Heads up foursquare for BlackBerry users, there is a new version out for you to take for a spin! Released today was v3.0 Alpha, which brings not only bug fixes but some very interesting new features as well, namely integration with BlackBerry Messenger thanks to the new BBM Social Platform we’ve been hearing more and more about! Some other features have been given an update, such as the Explore feature, and the UI seems to have gotten a bit of a facelift throughout the app. If you choose to install this version (since it’s Alpha, it’s at your own risk) let us know what other cool stuff you find! You can check out some additional screenshots here, courtesy of rroyy.
Rovio, the company behind the cash cow that is Angry Birds, has announced that they are working on an in-app payment system for selling new content without the use of third party software. It seems that Rovio wants to cut out the middle man, which is a pretty intelligent move on their part.
Furthermore, the system would also feature a system for carriers to retrieve a piece of the action as well, perhaps for allowing Rovio to charge the payments directly to the users wireless bill?
This will certainly be an interesting development to follow, and given how insanely popular the game has become, Rovio is poised to make a pretty hefty profit for selling additional content in this way.
The FCC is trying to get 911 emergency services up to date with the latest technologies involving mobile devices. The bulk of the task involves building a system that could handle accepting 911 text messages, mobile video footage, audio recordings, pictures and pings (mainly from services such as alarm systems and On-Star enabled vehicles).
The FCC sees this as a challenge, but a must in the continued advancement in emergency needs for the public. These functions would allow someone to report a crime without being overheard, or from off in the distance if they see a crime being committed.
The FCC said the following at a Press Release Tuesday announcing their planned changes;
“The technological limitations of 9-1-1 can have tragic, real-world consequences… During the 2007 Virginia Tech campus shooting, students and witnesses desperately tried to send texts to 9-1-1 that local dispatchers never received. If these messages had gone through, first responders may have arrived on the scene faster with firsthand intelligence about the life-threatening situation that was unfolding.”
This could be a huge aid in the speed to which emergency situations are responded to, as well as resolved within a time frame where evidence is crucial. It is noted that currently, there are over 230 million 911 calls, 70% of which are made from mobile devices.
Skyfire has announced version 3.0 of their browser for Android which knocks the social socks right off you: this thing comes packed with Facebook integration to make browsing more meaningful for you. For starters, every page you visit within Skyfire can be “liked” with a built-in “Like” button. Upon liking a page, that activity will be posted on your Facebook account for your friends to see what you’ve been browsing.
Another cool feature is “Popular Content” which will search the entire Facebook network for the most popular content on whatever site you happen to be visiting. For instance, visiting the New York Times and accessing the Popular Content feature will show you a list of the most popular pages. Your friends’ activity on that particular site appears at the top so you can easily find out what people close to you are looking at.
Fireplace is another socially-driven content exploration feature, except it brings back all of the webpage links from your Facebook timeline and displays them in top-to-bottom RSS fashion. Finally, their new search features have gotten a nice overhaul as you’ll be able to go beyond the barriers that Google (or whoever your default provider is) sets. If you want to see what your friends and other Facebook users are saying about what you’re searching for, just tap the Facebook button and those results come up right away. You’ll be able to do the same for videos from VideoSurf, Diggs, Tweets from Twitter, and you’ll be able to look it up on Amazon all with just a couple of clicks from the search bar.
It’s not in the market yet, but they promise Skyfire 3.0 will be there very soon, and I’m personally excited to try it out once it’s finally available. Take a look at the video above for a detailed overview of the latest features.
Many of us have used WinAmp on our desktops for a long while now. Winamp recently dropped their Android application into the Android Market and it looks like we’ll be receiving an update that brings many new features to the application.
Word on the street is that once the update goes live, we’ll be able to listen to over 44,000 SHOUTcast radio stations. DownloadSquad, Nullsoft’s sister site, has offered up some information on what we’ll be looking forward to with WinAmp’s next release and has even provided a few screenies of these features in action.
For this alpha build, Nullsoft has focused onSHOUTcast integration. The implementation is still a little rough around the edges, but it works — it worksreallywell. You can browse the top stations, and browse by genre or search term. Click a station to listen to it, or push-and-hold to add it to your favourites for easy access in the future. Presumably, if you listen to one station enough, it might be automatically added to your favorites, too. Rounding up the changes, there’s ‘My recent stations’, which is exactly what it sounds like.
There’s no official word on when this update will arrive, but the SHOUTcast integration seems to be coming along quite nicely and we’re looking forward to it. Are you?
Scan the QR code below or if browsing with your Android device, simply click the image.
The Army seems to be favoring Android devices and Operating Systems because it allows them to take applications and customize them to work how they need them to. Makes sense since Android is open source.
SOCOM asked developers last week to create a suite of applications to keep soldiers in contact with each other while on missions, communicate over IM/Chat, and use a whiteboard (John Madden tool) to draw up plans for maps.
Due to the popularity of Android devices and growth in better technology featuring Android OS, the Army is looking towards using these devices to help them in the field, due to their advancements in lighter weight, longer lasting batteries and open source customizations.
For more information, please read the full Wired article by clicking below.
HootSuite has just added Facebook to its social networking account access abilities. This positions HootSuite as not only a Professional social networking tool for business, but also as a personal application to help people stay connected and active with their multiple social networking accounts.
Most likely features to be released on HootSuite next would be LinkedIn and Foursquare, but we’ll have to wait. Those additions would make HootSuite a truly appealing app for managing social networking both in a corporate setting, as well as personal.
Scan the QR to get the app below or search “HootSuite” in the Android Market.
Android Market search tool AppBrain has recently updated their app. In addition to an enhanced UI, you can know search for apps using the same variety of filters available though the website.
Another handy addition is the social integration. You can connect to your Facebook profile via the app to see which of your friends have AppBrain profiles, or you can view the profiles of popular users such as Leo Laporte or Lifehacker’s Kevin Purdy. Want to show off your apps? You can link your profile using email, SMS, or Twitter.
One of my favorite features of AppBrain which really isn’t brought up is the simple benefit of your apps being tracked on a off site source. If you get a new Android, or if something unfortunate happens to your phone, your AppBrain profile makes it easy to retrieve all the apps you had.
If you want to download the AppBrain app for yourself, click HERE from your Android phone, or scan the QR code below. Want to know what AndroidSPIN team is up to? You can check out the profiles for Simon, Salim, and myself.
Google’s foray in the phone operating system industry is booming. The growth of Android, along with the abundance of “DROID” advertising has helped launch itself into the forefront of consumers who seek an alternative to the white walled garden, and of AT&T. While Android’s speed of development has been great, there is definitely one area that can be improved upon still: Media. I’m not just talking Android’s lackluster default media player (at least we have alternatives), but the way you obtain, organize, and manage your music and videos. Now, I don’t believe Android NEEDS an iTunes equivalent, I’m quite contempt with manually transferring my media, but it would make some things easier.
The fact that Google is looking to launch Google Music with their next update, code-named Gingerbread – aka, Android 3.0 , gives us a good indication that they wants to be your to go to gadget for tunes. On top of that, Google TV is making great strides with it’s partnership with Logitech, showing off a Harmony Remote app for Android.
While not many details are known to us yet, the fact that Google is looking to launch Google Music, and Google TV, means even tighter integration to Android. So stop playing Angry Birds beta for just a second and take a stroll with me to the possible future….
Manage and organization of your media with the database powers of Google’s search
One stop access to downloading music, tv, & movies
Google TV integration for transferring TV shows & Movies to your phone or tablet
Wireless/Wifi Syncing of new media content
What other possibilities can you imagine? Let us know in the comments.
Square freshly released their app for Android just last week, enabling any smartphone as a mobile point-of-sale system. Now developers can begin to test out direct integration of Square’s service into their apps with a public preview that was released today. Currently at version 0.9, there are still some bugs to be worked out before the API set exits beta, but the idea of integrating direct credit card payments through Square into existing or new applications opens up some real possibilities for innovation.
A cool example described on the site hosting the API files is integrating Square payments into a taxi cab fare app, which would track distance travelled via GPS and then calculate a passengers fare. The cab driver could then accept payment via plastic rather than paper money.
Along with PayPal’s new Mobile Payments Library, the range of ways developers can create store-fronts (and the ways in which smartphone users can spend money) on mobile apps is fast increasing. Good thing there are also apps like Mint to keep our wallets in check.
We’ve heard rumors about a Cseries lineup of smartphones coming from Nokia and today we see the Nokia C5 announced. The C5 is a S60 3rd Edition device focused on messaging and social networking. It is a traditional candy bar form factor device.
Some of the known specifications include:
2.2 inch display
3.2 megapixel camera
microSD card slot
Stereo FM radio
3.5mm headset jack
Talk time of 12 hours
Available in white and grey
Dimensions of 4.41 x 1.81 x 0.47 inches
The Nokia C5 will be available in Q2 for a MSRP of €135 (approx. $182.5) in Europe, Eurasia, China, and more.
There are some unique software improvements, including the ability to see your friend’s Facebook status updates right within the phone book app. You can also update Facebook with your location from within the included Ovi Maps 3.0.
Google’s foray in the phone operating system industry is booming. The growth of Android, along with the abundance of “DROID” advertising has helped launch itself into the forefront of consumers who seek an alternative to the white walled garden, and of AT&T. While Android’s speed of development has been great, there is definitely one area that can be improved upon still: Media. I’m not just talking Android’s lackluster default media player (at least we have alternatives), but the way you obtain, organize, and manage your music and videos. Now, I don’t believe Android NEEDS an 
We’ve heard rumors about a Cseries lineup of smartphones coming from Nokia and today we see the 
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