All of the news from Facebook’s F8 developer conference – The Verge

Facebook partners with RED to develop a high-end, professional VR camera

2018-05-01T18:30:02-04:00

Facebook is partnering with camera maker RED to develop a professional-grade virtual reality camera system that can capture high-resolution imagery in so-called 6DoF, or six degrees of freedom, which allows it to be viewed and explored in real time within virtual reality. The rig, which doesn't yet have pricing or release date info available, is a culmination of Facebook's internal efforts on its Surround 360 platform. RED's upcoming VR camera will now be the one Facebook suggests to filmmakers and other creators who want to make the most high-fidelity, immersive entertainment and art. The news was announced today at Facebook's F8 developer …

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Facebook could beat Tinder just by getting users to meet in real life

2018-05-01T17:12:58-04:00

Facebook announced its idea for a dating app today. There's still a ton we don't know about how it'll work, though we know that the platform will live inside its official app and that users will be able to "unlock" individual events or groups that they're members of to see potential matches. The company says in promotional material: "Just like in real life, the more active you are in the communities around you, the more opportunities you'll have to meet awesome people."

This will be essential to the dating app's success and could potentially position it to usurp Tinder as the go-to dating app for young people. One of the biggest complaints …

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Match Group responds to Facebook’s new dating feature with Russia and privacy insults

2018-05-01T17:12:54-04:00

If you haven't heard, Facebook is getting into the dating app scene. It will soon let users opt into an experience resembling Tinder that lets them browse other profiles with photos and first names. Dating app executives took the opportunity to chide Facebook for its tattered history of data privacy practices and for allowing Russia to meddle in US elections.

Joey Levin is the CEO of IAC, the company that owns a majority stake in Match Group (which in turn owns Tinder, OkCupid, Match, and PlentyofFish). He responded to the news with a very direct taunt: "Come on in. The water's warm. Their product could be great for US / Russia relationship …

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WhatsApp is getting stickers and group video calls

2018-05-01T16:00:18-04:00

WhatsApp is getting several new changes including stickers and business-focused app features, its parent company Facebook announced today during the annual F8 developer conference. The messaging platform will also be adding group video calls in the coming months, WhatsApp director Mubarik Imam announced.

Imam didn't have many details to give about how group video calls will work just yet, but from the example video, we can see that calls will allow four people to simultaneously participate. She revealed that WhatsApp now has over 450 million daily users, and over 2 billion minutes of video and audio calls are made through WhatsApp each day.

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The 5 biggest announcements from Facebook’s F8 developer conference keynote

2018-05-01T15:54:27-04:00

Facebook just wrapped day one of its F8 developer conference keynote, which comes at an unfortunate time this year after the Cambridge Analytica data scandal seems to have put Facebook at odds with how it is handling user data within its developer community. Nevertheless, the show had to go on, and Mark Zuckerberg tried his best to keep developers excited about continuing to build on his platform.

The CEO spent a brief moment of the keynote rallying developers to keep building and using their skills to bring people together. To do so, the company unveiled several updates coming to its product lineup, including the core Facebook app, Instagr …

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Oculus TV will let you stream ESPN, Showtime, and more in VR

2018-05-01T14:49:00-04:00

Oculus wants people to watch TV in their VR headsets, and later this month, it's launching a dedicated "Oculus TV" app with partners like Showtime, Netflix, and ESPN. The app is a virtual home theater and a hub for non-VR video apps. That includes existing services like Netflix and Hulu, which have been on the Gear VR since 2016, but also services we haven't seen on a headset before. The new ESPN+ subscription service, which launched in April, will be launching through Oculus TV, and so will Showtime's streaming service, Showtime Anytime.

Film and TV studios have experimented with putting both 360-degree and traditional video into headsets, …

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Instagram will allow third parties to create custom AR filters

2018-05-01T14:24:08-04:00

AR camera effects are coming to Instagram in a closed beta, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced at Facebook's F8 conference today. Instagram will debut new filters through partnerships with Kylie Jenner, BuzzFeed, Ariana Grande, the NBA, Vogue, and others so you can try on Kylie Cosmetics lipsticks through a face filter or add floating effects to your background through a world lens.

Instagram has had Snapchat-like AR filters since last year, but it's the first time partners are teaming up with Instagram to craft unique filters. Now, brands and public figures can build their own AR filters that will be available to use if you follow the influence …

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Instagram will now filter out bullying comments

2018-05-01T13:58:06-04:00

Instagram is upgrading its offensive comment filter today, expanding it to automatically filter out bullying comments "containing attacks on a person's appearance or character, as well as threats to a person's well-being or health."

The comment filter was originally introduced last year, with a focus on toxic and divisive comments, but the update today broadens what gets hidden to include the aforementioned types of comments. Users will also be able to disable the filter if they'd like to see the unedited comments on their feeds as well, but it will be enabled by default.

For now, the new anti-bullying filter is only launching for English …

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Facebook is completely redesigning Messenger to make it simple again

2018-05-01T13:48:02-04:00

Facebook is giving Messenger a major design overhaul, promising a much simpler and cleaner user experience after years of jamming the chat app full of superfluous features like games.

"When you're messaging, you really want a simple and fast experience," Mark Zuckerberg said during the company's F8 keynote. "We're taking this moment to completely redesign Messenger to focus on these ideas." Zuckerberg again reiterated the "clean" and "fast" nature of the revamped Messenger app before moving on in the keynote.

Messenger VP David Marcus said that the refreshed app is coming "very, very soon" and is something the team has been working on sinc …

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Instagram Stories get GoPro and Spotify integration with more apps coming

2018-05-01T13:35:02-04:00

Instagram is rolling out several new features starting today, including new Stories integration with apps like Spotify and GoPro and a new camera effects platform that will allow celebrities and others to create face filters, text styles, and stickers.

If you're using the Spotify or the GoPro app, you can tap the respective share buttons to send your content to Instagram Stories. You can then edit and add to your story or send it as a direct message to someone. The Spotify integration allows you to share a sticker of songs, playlists, or albums you're currently listening to, with a link to play the music on Spotify. Instagram says the new S …

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