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AFTER FACEBOOK’S INVESTMENT JIO PLATFORMS RECEIVE FUNDING FROM SILVER LAKE

Leave a Comment / Social media, Tech News / By Annasha

The network services globally are trying to strengthen their foundation in this emergency period. People are relying on mobile phone and internet services to communicate with their loved ones in such a crisis. So, it is one of the topmost priorities of the networking companies to improve their communication system. With the lockdown continuing for over a month, many companies are also strategizing for the post-pandemic period. In India, Jio Platforms is currently the widest and largest telecom operator. After Jio has established in our country, millions of people have received access to the internet and that is the reason companies like Facebook and Silver lake are investing in JIO. This means the network of Jio is making the basic means of communication affordable to every citizen of India. And, a company with such potential is bound to draw the attention of big investors.

Facebook’s investment

Last month, Facebook announced that it will be investing $5.7 billion in Reliance subsidiary Jio Platforms. This made Facebook the largest minority shareholder of Jio Platforms. Facebook said that if social media platforms partners with the largest network enterprise of India, it can bring a revolution. This investment was made with a strong mission to connect more people through the power of Whatsapp and Jio’s small businesses.

Who is the new investor?

After a few weeks, Jio receives a huge amount of funding from a private equity firm, Silver Lake. The new investor has announced its partnership with Jio Platforms today. Silver Lake is investing around $746.8 million in Jio which will help the company gain 1.15% of its stake. The valuation of this stake rounds up to $65 billion and the company is willing to pay a premium as well (12.5% premium).

Silver Lake is a private equity firm based on Menlo Park, California, United States. The company has invested in many tech giants making it one of the largest technology investors around the globe. The company’s total combined assets and committed capital round up to $40 billion. Founded in 1999, Silver Lake has made investments in more than 40 companies through minority growth investments, PIPE investments, and leveraged buyout transactions.

Some of the biggest companies that Silver Lake has invested in are Dell, Alibaba, Seagate Technology, IMG Worldwide, Skype, etc. The company has already invested in Airbnb, Twitter, and Waymo this year. After investing in Eka, this is the second time Silver Lake is investing in an Indian enterprise.

Jio Platforms and Silver Lake

Ambani said that’s several firms are showing interest in investing in Jio Platforms. With the recent developments in the Indian telecom industry taking place due to Jio, it is obvious to attract investors. Ambani has invested over $30 billion to make Jio Platforms a big success over the years. And, he believes that after partnering with Facebook for e-commerce, Silver Lake will help in expanding its service.

In response to coming into a joint venture with Silver Lake, Ambani said that it’s outstanding to have such a valuable partner onboard. Moreover, Silver Lake being one of the most famous investors for tech has an advantage. He is looking forward to making significant contributions along with Silver Lake to transform the Indian Digital Society.

Although Jio Platforms is selling 1.15% of its stake, the class of shares is still vague. The company hasn’t shown much light on this topic. But, if the class of shares is the same as it sold to Facebook, there are high chances Jio Platforms is planning to file an IPO. Currently, the main target of the company is to cut its net debt from $21 billion to zero by next year. Also, due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus, the company has suffered huge losses in the sector of petrochemicals and oil refining. So, the company is looking forward to making up the damages through this new partnership.

An already powerful platform

From the beginning of Jio’s establishment, it has been a very strong service provider. Jio Platforms is the most valued subsidiary of Reliance Industries according to the market value. After the company was launched until now, it has managed to provide 338 million people with internet and other mobile services. Jio realized the importance of digital services and thus targeted low-cost digital services for mass consumers.

Egon Durban, co-chief executive and managing partner of Silver Lake said that Jio has extraordinary engineering capabilities. And, they are honored to have partnered with Jio to help them get once step closer toward the digital goal.

Annasha

Annasha Dey is an NIT student, who apart from studying engineering is also a content writer. She has a great interest in photography, writing, reading novels, and travelling as well. She is a foodie who loves socializing and hanging out with her friends. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and a big fashion enthusiast. Dey also loves watching TV series, which includes F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Big Bang Theory. To be a better writer she prefers to read more

FACEBOOK BECOMES THE LARGEST MINORITY SHAREHOLDER OF RELIANCE SUBSIDIARY JIO

The adaptability of people with the internet is booming in this era of digitalization. We Indians have especially engrossed ourselves in the technical development for a while now. Many companies are showing genuine interest in Indian social and economic growth. Because India is going through a rapid transformation in the sphere of economy our world has ever witnessed. And, it is happening mostly due to the involvement of India in digital technologies. With every passing day, people are showing enthusiasm to use the internet do to something valuable. They are learning new skills, opening small businesses, etc. Within the last five years, around 500 million people got internet access in India. This led one of the biggest social media platforms to invest in Jio Platforms, the technical division of Reliance Industries.

The Investment

Jio is a Reliance subsidiary that provides broadband, mobile services, and online commerce stage to the Indian people. It is one of the leading internet platforms in India currently. So, what can be better than the gigantic social media platform collaborating with one of the largest network enterprises? Facebook announced that it is investing $5.7 billion in Jio Platforms, thus making Facebook its largest minority shareholder. This deal has summed up Jio’s value to $65.95 billion.

Facebook already has a mammoth size market in India. It has the largest number of Whatsapp users from our country, that is, 400 million users. So, further investment in the Indian market will help the company operate more effectively and contribute to the digital economy. Everything happens today with a few swipes on our mobile screen. And, Facebook aspires to connect more people through the power of Whatsapp and fuel Jio’s small businesses like JioMart.

A New Partnership

Facebook says that Jio has gone through some excellent development in less than three years of its launch. Moreover, after Jio has come into the market, the number of Internet users in India has escalated very fast. So, the company looks forward to opening new opportunities for people through the services of Jio. Already, 388 million people are using the internet service of Jio and the number is expected to rise soon.

Facebook is currently targeting small businesses in India. There are around 60 million small enterprises that can grow bigger with stronger connectivity. But, the pandemic of COVID-19 is indicating a huge downfall in the economy which will affect these small businesses. So, responding in the need of the hour, Facebook along with Jio commits to helping businesses grow again. With affordable internet collection and a huge audience, businesses can digital and hence expand internationally.

Something big is coming up

Facebook and Jio have come together to make a stronger community in the sphere of digital business. The plan is to make a new app that will connect people around the world and help in purchasing products as well. Though, the companies didn’t make any big announcement about releasing the app as it is an ongoing project. The companies want to create something similar to WeChat, a multipurpose app for the Indian market.

Delays have been caused in this project due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus. But, it is clear that a multipurpose app is coming in its way. It will help people buy groceries, do shopping, and also make the payment from JioMoney. But, the final model of this new business isn’t clear yet. Reliance has not mentioned if there will be more than one investor for Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail. But, both the companies have set off to launch this new super at the earliest.

Future planning

The whole world is losing its financial stability due to the lockdown. Recently, the oil price has also gone negative. But, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance brings a ray of hope. He said that this new collaboration will help Indi recover economically during the post-Corona phase. So, Reliance is looking forward to a long time commitment with Facebook to heal and embrace the digital environment of India.

With this new partnership, it is predicted that India might have 2.1 billion devices connected to the internet by 2023. In this collaboration, Morgan Stanley acted as the financial advisor of Jio Platforms. This partnership will open new opportunities for the people of India.

Annasha

Facebook’s Oculus Quest to Get a New UI Revamp

Leave a Comment / Social media, Tech News / By Athulya

The coronavirus has impacted the tech world the same way it has hit the healthcare industry. The presence of the COVID-19 and its aggressive transmission across Europe and the US, has led to the mass cancellation of conferences. Across the world, major tech companies are having no option but to cancel their developer conferences and meetings. Some of the major conferences canceled have come from Facebook, Google, and even the Microsoft Build conference. However, Facebook seems to be compensating by indulging in other announcements. While their Game Developers Conference could not take place as planned, Facebook is now creating ripples by making Oculus-related announcements. Here’s a look at everything you need to know regarding these announcements and what this means for the tech world.

Game Developers Showcase

Facebook has been making announcements regarding the Oculus series via a Game Developers Showcase. The biggest news which has come through is that Facebook’s Oculus Quest will be undergoing a huge UI change which will help the company implement more VR functionalities. The UI now works through a somewhat confusing menu system that floats around a space that resembles a virtual living room. This menu appears whenever the user presses the main Oculus button. However, the new menu will get rid of this style, and replace it with a more minimal, and easily navigable menu. Also, this new system will bring all the applications available under one access system, which will make it easier for the user to access any application, right from the home screen. The new menu will also enable users to access the Quest’s volume and brightness controls. The immersive overlay also helps users access several functionalities such as live streaming, casting and approving updates.

Additional Features

Furthermore, the new system will host a new feature that supports multi-window functionality within the Quest’s in-built browser. This will help users rearrange their windows, open new ones and close existing ones with ease. Therefore, from now on users will be able to watch a football game in one window while handling their work emails in the second one and even check their Facebook profile on the side using the third screen. Also, the company has announced that the same feature will soon be available for AppStore and Chats. Facebook explained that these added functionalities would help the system support new VR technologies. The VR set of the future requires people to be able to multitask with ease, while also staying connected with loved ones efficiently. Everything from the gaming industry to the entertainment field will be transformed by this new update and VR will finally grow to become the next biggest thing in computing.

The Oculus Quest

The Oculus Quest is essentially a game console now that is highly self-contained, which is exactly how Facebook markets this product. Over 20 titles released by them has brought in more than $1 million in revenues for Facebook, just from Quest alone. Also, the company says that studies show that almost 90% of the people who bought the headset in the holidays, had never owned a product by Oculus before. On Christmas day alone, Oculus stores sold merchandise worth over $5 million, as per Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Hence, Facebook believes that this update will usher in a new age for the company, with more people getting introduced to the world of VR as a result of the product.

These new updates will start hitting the stores by the end of this month. All users have to do to enable them is go to the Settings, click on Experimental Figures and then switch the update on. In 2019 alone, the company boasted over 45,000 employees and this will only increase as the company keeps investing in the company to expand its VR capabilities. Also, supporting these claims is a report from Apex Construct which revealed recently that their game’s Quest version has been the best performing when compared to other versions. Similarly, the Quest version of Red Matter sold more than its Rift version in as little time as a week.

The success of Quest can be primarily associated with its accessibility, fast updates, reliability, and portability. This huge success has also lowered the entry barrier into the world of VR, helping more and more people get introduced to this concept. The demand has been so high that Facebook has failed to match production to demand. The headset went out of stock several times in the past couple of months with the holiday season increasing sales tremendously. Furthermore, the COVID-19 outbreak has had a significant impact on production, leading to a decline in the availability of not just the Quest, but also various other electronics products. However, this new update has excited fans from all over the world, who will now be closely watching the tech space to gather more updates regarding the release of this new version.

Athulya

Being a cinephile with a love for all things outdoorsy, Athulya never misses a chance to chase inspiring stories or poke fun at things, even when the subject is herself. Currently pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering, she is someone innately interested in technical and scientific research. Music reviews and op-eds define her as they allow her to explore different perspectives. Though sometimes she thinks she makes more sense playing the guitar than she does while writing.

Facebook to Gather New Campaign “More Together” in India from Now On

Leave a Comment / Facebook, Tech News / By Athulya

As technology progressed, it helped to make the world a much smaller place. While in the past, people had to rely on letters to communicate with people living far away, as we moved ahead, faster, more efficient means developed. The world is moving towards a digital era, wherein we all have our digital personas on the world wide web. Social media has evolved to become an integral part of our lives, and most of us have accounts on multiple platforms. As the degree of internet penetration continues to rise, more and more people will join social media networks such as Instagram and Facebook. In fact, the competition amongst social media networking sites is so high that several of them have had to shut down due to a lack of an active user base. So how do social media sites ensure that they stay relevant and attract new users? Here’s a look at how Facebook is trying to stay on top of the game through an innovative marketing campaign.

What’s More Together About?

Social media giant, Facebook announced on Monday that it was going to launch a new campaign, More Together, in a bid to attract more new users in India. The initiative will focus on the app and will work towards making the company more relatable and human. One aspect of this program is to highlight stories that showcase the power of the network to bridge gaps and form relationships. This campaign will, therefore, help people realize how the platform has been integral in building connections and sustaining friendships all over the world. This campaign is the first of its kind in India and will go a long way in helping people become even more aware of Facebook’s power to bring people together.

Who’s Behind This Campaign?

The idea for such a campaign came from the Dentsu Aegis Network, which is a creative agency working in India. The plan was conceptualized by the head of this agency, Taproot Dentsu. The plan will see the release of advertisements in over eight Indian languages which will be aired all over the country in the weeks to come. The campaign aims to be a 360-degree strategy that will span across various mediums, such as radio, cinema, and social media.

Why Opt for Such a Campaign?

The main idea behind such a campaign was that in recent years Facebook had stopped telling stories about itself. Also, most of the time when such a story was put out, it was orchestrated by other groups and not by Facebook itself, which led to a divide in the narrative. Facebook India MD, Ajit Mohan believes that a campaign that comes from the social media giant itself will help in reaching out to even more people, as the narrative is extremely informal and personal.

There is a need to change the people’s perspective on Facebook, and such a campaign will help Facebook control its own narrative, as its own app will be at the epicenter of the campaign. Facebook also plans on spending even more on marketing and promotions within the country, and this campaign is just the start of many more things to come in the future.

Other Creative Members

The first TV commercial under this new campaign will release on Saturday and has been directed by none other than, Chak De India! fame Shimit Amin. Pallavi Chakravarti from Dentsu Aegis was given the responsibility to head the copywriting team behind the campaign and has incorporated several real stories from around the country. These stories capture the essence of what Facebook is and showcases it in a very raw light, inspired by real people and their stories.

Complementary advertisements have been led by Bharat Sikka and will feature YourFood Lab expert Sanjyot Kheer, Curly Tales fame Kamiya Jani and Madhuras recipe protégé Madhura Bachal. Furthermore, the ads will also feature Paula McGlynn, Sarang Sathaye, Chhavi Mittal, Varun Pruthi and Maithili Thakur.

All these people have used Facebook to build connections and improve their lives, and hence, will serve as ambassadors for the social media platform. This campaign comes after the brand’s famous decision to change its logo in November of last year and seems to be a continuation of that marketing strategy. Furthermore, the company has also appointed Avinash Pant as the MD for the Indian region.

Athulya

Portal TV: New Video Chat Devices from Facebook for Your Living Room

Leave a Comment / Facebook, News, Product, Tech News / By Yashica Vashishtha

Despite the backlashes for the user’s privacy invasion, Facebook has been always the leader in the field of social media. And, now the company wants to move ahead with its home devices. Last year, the company launched its own video chat device, Portal Plus, which seemed to be vain when people can use their smartphones for video chats. But Facebook had got its plans for the new hardware range. That is why, now the company has unveiled three more home devices in the similar range.

As a part of its connected devices to TV strategy, Facebook has just launched a new video chat and streaming device called Portal TV. The device is specially built for the users to make video calls over Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp, and for that, the company has incorporated a wide-angle video camera and a microphone to the device. The camera is capable of zooming and following the people around the room for the video calls.

Users can log in to their Facebook accounts on the Portal TV by plugging in the Portal device to the HDMI port of the TV, and they are ready to make video calls. The users need to say “Hey Portal” to the device and instruct it to call the particular person (from their friend list). The same procedure goes for Whatsapp. A picture-in-picture feature included in the Portal device lets the users watch Facebook Watch altogether with video calls to their friends, both in one screen.

The company is careful with its users’ privacy this time at least, as Facebook has included the options to turn off the camera and the microphone, simply by tapping on it or by sliding the cover to the camera, whenever they want. Also, like for the Whatsapp chat smartphone app, the chats, video and text, are encrypted, these are encrypted end to end for the Portal TV, too. But again, there is something unusual that the company has included in the device, and that is, human auditors to listen to what the users are talking over the calls to improve the service. Yes, the device will be continuously recording human chattering, and the Facebook contractors will be reviewing the talks. But again, the users can opt-out of this feature anytime.

Other than that, the device also offers streaming various channels, including Amazon Prime, Facebook Watch, Showtime, etc. The users can also play augmented reality games on the TV while making video calls.

The company revealed that it will bring the devices in the market starting from November 5th, and the Portal TV will cost $149.

Along with the Portal TV, the company also announced two more devices, the Portal Mini video chat smart speaker and a redesigned version of its Portal speakers. The Portal Mini costs $129, and the speakers cost $179. These two devices will be available in the market from October 15. However, buying all three devices together will get you an off of $50.

Yashica Vashishtha

Yashica is a Software Engineer turned Content Writer, who loves to write on social causes and expertise in writing technical stuff. She loves to watch movies and explore new places. She believes that you need to live once before you die. So experimenting with her life and career choices, she is trying to live her life to the fullest.

www.xornor.co

Instagram Goes Down Again; Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter Also Faces the Outage

Leave a Comment / News, Social media, Tech News / By Yashica Vashishtha

Reportedly, the major social media apps, including Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, and Twitter, went down for over an hour on Wednesday at 8:45 a.m. ET. The users of these apps around the world reported issues while downloading and sending images, audios, and videos for some time.

It has become quite common for Instagram to go down, in the past few months. But this time, the other three prime apps, FB, Twitter, and Whatsapp, were also facing the same issues at the same time.

Every time the users were trying to see an Instagram post, it was showing the error, “Couldn’t refresh feed” or “Couldn’t load the image. Tap to retry”. Though, the app was able to load the caption under it. Same issues went with Whatsapp multimedia sending and downloading, whereas Facebook was unable to publish the posts.

Twitter users, on the other hand, were unable to direct message. It was showing notification of unread messages, even after the users read the message.

Facebook, while facing these issues, said on the behalf of all its apps in a report, “During one of our routine maintenance operations, we triggered an issue that is making it difficult for some people to upload or send photos and videos. We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”

Where Facebook gave a proper explanation for its app going down, Twitter did not say anything on what caused the issue. But after resolving the issue, Twitter took it to its support handle and wrote, “almost at 100% resolved. There may be some residual effects for a small group of people, but overall your DMs should be working properly now. We appreciate your patience!”

Around 8 p.m. ET, Facebook also said, “The issue has since been resolved and we should be back at 100% for everyone.”

Instagram has been facing such troubles quite often. Last time, it was three weeks ago when the platform faced the interruptions, that too for two hours. Before the four apps went down yesterday, apps like OKCupid, Peloton, Feedly, Discord and DownDetector have also gone down the day before yesterday, after an outage at Cloudflare.