When Facebook unveiled its “Facebook Home” launcher for Android – everyone us were wondering: Do we even want or need this? The answer to that question seems to be a “no”, at least in its current form.

The Home-equipped HTC First isn’t a bad handset, but already there has been reports of poor sales and AT&T even cut the price after just a month from $99 with contract to just $.99 with contract. There are even rumors that AT&T is preparing to discontinue the First.

In light of mixed to poor reception for Facebook Home, the HTC First is now being delayed from its expected UK launch.

It was supposed to arrive this summer through EE and Orange, but is indefinitely delaying the launch. Here’s Facebook’s official statement:

We’ve listened to feedback from users on their experience using Home. While many people love it, we’ve heard a lot of great feedback about how to make Home substantially better. As a result we’re focusing the next few months on adding customization features that address the feedback we received. While we focus on making Home better, we are going to limit supporting new devices and think it makes a lot of sense for EE and Orange to hold off deploying the HTC First in Europe.

The question is whether this delay means that Facebook Home is dead or not. Personally, I think that Facebook invested enough time and money into Home that they will keep working on it, adding more improvements that help it become more useful. Will it be enough for them to find success? I have strong doubts, but you never know.

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News flash: Apple’s iOS is more locked down than Android … okay, that’s not exactly a secret. This is why something like Facebook Home is not available on any iDevice at the moment. But they did bring deep integration for Facebook and Twitter earlier, and are apparently going to do the same trick once again, this time with Flickr and Vimeo.

According to 9to5Mac, the photo-sharing service and the video sharing site are going to get new connections in Apple’s upcoming iOS 7.

The rumor says iOS 7 users will be allowed to sign into their Flickr and Vimeo accounts through the settings menus, like how you can integrate Facebook and Twitter accounts now. And both the services could be accessed by third party apps. You will be able to upload photos and videos to both the services directly from the iOS Photos app.

The iOS users who have Flickr and Vimeo accounts will certainly benefit from the integration, if it happens that is. It will also be good for both the services as well. Yahoo would certainly welcome more traffic to Flickr, which has just been updated in a major way.

But the inclusion of Vimeo is a surprise, as the site is mainly for short films and high-quality videos. Videos shot in a smartphone end up most of the time on YouTube. But, Apple’s OS X is integrated with both Flickr and Vimeo, so the new rumor can’t be pushed aside that easily.

We will keep you updated about iOS 7, so stay tuned to Mobilemag.

[Source]

The post Apple iOS 7: Deep Integration for Flickr and Vimeo Coming? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Yahoo’s acquisition of Tumblr is certainly big news, but they have promised that the blogging site will remain the same as it is now. But much needed changes have arrived for Flickr, which was acquired by Yahoo back in 2005 (and then neglected until now).

The changes that have arrived include updates to the Flickr web experience, a new Android app, and a new business model which is meant to attract new users to the site.

Via the new look, the focus is on the photos. Users will now be able to enjoy big thumbnails, full-screen pictures by default, and an image’s metadata is below the fold. Your photostream will display a big tiled view of your pictures, and there’s an easy share button for sharing pictures to the social network of your choice. The Android app is also making photos the focus. The screenshot of the app below shows photostream on the left hand side and Explore section on the right hand side.

So, big changes to how the site looks. But even bigger is what’s available to free account holders. From now on, free users have access to 1TB of storage. Earlier it was limited to 300MB of photos and two videos per month. And back then there was just one paid version: unlimited photos and videos per month, no ads, and detailed statistics for $24.95 a year. From now on, there are two paid options: $49.99 a year with no ads but everything else is the same as the free version, and for $499.99 you will get 2TB of storage. Only those who are having paid accounts at the moment can renew subscriptions. This pricing strategy has just one goal, which is attracting new users to its free service and discouraging subscriptions.

According to Adam Cahan, SVP of Mobile and Emerging products at Yahoo, Flickr has 89 million users at present who have uploaded more than 8 billion photos. But that’s nothing compared to Facebook’s more than 1 billion users and 240 billion pictures. Maybe Yahoo is a bit too late with this Flickr update, though it’s better late than never.

But the new look is not being accepted by Flickr’s current users, although we think that it’s a good update. The site certainly looks and feels way better and could attract many new users with their new strategy. The current users will certainly adapt, at least Yahoo could be hoping so. And everything appears to have come at the right time; an awesome update and an acquisition of one of the biggest blogging platforms.

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer says, “We have a nice set of the creator brands. Photographers and writers. With that, there is natural set of opportunities that arise between Flickr and Tumblr and we’ll deal with that as it comes”.

Maybe things are starting to get better for Yahoo. What do you think? Do you have plans to start using Flickr? Do let us know in the box below.

[Source]

The post Yahoo Finally Giving Flickr The Love It Needs appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Large-screened E Ink devices have been tried by many companies in the past but none managed to gain ground on the academic market. Sony is also not a new player, but they are still trying their luck. Their latest product is a 13.3-inch flexible E Ink prototype device which is targeted at students and offices.

The device is coming with the new Mobius e-paper display technology with lightweight, shatterproof or rugged characteristics. With this new tech, Sony can make bigger display sizes without making the reader too heavy.

The slate measures in at 233 x 310 x 6.8 mm and weighs just 358 g, and it’s coming with 4GB of on-board storage (with a microSD slot) and a 1200 x 1600 resolution screen that’s an electromagnetic induction touchscreen, which allows you to do page swipes and menu selection. It also supports stylus input for making notes. And there’s WiFi for sharing notes, and its rechargeable battery is said to last for three weeks (with the wireless tech turned off), but the device currently supports only the PDF file format.

The device will be trialed at three Japanese universities, after which the final product will be available on the market but that might take a year or more.

But the question is whether this device will be appealing since there are many tablets out there with fast processors and high-resolution screens, as well as third-party apps. Sony’s own Tablet Z is one of the many options currently available. But if the price is not too much (the Sony Reader PRS-T2 costs $129.99), this new e-reader could be useful for many.

[Source]

The post Sony 13.3-Inch e-Reader For Students appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Friday already? In our usual tradition, that means it is time for Mobile Mag’s “Best Apps of the Week”. For those that are new to this feature, we take a look at 5 of the more intriguing apps that have arrived on iOS and Android during the week.

Let’s get started!

Best Apps of the Week – Android

Best Apps of the Week – iOS

Summing it all up….

And that wraps up the five episode of “Best Apps of the Week’.

Did you agree with our picks, or did we live out a vital new app that you feel should have made the cut? Let us and other readers know about them through the comments below!

The post Best Apps of the Week (5/10): A Look at New Apps for iOS and Android appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

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.

[Source]

[Image Source]

The post Facebook Home Updates To Bring Big Changes In The Future appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Like stock Android, wish you could pay a dollar to get it? You can, at least if you are willing to sign a two-year contract with AT&T and take a chance on the HTC First.

For those that don’t know, the HTC First was released only a month ago now, running the custom “Facebook Home” launcher pre-installed. AT&T has apparently decided that the $99 contract price was too much, now offering it for $.99.

Okay, but that’s not stock Android, it has Facebook Home on it, right? The truth is that Facebook Home is easily disabled with a few taps, and underneath it, lies a pretty much vanilla Android experience.

While the specs for the HTC First won’t even begin to compete with the LG Nexus 4, it could still be a solid device for those that can’t afford or don’t want to buy outright. The phone features a dual-core 1.4GHz Snapdragon processor, a 720p 4.3-inch display, a 5MP rear cam, 1.6MP front cam, a 2,000 mAh battery and Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.

What do you think, could you see yourself buying the HTC First at its newly reduced price? If you did purchase it, would you keep Facebook Home enabled or go with a stock Android experience?

[ source ]

The post HTC First: Stock Android for Just $1 With Contract appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Another Friday has arrived, ladies and gents! Time for our fourth edition of “Best Apps of the Week” here at Mobile Magazine. As usual, we take a look at five of the best apps that landed on iOS and Android earlier during the week.

Let’s jump in, shall we?

Best Apps of the Week – Android

Best Apps of the Week – iOS

Summing it all up….

And so ends our fourth ‘episode’ of “Best Apps of the Week”. Did you agree with our picks, or did we live out a vital new app that you feel should have made the cut? Let us and other readers know about them through the comments below!

The post Best Apps of the Week (5/3): A Look at New Apps for iOS and Android appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

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.

[Source]

The post Twitter App For Google Glass appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

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.

[Source]

The post Android Lead Designer On Facebook Home appeared first on Mobile Magazine.