02/08, 4:15pm
Tweetbot gets big overhaul with tablet version
Tapbots revamped its signature Twitter apps in large form on Wednesday, starting with the surprise release of Tweetbot for iPad ($3, App Store). The new version both adapts to the bigger canvas of the tablet and shares its support for creating multiple timelines from one account and gestures to save time. Likewise, it can save content for later through Cloudapp, Instapaper, and Read it Later.
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02/02, 12:05pm
Peek stops supporting lifetime device service
Despite at one time offering a $300 lifetime subscription deal for its Peek Twitter and text messaging handhelds, users reported that their service was cut abruptly on January 30. Some did receive e-mails warning them of the stoppage, and Peek CEO Amol Sarva confirmed service for the devices has ended. The products, such as the Peek 9 that added e-mail to its list of capabilities, used T-Mobile's 2G network for their connection to the web.
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01/26, 5:20pm
Galaxy Nexus due at Mobilicity on February 6
Canadian provider Mobilicity has revealed over Twitter that it will get the Samsung Galaxy Nexus on February 6. This would be the first provider to bring the handset to an AWS 3G network. Mobilicity doesn't require post-paid contracts.
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01/24, 1:55pm
Boxee Box 1.5 update brings new interface, more
Boxee Box has just released its 1.5 software update behind live TV function of its new tuner that we had a chance to check out at CES. There are also some other functionalities the update enables. With the tuner add-on, this update, and the main Boxee Box hardware, users can access over-the-air TV broadcasts as well as Internet content.
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01/24, 12:05pm
Nokia Lumia 910 with 12MP camera due in May?
Eldar Murtazin, who has sometimes slipped out the arrival of several Nokia devices in the past, is now tweeting with purported knowledge about Nokia's Windows Phone expansion plans for 2012. The Lumia 910, he wrote, will arrive in May, or roughly in line with talk of an international Lumia 900 arriving in Europe during the spring. It could also sport a 12-megapixel camera rather than the 900's eight-megapixel shooter, Murtazin claimed.
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01/24, 8:35am
Twitter picks up Dasient as ads kick in
Web security firm Dasient confirmed late Monday that it had been bought by Twitter. The young startup is best known for curbing malware and spam in ads on major ad networks. Terms of the deal weren't given out, but Dasient would be closing its existing business in the switch.
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01/20, 5:05pm
Neelie Kroes Twits against SOPA bill
The latest to speak out against the controversial SOPA and PIPA bills is European Union Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes. "Glad tide is turning on SOPA: don't need bad legislation when should be safeguarding benefits of open net," she wrote in a Twitter message. The legislation, if passed, would give the US Justice Department to shut down sites simply suspected of sharing pirated content.
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01/19, 3:25pm
Samsung outs new basic phones with two Star 3s
Samsung has released successors for its entry-level Star II handsets with the Star 3 and Star 3 Duos. Both handsets are virtually identical, with the Duos adding a dual SIM slot. They have three-inch, 240x320 displays, and are 11.5mm (0.45in) thick.
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01/19, 2:00pm
Twitter gets Summify to aggregate Twitter news
Summify confirmed Thursday that it had been bought by Twitter. The move will give Twitter access to aggregated news from users' Twitter feeds, which Summify streamlined in daily e-mail. It warned that the service would gradually ramp down before being closed as the team moves to San Francisco.
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01/18, 4:55pm
Nokia update with battery fix due in two weeks
(Update: starts today) Nokia just announced over Twitter that it will begin releasing the next software update for the Lumia 800 smartphone over the next two weeks. The second update for the handset is expected to resolve a battery issue. Some users can't see the 1,000mAh battery's full capacity.
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01/16, 5:35am
Rupert Murdoch attacks Google, Obama over SOPA
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has ripped into Google over what he alleges is its complicity in propagating pirated content in its search results. Murdoch, CEO of News Corporation, and a strong backer of SOPA, also accused President Obama of permitting piracy go on unabated after reconsidering his position on certain provisions in the legislation. Since signing up to the Twitterverse in the past few weeks, Murdoch has let his position on SOPA be known to the world.
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01/14, 3:45am
FTC worried Google Plus may skew results
The FTC's investigation into Google has spread into search, a purported insider disclosed Friday night. Following thetech giant's plans this week to put Google+ updates into the search stream, the US regulator was said by Reuters to be probin whether the social network was unfairly pushing down Google's competitors through results. Twitter, among others, have accused Google of 'warping' results by making it hard for Twitter to get as much prominence.
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01/09, 7:35pm
Dragon TV integrates messaging, social media, TV
Nuance Communications has unveiled Dragon TV, a voice and natural language understanding platform for TV, device and set-top box OEMs and digital service operators. Similar to Nuance's plain-language speech recognition encoded in Siri's Assistant feature,
Dragon TV responds to voice commands in plain English. Viewers can find content by speaking channel numbers, station names, show and movie names. Searches by actor's name and genre are also possible.
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01/05, 3:50pm
Broadcom makes deal with SlingBox, Myriad
Chipmaker Broadcom has made a few significant deals this week, partnering with Sling Media for its EchoStar set-top technology and with Myriad for the Alien Vue solution. The deals could result in a Broadcom system-on-chip that may allow set-top boxes for TVs that run Android apps and aren't limited to home Wi-Fi networks. Thus far, only Dish Network allows place-shifting in Sling's Slingbox set-tops.
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12/22, 4:50pm
Barnes & Noble adds slew of new apps for tablets
Barnes & Noble has just revealed that it has added new official apps to its Nook Tablet and Nook Color devices. They include the popular Words with Friends, with Twitter and Plants vs. Zombies coming soon. Others are promised for early next year as well.
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12/22, 10:25am
NPD sees smartphones leading in photography
Smartphones are now responsible for more than a quarter of the photos and videos people take in the US, new NPD studies suggest. About 27 percent of shots taken in 2011 came from a smartphone, whether it was an iPhone, Android, or other device. Dedicated cameras, meanwhile, dropped from 52 percent down to 44.
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12/20, 1:25pm
Myriad Alien Vue meant for cable providers
Myriad, the developers of the Alien Dalvik platform that lets Android apps to run on iOS and other operating systems, has now introduced Myriad Alien Vue. This latest product will allow apps to run on users' existing TVs and set-top boxes. It includes its own app store and supports multi-screen playback and cross-platform viewing from TVs, smartphones, and tablets.
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12/19, 12:10pm
Snaps up 4 percent of social networking service
Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has bought a just under four percent interest in social networking pioneer Twitter. Prince Alwaleed, 26th on Forbes' list of billionaires, is the nephew of Saudi King Abdullah. The Prince paid out $300 million for his investment.
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12/08, 9:15pm
Saw tripling of signups on first day
Beyond the initial rush of Twitter signups that began when iOS 5 was first released, Apple's integration of its mobile OS with the social service is directly attributable to a boost in signups of 25 percent globally, the company announced at a news event today. The event, which also kicked off a redesign for mobile devices, announced other "state of the company" statistics.
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12/08, 5:20pm
Apps lose reliance on Adobe AIR
Twitter has released two new versions of TweetDeck, its more powerful Twitter client software. The title is now available in native Mac and Windows editions. Previously the software was dependent on Adobe AIR, which runs apps based on common web frameworks. For the native apps Macs must be running OS X 10.6 or later, while Windows PCs require only Windows XP.
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12/08, 1:15pm
Twitter overhauls web, TweetDeck, Android, iOS UIs
Twitter on Thursday unveiled a new redesign sweeping across its entire platform. It now has a simpler design that in many cases shows content or conversations directly in the updates themselves, eliminating the need for the pop-out section on the web. A new tab menu is consistent across the web as well as desktop and mobile apps to avoid any jarring differences for those who switch often.
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12/08, 11:55am
Hulu brings new Face Match feature to five shows
Hulu has just introduced a new feature for its streaming video service called Face Match. As the name suggests, it will have the ability to identify actors just by their face from clips and return more information about them. The feature requires users to just hover the mouse cursor over a character's face once the Hulu Face Match Engine is turned on.
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12/07, 12:00pm
Nokia enhances Maps 3D with search, share, more
Nokia has now enhanced its web-based Nokia Maps 3D with the ability to search for attractions, restaurants and shops and get navigation guidance in 3D. Introduced back in April, the photorealistic 3D views are only available in the 25 major cities supported by the software. The search field will let users quickly find addresses, businesses and points of interest.
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12/05, 5:00pm
PS Vita to have limitations, at least initially
The upcoming PS Vita handheld console from Sony will be limited from web browsing while a game is running in the background. Users will have the ability to check friends' lists, music and Twitter, but can't browse the web while in a game. At the same time, only one PlayStation Network account can be set up on the device at the same time.
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11/30, 3:25pm
Sony updates Bravia TVs with YouTube HD, Facebook
Sony has detailed a software update to its Bravia Internet-connected HDTVs that will bring with it a number of new features. They include access to YouTube HD movies, Facebook photos and videos on the full screen, ticker-like Twitter updates while watching TV, and more. TrackID song search results can also be sent directly to Twitter.
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11/28, 3:40pm
Whisper Systems Android security firm bought out
Whisper Systems has just announced that it was bought out by Twitter. The company specializes in enterprise-grade security for Android devices, but all of its products thus far appear to be in beta stage. Whisper also revealed that there will a transitional period during which its products and services will the temporarily unavailable.
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11/28, 1:40pm
Vita memory cards priced from $30 to $120
Video game retailer GameStop has potentially revealed US pricing information for the unique memory cards that the PlayStation Vita will use. The 4GB card will cost $30, an 8GB one $45, 16GB will be $70, and the 32GB version will cost $120. This is somewhat similar to the prices of the cards for the PSP system at GameStop, which are $38 and $51 for the 4GB and 8GB cards, respectively, and $125 for the 32GB version.
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11/21, 10:35am
Drobo, Pogoplug offer 10GB of free cloud storage
Data storage device maker Drobo and Pogoplug detailed partnership on Monday that will let users access content on Drobo hardware through Pogoplug Cloud. Dubbed Personal Cloud, the new service gives users up to 10GB of free online storage. It's meant to give small business users and professionals to access files that are too large to e-mail from anywhere they are.
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11/18, 5:25pm
Twitter update adds Mango compatibility & Japanese
Twitter has updated is app for Windows Phone. The software, used to share photos and to broadcast brief status messages, is now compatible with Windows Phone 7.5 (free, Marketplace). The instant messaging app ICQ is also being launched in its first Windows Phone version.
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11/17, 4:30pm
Phone features touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard
Canadian Wireless provider Telus will soon be offering the Motorola Motokey Social to its prepaid customers. As its name implies, the phone targets users with a strong interest in social networking, and incorporates a dedicated hard key to access Facebook much like the smartphone-level HTC Status. The UI provides five different home screens, two interface themes and built in links to Twitter in addition to Facebook; Opera Mini gives it slightly more sophisticated web browsing.
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11/16, 4:50pm
Nook Tablet gets just 1GB for unique content
The lead analyst for mobile at PC Mag, Sascha Segan, confirmed that the Nook Tablet made official earlier this month will only allow 1GB of its 16GB of built-in storage space for content not purchased from Barnes & Noble. Segan is flabbergasted by this move, and rightly so, as Barnes & Noble CEO Bill Lynch himself called the competing Amazon Kindle Fire "deficient as a media tablet" because of its meager 8GB of storage space.
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11/10, 5:50pm
Mixel is for creative types, allows for collages
A new iPad app lets users create digital collages from a variety of sources including personal photo collections, Facebook photos, Bing search images and more. Called Mixel (free, App Store), it's also unique among similar apps as it shares all creations with the Mixel community to tear apart and do with what they will. Created by Dogpatch Labs, the app is meant for creative types who don't need to be sitting at a dedicated desk or studio to indulge in their passion, said founder Khoi Vinh.
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11/09, 1:15pm
Kindle Fire will get access to thousands of apps
Amazon on Wednesday confirmed that it will bring a plethora of existing Android apps to the Kindle Fire when it begins shipping next week. They will number in the thousands and include such popular ones like Netflix, Facebook, Pandora, Twitter and more. Games from Rovio, Electronics Arts, Zynga and other established developers will also be instantly available.
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11/08, 5:00pm
Mozilla outs Firefox 8, updates Android browser
Mozilla on Tuesday revealed two newly updated browsers, the final version of Firefox 8 for Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems, along with an update for Android devices (free, Android Market). Either update is said to make web browsing easier and give developers greater control of customizing the way they interact with the Internet. Firefox 8 for desktops now includes Twitter as a search option.
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11/04, 9:00pm
Twitter iOS app creator quits unexpectedly
Twitter's iPhone and iPad app developer Loren Brichter revealed a surprise departure from the company. Friday was his last day at the company, and he signaled that he wasn't leaving for another company. He was instead "taking some time to figure out what’s next," according to his own Twitter notice.
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11/03, 12:25pm
Tweets, tests reveal webOS 3.0.5 due with Synergy
The discontinued HP TouchPad may soon receive an OS update to webOS 3.0.5, webOS France found. A user shared his Lithium Benchmark Program score over Twitter for a TouchPad running on 3.0.5. Developers are also otherwise tweeting using webOS Synergy, suggesting Twitter integration will be part of the updated OS.
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10/27, 5:30pm
Galaxy Nexus coming to Europe on November 17
Samsung Mobile revealed over Twitter that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus will arrive in Europe on November 17. With Samsung and Google attempting to launch the phone worldwide at the same time, this could also mean the launch date will arrive stateside within days. The first Android 4.0 handset isn't yet officially dated for the US, but rumors put it at a November 10 release date at Verizon.
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10/27, 5:00pm
Google+ gets Ripples, What's Hot, photo editing
Google on Thursday brought out four new enhancements to its Google+ social networking service. The most ubiquitous is the the Creative Kit, which lets users edit photos on a basic level in Google+ itself. The initial choices include a handful of basic tools as well as effects filters and text overlays.
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10/25, 1:20pm
Lumia 800 sample photos leaked on the web
Some photos reportedly taken by the upcoming Nokia Lumia 800 smartphone were unearthed on the web by The Nokia Blog this weekend. Apart from one shared photo, there is also EXIF information, revealing some specs about the handset's camera and its capabilities. Its biggest clue is a lens aperture of f2.2, the same as that of the camera found on the Nokia N9.
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10/24, 2:45pm
Android 4.0 has support for USB controllers, HDMI
Like Android 3.0, Android 4.0 will support connecting USB game controllers, Google framework engineer Romain Guy confirmed on his Twitter account. This is welcome news, as Android 3.0 was only meant for tablets, while Android 4.0 will be preloaded onto both tablets and smartphones. At the same time, HDMI output is also part of the spec, which could turn Android 4.0 phones into portable games consoles running on living room HDTVs.
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10/21, 3:45pm
Zite app allows multiple user sign-ins
Zite, which makes the namesake iPad magazine app (free, App Store), has now added a new feature that lets users create and switch between more than one user profiles on the same iPad. Called Sybil, it's meant to recommend personalized content to each member of a household rather than keep contents private. The feature was born after Zite's survey of over 300 iPad users found that about a third share their tablets with others.
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10/18, 8:40am
Twitter gets big kick from iPhone integration
Twitter chief Dick Costolo said at the Web 2.0 Summit late Monday that iOS 5 had been one of the biggest helps to its adoption rate in recent memory. The signup rate for the service tripled on just the day iOS 5 went live, he said. Because it was "frictionless" for the user, it was performing better than expected, and the company was seeing much more use of its official photo uploading service.
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10/14, 9:40pm
Borders web visitors redericted to Barnes & Noble
Those who attempt to visit Borders.com on Friday will be redirected to a special Barnes & Noble's web page. The Borders Twitter and Facebook accounts were also seemingly taken over. Visitors are greeted by a message from B&N CEO William Lynch, asking that they give B&N a chance to be their bookstore. The Facebook page apologizes for Borders' closing and invites visitors to join the B&N Facebook page.
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10/11, 4:05pm
Twitter 3.5 brings full iOS 5 integration
Twitter prepped for the launch of iOS 5 on Tuesday by posting Twitter 3.5 for iOS hardware (App Store). The new version has an "enhanced sign up experience" that uses iOS 5's built-in Twitter integration to work. If users aren't already signed in, they're prompted for access to Twitter's OS-level credentials and don't have to sign in a second time; extra accounts are still allowed.
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09/29, 4:35pm
Spotify adds private listening after complaints
The founder and CEO of Spotify, Daniel Ek, just announced over Twitter that the streaming music service has added a Private Listening option to a new desktop client. This is in response to Facebook user complaints after receiving countless updates as to what their friends are listening to over the Facebook verbs feature introduced at F8. Ek likens the feature to a browser's private mode.
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09/23, 7:30pm
Twitter Developer Teatime to focus on iOS 5
Twitter gave a partial clue as to when iOS 5 would reach end users' hands with details of its first two developer sessions beyond its headquarters. Developer Teatimes in London on October 10 and New York City on October 12 will both have a "heavy focus" on Twitter integration within Apple's new OS. Each will have a question and answer session with platform developers from Twitter.
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09/21, 4:15pm
Supported in US by AT&T, Verizon & Cellular South
Twitter has upgraded the direct messaging capabilities for its texting service. Now, in addition to tweets, users whose service providers support MMS can attach and share videos. To send, all a user need do is enter the text of a tweet as normal, attach a photo to the message, and send it to the relevant Twitter code.
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09/21, 11:20am
Kindle e-book library lending now official
The Kindle library book lending has now gone live, with Amazon now making the official announcment. Those with Kindle readers or Kindle apps can borrow e-books from more than 11,000 local libraries throughout the US. The system fully supports the Whispersync feature that will synchronize margin notes, highlights and bookmarks on its own, as well as assign real page number and integrate with Facebook and Twitter, among others.
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09/19, 3:30pm
HTC began work on Windows 8 tablet with ARM?
HTC is working on building a Windows 8 tablet running on a Qualcomm-made ARM chipset, according to Tabletowo, a Polish site dedicated to tablets. The source is industry insider and Mobile-Review Editor-In-Chief Eldar Murtazin, who revealed these plans over Twitter. When such devices will begin showing up isn't known, though they are not expected before the summer of 2012.
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09/15, 2:50pm
A same time argues BBM helpful in times of crisis
RIM, the makers of Blackberry smartphones and the operator of the BlackBerry Messenger service (BBM), told a UK investigative committee that it would shut down BBM during incidents like the recent riots and other if ordered, but not voluntarily. Stephen Bates, RIM UK Managing Director, told members of the British Parliament that the company would obey the law but that BBM wasn't inherently wrong. Social media could have positive uses in a crisis, and suspending messaging services such as BBM was not a "good way to move forward," Bates said.
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