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.

It all lines up with the pre-existing ports on your MBP, including the mic input, headphone jack, USB port, FireWire, Ethernet, and external monitor. This turns into a hub on the other end with four USB ports, plus all the other corresponding jacks. This way, you can leave your peripherals where they are and simply connect the one piece. There’s also a media card access area, a front-facing headphone jack, and a USB direct access port, so you don’t have to go reaching for the other end of the hub all the time.

“But isn’t this just a dock?” Sort of, except the guys at Veritas Forge didn’t want the solution to be a dock. “Desk space is sometimes at a premium,” they write, “and docks can have little tricks and intracacies. We wanted less on the desk, not more.”

They’re looking for $115k through Kickstarter by June 12. An early bird pledge of $98 or more lands you one W1PPS for a 15-inch MacBook Pro with estimated delivery in September.

[Source]

The post W1PPS MacBook Pro Dock Without the Dock (Video) appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Those of you who rely so heavily on the iPhone, so much so that it is is the key to outside world, you’ll be amazed to see it’s also the key to an electric scooter. But not just any electric scooter, we are talking about the Scoot from San Francisco-based startup Scoot Networks. The company plans to rent out Scoots as a cheap and eco-friendly way to get around, and all you need is your iPhone to start the vehicle.

The company owns 20 scooters so far and is conducting a test service in San Francisco. The service is expected to be available in late 2012 or early 2013 to people 21 and older in the city. The scooters feature a plastic-covered smartphone dock, and to rent it you have to dock your iPhone (needs to have the Scoot Networks’ app) which will then act as both the scooter key and dashboard (Android phone docking will eventually arrive).

After docking, the handset will ping a server to check whether the vehicle is available and if it is, and if you are an approved rider, the server sends a code to the phone that will unlock the scooter. At present, you have to press a virtual “start” button on the device to turn the scooter on. While riding, the phone will show you your speed and range based on the battery life of the vehicle, and there will also be an on-screen map.

The Scoot will be available for $5 per hour or you can take one at 5 p.m. and return it at 9 a.m. the next day for the same price. It can reach up to 30 miles per hour and will go 25 miles on a single charge (recharging takes 6 to 8 hours).

According to the company’s founder Michael Keating, “We really do want folks to make this a big part of how they get around town. If they do, we think they’ll really like it. It’ll save them time, it’ll save them money, and it will make the whole city work better“.  And since these are small vehicles and won’t be allowed to be rented for more than 2 days, it is expected that the service will be allowed in most states.

But a few analysts believe that the business won’t become big as it will most likely become popular only in areas like university campuses and also because many would prefer a bicycle if the destination is not too far away. What do you think?  Would you scoot?

The post Scoot: iPhone Enhanced Electric Scooter Rentals appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

These days you can pretty much toss a rock in Best Buy and hit an iPod, iPhone, or other related music accessories.  This is certainly not the first dock we’ve ever encountered, so in an endless sea of accessories, can the Yamaha PDX-11 offer something just different enough to make it worth the purchase? It turns out that the answer is a maybe. This interesting dock isn’t about a simple little device you keep tucked in your room.  The times when those of us who were children of the 80s walked around with boom boxs in tow are long gone. This may be for them, while at the same time it is designed with fun colors and a feel that gives it sort of a hip-hop look.

The PDX-11 is a rugged octagon-shaped loudspeaker, featuring a steel grill and a single 4-inch cone woofer and separate tweeter. According to Yamaha, the sound creates a “strong bass and stunning mid-range”, though once again there are many similar options out there for those looking. Beyond being just a dock the unit be hooked up to a PC, Mac, and other audio devices through its 3.5 mm mini jack. It also offers extra portability through its chrome bar handle.

This could be a great option for those of us looking for portable unit that can be powered through six AA batteries, for up to 8 hours of playback, or is comfortable at home using an AC adapter. For those of us that aren’t trying to recreate boom-box moments from Sixteen Candles, there are plenty of other great accessories out there that work fine from home.  If portable is your thing and you want to be a little different, though, then Yamaha’s new accessory might be right up your alley.

The post Yamaha’s New Octagon Boom Box appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Video recorders on cell phones have come a long way, but for anyone who’s ever tried using one to record a video of themselves, their children, their buddies or anything else know full well that shaky hands are always the same.

Which is why a couple of guys have worked painstakingly in a garage somewhere to invent the Satarii motion phone dock. Which sounds cool, but is actually about 1000 times cooler than it sounds.

It works by using a base to hold your cell phone, with the camera facing yourself. You hold or clip on a small blue marker, and wherever you go, the base will swivel smoothly to keep you in frame. No shakes. No stepping out of the picture. Just smooth panning and killer clips.

The team’s video shows kids doing backyard slaloms, skateboarders attempting to shove it (backside!), FaceTimers video chatting while cooking dinner, presenters using the blue clip as a pointer while presenting. And every bit of video is recorded smoooothly.

There’s one catch: So far, it’s only a prototype. And it’s going to stay that way until they can raise the second half of their $20,000 goal on IndieGoGo.com. If they can pull it off, we’ll be saved from a lot of would-have-been-crap YouTube videos once it starts selling.

The post Satarii motion iPhone dock tracks you, puts an end to the shaky video appeared first on Mobile Magazine.