Twitter Updates App, Improving Search And Discovery

Twitter has updated its app for iOS and Android devices, as well as its service on mobile.twitter.com, so that users can find content faster.

Information in the Discovery tab has been consolidated into one stream, with tweets, activity, trends and suggestions all together. There are also preview pictures of activity and trends at the top of the page for quick clicking.

The most relevant Search results are also contained in one stream, regardless of whether they are tweets, photos or accounts, and the omnipresent search button, previously only available on Android and iPad, has been introduced to the iPhone.

The default setting on the Connect page is focused on interactions, but if a user wants to see their mentions they can select “mentions only” in the Connect settings tab.

Links have also been improved, so that clicking on one will take you to the site immediately instead of enlarging the Tweet first.

“As always,” says Director of Product Management Esteban Kozak on the Twitter blog, “you can learn more about what’s new in our mobile apps from the App Store or Google Play.”

What do you think of the update?

Facebook App Update As Android App Goes Native

Facebook have updated both iOS and Android apps with both now leaving the HTML5 format and becoming completely native.

The company has rebuilt the Android app from scratch in the hope of improving user experience with faster speed connections and a better performance. All Facebook services will now be the same on each major platform.
Android users will now get the same experience from their device that iOS users do. A post on Facebook’s engineering blog says; “we’re moving from a hybrid native/webview to pure native code, allowing us to optimize the Facebook experience for faster loading, new user interfaces, disk cache, and so on.”
The updated versions will load the News Feed quicker and improve the performance of the Timeline. The whole app should run faster on the iPhone.

Also, users can now select a specific album to upload photos to from the iOS app. The Android format has had this functionality since October.
Facebook has previously promised to update its mobile apps every 1 to 2 months which includes the iOS, Android, Facebook Messenger, and Facebook Camera apps. This new update has come just over a month since the last one.

What do you think of the new updated apps?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below 

Instagram Updates Features Including A New Filter

Instagram has updated its iOS and Android Apps to include new features that have frequently requested by users for a while.

A new grid guide option is available to users should they wish to use it meaning that they won’t need to open up Camera+ or Snapseed for example to crop or scale their photos.
The photo-sharing and filtering app has said that their tilt-shift feature has been improved so that it provides a “vastly more realistic rendering of depth of field.”

Instagram has also added a new filter called Willow which is, “a monochrome filter with subtle purple tones and a translucent glowing white border.” Instagram say that this filter is best used for high-contrast photos of still life, architectures and portraits.
Notably one of the biggest changes that has taken place due to the update is in the initial photo-taking stage of the application. When using the camera to take a picture, users no longer need to open a separate screen to select a different photo to apply filters to.



The most recent of your photos will appear as thumbnails along the bottom of the screen. The shutter buttons have also been edited so that they are more suitable for the overall design of the app.
Photos that you have edited with Instagram on an iOS device will no longer be added back into your camera roll but will instead be placed into an album labelled “Instagram.”

Location pages within the app now feature an option to connect to the Foursquare app or website which will give details about the venue or particular location you are at.
Images will appear bigger and the welcome screen and News Feed have also changed slightly.

What do you think of the update?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below 

Pinterest Finally Comes To Android, iPad

Pinterest is still a relatively new kid on the block. Up to this point, the site launched new features by talking about them on its Facebook wall and then waiting for the comments to start rolling in.
Consistently among the first comments after each Facebook post? A Pinterest Android app. The requests are so common that it has become a Pinterest in-office joke with each launch: How long will it take for someone to ask for an Android app?
Well, the wait for Android fans ended on Tuesday. Pinterest officially launched an app for Android as well as iPad, and also launched an updated version of its iPhone app.
Announced at a summer party at Pinterest’s new San Francisco headquarters, the Android app represents a complete redesign of the app from the ground up, this time designed specifically for Android.
The app has been in the works for some time, and was even rumored to be coming late last month at Google’s I/O developers conference.
In May, Pinterest raised $100 million in a round of funding that values the company at $1.5 billion. Originally an invite-only service, on Aug. 8 Pinterest went public for everyone without an invitation.
Pinterest for Android is available now from Google Play. Pinterest for iPad and the updated iPhone app are also available now from the App Store.
Are any of you excited about Pinterest finally making its way to Android and iPad? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility

Combination will Supercharge Android, Enhance Competition, and Offer Wonderful User Experiences

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. & LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. - Aug. 15, 2011 - Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: MMI) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Google will acquire Motorola Mobility for $40.00 per share in cash, or a total of about $12.5 billion, a premium of 63% to the closing price of Motorola Mobility shares on Friday, August 12, 2011. The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies.

The acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a dedicated Android partner, will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem and will enhance competition in mobile computing. Motorola Mobility will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. Google will run Motorola Mobility as a separate business.

Larry Page, CEO of Google, said, “Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers. I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.”

Sanjay Jha, CEO of Motorola Mobility, said, “This transaction offers significant value for Motorola Mobility’s stockholders and provides compelling new opportunities for our employees, customers, and partners around the world. We have shared a productive partnership with Google to advance the Android platform, and now through this combination we will be able to do even more to innovate and deliver outstanding mobility solutions across our mobile devices and home businesses.”

Andy Rubin, Senior Vice President of Mobile at Google, said, “We expect that this combination will enable us to break new ground for the Android ecosystem. However, our vision for Android is unchanged and Google remains firmly committed to Android as an open platform and a vibrant open source community. We will continue to work with all of our valued Android partners to develop and distribute innovative Android-powered devices.”

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals in the US, the European Union and other jurisdictions, and the approval of Motorola Mobility’s stockholders. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2011 or early 2012.