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Facebook's Slack competitor may be coming next month
With nearly two years of development and 450 companies already on board, Facebook at Work is gearing up for a commercial launch of its in-house social network and communications platform for companies. According to a report from The Information, the service will launch next month and the social network will charge a set monthly fee per active user.
Andrew Dalton09.27.2016
Germany orders Facebook to stop collecting WhatsApp data
Germany has ordered Facebook to stop collecting WhatsApp data from users and delete all the information it has already collected. The Hamburg regulator said the social network hadn't properly notified the nation's 35 million WhatsApp users that it recently started gathering their data. "Facebook has to ask for their permission in advance. This has not happened," said Commissioner Johannes Caspar.
Steve Dent09.27.2016
Facebook briefly suspended accounts of Palestinian journalists
Last week, seven Palestinian editors from two different publications reported that they had been locked out of their personal Facebook accounts without notice or reason. The social giant told The Electronic Intifada that it was accidental and restored access to six of them by Saturday, though one remains suspended as of press time. But employees from both Shehab News Agency and Quds News Network doubt that their colleagues were banned in error. Rather, they have pointed to Facebook's recent agreement with Israel earlier this month to jointly crack down on "incitement" by Palestinians on social media.
David Lumb09.26.2016
Why is the Oculus founder trying to bring hateful memes offline?
Online abuse and bullying have existed as long as the internet has, but it's gone mainstream in a big way over the past few years. Perhaps not coincidentally, we've also spent the past year-plus subjected to Donald Trump's presidential campaign, an outing built on lies, harassment, intimidation and a whole host of other behavior not befitting a candidate for the country's highest office. These two trends collided late last week when it was revealed that Oculus VR founder and Facebook employee Palmer Luckey donated $10,000 to a pro-Trump group called Nimble America. The group's stated purpose is to prove that "shitposting is powerful and meme magic is real." Thus far, there's no evidence that Nimble America has been able to do anything aside from put up one insulting but fairly mild anti-Hillary Clinton billboard outside of Pittsburgh. Despite the group's lack of impact thus far, the fact that Luckey found Nimble America worth supporting shows just how widespread trolling has become.
Nathan Ingraham09.26.2016
How to watch tonight's US presidential debate
So you're determined to watch the first of 2016's US presidential debates, but you don't subscribe to TV... or you live in a country that won't have a live broadcast. What to do? Relax. This year, there are more choices than ever for watching online, and not just in the US. We've rounded up the main internet viewing sources for Clinton versus Trump, including the kind of commentary you'll get. Whichever option you choose, you'll probably want to keep our guide to the candidates on hand when things kick off at 9PM Eastern -- the odds are that the grand speeches and spirited arguments won't answer all your technology policy questions.
Jon Fingas09.26.2016
Tanzania charges man with 'insulting' its leader on WhatsApp
Attempts to clamp down on free speech online aren't just limited to public social network posts. Tanzania has charged five men with insulting President John Magufuli on social networks, one of whom (lecturer Dennis Mtegwa) is accused of offending the country's leader in a WhatsApp discussion group. The other four have also been charged with using Facebook and WhatsApp posts to turn people against the police. All five have denied the charges and are currently free on bail.
Jon Fingas09.26.2016
CBS News will feature Instagram Stories in debate coverage
Monday's US Presidential debates are shaping up to be the most easily streamable live TV in history, with options ranging from Twitter and YouTube to Facebook Live and Snapchat. Not wanting to be left out of the party, Instagram and CBS News have announced a new partnership that will make CBSN the first network to feature Instagram Stories in live coverage.
Andrew Dalton09.24.2016
Oculus founder responds to 'Nimble America' political controversy
Last night The Daily Beast reported that Oculus founder Palmer Luckey is the "NimbleRichMan" behind a group of Donald Trump supporters pushing anti-Hillary Clinton memes, and now Luckey has responded. In a Facebook post claiming recent news stories don't accurately reflect his views (and light on references to either shitposting or meme magic), the 24-year-old claimed his support of the Nimble America group consisted of a $10,000 donation because he "thought the organization had fresh ideas," and that he did not write the posts credited to the pseudonym or delete the account.
Richard Lawler09.23.2016
Facebook's Safety Check was activated by protesters in Charlotte
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed that the company was working on a way for users to activate its Safety Check feature back in August. During this week's protests in Charlotte, North Carolina, users of the social network employed the feature for the first time without the social network flipping the switch itself. Facebook confirmed to BuzzFeed News that it didn't activate the feature and this was the first time Safety Check was used during a protest.
Billy Steele09.23.2016
Facebook has been exaggerating ad video views for two years
So here's a funny thing about Facebook videos: it turns out people actually weren't watching the ads on them nearly as much as the social network said. The Wall Street Journal reports that since it introduced video ads in 2014, the company miscalculated average viewing time because it didn't include views that lasted less than three seconds. An ad buying agency says it was told by Facebook that average time spent viewing was likely overestimated by 60 to 80 percent.
Richard Lawler09.23.2016
Oculus founder Palmer Luckey secretly funds pro-Trump 'meme magic'
Just in case you were wondering what Palmer Luckey does with all that Facebook money, a The Daily Beast article reveals what he's been up to lately. The outlet says Luckey confirmed he is behind the Reddit pseudonym "NimbleRichMan," providing financial backing to an organization claiming it's proven that "shitposting is powerful and meme magic is real." The Reddit profile has been deleted, but the group's original announcement is archived here.
Richard Lawler09.22.2016
Facebook and Intel reign supreme in 'Doom' AI deathmatch
On the island of Santorini, Greece, a group of AIs has been facing off in an epic battle of Doom. This is VizDoom, a contest born from one man's idea: to improve the state of artificial intelligence by teaching computers the art of fragging. That simple notion then spiraled into a battle between tech giants, universities and coders. Over the past few months, they've all been honing their bots (known as "agents"), building up to one final death match. OK, it was a lot more than one match. But that doesn't sound nearly as dramatic. The competition is all about machine visual learning. Just like when you or I play Doom, the agents can make decisions based only on what they "see" and have no access to information within the game's code.
Aaron Souppouris09.22.2016
Force your pals to make decisions with Facebook Messenger polls
Instead of having lengthy discussions with your friends on which movie to watch or where to go for brunch, you could just offer them a poll with a list of suggestions. Starting today, you can now do so on Facebook Messenger. While in a group convo, you can tap a Polls icon in the compose window, or you can also just hit More and then choose Poll. Create your list of choices, submit it, and then your friends will be able to see the poll in the conversation and then vote accordingly.
Nicole Lee09.22.2016
Facebook Messenger calls look like regular calls on iOS 10
It won't be long before mobile networks become just another dumb pipe through which services are handed down from internet companies. Don't believe us? Then receive a call via the updated Facebook Messenger on iOS 10 and notice that they behave exactly the same as one made over the cellular network. The only difference between the two is that the VoIP call will be labeled as such in tiny text below the caller's name.
Daniel Cooper09.22.2016
Stream Android apps on Facebook Live with Bluestacks
Streaming your favorite smartphone apps on Twitch is pretty hard. Through Facebook? Even harder. To simplify the process, Bluestacks is adding a Facebook Live option to its desktop Android emulator. So whether you're using a PC or Mac, you can now grab your favorite games from the Play store, launch them and stream using the same interface. Bluestacks added a similar Twitch-streaming option just a few month ago -- while Amazon's platform is known for gaming, Facebook clearly has similar ambitions. (You can already broadcast Blizzard titles on the social network, for instance.) With so many eyeballs, its influence is growing fast.
Nick Summers09.22.2016
Oculus' Touch controllers priced at £190 in the UK
If you still haven't figured out why the Oculus Rift sells for a solid $200 less than HTC's Vive, let this be the final word: it's the motion controllers. According to a display in a GAME store in the UK (found by our very own Nick Summers), Oculus' virtual reality motion controllers will retail for £190, or just over $200 after deducting local UK taxes. That's expensive, but not at all unexpected -- if that price holds across the pond, it puts the cost of a room-scale Oculus Rift kit on equal ground with HTC's $800 Vive.
Sean Buckley09.21.2016
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to invest $3 billion to cure disease
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg launched the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative last year with his wife, Priscilla Chan, in an effort to try to "advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation." The two pledged to donate 99 percent of their Facebook shares -- which is worth upwards of $50 billion -- to the cause. Today, the couple held a press event in San Francisco to announce their next big project: curing diseases. Indeed, it has pledged $3 billion over the next decade to cure, prevent and manage all diseases by the end of the century.
Nicole Lee09.21.2016
Google and other tech titans pledge to help refugees
Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and other big tech corporations have joined hands with the White House to help refugees across the globe. They were among the members of the private sector that answered the president's Call to Action back in June. Now, the administration has published the complete list of participants, along with a short description of what they're doing for the cause. Google has promised to fund and lend its technical expertise to non-government orgs providing free education to 10,000 out-of-school Lebanese kids. If you'll recall, the big G also donated $5.3 million worth of Chromebooks to European refugees earlier this year.
Mariella Moon09.21.2016
ABC signs Facebook deal to livestream 2016 presidential debates
When ABC started experimenting with online streaming of the Democratic and Republican national conventions on Facebook this summer, they got a whopping 28 million video views. Whether that was an influx of cord-cutters or just a hungry public that does more browsing than TV watching, the success was proof enough for the network to go bigger for the next phase in the election. They will broadcast the presidential debates on Facebook Live advertisement-free, beginning with the first one on September 26th.
David Lumb09.20.2016
Oculus Rift now available in UK stores
At long last, you can walk into a store and buy the Oculus Rift in the UK. The high-end VR headset has been a long time coming, what with the numerous shipping delays for pre-order customers. Last month, however, Oculus promised that the Rift would be available in old Blighty from September 20th, and sure enough it's delivered. You can now walk into John Lewis, Currys PC World, Game and Harrods, slap down £549 and walk away with the matte black goggles. Starting today, you can also order through Amazon UK, should you prefer not dealing with fleshy mortals.
Nick Summers09.20.2016