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Apple ranked #11 among top patent recipients in 2014

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple was awarded just over 2,000 patents by the US Patent and Trademark Office in 2014, according to data compiled by IFI Claims Patent Services. That amount is good for a 13% boost over 2013, and enough to rank it #11 among top patent recipients for the year.

A total of 19 US-based companies appear on the 2014 IFI Claims Top 50 list. IBM finished in first, with 7,534 patents awarded in 2014, keeping its 22-year streak alive. Samsung came in second with just under 5000 patents, followed by Canon, Sony and Microsoft.

Facebook acquiring web video startup QuickFire Networks

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Facebook is purchasing the San Diego, California-based web video startup QuickFire Networks for an undisclosed amount. The company announced the acquisition on its website today, saying that "key members" of its team will be joining the social networking giant as it "winds down operations."

QuickFire is known for its propriety software tech that significantly reduces the bandwidth needed to view video online without degrading its quality. The startup will help Facebook build an infrastructure capable of supporting the massive influx of video consumption it's currently experiencing.

Facebook acquires voice recognition firm Wit.ai

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

"Natural Language for the Internet of Things."

Social networking giant Facebook is expanding its product reach into voice recognition, with the acquisition of Palo Alto-based Wit.ai on Monday, reports Reuters.

Facebook will continue efforts to move away from one single app on iOS

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

Facebook is not going to change. It plans to continue filling up your iPhone and iPad homescreens with multiple apps.

The social network giant confirmed in a statement to CBC News that it will continue moving away from one single Facebook app, and instead break its features into several apps on the iTunes App Store.

Facebook’s ‘Stickered for Messenger’ app now available on iOS

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Facebook this evening released its odd 'Stickered for Messenger' app for iOS. First released on Android last week, Stickered allows users to add some fun stickers to their photos before sending them off to friends and family on Messenger.

More specifically, the app allows you to snap a photo, or pull one in from your camera roll, and pick from hundreds of stickers to apply. You can move the images around, resize them, and then pop into Messenger to send off your work.

Facebook Messenger gains read receipts, fresh holiday content and a huge speed boost

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 19, 2014

Facebook-owned WhatsApp quietly introduced blue-ticked read confirmations in its mobile iPhone app a month and a half ago and now the social networking behemoth has refreshed its backend to bring read receipts to Messenger for iOS and Android.

And with Christmas around the corner, the company is helping us celebrate the upcoming festivities by adding holiday-themed content to Messenger like fresh sticker packs, a new festive frame and more.

As if that wasn't enough, Facebook's engineers have done a lot of work under the hood to make the app more fluid and responsive than ever before.

Facebook launches Stickered, a Messenger companion app

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 19, 2014

There's a brand new app from Facebook in town and it's hitting iOS real soon. Having launched on Android today, Stickered is a companion app for Messenger which allows you to add some fun stickers to a photo before sending it to a friend on Messenger.

The first companion app for Messenger, the lightweight Stickered app should make it easy and fun to pick a photo and then resize and slap a sticker on top.

Slingshot adds swiping between selfie and frontie and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2018

Slingshot, Facebook's weird ephemeral messaging app, is actually getting better and more useful with each update.

After releasing a major 2.0 version rebuilt from the ground up and enriched with such new features as private reactions, photo filters, drawings, emojis and notifications on a per-contact basis.

Today's update keeps smoothing out the remaining few rough edges.

For instance, you can now switch smoothly between your iPhone's front-facing FaceTime camera for ‘selfies’ and the iSight camera out the back for ‘fronties’ by swiping left and right.

Facebook will begin auto-enhancing photos for iPhone users

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Even with its Instagram product, Facebook is still one of the premier places to share memories with family and friends. That's why Facebook says it will start auto-enhancing your photos for you on iOS. I guess Facebook thinks you're a sucky photographer.

The social network told TechCrunch on Tuesday you’ll still have complete control of your photos, but a slider will now appear on your photos as you post them that will show how enhanced you want the light, shadow, and clarity. You can even revert back to your original shot.

Instagram hits 300M monthly users, rolls out verified badges

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 10, 2014

Facebook-owned Instagram shared a new milestone today as the popular mobile photo-sharing service hit 300 million monthly users, making it bigger than Twitter which on October 27 had 284 million active users.

The figure is sharply up from 200 million active users Instagram had at the end of March, meaning the service has grown 50 percent in the past 9 months alone.