Tag Archives: Facebook

RockMelt, a modern browser with a social twist

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Sick and tired of the same old desktop browsing experience?  Are you constantly logging into your Facebook and Twitter accounts and checking up on your latest RSS feeds?  If you answered “yes” to one or both of these questions you might want to give RockMelt a spin.  RockMelt, backed up Netscape founder Marc Andreeseen, is a modern browser with a social twist.  First off, it’s fast.  It’s built on Chromium, the open source project behind Google’s Chrome browser; so if you’re used to Chrome browsing speeds, you know what to expect.  Here’s the social aspect.  To use RockMelt you must sign into it with your Facebook account; that’s right–it’s the very first web browser you sign into.  But there’s an upswing to this; you can access your browser information, including social integration, RSS feeds, and more, on any computer that has RockMelt installed.  Social integration, right.  So you log into the browser using your Facebook account.  The left side of the browser populates a list of your Facebook friends and you can chat with them, send and receive messages, and view status updates.  The right side of the browser stores your Twitter followers and their updated tweets, along with a running list of website icons representing individual RSS feeds so you can keep tabs on your most frequently visited sites.  RockMelt boasts “push notifications” meaning that it will keep track of and alert you to updates from Facebook, Twitter, and RSS feeds.  The browser also promotes URL sharing among your connected social networks; there’s a built-in URL shortener that’ll push your favorite sites and posts to friends.  Search is faster, too.  Worried about privacy?  Don’t be.  RockMelt developers promise that login information and settings are encrypted before they are sent over to RockMelt servers for cloud storage.

Want to get in on the RockMelt craze?  The browser is currently in beta (so expect numerous bugs pop up) and the developers are enabling the Internet at large to participate in an early access hands on with it, so along as you’re willing to fork over your Facebook username and password (remember, that’s required to use the browser).  Hop over to the RockMelt homepage to “connect for an invitation.”  It runs on Windows and Mac.  Look after the break for a video demonstration to learn more about RockMelt.  For beta software it runs pretty well, and if you’re a heavy Facebook/Twitter user you’ll surely appreciate the social integration aspect.

[Via RockMelt] Continue reading RockMelt, a modern browser with a social twist →

Facebook announces new features on the mobile front

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Today Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg hosted a “mobile event” at Facebook HQ in California.  Almost immediately Zuckerberg shot down rumors of a Facebook cell phone–rats!  What they really called the press event for was to express their interest in “making mobile more social.”  Let’s breakdown the new Facebook app enhancements.

(1) Single sign on. This makes logging into your FB account in multiple apps a snap, as long as the developer incorporates the FB single sign on API inside their app.  Here’s how it works: Once you log into the FB app on your phone, you can then log in to any other app that supports single sign on without typing in your username and password.  No more tedious typing, no more worrying about forgetting your password.  The following Android apps support single sign on today: Flixster, Groupon, Loopt, SCVNGR, Yelp, and Zynga Poker.  These updated apps will make their way to the iPhone “soon.”  And loads more are on the way.  (video demonstration)

(2) Location APIs. This one is directed towards the developer community, but it will result in significant upgrades for users.  Today Facebook has opened up all three location APIs for developers: read where your friends are; write and publish check-ins; search for relevant places.  Up until now, mobile users could only see in the news feed people checking into locations using Places only.  Now that developers have access to the location APIs, they can make their apps support Facebook location notifications.  For example, now you can check into a location using Foursquare, Loopt, or Yelp (and many others) and this information will show up on your mobile and desktop news feed.  In other words, Places can now be integrated into third party apps so users can see and interact with their FB friends within other apps.

(3) Deals platform. Facebook has teamed up with many local businesses to provide users with a new “deals platform.”  Here’s how it works.  With Places users can sign in to locations (ie. a restuarant) and share where you are with friends and see which of your friends might be nearby.  The updated version of Places incorporates deals notifications.  Local business will be able to offer users deals when you check in to their place using FB on your phone.  Now when you search for nearby places a yellow icon will appear next to those places that are offering deals.  Click the yellow icon to view the deal, check in to Places to claim it, and then show it to the cashier to receive your discount.  Note that these deals run on the merchant side, not Facebook.  There are four type of deals: “individual deals for a discount, free merchandise or other reward; friend deals where you and your friends claim an offer together; loyalty deals for being a frequent visitor to a place; and charity deals where businesses pledge to donate to a cause when you check in.  Business like Chipotle, Gap, and McDonald’s are already supporting the deals platform.  Click here to view the current list supporters.  Deals works on the Facebook for iPhone app and at touch.facebook.com on other mobile devices.  (video demonstration)

In addition to these three major announcements, Zuckerberg also set aside time to discuss software updates to the Android and iPhone version of the Facebook app.  The Android 1.4 update brings Places and Groups to the app and a refresh to the notifications application.  Facebook says, “Clicking on a notification now won’t send you off to the browser.  Instead, as long as that notification has an appropriate destination within the application itself, you will be taken there.”  Score!  The iPhone 3.3 update brings Deals and Groups to the app, along with a starred friends list in Places and a new Photos composer.  Both free updates are available to download right now.

[Via FacebookBlog, here & here]

Facebook Places ready to share your location with friends on the iPhone

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Similar to Foursquare, Facebook Places gives you the ability to share your location in the world with friends and view your friends’ location.  “Checking in” and sharing your location is simple:

Go to Places on the iPhone application or touch.facebook.com site and then tap the “Check In” button. You’ll see a list of places near you. Choose the place that matches where you are. If it’s not on the list, search for it or add it. After checking in, your check-in will create a story in your friends’ News Feeds and show up in the Recent Activity section on the page for that place.

You can even “tag” friends that are with you, just as you can tag a friend in a status update or photo.  You can also post an update along with your check-in to tell people more about what you are doing.  The “People Here Now” section reveals a list of nearby Facebook users, whether they are “friends” or not.  People will only show up in this list if they are checked into the same location as you.

Privacy concerns are an ongoing issue at Facebook HQ, so they made sure to highlight ways to tweak Places options.  The default setting shares your location and previously tagged locations with friends only; you have to option to change the master privacy control to “Everyone” if you like.  You also have the option whether or not to allow your friends to check you in to places.  If you let them do so, you will receive notification every time you are checked into a place.  You can always remove yourself from the places you’ve been checked or tagged into, just as you can remove your name from a tagged photo.  Want to learn more about controlling your privacy with Places?  Watch this helpful and informative video from Lifehacker that goes through the motions step-by-step.

Facebook Places is only available on the iPhone in the US.  In order to access the new feature you must download the free update for the Facebook app.  Along with Places, version 3.2 brings background photo and video uploads (for iOS4 users), some visual and loading enhancements, and various bug fixes.  Got an Android and Blackberry device?  Point your browser to touch.facebook.com to access an HTML 5 version of Places to join the fun.  Facebook is working on bring Places to other mobile devices and more countries.  They have opened up a Places API for third party developers like Foursquare, Gowalla, and Yelp to use in their respective services.

[Via Facebook; Engadget]

Kanye West braces for new album by previewing new songs at Facebook, joining Twitter [Update: Rolling Stone visit]

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After spending some time out of the limelight, Kanye West has returned to entertain us with his slick, emotionally-driven raps and different side of his thumping ego.  On Wednesday Kanye visited Facebook HQ in Palo Alto, California to preview four tracks from his upcoming album.  He donned a fresh suit and rapped a capella atop a table inside a fluorescently lit conference room in front of Facebook employees.  He starts with a “fun rap”, that’s the one embedded above.  It rocks.  “Kill the hypocrisy/This is an aristocracy..I’m Socrates/But my skin more chocolatey.”  The next rap is rather short; it may just be a freestyle, but it’s got a sick line in it: “Lost in this plastic life/Let’s break out of this fake-ass party, turn this into a classic night.”  The next song likely titled “Chain Heavy” is dipped in politics and contains this humorous line: “They try to tell me that aliens built the pyramids/I swear life’s on bitch on a period”; it concludes with my favorite line I’ve heard this far: “This is the making of a masterpiece/So we broke out the chains and told our master, ‘Peace’.”  The fourth song is called “Mama’s Boyfriend” and it’s an extremely emotional track about Kanye’s late mother Donde West.  In it he journeys back to the days when his divorced mother started dating other men.  “I’m my mama’s boyfriend/I’m her little husband…Keep your hands off my mama” he screams.  Apprently this track took him 33 years to write and it clearly means a lot to him.  ‘Ye drops so many uses of the n-word in this track, but he says, “I’m allowed to use it.”

Later that day he posted this message targeted to the Facebook employees:  “Many times in life I’ve had to deal with moments of doubt. And as it’s been a minute since I’ve performed any fresh material in front of an audience, this could’ve been one of those moments… but it wasn’t. Your energy was a gift so electric, so genuine, that it really helped me give my best. The energy was so inspiring I had to keep going!  I just hope you got as much from me as I got from you…which was everything!”  Be sure to look after the break to listen to all the tracks.

From one popular social network to another, Kanye finally caved in and joined the Twitterverse.  And you know what?  He actually comes across a non-egotistical funnyman.  Peep his first tweet: “Up early in the morning taking meetings in Silicone Valley.”  This was followed almost immediately by: “Lol I spelled Silicon wrong ( I guess I was still thinking about the other type of silicone ITS A PROCESS!! : )”  Then came some important news regarding his upcoming album: “The album is no longer called “Good Ass Job” I’m bouncing a couple of titles around now.”  Just confirming our suspicions, Kanye.  After giving a handful of shoutouts to various blogs for reporting his Facebook HQ visit, he started to notice how quickly he was garnering a following.  In less than two days he managed to gain a following of nearly 300,000 (he’s currently at 293,687 followers).  With tweets like these: “My thoughts on Twitter so far… at the end of the day, God damnit I’m killing this shit!!!” and “I think Twitter was designed specifically with me in mind just my humble opinion hahhhahaaaahaaa humble hahahahhahaahaaaa” you might think ‘Ye is stroking his ego again, but I think he’s actually starting to satirize himself.  He’s finally realized that he “has the power to let power go” and he’s learning from his past mistakes.  Hilarious comic (and one of Kanye’s friends) Aziz Ansari started trending the hashtag #PredictingKanyeTweets, and Kanye simply retweeted jokes that were on him.  “Damn I wish Hermes made edible snacks, Cheezits just ain’t dope enough for my mouth”, tweeted Ansari.  The fact that he’s not retaliating but instead having fun with his new lease on life through Twitter makes me believe that he’s turning a corner for the better.  But don’t take my word for it.  Follow @kanyewest and form your own opinions.

At the end of the day, it appears as if Kanye wants to begin a new chapter in his career.  After coming out of hiding he decided to tease some tracks and open up his fanbase using the power of social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter.  It’s an interesting and unconventional route to take but it’s one I can commend.  Welcome back Mr. West.  September 14 come now please.

Update: Later in the week Kanye visited a bunch of magazine headquarters including XXL and Rolling Stone.  A video surfaced on YouTube from his meeting with the latter outlet.  Look for it after the break.

[Via KWBlog; KWTwitter] Continue reading Kanye West braces for new album by previewing new songs at Facebook, joining Twitter [Update: Rolling Stone visit] →

Teaser trailer: The Social Network

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The Social Network aka The Facebook Movie stars Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland) as Mark Zuckerberg, Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker, as well as Brenda Song (The Suite Life of Zack & Cody), Andrew Garfield (the next Spider-Man), and Rashida Jones (Parks & Recreation).  It’s directed by David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), written by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing), and executive produced by Scott Rudin, Kevin Spacey, and Michael DeLuca.  Like the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich, the film will focus on the founding of Facebook and all of the internal battles that took place.

I have to say that this teaser is rather bland; it has not piqued my interest in the least to want to see this movie, and that’s what trailers are supposed to do.  If there’s one rewarding aspect to take away from it it’s the amazing score that’s being provided by Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails) and Atticus Ross.  “…when I read the script and realized what [Fincher] was up to, I said goodbye to that free time I had planned,” said Reznor on his site.  He calls the movie “really fu**ing good.  And dark!”  Look after the break for the theatrical poster which reads, “You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies.”

[Via Pitchfork; Wiki] Continue reading Teaser trailer: The Social Network →

Facebook gets a redesign; Twitter is updated

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On Friday Facebook received a facelift; what else is new, right?!  It feels like the Facebook devs are constantly updating the site’s user interface.  Though having to re-learn how to navigate the site every few months is an annoying task, you have to remember it’s all being done to make the experience more streamlined and faster to get around.  So what does this latest redesign bring with it?  The Top Menu is the area where you’ll find your newest notifications, friend requests, and inbox messages in drop-down menu form.  The Left Menu brings together Messages, Events, Photos, and Friends all in one space.  An extension of your Friends List is also found here; it lists the people you chat with most and can be expanded to its usual spot in the bottom right-hand corner.  There have also been updates to the Applications and Games dashboards, making it easier to discover and play new apps.  The center of the page prominently features your News Feed.  All in all, since the redesign only affected the home page (your profile and friend’s profiles look and function the same) there isn’t much to re-learn.  In fact, I find the new look freshing and definitely a step up from their recent upgrades.  But that’s what it’s all about, right?  (Side note: This redesign comes on the heels of Facebook’s 6th birthday.)

Twitter’s update is not as drastic but it still brings a few welcome features.  Hovercards give users a new way to access profile information without having to leave the homepage to visit someone else’s profile page.  Twitter Spokesperson Jenna Sampson explains: “Hovercards are cards which appear when you hover over a username or avatar.  The cards display additional information about the person and allow you to interact with them while staying within the context of your page.”  Hovercards reveal the person’s name, profile information, location, and whether or not you follow the person.  You also get an options panel with follow, block, mention, or report buttons.  Less clicks and page redirections are the result.  A welcome update indeed.  Twitter is also giving users the ability to narrow the range of the Trending Topics list.  Instead of being forced into watching worldwide trending news, users can specify their country or US city.  They are currently working on adding more locations to the list.

For those of you who have not received the Facebook or Twitter updates yet there’s no need to worry.  It takes time for such updates to reach all users.  (I was one of the first to receive the Facebook redesign, but I have yet to play around with Hovercards in Twitter.)

[Via FacebookBlog; Mashable]

Facebook comes to PS3 (and Xbox 360) today

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Seems like Facebook is infiltrating all of our favorite gadgets these days: computers, cell phones, iPods, and now video game consoles.

Facebook capabilities are now available on the Playstation 3 today via the (free) 3.10 firmware update.  Sony is pressing that this is the first of many Facebook features coming to the PS3.  For now, FB on PS3 will enable users to share their Trophy and Playstation Store activity in their Facebook News Feeds.  Also, publishers are given the option to send game-specific information from the console to users’ News Feeds.  Other Facebook features, basics such as status updates and photo sharing, are not included with this update.  Hopefully future updates will bring these features to life.  For now, Sony advises its users to make use of the PS3’s browser to log-in and fully utilize Facebook that way for the time being.  Other new updates with 3.10 include a new way to orgainze and view your photos in a gallery and customization options in your PSN Friends List (you can color your PSN ID).

And don’t forget: also available today (via a free download) is the Xbox 360 dashboard update that includes full-blown Facebook integration, Twitter, last.fm, and Zune (video) marketplace additions with HD (1080p) instant-on streaming.  What are you waiting for?  Get social network’d.

[Via Engadget; Playstation EU Blog]

Long-awaited Xbox 360 dashboard update is coming November 17

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We’ve known for quite some time now about the next Xbox dashboard update coming to Xbox Live subscribers.  Here’s a refresher for those of you not in the loop: Facebook/Twitter integration, last.fm, Zune (video) Marketplace, and instant-HD (1080p/5.1 channel) streaming.  The new press release (in full after the break) sheds light on new additions:

In addition to these social features, Xbox LIVE will also be debuting “News and More,” a new section of the “Inside Xbox” channel, transforming Xbox LIVE into a full-fledged media portal. With a regularly-updated stream of content from MSNBC, The New Yorker and Dilbert, “News and More” brings the latest in current events, arts and entertainment right to your fingertips.

[Via Engadget]

Continue reading Long-awaited Xbox 360 dashboard update is coming November 17 →

Engadget goes hands-on with new Xbox Dashboard update

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This is the anticipated update that will include Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm, and Zune Video Marketplace integration.  No release date has been issued yet.

For a more detailed look into the hands-on, check out Joystiq’s in-depth coverage.

[Via Engadget; Joystiq]

Lady Gaga performs live at Marc Jacobs event; Heartbeats give-away details, too

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Gaga’s performance, which involves only her voice and a piano, is actually quite good.

Remember the announcement of the new Heartbeats by Lady Gaga headphones I reported on last week?  Well, if you were at all intrigued by the new headphones in the Dr. Dre Beats lineup, be sure to check out the Heartbeats Daily Giveaway on Facebook.  “To celebrate the launch [of Heartbeats], Beats by Dr. Dre is giving away a pair of Heartbeats every day for 30 days, so enter..for your chance to win.”  Good luck, ladies (and guys, I guess).

Thanks, Aaron.