Hasta La Gadget!

Technically speaking, it would be incorrect to call Lightt the Instagram for GIFs, but really, it’s tough to explain it any other way. In short, it’s a new app for iOS which captures short, soundless clips that play back in an endless loop. (See? Looks like a GIF and is mesmerizing like a GIF, except it’s actually a proprietary file format.) Once you record a clip, or “Highlight,” you can upload as many as you want, and then share them to either Twitter or Facebook. (Careful: the default privacy setting is public.) Then, once you offload those segments onto the company’s servers, people can like them or leave comments. Similarly, too, anyone with a browser can see your feed, though you also have the option of viewing people’s images from within the app itself. The Insta-comparisons end there, though: with Lightt, you can’t run your clips through any sort of artsy filters.

As with other social networks, you can follow users you find intriguing. There’s also a “Featured” list, curated by Lightt, but you can’t currently search for things based on tags, which is how you might discover cool stuff on other sites, like Tumblr or Pinterest. There’s an element of randomness, then, when it comes to unearthing new things, though you can at least find friends on the site by importing your contacts from other services. Interestingly, too, all your images live online: even when you view your feed on your phone, the app is simply pulling it in from the web. Still, if you really like something, you can save a still frame to your device. The app is available now for free in the App Store (no word on if it’ll ever come to other platforms), and we’ve also got a gallery of screenshots at the ready below.

Filed under: Software, Mobile

Don’t call it a GIF: Lightt is an app that lets you upload silent, looping clips for your friends to comment on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If only the news of the day were as easy to digest as pictures of cats, we’d all be much better informed. That’s the idea behind Cheezburger Network founder Ben Huh’s latest creation, anyway. Meet Circa News, the streamlined future of your information diet. More »

Remember RockMelt The “social web browser”? The name doesn’t come up often, especially when we talk about conventional browsers like Firefox, Chrome, IE and Safari. Well, rest assured, the startup is still alive and kicking: after releasing an iPhone app earlier this year, it’s introducing an iPad version as well. As ever, the browser is built around social networks like Facebook and Twitter, but instead of emphasizing chat and status updates, it’s all about using your social network to help curate a newsfeed that matches your interests. In other words, you could do a traditional web search and sift though the results, but if you sign in with your Facebook or Twitter handle what you’ll actually see are stories that RockMelt thinks might appeal to you. In theory, the browser will learn, over time, what you like and what you don’t, and at any point you can add specific news sources as you would with an RSS feed. As an added bonus, the experience of reading articles from within the app is actually quite smooth, but that’s neither here nor there.

And, of course, what would a social browser be without the ability to share cat videos? In addition to sharing things with people directly (i.e., through email), you can use so-called emoticodes like “lol,” “want,” and “aww” to comment on a story without actually commenting on it. (Think of it as the equivalent of liking something on Facebook: it’s less intrusive than posting random links on your friend’s wall.) The app is available for download today, and we’re told versions for other platforms are in development. In the meantime, check out the screenshots after the break to get a basic for the layout.

Continue reading RockMelt social browser comes to the iPad, offers up news stories tailored to your interests

Filed under: Tablets, Software

RockMelt social browser comes to the iPad, offers up news stories tailored to your interests originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Imagine a world that’s not completely and totally explored yet—sort of like in Warcraft where the unexplored terrain is dark because your character never went there. It exists in real life too. It’s the own world you live in. You haven’t seen everything or been everywhere so this app, Fog of World, makes the places you’ve already been completely clear and the unexplored places, foggy. As you go to new places, the map gets clearer. It looks so fun. More »

One of the biggest differentiating factors from last iPhone to this one is the iPhone 5’s longer screen. It’s the first thing anyone notices, and the lengthening of the display makes apps feel a lot less cramped. Here are a few of the more popular apps that have already been optimized, next to their old iPhone 4S counterparts. More »