Articles

Twitter must change the 140 character limit or face death

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Twitter is undergoing the largest time of turbulence and change that it’s seen in years. Ever since ex-CEO Dick Costolo left and the company has been wandering in a CEO-less desert, we’ve seen the smartest changes on the horizon in years. The latest rumors swirling are that Twitter might finally drop, or at least modify, the 140-character limit. The proposal internally is that the service will stop counting pictures, links and usernames in the 140 characters, as well as offering a new long-form option for what essentially amounts to blogging. When the news broke yesterday, lots of people reacted in confused outrage that… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web » Insider http://ift.tt/1j0Cdhu via IFTTT

PlayStation 4 update makes sharing video to Twitter and live-streaming on YouTube easy

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Sony’s 3.0 software update for the PlayStation 4 is rolling out to gamers from today, bringing a whole load of new features aimed at making your sessions easier to share with the world. First up, there’s a new option to share video clips straight to Twitter from your PS4 – the option is buried in the Upload Video Clip menu between Facebook and YouTube. You can record and trim clips that are as long as you like, but you can only share a 10-second version directly to Twitter. Hey! Mind the broken step.. #PS4share https://t.co/K5sB3HSdBB http://pic.twitter.com/iJxC1zQzhI — Roy (@RStrickson) September… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web » Insider http://ift.tt/1KKIHKu via IFTTT

BBC iPlayer starts move away from Flash for all devices

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The BBC is trialing delivering its streaming iPlayer services via an HTML5-based player, rather than the Flash player it has been using across many devices. The organisation has already been using HTML5 for streaming to iOS devices, but desktop users still got a Flash player by default. This is now changing though as the company reassesses the position that the benefits of Flash outweigh the move to HTML5. “We’ve been regularly evaluating the features offered by the most popular web browsers and we’re now confident we can achieve the playback quality you’d expect from the BBC without using a third-party… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web » Apps http://ift.tt/1RfIT6z via IFTTT

Comcast launches Watchable, its free cross-platform on-demand video service

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Comcast has launched Watchable, an ad-supported on-demand video service with over 150 shows spanning roughly 30 channels for the Web, iOS devices and the company’s X1 set-top box. The free service features content from the likes of Vice, BuzzFeed, GoPro, Fast Company, Machinima, Mashable, Mic Media, The Onion, Red Bull, Tastemade and Vox — many of which have never been traditionally distributed on TV networks. Watchable is available on the Web, iOS devices as well as Comcast’s X1 set-top box for TVs Will that be enough to help Comcast steal views away from YouTube and Facebook? Only time will tell.… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web » Apps http://ift.tt/1VmGxZm via IFTTT

ModiFace launches Shift photo editor for iOS as an art and teaching app

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ModiFace, which specializes in virtual and augmented reality for mobile apps, has launched Shift, a new photo effects app for the iPhone and iPad. The company, widely known for its apps targeting the beauty industry, is now using the photo-editing technology it developed to give users new ways to create distinctive visuals. Just upload an image from your photo album or take one directly in the app. Shift offers several overlay designs that you can use to create visual effects. After that, you can adjust the image’s brightness, contrast, color and detail. Once an image is finalized, it can be saved or shared to… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web » Apps http://ift.tt/1RfIRvq via IFTTT

Uber is fighting back after London authorities propose new regulations

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Uber has started emailing its users in London to help support the company’s fightback against a proposed set of new rules from Transport for London (TFL) regarding taxis and private hire cars. TFL revealed on Tuesday evening that it’s planning a public consultation on various proposals that could potentially affect Uber. Some of the proposed changes include a mandatory 5 minute wait time for all rides, a ban on showing cars on the in-app maps, updates to payment methods for ride-sharing apps and a cap on how many companies a driver can drive for. Uber is asking its London users… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web » Insider http://ift.tt/1MFGKzq via IFTTT

Adblocking isn’t highway robbery, it’s like watching that museum you love slowly close

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A report in The Wall Street Journal today says that the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) considers adblocking tantamount to highway robbery, but it’s wrong, it’s not – and that’s coming from someone whose job relies on those ad dollars. Then again, what would you expect an ad industry body to say when it sees its livelihood being attacked? Exactly. There’s no one forcing users to install adblockers, just in the same way that there’s no one insisting companies accept money to allow these ads through with “acceptable ad” policies. It’s all about choice: No one forced the IAB to survive on the sale… This story continues at The Next Web from The Next Web » Insider http://ift.tt/1O7oNwY via IFTTT