Elon Musk Announces New Features on Twitter, including Voice and Video Calls, WhatsApp Speaks

Elon Musk Announces New Features on Twitter, including Voice and Video Calls, WhatsApp Speaks

  • As part of his effort to make Twitter better, Elon Musk said plans are ongoing to launch voice and video call features on Twitter
  • The new Twitter features will allow users to make calls without sharing their phone numbers, among other perks
  • The announcement follows recent exchanges between Elon Musk, a Twitter engineer and WhatsApp

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Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, has announced plans to launch voice and video call features on the platform, setting Twitter up for a head-to-head battle with WhatsApp and other instant messaging platforms.

The new features will allow Twitter users to make calls from their handles to anyone on the platform, anywhere in the world, without having to share their phone numbers.

Elon Musk, Twitter
Elon Musk introduces new features on Twitter. Photo credit: @tesla
Source: Getty Images

The announcement was made in a tweet on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, in which Musk also revealed a new feature that lets users choose almost any emoji to react to a direct message in a conversation.

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In addition to the new features, Musk announced that Twitter would release the first version of direct encrypted messages, aiming to grow the features' sophistication in the near future.

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Twitter users can also DM and reply to any message in the thread, not just the most recent, and use any emoji for reaction.

The changes are part of Musk's attempt to reposition Twitter as a more versatile platform.

WhatsApp's response to Elon Musk

Meanwhile, in another development, WhatsApp has issued an official statement in response to Elon Musk's Tweet that WhatsApp cannot be trusted.

On May 6, 2023, Musk shared a post to his millions of followers from one of Twitter’s engineers, Foad Dabiri, that he discovered that WhatsApp had been using his phone’s microphone in the background while asleep.

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The tweet suggested that the popular messaging app secretly recorded users’ activities.

Musk reacted to the post by saying:

“WhatsApp cannot be trusted.”

In a quick response, WhatsApp said the issue was from Dabiri's Android device.

The WhatsApp statement reads:

"Over the last 24 hours, we’ve been in touch with a Twitter engineer who posted an issue with his Pixel phone and WhatsApp. We believe this is a bug on Android that misattributes information in their Privacy Dashboard and have asked Google to investigate and remediate it.
"Users have full control over their mic settings. Once granted permission, WhatsApp only accesses the mic when a user is making a call or recording a voice note or video, and even then, these communications are protected by end-to-end encryption, so WhatsApp cannot hear them."

Facebook also wants users to pay to be verified

In another development, Legit.ng reported that Mark Zuckerberg had taken a page from Elon Musk's playbook and announced plans to charge users for verification.

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Zuckerberg explained that users signing up for Meta's new systems would receive exclusive stickers for stories, reels, 100 free monthly stars, or the digital currency used to tip Facebook creators.

Dailymail reports that the verification will cost $11.99/month on the web and $14.99/month on iOS.

Source: Legit.ng

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