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Saturday, 2 September 2017

Facebook Watch Video Platform Now Rolling Out to All Users in the US

Facebook launched its Watch video service to US users on Thursday with plans to allow people to submit shows, as the No. 1 social media network vies with Alphabet Inc's YouTube for advertising revenue.

Advertisers are shifting more of their budgets from television to online as viewers have migrated to watching shows on smartphones and tablets.

On Watch, which Facebook began testing earlier this month, users can see hundreds of shows from the likes of Vox, Buzzfeed, Discovery Communications Inc, A&E Networks, Walt Disney Co's ABC, as well as live sports like Major League Baseball.

Americans spend more than 73 minutes a day watching digital video, up more than 7 percent from last year, according to eMarketer data. TV watching has dropped 2 percent from last year to 244 minutes a day, a trend that is expected to continue.

Facebook is initially paying some content creators for shows to drive interest. The company is paying $10,000-$35,000 for shorter form shows and up to $250,000 (roughly Rs. 1.6 crores) for longer shows, sources told Reuters in May.

The company declined to comment on how much it was spending on shows.

Facebook does not intend to make buying content a core piece of its strategy, Dan Rose, vice president of partnerships at Facebook, told Reuters.

"We are not focused on acquiring exclusive rights," he said. "The idea is to seed this with good content."

Facebook plans to eventually open the platform to everyone to submit shows for approval and share 55 percent of ad revenue, Rose said.

The company is testing how ads will work within the shows, he added.

Watch should help Facebook solidify its position alongside YouTube, the leader in the digital video space, for advertisers, said Paul Verna, a senior analyst with eMarketer.

Facebook said Watch is more personal and community-oriented than competitors. For example, it can suggest shows based on a user's interests and friends can share their thoughts as they watch a video.

For example, fans of the exercise program CrossFit can watch and share commentary on live CrossFit events streamed on Facebook while chatting in groups, Rose said.

Similarly, fans of Spanish soccer can watch and chat online about Hala Madrid, a show about Real Madrid.

"We think our unique opportunity is around community and engaging with people on topics they love to talk about," said Rose.

iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone Edition to Launch on September 12: Report

Apple has officially sent out invites for its event on September 12, and for the first time, it will be held at the Steve Jobs Theater on the Apple Park campus. The Cupertino giant is widely expected to launch the three new iPhone models this year, along with the Apple Watch as well. The three new iPhone models have been largely rumoured to be called iPhone 7s, iPhone 7s Plus, and iPhone 8 - with the iPhone 8 being the anniversary edition iPhone bringing significant changes, and the former two being iterative updates. However, a fresh report claims that the three new iPhones will be called iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone Edition - with the latter being the anniversary iPhone.

9to5Mac's Seth Weintraub cites reliable and popular casemaker sources to claim that the three 2017 iPhones will be named iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone Edition. He claims to have seen one very popular casemaker's updated packaging artwork as well. The casemaker has even changed its internal SKUs based on the new information received straight from Shenzhen it seems.

The other has begun making sticker labels for the new iPhones based on the new information, and has been showing it off to retail partners in private. Weintraub claims that both these casemakers are very well-known names, with one brand even being carried on the Apple Store.

These sources also claim that the iPhone Edition will sport rear glass casing, stainless steel chassis, and a bezel-less display (with the notch on top for sensors). The sources also claim that iPhone Edition will support Qi wireless charging, and will be compatible with all current Qi chargers. The sources claim that the iPhones will sport a Lightning port, but a switch to USB-C in the near future is expected. Furthermore, the report claims that the iPhone Edition will sport facial recognition replacing Touch ID.

While the name iPhone Edition has cropped up in earlier reports as well, the iterative updates were conventionally assumed to be iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus only. With this fresh information now coming in and that too with the event being so near, we can't help but let this leak hold some weight.

A separate Korea Herald report claims that 2018 iPhones will be launched in two sizes, with the bigger one being the largest display iPhone made by Apple. The report cites sources at Samsung Display to suggest that the next year's iPhone will come in two sizes: one at 5.85-inch with the display size the same as iPhone 8, and the 'Plus' one being at a huge 6.46-inch in form size. The report also claims that this decision was driven largely by consumer demand and tech advancements.

For now, let's focus on the upcoming Apple event and the big bang anniversary iPhone that it is expected to bring along.

Record $5,000 Bitcoin Price Triggers $13 Billion Market Sell-Off

The bitcoin price touched $5,000 this morning, ushering in a historic moment for the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Unfortunately, this achievement also triggered off a comprehensive market sell-off. Almost every major cryptocurrency–including ethereum, Ripple, and IOTA–experienced significant price decreases.

The sell-off led to a significant crypto market cap pullback. At the height of the rally, the total value of all cryptocurrencies reached $179.7 billion–a new all-time high. However, nearly $13 billion of that has evaporated in the past 12 hours, bringing the current market cap to about $167 billion.

Bitcoin Price Hits $5,000, then Dives

The bitcoin price crossed the $5,000 threshold on several exchanges during the early morning hours of September 2, raising the global average price to an all-time high of $4,975. Unfortunately, the bitcoin price did not sustain that level for long. By 3:30 UTC, the bitcoin price had fallen to $4,800. Within another three hours, it had plunged to $4,625. Bitcoin rallied back to $4,775, but the upward momentum did not continue. By the time of writing, the bitcoin price had dropped to $4,630, which translates to a $76.6 billion market cap.

Ethereum Price Rally Stalls

The bitcoin sell-off led to a widespread market pullback, and the ethereum price was not immune. For most of September 1, the ethereum price hovered at about $390. But once bitcoin began to fall, ethereum followed. The ethereum price plunged as low as $352 at 6:00 UTC and currently sits at $357. This reduced ethereum’s market cap to $33.7 billion–a 24-hour decline of 8%.

Litecoin Price Reaches $92 for New ATH

The altcoin markets turned red following the bitcoin sell-off, and only three top 25 cryptocurrencies made positive movement for the day.

After inching back to $600 yesterday, the bitcoin cash price dropped to $591. The Ripple price mirrored ethereum’s plight, dropping 8% to $0.231.

Litecoin was one of the rare coins with a 24-hour price increase. The litecoin price increased 6% to $80. During the past day, only bitcoin boasted a trading volume greater than litecoin’s $1.7 billion.

However, what this statistic conceals is the fact that the litecoin price had actually risen to a new all-time high of $92 this morning, meaning that it has dropped $12 from its daily peak. Litecoin now has a market cap greater than $4.2 billion.

The NEM price fell 5% but maintained a slight market cap edge on Dash, which returned a 6% decline. The Monero price, meanwhile, fell 8%, forcing its market cap below $2 billion. Tenth-ranked IOTA had the worst performance of any top 10 coin, plunging 20% to $0.678.

Aside from litecoin, only two top 25 cryptocurrencies increased in value over the past 24 hours. Ethereum classic, now ranked 9th, grew 3% to $20 as part of its latter-week rally. NEO, which recently dropped out of the top 10 following a steep decline, managed to defy the wider markets and rise 5% to $33.

Bitcoin Dominance Stable for Week

Bitcoin’s slice of the total crypto market cap ended the week at 45.8%, which is just slightly below where it began. Ethereum’s share had swelled during the middle of the week but had tapered to 20.1% by Saturday. Litecoin recorded the week’s most significant gains, rising from 1.7% on August 26 to 2.5% on September 2.

As the distribution currently stands, bitcoin cash and Ripple account for 5.9% and 5.3%, respectively. The remaining ~20% is divided between the other 1,000 or so coins and assets tracked by CoinMarketCap

Friday, 1 September 2017

Bitcoin Foundation: Department of Justice Should be Investigated

https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@hrswor/bitcoin-foundation-department-of-justice-should-be-investigated

The Bitcoin (BTC) Foundation on Tuesday asked government to investigate the Department of Justice. The agency is going after vendors and merchants on the grounds they are selling bitcoin (BTC) as “illegal money transmitters.” However, the Bitcoin (BTC) Foundation said bitcoin (BTC) is not money, at least not how Senate Bill 1241 is defining it. The Bitcoin (BTC) Foundation also took issue with the fact government believes terrorism is being financed by crypto.