Get social with the Olympics

PlayUp's sporting social network has recently updated with lots of content specific to the Olympics, and with the games just getting started, it seemed like a good time for a review. If you're looking for more, be sure to check out our round-up of Olympics Android apps, and expect another one soon.PlayUp curates a wide range of sports content from a bunch of different sources, including Twitter, USA Today, NBC, ESPN, Reuters, and others. There's even some decent video content that seems to come direct from PlayUp. For the Olympics, users can drill down into individual categories, check schedules and results, as well as create hangouts, where you can publicly or privately banter with other PlayUp users about events as they happen. Users can add friends through Facebook and Twitter connections to send them direct messages and see their activity on the network. Users can also add sports to favorites for quick access later on...

[Source: To read the full article visit Android Central]

Gmail video chat being upgraded to Google+ Hangouts

If we were ever in doubt that Google+ is becoming more of a focus for Google, today's Gmail announcement just reinforces it a little bit more. The video chat feature in Gmail is being replaced as of this morning. Taking its place, Google+ Hangouts. 

It isn't that surprising to see this integration eventually come around, but it is still a welcome upgrade. Google+ Hangouts is already a pretty powerful video conferencing tool, and without having to be in Google+ to use it just makes it that bit more useful day-to-day. It also means that you're able to reach your contacts for video chatting on their mobile devices too. 

The beauty is, every Gmail user will benefit from this upgrade, they don't have to be using Google+. But, if you're a user of both, then you can enjoy the full Hangouts experience such as watching YouTube videos together, collaborating on documents, or perhaps more importantly, dressing as a pirate.

[Source: Android Central]

Blinq Photo will save and share your images

Blinq Photo lets you access, share and edit photos on a home computer remotely. Its purpose is to provide users with a free solution for creating and sharing photos and albums. I found it to be simple and effective and requires very little fuss.

Let me walk you through the process of getting Blinq Photo set up:

1. Install Blinq Photo on your Mac. It's free in the Mac App Store.
2. Create an account.
3. Watch as Blinq Photo scans your iPhoto and/or Aperture Libraries, tagging each photo and album with a unique URL.

Next, install the iOS app and log into your account. You'll see the albums and photos on your home computer (via Wi-Fi or 3G) as long as the host Mac is running and has an active Internet connection. From there you can share a photo or album via email, Facebook or TwitPic, order prints or save an image to your Camera Roll. Once you have the photo on your iPhone or iPad, you can edit it or modify it with any photo editor you have.

[Source: TUAW - Read the full story here]

Olympics sparks 9.66 million Twitter mentions

Twitter's grand ambitions for the 2012 Olympics seem to be off to a mixed start. On the positive side, the service saw 9.66 million mentions of the Opening Ceremony from the start of the event at 8:00PM in London until the end of the delayed US broadcast. For the most part, the chosen time period eliminates anticipatory tweets about the event (with the exception of US viewers, who had to wait for NBC's delayed broadcast of the Opening Ceremony). On the negative side, many US viewers took to Twitter to express their displeasure with NBC's decision not to stream the Opening or Closing ceremonies, which Twitter may not be too happy about considering their decision to partner with NBC on Olympics coverage.  Twitter has grown exponentially over the past few years — a single day last week had more tweets total than during the entirety of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, according to a recent blog post. In 2008, the service saw just 300,000 tweets per day, not counting spam. The company's growing user base, its recent moves to curate news on important events, and the partnership that turned the service into the "official narrator" of the 2012 Olympics all show Twitter wants to become a significant media outlet in its own right. Now we just need to see whether those ambitions will be contained in a walled garden.

[Source: The Verge]

Path unveils 2.5: Larger photos, movie sharing, and a 'nudge'

Path, the social-networking app designed to keep users in touch with family and close friends, rolled out a major update this evening for the iPhone and Android platforms that brings a variety of new features, including the ability to "nudge" friends.

Version 2.5 of the app, the first major update to the mobile app since November 2011, introduces book and movie sharing, larger images, and new photo editing tools.

Photos will now appear larger in home feeds, and users will have the option of adding filters. Users can snap photos by touching the volume button or immediately switch to capturing video with a single tap of the video screen.

The new version also allows users to share movies and books with friends, as well as get reviews and actor and author information without leaving Path.

"It's our hope that these additions to Path allow [users] to watch and read what your friends are watching and reading," the company said in a company blog post announcing the rollout.

Path streamlined the intro process with a short tour called Path 101 designed to get new users up and running more quickly.

One of the more interesting new features of the app allows users to "nudge" inactive friends and family. Like Facebook's "poke," the feature encourages inactive friends to post what they've been up to. It also allows users to send friend suggestions to friends and add personal voice messages.

[Source: cnet]

Roku lands $45M in funding, plans hardware, media expansion

Roku, the maker of a popular player for streaming Web content to TV sets, has closed a new round of funding.

The company has landed a $45 million investment from companies including News Corp. and British Sky Broadcasting, it announced today.

Also participating in the round were prior Roku venture investors Menlo Ventures and Globespan Capital Partners, as well as an unnamed strategic investor. In addition to the cash injection, News Corp's chief digital officer, Jon Miller, has joined the Roku board of directors, while Roku CEO Anthony Wood remains chairman.

"Our philosophy is to give consumers the best streaming TV experience, with the most content and at the best value in the market; and it has served us well as millions of consumers have brought Roku into their homes," said Wood. "With the News Corporation and Sky strategic relationships, we are poised to further grow our leadership position and to become the TV distribution platform of the future."

Roku will use the funding to promote brand awareness, launch new advertising campaigns and enter new markets. It also plans to increase engineering and production to support the growth of both its hardware and the digital media services available on the Roku platform, including advertising, games, transactional and pay-per-view video, and content.

The company is set to release the Roku Streaming Stick this fall. The wireless, dongle-sized steaming device will be compatible with the latest television sets and consumer electronics, according to Roku, and will be the first step in breaking away from simply producing steaming players, and into connecting its platform to smart TVs and related hardware.

[Source: cnet]

Sky announces iPad remote control functionality, due later this summer in Sky+ app

Sky is announcing a number of changes to its Sky Go, Sky+, and Sky Anytime UK TV services today. Perhaps the biggest change is a promised Sky+ mobile app update for iOS. Due later this summer, the update will allow Sky customers to use their iPad as a remote control to pause and rewind TV by swiping within the iPad app. Sky HD users will also be able to view the planner feature within the iPad app and delete or add shows to the recording list. The update looks like it will arrive ahead of rival TV provider Virgin Media's own iPad offering — set for release in September.

Sky is also planning to add eight live kid's channels to its Sky Go application next month, boosting its offering to 32 live channels on its smartphone, PC, Mac, and iPad apps. Alongside the Sky Go updates, the company's Anytime service will include Channel 5 catch-up programs later this year — an addition that will help it compete with the broader catch-up services offered on Virgin Media's range of set top boxes.

[Source: The Verge]

Meet the 'bots' that edit Wikipedia

Wikipedia is written and maintained by tens of thousands of volunteers across the world. Those, in turn, are assisted by hundreds of "bots" - autonomous computer programmes that keep the encyclopaedia running.

"Penis is the male sex organ," the Wikipedia page in question read.

While that statement is undeniably true and thus may merit inclusion in Wikipedia, it belongs nowhere in the site's article on national supreme courts and their legal roles.

When an anonymous Wikipedia reader in South Carolina offered that contribution to the globally popular online encyclopaedia last week, it took just seconds for the blemish to be discovered and deleted.

The vandalism was caught not by a reader, but by a simple artificial intelligence programme called a bot - short for robot.

[Source: BBC - Click to read the full story]

Google updates YouTube, Nexus Q and Play Movies & TV apps in one fell swoop

As software updates go, this Mountain View hat trick scores low on the excitement scale. Starting today, a trio of version bumps are slated to rollout, bringing minor bug fixes to Play Movies & TV andYouTube, while also giving owners of older, non-ICS handsets the ability to control that latter app remotely. Additionally, tweaks have been made to improve the Nexus Q's guest mode, which should come in handy as support for that odd peripheral has now been bolstered to include devices running Gingerbread and up. Sure, this trine of refreshed Google apps won't necessarily set your pulses racing, nor will it satisfy your Jelly Bean cravings. But, hey, you take what you can get.

[Source: Engadget]

Huawei Device Partners with Eurosport for the Broadcast of this Summer’s Biggest Sporting Events

Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, today announced its partnership with Eurosport, the number one pan-European TV channel, for the broadcast of this summer’s biggest sporting events. This partnership is a significant step in Huawei Device’s efforts to build its brand among consumers across Europe, while celebrating the commercial availability in the region of its flagship smartphone, the Huawei Ascend P1.

As part of the agreement, Huawei’s Ascend P1 advertisements will be broadcast during selected Eurosport’s sports event coverage from July. Additionally, RSS feeds of Eurosports news updates and sporting results will be placed on Huawei Device online platforms including its website www.huaweidevice.com and global Facebook page.

“Our partnership with Eurosport provides an opportunity for consumers in more than 129 million households across Europe and North Africa to engage with the Huawei Device brand as we transition from a B2B to B2C company,” said Shao Yang, Chief Marketing Officer, Huawei Device. “Throughout this year our focus is on building the brand by introducing premium products, such as the Ascend P1, that enhance the consumer experience.”

Eurosport. “With our record breaking audience performance in 2012 and our multi-media communication platform Eurosport will provide Huawei with a powerful and effective communication plan for the Ascend P1 launch.” 

“We are delighted that Huawei Device has selected Eurosport, Europe's number one sports entertainment network, to be their exclusive pan-regional media partner for the forthcoming launch of the Huawei Ascend P1 smartphone in Europe,” said Mark McFarlane, Commercial Director,

The Ascend P1 is a super-slim smartphone that delivers outstanding speed, power and functionality. With sales in China commencing from mid-April, the Huawei Ascend P1 is available through more than 3,000 retail stores throughout China. The Ascend P1 will be available in Denmark, Germany, France, Portugal and Italy in July, with other markets to follow.

O2 offering free WiFi around London's busiest streets

O2 is making good on its promise to coat the busiest parts of London in free WiFi. Between now and the end of July, seven locations including Oxford Street, Regent Street, Exhibition Road, Leicester and Piccadilly Squares will offer unfettered access -- even if you don't subscribe to O2's cellphone network. There's no word on if the network will remain free forever, but given the painful time we spent crouching in Starbucks doorways on recent trips to New York and Paris, we hope the company does the right thing for the sake of harassed visitors to the capital.

[Source: Engadget]

London bans wireless access points at Olympics

If you thought the list of banned items at the Olympic Games couldn't get any longer, now the IOC is gunning for that mobile hotspot in your pocket. The prohibited list includes all of the things you'd expect (weapons, alcohol, toxic materials) but also this:  "Personal / private wireless access points and 3G hubs (smart devices such as Android phones, iPhone and tablets are permitted inside venues, but must not be used as wireless points to connect multiple devices)" Probably best to leave that router at home and make sure you only activate your smartphone's hotspot when you're hidden in a crowd, folks.

[Source: Engadget]