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Snapchat rolls out My AI for all users, details subscriber growth, at annual Snap Partner Summit

Snapchat users across the globe can now use artificial intelligence to fuel conversations with their friends. The company says My AI is available to all users for free.

Developed using OpenAI’s ChatGPT, users can activate the chatbot in conversations by mentioning @MyAI in chats.

The company originally started testing the feature with subscribers in the U.S. in February. CEO Evan Spiegel says 99.5 percent of the responses the chatbot produces conform to the company’s community guidelines. “My AI certainly makes plenty of mistakes, so you can’t rely on it for advice, but it’s definitely entertaining,” Spiegel said during the company’s annual summit.

More than 750 million people across 20 countries use Snapchat every month. Its subscription service, Snapchat+, has more than three million subscribers, marking a period of growth. Back in August, only one million users were using the service.

Othe new features

Snap wants its users to have small blasts from the past with its new Friendship Flashbacks feature. This will allow the platform to resurface saved snaps in conversations, similar to the way Google Photos reminds users of photos from years ago.

“At Snap, we know that Friendships are based on shared experiences, and we’re always looking for ways to help our community celebrate the people closest to them,” Jack Brody, vice president of product, said.

The company will also introduce a new shared Story type called After Dark. It will allow users to add snaps to the Story after 8pm. Only those who posted the night before can access the Story the next morning. A feature “for the early birds” will also be making its way to the app soon, Brody said but didn’t provide further details.

Starting today, users can also access Live Location — a feature that will allow friends to track each other on Snapchat. “This makes it easy to see each other when you’re both on the go,” Brody said.

Image credit: Snap

In the music and entertainment world, the company is working with Disguise to bring Snap’s AR to music venues and tours, allowing users to see AR visuals through the Snapchat camera.

The company is also collaborating with Kygo to bring the feature to his concerts in the summer. The move builds on Snap’s AR partnerships, which include Samsusng’s decision to integrate Snap AR in the native camera on Galaxy A, F, and M series phones.

Image credit: Shutterstock

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Mobile Syrup

Android users might have to pay Snap’s subscription fee to access dark mode

Snapchat’s Android users may have to pay to access dark mode, a feature that’s free for iOS users.

According to Alessandro Paluzzi, a leaker following Snap’s rollout of the function for Android since 2021, it might only be available for Snpachat+ subscribers.

A screenshot shares three options under the “App Appearance” segment, “Always Light,” “Always Dark,” and “Match System.”

The subscription service costs $4.99 in Canada and gives users access to a number of exclusive features. However, dark mode is not something Snpachat+ users with iPhones currently pay for.

At this time, it’s unclear if Snap will run with the paid feature for Android users. It’s also not known when exactly these Snapchat users will be able to access dark mode.

Image credit: Snap

Source: @alex193a Via: 9to5Google

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Mobile Syrup

Snap rolls out new way to let users keep their Snap Streaks going

Is there anything worse than losing a Snap Streak?

While the obvious answer is yes, teenage me didn’t always see it like that.

Snap Streaks are a feature on Snapchat that track how often users send each other daily snaps. According to the company’s website, you and a friend are on a streak if you’ve sent snaps to each other for three consecutive days. Doing so leads to a fire emoji next to your friend’s account name.

The rules have been strict; miss one day and the streak expires. But now the company has rolled out a new feature that could change the rules of the game.

“We’re making it easier to take a break with a new feature we’re testing to let you reignite the spark and restore one streak for free with just one tap,” the company writes in a blog post.

Users will only be able to restore their streak once. According to TechCrunch, it’ll cost American users an additional 99 cents (roughly $1.36 CAD) to add more restores. It’s unclear what the pricing for Canadian users will look like.

The company will further roll out the benefit under its subscription program Snapchat+ “soon.”

“We’ll also be adding a new way for Snapchat+ subscribers to freeze their Streaks, putting things on pause when they know they’re going off the grid,” the company says.

The news follows the company’s jump on the ChatGPT bandwagon. Snap will soon introduce its own chatbot called My AI.

Source: Snap, TechCrunch 

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Mobile Syrup

Snap rolls out Ray Tracing technology to developers worldwide

Snap’s ongoing work in the world of augmented reality has led to a new development.

The company has introduced Ray Tracing to developers. Described as a “technical capability,” it can enhance realism in AR experiences by “reflecting light on digital objects.” This means lenses that feature AR diamond jewelry, for example, will look more realistic.

Since we’re talking about diamonds, it only makes sense that Tiffany & Co. be the first to levrage Ray Tracing. With the Tiffany Lock Lens, Snapchatters can try on the company’s Lock bracelts and even purchase them through the app.

Head to their website for the QR code. The lens is available to iOS and Android users around the world.

Image credit: Snap

Source: Snap

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Mobile Syrup

Ads from brands appeared on white nationalist Twitter pages

While some companies, like Apple and Amazon, have started advertising on Twitter again, others have raised concerns after their ads appeared on the pages of white nationalists.

The Washington Post (via The Verge) reported that some 40 high-profile brands and organizations have complained, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Amazon, Uber, Snap, GoDaddy, USA Today and Morning Brew.

Ads for some of these organizations were spotted on the Twitter profiles of Andrew Anglin, the editor of neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer, and Patrick Casey, who previously led the white nationalist group Identity Evropa, later rebranded as the American Identity Movement. Bother Anglin and Casey had their accounts banned from Twitter in 2013 and 2019, respectively. However, after Elon Musk took over Twitter and granted a “general amnesty,” both returned to the platform.

Moreover, The Washington Post reported seeing ads alongside white supremacist posts on Twitter pages with names like “No White Guilt Clips” and “White Power Ranger.”

Image credit: The Washington Post

It’s worth noting that the ads no longer appear on Anglin’s or Casey’s accounts. A Twitter employee told The Washington Post that Twitter pages must be flagged to prevent advertising from appearing on them. Twitter didn’t respond to requests for comment from The Verge or The Washington Post, but that might have something to do with Musk reportedly firing most of the company’s press team.

Speaking of layoffs, if Twitter relies on a system of flagging accounts to prevent advertising from appearing on them, it’s highly likely Anglin, Casey, and others slipped through the cracks. With Musk’s general amnesty allowing thousands of accounts to return to the platform and Twitter operating with a skeleton crew, there just might not be enough people flagging problematic accounts.

The HHS told The Washington Post that it would pull ads from Twitter since “having [ads] appear on hateful Twitter channels is inconsistent with [its] values.” Similarly, USA Today said it would contact Twitter because the content “obviously does not align with [its] values or mission.”

Ultimately, it seems like those who have resumed ads on Twitter (or who never stopped advertising in the first place) may be running into the problems that led several brands and advertising agencies to pull out of Twitter in the first place. After Musk’s takeover, he tweeted that Twitter’s ad revenue had fallen and blamed activists for it. Later, ad agencies labelled Twitter “high risk” as they bailed on the platform. Musk, however, continued blaming activists for the consequences of his own actions.

You can follow the ongoing Twitter saga here.

Source: The Washington Post Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Snap to lay off more than a thousand employees

Snap will lay off a fifth of its workforce starting today, according to The Verge. 

The publication states the company has been planning the layoffs for weeks.

Sources familiar with the matter state some departments will be impacted greater than others. This includes the team responsible for the social mapping app Zenly, as well as their hardware division, responsible for the Pixy camera drone. The product, which was revealed in April, has been cancelled.  

The Verge says the layoffs shouldn’t be a surprise, as the company’s stock prices have sunk 80 percent since the year began. The company hired aggressively during the pandemic, growing its workforce to over 6,400 employees.

Snap isn’t the only tech company to recently let go of employees or slow its hiring. Shopify and Tesla, to name a few, have also gone this route.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Snap may not have made enough Pixy drones to keep up with demand

Snap began selling its new automated hovering Pixy drone made for taking selfies. The drone is available in the U.S. and France currently. Even with a limited market, the demand appears to be outweighing Snap’s supply.

Reports are coming in that Snap is extending the estimate for Pixy drone shipments. Previously, customers of the $230 USD (roughly $294) Pixy drone were told that wait times were upwards of three months. Now, Snap’s website claims shipping times can be up to four months.

Additionally, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel told The Verge’s Alex Heath that “in hindsight, we probably should have made more.”

It’s still difficult to say whether Snap’s Pixy drone is flying off virtual shelves or if they are merely hovering. There does seem to be demand for the product. Though, just how much demand remains to be unclear as Snap is not disclosing how many were manufactured in the first place.

The demand for the Pixy does seem warranted. It appears to be a pretty neat piece of tech. The hovering Pixy drone features a number of flight patterns including ‘Hover,’ ‘Orbit,’ ‘Reveal,’ ‘Favourite,’ and ‘Follow.’

Users are able to guide the Snap Pixy drone to a spot in the air or follow the user. The drone can then take photos or videos and send them directly to the Snapchat app on iOS and Android. Users can edit these photos and videos with various filters and Snap effects like ‘Hyperspeed,’ ‘Bounce,’ ‘Orbit 3D’ and ‘Jump Cut.’ Once complete, the image or video can be shared.

In terms of specs, the Pixy offers a 12-megapixel camera, capturing 2.7k videos. The battery lasts roughly five to eight flights on a single charge.

While on the market, it’s not yet known when the Snap’s Pixy drone will be available in Canada. Though, given the shipment times for the U.S., we shouldn’t wait with bated breath.

Image credit: Snap

Source: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Snap reveals pocket-sized photo and video shooting drone called Pixy

Snap has revealed a tiny new drone called Pixy that follows users around and captures photos and videos.

The drone is on sale now in the U.S. and France for $230 USD (roughly $294 CAD). It’s unclear if Snap has plans to bring the drone to Canada. While the Snapchat maker’s Spectacles didn’t initially drop in Canada, they were released here several years later.

The seemingly simplistic drone is capable of following users with the press of a button, according to Snap. Pixy features several different flight paths, including ‘Hover,’ ‘Orbit,’ ‘Reveal,’ ‘Favourite,’ and likely the most useful, ‘Follow.’

With ‘Follow’, as you likely guessed, Pixy will follow as you move around and automatically snap photos and videos during its flight. Snap says that the drone can also be set to only shoot videos or photos.

Images are sent directly back to the Snapchat app on your smartphone where they can be edited with well-known Snap effects like ‘Hyperspeed,’ ‘Bounce,’ ‘Orbit 3D’ and ‘Jump Cut,’ and then shared.

“Pixy is ready to fly at a moment’s notice. There are no controllers. There’s no complex setup. Simply set a flight path and let Pixy take it from there,” said Snap CEO Evan Spiegel during the social media platform’s recent Partners Summit.

The Pixy captures 2.7k videos and features a 12-megapixel camera. The drone weighs 101g, offers a replaceable battery and can last roughly five to eight flights on one charge.

Though undeniably cool, one of Spectacles most significant limitations is the fact that they only worked well within the Snap app. Though it hasn’t been confirmed yet, it appears that Pixy will likely be locked-down in a very similar way.

Image credit: Snap 

Source: Snap