Facebook reportedly developing a teen-centric chat app with parental controls

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Facebook is still adamant to get teens to use its services. And we know Snapchat has managed to capture the younger market. Now, it’s been discovered that Facebook might be developing a new chat app to attract the teenagers in your life. A report from The Information found code inside the main Facebook app that shows a new, unreleased app called Talk. One of the comments in the code says “Kids love using the creative tools in ‘Talk’ to play games and share fun masks with family and friends.” The app would most likely be restricted to users 13 years or older.

And its main differentiator is that it gives the parents of kids control over who they get to talk to. A line of code says, “Talk is a messaging app where you fully control the contacts.” One more line in the code says children will talk to parents in Messenger and it wouldn’t require a Facebook profile to use. But we’re not sure if this is something that will click, especially if parental controls are involved. Facebook declined to comment about this app and whether it is something they will release.

Source: Engadget

Microsoft to take out Facebook and Google chat from Outlook.com

Microsoft is encouraging its users to use Skype more on Outlook.com. The company sent out emails to Outlook users that they plan to remove Facebook and Google chat integration in the site. They won’t specify why they took out Facebook chat. But for Google Talk they said it was “due to Google’s decision to discontinue the chat protocol used by the Google Talk platform.”

If you’re worried about your Facebook and Google contacts synced with the webmail service, you don’t have to be. Microsoft said that the feature won’t be affected by the discontinuation of the chat options.

Source: The Verge

Update to BBM Shop gives various new options to enhance chat and communication

Ther recent update to BlackBerry's cross-platform BBM chat feature now offer new ways for users to customize their chat experience with a variety of new digital content.

The BBM Shop update is available for download from the respective app stores for the Android, BlackBerry and iOS platforms. 

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Pinterest gets private messaging feature

Pinterest is looking to keep its users engaged in the site with a new private messaging feature integrated into the service. To access private messaging on Pinterest, users have to start a conversation by sending a Pin to another user that also comes with a message. You can then continue your conversation without using Pins after that. It is also possible to send group messages this way.

Pinterest is hoping this would help users plan events or other things in the future. “This is different from other messaging platforms because conversations are around a Pin and are focused on planning something for the future,” a spokesperson wrote in an email to press. It doesn’t really matter how you plan on using this feature but it would seem Pinterest just wants to make sure you stay engaged on their platform longer.

Source: Re/code