Google Rolls Out Threadit That Lets Users Record and Send TikTok-Like Short Videos for Work

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Google has launched a new tool Threadit, to lets users record short videos like in TikTok or Snapchat, that is shareable with colleagues to discuss work. The software giant says that the recorded-short video allows users to communicate without scheduling meetings or quickly summarise lengthy information. Threadit is available to download from the browser or as a Chrome extension, and the video can be shared in an email or chat. Google states that this helps in “reducing unnecessary meetings while still becoming a tighter-knit team.” To use the tool, users would need to speak straight to the camera or share the screen. Users  can also record multiple short clips that would get stitched together into one cohesive video message.

As expected anyone can reply with their own video message when they are ready. Speaking more over the development, Keller Smith, General Manager at Threadit says, “I would send a Threadit to my colleagues in Japan during my normal working hours in Seattle; they’d respond during the hours that worked for them in Tokyo. Threadit helped us feel like we were working together in person, even though we were responding at different times from across the world.” Similarly, it seems that users can already record short clips and send them to others via channels such as WhatsApp or even via email. The makers of the tool note that since Threadit comes as a browser extension, it is all a matter of convenience.

In case users use the Chrome extension, they can record clips or anything on the screen at any time, even from within Gmail. It is shareable via a link. The latest tool has been built by a team at Area 120, Google’s incubator division, with the aim to make remote working more competent.

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Clubhouse a sandbox for talking ‘influencers’

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Launched nearly a year ago, Clubhouse — which has already encountered a censorship hiccup in China — is looking to establish itself as the standard-bearer for audio-only social media

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An internet spin on talk radio, the new social network Clubhouse has become a sandbox for people tinkering with ways to win fans and make money with audio.

Clubhouse, still invite-only and accessible just through apps on Apple mobile devices, lets users drop into virtual rooms to join hosted conversations on any of a gamut of topics.

Taz Zammit recounted being in a Clubhouse “room” while a beloved DJ made millions of dollars auctioning off musical creations tuned to the hot trend of authentication with “non fungible token” technology.

“It was super exciting for me to get to experience such an amazing moment with him and his family and friends,” said the 26-year-old Australian, who is also a DJ.

Also Read | Twitter to roll out its Clubhouse-like Spaces feature soon for all users

“Those are the rooms that you just cannot get out of. You’ve got to stay there because it’s just too good.”

Launched nearly a year ago, Clubhouse — which has already encountered a censorship hiccup in China — is looking to establish itself as the standard-bearer for audio-only social media.

The concept is simple: once you’re invited to join, you can start or listen to conversations in digital “rooms,” ranging from a talk by someone famous to a chat within a small group.

Clubhouse is already valued at $1 billion and boasts some 10 million users a week.

Its popularity has been boosted by the pandemic and appearances by attention-getting figures such as Tesla founder Elon Musk and Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg.

Also Read | ByteDance developing Clubhouse-like app for China amid copycat rush

“You get a lot of different perspectives, different insights and inputs, that are so real, and timely,” said former television and radio personality Judyth Jernudd, now a leadership coach.

“While it’s still in beta, some of us are using it as a beta, too, for programs and shows we might want to launch.”

Feeling intimate

Unlike most major social media, Clubhouse lets people rest screen-weary eyes or tend to other tasks while feeling engaged in intimate conversations.

Fans are dabbling with ways to weave Clubhouse into their lives with uses like group study or work sessions that are mostly silence.

Facebook is rumored to be working on an audio offering, tentatively called Fireside.

Meanwhile, Twitter has been testing “Spaces” live audio conversations as alternatives to text tweets.

Twitter head of research Nikkia Reveillac said such a move could broaden the appeal of the platform because “some people want to engage in conversations, but have found it difficult to find these spaces, no pun intended, where you can have more nuanced empathetic conversations that are off-timeline.”

Time to tip?

Those able to draw followings or stage online events hope to make money.

Also Read | Clubhouse says reviewing data protection practices after report points to flaws

DigitalMarketing.org founder Gary Henderson advocates using “creator coins,” digital currency personalized with an influencer’s moniker.

“For example, we’re doing some private Clubhouse events,” Henderson said.

Clubhouse planned to test enabling gratuities, ticket sales, or paid memberships.

“They definitely need to start thinking about ways for us to monetize quickly,” said filmmaker Toni Thai, a founder of an Audio Collective creators’ group at Clubhouse.

“I’ve had some really amazing rooms so far and I don’t want to burn out all my great ideas.”

Thai sees Clubhouse one day adding a sophisticated content recommendation system, like Netflix does for television shows or Spotify does for music, and perhaps adding podcasts.

Clubhouse is preparing to welcome all comers, which will ramp up challenges when it comes to keeping exchanges civil in rooms.

Also Read | Clubhouse | The new network on the block

People running rooms can find themselves faced with tough decisions regarding what should or shouldn’t be allowed.

Zammit recalled a Clubhouse conversation with an LGBT theme during which a moderator cut someone off because of what was being said.

“The room had a really great discussion afterward, about how we can’t just silence people just because they have different beliefs to us,” Zammit said.

“But I also felt for the moderator who had to make that call because it was his room. And he wanted to protect that space.”

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YouTube’s Short-Form Video Service ‘Shorts’ Now Rolling Out Globally to Rival TikTok

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Alphabet’s YouTube is rolling out a short-form video-streaming service on its platform in the United States as it looks to better compete with rival TikTok in the hugely popular category. The service, Shorts, let users record mobile friendly vertical videos that can be spiced up with special effects and soundtracks pulled from a music library. “Starting today and over the next several weeks, we’ll gradually expand our Shorts beta to the US,” YouTube said in a blogpost on Thursday, adding it would weave in newer features on the service like the ability to add text at specific points of the video.

YouTube had rolled out the feature in India in September last year, after TikTok was banned in one of its biggest markets. Shorts currently records more than 6.5 billion daily views globally, YouTube said.

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Viral TikTok of Man Skateboarding With Cranberry Juice is Up for Sale as an NFT for $500,000

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What can be an NFT? Well – at this point we’re more like to ask, what can’t be an NFT? Elon Musk may have opted out, but the curve is just starting – the first NFT artwork to be auctioned, the first Oscar-nominated movie to be released as an NFT, the first tweet by Jack Dorsey, the first NFT album. After art and auction houses, (and billionaires) news organizations and galleries also seem to be joining in on the trend. Quartz has converted an article into an NFT, a digital asset that essentially serves as its own certificate of ownership and authenticity. They’re, however, not the first. Associated Press sold its non-fungible token artwork on March 11 for a hefty sum only eight days putting it up for auction. And now there may be a TikTok being sold as an NFT.

A TMZ report stated that viral video star Nathan Apodaca is listing his popular skateboarding TikTok as a non-fungible token, with bids starting at $500,000.

If the name Nathan Apodaca doesn’t ring a bell, his viral video will – in the 23-second long TikTok posted in Sept. 2020, Apodaca (aka @420doggface208) lazily skateboards down an empty street while drinking Ocean Spray cran-raspberry juice and lip-syncing to Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 song “Dreams.”

The video went viral, amassing 12.6 million likes on TikTok alone. It was so popular that thousands of others posting their own versions, including politicians even Fleetwood Mac members, Mick Fleetwood and Stevie Nicks recorded their own versions, and Ocean Spray gifted Apodaca a new truck. He also got his own line of laidback merchandise, reports Mashable.

Currently, the video may not have as much appeal as it aims to – It won’t have the iconic Fleetwood Mac soundtrack since Apodaca does’t have rights to that music, and the Ocean Spray logo will be blurred out for the same reason. Instead, the clip will probably show Apodaca silently skateboarding to work, chugging a nondescript red drink.

An NFT for the $500,000 clip is actually a downgraded product to the one you can already watch for free on the Internet.

Apodaca hopes to use the proceeds of the sale to buy his parents a house, as well as fund an event centre in Idaho Falls, reports Mashable.

When the video had first gone viral, Apodaca, 37, had said his vehicle broke down Sept. 25, so he skated to work, singing, filming and drinking as he went. He almost didnt post the clip, but broke into a smile when all the views and likes started to roll in more than a million after he’d ended his shift that day.

“Ive just been getting flooded with everybody, even just a little boy drinking juice, he said from the RV where he lives in Idaho Falls, Idaho. I think Ive even seen a dog on a skateboard rolling around with some juice taped to him or something. Its insane,” he had added.

He’d also mentioned partnerships and collaborations then and said “I hear of things coming up. But if this just stops right now, Im fine with it. … I’m blessed that everybody’s just happy about this all, just to vibe out for even just 15 to 30 seconds.”

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Some Facebook users can now monetise their short-video posts

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Facebook earns nearly 98% of its revenue from advertising, and retains 45% of ad revenue earned by creators

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Some Facebook users will now be able to make money from their short video posts, provided their viewers watch an ad after 30 seconds into the video.

The social network had earlier permitted monetisation through in-stream ads on videos longer than three minutes, when ads will be flashed after the video runs 60 seconds.

Ads on videos longer than three minutes can now display ads at the 45-second mark, the company said in a statement.

Facebook launched in-stream ads in 2017, allowing creators to earn from videos in the Watch section, including on-demand and live videos. The move was said to help creators boost visibility and enhance engagement. In-stream ads payout grew more than 55% from 2019 to 2020, according to Facebook.

Also Read | Facebook’s feud with Apple may dent ad revenue in 2021

Only users over 18 years of age, with over 10,000 followers, and having 600,000 total minutes viewed from any combination of video uploads are eligible for monetisation. Additionally, they must have five or more active video uploads or live videos, Facebook stated.

The move to promote short videos is an seen as an attempt to popularise Instagram Reels, Facebook’s version of rival TikTok. Recently, Facebook said it is testing a feature to allow users to post Reels to their Facebook profiles. It also said some of its users can earn money through sticker ads on Facebook Stories. Facebook earns nearly 98% of its revenue from advertising, and retains 45% of ad revenue earned by creators.

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Bars Is a New Facebook App That Will Let You Rap Over Pre-Made Beats; A TikTok Killer?

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In a world of creators and short-form videos, there are apps like TikTok and Instagram that give creators and viewers new platforms to create and enjoy content in various formats. Now, Facebook is taking a further step in order to leverage from this ongoing trend of ‘casual entertainment’ as the social media giant has launched a new app that allows users to rap over beats that are provided by the app. The app, named Bars will allow users to post and share videos of them rapping over beats that are provided by the app itself.

Bars lets users create short 60-second videos over them. According to a report in TechCrunch, users can post the video on a TikTok-style feed, where people can watch it and mark is as “fire”. The app also promises “studio quality vocal effects,” including actual AutoTune. According to reports, the app also promises an auto-rhyme dictionary for those who mark themselves as “beginners” in the app’s sign-up page. For those who choose ‘Advanced’ level, Bars promises a Freestyle mode, which gives users eight random words to work into a 16-bar rap.

Bars sounds something our TikTok or Instagram Reels-using readers would want to try out as soon as possible. However, that is not possible as the app is currently in a closed beta, but users can sign up to secure a username and get a place in line for when the app starts opening up. The app has already been listed on the Apple App Store and an Instagram profile for BARS is also live. The app has been listed as BARS – Rapper’s Delight in the App Store listing.



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What Is SAI? The Indian Army Messaging App Said to Go Into Function Starting April 1

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Secure Application for Internet or SAI, is a messaging platform for the Indian Army, developed by the Indian Army. The Indian Army is said to be starting the usage of SAI starting April 1, according to reports. The indegenous app, that supports end-to-end voice, text, and video calling services is similar to commercially available messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, and the recently-launched Sandes.

The Ministry of Defence announced SAI back in October 2020, and said that the Android app scored over on security features with local in-house servers and codes, which can be tweaked as per requirements. The app has been vetter by CERT-in empaneled auditor and the Army Cyber Group, and is currently in the process for filing Intellectual Property Rights hosting infrastructure on the NIC. The app is also under development for iOS and will be utilised by the Indian Army to facilitate secure messaging within the service.

SAI has been developed by Col Sai Shankar and is undergoing the process of getting cyber and security clearance and data testing. SAI is said to be an alternative to WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal.

In July, after the Centre banned 59 Chinese apps, officers of the Indian Army were instructed to remove 89 apps from their mobiles including apps like Daily Hunt, Tinder, Facebook, TikTok, Zoom, and PUBG, which was later banned in September 2020. Last year, the Indian Army also instructed its soldiers to steer clear of WhatsApp for official usage. Even carrying smartphones on bases and dockyars has also been prohibited by the Indian Armed forces.



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