Twitter battle in Turkey heats up, spreads to YouTube -- reports

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Turkish PM plugs Twitter DNS loophole, Facebook and YouTube could be blocked next

When Twitter went dark for users in Turkey earlier this week, it didn't take long for everyone to realize something was up. Prime Minister Erdoğan had reportedly threatened to pull the plug on the popular social network previously, before coming good on his word just hours later. The attempt to silence the platform, however, wasn't exactly well executed. People in the country were still able to send messages via SMS, and access was still available via the web by relatively simple means: using a VPN or by changing your PC's DNS settings. Today, it's reported that Erdoğan's attacks on the platform continue, with new reports suggesting that access to the DNS loophole being blocked.

The Turkish leader has also allegedly addressed the San Francisco firm directly, asking it to appoint a local representative, and to block specific content (that which it deems "prejudiced") at his government's request. Erdoğan has also said that other social networks such as Facebook and YouTube are at risk of being taken down too, in an effort to squash leaks and opinions he evidently thinks might harm his party in forthcoming local elections. 0 Comments Share

Source: Reuters

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Google's lightweight image format makes YouTube pages load 10 percent faster

We all want the internet to be faster, right? Well, Google is hoping to make that happen one YouTube thumbnail at a time. Its leaner WebP image format has been used on the Play store for some time now, and Mountain View's latest venue for the faster-loading files its video service. The outfit says that the switch has resulted in up to 10 percent speedier page-loads, and overall it's shaved tens of terabytes off its internal data transfer rates every day. The Chromium Blog says that this should help lower bandwidth usage for users as it rolls out, and, what's more, that there's a test-version of WebP running in Chrome's beta channel that's faster yet. How much so? It drops image decode speeds by 25 percent. If that means faster access to super hero videos and pictures of lazy dogs, sign us up.

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Source: The Chromium Blog

Tags: bandwidth, DataCaps, google, Internet, webp, youtube Next: MLB at Bat for Windows Phone adds push notifications and pitch tracking .fyre .fyre-comment-divider

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Test build of YouTube goes to the dogs

Who let the dogs out? Someone over at Google apparently pushed out a test build of YouTube that reveals a new icon for the streaming video site. While the icon is in the same shape and color as before, the "play" arrow has been replaced by a dog bone. And under settings is a listing for "Dogfood." What is the significance of such a move? We can try to "hound" Google until we get an answer.

In addition to the test build, there is an official update to the Android powered YouTube app that was released on Wednesday. This update allows you to find videos, playlists and channels together in search results, and there are now tabs on channel pages for activity, videos and playlists. The proverbial bug fixes are included with the update, including one that removes the Cast icon that appears over the app when Bluetooth is connected.

After we updated the app on our HTC DROID DNA, there was no change to the icon, which could mean that the dog-gone bone icon is being sent out to random YouTubers when they update their Android app. You can let us know if you received the test build of YouTube by dropping us a comment in the box below.



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Roku enters early 21st century, offers YouTube

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Roku owners are getting their Christmas a week early: Google and Roku on Wednesday finally made YouTube available as a channel on the streaming set-top box.

Related stories:YouTube opens up live streaming to all verified accountsInstagram gets intimate with private photosYouTube reveals 2013's top 10 viral videos, times have changed

The Roku YouTube channel includes high-definition streaming; a Send to TV option that lets you use your phone as a YouTube remote control, as with Chromecast; and access to subscribed channels.

The channel is available on Roku 3's in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. A Google spokesperson said that there are plans to add more features and expand to more countries in 2014, but wouldn't comment directly on a question about why YouTube was missing from the Roku for so long.

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Google Glass XE 12 update lets you wink to capture photos, adds new Hangouts and YouTube glassware

MyGlass for iOS isn't the only big news to come out of Google's Glass camp today. Turns out, the company's issuing a major update, dubbed XE 12, for the intelligent eyewear that not only makes the complete Glass-to-iOS bridge possible, but also bundles in a few other bells, whistles and, yes, winks.

Let's start there, shall we? Before today, the only way to take a photo with a wink was by way of a third-party app. But now, Google's baked that functionality directly into the Explorer Edition of Glass, making those sly creepster shots even easier. Glassware's also getting a major boost with the addition of Hangouts, for those of you that want to send SMS, chats or even video calls from your head, and YouTube for simple Glass video uploads. Apart from that significant feature boost, the Glassware for Google Play Music now offers explorers the ability to navigate by playlists or, if they're All Access subscribers, radio stations.

XE 12 brings some much needed security along with it, too, giving Explorers the option to set a screen lock that turns on when you take Glass off or deactivate it. And because shooting off messages with the obnoxious "Sent Through Glass" was a little too... obnoxious, Google's cut that outgoing signature from SMS, though it'll still be present on all outgoing emails. Know what else is getting the axe? Guest Mode. According to Google, the feature was just too much of a strain for its devs to maintain, so if you want to impress with Glass, just hand'em over freely or take Google's advice and create a demo account.

And finally, because Google likes to be cute, you can now ask Glass for helpful caloric counts or even "How far to Brooklyn?" (the answer: No Sleep Til Brooklyn) -- because everyone, even Google, loves the Beastie Boys.

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Source: Google

Tags: BeastieBoys, Glass, glassware, google, GoogleGlass, Hangouts, mobilepostcross, wink, xe12, Youtube Next: You can now tweet O2 for account information thanks to #Tweetserve
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Leaked Facebook Video Ad Pitch Deck Reveals Plans To Steal TV And YouTube Dollars

“Avoid saying anything negative about YouTube – leave the impression of the user experience up to them” Facebook tells its adtech partners in a leaked, confidential deck that teaches them to sell Facebook’s video ads. The 32-page document details Facebook’s plan to beat television with reach and YouTube with targeting, and spills the beans about an overhaul to video insights slated for Q1 2014.

If Facebook’s plan works, it could lure in tons of ad revenue as marketers shift their focus from television to digital.

The full “Facebook For Business: Video On Facebook” presentation including slides and Facebook’s notes is splayed out below. It was presented to Facebook’s Preferred Marketing Developer partners at a private meeting in late November to teach them to sell video ads to their clients. Facebook used NDAs to try to keep the presentation away from the public, but I’ve attained a copy.

Facebook’s pitch for video ads breaks down to three things, as explained in this excerpt from the presentation:

1.You want to be where people are. Changing consumer behavior should shape where you spend your marketing dollars.2.You want to reach all of the people who matter to you. Facebook has unparalleled targeted reach.3.You want to be in the most engaging digital real estate, which, as you just saw, is Facebook’s News Feed.Fighting TV With ReachIt doesn’t take long for Facebook to start bluntly insulting the stalwart advertising medium. “Gone are the days when a family gathered around their TV on Sunday night to connect with the outside world. Television is no longer a guaranteed way to reach and engage your target audience,” Facebook writes. It cites an eMarketer studying saying time spent on digital will surpass TV in 2013, and notes people open their phone 100 times a day and Facebook 10-15 times a day.

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