Facebook inks deals with media companies and celebrities for Live

Facebook is taking its livestreaming initiative very seriously and have signed deals with media companies and celebrities for Live. Some of the companies they’ve signed include the likes of BuzzFeed, CNN, the New York Times, Vox Media, Tastemade, and Huffington Post. The highest value deals are with BuzzFeed at US$3.05 million, $3.03 million for the New York Times, and CNN at $2.5 million. On the celebrity side, there’s comedian Kevin Hart, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, NFL quarterback Russell Wilson, and wellness guru Deepak Chopra. Meanwhile, the value of individual contracts varies widely, with about 17 worth over $1 million.

Source: WSJ

YouTube FanFest comes to Toronto on August 13th

The crowd gathering in Yonge-Dundas Square for YouTube FanFest

It’s that time of the year again. YouTube will be bringing in some of its biggest Canadian and international stars at this year’s YouTube FanFest. It’ll be held on August 13^th at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre. Some of the big names to appear at the event include Toronto’s own Lilly Singh (a.k.a. ||Superwoman||) alongside the likes of Mike Tompkins, Humble the Poet, and AsapSCIENCE. You can expect musical performances from the likes of Sam Tsui, Megan Nicole, Tiffany Alvord, KRNFX, and Max Schneider. Also hoping to get the crowd up on their feet is Marquese Scott (WHZGUD2) and Poppin John. Lauren Toyota, former MuchMusic VJ and host and now co-host at her YouTube channel Hot for Food, will be hosting the event alongside My Life as Eva’s Eva Gutowski.

A limited number of ticketholders will even get a chance to meet and greet their favorite starts the day before the show. If this is something you want, you have to make sure you grab your tickets when they go live. Ticket prices are at $30 for front section seats and $25 for middle and back section seats. They go on sale on Tuesday, June 21 at 10 a.m. at all Ticketmaster outlets.

Alicia Keys enforces no cell phone use at her concerts

There are a growing number of performers who don’t want people whipping out their phones while at concerts/performances. Joining that list is Alicia Keys. But instead of leaving phones at lockers before entering, fans are given a special pouch made by Yondr that’ll house their gadgets. This will let them keep the device with them but you won’t be able to open it and use the phone unless you head back to the door and have a worker pass on a disc the size of a bagel to unlock the bag and use the phone outside.

Of course, not all fans will be happy with this policy as some like recording performances but this is also a good way to just enjoy the show without distractions and help artists who want to try out new stuff without it getting leaked.

Source: SlashGear

Twitter looks to improve your videos with latest acquisition

Facebook isn’t the only one investing in livestreaming and artificial intelligence. Twitter has just acquired Magic Pony, a small London-based company that specializes in using machine learning to process visuals, for an unofficial worth of about US$150 million. The acquisition was for improving the social network’s strengths when it comes live and pre-recorded videos. According to Twitter chief Jack Dorsey, Magic Pony can help with things like sharpening blurry video elements without using up more of your bandwidth. You’ll probably see more of Magic Pony’s efforts when you watch a Periscope stream, trailer, or other videos on both Periscope and the Twitter app.

Source: Engadget