Facebook’s efforts to compete head-on with Snapchat have been incredibly clear thanks to features like Stories. Now, the company is planning to revive its unpopular ‘Nearby Friends’ feature with a new Snapchat-like interface. While the Facebook location sharing feature has never been too popular, the company hopes this redesign could spur new interest.
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Chance currently writes for both 9to5Google and 9to5Mac, in addition to 9to5Toys. He has previously written for several other online publications. He uses a Nexus 5, iPhone 5s, iPad Air, Hackintosh, and Macbook Air.
As Google preps Pixel Slate tablet/convertible, Microsoft unveils latest Surface products
Ahead of Made by Google 2018 and the Pixel Slate next week, Microsoft today unveiled a handful of new Surface products, including the Surface Pro 6, Surface Laptop 2, Surface Headphones, and Surface Studio 2. The devices were also unveiled at a media event in New York City today.
Microsoft launches new ‘Your Phone’ feature to mirror Android apps on Windows 10 PCs
As part of its range of Surface product announcements today, Microsoft announced a new Your Phone functionality for Windows 10. This feature will allow Android users to easily mirror applications from their smartphone to their PC, and access things such as photos and text messages. Microsoft originally announced Your Phone last month, but is available to everyone today.
eBay announces MVNO partnership to pair wireless plans as low as $5 w/ smartphone purchases
eBay is one of the most popular platforms for reselling smartphones, and the company today announced a new partnership with Red Pocket Mobile. Through this partnership, customers will be able to buy a lower-priced wireless plan in conjunction with their smartphone purchase.
Snapchat partners with Amazon for new ‘Visual Search’ shopping feature
Following Instagram’s announcement of new shopping features last week, Snapchat is joining the fun with a new partnership with Amazon. As announced in a blog post, the company is partnering with Amazon for a new Visual Search shopping feature.
Twitter says it will make it easier to switch to a true chronological timeline soon
Twitter has received a lot of flack over recent years thanks to its resistance to a chronological timeline. In a series of tweets today, however, Twitter announced that it is working on “new ways to give you more control” over what you see in your timeline.
Snapchat now lets you use voice to control popular AR Lenses
Snapchat today continues to expand the feature-list for its popular lenses. As reported by TechCrunch, the company is rolling out new lenses that respond to voice commands, joining the existing catalog of lenses that respond to movements…
Huawei overtakes Apple to become the world’s 2nd largest smartphone vendor, IDC says
IDC has released its latest smartphone market data today, showing the continued growth of Huawei. According to the report, smartphone vendors shipped a total of 342 million units during the June quarter of 2018, which is down 1.8 percent compared to the same quarter last year…
Samsung reveals UL-approved ‘unbreakable’ OLED screen destined for smartphones
Samsung today announced that it has developed an “unbreakable” OLED panel. The company made the somewhat vague announcement in a press release, saying the display has been certified by Underwriters Laboratories as unbreakable….
Verizon wants to partner with either Apple or Google as its 5G TV provider, report says
A new report from Bloomberg this evening explains that Verizon is looking to partner with either Google or Apple when it rolls 5G service to homes later this year. Through the partnership, Verizon would be able to provide television service to its subscribers, according to the report.
Timehop says more user data was compromised in data breach than initially thought
Timehop today is providing additional information on the data breach it first revealed yesterday. According to TechCrunch, Timehop has discovered that the breach included more user data than it initially thought…
Facebook to shutter three of its mobile applications, including ‘Moves’ fitness tracking
In a blog post this afternoon, Facebook announced that it is shutting down three of its ancillary applications: Hello, Moves, and Tbh. The latter two were acquired by Facebook, while Hello was a first-party, Android-only app during its lifespan.
Facebook testing new feature to help you track the time you spend in its app
Amid a growing push towards improved digital health, Facebook is seemingly testing a new tool that would show users how long they spend on the platform per day. As reported by TechCrunch, the “Your Time on Facebook” feature was discovered in an unreleased version of the Facebook mobile app, with the company confirming the feature’s development…
YouTube touts 1.9B monthly logged-in viewers, adds $5/month Channel Memberships, merch integration, more
As VidCon 2018 continues, YouTube this evening has announced a slew of new features that it says will help creators “earn more money and build stronger communities.” YouTube detailed the new features in a blog post…
Facebook to begin rolling out autoplay video ads to Messenger users
Facebook is rolling out a controversial change to its popular Messenger application. As reported by Quartz, Facebook is beginning to test autoplaying video ads in Messenger, a move that isn’t likely to be well-received by users…
AT&T completes $85B Time Warner acquisition, promises to bring ‘fresh approach’ to media
Following Tuesday’s ruling from a federal judge, AT&T today has completed its acquisition of Time Warner. The deal, valued at $85 billion, was first announced in 2016 but faced a slew of regulatory delays due to antitrust concerns…
Instagram plans new long-form video hub to compete with YouTube & Snapchat Discover
Following a report yesterday suggesting Instagram was adding support for videos up to 1 hour in length, TechCrunch now offers additional details on the company’s video plans. The report likens Instagram’s video plans to Snapchat’s Discover feature…
Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report highlights Google’s machine learning accuracy, more
Mary Meeker today shared her annual Internet Trends Report at Recode’s Code Conference in California. The report serves as a great tool to analyze some of the year’s most notable trends, and this year is no different…
Nintendo announces new ‘Pokémon Quest’ game coming to Android next month, more
The Pokémon Company has made a pair of announcements tonight, including a brand new game available now for Nintendo Switch and coming to Android next month. The game is called Pokémon Quest and is free-to-play…
Facebook streamlines two-factor setup, adds support for home services to Marketplace
Facebook has today announced a pair of new features for its platform. The company is rolling out support for finding home service professionals via its Marketplace platform and is also making two-factor authentication easier to set up.
Snapchat officially launches first set of non-skippable video ads
Last month, we reported that Snapchat was in the process of testing non-skippable advertisements. Now, the company has officially launched its first set of ads as part of that initiative…
Report: Instagram’s upcoming ‘Music stickers’ will let you add soundtracks to your Stories
As it continues to expand its Stories platform, Instagram is seemingly planning a new feature that would make it easier to add music to Stories. According to TechCrunch, code found within the Instagram application indicates you could soon be able to add “Music stickers” to your Stories…
WhatsApp cofounder to leave Facebook amid growing differences over data sharing
WhatsApp cofounder Jan Koum announced today that he will be leaving the company. While Koum himself doesn’t elaborate on reasoning for the departure, a report from The Washington Post indicates that the decision comes amid growing discord with WhatsApp parent company, Facebook…
Twitter rolling out new timeline feature that groups news links together
As part of its continuing efforts to expand into a broader news market, Twitter is rolling out a new timeline change that groups tweets about the same story together. This feature aims to put all tweets about a story under the same banner, making it easies for users to see different takes…