Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Software : Apple makes iWork apps free on all 'new' iOS devices

Software : Apple makes iWork apps free on all 'new' iOS devices

Apple makes iWork apps free on all 'new' iOS devices

Posted:

Apple makes iWork apps free on all 'new' iOS devices

Let's hope you didn't just pay for Apple's iWork software. Apple announced today that its iOS suite is going to be free.

This includes Pages, Numbers, iMovie, Keynote, and iPhoto on the iPhone and iPad.

This means that Apple is taking on work productivity competitors like Microsoft that have popped up in the iOS App Store and on rival devices.

Developing...

Sorry, Shazam: Google Glass just stole your best trick

Posted:

Sorry, Shazam: Google Glass just stole your best trick

They may be the few and the proud, but Google Glass early adopters have just received another round of monthly updates for September, including access for Explorers with Google Apps accounts.

Google Glass updated its Google+ page on Monday to inform users of a handful of new features now available to intrepid Explorers and #Glassholes alike.

Photos can now be more than just a single image thanks to vignettes, which include whatever happens to be on the Glass display superimposed over the photo just captured.

Summoned with a tap and the new "Make vignette" option, Google calls the feature "a whole new way to tell stories through pictures."

Seek and recognize

Google Glass search has also been improved on two fronts, with YouTube results now appearing in results and Shazam-style audio recognition.

Glass offers two ways to do a sound search: A long press on the touchpad with a swipe forward, or a press with the voice query, "What song is this?"

Last but not least, Google Apps accounts are now supported for many services including email, but Explorers will need to do a factory reset first in order to sign in with such accounts.

The September updates arrive just in time for a new online Explorers Community event this Friday, Sept. 13, which will include a virtual "Glassroom" hangout for getting up to speed with the latest news.

  • No budget for a new iPhone? Catch the latest news on the rumored low-cost iPhone 5C!

The inevitable Imperial March towards Instagram ads is well underway

Posted:

The inevitable Imperial March towards Instagram ads is well underway

Instagram has admitted that the halcyon days of commercial-free feeds of filtered photos are coming to an end, with plans afoot to integrate advertisements within the next year.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Instagram's Facebook-appointed chief operating officer Emily White said the time is come for Instagram to begin making the transition from uber-cool app to money-spinner.

The photo-sharing app, purchased by Facebook last year for $1 billion in cash and stock (around £630m AU$1.08bn), faces the challenge of producing a return on the investment, without turning off an army of loyal users.

Ms White said: "We want to make money in the long term, but we don't have any short-term pressure."

Keeping the cool factor

It's likely that users will be 'treated' to filtered photos from brands keen to enjoy a slice of the Instagram's cool factor. We're thinking fashion labels, tech companies, cool alcohol brands, etc.

It's also possible that the company will be begin charging brands who already enjoy a sizeable following on the app to promote their Instagram posts to a wider audience, a la Facebook.

Of course, we could also see auto-playing video commercials adorning our Instagram feeds.

Will the addition of ads see threats of a mass boycott in the same way the initial Facebook acquisition provoked a backlash? Or will Instagram users just take it in their heavily-filtered stride?

Facebook posts on the morning news? It's happening

Posted:

Facebook posts on the morning news? It's happening

Facebook announced the release of two new APIs today that allow "selected news organizations" to integrate posts and data from the social network directly into their content.

The new tools allow these organizations to do anything from simply displaying a real time feed of posts related to a certain topic, to breaking down social conversations by demographics like age, sex, and location.

Facebook provided some examples, like a certain program delving into how many people are discussing a certain topic on Facebook, where they're located, and the age and gender groups among which topic is most popular.

Currently, only Buzzfeed, CNN, NBC's Today Show, BSkyB, Slate, and Mass Relevance have access to the new APIs, but Facebook said it will announce more partners "in the coming weeks."

Tooting its own horn

Facebook highlighted its apparent popularity in today's announcement.

For example, the social network claims that the NFL season kick-off last week garnered 20 million likes, comments, and shares by more than 8 million Facebook users.

In addition an infographic states that 88 million to 100 million Facebook users log in during the "primetime hours" between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. every day in the U.S. alone. And 245 million people discussed, shared, and liked the Super Bowl in February.

Facebook's new tools should allow news organizations and the company's other partners to leverage and explore that activity in new ways.

Surfacing the conversations

Facebook said it's been rolling out products, tools and services "aimed at surfacing the public conversations happening on Facebook."

These include hashtags, embedded posts, and trending topics, according to the social network, as well as the tools announced today.

The tools available to Facebook's select partners today include the Keyword Insights API and the Public Feed API, though based on the language in the announcements it seems other, similar tools will become available in the future.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)