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What to expect at Facebook's F8 conference this week
This week, Facebook will hold its ninth developer conference, and this time, the mood is a little... different. After all, the company has been embroiled in scandal after scandal over the past year, the most recent being the Cambridge Analytica controversy that raised questions over how Facebook handles data privacy, and even led to a rare congressional appearance by CEO Mark Zuckerberg. It's no surprise, then, that everyone is paying a great deal of attention to what Facebook is doing. Which is why this week's F8 conference is the perfect opportunity for Facebook to make several key announcements. Here's what we expect to hear in the days ahead.
Facebook reportedly pauses smart speaker plans for obvious reasons
Even though it seems like everyone is selling some sort of smart speaker, Bloomberg reports that Facebook will not be the next company joining in and has scuttled plans for a reveal at its F8 developer event. Despite earlier rumors of a device that would compete with the likes of Echo, Home, and HomePod, it seems that the company has considered its current privacy debacle and decided this isn't the right time to try and sell customers (and, likely regulators) on an always-listening assistant/video chat device with built-in facial recognition. Of course, the market hasn't exactly been receptive to Facebook's previous hardware efforts either -- remember the HTC First with Facebook Home? -- so the potential of anything beyond Oculus Go remains hazy. Consensual or not, there are already rumors-that-won't die about Facebook and Instagram listening in on your conversations, and we'd expect some solid answers on privacy before there's any movement in that direction.
I don't want to live inside Facebook's vision for social VR
Over the last few decades, there have been several attempts to merge the mundane aspects of the real world with the digital. All of these, while catering to a niche, have failed to conquer the world in the way that Mark Zuckerberg hopes that Facebook's social-VR efforts will.
Facebook's latest drone delivers internet during a disaster
Internet connectivity is kind of like air: something we take for granted until we can't get it. To help make communications easier during disaster scenarios, Facebook has come up with the "Tether-antenna." At its simplest, it's a small, unmanned helicopter that can hook onto undamaged fiber-and-power lines (when cellular connectivity has been damaged or is otherwise unavailable) and then hover "a few hundred feet from the ground," according to a Facebook Developers blog post. "When completed, this technology will be able to be deployed immediately and operate for months at a time to bring back connectivity in case of an emergency -- ensuring the local community can stay connected while the in0ground connectivity is under repair."
Facebook's new 360 cameras bring exploration to live videos
Last year, Facebook announced the Surround 360, a 360-degree camera that can capture footage in 3D and then render it online via specially designed software. But it wasn't for sale. Instead the company used it as a reference design for others to create 3D 360 content, even going as far as to open source it on GitHub later that summer. As good as the camera was, though, it still didn't deliver the full VR experience. That's why Facebook is introducing two more 360-degree cameras at this year's F8: the x24 and x6. The difference: These cameras can shoot in six degrees of freedom, which promises to make the 360 footage more immersive than before.
Facebook Spaces finally delivers on social VR
Three years ago, when Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion, many scratched their heads in befuddlement. Social networks and virtual reality seem like such strange bedfellows; one is about connecting you to the world while the other appears to do the opposite. But CEO Mark Zuckerberg envisioned a world where VR would be a place for communication, not isolation. And many years later, that vision is much closer to reality. Facebook Spaces is the company's answer to social VR and it is, as I was amazed to find, surprisingly compelling.
Watch Facebook's F8 keynote in under 10 minutes
If there was still any question why Facebook paid all of that money for Oculus, today's F8 keynote provided some extra explanation. From AR to social VR and more, the company laid out its plan for the immediate future that involves blending the virtual world with real life. If you missed the hour-long talk earlier today, don't fret: We've compiled all the big news in a 10-minute clip. Click here to catch up on the latest news from F8 2017!
Facebook takes on Slack with a free version of Workplace
Facebook's not-so-subtle bid to take on Slack and Microsoft Teams just got particularly serious. The social network has announced a free version of Workplace that will let virtually any group chat and collaborate online when it arrives later in 2017. You won't get administrative tools or integrations with other services (such as Google's G Suite or Box's cloud storage), but you won't have to pay a cent if you just need the basics. And if you do need those features, Facebook is promising to undercut at least Slack's prices.
Spin your yacht rock playlist from Spotify in Facebook Messenger
If you want to listen to Run the Jewels in Facebook Messenger, you'll totally be able to do that. From the F8 stage, Facebook's David Marcus announced that soon you'll be able to share tracks from both Apple Music and Spotify within the app -- all without the need to have either of the music streaming services installed on your phone. Marcus' example? RTJ's ode to El-P's and Killer Mike's significant others, "Stay Gold" from Run the Jewels 3.
Facebook adds a login shortcut to other Android apps
The great part about being tech obsessed is getting the latest and greatest devices. The less great part is having to log into all the services you use when you get new hardware. Today at its F8 conference, Facebook announced that it's giving developers of third-party Android apps the ability to recognize if you've already linked a service with the social network.
Facebook's latest Messenger makeover is all about business
Last week, Facebook announced that Messenger now has 1.2 billion monthly users, making it one of the most popular messaging apps in the world. With so many users on its platform, it's no surprise that businesses have been clamoring to be on Messenger as well. At last count, 60 million businesses are on Facebook, and 80 percent of them have messaging enabled. The idea is that be it with a real-life human or a simple chatbot, the direct Messenger conversations between businesses and consumers will make users' lives "more seamless and fun." With Messenger Platform 2.0, Facebook hopes to realize this even further with a new Discovery tab, chat extensions, smart replies, an AI-driven delivery service and more.
Facebook Spaces VR parties are available for Rift owners today
Facebook teased how it would create social experiences in virtual reality, and now it's ready to take things one step further. It just launched a Facebook Spaces beta that lets Oculus Rift owners hang out together (up to four at once) in VR. The experience will be familiar if you saw Facebook's preview at Oculus Connect, but it's clearly more refined with its actual launch. You can create an avatar that's as realistic or fanciful as you want, draw 3D objects and show off your personal videos and use 360-degree video backgrounds to liven up your chats. There's even a selfie stick to take virtual self-portraits. And if a friend can't use VR, you can bring them into the conversation using Facebook Messenger video calls.
Live from F8, Facebook's annual developer conference!
It's time once again for F8, Facebook's annual gathering of developers from around the world, and it's a little special this year. That's because this is the 10th anniversary of the event, so we're expecting a look back at just how far Facebook has come over the past decade, along with hints of what's to come. That means in addition to details about the company's core product and its various messaging and photo-sharing apps, we also expect Facebook to make some teasers. We're talking VR, 360 video, live streaming and perhaps some mysterious new item we've yet to even hear about. To read about our expectations, click here. But if you want to read the real deal, you best come back to this page at 10pm PT or 1pm ET for our liveblog of F8 2017's opening-day keynote. Click here to catch up on the latest news from F8 2017!
The Morning After: Tuesday, April 18th 2017
Hey, good morning! We're warming up for F8. Yep, Facebook's big annual event kicks off today and it looks like the company has an awful lot planned to show us. Meanwhile, Netflix has explained why it continues to pay for Adam Sandler's creative output and Verizon made its own smartwatch for some reason. Oh, and here's a DIY distillery.
What to expect from Facebook's annual developer conference
Tomorrow marks the first day of this year's F8, Facebook's annual developer conference, and it promises to be a big one. After all, this is the 10th anniversary of F8, and you know that CEO Mark Zuckerberg will want to show off just how far Facebook has come in the past ten years. Here's a look at what we'll hopefully see in the days ahead.
Facebook is poised to take the chatbot world by storm
Even though chatbots have been around for quite some time -- remember the SmarterChild bot on AIM? -- they've only recently become the darlings of the tech world. Just two weeks ago, Microsoft announced its Conversations as a Platform initiative, wherein it plans to build bots into Skype to help you do things like book hotels or order a pizza from Domino's. This week, Facebook unveiled its own bot platform for Messenger, which aims to do the same things. At first glance, the two seem similar, but there is one big difference. While the demos we saw at Build are still being built, many of the ones shown at F8 are already live.
ICYMI: Facebook VR selfies, laser-powered water and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-35216{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-35216, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-35216{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-35216").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Facebook is adding VR to the social network and one of the new tricks will let users take a selfie of their avatar selves inside of different tourist spots. Japanese researchers discovered that a water droplet coating allowed water to be controlled by a laser, capable of pulling 150 times its mass when harnessed like a mini oxen. Finally, a backpack on Kickstarter would charge your devices on the move and roughly nine other things. Guinness World Record fans will want to see this crazy long K'NEX contraption. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Facebook shows how you'll be able to auto-tag friends in videos
On stage at Facebook's annual F8 developer conference, the company did a quick demo of an upcoming auto-tagging feature for video. Using the artificial-intelligence-based recognition technology Facebook already uses to identify your friends in photos, the social network will be able to determine who's in your videos.
Facebook wants us to take VR selfies with virtual selfie sticks
When Facebook bought Oculus two years ago, many thought the combination was odd. Facebook is a social network while Oculus makes virtual reality headsets. The two didn't seem to go together. Well, at F8, Facebook's developer conference, we might have seen a peek into how Facebook plans to integrate social into VR. It's not just about watching a movie together or linking an Oculus account to Facebook. It actually involves interacting with another person in a virtual space: chatting, laughing, drawing doodles, sharing photos and, as we saw in a demo at F8, even taking virtual selfies with virtual selfie sticks.
Facebook unveils two new wireless systems for underserved areas
At its annual F8 developer conference, Facebook announced two new wireless systems meant to help bring internet access to underserved areas. One system will tackle pushing broadband through the buildings found in dense cities while the other is meant to increase the bandwidth of towers.
