Facebook introduces Riff, a collaboration video creator
Facebook took to its newsroom today to announce a brand new app called Riff. The premise behind Riff is collaboration with your friends, something Facebook says is at the heart of the Facebook experience. The idea behind Riff is you start off with the creation of a video then it escalates from there.
When you create the video you give it a tag — Facebook used #AprilFools as an example — and from there friends can add their own video moments to it (like in the gif above). The video can continue to grow with friends of friends of friends, and so on, adding their own recording to it.
It’s available in the Play Store if you’re thinking its a prank, and to be honest, I haven’t installed it myself to see if it actually works. But if you’re a go getter and want to give it a try, you can let us know in the comments your experience with it.
source: Facebook Newsroom
Come comment on this article: Facebook introduces Riff, a collaboration video creator
Researchers: Facebook’s web tracking violates European privacy law
If Facebook thought it had a lot of privacy-related legal trouble on its plate, it hasn’t seen anything yet. Researchers commissioned by Belgium’s data protection agency have determined that Facebook’s latest web tracking policy violates European Union privacy law. Reportedly, the social network uses cookies to track web visitors without permission, whether or not they log in or take advantage of the EU’s proposed opt-out rules. Cookies are only supposed to be used when you’re signed in, and only for things you’ve agreed to. The kicker? The opt-out system that Facebook uses appears to put another tracking cookie on your system if you’re in the EU, so you never completely escape.
Not surprisingly, Facebook takes issue with the report. It tells The Guardian that the study has “factual inaccuracies” (though they’re not detailed) and says it has offered to clear the air with the Belgian government. However, officials have turned down these requests so far. Unless they have a change of heart, there’s a chance that Facebook will have to defend itself against some pretty serious EU allegations in the near future — whether or not there’s any merit to the claims.
[Image credit: AP Photo/Paul Sakuma]
Filed under: Internet, Facebook
Via: Ars Technica
Source: The Guardian, Ku Leuven
Facebook Ads new Scrapbook Feature for Pictures of your Kids
If you’re like most parents, you tend to post a large amount of pictures of your children onto Facebook. However, you’ve probably noticed that the user-friendliness of posting pictures and sharing them with your target audience and tagging others to reach their friends is subpar. That’s why Facebook is introducing a new scrapbook setting.
Now, when you have a new picture to add, you can just go to your Family and Relationships setting, then start a new Scrapbook. You can choose to co-own it with your significant other in order to let friends of each of you see all of the photos. Each child can have his own scrapbook, so that you can organize the photos of your bundle of joy more efficiently.
If this sounds interesting to you, you should definitely check it out next time you log on to Facebook. After giving it a go, check back here and let us know how well it works!
Source: Facebook Newsroom
Come comment on this article: Facebook Ads new Scrapbook Feature for Pictures of your Kids
5 Android apps you shouldn’t miss this week! – Android Apps Weekly
Sponsored by: Speed Heat
[Price: Free]
Speed Heat is an infinite runner game where you collect cars, unlock tracks, and keep racing until you’re ready ready to stop. It includes Facebook leaderboards, plenty of awesome cars to unlock, and simple controls that anyone can learn quickly. It’s inoffensive nature makes it great for kids or adults and its simple premise and quick game play make it a great time waster when you need to kill a few minutes. We’d like to thank Speed Heat for supporting the Android Apps Weekly show.
Welcome back to Android Apps Weekly! Here are your top headlines this week:
- Rumor around the water cooler is that Gmail and Inbox will soon let you pay bills directly from your email. Reports are that the service will start around Q4 of 2015 and will let you share bills with other people.
- Amazon is tinkering with an idea of starting a service called Amazon Unlocked which will give users paid apps, including in-app purchases, for free. Tech Crunch described it as the Amazon Prime but for apps and it may just help give Amazon that bump its app store sorely needs.
- This week Google announced the Safe Browsing API which will give developers access to the same malware blocking technology that Google uses in Google Chrome. You can likely expect apps with built-in web browsers to incorporate this technology eventually.
- Facebook has debuted its new Messenger Platform that allows third party applications to be integrated directly with Facebook Messenger. This will open up the chat platform to third party apps and allow for more functionality such as built-in support for Imgur or Giphy.
- Google is working on a platform called YouTube Live which will be a live streaming service for games and e-sports. The idea is to give Twitch some competition. Reportedly, Google has hired 50 engineers to help make this happen and they’ll have to do some awesome stuff to compete with Twitch.
For more Android apps news, updates, and releases, don’t forget to check out this week’s Android Apps Weekly newsletter. We’ll have a full list of the news, updates, and releases that took Android by storm over the course of the previous week. If you want, you can even subscribe using your email address and we’ll shoot it directly to your inbox every Friday.
Subscribe to our Android Apps Weekly newsletter!
Game of Thrones and Tales from the Borderlands
[Price: $4.99 each with in app purchases]
Telltale Games has been busy this last week as they have released new episodes for purchase for both Tales from the Borderlands and Game of Thrones. Tales from the Borderlands is getting the long awaited episode 2 entitled Atlas Mugged as an in-app purchase that’ll set you back $4.99. Game of Thrones is getting episode 3 of its game, also for $4.99. Both games are great action-adventure games that bring new depth to their respective properties and Telltale Games fans have likely already purchased the new content.
Google Keep
[Price: Free]
Google Keep received a substantial update this last week that includes recurring reminders and label support. This means you can set up a note that will appear on a recurring schedule to include daily, weekly, monthly, or even yearly and there are custom reminders available. At this point, Google might as well make this a task management app because it’s halfway there already. Label support helps users to organize their notes more efficiently. The update is rolling out right now so if you don’t have it yet, patience because it’s coming.
Fotonica
[Price: $0.99]
Fotonica is a unique endless runner game where you run through abstract levels at wicked high speeds. It’s definitely a different kind of take on the infinite runner genre and includes eight levels, three endless levels, local multiplayer, online rankings, and best of all, no in-app purchases or advertising. It’s on sale for $0.99 so you can pick it up for cheap right now. It’s an excellent time waster with a fun design and it’s definitely worth checking out.
TomTom GPS Navigation
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
TomTom GPS Navigation is a new navigation and maps app from TomTom, the well known mapping and navigation company. It features offline map storage, 3D views, speed camera warnings, real-time traffic updates, and more. You can use it for free for 50 miles each month or upgrade to a premium subscription which runs for about $20 per year. It has some release day bugs but nothing overly serious yet.
Final Fantasy Record Keeper
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
The long awaited Final Fantasy mashup game between Square Enix and DeNA launched this week. It features characters from a number of Final Fantasy games as they duke it out in epic moments from prior titles in the series. Think of it like a greatest hits compilation. The game uses 8-bit recreations of all the characters and according to user reviews, the in-app purchase strategy isn’t all that bad but that is, of course, up to individual interpretation. It’s currently free and Final Fantasy fans have already left to go download it.
Wrap up
If we missed any great Android apps or games news this week, tell us about it in the comments!
Nuzzel for Android keeps up with the most popular stories from your social circles
Nuzzel is a service that takes a unique spin on curating content for you by crowd sourcing what your friends and social circles think is popular.
The app hooks into your Facebook and Twitter accounts, then sees which stories and content are being tweeted and shared the most over a 24-hour span. Whichever stories are the most popular get dished up on your main feed in the app, from which you can share/tweet/link the stories again, thus completing the bloated cycle of viral news stories on social media. Seriously, though, if you have tons of Facebook friends and follow huge amounts of Twitter accounts, this is a great way to simplify things.
Nuzzel has a few other features, too, such as being able to simplify web pages and remove the bloat formatting you may not want to see, and it’ll give you easy ways to check out features feeds that may be sharing popular stories that aren’t floating around in your current social circles. It can also notify you whenever many of your friends are all talking about the same thing, whether it’s a tweet or new page. Definitely a useful tool for social media power users.
The app is free to download, so even if you’re on the fence about it, it can’t hurt to take it for a test drive.
Come comment on this article: Nuzzel for Android keeps up with the most popular stories from your social circles
Facebook’s AI can see inside your videos and posts
Facebook connects people, but it also wants to know them so it can show relevant information and targeted ads to them. To generate a personalized feed for each user, the network needs to identify and classify content in posts, images and news. Towards that end, the company launched an ambitious AI plan, and a research laboratory, at the end of 2013. Today at F8, its annual developer’s conference, the network’s CTO Mike Schroepfer talked about a specific AI prototype that can identify content in videos and the context of words. While AI for video can identify 487 types of sport activities, another reads sentences to pinpoint possessives from the grammar used. This allows the company to sift through an overwhelming load of information so it can arrive at a newsfeed that’s most appropriate for the user. It’s unclear if the new system is already peeking through posts, but Schroepfer indicated that over the next 10 years, Facebook will focus on building advanced AI systems.
Filed under: Internet, Facebook
Via: TechCrunch
Facebook debuts Messenger Platform, allows third-party apps to integrate with Messenger
Today at the company’s F8 event, Facebook unveiled its plans to make Messenger much more useful to its users. The social network announced Messenger Platform, which allows developers to integrate applications into the Messenger service.
Users will now easily be able to send GIFs, audio tracks, videos and more by simply downloading an add-on for Facebook Messenger through the designated Messenger store. For instance, if you’d like to send a GIF with Giphy, attach an image with Imgur or send personalized stickers with JibJab, you no longer have to go to each website to complete these actions. Just download each app and you’re all set.
Over 40 applications are already on-board with Messenger Platform, and there will obviously be many more added in the future. You’ll be able to find many of these add-ons from within the Messenger app. Additionally, if your friend sends you a message with an app that you don’t have installed yet, you’ll be able to easily download and install the add-on with a few clicks and respond accordingly. If you’d like to check out a full list of compatible applications so far, head to Facebook’s Messenger Platform Showcase.
Facebook didn’t just focus on add-ons at the F8 event, though. The social network also unveiled a service called Businesses on Messenger, which allows users to easily communicate with businesses through the Messenger app. After purchasing something from a website, users will be able to receive receipts, track/cancel orders, and even have a conversation with the business regarding the order. Of course, you don’t have to receive your updates through Messenger if a business supports it, but the option is now there if you’re interested.
Facebook will launch the new Businesses on Messenger feature with a number of different partners, but there’s no word yet as to when the service will be available to everyone. With all that said, if you have yet to download the Messenger app, now may be a good time to do so.
Facebook adds a slew of new features to the Messenger app
In case you didn’t know, Facebook is hosting their own developer conference this week. It’s called F8, and it will reveal new stuff regarding not only Facebook, but Instagram, Parse, Oculus, and LiveRail too.
On the Facebook side of things, they announced Messenger Platform, which gives the Messenger app its own ecosystem for creating and sharing content. They are launching a Messenger App Store, which will host about 40 new apps that work within the Messenger application. Users will be able to purchase and download these apps from within the Messenger app. These apps will allow you do utilize GIFs, video, audio clips, and more in an effort to enhance your conversations.
Facebook also announced Businesses on Messenger, which allows users to speak directly with companies about recent purchases. Companies will have the ability to send you a message when your item ships, and users will be able to make purchases from the Messenger app, assuming their credit card is on file.
sources: Messenger at F8 / Businesses On Messenger
Come comment on this article: Facebook adds a slew of new features to the Messenger app
Facebook to allow third-party apps on Messenger
In the past few months, Facebook has really ramped up the Messenger experience — you can add your location, add stickers and even use it for payments. Now, Facebook will let you add way way way more customized messages. That’s because Facebook has opened up Messenger as a platform, so you can integrate third-party apps into Messenger. Want to add GIFS from Giphy? Simply install the add-on, find the GIF you want, and away you go.
Developing…
Facebook wants more ‘high quality’ videos it can slap ads on
Now that Facebook has video ads, how is it going to make sure you hang around to watch more of them? According to a report on The Information, the social network is in talks with publishers like Vice, The Onion and Vox Media to make short-term videos it can host. The point to doing that instead of just letting them operate independently, is apparently to push them all as part of a service called “Anthology” for advertisers. That way it can charge advertisers higher prices with “TV-type scale” promised at millions of views. Whether or not that it takes off, this, along with rumors Facebook wants publishers posting content directly to its site suggests its vision of the future involves keeping users tied to Facebook.com — at least until they leave VR space.
[Image credit: Jeff Chiu/Associated Press]
Filed under: Internet
Source: The Information
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