Google and YouTube Team Up for a New Virtual Reality Format
It seems like the virtual reality hype has subsided somewhat these days, replaced by a surge of enthusiasm for augmented reality. Apple, Google, and Facebook are placing their bets on AR as the next world-changing tech innovation, pushing their VR aspirations to the back-burner. The general public just isn’t sold on VR yet, perhaps in […]
Google Is Using Machine Learning to Improve Your Job Search
During last month’s Google I/O developer conference, the company laid out its ambitious plan to incorporate AI technology into all of its products in the coming years. It has some potentially revolutionary plans up its sleeves, most notably Google Lens, a combination of AI, computer vision, and AR that turns your smartphone camera into an […]
Trump Invites Tech Leaders to White House for “Tech Week”
President Donald Trump’s disapproval rating currently hovers at around 60%, and in the tech industry it’s likely even higher. For a man who has presented himself as a master businessman for the entire duration of his public life, he’s certainly done a lot to alienate the major tech businesses that drive growth and innovation in […]
Apple (Finally) Announces Its AR Platform at WWDC
Everyone in tech seems to agree that the future is in augmented reality, but a clear AR leader has yet to emerge. Google and Facebook have a head start on the competition, but Apple threw its hat in the ring at this week’s WWDC with ARKit, its new AR platform. Apple can now claim that […]
Tech Giants Oppose Trump’s Withdrawal from the Paris Accord
The tech industry is by definition fixated on the future, so it’s no wonder that its leaders take the threat posed by climate change very, very seriously. What good is their world-changing technology if there’s no world left to change? So naturally the tech world was outraged by President Trump’s announcement that he would be […]
Leak Reveals Facebook’s Content Moderation Policies
Tasked with monitoring content generated from 2 billion users from a wide range of cultural backgrounds, Facebook’s moderators have a tough, maybe even impossible, job. These reviewers often have less than 10 seconds to decide whether or not content is appropriate, leaving them no time for nuance. The Guardian recently obtained more than 100 internal […]
Facebook’s New Drones Will Bring WiFi When Disaster Strikes
Mother Nature has a cruel tendency to knock out cell towers and other infrastructure after major natural disasters, when they are needed most. When communications are down, it’s extremely difficult for disaster relief efforts to coordinate and for panicked families to reach out to endangered loved ones in the impacted area. Fortunately, Facebook and Everfly, […]
Geofilter Patent Could Help Protect Snap Inc. from Copycats
After the initial hype of its IPO settled down, many mobile app developers were left wondering where Snapchat could go next. User growth was slowing even before the company went public, and its main competitor Facebook has been steadily cloning its defining features ever since Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel turned down Mark Zuckerberg’s offer […]
Facebook Announces Brain-Computer Interface Project at F8
The big reveal on day one of Facebook’s F8 developer conference was the company’s new augmented reality platform — maybe not the most mind-blowing news, but certainly an interesting direction for the company and an indication that all the Snapchat aping is building toward something. But as big as its AR aspirations are, they seem […]
Facebook Unveils Augmented Reality Platform at F8 Conference
Ten years after Facebook launched its game-changing Platform, the company is looking ahead to its next big conquest: augmented reality. “If you take one thing away from today, this is it,” said Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday in his keynote address at the annual F8 conference. “We’re making the camera the first augmented reality platform.” The […]