Hasta La Gadget!

A Facebook developer by the name of Tom Waddington stumbled across something completely new within the latest version of the Facebook SDK, hinting that the social networking giant may be working on a new “Want” button similar to the ever so popular “Like” button. Waddington managed to insert it into his website, which similarly resembles the Like button. Anyone signed in to Facebook can press it to “want this.” What results from there is a red error message.

What’s interesting is that the button also displays a small plus sign icon on the left of it, which could suggest additional actions with the button. Developers have had the opportunity to create their own versions of a Want button and it’s always called for authorization of a third-party app to allow actions to show up on any user’s timeline. A direct Want button would make it ridiculously easy for everyone to embrace and start using right away.

Facebook hasn’t made a public listing on the Facebook’s developer site where other social plugins can be found, so it’s likely Facebook wasn’t expecting to reveal the idea just yet, if at all. A button like this will probably make a lot of advertisers pretty darn happy, but who really knows if the majority of Facebook users will be able to properly distinguish between the use of the Like button and a new Want button when or if it ever rolls out.

[via LA Times]

Facebook ‘Want’ button discovered in latest SDK is written by Elise Moreau & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’ve seen SoC exclusive app stores and games in the past thanks to NVIDIA’s Tegra Zone, but now Qualcomm is hoping to to leverage its own hardware with a new SDK. The Snapdragon SDK for Android allows developers to tap into various features available on the hardware platform that were previously unavailable thanks to new APIs. The first release is only available for the Snapdragon S4 8960 processor, but Qualcomm say more will be added over time.

Developers will be able to tap into several Snapdragon APIs as part of the SDK, such as facial processing which includes smile and blink detection and a burst capture mode that will take photos in rapid succession, a feature seen on phones such as the HTC One X and Samsung Galaxy S III. Audio in video recordings can also be improved thanks to a surround sound recording mode, which will make use of the multiple microphones found on devices.

In addition, hardware echo cancellation can be tapped into, and sensor gestures can also be utilized. That would allow developers to develop new gesture based interfaces, such as tilting the phone or placing it face up/face down. Some location based services are onboard as well, such as a low power “always on” mode for geofencing tasks, and indoor location capabilities that will give accurate location data.

Qualcomm say developers can learn more about the new SDK by heading over to the Developer Network or by keeping an eye on the @Qualcomm_Dev Twitter account.

Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon SDK for Android is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.