OnePlus 5 launch: Dual rear camera specs confirmed, new image leaked

OnePlus 5 might not have officially launched, but everything about the OnePlus flagship is now public knowledge. The official image, camera specifications, and pretty much everything else it took to build this phone is now out in the open. The Verge has put out an exclusive story detailing the evolution of the OnePlus 5, and how the company came upon the design. The report also gives out details of the camera specifications for the OnePlus.

The Verge confirms OnePlus will have a 16MP Sony lens with f/1.7 aperture and the second camera is 20MP with f/2.6  aperture, and this is the telephoto lens. As the report highlights, OnePlus is going the Apple iPhone 7 Plus way with the “standard and telephoto lens combination,” and this was expected given the kind of photos that were being shared by the company. Also the tag line ‘Focus on what matters’ made it evident that OnePlus 5 would have a portrait mode similar to the Apple iPhone 7 Plus.

The Verge quotes OnePlus CEO Pete Lau as saying the company explored the idea of dual cameras last year, but the cost was too high, “We have to thank Apple for educating the market for us,” is what Lau is quoted as saying.  OnePlus 5 will thus have one of the highest resolution dual-rear cameras in the market.

The Verge story also gives a first look at how this camera’s software was the major part of the work for OnePlus and how exactly it works. And yes, the story gives a close look at the current OnePlus 5 smartphone.

The Verge story isn’t the only one which has given all the details about the upcoming OnePlus 5. Well known tipster Evan Blass has also given out a leaked image of the OnePlus 5 on VentureBeat. Blass also shared the image on his Twitter account. The leaked image appears to match most of the other recent leaks we’ve seen. It also confirms the OnePlus 5 design hasn’t changed drastically, and that the display will likely remain at 5.5-inches. OnePlus 5 continues with the aluminium chassis we saw on the earlier OnePlus 3, OnePlus 3T, but with more muted antenna bands on the back.

Additionally the report on VentureBeat puts the price of the OnePlus 5 between $479 and $539, which will depend on the variant. So if the 6GB variant costs $479, this works out to Rs 30,000 plus, which is inline with the Rs 32,999 price that is being reported for the OnePlus 5 in India. The 8GB RAM variant will cost Rs 34,000 if you go by conversion, which is again closer to the leaked prices we’ve seen so far.

The OnePlus 5 was also spotted during television commercials in India during the Champions Trophy ICC Final between India and Pakistan. OnePlus’ ad gave a pretty clear look at the OnePlus 5 smartphone. 

OnePlus 5 will officially launch globally tonight at 9.30 pm, and OnePlus will have a livestream for the same on their YouTube channel, which users can watch.

Specifications, leaked images, and now exclusive reports have confirmed what the OnePlus 5 will look like, and we’ll have to wait and see how it performs. OnePlus 5 launches in India on June 22, and will go on sale on Amazon India at 4.30 pm, along with the OnePlus India online store, and the OnePlus exclusive store in Bengaluru.

Pakistan eyes 2018 start for China-funded mega dam opposed by India

Pakistan expects China to fund a long-delayed Indus river mega dam project in Gilgit-Baltistan with work beginning next year, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said in an interview to Reuters.

Pakistan has been keen for years to build a cascade of mega dams along the Indus flowing down from the Himalayas, but has struggled to raise money from international institutions amid opposition from India.

Those ambitions have been revived by China’s Belt and Road infrastructure plans for Pakistan, a key cog in Beijing’s creation of a modern-day Silk Road network of trade routes connecting Asia with Europe and Africa.

The $12-$14 billion Diamer-Bhasha dam should generate 4,500 megawatts (MW) of electricity, and a vast new reservoir would regulate the flow of water to farmland that is vulnerable to increasingly erratic weather patterns.

Iqbal, the Islamabad lead on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), said a Chinese company from a Beijing-picked shortlist and a local partner would build the dam over a 10-year period, and work should begin in the “next financial year”, which begins in July.

“This water reservoir is most critical for food security in Pakistan, so is a very high priority project for Pakistan,” Iqbal told Reuters late on Monday at his ministerial home in Islamabad.

China and Pakistan signed a memorandum of understanding in December for Beijing to help fund and develop Pakistan’s Indus Basin dams, though no timelines have been released. Pakistan estimates there is 40,000 MW of hydro potential.

The Diamer-Bhasha dam and reservoir would displace more than 4,200 families in nearby areas and submerge a large section of the Karakoram Highway to China, Pakistan’s Water and Power Development Authority estimates.

Iqbal said Pakistani and Chinese engineers are also surveying other projects, including the 7,100 MW Bunji hydro power project that will be the first in the cascade that stretches down to the Tarbela Dam near Islamabad.

India’s foreign ministry and ministry for water resources did not respond to requests for comment.

India has previously opposed any construction in the Indus Basin it claims as its own, and has criticised CPEC because the $57 billion corridor runs across disputed territory.

India this year fast-tracked $15 billion worth of dam projects on its side of Kashmir, despite fears from Islamabad that the power stations will disrupt vital Indus water flows into Pakistan.

Iqbal, a close ally of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said India needs to “stop its myopic thinking towards CPEC” and accept the Chinese-funded project is going ahead. Better still would be for India to become part of Beijing’s Belt and Road plans, he said.

“$20 BILLION PLUS”

Future CPEC plans are increasingly focused on how Beijing can help build up Pakistan’s ailing industries, creating special economic zones and opening up sectors from mining to agriculture to Chinese firms.

But Iqbal said infrastructure construction won’t stop, with contracts set to be signed for roads and for mass rail transport systems in Quetta, Peshawar and Karachi.

He said about $10 billion in new deals should be signed in the next year on top of Chinese pledges topping $50 billion, and that was likely to double by 2020.

“I would say conservatively $20 billion plus (in new investment by 2020),” Iqbal said, adding this would also include private investment.

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Should you be excited about the Essential Phone from the co-creator of Android?

When the co-creator of the Android operating system announces a smartphone, you pay attention. Andy Rubin recently introduced the Essential Phone, a bid to give the iterative smartphone market as much of a jolt as Android itself did.

It’s touted a bold vision for a modular phone that can futureproof your next purchase. The father of Android is onto something when he says he wants the Essential Phone to evolve with you over years.

The ex-Google executive could pick up the modular pieces of Google’s failed Project Ara phone, and give us a flagship-level device that doesn’t need to be fully upgraded every other year. Rubin’s could do for hardware with mods what he did for software with Android customizations a decade ago.

But the Essential Phone could also easily become another also-ran handset, one with trendy idea masked by a recognizable name. It’s hard to go up against the likes of Apple, Samsung and Google, even for Rubin.

Let’s take a closer look at the Essential Phone and its chances of actually becoming essential.

Specced like your average flagship

On paper, the Essential Phone specs impress, but fail to set themselves apart. It has 4GB of RAM, a Snapdragon 835 chipset, 3040mAh battery with fast charging, and a standard 128GB of UFS 2.1 storage. 

Everything here is good, especially when crammed inside an impressively low-profile body. But being thin has been in vogue forever, and the Snapdragon 835 chipset has now become a must for a new flagship Android phone. 

You don’t have to look far to find a half-dozen other flagship phones boasting nearly the same innards. It even omits a 3.5mm headphone jack to show how perfectly in line it is with today’s most controversial smartphone design trend.

So, it’s not a flagship killer, it’s just a flagship. That doesn’t read as ‘essential’, and it’s probably better that Essential not try to copy OnePlus’s schtick. 

It attempts to show that it’s a leader in a few ways, like with its unique accessory pins and the nearly bezel-free design. But if those features don’t matter to you, it’s just another member of the herd of powerful, premium phones.

The nearly special screen

The Essential Phone’s screen stands out – almost. A year ago, the 19:10 display on the Essential Phone would have blown people away. Bezels were abound on smartphones, and every company was competing to hide them, either by making theirs narrower or more elegant. 

In true 2017-style, the Essential Phone comes very close to being completely bezel-free. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the first phone to sport a screen that occupied the majority of the phone’s face. The Samsung Galaxy S8, LG G6 and Xiaomi Mi Mix already beat it to the punch.

Even so, the Essential Phone’s screen has a resolution of 2,560 x 1,312 and is covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 5, so it should stand proudly among the pack of 2017 flagship phones. The problem is, it just seems to be checking off the aspects of a flagship that other smartphone manufacturers have already deemed to be essential.

Bloatware beware?

In a blog post, Andy Rubin described why he started Essential, and one reason in particular stood out as it related to bloatware. His post says, “devices are your personal property. We won’t force you to have anything on them you don’t want to have.”  Reading into this a little, it sounds like the phones are going to come with stock Android installed, or something close to it.

Funny enough, Rubin then mentioned that an Essential-specific virtual assistant -- much like Siri, Bixby, Alexa, or Google Assistant -- would arrive with the phone. Details on that are limited, but some might see that as bloatware if it comes pre-installed. 

In an interview, Rubin expressed some concerns about partnering with mobile network carriers, as they often load their own bloatware into the phones they sell. However, Rubin also hopes to distribute the phone through brick and mortar retailers, which could mean retail versions of the Essential Phone loaded with mobile carriers’ software or even carrier-locked models.

It remains to be seen how Rubin’s software principles manifest, but a lack of bloatware and freedom to delete any pre-installed apps could set the Essential Phone apart from a lot of the pack, making it more similar to a Google Pixel or a rooted Android experience in some regards. 

Tougher than the competition

One thing the Essential Phone seems to be declaring as essential is durability. The company proudly points out that its phone has a frame is made of titanium. Many smartphone manufacturers are turning to aluminum frames to give their phones a solid body and a premium feel while keeping the price down. 

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Titanium is harder and less bendable than aluminum, so it will show less damage from falls and handle more stress before getting twisted out of shape. The above image shows the Essential Phone atop two aluminum framed smartphones, presumably all have been dropped, and only the aluminum phones show signs of damage. The Essential Phone also has a ceramic back, which is extremely durable, allows radio signals to pass through and maintains a premium feel all around. 

The Essential Phone appears to have an upper hand in materials. Ceramic has shown up on smartphones before, notably on the OnePlus X, but titanium smartphones are not an everyday sight. Committing to a tough smartphone is a great move on Essential’s part, as fragility should not be an essential aspect of a smartphone. Unfortunately there are no details on water resistance yet, and the Gorilla Glass 5 screen’s durability will be another matter.

Three cutting-edge cameras

Dual-camera smartphones have been popping up for a while – some tasked with capturing 3D images, some combining photographic metadata from the two sensors for a more detailed shot, and others allowing you to shoot in a variety of unique styles. 

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Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus wasn’t the first to with a dual-lens camera, but it’s gotten the most attention for the feature. As such, we’re probably not going to see the dual-camera arrangement go away too soon and Essential Phone fully embraces the idea.

What does it do exactly? Essential claims its dual 13MP cameras setup will allow “200% more light than traditional phone cameras.” Since dark settings are notoriously difficult for smartphone cameras, more light can’t hurt. With a lot of people relying solely on a phone as their primary camera, ensuring quality photography should be essential to a premium smartphone formula, and Essential seems to get that with the inclusion of this feature.

The 8MP, 4K-capable selfie camera on the front stands out – for better or worse – as it cuts right into the screen real estate at the top of the phone. It won’t block most of the information in the Android notification bar in the end and 16:9 video playback on the 19:10 screen aspect ratio won’t even extend to the edges anyway. It’s a small price to pay for a 4K front-facing camera.

A connector for the non-essentials

Perhaps where the Essential Phone stands out most is in its approach to non-essential features. On the back of the phone, there is a special connector where accessories can magnetically attach and function wirelessly with the phone. To start, Essential is releasing a small 360-degree camera attachment and a wireless charging dock. 

Motorola has done something similar with its Moto Mods on the Moto Z and likely Moto Z2, which have various attachments that enhance or add new functionality to the phone, such as a pico projector or an optical zoom camera. 

Here’s what’s different about the Essential Phone approach: the connecter is small and attachments don’t have to conform to the dimensions of the phone, meaning future models of the Essential Phone can have wildly different designs and earlier accessories will still work.

Rubin stated in the above interview that the accessory connector technology would be open source, which suggests that the ability to add or enhance functionality should be essential to smartphones. The accessory connector fits in with Rubin’s belief that “devices shouldn’t become outdated every year. They should evolve with you.” The Essential site even says the connector is meant to keep the phone “future-proof, and always up-to-date.”

This could be the key feature of the Essential Phone that sets it apart from the highly competitive crowd it’s set to enter. Though the accessory connector is about non-essential features, it seems the idea is that it will allow the phone to incorporate new features almost as soon as users and manufacturers start to deem them essential.

So, essentially, how does it stand?

The success of Essential hinges on how well Andy Rubin and his new team actually execute this first project. With no previous phone models, there’s little to suggest how well the new company will put together this phone and give users adequate support. 

The new phone has all the features and specs a modern flagship smartphones needs. It checks a lot of boxes, and aside from predictable complaints about the front-facing camera cutting into the screen, many will even find the design aesthetically pleasing. It’s titanium and ceramic body appear to be a solid match. The issue here is that it does little to distinguish itself from the already crowded flagship market currently dominated by Apple and Samsung.

The wireless accessory port has a lot of potential, especially for users that want customization options with their phone. The promise of this feature unfortunately depends heavily on how well Essential sells the phone and draws third-party support. 

What’s the outlook on its modular accessories future? Rubin said Essential would make a few of its own attachments, but an accessory port that can support an endless variety of attachments won’t truly shine if only a handful of accessories are ever made. We’ve seen that play out unsuccessfully with the LG G5.

The Essential Phone may go one of two ways. This is either going to be a Moto Z competitor with even more versatility, or another LG G5-like misfire, which launched with a lot of promise and ended up with two modular accessories. We’ll know more later this month.

5 must know facts about the Paytm Payments Bank

Paytm is in the process of converting its mobile wallet into a dedicated Payments Bank which was officially announced yesterday. This means that the users who access Paytm on a regular basis are in for a couple of major changes, mostly pertaining to handling Paytm. 

The good news is that some of the hidden fees and charges that exist on the standalone version of the wallet will no longer be applicable as Paytm is a full-fledged RBI approved Payments Bank now. You can request for an invite to open a Payments Bank account from Paytm’s official page here . 

Here are five must know things about Paytm’s newest venture: 

It’s pretty much like a bank

While there is some vagueness about the term “Payments Bank”, it’s pretty much like a bank. Paytm will offer 4% interest on your savings every year, meaning this is no different from a regular bank. The interest rates are on par with some nationalized banks, though. Airtel is currently offering 7.5% interest on deposits, so Paytm clearly has a lot of catching up to do. 

Zero balance requirement

Since it’s like a bank account now, users might be wondering about the minimum balance required on the account. Well, you’ll be pleased to know that it is a zero balance account, giving you the liberty to load up cash as you see fit. 

No fees on transactions

If you send money from Paytm to a bank account right now, you will be charged a 2% transaction fee for the transaction. Well, this will no longer be a concern with the Paytm Payments Bank as you can send money via IMPS, NEFT, and RTGS without any extra fees. 

Chequebook, Debit Card, Demand Draft available soon

Paytm will also issue debit cards, chequebooks, and demand drafts via its Payments Bank very soon. Users will be charged a nominal fee for the same, which is in line with other banks. 

Exciting cashback promos on deposits

Paytm is immensely popular for its cashback promotions. The company understands this pretty well, and is offering a cashback of Rs 250 on every deposit of Rs 25,000 or above on your Paytm Payments Bank account. The cashback is only valid four times per month. The promotion is subject to change without prior notice, so this could well be an introductory offer.

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US to announce USD 110 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia as President Trump visits region

US officials say the Trump administration plans to announce USD 110 billion in advanced military equipment sales and training to Saudi Arabia this weekend as President Donald Trump visits the country.

The package includes tanks, combat ships, missile defense systems, radar and communications and cybersecurity technology. The announcement is expected on Sunday. Officials providing details were not authorised to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Much of the package builds on commitments made before Trump took office.

Separately, the administration on Saturday informed Congress it will sell some USD 500 million in precision guided munitions to Saudi Arabia.

The State Department says the munitions will improve Saudi’s targeting ability, particularly in Yemen where it has been criticised for civilian deaths in its fight against Iranian-backed rebels

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Trump signs $1 trillion spending bill, keeps government open

TOI BRANCHBURG: President Donald Trump signed his first piece of major legislation on Friday, a $1 trillion spending bill to keep the government operating through September.

The bill cleared both houses of Congress this week and Trump signed it into law behind closed doors at his home in central New Jersey, well ahead of a midnight Friday deadline for some government operations to begin shutting down.

But other budget battles lie ahead as the White House and Congress hammer out a spending plan for the fiscal year that starts October 1.

Republicans praised $15 billion in additional Pentagon spending obtained by Trump, as well as $1.5 billion in emergency spending for border security, though not for the wall he has vowed to build along the US-Mexico border to deter illegal immigration, and the extension of a school voucher program in the District of Columbia.

Trump also wants a huge military buildup matched by cuts to popular domestic programs and foreign aid accounts.

Trump signed the bill despite his objections to numerous provisions included in the measure. One such provision prohibits the Justice Department from using any funds to block implementation of medical marijuana laws by states and US territories. In a signing statement that accompanied the bill and that laid out his objections, Trump said he reserved the right to ignore the provision. He held out the possibility that the administration could pursue legal action against states and territories that legalize marijuana for medical use.

Marijuana remains illegal for any purpose under federal law. The White House previously signaled a looming crackdown on recreational pot use.

"I will treat this provision consistently with my constitutional responsibility to take care that the laws be faithfully executed," Trump said in the signing statement, a tool that previous presidents have used to explain their positions on appropriations bills.

Trump also objects to provision governing the transfer of prisoners held at a US facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But the White House said his objection should not be seen as a shift in policy, but as a statement of his view that the provision could conflict with his constitutional authority and duties in some circumstances.

Trump said during the presidential campaign that he wanted the detention center, known as "Gitmo," kept open. At one point, he pledged to "load it up with some bad dudes."

Republicans and Democrats who negotiated the spending bill in recent days had successfully defended other accounts Trump had targeted for spending cuts, such as foreign aid, the Environmental Protection Agency, support for the arts and economic development grants, among others.

The sweeping, 1,665-page bill also increases spending for NASA, medical research, and the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies.

Trump took to Twitter earlier this week to complain about the bipartisan process that produced the measure but later changed his tone and began highlighting the spending that was added for the military and for border security. He advocated in one tweet for a "good shutdown" in September to fix the "mess" that produced the bill, but then appeared in the White House Rose Garden hours later to boast that the measure amounted to a big win for him.

In other areas, retired union coal miners won a $1.3 billion provision to preserve health benefits for more than 22,000 retirees. House Democrats won funding to give Puerto Rico's cash-strapped government $295 million to help ease its Medicaid burden.

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White House welcomes Infosys move to hire 10,000 Americans

The White House has welcomed the announcement by global software major Infosys to hire 10,000 American workers in the next two years, calling it a "political victory". 

"We're glad to see companies like Infosys see opportunity in the American economy again," said Ninio Fetalvo, a White House spokesman, in a statement to the Washington Post. 

Infosys on Tuesday announced that it would hire 10,000 American workers in the next two years and would set up four technology and innovation hubs across North America to focus on cutting-edge technology, including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, user experience, emerging digital technologies, cloud and big data. 

The first hub will open in the midwestern state of Indiana in August and is expected to create 2,000 jobs by 2021 for American workers. 

"The hubs will have technology and innovation focused areas and serve clients in key industries such as financial services, manufacturing, healthcare, retail and energy," said the firm in a statement. 

The White House characterised the Infosys announcement as a political victory, pointing to it as further evidence that companies are renewing investment in the US as a result of the Trump administration's "pro-growth economic agenda". 

Clients in the US contribute about 60 per cent of the company's software export revenue per year. 

"We are committed to hiring 10,000 American technology workers over the next two years to help invent and deliver the digital futures for our clients in the US," said Infosys Chief Executive Vishal Sikka in the statement. 

The $10.3-billion company will hire experienced professionals as well as recent graduates from major universities and local and community colleges to create talent pools for the future. 

The decision to ramp up local hiring by Indian IT majors like Infosys, TCS and Wipro comes also in light of Trump's order to ensure that H-1B visas were awarded to the most skilled and highly-paid. .

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Google now has a Raspberry Pi-like computer for Android

Want to run Android, but don't want to buy a smartphone, tablet or Android TV device? Then this may be the answer to your prayers: Google has teamed up with Huawei to deliver the HiKey 960, a Raspberry Pi style computer board that runs Android.

Developed with teams at Google, ARM, Huawei, Archermind, and LeMaker, it was made primarily so that Android developers could code on a device using an ARM based chip like so many of the devices that run Android apps, rather than on Intel x86 chips.

But while it's based primarily at developers, there's nothing stopping anyone running it as a straight Android computer.

Top specs

It's a powerful board too, in line with the top-end performance of Android's big smartphone hitters.

The HiKey 960 has a Huawei Kirin 960 octa-core chip, which makes use of four high-performance ARM Cortex-A73 and four efficient Cortex-A53 cores. That's the same as you'd find in the Huawei Mate 9. 32GB of storage is onboard along with 3GB of RAM. Frustratingly however, though the board's Mali G71 GPU can deliver 4K visuals, the board's HDMI 1.2a slot will limit it to 1080p output.

Elsewhere, the board offers 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1, with PCIe m.2 slots for expanding storage and connectivity options, and 40-pin and 60-pin connectors for monitors and cameras.

Getting Android 7.1 working on the board won't be as simple as "plug-in-and-play" however – you'll need to work on your command line know-how and follow instructions laid out by Google. But as a learning project it should be fascinating. 

Launching in May, it's priced at $239, which converts roughly to £185 or AU$320.

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Facebook’s new Surround 360 cameras, and what they offer

Facebook announced two new Surround 360 cameras at its recently concluded F8 Conference in San Jose, California. The x24 and x6 are the second generation of Facebook Surround 360 camera (the first one was a prototype that never went on sale), and the new 360 cameras offer what Facebook is calling the ‘six degrees of freedom,’ when it comes to VR footage.

In a post, Facebook Vice President for Virtual Reality Hugo Barra, said the new cameras offer ‘the most immersive videos ever created for VR.’ While x24 has 24 cameras, the x6 is smaller and features six cameras. The x24 is capable of capturing videos and footage at “full RGB and depth at every pixel.” Facebook won’t actually be selling these cameras, but will be licensing them to some ‘commercial partners’.

The two new variants of Facebook’s 360 Camera family will drastically change how VR video is shot and experienced. For starters, it offers increased freedom in all angles or the ‘Six degrees of freedom,’ which is different from traditional VR cameras.

If viewed through a VR headset, videos and pictures shot using the 24x camera will let a user view all angles with perfect clarity. The immersive view will allow objects to move with the tilting of one’s head, giving a real-life experience, claims Facebook. There won’t be any borders, and one will feel more like floating around an area.

Not only does the camera offer a complete viewing experience, but it also offers an enhanced quality thanks to 3D pixels. This means each and every pixel has depth, and can change how VR content will be created. For VR game creators, they will be able to add 3D effects to live shots making them more immersive for the user.

As Hugo Barra explained in his Facebook post, because x24 captures objects in 3D,  it can allow creators to add CGI or computer generated images straight into a live sequence. The 3D pixels overlap to create realistic images in greater depth, thus making them look more like scenes of high-end 3D games.

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MeitY expects infrastructure for digital payments to grow by threefold in India by December 2017

India is marching towards a cashless economy. The infrastructure for digital payments in the country is predicted to increase by three-fold by the end of 2017. The number of Electronic Point of Sales (EPOS) machines in use may go up to five million during this period. 

Aruna Sundararajan, the Secretary of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, said: “We expect that by December, the number will actually go up to five million PoS, which means that the infrastructure for digital payments is going to grow three times in the short span of one year.” 

She also stated that the number was doubled since the demonetization in November 2016. The figures showcase that people are slowly leaning towards digital payments in the country. 

She added, “We know that in the last 30 year or even a little longer since the digital payments have been around, we had about 1.5 million electronic PoS (machines). In the last four months since demonetization, this number has doubled, and today we are at three million PoS”. 

POS machines are completed by wallet payments offered by Paytm, Mobikwik, Freecharge, Jio Money, etc. Also, foreign players like Samsung, Whatsapp, Truecaller, etc., are betting high on the digital payments market in India. Overall, Indians are embracing digital payments. 

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Facebook F8 conference: Camera for AR, Social VR, Messenger 2.0 and more

Facebook’s F8 developer conference has begun with some key announcements from the company, including more AR emphasis for the camera, Spaces for Social VR, Workplace, and updates to Messenger. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made it clear that for the company the big focus was on camera and pushing augmented reality.

Augmented Reality will let people interact and explore things that have only been possible in digital world, pointed out Zuckerberg.

“We’re all about extending the physical world online… so AR is going to help us mix the digital and physical reality better,” he added.

“Over the last couple of years, we’ve started to see primitive version of these on our phones. A lot of people look at this stuff and it seems basic. We look at this and we see the beginning of a new platform. We’re not using primitive tools, because we’re still in the journey to create better ones,” said the Facebook CEO. Here’s a quick look at the top announcements from F8.

Camera for AR

Mark Zuckerberg spoke about how they want to make camera as the first AR platform. The company will help developers build for this.  Facebook has announced a “Camera Effects Platform”, which will give developers tools to create effects for the new camera on the social network.

This new platform is still in beta though, and will include two products: Frames Studio and AR Studio.

Frames Studio is an online creative editor, which is available globally, and will let developers design frames that can be used either as profile picture frames or in the new Facebook camera. The AR Studio, which is open for beta apps will focus on creating masks, effects, animated frames, etc that can react to movement or interactions during Live videos. Interestingly, rival Snapchat just announced 3D Animated Lenses or filters than can also react to live movements from a user.

Facebook has also rolled out two live effects to Live Videos, which are This or That and GIPHY Live. These are powered by the AR Studio tool, and will respond to what happens in the livestream in real time. Essentially, the Facebook Camera will have a lot more AR driven elements in the future.

Facebook Spaces

Facebook Spaces is a new virtual reality app, launching in beta for Oculus Rift. It will let users hang out with VR versions of their Facebook friends, and also includes 360 videos and photos.

Users can interact with this virtual world, for example, which is the whole point of VR. For example, “they can draw in the air with a virtual marker”, even phone your friends in the real world with Messenger’s video calling. When the friend picks up the call, it opens a windows into this VR world. People can also create photos in this VR world, and share with their friends.

Messenger

The Messenger platform also got a boost a F8, which is not surprising given that Facebook has been aggressively pushing this app, every since it was made separate from the main app. Facebook Messenger will now have a Discover tab to help people find the right bot from the home screen itself.

Facebook is also adding Messenger codes, which people can scan to find brands, businesses on the app.

Additionally chat extensions will allow multiple people to chat with same business simultaneously. People can now add a bot inside their group thread. Facebook Messenger’s AI assistant M will now have the option of ordering food in the US via delivery.com. Messenger is also getting smart replies as well.

Workplace

Workplace, which is Facebook for work, will now have new integrations, including Live video feature. Facebook says over 14,000 organisations are using “Workplace on every continent, including Antarctica.”

Workplace will also be getting bots, and Facebook plans to introduce a free version of this later in 2017. The free service, however, won’t come with administrative tools or the ability to sync with Google Drive or OneDrive; for that the organisation will have to pay. Facebook will have a paid version of this from September 30, and it will start charging at $3 for first 1000 people.

Places Graph

This will provide free data to over 140 million places, including public spaces and parks, to restaurants, stores and other local businesses. Think of this as how Google displays data around a business or a place; Facebook will do the same, showing a user the place name of the place or landmark, address, photos, ratings based on Facebook user votes, etc.

Developer Circles

This will be Facebook’s community-driven program and any developer can join it free of cost. According to Facebook, each of the ‘Developer Circle’ will be led by members of the community who can hold offline events, meetings, etc. The idea is to encourage developers to meet, share their ideas, build new tools with help from Facebook.

Facebook Analytics

Facebook Analytics will give users new tools to analyse their app and website. The new “Automated Insights tool” will now rely on advanced machine learning and AI for new insights for users.

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