Google wants to beat the competition with Duo, a video-calling app launched this week. The bad news? Users have to invite others via SMS with an app download link in order to start a chat. The good news? You do not need to have a Google account in order to use Duo. The app is brand new, but so far users are not feeling it. Are you? Shoot us a tweet at @TURNERPR with your thoughts about Duo.
Trolls begone! If you have a large number of followers on Instagram, you may soon be able to battle negativity on your feed, thanks to a new feature that hides comments. Currently, this feature is only available to verified ‘grammers, but will soon be rolled out to all users. “Even though our client had a really positive community — reflective of Instagram as a whole — moderation tools can be really helpful in this scenario,” said Corbett Drummey, CEO of influencer agency Popular Pays.
Recently, the African Union released its first electronic passport and hopes to have them widely available by 2018. Most countries have already rolled out an e-passport system, but security is always at risk – shortly after the US rolled out theirs, the ACLU issued a formal opposition statement. For the African Union, it is less about security and more about streamlining and speeding up the process. In this increasingly digital world, e-passports are developing into an international norm. Officials just need to find the proper balance between privacy and efficiency. Fingers crossed!
Rent the Runway found a way to help their customers using Snapchat. Users are asked to send a video or image of the item they would like to purchase as well as their stats: size, height and body shape. An employee at Rent The Runway reviews the Snapchat and supplies size and other recommendations for that user. The entire process takes 10 minutes. Sounds like a perfect fit for retail and digital integration.