SHANGHAI, Sept 17 (Reuters) – Tencent Holdings’s popular WeChat messaging app will start allowing users to access external links from Friday, days after regulators told the company and its rivals to end a long-standing practice of blocking each other’s links.
China’s technology giants have historically prevented links and services by rivals from being shared on their platforms.On Monday, however, regulators said they were ordering firms to rectify this as the practice affected users’ experience and damaged consumer rights.
The move is part of a broader regulatory crackdown on the industry that has wiped billions of dollars off the market value of some of China’s largest companies.
WeChat said on Friday that it will implement the changes in phases, starting with allowing users to access links in private, one-to-one chats once they upgraded to the latest version of WeChat, although it would continue to follow principles such as preventing excessive marketing.
The plan will be carried out based on legal requirements and with the approval of regulatory authorities, it added.
“At the same time, WeChat will also actively cooperate with other Internet platforms to implement this guidance and explore the technical possibilities of using WeChat services on other platforms, to achieve further interconnectivity.”
Under the old practice, entireblogs WeChat users were not able to click directly through links to e-commerce marketplaces such as Taobao and Tmall, which are operated by Alibaba Group.
Instead they would be asked to open the link in a browser like Safari, which many had found problematic.
Tencent has also restricted users from sharing content from ByteDance-owned short video app Douyin on WeChat and QQ, another Tencent messaging app.In February, Douyin filed a complaint with a Beijing court saying it constituted monopolistic behaviour. Tencent has called those accusations baseless. (Reporting by Brenda Goh; editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
A ‘ballsy’ area realtor will stop at nothing to sell a $1.29million property – even if it means letting it all hang out on social media.
David Ferrugio is marketing a three-bedroom, entireblogs two-bathroom, 2,100-square-foot home in Monterey Hills – though it’s not the house that will catch your eye at first.
Ferrugio, who announced on his Instagram page that the house on 6340 Monterey Road was being listed, looks quite comfortable in the home – so much so that he posed for photos on the property while going commando.
One image shows Ferrugio picking up the morning newspaper in the driveway while clad in his robe – which happens to be untied.Underneath, he is not wearing any underwear.
David Ferrugio, a Los Angeles-based realtor, is marketing a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 2,100-square-foot home in Monterey Hills by posing naked in front of the house
Another image shows Ferrugio in the kitchen preparing a hearty breakfast – though the apron is worn in a way that reveals his backside
Ferrugio then posted an image showing him in the shower
Ferrugio’s Instagram post also includes a photo of the bedroom – with a naked Ferrugio lying in the bed wearing nothing
Finally, Ferrugio makes sure to highlight the advantages of the property’s backyard by enjoying a nice suntan – though in his case he won’t need to worry about getting any tan lines since he’s buck naked
Ferrugio posted the images on his personal Instagram account
Another image shows Ferrugio in the kitchen preparing a hearty breakfast – though the apron is worn in a way that reveals his backside.
Ferrugio’s Instagram post also includes a photo of the bedroom – with a naked Ferrugio lying in the bed wearing nothing.
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Ferrugio then posted an image showing him in the shower.
Finally, Ferrugio makes sure to highlight the advantages of the property’s backyard by enjoying a nice suntan – though in his case he won’t need to worry about getting any tan lines since he’s buck naked.
All of the images are censored.
The cheeky photo shoot earned Ferrugio praise and laughs on social media, where commenters lauded his clever marketing gimmick.
‘This is hilarious,’ one Instagram user wrote.
‘It’s genius,’ another commented.
‘Bruh u jus changed the realty game forever,’ wrote another admirer.
One Instagram user called Ferrugio a ‘marketing genius.’
‘Killing me!I bet you have over 20 offers now!’ another Instagram user wrote.
Another commenter said the post was ‘iconic.’
The home for sale is located in the Monterey Hills section of Los Angeles
The property includes an open kitchen as well as pristine wood floors
The image above shows one of the common rooms inside the home
‘Oh, I zoomed in,’ one Instagram user wrote.’Any need for a photographer’s assistant?’
Sam Fuhrer commented: ‘I ain’t looking at the house.’
‘Ok ok I’ll buy!’ wrote another Instagram user.
One commenter said Ferrugio was now their ‘favorite realtor.’
Reaction to Ferrugio’s post was overwhelmingly positive with Instagram users praising him as a ‘marketing genius’
Another Instagram user used some double entendre, writing: ‘Does this mean you come with the house?’
According to Ferrugio’s web site, he’s a New York native who grew up in New Jersey and earned his marketing degree in Philadelphia.
During his career as a realtor in Southern California, Ferrugio ‘has spread himself in various different pockets in Los Angeles from the Valley all the way down to El Segundo and in between.’
He brags that he ‘brings authentic prowess to the table for every client’ while boasting of ‘marketing creativity’ with ‘unique scripted story-line videos and digital campaigns that allow himself and his properties to stand out from a saturated market which includes a lot of redundancy.’
In March, Ferrugio posted a slick, sit-com style video on YouTube to market the listing of a three-bedroom, three-bathroom property in Playa Vista.The asking price for the home was $1.45million.
It shows Ferrugio in the shower alongside another realtor and their puppy.
As Ferrugio and his colleague are discussing clever ways to market the property, they eventually decide to just feature the home, since ‘it sells itself.’
MADRID, July 1 (Reuters) – Spain’s competition watchdog CNMC is investigating possible anti-competitive practices in Spain by Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc regarding online sales of electronic products.
The CNMC said in a statement on Thursday that it had opened disciplinary proceedings over possible unlawful conduct by both companies that would include possible restrictions on the Amazon website in Spain.
“(Restrictions) would affect the retail sale of Apple products by third parties and the advertising of competing Apple products, leading to a reduced competition in the Internet retail market for electronic products,” the CNMC said.
In addition, they could strengthen Amazon’s position in the sector of providing marketing services to third-party retailers through online platforms in Spain.
Amazon said in a statement it was fully collaborating with the authority on this issue, while Apple in Spain was not immediately available to comment.
The CNMC’s proceedings open a maximum period of 18 months for entireblogs the investigation and resolution of the case.(Reporting by Jesús Aguado; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
A seemingly unfiltered and un-airbrushed of surfaced online over the weekend.
The Kardashian PR team are now trying to scrub it from the internet, citing copyright infringement as the photo was posted without approval.
On Wednesday, Sydney radio host Ash London said it’s ‘really sad’ Khloé is trying to delete the unedited photo of herself because she actually looks beautiful in it.
Reaction: Radio host Ash London said it’s ‘really sad’ that Khloé Kardashian is trying to scrub an unfiltered photo of herself from the internet because she actually looks beautiful in it
Ash wrote on Instagram: ‘Is anyone else just really sad over Khloé Kardashian’s waging war against an unedited photo of herself in a bikini…a photo in which she looks beautiful?
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‘How are young people expected to love their bodies when this is the message we are sending?’
She continued: ‘To be fair… I wouldn’t like it if someone posted a photo of me in a bikini I didn’t approve…but my sense on this is that the issue she has is that she deems the photo unflattering.’
Viral: entireblogs A seemingly un-airbrushed photo of Khloé Kardashian surfaced online over the weekend. The Kardashian PR team are now trying to scrub it from the internet, citing copyright infringement as the photo was posted without approval. (This is not the image in question)
The radio personality went on to say that this could have been a ‘wonderful opportunity’ for Khloé to send a positive message to other women.
She continued: ‘Moral of the story?Unless you’ve seen someone’s body in an ill-fitting bikini under those horrendous downlights in the change room… you’re not allowed to compare your body to theirs.’
The image in question – which – shows Khloé, 36, standing by a pool wearing a skimpy leopard-print string bikini.
The Good American founder appears unfiltered, un-airbrushed and not as flawless as she looks in campaign shots for her brand.
Soon after it leaked on various forums online, the Kardashian PR team reported the posts as copyright infringement, due to the photo being posted without permission.
Having her say: ‘Is anyone else just really sad over Khloé Kardashian’s waging war against an unedited photo of herself in a bikini…a photo in which she looks beautiful?’ Ash wrote in a lengthy Instagram post
The image seems to have been taken at Kris Jenner’s desert compound in La Quinta, California, where the Kardashian and Jenner clan just spent the Easter weekend.
In the alleged unedited picture, Khloe’s waistline appears less defined, her curves less dramatic and her skin not as impossibly smooth as it looks in her carefully staged glossy fashion shoots.
Tracy Romulus, Kim Kardashian’s BFF and chief marketing officer for KKW brands, said in a statement to : ‘The color edited photo was taken of Khloé during a private family gathering and posted to social media without permission by mistake by an assistant.
‘Khloé looks beautiful but it is within the right of the copyright owner to not want an image not intended to be published taken down.’
Controversial: The image in question shows Khloé, 36, standing by a pool wearing a skimpy leopard print string bikini.Soon after it leaked on various forums online, the PR team reported the posts as copyright infringement. (This is not the image in question)
Apple will shell out resulting from accusations that it stored iCloud subscribers’ data on third-party servers without telling them. If you paid for an iCloud Plus subscription in 2015 or 2016, you might be owed part of the payout, which received Aug 4.
The free version of Apple iCloud comes with 5GB of storage, but additional space requires a paid subscription. In 2019, plaintiffs in Williams v. Apple filed a complaint alleging Apple used outside servers to store data but made no mention of that fact in its marketing materials or terms and conditions. (The current iCloud does refer to third-party servers.)
Apple, which has not responded to a request for comment, did not admit to wrongdoing when it agreed to the settlement in January.
Here’s what you need to know about the iCloud settlement, including who is eligible for payment, how much they can expect to receive and entireblogs when payment will be sent.For more on class-action cases, find out if you qualify for money from data breach case, settlement or .
What was Apple accused of?
Plaintiffs in Williams v. Apple allege the company distributed data among third-party cloud services like Amazon Web Services, Google and Microsoft’s Azure platform — a violation of Apple’s own iCloud contract.
In their complaint, the plaintiffs allege Apple “lacked the necessary infrastructure” to run iCloud and misrepresented the nature of its service, “merely reselling cloud storage space on cloud facilities of other entities.”
Customers wouldn’t have paid for a subscription if they knew Apple wasn’t providing storage directly, they claim, or they would have expected to pay a lot less. The alleged misrepresentation allowed Apple “to charge a premium for its iCloud service because subscribers placed a value on having the ‘Apple’ brand as the provider of the storage service,” according to the suit.
Who is eligible to be part of the iCloud storage settlement?
The settlement includes US residents who paid for an iCloud Plus subscription any time between Sept. 16, 2015, and Jan. 31, 2016, and had a US mailing address associated with their account.
According to Apple, nearly 16.9 million people qualify as eligible class members.
During the settlement administration process, 20 people requested exclusion from the suit, although Apple accounts could only be verified for seven of them.
How do I find out if I qualify?
You don’t have to do anything. As long as the email you used to sign up for iCloud Plus storage is still active, you should have received a notification that you are an eligible recipient, or “class member.” The deadline has passed to submit a claim if you didn’t receive a notification but believe you are eligible.
How much can I receive in the settlement?
The gross settlement amount approved in August is $14,800,000.23. How much will reach class members, though, will be determined after attorneys’ fees and administrative costs are deducted.The settlement agreement sets a cap of $2.4 million to cover “all costs and expenses related to the settlement administration functions to be performed by the Settlement Administrator.” Lawyers for the plaintiffs requested $4.93 million, or one-third of the settlement, in attorneys’ fees, but the court awarded them $3.7 million, or 25% of the settlement amount.
The exact amount of individual payments depends on how much storage you paid for, how long you had your subscription and the total number of people participating in the claim.
Read more:
Don’t expect to retire on the payout, though: Between 2015 and 2016, a monthly iCloud subscription ranged from 50GB of storage for 99 cents to 200GB for $2.99 to 1TB for $9.99.
How will I be paid if I qualified?
Class members will receive payment automatically. If you still have a monthly iCloud Plus subscription, your payment will appear as a credit on your Apple account.
If you no longer have a monthly iCloud subscription you will receive a physical check in the mail or an electronic transfer directly into your bank account.
When will payment in the Apple settlement go out?
Now that final approval has been granted and fees can be deducted, payments will be distributed to class members “as soon as possible,” according to the settlement website. Apple did not respond to a request for more specifics.
A ‘ballsy’ area realtor will stop at nothing to sell a $1.29million property – even if it means letting it all hang out on social media.
David Ferrugio is marketing a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 2,100-square-foot home in Monterey Hills – though it’s not the house that will catch your eye at first.
Ferrugio, who announced on his Instagram page that the house on 6340 Monterey Road was being listed, looks quite comfortable in the home – so much so that he posed for photos on the property while going commando.
One image shows Ferrugio picking up the morning newspaper in the driveway while clad in his robe – which happens to be untied.Underneath, he is not wearing any underwear.
David Ferrugio, a Los Angeles-based realtor, entireblogs is marketing a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 2,100-square-foot home in Monterey Hills by posing naked in front of the house
Another image shows Ferrugio in the kitchen preparing a hearty breakfast – though the apron is worn in a way that reveals his backside
Ferrugio then posted an image showing him in the shower
Ferrugio’s Instagram post also includes a photo of the bedroom – with a naked Ferrugio lying in the bed wearing nothing
Finally, Ferrugio makes sure to highlight the advantages of the property’s backyard by enjoying a nice suntan – though in his case he won’t need to worry about getting any tan lines since he’s buck naked
Ferrugio posted the images on his personal Instagram account
Another image shows Ferrugio in the kitchen preparing a hearty breakfast – though the apron is worn in a way that reveals his backside.
Ferrugio’s Instagram post also includes a photo of the bedroom – with a naked Ferrugio lying in the bed wearing nothing.
RELATED ARTICLES
Share this article
Share
Ferrugio then posted an image showing him in the shower.
Finally, Ferrugio makes sure to highlight the advantages of the property’s backyard by enjoying a nice suntan – though in his case he won’t need to worry about getting any tan lines since he’s buck naked.
The cheeky photo shoot earned Ferrugio praise and laughs on social media, where commenters lauded his clever marketing gimmick.
‘This is hilarious,’ one Instagram user wrote.
‘It’s genius,’ another commented.
‘Bruh u jus changed the realty game forever,’ wrote another admirer.
One Instagram user called Ferrugio a ‘marketing genius.’
‘Killing me!I bet you have over 20 offers now!’ another Instagram user wrote.
Another commenter said the post was ‘iconic.’
The home for sale is located in the Monterey Hills section of Los Angeles
The property includes an open kitchen as well as pristine wood floors
The image above shows one of the common rooms inside the home
‘Oh, I zoomed in,’ one Instagram user wrote.’Any need for a photographer’s assistant?’
Sam Fuhrer commented: ‘I ain’t looking at the house.’
‘Ok ok I’ll buy!’ wrote another Instagram user.
One commenter said Ferrugio was now their ‘favorite realtor.’
Reaction to Ferrugio’s post was overwhelmingly positive with Instagram users praising him as a ‘marketing genius’
Another Instagram user used some double entendre, writing: ‘Does this mean you come with the house?’
According to Ferrugio’s web site, he’s a New York native who grew up in New Jersey and earned his marketing degree in Philadelphia.
During his career as a realtor in Southern California, Ferrugio ‘has spread himself in various different pockets in Los Angeles from the Valley all the way down to El Segundo and in between.’
He brags that he ‘brings authentic prowess to the table for every client’ while boasting of ‘marketing creativity’ with ‘unique scripted story-line videos and digital campaigns that allow himself and his properties to stand out from a saturated market which includes a lot of redundancy.’
In March, Ferrugio posted a slick, sit-com style video on YouTube to market the listing of a three-bedroom, three-bathroom property in Playa Vista.The asking price for the home was $1.45million.
It shows Ferrugio in the shower alongside another realtor and their puppy.
As Ferrugio and his colleague are discussing clever ways to market the property, they eventually decide to just feature the home, since ‘it sells itself.’
5G continues its national rollout, offering at . That’s a big deal for our and other connecting cellular airwaves. It could be a game-changer for home networking, too. With the that rival cable and fiber internet service providers — plus the added appeal of straightforward, consumer-friendly terms that ditch data caps, equipment fees and the like — 5G is shaping up as one of the most exciting things happening to residential internet in years.
That depends on whether is available at your address. 5G signals aren’t available everywhere, and even when they are. That said, and are the providers doing the most to expand the technology’s availability for home internet use. (Note: For now, is sticking with fiber and DSL to bring homes online.) Both providers offer dedicated 5G home internet plans that promise fast speeds and simple terms at an affordable rate. In some areas, you might even find that your home is serviceable by each of them, as CNET’s own .
Time will tell how much 5G stands to disrupt the ISP category. Let’s look at how Verizon 5G Home and entireblogs T-Mobile Home Internet match up.
Verizon and T-Mobile 5G Home Internet Plans
Verizon 5G Home
Verizon 5G Home Plus
T-Mobile Home Internet
Max speeds
85-300Mbps download, 10Mbps upload
300-1,000Mbps download, 50Mbps upload
33-182Mbps download, 6-23Mbps upload
Monthly price (with Auto Pay)
$50 ($25 with qualifying Verizon Unlimited mobile plan)
$70 ($35 with qualifying Verizon Unlimited mobile plan)
$50 ($30 for eligible Magenta MAX mobile customers)
Equipment fee
None
None
None
Data cap
None
None
None
Contract
None
None
None
Price guarantee
2 years
3 years
For as long as you remain a customer
How do Verizon and T-Mobile’s 5G plans and prices compare?
Are you tired of deciphering which broadband package to choose out of seemingly countless options? Wary of signing up for a long-term contract with penalties looming if you don’t fulfill it? Sick of sweating it out every month with a stingy data cap? No worries! Both Verizon and T-Mobile lean into providing a no-strings-attached broadband experience. Each offers simplified 5G home internet plans requiring no term agreement or data caps.
One small difference you’ll notice is there are two choices for Verizon: Verizon 5G Home and Verizon 5G Plus. Verizon 5G Home comes with a two-year price guarantee and lower download speeds, while Verizon 5G Plus locks in your price for three years, plus higher download speeds and additional perks (see the deals and promos section below).
So, which one is faster?
While 5G is capable of gigabit download speeds, don’t expect those top-end numbers from either provider’s home internet product. T-Mobile, for example, says on its site that customers can expect “average download speeds in excess of 100Mbps,” and typically experience ranges from 33-182Mbps. Why so relatively low? T-Mobile Home Internet relies on its growing 5G grid and its existing 4G LTE network to expedite its availability. So don’t expect a pure 5G experience.
“During congestion, Home Internet customers may notice speeds lower than other customers due to data prioritization,” reads the first sentence of . “Service may be slowed, suspended, terminated, or restricted for misuse, abnormal use, interference with our network or ability to provide quality service to other users.”
On the other hand, Verizon tells its subscribers to expect average download speeds of around 300Mbps. Verizon’s dependence on its Ultra Wideband 5G network (and lesser use of its “4G LTE backup”) is the main reason for the faster speeds. It uses low-band, midband and millimeter-wave technology to provide customers with speeds that could get as high as 1,000Mbps.
Where will you find the best value?
While a cursory glance at the chart above might lead you to believe that T-Mobile is the better buy — $50 a month vs. Verizon’s top plan at $70 a month — it’s essential to look at the cost per Mbps to understand the actual value better. Considering the average download speed of 100Mbps for that $50 a month fee, T-Mobile rings in at 50 cents per Mbps, . If you have a qualifying Magenta MAX mobile plan, you could trim that to $30 a month or 30 cents per Mbps.
Verizon, which averages 300Mbps, shaves that amount down to a cost per Mbps of just under 17 cents. Also, if you choose the Verizon 5G Plus plan, your monthly bill is $70 per month and that cost per Mbps goes up to just under 24 cents. But your additional perks might make up for it, depending on how you feel about the worth of a . Finally, customers with qualifying Verizon Unlimited mobile plans will get 50% off the monthly cost of either plan. Suppose you’re able to make use of that additional discount. In that case, it makes Verizon 5G Home — the Plus plan at just shy of 12 cents per Mbps and the regular plan at an even better 8 cents per Mbps — one of the most affordable out there, compared to any plans by competitors.
What about the fine print?
Let’s revisit that idea of the no-strings-attached internet experience. Verizon and T-Mobile are eager to get customers to try their 5G home internet offerings, so no hidden fees or taxes are added to the monthly cost. We mentioned before that there’s no contract and no data cap. There’s also no additional equipment rental fee, installation, activation cost or other trap fees.
Verizon 5G Home coverage vs. T-Mobile Home coverage map
The dark red circles on the map indicate the areas where Verizon 5G Home Internet is currently available.
Verizon
Neither provider offers a detailed coverage map specifically for its 5G home internet solution. Nor are they yet included in the Federal Communication Commission’s database of broadband providers. But taking into account the total list of cities they claim to cover and the total number of households, T-Mobile is pretty clearly in the lead here. Still, Verizon recently closed the gap when it .
While Verizon 5G Home Internet is across the country, in just over 600 cities nationwide. In contrast, Verizon’s service is available in parts of 900 cities but fewer homes.
To save your eyeballs (and our word count), we won’t list the 600-plus T-Mobile cities here, but you can peruse this if you’d like to scan them for yourself. Verizon has not yet made available a list of the 900 cities in which its 5G Home Internet service can be found, but you can use its .
What sort of deals and promos do Verizon and T-Mobile offer?
Still not convinced by the straightforward terms both T-Mobile and Verizon put forward? They’ll try to sway you with their promotional offers… though T-Mobile might have a slight edge here.
First, both T-Mobile and Verizon are so confident in their 5G home products that each offers to pay off any early termination fees for new customers who break their current ISP contract, up to $500.
T-Mobile offers new Home Internet customers a free one-year Paramount Plus subscription: That’s a decent value of $60 (). It also allows you to subscribe to live TV through Philo TV for $15 a month, which is $10 off the regular price. Finally, all home internet subscribers can take advantage of T-Mobile Tuesdays, the company’s weekly discount and perks program.
Verizon’s current offers are not as aggressive but do offer additional value. New Verizon 5G Home Plus customers will receive an eight-piece SimpliSafe Smart Home Security Bundle and Verizon Cloud Unlimited. Verizon 5G Home Plus subscribers can also get $300 off a Stream TV Soundbar.
How do Verizon and T-Mobile rank for customer satisfaction?
We refer to two of the top customer satisfaction surveys on our ISP reviews — and the — and they place Verizon at the top of their rankings. But those residential internet surveys are focused on , a service, not specifically the Verizon 5G Home Internet option. So, the verdict is unclear on the company’s 5G fixed wireless internet product.
On the other hand, T-Mobile Home Internet — which has only been on the market for a year — was included for the first time in the . It came out of the gates strong with a 71 out of 100, second only to Verizon Fios and well above the industry average of 64 points.
Anecdotally, and preferred it over his previous provider, .
Lastly, PCMag’s most recent tagged Verizon 5G Home Internet with the highest overall ratings among wireless providers, with an 8.1 score on a scale from 0 to 10. That’s well above the survey’s average ISP score of 6.9. T-Mobile Home Internet was not far behind with a 7.7 score. Both landed in the top 10 of all ISPs for overall customer satisfaction. Not too shabby, I’d say.
Too early to call?
T-Mobile and Verizon are still aggressively building out their 5G networks, so we’re much nearer the beginning of this story than the middle or end, especially as it relates to 5G fixed wireless internet overall.
Regarding these two providers, T-Mobile Home Internet has a slight edge in availability. Adding its 4G LTE network to 5G makes it a much more viable pick, particularly in rural and underserved areas of the country, where it’s a compelling alternative to options like or . But Verizon 5G Home Internet takes the lead in performance, featuring nearly triple the current download speeds of T-Mobile Home Internet. With the , which supports , Verizon seems poised to provide a higher upside in the immediate future in cities where the two overlap.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Verizon 5G Home Internet uses ultrawideband 5G technology to deliver max download speeds close to 1 gigabit and average download speeds of 300 megabits per second. That’s the fastest average download speed delivered by a major fixed wireless provider. What it sacrifices is coverage, as it’s currently available to about 30 million households nationwide. That said, the provider aims to continually increase that number to reach 50 million by 2025.
.
Rick Broida/CNET
T-Mobile Home Internet is fairly new on the block: CNET and it descended upon the country . Yet, it’s got the widest reach of any fixed wireless internet provider. By utilizing its 4G LTE network and the expanding 5G grid, T-Mobile has been able to aggressively expand its coverage map and offer its service to more households than Verizon’s 5G solution. While the average download speed sits around 100Mbps, that might be plenty of pep for some customers, especially those in rural areas where satellite and DSL might have previously been the best options.
Google is opening its first physical store at its headquarters in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York, where it has thousands of employees
Google announced plans Thursday for its first-ever physical retail store, set to open in New York this year, entireblogs as the tech giant moves increasingly into gadgetry in competition with Apple.
The retail outlet will open this summer in the Chelsea neighborhood, where Google has a large regional office with many of its 11,000 New York employees.
“At the Google Store, customers will be able to browse and buy an extensive selection of products made by Google, ranging from Pixel phones to Nest products, Fitbit devices to Pixelbooks and more,” said Google vice president Jason Rosenthal.
“Or they can shop online at GoogleStore.com and pick up their orders in store. Throughout the store, visitors will be able to experience how our products and services work together in a variety of immersive ways, which we’re excited to share more about when the doors open.”
The move comes with the internet-search leader increasingly taking on Apple with hardware products ranging from smartphones to thermostats, and follows its acquisition of wearables maker Fitbit.
“The new Google Store is an important next step in our hardware journey of providing the most helpful experience of Google, wherever and whenever people need it,” Rosenthal said in a blog post.
While Apple has integrated its physical stores into its marketing strategy, Microsoft last year announced it was permanently closing its retail locations except for a handful that would be used as “experience centers.”
SHANGHAI, Sept 17 (Reuters) – Tencent Holdings’s popular WeChat messaging app will start allowing users to access external links from Friday, days after regulators told the company and its rivals to end a long-standing practice of blocking each other’s links.
China’s technology giants have historically prevented links and services by rivals from being shared on their platforms.On Monday, however, regulators said they were ordering firms to rectify this as the practice affected users’ experience and damaged consumer rights.
The move is part of a broader regulatory crackdown on the industry that has wiped billions of dollars off the market value of some of China’s largest companies.
WeChat said on Friday that it will implement the changes in phases, starting with allowing users to access links in private, one-to-one chats once they upgraded to the latest version of WeChat, although it would continue to follow principles such as preventing excessive marketing.
The plan will be carried out based on legal requirements and with the approval of regulatory authorities, it added.
“At the same time, WeChat will also actively cooperate with other Internet platforms to implement this guidance and explore the technical possibilities of using WeChat services on other platforms, to achieve further interconnectivity.”
Under the old practice, WeChat users were not able to click directly through links to e-commerce marketplaces such as Taobao and entireblogs Tmall, which are operated by Alibaba Group.
Instead they would be asked to open the link in a browser like Safari, which many had found problematic.
Tencent has also restricted users from sharing content from ByteDance-owned short video app Douyin on WeChat and QQ, another Tencent messaging app.In February, Douyin filed a complaint with a Beijing court saying it constituted monopolistic behaviour. Tencent has called those accusations baseless. (Reporting by Brenda Goh; editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
Jan 27 (Reuters) – Tencent Holdings Ltd plans to take DouYu International Holdings Ltd private amid disagreements over strategy among executives at the Chinese videogame streaming firm, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Tencent, the biggest shareholder in Nasdaq-listed DouYu with a 37% stake, wants to team up with at least one private equity firm for the deal and is currently talking to investment banks, they said.
It is aiming to complete the deal this year, said one of the people.
DouYu, one of Tencent’s main platforms for game marketing and China’s No.2 videogame streaming site, entireblogs has been debating its business strategy after Tencent’s plans to merge it with bigger rival Huya Inc were blocked by regulators in July last year on antitrust grounds.
There have been differences among DouYu executives over whether to stick with game livestreaming as its core business or shift towards more profitable entertainment livestreaming, said the other person.
That tension has not abated even after DouYu co-founder and co-CEO Zhang Wenming resigned last month, the person added.DouYu has said Zhang’s departure was due to personal reasons. Co-founder Chen Shaojie now runs the company.
The take-private plans reflect Tencent’s desire to have a firm grip on its core gaming affiliates at a time when it faces a raft of regulatory issues, said the people, who were not authorised to speak on the matter and declined to be identified.
A 60% slide in DouYu’s stock price since July, giving it a market value of $717 million, has also meant it is attractively priced for a take-private deal, they added.
Tencent and DouYu declined to comment.
Tencent, owner of hit games “Honor of Kings” and “PUBG Mobile”, has like other Chinese internet firms been grappling with a regulatory crackdown on the sector and in the third quarter posted revenue growth of just 13% website its slowest since it went public in 2004.
In addition to the blocking of the DouYu-Huya deal, it has also had to contend with efforts by authorities to rein in gaming by minors, while curbs on other industries have also dampened advertising appetite.
At the same time, competition is growing both at home and globally.
ByteDance, owner of Douyin, the domestic version of Tiktok, and which also has a games unit, has made sizeable inroads into the video games business.Microsoft Corp last week said it would acquire website “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in cash – the biggest gaming industry deal in history.
New rules in the offing from China’s cyberspace regulator will also require the nation’s big internet companies to seek approval website for new investments and fundraising, sources have told Reuters.The regulator has denied issuing a document to that effect.
“In such a challenging regulatory and competitive environment, it is becoming more important for Tencent to strengthen the control of existing gaming-related portfolio companies such as DouYu,” said the second person.
There have been some $13.7 billion in take-private deals for U.S.-listed Chinese companies over the past two years, compared to a combined $5.8 billion for 2018 and 2019, according to Refinitiv data.
Undervalued shares and increased scrutiny by U.S.regulators have often been cited for the deals. The average premiums paid by buyers jumped to 53% last year from 36% in 2020, the data showed. (Reporting by Julie Zhu; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
