Facebook is launching a messenger app for kids. Bell + Ivy Co-Founder and CEO, Cynthia Johnson, explains how the social media giant is trying to gain more early adopters.
The app, "Messenger Kids," allows children between ages six and 12 to send texts, messages, and videos to a list of parent-approved contacts. Facebook says there will be no advertising on this platform, and only data it will collect from the kids is their names. But still, some parents are concerned.
Johnson says the best way to create customers for life is to get them when they are young. So while launching this app for kids in one way, Facebook is open to evolving it in new ways in the future, says Johnson. Facebook's advantage is the wealth of information it contains in its network, she adds.
With the release of Apple's iOS 16.4 on Monday, a new batch of 31 emojis are now available to those who like to spice up their texts. The line-up includes new animals such as a donkey, a moose, and a goose; new heart colors, including the much-requested plain pink heart; and other oddities such as a biting lip, a melting face, and a pregnant man.
Apple Pay is getting in on the buy now pay later boom with a feature allowing users to split purchases into four separate payments over six weeks at no additional cost or interest.
San Francisco-based technology startup Illumix just closed a $18 million Series A round of funding, and in a rare move for the Shark Tank star, Mark Cuban contributed.
