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376 'Facebook' stories May 2011 - December 2014

Facebook pages sharing less YouTube videos, uploading more video direct to site

9to5 Staff Dec 9 2014 - 8:11 am PT

While YouTube remains the gold standard for uploading videos online, a new study finds that its presence on Facebook is increasingly declining as page owners opt to upload more video directly to the social network over sharing YouTube embeds. The latest research from social media analytics company Socialbakers reveal that, in November, the number of Facebook videos uploaded directly to the site overtook the number of YouTube videos on Facebook for the first time ever.
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YouTube stars being offered retention bonuses in face of offers from Facebook & others

Ben Lovejoy Dec 8 2014 - 6:17 am PT

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YouTube style star Michelle Phan, whose videos have 3.6M views

Top YouTube video creators are being offered bonuses in return for multi-year exclusivity deals in which they guarantee to post content on YouTube first, reports the WSJ.

Facebook Inc. and video startup Vessel, among others, have tried to lure YouTube creators to their services in recent months, according to people familiar with the discussions.

In response, Google is offering some of its top video makers bonuses to sign multiyear deals in which they agree to post content exclusively on YouTube for a time before putting it on a rival service.

YouTube is reportedly particularly concerned about subscription video startup Vessel, founded by former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar …
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Facebook launches dedicated ‘Groups’ app for Android

Zac Hall Nov 18 2014 - 10:28 am PT

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Today Facebook has added yet another app to its growing portfolio. Facebook Groups is its latest standalone app with features dedicated to managing and interacting with groups on Android. Unlike its approach to Facebook Messenger, however, the social network says it will not remove existing group features from the primary Facebook app.
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Facebook Messenger mobile apps surpass 500 million monthly users

9to5 Staff Nov 10 2014 - 9:34 am PT

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Facebook announced this morning that over 500 million people are now using its Messenger app per month. The impressive milestone comes just days after Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg explained why Facebook Messenger was turned into a standalone app for Android and iOS, a move it made in July after disabling messaging in the main Facebook app.
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Facebook releases updated Android client with improved support for sharing multiple photos

Mike Beasley Oct 27 2014 - 3:10 pm PT

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Facebook has announced that it will be releasing an updated version of its mobile application later today that will improve the process of sharing multiple photos in a single post. The new composer will allow users to choose multiple images from their device’s photo library or camera, then show a preview of the post with each image in the order they were selected.

From here users will be able to add captions to each photo, write an introduction for the post, or rearrange the order of the photos. The post will show up in friends’ news feeds as a photo collage rather than a horizontal group of photos.

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Google posts 8 minute video showing how far we’ve come with speech recognition

Mark Hearn Oct 17 2014 - 12:47 pm PT

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxxRAHVtafI&feature=youtu.be

Behind the Mic: The Science of Talking with Computers

Language. Easy for humans to understand (most of the time), but not so easy for computers. This is a short film about speech recognition, language understanding, neural nets, and using our voices to communicate with the technology around us.

Just in case you didn’t get the memo, Google is really big on voice search. The company’s voice command-friendly Google Now tech is available across multiple platforms and according to some recent research, teenagers are crazy about talking to their smartphones, but how does it all work?

Speaking to your mobile devices are starting to become more commonplace, however there’s a lot of behind the scenes work that goes into developing speech recognition.

Facebook reportedly in talks with Samsung to develop new smartphone

Mark Hearn Oct 14 2014 - 12:46 pm PT

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From the Cha Cha to the HTC First, the idea of a Facebook phone has been lingering for several years. Perhaps not giving up on the dream, the uber popular social media outlet is reportedly ready to take another shot at creating a smartphone and this time the company is looking for a new hardware partner. According to multiple Korean news outlets, Facebook frontman Mark Zuckerberg recently met with Samsung’s leadership to discuss a hardware partnership.

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Facebook rolls outs Mobile Like Button to Android app developers

Jordan Kahn Oct 2 2014 - 10:43 am PT

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After releasing a preview of the new feature for iOS developers at an event earlier this year, Facebook today announced that it’s officially rolling out a Mobile Like Button to all, including Android developers. That means that app developers can now easily offer users the ability to “directly Like the app’s Facebook Page, or any Open Graph object within the app, and share on Facebook.”

The mobile Like Button works seamlessly with the Facebook account the person is logged into on their device, allowing people to Like any piece of content, while in your native app.

Facebook is recommending developers show the Like Button when users reach a certain achievement or “level of engagement”. The company pointed an example from The Tribez & Castles game pictured above. Another recommendation is to encourage users to Like as soon as they open the app as pictured in the musiXmatch example above.

Android developers interested in learning more can do so here.

Facebook for Android passes 1 billion Play Store installs, becomes first non-Google app to do so

Stephen Hall Sep 2 2014 - 11:31 am PT

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Following Google’s official Maps app hitting this big milestone earlier this year, the Facebook app has become the very first third party application to hit the 1 billion install mark on the Play Store. Not many apps ever reach this number, but with Facebook being the world’s most popular social network, it would make sense that Zuckerberg and Co. would be the first outside of Google to do it. Notably, this actually proves that Facebook is more popular than many of Google’s own offerings, including Chrome, Hangouts, and Google Search. Which of Google’s apps have hit the big billion? Maps, as mentioned, along with Google Play Services, Gmail, and YouTube have all beat Facebook.

A week after Apple launches iPhone 6, ZTE has a NYC launch event

Seth Weintraub Aug 29 2014 - 6:03 am PT

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Probably ill-advised timing but why not?

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New Delaware law expands access to Google accounts of the deceased, 10 other states also considering

Chance Miller Aug 20 2014 - 3:15 pm PT

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A new law signed into action in Delaware recently deals with how to handle a deceased person’s online data on sites such as Google and Facebook. Delaware Governor Jack Markell signed into law a new bill that gives estate attorneys and other fiduciaries more control over and access to their deceased customers’ data. Executors authorized to take control of a person’s will also are included in the new law and have the ability to transfer email and data to another family member, but is not required by the law to do so.

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Facebook Messenger adds Android Wear voice replies, conversation mute, more

9to5 Staff Aug 6 2014 - 12:18 pm PT

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In an announced by Facebook’s Ian Lake, an updated version of Messenger, version 9, will include lots of new Android Wear focused improvements. First on the list is voice replies. The update includes the ability to tap the reply button when a message comes in, and speak what you want to say. Also included is the ability to mute a conversation directly from a Wear device.

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Facebook to disable messaging in its main Android app this week, require Messenger for all users

Mike Beasley Jul 28 2014 - 2:41 pm PT

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Facebook has announced today that it will no longer allow messaging in its main mobile application later this week. Instead, any users who wish to take advantage of the company’s messaging platform will have to do so through the standalone Facebook Messenger app.

Earlier this year the comapany started informing some European users of the upcoming move to the separate app, but this is the first time a solid timetable has been set for the transition. For users who already have the Messenger app installed, nothing will change. Once the change goes into effect, the “Messages” tab in the Facebook client will simply link to the Messenger app rather than an inbox view.

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HBO’s Game of Thrones Ascent game arrives on Android

Jordan Kahn Jul 17 2014 - 6:43 am PT

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Following a release for iPad back in March, HBO’s Game of Thrones Ascent game developed by Disruptor Beam & Kongregate is now available for Android. The game already racked up around 2,500,000 players on Facebook and the web before making its way to mobile devices, and it comes to the smartphones with new art, optimized imagery, and leaderboards.

With Game of Thrones Ascent, fans can immerse themselves beyond the books and show, living the life of a noble in Westeros, working with (or against) each other in a persistent, authentic game world. Taking part in thousands of story-driven quests, players delve deeply into the lore and develop their own lands and reputation among the Great Houses. Players explore an expansive world filled with deep political and social play involving diplomatic agreements, pacts, marriages, and betrothals. Through Alliance challenges, players work with hundreds of others to accomplish great tasks and rise to the top of the Power Rankings.

The developers update the game weekly and alongside new episodes of the TV show when it’s airing. That includes new quests, in-game items and more that follow the storyline of the show.

Game of Thrones Ascent is available for Android now as a free download on Google Play.

Talking Schmidt: Disgusted and Embarrassed by leaks

9to5 Staff Jul 15 2014 - 5:44 am PT

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The massive employee wage-fixing antitrust lawsuit between several Silicon Valley companies is only getting more interesting. An email exchange involving former Google CEO Eric Schmidt surfaced last week, shining light on Mountain View’s attempt to prevent Facebook from poaching its employees.
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Google services again facing outages in China after brief restoration this morning

Chance Miller Jul 10 2014 - 8:53 pm PT

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Earlier today, access to Google’s variety of web services was finally restored in China, after weeks of them being offline. This evening, however, Reuters reports that once again, the Mountain View company’s services are being disrupted in China. This includes tools such as Google Search, Maps, Gmail, advertising services, and more.

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MindRDR demonstrates how thought alone could control Google Glass [Video]

Ben Lovejoy Jul 10 2014 - 5:53 am PT

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It sounds like a pretty cool idea right there, but for those with medical conditions that don’t allow them to control Glass by voice or touch – such as those with locked-in syndrome – this could change their lives.

Engadget reports that UK company This Place has created the MindRDR app to enable a Glass user who’s also wearing a head-mounted EEG sensor to take a photo and upload it to Facebook or Twitter by pure thought control.

It’s essentially a proof of concept at this stage, with only one form of measurement: concentration.

MindRDR shows up as a thin white line on Glass’s screen, which moves upwards the more the user concentrates. Once that line reaches the very top, it snaps a picture of whatever you want – you simply need to repeat the process to upload the image to a social network …

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Google to join forces with Dropbox, Canon, others to fight patent trolls

Chance Miller Jul 9 2014 - 1:18 pm PT

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Photo: Associated Press

According to a new report out of Re/code, Google will be joining forces with a variety of other tech companies to fight patent trolls. The Mountain View company will join Canon, SAP, Newegg, Dropbox, and Asana to ward off the trolls. Between the six of them, the companies hold more than 300,000 patent assets. The companies aren’t licensing their patents to one another, but rather joining the License on Transfer network. With this network, the companies promise to grant licenses to one another whenever one of their patents is sold, preventing it from being used against them by a troll.

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Path launches new Talk app, a privacy-focused standalone messaging app

Zac Hall Jun 20 2014 - 9:00 am PT

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The private social network Path updated its Android app today with a simpler chooser for posting content and a tabbed navigation bar for moving around the app. It’s biggest feature, though, follows a growing trend with mobile apps: Path Messaging has moved to a standalone app called Talk that’s rolling out today.

With its new Talk app, Path wants to replace SMS and Facebook as it focuses on privacy with a feature called Off the Record. While it’s not quite as ephemeral as instantly self-destructing messaging app like Snapchat and Cyber Dust, Path promises its users that messages sent via Talk automatically erase from the social network’s servers after 24 hours from sending the message…

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Facebook launches new Slingshot app to compete with Snapchat

Chance Miller Jun 17 2014 - 10:57 am PT

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As we reported last night, Facebook’s new Slingshot app is now available for iPhone. The app briefly appeared on the App Store last week but was quickly removed. Slingshot is Facebook’s attempt at competing with the popular Snapchat messaging service.

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Facebook Messenger for Android updated with 15-second video messaging, bigger likes

Stephen Hall Jun 13 2014 - 8:27 am PT

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Facebook Messenger for Android has been given an update, bringing the ability to send 15-second video clips through the app, as well as send even bigger thumbs-up graphics for when you just really, really like something that your friend said.

Notably, this update brings the app in line with much of what Snapchat offers. But also, doesn’t this new video feature kind of duplicate the true Snapchat competitor that Facebook is launching soon?

You can grab Facebook Messenger version 6.0 on the Play Store for free.

What’s New

Instant Video Sending: Shoot and play 15-second video messages from the camera right in the app.

Big Likes: Press and hold to send an even bigger thumbs up when you really, really like something.

PSA: Flickr is dropping Google and Facebook sign-ins after June 30th

Mark Hearn Jun 6 2014 - 7:41 am PT

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After June 30th, Yahoo will completely remove Google and Facebook sign-in options from Flickr. As the company transitions towards its own login system, it’s sending out emails to users of its photo sharing service offering them a chance to make the switch before it closes these two doorways. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a major company attempt to cut its ties with Google and it probably won’t be the last. A few weeks ago, Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer was reportedly trying to persuade Apple to drop Google search in favor of Yahoo’s engine for the company’s iOS platform. So Yahoo distancing its own products from Mountain View’s reach definitely to make sense.

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Satirical Conan video suggests Google’s self-driving car has a few bugs

Ben Lovejoy Jun 4 2014 - 3:55 am PT

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[protected-iframe id=”e03354dba6c1b69417ffc4c258ab9702-22427743-8994189″ info=”http://teamcoco.com/embed/v/82656″ width=”640″ height=”415″ frameborder=”0″]

After Google demonstrated a prototype of a purpose-built self-driving car, Conan made a few edits …

Google wanted to show what an autonomous car might look like without any manual driving controls, and to see what people made of it. What Conan made of it was this one-minute amusing video.

The reality, of course, is that Google’s self-driving cars have clocked up 700,000 accident-free miles without anyone having had to use the emergency stop button.

The DMV is looking at the issue of how driving infringements by autonomous vehicles might be handled, and California is close to issuing the cars with driver’s licences.

Google uses artificial intelligence to boost efficiency of its data centers

Ben Lovejoy May 28 2014 - 4:48 am PT

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Google has been using artificial intelligence for a wide range of tasks, ranging from delivering search results to speech recognition, so perhaps it should come as no surprise that Google’s latest AI product was figuring out how to improve the energy efficiency of the very servers used to do all that other stuff.

A Google blog entry spotted by Engadget describes how a Google engineer used his 20 percent time to apply machine learning to predict the real-time energy efficiency of its data centers. Google uses a measure known as Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE): a ratio of total power used to power actually used for computing. In simple terms, if cooling used as much power as computing, the PUE would be 2. The closer to 1 Google can get, the more efficient the energy usage.

Google has already got its PUE down to 1.12 – about twice as efficient as a typical data center – but is using the AI project to try to further reduce the number. By using machine learning to predict the impact of variables like outside air temperature, Google can tweak the setup to minimize power usage.

The days of self-aware machines grow ever closer …