Facebook cancels conference over coronavirus fears

Facebook canceled its annual F8 developers conference, the biggest annual event for the US tech giant, over fears about the possible spread of the novel coronavirus.

The gathering in the Silicon Valley city of San Jose - which had been set for early May - typically draws thousands of software makers from around the world who collaborate with the tech giant on its platform.

"In light of the growing concerns around COVID-19, we've made the difficult decision to cancel the in-person component of F8 this year, in order to prioritise the health and safety of our developer partners, employees and everyone who helps put F8 on," Facebook said.

Face-to-face interaction at the conference center in San Jose will be replaced with presentations streamed online. F8 sessions and demonstrations usually span its "family" of offerings including the main social network, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and virtual reality unit Oculus.

"This was a tough call to make - F8 is an incredibly important event for Facebook and it's one of our favorite ways to celebrate all of you from around the world," director of platform partnerships Konstantinos Papamiltiadis said in a message to developers.

"We...