On this podcast, we talk about: CNET’s review of the Oculus Quest mobile VR headset. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg emphasizing privacy as the new direction of his company. Apple’s earnings: iPhone sales drop but wearables and services help results. Now playing: Watch this: The Oculus Quest may be a VR headset you should care… 5:35 The …
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Marijuana or broccoli? Facebook illustrates AI’s challenges with this example
Facebook uses both human beings and artificial intelligence to combat some of its toughest problems, including hate speech, misinformation and election meddling. Now, the social network is doubling down on AI. The tech giant has come under fire for a series of lapses, including its failure to pull down a live video of terrorist attack in New Zealand that killed 50 people …
Read More »This is when you’ll get the new Facebook apps and features announced at F8
Facebook is holding its annual developer conference, F8, this week. During the opening keynote on Tuesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg assured users the company is focusing on privacy and touted a new mantra: “The future is private.” In addition to trying to convince users the company has begun to take privacy seriously, there were plenty of new features, apps and product …
Read More »Play Snapchat’s Snap Games on your phone: Your questions answered
Snapchat has begun rolling out its own set of games called Snap Games. Similar to Pokemon Go, you can team up with your friends and play together. Like with Facebook games, you invite your friends to play your favorite games. Battle against your friends in the Bitmoji Party mini-games using your Bitmoji character, or work as a team to defeat …
Read More »Buying and selling on Facebook just got easier. Here’s how to use Marketplace’s new features
During the F8 conference on Tuesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a new and improved layout that includes an updated Facebook Marketplace. The new Marketplace, which lets you buy anything from furniture to clothing, now lets buyers order items directly through the app and seller ship items within the US. This means you’ll no longer have to schedule a pickup …
Read More »Facebook’s Oculus Quest heralds VR’s next gen, but will we buy in?
If you list people’s complaints about virtual reality, they usually include how expensive the headsets can be, how clunky they are to connect by wire to a computer, and how there aren’t enough compelling games and apps. Facebook believes it’s about to make a big dent in all that with its new Oculus Quest. Powered by a self-contained onboard computer, …
Read More »Facebook at F8 announces an Instagram experience less focused on likes
Facebook‘s Instagram is getting an overhaul designed to put people first. Adam Mosseri, Instagram’s vice president of content, said the social media site is testing ways to make the experience “less pressurized.” The image-sharing social network will feature follower counts less prominently and make private the counts of the likes posts get. The changes are meant to help people focus on …
Read More »Oculus Quest will give life to an emotionally intelligent pink alien fuzzball
Last week, I befriended a fuzzy pink alien that my robot sidekick and I nicknamed Pork Bun. We played fetch around a bonfire and munched on virtual marshmallows. Pork Bun was so charming that, when I had to choose between protecting Pork Bun or saving the human race from extinction, I tacitly left planet Earth to fend for itself to …
Read More »Oculus Quest and Rift S available for preorder, both at $399, shipping May 21
Oculus ignited people’s interest in virtual reality when it announced a Kickstarter for the Rift headset in 2012, promising high quality VR for $300. Fast-forward seven years, after a more than $2 billion acquisition by Facebook and the 2016 release of the Rift, and Oculus is preparing to launch its next-generation VR headsets. They’re called the Oculus Quest and the …
Read More »How Facebook’s big ambitions for messaging will impact you
Sitting on a grey couch at Facebook’s headquarters, Stan Chudnovsky starts talking about what humans can’t live without. The head of the social network’s Messenger service isn’t speaking about food, shelter or water. Instead, he points to what he and I are doing at this very moment: communicating. Now playing: Watch this: Facebook launches Messenger for desktop 1:33 “There is …
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