Google revamps search in its Photos app for Android

Google Photos is one of the best apps out there for backing up and searching through the massive amount of pictures we all take with our smartphones. One of its best features is search, which lets you use natural language to quickly find specific kinds of pictures, photos taken in specific locations or photos of specific people. Today, the Android version of Google Photos is putting search even more up front. Instead of accessing it via the material design search button in the lower right corner of the app, you now access it through a persistent search bar that’s always at the top of the screen.

The layout of the search page once you tap that bar is a bit different, as well. Previously, Google showed you people, places and things (dogs, cars, concerts, etc) by default. Now, there’s a new section called “types” that is more focused on the different categories of things you shoot — videos, selfies, screenshots and so forth. To be honest, I’m not a fan of that change at first glance. It looks like there’s no way to see the different “things” view that Google Photos used to feature, and I always enjoyed looking through the various categories that Google was able to recognize from my pictures. Fortunately, search itself works the same way, so I can just search “food” if I want to see the ridiculous number of dinner photos I’ve taken over the years.

Beyond the revamped search experience, Google also added a new feature that lets you customize the movies the app automatically generates with your photos and videos. You can revamp them by picking specific videos and photos as well as adding your own music rather than the generic default tunes the app features. For now, these features are Android-only, but Google says they’ll be coming to the iOS app soon.

Source: Google

Chrome extension blocks out the names of mass shooters

Many mass shooters were motivated by their desire for fame and glory, so the Brady Campaign believes it’s time we shift our focus towards the victims. The non-profit org has released a Chrome extension called “Zero Minutes of Fame,” because when installed, the killers don’t get their 15 minutes. It blocks out the gunners’ names — so long as it’s their full names — in articles you read and even replaces their photos with pictures of the victims.

The extension’s description reads:

“30% of mass killings, and 22% of school shootings, are inspired by previous gun related events.

These events are always covered by the media, who plasters the killer’s name, image and motives all over their broadcast channels.

So, if the media continues to give these killers their 15 minutes of fame, then it’s time to take matters into our own hands.”

As The Daily Dot notes, the plug-in is largely symbolic: it will not keep the gunners’ identities and actions secret from wannabes and copycats, since you’d have to consciously opt in. If you agree with the Brady Campaign and want to show your support, though, you can download Zero Minutes of Fame from the Chrome Web Store.

Via: The Daily Dot

Source: Zero Minutes of Fame

YouTube’s first live 360-degree videos were little more than tech demos

Last week, YouTube started supporting live 360-degree video streams in a bid for more-immersive video content. Though users have been able to upload and watch 360-degree video for over a year, it’s only now that Google is introducing the option to beam such content live to thousands of viewers. Still, having the ability to broadcast this video in real time isn’t the same as delivering a compelling visual experience. Indeed, the first uses of YouTube’s new technology show that it’s going to take a lot of creative thinking from directors and designers to actually make interesting content.

The first videos were certainly high-profile: A number of bands streamed their Coachella performances in 360 degrees this weekend, and musician Dawn Richards performed a few songs live from YouTube’s Los Angeles studio last week. While I didn’t watch all the Coachella performances, what I did see from both the music festival and Dawn’s more intimate performance did little to convince me that this new format is better than a more traditional presentation.

The Coachella videos amounted to just putting a camera at the front of the stage. It didn’t bring me any closer to the performers than a standard livestream would. In fact, it made me even more aware that I was watching from hundreds of miles away on a computer screen. For starters, the video only utilized half of the field of view — I spun around to see the thousands of people having way more fun than me once, but there was no reason to do it again. Though it was shot in 360 degrees, only 180 of them felt worth watching.

It takes more than just a 360-degree camera to make a compelling video.

The stationary camera also felt limiting: It was like someone stuck me to the front of the stage and said I could only turn my head but not move around. I’d have rather watched a professionally shot and edited live video. While cuts and close-ups don’t give you the viewpoint of someone in the stands, they actually help make up for the fact that you’re watching remotely by showing you detail you wouldn’t get in the audience. Even though the viewpoint was the best seat in the house, it didn’t feel more immersive than standard video.

Dawn’s performance was a bit different. She also performed her songs live but did so on a set specifically designed for 360-degree video. The camera was basically placed dead-center in the room, floating a bit higher than the performers; a stage extended out in four directions from there. Theoretically, this meant that there was always something to experience no matter which way you looked.

In practice, however, the 15-minute performance didn’t make me feel like I was actually there, and the novelty of 360-degree video again failed to make up for the format’s flaws. The performance was perhaps best described as a live music video, with dancers strutting up and down the stage and a variety of lighting effects giving the whole thing some much-needed mood. But there were plenty of ways you could point the camera and come up with nothing interesting to watch, and being able to look around the entire set was distracting and took some of the magic away, for lack of a better word. It was kind of like seeing a behind-the-scenes clip on a movie shoot where all the truth of a set, warts and all, is revealed. That’s fun when you’re explicitly interested in seeing how a video is made, but it kept Dawn’s performance from feeling like a polished presentation. It was an impressive technical feat but not any sort of groundbreaking piece of art.

To be clear, it isn’t necessarily fair to expect something groundbreaking with the first demonstration of a new technology. But it is a reminder that simply experimenting with something new isn’t enough. You need to make compelling content. Otherwise, why bother? The Coachella videos and Dawn’s performance both felt like Oculus Rift’s early demos, where we saw plenty of incomplete games you wouldn’t want to play. While it’s possible these videos would be more engaging when watched in a VR headset (I watched on my laptop), the vast majority of people checking them out will do so on their computer or smartphone. Still, early adopters with VR headsets are just the type of consumer who might find these new videos compelling.

The biggest thing I felt was missing from these demos was a sense of direction. Viewers have the option of looking anywhere they want at any time, and that freedom is compelling. But it would be helpful to have some hint or clue about where the viewer “should” look to get more out of the experience. Without that, watching these videos felt like distantly observing a series of random, unconnected events.

Creators like Dawn will need to continue experimenting to find the best ways to use 360-degree video.

Strangely enough, I kept coming back to Google’s Spotlight Stories as a great example of well-executed 360-degree video that takes full advantage of its unique format. Spotlight Stories originally launched on the Moto X in 2013 and are basically short cartoons you watch on your smartphone. You can move your phone up, down, left and right to explore the artist’s world with full freedom. But there are a plot and characters to follow, and the design and direction of these cartoons use the freedom of the 360-degree space to their advantage. Viewers are free to look anywhere they want at any time, but the design of the cartoon always manages to get your attention and show you where to look so you can follow the story.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting that YouTube’s new platform will be a failure if it isn’t used to tell narrative stories. That’s only one way to use video, and the ability to drop a 360-degree camera anywhere you want and broadcast live to the world is an incredibly powerful tool. The proliferation of Snapchat, Periscope and Facebook Live Video over the past year or so shows there’s a big desire for simple, immediate broadcasts. YouTube’s latest might never be used for narrative storytelling, and that’s OK — but creators still need to figure out what it’s best suited for and put it to good use, something that didn’t happen in these first few trials.

Both Coachella and Dawn deserve kudos for being pioneers. But it’s going to take some time to figure out how this new tool can be used to make more engaging video. We have the technology. Now it’s up to the creative community to figure out how to best use it. It’s not enough to dance around a 360-degree camera and call it a day.

On the Brink of Greatness short: Standup

Last week, aspiring startups found out just how harsh kids can be when it comes to offering criticism. To see if his jokes were funny enough, a standup comedian put his skills to the test in front of a panel of school children. What’s the worst that could happen? A cat-tastrophe, that’s what.

Google grabs ex-Motorola president to unify its hardware groups

Rick Osterloh, former president of Motorola, is now Senior Vice President at Google in charge of a new hardware division that includes the company’s Nexus devices, living room gadgets and Glass, Re/code reports. This means Nest CEO Tony Fadell is no longer leading Google’s Glass initiatives, a role he took on in January 2015, though he’ll stay on as a team adviser.

Osterloh is no stranger to Google — he led product development during Motorola’s tenure under Google and helped develop the Moto X, Moto 360 and early Droid efforts.

Osterloh’s appointment marks a shift in Google’s approach to hardware, Re/code reports. The new hardware division is broad, covering Nexus phones, OnHub, Glass, Chromecast, consumer products like the Chromebook and Pixel C, and the experimental lab making the Project Ara modular phone, ATAP. Many of these efforts were spread across other Alphabet divisions, but now they all report to Osterloh.

We’ll see if he can make Google’s products, like Glass, work for the real world.

Source: Re/code

Facebook: 60 percent of government requests come with gag order

In a biannual transparency report, Facebook has revealed that 60 percent of the data requests it gets from world governments includes a gag order. That means they include non-disclosure directives that prevent the company from telling the user about the request. This is the first time that Facebook has ever revealed this statistic, thanks to recent law changes in the US that allow them to do so.

As for removing that gag order, the courts are still in battle over that, with Microsoft being one of the key players. The latter has said that such a gag order not only violates the First Amendment but also the Fourth, which is the right to be notified when the government searches or seizes your property.

Facebook also noted in its report that data requests have gone up 13 percent in the second half of 2015, and that the number of posts that have been censored due to local laws have also increased. Part of the reason for the latter is almost entirely due to a photo related to the Paris attacks. The image is said to have violated French laws protecting human dignity, and therefore access to it was restricted, but only in France due to a request from the French government.

“We support the Email Privacy Act, which passed the US House of Representatives yesterday, because it would codify the warrant-for-content requirement and update an old law on government access to internet communications,” said Facebook in a statement.

It also reaffirmed that it does not provide any government with “back doors” or direct access to people’s data, and that every request is scrutinized to see if it’s necessary or warranted. “We’ll also keep working with partners in industry and civil society to push governments around the world to reform surveillance in a way that protects their citizens’ safety and security while respecting their rights and freedoms.”

Source: Facebook

Talkshow is a messaging app that wants you to text in public

There’s a new messaging app in town and it’s called Talkshow. But unlike most other messaging apps, the conversations you have on it aren’t private. Co-founded by former Twitter exec Michael Sippey, Talkshow’s big idea is that your banter is public for all the world to see. Calling Talkshow a “messaging” app is therefore a bit of a misnomer. It’s really more like a public-facing chatroom, or a liveblog but for everyday people (which, yes, sounds a lot like Twitter). As Sippey said in an introductory blog post, it’s essentially you and your friends texting in public.

But let’s back up a little here and explain how it all works. When you first launch the app, it’ll ask you to create an account using your phone number. It then sends you a confirmation code to authorize you. Then you’re asked to add your friends, which can be found through your Facebook or Twitter login, address book or through a manual search. You can also send people an invite if they haven’t signed up for Talkshow yet.

From there, you can dive into any number of Featured Shows (hand-picked conversations from the Talkshow staff), choose one that’s currently live (that would be on the What’s On tab) or just create one yourself. To do that, you select the little “new show” icon in the corner, invite your co-hosts, give your show a title and you’re ready to start chatting. You can enter in text, images or GIFs. As with Slack, you can also edit and delete a message in case you regret something you said. Co-hosts and viewers can also “heart” individual messages if they especially like them.

You don’t have to invite a co-host to have a show either. You can just do a monologue if that’s more your jam. You’re also encouraged to share your show on Twitter or elsewhere to get folks to start watching, but it’s not necessary. All Talkshow message threads have a permalink on the web, so even those without the app can view it. You can find out how many people have viewed the show in the Info tab.

You can see hints of Twitter in Talkshow. Peeking in on a Talkshow conversation is a lot like following along a Twitter thread, except it isn’t interspersed with other random comments. That’s because the only people allowed in a Talkshow chat are the host (you) and your co-hosts (the people you’ve invited to the conversation). The public can still read along of course, but they can only offer a variety of different canned responses (These include “lol,” “This is good,” “Wait, what?” and a slew of different emojis). If they do want to join in, they can choose “Can I co-host?” as one of the reactions and you can then opt to include them or not. You can always boot them from the chat if you’ve had enough of their input. “It’s the ‘Thanks for calling!’ feature,” said Sippey.

That said, the real inspiration behind Talkshow wasn’t Twitter at all. According to Sippey, he was motivated to do Talkshow partly because of a funny messaging exchange between Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran. Swift had posted a snippet of it to her Instagram, and that tiny bit of chatter got a lot of love from her fans. “Their conversation is relatable,” he said. “Why? Because everybody texts! And everybody texts about everything: sports, TV, politics, Beyonce’s Lemonade, Damn Daniel, or what they’re eating for dinner. I wanted to create Talkshow to give people a platform to share these conversations in front of an audience.”

If this is still all a little confusing, I did a Talkshow with Sippey himself in a little impromptu interview (Yes I realize having a Talkshow about Talkshow with the co-creator of Talkshow is incredibly meta).:

I asked him who he sees using this app. After all, who would want to have their conversations broadcast publicly? “We are already seeing sports fans, music fans, TV fans [on the service],” he said. “People that are into talking about what they’re passionate about.” He also said that Talkshow could be a great outlet for comedy or TV show casts to talk each other or connect with fans. Basically, it’s like podcasting, but in text form.

Some of the more interesting shows so far include ones about the US presidential elections, the NBA playoffs, or just really weird humorous ones that are about nothing in particular. Sippey pointed out a show that was just a mock conference called “Is This Thing On?” He also mentioned a solo show entitled “The Cute Puppies Only Show” that’s just, well, photos of cute puppies (I am behind this idea wholeheartedly).

Viewing these shows feels like eavesdropping on a really great conversation at a bar. It does feel a little voyeuristic at first, but you soon get swept up by them. One of my favorites so far is about exercise efforts, and it’s hosted by Sippey and his friends. I’m on a bit of a fitness kick myself so it was interesting to hear about how others were trying to get fit. If you’ve ever gotten sucked into reading an interesting thread on an online forum then you know what this is like.

Still, that could also be a criticism of Talkshow. You can already have these conversations in Slack, in messaging apps, in online forums and on Twitter. What makes Talkshow so different? “There’s room for a lot of different ways for people to communicate with each other and express themselves,” said Sippey, explaining that he sees Talkshow as co-existing with all of these other services, not replacing them.

Personally, I think Talkshow sells itself for a few reasons. Unlike Twitter, you can browse through different topics and pick one that interests you. Also, the fact that the public can’t randomly chime in on conversations means that the possibility of harassment is close to nil. You’re free to go on a big, uninterrupted “tweetstorm,” if you will. I do wish you could have some kind of VIP list of people who are always allowed to comment, but you can at least give people permission on a case-by-case basis.

Talkshow is only available on iOS at the moment, with no word on if or when it might reach Android. I also asked if there would eventually be a desktop version, because I found it a little difficult to write paragraph-long responses on my dinky iPhone keyboard. “We love mobile and tablets, and so we’ll have to see,” said Sippey. “But a full desktop client, we’ll see how things go!” As for future features, all he would say is that they have great things planned.

I’m generally very skeptical of new social apps, because they tend to feed into an echo chamber of tight knit early adopter communities. I’m also afraid that someone outside the Silicon Valley bubble would find Talkshow full of just cliquey people talking to themselves. That said, I’m giving Talkshow the benefit of the doubt. Because, so far anyway, I’m finding most of the shows oddly compelling. Maybe it’s because group conversations are by default more interesting than just one person on a rant, but instead of feeling like an outsider, I just feel like part of an audience, enjoying the show. And that’s really just fine with me.

Twitter for iPhone is now classified as a news app

A day after Twitter posted yet another quarter of mediocre growth, the company is making a small but notable change in how it positions its app on the iTunes Store. Starting today, Twitter is categorized under the “news” section of the App Store rather than “social networking.” It’s a change that makes a lot of sense and fits with both how Twitter has positioned itself as well as how it’s being used.

Watching news and events unfold in real time is arguably the platform’s best feature — it’s less about keeping in touch with friends and more about following people who share things you find interesting and relevant, whether you know them or not. Twitter Moments was probably the biggest new feature the service launched in the last year, and it again shows its focus squarely on curating the best commentary surrounding current events.

Whether or not this change helps the app gain more visibility remains to be seen, but at the very least it’s now the number one free app in the news category of the App Store. Previously, it had to fight off massive apps like Facebook, Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, Skype and a number of others for visibility on that list.

Via: TechCrunch

Apple Promotes New Apple Music API Introduced in iOS 9.3

With the launch of iOS 9.3, Apple introduced a new Apple Music API, which is today being promoted through Apple’s Affiliate Program Newsletter. The Apple Music API gives developers the resources to expand Apple Music functionality in their apps, through the following features:

– Developers can see if a user is currently a member
– Developers can see which country the users account is based
– Developers can queue up the next song or songs based on a song ID for playback
– Developers can inspect playlists already in My Music or create a new playlists with a title and description (see App Store Review Guidelines for limitation)

The iOS 9.3 Apple Music API has already been built into several music-related apps, such as Shazam. The API is what enables Shazam and other music apps to do things like add songs to Apple Music playlists from directly within the Shazam app.

As noted by MacStories, Apple has also launched a new Apple Music Best Practices webpage for app developers and expanded App Store Review Guidelines for Apple Music. According to Apple’s guidelines, apps using the Apple Music API are subject to the following restrictions:

– Apps using the Apple Music API that trigger playback without explicit user action will be rejected
– Apps using the Apple Music API must expose and respect standard media controls such as “play,” pause,” and “skip”
– Apps using the Apple Music API may not require payment or otherwise monetize access to the Apple Music service (e.g. in-app purchase, advertising, requesting user info)

Apple’s developer page on Apple Music also includes technical documentation on using the new Apple Music APIs, a link to the Apple Music Toolbox for finding embeddable widgets, and guidelines on how to refer to Apple Music and portray the Apple Music service within apps.

Tag: Apple Music
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Investor Carl Icahn Dumps Apple Shares Over China Concerns

Billionaire Carl Icahn, who has been buying large amounts of Apple stock over the past three years, today told CBNC that he sold his stake in the company.

“We no longer have a position in Apple,” Icahn told CNBC’s “Power Lunch” on Thursday, noting Apple is a “great company” and CEO Tim Cook is “doing a great job.”

Icahn, who sold his shares earlier this year, said that he did so based on worries over China’s attitude towards Apple. Earlier this month, the Chinese State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television forced Apple to take down the iTunes Movies and iBooks stores, and Chinese officials believe that Apple is “too deeply established” in core industries in the country.

Apple sales also fell 26 percent in greater China in the second quarter of 2016.

“You worry a little bit — and maybe more than a little — about China’s attitude,” Icahn said, later adding that China’s government could “come in and make it very difficult for Apple to sell there… you can do pretty much what you want there.”

He added, though, that if China “was basically steadied,” he would buy back into Apple.

Prior to exiting his position, Icahn held 0.8 percent of outstanding shares. He told CNBC that he made approximately $2 billion on Apple and that he continues to view the stock as “cheap.”

Apple shares have been on the decline since Tuesday’s earnings call, where the company announced its first ever drop in iPhone sales and its first year-over-year revenue drop in 13 years. Apple stock is down approximately 2 percent today.

Tag: Carl Icahn
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