Clubhouse

"We are here to help you relax, unwind and get into the lulla-vibes," said the soothing voice of the young man who serenades thousands of people to sleep every night. "Please make sure your mic is muted." For two hours every night, a group of music and voice performers called the Lullaby Club gather on Clubhouse, the buzzy audio chat app, to help listeners wind down and fall asleep with a calming, whisper-only experience. What started as a kind of social experiment has become one of the most popular channels on Clubhouse, with some 32,000 followers. The Lullaby Club got a big boost on Feb. 1, when its founder, Axel Mansoor, became the face that appears on the app's icon. "The thing about the Lullaby Club is that it proves that in this loud freaking world, you don't have to be loud to get noticed," said Mansoor, 28, a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, who makes soulful, self-love pop. Prior to Clubhouse, he was probably best known as a finalist on NBC's talent reality show,  » Read More

I’m playing online Pictionary while chatting with five people I’ve never met. This is not at all how I usually spend my Thursdays. We’ve all dropped into a virtual meeting space on a site called gather.town, which provides free customisable spaces for anyone who wants to organise a get-together without using Zoom. Gather is a virtual world and you choose an avatar before entering it: imagine a mid-80s Super Mario game in which, instead of jumping over his enemies, Mario has to go to the office. There are pixelated potted palms dotted about my screen, a couple of banks of desks and a sofa area, all rendered in that very specific 2D map style common to early computer games. I’m represented by a tiny, blocky avatar: a collection of dots arranged to look a bit like a person. As I move it around with keyboard keys, I can enter and leave conversations – when I do so, a small live video of whoever I’m talking to appears above the main screen.It might all sound mad,  » Read More

Facebook has a couple of applications under its umbrella and the company makes sure to do justice to every single one them by introducing new tools and features and bringing about new updates. The tech giant has a huge following and it understands that people rely on its resources for a variety of purposes online and therefore makes sure to work hard in their maintenance.Recently, news has popped in that Facebook in introducing several new features for two of its main applications, precisely known as Instagram and Messenger. While the list of new features is a little long one of the main features among them has to be the new addition of the seen states on Instagram. This new feature allows user to check the progress of their messages that whether or not the person you have sent the message has viewed your text or not by just taking a look at your DM inbox.The next very useful feature is coming in Messenger where users will now have the ease to archive chats by just a swipe.  » Read More

New capabilities allow for greater social interaction and engagement Sendbird, the leading mobile engagement and communication company across in-app chat, voice, and video, today unveiled its new group calls capabilities for voice and video. With the latest Sendbird Calls API, it’s easier than ever to integrate high-quality group calling functionality to web and mobile applications. It enables developers to create another social interaction channel for users and extend chat experiences. Marketing Technology News: Agile Marketing Software and How They Help Marketing and Sales Teams “Everyone wants the magic of Clubhouse integrated into their digital experiences, that ability to have real, authentic group conversations within an app, and people are increasingly expecting these types of highly personal interactions,” said John Kim, CEO and co-founder of Sendbird. “Our group calls API makes it so simple for any company to build its own Clubhouse, preventing users from exiting the app in search of another messenger application, video service, or phone call.” The Sendbird platform scales chat from 1-1 to multi-user conversations at massive scale through its channel features,  » Read More

VIDEO: This Week's Top Stories May 7 published : 7 May 2021 at 13:41 Digital nomads, Klong Toey Covid, Chiang Mai plans and Thaksin's claims Bangkok is the most popular city in Asia for digital nomads and ranks fourth globally. A study revealed that digital nomads - who can work anywhere - chose Bangkok for its cheap living costs and warm weather.             Bangkok’s Klong Toey district has seen a Covid outbreak this week.             The infection cluster in the slum community came after the government claimed the Covid third wave was under control. Chiang Mai is hoping to follow Phuket and welcome international tourists in October. The sandbox plan needs 400,000 vaccine doses for local residents before it can begin. The government denied claims by Thaksin Shinawatra that the Pfizer vaccine was already being used in Thailand.  » Read More

General Electric Co. Chief Executive Larry Culp drew a salary last year of $653,409 before voluntarily giving up the remainder of his annual salary beginning in April 2020. In some editions Wednesday, a Page One article about shareholders’ rejection of the company’s executive compensation plan incorrectly said Mr. Culp gave up his annual salary of $653,409. Joseph Daly, a retired law professor, commenting on the duty of prospective jurors during voir dire, said: “You’re not going to confession. You just have to answer the questions you are asked.” In some editions Wednesday, a U.S. News article about a motion seeking a new trial for Derek Chauvin incorrectly attributed the quotation to Brandon Mitchell, one of the jurors in the trial. Lina Khan, who is 32 years old, could become among the youngest people ever confirmed to a commissioner post at the Federal Trade Commission. An April 22 U.S. News article about Ms. Khan’s nomination incorrectly said she would be the youngest. Chinese drugmaker Sinovac’s Covid-19 vaccine has been approved in some Western countries.  » Read More

La Russa's rule flub in Sox late loss won't end narrative originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago This was not the week for Tony La Russa to admit he was unaware of a rule. NBC Sports Wednesday's extra-inning loss in Cincinnati wasn't defined by the White Sox skipper sending closer Liam Hendriks out to run the bases in the top of the 10th inning. The fact that the South Siders mustered only two hits against Sonny Gray and the Reds bullpen had a lot more to do with the 1-0 final score. But La Russa was the subject of a pair of national reports earlier in the week, both ESPN's Jeff Passan and The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal writing that some in the White Sox clubhouse are becoming impatient with La Russa's in-game decisions as the team tries to chase a World Series championship in 2021. RELATED: La Russa in headlines,  » Read More

Fireside is a new made-in-India app by the founders of TikTok-rival Chingari, which enables its users to join virtual chat rooms and have conversations in an audio-only format. It is essentially an audio-only social media platform that’s catered for the Indian audience. The app is available as a free download on both iOS and Android platforms. It is a direct response to the Clubhouse app, another audio-only social media platform that has seen massive growth in recent times. Fireside appAccording to CEO and Co-Founder Sumit Gosh, Fireside will cater to Indians with groups and virtual chat rooms that are designed to meet local needs. Users can do all their regular chores such as playing games, working out, create art, and more while being sure that their voice is heard. The app has a common virtual room that has shared interests and topics that can be used to have discussions and conversations.The founder’s vision for Fireside is to enable every Indian’s voice to be heard.  » Read More

The secretive dating app Raya has gained attention recently, after a viral TikTok video involving Ben Affleck sliding into a comedian's DMs.It's put Raya — jokingly known as Illuminati Tinder — in the eye of a public it was never pitched to, which is bound to erode some of its exclusive qualities. Wait, celebrities have their own dating app?Not really.Raya isn't just for A-listers, but it's reportedly quite popular with a number of household names.Ok, so what is Raya then?Raya was launched in 2015 to minimal fanfare, and bills itself as a "community" of people interested in "dating, networking and making new friends".And you probably aren't invited.While the app's user base isn't restricted to Oscar winners and supermodels, about 92 per cent of membership applications fail, according to the New York Times.And it's not as though there are wall-to-wall celebrities inside. The app trades on exclusivity.TikTok user and comedian Nivine Jay matched with Ben Affleck,  » Read More

Homegrown short video company, Chingari, today announced an audio-only social media app meant to take on billion dollar startup Clubhouse. The company’s new app is called Fireside and will be available on both iOS and Android smartphones. The app is a near replica of Clubhouse and emulates the logo of Twitter’s Spaces platform, which is another audio-only social media that’s based on Clubhouse. Unlike Spaces and Clubhouse though, Fireside will be available in both English and Hindi, making a play for the growing vernacular space in India. “Fireside enables users to listen to the voice of their loved ones by bridging emotional gaps, leaving them emotionally touched and connected, with a keen focus on building rich communities, fireside aims to cater to the Indian market with clubs and groups that are tailored to suit local needs and sensibilities,” said Sumit Ghosh, CEO & Co-Founder, Fireside. Fireside continues Chingari’s tradition of trying to take advantage of burgeoning markets. Chingari itself was created to take advantage of the growing short video market,  » Read More