Items tagged with Snapchat
Do you remember what you used to do before the internet? Whether it's reading a book, hiking, or watching a TV show, you may have to return to those activities. Snapchat and several other services are down for some users today as an apparent and massive Google Cloud outage wreaks havoc with a bunch of popular apps, games, and services. Snapchat's support arm confirmed the outage in a Twitter post a little bit ago saying, "May Snapchatters are having trouble using the app. Hang tight, we're working on a fix. In the meantime, we recommend staying logged in." Discord also posted a message on Twitter saying, "There appears to be an issue upstream that is being worked on as we speak. We're seeing...
Read more...
For about the past eight years, Snapchat users had access to a filter that would overlay their speed of travel, measured in miles per hour. Not surprisingly, videos and photos shared to social media depicted some dangerously fast speeds recorded by the speed filter, prompting Snapchat to later cap the top speed, and now remove the overlay altogether. Filters and overlays are an integral part of the Snapchat experience, and the company is constantly infusing new ones into the mix to keep the app fresh and exciting. One that had stuck around for a long time, however, was the speed filter. And for a long while, Snap resisted pressure to remove it despite warnings that it could lead to unsafe driving...
Read more...
Snap is making a big play in the land of augmented reality by agreeing to acquire WaveOptics for a bit over $500 million when all is said and done. News of the pending acquisition comes just a day after Snap introduced its next-gen Spectacles, which are lightweight glasses with AR capabilities for the first time, aimed at creators. The company clearly sees a bright future in AR, and not just for creators, but the public at large. It's a big bet on Snap's part—at roughly $500 million, this ranks as Snap's biggest deal to date. Around half of that will be paid in stock right away, while the remaining portion will be forked over either in cash or stock over the next couple of years. WaveOptics...
Read more...
Snapchat has a new feature that will let you take a selfie and use the resulting image to put your face into videos and gifs -- deepfake style. The new feature is called Snapchat Cameos, and it's viewed as an alternative to Bitmoji for conveying feelings in a Snapchat message. Snapchat has stated that Cameo is currently a limited availability product that is in testing. For now, Cameos is said to be available in some limited international markets; however, a date for international rollout has been announced. The global launch of Cameos will happen on December 18 for iOS and Android. Using Cameos sounds simple enough, requiring users to take a selfie to show the app what you look like. Users can...
Read more...
SnapChat has once again redesigned its Spectacles, both in form and function. The newly announced Spectacles 3 feature a sleeker and more stylish look than either of the two previous generation models, also up the ante with dual high definition cameras to "capture depth and dimension the way our eyes do," in three dimensions. "Spectacles 3 are equipped with two HD cameras to capture Snaps in 3D and transform them with 3D Effects, inspiring creativity like never before," SnapChat says. There are two versions of the new Spectacles. The Carbon version features a monochromatic black with a semi-matte finish and glossy details, while the Mineral model (shown in the image at the top of this article)...
Read more...
When we last talked about about Snap back in March, it was rumored that the company would be launching a gaming platform in April. However, a new report of a much more negative nature is making the rounds that claims Snap employees have been using an internal tool to spy on users. The tool in question is called SnapLion, and was initially designed to gather information on users in response to a valid law enforcement request. Word of the alleged abuse of the SnapLion tool came from a pair of former employees, a current employee, and internal company emails according to the Motherboard report. SnapLion is described as "the keys to the kingdom" and allows Snap employees to have access to user location...
Read more...
Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, is getting set to launch a new gaming service according to sources familiar with the plans. Those sources claim that the gaming platform will be launched for developers next month and goes by the codename "Project Cognac." According to the source, the service will feature a handful of game titles developed outside of Snap that are specifically designed to work inside the Snapchat app. The game service is tipped to become official at the company's first summit for content and developer partners in LA on April 4. According to the report from Cheddar, along with the new gaming service, Snap will also be announcing new video initiatives that include new...
Read more...
Last summer Skype announced with some fanfare that it had overhauled its design. The design was very similar to Snapchat, and many Skype users didn’t like the change. Skype has now announced that after more than a year on the new design, it is changing back to a much simpler interface. Skype is also ditching its interpretation of Snapchat stories called Highlights. w Highlights allowed users on a mobile device to swipe up to open the smartphone camera where they could take a photo or record video to share. They were then able to decorate the media with text or stickers and shared with Skype users, groups, or posted to the app's Highlights section. Skype has faced the harsh reality that...
Read more...
Do you find it inconvenient to reach into your pocket and grab your phone to capture a special moment? Snap’s Spectacles may your answer. Snap (formerly Snapchat) is back with its second generation of Spectacles and have made a number of improvements to the original model. The first generation of Spectacles were a commercial failure. The company purportedly only sold roughly 150,000 units and lost $40 million USD as a result. Snap has since recorded customer and employee complaints about the Spectacles in order to avoid another substantial loss. The latest generation of Spectacles incorporate many of the suggested changes. First, both the current Spectacles and their charging case are smaller...
Read more...
One of the most controversial things that Snapchat has done in its history was to move from the traditional reverse chronological order to a feed that was sorted using an algorithm. Many hated this change because they wanted to see the newest posts from friends at the top, not what Snapchat thought was most important to place at the top of their feed. Reports are coming in that for some users the algorithm has been tossed out and the stories are sorted in reverse chronological order with the newest posts at the top again. Users who are seeing the feed change report that the chronological Stories feed is seen in the design where there are just Stories and All tabs and the design with separate...
Read more...
In the early years of Facebook, the social network spread like wildfire from one college campus to the next. It was new, it was fresh, and at the time, it was hip. Fast forward to today and those same college aged kids who signed up now share the world's largest social network with their parents and grandparents. Facebook is arguably not as 'cool' anymore, which might explain why it's losing users that are under 25 years old in the United States. According to eMarketer, Facebook saw a 9.9 percent decline in the 12- to 17-year-old demographic in 2017 in the US, nearly three times higher than the marketing firm predicted last year. That equates to 1.4 million US users out of 12.1 million total...
Read more...
We've known since the Google Pixel 2 smartphone launched that it had a dedicated imaging chip lurking inside that allows the camera to take HDR+ quality pictures when using the main photo app. Since the smartphone launched, that image processor has been just out of reach for third-party apps, but Google has finally activated the Pixel Visual Core. This means that Pixel 2 users can soon take images with HDR+ quality using apps like Instagram and Snapchat. If you aren’t familiar with the Pixel Visual Core, the imaging chip uses computational photography and machine learning to improve image quality. Pixel Visual Core can now make images taken in those third-party apps brighter, more detailed,...
Read more...
Snapchat isn’t having any of it, when it comes to employees leaking confidential data. The parent company of the popular app, Snap Inc., has laid down the law with a new company-wide memo that tells employees that it could seek jail time against them and that they could be personally financially liable if they leak company information to the public. This comes in the wake of some leaked Snapchat user metrics that the company didn’t want the public to see. Snapchat takes its security very seriously, with employees in some positions not even allowed to talk about what they are working on among other employees. Employees in the company are left in the dark about new features that...
Read more...
Snap Inc has debuted a new self-serve platform called Lens Studio that will allow people, marketers, and developers to create their own augmented reality objects. Snap has combined its forces with seven marketing partners including MediaMonks, Fishermen Labs, Haus, Avatar Labs, North Kingdom, Trigger Global, and VidMob who will work to make AR for brands and agencies. However, anyone can use Lens Studio. Lens Studio is a website that designers can login to that is tied to the Snapchat ad platform. With the website, user can create, publish, and share AR characters. Snapchat says that over 3,000 lenses have been created in the last year including graphics for sponsors like Warner Bros., Bud Light,...
Read more...
It seems as though there’s a lot of copycattin’ going on in the world of messaging apps. In recent months, Facebook has been accused of “stealing” heavily when it comes to adding functionality original found in Snapchat into its own communications apps Instagram and Messenger. Now we can add Microsoft to that list thanks to the ground-up redesign of its Skype app. Interestingly, this all-new Skype experience isn’t coming to Microsoft platforms first. Instead, Microsoft will first launch the new chat app on Android. The company’s mission is to make sure that “chatting is front and center”. One of the first things that you will notice with this redesign is that the messaging interface has...
Read more...
When you're doing battle with the biggest social network in existence, it's pretty difficult to make sure that you're always offering your customers fresh functionality to stay ahead of the pack - which has been Snapchat's modus operandi for quite some time. Just a month ago, Facebook copied Snapchat's Stories feature, and mere weeks later, it copied Snap's ability to add a variety of filters to your Stories. At some point in the future, Facebook should be bringing the ability to add 3D objects to the videos you share, as Snapchat has just unveiled the feature today. A quick, but great example of its use can be seen in this video (a static image like the one above doesn't do the feature...
Read more...
Snap, formerly known as Snapchat, is best known for its popular app that allows users to take pictures and videos that are viewable by recipients for up to 10 seconds. It became a huge hit and is still being widely used, though Snap apparently has other aspirations that include hardware. Hot the heels of announcing special eye-wear for Snapchat, word on the web is that Snap wants to build a drone. That information comes courtesy of three people who told The New York Times they've been briefed on the matter, but asked to remain anonymous because the details are not supposed to be made public. According to the sources, Snap's intention is to further solidify itself as a camera company. What does...
Read more...
Have you ever thought to yourself, “I really wish I could take a picture of my child/puppy/kitten, but rummaging in my pocket for my phone would ruin the moment”? In the words of Reba McEntire, “Have I got a deal for you”. Snap’s (formerly Snapchat) Spectacles are now available online for $129.99 USD. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel remarked, “It’s one thing to see images of an experience you had, but it’s another thing to have an experience of the experience. It was the closest I’d ever come to feeling like I was there again.” Spectacles are sunglasses that have one of the one of the world's smallest built-in cameras. They can record a ten second video, which can be loaded to the Snapchat app through...
Read more...
Alternate reality technologies (virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality) are taking the industry by storm. While relatively few consumer applications exist at this point, the field is set to explode as more and more companies jump on board. Count Snapchat among them. The photo and video sharing service that turned the messaging world upside down has acquired Cimagine, an Israeli startup with an augmented reality platform for retail stores. Cimagine has a handful of notable clients that it works. The biggest is Coca-Cola, which Cimagine says utilizes its augmented commerce platform to help its sales teams sell three times faster and see a 20 percent lift in sales. It also serves furniture...
Read more...
What is that yellow thing in the corner? Is it one of Gru’s minions? Nope, it is a vending machine for Snapchat’s Spectacles. The camcorder-like sunglasses are now available in “Snapbots” near Snapchat’s headquarters in Venice, California. The Spectacles are intended to help customers take hands-free videos. The videos will appear in the app in a new circular format. The Spectacles capture with a 115 degree field of view and videos can be played on any device at any orientation. The idea is that the videos will be captured the way human beings experience their memories. Users can shoot around 100 ten-second clips on the Spectacle’s internal storage. The pictures are then dropped into Snapchat’s...
Read more...
Let’s pretend you are at the park with your child. You would really love to send a video of them playing and giggling to grandma, but you do not want to ruin the moment by rummaging in your pocket for your phone and then awkwardly snapping a picture. Snapchat has the perfect, albeit slightly creepy, solution for you. Its “Spectacles” or camcorder-like sunglasses, should be hitting the market soon. Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel remarked, “It’s one thing to see images of an experience you had, but it’s another thing to have an experience of the experience. It was the closest I’d ever come to feeling like I was there again.” Snapchat, which has recently been rebranded as Snap, Inc., has been working...
Read more...
It's pretty remarkable how popular Snapchat has become. That hasn't gone unnoticed by the tech community at large—Facebook tried on at least two occasions to buy Snapchat, first for a whopping $1 billion then again for a staggering $3 billion, both which were turned down. Now Apple appears to want in on the action, though instead of making a bid for Snapchat, it wants to build its own version.Citing people familiar with Apple's strategy, Bloomberg says the Cupertino outfit wants to develop a video sharing and editing app similar to Snapchat as part of a broader mandate to focus on integrating social networking programs within its mobile products. Apple's taken notice of the success that companies...
Read more...
