Hasta La Gadget!

Making new friends over cold brew isn’t particularly difficult, but making those friendships Facebook-official requires a bit more effort — unless you have Buddy Cup, that is. Developed by ad outfit Agencia Africa and creative studio Bolha for Budweiser Brazil, the drinking vessel makes folks who toast with each other friends on Zuckerberg and Co.’s social network as soon as their beverages collide, with an LED lighting up to confirm the new acquaintance. Partygoers link their Facebook profile with the LilyPad-based grail by scanning a QR code underneath the glass with an app from the brewer, and they’ll be on their way to making new pals. The Drum reports that the Buddy Cup will be used at concerts, festivals and parties sponsored by The King of Beers, but we’re sure intrepid imbibers can hack some together for use at their own soirees. Hit the jump to for a video of the contraption.

Filed under: Misc, Facebook

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Via: The Verge

Source: Budweiser Brazil (YouTube)

This week the folks at Facebook and Parse have announced that they’re joining teams, effectively, as the social networking giant acquires the company known for backend infrastructure for mobile apps. As a selection of notes from developers has appeared in comments and forums surrounding the acquisition suggesting they’d leave Parse in fear of Facebook, Parse CEO suggests the opposite has been happening. Noting the service’s growth rate has increased by more than 9.4 times its normal rate, Parse CEO Ilya Suhkar has made a case for Facebook’s influence as wholly positive.

Parse developer user base sits at around 60,000 at the moment, and heads at both Facebook and Parse has been adamant thus far about making sure they know the full extent of Facebook’s influence in the near future. A statement has been released making it relatively clear that Facebook has no intent on changing the way that Parse-developed app data is used. Parse competitors are using this situation as an opportunity to drain the company of disloyal developers.

One example of a competing service looking to capitalize on the Facebook acquisition of Parse is StackMob. This company has created a set of import tools made to make the move between Parse and themselves as simple as possible, and Parse developers have suggested they’ve been contacted by other services since the announcement as well.

“Q: Will my Parse app be affected in any way? No.
Q: Will Parse apps have to use Facebook functionality? No.
Q: Will Parse honor my contract? Yes, of course.” – Ilya Sukhar, Parse CEO

In the acquisition of Parse, Facebook has claimed it will bring several next-generation tools to the fold, making Parse’s draw more powerful under the rule of the social network. Advertisement-selling features will be added for developers to make use of, and new Facebook login tools will be made much easier to work with, of course. Parse developers will also be able to work with Facebook’s Open Graph for mobile as well.

[via TechCrunch]

Parse Facebook deal sees developer boost in face of naysayers is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

In the grand scheme of things, social media is pretty great by most accounts. It’s changed the face of the Internet. Drinking is also pretty great. It formed the shape of the world. So how about Facebook-connected beer receptacles? Two great tastes that taste great together or “noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo*gasp*oooooooooooooo”? More »

Google has quietly tweaked its Play store policies to prevent apps like Facebook Home from updating on Android devices without going through the official method. The change, which coincides with Facebook directly tweaking its social homescreen replacement rather than pushing out an update through the Google Play store, adds a new proviso which forbids any circuitous attempts to “modify, replace or update” code.

The change joins existing prohibitions on apps that secretly download other software from outside of the Play store, but has the impact of specifically blocking Facebook’s tests with unofficial updates. The social site had been trialling a system whereby some Facebook Home users would be prompted to install a beta version for limited testing, with that beta delivered to the device directly rather than via Play.

Users would have to agree to the update, which was not downloaded automatically, and it was apparently only loaded to a device over a WiFi connection, not cellular data. Although not contrary to Google’s rules at the time, the idea of developers bypassing the market unsurprisingly didn’t go down well with the search company.

“An app downloaded from Google Play may not modify, replace or update its own APK binary code using any method other than Google Play’s update mechanism” Google Play Developer Content Policy

Facebook is yet to comment on the changes, which are part of Google’s “Dangerous Products” section of the policy. There’s more on Facebook Home in our full review.

Update: Google tells us that the following explanation was added to the Android Developers Console with regards to the policy update:

“Google Play Program Policies have been updated. See “Content Policies” section, which clarifies that “An app downloaded from Google Play may not modify, replace or update its own APK binary code using any method other than Google Play’s update mechanism.” Google Play is a trusted source for Android application downloads, and we are committed to providing a secure and consistent experience”

[via The Verge]

Google blocks non-Play Android updates in Facebook Home snub is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Google just released a new Play Store version (4.0.27) that, at first glance, contains only very minor tweaks — except for one little thing. A new policy change will no longer permit any apps to update without going through the Play Store’s internal system. That won’t affect most software, but there’s a notable exception in Facebook, which recently added auto-downloading to the latest version of its Android app, allowing it to bypass Play. The new policy seems designed to put a stop to that kind of thing, but you never know — it could be just be a coincidence.

Update: Google has reached out to clarify that it also posted the policy changes to its Developer Console with the following statement:

Google Play Program Policies have been updated. See “Content Policies” section, which clarifies that “An app downloaded from Google Play may not modify, replace or update its own APK binary code using any method other than Google Play’s update mechanism.” Google Play is a trusted source for Android application downloads, and we are committed to providing a secure and consistent experience. Learn More.

[Thanks, Thomas]

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Google, Facebook

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Source: Google Play