Facebook encouraging employees to switch to Android

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Corporate News, Social Networks,

Facebook wants more of its employees carrying Android devices, employing vaguely propagandistic posters around its Menlo Park campus. The posters outline the growing lead Android has over iOS, projecting that lead to double by 2016. The goal is to get Facebook employees using devices that the majority of their app users use, or "Droidfooding," as the campaign is casually known.

“In the early days we gave employees iPhones primarily”, a Facebook spokesperson said to TechCrunch. This recent shift to a more Android OS orientated workplace is part of an effort to make it as simple as possible to test future Facebook For Android and Facebook Messenger apps.

“We’ve created more awareness that Android devices are available” Facebook says. "There's plenty of people here carrying around both devices, and not just engineers and not just mobile people.”

Read More | TechCrunch

Facebook 4.1 for Windows Phone 8 brings speed improvements

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Smartphones, Microsoft, Software,

A new update for Windows Phone 8's Facebook app doesn't bring new features, but does make the app a lot faster and more responsive. Similar to the recent Facebook app updates on Android and iOS, this one focuses on the general performance of the app, and eliminates the lag from the older version.

Windows Phone 7 devices, however, aren't capable of running the new update. UK users will assuredly find the Facebook version 4.1 update in the UK Windows Phone Marketplace, but its not quite available in all markets yet.

Read More | Windows Phone

Google Trends shows Microsoft’s next Xbox is already beating Playstation 4

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Culture, PlayStation 3, Sony, Xbox, Xbox 360,

We trust Google with a lot of things: we trust that it will be there for us when our memory fails and that it will find the best information for us. Can we trust it to predict the future for us too? Well, the future of consumer electronics at least.

Based on Google Trends searches, Microsoft's next generation system is poised to take down Sony's next Playstation console. Google Trends previously held the data that showed the winner of the high-def DVD race, as Blu-ray yielded more search results than HD DVD films. This time, news site Ludos Mundi used Google Trends to discover whose winning the next-gen popularity contest, and found users search "Xbox 720" about 60 percent of the time, compared to searches for "PS4" that occur 40 percent of the time.

You can use Google Trends yourself to see the data. Simply compare "Xbox 720" and "PS4" using the Forecast feature.

Read More | Ludos Mundi via Venture Beat

Apple releases iOS 6.0.2, zaps Wi-Fi bug

Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Software, Wireless / WiFi,

Just like that, Apple has released iOS 6.0.2, which looks to fix a Wi-Fi connection bug that affected some iOS devices. So, if you were one of the lucky ones with that problem, let us know if this update resolves it.

iOS 6.0.2 Software Update
This update contains improvements and bug fixes, including:

• Fixes a bug that could impact Wi-Fi

Read More | Apple

US Cellular readies Jelly Bean update for Samsung Galaxy S III

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Smartphones, Google, Software,

US Cellular is about to begin distributing Android 4.1 to it's variation of Samsung Galaxy S III devices starting this Friday, December 21.

Android 4.1, or Jelly Bean, contains the features Galaxy S III owners on other carriers are used to by now, such as Project Butter, Google Now, camera improvements, notifications, widgets and an improved interface.

US Cellular hasn't released an exact time of day that users can expect the update, as they have to be pretty anxious by now, but what we do know is that the update can be done over the air, or over USB.

Read More | US Cellular

New BlackBerry 10 Screenshots show voice recognition, updated UI

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Smartphones, Corporate News, Software,

BlackBerry 10 is nearing its debut, and more screenshots have come out showing what's new in the BB10 operating system.

From the newest screenshots posted on Tihnte, it appears the BB10 is taking a book out of Apple's playbook and incorporating a smart voice assistant. Voice commands were announced earlier, and the screenshots show you will definitely be able to make dictations, but other functionality, if any at all, is unknown.

The screenshots also showcase BB10's Twitter client, which doesn't stray to far from the iOS and Android comfort zones. There's also some looks at the BlackBerry Hub and new visual stylings of the BB10.

Read More | Tinhte

Twitter allegedly attempted to buy Instagram for $525 million

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Acquisitions, Corporate News, Rumors, Social Networks, Startups,

Way before Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion, Twitter apparently made an offering of its own, to which Instagram initially agreed to.

The offer from Twitter, according to The New York Times, was for $525 million. Instagram's CEO, Kevin Systrom, agreed to the buy-out, but changed his mind before selling Instagram to Facebook without allowing Twitter to make a counter offer.

What's interesting is that Systrom had stated while under oath to the California Corporations Department that Instagram had never received another formal offer. None of the parties have commented on the Times article that brought this information to life, but it could mean we might be in the throes of an intense legal battle shortly.

Read More | NY TImes

Twitter rolling out Archive feature, allows you to download your tweet history

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Corporate News, Internet,

If you thought you could just bury the past under an onslaught of new tweets, then you're about as wrong as Commissioner Gordon and Batman at the end of The Dark Knight.

The truth always comes out eventually, and this time it's coming out one tweet at a time in the form of your very personalized Twitter archive that, you guessed it, contains every tweet you ever posted. Each personalized archive is done up in HTML and divided by month, so you can remember the great (and not so great) times of your social media life a month at a time.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo promised this feature earlier, but it appears to be rolling out for select users right now, and you may very well be one of them. To check, go to your Twitter account and see if you find "Your Twitter Archive" under the settings page.

Read More | The Next Web

Samsung Galaxy S III, other Android devices susceptible to malware through Google Play

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Smartphones, Google, Software,

A "severe vulnerability" has been identified within the Samsung Galaxy S III, Galaxy S II, Galaxy Note II, and possibly other Android devices.

The vulnerability leaves these devices open to malware downloaded in remote apps, which can then read user data and even brick your phone completely. "The good news is we can easily obtain root on these devices and the bad is there is no control over it," said xda-developers user Alephzain. Usually, vulnerabilities like this require physical access to the phone, while this vulnerability allows it to be attacked from apps downloaded from the Google Play Store.

Samsung is apparently aware of the problem, but has not publicly acknowledged the problem. Millions of devices are reportedly at risk right now as public knowledge of the issue spreads.

Read More | The Verge

Ray Kurzweil joins Google, will focus on machine learning

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Corporate News, Google, Science,

Ray Kurzweil announced via his blog that he is joining Google to work on projects that consisting of machine learning and language processing.

"I'm excited to share that I'll be joining Google as Director of Engineering this Monday, December 17," Kurzweil said. "I've been interested in technology, and machine learning in particular, for a long time: when I was 14, I designed software that wrote original music, and later went on to invent the first print-to-speech reading machine for the bling, among other inventions. I've always worked to create practical systems that will make a difference in people's lives, which is what excites me as an inventor."

Kurzweil will serve as a Director of Engineering, though it's not clear on how immediate Kurzweil's focus will be on consumer products.

Read More | Kurzweil