Instagram isn’t done taking Snapchat's features, introduces ‘face filters’

Instagram adds one more missing piece to its Story feature: Snapchat lenses. Those augmented reality-based filters that lets you add things like bunny ears or a dog’s snout on you. Of course, Instagram can’t call these lenses so they opt to call them “face filters.” You can access the feature at the bottom right of the Story window. It looks like a face icon with sparkles on them. And just like Snapchat lenses, you can go through the different filters to play around with.

As Mashable’s Raymond Wong points out, this blatant copying of Snapchat might not look good but it has been paying off for Facebook. Last month, Instagram garnered 200 million daily active users using Stories, which is already more than the entire daily active user base of Snapchat.

VidCon founder opens crowdfunding for podcast-centric PodCon

You may or may not know Hank Green. And if you don’t, one easy association is his famous brother/author John Green. The duo make up the YouTube channel vlogbrothers. Hank has also started other famous YouTube channels like SciShow and Crash Course. He also created VidCon, an annual gathering of big YouTube and Vine personalities and other online video fans and enthusiasts. Now, he’s taking a stab at creating a same convention but for podcasts and aptly calling it PodCon.

The event is now being crowdfunded on Indieogogo and has raised US$30,456 of its $300,000 goal. If it gets the funding it needs, PodCon will be held in Seattle, Washington this December and will have things like workshops, panels, and live podcast recordings. Obviously, there aren’t that many concrete plans for the event yet. But Green partnered with Welcome to Nightvale’s Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor as well as Travis McElroy, who is best known for co-hosting advice show My Brother, My Brother and Me. There are a number of tiers to back so you can choose which one works for you. If you donate $90 or more, you get admission to the convention. 

Source: The Verge

TomTom Sports lets you sync your Google Fit and Apple Health data

TomTom wants to centralize your fitness data into its Sports app. The app now lets you sync with Google Fit and Apple Health so you can track your fitness data, trends, insights, and daily summaries, even without your TomTom Sports wearable on you. By syncing with the two platforms, it means your data won’t be duplicated. When you opt into syncing your Google Fit and Apple Health data, you’ll get the prompt once and then the app will import the information on a daily basis for you.

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Apple amping up activities and events at retail locations with Today at Apple

Apple is launching  the “Today at Apple” initiative that is is the collection of new, free programs launching in all 495 Apple stores on topics from photo and video to music, coding, art and design and more. The hands-on sessions will be led by highly-trained team members, and in select cities world-class artists, photographers and musicians, teaching sessions from basics and how-to lessons to professional-level programs.

- The new programs and sessions focus on the features of Apple products customers love most, across all skill levels and ages, and begin on May 17.

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