Zoom Has Games You Can Play With Others In A Call

Conference calls are a daily reality for many who are now working from home. With Zoom being a commonly used software for that, it is now integrating a number of games that you can play with others in a call.

There are nine games in total for now, and they are all of the multiplayer kind. These range from LGN Poker, which should be self explanatory, to one called Heads Up! It’s been on iOS and Android for awhile, and is described as “charades with a twist”, and is apparently made by TV personality Ellen DeGeneres.

Zoom integrating games is quite the odd one. On one hand, it’s easy to imagine this being useful for those who sign into a call early. These games can then be used to kill time, and wait for the actual meeting to start, or while waiting for the late ones to show up. It can also be used for team building, if your boss is so inclined. But on the other, games by their very nature will usually drag on, derailing the meeting.

At any rate, the option to play games with others in a Zoom call is now available. Maybe you can just casually call up a bunch of friends to play them. But more than likely, if you have friends for that, you’ll probably be hitting up a proper multiplayer video game on Steam or something else.

Twitter Rolls Out Tip Jar Payment Feature For Content Creators And Others

Twitter joins other social media platforms in rolling out a payment feature for content creators and others. As the name implies, Tip Jar will enable people to support Twitter personalities with tips.

The account owner / recipient will have to enable the feature first – after which, a Tip Jar icon will appear next to the Follow button on their profile page. Those who wish to tip can then tap on the icon and select a payment service or platform that the account has enabled.

Once a selection has been made, users will be brought off Twitter to the chosen app, where they can enter an amount and finalise payment. Available services include Bandcamp, Cash App, Patreon, PayPal and Venmo. Twitter said it takes no cut, but noted that payment service availability and features will vary by region. Android users can also send tips within Spaces.

At the moment, everyone using Twitter in English can send tips to those who have enabled the feature – expansion to other languages is planned. But for the time being, only a limited group of people across the world who use Twitter in English can add the feature to their profile and receive money. These people include creators, journalists, experts and nonprofits, but Twitter said it’ll widen that circle shortly.

Twitter said that Tip Jar is a “first step” in its efforts to set up ways for people to give and receive money on the platform. Social media platforms are banking heavily on attracting creators – Clubhouse launched its first monetisation feature last month, and Facebook has its Stars feature, with more monetisation opportunities announced and on the way.

Huawei Will Begin Charging 5G Royalties To Apple, Samsung And Others

Huawei announced it will begin charging fees for access to its patented 5G technologies – a move that will affect smartphone leaders like Apple and Samsung, Bloomberg and CNBC reported.

Frustrated by the continuing US sanctions, the Chinese tech giant has been trying to bolster and diversify its revenue streams. Huawei said it will be charging a “reasonable” royalty rate of up to US$2.50 (~RM10.29) for every phone that uses its 5G technology.

That US$2.50 cap might seem relatively modest compared to those of competitors. CNBC noted that Nokia caps its rate at €3 (~RM14.70) per device, while Ericsson charges from US$2.50 to US$5 (~RM20.59) per device.

For further comparison, chipmaker Qualcomm demanded US$7.50 (~RM30.88) from Apple for every iPhone, causing a feud between the tech giants, Bloomberg said. The companies finally made peace in 2019.

Huawei expects to pull in about US$1.2 billion (~RM4.9 billion) to US$1.3 billion (~RM5.4 billion) in revenue from patent licensing between 2019 and 2021. Obviously, those figures are likely to grow as the transition to 5G begins across the world.

Also, it’s plausible that Huawei is retaliating for a recent US move to further restrict component supplies for Huawei’s 5G devices. Washington, under Trump and now Biden, has often emphasised the need to protect American technology from Chinese firms.

Now, Huawei may be eager to publicly assert and leverage the dependence of others, especially in the West, on its technologies. In other words, it’s a game of tit for tat.