Over the last decade, Meta has done all it can to establish each part of its business as a separate but equal contributor to its bottom line. After all, that’s why part of Facebook’s brand identity is little icons denoting Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp and Oculus. Plus, you know, it helps to deflect from any suggestion it’s operating a sprawling digital monopoly owning a big chunk of the internet.
But now, nine years after Facebook cleaved its Messenger product into a standalone mobile app, the pair are to be reunited. Facebook head Tom Alison said in a blog post the company is testing the ability to access Messenger from within the Facebook app. This is, of course, all part of its attempts to claw back relevancy from TikTok, with Alison saying the big blue app is pivoting to become a platform for entertainment and discovery.
– Dan Cooper
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The biggest stories you might have missed
It’s a niche accessory for a niche product, but you can’t help but love it.
Daniel Cooper
A few years after launching an updated version of its e-paper writing slate, reMarkable is adding a keyboard folio. It’s a pricey add-on to the device but one, I think, makes the right compromises. I found it pretty easy to use as a distraction-free writing machine. But given reMarkable’s intentionally limited writing slate is already a niche proposition, this can only ever appeal to a niche inside a niche.
And it’ll offer support for Apple Music’s spatial audio.
Nathan Ingraham
Sonos has unveiled the most dramatic update to its speaker line in some time, replacing both the One and Five with the Era 100 and Era 300. It’s the latter that’s more interesting, since it’s designed to support spatial audio, offering more nuance to your music. And, shortly after the pair arrived, Apple let it be known the Era 300 would support spatial audio from Apple Music, giving would-be purchasers one big reason to try it out.
It’s the first clean-sheet Kona EV, with all the benefits.
Hyundai
Hyundai’s Kona was a popular and well-reviewed EV, offering a heady mix of affordability, decent range and equipment. Now, the company has shown off its replacement, a clean sheet redesign with a WLTP-rated range of 304 miles. It’s also more spacious and has a lot more kit, and while the company hasn’t yet announced US pricing, it’s likely to be cheaper than the Ioniq 5.
Now you can do a naughty word in the opening moments of a video.
YouTube’s interesting approach to colorful metaphors, the sort you’d never see used in a respectable technology newsletter, is changing. Last November, the company said any shocking utterances in the initial moments of a clip would render it ineligible for monetization. Now, officials have walked that back slightly, saying only strong profanity will see a clip marked for limited adverts, while milder, sub-f-and-s-word utterances will probably be OK.
