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Tag: messaging

  • Latest Version of Teams Brings Customer Lockbox and Improved Search

    Latest Version of Teams Brings Customer Lockbox and Improved Search

    Microsoft has released a new version of Teams, bringing Customer Lockbox and improved search.

    Microsoft Teams has quickly overtaken Slack to become the dominant corporate messaging platform, topping 270 monthly active users. The latest version brings a number of major improvements, especially to search, and security.

    One of the most notable additions to the app is the inclusion of Microsoft’s Customer Lockbox feature. Customer Lockbox addresses one of the biggest issues with cloud platforms, securing data that must be kept private, including from the cloud provider itself. Teams now includes the feature, giving users the ability to keep their most private information private.

    Search has been given a major overhaul, making results faster, more intuitive, and visually easier to interact with.

    A new search results page experience from Microsoft Search in Teams will make finding messages, people, answers, and files faster and more intuitive. A new All page will show top results from each domain, Bookmark, and Acronym.

    This new experience will provide better answers, decluttered search result snippets, preview message results for more context, more discoverable filters, and previews for files with better relevance based on the people and content you engage with most in Teams and other Microsoft 365 services.

    The new features are sure to improve the experience for Teams users

  • Signal Adds Ability to Change Numbers Without Losing Chats

    Signal Adds Ability to Change Numbers Without Losing Chats

    Signal has added a major new feature, allowing people to change their phone number without losing their chats.

    Signal is one of the most secure messaging platforms on the market, but that level of security sometimes comes with convenience compromises. Until now, one such compromise meant that changing one’s phone number would result in a loss of all previous chats.

    The company has now addressed that issue, providing a way to change numbers, while still keeping old messages.

    If you’re getting a new phone, but keeping your old number, you can use our end-to-end encrypted device-to-device transfer on Android or iOS to carry your contacts and chat history over to your new device. Make sure you do this before wiping/recycling your old device, as Signal messages are excluded from built-in operating system and cloud backups.

    If you’re keeping your existing phone, but getting a new number, the Change Number feature will let you keep your profile and all of your existing messages and groups on your device, while making you reachable at your new phone number.

    As big fans of Signal, it’s good to see the company introducing features that make it easier to use.

  • Blackberry Selling $600 Million Worth of Patents

    Blackberry Selling $600 Million Worth of Patents

    Blackberry is selling off its legacy patents, primarily covering mobile devices, messaging, and wireless connectivity, to the tune of $600 million.

    Blackberry was once one of the most popular smartphone manufacturers, selling devices with their distinctive physical keyboard. The devices were popular with professionals and consumers alike, since the keyboard made it extremely easy to text, email, browse the web, and more. Like many brands, however, the iPhone spelled doom for Blackberry’s handset business and the company has since pivoted to software.

    The company is now selling its legacy patents, patents that seem to largely cover its old handset business. The patents are being sold to Catapult IP Innovations Inc., a special purpose vehicle formed specifically to purchase Blackberry’s IP.

    Blackberry will receive $450 million in cash, supplied by funding Catapult IP secured, as well as a promissory note of $150 million for the balance. Blackberry will also retain a license to the patents it is selling.

    It remains to be seen what Catapult IP plans to do with the patents.

  • Germany May Block Telegram Over Hate Speech

    Germany May Block Telegram Over Hate Speech

    Germany is looking to address hate speech on the Telegram messaging platform, even leaving open the possibility of banning the service.

    Telegram is a messaging service that offers end-to-end encryption (E2EE), making it a prime competitor to WhatsApp and Signal. In addition to E2EE, the app has strong support for groups, making it as much a chat as messaging platform.

    As with all E2EE services, some use Telegram for illegal and unwanted behavior. Germany has been struggling with far-right groups, something the country is especially sensitive to, given its past.

    In response, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, left open the possibility of banning the app in statements to Die Zeit, via The Independent. 

    “We cannot rule this out,” she said. “A shutdown would be grave and clearly a last resort. All other options must be exhausted first.”

  • Twitter Acquires Quill, Will Shutter the Service

    Twitter Acquires Quill, Will Shutter the Service

    Twitter has acquired messaging service Quill and is planning on shutting it down.

    Quill is a messaging service that competes with Slack and Microsoft Teams. Twitter has announced it has acquired the service.

    Quill says its service will be shutting down as part of the deal, but users have until December 11 to export their data.

    Quill will be shutting down, but its spirit and ideas will continue on. You’ll be able to export your team message history until 1pm PST, Saturday, December 11th 2021, when we will be turning off our servers and deleting all data. For all active teams, we’re issuing full refunds.

    Neither company disclosed the terms of the deal.

  • Messaging App Signal Is Down

    Messaging App Signal Is Down

    Signal, the popular and secure messaging app, is down due to technical difficulties, impacting users’ ability to stay in contact.

    Signal is widely considered to be one of the most secure communication platforms on the market, and is used by military units, the US Senate and the EU Commission. The app also provides a way for iOS and Android users to have feature parity, providing a common interface and abilities to both platforms.

    Late Sunday, however, some users started experiencing difficulty sending and receiving messages, with DownDetector reporting a spike in error reports.

    The company posted a message in the Signal app acknowledging the issues:

    Signal is experiencing technical difficulties. We are working hard to restore service as quickly as possible.

  • Signal Adds Default Disappearing Messages

    Signal Adds Default Disappearing Messages

    Messaging app Signal has added the ability to set disappearing messages as the default option.

    As the company points out in a blog post, one of the side effects in the shift to digital communication is the permanence of that communication. Signal wants to give users more control by providing the ability to set the app to send disappearing messages by default.

    Disappearing messages provide a way to keep your message history tidy. When enabled for a conversation, messages will be deleted for the sender and recipients after the specified time. This is not for situations where your contact is your adversary — after all, if someone who receives a disappearing message really wants a record of it, they can always use another camera to take a photo of the screen before the message disappears. However, this is a nice way to automatically save storage space on your devices and limit the amount of conversation history that remains on your device if you should find yourself physically separated from it.

    The feature is sure to be a useful one in one of the most secure communications platforms in existence. Now if only we could have a client that natively supports Apple’s custom silicon.

  • WeChat Restarts New User Registration

    WeChat Restarts New User Registration

    WeChat has restarted new user registration, roughly a week after it halted registrations to implement security upgrades.

    WeChat is a popular messaging platform in China, as well as among Chinese individuals abroad. The company had paused registrations in order to implement security upgrades in an effort to meet regulations by the Chinese government.

    According to Reuters, the company has now resumed registrations. The news is in line with its estimates for how long the upgrade would take, as the company was saying early August.

  • The Deal Is Done: Slack Is Officially Part of Salesforce

    The Deal Is Done: Slack Is Officially Part of Salesforce

    Salesforce has completed its $27.7 billion acquisition of Slack, combining the leading CRM platform with one of the leading messaging platforms.

    The two companies announced in December they had reached a deal for Salesforce to acquire Slack. The deal was seen as a way for both companies to better compete with Microsoft. Microsoft Teams had eclipsed Slack, in terms of user count, thanks in large part to being part of Microsoft 365. Similarly, Microsoft has made it a goal to topple Salesforce as the leading CRM provider.

    The deal underwent additional scrutiny by the DOJ before receiving regulatory approval, paving the way for the deal to close.

    Executives from both companies highlighted their intent to create a “digital HQ,” to serve as a way for companies to reinvent their productivity.

    “We couldn’t be more excited to have Slack as part of the Salesforce family, combining the #1 CRM and the trailblazing digital platform for the work anywhere world,” said Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO of Salesforce. “Together we’ll define the future of enterprise software, creating the digital HQ that enables every organization to deliver customer and employee success from anywhere.”

    “We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rethink and reshape how and where we work,” said Stewart Butterfield, Slack CEO and Co-Founder. “Salesforce and Slack are uniquely positioned to lead this historic shift to a digital-first world. I could not be more excited for what’s to come.”

    The deal was welcomed by other companies as well.

    “We are obsessed with continually delighting our clients, and offering them the best experience and value across every interaction,” said Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO of IBM. “Salesforce and Slack coming together will help us become more connected, more productive, and more innovative so we can better serve our clients.”

  • WhatsApp Beta Brings Multi-Device Support

    WhatsApp Beta Brings Multi-Device Support

    WhatsApp is bringing an oft-requested feature in a new beta: Multi-device support.

    While WhatsApp has supported desktop and web-based communication for some time, these methods require a person’s phone to be active and powered on in order to send and receive messages. WhatsApp is now adding the ability to have multiple devices in use…even when a person’s phone is not connected.

    This change involves changing the entire process by which a person’s account is confirmed and messages are encrypted/decrypted.

    The current WhatsApp experience for companion devices on web, macOS, Windows, and Portal uses a smartphone app as the primary device, making the phone the source of truth for all user data and the only device capable of encrypting or decrypting messages, initiating calls, etc. Companion devices maintain a persistent secure connection with the phone and simply mirror its contents on their own UI. 

    The new version removes the phone as the primary component.

    The new WhatsApp multi-device architecture removes these hurdles, no longer requiring a smartphone to be the source of truth while still keeping user data seamlessly and securely synchronized and private.

    The beta is a limited beta, available to individual who are already enrolled in WhatsApp’s beta program.

  • Slack Is Experiencing an Outage

    Slack Is Experiencing an Outage

    Slack is experiencing an outage, with some users unable to send messages.

    The problems first showed up shortly after 1:00 PM ET, with users having trouble loading Slack or sending message. Some users reached out on Twitter to check on the issue, which Slack acknowledged.

    On the company’s status page, it says it is still working on addressing the problem.

    Some users may be experiencing issues loading Slack. We’re actively digging into this issue and will report back as soon as we have an update to share. We’re sorry for the inconvenience in the meantime.

    We’re still working towards a fix, and users may still be facing errors when attempting to load Slack. We appreciate all your patience in the meantime and we’ll continue to keep you posted.

  • Messaging App Signal Experiencing Issues

    Messaging App Signal Experiencing Issues

    Popular messaging app Signal is experiencing issues, with messages either not being delivered, or taking a long time to arrive.

    Signal is a popular messaging app that is widely considered to be one of the most secure communication platforms in the world. It is used by governments and military units, as a result of its strong security and encryption.

    Signal experienced meteoric growth in recent months, thanks to Facebook’s decision to share WhatsApp data with other Facebook-owned companies. The social media giant faced immediate backlash, with many users switching to Signal.

    The growth hasn’t been without challenges, however, as Signal has sometimes struggled to keep up with demand. It appears the service is experiencing another outage, with users on Twitter reporting problems with severely delayed messages.

    Downdetector is also showing a spike in issues with Signal, although the company has not yet issued a statement on the problem.

  • Signal Adding Privacy-Focused Cryptocurrency Payments

    Signal Adding Privacy-Focused Cryptocurrency Payments

    Signal messaging app is adding payments, using the MobileCoin cryptocurrency and wallet.

    Signal is widely considered to be the most private messaging platform available. It’s used by the US Senate, the EU Commission and various US military units. The platform provides end-to-end encryption, and has seen a major boost in popularity as a result of Facebook’s privacy blunder with WhatsApp.

    Signal is now looking to add payment processing, in a bid to better compete with WhatsApp, Apple iMessage and others. In keeping with its privacy roots, the company is integrating a privacy-focused cryptocurrency and wallet.

    Signal Payments makes it easy to link a MobileCoin wallet to Signal so you can start sending funds to friends and family, receive funds from them, keep track of your balance, and review your transaction history with a simple interface. As always, our goal is to keep your data in your hands rather than ours; MobileCoin’s design means Signal does not have access to your balance, full transaction history, or funds. You can also transfer your funds at any time if you want to switch to another app or service.

    The feature is currently in beta, and Signal actively wants feedbackfrom users.

  • Slack Joins Chorus of Companies Wanting to Challenge Clubhouse

    Slack Joins Chorus of Companies Wanting to Challenge Clubhouse

    Slack is the latest company looking to cash in on Clubhouse’s popularity, with plans to include similar features in its own app.

    Clubhouse is an audio-chat social media platform that is currently invite-only. The app has experienced a significant surge in popularity, with some of the biggest tech news debuting in Clubhouse chats.

    Not surprisingly, major tech companies are wanting to capitalize on Clubhouse’s success by rolling out their own competing apps, or adding its functionality to their existing ones.

    Slack appears to be headed for the latter option, according to CEO Stewart Butterfield, who broke the news in a Clubhouse chat, one that included Clubhouse CEO Paul Davison.

    “I’ve always believed the ‘good artists copy, great artists steal’ thing, so we’re just building Clubhouse into Slack, essentially,” said Butterfield.

    Needless to say, Butterfield being willing to challenge Clubhouse — while in a Clubhouse chat with the Clubhouse CEO — caught people’s attention.

    The news also caught the attention of Bret Taylor, Salesforce CEO and Butterfield’s future boss once their merge goes through.

  • Microsoft Teams Now Features Live Transcription

    Microsoft Teams Now Features Live Transcription

    Microsoft Teams has added live transcription, along with speaker attribution, as the battle over corporate communication heats up.

    Microsoft Teams has quickly emerged as one of leading corporate messaging platforms, and a part of Microsoft’s business that could one day rival and surpass the web browser in importance.

    An important new feature is live transcription in Teams meetings. The feature uses artificial intelligence to analyze the participants and meeting details to accurately transcribe the contents.

    Live transcription in Teams uses a meeting’s invitation, participant names, attachments, etc. to improve the accuracy and recognize meeting-specific jargon for each transcript automatically, without any human involvement. This means no one at Microsoft ever sees the meeting’s content, and the models are automatically deleted immediately after each meeting. In addition, Microsoft doesn’t use or store this data for improving its own AI.

    Webex, Google Chrome and Zoom all have closed captioning or transcription. Microsoft including the feature in Teams is an important step in maintaining its position in the market.

  • Discord Exploring Sale for $10 Billion

    Discord Exploring Sale for $10 Billion

    Discord is exploring a possible sale for $10 billion, as gaming and communication take on greater importance.

    Discord made its name as a service that allowed gamers to communicate with each. The service is especially popular among players of multiplayer games, as it provides a way for large groups of people to communicate effectively.

    Most recently, Discord began to pivot to chat as digital platforms became key to companies and individuals remaining connected and productive during the pandemic. That growth has helped propel Discord to new heights, and the company is looking to cash in with a possible sale, according to GamesBeat.

    “I know they are in active discussions with a select few parties,” one source said. “The market is in a state where they could command strong double-digit billions of dollars.”

    Much of Discord’s demand stems from the increased popularity of gaming during the pandemic. As individuals have remained in lockdown, gaming has become an even more popular pastime, with social gaming serving as an important way for people to maintain social connections.

    The ultimate decision will rest with Discord CEO Jason Citron, although a $10 billion sale is a powerful motivator.

  • India Wants to Block WhatsApp Data Change

    India Wants to Block WhatsApp Data Change

    India is asking a court to block WhatsApp from sharing data with Facebook, saying the change violates local laws.

    Facebook made waves in January with an announcement it was changing how data was shared between WhatsApp and other Facebook-owned companies. While the immediate backlashforced Facebook to delay its plans, it did not change them, only pushed them back. Ultimately, users who failed to accept the new terms would still lose access to their accounts.

    India is now pushing back, saying the change violates local laws, according to TechCrunch. The government is taking the matter to court in an effort to block Facebook’s actions.

    “Social media in recent years has been used by billions of people around the world and millions of Indians today are dependent on WhatsApp. Therefore, information that is generally personal is shared at an enormous level. This information is susceptible to being misused if the social media giant decides to either sell or exploit the information, sensitive to the users, to any third party,” said the government’s filing.

    It remains to be seen if the Indian government will be successful. If it is, however, it could set a precedent other countries will follow, given how unpopular the change has been.

  • Healthcare Messaging and the Future of Care

    Healthcare Messaging and the Future of Care

    Technology has literally transformed the way we talk to people. Even you, as you read the words that the author has typed, are reading words that have never seen a physical piece of paper. We hear from people around the world or across the house with a few swift movements in real time. What with all the information floating around online at any given moment, it is no wonder that sometimes logging onto another website seems daunting. Not wanting to log on to another site might not seem like a bad thing. A patient portal from a healthcare provider should not be a site that users avoid. Unfortunately, only 10% of patients would prefer to use patient portals to find out medical information. This means that the other 90% are hesitant to find out information regarding their health merely because the format is not what they would like to see. Read on to see how healthcare messaging is the way of the future.

    How Healthcare Can Better Communicate Through Tech

    So how can healthcare providers help to better communicate crucial information to those in their care? The answer is at everyone’s fingertips. By implementing omnichannel communication, providers can communicate with patients through SMS or messaging applications. By using technologies that physicians have already been using to consult each other regarding patient care, the format of this new communication method would already be familiar. The familiarity of the format ensures that there would be a virtually seamless transition on both ends, as both parties are already using these technologies. 

    In addition to an easy transition, using omnichannel communication also has a lot of exciting potential to transform patient care. As is the case with other life issues, many things can be fixed with effective communication. Many patients have expressed dissatisfaction with current methods of communicating with their healthcare providers. Too many cases of malpractice in healthcare have miscommunication between patient and physician to blame. If the methods in which patients and physicians communicate is less daunting to both parties, there’s less hesitancy in reaching out for help.

    Ultimately, this leads to lives saved as physicians can identify and treat problems in a more timely manner. This simplified communication method also allows for physicians to reach out and send reminders to patients. It would ensure that medicines are taken, routines are followed, prescriptions are filled, and appointments are made. This would also allow for the appropriate action to be taken more immediately if patients do not or cannot comply. 

    The Rise of Omnichannel

    Personalized omnichannel communication also has the potential to increase efficiency in doctor’s offices and hospitals. It can instantly rearrange the physician’s schedule as patients reschedule or cancel appointments. This allows for other patients to get off waitlists faster, getting their treatments as soon as possible. Efficiency is also increased when those at the front desk do not have to make repeated phone calls where a message reminder sent to the patient’s smartphone would have been sufficient. 

    Familiarity, improved patient care, and efficiency in the office are just the start of the benefits of implementing omnichannel communication in healthcare. For more information, see the the visual deep dive below:

    The Power of Mobile Messaging
    Source: SopranoDesign.com
  • WhatsApp Delays Privacy Changes Amid Backlash

    WhatsApp Delays Privacy Changes Amid Backlash

    Facebook’s WhatsApp has announced it will delay its privacy policy changes, amid one of the biggest waves of backlash the company has faced.

    WhatsApp starting pushing a notification last week, informing users of changes to its privacy policy. Among the changes was data-sharing between WhatsApp and other Facebook owned companies. Users were not given the option to opt out, being given until February 8 to either accept the new terms or stop using the app.

    The reaction was swift and severe. People began closing their WhatsApp accounts and moving to competitors, especially Signal and Telegram. Soon after, Telegram announced it passed 500 million users, while Signal saw a 62-fold increase in downloads over the last week. Meanwhile, WhatsApp downloads experienced a 17% decline during the same period, according to U.S. News & World Report.

    The backlash appears to have gotten WhatApp’s attention, even if it’s not fundamentally changing the company’s plans. In a blog post entitled “Giving More Time For Our Recent Update,” the company says this:

    We’re now moving back the date on which people will be asked to review and accept the terms. No one will have their account suspended or deleted on February 8. We’re also going to do a lot more to clear up the misinformation around how privacy and security works on WhatsApp. We’ll then go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15.

    In other words, WhatsApp is essentially saying: ‘We’ve heard you. Trust us, it’s not what you think, and we’re going to give you more time to get accustomed to us doing what we’re going to do regardless of whether you like it or not.”

    The problem with that approach? Trusting what Facebook says about privacy is like trusting the fox to guard the henhouse. The company has used up most people’s trust and goodwill after repeated and blatant privacy violations.

  • Signal Growing So Fast It Experienced Technical Issues

    Signal Growing So Fast It Experienced Technical Issues

    Signal has been adding so many new users that it experienced technical issues today.

    Signal is a messaging app that is widely considered one of the most secure communication platforms in existence. While the app has been popular among privacy-conscious users for some time, it has received a major boost since WhatsApp announced it would start sharing user data with other Facebook-owned companies.

    In fact, according to U.S. News & World Report, “Signal was downloaded by 17.8 million users over the past seven days, a 62-fold rise from the prior week, according to data from Sensor Tower. WhatsApp was downloaded by 10.6 million users during the same period, a 17% decline.”

    That growth hasn’t come without issues, however. For much of the day today, Signal has been experiencing technical difficulties, which the company has said is a reflection of its growth.

    The company later tweeted that it is making progress toward a resolution.

    Signal’s growth is good news for privacy advocates, and signals (pun intended) a bright future for the messaging app.

  • Elon Musk: Use Signal

    Elon Musk: Use Signal

    Secure messaging app Signal has received a boost from one of the titans of tech, as Elon Musk tells his Twitter followers to “use Signal.”

    Signal exists in the same space as WhatsApp and Telegram. The app provides end-to-end encrypted chat and voice calls, and is widely considered one of the most secure communication methods on the planet. In fact, the EU commission, US Senate and some military units all recommend their members use it.

    While WhatsApp may be more popular, there have been growing concerns regarding its security and privacy. Most recently, WhatsApp announced a changed to its privacy policies, wherein it will share significant user data with Facebook and other Facebook companies. Needless to say, this has not gone over well with users who value privacy and security.

    Elon Musk is the latest to come out in favor of WhatsApp’s more secure alternative.

    Facebook has shown a repeated lack interest or ability in protecting people’s privacy. Using WhatsApp for secure communication is the equivalent of having the fox guard the henhouse.

    For any individuals concerned with privacy and security, Musk is right: Use Signal.