Your Facebook privacy settings will now live on after you pass
It’s not a topic we discuss often here, but if you’re active online, you may (or may not, ultimately) be concerned with how your data is handled after you die. On Facebook, accounts can be “memorialized” by a friend or family member, with some data remaining visible indefinitely. Previously, after the social network flipped the switch, your remaining content would be accessible only by your friends. Going forward, however, Facebook will match your existing privacy settings, so if your profile was visible to the public, it’ll stay that way after you pass. Additionally, friends and family members will be able to request a “Look Back” video, though we’d recommend getting on that now, while there’s still time to click the edit button.
Filed under: Internet, Facebook
Source: Facebook
Daily Roundup: Facebook buys WhatsApp, tablet buyer’s guide and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Tablet buyer’s guide
With numerous models and operating systems to choose from, we understand that picking the right slate can be a tough job. Fortunately, you’ll find everything you need to know right here in our 2014 tablet buyer’s guide.
Facebook acquires WhatsApp
Earlier today, Facebook acquired the instant messaging platform WhatsApp for $19 billion. Sure, the app is a direct competitor to Facebook Messenger, but what makes it worth that kind of money? Read on as Engadget’s Michael Gorman explains Facebook’s interest in WhatsApp’s 450 million global users.
Aereo services halted in Utah
Aereo, a service that brings OTA TV broadcasts to the internet, just hit a significant bump in the road. The US District Court of Utah gave the company its first preliminary injunction, effectively stunting its growth in the area.
Google’s Project Tango
Google’s looking to give devices a more human-like understanding of the world around them with a new 3D sensor-equipped smartphone. Dubbed Project Tango, the prototype device utilizes a Movidius Myriad 1 vision processor to track motion and map surroundings with minimal power.
Filed under: Misc
Google reportedly offered to acquire WhatsApp for $10 billion
While WhatsApp just agreed to a $19 billion acquisition deal with Facebook, the social network wasn’t the first to approach the messaging service with a very generous proposal. According to Forbes, Google offered $10 billion to acquire the app. Though it’s not clear exactly when Mountain View proposed this deal, sources said the offer didn’t come with the promise of a board seat, unlike Facebook’s agreement.
One thing is clear, though: Google was apparently so set on keeping WhatsApp within its reach that it offered the startup money to be informed if any other companies approached it with acquisition offers. The Information reports that WhatsApp turned down this unusual proposal about six months ago. The takeaway from all this? If you hadn’t guessed it from the astronomical figures — 19 billion dollars, you guys — Google and Facebook recognize the mobile instant messaging service’s huge value. 450 million active users every month is none too shabby, after all.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Google, Facebook
Via: The Verge
Source: Forbes, The Information
Facebook buying WhatsApp for $16 billion
Facebook has today announced that it will be buying the popular cross-platform social messaging platform Whatsapp for around $16 billion.
The deal was announced today as both parties reached an agreement: Whatsapp receives $4 billion in cash and $12 billion in Facebook stock. If, for whatever reason the deal falls through, Facebook have agreed to pay a fee of $2 billion in a mixture between cash and stock to Whatsapp.
Facebook was interested in the social messaging platform due to the incredible amount of growth that the service received, with figures touting that Whatsapp was adding around a million users per month to its platform.
Whatsapp will continue to operate as an independant company and keep their own branding, but will have Facebook members on the board. With Facebook messenger a big part of their service, it makes sense that eventually Whatsapp will be obsorbed into their own platform.
The post Facebook buying WhatsApp for $16 billion appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Why did Facebook spend $19 billion on a messaging app? (video)
WhatsApp is a voice and text instant messaging platform with apps for most every smartphone OS. It provides free service for the first year and costs a dollar annually after that. Why then, did Facebook just buy WhatsApp — aside from the obvious cachet and free advertising that comes with its omnipresence in Katy Perry’s Roar video — for $19 billion (with a ‘b’), when it already has Facebook Messenger?
In a word: users. 450 million of them to be precise, and 315 million of those are active on a given day. In fact, WhatsApp’s users are so prolific, its messaging volume is roughly equal to that of the entire world’s SMS traffic. And, WhatsApp is huge overseas and in emerging markets. According to a report from mobile marketing and research firm Jana, the app is far and away the most used messaging service in India, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa. The Information, which got a more in depth look at Jana’s research, shows that Facebook Messenger usage is far, far lower in those same countries.
Now, is that massive international user base worth $19 billion? It’s hard for us to understand how it possibly could be. WhatsApp’s founders have pledged to keep the app ad- and gimmick-free, so there aren’t any indications that new revenue streams are coming. And, while the acquisition fits in perfectly with Facebook’s plan to expand its app offerings, the social network has promised to use the same hands-off approach it did with Instagram — leveraging its “expertise, resources and scale” to grow the platform, while keeping WhatsApp operationally independent. So, we’ll have to wait and see how WhatsApp plans to prove its worth. Maybe some more music video synergy like the kind found after the break?
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile
Source: WhatsApp blog, Jana, Facebook
Facebook is buying WhatsApp for a whopping $19 billion in Cash and Stock
Something tells me that Facebook wants a stake in the instant messaging market… It was announced today that Facebook is buying WhatsApp today in a blockbuster deal that is going include up to $12 billion in Facebook stock and $4 billion in cash going to WhatsApp, with an additional $3 billion in stock to be given to the messaging giant once the deal is finalized.
That’s an absolutely massive amount of money considering that one of Facebook’s other major acquisitions, Instagram, by comparison, saw only $1 billion change hands, but perhaps unsurprising considering how popular WhatsApp’s mobile app is around the world. Much like the Instagram acquisition though, Facebook isn’t looking to absorb WhatsApp into Facebook itself, instead leaving it as is as a separate service.
Key stats of WhatsApp that Facebook will be acquiring include:
- Over 450 million people using the service each month;
- 70% of those people active on a given day;
- Messaging volume approaching the entire global telecom SMS volume; and
- Continued strong growth, currently adding more than 1 million new registered users per day.
With Facebook slowly moving its tendrils into all communication markets, we can only wonder what they are eying next to acquire. What do you think about Facebook buying WhatsApp?
Source: Facebook via Android Police
Facebook to buy WhatsApp for $16 billion
The balance of power in the mobile messaging space is about to shift in a big way — Facebook has just announced plans to acquire WhatsApp for the equivalent of $16 billion in cash and stock. The deal will see WhatsApp run semi-independently, much like Instagram. The chat service will maintain its brand and existing offices, but it will take advantage of Facebook’s “expertise, resources and scale.” It’s safe to say that the combined entity will have a lot of clout should the deal close later this year. WhatsApp already has over 450 million active users every month; combine that with Facebook Messenger and competitors like Line suddenly appear tiny by comparison.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Facebook
Source: SEC, Facebook Newsroom, WhatsApp Blog
Spoiler Shield app for Android might just put an end to plot points being revealed on Social Media
I think we can all agree that spoilers are the worst; sure, sometimes knowing what is coming can be useful and exciting, but when someone ruins the final ever episode of Breaking Bad when Walter and Jesse… well, you get the idea. The primary vehicle for spoilers is obviously social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter, which is where the Spoiler Shield app for Android comes in.
This ingenious little app integrates both Facebook and Twitter posts and spits out a news stream but crucially with all posts related to your favourite TV show or sports team ‘shielded’. It does this with a neat shields menu where you can manage and toggle which TV shows or sports team results you want ‘shielded’, but still allows you to see the shielded posts; if you’re feeling particularly despondent, you can simply double tap the post and see the shielded content. Check out this demo video for more details:
As you can see, it’s a pretty handy app, particularly if you take your TV shows or sports very seriously. For the time being, it looks like it supports primarily US TV shows and sports teams, which is probably what most of us want anyway, but hopefully the library will be extended in future to include foreign shows, or perhaps even movies.
The Spoiler Shield app for Android is available now on the Google Play Store for free, so if you want to give it a try this Valentine’s Day weekend, hit the Play Store link below to pick it up. How much do you hate spoilers? Share your grievances with us in the comments.
Source: Phones Review
Application: Spoiler Shield
Price: Free
Facebook now lets you specify a custom gender in your profile
Many in the queer community identify themselves through genders that don’t fit into binary male and female definitions, but social networks typically don’t allow for that more nuanced take on sexuality. Thankfully, Facebook is more accommodating as of today. You can now specify a custom gender as well as a preferred pronoun. If you’re not always comfortable with sharing that gender, you can limit who sees it. Facebook isn’t accounting for every aspect of gender — you still have to describe family relationships in binary terms, for instance — but this is an important first step.
Filed under: Internet, Facebook
Via: The Next Web
Source: Facebook
Twitter’s latest test channels Pinterest and Facebook in profile redesign
That mobile-esque redesign Twitter pushed out last month? Forget about it: the microblogging is already testing another skin for user profiles — and it looks really familiar. Select users are reporting that their Twitter profiles look now look like a cross between Google+, Pinterest and Facebook, complete with large header photos (up to 1500 x 1500 pixels), left-aligned profile images and flat content cards representing each tweet. The entire redesign is a jarring departure from the Twitter norm, but it’s that last element that proves to be the most disruptive: rather than piling up in the normal vertical fashion, the new card layout allows tweets to lay side by side, a fundamental change in how Twitter displays content. There’s no word yet when or if this profile will available to the majority of Twitter users, but be warned: change is upon us.
[Thanks, @Ben_Haizlip!]
Filed under: Internet, Facebook
Source: Mashable
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