User Interface

Upon firing up you’re met with a fresh, clean UI that quite frankly, we wish the dedicated Facebook app shared (perhaps a the future of Facebook’s mobile apps?). At the top of the app you’ll see a single row of recently snapped pictures (your own) as well as a camera icon to take new pictures. Underneath the first row, you’ll see a photo timeline similar to the normal Facebook timeline/app. What we really like is that when swiping down, more of your photo library on your phone is revealed; swiping all the way down brings reveals a full-screen grid view of your photo library from which multiple photos can be selected, edited and shared. It’s all very smooth and fast — quite different than the normal Facebook app.

Sharing Photos

Sharing photos is super simple, as is applying filters. Simply hit the camera icon located in the top left of the main timeline view or swipe down to select a Photo Library photo. Select your filter, add a comment/location/tagged friend and hit “post”. And…that’s it. Short paragraph, eh?

Really, the Facebook Camera app is very similar to Instagram’s entire service save for (of course) the UI.

We have to admit, after avoiding the mobile Facebook app as much as humanly possible we’re actually finding the Facebook Camera app to be quite nice. It has a few hiccups here and there, occasionally crashing to the homescreen of our phone when taking a picture or applying a filter. But for the most part, Facebook Camera 1.0 is a nice first try. Navigating the app is again fast and smooth, and the large assortment of filters mean kids and adults alike will have plenty of fake photography chops to dump online.

If Facebook could re-do their dedicated app with the UI and polish of Facebook Camera, we’d actually consider using it again. (Listening, guys/gals?)

Why A Separate App?

If you’re scratching your head wondering why Facebook released this dedicated camera app after instead of integrating directly into the main Facebook app, you’re probably not alone. For what it’s worth, Facebook has already done this before — use the Facebook Messenger app?

Releasing a standalone photo app solidifies the belief that Facebook’s mobile ambitions are now even stronger, not to mention their quest to become a one-stop shop for sharing all of your life’s journeys whether it be desktop or laptop. Also, the mobile photo sharing/filter category is a hotbed of activity no thanks to popular app Instagram.

But didn’t Facebook buy Instagram? Why yes, yes they did. Though, it’s worth pointing out the purchase hasn’t officially been finalized. On top of that, the fact that Facebook pushed this app out now, before the buyout of Instagram has completed, means this app has been in the oven baking for quite some time, and that buying Instagram only made sense given Facebook’s greater focus on mobile photo sharing/basic photo editing.

Removing competition is probably one of the reasons Facebook has decided to purchase Instagram. But, we’re willing to bet Facebook no doubt wanted some of Instagram’s designers/developers and Instagram IP, too.

Will Facebook’s Camera App Garner The Same Following As Instagram?

At this stage in the game, Instagram is practically a household name on iOS, and more recently, Android — though, so is Facebook. Facebook certainly doesn’t have to worry about attracting users with well over 700 million accounts. Still, we see Instagram as an easier, more socially friendly way to take, edit and share pictures seeing as how we can share to not only Facebook, but Twitter, Tumblr and a host of other social services. Furthermore, Facebook Camera is currently an iOS-only app with no mention of an Android variant (though there will have to be one at some point).

All that said, we think Facebook Camera will probably only appeal to die-hard Facebook users — at least for now. Then again, once the Facebook-Instagram takeover finally goes through, and if Facebook shutters the standalone Instagram app/service, the only logical place to go from there is right back to Facebook Camera as it is more or less going to be a Facebook-ified Instagram, complete with large userbase and wide assortment of filters. The other option: find a new service.

Facebook Camera, Instagram Or Something Else?

So we have to ask: Is Facebook Camera going to pull you away from Instagram. If you don’t use Instagram, will you begin using the Facebook Camera app? Or, are you pretty much over photo sharing apps at this point? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

• Facebook Camera for iOS: Download (iTunes Link)

More: Facebook Newsroom

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Google+ v2.6 for Android brings a brand new, photo-centric UI as well as redesigned +1 buttons in an effort to make the app easier to use/share content, and of course to simply look nicer. Under the hood, Google has brought several new features to the table including: improvements to video Hangouts, comment editing (without having to use a desktop browser or deleting entire comment), and a new, dedicated “Hangout Ribbon”.

All in all, the update is one of the (visually) biggest to date and goes a long way into making Google+ on mobiles feel a lot nicer and easier to use. The big question that remains, however, is just how many people are actually actively using Google+.

Download the new Google Plus update for Android: Download

Hopefully Roamz good looks and decent feature set drum up a worthwhile following. We’ve seen plenty of great looking social apps (Path, Cheers, etc.) that are ultimately pushed out of the spotlight and relegated to
small niche simply because of the vast minefield that is socially aware apps. Can Roamz pull away from the pack?

Go ahead and fire up the Google Play app and get the new Roamz Android app (free) – Roamz on Google Play Store

Need more convincing? Check out the video below.

Video

A new post on the Gmail blog highlights the new reply-by-email feature, ending many months of sadness, despair and outright insanity that we’ve had to endure. It’s worth noting that you can also read and +1 comments/posts from within Google+ emails as well, and all of it happens in real-time.

Now the kicker: Do you even use Google+ and/or are the new reply-by-email features enough to finally get you on board?

More: Gmail Blog

Today, the company pushed out their new 2.0 (2.0.0.5888 exactly) update for Google+ for iOS. And wow, what a change it brings. Every ounce of the app’s has been at least mildly tweaked, creating in our opinion a much more inviting and visually pleasing app.

As you’ll see in the handful of screenshots above and below, dark is in, as is lots of big pictures. On top of that, Google is putting an even greater emphasis on +1′ing things with new floating “+1″ buttons. Overall, the app is much smoother and fluid (Google likens it to children yelling “wheeee” in a ball pit…) — dare we say a good app, both functionally and visual speaking is finally coming from Google for iOS users?

Go ahead and download the new Google+ 2.0.0.5888 from the App Store and let us know what you think.

• Google+ 2.0 for iOS: Download (iTunes App Store link)

More: Google Blog

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Regardless of who created the app, Instagram features and functionality will almost certainly be added into Facebook’s official apps and web service sooner or later. And when that happens, Instagram’s future as a standalone app is a lot more uncertain.

Used the updated Facebook for Every Phone with the new filters? Shoot us an email at tips@gadgetsteria.com.

Via: InsideFacebook

We checked Facebook’s own page relating to status icons and didn’t see anything regarding a controller, nor did we see any such icons in our sidebar when we fired up a game on a separate account on a computer right next to us to see if the icon appeared.

Simple stuff. Borderline trivial, really. But it’s new to us. Have you seen it? Know what it is? Drop us a line at tips@gadgetsteria.com

That said, today Klout released their official “Klout for iPhone” app into the App Store. And as far as iOS apps go, it’s pretty simple in nature; you can view notifications to your account and view your Klout profile as well as view the profiles of others.

In the notifications section, clicking on a notification (in this instance for a +K given to me) will bring up a window showing the person who gave the +K as well as an option to share the +K notification on Twitter as well as view their profile. Similarly, notifications from Klout (say, your Klout score rising) will open a window much the same to the previously mentioned one, along with the same Twitter share option.

Flipping to the profile view, it’s worth noting that the connected social networks isn’t fully displayed in the iPhone version. Online I have a huge assortment (pretty much every service available) connected to Klout. On the iPhone app, only Twitter, Facebook and Google+ are shown. Clicking on each of the icons loads up the respective service. Tapping on the “jumping arrow” in the bottom right opens the social network service page in Safari.

The final area worth looking at is that of the settings panel. Sparsely populated, configurable settings in Klout are pretty basic: Push Notifications and displaying your Klout score on the app’s icon. For notifications you can alerts for changes in Klout score and new +Ks. Meanwhile, the badge app icon corresponding to your Klout score is a minor feature yet cool nonetheless. I personally like unique ways of using the badge app indicator. (My personal favorite is Fahrenheit’s badge app icon that displays the actual local temp.)

A Well Made, Simple App

For haters of Klout, the new app will offer absolutely zero utility or reason to come back to, or start using the service. If, however, you use Klout to stay on top of your online presence as well as weight the authority of others across the web, Klout’s iPhone app is a good start.

While it’s limited in features in version 1.0, it does have a nice, clean design. Hopefully they add some more utility in later versions.

Get it now: Klout for iPhone (iTunes Link – Free)

More: Klout Blog

With all the hype and all the fun that comes along with Instagram, those of us wielding an iPad are left wanting more. Of course we can use Instagram, but it wasn’t made for the iPad so we are given a shotty experience, especially when looking at it with that crazy retina display. But when it comes to stalking different feeds, including your own, you have many different web and iOS options to choose from.

But there is one that stands out apart from the rest – Iris. Iris for iPad was just released back on April 19th, and it creates an incredible experience, both with Instagram as well as the iPad. It was optimized for the Retina display, which works very well with the large thumbnails we are given when scrolling through the photos in our feed. Iris does nothing short of stun you as you stare into every little pixel laid out in front of you.

The photos jump off the screen in what has become the only way I will ever view an Instagram photo again. Even when scrolling through Mike’s photos I am left eagerly wanting more, which has never been the case when viewing on the web or with Instagram. Every part of the app was designed with the end user experience in mind. From the background color to simple yet elegant design, not one part of my time with Iris was left feeling let down.

As for design, it is extremely simple. 4 buttons are draped on the left side of the app, giving you the option to view your feed, popular photos, your profile as well as a search function. In the lower right corner you are also given a neat take on the “pull to refresh” that we have come to know in love in many other apps. Instead of pulling from the top, the little button in the bottom right lets you pull a quirky little slider updating your feed. When photos are dropping into your feed, you are given a notification on the top part of the app alerting you to the number of new photos awaiting your eyes.

When clicking on a photo, the picture in question jumps to the forefront in all of its pixely glory. Here you can double tap to automatically ‘likey‘ the photo as well as read comments. With the click of a button you can view and add comments of your own to the particular picture. A simple slide back to the right brings the picture back into view. You are also given icons to view the photographers feed as well as any location status tagged with the picture. You can also follow and unfollow anyone you’d like within Iris as well. By tapping a picture you have in the forefront, you are given 3 options, you can either copy the image, view it on the web or Tweet straight from the app using the built in Twitter UI. And when you are all done viewing the image, you can simply sliding down on the picture will bring you back to your feed.

With Instagram being released for Android devices, growing it’s steady base of users, and of course the acquisition by Facebook, we know they are heading full steam ahead. We know that they are trying to figure out ways to allow developers to upload pictures using 3rd party apps, and hopefully with their new found home with Zuckerberg, this will come sooner rather than later. So until we can upload pictures from a native Instagram for iPad app, or 3rd party apps, your viewing experience has to be done using Iris.

Overall, the Iris for iPad experience is hands down the best way I have experienced viewing Instagram. It’s pure beauty and well worth the $1.99 price tag. The only app I can see giving Iris competition is if/when Instagram releases their own iPad app. But until that day, look no further than Iris. You can download Iris for iPad now at the App Store.

Gadgetsteria’s Rating: 5/5

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That’s a great sign for Instagram. After numerous hiccups and bugs cropped up over the first few days on the market (and continue to exist), it’s good to see that the bad PR surrounding any lingering incompatibilities isn’t hampering Android users’ curiousness. At this rate, we’ll likely be talking about 10 and 20 million downloads in the coming weeks.

Instagram is the big thing as of right now, with their new Android support and newly announced acquisition by Facebook being announced just yesterday, times are good for the 13 Instagram employees. Bask in the success and glory guys (and gals).

Source: TNW | Via: Slashgear

CEO Mark Zuckerburg confirmed the purchase with a post on his own timeline:

I’m excited to share the news that we’ve agreed to acquire Instagram and that their talented team will be joining Facebook.

For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.

We believe these are different experiences that complement each other. But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram’s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.
That’s why we’re committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people.

We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience. We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.

These and many other features are important parts of the Instagram experience and we understand that. We will try to learn from Instagram’s experience to build similar features into our other products. At the same time, we will try to help Instagram continue to grow by using Facebook’s strong engineering team and infrastructure.
This is an important milestone for Facebook because it’s the first time we’ve ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don’t plan on doing many more of these, if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.

We’re looking forward to working with the Instagram team and to all of the great new experiences we’re going to be able to build together.

Via: TechCrunch

This morning, we filed suit in federal court in San Francisco against five of the most aggressive tool providers and spammers. With this suit, we’re going straight to the source. By shutting down tool providers, we will prevent other spammers from having these services at their disposal. Further, we hope the suit acts as a deterrent to other spammers, demonstrating the strength of our commitment to keep them off Twitter.

While this is an important step, our efforts to combat spam don’t stop here. Our engineering team continues to implement robust technical solutions that help us proactively reduce spam. For example, earlier this week, our engineers launched new anti-spam measures within Twitter to more aggressively suspend a new type of @mention spam. Additionally, we now use our link shortener (t.co) to analyze whether a tweeted link leads to malware or malicious content. This helps us prevent users from visiting malicious links and helps us shut down hundreds of thousands of abusive accounts. You can help out, too, by reporting and blocking spammers you encounter on Twitter.

We are committed to fighting spam on all fronts, by continuing to grow our anti-spam team and using every tool at our disposal to shut down spammers. Today marks an important step forward.

Victory!

More: Twitter Blog

Via: @Mathewi

On the same day of Instagram for Android’s release, the team released a small .01 update that did help some users. Conversely, it also created new issues for people who were previously unaffected by the 1.0 release bugs.

Today, Instagram released another .02 bug fix update that aims to fix the 1.0 issues as well as any new issues brought on by the .01 update.

As frustrating as it may be to Android users who’ve had a less than stellar introduction to Instagram, we encourage them to stick it out. The team is obviously working around the clock to fix all of the issues and are determined to making your experience as awesome as the experience iOS users have been enjoying for many months now. We don’t know about you, but that is a good sign of excellent support in our book.

If you still have past issues (or discover new ones) with the latest 1.02 update, be sure to share it in the comments below!

Get the update: Instagram
for Android (Google Play Link)

Via: TechnologTell

For now, it is up to the individual to hash things out with the employer (some would say this is the ideal solution). On the flip side, if you are turned down for a job because you wouldn’t succumb to draconian spy tactics, there is absolutely zero legal recourse.

Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology stated that while the purpose of the bill, to protect social networking users’ private information, is a valid concern, the bill (created by Democrats) “won’t do this”.

In short: We got shafted by a government who doesn’t understand technology and the internet, nor how to enforce bills relating to said things.

Have a minute? Check out Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) offering up the motion in the video below.

Video

Via: Huffington Post

That said, Android users can scoot forward to the edge of their seat. A new video showcasing some basic functionality and UI of Carbon for Android was published today. As you can gather from the images above (and video below) is that the app continues on with the webOS and WP7 dark UI style. And while the UI itself is a simple black background with white borders and text, the animations to flip between screens, list, etc. is actually pretty neat. The animations shown off in the video might worry some of you out there who aren’t fans of unnecessary lag/waiting and prefer everything to lightning quick. To our eyes at least, the animations as they are now don’t look to be laggy or slow at all. Though, we’ll wait to pass final judgement until a more suitable hands-on can be arranged and explored. Release dates for Carbon for Android haven’t yet been released.

In the meantime, iOS users are still waiting for the next dump of teaser shots, showing what their version of the increasingly popular Twitter app will look.

Video

Via: AndroidPolice