Google has begun beta testing a new social network called Google+. At the moment it’s only available to a handful of beta testers, but when it rolls out to the public Google+ will represent the search company’s biggest foray into the social space. Google has dipped its toe into social waters before with tools such as Latitude and Buzz. But Google+ is the closest thing you’re going to get to a Facebook competitor from Google.

Just moments after sending out the first invitations to the service Google launched an official app for Android. It doesn’t offer all of the feature you get when visiting plus.google.com in a desktop web browser, but it does have a clean, easy to use interface and support for one killer feature: Google+ for Android can automatically upload photos and videos from your mobile device as soon as you finish shooting them. Automatic uploads are opt-in though, so if you don’t want to share your pictures with the world you don’t have to.

The mobile app also supports location-based checkins and geotagging for your posts.

Update: Google has finally released an iOS app for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. It offers most of the features you’ll find in the Android app, but it doesn’t support automatic photo uploads. 

There’s no iOS app yet, but Google has rolled out a mobile web site which offers most of the features you get from a native app. The only things missing are support for native notifications and automatic media uploads. You can still see notifications using the mobile web app though — you just have to actively click on the notifications link.

The Stream view shows you the latest updates from people you’re connected to on Google+. Messages are sorted chronologically — but any time someone leaves a new comment on a message, that item jumps back to the top of your timeline. In other words, if you follow Robert Scoble, expect to see his messages dominate the top of your Stream indefinitely.

There’s also a neat feature that lets you see messages from people near your physical location. Just swipe from left to right to see this view. It works exactly the same on the web app as the native app.

The icons at the top of the screen let you create a new post or check-in to a nearby location. The native app also has a camera icon for snapping new photos or uploading photos from your camera roll.

Currently the mobile web app doesn’t support photo uploads even from the post window.

The photos sections look virtually identical in both the native and web apps — although neither is nearly as attractive as the desktop browser view which lets you interact with images from the photo wall.

One of the key things that separates Google+ from other social networks is the “circles” paradigm. On the one hand, Circles are a lot like lists on Facebook or Twitter. But Google’s social network makes it very easy to set up circles and you can use a desktop browser to literally drag-and-drop your contacts into different groups.

Then when you want to send a message to a specific group, you just add the circles you want to share with. You can also tap any circle to view messages only from people in that group. The idea is that you should be easily able to control who sees your messages and whose messages you see. You can assign contacts to as many circles as you like.

The native app and web app work pretty much the same way here. You tap the Circles icon from the home screen and you can see a list of your circles. You can also view a list of all of your contacts from the People button or get suggestions for people you might want to add.

Once you click on a group you can either view the members of that circle or see the latest posts or photos from those people. Tap on any post or picture and you can add a comment or +1 it, which is basically Google’s version of Facebook’s “like.”

From the Profile view you can see your latest posts and photos (including any items you’ve already uploaded to Picasa), as well as your public profile including any biographical details or contact information you’ve made available. If you’ve already set up a Google Profile, this information will already be available the first time you use Google+.

Notifications are handled much the same way in the native and web apps — but the key difference is that you can configure the Android app to send notices to your phone or tablet’s notification bar. You can also select ringtones or have your device vibrate when a new notification comes in.

To view your notifications from within the app, just go to the home screen and swipe up from the bottom. The web app doesn’t have a swipe-for-notifications feature, but you will see an icon showing you how many unread notes are available. Just tap on it to see the latest.

Google’s native Android app does have one more feature that’s not available from the web app. It’s called Huddle, and basically it’s a group messaging feature that lets you set up little chat rooms with a select group of friends.

Some of the best features of Google+ are still desktop-only, such as the ability to create and edit circles by dragging and dropping your contacts. The desktop version of Google+ also supports “hangouts,” which let you create multi-user video chat rooms on the fly. I also haven’t found a way to edit my profile from the mobile app.

But there are some pretty awesome mobile-only features as well, including automatic image uploads, automatic geolocation, and integration with your phone’s notification system. Some of those features aren’t available in the web app, but even though there aren’t yet native apps for iOS or other non-Android platforms, the mobile web version of Google+ does give you most of the tools you’d want to keep up with the new social network while on the go. For a beta product, I’m pretty impressed with the native and web apps Google has released.

First look at Google+ on Android and iOS is a post from: mobiputing

Apple has been busy pushing its official Twitter clients for mobile platforms including iOS, Android, and Blackberry — but that hasn’t stopped third party developers from creating their own Twitter apps. The blogosphere and Twittersphere is abuzz today with the news that a new app called TweetBot takes the whole Twitter experience to a new level.

The app is attractive and choc full of features for power users. If you’re not a power user, you might want to stick with Twitters’ free app since TweetBot will set you back $1.99. But here’s what you get for the price:

• Support for multiple accounts
• Gesture-based controls
• Support for Twitter lists
• Customizable tab bar
• Ability to post tweets, photos, and video in the background (to keep browsing after you’ve clicked send instead of watching the app think)
• Attractive graphics and sound effects for alerts
• Long list of URL shorteners and sites for sharing photos and videos

TweetBot is available from the App Store for $1.99.

TweetBot transforms the iPhone Twitter experience is a post from: mobiputing

After several months of beta testing, LinkedIn has released a mobile app for Google Android. The LinkediIn app is now available as a free download from the Android Market. You can also get a direct link by visiting m.linkedin.com/android.

LinkedIn is a social network for professionals, with a heavy focus on your work profile and your connections to current and former colleagues and business contacts.

The company has spruced up the app a bit since launching the beta test. The new version includes support for messages, as well as a “reconnect” button which helps you find people you may know based on your profile and connections.

You can use the app to post status updates, view updates from your contacts, send and receive messages, and view the profiles of your contacts. You can also add new contacts on the go, which is probably a killer feature for a professional networking app since LinkedIn can save you from having to hand out or accept yet another business card.

On the other hand, LinkedIn’s mobile app lacks some of the functions that I’ve come to expect from other social networking apps for Android. For instance, there’s no home screen widget, and you can’t share web pages or other links using the Android sharing menu.

via ReadWriteWeb

LinkedIn professional social network app comes to Google Android is a post from: mobiputing

Facebook has just released an updated version of its iPhone app which adds the ability to check in to events. Whereas previously, the app only allows you to check in via Facebook Places, the new version now extends beyond this and allows you to check in to events you’ve been invited to.

Of course, to check in to an event, you must be in the location specified in the invitation. So, you can’t test it right now for events you’re attending unless that event is happening right now and you are actually in the location. But if you want to try this new feature, you can create a test event and see if it works for you. You’ll see the check in button right on the events page as well as a “Here Now” after right after you’ve checked in to an event to see who else have checked in to the same event.

Facebook 3.2 for iPhone also now lets you view friends on a map. You can see the Map tab side by side with the previously available Activity tab to find out where your friends have recently checked in via Google Maps.  The new version of the app also lets you unfriend a Facebook contact from your phone.

Other new features added include a better News Feed and notifications. Facebook for iPhone is available as a free download from the iTunes App Store. If you’ve downloaded it before, simply the Update button to get the new version.

via Techcrunch

Facebook Adds Events Check In, Maps and Unfriending Feature to iPhone App is a post from: mobiputing

As expected, Facebook 2.0 beta for BlackBerry is now available, and among other features, it adds support for Facebook Chat.

The Facebook app for BlackBerry is tightly integrated into the OS, so you can start a chat with your contacts who are online either from the Facebook app or from the unified mailbox on your smartphone. You’ll also receive status notifications from Facebook even if the app isn’t currently running.

The news feed section of the app has also been updated to make it easier to scroll, add photos, or check in to a place. Notifications and navigation have been redesigned as well.

You can find more information at the Inside BlackBerry blog. Facebook 2.0 beta for BlackBerry is available as a free download from the BlackBerry Beta Zone.

Facebook 2.0 beta for BlackBerry adds Facebook Chat is a post from: mobiputing

Facebook has released version 1.5.2 of its Android app, with a couple of bug fixes and security improvements. But the biggest changes are improvements to landscape mode and some new photo features.

Users can now upload photos to a friend’s wall, or to a Group. And when you upload a photo, it should now always show up on Facebook with the proper orientation (landscape or portrait).

To upload a photo to a wall, just click the camera button to choose a photo from the Gallery app or to capture a new picture with your camera.

Facebook 1.5.2 for Android is available as a free download from the Android Market.

via reddit

Facebook for Android update brings photo enhancements is a post from: mobiputing

Ssocial photo-sharing app Path has been updated to version 1.4.  Path is similar in many ways to Instagram, as it lets you take photos using your iPhone and share it to other Path users. Unlike Instagram, Path lets you select only up to 50 of  friends, family and other contacts to have exlusive rights of seeing photos you share.  Another difference between Path and Instagram is that Path lets you share short videos as well.

One thing that Path doesn’t let you do which you can with Instagram is to apply the cool photo filters.

To help you in filling up the 50 slots for your Path’s contacts, the app can pull out your close friends and family in Facebook. But that’s as far as the app goes when it comes to integrating with Facebook. Don’t expect the app to share your updates to your Facebook account later on.

New features in Path 1.4 include the ability to chat with your close friends and family in real time. You can also now share photos and videos you’ve captured using your iPhone via email. This is useful for your friends and family who are not using Path on their iPhone yet. The app was also made faster and more reliable with the update.

Here’s a quick rundown of the some of the other new features added recently:

• Path emotion was added to let you show how you feel after sharing photos or videos
• Sharing up to 10 seconds of video moments
• Push notifications
• Sharing of existing photos from your iPhone’s camera roll
• Full screen view for share photos
• View most recently tagged contacts
• iPod Touch support

Path is available as a free download from the App Store.

Path: The exlusive social networking app receives massive updates is a post from: mobiputing

The latest version of Seesmic for Android is out, and the biggest change is that the social networking app now supports Facebook. That means you can use one app to keep up with the latest news from your Facebook and Twitter contacts. The app also supports Google Buzz and Salesforce Chatter.

There’s no unified news feed, which means you’ll have to choose which account you want to view. But you can use Seesmic to access multiple Twitter of Facebook accounts if you like.

The Facebook view offers the ability to check your news feed, view your friends list, see pages you like, and access your Facebook wall. You can also use the app to “like,” share, or comment on updates, view your friends’ profiles, or post your own status updates.

Seesmic has added support for TwitLonger to the Twitter portion of the app, allowing you to post messages that are longer than 140 characters (although your followers will have to click a link to read the whole thing).

Seesmic 1.6 also supports inline comments for Salesforce Chatter and Google Buzz, the Goo.gl URL shortener, and allows you to see a list of people that have retweeted a tweet.

There are also new home screen widgets, allowing you to set up separate Seesmic widgets for Facebook, Twitter, Chatter, or Buzz.

I’ve tested Seesmic a few times in the past, but I’ve never found it to offer many features that made it more valuable than the official Facebook or Twitter apps for Android. But Twitter has become a bit of a resource hog recently, taking up well over 15MB of data on my phone. After playing around with Seesmic a bit today, it’s using just 4MB of disk space, so I’m going to test it for at least a few days to see if it continues to use less storage than the official Twitter app.

Seesmic for Android is available as a free download from the Android Market. The app supports Google Android 1.5 and up.

Seesmic for Android gets Facebook integration, new widgets, TwitLonger support is a post from: mobiputing

While there’s been a Facebook app for BlackBerry users for a while, it’s lagged pretty far behind the iPhone and Android apps in features for a while. It looks like that could change soon. n4bb has received a few leaked screenshots of what’s looks like it could be Facebook 2.0 for BlackBerry.

The new app looks a bit more like the Facebook apps for other platforms, and adds features that had been missing from the BlackBerry platform such as Facebook Chat and the ability to view friends lists, profile info, and pages.

A beta is reportedly due out in March, with a final release scheduled for May.

Facebook 2.0 for BlackBerry to feature chat, redesigned UI is a post from: mobiputing

Last week we saw the first so-called Facebook Phone. While rumors had suggested Facebook might be building its own branded phone and/or platform, the INQ Cloud Tech is actually an Android phone with some tight Facebook integration including a large Facebook Widget on the home screen for accessing your social networking data. Now Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says we can expect to see “dozens of phones” with this kind of social integration.

The comments came during a video presentation as HTC unveiled two new phones with Facebook integration.

Honestly, this makes a lot more sense to me than a Facebook phone anyway. Facebook is a software company, not a hardware company. Rather than competing with existing device makers, Facebook is partnering with them to get its software onto their phones — which provides customers with more reason and opportunity to use Facebook’s core products and services.

You can check out the video after the break.

Zuckerberg: Dozens of phones with “social integration” coming this year is a post from: mobiputing

As expected, Twitter has launched an updated app for Google Android. Version 2.0 is now available for download from the Android Market, with new features including:

• A new tabbed user interface that makes it easier to switch between views
• Scan your phone’s contact list to find friends who are already using Twitter
• Universal search
• Autocomplete @usernames when creating a message
• Easier photo uploads
• Faster actions such as reply, retweet, or follow

Overall the new app is easier to navigate, but I find it’s kind of sluggish when it comes to loading new messages.

Twitter 2.0 now available for Android is a post from: mobiputing

Twitter is apparently getting ready to push out a major update to its Android app. The folks at Everything Android got an early look at Twitter 2.0 for Android and they’ve posted a hands-on video, which you can check out below.

The user interface has been streamlined to make it easier to flip between your timeline, replies, and direct messages. You no longer have to jump back out to the home screen to change views. You can also view favorites, retweets, and lists from a more tab.

Honestly, the update looks a lot better — but it doesn’t look all that revolutionary. In fact, most of the features have been available in third party Twitter clients for ages. Still, if you’re a fan of the official product, it looks like an update should be available in the Android Market soon.

via Gizmodo

Twitter 2.0 for Android previewed is a post from: mobiputing

Facebook has rolled out a minor update to its Android app, adding support for Facebook Deals. In order to see coupons and other offers from local businesses, you’ll have to check-in using the Facebook Places feature. For instance, if you check-in to a coffee shop, you may get a coupon for a discount or freebie on your next order.

I just took the new app for a spin and tried checking into one of the places within range. Either the app could tell I wasn’t actually at the coffee shop around the corner, but was instead working from my home office, or there were no deals available. either way, it looks like you’ll have to actually use the Places feature regularly to access the Deals. You can’t just scroll through a list of available deals and start checking in willy nilly. I suppose that’s good for the participating businesses.

Facebook says the new app also includes some bug fixes.

Facebook Deals are already available in the company’s iPhone app.

The Facebook for Android app is available as a free download from the Android Market. It also comes preloaded on most Android handsets, so if you have automatic updates turned on (only available with Android 2.2 and up), you may already have the new version.

Facebook for Android adds support for Deals is a post from: mobiputing

The folks behind the popular Touiter app for Android have changed the name to Plume — because Twitter contacted the company and suggested that the original name was too close to “Twitter” and could cause some confusion.

Scan to download

The app lets users view their Twitter timelines, mentions, direct messages, and other data, and includes support for custom color schemes, picture previews, geotagging, sharing photos, links, and other items.

Along with the new name, Plume also has a new logo and the company launched a new version of Plume this week which features the new name as well as some bug fixes and a few new features such as support for native retweets in the Pume widgets.

Plume is available as a free download from the Android Market, or you can get the premium version for an ad-free experience for $2.73.

Android Twitter client Touiteur becomes Plume is a post from: mobiputing

Skyfire is a popular web browser for mobile devices with a few tricks up its sleeve, not the least of which is that it can display some Adobe Flash video on the notoriously Flash-resistant iPhone thanks to remote server technology which converts Flash to HTML5 before streaming it to your phone. Now the folks at Skyfire are preparing to launch a new version of their browser that’s optimized for the Apple iPad.

The new app is optimized for the iPad’s larger 1024 x 768 pixel display, but otherwise looks a lot like the latest Android version of Skyfire, complete with Facebook and Twitter integration.

MobileCrunch reports that Skyfire has submitted the new browser to Apple for approval, so it shouldn’t be too long before it pops up in the App Store. Skyfire for the iPad is expected to sell for around $4.99.

Skyfire’s Flash-capable web browser coming soon to the iPad is a post from: mobiputing

The folks at LinkedIn have released a public beta of their first app for Google Android. LinkedIn is basically a social networking service for professionals. Instead of adding everybody you’ve ever met or would like to meet as a friend, the idea is that you can use the service to connect with colleagues and other people in your field.

Basically, if Facebook is your dating profile, LinkedIn is your resume. I’ve personally had a LinkedIn account for the last few years, but I rarely ever update it or visit the site, because to be honest, I’m not looking for a job and I don’t really see much point in using the service when I’m not job hunting… which I know probably defeats the point, but whatever.

If you’re a more active user than I am, here’s what the mobile app offers. You can use it to view status updates from your network, search for people, respond to invitations, view profiles, and send messages to your contacts.

The app isn’t available from the Android Market yet, so you’ll have to join the LinkedIn Android Group if you wan to download it for your phone.

LinkedIn beta for Google Android is a post from: mobiputing

Facebook has pushed out a new version of its Android app, and it finally has all the same functionality as the Facebook app for iOS. In addition to viewing your Facebook Feed, friends, groups, messages, events, and Places, you can now use Facebook Chat on Android to IM with your contacts who are online in real-time, whether they’re using Android, an iPhone, or a PC web browser.

Scan to download

The chat feature lets you view a list of your contacts who are online. You can start a chat by tapping on any name and entering a text. When you go back to the contact list window, you’ll see a list of currently active chats at the top of the page, as well as a number showing if you’ve missed an incoming message or two.

Facebook 1.5 for Android also adds support for push notifications, letting you see when there’s a new alert that needs your attention from your Android status bar.

You can download the latest version of Facebook for Android from the Android Market.

Facebook for Android adds chat, push notifications is a post from: mobiputing

Twitter has rolled out a new version of its iOS app which adds support for push notifications. That means you can receive pop-up messages letting you know when a Twitter user sends you a direct message or posts a tweet with an @mention for your username.

Depending on how you use Twitter, this can be either extraordinarily useful, or a pain in the behind since it could mean an endless stream of pop-up notifications.

Twitter 3.2.1 for iOS also includes additional retina display graphics, one-tap geotagging, some bug fixes, and better display of shortened URLs.

The Twitter app is available as a free download from the App Store.

Twitter for iOS adds push notification support is a post from: mobiputing

Twitter has released a new version of its Android app. It’s designed to be faster, prettier, and overall a lot more like the official Twitter app for the iPhone.

Scan to download

Here’s a partial list of changes:

• Click on any Tweet to load a details page where you can reply, retweet, or favorite a message.
• Swipe across a Tweet to get options to share, retweet, or favorite a message, or view details about the person who posted the Tweet.
• Pull down on your timeline to refresh the page with new messages.
• You can quote a Tweet using the retweet button.
• Avatar photos are available in higher resolution.

Twitter 1.05 is available from the Android Market for Android 2.1 and up.

Twitter updates Android app, now with more iPhone-like features is a post from: mobiputing

Facebook made several major announcements related to the mobile space today. First, the company is launching new and improved apps for iPhone and Android. The Android app is already available for download from the Android Market. It includes Facebook Places, improved notifications, and the ability to share posts with groups of your contacts instead of everyone.

The new iPhone app will also get access to Groups.

Facebook is also launching a new Facebook Deals service which will work with the Places feature. Basically, when you check in to a store, restaurant, or other location using your mobile phone, the people who run that establishment will be able to offer coupons or other deals through the Facebook platform.

Probably the most exciting news is a new Single Sign-On feature which will work sort of like Facebook Connect, but for mobile apps instead of web sites. Here’s how it works: If you’re already signed into Facebook, you won’t need to create separate accounts to sign into third party apps that support the Facebook protocol. You can simply login with your Facebook account.

I’ve encountered a couple of mobile apps that already work with Facebook Connect, but they currently have to dump you out to a web browser and have you enter your Facebook credentials to allow access — even if you’re already logged in.

Companies that have already committed to using the Facebook Single Sign-On feature include Zynga, Groupon, Yelp, Flixter, Loopt, and Booyah.

Facebook introduces new Android, iOS apps, single-sign in for mobile apps is a post from: mobiputing

Twitter may have taken its own sweet time before launching official apps for smartphone platforms such as the iPhone and Google Android. But just days after phones with Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 operating system started to ship in select parts of the world, Twitter has unveiled its new Windows Phone 7 app. There’s no more playing catch-up. The official Twitter app is officially one of the first Twitter apps to launch for this new platform.

As you’d expect, the mobile app supports viewing messages from your timeline as well as direct messages, mentions, and lists. You can also view suggested users, and Twitter for Windows Phone 7 allows you to navigate Twitter without logging into an account. If you don’t have an account yet you can create one using the mobile app.

The mobile app takes advantage of Microsoft’s new Metro user interface, with a series of menus you can swipe through at the top of the screen and detailed information below. You can also move between views by swiping left and right, for instance moving from the timeline view to the mentions or direct messages view.

Twitter launches mobile app for Windows Phone 7 is a post from: mobiputing

There’s a new Facebook app for BlackBerry available in the Blackberry Beta Zone. Version 1.9 gives you more ways to interact with your contacts on the popular social networking service. Here are a few of the highlights in the latest version:

• There’s an option to view just your Facebook inbox or combine your messages with your BlackBerry messages inbox.
• You can synchronize data between your BlackBerry Facebook inbox and the web.
• The app now supports Facebook Search, and it ties into the Universal Search BlackBerry function.
• Facebook 1.9 also includes tweaks to the friends list, page list, and navigation bar.

Facebook 1.9 for BlackBerry is still in beta, but the full version will include even more features including support for Facebook Places.

Facebook 1.9 app for BlackBerry now available is a post from: mobiputing

Facebook and Twitter can be great ways to keep up with thought leaders, friends and family. They can also be enormous time sinks as you spend hours scrolling through mostly pointless status updates from the hundreds of people you follow on those networks. The folks behind my6sense are attempting to help bring the items you’re most likely to care about to your attention with a new Android app.

Scan to download

My6sense for iPhone has already been around for a little while, but the new Android version adds support for Google Buzz to the mix. Just sign up for a free account and link it to your Facebook, Twitter, and/or Buzz accounts. Then go ahead and start reading the items you find interesting. You can scroll through a single social network or look at All Items on a single stream.

The my6sense app will keep track of which items you click on and attempt to determine what you’re looking for in terms of content, sources, and other information. Then it will start sorting your streams by “relevance” instead of time. The more use use my6sense, the better the suggestions should get. When you first get started, you might want to hit the Sort by Time option so that you can look through recent status updates and start clicking away to give the app some data to work with, otherwise the relevant results might not be so great.

You can also apply filters so that only Tweets with embedded links will be shown, or so that no messages older than 24, 48, or 72 hours will be displayed.

Overall, it seems like an interesting concept — and a good way to make sure you don’t miss important items. The only trouble I had this morning is that the my6sense server appears to be getting hammered thanks to the launch of the new app and I keep getting error messages when I try to hit the refresh button. I was only actually able to see fresh content maybe one out of every six times I clicked refresh.

My6sense is available as a free download from the Android Market. You can also grab the free iOS app from the iTunes App Store.

via ReadWriteWeb

my6sense Android app finds the best messages from your social networks is a post from: mobiputing

TweetDeck has officially launched a public beta version of its new Android app. TweetDeck is a tool that lets you keep up with multiple social networking accounts at the same time. You can link your Facebook, Foursquare, Google Buzz and Twitter accounts to TweetDeck for Android, and one thing that sets it apart from most third party Twitter apps is that it supports multiple Twitter accounts.

An early build of the software leaked unofficially yesterday, but the version that you can download today direct from TweetDeck is much more polished. For one thing, it has an “Accounts” button that lets you go back to the accounts screen any time you want to add or delete a Twitter, Facebook, or other account. The old build was somewhat buggy and only let you adjust your accounts the first time you logged in.

TweetDeck also has clients for desktop computers, the iPhone, and iPad. And one of the defining characteristics of TweetDeck is the ability to display multiple columns of data, with information such as updates from your contacts, messages directed at you, and custom searches. The TweetDeck Android app keeps this column paradigm — but rather than trying to display all the content on screen at the same time, you can swipe the screen to the left or right to switch between columns.

Different social networks are color coded so that, for instance, Facebook messages have a blue background and Twitter messages have a gray backaground. This makes them easy to tell apart at a glance.

TweetDeck lets you update your status on various social networks and interact with messages from your contacts. For instance, on Twitter you can reply, retweet, or favorite items. When you’re using Foursquare, you can check in, leave a tip, or open a map. Facebook lets you reply to comments or hit the Like button.

You need to register for a TweetDeck account to try out the beta. Once you fill out the form, TweetDeck should send you a download link in a few minutes.

TweetDeck beta for Android now available for download is a post from: mobiputing

Update: The official beta is now available for download.

Yesterday we reported that TweetDeck for Google Android would be available this week. Today it is… kind of. A pre-release build leaked out, and a number of folks have grabbed the installer file and taken it for a test drive. It actually works pretty well, but TweetDeck CEO Iain Dodsworth says the build floating around right now is actually an older version — and that the real beta will be available tomorrow.

He recommends avoiding the old build that’s making the rounds today. But I decided to ignore his advice and take a quick look. The app seems to work pretty well, and has one of TweetDeck’s signature features: The ability to create custom columns. Say you want to keep track on the latest tweets from the public timeline about Google Android. Just hit the search button, enter “Android,” and click the “Add column” button at the bottom of the screen.

While you can display multiple columns side-by-side on the desktop software though, the mobile version of TweetDeck lets you switch between columns by swiping left or right. Only one column shows up at a time.

The default columns show your personal timeline, @replies, and direct messages. You can use TweetDeck for Android to keep up with your Twitter, Facebook, Google Buzz, and Foursquare contacts. Each service is color-coded, so that, for instance, Twitter updates have a gray background while Facebook updates show up on a blue background.

Another killer feature? The ability to manage multiple Twitter accounts.

You can click on any message for more information, allowing you to favorite a message, retweet, reply, comment, or like — depending on the social networking service. You can also click on a contact’s picture to bring up their profile. You can open links shared by your contacts in a web browser by clicking on them.

The current build is still a little buggy. For instance, there’s no obvious way to return to the account screen after you login for the first time — meaning that if you want to add a new Facebook, Twitter, or other account after your initial login, you may be out of luck. But I suspect the official beta due out tomorrow will address that issue.

via EuroDroid

TweetDeck for Android coming tomorrow (pre-release beta leaks today) is a post from: mobiputing

Facebook has rolled out an update to its mobile web page that lets you control your privacy settings on mobile devices. Up until now, you could only adjust your privacy settings using a desktop browser.

In order to access your mobile privacy settings, you have to visit m.facebook.com/privacy on your phone. You won’t find the link if you just go to m.facebook.com.

But once you do find the page, you can adjust your settings to allow everyone, friends, or friends of friends to see information you post from your phone. You can also create custom settings. For instance, you can allow everyone to see your website and bio information, but only allow your friends to see posts, contact information, family, or relationship status.

Unfortunately, the settings only apply to the Facebook mobile web site. If you use the iPhone, Android, WebOS, or other mobile apps for Facebook, there’s still no way to adjust your privacy settings — although I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw that feature in future updates.

via ReadWriteWeb

Facebook adds privacy control settings to its mobile site is a post from: mobiputing

Facebook pushed out an updated version of its Android app last night. The new version has a sleeker user interface, complete with a notification bar on the home screen which you can pull up to see a list of your latest notifications, and a media bar which you can scroll through to see recent photos and videos from your contacts.

Scan to download

The new Facebook app also adds the following features:

• Respond to friend requests without opening the web browser
• Improved Events support (you can now RSVP without opening a web browser)
• Support for H.264 video playback

There’s still no Facebook chat support, although there are third party apps for that.  But overall the latest version of Facebook for Android is a big improvement. It’s available as a free download from the Android Market.

via GigaOm

Facebook launches new and improved Android app is a post from: mobiputing

Clicker wants to be a sort of remote control for internet TV. When you visit the Clicker web site you can find links to watch streaming TV shows from a variety of sources including Hulu, Netflix, Amazon video on demand, and others. It’s a bit messy, since some videos are available to stream for free while others are only available for a subscription or one-time fee. But there are few sites that are quite as well organized as Clicker for finding out whether a video is available online.

Now Clicker has released a mobile app for Android and an iPhone version is coming soon. Unfortunately these mobile apps don’t actually let you stream video to a mobile device. Instead, they let you take advantage of the social networking aspect of the clicker community, which also launched today.

The idea is that you can connect Clicker to your Facebook and Twitter accounts to see what your friends who use Clicker are watching. You can also “check in” to shows, to let people know what you’re watching and rate programs or make recommendations for other users.

Overall, the Clicker mobile apps provide a way to find new shows that you might like or to share your interests with your friends. But I kind of wish the app also let you stream video.

via NewTeeVee

Clicker launches TV-centric social media apps for Android, iPhone is a post from: mobiputing

Twidroid is one of the most popular Twitter clients for Google Android that’s not made by Twitter. So it’s not that surprising that someone would want to buy the company — which exactly what Twitter ad and search firm TweetUp has just done. What is a bit surprising is that TweetUp has decided to change the app’s name… to Twidroyd.

The reason for the name change? The company doesn’t want any legal battles with Lucas Films, which it claims owns the trademark on the word “droid.” I wonder if anyone has told Motorola or Verizon about that? Update: Yup. They know.

Aside from the name change, the latest version of the app has a few changes. You can preview images with pinch to zoom and shorten links before sending via button. There’s a new warning when text exceeds 140 characters. Android 2.2 users can install the app on their SD card. And there are new widgets in the Pro version. Oh yeah, there’s also integrated TweetUp search.

TweetUp also says Twidroyd will soon come preloaded on “millions of upcoming Android phones” from 5 of the top handset makers.

The recently renamed app is already available for download from the Android Market. There’s a free version available, as well as a pro version which will set you back $3.99.

Twidroid Android Twitter client gets a new owner, new name is a post from: mobiputing

Facebook has released an updated client which adds support for watching Facebook videos on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. The app also has a few other new features, including the ability to view and write on the walls for events, and upload photos that are 720px wide.

Facebook 3.1.3 for iOS also has a number of bug fixes. For instance, you can now comment on photos accessed from notifications. It also fixes broken photo album links in the news feed and corrects an error that caused some status updates to appear out of order in news feeds.

You can download the Facebook app for free from the App Store.

via Redmond Pie

Facebook for iPhone adds video support is a post from: mobiputing

Sure, Twitter just launched an official iPhone client a few days ago, so you might think there’s not much room for yet-another-Twitter-client for the iPhone. But today Seesmic introduced an app that makes a pretty strong case that there is still room for competition.

That’s because Seesmic for iPhone isn’t just a Twitter app. It’s also an iPhone app. And thanks to Ping.fm integration, you can also use it to update your status on a ton of social networks including MySpace, LinkedIn, Flickr, Blogger, and Tumblr.

When you launch Seesmic the first time, you’re greeted with a series of four boxes. Click one to set up a new Facebook, Twitter, or Ping.fm account. You can also create a box for Twitter trending topics or search topics. Unfortunately, this is the only way to search Twitter. That means that if you’re in the Twitter portion of the app, you have to go back to the home screen to conduct a Twitter search.

Aside from that quirk, the app has all the features you’d expect from a Twitter client, including timeline updates, replies, retweets, direct messages, and access to your profile. You can also compose messages with links, map links, location information, or pictures from your phone.

The Facebook portion of the app is a bit more limited. Basically it just shows you your Facebook News Feed. You can compose updates, and you can click on any item to leave comments, see comments left by others, or click a “like” button. But you can’t see your friend list, applications, or other information.

You can check out the Seesmic promo video and see more screenshots after the break.

Seesmic for iPhone is available as a free download from the iTunes App Store.

Seesmic launches Twitter, Facebook client for iPhone is a post from: mobiputing

Sobees offers Twitter clients for Windows, the web, and Google Android. The company started out a few years ago as a desktop widget maker offering all sorts of widgets for reading RSS feeds, searching the web, and performing other actions. But Sobees is focusing primarily on its Twitter client at the moment, and it shows. I installed the Android client this week, and it’s one of the best Twitter apps I’ve used on my Google Nexus One.

Scan to download

Sobees for Android has all the basic features you’d expect from a mobile Twitter client including the ability to sort updates by replies, direct messages, and your overall timeline. You can also view profiles of users and even follow or unfollow users from the Sobees app. Sobees also lets you manage multiple Twitter accounts and flip between accounts quickly and easily.

The Twitter client lets you read cached messages while you’re offline. And when you’re online you can view trending topics or conduct searches.

And there are a few nifty features when you’re updating your status including the ability to geotag your Tweets, share photos, and shorten URLs.

Unfortunately, Sobees faces some pretty strict competition… from Twitter, which recently launched an official app for Android. But Twitter for Android is only available for Android 2.1 devices such as the Google Nexus One and Motorola Droid.

Sobees for Android is available as a free download from the Android Market.

You can find more screenshots after the break.

via TechCrunch

Sobees Twitter app for Android is a post from: mobiputing

There are plenty of Twitter clients available for Google Android. I’ve been pretty happy with Seesmic and Sobees so far. But Twitter launched an official app for Android today, and it has a few awesome features that just might put the competitors out of business — or drive them to up their game significantly.

Scan to download

Like most other Twitter clients, the official Twitter app lets you see the latest updates from your contacts, direct messages, or @ mentions. You cancompose messages, or users profiles. But here are a few of the things that really make this app stand out:

• Contact synchronization feature that lets you sync data about your contacts with your Android address book
• Options to receive notifications for tweets, mentions, and direct messages in the Android notification bar
• Arrange contacts by lists
• Geotag your Tweets and see Tweet locations on a map
• See Tweets from your contacts in your phonebook, Google Talk, or other apps that use the Android QuickContact bar
• Upload images or take a picture with your camera

The tight integration with the Android contacts and notification bar are standout features that really make this Twitter client stand out — although I would probably find it incredibly distracting to get constant updates of new tweets — that’s the reason I’ve already turned off notifications for new email messages.

Now for the bad news. Twitter’s Android app will only work with Android 2.1 devices such as the Google Nexus One and Motorola Droid.

You can find more screenshots at the Twitter blog. Twitter for Android is available as a free download from the Android Market, or you can start the download by scanning the barcode to the right with your Android phone’s camera.

Twitter launches official Android app, complete with contact sync is a post from: mobiputing

Sure, it may seem like blasphemy to run Microsoft’s instant messenger on an iPhone, but as Download Squad points out there are more people using iTunes on Windows than Mac. The truth is the iPhone isn’t just for Mac fanboys. So it makes plenty of sense that Microsoft has been working on a version of Windows Live Messenger for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.

The app isn’t ready for public consumptions just yet, but it’s due out any day now and the folks at NeoWin grabbed some of the first screenshots of Live Messenger for the iPhone.

It looks like the app supports sending and receiving photos, browsing photos, managing your contacts, viewing social networking updates from your friends, and… you know, chatting.

NeoWin suggests that the app will be part of the Windows Live Wave 4 services which should be available as a public beta in June. Until then, if you want to keep in touch with your Live Messenger contacts on the iPhone, you might want to stick with a multi-protocol chat client like Meebo.

You can find more screenshots at NeoWin.

First look at Windows Live Messenger for the iPhone is a post from: mobiputing

Facebook has released an updated Android client that adds one major new feature: messaging. You can now see messages from your inbox and send private messages to other users.

In order to launch the messaging feature, just hit the Inbox icon on the Facebook home screen. It replaces the “Take Photo” icon that had previously been there.

There’s still no support for Facebook Chat though. In other words, you can use the app for email-like communications, but there’s no support for real-time instant messaging yet.

You can download the updated version of Facebook for Android for free from the Android Market.

via the::unwired

Facebook for Android adds messaging is a post from: mobiputing

Seesmic makes one of the most popular Twitter clients for Google Android. And the company has just pushed out a new version that comes with three major new features:

1. Home Screen Widget
2. Native Retweet
3. Geotagging

Scan to install

The widget lets you see the latest update from your contacts on your home screen. You can also tap the compose box to start writing a new Tweet, or tap your username to bring up the full Seesmic client. Tapping an individual message on the widget brings up that message in the Seesmic app, allowing you to retweet, reply, or perform other actions.

Unfortunately the home screen widget isn’t customizable. So if you wanted, for instance, have a larger widget to see the last 3 tweets from your contacts on your home screen, there’s currently no way to do that.

The new retweet feature in Seesmic 1.3 mimics the way you can retweet messages on the Twitter web site. And the geotagging feature lets you tag messages with your location, a map link, or an address.

Seesmic 1.3 is available as a free download from the Android Market. You can scan the image to the right with your phone to download and install the app.

via Android Central

Seesmic updates Android client, adds home screen widget is a post from: mobiputing

It looks like Apple is getting ready to add some social networking goodness to the iPhone. Engadget notes that the developer preview of iPhone OS 4 shows Facebook integration in various spaces, letting you do things like bring your Facebook contacts and calendar events into the iPhone calendar.

While the OS appears to have support for Facebook contacts, there also appears to be framework that could allow for integration of other social networks such as Twitter.

All in all, it looks like the iPhone could get unified calendar and contacts features that let you see of all your information in one place, without having to fire up the Facebook app, the Twitter app, and the default Mail and Calendar apps to find what you’re looking for.

iPhone OS 4 may include Facebook integration is a post from: mobiputing

Hot on the heels of the launch of an official BlackBerry Twitter client, Twitter is introducing an official app for the iPhone. The difference is that while the BlackBerry app was developed by Twitter and Research in Motion, the company behind the BlackBerry hardware, it’s not Apple that’s putting its stamp of approval on Twitter for the iPhone — it’s Twitter.

The microblogging service announced that it has acquired Atebits, the company that has been producing the popular iPhone Twitter app Tweetie.

Tweetie is one of the most popular Twitter clients for the iPhone. Artebits sells it for $2.99, but Twitter will rename it Twitter for iPhone and release it as a free download within the next few weeks — which is going to make it difficult for other third party Twitter clients to make a dent on the iPhone.

Seesmic founder Loic Le Meur says he’s not too worried though. Seesmic doesn’t yet offer a Twitter client for the iPhone, but one is reportedly in the works. The company’s software also lets you interact with Faceboook and dozens of other social networks. The app is available for Android, Blackberry, the Web, and desktop computers as well — which means there’s a decent chance that Seesmic won’t go out of business just because Twitter is launching an official app for one of those platforms.

Twitter acquires Tweetie, introduces official iPhone Twitter app is a post from: mobiputing

The BlackBerry is best known as a smartphone with a corporate bent. And LinkedIn is sort of like Facebook for professionals. So you kind of have to wonder why it’s taken so long for LinkedIn to get around to launching a native BlackBerry app. The company has offered an iPhone app for a while, and today LinkedIn finally got around to releasing a client for BlackBerry.

The LinkedIn for BlackBerry app requires a BlackBerry Tour, Curv, or Bold with OS 4.3 or newer. I offers the ability to see the latest updates from your contacts, search for new or existing connections, send and respond to invitations, and send and receive messages.

That last one is pretty interesting, because LinkedIn works with your BlackBerry mail app so that new messages show up automatically in your inbox. You can also send your LinkedIn contacts directly to your BlackBerry contact list. And there’s calendar integration so that you can copy events from your LinkedIn calendar to your BlackBerry calendar.

LinkedIn for BlackBerry should be available in the BlackBerry App World soon. In the meantime, you can grab the download link from LinkedIn.

You can find more screenshots at Mashable.

LinkedIn launches a BlackBerry app is a post from: mobiputing

Google has released a Google Buzz widget for Android. In a nutshell, this means you can update your Google Buzz status from your Android home screen. You can also take a photo with your camera or upload images from your gallery using the widget. And since you’re using a mobile Buzz client, you can tag your updates with the location where you were when you posted.

To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of Google Buzz, because the last thing I need is yet another social network — even if it’s one that’s designed to help you keep track of updtes from my contacts using other sites such as Twitter, Flickr, Picasa, and Gmail. But if you are a Buzz user, you might want to check out the new widget.

It’s available for Android 1.6 and later. You should be able to find the widget by searching for “Google Buzz” in the Android Market.

Google Buzz Widget for Android is a post from: mobiputing