos promises. The service will be available in the US from June 1. It is not yet known when the Netherlands will follow.
Furthermore, Sonos announces a new compact soundbar: the Ray. At 299 euros, this is a lot cheaper than the existing (and larger) Arc and Beam. The Ray has different specifications, and is also not suitable for speech recognition. (Laurens Verhagen)
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