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Slack integrates Office 365 tools into its platform
A lot of companies (Engadget included) rely on Slack to get things done, and in recent times the "MSN Messenger for the workplace" has integrated a whole bunch of apps into its platform, including Dropbox, Zoom and G Suite, to make workflow smoother. Now it's adding Office 365 tools to the mix.
Microsoft Teams beefs up with new features as it turns two
Microsoft Teams, the company's Slack-like workplace collaboration tool, is celebrating its second birthday this week. What better time to unveil new features? Some seem truly innovative, like being able to choose the background you'd like to use during a video chat (maybe to hide the fact you're calling in from a coffee shop). And others, like private channels, really should have been there from the start. But what's clear is that Microsoft isn't giving up on this space: It still wants to change the way we work.
Slack removed 28 accounts with ties to hate groups
Today, Slack removed 28 group accounts because of their "clear affiliation with known hate groups." The news comes shortly after the media organization Unicorn Riot leaked Slack messages by the group Identity Evropa. Both the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center have classified Identity Evropa as a hate group, but Slack would not say if it was one of the groups removed today.
Slack apologizes for 'mistakenly' banning people who had visited Iran
On Wednesday a number of people noticed their Slack access had suddenly been revoked, and the company said it was due to complying with "U.S. trade embargoes and economic sanctions regulations." However, it had cut off people who weren't logging on from countries impacted by sanctions or embargoes, although as TechCrunch noted, some said they had traveled to countries like Iran, North Korea or Cuba. Late Friday Slack apologized for its far-too-wide-reaching bans, claiming that "we made a series of mistakes and inadvertently deactivated a number of accounts that we shouldn't have." Slack: We did not block any user based on their nationality or ethnicity. As is standard in the enterprise software industry, Slack uses location information principally derived from IP addresses to implement these required blocks. We do not collect, use, or possess any information about the nationality or ethnicity of our users. We have restored access to most of the mistakenly blocked accounts, and we are working hard to restore any remaining users whose access was blocked in error. If you think we've made a mistake in blocking your access, please reach out to feedback@slack.com and we'll review as soon as possible. Going forward, the company said it will "soon" block access to IP addresses from certain countries. While users who travel their may not have access while connected to those networks, they won't be banned and can log in when they're in another region that isn't under legal sanctions.
With Khashoggi, tech confronts its blood money
In 2015 we laughed at Hacking Team for getting hacked. Their profit-driven facilitation of human rights abuses around the world was somehow barely competent, but notorious. They sold illegal hackware and surveillance tech to brutal regimes and trained them in attacking citizens and journalists. We knew they were evil clowns. We just didn't expect what happened next.
Slack buys and shuts down intelligent email app Astro
Slack has acquired email app company Astro and it will be using the company's expertise to better incorporate email into Slack channels. The company said that with over 50 million channels created to date, they're increasingly becoming the platform through which teams collaborate. "But we all know that email is still a very important tool in business communication," said Slack. "We've taken some steps to make it possible to integrate email into Slack, but now we're in a position to make that interoperability much simpler and much, much more powerful."
Google gives its Slack rival the ability to snooze notifications
You can now stop Hangouts Chat notifications from breaking your concentration when you're in the zone... or taking a short nap after a stressful task. Google has updated its Slack rival with the ability to block notifications for a set amount of time -- just click on your status button and choose from the snooze notification options in the drop-down menu. You can choose to block alerts for as short as 30 minutes to as long as 8 hours, but you have to do so manually each time and can't set a schedule for it.
Slack and Atlassian team up for a chat battle with Microsoft (update)
Atlassian and Slack announced today that they're entering a partnership, one that should be beneficial to both as they continue to face competition from Microsoft. As part of the agreement, Atlassian will sell the IP for its HipChat and Stride communication products to Slack and will also take a stake in the company. Slack will make payments to Atlassian over the next three years, Bloomberg reports, and both Atlassian products will be discontinued.
Microsoft takes on Slack with free version of Teams
Microsoft Teams is getting a major upgrade, but it's not quite what you might expect. The company is taking a cue from Slack by unveiling a free version of Teams, allowing anyone to use the collaboration software without an Office 365 account. Naturally, Microsoft is hoping for free users to eventually become paying customers -- but even if they don't, they'll still steal away some mind share from its popular competitor. Slack has offered a free tier since it launched in 2014, which led to an explosion of private (and often superfluous) channels. That helped the service grow beyond teams of office workers, and it taught plenty of people how to use Slack, making it easier for them to bring it to their workplace.
Slack search filters help you sort through work chat clutter
Searching in Slack can be... difficult. If you're looking for a specific conversation or file, you may end up wading through pages of fluff to find that one chat you're looking for. Mercifully, it's about to become much easier. Slack is rolling out search filters that provide a much, much overdue ability to whittle searches down to narrower criteria. You can limit them by specific people, channels, file types and date ranges. Looking for what a coworker said about a project last week? You can probably track it down quickly.
Slack is down, now get to work (Update: It's back)
Slack has been down since 9:30AM Eastern. At the time of this post, it's been over 90 minutes since the service went offline, leaving millions of professionals scrambling for ways to communicate with their colleagues. But instead of freaking out, I'll just make a simple suggestion: Get to work. You remember, the stuff we used to do before spending all day swapping GIFs and memes on Slack. Catch up on your emails. Get started on that report you've been putting off. Take this reprieve from Slack pings as an excuse to focus, because multitasking is a lie.
Microsoft's Slack rival gets translation and Surface Hub compatibility
Teams just turned one, and for its anniversary, Microsoft has unveiled new professional features for it that go well beyond what rivals like Slack offer. Probably the most important ones for enterprises are compatibility with their existing telephone systems, automatic in-line translation, Surface Hub support, and the ability for participants to dial in with regular telephones.
Google team will bring Smart Replies to more chat apps
If you've wanted to use Google's canned Smart Replies in chat apps, you've been limited to using Allo or (if you're on the right carrier) Android Messages. But what if you're one of the many, many people using something else? Don't fret: Google's experimental Area 120 group is working on a Reply project that, as the name implies, will bring Smart Replies to many messaging clients (currently just for Android). Hangouts is logically on the list, but so are third-party apps like Facebook Messenger, Skype, WhatsApp and even Twitter's direct messages. You'd only have to tap a button in your notifications to confirm that you're on your way or say you're doing well.
Slack is the latest app to ditch the Apple Watch
Like Twitter, Amazon, and Google Maps before it, Slack is ditching its Apple Watch app. The team chat and collaboration platform for businesses quietly announced the news via an update to its iOS app. But, that doesn't mean Slack will disappear entirely from your wrist.
Slack screen sharing will let your coworkers control your computer
Virtual-office app Slack is adding one of its most requested features: screen sharing. And more than just simply letting a coworker look at what's on your display, you can grant control so that they can add a few lines of code, or values to a cell in a spread sheet. Everyone will have their own cursor for typing and clicking around, which almost makes it sound like Slack is turning your screen into a Google Doc. All thanks to the magic of the internet. Not into relinquishing full control of your machine? Your call participants can still interact, but they'll be limited to drawing on things. Still, that's pretty cool.
New Patreon tools help creators connect with backers
Running a Patreon page doesn't only entail creating for your audience: if you amass a lot of patrons, you'll also have to deal potentially time-consuming admin tasks. To make it easier to run a membership business, Patreon has introduced new tools called App Directory and Developer Portal. App Directory makes it easy to connect a variety of useful services to your Patreon page. For instance, if you have a WordPress-powered website, you can tie it up with your Patreon account in order to create patron-only posts.
Facebook's Workplace chat app brings screen sharing to the desktop
It seems like everyone wants to take on Slack these days when it comes to virtual office systems. The latest is Facebook, which, according to TechCrunch has quietly added screen sharing and released a desktop client to its Workplace chat app. The program is available for both Mac and PC, and this could signal that similar moves are en route to consumers. That could take a bit, though. As of now, the desktop client is in beta. The screen sharing feature allows for sharing your entire desktop, or just one specific app. Because, seriously, do you really want anyone at work to know you're playing with Facebook's Gameroom desktop app on the clock?
Slack's shared channels make it easier to ditch guest accounts
Slack competitors seem to be popping up at regular intervals these days. There's Facebook at Work, Google Hangouts Chat, and a bunch of rival apps from scrappy startups. Unfazed by the clones, Slack's star is still rising. The company announced today that its group chat platform has amassed more than 9 million weekly users. To celebrate, it's launching two new features. Chief among the updates are "shared channels," which essentially allow for cross-organization work in Slack.
The makers of HipChat are launching their Slack competitor, Stride
The Slack competitor space is a little crowded these days. There's Facebook's Workplace, Microsoft's Teams, Google Hangouts and Doist's Twist. Now, Atlassian, the maker of HipChat, is introducing another option -- Stride.
Transfer PayPal funds mid-chat with Skype’s ‘Send Money’ feature
Skype and PayPal have teamed up to make it easier for you to transfer money to someone mid-conversation. If you're talking to a pal through the Skype mobile app and remember you need to reimburse them for those drinks they bought the other night, just swipe right and tap the new "Send Money" feature. PayPal will take it from there.