Posts Tagged by Facebook
Secret Facebook app seen on the iPad
| July 28, 2011 | Posted by Abren Michaels under Apple, AT&T, Facebook, Gadgets, iPad, Social Networking, tablet, Tech News |
One of the most highly anticipated apps for the Apple iPad was briefly made available to a few lucky and tech-savvy users who took advantage of what appears to have been a mistake. The Facebook app for the iPad was hidden inside an update for Facebook’s update to its own app for the Apple iPhone.
Apple made version 3.4.4 of Facebook for the iPhone available for free on its App Store on Friday. The updated version was released to address several issues and bugs reported by Facebook users when using the app on the popular Apple smart phone. No one expected to find an iPad version of Facebook concealed within. It is widely believed that developers included the iPad version as part of a universal installer that automatically detects the device it is intended for.
An iPad must first be “jailbroken” before it can run the secret Facebook app. Then the user must load version 3.4.4 of the iPhone app and manually change the UIDeviceFamily setting. A few iPad owners who were successful on running the Facebook app were very impressed with the HTML5 coding and GUI navigation system. According to first-hand accounts and screenshots posted online by a few lucky iPad owners, the Facebook app is fully optimized to take advantage of the revolutionary Apple tablet.
Online reports mention the existence of an innovative and efficient sidebar that simplifies navigation. Unlike Facebook for the iPhone, the iPad’s interface allows chat windows to remain open and persistent while the user browses around what’s happening in the rest of his social network.
Several technology news media outlets reported on the accidental event after a computer engineering student in Canada shared his discovery on the Internet social messaging service Twitter. As this release was accidental rather than official, access to Facebook from iPads has already been disabled. Facebook has not commented on the matter, although the company had recently hinted that they were working on several new exciting products.
The Lowdown on Google+ Circles
| July 15, 2011 | Posted by Tony Viteritto under Facebook, Google, Google Android, Social Networking, Tech News |
One of the biggest features that separates Google+ from Facebook is Circles. With this feature, users can group the people they’re following by any category they come up with. Unlike Facebook, where everything the user posts goes on a single monolithic feed page that all their friends have access to, user-generated content is split among the different Circles. If the user wants to post something that is only relevant to their work contacts, they can post it without their friends and family having to see it. If they want to post a joke that might offend Aunt Louise and their boss, they can let only their Friends circle see it. Contacts on Google+ are more like Twitter than Facebook, in that you can follow a connection without necessarily being followed back, and vice versa.
Conveniently, you can add people into different circles visually, by dragging a photo of them onto a literal circle representing a category. You can remove them by dragging their photo out of the circle. When you add new content to your Stream, Google+ asks you which Circles you want to see it.
Facebook is not taking the Google+ idea of Circles sitting down. Shortly after the Google+ closed beta began, a group of Facebook engineers coded a Facebook add-on called Circle Hack in one night. However, its functionality was a bit rough, as it was indeed a hack built around Facebook’s Lists feature. Facebook has yet to directly offer a competitor to Circles.
PlayStation 3 3.10 firmware brings Facebook to PS3
| November 24, 2009 | Posted by Abren Michaels under Electronics, Facebook, Gaming, PS3, Social Networking |
Did you think the Xbox 360 would be the only console to integrate Facebook functionality? If so, Sony has another thing coming for you, as they are launching firmware 3.10 for the PlayStation 3 today, and, you guessed it, Facebook integration is included. Check out the video above to check out how it works, but in a nutshell, you’ll be able to have the PS3 post different events to your Facebook feed, like purchases, trophies, and in-game happenings. Other changes in PS3 firmware 3.10:
- You can choose a color for your PSN ID badge
- Photos are now displayed in a grid rather than a single column
- The friends list has been modified, based on feedback from the community
Bleeding Edge Xbox Live Fall Dashboard Preview: Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm, Zune 1080p
| October 28, 2009 | Posted by Abren Michaels under Electronics, Social Networking, Tech News |
We got our hands on the new Fall 2009 Xbox 360 Dashboard update, which features Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm, and Instant-on 1080p movie streaming from Zune. You can get the full scoop in the video, but in a nutshell, here are our thoughts:
- Facebook: Facebook on Xbox 360 is integrated well into the console. We like that you can see which of your Xbox 360 friends are on Facebook, and which Facebook friends have an Xbox 360 account. The problem is that the Xbox 360’s ridiculous friend limit really stands out here. You have a limit of 100 friends, and if you have a bunch of friends on Facebook that you want to connect with, you will quickly find that you have to pick and choose. You see what I mean in the video. Other than that, being able to view profile data and photo galleries of friends is a nice touch. Updating or commenting sucks if you don’t have a Chatpad.
- Twitter: Twitter, on the other hand, is way too simple for our liking. It shows you the last 50 tweets from people you following, trending topics, and basic profile info. You can also send tweets out from the Xbox 360, but it’s frustrating to do, unless you have a Chatpad handy.
- Last.fm: This works as expected. You sign in, and you get access to all your channels, and you can create new channels on the fly. What sucks? You can’t see your Last.fm friends, which is something I miss. Even worse? The music only plays when you are actually in the Last.fm area. If you leave, the music stops. This means you can’t carry it over to the dashboard, or in-game. So really, what’s the point?
- Zune Instant on 1080p: This was awesome. Definitely blew me away. We streamed a portion of the movie 300. After a bandwidth test, the Xbox 360 confirmed we were good to go for instant 1080p streaming, and it delivered. Fantastic. The best streaming video quality we’ve seen from any service.
There are a few other new details as well, and we give you a detailed look at it all in this video. Sit back and enjoy!
We got our hands on the new Fall 2009 Xbox 360 Dashboard update, which features Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm, and Instant-on 1080p movie streaming from Zune. You can get the full scoop in the video, but in a nutshell, here are our thoughts:
- Facebook: Facebook on Xbox 360 is integrated well into the console. We like that you can see which of your Xbox 360 friends are on Facebook, and which Facebook friends have an Xbox 360 account. The problem is that the Xbox 360’s ridiculous friend limit really stands out here. You have a limit of 100 friends, and if you have a bunch of friends on Facebook that you want to connect with, you will quickly find that you have to pick and choose. You see what I mean in the video. Other than that, being able to view profile data and photo galleries of friends is a nice touch. Updating or commenting sucks if you don’t have a Chatpad.
- Twitter: Twitter, on the other hand, is way too simple for our liking. It shows you the last 50 tweets from people you following, trending topics, and basic profile info. You can also send tweets out from the Xbox 360, but it’s frustrating to do, unless you have a Chatpad handy.
- Last.fm: This works as expected. You sign in, and you get access to all your channels, and you can create new channels on the fly. What sucks? You can’t see your Last.fm friends, which is something I miss. Even worse? The music only plays when you are actually in the Last.fm area. If you leave, the music stops. This means you can’t carry it over to the dashboard, or in-game. So really, what’s the point?
- Zune Instant on 1080p: This was awesome. Definitely blew me away. We streamed a portion of the movie 300. After a bandwidth test, the Xbox 360 confirmed we were good to go for instant 1080p streaming, and it delivered. Fantastic. The best streaming video quality we’ve seen from any service.
There are a few other new details as well, and we give you a detailed look at it all in this video. Sit back and enjoy!
