Google Just Revealed When Apple Will Officially Adopt RCS: Possible Northern Hemisphere Fall 2024

The Android developer just published an updated landing page for Google Messages, showing off key features ranging from customization, privacy and security, and, of course, AI.

On this landing page, there are different sections for each feature set, including one for RCS. As spotted by 9to5Google, if you expand this list of RCS features and scroll to the bottom, you see a section on “Coming soon on iOS: Better messaging for all.” That’s no surprise: We’ve known Apple was adopting RCS since November. However, it’s the next line that brings the news: “Apple has announced it will be adopting RCS in the fall of 2024.”

Of course, this does not say a lot as it is “in the fall” which is anywhere over a couple of months, and Google has tried to embarrass Apple into making moves before. I suppose, though, there is the looming court case against Apple which is anyway keeping pressure on Apple. If it were not for the US court case, I would have guessed Apple may have pulled out after the EU had ruled Apple was not a dominant player in the market (although the EU case was looking more at interoperability with WhatsApp and others in Apple Messages).

Of course, with Apple actually including RCS now, they can probably argue that there is interoperability via RCS between their platform and Android too. It must be remembered that in many countries, like mine, SMS’s are paid for so are very expensive to use for any form of chatting, and the costs go up exponentially when you text an international number.

I personally have quite a few issues with interoperability with Apple:

• I still have AirTags from when I had an iPhone and I daily get the audio beeps warning me the AirTags are not connected (I use an Android phone and alternate between an iPad and an Android tablet)
• I can’t wait to sell my AirTags and get the new one’s Google was working on that will interoperate with Apple, but supposedly Apple has been delaying building in that support into their devices (which Google already built into Android for AirTags in 2023)
• Because I was on Apple Messages and my iPad still sometimes connects, I find a message on my iPad that arrived a week ago which I had not seen (I had Beeper which was solving this problem)

Apple is not at all dominant outside the USA, but it makes interacting with Apple users quite a pain, as Apple has gone out of their way to try to keep their users inside the walled garden.

See https://lifehacker.com/tech/google-just-revealed-when-apple-will-officially-adopt-rcs
#Blog, #apple, #interoperability, #RCS, #technology

The Sad Reality: Firefox 123 is out with broken site reporting tool

Users of the Firefox web browser may report broken sites to Mozilla. The main idea behind the feature is to help Mozilla address compatibility issues in Firefox.

Firefox has a much smaller userbase than the Chromium-based browsers. Multiple companies, including Google and Microsoft, find and deal with compatibility issues in the Chromium source.

The new reporting tool involves the Firefox community. Select Firefox Menu > Report broken site to open the reporting tool. Select a reason, e.g., site slow or not working, ad blockers, or sign-in or sign-out and hit the send button. You may add text to the report, which you should do to provide additional details that describe the issue that you experience on the site.

Mozilla announces the new website compatibility reporter in the following way: “Having any issues with a website on Firefox, yet the site seems to be working as expected on another browser? You can now let us know via the Web Compatibility Reporting Tool! By filing a web compatibility issue, you’re directly helping us detect, target, and fix the most impacted sites to make your browsing experience on Firefox smoother.”

This is a bit sad that the web is becoming so dominated by Chromium based browsers, that Firefox users have to suffer. This reminds me very much of the old Internet Explorer days, when companies often developed specifically for that browser. It breaks compatibility, and the web really does need to have open standards adhered to in order to be future-proof and allow competition.

Any business surely wants to allow the maximum possible number of customers to view and interact with their site? The problem is that executives rarely understand this, and devs just want to get their job done ASAP.

This reporting tool looks like it is going to alert the Firefox team, so that they can attempt to “make Firefox” work with the reported site (in other words, bending Firefox to work with some non-standard implementation).

See https://www.ghacks.net/2024/02/20/firefox-123-is-out-with-broken-site-reporting-tool/
#Blog, #browsers, #interoperability, #technology

The fediverse, explained

The Verge

The buzziest new thing in social networking is a big deal. It’s also very confusing. And it’s not actually new. (...)

.

So what is the fediverse?
It’s an interconnected social platform ecosystem based on an open protocol called ActivityPub, which allows you to port your content, data, and follower graph between networks.

What?

Ugh, I know. Let me try again.

The fediverse is as if you took X, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook and made them all interoperable so you could post anything from anywhere, and all your followers would be guaranteed to see it. And if you wanted to leave one platform for another, you could bring all your content, all your followers, all your everything with you. (...)

But all of this stuff only works if there is a standard, and I’d bet $10 that ActivityPub is going to be that standard. It’s the one that’s overseen by the World Wide Web Consortium, it’s the one with the most momentum, it’s the one Threads is supposedly going to support — it’s just kind of clearly winning. (...)

So why would I leave Instagram and Facebook?
That’s the big question. Do you like Instagram and Facebook?

I mean, sure. It’s where all my friends are.
That is the single biggest problem for the fediverse. A lot of folks I’ve talked to say that, basically, if we’d built social media like this 20 years ago, the world would be better and smarter and we’d all be richer and better-looking. (Or something.) But we didn’t. We built it on a bunch of closed platforms that turned out to be really sticky, really lucrative for the companies that made them, and frankly kind of user-hostile. But it’s really, really hard to convince people to stop hanging out where their friends are and go join something new just because it’s better. That transition will take a long time, if it ever happens. (...)

Complete article

Tags: #fediverse #social_media #activitypub #x #Twitter #tiktok #snapchat #instagram #facebook #youtube #algoritm #interoperability #mastodon #hubzilla #diaspora* #Bluesky #threads #AT_Protocol #Farcaster #Nostr #Reddit #Pixelfed #Lemmy #PeerTube #Friendica #BookWyrm #Goodreads #Misskey #Flipboard #Medium #hubzilla

The fediverse, explained

It’s Mastodon, it’s Threads, it’s the future, and it’s extremely confusing

The US government makes a $42 million bet on 5G Open RAN (O-RAN) cell networks

The US government has committed $42 million to further the development of the 5G Open RAN (O-RAN) standard that would allow wireless providers to mix and match cellular hardware and software, opening up a bigger market for third-party equipment that’s cheaper and interoperable.

O-RAN is about establishing interoperability which means companies like Verizon and AT&T wouldn’t be forced to buy all of their hardware from a single company to create a functional network. For the rest of us, that means faster build-outs and “more agile networks,” according to Rakuten.

Well, this is news to me, as I always thought a standard like 5G was an open standard and interoperable between “brands”. A mobile phone has to connect to a 5G network with provider A, and then also when roaming with provider B or C. This is at least true for the client side.

I get that if you want to mesh some Wi-Fi devices in your home, invariably that is normally only achieved with the same brand. So maybe the backhaul part of the 5G network is the same brand that connects with the same brand as well.

Clearly, then, being able to mix and match would dramatically change the ability to innovate and roll out a lot quicker. The same would be even more true for when the provider wants to switch brands going forward, as there is zero vendor lock in.

Which then leads me to ask, so why can’t we mix and match mesh networking with home routers too? The benefit would be even greater for us cash strapped consumers.

See https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/12/24070550/open-ran-standard-us-funding-5g-huawei
#Blog, #5G, #interoperability, #technology

WordPress.com owner buys all-in-one messaging app Texts.com for $50M

The app brings all your messaging apps together in a single dashboard, including iMessage, Slack, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, Messenger, LinkedIn, Signal, Discord and X, with plans for more in the future, a company blog post announced.

Though other companies have tried to do something similar — like Beeper — Texts.com offers end-to-end encryption of your chats and other features users have always wanted, like the ability to schedule messages at a time that’s convenient for the recipient, not just for you. In addition, you can mark messages as unread even on services that don’t offer that feature, allowing you to remember to check that message again when you return, as well as get summaries of long group chats you’ve missed.

It is certainly a similar approach to Beeper, but different. Beeper dropped their charge per month whilst this service is still $15 pm. The service has iMessage but only on macOS – whilst Beeper offers iMessage across all platforms. However, that is another difference in that Beeper does break the E2EE for iMessage, with that virtual Mac in the middle, which you have the password to.

Beeper also includes full iMessage use on Windows, Linux, and Android phones, and also has Google Chat and Google Messages (SMS/RCS). The other services are the same minus IRC.

Right now, they support iMessage (only on macOS), SMS (with iMessage), WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Messenger, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, IRC (IRC is really interesting!), Slack and Discord DMs. Texts app runs on macOS, Windows and Linux. Texts for iOS is under development and Android is on the roadmap.

I’m not sure how they’re doing Signal and WhatsApp still with the E2EE intact. They mention an in-house Texts Platform SDK for the integration, but unless they are independently audited, or their code is open, we can only take their word for the full E2EE. Their privacy policy does state, however: “The App also preserves end-to-end encryption of your messages if supported by your Messaging Service”. Maybe WhatsApp and Signal don’t support this? I do think that Beeper was a lot more forthcoming about exactly how they manage each service. They also say your messages don’t touch their servers – that implies everything is in the client app i.e., a 3rd party WhatsApp inside the Texts app. But it also means no iMessage at all then for Android or non-macOS platforms.

Whilst we have no real approved global open messaging standard (no, not SMS as no encryption at all), and whilst the likes of Tim Cook insist on their own walled garden for iMessage (they could have just included Android iMessage apps) we’re going to have lots of disconnected messaging services. So, it is still good to see more options like this appearing, as clearly users do want to integrate their messaging more. The fact is the whole world is just not going to be on one messaging service.

See https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/24/wordpress-com-owner-buys-all-in-one-messaging-app-texts-com-for-50m/
#Blog, #interoperability, #messaging, #technology

WordPress, Your Way

Build a site, sell online, earn with your content, and more

Journalists are realising Mastodon and the Fediverse is not so complicated to use after all

As Notopoulos writes, the Fediverse is a better, more user-centric social media concept than the one we currently have, where you amass followers on a single platform then lose them if that platform dies or becomes bad and you decide to quit. Federated social media means that you create an account on a server, can follow people on that server and on other servers, and can move your account to other federated platforms or servers whenever you want.

“I’ve now been using it for about two months and I am here to tell you that it is, in principle, what we should want the internet to be. If you have been remotely interested in Mastodon but had reservations about joining because you thought it would be difficult, confusing, or otherwise annoying, it is not.”

I’m not sure why so many in the media had been harping on for so long about how complicated the Fediverse was. Many have been pointing out it is no more complicated than using e-mail addresses.

It is time though for users to take back their own control over the social network that they use. I should point out though that Mastodon is only one social network within the whole Fediverse (the networks interconnecting with the ActivityPub protocol). You can join any instance (server) on any Fediverse social network, and follow/be followed from anywhere else. So, there is also nothing wrong with just joining Mastodon if you have no other preferences.

The future of social networking should not be walled gardens, but rather interconnecting with everyone else. We should never have to leave friends/family behind when we change social networks.

See https://www.404media.co/mastodon-is-the-good-one/

#technology #socialnetworks #Mastodon #interoperability
#Blog, #interoperability, #socialnetworks, #technology

WhatsApp will likely set the global standard for messaging interoperability: This is Why and possibly What

The world already has quite a few good open-source, E2EE and secure messaging protocols like XMPP, Signal, MTProto, Wickr, Wire, and more. But none have ended up dominating across messaging apps. Also, there is no defined W3C open standard for messaging, like there is ActivityPub for social networking interoperability.

We now have the situation (a good one actually) that the EU is forcing WhatsApp to interoperate with other messaging platforms. That means WhatsApp must offer interconnectivity using some protocol. But that protocol was not defined by the EU, and there is no open standard recommended by a standards body yet (seems W3C is still busy developing its recommendation for WebRTC as a messaging API [which Facebook Messenger and Google Hangouts use] but that was not really created for this type of purpose, as I gather it was more intended for web applications).

In summary on the ‘Why’, WhatsApp can’t be expected to create a separate protocol API for every messenger out there, so they must choose one that others can also adopt and use. In the absence of an international standard, WhatsApp must make a choice, and because WhatsApp is by far the biggest messaging platform on this planet, what they decide to use will be adopted by many other messaging platforms as either their primary or secondary protocol as well. That in turn (should) allows them to interoperate with each other too, thereby effectively creating a common messaging standard through popular usage.

So, ‘What’ could WhatsApp decide on? Well, I’m speculating that as they already built WhatsApp using the modified Signal protocol, that it would make the most sense for them to actually adopt that. The API they expose would just have to be a standard Signal protocol. The Signal protocol would likely mean the least effort for WhatsApp, and it is very well established as a secure E2EE messaging protocol already.

Of course, WhatsApp may also take the low road approach out of spite, and just for compliance purposes, adopt something that uses plain open text like SMS, and limit it to the EU region only.

Neither iMessage nor RCS really qualify for use as they are both limited to separate OS ecosystems. Although an approach taken like Beeper did, with transparently using Matrix rooms and bridges could work, I don’t think WhatsApp will follow that approach as it is more complex than just exposing a standard messaging API, for others to do the work on connecting to. There is nothing wrong with XMPP and the other protocols, but I’m still thinking WhatsApp will stick to what they are more familiar with, and has the least effort involved.

If Apple had adopted RCS, then it may have been a different story, as RCS may have then made sense as it is designed for secure E2EE instant messaging with presence indication, etc. Or if Apple had opened iMessage up to Android, but now I’m just dreaming…

I am eager to witness WhatsApp’s next move, as it will usher in a new age of cross-platform communication for everyone. Currently, most ‘open’ messaging platforms remain isolated, because they have not gained widespread adoption by other parties, despite being open. WhatsApp has an opportunity to change that, thanks to the European Union.
#Blog, #interoperability, #messaging, #technology, #whatsapp

Thank You EU: WhatsApp working on cross-platform interoperability with other messengers

The European Union has recently reached an agreement on a significant competition reform known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which will impose strict rules on large tech companies that will have to offer users the ability to communicate with each other using different apps. WhatsApp has a 6-month period to align the app with the new European regulations to provide its interoperability service in the European Union. At the moment, it remains unclear whether this feature will also eventually extend to countries beyond the European Union.

Interoperability will allow other people to contact users on WhatsApp even if they don’t have a WhatsApp account. For example, someone from the Signal app could send a message to a WhatsApp user, even without a WhatsApp account. Third-party chat support is under development and it will be available in a future update of the app.

I, like quite a few others, completely deleted their WhatsApp accounts after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and the then new Terms of Service that WhatsApp forced down on its users, allowing metadata to be passed upstream to Meta. As we all saw already, Meta could not be trusted at all with any metadata (the data relating to the usage of the app, locations, friends, and lots more behaviour data). Even now, I only recreated a Facebook account after getting the Beeper app, which would allow me to do Facebook Messaging without installing the Facebook app on my phone at all.

So, yes, I do have a few friends still stuck on WhatsApp, and who do not seem to realise they can also install other messenger apps like Signal, Telegram, etc. An interoperability will allow me to stay on Telegram and Signal, whilst being able to message some friends on WhatsApp (is this not really what Beeper also sort of offers, except that WhatsApp still requires the WhatsApp app to be installed, which is not an option for me at all).

I therefore welcome what the EU is trying to achieve. Just like e-mail can work between different e-mail domains, so should messaging. I realise there may be challenges, or limitations, to E2EE, but maybe this is why we need a standard too for this interoperability. Maybe if Matrix is used as the connecting medium, the chat message can be still E2EE between the parties using that Matrix room. Beeper is using Matrix as their interconnectivity (completely transparently to the user), and any Beeper-to-Beeper messages are fully E2EE. What they’ve done with Signal is to establish to separate E2EE channels from each client to the personal Matrix room in the middle, so yes it does break the full E2EE, but it may be acceptable for this purpose, if done in this way.

Ideally some new (or existing) protocol standard could be agreed on, and if that is supported in-app by WhatsApp and any of the other messaging services, it will be possible to do full E2EE messaging between end clients.

Why does this matter? Well, it is about that tracking and metadata. So, if I trust Telegram or Signal more than WhatsApp, then my metadata stops by my client, and that data does not travel over to WhatsApp, just the message and the friend contact who is already on WhatsApp. Like Beeper, my app will insulate me from WhatsApp.

The other big benefit will be that you use the app that you are most comfortable with, and do not have to install 7 other apps to communicate with everyone everywhere else (if their apps participate in the interoperability).

Users that want to stay on WhatsApp, can stay there. But yes, from a consumer point of view, they could now more easily move away from WhatsApp. That means WhatsApp must complete a bit harder to make their service really worthwhile to use (I doubt they’ll change their privacy stance!).

See https://wabetainfo.com/whatsapp-beta-for-android-2-23-19-8-whats-new/
#Blog, #EU, #interoperability, #privacy, #technology, #whatsapp

Beeper, the universal chat and messenger app for 15 services, is now free to use

I did a post about this app in Sep 2022 at https://gadgeteer.co.za/beeper-lets-you-use-imessage-on-android-and-windows-without-any-apple-device-but-it-comes-at-a-price/ as it was using quite an innovative way to achieve iMessage use on Android without requiring a Macbook.

It appears that the app has been growing steadily and now integrates numerous different chat services apart from just the commonly used big ones. They have even been rolling out some features that have not gone live on the parent services. There is also now forwarding between services as well as scheduling of messages, voice notes and more.

It runs cross-platform on desktop, Android, iPhone, Android Auto, Chrome OS, and even notifies via a Pebble watch. Chat services connected appear to be Whatsapp, Telegram, Slack, Twitter (X), Instagram, Discord, LinkedIn, IRC (yes really!), Matrix, Facebook Messenger, iMessage, Android SMS, Signal, and Google Chat.

All Beeper chat messages are end-to-end encrypted. Messages sent using Beeper to other chat networks are re-encrypted if the other network supports encryption (like Signal, WhatsApp and iMessage). So yes, you won’t be having true E2EE all the way on those services, but a lot depends on what you’re actually saying I suppose. There is however full E2EE between any other Beeper users and to Matrix users. They do state though they have zero-access to the contents of messages, so if you lose access to all your devices and your Recovery Code, they will not be able to recover your chat history (the way it should be). Their servers are located in Europe.

They built Beeper on the open source chat protocol Matrix, using its bridges functionality. Unlike other chat networks, there is no lock-in. You’re free to use open source Matrix clients to connect to Beeper, or download your data and move to a different Matrix server and continue chatting with your friends on Beeper.

For those who prefer not to use their default web service that they offer, it is possible to self-host the majority of the Beeper backend yourself. They open sourced all their bridges.

This is what they explain about how they transitioned to going free: “Later this year, we will launch an optional paid subscription, called Beeper Plus, which includes additional features like larger chat history backup, access to multiple network connections, and more. By making Beeper free, more people will feel comfortable sharing it with their friends, enabling more people to start using Beeper. Through the optional paid subscription, we will earn enough money to run the app. Currently, everyone who signs up for Beeper will enjoy a free trial of some features that will be part of Beeper Plus.”

I’m thinking that I will now give this a try. I’d like to see how it works, or not, with iMessages (as I no longer have an iPhone) and with Whatsapp/Facebook (as I have no accounts with these services, so maybe this won’t work).

See https://www.beeper.com/
#Blog, #Beeper, #interoperability, #technology, #universalchat

Improbable launches MSquared, a network of metaverses, to open borders between virtual worlds

The company spent a decade building immersive virtual worlds, from military simulations to K-pop parties, before pivoting to building metaverse infrastructure. While the unicorn’s focus (and fortunes) have fluctuated, Improbable’s faith in open spaces has persisted.

“We have seen how walled gardens and closed networks exploit the people that spend time on the services for the benefit of few,” Herman Narula, the company’s co-founder and CEO, said last year.

“We want to contribute to ensuring the metaverse holds its promise of being a network of meaning that unlocks creativity, social interaction, and economic opportunities, free from gatekeepers,” he said last month.

The intention seems to be creating the ability for a universal wallet and asset inventory for users to accompany them across the different platforms. It’s something I’d like to have seen tying social networks, or even instant messenger networks, together as well. Technically, it is possible, but practically the people of each network, and their egos, get in the way. The closest I’ve seen to something like this succeeding was Pidgin messenger and also the Flock browser, where the user logged in to each separate service, and was presented with a unified interface. In other words, it gets done from the outside.

Still, it seems that they have produced a Metaverse Markup Language (MML) and also have some big players involved. So let’s keep an eye on this.

See https://thenextweb.com/news/improbable-metaverse-network-m2-connected-virtual-worlds-outside-metas-walled-gardens
#Blog, #interoperability, #metaverse, #technology, #virtualworlds

Think how much richer Internet searches will be with results from Lemmy, Beehaw, Kbin, etc

I have found search results to be very good with Reddit links in the past. I get that Reddit needs to pay for their hosting (just like everyone else) but with so many more Internet users waking up to federated sites and truly open APIs, we are seeing a lot of what was on Reddit, now blossoming on the various Reddit alternatives on the Fediverse.

Just like Mastodon had to grow through its multiple waves of growth (thanks to Elon Musk), the Reddit alternatives seem to be going through the same growth spurts now.

Most users seem quite OK with how the alternatives work, as most are active where they joined, and have not fully explored how to follow and interact with other instances (and there is no need to really unless they want to). The key thing with searching for Communities (Subreddits) is to change the default from Local to All at the top, to see all communities no matter where they are, and just subscribe. That’s really all there is to it. Carry On as normal.

So, as the communities are growing and flourishing, the content will also start to get richer, and hopefully the search engines will soon also start to show results from the various Fediverse sites as well. It is time that search engines and organisations started to adjust to the decentralised model of social networking. It has been interesting to see which organisations have already been dipping their toes into Mastodon, Bluesky, etc and yes, at some point the advertising is going to also arrive whether anyone likes it or not. One big difference is there is no paid push advertising (but don’t underestimate marketing teams!).

For me, it is not just about the cost of the Reddit API, it is about the freedom of use, and the future. We want something that can stay open and not be arbitrarily charged for, or manipulated, by a single individual company. It is much the same reason why I have long supported open standards such as ODF, PDF, ActivityPub, and many more. They help us interact and exchange data more easily and cheaper, whether for recreation or business, and they will endure the test of time for the future.
#Blog, #fediverse, #interoperability, #openstandards, #search, #technology

Bluesky vs. Nostr vs. ActivityPub — Which Should Developers Care About More?

Yes, there is quite a debate raging across different networks about what protocol to support. Obviously, those who know only one well, are going to root for that one, irrespective of whether it may be the best one.

From a dev perspective, where do you throw your efforts in from a perspective of the future growth of the protocol, and how flexible and free is that protocol going to be to new ideas and advancements. The “best” protocol also does not necessarily mean it will be the most successful, or the most adopted one, as we’ve seen all sorts of politics, misinformation, bad PR, etc play a role in the past (just see what happened to the Zot protocol which has nomadic ID).

From a user perspective, what network do you join and put all your creativity efforts into?

There is no easy answer, and some have even suggested, to get away from the entrenched positions, why not create a brand new protocol! But that has actually happened repeatedly already, and none ever took the “ring that would rule all rings”. Client apps like Hubzilla and Friendica, of course, took the approach rather to support multiple protocols so that your one app connects across different networks. Maybe there is still something in that idea.

The Bluesky protocol may well be loosened up in future, and although ActivityPub is quite open (not owned by anyone), it is still actually quite limited in terms of not having profile migrations, groups, and other features. So yes, Nostr right now is probably the most open with devs registering NIPs (Nostr Implementation Possibilities), much like we also see with XMPP protocol’s XEPs. It all comes down then, to what NIPs a particular client supports.

Personally, as a user, I still long for a fully interoperable protocol, one for instant messaging, as well as for social networking (or combined into one). Look at e-mail. It may be very dated, but it made no difference which service your joined (apart from the domain name you got) and it always connected to other e-mail clients, and it is not owned by any one company or central server.

But whilst we have this situation, I’m wondering if we won’t see the emergence of some future “translation protocol” that will allow posts from XMPP to translate into ActivityPub, Bluesky, Nostr, etc, and go the other way too?

I do think users, at least, are starting to accept the situation of social networks going decentralised and federated, and are realising it is not so complicated to grasp. We’ve been spoilt and brainwashed too long by strong authoritarian centralised network services. If we don’t demand more open and interoperable social networks now, we are doomed to repeat the lock-ins of Twitter, Facebook, etc all over again. Then our friends can be on any network, and we can still interact fully with each other, like we’ve been doing with e-mail.

See https://thenewstack.io/bluesky-vs-nostr-which-should-developers-care-about-more/
#Blog, #interoperability, #openstandards, #protocols, #socialnetworks, #technology

Bluesky: Two months after its launch, Jack Dorsey’s Twitter alternative comes to Android

Since his departure from Twitter in late 2021, co-founder Jack Dorsey has been working on an alternative to the microblogging site, now owned by eccentric billionaire Elon Musk. Bluesky was initially rolled out to iOS devices in February, and it’s now finally come to Android.

If you plan to download the app and post updates about your dislike of Twitter, you’ll still have to wait. Access to Bluesky is by invitation only, so you must sign up for the waitlist or get an invitation from someone already on it. Either way, there isn’t a whole of action going on there now, as the community is only around 25,000 people. But that could change quickly when more people are allowed in, potentially exploding the user base.

Whilst the new social network is decentralised (not hosted on one central server), it is not federated like the Fediverse and Mastodon is, to interconnect across other social networks. So, likening it to e-mail is not a good analogy, as e-mail is an international open standard supported by different brands and mail clients. It is better to compare it say to Microsoft’s cloud service: Hosted across many different servers and countries, all talking to each other, but not talking to Google or Amazon’s cloud services.

But if the network could work like Hubzilla and Friendica do, it is possible it could interconnect more broadly. Hubzilla and Friendica have their own (very good) protocols, but they also allow for the Twitter API and ActivityPub protocols to be activated, thereby interconnecting very broadly from one client. So, we really have to see where Bluesky goes to in the future.

See https://www.xda-developers.com/jack-dorsey-bluesky-twitter-alternative-android/
#Blog, #bluesky, #interoperability, #socialnetworks, #technology

Microsoft is tied to Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Foreign Bribes, Whistleblower Alleges

Although Microsoft claims this was ‘dealt’ with a while ago, the question should be asked whether it was criminally investigated. Otherwise, this would be much like the UK Government whitewashing their own Christmas parties during lockdown.

I spent many years doing IT business within government, and although I was never approached with a potential bribe, I did witness a lot of unethical practices around Microsoft deals, and I watched Microsoft’s grip get ever tighter and wider across Government (below is my own opinion based on my experiences and e-mails):
- In South Africa, although Microsoft had offices in the country, they insisted in invoicing from their Ireland HO in US$. This meant they did not collect or pay any VAT within the country (unlike other suppliers). This had a twofold effect: Their prices appeared cheaper than competitors, but the client departments were not reminded that they were supposed to go declare and pay the VAT themselves. A third issue is that the bulk of the funds went out as Forex, with only the few percent markup being returned in Rands to pay the resellers. This was confirmed with the Revenue officials. You can blame the government departments, but as the seller, MS was not giving the whole picture.
- The MS Enterprise Agreement signed with SA government was supposed to be an enabling agreement (similar to the agreements with Oracle, SUSE, and others), yet most departments were under the impression it was a “contract” and they could just buy any new product off it without testing the market. There were certainly good competing products on other contracts for project management, operating systems, databases, e-mail, and more, yet the requests would go through as “existing contract”. It was Treasury’s intention that the market always be tested before purchasing a “new” solution. If you have bought the OS and MS Office, a project management solution is a new solution. Yet if a department were to consider buying off some else’s contract, MS would be quick to point out the market must be tested first. Yes, a lot of this is “advice” behind the scenes, but I do have one e-mail thread where this was thrashed out in writing with Microsoft. Again, though, one could blame the departments themselves, except for in my e-mail the Microsoft Reseller was vigorously defending their view.
- We all know South Africa had a MIOS interoperability standard approved. This was to ensure that any software implemented (whether FOSS, proprietary, cloud or otherwise) could exchange information using these international open standards. Yet we saw tenders going out with no requirements stated for interoperability (every tender is supposed to get a certification against standards). Again one could blame government officials as it is they who are supposed to apply this. But I have so often seen that departments are misguided by resellers who punt their product (often even stating it is the only available product – no it’s not there are plenty of office suites, project management, e-mail solutions). Interestingly enough, we have an Eastern Cape District Municipality that runs fully on free and open source software – why only them, though?

“Advice” though, is a lot more subtle than actual bribery, and in many cases it is resellers who are at the forefront, not the OEM. Officials too are ignorant around firstly the detail of their own policies, but also in terms of market awareness (the latter also comes from speaking far and wide with other resellers). SA did create the State IT Agency to help fulfil some of this specialised knowledge gap, but even there the same effects were often present. There was even a point in time when some strong vendors stopped approaching IT officials, and instead targeted senior managers without technical experience. SA probably fell down a bit with not declaring strong open standards as well as potential default products to achieve them, with a special motivation required for anything else. The closer we move to cloud too, the more we will lose the specialised IT skills on the ground, as the concentration of expertise moves towards the cloud provider (including a looming and dreaded vendor lock-in if open standards are not seen to have priority over convenience). I see where it is going to end, and of course then the pendulum will have to swing the other way again…

See https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/25/22995144/microsoft-foreign-corrupt-practices-bribery-whistleblower-contracting

#technology #microsoft #bribery #southafrica #opinion #interoperability
#Blog, ##bribery, ##interoperability, ##microsoft, ##opinion, ##southafrica, ##technology

New EU law could require iMessage and WhatsApp to work with other, smaller platforms – NOT using proprietary, but hopefully interoperable standards instead

It’s a great idea as WhatsApp, iMessage, and others are creating more and more fragmentation and walled gardens for users who have to install 10+ apps to message their friends elsewhere. But this why open (not insecure) interoperable standards exist in the first place.

Rather than letting each provider now go create their own API, this is the opportunity to ensure open standards exist for each technology so that everyone can reach others. If RCS is to be the open standard for messaging, then let iMessage and WhatsApp adopt that. That way a message from one app can reach users on iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram and more. Each app will still have its own UI and own bells and whistles that differentiate it from the others. As users, it will mean we are no longer locked into an app that prevents us from leaving.

Such data interchange standards do already exist such as XMPP, XML, RCS, and others. XMPP for example can enable encryption between the end-points so that need not be the issue here. Maybe this will also force the bigger players to help improve these interoperability standards.

It is quite clear that Apple, Facebook, and other big players had no intention of opening up interoperability with their competitors, and we can see already how this harmed consumers on both sides. It is therefore only likely that some legislation will achieve what BigTech has failed to do on their own. Clearly the few consumers that exercised their freedoms to leave platforms, had no real effect on the those running the platforms, so market forces were also not achieving any beneficial change for users (the lock-in effect for mainstream users was just too strong).

See https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/24/22995431/european-union-digital-markets-act-imessage-whatsapp-interoperable

#technology #BigTech #interoperability #messaging #EU
#Blog, ##bigtech, ##eu, ##interoperability, ##messaging, ##technology

● NEWS ● #Joinup #Standards ☞ Location #Interoperability in #Europe - LIFO publishes results of a major assessment involving 23 countries Permalink https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/collection/elise-european-location-interoperability-solutions-e-government/news/location-interoperability-europe-how-are-we-doing

Location Interoperability in Europe - How are we doing?

What's new? Results are now available for the 

How to design an anti-monopoly interoperability system

"A historical accident made Massachusetts a lab for studying how tech can serve monopolies, and the moves, countermoves and counter-countermoves show how businesses, tinkerers, governments and the public can liberate themselves from seemingly all-powerful monopolists."

How to design an anti-monopoly interoperability system
https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/05/time-for-some-game-theory/#massholes

#monopoly #monopolies #tech #technology #computers #software #internet #BigTech #GAFAM #Google #Apple #Facebook #Amazon #Microsoft #Meta #AntiMonopoly #AntiTrust #interoperability #privacy #competition #policy #law #RightToRepair #DRM #DigitalRestrictionsmanagement #OpenSource #FreeSoftware #standards #protocols #OpenStandards #OpenFormats #DigitalMarketsAct #DMA

The 10 best Android games that support cross-play with platforms such as iOS, Windows, Playstation and others

Games that support cross-play are common on consoles like Xbox and PlayStation, but mobile gamers can often feel left out. Controls suited for console and PC games often don’t translate well to mobile. You can buy gaming peripherals, but these are often bulky and inconvenient to carry around.

But even with these issues, there are plenty of fantastic cross-play games available on Android. These great Android games won’t require you to buy any fancy peripherals and were designed with cross-play in mind.

See https://www.androidpolice.com/best-android-games-that-support-cross-play/

#technology #gaming #mobile #crossplay #interoperability
#Blog, ##crossplay, ##gaming, ##interoperability, ##mobile, ##technology

Google exec gives harshest rebuke yet of iMessage lock-in effect in push for RCS on iOS – We can’t replace SMS texts without having one standard for messaging

SMS text messaging is an archaic, expensive, and limited messaging standard. Yet it remains in place as the de facto standard for notifications because everything else is a walled garden and cut off from other messenger services. WhatsApp does not send to Telegram which does not send to Signal, etc.

Apple has deliberately withheld iMessage from non-iOS platforms, so that has never been considered as an option. To replace SMS though, the messaging has to be baked into the phone OS (not to be voluntarily installed or uninstalled by a user), and this is where the RCS standard came in, which also needed mobile carrier support. As it stands, RCS has been adopted by most major carriers and Android devices… but it has zero penetration on iOS because Apple won’t adopt it.

It’s time Apple faced up to this and sat around the table with the other players to discuss a solution that benefits all users. We can’t move on from SMS unless there is a proper alternative that is fully adopted.

See https://9to5google.com/2022/01/08/google-android-rcs-imessage-lock-in/

#technology #RCS #SMS #interoperability #apple
#Blog, ##interoperability, ##mobile, ##rcs, ##technology

Google exec gives harshest rebuke yet of iMessage lock-in effect in push for RCS on iOS

In recent years, Google has been very critical of Apple not supporting the RCS standard to make iMessage more interoperable with Android...

Matter was a major star at CES 2022, but can it maintain its shine? The soon-to-be smart home standard gained momentum in Las Vegas

Two years ago, on the floor of CES 2020, there was a lot of buzz about a chip — not the latest AMD or Intel announcement, but a new alliance of major tech companies that called itself Project Connected Home over IP, or CHIP for short. Its promise was to develop an open-source smart home standard that would make every connected home device work together, simply and securely, regardless of who made them.

In all, close to 30 companies showcased their involvement and / or pledged their support for the new smart home standard backed by Apple, Google, Amazon, Samsung, and others. Many of whom represent a broader slice of the industry — Tuya Smart, an IoT development platform service provider based in China that supports over 446,000 developers with over 1,100 smart home products, said it will support Matter. We also saw a number of new products debut with Thread, one of the main protocols of Matter.

This issue of upgradability of existing devices is still an area Matter has largely skirted and one that it really needs to address. But, based on many of the announcements coming out of CES this week, it is looking increasingly like creating a Matter smart home is going to require users buying a fair number of new gadgets. As Mitch Klein of the Z-Wave Alliance told me late last year, “We can’t leave devices behind, or this whole program won’t work. The idea that everyone has to throw everything out and start again is just not going to work.”

See https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/8/22872311/matter-smart-home-ces-2022

#smarthome #technology #interoperability #matter
#Blog, ##gadgets, ##interoperability, ##smarthome, ##technology

The smart home standard Matter was a star at CES 2022 — now it's time to deliver

Make it Matter.