Google is trying to get inside apps – how and why
The mobile revolution would never have happened without apps. Android ensured that Google was central to the smartphone trend, but mobile apps actually represent a serious threat to its dominance. As people increasingly turn directly to apps to access the Internet, they aren’t using Google’s search engine or other services.
In 2013, we spent 80 percent of our time on mobile devices in apps, and just 20 percent on the mobile Web, according to Flurry Analytics. That trend grew even more pronounced in 2014, with 86 percent of our time spent in apps. Although games are the top category, social networking and messaging apps led the field in terms of retention and number of sessions. Facebook alone accounted for 17 percent of the time spent on iOS and Android devices in the U.S. in 2014.
Google’s strategy depends on the mass market. It needs eyeballs for advertisers and big data to drive clever analytics. How does it prevent mobile apps from cutting it out? How does it retain some kind of control over the mobile web? It’s already indexing apps and extending Google Now, could the future be app streaming?
App indexing
The enduring appeal of Google as a search engine is based on its ability to return useful results, but how much of what we’re looking for online nowadays is to be found inside an app? Google’s App Indexing offers developers a way to get their apps listed in search results. They can even link to content deep within an app, and when the user taps on that link, the app will automatically load, provided that it’s already installed.
A flood of extra downloads, as users are prompted to install apps they don’t have from within search results, and return visits for apps already installed, is the carrot for developers. For Google it’s a way to keep the search results relevant and useful, but also wrest back some control of the mobile scene. Of course, as it stands, app indexing is a lot easier for Android apps than it is for iOS apps, and it’s set to get even easier in Android M.
This deep linking idea isn’t new and there are competitors offering alternatives. Facebook has App Links, which allows users to skip around from app to app without ever going near a Web browser. Apple is bringing deep linking to iOS 9. There are other solutions out there, but competition is the same old barrier to an actual standard being developed.
Now On Tap
Announced at Google I/O, Now On Tap is looking to make Google Now accessible from anywhere on your Android device. Whether you’re in an app or in the browser, you’ll be able to access relevant Now cards and query Google. It’s another way to leverage app indexing and get people using Google, even when they’re inside an app.
App streaming
Could the news that Google acquired Agawi point to another potential approach to combat app dominance? Agawi is all about streaming mobile apps and games from the cloud to mobile devices. The thin end of this wedge is the idea that Google might offer users the chance the try out apps without having to install them.
Back in the early days of Android you could install an app, try it out for up to 24 hours, and then uninstall it and get a full refund. That trial period was reduced to 15 minutes for a while, but then increased to 2 hours last year. But there’s no doubt that a trial without the need for a download, installation, and refund would be a much more attractive prospect. It’s easy to see the potential benefits for developers, for Google, and for Android users.
What if Google was to push that even further and allow you to access apps and games without ever installing them? Many apps are already reliant on Web servers, it wouldn’t be a major stretch to stream the whole thing. That would also drastically reduce the burden on the smartphone hardware and shift it to Wi-Fi and Google’s server farms. It could even enable more demanding software and games to run on low end Android devices. It potentially has the power to kill the fragmentation problem and standardize the Android experience.
But is the necessary infrastructure in place? Can all the potential problems be overcome? It’s worth remembering that the idea of cloud streaming is nothing new, and we’ve seen various attempts to do this in gaming fail. We’re also seeing consistent improvements in processing power for smartphones, and it wouldn’t be a move that would win any fans in the hardware manufacturing scene.
Google vs Facebook
This battle to control deep linking and win dominance on the mobile Web is still about owning advertising for Google and Facebook. The social media giant is a good example of the risk to Google. If it can break out functionality from the unwieldy Facebook app, as it has been trying to do with apps like Messenger, and acquire big apps, as it has been doing with the likes of Instagram and WhatsApp, and then find a way to tie them together so users never need to hit the browser at all, then it can cut Google out.
Unlike Amazon, Facebook isn’t asking you to buy specific hardware or commit to its ecosystem. It’s threatening Google through the Play Store in a way that’s tough for Google to control or combat.
Same old strategy
When we looked at the prospect of Google bringing Android and Chrome OS together we discussed how web-based apps are more desirable for Google in the long term. App streaming might be a different route to bring apps back into the website model, since the mobile Web and browser-based apps don’t seem to be taking off in the way that some people predicted they would.
Ultimately, Google is always working to find ways to ensure that we use its services. The expansion of Google Now and app indexing looks like a smart short term move, and Google is well-placed to dominate the shift to deep linking, but will it be enough in the long term? App streaming throws up a world of different possibilities, and could lead to a future where web-based apps are baked into the platform or accessed through the browser, but live in the cloud, making downloads and installs a thing of the past.
Facebook will recognize you in photos where your face is not showing
Facebook’s facial recognition blows me away every single time I see it at work. Some of us love it, as it makes it an easy task to tag all your friends and get on with your life. On the other hand, some people hate that Facebook knows so much about them. Well, get your tin foil hats ready, guys, because things are about to get a lot more interesting. Soon Facebook will no longer need to see your face in order to recognize you in images uploaded to their servers.
Facebook’s artificial intelligence lab has put together an algorithm that can scan a photograph and look for many other physical clues, hence being able to know who you are even when you are not showing your facial features.
“There are a lot of cues we use. People have characteristic aspects, even if you look at them from the back. For example, you can recognise Mark Zuckerberg very easily, because he always wears a gray T-shirt.” -Yann LeCun, head of artificial intelligence at Facebook
Facebook tested this with almost 40,000 images taken from Flickr. These photos showed some people’s faces, but many other subjects had their faces turned away. This algorithm is impressive, to say the least. The system was able to recognize people with an 83% accuracy, which is simply stunning.
It makes complete sense for Facebook to improve their recognition technology in this manner. After all, it’s something us humans do all the time. I can recognize most of my friends even when they have their backs completely turned to me. The algorithm will probably take into account body features, hair, clothing and other factors.
The social network is also currently pushing Facebook Moments into the market. This photo-sharing service revolves around Facebook’s power to recognize you and your friends. The app scans your phone for photos and allows you to easily share them with your friends (those the app recognizes in your images). It’s Facebook’s easy way to take care of image sharing, and odds are it will also adopt Facebook’s new algorithm at some point.
I can’t deny this all sounds a little freaky, but I am not really trying to hide from the internet. This will offer very convenient features for Facebook users. What do you think, though? Are you comfortable with Facebook implementing such extreme identity recognition practices? Let us know in the comments below!
Facebook and Google get neural networks to create art
For Facebook and Google, it’s not enough for computers to recognize images… they should create images, too. Both tech firms have just shown off neural networks that automatically generate pictures based on their understanding of what objects look like. Facebook’s approach uses two of these networks to produce tiny thumbnail images. The technique is much like what you’d experience if you learned painting from a harsh (if not especially daring) critic. The first algorithm creates pictures based on a random vector, while the second checks them for realistic objects and rejects the fake-looking shots; over time, you’re left with the most convincing results. The current output is good enough that 40 percent of pictures fooled human viewers, and there’s a chance that they’ll become more realistic with further refinements.
Google’s take heads in the opposite direction. Instead of striving for realism, it’s producing art by letting the neural network run wild and decide on the visual elements that it wants to emphasize. If you give the machine a photo of the sky and it thinks there are birds in the scene, it’ll keep amplifying those avian traits until they’re impossible to miss. The finished work is more than a little trippy, especially if you give it random noise as its source material — as you can see above, the results give impressionist and surrealist painters a run for their money. You’re not likely to see these Facebook and Google programs replacing human artists and photographers, but they’re skilled enough to draw images you might enjoy.
Filed under: Science, Internet, Software, Google, Facebook
Via: The Next Web, Singularity Hub
Source: Facebook (ArXiv.org), Google Research Blog
Here’s why you can’t get Facebook’s latest photo app in Europe
Facebook has a sparkly new photo-sharing app called Moments, but you can’t download it anywhere in Europe. At least, not without employing a sneaky workaround. The reason for its omission in the App Store and Google Play is tied to politics; back in 2012, Facebook was pressured by European data authorities to remove its “tag suggest” facial recognition feature from the social network. Since then it’s never been fully restored and regulators haven’t changed their stance. This causes problems for Moments, because the app works by scanning your camera roll and picking out the faces of your Facebook friends.
In Moments, other users with the app will receive a notification and can choose to sync your tagged photos with their personal library. These shared collections then produce albums tied to locations and events. So of course, without Facebook’s facial recognition software, the app is pretty useless. Richard Allan, Facebook’s head of policy in Europe, told the Wall Street Journal that the app could only be introduced if the company reaches a new deal with Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner. “Regulators have told us we have to offer an opt-in choice to people to do this,” he says. “We don’t have an opt-in mechanism so it is turned off until we develop one.” Facebook says it doesn’t have a timeline for implementing such a feature, so who knows when, if ever, Moments will make its European debut.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Facebook
Source: Wall Street Journal
Facebook tests a new tool to personalize your news feed
Last year Facebook debuted a very handy “muting” feature for its News Feed service that allowed users to stop receiving updates from specific people and pages without actually unfriending them. Today, Facebook has quietly begun testing a complimentary News Feed settings function that actively promotes specific content dubbed “See First“. According to TechCrunch, users simply click on a friend or page’s “following” button, then select “See First” from the subsequent menu to activate it.
The new service appears to be in early release at the moment. I couldn’t access that menu in my personal feed and Facebook seems to confirm the service’s limited availability in a statement to TechCrunch, “We are always exploring new ways to improve the Facebook experience, and are currently running a small test of a feature that lets you indicate that you’d like to see posts from a specific person or Page at the top of your News Feed.” There’s no word yet on when the new service will go live to the general public.
[Image Credit: AFP/Getty Images]
Filed under: Internet, Facebook
Source: TechCrunch
Dear Veronica: Should you hold off on solar, pre-Powerwall?
Unfortunately, we can’t always make people interact with us in the methods of our choosing (see Episode 1 and parents refusing to text). This week our communication conundrum comes by way of Facebook aversion, and I can certainly relate: the easiest way for me to never attend your event is to invite me on Facebook. Sorry.
Plus, we learn more about when you can get your paws on Powerwall from Tesla, and how moist is too moist for a PC? Can we please never say the word “moist” ever again? Ugh, now I’m just making it worse. There have actually been studies about why we have such word aversion to “moist,” which you can learn about here. I’m all about educating, after all.
Finally, here’s our Emoji Poll below, where you can help Vincent decide if he’s in a doomed relationship or not! Don’t forget to send in your questions using the hashtag #DearVeronica in the places you Internet. See you next week!
Can Star Wars and Star Trek find true love together?
Filed under: Facebook
Facebook Hello 2.0 update brings notifications and more
Back in April Facebook’s Messenger team introduced Hello, a contacts app which syncs with your Facebook account and your phone’s contacts info making your phone smarter. Hello allows you to quickly see who’s calling, block unwanted calls, and search for people and places on Facebook. Hello also allows you to call and text people free via Messenger.
| Version 2.0 ushers in loads of updates. |
|---|
| Answer calls with one swipe with the new call card layout |
| Filter contacts to show only people with phone numbers |
| Access your Hello contacts in all your other apps |
| Change your contacts’ photos or sync them with Facebook |
| Get notifications for missed and blocked calls |
| Use Hello with two sim cards and choose which one to use to call |
| Easily create shortcuts on your home screen for your top contacts |
| Use Hello with right-to-left languages |
Along with the above features Hello is sporting a tweaked user interface. The initial release of Hello was extremely promising although it fell short of allowing me to completely replace my pre-installed contacts application. The biggest issues I had is that when adding a contact in Hello it would not be added in my stock contacts app. Also when a contact called the Hello screen was very slow and at time unresponsive. Furthermore when the call came in you had to swipe the hello app left or right which in return took you straight to your stock dialer screen.
With Hello I found myself missing a lot of calls due to the fact I first had to unlock my device then fiddle with the sluggish Hello user interface.
In version 2.0 that all has been changed with the new card layout. The card layout now allows you to answer a call with an easy responsive swipe. Facebook has been putting in extra work this week attempting to keep your attention on their social networking site. Earlier in the week releasing Moments a photo sharing competitor to Google’s photos and now the Hello update.
Hello is an intelligent well designed contacts application that utilizes Facebook extensive knowledge and what your friends share with you. Although Hello will only display information of the person who is calling you, as long as they have already shared it with you on Facebook. So unfortunately you still will receive calls that you want know who it is and un displayed contact photos .
Tell us what you think about Hello and if you are going to give it a try. Leave comments below.
The post Facebook Hello 2.0 update brings notifications and more appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Belgium hauls Facebook into court over excessive tracking
Belgium’s privacy watchdog has sued Facebook for supposedly “trampling” privacy laws, making good on a threat it made last month. It claimed at the time that the social network “tramples on European and Belgian privacy laws,” and demanded that it make changes to avoid legal action. Its main concern was not the tracking of logged-in Facebook users, but the privacy invasion of non-users on unrelated sites with Facebook “cookies” and other trackers. “These recommendations are chiefly aimed at protecting internet users who are not Facebook members,” said the commission’s president.
For its part, Facebook called the lawsuit “theatrical,” because it was already planning to meet the commission this Friday to discuss its recommendations. It did strike a conciliatory tone, however, saying that while “we are confident that there is no merit to the case,we remain happy to work with them in an effort to resolve their concerns.” The commission has asked the judge to order Facebook to stop tracking non-users via cookies and other means, despite the fact that there are questions over jurisdiction and other issues. It’s worth noting that the EU and member countries have often prevailed when it comes to privacy, however.
Filed under: Internet, Facebook
Via: BBC
Source: De Morgen
Facebook Moments allows you to share photos easier than ever
Have you ever gone to a party where everyone is taking pictures, yet you never manage to see them? Sure, you can hassle people and try to get some of them, but that can consume all your time. And even then, chances are you will be missing most of them. There has been no real solution to this until now.
Facebook just announced Moments, an app that makes it amazingly easy to share photos with all your friends. The best part is you really don’t have to do a thing! All you really need to do is sync your camera gallery to the service. Facebook will then use its impressive (and slightly creepy) face recognition technology and sync images with other Facebook Moments users.
When synced, these photos will be grouped based on when they were taken, as well as which users’ faces were recognized in the images. Your friends can choose to sync with you and all participant images will be grouped together for the whole group to see, download or share. You can even search through synced folders based on which friends are in your images. Simple as pie.
What is special about Moments?
Facebook has really managed to get us excited with Moments, and that is not something we can say for every other cloud service out there. Sure, we can all upload our images automatically to a bunch of cloud storage applications, but other services do nothing but keep these images stored for you. It’s up to you to decide whether you want to share them or not. And we all know life can get busy; we don’t always have time to be sharing all the photos we take.
This app will make an otherwise cumbersome task amazingly simple, but will it take off? Other photo sharing apps have been left behind in this fierce app battle. This is mostly because people don’t want to download apps they don’t need. Not to mention, it’s hard to get a substantial amount of friends, family members and acquaintances to coincide on using a single service.
Do you think Moments will take off?
We are sure things will be different for Facebook, though. I mean… it is Facebook, after all. This is the biggest social network around and has the leverage necessary to really take things to a new level. Everyone is on Facebook, so the app will already know who your friends are and how their faces look. In addition, the social network will be cross-promoting this service through Messenger. Your friends will get a message every time you want to share photos with them.
There’s no news on whether this service will be integrated to Facebook in the future. Product manager Will Rubens does stress that for now the plan is to keep this service running independently. And it makes sense – this is not a solution for sharing images with the world. It is much more intimate by nature.
You can go ahead and download Facebook Moments straight from the Google Play Store. Go check it out and start sharing! By the way, how do you feel about Moments? Are you as excited about it as me, or do you think it will be a total fail?
Facebook’s Moments app brings together photos from your friends’ phones
Hundreds of pictures are taken whenever family or friends get together. It can be at dinner, a party, or on a hike. People just love to take pictures. The only issue with that is merging them into an album. Everyone inevitably shares the photos in albums of their own, but it would make much more sense to just have one. Facebook believes to have solved the problem with the introduction of Moments. The newest app from Facebook groups photos from friends based on the people in them and their location. Friends have the option to merge them into a single album that syncs for everyone. The photos are searchable (in terms of the people in them) and can be downloaded to save on your device. Photos remain organized based on the event and can be sorted by date, location, and people.
Hit the break for the gallery and download links.
Source: Facebook
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