Category: Social Media

YouTube Updates Itself to Support 48 and 60 FPS Videos

The ultimate video destination, YouTube, has come up with an excellent gift for the gaming community. The video sharing site has now introduced support for the 48 and 60 fps videos which will result in some sweet gameplay videos.

YouTube has already uploaded three videos as examples for the new service. Currently, this support service is only available for Chrome and Safari browsers. You may also watch the videos in resolutions of 720p and higher.

The higher frame rate means smoother motion and more detailed visuals. This will come handy for gamers as well as those who share their projects using YouTube. This, though, won’t result in older videos getting updated to the current frame rate.

YouTube had promised this feature back in June and has finally made it available. So, if you were waiting to upload and flaunt some of your sweetest gaming escapades, this is your moment now.

October 30, 2014
Facebook-Owned WhatsApp Lost Close to $200 Million in 2 Years

As a result of the official closing of Facebook’s acquisition of cross-platform instant messaging application WhatsApp, the first clear picture of WhatsApp’s financial results emerged. A Form 8-K/A filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission has revealed that in 2014, WhatsApp lost $140 million and generated just $10 million in revenue. And in 2012 and 2013, the app lost a total of $192.8 million.

In the six months ending June 30, 2014, WhatsApp brought in $15.921 million in revenue but suffered a net loss of $232.5 million. However, $206.5 million of the net loss was for share-based compensation expenses and issuance of common stock below fair value. Its net cash used in operating expenses during the first half of 2014 was $13.5 million, which sounds much more reasonable.

“We’re the most atypical Silicon Valley company you’ll come across,” Brian Acton, a WhatsApp co-founder, once said in an interview. “We were founded by thirty-somethings, we focused on business sustainability and revenue rather than getting big fast, we’ve been incognito almost all the time, we’re mobile first and we’re global first.”

Essentially, due to WhatsApp’s quickly rising valuation, it used share-based compensation to attract top talent. Eventually, the $22 billion acquisition by Facebook largely made the ‘expenses’ of issuing that stock moot. This is standard for growing companies hiring new talent, and shouldn’t convey that WhatsApp was burning money irresponsibly. $148 million is a lot to lose for a small company, but the company seems to have been doing it wisely. Fewer than $10 million was burned in 2013 in actual operating expenses.

Overall, Facebook broke down the money it spent on WhatsApp as $2.026 billion for the user base, $448 million for the brand, $288 million for technology, and $21 million for the rest. That left it to chalk up the $15.314 billion difference as “good will” aka the value “from future growth, from potential monetization opportunities, from strategic advantages provided in the mobile ecosystem from expansion of our mobile messaging offerings.”

October 29, 2014
Here’s How Facebook’s News Algorithms are Controlling the Way We Consume News

Ever wondered how Facebook gets your interest and keeps your news feed updated? It is all a result of the heavy lifting done by an algorithm written by 26-year old Greg Marra and his 16 member team. With this algorithm at helm, Facebook is fast becoming the favored news source for the public in general. Tied to Facebook now are the fortunes of the news publications. A report on The New York Times digs into show how ‘Facebook Is Changing the Way Its Users Consume Journalism’.

It is not a shocker that news publications are catching up with internet-only publication with the “listworthyness” and “You-won’t-believe-what-happens-next” genre of presentation. This is happening because they all want to please the great Facebook algorithm which is the most powerful news aggregation system in the world. Its closest competition, Twitter and Google News still lag far behind it. According to analytics company SimpleReach, Facebook is responsible for 20% traffic on news sites.

Tailored News only gives us perspectives that we agree with creates a mental bubble.

The algorithm takes a lot of factors to decide which stories it delivers in the news feeds. It seeks patterns such as interests showcased by the user and what pages are frequently visited. It also takes in consideration the device a user is on, how many comments or likes a story has received and how long readers spend on an article. This ‘tailoring’ of news has led to a weird phase in time where people decide what to read based upon how the algorithm understands their needs. This can also lead to the creation of a bubble around a person wherein he/she is limited to the things they agree with. This is what leads to the creation of conspiracy theories, says Sean Munson, an assistant professor at the University of Washington who studies the intersection of technology and behavior.

The news, even political stories are being presented in an entertainment format to engage the audience and increase ad revenue. This kills a lot of objective facts in the middle. Luckily new forces like John Oliver are emerging who are using the same method of entertainment reporting of News in an objective manner. This can be seen as a balancing act in an unsure time. Written media is still where most of the original journalism happens, and it’s sad to see it sway towards trend-worthy news stories. The television media’s 24 hour shouting quotient even dwarfs a fish market and is losing credibility for a lot of folks.

There will always be a fight between editorial and the marketing and sales division of any publication. But now the addition of the social option has put more pressure on the writer’s side to come up with stories that can attract more clicks. This may be a fad or folks might actually get used to it in the long run like they get used to new Facebook formats. What is worrying though is that the move towards social can harm an industry that is crucial for a civil society. Journalism is often called the fourth pillar of democracy which keeps a check on the other stakeholders of the society. If this pillar gets hollowed out by senseless noise and selective picking of information, it will be a terrible loss to society. Hopefully, the art of humour induced reporting of facts that matter which is perfected by people like Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and John Oliver will stand in defense for quality, objective reporting of news.

October 28, 2014
Facebook Brings Out an App for Anonymous Chatting Called ‘Rooms’

Facebook seems to be in the mood for experimenting with mobile applications. After bringing out Mentions, Slingshot, Paper and most recently, their independent messaging app, they’ve now brought out ‘Rooms’. Although they’re sticking to their key philosophy of connecting people, this time they’re going to be keeping their identities discreet.

We had earlier reported that Facebook was working on building a standalone app that will let its users interact and communicate under the cloak of anonymity. This was said to be the outcome of recent criticism for Facebook’s stance on real names. Facebook’s policies require verified email addresses. Those policies clashed with drag queens, some of whom had their profiles removed from Facebook by algorithms.

On the other hand, Rooms doesn’t require the user to reveal any personal information and allows them to create chat rooms based of common interests (think fashion, photography, automobiles, gardering etc.) These chat rooms can be made public or private. The private chat rooms are then made invite only, requiring a QR code that can be scanned with a smartphone. These Codes can also be shared on social media or via e-mail. Facebook’s new app doesn’t even allow you to import your contacts, it is entirely independant. Chat room creators or chosen moderators can customize the look, ban people from the room or set the room to be 18+.

Currently the app is free and available on the app store, you can download it here.

October 24, 2014
Air India Finally Gets on Board! Launches its Official App and Twitter Account

Seems like Air India is finally awake from a deep slumber. It has officially launched a new app for smartphones to make bookings simple and convenient even while you’re on the move. Better late than never, Air India has also officially boarded the micro blogging site Twitter with a new account @airindiain.

As already mentioned, the app should facilitate quick and hassle free bookings along with providing user oriented information like fare details, check ins etc. The app is only available only on the Play Store for now, though will be rolled out for iOS soon.

The airline already has a Facebook page and getting onto Twitter account would be considered a step in the right direction. This makes Air India the sixth Indian airline to have an account on Twitter.

????? / ???? ?????? ???? ???? ????? ????? ?? ??? ?????? ?? ?? ?????? ?? ???? ?? ???? ?? —-> @AirIndiaIN

— SANJAY BAFNA (@sanjaybafna) October 22, 2014

“We will be launching our Twitter account in the next few days,” said Rohit Nandan, chairman and managing director of Air India. “I know it’s a tough task for us to be there, but we have to improve our customer services and I think this is the step in that direction. This will keep us on our toes. We would try to do our best so we can solve customer queries in real time. And gradually scale up our efforts,” said Nadan in a report published by Times of India.

October 22, 2014
Twitter Gets Musical with its New Audio Card Feature

All of our Twitter timelines are going get more musical after the social networking giant launched a new Twitter Audio Card feature that is already being used by SoundCloud and Apple’s iTunes.

“The world’s most influential musicians and media producers already share unique audio content through Twitter every day. Today we’re introducing a new way for you to experience audio directly on Twitter. ” Twitter wrote on the official blog. “With a single tap, the Twitter Audio Card lets you discover and listen to audio directly in your timeline on both iOS and Android devices. Throughout your listening experience, you can dock the Audio Card and keep listening as you continue to browse inside the Twitter app.” blog post added.

HOT !!! Here is the @robin_schulz remix of #Dangerous !!! I really love it. Click below to listen to the track ;) https://t.co/nSxejse9Rc

— David Guetta (@davidguetta) October 16, 2014

In SoundCloud’s case, the Audio Card opens up a full-screen player for the audio, complete with whatever artwork the creator has uploaded to SoundCloud for it. The audio will continue playing when the card is minimised, though. As the new feature launched, Guetta tweeted a link to a new remix of his song Dangerous, while Chance the Rapper followed suit with a link to his new single No Better Blues.

This next one’s the first song on our new album! Listen here http://t.co/KVfURdxooT. — Foo Fighters (@foofighters) October 16, 2014

Twitter also announced that content by select iTunes artists will also appear in Audio Cards, allowing users to preview music that has not been released yet. U.S. rock band Foo Fighters gave fans a taste from their new album “Sonic Highways” by tweeting their song “Something From Nothing.”

It is worth noticing that the iTunes player on Twitter plays the whole song, unlike the preview on iTunes Store itself, which plays less than 2 minutes of it. Twitter said it is still testing Audio Cards, and plans to open it up to more partners and creators. The feature follows other Twitter Cards that allow users to add more content to their tweets such as in-stream videos.

October 17, 2014
Facebook Announces New ‘Safety Check’ Feature to Help Communicate During Disasters

Facebook has introduced Safety Check, a brand new feature that people can use when major disasters occur, a simple and effective way to say you’re safe and check on others during times when communication becomes a necessity. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced this feature in Tokyo, in lieu of the great earthquake and Tsunami that hit Japan a few years ago. The calamity inspired Facebook to build the first version of this feature for Japan, and now this feature is available worldwide.

During a disaster, the Safety Check feature helps users to inform their friends and family that they are safe, users can also check on others in the affected region and can even mark their friends as safe.

How does it work?

The safety feature works when it is activated after a natural disaster has occurred and if a user is in the vicinity of the affected area, he/she will receive a Facebook notification asking if they’re safe. Facebook will then automatically determine their location by the user’s last location and the city where the user is using the Internet.

If Facebook determines the wrong location, users can mark that they are outside the vicinity of the affected area. Meanwhile if they are safe, they can select ‘I am safe’ and a notification and a News Feed story will generate automatically with the user’s friends. Even friends can mark a user as safe.

Even if users have friends in the affected area and the tool has been activated, they will receive a notification about those friends that have marked themselves as safe. To understand the features better, check out the video below:

October 16, 2014
Facebook and Samsung Reportedly Collaborating to Develop a Smartphone

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s meeting with Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jay-yong has triggered rumours that the two firms are discussing the possibility of a new Facebook phone. According to sources, the two parties met at Samsung’s headquarters, they were joined by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, along with Samsung’s mobile chief Shin Jong-kyun along with other top level executives from both companies.

This raised speculations that Facebook and Samsung are planning a Facebook phone. As we saw in the past, Facebook’s last phone the HTC First, which had Facebook Home software layer with Android UI on top was discontinued, same goes with HTC ChaCha, another Facebook phone which had a physical Facebook button for quick posting to the social network. Though, both devices couldn’t succeed and did not take off.

It’s not the first time these power houses are working together, the much hyped Samsung Gear VR has been launched in partnership with Oculus last month, which is now owned by Facebook. If rumours are true, it will interesting to see what this device can offer to users and if it can it be a competitor to Google’s Android One Project.

October 15, 2014
Yovo: Photo Sharing App Which Prevents Screenshots of Your Photos

Privacy is a major concern today. Following the slew of celebrity hacks and password leaks, people have started doubting the safety of social sharing. Especially with photographs that can be stolen by unscrupulous hackers and posted on the internet, it is necessary to keep them safe from unrecognized eyes. Yovo, a Photo sharing App, tries to address that.

Yovo is developed by privacy software company called ContentGuard. The app utilizes Barrier Grid optical illusion to keep your photos secure. The app restricts the ability for people to gain the image using screenshots. When somebody opens the photo message the grille moves and allows them to see the picture. If the receiver attempts to take a screenshot, it will result in an image with blurred sections.

The app can come handy for people who are sending personal or even restricted content through photos and had previously used other apps, such as Snapchat. Now that even Snapchat has been compromised, this is probably a good time for Yovo to come as a good alternative to the service.

Yovo also allows you to selectively blur images from your phone before sending them. There is also a self-destruct timer which can be set for 1 second to 24 hours. It truly protects your content, including your messages.

If it succeeds in providing what its promising, Yovo can actually gain a huge following. Snapchat is claiming that the third party apps were responsible for the leak. Hopefully, Yovo has a better hang of things than the hugely popular service. The app is available on the App store. So give it a try and if you like it, ask the developers to come with an Android version soon.

October 15, 2014
Indian Govt and Facebook to Work Together on an App for ‘Clean India’

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on Friday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. One of the highlights of the meeting was the prospect of launching a mobile application devoted to Clean India, while they also discussed the PM’s pet projects such as Digital India and his hopes to use the networking site’s use for social causes and prevent its misuse by terror outfits. Facebook will help in the creation of the Clean India Mobile App and it would be launched soon. This would give a strong impetus to the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Facebook boss told Modi.

It was wonderful meeting @facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. We discussed a wide range of issues. http://t.co/uWIsmAXruH pic.twitter.com/GU00UY2L9F

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 10, 2014

“Connecting more than a billion people with internet is not only going to improve lives of people in India but will help the innovation and imagination of Indian people to help turn around the world and we are very excited in opportunities in India,” Zuckerberg said after his meeting with the telecom minister.

“About 2.7 billion people have access to the internet. But that’s only one-third of humanity. Almost 4.5 billion people don’t use the internet,” pointed out Zuckerberg, in Delhi on a two-day visit to India. “Connectivity cannot just be a privilege of the rich and powerful. It is a human right.”

Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg in conversation with PM Narendra Modi

According to The Economic Times report, Zuckerberg told the Prime Minister that he is extremely excited about the government’s Digital India initiative. Modi, a prolific user of social media platforms with nearly 7 million followers on Twitter and around 23 million people following him on Facebook, has asked Zuckerberg to identify domains of the program that it can get involved in and work with the government.

In the conversation, the Prime Minister also expressed some concerns about social media, especially the use of such platforms by terrorist elements to recruit new members. “This is unfortunate and we need to think of the role social media can play to stop terror,” the PM said. He also urged Facebook to promote India’s rich tourism potential and look at how to enhance internet literacy along with connectivity.

October 11, 2014
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to Meet PM Narendra Modi Today

After Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s successful meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it’s now founder Mark Zuckerberg’s turn. He will be in India to address the first Internet.org summit taking place from October 9-10 in the capital city.

His visit comes three months after the visit of Sheryl Sandberg (July 2014), Chief Operating Officer of the social networking giant, to the country, which is the second biggest market for Facebook. Zuckerberg is the third high profile CEO of a US-based corporation, after Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, to visit India in last few days.

Modi famously utilised social media effectively during his Lok Sabha campaign, and has been open about his desire to spread government and civic messages via social media.

While Zuckerberg’s meeting with Modi is likely to dwell on how the Indian government can collaborate on Internet.org, which aims to make internet access affordable for people across the globe, he could end up receiving a small briefing on the Prime Minister’s ‘Digital India’ plan which has rather similar goals.

When Modi met Sandberg, he had suggested the use of Facebook for improving governance, better interaction between people and the government, and to attract more tourists to India. India is an important market for the social networking company. With over one billion users globally, the company gets over 100 million users from India. Many of these users log onto the website from their mobile devices.

Zuckerberg is also expected to meet with Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad as well as some other ministers, who had also met Sandberg when she visited.

October 9, 2014
Facebook is Reportedly Working on an App for Anonymous Sharing

Facebook is reportedly building a standalone app that will let its users interact and communicate under the cloak of anonymity. This is said to be the outcome of recent criticism for Facebook’s stance on real names. Sources within the company told the New York Times that Facebook plans to release an app that would let people talk anonymously.

Facebook’s long held policies require verified email addresses, and originally required college-specific email address logins per its collegiate origins. Those policies clashed recently with drag queens, some of whom had their profiles outright removed from Facebook by algorithms.

Earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook would branch out from real-name apps. “I definitely think we’re at the point where we don’t need to keep on only doing real identity things,” he said in an interview. “If you’re always under the pressure of real identity, I think that is somewhat of a burden.”

Little else about the software is known at this stage. We don’t know what it will be called, or whether it’s indeed meant to be a direct competitor to apps like Secret and Whisper, which are built entirely around the idea of staying anonymous. Facebook is also widely criticized for its use of user information. When Facebook made its Messenger app standalone and required more access to users’ information, many decided to drop the service entirely.

Obviously this new app wouldn’t change Facebook’s overall strategy, but it could be an interesting experiment for both the company and its billion-plus users.

October 8, 2014
After Bendgate, Apple’s iPhone 6 Now Faces Hairgate

Forget #bendgate, iPhone 6 Plus users have discovered a new problem with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The online uproar started after some iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners got strands of hair caught between the screen and the aluminum frame of the iPhone. And soon after, Hairgate caught on and started trending.

It is difficult to decipher whether there is any real issue, but Twitter users have made #hairgate a rising social media trend, leading major news outlets to glomp on the story. Bearded iPhone users have also complained that their facial hair gets yanked during calls, leading to the separate trend #beardgate.

However, it has been regarded as fabricated and misleading. Gordon Kelly, Forbes’ reviewer said, “The gap between the front glass and aluminium does not exist. There is a bevel, but the glass front panel is actually fused to the aluminium and the tiny gap you do see is significantly narrower than a human hair.”

“Furthermore even if a significant gap did exist, hairgate would still make no sense. It has been pointed out that ‘Gapgate’ on the Galaxy Note 4 (where a tangible gap exists in the phablet’s seam) was also present in both the Note 2 and Note 3 designs and owners go by without widespread reports of hair trauma. The Note 3 alone sold 10 million units in 2 months, so that’s a pretty wide test base.” Kelly added.

Meanwhile, Twitter has been flooded with funny tweets about the new false scandal. Apple has faced quite a bit of criticism since the mega launch event in Cupertino. The technology giant had to face massive social media bashing for news that their new iPhone 6 Plus has the tendency to bend in tight pockets. Apple’s biggest competitors like Samsung, LG and HTC got together with some brutal take downs of Apple’s latest flagship in an event dubbed “bendgate”. Adding to the woes was the faulty iOS 8.0.1 update which caused issues in the new iPhone and had to be withdrawn.

October 8, 2014
Today Google Bids Farewell to its First Social Networking Site Orkut

Internet giant Google confirmed it be will shutting down Orkut. Ten years ago, Orkut helped start conversations and forge connections. Well, it started what we call social networking today.

Even though Orkut is still very popular in India and Brazil, it lost to rivals like Facebook and Twitter. In a blog post, Google commented, “Over the past decade, YouTube, Blogger and Google+ have taken off, with communities springing up in every corner of the world. Because the growth of these communities has outpaced Orkut’s growth, we’ve decided to bid Orkut farewell (or, tchau). We’ll be focusing our energy and resources on making these other social platforms as amazing as possible for everyone who uses them.”

“We will shut down Orkut on September 30, 2014. Until then, there will be no impact on current Orkut users, to give the community time to manage the transition. People can export their profile data, community posts and photos using Google Takeout (available until September 2016). Starting today, it will not be possible to create a new Orkut account.”

Orkut was launched in 2004, the same year when Facebook was founded. Facebook is now the world`s largest social network with 1.28 billion users. Google, of course, switched its attention to Google+ in 2011, leaving Orkut to largely fend for itself, and in June decided to pull the plug on September 30.

Here’s a highlight reel infographic to remember it by, created by One Productions:

September 30, 2014
Facebook is Gearing Up to Test Wi-Fi Drones for Internet.org Initiative

Facebook has taken steps ahead of Google in the race to provide internet to everyone in the world. Facebook plans to start testing its internet beaming solar-powered drones in 2015, with the ultimate aim of getting two-thirds of the global population online. Mark Zuckerberg has announced it to be part of the efforts of Internet.org.

Speaking at the Social Good Summit in New York last week, engineering director at Facebook Connectivity Lab, Yael Maguire, detailed the company’s vision of internet-carrying drones, with plans to begin testing in 2015 in a US location which is yet to be determined. “In order for us to fly these planes; unmanned planes that have to fly for months, or perhaps years at a time, we actually have to fly above the weather, above all airspace. That’s between 60,000 and 90,000 feet. Routinely, planes don’t fly there, and certainly not drones” Maguire said.

Wi-Fi will be beamed using solar-powered drones that are the size of a Boeing 747, announced Facebook. Facebook said that the drones would be powered by the Sun and that it would fly in the air for months or years at a time. Apart from the flying Wi-Fi drones, there will be satellites and infrared lasers too which will be built to provide Internet to all.

Facebook has also gone on to join hands with Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm and Samsung for its effort. A spokesperson from Facebook confirmed that though these companies were helping Facebook with bringing internet connectivity to the developing nations, they weren’t going to be a part of the drone project.

Google has been working on a similar project with one of the differences being that they have plans of making use of balloons in addition to the drones. Google’s project has been named project Loon. It has only performed a few tests of the ambitious proposal so far.

September 29, 2014