Twitter expands live broadcasting portfolio with sports, news shows, and music concerts

Image: Reuters

Twitter Inc is expanding its live broadcasting portfolio with 12 new offerings that include WNBA games, a 24-hour Bloomberg News network and a show about gadgets from the tech news website The Verge, the company said on Monday. Twitter, which has struggled to win a major share of online advertising, planned to present its plans at a conference in New York City organized by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, a digital ad trade group.

Shares of the San Francisco-based company jumped 6.4 percent earlier on Monday to close at $17.54 after the Wall Street Journal reported on plans for the Bloomberg News network, pleasing some investors who had wanted more exclusive live content on Twitter. The WNBA women’s basketball league will live-stream a regular-season game weekly on Twitter starting this month and continuing through the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons, Twitter said in a statement.

Other new sports-related programs will include a 360-degree video of the 17th hole at the PGA’s Players Championship golf tournament this month, and a weekly, live Major League Baseball show that has highlights and commentary. Twitter is already showing one Major League game a week this season. Music-promoter Live Nation Entertainment Inc will stream some concerts, beginning this month with a show by Grammy-winning country performers Zac Brown Band, Twitter said.

BuzzFeed News will broadcast a morning show on Twitter for an audience “that wakes up hungry” for trending tweets, and video news start-up Cheddar will stream an “opening bell” show each morning from the New York Stock Exchange. Terms of the various deals were not disclosed. Twitter Chief Operating Officer Anthony Noto said in a statement: “Adding these 12 new live deals tonight is a testament to the success of our only-on-Twitter experience, combining high quality streaming video with our only-on-Twitter conversation.”

Reuters, a unit of Thomson Reuters Corp, competes with Bloomberg News in providing financial news and data. Twitter suffered a setback last month when it lost a deal to live-stream National Football League games to Amazon.com Inc.

Reuters

Publish date: May 2, 2017 2:21 pm| Modified date: May 2, 2017 2:21 pm

Facebook Live is rolling out for desktop users; allows livestream of games

Image Credit: Facebook

Facebook users can now go live directly from their desktops using their webcams and also broadcast gameplay from their computers. According to a Facebook blog post on Wednesday, Facebook live on desktops was earlier available for pages only, but now the status update composer will feature a Live button also.

Facebook also added a new feature that makes it easy to use streaming software or external hardware when going live from a computer. “With this update, people can seamlessly share their screens, insert graphics, switch cameras, or use professional equipment in Facebook Live videos,” the social media giant said.

With this update, it is easier to stream your PC gameplay to friends and followers and engage with them while you play. “Opening up on desktop takes Facebook Live beyond Twitter and Periscope’s options, and brings it into competition with longer-running services like YouTube,” TechCrunch reported.

The report quoted Facebook as saying that the desktop streaming could be useful for activities like Q&As and vlogging where holding phone in hand could be inconvenient. “While the content on Live might not be great yet, and there’s been some troubling broadcasts of violence that Facebook promises it’s working to prevent, it’s still early for the medium,” the report added.

Publish date: March 23, 2017 12:57 pm| Modified date: March 23, 2017 12:57 pm

Facebook announces Masks, an AR overlay feature for Live similar to Snapchat Lenses

By Aditya Madanapalle /  28 Oct 2016 , 08:48

Facebook has announced augmented reality realtime overlays to Live videos. The feature is called Masks, and is similar to Snapchat Lenses. The immediate roll out is for iOS users in US, UK and New Zealand. However, over the course of a few months, the feature will be making it to Android devices on more countries. Public figures using Facebook Mentions will also have access to the Masks feature, so fans can see their favorite celebrities using Masks in their Lives.

The Masks feature is launched just in time for Halloween, and there are a few limited edition Masks that will be available only for a short time. The limited edition masks are a pumpkin and a witch. The skull, evil queen and other masks will be available for use in Facebook Lives even after Halloween is over. Other options include a clown, a panda, and a flower in your hair Mask.

Once a user goes live, a magic wand icon appears on the top right of the screen. Tapping on it opens up a creative tools tray which includes filters, drawing and now, Masks. The masks can be scrolled through, and switched in realtime. Tapping on the close icon on the top right of the screen stops the creative tools overlay. The first Mask, at the very right of the Mask list, is a no Mask option.

Facebook is also introducing a limited edition reactions bar just for Haloween. This replacement will occour in only some countries. The Like button shows an animated skeletal hand. The Love reaction shows the heart being chomped by mysterious invisible teeth. The laughter reaction shows a laughing witch. The wow button is a floating ghost. Frankenstein sheds a tear instead of the sad animated emoji. Finally, there is an angry pumpkin with red glowing eyes. Check out the animations.

The announcements are the latest in a series of steps Facebook has taken to openly imitate Snapchat features. Facebook is obsessed with owning a Snapchat like app. Facebook has been testing an photo uploader for iOS with Snapchat styled filters. In Brazil and Canada, Facebook had been testing a Snapchat style homescreen on its Facebook App. Most of the home screen is taken up by the view from the selfie camera, with an option for applying realtime filters similar to Snapchat Lenses.