A rumored smartwatch from Facebook could make its debut next summer. The social network plans to release a smartwatch with two cameras for taking photos and video, as well as health features like a heart rate monitor, according to a report Wednesday from The Verge, citing two people familiar with the project. The first version of the …
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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday said the social network’s tools for creators — including paid online events and fan subscriptions — will be free until 2023. When the social network does eventually take a cut, it’ll be less than the 30% that Apple and other companies take, Zuckerberg said in a post on Facebook. “To help more creators make …
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You wait ages for one antitrust investigation to come along, and then two show up at once. At least, that’s what happened to Facebook on Friday. The European Commission and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority both announced they’re launching antitrust probes into the social media company’s potential misuse of ad data. Both regulators are concerned that Facebook is using …
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Facebook last month took down more than 200 fake accounts, 55 pages and 12 groups that were part of two networks trying to manipulate public debate on its platforms. The info comes from company’s latest monthly report on coordinated inauthentic behavior on Facebook and Instagram. One network was “operated by local nationals in Sudan on behalf of individuals in Russia,” …
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WhatsApp will let you link four devices to one account, CEO Will Cathcart and Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg told WABetaInfo on Thursday. The feature will enter public beta in the coming months, and could pave the way for iPad support later, Cathcart noted. The Facebook-owned messaging app will still be end-to-end encrypted, Zuckerberg confirmed. “It’s been a big technical challenge …
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Facebook is trying to make it easier for users to message businesses, as more people have turned to online shopping during the coronavirus pandemic. The social media giant said Wednesday that app developers will have the tools they need to build more messaging experiences on Facebook’s photo service, Instagram, where people already go to shop and get customer support. And Facebook-owned messaging …
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Facebook’s augmented reality efforts are pushing a little further into the territory of video calls. A deeper support for shared AR effects and games in video calls are being supported across Facebook’s mobile apps, including Messenger and Instagram, the company announced at its virtual F8 developer conference Wednesday. These shared effects aren’t new: Facebook’s dedicated video-chat device, Portal, has AR …
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Facebook executives outlined the company’s focus on improving business messaging, augmented reality and artificial intelligence on Wednesday at the social media giant’s developer conference, which was held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic. F8 is typically Facebook’s biggest event of the year, but Wednesday’s presentations were a less flashy and free version of the tech conference, which normally attracts thousands …
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On Thursday, Jeremy Browning, a Twitter product manager, gave the public a behind-the-scenes look at a new feature the company built for live audio chats. Not everyone, though, could understand what he was saying. Fittingly, Browning hosted the conversation on Spaces, Twitter’s live audio product. The audio chat tool has live captioning, a feature meant to help deaf or hard …
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Starting Wednesday, all Facebook and Instagram users will have the option to hide the number of likes their posts get from the public and to choose whether they can see like counts on all posts in their feed. The company says it’s doing this to “give people control over their experience” using the social networking platforms. Brett Pearce/CNET Instagram started …
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