Facebook Messenger Lite comes to India

Facebook Messenger today rolled out the "lite" version of its  app – Messenger Lite - in India. Messenger Lite is a lightweight, fast and simple version of Messenger that offers the core features of Messenger for markets with slower than average internet speeds and a prevalence of basic Android smartphones.

Messenger Lite offers the same basic functions as Messenger, enabling users to send and receive texts, photos, links, emojis and stickers. Messenger Lite is under 10MB, so it’s fast to install and quick to start up. 

The new Messenger Lite also enables voice calling and the active now indicator. It also has the ability to view and remove group members and add members to groups. Messenger Lite was previously rolled out in countries such as Vietnam, Nigeria, Peru, Turkey, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands. In India with Messenger Lite, more people can stay in contact, regardless of network conditions or storage limitations on their Android devices.

Messenger Lite is a solution for people who don’t have the latest smartphone, but still want to stay connected to their friends and family.

Facebook Accidentally Declares Mark Zuckerberg, Two Million Others Dead

In a weird turn of events, Facebook itself has started declaring people dead – when in fact they are not. A lot of Facebook users were greeted with a eulogy message when visiting the profiles of friends and family, while some found their own accounts memorialised. Even Mark Zuckerberg was declared dead on his Facebook page. The social media giant acknowledged the error after fixing it – saying that there was a ‘terrible error’.

People who have been memorialised by Facebook have the following written on top of their Facebook profile “Remembering Anne. We hope people who love Anne will find comfort in the things others share to remember and celebrate her life”.

The social network yesterday apologized and said it work as quickly as possible to correct the problem. While some people were obviously shocked, other users saw it as a missed opportunity to scare a few friends out, with one user, Danny Sullivan tweeting “Damn. I should have used Facebook Live to show how I was Facebook Dead”.

Source: Indian Express

Now watch your favourite movies through Facebook with new platform Flickstree

“What to watch” and “Where to watch” is the most common worry seen amongst the audience who prefer downloading movies online. Taking advantage of this, a team of technology enthusiasts figured a way to help ease out movie downloading with an innovative movie recommendation platform called ‘Flickstree’. Being one of a kind, Flickstree will also be using popular platform Facebook via the Facebook messenger chatbot.

Flickstree is world’s first fully automated movie recommendation bot. It is also India’s first entertainment bot that will help users discover movies basis their inputs and will show them the availability of the recommended movie online.

In addition, Flickstree comes in with an array of fun elements like create your own playlist; connect with film critics, follow like minded people and also create a movie calendar to make your journey from downloading a movie to enjoying it hassle free.

Bangladesh government blocks Twitter, Skype, IMO

Three days after lifting a 22-day ban on Facebook, the Bangladesh government today blocked the social networking sites Twitter, Skype and Imo. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) sent a letter to its mobile phone operators and telecom service providers asking them to suspend the services immediately.

Asked about the reason behind the move, BTRC Chairman Dr Shahjahan Mahmood told The Daily Star that they have taken the step following instructions from the government.
Earlier on Thursday, the government unblocked Facebook after a 22-day restriction on the popular social networking site. However, the government did not give any decision about the ban on WhatsApp and Viber.

The Bangladesh authorities on November 18 blocked Facebook and online messaging and calling services WhatsApp and Viber immediately after the Supreme Court pronounced its verdict maintaining its previous ruling that upheld death penalty to war criminals Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed.

A letter sent from the BTRC asked different telecom operators and all internet service providers to stop the services immediately. Earlier on January 18 of this year, the regulators blocked mobile applications Viber, WhatsApp, Tango, Mypeople and Line in the country for security reasons. The services were unblocked four days later.

Source: The Daily Star

PM Narendra Modi To Visit Facebook Headquarters In September 2015

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting the headquarters of Facebook in California on September 27 2015. The announcement was done by none other than Mark Zuckerberg through a Facebook post. It will be a privilage for Mr. Modi as he becomes the second leader after US President Barack Obama to hold town hall interaction at the Facebook headquarters.

"I'm excited to announce that Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India will be visiting Facebook HQ later this month for a Townhall Q&A. Prime Minister Modi and I will discuss how communities can work together to address social and economic challenges," Zuckerberg posted on Facebook.

Modi also responded on Facebook to thank Mark Zuckerberg for the invite "I thank Mr. Mark Zuckerberg for the invite to visit the Facebook HQ. I look forward to the Townhall Q&A on Sunday 27th September at 10 PM IST (9:30 am Pacific time)," PM wrote on Facebook. He also invited questions from the people for the town hall session. "This programme will be incomplete without your participation! Share your questions on Facebook. I urge you all to share your questions on the 'Narendra Modi Mobile App.' Your questions will make this a programme to be remembered. The interaction will cover a wide range of issues and will surely be a memorable one." 

The San Francisco event will be webcast live on the Facebook profiles of both Modi and Zuckerberg. The Facebook CEO also referred to his last meeting with Modi in New Delhi and said, “I had the chance to visit Prime Minister Modi in India last year and it’s an honor to have the chance to host him here at Facebook." He also posted a picture of that meeting. 

Modi will be visiting US and  Ireland from 23rd to 29th September to visit Google headquarters in the Silicon Valley and address at the UN General Assembly. India has a record Facebook user base outside the US territory. In June 2015, Facebook quoted that 125 million users of its global base of 1.44 billion come from India. 

Source: Indian Express