from the all-the-better-to-track-you-with dept.
Mandatory Socialization: Facebook Accounts To be Required for Oculus Headsets
Signaling the end to any remaining degrees of separation between Facebook and its VR headset division, Oculus, today the social media company announced that it will be further integrating the two services. Coming this fall, the company will begin sunsetting stand-alone Oculus accounts as part of an effort to transition the entire Oculus ecosystem over to Facebook. This will start in October, when all new Oculus accounts and devices will have to sign up for a Facebook account, while support for existing stand-alone accounts will be retired entirely at the start of 2023.
Previously: Facebook to Buy Rift Maker Oculus VR for $2bn
Facebook/Oculus Ordered to pay $500 Million to ZeniMax
Founder of Oculus VR, Palmer Luckey, Departs Facebook
Facebook Announces Oculus Go for $200
Facebook's Zuckerberg Wants to Get One Billion People in VR
Facebook Launches Oculus Go, a $200 Standalone VR Headset
Oculus Co-Founder Says there is No Market for VR Gaming
John Carmack Steps Down at Oculus to Pursue AI Passion Project
Facebook is Developing its Own OS to Reduce Dependence on Android
Related Stories
Several community members have commented on Facebook's purchase of Oculus VR...
Techwolf writes, "There is news spreading all over the net about Facebook buying up Occulus Rift. Some cheer, some are jeering as kickstarters backers felt betrayed along with open source folks."
Ethanol-fueled writes:
Some of you may have already heard of the Oculus Rift, the kickstarted VR headset platform associated with John Carmack. Earlier today, social networking giant Facebook purchased Oculus VR for $2 billion in cash and stock (chump change compared to the $19 billion it paid for WhatsApp) with plans not so much for VR-gaming, but for VR-real-life...
Mark Zuckerberg's first courtroom testimony hasn't gone over so well. A jury has awarded ZeniMax Media Inc. $500 million in damages in the Oculus Rift case:
The virtual reality headset maker that Facebook Inc. bought in 2014 for $2 billion used stolen technology, a jury said in awarding $500 million damages to ZeniMax Media Inc.
Jurors in Dallas federal court on Wednesday sided with ZeniMax in its trade-secrets case over the Oculus Rift, the device that has put the social media giant at the forefront of the virtual reality boom. The verdict is a rebuke of Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, who isn't a defendant but who told jurors in his first-ever courtroom testimony that it was important for him to be there because the claims by ZeniMax Media Inc. were "false."
The case is ZeniMax Media Inc. v. Oculus VR Inc., 3:14-cv-01849, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (Dallas). Not to be confused with the Eastern District of Texas. From a 2013 article in Dallas News:
Judges in the Northern District, which includes Dallas and Fort Worth, saw an 18 percent increase in patent cases filed. And legal experts expect that number will significantly increase in 2013 now that three judges in Dallas have committed to focusing more of their time and expertise on intellectual property disputes.
Also at The Verge.
Previously:
Facebook to Buy Rift Maker Oculus VR for $2bn
Mark Zuckerberg Will Testify in Oculus VR Trade Secrets Trial
Palmer Luckey has left Facebook:
Palmer Luckey, a founder of the virtual-reality technology company Oculus, has left Facebook three years after the social network acquired his company for close to $3 billion. Mr. Luckey's departure was announced two months after a trial in federal court over allegations that he and several colleagues had stolen trade secrets from a video-game publisher, ZeniMax Media, to create the Oculus technology. A jury found Facebook liable for $500 million in damages, in part for Mr. Luckey's violation of a confidentiality agreement.
"Palmer will be dearly missed," Tera Randall, an Oculus spokeswoman, said in a statement. "His inventive spirit helped kick-start the modern VR revolution and helped build an industry." Ms. Randall declined to disclose the terms of Mr. Luckey's departure. [...] In January, Facebook appointed a new leader, Hugo Barra, to head up the company's virtual-reality efforts, including Oculus.
Will the first Palmer Luckey documentary be compatible with the next Oculus headset?
Also at TechCrunch, CNBC, and UploadVR.
Facebook is attempting to make virtual reality a mainstream product, and hopes to reach one billion VR users "one day":
In its continued effort to take virtual reality mainstream, Facebook has announced Oculus Go - a standalone headset that will be released in 2018. Mark Zuckerberg said the device, priced at $199, would be the "most accessible VR experience ever".
Sales of the company's VR hardware have been slow since launching the first Oculus Rift headset in March 2016. "If VR doesn't go mass market at this price point, I think we can conclude that it never will," said John Delaney, an analyst with IDC. Facebook's previous budget VR product, Gear VR, is $129, but requires a high-end Samsung smartphone in order to work. Speaking at Facebook's yearly virtual reality developers conference in San Jose, Mr Zuckerberg acknowledged the slow adoption of the technology to date. But he said his company's goal was that one day, it would get one billion people into VR.
The headset is a standalone device that does not require a smartphone, headphones, or tether to a desktop computer. The high-end Oculus Rift headset has had its price cut to $400 (for good).
Oculus Go is not being sold anytime soon, and the Oculus blog warns that "Oculus Go is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until [FCC] authorization is obtained". Facebook says that the devices will be sent to developers within the next 12 months. Specs and battery details are also unknown (maybe they need to use one of these for you to feel safe strapping it to your head).
Also at Washington Post and TechCrunch. Oculus Blog.
Previously: Google Partnering With HTC and Lenovo for Standalone VR Headsets
Virtual Reality Audiences Stare Straight Ahead 75% of the Time
Google Bisects VR
Facebook/Oculus Reportedly Working on $200 Standalone VR Headset
"At every step along the way, the future is built by people who believe it can be better."
That's the message Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO, brought to the company's fourth annual Oculus Connect virtual reality developer conference Wednesday. As in previous years, Zuckerberg joined the stage to discuss the promise of what virtual reality can be and show off some goodies.
The company tallied 100 million app downloads, he said, and added that the company continues to work on a less-bulky version of its headsets.
But he said the company has a goal: Get 1 billion people in VR.
Maybe Zuckerberg can take those billion people along on his virtual cartoon tour of Puerto Rico's hurricane damage.
Facebook/Oculus has launched the standalone Oculus Go, which is an untethered wireless virtual reality headset similar to smartphone-based VR systems such as Samsung's Gear VR, but with its own built-in Snapdragon 821 SoC instead of using a smartphone:
The Oculus Go, a self-contained headset that offers mobile virtual reality without a smartphone, is going on sale today in 23 countries. The headset's $199 base version has 32GB of storage, and a 64GB version will sell for $249. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called it "the easiest way to get into VR," and in our review, we've found that it's certainly easy to use — but it still has major limitations.
The Oculus Go lacks 6 degrees of freedom (6DoF), unlike the upcoming Lenovo Mirage Solo. It also has just about 1-2 hours of useful battery life before needing to be recharged for a couple of hours, and the company discourages you from wearing it while it is recharging. SuperData predicts that Oculus Go will outsell all other VR headsets this year. The low price of $200 and untethered design could bring VR closer to becoming mainstream.
At its F8 conference, Facebook hinted at some features coming to its future VR headsets, including variable depth-of-field using physically adjusted varifocal lenses, an increase from a 110 to a 140-degree field-of-view without increasing the size of the headset, and built-in hand tracking. (Also at TechCrunch.) Facebook also announced Oculus Venues, an app for displaying live sports events, concerts, comedy shows, etc. in VR. These live events will begin on May 30.
Also at Tom's Hardware, RoadtoVR, USA Today, and Digital Trends. MIT Technology Review has an interview with Rachel Franklin, Facebook's head of social VR, who admits "there's not much to do" in Facebook Spaces, the company's "social VR app".
Facebook will never break through with Oculus, says one of the VR company's co-founders
Five years after its $2 billion purchase of Oculus, Facebook is still pushing forward in its efforts to bring virtual reality to a mainstream audience. But one of the company's six co-founders now doubts Oculus will ever break through.
Jack McCauley told CNBC he doesn't think there's a real market for VR gaming. With Facebook positioning its Oculus devices primarily as gaming machines, McCauley doesn't believe there's much of a market for the device. "If we were gonna sell, we would've sold," McCauley said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
[...] The $199 Oculus Go has sold a little more than 2 million units since its release in May 2018, according to estimates provided by market research firm SuperData, a Nielsen company. The Oculus Quest, which was released this May, has sold nearly 1.1 million units while the Oculus Rift has sold 547,000 units since the start of 2018, according to SuperData.
[...] Since leaving in November 2015, McCauley has enjoyed a semi-retired life. He's an innovator in residence at Berkeley's Jacobs Institute of Design Innovation and he continues to build all sorts of devices, such as a gun capable of shooting down drones, at his own research and development facility.
The cheaper, standalone headsets are selling more units. Add foveated rendering and other enhancements at the lower price points (rather than $1,599 like the Vive Pro Eye), and the experience could become much better.
Related: Oculus Rift: Dead in the Water?
HTC: Death of VR Greatly Exaggerated
As Sales Slide, Virtual Reality Fans Look to a Bright, Untethered Future
Virtual Reality Feels Like a Dream Gathering Dust
VR Gets Reality Check with Significant Decline in Investment
Creepy Messages Will be Found in Facebook's Oculus Touch VR Controllers
John Carmack Sets Out To Create General AI
John Carmack, programmer extraordinaire, and developer of seminal titles like "Doom" and "Quake" has said "Hasta La Vista" to his colleagues at Oculus to to set out for a new challenge. In a Facebook post (https://www.facebook.com/100006735798590/posts/2547632585471243/) he declares that he is going to work on artificial general intelligence.
What are the chances he can pull it off, and what could go wrong?
John Carmack Steps Down at Oculus to Pursue AI Passion Project `Before I get too old'
John Carmack Steps Down at Oculus to Pursue AI Passion Project `Before I get too Old':
Legendary coder John Carmack is leaving Facebook's Oculus after six years to focus on a personal project — no less than the creation of Artificial General Intelligence, or "Strong AI." He'll remain attached to the company in a "Consulting CTO" position, but will be spending all his time working on, perhaps, the AI that finally surpasses and destroys humanity.
AGI or strong AI is the concept of an AI that learns much the way humans do, and as such is not as limited as the extremely narrow machine learning algorithms we refer to as AI today. AGI is the science fiction version of AI — HAL 9000, Replicants and, of course, the Terminator. There are some good ones out there, too — Data and R2-D2, for instance.
[...] Carmack announced the move on Facebook, where he explained that the uncertainty about such a fascinating and exciting topic is exactly what attracted him to it:
When I think back over everything I have done across games, aerospace, and VR, I have always felt that I had at least a vague "line of sight" to the solutions, even if they were unconventional or unproven. I have sometimes wondered how I would fare with a problem where the solution really isn't in sight. I decided that I should give it a try before I get too old.
Skynet? Singularity? With great power comes great responsibility. Can he do it? Should he?
Facebook is developing its own OS to reduce dependence on Android:
Despite the recent privacy scandals, mishandling of user data, and a potential federal injunction looming in the distance, Facebook seems to be going full steam ahead with its ambitions. According to a recent report by The Information, the company is now developing its own operating system to reduce dependency on Google’s Android. The development, as per The Verge, is being led by Mark Lucovsky — an ex-Microsoft official who co-authored the Windows NT operating system.
While the report provides a limited amount of information about how Facebook plans to use the new operating system, it does point out that currently Facebook’s Oculus and Portal devices run on a modified version of Android. This leads us to believe that with its new operating system the company plans to replace Android on its VR and smart devices. And one of Facebook’s AR and VR heads, Ficus Kirkpatrick, mirrors this sentiment. According to Kirkpatrick, “it’s possible” that Facebook’s future hardware won’t need to rely on Google’s software which could possibly remove Google’s control over the company’s hardware.
Andrew Bosworth, Facebook’s head of hardware, also told The Information that the company “want(s) to make sure the next generation has space for us. We don’t think we can trust the marketplace or competitors to ensure that’s the case. And so we’re going to do it ourselves.” Along with the aforementioned Oculus and Portal devices, Facebook is also working on AR glasses. Bosworth reveals that these glasses, codenamed “Orion”, could arrive as early as 2023. Interestingly, Apple is also expected to come out with its own pair of AR glasses around the same time. Facebook is reportedly also working on a brain control interface for its glasses, which could allow users to control them with their thoughts.
Our "Facebookening of Oculus" series continues today with the announcement of the Facebook Connect conference as a free, live-streamed event on September 16. You may remember years of "Oculus Connect" conferences, which focused on the company's efforts in virtual reality and other "mixed reality" mediums. That conference is dead. It's Facebook Connect now.
[...] What's more, Facebook used the Tuesday announcement as an opportunity to rename its entire Oculus VR division: Facebook Reality Labs. That name may sound familiar, since it was given to a number of skunkworks teams working on experimental VR-like features and hardware (including years of focus on 3D spatial audio at its Seattle-area office).
Facebook isn't shy about explaining why it is renaming everything: to collate and combine its disparate entities in order to "build the next computing platform to help people feel more present with each other, even when we're apart." That sure sounds like a bold admission of the so-called "Facebook operating system" that I keep hearing rumors about, with VR, mixed reality, and smartphone cameras at its core. Facebook has spent months hinting at mixed computing systems being combined in the workplace, which the company has conveniently summarized in a new Facebook Reality Labs post from today.
Previously:
Oculus to Begin Requiring Facebook Accounts to Use VR Headsets
Facebook halts Oculus Quest sales in Germany amid privacy concerns:
Facebook subsidiary Oculus says it has "temporarily paused" sales of Oculus Quest headsets to customers in Germany. Reports suggest the move is in response to concerns from German regulators about the recently announced requirement that all Oculus users will need to use a Facebook account by 2023 to log in to the device.
[...] Facebook declined an opportunity to provide additional comment to Ars Technica. But in a statement to German News site Heise Online (machine translation), the company said the move was due to "outstanding talks with German supervisory authorities... We were not obliged to take this measure, but proactively interrupted the sale."
Previously:
Facebook has Begun Ghosting the "Oculus" Moniker in its VR Division
Oculus to Begin Requiring Facebook Accounts to Use VR Headsets
WhatsApp: Let us share your data with Facebook or else:
In a surprise move, WhatsApp recently gave many of its users a difficult choice: they could either accept a revised privacy policy that explicit[sic] allowed the service to share information with parent company Facebook by February 8th, or decline and risk not being able to use the service at all.
[...] Upon further inspection, the updated policy makes clear that data collected by WhatsApp — including user phone numbers, "transaction data, service-related information, information on how you interact with others (including businesses) when using our Services , mobile device information, your IP address" and more are subject to be shared with other properties owned and controlled by Facebook.
"As part of the Facebook Companies, WhatsApp receives information from, and shares information (see here) with, the other Facebook Companies," the updated privacy policy reads. "We may use the information we receive from them, and they may use the information we share with them, to help operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services and their offerings, including the Facebook Company Products."
[...] The shift appears to be a dramatic about-face for WhatsApp, a company that contends "respect for your privacy" is coded into its DNA and made end-to-end encryption standard across all chats as of 2016.
Additionally, Signal sees surge in new signups after boost from Elon Musk and WhatsApp controversy:
(Score: 4, Insightful) by MostCynical on Wednesday August 19 2020, @10:15AM (5 children)
just wait until you can only rent medical implants.. ..
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 19 2020, @10:57AM (1 child)
They'll start with the bedroom toys...
(Score: 3, Funny) by SomeGuy on Wednesday August 19 2020, @11:31AM
No, those will force you to have a Twitter account.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Wednesday August 19 2020, @12:22PM
They already do, sort of, as in they tend to take most of them out of you when you die so you don't get to hang on to them in the afterlife. They just, so far, doesn't allow for you to have a refurbished device installed -- but I'm sure there is some booming market for that someplace to far away from western regulations or in the future.
That said sure it's somewhat far from you paying them per month to keep your pacemaker or whatnot. But perhaps that would be something, deciding if you want to live for another month or not. Just a very cruel choice.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 19 2020, @02:06PM (1 child)
repo men [imdb.com]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 19 2020, @06:39PM
Wow, same concept as: Repo! The Genetic Opera [imdb.com]
(Score: 5, Informative) by Webweasel on Wednesday August 19 2020, @11:35AM (5 children)
They didn't keep up support for the DK2.
I really enjoyed mine, but Windows 10 came along and facebook were 'Fuck you were dropping support'
Still I had bought mine before Facebook bought them. Now I have an expensive paperweight.
It was only good for Elite Dangerous anyway.
Priyom.org Number stations, Russian Military radio. "You are a bad, bad man. Do you have any other virtues?"-Runaway1956
(Score: 3, Touché) by FatPhil on Wednesday August 19 2020, @01:02PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 4, Interesting) by acid andy on Wednesday August 19 2020, @03:14PM (3 children)
You might find you can get it working with any games that support SteamVR via OSVR or the newer OpenXR / Monado [freedesktop.org].
And any game that demands a Farcebook login itself can get just fucked as far as I'm concerned.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 2) by Webweasel on Wednesday August 19 2020, @04:49PM (2 children)
Only if I downgraded to windows 8. No drivers for win10.
The horror! The horror!
Priyom.org Number stations, Russian Military radio. "You are a bad, bad man. Do you have any other virtues?"-Runaway1956
(Score: 1) by anubi on Thursday August 20 2020, @12:23AM (1 child)
Hey, don't feel too bad...
My favorite electronic schematic capture program of all time, Futurenet Dash 2, runs under DOS!
And I still support what I did over 30 Years ago, and see supporting it for the rest of my life.
Granted I will use EAGLE 4 and 6 if PCB is involved.
But for simple wiring capture, pin lists, net lists, parts lists, it's Futurenet. The whole shebang, program files, libraries, data files, schematics.... Still fits on an old school 1.44 MB floppy!
There are fads that come and go... and others that are like the old estwing hammer I inherited from grandpa.
Some things work forever.
Some things are are designed for obsolence before they were even marketed.
Just like companies. Some go on for generations.
Others are shooting stars. Brilliant as long as their investors hold out, ( ionizable mass needed to maintain the display and altitude and velocity needed to maintain the colorful display).
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 1) by anubi on Thursday August 20 2020, @12:38AM
Oh, Incidentally, please do not come to me about supporting a later version of DASH. They went DRM. The later versions are unsupportable.
Do it over in another "modern" system that won't work in five years. You've missed the window of opportunity for stuff that works forever.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 19 2020, @12:57PM (1 child)
In 2045, people seek to escape from reality through the virtual reality entertainment universe called the Oculus
(Score: 4, Interesting) by takyon on Wednesday August 19 2020, @01:52PM
That's like escaping Facebook by going to Instagram.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 19 2020, @01:32PM (2 children)
Meant to delete it a while ago when I discovered the driver was constantly sending telemetry to some facebook server even when the oculus program was not running. Should have expected something like that from facebook.
Deleting the account was fairly simple. The button is located at the bottom of the privacy options on the oculus website if anyone else is looking for it.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 19 2020, @01:52PM (1 child)
You say that like you actually believe that button does anything.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 19 2020, @06:43PM
But it does. It blocks you from accessing the data they collected on you on their server.
(Score: 5, Touché) by DannyB on Wednesday August 19 2020, @02:11PM (15 children)
Not only for Oculus headsets. Social Media should required to buy Monitors, Keyboards and Op Tickle Mice.
All TVs are Smart TVs. How about centralizing all of the streaming services account activation with social media?
Next, social media should be required in order to obtain an activation code for newly purchased light bulbs. (Bulbs within a singe building should require a centralized hub to control their authorization to be used and ensure ongoing licensing fees have been paid.)
This brings us to household appliances.
I hope IPv6 will provide a large enough address space for the multiple servers within each light bulb. (One for on/off service, and a separate secure one to ensure ongoing licensing fees are paid. Or to ensure you have paid for optional extras such as dimming.)
The RIAA is going to realize that all speakers make sounds. The best place to control things is at the point where audio sound is produced. Legislators will be educated to understand the nature of the problem and how to control it. Speakers should need social media accounts to centralize authentication and authorization. Separately for left and right channels.
We could nationalize social media . . . to make it better!
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 3, Funny) by kazzie on Wednesday August 19 2020, @05:08PM
Stop tickling my op!
(Score: 2) by everdred on Wednesday August 19 2020, @05:10PM (11 children)
Score: -1, Cursed
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday August 19 2020, @05:20PM (10 children)
<no-sarcasm>
Seriously. That.
Imagine the entire world population being required to have some form of social media account. A life where it has gradually become inescapable. Everyone owns something that requires a social media account.
Governments will love it. Imagine the top down control it would provide for
AmericaChina. Not only would people experience social shaming, but all their devices and goodies could be deactivated.</no-sarcasm>
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 4, Informative) by DannyB on Wednesday August 19 2020, @05:23PM (8 children)
<no-sarcasm>
One more thought. It's not really government control. It's private industry. One more reason government would love it. They can claim to the citizens that government isn't doing this, yet being able to twist the arms of private industry to punish people.
There is also the micro tracking of people's activities, even within their own homes, cars and private spaces.
</no-sarcasm>
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 19 2020, @06:44PM (1 child)
I no longer wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday August 20 2020, @01:50PM
Please fill in your email and personal information in the following form. You will be notified if we ever consider offering an option to unsubscribe. For statistical reasons only, you can expect a visit from our survey takers, in the middle of the night breaking down your doors.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Thursday August 20 2020, @01:12PM (5 children)
Why bother to include the government? No new legislation is needed to create this dystopia in most nations.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday August 20 2020, @01:52PM (4 children)
The beauty is no legislation is needed. Government has deniability. Government and industry would collude to create the dystopia. Possibly the big internet players would be nationalized for the common good of all comrades.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Thursday August 20 2020, @03:02PM (3 children)
> Government and industry would collude to create the dystopia
> nationalized
You miss my point, it is quite important. Government does not need to collude so a "Small Government" approach will yield the dystopia.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday August 20 2020, @04:45PM (2 children)
I think I get it. Government can be hands off. Let the dystopia happen.
I just don't think that government can resist trying to get in on the action of a dystopia once it happens. Especially the "small government" crowd. And especially a permanent global dystopia. That would just be too good to be true.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Thursday August 20 2020, @05:07PM (1 child)
> Especially the "small government" crowd.
That's the point - if one were to support the "small government" politic, then you end up in the dystopia.
"Interventionalist government" is one of the few ways out of the dystopia.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 20 2020, @06:06PM
How in the hell does that work?
The way I see it, interventionist governments are how we got into this mess globally. Regulatory capture to is too strong for any kind of "internal" intervention.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 19 2020, @11:38PM
Imagine?
This is life in China.
Fan Bingbing had a social score of zero. Her bank accounts were drained.
No need to imagine.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Thursday August 20 2020, @12:55AM (1 child)
I am mad enough about many phones not supporting Miracast, which is a simple peer-to-peer streaming protocol, Also known as "wireless hdmi", which allows video streams over a local link, private, not involving Google or the internet in any way.
It's problem is you could watch a downloaded movie on your phone, displayed on a big screen, and no one could bill you for that. They couldn't even know it happened.. Nor could they enforce you store your stuff in the cloud.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 20 2020, @06:10PM
That has been standard for years? I haven't seen a phone without it for a while.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 19 2020, @03:20PM (1 child)
So what happens if you get banned from Facebook? Do you get a refund?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday August 20 2020, @01:54PM
If you get banned from Facebook, did you ever really exist? While no records will exist, some defective individuals in need of government retraining, will claim to recall that you once did exist.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Grishnakh on Wednesday August 19 2020, @03:46PM (1 child)
Oculus is owned by Facebook. Why wouldn't they do this? Buying something from a Facebook-owned company and then expecting to not need a Facebook account to use it would be extremely naive.
As for the people who bought these things before FB bought the company, well, that's what you get for being an early adopter.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Wednesday August 19 2020, @05:09PM
I ask from ignorance, but does Instagram require you to have a Facebook account?
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday August 19 2020, @04:22PM
Ahhh.., silly me, I was under the impression that this was already mandatory. Apparently, it was more of a, do extra work, so you don't have to use a facebook account sort of thing. Though, the Oculus Quest, requires a mobile device to setup and use. Some "standalone" device, that is.
But, yeah, I was super excited about Oculus back when they were first getting going, then Facebook acquired them. My excitement for Oculus turned into, appreciation that they got the ball rolling, but thankful that others picked up the ball. I've been enjoying my HTC Vive for a while now. Probably going to see about getting a Valve Index or something at some point, but the 1st gen consumer Vive is "good enough" for now.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 5, Insightful) by EvilSS on Wednesday August 19 2020, @04:45PM (1 child)
"OK, we don't believe you but OK."
2015: "Hey, remember that thing we said we wouldn't do?" - Facebook
"Yes, we remember."
"Oh. Well we still aren't doing it." - Facebook
2016: "Hey, remember that thing we said we wouldn't do?" - Facebook
"Yes, we remember."
"Ah. Well we still aren't doing it." - Facebook
2017: "Hey, remember that thing we said we wouldn't do?" - Facebook
"Yes, we remember."
"Really?. Well we still aren't doing it then." - Facebook
2018: "Hey, remember that thing we said we wouldn't do?" - Facebook
"Yes, we remember."
"Seriously, you still remember that? Fine we still aren't doing it." - Facebook
2019: "Hey, remember that thing we said we wouldn't do?" - Facebook
"Yes, we remember."
"OMG can't you all just get dementia already!?. Argh! Well we still aren't doing it I guess." - Facebook
2020: "Hey, remember that thing we said we wouldn't do?" - Facebook
"Yes, we remember."
"Well fuck you, we're doing it anyway." - Facebook
Also from Palmer Lucky this week: "I want to make clear that those promises were approved by Facebook in that moment and on an ongoing basis, and I really believed it would continue to be the case for a variety of reasons. In hindsight, the downvotes (on Reddit) from people with more real-world experience than me were definitely justified."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 20 2020, @01:26PM
This reminds me of a lot of TV show writers who think that the viewers will forget some plot point they don't want to address if they ignore it long enough.
It never, ever works, as is evidenced by people who watch Pokemon who still ask about the GS Ball (which vanished about 20 years ago).