Facebook testing new Camera Feature

Facebook is reportedly testing a new camera feature that will allow users to play around with their selfies using Snapchat-like masks, geofilters, Prisma-like filters as well as overlaid graphics. Users will be able to share these pictures with their friends individually via Direct Message. And the pictures, just like Snapchat, will disappear after 24 hours. According to Tech Crunch, the “new camera” is currently being tested in Ireland. The site quoted a source from the company who said Facebook might test more variations of the new camera before rolling out the new feature globally.“Facebook’s real innovation beyond Snapchat and Prisma are the reactive filters. They cover the screen in leaves you can wave around with your arms, or cool little colored line patterns you can disrupt with your movements,” the report said.
The new camera will be easily accessible from the News Feed by simply swiping right. Next, users can swipe down to browse through various filters and use various tools to make pictures interesting. Facebook here seems to have taken inspiration from popular photo-editing app Prisma as well. The report suggests Facebook will introduce Prisma-like filters for its camera app as well that will turn pictures and videos in to works of art.
Earlier reports suggest Facebook is testing a new Snapchat-like feature for its Messenger app as well. Facebook’s Messenger Day feature, which is similar to Snapchat Stories, was spotted by users in Poland. Messenger Day allows users toadd graphics or text on to pictures and short videos before sharing then with friends.
Facebook is constantly working to boost user engagement on its app as well as Messenger app by adding new features. Facebook Messenger now allows end-to-end conversations, which is optional. Secret Conversations in Messenger can be turned on for select users. And users can set a time frame for which they want their messages to be seen by their friends, after which they disappear.

Facebook rolls out Recommendation

Facebook is trying to boost engagement on the site with its new ‘Recommendations’ feature for its users. With ‘Recommendations’ friends will be able to suggest places to go, local events for a user.
The social media giant is also adding the ability to interact with businesses directly on the social media website. Recommendations feature is only being rolled out for users in the US, and Facebook says over the coming months they’ll launch more features to boost recommendations and communications with businesses on the website. In a newsroom announcement, Facebook says, “whether traveling to a new place, looking for a hair salon, or searching for the perfect place to eat, people already turn to their friends, family, and local Groups on Facebook for advice.” The new recommendations tool will help organise all these suggestions into one place.
Facebook says that when a user writes a post looking for advice on local places or services like say which restaurant to eat dinner or a new salon for a haircut, they will have the option of switching on “Recommendations for that post.” With that feature turned on, if your friends post suggestions, then the comments will be mapped out and saved in one place. Users can also go to the Recommendations bookmark on Facebook to ask a new question or help their friends.
Facebook has also revamped the Events activity bookmark, and users will be able top browse event recommendations based on what’s popular with friends or events they might have attended in the past.
The social media website has also introduced news ways for people to interact with businesses on the website. For instance, there’s an option to order food directly from a restaurants’ Facebook Page in the US. Any restaurant which uses Delivery.com or Slice in the US will have this ‘Order function. Users will also be able to book an appointment for spas and salons via the Facebook Page. Additionally they can ask for a time slot from the page itself as well as view the services and offerings. The business will get back on Messenger to confirm the appointment. Facebook users will also be able to connect with brands on a Facebook page.
Facebook is also giving some business pages a “Get Quote” so a user can know how much services will cost at the place. There will be the option of buying movie tickets straight from a film’s Facebook Page via Fandango. Finally, Facebook is teaming up with Ticketmaster and Eventbrit to let people get tickets to other events directly from the event page on Facebook.
Overall it looks like Facebook has big plans on it how will make business pages a lot more useful on the website. It could also boost engagement on the social media website, which has seen a dip in original posts, content. For now the recommendations feature is for US only.

Facebook paid $5 million for Bug Bounty

Facebook is celebrating fifth anniversary of its annual Bug Bounty program this year. Facebook’s Bug Bounty program ham terms of numbers, Facebook says it hasreceived more than 9,000 reports in the half of 2016. The social networking giant has paid a total of $611,741 to 149 researchers, which brings the cumulative total to $5 million paid over a period of 5 year to more than 900 researchers. India topped the list of countries in terms of payouts while USA and Mexico round up the top three spot. Facebook says going forward it will include information on how a specific biunty was awarded to a particular researcher. The blog post mentions the social network “will share more details on the thinking behind each award.” Facebook is trying to be more open about its ‘Bug Bounty’ program and also planning to share more educational resources and topics specific to Facebook’s products. been a major program of this kind and has earned support of broader community of security researchers. Facebook says it has paid a cumulative total of $5 million in the past five years.
In a blog post, Facebook notes it discovered many of the people on the team through this community bug bounty program. This year, Facebook is adding WhatsApp to its program with expanded payment option that includes Bitcoin.
The social network says it will also automate payment options this year in order to pay researchers faster than usual. 

Facebook launch Workplace for all

Buoyed by the positive response from over 1,000 companies that are currently using Workplace (formerly known as Facebook at Work) including in India, the company has announced it will make the app available to all. This means you can chat with a colleague across the world in real time, host a virtual brainstorm in a Group or follow along with your CEO’s presentation on Facebook Live.“People have created nearly 100,000 groups and the top five countries using Workplace are India, the US, Norway, UK and France,” Facebook said in a statement on Tuesday.“We’re announcing that Workplace will now be available to any company or organisation that wants to use it,” it added. Large multinational companies like Danone, Starbucks and Booking.com, international nonprofits such as Oxfam and regional leaders such as YES Bank in India and the Government Technology Agency of Singapore have all embraced Workplace.“It’s a whole new paradigm in employee engagement! L&T @Work is leading our thrust to digital. Technology is nothing without people and this platform reflects the perfect synergy of people driving technology,” said SN Subrahmanyam, Deputy Managing Director and President, Larsen & Toubro. Facebook also announced a competitive pricing model that is based on a monthly fee per active user.“The more active users an organisation has, the less they pay per user. So $3 per user is for first 1,000 monthly active users, $2 for 1,001-10,000 monthly active users and $1 for 10,000+ monthly active users,” it said.“We’ve brought the best of Facebook to the Workplace a” whether it’s basic infrastructure such as News Feed, or the ability to create and share in Groups or via chat, or useful features such as Live, Reactions, Search and Trending posts,” the company added.“We’ve also built unique, Workplace-only features that companies can benefit from such as a dashboard with analytics and integrations with single sign-on, in addition to identity providers that allow companies to more easily integrate Workplace with their existing IT systems,” noted Facebook.
The company also announced “Multi-Company Groups” – shared spaces that allow employees from different organisations to work together and extend collaboration beyond their companies in a safe and secure way.“This will be rolling out to all customers in the coming weeks,” Facebook said.“Workplace will be priced competitively – companies only pay for people who are actively using the product,” it added.