Facebook is testing a new feature designed to protect profile photos from being downloaded. The aim is to make women in particular feel more comfortable about uploading their photo to the service.
Without actually announcing anything, the Facebook application on the Google Play Store has been updated to also work on Android TV. Don’t get too excited just yet as the application on your big screen won’t actually resemble the news feed found on the web or on your phone. What Facebook does bring to Android TV are all of the different videos that you see plastered around the social network…
Code spotted inside the main Facebook app contains some pointers to plans by the company to launch a new chat app aimed specifically at teens.
The app, whose actual or working name is Talk, looks set to contain some features likely to prove popular with teens, and others not so much …
A large-scale study jointly carried out by academics from Yale University and the University of California has concluded that greater than average use of Facebook decreases both mental health and happiness …
Antitrust regulators in Europe have fined Facebook €110 ($122M) for misleading them over its acquisition of the secure messaging service WhatsApp.
The European Commission said that the fine would have been more than twice as high but for Facebook’s acknowledgement of wrong-doing and cooperation with the investigation …
It is no secret that Facebook has been attempting to get into the TV game. Now, according to a report from Business Insider, Facebook is planning to unveil its plans to enter that market next month with two different formats of video…
Google and Facebook were scammed out of a total of $100M by a crook sending fake invoices purporting to be from Taiwanese server supplier Quanta Computer, reports Fortune. The scam was allegedly carried out by a Lithuanian man, Evaldas Rimasauskas.
Over a two-year span, the corporate imposter convinced accounting departments at the two tech companies to make transfers worth tens of millions of dollars. By the time the firms figured out what was going on, Rimasauskas had coaxed out over $100 million in payments, which he promptly stashed in bank accounts across Eastern Europe.
Google said that all of its money has been recovered, while Facebook said this was true of ‘the bulk’ of its funds, but questions are still being asked of both organisations …
Facebook seems to be on something of a mission at present to copy all the best features from popular apps and services out there. Just a couple of days after it added Snapchat-style ephemeral stories, it has announced that it has created a GoFundMe type personal fundraising feature.
Personal fundraisers allow people to raise money for themselves, a friend or someone or something not on Facebook, for example a pet. Personal fundraisers will launch in the US for people aged 18 years or older, and in beta over the next few weeks, as we hope to continue to learn and improve the product to make it even more useful. For example, we will begin with six specific categories for critical financial needs and include a 24-hour fundraiser review process. As we learn more, we hope to expand our categories and automate more of the review process.
Although Facebook describes the six permitted categories as ‘specific,’ they seem to cover most potential needs between them …
Facebook has constantly added new features to Messenger since it became a standalone chat app, and Live Location is the latest to join the list. Live Location lets Messenger users temporarily share an up-to-date location with friends and family.
Facebook today introduced two new features for Messenger called Message Reactions and Mentions.
Facebook has officially announced its new Messenger Day feature for Android and iOS after previously testing the Snapchat Stories clone with a limited number of users. Messenger Day is rolling out globally to Facebook’s Messenger app beginning today.
Facebook is testing a City Guides feature in its app. When you’re visiting a city, the feature points you to popular attractions, upcoming events and places locals visit – but with the friend focus you’d expect from Facebook. The app highlights places friends have visited, and events friends are attending …
The AI system supplements the existing tool allowing friends to report worrying posts
Facebook has begun using artificial intelligence to identify those who may be at risk of committing suicide, reports the BBC.
Along with a slew of other new features announced yesterday, Facebook says that videos in News Feed will soon play audio by default. The company also announced improvements to vertical videos, a new picture-in-picture mode for watching videos while scrolling, and a Facebook video app for TV.
Several days ago former Google executive, Hugo Barra, announced that he would be stepping down from his position as Global Vice President of Xiaomi. In his post on Facebook, Barra said that he had plans to come back to Silicon Valley but did not give any specifics. Tonight, Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO of Facebook, has announced that Barra will be joining Facebook and leading its VR efforts…
Almost a year after adding Live Video to its app, Facebook has announced that it is introducing a Live Audio feature that allows live broadcasts of audio-only content. Or, as CNET wryly described it, radio.
Initially, the company will be testing the feature with a small number of established broadcasters – including the BBC World Service and LBC – though publishers and authors will also be getting in on the action …
Facebook messenger’s newest feature is called Group Video Chat. With it, you can now start a video conference with up to 50 of your closest friends. As fun as it would be to try to communicate with 50 people over video, though, only six of the people in the call will be able to display their video feed…
Facebook announced its Events app on October 7th and released the iOS version at the same time. After a two month wait, Facebook has now released Events for Android.
Facebook has been attempting to beat Snapchat at its own game for a while, but it’s never been all that successful. Back in 2014 the company launched Slingshot, but removed it from app stores just over a year later. Now Facebook is giving it another shot with Flash, a Snapchat competitor designed specifically for emerging markets (via Recode).
If you’ve ever asked your Facebook friends to recommend a restaurant, a new feature rolling out should make it much easier to check out the responses.
Facebook is using a combination of AI and simple keyword recognition to identify posts asking for recommendations, and will then prompt you to turn on the Recommendations feature. When you do, it will automatically add the restaurants’ Facebook pages to the thread, as well as populating a map with their locations.
Engadget reports that the new feature is intended for use not just with restaurants, but with a range of businesses …
Over 100 million hours of videos are consumed daily on Facebook and now you can easily stream that video to the big screen via the hardware you probably already have. Facebook announced today that streaming from the web browser or iOS app via AirPlay to your Apple TV or Chromecast is now available. To watch a video from Facebook on your TV:
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Android is the most popular mobile operating system in the world, but that means it powers more underpowered devices than any other. Especially in the developing world, there are huge numbers of people who prefer — and need — less-capable, lightweight, and not-data-hungry versions of the apps that many of us take for granted.
That’s why Facebook today launched Messenger Lite, a basic version of Facebook Messenger made for those with Android devices more than a few years old (or with less capable specs)…
Facebook has long been a convenient place to sell unwanted items, but the audience for your sales has so far been limited to your friends and followers. With the addition of a Marketplace feature on mobile, Facebook allows you to expand your audience to everyone in your local community.
Facebook is where people connect, and in recent years more people have been using Facebook to connect in another way: buying and selling with each other. This activity started in Facebook Groups and has grown substantially. More than 450 million people visit buy and sell groups each month — from families in a local neighborhood to collectors around the world.
To help people make more of these connections, today we’re introducing Marketplace, a convenient destination to discover, buy and sell items with people in your community.
Interestingly, Facebook isn’t getting involved in the transactions themselves …
