After rumors suggested that Twitter’s mobile apps were due for an update, the goods arrived today, bringing a handful of substantial updates, including expanded tweets (viewing links, videos, and images inline), the ability to set notifications for individual people you follow, search autocomplete, and new discovery tools for events. More »
During today’s shareholder meeting RIM CEO Thorsten Heins hinted that BBM, the companies celebrated group messaging service, might be getting some significant upgrades with the debut of BB10. In particular, the words “video chat” were tossed out as an example of how it planned to keep pace with the evolving mobile landscape. In response to a shareholder question, Heins said:
“BBM is a very, strong platform… With upgrading it into a new experience, think about adding features on BB10 such as video chat, for example, within BBM. There’s many other features to come with BB10 that will really level this BBM experience… which will upgrade that experience to a whole new social networking experience based on BBM… we want to use this to build a BlackBerry-driven social networking platform.”
So, does that mean BlackBerry is getting ready to take on Skype and Google? Perhaps. It would certainly make sense, but we’d stop short calling it a sure shot. What is clear, is that Heins really wants to push BlackBerry as the “social” platform focused on “experience” and seems content to let those other mobile OSes win the apps race.
Filed under: Software
RIM CEO hints at future BBM video chat feature originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 14:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Cloud-based software company Oracle is apparently serious about hitting the social media scene hard, announcing today that it has purchased Involver, a company that specializes in the development of customized social media campaigns. This marks Oracle’s third social media acquisition in the past two months, so Oracle will soon be ready to offer its customers a range of social media services alongside the cloud-based software services it already provides. The price Oracle paid to acquire Involver is still unknown.
The purchase of Involver takes place shortly after last month’s acquisition of Collective Intellect and May’s buyout of Virtue. Collective Intellect assists companies in monitoring the amount of buzz they’re generating in the social media world, while Virtue’s services help make the management of all of those different social media sites easier. When combined with Involver’s efforts, Oracle has now become something of a social media powerhouse that will be hard to ignore for companies craving a slice of that social media pie.
For its part, Oracle is confident that the deal with Involver will work out for the best. “The combination of Involver with Oracle is expected to create the most advanced and comprehensive cloud-based social platform across marketing, sales and service touchpoints,” it said today after the buyout was announced. It’s unclear whether Oracle will continue this buying frenzy, but with the company obviously itching to become the go-to source for social media marketing, it’s doubtful that we’ve heard the last of Oracle’s acquisition spree.
[via MercuryNews]
Oracle continues social media binge with Involver buyout is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
While services like Facebook and Twitter are the bread and butter of social networks, there are more specific communities out there. Hometalk is one such website, offering a social network for those interesting in DIY and home improvement. The site recently relaunched with a new design, boasting a user base of around 100,000 homeowners and professionals all brought together by the promise of tips, guides, and general DIY chitchat.
Once you arrive on the site, you’ll see that it has a very clean and simple interface. If you start a post on Hometalk you’ll be able to share pictures of your project and have people comment on them, a little bit like Pinterest but with a less cluttered layout. As you would expect, anything can be shared out to other networks like Facebook, Twitter, and StumbleUpon. Registered users can also Save and Like posts to view later on.
While most users are keen to show off decorations or the ongoing status of projects, there is an “Ask” option that will allow novices to ping others for the best advice. Topics range from just about anything found in the home, from bathrooms to bedrooms, plus more specific areas like windows or air conditioning units. It’s a simple idea, but it’s executed pretty well and clearly has an audience. If you’re working on your own home improvement projects, Hometalk may be worth a look.
Hometalk offers a social network for home improvement is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
There are a wealth of Twitter apps to choose from on iOS, but the official client looks to be receiving a big update that should bolster its functionality and bring it up to speed with third-party offerings. 9to5Mac discovered the changelog for Twitter 4.3 through the redesigned App Store for iOS 6, and managed to take some screenshots of all the changes in the process. Those include previews, improved push notifications, and performance improvements.
First, previews for image and photos will be shown within tweets from selected “partner websites” as you scroll through your updates, similar to Tweetbot. Push notifications have also been improved, with the option of receiving them when specific people tweet. In addition, there are new “unobtrusive” notifications when you’re still using the app, again mimicking Tweetbot functionality.
Twitter will also be tweaking discovery and Connect functionality. The Discover tab will alert users to new content, while Connect will add new autocomplete features. Tweets based around selected events will be highlighted, with Twitter determining which tweets and images will make the grade. There are also some smaller tweaks, such as being able to tap a user’s avatar to go to their profile, and the icon for the app has been updated to reflect the new Twitter logo.
There’s no word on when the update will hit the App Store, but a similar leak involving Instagram saw a ten day gap between the release notes sighting and update launch. Keep an eye out for it in the meantime, and see the full unedited changelog from the App Store below.
Twitter for iPhone 4.3 update changelog leaked is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
A ripple went through Face.com’s developer community three weeks ago when the company was acquired by Facebook. After all, what earthly reason would the social network have for continuing third-party developer support of the product? None, as it turns out — API support for the firm’s mug recognition software will be dropped in early August, and its iPhone app, Klik, is now gone from the App Store. Despite recent assurances to the contrary (pictured above) Face.com pulled the plug in order to devote its resources to Zuckerberg and Co., according to an email it sent to developers. Naturally, the sudden reversal has inflamed that group, with prominent members tweeting language like “boycotting” and “months of work wasted.” There’s a sliver of hope, however, for forlorn developers — at least one member of the community says he’s been granted an API extension through October. In the meantime, developers will likely be venting — and won’t even be able to track that rollercoaster of emotions anymore.
Face.com kills developer APIs and Klik app three weeks after Facebook acquisition originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 03:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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EA has announced that its project with Maxis and Playfish to bring SimCity to Facebook has now launched. If you’re a fan of the franchise, which has been around for decades, and like to play social games on Facebook, SimCity Social is now available to play. EA says the game brings “real” social city-building to the masses.
I spent many an hour over the years playing the different variants of SimCity and one of the things I always remember are the different catastrophes that could befall your city and destroy your carefully planned work. Those catastrophes will also afflict you in SimCity Social. EA says that as the mayor of the virtual city, players will have to face typical issues like fires, crime, and pollution.
The social aspect of the game allows you to cooperate with friends by inviting them to your city, or to launch rivalries against other cities. The decisions players make will affect how their city grows. The game has a dynamic and evolving friend and foe system and promises multiple options for city growth. I’ve never been remotely interested in playing games on Facebook, but I might give this one a try.
Representatives from the Twitter empire have today spoken of a new era of search within the home website of the 140 character titan. This upgrade within the site’s codes will allow for “Simpler Search” as they put it, it including both search autocomplete and ‘People you follow’ search results. This update will require no additional effort from you, the user, with all of the newness coming from Twitter’s own developers on their side of the web.
Search autocomplete will appear to you in the main search bar at the top of Twitter – the same place the twitter search bar has been for some time. What you’ll see with this update is a list of results that pop up under the search bar whenever you type in several characters. You’ll be able to select from these results or disregard them altogether if you’d like.
Also included in those results that pop up downward is a set of the people that you follow on Twitter as their name results to the word you’re typing. After your search is entered, you’ll see a list of results that come from an improved search engine inside Twitter that will push the following, per Twitter:
• Spelling corrections: If you misspell a term, we’ll automatically show results for your intended query.
• Related suggestions: If you search for a topic for which people use multiple terms, we will provide relevant suggestions for terms where the majority of that conversation is happening on Twitter.
• Results with real names and usernames: When you search for a name like ‘Jeremy Lin,’ you’ll see results mentioning that person’s real name and their Twitter account username.
• Results from people you follow: In addition to seeing ‘All’ or ‘Top’ Tweets for your search, you can also now see Tweets about a given topic from only the people you follow when you select the ‘People you follow’ view. Viewing Tweets about a topic from just the people you follow is a great way to find useful information and join the conversation.
Results for your searches should be more relevant and accessing your friends’ twitter accounts should be more of a snap than a click festival. Have a peek at our timeline below to keep up to date on all things Twitter as well – do it now!
ALSO NOTE: These changes won’t be immediate, but you will see them soon!
Twitter introduces Simple Search is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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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Twitter had been hinting at a big search update today, and that’s just what it delivered. Instead of the (quite frankly clunky) search results page, a search box at top now provides autocompleting search results that split into keywords and people. The system is smart enough to check for spelling gaffes and related searches, and results can drill down just to followed users rather than the entire social network. Autocompleting has been a mainstay of the Android and iOS apps for some time, but we’re glad to hear that web users can now track down their favorite recently graduated teen pop stars faster than ever.
Twitter brings search autocomplete to the web, helps find Biebs tweets in record time originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Jul 2012 15:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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