New Delhi, April 24 – Social media giant Meta is set to introduce its AI-powered Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses in India in the near future. As per agency report, the company made the announcement through a social media post on Wednesday, highlighting a range of advanced features that leverage artificial intelligence to enhance user experience.

These smart glasses are capable of identifying objects in the user’s view using sensors and providing information about them. They also offer real-time translation capabilities, even without internet access, play music, and respond to questions. According to Meta’s official blog, the glasses will soon be launched in Mexico, India, and the United Arab Emirates, expanding their reach beyond existing markets.

The blog also explained that if users have pre-downloaded specific language packs, the glasses can facilitate seamless conversations in English, French, Italian, and Spanish without requiring a Wi-Fi or mobile network connection.

Furthermore, the glasses will soon support features such as sending and receiving messages, photos, and calls directly through Instagram. Users will also be able to make audio and video calls and send messages via WhatsApp, Messenger, or even native messaging apps on both iPhone and Android devices.

Meta first unveiled the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses in September 2023. The upcoming launch in India is expected to bring the cutting-edge wearable to a broader audience, blending AI functionality with everyday convenience.

New Delhi, November 19: Social media giant Meta has announced plans to appeal against the ₹213.14 crore penalty imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The fine pertains to alleged anti-competitive practices linked to WhatsApp's 2021 privacy policy update.

A Meta spokesperson stated that the company disagrees with the CCI's decision and will challenge the ruling. "The update was both optional and transparent," the spokesperson emphasized, adding that Meta is committed to contesting the fine.

The CCI imposed the penalty on Monday, citing unfair business practices related to WhatsApp's 2021 privacy policy update. The commission also directed WhatsApp to refrain from sharing user data with other Meta-owned applications for advertising purposes for the next five years.

In its order, the CCI directed Meta to cease anti-competitive behavior, stating that the fine relates to how WhatsApp's privacy policy was implemented, user data was collected, and the information was shared with Meta's other platforms. The regulatory body concluded that these actions constituted an abuse of dominance.

The Competition Commission of India, a statutory body under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, is India's principal competition regulator. It is responsible for promoting fair competition and curbing activities that adversely affect competition under the Competition Act, 2002.

Meta Platforms, Inc., formerly known as Facebook, Inc., is an American multinational technology conglomerate headquartered in Menlo Park, California. As of December 31, 2021, the company reported a revenue of approximately $118 billion. Meta operates popular platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram.

Washington - Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg has publicly asserted that senior officials from the Biden administration pressured Facebook to censor certain content related to COVID-19 during the pandemic. In a letter to Jim Jordan, the Republican Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Zuckerberg detailed allegations of ongoing pressure over several months to remove content, including humor and satire related to COVID-19.

Zuckerberg expressed regret in the August 26 letter, stating, "I believe the government pressure was inappropriate, and I regret that we were not more outspoken at the time." He confirmed that the social media company would oppose such demands if they were to occur again.

The revelations emerged in a correspondence where Zuckerberg criticized the officials' persistent requests, noting that when Facebook resisted complying, it led to "considerable frustration" among the officials. This letter was also shared on the committee's Facebook page and on its account on 'X'.

New Delhi, Sep 20 (IANS) To complete a purchase directly in the chat, Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday announced a new feature in India that will allow WhatsApp users to pay businesses using a variety of payment options, including all supported UPI apps, debit and credit cards, and more.

The company partnered with online payment solutions provider PayU and Bengaluru-based Razorpay to add support for payments via credit and debit cards, net banking and all UPI apps in India.

"Starting today, people in India can add items to their cart and send a payment using the method of their choice from all supported UPI apps, debit and credit cards, and more," Meta said.

The company first introduced the payments service in Brazil and Singapore.

"This is going to make it even easier for people to pay Indian businesses within a WhatsApp chat using whatever method they prefer," Zuckerberg said.

Along with this feature, Meta CEO also announced some other features for users in India.

Meta launched ‘Flows’ so businesses can offer more experiences like quickly choosing a train seat, ordering a meal or booking an appointment -- all without leaving the chat.

"With ‘Flows’, businesses will be able to provide rich menus and customisable forms that support different needs," the company explained.

The company will make ‘Flows’ available to businesses globally using the WhatsApp Business Platform in the coming weeks.

Moreover, the tech giant will be bringing Meta Verified to businesses using WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook.

"We've been hearing from a lot of businesses that they're very eager to build more credibility and get greater visibility. So I'm excited to start rolling out Meta Verified in the coming months.

“We're going to continue to evolve what's included in the toolkit to make sure that we're bringing the best value to businesses," Zuckerberg announced.

To become Meta Verified, businesses will need to demonstrate their authenticity to Meta and in return they will receive a verified badge, enhanced account support, impersonation protection, and additional features that will help people find them more easily.

For WhatsApp, this includes premium features like a custom web page and increased multi-device support.

The company will begin testing Meta Verified soon with small businesses using the WhatsApp Business app before introducing it to businesses on the WhatsApp Business Platform in the future, Meta stated.

San Francisco, July 7 (IANS) Alarmed at Instagram Threads' steep rise, Elon Musk-run Twitter has threatened to sue Meta for allegedly using its trade secrets and poaching its former employees to build the new "copycat" platform that saw over 30 million users in just 24 hours.

Twitter lawyer Alex Spiro sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, accusing the company of engaging in "systematic, willful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter's trade secrets and other intellectual property", reports Semafor.

"Twitter intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights, and demands that Meta take immediate steps to stop using any Twitter trade secrets or other highly confidential information," Spiro wrote in a letter.

"Twitter reserves all rights, including, but not limited to, the right to seek both civil remedies and injunctive relief without further notice to prevent any further retention, disclosure, or use of its intellectual property by Meta," the Twitter lawyer added.

Spiro also accused Meta of hiring dozens of former Twitter employees who "had and continue to have access to Twitter’s trade secrets and other highly confidential information."

Andy Stone, Meta’s communications director, told Semafor that Twitter’s accusations are "baseless".

"No one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee - that’s just not a thing," he was quoted as saying.

Musk said in a tweet on Friday: "Competition is fine, cheating is not."

Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino on Thursday appealed to the Twitter community to stay together.

She said that on Twitter, everyone's voice matters.

"Whether you’re here to watch history unfold, discover real-time information all over the world, share your opinions, or learn about others -- on Twitter you can be real," Yaccarino posted.

"You built the Twitter community. And that's irreplaceable. This is your public square," she added.

Yaccarino said that "we are often imitated but the Twitter community can never be duplicated".

New Delhi, June 28 (IANS) Meta on Wednesday announced a new Mixed Reality (MR) programme in India that includes a grant of $250,000 for the homegrown startups and developers to build apps and experiences.

They can build apps using Meta’s Presence Platform -- the company's broad range of machine perception and AI capabilities for the Meta Quest Platform and metaverse. 

According to the company, the fund seeks to nurture innovation and build an ecosystem of XR technologies in the country. 

“Meta is committed to building the XR ecosystem in India. The Presence Platform is an integral part of the metaverse vision, aiming to make virtual experiences more tangible and accessible,” said Sandhya Devanathan, Vice President for Meta in India.

As part of the programme, a selected group of up to five Indian developers and startups will receive a financial grant, along with dedicated mentoring and guidance from the Meta Reality Labs experts. 

They will also have an opportunity to upload their product to Quest App Lab and become part of Meta’s growing developer ecosystem. 

Selected startups will also get an introduction to leading local venture capital funds at the end of the programme, said Meta.

“We believe that this fund and programme will accelerate the creation and adoption of VR and MR experiences in the country and  give Indian developers an opportunity to go global with their innovations,” Devanathan added.

The fund is now open for applicants, inviting both established and emerging startups and developers to experiment with the skills offered by the Presence Platform. 

The chosen developers will need to integrate Presence Platform into existing or new Meta Quest apps via features such as Passthrough, Scene Understanding, Spatial Anchors, Shared Spatial Anchors, Voice SDK, Text to Speech, Interaction SDK for Hand Tracking and Social Presence APIs, said the company.

New Delhi, June 26 (IANS) On the occasion of World MSME Day on June 27, Meta has reiterated its commitment to the growth of India’s small businesses by announcing two new skilling programmes in the country.

Meta announced a new partnership with the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) to upskill one million traders on WhatsApp Business App over the next three years.

The company has also announced the launch of the Meta Small Business Academy which was born out of Meta’s commitment in 2021 to upskill 10 million small businesses.

A certification by Meta Small Business Academy will especially help new entrepreneurs and marketers gain critical digital marketing skills to grow on the Meta apps.

To enable the programme to reach MSMEs across India, the course module and the examination are available in seven languages -- English, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu.

Sandhya Devanathan, Vice President (India) at Meta, said, “Skilling plays a consequential role in unlocking growth for India’s MSMEs. At Meta, we are committed to enabling timely skill development opportunities for businesses across their growth journeys.

“While the MSBA certification will particularly benefit entrepreneurs who are just starting out, our partnership with CAIT will empower traders across India to use WhatsApp Business app to connect with their customers and supercharge their growth journeys.”

A Meta commissioned survey by IPSOS Public Affairs conducted in 2022 showed that 91 per cent of surveyed small and medium enterprises currently using digital tools in India reported that messaging apps and tools are a very important way to connect with customers, and more than half said that WhatsApp has helped their business increase access to new customers.

With WhatsApp becoming a natural way for people to interact with one another, it’s emerging as a preferred medium for people to also connect with businesses.

Praveen Khandelwal, National Secretary General of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), said, “Technology and internet along with networking, logistics, and communication are the five critical pillars for India's trading community. With businesses of all sizes using WhatsApp to communicate, coordinate, and connect with their customers effectively, there is an urgent need to equip them with timely skills needed to drive business growth.

“Under the ‘WhatsApp Se Vyapaar’ campaign, we are thrilled to announce that we will work with Meta to train one million traders to digitally empower traders to boost their businesses using the WhatsApp Business App.

“We believe this initiative will unlock new growth opportunities for traders across India, and we look forward to partnering even more closely with Meta to expand the business and digital skilling charter in the months to come in order to address the evolving needs of the trading community."

The partnership between CAIT and Meta will be conducted through thousands of trade associations connected with CAIT all over the country.

San Francisco, June 15 (IANS) Meta (formerly Facebook) has introduced extra bonuses for creators to earn more in its 'Performance bonus programme' that rewards creators for garnering strong engagement with their content on Facebook.

The company has lowered some of the monetisation eligibility requirements for Stars so that more creators who are just starting out can earn money through the support of their fans.

"Now creators must have 500 followers (down from 1,000) over the past 30 days (down from 60)," Meta said in a blogpost on Wednesday.

Moreover, the tech giant is testing the ability to cross-post Instagram-branded content reels and stories to Facebook, increasing campaign reach and impact.

On Facebook, Meta has reduced partnership ads eligibility requirements, so that creators using Pages can give their brand partners permission to run ads from their Facebook Page.

In May, the company announced updates to its Ads on Reels tests that included a new payout model and expansion to more creators.

Now, the company said that soon it will begin a limited test in which select creators can monetise reels that include licensed music from the Facebook Audio Library.

Eligible creators will be notified in the Facebook app and the company mentioned that it will roll out the programme more broadly over time.

New Delhi, June 7 (IANS) Meta on Wednesday brought its verified subscription bundle on Instagram and Facebook to India that includes a verified badge that authenticates accounts with government ID, proactive account protection and access to account support.

Meta Verified is available for purchase on Instagram or Facebook in India via a monthly subscription for Rs 699 on iOS and Android.

In the coming months, the company will also introduce a web purchase option for Rs 599 a month.

"We'll also retain the verified badge for accounts that were verified before the introduction of Meta Verified," the social network said in a statement.

With Meta Verified in India, you will get a verified badge, confirming you're the real you and that your account has been authenticated with a government ID.

The users will also get "more protection from impersonation with proactive account monitoring for impersonators who might target people with growing online audiences".

It will also help users for common account issues.

At the moment, support is available in English only, but it will be extended to include Hindi as well in the coming months, said the company.

"We want to build a subscription offering that's valuable to everyone, including creators, businesses, and our community at large. As part of this vision, we are evolving the meaning of verified accounts on our apps," said the company.

To be eligible, accounts must meet minimum activity requirements, such as prior posting history, and applicants must be at least 18 years old.

"Applicants are then required to submit a government ID that matches the profile name and photo of the Facebook or Instagram account they're applying for," the company added.

Meta Verified subscriptions will include proactive monitoring for account impersonation.

Businesses are not eligible to apply for Meta Verified at this time.

New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) Meta-owned Instagram is set to take on Elon Musk-run Twitter with a similar micro-blogging text platform that is likely to be launched by the end of June.

The Twitter-like platform, "Instagram's new text-based app for conversations" is apparently codenamed P92 or Barcelona, according to Lia Haberman, who shared the news in her ICYMI Substack newsletter.

"Say more with Instagram's new text-based app for conversations. Talk directly with your audience and peers," according to the new app description.

"Create with text and attach links, photos and videos. Engage with likes and replies to deepen connections with friends, fans and other creators. Bring your fans with you," it reads.

The app looks like a mix of Instagram and Twitter.

"Soon, our app will be compatible with certain other apps like Mastodon," according to the information.

The app will be "equip you with settings to control who can reply to you and mention your account".

"Accounts you've blocked carry over from Instagram, and we're enforcing the same Community Guidelines to help ensure everyone interacts safely and authentically," according to the description.

Users on these other apps will be able to search for, follow and interact with your profile and content if you're public, or if you're private and approve them as followers.

Instagram's new atext-based app' could let you create Twitter-like posts on a timeline.

On Tuesday, Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company will lay off an additional 10,000 employees in several rounds of job cuts in the coming months. In a Facebook post, Zuckerberg stated that the company will also close around 5,000 additional open roles that it has not yet filled. Meta's goal is to reduce its team size by approximately 10,000 people as part of its "Year of Efficiency."

Meta stated in a separate filing with the US SEC that the new job cuts will decrease the high end of its expense guidance for the year by $3 billion. Over the next few months, the company's leaders will announce restructuring plans that focus on flattening the organization, cancelling lower priority projects, and reducing hiring rates.

Zuckerberg stated that the company will inform recruiting team members the following day about whether they will be impacted. The company expects to announce restructurings and layoffs in its tech groups in late April and in its business groups in late May. In a small number of cases, it may take until the end of the year to complete these changes.

Meta's CEO stated that the company plans to lift hiring and transfer freezes in each group after the restructuring. The company will make the organization flatter by removing multiple layers of management. As part of this, Meta will ask many managers to become individual contributors. "We'll also have individual contributors report into almost every level—not just the bottom—so information flow between people doing the work and management will be faster," Zuckerberg noted.

The company's fresh cuts come just four months after it laid off 11,000 employees, or 13% of the company, in November last year.

New Delhi (IANS) Meta (formerly Facebook) on Monday said that it has continued to see a strong trend towards women entrepreneurs using its apps in India over the last three years.

About 73 per cent of Instagram business accounts that self-identify as a women-owned business were set up in the last three years in India, the company revealed.

In addition, 53 per cent of all business pages on Facebook with female admins were also set up in the last three years in the country.

"It's heartening to see more women kickstart their entrepreneurial journeys with the help of digital technologies, and we're humbled that we play a part in this journey," Archana Vohra, Director, Small and Medium Business for Meta in India, said in a statement.

"What is great to see is that the momentum gained during the pandemic continues even post-pandemic. Our commitment remains to unlock growth for India's small businesses, and enabling women entrepreneurs is a big part of that commitment," she added

Moreover, the tech giant said that women are also playing a critical role in supporting each other by forming communities.

On Meta, 40 per cent of Facebook groups related to entrepreneurship have been created by women in the last three years.

Women have also made strides in the tech and creative space, the company mentioned.

In India, 23 per cent of Spark AR creators publishing effects for Facebook and Instagram are women, showing a promising sign of progress.

Spark AR lets businesses create and share augmented reality experiences that reach billions of people using Facebook, Messenger and Instagram.