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Blog 3598
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RIP CrunchPad – I Still Love You
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Echofon releases a dedicated Facebook App for the iPhone
Echofon, the suite of Twitter applications for the iPhone and Mac has released an unexpected new application for the iPhone, a dedicated Facebook app.
Described as a way to “make common Facebook tasks simple and fast”, Echofon for Facebook focuses primarily on your news feed, photos, messages and notifications.
The app in itself feels less bloated than Facebook’s own, albeit expectedly with far less features. You can post status updates, including photos and video. With messages, Echofon has added an interesting feature that makes it possible to instant message another as if you were SMS’ing each other. Similar to the likes of Ping, if both users have the app, instant messaging becomes instant and free.
It’s a rather odd move by a company that has until now focused primarily on Twitter clients. While an expansion into other social networks isn’t so bizarre (Tweetdeck, Seesmic), creating an entirely separate application focused on Facebook’s most popular features is either silly or genius.
Facebook’s app is unreservedly a pain to open and check the basics for. Like it or not, there’s a lot of functionality to choose from. With Echofon for Facebook, the options are limited but you are given instant and quick access to just the essentials.
Give it a try here and see if it floats your boat.
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Twitter Lists Causing Trouble for Fail Whale?
It seems in the past few minutes, Twitter Lists have been disabled. Only implemented a few weeks ago, the lists feature is the prime suspect in causing the influx of ‘fail whales’ appearing on Twitter. After taking a quick look at the Status Blog, it seems they are aware of the high error rate and are ‘looking in to it‘.
Update: They have confirmed Twitter Lists will be temporarily disabled until a full diagnosis of the cause of the error is made.
There’s been some speculation as to the cause, but it seems a little coincidental that a range of major Twitter clients such as Tweetie and Tweetdeck have all released software updates with the ‘Lists’ feature and within 24 hours, it’s causing massive disruption. It’s possible the feature is resource-intensive and thus causing problems for Twitter’ servers.
Regardless of the cause, I’m sure this isn’t the end of the line for Twitter Lists, it’ll be revived in a matter of no time, I’m sure. Irrespective, I’m hoping not to see Mr. Fail Whale, over and over any time soon!
We’ll update this post as soon as there are any updates.
Update: At approximately 11:30pm, Twitter Lists came back online. Taken from the Twitter Status Blog: ‘Update: (3:30p): We have turned the Lists feature back on.’
So no explanation as to what happened, odd…I’m just glad they’re back online. Just another day at the Twitter Office some might say!
http://status.twitter.com/post/263867698/respondin- g-to-high-error-rateun
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There will be no Crunchpad. Arrington’s Project Implodes.
The much hyped Crunchpad, cheaper alternative to the Apple’s rumored MacTablet, has imploded.
Michael Arrington, the project’s founder and founder of Techcrunch has announced the news on a blog post titled “The End Of The CrunchPad“.
In it he describes how close the project was to completion, a week away in fact, but having come so close the project “self distructed over nothing more than greed, jealousy and miscommunication.”
It appears that beginning of the end came after shareholders of Fusion Garage (Arrington’s partner on the project) send him notice that they would not want Arrington as part of the project:
“Bizarrely, we were being notified that we were no longer involved with the project. Our project. Chandra said that based on pressure from his shareholders he had decided to move forward and sell the device directly through Fusion Garage, without our involvement.” Arrington says.
Chandra Rathakrishnan, Fusion Garage’s CEO, also forwarded an internal email from one of his shareholders, part of which Arrington highlights:
“We still acknowledge that Arrington and TechCrunch bring some value to your business endeavor…If he agrees to our terms, we would have Arrington assume the role of visionary/evangelist/marketing head and Fusion Garage would acquire the rights to use the Crunchpad brand and name. Personally, I don’t think the name is all that important but you seem to be somewhat attached to the name.”
More to come. -
The Next iPhone: What can we expect?
A few days ago (November 28) we reported on sightings of a new iPhone with version number 3.1. The current hardware version, for the 3GS, is 2.1 which was announced in June 2009 so we can expect another upgrade around the same time next year in June.
Although nobody knows what the new iPhone will bring here are a few ideas of what we could expect. I divided my list into a ‘hardware’ and a ’software’ section and will separate expectations into ‘likely’ and ‘unlikely’. As always your ideas are more than welcome so leave a comment.
Hardware:Likely- Multicore processor; lot faster in launching apps and handling data
- RFID support
- Multi form factor (iPhone Mini or Nano)
- Enhanced camera (HD Video) 4 megapixel
- Matte finish
- 32 GB and 64 GB storage
- More colors: Black, White, Silver, Aluminum
- iTunes Sync via WiFi; no need for USB
Hardware:Unlikely- Front and back camera’s for easy Video iChat
- A battery that actually lasts for more than 8 hours
- Hardware keyboard
- More colors: Red, Blue, Pink, Green
- Larger screen; no edges
- Buttonless interface, like the Magic Mouse, click bottom of screen for home
- Thermometer
- Replaceable lithium-ion battery
- Wireless Charging
Software:Likely- iPhone OS 4.0
- iTablet compatible eReader app
- Flash support
- iTunes Sync via WiFi; no need for USB
- Next Level Maps App with spoken directions, lane support, etc
Software:Unlikely- Business card exchange App; via RFID or bluetooth
- Open App store; sandbox area where ANY app can be downloaded from
- Multiple App support: switch between active apps
- Complete edit capabilities for MS Office documents
What else can we expect? Well, expect the unexpected. it is highly likely that Steve will pull out another ‘One more thing’ with the next iPhone version which will make your jaw drop and the competition weep. Feel free to continue the unfounded speculation in this post in the comments…
Next iPhone Artist Renderings:
Here is a collection of Artist renderings of what the next iPhone COULD look like. Enjoy:
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Gangs of New York Using Twitter to Trash Talk
Twitter has become an active part of gang warfare and nowhere more so, than in New York it seems.
According to NY Daily News, after a shooting in last month, believed to be between rival gangs, Lieutenant Kevin O’Connor of New York Police Department’s gang intelligence unit says they are actively monitoring the public Twitter accounts of suspected gang members for information.
“It’s another tool, just like old phone records,” said one police officer. “We can go through them to track these guys.”
A basic search of the social-networking site for OYG, the gang based in the Jefferson Houses in East Harlem, yields shout-outs and throwdowns.
“I knoe bitches from oyg that would dead mob yah s–t in harlem,” one girl wrote in a series of tweets aimed at drawing out a rival for a fight.
A 15-year-old nicknamed Lil V, who belongs to The New Dons, says Twitter is useful for “settin’ up the fights” and making plans.
He said that gang members took steps to protect their Twitter profiles from the police, using complicated slang to throw investigators off the sent, and setting profiles to private so they couldn’t be followed by just anyone.
“We got our own page,” Lil V said. “Our page is private.”
With agreements in place with Microsoft and Google, it’s interesting to consider whether Twitter will also give law enforcement similar access to data to aid in solving and preventing crime. Twitter in fact may not have a choice. -
Command and Conquer To Go Online
Following the success of the Battlefield series, EA is more likely than ever to bring Command & Conquer to the games millions of fans, via the web.
This could see the game’s distribution replace boxed versions of the game, and could even see the title go free and earning from micro-transactions from within the game.
In an interview with Gamasutra, EA’s Jon Van Caneghem discussed a range of topics including the future of Command & Conquer, the idea of ‘software as a service,’ the strategy genre in general and attempts to popularise the brand.
“Direct-to-consumer is where I think most games are going, and I’ve always been a fan of the series [Command & Conquer]. The company has the same vision I do on the future of games and the future of this franchise, so I think it’s going be great,” Caneghem says
“Look what online has done for RPGs over the last 10 years. All the other categories are following suit we’re looking forward to building something to be a leader in that space. It allows you to do everything you would have expected from a boxed game, but it adds a lot more to it being connected and connected with players, and persistence, the social elements of playing against each other with other friends.”
Lets just hope this is sooner rather than later. If there’s any game that crosses generations and geek/non-geek borders, it’s Command & Conquer. -
Tomorrow, 25 Million Mobile Phones Will Die in India
From tomorrow, December 1 2009, 25 million chinese mobile phones will die in India. The Department of Telecommunications, India (DoT) has instructed operators to block cellphones without a valid IMEI number.
Subscribers using mobile phones without IMEI number just have two options, either get a new mobile phone with a valid cell IMEI number or visit the outlets set up by the Cellular Operators Association of India to get the number implanted through a software.
What is IMEI Number and Why Block Mobiles without one?
An IMEI is a unique 15-digit code that identifies the handset. Each time a call is made, the telecommunications company uses the IMEI to identify the caller via a universal registry of phones. If a phone lacks an IMEI, the telecommunications company can still route the number to the destination, but it does not know which phone is making the call. And herein lies the problem: the in DoT, India’s Ministry of Communications and I.T. worries that these anonymous phones can be used by terrorists.
You can easily check your IMEI number by entering *#06# key sequence.
Its not only that number of users getting affected by the cell phone blockage by Cellular Operators, but if the subscribers are unaware of this, then cellular companies would face a big slack for the next few days/weeks. Slashing 25 million subscribers in India is a very big number. -
Seriously guys?
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Tweetie 2 Update Now Available in the App Store!
Tweetie 2.1 approved and available in the app store.
Lists, geotagging, native retweets and more. Get it here.
More to come (thanks Steve).
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