Thursday, November 21

Tag: WhatsApp

Hike Launches Web Version of its Chat Application
1Aug By AdityaNo Comments
Tech

Hike Launches Web Version of its Chat Application

Indian home-grown tech start-up Hike launched the web version of its app Hike Sticker Chat, which will enable its users to chat over their personal computers as well. "Hike Sticker Chat has crossed 1 million weekly active users. We are now unbundling our app. Instead of focussing on just app, we are also going to multiple (platforms). This week, we have started rolling out Hike on the web. It can be used even if the user's phone is switch off," founder and Chief Executive Officer Kavin Bharti Mittal said. He said that while working on desktop or laptop, people do not want to keep looking at their phone. "With web application, we are making it convenient for them to engage with their friends.". The company has also started rolling out auto-backup of users' data. "People change t...
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WhatsApp to roll out payments service in India later this year
25Jul By PriyankaNo Comments
INDIA

WhatsApp to roll out payments service in India later this year

WhatsApp, which has over 400 million users of its messaging service in India, plans to roll out its much-awaited payments service in the country later this year, more than a year after it began testing the offering here. The Facebook-owned company has been testing its payments service in the country since last year with about a million users, but could not launch full-fledged services as it has been awaiting regulatory approvals. Speaking at an event here on Thursday, WhatsApp Global Head Will Cathcart said the company's vision is to make sending money as easy as sending messages on the platform. "We built payments based on the UPI standard, partnered with banks here in India... We believe that if we did this right, it will accelerate financial inclusion and bring more people in I...
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Facebook building privacy-focussed social media platform: Zuckerberg at f8 summit
1May By AdityaNo Comments
Entrepreneurs Talk

Facebook building privacy-focussed social media platform: Zuckerberg at f8 summit

Mark Zuckerberg at the Facebook annual f8 event announced that the company was committed to building a "privacy-focussed" social platform to ensure that conversations stay private and user data is secure across its products like Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram. He acknowledged that there are privacy concerns related to its platforms, but asserted that he remains committed to bringing in changes and "starting a new chapter". "As the world gets bigger and more connected, we need that sense of intimacy more than ever. So that is why I believe the future is private," Mark said. "This is the next chapter for our services... We don't exactly have the strongest reputation on privacy right now, to put it lightly. But I'm committed to doing this well and starting a new chapter for our p...
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Facebook shares drop as Executives quit, Christchurch live-stream shooting stirs outrage
16Mar By reutersNo Comments
ACQUISITION, News

Facebook shares drop as Executives quit, Christchurch live-stream shooting stirs outrage

Shares of Facebook Inc fell as much as 5 percent on Friday to their lowest in nearly three months after the surprise departure of Chief Product Officer Chris Cox, at a time when the company is again being scrutinized over its handling of privacy, extremism and political content. Cox, a Wall Street favorite who has worked with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for 13 years, led the social network’s business development team and helped define the business model of its messaging service WhatsApp. “We believe Cox played a critical role in establishing FB’s mission, values, and culture, and he was extremely well-regarded inside and outside the company, including by Wall Street,” JPMorgan analysts wrote in a research note. Also departing is WhatsApp Vice President Chris Dan...
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WhatsApp Business crosses 5 million users mark
24Jan By PriyankaNo Comments
News

WhatsApp Business crosses 5 million users mark

WhatsApp said over five million enterprises globally are using its 'Business' app to connect with their customers within a year of launch. "In January of last year, we launched the WhatsApp Business app, and now there are more than five million businesses using it to support customers, grow their businesses and serve their communities all over the world," WhatsApp said in a blogpost. It cited the example of Bengaluru-based eyewear brand Glassic which has seen 30 per cent of its new sales being generated through WhatsApp Business. India is home to over 200 million WhatsApp users. It has about 1.5 billion users globally. Using the business app, SMEs can help customers with useful information such as business description, e-mail, store addresses and website. легкий займ иркутскза...
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After India, WhatsApp Now Introduce forward 5 chats for users Globally to combat fake news
22Jan By AdityaNo Comments
News

After India, WhatsApp Now Introduce forward 5 chats for users Globally to combat fake news

WhatsApp will now globally limit message 'forwards' to five chats at a time, a practice it had introduced in India in July last year to crack down on spread of rumours and fake news through its platform. In an update to its blog Monday, the Facebook-owned company said the move will help keep "WhatsApp focused on private messaging with close contacts". "WhatsApp carefully evaluated this test and listened to user feedback over a six-month period. The forward limit significantly reduced forwarded messages around the world," it said. It added that "starting today, all users on the latest versions of WhatsApp can now forward to only five chats at once...". The messaging platform which has about 1.5 billion users globally and counts India, Brazil and Indonesia among its major markets...
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WhatsApp CEO Seeks RBI Nod to Expand Payment Services to all Users
3Dec By Gauri SinghNo Comments
News

WhatsApp CEO Seeks RBI Nod to Expand Payment Services to all Users

The popular messaging app Whatsapp which has drawn fire from the government over spread of fake messages on its platform, has written to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), seeking a formal nod to expand payments services to all its 200 million users in India. The company is waiting for a regulatory clearance to launch full-fledged payments operations in India - months after its 'testing' amassed nearly one million users. It has been almost two years since it first began discussions with the government on its payments services plans. "I write to request your formal approval to immediately expand WhatsApp's BHIM UPI (Unified Payments Interface) compliant payments product to all users in India, giving us the opportunity to offer a useful and secure service that can improve the lives of Indi...
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WhatsApp chief business officer Neeraj Arora Quits
27Nov By Gauri SinghNo Comments
News

WhatsApp chief business officer Neeraj Arora Quits

WhatsApp’s chief business officer, and its employee number four, Neeraj Arora said he’s leaving the messaging service as he joins a stream of top executives who have departed Facebook and its group companies in the past year. Arora was being touted to take over as WhatsApp CEO earlier this year however the role of global head of the company was given to Chris Daniels. “It is hard to believe that it has been seven years since Jan (Koum) and Brian (Acton) got me onboard at WhatsApp, and it has been one hell of a ride! It is time to move on, but I cannot be more proud of how WhatsApp continues to touch people in so many different ways every day,” Arora, an IIT- Delhi alumnus said in a Facebook post Monday. "I am confident that WhatsApp will continue to be the simple, secure and trusted ...
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Abhijit Bose Quits Ezetap to Head Whatsapp’s India Operations
22Nov By Gauri SinghNo Comments
News

Abhijit Bose Quits Ezetap to Head Whatsapp’s India Operations

The co-founder and CEO of merchants payments platform Ezetap, Abhijit Bose is quitting the company to head Facebook-owned WhatsApp's operations in India. India has been stated as Whatsapp’s largest market in terms of users. With this appointment, Bose will be the first-ever country head of the messaging app and he will join the company in early 2019. With his resignation on the other hand, Ezetap CFO Byas Nambisan will replace Bose at Ezetap as interim CEO. Following the appointment, the latter will be responsible for building WhatsApp's first full country team outside of California, based in Gurgaon. This team will focus on helping small and large businesses connect with their customers. “WhatsApp is deeply committed to India and we are excited to keep building products that help p...
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WhatsApp to Appoint India Head by the End of 2018
1Nov By Gauri SinghNo Comments
News

WhatsApp to Appoint India Head by the End of 2018

Amid all the pressure to stop sinister and fake messages, WhatsApp said Wednesday it will appoint head of India operations by the end of this year. This decision was taken when WhatsApp Vice President Chris Daniels met IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to discuss the issue of fake messages that have in the past triggered mob killings. "Our new Head of WhatsApp India, who will be named by the end of the year, will build a local team that can serve our customers in India as well as work with partners and government leaders to help keep people safe," WhatsApp spokesperson said. Whatsapp is highly committed to serve the Indian audience and work closely with civil society and government leaders to help address abuse on the platform. The government has stood firm in its stance on traceability...
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WhatsApp to Launch Picture-in-Picture Feature for Android
7Aug By Gauri SinghNo Comments
Tech

WhatsApp to Launch Picture-in-Picture Feature for Android

Facebook-owned Whatsapp is reportedly planning to launch a new feature for the Android users which will be known as picture-in-picture video feature. The new in-app feature on Android will let WhatsApp users play videos from Instagram and YouTube in a small window within the messaging app. This will not require the users to go to Instagram or YouTube apps to view a video sent by a contact. From the recent months, Whatsapp is bringing in and testing various features. It recently introduced the multiple contacts voice and video calling feature and now is planning to introduce the picture-in-picture video feature soon. According to the WABetaInfo report, WhatsApp is currently working on the picture-in-picture mode for videos in the Android app. Lately, the application has updated its...
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