Google Loan Guides 💳, Pegatron iPhone Pause ⏸, Reddit Contributor 🤑

Catch up on the latest in tech, business and startups - all in 5 minutes. [Newsletter Banner] Daily News Roundup Welcome to today's edition of the NextBigWhat Daily News! Today's top stories include Google Play Store loan guide apps, Pegatron iPhone production pause, and Reddit Contributor Program. 🤖 Help us reach your your friends and colleagues! Share the NextBigWhat newsletter. [Tweet it]( [Whatsapp]( Reddit Introduces a Contributor Program that Converts Karma into Cash - Reddit’s new program allows eligible users in the U.S to convert their Reddit gold and karma into fiat currency, disbursed once per month. - To earn and withdraw money, users must gain at least 10 gold within 30 days, with earning potential depending on the amount of karma they have. - In an overhaul of the system for awarding gold, users can now purchase gold directly; the platform retains about 50% of the payment. Telegram evolves towards becoming a super app, leveraging strategies similar to WeChat - Telegram, the popular messaging app, is adopting a ‘super app’ strategy similar to WeChat’s, establishing a platform for third-party mini apps, in partnership with TON Foundation and WeChat’s owner Tencent. - TON Foundation, which lays the blockchain groundwork for Telegram, announced its partnership with Tencent Cloud to support TON validators and expand services further. - Payment functionality plays a pivotal role in WeChat’s success, prompting Telegram to integrate with 20 payment solutions and hosting a self-custodial wallet developed by The Open Platform using the TON blockchain. PhonePe’s App Store: 3+1 questions [NBW Newsletter Ad]( nextbigwhat brings you curated news, product and tech trends across a range of industries. The PR so far has been about anti-Google stand. [Read]( Google Play Store Controversially Houses Loan Guide Apps Promoting Predatory Lending - Over a hundred loan guide apps promoting predatory lending are present on Google Play Store. - These apps provide links to download predatory loan apps bypassing the store, expanding the reach of these potentially harmful apps. - Predatory loan apps target vulnerable borrowers, often resorting to severe threats and inappropriate actions in case of late payments. Pegatron Temporarily Stops iPhone Production in India Following Factory Fire - Pegatron, an Apple supplier, has halted iPhone assembly in India after a fire accident at its facility. - No casualties or injuries were reported, but the extent of damages remains unclear. - The company contributes 10% of Apple’s iPhone production in India and the pause in production could potentially impact supply. Get NBW News: The short news app for busy professionals. [App Store]( [Google Play]( Google, Reliance-backed company Dunzo implements new layoffs to reduce costs - Dunzo, a quick commerce company supported by Reliance and Google, implements another round of layoffs. - Employees were informed they would receive full and final settlements in January, and redundancy affected multiple teams. - Despite previous layoffs after a $75-million funding secured in April, Dunzo is reportedly closing an additional $25-30 million funding round, with Reliance Retail as the largest shareholder with a 25.8% stake. X to Offer Audio and Video Calls Only for Premium Subscribers - X app’s new code reveals upcoming audio and video call feature, restricted to X Premium members. - App formerly known as Twitter allows users to opt for calls from verified users, followers, or address book contacts. - Despite the addition, X Premium struggles with only around 1 million subscriptions sold against 550 million monthly users. Microsoft teams up with Snapchat to insert ads in users’ AI chatbot interactions - Snapchat joins forces with Microsoft to deliver sponsored link suggestions in its AI chatbot feature, ‘My AI’. - These ads, made functional with Microsoft’s Ads for Chat API, enable relevant advertising as per users’ AI chat discussions and can connect with Microsoft Advertising’s clients. - Similar to Bing and Google’s practices, this partnership could make Snapchat a popular platform for Gen Z users to look for products and services via AI chats. Mixin Loses $200M in Largest Crypto Theft of 2023 - Hong Kong-based crypto firm Mixin reported a breach leading to a loss of around $200M, temporarily suspending deposit and withdrawal services. - Security experts like Google-owned Mandiant and crypto security company SlowMist have been consulted to investigate the incident. - This marks the largest crypto theft in 2023, surpassing the previous $197 million theft from Euler, a crypto lending platform. Getty Images introduces AI tool for generating commercial images - Getty Images introduced an AI-powered tool named ‘Generative AI’ for creating safer commercial visuals from text prompts. - Images produced with the tool carry a watermark and safeguards are in place to prevent misuse or derivation of living artists’s styles. - Revenue generated by the tool will be shared with contributors whose works were used for training the AI model. Coca-Cola’s AI-Inspired Flavor Y3000 Disappoints - Coca-Cola’s AI aided flavor Y3000 delivers a fleeting berry and sugar taste, described as bland and uninspiring. - Despite reiterative taste tests, reviewers claimed the flavor lacked novelty and was not enticing. - Y3000 also comes with an AR experience, generating an augmented reality view of the future based on personal photos. ISRO Continues Efforts to Revive Chandrayaan-3 Lander and Rover on Moon - ISRO tries to wake Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover, which are currently on lunar sleep mode. - Despite receiving no return signal, ISRO remains hopeful of reestablishing contact with the lunar duo. - The Chandrayaan-3 mission, successful in its lunar landing and exploration, found traces of sulfur among other elements on the lunar surface. Getty Images Releases Its Own AI Photo-Generation Tool - Getty Images has launched ‘Generative AI’, an AI photo-generation tool trained on its own millions of images and using Nvidia’s architecture. - The tool is designed for commercial use and aims to compete with Shutterstock and Adobe who have similar offerings. - CEO Craig Peters insists Getty has cleared the legal rights for training the AI, promising total indemnification for the customers using the AI-generated images. © 2023 Zakti Techmedia Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. | [Unsubscribe](