The latest update to WhatsApp gives every user the ability to hide or show status information on a per-user basis. Before now, users were only able to show their status to everyone, nobody at all, or all of their contacts. Now there's a "my contacts except..." option - for those people who you want on your contacts list, but with whom you do not want to share all your at all times.
Facebook, or rather Meta now, and Instagram have recently come under fire for how the company allegedly prioritized profits through network traffic over users' mental health, especially younger users. Although Facebook naturally denied the accusations, Instagram promised that it would implement features that will at least try to get users to stay mentally sane. The first of those features is now rolling out to a few users to remind them to stop scrolling through the feed from time to time.
When Facebook announced it would be called Meta forevermore (or at least until the next rebranding), it wasn't just renaming the company. It was also broadcasting its bigger and somewhat more worrying ambitions to take over the world through a metaverse platform. It did also announce that it would unify some of its brands, especially those revolving around its money-related services under Novi. Now the effects of those changes might be coming soon to WhatsApp, and it could have some repercussions for the messaging service's users.
During its Communities Summit 2021 live-streamed event, Facebook revealed plans to roll out subgroups to its larger Groups platform. With this feature, Groups members will be able to break out into smaller, more niche groups that narrow the scope of what members talk about. This can, for example, be used to talk about a specific novel within a larger Group about books.
Meta Company, not to be mistaken with the newly announced Meta rebranding of Facebook, has published a letter about the latter company's name change, accusing the social media giant of making lowball offers for its domains and trademark. According to the Chicago-based Meta Company, it rejected these offers, but Facebook went on to announce its Meta rebrand regardless.
Only a week after its latest Connect event, Oculus is now rolling out software version 34 to Quest VR headsets, giving users access to a variety of new features and improvements. Of note, Quest update 34 will make the VR headset more useful for Android users who don't like to be away from their phone, as well as more convenient voice commands and improved Guardian functionality.
Meta, the newly announced parent company behind the aging and controversial social media platform Facebook, has revealed huge plans involving its facial recognition technology. In the near future, Meta says it will shutter Facebook's Face Recognition system, bringing an end to its use of the controversial technology -- and some features that are powered by it.
One of the most important announcements made this week by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was about a pair of augmented reality glasses. The hardware is being developed at what was until this week Facebook and Oculus. Now they're all under the Meta brand umbrella - and they want to present an all-encompassing universe in which we'll all live virtually. That'll be made possible with Project Nazare.
The biggest news in the tech and media industry today is Facebook's new name. Whether you agree that Meta is a better or worse name, it does indicate the company's growing ambitions to take over almost every facet of our modern lives. Of course, its social networks, which include Instagram and WhatsApp, already dominate a large chunk of the digital world, but the newly-renamed company might be working on new hardware to help reach its goals. One of the first devices might actually be Facebook's long-rumored smartwatch, which could be controversial for having a feature no other smartwatch has.
Earlier today, Facebook revealed that it's changing its name. Facebook, the corporation, will now be known as Meta. While Meta will continue to offer separate brands like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, the company will no longer share its name with its most popular app offering. As it turns out, this restructuring isn't just changing things at the corporate level, as Meta will also be retiring the Oculus brand.
We were expecting some news about VR gaming today at Facebook Connect 2021, and that's precisely what we got. Facebook made several announcements regarding games that are heading to Oculus VR, and while we may not expect a ton from a segment that often still feels like it's just getting going, there were certainly surprises. If you're a GTA or Beat Saber fan, then you'll want to pay attention to today's announcements.
Today Oculus and Facebook (now Meta) teased a new VR headset called Project Cambria. This device was described as an advanced and high-end VR product that'll bring the wearer "a step closer to the metaverse." A single video was released about the device, giving precious little information about the way it'll work, or what it'll actually be capable of doing.