Facebook launches unified mobile site, announces 250 million mobile users

Facebook has announced that its two mobile sites -- m.facebook.com and touch.facebook.com -- have been unified, bringing a simpler mobile experience to Facebook users. And there are a lot of those -- a quarter billion, according to Facebook.

Smartphone users won't be losing any functionality because of the consolidation. If your phone supported the enhacned features offered by touch.facebook.com, the new site will automatically flip the switch when you visit.

Rolling the sites together helps simplify things for Facebook's developer team. Now changes can be pushed to a single site instead of two separate sites, which makes it easier to ensure that all mobile users receive a nearly identical experience regardless of the device they're using.

The new Facebook mobile can also check to see if your phone supports geolocation. If it doesn't, you won't be seeing much of Facebook Places -- which obviously relies heavily on geolocation. Images can also be optimized on the fly to keep page performance from suffering on less powerful devices. You can see the three different versions of the share button below, courtesy our friends at TechCrunch.

Facebook launches unified mobile site, announces 250 million mobile users originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/01/facebook-launches-unified-mobile-site-announces-250-million-mob/

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Add a Windows 8 user tile to your Windows 7 taskbar

Now that Windows 8 images have begun leaking out, it's only a matter of time until developers start releasing mods for Windows 7 which mimic upcoming features. Over at Into Windows, they've spotted one such mod already.

In the earliest Windows 8 images, we saw Windows Live integration on the taskbar. In the far right corner, there's a user tile displayed. If you'd like to do the same on Windows 7, download Taskbar User Tile from DeviantArt user AngelWZR.

Once installed, your current picture will appear on the taskbar. Click it, and a menu appears which allows you to log off, switch users, and access the control panel. Right now, the mod only works if your taskbar is displayed on the bottom of your Windows desktop.

Add a Windows 8 user tile to your Windows 7 taskbar originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/06/add-a-windows-8-user-tile-to-your-windows-7-taskbar/

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Windows 8 welcome screen revealed, looks very Metro

windows 8 welcome screen
It's not really a secret the Microsoft had planned on bringing bits of Windows Phone 7's Metro UI to Windows 8, but we haven't seen a lot of really telling evidence. However, with the Windows 8 milestone 3 build now available to Microsoft Connect partners, it was really just a matter of time before we started to get a peek.

Thanks to Rafael Rivera and Paul Thurrott, we've now had a glimpse at what the Windows 8 welcome screen will look like. As you can see, the typography is very Metro indeed. Within Windows also mentions that the background image is customizable, and we're wondering if it might not pull from your current Windows 8 theme. This particular shot shows the CTRL + ALT + DELETE login option, but we imagine you'll still be able to log in by clicking your account picture tile as well.

Rivera and Thurrott also mention that the tablet version of the welcome screen will allow you to log in by swiping a pattern on the screen -- as you can on current Android devices.

Windows 8 welcome screen revealed, looks very Metro originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/01/windows-8-welcome-screen-revealed-looks-very-metro/

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iPhone Live 183: Siri silliness vs. Carrier IQ

Subscribe via iTunes: Audio | Video Subscribe via RSS: Audio | Video Download directly: Audio | Video Show notes Rene, Georgia and Michael Rose of TUAW discuss a media gone mad — including ridiculous Siri allegations, crazy Carrier IQ coverage —...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/36AZb2E0S4A/story01.htm

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Get free MLB.tv access during April with MLB.com At Bat app

If you're a baseball fanatic, the MLB At Bat app is a must-have. It's packed with live updates, scores, stats, news, and videos -- and right now there's another great reason to pick up At Bat. Pony up for At Bat and you'll get to enjoy MLB.tv free for the entire month of April.

The service streams games in HD to just about any connected device you can imagine, from iPhone to PS3, and even Roku boxes and LG Internet-ready televisions. The basic subscription will set you back $99 for the season, and a Premium sub is an extra $20 (and adds DVR functionality, multi-game PIP, and more).

MLB At Bat is available for Android and iOS and both apps run to $14.99 US.

Get free MLB.tv access during April with MLB.com At Bat app originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/get-free-mlb-tv-access-during-april-with-mlb-com-at-bat-app/

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Facebook Speeds Development With ?HipHop Virtual Machine?, A 60% Faster PHP Executor

HipHop Virtual Machine"Consider that many Facebook engineers spend their days developing PHP code in an endless edit-reload-debug cycle. The difference between 8-second and 5-second reloads due to switching from HipHop interpreter to the HipHop Virtual Machine makes a big difference to productivity." That's how Facebook explains the significance of its new PHP executor, HipHop Virtual Machine, announced today. It's 60 percent faster than the HipHop interpreter Facebook currently uses, with a 90 percent reduction in memory cost. HHVM will improve the performance of Facebook's code and speed up the development process without forcing Facebook to switch off of PHP, which its engineers are trained in.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/-BT9CcadAY8/

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DropSpace adds real Dropbox sync to Android

dropspace
Dropbox offers a lovely client for Android, but it's lacking true "sync" functionality. You can merely browse your Dropbox, pull files into the device, and manually upload specific files.

DropSpace is a little Android app that makes Dropbox on Android work like Dropbox - that is, you get real folder synchronization in the background.

When you run the app you're prompted for your Dropbox credentials. After logging in to Dropbox, you get to select which device folders you'd like to sync to the cloud. It's a straightforward mapping process: You select a folder on the device, and then specify where in Dropbox it should go.

The interface is rather clunky, at least for now. The biggest annoyance is that you can't edit your "sync list": if you add a folder and then wish to remove it, you must delete the entire list of folders and start over.

In terms of functionality, it works quite well. I tested it with the camera folder, and it was nice to be able to take my photos using the lean default Camera app and have them sync up to the cloud instantly.

DropSpace adds real Dropbox sync to Android originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/04/dropspace-adds-real-dropbox-sync-to-android/

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Fall Xbox 360 Dashboard update brings WTV file support, but don't get too excited

Browsing WTV files on the Xbox
If you've actually heard of the WTV recorded TV file format, then you're probably a Windows 7 Media Center fan, and thus you're excited at any indication that Microsoft hasn't completely forgotten about you. That small gesture came this week with the new Xbox Dashboard update, but sadly it isn't much to get excited about. It's bad enough that it took Microsoft over three years to add support for WTV at all, but now it's here and it's one step above useless. Sure, you can play the files -- after waiting almost 30 seconds for them to load -- but you can't fast forward, rewind, skip around or even resume. The list of shows only displays the episode title and rather than the actual show name, and that's the only metadata you get. Speaking of the show title, that is also the only way to sort -- no folders or by date. So yeah, the new Dashboard supports WTV, but not in a way which actually makes it useful. Better than nothing, we guess.

Fall Xbox 360 Dashboard update brings WTV file support, but don't get too excited originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Dec 2011 07:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceThe Digital Lifestyle  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/09/fall-xbox-360-dashboard-update-brings-wtv-file-support-but-don/

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Smart to unveil tiny For-US electric pickup at North American International Auto Show

Smart For-US
Do you dig the size and efficiency of the Smart Fortwo, but need something a little more manly than that snub-nosed hatchback? Well, it looks like your prayers will be answered at January's North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Reports have it that will be where the For-US, Smart's plug-in pickup, will have its official unveiling. At about 12 feet long the "truck" is almost 50-percent larger than its sub-compact counterpart, but that extra room is put to good use. The bed in the back is home to a pair docking stations for the company's Ebikes. It's a pretty interesting concept, but we're wondering how lugging two heavy electric cycles will affect the range of 17.7kW/h lithium ion battery. Head on past the break for one more image, and hit up the source for even more sketches of the upcoming mini EV pickup.

Continue reading Smart to unveil tiny For-US electric pickup at North American International Auto Show

Smart to unveil tiny For-US electric pickup at North American International Auto Show originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Dec 2011 01:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Inhabitat  |  sourceAutoblog, Sydney Morning Herald  | Email this | Comments


Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/HoNi_WU7E5A/

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Celebrate the Universe with a limited-time free beta of SkySafari

SkySafari App

This one's for the giddy-little astronomer in all of us. Like a bunch of schoolkids, on Dec. 10 before the break of dawn, many of us will jauntily find our ways out and gazing at the open skies to watch the final total Lunar Eclipse to be seen for the next two years. But just in case 2:30 AM (EST) is too early for you to be waking up, a new app from Southern Stars is sure to be of some use to you. SkySafari, which is something like Google Earth but for the Universe (and with cool stuff like time-lapse tools and detailed info about various celestial beings), is coming to Android officially by the end of the month; but the developers wanted to celebrate the unusual event with a free beta release to interested users, and you're on that list.

The app, which has already found itself fairly popular in the iOS ecosystem, allows you to not only see what the night sky looks like at the current date/time, but will also show you the transitions of that sky through any time period. If you won't be awake to see the Eclipse for yourself, use SkySafari to select the date and time of the Eclipse (December 10th at 2:30 AM EST) and watch the moon virtually as its shape is transformed through the night. It will be a sight worth seeing that you won't want to miss, and now you don't even really have to.

Read the company Press Release after the break announcing how to get access to the beta app and see for yourself what all the hubbub in space is all about. 

Download the beta here

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/M3Fi_hZrZsc/story01.htm

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