Hasta La Gadget!

And so, the Facebook v. Yahoo! courtroom tussle has come to an end. The two Silicon Valley giants have agreed to a legal truce and cross-licensed a bit of each other’s IP, meaning that’s one less legal donnybrook we have to worry about upsetting consumer sensibilities. Not only have the two settled their differences over their respective advertising and social networking patents, but they’ve also agreed to an ad sales partnership, too. Now, if only all those other, myriad tech litigants could amicably settle their differences with such alacrity. Perhaps they should all take a gander at the PR after the break to see how it’s done.

Continue reading Facebook and Yahoo! friends again, agree to patent cross-license

Facebook and Yahoo! friends again, agree to patent cross-license originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Jul 2012 16:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Anyone on a slower broadband connection like I am, or heaven forbid on a dial-up connection, knows that modern websites assume you have a decent amount of bandwidth. Downloading all those photos and videos can take ages on a slow connection and Facebook knows the lack of bandwidth is one of the reasons people in some parts the world don’t join the network. Facebook has a plan to fix that, at least in the Asia-Pacific Gateway area.

Facebook has announced it will be investing in a project that will cost a total of $450 million to run an undersea fiber-optic cable. The cable will run from Malaysia to South Korea and Japan with branches splitting off for other countries. The new undersea cable will reduce the number of hops data has to take making downloads and uploads faster.

Facebook won’t say exactly how much money it invested in the undersea cable project. The project is also backed by major Chinese Internet providers and a number of other companies. “Our investment in this cable will help support our growth in South Asia, making it possible for us to provide a better user experience for a greater number of Facebook users in countries like India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Singapore,” a Facebook spokesman said.

[via BBC]

Many people have been upset Facebook the last few weeks after changes were made to e-mail addresses displayed on a Facebook profile. Many people didn’t appreciate Facebook changing the e-mail addresses displayed on a profile. The social networks hid all e-mail addresses other than the @facebook.com address by default.

One problem people had with the change was that only e-mail sent to their Facebook specific e-mail account was getting pushed to mobile devices. More and more people only access Facebook via a mobile device, so there were many affected people. Facebook is now saying that though it did intend to make only the Facebook e-mails visible on your profile by default, it didn’t intend to stop e-mail sent to other addresses from being pushed to mobile devices.

Facebook says that the failure of e-mail sent to the other addresses not being pushed to your mobile was unintended and is a bug that will be fixed. It’s also worth noting that you can go back into your profile under visibility settings and turn your other e-mail addresses back on to be shown on your profile. Facebook is promising that the sync bug will be fixed, possibly as early as today. Once the bug is fixed, users will be able to see their friends’ primary e-mail address show back up on their mobile device. The primary address by default is now the @facebook.com address.

[via The Verge]

Facebook says e-mail sync issue is a bug and will be fixed is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Path, the private social network with iOS and Android apps, has today announced that its adding Nike+ support to its apps. Anyone owning a Nike+ FuelBand will be able to post FuelBand score updates to the app, giving your friends the piece of mind that you’re a healthy and active individual. On top of that, the Nike+ FuelBand app for iOS has seen an update that adds some new features.

The new app allows you to sync your FuelBand data in the background by merely long-pressing the button found on the bracelet. In addition, data is saved offline so you can view all your progress and stats without needing an active internet connection, and you can view the remaining battery life for the FuelBand through the app.

If you’re really keen, you can download the free Nike+ Running iOS app that will keep a map of your runs. The app, previously known as Nike+ GPS, was redesigned last week to make it easier for joggers to commence runs, at the same time dropping the $1.99 price tag. If you’re interested in all of the above, head on over to the relevant app stores to get the updates.

Nike+ FuelBand now integrates with Path is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Google has just announced a new Google+ feature called Events that aims to offer a more comprehensive service when it comes to planning events. Rather than just sending out invitations and getting RSVPs, the feature addresses the needs that come before, during, and after an event.

Before:
Google has spent some time to design attractive invitations that are directly integrated with the Google Calendar. The invitations can be easily created using images from a selection of cinemagraphs, which are still images with subtle animations. Recipients of the invitation will see that it unfolds to reveal the details and upon RSVP, the event is automatically added to their calendars. Clicking on the event takes them to the events page, where they can see updates from the host and who else is going.

During:
Now the invitations are nice, but what gets interesting is the capability that comes with Google+ Events during an event. Google has created a Party Mode that can be enabled on the Android devices of your guests. When this mode is activated, the pictures that they take with their device are automatically added to a photo stream for the event, where they are displayed in chronological order. They can be viewed in real-time during via a live slideshow, which creates a “visual pulse” for the event.

After:
Once the event is over, all the photos taken are collected in one central location. Guests will be sent emails to upload their photos to the event’s page, where they will be displayed in chronological order and can be filtered and tagged. Hovering over a picture will show which guest took it. An Event Highlights section shows the pictures that got the most comments and engagement and you can also filter to see the photos taken by a specific guest.

Google+ Events brings Party Mode, real-time photo stream is written by Rue Liu & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.