NFTs are rapidly sweeping the world of digital art and collectibles, with several companies currently jumping into the NFT space for branding and the like.

Recently, South Korean multinational electronics company LG, launched its own Non-Fungible Token (NFT) platform called “LG Art lab” which allows users to buy and sell digital artworks on its smart TVs.

This launch is coming months after the electronics company disclosed at its press conference that it intends to incorporate NFT features into its smart TV.

The new platform “LG Art Lab”, is currently available in the U.S, and will only be accessible to those who own the LG TV running webOS 5.0 and can be directly accessible from home, enabling users to buy, sell and enjoy high-quality digital artworks.

LG Electronics partnered with the Hedera Network to offer an app that enables users to purchase NFTs via Wallypto, LG’s crypto wallet for smartphones. The partnership between the two companies was initiated in 2020 when LG joined the Hedera Governinv council which includes Google, IBM, Deutsche Telekom and the Indian Institute of Technology, and more.

Senior Vice President, head of platform business at LG Electronics home entertainment company, Chris Jo had this to say.

“Wallypto, built on Hedera, has been developing since September 2021. “Its beta version of the wallet launched this week in August.

“While many people have heard of NFTs and would like to participate in the growing ecosystem, it can be overly complex and difficult to get started,” Jo said.

“LG Art Lab is designed to allow millions of users in the U.S. to easily access and display NFTs, without having to interact with code or directly with a blockchain themselves.”

The NFT platform provides a Drops feature that profiles artists and shows their new artwork previews.

Its real-time Live Drops feature gives notifications to help users acquire a dropped NFT to ensure they do not miss an opportunity.

Jo also said that Hedera allows users to transact for less than $0.0001 cent per transaction (with no high gas fee or hidden costs), meaning that there are no hidden costs associated with the NFT platform.

In his words; “The Hedera Network consumes vastly less energy than any other public ledger, making it the ideal choice for sustainable initiatives and meaning that it can meet the ESG of modern businesses and investors.

A few weeks into the establishment of a web3 team under Google cloud, Alphabet’s Google is looking for a full-time candidate to oversee its global Web3 marketing initiatives.

Investors King gathered that Google Cloud is hiring a ‘Head of Product Marketing’ who will be responsible for increasing awareness of Google Cloud’s Web3 projects as well as creating customer demand for the relevant solutions.

Vice president of Google Cloud, Amit Zavery, reportedly outlined his ambition for making Google Cloud the primary choice for developers in Web3 in an email sent to staff just before the team’s launch.

“While the world is still early in its embrace of Web3, it is a market that is already demonstrating tremendous potential with many customers asking us to increase our support for Web3 and crypto-related technologies”, the notice read.

Some of the primary responsibilities of the role include creating annual goals for Web3 and raising awareness across different groups of the Web3 audience.

According to Google, only New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Sunnyvale are eligible for the position. Google has a history of launching and abandoning internal projects, but this is the company’s first foray into Web3.

Zavery had earlier noted that Google wants to offer backend services to developers interested in making their own Web3 software.

He said: ” the company isn’t trying to be part of the cryptocurrency wave directly and instead wants to provide technologies for companies to use so that they can leverage the distributed nature of Web3 for themselves”.

Web3 is also known as Web 3.0 and it is an idea for a new iteration of the World Wide Web (www) based on blockchain technology.

Investors King gathered that the term “Web3” was coined in 2014 by Gavin Wood, Ethereum’s co-founder and is expected to provide increased data security, scalability, and privacy for users.

E-commerce giant, eBay has officially launched its first non-fungible token (NFT) with a series of tokenized collectibles showcasing National Hockey League (NHL) icon Wayne Gretzky.

This collection features animated Wayne Gretzky variants inspired by Sports Illustrated magazine covers. They are available in four levels of rarity: green (299 editions), gold (199), platinum (99), and diamond (15).

Investors King understands that the NFT collection is currently selling on eBay’s marketplace. However, the limited-edition diamond, platinum and gold tiers worth $1,500, $100 and $25 respectively are sold out.

According to eBay, the collection was created in collaboration with OneOf, an ecologically focused NFT platform that enables different “energy-efficient blockchains” to deliver sustainable NFT collections.

eBay first allowed NFT listings in mid-2021 but is yet to incorporate blockchain technology to support sales on its platform. Users will be provided a redemption code through in-platform messaging or email to obtain their NFT outside of the platform for this formal drop.

The NFTs were created using the Ethereum scaling platform Polygon and are also available for sale on OneOf.

However, secondary trade for the NFTs on OneOf has been limited thus far, with only three individuals advertising platinum tier tokens at a floor price of $199, and one user listing a gold tier NFT for $69.

Dawn Block, eBay’s vice president of collectibles, electronics and home stated that NFT tech is “revolutionizing the collectibles space” and emphasized that the company is working to introduce NFTs to popular collectors across the world: “Through our partnership with OneOf, eBay is now making coveted NFTs more accessible to a new generation of collectors everywhere. This builds upon our commitment to deliver high passion, high-value items to the eBay community of buyers and sellers.” Dawn said

Similar comments were also expressed by OneOf CEO Lin Dai, who stated that the company is working to make NFTs more accessible to consumers who aren’t familiar with crypto: “You don’t have to be a crypto expert to buy, sell, and collect NFTs. OneOf and eBay are bringing transformative Web3 technology to the next 100M non-crypto-native mass consumers.”