American Express teams up with Facebook to offer Amex Bot
If you’re an avid Facebook user and American Express customer, you might want to pay attention. American Express has announced Amex Bot, the product of a collaboration with Facebook to offer its card members special ways to keep up with their finances and purchases.
The Amex Bot, as it’s called, will allow American Express cardholders to receive real-time notifications about their balances, card benefits and services related to recent purchases and more. All of these notifications will come down via Facebook Messenger, allowing for real-time information to pass through with helpful information.
These messages could include special restaurant recommendations paired with a hotel reservation, how to access special Centurion Lounge privileges or a number of various other bits of information to ensure customers get the most they can out of being American Express cardholders.
The Amex Bot is expected to launch in the next few months for eligible U.S. Consumer and OPEN customers who opt-in to give it a try.
Source: American Express
Steam summer sale is poised to make a dent in your wallet
Are you ready to snap up a ton of PC games to add to your ever-growing backlog? Steam’s summer sale has begun, and as always, it offers big discounts — some bigger than others — on over 12,000 titles. They include everything from popular franchises, such as Assassin’s Creed and GTA, to new virtual reality experiences. And in case you want everyone to know you’re a sucker for Steam sales, you’ll get a “Summer Picnic Sale” trading card for every $10 you spend that you can display on your profile. The event will go on for 11 days until 1PM Eastern on July 4th. Since Steam won’t be holding flash sales or adding any more titles to the list, you can start scouring all the available deals right now.
Source: Steam
YouTube for iOS Will Soon Be Able to Live Stream Video
Today at its VidCon keynote address, YouTube announced that its mobile app will be getting updated with a brand new live streaming option, allowing users to easily stream video from their iPhones directly from the YouTube app.
YouTube mobile live streaming will be baked right into the core YouTube mobile app. You won’t need to open anything else, just hit the big red capture button right there in the corner, take or select a photo to use as a thumbnail, and you can broadcast live to your fans and chat in near real time.
The feature will work similar to Facebook Live and Periscope, with streamers having the ability to see live comments from viewers. However, YouTube’s live streaming will take advantage of the company’s live streaming infrastructure, which it has been enhancing since its debut in 2011. Mobile live streaming has become increasingly popular since Meerkat launched in 2015, and has been used to document a variety of events, from NBA Final press conferences to the sit-in at the House of Representatives.
YouTube opened up live streaming in 2013, after two years of testing the service with big events like the Royal Wedding and Felix Baumgartner’s leap from space. The video platform then began expanding it to verified accounts and creators with at least 1,000 subscribers.
Live streaming will launch today for select YouTube creators The Young Turks, AIB, Platica Polinesia, SacconeJolys, and Alex Wasabi, and will be rolling out to all users in the near future.
YouTube for iOS is available in the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Tag: YouTube
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Facebook Live to offer Snapchat-like lenses through MSQRD app
One of the coolest features in Snapchat are those mask thingies.
With Snapchat’s camera view pointing toward your face, you can long-press on the screen to let the app recognise your facial features and serve up a bunch of mask-like filters that perfectly overlay on top of your face. These masks are actually called “lenses”, and popular examples include heart eyes, puking rainbows, a zombie vampire monster, and an aging filter. They make Snapchat both addicting and dynamic.
READ: Facebook Live: Here’s how the broadcasting tool works
Well, Facebook has plans to make its live video platform just as unique. It’ll soon support the ability to go live on Facebook directly from the MSQRD app, allowing broadcasters to use Snapchat-like lenses, filters, and even a face-swapping technology while they’re live. Keep in mind Facebook bought Masquerade, the Belarusian startup behind MSQRD, in March, and Snapchat acquired a similar startup, Looksery, last year.
Fidji Simo, Facebook’s director of product, announced this new MSQRD integration while at the VidCon annual online video conference in Anaheim, California, according to The Verge and Venture Beat. The social network also revealed at VidCon that starting this summer you’ll be able to invite a friend to join a live broadcast, opening up new possibilities such as interviews, debates, duets, collaborations, and more.
READ: What’s the point of Snapchat?
Facebook Live will also add the ability to schedule a live broadcast. It’s even building a lobby for people to wait in before a broadcast starts. Both features will have a limited launch this summer and won’t be widely available until sometime after.
Online security for life: Pay what you want for IPinator VPN
Is your web browsing secure? In the modern digital world, simply connecting to public Wi-Fi or even your home network can expose you to high risk of data breaches.
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is the most powerful weapon you can wield in the battle against data thieves and hackers. And for a limited time, Pocket-lint Deals is offering the highly-rated IPinator VPN at a price of your own choosing.
Your web browsing and activity stays private and secure with IPinator VPN, which lets browse via a fake IP address to throw off hackers, surveillance snoopers and others. All your information is entirely encrypted, freeing you to browse the Internet without restriction.
You’ll be able to bypass firewalls and geo-restricted content, which among other things means you’ll be able to keep up with your shows while traveling (Game of Thrones, anyone?).
Your IP settings are reset and returned to normal once you close the IPinator app, allowing you to choose when and where to employ your extra security features. Offering a range of flexibility on your devices, IPinator works with Android, Windows and Mac, and will soon offer full functionality in iOS as well.
How Pay What You Want works: you can get the full online security of IPinator VPN for one year, for as little as you want to pay. And if you beat the average price paid, you’ll get both the 1-year and lifetime subscription. On top of that: if you beat the leader’s price, you’ll get entered into our epic giveaway for a free 10-year Netflix subscription!
Online peace of mind is just a few clicks away. Name your own price and get secure today from Pocket-lint Deals.
Apple stops selling the Thunderbolt Display
We hope you weren’t dead set on getting an Apple monitor to go with your Apple computer. The company has discontinued the Thunderbolt Display after keeping it on the market for nearly 5 years. Apple didn’t say why it was dropping the 27-inch screen in a statement provided to us and our colleagues at TechCrunch. However, it does note that the Thunderbolt Display will only be available in stores “while supplies last,” and that there are a “number of great third-party options” available if you need a stand-alone monitor.
Apple spokesperson:
We’re discontinuing the Apple Thunderbolt Display. It will be available through Apple.com, Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers while supplies last. There are a number of great third-party options available for Mac users.
It wasn’t too hard to see this coming. Simply put, the Thunderbolt Display’s technology is long in the tooth. These days, the $999 official price can get you a good ultra-wide Quad HD or 4K monitor, occasionally with Thunderbolt built-in (such as LG’s 34UM95-P). It’s certainly not the most tempting option in Apple’s roster when you can buy a similarly-sized iMac with a 5K display. Also, the screen’s use of first-generation Thunderbolt left it behind the times when Thunderbolt 3 is starting to show up in some PCs.
The big question is what happens next. Apple isn’t saying yet, but there are a couple of options. It could get out of the monitor game entirely, of course, and leave the market to companies with more aggressive pricing. Alternately, this could be preparation for a replacement, which might happen when Thunderbolt 3-equipped Macs (necessary for 5K external displays) hit the scene. One thing’s for sure: once the current inventory disappears, Apple won’t make everything you need to outfit a Mac mini or Mac Pro. At least for now, you’ll have to turn elsewhere to get that missing piece of the puzzle.
Source: TechCrunch
YouTube’s mobile app will soon support live video streams
Ever since Meerkat bust onto the scene at SXSW in 2015, streaming live video footage from your smartphone has been a huge deal. Twitter’s Periscope quickly blew Meerkat out of the water, and Facebook Live has been a huge initiative for the company. Now, YouTube is throwing its hat into the ring: the company just announced that its apps will soon let anyone stream live video to their YouTube channel whenever they want.
It’s a little surprising that it’s taken YouTube so long to get into this business, as the company has supported live broadcasts on the YouTube platform for a long time now. Facebook may have a big advantage, because that’s where all of your friends are, but the many creators who have built large and dedicated YouTube followings will surely benefit from this. And it’s not hard to imagine plenty of other, less popular users giving YouTube’s live video option a shot as well. The company is rolling out the feature today for a small group of its creators, but there’s no word yet on when we’ll all get a chance to stream live YouTube broadcasts.
Simplicity is the name of the game when going live with video like this, and YouTube’s app appears to have made things quite easy. There will be a new “capture” button in the app; after hitting that, you can shoot a photo to use as a thumbnail, add a quick description and start broadcasting. The app lets you decide whether or not you want a chat feature to be enabled, and you can also elect to notify your subscribers when you go live.
Source: YouTube
Facebook Live will be able to stream Masquerade face swaps
Facebook Live is rolling out a handful of nice update these coming weeks, starting with the ability to broadcast straight from MSQRD (Masquerade). Fidji Simo, the social network’s director of product, has announced at VidCon that you’ll be able to choose the audience you want to show your face-swapping shenanigans to within the app itself. For instance, you could only make a video visible to close friends rather than to everyone. You’ll also be able to choose your first mask before going live and to keep changing it throughout the show.
MSQRD, if you’re not familiar, is a Snapchat-like video app with live filters that the social network snapped up in March after face-swapping skyrocketed in popularity. Simo said iOS users around the globe will be able to take advantage of Facebook Live integration these next few weeks. Unfortunately, he didn’t say when the feature will come out for Android users.
Simo has also revealed that viewers will be able to join a broadcast that’s already airing, so you can go live with friends or fans to host talk shows, debates and discussions. Finally, when you schedule a video, viewers will be given the choice to be notified when it starts airing or to join a lobby where they can chat with other fans. The bad news is that only Verified Pages will get both these features in the near future, though Facebook plans to eventually make them widely available.
YouTube Red’s next originals are include a ‘Step Up’ spinoff
YouTube just announced its second round of original series at VidCon 2016, and the biggest new series is a bit of a surprise. That would be Step Up, which will bring a “heart-pounding, sexy, music-filled and dramatic look at dancers in a contemporary performing arts school.” Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan co-starred in the original movie (there have been five), and are among those listed as producers, and with the popularity of dance videos on YouTube it could be a good fit. Returning for second seasons are high profile originals Scare PewDiePie and Foursome, while the Smosh crew is bringing an as-yet untitled movie project.
YouTube still isn’t releasing any numbers to confirm how its Red subscriptions and series are doing, but says they have “viewership that rivals similar cable shows.” It’s also riding on the claim that YouTube Red content is leading subscribers to check out the main (free) pages for creators they hadn’t seen before, which could help attract more creators from the wider YouTuber group.
Other new shows on the way include Rhett & Link’s Buddy System; a tour documentary from comedians Dan Howell and Phil Lester; a Vlogumentary produced by Morgan Spurlock and Maker Studios that turns the lens on some of YouTube’s biggest creators; an animated series from 3BlackDot; and an educational series from Michael Stevens that seeks to explore the human mind.
Source: YouTube Blog
How to report a bug on your Chromebook
Let the Chrome team know about the bugs they need to look at — and do things the right way.
With Android app support slowly trickling into the Chrome Dev channel, there are plenty of folks who would normally use something more stable on their Chromebook running it. That means there are more of us to find bugs, and we all should report them. That’s how we can help make Chrome better!
Reporting a bug in Chrome is easy, but you need to make sure what you are seeing is really a bug and see if it has already been reported to best help the developer team. Here’s what you should do.
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Ask for help on the Chromebook Central Help Forum. This is an official support channel, and besides the helpful volunteers you’ll encounter, Google employees monitor the discussion. Checking in here first makes sure that others can see the same issues you’re having, and can help tell you if the bug has already been reported. There’s no use in reporting a bug the team already knows about if you can help it.
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Check the Bug Reporting Guidelines for Chrome page. This will tell you everything you need to know, and what you might want to attach to the report to make it better.
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Check the current bug listing to see if it has already been reported. If so, you can “star” it to let the team know you’re seeing it too. The list is long and confusing, but the search tools can help sort things.
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Finally, to report a bug you can click the “New issue” button at the top left of the bug tracker page. You’ll be asked to sign in and be given a few simple instructions to help everyone.
You can also report an issue right when it happens. If you hit a snag that needs reporting, open the settings (click the status area by your account picture) and choose “About ChromeOS” from the top of the page. In the new window that opens, click the “Report an issue” button and you’ll get a form to fill out that can include relevant information about what was happening for the Chrome team.
Also, remember the one thing you should never do — leave a bad review at Google Play when an Android app misbehaves. You are willingly using experimental software while you’re on the Dev channel, and giving an Android app that doesn’t work as expected a one-star review or writing complaints in the review text doesn’t help anyone. The app developer can’t fix anything until Chrome OS with Android support is a little more mature, and pushing down his Play Store rating isn’t cool. If you still see the same issues when things go stable, then feel free to talk to the developer. But still, a one-star review filled with profanity never helps.
You will find bugs on the Chrome Dev channel. You’re supposed to find bugs on the Chrome Dev channel. Now you know how to report things so you can make the Stable channel better!
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