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New Twitter CEO discloses plan to build ‘Twitter 2.0’

Newly appointed Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino emphasized her enthusiasm for making a contribution to the social networking platform’s transition in a tweet made on Saturday. She also discussed how the owner Elon Musk’s vision for a brighter future has encouraged her.

It was Yaccarino’s first public statement following Thursday’s revelation that she was being considered as the successor to Jack Dorsey’s position as CEO of Twitter. since purchasing the company, Musk, who has been the platform’s CEO for $44 billion in October, made the announcement of her hiring on Friday.

Twitter
Image Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

“I’ve long been inspired by [Musk’s] vision to create a brighter future. I’m excited to help bring this vision to Twitter and transform this business together!” Yaccarino tweeted.

Source: indianexpress.com

Linda Yaccarino, who devoted a long time modernizing NBCUniversal’s marketing business while serving as the company’s advertising executive for Comcast Corporation., stated she has a dedication to the future of Twitter and that feedback from users is essential to creating Twitter 2.0.

Also Read: Twitter to soon allow calls and encrypted messaging

Linda Yaccarino serves on the WEF’s Media, The Entertainment Industry, and Cultural Industry Supervisors steering group and is the Taskforce on Future of Work Chairman.

Prior to joining NBCU, Linda was Turner’s Executive Vice President and COO (Chief Operating Officer) in the Advertising Sales, Marketing, and Acquisitions divisions. Turner was formerly known as Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. She completed her graduation from the University of Pennsylvania.  

In her other roles, the profile says she “rallied support from the business community, the White House, and government agencies to create a vaccination campaign, featuring Pope Francis, reaching more than 200 million Americans.”

Source: indianexpress.com

Yaccarino is going to take control of a social networking site that has been struggling to recover from a decline in advertising revenue and is heavily indebted.

Because the company fired off nearly 80% of its staff after Musk acquired Twitter, marketers stopped using the service out of concern that their adverts would be shown next to harmful content. Musk acknowledged the sharp decline in Twitter’s advertising earnings earlier this year.

Despite Musk’s claim that Yaccarino would be helpful in the development of the “everything app,” which he had previously stated could offer a variety of services like collaborative money transfers, his selection of an expert in marketing indicated that online advertising would still be the primary objective of the business.

Musk has previously revealed his desire to appoint a new Twitter CEO.

The appointment of Linda Yaccarino as Twitter’s newest CEO, according to Musk, who also serves as the CEO of electricity-powered vehicle manufacturer Tesla Inc., will allow him to spend more time working on Tesla.

inactive accounts

Google to delete inactive accounts starting December

In an effort to minimize safety threats such as cyberattacks, Alphabet Inc.’s child company Google announced on Tuesday that it will deactivate accounts that had been inactive for two years beginning in December.

According to the business, accounts, and materials within Google Workspace, such as Gmail, Drive, Docs, and Meet, along with Calendar, YouTube as well as Google Photos, may be deleted if they have not been utilized or registered for a minimum of two years.

Inactive Accounts
Image Source: arabnews.com

The policy modification solely affects individual Google Accounts; it does not affect accounts used by corporations or institutions like schools.

Also Read: Google Launching Tools to Identify Misleading and AI Images

Google stated in 2020 that while it would erase the account itself, it was going to delete any content kept in a deactivated account.

Before deleting inactive accounts initiated on Tuesday, Google will be sending repeated reminders to the account’s email address including recovery mail.

“The simplest way to keep a Google Account active is to sign in at least once every 2 years,” the company’s policy says. “If you have signed into your Google Account or any of our services recently, your account is considered active and will not be deleted.”

Source: nbcsandiego.com

Your account won’t be deleted if you’ve opened up your email, viewed a YouTube video, or installed an app from the Google Play Store, according to the firm.

Just individual Google Accounts are subjected to these rules and regulations, accounts used by companies and organizations like schools are not affected. This change restricts the duration of time Google keeps your inactive personal information and matches the policy with standard practices for account termination and preservation.

A Google Account can be kept active by just logging in no less than once every two years. If you have lately signed into your Google account and have utilized any of its various additional features, your Google account is considered active and won’t be deleted.

Also Read: WhatsApp Lock Feature to Protect ‘Extra Special’ Chats?

The steps that you can take when you log in or when logged into your Google Account may be considered activity include,

Read or send emails, use Google Drive, stream YouTube videos, install apps from the Google Play Store, use Google Search, and If you use a service or services from a third party and sign in using Google.

Your account will remain unaffected if you already have a membership set up via your Google Account, such as to Google One, a media outlet, or an app. They also take into consideration this account activity.

Google

Google Launching Tools to Identify Misleading and AI Images

In order to stop the spread of false information, especially now that photorealistic fakes are so easy to make thanks to artificial intelligence capabilities, Google is introducing a pair of updates to its image search.

The first new feature from Alphabet Inc. is named “About this image,” and it provides more information by indicating when an image or ones that are similar to it were originally indexed by Google, where they initially appeared, and other places they have appeared online.

Google
Image Source: finance.yahoo.com

The purpose is to assist users in identifying the original source while contextualizing an image with any discrediting information that may have been supplied by news organizations.

Also Read: Apple to open the first online shop in Vietnam

Every AI-generated image produced by Google’s tools will be marked as such, and the company is collaborating with other platforms and services to ensure that the markup is included in the files they distribute.

Among the publisher’s Google has on board are Midjourney and Shutterstock, and the objective is to make sure that every AI material that appears in search results is tagged as such.

Google noted in a blog post, “You’ll be able to find this tool by clicking on the three dots on an image in Google Images results, searching with an image or screenshot in Google Lens, or by swiping up in the Google App when you’re on a page and come across an image you want to learn more about.

Later this year, you’ll also be able to use it by right-clicking or long-pressing on an image in Chrome on desktop and mobile. ”

Google is expanding its image search with new features. The ‘About this image’ drop-down will offer more context, such as the date an image or one similar to it was originally indexed by Google, the location of that indexation, and the source of the image. Every AI-generated image that is made by the tech giant’s technologies will be marked.

Google announced that any image created using its own generative AI tools would have metadata indicating if it was created using AI. Using the same technology, both creators and publishers would be enabled to label their photographs.

Also Read: EU antitrust regulators seeking more info on Apple Pay

In the age of AI, the provenance of online photos is a rising problem, and several businesses are developing solutions for verification and authentication. For instance, Truepic Inc., which is supported by Microsoft, provides solutions that guarantee an image hasn’t been altered from capture to transmission.

Although Google’s new features, which are being released throughout this year, are relatively low-tech, they could have a greater positive impact if they receive enough industry backing.

Vietnam

Apple to open the first online shop in Vietnam

In response to slow-moving iPhone sales in China, Apple announced on Friday that it would launch its first online shop in Vietnam the following week.

Only a few weeks have passed since the first Apple stores in India, in Mumbai and Delhi, were launched by the Cupertino, California-based business.

Vietnam
Image Source: siliconangle.com

Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, is placing his bet on developing regions, where there are fewer iPhones and a younger age group, which will present more growth potential.

Also Read: UK restricts Microsoft, Activision from buying interest in each other

Apple did not specify when it will be opening actual retail outlets in Vietnam, which comprises a “100 million-person” population.

“We’re proud to be expanding in Vietnam,” said Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of retail.

Source: finance.yahoo.com

Retail stores frequently open before they go online. Licensed retailers currently sell Apple gadgets in Vietnam, and the company has several suppliers who assemble its devices there for exportation.

During India’s holiday shopping season in 2020, Apple opened its first online shop there.

“We’re proud to be expanding in India and want to do all we can to support our customers and their communities,” said Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail + People. “We know our users are relying on technology to stay connected, engage in learning, and tap into their creativity, and by bringing the Apple Store online to India, we are offering our customers the very best of Apple at this important time.”

Source: apple.com

Discounts according to a federal plan to increase domestic mobile manufacturing in India were granted in October for 16 companies, including prominent Apple suppliers.

After staging a protest over unpaid salaries in December of that same year, contract employees at Apple partner Wistron’s Bengaluru facility trashed the building. Apple placed the plant on probation before allowing it to resume manufacturing two months later.

In December 2021, after over 250 female employees who live in one of the business dorms received medical treatment for food poisoning, riots broke out at the Foxconn facility in Tamil Nadu.

The facility was shut down for more than three weeks when Apple discovered that the facilities did not satisfy the necessary standards.

The same year, the competition regulators in India request a probe into Apple’s in-app pricing scheme because it initially believed the iPhone manufacturer had broken several antitrust regulations.

Pegatron, a supplier of Apple, opened its first iPhone assembly facility in the Tamil Nadu province in September 2022.

Foxlink, an Apple vendor that makes iPhone chargers, temporarily ceased operations at its manufacturing factory in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh for several weeks in February 2023 after a significant fire caused a portion of the structure to collapse.

Microsoft

UK restricts Microsoft, Activision from buying interest in each other

An interim order prohibiting Microsoft and Activision acquisition has been issued by the UK’s antitrust watchdog. This comes weeks after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the regulatory body, decided to prohibit the $68.7 billion merger of the two companies.

Microsoft and “Call of Duty” creator Activision were required to obtain the CMA’s “prior written consent” prior to completing any acquisitions related to their respective businesses, according to an order released by the CMA on Thursday.

Microsoft
Image Source: cultureslate.com

It is the latest action taken by the UK’s watchdog to increase supervision of the two businesses amid concerns that the competition will suffer as a result of the landmark agreement reached in January 2022.

Also Read: Twitter to soon allow calls and encrypted messaging

The primary worries of the regulator center on Microsoft’s potential for undue influence over a growing cloud gaming business in what would eventually become the largest takeover deal in gaming history.

The CMA barred Microsoft from buying Activision due to worries that the transaction will change the direction of the rapidly expanding cloud gaming business, resulting in less innovation and fewer options for UK gamers in the future, the regulator stated last month.

The CMA initially launched its investigation into the transaction in September 2022, with its initial notice regarding its worries coming in February.

Microsoft President Brad Smith disagreed with the CMA’s ruling from last month, saying the tech giant will appeal. He claimed that the CMA’s judgment revealed “a flawed understanding” of the market for cloud technology and that it demonstrated its choice to disapprove of a “pragmatic path” toward resolving any competition concerns.

Microsoft’s representative issued the following statement: “We remain firmly committed to this deal and look forward to presenting our case to the Competition Appeal Tribunal.”

On January 19th, 2022, Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. However, the UK government’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) expressed concerns that the acquisition could significantly reduce competition in the UK gaming market and ultimately lead to higher prices for consumers.

As a result, the CMA issued an interim order on April 5th, 2022, which temporarily prohibited Microsoft and Activision from integrating their businesses in the UK.

The proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft is one of the largest in the history of the video game industry. Activision Blizzard is a leading publisher of video games, with popular titles such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush.

Also Read: EU antitrust regulators seeking more info on Apple Pay

Microsoft, on the other hand, is one of the world’s largest technology companies and has been expanding its gaming business in recent years through the Xbox brand.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is responsible for ensuring that mergers and acquisitions do not result in a reduction of competition in the market. The CMA has the power to investigate mergers and acquisitions and can prohibit them if it determines that they would harm competition.

Twitter

Twitter to soon allow calls and encrypted messaging

Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter Inc., provided information on upcoming improvements arriving on the social network on Tuesday, which includes calls and encrypted chat.

Musk hinted at “Twitter 2.0 The Everything App” plans a year ago, saying it would include functions like payments, long-form posts on Twitter, as well as encrypted direct messaging (DMs).

Twitter
Image Source: telegraphindia.com

“Coming soon will be voice and video chat from your handle to anyone on this platform, so you can talk to people anywhere in the world without giving them your phone number,” Musk said in a tweet on Tuesday.

Source: finance.yahoo.com

Also Read: Crypto exchange Bittrex files for bankruptcy after SEC complaint

Twitter’s calling feature will put it on a level with other platforms for social networking such as Facebook and Instagram, which have similar characteristics. 

Musk stated that commencing on Wednesday, a form of encrypted direct messaging will be accessible on Twitter, but he did not specify whether calls will also be encrypted.

a few days ago, Twitter stated that it will begin a purging process by deleting and archiving user accounts that had not been used for a while.

As reported by Hootsuite, Twitter had about 400 people working there in 2011 but today has over two times as many daily active users. The social media tool predicts that the number of monetizable daily active users, roughly 238 million people, will rise by 16.6 percent in 2022.

In an interview recently, Elon Musk disclosed that Twitter now only has 1500 employees, compared to the 8000+ individuals who worked there when he first bought the social media network. Even so, insiders at Twitter have claimed that the social networking site only has roughly 1000 staff members as a result of a recent wave of layoffs.

When existing contract workers are removed, two company-acquainted individuals claim that the workforce is much smaller compared to the 1,500 workers, CEO Musk had previously said BBC News remained on work. The multibillionaire didn’t specify whether or not these employees were part of his total.

Also Read: Qualcomm to acquire Israeli auto-chip maker Autotalks

Although Musk took the position of CEO previously this year, Twitter’s workforce has decreased by roughly ninety percent, as reported by Business Insider. The article added that the firm currently only has 500 engineers left.

the co-founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, has acknowledged that Elon Musk is failing to improve the microblogging service. He has accused the Twitter board of pressing the “44 billion dollars” sale of the company to the chief executive officer of Tesla.