BlackBerry accuses Facebook of infringement over its messaging patents

CNN

BlackBerry has filed a lawsuit in California against Facebook and its subsidiaries WhatsApp and Instagram for what it says is infringement of its messaging patents. The company says the social media company has “co-opted” its patented innovations related to security, user interface, and battery life. But Facebook brushes off the suit claiming it’s just a desperate move from the beleaguered company. "Blackberry's suit sadly reflects the current state of its messaging business," Paul Grewal, Facebook's deputy general counsel, said in a statement. "Having abandoned its efforts to innovate, BlackBerry is now looking to tax the innovation of others. We intend to fight."

The patents cited in the lawsuit describe the key elements of modern day messaging including those that deal with notifications for the total number of unread messages, photo tagging, and messaging time stamps. It hasn’t been cited how much BlackBerry is asking in terms of damages. But it seems seeking money from the patents isn’t the only motivation, the company seems to want to partner with Facebook. "As a cybersecurity and embedded software leader, BlackBerry's view is that Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp could make great partners in our drive toward a securely connected future," BlackBerry’s spokesperson said in the statement. "We continue to hold this door open to them."

Source: CNN

Instagram tests out audio and video call feature

Looks like Instagram is adding one more feature that pits it up against Snapchat. TechCrunch has spotted icons in the Android version of theapp that shows the company is working on calling features: one for traditional audio calls and one for video calls as well. The tech site speculates Instagram might be considering putting this into its Direct Messaging system to put it squarely up against Snapchat. This isn’t the first time this option has been talked about, though.  Support for these features have been spotted in testing last month.

Instagram is trying out screenshot alerts for Stories

Instagram’s latest test might ruffle a few feathers. The social network is trying out a feature that will let your friend know that you took a screenshot of their story. But if you have this feature, you’ll also be able to see who has been taking screenshots of your Stories. You won’t be notified when someone takes a screenshot. Instead, there will be a camera shutter logo beside the user who took a screenshot of the photo in your list of story viewers.

When Instagram was asked about the test, the company said “we are always testing ways to improve the experience on Instagram and make it easier to share any moment with the people who matter to you.” As TechCrunch points out, Instagram might be trying to see if this would affect engagement when it comes to users watching Stories. Some might not use it as often if they knew their screenshots are being seen by the creator. Previously, notifications were only sent out when you took a screenshot of a private direct message.

Instagram will now let you add GIF stickers to your Stories

It seems like a long time coming, especially with the popularity of GIFs on the internet, but the wait is finally over. Instagram is rolling out to both Android and iOS users a new GIF button with the GIFs you can add provided by GIPHY. Just like how it’s done on other platforms, you can browse through trending GIF stickers or look for specific ones to add to your photo or video story.

Aside from that, Instagram users can expect in the near future the ability to upload photos and videos “of any size” into a story, similar to what you can do with Stories on Facebook. So instead of cutting off a part of an image or video, Stories will show the entire photo or clip in its original state. Any extra room will be filled by a color gradient to match the colors of the image or video.

Source: MacRumors