Software : Facebook makes guinea pigs out of Windows Phone users with new app

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Facebook makes guinea pigs out of Windows Phone users with new app Posted: Facebook has today made a new version of its app for Windows Phone available, which gives users the opportunity to test new features before hitting the main app. The social network and Microsoft are inviting users to join its beta program for the new application, which brings several of the features most requested by users in an unrefined form. The beta app brings high-res photos and Facebook Timeline profile pages, giving the app an appearance more like the Android and iOS iterations rather than the 'Metro' UI associated with Windows Phone. The hope is that users will send bug reports and feedback to enable the new features to graduate to the main Facebook for Windows Phone app in a more timely fashion. Energetic volunteer? You're up In a post on the official Windows Phone blog, Microsoft wrote: "Today we're launching a new program designed to help speed up delivery of new features in the official Facebook app for Windows Phone and need sharp-eyed, energetic volunteers to download a beta version of our next release and tell us how to make it better." However, the company warned: "Don't like it when apps crash? This probably isn't the program for you." The good thing for Windows Phone users is that the existing app and the Beta app will sit alongside each other, so if users get too annoyed by the crashes, they can revert back to the main app. The beta app is not listed on the Windows Phone store (Microsoft reckons it'd cause confusion and it is probably right), but Windows Phone users can download the app by clicking this link.

Google enhancing search with deeper app integration for Deezer and more Posted: Google search is always changing, but thankfully those changes are usually for the better, like today's announcement of "app activities" in search results. Soon when Google search users look for the name of an app or service, if that app is integrated with Google+ app activities, detailed information will be displayed to the right of search results. App activities will initially be available for music and movie apps that include Deezer, Fandango, Flixster, Slacker Radio, Songza, SoundCloud and TuneIn. The feature is rolling out on desktop search (no mobile for now) "over the next few weeks," according to a Google+ blog post. Going deeper in search results Google's Director of Product Management for Google+ Seth Sternberg wrote to developers this morning that "When users search for your app, they often want to go deeper and see what in-app content fellow users find interesting." "Today we're making this possible by bringing app activity to Google search results," he continued. Searching for Fandango, for example, will now display a list of movies that are popular among Google+ users to the right of search results. Clicking on a movie there will take searchers directly to that movie's page on Fandango. Previously, that space on search results could be occupied by a brief summary with an image and a recent post if the app that was being searched had a Google+ page. But the new app activities integration contains much more information and can help users get to the page they want more quickly. Developers can learn more on Google's development blog about how to integrate app activities into their Google+ profiles so that they show up in search results. One downside could be if users go straight to the page they were looking for from Google's search results, they'll skip that site's main page and miss all the featured content and ads there. It will be interesting to see the various ways that different apps handle this feature.

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