‘Call of Duty’ publisher brings esports to Facebook Live
Activision Blizzard is set to conquer a new frontier: Facebook’s live video feature. The world’s largest video game publisher announced improvements it plans to implement to its various esports platforms, most notably a push to broadcast esports to the masses via the massive social networking site.
There’s a wide breadth of competitive games Activision Blizzard plays host to, from Call of Duty to StarCraft to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Facebook’s live video currently seems like the most lucrative option for getting as many viewers as possible.
“We have already seen tremendous growth in audience reach. Especially Facebook’s own focus on live video. We are continuing to work with Twitch and Instagram , and we will be producing a lot of daily content on Facebook live,” explained Mike Sepso, co-founder and SVP of the Activision Blizzard Media Networks division.
The publisher is aiming to focus on the players themselves and the stories that follow them throughout their esports careers. The plan is to introduce a two-day Call of Duty: Black Ops tournament on June 10th, which will kick off a “deeper collaboration” with Facebook. Activision will also be offering interactive data such as how individuals are performing in certain games and events during play.
Sepso is confident that esports will soon blossom as far as the general public is concerned.
“I think it will happen quicker than people think, it’s not just that gaming is pervasive … As we start to tell this story behind players, people will connect with these stories.”
If you’re interested in seeing how the upcoming tournament fares within the bounds of Facebook Live, you’ve only got about a month to wait.
Source: The Guardian
Humans keep Facebook’s trending topics ‘relevant’
Facebook’s news operation depends on a team of human editors filtering through trending stories surfaced by its news algorithms, internal documents leaked to the Guardian show. The leak comes as the social media giant is denying reports that it suppresses conservative news stories and a Senate committee has expressed concern over Facebook’s filtering methods.
Facebook’s official policy states that trending topics are determined “based on a number of factors including engagement, timeliness, Pages you’ve liked and your location.” But the leaked documents appear to confirm that a small editorial team has control of the final decision making when it comes to which headlines get the coveted space in the News Feed sidebar. According to the Guardian, Facebook “backed away from a pure-algorithm approach in 2014” after users complained that coverage of the protests in Ferguson, Missouri wasn’t being included, but Ice Bucket Challenge videos were flooding the social network.
The documents include a number of guidelines for the human team tasked with filtering the information and making editorial decisions. Those guidelines include the ability to “inject a newsworthy topic” if a hashtag like #BlackLivesMatter is suddenly gaining a lot of traction, or “blacklisting” topics for up to a day for various reasons. The documents also show Facebook relies on a short list of only 10 major news sources to double-check which stories are the biggest of the day.
Although Facebook VP of Search Tom Stocky denied the company was inserting stories artificially into trending topics, three former Facebook editors who spoke with the Guardian confirmed they had done just that. While they denied any personal bias, the Guardian’s sources did believe human intervention was crucial to surface important stories.
“Trending Topics uses a variety of mechanisms to help surface events and topics that are happening in the real world,” Facebook’s VP of Global Operations Justin Osofsky wrote in a statement defending the guidelines. “The intent of verifying against news outlets is to surface topics that are meaningful to people and newsworthy. We have at no time sought to weight any one viewpoint over another, and in fact our guidelines are designed with the intent to make sure we do not do so.”
Facebook opens up its anti-hacker training tool
Companies frequently like to teach the virtues of online security through Capture the Flag competitions, where you’re encouraged to both create hacks and protect against them. Developing those competitions isn’t always easy. However, Facebook is giving trainers an upper hand: it’s open sourcing the code for its own CTF platform, letting anyone host a similar cybersecurity challenge or build on what Facebook has learned. The move should be particularly useful for companies and schools that want to demonstrate the importance of closing security holes and otherwise running a tight ship — you can’t afford sloppy code if you want to win.
It’s no surprise that Facebook would do this when it has a habit of open sourcing anything that isn’t a vital company secret, but it’s still welcome. Also, it’s a very pragmatic move for the company. The more people are participating in CTF games, the more the industry is well-versed in practical security. That, in turn, could both reduce the number of vulnerabilities that affect Facebook as well as let it hire from a more knowledgeable pool of security gurus.
Via: VentureBeat
Source: GitHub
Oculus highlights over a million Gear VR users with new content
While full-fledged VR headsets like the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive have gotten a lot of press lately, it bears remembering that Samsung’s Gear VR has been around for a lot longer. And, due to its lower price and the fact that it only requires a phone, means it’s also a whole lot more accessible. Which could explain why almost six months after the consumer Gear VR launched, Oculus revealed today that over one million people used Gear VR in the past month alone. The Facebook-owned entity took this milestone opportunity to not only introduce a slew of new video content, but also to give us an update on how mobile VR is progressing.
“Oculus’ mission is to help people experience anything, anywhere,” says Max Cohen, Oculus’ head of mobile to a roomful of journalists this Tuesday. There’s the high-end experience of the Rift, of course, but there’s also the portable easy-to-use version of the Gear VR. “The secret [with VR] is it can’t just be slightly better than other experiences that you’ve had,” says Cohen. “It has to be even better.”
Part of the reason why the million number mark is so exciting, then, is because it’ll hopefully push developers to create even more content for the platform. Cohen admits that it’s sometimes a daunting task trying to get developers to spend time making VR content. “They tell us, ‘Give us a call when you’ve a hit a million users’.” Well, now they have. Plus, Cohen says, the average time that users spend on the Gear VR is around 25 minutes a day. “They’re highly engaged with the product,” he says.
Aside from the number of users, Oculus is also working on increasing app discovery. There’s over 250 apps for Gear VR right now, but finding new content can be a problem, especially for newcomers. That’s why Oculus is rolling out a revamped Oculus Home design next month, which will hopefully make it that much easier to find recently downloaded content. You’ll also see a “What’s New” section starting this week plus an updated library that offers deep links directly into the apps. There’ll also be a social element so you can see what your friends are watching or doing.
In conjunction with the announcement, Oculus wanted to highlight several new VR experiences. They include 6×9 (available now), a Guardian-produced film that lets you feel how it’s like to be in solitary confinement; Notes on Blindness: Into the Darkness (available late June), which puts you in the shoes of someone who’s slowly going blind; Tactera (available late May), a real-time strategy game with holographic pieces; and lastly Nomads, which lets you explore how it’s like to be in different nomadic tribes such as the Maasai in Kenya, the yak herders in Mongolia and the sea gypsies of Borneo. Nomads, which debuts today, was produced by Felix & Paul Studios, which has done other Oculus content such as Jurassic World and Wild.
Additionally, Oculus has been working on a partnership with Discovery to develop a new Deadliest Catch VR experience that’ll put you on the rough seas as a virtual crew member. It’ll launch next week on May 17th. There’ll also be an experience called First Life, which is narrated by renown naturalist David Attenborough. It promises to bring you back 500 million years in the past and give you a first-hand look at prehistoric sea creatures.
If it seems like there’s an unusual number of video experiences on this list, that’s no coincidence. Seven of the top 10 most used apps on Gear VR are video-related. Eugene Wei, head of video at Oculus, says that over 2 million hours of video are consumed on the mobile headset as of last check. That includes the usual 2D movie experiences that you can watch in a virtual cinema (either via Oculus Video or a Netflix VR app) or live 180-degree streams of events like the Kentucky Derby. “But when most people talk about video and VR, they think 360-degree video,” he says. “It’s continuing to gain momentum.”
But the problem with 360-degree content is that there’s a really high barrier to entry. Creating VR video is not the same as regular video; there’s still a lot that filmmakers have to figure out. It’s why Facebook released the blueprints for the Surround 360 camera. Not because they want to be in the 360 camera business, but because they want more people to create content. “Our goal is to get this camera into the hands of as many creators as possible,” says Wei, adding that the team has also worked to integrate consumer-level cameras like the Gear 360 and the Ricoh Theta S with the ability to upload directly to the Facebook Newsfeed.
There’s also the issue with just how much bandwidth 360-degree video takes up. To get around that, Facebook developed a technology called Dynamic Streaming, which increases the quality of the video you can see but degrades the video that’s off-screen. The improved display resolution of the recent Samsung phones is also integral to the Gear VR experience. “[1440p OLED screens] might not matter on a traditional phone,” says Wei. “But when it comes to VR, it really makes a difference in the quality of the experience.”
Storytelling in VR is also pretty different from traditional mediums. For example, take the opening credits of Game of Thrones that was created in 360-degree video. If you watched it on your phone or on your computer, it retains that same camera swooping motion you’d see on TV. But put that same experience on a headset and it starts to feel a little strange. That’s why Oculus is now working on creating a special VR headset experience of the Game of Thrones title sequence that would put you in the middle of King’s Landing where you’ll be able to see the buildings sprouting up around you. “It’s an example of the visual grammar that people have to learn,” Wei says. “We have to have creative collaboration with creators to help them understand [these new] design constraints.”
Right now, most VR video content is still on the short side; maybe a few minutes at most per clip. That’s mostly because it’s just really cost-prohibitive to create a two-hour 360-degree movie. But Cohen and Wei say there have been some legitimate interest from filmmakers on how to do exactly that. “I’ve heard of a few film directors who want to tackle that,” says Wei. “I’m excited to see what happens.”
Wei also wanted to emphasize that 360-degree content isn’t unique to just video. He says that in the coming weeks, Facebook will announce support for 360-degree photos as well. You can either shoot and upload panoramic photo spheres with your phone, or use one of the aforementioned specialized cameras.
“There’s this underlying belief that a mobile platform is fundamentally unserious,” says E McNeill, the creator of Tactera and Darknet, both of which are video games designed for the Gear VR. “I think that’s a mistake […] The Gear VR really punches above its weight. Once you have the headset on, you’re not squinting at a small screen. It’s VR.” Plus, Cohen says, a lot more games are making the jump from Gear VR to the Rift and vice versa, thus adding legitimacy to the platform. Dragon Front, for example, is a game that will launch concurrently on both the Rift and the Gear VR.
“Think about the kids learning five, ten, fifteen years fro now,” says Cohen in regards to the Nomads VR experience. “They’re not going to be using text books, when they can experience first hand what these people went through. It really creates this kind of emotional connection.”
“We want to get mobile VR in the hands of as many people as possible,” says Cohen. “We think we can actually change people’s lives.” It’s an admittedly grandiose statement. But it seems that at least a million users are intrigued enough to give it a go.
Facebook’s 360-degree photos are coming to your News Feed
Back in September, Facebook introduced support for 360-degree videos in your Newsfeed. Soon, that same treatment will apply to photos too. The social network announced today that starting in the next few weeks, you’ll be able to snap a panoramic photo sphere on your phone and then upload it to Facebook. You can also use other 360-degree cameras to take those shots too, like the Gear 360 or the Ricoh Theta S. As for viewing said photo, you can either tilt your phone around to get the full view, or drag it around with your finger or mouse cursor.
But what if you want to view those 360-degree photos with your VR headset? No worries there either. Facebook will also add a new photos section to the Oculus app so you can go ahead and strap your Gear VR on to get the full immersion. “We’ve been beta-testing 360 photos internally for awhile now,” says Eugene Wei, head of video for Oculus. “It’s a lot of fun. You get to share where you are; the story of your life with other people.” Assuming, that is, you want to share.
Instagram gets a new monochrome look to focus on your media
After testing a black and white design with a few users, Instagram officially rolled out the look as part of its major redesign today. The idea is that the monochrome interface will put a greater emphasis on your photos and videos. Judging from the screenshots and videos, media does tend to stand out more now on its iOS and Android apps. Additionally, the company has redesigned its app logo with a simple, multi-colored icon that drops the original’s skeumorphic design — it only vaguely looks like a camera. Instagram also updated logos for its other apps, Hyperlapse, Layout and Boomerang, with a similar look.
“While the icon is a colorful doorway into the Instagram app, once inside the app, we believe the color should come directly from the community’s photos and videos,” wrote Instagram’s head of design, Ian Spalter. “We stripped the color and noise from surfaces where people’s content should take center stage, and boosted color on other surfaces like sign up flows and home screens.”
I don’t have access to the newer app yet, but the redesign looks like an intriguing one for Instagram. It hasn’t done much to tweak the look of its apps for the past five years, so it makes sense for it to take some big leaps now. The black and white design feels much more mature, instead of something from a small startup that inexplicably became a giant social network.
Source: Instagram
Facebook Moments for iOS Gets Approval in Canada and EU App Stores
Facebook yesterday released its Moments private photo sharing app in Europe and Canada, almost a year after it appeared in the U.S. App Store.
The app helps users find Facebook photos of themselves, their friends, and particular places, and collects these together for private viewing or sharing. It does this by attempting to recognize who appears in them based on facial features, and also takes into account the date, time, and location where the photos were taken.
The U.S. and international versions of the company’s photo-centric app use facial recognition technology to identify people in Facebook photos, but the feature ran afoul of privacy laws and regulations in Europe and Canada.
To get around the ban, the new modified version has been stripped of facial recognition technology and instead groups together multiple photos that “appear to include the same face”, according to the social media company (via TechCrunch). It does this by relying on a less accurate form of technology that uses object recognition to analyze the distance between a person’s eyes and ears.
Moments also integrates with Facebook and Messenger apps, where users are alerted to the fact that their friends have shared photos featuring them.
Moments is a free app for iPhone and iPad available for download in the App Store. [Direct Link]
Tag: Facebook
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Facebook might have a solution to its free WiFi’s shortcomings
Facebook knows that a key limitation of its Terragraph gigabit WiFi system is how it falls apart over long distances. Line of sight is kind of a pain that way and even a 7GBPS data signal degrades when there’s a nearby object blocking its path. So it’s devised a workaround for it with a code framework that helps nodes on the network make faster, autonomous decisions about data routing. Open/R will eventually be open-sourced (it’s based on open-source code as it is), and Facebook describes the initiative as a way of helping advance Terragraph’s code quickly and thus make the free WiFi project faster and more efficient.
The company further notes that because its network is under full, in-house control, it doesn’t have to be compatible with “every legacy feature” on a given network because it can target the aspects Facebook needs most, and then augment further when the demand arises. If you’ll remember, Facebook can achieve this, at least in part, because access is limited to the social network itself and a few other sites — there’s no need play nicely with the entire World Wide Web at that point.
It’s already in place at Facebook HQ in Menlo Park, and, like The Verge notes, a public test is coming to nearby San Jose before year’s end. Outfits like DARPA and Starry, each working on their own variations of this type of tech, are probably pretty interested in seeing what’s what once Zuckerberg and Co. release the code to the masses.
Via: The Verge
Source: Facebook
WhatsApp has a new desktop app for Windows and OS X
WhatsApp users now have a better way to stay in touch from their PC, as it has released a desktop app for Windows and Mac users. News of the desktop app leaked out early after it was detected by the Twitter account WABetaInfo, which tracks changes in the service’s various clients. According to a company blog post, the desktop client is similar to WhatsApp Web in that it’s meant to be an extension of your phone, with synchronized conversations and messages. WhatsApp avoided the app stores available on either platform, choosing to make its desktop available for direct downloading, as long as you’re running Windows 8 (or newer) or OS X 10.9 (or newer).
Source: WhatsApp Blog
Facebook respects European privacy, skips facial recognition
Last June, Facebook launched an app called Moments that allows you to share event photos with friends. The software uses facial recognition to who’s in the pictures for easy tagging and organizing. In the EU, regulators had already taken Facebook to task over its “tag suggest” facial recognition feature that scanned photos for your friends so you could easily tag them on the site. European data authorities haven’t changed their stance on the feature, so Moments wasn’t available there or in Canada until now.
An alternate version private photo application is now available for users in Europe and Canada, leaving out features that violate privacy laws in those locales. Most notably, the facial-recognition tool isn’t included in the software, which means users will have to do a bit more work to tag and identify who’s in their snapshots. Facebook says that while it left the facial recognition out, the app will group photos that “appear to include the same face.”
Sounds kind of like facial recognition, right? Well, not exactly. Facebook says the app now functions more like object recognition, observing things like the distance between someone’s eyes and ears rather than their unique facial features. The social network explained that because this doesn’t examine images as closely, it’s not as accurate. For that reason, this new version of the Moments app has a “Who’s this?” where the tagging it handled. Once you group a few photos together, the software will gather any new pictures that have a person who looks similar in them.
Despite the changes in how images are tagged, the tweaked Moments app still keep tabs on things like location, date and time. Like the application that’s already available in the US and other places, it also lets you decide if your photos are ever shared with anyone or if they’ll remain private. Back in December, Facebook nixed its Photo Sync tool in favor of Moments, making it the primary method for building and sharing photo albums on the site.
Via: TechCrunch
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