Techmeme
April 18, 2017, 7:05 PM

Top News

Lucas Matney / TechCrunch:
Facebook debuts Spaces, its social VR platform that lets up to four users hang out in VR, available in beta for Oculus Rift, to expand to other VR platforms  —  More than three years after its acquisition of Oculus, Facebook is a product even more deeply intertwined with people's online identities.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook debuts Camera Effects developer platform: Frames Studio for simple picture effects, available now; AR Studio for creating masks, scene effects, in beta  —  Facebook will rely on an army of outside developers to contribute augmented reality image filters and interactive experiences to its new Camera Effects platform.
Tim Peterson / Marketing Land:
Interview with David Marcus on making bots easier to find on Messenger, updates to M assistant, debut of Chat Extensions to help devs add in-chat functionality  —  ‘We have a shot at becoming the Yellow Pages of messaging apps,’ says Facebook's Messenger boss, David Marcus.
Ron Miller / TechCrunch:
BuzzFeed:
Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple to unveil three iPhones this fall, including two revamped models and new high-end model with curved OLED display; high-end model could be delayed  —  Apple is testing a revamped iPhone with an all-screen front, curved glass and a stainless steel frame alongside upgrades to the current models.
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple makes iMovie, GarageBand, and iWork apps for Mac and iOS free for all users; formerly they were free with the purchase of a new Mac or iOS device  —  Apple today updated several of its Mac and iOS apps, making them available for all Mac and iOS users for free.
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Samsung S8/S8+ review: gorgeous design, build quality, great camera, but fingerprint scanner is in awkward spot, Bixby's useless, preinstalled apps are annoying  —  The new S8 and S8 Plus aren't perfect, but they are damn close  —  People “aren't excited by new phones anymore.”
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Snapchat introduces World Lenses, live filters for the rear-facing camera that add AR elements like a cloud, rainbow, and more  —  Menlo Park, start your photocopiers  —  Snapchat today is rolling out world lenses, a new twist on its popular face filters that continues to the company's exploration of augmented reality.
Rich McCormick / The Verge:
Redesigned Google Earth brings interactive guided tours and 3D maps view to Chrome browsers and Android devices, coming to iOS and other browsers later  —  Just in time for Earth Day, Google has redesigned Google Earth for web and Android.  The new version adds new features that let users …
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Microsoft buys Intentional Software, which develops productivity scenarios for future workplaces; founder, ex-Microsoft exec Charles Simonyi, to rejoin the firm  —  Microsoft is acquiring Intentional Software, a Bellevue, Wash.-based productivity-app vendor whose well-known founder is a programming expert and former Microsoft manager.
Andrew Ross Sorkin / New York Times:
Steve Ballmer launches USAFacts, a project to provide an online database of spending across federal, state, and local governments  —  Guess what Steven A. Ballmer has been up to for the last several years.  (No, not just cheering for the basketball team he owns, the Los Angeles Clippers.)
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
PayPal teams up with Android Pay for mobile payments  —  PayPal is joining forces with Google's Android Pay mobile payments platform, the companies announced this morning - an effort aimed at allowing PayPal to expand its footprint both within mobile applications as well as at brick-and-mortar retailers.

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Reimagine your photos with a prompt  —  Our new native image generation and editing is state-of-the-art, and ranked #1 in the world.  Try it for free in the Gemini app.
F5:
Securing AI models and agents in the enterprise  —  The new AI stack creates a highly dynamic attack surface, and traditional controls aren't keeping up.  F5's recent acquisition will bring advanced AI guardrails to enterprise apps.
Zoho:
Uncover what's new in Zoho Solo with iOS 26 and iPadOS 26  —  It's that time of the year again when we get to bring you exciting new updates in Zoho Solo, all built to complement the latest from Apple.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
How People Use ChatGPT, Meta's New AI Glasses, Can Jimmy Kimmel Be Canceled?
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Hard Fork:
Charlie Kirk and Online Rage + Inside Trump's Chip Flip + This Week in A.I.
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Decoder with Nilay Patel:
How chatbots — and their makers — are enabling AI psychosis
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
Lenny's Podcast:
Why experts writing AI evals is creating the fastest-growing companies in history | Brendan Foody (CEO of Mercor)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
I tried Zuckerberg's $800 Ray-Bans. Are they the future? With Alex Heath
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
[trading places]:
sim desai hiive🐝 • emily zheng pitchbook⚾️📓 • vlad voroninski helm.ai 🤖🚙 • bytedance 🫦🕺🏻
a very bad podcast about broken unicorns & busted carry hosted by dave mcclure and aman verjee
Subscribe to [trading places].
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 7:05 PM ET, April 18, 2017.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Earlier Picks

Adrianne Jeffries / The Outline: