YouTube becomes more social with the Community tab
As rumored, YouTube has launched the Community tab in a public beta, making the site more like a social network by letting creators post text, GIFs, live video and more. Mobile users will see the new content in their “Subscriptions” feed and can also get push notifications. It will launch in beta with the Vlogbrothers, The Kloons, AsapScience and just a few other select channels, for now.
Google has been working on the feature, previously code-named “Backstage,” in close collaboration with a small group of creators for the last few months. The Vlogbrothers produced a video about it (below), saying Community comments are better and easier to moderate, live video is simpler, and their channels are now “the community hubs we always wanted them to be.”
YouTube wants more social features to fight off rival Facebook, which has grown video exponentially over the last year. However, it likely collaborated closely with creators to create something both they and users will actually like. YouTube’s last attempt at adding social features was via a Google+ integration, an unpopular move that was scrapped last year.
Judging by avid fan interaction on the few sites with Community tabs, YouTube might have found the right balance. Using the limited release (see the complete list of creators here), it will gather feedback from fans and creators and possibly add more features. Additional channels will be added “in the months ahead.” If all goes to plan, don’t be surprised to see Community become much more prominent than just a tab on YouTube.
Facebook and Twitter will help Google filter out fake news
Facebook and Twitter have joined a Google-backed effort that aims to tackle fake news that tend to spread on social media. If you use either website, you’ve definitely seen those types of posts — you know, hoaxes, headlines that have nothing to do with the actual story, fake celebrity deaths, and so on and so forth — before. The two companies are now part of the First Draft Coalition, which was announced back in June 2015 along with YouTube Newswire, a curated collection of verified eyewitness videos covering various events. FDC will help not just journalists from partner publications, but also individual users verify stories circulating online.
Facebook, in particular, is a huge addition to the list of partners, seeing as fake and spammy posts spread like wildfire among the website’s billions of users. It will provide coalition members with tools and services that can help them figure out if they’re looking at a hoax. According to Reuters, the coalition is scheduled to launch the platform where members can verify stories by the end of October. For now you can check out what FDC is all about on its website.
Via: The Guardian, Reuters
Source: First Draft Coalition
Adblock Plus launches its very own ad network
The immensely popular (and sometimes controversial) Adblock Plus browser extension is taking the next step in its crusade to clean up online advertising — even if that effort comes at a cost to users and publishers. On Tuesday, Adblock Plus announced it is joining the ranks of those online advertisers and launching its own ad network called the Acceptable Ads Platform.
While it doesn’t really jibe with the company’s original goal of blocking ads entirely, the new platform claims it will allow bloggers and publishers to quickly and easily select “pre-whitelisted ads that they can drag and drop onto their sites.” The ads must meet ABP’s own Acceptable Ads criteria for size and labeling, but once they’re placed on a publisher’s site, the ads will be visible to ABP’s millions of users. According to the Wall Street Journal, about a quarter of US internet users have an ad blocker installed on their desktop browsers.
“The Acceptable Ads Platform helps publishers who want to show an alternative, nonintrusive ad experience to users with ad blockers by providing them with a tool that lets them implement Acceptable Ads themselves,” Till Faida, co-founder of Adblock Plus said in a release.
On the user’s end, Adblock Plus will still block ads that are not served by the new platform and users can turn off even the “acceptable” ads if they so choose. Those users who aren’t running ABP will, of course, always get the site’s original ads.
While the system is an overall win for anyone who dislikes obtrusive, annoying or obnoxious ads, the Journal also notes that Adblock Plus already whitelists ads from Google, Microsoft Corp. and Taboola. For now, the platform is in open beta for publishers and advertisers. A full launch will follow in the fall.
Source: Adblock Plus, BusinessWire
It takes two: A visual history of dual-camera mobile phones
With the recent launches of the iPhone 7 Plus and the LG V20, the dual-lens smartphone camera is once again a hot topic. Of course, many other companies will want to remind you that they were there first, except some have long since given up on the technology. So what happened? And why isn’t this yet a standard feature on all flagship smartphones? For those intrigued, it’s worth taking a trip seven years back in time.
Facebook, Google urge Congress to hand over internet control
On October 1st, the US is supposed to hand the “keys” of the internet to ICANN, and Congress is not happy about it. The mostly Republican lawmakers, led by Ted Cruz, feel that ceding control will stifle online freedom and give power to authoritarian governments. However, technology companies including Facebook, Google and Twitter penned an open letter to Congress, urging lawmakers to hand internet domain control to the international community as promised.
The final proposal, drafted by “proud and active members of the internet community,” goes well beyond the US Commerce Department’s original criteria, set in 2014, according to the document. “Furthermore, crucial safeguards are in place to protect human rights, including the freedom of speech,” it adds.
A global, interoperable and stable Internet is essential for our economic and national security, and we remain committed to completing the nearly twenty year transition to … [a] model that will best serve U.S. interests.
The internet is currently controlled by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and has been since its birth. However, many nations are understandably skittish about full US control over what is, after all, the “World Wide Web.” As such, the US agreed to cede control to ICANN, an international body with representatives from academia, government agencies like NASA, corporations and protocol bodies like the Internet Systems Consortium.
Congress will hold a hearing on the handover tomorrow, September 14th. Cruz is expected to grill the NTIA and ICANN on whether they’re fully prepared to deal with censorship attempts by China, Russia and other authoritarian nations. In support of Cruz, Senator Orrin Hatch said earlier this week, “charging ahead with the transition now could undermine internet freedom.”
However, the tech companies wrote that the transition is “ready to be executed,” and that it’s “imperative” that Congress not hold it up. “A global, interoperable and stable Internet is essential for our economic and national security, and we remain committed to completing the nearly twenty year transition to … [a] model that will best serve U.S. interests.”
Via: Reuters
Source: Circle ID
RBS, NatWest and Santander now support Android Pay
Google’s contactless payment platform has been given a big boost in the UK after three big banks today enabled Android Pay support. In an announcement, the company confirmed that Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest, Santander and Ulster Bank customers can begin adding cards to their Android smartphone to enable NFC and web purchases. While Google confirmed earlier this month that TSB customers would enjoy support in the “coming weeks,” the bank isn’t quite ready for primetime but is on course to launch before October.
Android Pay, like Apple Pay, lets you use your phone to pay for items like you would with a contactless card. Businesses can also embed Android Pay functionality into apps and websites (via Chrome), ensuring that you don’t have to manually type in their card details. Signing up to Android Pay also grants you access to Android Pay Day, which offers discounts every month on the Tuesday before your next pay slip. Starbucks and Deliveroo have both offered deals, but there hasn’t been much activity since its launch in June.
Google’s new museum tours bring dinosaurs to life
With Google’s help, museums and cultural institutions all over the world have been able to open up their archives to millions of people who wouldn’t otherwise get the opportunity to visit. The Art and Culture app combines the best Street View, VR and Photos collections from 1,000 museums, whether they’re focusing on famous art pieces or creatures that walked the Earth millions of years ago. Today, the search giant has expanded its collection to include thousands of natural history exhibits, letting you walk (and swim) with dinosaurs and learn more about the worlds that time forgot.
Google has teamed up with over 50 of the world’s most notable natural history institutions to add more than 150 interactive stories, 300,000 new photos and videos and over 30 virtual tours. At London’s Natural History Museum, the Rhomaleosaurus — a giant ferocious predator known as the “T-Rex of the ocean” — can be explored in 360 degrees, as can Berlin’s 13-meter tall Giraffatitan.
Also available are virtual tours that explain the history of evolution, starting with the origins of the solar system and taking you through the “rise and the fall of prehistoric worlds.” Berlin’s Museum für Naturkunde is also home to a four meter by twelve meter “Biodiversity Wall,” which hosts 3,000 animals and explains why peacocks have such vibrant feathers, but aren’t really able to fly, and how zebras got their stripes.
All you need is a computer or an iOS or Android smartphone, although Google Cardboard would certainly help you fully immerse yourself in the exhibits.
Via: Google Blog
Source: Google’s Natural History
Google’s VR camera app comes to the iPhone
One of the biggest challenges facing virtual reality is a matter of creation. If you have lots of cash, you can make things happen, but it’s been a bit more challenging for people whose best camera is their smartphone. Google’s working on changing that — last December, it released the Cardboard Camera app for Android, and today it has arrived for iOS.
While it might not let you shoot highly involved VR video, Cardboard Camera still manages to make some pretty excellent creations. Using it is similar to shooting a panorama photo, something most smartphone owners are used to at this point. In this case, you’ll shoot in full 360-degrees, turning consistently to your right until you’ve gone around a full circle. The app also gives you the option of recording audio to add the ambience of the scene to your finished creation.
Once done, you can view the photo in Google’s Cardboard VR viewer. Unfortunately, the app doesn’t have you capture what’s above or below you, so the “VR” aspect of this isn’t nearly as robust as it could be. But still, in a pinch, it’s a fun way to create and share more immersive photos. In fact, Google has added better sharing features so that you can send and receive VR photos created in the app. You can share individual photos or galleries through Google Drive, and the recipient will be prompted to download and install the Cardboard Camera app if they don’t already have it.
Google Debuts Interactive VR Photography App ‘Cardboard Camera’ on iOS
Google today announced the launch of Cardboard Camera for iOS, which lets users “capture 3D 360-degree virtual reality photos” without the need for technical VR equipment. Photos taken with the app are three-dimensional panoramas in which users can tap and drag to look around “in all directions,” with sound recording the moment the photo is taken that plays back each time the image is revisited.
A few examples of Cardboard Camera’s interactive panoramas
Cardboard Camera uses a similar photography style as panoramas in the iOS camera app: users simply hold their iPhone vertically, tap the record button, then rotate slowly in place to capture their surroundings. Users will also be able to share albums filled with VR photos directly within the app by generating links to email, text message, or share on social media.
Whether you’re hiking on the Olympic Peninsula or attending your cousin’s wedding, go beyond the flat photo or selfie. With Cardboard Camera—now available on iOS as well as Android—you can capture 3D 360-degree virtual reality photos. Just like Google Cardboard, it works with the phone you already have with you.
The company said that if any of the VR photos taken with Cardboard Camera are viewed on Google Cardboard, anyone “can relive those moments as if they were there.” Previously, Cardboard Camera was available on Android, with more than 5 million photos captured on the platform.
On iOS, users can download Cardboard Camera on the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Tags: Google, Google Cardboard
Discuss this article in our forums
Google sibling Verily to launch connected diabetes therapies
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is wasting no time helping to fund intelligent medical treatments. Just a month after it teamed up with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to pioneer so-called bioelectronic medicines capable of treating chronic disease, another of its umbrella companies, Verily Life Sciences (formerly Google Life Sciences), confirmed today that it has teamed up with French pharmaceutical company Sanofi to form a new joint venture that will help treat diabetes.
In a joint press release, the two companies said they will call the new $500 million venture Onduo and will focus on enabling people with diabetes to “live full, healthy lives by developing comprehensive solutions that combine devices, software, medicine, and professional care to enable simple and intelligent disease management.” Initially, Onduo will work on type 2 diabetes, helping patients make informed decisions about their health, whether that’s managing their medication or suggesting ways to improve their overall quality of life.
Reuters reports that the products on sale will include connected insulin pens and will also involve the launch of various online services. Healthcare networks in California and Pennsylvania have already signed up to help clinically trial its solutions and Onduo has a direct line to support groups like Taking Control of Your Diabetes, which will provide feedback on future product designs.
Via: Reuters
Source: Sanofi
AIVAnet 