WhatsApp to offer in-app purchases, cloud hosting services

 

 

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc on Thursday said its WhatsApp messaging app would start to offer in-app purchases and hosting services, as it moves to boost revenue from the app while knitting together e-commerce infrastructure across the company.

The world's biggest social media company has been trying to boost sales from higher-growth units such as Instagram and WhatsApp, which it bought in 2014 for $19 billion but has been slow to monetize.

With the changes, WhatsApp will enable businesses sell products inside WhatsApp via Facebook Shops, an online store launched in May to offer a unified shopping experience across Facebook's apps.

The company will also enter the cloud computing sector, offering firms who use its customer service messaging tools the ability to store those messages on Facebook servers.

WhatsApp's chief operating officer, Matt Idema, said in an interview that the shopping tool would start rolling out this year, while message hosting would become available in 2021.

Idema said WhatsApp would offer the hosting service for free to try to draw new paying customers to its enterprise tools, which charge 0.5 cents to 9 cents per message delivered.

The app has a relatively small customer base of tens of thousands of businesses, while tens of millions use its more limited free tools aimed at small businesses.

In total, more than 175 million people interact with a business each day on WhatsApp, Idema said.

"The revenue is small today, by comparison to Facebook at large, but we think the opportunity is pretty big," he said.

Idema said chats with a business using the new hosting service will disclose that those conversations are stored elsewhere and not protected by the app's end-to-end encryption.

Facebook would not use message data hosted on its servers for other business purposes, he added.

 

This Is Exactly Why You Get Turned on When You Workout

If you've ever felt yourself get "in the mood" while exercising, it's nothing to be ashamed of—because it's likely due to biology more than it is your ego about how good you look while doing arm curls in front of a mirror.

"Workouts, especially lower-body ones, cause the body to secrete hormones like testosterone," personal trainer Nick Liguori told Well+Good recently. "This increases the blood flow to your reproductive organs, which ignites your libido."

However, a rush of testosterone is more of a factor of increased arousal during exercise in men than it is in women. Though that doesn't mean women aren't also getting turned on when they break a sweat, it's just more likely caused by something else. A 2008 study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, found a "significant increase in physiological sexual arousal with exercise" in female participants and that there was "a significant increase in α-amylase [a digestive enzyme] across the study" in the women that exercised versus those that didn't. Testosterone, however, remained the same level in both groups.

In addition, aerobic activity floods your brain with a variety of "feel-good neurotransmitters," or endorphins, the Mayo Clinic says. Further still, exercise forces your body to work through the physical effects of stress—one of them being a decreased libido—which in turn reduces stress and can "lead to positive effects in your body—including your cardiovascular, digestive and immune systems—by helping protect your body from harmful effects of stress."

 

Dutch king expresses regret at Greek family vacation

 

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch king issued a video message Wednesday saying he had “regret in the heart” and he shouldn't have flown to Greece for a family vacation last week, a trip that was quickly broken off amid public uproar back home where people are being urged to stay home as much as possible to battle the coronavirus.

“It hurts to have betrayed your faith in us," a somber King Willem-Alexander said in the video, which shows him sitting next to his wife, Queen Maxima, at their palace in a forest in The Hague.

It is highly unusual for a Dutch monarch to issue such a contrite message to the nation. The vacation also has been politically damaging for Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who under the Dutch constitution is responsible for the king’s actions.

Willem-Alexander and his family flew to Greece, where they have a vacation home, on Friday, but the king, queen and one of their daughters returned home Saturday night. Their two other daughters flew home later.

The vacation came just days after the Dutch government introduced what it called a “partial lockdown” in a bid to rein in soaring coronavirus infections in the country.

“Even though the trip was within the regulations, it was very unwise not to take into account the impact of the new restrictions on our society,” the king said.

“Our own decision to return was taken in the realization that we should not have gone.” he added.

“We will continue to work with you to get the coronavirus under control. So that everyone in our country can then resume normal life as soon as possible,” Willem-Alexander said. “That is the most important thing now and we will continue to do so, to the best of our ability. We are involved. But not infallible.”

The Stories Behind The Most Popular Banned Songs

 

Music is a powerful tool that many musicians use in order to convey their world views and opinions. Often, these can be quite controversial, leading to the songs being censored or even banned altogether. These are some of the most popular songs in the world, and the reasons why they were censored or blacklisted altogether. Is your favorite song on the list?

Imagine – John Lennon

John Lennon was known for being quite controversial. Though the song “Imagine” is about peace, it was banned in 1991 during the Gulf War, as well as in 2001 after the 911 attacks. Many religious groups took issue with the lyric: “imagine there’s no heaven.” Despite the bans, the song continues to be one of the most popular songs of all time.

Celebrities who follow their faith religiously

 

Many of us worship the cult of celebrity, but how religious are celebrities? While some rejoice in their faith, others are less inclined to advertise their beliefs. But you'd be surprised, perhaps, with how many Hollywood A-listers balance faith with fame, and how they rely on their god for strength and salvation.

Browse this gallery and find out which celebrities follow their faith religiously.

Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan launch Archewell website

 

Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan have launched their Archewell website.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have made the online offering of their charity live.

The new website asks people to submit their details and sign up to their newsletter.The note reads: "Yes, I would like Archewell to send me emails about its activities and initiatives. You can unsubscribe at any time."

Back in April, Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan announced their new charity was called Archewell and whilst they were "looking forward” to launching the foundation, they wanted to focus on the coronavirus pandemic.

The couple said in a statement at the time: "Like you, our focus is on supporting efforts to tackle the global Covid-19 pandemic but faced with this information coming to light, we felt compelled to share the story of how this came to be. Before SussexRoyal, came the idea of 'Arche' - the Greek word meaning 'source of action'. We connected to this concept for the charitable organisation we hoped to build one day, and it became the inspiration for our son’s name. To do something of meaning, to do something that matters. Archewell is a name that combines an ancient word for strength and action, and another that evokes the deep resources we each must draw upon. We look forward to launching Archewell when the time is right."

Harry and Meghan outlined in official papers that they could use the charity name for a number of different things including the "organising and conducting support groups for persons in need" as well as "emotional counselling" and "coordinating social, personal care, and psychological services". The website will be "in the field of nutrition, general health and mental health".

The week before announcing their new charity, the couple closed their Sussex Royal Instagram account. They wrote at the time: "As we all find the part we are to play in this global shift and changing of habits, we are focusing this new chapter to understand how we can best contribute. While you may not see us here [on Instagram], the work continues."