Social media platform X to offer video, audio calls: Musk

Published August 31, 2023
Workers install a large X on the roof of the former Twitter headquarters on July 28, 2023 in San Francisco. — AFP
Workers install a large X on the roof of the former Twitter headquarters on July 28, 2023 in San Francisco. — AFP

The social media platform X will begin offering video and audio calling, owner Elon Musk announced on Thursday, a step towards turning the former Twitter into an “everything app”.

“Video & audio calls coming to X,” Musk wrote in a post on the platform, without specifying when the new features would be available.

The calling features would work on iOS, Android, Mac and PC systems, and no phone number would be needed, he said.

“X is the effective global address book,” the billionaire added. “That set of factors is unique.”

Last month, Musk and his newly hired chief executive Linda Yaccarino announced the rebranding of Twitter as X, saying it would become an “everything app” inspired by China’s WeChat that would allow users to socialize as well as handle their finances.

X’s payment branch Twitter Payments LLC was granted a “crucial” currency transmitter license from the US state of Rhode Island on Monday, allowing it to “engage in cryptocurrency-related activities” such as exchanges, wallets and payment processors, the crypto website CoinWire reported this week.

The license allows X to “securely store, transfer, and facilitate the exchange of digital assets on behalf of its users,” according to CoinWire.

Since Musk bought Twitter last October, the platform’s advertising business has collapsed as marketers soured on his management style and mass firings that gutted content moderation.

In response, the tycoon has moved towards building a subscriber base and pay model in a search for new revenue.

Many users and advertisers alike have responded adversely to the site’s new charges for previously free services, as well as its changes to content moderation and the return of previously banned far-right accounts.

Musk also killed off the Twitter logo, replacing its globally recognized blue bird with a white X.

Opinion

Editorial

Desperate measures
Updated 27 Dec, 2024

Desperate measures

Sadly in Pakistan, street protests and sit-ins have become the only resort to catch the attention of a callous power elite.
Economic outlook
27 Dec, 2024

Economic outlook

THE post-pandemic years, marked by extreme volatility in the global oil and commodity markets as well as slowing...
Cricket and visas
27 Dec, 2024

Cricket and visas

PAKISTAN has asserted that delay in the announcement of the schedule of next year’s Champions Trophy will not...
Afghan strikes
Updated 26 Dec, 2024

Afghan strikes

The military option has been employed by the govt apparently to signal its unhappiness over the state of affairs with Afghanistan.
Revamping tax policy
26 Dec, 2024

Revamping tax policy

THE tax bureaucracy appears to have convinced the government that it can boost revenues simply by taking harsher...
Betraying women voters
26 Dec, 2024

Betraying women voters

THE ECP’s recent pledge to eliminate the gender gap among voters falls flat in the face of troubling revelations...