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Disney Plus Head Kevin Mayer Quits Disney to Join TikTok!

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The entertainment industry has been set ablaze by news of a resignation. Kevin Mayer, who heads the Disney Corporation’s video streaming venture, has officially stepped down from his post. In a rather shocking move, Mayer will now join as the CEO of TikTok. Furthermore, he will also become the COO of the company that owns TikTok, ByteDance. Here’s a look at how the shift came to be, and what it means for the entertainment industry. 

Wheels in Motion

TikTok is an industry leader when it comes to short-form video content, but the move has shocked millions. Disney CEO, Bob Chapek released a statement yesterday, wherein he thanked Mayer for all his input and work. He also stated that Mayer had a massive impact on Disney and that he was a fantastic head to their direct-to-consumer market.

Mayer’s responsibilities at ByteDance will include overseeing the development, sales, public affairs, and moderation. The company released its own press release, wherein they stated that Mayer will lead divisions such as music, Helo, new businesses, and even gaming. Mayer will begin working at ByteDance from the 1st of June, and as CEO of TikTok, will be responsible for aiding in its stellar growth, moving forward. 

Years at Disney

Mayer will forever be known in the entertainment and media industry for being the brain behind Disney Plus. The corporation’s large streaming platform launched last November to widespread acclaim. Within such a short period, the platform has already gained over 50 million subscribers. Other than this, his other claim-to-fame include paving the way for significant acquisitions such as Pixar, Marvel, 21st Century Fox, and Lucasfilm.

Mayer, along with CEO Bob Iger, brought in a new era for Disney, through their lucrative partnerships and deals. While at Disney, Mayer was also involved with ESPN+ and the integration of Hulu, apart from his other high-profile acquisitions. Within the industry, there were already talks of Mayer taking over the mantle from Iger. However, when Iger finally made the decision in February, he chose Chapek over Mayer. Speculations have already risen, stating that this might have been the biggest reason for this sudden switch. 

Disney’s Way Ahead

Before taking over Disney, Chapek was in charge of the company’s various theme parks. Rebecca Campbell, who will now serve as the Chairman of Disney’s direct-to-customer services will replace the void left behind by Mayer. Campbell is an experienced veteran with over 23 years’ worth of experience within the industry. She served previously as the President of Disneyland Resort and oversaw their properties in California. Disney made further announcements stating that Josh D’Amaro would take over as chairman of Disney Parks. Both these new heads will also directly report to Chapek.

Role at TikTok

Mayer will face several challenges while trying to grow TikTok, in the years to come. The social media industry is one of the most competitive out there. Therefore, keeping TikTok popular alongside competitors like Facebook and Snapchat will not be easy.

In Mayer’s statement, he made it clear that he would love to take on the new challenge. He also stated that he was delighted to have gotten the opportunity to help lead their next phase of growth and development. Mayer will work on expanding the short-form video content generator across the world and improving its products and services. He also stated that he loved working for Disney and that he was very proud of the work he had done there. The opportunity presented to him by TikTok was huge, and Mayer states that he thought it was the right time to move to bigger opportunities.

giphy

Facebook to Acquire GIF-giant Giphy in A Major Tech Buy-Out

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There have not been major acquisitions in the tech space in recent times due to the impact of the COVID-19. However, that seems to be changing, with a significant announcement coming from Facebook yesterday. Facebook has decided to acquire the GIF-giant Giphy in a bid to control the GIF industry. Here’s a look at what the acquisition will mean for Facebook and its competitors.

Facebook Buys Giphy

Facebook’s acquisition of Giphy can change the way we send and receive GIFs forever. Studies have shown that over 700 million people use Giphy to send and receive short video content daily. Most of this happens over popular social media apps such as Twitter, TikTok, WhatsApp, and iMessage. All these applications make use of Giphy’s API to send others GIFs and other such content. An issue will arise because of these companies will not want to integrate with a Facebook platform. Since Facebook has had notorious privacy issues, they would prefer not to utilise Facebook-owned platforms for their content. Also, Facebook’s reliability has taken a big hit due to frequent bugs, crashes, and upgrade issues. 

Moving Forward

However, Facebook has made it clear that developers will be able to utilise Giphy even after the acquisition. Instagram VP for product, Vishal Shah remarked that users will still be able to use Giphy to send and receive content. Further, Giphy’s in-house team will also continue to create and upload new GIFs. Furthermore, the GIFs do not contain any cookies or tracking mechanisms, meaning people do not have to worry about privacy. Giphy has also confirmed that the app can view only search terms, and not any of the data stored on your phone. However, many experts worry that after the acquisition, Facebook can change how the company works. Therefore, a lot of applications that now use Giphy could drop the service after the big buy-out. 

Major Applications Which Use Giphy

Here’s a look at some of the world’s most popular apps that make use of Giphy. 

iMessage: The #images application, which is pre-built into the iOS, allows users to send GIFs via the iMessage. However, the integration with Facebook could lead to some tension between Apple and the social media giant. Apple has strong privacy norms, which they will not like to dilute, which can lead to them stopping their collaboration with the GIF company. 

MailChimp: MailChimp, which is one of the world’s most used email marketing, and mailing list software, allows users to add GIFs into emails. Reports state that the company will continue offering this service, even after the buy-out. This does not come as a surprise as the company already had some Facebook integration built into their software.

Signal: Signal sources a lot of their GIFs from Giphy, and also allows users to add GIFs to their messages. Since it is a privacy-focused messaging application that provides end-to-end encryption, we are unsure whether they will continue this service post-acquisition. Even if they do, due to their high-security measures, Facebook might not be able to access any data. 

Slack: Slack also allowed users to add GIFs into their messages and chats while using the messaging app. Their VP, Brian Elliot, released a statement that Giphy had information only about GIF searches, and hence, privacy would not become a pressing concern. 

Snapchat: Snapchat added a Giphy integration in 2018, and has not yet decided whether it will continue to allow the union to function. 

Telegram: Telegram, coupled with Giphy to allow users to add GIFs to their messages. The application also confirmed that Giphy receives no information regarding the users who utilise Telegram. Therefore, they were not concerned with privacy issues. However, they are in plans to transition away from their dependence on Giphy. 

TikTok and Tinder: TikTok allows you to send GIFs and stickers through Giphy. However, they have not released any comment regarding the future of this partnership after the acquisition. Tinder, too, has refused to comment on the issue. However, since both these apps allow users to log in using their Facebook account, in most likelihood, the union will continue. 

Twitter: Twitter makes use of both Tenor and Giphy to source their GIFs. Since Twitter and Facebook have a running feud, it is highly likely that the company will now depend entirely on Tenor for their GIFs. 

The deal is reportedly said to cost somewhere around $400 million, and once in place can have a lot of implications to the way we send and receive GIFs. We will have, however, have to wait and see how the deal plays through, and how these companies react to the acquisition. 

Feluda

CSIR-IGB Lab Develops COVID-19 Test kit Named FELUDA for Faster, More Affordable Testing

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The novel coronavirus is spreading across India quickly, with the last week has added a lot more patients and deaths to India’s toll. However, there might be some good news coming our way. Reports state that an accurate and affordable strip test capable of detecting Covid-19, within an hour, is expected to hit the market in four weeks. Let us take a good look at this new Test kit Named FELUDA, and how it could help us in the fight against the coronavirus.

Also Read: COVID-19 testing kit from an Indian company that needs only 53 seconds!

Feluda to the Rescue

Christened Feluda, the test gets its name from a famous fictional detective penned by the late Satyajit Rai. However, the name is also an acronym for the more technical term – FNCAS9 Editor-Linked Uniform Detection Assay. The test makes use of CRISPR gene-editing technology to identify the genetic material, which makes up the virus Sars-CoV2. It is this virus that causes Covid-19. Senior scientists Dr. Debojyoti Chakraborty and Dr. Souvik Maiti, are being credited for developing this new test. They are top scientists at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Institute, under their Genomics and Integrative Biology wing in New Delhi.

Science Behind It

The Feluda testing kit uses CRISPR-based technology, which combines CRISPR biology and the chemistry of paper strip testing. CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, which is a genome-editing technique. The Cas9 protein, which makes up the CRISPR system, is identified and marked, and then made to interact with the Sars-CoV2 sequence found in the patient’s genetic material.

A complex consisting of both Cas9 and Sars-CoV2 is then applied to a paper strip. The strip will have two lines, wherein one is the control line and the other a test line. These lines will help identify if the patient has COVID-19. The entire process of diagnosing COVID-19 will roughly take an hour, making it a speedy and agile process. The whole process, which involves everything from identifying the RNA to taking the readout, will be done within this one hour.

Difference Between Old and New Method

In India, presently, most labs are using the PCR method to diagnose COVID-19. Not only is this method more expensive, but it also takes more time to give a result. The paper strip test kit will make the process of diagnosis much more straightforward, faster, and affordable. The test does not require Level 2 or Level 3 biosafety labs, making it much more accessible. As per CSIR-IGB Director, Anurag Agarwal, the test can be done in any regular pathology lab.

Around the World

The US Food and Drug Administration gave the CRISPR-based testing an emergency-use approval on Friday. However, unlike Feluda, US’s CRISPR test can only be done in hi-tech laboratories. The American counter-part to this test was developed by the combined efforts of MIT, Harvard, Ragon Institute, and the Howard Hughes Institute. However, unlike the American test, which uses CAS12 and CAS13 protein, India’s test utilizes CAS9 protein. The test is extremely accurate and accessible as it does not require any high-tech lab, according to the former Director-General of the ICMR, Dr. Nirmal K Ganguly.

The team had been working on this test kit for over two years. Its functionality is not limited to the COVID-19, but rather to assess and detect DNA-RNA mutations. It was by the end of January that the team began focusing on using the test to detect the novel coronavirus. In India, this is the second CRISPR-based kit which has been developed. Feluda has been backed by Tata Sons, who had pledged support for the testing team and division.

The testing protocol is simple, and the results take much less time, making it easy to use this technology to test millions of people, as per Tata Sons. Each of these test kits will cost INR 500, which is a significant improvement from the INR 4500 cost, which the RT-PCR test bore. It will be interesting to see how this new test revolutionizes the way India, and maybe, even the whole world battles the novel coronavirus.

Sazae-san

The 45-years old Japanese cartoon will start rerunning its episodes due to the COVID-19 crisis

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The consequences of the pandemic have hit every industry in the worst possible way. While people are trying to entertain themselves staying at home, the demand for movie streaming websites, Netflix has skyrocketed overnight. But, the kids also need a constant source of refreshment. They indulge in various indoor games and not to mention watching cartoons. Cartoons, anime, and fictions are very popular among kids. Many old cartoons bring a feeling of nostalgia, especially when more than two to three generation grows up watching it. Sazae-san is a Japanese cartoon that started broadcasting from 1969. But, any further production won’t take place due to the lockdown.

Disruption due to the novel coronavirus

Sazae-san is a famous and one of the oldest cartoons running for 45 years. The sudden cease in the production will witness many gloomy faces. But, Fuji TV has decided to rerun two-years-old episodes from next week. This is the first time since February 1975 when it has stopped production. The last time it was due to the oil crisis which shook Japan’s economy. The lockdown has already resulted in the repeat telecast of many shows all over the world. But, with the increase in the intensity of the crisis, the rerun of cartoons will also take place.

A great loss

Before the pandemic disrupted the production, a fresh episode of Saeze-san was aired every Sunday night. Fuji TV is not going to air any new episode shortly. In the history of cartoon series, this anime TV show is the longest one still on the track. Since 1969, more than 2,500 episodes of Saeze-san were aired. With time, this anime series became a part of the Japanese culture. So, with a sudden pause in the production, it feels like the end of an era. The series also made into Guinness World Records as the longest-animated series after the famous U.S show, The Simpsons.

Who created Saeze-san?

Sazae-san, the longest-running cartoon adopts itself from the manga series by Machiko Hasegawa. Manga is the word used by the Japanese to refer to comics and cartooning. Machiko Hasegawa is one of the first female artists in the world of comics. She started creating her very own Sazae-san in 1946.

Born in Taku, Machiko and her family moved to Tokyo after her father passed away. She started drawing cartoons from the age of fifteen. Many of her cartoons and comic strips got published in newspapers and magazines. Holding the hands of Machiko, the four-panel layout of comics came into practice.

After she started designing the Saeze-san comic, it became a dramatic radio series in 1955. And, after that, it became an animated series broadcasted on television. The comic was also translated into English under the title The Wonderful World of Sazae-san. Machiko is the recipient of Order of the Precious Crown (fourth-order, 1990) and People’s Honor Award (1992).

The longest-running cartoon 

The story of Sazae-san is based on a Japanese housewife and her extended family. It narrates the ups and downs of the life of Sazae-san who lives in a suburban area. The background story runs deeper than just revolving around her life which includes the story of more than one generation.

From next week, the old episodes will also come on Sundays for thirty minutes. Since two-years-old episodes will be telecasted, losing the audience is obvious. But, the show might still attract 10% of the total audience the show entertained. Though the number of coronavirus cases is comparatively low in Japan, it seems like it has hit a recession this year.

Return of Terrace House

It is not only one Japanese show that is making a reappearance this month. The famous Japanese drama, Terrace House is also coming back though with a single panelist. Terrace House was off the air for nearly a month and it declared its reentry today. Terrace House, the famous addictive Japanese show was only broadcasted on the television in the beginning. Later, it became a big hit for Netflix as well. The entertainment industry is trying its best to keep people busy and cheer them through the flat screen. It is a hard time and we have to patient and strong we combat it.

Tesla

Musk Threatens to Move His Production Center Out of Fremont

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Since the coronavirus began its aggressive rampage across the US, most schools, colleges, and offices still remain shut. The US had no option but to shut down all nonessential shops and production centers in a bid to prevent the spread of the virus. Amidst all this chaos, a few industrialists have spoken out against the shutdown. For the most part, these people have been heavily criticized for not being able to understand the severity of the situations. One of the most prominent of these critics have been Elon Musk, who’s comments have startled everyone. Here’s a look at everything you need to know regarding the issue and how it impacts the economy.

Caution for Tesla

Alameda County health officials warned Tesla against restarting operations at its car factory in California yesterday. Right after this incident, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the company is moving to sue the county. He also stated that the company is planning to move its operations out of the state. As he had mentioned, a few hours later, Tesla filed a suit in the US District Court of the Northern District of California. The lawsuit seeks an injunction against the county’s lockdown order. The suit explains that it is because the lockdown contradicts the Governor’s Order by restricting the operation of businesses in the area. 

To add further fuel to the fire, Tesla tweeted about the same. On Twitter, Musk said that the “ignorant and unelected” Health Officer of Alameda is acting up. Musk believes that the Health Officer’s statements and steps are in direct contrast to the Governor, President, and Constitutional freedom.

Critic for Long

Musk has been a very vocal critic of the lockdown that the coronavirus has brought on in the US. Recently, on April 29th, during Tesla’s earnings call, he called these restrictions’ fascist’ and ‘undemocratic,’ stating that the Constitution allows Americans freedom. These statements highlight the pressure that Musk feels due to his factories in the Bay Area being shut down. He further called for his supporters to voice their own criticism and disagreement with the Alameda County administration. However, the Alameda County Public Health Department recently said that it was trying its best to reach an understanding with Tesla. The team stated that they were trying to come up with safe and standard manufacturing protocols that would help with the reopening of the factory. However, the county made it clear that the safety and well-being of thousands of employees are essential for them. Also, they stated that Tesla had been responsive to recommendations and that they should reach an agreement soon.

People are Important

However, these statements, which were made hours after Musk’s tweet, did not refer to him by name or talk about his comments on the topic. The tweet had said that Tesla has had enough and that this was the final straw for the company. The tweet also threatened to move all their future programs to Nevada immediately. All planned activities in Fremont would depend on how the authorities there treat Tesla from now on.

Tesla had made it clear that they were going to resume their production in limited means at the Fremont facility yesterday. Limited operations would require around 30% of its total workforce. But, the health officials stated that as the county still had shelter-in-place orders intact, they cannot give the car manufacturer approval to move ahead with their plans. California Governor, Gavin Newsom said that the state’s production must be in tune with the manufacturing guidelines set by each county.

Fremont Shutdown

The Fremont plant assembles Tesla’s Model 3, Model Y, Model S, and Model X vehicles. It shut down on March 23rd, with the company reducing pay for all US employees as of April 13th. Furthermore, the company has also put all their hourly workers on unpaid furlough. If Musk does carry out his plan of moving out of Fremont, it remains unclear what will happen to his 10,000 workers.  Musk had made a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2018 over his tweets. They had come to an agreement that the entrepreneur should run his tweets by a company lawyer before posting them. All announcements that lead to unscheduled events require the filing of an 8-K form, as per the agreement. However, Musk has not filed an 8-K before announcing or threatening to move his plant out of Fremont.

Google

Google puts the key of leadership on a single hand while unifying the teams of its communication apps

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Strategies, opinionated discussions, absorbing consumer feedback, and implementing changes are the basic steps of teamwork and product development. Also, not to mention leadership has always been the most precious element towards quality output. With that noted, Google dropped the news of bringing all its communication and messaging apps under one team. Yesterday, Google revealed the news and also added there won’t be any changes in the products for the time being.

The announcement

Google announced yesterday that Javier Soltero, VP, and GM of G Suite will be managing this new team. With already in charge of G Suite along with Google Meet and Google Chat, the additional products that came under his team are Messages, Duo, and the phone app on Android. But, the company also mentions that this won’t harm the position of Hiroshi Lockheimer, SVP of Platforms and Ecosystems, and they will work side by side.

Users might expect some changes in the sphere of product development. But, Google clearly said that the company is unifying the team for communication products under one leader, Javier Soltero. The team will work under the mutual leadership of Soltero and Lockheimer while Soltero will still be a part of the cloud team.

Javier Soltero’s devotion towards G Suite

Javier joined Google as the VP and GM of G Suite on last October. Before that, he worked with Microsoft company for five years. After a few months of his time at Google, he was still not getting the hang of the working system like Google. In Microsoft, Javier was in charge of Outlook.

One of the most impressive things about Google that made him want to join the company is the constant innovation of products that creates a dialogue between the user and the tool. He said the tools of Google propel the users forward to learn something new instead of holding them back.

Since he has joined the company, Javier has devoted all his time and focus on understanding the demand and needs of clients. His team is very much focused on browser-based experience and native mobile experiences. He is focusing more on the implementation of AI, especially for a smart chat. Javier said the products of Google still need much more integration and coherent development.

Google Meet and Google Chat

It has not been a year and Javier successfully put behind the chaos of Hangout. The pace of development Javier has picked up after coming to Google is way faster than Google updating features on communication apps. Javier wants to give more clarity to the products and especially for the consumers. This made him rebrand Hangout to Google Chat which was followed by Google Meet. Every other product of Google comes with the brand name, but these two were left out. So, it was a brilliant move by Javier.

Moreover, at the end of last month, Google announced that Google Meet will be free for everybody. The demand for videoconferencing escalated during this pandemic. So, making Google Meet free attracted a lot of users. Also, people are trying to avoid the Zoom communication platform currently due to the zoombombing case a month ago.

Innovation shouldn’t come too fast

Javier is inclined towards bringing innovations but he doesn’t want to smudge the clarity between products. He said every product has a different job and a different goal. So, unlike Facebook, Javier is not planning to integrate all the Google chat apps. The clarity should be maintained for the sake of clients and their purpose of using it. And, this harmony will be disrupted if rapid changes are made to these products.

The integration hypothesis

Improvement can never take place if there is only one-sided opinion. While Javier says that rapid development might create difficulties for the users, Hiroshi believes in the perfect amalgamation of Google apps and Chrome OS. According to Hiroshi, it is a good idea to integrate G Suite apps and Chrome OS as the latter might work better due to the conjugation. He wants to broaden the platform for Google’s app.

But, paying importance to Javier’s opinion, he might keep the decision on hold. Because nothing can be worse than confusing the customers by making a mess which they are already trying to come out of.