Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Software : Look for Facebook to keep turning services into their own apps

Software : Look for Facebook to keep turning services into their own apps

Look for Facebook to keep turning services into their own apps

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Look for Facebook to keep turning services into their own apps

Facebook Messenger being cleaved off from the full Facebook experience and turned into its own app was only the beginning, according to Facebook creator and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Zucky told The New York Times that his company's Creative Labs is hard at work "unbundling the big blue app."

That means building up standalone apps like WhatsApp and Instagram, but also spinning certain aspects of Facebook out into their own services, just like with Facebook Messenger.

Recall that Creative Labs is the division within Facebook that recently released Facebook Paper, a very different way to view the social network, and is working on other undisclosed experiments.

The long game

Zuckerberg said people want separate experiences on mobile, as opposed to the single, all-inclusive desktop site and mobile app that Facebook has started out with.

For users a big part of why is being able to control exactly what notifications you receive, he continued.

"I think you'll see a combination of us making some of these things that have been products for a while into first-class experiences," he said. "And you'll see us exploring new areas that we felt we didn't have the room to do before."

Zuckerberg added that "most" of the new things Facebook is doing won't "move any needles" for a long time in terms of Facebook's overall business, because that business is so large.

But that doesn't mean those things - like Paper, or Facebook Home - will never be successful. They just might take three or five years before they reach Instagram levels of success, he said.

  • Speaking of experiments, try TechRadar's Google Glass review

BBC iPlayer downloads now available on all recent Android devices

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BBC iPlayer downloads now available on all recent Android devices

The vast majority of BBC iPlayer users on Android are now able to download content to watch offline after the corporation updated the app on Tuesday.

Following the initial roll out on 11 devices in September last year and a careful expansion since, the Beeb has now announced that all smartphones and tablets running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and above are in on the act.

That means 96 per cent of all current users will be able to grab episodes of Eastenders, Match of the Day, Panorama to view when Wi-Fi connectivity isn't available and without rinsing their mobile data allowance.

The updated app is now available to download from the Google Play Store.

Testing, testing

The opening up of the feature to practically all users goes against the Beeb's recent policy of testing it on every device before widening availability.

As such, with 5,000 phones and tablets now able to access the complete set of features, the Beeb says users of some devices may experience a few bugs.

"We believe that the vast majority of devices will enjoy a great video downloading experience. However, with more than five thousand different phone, phablet and tablet models able to install the BBC iPlayer Android app, there are likely to be a number of devices that exhibit bugs concerning download behaviour, wrote senior product manager David Berlin on the BBC Internet blog."

iTunes Radio UK launch may be imminent as Apple courts advertisers

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iTunes Radio UK launch may be imminent as Apple courts advertisers

Apple's iAd man in the UK has been briefing advertising agencies on the inner workings of the iTunes Radio platform suggesting a launch on these shores may finally be on the horizon.

According to a tweet sent by Hannah Allen, the head of marketing at OMD UK, her firm was paid a visit by Paul Wright who manages Apple's advertising platform from a London base.

She tweeted: "Great to see @paulwright66 back at @OMD_UK to take us through Apple's iAd and iTunes Radio - can't wait for that to hit UK!"

Despite calls from fellow Twitter users for her to reveal the precise launch date, Miss Allen is yet to follow up the tweet.

The wait goes on

The iTunes Radio launch in the UK has been awaited since Apple rolled out the free, ad-supported streaming platform to US users alongside iOS 7 in September 2013.

Apple had pledged an early 2014 launch across the pond, but aside from the occasional appearance on random devices in the UK, it is yet to make it's official bow.

Surely now we can't be far away. What price the announcement of a UK roll-out at WWDC in June?
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