Facebook's previously announced language translation AI has finally brought direct Spanish translations to the company's Messenger app. With this, users can see direct translations to and from Spanish/English without using a secondary translation tool. This is the latest step in AI-powered translations helping remove the language barrier.
Facebook has launched a new monthly subscription fee feature for Facebook Groups, the company announced today. The new feature enables Groups administrators to add a monthly cost to the group, though Facebook says this is a pilot project at this time. Only a small number of Facebook Groups currently have access to the feature, but you may see a charge showing up on your own favorite Groups in the future.
PGA Tour has announced a partnership with Facebook that will result in more than 60 hours of live coverage being streamed on Facebook Watch, the social network's video platform. Exclusive live Saturday and Sunday coverage will be made available on Facebook Watch, where the public can watch it for free. The streams will pull content from a total of eight tournaments ahead of the FedExCup Playoffs.
Instagram has announced a new app called IGTV, a vertical video platform for Instagram users to post content and watch videos. The content will be available in both the Instagram app and the IGTV app, the latter of which serves as a dedicated destination for video-only content. The app will launch in the near future, but we know all the details now.
It's difficult to imagine a world without Facebook - as such, Facebook is releasing video ads to Messenger. Inside Messenger, a service which already has non-video ads, users will soon be a testing ground for video advertisements of all sorts. In creeps the most eye-drawing element on the internet, and there goes our sense of privacy even further down the garbage chute.
Facebook researchers have been developing a machine learning technology that can add eyes to a selfie in which the subject is blinking. The company detailed the technology on its Research website recently, explaining that in-painting is used to remove the closed eyelids and replace them with what appears to be the subject's own eyes.
Facebook is about to get even more annoying, with the promise of autoplaying video adverts inserted into Facebook Messenger. The commercials are the latest attempt by the social network to squeeze ad dollars out of the eyeballs of its users, having run short on space in the regular app.
If you no longer want to be part of the connected world that's also the ad-supported world, there are alternatives. They aren't the same as the apps and social networks you use now, and it's not often that they get as big a celebrity following - but maybe that's not why you're on the internet in the first place. Today we're having a peek at a few alternatives to the major social networks as they roll right this minute.
WhatsApp has updated its mobile device support page with new details on when support will end for older Android and iOS handsets: February 1, 2020. On that date, the company plans to end support for the tiny sliver of smartphones still running Android Gingerbread, as well as older versions of iOS and the few iPhones still using them.
Given its explicit mission to index the world’s data, you’d think Google would have the most data on you. That may be true but it’s turning out that Facebook comes a very close second. It has come under fire for its mishandling of the Cambridge Analytica matter and was forced to reveal more of its secrets. A whole heap of details has just been dumped for the public to see and you might be shocked or at least baffled at what Facebook is tracking.
It’s probably no secret by now how much Facebook has on you, with or without your knowledge. You might not remember, however, just how far back you’ve been sharing your life’s moments on the social network. That’s pretty much what the “On This Day” feature was made for. But that’s almost random and sparse. That’s why Facebook is giving its users a brand new Memories page that brings together all those memories, yours or your friends, in one easily accessible place.
Facebook is back in the controversy spotlight following a new report claiming it had data-sharing deals with some companies. Per the claims, Facebook allowed select companies to have special access to user data, including after its 2015 changes intended to better protect user info. The sources allege that Facebook called these deals "whitelists" behind closed doors, having specifically struck them with the companies.