Skip to main content

Facebook’s F8 starts Tuesday. What do you want to hear about?

F8 is Zuckerberg's first appearance since testifying. What will he say?

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The F8 conference has been a platform where Facebook showed the world its ambitions. From blanketing the world with internet connectivity to showcasing its most advanced research — such as technologies that allow your brain to type or your skin to hear — Facebook proves that it is not afraid to dream big. Leading up to this year’s F8, the company’s vice president of consumer hardware, Andrew Bosworth, said “we’ll share the biggest AR/VR news from Facebook to date” in a tweet.

Facebook’s big ambitions may be more muted this year given that the company had to answer hard questions about privacy when it found itself embroiled in the Cambridge Analytica breach. One of its biggest dreamers, Regina Dugan, has even left her post as head of the company’s experimental research group.

Recommended Videos

At F8 this year, Facebook must show that it can balance consumer interests and developer needs, which can often conflict. In one example, a startup called Pod, which creates an iOS calendar app that integrates with Facebook events, found its access to the social network’s data was revoked without warning. Pod only learned that its app did not work after users complained. “We were really proud of our first-class Facebook events integration, but we’ll think twice about investing time into Facebook’s platform in the future,” developer Justin Krause told The Verge of his experience.

But F8 won’t be just about Zuckerberg’s apology tour — Facebook already announced its plans to limit information sharing. By focusing on augmented and virtual reality, Oculus could represent a way for Facebook to escape, if only in fantasy, its current reality, filled is with serious privacy concerns. There are more than a dozen talks planned for virtual and augmented reality.

Last year, Facebook announced a $199 stand-alone Oculus Go, but the headset didn’t get a ship date. Potentially, we could learn of when Oculus Go will be available to purchase along with Facebook’s plans for the augmented reality space. 

On the consumer side, Facebook could unveil further changes to its newsfeed, designed to surface meaningful content. If Facebook is successful in its vision, it could go some way toward regaining consumer trust, boosting advertising revenues, and stopping fake news in one big push. The company has several sessions planned around the news feed on the first day of F8.

And even though Facebook may have shelved plans for its M digital assistant in Messenger, the artificial intelligence-powered chatbot could be used to draw businesses in. Rival Apple is leveraging iMessage to allow consumers to interact with businesses, and Facebook could be readying an offensive to bring businesses back to the platform. This could help Facebook thwart the boycott it faces from businesses, including Tesla and SpaceX. 

Chuong Nguyen
Silicon Valley-based technology reporter and Giants baseball fan who splits his time between Northern California and Southern…
Prime Big Deal Days Apple deals 2024: AirPods, MacBooks, iPads
Best Prime Day Deals

Update 10/08/24: Today is officially Prime Day, and we're seeing even more deals than we expected. With everything from the latest iPhone Pro Max for free (lock to Boost Mobile with one of their Unlimited Plans) to 2023's MacBook Pro M3 laptop hitting its lowest Amazon price in 30 days, this is looking to be a good run for an otherwise deal-shy Apple. 

With the October 8 and 9 Prime Day deals upon us, now is the perfect time to go looking for some great Apple deals that will get you ahead of the Prime Day rush. In fact, we're actually seeing quite a lot of excellent sales across the board, which is why we've gone out and collected some of our favorite Prime Day Apple deals for you below. Also, if you're looking for more specific deals on Apple products, then check out our roundup on these Prime Day MacBook deals, Prime Day smartwatch deals, and Prime Day headphones deals.
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max (256GB, Boost Mobile) — $0 $1,200 100% off

Read more
Prime Big Deal Days laptop deals 2024: Surface Pro, Razer, HP, Dell
Best Prime Day Deals

Update 10/08/24: With Prime Day finally here, we've gone through our list of deals and updated prices to reflect the latest sales and added a few more options for you to pick from. That said, be aware a lot of these are limited time and stock, so be sure to snag anything you like as soon as possible!

Today and tomorrow are officially Prime Day, so the Prime Day deals have begun, and there are a lot of excellent laptop deals floating around that you can snag for a pretty great price. In fact, we're seeing deals on pretty much all types of laptops, from Prime Day 2-in-1 laptop deals to Prime Day gaming laptop deals. That's not really a surprise though, given that Prime Day is always one of the best sales events of the year when it comes to electronics and tech like laptops, which is why we've collected some of our favorite Prime Day Laptop deals below. Also, if you're an Apple fan, you may want to check out these MacBook Prime Day deals as well.

Read more
Best budget gaming mice
Roccat Kone Pro gaming mouse.

Looking for a great budget gaming mouse? Have we got the list for you. This collection of stellar gaming rodents offers something for everyone, from right-handed to left-handed gamers, claw grippers to palm grippers, RGB lovers to blackout fans. Whether you want an ultralight, wired, wireless mouse, or something else entirely, we've got a range of fantastic value mice for you to pick from.

They're even good enough to rival some of the best gaming mice around. Whether your budget is $20 or a little higher, here are some of the best budget gaming mice you can buy in 2024.

Read more