Monday, January 25, 2021

SMS Packs for Vodafone Idea Subscribers to Check Out

We're listing SMS packs for Vodafone Idea customers that offer a value-for-money experience - irrespective of the price point. https://ift.tt/3qVTawb

TikTok, WeChat, 57 Other Apps 'Permanently' Banned in India: Reports

After banning TikTok and 58 other apps from Chinese companies in June 2020, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has now sent a notice to TikTok, WeChat, and the other companies,... https://ift.tt/3a0Hemk

Twitter unveils a new "standalone, flexible" open source text editor API for iOS developers, similar to what's used in tweet and Fleet composers on its iOS app (Filipe Espósito/9to5Mac)

Filipe Espósito / 9to5Mac:
Twitter unveils a new “standalone, flexible” open source text editor API for iOS developers, similar to what's used in tweet and Fleet composers on its iOS app  —  Twitter announced today a new “standalone, flexible” open source API for iOS developers that provides a text editor for apps …



Italy consumer association sues Apple for planned iPhone obsolescence

Italian consumer association Altroconsumo said it had told Apple it has launched a class action against the US tech giant for the practice of planned obsolescence. https://ift.tt/2YhyQcB

Facebook to provide data on targeted political ads to researchers

Facebook Inc said it would provide academic researchers information on how political ads were targeted in the lead-up to the presidential election in the United States last year. https://ift.tt/3qJSUR4

GameStop shares soar on short squeeze, then ease in wild trade session

Shares of US videogame retailer GameStop skyrocketed by 144% on Monday as short sellers scrambled to cover their positions in the stock, which then pared gains in a roller coaster session that featured nine trading halts for volatility. https://ift.tt/3chVbix

Apple's hardware engineering chief Dan Riccio to step down to focus on new project

Riccio will report to Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, Apple said in a statement. He will be replaced by company veteran John Ternus, who will join the executive team as senior vice president of hardware engineering. https://ift.tt/3iLDkS9

Google Maps is removing one of its biggest problem for users in India

For non-English users, using Google Maps could be frustrating. For starters, understanding that “एनआईटी from the acronym NIT is pronounced “en-aye-tee”, not as the English word “nit”. https://ift.tt/3ogb2Ah

17 most-important Indian origin tech executives in the world

https://ift.tt/3a32uHR

Sundance Film Festival is going virtual in 2021, and is building an extensive VR platform for all attendees which can be accessed with or without a VR headset (Devindra Hardawar/Engadget)

Devindra Hardawar / Engadget:
Sundance Film Festival is going virtual in 2021, and is building an extensive VR platform for all attendees which can be accessed with or without a VR headset  —  Like most major events over the last year, the esteemed Sundance Film Festival is going virtual.  But it's going beyond just letting you watch films at home.



Qualtrics says, in an amended filing, that it plans to price its IPO at $27-$29/share, raising $1.5B and valuing the company at $14.6B at the top of the range (Crystal Tse/Bloomberg)

Crystal Tse / Bloomberg:
Qualtrics says, in an amended filing, that it plans to price its IPO at $27-$29/share, raising $1.5B and valuing the company at $14.6B at the top of the range  —  Qualtrics International Inc., the customer-survey software business being spun off by SAP SE, seeks to raise as much as $1.46 billion …



Twitter launches new website to fight ‘fake news’

Called Birdwatch, the new website will allow people to identify information in Tweets they believe is misleading and write notes that provide informative context https://ift.tt/3og3sFP

Google says it will not make any donations via its PAC this cycle to members of Congress who voted against certifying results of presidential election (Ashley Gold/Axios)

Ashley Gold / Axios:
Google says it will not make any donations via its PAC this cycle to members of Congress who voted against certifying results of presidential election  —  Google will not make contributions from its political action committee this cycle to any member of Congress who voted against certifying …



Sources: Signal's rapid growth following WhatsApp privacy changes has raised concerns from Signal staff who worry the service's new features will be misused (Casey Newton/The Verge)

Casey Newton / The Verge:
Sources: Signal's rapid growth following WhatsApp privacy changes has raised concerns from Signal staff who worry the service's new features will be misused  —  SHARE All sharing options  —  On January 6th, WhatsApp users around the world began seeing a pop-up message notifying …



Instagram adds a new "professional dashboard" for creator and business accounts, a dedicated space for analytics, business tools, monetization features, more (Karissa Bell/Engadget)

Karissa Bell / Engadget:
Instagram adds a new “professional dashboard” for creator and business accounts, a dedicated space for analytics, business tools, monetization features, more  —  Instagram is working on a new feature for business owners and influencers.  The app is adding a new “professional dashboard” …



Ubisoft reports Q2 net bookings down 36% YoY to €352.3M, vs. €368M est., and expects Q3 net bookings of €380M, down from €626M in Q3 2023, as its big games flop (Daniel Zuidijk/Bloomberg)

Daniel Zuidijk / Bloomberg : Ubisoft reports Q2 net bookings down 36% YoY to €352.3M, vs. €368M est., and expects Q3 net bookings of €380...