TikTok
TikTok is an extremely popular video-sharing social networking service headquartered in China. Owned by a Beijing-based internet technology company named ByteDance, the app was founded in 2016 with a mission “to inspire creativity and bring joy.” In 2018, it merged with Shanghai-based social media service, musical.ly, and became available globally. Apart from Beijing, TikTok has offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo. TikTok allows one to make music and lip-sync videos lasting some 3 to 15 seconds, and short looping videos of 3 to 60 seconds. Since the past few weeks, there has been an ongoing brawl between TikToker Amir Siddiqui and YouTuber CarryMinati, which has spiraled into a fight between their fans. The verdict is still not out.
12 May 2021
YouTube begins global roll-out of TikTok clone Shorts
After borrowing from Instagram Stories, YouTube has its eyes on TikTok with YouTube Shorts. The video sharing platform is rolling out its short video format globally after more than a year of development and testing.
01 Apr 2021
Instagram Reels' latest feature called Remix mimics Duets from TikTok
It's no secret that Instagram Reels is Facebook's version of TikTok. And, now Instagram's new Remix feature announced yesterday mimics TikTok's Duet feature.
01 Apr 2021
NewsBytes Briefing: India continues to punish TikTok, and more
The best way to deal with bullies is to inflict a significant cost for their belligerence. And India has been doing a fine job hurting the economic interests of China for its border transgressions.
31 Mar 2021
India freezes TikTok parent ByteDance's bank accounts in fresh blow
Indian authorities have frozen the bank accounts of TikTok owner ByteDance on grounds of alleged tax evasion by the Chinese firm.
04 Mar 2021
Netflix releases Fast Laughs, a TikTok-rivaling short video feature
Noticing its audience's decreasing attention span and the success of short-video platforms like TikTok, Netflix has now created a similar feature.
16 Feb 2021
NewsBytes Briefing: Zuckerberg goes full Sopranos on Apple, and more
Last month, we had predicted how Apple's new-found love for privacy was an act of war and that it would lead to the Silicon Valley equivalent of a gang war.
16 Feb 2021
ByteDance could sell TikTok's Indian assets to rival firm Glance
Short-video app TikTok's parent company ByteDance is reportedly exploring the possibility of selling its Indian assets to rival unicorn firm Glance.
15 Feb 2021
NewsBytes Briefing: Narendra Modi draws inspiration from MrBeast, and more
It's official, even our supreme leader Narendra Modi is most likely a fan of YouTube philanthropist MrBeast.
12 Feb 2021
Biden slams brakes on Trump's TikTok and WeChat bans
US President Joe Biden has been quite busy passing executive orders undoing Donald Trump's policy decisions. Many of these orders involve reversing Trump administration's measures meant to keep China in check.
08 Feb 2021
NewsBytes Briefing: Elon's trying to tell us something, and more
The US has printed more money last year than it did in two centuries since its founding. In a totally unrelated incident, the world's billionaires grew richer by $10.5 trillion.
26 Jan 2021
Indian Government will continue ban on PUBG and TikTok
The Indian Government has reportedly sent notices to Chinese app makers relaying that their existing bans will continue. The government had blocked 59 Chinese apps in June and 118 more in September last year.
16 Jan 2021
TikTok star Shadab Khan accused of rape, denies allegations
TikTok star Shadab Khan has been accused of sexual exploitation and rape by his former girlfriend.
14 Jan 2021
Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok among most popular apps of 2020
The market of mobile apps continued to grow in 2020 in spite (or rather because) of the pandemic.
03 Jan 2021
'Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical' earns over $1mn for actors
Once in a blue moon do we get a social media trend that is endorsed by its original creators.
25 Dec 2020
62% of cybercrime complaints linked to financial frauds: Delhi Police
At least 62% of the cybercrime complaints lodged in 2020 were related to financial frauds, Delhi Police said in a statement.
22 Dec 2020
Dailyhunt is now a unicorn, receives $100 million funding
VerSe Innovation, the parent company of local language news aggregator Dailyhunt, has received more than $100 million in funding from tech giants Google, Microsoft, and Falcon Edge's Alpha Wave Incubation
16 Dec 2020
Microsoft Surface Duo coming to Canada and Europe in early-2021
Microsoft is all set to launch its dual-screen smartphone, the Surface Duo, in Canada, France, Germany, and the UK in early-2021, the company has confirmed via a blog post.
24 Nov 2020
Centre bans 43 more mobile apps; check full list here
The central government on Tuesday decided to ban 43 mobile applications for being "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity" of India.
14 Nov 2020
US: Trump administration's TikTok sale deadline extended by 15 days
American authorities have given ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, additional time to divest the popular short-video platform's business to resolve national security concerns raised by the Trump administration.
11 Nov 2020
US: TikTok goes to court against President Trump's divestiture order
Running out of time, courtesy of an order passed by US President Donald Trump, TikTok has approached a US Appeals Court. On August 14, the President had directed TikTok's parent company ByteDance to divest TikTok within 90 days — the deadline ends on Thursday.
28 Oct 2020
Three new features coming to Instagram Live: Details here
In a new development, photo-sharing app Instagram has extended the duration of its Live video to four hours from the existing timeframe of 60 minutes. It will also provided an option to save the Live videos for 30 days.
11 Oct 2020
#WeeklyRecap: Nobel Prizes, Pixel 4a, Galaxy S20 FE, and more
This week, the biggest news in science and technology was the announcement of Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, and Medicine.
09 Oct 2020
Pakistan is banning TikTok, but not over national security
The problems for TikTok are far from over.
30 Sep 2020
BTS to release second album of the year in November
Famed Korean pop-band BTS is on a roll!
28 Sep 2020
NewsBytes Briefing: TikTok granted injunction against US ban, and more
Over the weekend, TikTok won a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration, which prevents the hit video service from getting banned in the US.
24 Sep 2020
NewsBytes Briefing: TikTok files for injunction against ban, and more
As ByteDance's TikTok deal is likely to see more delays owing to China's pending approval, the video company is moving to prevent itself from getting banned by Trump administration.
23 Sep 2020
NewsBytes Briefing: China won't approve TikTok deal, and more
Even as TikTok, Oracle, and Walmart came close to finalizing a deal, China is not ready to let the service off the hook.
21 Sep 2020
NewsBytes Briefing: TikTok ban delayed, WeChat ban blocked, and more
Over the weekend, the US ban on TikTok, WeChat saw major developments.
20 Sep 2020
ByteDance values TikTok at $60 billion for US deal
Chinese giant ByteDance is said to have valued TikTok at an approximate $60 billion.
20 Sep 2020
#WeeklyRecap: Potential life on Venus, Apple's new hardware, and more
This week, a number of developments were noted in the world of technology, including an unexpected - and still unconfirmed - case of alien life discovery.
20 Sep 2020
End of TikTok's woes? Trump approves Oracle's bid for TikTok
TikTok finally appears to be finalizing a way to prevent itself from getting banned in the United States.
19 Sep 2020
TikTok CEO asks Instagram, Facebook to help fight US ban
A few hours ago, the US Department of Commerce issued an order to ban the downloads of TikTok and WeChat apps, and limit their functionality.
18 Sep 2020
US bans TikTok, WeChat downloads from September 20: Details here
In a major move, the US government has announced the decision to ban popular Chinese services TikTok and WeChat.
15 Sep 2020
NewsBytes Briefing: Potential signs of life on Venus, and more
Last night, our planetary neighbor Venus made major headlines as a group of researchers found potential signs of alien life using ground-based telescopes.
14 Sep 2020
Oracle wins TikTok US bid, but not for 'full sale'
After months of discussions and complications, Chinese giant ByteDance is finalizing a deal for the US business of TikTok.
14 Sep 2020
NewsBytes Briefing: TikTok US partners with Oracle, and more
Last night, multiple outlets reported that Chinese giant ByteDance has rejected Microsoft's purchase bid for TikTok and chosen Oracle as its 'technology partner' in the US.
13 Sep 2020
#WeeklyRecap: Android 11, affordable Xbox Series S, and more
This week, a number of developments were reported in the world of technology, especially in the consumer tech department.
12 Sep 2020
China may let TikTok face US ban: Here's why
Chinese giant ByteDance is running out of time to comply with the Donald Trump administration's 'sell or close' order for TikTok US.
11 Sep 2020
NewsBytes Briefing: TikTok sale deadline likely to be missed, more
Last night, multiple reports suggested that ByteDance is likely to miss the September 20 deadline for finalizing the sale of TikTok's US assets.
10 Sep 2020
NewsBytes Briefing: TikTok tries to dodge sale, and more
Last night, TikTok was reported to be considering a way out of selling its US business to an American company.
