Phandroid
Facebook will soon share your location with friends but don’t worry, it’s opt-in only
It appears as if Facebook is borrowing a little idea from their rival, Google+. The social network announced today that they will soon begin broadcasting your location to your friends and family, with a new feature they’re calling “Nearby Friends.”Before you freak out, Facebook is doing its users a solid by making it opt-in only — we know how some of you value your privacy.
In order to take advantage of the new feature, you’ll need to enable the Nearby Friends option in the Facebook app, and because sharing goes both ways, you can’t keep it turned off and still expect to get notified when friends are near. Sorry, bubba. Because you’ve probably friended a good amount of acquaintances through the years, sharing can be custom tailored to specific lists you’ve set in Facebook, so you can choose to only share your location with family, or just your close friends.
In Google Now-like fashion, everything is done in the background, with a notification message pinging you on your device when friends are near. Crazy ex-gfs (or current significant others) aside, you can see how this could be helpful at meeting up with friends/ family when out and about. Maybe you’re running errands and feeling like grabbing a quick bite. You notice Sally and Joe are also out, hitting them up on Facebook Messenger to see if they’d like to meetup. How convenient.
Once enabled, Facebook users can choose to share a precise location with their friends and for a set period of time. This means instead of your friends just receiving an alert that you’re nearby with a rough approximation of your distance, they’ll know exactly where to find you, pinpointing your location on a map but again, only for the set period of time you choose.
When friends are traveling, you can also see city or general neighborhood they’re in. Facebook says that could be a great opportunity to recommend a place for them to eat, or in the case of a significant other, will give them ample time to throw your stuff out on the lawn should you get caught in your ex’s neck of the woods.
It’s definitely not going to be a feature for everyone, but for those that don’t mind putting their business out there when it comes to their close friends or family, it could be helpful. According to Facebook, the feature will go live in the Facebook app in the coming weeks, so be on the look out.
Samsung says Galaxy Note 4 will launch with a new form factor, could it look like this?
Concept image based on recently filed Samsung patent
The Samsung Galaxy S5 didn’t do much to change the Korean manufacturer’s current design language. Launching last week across the globe, we saw the same plastic build quality (we aren’t knocking it), soft touch leathery finish on the back (similar to Note devices), and chrome siding that could be seen as a throw back to the original Samsung Galaxy S. Holding the phone side by side with previous iterations, and you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference.
But we’ve noticed that when Samsung does get around to changing the design for their devices, they don’t do it with their flagships, but rather with their Galaxy Note line which launches later in the year. Maybe that’s why we’re excited about the prospect of something “different” for the Galaxy Note 4, and what it could mean for future Galaxy devices down the road.
In an interview with Reuters, Yoon Han-kil, senior vice president of Samsung’s product strategy team, talks about the company’s plans for this year. After mentioning that Samsung will be launching their first Tizen-based smartphone towards the end of Q2, he even divulged a little info on their plans for the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Concerned with a “slowing high-end market,” it appears as if Samsung will look towards a new design for the next Galaxy Note iteration, this in an effort to help drive sales. According to Yoon, the next Galaxy Note will launch with a “new form factor,” though remained mum on exact details. He went on to say:
“Our ultimate goal is to make products that consumers really aspire to have. This is how we are trying to find a breakthrough in the stagnant premium market.”
I guess the only question now is exactly what Samsung could be planning with the Galaxy Note 4. We’ve already seen the OEM experiment with their flexible OLED display technology with the Samsung Galaxy Taco Round. It’s entirely possible Samsung could be experimenting with implementing that into the Galaxy Note 4, in fact, we’ve already seen one possible idea Samsung has been experimenting with in a recently uncovered patent filing.
The patent shows a device that’s flat, but features curved display edges, wrapping around the sides of the device. It’s very modern looking, and unlike anything we’ve seen from Samsung in the past (and that’s a good thing). If this is what we can look forward to in the Galaxy Note 4 (or even looking ahead to the Samsung Galaxy S6), would any of you consider going #TeamSamsung for your next Android?
[Reuters | Concept render | Patent 1, 2]
0 comments:
Post a Comment