In Brief: Twitter Spaces available to more users, Koo launches 'talk to type’ feature

Microblogging platform Twitter will offer its audio-based social networking feature to users with at least 600 followers. 

Although the platform began testing the feature last year, it was only accessible by select users.  

Dubbed Twitter Spaces, the feature can be accessed by both iOS and Android users, the company said in a blog post. 

After several months of beta, Twitter said it will soon test Ticketed Spaces, a feature that will allow hosts to monetise their Spaces and offers exclusive access to conversations. Hosts can decide the ticket quantity and prices, the post said, adding that Twitter will take a small cut from it.

Additionally, Twitter will soon allow users to schedule and set reminders for upcoming Spaces, the blog said. It will also offer co-hosting and better accessibility features, as well as more ways to find Spaces. 

In a separate blog post, the company said it has introduced captions for audio to help users who are deaf, hard of hearing or just prefer the support of captioning. Every element in Spaces, the blog post said, has an accessible label. Therefore, people using assistive technology will know what every button does, and what actions are available, it added. 

Twitter rival Koo introduces ‘talk to type’ feature 

Homegrown microblogging platform Koo has launched a ‘talk to type’ feature, which allows users to share their thoughts via voice inputs. 

The feature will transcribe spoken word in the native language to text, a statement said. Koo currently supports English, along with Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu, as per information on its website. 

Mathenz joins Pine Labs as CFO 

Digital payments and merchant commerce platform Pine Labs has appointed Marc Mathenz as its new CFO. 

Mathenz will replace Sameer Maheshwary, who will move on to a new role in the firm’s capital markets unit, Amrish Rau, CEO of Pine Labs, said in a statement. 

In the past, Mathenz has served as the managing director of Fiserv, and has held the positions of managing director and regional CFO for First Data in the Asia Pacific region. 

Pine Labs is expanding to newer markets with its Pay Later feature and recently introduced digital payments product AllTap. Last month, the company acquired Kuala Lumpur headquartered fintech startup Fave in an all-cash deal valued at $45 million to strengthen presence in the Southeast Asian market.  

EV charging aggregator Rikarica begins operations   

Hyderabad-based app and web-based electric vehicles (EV) charging aggregator platform Rikarica has launched its services in Maharashtra.  

The platform, a statement said, currently operates over 50 charging stations across the state. The firm also aims to set up operations in Hyderabad soon. 

Founded in 2019 by Samridh Singh and Amit Singh, the solution provides real-time information pertaining to EV charging stations within users’ vicinity and enables them to reserve the charging point before arriving at the spot. It also comes with integrated Google map API and payment wallet.  

The internet of things (IoT)-powered solution helps charging station original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) make timely decisions to optimise their business resources for better revenue, run longer maintenance-free operations and assist EV fleet owners to mobilise their fleet without losing out on business hours, it said in a statement. 

“By 2025, we can see nearly 800% jump in EV vehicles in India and to meet the need, already over 2,600 stations are sanctioned under FAME-II. So, there is a definite need to manage the load at these charging stations and help consumers to find the right station as per their convenience,” co-founder Samridh Singh said.