TECHNOLOGY
Meta India head Sandhya Devanathan on why India is a key market for WhatsApp Business, AI initiatives
Sandhya Devanathan said that India is one of Meta's key priority markets for business messaging globally, with Click-to-WhatsApp revenue doubling in the country over the past year.
BUSINESS
Nazara Tech to raise Rs 900 crore to fund its business expansion, acquisitions
The company said its board also approved secondary acquisition of 19.35 percent stake in subsidiary Absolute Sports
TECHNOLOGY
Amazon to rebrand miniTV streaming service as Amazon MX Player
Amazon India has acquired certain assets of MX Player, including its apps and select content from its library. The company plans to eventually consolidate all content and streaming experiences into a single app.
TECHNOLOGY
Snapchat parent unveils a new operating system for Spectacles AR glasses
Snap also unveiled a new, simplified version of the Snapchat app and announced a range of generative AI features for consumers, creators, and developers.
TECHNOLOGY
Instagram makes teen accounts private by default with new restrictions
With Teen Accounts, Instagram is introducing a new experience for teenagers, amid growing scrutiny regarding their privacy and safety on the platform
BUSINESS
Nazara Technologies to invest Rs 982 cr in PokerBaazi parent to boost its skill gaming presence
Nazara Technologies will initially acquire 47.7 percent stake in PokerBaazi parent firm for Rs 831.5 crore and then invest an additional Rs 150 crore into the company.
TECHNOLOGY
Meta Verified now available for all small businesses on WhatsApp
Small businesses will also be able to use the WhatsApp Business app to send personalised messages to their customers for a fee in India.
BUSINESS
Nazara Technologies to buy 15.86% in gaming community startup Stan for $2.2 million
Nazara's investment in Stan is expected to boost its position in the gaming and esports landscape.
BUSINESS
GST collections from real-money gaming jump 412% to Rs 6,909 cr in 6 months under new tax rates, says FM Sitharaman
GST collections from real-money gaming sector were Rs 1,349 crore for the six-month period prior to the new tax rates, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on September 9
TECHNOLOGY
FAU-G: Domination, made-in-India shooter game, open for pre-registration on Android
Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar, who is the mentor for the FAU-G franchise, unveiled the gameplay trailer for FAU-G Domination in Mumbai
TECHNOLOGY
FAU-G returns: Vishal Gondal’s nCore eyes gaming revival with 'Domination'
FAU-G: Domination's launch comes amid a push by local gaming studios to build ambitious games and position India as a global gaming hub.
TECHNOLOGY
Meta AI has over 400 million monthly active users, says Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg said that Meta AI has over 185 million users on a weekly basis, as competition intensifies with rivals such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and Microsoft's Copilot.
TECHNOLOGY
Google's Gemini to resume AI image generation of people after 6-month pause
Google had earlier stopped users from generating images depicting people on Gemini, due to a controversy over producing historically inaccurate images.
BUSINESS
Dailyhunt parent VerSe Innovation acquires Valueleaf Group to bolster its ad exchange ambitions
VerSe Innovation estimates Valueleaf Group acquisition along with its Nexverse.ai business will contribute $100 million in revenues by FY25
BUSINESS
YouTube hikes cost of premium plans in India, family pack fee rises over 50%
YouTube Music has also increased its prices by about 20 percent. These hikes come as Google looks to boost its subscription revenue, which is emerging as a potential new moneymaker for the tech giant.
TECHNOLOGY
Amazon extends AI shopping assistant Rufus to India
Amazon is rolling out its AI shopping assistant, Rufus, in India as the online retail giant races to integrate generative AI features into its offerings.
TECHNOLOGY
LinkedIn appoints Kumaresh Pattabiraman as India country manager and product head
India is the second-largest market for LinkedIn after the United States, with more than 135 million members in the country. It is also the fastest-growing market for the Microsoft-owned professional networking platform
TECHNOLOGY
WhatsApp allows real-money gaming firms to send promotional messages in India; alcohol not allowed
Meta is looking to accelerate monetisation from WhatsApp as business messaging becomes increasingly important in its efforts to diversify revenue streams beyond traditional digital advertising.
TECHNOLOGY
Google's AI model to help researchers identify TB, other diseases from the sound of cough
Google has announced a collaboration with Salcit Technologies, an India-based respiratory healthcare firm, that has built a product called Swaasa that uses AI to analyse cough sounds and assess lung health
TECHNOLOGY
Google expands its AI search experience to India, other markets
Google's AI Overviews provides consumers a quick AI-generated summary of a topic along with links to go deeper, at the top of the search results.
TECHNOLOGY
Elon Musk's xAI launches Grok 2 chatbot with image generation feature
Grok is available to all subscribers of X Premium and X Premium+, the subscription tiers of X, the Musk owned social network formerly known as Twitter
TECHNOLOGY
Made-in-India Pixel smartphones start rolling out in the country
Google is looking to scale up its Pixel smartphone business in India in order to capitalise on the rising demand for premium smartphones among consumers
TECHNOLOGY
'Stuck in traffic': Sorin Investments founder Sanjay Nayar on Bengaluru's low tech IPO count
Several Bengaluru companies are in the process of launching public offerings, Accel India's founding partner Prashanth Prakash has said amid debate over fewer 'tech city' firms tapping the market
WORLD
Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki dies after battling cancer
Susan Wojcicki was crucial to Google's founding years, having rented garage space in her parent's house to co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to start the company in 1998. She was also the company's 16th hire.
