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Tag: app

  • Kim Kardashian: Hollywood App Dissapoints, Falls Way Short Of $200M Revenue Mark

    After breaking the Internet with her titillating cover for Paper Magazine, it appears that Kim Kardashian won’t be breaking any app store records as her gaming app, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, is disappointingly slipping off the top charts.

    The app was released back in June and was an instant success, raking in downloads from different mobile platforms worldwide. The app earned over a million dollars during its first week on the market and it managed to entice more than 20 million players worldwide.

    It was projected that the popular celebrity’s app could earn as much as $200 million for Glu Mobile, the developer who published the game. A recent report from Yahoo Finance stated that the game is expected to fall short from its projected revenue. While Kardashian’s app was a fixture of Apple Store’s Top 5 apps, it gradually fell from the charts over the holiday season.

     

    Stocks for the publisher continues to plummet after it peaked at $7.60 last July. The game earned a disappointing $43 million during its third quarter. Their fourth quarter earnings from last year will be released next month. The wife of Kanye West reportedly owns 45% of the net profit, adding over $20 million in her bank account.

    The game lets users create their own Hollywood star. Gamers compete to become a famous Hollywood celebrity in the game by going on various quests to reach the A-list status. The game featured Kim’s mother Kris Jenner and her sister Khloe. Kourtney was however, noticeably absent after demanding to be paid for her likeness. Kourtney threatened her famous sibling with legal action and even sent a cease and desist letter that was directed at Kim. Kourtney eventually dropped the threat.

    Celebrities like Lindsay Lohan followed suit and released a similar app called “The Price of Fame” just recently. Unlike the Kardashian app, Lohan’s game was even more disappointing as it failed to even crack the list of highest-grossing apps on Apple’s app store.

  • Aaron Paul Launches Yo, BITCH App for Jesse Pinkman-Style Messaging

    Yo, the app that totally revolutionized vague messaging, man, by letting users send out the word “Yo” to their friends, was always missing that extra spark. Thankfully, Breaking Bad‘s own Jesse Pinkman has done his part to remedy that.

    Aaron Paul has just launched a new iOS app called Yo BITCH (stylized as YB in the App Store because Apple is puritanical like that), It’s a sparse messaging app that lets users send each other various BITCH-dependent greetings and replies – in Aaron Paul’s voice.

    With one tap, you can send your friend a Yo, BITCH greeting, or send your wife an I Love You, BITCH. But I’d think long and hard about it first. Wouldn’t want to end up like this poor reviewer:

    Yeah, this app is very fun but very dangerous. I downloaded it and thought, “now this is gonna be great! I can send everyone I’ve ever loved a beautiful message!” Sad to say, they did not share my sense of humor nor did they appreciate my deeds. Now, my friends aren’t speaking to me, my relatives have blocked me and my ex boyfriend called the police on me for “harassment”. So, a few hours and 5k of bail money gone, here we are.

    Like a big sack of blue sky, it’s recommended that you be extra careful with Yo, BITCH. Sure, it’s fun at first, but soon you’re calling your mom a bitch and buying additional phrase packs. Proceed with caution.

    Android users can expect the app within a few months.

  • Tom Hanks Launches New App for “Luddite Hipsters”

    Tom Hanks just released a new app. With tongue firmly in cheek, Forrest Gump himself has put out an app called the Hanx Writer that turns your iOS device into … a typewriter.

    Hanks says he uses typewriters daily and loves the feel of typing on something that responds and makes real mechanical noises. He says he once had as many as 200 typewriters.

    “What’s pleasing to my sensibilities is when you have the report of the key being struck; it allows for clear thinking,” Hanks told USA Today.

    “I suppose some people who get the app may just be looking for a different sound, but really, it’s for people searching for a more personalized experience when writing on an iPad,” he says. “There’s also the opportunity here to take your iPad to a coffee house and be really obnoxious with all the clickety-clacking.”

    Stuart Westphal of Hitcents designed the typewriter emulator app according to Hanks’ specifications. He says Hanks wanted something simple.

    “He mainly said, ‘Don’t make it gimmicky,’ so it had to work with a Bluetooth keyboard, which is really where you get the full effect of seeing a blank white page slowly fill with black type. Tom wanted people to want to sit down and write a poem or screenplay with it.”

    Hanks jokes that there maybe an international market for a return to the manual world of typewriters, thanks to the N.S.A.’s penchant for spying on folks abroad.

    “Well, I think Germany just said their government was all going back to typewriters, so they can’t be spied on by us,” he says. “But really, Hanx Writer is just my little gift to the future Luddite hipsters of the world.”

    There is no word about whether keys jam on the app when you press them simultaneously.

    The app is free for iOS, but is not currently available for Android.

    Image via YouTube

  • ‘Candy Crush Saga’ Maker Files for IPO

    The maker of Candy Crush Saga filed its Initial Public Offering (IPO) of up to $500 million today. King Digital Entertainment undoubtedly hopes to follow in the footsteps of Zynga, who filed their IPO in late 2011 and has become one of the biggest leaders in mobile gaming.

    King filed their IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today and plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “KING.” Some analysts believe that King could be worth more than $5 billion, which is less than what Zynga’s valuation was in 2011, but is nothing to scoff at nonetheless.

    Candy Crush Saga was first released in April 2012 and has since become a raging success, which you probably already knew (even if you don’t play the game yourself) if you ever go near Facebook. According to Recode, “King generated profits of $568 million on revenue of $1.88 billion” in 2013. After posting a loss in 2011, the release of Candy Crush has made King into a powerhouse.

    The game has been downloaded more than half a billion times and according to King’s IPO, Candy Crush has almost 130 million daily users as of December 2013. The number of daily active users has steadily increased since the game was first released, so there is no reason to expect the game, which accounts for more than three-fourths of King’s revenue, to drop off anytime soon.

    In addition to Candy Crush Saga, King also has several other games, including Farm Heroes Saga, Papa Pear Saga, Pet Rescue Saga and Bubble Witch Saga. Even though these games don’t currently generate close to the revenue that Candy Crush earns, perhaps the attention King is getting for their IPO will increase their number of users.

    Considering what a cash cow Candy Crush has become, King was recently approved for a trademark of the word “candy” as far as using the word for video games and clothing goes. The company is also trying to trademark the word “saga.” As such, any developers hoping to slip “Candy” in as part of their game title and perhaps capitalize on Candy Crush’s success won’t be successful. Apple is helping protect the trademark, similar to their move to protect Flappy Bird by rejecting any new titles with “Flappy” in their name.

    Image via Twitter

  • ‘Flappy Bird’ Knockoff Apps Being Rejected by Apple

    After Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen announced he was pulling his addictive game from the Apple App Store and Google Play, which prompted reactions that varied from outraged to threatening, quite a few games have popped up that are very similar to Flappy Bird. Considering that Flappy Bird was bringing in $50,000 per day for Nguyen, it’s no surprise that others are trying to capitalize on the game’s success, but Apple is now rejecting games with the word “Flappy” in the title.

    If you searched for the word “flappy” in the Apple App Store a couple of weeks ago, you would have found quite a few games with the word “Flappy” in the title. Flappy Bee, Flappy Puppy, Flappy Rabbits and Flappy Plane are just a few of the games that would have popped up.

    The same search now doesn’t yield many results with “Flappy” in the name at all, and this is because Apple is now rejecting new apps that have the word “Flappy” in them. According to Tech Crunch, some developers have gotten a rejection notice from Apple for violating the App Store Review Guidelines with their submissions. Developer Ken Carpenter says that Apple rejected his game Flappy Dragon for the following reasons:

    22.2: Apps that contain false, fraudulent or misleading representations will be rejected
    22.2 We found that your app, and/or its metadata, contains content that could be misleading to users, which is not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines.
    We found your app name attempts to leverage a popular app.

    This move is infuriating many developers. Check out tweets on the matter from Carpenter and mobile game developer Kuyi Mobile below.

    Carpenter certainly raises a point about Apple rejecting his game–how is it possible for these games to violate the rules since Flappy Bird doesn’t exist in the App Store anymore? Perhaps Apple should leave it up to Dong Nguyen to decide whether he wants to pursue litigation against the developers.

    Even if Apple is successful in getting rid of the games with “Flappy” in the title, don’t expect similar games to go away anytime soon. Many developers are now removing “Flappy” from their game names to get around the “Flappy” word ban (Flappy Bee was changed to Jumpy Bee). Splashy Fish is the number one free app in the Apple App Store, followed behind Flying Cyrus (no, it doesn’t have “Flappy” or an animal in the name, but the setup is similar and hilarious), and City Bird is in the number four spot.

    Image via Twitter

  • Flappy Bird- Gone And Back Again

    Are you a fan of the difficult but fun app known as Flappy Bird? As of early this morning, Flappy Bird was no longer available to be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

    The game has become increasingly popular over the last few weeks and was among the top games downloaded for both Apple and Android users. The game requires players to use their touch screens to direct their bird through the air and through an obstacle of tubes. If the bird hits a tube, it dies and the player loses a life.

    Players must try to score as many points as they can before their bird dies and although the game may sound simple, it is extremely hard. Players can rack up a score as high as 9,999, but most never make it to double digits. Oddly, the difficulty of the game is what has made it so popular.

    With such popularity, it is hard to understand why the game would be pulled. Developer Dong Nguyen announced his decision to take down the game in several tweets to fans. He did not reveal the reason behind his decision to remove the popular game, and many fans are demanding answers.

    After a backlash from fans, the developer seemed to quickly change his mind. He began tweeting that if he could get several different amounts of likes by the deadline, he would not remove the game. After removing it Sunday morning, he tweeted that he was working on bringing it back.

    Nguyen’s twitter ramblings have led many people to wonder what is going on with him. Was he simply taking the game down for the media attention? Did he only threaten to take it down to get more followers and downloads? Why was he so upset about his successful app?

    We may never know what happened to make Nguyen want to take down the app, but Flappy Bird fans can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that their game will soon be back and available for download.

    Why do you think the Flappy Bird developer chose to remove the game and then bring it back a short time later?

    Image via YouTube.

  • JFK Assassination: Yep, There’s an App for That, Too

    Are you a tech savvy history buff? Can you not get enough information on the JFK assassination in the midst of all the anniversary frenzy? Well, Apple has you covered. Check out the new Grassy Knoll Report App.

    The app is an interactive tool that uses historical research and analysis with modern photography and GPS-enabled maps, in order to fully explore the conspiracy of all conspiracies that ended in the death of John F. Kennedy in 1963. It was written by Joe Williams, who is an award-winning reporter and film critic for the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

    For 99 cents, you can explore the various conspiracy theories that have been floated over the years involving everyone from the CIA to the Mafia, and virtually stand behind the fence where the kill shot was allegedly fired. You can also visit Parkland Hospital where the famous “magic bullet” was discovered, or follow Lee Harvey Oswald on his journey from Mexico City to Dallas, where his life supposedly ended in murder.

    You can also take a virtual ride out to Oak Cliff where Dallas policeman J.D. Tippit was shot to death by a mystery gunman and shadow Jack Ruby on his infamous crazy weekend that ended in murder, and view the basement where Ruby killed Lee Harvey Oswald. What a ride.

    This thing includes articles on the assassination conspiracy theory, timelines, and coverage of key locations and people. You can also see how these locations look in the present day, as well as historical photos.

    This app is awesome for those of us that just happen to be obsessed with JFK, Oswald, or conspiracies in general. Even Jimmy Fallon knows a great thing when he sees it, saying, “The Grassy Knoll Report is amazing. Everyone needs to see this.”

    Image via wikimedia commons

  • Lady Gaga Wants Kids And Is Obsessed With Pizza

    Who would have thought that the incredibly unique, Lady Gaga, would someday want “tons of kids”? During a recent interview with SiriusXM, she talked about her future children and her new obsession with Chicago pizza.

    Gaga has been called everything from a misfit to a freak show, but that does not stop her from wanting some sense of normalcy in her life, and that includes children. “I want to have tons of kids, actually…I think at least three,” she said. “I really want to have a family and I really want to nurture my children and inspire them. To be honest, having my own kids will be like having three little monsters with me all the time. They probably won’t be fans. They’ll probably like hate my music who knows,” she continued. “I want to live a family life. I grew up with a very strong family and I just cannot imagine not having a normal nuclear family.”

    The 27-year-old, pop superstar, did not clarify on who she would be having her “little monsters” with, but it might just be her boyfriend, Taylor Kinney. The couple met in July 2011 when Kinney starred in the her “You And I” music video. Since then, they have maintained an on-again-off-again relationship. Kinney says he is very happy being in a relationship with Gaga. “For whatever reason it works,” he said. “I’m a happy guy, I’m a lucky guy.”

    Kinney, who plays a lead role on “Chicago Fire”, has been spending most of his time with Gaga in Chicago, which has led to her new obsession with Chicago’s Pizza.

    “I love ordering Chicago pizza,” she said. “My boyfriend caught me once eating it in the bathroom in the middle of the night. I woke up in the middle of the night, and I walked it into the bathroom and I was eating it. I heard the door opening – I had the pizza in my mouth and he just shook his head at me and he was like, ‘That is just shameful’.”

    Her interview with SiriusXM was to promote her new ARTPOP app, that is scheduled for release today. The app is interactive and lets her fans interact while they listen to her new album.

    Image via Twitter

  • Iron Man JARVIS App Comes to iOS

    Iron Man JARVIS App Comes to iOS

    Hardware manufacturers and content creators have been touting “second screen experiences” for quite a while now, but nothing so far has surpassed the interactivity of Twitter and chat apps. Now, Marvel has tried its hand at making a second screen experience, leveraging the popular Iron Man franchise to do it.

    Marvel this week released a JARVIS app for iPhone and iPad. The app simulates J.A.R.V.I.S., Iron Man Tony Stark’s artificially intelligent butler in the Iron Man and Avengers movies. The voice is the same as the one from the movies, being voiced by actor Paul Bettany. The app can recognize voice commands to check the weather, post to social media, set alarms, read the time, and set appointments.

    The app also has an “interactive” gallery of Iron Man armors for fans to peruse. It will also somehow be able to “sync” with Blu-ray players to be used as a voice remote. Doing so with Iron Man 3 on Blu-ray will unlock some type of exclusive content. A short trailer for the app created by Marvel previews the look of the software and a few of its capabilities:

  • New App Pays You To Look At Your Phone

    New App Pays You To Look At Your Phone

    Your smartphone has become an extension of you. That fact has even led to the rise of a new branch of studies in evolution, one that examines how we use modern technology to adapt and extend ourselves and our brains. The idea is that our smartphones and other such devices have become part of our brains. We no longer need to remember phone numbers. We have then in our phones. Learning is a breeze, as long as you have a smartphone and Internet connection.

    That “extension of ourselves” factor about smartphones has led to a lot of cynical observations about how people can’t seem to look at each other, have a decent dinner, interact “normally”, without looking down at their devices all the time. ABC News now reports that one company has found a way to use that to their – and possibly your – advantage.

    “We glance at our phones, on average, 150 times per day,” said Yunha Kim, co-founder and CEO of Locket. Locket is an Android app that aims to take advantage of all that looking down time. Kim continues, “We believe the smartphone lock screen is the most valuable unused real estate in advertising.”

    But the folks at Locket don’t just want to stick more ads in front of your face. They want to pay you for looking at them.

    Locket sits on an Android phones lock screen. Whenever you look at one of the ads they stream to you – up to three per hour – you get paid a penny. With a three-per-hour cap, that’s not an incredible amount of money, but in the course of one year, it could be $100 or more.

    But the Locket people also emphasize that their ads are not just ugly old banners that you’d rather not look at.

    “The beauty of high quality print ads has been lost in the world of mobile advertising. Locket allows users to see beautiful ads from the brands they love, at a glance,” said Christopher Crawford, the co-founder of Locket. “We call it ‘First Glance Advertising’.”

    “At first many people say ‘I have enough ads in my life,’ but as soon as they see the application and the beautiful ads they don’t see them as ads,” Kim said. “You’re not getting anything from seeing ads everywhere. We can show you things like the latest movies and tell you what’s available at a discount around you. Our play is about targeting you better and giving you better ads, while also giving you some pocket money.”

  • Shazam App Gets $40M From World’s Richest Man

    Shazam App Gets $40M From World’s Richest Man

    Shazam, the startup behind the popular music-identifying app of the same name, this weekend announced that it has received a $40 million investment from America Movil. The telecom company is owned primarily by Carlos Slim, Forbes’ richest person in the world since 2012. The investment, stated Shazam, will be used to fund the app’s growth in music, and its recent expansion into TV identification.

    “Shazam is defining a new category of media engagement which combines the power of mobile with traditional broadcast media and advertising to create compelling value added experiences for consumers, content providers and brands.” said Slim. “We are excited to bring this innovation to America Movil subscribers as we continue to further differentiate our services as the market leader in Latin America.”

    Shazam began as a music identification app, allowing smartphone users to record snippets of audio to identify songs. The startup now claims the app has over 70 million active monthly users out of 350 million total users. The company is now taking in over $300 million each year through affiliates.

    Though it began in music, Shazam now sees its future in TV identification and interaction. In September 2012, Shazam expended its TV features to include any U.S. TV channel, 24 hours a day. In May, the Shazam app for iPad was redesigned to emphasize TV shows on its home screen.

    “Shazam’s expansion into television has moved the company into an entirely new phase of growth with interactive advertising generating new sources of revenue and partnerships with broadcasters encouraging a broader group of people to use Shazam more frequently.” said Rich Riley CEO of Shazam. “We look forward to working with America Movil to launch these services in the region as we seek to increase our ubiquity throughout the world.”

  • Meet (or Don’t Meet, Optimally) a New Anti-Social App, Hell Is Other People

    In Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialist play No Exit, one of the damned souls concludes that “hell is other people.” Nearly 70 years later, that quote has inspired a new app that helps you be as anti-social as possible.

    The app, Hell Is Other People, leverages Google Maps and Foursquare API to help users avoid all contact with people that they know. Since social networking is all about connecting people, I guess we can call this a truly anti-social networking app.

    The app uses your friends’ Foursquare check-ins to generate an “avoidance map,” complete with orange dots representing your buddies’ locations and green dots representing “optimally distanced safe zones.” It also shows you pathways to each safe zone, so you can take a stroll around your city with a low probability of running into anyone you know.

    Having a bad face day? A little too hungover? Looking to actually relax or get some work done without the distraction of human interaction? This app’s for you.

    “This project is partially a satire, partially a commentary on my disdain for ‘social media,’ and partially an exploration of my own difficulties with social anxiety,” says the app’s creator Scott Garner.

    Hell is Other People: Walk One from Scott Garner on Vimeo.

  • Instagram Finally Gets People Tagging with ‘Photos of You’

    Instagram is borrowing another feature from Facebook today, as they are rolling out true people tagging for both iOS and Android.

    With the updated apps, you’ll be able to add people to photos for the first time. All you have to do is snap your picture, apply your favorite filter, and in the publishing phase of the process you’ll see a new “Add People” button. From there, you can tag friends, businesses, or anyone and anything with a username.

    Of course, you’ve always been able to tag people on Instagram. But before, the tagging system worked a lot like Twitter – you could @ mention users but that’s about it. There was really no way of telling whether the photo’s @ mention was simply there to direct the user to it, or if it meant that user was actually in the photo.

    “Photos are memories of the people, places and moments that mean the most to us. We have always sought to give you simple and expressive ways to bring the stories behind your photos to life. Your captions and hashtags capture the ‘what?’ and your Photo Map answers the ‘where?’ but until today we’ve never quite been able to answer the ‘who?’” says Instagram.

    All of the photos you’re tagged in will now appear in a new profile section called “Photos of You.” The new feature will have all the same privacy settings of Facebook photos – mainly you’ll be able to control whether or not any tagged photo appears in your Photos of You section. You can adjust your settings to make sure you have to approve every tagged photo before it pops up for everyone to see.

    instagram photos of you

    Instagram is giving users until May 16th to familiarize themselves with the tagging feature before everyone’s Photos of You sections go public.

    This new feature comes in version 3.5 on both iOS and Android. This update also adds a “report a problem” button to the app and also puts your privacy settings accesible on your profile screen.

  • Facebook Home Has 47% 1-Star Reviews in the Google Play Store

    Well the reviews are in for Facebook’s OS-lite “app family” Android takeover, Home, and it’s not looking great – to say the least.

    Since hitting the Google Play store on Friday, nearly 4,000 users reviews have been logged (3.955). And out of those nearly 4,000 reviews, nearly half of them have given the app group a 1-star rating.

    Just over 47%, actually. There are nearly three times as many 1-star ratings as 5-star ratings.

    Let’s take a look at some of the 1-star reviews, shall we?

    Not an intuitive app. Made my phone so frustratingly complicated to use that I uninstalled after just four or five hours. Unless major changes are made including an easy way to get to my home screen I will not reinstall.

    Cool way to use facebook, but with no support for my other widgets, it limits my phone. If I wanted a single company to take over my homescreen appearance, I could use an iphone.

    This home app is garbage! Sucks your battery down. Doesn’t let other widgets run. And, to much stuff from people’s profile in your face 24/7.

    What the hell is facebook home doing? It’s a homescreen that invades your phone. There s no way at all to access your widgets…can’t see weather, time, nothing…what a big dud!

    So, it looks like the major complaints are that it’s invasive, doesn’t play well with others, and drains battery. To be fair, there are plenty of good and even great reviews for Facebook Home – but the negative outweighs the positive in a big way.

    As of right now, the average rating is a lackluster 2.4 out of 5.

    The way the Google Play operates, reviews are only accepted by people wo have actually downloaded the app in question. So we can assume that the majority of the nearly 1,900 1-star reviews are from people who are legitimately unimpressed with the app. By comparison, the basic Facebook app has a 3.6 average rating, Facebook Messenger sports a 4.4 average rating, and Facebook Pages Manager has a 3.8 average rating. So far, Facebook Home is the bad apple of the group.

  • What’s Going on with Google Now for iOS?

    So, what the hell is happening with Google Now for iOS? According to conflicting reports from people on each end, it’s stuck in some sort of non-existent approval limbo.

    Speaking at the Big Tent Summit in India earlier, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt made a sort of off-handed remark about Google Now and whether we’ll be seeing it pop up for iOS in the near future.

    “You’ll need to discuss that with Apple,” Schmidt said. “Apple has a policy of approving or disapproving apps that are submitted into its store, and some of them they approve and some of them they don’t.”

    Not exactly crystal in its clarity, but it suggests that Google Now for iOS’ fate currently rests in the hands of Apple.

    Now, Apple is denying this. According to CNET, Apple told them that Google Now has not even been submitted to the App Store for approval. Apparently, Schmidt is misinformed, at best.

    Nearly a year ago, Google Now launched at an Android-exclusive product. It may be coming to Chrome pretty soon, but it looks like its fate on iOS, if it exists, is up in the air.

    Last week, a video “leaked” (or surfaced, depending on whether not not you feel it’s legitimate) showing Google Now for iOS. It looks official enough, and it led many to believe that Google Now would be heading to iPhone and iPad sooner than later.

  • Flickr Becomes More Like Instagram On iOS

    Just yesterday, Yahoo released a major update for its email client that promises “speed, ease of use, and cross device availability.” Now the company is updating its other core Web property – flickr.

    Yahoo has released two major updates for flickr today – one for iOS and the other for the Web version. The iOS app received much of the attention as it now features a number of enhancements that has the venerable photo service becoming more like Instagram.

    The first thing you’ll notice about the new flickr app is that it encourages users to take pictures with the app and play around with it using all the new filters within the app. Photos can also be corrected and cropped from within the app.

    Flickr Becomes More Like Instagram On iOS

    After that, users can share their flickr photos on any number of social media outlets, including Twitter. Unlike Instagram, flickr photos will show up on Twitter cards. Beyond that, users can upload unlimited photos from their camera rolls, and take advantage of all the site features on flickr proper.

    The photos themselves now contain accompanying details like geotags, which camera was used, and the people tagged in said photo. Users can also pinch-to-zoom on photos and no quality will be lost for high resolution photos. It’s especially helpful for those who want to take a close look at fine details.

    Flickr Becomes More Like Instagram On iOS

    The final addition to the iOS app is improved discoverability. The app makes it easier to find photos from friends and photographers that you follow. The app also features a new Explore tab that’s always updated with the latest most interesting photos.

    Flickr Becomes More Like Instagram On iOS

    The iOS app wasn’t the only flickr product to be updated as the original Web site has also received a few upgrades. The Web site now features a new navigation bar and a new Explore page. The navigation bar has been shortened and simplified. It will be rolling out to users over the next few days. As for the Explore page, the photos have been aligned in a justified format so that it’s easy to view the most interesting photos uploaded in the past 24 hours.

    Flickr Becomes More Like Instagram On iOS

    You can grab the new iOS app from the App Store now.

  • Facebook In Final Testing Phase For Native Android App

    Do you use the Android Facebook app? Are you constantly frustrated with how slow and buggy it is? The app has seen a few updates that have alleviated some of the problems, but it’s still a mess. iOS users got an updated Facebook app back in August while Android owners were left to fend for themselves.

    After a month of waiting, Android users will finally be rewarded for their patience. An insider at Facebook told Engadget that the social network is in the final testing phase for its new native Android app. The original Facebook app for Android was built off of HTML5, and was either bad or awful depending on your device. Going native should help fix most of the problems that plague the current app.

    Unfortunately, there is no time frame for when the new app will be available. It could become available this week, or it could become available at the end of the year. Facebook’s testing periods can be notoriously long if they feel that the product isn’t up to snuff just yet.

    As such, Facebook had better make sure their first native Android app is perfect when it launches. Mobile is becoming increasingly important to Facebook. Android is especially important as a NPD study from May found that 70 percent of Android users use their phones primarily for Facebook. That’s a massive market that Zuckerberg and pals can tap into for some of that sweet mobile ad revenue.

    I know I’m not alone when I wish that Facebook would hurry up with the new Android app. Hopefully this news means that it’s on the fast track to getting out of their hands, and into ours.

  • Facebook Makes Campaign 2012 More Social with New “I’m Voting” App

    Let’s say you’re someone who has strong feelings about politics and all aspects of the 2012 Presidential race. Good, it’s nice to care deeply about things. Let’s also say that you like to make your policial leanings well known to all. Well, that can be a mixed bag. With that in mind, Facebook and CNN have teamed up to make sure this election is as social as possible, in a way that hopefully focuses on the parties, candidates and issues without much of that inflammatory fluff that belies real political discussion.

    Today, they’re finally launching the I’m Voting app, which was first announced in early July as one of the key products of the Facebook/CNN partnership.

    “With Election Day right around the corner, it’s time for everyone to get involved, understand the issues, and make a commitment to participate. We believe that the power of friends – the social dynamic that creates a societal impact — will result in a more involved citizenry that turns out on Election Day, informed about the most critical issues facing the nation,” says Facebook’s U.S. Politics & Government Team.

    When you first launch the app, you’ll be asked to take a very simple voting pledge. all you have to do it click “Yes, I’m voting” to get started. If you don’t want to make that kind of a crazy commitment (?), you can skip it and head on to the meat of the app.

    The I’m Voting dashboard consists of questions, maps, results breakdowns, and a comment section – everything you need to get the political discussions going. Users can cycle through questions like…

    What’s your political leaning?
    Which issue matter most to you?
    If the election were held today, who’d get your vote?
    Should the public be able to see all of a candidate’s previous tax returns?
    Should Americans be required to have health insurance?
    Should states be able to enact tougher immigration laws than the federal government’s?

    …and many more. You can click on “Support” for whichever position you choose and then decide if you want that answer pushed to your Timeline and your friends’ news feeds & tickers by simply checking or unchecking the share box. Every page has a comments section that you can once again choose whether or not to post to your Timeline.

    Here’s a sample of the page layout:

    Facebook says that the app will also become a “second screen” for CNN on-air and online content. Presumably, that means that the network will use data compiled from the app in its broadcasts.

    Like I’ve said before, 2012 is the first truly social election. Not only are the candidates more invested in getting out their message (and the vote) via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. – but voters have a better opportunity to share and debate than ever before. Politics on Facebook gets a bad rap – and rightfully so sometimes. People are oftentimes as*holes, to put it bluntly.

    But sharing your opinions on the issues via Open Graph app – that has to be better than a snarky status, right?

    Disclaimer: I am guilty of many a snarky political status.

  • [Update] Google I/O App Outs Pinterest For Android

    Update:

    A Pinterest spokesperson sent us this statement:

    “We’re excited about the Android platform and are working hard on building a great app. However, we don’t have plans to announce anything @ I/O.”

    They’re still going to be there according to I/O app, but they apparently won’t be announcing the app. Your guess is as good as mine now.

    Original story below:

    Google I/O is almost upon us. We can expect plenty of announcements including the Nexus 7, but what about apps? It seems that everybody’s favorite virtual pinboard is giving Android some love at the event.

    Thanks to the eagle-eyed folks over at Ausdroid, they found that the Pinterest team is going to be at Google I/O. What’s interesting about their inclusion is the description on the Google I/O App for Android. It says:

    Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the Web. Now available for Android.

    If you look on Google Play right now, there is no Pinterest app. The only apps available right now are third-party Pinterest viewer apps that use the API and charge people for a service that’s free. An app straight from the Pinterest team would be free and native. It’s a one-two punch of awesome for Pinterest fanatics who happen to be on Android.

    Since the Pinterest app is not a thing yet, does that mean that the Google I/O app is lying? Not at all, it just means that the app is probably going to be announced at Google I/O. Any company, including Google, loves to make a big deal whenever a major service hits their platform. There’s no better stage for such an announcement than I/O.

    As for the actual app itself, we’ll have to wait till the event proper this week to find out what it looks like. Going by recent trends, it’s safe to assume that the app will contain some Android 4.0-specific features while extending support back to Android 2.3. It might even get some kind of fancy design to compliment its move to Android, but it will probably look just like the iOS app.

  • Jailbreak App Display Recorder Comes to Apple Store

    An app that was previously available only on jail-broken phones has made its way to the app store. The App is called “Display Recorder” and does just that — records video and audio of the phone’s screen in real time.

    The app is similar to Cydia, which does the same thing but is only available on jail-broken phones. Apparently this isn’t sitting well with Cydia’s creator, whom Apple would not allow to sell on the Apple Store. He sent out a tweet letting everyone know he was not involved in the project and filed a complaint with Apple.

    This new version does have some functions that Cydia does not, like the ability to export the videos to YouTube or Camera Roll. It also has the option to tweak video and audio, and record from the microphone or pickup sounds coming from things on the screen.

    Apple does not allow screen capture apps on its devices because it mimics the native screenshot capabilities on iOS. “Display Recorder” appears to take a series of screen caps to convert to video, so there is a good possibility that the app could be removed from the store in the near future. So, if this is something you are dying to have, you had better act fast.

    The App was released by third party developer Bugun Software sells for $1.99 in the iTunes Store.

    [BusinessInsider via 9to5Mac]

  • My Xbox Live Comes To Android, Updated For iOS

    You may remember that Microsoft announced SmartGlass last week during its E3 press conference. The basic gist is that people will be able to use any smart device running any software including iOS and Android to get additional info on their game or movie. It’s a great concept and Microsoft may be making their first move into that area today.

    Joining the already in existence My Xbox Live App for iOS, Microsoft have now released the same app for Android. Could Microsoft be setting up the inevitable rollout of SmartGlass later this year?

    So what does My Xbox Live for Android bring to the table? Pretty much the same stuff from the iOS version. It allows you to track and compare your achievements with your Xbox Live friends, change your avatar, message your friends on Xbox Live and edit your live photo.

    My Xbox Live for Android requires an Android smartphone running 2.2 or higher and a WGVA screen resolution or higher. You can get it for your Android phone on Google Play.

    As an aside, I tested out My Xbox Live on my HTC Inspire 4G and it works flawlessly. It’s smooth and suffers no lag on my admittedly old phone. Even though my Xbox 360 has been broken for a year now, it still picks up on my Games for Windows Live games and all the achievements I have earned in them so far.

    Coinciding with the release of the Android app, Microsoft has updated the currently available iOS app to include more functionality on the iPhone. This functionality includes the ability to control content on the Xbox 360. Users will be able to use the iPhone as a remote control while playing back content like video and music.

    The My Xbox Live app for the iPad has been updated to include retina display support. Microsoft has also improved authentication making it easier to connect to Xbox Live with Apple’s tablet. You can grab the iOS download at the App Store.

    Of course, Major Nelson is quick to point out that these updates are not SmartGlass. You could make the argument that Microsoft is preparing for SmartGlass though, especially with the content control features that are in the updated iPhone app.