Facebook takes on Twitter with 'Venue', an app for live events

Facebook, which seems to be on an app launching spree, has rolled out 'Venue', a new iOS and Android app through which it hopes to "bring passionate fans and expert commentators together to experience live events in a new interactive way."

Facebook's Venue will look to capitalize on the emphasis around live streams that has been spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Venue is aimed to provide an interactive second-screen experience for live events like Twitter does naturally.

The new app was understandably rolled out for NASCAR races earlier today. NASCAR is among the first major sports to return to events in the US despite lacking that ability to host a live audience. 

• Facebook Shops looks to help small businesses during global lockdown
• Facebook reports spike in posts taken down for promoting hate
• Facebook rebrands Libra digital currency wallet

Launched by Facebook's New Product Experimentation Team, the app isn’t meant to live stream the events it features but instead will serve as a platform where users can openly talk about them as they happen. 

It allows users to engage with content from expert commentators like journalists, analysts, or ex-athletes during an event as updates funnel into the app in real-time in the form of notifications called 'Moments.

Fans are notified whenever a new 'Moment' is created so that they can hop in and out of Venue if they want to. With Venue, fans can stop scrolling or searching to find the exact moment everyone is reacting to, Facebook said.

Live broadcasts still offer the rare opportunity for millions of people to consume content simultaneously. Despite drawing large concurrent viewership, live broadcasts are still a mostly solo viewing experience, Facebook added.

On Twitter, everyone chips in during a live event. On Facebook, the commentators and experts chosen for a given event hosted in Venue will chime in with their takes.

For instance, today's NASCAR's races, social media personality, @nascarcasm, hosted Venue.

Second-screening has become very pivotal for live events, especially sports. A research study from Facebook a few years back said that  about 94% of viewers keep a smartphone on hand while watching live TV. 

With Venue, fans can then split their attention between the ongoing event and their phones. 

Most of the social interaction platforms have been trying to figure out the best case for this, but as of now Twitter seems  to be ahead. 

An early opinion on Venue by a Twitter user was not all that flattering.

Venue is the third app launched by Facebook in under a week. This is after a collaborative music video creation app was launched to take on TikTok as well as another for voice-only group calls.

• Facebook's new enterprise virtual reality platform is here

https://ift.tt/2ZRv2kl

Facebook takes on Twitter with 'Venue', an app for live events

Facebook, which seems to be on an app launching spree, has rolled out 'Venue', a new iOS and Android app through which it hopes to "bring passionate fans and expert commentators together to experience live events in a new interactive way."

Facebook's Venue will look to capitalize on the emphasis around live streams that has been spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Venue is aimed to provide an interactive second-screen experience for live events like Twitter does naturally.

The new app was understandably rolled out for NASCAR races earlier today. NASCAR is among the first major sports to return to events in the US despite lacking that ability to host a live audience. 

• Facebook Shops looks to help small businesses during global lockdown
• Facebook reports spike in posts taken down for promoting hate
• Facebook rebrands Libra digital currency wallet

Launched by Facebook's New Product Experimentation Team, the app isn’t meant to live stream the events it features but instead will serve as a platform where users can openly talk about them as they happen. 

It allows users to engage with content from expert commentators like journalists, analysts, or ex-athletes during an event as updates funnel into the app in real-time in the form of notifications called 'Moments.

Fans are notified whenever a new 'Moment' is created so that they can hop in and out of Venue if they want to. With Venue, fans can stop scrolling or searching to find the exact moment everyone is reacting to, Facebook said.

Live broadcasts still offer the rare opportunity for millions of people to consume content simultaneously. Despite drawing large concurrent viewership, live broadcasts are still a mostly solo viewing experience, Facebook added.

On Twitter, everyone chips in during a live event. On Facebook, the commentators and experts chosen for a given event hosted in Venue will chime in with their takes.

For instance, today's NASCAR's races, social media personality, @nascarcasm, hosted Venue.

Second-screening has become very pivotal for live events, especially sports. A research study from Facebook a few years back said that  about 94% of viewers keep a smartphone on hand while watching live TV. 

With Venue, fans can then split their attention between the ongoing event and their phones. 

Most of the social interaction platforms have been trying to figure out the best case for this, but as of now Twitter seems  to be ahead. 

An early opinion on Venue by a Twitter user was not all that flattering.

Venue is the third app launched by Facebook in under a week. This is after a collaborative music video creation app was launched to take on TikTok as well as another for voice-only group calls.

• Facebook's new enterprise virtual reality platform is here

https://ift.tt/2ZRv2kl

Australia's first 1000Mbps consumer NBN plan is here – and it's just AU$149 a month

Internet service provider Aussie Broadband has just launched access the NBN’s latest and fastest consumer NBN speed tier, a 1Gbps service offering unlimited downloads at speeds of up to 1000Mbps, and selling for a surprisingly affordable AU$149 a month.

With a download speed of 1Gbps, this brand new 1000/50 tier is set to be four times faster than what was previously available to consumers, with top speeds formerly maxing out at 250Mbps.

Given Aussie Broadband is the first in the market to offer NBN 1000, the ISP has warned it's as yet unable to provide definitive numbers on peak evening speeds, with managing director Phillip Britt saying it is a “best effort service”.

“We think that the plan should achieve off-peak speeds of up to 80-90%, depending on the technology type,” says Britt.

“For the moment, we will be advising customers our peak evening speeds for our 250Mbps plans as a baseline until we have collated enough data from our own network testing.”

With the peak evening speeds for Aussie Broadband's NBN250 plans currently listed as 215Mbps, that means you'll be getting these speeds at the very least – but it'll likely be a lot faster.

Even if the peak evening speed is just 215Mbps, this NBN 1000 plan will far outpace Aussie Broadband’s NBN 100 deal, which promises a typical evening speed of 86Mbps.

• NBN plan comparison: the best value options, handpicked
• These are the fastest NBN plans in Australia
• Just need the basics? We've found the cheapest NBN plans

Can you get it?

Before rushing to sign up though, there are a couple of caveats you should be aware of. Namely, the plan is only available on two types of NBN connection – fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) and hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC). And while all FTTP connections can sign up for 1000Mbps, that speed will only work with a select subset of HFC installations – estimated to be roughly 7% of the total.

To see what’s available in your area, check your address on Aussie Broadband's website – note that you may need to select 'Build your own' to see the higher-speed 250Mbps and 1000Mbps plans.

Aussie is also recommending eligible customers get themselves a Wi-Fi router that will be able to cope with the super-fast speeds, going so far as to suggest the Google Nest Wifi, as standard modems may not be able to handle distribution of that higher download bandwidth around the home.

If you're connected via HFC but have found you can't access that 1000Mbps tier, there is some slightly consoling news: Aussie Broadband has dropped the prices on its 250Mbps plans to make them more competitive with this new 1Gbps offering.

The ISP has announced its mainstream NBN 250/25 unlimited plan will fall from AU$169 to AU$129 each month, while the NBN 250/100 unlimited plan (for users who need extra upload bandwidth) has been reduced from AU$219 to AU$209.

• FTTN NBN is the worst NBN, according to the ACCC

https://ift.tt/2MhE1TQ

Facebook takes on Twitter with 'Venue', an app for live events

Facebook, which seems to be on an app launching spree, has rolled out 'Venue', a new iOS and Android app through which it hopes to "bring passionate fans and expert commentators together to experience live events in a new interactive way."

Facebook's Venue will look to capitalize on the emphasis around live streams that has been spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Venue is aimed to provide an interactive second-screen experience for live events like Twitter does naturally.

The new app was understandably rolled out for NASCAR races earlier today. NASCAR is among the first major sports to return to events in the US despite lacking that ability to host a live audience. 

• Facebook Shops looks to help small businesses during global lockdown
• Facebook reports spike in posts taken down for promoting hate
• Facebook rebrands Libra digital currency wallet

Launched by Facebook's New Product Experimentation Team, the app isn’t meant to live stream the events it features but instead will serve as a platform where users can openly talk about them as they happen. 

It allows users to engage with content from expert commentators like journalists, analysts, or ex-athletes during an event as updates funnel into the app in real-time in the form of notifications called 'Moments.

Fans are notified whenever a new 'Moment' is created so that they can hop in and out of Venue if they want to. With Venue, fans can stop scrolling or searching to find the exact moment everyone is reacting to, Facebook said.

Live broadcasts still offer the rare opportunity for millions of people to consume content simultaneously. Despite drawing large concurrent viewership, live broadcasts are still a mostly solo viewing experience, Facebook added.

On Twitter, everyone chips in during a live event. On Facebook, the commentators and experts chosen for a given event hosted in Venue will chime in with their takes.

For instance, today's NASCAR's races, social media personality, @nascarcasm, hosted Venue.

Second-screening has become very pivotal for live events, especially sports. A research study from Facebook a few years back said that  about 94% of viewers keep a smartphone on hand while watching live TV. 

With Venue, fans can then split their attention between the ongoing event and their phones. 

Most of the social interaction platforms have been trying to figure out the best case for this, but as of now Twitter seems  to be ahead. 

An early opinion on Venue by a Twitter user was not all that flattering.

Venue is the third app launched by Facebook in under a week. This is after a collaborative music video creation app was launched to take on TikTok as well as another for voice-only group calls.

• Facebook's new enterprise virtual reality platform is here

https://ift.tt/2ZRv2kl

Australia's first 1000Mbps consumer NBN plan is here – and it's just AU$149 a month

Internet service provider Aussie Broadband has just launched access the NBN’s latest and fastest consumer NBN speed tier, a 1Gbps service offering unlimited downloads at speeds of up to 1000Mbps, and selling for a surprisingly affordable AU$149 a month.

With a download speed of 1Gbps, this brand new 1000/50 tier is set to be four times faster than what was previously available to consumers, with top speeds formerly maxing out at 250Mbps.

Given Aussie Broadband is the first in the market to offer NBN 1000, the ISP has warned it's as yet unable to provide definitive numbers on peak evening speeds, with managing director Phillip Britt saying it is a “best effort service”.

“We think that the plan should achieve off-peak speeds of up to 80-90%, depending on the technology type,” says Britt.

“For the moment, we will be advising customers our peak evening speeds for our 250Mbps plans as a baseline until we have collated enough data from our own network testing.”

With the peak evening speeds for Aussie Broadband's NBN250 plans currently listed as 215Mbps, that means you'll be getting these speeds at the very least – but it'll likely be a lot faster.

Even if the peak evening speed is just 215Mbps, this NBN 1000 plan will far outpace Aussie Broadband’s NBN 100 deal, which promises a typical evening speed of 86Mbps.

• NBN plan comparison: the best value options, handpicked
• These are the fastest NBN plans in Australia
• Just need the basics? We've found the cheapest NBN plans

Can you get it?

Before rushing to sign up though, there are a couple of caveats you should be aware of. Namely, the plan is only available on two types of NBN connection – fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) and hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC). And while all FTTP connections can sign up for 1000Mbps, that speed will only work with a select subset of HFC installations – estimated to be roughly 7% of the total.

To see what’s available in your area, check your address on Aussie Broadband's website – note that you may need to select 'Build your own' to see the higher-speed 250Mbps and 1000Mbps plans.

Aussie is also recommending eligible customers get themselves a Wi-Fi router that will be able to cope with the super-fast speeds, going so far as to suggest the Google Nest Wifi, as standard modems may not be able to handle distribution of that higher download bandwidth around the home.

If you're connected via HFC but have found you can't access that 1000Mbps tier, there is some slightly consoling news: Aussie Broadband has dropped the prices on its 250Mbps plans to make them more competitive with this new 1Gbps offering.

The ISP has announced its mainstream NBN 250/25 unlimited plan will fall from AU$169 to AU$129 each month, while the NBN 250/100 unlimited plan (for users who need extra upload bandwidth) has been reduced from AU$219 to AU$209.

• FTTN NBN is the worst NBN, according to the ACCC

https://ift.tt/2MhE1TQ

Australia's first 1000Mbps consumer NBN plan is here – and it's just AU$149 a month

Internet service provider Aussie Broadband has just launched access the NBN’s latest and fastest consumer NBN speed tier, a 1Gbps service offering unlimited downloads at speeds of up to 1000Mbps, and selling for a surprisingly affordable AU$149 a month.

With a download speed of 1Gbps, this brand new 1000/50 tier is set to be four times faster than what was previously available to consumers, with top speeds formerly maxing out at 250Mbps.

Given Aussie Broadband is the first in the market to offer NBN 1000, the ISP has warned it's as yet unable to provide definitive numbers on peak evening speeds, with managing director Phillip Britt saying it is a “best effort service”.

“We think that the plan should achieve off-peak speeds of up to 80-90%, depending on the technology type,” says Britt.

“For the moment, we will be advising customers our peak evening speeds for our 250Mbps plans as a baseline until we have collated enough data from our own network testing.”

With the peak evening speeds for Aussie Broadband's NBN250 plans currently listed as 215Mbps, that means you'll be getting these speeds at the very least – but it'll likely be a lot faster.

Even if the peak evening speed is just 215Mbps, this NBN 1000 plan will far outpace Aussie Broadband’s NBN 100 deal, which promises a typical evening speed of 86Mbps.

• NBN plan comparison: the best value options, handpicked
• These are the fastest NBN plans in Australia
• Just need the basics? We've found the cheapest NBN plans

Can you get it?

Before rushing to sign up though, there are a couple of caveats you should be aware of. Namely, the plan is only available on two types of NBN connection – fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) and hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC). And while all FTTP connections can sign up for 1000Mbps, that speed will only work with a select subset of HFC installations – estimated to be roughly 7% of the total.

To see what’s available in your area, check your address on Aussie Broadband's website – note that you may need to select 'Build your own' to see the higher-speed 250Mbps and 1000Mbps plans.

Aussie is also recommending eligible customers get themselves a Wi-Fi router that will be able to cope with the super-fast speeds, going so far as to suggest the Google Nest Wifi, as standard modems may not be able to handle distribution of that higher download bandwidth around the home.

If you're connected via HFC but have found you can't access that 1000Mbps tier, there is some slightly consoling news: Aussie Broadband has dropped the prices on its 250Mbps plans to make them more competitive with this new 1Gbps offering.

The ISP has announced its mainstream NBN 250/25 unlimited plan will fall from AU$169 to AU$129 each month, while the NBN 250/100 unlimited plan (for users who need extra upload bandwidth) has been reduced from AU$219 to AU$209.

• FTTN NBN is the worst NBN, according to the ACCC

https://ift.tt/2MhE1TQ

This is the cheapest 17-inch touchscreen laptop around - and it's surprisingly well kitted out

Touchscreens are probably better suited to large laptops than small when it comes to collaborative working, so we went in search of the best available option.

The HP Laptop-17Z is the most affordable 17-inch touchscreen laptop on the market, available at the time of writing for only $569.99 (roughly £465/AU$855).

Aimed primarily at SMBs, the laptop comes with an AMD A9-9425 dual-core processor with Radeon R5 graphics, 8GB of RAM and a 17.3-inch SVA touchscreen display with a resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels.

• Check out our list of the best business laptops on the market
• Here's our list of the best programming laptops of 2020
• We've built a list of the best linux laptops available

It also features a 1TB SATA hard disk drive, 41Whr battery, dedicated numeric keypad, DVD writer (remember these), an HP TrueVision HD camera with digital microphone and 802.11ac Wi-Fi.

However, an even better HP Laptop-17Z deal can be had for $598.99 (roughly £485/AU$900). It features an AMD Athlon Silver 3050U with Radeon graphics, a processor that’s more than twice as fast as the A9-9425, 8GB of RAM, a 2TB hard disk drive - plus a more business-oriented Jet Black color scheme.

An Athlon-based laptop opens a few additional doors beyond simple web surfing and content streaming. Despite its business focus, the laptop can also be used for gaming at HD+ resolutions for much longer periods; HP claims the device can last for up to eight hours.

Other features include a Gigabit Ethernet LAN, card reader, three USB ports and an HDMI connector. For an additional $96, you can also upgrade to a 3-year warranty that includes accidental damage, which will also net you a full rebate if it can't be repaired.

• Here's our list of the best mobile workstations around

Bear in mind

• If this product isn't available in your region, you may have to use a specialist parcel forwarding service if you want to take advantage of the deal.
• If you've managed to get hold of a cheaper product with equivalent specifications, in stock and brand new, let us know and we'll tip our hat to you.

https://ift.tt/2XiiJM5