Author: Rachel Issac

Pinterest To Launch New In-App Visual Search Feature

Pinterest has teamed up with Berkeley Vision and Learning Center to create a new feature on the addictive browsing website which will help enhance your search. This feature will allow you to select an item of your choice in a pinned photo and search for similar items within Pinterest. Basically, what we’re trying to say, is that, Pinterest is going to launch a new visual search feature within the website.

The new search feature works very simply, you just have to click on the search button, and then use an adjustable box over the photo to zoom in on the item of your preference. Furthermore, you can even add key words to specify your search.

“We optimize on visual similarity, not just duplicates to power Pinners to discovery exact results, as well as unexpected results that may be similar in style or pattern or shape.” says Pinterest engineer Andrew Zhai.

This new feature will also help you save time in two possible ways. Firstly, you won’t have to Google search an image, and can instead stay within the website and fine similar items that you might be interested in. Secondly, it saves us the time of browsing endlessly on this website. We all do it, and it is completely enjoyable, unless we have something very important to do and instead of doing that, we’re just browsing through Pinterest.

This feature will go live on today and will be available on iOS, Android and the web.

For more information, click here.

November 9, 2015
Facebook and Alphabet Team Up For New Drone Project to Provide Internet

Alphabet (Google’s parent company) and Facebook have brought their forces together to develop drones that can provide broadband internet access from above the Earth. Both companies have reportedly registered new drone designs with the US Federal Aviation Administration.

Apart from this, Alphabet is currently planning a secret operation at the Spaceport America allegedly creating a solar-powered drone. With smaller drones gaining the attention of big business firms like Alphabet and Amazon with their project Wing and Prime Air respectively, Google and Facebook are working on a larger drone that will be able to operate even as high as 90,000 feet above ground level.

If their assessments are to be trusted, we can safely assume that these drones could possible be flying for weeks or months, thereby could also potentially provide cities and towns with high-speed internet in underdeveloped countries.

“We’re working on ways to use drones and satellites to connect the billion people who don’t live in range of existing wireless networks,” said Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, in July.

This project was preceded by Facebook last year, setting up an initiative with Nokia, Samsung and others to provide online access to two-thirds of the world via internet.org. However, that was a lone project, this one on the other hand, is a collaboration with Alphabet which would in turn help both companies reach new users in their advertising market. All we can hope for is that this initiative churns out something good. What do you think of this collaboration? Feel free to post your comments in the comment section below.

November 7, 2015
Motorola Offers Some Exciting Deals This Diwali

Motorola is ushering in this Diwali season with a bunch of new exchange offers and discounts on their handsets. Let us take a look at some of their Diwali deals:

1. The Moto X Style (32GB):

This is part of Motorola’s premium handsets that comes with a 5.7inch display along with a 1440X2560 pixel resolution and corning gorilla glass 3 protection. It runs on the Android OS version 5.1 Lollipop and can be upgraded to 6.0 Marshmallow. The X Style is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 and comes with a 3GB RAM with internal memory of 32GB expandable via a micro SD card to 128GB. It comes with a 21MP primary camera and a 5MP secondary camera and is fueled by a non-removable 3000mAh battery. The original price of this handset is Rs.31,999, however this Diwali it comes with an exchange offer of up to Rs.15,000 on Flipkart.

2. Moto X Play (32GB):

This handset comes with a 5.5-inch display and a 1080 X 1920 pixels resolution protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It runs on the Android OS version 5.1.1 Lollipop which can be upgraded to the version 6.0 Marshmallow, and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 615. The smartphone comes with a memory of 32GB expandable up to 128GB via a microSD card and also comes with 2GB of RAM. On the camera front it comes with a 21MP primary camera and a 5MP secondary camera; the X Play has a non-removable 3630mAh battery. The original price of this handset is Rs.19,999, but this Diwali it will be priced at Rs.18,999 along with an exchange offer of up to Rs.8,000 on Flipkart.

3. Moto G3 (16GB):

The Moto G3 (16GB) comes with a 5-inch display and 720X1280p resolution while being protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It is currently run on the Android OS version 5.1.1 Lollipop and has a planned upgrade to the version 6.0 Marshmallow. This handset is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 and comes with an internal memory of 16GB expandable up to 32GB via a microSD card and has a 2GB of RAM space. It has a 13MP primary camera and a 5MP secondary camera while being fueled by a non-removable Li-Ion 2470mAh battery. The original price of this phone is Rs.12,999, but this Diwali it comes at a discounted amount of Rs.11,999 along with an exchange offer of up to Rs.5,000 on Flipkart.

4. Moto E2 (4G):

This lower ranged smartphone comes with a 4.5-inch display and 540 X 960p resolution while being protected by the Corning Gorilla Glass 3 with an oleophobic coating. It is run on the Android OS, v5.0 (Lollipop), upgradable to v5.1 (Lollipop) and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 410. The Moto E Gen 2 4G comes with an internal memory of 8GB expandable up to 32Gb via a micro SD card and comes along with a 1GB of RAM space.On the camera front it comes with a 5MP primary camera and VGA secondary camera. This phone is fueled by a Li-Ion 2390mAh battery. Originally priced at Rs.6,999 it now comes at Rs.5,999 on Flipkart.

5. Motorola Nexus 6:

This high end phone comes with a 5.96 inches display and a 1440 x 2560 pixels resolution while being protected by the Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It is run on the Android OS, v5.0 (Lollipop), upgradable to v5.1 (Lollipop) and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 805. It comes with an internal memory of 32/64 GB with a 3GB of RAM space. However, this phone comes with an expandable external memory card slot. On the camera front it comes with a 13MP primary camera and a 2MP front camera. The Nexus 6 is powered by a non-removable Li-Po 3220mAh battery. originally priced at Rs.29,999 it will soon be available at Rs.24,999 along with an exchange offer up to Rs.10,000 exclusively on Flipkart.

We hope these offers enhance your Diwali celebrations!

November 7, 2015
Here is How Facebook Might Be Invading Your Privacy With Its New Ad Products

Facebook has reportedly decided to roll out two new advertisement products aimed at small businesses. This new advertisement scheme is to encourage smaller firms and companies, who have previously been reluctant to be a part of prime placement on the social networking website.

The first ad product focuses on what Facebook is calling “local awareness ads”. This will allow businesses to target customers according to their location. This feature will especially be helpful to smaller businesses which have multiple chain stores to target their specific audience more personally.

Giving us an example of what the advertisements will look like, Facebook says, “a cafe with multiple locations …could choose to automatically populate the city name in their ad copy, depending on where the people seeing the ad are. So, people in Glasgow would see ‘join us for lunch in Glasgow’, while people in Bristol would see ‘join us for lunch in Bristol’.”

The second ad product will be mainly for the use of the company. It will allow businesses to mark the demographics of their page and locate facts and information about potential customers, that will facilitate documenting and analyzing of data by these businesses. This product will also help them differentiate between people who are passing by their page and potential customers or users.

This feature, however helpful it might sounds to the business, is in fact just one more way that Facebook might be trying to access our private information in order to facilitate another survey more accurately. This has sparked off a debate on Facebook between privacy vs. accuracy.

Facebook had initially started off as a social networking site, where you logged into your profile to contact friends or simply like their profile picture. However, today it has turned into a mega business company and has stretched its arms over almost every sphere of life possible. As of now, the results of it are positive, so let us keep hoping that Facebook continues the way it does.

November 7, 2015
EmojiWorks Creates the World’s First Emoji Keyboard

We are all aware how important emoticons are nowadays. Nobody wants to type ‘okay’ anymore, just a thumbs up emoticon will do. The process is supposed to save time, but we still have to press an extra key to open our emoji options. These troubles will however soon be in the past, because EmojiWorks has debuted its first hardware based emoji keyboard. So now, with the help of a built-in shortcut, you can immediately just type in your preferred emoji.

Design wise it looks like an Apple keyboard with emoji symbols and each key has an emoji along with a character. Just like the shift key we use in order to type in a letter in capitals, there is an additional ’emoji’ button which you need to press in order to insert the specific emoji.

EmojiWorks has been very careful so as to include all your favourite emoji, including the poop emoji. They also claim that the emoji keyboard is up to 10 times faster than a standard keyboard and is Bluetooth enabled; this feature in turn makes it compatible with Mac and iOS devices. The only con that comes with this keyboard is that it cannot be customized as it comes pre-printed with emoji on the keys along with pre-programmed emoji shortcuts. Here is a short video:

https://youtu.be/Hvm3B6kXPK0

Speaking of its availability, the emoji keyboards come in three different models: the Emoji Keyboard at $79.95 (approx Rs.5,175), the Emoji Keyboard Plus at $89.95 (Rs.5,830), and the Emoji Keyboard Pro at $99.95 (Rs.6,485). The difference between these keyboards is that the number of emoji shortcuts differ, so basically, the cheapest one will have one emoji per key, the emoji plus will have a total of 94 emoji and the emoji plus will have more than 120 emoji, with three shortcuts per key.

Click here for your pre-order and more information.

November 4, 2015
MPAA Shuts Down Online Streaming App Popcorn Time

For those of you who secretly watch all the trending TV Shows and movies via online streaming sites such as Popcorn Time – its doomsday for you. Popcorn Time and YTS have been shut down following court orders in Canada and New Zealand.

This isn’t something that has come as a shock, because the Motion Picture Association of America or MPAA had filed a suit back in October against three operators of popcorntime.io, claiming that they had “enabled, authorized and induced copyright infringement via an app that allowed viewers to watch pirated movies and TV shows”.

In Canada, they received an injunction on the 16th of October to shutdown the site while in New Zealand they filed a suit on the 12th of October 2015 against YTS, which is a torrent site. Both sites have therefore, been shut down as the legal procedures continue.

All you can do now, is hope and pray the MPAA don’t get to your favorite site next.

November 4, 2015
Microsoft To Discontinue Windows 7 and 8 By October 2016

On a mission to secure a goal of having Windows 10 power 1 billion devices, Microsoft’s “Window’s life cycle fact sheet” shows us that October 31st 2016 could be the last day for sales of PCs pre-installed with Windows 7 professional or Windows 8.1. This means, that post the given date, all new computers will come with Windows 10 pre-installed. However, businesses with license agreements which entitle them to choose whichever version they prefer can continue working on Windows 7 or 8.1.

This deadline is probably not the best news for users who have become comfortable with the Windows 7 and have been procrastinating the update to Windows 10. Microsoft will however benefit from this deadline, because they will finally be able to tie together PCs and other devices with apps that can run on all the devices.

Microsoft usually sets their end-of-sales date for each version of Windows after two years of the release of a new version. However, since Windows 8 didn’t receive the best of responses, Windows 7 continued to be available. This privilege may not be available anymore because of the positive response that Windows 10 has mustered up.

But, for users who really want to continue with the Windows 7, technical support has been extended up to January 14th, 2020 for all users and up till January 10th 2023 for Windows 8 users. As of now, Windows 10 is available as an “optional update” on all PCs, however, early next year, reports suggest that it could become a “recommended update”.

Windows 10 is slowly finding acceptance, so Microsoft is probably just trying to make things easier for themselves and their users. All we can do is watch and wait for the response.

November 4, 2015
Twitter Drops ‘Stars’ For ‘Hearts’ and ‘Favorites’ For ‘Likes’

Twitter recently announced that they would replace their users’ ability to mark “favorites” with an option to “like” Tweets instead. Along with this, they have also decided to ditch the star icon for favorites with a heart icon for likes.

You can say a lot with a heart. Introducing a new way to show how you feel on Twitter: https://t.co/WKBEmORXNW pic.twitter.com/G4ZGe0rDTP

— Twitter (@twitter) November 3, 2015

The social media networking company made a statement regarding this change, saying that because “the star could be confusing, especially to newcomers”, they will now use a more “universal symbol” like the heart “that resonates across languages, cultures, and time zones.”

According to user tests, these changes have been said to do well and will soon be introduced on Vine too. However, as it happens with all new changes, this one, too, has had mixed reactions, since the “favourites” option was used to indicate various things and was even used as a bookmark or reminder.

I work at @twitter but even I can’t believe how we replaced a completely value-neutral term like “favorite” with something so loaded.

— Peter Seibel (@peterseibel) November 3, 2015

Social media is getting more emotive, and its users are becoming more and more aware of small things such as “like” buttons and its correct usages. Facebook is working on ways to let users express a lot more than simple “likes”, whereas Twitter seems to be going back a step by providing its users a basic “like” option. With all the revamping and the firing of employees, let us hope that Twitter can manage to stay afloat and save their dwindling fan base. What do you think about this? Let us know in the comments section below.

November 4, 2015
Chinese Investors Buy Swedish Luxury Smartphone Maker, Vertu

Vertu is a well known UK-based manufacturer of coutour, handcrafted luxury smartphones. The company, previously owned by Nokia, who had created it in order to form a niche in the luxury trade market, has now been sold to Chinese investors.

Vertu phones are well known for features that include precious metals, leather casings and sapphire screens. Its chief executive, Massimiliano Pogliani says that it is now “an appropriate time to pass on the baton of leadership to a new team”. And with Chinese investors, occupying a large portion of the smartphone market, they do seem like the obvious successors.

What we know about the company’s timeline is that it was founded by Nokia in 1998 and then bought by a Swedish private equity group called EQT from Nokia back in 2012 for more than 200 million euros. Vertu had shipped its first phone in 2002 and had sold around 450,000 devices by 2015. The company will continue to conduct its business via its headquarters in Hampshire, England.

Vertu was created to provide premium handsets for those who were willing to pay for it. For example, its latest handset costs almost 7,000 pounds or Rs.70,8074 for a basic version and up to 17,000 pounds or Rs.17,19,609 if you want a rose gold frame! It’s most expensive handset is priced at almost 200,000 pounds which is approximately Rs.2,02,30,696 and this comes signed with the name of the craftsman who made it. Yes, that’s a lot of dough indeed.

However, with smartphone companies like Apple providing consumers with a smartphone that bettered Vertu in technology and also came with some sort of a status symbol attached to it, the Swedish company began to struggle in its own niche. Therefore, Vertu has in the recent past tried to improve the technology in its latest phones while also lowering its prices, so as to create a slightly larger customer base.

So, hopefully with the new ownership of Vertu will be able to maintain its position in the luxury phone department while catering to the need for high end specs as well.

November 4, 2015
Google Targets College Audience As It launches a New Chat App

Google has launched a new app called “Who’s down”, which takes its hangouts concept to another level. Not a much higher level though, just a small step up. What we know so far about this app is that it is currently an invite-only app and is restricted to college students. It allows people who are interested in similar things to ‘group up’ and chat on the app.

The app does not require you to sign up with an academic email address, however, it does ask you which college you are from before joining the wait list. Google is clearly trying to expand into the social media sphere in small ways and yet trying to make a its mark. Targeting college students specifically seems to be quite a good business strategy since most of them, especially the freshers, are hooked to their smartphones all day.

Design wise it is typically Google with its blue-white design scheme. Function wise, first you move the slider that indicates you are online or ‘down’ to meet people, then you type in an activity you would like to do or just select an option from the drop down list. Once you’ve voiced your intent, the app will wait for people to respond. The app will eventually notify you if a good number of people respond to your request. The chats that happen in this chat room will automatically get deleted after 24 hours.

This seems like quite an intrinsically thought out app for Google. However, chat rooms and chatting apps aren’t concepts that are so new that nobody else can make it. So, until then, let’s just hope that Google’s pretty interface keeps us hooked.

October 31, 2015
Here Are 5 Mobile Apps You Can Use To Scare Friends This Halloween

Halloween is around the corner, and yes, we are aware as Indians we do not need another festival to celebrate in the month of October, but there’s no harm in spooking a couple of your friends out. Here’s a list of five smartphone apps that you can download specifically for the purpose.

1. Ghost Lens App

The first one you can try out is called the Ghost Lens app, which happens to be free on all iOS devices. It’s a very efficient app, where you just have to choose from a selection of backgrounds and filters, then you shoot your own video or pictures and save it. This is what your end result could potentially look like:

2. The Camera Hoax

The Camera Hoax, yet another free iOS app, allows you to choose an image from the given options within the app, such as ghosts, ghouls, UFOs etc. after which you can add a picture of yourself from your phone gallery and upload it. This app comes with a bunch of expert photoshop features too.

Minecraft:

In the spirit of Halloween, even Minecraft has vamped up its settings. Therefore, along with skeletons, and zombies, it now added a Halloween Costumes skin pack as a 79p in-app purchase to give your Minecraft character a Halloween makeover.

Halloween Sounds Pro:

Visual effects aside, sound also plays a very important role in scaring people, therefore to amp up your experience there is a free Halloween Sounds Pro app which lets you choose from a series of gory sounds such as a hiss or a scream to scare people around you. This app comes free on the iOS and has a $1 fee on the Android version.

The Hunting Part 1:

Last but definitely not the least, we have The Hunting Part 1, which basically puts you in a Blair Witch Project kind of simulation that you need to get out of. The film is shot from a first-person view, and it’s perhaps one of the most interactive zombie movie apps till now. This one should be a whole lot of fun to play on the 13th of Friday, after having said “Bloody Mary” to the bathroom mirror thrice. Go save yourselves!

October 30, 2015
Anonymous Hacktivists Declare War On the Ku Klux Klan

Ku Klux Klan is a white supremacist group in the United States of America and Anonymous is a self-proclaimed “hacktivist” group. How are the two even connected? Well, recent reports tell us that Anonymous hacked into KKK’s Twitter account and have furthermore vowed to release the names of about one thousand Ku Klux Klan members.

https://twitter.com/Operation_KKK/status/657334427446411264?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

This is not the first time that Anonymous has taken upon itself the responsibility to reveal the names of members of a secret group or society. Earlier in May 2015, they had named around nine thousand two hundred members of the ISIS terrorist group, in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo case.

This time, they will reveal the KKK names on the day of Operation KKK’s one-year anniversary. The act is seen as a declaration of cyber-war against the Klan following the grand jury’s decision not to indict a police officer Darren Wilson for the death of a black-american boy named Michael Brown in Missouri, USA.

https://twitter.com/Operation_KKK/status/657335422259867648?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

To give you a background, back in November 2014, the KKK had distributed fliers threatening violence against the hacktivists, warning them that they had “awakened a sleeping giant”. This was followed by Anonymous taking over the KKK’s Twitter account in response to the threat. The account remains under Anonymous’ control till date and they have further sent all Klan affiliated sites with DDoS, that is, distributed denial of service attacks. Anonymous is calling this anti-Klux movement Operation KKK and has even changed the logo of the society’s Twitter account to their own.

The transparency of the web obviously has its positives and negatives, however, the web can also be a very dark place to be in. Hacktivists like Anonymous are using the transparency of this ‘cyber age’ and is using it to bring to the fore various social and political issues. As of now, it seems like a good move, but how long do you think it will be until both parties start facing repercussions?

For more information, click here.

October 30, 2015
Micromax’s Takes a Jibe At OnePlus 2 With Its Upcoming Yutopia

Micromax is certainly speaking out loud about its upcoming Yu Yutopia. CEO Rahul Sharma said that it would be the “most powerful phone on the planet”, however, the Indian smartphone makers have gone even further with its new teaser on Facebook that read- “Calling a 1080p Display a 2016 Flagship killer? #WhySettle #YUTOPIA.”

https://www.facebook.com/yuplaygod/posts/835514269879082

The new teaser is an obvious dig at the “2016 flagship killer” OnePlus 2, however, apart from that they’ve also confirmed that the Yutopia will come with a Quad HD display. The Facebook teaser also includes a blurred image of the OnePlus 2 with the words “Never Settle For 1080p” on it.

Therefore, with this teaser and the previous one, we now know that Yu’s next premium smartphone will sport a metal build, as compared to its usual plastic build and a Quad HD display for the first time.

However, speculations about the upcoming Yutopia’s specifications include a 5.2 display, 64 bit class Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 backed by a 4GB RAM, Cyanogen 32GB memory with expandability and a rumoured 21MP primary camera with an 8MP front camera.

The company has not confirmed any of the rumoured specs so until then, let’s just hope all the mud-slinging pays off.

For more details, click here.

October 29, 2015
Motorola Phones Get Cheaper: Check Out the Top 5 Deals
Motorola is taking advantage of Flipkart’s Big Billion Days Sale to offer customers a huge discount of their various handsets. These offers can be availed of from the 15th of October to the 17th of October, 2015 exclusively on the Flipkart app. Here is a list of some of the better deals you can browse through :

1. Moto X Play : This handset is currently priced at Rs.18,499 for the 16GB version and Rs.19,999 for the 32GB version. However, during the Big Billion Days Sale it is priced at Rs.16,999 and Rs.18,499 respectively. The specifications of the Moto X Play are as follows :
- Display – 5.5 inches
- Resolution – 1080×1920 pixels
- Storage – 16GB and 32GB
- Rear Camera – 21MP
- Front Camera – 5MP
- RAM – 2GB
- OS – Android 5.1.1
- Battery – 3630mAh
[tw-button size=”large” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://www.flipkart.com/moto-x-play/p/itmeajtqyhrnkwrz&affid=bhnagpalgm”]Buy Now [/tw-button]

2. Moto E2 (4G) : This smartphone launched at a price of Rs.6,999 but will be priced Rs.5,999 on Flipkart during the sale period. The specs include :
- Display : 4.50-inch
- Resolution : 540×960 pixels
- Storage : 8GB
- RAM : 1GB
- Rear Camera : 5MP
- Front Camera : 0.3MP
- OS : Android 5.0.2
- Battery : 2390mAh
[tw-button size=”large” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://www.flipkart.com/moto-e-2nd-gen-4g/p/itme85hfdv6zztcj?pid=MOBE4G6GTH2QDACF&ref=L%3A-2168392000998847398&srno=p_1&query=Moto+E2+%284G%29&otracker=from-search&affid=bhnagpalgm”]Buy Now [/tw-button]

3. Moto G2 (3G) : Launched at Rs.9,999 and will now be sold at Rs.7,999. The specs for this phone are-
- Display – 5 inches
- Resolution – 720×1280 pixels
- Storage – 16GB
- RAM – 1GB
- Rear Camera – 8MP
- Front Camera – 2MP
- OS – Android 4.4.4
- Battery – 2070mAh
[tw-button size=”large” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://www.flipkart.com/moto-g-2nd-generation/p/itme7ybangawqzzx&affid=bhnagpalgm”]Buy Now [/tw-button]

4. Moto Turbo – Launched at a price of Rs.41,999 will now be priced at Rs.31,999. The specs include-
- Display – 5.20-inch
- Resolution – 1440×2560 pixels
- Storage – 64GB
- RAM – 3GB
- Rear Camera – 21MP
- Front Camera – 2MP
- OS – Android 5.0.2
- Battery – 3900mAh
[tw-button size=”large” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://www.flipkart.com/moto-turbo/p/itme45h87vyhb3mg?pid=MOBE45H673ZGUCVX&al=ylpccRullefEjXY%2FbySW%2FMldugMWZuE7Qdj0IGOOVqsQDpOskSBblZZTjSqZUBRGvSx9%2FXBuDw8%3D&ref=L%3A-131716167782610369&srno=b_19&affid=bhnagpalgm”]Buy Now [/tw-button]

5. Motorola Nexus 6 : Initially launched at a price of Rs.29,999 it will now be available at Rs.24,999 on Flipkart. Its specs include –
- Display – 5.96-inch
- Resolution – 1440×2560 pixels
- Storage – 32GB
- RAM – 3GB
- Rear Camera – 13MP
- Front Camera – 2MP
- OS – Android 5.0
- Battery – 3220mAh
[tw-button size=”large” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://www.flipkart.com/nexus-6/p/itme7zd5x6rfaps9?pid=MOBEFHH6PHVAZMVZ&al=ylpccRullefP5AmzsKE3hcldugMWZuE7Qdj0IGOOVquMRoTL0UrtqdDA7O9WGOKwTn5jaUoJD34%3D&ref=L%3A7449913434854342928&srno=b_2&affid=bhnagpalgm”]Buy Now [/tw-button]

Since the sale is happening exclusively on the Flipkart app, you will have to navigate through it to avail of any of the above offers.
October 15, 2015
Facebook’s Plans to Take Over the Online Streaming Domain

Today is a new day and one more day when Facebook attempts to take over all of the social networking universe. How? Well this time it has revealed plans to take on the online video dominion, currently ruled by YouTube.

So, before we get into that, let’s have a short look at what Facebook has been doing in order to create a more stable video viewing audience. It has added support for interactive 360 degree videos and has also begun testing a feature called “suggested videos”. Here is what Facebook has to say about it’s new features –

“While we’re still in the early days of testing, we’re pleased with initial results, which show that people who have suggested videos are discovering and watching more new videos.”

You know how you can peruse through YouTube videos while watching a video? Facebook is trying to do the same thing. They are currently working on a feature that will allow users to watch videos in a floating window. So, instead of waiting for the entire video to end before moving on to the next newsfeed, you’ll be able to do both at the same time soon.

Next, Facebook says –

“We also know that sometimes people want to watch a video, but they don’t have time or aren’t in a place where they can turn on sound,”

Therefore, the social networking site has the solution to your problem. They are currently testing a bookmark feature, that will allow users to watch their videos later. But, the most radical feature of them all, is that gives Facebook away their plan to create a site for users especially and solely for viewing videos. Kind of like YouTube. Here’s is their statement –

“Lastly, we’ll be testing a dedicated place on Facebook for people to go when they exclusively want to watch videos … It can be accessed by tapping a “Videos” icon at the bottom of the Facebook app on iPhone or in the “Favorites” section on the left-hand side of News Feed on the web.”

https://youtu.be/pH5yl92JYDk

YouTube has just enough time until Facebook launches this feature permanently. As for us, we can all just hope that either one doesn’t die out. Right?

October 15, 2015