Facebook Messenger Kids app comes to Canada and Peru

Facebook’s controversial chat app Messenger Kids is making its way out of the US and into Canada and Peru. It’ll also now be available in French and Spanish. The app, which is designed for kids under 13, has been met by criticism from advocacy groups for being harmful to kids as they shouldn’t be exposed to social media accounts at such young ages. Facebook has said the app complies with the Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act but advocacy groups like the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood saying in an open letter that “young children are simply not ready to have social media accounts” and are “not old enough to navigate the complexities of online relationships.”

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Nintendo and Microsoft play nice in new ‘Minecraft’ cross-play trailer, leaves Sony out of it

The words “Survive Together” appear alongside the logos of Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo Switch in a new trailer promoting cross-platform play for Minecraft on the two consoles. It seems jarring at first but a rather fitting image of how playing nice works not just for the manufacturers and developers but for the gamers, too. The trailer shows two players using their respective consoles to play Minecraft. And Sony’s refusal to be part of this collaboration is highlighted even more. 

Sony continues to keep everything close to its own chest. According to Polygon, one former Sony executive said the company’s refusal to allow cross-platform gaming comes down to not wanting items bought on other platforms to be used on the PlayStation 4. And if they continue down this path, they run the risk of being left behind by competition. Here’s to hoping they change their minds in the future.

Shopify Ping is a new one-stop work chat app for businesses

Shopify recently announced Ping, its onestop work chat app for businesses. 

With almost half of Shopify’s 600K merchants running their stores on mobile, we are always developing ways for them to work on-the-go. Shopify Ping is a free iOS app available to all Shopify merchants that brings customer conversations, marketing workflows, and more together in a single app powered by a messaging-style interface like the ones merchants already use to stay in touch with friends and family.

“Shopify merchants are conducting many business conversations across multiple apps every day, not only to run their day-to-day operations, but also to manage customer inquiries. Shopify Ping was created to make all of this easier to manage,” said Michael Perry, Director of Product at Shopify. “It’s a one-stop messaging app that lets them spend more time on what matters most - running their businesses seamlessly and deepening customer relationships.”

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Nissan seeking next Gran Turismo racers

Nissan is looking for the next generation of fast PlayStation gamers with a new program that gives thousands of racers the chance to compete in an official FIA championship.

The top Nissan drivers in the FIA-certified Gran Turismo Manufacturers Series Championship – conducted on the new Gran Turismo Sport PlayStation game – will win a trip to the NISMO Festival at the Fuji International Speedway in Japan and to the Tokyo headquarters of Polyphony Digital, the developers behind the game. An additional winner from the Nissan GT Sport Cup eracing competition in Europe will also be selected.

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