WhatsApp Partially Blocked in China; Google Overhauls Mobile Search

Posted July 19th, 2017 at 1:31 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings:

FILE - The WhatsApp logo appears on a smartphone in New York. (AP)

FILE – The WhatsApp logo appears on a smartphone in New York. (AP)

Chinese Government Partially Blocks WhatsApp Service

The WhatsApp messaging service ran afoul of Chinese government censors as part of a wider effort to restrict messengers that do not follow the country’s surveillance policies. The government partially blocked messages in China on Monday, with users reporting instances of undelivered messages that contain pictures and audio. Beijing is prepping for its 19th Communist Party Congress this fall, so the crackdown could be related to that event.

Google Is Shaking Up Mobile Search With Smart New Feed

Google is redesigning its mobile search engines to offer users a more “personalized” experience. What this means is Google will be using your previous interactions and location to offer you related local area information whether you ask for it or not. The new feature is dubbed “Google feed.”

Amazon’s Push Into Social May Set It on Collision Course With Facebook

Spark is a new “social shopping” site from Amazon. The app runs a feed that lets users scroll through as they would with an Instagram feed and click on images they like to buy items. Depending on how serious Amazon is about social media at this point, writer Kevin Kelleher argues Spark could set it on a collision course with Facebook.

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Aida Akl
Aida Akl is a journalist working on VOA's English Webdesk. She has written on a wide range of topics, although her more recent contributions have focused on technology. She has covered both domestic and international events since the mid-1980s as a VOA reporter and international broadcaster.

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