7 most important things Facebook announced at F8 2018

The current Cambridge Analytica data scandal on Facebook may have delayed the release date of smart home speakers but the annual conference of social network developers was developed as planned

CEO Mark Zuckerberg started the F8 2018 conference with a long apology for the role of Facebook in Election of the Russian elections and third party acquisitions of personal data explaining Facebook new privacy security settings on the way.

Having addressed the elephant in the room, Zuckerberg jumped into the new products, services and features of Facebook.

Lucky for you, we've put together the seven most important announcements of the keynote of F8 2018 on day 1 here.

1. The Oculus Go release date is today

In a not-so-surprising announcement, Zuckerberg informed the public of the conference in San Jose, California, and those who were watching live that Oculus Go is on sale today at Oculus.com .

People in 23 countries, including the US The United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden can go to the site and buy the independent headset at this time.

Buyers in the USA UU You can also find Oculus Sal for sale at Amazon Best Buy and NewEgg, as well as at Best Buy stores today.

On stage, Zuckerberg called Oculus Go the "first really affordable virtual reality" headset on the market, and claimed that it has "the highest quality lenses and optics that we have ever incorporated into a virtual reality device", including the last Oculus Rift .

The 32GB base model costs $ 199 / £ 199 / AU $ 299, while the 64GB version sells for $ 249 / £ 249 / AU $ 369. And more than 1,000 games and applications of Oculus Go are available to play right now.

2. Dating profiles are reaching Facebook

Facebook does not just want to be the place to chat with your old school friends and family.

Soon, you can build a Facebook dating profile and connect with other singles in your area, in a part of the application that your usual Facebook friends can not see.

If you choose the function, you can configure a profile of appointments, then search in your area Events and Groups in which you are likely to meet potential donors.

Select a group, and you can click on member profiles and see their photos and established interests. You can then click on one of your photos as "conversation initiator" and start individual chat strings with other users, which will be text only (there is no possibility of unsolicited photos).

Facebook will also recommend possible matches "based on the preferences of dating, things in common and common friends," but Zuckerberg emphasized that will not match him with any real Facebook friends.

"This is going to be to build real long-term relationships, okay? Not just connections!" Zuckerberg said, to the laughter of the crowd.

Zuckerberg hinted that this will be available through the Facebook application, but Facebook Product Manager Chris Cox mentioned that the appointment profiles could be available as a separate application, because the discussion groups wanted to maintain their profiles of appointments separated from their regular profiles.

Beta testing of dating features will begin "later this year."

3. Facebook Messenger is receiving a redesign

Facebook Messenger may be receiving new features like Photos 4K AR and AI effects technology of translation but the next update of the platform interface will eliminate much of the clutter.

Messaging VP David Marcus showed a quick look at the new image on stage some time after Zuckerberg also said that Messenger was going to look simpler and cleaner.

Facebook plans to remove the games and tabs from the camera at the bottom, reducing the friend's bubbles a bit and even adding what seems like a night-time option.

Marcus hinted that this new, simpler and cleaner interface will come out "very soon".

4. Clear history will erase what you've been exploring

Are you thinking about delete Facebook to protect your data privacy? Facebook wants to give you a less drastic option to keep your business: delete cookies and delete the browser history.

In a few months, Facebook will launch a "Clear history" option, which will allow you to disable Facebook's ability to store data in you.

Normally, Facebook Analytics collects data about your browsing history and "likes", and uses this information to select suggestions and ads for your feed.

With Clear History, you can delete all information collected from Facebook Analytics about you.

Zuckerberg emphasized the scenario to emphasize that the Facebook experience will be degraded if users choose to erase the history. Deleting cookies from a browser, he said, "may worsen some parts of your e
xperience." Your Facebook will not be as good as you relearn your preferences. "

In other words, Zuckerberg believes that Facebook needs data about his interests to work properly, and that after users delete his" History Outside Facebook ", they will realize that they must trust Facebook data again.

In a separate statement Erin Egan, Facebook's chief privacy officer, revealed that deleting her file technically will not "erase" her data. use this configuration, said: "We will continue to provide applications and websites with aggregate analysis … We can do it without storing the information in a way associated with your account, and as always, we do not. tell advertisers who you are. "

Therefore, by using Facebook, you will still give the company a means to monetize your data for advertisers, Facebook will only make the data more widespread, so that nobody you can easily obtain individual ad profiles for users.

Zuckerberg also announced that he plans to hire 20,000 content and security reviewers by October 2018 to fight against fake news during election seasons.

5. Virtual reality focused on society

Oculus is removing all stops to ensure that Oculus Go owners have a lot of new and exclusive VR content to try in the first month of purchase. Oculus, described the new and significantly updated applications that arrive on the platform.

The first application, Oculus Rooms, has ex It has been redesigned for a while, but now it has been redesigned and makes it easier than ever to hang out with friends in a virtual space to play, watch movies or catch up. It will be available for Oculus Go and Samsung Gear VR for now.

Oculus TV, an exclusive application of Oculus Go, places it inside a virtual theater, where you can start a virtual "Observation Party" with up to four friends, and review 2D and 3D content, either live or on demand .

When released in May, you can watch Netflix, Hulu, Showtime and Facebook Video, and other applications such as ESPN + will be added later this year. VR vice president of Facebook, Hugo Barra, said that the TV screen inside the application can have a width of up to 180 inches.

You will also have access to live events through Oculus Venues, an application to attend practically events with tickets such as concerts, sporting events and theater shows. When released later this month for Go and Gear VR, Oculus Venues will release live concerts, MLB and NBA games, and stand up comedy shows.

Finally, Oculus Gallery will allow users to easily share and view their own photos, videos and other media within virtual reality.

6. Instagram and Messenger add AR camera effects

In F8 last year, Facebook showed its new augmented reality (AR) technology, which allows you to insert animated creations three-dimensional in your photos and videos

Now, the company has submitted its AR Camera Effects package directly on Instagram and Facebook Messenger, so you can add items like face filters "global effects" or 3D objects in your feed

Facebook also delivered these tools AR to companies that use chatbots as part of a closed beta. Early partners such as Nike, Asus, Sephora and Kia will use 3D visualizations of objects for their products, so you can see how they will look from the comfort of your home.

You can place a makeup filter on your face to see what a particular tone looks like, for example, or see how a Kia Stinger or a couple of Nikes look different colors.

7. Great instagram chat updates and WhatsApp calls

Confirming rumors this year, Zuckerberg announced that Instagram users can now use video chat to connect with people through the application.

Up to four people can join the chat at once, and you can navigate within the application while your friends sit in a miniature in the corner.

Part of that navigation will be in its renewed Explore mode, which places the category buttons of photos in the upper part of the window in a carousel, so you can quickly scroll through different options such as "Animals" or "Archit
ecture" and Select one that you want.

Zuckerberg claimed that people have been using the live video feature to "hang out" with friends, and that video chat was a logical addition to the platform.

Facebook also added a similar option to WhatsApp called Group Calling, which also allows up to four people in a call.

Zuckerberg said that people already make "2 billion minutes of voice and video calls on WhatsApp" every day, and this new addition could be added to that number.