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Google Photos intros smart themed movies and faster sharing
Google Photos already makes movies using your photos, but they don't really have that personal touch. Where's that Facebook-style ability to automatically create videos around major life events? Relax, it's here: Google is trotting out a Photos update that introduces smart themed movies. The service now digs through your whole photo collection and creates clips based around concepts, such as your children growing up. In that case, it'll find high-quality photos of your young ones (no blurry shots, thankfully) and stitch them together to show their progress over the years. Only a few concepts will pop up this week, such as a summer retrospective and a concept for formal events, but there are more "coming soon."
Google adds commenting capabilities to shared albums in Photos
Google is rolling out two new features for its Photos service: the ability to comment on shared images and albums, and a tool that suggests photos to add to specific albums. The commenting ability allows users to leave messages on albums and pictures that have been shared with them -- without leaving the app. Google Photos isn't a social networking service on its own, but the new functionality takes cues from sites like Facebook that allow commenting on images.
Facebook lets you share quoted text with a click
Facebook is continually looking for ways to help you share more stuff. Today, the social network announced a tool for developers that will help you easily share quotes from an article. Rather than having to copy and paste a snippet of text across apps, you'll be able to simply highlight the words you want to share and post them to Facebook with a click. In the News Feed, the post will appear as a block quote with a link to the original URL or source. And yes, you can add an additional comment on top of the selected text.
Facebook preps in-store purchases for Messenger
Facebook already lets you send money to friends through its Messenger app, but it appears the social network has much loftier ambitions for financial transactions. The Information reports that Menlo Park is preparing to offer its chat app as another way to pay for things thanks to a feature for in-store purchases. Based on code for the iOS app, Facebook is working on a way for you to use Messenger to pay for goods in person. As The Information notes, this would put Zuckerberg & Co. in the mobile payments fray that includes Apple Pay, Android Pay and several others.
Play Cupid on Tinder by sharing profiles with your friends
Tinder is slowly rolling out the option to share other people's profiles with friends via text messaging. A small number of users will spot a "share" icon under some profiles -- tapping it lets you send a temporary link to that profile via text. The links expire after 72 hours or five clicks, and the person who receives it can then swipe right on the profile as he or she sees fit.
Google Photos' new albums make it easier to share memories
When the time comes to collect photos from your weekend camping trip, Google Photos now has a way to do so with ease. With the image repository's new shared albums, all you have to do is share a link with the folks you'd like to contribute. If this sounds familiar, Google first detailed the updated sharing at its Nexus event back in September. You and your fellow collaborators can also receive notifications when new photos or video are added to the library. Of course, Google Photos offers unlimited storage, so you won't have to worry about eating up your allotted space.
Pushbullet's 'Pro' syncing service is stuff that used to be free
Pushbullet, the mighty app that lets you sync notifications, links, photos and SMS between your phone and computer, has just announced that it will be offering a Pro tier. But here's the kicker: paying $4.99 a month or $39.99 annually doesn't actually buy you anything new (other than supporting its developer's needs for things like food and shelter). A blog post announcing the changes tried to justify the move, but its explanations seem oddly close to threats. "We could have kept Pushbullet completely free, following the path of many free services by showing ads and selling data to make money. We don't want to do that." And we certainly hope they don't have to!
Mustbin for iPhone is a secure and private photo-sharing network
There's no question that photo backup and sharing is one of the main problems that technology companies are trying to solve. Facebook, Apple, Google, Dropbox and others have all taken their shot at it, and plenty of startups have as well. Boston-based Mustbin is the latest to shift its focus to photos. The company originally began with an app focused on securely saving your most important documents on your phone, positioning it as a sort of Dropbox competitor. From there, it added secure messaging features, and now the company thinks that mixing group messaging with photo backup will be the formula for success. After seeing that 80 percent of the files stored in Mustbin were photos, the company revamped the app so that its main purpose is to let you securely shoot photos and quickly share them with friends.
Skype gets shareable conversation links for easy invites
Need to invite someone to join a Skype session? Well, that task just got a lot easier. The video-chatting app added a new feature that lets you invite folks to join a conversation with a shareable link. All you have to do is nab the URL, send it to the person and they can click it to join. What's more, the invitee doesn't need a Skype account to do so. Clicking on a shared link can employ Skype on the web as a guest, but it'll still offer access to messaging and both video and voice calls. If you're familiar with sharing links to Dropbox or OneDrive files, you have an idea of how this works. It sounds like a simple addition, but it's sure to save time, and allow people who aren't using the app to easily participate as needed.
Ambush a friend's browser with this crazy Chrome extension
There's an insane new Chrome extension called "Shove" that we're sure nobody's going to misuse. As spotted by Wired, it lets you drop a web page onto your friend's browser, and vice-versa. Unlike skeevier apps like Peeple, however, it's strictly opt-in. Once both parties agree, they can open up links in each others' browsers anytime (seriously, there are no limitations) whether you want to see men in belted sweaters or not. Putting aside the off-the-charts security risks, I tried it with my UK colleague Matt Brian and it definitely works as advertised -- not only does it open a page up immediately, but it puts it front and center as the active tab.
Share your Periscope streams with a screenshot
Periscope has rolled out a new feature which allows users to take a screenshot of a stream and share it with the larger Twitter community. It's essentially the app's version of a retweet. As TechCrunch points out, this feature is likely to be embraced primarily by the service's bigger broadcasters like Amanda Oleander or Chris Hadfield as a means of promoting their active live feeds. Additionally, Periscope updated the Private Broadcast function. Users can now select either individual "mutuals" (people that you follow and who also follow you) from the invite list or select everybody on it with a single click. Unfortunately, sharing screenshots and the revamped Private Broadcast is currently only available on the iOS version.
Microsoft's document sharing service, Docs, is available to everyone
Sure, you can technically use OneDrive and other cloud services to share your Office files, but wouldn't it be nice if there were a dedicated site for that? Apparently, Microsoft agrees -- it quietly launched the public beta for Docs, a dedicated website (this was previously a Facebook-only service) that simplifies sharing your Office files, PDFs and Sway presentations. Think of it as a parallel to offerings like SlideShare or Scribd, where the focus is more on preserving the formatting of your work than anything else. You can comment on and download documents, but you'll have to turn to other tools to collaborate on that upcoming report. You only need a Microsoft account to give Docs a spin, so it won't hurt to sign up.
Yik Yak now allows anonymous photo sharing, just not selfies
Yik Yak announced today that it will now allow users to post photos to the anonymous messaging app -- just so long as they don't include human faces. That means you'll be able to share photos of your dog, your meal and non-reproductive body parts, just not your face. Seriously, don't even try. The company will be actively monitoring photo posts (before they go live) in an effort to maintain content control. Users, however, will still be allowed to show pictures of themselves as part of photo collections in the Explore section of Peek. Additionally, the company rolled out phone verification in an effort to combat spam and make the app a bit more secure.
Android Wear reportedly getting watch-to-watch sharing features
Google is launching brand new watch-to-watch communication features for Android Wear that are not unlike those on Apple's Watch, according to Phandroid. Users will reportedly be able to send each other doodles, photos, stickers, messages and more using a feature called "Together." That's pretty similar to the Apple Watch's Digital Touch, which allows users to relay tap patterns, drawings and even heartbeats to each other. Oddly, Android Wear users who want to share items may need to use the same the same watchface, as the feature isn't system-wide. However, Phandroid admitted that its information on that aspect "is quite old."
Vine for iOS updated with HD video uploads
We've adjusted to watching each other's lives six-seconds at a time, but Vine's shareable moments always come across a little ...blurry. Thankfully, the short-video service is fixing that: as of today, folks using the Vine app on iOS will have access to a new HD quality option. Love it. Use it. Save all of our eyes.
Pushbullet's share-everything app gets true messaging
Pushbullet is already a secret weapon for getting content from one device (or one person) to another -- you can relay your links, notifications, photos and SMS messages with a common app. Today, though, it's getting considerably more powerful. As part of a revamp, Pushbullet's desktop, mobile and web apps are turning into true messaging apps, with easy replies and a quick way to find "pushes" (chats and shared content) from your friends. On Windows, it'll even give you Facebook-style chat heads that keep conversations close at hand. Effectively, Pushbullet is blurring the lines between sharing and messaging -- you don't have to switch apps to talk to a friend after you're done sending a photo to your phone. All of the updates are available now, so you can give this all-encompassing app a shot right away.
Apple Watch patent would have you sharing files with a handshake
Wondering how you'd exchange info between smartwatches when their displays are so small? Apple thinks it has an easy answer: make the same gestures you already use to greet your friends. The tech firm has applied for a patent on a system that exchanges data between wearables (presumably Apple Watches) whenever both people make a similar greeting gesture, such as a handshake, bow or fist bump. The watches would only need to use their motion sensors and short-range wireless to tell that you're getting cozy -- you wouldn't need to tap the screen at all. Devices could also swap different kinds of data depending on the exact gesture and how well you know the other person, so you'd only share contact info if you're grabbing hands for the first time. There's no guarantee that Apple will roll this feature into the Watch any time soon, but it strikes us as a very logical (and, dare we say it, handy) upgrade. Photo by Will Lipman.
Share event photos with friends via another new Facebook app
Facebook's Creative Labs has produced yet another app that feels like it should be a feature within the main Facebook app rather than another icon taking up space on your smartphone. The new Moments app creates shared photo albums from a group of people at an event. Photos are curated using location information and facial recognition, individuals can share and see photos from friends that were at the same place at the same time. So instead of everyone taking a photo of a sunset, one person can take it and share it with the group via the standalone app. The technology used in the app is based on the Facebook AI Research (FAIR) team's work. While the pitch is to share photos privately, shared photos can be uploaded to Instagram and downloaded to a user's camera roll. So they're private until a friend decides to put that weird face you made on their Instagram feed. Moments is available today for iOS and Android in the United States and will be rolling out to other regions over time.
Facebook tweaks your newsfeed by how long you read each post
In an unsurprising revelation, it turns out your Facebook news feed is watching you almost as much as you watch it. The Menlo Park-based company announced today that it is "improving" its news feature by taking into account not just whether someone liked or commented on an article but also by how much time they spent reading it. "Just because someone didn't like, comment or share a story in their News Feed doesn't mean it wasn't meaningful to them," Facebook explains."There are times when, for example, people want to see information about a serious current event, but don't necessarily want to like or comment on it."
Airbnb is floating a liveable house down the River Thames
If you happen to be in London this week, we recommend keeping one eye locked on the Thames. Airbnb is sailing a bright blue house down the iconic river to celebrate the passing of the Deregulation Act, which gives London residents permission to "share" their property for up to 90 days each year. Best of all, you can actually live in Airbnb's unusual floating home -- it comes with two bedrooms, a bathroom and a living room, as well as a small garden complete with lawn, trees and a dog kennel. Of course, this is just a publicity stunt, but it's a creative one that could brighten up London's iconic landmark. Airbnb is also letting a lucky few spend the night in the house this Friday, with just a few important house rules; no swimming in the Thames, no floating house parties and "no floating away." I wonder if that last one includes tying hundreds of colourful balloons to the roof?
