MasHD Blog

Facebook and Ray-Ban have teamed up to announce a new product for the smart glass market - the new Ray-Ban Stories - a Facebook Stories enabled pair of sunglasses with two 5MP cameras for photos and video and a 30 second record limit to store- share and edit short videos (when paired with a smartphone with the Facebook View app) and then share to Facebook, Instagram or other non-facebook related social media apps.The smart glasses feature a tiny speaker and three mics for better audio pickup. The glasses, which are expected to retail at $299, one with a USB cable to charge the device (charges are said to last 3 days) and come multiple tints and come in three frame designs - Wayfarer, round and Meteor. Source - Gadgets.ndtv  

Major app devs have come down hard on Blackberry BBOS during the past few weeks , Whatsapp - a popular IM/VoIP pulled out of Blackberry's ecosystem and Facebook reported that their native app will no longer work on Blackberry devices starting from 31st March . But in a change of attitude , Facebook has granted one last breath for the platform as the final update to Facebook will let users access the web version of the popular social media site witthout compromise . The web version however is clunky but it is a breath of fresh air for the zombified os . The update to facebooks web view is available through Blackberry world , and if you own a pre - Blackberry Priv device , update asap Source -  Slashgear

Online privacy is virtually extinct in this time and age , but that doesn't mean that companies can use that excuse and continue spying at their own will , take Facebook for example , the social media company which has connected billions of users are now on apparently using tracking cookies to mine some more money for the sake of advertising . Although this is nothing new , it is probably the first time that Facebook has gone aggressive  as users who log into facebook have no way to prevent Facebook from basically "checking" your activity and content your search on the internet . Facebook - who will ultimately profit from this endeavor states - "When we ask people about our ads, one of the top things they tell us is that they want to see ads that are more relevant to their interests.” which is kind of a funny excuse because more and more users install software like Adblock to get rid of the same menace Facebook describes of .To sum it up , there is no turning back ...

Facebook has received a lot of criticism after they announced that users will be forced to use a messenger app if they wanted to chat on their iOS or Android device , the second app , Facebook messenger works as a separate chat application while the original app is used for notifications and news feeds without Chat . The Facebook messenger app has recieved poor ratings from users who awarded it One star and this can be justified as the older application offered core features without requiring the user to download a seperate app that hogs more storage and memory . According to facebook ,the app has currenty hit 500 million app installs on Android and that's mainly because users on facebook were forced to download it . Apple has not released their app download numbers yet , but considering that Facebook messenger received a one star rating at the Appstore , Facebook might not be interesting in getting their numbers anytime soon. Source - GSMArena

Most of you are sure to have the social networking app  ,Facebook linked to your smartphone and/or tablet , although you use the app to connect with your social world , the app is now ready to use you for its next survey which involves the social surveying company Nielsen and  what TV shows you watch. The survey is set to kick off in the US with a agreement that users can opt out of being included in the full survey if they wish . The process will mine data such as the users age and gender and what TV/Movies they watch on their mobile devices  but that data will be available in two different ways to both companies -Facebook and Nielsen. Raw numerical data (excluding data about the TV show) will be available to Facebook while TV show data (excluding personal data of Facebook users) will be available to Nielsen . The move however has sparked privacy concerns which relate to how much Facebook already knows about individuals and how they plan to mine more data for the purpo...

Facebook will acquire messaging company WhatsApp for $19 billion, according to an SEC filing Wednesday. The purchase price includes roughly $4 billion in cash and $12 billion in Facebook stock. An additional $3 billion in restricted stock could be paid out over four years to WhatsApp employees. This is the largest acquisition the social media company has made to date, nearly 16 times as much as the company paid for Instagram in April 2012. In a blog post , Facebook pointed to some numbers to help illustrate its decision to acquire WhatsApp. The app has 450 million active users, 70 percent of whom are active in a given day, and is adding over a million new registered users each day. And messaging volume within the app is approaching levels equal to SMS messaging globally. That level of adoption seems to be the clincher for Facebook, which said, “The acquisition supports Facebook and WhatsApp’s shared mission to bring more connectivity and utility to the world by delivering core in...

Facebook has been actively researching the feasibility, effectiveness, and profitability of tracking users’ cursors and screen positions, reports the Wall Street Journal. The data would give the social media giant the ability to analyze the ways in which users interact with Facebook content and advertising. This would in turn let it change the site and its advertising methods according to where users hover their mice and scroll their device displays. The new data collection method would be added to its other methods, such as gathering information users enter into their profiles or tracking friendships and likes. It is part of an ongoing investigation by Facebook analytics chief Ken Rudin, who joined the company in April 2012. Before that, he was the vice president of analytics and platform technologies at Zynga, Inc. That company made billions of dollars in revenue on such Facebook-reliant games as Farmville. (Maybe you’ve heard of it.) The screen behavior technology being studied ...

Facebook has apologized for a service disruption that briefly prevented users from posting to the social networking site Monday morning. A Facebook spokesperson told CTVNews.ca that the outage was short-lived. By late Monday morning the website was back up and running. "Earlier this morning, while performing some network maintenance, we experienced an issue that prevented some users from posting to Facebook for a brief period of time," the spokesperson said in a statement. "We resolved the issue quickly, and we are now back to 100 per cent. We're sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused." Users were able to log into the social networking site Monday morning, but could not post status updates, comments, photos or send messages. Instead users received an error message urging them to “try again in a few minutes.” As one of the most popular and recognizable websites on the Internet, Facebook attracts significant traffic. In June, the website boasted 69...

Google (GOOG) is tinkering with the ever-delicate balance between selling advertisements and creeping its users out. On Friday the company said it would begin including recommendations that Google+ users make in advertisements. The new policy kicks in on Nov. 11. Here’s how it works: You use Google+ to rate some product or service. It turns out the company behind that product wants to advertise on Google. When the company purchases an ad, your friends will see a version that includes your photo along with what you said about the product. If this all sounds familiar, that’s because critics have been up in arms about a similar advertising scheme from Facebook (FB) called sponsored stories. The ads resulted in a class-action lawsuit, and the social network eventually had to pay a $20 million settlement and clarify its privacy settings. Inevitably, the clarification provoked another round of outrage. Both Google and Facebook have been in trouble for violating users’ privacy, but noth...

Last week, Facebook faced one of those difficult security problems that companies usually have to face once in a while . The social network reported that a security bug left approximately six million users’ information exposed, namely email addresses and phone numbers. However, it seems the problem goes much deeper than that. Security research firm Packet Storm Security first discovered the bug, and they say that their data and Facebook’s data that they reported to users don’t quite match up. The researchers say that what Facebook told its users was much less than what the researchers found. They also said that the social network is hoarding non-user contact information. This means that even if you don’t have a Facebook account, you most likely have friends that do, and if they have you in their contacts, this could mean that Facebook still has information on you, and it’s being exposed. Obviously, users are furious that their not-for-sharing phone numbers and email addresses are ...

This week it’s become apparent that not only are sales of the HTC First lacking – the device nicknamed  as the first “true” Facebook Phone – the software isn’t doing so hot either. As the Facebook Home software for Android reaches 1 million downloads, it also falls off the top 100 downloaded apps list. Much less exciting than it was when it first launched . According to a “trusted source” speaking with BGR, the HTC First has already been scheduled for an “end of life” date. This means that the device will no longer be sold in stores, its support date will be shorter than expected, and the carrier will no longer be advertising for it (of course). This news comes soon after the device started its pricing at $199 several weeks ago and just last week started a sale for less than a dollar. This pricing indicates that either Facebook, HTC, and AT&T decided they’d sell as many phones as possible to get the word out about how great it was, or they simply haven’t had as many sale...

Back when the HTC One was known to the media by its M7 codename, there were two other HTC phones rumored to come our way in the first half of 2013. These were dubbed M4 and G2 and looked basically like smaller and more modest cousins of the company’s latest flagship. You know, kind of like last year’s One S and V. But with HTC having the crippled One release and now the Facebook-centric First on its plate , you’d think the M4 and G2 would be the least of the company’s concerns. Only that might not necessarily be the case, as one of our trusted Twitter sources has just updated M4’s known specs and features. According to @LlabTooFer, the M4 is to come packing a dual-core 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 400 MSM8930 CPU and 1 GB of RAM. The 4.3-inch display should boast a 720p resolution, while the connectivity options will include Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and Glonass. There will be only one version of the M4, with 16 GB of on-board storage, and on the back you’ll get one of ...

As expected, Facebook unveiled today its latest mobile effort , an Android launcher called Facebook Home. While most of the event focused on the software features of Home, we also got to finally see how the first device to run Home out of the box would look like. HTC’s CEO Peter Chou took the stage to present the HTC First, a mid-range 4.3-inch device designed to put “a user’s friends and family at the center of their mobile experience.” The device (previously known as Myst) was leaked earlier this week, so we didn’t get too many surprises in terms of specifications. These include: HTC First specifications Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 dual-core RAM: 1GB Display: 4.3-inch LCD, 720p Camera: 5MP rear, 1.6MP front Connectivity: Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS Four color options: red, blue, white, black 4G LTE Android 4.1 Jelly Bean + HTC Sense 4.1 + Facebook Home As for software features, the HTC First will be fully Facebook-centric.  Pricing was also released at the event ...

Facebook unveiled its new Android experience earlier today , Facebook Home, which is a new people-based Facebook apps-rich user interface that will run on top of Android OS, virtually changing your mobile experience. While not all Android users out there will be interested in it, there are plenty of people that use their smartphones to log into Facebook apps on a daily basis. In fact, Facebook mobile apps are among the most used apps out there. Unfortunately, not all Android devices will be able to run Home as soon as the app launches. Initially only a bunch of Samsung and HTC devices will be supported by Facebook Home including the Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy S3, Samsung Galaxy Note 2, HTC One and HTC One X. From the looks of it, Home will launch on Jelly Bean handsets, although requirements for Facebook’s new software aren’t available at this time. We wouldn’t be surprised to see Home run on older Android hardware, since Facebook is trying to reach as many Facebook use...

As expected, Facebook on Thursday unveiled a new people-based user interface for Android devices that will take over the screen of Facebook handsets. And, as expected, it’s called Home – recent rumors suggested the name of the app will be Home. Home is not a forked Android version, as some of the earlier rumors claimed, as Facebook simply built the launcher to work right on top of current Android devices. Mark Zuckerberg explained on stage that it makes more sense for the company to simply develop a custom user interface for Android devices, an open source OS that lets OEMs and developers to do pretty much whatever they want, than to actually build a Facebook Phone that would only reach a few millions users. This way, Home could be use by a lot more Android device owners, right on their existing handsets. With Home, users will have access to new lock and home screens that will be built entirely on one’s Facebook environment. From Home, users will be able to go through Facebo...

Question -  "I want to buy a decent phone below XX,XXXX  ( some moderate amount of cash)  and i hope to use it for at least 3 years,any suggestions ? " Introduction  All  of us who live outside the Carrier Network sphere generally  have to  spend a premium to get unlocked devices so most of the time we are unable to change the handsets annually . Although a handful of people buy one phone after another , the majority are really down with tight budgets , monetary problems and even family issues where Mom or Dad wouldn't allow his/her  Son or daughter to get another handset until they grow up to a certain age . so ,if you are unable to get the latest high speed hardware and still wan't some jolly fun while staying under the budget , what are the best phones out there ? First of all , what is a affordable  Mid -Range phone ? Phones are generally categorized into 3 main groups with...

Whether or not we ever see a true Facebook Phone, HTC has plans to launch another Android handset with a special focus on the social network. More or less a followup to the HTC Status (pictured above) for AT&T, the device known as the HTC Myst has passed through the FCC with all the markings of a phone destined for the carriers LTE network. While the Myst has received its HTC approval, the filing doesn’t reveal more about the phone with model number PM33100. Previous rumors place the device as a mid-range handset featuring a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 4.3-inch 720p display, and 5MP camera. The handset should run Android 4.1.2, though how it will be modified to earn its “Facebook Phone” status isn’t known. It looks like we’ll be finding out more soon, nevertheless. (Phandroid,Engadget)

While we've always known that Facebook has the final say in how people use its service, a new study reveals just how effectively the social network can nudge its members to behave in ways Facebook might consider most fitting. An unprecedented study from Carnegie Mellon University followed the privacy practices of 5,076 Facebook users over six years, between 2005 and 2011 . Researchers found that during the first four years, users steadily limited what personal data was visible to strangers within their school network. Yet through changes Facebook introduced to its platform in 2009 and 2010, the social network actually succeeded in reversing some users' inclination to avoid public disclosure of their data. In fact, the social network's new policies were not only able to partly override an active desire not to post personal details publicly, but they have so far kept such disclosures from sinking back to their lower levels, according to the study. They also found that ev...