Instagram and TikTok Launch Donation Features
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| Instagram and TikTok Launch Donation Features | |
| Number | 1112 |
| Broadcast Date | APRIL 28, 2020 |
| Episode Length | 5:23 |
| Hosts | Sarah Lane |
WhatsApp increases video calls from four to eight people, DJI announces Mavic Air 2, Facebook will host #Graduation2020 event.
Headlines
- Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley urged the US Justice Department in a letter to open a criminal antitrust investigation into Amazon over whether its employees used sales data from independent sellers in order to develop its own competing, private label products. Last week, The Wall Street Journal published a report indicating that Amazon official Nate Sutton may have “lied” to Congress about its data practices in a previous hearing. In response to Senator Hawley's letter, an Amazon spokesperson told The Verge that the company bars employees “from using non-public, seller-specific data to determine which private label products to launch.”
- Instagram is launching “live fundraisers” to allow nonprofit donations during live video feeds, which the company announced last week. Broadcasters choose a nonprofit to support, and viewers can make donations using their credit card which unlocks an “I donated” sticker, similar to the “Stay Home” sticker the company introduced in March. Instagram users could previously fundraise for nonprofits through their Stories.
- TikTok also added a donation feature in the form of clickable stickers that can be added to TikTok videos and live streams that let people submit donations within the app. TikTok partnered with eight organizations - the CDC Foundation, the James Beard Foundation, Meals on Wheels, MusiCares, National PTA, National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, No Kid Hungry and The Actors Fund to support communities impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and will match donations made through May 27. Tiltify will process the transactions.
- Amazon announced a pilot program in the US, UK, China, and Japan to verify third-party sellers to help reduce fraudulent sellers and listings on its platform. The program initially used in-person interviews and now switched to video calls in light of COVID-19, and checks the sellers ID against their application to Amazon, with Amazon associates also using third-party data sources for additional verification. This pilot project is in addition to the use of machine learning algorithms and human investigators reviewing applications, which Amazon says prevented 2.5 million accounts from listing items in 2019. Amazon says more than 1000 seller applications have already gone through the verification pilot project.
- Starting in May, CVS and UPS will use Matternet M2 quadcopters to deliver prescription medications to The Villages retirement community in central Florida. The Villages has more than 135,000 residents. CVS and UPS began drone delivery of medicine in North Carolina last November.
- DJI announced the Mavic Air 2, with a bigger image sensor than the original Mavic Air, and DJI’s own OccuSync transmission technology replacing traditional Wi-Fi. It has up to 34 minutes of flight time and comes with a redesigned controller. Preorders start today for $799 and start shipping May 11th in the US. DJI's Fly More bundle now includes ND filters, a carrying bag, prop guards, charging hub, and three batteries for $988.
- Along with comprehensive testing availability, contact tracing is one of the essential methods countries like South Korea, New Zealand and the Indian state of Kerala have used to stop the spread of COVID-19 and loosen up restrictions on movement. These efforts were mostly manual but apps can help with contact tracing and several countries are firming up their plans. Sunday, Germany changed course from a centralized system to a decentralized system. That system tracks exposure and keeps anonymized encrypted data on devices instead of on a centralized server. Meanwhile, France has been developing its own centralized protocol, called ROBERT. The UK's NHS is also going ahead with a centralized approach. Australia launched an app Sunday based on Singapore's TraceTogether software. The Australian app got more than two million downloads.
- WhatsApp released an update that increases the number of people on a concurrent video call from 4 to 8. Similar products have larger limits such as Google Duo which supports 12 people, Apple’s FaceTime supports 32, Houseparty supports eight, Skype and Facebook’s Messenger Rooms both support 50, and Zoom’s free tier supports 100.
- Shopify launched a consumer shopping app called Shop, a rebrand of Shopify's app Arrive that tracks packages for merchants and other retailers. The new Shop app also lets consumers browse a feed of recommended products, get brand info and buy with a one-click checkout process. Shop won't include any ads, and is free to both shoppers and brands. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shop includes a feature to browse local merchants and see which ones currently support delivery and in-store purchase.
- Facebook will host #Graduation2020 on Facebook and Instagram on May 15 at 2 p.m ET. Oprah Winfrey, Awkwafina, Jennifer Garner, Lil Nas X, Simone Biles, and others will address the 2020 graduating class and Miley Cyrus will perform. Event video will be shared on Facebook Watch and highlights will be shared on Instagram's official account. Graduates can also host their own ceremonies in a special virtual graduation hub which includes custom filters and celebrations in Messenger Rooms. iHeartRadio is also hosting speeches for the Class of 2020 from Jimmy Fallon, Hillary Clinton, John Legend and others.
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| Preceded by: "Khronos Group Releases OpenCL 3.0" |
Instagram and TikTok Launch Donation Features |
Followed by: "Facebook's Chatbot Talks Like a Human" |