Facebook now auto-plays video ads for all users

Facebook has been testing auto-play video ads for some users. Now, the feature seems to be available for everyone. Facebook says the video ads will only download when your mobile device is connected to Wi-Fi but will play no matter what connection you use. Like Instagram, the videos will play without sound first until you tap on them.

Source: Lifehacker

Facebook to host first F8 Developer Conference in three years on April 30

Facebook last hosted F8 Developer Conference in 2011 when the company unveiled the Timeline and Open Graph platform. The company aims to return to its roots with the upcoming conference that will be held in San Francisco on April 30. Tech Crunch predicts F8 will focus on how mobile developers can use Facebook to gain more traction with free and paid promotion in order to earn money.

According to a Facebook blog post, “This year, we’re going back to our roots and having a pure developer conference. F8 will open with a morning keynote, followed by four tracks that will cover getting started guides, technical best practices, infrastructure strategies, engineering deep dives, and advertising tips  for making your app or game highly successful. We’ll also have sessions  dedicated to exploring how developers can take advantage of open source technologies.”

Yahoo! to halt Google and Facebook account login with its services

Time to unearth the password for your (most likely embarrassing) Yahoo! ID. The tech company plans to phase out the ability to log into its services with the use of Google and Facebook accounts. Yahoo! aims to provide the “best personalized experience to everyone” and they believe the third-party logins get in the way. They did not give a timeline when the login buttons will disappear for all online properties of Yahoo! Yes, that includes Tumblr and Flickr.

Source: Engadget

Facebook Messenger lands on Windows Phone san voice messaging and chat heads

Windows Phone users rejoice! Facebook Messenger made its debut on the Microsoft platform earlier than expected. The app comes over a week following Mobile World Congress announcement. It has most of the features of Facebook’s chat app, including group conversations, stickers, and photo sharing. However, it doesn’t have voice messaging and chat heads at the moment. We’d expect those additional features will come at a later date. But if you can live without those now, you can download the app here.

Source: Engadget