Facebook Adds Shazam-like Feature

Facebook have unveiled a new feature for smartphone users (which is the majority of their users) that allows Facebook to recognise what you're watching or listening - in a very similar way to Shazam. The feature uses the microphone to automatically detect the audio, this is then matched to millions of songs and TV shows from around 160 channels. The new feature must be turned on by Facebook users and once it is on will work automatically with the recognised music or TV show showing in your post (if you want it to).

This is currently being rolled out to US users and is expected to be a slow roll-out to other countries.

Facebook to Acquire Oculus VR

Facebook have announced, in a press release and on Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook page, that they intend to purchase Oculus VR, makers of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. The acquisition will be in the region of $2 Billion with additional payments upon the achievement of certain milestones.

Zuckerberg explains the reasoning behind this latest acquisition in a post on his Facebook page and says that this is the next platform and will "enable even more useful, entertaining and personal experiences.".

He also says "Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face -- just by putting on goggles in your home. This is really a new communication platform. "

This is quite a different direction for Facebook who's recent acquisitions, such as WhatsApp, have been high usage services based around communications. This now takes them in to the territory of the likes of Google. Let the head wear battle commence.

What do you think of Facebook's latest acquisition? Leave your comments below.

Gmail Gets Encryption

Since 2010 all Gmail has been encrypted between Google's servers and your computer but, as Google announced in a recent blog post, all Gmail wherever it goes will now be encrypted using HTTPS. This includes between Google's own servers. Google cite 'last summer's revelations' i.e. the NSA as the driver behind this security upgrade. Although this encryption is great PR I very much doubt it will thwart those that really want to access your email so don't think all is 100% safe.

Facebook Revives F8

Facebook is bringing back it's developer conference, F8, in San Francisco on 30th April. It's the first since 2011 and will be open to 1500 developers where one-to-one help and advice can be sought from Facebook's team of engineers as well as a number of technical workshops and keynotes. It is expected that Facebook's recent acquisitions of Instagram and Parse will feature quite heavily. Registration will 'open soon'.

Facebook Buys WhatsApp

The social networking, Facebook, have purchased the messaging company WhatsApp in a deal worth $19 Billion in total. WhatsApp is a pretty much free (users pay 99p/year) messaging service with around 450 million monthly active users around the world. The service has become extremely popular due to its almost universal compatibility - it's available on iOS, Android, Blackberry, Symbian (Nokia) and Windows phone.