Facebook building standalone app for live group video chatJuly 6, 2017 - 12:04 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Facebook is building a standalone app that incorporates ideas from Houseparty, the group video chat app that rose from the ashes of Meerkat, The Verge has learned. The app, which has the working name Bonfire, was recently demonstrated for employees. It is being targeted for a fall release, according to a person familiar with the matter. “We don’t have anything to share at this time,” a Facebook spokeswoman said. Facebook’s move comes two years after Life On Air, which had helped usher in a new era of live broadcasting with its app Meerkat, pivoted to group video chat. The company’s founder, Ben Rubin, observed that most people never broadcasted more than a handful of times — whether on Meerkat or its eventual competitors, Facebook Live and Twitter-owned Periscope. And so Rubin and his team built Houseparty, which notifies a user’s friends whenever they have the app open, inviting them to hang out virtually on their smartphones. The app took off among teenagers, and by November 2016 it had 1.2 million users spending 20 million minutes a day using it. Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Armenia, Turkey discuss restoration of historic bridge The meeting took place on May 17 in Ashgabat on the sidelines of an international conference of ministers of culture. India wants Armenia’s proposals on use of Chabahar port India is expecting proposals from Armenia regarding the use of Chabahar port in Iran, Indian ambassador says. EU welcomes Armenia-Azerbaijan “progress” The EU has welcomed “progress” made in the framework of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border delimitation process. Belarus opposition leader slams Lukashenko for Karabakh trip Belarusian opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has harshly criticized the visit of Lukashenko to Karabakh. |