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Some Canon cameras can now upload images straight to Google Photos
Canon users can now upload photos directly from their cameras to Google Photos via WiFi.
Amazon's 'Upload' explores the digital afterlife in a world gone to hell
Amazon's Upload series, the new show from Greg Daniels, is all about the digital afterlife. But it's also an effective commentary on tech culture run amok.
Engadget Podcast: Reviewing the Pixel Buds and Amazon's 'Upload'
Cherlynn and Devindra are joined by Billy Steele to break down how the new Pixel Buds compare to the AirPods, Jabra Elite 75t, Samsung Galaxy Buds+ and more. Then, our hosts discuss Amazon's new show Uploads and some thoughts from its creator Greg Daniels.
What's on TV this week: 'Westworld' season finale and 'Upload'
This week 'Westworld' wraps up its latest season, and Amazon tries an afterlife/VR comedy with 'Upload.' For gamers, 'Streets of Rage' is back with a new entry in the series.
YouTube Music explains how its long-overdue cloud locker will work
Earlier this month it came to light that YouTube was finally working on a way to let you upload your own music to its library. Now, that feature is almost good to go. Google has published a support document explaining how users will be able to add their personal music collection to their library, either by dragging files to any surface on music.youtube.com, or by tapping "upload music" within the profile menu. The feature supports FLAC, M4A, MP3, OGG and WMA files.
Twitter will no longer destroy the quality of uploaded JPEGs
Twitter is making some changes to the way it processes image uploads, and photographers on the platform are delighted. According to Twitter engineer Nolan O'Brien, JPEG encoding will now be preserved in images uploaded to Twitter via the web. Previously, images were transcoded, which meant lower quality pictures, much to the rightful annoyance of talented creators.
Spotify ends direct music uploads for indie artists
Indie artists will no longer have the option to upload music directly to Spotify -- not that they'll necessarily mind. Spotify is shutting down the upload beta test after determining that its efforts were better spent elsewhere. Feedback from musicians suggests that Spotify should instead "lean into" the work of existing distribution partners, according to the company. It would also pour more of its energy into unique benefits, such as listener metrics and a playlist submission tool.
'Find It On eBay' searches with pictures instead of words
Finding stuff you actually want to buy on eBay is getting a whole lot easier thanks to the online shopping site's new Image Search function. Instead of trying every possible search term combination to come up with the exact thing you want, you can now simply upload a photo (Image Search) or click "Find It On eBay" when browsing another website, and the eBay app will surface relevant listings. Find It On eBay is now live on Android, while Image Search is live on both Android and iOS.
Virgin Media has a broadband plan just for gamers
When most people shop for a new broadband package, they're focused on download speeds. What can I expect when everyone in my home is trying to stream Netflix? Or downloading a game like Inside to their PlayStation 4? But, now more than ever before, customers are interested in upload speeds too. It can affect your performance in a game like Overwatch, as well as Twitch-style streaming and video uploads to sites like YouTube. Virgin Media is catering for this group with "VIVID 200 Gamer," an optional upgrade for its VIVID 200 tariff. If you're willing to spend an extra £5 per month, you'll have your upload speeds increased from 12 to 20Mbps. While Virgin Media is targeting "gamers" (some cringeworthy advertising is no doubt in the pipeline), the plan could appeal to anyone that deals with large files and demanding services. Professional filmers who regularly upload footage, for instance. Or wedding photographers that need to quickly upload large image libraries. Of course, video games are a popular past-time, so it's easy for Virgin Media to market the new tariff this way. Anyone that's played a fast-paced shooter in the last few years, like Titanfall or Battlefield 4, will understand the frustration when it's your internet connection, rather than your thumbs, that result in a loss.
YouTube axes direct video uploads from webcams
If you're one of the few recording to YouTube straight from your webcam, the video-hosting site will soon get rid of that feature. On January 16th, you'll no longer be able to capture video straight from the camera connected to your computer and upload it to the web. Google says the feature is "rarely used" and runs on "tech" (read: Flash) that's no longer supported.
Flickr's new image compression was almost invisible, until it wasn't
Ugh, it's all pixelated. Ugh, artifacts. Compression is otherwise a pretty useful trick for squeezing more stuff (photos, video and more) into less space, but something typically gets lost in the process. Sometimes it's indistinguishable, other times it screams at your eyes, offending your gentle sensibilities -- or something. Usually, however, it's somewhere in the middle, which was Flickr's problem. The photo service offers users 1TB of free storage at original resolution -- which is still good going, but users started to notice a change in compression used for the various image sizes it also offers: smaller files but bigger issues with artifacts and details lost. That said, Flickr made the changes in late 2014, but it wasn't until much more recently (alongside a recent redesign) that eagle-eyed users began to notice that something had changed.
Tidal Discovery will allow independent artists to upload directly
While Tidal didn't have too much to say about independent artists during its relaunch a couple weeks ago, the company is lending a hand now. In an interview with Smashd, Tidal's Chief Information Officer Vania Schlogel discussed the upcoming Discovery feature for the service -- the ability for indie acts to upload music directly. Why is this a big deal? Well, for the likes of Spotify, those musicians have to go through a third-party service like CD Baby or TuneCore to get their music in the apps. Since record labels typically handle licensing deals with subscription services, if you're unsigned, you have to find another middleman. What's more, all artists will have access to Tidal's dashboard, where they can see exactly who's listening to their music and get contact info for each person. That's how Jay Z and Jack White were able to offer those thank-you calls last week.
Verizon FiOS gets a speed boost: now uploads go as fast as downloads
Before Google Fiber, Verizon FiOS was the speedy internet service everyone wanted in their neighborhood. The arrival of 1Gbps connections, a slowed rollout, and an ongoing battle with Netflix that's slowing streams to a crawl has slightly dulled the cachet, but it's still one of the fastest providers out there. Now it's getting even faster, but Verizon isn't boosting download speeds again -- those will stay the same as customers get matching upload speeds on every plan. On the fastest tier (previously 500Mbps down / 100Mbps up), speeds will increase by 5x to 500Mbps, and most customers will see their speeds double. New customers can get the symmetrical speeds right away, and they'll roll out to existing customers throughout the fall. To go immediately to the front of that list FiOS subscribers can sign up for the MyRewards+ customer loyalty program, which is free, and pretty much just requires inputting your birthdate. [Image credit: Mark Von Holden/AP Images for Verizon]
Upload gameplay to YouTube on Xbox One tomorrow, 360 gets GoPro app
Microsoft is updating the YouTube app on Xbox One to allow players to upload gameplay clips directly to the video platform starting tomorrow. The app will integrate with the Game DVR and Upload services already present on the console; players will just need to enter the system's settings, select "Share game clips" and then "Share on social network" to access the YouTube upload option. Additionally, the updated app will allow users to view YouTube videos in snap mode, add them to Pins, add channels to OneGuide and earn media achievements on Xbox One. Microsoft also announced the GoPro app for Xbox 360, which allows users to "stream and curate" videos created using the brand of high-definition personal cameras. GoPro app users will also be able to purchase cameras within the app through Microsoft's online store. The app will require an Xbox Live Gold subscription. The Xbox One's trek into the livestreaming and video sharing realm was marked by the addition of Twitch broadcasting in March, which saw 108,000 broadcasters in the first week. While having the ability to upload content to YouTube directly will be ideal for many users, one hopes that the history of gameplay videos being flagged by the platform's Content ID Match system doesn't prove to be an issue. [Image: Microsoft]
Microsoft adds achievements to renamed Xbox cloud service OneDrive
Microsoft has officially changed the name of its cloud service SkyDrive to "OneDrive." The Windows, Windows Phone, iOS, Android and Xbox One-compatible service will also receive a monthly payment plan option in addition to a new referral program that offers up to 15 GB of additional space when inviting friends and enabling camera roll backup. Xbox One owners can use OneDrive as a means of sharing recorded gameplay clips online in conjunction with the Upload Studio app on the system. The latest improvements to OneDrive includes achievements on the game console, rewarding users for actions like adding a shared folder to OneGuide in the app and viewing 100,000 photos. The achievements do not count towards players' gamerscores, however. [Image: Microsoft]
Microsoft searching for the next game video superstar
At E3, Microsoft announced an Xbox One feature that would finally allow you to give form to your copious creativity: Upload Studio, which would simplify creating your own gaming videos and sharing them with the Xbox Live community. Now, in "an effort to attract creative minds from around the world, to become a major part of the Upload experience," the Upload Outreach Program is giving particularly talented "game video superstars" the tools they need to reach their audience. Here's the deal: Create a one minute video about any Xbox 360 or Xbox game you like, making sure to impress with your creativity and "unique style," upload said video to something like YouTube or Vimeo, and then send the link to Microsoft by September 15th. If Microsoft digs your vibe, you'll get an Xbox One, a purposefully nonspecific bunch of "launch games" and a year of Xbox Live Gold membership, and the chance to collaborate with the Upload team. You can get the specifics about the Upload Outreach Program here.
Microsoft's YouTube app for Windows Phone returns, adds uploads
At Google's request, Microsoft pulled its YouTube app for Windows Phone 7.x and 8 back in May, but now it's returned. Apparently ready to display the ads Google is so insistent on, v3.2.0.0 is available for download, and also brings the ability to upload videos directly to the service. If you're not seeing it on your device yet you can grab it and get all the new details at the link below.
LinkedIn status updates can now include photos, other types of files
Given how simple and common it is to do it on Facebook, Twitter or Google+, you'd think being able to share images as part of a status update wouldn't be anything novel at this point. But for those inhabiting the popular (and inspiring) social networking site LinkedIn, this hasn't exactly been the case -- and that's about to change. As of today, users are able to add a little more flavor to things shared on the site, with LinkedIn letting it be known that they can now easily enclose more than just text when using the share box. And while picture uploads are certainly all the buzz, LinkedIn's also making it possible to include other file types, such as documents and presentations. Currently, the new feature only allows uploads to be done via the desktop version of the website, however LinkedIn did tell CNET that the content "will be viewable inside the mobile apps."
Google+ now allows full-size photo uploads from desktop browsers
As glad as we are that Google gave mobile photographers the chance to upload full-size photos to Google+ back in December, the absence of a desktop equivalent has been more than a little conspicuous. We're back to equilibrium now that Google has enabled full-size uploading from any old computer's browser. Enable the option and a collection can hit the servers just as you'd remembered it. Like with mobile uploads, though, this isn't intended as a large-scale backup service: any images more than 2,048 pixels across (or videos over 15 minutes) will still count towards whatever your Google Drive cap may be. Don't upload a gigapixel-class photo of your vacation, then, but do know you'll have a safe place to store everyday photos in all their original glory.
Facebook adds drag-and-drop photos, trials simplified Timeline and delivers new privacy controls
Anyone who's returned from an event with a virtual armful of photos may have been frustrated with Facebook's upload interface, which until now has involved a less-than-intuitive file browser. The company is quietly solving that problem: an update pushing out to individual users lets them drag-and-drop photos into a new post, like we've seen on other social networks, and to a newly streamlined Messages format that's rolling out at the same time. A much smaller circle is seeing a second update. Facebook has confirmed to ABC News that it's conducting limited trials of an updated Timeline that moves the news feed to a single column, replaces the thumbnail navigation with simpler-looking tabs and makes all profile page information available through scrolling. A spokesperson wouldn't say if or when the new Timeline would reach the wider public, but history points to "when" being more likely. They did however mention that the new privacy shortcuts, activity log and untagging tool would be going live for all users starting tonight, and we've already seen them pop up on some of our accounts.
