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Instagram Live broadcasts can now be watched on the web
Watch your favorite social media superstar live-mix their next drink
Instagram Live has become one of the largest platforms for personal streaming, but broadcasts were only viewable from the mobile app, which can be a drag for longer streams. Fortunately, Instagram has now added support for watching Live content from the web, so you can watch homebound celebrities from the comfort of a large screen.
Samsung is preparing to show off a few upcoming products today. Alongside the expected Galaxy S10, S10+ and S10e, we might get another peek at the company's foldable phone. And hey, maybe that Bixby speaker will finally get a release date — I know you're all waiting with bated breath for that one.
In case you've forgotten about it, Periscope is Twitter's somewhat-unpopular streaming platform designed for use on iOS and Android devices. There haven't been any major feature additions in well over a year, but that changes today. Periscope users can now invite guests onto their streams, similar to what Instagram added in 2017.
Back at the beginning of March, we spotted an upcoming "like" feature, along with a heart icon, in a Google Photos APK teardown. Three months later, likes are rolling out to many for shared photos and videos, and they function exactly as you'd expect them to.
Gmail Smart Compose, a nifty new feature that predicts what you're going to type and fills it in with a press of the tab key, is going live. It's only available on the desktop version of the new Gmail, and to use it, you'll have to enable experimental features in Gmail's settings.
So, you want to share a live video you found on Twitter? You no longer have to waste your precious characters telling people where in the video you want them to watch. Now, you can set a timestamp before sharing. It'll work on both Twitter and Periscope videos, and it starts rolling out today.
Instagram's had live video since December 2016. But back in August, Instagram revealed that it would be adding the ability for users to invite a friend to their livestreams "in the coming months." Well, it's been a few months, and the company has delivered on its promise. 'Go Live with a Friend' is out now with version 20 of the Instagram app.
The war between Instagram and Snapchat rages on, and the newest weapon in Instagram's arsenal is the introduction of Face Filters to Live. So the next time you need to jump into a live broadcast to your friends, you'll be able to provide an appropriate sense of gravitas with a pair of rabbit ears.
Have you ever wondered how many people were watching the same video as you at the same time? Well, if YouTube's test goes as it should, you may not have to for very long. The latest YouTube server-side test we've spotted brings live watch counts to the Android app.
Instagram added its live video feature in December of last year, allowing users to start live streaming directly from the mobile apps. The company has continued to improve live video since then, like adding the ability to save the broadcast after it's over. Another new feature is on the way - guests.
Photo books were announced at Google I/O 2017 just three days ago, and could be ordered that same day - but on the web only. However, the feature was said to be rolling out to the Google Photos Android and iOS apps 'in the coming weeks.' It seems like that estimate was just a tad conservative, as it's already showing up in some people's Photos apps.
Back in February, the YouTube app on Android added the ability to livestream straight from your phone/tablet, much like Periscope and Instagram Live. There was one catch - your channel needed at least 10,000 subscribers to use the feature. Now Google appears to be dropping that requirement, expanding live streaming to even more users.
Facebook is trying its hardest to break into online video, between adding live streaming to the mobile Facebook app to creating a 360-degree video viewer for the Gear VR. Today the company announced another expansion of its Facebook Live feature, this time for the desktop.
Instagram Live is one of several ways to live stream from your phone, but it always had one catch - you couldn't save the broadcast after it was over. Both Periscope and YouTube mobile streaming support this feature. Thankfully, Instagram now allows you to save live video after the broadcast is over.
No, #GoLive is not a trending topic about bringing back Adobe GoLive. Instead, it is related to Twitter bringing the full streaming abilities of Periscope to the mobile Twitter apps. Starting today, a new 'Live' button is visible when composing a tweet, which allows you to start a live stream. As far as functionality goes, it is the exact same as starting a stream from the Periscope app.
After an initial test back in May, Twitter has begun rolling out its new Periscope button to everyone on Android and iOS. When composing a tweet, users will now be greeted with a "Live" button within the media picker, serving as a shortcut to directly launch the Periscope app (or to download it if it isn't installed) and immediately begin live broadcasting to any audience.
It seems that while Google hasn't actually released the official announcement yet (it's expected this morning), the Collections feature we've heard so much about in recent days now appears to be going live for some users.
Update, 10:30PM CST: Wow, it looks like Google really dropped the ball on this one. While previous Play Store launches have been problematic, today's Nexus 6 pre-order has left the vast majority of prospective buyers high and dry. Google seems to have sold out of a low initial stock almost instantly, and there was never a single point in the afternoon where you could reliably go to the Play Store and pay for a phone.