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Devnagiri, an AI-powered translation platform is offering its service for free to celebrate India’s independence. That’s a super offer in a country that speaks thousands of languages.
Heading over to Europe, Google is doing a thing. Its offering alternate billing for some developers. “Some” being the keyword, and it has more than one catch.
Read it all in our latest edition of The Weekly News Wr(app):
1. Google offers alternate billing options but still charging commissions
In a fresh twist of app store policies, Google is offering developers in 27 European countries alternative billing options. This is evidently in preparation for the upcoming Digital Markets Act (DMA) that will be fully implemented by March of 2023.
Google published a blog post to give details relating to the new policy. It said, “As part of our efforts to comply with these new rules, we are announcing a new program to support billing alternatives for European Economic Area (EEA) users. This will mean developers of non-gaming apps can offer their users in the EEA an alternative to Google Play’s billing system when they are paying for digital content and services,”.
As mentioned in the blog post, only developers of non-gaming apps come under Google’s magnanimous offer. But of course, Google is not that generous. They’re reducing commissions from 15% to only 12% for eligible developers.
12% is but a small percentage. Yet developers may be breathing a sigh of relief because, after all, something is better than nothing. What are they supposed to do in a world where only 2 app distributors rule?
We have to admit that this is a step in the right direction. Because no one would’ve imagined Google budging from its position of dominance even a little.
Every little step helps. Regulators in Korea, the US, Japan, and the UK have all brought Google under the scanner. India is also making some moves albeit slowly.
We still await a day when developers and users will have equal rights and full control over their choices.
Source: https://tcrn.ch/3PCDlY7
2. AI-powered platform, Devnagiri offers free translation services to celebrate India’s 76th Independence Day
Devnagiri, a localization service that translates your website or mobile app is offering free translation services for 3 months. This offer started on 18th July and will continue till 17th October.
Localizing your mobile app or website in India has several benefits. Being a linguistically diverse country means it’s necessary to communicate your offerings in as many Indian languages as possible.
This offer by Devnagiri is good PR for them but it also highlights the need for Indian users and developers. Speaking on this, co-founder of Devnagiri Nakul Kundra said “To grow, stay competitive as well as build a personal connection with the local audience, one should speak the language of its people. Until and unless this is done, the progress of India as a nation can never seek sharp spikes.”
We’ve been in the business of localizing for almost a decade now. In fact, one of the pillars of Indus App Bazaar is localization. Just like Devnagiri, we also see the great need to localize for regional users and the potential for developers to reach more users.
So kudos to Devnagiri for the initiative. Let’s digitally onboard more regional users together.
Source: https://bit.ly/3zaMRKX
3. Top startup leaders meet GoI to discuss anti-competitive practices of Big Tech
Former minister of state for finance, Jayant Sinha met CEOs of Flipkart, Ola, Swiggy, Zomato, Paytm, Oyo, and Makemytrip to discuss the anti-competitive practices of big tech firms like Google, Amazon, and Meta.
The main issues of contention were “predatory pricing by these firms and equal access to content across all devices”.
These startups also shared their deep concerns about Google’s Play Store policy of collecting 30% commissions for each digital transaction. Indian developers have till October 31st, 2022 before the policy is implemented.
The CEOs highlighted how governments in other regions are adapting their laws to align with the current digital landscape. This was of course a hint at the DMA. “Digital markets operate differently from traditional markets so the competition law also needs to be developed to address these needs. We have also had discussions with partners and vendors associated with digital platforms,” Jayant Sinha added.
This is an interesting turn of events in India’s digital world. According to reports, government officials will hold a meeting with Amazon, Meta, Twitter, and Google soon.
Such meetings may shape the future of digital India.
We can only wait and see.
Source: https://bit.ly/3Scv6E2
4. You can upload carousels on LinkedIn with this new feature
LinkedIn has been slow to the game but it’s finally allowing users to upload carousels natively. Earlier users had to hack their way by uploading PDFs to display carousels on their feed.
Now, however, users have an option on the platform with the new “Carousels” feature. LinkedIn will guide users through the uploading process. Plus, you can edit your carousel as you like with this feature. To confirm the news, Jake Poses from LinkedIn made a video announcement from his LinkedIn profile.
The feature is yet to be available to everyone with only a few thousand creators able to access the feature right now. It’ll be available for everyone by October-November this year.
Source: https://bit.ly/3osXLXG
5. Netflix’s cheaper ad-based subscription to include fewer titles
Netflix recently announced a cheaper ad-based subscription option to attract more users. This came at a time when they were losing more subscribers than ever before and reporting losses in earnings.
The latest development from the streaming service giant seems off-putting but is a sensible one for them. They’re only including original titles in the ad-based subscription. Given that licensing costs of other titles are volatile due to the competition, it seems like a wise move for them. But newer users may feel the pinch of missing out on the entire catalog. This may in turn lead them to go for the ad-free subscription but that is mere speculation now.
Netflix is clinging on to hope with this new subscription because they lost almost a million subscribers when they checked last.
Source: https://bit.ly/3zxwHg6
6. WhatsApp testing quick reactions for Status Updates
WhatsApp is looking to add a feature that would allow you to react to a contact’s status update without having to reply to it.
This is something similar to the emoji reactions WhatsApp introduced earlier this year.
This feels like a useful feature if you wish to show your reaction to a Status update without sending a text reply. It may encourage users to react freely without the stress of entering a person’s chat (maybe it’s stressful for a few people not all).
Source: https://bit.ly/3S1PLdJ
7. Google Docs announces an edit alert feature
Google Docs is making it easier for users to track changes made to their documents with this new feature that alerts them of any edits made.
Just like how you get an email for a comment, you’ll get an email notification whenever someone makes an edit on your document.
Now collaborations on documents will not be so much of a hassle with this feature.
The feature is yet to arrive to all users but will happen soon.
Source: https://bit.ly/3bco3dD
