CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement of the new desktop version for Facebook in October last year at F8 2019. Earlier this year, Facebook rolled out the new version for a small percentage of users. As of last month, the "majority of people on Facebook" had the option to enable the new interface.

The TechCrunch report further revealed that with the new interface, Facebook has simplified its navigation with a top bar that provides easy access to the website's home, watch, marketplace, groups, and gaming pages.

Users can also notice Facebook's signature blue tone no longer displayed on the top navigation bar. Facebook tweaked the design element so that it could more easily build a dark mode into the website. Users can enable the feature through a toggle located in the drop-down settings menu.

The company said that the home page will load faster and the search results will be more effective and efficient. Another change it has incorporated is that the website's responsive design now better scales to different window sizes. It's particularly noticeable if you use Windows 10's snap functionality or if you have a window manager on macOS.

Users may have to wait for a week or two for the changes to get reflected on their desktop. While the company works on completing the rollout, users can switch back to the classic interface through the drop-down settings menu, TechCrunch report added. (Source: The Hindu Businessline)

The information was shared by MeitY officials with Minister of State for Electronics and IT Sanjay Dhotre during a review meeting held earlier in the day. “The Minister was informed that 75 million people have already downloaded Aarogya Setu app on their mobile phones. He called this app one of the most important tools in fighting Covid-19 and one of the lifelines for common people during this global pandemic. He asked the officials to make all-out efforts to popularise the app,” MeitY said in a statement.

Dhotre discussed opening of information technology (IT) and IT-enabled service (ITeS) companies gradually after the lockdown. “He expressed that in this time of crisis, the Government of India is working ceaselessly under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” the statement said. Dhotre has asked the services of common service centres for providing telemedicine services, especially in remote parts, during this moment of crisis, as it will bring a much-needed relief to people who are finding difficulty in accessing medical services during this lockdown. (Source: The Hindu Businessline)

Compared to January 2020, social media downloads on iOS and Google Play during the lockdown in India in the first week starting March 22 went up 20%, exceeding over 49 million new downloads, the mobile and data analytics company said.

In a televised address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a 21-day nation wide lockdown on March 24 which is to end on April 14.

Overall, excluding gaming apps, AajTak (Living Media), Zoom Cloud Meetings (Zoom Video Communications), Uvideo (OneSmile), Instagram (Facebook), Jio TV (Reliance Industries) and Amazon Prime Video (Amazon) were the most downloaded apps in India in the week starting March 22 compared to the previous week starting March 15.

AajTak and Zoom Cloud Meetings jumped 56 and 54 places respectively in terms rank.

The San Francisco-headquartered App Annie said news apps, video conferencing calls and entertainment apps gained significant momentum during the lockdown in India.

TikTok (ByteDance), WhatsApp (Facebook), Facebook, Helo (ByteDance), Instagram (Facebook) and VMate (Alibaba Group) were the most downloaded apps categorised under the social networking category on iOS or the social, communication category on Google Play in the week starting March 22.

Industry insiders had told ET earlier that usage and engagement rates of TikTok and Instagram's live videos have gone up significantly during the lockdown with more content and views being generated by users.

TikTok said its #GharbaithoIndia campaign, launched in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme asking users to suggest ways to beat the lockdown blues generated 4.6 billion views. Instagram told ET its live views increased more than 60% in week one of the lockdown.

App Annie said it has not seen any significant movements in ranks for dating apps like Tinder and Bumble in India in terms of new downloads. (Source: Economic Times)

Online brands such as Mamaearth, Superbottoms and Azah, which focus on specific segments such as baby care products and women’s hygiene products, are also part of the group that has collaborated to launch TECI.

Kunal Bahl, CEO and co-founder of Snapdeal, said the e-commerce sector in India is an increasingly important part of the economy, unlocking tremendous value for buyers and sellers. “It is catalysing growth opportunities for allied businesses, and MSMEs and has the potential to create large scale employment across the country,” he added.

TECI’s vision is to help and guide the growth of the e-commerce ecosystem in India. It also seeks to engage closely with private and public stakeholders with the aim to help develop a robust digital commerce sector.

TECI members account for more than 7.5 lakh online sellers and service providers. Every month, more than 100 million users interact with the online businesses operated by members of TECI.

More than 30 global and domestic institutional investors have invested more than $2.25 billion in the enterprises founded by TECI members. “The e-commerce sector adds to the nation's growth and help small businesses reach nationwide,” said Siddharth Munot, co-founder of Bewakoof.com. (Source:The Hindu Businessline)

As per a WABetaInfo report, WhatsApp is working on the Swipe to Reply feature in the Android app. The messaging app has recently submitted a new update through the Google Play Beta Programme, bringing the beta version up to 2.18.282. The report claims that the feature is currently not available due to "development reasons" and that it needs to receive several improvements before being officially available for all WhatsApp for Android users. However, the report adds that the new WhatsApp feature may be available in one of the next few updates.

When the Swipe to Reply feature is available on WhatsApp for Android, you will be able to swipe a message that you want to reply to, towards the right side. Following this, WhatsApp will automatically load the message in the reply context.

Coming to the Dark Mode, WhatsApp is finally said to be working on adding the much-awaited feature. According to a tweet posted by WABetaInfo, WhatsApp has finally started working on a Dark Mode for both iOS and Android. However, the report does not mention the exact timeline for the Dark Mode to roll-out to WhatsApp.

The upcoming dark mode feature will help reduce strain on user's eyes while using WhatsApp at night or in low-light conditions. It will also help conserve battery on phones that have OLED displays.(Source: NDTV)

“We have permission from NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) and our bank partners to use Facebook as a service provider,” the spokesperson said. “WhatsApp is using Facebook payment infrastructure to enable the payments feature. Facebook does not use WhatsApp payment information for commercial purposes, it simply helps pass the necessary payment information to the PSPs.”

WhatsApp is working with ICICI Bank to offer mobile payments through Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system developed by NPCI to facilitate interbank transactions in India. It is also in the process of partnering with Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and State Bank of India for payments.

With Facebook being embroiled in user privacy and data safety scandal, WhatsApp, a part of the Facebook family, having access to payments in India had become a cause of concern. Even the ministry of electronics and IT, which manages all the digital initiatives of the government, is said to have written a letter to NPCI regarding this matter.

Allaying such fears, WhatsApp said the data that flows through its systems during a transaction include the likes of user name, payment address, receiver and senders’ account status, balance sufficiency and others. Few of this data is retained for future reference and all transaction information is stored in an encrypted format, it said. With respect to the user’s debit card details, UPI pin, card expiration date, these are taken by WhatsApp at the time of on boarding for customers who do not have any prior UPI registration, but these are not retained, it said.

Bankers in the know of the matter said WhatsApp as a third-party service provider gets only limited access to the financial data of the user. It will be able to track customer payment behaviour and might be using it for their own marketing offerings.

WhatsApp, which is thought to have more than 250 million active users in India, is currently operating a test function of its payment offering with ICICI Bank. They have been permitted by NPCI to run the beta testing of their payments product till they reach 1 million customers.

WhatsApp spokesperson did not confirm the date when its payments offering will be available for all its customers in the country. It would not also provide the exact timeline within which other partner banks will go live on WhatsApp Payments.

With respect to storage of payments data within India that has been mandated by the Reserve Bank of India, WhatsApp said its partner ICICI Bank will be in a better position to address such concerns since they are the regulated entity. ET had previously reported that WhatsApp’s payments offering is getting delayed due to privacy concerns raised by various stakeholders post the Cambridge Analytica incident with Facebook. (Source: Economic Times)

"Pivotchain is doing incredible work in alternate data scoring, predictive modelling and risk management. This investment will give us an edge over competition. We will continue to invest in companies that can add value to our business," Bipin said.
Deepak Rao, Founder & CEO, Pivotchain Soultions said: "We are glad to be part of MobiKwik family. We look forward to working with MobiKwik and deliver the right lending solution across the user base". (Source: The Hindu BusinessLine)

“We made a few acquisitions last year that skyrocketed the team size, mostly in Bengaluru. We’re integrating and streamlining these teams. Just business as usual,” a company spokesperson wrote in response to an email from ET. The layoffs are expected to be across functions, including human resources, accounting and finance, among others.

Employees, according to the source cited above, are being provided with a severance package, starting with two months salary and upwards. Hike had announced its acquisition of Creo, the maker of Teewe, a HDMI media streaming device in August last year, for an undisclosed sum, but which was widely reported to be an acqui-hire. At the time of the announcement, Creo was reported to have 50 employees.

Prior to that, in February 2017, it acquired social networking app Pulse, which was owned and operated by InstaLively, also for an undisclosed sum.

The latest developments come about five months after the Delhi-based company, founded by Bharti Airtel scion Kavin Mittal, unveiled a brand new mobile operating system, Total, that offer services, such as, messaging and recharging without using data, targeting the lower end of smartphone users to take on leader WhatsApp in a better way. (Source: Economic Times)