Facebook takes on Periscope and introduces new Collage feature

If you own an iPhone and are in the US, you might be one of the lucky few who get to test out the new feature from Facebook that reminds us of Periscope (it’s basically Periscope, really). The social network is testing out the ability for people to share live videos on Facebook. Those who have access to the feature just need to tap on Update Status and select the Live Video icon. You can tap out a quick description and choose who gets to watch the video live. While you broadcast, you’ll see who’s watching the stream, how many are viewing this live, as well as real-time stream of comments. Once you’re done broadcasting, the video can be saved on your Timeline for other users to watch at a later time. Or you can also opt to delete your video. If you like watching these videos, you can select the Subscribe button while watching a clip so you’ll be notified once the broadcaster goes live.

Facebook’s also introducing a new Collage feature that will make it easier for you to group photos and videos from a particular event or place together. When you select Photo, you’ll be able to see your recent moments in the camera roll arranged in a collage format. You can arrange the photos and videos to your liking, take out or add images and clips, and then add a title to the collage before you share the image. This feature is rolling out on the iPhone today and will be coming to Android early next year.

Source: Facebook Newsroom

Facebook's Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan to donate $45 billion to charity

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have made a number of big announcements. The couple has formed Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, an organization with the mission to advance human potential and promote equality.

The Initiative's areas of focus will include personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities. The bigger announcement was that Priscilla and Mark are contributing 99% of their Facebook shares -- currently worth about $45 billion as of today -- during their lives to advance the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative mission. Last but not the least, the couple also announced the birth of their daughter, Max Chan Zuckerberg, who was born Thanksgiving Week and is the inspiration for their charity.

Facebook helps you get through your breakup

Being Facebook official is a thing but what happens after the relationship goes sour and you’re through with your partner? Facebook is hoping to make the transition a bit easier for you with the new tools they’re testing out. Once you indicate in your relationship status that you’re no longer in a relationship, Facebook will prompt you to try out a variety of tools.

These include seeing less of a former partner’s name and profile picture as well as posts on the site without having to block or unfriend them. Their name also won’t be suggested when people write you a new message or when to tag friends in photos. It can also limit what your ex can see. Edit past posts with a former partner and untag yourself from posts with that person. Facebook is testing these out on mobile in the US and will roll out further based on feedback. The tools are optional and can be accessed in the help center.

Source: Facebook Newsroom

Facebook image recognition tech could help prevent parents from accidentally sharing photos of their child

Photo courtesy of Mashable

Facebook is putting its sophisticated image recognition technology to good use. The social network is said to be developing tools that will warn parents if they’re accidentally sharing photos of their child to the world. Jay Parikh, vice president of engineering at Facebook, talks about the details of the feature at a media event held in Bloomsbury, UK on Wednesday. “If I were to upload a photo of my kids playing at the park and I accidentally had it shared with the public, this system could say: Hey wait a minute, this is a photo of your kids, normally you post this to just your family members, are you sure you want to do this?”

There’s no word yet when this will roll out but it’s said to be part of Facebook’s “10 year arc of innovation” that features improved artificial intelligence and deep learning algorithms which the platform can use to filter out questionable content.

Source: The Next Web