Facebook Video Creation App Launch Announced

With an aim to empower its creator community, Facebook has announced that it is planning to launch a new app just for them later this year.
Essentially a video creation app, it will be made just for its star broadcasters, who are also the same folks who are deemed worthy enough to use Facebook Mentions - an app only available to verified accounts owned by journalists, celebrities and other online influencers, Engadget reported on Friday.
Apart from the access to Facebook Live, the new video creation app will have a new "creative kit" that includes tools like special intros and outros to videos, custom stickers, custom frames, among other tools.
It will also have a Community tab, where the rich and famous can interact with their fans and followers on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger, the report said.
Reportedly, Facebook is also running a "small test" in India, of a video tab in the navigation bar of its flagship mobile applications.
Pressing the tab, which resembles a play button, brings up "an endless stream" of Facebook videos, from pages users follow and videos liked or shared by friends.

Snapchat map update raises child safety worries

Snap Map lets people search for places such as schools and see videos and pictures posted by children inside.
It also lets people locate their "friends" on a map that is accurate enough to determine where people live.
Snap, the company behind Snapchat, stressed to the BBC that location sharing was an opt-in feature.
Exact location
Snap Map was launched on Wednesday and was promoted as a "new way to explore the world".
Video clips and photos that members have posted publicly can be discovered on the map, while members who have chosen to share their location can also be seen on the map by those they have added as "friends".
However, members can add people they have never met to their friends list too.
A message to parents posted by St Peter's Academy in Staffordshire warned that the location-sharing feature lets people "locate exactly where you are, which building you are in and exact whereabouts within the building".
One parent described the update as "dangerous" while another said she could not find the setting to disable it.
People have expressed concern online that the app could be used for stalking or working out exactly where somebody lives.

"If you zoom right in on this new Snapchat map thing it literally tells you where everyone lives? Like exact addresses - bit creepy no?" wrote one user called Leanne.
"This new Snapchat update is awful. An invitation for stalkers, kidnappers, burglars and relationship trust issues," suggested Jade.
Snap told the BBC that accurate location information was necessary to allow friends to use the service to meet, for example at a restaurant or crowded festival, and said points of interest on the map, such as schools, were provided by third-party mapping service Mapbox.

HP issues urgent security update

Dozens of laptop models sold by HP contain built-in "keylogging" technology that stores everything users type, researchers have warned.

The records of what users type on the keyboard were stored in plain text on the computers, meaning anyone with access to them could read messages, passwords, web searches and credit card numbers if they knew where to look.

HP issued a fix for some of the affected models on Thursday night and promised another for the rest of the devices would be released today.

The bug affects 28 HP laptops sold in 2015 and 2016, including EliteBook, ProBook and ZBook models.

HP did not install the keylogging software deliberately, the researchers said, but it was included as part of a driver for Conexant, whose audio chips are included in the laptops.

The driver monitored keystrokes to look out for users pressing audio control keys to pause or change volume, but monitored and stored the entire keyboard activity. Modzero, the security company that discovered the flaw, said it could also feature on other laptop brands.

Keyloggers are seen as one of the most malicious forms of computer viruses, capable of tracking everything a user types and sending them to hackers remotely. Although there is no suggestion that the HP bug shared any of the data, if a computer was shared or someone got hold of it, a wealth of personal information would be at their disposal.

The file where users' keystrokes are stored on the laptops is overwritten every time a computer reboots, but computer forensics experts are able to recover deleted files.

"There is no evidence that this keylogger has been intentionally implemented. Obviously, it is a negligence of the developers - which makes the software no less harmful," Modzero's researchers wrote.

It said it had revealed the flaw to HP and Conexant, but that neither had responded to contact requests.

"HP is committed to the security and privacy of its customers and we are aware of the keylogger issue on select HP PCs," a spokesman said.

"HP has no access to customer data as a result of this issue. Our supplier partner developed software to test audio functionality prior to product launch and it should not have been included in the final shipped version. Fixes will be available shortly via HP.com."

Apple Centers Health Data Strategy on iPhone

Apple quietly has been strategizing to expand its growing healthcare business to include the management of digital health records, with the iPhone operating as a central data hub, CNBC reported last week.
Apple has been in talks with numerous health industry groups that are involved in setting standards for the storage and sharing of electronic medical records, in a way that would help consumers gain more control over their private medical information, according to the network.
The plan appears to be a natural extension of Apple's recent health industry strategy, which includes its Research Kit, CareKit and HealthKit -- platforms that allow developers to create apps that help patients, hospitals and researchers find new ways to collect, manage and deliver health data efficiently and directly.
"This has been an interest point as part of Apple's strategy in the healthcare vertical for some time," said Daniel Ruppar, digital health global program director at Frost & Sullivan.
Apple last year acquired Gliimpse, a medical records startup that helped collect data from different platforms and organized the information for patients.
Thus far, Apple's efforts largely have focused on fitness information, but in recent years it has moved into more focused healthcare delivery. For example, the company recently began work on developing sensors that could help diabetic patients manage blood glucose levels.
"They've shown on a number of fronts they've been tackling health and well being," said Ian Fogg, senior director, mobile and telecoms at IHS Markit.