Facebook has announced that it purged three different networks that were engaging in coordinate authentic behavior, which Facebook refers to as CIB. Of those three networks, two were focused specifically on the US, which is only days away from its presidential election day. The third network targeted users located in Myanmar.
The Oculus Quest 2 is an admittedly impressive kit as far as standalone VR systems go. Its otherwise positive debut, however, has been marred by controversy, confusion, and consternation over the requirement to have and use a Facebook account to even use the previously independent product. Unsurprisingly, there have been attempts to circumvent that requirement but the most successful one so far is also asking for trouble by jailbreaking the Quest 2 that will surely force Facebook to respond in kind.
Earlier today, Facebook announced a new cloud gaming initiative that it's launching into beta. The test will start out small with just five games that are only available in portions of the US, but Facebook clearly has plans to expand it from here. Launching side-by-side with cloud games are a number of new features and improvements to the Facebook Gaming app, both on web and on Android.
Facebook today announced that it's rolling out a cloud gaming beta to many people around the US. Cloud gaming has been in limited testing over at Facebook for some time, but now it seems the service is ready for testing on a wider scale. While this is a big launch for Facebook, the company also took the time today to set expectations for cloud gaming, telling users to expect something that's relatively small scale in a market that still has "a ways to go."
From a purely business point of view, it's no surprise really that Facebook wants to unify all its platforms under a single account. While it can't really force that on Instagram and WhatsApp, especially not while under intense scrutiny, it was able to put its hand down on the relatively younger Oculus ecosystem. Whether Facebook and Oculus really thought about it or not, it is only now that users are coming across the fine print regarding the Facebook account requirement for using Oculus devices and they're not good discoveries at all.
WhatsApp added an option to chats today that allows the user to mute said chat forever. The Facebook-owned app and ecosystem previously only allowed a chat to be muted for 8 hours, 1 week, or 1 year. This was fine, sure, but what if you wanted to stay in a chat and never, ever hear a notification from the chat ever, ever again? Now that's possible, if you dare.
Facebook and Instagram users frustrated that content moderation has taken down their photos, posts, and videos will now be able to appeal that decision to a new Oversight Board, it's been announced today. The group - which will make independent judgements about what should and should not be allowed on the social networks - will be made up of global representatives "with backgrounds in free expression, digital rights, online safety and other related fields."
Facebook Reality Labs (FRL) works on many projects intending to make interacting with technology more approachable. Technology FRL is working on includes VR headsets and AR glasses. Hand tracking technology is particularly important to virtual reality allowing the tech to be more immersive with a "come as you are" approach to human interaction.
There's no lack of niche social media networks out there, and one of the more recognizable is probably Nextdoor. Nextdoor, as many people probably already know, aims to connect users to other people living in their neighborhood. As it turns out, Facebook may be looking to take a page out of Nextdoor's book, as it's currently testing a new Neighborhood feature on a small scale.
It was inevitable that Facebook would eventually leave a more tangible mark on its Oculus VR business but it still ruffled some feathers when it was revealed that to even use an Oculus headset, one would need to have a Facebook account. Facebook probably presumed everyone these days has one and that Oculus users, both present and future, also do. That's apparently not the case and now Oculus Quest 2 buyers are left with a temporary paperweight while waiting for their new Facebook accounts to be unblocked after being banned for practically no real reason at all.
OnePlus has done something that lots of smartphone users out there who are interested in social media and want a less bloat-filled device will appreciate. The smartphone maker has stopped preloading Facebook, Facebook services, Instagram, and Messenger apps on its new smartphones. The first device to ship without these apps preinstalled is reportedly the OnePlus 8T (pictured).
Just last month, Facebook made a big splash in the VR and AR scenes with new products and a new direction for Oculus. Discontinuing its original standalone VR headset, the social media giant launched the Oculus Quest 2, boasted to be lighter both in size and price but also more powerful and more capable. Now that headset and its accompanying parts are available for anyone to buy and use. All they need is a Facebook account to get started.