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Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram to be Integrated

Charlotte Henry ·

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zucerkberg plans to integrate Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and, Instagram. A detailed report in the New York Times said that the move could happen at the end of 2019 or 2020. Mr. Zuckerberg reportedly wants all the services to use end-to-end encryption. It would mean that a user with a Messenger account, could send an encrypted message to a user with just a WhatsApp account, for instance.

By stitching the apps’ infrastructure together, Mr. Zuckerberg wants to increase the utility of the social network, keeping its billions of users highly engaged inside its ecosystem. If people turn more regularly to Facebook-owned properties for texting, they may forgo rival messaging services, such as those from Apple and Google, said the people, who declined to be identified because the moves are confidential. If users interact more frequently with Facebook’s apps, the company may also be able to build up its advertising business or add new services to make money, they said.

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#10YearChallenge: How iOS Apps Have Changed

Andrew Orr ·

Here’s a 10 year challenge I can get behind. Valia Havryliuk demonstrates how iOS apps have changed.

Just last year App Store celebrated its 10th birthday. In 2008 it launched with 552 apps and some of them are still live inside your iPhones. Time has passed and design trends have changed dramatically. #10yearchallenge is a good opportunity to see how fast the evolution is and notice changes in the oldest iOS apps.

iOS 7 was definitely the biggest visual overhaul to iOS. iOS 11 introduced UI changes but it was more along the lines of refinement.

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Your Online Profile Consists of Three Layers

Andrew Orr ·

Katarzyna Szymielewicz offers a good approach to how you think about your online profile: What you share, what your behavior tells them, and what the machine thinks of you.

Many decisions that affect your life are now dictated by the interpretation of your data profile rather than personal interactions. And it’s not just about advertising banners influencing the brand of the soap you buy—the same mechanics of profiling users and targeting messages apply to political campaigns and visa applications as much as supermarket metrics. When advertising looks like news and news look like entertainment, all types of content are profiled on the basis of your data.

This is a great article, and the most important layer to think about is the data you put online.

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Apple Outspent by Rivals in Record Year of Tech Lobbying

Charlotte Henry ·

Tech firms spent a record amount lobbying the U.S. Government in 2018. Re/Code reported that Apple spent $6.6 million, slightly down from $7.2 million the year before. Although significant, Apple’s outlay was lower than that of the other major tech firms. For example, Google spent $21 million, while Amazon spent $14.2 million, and Facebook spent $12.6 million. Microsoft too outspent Apple, spending $9.5 million. In total, the firms invested $48 million in lobbying in 2018, up 13% from the year before.

Lobbying growth among the tech giants — especially companies that leverage user data for advertising revenue — comes as they are falling under increased government scrutiny. Facebook in particular faces a record Federal Trade Commission fine over apparent violations of data privacy practices in the Cambridge Analytica scandal that was revealed last year.

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Growing Questions around Huawei's Links to Chinese State

Charlotte Henry ·

Despite insisting on its independence, the questions around Huawei’s connections to the Chinese government have grown in recent months. CFO Meng Wanzhou remains under effective house arrest in Canada and the U.S. is preparing to ask for her extradition. Western firms stopped using Huawei technology for key infrastructure, particularly around the roll-out of the 5G network. Wired looked at what is really going on.

It has been suggested the Chinese state could put pressure on Huawei to install backdoors into its products which would allow China to spy on network traffic, potentially on a global scale. Political leaders have also questioned Huawei founder Ren, who was an engineer in China’s army and joined the ruling Communist Party in 1978. Similar concerns have previously been raised around Russian security firm Kaspersky, and its connections to intelligence services in the country.