Facebook is reportedly working on a brand new app that’ll be strictly for celebrities. The app will allow the famous to better interact with fans in the hope that more will be encouraged to use the social network for sharing. It’s currently in testing with a small group of famous people, according to sources familiar with the project.
Continuing its expansion at roughly the same pace as the known universe, Facebook has just announced that they have acquired Mobile Technologies, the developer of Jibbigo, a universal translator app for Android and iOS.
Facebook released an update for its iOS app today that adds support for hashtags, an aspect of Twitter that Facebook recently added on its desktop site. Users can now add hashtags in statuses and such to filter topics.
Another notable new feature is the ability to make a restaurant reservation within the Facebook app through OpenTable. Using “Nearby Places” and official pages for restaurants that have added OpenTable integration, Facebook users can quickly make reservations without needing to open a separate Web page or app. Apple has integrated OpenTable into Siri to help make restaurant reservations as well.
TV listing information for U.S. prime-time shows and movie pages are now displayed in the app, too. Facebook notes that today’s update also introduces “faster loading and a cleaner design for timelines on iPad,” so be sure to grab it in the App Store.
Source: App Store
YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen have today unveiled MixBit, the new video sharing service that they’ve been teasing us with for several months. It hopes to rival Instagram and Vine with a focus on mixing and editing video. Users can record 16-second clips at a time, and then stitch up to 256 of them together to create an hourlong video.
It feels like Apple is falling way behind. But I don’t think that’s true.
I believe Apple puts enormous brain power and good judgement into envisioning the Next Big Thing. It takes them a long time to get it to market. But once it’s there, they iterate to perfect the original vision.
In the year or two after Apple launches an iPhone or an iPad, everybody falsely believes Apple can do nothing wrong.
But then, as we get further away from the last launch and closer to the next one, everybody falsely believes Apple can do nothing right.
Completely separate and unrelated to false perceptions about Apple, Google lately has been on fire. And lately they’ve been kicking butt not only in their traditional role of algorithm-based Internet services, but also in Apple’s sandboxes—namely design and hardware.
Apple has never been the kind of company that copies out of a lack of vision. Nor have they avoided copying.
What’s great about Apple is that they develop an ultra-clear vision about how to maximize the user experience, then they make that experience happen regardless of whether the solutions have to be invented, copied or—most commonly—Apple’s own unique spin on something invented elsewhere.
There are many ways in which Apple should not copy Google. But there are six ways Apple should copy Google and, in doing so, make Apple a better company with better products.
Do you like to Bang With Friends? The Facebook app, I mean, which lets you arrange hookups with your Facebook friends if both of you are anonymously up for banging. One rarely bangs with enemies, and even then, only under a “keep your enemies closer” mantra.
Well, if you do, bad news, chum. Zynga — the avatar of all that is unholy about mobile gaming — is suing Bang With Friends. Why? Because the “With Friends” part is similar to many of their game app titles, like Chess With Friends and Words With Friends.
I don’t know about you, but I spend a lot of time deleting spam messages from my inbox — despite using a junk mail filter. But the issue is about to get a whole lot worse, with Google gearing up to deliver adverts to our Gmail inboxes. The messages will appear under the new Promotions tab that was recently introduced in a Gmail update, and Google is testing them on a small number of users now.
Cult of Mac Deals has been dishing out deals and giveaways for a long time now, and this time around we’re going to up the ante a little bit. That’s because e’re giving each and every one of our Cult of Mac readers the chance to take home a brand new Mac!
You read that right. Cult of Mac Deals is giving away an all-new 13″ MacBook Air – valued at over $1000 – for free!
If you’ve been hunting for a truly unique way to customize your iPhone 5 then look no further. With this exclusive promotion you’ll be able to fully customize a case with all of your special photos thanks to Casetagram.
Casetagram is a revolutionary design service that lets you create custom cases for your mobile devices from your Instagram and/or Facebook photos. And Cult of Mac Deals has a Casetagram iPhone 5 case available for $39 during this limited time offer – and that includes free global shipping and a screen protector ($20 value) for your mobile device!
In response to the public’s outcry that tech companies are working with the NSA to pilfer personal info on targets of interest, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter and others announced an alliance with civil liberties groups today demanding for more transparency by the U.S. government concerning wiretapping.
The coalition sent a letter today to President Obama and other leaders in Congress, urging for greater transparency around national security-related requests. Portions of the letter were published last night, but we now have a copy it in its entirety, which can be read below:
Apple and some of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies have been under heavy fire ever since info on the National Security Administration’s PRISM program leaked to the public last month.
In response to the public’s outcry that tech companies are working with the NSA to pilfer personal info on targets of interest, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter and others have formed a broad alliance with civil liberties groups that will tomorrow demand for increased transparency regarding the U.S. government’s spy programs on citizens.
All Things D reports that the alliance will publish a letter Thursday, demanding President Obama and Congress allow tech companies to provide reports on information requests related to national security.
Facebook for iPhone and iPad has been updated to introduce verified celebrities, public figures, and brands. Just like on Twitter, verified accounts will have a blue check mark next to their names, so now you’ll know for certain whether that guy you’ve been talking to really is Justin Bieber.
Incredimail, the new mail client for iPad that’s been attracting a lot of attention since its launch, just got another new update adding some nice new features. In addition to the ability to share links and photos on Facebook, the update adds pinch to zoom, enhanced archiving, and improved personal signatures.
I have done a lot writing in my day, and there are times when I want to just let the words fly freely faster than I can possibly type them. When I’ve worked on my talks for seminars or wanted to work out some thoughts on a major piece of writing, I have given the reins to Dragon Dictate.
This Cult of Mac Deals offer has a huge savings on Dragon Dictate 3 for Mac – which has been an indispensable tool for me as a writer. You can get it for only $100 – that’s 50% off the regular price!
Facebook’s getting into the content scraping biz. So claims The Wall Street Journal, at least: they say that the world’s largest social network is putting together a news aggregation service, a la Flipboard or Zite.
Jony Ive didn’t even make an appearance at the WWDC keynote last week, but that didn’t stop his name from spreading all over Twitter and Facebook, thanks to his influence on iOS 7’s new parallax UI.
A report from the people at ViralHeat shows that Jony Ive had the most social media mentions of anyone at Apple, including CEO Tim Cook. Sir Jony Ive had 28,377 mentions across Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, while Tim cook was mentioned 20,919 times.
Not only did Jony get more attention on social media, the comments about him trended more positively than those about Cook (72% positive for Ive, 64% positive for Cook)
Here are the full social media stats about WWDC:
This post is brought to you by INTERDOM, creator of Mylifepaper.
We are constantly reading and watching news reports about other people in the newspapers and on TV. Well that may be interesting, but unless you happen to be a celebrity, politician, newscaster (or bankrobber), there is one person usually missing on the daily news: You. Mylifepaper is a new iPhone / iPad / iPod touch app devoted on every page to reporting news about you. Here is the news….
Facebook just came out with version 6.2 of its iOS app. The update includes a new feature that allows users to add icons to status updates that show what you’re feeling based on a number of categories.
To use the new icons feature, just draft a status update in the new app and tap the new emoticon icon. The new icons screen is divided into 7 categories: Feeling, Watching, Reading, Listening to, Drinking, Eating, and Playing. You also change who can see something you’ve shared and start new conversations with photos.
What’s New in Version 6.2
Twitter’s video sharing app, Vine, just got a new update that makes sharing your favorite Vines easier than ever.
Vine version 1.1.3 comes with a new share button underneath posts on your feed that allows you to share Vines to Facebook and Twitter or get the embedded code so you can post it on your own blog. The update also includes a number of interface improvements and bug fixes.
You can pick up the new version of Vine from the App Store for free right here.
Source: iTunes
Instagram is gearing up to take on Vine by offering a new video sharing service, according to a source familiar with the plans. The move is expected to be announced on Thursday, June 20, during a mysterious Facebook press event at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California.
I’ve tried multiple Mac menubar apps for accessing Facebook, and they’ve all been ugly and clunky when compared with Moment, a recently released OS X app from Tapmates.
Moment sits in your Mac’s menubar and gives you quick access to sharing on Facebook and viewing notifications. It’s beautifully designed, simple, and unobtrusive.
I’ve given iOS 7 a lot of hate this morning — just because I hate its icons — so I thought it was about time I showed it some love. It may not look the best, but the next-generation of iOS is packed full of awesome new features that should greatly improve the user experience.
A lot of those were detailed during Apple’s keynote at WWDC yesterday, but some got left out. So here’s ten awesome features in iOS 7 that didn’t get a mention at the event.
If you’ve been looking for a bundle of UI assets that will empower designers at any level to create professional looking sites with a world-class interface, then this offer from Cult of Mac Deals will do the trick. From frequently used UI elements to iPhone App templates & email newsletter templates, The UI Design Bundle has it all – and for just $39!
Whether you’re an established designer or just starting out this is the perfect addition to any design resource toolbox.
Today the story broke about PRISM, a supposedly top-secret program at the US National Security Agency (NSA) that has been in operation since 2007.
According to The Washington Post, current intelligence reporting increasingly relies on PRISM as its main source of raw data and is used in almost 1 out of every 7 intelligence reports these days.
Here’s the basic breakdown of what’s happening so far in the story, who’s involved, what’s being looked at, and more.
Zynga has reportedly closed down Draw Something studio OMGPOP and laid off all of its staff just 14 months after it was acquired in a $180 million deal. OMGPOP released its Draw Something sequel back in April, but it appears it wasn’t the success the company hoped it would be.
