Category: Social Software

TweetDeck for Android has just been updated to 1.0.3. This update, while not a major one, isn't all about fixing bugs either. Some important -- and previously missing -- functionality is now built in. TweetDeck for Android now has support for landscape mode for all update detail views, and gets support for TwitPic and manual URL shortening through Bit.ly. Users can now delete direct messages ...

HP Palm's webOS crew continues to churn out useful updates to their software, and this one is kind of a biggie if you're into social networking and check-ins. Today's update to the Facebook beta app brings Places support to Pre and Pixi owners. To check in, simply tap the menu button in the app's top-right corner and then tap the Places icon. Nearby locations will be displayed, and you can then ...

Zynga, the maker of FarmVille, is going to launch a new game on the Facebook platform in the coming weeks -- CityVille. Like its name implies, this will be a cross between FarmVille and SimCity, allowing players to create a city from scratch, building roads, homes, schools, parks, and so on. Buildings are 3D, which is a first for a Zynga game. Money will be made by trading with other cities and ...

On Monday, Facebook announced the launch of a platform that will set in motion a process that will catastrophically terminate the world as we know it. Known by the end-user as the rather demure 'Messages', and internally as Project Titan, it is only those that look toward the future that know its true name: Skynet. The future can be defined as a flow of time that has the potential to become ...

Yahoo! Messenger remains one of the most popular desktop IM clients around, and its users are now able to get a taste of what's coming in version 11. Like its biggest competition -- Windows Live Messenger -- Y! Messenger 11 is about creating a more current, social messaging app. One of the biggest additions is Facebook chat support -- which works nicely, though former Squadder Brad Linder ...

Google has announced that Google Maps for Android now supports Hotpot, Google's new local recommendation engine. You can now rate places and write reviews from your phone. This is made easy by a rating widget that you can add to your homescreen. You can also rate and review places straight from any Place page -- these are in the process of being rolled out into Google mobile search results for ...

Google Hotpot is new a social place recommendation engine built on Google's existing Place pages. Up until now, Places have been rated and reviewed based on outside sources like Yelp, but Hotpot lets users rate local establishments using their Google Profiles. After you've entered a few ratings, Hotpot will use your tastes to recommend other places you might like, sort of like a Netflix for ...

It's more like instant messaging than email -- more like a conversation than a threaded email conversation. Yes, every communication that goes through the Facebook messaging platform will create a conversation history. Much like Google Wave, actually. The idea is that you will push every digital communication through Facebook, and thus everything can be logged -- every message has a context. ...

Extolling the virtues of what messaging should be -- seamless, instant, personal and simple -- Mark Zuckerberg has just launched what sounds just like a socially-aware version of the now-defunct Google Wave. It is not email -- though you will get a username@facebook.com email address -- but it handles email. It's a messaging platform that interweaves all of your incoming messages, be they ...

Perhaps my expectations were too high as I eagerly unwrapped my HTC Trophy, plugged it into my computer and booted up Zune. Installing apps is so easy! Search, click, blam. In moments I was booting up Twitter, its comforting, peaceful blue emanating from the phone's bright screen. You're greeted with a 'top tweets' (lower-case is obviously still in), 'trends,' 'suggested,' and 'nearby' ...

Using the consummate magic of Facebook Connect (or Windows Live ID), users of Microsoft's game portals can now stay in touch with their friends while they play Bejeweled thanks to a 'casual games hub.' From what I can see, this games hub takes the form of a 'dashboard' that wraps around each of the games, whether you play them on MSN Games, Bing or Live Messenger. Take a look at the screenshot ...

We've got check-in apps for locations, media, and even wine, so why not for websites? That's where Meebo comes in with its soon to be released MiniBar. While it's not the first to bring check-ins to websites -- both Badgeville and OneTrueFan already do that -- Meebo has a significant amount of clout within the in-website add-on bar business with its popular Meebo Bar. The MiniBar will let you ...

Users of the Facebook app for iOS can now access their privacy settings without firing up Safari. Following the update to version 3.2, you can tap the account button on the app's main screen to jump to Facebook's controls. The update also adds two-tap access to your Facebook profile settings and the Help Center -- also via the Web. As AppAdvice points out, native controls would have been a nicer ...

Must-have smartphone apps are few and far between. In fact, it's hard to name more than two apps that I use on a daily basis: Angry Birds is the first, of course, and BeejiveIM is the second. I reviewed BeejiveIM for Android last month and came away with the conclusion that it's almost faultless. The interface is smooth, and you can customize colors and backgrounds to your heart's content. ...

Things are relatively quiet this morning in the blogosphere, with the except of rumblings about Facebook possibly launching their own webmail app to compete with the likes of Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, and Gmail. In reality, it's probably not so much about competition as it is with getting Facebook users to spend as much time on the site as possible -- adding to Facebook's glut of delicious, ...