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Facebook helps you host viewing parties for live TV
Facebook's Watch Party won't just help you help watch online videos with friends -- it'll soon help with old-school TV. The social network is launching a new Watch Party experience that will let you host live TV shows, starting with sports. Start a party and you can cheer in chat, create polls and offer trivia questions based on player stats. It's not going to compare to gathering around the couch, but it should deliver more of a thrill than everyday group discussions.
Twitter's revamped camera is its answer to Stories
There were rumors flying around recently of Twitter working on a "News Camera," which would bring a Stories-style feature to the social network. And, well, it turns out that's partially true. At SXSW 2019, Twitter is launching a revamped camera for its app that will make it easier to tweet pictures and videos. This new camera, which starts rolling out to users today, has the potential to be one of the biggest changes to Twitter in the past few years -- right up there with the company's shift to 280 characters. While that may be the case, the new feature still feels very much like Twitter though, not a clone of Snapchat or Instagram Stories.
LG's SnowWhite is like a Keurig for ice cream
SXSW 2019 isn't just about films, politicians, designers and social media founders. There are also gadgets here to check out. Enter LG's SnowWhite, a concept machine designed to let you easily make ice cream at home. The SnowWhite is basically like a Keurig, featuring a pod-based system that allows you to choose the base and flavor for a variety of frozen desserts. That means it isn't just limited to ice cream: You might also be able to make gelato, granita, sorbet, yogurt and more. I say "might" because LG is adamant that the SnowWhite is only a prototype right now -- this is more about showing off what the company thinks it can create for your home. That said, LG did just introduce its automated HomeBrew machine at CES 2019, so the SnowWhite could eventually become a reality. If it does, LG says you'll be able to make ice cream, gelato or any of the other desserts listed above in two to five minutes. In addition to that, the system can clean itself and may offer both a touchscreen and physical dial for controlling its settings. Unfortunately, the SnowWhite at SXSW wasn't a working model, which is disappointing because it would've been great to have a scoop in this Texas heat. But, considering the popularity of Keurigs, the SnowWhite isn't a bad idea. Now I just hope LG adds some sort of smartphone integration in the future, because that would make my life even easier. I could just pull out my phone, use an app to tell the SnowWhite what to make me and in a few minutes, boom, I'd have ice cream waiting for me in the kitchen. Ultra lazy status achieved.
Why humans must band together to fight the tyranny of tech
It might seem like there's no winning against Facebook and Google, tech companies whose reach and influence are now practically inescapable. Facebook's inability to police its own platform led to widespread misinformation ahead of the 2016 election. Google still can't keep YouTube safe for kids. Meanwhile we're addicted to our phones and social networks, even if they make us miserable. So where do we go from here? Douglas Rushkoff, the renowned media theorist who's popularized concepts like viral media, suggests one way: Banding together and fighting for our collective humanity.
Magic Leap goes to the theater
A grungy live music bar off Austin's 6th Street was the site of a stirring Shakespeare performance at South by Southwest on Sunday. "All the world's a stage..." began the actor, perched on a leafy pedestal. He was about a foot tall and only visible through Magic Leap One headsets. "Tabletop theater" is what the the Royal Shakespeare Company has termed demos like this -- miniature productions that you can apparently watch anywhere -- and they are Magic Leap's first collaborations with the theater world.
'The Atomic Tree' explores the bonsai that survived a nuclear blast
Filmmakers don't accidentally make a movie for virtual reality headsets. Creating VR media is a multi-step process involving specialized cameras and equipment, not to mention an entirely new approach to storytelling. Creators tell a story in VR because they crave a deeper human connection than the one offered by a static, 2D screen, even if it means their work will be seen by fewer people.
Instagram founders on Snapchat and breaking up Facebook
We haven't heard much from Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger since they resigned from Facebook last September. But on Monday, the pair spoke at SXSW 2019 about the rise of Instagram, social media rivals like Snapchat and whether governments should break up Facebook. Systrom and Krieger founded the photo-sharing app in 2010 and, in 2012, sold it to Facebook for $1 billion dollars. Since then, Instagram has quickly become one of Facebook's most prized possessions, thanks to its 1 billion monthly unique users (and counting).
Jessica Brillhart seeks truth in immersive media
As the former lead VR filmmaker for Google, Jessica Brillhart helped the search giant come to grips with an entirely new medium. Now, she's striking out on her own with Vrai Pictures, her New York-based outfit focused on delivering immersive experiences. While "virtual reality" is in its name, Vrai is also exploring every component that goes into a decent VR (and augmented reality) experience. At SXSW this week, she's headlining as a keynote speaker and unveiling Traverse, a spatial audio platform that lets you walk around a soundscape as if you were listening live. And she's kicking things off with The King himself, Elvis Presley.
Twitter's experimental beta testing app is available today
Twitter is making good on its promise of testing new conversation features in public. The social network has launched Twttr, an experimental app that lets early adopters try prototypes of new Twitter features. It'll start with the conversation test, which turns threads into chat-like presentations with color-coded users and indentation. However, Twitter told TechCrunch it could use the app to explore other changes, such as new ideas for status updates and pinned introductory tweets.
Nike designer Tinker Hatfield makes the case for self-lacing shoes
Tinker Hatfield made people jump off their seat at a SXSW 2019 panel. Literally. The legendary Nike designer, who's behind the Air Max and most iconic Air Jordans, took off the sneakers he wore to the stage and gave them away to one lucky person in the crowd. Then, to top it all off, Hatfield put on a pair of yet-to-be-released Nike Reacts -- no big deal. But he didn't come to Austin just to hype up sneakerheads. During his session, Hatfield of course talked about the Nike Mag, HyperAdapt and Adapt BB, the three self-lacing shoes he has designed for the sportswear giant.
Robots are playing ASMR-infused techno at SXSW
In 2012, Moritz Simon Geist left a promising career as a research engineer in Germany to build robots and travel the world playing music full-time. He'd studied classical music in school, starting with the clarinet and piano, and toured with punk bands since he was a teenager in the '90s. That was when he started tinkering with equipment, building cheap solutions for complex audio problems and creating brand-new tools.
CRISPR doc 'Human Nature' embraces the hope and peril of gene editing
When making a documentary on something as groundbreaking and controversial as CRISPR, the gene editing tool that could potentially help us eradicate cancer, you need a deft touch. Lean into the hard science, and it might be too complex for general viewers. Focus intensely on the downsides -- like its potential to lead us down the dark path of eugenics -- and it might sound unnecessarily preachy. Go too light on either of those aspects, and it might be hard to take your film seriously.
NBC's free news streaming service will fully launch in May
NBC has run a limited version of its streaming news channel for the past few months. Soon, however, it'll be ready to open the taps: the broadcaster is officially launching its free NBC News Now service in early May. It'll be available on a plethora of devices (including living room devices like Apple TV and Roku) and should deliver eight hours of original programming per day, including live updates both on the hour and for breaking stories. The ultimate aim is to provide around-the-clock content, NBC News President Noah Oppenheim said.
'Every Thing Every Time' builds poetry from the smart city
Just opposite the Austin Convention Center there's a mechanical split-flap display -- the kind you might see in a 20th century train station -- propped on a slim strip of grass, fluttering off terse verses like this one from 11:26 AM on Friday: SOMEONE BUYS A TICKET, THE JURY HAS MADE A DECISION, THE ARTIST PREPARES AND THE PRICE OF COTTON RISES.
‘Good Omens’ and the art of avoiding Armageddon
The world will end one day. That's a plain fact; what's unknown is the exact manner in which humanity will be erased from existence. Whether the oceans will boil us from below like a massive earthenware lobster pot, or a nuclear holocaust will strip the planet bare, or biological warfare will infect our evolutionary timeline, is anyone's guess, and everyone has a theory.
Foursquare's unusual pitch: The ethical data company
It seems counter-intuitive that, in the thick of a backlash against Big Tech's data privacy abuses, Dennis Crowley is pitching location tracking technology at South By Southwest. Foursquare, which he co-founded, recently announced Hypertrending. It's an in-app feature that shows a real-time heat map of where everyone on Foursquare (and the apps that use its technology) are hanging out in Austin. The data is anonymized and aggregated so you don't see how many people are in a particular bar or park.
Series will give Snap's founding story the 'Social Network' treatment
Quibi, an upcoming mobile-first video streaming service, will create a series based on Snap's founding. Film executive Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman -- HP Enterprise's former CEO and current Quibi chief -- have announced their plans for Quibi and SXSW, and they include making both scripted and unscripted originals available for streaming. The duo picked up a screenplay entitled Frat Boy Genius, which nabbed the top spot at the 2018 Black List, for the platform. As you can guess from that title, it tells a semi-fictionalized story of Snap's beginnings that shows Spiegel in a pretty unflattering light.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez believes we should be excited about automated jobs
Left-wing US politicians have landed at SXSW 2019. A day after sharing her proposal to break up companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon, US Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) expanded on her plans at the event. And she wasn't the only one from her party here today. On Saturday, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) featured in a session where she notably didn't talk about Big Tech, but instead focused on the Green New Deal and automation, among other topics including pay inequality and racism.
HBO’s 'The Inventor' explores how Theranos happened, but not why
From the beginning of The Inventor, HBO's upcoming documentary about the failed blood testing startup Theranos, director Alex Gibney ties the story of founder Elizabeth Holmes to another notable tinkerer: Thomas Edison. Like Holmes, he tried to "fake it till he made it," throughout his career. After buying the rights to an early incandescent bulb design, he spent years claiming he'd solved the light bulb problem, long before he finally created one that lasted over 1,200 hours. Unlike the Theranos founder, though, he succeeded before his failures caught up with him.
Facebook is using AR to bring a massive mural to life
With all the controversy surrounding Facebook right now, it's easy to forget that the company actually does plenty of good for people across the world. At SXSW 2019, Facebook's Art House hopes to show that with a 2,200 square foot mural, which will be gifted to the community in Austin, Texas. To make this happen, Facebook teamed up with non-profit organizations HOPE (Helping Other People Everywhere), Out Youth, Yes Mentoring and Todos Juntos to commission 15 local artists and groups to create a large-scale piece that will live in downtown Austin for the next six months. They will be joined by members of Facebook Artists in Residence (AIR), a program Facebook founded to provide resources to artists and help them show off their work at the company's campuses.
