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Facebook Live makes the overdue jump to desktop
Facebook users have been able to broadcast live videos for over a year now. It's been mobile-exclusive since it was introduced, but Facebook has been working on bringing the feature to other platforms. Last year, the company revealed that it was rolling out live video to select desktop users. Now, starting today, all computer-bound Facebook users have access to the feature, the company said in a blog post.
Dozens watched a Facebook Live stream of sexual assault (updated)
It's no secret that Facebook has its hands full dealing with graphic and violent content being streamed live on the site. Last summer, Antonio Perkins was streaming an otherwise normal evening when he was shot. There have been other cases of graphic footage being streamed on Facebook Live as well. The most recent incident involves the sexual assault of a teenager in Chicago.
Facebook testing AI that helps spot suicidal users
Facebook has unveiled new tools to help prevent suicides, pointing out that they happen every 40 seconds worldwide and are the second leading cause of death for young people. While it already has self-harm prevention features, they rely on users to spot and report friends' problematic posts. Now, the company is testing AI tech that can detect comments that are "likely to include thoughts of suicide." They can then be checked by the company's Community Operations teams, opening up a new way for troubled users to get help.
Facebook is inserting ads midway through videos
Facebook's ambitions for video have been pretty explicit. And now the social network is (officially) introducing a way for its publishing partners to get paid for them. Rather than front-loading ads the way YouTube and so many others do, these will appear in the middle of videos, according to Recode. Said sales pitches will be 20 seconds long, can't run until a video has been playing for at least 20 seconds and must be spaced two minutes apart.
Facebook hopes to stream an MLB game every week
Twitter and Yahoo aren't the only ones interested in streaming live baseball beyond dedicated sports sites. Reuters sources claim that Facebook is in "advanced" talks with Major League Baseball about the possibility of livestreaming one game every week during the 2017 season. It's not clear just which games would get the live treatment, but history would suggest that this would be regular season play -- sorry, playoff fans.
Univision will stream Liga MX soccer live on Facebook this season
Facebook has hosted livestreams of soccer matches in the past, but for the upcoming Liga MX season, the social network is doing more than one-off events. Today, Univision announced that 46 total matches will be streamed on its page via Facebook Live for the 2017 season. And yes, that includes playoffs. The network says the Mexican soccer league is the most-watched in the US, so easy access to English streams of select matchups makes a lot of sense.
Facebook bolsters original video ambitions with MTV hire
As rumored a couple of months ago, Facebook is getting serious about making its own original content. The company has now hired a former MTV executive, Mina Lefevre, to be its Head of Development. According to Deadline, she will be leading Facebook's efforts to create scripted and unscripted content -- something she has plenty of experience with. During her time at MTV, as the executive vice president and head of scripted development, LeVre worked on shows like Awkward, Scream and Teen Wolf, to mention a few. It'll be interesting to see what she ends up developing for Facebook, especially as it continues to make a major push into video.
Trump to announce his SCOTUS pick tonight via Facebook Live
Donald Trump will announce his nominee for the vacant Supreme Court Justice seat tonight via Facebook Live. The stream begins at 8pm Eastern via the POTUS Facebook channel. As CNN reports, both candidates (Neil Gorsuch and Thomas Hardiman) have apparently been told they're Trump's favorite for the lifetime seat. Apparently, there will be Apprentice-style staging for the announcement: one prospect will walk away without the job while the world watches. Political theater like this is nothing new for Trump, but turning the presidency into a reality show is sure to ruffle some feathers.
Facebook stops paying publishers to stream live video
For a while, Facebook was obsessed with live video -- it even paid publishers to make sure there was a steady flow of professionally-shot streams on offer. However, Zuckerberg and company appear to be tempering their enthusiasm a little bit. Recode sources understand that the social network is "de-emphasizing" Facebook Live when it talks to publishers, and isn't expected to renew the pay-to-stream deals it struck in 2016. Instead, the focus is reportedly on long pre-recorded videos.
Steadicam comes to smartphones with the gyro-stabilized Volt
Steadicam changed the film industry with unrestricted tracking shots in films like Rocky and The Shining, and now, it's going after smartphone users. Parent company Tiffen has unveiled the Steadicam Volt, a handheld gimbal up for grabs on Kickstarter for $139. Unlike models you may know like DJI's $299 Osmo, the Volt (built in collaboration with drone-maker Yuneec) is not an entirely electronic affair. Rather, it uses a combination of Steadicam's traditional balance-type gimbal and motorization to give you a smooth tracking shot with more control over tilts, pans and other moves.
Watch NVIDIA's GeForce stream 'Mass Effect Andromeda' to Facebook
Game streaming is about to get a lot simpler for NVIDIA GeForce video card owners with the company's new integration with Facebook Live. We got a chance to see the feature in action at CES, and it works as advertised. NVIDIA reps were able to quickly shoot some footage from the much-anticipated Mass Effect Andromeda right to their Facebook timelines from their GeForce Experience app.
Facebook Live adds a bunch of features for famous people
Mentions is the behind-the-scenes tool that public figures use to keep track of their brands on Facebook, and today it's getting three new features aimed at improving the Live video experience. New tools rolling out over the next few weeks include the ability to blacklist certain words or phrases from the comments, fresh customization options for live videos and the option to trim videos after the broadcast has ended.
Facebook Live Audio elbows in on radio and podcasting
Facebook spent much of 2016 tricking out its Live video broadcasting feature, most recently opening it up to footage shot with 360-degree cameras. But it seems they've been busy bringing another streaming option to professional organizations and amateur users alike. Today, the social titan is launching Live Audio for a select group of publishers, with plans to open it up to everyone next year.
Twitch takes on YouTube and Facebook Live with 'IRL'
Twitch wants vloggers to leave YouTube and Facebook Live behind. The Amazon-owned video streaming site is launching a new "IRL" section that will allow streamers to share their experiences at events, on trips abroad or even just to document their day-to-day lives. Videos can either be live streamed or uploaded for on-demand viewing, and from next year users will also be able to use their smartphone cameras to broadcast through the Twitch mobile app.
You can now livestream directly from Twitter's mobile apps
The line between Twitter and its livestreaming service, Periscope, is beginning to fade. Starting today, anyone can broadcast by hitting the compose tweet button inside Twitter's iOS and Android apps, followed by the "Live" button. Instead of being bounced to the Periscope app, however, you'll now start start a livestream immediately. The functionality is still "powered by Periscope," and indeed the experience is mostly the same as before -- you write a quick caption before you go live, and then registered users can leave hearts and comments while you stream. Is this a direct reaction to Facebook Live's growing popularity? Almost certainly.
With live 360 video Facebook should focus on cameras not content
360 cameras exist. YouTube already supports livestreaming in the immersive format. Yesterday Facebook finally opened up its popular Live service to 360 videos too. But not for everyone. Right now it's just select pages, with National Geographic kicking things off today. Officially, then, 360 livestreaming is going mainstream. But if the new world of live, spherical video is to succeed, livestreaming needs to get easier, with a home on a major social network. YouTube has already made headway in this space, but, much like how video streaming didn't gain traction with the broader public until Meerkat and Periscope (and then Facebook) piped it direct into your friends' feeds, 360 needs the immediacy of social to succeed. To do that, it needs hardware that's easy to use and a seamless app experience.
Facebook now lets you livestream in 360 degrees
Facebook has unveiled the next iteration of its Live video streaming service, dubbed Live 360. As the name implies, the new feature will enable comprehensive surround video broadcasts in real time.
Facebook fixes faulty Live reactions count and other metrics
Facebook has kept its promise to be more transparent after it discovered that its system has been embellishing video views and ad data. The social network has admitted to (and fixed) a few more faulty metrics, starting with Live video reactions. You know those reaction emojis that flow across your screen while you're watching Facebook Live? Well, you can "react" as many times as you want during the broadcast, but the website's counter should only count your first to determine the total number of "Reactions from Shares of Post."
Facebook turns to AI to identify offensive Live streams
Facebook is doing its best to explain artificial intelligence through a new video series, but the social network wants to put AI to use for policing livestreams as well. The company's director of applied machine learning Joaquin Candela told Reuters that Facebook is working on a tool that automatically flags video streams for nudity, violence and any other content that violates the site's policies. Right now, the feature is being tested on Facebook Live.
Facebook shuts off Prisma's live video support
If you're a Prisma fan, you were likely heartbroken when the AI-driven art app lost its Facebook Live streaming feature. Why did it go almost as soon as it arrived? Now we know. The Prisma team tells TechCrunch that Facebook shut off its access to the Live programming kit over claims that this wasn't the intended use for the framework. The platform is meant for live footage from "other sources," such as pro cameras or game feeds. It's an odd reason when Facebook's public developer guidelines don't explicitly forbid use with smartphones, but the social network does state that it's primarily for non-smartphone uses.
