Techmeme: Snapchat introduces World Lenses, live filters for the rear-facing camera that add AR elements like a cloud, rainbow, and more (Casey Newton/The Verge)

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April 18, 2017, 5:50 PM

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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.

More: Facebook, SiliconANGLE, VentureBeat, BGR, PCWorld, ZDNet, Digital Trends, Recode, Marketing Land, The Next Web, Engadget, The Verge, Investor's Business Daily, Adweek, Polygon, Mashable, and Liliputing

Tweets: @gabrielvaldivia, @mikeisaac, @dannysullivan, @dhof, @ow, @dannysullivan, @dannysullivan, @richardjnieva, and @dannysullivan

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.

More: F8 2017, New York Times, GeekWire, Wired, The Register, The Verge, New York Times, Facebook for Developers, The Next Web, VentureBeat, Engadget, VentureBeat, Quartz, Quartz, Road to VR, Engadget, and Android Authority

Facebook: Facebook for Developers. Tweets: @kantrowitz, @caseynewton, @ldrogen, @willoremus, @om, @hackapreneur, @lexysavvides, and @joshm

See also Mediagazer

BuzzFeed:

Interview with Mark Zuckerberg, outlining his vision for smartphone camera-based AR experiences in everyday situations

More: Recode, Ars Technica, VentureBeat, The Next Web, Recode, Fortune, Mashable, and Engadget

Tweets: @alexeheath, @mat, @mat, @mims, @kantrowitz, @kantrowitz, @mikeisaac, @kantrowitz, @jandawson, @ow, and @kantrowitz. Thanks:@kantrowitz

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

Facebook launches React VR, its JavaScript framework for building basic VR apps

More: The Verge, Facebook Code, and GitHub

Steven Elia / Facebook Developers:

Facebook updates its Graph API, introducing Places Graph, offering free information on 140M+ places worldwide, updated Video API, more

More: GeekWire and VentureBeat

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:

Facebook surpasses 800M monthly gamers, up 23% YoY, and announces updates to Instant Games, Gameroom, and Gaming Video

More: GeekWire, CNET, and Facebook for Developers

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.

Jason Del Rey / Recode:

Sources: PetSmart is acquiring Chewy.com for $3.35B in the largest e-commerce acquisition ever — Bigger than Walmart's deal for Jet.com. — PetSmart has agreed to make the biggest e-commerce acquisition in history, putting a deal in place to snatch up fast-growing pet food …

More: Fortune, Thomson IR, Recode, Mashable, PE Hub Blog, Forbes, and Digital Commerce 360

Tweets: @felixsalmon and @katierosman

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.”

More: iFixit, BGR, New York Times, 9to5Google, BetaNews, BuzzFeed, The Register, Business Insider, CNBC, Android Police, CNET, Engadget, Business Insider, TechnoBuffalo, ABC News, Gotta Be Mobile, TechCrunch, Mashable, MacRumors, Recode, CIO.com, ZDNet, The Verge, The Verge, iPhone Hacks, Polygon, Phandroid, Cult of Mac, Axios, Android Beat, SlashGear, Droid Life, YouTube, ZDNet, ZDNet, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, and CNET

Tweets: @dcseifert, @laurengoode, @dannysullivan, @vladsavov, @stevekovach, and @stevekovach

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.

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.

More: TechCrunch, Gizmodo, 9to5Mac, Ars Technica, The Next Web, The Verge, Macworld, Business Insider, Ubergizmo, and iDownloadBlog.com

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 …

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.)

More: Breitbart, TheStreet, Federal Computer Week, Financial Times, emptywheel, CNNMoney, ZDNet, Fortune, The Verge, Recode, Wired, On MSFT, Neowin, Newser, CNET, and Business Insider

Tweets: @benthompson and @benthompson

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.

More: The Official Microsoft Blog, eWeek, The Register, PCWorld, CNNMoney, Business Insider, Windows Central, MSPoweruser, GeekWire, Neowin, On MSFT, and TechCrunch

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.

More: Google, PCWorld, ZDNet, Fortune, Bank Innovation, TalkAndroid.com, Engadget, Android Authority, Investor's Business Daily, Android Police, BetaNews, Droid Life, 9to5Google, and NFC World

Tweets: @brianroemmele and @tim_stevens

Ken Yeung / VentureBeat:

Yahoo beats expectations with $1.33B GAAP revenue in final quarter as an independent company, with Verizon sale “anticipated to complete in June” — Yahoo ($YHOO) reported its first quarter earnings on Tuesday, revealing that it generated $1.37 billion in revenue, a 26 percent increase …

More: ZDNet, Tech Trader Daily, and Investor's Business Daily

Narottam Medhora / Reuters:

IBM misses with revenue of $18.2B, down 2.8% YoY, as demand for legacy products stagnates; revenue from cloud services, security software, data analytics up 12%

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