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Mobile Syrup

Toronto-based HVR wants to change the way you browse the internet

Bouncing between social media pages and different websites to access content is a thing of the past, according to the people behind HVR.

HVR is a Toronto-based social media tech company, and it wants to reinvent the way people browse the internet through a mobile app under the same name.

CEO Nelson Thall describes it as a “mobile browser that’s also social,” which makes it “easy to discover and discuss the web in one place.”

He says the app is the “world’s first social surfing platform.” It’s about having everything available in one place, scrapping the need to go between websites and social media apps, and giving website owners their engagement back.

Internet users wanting to discover new content, publishers and brands serve as the target audience.

Thall says the app allows users to follow people and websites to create a curated web page. Users can post comments and photos on the websites they visit through the app.

Mockups of HVR’s platform. Image credit: HVR

“It’s a streamlined way to discuss the articles, brands and products that you love with other people who share your interests,” Thall told MobileSyrup.

Having the option to do that in one place will benefit users and publishers, who’ve had no choice but to give their engagement to social media giants like Twitter and Facebook.

“Discussing the web by copy-pasting and sharing links to countless other platforms is inefficient for users and debilitating for web publishers who rarely receive the full monetization benefits of the conversations happening as a result of their content.”

Thall previously owned shares of Canada’s largest newspaper, the Toronto Star, along with members of his family. It was a practice that ran in the family ever since his grandfather bought a fifth of the company in the 1950s.

Thall told MobileSyrup user engagement was something his family felt “insecure” about. Instead of wanting Thall and his brother to submit photographs of issues around Toronto, they were told there were photographers and journalists to capture that.

“Because of this, there was no way they were going to thrive on the web.” While the family sold off shares, Thall said things didn’t change. People still have to copy links to emails and multiple networks to share thoughts on the web.

Along with his brother Henry, they thought it would be great to have discussions on the web for anyone to see. They asked people how the web could work better for them. The feedback included users wanting to organize and share their passions more easily. Eventually, HVR was born.

HVR also has a site partner program that allows website owners to host and grow their community through the app. Aimed at bloggers, publishers, and brands, it allows website owners to maximize their engagement and earnings while allowing their followers to easily access their content.

While the app is available to download on iOS and Android at this time, only those sent a link by an existing user can sign up. Users can request to be notified on when they can sign up.

Image credit: HVR

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Mobile Syrup

Russia to restrict access to Instagram on March 14th

Following Russia’s media state agency blocking access to Meta-owned Facebook within the nation earlier this month as a response to the social networking restricting multiple state-owned media accounts, Instagram was left unscathed.

Now, according to Russia’s communication and mass media state regulator Roskomnadzor, Instagram will soon suffer the same fate in the country, quoting a temporary change in the platform’s hate speech policy that allows people from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine to publish posts that call for violence against Russian troops along with the Russian and Belarusian presidents.

Russia will implement a ban on Instagram on March 14th, according to a Telegram message from Roskomnadzor, as seen below:

Roskomnadzor says that the nation hasn’t banned Instagram right yet, and users have been given 48 hours to retrieve their photos and videos from the platform. After 12am Russian time on March 14th however, the platform will be inaccessible.

Meta hasn’t released an official statement regarding the upcoming ban of its photo-sharing service yet. Meta-owned WhatsApp is still expected to work in the country.

Image credit: Shutterstock, Telegram

Source: Telegram Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Here are the big tech companies taking action against Russia

The recent illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia has left the general population on both sides appalled. And while the West can’t do much when it comes to taking action on foreign soil, several big tech and social media companies have joined forces and decided to limit, or completely cut off Russia from their services.

Note: This story doesn’t mention any financial sanctions against Russia, and instead focuses solely on social media and big tech restrictions/limitations. This story will be updated with more information as it becomes available.

Apple

Apple announced on Tuesday, March 1st that it has halted all product sales through its web store in Russia.

Heading to the Russian Apple website shows that all items, including iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watch, AirPods and accessories are marked with “в настоящее время недоступно,” which translates to “currently unavailable.”

Further, Apple has disabled live traffic and live incident data from Apple Maps in Ukraine in a bid to safeguard the local population’s locations, in addition to removing Russian state-led news outlets RT News and Sputnik News from its App Store globally, except for those accessing the store in Russia.

Russians are also currently unable to use Apple Pay as the bank that facilitates the transactions in the nation — VTB has been hit with strict economic sanctions.

Reddit

Reddit initially decided to “quarantine” (shadowban) its r/Russia and r/RussiaPolitics subreddits on Tuesday, March 1st in an effort to curb misinformation originating from threads posted by bad actors. Visiting the quarantined subreddit shows a message, stating “This community contains a high volume of information not supported by credible sources.”

Said subreddits were host to posts defending the invasion, and cherry-picking reasons to justify it, including discussions about Ukrainian soldiers being Nazis, the Ukrainian population spreading misinformation and using past war/training drill photos as current and other types of false propaganda.

Since then, Reddit has doubled down on its approach and decided to outright ban any and all links that direct to Russian state-supported media outlets, including RT and Sputnik and said that it will not allow any advertisements that “target Russia or originate from any Russia-based entity, government or private” on its platform.

Netflix

Netflix announced on Wednesday, March 2nd that it has decided to put all future projects it had undertaken in Russia on hold.

The Los Gatos, California-based streaming service had four Russian originals planned, including a Dasha Zhuk-directed crime thriller series that was in the works but has since been put on hold.

Further, Netflix was recently added to Russia’s list of ‘audiovisual services,’ and was due to oblige to new obligations starting March 1st. One of the new obligations was for Netflix to stream 20 Russian federal television stations. Since then, Netflix has responded and said that it won’t comply with the new rules.

Microsoft

In a blog post published on Friday, March 4th, Microsoft president Brad Smith announced that the company will “suspend all new sales” in Russia.

“We are coordinating closely and working in lockstep with the governments of the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom, and we are stopping many aspects of our business in Russia in compliance with governmental sanctions decisions,” Smith wrote.

Microsoft specifies that its decision will only affect “new sales.” It’s currently unclear what that could mean for current Windows, Office, Microsoft 365, Azure, and Xbox users in Russia.

EA

EA, undoubtedly one of the biggest game developers and publishers out there announced that it is removing all Russian club and international teams from its FIFA and NHL titles.

The company announced its decision in simultaneous Tweets posted its FIFA and NHL accounts:

The move from EA further’s the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and Union of European Football Associations’s (UEFA) decision to kick out Russian international and club teams from real-world sports.

In addition, EA is ceasing all operations in Russia and will stop selling its games and content, including virtual currency bundles, in Russia and its ally Belarus. “our games and content will no longer be available for purchase in our Russian region storefront on Origin or the EA app, including through in-game stores. We are also working with our platform partners to remove our titles from their stores and stop the sale of new in-game content in the region,” reads EA’s statement.

Google and YouTube

Google condemns the unjust violence in Ukraine, and as a result, the Mountain View, California-based company has disabled the Live traffic layer, in addition to information on how busy restaurants and stores are from its for Google Maps. The move should deter Russian forces from spotting concentrations of the Ukrainian population, and the ones trying to leave the country but are stuck in long roadblocks on the location and navigation service.

Additionally, on Friday, March 4th Google suspended all of its ad sales in Russia. “In light of the extraordinary circumstances, we’re pausing Google ads in Russia,” the company said in a statement given to Reuters. “The situation is evolving quickly, and we will continue to share updates when appropriate.”

This applies to all of Google’s offerings, including Google Display Advertising, Google Search, Google News and YouTube.

YouTube previously blocked Russian state-backed media outlets like RT and Sputnik from earning ad revenue, but the new rule suspends said channels from running ads completely.

Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram

In response to the ongoing conflict, Meta has blocked state-run media accounts like Russia Today on both Facebook and Instagram in the EU, UK and Ukraine. While the ban only applies to those three regions, the media outlets have been shadowbanned globally. What this means is that the state-run accounts are still live and posting, their content will be severely demoted and not recommended to anyone.

Additionally, state-run media outlets can no longer run earn-through ads on all Meta-owned platforms globally.

As a form of retaliation, the Russian government banned Facebook on Friday, March 4th, stating that the social media company had infringed the country’s rules by limiting, and in some cases, outright abolishing access to state-backed media.

Twitter

Along with Meta and its subsidiaries, Twitter has also taken down Russian state-run media accounts in EU and Ukraine, and paused ads in both Ukraine and Russia “to ensure critical public safety information is elevated and ads don’t detract from it.”

Snapchat

While Snapchat’s private format helps it avoid the spread of misinformation, and its Discover and Spotlight sections are pre-moderated, the Santa Monica, California-based company said that it will be swift to remove instances of misinformation regarding Ukraine or Russia on the platform if and when it finds any.

The company has stopped all advertising in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine and says it will stop advertising sales to all Russian and Belarusian entities. “We do not accept revenue from Russian state-owned entities,” reads its release.

Russia Today, or similar Russian state-backed media outlets were never allowed to distribute content through Snapchat.

Snapchat is still available to users in Russia.

TikTok

TikTok announced on Monday, February 28th that it has geographically blocked access to Russian-state-run media outlets like Sputnik on its platform in the EU. The channels remain available and visible on TikTok for users outside the EU.

Nintendo

On Friday, March 4th, Nintendo announced that it has suspended payments via the Russian Nintendo eShop, which means users in Russia would no longer be able to purchase video games, DLC, or download free demos.

Visiting the website currently shows a message in Russian, which roughly translates to “Due to the fact that the payment service used in Nintendo eShop has suspended the processing of payments in rubles, Nintendo eShop in Russia is temporarily placed into maintenance mode.”

CDProjekt Red

Warsaw, Poland-based CD Projekt Red announced in a Tweet on Thursday, March 3rd that it has decided to pause selling its games in Russia and Belarus. The developer states that it is working with its partners to suspend all digital sales and cease physical stock deliveries, along with halting its game sales through GOG.

“We know that players in Russia and Belarus, individuals who have nothing to do with the invasion of Ukraine, will be impacted by this decision,” reads CDProjekt Red’s statement. “With this action we wish to further galvanize the global community to speak bout what is going on in the heart of Europe.”

Poland, home of CDProjekt Red shares its border with Ukraine and Belarus.

Disney

Disney announced on Tuesday, March 1st that it will stop releasing its theatrical films in Russia.

“Given the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the tragic humanitarian crisis, we are pausing the release of theatrical films in Russia, including the upcoming ‘Turning Red’ from Pixar,” a Disney spokesperson said in statement given to CNN. “We will make future business decisions based on the evolving situation.”

Canadian service providers

Several Canadian TV service providers, including Bell, Rogers, Telus, Shaw, Access Communication and VMedia have pulled the state-backed RT channel from their respective lineups.

Image credit: Shutterstock

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Mobile Syrup

Russian state agency blocks Facebook

Russia’s communication and mass media state regulator Roskomnadzor has blocked social media giant Facebook.

The agency says Facebook has restricted access to various accounts on the platform associated with news backed by the Russian State, including Russia Today and Sputnik.

The statement goes on to say the restriction of Facebook is “to prevent violations of the key principles of the free flow of information and unhindered access Russian users to Russian media on foreign internet platforms.”

Many tech platforms have already restricted activity in Russia. Google has paused its ad sales, and Microsoft and Apple have restricted sales of their services.

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Mobile Syrup

Canada will soon require digital platforms to pay news outlets and broadcasters revenue

June 11, 2019, Brazil. In this photo illustration the Google News logo is displayed on a smartphone.

Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez’s mandate letter calls on him to introduce drastic legislation to equal the news revenue playing field.

The legislation will likely require digital platforms (like Google and Facebook) financially benefiting from Canadian news content to share revenue with news outlets. The mandate letter states Rodriguez will present legislation in early 2022.

But according to recent reporting from Cartt, a timeline to when exactly the legislation will be introduced has not been made public.

The publication does confirm news broadcasters are going to be a part of the new legislation, according to an announcement Rodriguez made at a Canada 2020 event discussing the future of news.

“Minister Rodriguez confirmed last week that broadcasters will benefit from the framework, given the important role they play in producing and providing Canadians access to news,” the spokesperson told Cartt.

The mandate letter also details the legislation will take after Australia’s approach.

Named the “news media bargaining code,” the legislation allows Australia’s Treasury to designate certain digital platforms to share revenues with news platforms they financially benefit from.

But what exactly that will look like in Canada is not clear at this time.

“Further details on the legislative approach will be available in due course,” the spokesperson told Cartt.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: Cartt.ca

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Mobile Syrup

Instagram is rolling out the ability to privately like stories

Instagram is testing out a new feature that will help users keep their inboxes uncluttered. The feature lets users send private likes in reply to a story, instead of having to send a message or an emoji to display their affection.

The messaging functionality, which was first shared by the head of Instagram Adam Mosseri, is now rolling out for all Instagram users.

According to Mosseri, “the idea here is to make sure that people can express more support for each other, but also to clean up DMs a little bit.” As part of the update, a new heart icon will now appear between the pill-shaped send message bar and the airplane icon, when you’re viewing a story.

Before this update, if you had to show appreciation or affection to someone’s story, you’d have to send them a message, and it would pop up in their DMs, but now, all you need to do is press the new heart icon on their story and they will be able to see it in their ‘viewer sheet.’

While not a monumental feature, the new update is sure to help you organize your DMs better, and if you’re on the other side of the equation, make it easier to show love.

Source: @mosseri

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Mobile Syrup

You can get two 10-inch Facebook Portals for $128 [Limited Time]

Facebook has discounted the cost of its 10-inch Portal Smart Display from its regular $249 price tag to $99 on its web store.

What’s even better is that if you purchase two of them, you end up paying only $69 per smart display. This deal is active till the 20th of February.

Normally, you would be paying $498 for two portals, but with the sale, you only pay $198, and with the added discount if you purchase two, you pay only $128 for the pair. The discount is added automatically at checkout if you have two Portals in your cart.

The 10-inch Portal smart display allows users to easily video call with friends and family using Messenger and WhatsApp, even if they don’t have a portal and can double as a photo frame for your favourite photos.

The devices also feature Alexa built-in, which will let you control your smart home, listen to music, watch the news and more. The display features a 13-megapixel built-in camera with a 103-degree field-of-view

The Portal sports front-porting stereo speakers, a rear woofer, and a four-mic array to capture sound, which, along with the camera, can be disabled with a dedicated button.

 

The 10-inch Portal is available in Black and White for $99 each or $128 for a pair here.

MobileSyrup utilizes affiliate partnerships. These partnerships do not influence our editorial content, though we may earn a commission on purchases made via these links that helps fund the journalism provided free on our website.

Image credit: Facebook

Source: Facebook

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Mobile Syrup

You might soon be able to view, mint, buy and sell NFTs on Instagram and Facebook

METAVERSE META FACEBOOK. Silhouette of smartphone with Facebook, Messenger, whatsApp, Instagram, Oculus apps and blurred META logo on background. Rebrand of Facebook. Stafford, UK, October 28, 2021

Meta-owned Instagram and Facebook are reportedly developing new tools that will allow its users to display their Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) as their profile pictures, according to a report from The Financial Times.

Meta, which has already emphasized that it wants to move away from its ‘social media company’ tag and shift its focus to building a virtual reality (VR) metaverse is reportedly planning to host its own NFT marketplace where users would be able to view, mint, buy and sell NFTs on the platform. These plans, however, are in their early stages, and could change.

In December, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri stated that the company was “actively exploring NFTs,” while Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg’s plans are already widely known by now.

Further, Meta’s reported NFT marketplace will make use of Facebook’s digital currency wallet Novi. “A lot of the supporting functionality relating to Novi will be powering the NFTs,” one person with knowledge of the plans told The Financial Times.

While the move is ambitious, Meta is rather late to the party. Twitter is already testing features to showcase NFTs while Reddit has already launched its CryptoSnoos NFT collection.

The move from Meta and Instagram could turn out lucrative. For what it’s worth, at the time of writing, a total of 30,339 NFT sales with a volume of $51 million have transacted today.

Source: Financial Times

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Mobile Syrup

France fines Google, Facebook over confusing cookie accept/reject menus

If you spend much time online, there’s a good chance you’ve visited a website that presented you with a convoluted, confusing menu about cookies. These menus have largely replaced the old banners that appeared at the top of sites that let users know the site used cookies, with the only option being “I accept.”

Most of these confusing menus include an option to reject cookies, which is an improvement over the old banners. However, the new cookie menus also bury those options under a myriad of settings while prominently displaying the ‘Accept’ button. It’s an all-too-common practice meant to drive people to click accept rather than spending their valuable time trying to find an option to reject cookies.

Well, France has fined Google and Facebook for doing just that.

The country’s data protection watchdog CNIL fined Google €150 million (about $215.8 million CAD) and Facebook €60 million (about $86.3 million CAD). Yes, that’s not nearly enough considering the insane amount of money these companies make, but hey, it’s a start.

CNIL says both companies hid options to reject cookies

With Google, CNIL notes that the company’s websites (including YouTube) let users accept all cookies with a single click. However, to reject cookies, users must click through several different menu items. As such, CNIL felt that it discouraged users from refusing cookies since it was significantly easier to accept them.

Facebook, on the other hand, set up a menu that required users to click a button labelled ‘Accept cookies’ before they could refuse cookies. CNIL said that the label “necessarily generates confusion” and may cause users to think it’s not possible to reject cookies. Moreover, Facebook hid that button behind several clicks while the site prominently displays the ‘Accept cookies’ button.

As The Verge explains, EU law says that when citizens hand over data online, they must do so freely and with a full understanding of the choice they’re making. CNIL believes Google and Facebook are effectively tricking users with the confusing cookie menus, thus breaking the law.

Both companies have three months to fix the cookie menus — failure to do so will risk additional fines of €100,000 (about $143,862 CAD) per day.

Fines will hopefully lead to clear, concise cookie menus

Another interesting tidbit is that CNIL acted under the authority of the EU’s older ePrivacy Directive rather than the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). TechCrunch has a much more detailed explanation of why CNIL went this route. The short version is that GDPR enforcement is funnelled through the data watchdog in Ireland, which also happens to be where many U.S. tech firms locate their European headquarters. The Irish watchdog tends to be slow when it comes to dealing with issues like this (as The Verge points out, perhaps because of a friendly regulatory environment designed to attract U.S. tech firms in the first place). You can read more about that here.

Obviously, fines in France won’t do much to benefit other places — for example, Canada. Still, it’s important to pay attention to these events since they can influence regulatory moves in other places. The CNIL fines may lead to better cookie menus for people who live in France and could pave the way for regulatory agencies in other countries to take similar action.

Ultimately, making it easier for people to reject cookies on websites is not the be-all and end-all of data privacy regulation. There is a lot more that can (and should) be done, but I’ll take the little victories along the way.

On another note, I am well aware that MobileSyrup does not currently give visitors a choice when it comes to cookies.

Source: CNIL, (2), (3) Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Facebook’s 10-inch Portal Smart display is $130 off at Amazon

Facebook’s Portal smart video calling display is currently discounted on Amazon Canada’s website.

Below are all of the Facebook Portal deals:

Facebook’s Portal smart video calling displays allow users to easily video call with friends and family using Messenger and WhatsApp, even if they don’t have a portal.

The devices also feature Alexa built-in, which will let you control your smart home, listen to music, watch the news and more.

The products are on sale for a limited time.

Check out the sale, here.

MobileSyrup utilizes affiliate partnerships. These partnerships do not influence our editorial content, though MobileSyrup may earn a commission on purchases made via these links that helps fund the journalism provided free on our website.

Source: Amazon