Facebook announces Paper: a ‘distraction-free’ news reading app for iOS
Facebook is making its own play in the news app category, going up against incumbents like Flipboard and Google’s own Currents service. It’s called Paper and it promises a “full-screen” distraction-free layout, with the app separating out your own Facebook News feed to begin with. You can then add to that, picking from Facebook’s curated themes that’ll include photography, sports, food, science and design. If you feared this would be populated exclusively by giant media corps, Facebook is promising that articles will come from from well-known sites as well as “emerging voices,” although it says it’ll also ensure that trusted publications will be easy to spot within the mix.
Navigation from article to article is done through swipes. and you’ll be able to tilt the phone and arch across bigger panoramic pictures. From the early screens that Facebook’s been sharing, the social network is going heavy on the visual appeal: pictures dominate the navigation, with soft white icons laid on top of pictures for navigation — there’s certainly flashes of iOS 7 in places. Videos, full-screen, will also auto-play (we’re hoping there will be a toggle for that). The app launches February 3rd and marks the premier release for the social network’s Creative Labs department: more apps are promised from the team going forward.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Internet, Software, Mobile, Facebook
Facebook’s mobile ads now account for over half of its revenue thanks to 945 million monthly users
As expected after the Q3 numbers, mobile advertising now accounts for 53% of Facebook’s revenue, thanks in large part to News Feed ads and auto-play videos. In total, the outfit earned $2.59 billion in revenue during Q4 of 2013. The company’s 556 million daily active users on mobile for the month of December (a 49 percent increase year-over-year) and 945 million mobile monthly active users (up 39 percent year-over-year) easily explains the bump from those accessing the social network on the go. Those numbers are also sure to rise as Facebook preps its targeted ad network to outfit apps other than its own, a rumored Flipboard competitor and the suite of standalone applications already tipped for 2014 release. Nearly a billion monthly mobile users should begin to ease concerns after the company faltered following its IPO, too.
[Image credit: Marco Paköeningrat/Flickr]
Filed under: Internet, Facebook
Source: Facebook
British government reportedly tracking YouTube and Facebook data without permission
While the NSA has been busy scouring the Angry Birds leaderboards, newly leaked documents report that its British counterpart — the GCHQ — has been monitoring the flow of social media in real-time. The General Communications Headquarters can apparently keep track of YouTube traffic, which links are liked on Facebook and even which Blogger or Blogspot pages are visited. This all comes via documents taken by Edward Snowden that were obtained by NBC News. NBC‘s sources also say that the British spies have been able to physically tap the lines carrying global web traffic to extract key data about specific users as well. This initiative, called Squeaky Dolphin, intends to put broad data trends into context with world events and give the intelligence community a heads up for future anti-government happenings — not for spying on a person-by-person level. What’s more, the GCHQ reportedly shares this information with the US.
The GCHQ has issued a statement claiming that all of its work is carried out within the limits of the law, while the NSA says that it’s only interested in the communication activities of valid foreign intelligence targets. For their part, Google and Facebook say that the spying on unencrypted information was done with out their respective knowledge, and neither company had given the UK government permission to access the data — something we’ve heard before.
Filed under: Internet, Google, Facebook
Source: NBC News (1), (2) (PDF)
Facebook gets into nerd feud with Princeton, hilarity ensues
In the tech industry, barely a week goes by without one entity saying that another one is doomed. Mostly, however, we just ignore them, but when Princeton claimed that Facebook would collapse in 2017, the social network decided to get its own back. With tongue placed firmly in cheek, data scientists Mike Develin, Lada Adamic and Sean Taylor copied Princeton’s slightly suspect method to discover that the university would effectively run out of students by 2021. Then the team went one step further, analyzing Google trends and Facebook likes to learn that, if social engagement stats are to be believed, the planet will run out of air at some point in 2060. If you like it when major corporations go all reductio ad absurdum on their rivals, then head down to the source link and enjoy this timely reminder that not all scientific studies are created equal.
Filed under: Internet, Facebook
Source: Facebook, Original study (PDF)
Facebook’s targeted ads set to appear in apps other than Facebook
If you’ve ever been creeped out by those eerily targeted ads on Facebook, get ready for more of the same in other mobile apps as well. The popular social network has announced today that it’s testing a new ads platform with a select few advertisers and partners that will push those ads beyond Facebook’s walls. It’s a lot like Google’s AdSense network, except Facebook is focusing on mobile apps, and not the web. Sriram Krishnan, who works on the mobile and ads platform for Facebook, said in a blog post that “we’ll be extending Facebook’s rich targeting to improve the relevancy of the ads people see, provide even greater reach for Facebook advertisers, and help developers better monetize their apps.” What does this mean for you? Well, it likely means that you might end up seeing those behaviorally targeted ads in pretty much any app that signs up for Facebook’s ad network. And here we thought those autoplay video ads were annoying enough.
Filed under: Internet, Mobile, Facebook
Via: Wired
Source: Facebook Developers Blog
The Engadget Show 49: CES 2014 wrapup
Grab a wearable, switch on the ‘ole curved TV and fire up your favorite 3D printer. We came, we saw, we conquered and now we’re ready to distill it all for you in the form of some high-quality video content. We’re not going to suggest that it’ll replace the seemingly endless stream of posts we’ve churned out over the past week or so, but if you’ve got a cocktail party full of guests you need to impress tonight, it’ll help you drop some serious CES 2014 tech news knowledge on their collective heads.
We’ve pulled together some top editors to offer up an abbreviated view of tech’s biggest show of the year, charting trends in old standby categories like HDTV, mobile, tablets and cars, to emerging spaces set to define the changing face of the show for years to come. Oh, and we’ve also tossed in some fun video of the show’s gadgets, because, well, it wouldn’t be much of an Engadget Show without that sort of thing, now would it? Toss in a bit of video of your long-time host getting a bit welled up the end, and you’ve got yourself a little thing we like to call The Engadget Show 49.
‘Til we meet again, Engadgeteers.
Filed under: Announcements, Cellphones, Desktops, Cameras, Displays, Misc, Gaming, GPS, Handhelds, Home Entertainment, Household, Laptops, Meta, Peripherals, Podcasts, Portable Audio/Video, Robots, Tablets, Transportation, Wearables, Wireless, Storage, Networking, Science, Internet, Software, HD, Mobile, Alt, Apple, Samsung, Sony, Microsoft, HTC, Nokia, ASUS, Google, Amazon, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, LG, AMD, Intel, Blackberry, T-Mobile, HP, Dell, Acer, NVIDIA, Nikon, Canon, Facebook, Nintendo
Daily Roundup: FuelBand SE Silver Edition, privacy-focused Blackphone 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.
Facebook may launch a reader app
A report from Re/code says Facebook may be working on its own news aggregator called Paper. The app is apparently based off a failed News Feed project, but the social giant has yet to confirm any plans. Follow the link for details.
FuelBand SE Silver Edition hands-on
The FuelBand SE Silver is Nike’s latest addition to its fashion-centric Metaluxe Collection. Priced at $169, this fitness tracker may cost a bit more than its predecessors, but it’s got the bling to back it up. Click through for our hands-on.
Chrome data compression for iOS
Google Chrome is inviting iOS users to enable its new data compression feature, reducing data usage and improving security. Click through for more information.
Privacy-focused Blackphone
Spanish manufacturer Geeksphone says it’s working on a privacy-focused smartphone for release at MWC. The Android-based handset, called Blackphone, will utilize a “PrivatOS” skin to secure calls, texts and web browsing. Follow the link for details.
Filed under: Misc
Facebook might launch a Flipboard-like reader app called Paper
Flipboard might soon find itself competing against a reader app owned by a social media juggernaut (read: Facebook), if re/code’s report turns out to be true. According to the website’s unnamed source, the social network’s been developing a news aggregator called Paper — and no, it has nothing to do with FiftyThree’s similarly named drawing app. Unlike Flipboard which dons a look reminiscent of magazines, the service will reportedly present stories across the internet in a “paper-like (we’re assuming that means newspaper) format.” Apparently, the project was originally a feature developed for the News Feed during a previous redesign, but it didn’t make the cut. Facebook has yet to confirm Paper’s existence, but we’ll find out soon enough — the anonymous source believes it could be released this month either as a standalone app or a mobile website.
[Image credit: Marco Paköeningrat/Flickr]
Filed under: Misc, Mobile, Facebook
Source: re/code
Facebook increases focus on ‘conversations’ with purchase of Branch and Potluck
Facebook grew its ranks by 10 New Yorkers today, following an agreement to acquire Branch. Josh Miller and Cemre Güngör created the company in 2012 with financial support from Twitter co-founders Ev Williams and Biz Stone, and launched Branch, a social platform, alongside Potluck, a “web and mobile app designed for friends to hang out and talk about cool things they find online.” According to The Verge, the deal is valued at $15 million. Both products will now fall within the social giant’s umbrella, with the team forming a new Conversations group in New York City. Confirmed in a post from Miller, Branch and Potluck will “live on outside of Facebook,” with products resembling both of the existing platforms to come.
Filed under: Internet, Facebook
Via: Business Insider, The Verge
Source: Josh Miller (Facebook)
Facebook for Windows Phone 8 now lets you pin chats and events to the home screen
Windows Phone-toting Facebook users no longer have to worry about missing an important conversation or party update. A revamped Facebook app for Windows Phone 8 lets socialites pin seemingly any Facebook content to the home screen as a Live Tile, including chats, events, groups, pages and photo albums. The app’s redesigned main Live Tile also shows wall updates, and Microsoft has spent time bolstering both the language support and overall performance. Whether or not you need to watch your friend activity like a hawk, there’s enough here to justify swinging by the Windows Phone Store for an upgrade.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft, Facebook
Via: Windows Phone Blog
Source: Windows Phone Store
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