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Sendbird in-app chat API enables conversation participation when the user’s device is offline

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With the new product release, Sendbird extends the ability for users to chat and interact even when their app is not connected to the internet. This improves a user’s access to messages and ensures conversation participation when the user’s device is offline, even temporarily due to bad service, which is a challenge in many countries. As soon as the user is back online, the chat app automatically connects and refreshes for a seamless experience.

Because this offline messaging capability is now offered as a core part of the Sendbird Chat SDKs, including UIKits, developers can streamline the integration into their app like any other feature. Not only will this be useful for saving developer time, but built-in offline messaging will also help the app load even faster, ensuring a better, smoother end experience for users.  Sendbird’s push notification tool will save developers countless hours and enormous frustration when facing deadlines so that they can focus on advancing their app’s core features and functions. UIKit also gains message threading functionality in this release, enabling developers to give users the ability to create threads in their group chats.

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FB Messenger is testing ‘Split Payments’ to let users share the cost of bills and expenses in a group chat

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Facebook Messenger is testing out a new “Split Payments” feature that introduces a way for users to share the cost of bills and expenses through the app. The company says the new feature is a “free and fast” way to handle finances through Messenger. The new feature is rolling out next week for U.S. users. To use Split Payments, users need to click on the “Get Started” button in a group chat or the Payments Hub in Messenger. From there,  can split a bill evenly or modify the contribution amount for each individual in the group chat, either with or without themselves. They also have the option to enter a personalized message. Lastly, they will be asked to confirm Facebook Pay details, after which the request will be sent and viewable in the group chat thread.

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6 Best NFT Wallets

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Here are the best NFT wallets currently popular on the cryptocurrency scene, ranked according to their usability, accessibility and features.

  • Coinbase NFT Wallet- Apart from the ease of usage, the ease of transferring the tokens makes it stand out. Instead of a public wallet address, the tokens are transferred from one username to the other. This makes the transactions seem more human and personalized, hence reducing the chances of errors. Adding to the user experience is the multi-platform usage available for the wallet. The Coinbase wallet also offers a one-click cloud backup for private keys, allowing storage of private keys in personal cloud.
  • AlphaWallet might be the go-to NFT wallet for those who are looking to invest in Ethereum-backed tokens. It gives them the option of minting and collecting NFTs and supports a handful of NFT markets and games like ChainZ Arena, OpenSea, CryptoKitties, and more. Its UX seems to be quite minimal and user-friendly at the same time, giving it a fresh look. While the easy interface, might make it a popular wallet among beginners, its mobile-only availability makes it annoy some of the users.
  • Metamask wallet is maintained and operated by Ethereum-foundation backed organization, ConsenSys. Metamask can help users in creating an Ethereum wallet, connecting directly with all Ethereum-backed and supported platforms. The simple interface helps users collect tokens while interacting with other decentralized applications.
  • TrustWallet is a few of the NFT wallets that can brag about its userbase. With over 5 million users, it is definitely one of the most popular NFT wallets out there. While the wallet might be a great option for storing and managing tokens, users can’t transact through Trust Wallet. This might not make it the best option for someone looking to swap or transfer their assets.
  • Enjin allows users to collect in-game NFTs and other collectibles with ease. Furthermore, Enjin also features a marketplace within its own ecosystem where users can trade digital assets through Enjin’s own token, i.e. ENJ. Adding to it is the existence of easy access to DeFi applications and an amazing UI. Its UI has been a talking point for many due to its seamlessness and ease of usage.
  • Math Wallet is backed by Binance Labs and Alameda Research, which might even catapult it to one of the best NFT wallets out there really soon. It is considered to be one of the closest alternatives to Metamask. It supports a list of more than 65 plus public blockchains. What makes Math Wallet a strong contender for the best NFT wallet crown is its easy accessibility along with its other features.

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Investing app Stash to offer “Stock Back” fractional-share and insurance rewards

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  • Investing and banking app Stash wants to play the role of a trusted intermediary, helping expose its customer base to new tools while emphasizing the importance of regular and diversified investing for the long term. As customers crave to know more about financial services topics in the news, and how to explore new ways of investing — including through crypto and stocks — Stash said its mission is to expose its customers to new tools responsibly. Stash generates revenue from subscription tiers of $1, $3 and $9 per month, with the highest tier offering a bundle of personalized advice; investing (including smart portfolios and custodial accounts); banking (in partnership with Green Dot) alongside “Stock Back” fractional-share rewards; and life insurance. Looking to 2022, the company said it’s working on introducing crypto into its smart portfolio offerings; continuing to focus on “Stock Back” fractional-share rewards; and refining the client onboarding process to ensure it’s as seamless as possible. On “Stock Back” rewards based on card transactions, the company said it intends to ensure the offering is accompanied with clear explanations, so customers can understand how it fits into their broader wealth-building plans.
  • For Stash, “Stock Back” is an important way to encourage consumers to start investing because 30% of customers who earn “Stock Back” make a follow-on investment in those brands. Effective communication is also a lever the company wants to use to help smooth the client onboarding process.  Stash sees its banking offering as more of a means to an end, which is to help clients build wealth over time.

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Neobank enables gamers to do their banking within “always-on” messenger to trade virtual assets

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ZELF, the leading Gen Z neobank embedded in popular social messengers, launches a banking integration with Discord, the leading chat server for gamers. The new functionality enables a world-first: a way for gamers to do their banking within Discord, their “always-on” messenger and the possibility to trade virtual assets (skins, in-game cosmetics, weapons etc.) in their favorite games, through real money transactions. From this month, users will be able to order their ZELF MetaPass card straight from Discord. As Play-to-Earn gains momentum, traditional game manufacturers are coming under increased pressure from players who need a way to capitalize on their skills and in-game investments. At the same time, Play-to-Earn NFT game publishers are facing demands from regulators to implement controlled solutions to combat money laundering, assure taxation and anti-terrorism financing compliance.

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New tech enables certified secure cryptography to derive unique tokens with custom formats

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  • Privitar, the leader in modern data provisioning, is introducing NOVLT , a new way to do tokenization, in the latest version of the Privitar Data Privacy Platform. NOVLT, which supports broader use cases and data sharing across borders, is designed to provide the benefits of tokenization while removing the dependency of a vault. Customers will have full flexibility to customize their approach to data protection for individual use cases, with Privitar offering two, complementary methods of tokenization. NOVLT protects sensitive data using a format preserving encryption algorithm for consistent tokenization. It uses certified secure cryptography to derive consistent and unique tokens with custom formats.
  • It also enables an additional layer of protection by supporting Privitar’s unique privacy capabilities, including embedding Privitar Watermarks™ in tokenized data, and controlled linkability with Protected Data Domains. Privitar NOVLT supports a fully distributed system, allowing for data protection and linkability across different data sovereignty regions. This is especially beneficial for enterprises with worldwide presence, and for enterprises that participate in projects with international partners. Privitar NOVLT will enable them to stay compliant with regulations like GDPR by de-identifying data in a certain location ahead of sharing data across borders, but retaining a link to a protected dataset in the centre.

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New one-click de-identification and anonymization tool claims to reduce data distortion by 90%

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Privacy Dynamics, a startup that simplifies ethical and responsible use of data, launched a SaaS application that can anonymize thousands of records per second with the click of a button. Privacy Dynamics allows data scientists and non-technical users—including marketers, analysts, sales reps, and finance workers—to quickly access compliant data on-demand for business intelligence, analytics, machine learning, and data publishing. Privacy Dynamics’ approach to anonymization is based on fundamentals derived from differential privacy and k-anonymity. The company uses a combination of proven privacy techniques to calculate how each cell in a dataset is contributing to re-identification risk, then performs the minimum transformation required to prevent re-identification. This level of precision reduces data distortion by 90% compared to industry standards. Privacy Dynamics’ treatment of data satisfies several regulatory requirements including HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA. Privacy Dynamics is SOC-2 compliant and the application does not store customer data.

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VR to become truly immersive must endow “meaning” to objects

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  • VR has the highest visual fidelity of an actual physical environment ever experienced and allows for realistic head and body movements. But even with directly photographed content and big budgets, VR content has not grabbed people like the great works of other media. VR experiences are often neat — short and compelling but not particularly memorable. Those initial few minutes are incredible, immersing you quickly, but the effect and its novelty fade before long. In contrast, a book can be extremely hard to begin and get into, but after 400 pages from a skilled author, the immersion can be just as deep if not deeper. VR should be capable of doing much more than this, but so far it has failed to. What is missing from VR? It has incredible visuals, issues with motion comfort are improving, sound is improving, there is experimentation with haptics, but none of these improvements seem to be getting VR closer to enabling true immersion. The chains of persuasion that help us feel a place is real still seem to be missing some crucial link. This is because the key ingredient that makes both physical and virtual experiences real is meaning. If I am in a familiar room, it is not the visuals or sounds that make it feel real, but what I can do in it. I know where my chair is; I reach for my glass, knowing its exact weight and shape as I lift it, knowing it contains the water I got from the sink behind me.
  • This background knowledge is what immerses me, not the direct perception of these objects. Meaning is how other media work with immersion. Books are thick with meaning, and the more time you spend immersed, the more real the characters, locations, and logic of the world all become in a way that is deeper than the senses. Video games have deeply internalized this lesson. Many of the best VR experiences to date are works like Half-Life: Alyx and Resident Evil 4, which fully borrow the meaning structures of video games but deepen the experience with VR features.

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Amazon CTO expects more AI supported s/w development and new apps from new connectivity

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The chief technology officer of Amazon is offering predictions for how technology will evolve in five key areas during 2022 and beyond. In a new corporate blog post, Dr. Werner Vogels looks to the coming year and speculates on important developments that will occur in technology areas such as AI, cloud computing, and sustainability. 

  • AI-supported software development takes hold: tools like Amazon DevOps Guru, Amazon CodeGuru, GitHub Copilot, and GPT-3 are the first steps in what he sees as the future of development, where ML is used in code development and software operations workstreams to help developers become more effective. ML will free developers from the mundane parts of their jobs, such as code reviews and bug fixes—the undifferentiated heavy lifting of their world—and allow them to focus more on creating,”. The same technology will help us write sophisticated systems faster than ever and in ways that open the door to a new class of developers.
  • The everywhere cloud has an edge: Vogels predicts that in 2022, the cloud will become highly specialized at the edges of the network including (IoT) applications. To fully realize the benefits of the cloud in workshops and warehouses, in restaurants and retail stores, or out in remote locations, there must be tailored solutions at the edge. “What we will see in 2022, and even more so in the years to come, is the cloud accelerating beyond the traditional centralized infrastructure model and into unexpected environments where specialized technology is needed.
  • The rise of smart spaces, especially in senior care: during the next several years, “smart spaces” supported by ambient computing, collections of IoT sensors, remote/mobile data collection and processing at the edge, and smart devices like Amazon Alexa will have a major impact on elder care.
  • Sustainability gets its own architecture: In 2022, Vogels thinks developers will begin taking an active role in building sustainability-conscious architectures that take the planet into account. “Developers will take an active role in reducing the carbon footprints of their applications,”. “This will happen in a variety of areas, like taking into account where in the world they choose to run their applications to take advantage of green energy in the grid, considering the time needed to process a task, or even specifying the chipset they use.
  • A new wave of connectivity will bring about a new class of applications: Vogel’s final prediction concerns the future impact of the launch of more than 20,000 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites in the next five years, which he says will enable ubiquitous connectivity. With ubiquitous connectivity, we start to unlock use cases that simply aren’t possible today. Try to imagine what happens in schools when every kid can use the same learning tools, or when small and medium-sized businesses get hold of digital tools they need to win more customers, grow their businesses, and create jobs in rural and remote communities around the world.

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