How Twitpic Face Tagging Does & Does Not Work (Yet) —

Any of Facebook's over 400 million users will immediately recognize some new features on popular Twitter photo-sharing service Twitpic today as users can now tag people in their photos. In an blog post this morning, the two-year-old company announced it had passed the 10 million user mark that it sees 40 million unique visitors each month. The company says they are releasing their Face Tagging functionality "to show [their] thanks" to the community, but could it bring headaches and worries with it too?

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How It Works

Face Tagging literally works exactly like tagging photos on Facebook. While viewing a picture, the text "In this photo:" is displayed below it with a link to begin tagging the photo. By clicking the link, users can then pinpoint people's faces in the photo and a box will appear around the face, as well as a pop-up dialogue box in which to enter the person's name and Twitter handle. Once done, users hit the "Done Tagging" button to return to normal browsing functionality - just like Facebook.

Honestly, the only difference between tagging photos on Facebook and on Twitpic is that the "Done Tagging" button appears above photos on the former and below photos on the latter. While Twitpic's new functionality is a dead lift of Facebook's long-existing photo tagging feature, it is smart to copy the social networking giant. Why re-invent the wheel? Instead, Twitpic is giving users a familiar experience, making the process easy and intuitive.

How It Doesn't Work

When users tag a face in a photo, by default they can send a rather dry tweet announcing the tag and including the user name of the person tagged, effectively working as a notification. First of all, the inability to personalize this message is a bit of a downer, but you can always just uncheck the box and send out the tweet yourself. Secondly, by default it does this every time you tag a person in a photo. You thought Facebook notifications were bad? Just wait until someone tags a photo with ten people and unwittingly tweets the photo out ten times.

Additionally, the only way Twitpic alerts users that they have been tagged in a photo is via Twitter - so users could be tagged in hundreds of photos and not know it if the tagger chose not to tweet the tags. Users do have the ability to delete tags of themselves on other people's photos, but right now the only way of knowing of such photos is to be sent the tweet, which not everyone will choose to do.

In a phone interview today, Twitpic founder Noah Everett told ReadWriteWeb that additional features, like the ability to view photos you're tagged in, are in the works and should be out in a few weeks. The goal, he says, has been to launch the tagging feature and use user feedback to determine the next logical step.

What About Privacy?

That next logical step, for many users, may be privacy controls - something the new feature lacks. On Facebook, users have the ability to manage photos they have been tagged in and remove their association from a photo once-and-for-all. The only option related to photo tags for Twitpic users is the option to allow other people to tag their photos. Everett says they are looking into possible privacy controls, such as a blanket rule preventing anyone from tagging you, or specific user-based bans to avoid those "crazy ex-girlfriends", as he put it.

Personally, I use Twitpic mainly as a means to an end - I upload photos to the service for sharing on Twitter via a mobile application, which means I don't visit the Twitpic web interface too frequently. How am I supposed to know when I'm tagged in a photo if the user tagging me chooses not to tweet it? Even if I visit the Twitpic homepage, there is no way for me to view an aggregated list of photos I am tagged in and no system for notifying me of such photos.

Everett says they are looking into ways of notifying users, including email alterts, but hopes that eventually app developers will add the functionality using Twitpic's API. I guess the good thing is if someone decides to surreptitiously tag me in a photo, for now the general public has no real great way of finding it either.

An Impending Headache for Data Fans?

The other important thing to note from the launch of Twitpic's Face Tagging functionality is that it is a new stand-alone platform for a third-party application to another service. What that jumble of words means is that when other Twitter-based photo sharing apps add this functionality, it will be nearly impossible for users to effectively aggregate their tagged photos (and other meta-data) across platforms. With the low barrier of entry to Twitter applications, it seems likely that Twitpic's competitors would adopt similar features to keep up.

I spoke with Thomas Vander Wal, father of the phrase "folksonomy" which refers to collective tagging of meta-data, and he shared some interesting insights into this situation.

"Since others have done similar things on other platforms (Facebook, Flickr) the [intellectual property] is fuzzy and Twitpic can't claim it, so others are free to jump in," Vander Wal told ReadWriteWeb. "It would be in Twitter's best interest to build a central aggregation point for this."

This is exactly why Twitter is rolling out annotations, which have been testing recently and should be out soon. The annotations will create a standardized framework for third-party apps to build from, making interoperability between services much easier. Everett said he actually spoke with people from Twitter today about "coming together" and "rolling [tagging functionality] into annotations."

Strangely, however, Twitter mentioned in April that they planned on having "trending annotations" and letting developers battle for standardization. It would make sense that meta-data for tagged photos could be added to Twitter's annotations, and if the services adopted the standard, aggregation would be simple.

If not, then the entrepreneurial community, "somebody like PixelPipe" as Vander Wal suggested, would need to create another third-party Twitter service that would handle this aggregation - not an ideal solution going forward. We can't blame Twitpic for this fate: what they're doing is good in terms of pushing the platform forward. We can, however, bring up the privacy issues they've have raised with their new service and its apparent lack of controls, but then again, it is a brand new feature and more functionality is on the way soon.

Tagging photo courtesy of the LA Times

Discuss

Just one week after announcing Events grouping for photos, Twitpic is rolling out Face Tagging.

Just as you do on Facebook, you can now tag images of you and your friends and acquaintances on Twitpic. Below the image in question, just click the blue link reading “Add/Edit Faces.”

When you tag your pics, you’ll also have the option to tweet out who you’ve tagged. You’ll be able to add real names and/or Twitter usernames to the pics, and others can see the tags when they mouse over the picture.

Users will be familiar with the Facebook-like interface. Here’s what the feature looks like on the site:

Last week, the service added the ability to group your photos based on the event at which they were taken. In practice, this feature works a lot like a Flickr set, letting users organize, define and showcase their pictures quickly and easily and making the discovery process easier for both humans and web crawlers.

Twitpic has also just reached its 10 million users mark and is gearing up for more group and geo-location features from this service. To get a better idea of where Twitpic might be heading in the months to come, you can check out this video interview with Twitpic founder Noah Everett on the future of Twitter-based photo sharing.

Are these new features going to make Twitpic more interesting, fun and useful for you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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Reviews: Facebook, Flickr, Twitpic, Twitter

Tags: Photos, pictures, Tagging, twitpic, twitter

Updated Applications Disappearing from Android Market, Google Silent —

This is one headline Google doesn't want to see this morning. Less than 24 hours after Apple introduced its latest and greatest creation, the iPhone 4, at its conference for Apple developers, a small, but growing group of Android developers are reporting issues with their updated applications disappearing from the Android Market.

What's worse, the developers can't seem to get Google's attention, even after multiple forum postings, blog posts and an item posted to Android "bug tracker." Google either isn't aware of the problem, now several days old, or just isn't communicating with its developer community.

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Upgraded Apps Go Missing

According to the developers, the Android Market has stopped showing some applications. The apps are still visible through third-party sites like AppBrain and Cyrket, which serve as searchable repositories of current Android Market apps. However, when a user navigates to the Android Market on their mobile phone, the apps are nowhere to be found.

The issue seems to only be affecting applications that have recently been updated with bug fixes and/or new features. After the updated application is submitted, it disappears. Some older versions of the Android operating system can still see the apps in some cases, but the most recent versions of the OS (Android 2.0 and 2.1) cannot.

That means users with an HTC Evo, Desire, Hero, Droid, Incredible, Droid Eris or Moto Milestone are currently affected.

On the AndroidForums site, a member has started a list of known applications experiencing this bug. At the time of this writing, that list includes SlideScreen, LauncherPro, ADW.Launcher, Handcent SMS, People/Contacts widget, WatchDroid, Where, Better Contacts, WeGolf, Setting Profiles, NetSMS and Quick Settings.

Google's Silence: Unaware or Uninvolved?

It appears that Google may simply not be aware of the problem, as the company typically addresses such issues in a more timely fashion. But in this case, the first posting was from June 3rd and there has still been no response from Google.

At this time, it's unclear what's causing the problem, but it appears that these applications require certain permissions, which is why this issue may not have affected all developers.

Even if it's a minor issue affecting a small group, someone from Google should have spoken up before the news spread throughout developer community sites where those affected are now beginning to leave angry comments about the lack of response.

With the growing "smartphone war" between Apple and Google, it's more important than ever that Google doesn't drop the ball when it comes to its responsiveness with its developer community. Developers, after all, can make or break a phone. (Just ask Palm).

Android Apps Are Supposed to be Instantly Approved

Even Apple, whose App Store is curated by editors, had to address concerns regarding delays in app approvals when CEO Steve Jobs took the stage yesterday. "We get about 15,000 apps submitted every week," said Jobs. And "95% of the apps are approved within seven days," he said, referring to the many stories about severe, sometimes months-long delays in app approval for iPhone applications.

Google, on the other hand, doesn't "approve" apps. In fact, that's one of the key selling points of its Android operating system and app marketplace. You build an app, submit it and it goes live - no waiting. Given this process, delays like these being reported are even odder.

As Google continues to either ignore (or remain blissfully unaware) of the issue, developers are getting itchy...and angry. "As far as I can tell, the Market has been broken since Friday," writes one developer. "Google is eerily silent."

Another is less kind, saying "this is a very serious issue and Google's silence is unacceptable."

We've contacted Google ourselves for a response and will update when and if we hear back.

Discuss

Facebook and Twitter Visitors Shop — and Spend — More Online —

Visitors to social media networks and services such as Facebook and Twitter shop more online than those who don’t go to such sites, according to comScore’s latest quarterly overview of the online retail economy, as reported by eMarketer. And in the case of Facebook, comScore’s figures show that the more frequently a user visits the social network, the more he or she spends online — $67 on average for heavy users of Facebook vs. $50 for a “light” user of the network and just $27 on average for a non-visitor (comScore defined a heavy user as anyone in the top 20 percent of visitors to the social network, as measured by time spent on the site).

The correlation between active visitors and spending habits online wasn’t as obvious for Twitter, however. While on one hand, comScore’s numbers showed that Twitter users tended to spend more than users of Facebook, heavy visitors to Twitter’s website — also defined as the top 20 percent in terms of time on the site — spent less on average than medium users or light users: $63 vs. $75 and $73, respectively (one factor that might affect these numbers is that a majority of interaction with Twitter comes through the company’s API, via third-party services and mobile apps).

Although $60-$70 may not seem like a huge amount for retailers to base their hopes on, the fact that visitors to social networking sites and services shop and spend more online than non-visitors is likely to increase their interest in the value of social media — and it could help explain why Facebook in particular has seen a rush of interest from advertisers: The network said recently it more than quadrupled the number of advertisers since the beginning of last year.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d): Social Advertising Models Go Back to the Future

Post and thumbnail photos courtesy of Flickr user Olaf

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At the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference today Steve Jobs specifically highlighted iOS4's support for the enterprise. "I wanted to hit for a moment on the enterprise integration - our customers are thrilled," Jobs said. He announced support for multiple Exchange accounts and support for Exchange Server 2010, as well as improved data protection, device management, and VPN support.

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Four in 10 iPhones are sold to enterprise users and many businesses are planning to support the iPad, so it makes sense for Apple to improve in this area as well. The new features will make the iPhone competitive with Blackberry and Windows Mobile devices.

The improved data protection is a welcome enhancement in light of the data security flaw we covered recently. At present, there is no word on whether that specific issue has been patched.

Image via Apple's iPhone enterprise support site.

Discuss

Google Reader is losing some features. As of June 1, Reader will no longer offer offline access and users of older browsers will see a notice suggesting they upgrade to a newer browser with support for current web standards.

The browser support change isn’t all that surprising; Google Docs made a similar change earlier this year. The main target of the policy change is Internet Explorer 6. But lest you think Google Reader is picking on Microsoft, the announcement also targets the company’s own Chrome 3, which is barely six months old.

Other browsers no longer supported include Firefox 1 and 2.0, and Safari 2.0 and 3.0.

According Mihai Parparita, a technical lead for Google Reader, the new browser requirements will enable Google Reader to spend more time on new features. “Reader is a cutting-edge web application, and this will allow us to spend our time improving Reader instead of fixing issues with antiquated browsers,” he writes on the official Reader blog.

Older web browsers aren’t the only thing Reader is leaving behind. Also like Google Docs, Reader will be ditching the Gears-powered offline support (launched back in 2007). However, unlike Google Docs, Reader won’t be replacing Gears with HTML5-based offline tools. With Reader, Google is simply dropping offline support for the time being.

Instead, the Google Reader blog suggests downloading desktop software that syncs to Reader and downloads your items. While that’s certainly one way to sync feeds and read them offline, the main point of the orginal offline support was that it worked in the browser without the need for extra desktop apps.

The Reader team claims that only a small percentage of users ever took advantage of the offline support. But for those that did, there’s really no substitute.

The good news is that the Reader team claims this bit of “Spring cleaning” will pave the way for new features and improvements in Google Reader. Without the need to support older browsers, Reader will presumably be able to take advantage of things like HTML5 and CSS 3, though so far Google has given no hints as to what any new features might entail.

In the meantime, you’ll have to switch to a syncing app if you want to read Google Reader items without a web connection. Some of the more popular ones for the iPhone/iPod are Feeds, Byline and Reeder. For the desktop, there’s FeedDemon, NetNewsWire and RSS Bandit. For Android, we like NewsRob and Feedr. Let us know about your favorite in the comments.

See Also:

• Google Buzz Gets a ‘Retweet’ Feature
• Google Drops Support for IE6, Firefox Goes Mobile
• Google Launches Buzz, Its New Social Media Sharing Platform

Tech Week in Review 5-28-2010 —

WWDC 2010

The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off on the 7th of June. Rumors already circulated that Steve Ballmer would be speaking about Visual Studio and Silverlight, but these were found to be false. All signs point to the new iPhone being officially released after getting leaked all over the blogosphere. The question is, what new features will the new iPhone bring? Android has been making big moves, so Apple is going to have to come hard. I’m sure they have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Quit Facebook Day

Fed up with the way that Facebook has man-handled their privacy, a few brave individuals have committed themselves to quitting Facebook entirely. Currently, there are about 23,107 angry Facebook users who have committed to quitting the popular social networking site on Monday, May 31st. For this group, quitting Facebook isn’t just about privacy:

For a lot of people, quitting Facebook revolves around privacy. This is a legitimate concern, but we also think the privacy issue is just the symptom of a larger set of issues. The cumulative effects of what Facebook does now will not play out well in the future, and we care deeply about the future of the web as an open, safe and human place. We just can’t see Facebook’s current direction being aligned with any positive future for the web, so we’re leaving.

There are a few things to consider here:

• Facebook has millions of users and, while they may act apologetic, losing a few thousand won’t hurt them.
• If you are hesitant to delete your Facebook, you’re already hooked. It’s crack. Quitting will not be easy.
• There are no alternatives, despite what some may say. They are either too obscure or too much of a pain for the average Facebook user to set up.
• I would bet half of the users signed up to quit won’t actually pull the trigger on Monday.

Google Reader Goes Public and Ping.fm Gets Buzz

Not only is Buzz deeply connected to your Gmail, but it also has ties to Google Reader. Up until now, comments on Reader shares were restricted, requiring you to manually choose who could comment. This restriction killed discussion and turned many potential users off. Now, anyone can leave comments on your Reader shares if you so choose. This feature is opt-out, but I doubt we’ll see any user backlash.

Another boost for Buzz is Ping.fm support. This opens up the door for much more activity and discussion on Buzz as more users will opt to participate there. Now, if only Google would give Buzz it’s own domain and get it out of my Gmail.

In an interesting nugget of Friday afternoon news, Michael Arrington of TechCrunch has posted an article featuring a preview of the upcoming fourth version of the social news site Digg. Founder Kevin Rose has published a glorious 1080p video to YouTube aimed at explaining the new features to publishers. Among the most interesting features is the inclusion of social network contacts into the Digg ecosystem, as well as the ability for publishers to auto-publish stories to Digg via an RSS feed.

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Just like when joining most Web services these days, users will be asked to search their Facebook and Twitter accounts (among others) to follow friends and contacts via Digg. The Digg homepage will then default to a page consisting entirely of stories dugg by the users they choose to follow. When browsing articles either on the social "My News" section, or on the more traditional "Top News" tab, users will be able to see which stories their friends have dugg, as well as view their friends' comments directly in-line with the story.

Rose says these new features play into the hands of publishers because the viral aspect of sharing stories with friends will help stories achieve higher digg counts. If one person diggs a story, it shows up on the homepages of their followers, and if they digg it, the process continues. To make the process of getting articles online even simpler, publishers can now claim their RSS feeds and automatically publish their content on Digg without having to visit the site.

These changes and additions may be just what the doctor ordered for Digg which has had to continually delay these updates. Personally the preview looks pretty slick, and may actually bring me back to using Digg on a more regular basis. Check our Rose's video below and let us know what you think in the comments.

Discuss

The “early adopter” setting lets your community preview new Disqus features before they’re released to across the network. Today there are hundreds of communities that are previewing features on Disqus. Here are a couple new features that we’re testing now. If you go to your settings and tell us you are an early adopter, you can preview these features too.

Improvements to the posting experience

This is what Disqus looks like today if you are not logged in.

It’s clear that registering and logging into an account is the ultimate barrier that prevents real conversation. Disqus has always made this easy by supporting many different ways to identify yourself: either with Disqus, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, OpenID, or simply by providing your name. It’s much more appealing to participate if your audience sees a login button from something they already recognize. This week we testing a new default interface.

We think this is the most attractive comment box on the web. No login buttons, no fields to think about yet. Just a place to write your comment. It’s a simple change, but one with many enhancements baked into it. Commenters just need to write and then click Post. Once they’ve finished their comment, a box appears for them to quickly identify themselves. All the recognizable login choices are still there, but now commenters don’t need to think about it until after they’ve finished writing.

We’ve also simplified the sharing options for when you post a comment. It’s now clearer how and whether you are sharing your comment to Facebook and Twitter.

Simplicity is the goal of these changes, and we’ve made other changes to simplify the look and experience of the system. Play around with it and let us know what you think in the comments.

Like buttons

Commenters have always been able to “Like” comments. It’s a quick way to give feedback by clicking a button instead of responding with a comment.

[ screenshot ]

We’re previewing a new feature that extends “Liking” to the page itself: it could be a blog post, article, or just your personal homepage. It’s all likable. You’ll also notice a second button: the “Dislike” button (represented with a thumbs down). Our inspiration comes from Youtube.com and we’ve seen it used well there.

It’s pretty simple right now, and we’re just looking to learn how communities use this now. Soon we’ll be rolling out the “share” component of the Like buttons, which will be compatible with Facebook’s likes but also other networks like Twitter and Google Buzz.

This is one of a few new things we’re rolling out to make Disqus a broader community system. Good conversations build communities, but it’s only one of many layers. We’ll be talking more soon about how Disqus can help.

Making Control Simple — When we started Facebook, we built it around a few simple ideas. People want to share and stay connected with their friends and the people around them. When you have control over what you share, you want to share more. When you share more, the world becomes more open and connected.

Today, I want to share some thoughts on how we've evolved to this point, what we're doing now to give you more control, and what you can expect from us going forward.

Looking back, the first version of Facebook was very simple. There were almost no features. There were no status updates, photo albums or messages. There was no News Feed or Platform. The only people who could use it were college students in the United States.

The way the site worked was that everyone could see some basic information about you and the rest of your information was only visible to people in your networks and your friends by default.

As the site grew and as we rolled out new features, Facebook became less about colleges and more about sharing lots of content with different groups of people. So a little more than a year ago, we started working on a new privacy model to reflect how the site had evolved.

As News Feed became more central to your experience, we added privacy settings so you could control who could see each individual status update, photo album, video and everything else you share into the stream.

As Platform became more popular, we restricted the way applications could access your personal information. Now all applications and websites can only see content that is already visible to everyone. They must get permission to access anything else.

As regional networks grew to include more and more people, we decided to phase them out since they were too big for you to effectively control your information. While this was not a big issue in the United States, more than 50 percent of you worldwide were in networks that spanned whole countries like India and Turkey.

Replacing regional networks meant we needed a new model for control. In general, we recommended that you share basic info like status updates and posts with everyone, content like photos and videos of you with friends of your friends, and sensitive items like contact information with only your real friends. We asked each of you to look at your settings and choose what you wanted.

More recently, we also launched community pages and other ways to give you personalized and social experiences on other sites you use.

Since then, you have sent us lots of feedback. We've listened carefully in order to figure out the best next steps. We recognize that we made a lot of changes, so we really wanted to take the time to understand your feedback and make sure we address your concerns.

The number one thing we've heard is that there just needs to be a simpler way to control your information. We've always offered a lot of controls, but if you find them too hard to use then you won't feel like you have control. Unless you feel in control, then you won't be comfortable sharing and our service will be less useful for you. We agree we need to improve this.

Today we're starting to roll out some changes that will make all of these controls a lot simpler. We've focused on three things: a single control for your content, more powerful controls for your basic information and an easy control to turn off all applications.



First, we've built one simple control to set who can see the content you post. In a couple of clicks, you can set the content you've posted to be open to everyone, friends of your friends or just your friends.

This control will also apply to settings in new products we launch going forward. So if you decide to share your content with friends only, then we will set future settings to friends only as well. This means you won't have to worry about new settings in the future.

This single control makes it easier to set who can see all your content at once, but you can still use all of the same granular controls we've offered if you'd like.

Second, we've reduced the amount of basic information that must be visible to everyone and we are removing the connections privacy model. Now we'll be giving you the ability to control who can see your friends and pages. These fields will no longer have to be public.

The controls for this basic information can be found at the top of the privacy page in Basic Directory Information. We recommend that you make these settings open to everyone. Otherwise, people you know may not be able to find you and that will make the site less useful for you.

Third, we've made it simple to control whether applications and websites can access any of your information. Many of you enjoy using applications or playing games, but for those of you who don't we've added an easy way to turn off Platform completely. This will make sure that none of your information is shared with applications or websites.

If you simply want to turn off instant personalization, we've also made that easier. Already, partner sites can only see things you've made visible to everyone. But if you want to prevent them from even seeing that, you can now easily turn off instant personalization completely.

Finally and perhaps most importantly, I am pleased to say that with these changes the overhaul of Facebook's privacy model is complete. If you find these changes helpful, then we plan to keep this privacy framework for a long time. That means you won't need to worry about changes. (Believe me, we're probably happier about this than you are.)

Of course we'll continue responding to your feedback and making things simpler. But after our recent changes we're now done migrating away from the old network-based privacy model. Our new model will help the Facebook community grow to millions of more people around the world.

On a personal note, I just turned 26 years old a few days ago. I started Facebook when I was 19 and it's amazing to look back at how it has evolved. There have been a lot of changes over the years as we've continued to innovate, and I appreciate that you have all stuck with us. Each time we make a change we try to learn from past lessons, and each time we make new mistakes too. We are far from perfect, but we always try our hardest to build the best service for you and for the world. So I just want to say thanks.

We'll be rolling out these changes to all of you over the next few weeks. You can always check out the new privacy page, which explains how the settings will work. When you get the new controls, please play around and find the settings that feel best for you. If you have any questions or comments, let us know. We're listening.

Chrome Brings Stability, Syncing and HTML5 Across All Platforms —

Since Google Chrome's release in September of 2008, Mac and Linux users have been playing catchup with Windows users for features and stable releases. As of Today, all three versions of Chrome are now officially stable as the Mac and Linux versions have shed their beta labels for a faster version of Chrome with new features. According to the official Google Chrome blog, the new universally stable release also includes a handful of new HTML5 and syncing features.

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Previously only bookmarks could be synced across various machines, but with this latest release, users will now be able to port their preferences - including zoom defaults, themes and homepage settings - to the various computers they browse from. By associating browser settings with a Google account, users can quickly sync the settings on their various installations of Chrome.

Additionally, this newest version of Chrome now supports some fancy new HTML5 features, including geolocation APIs, and drag-and-drop functionality. Beta release testers of Chrome may have already spotted the ability to use Google Maps' location functions, as well as drag-and-drop of attachments from within Gmail.

According to Google, today's release of Chrome is the fastest ever, improving "by 213 percent and 305 percent in Javascript performance by the V8 and SunSpider benchmarks" since its initial beta release. Google is also working with Adobe to fully integrate Flash into the browser with new plug-in APIs, but this will not be available until the next full release of Flash Player in the near future.

Imge by Christoph Niemann.

Discuss

New Facebook Privacy Controls Arrive on Wednesday —

On Sunday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised simplified privacy settings “in coming weeks.” It now looks like that timetable has been bumped up, with an executive at the social network revealing at an event in New York that new features will launch tomorrow.

As to what those features might look like is still anyone’s guess, but we’d expect to see an alternative (or outright replacement) to the granular controls that Facebook currently offers.

While that may appease some of those who think the site confuses users into sharing more information, the biggest question is whether or not recent feature additions – specifically instant personalization and a series of social plugins – will move from automatic opt-in to manual (aka – default opt-out).

We see that as unlikely given the rapid adoption of the tools by web publishers, but we should have answers within the next day or so. Stay tuned.

[img credit: Darwin Bell]

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Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: facebook, facebook privacy, privacy

This morning, when I left for work, I also left my iPhone at home. Blasphemy, I know. But in the interest of giving Android a fair shake, which I have never done before, I have told my iPhone to forward all my calls, and intend to use the HTC Evo 4G (powered by Sprint) that I received from Google I/O last week, exclusively, for the entire week. Since gaining the device on Thursday, my iPhone use has already dropped down to a mere minimum, as much for testing as anything else, and I am finding where Android's latest offering matches up, and the cases where Apple clearly still has an edge. While it makes sense to leave anything resembling final decision making until after the conclusion of WWDC next month, I want to end May as an informed citizen who has equally consumed the Kool-Aid from the two warring camps - not as an uninformed bigot who will throw down whenever anyone questions his undying allegiance.

Deciding which direction to go as a consumer, one with significant history on one side (Apple), will depend on a few things:

1. Will making a switch eliminate any problems I have with the current platform?
2. Will making a switch gain me features I am missing on my current platform?
3. Will making a switch introduce new problems?
4. Will making a switch remove my access to things I am used to?

Clearly, new features and removed problems would be fantastic - while dealing with new headaches and lacking functionality would be less than ideal. I expect to find all of the above, and the frequency and severity of 1 through 4 will aid toward my long-term decision.

First things first, going a week on Sprint's network instead of AT&T's, should make it clear how the two differ, after nearly two years of my battling dropped calls and flaky 3G connections.

Secondly, I will need to find out which applications that I use on a daily basis on my iPhone have equivalents on the Android platform, and which do not. For those that do have equivalents, I will need to find if additional costs are needed to make them available.

While all the industry buzz is around Android Froyo (2.2) and the iPhone 4, planned for June debut, or so we think, I am admittedly a little behind already in both cases. The HTC EVO, while much respected on the hardware side, is running Android 2.1, and I am going to have to compare it with my iPhone 3G, at least until version 4 shows up. This means that Apple doesn't get a perfect position from me - as I am not contrasting it with a 3GS, and its camcorder, improved speed, etc., but I'll try to be realistic.

Forgoing a more thorough review, best saved for later, making the transition from iPhone to Android seems pretty simple. I set up my Apple mail account on the phone, as well as GMail. I configured the native Twitter client, as well as Google Buzz. The embedded Web browser is quite good, and streaming my personalized Last.fm radio station hasn't had me missing iTunes. The addition of an 8 megapixel camera and a video camera to the phone are also solid pluses for the EVO. On the flip side, I have managed to crash a number of apps, and their error messages haven't been too user friendly. Meanwhile, it turns out the rather simple act of taking a screenshot on Android is best reserved for someone with a computer science degree, not nearly as simple as on iPhone.

For the most part, I have found the applications I use on the iPhone to be available on the Android Marketplace. I don't have Cinchcast for simplified podcasts, and I couldn't find Redfin for real estate, but with those exceptions, practically everything is there. I have heard people say that some of the applications on the Android platform are not as well done as those for the iPhone, and I understand where they are coming from. There's a mix of Windows/Linux feel to some apps, while iPhone feels more like Apple, but I am trading form for function where it makes sense.

Having a phone that multitasks is a wonderful thing, and I haven't dropped a call yet. But I'll see how I feel about this particular platform by the end of the week. Let me know if you have any particular questions about the hardware or software you want me to test, and I'll do my best to give it a run.

Disclosure: I received the HTC EVO free as part of my attending Google I/O. Similarly, I gained my iPhone 3G from Socialmedian back in 2008. I guess that makes me cheap.

Android 2.2 Screenshots: Our Favorite Features in Froyo [Screenshot Tour] — Android 2.2 (code-named "Froyo," the next alphabetical installment of dessert-named releases after Cupcake, Donut, and Eclair) is now rolling out to Nexus One handsets. Whether or not you've received your update just yet, here's a quick look at our favorite new features. More »



Android - Google - Handhelds - Nexus One - AdobeFlash

Seven ways PC World is wrong about the iPhone-Android matchup —

Filed under: iPhone

Android's new features in the upcoming version 2.2 (aka "Froyo," announced this week at Google I/O) are certainly intriguing, but some sections of the press have gone off the deep end in their analysis of what this means for the iPhone and the smartphone market in general.

PC World's piece, "7 Ways Android 2.2 Froyo Tops Apple's iPhone," is a perfect example of this phenomenon, and it reads like it was written by someone who's never even held an iPhone. All seven of their points are easily debunked, even leaving aside the fact that they're comparing today's iPhone with the as-yet-unbuyable Froyo phones of tomorrow.

Read on to find out why -- and bring marshmallows.

TUAWSeven ways PC World is wrong about the iPhone-Android matchup originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 22 May 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MySpace announced today it is launching MySpace Games Lab for third-party app makers to bring more social games onto its social network. It is also launching its own internal team to make more in-house games on MySpace.

The pilot program will support game developers by providing rapid feedback and quick turnaround on new features to be added to social games. Mike Jones, co-president of MySpace, said in a blog post that MySpace welcomes game developers of all kinds.

Partners such as TheBroth and Meez were early participants in the pilot and now MySpace is broadening it. Playdom, the biggest game publisher on MySpace, is working with MySpace to update the platform with improved promotional and viral channels to help games spread faster.

Jones said that OpenSocial, which is an industry-wide rival to Facebook Connect, is making progress in getting adoption across the web. OpenSocial lets a social network share friend data via apps that operate on multiple platforms. Oxylabs, an early adopter of OpenSocial and an app maker, says its apps have monetized well.

Zynga is extending its popular Mafia Wars title on MySpace by allowing users to unlock the Bangkok chapter of the game. Meanwhile, Jones said MySpace hired Manu Rekhi as general manager of MySpaces Games and Developer Platform.

Google Maps Now Makes Getting on the Right Train Easier —

Earlier this month, Google announced the addition of biking directions to Google Maps. Today, Google is also enhancing its maps by adding more data about local public transit options. Whenever you search for a station in Google Maps, you can now see a list of transit lines that service this station. For trains, Google Maps will also display the next scheduled departure times for every line.

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We have to say, however, that while this feature worked great for the example given in Google's blog post ("Zurich HB") and most of the larger transit stations in big cities like New York, finding the right name for smaller train stations can be rather frustrating.

One More Feature That Sets Google Apart from the Competition

While this is only a minor addition to Google's mapping product, the constant drumbeat of new features and partnerships that Google Maps announces on an almost weekly basis makes it hard for competitors like Bing Maps to keep pace. Even though Bing Maps offers a very competitive set of mapping and directions features that still outperform Google Maps in many ways, Google is currently offering a more comprehensive set of features. Thanks to Google's strong emphasis on getting local businesses to update their own data in Google Maps, the company also offers better data for local searches.

Given Microsoft's renewed focus on Bing - and the Web in general - it would be wrong to count Bing Maps out, but for the time being, it looks like it will be hard for Microsoft to catch up with Google.

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Foursquare Columns Bring Location Streams Front & Center —

One of the major new features included in Tweetdeck’s desktop update today was Foursquare integration. Seesmic and Hootsuite also have Foursquare functionality in their web browser based clients. Not only do these integrations work great, but they do something that the Foursquare API was meant for in our opinion: they make location streams come alive.

Foursquare only

First of all, if you use Tweetdeck desktop or Seesmic or Hootsuite web and are not on Foursquare, or prefer another location/check-in app, you now in our opinion have two options: either join Foursquare, or send Tweetdeck/Seesmic/Hootsuite emails begging them to include your service’s API (assuming they have an API – Gowalla, for one has half an API, but Brightkite and now Latitude have full read-write APIs). We’re not judging  any of these services here, we’re only saying that Foursquare’s API is currently the only one that is getting this treatment, which is a shame, but until the others get the same treatment, Foursquare rules the hill.

One caveat for this post: we use location services a lot, and on Foursquare, like other services, we have a fair number of friends (or whatever they’re called) so our streams refresh often. Just like any social media service, if you follow too many or too few people, your stream isn’t nearly as interesting, and location services are no different.

Why it’s important

This kind of visualization has the power to change how location is consumed (and to a lesser extent created as users can check-in from their laptops, but compared to mobile check-ins, laptop check-ins are few and far between). Here’s how it will change: instead of wading through your Twitter stream to find or catch Foursquare updates of where people are and what they are doing, with the dedicated column, these updates are pushed to you all in one place. Simply put, these streams can offer a lot of information in a condensed format. The new version also supports a map mode of all of your friends’ recent check-ins, as well as geotagged tweets (which again, are few and far between).

The whole experience is a very visual one and somewhat hard to translate here into the written word – but trust us, if you haven’t tried it before, its compelling. One thing that we would like to see, however, is an emphasis (another column option perhaps) on trending/hot places that people are checking into. While not too useful late at night when you’re out and about (again, this is only available on the desktop), for daytime events or say breaking news, this kind of a column would be invaluable, especially if it went beyond your current friends list to the public stream (and especially if Foursquare opens up its home stream firehose).

Expect a lot of innovation with these streams moving forward, especially as the APIs mature and developers begin to integrate multiple location services.

Not being a fan of memory-hogging desktop clients, I prefer to use Web apps in my browser of choice (Google Chrome) for most everything. For Twitter, I tend to use Brizzly, a product of San Francisco-based Thing Labs, which was founded by former Googlers.

It’s a nice Web app, apart from its annoying general sluggishness, and new features get added consistently so it has me sticking around for now.

This morning when logging in, I was greeted with a message saying that ‘Brizzly Picnics was coming soon’. Clicking through for more information, I found myself on this page, which talks a bit about what the new feature is or will be.

It’s all a bit cryptic, but here’s the whole message they’re trying to convey:

Friend is not a verb. Your real friends are already your friends. In Brizzly Picnics you can make sure they stay that way. Invite only the people you want to join you in a conversation. Much like you might do in real life. Sounds easy, doesn’t it?

Spam? What spam? When you’re in control of who you talk to, you won’t see unwanted messages. Brizzly Picnics put you in control of the guest list (just like a real picnic, or party, or conversation.)

The guy who bought your couch is not your buddy. I mean, he seemed nice and all when he answered your classified ad, but he’s basically a stranger. So why would he be in a list of people with whom you might share information with? We don’t think he should be. He won’t be, in Brizzly Picnics.

There’s a time and a place for Bieber. …and it’s probably not while you’re talking to your dad. If you care about celebrity news, there’s probably a good way for you to find out about it. It shouldn’t rudely interrupt conversations with your friends. Brizzly Picnics will keep news about teenage Canadian pop stars polite.

Your family doesn’t need a subject line. You’ve got a funny video, or an interesting news story, or a new website to share. Do you really need to open up a new email thread? Not if you’re using Brizzly Picnics. Just have a conversation.

You don’t want to hear about a pretend farm. You’re probably really happy your friend’s digital farm is going well and everything, but don’t want to hear about it every day. That’s why you should just invite them to talk. In a Brizzly Picnic. Coming soon.

You can cut the clutter from your conversations. Not everything you say needs to be broadcast. You might have different things to say to different groups of people. Brizzly Picnics will let you do this. Pretty easily, in fact.

Looking at past coverage, I noticed the startup talked about Picnics before, and even has a live example right here (a dead link to another one turns up in search results, too).

Sounds to me like a Twitter or Google Buzz type service but inherently private, for communication in small groups that doesn’t belong out in the open. Kinda like opening up a private chatroom or IM session – or is there more to it?

I guess we’ll find out more ‘soon’. Though I’m hoping they’ll sort out the loading speed issues first …

Google just announced Froyo, the next version of its Android mobile operating system. According to Google, this new version will be significantly faster and more enterprise-friendly. Froyo will also offer a backup API, a "cloud-to-device" messaging API and support for tethering and portable hotspots. In addition, Android 2.2 will feature a significantly faster browser and better ways to find Android apps.

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Cloud-to-Device Messaging

One of the most exciting new features in Android 2.2 is the addition of a cloud-to-device messaging service that, at first glance, looks a bit like Apple's push notifications service. Taking a swipe at Apple, however, Google's vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra noted that this API is not meant to "make up for the lack of basic features like multi-tasking." Instead, this new API will allow users to send "Android intent" messages from other services like Google Maps. In the example Google showed during today's keynote, Gundotra sent directions from Google Maps on the Web directly to the phone.

Speed

Gundotra also stressed that this new version of Android is significantly faster than current versions. Thanks to a new compiler, various benchmarks show that apps on Android 2.2 are up to five times faster than the same code running on Android 2.1.

Enterprise

Google is clearly going after enterprise users with Android 2.2 as well. The new version of the operating system will feature Exchange capabilities like account atuo-discover and calendar sync. Thanks to a new device policy management API, developers will now also be able to write apps that can perform remote wipes.

Tethering and Mobile Hotspots

Android devices will now be able to function as portable hotspots. Enabling a hotspot will be as easy as turning on this feature in the Android settings. This functionality, of course, will have to be enabled by the carriers.

Browser

The browser in Android gets a major performance boost thanks to the addition of the Chrome V8 JavaScript engine to Android. In today's demo, which featured quite a few swipes at Apple, the Android browser clearly outperformed Safari on the iPad. According to Google, the addition of the V8 engine has resulted in a 3x improvement in JavaScript performance.

The next version of Android will also give developers greater access to the phone's sensors and allow apps to interact with input from a phone's accelerometer and camera.

Voice Input

Google also highlighted Android's voice recognition features. As Gundotra noted, using voice recognition currently works great for long queries. In the next version of Android after 2.2, the software will also be able to understand intentions. While Google only introduced this feature very briefly, it was clearly meant to remind the audience of Siri, a company Apple recently acquired in order to offer a similar feature of the iPhone OS.

External Memory and Auo-Updating for Apps

Android will now also automatically move applications that don't fit into the device's internal memory to an SD card. In addition, you can now update all your apps with one click and even tell Android to update all your apps automatically.

Market in the Browser

Google will now also bring the Android Market to the browser. Thanks to the new cloud-to-device messaging feature, whenever you buy an app in the new Android Market on the Web, that app will now automatically begin downloading on your Android device.

Music

Users will also soon be able to stream their music from their desktops to their Android devices. To enable these features, Google has quietly acquired Simplify Media.

Discuss

Mozilla is rebranding its Weave Sync feature, which keeps your bookmarks, history and other Firefox data in sync across computers. As of version 1.3, Weave will be now be known as Firefox Sync.

The name change is intended to help less tech-savvy users understand what Weave does — namely, sync Firefox.

However, because Weave also works (somewhat) with SeaMonkey and Thunderbird, the name Firefox Sync may end up confusing some users. So far no word on whether there will be a Thunderbird Sync or SeaMonkey Sync.

Firefox developer Tony Chung announced the name change and the release of Firefox Sync version 1.3 (still in beta) on his blog.

The new version of the add-on isn’t just a rebranding, there are also quite a few new features coming to the add-on formerly know as Weave. The new Firefox Sync 1.3 features a new user interface, better response times during syncing, a backup feature for your bookmarks before the first sync and better support for Fennec, the mobile version of Firefox. Complete release notes with all of the changes in this version can be found on the Mozilla site.

Chung says that a final version of Firefox Sync will available later this month, though don’t expect to see the rebranded add-on joining Firefox proper for some time. According to Chung, the version of Weave that currently ships with Firefox 3.6 won’t be updated until the new Firefox Sync hits 2.0 (we assume it will probably do so before Firefox 4.0 ships later this year).

In the mean time if you’d like to test out the latest version of Firefox Sync, head over to the Mozilla Labs page (which still refers to the add-on as Weave) and look for the link to the “experimental” version in the green bar. As always, we recommend upgrading all instances of Firefox Sync before actually syncing your data.

See Also:

• Xmarks Syncs Open Tabs Across Browsers, iPhone
• Mozilla Gets Ready to Weave Syncing Into Firefox
• Weave Adds Personas to its Bag of Firefox Syncing Tricks
• Weave May Let You Keep Firefox and Your iPhone in Sync

Bing Maps Tells You How Far, Where to Gas Up & Park When You Get There —

Microsoft has introduced some new features to Bing Maps this week that look to make the Google Maps competitor a one-stop destination for trip planning.

Bing continues to add overlay data on top of its mapping application rather than relying on third-party mashups and its becoming increasingly useful in doing so.

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The first of the three new features is a Distance Calculator Map App that helps you to find out how far it is from point A to point B. It will tell you the distance flying, driving and bussing. If you feel like adding a few stops along the way, it will let you add as many of those as you'd like to, so you can plan out different legs of a trip.

In addition to distance calculation, Bing has also added apps to find gas prices and parking places. Both operate rather simply - zoom in on an area of the map and get results. For the gas prices, if you enter an address, it will provide you with gas prices within a 5-mile radius. Makers for each location dot the map, while the price, name, brand, and location are listed in a sidebar.

The parking finder, powered by BestParking.com is much the same - markers for lots with more information when you click on the marker or look to the sidebar. Although it won't find you a street spot in Manhattan, it will give you an estimate on parking costs with a rate calculator. You can even find out lot hours, payment types, and locations, as well as look at photos of the place you'll be leaving your beloved vehicle.

Microsoft makes a good case for these new apps being handy-dandy tools for planning out a trip and we're looking forward to more. From finding out the best place to live to planning out a road trip, Bing Maps really seems to be bringing more to the table with each addition.

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