Friday Top 10 Tech

Friday Top 10 Tech February 16, 2016 featured image

Stay up-to-date on the top tech news and trends each week with our Friday Top 10 Tech. See something we missed? Tag @swebdevelopment on Facebook and Twitter! Here’s our top 10 for this week:

1. Instagram finally makes multiple account support possible.
Social media managers everywhere are rejoicing over this long overdue update to the popular app. Although it has yet to roll out to all users, it promises to make managing several Instagram accounts simpler with a simple tap between profiles. A prominent profile photo visible throughout the app will help ensure you’re posting in the right place.

2. Vine creates update that allows users to edit captions.
Unlike its parent company Twitter, Vine now allows users to edit video captions. Although it doesn’t affect the original posts pushed to Twitter, this update is a much appreciated one.

3. Twitter adds “While You Were Away” feature to user timelines..
Despite Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s denial of rumors over Facebook-like changes to Twitter’s timeline algorithms in the near future, Twitter did indeed update it’s tweet algorithm. Users will now see a While You Were Away section at the beginning of their feed highlighting top tweets you may have missed in your stream.

4. Apple TV is finally getting voice dictation.
Apple TV users can now dictate usernames, passwords and quick word entry in search boxes, as well as searching for just about anything in the App Store using the built in Siri button.

5. Amazon created Lumberyard, a free cross-platform 3D game engine.
Amazon is jumping into the game design business with its free-to-download engine, Lumberyard. Although development experience is required, Lumberyard is touting the ability to give users an easier way to create multiplayer back-ends with less effort, technical risk, and time delays.

6. Google is one step closer to legalizing self-driving cars.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has said the systems operating Google’s self-driving car could be considered a “driver” under federal law. Just when we’ll start seeing Google’s automated cars on the road is uncertain, but this affirmation brings this sci-fi idea closer to reality.

7. YouTube launches first original TV shows and movies.
YouTube officially launched its subscription-only service, YouTube Red, last year, but this week it released its first exclusive content, including original films and TV shows.

8. Facebook will start automatically captioning video ads
Ever scrolled through your Facebook feed only to be blasted with audio from video ads? To improve user experience, Facebook plans to begin adding captions while silencing videos when they initially pop up. Advertisers can already add captions to their videos, but Facebook is taking it a step further and offering to do it for them.

9. Facebook’s alternative to the “Like” button is coming.
There has long been talk of Facebook creating a “Dislike” button for those inevitably unhappy status updates. To avoid the negative connotations of a dislike, Facebook is instead testing out Reactions–a series of emoji-like icons to express love, anger, sadness, and more. Users in Spain and Ireland already have access to the new feature, and it proves to share greater insights for businesses looking to better understand their followers.

10. Instagram to show video view counts instead of likes.
This may seem like an inconsequential change, but how many times have you viewed a photo or video on Instagram without double tapping? These new metrics will give a more accurate account of how many people see your videos. Instagram is doing this in the attempt to draw in more big name creatives from Vine and YouTube and to encourage brands to place more ad dollars behind video campaigns.

Read our Friday Top 10 Tech post on March 11, 2016.

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