Techmeme
April 18, 2017, 8:25 PM

Top News

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.
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.
Tim Peterson / Marketing Land:
Interview with David Marcus on making bots easier to find on Messenger, updates to M assistant, debut of Chat Extensions to help devs add in-chat functionality  —  ‘We have a shot at becoming the Yellow Pages of messaging apps,’ says Facebook's Messenger boss, David Marcus.
Ron Miller / TechCrunch:
BuzzFeed:
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.
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.
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.”
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 …
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.
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.
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.
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.)

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Adrianne Jeffries / The Outline: