Author: Carla Mouton

Canon has officially partnered with Japanese toy company Takara Tomy to produce two Transformers toys that take the shape of Canon’s EOS R5. Spotted by The Verge, the toy maker will release a pair of Transformers toys — Optimus Prime of the Autobots, and Refraktor from the Decepticons. Refraktor comprises three separate robots; Spectro, Spyglass, and Viewfinder. Both can disguise themselves as Canon’s camera but they are, functionally, still toys. https://youtu.be/l0WLpchHndI When they’re not being iconic 80s animated characters, they are an 80% scale model of Canon’s full-frame mirrorless EOS R5. Takara Tomy says that the camera body and lens can…

Instagram wants to make sure videos and photographs are treated equally on the social media platform. That doesn’t mean scaling back on the videos so the service looks less like TikTok. It means supporting taller images, so the photo side looks more like TikTok. Images taller than the current 8:10 aspect ratio are already possible, but they have to be shared as a Story. These can be retained, provided they’re saved as a highlight, but Insta’s planning to make length more… normal. Instagram’s tall tale The platform will soon allow ‘grammers to post photos with a 9:16 aspect ratio to…

Police in Warwickshire are testing a roadside van that picks up if a driver is using their mobile phone. The van is in operation for a three-month trial. Following the trial, drivers who were caught using their phones might be prosecuted. The unusual vehicle uses multiple cameras and sensors to check whether cellphones are in use. It’s also able to determine whether a driver is wearing their seatbelt. ‘Find my phone’ The “sensor test vehicle”, as it’s called, captures footage of passing vehicles. An artificial intelligence system analyses those images for phone and seatbelt violations. It’s apparently able to tell…

Twitter is rolling out a new feature globally, called Location Spotlight. Location Spotlight is available for all businesses that have switched to a Professional Profile. It displays a physical business location as well as a Google Maps link. In its announcement, Twitter said it was making Location Spotlight available to all professionals on Twitter. “This is the first spotlight for professionals to become globally available. Location Spotlight allows professionals with physical business locations to display their business address, hours of operation and additional contact information so that customers can reach them via phone, text, email or Twitter Direct Message.” Adding…

Facebook will no longer allow users to host Live Shopping events beginning October 2022, Meta announced in a blog post. Meta rather wants to shift consumer and retailer attention to the company’s short-form videos, Reels. Lately, it seems like all roads on the platform lead in that direction. Facebook launched live shopping two years ago with the goal of making online shopping more convenient. It provided an interactive way to sell items. The Facebook Live feature will still be available to broadcast live events, but e-commerce merchants cannot create product playlists or tag products after 1 October. This means retailers…

Facebook Gaming has rolled out a new Clips to Reels feature which allows content creators to turn their live gameplay clips into Reels. “In June, we announced Clips to Reels, a new feature for gaming video creators on Facebook to convert live gameplay clips into Reels, was starting to roll out. Now, we’re excited to share it is available to all partners and Level Up Creators,” said Facebook. Chase your stream This tool allows creators to trim clips down to 60 seconds long from their favourite live streams and put them into a vertical format. Each Reel created includes dual visualisation;…

Instagram is working on a new update that allows users to post brief announcements on their profiles. The feature, called Notes, enables disappearing short messages under user profiles. Instagram Notes According to TechCrunch, Instagram’s Notes can be shared with a list of Close Friends or mutual followers. In other words, followers who also follow you. Instagram is currently testing its new Notes feature with a limited set of users. Read more: Twitter Notes (or Articles) entering beta, could arrive in the coming weeks When users post Notes, followers can see the messages for a short period of time. There’s no…

WhatsApp has reportedly been working on a new all-inclusive app for macOS since last year. The company has just released a beta version of its new macOS app, built using Mac Catalyst tech, ahead of an official launch. Catalyst is Apple’s developer platform for switching iOS and iPadOS apps over to Mac. The new WhatsApp beta is native to Apple Silicon (M1 and M2) machines, but it’ll also work on Intel-sporting Macs that support Catalyst. It features a unique design over the app currently available in the Mac App Store. What’s Up The updated WhatsApp for Mac will eventually replace…

Sometimes it pays to be a subscriber. Specifically, a Twitter Blue subscriber. Android users may now change the layout of the navigation bar in the Twitter Blue app. If the new centre-located Spaces icon annoys (it does), subscribers may now banish it from sight. And also rearrange the general look and feel how they see fit. The feature was previously confined to Blue users on iOS. Spaces in certain places The service’s new custom navigation function lets users determine the number of tabs. This is perfect for decluttering the navigation bar or setting up exactly the tabs you need, in…

Snap has officially launched its new subscription service, Snapchat+. This lets users pay a monthly subscription service of $4 (R65) to gain access to premium in-app features. What does Snapchat+ include? According to initial leaks and a subsequent interview with The Verge, Snapchat+ includes access to exclusive Snap icons and a new profile badge to show that you are a Snapchat+ user. It also includes new data insights, including the capacity to see your friends’ location history over the previous 24 hours. Details on anyone who has re-watched your Story (important stuff) are also available. And finally, subscribers gain the…