NEOWIN - The Russian social network firm, VK, has launched a new app store called RuStore as an alternative to the Google Play Store. The store is part of a campaign by the government for the creation of alternative services so it's not reliant on Western companies. The RuStore is available to Android users from today but due to iOS limits, it probably won't arrive on that platform. At launch, RuStore will ship with a paltry 100 applications and some of these include government services.
46 posts categorized "VKontakte"
Russian Social Network, VK, Launches Alternative RuStore App Store
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Yandex Signs Deal With VK to Sell Its Media Products, News, and Zen
TECH CRUNCH - In further fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Yandex, referred to as the 'Google of Russia', has signed a term sheet to sell its media division to VK. It has signed a term sheet to divest its news aggregator (News) and blogging/infotainment platform (Zen) with VK. VK as the leading contender is said to acquire Yandex's media assets as the latter looked for an exit from rising risk in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the Kremlin's tightening its grip on freedom of expression.
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VKontakte Reports ~100M in Monthly Audience
TELECOMPAPER - Russian social network VKontakte has announced that its monthly audience has exceeded 100M for the first time. The daily number of video-content views on the network has jumped to 1.31B. The increase has been reported against the background of the Russian government blocking foreign social networks and video services.
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VK Seeks Debt Negotiations as Bond Redemption Looms
BLOOMBERG - According to a filing, Russian social network operator VK Co. Ltd. may lack the cash to redeem its convertible bond and will start talks with bondholders to find alternative options. If trading in VK's stock doesn't resume before the end of the day on Mar 16, a delisting clause in the company’s convertible bond documentation will be triggered, allowing bondholders to request converting their debt into equity or repaying the bond. The principal outstanding on the convertible bond maturing in 2026 is $400M, and the company had $140M of liquidity in foreign currency.
by Giulia Morpurgo & Irene Garcia Perez
See full article at Bloomberg
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Prosus to Write off $700M Stake in Russia's VK Group
REUTERS - Dutch technology investor Prosus will write off its entire 25.9% stake in Moscow-headquartered online platform VK Group, following CEO Vladimir Kirienko's addition to a U.S. sanctions list. Trading in London shares was suspended on Mar 3 after tumbling 92% this year. "As a consequence of these sanctions, Prosus asked its directors on the VK board to resign their positions," the Dutch company said.
by Toby Sterling & Promit Mukherjee
See full article at Reuters
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The US Has Sanctioned Russia's Largest Social Network Head
THE VERGE - Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration imposed sweeping sanctions on Russian banks, energy and infrastructure companies, and several individual Russian elites. Among the sanctioned individuals is Vladimir Kiriyenko, CEO of VK Group, the parent company of Russia's biggest social network, VKontakte. While he isn't being sanctioned specifically for his work with the VK group, the result still forbids one of the country's most powerful tech executives from doing business with any US entity.
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Russian Social Media Network Vkontakte to Introduce NFT Support
BITCOIN.COM - Russia's largest social media network, Vkontakte, has announced it will introduce support for blockchain and NFTs. The crypto technologies will be incorporated into the platform's scheme to monetize user content and copyright protection.
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VK Expands 2-factor Authentication With VK Protect Security Program
TELECOM PAPER - VK is launching a new program designed to protect users and their data – VK Protect. As part of VK Protect, the company has expanded two-factor authentication. The tool is now available across all VK ecosystem services that require authorization through a single account and when visiting third-party partner sites and applications.
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Russia's VK Appoints Son of Kremlin Insider as New CEO
THE MOSCOW TIMES - Vladimir Kiriyenko will become the CEO of VK Group, which controls VKontakte and a number of other internet businesses, "effective immediately." Kiriyenko was formerly vice president at Rostelecom, a state-run telecommunications firm. His father, Sergei Kiriyenko, is first deputy chief of staff in the Presidential Administration.
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Instagram, VKontakte Lead in Social Network Mobile Data Traffic in Russia
TELECOMPAPER - Instagram is the most popular social network in Russia, according to a study. The data traffic share of Instagram totaled 35.5%, VKontakte followed with 28%, and the share of TikTok amounted to 24%. Each Russia-based user of Instagram uses an average 197 MB of data traffic daily, while VKontakte users average 107 MB, and TikTok users 225 MB daily.
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Gazprom Gains Control of Russia's Top Social Network
THE MOSCOW TIMES - Russia's Gazprom has gained control of the country's largest social media network, VKontakte, following a string of deals to buy out Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov from the platform's holding company. VK's CEO has also resigned as part of sweeping changes that boost Kremlin's control of VKontakte.
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Russia's Mail.ru Rebrands as VK, Eyeing Boost for Online Services
REUTERS - Russian internet group Mail.ru was rebranding as VK, the initials of its social network VKontakte, and would rename a number of its services to incorporate the new brand. Dobrodeev said the rebrand would not impact the operational structure of the business.
by Anna Rzhevkina & Alexander Marrow
See full article at Nasdaq
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Odnoklassniki Offers Speech-to-text Messages
TELECOMPAPER - Russian social network Odnoklassniki has started offering speech-to-text messaging. The service recognizes voice messages and covers them to text by default, based on AI and neural networks technology designed by sister company VKontakte. Voice messages in the Russian language for up to 60 mins can be converted.
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First Social Network With Voice Control: Marusia Is Now on the VK App
MARKET SCREENER - May 27 - VK has become the first social network to integrate a voice assistant added to its app. With Marusia, many VK services have become even more accessible and easy to use. The Marusia voice assistant will become one of the key unifying elements across the entire VK ecosystem. Marusia can be found in the Hub tab on the VK app. To start chatting with Marusia, a user has to click on the voice assistant icon. Over time, the variety of Marusia's skills will grow.
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VKontakte to Offer Free Video-conferencing for 2K Simultaneous Users
TELECOMPAPER - May 19 - Russian social network VKontakte plans to launch free video-conferencing for up to 2,048 call participants simultaneously. The option should be introduced this coming summer. The company claims that its VK Calls platform provides all the features commonly found in chargeable corporate video conference services and some additional features, all for free.
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