1. Meta Cracks Down On Phishing Scams That Use Its Trademarks (TheVerge)

Meta is suing the criminal actors who allegedly impersonated Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram in order to undertake a phishing fraud. According to the firm, the defendants have constructed over 39,000 websites in an attempt to imitate Meta’s services, misleading consumers and collecting their login information since 2019.

2. Spotify Finds Gen Z Elusive Than The Millennials (Bloomberg)

Spotify is the world’s most popular paid music service, with tens of millions of new subscribers each year. But some company executives have expressed concern about Gen Z in recent months. They are concerned that their product is not being used enough by the younger generation of listeners. In comparison to millennials, Gen Z listens to less podcasts.

3. Google Is Turning Off Controls For OnHub Routers In 2022 (AndroidPolice)

Google launched OnHub in 2015, a $200 router-smart home hub hybrid with an easy-to-use app. A year later, it released Google Wifi, a less priced router that focused on mesh networking rather than smart home capabilities. Google has now finally confirmed that software support for OnHub routers will be discontinued by the end of next year.

4. Social Media App Parler Plans NFT Expansion (Reuters)

Parler, a social networking platform, said that it will expand into non-fungible tokens (NFT), supporting the digital asset’s tremendous rise in recent months. An NFT includes anything from photos to videos to text. The ownership record is kept on the blockchain, which acts as a public ledger that anybody may use to verify the legitimacy of the NFT.

5. TikTok Live Studio Allegedly Violates OBS Licensing Policy (Protocol)

TikTok’s latest video creation tool violates open source licenses as its new Live Studio Windows software uses code from the Open Broadcaster Software project’s popular OBS Studio app and other open source projects without following the terms of the respective open source licensing. Many live streamers use OBS Studio, a popular broadcast tool.

6. Instagram Sues Analytics Company Social Data Trading (MediaPost)

Instagram parent company Meta alleges in a new complaint that the Hong Kong-based firm Social Data Trading stole data from Instagram and utilized the information for a paid analytics service. Social Data Trading, according to Meta, broke Instagram’s terms of service as well as a California state statute prohibiting unauthorized access to computers.

7. Netflix Adds Voice Assistant Technology SoundHound (MediaPost)

Netflix will add a voice assistant provided by SoundHound to Da Vinci Reference Design Kit (RDK). The deal eliminates the requirement for smart TV set-top makers to develop their own voice assistant. They may now combine Netflix’s software with SoundHound’s speech AI to provide hands-free search and control of streaming content and smart home devices.

8. The Long Haul Of Microsoft’s China Localization (TechCrunch)

Microsoft will shut down LinkedIn’s Chinese edition, it launched an alternative, InCareer, via China’s App Store and third-party Android shops on December 13. The new app has the LinkedIn look and feel, texting tool, but lacks the social feed and content publishing features, which would need content policing efforts from Microsoft’s Chinese team.

Samien Kidwai

Hailing from an academic background, I have been an Assistant Professor in Mass Communication with an additional decade of experience in creative writing. I’m passionate about music and theatre with an inclination towards movies. Being an avid reader, I love to scribble my thoughts and ideas when I’m not running behind my 8 year old daughter.