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Meta now lets you make video calls using a cartoon avatar

Users of Messenger and Instagram may now answer as well as initiate video calls using their avatars, according to a recent announcement by Meta. The business claims that customers will be able to participate in video chats even when they are not ready for screen time due to the latest capability.

As a consequence, you and your peers may converse and stare at each other on an animated video conference without really seeing one another.

“We’ve all been there: A call comes in but your hair looks like a hot mess,” Meta wrote in a blog post. “Or you’ve just been bawling your eyes out while re-watching From Scratch. Sometimes, we’re just not camera-ready. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a third option between camera-off and camera-on to let you feel a little more present on the call? Cue your Meta Avatar.”
Source: techcrunch.com

For those who prefer not to show their faces during some video calls, the concept of making real-time conversations behind your avatar may be an enjoyable twist. Furthermore, when you might simply make a phone call to a colleague or loved one, it could seem a little strange and disturbing to interact that way.

Android, as well as iOS, have access to the new features.

The announcement made yesterday included some further details on avatars that Meta provided. The business said that it is developing a simpler method of creating characters on WhatsApp and Facebook where you’ll be able to snap a live picture and get an avatar suggestion based on your selfie. You can select one of these alternatives and further customize it to best reflect your personality.

Also Read: Meta’s Threads Is Here. What It Is and How to Use It

Additionally, Meta stated that animated character stickers may now be shared in Fb comments, Instagram 1 on 1 conversation threads, Story posts on Instagram, and Facebook Reels as well. You can share stickers that depict your avatar performing specific behaviors, such as dancing or slowly clapping.

Meta is also introducing stickers that will let users’ avatars interact with those of their friends. Now that you may tag a few people in Facebook Stories, your avatars will co-appear in a sticker with those of your pals. With the new “Social Stickers” feature, you may share stickers with only one buddy in 1:1 conversation threads.

“No one wants to look like a cake pop, and now, you don’t have to,” the company wrote in the blog post. “We’re standardizing the look of our avatars across all our platforms, so the way you show up in VR will match how you show up on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. Not only does that mean your avatar will look a little more realistic, it also means you’ll be better able to show off your ’fits since the focus won’t be drawn to your comically oversized noggin.”
Source: techcrunch.com

Suhani Jain

I am a student pursuing my bachelor’s in information technology. I have a interest in writing so, I am working a freelance content writer because I enjoy writing. I also write poetries. I believe in the quote by anne frank “paper has more patience than person

Meta’s Threads Is Here. What It Is and How to Use It

Meta, the parent company of Instagram, has recently unveiled Threads, a new app that aims to compete with Twitter by offering a text-based conversation platform.

Users can sign in to the app using their Instagram credentials, ensuring a seamless transition and allowing them to keep their existing username, followers, and verification status intact.

Threads offer users the ability to post text, videos, and photos, fostering real-time conversations and interactions. In an impressive feat, the app garnered 2 million signups within its first two hours, followed by an additional 10 million signups within seven hours, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. These numbers highlight the initial interest and potential popularity of Threads among users.

Also Read: Has Xbox really lost the console wars?

The app allow users to publish short posts or updates with a character limit of up to 500. Additionally, users can include links, photos, or videos of up to 5 minutes in length. The app is tightly integrated with users’ Instagram accounts, enabling easy sharing of Threads posts to Instagram stories or as links on other platforms, as per Meta’s claims.

The Threads feed includes posts from both people and accounts that users follow on Instagram and Threads, providing a consolidated view of content from their network. Additionally, the app offers recommendations for undiscovered content, expanding users’ exposure to new and interesting posts.

To further personalize the experience, users can filter specific words from their feed and have control over who can mention them, ensuring a tailored and comfortable environment.

Threads is available as a free download on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. To join Threads, users must have an Instagram account and log in using their Instagram credentials.

While the app carries over users’ Instagram usernames, it also allows users to create customizable profiles. Users under 18 years old in the UK will have a default private profile, ensuring their privacy and safety.

Transitioning to Threads is made convenient for Instagram users as they can easily follow the same accounts they already follow on Instagram with just a few clicks. This feature eliminates the need to start building their following list from scratch. When creating a post or “Thread,” users can choose the desired visibility, whether it’s shared with their entire audience or limited to their followers.

Also Read: Is Spotify considering full-length music videos on its app?

Threads include several essential features that users have come to expect from social media platforms. Users have the ability to unfollow, report, block, or restrict profiles, and these options can be accessed through the three-dot drop-down menu.

Furthermore, the app ensures that profiles blocked on Instagram are automatically blocked on Threads as well. Other notable features include screen reader support and AI-generated image descriptions, enhancing accessibility and inclusivity.

Meta has expressed its commitment to making Threads compatible and integrative with other apps supporting the ActivityPub protocol, such as WordPress and Mastodon. The company envisions a future where Threads posts can be accessed by users of compatible apps, irrespective of whether they have a Threads account, enabling broader connectivity and engagement.

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

Is Meta testing Reels on Quest?

Leave a Comment / Story, Tech Story / By Sandhya Gupta

On its Quest headset, Meta is testing a means for users to watch Reels. CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a video on Meta’s broadcast channel showcasing how a Reel will appear in virtual reality.

It appears that you can browse through Reels in a window that opens against your virtual background, much like when you open other apps on the OS.

It’s unclear whether Reels will be included in Meta’s Instagram app for the Quest or whether users will be able to test it out. The Verge contacted Meta for comment, but they didn’t react right away.

Also Read: How Exciting Is The New Apple Health Features?

In any case, adding Reels to Quest is an indication that Meta is prepared to integrate its systems and apps more tightly. Additionally, it makes an announcement just a week after Meta unveiled the $499 Quest 3 and days after Apple unveiled the $3,499 Vision Pro.

During the WWDC23 event, Apple demonstrated the Vision Pro Mixed Reality headset. The $3499 headset’s transparent visor and several cameras for motion and vision tracking enable it to offer Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality content.

Apple is actively promoting its platforms, apps, and services on the Visio Pro. On the day that Vision Pro launches, content from Disney+ and its affiliated content producers will be available.

Zuckerberg responded to the Vision Pro by claiming Apple’s vision for the device isn’t the one he wants, noting that Apple primarily focused on solitary activities during its presentation. According to Zuckerburg, “Our vision for the metaverse and presence is fundamentally social. It’s about people interacting in new ways and feeling closer in new ways.”

Quest 3, the next-generation virtual and mixed-reality headgear, was unveiled by Zuckerberg last week and will be available later this year. The 128GB headgear starts at $499.99, and customers will also have the option of adding more storage.

Also Read: What’s so ‘pro’ about the Apple Vision Pro headset?

It has a newer Snapdragon chipset, which offers graphics performance that is more than twice as fast as Quest 2’s Snapdragon GPU from the same generation. According to the business, “On Quest 3, our best-in-class Meta Reality technology lets you seamlessly blend your real world with the virtual one.”

Meta is motivated by the creation of a unified ecosystem, to put it simply. Although social media networks like Whatsapp, Instagram, Facebook, and others exist, Meta would work to maintain the Quest ecosystem’s social nature by encouraging user interaction.

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

Meta announces AI training and inference chip project

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Suhani Jain

To further assist artificial intelligence work, Meta Platforms (META.O) revealed additional information on its data centre initiatives on Thursday. This information included a proprietary chip “family” that is being developed internally.

In a collection of blog articles, the owner of Instagram, as well as Facebook, said that as an element of the Meta Training and Inference Accelerator (MTIA) programme, it would be developing a first-generation microprocessor in 2020. The goal was to make suggestive models, which are used to distribute adverts and other material in news feeds, more effective.

It was previously reported by Reuters that the company was already working on an upgrade and did not have intentions to fully use its first internal AI processor. In the blog posts, the very first MTIA chip was advertised as an educational tool.

Also Read: OpenAI to introduce ChatGPT app for iOS

The articles claim that the early MTIA chip focused exclusively on the inference AI method, which uses computers educated on massive amounts of data to decide what should be displayed.

Software developer Joel Coburn from Meta stated amid a talk on the new processor that the company had first used GPUs, for inference operations but had discovered that these devices were not the best option.

“Their efficiency is low for real models, despite significant software optimizations. This makes them challenging and expensive to deploy in practice,” Coburn said. “This is why we need MTIA.”
Source: reuters.com

A Meta representative did not provide details on the forthcoming chip’s release schedule or go into further detail about the organization’s plans to create chips that might additionally train the models.

Since executives realised, the chip needed the technology and software to handle requirements from product teams developing AI-powered innovations, Meta has been working on a significant effort to update its AI architecture.

Consequently, the business abandoned intentions for a wide-scale release of an internal inference chip and began developing a more ambitious chip that could conduct training as well as inference, according to Reuters.

Although Meta’s original MTIA chip struggled with high-complexity artificial intelligence (AI) models, it tackled low- & medium-complexity models more effectively than rival chips, according to Meta’s blog entries.

The MTIA chip also utilised an open-source chip structure known as RISC-V and consumed only 25 watts of power, which is significantly less than that of renowned chips in the market from suppliers like Nvidia Corporation, according to Meta.

Also Read: Will AI Take Over The World?

The company Meta said it would start construction on the company’s initial structure this year as well as offered further details on intentions to restructure its data centres towards more advanced AI-focused networking along with cooling technologies.

In a video describing the improvements, a staff member claimed that the updated layout would be 31 per cent less expensive and could be constructed twice as rapidly as the company’s present data centres.

To assist its developers in writing computer code, Meta claimed to have a system driven by artificial intelligence, which is comparable to that provided by Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., alongside Microsoft Corp.

Suhani Jain

What is the admin review feature on WhatsApp?

Leave a Comment / Story, Tech Story / By Sandhya Gupta

WhatsApp, a platform for instant messaging owned by Meta, is currently developing new updates and upgrades. For users to have a seamless and simple experience on the platform, Whatsapp provides new updates every other month. According to recent news, the tech company is working on delivering a new feature dubbed “admin review” for Android that would provide group admins with more tools so they can manage their WhatsApp group more effectively.

Also Read: Google I/O 2023: How to watch and what to expect

According to recent news, the tech company is working on delivering a new feature dubbed “admin review” for Android that would provide group admins with more tools so they can manage their WhatsApp group more effectively.

According to WABetaInfo, group users on the app will be able to report particular messages to the group admin after WhatsApp launches the feature and it is activated on your mobile device.

According to the article, once a group member reports a message as improper or in violation of the group’s rules, the feature will enable group administrators to delete the offending posting.

Once it is implemented, WhatsApp’s group settings section will provide the new option to remove the message from the group. In the meanwhile, the article added that WhatsApp will display the reported texts in the group in a new part of the app within the group details page, which would be accessible only to group administrators and not to other group members.

A future update to WhatsApp’s app will make beta testers aware of the capability to report texts to group administrators.

On the other hand, according to some beta testers, WhatsApp is also apparently rolling out a new side-by-side’ function for Android users on its WhatsApp tablets platform.

Users will have more control over the platform’s user interface on their Android tablets thanks to WhatsApp’s “side-by-side” functionality, which enables them to flip between discussions without losing track of their ongoing chats.

The admin review feature on WhatsApp is a feature that allows group administrators to review and approve messages before they are posted in a group chat. When this feature is turned on, any message posted by a group member will be held for review by the group administrator(s) before it is visible to the rest of the group.

Also Read: Does the EU draft Data Act put trade secrets at risk?

This feature can be useful for group administrators who want to ensure that the messages posted in their group are appropriate and in line with the group’s rules and guidelines. It can also help prevent the spread of misinformation and spam in the group.

To enable the admin review feature, the group administrator(s) can go to the group settings, select “Group Info”, and then toggle on the “Admin Only” option under the “Send Messages” setting. After this is done, any message posted by group members will require approval from the group administrator(s) before it can be seen by other group members.

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

Meta wins back Wall Street with AI promises

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Suhani Jain

The stock price of Meta increased 11 percent on Thursday as a result of investors’ enthusiasm, which has already helped the social network’s stock almost double in worth during the past twelve months.

Meta’s concentration on artificial intelligence, as well as cost-cutting, also helped the shares of the organization continue their winning streak & win Wall Street’s support back.

If premarket gains hold, the value of Meta on the market will increase by approximately sixty billion dollars. The gain also helped other tech firms, from Snapchat and Pinterest to Amazon, rise by as much as 3.3 percent.

Also Read: Amazon sees cloud slowdown in April, shares erase gains

“If you want to be treated and valued like a growth stock, you need growth! And this is precisely what Meta delivered returning to growth … just as questions around a potential recession get louder,” Bernstein analyst Mark Shmulik said in a note.
Source: nasdaq.com

Shmulik was one of the 27 analysts who increased Meta’s price target, bringing the average estimate up to 270 USD and adding almost 30 percent to the supply’s increase over the course of the year, leading profits across Tech Giant Firms.

The latest indication that American technology firms were emerging from a downturn that has resulted in a large number of layoffs was the fact that Meta surpassed estimates for first-quarter revenue and profit, which increased for the first time in almost a year’s time.

The outcomes also highlighted the growing significance of AI, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who claimed the technology was assisting in increasing traffic to both Facebook and Instagram as well as ad revenue.

“We believe AI has played a crucial role in shifting Meta from showing a more limited set of friends, family, and followed content to an almost unlimited set of recommended content now available in Reels and Feed,” J.P. Morgan analysts said.

“Year of efficiency paves the way to AI offense,” Roth MKM’s Rohit Kulkarni said.
Source: nasdaq.com

Also Read: OpenAI rolls out ‘incognito mode’ on ChatGPT

The firm, which has undergone a number of costly restorations to support its main business, is no more lagging in developing its artificial intelligence infrastructure, according to Zuckerberg.

To determine whether to support a business, both professional investors and individual financers consider a variety of factors. Others examine yearly reports or speak with senior management while others simply stare at charts.

But more and more, they are all hearing the same thing, IT is an important part of a company’s value.

Suhani Jain

Meta

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