Posts Tagged ‘Android’

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Study: Google Ads Work Better Than Facebook’s (Boston Herald)
Facebook may be this week’s stock market darling, but when it comes to online display advertising, search engine Google provides advertisers with “significantly more value” than the social media giant in terms of growth rates, performance, targeting options and formats, according to a study released Tuesday. The study compares the value of Facebook advertising to Google’s Display Network. PC Magazine Facebook moved quickly — again — to address concerns that it wasn’t doing enough to satisfy mobile users, buying the developers of the Lightbox Android photo app. However, the company also made it clear that Facebook was not acquiring the company or the photos that users had stored on the Lightbox website, just the developer team. AdAge General Motors said Tuesday that it is “reassessing” its spending on Facebook advertising — about $10 million — but “remains committed” to the social network as part of “an aggressive content strategy with all our products and brands.” Meanwhile, Scott Monty, Ford’s head of social media, said that the automaker is bullish about Facebook ads — particularly “sponsored stories” that contain a social layer — and intends to “accelerate” spending on them. AllFacebook Facebook followed up last week’s introduction of its app center with two new metrics to its insights for applications: app ratings and negative feedback. The new app ratings dashboard will bring developers information on how users rated their apps with the five-star ratings system Facebook recently implemented. The negative feedback feature shows developers how many times stories from their apps have been hidden or reported as spam, as well as how many times the app itself has been blocked. Mashable Two Colombian criminals almost got away with robbing an Internet cafe, but one of them checked Facebook first — and ended up being identified and arrested because he forgot to log out. The two men whipped out guns at the cash register to demand money and made a clean getaway on a motorcycle. After the men escaped, an employee at the cafe called the police turning in information from the Facebook page that led to his arrest. Read more

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Apple Kills Chomp for Android (GigaOM)
Apple acquired app discovery service Chomp earlier this year, betting that it would help make app discovery easier and better on its iTunes App Store. The casualty of that acquisition is the Chomp for Android app which seems to have been discontinued. Ars Technica Chomp’s app allows users to search the App Store using a proprietary algorithm to figure out what apps actually do (instead of just using keywords or app names). The app also allows users to see which apps their Facebook or Twitter friends have reviewed, adding a social networking element to the service. MacRumors Apple reportedly paid about $50 million for Chomp, which also had a deal with Verizon to power its Android app search tools. That agreement will presumably be ending as Chomp completes its integration into Apple and focuses all of its attention on iOS. SlashGear Still, beyond the annoyance factor for Android users previously relying on Chomp to ferret out new software, the real interest should come when Apple better integrates the engine into its own store. According to sources speaking when the deal was first revealed, Apple intends to use the technology to dramatically improve the discoverability of new and interesting apps in its increasingly crowded store. Read more

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Spotify Launches Android Redesign (CBS News / Techtalk)
The new Spotify for Android will be completely redesigned from “top-to-bottom.” Some of the new features include: new “slide-out” navigation, the ability to view profiles and playlists, related artist view, high-resolution imagery and 320kbps listening. Support for Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) is also included in the update. PCMag “That’s not the end of it,” Spotify said. “We’re working hard on adding further features, including folders and Last.fm scrobbling, before the app goes live in Google Play.” Computerworld If you can’t wait for it to hit Google Play, Spotify is offering a preview version you can install right now. Cnet Before any Spotify users head to the company’s blog to download the application, though, be aware that it’s only available to Premium subscribers who pay $9.99 per month for that offering. Spotify’s free and Unlimited plans do not include mobile support. Read more

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Anonymous, Reddit Top ‘Time 100′ Poll (Mashable)
Time‘s poll asked Internet users to vote for the year’s most influential individuals spanning a range of fields and professions, from politics to entertainment. Time In the beginning, it seemed to be a runaway win for Erik Martin, the general manager of the online sharing community Reddit. And then Anonymous, the loosely knit network of like-minded Internet activists, surged to take the top spot just before deadline. The Verge What should be an Internet popularity contest might be more accurately seen as a ranking of who’s better at gaming poll results. PCMag Does any of this really matter, however? Not to Time: Its final list of influential entities for this year’s Top 100 issue will be chosen by the magazine’s editors for the big April 17 reveal, not by popular vote. Read more

Tumblr has just enhanced its blogging app for the Android. Released this morning on Google Play, the app has a cleaner interface, loads more quickly, puts notifications for multiple blogs in one place, has a better photo browser, and randomly highlights posts from the community with a new feature called Tumblr Radar.

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Google Begins Testing Its Augmented-Reality Glasses (The New York Times / Bits)
Yesterday, Google gave people a clearer picture of its secret initiative called Project Glass. The glasses are the company’s first venture into wearable computing. The glasses are not yet for sale. Google will, however, be testing them in public. Cnet A video of this augmented-reality experiment was posted by Google on YouTube showing someone wearing the glasses as he made his way around a variety of Manhattan venues, receiving up-to-the-minute updates as information streamed into his glasses. The Wall Street Journal / Digits Instant walking routes on maps, video chat, voice notes and a camera may be included in the glasses, Google suggests. Wired / Epicenter It’s also a timely means for Google to remind the public that its engineers have visions that transcend the current spats with Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, the DOJ and the European Union. Read more

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Welcome to the Morning Social Media Newsfeed! Here, we’ll compile the latest news from the social media world along with news from our blog network. If you were previously signed up for our daily blog newsletter, you will automatically receive the Morning Social Media Newsfeed instead. If you haven’t signed up and would like to, just click the registration link above.

Facebook Smacks Back at Yahoo With Patent Claims in Counter-Lawsuit (AllThingsD)
In its counter-claim filing, involving 10 patents held by Facebook, the social networking giant said that Yahoo is infringing via a wide range of its offerings, including its homepage, content optimization, relevance engine, Flickr photo-sharing service and advertising throughout its huge site. AllFacebook The timing is dangerous for both companies, as Facebook is nearing its initial public offering, while Yahoo is poised to announce massive layoffs in the thousands. paidContent Facebook’s rapid response suggests the company is spoiling for a fight. Ordinarily, a defendant in major litigation will use procedural tactics to delay filing its defense or counterclaim. PandoDaily This fight is about so much more than Yahoo and Facebook – it’s keying off of years of anger over software patent trolling that have long been coming to an ugly head. Read more

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Welcome to the Morning Social Media Newsfeed! Here, we’ll compile the latest news from the business along with stories from our blog network. If you were previously signed up for our blog newsletter, you will automatically receive the Morning Social Media Newsfeed instead. If you haven’t signed up and would like to, just click the registration link above.

Facebook Delves Deeper Into Search (Bloomberg Businessweek)
Searching the social network could get a lot better in the near future. About two dozen Facebook engineers, led by a former Google engineer named Lars Rasmussen, are working on an improved search engine, say two people familiar with the project who did not want to be named because the company is in a quiet period ahead of its IPO. AllFacebook Speaking of the IPO, speculation about Facebook’s search initiatives heated up when the social network announced its intentions to go public February 1. That week co-founder and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg posted a picture of his desk, in which a MacBook displaying what looked like a Facebook page with a large search box was visible. SocialTimes Google, which owns 67 percent of the search market in the U.S., has a clear advantage in being able to index sites from across the Web, while Facebook appears to be working internally with pages and profiles. Mashable Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has consistently downplayed the level of direct competition between Facebook and Google. “I don’t think that this is going to be the type of situation when one company wins all this stuff,” he told Charlie Rose of PBS last fall. Tom’s Guide So how will this new search engine affect Facebook’s relationship with Microsoft? Zuckerberg still meets every few months with Qi Lu, president of Microsoft’s online services division, sources claim. There may be no ruffling of feathers at all, but rather a huge opportunity for two separate types of search engines to work together in harmony to create a huge Google rival, loaded with data Google probably still covets. Read more

Hulu Plus users with Android tablets will be happy to hear that the service is now available on seven android tablets, complete with a brand new interface.

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We recently reported that Instagram was coming for Android, and this weekend the Instagram team has opened up registration for the new Android version of the application.  There’s no doubt that this will be a big deal for Android users who have been looking for a great camera application that leverages social features intelligently.  Great camera apps like Paper Camera and Zoom Camera have done well, but they aren’t overly ambitious about collecting the photos into an album and have on online component.  Instagram changes that.

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