Category: Apps

The social media giant recently released a new optional feature for its iOS and Android app users.

Last week, Facebook upgraded its mobile app for iPhone and Android mobile phones, which now gives users the option of using the microphones of their mobile devices to listen and identify music and TV content and share this information in their posts.

The audio-recognition feature can be turned on or off.

Users who are interested in taking advantage of this feature will be given the option to turn it on after updating the app and they will also be provided with information on how the new feature functions. If the user chooses to turn it on it will make it easier for them to share what they are watching or listening to as soon as they begin writing a post. The app will give users the option to include information about what is playing in the background if they want to include that in their status update. The feature can also be turned off at any time.

Aryeh Selkman, the product manager who was in charge of developing the app’s audio-recognition feature said, “We want to help people tell better stories.” He added, “I hope there are people who love the feature and post more.” If Facebook users share more about what is of interest to them, this could potentially increase the value of ads that are targeted at some of the social network’s billion-plus users.

The social media mobile app works much like the popular audio-recognition app Shazam.

The technology used in the Facebook app is very similar to Shazam because it utilizes the microphones that have been integrated into a smartphone to recognize television and music. Facebook signed deals to attain audio from 160 TV stations in America. According to the social media company, it only takes 15 seconds for the app to identify a live show.

In addition, Facebook has stated that it has made deals with music streaming sites like Rdio and Spotify, which gives users of Facebook the ability to preview songs that other users have shared. Songs can be previewed using the same mobile app audio identification feature.

The company has now chosen to suspend its app regarding due to the problems and is managing the aftermath.

LifeLock, a giant in the identity theft industry, has now suspended its app following the massive mobile security issues that had plagued it, in order to give the company the chance to try to deal with some of the fallout from this devastating blow.

The company’s stock also took quite a beating when analysts downgraded it to “neutral” from “buy”.

The target share price had reached the point that it was slashed in half, by the time this article was written. The Tempe-based company’s stock price has been riding a virtual roller coaster and it doesn’t look as though it will be slowing down quite yet. This was all in response to the announcement that as a mobile security precaution, all of the user information from the LifeLock Wallet would be deleted, and the app would be taken down from Google Play, Amazon Apps, and other application stores.

Officials from LifeLock have revealed that the primary mobile security concern was over compliance.

They have stated that this is not a response to a cyberattack, but instead it is a precaution because they have discovered that their own application is not in compliance with the standards for credit card security. They explained that they were working on correcting the problem as quickly as they could, which makes it apparent that the removal of the application was done only as a temporary measure and they are hoping to provide a new one in the future.

Officials underscored the point that no personal information for any of their users had been compromised in any of these events.

According to the LifeLock vice president of corporate communications, “We’re still in the fact-finding period.” He went on to add that “We are limited in what we can share right now.” That said, he did explain that the issue with compliance was found internally and that the company voluntarily came forward to the Federal Trade Commission in order to report it.

They are now working on improving their mobile security in order to ensure that it complies with the Payment Card Industry standards for the protection of personal information.