Twitter reveals improvements to rein in Facebook's lead

Twitter reveals improvements to rein in Facebook's lead

Chris Johnston

The Guardian

Twitter has revealed a number of planned improvements in a bid to rein in Facebook’s lead in the social media battleground.
One of the most significant could be imminent changes to direct messages, which will allow users to share and discuss tweets privately, said Kevin Weil, vice-president of product, at the company’s first financial analyst day in San Francisco.
The chief executive, Dick Costolo, said: “I strongly believe private messaging virality is important to our long-term growth”, in a reference to content that goes viral.
The move comes after Facebook’s recent controversial introduction of a separate Messenger app which mobile users of the social network have been forced to use to communicate privately with other members.
Weil also said that Twitter users would be able to upload video in addition to short, looping Vine clips by next summer: “You should be able to record, edit and share your own videos natively on Twitter.”

Instant timeline

Twitter said that the site needed to ensure new users understood how to use it. An upcoming “instant timeline” will offer content without making them search Twitter for individual users to follow.
“We’re exploring ways to surface relevant tweets so the content that is interesting to you is easy to discover … while still preserving the real-time nature of the platform that makes Twitter special,” Weil said.
Twitter has 284 million users, compared with Facebook’s 1.3 billion, and has been searching for ways to drive growth and keep users more active on the site. The company said last month that timeline views per user - a key measure of engagement - fell by 7% globally in the third quarter.
It would be possible to roughly double the number of Twitter users to more than 550m in the “intermediate term”, with a longer term goal of 1billion-plus, executives said.

“Consumption-first experience”

Anthony Noto, Twitter’s new chief financial officer, was not concerned that the number of posts on Twitter has remained flat at about 500m a day. The company wanted to get people to read more, rather than post more: “We really need to build a consumption-first experience.”
One of his slides read: “We believe we have the best aggregated content on one platform in the world - much of which is unique, appeals to everyone, and is relevant on a daily basis … There are a number of potential growth drivers that, in combination, if all executed successfully, could drive over $11bn in revenue.”
Twitter said it had about 60,000 advertisers, while more than 9m small and medium-sized businesses had a presence on the service.
However, analysts were reserving judgment on the ambitious growth plans. Richard Greenfield, of BTIG Research, said: “The question becomes, ‘will the product innovations drive a significantly larger user base and greater engagement/time spent with the product?’ Time will tell.”
The company also said it would focus on building the fastest app, increasing speeds on Wi-Fi connections by 50%, with a 60% increase on mobile networks.

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 Taylor Swift Says Her Dream Collaborator Is Vance Joy

GETTY IMAGES

Taylor Swift revealed her dream concert guests, and one of them is Vance Joy! In an interview withTime, she says that, along with Iggy Azalea and Haim, her dream stage collaboration is the guy who just so happens to be joining her 1989 tour.

"The things that I try to really focus on when bringing out people as surprise guests is what do my fans really want to see, what would they lose their minds over?" she said.

"Not to show too many of my cards here — but I have probably 10 guests that I’m thinking about that would be amazing."

Since the "Shake It Off" singer knows how to get what she wants, we wouldn't be surprised if she makes her other dream collaborations a reality. And for those Swifties who can't make it to her concerts, a studio duet would also be super-cool!

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Zayn Malik Did the Most Adorable Thing For A Fan:

Zayn Malik may be the shyest member of One Direction, but he still has an amazingly big heart! The singer showed how much he cares about a Directioner named Bella Marie Yallop, who recently lost her mother to cancer, by recording her a supportive video.

Her father posted a message on Facebook asking for a message from her favorite member, Zayn, as a present for her sixth birthday.

Taylor Swift revealed her dream concert guests, and one of them is Vance Joy! In an interview withTime, she says that, along with Iggy Azalea and Haim, her dream stage collaboration is the guy who just so happens to be joining her 1989 tour.

"The things that I try to really focus on when bringing out people as surprise guests is what do my fans really want to see, what would they lose their minds over?" she said.

Since he's been feeling ill lately — and even skipped out on 1D's EMAs acceptance speech — we think it's adorable that he took the time to make her day. How cute!

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Taylor Swift Calls Spotify a Liar

GETTY IMAGES

Taylor Swift's decision to pull all her songs off Spotify caused major controversy, and now her people are calling out the founder of the music streaming service, Daniel Ek. After he wrote a post claiming that the "Shake It Off" singer would have gained about $6 million if she kept her songs on the site, David Borchetta says they haven't received nearly as much.

The Big Machine record label exec said that she only got $500,000 from the site.

Maybe this explains why Taylor totally slammed Spotify when justifying her decision? She recently told Time again that she doesn't think it's a good model.

"I think that people should feel that there is a value to what musicians have created, and that’s that," she said.

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Justin Bieber Unfollow Selena Gomez on Instagram to Win Her Back?

Justin Bieber's decision to unfollow Selena Gomez on Instagram was pretty jaw-dropping, but it might be part of a big plan to win her back! According to Hollywood Life, the singer wants to woo his on-again, off-again girlfriend by completely ignoring her and making her jealous.

“Justin is under the assumption that if he completely ignores Selena and blows her off, she will come running," their source said.

"So far, nothing else has worked — sending flowers, trying to be ultra sweet, and going to Bible study. It’s like the more he tries to impress Selena, the more she avoids him."

“So he figured he would go back to what has worked in the past — ignore her, flirt with hot girls and act like he doesn’t care. That’s the real reason he stopped following her on Instagram."

We heard that the "Boyfriend" singer was planning an elaborate gesture to win her back, but we guess that wasn't working! Still, that response sounds like his old behavior, which made Selena get fed up with him in the first place. We're not so sure ignoring her is going to win her back!

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Actress who played voice of teenage Elsa in 'Frozen' reportedly paid $926.20

Actress who played voice of teenage Elsa in 'Frozen' reportedly paid $926.20

FoxNews.com

FOX News

The actress who played the voice of teenage Elsa in "Frozen" was reportedly paid less than $1,000 for her work in the film.
According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Spencer Lacey Ganus was only paid $926.20 for her small role in the Disney film which grossed more than $1.2 billion, making Ganus' portion of the profits a mere .000077%.
The 15-year-old actress was only guaranteed a one-day payment for the few lines she recorded as the teenage Elsa, TMZ reports, a character mainly voiced by Idina Menzel.

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One Direction Announces One-Hour Holiday TV Special

The One Direction guys may not be doing another 1D Day this year, but they're doing the next best thing — a one-hour holiday TV special on NBC!

The guys recently announced the news on Twitter writing:

This will be the first time the band has ever had a US network TV special, and Fans couldn't be more excited! Not only will they be divulging new secrets about their upcoming album Four, but they'll be revealing exclusive details about their lives, too!

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Taylor Swift Opens Up About About Life In The Past Two Years.

Taylor Swift Opens Up About About Life In The Past Two Years.

The 24-year-old entertainer recently reflected on how much she has learned about life in the past two years.

“I didn’t realize that being in love with your life can be just as wonderful as being in love with another person. Every relationship takes work and effort, and when I put that work and effort into my friends, family, and fans… my life changed completely. I started making choices based on what I wanted, and didn’t feel like I needed to justify them,” Taylor shared to Buzzfeed.

She added, “At 24 I decided that my life is enough for me, and I stopped looking for some other piece to complete it. I also learned how to needlepoint ironic cross-stitches of rap lyrics and gave them to my friends as presents. I’ll let you decide which is the more important revelation.”

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EA is bringing some big-name games to PlayStation Now

EA is bringing some big-name games to PlayStation Now

Edgar Alvarez

Engadget 

Sony's game-streaming service, PlayStation Now, has taken big leaps since being introduced earlier this year. However, the platform still lacks a bit when it comes to the amount, and quality, of content it offers access to. Starting next month, though, PlayStation Now is adding some big games to its library, thanks to a new deal from Sony and EA. Bejeweled 3, Dead Space 3, Mass Effect 2, Mirror's Edge and NBA Jam On Fire Edition are all coming to the service on December 2nd, which is great news for those of you with a PS3, PS4, PS Vita, PS TV or a compatible Sony TV. You'll be able to rent any one of these for as little as $1 per week, though there will be other pricing tiers available -- just in case you'd like to keep them longer.
PlayStation

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Windows' biggest web app framework is coming to Linux and Mac

Windows' biggest web app framework is coming to Linux and Mac

Jon Fingas

Engadget

Microsoft has opened up a lot over the past several months. It released powerful mobile versions of Office, launched cross-platform health technology and even posted some code for .NET, the programming framework that underpins a large part of the Windows world. Today, though, the crew in Redmond is going one step further. It's open-sourcing a much larger web- and server-oriented chunk of the .NET development stack, and has revealed plans to bring an important part of that stack (.NET Core) to both Linux and the Mac in the months ahead. Yes, you read that correctly -- code that Microsoft once held extremely close to the vest will soon run on most modern operating systems.
The release omits parts needed for the user-facing side of things, including the Windows Presentation Foundation that handles interface and document features, so many .NET apps and services will either need major changes or won't run at all. Also, there are plenty of Windows apps that depend on other frameworks. You're probably not going to see a ton of converted Windows software running on your MacBook or Linux box, then. However, the expansion should make it decidedly easier for studios to write web apps that run on servers on numerous platforms -- they won't have to lean on the usual run-anywhere technology (like Java) or otherwise jump through hoops to get things working properly.
[Image credit: Manjunath Kiran/AFP/Getty Images]
.NET Foundation, Somasegar Blog

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Here Are All The Phones Confirmed To Get Google's Massive Android Update

Here Are All The Phones Confirmed To Get Google's Massive Android Update

Business Insider 

Back in June, Google unveiled what's being called the biggest Android update yet. With Android 5.0, or "Lollipop," Google is adding a bunch of changes that are both physical and internal.
One of the biggest alterations will be the introduction of Material Design -- a new design language that puts more of an emphasis on shadows and colours. There are a handful of under-the-hood improvements, too, such as Project Volta, which is a collection of backend enhancements meant to improve battery life.
But, unlike the iPhone, Android devices don't get major software updates all at the same time. It depends on which type of phone you have and which carrier you're on.
There are also tons of Android phones that are left out of major carrier updates too.
We still don't know exactly when Android 5.0 will be released for every phone, but here's a roundup of what we know so far.

Google

Google's Nexus 6 will come with Android 5.0 already installed, and both the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 will receive the update, too. Google hasn't announced when it will launch, but rumours suggest Sprint will roll out the update to Nexus 5 owners on its network on Nov. 12.

HTC

HTC's One M8 and previous-generation One M7 will both get Android 5.0 as well. Jeff Gordon, the company's global online communications manager, tweeted that both phones will get the upgrade within 90 days of the software's final release.
HTC provided another update via Twitter on Nov. 3, saying that it has received the final code and will get the update out within the next three months.

Motorola

Motorola announced last week that its first- and second-generation Moto X and Moto G will get Android 5.0, along with the Moto G LTE, Moto E, and Droid Ultra, Droid Maxx, and Droid Mini phones. The company also just announced that the second-generation Moto X and both versions of the new Moto G will get the Lollipop update on Nov. 12.

Samsung

Samsung hasn't made any official announcements regarding updates for its line of smartphones, but rumours suggest the Galaxy S5 will be able to upgrade come December. Samsung also teased an Android Lollipop update for its new Galaxy Note 4 via Twitter. It's likely that Samsung's other popular phones, such as the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3, will also get the upgrade, but we haven't heard anything just yet.
Blog Sam Mobile claims to have gotten its hands on a Galaxy S4 and a Galaxy S5 running Lollipop, hinting that the update may be close to launch. In the video, you'll notice how some of the stock apps such as the messaging app look more colourful.

LG

LG has just announced that its G3 smartphone will receive the update to Android 5.0 Lollipop this week. The rollout will start in Poland and then spread to other key markets. Rumours from tech blogs also suggest that the G2 will receieve the upgrade in early 2015.
We'll update this story as more carriers and manufacturers make announcements.

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Facebook releases 'Say Thanks' video creation tool in time for Thanksgiving

Facebook releases 'Say Thanks' video creation tool in time for Thanksgiving

Jacob Kastrenakes

The Verge 

Facebook found a surprising amount of success earlier this year when it let its users generate "Look Back" videos of their time on Facebook, and it's now rolling out a new video generator in time for Thanksgiving. The new tool is called Say Thanks, and it lets Facebook's users put together a video filled with photos and other posts between them and a friend. There are a number of different themes to choose from, though it doesn't sound like customization will extent far beyond choosing that and what photos appear.
As goofy as it sounds, Facebook's success with Look Back suggests that this type of easy-to-use nostalgia trip could just catch on. Say Thanks will be available to use on both desktop and mobile across the globe today, though it may be a few hours before everyone can see it.

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