Google Meet, Zoom and Messenger Room unleash video call war

This week we have learned that war, being the favorite video call tool, only grows. We already knew Zoom, we begin to use WhatsApp which now offers the possibility of connecting eight people in a video call and now two new opponents join this field.

This is the fifth edition of La Semana on CNET in Spanish that we recorded from home, since the restriction protocol began to avoid spreading the coronavirus. You can visit our special about COVID-19
for more information.

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Coronavirus would delay iPhone 12 and video call apps …

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While we wait for all this coronavirus-generated catastrophe to pass, we have closely followed the war on video conferencing services.

This week we had important announcements. For example, WhatsApp declared war on Houseparty, which these days has become its staunch rival and, on the other hand, we also have Messenger Rooms, a new feature that allows users to create video conference rooms for up to 50 people, and you don’t have to have a Facebook account to join.

Google also took its step in this segment, since its corporate service Google Meet, Zoom’s rival, is now completely free until September. This tool is interesting because it allows subtitles in real time and can add up to 100 participants.

Zoom is still one of the most used, because it allows the connection to meetings of up to 500 people in the paid plans and 100 people in the free ones. We have used Zoom for our meetings, although some colleagues prefer Google Meet.

What is your favorite platform and what is the reason?

Apple and Google device delay

Something important is that this week the rumors that technology companies are not going to be able to launch their devices on time have many of us worried. iRobot already said that his Roomba to cut the grass is delayed; rumors about the iPhone 12 being delayed for October, November, or December follow.

On the other hand, despite the fact that Tim Cook said in his financial results that his employees continue to work, he did not say for sure if the iPhone 12 or other products would be delayed or not. Samsung, for its part, said its plans are still ongoing and we learned that Google’s new Pixel Buds 2 have delayed production of the new color range, and the blank model has already sold out in its first week of release, as we were able to confirm on the company’s website.

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Financial results

This week, several technology companies gave their financial results for the first quarter of the year, and among them are Facebook and Twitter, which already show the positive and negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beginning with Facebook, the company registered an increase in monthly users of 10 percent, compared to the previous year, totaling 2,600 million.

Facebook also reported a 102 percent increase in its net profits compared to 2019, and although this seems positive at first glance, remember that last year Facebook made a payment of $ 3 billion to the Federal Trade Commission as part of the fine imposed following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. So if this payment had not been made, the net earnings for this first quarter would not represent growth.

Now let’s move on to Twitter, company that reported good and bad news in its financial report, since on the one hand its users increased, but reported financial losses.

During the first quarter of the year Twitter registered 166 million daily users, which is an increase of 24 percent over the previous year and according to the company, this is because people are turning to Twitter to obtain information about COVID -19. According to Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s chief executive, the platform is “proving to be more vital than ever” during these times.

However, although Twitter increased the number of users and its revenues, the company increased its costs and expenses by 18 percent, causing a net loss of $ 8 million for the first quarter of the year. Let’s take into account that in the same period of 2019, Twitter had earnings of 191 million.

There is no cinema, but there are digital premieres

We don’t know when we can go back to the cinema, but the news continues. On the one hand, the animated film Trolls World Tour, which premiered on video on demand last April 10, when we were already confined, has released not inconsiderable collection numbers of US $ 100 million in the United States.

Let’s add to this that the Academy of Hollywood in charge of the Oscars has released its rules for the edition of films released this year. As an exception they will be considered for Oscar those films released on video on demand. This does not mean that all titles released by streaming may qualify for the Oscars. It is only for those titles that already have a strategy and release dates in movie theaters.

Which brings us to a movie like Artemis Fowl, for example. The next one directed by Kenneth Branagh and based on a series of books for teenagers was going to be released in theaters but it will finally do it on June 12 directly on Disney Plus.

With the collaboration of Patricia Puentes.