At the Google I/O conference, the search giant unveiled their Google Play Games, a new gaming service, which will be competing against Apple’s Game Center.

With the new cross-platform service, you will be able to enjoy cloud-synced game progression, in-game achievements, leaderboards, and matchmaking. Some of the developers who have jumped in include Gameloft, Glu, Ironhide Games, and Miniclip. The service is integrated with Google+, so this could be a reason for you to finally start adding people to your circles.

And speaking of the social network, it appears like the old games that you have already been playing on Google+ will be removed on June 30. According to Google, “If you would like to continue playing a particular game, contact the game’s developer to find out if there’s a new destination site for the game“.

If you have made payments to play a game, you will be able to use your unused credits when the game will be migrated to another site, while some games will offer a grace period before shutdown.

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You’ve seen special “live” events on YouTube before, such as the today’s Google I/O Conference. Up until now, these events have either come from Google, a partner or are limited to very special (rare) events. This is all changing, starting now.

As long as your channel is in good standing with 1,000 subscribers, you can now sign up for a broadcasting option that will allow you to have hold your own live programming. With this new method you can insert ads into the ‘show’, display multiple camera angles and even add closed captions.

Note that even though you can sign-up today, it will probably take a few weeks for the feature to roll out to your account. This is definitely an interesting step for Google, and could potentially open up new opportunities for those who want to do something different than the typical cat video or music video.

Imagine live improv comedies, attempts at “Saturday Night Live”-type shows and more. Things could certainly get interesting… What do you think of the idea, is YouTube wise to open up live broadcasting for its users?

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Although Matias Duarte earlier said that Facebook Home is impressive, even he would agree that there’s more work to be done on the app which still has only managed just 2.2 average rating at Google Play. But Facebook seems to have big plans for Home for the future, according to Vice President of Mobile Engineering Cory Ondrejka and Director of Product Adam Mosseri.

There is good news for those who are worried about the disappearance of Docks and Folders in Home. A future update will bring those features into Home’s application launcher. Mosseri says, “We want to ease the transition from your old launcher to the new launcher“. But support for widgets will take more time to arrive. Home users will also get to play with a new Buddy List feature which will allow Chat Head conversations to be started directly from Cover Feed.

Furthermore, they will also introduce the so called “Blues Clues” which will guide users through the application via directions and clues, not unlike the pop ups received by Facebook’s web users.

Other developments for the future include support for Home on more devices including tablets, although they are currently just focussed on improving the app than introducing it on more hardware. And as for an iOS version, Ondrejka says, “If there are hooks available, we’ll take advantage of them—I don’t think we see a way to do something like Cover Feed just yet“.

And you can also look forward to seeing advertisements, after the app is improved a great deal. But they are promising that the ads will go well with the Cover Feed.

So far, Facebook Home has been downloaded almost a million times. They have just released an update that will fix a few bugs, but no hints regarding when the above said features will arrive.

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The Facebook Home app hasn’t had a solid start, but Zuckerberg and his team certainly scored by being the first social network to take over Android handsets. Twitter, on the other hand, seems focused on Google’s promise for the future, the search giant’s Glass.

Earlier, a twitter user by name of Shivster Muddler tweeted a picture (posted below) of a lemon tree. The message, which has been uploaded via “Twitter for Glass”, said “just shared a photo #throughglass”.

This guy could have been testing a new Twitter app for Google Glass. Of course this could have been made up, though it’s not nonsense to believe that the app is in the works especially since venture capitalist John Doerr hinted earlier that Twitter is working on one.

So we might see a new Twitter app for Google’s high tech specs, which may or may not be the next big thing. What other apps would you like to see on the Glass when it reaches your hands? Wanna play Angry Birds with you pupil? Hopefully, the device will allow you to do more than just launching the apps.

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The Facebook Home was downloaded 500k times within nine days of its release, but most of the people had only complaints to post about the new app. But Matias Duarte, the man behind Android’s transformation, has only praises for the Home.

Duarte has commended the Facebook team and he seems to be impressed by the app’s “incredible amount of polish and attention to design detail”. He is not “threatened” by Home, and of course he shouldn’t be, and he is reminding us that the app shows the openness, choice, creativity and innovation available to everyone via Android.

As you know, the app takes over your Android smartphone in a way that won’t be appealing to most fans of the Android experience. But Facebook Home is just what its makers said it would be. Hardcore Facebook users seem to be enjoying it, though some became bored by the app due to the lack of options and features, and it’s also a battery killer. But updates will fix those, hopefully, after which the average rating will probably go up from the current 2.2.

Are you using Facebook Home now? You can share your thoughts on it below.

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Facebook Home, which was announced at the beginning of this month, hit Google Play on the 12th of April. Now, after nine days it has surpassed 500k downloads. But it will be interesting to know how many people hang on to it.

That number, although it sounds awesome, is not so big especially when we think about the number of Facebook users around the world. And in comparison, when Instagram was launched on Android it hit over 5 million downloads in just six days. Of course Home is just available on few devices including the Samsung Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note II, HTC One X and One X+, and the HTC First. The numbers are expected to increase after Facebook expands compatibility in the future.

As you probably know, Google Play does not show the number of uninstalls. So far reviews about the new app have been mostly bad, with complaints about battery life getting killed faster, constant freezing of the home screen, and questions such as why anyone would be “on Facebook all of the time”? It seems many have already uninstalled it.

We do think that the new app will be a great experience, but for only those who are VERY dedicated to Facebook. Features such as the Chat Heads are very convenient, though the lack of folders and widget support is a bit disappointing.

Of course Facebook will be listening to feedback and reply with updates, but it seems that they should start work ASAP. What do you think about Facebook Home? Did you install it? And are you still using it? We wonder what the guys over at Apple are thinking right now.

The post Facebook Home Installed 500k Times, But How Many Times Has it Been Uninstalled? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Remember in the good old day’s of dial-up Internet connections? When the Internet was booming and music piracy went by the name of Napster? Sadly those day’s are behind us and Napster is no longer with us, but a new music streaming site has turned up which offers us similar features.

While Napster would allow us to search for a song then download the MP3 file to listen to it, Napster.fm allows you to directly stream the music through your browser. The interface is rather basic and resource friendly, but it does allow you to share play-lists with friends.

Napster.fm has been made possibly due to a hole in YouTube piracy detection system, which possibly means that the service will be short lived once YouTube patches it up, but in the meantime we can sit back and enjoy some free music like the good old days.

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Tumblr is gaining popularity faster than ever before and it’s certainly a good idea to make things easier for its users. Aiming to make the Tumblr Android app clean and easy to use, they have released an update for it which comes with a redesigned interface and a “post anything” screen.

The new “post anything” screen allows you to share videos, chats, links, quotes, photos and text with just a single tap. The new version also allows you access to advanced controls such as saving drafts, queuing posts, and customizing tweets. And the entire look follows Google’s Holo design rules.

So far users seem to be satisfied with the arrival of the update, although there are a few complaints about refresh happening every few seconds automatically and problems getting gifs to load.

No word on an update for their iPhone and iPad apps. But it was about a year ago that they released a major update for its Android app and a month later they launched an iOS refresh. So, an iOS update might arrive sometime in the coming months.

What do you think about the new look? Are you having any problems?

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Facebook introduced their “Home” app which converts Android handsets into a Facebook phone, replacing the Android homescreen with a Facebook experience which includes images, status updates, and notifications. If you think that this is just good for Facebook, think again. Let’s take a look why this new app is good for both Facebook and Google, and why Apple comes into the picture.

For Google, many might say, this app is bad news. Via Android the search giant is able to pull users towards its services, such as Maps and Gmail, and its ads. But when Home comes into the picture, Facebook comes between users and Google, steering customers to the social network’s own services and ads. For hardcore users of Facebook, the Home app is certainly exciting since from now on they don’t have to get tired finding the Facebook app and opening it before being able to take a look at updates from friends.

But that excitement is available only on Android and that’s what is good for Google and that’s where Apple comes in. Google said in a statement, “The Android platform has spurred the development of hundreds of different types of devices. This latest device demonstrates the openness and flexibility that has made Android so popular”. “Hundreds” mean the more choices available to customers via Android, something that they don’t get from Apple. The “latest device” which is the HTC First shows the openness and flexibility of Android; here Google is reminding everyone about Apple’s restrictions. Facebook couldn’t have introduced Home if Google followed a strategy similar to that of Apple.

Google also said, “And it’s a win for users who want a customized Facebook experience from Google Play — the heart of the Android ecosystem — along with their favorite Google services like Gmail, Search, and Google Maps”. It seems that the company wants to make sure that the attention is back on its own services.

So there is no need for Facebook to come out with its own OS or phone and Google gets to fire darts at Apple. Although Apple won’t be too worried about all these, they surely will take it seriously as iPhone users could soon start asking questions such as why a feature like Home is not available on their device.

The post Home Good For Both Facebook And Google, But Not Apple appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

For years there have been rumors that Facebook would jump into the mobile market with its own OS, or at least some kind of Android fork. Today the company officially unveiled Facebook Home, which is essentially a custom launcher for Android.

Unlike a fork or new OS, this is just Android with a custom skin and no changes to the core of the OS. That means all the Google apps like the Play Store are still there.

What makes Home worth having? For those that are heavily invested into the Facebook world, it creates an immersive experience that is designed around “people” and, of course, Facebook posts.

Home lives both on the ‘home screen’ and the lock screen, using a new cover follow to engage in messages, as well as a new app system called “Chat Heads” that is designed to combine SMS and Facebook messages into a unique experience that runs on top of any app you are currently using.

Introducing the HTC First

Later this month, there will be two ways to get the Facebook Home experience. One of these methods is to download the app when it hits Google Play on the 12th of April, as it is designed to work with many existing Android handsets.

Installing is a simple process, but for those that simply wanted a pre-installed experience, there is also the HTC First. This Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 dual-core powered smartphone features 1GB of RAM, a 720p 4.3-inch display, a 5MP rear cam, 1.6MB front cam, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, 4G LTE and Android 4.1 using Facebook Home.

In the United States, the phone can be had through AT&T for $99 with a two year contract.

What do you think of Facebook Home and the HTC First? Interested or not?

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