Facebook gives users option to specify any gender they want

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BY Unknown 07:50 0

Facebook gives users option to specify any gender they want

Facebook, which already offers 58 gender identity options, has now given users control over the words describing their gender. “Now, if you do not identify with the pre-populated list of gender identities, you are able to add your own,” the world’s largest social network said.

If you choose a custom gender, you can also choose the pronoun you prefer: he/his, she/her or they/their. As before, you can also control the audience with whom you would like to share your custom gender.

The new option has already started rolling out in the US, although there’s no word yet on how fast it will roll out to all users.

Microsoft Indonesia is teasing Lumia 1330 on Facebook

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BY Unknown 23:26 0

Microsoft Indonesia is teasing Lumia 1330 on Facebook

The Nokia Lumia 1330 is not exactly official, but Microsoft Indonesia is already teasing the mid-range Windows Phone phablet. It's advertising the dual-SIM connectivity, which will come in LTE and 3G versions. LTE-enabled dual-SIMs are rare, this will be the first Lumia to do it.

Other versions include three single-SIM options – one with LTE-Advanced, one with regular LTE and one with just 3G. They will have a 5.7" 720p screen according to leaked benchmarks, though those are not very accurate so the Lumia 1330 can still have a 6" screen like its predecessor.

It will have a much better camera though, the current expectations are for a 14MP shooter with Zeiss optics and 1080p video, plus a 5MP seflie camera. So far, so good though the chipset is rumored to be a Snapdragon 400 with 1GB of RAM, which doesn’t sound terribly exciting.

Anyway, the teaser just says "Coming soon" and with a Microsoft event scheduled for the MWC (on March 2) we just might see an official unveiling in a couple of weeks. Or the event could be just about Windows 10.

Facebook adds some Material Design elements to its Android app

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BY Unknown 02:35 0

Facebook adds some Material Design elements to its Android app

After quite a few months since Google first unveiled its Material Design guidelines, Facebook has decided to follow them somewhat. The world’s biggest social network is now testing a slightly enhanced look for its Android app, one that has been infused with a few Material Design elements.

As you can see, a big blue floating action button is present. Once you tap that a few options show up, which were previously available to you through a floating blue bar at the bottom of the screen. This bundled the “Take a photo” and “Upload a photo” items together, while “Where I am” used to be known as “Check in”. The old “Status” option from the floating bar is now replaced with “Write a post”.

The About screen tells us that this is version 28 of the app. You probably have 27 now, but even if you are on 28 you may not see the new UI. Facebook routinely tests many small improvements such as these, and sometimes they appear to some users and not to others – because, more often than not, such things are switched on at the server level. Still, if you participate in Facebook’s beta testing program for Android, you may have a few more chances of getting lucky and seeing this new design. However, that doesn’t mean it will ever be rolled out to all Facebook for Android installs out there.

And if Facebook really wants to adhere to Material Design guidelines, it shouldn’t forget to enable the tinting of the Android status bar in Lollipop.

Facebook now lets you choose someone to manage your account after you die

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BY Unknown 01:19 0

Facebook now lets you choose someone to manage your account after you die

Facebook has added a new feature yesterday, and it’s already rolling out to accounts in the US. Basically, you can now add a “legacy contact” in the Security section of your account. This will be the digital ‘heir’ to your Facebook presence after you die.

Once someone lets Facebook know that you’ve passed away, the company will ‘memorialize’ the account and starting at this point the legacy contact will be able to do certain things with it.

Namely, the person you designate as the heir to your Facebook presence will be able to change the profile picture and cover photo for your account, as well as respond to friend requests from family members and friends who weren’t previously connected to you on the service. The legacy contact can also write a special post that will be displayed at the top of the memorialized Timeline – to announce a memorial service, for example.

You can choose to let your legacy contact download an archive of your photos, posts, and profile information. All of your settings will remain as they were while you were alive, however, and this person won’t be able to log in as you or see your private messages. If you don’t want all of this to happen once you’re gone, then you can let Facebook know that you’d prefer to have your account permanently deleted after your death.

Up until now the company offered a basic memorialized account for people who passed away. This was viewable but couldn’t be managed by anyone, so today’s measures make things more flexible.

Sony lets you win the new Xperia E4 in Facebook competition

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BY Unknown 14:09 0

Sony lets you win the new Xperia E4 in Facebook competition

Mere hours ago Sony took the wraps off the new Xperia E4, and now the company is giving you the chance to win one. All you have to do is participate in Sony’s special competition, which is taking place on its Facebook page.

You have to answer a maximum of seven questions. The first one is up now, and for each answer you get one ticket for the draw. To win you’ll need to have answered at least one question correctly. Sharing the contest with friends also looks set to bring
you some additional chances to win.

The next question will be available tomorrow, so it could be that you’ll get one new question each day for the next week. The contest may not be available worldwide, but if you can see its page, then you can participate (unless you’re from Turkey or Quebec, for whatever reason). If you’re lucky enough to win the Xperia E4, it will be shipped to you around one month after it officially launches in your country, whenever that may be.

Paper by Facebook for iOS updated with improved Camera Roll and photo sharing

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BY Unknown 04:18 2

Paper by Facebook for iOS updated with improved Camera Roll and photo sharing

Just a few months after adding support for the larger displays of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Facebook has updated its Paper app for iOS to version 1.2.5, bringing improvements to Camera Roll and photo sharing, as well as faster performance.

Photos and videos are now organized by the date they were taken, making it easy for you to find what you’re looking for while selecting media to share. In addition, the updated app also introduces the ability to share photos from the new Favorites album introduced in iOS 8.

Finally, the update also brings along performance enhancements that are designed to improve responsiveness of several parts of the app, including photo uploads. The updated app is available for download from the App Store.

Facebook lite secretly sneaks play store

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BY Unknown 00:12 0

Facebook lite secretly sneaks play store

Facebook has employed a rather odd approach to the mobile market and it seems to be betting on quantity, rather than quality for quite some time now. When the social media giant decided to detach the messenger from its main application, thus making it all that less appealing to most users it sparked an avalanche of complaints with a lot of subscribers rage-quitting on the main app.

Facebook surely must have felt the negative consequences and while initially it seemed like a good enough marketing step to promote the messenger itself the detrimental effect have apparently caught on as a new application has silently made its way to the Google Play Store. It is essentially a lightweight version of the social platform that aims to offer services to low-end devices at faster speeds and best of all, with lower bandwidth.

                                           

The tiny app weighs only 252KB and is very reminiscent of zero Facebook, only running natively on the Android platform instead of inside a browser. Even though Facebook Lite is officially marketed as a compromise solution for low-end devices that can not handle the “full experience” its appeal stretches far beyond that to almost anybody fed up with the resource-hungry app.

Officially the Lite client is only available for Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Zimbabwe, which is all but fair given that they are all developing markets and an Android One style of approach is truly necessary. Still if you manage to get your hands on the APK you should also be able to enjoy a simpler Facebook experience, just like in the good old days.