Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

Thursday 9 November 2017 TECHNOLOGY
A24

New looks come to Snapchat and Twitter in bid for more users

By RICHARD JACOBSEN way and to avoid cancel- been working on respond-
and BARBARA ORTUTAY ing important words when ing to this feedback," Spie-
Associated Press we use Twitter." gel said. "As a result, we
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Others were not impressed, are currently redesigning
Struggling social-media including at least one who our application to make it
darlings Twitter and Snap- quoted Shakespeare: easier to use."
chat are taking on new "Brevity is the soul of wit." His comments came on
looks as the services seek And, as Snap Inc. CEO Evan a conference call with in-
wider audiences in the Spiegel noted, change dustry analysts after the
shadow of Facebook. does not come without risk. company posted the lack-
Twitter is rolling out a "We don't yet know how the luster user-growth numbers
280-character limit for behavior of our community and revenue that fell well
nearly all its users, aban- will change when they be- short of Wall Street expec-
doning its iconic 140-char- gin to use our updated ap- tations. Snap's stock was
acter limit for tweets. And plication," he said. "We're bludgeoned Wednesday,
Snapchat, long popular ABOVE: This Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2017, photo shows the Snap- willing to take that risk for falling 15 percent to $12.83
with young people, will un- chat app. Snap Inc. reports earnings, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017. what we believe are sub- in midday trading. The Ven-
dergo a revamp in hopes BELOW: This Wednesday, April 26, 2017, photo shows the Twitter stantial long-term benefits ice, California, company
of becoming easier to use app on a mobile phone in Philadelphia. to our business." went public in March at $17
for everyone else. Associated Press Snap, Snapchat's parent a share.
Both services announced company, did not provide Snapchat needs to grow
the moves Tuesday as they details on the upcoming its user base beyond 13
look for ways to expand be- changes. to 34 year olds in the U.S.,
yond their passionate but During the third quarter, France the U.K. and Aus-
slow-growing fan bases. Twitter averaged 330 mil- tralia, Spiegel said. This, he
Twitter has said that 9 per- lion monthly users, up just 1 said, includes Android us-
cent of tweets written in percent from the previous ers, people older than 34
English hit the 140-charac- quarter. Snapchat added and what he called "rest of
ter limit. People ended up 4.5 million daily users in world" markets.
spending more time editing the quarter to 178 million, Meanwhile, Snap said
tweets or didn't send them which amounts to a 3 per- Wednesday that Chinese
out at all. By removing that cent growth. The company internet company Tencent
hurdle, Twitter is hoping does not report monthly has acquired a 10 percent
people will tweet more, user figures. stake in the company.
drawing more users in. concerning the transfer of won't need abbreviations Those numbers pale next Tencent runs the WeChat
German bureaucrats — oversight responsibilities for to tweet about accidents to social media behemoth messaging app, as well as
notorious for their ability beef labeling. involving forklift drivers, or Facebook, which reported online payment platforms
to create lengthy tongue The law is known in German Niederflurfoerderfahrzeug- that its monthly users rose and games. Earlier this
twisters consisting of one as the Rindfleischetikettier- fuehrer. 16 percent to 2.07 billion. year, Tencent bought a 5
single word — celebrated ungsueberwachungsauf- In Rome, student Ma- "The one thing that we percent stake in Tesla Inc.
Wednesday. gabenuebertragungsge- rina Verdicchio said the have heard over the years As for Twitter, the move
Germany's justice minis- setz. change "will give us the is that Snapchat is diffi- to 280 characters was
try wrote that it can now Munich police, meanwhile, possibility to express our- cult to understand or hard first started as a test in
tweet about legislation said that "at last" they selves in a totally different to use, and our team has September.q

AT&T exec says 'uncertain' when Time Warner deal will close

be done by the end of the percent, to $33.29. a merger.
year. "We are in active discus- But AT&T hopes to benefit
Wall Street analysts had sions with the DOJ. Those from marrying all of Time
widely expected the deal are continuing on. Warner's assets to its own.
to go through. I can't comment on those It would then supply its vid-
Obama-era regulators in discussions," AT&T Inc. CFO eo — HBO, CNN, TBS and
2011 approved a similar John Stephens said at a a major American movie
media merger, cable com- Wednesday investor con- studio — while providing
pany Comcast's purchase ference. access to the internet for
of NBCUniversal, with a "But with those discussions, millions of Americans.
slew of requirements for I can now say that the tim- "We believe the likelihood
Comcast's business prac- ing of the closing of the of the deal being blocked
tices attached. deal is now uncertain." by DOJ is quite limited,"
AT&T and Time Warner are Perhaps complicating mat- said Barclays analysts in a
still waiting for a decision ters now is that the new an- research note Wednesday.
from the Justice Depart- titrust head at the Justice Even if the Justice Depart-
In this Tuesday, May 26, 2015, file photo, pedestrians walk by
an entrance to the Time Warner Center in New York. ment, which can approve Department, Makan Del- ment does sue, a court is
Associated Press the deal, with or without rahim, has said he prefers likely to strike down the suit,
conditions, or sue to block "structural" changes to a the analysts said.
By TALI ARBEL investors worry that regu- it. deal, like selling off assets, However, the government
AP Technology Writer lators may try to block it or Time Warner shares rather than making a com- could require sales of key
NEW YORK (AP) — AT&T now require significant changes dropped 4.8 percent to pany promise it will abide networks or other "stringent"
says it's "uncertain" when its to the deal for approval. $90.10 in afternoon trading by certain rules and having conditions that would
$85 billion Time Warner pur- AT&T had previously main- Wednesday. the government monitor a make the deal less benefi-
chase will close, making tained that the deal would AT&T stock rose less than 1 company's behavior after cial to AT&T, they said. q