Facebook F8: How to watch online, what to expect

Facebook’s annual developers conference is expected to shed some light on the recent Cambridge Analytica data scandal, besides other developments.

Facebook’s F8 conference will take place on May 1 and 2. (AP)

The social networking giant will host its annual developers' conference in San Jose today and tomorrow. The Facebook F8 conference is scheduled to begin at 10:00 am PDT (or 10:30 pm IST). The conference will witness announcements and updates on Facebook's latest products, the most important event among them being founder-CEO Mark Zuckerberg's keynote address.

How to watch F8 online

Facebook will livestream the F8 conference, which is now just four hours away. You can follow this link to catch the event live. Alternatively, you can also follow live updates on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #F8.

What to expect from F8

Day 1 of Facebook's F8 conference will begin with the keynote address mentioned above. Expected to be the most important one till date, it will possibly address the recent Cambridge Analytica data scandal controversy. Zuckerberg is expected to provide updates on steps taken to curb any future problem of the kind.

The company is also likely to announce updates to the Facebook login, although there was no specific mention of this on the F8 schedule. The feature was reportedly hacked by third-party trackers recently. Facebook users who choose the 'Login with Facebook' option for websites and apps are said to have been affected by this vulnerability.

A series of sessions on various fields, including the company's roadmap for virtual reality, will follow the keynote address. Facebook will also talk about security, besides tracking videos and news online.

Announcements on business-focused products like Workplace will be made at the event. Facebook will also announce the Instagram Graph API for businesses to help manage their posts more efficiently, besides sharing the latest on its partnership with T-Hub accelerator program in India. New features and innovations for Messenger, such as natural language processing, will be announced at the event.

In addition to VR, Facebook will focus heavily on augmented reality (AR) as well as its development and involvement with other products.

There hasn't been a lot of buzz around Facebook's F8 conference this year, given the recent data scandal. Facebook has reportedly scrapped plans to launch a smart home speaker owing to the allegations of data security. The social media giant is also said to have changed quite a bit of its announcements lined up for F8-2018, The Verge reports.