Supposing you wanted Snapchat to do a better job of telling you where you've been and tracking where you're going, you're in luck! There's a feature coming to iOS first (and probably Android second) called Places. You'll find it appearing in Snapchat with the name "My Places", ready to roll with the map system already appearing inside the app: Snap Map.
Starting today, Snapchat users can enable 3D Bitmoji avatars on their profile, giving them a more polished and dynamic version of the 2D avatars many people use on the platform. The 3D version of Bitmoji supports the same wide range of clothing, expressions, and more that you can access on the 2D version, but with the benefit of new body poses and a more modern appearance.
Users of social networking apps such as Snapchat tend to get very upset when a flaw in the app prevents them from keeping in touch with friends and family. Recently, a bug in the app for iOS users was causing the app to crash at launch. Snapchat confirmed the issue with a tweet pinned in its support channel stating that it was working on the problem.
Snap announced its latest Spectacles yesterday, its first eyewear to actually offer augmented reality, but in the background it's buying the company responsible for the AR lenses too. Snap's immediate ambitions for the new Spectacles - which look, generously, like over-stylized sunglasses - are conservative, but its WaveGuide acquisition hints at how big a market the Snapchat-maker believes AR will eventually be.
During an event today, Snap CEO Evan Spiegal introduced the company's first pair of augmented reality glasses, a model capable of overlaying digital objects and experiences over the real world. The AR glasses look distinctly different when contrasted with the consumer-level Spectacles smart glasses Snap previously launched, and they pack quite a bit more tech.
It seems that Snap, the company behind Snapchat, is planning to launch another Spectacles hardware product -- but you probably won't be able to get it. That's a bit disappointing considering the alleged features that have leaked, including the ability to display augmented reality Snapchat filters directly on the headset in a real-life setting.
Social networking platforms have always been a numbers game, from "engagement" numbers to "friends" numbers. The latter is sometimes used as a bragging right, showing how many followers or friends you have collected. In some cases, it's virtually impossible for you to actually know all of those personally, and, sometimes, those can even be liabilities. Snap, once popular for its strong privacy features, is now rolling out a feature that will remind its users to keep their friends lists regularly in check.
Social media has been a great enabler but has also been criticized and scrutinized for poorly handling the spread of misinformation and inappropriate, not to mention illegal, behavior. It is almost ironic, then, that these networks have been rather quick to take action in the past days following the siege of the US Capitol building at Donald Trump's behest. The ban hammer continues to fall with Snapchat and YouTube following the example of others.
It looks like Snapchat is finally rolling out its answer to TikTok. Today, Snapchat rolled out a new feature called Spotlight, which will be a dedicated space centered around highlighting the most entertaining snaps created by the Snapchat community. In order to get people using Spotlight, Snapchat is even putting up some cold hard cash that can be claimed by those who produce the most viral snaps.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip foldable smartphone is coming equipped with tools aplenty aimed at stealing influencers from the iPhone. The iPhone is at war with the Samsung collection of Galaxy smartphones running Android - they've been at war for a decade. With the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, Samsung's made a system with which they're able to give social media influencers a key tool with which they'll be able to gain a larger following and expand their chosen tribe.
Machine learning and AI have definitely made some impact in today's society but none more so than their potential for abuse. Never mind chatbots, deepfakes are the new media darling when it comes to demonstrating how such technology could be used to spread misinformation. Perhaps trying to defuse the tension, Snapchat will soon be offering a new feature that uses that very same machine learning principles to put users' faces on other people's heads to make a cameo that is far too obviously fake to deceive anyone.
Snap, the company behind Snapchat, has teamed with Gucci to create a limited pair of its Spectacles 3 augmented reality glasses. The Spectacles x Gucci model's unique design comes from Harmony Korine, director of an odd short film called 'Duck Duck' that shows off the Spectacles 3's 3D capabilities. Though Snap is showing off the limited-edition glasses, it won't make them available for purchase.