Following SpaceX and Tesla boss Elon Musk becoming Twitter’s largest shareholder after recently acquiring a 9.2 per cent stake in the social media company, we look at the news, issues, and implications relating to this move.

9.2 Per Cent Stake 

Elon Musk, who already had 80+ million followers on Twitter’s platform, has now acquired a 9.2 stake in the company, valued at around $3 billion, and making him the largest shareholder. Although the announcement was made earlier this month, he had already purchased the large stake in the company last month. By way of context, Twitter’s co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey only has a stake of just over 2 per cent in the platform. Dorsey stepped down as CEO in November 2021 and is leaving Twitter’s board when his term ends in May this year.

Popular With Investors 

The original announcement that Elon Musk was buying the passive stake in Twitter appeared to be popular with investors as shares jumped nearly 30 per cent on April 4 after the filing at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Not Joining The Board & Now An ‘Active’ Investor 

Although it was initially announced, with much excitement by Twitter’s Parag Agrawal, that Musk would be joining the Board, Musk has, in the last few days announced that he will not be joining Twitter’s Board. Instead, his announcement that he would not be doing so was reportedly accompanied by an emoji of a face with its hand over its mouth, which is sometimes interpreted as a smirking expression.

Following the announcement that he would not be on the Board, shares fell in pre-market trade. Also, Musk has now re-filed his stake to show him as an ‘active investor’ rather than a passive shareholder. Being active rather than passive could allow Musk to exert more control over the company’s decision-making.

Being on the Board would mean that Musk would be limited to holding a maximum 14.9 per cent of Twitter’s stock. It would also have meant that Musk would have needed to curb some of his many Tweets about the platform.

Tweets About Products 

In the days following the announcement, Musk posted a series of Tweets, some quite critical of the company and its products.

Caveat

Musk’s investment also appears to have come with a caveat that he could continue expressing his views about Twitter’s services, Board, and management through social media and other channels, i.e. most likely through tweets.

Issues 

Many different issues surrounding Musk’s investment in Twitter and its effects have been reported. The main issues include:

– A possible run-in with financial regulators due the investment in Twitter being filed on 14 March, but not announced until more than 10 days later, as is required under US securities law for acquiring 5 per cent of a company.

– Concerns that as an active investor, Musk could have a detrimental effect on the culture within Twitter, which Rumman Chowdhury, the director of Twitter’s machine learning ethics and accountability, sees as a “beautiful culture of hilarious constructive criticism”.

– Concerns over what some may see as his impulsiveness and freely speaking his mind possibly having a detrimental effect on the company. For example, his Tweets relating to Tesla in 2018, which led to an investigation from the Securities and Exchange Commission, plus last year, using Twitter to ask users if he should sell 10 per cent of his stock in his electric car firm Tesla. When the answer was yes, Musk sold around £3.7bn of shares in the company.

Free Speech 

The biggest issue appears to be around Musk’s attitude to, relationship with, and use of ‘free speech’. Musk, who has described himself as a “free speech absolutist”, has expressed his concern that Twitter may not be living up to its free speech principles. In fact, Musk is reported to have conducted a Twitter poll just prior to buying the stake in Twitter where he asked whether his followers if they thought free speech is essential to a functioning democracy and whether they believed Twitter rigorously adhered to this principle. This led to some speculation that Musk could make changes to Twitter that could enable former President Trump, for example, to re-appear on the platform following being banned and the failure of his own platform ‘Truth’.

Also, following another of his Twitter polls, 73 per cent of Musk’s followers said ‘yes’ to the idea of adding an edit button to tweets, and this may be one of the “significant improvements” that Musk has said will be coming to the platform. Some critics have said that an edit button would help impulsive tweeters, such as Musk himself, and could also provide a lower key get-out clause than deletion for those such as celebrities, politicians, the very rich, and others in the public eye, and an escape from the influence of so-called ‘cancel culture’.

Other potential issues with the idea of ‘free speech’ is that some may define this as being able to say things that cause hurt to and disregard the rights of others, or even to spread fake news. Too much emphasis on changes that could increase free speech, therefore, is likely to be enough to make Twitter very nervous.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

Elon Musk, through SpaceX, Tesla, his Twitter comments in the past, and now his stake in Twitter have all added to the value of (and interest in) his personal brand. A reputation for possibly being unpredictable and impulsive, living an enviable lifestyle, and including his followers in his decision-making, has gained Musk a huge following, ensuring that whatever he says has an immediate impact and that he enjoys the power that some world leaders have enjoyed, e.g. Trump. There is, therefore, concern among some people that as the major shareholder, his influence over Twitter that his decision to stay off the Board and be allowed his free speech, and his power of essentially being the boss could take the platform, its culture, and its services in a new direction. Too much free speech on social media platforms could also run the risk of greater regulation. The controversy that sometimes follows Musk, combined with his controversial history may be making many at the platform feel uneasy. It remains to be seen exactly what major improvements are made, but the emphasis in free speech should make for some interesting developments in the near future.

The UK government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport has launched a £4 million trial project in South Yorkshire to run fibre optic broadband cables through drinking water pipes to connect-up rural locations.

No Digging Up Roads – Reach Rural Locations Fast

The two-year trial, the first of its kind, will see full fibre broadband cables deployed through 17 kilometres of live drinking water mains between Barnsley and Penistone. It is anticipated that the project will enable 8,500 homes and businesses to be quickly connected, with broadband companies tapping into the network. If the trial is successful, the government says that the technology could be operational in networks from 2024 onwards.

Faster, Greener – No Digging Up Roads

Civil works, in particular installing new ducts and poles, make up as much as four fifths of the costs to industry of building new gigabit-capable broadband networks. Using the existing drinking water pipe network should, therefore, be a greener, quicker, and more cost-effective way of connecting fibre optic cables to homes, businesses, and mobile masts, without the disruption caused by digging up roads and land.

5G Masts

The network will also be used to set up 5G masts to bring fast and reliable wireless broadband to hard-to-reach communities where wired solutions are too expensive to deliver commercially.

Could Also Help Detect Leaks In Water Pipes

Almost 660 million gallons of water, equivalent to 1,180 Olympic swimming pools, is lost to leaks every day in the UK (2020).

A bonus of the project is that it will also look at how fibre can help the water industry detect leaks, operate more efficiently, and lower the carbon cost of drinking water. Putting fibre sensors in the pipes could enable water companies to improve the speed and accuracy with which they can identify a leak and repair it before it causes a problem for consumers. Water companies have committed to delivering a 50 per cent reduction in leakage, and this project could help them to reach that goal.

Overcomes Major Obstacle

Digital Infrastructure Minister Julia Lopez said about the project:

“Digging up roads and land is one of the biggest obstacles to rolling out faster broadband, so we’re exploring how we can make use of the existing water network to accelerate deployment and help detect and minimise water leaks.” 

Is It Safe To Put Cables In Drinking Water Pipes?

The technology being deployed during the trial has been approved by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI). The DWI requires rigorous testing ahead of approving any products and the processes that introduce them into drinking water pipes, and fibre has already been deployed in water pipes in other countries such as Spain.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This trial project sounds as though it could help tackle several challenges at once – getting fast broadband out to a wider area quickly and dramatically reducing the cost and time taken, as well as providing a fast way to detect water leaks. For the estimated 8,500 homes and businesses in South Yorkshire that could be connected in the trial it will clearly be of benefit. If the trial is successful and this method is rolled out in networks from 2024 onwards, it could assist many more businesses across the UK, particularly those in rural locations which have been at a disadvantage through not being served by fast broadband connections before. Coupled with other options such as satellite broadband, the water pipe broadband idea gives more hope for the near future to businesses in rural locations.

It has been reported that the banking trojan malware called ‘SharkBot’ was recently discovered hiding in 6 different fake antivirus apps in the Google Play Store. The malware, which steals credentials and banking information, was previously discovered in apps in the store back in October. Google has confirmed that SharkBot has now been wiped off on the Android app marketplace.

Windows 11 has upgraded Snap Assist to Snap Layouts and Snap Groups. You can use these features to customise the sizes of apps on the desktop, and to snap other apps into your chosen layout. Here’s how it works:

– Hover the mouse over a window’s maximize button or press Win + Z.

– Click on a zone in a layout to snap a window to that particular zone.

– Use Snap Assist to finish building an entire layout of windows. Snap layouts are tailored to the current screen size and orientation.

– Adding apps in a Snap Layout saves all the apps that layout in a ‘Snap Group’. In the taskbar, hovering the mouse over an app in an existing snap layout shows all apps in that Snap Group.

– Selecting the group means that the apps will open in the same layout.

– As more Snap Groups are added, you can switch between them by selecting the Snap Group.

Google has announced the introduction of a new recycling attribute (label) which, when added by merchants to their Business Profiles, will be shown in Search and Maps, informing customers if a business offers recycling services.

Why? 

Google says that “Recycling” has become one of the most popular Search topics. Also, supporting eco-conscious brands is top of mind for the 82 per cent of consumers who have deemed sustainability a top priority. However, until now, people looking to recycle locally have faced difficulties when identifying which businesses recycle what and where. Google says that the new recycling attribute, which takes the form of a blue recycling symbol with what can be recycled listed next to the symbol, will make it easier than ever for people to find nearby recycling points on Search and Maps.

How Does It Work? 

Businesses can edit their profile to include what they recycle, for example, plastic bottles, batteries, electronics, glass bottles, clothes and more. When a person searches (e.g. for ‘clothing recycling near me’), if this has been added to the Business Profile, it will be displayed in the results – the recycling symbol + ‘Recycling: Clothing.’

How To Edit Your Profile To Include The New Recycling Attribute 

Businesses with a Google Business Profile can add the new recycling attribute by following these steps:

1. Login to your Google Business Profile.
2. Select Edit profile > Business information.
3. Near the top, select the More tab.
4. Select the category you want to change.
5. Next to the attribute (the recycling one), select Yes or No.
6. When you’re finished updating your attributes, select Save.

Some Differences 

It should be noted, however, that some attributes are only available in certain countries or regions, or to certain business categories. Also, attribute names may change over time to match changing search language.

Different type of businesses may also have different attributes available to add to their Business Profile, e.g. acceptable payment types or LGBTQ+ friendly.

What Does This Mean For Your Organisation? 

With large numbers of consumers now interested in sustainability, supporting and favouring eco-friendly brands, especially with Google searches for local businesses offering recycling increasing, this new attribute has the potential to deliver more enquiries to those who add the attribute. Standing out in the search engine results and in Google maps for recycling searches could, therefore, translate into more business as well as contributing to sustainability and the circular economy. Considering how easy it is to add the attribute, businesses have nothing to lose and potentially a lot to gain from doing so.

In this insight, we look at the history of fears about a possible link between mobile phone usage and cancer, then we look at the latest studies, conclusions, and expert opinions.

History  

Claims that mobile phones could cause cancer (e.g. brain tumours) can be traced back to the 1990s when mobile phones were first used frequently. This led to research into whether radiation from mobile phone antennas or phone towers was affecting human health. This also led to the International EMF (Electric and Magnetic Fields) Project in 1996 which assessed the scientific evidence of possible health effects of EMF in the frequency range from 0 to 300 GHz. The research and advice fuelled widespread fears and speculation about a link between mobile phone use and cancer. Brain cancer was a particular focus because hand-held phones are used close to the head and because ionizing radiation has been found to cause some brain cancers. However, as was established later, ionizing radiation is a higher energy form of radiation than that emitted by mobile phones.

Also, in 2011, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer said that it was classifying electromagnetic fields from mobile phones and other sources as “possibly carcinogenic to humans.” This resulted in the agency advising the public to adopt safety measures to reduce exposure, such as using of hands-free devices, or texting. This again added fuel to the idea that mobile phone use was dangerous.

Threats – Two Types  

The two main perceived threats to health possibly cause by mobile phone use are, therefore, the emission of possibly harmful radiation (radiofrequency radiation, or radio waves), and the widespread and frequent use of mobile phones by the public. For example, 90 per cent of people in the UK now own a mobile phone (Statista).

Claims  

Many of those who argue that mobile phones do cause tumour growth (also DNA damage and decreased fertility) cite peer-reviewed studies. They also claim that cancers take 20-30 years to develop and that mobile phone studies have only monitored periods of 10 years or less.

There have also been some successful lawsuits against mobile phone manufacturers. For example, two separate cases in Italy, in 2009 and 2017 resulted in pensions being awarded to plaintiffs who claimed that their benign brain tumours were caused by prolonged mobile phone use in professional tasks, for 5–6 hours a day.

New Study Says ‘No Link’  

A new study involving more than 770,000 women has concluded that mobile phone usage does not pose a tumour risk for the average user. The survey was conducted by scientists from the Oxford Population Health and International Agency for Research on Cancer used data from the ongoing research project ‘Million Women Study’ (recruiting one in four of all UK women born between 1935 and 1950).

The study looked at the risk of a variety of brain tumours including glioma (nervous system tumour), acoustic neuroma (tumour of the nerve connecting the brain and inner ear), meningioma (a tumour on the membrane surrounding the brain), and pituitary gland tumours.

14-Year Follow-Up Period  

After a 14-year follow-up period of the 3,000+ women who developed a brain tumour, the researchers were able to conclude that there was no significance difference in the risk of developing a brain tumour between those using a mobile phone or those not using one. Also, the researchers concluded that even for those who spoke for at least 20 minutes a week or had used a mobile phone for over 10 years, there was no increased risk of developing any type of tumour.

Radiation From Mobile Phones Is Not Harmful  

Mobile phones emit radiation in the radiofrequency region of the electromagnetic spectrum, but the ranges of the frequencies in mobile phones fall in the non-ionizing range of the spectrum, which is low frequency and low energy. This means that the energy is too low to damage DNA.

Cancer Research UK & National Cancer Institute (US)  

The charity Cancer Research UK states that: “Using mobile phones does not increase the risk of cancer. And there aren’t any good explanations for how mobile phones could cause cancer.”  

The National Cancer Institute in the US says: “The evidence to date suggests that cell phone use does not cause brain or other kinds of cancer in humans”. Also, on the subject of potentially damaging radiation from mobile phones, it says: “The human body does absorb energy from devices that emit radiofrequency radiation” causing heating to the area of the body where a cell phone is held (e.g. the ear and head). However, it also states: “that heating is not sufficient to measurably increase core body temperature. There are no other clearly established dangerous health effects on the human body from radiofrequency radiation.”  

What About 5G?  

There have been many fears about the possible cancer risks of 5G

Cancer Research UK is very clear about this subject, stating that: “4g and 5g mobile signals do not cause cancer” and that “5G networks use higher frequency waves than 4G or older mobile networks, but they still don’t have enough energy to damage DNA to cause cancer”. 

What Does This Mean For Your Business?  

Many people in business now use their smartphone for multiple aspects of their business meaning that they are in close contact with their mobile phone for many hours per day, every day with everything from calls to texts, app use, online meetings, and collaborative working. Their use of their mobile phones may have even increased during and after the pandemic with remote working. It is, therefore, in everyone’s interest to know if mobile phone use causes cancer. Thankfully, as shown by this latest survey (although critics say it only involved women) and supported by other credible research and advice from respected cancer charities, there is no solid evidence to suggest that mobile phone use causes cancer. 5g has yet to be fully rolled out and more studies are likely to follow but the current consensus is that 5g will not pose any cancer risk.

A report by SEO software firm SEMrush has shown that so-called ‘Dumbphones’ are experiencing a revival, but why?

What Is A ‘Dumbphone’?  

Dumbphones are mobile handsets that lack the advanced functionality characteristics of a smartphone and typically have press-button based inputs, a small non-touch display, and can just make and receive calls and SMS text messages.

Google Searches – 89 Per Cent Jump Between 2018 and 2021  

A report by SEMrush has shown that Google searches for dumbphones, also known as ‘feature phones’, rose by 89 per cent between 2018 and 2021. This supports a previous report by Counterpoint in 2019 which predicted that more than one billion feature phones would be sold over the next three years.

Why So Popular, Again? 

There are several reasons why dumbphones/feature-phones (which are very much like many of the early handsets of the late 1990s in appearance and functionality) are experiencing a surge in popularity. These include:

– Fashion and nostalgia. For example, dumbphones appearing in TikTok videos, and Nokia’s relaunching of its popular 3310 handset in 2017.

– Not wanting to waste time that could be used for more productive activities, i.e. escaping from constantly liking, sharing, commenting etc on social media.

– Affordability. More than three billion people across the world live on an income of less than US $2.50 per day which makes new smartphones unaffordable. Also, where users need to upgrade to 4G but can’t afford a 4G smartphone, they need to be offered a 4G VoLTE feature phones on a more efficient 4G network.

– Longer battery life. For example, emerging markets such as India and Nigeria have the greatest number of people without access to electricity (using public charging points). This makes the longer battery life of feature phones more attractive.

– The strength and durability of feature phones. For example, in some industries (construction) and in hostile environments around the world, dumbphones can withstand more punishment than smartphones.

– Health benefits of using dumbphones compared to smartphones, such as better sleep and the health benefits of moving around and getting out more. Smartphone addiction has been linked to poor sleep. For example, research led by the Department of Biostatistics and Health Informatics, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London (2021) found that 39 per cent of young adults reported smartphone addiction. Also, smartphone addiction was found to be associated with poor sleep, independent of duration of usage. Also, research in China, led by the Department of Sports and Health, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou (2020) found that problematic smartphone usage was positively correlated with sedentary behaviour (reclining, sitting, or lying down). Sedentary behaviour is known to negatively impact health independent of other factors including body weight, diet, and physical activity.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?  

Thinking globally, there are many practical reasons why dumbphones/feature phones are prevalent, not least their affordability, battery life, and their ability to withstand the challenges of hostile environments. This is why India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Pakistan, and South Africa are key markets and provide business opportunities for manufacturers selling feature phones. In the UK and US, however, their popularity may be more a case of fashion and nostalgia, which still means that there are opportunities for phone manufacturers to re-introduce their early models, thereby reviving rather than prolonging a product life cycle that appeared to have died. As users, we may find that there are many physical and mental health benefits from switching to a limited feature phone which could have a positive effect on our quality of life in the right circumstances. However, with apps now being used to access more services, the stress and problems caused by not being able to access those services and missing out on the convenience and control offered by smartphone apps could outweigh some of the benefits of owning only a dumbphone.

In this article, we look at what the digital switchover is, why it’s needed, what the challenges are, and why it’s now been paused.

The Switch To ‘Digital Voice’

Back in April 2021, BT Openreach announced that starting from the end of the year and finishing in 2025, it would be “switching off the UK telephone network as we know it” by moving 15 million lines (some figures say switching 29 million home landlines) to a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) based replacement telephone service. The big switchover to digital was branded ‘Digital Voice’.

In essence, this means that the Internet (broadband) will be used to digitally carry telephone calls rather than traditional copper wires, i.e. landline voice calls will be transmitted digitally.  In individual homes for example, this will mean that people will plug a new digital phone, powered by mains electricity, into their router rather than a socket in the wall.

End For ISDN Too 

Switching off the UK’s traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN) will also mean the end for ISDN because it uses the copper wire phone network.  Also, BT Openreach will not be accepting new orders for PSTN, and ISDN2 and ISDN30 services after September 2023.

Why? 

As noted by Ofcom, the old PSTN is reaching the end of its life and is becoming increasingly difficult and costly to maintain, and Openreach may be looking to ditch the legacy copper network completely, so it won’t have to pay to run two parallel networks. Also, there are now more up-to-date alternatives that are compatible with how we communicate today, i.e. mobile and Internet communications. Broadly speaking, some advantages for customers of the switch-over to VoIP could include:

– VoIP offers a greater breadth of capabilities.

– Cost savings and fewer system failures and outages and reduced complexity for providers.

– Scalability and portability (VoIP phone systems can go wherever the company goes).

– Greater communications-mobility, flexibility, and increased productivity and collaboration. The importance of this has been particularly well-illustrated with the need to use remote, cloud-based communications and collaborative working platforms during the pandemic.

– Better security that’s continuously updated.

– Greater reliability.

– Improved customer experiences.

– Clearer calls, making it easier to keep existing numbers, and the choice to have broadband provided separately from the telephone service.

– Better identification and prevention of nuisance calls, thereby saving businesses time and money and potentially protecting against scammers.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong? 

It was anticipated that there would be several possible challenges in pushing ahead with such a big change in a relatively short time frame. These included:

– Potential problems with latency.

– Vulnerability to phone systems going down and causing (costly) business disruption if there’s a broadband outage or if the electricity supply is interrupted.

– Older customers and/or customers in rural areas/areas poorly served by broadband may be at a disadvantage.

– A lack of awareness in the marketplace about the planned switch-over, and many small businesses in the UK are still using legacy lines.

-1.5 million homes don’t have access to the Internet (according to watchdog Ofcom). This could mean excluding them.

– Fears that millions more don’t have a mobile phone, or don’t know how to use one properly (a worry expressed by Charity Age UK).

Downstream Services An Area of Concern Too 

Ofcom and Openreach also acknowledged that a big area of concern, if preparations are not made sufficiently for the switch-over, are how downstream services may be affected. These include security and fire alarms, telecare devices and panic alarms, retail payment terminals/EPOS, and equipment for monitoring and controlling networks.  Specifically, these downstream services rely on some attributes of the old copper PSTN that may not be fully replicated in VoIP-based platforms, hence the importance of adequate preparation before the big switch-over in 2025.

Criticism From Pensioner Groups 

In November 2021, BT Openreach’ s Digital Voice switchover plans were criticised by pensioner groups. Jan Shortt, general secretary of the National Pensioners Convention said that “If there is a power cut, this digital phone line will no longer work – and a potential lifeline for elderly people will be suddenly lost”. Also, Jan Shortt pointed out that “BT has no idea that many older people do not want a fancy smartphone or cannot afford one – and rely on their landline as a lifeline. It is wrong to discriminate against those – primarily the elderly – who are not wired up to the internet”. 

Challenges Highlighted By Storms 

The autumn storms of 2021 are reported to have left customers in rural Northumberland without phone capability for several days. This was because there were power cuts, and their landlines that had already been converted to Digital Voice, which requires electricity and an internet connection to work. Although (as required by Ofcom regulations), customers were supplied with a back-up battery pack for emergency power, this only lasted one hour. The result was that the Berwick MP, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, met with BT Openreach earlier this year and asked them to pause the rollout of Digital Voice and put in place alternative systems that could improve resilience.

Concerns have also been expressed that many that those in rural areas are generally not ready for the move over to digital to carry out everyday functions.

Rollout Of ‘Digital Voice’ Switchover Now Paused 

The incidents with the storms, concerns from age charities, concerns about rural communities and low levels of awareness about the planned changeover have all contributed to BT Openreach announcing that the rollout of the Digital Voice switchover is being paused. As expressed by BT Consumer CEO Marc Allera: “We underestimated the disruptive impact this upgrade would have on some of our customers. With hindsight we went too early, before many customers – particularly those who rely more heavily on landlines – understood why this change is necessary and what they needed to do.” Mr Allera has also said that “we acknowledge we have more work to do and will get on with putting these solutions in place to better help our customers go through this change” and said that BT will work power companies to enhance the resiliency of the network, achieve faster power restoration, and provide better back-up solutions. Mr Allera has also said that BT is pausing all further Digital Voice switchovers for any customers who don’t want to move to the new technology straight away.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

For most businesses with an Internet connection and not in rural areas, and whose communications abilities weren’t disrupted by storms, the changeover looked as though it could be relatively trouble-free. It was also thought when the rollout began that if there is adequate information and support given by the regulator and BT Openreach, and coordination among communications service providers (CSPs), and adequate advice and help for downstream providers, then change should be manageable, and disruption minimised. However, there has been concern that sectors and organisations vital to UK business and infrastructure, that still rely on some attributes of the PSTN that may not be fully replicated in VoIP-based platforms may need extra help. As it turns out, however, the storms highlighted a lack of resilience in the new system and risks to and concerns by vulnerable groups, e.g. the elderly. It also highlighted how rural areas need extra help, and how power companies need to be involved and how these issues were not fully anticipated. BT has now acknowledged the issues, apologised, and halted the roll-out. For businesses that have already spent time planning and arranging for the change and anticipating the benefits of the switchover, this is likely to be frustrating. For downstream services, and some sectors and businesses where there were more complicated potential issues, the pause may provide some valuable extra time to prepare.

WhatsApp has announced that it will soon be introducing some new features to improve its voice messaging.

Voice Messaging  

WhatsApp’s voice messaging, introduced back in 2013, saves typing and is a fast way and free way to send expressive, encrypted messages. WhatsApp says that its users send 7 billion voice messages on average every day. WhatsApp is owned by Facebook/Meta and has been introducing more new features over the last two years to help it to compete with other messaging services like Snapchat.

The new features, to be rolled out in the next few weeks are:

– The ‘Out of Chat Playback’ feature which enables users to listen to a voice message outside of the chat, thereby allowing users to “multitask” or read and respond to other messages. This feature is particularly handy for listening to longer messages.

– The new ‘Pause/Resume Recording’ feature helps users to improve the content of their messages by giving them the option to pause the recording and resume when ready. This makes it easier, e.g. if interrupted while recording or if a bit more time is needed to structure and get all relevant thoughts into the message before hitting send.

– ‘Waveform Visualization’ shows users a visual representation of the sound on the voice message, making it easier for users to follow the recording.

– With ‘Draft Preview’, users can listen to voice messages before sending them. This can be very helpful for more important messages.

– Sometimes users can be interrupted when listening to a voice message. The ‘Remember Playback’ can save time by allowing users to pause when listening to a voice message, so that a user can pick up where they left off when returning to the chat rather than having to listen to the whole thing again.

– Another time-saving feature is ‘Fast Playback on Forwarded Messages’. This feature allows users to play voice messages at 1.5x or 2x speeds and listen to messages faster on both regular and forwarded messages.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?  

These new features to update WhatsApp’s voice messing, which has been around since 2013, is one of many updates to help WhatsApp stay popular and competitive, add value, and fend-off rivals. For example, in January Snapchat announced a major update (for iOS) which included improved calling, ‘Chat Replies’, Bitmoji Reactions (to allow for more expression), and Poll Stickers to enable emoji-powered polls in Snaps and Stories to survey friends. WhatsApp has added several new features over the last year or so including ‘View Once’ for photos and Vanishing Messages, both of which were to protect users and their privacy and to compete with Snapchat’s ‘Stories’. Many of WhatsApp’s new features are also part of a plan to consolidate and leverage the power of its other popular apps by integrating and making Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram interoperable. Last year, Facebook also announced that WhatsApp was beta testing multi-device capability so that it could be used on a smartphone and up to four other non-phone devices simultaneously, even if the phone battery was dead. This was a move to make it even more appealing to multi-device owning (business) users, an important market for WhatsApp, following on from the launch of WhatsApp Business back in 2018 which was designed with small businesses in mind. These latest voice messaging features show that the fight to stay at the top of the free encrypted messaging app market is still very much on and it is likely that more features will be added soon by WhatsApp and its rivals as part of this fight. It can only really be good news for users while the app remains free and encrypted as it increases their capabilities on an already familiar platform.

Following the discovery of a ‘zero-day’ vulnerability in its Chrome browser, Google has advised users to update Chrome to version 99.04844.84 or later. This security issue also affects the Microsoft’s Edge browser because it uses the same underlying technology as Chrome. Microsoft is, therefore, also advising users to install the latest Edge security updates.