14
Feb
unnamed (1)

Minus Cloud Storage Becomes An Instagram Competitor, May Be Minus A Lot Of Android Users Soon [Update]

Posted by in Applications, News

Sometimes a site or service needs a new approach, or a little fresh paint. This would seem to be the case with Minus, formerly a simple cloud storage provider akin to Dropbox. Yesterday the company unveiled a new look and new direction: location-focused, social sharing of photos. It includes local chat features, with the new tagline "make friends near you." The revised app description sounds like a combination of Instagram and Foursquare. There are filters. There are stickers. There are likes.

unnamed (21) unnamed (19) unnamed (20)

It's a pretty radical change in direction, and while there's no telling whether it will take off or not, a vocal subset of users are demonstrably unhappy.

10
Feb
pushupdate

PushBullet Updated To Version 8 With Device Sharing: 'Friends Let Friends Push'

Posted by in Applications, News

PushBullet, the dynamic, practical push notification app we included in our top five roundup yesterday got a nice update today. The update brings the app to version 8 and introduces a feature that makes it even more awesome – the ability to push to others' devices or have them push to your own.

image

You might be wondering why this is such an awesome feature. Well, today's post to the PushBullet blog explains that with a few examples: users can push each other the address to a new restaurant, a quick grocery list update, a cheerful image, or use sharing to "Rickroll your friends in a new and exciting way."

Sharing devices with other PushBullet users is easy – just head to your online dashboard at PushBullet.com and hit the "Share" button next to a device.

12
Dec
viddytiny

[New App] Viddy Is Basically Instagram For Videos, Now Live On The Play Store

Posted by in Applications, News

Okay, before you dismiss Viddy just for the Instagram comparison, yes, it's true that this app will take your videos and add an "artsy" filter, but it also comes with some handy clipping, scoring, and sharing functionality. You can send your shots directly to YouTube, your choice of social network, or publish on the Viddy stream. Which, at the moment, seems to be dominated almost exclusively by 4 month old things Eliza Dushku shared. At least for me, for some reason.

viddy1 viddy2 viddy3

Viddy also includes a selection of songs you can use to create a soundtrack for your videos, presumably royalty free.

06
Dec
google logo

Google+ Is The 'Fastest Growing Network Thingy Ever': 500m Users Upgraded, 235m Active Across Web, 135m In The Stream

Posted by in Google, News

As if the news out of Google couldn't get any hotter today, the company decided to just casually announce that it has over 500 million users with Google+ accounts, 235 million of whom are active "across Google" which means anything from +1ing things in various Google products to "connecting with friends in Search"...whatever that means. The most important stat, though, is 135 million users are active in the stream. That means, if we can assume past definitions are still true, those users either visit plus.google.com or use the mobile app to view content.

In other words, it's time to stop pretending that Google+ is a ghost town.

31
Oct
drivelogo

Google Docs Can Now Share Directly To Google+, Natively Embedding PDFs, Videos, And More

Posted by in Google, News

The integration of all the services you use from your favorite search provider just keeps on getting better. Today, Google announced that you can now share content from your Google Drive directly to Google+. It's not just a matter of a simple link, either (unless you're on mobile). A built-in viewer for PDFs, videos, slideshow presentations and more make the experience virtually seamless.

drivedemo

To share to Google+, you simply click the Share button like normal where you'll find the new option waiting, in addition to the usual Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter. Of course, none of the other methods have quite this level of integration and ease of use.

24
Oct
unnamed (2)

[New Game] Ludia Releases Official Family Feud And Friends With Social Play That Doesn't Limit The Feud To Family

Posted by in Games, News

Ludia, a Canadian video game developer famous for board game and game show adaptations across various platforms, recently added a second entry to their Android catalogue with Family Feud and Friends, a game that looks to bring the Family Feud experience to your mobile device with "HD graphics" and a few compelling gameplay elements made possible by the jump from TV to mobile.

You may notice that, unlike its television counterpart, Ludia's game is called Family Feud and Friends. To that end, Ludia has added social play, allowing you to play against Facebook friends or other Family Feud and Friends players.

19
Oct
unnamed (1)

WhitePages 2.0 Released With New Interface, Social, Discovery Functionality

Posted by in Applications, News

Following up on the success of its Current Caller ID app, WhitePages has released version 2.0 of the WhitePages app, bringing a slick new Android-oriented UI and new social/discovery features along for the ride.

Besides its newly holo-fied interface design, the WhitePages app adds the ability to connect with friends and neighbors with a Nearby People functionality that can be used, as seen in the video, to "find a friend" and plan a lunch. Likewise, you can search for nearby businesses and restaurants, even taking a sneak peek at restaurant menus.

Once you get tired of finding new friends and businesses, you can share where you're going (or where you've been) with friends via various social media outlets, and invite them to come along.

27
Sep
unnamed (1)

Zeebox TV Companion App Comes To The US With Comcast/NBC Backing

Posted by in Applications, News

Zeebox, a social TV companion app that's already found popularity in the UK has officially hit the US, aiming to make a splash thanks to monetary and promotional backing from both NBC and Comcast.

Essentially, Zeebox serves as an auxiliary guide to TV enjoyment as well as a social platform where users can see which shows are hot, who's watching them, and what they're saying in response. Users can see what their friends (and everyone else) are viewing or planning to view, chat with friends, start a viewing party, or tweet reactions.

What's interesting about the service's arrival in the US is that it's being heavily backed by broadcast giant NBC as well as Comcast Cable, meaning you aren't likely to see this app fade out of conversation very soon.

17
Sep
unnamed

Shazam For TV Now Recognizes Any TV Show On Any Channel, Lets You Find Features Music, Cast Information, And More

Posted by in Applications, News

Just in time for the fall TV premieres airing over the next couple of weeks, Shazam has announced that its 'Shazam for TV' service now supports any show on any channel.

The app now has a staggering quarter of a billion users, and those in the U.S. will be able to access cast information, music featured in shows, trivia, social feeds, and other tailored data such as stats for sports games.

In addition to this, the company is really pushing the social side of its second-screen service, allowing users to tag events that they are watching and share them with friends on Facebook.

28
Jun
Foursquare-Logo31

Foursquare Announces Connected Apps For Android - Develop Apps That Run Inside Foursquare

Posted by in News

Like most services, Foursquare has long had a developer API that allows users to plug Foursquare data into other apps. Now that idea is evolving with Foursquare's new Connected App Platform. With Connected Apps, developers can build their app or service into Foursquare - essentially, apps will run within Foursquare to enable new kinds of user experiences.

plugins_posts plugins_replies1

Ignore that those are iOS screens - the service will be cross-platform. The new APIs are just a developer preview right now, but already Foursquare has worked with its various partners to get the ball rolling. Apps like Eat This Not That, GroupMe, and Untappd have all built Connected App experiences.

Page 2 of 512345