{"id":661629,"date":"2026-08-07T07:53:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T05:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=661629"},"modified":"2026-08-07T09:02:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T07:02:37","slug":"whatsapp-testing-age-confirmation-and-new-features-for-google-maps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/trending\/661629-whatsapp-testing-age-confirmation-and-new-features-for-google-maps.html","title":{"rendered":"WhatsApp testing age confirmation, and new features for Google Maps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Oil gained as prospects for a lasting agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz remained elusive. Bonds fell on inflation concerns as traders awaited the US jobs report for clues on the path of interest rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Global benchmark Brent rose 1.6% to $83.80 a barrel amid tensions in the Middle East and a lack of clarity on a deal to reopen the crucial waterway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even so, oil is down about 5% for the week, having declined earlier on expectations for an agreement between the US and Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Treasury futures edged lower as higher energy prices revived concerns that the Federal Reserve may need to keep interest rates elevated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Treasury 10-year yield held at 4.68% after climbing seven basis points during the US session. Government bonds of similar tenor in Japan, Australia and New Zealand all fell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asian stocks slipped 0.2%, led by a 1% drop in South Korea. European stocks were set for a modest loss after closing at an all-time high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equity-index futures for Wall Street gauges were flat after the S&P 500 Index edged lower for a second day, having hit a record high earlier in the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lack of a deal in the Middle East risks keeping energy prices higher, further weighing on a market already volatile on the artificial intelligence trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In geopolitical news, Iran will seek to restrict US and Israeli ships from the Strait of Hormuz and require compensation from countries it considers hostile before allowing passage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reports came as officials in both Washington and Tehran have signalled that an accord may be close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Donald Trump, who recently stepped back from threats to resume military strikes on Iran, said things are \u201cmoving along good\u201d when asked for an update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the tech space, Alphabet is set to raise $25 billion from a bond sale after generous yield payouts helped secure one of the year\u2019s largest order books for AI-related debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SK Hynix is expanding its own investments into local corporate bonds and DeepSeek has resumed its second funding round, seeking close to $8 billion, with Monolith Management in talks to contribute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin fell 0.3% to $64,196.68, and Ether declined by 0.5% to $1,895.76. [Bloomberg<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 important things happening in tech today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

WhatsApp testing age confirmation in its largest market: <\/strong>WhatsApp is testing a new feature in India that will let users add their date of birth to help verify their age under the country’s upcoming regulations under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act. [Bloomberg<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Meta ordered to pay $567 million (R9.2 billion): <\/strong>A New Mexico court has ordered WhatsApp and Facebook owner Meta to pay $567 million (R9.2 billion) to fund supporting youth online safety programmes. This came after the court ruled that its platforms constituted a public nuisance. [Engadget<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Police disarm explosive drone at a German airport: <\/strong>German police disarmed a drone loaded with explosives that was spotted hovering near a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig airport. Authorities believe the detonator was faulty, preventing an explosion. [Ars Technica<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Google Maps adds agentic feature that helps order food and book hotels: <\/strong>Google is adding new AI-powered features to Maps to assist users in ordering food, buying event tickets, and booking hotels. The “Ask Maps” assistant can complete parts of multi-step tasks, such as finding a restaurant and adding a selected meal to your cart when ordering food online. [Gizmodo<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Removable smartphone batteries making a comeback: <\/strong>A new European Union law that will take effect in February 2027 will require most new phones and tablets sold in the region to have easier-to-replace batteries. Some premium devices may qualify for exemptions, but the rules are expected to make user-replaceable batteries more common. [Engadget<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are five important things happening in tech today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341076,"featured_media":661631,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2085605379535208518","_sma_facebook_post_id":"120850204637381_1466274495524529","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18071008109527667","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40380],"tags":[161,2272,40812,1361,2594],"class_list":["post-661629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","tag-facebook","tag-google-maps","tag-meta","tag-smartphones-2","tag-whatsapp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661629"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341076"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661629"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":661638,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661629\/revisions\/661638"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}