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Facebook adds TV and music identification to its mobile apps to speed up status updates

May21
by on May 21, 2014 at 4:12 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Insider, Product Launches, Product Updates

Facebook has announced a new feature coming to its mobile apps which identify TV shows and music playing in the background so that users can more easily share the song or show they are listening to or watching. Announced today in a blog post, the company said the feature will be available in the iOS and Android apps in “the coming weeks”. Essentially, the opt-in feature allows the app to listen for content using the microphone to identify music, movies or TV shows playing in the background using a Shazam-style matching system, and it’s active any time you’re writing a status update. If it…

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Secret expands worldwide as it launches on Android with a dedicated friend stream

May21
by on May 21, 2014 at 3:34 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Insider

0521_secret_android
The anonymous posting app Secret has landed on Android with the often requested friend-only timeline option, new posting options and a count of how many of your friends are actually on the social network. While the new posting options like questions that support responses and the ability to see how many Secret friends you have are available on both iOS and Android, the Friend stream feature is exclusive to Android. The feature reduces the stream to only your friends. You still won’t know their identity, but your feed won’t be filled with Secrets in other towns. When asked about the availability…

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Vimeo introduces copyright matching system for content uploaded to its platform

May21
by on May 21, 2014 at 3:04 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider, Product Updates

fingerprint
Video hosting platform Vimeo has introduced copyright matching technology to ensure it remains “a home for original work — not for rips of movies, TV shows, music videos, and sports broadcasts”. Announced in a blog post, Vimeo says that unlike other copyright detection systems on other sites it is working hard to strike a balance between cutting down on hosted works that infringe copyright and allowing people to express their creativity with ‘fair use’ of copyrighted content, which is allowed under copyright law. Fingerprinting The system works by taking an audio ‘fingerprint’ of any uploaded material and checking it against a database of…

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x.ai is building a virtual email assistant that can schedule meetings on your behalf

May21
by on May 21, 2014 at 2:00 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

calendar_assistant
As a tech journalist, I’m no stranger to negotiating over meetings. With endless requests to meet for coffee, lunch or the quick phone briefing, there’s quite a lot of email back-and-forth to pin down an actual date and time. Generally it goes something like this: “Subject: Meeting up next week? Hi, I’m X and I represent X. We’ve got our CEO in town next month and were wondering if you had time for a quick catch up?” From here I have to find out exactly which days and what times the person is in town and available, and then see if that corresponds with…

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Keep track of your pet with the WhistleGPS wearable device and mobile app, shipping next summer

May21
by on May 21, 2014 at 2:00 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Gadgets, Product Launches

dog running
Whistle, the maker of a pet health and activity monitor of the same name, has taken the wraps off its next-generation pet wearable for US dog owners today, called WhistleGPS. As its name suggests, the WhistleGPS is a device that comes with a companion mobile app to help owners always keep a tab on their pet’s location. It adds on to Whistle’s existing activity monitoring device and app system, which monitors your dog’s activities across different categories including resting, walking, playing, running and swimming. The WhistleGPS is able to come to fruition in the US because of the deployment of a wireless network SIGFOX,…

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