periscope
Latest
The Realme 12 Pro+ is the first mid-range device with a 3x periscope zoom camera
The Realme 12 Pro+ is apparently the first in its price segment to offer a 3x periscope zoom camera, and with a larger sensor than the competition.
Twitter will discontinue its standalone Periscope apps in March
Twitter plans to no longer offer a standalone Periscope experience.
Twitter now lets guests join your live video broadcasts
Twitter will start letting broadcasters on its app open up their livestreams to guests, similar to what it brought to Periscope in February. The new feature, which is now rolling out to Twitter's iOS and Android app, is going to allow up to three people to call into your live videos during a stream, making it easy for them to ask you questions or just have a conversation with you about anything that may be on your mind.
Periscope details plan to cut down on spam and fake activity
Periscope, the livestreaming app owned by Twitter, is banning fake engagement on the platform. This includes fake hearts, chats, followers, and views. In a Medium post, the company told users to expect an "increase in enforcement actions" as the policy takes effect. Similar to Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and other social media platforms, Periscope users can also expect account-level spam reporting options in the future.
Periscope lets broadcasters open their streams to guests
Periscope is paving the way for broadcasters to host talk shows and invite viewers to go beyond comments and hearts by joining the conversation with their voices. As of today, you can add three guests to a stream on the Twitter-owned service. People can request to join the conversation, and they can drop in and out at any time.
Twitter and Periscope now offer audio-only live broadcasts
Twitter has offered at least some form of live video for years, but what if you can't (or don't want to) put something on camera? You no longer have to point followers somewhere else to hear your thoughts. The iOS versions of both the main Twitter app and Periscope now support audio-only live broadcasts, giving you the chance to reel in listeners without having to make yourself presentable or draw attention to your presence. You can track audience stats like you can with video, as well.
Twitter gives InfoWars the same one-week ban it gave Alex Jones
While companies like Apple, Facebook, Spotify and even Pinterest have taken down InfoWars content from their platforms, there has been one very public holdout -- Twitter. But BuzzFeed News reports today that the company is now limiting the InfoWars account, preventing it from posting tweets for one week. The move follows similar measures taken against Alex Jones just yesterday.
Periscope's stream tipping is available outside the US
Periscope's livestream tipping system is no longer a US-only affair -- the Twitter-owned service has expanded its Super Broadcaster program to Canada, Ireland and the UK. As before, livestreamers who've received enough Super Hearts (which viewers pay for with in-app purchases) can apply to become Super Broadcasters and trade those Hearts in for real money. Periscope will only take a $1 cut. Effectively, it's a spin on Twitch's cheers or YouTube's Super Chat. You're rewarding streamers you like and encouraging them to treat it as more of a business than a hobby.
Periscope to award Super Broadcasters with more of their earnings
In June, Periscope introduced Super Hearts, which are hearts you'd use to support your favorite broadcasters. The system is a little confusing, but here's how it works: You pay for Super Hearts with "coins," which in turn cost real money (1050 coins costs $0.99 and so forth). Those Super Hearts are then translated into "stars." If the broadcaster is enrolled in the Super Broadcaster program, those stars are then converted back into cash. That sounds great, except some of that money was lost to transaction fees and other costs. Now, Periscope is changing this so that Super Broadcasters can get more of what you give them.
US Navy will use Xbox controllers to steer submarine periscopes
The Pentagon might have to buy Xbox controllers en masse in the future if the military ends up using them to control its laser weapons and other equipment. In fact, the US Navy will begin stocking its modernized Virginia-class submarines with them, starting with the USS Colorado that's expected to be commissioned in November. Sailors aboard the high-tech submarine will use the Xbox controller to maneuver its periscope. See, unlike periscopes in movies, wherein a single person has to peer through an eyepiece, the high-tech version of the instrument uses high-resolution cameras and displays images on big screens.
Twitter's Xbox app can stream live 360-degree video
Twitter launched on the Xbox One last fall, and did so with a focus on video. Today, an update adds some new video types, most notably live 360-degree video. Given that just about every platform has been focusing on 360 video lately, so it's not surprising to see Twitter look to expand the places where users can watch it. The Apple TV has supported live 360-degree video for a while now, so it's not a huge surprise to see it arrive here as well.
Snapchat video of alleged sexual assault leads to quick arrest
A man in Ohio is being held on a $1 million bond today after being charged with an alleged rape that was recorded and uploaded onto Snapchat by his victim. There aren't a lot of details about the situation as of now, but reports say that police were called to a residence for a welfare check early Tuesday morning. Everything seemed to be alright at the time. However, later in the morning, people as far away as Texas who had viewed the victim's Snapchat video began notifying the police that a sexual assault may have occurred at the residence, and the video was forwarded to the authorities. Based on the video content, which a detective involved with the arrest said were very "clear," the man, 77-year-old James D. Allen, was arrested.
Google wants more Google Earth content via your local stories
Google is planning to make Google Earth a lot more social. In the next few years, you will be able to share personal images and videos to the platform. As a result, Google envisions millions of public "stories" populating the tool. Viewers will then be able to spend even more time procrastinating by dipping in and out of the clips as they explore the global simulation.
Periscope adds a confusing way to support your favorite streamers
While Facebook is currently winning the livestreaming wars, rival Periscope has its fair share of devotees. The Twitter-owned service hosted 200 million broadcasts in 2016 and close to 77 million hours of live video in the first quarter of this year. Some Periscope broadcasters even draw huge crowds (Amanda Oleander, for example, is an LA artist with over 600,000 followers) with hundreds of hearts flooding the screen. Today, Periscope is announcing a new feature that rewards those broadcasters with more than mere likes. It's called Super Hearts, which are essentially fancy hearts that viewers pay for with real money in exchange for attention. But the real benefit is for broadcasters: Those Super Hearts could potentially turn into cold hard cash.
Murders, suicides and rapes: Facebook's major video problem
A nationwide manhunt for Steve Stephens, the 37-year-old from Cleveland who uploaded a video to Facebook of himself shooting an elderly stranger in the head, came to an end today. Stephens committed suicide after a brief car chase with state police in Erie, Pennsylvania. His crime, which took place this past Sunday, sparked outrage not only because of the violence itself, but also the way Facebook handled the situation. It took the social network over two hours to take the video down, although it claims this was because it wasn't flagged immediately by other users. Facebook says Stephens' actions weren't reported until he used the Live feature to stream his murder confession, about an hour and 45 minutes after the shooting video was uploaded. His account has since been suspended.
Periscope opens 360-degree broadcasts to everyone
When Periscope debuted live 360-degree broadcasting late last year, it was only available to a handful of users. That changes now. A tweet from the company announced that as of today anyone who's broadcasting either from the iOS app (with an attached Insta360 Nano) or via the Producer software can be part of the spherical zeitgeist. Periscope says that you'll need the Producer app specifically if you want to do a 360 broadcast from an Android phone, in addition to a Ricoh Theta S or Orah 4i.
Periscope livestreams now play inside Twitter Moments
Twitter Moments are supposed to capture the zeitgeist of cultural events, but that hasn't been entirely true when you haven't had access to as-it-happens live video. Thankfully, that's changing today. You can now play live Periscope streams directly inside Moments, giving you an easy way to follow a still-unfolding event without visiting a broadcaster's tweet or launching Periscope's dedicated app. And if you're more interested in hosting live video than watching it, there a pair of additional updates in store.
Watch this Periscope video after a short message from #brands
Video ads are nothing new on Twitter. The company has announced a number of ways for brands to get their message out through promoted tweets, pre-roll messages and even ads in Moments. Now Twitter is extending its advertising to live video. Starting today, companies who are buying ads on the social network can have short pre-roll clips play ahead of both live and replay Periscope streams.
Twitter opens up Periscope broadcasts to take on Facebook Live
Twitter made it clear that Periscope was more than just a live selfie platform when it added support for professional cameras and GoPros last year. Now, the social network is ready to extend that same platform beyond its own native apps. In a post on the company blog today, Twitter engineer John Boiles announced the official release of the Periscope Producer API, which will allow external devices and third-party apps to launch broadcasts and publish them directly to Twitter.
Android Instant Apps begins limited testing
Back at last year's Google I/O conference, the search giant introduced a new concept that the Android team had in the works: Instant Apps. The abbreviated applications would be streamlined enough to start working immediately after users open them with a URL tap, temporarily loading the full software's functionality without going through the rigmarole of a traditional Play Store installation. After half a year, the Android team has opened up a select few Instant Apps to live testing.
